Tag Archives: James J. Hill

Mrs. Hill Goes to the Fair

August 25, 2016Mary Hill's Diariescows, horses, James J. Hill, Minnesota State Fair, Saint Paul, Women's BuildingAine

Throughout August, I am tracing Mary Hill’s summer of 1886 by highlighting her daily diary entries – follow me on Twitter to see what Mary, her family and all the visitors are up to at the Hill family’s summer estate and farm, North Oaks.

Since the Minnesota State Fair begins today, I thought it would be fun to see what Mary had to say about the Fair in her diaries. Mary was proud to be an early Saint Paul settler, moving with her family to the Minnesota Territory in 1850 – eight years before Minnesota became a state.

On September 10, 1885, Mary writes: “Went in to City to Fair with Mrs. Swan, Emma, Mamie and boys…saw Annie and family at Fair.” Mary came to the Fair from the family’s summer place at North Oaks, bringing her children (Mamie, Jimmie and Louis). The Hills made the trip with neighbor Mrs. Swan and her daughter Emma. Mary even saw her sister Annie. The Fair was bringing family and friends together long before the Fair was formerly called the “Great Minnesota Get-together”!

As a Saint Paul resident living not far from the fairgrounds, I can understand what Mary is saying in the first sentence of her September 10, 1903, entry: “St. Paul seems filled with strangers. Fair is a great success first two days. Philippine veterans have a reunion here and a parade today.” The tradition of honoring the military continues with special events for veterans and their families (Military Appreciation Day).

Like many grandparents today, taking the grandchildren to the Fair was a tradition. Mary writes on September 7, 1910: “This forenoon Maud, little Louis, Maudie and I went to the Fair. In the afternoon we went to hear Papa’s address, a crowd greeted him.” Unlike most children, I suppose, little Louis and Maudie got to see their grandpa give a speech to a crowd at the Fair!

(James J. Hill gave several addresses at the Minnesota State Fair – I will cover that in my next post.)

Mary thought highly of the produce she saw in 1913, writing on September 3^rd: “About eleven a.m. Clara and I went to the Fair. I thought the display of Minnesota apples remarkable, really fine, and vegetables equaled any I have seen anywhere.”

The Hill farm at North Oaks sent animals to the Fair. Mary’s pride for these animals comes through in her entry of September 2, 1916: “We have sent the Suffolk Punch horses and several Ayrshire beasts to the Fair, the latter are beauties.” Later in the week, Mary reports that the “Ayeshires won many prizes”.

On September 2, 1918, Mary writes: “I have not felt well this week. This is State Fair week.” She follows it up with this entry the next day: “Today was airships day at the Fair. As I am indisposed slightly…I shall have to forego the Fair.”

The promise of airships must have been too much. On September 6^th she writes: “Went to State Fair saw War Exhibit, Womans Bldg., Serbian Exhibit, and Dunwoody Workings in airships, etc. Home and tired by 4 0’clock.”

1910 Postcard of Women's Building: Minnesota Historical Society — 1910 Postcard of Women’s Building: Minnesota Historical Society

There is no mention of Mary attending the Fair in 1919, but she made certain those who worked for her had the opportunity: “This is State Fair week, so each [farm worker/servant] one must have a chance to go. Campbell and Lena today.”

The tradition endures today with some employers giving their staff a free afternoon or day off of work to attend the Fair. When I worked at the James J. Hill Reference Library, we were given a half-day to go to the Fair. I always thought of Mary’s diary entry. It is great for staff morale!

I will share more of Mary’s Fair observations throughout its twelve-day run on Twitter. Click here to see my tweets!

Want to read more on the history of the Fair? Click here to visit the Minnesota State Fair history page, with links to their digital archive.

On This Day: August 23, 1886

August 23, 2016Mary Hill's DiariesIndustrial Exposition, James J. Hill, Kennedy, Mamie, Minneapolis, OTD, Thorne, train, Weed, YellowstoneAine

Mary’s entry On This Day in 1886 cannot be confined to just one or two tweets. Such a busy day, Mary needed to write on three pages!

Another just as hot day up in the nineties. Went in to City to see Tourists and Mamie off. Took Mamie to Dr. Hand she not well at all. They get off at four. Papa and I went up far as Minneapolis with others. And to opening of Exposition. Oh it was so hot there we returned to St. Paul six and drove to North Oaks. So glad to have it to go to. Chelminski went to day to St. Paul.

[Entry continues on 6/13/1886 page] Aug. 23rd Mrs. Goodkind Mrs. Wirley Miss Goodkind drove out. Missed them.

[Entry continued on 6/14/1886 page] North Oaks Aug. 23rd. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy Mr. and Mrs. Thorn Miss Thorn Miss Weed Mr. S. Weed Wm. Thorn Rev Dr. Schoffler Mrs. Schoffler Mamie Hill Started for Yellowstone Park to day.

It’s no secret that James J. Hill was a workaholic. According to biographer Albro Martin, Hill regularly put off vacation offers from friends and business associates, “But, from 1884, when he regretfully declined the Earl of Latham’s invitation to visit his famous breeding farms, to 1889, when he refused George Stephen’s offer of a trip through the Highlands of Scotland, it was always next year.”

Hill did not begrudge others a holiday. Martin describes the 1886 trip to Yellowstone:

Meanwhile, he cheerfully arranged junkets for others, sometimes promising that he would go along, then , at the last minute, deciding to stay at work. In the summer of 1886 he bundled New York politico Smith M. Weed, the Thornes, Mamie, and even Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy into a private car for a trip out west…(317)

Mary had entertained some combination of Thornes, Kennedys and Weeds at North Oaks for a week or more leading up to their departure for Yellowstone. The painter Chelminski left for Saint Paul. After enduring crushing crowds at the opening of the Industrial Exposition in record heat, Mary was happy to reach North Oaks, “So glad to have it to come to.”

1886 Hill Family at the Farm (Painting by Chelminski, Private collection — 1886 Hill Family at the Farm (Painting by Chelminski, Minnesota Historical Society)

Perhaps things at the farm might settle down for a spell? Only time will tell…Follow me on Twitter for further developments! I am sure Mary will soon get word on the progress of the Tourists…

Lake Minnetonka with the Hills and Friends

August 20, 2016Mary Hill's DiariesHotel Lafayette, James J. Hill, Kennedy, Lake Minnetonka, Mamie, Mary T. Hill, New York, North Oaks, ThorneAine

Mary Hill’s diary entry for Friday, August 20, 1886: “A cool morning cloudy very hot day. We went out to Hotel Lafayette and spent the night there with Thornes and Kennedys. Fearful storm in the night. Mamie Phelps Sarah and Mamie came out on train.”

A change of scenery was in order. Visiting from New York, the Thornes and the Kennedys were good friends of the Hills, not just James J. Hill’s business associates. Mary Hill was very proud of the family farm at North Oaks, but it was her job to show her visitors from the East coast all the beauty Minnesota had to offer!

James J. Hill opened the Hotel Lafayette in 1882 on Lake Minnetonka’s Crystal Bay. The hotel was the largest on the lake: 800-feet long and five stories high with over 400 rooms. The parlors, dining and reception rooms were ornately decorated and wide wooden porches faced the lake.

The luxury hotel became a popular destination for wealthy Americans, prominent politicians, and even European royalty. For more than a decade the hotel which had served as the site of many lavish banquets and idyllic summer getaways, burned down after the close of the season, in October 1897.

But on August 20, 1886, the Hotel Lafayette was the perfect backdrop for good friends and family to gather and enjoy a day at Lake Minnetonka. You will see in tomorrow’s diary entry that one night away was plenty for Mary. She was happy to return to her own North Oaks.

Click here to go to my Twitter feed and see what Mary has to say every day in August as I post her daily diary entries. If you are on Twitter, please follow me and check these out: #OTD #MaryTHill.

Beautiful North Oaks

August 17, 2016JamesJHill Giftsbuffalo, farm, horses, James J. Hill, Mary T. Hill, North Oaks, propaganda, Saint Paul GlobeAine

ln May of 1896 a reporter from the Saint Paul Globe traveled to North Oaks, the farm of James J. Hill, and wrote about the visit in an article for the paper. The author had nothing but good things to say about the farm. In fact, he gushed over the place, raving about everything from the cleanliness of the horse barn to the idyllic beauty of Pleasant Lake.

I should mention that Hill purchased the Saint Paul Globe in 1896. Although I know that the farm at North Oaks was a wonderful mix of picturesque landscape and modern ingenuity, and James J. Hill approached every aspect of his life and business with the precision of a perfectionist and exquisite good taste, the account printed in the paper may have overstated some aspects of the farm. Or not – it is likely the farm was spectacular. (Perhaps I am the biased author!)

Clearly, this article was meant as a promotional piece, to highlight Hill’s methods and practices on the farm as ones which were best employed on farms all along the westward expanse of the railway. North Oaks stood as the ideal, the type of successful farm which would strengthen the railroad. Hill took full advantage of ownership of the newspaper to spread the word of his accomplishments.

The article is quite long, so I will share a few excerpts. The full article is available at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Among the many delightful drives about the environs of the city, few, if any, present greater attractions than the ten-mile jaunt out Rice street, which brings up at the entrance gate to North Oaks, JJ Hill’s dairy and stock farm. The road, though of constant ascent, is of easy grade and generally well made. The directness of the route, lying, as it does, along the north and south section lines, is robbed of any semblance of sameness or monotony by the constantly changing, but uniformly beautiful, scenery of the district…

After this introduction the author provides the general layout of the North Oaks estate, description of the roads and the lakes, going into some detail about the water levels and supply.

A goodly growth of fair timber chiefly oak, from which the farm takes its name, affords ample shade and shelter for the stock and fuel for the farm. The pastures, notwithstanding their large area, as well as the fields and yards about the farm, are all enclosed with pine panel fences, in which not a broken board or sagging post may be seen. They are amply provided with kim-hung gates and stout stiles, and there is therefore no need of open sections or other unsightly places of passage. And here, it may be said, that this neatness and orderly condition is a characteristic of everything about North Oaks, which must strike the most casual observer. There is a place for everything and everything is in it. On the occasion of my visit there last week, I saw not so much as a shingle nail astray…

One would expect no less from James J. Hill’s farm! The author goes on to describe the outbuildings, “neat in appearance, and of imposing size…” including the office and the stables. Each building, “wears a coat of the proverbial farm red, with white trimmings”.

One of the best structures on the place is the barn for horses, which occupies the further end of the left row. It is 100 feet wide and 200 feet deep, with a height to correspond. It is arranged in two stories. The first, or ground floor, is taken up by the stalls, of which there are over a hundred, single and double, besides a score of stall rooms for brood mares and their foals. The stalls, walls and ceiling bear fresh coats of whitewash, everything is scrupulously clean, and the air is as fresh and pure and free from stable odors as it is on the hill tops. The second floor holds the hay loft,fodder rooms, oat bins, etc. In a wing at the other side is the feed room, where the diet for 165 horses is prepared daily. The feed is a mixture in due proportions of bran, ground oats and chopped hay, a healthful and economical method of preparing and administering it. Necessary machinery for its preparation is here, and is operated by a long shaft extending under ground from the engine house, twenty rods distant. The stock in the barn is very fine, and includes several beautiful Cleveland bay brood mares.

Next is the “commodious, but unpretentious” residence. The author points out that the Hill family spent the majority of their summer at North Oaks, where not even the railroad “dare intrude on the tranquility of this peaceful place”. The nearest railroad is two miles away.

A vineyard of California grapes (in a hothouse during the winter), 2000 “fleecy sheep”, and even a herd of buffalo populated the acreage at North Oaks. The author, “disliked to leave so fair a scene and such pleasant surroundings,” but he had to return to St Paul in the afternoon.

With the memory of this visit fresh upon me, I have endeavored to sketch here a hurried picture of North Oaks, with its beauties and points of excellence; but as I glance over what has been written, I am brought to realize that the portrait falls far short of the reality, and that it may well be said in closing that “the half hath not been told.” –C- J- W.

If North Oaks was half as delightful as this reporter described, I can understand why the Hills loved their summers on the farm so much. I am sharing Mary Hill’s diary entries from 130 years ago all month on Twitter – follow me and see what she did #OTD (On This Day) in 1886.

All Images: Hill Family Collection, Minnesota Historical Society

Robert C. Minor

July 13, 2016PeopleA-18, Great Northern Railway, James J. Hill, Robert C. Minor, Rondo, The President's SpecialAine

Robert Clark Minor

Robert Minor, 1912, Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

Born…July 29, 1863, Houma, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana

Married…Addie Mae Crawford on April 15, 1896, in Chicago, Illinois

Children…Clinton Hill & Robert Hill – twins born August 13, 1902, Leah Mae – born January 4, 1904, Walter Jerome – born August 12, 1905

Career…An employee of the Great Northern Railway for much of his adult life. First as a dining and sleeping car worker, later as the steward on railway president James J. Hill’s private car (number A-18, also known as the “President’s Special”). For over twenty years Minor managed operations of the private car, keeping the highest standards when in use by Hill, his family, and business associates. A-18 was a symbol of the power and influence of the railroad and its president.

Minor also worked on Hill’s yacht, the Wacouta, and assisted Hill at the Great Northern offices in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Minor was a respected and valued employee of the Great Northern Railway.

Walter and Bob Minor — Walter and Robert Minor, Private Collection.

Member of…Mason’s Pioneer Lodge No. 1 (Saint Paul, MN), St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church (St. Paul, MN)

Where Robert Minor lived in Saint Paul…

93 Summit Avenue (1890)
300 Carroll Avenue (1893)
324 Farrington Street (1896)
471 West Central Avenue (1908)

Died…May 11, 1947, Asheville, North Carolina, buried in St. Paul

JJH Trivia…After James J. Hill’s death on May 29, 1916, Mary Hill named Robert Minor as one of the pallbearers for her husband.

There is much more to Robert Minor’s story – read my article in the Winter 2015 issue of Ramsey County History magazine. Some great illustrations and insight into the important role Robert Minor played in his community and the personal connection with James J. Hill, his family, and business associates.

Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about Robert Minor or the history of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Mary T. Hill and Saint Mary’s Parish

April 26, 2015Saint Paul HistoryBorup, Father Caillet, Great Northern, James J. Hill, lowertown, Mary T. Hill, McQuillan, Merriam, Saint Mary's Parish, Saint Paul, SibleyAine

SAINT MARY’S PARISH 1865 – 2015

1867 Mary Mehegan Hill. Photo: Minnesota Historical Society.

HISTORY OF A SAINT PAUL PARISH AND MARY T. HILL’S CONNECTION

By Eileen R. McCormack

c. 1875 Saint Mary’s Church, Saint Paul. Photo: Minnesota Historical Society.

In 1865, the downtown area of Saint Paul had two Catholic parishes, the Cathedral, at Sixth & Saint Peter Streets, and Assumption Church built in 1856 to serve the city’s German Catholic members. As the residential area in Saint Paul’s Lowertown grew its Catholic inhabitants asked for a new parish. Bishop Grace agreed, and plans went forward for a new church, to be built at the northeast corner of Ninth and Locust Streets. The cornerstone of Saint Mary’s, blessed on May 20th, 1866, was an important event in the city. The Great Western Band led the procession from the Cathedral to the Lowertown site, and many of Saint Paul’s 7000 Catholics attended the ceremony. Contributions to Saint Mary’s building fund came from Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and included a number of the city’s most prominent citizens; Rice, Sibley, Prince, McQuillan, Merrriam, Borup, Davidson, Thompson, Wilder, Sheehy, Markoe, and James Hill.

1883 Gertrude Hill in christening gown, Mary Mehegan Hill. Photo: Minnesota Historical Society.

Construction of the church was completed in 1867, the same year James J. Hill and Mary Theresa Mehegan married and moved to their first home in Lowertown. Father Louis Caillet, Mary Hill’s old friend, was named the pastor of Saint Mary’s, and the first Mass was said on July 28, 1867. The ten children born to the Hills were baptized and received their First Holy Communion in Father Caillet’s church. The first parish school was opened in 1869 with a new building constructed in 1887 and high school classes added in 1896.

Saint Mary’s was a very active community from its inception, and Mary Hill and other women were involved in not only the parish organizations and activities, but also in raising funds and administering some of the institutions associated with the church. In 1882 the women presented Father Caillet with $12,000 to pay off the church debt (Mary Hill $5000.) and in 1884 Saint Mary’s Home for Girls was opened under the direction of a Board consisting of parish women, with Mary as president. On May 19, 1884 Mary Hill’s diary entry read, “Opened St. Mary’s home today informally.” The Home provided lodging and industrial classes, such as sewing instruction, for young women who came to the city to work. A day nursery to care for the children of working mothers was added and both institutions were under the supervision of the Daughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In 1891, after 24 years in Lowertown, the Hill family moved to their new home on Summit Avenue, joining the movement of other neighbors whose homes were being encroached on by railroad and industrial development. Mary continued her involvement with Saint Mary’s and attended services there until old age and fragile health necessitated her attending Mass closer to her home although she returned for funerals of old friends and special occasions. “We went to closing of St. Mary’s School exercises at Opera House this afternoon. The exercises were creditable indeed.” Over the years James and Mary Hill donated over $16,000 (about $290,000 in 2014 dollars) to Saint Mary’s not including “pew rent” that Mary continued to pay until her death in 1921.

The importance of “Old Saint Mary’s” in the lives of the Hill family was demonstrated in 1926, five years after Mary Hill’s death. An almost exact replica of the original Lowertown Saint Mary’s was constructed in White Bear Lake, funded by Mary’s daughters. The Hill family spent summers at their North Oaks farm and attended Mass at Saint Mary’s in White Bear Lake. The new church was dedicated, “In Memory of a Beloved Mother Mary Theresa Hill…”

In 1919, the same factors that had precipitated the move of many of Lowertown’s original residents more than thirty years earlier, now necessitated the move of Saint Mary’s Church itself. The old church property was sold to the Great Northern Railway and property was purchased at Eighth & Rosabel Streets, across Ninth Street from where the Hill home had stood. The new church was dedicated in May 1922 and Saint Mary’s remains in that location today, and is serving an emerging residential area once more.

StMarys_present — St. Mary’s Church today. Photo: Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

SAINT MARY’S 150^th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!

Saturday May 16, 2015

261 E 8th Street in St. Paul’s Lowertown

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

4:30pm Mass celebrated by Archbishop Nienstedt with the Saint Mary’s Choir and May Crowning

6-7pm Social Hour

7-8pm Buffet Dinner — reservations required, call 651-222-2619

8-10pm Music by City Vibes

NOTE ON SOURCES: Two books by Rev. James M. Reardon, pastor of Saint Mary’s from 1916-1921, The Catholic Church in the Diocese of St. Paul (St. Paul: 1952) and The Church of St. Mary of Saint Paul (St. Paul: 1935). Excerpts taken from my article in Ramsey County History (Spring 2006) “Lost Neighborhood: Mary Hill’s Lowertown 1867-1891”.