Fifty Years In The Northwest / With An Introduction And Appendix Containing Reminiscences, Incidents And Notes

by William H. C. Folsom

W. F. Davidson, better known as "Commodore" Davidson, was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, Feb. 14, 1825. He was early associated with his father in canal boating and river life and acquired a strong predilection for the pursuit in which he afterward became distinguished. His father was a Baptist preacher, and the influence of his teachings was apparent in many acts of the son's later life. His advantages for education were limited, as his chief training was on board the boats on which he was employed. In 1854 he came to St. Paul. Before coming West he was interested in boating on the Ohio river, and was the owner of several steamers. His first work in Minnesota was on the Minnesota river, but soon afterward he became president of a company known as the La Crosse & Minnesota Packet Company. His experience and superior ability placed him at the head of river navigation, and for many years he had scarce a rival, earning by this supremacy the familiar cognomen of "Commodore," first applied to him, we believe, by John Fletcher Williams.

During ten years of his river life he resided in St. Louis. With the increase of railroads and the brisk competition of later days, he gradually withdrew from the river trade and interested himself in real estate in St. Paul, buying largely and building many fine blocks.

Though never an aspirant for office, Commodore Davidson was public spirited and interested greatly in public enterprises involving the prosperity of St. Paul. He was married in Ohio in 1856, to a daughter of Judge Benjamin Johnson. He died in St. Paul, May 26, 1887, leaving a widow, one son and one daughter. Capt. Thomas L. Davidson is a brother, and Jerry and Robert R. are half brothers. Col. J. Ham Davidson, a cousin and a man of considerable oratorical ability, was associated with him in business.

WM. H. FISHER.

William H. Fisher was born in New Jersey in 1844. He entered the railway service of the Dubuque & Sioux City railroad as check clerk at Dubuque, Iowa, in 1864, serving as such and in other positions of responsibility until 1873, when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, entering the service of the St. Paul & Pacific railroad as superintendent. He built the Breckenridge extension in 1877, and was influential in relieving the St. Paul & Pacific railroad and branches from financial embarrassment, which resulted in the organization of the present St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba system. In June, 1884, he was elected general superintendent, and in June, 1885, president and general superintendent, of the St. Paul & Duluth Railroad Company, which position he at present worthily fills.

Charles H. Oakes, the son of a Vermont merchant and manufacturer, David Oakes, at one time sheriff of Windham county, and judge of St. Clair county, Michigan, was born in the town of Rockingham, Windham county, July 17, 1803. He received a common school education, and at twelve years of age went into a store and clerked until eighteen, when he came to Chicago as clerk for an army sutler. In 1824 he commenced trading with the Indians on the south shore of Lake Superior. In 1827 he entered the service of the American Fur Company, in whose employ he remained until 1850, his headquarters being most of the time at La Pointe. In 1850 he located in St. Paul. In 1853 he entered the banking firm of Borup & Oakes, the first banking firm in St. Paul, since which time he has lived a quiet and retired life, that contrasts strongly with the strange and adventurous life he led as an Indian trader. Mr. Oakes' only public life was during the Indian outbreak, when he accepted a position as colonel on the staff of Gen. Sibley. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. By his first wife Mr. Oakes had four children, two of them daughters, now living. Sophia is the widow of the late Jeremiah Russell, and Eliza is the wife of Col. George W. Sweet, of Minneapolis. A son, Lieut. David Oakes, was in the Civil War, and was killed in battle. The other child died in infancy.

Mr. Oakes was married to his second wife, Julia Beaulieu, of Sault Ste. Marie, July 29, 1831. She has had five children, but one of them now living, Julia Jane, widow of the late Gen. Isaac Van Etten. One of her sons, George Henry, was in the Civil War, and died two years after of disease contracted in the service.

Charles William Wulff Borup was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec. 20, 1806. He received a thorough classical and medical education. In 1828 he emigrated to America, and, having abandoned his original intention of becoming a physician, entered into business, at first in the employ of John Jacob Astor. He became chief agent of the fur company on Lake Superior, with residence at La Pointe. In 1848 he removed to St. Paul and entered into a partnership with Pierre Chouteau. In 1854 the banking house of Borup & Oakes, of which he was senior partner, was established. Dr. Borup died of heart disease, July 6, 1859, but the banking business was continued under the firm name many years later. He was married July 17, 1832, to Elizabeth Beaulieu, a daughter of Basil Beaulieu, a French trader of Mackinaw. His widow died in St. Paul several years ago. Of a family of eleven children, nine survive.

Capt. Russell Blakeley, one of the best known of the early steamboat men, was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, April 19, 1815. He spent a part of his early life in Genesee county, New York, where he received a common school education; emigrated to Peoria, Illinois, in 1836, where he engaged in the real estate business; in 1839 he removed to Galena, where he engaged in mining and smelting; in 1844 to Southwest Virginia, returning to Galena in 1847, where he became one of a steamboat transportation company. He was clerk upon the first boat on the line, the Argo. This boat sank and he was transferred to the Dr. Franklin, of which he became captain. He was captain of the Nominee in 1853, and of the Galena in 1854. This last named boat was burned at Red Wing, July 1, 1858. In 1855 he was appointed agent at Dunleith of the Packet Company, and soon afterward bought a leading interest in the Northwestern Express Company. The next year he removed to St. Paul. In 1867 he retired from the company. Of late years he has interested himself in railroad enterprises, and has contributed greatly to the prosperity of the city and State.