Biographies

Biographies - C

CATHCART, JAMES M

SOURCE: Compendium of History and Biography of Polk County, Minnesota, Major R.I.
Holcombe, Historical Editor; William H. Bingham, General Editor; W.H. Bingham
And Company, Minneapolis, Minn.; 1916; reprinted by Higginson Book Company;
Salem Massachusetts; (book no longer copyrighted), Library of Congress control number 16009966
This book can be ordered from Borders Book Store or from Higginson. Both companies have web sites. The cost is about $70 and well worth the price.

Although yet a young man, and by no means of a wildly roving or adventurous nature, James M. Cathcart, the accomplished and accommodating secretary of the Crookston Commercial Club, has seen a great deal of this country and had an experience of extensive variety. He is a native of Elkhart County, Indiana, where his life began in 1884, and the son of John F. and Florence (Boyer) Cathcart, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. Their son James began his education in the district schools of Indiana and completed it at the select school kept by Rev. Dwight L. Moody at Mount Hermon, Massachusetts.

Mr. Cathcart began his career of self-support and advancement in the employ of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, working in the engineering department at Elkhart, Indiana. Later he was in the same service in New York state and the general offices of the company in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1908 he came to Minnesota and located in St. Paul, where he entered the employ of the Great Northern Railroad. In 1912 and 1913 he was general manager of the department of hotels and camps in Glacier National Park, supervising the operation and assisting in the construction of buildings, trails and other developments there for the railroad company.

In the fall of 1913 Mr. Cathcart returned to Indiana, and in March, 1914, when the Crookston Commercial Club was reorganized, he was chosen secretary of the revived organization, and has served it in that capacity ever since. He is also secretary of the Northwestern Fair Association in Crookston, and a member of the Order of Elks and the Masonic Order, in the latter holding his Blue Lodge membership in Indiana and belonging to the Royal Arch and Commandery of Knights Templar and the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was married in Grand Forks, North Dakota, October 24, 1915, to Miss Elva Gilbert, a native of South Dakota.

submitted by Jon Raymond April 24, 2006, please contact him for more information

Chalmers, William

SOURCE: A Meeting of the Reds: East Grand Forks, 1887-1987,
Two Volumes, (out of print), Dr. Stephen Sylvester,
East Grand Forks Centennial Committee,
East Grand Forks, Minnesota, copyright 1988
Volume One, page 36

William Chalmers, son of Thomas and Janet (Smith) Chalmers was born in Key West, Minn. on Aug. 4, 1865. He married Addie Hunt who was born July 24, 1872. They had two sons, William P. and Roy. William died in1950 and Addie in 1915.
William P. was born June 26, 1894 and married Crolyn Love on March 28, 1917 in Key West, Minn. They lived in East Grand Forks where William was a mail carrier.
Carolyn was born on Oct. 29, 1898 and was the daughter of John and Annie Love of Key West. William and Carolyn had five children.
Don, born July 23, 1918, married Mary Gereau. They had one son, Don, born in 1952. He is married and resides in Grove, Okla. Don Sr. died in 1952.
Ardelle was born Jan. 8, 1920. He married Gertrude Schroeder. Ardell died in 1947.
Elynor resides in Cass Lake, Minn. She was born May 26, 1921 and married Edward Schue. Ed and Elynor have since divorced, having two daughters: Pat (Mrs. Jim Gard) and Elex (Mrs. Craig Morque).
Gordon was born Nov. 26, 1924. He married Glenda Holto. They have two children, Judy (Mrs. Steve Shawner) and Jeff. Gordon died in 1970.
Rolland was born Sept. 26, 1926 and married Joy Krogen. They had four children: Debbie (Mrs. John Watt), Scott, Greg and Brad (deceased). Rolland and Joy Chalmers reside in Morgan Hills, Ca.
William P. died in November, 1952.

submitted by Jon Raymond January 2003, please contact him for more information

CONNER/HALVORSON

Alanson Conner died in Bagley, Clearwater County, Minnesota on November 19, 1907. Will probably be hard to find an obit for him due to no county paper at that time. The death cert. indicates he was born in France ? 1830.
Elvira Conner died on October 15, 1938 in Bagley and there should be an obituary with information.
They had a son Johnny Conner and he was just written up in our county historical society paper which came in today's mail:
Johnny Conner
Do you remember the man that dressed in a dark, long coat that walked the streets in Bagley carrying a kerosene lantern and umbrella? Back in the 1940s Johnny Conner lived in a small building south of the railroad tracks at the end of Clearwater Ave. near the Olson slaughterhouse and the Bartz residence.
He worked for O. M. Kolb (former banker) who owned a gas station and a wood yard. Johnny was Kolb's handyman and errand person.
Very little is really known about him.
It has been said he moved from Fosston to this area and years earlier his brothers and sisters had died from diptheria.
Some say his mother was a gypsy and his father was a Civil War veteran. He is said to have been a mystic- maybe a person that arouses curiosity or wonder. Also, Johnny was a person who claimed the ability to predict the future from reading coffee cup grounds.
Johnny was a quiet, humble and mysterious man that is part of the county history.
Alanson's death cert. says his mother's maiden name was Halvorson

Submitted by Paula Peterson April 9, 2006

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Updated April 24, 2006