Fifty Years In The Northwest Part 61

1885. Geo. Pillsbury.

1886. A. A. Ames.

1887. A. A. Ames.

1888. A. A. Ames.

WATER VERSUS STEAM.

Some wonder has been expressed that in the vicinity of one of the finest water powers on this continent there should be found so many saw mills run by steam. The question is partly an economical one, as owing to the heavy expenses entailed upon mill owners to prevent the retrogression of the falls, it may be cheaper for saw mill owners to use steam, especially as they can feed their furnaces with but little expense from the slabs and debris of their own lumber; but in this case a weightier reason may be found in the fact that the west side of the river has been occupied chiefly by flouring mills, and the saw mills are moved to less eligible localities, and find it more convenient and economical to use steam instead of water.

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION AT THE FLOUR MILLS.

One of the most remarkable mill disasters of modern times occurred May 2, 1878, in the Washington A mill. About 7 P. M. the sound of a terrific explosion was heard and the city was shaken as by an earthquake. The mill in which it occurred was utterly demolished, as were also the Humboldt, the Zenith and the Palisade, while several others were badly wrecked. There were fourteen lives lost and the property destroyed amounted in value to over $1,000,000.

The cause of the explosion was at first not understood, but on thorough investigation was finally attributed to a mixture of exceedingly fine grain and flour dust with the air of the mills, in such proportion as to form a combustible mixture, which was accidentally ignited. The mills destroyed have since been replaced by better ones. The great Pilsbury A mill, which is perhaps beyond question the largest in the world, was begun in the following year. A ca.n.a.l was cut to supply it with power, and it was equipped with two Victor turbine water wheels of 1,450 horse power each and a 1,400 horse power engine; it was furnished with 400 pairs of rollers, 200 middlings purifiers, 20 run of stone, 200 bolting reels and other devices in keeping.

SUBURBAN RESORTS--LAKE MINNETONKA.

This magnificent lake is 10 miles southwest of Minneapolis, and 20 miles from St. Paul. Its extreme length is about 18 miles, varying in width from 1 to 5 miles. Its water area is about 15,000 acres, and its sh.o.r.e line is estimated at nearly 300 miles. A glance at the map will show what a variety of scenery it must have, being so broken and irregular. Its banks and islands are covered with forest trees except at a few points where villages have been located, or where some farmer had, years ago, cleared himself a farm.

There are three villages on Minnetonka, viz.: Excelsior, Wayzata and Mound City. Excelsior was settled in 1852, by a colony from New York State, and named from the t.i.tle adopted by the organization before leaving home. It was incorporated about 1879. It is located on a range of hills on the south sh.o.r.e of Lake Minnetonka, of which it has a commanding view. Its present population is about 850. It has two railways, the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba, and a motor line. It is distant 18 miles from Minneapolis.

The oldest settlement on the lake is Wayzata, on the north sh.o.r.e of Lake Minnetonka, 10 miles from Minneapolis, via the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railway, which pa.s.ses through the village. The name Wayzata is a corruption of the Indian word Wy-ze-a-ta, meaning North Sh.o.r.e, or North Side. The village contains about 400 inhabitants, and commands considerable trade from the surrounding country.

There are several fine hotels upon the lake, equal if not superior to the famous hotels of eastern watering places. Prominent among these are the Hotel Lafayette, built at a cost of $200,000, the Lake Park Hotel and Excelsior House. Railways reach the lake at several points, and steamers make regular trips for tourists.

Minnehaha Falls, rendered famous in Longfellow's poems of Hiawatha, is located on Minnehaha creek, midway between Fort Snelling and St.

Anthony Falls. It is deservedly a favored resort.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN MINNEAPOLIS COSTING $100,000 AND UPWARD.

Court house (not completed) $2,000,000 Post office 500,000 Exposition Hall 350,000 Science Hall 125,000 Library building 190,000 Soldiers' Home, near Minnehaha Falls 100,000 State University 150,000 Chamber of Commerce 285,000 Temple Court 250,000 Masonic Temple 200,000 City Market House 225,000 Athenaeum 250,000 Hennepin Avenue Theatre 140,000 Washburn Orphan Asylum 125,000 House of Good Shepherd 200,000 Loan and Trust Company 125,000 Guaranty Life and Trust 300,000 Lumber Exchange 150,000 Builders' Exchange 100,000 Knights of Labor Exchange 100,000 S. C. Hall Lumber Company 100,000 Bank of Commerce 200,000 Union elevator 375,000 Minneapolis & Pacific elevator 118,000 St. Anthony elevator 154,000 Boston block 100,000 Nicollet House block 100,000 Albert Johnson block 100,000 Globe block 200,000 Wright block 140,000 Mutual block 100,000 Glen block 200,000 Langdon block 120,000 Central block, terrace 150,000 Syndicate block 600,000 West Hotel 1,020,000 Gates' tenements 125,000 Lowry's residence 100,000 Eastman & Cook's saw mill 100,000 Soo & St Marie shops 145,000 North Minneapolis pumping station 214,000 Tubular car works 250,000 Buel tenement block 100,000 Pillsbury A flour mill 1,100,000 Washburn A flour mill 750,000 Washburn B flour mill 500,000 Morrison flour mill 100,000 Christian & Co.'s flour mill 100,000 High School building 100,000 Church of the Dominican Fathers 100,000 Aggregate value of school property 1,250,000 Aggregate value of church property 1,000,000 Aggregate value of parks and boulevards 1,000,000

POST OFFICE STATISTICS FOR 1886.

General business $409,225 Money orders 1,215,951 Income 225,178 Expense 79,436

HISTORY OF THE POST OFFICE AT MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.

Postmasters.

Established Jan. 7, 1854 Hezekiah Fletcher.

Dec. 22, 1854 Carlos Wilcoz.

April 7, 1856 Alfred E. Ames.

April 22, 1857 Samuel Hidden.

Aug. 30, 1858 William P. Ankeny.

April 4, 1861 David Morgan.

July 12, 1865 Daniel Ba.s.sett.

Nov. 17, 1866 William W. McNair.

March 11, 1867 Cyrus Aldrich.

April 15, 1871 Geo. H. Keith.

June 21, 1882 Orlo M. Laraway.

June 22, 1886 John J. Ankeny.

The bonded debt of the city is $3,319,000. The city can not create a debt nor issue bonds to a greater amount than five per cent of the a.s.sessed valuation of city property, and the charter prohibits a floating debt.

The tax a.s.sessments for 1886 $99,591,762 Barrels of flour manufactured 6,163,000 Value of other manufactures $62,500,000 Feet of lumber manufactured 267,197,000 Elevator capacity (bushels) 11,820,000 Bushels of wheat received 34,904,260

Eight bridges span the river at Minneapolis as crossings for the various railroads. The stone arch viaduct of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba cost $750,000. Munic.i.p.al expenses, $2,542,714.

The following table gives the cut of lumber in Minneapolis for the last sixteen years:

1870 118,233,100 1871 117,157,000 1872 167,918,820 1873 189,970,000 1874 191,305,680 1875 156,665,000 1876 200,371,250 1877 129,676,400 1878 130,274,400 1879 149,151,500 1880 195,452,200 3881 230,402,800 1882 312,239,800 1883 278,716,480 1884 300,724,373 1885 313,998,166 1886 267,196,519

WEST MINNEAPOLIS.

West Minneapolis is located about eight miles from the court house, in sections 24 and 19 of township 27, range 24, and is not included within Minneapolis' city limits. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Louis, the Hastings & Dakota, and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroads have stations here. It was surveyed in 1886, and organized shortly after. It has two threshing machine and other extensive manufactories. The Hennepin county poor farm is located near by.

CALVIN A. TUTTLE.--Mr. Tuttle was born in Holland, Connecticut, in 1811. He received an academic education, and remained with his parents until of age. He learned the trade of millwright with his father. In 1832 he went to Bangor, Maine, and worked at his trade until 1835, when he removed to Alton, Illinois. He came to St. Croix in 1838, and superintended the building of a mill. In 1841 he returned to Alton, where he was married to Charlotte Winkler. He lived in Davenport, Iowa, four years and one year at Chippewa Falls. In 1846 he removed to St. Anthony Falls, where he helped build the first saw mill. Here he worked eight years almost continuously at his trade. He purchased two hundred acres of land here, including university lands, which he sold for $3,500. He removed to West St. Anthony in 1852, to Robert Smith's government permit, and then ran the old government flouring mill, grinding only for the government. The grain, about 5,000 bushels annually, was brought from St. Louis. For holding Smith's permit, and grinding, he received one-eighth of the property. The government grinding was done for the privilege of making a claim on the government reservation. This claim, eighty acres in extent, located in what was then called West St. Anthony, now in the heart of Minneapolis, is worth millions of dollars. Mr. Tuttle sold his interest for $5,000. The old mill was built of stone, 30 x 30 feet, ground dimensions, two stories in height, with one run of stone. The mill was built in 1822. There was a farm near the mill, cultivated by soldiers. Mr. Tuttle returned to East St. Anthony in 1857, and removed to Minnetonka in 1858, where he lived five years. Thence he removed to Twin Rivers, Morrison county. He has a saw mill, farm and good home at Twin Rivers. In 1887 he returned to Minneapolis to spend the remainder of his days.

CYRUS ALDRICH.--The subject of this memoir was born June 18, 1808, in Smithfield, Rhode Island. His father was Dexter Aldrich, and was engaged in shipping and merchandising. His mother's maiden name was Hannah White. She was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first male child born after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers. He received such an education as could be obtained at the common schools until he was eighteen years of age, when he left home to engage for a few years in a seafaring life. This life not proving to his taste, he abandoned it and engaged in other pursuits. At the age of twenty-nine he emigrated to Illinois and located at Alton, where he took a contract on the Michigan and Erie ca.n.a.l. In 1841, or about four years later, he removed to Galena, Illinois, where he secured employment with the firm of Galbraith & Porter, and engaged in staging and mail contracts. In 1845 he was elected to the Illinois legislature. The same year he was married to Clara Heaton, of Indiana, who, with one son and one daughter, survives him. In 1847 he was elected register of deeds of Joe Daviess county; in 1849 was appointed receiver of the land office at Dixon, Illinois; and in 1852 ran for Congress on the Whig ticket against Long John Wentworth, but was defeated by a small majority. He removed to Minnesota in 1855, locating at Minneapolis, then but a small village. In 1857 he was elected a member of the Republican wing of the const.i.tutional convention, where his ability for leadership soon brought him to the front. In 1858 he was nominated and elected representative to Congress, Minnesota having meanwhile become a state.

In 1860 he was re-elected. This was a trying time, but Mr. Aldrich acquitted himself well, and was especially commended for his devotion to the interests of the soldiers. In 1862 he declined a re-election, but allowed his name to be used (though unsuccessfully) as a candidate for the senate. He did not, however, entirely withdraw from public affairs, but accepted an appointment from President Lincoln as a member of the indemnity committee to adjust claims of settlers who had suffered during the Indian outbreak of 1862. He also devoted much of his time and energy to the establishment of the Northern Pacific railway.

In 1865 he was elected to the Minnesota legislature. In 1867 he was appointed postmaster of Minneapolis, which position he held for four years. His long and busy life has been spent chiefly in public service. He had not quite reached the scriptural limit of human life, but it was evident that his iron const.i.tution had been overtasked and that he needed rest. The retirement and rest came too late. His health gradually failed until Oct. 5, 1871, when he closed his eyes upon the scenes of earth. His funeral, conducted from the Universalist church, of which he was a member, was one of the largest ever held in the State. Citizens of all parties and cla.s.ses, the masonic and other social and civil bodies combined in paying the last tribute of respect to one who for fifteen years had been the most active, best known and most respected of their number.

ALFRED ELISHA AMES, M.D., was born at Colchester, Vermont, Dec. 13, 1814. He was the oldest son of Billy and Phebe (Baker) Ames, whose ancestors were early colonists from England. Alfred E. commenced the study of medicine in 1832. He occasionally taught school and worked at his trade of brickmason. He also varied his labors by publishing an arithmetic. He came West in 1838, locating first at Springfield, Illinois; concluded his medical studies at Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1845. Before leaving Illinois he was elected to the state senate. In 1851 he came to St. Anthony Falls, made a claim, and entered into partnership with Dr. J. H. Murphy. In 1852 he served as surgeon at Fort Snelling, and in 1853 was elected to the territorial legislature as a member of the house. In 1854 he was elected probate judge; in 1857 member of the Democratic wing of the const.i.tutional convention, and in 1860 became a member of the state normal board.

During the remainder of his life he devoted himself to the practice of medicine, but also served the public in many positions of trust. He died Dec. 24, 1874. His wife and five children survive him.

ALBERT ALONZO AMES, son of Dr. A. E. and Martha (Pratt) Ames, was born at Garden Prairie, Illinois, Jan. 18, 1842. He received a high school education at Minneapolis, studied medicine at Rush Medical College, Chicago, and graduated February, 1862. In August, 1863, he enlisted in the Ninth Minnesota Volunteers, but shortly after was commissioned a.s.sistant surgeon of the Seventh Minnesota Volunteers. He served for awhile in the Indian campaigns. In the fall of 1863 the regiment was ordered South. In July, 1864, he was commissioned as surgeon of the Seventh regiment in place of Dr. L. B. Smith, killed at Tupelo. He was mustered out of service at the close of the war with an excellent record as a physician and surgeon. After the war he devoted himself to the practice of his profession and to public services in Minneapolis, excepting a period of six years spent in editorial life in California, first on the staff of the _Daily Times_, and later as managing editor of the _Alta Californian_. At the death of his father, in 1874, he returned to Minneapolis and resumed practice. He has filled the following positions of trust: 1867, member of the Minnesota legislature (house); 1875, member of the city council; 1876, mayor of Minneapolis; 1877, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor (not elected); 1886, Democratic candidate for governor (not elected); 1886-87-88, again mayor of Minneapolis. Dr. Ames is a member of such prominent fraternities as the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Druids, Knights of Pythias, and Order of Elks.

Dr. Ames was married April 21, 1862, to Sarah, daughter of Capt.

Richard Strout, of Minneapolis.

JESSE AMES was born in Vinalhaven, Maine, Feb. 4, 1808. From the age of fourteen till his retirement in 1861, Mr. Ames devoted himself to a seafaring life. At the age of twenty-three he was captain of a schooner, and afterward of different ships, brigs, barks or schooners, all of them in the mercantile trade. He made between twenty and thirty voyages to Europe, circ.u.mnavigated Cape Horn several times, and sailed twice round the globe. Few men have seen more of the world. His last voyage was from New Zealand to London, where he sold his ship, and, coming to America, found him a beautiful home in the North Star State.

He is a resident of Northfield, and is, with his son John T., the owner of the well known flouring mills at that place. He was married Oct. 27, 1832, to Margaret Tolman, of Rockland, Maine. They have two sons, one of whom, John T., is a resident of Northfield. The other son, Adelbert A., won distinction during the Civil War, leaving the service with the brevet rank of major general. Since the war he has served as senator from Mississippi, and as governor of that state.

CADWALLADER C. WASHBURN.--Hon. C. C. Washburn was a man of rare n.o.bility of character and possessed of an acute and powerful mind. He used his great talents for the good of the country. He was a man of philanthropic impulses and great generosity, as the following munificent gifts to the public will attest:

_First_--To the state of Wisconsin, in 1876, an astronomical observatory, located on the university lands at Madison, in style of architecture and apparatus to carry into execution the design of the inst.i.tution, equal, if not superior, to that of any like inst.i.tution in the world.

_Second_--The donation of his "Edgewood Home," near Madison, Wisconsin, for educational purposes.

_Third_--The generously established school located on the sh.o.r.es of Lake Harriet, near Minneapolis, "The Washburn Home for Orphans," for the poor and unfortunate children of Minnesota.

Mr. Washburn was born in Livermore, Maine, April 22, 1818; lived at home until 1838, and devoted some time to obtaining a cla.s.sical education. In 1838 and 1839 he taught school and clerked in Hallowell and Wisca.s.sett, Maine. In the spring of 1839 he came West to Davenport, Iowa, and was employed a few months with David Dale Owen, on geological work. In 1840 and 1841 he studied law at Rock Island.

Illinois. In 1842 he settled in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and was admitted to practice law at Lancaster, Grant county, in Judge Dunn's court. He continued in practice at Mineral Point; also engaged in real estate and dealing in land warrants, and in 1852 established the Bank of Mineral Point. Mr. Washburn was elected representative to the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and fortieth congresses. In February, 1861, the house appointed a special committee of thirty-three members on the state of the Union. A majority of the committee reported an amendment to the const.i.tution of the United States, making slavery perpetual. Mr. Washburn and others made a minority report against making slavery perpetual. On this report we subjoin his remarks: "If this Union must be dissolved, whether by peaceable process or through fire and blood or civil war, we shall have the consolation of knowing that when the conflict is over those who survive will be what they never have been--inhabitants of a free country." Mr. Washburn changed his residence to La Crosse in 1861. He received a colonel's commission to recruit a cavalry regiment that year, and subsequently was promoted to the rank of brigadier general.