Manuscripts Collection
Evesmith was born on December 6, 1867 in Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark, provinces which were annexed to Prussia in 1866. He immigrated with his family to the United States in 1869. Evesmith graduated from Swenberg Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich.). Begining his engineering career with the Manistee and North Eastern Railroad, which he left in 1891. He was subsequently employed by the Duluth Gas and Water Company (1892). From 1892 to 1894 he held the position of assistant treasurer of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway; following which he was cashier and director of the Iron Exchange Bank of Duluth (1894-1895). From 1895 to 1903 he was associated with a number of railroad, lumber, mining, and construction companies in northeastern Minnesota and the Mesabi Iron Range, and was associated with many prominent Duluth and Iron Range officials and leaders. He was also active in a number of Duluth civic organizations, including the chamber of commerce, the charter commission, and the commercial club.
He married Cecelia Wilson (1891) and died in Fargo, North Dakota (March 7, 1944). More biographical information is available in the first folder of the collection.
The collection includes biographical information (1931-1944); Evesmith's correspondence and related papers (1906-1940); the manuscripts of two essays (1926): "A Venture in Railroad and Timber Operation, Northern Minnesota" and "Match Manufacturing in Minnesota"; and, subject files (1932) on a number of mines and mining companies on the Mesabi Range, 1890-1894.
The subject files, especially, provide substantive information on the early history of iron mining and exploration on Minnesota's Mesabi Range.
The collection is organized into four files: Biographical and related information, 1931-1944; Correspondence and related papers, 1906-1940; Essays, 1926; Subject files, 1932.
Accession numbers: 2656, 2896, 3509, 3523, 3552, 3577, 3611, 4626, 4887, 4991, 5036, 5087
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, April 1997
Catalog ID number: 09-00042864
Biographical information consists of thumbnail sketches of Evesmith's life and career taken from
The folder contains Evesmith's appointment (1906) as a delegate to the American Mining Convention, signed by Minnesota governor John A. Johnson; materials on state treasurer Julius H. Block, including a campaign brochure, a letter to Evesmith, newspaper clippings on his campaign for state auditor and governor of Minnesota (1914), and his obituary (1915); correspondence (1914) between Evesmith and Frank E. Higgins, a missionary ("sky pilot") to Minnesota lumberjacks; correspondence between Evesmith and the United States Weather Bureau (1932) containing extracts of the log (October 13-15, 1918) he kept while serving on the SS
This essay contains details on the incorporation (1901) of the Duluth, Virginia and Rainy Lake Railway Company, with information on the incorporators and first officers. Evesmith was secretary-treasurer of the company and was engaged in its financing operations. The manuscript also describes the railroad's holding company, the Rainy Lake Company (incorporated 1903), which held half of the stock issued by the railroad. There is information on its incorporators and directors and on its absorption of a number of mines, securities, and timber enterprises. It was later named the Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railway.
This essay contains considerable information on the Marinette Iron Works, a manufacturer of large machinery used in pumping, sawmills, and other operations including the manufacture of machinery used in the Lakewood Pumping Station in Duluth; the company's relocation from Marinette, Wisconsin, to West Duluth (1890); the effect of the 1893 financial panic on its operations; its receivership (1895); and the conversion of the plant (1900) to the Duluth Match Company, which Evesmith served as treasurer. The company later became the Union Match Company (1903), then the Federal Match Company. Also included in the folder are a newspaper clipping from
The 42 historical sketches (blueprint copies) contain much information on the exploration and development of the Mesabi Range from 1890 to 1894, with details on the discovery, location, corporate information, individuals associated with the mines, amounts of ore extracted, diagrams and plat maps of areas discovered, copies of letters and reports from the field, railroads in the area, and information on owners of the mines in 1932.
Included with the histories are ten small photographs (1903) of equipment, topographical features, individuals, and related matters. Most of the photographs are described in the accompanying historical sketch. Other items of interest include a certificate (April 8, 1892) for twenty-five shares of stock in the Oneota Irion Mining Company, Duluth (filed under "Evesmith Explorations"), and original report (April 27, 1903) of the exploration of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 13, Township 58, Range 20, by the Gust Carlson Exploration Company, Hibbing. It is filed under "Syme-Evesmith Project."