1921 Duluth & St Louis County MN, Van Brunt.pdf - Garon.us

932 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUXTV
the name Henry and the first child during the seven generations has been
a boy. Mr. Schuster is a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon college
fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi law fraternity, the Episcopal Church, has
attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry, and is a member
of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs and the
Moose and Elks.
Edmoxd a. Bergeron. While for many years in business on the iron
ranges of northern Minnesota, Edmond A. Bergeron is even more widely
known and appreciated for his sterling patriotism and good citizenship.
He is in the hardware business at Hibbing, and has been a prominent
factor in that village for a number of years.
Mr. Bergeron was born in Stillwater, Minnesota, January 28, 1879,
son of John W. and Elise (Xormand) Bergeron. His parents were of
French ancestry and natives of Quebec, and came to Stillwater, Minnesota,
in 1869. The first year John W. Bergeron drove a "tow team" along the
Minnesota River, "toting" supplies to the trading posts of St. Peter and
as high as Lake Traverse, and returning with skins. Subsequently for a
period of thirty years he was superintendent of a large saw mill at Stillwater,
and he and his wife still make that city their home, where they
are honored old timers.
One of seven children, Edmond A. Bergeron grew up in Stillwater,
acquired a public school education, also attended a business college, and
at the age of eighteen was working in a saw mill. A year later, when only
nineteen, he put himself in the ranks of independent business men by keeping
a feed, flour, mill and elevator, which he operated two years. A
year following this he was foreman in the Amreican Grass Twine Factory
at St. Paul, and then for five years served as a guard and foreman
in the twine plant at the State Prison in Stillwater.
He came into the iron range district in 1906, and for a year was chief
clerk during the construction of the Duluth, Rainy Lake & Winnipeg
Railroad, now part of the Canadian Northern. His headquarters were at
Virginia on the Mesaba Range. In 1907 he sold the townsite of Ranier,
on which he built a shack and established a hardware business. The
new place grew, and Mr. Bergeron naturally became one of the foremost
citizens and served as president of the first village board, was the
first postmaster, and was also a member of the International Falls District
School Board, of which Ranier was a part.
Selling out his interests in that village, Mr. Bergeron in February,
1910, came to Hibbing and bought a hardware business and for ten
years has been its owner and directing head. While building up a profitable
business he has taken part in all the matters affecting the welfare of
the community. During the World war he was elected chairman of the
Council of Defense, served as vice chairman of the St. Louis County
Safety Commission, assisted in organizing the War Chest Committee
and was its vice president, took the lead in organizing the Home Guards
and served as sergeant of the company, and was also chairman of the
Recruiting Committee.
Mr. Bergeron since 1918 has been a member of the Hibbing Library
Board and is now president of that board. He was one of three local
citizens that organized the Boy Scouts, and is chairman of its Honor Roll
Committee. He is treasurer of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament,
Catholic, at Hibbing, for two years served as grand knight of the local
lodge of the Knights of Columbus, vice president of the Commercial Club,
and a member of the Kiwanis Club. On May 22, 1909. he married Miss
Maud Miller, of Stillwater. Their two children are Bertram L. and
Susane.