Fifty Years In The Northwest
six years as county treasurer, and has since been engaged in lumbering
and selling goods under the firm name of Bronson & Folsom. He was
married Oct. 12, 1872, to Frances E. Staples.
JOHN B. H. MITCHELL.--The ancestors of Mr. Mitchell were Revolutionary
patriots, originally Scotch covenanters, who settled in North
Carolina, but who in after years freed their slaves and came to the
Northern States. Mr. Mitchell was born Nov. 26, 1820, in Monroe
county, Kentucky. His education was obtained chiefly in the printing
office of H. H. Houghton, of Galena, Illinois. He came to St. Paul in
1852, and was employed two years in the _Pioneer_ printing office. In
1854, in company with T. M. Newson and others, he published the St.
Paul _Daily Times_. In 1855 he located on a farm near South
Stillwater. During the early part of the Civil War he was in
Nashville, Tennessee, and reported proceedings of secession
conventions to northern papers. In 1863 he was elected a member of the
Minnesota legislature. Mr. Mitchell has filled other offices of trust.
He was married in 1850 to Mariana B. Fiske, a daughter of David Fiske,
of Baytown.
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,