The northwestern bulletin., 1923-05-05
T. H. HICKMAN RELATES
HISTORY OF EARLY
ST. PAUL.
CONTINUED from page -

came as early as tSoo, pot tnSH
uos c;rcumscribed by the length OF
Tho boating season, river tramc oeins
our only connection with the outside
world prior to 1868. In this year .ne
erst rails were laid that were ui'i-
a.a,v 70 give free and unrestricted
communication with every locaii'' y.
49, great Northwestern portion oi
our country. The first section tra,-
ersed was between st. Paul ana o.
,ntbonv Falls (now Minneapolis
East, a distance of ten miles.
x,o,,.,n BLOCKS Were Private Homes
There was a line of demarcalioh
hotween these two groups. The later
comers being known as contra
honas" Those coming earlier were
ooI,ed "Colored people" With the
earlier race people were also 'osepn
Tav,or. who was murdered by indians
in 1862. Clement Seymour, Geo D.
Williams. father of our BILLY gov
ornor of the state" Edward James
ond Nathan Walker. These men were
all made of the sterner material iron
which pioneers are made, and oe-
cause Of their qualifications were far
beyond the so-called cheap laooi
class. Nathan Walker was chei a'
tho Merchants hotel and owned MS
owr home where the Auditorlum
now stands. Mary Davis owned her
home. the land now occupied by the
nostoffice. The Taylors, Farrs anu
Armstrongs owned Fifth street, be-
tween wabasha and Cedar streets
"old Lady" Holmes owned two lots
nm ground now covered by the
Armory.
Blakely Durant sold his two-hun-
dred-acre farm in Mercer county
Ohio, to come to Minnesota in 1866.
The Durants, the Hillyards and the
Bowles families all lived on property
now occupied by the Golden Rule
and Emporium" department stores.
vocationally. in those days, our race
variety furnished the chefs for the
leading hotels, owned all the barber
shops, they furnished the cooks,
stewards, firemen and roust-a-bouts
for the boats, engaged in the passen-
ger and freight carrying of the river
traffic.
Race Men Owned Businesses.
Wesley Jones, strong man, was
porter in a wholesale grocery house,
corner of Third and Jackson streets.
Andrew Jackson, uncle of Mrs. De-
tective Black, was a butcher. and re-
tailed meats for Henry Lamb, where
the general Offices of the Great North
ern now stands. Louis Liverpool
was a veterinary, employed by DR..
Jones on Fourth street. John Hick-
man was a clerk in l.. B. Waits seed
store and John Black was clerk for
Hines & Lanpher, hatters on Third
street. Ben. Mckinney was employed
in a commission house. "Jeff' Ray
ford delivered furniture for DeCoster
& Clark. Willis Gray, the old bill
poster, was predecessor of the great
Scott Advertising Co. Truly these
were the halcyon days of the "Open
Shop" No labor unions All the
employer desired was a man on whom
he could rely. AS previously stated,
colored BARRIERS occupied the field.
r. j. Stockton owned two shops,
Merchants hotel, downtown shop"
and the Metropolitan hotel, up
town shop" These were the leading
hostelries. J. Henry, the hair-cutter.
owned the American House Shop
Maurice Jernigan owned the Interna-
tional hotel, Seventh and Jackson
streets shop. Jackson and Farr,
Bridge Square shop. Thomas H.
Lyles amassed a fortune from his
court house shop, in the late seven
ties.
Failure Caused by migration.
The great influx of people from
Northern Europe. many of whom
came to Minnesota, gradually changed
sentimental conditions surrounding
labor Of every form. 1t took from the
coiored men their monopoly of the
barber trade, many small shops were
opened as the town grew to a city of
metropolitan proportion. The re-
sultant, competition nearly drove col
ored artisans from the field, and in
cidently lost to the race that kindly
interest of business, and professional
men with whom the leading BARRIERS
were constantly In contact.
Rejecting upon the events Of that
period, 1t was wonderful how rapid
the change from the condition of
mere chattel to that of freemen
was accomplished. The seeming am
bition Of every man to become owner
of his own home was encouraged, and
in the downtown section there wa.
an addition to the city proper, known
as Borup Addition, in which a good