Zar Delevan Scott (1848-1931)

                                           Portrait from the Michiganensian, Volume 7, 1903.

    Recognized as one of Duluth, Minnesota's prominent business figures of the late 19th century, Zar Delevan Scott rose from quiet beginnings in Michigan to the front ranks of the Minnesota timber industry, for many years owning and operating two of that state's largest lumber businesses. A pioneer in the burgeoning conservation movement in the early 20th century, Scott held the Presidency of the Minnesota State Board of Forestry and also had fleeting involvement in politics, being a Prohibitionist candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1888.
   Born in the small village of Northville, Michigan on October 25, 1848, Zar Delevan Scott was the second of five children born to George and Abigail Hart Scott, both former natives of New York. Scott attended schools local to the county of his birth and later went on to study at the Kalamazoo College and the University of Chicago before enrolling at the University of Michigan, graduating in the class of 1873 with his bachelor of science degree. Following his graduation Scott worked as a surveyor in the employ of the U.S. government, taking part in the U.S. Lake Survey of the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River, and in 1874 made his first foray into the lumber industry, taking work at a Minneapolis lumber yard. 
   Zar D. Scott married in 1875 to Frances Gage (1849-1926), recorded as one of the first two women to ever graduate from the University of Michigan. The couple would later have two daughters, Ruth and Alice. Five years following his marriage Scott and his family resettled in Duluth, Minnesota, where they would reside for the remainder of their lives. Shortly afterward he began a decade-long connection with D.E. Holsten in the lumber firm of Scott and Holsten. The company is recorded as having done a successful business in manufacturing "moldings, sashes, doors and blinds."
  With his name firmly established in Duluth business circles, Zar D. Scott entered into city civic affairs in the mid-1880s, serving at various times as president of the Duluth school board and member of the city council. Active in the Prohibition Party in Duluth, Scott attended that party's nominating convention for Congress in 1888 and during the nominating process proposed the name of Charles E. Shannon. Later in the convention, Scott's name was put forth by another convention delegate, Capt. J.W. Miller, and a short while later Zar D. Scott had received the party's nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives. News of Scott's candidacy was reported not only in Minnesota by also in the New York Times, which related in its July 28th, 1888 edition that:

"The candidate is a sash, blind and door manufacturer, and although he wears the Prohibition sash he is not blind to the interests of the people, and soon his party will open wide the door and place the country on the threshold of a new national life. He has never sought nor held any public office except that of a member of the school board and has heretofore been a Republican of the Minnesota low tariff variety."

Zar D. Scott's nomination as profiled in the Duluth Evening Herald, July 19, 1888.

   As one of three candidates in that year's Congressional race, Scott faced off against Republican candidate Solomon G. Comstock (a former state representative and senator) and Democrat Charles Canning. On election day in November 1888, Scott placed a distant third, garnering only 4,254 votes to Solomon Comstock's winning total of 31, 350. Comstock would go on to serve one term in Congress (1889-1891) before being defeated for reelection in 1890.

  Following Scott's brief flirtation with politics he returned to his earlier business dealings in Duluth, and in 1890 established another lumber firm, the Scott-Graaf Co. Manufacturing similar products to that of his previous business, Scott served as the vice president and general manager of this company, which also dealt "in the buying and selling of Minnesota and California timber lands" and " fine millwork and cabinetry. " Scott remained connected with this company until a few years before his death, retiring when he was in his mid-seventies. 

  Any record of the life of Zar Delevan Scott wouldn't be truly complete without highlighting his involvement with the Minnesota State Forestry Board, of which he served as president between 1909 and 1914. As an advocate of reforestation in Minnesota, Scott's 1931 obituary in the Duluth Herald notes that he took an extended trip to Germany to learn of that country's replanting methods, and after returning to the United States began to replant "30,000 young pine and spruce trees, many of which were brought from Germany." Scott's death notice in the 1931 Michigan Alumnus further relates that he was:

"Listed among the few men making great fortunes in the northwoods who early realized the value of the preservation and protection of the forest lands......He was an ardent advocate of a scheme for lowering taxation on growing timberlands to encourage the regrowth of the forests  by landowners in the rapidly denuded northwest"

         Zar Scott (second from right) and his wife at the University of Michigan Commencement, 1922. 

    Throughout his life, Zar Scott maintained a close connection to his alma mater, the University of Michigan, and as one of the school's prominent alumni attended many reunions at the University. Active in fraternal groups both in Duluth and elsewhere, Scott was a member of the National Geographic Society, the Duluth Commercial Club, and the Duluth Boat Club. Following many years of involvement in business and civic affairs in Duluth, Zar Scott died shortly after his 83rd birthday on November 19, 1931, at the St. Luke's Hospital in that city. A burial location for him is unknown at this time but is presumed to be in the Duluth-St. Louis County area.

Zar D. Scott (pictured in 1930) from the Michigan Alumnus, Volume 38, 1931.

Uranus Owen Brackett Wingate (1848-1911)

  This interestingly named gentleman is Uranus Owen Brackett Wingate, an influential physician and resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I first discovered Wingate in the Who Was Who in America, 1897-1942 edition, which was located in my high school library. I've been wanting to profile Mr. Wingate for quite a while on the site, and before getting too in-depth on his life, I must clarify the fact that Wingate can be classified as a "grey area" political figure, and while he isn't an elected public official, Wingate did hold the posts of Health Commissioner of Milwaukee and Secretary of the Wisconsin State Board of Health. Both of these positions are mentioned in Wisconsin government registers of the time, and, as he was the secretary of a state agency (the State Board of Health), it is that position that earns him a place here.
    U.O.B. Wingate was born in Rochester, New Hampshire on September 4, 1848, the son of David and Lydia Thompson Wingate. Wingate looks to have been bestowed his unusual name in honor of Uranus Owen Brackett (1836-1899), a Berwick, Maine resident who served terms in the Maine House of Representatives, the State Senate, and the Governor's Council. At age sixteen Wingate signed on for service during the Civil War, joining Sherman's Army, and later served as a member of a military railroad construction outfit until the close of the hostilities.
   After leaving the service, Wingate began pursuing medical studies at Harvard University and graduated from the Dartmouth Medical School in 1875 with a degree in medicine. He established a medical practice in the villages of Haverhill and Wellesley, Massachusetts soon after his graduation. Sources vary on the exact year that Wingate left Massachusetts, but it is known that he resettled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in either 1885 or 1886.
  Soon after his relocation, Wingate reestablished his medical practice and on July 11, 1889, he married Nellie West Schoonmaker.  In the year following his marriage, Wingate was appointed as Health Commissioner of the city of Milwaukee and served four years in that post. In 1893 he launched an investigation into the sanitary condition of the Milwaukee school system, and during the course of his analysis, found that six of these schools needed to be shut down due to their being in "unwholesome condition, owing to poor sewerage." An article mentioning his examination is posted below. In addition to his service as Health Commissioner, Wingate also served as the President of the Milwaukee County Medical Society and a visiting neurologist to both the Milwaukee County and St. Mary's hospitals.

                    This article appeared in the Feb. 1, 1893 edition of the Painesville, Ohio Telegraph.

  In the last year of his term as Health Commissioner, Dr. Wingate was appointed as the Secretary of the Wisconsin State Board of Health. He served ten years as the head of this board and during his tenure proved to be a man of remarkable foresight and readiness. A New York Times article from January 1898 notes that Wingate gave an extensive response to a questionnaire filed by the New York Board of Trade and Transportation in regards to a "uniform system of quarantine in the United States." In his response, Wingate advocated the establishment of a new governmental department whose sole responsibility was the supervision of the country's sanitary and health affairs. 
  After reading this article (which has been posted below) one should take note that Uranus Wingate actively encouraged the installation of a U.S. health department nearly sixty years before the creation of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare under President Eisenhower in 1953. This department was later broken up into two separate cabinet entities in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter.

   Wingate resigned from the Wisconsin State Board of Health in 1904 and in the years following his service authored numerous articles that were published in medical journals of the day, mainly relating to hygiene, diseases of the nervous system, and neurology. It is noted in the 1906 work "History of New Hampshire Surgeons in the War of Rebellion" that soon after his resignation, he established a "private institution near Milwaukee for the treatment of mental diseases." 

  Uranus O.B. Wingate died at age 62 on February 19, 1911, as the result of pneumonia. In the course of research on him, I've been quite surprised at the number of medical journals and local histories that mention his public service and medical career, especially considering the overall obscurity of the man. I also must mention the American Journal of Public Health, Volume II, where most of this information was located. This work gave quite an extensive chronology of Wingate's life and times, right up until his death in 1911. 

    This portrait of Dr. U.O.B. Wingate was discovered in the "Notable Men of Wisconsin" 1902 edition.

Trevanion William Hugo (1848-1923), Trevanyon Levonia Mathews (1849-1944)

   A standout figure in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, Trevanion William Hugo was a two-term mayor of that city who was also a distinguished figure in American Masonry. I first discovered T.W. Hugo on a historical roster of past Duluth mayors and during research on his life, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that several articles and pictures of him existed in some form or another. I wish this could be the story behind some of the other profiles on the site here, and considering the overall obscurity of Mr. Hugo, the wealth of articles mentioning him is a lasting testament to his reputation and public stature.
  Hugo was originally born in Boddinoc, Cornwall, England on July 29, 1848, the son of Nicholas Trevanion Kemp Hugo (1823-1906) and his wife Mary Rendle Marks. While Trevanion was still a child the Hugo family resettled in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where he attended the common schools. After leaving school, Hugo worked as a machinist for several years and later served as a marine engineer aboard numerous steamships on the Great Lakes. In September 1872 he married in Kingston to Ms. Jean Lanigan (1851-1902), with whom he had two sons, Victor Rendle Marks (1873-1913) and Rene Trevanion (1881-1924).
  Hugo resettled in Duluth, Minnesota with his family in 1881 and during the mid-1880s was employed as the chief engineer of the Consolidated Elevator Company. Hugo also used his engineering expertise in connection with the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company, where he was a consulting engineer. Hugo is noted as being one of the first members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the second member ever from Canada.
  Sources of the time stress Trevanion Hugo's activity with the Masonic Fraternity, both in Canada and Minnesota. During his life, he was accorded numerous honors from this organization, including a stint as Grand Chancellor of the Supreme Council Scottish Rite of Free Masonry and later as the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of Minnesota. He was also active in publishing Masonic literature and authored an index on the Morals and Dogma of Masonry. 
  In addition to his prolific Masonic activities, Trevanion Hugo was also a widely known public official in Duluth, serving as a member of the Duluth Public Library Board and was the President of the Duluth School Board. While these activities garnered Hugo a high public profile, he didn't actively pursue political office until 1890, when he won a seat on the Duluth City Council. He later was named the President of this Council and in 1900 was elected as the Mayor of Duluth, serving a term of four years. A newspaper photo mentioning Hugo's tenure as mayor (as well as his service as a Republican National Convention delegate) is posted below.

              This picture of  Hugo appeared in the March 17, 1904 edition of the Minneapolis Journal.

    After his mayoral term, Hugo helped compile and edit the first volume of the History of Duluth and St. Louis County, which was published in 1910. The portrait of Hugo at the beginning of this profile was featured in that book. He returned to the political stage in 1920 when he was named as the acting Mayor of Duluth, upon the resignation of Clarence R. Magney (1883-1962). Hugo served out the rest of Magney's unexpired term into early 1921 when a successor, Samuel Snively, was elected.
  Trevanion William Hugo continued prominence in the Masonic fraternity late into his life and died at age 75 on February 27, 1923, as a result of "a relapse from a slight attack of influenza". The Duluth News Tribune memorialized Hugo as a "cultured gentleman in the best American meaning of the word" and that "few men better deserved the title of useful citizen."

                     This portrait of Trevanion Hugo appeared in the 1902 edition of "Men of Minnesota".

  In an interesting update to this article..... on March 4, 2012, a previously unknown politician was discovered who also has the given name "Trevanion", albeit with a slight variation in spelling. Read on to find out more!

From 1854-1904 Nebraskans.

  Shown above is Trevanyon Levonia Mathews, a resident of Cass County, Illinois who served one term in his state's House of Representatives in the early 1880s. Mathews (some sources spell his name with two "t's") later relocated to Nebraska, where he was an unsuccessful aspirant for state auditor and later was named U.S. Marshal, serving in the latter post for eight years.
  Trevanyon Mathews was originally born in the town of Florence, Pennsylvania on March 1, 1849. He migrated to Cass County, Illinois in the mid-1860s and eventually moved to the town of Virginia in 1876. It was here that he became apprenticed to a carriage manufacturing outfit and engaged in this vocation for several years. Also during this time, he began learning the printing trade and in the late 1870s became the editor of the Virginia Gazette newspaper.
  During his career as a publisher and printer, Mathews became active in local political circles and eventually mounted an unsuccessful campaign for county circuit clerk.  He would serve as deputy sheriff and collector of taxes for the county in 1878 and in 1882 was elected by the citizens of Cass County as a Republican to the Illinois State House of Representatives. During his two-year term, Mathews held a seat on the House Committees of Revenue, Canal and River Development, and Fish and Game. A roster from the 1883 legislative session (in which Matthews served) is posted below.

  Trevanyon L. Mathews resettled in Nebraska in the early 1890s and in 1892 organized the Nebraska State Building and Loan Association in Fremont, to which he was connected for many years. He also continued political involvement following his resettlement, and in 1894 and 1896 he was a speaker at the state Republican State Central Committee. In 1898 Mathews was the Republican candidate for state auditor but was defeated by a slim majority. Mathews would also be engaged as a campaign manager for Monroe Leland Hayward in his successful campaign for U.S. Senator from Nebraska in 1899. Despite his win, Hayward died before taking the oath of office in December of that year.

 In 1899 Mathews was tapped by President McKinley to serve as U.S. Marshal for Nebraska and was reappointed to another four-year term in 1903 by President Roosevelt. In 1908 he was named as cashier for the Fremont Trust and Savings Bank, and five years later founded the Fremont Savings Bank, of which he served as cashier and president. Active in several civic and church endeavors in his adopted home state, Mathews served three years as president of the state Sunday School Association, was a member of the Masonic Order, Knights Templar, and the Order of the Eastern Star, and held the directorship of the Fremont Hotel Company.

  After decades of public service in both Illinois and Nebraska, Trevanyon Levonia Mathews died in Fremont on June 2, 1944, at age 95, having been ill for a week before his death. He was survived by his son Reece and was interred at the Ridge Cemetery in Fremont.

From the Fremont Tribune, June 2, 1944.

Cherubusco Newton (1848-1910)

Portrait from Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the 19th Century.

   A prominent lawyer and legislator in 19th century Louisiana, Cherubusco Newton's first name is truly one-of-a-kind. Research on Mr. Newton's life was somewhat hampered by the rather inconsistent spelling of his first name, which is variously given as "Cherubusco", "Churubusco" and "Curubusco". Seeing that Newton was born on May 15, 1848, one year following the famous Battle of Churubusco during the Mexican-American War, it is in all likelihood that he was named after that particular battle. I first discovered Mr. Newton's name in 2001 while perusing the website www.politicalgraveyard.com and other than the information obtained there, little else could be found on him other than his short tenure in Congress. This remained the norm until websites (such as Wikipedia and Infoplease) began offering up small, brief blurbs on the man whose profile you are now reading.

   Cherubusco Newton was born in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana, the son of Daniel and Nancy Wright Newton. He attended the State Seminary of Learning in Alexandria and graduated from Louisiana State University. He began teaching school soon afterward and in 1870 passed the Louisiana state bar exam. Over the next few years Newton gained statewide distinction as an attorney, and the Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana (Volume II) mentioned that his firm "was ranked second to none in the northern part of the state." Newton married in 1879 to Amanda Cason (the sister of his law partner J.T. Cason) with whom he would have two sons, Thomas C. Newton (born 1886) and Sterling M. Newton, both of whom went on to distinguished careers as lawyers.

   In 1879 Newton was elected to the Louisiana State Senate and this four-year term saw him sit on the judiciary committee and chair the Committee on Public Education. In 1886 he was nominated by the Democrats for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and that November trounced his Republican opponent, G.L. Walton, by a vote of 13,618 to 495. He took his seat in March 1887 and was a member of the committees on the Eleventh Census, and Public Buildings and Grounds. He served one term, being defeated for renomination by Charles Jahleal Boatner (1849-1903) in November 1888. 

A recently located portrait of Newton, found May 19, 2020, via the Library of Congress.

  In 1888 Newton was named as a delegate to that year's Democratic National Convention in St. Louis that renominated Grover Cleveland for President. At the expiration of his congressional term in 1889, Newton returned to Louisiana and continued with his earlier law practice. The Biographical and Historical Memoires of Louisiana Volume II notes that Newton was also a "successful financier and has accumulated a comfortable competency and a considerable fortune."
  In 1893 Newton and his family moved to Monroe, Louisiana. Cherubusco Newton died at his home there shortly after his 62nd birthday on May 26, 1910, and was survived by his wife and sons. Following funeral arrangements, his body was later interred at the New Cemetery in Bastrop, Louisiana. 

                                                          From the 1886 Troy Daily Times.