St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-06
THE MERCHANTS NATIONAL.
An Interesting and Distinguished
Group Surrounds Its Board.

or the Oldest national banks IN st. raul.
Mere age does not always insure stabil
ity. but the prosperity of the bank has
kept pace with its age, and it is now one
of the hrmeSt institutions in the North
west. Its deposits are very heavy and
its surplus large. With the governor of
Minnesota. a man no less successful in
business than in politics, at its head, it
is entitled to rank among the first banks
of the United States in every respect.
f. A. Seymour is the cashier. He is
a man still on the sunny side of forty,
and has for the past decade made
his home in st. Paul. He was
formerly reckoned among the foremost
in the banking business at Saltwater,
and has lost none of his reputation dur
ing his years Of life IN St. Paul. He is
an enthusiastic patron of all the legiti-
mate sports. In his less busy days he
was very fair all-around athlete, and
could pull an oar with any amateur in
the state. He is member of
the Minnesota club, and holds the
Office of treasurer in two driving
clubs, the Minnesota Driving club and
the Twin City Jockey club, and is
treasurer of the recently organized st.
Paul Athletic club. Mr.. Seymour is
not, however, club man, neither is he
an ardent politician. He is pre-emi-
nently business man, and bends every
energy to 'furthering the interests of the
establishment with which he is con-
nected.
Scarcely any name is better known
throughout the Northwest than that of
E. F. Drake. Mr.. Brakes name has
been connected with so many enter
prises of the state that it is hardly
necessary to tell WHO or what he is. He
is one of the old settlers and has served
as president of Minnesota and Ohio
railroads for more than thirty years. He
tried his prentice hand at any number
of occupations before he entered upon
his successful railroad career. He was
even at one time a printers devil. He
was the founder and promoter of the st.
Paul & Sioux City railroad, line since
bought up by the Omaha. Mr.. Drake
served as speaker Of the house in Ohio,
and as state senator IN Minnesota, with
signal honor. His politics are Republican
to the core. The Drake block, a desirably
located business block, and other valu-
able property in st. Paul are owned by
Mr.. Drake. Among his offices are di-
rectorships in the Merchants National
bank, the Fire & Marine Insurance COM
pany. the st. Paul Trust company, and
various other corporations. He is
member of the Minnesota Historical So
ciety, and, i'll addition to his railroad
business, is interested in flour manu-
featuring, numbering. quarrying, coal
mining, the making of sugar, farming
and cattle breeding. Each one of his
enterprises feels the touch of a Skillful
hand and the direction of shrewd bus
mess intellect. and success attends his
numerous ventures.
Amherst II. Wilder is member of
one of the most noted and honored fam
lilies of the state-a family that has been
distinguished II both political and buSi-
ness circles. Mr.. Wilder's nephew is
the present governor of Minnesota. Mr..
Wilder came TO the Northwest when the
country was very new, and laid the
foundations for a large fortune. He
was interested in various ways in for
warding and freight transportation of
all kinds in the early days. Mr..
Wilder also held extensive and
important government contracts of
various kinds. He was one of the in
-corporators of the Minnesota Valley
railroad. one of the lines since absorbed
by the Chicago, st. Paul, Minneapolis
Il Omaha system. Mr.. Wilder is not
now actively engaged in business, but
deVOteS his time 10 looking after his
large railroad interests and his very eX-
tenSive property. He has never been
politician, and takes very little interest
in the political affairs of st. Paul, be-
yond casting his influence in favor of
Eepublicanism.
K. z. Jefferson is comparatively a new
conner. though III the few years of his
residence here he has become identified
with the influential men of the city, He
came to st. Paul only about six years
ago, and entered business. He is the
senior member of the firm of jefferson
& Kasson, one of the most prominent
firms in the numbering business. Some
of the finest and most desirable tracts of
pine lands both in this state and
in the pine regions of Wisconsin are
owned and controlled by this firm. Mr..
jefferson is man of refined tastes, and
a thorough business man. He is per-
haps the best-informed man in his line
of business one could find among all the
lumbermen, and gives his personal at
tention to the details OF the firms bus
mess.
Hon. William r. Merriam is distinct
lively st. Paul man. He is not Min
neSotan by birth, but here he was
reared. and here he made for himself
the honored position he holds, both in
the business and in the political world.
Gov. Merriam is banker, and a banker
who knows from actual experience the
details of his business. He entered the
business as a clerk, but as he had in
him the merit of real ability and
willingness to work, his rise was rapid
and certain. Gov. Merriam became
cashier of the Merchants National
bank very soon after its organize
ton, and in less than twenty
years from the time he first
entered the banking business he be-
came president of one of the foremost
banks in the West, the Merchants Ma
tional. Gov. Merriam's political rise
was no less rapid. He has always been
a Republican, and before his election to
the gubernatorial chair was member
of the legislature and speaker of the
house. He Is a business man through
and through. and carries his business
habits into all his affairs. He is among
the Youngest governors in the United
States and one of the most conscien-
tinus and hard working. His agrieult-
ural interests give him strength with
the farmers, and his success as
financier entities him to high rank as
business mau. Gov. Merriam is man
of spotless character, social, approacha-
bic and fond Of athletic sports. His
success in politics is no less than his
success in business. and in both he mer-
its confidence and respect.
John L. Merriam is one of the men
under whose eyes st. Paul has become
a city. and to whom the towns pros
perity is largely due. 1t was back in
the tifties that Mr.. Merriam came West.
He had been here but short time when
he became a member of the firm of Bur
bank, Blakely & Merriam, proprietors
of the Minnesota Stage company and
the Northwestern Express company.
Mr.. Merriam had business interests
outside the firm, but it was chiefly in
this business that he laid the founda-
tons of his fortune. When stages were
superseded by railroads. Mr.. Merriam
became a railroad man. He was one of
the incorporators of the old Minnesota
Valley Railroad and director in the
Sioux City & St. Paul and several other
lines. Not only was he railroad man,
but banker as well, and an important
stakeholder in foundry company. He