The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-28
GRAND LIFE ENDED
DORHUS MORRISON LAYS DOWN
THE BURDENS OF EARTHLY
EXISTENCE.
MILL CITY OWES HIM MUCH.
ALWAYS PUBLIC SPIRITED AND IN
THE FRONT IN PLANS FOR
PROGRESS.
MILL CITY OWES HIM MUCH.
FUNERAL WILL OCCUR TODAY.
Ex-senator Washburn, John s. and
c. A. PiIIsbury and Others
PaII-Bearers.

|
| immediate cause of death was a stom-
ach trouble, but he had been aging
rapidly for some time, and last winter,
when in New York, he was told by his
! physician there that he could not eX-
pect to live more than a year. He at
| tended to business until about month
or two ago, going to his office quite
regularly but since that time he has
! been confined to his house, and for the
! past ten days he has scarcely been
more than conscious
The funeral will take place at the
residence at o'clock this afternoon.
! The officiating clergyman will be Rev
Marion D. Shutter The pallbearers
will be w. w. Eastman, A b. Barton,
John S. Pillsbury, w. S. King, M. B.
! Koon, Charles A. Pillsbury, w. G..
| Northrop, George A. Bracket, e. H.
Moulton, John B. Atwater w. D. Wash
! burn, E. w. Herrick
| Thomas Carlyle taught the world
! that the history of a nation is pre-
eminently the history Of its great men,
In this sense the history of Mime
apolis in it's formative and most pro-
gressve period is to be traced in the
|
During the past ten years he has been
| comparatively little in the public eye.
| but from the time when he came to
/ Minnesota to investigate it's virgin
possibilities, in the year 1854, down to
his retirement from business, he was
one Of the dozen men who made Min
neapOlis the pride of it's 100000 people
Dorilus Morrison was born in the
! town of LiVermore, oxford county,
/ Maine, Dec. 81 1914, making him in
! his eighty-third year when he died
His father was Samuel Morrison, Of
| Scotch descent and one OF the early
settlers of the state. His mother was
Betsy Benjamin, a daughter Of Lient.
! Samuel Benjamin, a revolutionary
officer. Dorilus was the second son Of
a family of four brothers and two
/ sisters, of whom two, besides the de-
ceased, have lived in this city for
/ years and are well-known; H. G. o.
Morrison, who came to the Northwest
| about the same time as his brother
and who lived in Minneapolis an hon
ored and respected citizen until his
death a few years ago, and Mrs. Mel
son Jordan, the mother of DR.. Charles
M. Jordan, superintendent of the city
! schools, and Arthur NJ. Jordan, at
| tOrney.
| The one characteristic of DoriIus
! Morrison from his boyhood days to
| the day of his death was his courage
| He was a man of nerve and business
| clear-headed and cool always and
bold as a lion physically and men
tally. In this respect he eXcelled all
! the other members of the family
! quite as much as the average of man
! kind with whom he had dealings.
Like other boys Of that early period
he had limited opportunities for edu-
| cation and he was early in making
his start in life. His first business
venture was that of a merchant at
Bangor, Maine, where his principal
trade was supplying lumbermen who
logged in the pine woods along the
rivers and creeks of his native state.
In this way Mr.. Morrison readily
gained an insight into the lumber
business, and his business success and
knowledge of the lumber trade af-
forded him ample equipment for a
trip to Minnesota in 1854, for the pur-
pose of locating pine lands for him
| self and Others
| So favorable was the impression
which he received upon his tour of
| exploration that he returned to Maine,
! closed out his business and decided to
! cast his lot with the fortunes of the
| frontier territory at the head waters
| of the Father of Waters. He was one
of the few men who came to the North
west supplied with an adequate knOWl-
| edge of the lumber business, a consid-
| cradle business experience as a mer-
| chant, an abundance of confidence in
his own Judgment and some ready
money and more credit With these
| qualities and the magnificent oppor-
tunities for profitable business. it is not
surprising that DoIilus Morrison be-
came wealthy early, and has ever since
been one of the strong men Of Mime
| apolis.
After his return to Minnesota, Mr..
Morrison took contract to supply the
| logs for the saw mills operated by
Lovejoy & Brockway, on the east side
| of the falls. The logs were cut in the
winter of 1866 on the Rum river, and
f1oated down in the spring. This was
his earliest contract, and his lum ber-
ing was kept up with almost unvary-
| ing success for many years.
| The Minnesota territorial legislature
| in February, 1856. incorporated the
| Minneapolis Mill company, and Mr..
| Morrison, who had acquired a large in
terest in the property, became it's treas
urer as we'll as a member of it's board
of directors. The capital stock was
$4,000 and was largely made up of
real estate interests transferred to the
company. The stock was assessed to
the extent of $4,000, with which was
| built substantial log dam across the
| MISSISSIPPI subsequently a canal was
built along the west side of the river
below the dam, practically adjacent to
the present flour mills, but the hard
times Of 1857 and other conditions made
the venture Improbable for several
| years.
Here was another illustration Of the
| character of Dorilus Morrison. Other
! stockholders weakened and sold out or
relinQuished their interests at a sacri-
flee. Dorilus Morrison never hesitated
He kept his own shares paid up and
bought others. The property was sub
sequently capitalized for 100000, and
it paid ample dividends upon that sum
| when 1t was sold to the PillSbury-
Washburn Flour Mills company, linn
tied
This is only one of the many bust
ness enterprises Of Minneapolis in
which Mr.. Morrison was a leading
spirit He was largely interested in
numbering, and he built the fifth lum-
Der mill on the falls. In this field of en-
terprise he covered the entire field, cut
ting the logs in the woods in the win
ter, he made them into lumber and sold
it.
The building of the Northern Pacific
railway was the opportunity, not only
for G. A. Bracket, but the twelve other
gentlemen associated with him. of
whom Dorilus Morrison, w. S. King.
| John L. Merriam, of ST. Paul w n
| Washburn and r. G.. Shepard were
the best known. These gentlemen or
| ganized a construction company and
built the 240 miles of road from Duluth
to Fargo, accomplishing the task in
two years, concluding their work in
| 1872 The next year Messrs Bracket
| Morrison, King, H. r. Payson and F.
e. Conda took the contract to build the
| inc of mil ~