Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/716

 626 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY mg officers: President, John Rich; vice president, Tarns Bixby ; treasurer, C. A. Betcher; secretary, AV. ('. Krise. These gentle- men, with L. S. Gillette, R Jameson and AY. C. AVilliston, con- stituted the board of directors. The first building was erected in 1901. In April, 1902, additions were made, and in 1904 the capacity and capital stock were doubled, the latter now being placed at $300,000. The plant has eight big tanks and three smaller ones, having a capacity of 1,000,000 bushels. The com- pany employs about twenty-five men, and does an annual busi- ness of about $80,000. The officers and directors- remain the same as at the organization with the exception that B. Gerlach has taken the place of B. Jameson on the board of directors, and the vacancy caused by the death of AY. C. AYilliston has not yet been filled. The Minnesota Malting Company was organized in 1900 and purchased from Henry AV. Woolner, of Peoria, 111., the old plant of the North Star Stoneware Company, which has been partially remodeled into a malting plant, The Minnesota company com- pleted the alterations and started business at once, the present capacity being about 500,000 bushels annually. The original capital stock of $125,000 has been increased to $150,000. The original officers, president, F. F. Bullen; vice president, A. R. Mensing; secretary and treasurer. A. K. Bullen, have been suc- cessively re-elected to the present date. The plant employs about ten men and is situated on the line of the Great AVestern railroad. S. B. Foot & Co. is the oldest manufacturing institution of its kind in the entire northwest, having been in business here since the early fifties. The company operates a large shoe factory and a tannery, employing about seventy-five people. The factory is located on Plumb street in a three-story brick building, where is manufactured a complete line of shoe pacs, canvas leggings and sheepskin foot apparel. The tannery is a large new brick building at Trout Brook. The present officers of the concern are: President, Edwin H. Foot; vice president and treasurer, Peter A. Nelson; secretary, James E. Teele. The history of this company is embodied in the biography of its founder. Silas Buck Foot, now deceased, was one of those sturdy pio- neers of business who helped to lay the foundation for the pres- ent commercial and industrial solidity of the state of Minnesota. He was widely known and universally esteemed. AVhile Red Wing is honored by having him as a resident since the early days, his record is nevertheless one that belongs to the whole state, and in the leather and shoe trade he was known and respected from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He was born in New Milford, Pa.. November 1, 1834, the son of a native Vermonter, who in Pennsylvania cultivated his farm and also engaged in the shoe-