and served three years. In 1865 President Lincoln appointed him
quartermaster with the rank of captain. In 1866 he returned to
Minneapolis and engaged in business. In 1867 he was elected state
senator from the Fifth district. Mr. Whitney has been greatly
interested in the cause of education. He was a principal mover in
establishing the public schools of Minneapolis, of Bennett Seminary
for Young Ladies, and of Macalester College. He is president of the
board of Bennett Seminary, and is one of the members of the state
normal board. He was married July 10, 1849, to Eliza Baird. They have
three sons and two daughters.
CHARLES HOAG was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, in 1808. He received
a good education and taught school fifteen years. He came to
Minneapolis in 1852, and occupied various positions of trust, having
been a member of the first town council, the second treasurer of
Hennepin county, and the superintendent of schools four years,
commencing with 1870. Mr. Hoag suggested the name of Minneapolis for
the growing young city of his adoption. He was a man of marked ability
and refinement, and although a strong partisan his many admirable
personal qualities won the esteem of those who most radically differed
from him. He was twice married, his first wife dying in 1871. In 1873
he was married to Miss Susan F. Jewett who, with a daughter, Mrs. C.
H. Clark, and one son, Levi, survives him. Mr. Hoag died February,
1888.
FRANKLIN STEELE.--No other pioneer has been more prominent in the
early history of Minneapolis than Franklin Steele. A bold, sagacious,
enterprising man, he came in the very vanguard of civilization, and
promptly and fearlessly availed himself of the splendid opportunities
that this, then almost unknown, frontier afforded. We have not many
data of his early life, but his history since he set foot in Fort
Snelling is elsewhere given as a part of the early history of the
section in which he located, and need not be here repeated.
Franklin Steele was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He came
West by the advice of President Andrew Jackson, and arrived at Fort
Snelling just after the conclusion of the treaty by which the Indians
ceded their St. Croix lands to the government; whereupon Mr. Steele
visited St. Croix Falls, made a claim and proceeded to make further
improvements, such as building mills, as elsewhere narrated.
When appointed sutler of the army at Fort Snelling, he sold his St.
Croix claims and identified himself thereafter with the interests of
St. Anthony Falls and the section adjacent thereto, where he made
claims and improvements. Among other enterprises illustrative of the
faith of Steele and others in the future greatness of the prospective
river cities, the fact may be mentioned that an organized company
built a wire suspension bridge over the river just above the falls, a
work projected while the adjacent lands were still in the hands of the
government, and completed in 1855, at a time when such a structure was
most needed and advantageous.
Mr. Steele was a man of far more than ordinary ability. Col. J. H.
Stevens says of him: "He has been a good friend to Hennepin county,
and as most of the citizens came here poor they never had to ask Mr.
Steele a second time for a favor. Fortune has favored him, and while
many a family has reason to feel thankful for his generosity and
kindness, he constantly made money." The county of Steele was named
after him. Mr. Steele was married to Miss Barney, a relative of the
distinguished naval officer of that name. He died in Minneapolis in
1880.
ROSWELL P. RUSSELL was born in Richland, Vermont, March 15, 1820. His
privileges for education were limited. He came to Michigan in 1836 and
to Fort Snelling in 1839. He came from Prairie du Chien to the Fort in
a mackinaw boat, part of the way on foot over the ice, and suffered
much for want of food, sleep and from exposure. Mr. Russell remained
at Fort Snelling until 1845, engaged for two years in the Indian
trade, made a claim at St. Anthony Falls in 1847, and opened the first
store, in a log building, at that place. In 1854 he was appointed
receiver of the land office at Minneapolis. He has since been actively
engaged in farming, merchandising and real estate transactions. He was
the first chairman of the St. Anthony Falls town board, and has served
one term as representative in the state legislature. He was a true and
steadfast friend to his adopted city. He was married at St. Anthony
Falls, Oct. 3, 1848, to Marion Patch. They have a family of seven sons
and three daughters: Lucy C., wife of W. C. Colbrath; Charles M.,
Roswell P., Mary Bell, wife of F. M. Prince, of Stillwater; Carrie E.,
wife of F. L. Lovejoy, of Fargo, Dakota; Frank and Fred, twin
brothers; Geo. B. Mc----, died in 1881; William and Edward E.
HORATIO PHILLIPS VAN CLEVE was born in Princeton, New Jersey, Nov. 22,