Grand Forks

The Dinnie Brothers of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

The Dinnie Brothers are probably the largest contractors in the state of North Dakota. More cities and towns in the valley of the Red river are creations of that firm to a larger extent in the brick and stone building line than can be attributed to any other firm in this part of the Northwest. To particularize would be to require mention of almost hundreds of buildings, and in point of time cover a period extending over a quarter of a century. John and James Dinnie came to Grand Forks, March 20, 1881. They began as common brick-layers and, in …

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Biography of Joseph Bell DeRemer of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

Joseph Bell DeRemer, of Grand Forks, was born September 14, 1871, in Montana, Warren county, New Jersey. His father was James K. Polk DeRemer and his mother Nancy (Bell) DeRemer. He received his education in the common school at New Village, Warren county, New Jersey. Later he was a special student in architecture at Columbia University, New York city. He followed the occupation of a carpenter from March, 1886, to May 1, 1896, and made himself a master of the trade, also devoting himself to the study of the building art. He then entered Columbia University, taking a special course …

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Biography of E. C. Cooper of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

E. C. Cooper, commissioner of insurance, has been a resident of Grand Forks, North Dakota, since 1883. He was born in Antioch, Illinois, April 11, 1856, and moved to Iowa with his parents when six years of age, where he lived until his removal to Grand Forks, where he first took a position with a large lumbering concern, and remained with the same firm until he embarked in the insurance business on his own account, and has since been identified with only the oldest and most conservative insurance companies in existence, and the character of his work has especially fitted …

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Biography of George B. Clifford of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

George B. Clifford was born at Concord, New Hampshire, March 10, 1858. His parents were Benjamin B. Clifford and Ruth N. (George) Clifford. He was educated in the public schools of Concord, New Hampshire; Newton and Chelsea, Massachusetts, and at Wilbraham Academy, Wilbraham, Massachusetts. After leaving school he taught school in Vermont for one winter, and during the following summer he commenced studying law with Governor Roswell Farnham, of Bradford, Vermont. He finished his law course at Montpelier, Vermont., and was admitted to the bar of Washington county, Vermont, in March, 1881. In April, 1881, Mr. Clifford located at Grand …

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Biography of James Arnold Canniff of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

James Arnold Canniff, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was born in Ontario, Canada, November 5, 1868. His parents were Thomas O. and Elizabeth J. Canniff. He was educated in the schools of Grand Forks, and commenced business in 1885, succeeding T. C. Canniff, in the wall paper, paint and oil business. He was elected alderman of Grand Forks, in 1896, and served nine years. He served as chairman of the Republican County Central Committee in 1904-5. He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias, and Odd Fellows. On June 17, 1893, Mr. Canniff was married at Grand Forks, …

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Biography of Andrew A. Bruce of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

Andrew A. Bruce, dean of the college of law, University of North Dakota, was born April 15, 1866, in the mountain fort of Nunda Drug, in Madras, India, of Scotch parents. His father was General Edward Archibald Bruce, of the British army. His mother, Anne McMaster Bruce, was a daughter of Colonel Robert McMaster, of the British army. Both of his parents died when he was a child and he came alone to America, when fifteen years of age. He worked his own way through college and graduated from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin law school. …

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Biography of General William H. Brown of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

General William H. Brown. Probably no one stands higher in the estimation of every one in the Red River valley than our esteemed citizen, William H. Brown, first mayor of Grand Forks. As a pioneer of the place, he was one of the early residents to blaze the way for others, and to him and his contemporaries the people of this city owe a debt of gratitude. General Brown is a native of North Hampton, Massachusetts, where he was born seventy-seven years ago, dating the event from the thirteenth of November, 1907. His father, Joseph S. Brown, was a carpenter, …

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Biography of David H. Beecher of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks, Walsh / History of the Red River Valley

The subject of this sketch, Mr. David H. Beecher, is one of the pioneer and successful bankers of the Red River Valley, entering this field as a banker in 1884 at Park River, Walsh county, North Dakota. Mr. Beecher was born in Rushford, Allegany county, New York, March 15, 1852, where he resided with his parents until the age of twelve, when the family removed to Tioga county, New York. At the age of eighteen he went to Binghamton, New York, to complete his education and entered business there at the age of twenty-three. He resided at Binghamton until 1883, …

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Biography of Anton O. Anderson of Grand Forks, North Dakota

Grand Forks / History of the Red River Valley

Anton O. Anderson, manager of the Advance Thrasher Company, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was born at Lake Crystal, Minnesota, on April 7, 1872. His parents were Ole W. and Elsie (Farmer) Anderson, both natives of Norway. Father came to the United States in 1853, and mother in 1871. Anton O. received a good common school education at Hillsboro, North Dakota. He then spent two years at Willmar Seminary, Willmar, Minnesota, and one year at the Lutheran College, at Decorah, Iowa. From 1899 to 1903, was engaged in the implement business at Northwood, North Dakota, when he sold out and …

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