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 29
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The first president of the Mesaba Transportation Company was J. F. Lindberg, while C. A. A. Heed was vice president, C. E. Wickman gen- eral manager and secretary, and Andrew G. Anderson, treasurer. Since 1918 Mr. Heed has been president and C. E. Wickman is general man-
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ager and vice president, Andrew G. Anderson is treasurer, E. C. Ekstrom, secretary, and the other member of the board of five directors is R. A. L. Bogan, who has been connected with the corporation from the beginning.
In 1920 a new home was established for the company at South Hib- bing, involving a total cost of about a hundred thousand dollars. On January 1, 1920, a subsidiary corporation known as the Mesaba Motor Company was organized, primarily for the erection of the new home and also to perform a general garage, repair and sales service, represent- ing the White trucks and other automobile accessories. The Mesaba Motor Company is operated by practically the same men who comprise the Mesaba Transportation Company.
ASA T. LYONS, SR. Throughout an active and interesting career duty has ever been the motive of action with Asa T. Lyons, one of the representative business men of Duluth, and usefulness to his fellow men has by no means been a secondary consideration with him. Thus strong and forceful in his relations with his fellows, he has gained the good will and commendation of his associates and the general public, retaining his reputation among men for integrity and high character and never losing the dignity which is the birthright of the true gentleman.
Asa T. Lyons, Sr., was born in the state of Maine on August 10, 1877. His father, who also was a native of Maine, was connected with the marine service, in which capacity he started from Canada for Eng- land with a cargo of wheat. What disaster overtook the ship was never known, as from that time no trace was ever had of ship or crew. In 1884 Asa T. Lyons and his brother were brought by their mother to Duluth, and here he attended the public schools. However, he was at a disadvantage, for he was compelled to spend his nights as a telegraph messenger boy, going to school as he was able during the daytime. From the age of twelve years he was variously employed and at sixteen years of age he entered railroad service, being employed as a clerk in the local railroad yards. He was holding this position at the time of the great strike in 1894. and with thousands of others he lost his job.
Mr. Lyons' first independent business venture was just after he left the railroad service, when for a year or more he engaged in the livery business, following which he owned and operated three hacks for public hire on the streets of Duluth. He continued in this business up to the time of the advent of automobiles, when, foreseeing the future popu- larity and usefulness of the auto in all lines of public service, he organ- ized an auto taxi line, with headquarters at No. 4231/2 West Superior street. In this he was eminently successful and continued to personally operate the taxi service until 1919, when, upon the return of his son Robert J. from overseas military service, he turned over to the latter the taxi business and gave his own attention to the real estate business, entering into a partnership with William L. Tull. In this business also Mr. Lyons has been successful, and he and Mr. Tull have been engaged in some large land deals affecting the growth and development of the city. They have platted a number of additions to the city, on which homes have been built, and they sell to the man of moderate income on terms that enable him to purchase his home without hardship.
Politically Mr. Lyons is independent, voting for the men and measures which his judgment approves. Fraternally he is a member of the Benev- olent Society, a local organization. On November 17, 1917, at Supe- rior, Wisconsin, he was married to Julia Jackson, and to their union six children have been born, namely: Asa T., Jr., who was formerly a sailor, but is now employed in a steel plant in Duluth; Robert J., who,
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as narrated above, was with the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and since his return home has taken charge of the auto taxi service formerly operated by his father; Dorothy E., Bernice, Mary and Francis, who are attending the public schools. In every relation of life Mr. Lyons has acted well his part and because of his honorable career and his business success he enjoys a well-merited popularity in the com- munity in which he lives.
ROBERT FORBES. One of the conspicuous figures in the present-day history of Duluth and St. Louis county is Robert Forbes, one of the most competent and expert judges of mineral lands in the country, and who stands as one of the representative men of his community. Equally noted as a citizen whose useful career has conferred credit upon the community and whose marked abilities have won for him much more than local repute, he holds today distinctive precedence in the mineral mining world. He is essentially a man of affairs, sound of judgment and far-seeing in what he undertakes, and every enterprise to which he has addressed himself has resulted in satisfactory returns, while at the same time he has won and retains the confidence and esteem of all classes.
Robert Forbes was born on the 18th day of April. 1860, in Scotland. the youngest of the seven children born to his parents. On April 18, 1873. the thirteenth anniversary of his birth, he arrived in America, in company with his mother, and they went at once to Hartford, Connecti- cut. Two of his brothers and two of his sisters had come to this coun- try previously, and his father came afterwards, having at that time prac- tically retired from active business pursuits. They remained in Hart- ford. Connecticut, for six months, after which they went to New Britain, that state, where they lived a year. They then moved to Canada, where the father owned a farm. There the son Robert lived until 1880, when he came to the city of Duluth. the father following him here two years later.
Robert Forbes received a common school education, which he sup- plemented by much private study and, more particularly. by practical experience. At the age of sixteen years he began trading with the Indians on Manitoulin Island, which he carried on for about a year. In the meantime he had determined to adopt mining engineering as his life vocation, and to this end he began investigating and looking up proper- ties in western Ontario. He was successful, and has ever since devoted practically all of his time to exploring, drilling and examining mineral properties. Part of that time was spent on iron properties in Minnesota, but most of the time on copper properties in Ontario, Idaho, Washing- ton, British Columbia and other parts of the continent. For the past twenty-five years, except for a short period, he has engaged in pur- chasing and locating mineral lands, which he has prospected and devel- oped, selling for and to corporations and syndicates. In 1882-3 he was exploring Vermillion lands in Minnesota, and at the same time pursuing his studies. From 1884 to 1887 he spent the most of his time on Ontario properties, drilling and test pitting, principally on the silver, copper and nickel ranges. From 1887 to 1900 he was prospecting and examining properties through the Kootenai country, in the Nelson, Slocum and Ainsworth districts. During 1900-2 he was examining, prospecting and locating properties on the coast of British Columbia, principally on the island of Texada, and then until 1904 was prospecting and developing properties in Ontario. During the two following years he had charge of the McGowan, Wilcox and Spider Lake Mines, and in 1906-7 he
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spent the time in prospecting and developing various claims along the coast of British Columbia. During 1908-10 he was in charge of the Capsheaf Mine on the island of Texada, and since 1911 has been con- sulting engineer of the properties of the Norseman Exploration Com- pany ; also since 1914 to the present time has been consulting engineer for the Aladdin Mine of the Minneapolis and Texada Copperite Com- pany. He has made a specialty of examining and reporting on copper sulphides, and his success in this field has been remarkable, giving him a reputation for accuracy and knowledge of the difficult details of this class of work second to no man in the country. Mr. Forbes maintains his offices in the Palladio Building, Duluth.
In November, 1893, Mr. Forbes was married to Emma W. Walker, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Walker. She was born near Fort Wayne, Indiana, but from childhood lived in that city, where she obtained her public and high school education. To this union have been born four daughters. Ruth W., after completing her public and high school studies, spent one year in college. She possesses unusual musical talent, in which she has received a finished education, instrumental music being her forte. She is also pursuing a business course and is now taking a Chicago University extension course. Hazel K. Forbes is a graduate of the Duluth High School, and also a graduate of Wellesley College, where her principal courses were geology and geography. After grad- uating she taught one year at Wellesley College in geology and during the past two years has been teaching geology and geography in the Penn- sylvania State Normal School at Indiana, Pennsylvania. Lois L. Forbes is a graduate of the Duluth High School and has had two years in the University of Minnesota. She is now taking a special course in Spanish. Virginia T. Forbes is a student in the Duluth public schools.
Politically Mr. Forbes gives his support to the Republican party, while his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian Church. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a respectable position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his adopted city and earning a reputation as an enterpris- ing, progressive man of affairs and a broad-minded and upright citizen. retaining a keen interest in all things affecting the general welfare of the community.
GEORGE A. GRAY, president and active head of the George A. Gray Company, is an old and prominent Duluth business man, with an active experience in the city of more than thirty years. He came to Duluth July 5, 1888, and for the first two years was employed in the retail fur- nishing store of J. T. Condon. He had acquired his early education at Oak Grove Seminary and in a business college at Boston, Massachu- setts, and had been a bookkeeper for a year and a half in a retail drug store. Leaving the Condon store he became office manager of the Duluth Iron & Steel Company for a year and a half. For the next eleven years he was with I. Friemuth, beginning as bookkeeper and office man- ager. Later he took an interest in the Tallant Company, and in 1902 organized and incorporated the George A. Gray Company, of which he has been president, with M. B. Gray, vice president, and H. L. Peck, sec- retary and treasurer.
Mr. Gray is a member of the Commercial Club, the Duluth Boat Club, the Kitchi Gammi Club, Duluth Curling Club, Duluth Auto Club, the Modern Samaritans, the Y. M. C. A., and is a member of the Con- gregational Church and of the Republican party.
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GEORGE P. TWEED for twenty years or more has been one of the promi- nent men directing and supporting the organized business of exploring and producing iron ore in the iron ranges of northern Minnesota and Michigan. In this connection he has also handled a general real estate business, and has been a resident of and identified with Duluth affairs for more than thirty years.
Mr. Tweed was born at Warsaw in Goodhue County, Minnesota, April 19, 1871, son of Evan J. and Anna (Hulback) Tweed. His father, a native of Norway, came to America in 1856, when a child, was reared in Dane County, Wisconsin, and a few years later moved to Goodhue County, Minnesota, where he was in the general merchandise business until about 1876. Following that he was in business at Mon- tevideo, Minnesota, and in, 1887 canie to Duluth and for many years was one of the city's leading merchants and only retired from commercial life a short time before his death, which occurred in 1916. He had all the qualities of a good citizen, possessed thorough business ability, was interested in local affairs and enjoyed the esteem and respect of a very large circle.
George P. Tweed, oldest in a family of eleven children, came to Duluth when about sixteen years of age. He acquired a public school education, and while attending school and for about three months after finishing his education was employed as a newspaper reporter with the Duluth Herald and the Duluth Daily News. At the age of eighteen, after leaving school, he entered the real estate and loan business, and as a broker and handler of real estate properties he operated alone until about 1900.
In that year Mr. Tweed became associated in the iron ore business with Mr. Coates and Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller withdrew from the organization in 1908, and since then Mr. Coates and Mr. Tweed have had a construc- tive partnership, and their efforts primarily have been devoted to explor- ing for iron ore. They have been interested in the exploration of prob- ably twenty iron mines, and out of their long experience have special qualifications and facilities for managing iron exploration and iron mining.
Mr. Tweed is a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, the Northland Country Club, the Commercial Club, the Gogebic Country Club of Iron- wood, Michigan, and votes as a Republican. In 1908 he married Miss Alice Lyon, daughter of George H. Lyon of Faribault, Minnesota. Mrs. Tweed is a woman of accomplishments both in her home and out- side, deeply interested in church affairs. Their family consists of one adopted daughter.
EMIL H. OLSON. One of the conspicuous landmarks in the retail shopping district of Duluth is the furniture store of Enger & Olson at Nineteenth avenue, West, and Superior street. It is a business with which the people of Duluth have been familiar and patronized for many years, and has always illustrated the vitality of growth and expansion. One of the original members of the firm and continuously active in the business is Emil H. Olson, now vice president of the corporation.
Mr. Olson was born in Chippewa County, Minnesota, July 30, 1881. His father, Ole H. Olson, who died in 1909, was a native of Vernon County, Wisconsin, and a pioneer of Chippewa County, Minnesota. Emil H. Olson, second in a family of six children, attended public schools and grew up on his father's farm, where he had his early experiences. At the age of twenty-one he left the rural district where he was living and with B. J. Enger bought out a small stock of furniture in Duluth. They
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started under the partnership title of Enger & Olson, and so continued for over sixteen years. In the fall of 1919 the firm of Enger & Olson was incorporated, with B. J. Enger as president, E. H. Olson, vice presi- dent, J. O. Bodin, secretary, and J. C. Lehvorsen, treasurer.
Only a very small percentage of the immense patronage accorded to the house of Enger & Olson remember their start in business at 1722 West Superior street. They remained in that modest establishment only a year and then moved to 2012 West Superior street, a location half way between two large furniture stores. In spite of what might have seemed a handicap the firm prospered and grew, and in two years had outgrown its quarters and rented an additional store. They remained in that loca- tion five years, and then rented a portion of the building where the house is today. In three years time came another necessity for expansion, and they took over the part of the building then occupied by C. B. Nunan. In the fall of 1919, at the time of its incorporation, the company bought the building outright, and since then the second floor has been remodeled as a furniture storeroom. The company now has more than forty times as much floor space as the firm liad when they began business sixteen or seventeen years ago. The partners themselves looked after nearly every feature of the business at the beginning, and hired the draying and moving of their goods. After a year they bought a horse for delivery services and hired two extra men, and an illustration of how the business has grown in equipment is the present facilities of three large delivery trucks, while the staff of employes of Enger & Olson number thirty.
Mr. Olson is a member of the English Lutheran Church and is affili- ated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He married Miss Marie H. Rood, of Duluth.
THOMAS F. BRADY. A veteran member of the bar of northern Minne- sota, and for the past fifteen years judge of the Municipal Court of Hibbing, Thomas F. Brady is one of the best known men in this section of the state, not only in his profession and in public affairs but also as a follower and encourager of athletics and in social life.
Judge Brady was born at Houghton, Michigan, March 27, 1868, and is son of a distinguished lawyer, Thomas M. Brady.
His father was born in County Meath, Ireland, March 28, 1830, and died May 29, 1920, at the age of ninety years. Coming to the United States when about seventeen years of age, he lived in Massachusetts and worked as a laborer until he earned enough money to complete his educa- tion in Notre Dame College in Indiana and later in a collegiate institution of Montreal, Canada. He read law and was admitted to the bar at Detroit, and for several years practiced at Grand Rapids, Michigan. While there he became interested in military matters, was elected a captain of Mulligan's Regiment, and served all through the Civil war, being in both battles of Bull Run and in many other campaigns and engagements. . After the war he resumed practice at Detroit, but in the fall of 1866 moved to northern Michigan, and for a quarter of a century carried on an extensive practice with Houghton as his headquarters. In, the sum- mer of 1892 he moved to Duluth, in 1894 to Grand Rapids, Minnesota, later returned to Houghton, and in 1904 came to Hibbing, where he remained until 1910 and thereafter divided his time among his children. While in Houghton County, Michigan, he served as city attorney many years, as judge of Probate, as prosecuting attorney, and for two terms was also judge of Probate in Itasca County, Minnesota. Judge Thomas M. Brady married Margaret Friel, who died in Wisconsin in 1910, the mother of four children.
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Thomas F. Brady spent his early boyhood and manhood at Houghton, Michigan, graduated from high school, and in 1889 received his law degree from Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana. For a time he was associated in practice with his father in Houghton, for two years was located at Ontonagon, Michigan, in 1892 moved to Duluth with his father, and in September, 1895, came to Hibbing, where for a quarter of a century he has been busily engaged in satisfying the demands of an extensive clientage and in filling various offices in the city. He served as village attorney one year, four years as township clerk, city recorder three years, and since February 8, 1904, has been on the Munici- pal bench of Hibbing. Judge Brady is a Republican in politics, is a mem- ber of the Catholic Church, and is associated with many social and fra- ternal organizations, including the Elks, Knights of Columbus. Catholic Order of Foresters, Maccabees, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Red Men, Yeomen and others.
September 14, 1897, he married Anna Haben. Mrs. Brady died April 3. 1905, the mother of three children, Margaret, Thomas and Anna. Judge Brady married for his present wife Delia Lafave. Six children were born to their union : Delia, Frances, James, Patricia (now deceased), Rosella and .William.
JUDGE BERT FESLER, a member of the Duluth bar for a quarter of a century, has recently rounded out a decade of service in the office of district judge. His associates recognize him as a lawyer of splendid qualifications, and as a jurist whose work and character have contributed much to the dignity and service of the Bench.
He was born July 22, 1866, at Franklin, Indiana. The only surviving field commander of an Indiana regiment in the great battle of Gettys- burg is his father, Col. John R. Fesler, now nearly eighty-five years of age. Colonel Fesler was lieutenant colonel of the Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry at Gettysburg and served nearly three years in the Union army. He was a native of Ohio, was a carpenter by occupation, but for many years has been a successful business man. For eleven years he was in the commission brokerage business at the Indianapolis Stock Yards. He is now assistant adjutant general of the Grand Army of the Republic for the Department of Indiana.
Of five children, four of whom are still living, Judge Fesler grew up in his father's household, was educated in the Franklin High School, and holds his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Indiana. He came to Duluth in 1893 to engage in the practice of law, and for a num- ber of years was a hard working lawyer, giving little attention to politics. He served as city attorney of Duluth from 1904 to 1910. In the latter year he was appointed judge of the District Court, and on April 1, 1913, was elected for the regular term of eight years to the District Bench, beginning his term in 1914. He is also a member of the Duluth City Charter Commission, is affiliated with the Elks and the Modern Wood- men of America, and on many occasions has exemplified the character of a disinterested and public-spirited citizen.
On March 28, 1890, Judge Fesler married Miss Vennie L. King. They have four children : Ruth and Rachel, twins, John and James Williams Fesler.
HERMAN ANTONELLI. A merchant of many years' active experience in Hibbing, a veteran of the Spanish-American war, in every way repre- senting the highest ideals of American citizenship, Herman Antonelli has always been regarded as most influential among that portion of the citizen-
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ship of the Mesaba Range of Italian birth or parentage and as a man of the highest character and of a record that commends him to the con- fidence and esteem of all classes.
In Italy, where he was born, the family name was spelled Ermenegildo, but he has always borne a simpler name since coming to America. He was born May 26, 1864, and completed his education in a gymnasium or high school at Nocera Umbria, Italy. Even as a youth he realized some of the limitations and disadvantages of life in his native country, and it was as a result of an earnest determination to improve his circumstances and live up to the best ideals of Americanism that brought him to this country. He came here in 1892, and after two months in Michigan went to Ely on the Vermillion Range in northern Minnesota. He readily found employment in the ore mines. He first came to Hibbing in 1894, when the village had first been laid out. He worked as a carpenter and miner and later returned to Michigan and early in 1898 enlisted in Company E of the Third United States Infantry for service in the Spanish-American war. He was with this regiment in training at Atlanta, Georgia, and after peace was declared received his honorable discharge. On October 5, 1898, occurred the Indian uprising at Walker, Minnesota. At that time Mr. Antonelli was a member of old Company E of the Third Regu- lars of the United States Army, and was called out and took part in the battle with the rebellious Indians. Captain Wilkinson, commanding Com- pany E, was killed and Mr. Antonelli himself was wounded by a bullet in the left thigh. Thus as a soldier he was wounded while in the per- formance of duty and by his military record proved his devotion to the land of his adoption.
After leaving the army he worked for about two years as a miner at Ely. Minnesota, also operated a saloon there, and in January, 1902. returned to Hibbing, where he has had his permanent residence ever since. Since 1904 he has been engaged in the grocery and meat market business. With a growing prosperity as a business man he has taken an interest in all that goes to make Hibbing a better community. He had applied for his first papers as a citizen two months after coming to this country, and had completed naturalization in five years. He has been a leader among the people of his nationality and has done much to make them realize the importance of thorough assimilation with American ideals. He was one of the organizers of the church of the Immaculate Conception of the Catholic faith at Hibbing. Mr. Antonelli is at present a member of the Hibbing Library Board and is a Republican in politics.
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