St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-03-11
The Widows Of st. Paul Mill
ionaires Who Bequeathed
Vast Estates.
Some Of the Best Realty in
the City Owned by the
Ladies.
Gossip About the Davidson,
Thompson, and Other Big
Fortunes.
Ladies Who Control Banks
and Shine in st. Paul
Society.

The ladies of st. Paul are noted for
charming hospitality, liberality. refine
ment and culture, but this is not all.
The ladies who are millionaires are not
few. In looking over the list of social
hOstesses one easily sights out names of
widows of well-known pioneers. These
old pioneers laid the foundation of st.
Paul and Minnesota: they opened up the
great Northwest; they extended the do
main of commerce thousand miles
westward, and for their reward they re-
ceived their well-earned millions, which,
in course of time, they bequeathed as
legacieS to their widows and children.
In the very unpretentiOus Adobe at
No. 513 lives the widow of man whose
name shall ever be connected with the
growth of ST. Paul. She IS Mrs. Sarah
A. Davidson. the widow of the late
Commodore W. F. Davidson. The DAY.
idson estate is probably among the larg-
est in the country. 1t was appraised at
over S3,500,000, the personal property
amounting to over half million, and
the real estate to over S3,000,000. This
was divided up by the commodore's will
between his widow and his two chill
dren, Ed Davidson and Miss Sallie Da-
wilson. Some of the business land
marks of the city are theirs, such as
the Davidson block, corner of Fourth
and Jackson; the Union block, corner of
Fourth and Cedar; the Grand block and
Grand opera house. on Wabasha street;
the court block on Fourth street; the
Lambert block on the northeast corner
of Third and Cedar; the Exposition
block, on Fourth street; the Davidson
Block No. 2, on the northeast corner of
Jackson and Sixth streets, and the
building at 1926 Wabasha street.
These Buildings Alone
make an aggregate value Of consider
ably over 81, 100000. In the big pieces
of St. Paul real estate there is that on
West Fifth street, from Wabasha
west, valued at over 100000;
the piece on East Fifth street, between
jackson and Robert streets, estimated
| at $500, 900: also the pieces on Sixth and
Cedar, on East Fourth street, between
Jackson and Robert, on Robert street,
on Minnesota street, the corner of Ninth
! and Minnesota and that of Tenth and
Minnesota, some land below Jackson
street, and the Yandes homestead on
| Dayton's bluff, Many of these pieces
are valued at 100000. The piece on
| the corner of Sixth and Cedar
is the proposed site for the
new opera house. Mrs. Davidson also
controls land at Mankato, Mahtomedi,
and 1920 acres in Redwood county,
are part of the estate. In personal
property Mrs. Davidson controls large
blocks of stock in the Grand Opera
| House company, the st. Paul q Sioux
City Land company, the st. Paul Fire
| 81 Marine Insurance company, the
Economy Steam Heating company, the
st. Paul Coal company, the Sank.
Rapids Water Power company.
and the st. Louis 6 st. Paul
river steamers. But little value was
| given, however, to the st. Louis q
St. Paul Packet company's stock, OIL to-
the large number of notes which the.
company had given to Mr.. Davidson:
He left also %, $50 shares of stock in the
Silver & Copper Island Mining COM
pany, which is virtually worthless. The
National bank.
| Mrs. McQuillan.
Mrs. Louise A. McQuillan, whose IA
miliar home is at No. 397 East Tenth
street, is very wealthy as well as So
cially popular lady. She and her chill
| dren enjoy the possession Of an estate
which is worth all of $1,500,00O, and
probably considerably more. Her hus-
band, Philip F. McQuillan, who was a
wholesale grocer, died April IL, in 1877
| The McQuillan block at the corner of
Third and Wabasha. one of the first fine
buildings put UP in st. Paul, covering a
fifty-foot lot, and valued at least at
Allen, Anna and Clara, and by the CON
ditions of the will it is not to be sold for
nine years yet. The homestead, lots 8,
4 and 5, block Z, Kittson's addition,
worth about 100000, became the prop
erty of Mrs. McQuillan. Mr.. Nc
Quillan left personal property
amounting to about Sill, 900, and
| his grocery business was moder-
ately estimated at 100000. In the estate
controlled by Mrs. McQuillan are the
block at Third and Sibley, where Allen,
Moon & Co. are doing business; the
block on Fourth street, back of the Gil
fillan block, occupied by Rogers & Ord
way, and the fine new brick building at
nesota streets in which is the
Golden Rule store. Mrs. McQuillan
has considerable stock in the First Ma
tional bank, for Mr.. McQuillan when he
died left 100 shares in that paying insti-
tuition. She has land in Stevens and
Grant counties, in this state, and some
in Cedar county, Nebraska, as well' as
pieces of land elsewhere. The 112 feet
on Eighth and Jackson streets was sold
to Gov. Marshall for about 200.
Mesdames Thompson.
1t will be many years yet before the
names of Horace Thompson and j. E..
Thompson are forgotten by the business
| Of nj Nv n rr
the most liberal of men, and to them is
very largely due the present banking
and railroad position of st. Paul. Both
left enormous estates, and not man be-
grudged the Thompsons dollar of
their well deserved wealth. The
two widows, Mrs. Carrie and
Mrs. Susan Thompson. are still
living, although time is beginning to
tell its tale in the voices and step of the
two noble old ladies. The two Thomp-
sons were in with Drake and Wilder in
the big Sioux City land deal, and they
were the originators of the First Ma
tional bank. Horace Thompson left an
estate valued at S1,250, 200, in which
600 worth of real estate, con-
servatively estimated. He left any
amount of land in Dakota and Stearns
counties in this state, and big blocks of
the st. Paul & Sioux city land. To
show the amount of business done by
Mr.. Thompson, when he died in New
York, in January, 1880, there were bills
due him amounting to $146,sO7. Mrs.
Thompson became owner of the Wood
ward avenue homestead and 100000,
the rest of the estate being divided
equally. Two children shared this in
heritance, Charles Thompson and Louisa
NJ. Fogg (Miller), an adopted daughter
The estate includes land on lower
Third street, where the bank was,
Bartlett Presley's property, and some
on the corner of Sixth and Broadway.
Nrria oaaf