Fifty Years In The Northwest

Joseph Schupp was born in Baden, Germany, in 1831; received a college and general business education and came to America in 1852, locating first at Buffalo, New York, and thence at Toledo, Ohio, whence he removed to Stillwater in 1858, and engaged in the mercantile business. Commencing moderately, he extended his operations and now owns several buildings and blocks, and conducts a heavy wholesale trade. He was married in 1855 to Mary Fuller, of Toledo, Ohio. They have three sons living, Joseph A., Thomas O. A. and Frank.

Clifford A. Bennett was born in Portage county, Ohio, Sept. 7, 1841. He received a common school and collegiate education. He attended Hiram College during the time that President James A. Garfield presided over it. April 24, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. He was subsequently promoted to the staff of Gen. W. D. Hazen and served until mustered out at the close of the war. He came to Illinois in 1865, read law and was admitted to practice in 1867; came to Stillwater in 1868, and for ten years was in the office of the surveyor general. In 1878 he was elected clerk of court.

Samuel Mathews was born in New Brunswick, July 7, 1832. His opportunities for schooling were limited, and he is practically self educated. He came to Stillwater in October, 1856, since which time he has been engaged in lumbering, dealing in pine lands and in the mercantile business. He is a member of the firm of Mathews & Jourdain, and has been quite successful in his business undertakings. Mr. Mathews has been called upon to fill many positions of trust. He has served over twenty-five years as manager, receiving and disbursing agent of the Stillwater fire department. He served four years as mayor of Stillwater, was county commissioner for twelve years, and for many years director in the First National Bank of Stillwater. He was married to Elisabeth Foley in 1867. Their children are Samuel, Thomas, James, Mollie, Adie, Stella, and May.

John and James Mathews, brothers of Samuel, came to Stillwater in 1856, and are active, enterprising business men and good citizens. Their business is farming and lumbering.

Peter Jourdain is a native of Canada. He came to Stillwater about the year 1856, and successfully engaged in lumbering. He is a member of the firm of Mathews & Jourdain, a firm engaged in dealing in logs and in manufacturing them into lumber. Mr. Jourdain has a family.

James Rooney was born in New Richmond, Canada East, in 1829. He remained in Canada until 1850, when he removed to Maine, coming thence to Stillwater in 1854. He engaged in lumbering, working at first by the month, and gradually acquiring means and influence for independent work. He is well situated, has a happy home and prosperous business. He was married to Elisabeth McGuire, of Stillwater, in 1863. They have five children.

James N. Castle is a native of Sheffield, Sheffield county, province of Quebec. He received a common school education; read law four years and was admitted to practice. He came to Minnesota in 1862, and taught school part of the time at Afton until 1865, when he was elected county attorney of Washington county. Mr. Castle served as state senator in the eleventh, twelfth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third and twenty-fourth legislatures of Minnesota. He settled in Stillwater in 1866.

Abraham L. Gallespie was born at Shiloh, Randolph county, Illinois, in 1836. He came to Osceola, Polk county, Wisconsin, in 1850. In 1859 he moved to Stillwater, since which time, with the exception of a year spent in Colorado, and two years in the army as a member of Company D, Second Wisconsin Cavalry, he has followed the business of lumbering and dealing in logs. He has filled the position of alderman in Stillwater. He was married to Adelia F. Wilson, of Osceola, in 1860.

John C. Gardiner came to Stillwater in 1850, from Washington county, Maine. He was born Jan. 5, 1822. On coming to Stillwater he located on a homestead near the city, and followed farming and lumbering for some years. In 1873 he was appointed prison guard, which position he held until a recent date. In 1845 he was married to Mary R. Jackman, in Maine. They have two sons living, Frederic and Albert L. Mrs. Gardiner died in August, 1887.

V. C. Seward was born July 10, 1845, at Laketon, Wabash county, Indiana. He came to Mankato at the age of ten, served an apprenticeship at printing in the office of the Mankato Independent, subsequently attended the Western Reserve College, Ohio; and then became editor of the Cleveland (Ohio) Leader. He returned to Minnesota in 1869, and founded the Redwood Falls Mail. In 1872 he came to Stillwater and purchased the Stillwater Messenger in company with S. S. Taylor. He has had entire control continuously since, and has been successful in its management. He was married to Lily M. Lumbard, at Shakopee, Minnesota, in 1873.

Ralph Wheeler, one of Stillwater's early citizens, commenced piloting an the St. Croix in 1850, and has been continuously engaged in the piloting, steamboating, log and lumber business since. He is one of the original proprietors of the opera house. He was born in Chautauqua county, New York, in 1829. W. H. H. Wheeler, brother of Ralph, has long been a prominent citizen of Stillwater. He married Lura, daughter of Daniel Mears, of Osceola.

Edward Scott Brown, of the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, was born Feb. 9, 1830, at Orono, Maine. He received a good education in the common schools and at Foxcroft Academy. He learned the trade of millwright, and in 1852 went to Puget Sound, Washington Territory, via Panama and San Francisco, and was employed two years in building mills. He returned to Orono in 1854, and in 1855 came to St. Anthony, Minnesota, and engaged in the manufacturing and millwright business. He came to Stillwater in 1873, entered the firm of Hersey, Bean & Brown, and in 1883 was appointed receiver of the Northwestern Car Works. Mr. Brown represented his district in the state senate of 1876.

William Lowell was born in Concord, Maine, April 26, 1807. Mr. Lowell was raised on a farm, but followed lumbering after he was twenty-one years old, with the Coburns on the Kennebec river, and afterward took a vessel around Cape Horn to San Francisco, California, with a cargo of manufactured lumber, consisting of ready made houses. He returned in 1850 by the overland route. Two years later he came to Taylor's Falls, but in 1853 settled in Stillwater, where he engaged in lumbering as a partner of S. M. Sawyer. He made a fine farm in Sterling, Polk county, Wisconsin, and lived upon it three years. He was interested in locating pine lands in company with the Colburns of Maine, on the St. Croix waters. He was a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1870. He was married in Concord, Maine, in 1836, to Rhoda Heald. She died in 1842, leaving two daughters. In 1856 he was married to Mrs. Elisabeth Rich, sister of Isaac Staples. Mr. Lowell died in Stillwater, July 15, 1873, leaving a widow and four children.

Albert Lowell was born at Concord, Maine, July 10, 1819. He was married Feb. 5, 1850, to Miss Abby Reed, at Kendall's Mills, Maine. From this union there were four children, of whom three are living, Elmore, Charles G. and Ernest. Mr. Lowell spent his early days in farming on the banks of the Kennebec river. In 1854 he came to Stillwater and settled on a farm near Lily lake, a portion of which farm is now used as a driving park. May 19, 1863, he took charge of the noted Sawyer House in Stillwater, which he afterward purchased. Himself, Mrs. Lowell and their son Elmore have by their invariable courtesy and close attention to business made this hotel one of the most popular in the State. They sold and left the hotel, December, 1887.

Nelson Holmes Van Voorhes, eldest son of Abraham Van Voorhes, settled in Ohio and became a respected and useful citizen, at one time representing his district in Congress.

Andrew Jackson Van Voorhes, the second son, born June 30, 1824, came to Stillwater in 1855, and in 1856 founded the Stillwater Messenger and conducted it until 1868, excepting two years which he spent in the army during the Civil War. He was a member of the Minnesota legislature in 1859-60, and served as clerk of the Minnesota supreme court for one year. From 1863 to 1865 he served as quartermaster in the army, with the rank of captain. He died in Stillwater in 1873.

Henry Clay Van Voorhes, the youngest son, was born in Athens, Ohio, in 1839, and came with his father to Stillwater in 1850. During the war he was a member of Company B, First Minnesota Volunteers, for about eighteen months, when he was discharged for disabilities. He afterward returned to the field with his brother, Capt. A. J. Van Voorhes, but was not on active duty. At the close of the war he returned to Stillwater, which has since been his home. He was married at Arcola, Feb. 9, 1868, to Emily Mower, daughter of John E. and Gracia Mower. In 1887 he went to Alaska.

Louisa, eldest daughter of Abraham Van Voorhes, was married to C. A. Bromley. She died in 18 – . Maria, the youngest daughter, was married to D. H. Cutler, of Stillwater.

C. A. Bromley was born in Plattsburg, New York, Oct. 31, 1829. He came to Minnesota in 1851. He erected a fine livery and sale stable on Chestnut street in 1863. Mr. Bromley served in the war of the Rebellion as captain of Company B, First Minnesota, and afterward of Company I, Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He was married to Louisa Van Voorhes, who died some years ago. He was married a second time, to a Miss King.

Charles J. Butler was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 6, 1822. He was educated at the Western University of Pennsylvania. He removed to St. Louis in 1839, where he remained for ten years. He was married to Margaret E. Lansing, of Madison, Wisconsin, in May, 1846. The following July he went as paymaster's clerk, under his father, Maj. John B. Butler, to Mexico, in the Chihuahua expedition, commanded by Gen. John E. Wool. Returning to St. Louis, he engaged in the wholesale grocery business until the spring of 1849, when he disposed of his stock and went to California, where he engaged in mining operations. In August, 1851, he came to Marine as book-keeper for Judd, Walker & Co., remaining with them until he was appointed secretary of the St. Croix Boom Company, which position he held until 1875. In 1856 he removed to Stillwater. In 1857 he was elected delegate to the constitutional convention. He served one term as mayor of Stillwater. In 1862 he served as first lieutenant under David Bronson as captain, and with S. J. R. McMillan as second lieutenant, in the Chengwatana expedition sent from Stillwater to prevent the Chippewas from rising and joining in the Sioux insurrection. He purchased the Nelson warehouse, and, with Capt. Isaac Gray as partner, engaged in the towboat business until 1878. Of late years Mr. Butler has been engaged in business ventures in Western Minnesota, but he still retains his residence at Stillwater. Mr. Butler has always been a lover of field sports and his prowess as a sportsman is well remembered by his old friends. He has four children – two sons and two daughters.

Levi E. Thompson was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, May 5, 1829; educated at Troy Wesleyan Seminary, New York; commenced studying law at the age of fourteen; was admitted to practice by the supreme court at the age of twenty, and, coming to Stillwater in 1852, commenced practice, having associated with him at various times T. E. Parker, Allen Dawson and John Vanderburgh. He was married, October, 1856, to Martha G. Harris, daughter of Albert Harris, an early settler of Stillwater. Mr. Thompson died Nov. 8, 1887.

George Davis was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, Sept. 22, 1832. He received a good school and academic education. He removed to St. Louis in 1852, and to Stillwater in 1853, where he served some years as a mercantile clerk, then as deputy sheriff, then ten years as sheriff of Washington county. He also served as clerk of the district court, and in 1876 as county auditor. In 1865 he was married to Georgiana Stanchfield, of Stillwater. Mr. Davis died in 1879 and Mrs. Davis in 1882, leaving five children.

Wm. Monroe McCluer was born Sept. 6, 1831, in Franklinville, New York. He graduated from Temple Hill Academy, Geneseo, New York, in 1850; studied law in Moscow, New York; graduated at the State and National Law School at Poughkeepsie in 1854, and, removing to Stillwater the same year, engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he has been eminently successful. In November, 1881, he was appointed additional judge for the First district, an office created by the legislature at its special session. Judge McCluer served one term in the house of representatives. He was married to Helen A. Jencks, of Waterford, Saratoga county, New York, Sept. 27, 1858. They have one son, Charles M., practicing law in Stillwater.

John Nicholas Ahl was born at Strasburg on the Rhine, Oct. 7, 1807. After seven years' study he was graduated as a physician at Strasburg Medical College in 1839. He emigrated to America and located in Galena, Illinois, in 1843, where he practiced medicine some years. He was married in 1846 to Lucretia Hartman. In 1850 he removed to Stillwater. In 1852 he built the Washington Hotel (afterward changed to Liberty House), on south Main street. He practiced medicine and followed lumbering and hotel keeping in Stillwater until his death, which occurred in 1878.

Samuel M. Register is a native of Dover, Delaware. He is of French descent, and some of his ancestors took part in the Revolutionary War. He was born in 1827, and came to Stillwater in 1850, where he engaged actively in business, dealing in lumber and pine lands, piloting, steamboating and farming. He was at one time a member of the city council, and a representative in the territorial legislature of 1854-5. He was married to Minerva Causlin in 1856.

J. A. Johnson was born near the city of Wexio, Sweden, April 24, 1842. In 1854 he emigrated with his parents to the United States, arriving at Marine Mills, Washington county, Minnesota late in the fall of that year. He remained at Marine and Stillwater till 1858, attending school a large portion of the time. In the fall of that year he went to school at Dubuque, Iowa. After completing the course of study he learned the trade of locomotive engineer, which occupation he followed till 1866, being in the employ of the United States government the last years of the war, in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. After the close of the war, in 1865, he returned north as far as St. Louis, Missouri, where he married Miss Agnes A. Coler, of that city. He has 5 children, 3 boys and 2 girls. His health having been impaired in the government service, he returned to Marine in 1866, where he remained till Jan. 1, 1874. In the fall of 1873 he was elected to the office of sheriff of Washington county, which position he held for six years, and has been twice re-elected without opposition. Retiring from the sheriff's office in 1880, he removed to Fargo, Dakota, and engaged in the sale of agricultural implements, in which business he has remained up to the present time.

During his residence in the city of Fargo he has held various offices, such as alderman, member of the board of education, etc. In the fall of 1884 he was nominated for the territorial senate and received a majority of 1,133 votes in Cass county, and 835 out of a total of 1,669 in the city of Fargo. In the spring of 1885 he was elected mayor of Fargo by over 300 majority, after one of the most hotly contested campaigns in the political history of the city. In 1886 he declined a re-election. While sheriff of Washington county he devoted his leisure moments to the study of law, and was admitted to practice in all the courts of Minnesota. Although not in active practice his knowledge of law has been of great value to him in the business in which he has been engaged since that time.

Gold T. Curtis was born in Morrisville, New York, Aug. 16, 1821. At the age of eighteen he graduated at Hamilton College, New York, and entered upon the study of law with Judge Morrill, Chenango county, New York. He commenced practicing law at Belleville, New York, in 1850. During the same year he was married to Abigail Anderson, a descendant of Gen. John Stark, of Revolutionary fame, and of the Protestant branch of the royal house of the Stuarts, some of whom came from Scotland to America in 1742. Mrs. Curtis is a lineal descendant of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. Mr. Curtis removed to Stillwater in 1854 and entered upon a lucrative law practice. He was elected a member of the Minnesota constitutional convention. In 1857 he was also nominated for the position of district judge, but was defeated by S. J. R. McMillan. He was much respected and held some offices of trust in the city and county. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in Company I, Fifth Minnesota, and was promoted to the captaincy of the company, but his health failed and he died in St. Louis July 24, 1862. His remains were brought to Stillwater and interred with military and masonic honors, Aug. 2, 1862.

Harley D. Curtis, a native of New York and a brother of Gold T. Curtis, came to Stillwater in 1851. He held the positions of postmaster and justice of the peace.

Francis Roach Delano. – The ancestors of Mr. Delano came to America in 1621, and were active participants in the stirring scenes and controversies preceding the Revolution. Francis Roach, after whom Mr. Delano was named, was the owner of the ship Dartmouth, one of the vessels out of which the tea was cast into Boston harbor, on the memorable occasion of the Tea Party of 1774. Notwithstanding the affair of the tea, the family, who were ardent patriots, have preserved as a precious relic some of the tea rescued from the general destruction.

Mr. Delano is one of sixteen children in his father's family. He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Nov. 20, 1823; received a common school and academic education, and was employed in a machine shop some years. At the age of twenty he was employed in an engineering corps and served two years. He was for two years superintendent of the Boston & Worcester railroad. In 1844 he came to St. Louis, Missouri, and was variously employed until 1848, when he removed to Minnesota and was engaged for a year in St. Anthony (now Minneapolis), in running the government mill. The mill had been leased for five years. Mr. Smith fulfilled the contract, and Mr. Delano, being released from it, came to Stillwater in 1851 and entered into contract with Jesse Taylor, Martin Mower, Jonathan E. McKusick, and Jacob Fisher, under the firm name of Jesse Taylor & Co., to build the territorial prison. Mr. Delano was appointed first warden, March, 1853, and served until 1858. He was intrusted with the expenditure of public moneys from territorial authorities, in caring for and improving the prison. When the state government was organized he was released. He was afterward a member of the firm of Delano, McKusick & Co., sawing and selling lumber. J. E. McKusick and Robert Simpson were members of this firm. Mr. Delano moved to St. Paul in 1862, and was afterward engaged in railroad employment. In 1862 he was commissioned colonel to take command of five companies during the Indian outbreak. The command was stationed at Chengwatana, Pine county. He died February, 1887. He was married Oct. 11, 1846, to Calista Ann Cavander, who, with two sons, survives him.

Henry W. Cannon was born in Delhi, New York, Sept. 25, 1852. He was educated at Delaware Literary Institute. He came to St. Paul in 1870, and in 1871 to Stillwater, where he accepted the position of cashier of the Stillwater Lumberman's Bank. In 1882 he was appointed by President Arthur United States bank comptroller. He was removed by President Cleveland. He is now a resident of New York City, and is engaged in banking.

Dwight M. Sabin was born at Marseilles, La Salle county, Illinois, April 25, 1843. The ill health of the father, who was an extensive land owner and stock raiser, necessitated a removal to the seaside in Connecticut in 1856. In consequence of the continued ill health of the father and his death in 1864, young Dwight was deprived of the thorough education to which he aspired, and, being the oldest son, found the cares and responsibilities of managing his father's business thrown upon his shoulders while he was yet a boy. In 1867 he removed with his mother and younger brother to Minnesota, the year following to Stillwater, where he engaged in business with the firm of Seymour, Sabin & Co. This firm contracted for the convict labor in the state prison, and engaged in the manufacture of doors, sash, blinds and cooperage. The business in 1874 was extended and made to include the manufacture of agricultural implements, including also a machine, boiler shop and foundry, until it is now one of the most extensive establishments in the country.

Mr. Sabin is also interested in other manufactures, among them the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company and the Duluth Iron Company. In 1882 Mr. Sabin was the prime organizer of the Northwestern Car Company, with a capital of $5,000,000. The company was to receive a bonus from the city of Stillwater of $100,000 in bonds, on certain conditions. The company purchased the interests of Seymour, Sabin & Co., thereby coming into possession of their immense manufactories, including those managed under the prison contracts, and elected Mr. Sabin president, and was making rapid progress toward the completion of its plans, when, owing to the stringency of the financial world, it was compelled to make an assignment.

While Mr. Sabin has been busy with the management of his vast manufacturing establishments, he has been no less active and conspicuous as a public spirited citizen, ever taking a great interest in the affairs of his adopted city, of the State and country at large, and his talents and efficiency have been recognized by his fellow citizens, who elected him to the state senate in 1871-72-73, and to the house of representatives in 1878 and 1881. He has several times been a delegate to the National Republican convention, and was chairman of the convention at which James G. Blaine was nominated for the presidency. He was elected to the United States senate in 1883 as the successor of Hon. Wm. Windom.