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 27
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Mr. Murray is a Republican and has long taken an active part in civic affairs. He was elected chief of the volunteer fire department, a capacity
Wiliam
(Alturay
-
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in which he served eight years, and at present is serving his third term as alderman and is also vice president of the Council. His public services have been valuable to his community, and through them he has added to the public confidence in which his straightforward business methods had placed him. He was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, and Mrs. Murray is a Catholic. On October 11, 1899, Mr. Murray was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann McNellas, and they have one daughter, Anna Isabelle.
CLAUDE C. ALEXANDER. For the past eleven years the welfare and efficiency of the public schools of Hibbing have been largely in the keeping of Claude C. Alexander, an educator of wide experience and a man of rounded and dignified character and abilities to command the respect of the community as well as to lead the local school system.
Mr. Alexander, whose title is superintendent of Independent School District No. 27, which includes the village of Hibbing, was born at Arrow Rock, Missouri, October 23, 1880, son of Edwin T. and Margaret (Ancell) Alexander. His grandfather, James Alexander, was a native of Kentucky and prior to the Civil war moved to Missouri and during that struggle served in the Union army. His home and family experi- enced many of the rigors of border warfare. Edwin T. Alexander spent his life as a teacher and for many years was connected with the schools of Slater, Saline County, Missouri. He was of Scotch ancestry, while his wife, Margaret Ancell, also a native of Missouri, was of English stock.
Claude C. Alexander grew to manhood in his native state, graduated from the high school at Slater at the age of eighteen, and then entered Missouri Valley College at Marshall, Missouri. He received his A. B. degree from this institution in 1904, and soon after entered upon his career as teacher in country schools. At intervals he continued his advanced studies in the University of Chicago and in 1910 earned his Master of Arts degree from that institution, having spent two years in the graduate school. From 1905 to 1909 he was superintendent of schools of Albany, Missouri, and in September, 1909, came to Hibbing as principal of the high school. In March, 1915, he was made super- intendent of Independent District No. 27.
Mr. Alexander is a member of the Kiwanis Club, is vice president of the Commercial Club of Hibbing, is a past worshipful master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has also taken fourteen degrees in Scottish Rite Masonry. He is an Elk, a Republican and a member of the Presbyterian Church. June 4, 1905, he married Miss Grace L. Newman, of Albany, Missouri. Their four children are Sarah Margaret, Jettie Lucile, Grace Elizabeth and Claude C., Jr.
WILLIAM W. FENSTERMACHER has been a resident of Duluth for twenty years, at one time was a letter carrier in the city, but is widely known for the substantial character of his enterprise as active head of the Duluth Realty Company and other commercial organizations in the real estate and development field.
He was born at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, November 22, 1876, son of William and Albertine (Grundeman) Fenstermacher. From the age of fourteen William W. Fenstermacher has been solving the problems of life for himself. His education was such as he was able to acquire in common schools. He was not above doing any honest work to earn a living, and for a time peddled goods, also served an apprenticeship
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and worked at the baker's trade in Oshkosh for three years, and in 1898 came to Minnesota. For the first year he worked in a dry goods store at Winona and became identified with Duluth as traveling salesman out of this city. His employment as letter carrier with the postoffice continued for four years, when he resigned and in 1907 entered the real estate business. Mr. Fenstermacher organized the Duluth Realty Com- pany. an organization perfected for the handling of real estate, loans. insurance and collections and building management. Another business which he organized is known as the Rafencha Building Company, pri- marily for the purpose of building homes and selling them on the easy payment plan. He has been president. manager and treasurer of both companies.
He is active in the Duluth Real Estate Exchange, is affiliated with the Masonic Order and Ancient Order of United Workmen, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1908 Mr. Fenstermacher married Minnie Belle Mues. Her father. Edward F. Mues, was an early day merchant of Winona. Mr. and Mrs. Fenster- macher have a daughter. Florence Belle.
LUTHER BISHOP ARNOLD has been identified with Duluth for over twenty years as manager of the land department of two large railroad companies, and in that capacity has exercised a great deal of influence in the land development of northern Minnesota.
Mr. Arnold was born at South Hadley. Massachusetts. November 9. 1868, the older of the two children of his parents. His father was a native of Connecticut, where he attended school and college until about twenty years of age, and then spent a few vears in southern Illinois as a woolen manufacturer. On removing to Chicago he was connected with the White Hall fire clay works until his death October 30, 1885.
Luther Bishop Arnold was educated both in Chicago and Boston. and at the age of eighteen went into the southwestern country as a member of the engineering department of the Chicago. Rock Island & Pacific Railway Company on surveys and construction. He was thus employed for three years, and in June, 1899. the Rock Island Railway Company employed him in connection with their Minnesota land grant lands. and he has also performed a similar service for the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company. He is manager of the Minnesota land grant lands of the two companies and looks after the details of their develop- ment and colonization. Nearly all his time is taken up with these impor- tant responsibilities, but he is interested in some small business activ- ities outside.
Mr. Arnold is a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Duluth Com- mercial Club. the Kitchi Gammi Club. Northland Golf Club. Curling Club. Boat Club, Y. M. C. A., and also the Minnesota Club of St. Paul. He is affiliated with the Congregational Church and belongs to that rapidly increasing group of men who mobilize their political support for the best men and the most adequate principles.
SCOTT L. HOLTZLANDER is one of the quiet, unassuming men who accomplishes whatever he undertakes to do. As cashier of the Rogers- Brown Iron Company he is rendering a very efficient service to his employers and their men, while as a member of the Hibbing School Board he is succeeding in having educational matters placed on a firm foundation. The school board never had, nor will have, a more efficient and conscientious member than he. and the results of his efforts for the betterment of the schools will be felt for years to come.
Satt Listelstander!
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Mr. Holtzlander was born at Flint, Michigan, January 27, 1873, a son of Samuel and Harriet (Wood) Holtzlander, and grandson of Adam Holtzlander. His ancestors came to the United States from Holland during the seventeenth century. Members of both sides of the family were soldiers in the American Revolution, and Adam Holtzlander fought in the War of 1812. Prior to the present generation the family name was spelled with an "s," but beginning with Scott L. the "s" has been changed to a "z." For generations back the members of the family have been farmers and landowners.
Scott L. Holtzlander was born and reared on a farm and after he had attended the neighboring schools of the country regions he took the high school course at Flint, Michigan, and was graduated from it in June, 1895. During that course he split wood, for which he received ten cents a cord in order to buy the necessary books, and then walked six miles to school and six miles back home again each day.
Having thus early learned the value of industry and thrift, when he began his business career with the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Company at North Tonawanda, New York, he had but little difficulty in getting ahead, and his work attracted the attention of the Rogers-Brown Iron Company, on the outlook for desirable men for their responsible posi- tions, and they offered him the position of cashier at Hibbing, which he accepted and came to this city in 1903, and still continues in that office. Since coming here Mr. Holtzlander has been identified with the progress of Hibbing. He is a Republican and for twelve years served as a member of the School Board, his last term of office expiring in 1920. During this period he officiated at different times as president, secretary and treasurer of Independent School District No. 27. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian, and of that denomination at Hibbing he is now treasurer, and he was one of its charter members. He is a Thirty-second Degree Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Mason, and is past worshipful master of Mesaba Lodge No. 255, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
On September 20, 1905, Mr. Holtzlander was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Magoffin, of North Tonawanda, New York. They are the parents of three children: Scott L., Jr., Elizabeth Jane and George Wood. During the great war Mr. Holtzlander served as an asso- ciate member of the Legal Advisory Board of the Selective Service Law, and in every way possible contributed his services to bring about the successful conclusion of the war. As a member of the Hibbing Con- mercial Club he keeps abreast of all of the advance movements in behalf of his community, and in every way measures up to the highest type of American manhood.
RUDOLPH C. KRUSCHKE, a man of sterling integrity and distinctive . ability, gained a goodly share of pioneer honors in connection with the business activities of the city of Duluth and was one of its well known and highly honored citizens at the time of his death in 1918. His ini- tiative ability was on a parity with his resolute purpose, and he established and developed at Duluth a unique business which has been successfully continued since his death under the corporate title of the City Gun Store, Inc. The enterprise dates its inception back to the year 1881, and in its present status of importance the store well merits its title of "Duluth's oldest athletic and sporting-goods establishment."
Mr. Kruschke was born in the state of Wisconsin in the year 1859 and was reared under the conditions and influences that marked the middle-pioneer period in the history of that commonwealth. There he
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received his youthful education and there also he learned the trade of watchmaker, in which he became a specially skilled workman. In 1881, with a few tools required in his trade and with a capital that was repre- sented almost entirely in his technical ability and his determined purpose, Mr. Kruschke opened a very modest little shop in Duluth on Lake ave- nue. His skill and the excellent service which resulted therefrom caused his business to expand and gain secure basis, and in 1889 he removed to more ample quarters at 16 West Superior street, where he had his first real store, with a limited stock of jewelry, watches, clocks, guns, etc. It was at this early period in his career as a business man in Duluth that Mr. Kruschke showed his provision and also his confidence in the future development of his home city, which he realized must become a favored trade center for game hunters and fishermen who should pene- trate the forest wilds and the attractive lakes and streams of this pic- turesque section. His belief that Duluth must become a gateway for such sportsmen, as well as for tourists, was attended with an equal confidence that here might be developed a substantial and prosperous business in the handling of sporting goods, especially those pertaining to the diversions of forest, stream and lake. He accordingly expanded his business by installing a larger stock of guns, ammunition, cutlery, fishing supplies and sporting goods, and later, as the tourist business became a feature of prominence in Duluth, he added a line of Indian goods, curios, souvenirs of local significance, novelties, toys, etc., the while he continued the jewelry department of the business from first to last. One-half of his store was fitted up as a curio and souvenir shop, and this feature of the business was later imitated by many other establishments in the city. He was the originator of this special line of enterprises here, including the handling of precious and semi-precious stones, many of which were produced from the raw materials found along the shores of Lake Superior. The increase in the scope of his business led Mr. Kruschke to make two other changes of location before he finally established the present finely equipped and appointed estab- lishment at 402 West Superior street, where headquarters have been main- tained since about the year 1896, and where the business has grown to large volume, the City Gun Store now representing one of the impor- tant business enterprises of Duluth.
After conducting business for ten years under his own name Mr. Kruschke changed the title of his establishment to the City Gun Store, and in 1917, the year prior to that of his death, he incorporated the business under this title. Up to that time he had been the sole owner, and the stockholders of the City Gun Store, Inc., at the pres- ent time are his widow, who is president of the company ; his son, A. R. Kruschke, who is secretary; and G. A. Kristy, who is treasurer. Mrs. Kruschke was bequeathed the shares of stock held by. her hus- band and now receives a substantial revenue from the business, in which she owns seventy-five per cent of the stock. She was a devoted com- panion and helpmate of her husband in the early years when he was struggling to establish a profitable business, even as she was after the enterprise had grown to be one of broad scope.
Mr. Kruschke's exceptional skill as an artisan was couplied with much inventive genius, and of the various devices that thus engaged his attention the one which has proved most valuable and yielded the largest financial returns was the acetylene lamp which he invented for the use of miners, hunters, etc., the device being cleverly adapted for wearing on the head of the person using the same. This invention he placed on the market in 1899, under the name of the "Brilliant Search
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Light," and so excellent is the lamp that in its manufacture and sale a large and prosperous industrial enterprise has been developed, the while the lamps are now used in all parts of the world. The device and its exploitation led to the organizing of the Brilliant Search Light Manufacturing Company, and as a matter of commercial expediency the headquarters of this company were established in the city of Chi- cago in the spring of 1919. A son of the inventor has active manage- ment of the business and of the output of the factory fully sixty per cent is directed to export trade.
Mr. Kruschke was for nearly forty years actively engaged in business at Duluth, gained prosperity through his own ability and efforts, and by his sterling characteristics commanded the respect of all who knew him. He was one of the representative business men and loyal and representative citizens of Duluth at the time of his death, and in this publication a tribute to his memory is specially due. He took deep interest in all that touched the welfare and progress of his home city, was affiliated with leading fraternal and social organizations, and was of the best in the community life.
Mr. Kruschke married Bertha Kumrow at Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1880, and she resides at Duluth. Their three surviving children are: Alma R. Kruschke, now manager of the City Gun Store, Duluth; Arthur F. Kruschke, in the grocery and confectionary business in Duluth ; and George A. Kristy, whose name was changed in 1914 by decree of court in Minneapolis, and who is now manager of the Brilliant Search Light Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois.
CLYDE BLOUGH is one of the successful merchants of the Iron Range district, and has developed a prosperous establishment for the handling of men's clothing and furnishings at Chisholm. He came to northern Minnesota with some experience in merchandising, but practically no capital, and has promoted himself through persistent effort and the exercise of all the abilities and qualifications he possesses.
He was born at LaGrange, Indiana, July 10, 1879, and is of old American ancestry. His father, William Blough, was born in the same state in 1868 and is a well to do farmer in northern Indiana. In 1874 he married Miss Delilah A. Rowe, a native of the same section of this state and of an old Indiana family.
Clyde Blough was the second of seven children, all of whom are still living. He attended grammar school and also high school at LaGrange, but left before finishing his high school education. At the age of twenty- one and during school days he had various employments that helped him support himself and gave him some business experience. On Novem- ber 20, 1900, soon after passing his twenty-first birthday, he entered the store of Theodore Crowle at LaGrange for the purpose of learning the clothing and furnishing business, and was continuously in his service for six years, until Mr. Crowle sold out.
With this training and experience Mr. Blough came to Chisholm in August, 1906, and for three years was employed by McEachin Brothers, dealers in men's clothing, but in 1909 engaged in business for himself and the past eleven years have rewarded him generously with a successful business and a position of esteem in the community. He is a director of the Chamber of Commerce, has served as school director of Inde- pendent School District No. 40, and during the World war was captain of his district for the Liberty Loan drives. He is a stanch Republican and is affiliated with Lodge No. 1334 of the Elks. On November 3, 1909, he married Miss Mae Dennis, of Merrill, Wisconsin. They have one daughter, Delilah Jane, born November 16, 1913.
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JOHN E. MEYER. Clearly defined purpose and consecutive effort in the affairs of life will inevitably result in the attaining of a due measure of success, but in following out the career of one who has attained success by his own efforts there comes into view the intrinsic individuality which made such accomplishment possible, and thus there is enkindled a feeling of . respect and admiration. The qualities which have made Mr. Meyer one of the successful men of Duluth have also brought him the esteem of his fellow townsmen, for his career has been one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honorable methods.
John E. Meyer, manager at Duluth for the Barnett & Record Com- pany, engineers and general contractors, was born November 6, 1875, in Bay City, Michigan, and is the second in order of birth in a family of five children. His father, L. F. Meyer, is now a resident of Portland, Oregon. John E. Meyer received his education in the public schools of Bay City, and then took a commercial course in a business college in that city. He began his independent career as an employe in a box factory at Bay City, afterward working in a pail factory in the same city. He then engaged in the lumber business on his own account, continuing that business for fifteen years and becoming widely known, filling large contracts for heavy construction timbers all over the country. In 1902 Mr. Meyer became connected with the Barnett & Record Com- pany of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was sent to Duluth as local man- ager for that company in this city. He has been eminently successful in this capacity and has so handled the company's business here as to win their approval and appreciation. The Barnett & Record Company has designed and erected approximately a thousand structures of various kinds, including wooden, steel, concrete and tile grain elevators, malt works, flour mills, packing houses, factory buildings, hotels, court houses, school houses, and other public buildings, besides many ore, coal, freight and dry docks around the Great Lakes. The company was originally organized in 1882 and incorporated in 1892 and is a close corporation, all of the stockholders being active workers in the organization.
In 1901 Mr. Meyer was married to Mary Magee, of Bay City, and ยท they are the parents of two children. Mr. Meyer is a man of action rather than words. He is eminently utilitarian, and energy of char- acter, firmness of purpose and unswerving integrity are among his chief characteristics. Because of his excellent qualities of character and his business ability, he enjoys the confidence of those who have had dealings with him and the good will of the community at large.
ALBERT J. BAWDEN. A native son of Duluth, Albert J. Bawden is a civil engineer by profession, and has spent a number of years in the service of the municipal and county public works, being now the expert technical man in charge of all drainage projects in St. Louis County.
He was born in Duluth August 19, 1888, son of Albert H. and Susan J. (Renfree) Bawden, the former a native of Michigan, while the mother was born in Cornwall, England. Albert H. Bawden, who came to Duluth in 1882, was one of the pioneer mining men of the Upper Lakes, was employed as a miner in the copper country for a time, and continued to be identified with the mining industry until his death on May 10, 1911.
Of three children, all living, Albert J. is the second in age. He was educated in the public schools of Duluth and was twenty years of age , when in 1908 he took up the practical work of the engineering profession. For three years he was a rod man on the staff of T. F. McGilvray, then city engineer. This was followed by employment as engineer for the water and light department, and then as assistant road engineer under
albert f. Bowden
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County Road Engineer E. C. Coe. The greater part of his valued services. for the county have been connected with drainage problems. He was assistant engineer of drainage in the county, but for several years past has had entire charge of drainage work.
In politics Mr. Bawden votes independently and is a member of the Lutheran Church. During the World war he served as a sergeant in the Fourth American Machine Gun Battalion overseas, receiving his discharge at Camp Dodge January 25, 1919. November 27, 1917; he mar- ried Miss Amanda Gunderson, daughter of August Gunderson. She received her education in the schools of Duluth and at Spooner, Wis- consin. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Bawden are Edna, born September 1, 1918, and John, born April 26, 1920.
EDWIN JOHNSON. While he had to borrow fourteen hundred dollars to buy his first passenger car nine years ago, Edwin Johnson is now president and owner of The White Taxicab Company, a corporation operating on a hundred thousand dolar capital and one of the most sub- stantial enterprises of the kind in northern Minnesota and with an unex- celled service in taxis, touring cars and sight-seeing busses.
Edwin Johnson was born in St. Paul, October 20, 1887, a son of A. Johnson, who was born in Sweden and is now living retired at the age of sixty-five at 1924 West Seventh street. Edwin Johnson, younger of two children, was educated in public schools, learned the trade of electrician, and for five years was employed by the telephone companies at Duluth.
It was on leaving that service that he took up the automobile business as driver of his own car. In the fall of 1913 he started a bus line between Gary and New Duluth. The war having come on the steel plant shut down in 1914, all the people moved away, and Mr. Johnson had to discontinue his route. Just a week later he opened the Proctor Bus Line, at that time running on a schedule of two hour intervals, and this line is still a prominent feature of The White Taxicab Company's service, operating cars every hour from six in the morning until twelve midnight. These busses run between the Spalding Hotel and Proctor, and the service continues uninterrupted both winter and summer.
In 1917 The White Taxicab Company was incorporated with Mr. John- son as president and sole owner, Al Julin, vice president and treasurer, and D. Glockle, secretary. The assets of the company today are a hun- dred thousand dollars. The company maintains an office in the heart of the business section and a large and well equipped garage at 122-124 West Second street. They employ on an average of thirty people and the business is kept up to the highest standard of efficiency, being a notable instance of an organization disciplined and responsive to the energy, ambi- tion and courteous instincts of its organizer and executive head. The growth in the business has been nothing less than wonderful, since Mr. Johnson started driving only one five-passenger car, while now the company's equipment consists of twenty-two cars, including two auto- mobile hearses, seven closed limousines, six open touring cars, and seven twenty-passenger busses.
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