Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-04-22
FERRYBOAT captain"
TO COUNTRY BANKER

10 COUNTRY BANKER
Continued from reverse paqe.)
white-haired and venerable, came to
Minneapolis from his Morrison county
home as a delegate to the anti-machine
conference which selected his old pu-
Pill, William e. Lee, as the guberna.
torial candidate for the primaries.
Opens General Store.
From camp cook to woodsman, driv-
ing logs down the Sandy river and to
clerking in Long Prairie store, he
progressed until he began merchandise
ing on his own account by opening
small general store in Vurnhamyil]e,
Todd county. Shortly after the youth
ful merchant was elected to his first
public ottice-that of justice of the
peace.
And then one day Squire Lee took
trip in the direction of the old log
schoolhouse with the hollyhocks and
the morning glories, and when he re-
turned there came with him the rosy
| checked little school-ma am as Mrs.
William E. Lee. The couple lived in
the struggling hamlet of Vurnhamville
for two years and then moved to Long
Prairie, where new and larger store
| was opened
The steady, quiet, methodical and
genial manner Of the young merchant
must have impressed the Todd county
citizens, for when the fall votes were
counted that year, it was discovered
William E. Lee was the new register
| of deeds.
Elected to Legislature.
In 1885, after holly contested cleo
| ton, Mr.. Lee was elected to the Min
nesota legislature, serving also
! through the sessions of 1887 and 1893.
| At the latter term, Mr.. Lee was select
ed as the speaker of the house. Dur
ing his earlier term of legislative work,
the young lawmaker was chairman Of
| the committee on banks and banking,
and had much to do with the enact
ment of laws for official inspection Of
grain and grain warehouses, and later
a railway commission.
The year following Mr. Lee got his
first insight into educational work
through al appointment from Cover
nor William R. Merriam as member
! OF the state normal school board,
which was probably more or less re-
sponsible for the interest he has taken
in school matters ever since. In 1894
Mr.. Lee was appointed superintendent
OF the state reformatory in St. Cloud
resigning in 1895. This work gave
the new incumbent new idea of boys,
and he made careful study of penal
institutions and reformatores through
out the country that he might better
his own methods. This interest in
boys welfare he still retains, and in
all of his many journeys, both
| throughout the United States and
Europe, Mr.. Lee has never failed to
visit and study the reformatories Of
other states and countries.
At this juncture, Governor Samuel
| +. Van SAINT, having the appointment
of board of control to supervise the
states public institutions, asked Mr..
Lee to serve as it's chairman. He &C.
cepted, remained on the board for two
years and then after it had been thor
oughly organized, resigned to look
after his growing commercial interests.
In 1881, Mr.. Lee organized the first
bank of Todd county, the Bank of
Long Prairie, a state institution
which he still controls. The candidate
organized and controls majority of
| the stock in the First National Bank
| of Browerville; the First National
Bank of Eagle Bend, and the State
Bank of Bertram, all in Todd county.
In addition to his banks, Mr. Lee
has large lumber yard interests in his
section of the state, and is at the head
OF manufacturing plant in Long
Prairie, with branch in Winnipeg.
| 1t manufactures what is known as the
Hahnman device, series of patented
appliances for extending the useful
ness of traction engines in farming.
orders have been shipped from the
Long Prairie plant to Russia, Rou-
mania, Argentina, Ecuador, Australia,
Austria, Germany, and Hungary. The
device is shipped throughout Canada
from the Winnipeg branch.
An inventor Unrewarded.
1t is not generally known, but the
candidate is the inventor of the ma
chine now used throughout the coun-
try for cleaning grain Not having
the capital to properly secure his pat
ents, the device was seized by others
and placed in general use. Later Mr..
Lee brought actions against the in
frlngers and in each recovered dam
ages, but the amounts, he declares,
were just about sufficient to pay for
the litigation.
Mr.. Lee has travelled extensively
throughout the United States and
Europe, and everywhere has made a
study and comparison of civic condi-
tons. A banker, he has naturally made
a close study of the currency and the
tariff, and has followed both state and
federal legislation with more than a
passing interest. Mr.. Lee has been
closely identified with the develop
| m