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OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION |
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| Creator: | Koll, Mathias N., 1874-1934. | |
| Title: | Mathias N. Koll papers. | |
| Date: | 1880-1971 (bulk 1910-1934). | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence (1890-1936), minutes (1911-1930), newspaper clippings (1896-1932), subject files (personal and business), printed material, photographs, legal papers, bills and receipts, business records, and miscellaneous papers relating to Mathias N. Koll and his involvement in land development and politics in Cass Lake and northern Minnesota. | |
| Quantity: | 12.0 cu. ft. (12 boxes). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for box location. | |
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BIOGRAPHY OF MATHIAS N. KOLL
Mathias N. Koll was born May 4, 1874, in Cold Spring, Minnesota, the son of Lorenz (1849-1930) and Elizabeth Bold (1855-1915) Koll. He attended public schools and St. Cloud (Minn.) Normal School. In 1890 he began teaching in rural schools in Stearns and Douglas Counties and continued until 1898. During that time, he also attended Sauk Center Academy and Brown Business College (St. Cloud). In 1898 he became deputy county auditor of Douglas County. In 1901 he was an assistant cashier of Farmers National Bank of Alexandria (Minn.) and spent much of his time as a field man for the bank's real estate business. From August 1904 to March 1909 he was the receiver of the United States Land Office in Cass Lake, Minnesota. In 1909 he formed a real estate mortgage company and also sold real estate.
Koll helped organize, and was a member, in the following organizations: Cass Lake Commercial Club, Northern Minnesota Development Association, Minnesota Scenic Highway Association, Northern Minnesota Sheep Growers Association, Ten Thousand Lakes of Minnesota Association, Minnesota State Automobile Association, and other groups. He also drafted the constitution and bylaws for the incorporation of the Chippewa (Ojibwe) Indians of Minnesota (1913). He was active in state and local politics, and served as postmaster in Cass Lake from 1930-1934.
Koll married Dorothy Kapphahn, and they had five children: Hugo, Otto, Leo, Irene, and Ambrose. Koll died May 22, 1934 in Cass Lake.
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SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION
The correspondence concerns land sales and development; roads and road building; dams and dam building; relationships with the Ojibwe Indian population; national, state, and local politics; disposition of cutover lands; immigration to and settlement of lands in and near Cass Lake; resorts and youth camps; tourism; local business concerns in Cass Lake, including canning and boat building firms; property tax assessments; fur farming; his relationship with his daughter; and other subjects.
The papers reflect Koll's association with a number of business and promotional organizations, including the Northern Minnesota Development Association, Theodore Roosevelt International Highway Association, Cass Lake Commercial Club, Northern Minnesota Sheep Growers' Association, Cass Lake Co-Operative Creamery Association, Minnesota Scenic Highway Association, Cass County Development Association, Minnesota Arrowhead Association, Ten Thousand Lakes of Minnesota Association, the Minnesota Automobile Association, and a number of other regional development associations.
A folder of oversize papers (1916-1922) contains maps and drawings of actual and proposed highways in the Cass County area, drawings of a Cass Lake dam and a proposed scout camp, some northern Minnesota promotional materials, and a papal blessing (1922) for M. N. Koll and his wife.
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ARRANGEMENT OF THE COLLECTION |
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| The correspondence files are divided into personal and business sections. The subject files are in alphabetical order and divided into three series: personal names, topical, and organizations and associations. | ||
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RELATED MATERIALS |
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| Photographs of Cass Lake and vicinity, and of the Koll family, can be found in the Minnesota Historical Society Audio-Visual Library. | ||
| Annual Reports (1918-1930) of the Ten Thousand Lakes of Minnesota Association can be found in the Minnesota Historical Society Library. | ||
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INDEX TERMS |
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| This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings. | ||
| Topics: | ||
| Boating industry--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Camps--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Canning and preserving--Minnesota--Industry and trade. | ||
| Cass Lake (Minn.)--Commerce. | ||
| Cass Lake (Minn.)--Social life and customs. | ||
| Creameries--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Cutover lands--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Dams--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Diet--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Fathers and daughters--Minnesota--Correspondence. | ||
| Forest fires--Minnesota. | ||
| Fur farming--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Holistic medicine--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Insurance--Minnesota--Cass Lake--Agents. | ||
| Land settlement--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Minnesota National Forest. | ||
| Minnesota, North Central--Description and travel--1918-1945. | ||
| Minnesota, North Central--Economic development. | ||
| Minnesota--Politics and government--1898-1918. | ||
| Minnesota--Politics and government--1918-1945. | ||
| Ojibwa Indians--Minnesota--Government. | ||
| Ojibwa Indians--Minnesota--Reservations--Land tenure. | ||
| Ojibwa women--Societies and clubs. | ||
| Railroad lands--Minnesota. | ||
| Real estate development--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Resorts--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Roads--Minnesota, North Central--Design and construction. | ||
| Roads--Minnesota, North Central--Location. | ||
| Roads--Minnesota--Societies, etc. | ||
| Sheep--Minnesota--Breeding--Societies, etc. | ||
| Taxation--Minnesota--Public opinion. | ||
| Tourist trade--Minnesota, North Central. | ||
| Vacation homes--Minnesota--Cass Lake. | ||
| Persons: | ||
| Babcock, C. M. (Charles Merritt), 1851-1936. | ||
| Barker, Earle. | ||
| Brennen, Irene Koll, 1910-. | ||
| Buckman, Clarence Bennett, 1851-1917. | ||
| Buckman, Mark Martin, 1888-1964. | ||
| Koll family. | ||
| Organizations: | ||
| America First Association. | ||
| Cass County Development Association (Minn.). | ||
| Catholic Order of Foresters. St. Reinhart Court, No. 483 (Cass Lake, Minn.). | ||
| Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association. | ||
| Great Northern Railway (U.S.). | ||
| Ku Klux Klan (1915-). | ||
| Minnesota Automobile Association. | ||
| Vermillion Iron Development Company (Minn.). | ||
| Types of Documentation: | ||
| Business records. | ||
| Minutes. | ||
| Photographs. | ||
| Occupations: | ||
| Salesmen, Insurance. | ||
| Salesmen, Real estate. | ||
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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION |
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| Preferred Citation: | ||
| [Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Mathias N. Koll Papers. Minnesota Historical Society. | ||
| See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples. | ||
| Accession Information: | ||
| Accession number: 13,268; 14,049; 14,281 | ||
| Processing Information: | ||
| Processed by: Bonnie B. Palmquist, September 1989 | ||
| PALS ID number: 09-00000208 | ||
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