St. Paul was Iniilt, and the stone arch bridge "*' water lrans|)ortation in lyo/ and the near
over the [Mississippi, directly below the completion of the locks in the [Mississippi
h'alls of St. .\nthonv, commenced. The 'â– '^'^''' .!""â– ' below Minneapolis suggest a re-
liriilge and the Lnion passenger station ^'^'i' "' ri\er traffic and perhaps a large
were completed in l88> amount of ri\er and canal improsenient for
At the sanie time great changes in termi- ''"' ""rthwest in future years,
nal facilities for handling freight were going Another new element is the electric rail-
on. During the eighties the Xorthern Pa- ^^'^X- "bich is just lieginning t.i appear as
cirie built model freight liouscs and yards •' f^'^"'"'" i" the situation. 'I'he |irogress of
and constructed its own line between tlie electric railway construction in the east
cities. Prolonged litigation lietwcen the ^n.U.^es'.s that there must be a large mileage
city and the .Minneapolis & St. Louis and "' ^i"-''" '•'i'-"^ "' '"'''iftu" K"t of Minneap(dis
(ireat Norllurn companies ended in an ad- \\ ilbin a short time.
jnslmeni, which le<l lo the lowering of the X'ol witlist;inding the vast aniotnif of i'\-
tracks of ihese eom|ianies .along I'ourtli inuililure for terminals and c(|uipnienl both
a\enne iiorili, the consirnclion of Iiighw;iy •"■''' ""^'' o\erlaxed and great additions nuist
bridge's and the building of ,i(lei|uate freight- '"-' '"■"''■'" '''^' "^■•"' ln"""^' *" ade(|ualely
houses. The Great Northern has also ex- ^"â– "â– '' ''"'' ''"' constantly growing traffic in
pended large sums in enl.irging its general •'"'' ""' "' ''"•' ^''^>'-
\ai-d terniin.-ils and llu- building of ele\a-
tors. W hen the Soo line was hnilt it esfab- HKKCKI'.. Ole I'.. pi-nmiiK-ntly i.Knliiir,! with
,•.,,• , I , , ■, . Ilie lran>iH>rlati( pii Imsincss of tlu- Xiirtluvest lor
nsliei extensive sIuiijs, but not nnld recent- • .• c wr- • i- i t
. ' • ii'.vin ni.-my years, is a native of Winnishiclc. towa,
Iv did It secure its own freight terminals. where he was honi on March 25, 1S62, the .son
Within ;t few years millions have been siient "l' .Xndrew ami Anna Brccke. Hi.s parents were
b\ the Wisconsin Central, the Great West- Iowa pioneers. 'I'hey settled in Iowa in 1847 and
r.,-,, 1I, T .1. T .1„ , 1 (1 c 1 .1 \' liecanie prosperous in a iirosperous farniinp: corn-
el n, t he Kock I slam!, the Soo and be Xorth- ' , ',., , C, • , 7i ,1
innnitv. I'ntil he was thirteen years old the
western m miDroving ;ind enlargnig their ^,,„ ]j\^,,| ^j,!, i,is parents on the farm, atlend-
terminal fat'ililies. in^; the local schools. He then entere<l l.iither
^y/t/n I yui^ <^'2xruyyJ^
472
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
College at Decorah. Iowa, and graduated in 1881
witli llu- ilegne of H. A. He afterwards took
a post graduate course in the University of Min-
nesota. After completing his education In- en-
tered business in Minneapolis, and for the past
fourteen years has been engaged in transporta-
tion affairs as agent of ocean steamship lines,
i'or len years he was Northwestern passenger
agent of the White Star Line, and for the last
four years has occupied the same relation to the
"International Mercantile Marine Company,"
which includes the White Star Line, the .A.meri-
caii Line, the Red Star Line, the Atlantic Trans-
jiorl Line, the Dominion Line, tlie Leyland I, inc.
.and the lTolland-.\mcrican Line. Mr. Breckc's
territory covers Northwestern Wisconsin and
.Michigan north of the Soo Line to the Soo. Min-
nesota, tile Dakotas. Montana, Idaho. Washing-
ton and Ore.gon. .-Xs an enormous amount of
liassenger trattic originates in this great regi(Ui.
tlie cNteiit of bis business may be guessed. Mr.
llricke belongs to the Lutlieran church. He is
ni.'irried and has four cliiblren.
CLAWSON. Charles A., was born April 14,
iS.^9, in Denmark. son of Christian Clawson.
lie graduated from one of the excellent Danish
high schools (the educational system in Den-
mark is compulsnry and the whole grammcr
school system i> under the control of the Uni-
versity of Copenlia^;en ) ami took a course in a
business college at llartl.iinl. Wisconsin, where
the family had settled, and upon the breaking
out of the Civil War in .'\pril, 1861. he enlisted
in the L^nion .\riny in Company K., Second
Wisconsin Inf.antry :mil :ilso served in Company
.\., First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery and was
discharged July 12, 1864, as a non-commissioned
otificer. Later he received a captain's commission
in the Fifty-second Wisconsin, but. the war end-
ing, he (lid niit nnisti-r. He was also a charter
member nf Jojin ,\, Rawlins Post. G. .-K. R. He
enlered llie r.iilniad business with tlie Chicago,
,\liK\,inkee c'<; Si. I'.iul K, K . .iiid, ill i.SoS and
i8(i(). was .a sliipping elerk on iliat roail in .\liiiiie-
.•ipcdis. and from 1872, uiiul bis death in I )eeeniber.
191)7. was connnercial agent for the Pennsylvani.i
lines west of I'ittslnn'gb. Mr. Clawson was a Fast
Crand Vice Chancellor of the K. of P.; Pa.st IVii
('.rand .Master, .\. () ['. VV. : Past Commander. C
.\, R.: and P.asi (.r.nid Cuide of the Knights of
liiinor. He w Is .1 iiieiiilu r nt (iethscmane Episcopal
clinrcli. He ^\a^ inarrieil in 1865 and has iw 1
children.
D.WIiCL.S. I'ranc rjiirehanl, superintendent
of the .Minnesota division of the .\merican I'.n-
press Company, was born at Cayuga, New ^'ork.
M.iy 8, 1848. He was the son of John Horton
l)aniels ami Frances Louisa Daniels and spent
the early years of his life on his father's farm at
Cayuga, coming west with the family when live
years old. His father, .\lr. Jno. H. Daniels, be
came later a banker and coal operator in centr.il
Illinois making- his home at Wilmington. He
was a member of the Illinois legislature which
was called in special session to vote funds to re-
lieve the sufferers from the Chicago fire and he
was also in the legislature which elected John A.
Logan Ignited States senator. The son attended
school at Wilmington until 1863 and at Grand
Rapids, Michigan, preparing for college during
the next four years. In 1867 he entered Hamilton
College at Clinton, New York, and in 1871 grad-
uated from this institution. His first employment
by the American Express Company was in 1874,
when he became clerk in the supply department
at Chicago. Seven years later he was appointed
cashier at the St. Paul office and tw'O years after-
wards, in i88j, was made agent at Minneapolis.
In i8go he was appointed general agent at Min-
neapolis and in 1893 superintendent of the Min-
nesota division of the American Express Com-
pany, a position which he still fills. His business
headquarters are now at St. Paul, but he has lived
in Minneapolis continuously for the past twenty-
five years. In politics Mr. Daniels is a republican.
He was married in 1886 to Miss Florence L.
Farrington, of Minneapolis. They have three
sons, Farrington D.aniels, Franc P. Daniels and
J. Horton Daniels. The family attends the West-
minster Presbyterian Church.
I LATHAW-A-Y, William L., district passenger
agent of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail-
way, was born at Pepperel. Massachusetts, March
4, 1855, the son of .Arthur and Mary .\. (Rar-
th(domew) Hathaway. He attended the public
schools of Boston and Somerville. Massachu-
setts. He began business as a bookkeeper, and
after live years as salesman for a Boston c^m-
cern, commenced railroading in 1879 as clerk for
the Boston & Maine Railway, at Boston. In 1S82
he came West and obtained employment as clerk
in the construction department in the Northern
Pacific Rail\\,i\ .\fler .about a year in ibis po-
sition be Willi to the old St. Paul, Minneapolis
& M.iniloba Railroad, and in 1884 commenced a
leiiii of lweiil\ years' service as city ticket agent
in .\l iiiiieaiiiilis for llie Minneapolis & St. Louis
Railw.iv 111 11)03 he bee.iiue ticket agent for the
ChieaKo, IxMck Island & Pacific Railway, and in
ii)04 w.is iii.ide its district passenger agent, with
heaihiuarteis .il Minneapolis. Air. Hathaway is
.1 .Mason .Old I )<hl b'ellow and a member of the
Royal .\reaiiiiiii In polities he is a republican
and he is a iiieniher of the Congregational church
anil the Congregational Club of Minnes.it.i In
.M.ay. 1879. he was m.arried to Miss .\iina I),
W.alson, They li.i\e one son, Willi. 1111 .\ Hath
,iw .cy.
IIL'I'A. George Taylor, assistant general
freight .agent of the Wisconsin Central Railway,
is a native of Minneapolis. His father, George
E. Huey. c.iiiie west from New York state in
1851 and located in .Minneapolis in 1853 engaging
ill liiiiibeiiiii; .Old sawing the first lumber ever
jModiiced on the west side at the b'alls of .St.
TRANSPORTATION
473
Anthony. He afterwards engaged in Hour mill-
ing and served the village and county in various
public capacities, such as justice of the peace and
register of deeds, and took a prominent part in
the development of tlie young town in those
pioneer days. George T., the oldest in a family of
five sons, was l)(irn nn March 12. 1^5(1. His
education was in the public scliools of .Minne-
apolis and the University 'if Minnesota, .\ftcr
leaving school he entered the employ of the
pioneer dry goods firm of G. W. Hale & Co.,
serving as cashier, clerk and bookkeeper from
1876 to 1879 when he determined to make rail-
roading his work and obtained employment with
the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad. He filled
successively the positions of clerk in the audi-
tor's ofifice, freight clerk in the same office in
charge of joint freight accounts, traveling auditor
and chief clerk in the local freight office.
On January 20, 1885 he went with the Wisconsin
Central Railroad then just entering Minneapolis
serving first as contracting freight agent and
afterwards as nortluvestern freight agent. In
1901 he was made general northwestern agent
of the Wisconsin Central system and on June i.
1903 became assistant general freight agent at
iNIinneapoHs. In the twenty-two years of his
connection with the Wisconsin Central tl\at com-
pany's business has grown to large dimensions
and extensive terminal facilities have been ac-
Cjuired in Minneapolis. Througli his large ac-
quaintance, general knowledge of the northwest-
ern field and thorough training in railroad busi-
ness Mr. Hucy has become prominent and in-
fluential in railroad circles. He was married on
Oct. 30. 18S4 to Miss Klla A. Swett and has two
sons, George Owen and Harold G. Tlie family
attends the Episcopal church. .Mr. 1 1 uey does
not take an active i)art in politics and is inde-
pendent in his political beliefs. He belongs to
the Minneapolis Commercial Club and is a
.MaMin. a member of I'.lue I^odge, Chapter and
Cipinni;nidary ;inil the .Scntti^Ii Rite of the 32d de-
J.\k\'lS, Peter Robinson, agent of the I.ehigh
Valley Railroad Company and the Lehigh Valley
Transportation Company in this city, is a native
of Canada, having been born at Stratford, On-
tario, Canada. He is the son of P. R. Jarvis,
Sr.. a merchant of Stratford, where Peter Rob-
in>iin. Jr.. passed the years of his boyhood and
received his education. He attended the gram-
mar schools of the city and later entered and
graduated from the Stratford high schoi>l. He
did not desire to take up a profession, so entered
upon a business career and soon became con-
nected with the railroad business, in which he
has been interested up to the present time. His
first position was with the Grand Trunk Railroad
and later was for some time in the employ of the
Fitchburg Railroad, Boston, Massachusetts. Mov-
ing to Buffalo, New York, he accepted a place
with the Traders' Despatch Fast F'reight Line.
In 18S5 he moved to this city, and has since
resided here, Iioldin.g the oflice of Northwestern
agent for the Lehigh Valley Transportation Com-
pany and Lehigh V'alley Railroad Company, as
mentioned above. Mr. Jarvis' interests have been
principally directed toward the railroad business,
and almost his entire time devoted to the dis-
charge of his official duties. I-'or five years, from
1894 to i8gg, Mr. Jarvis was a member of Com-
Ijany I, First Regiment, Minnesota National
Guard. He is a member of the Minneapolis Com-
mercial Club, of the .Minikahda Club and belongs
to the B. P. O. v.. On June .i. 1S93. he was
married to Miss Grace K. Moses, and they have
four children, three daughters, Marion, Zeta, Lor-
raine, and a son, .\lfred.
LOOM IS. Louis N., is descended from one of
the old New England families, whose ancestors
were among the early colonial settlers, and whose
name has long been among the respected and
l)ul)lic-spirited citizens of Connecticut. The first
npresentative of the lineage, Joseph Loomis,
came to the Colonies in 1634 and four years
later Icjcatcd at Windsor. Connecticut, and twelve
vears later erected in that town the old Loomis
homestead. This house, built in 1650, is yet
standing and is one of the landmarks and points
of interest in Connecticut. It was recently deed-
ed to the Loomis Institute of -Windsor and at
474
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the present time is in the care of that organiza-
tion. From Joseph Looniis was descended
Horace E. Looniis, father of Louis X., who came
to Minnesota with the pioneers of the state, set-
tling in F.Imira township, and later opening a
shop at Chatficld commenced to deal in harness.
His son was born in Elmira township on Novem-
lior ly. 1857. He received his education at Chat-
tleld, Minnesota, where he attended the public
grammar and high school. He did not attend
college but for a time studied law and in 1886
was admitted to the bar in South Dakota.
Though he had no intention of following the
legal profession as a permanent calling, he prac-
ticed for a time and achieved considerable suc-
cess as a lawyer. .\ commercial career, how-
ever, seemed to olTer a larger held for his energy,
so in 1888 he organized and founded the Bank
of Alpena, at .-Vlpena, South Dakota, and for
fourteen years conducted it under his personal
management. During this lime he also became
connected with the grain business, operating an
extensive line of country elevators and was en-
g;iged in the management of this business about
twelve years. In 1904 he disposed of these inter-
ests and established in Minneapolis the Loomis-
Ilenson Companj-, grain commission dealers, of
which he became president, B. F. Benson vice
pre^ident, and Rf. J. Renshaw secretary. Mv.
S.Y6tI, ^MVTO
l.Ot IS .\. I.DD.MIS
Loomis was the active head of the firm and his
energy ancl cajjiible direction had built up a
large clientage and a prosperous business.
In 1908 he withdrew from the concern to be-
come president of the Twin City & Lake Su-
perior Railway Company. Though Mr. Loomis
has had in his charge heavy business interests
he has been active in the work of the republi-
can party wherever he has lived. He was
elected probate judge of ^liner county, South
Dakota, in 1882, but resigned his office a year
later and moved to Jerauld county. In the lat-
ter county he was elected register of deeds in
1884, and served for four years. He was later
chosen to represent the same district in the state
senate in 1898, and served for four years in that
office and would have been re-elected had he not
moved to Minneapolis before the expiration of his
last term. .\t v.irious times he has held other
minor imlilic offices such as school officer and
village mayor in different places. Mr. Loomis
is a member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club,
and of the several Masonic orders. On Novem-
ber 19, 1883. he was married to Aliss .'Mice .'\.
Nisbet, and tliev have live children, Leon E..
Ralph R., Veda H., Paul N., and Elno A.
LOWR'^', Thomas, president of the Twin
City Rapid Transit Company and of the Min-
neapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway,
has been a leading citizen of Minneapolis for
forty years. He was born in Logan county, Illi-
nois, on February 27, 1843, the son of Samuel R.
Lowry and Rachel Bullock Lowry. Samuel
Lowry was a nati\e of Londonderry, Ireland.
He emigrated when ,-i young man settling lirst
in PennsyK aiiia. I lire he acquired a competence
.Old in 1834 came west and liecame one of the
pioneers of Illinois. While his son Thomas was
^till quite young he moved to Schuyler county,
llliu'iis, and it was there that the boy grew up
attending the village schools in the winters and
working on the farm in the summers. His op-
portunities for education were better than fell to
I he lot of most farmers' boys of the period, how-
< \ er. He fitted for college and at the age of
-.rxenteen entered Lombard University at Gales-
lung, Illinois. Ills college course was inter-
in|ite(l by ill luallli linl he returned to Galesburg
.md completed his course and shortly afterwards
I ntered the law onice of Judge C. Bagly at Rush-
\ille where he remained until lie was admitted to
ilie bar in 1867. During ilu- interruption of his
college work, Mr. Lowry had spint some time in
traveling and had heard nuuli of the young city
"( .Minneapolis. He had already m.ade up his
iiMiicI lo establish himself at Minneapolis and im-
mediately upon his admission to the bar he came
north arrivin.g in this city in July. 1S67. He at
once opened ,1 l.iw ofiice in the old Harrison
Klock at the coiner of Nicollet and Washington
.ivenues. .After the usual struggles of a young
lawyer to obtain a foot-hold, he found his prac-
TRANSPORTATION
475
tice increasing and within a short time was do-
ing a good hiw business. In T86g he formed a
partnersliip with the hite Judge A. H. Young, an
association which continued until Judge Young's
appointment to tlie bench. But with the growth
of the city Mr. Lowry found his interests grad-
ually turning away from tlic practice of law.
With unbounded faith in the future of Minne-
apolis he began to invest extensively in real es-
tate and to handle property for eastern invest-
ors. This business occupied much of his time
and gave him the beginnings of the extensive
acquaintance which has been of remarkable ad-
vantage to him during his long business career.
He was first attracted to the street railways of
the city on account of the possibilities of using
the sj-stcm to develop outlying real estate. .•\
few primitive horse car lines had been estab-
lished early in the seventies which were in an
unsatisfactory financial condition and had little
prospects of becoming paying properties. Tak-
ing up these lines with another object in view
Mr. Lowry soon discovered that he had a prop-
erty which promised to become niucli more val-
uable than any of his other holdings. At tliis
time Ids wonderful executive ability became ap-
parent to his fellow citizens and after a few
years of successful management of the pioneer
street railroads, Mr. Lowry had so demonstrated
his ability that he could command influence and
financial aid for any undertaking to which he
put his energies. The history of the develop-
ment of the street railway system is given in de-
tail in another part of this work and it is here
sufficient to say that Mr. Lowry's thirty years
of management of street railway properties has
placed him among the leaders of the street rail-
way world and has established for him an al-
most world wide reputation as a financier. The
wonderful change of the entire system from horse
power to electric power, about 1890, was one of
the most remarkable accomplishments ever seen
in street railroading. With the continued growth
of the -street railway system Mr. Lowry still
fiiund time and opportunity for engaging very
extensively in other enterprises. He has always
continued his interest in real estate and has been
for much of his life in Minneapolis, one of the
largest holders of business and outlying property.
One of his interesting undertakings in this direc-
tion was the development of an enormous tract
in northeast Minneapolis known as Columbia
Heights which is rapidly becoming a heavy manu-
facturing district, Mr. Lowry's executive aldlity
and genius carried him into the Minneapolis, St.
Paul & Sault Ste. ?ilarie railway project at its
inception and he served as one of the board of di-
rectors for some years during the period of con-
struction and has now been president of the com-
pany for more than a decade. This company has
been of enormous value to the Imsiness interests
of Minneapolis, as it has furnished an outlet both
cast and west entirely free from control or in-
fluence of competitive cities. The financial man-
agement of the Soo Line in recent years has
been regarded as exceptionally fine and eminently
successful by the business world. The enterprises
mentioned are only the larger and more con-
spicuous of those in which Mr. Lowry has en-
.gaged. lie has taken a part in countless com-
mercial untlertakings in Minneapolis, lending his
aid to the establishment of many new industries
and investing liberally in securities and financial
institutions. He is probably better known among
tlic linancicrs of the world than any other man
in the Northwest and his standing in financial
circles is of the very Iiighest. Through this wide
acquaintance and the confidence which he enjoys
in financial circles, Mr. Lowry has been instru-
mental in directing much outside capital toward
the Northwest far investment. Personally Mr.
Lowry is a man of agreeable presence, polished
manners, a])proachable and companiablc. His
fund of good stories is profuse. His estimate
of men and his knowledge of human nature, to-
getlur with an extensive acquaintance of aflfairs
and a broad grasp of public questions, would
have assured him success in the political field
had he ever cared to enter it. He has been a
life long republican and occasionally has repre-
sented his party in conventions but has never
souglit office although he has been repeatedly
mentioned for places of the highest responsibility.
Mr. Lowry was married in 1870 to Beatrice M.
Goodrich, daughter of Dr. C. G. Goodrich of Min-
neapolis. They have had three children, their
sen. Horace Lowry, bein.g now associated with
his father in many of his enterprises.
REXO, John Christma,->, a tireless champion
of river navigation and of such navigation from
Minneapolis to the Gulf, and a notable progres-
sive citizen of the Northwest, was born at Lou-
donville. Ohio, December .?o. 18.22. His grand-
father. Rev. Francis Reno, was a priest of the
Episcopal Church, who was ordained by Bishop
White in Philadelphia in \-()> and built the first
Episcopal church west of the .Mlegheny Moun-
tains. The family name was originally "Rencau."
They were Huguenots who were compelled to
leave France and take refuge in England. The
father of John C. Reno was a merchant and
farmer, who settled in Ohio, and his mother was
Eliza W. Christmas, a sister of Charles W. Christ-
mas, who settled in Minneapolis in 1850. John C.
Reno, after clerking for several years in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, entered upon the steam-
boat business, making many voyages on various
steamers on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, ex-
tending his trips to St. Louis and New Orleans.
In 18.S4 he built and owned and commanded the
l-'airy Queen, one of the finest steamers plying
on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Having sold
this boat, he came to Minneapolis in 1856 and
invested his means in lands about the Falls of
St. .\nthony. .After his arrival in Minneapolis,
476
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
JOHN C. UKMi
C-iptaiii RcMio exerted liimscll tn iinnnote river
l)iisiiiess to this city. In 1857 he effected contracts
I'l bring several steamboats to make trips be-
tween Fulton City and the Falls of St. .-\nthoiiy.
'riiis was a great stmuihis to the trade and the
.steamboat landing below tlie Falls was often busy
with steamer traflic. .\fter the tinancial depres-
sion of 1857, Captain Reno moved to Pittsburg
and, after the war broke out, he was engaged in
the transi)orti(>n of troops and 1.;' ivernnient sup-
plies and while carrying out a military night
order during the Yazoo Pass Expedition he re-
ceived injuries which comjielled his .nbandonnieiit
iif the service and he weni 'u\{:> llu- sliip chandlery
business in Cincinnati. In 1877 he resumed
river business on the Tennessee Ki\cr and. in
1884, he retired permanently from the trade and
settled in Minneapolis, where he was engaged in
looking after his property and doing all he could
to prmnote imldic iiitensl-., his efforts being con-