Mayor and Common Council, City of Duluth, March 10, 1913

Paul Lundgren Mar 10, 2023 10 Comments

Seated to the left of the mustached gentleman at far right appears to be Duluth’s 23rd mayor, Dr. John A. McCuen. Win the internet by identifying anyone else in the photo.

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10 Comments

Ghist1

about 1 year ago

I can't identify them individually, but I can tell you that the roll call for the March 10, 1913 City Council Chamber meeting was as follows: Present: Alderman Bernard, Curren, Gibson, Hector, Hicken, Hogan, Jordan, Kreuger, MacDonell, Makowski, Miller, Neff, Phillips, Sandberg, Scott, President Hoar - 16. Absent: None. 

They addressed many issues that day, including the posting of bids for a smallpox ambulance ($150 allocated) and also allocated $4000 for the purchase of an auto patrol and ambulance for the police department. Streets and liquor licenses were also discussed. 

The full set of minutes is available at the Duluth Public Library in the Duluth Collection. Just ask a librarian!

Ghist1

about 1 year ago

And this. The library is the local municipal archive!

Tony D.

about 1 year ago

This would have been one of the last common council meetings in Duluth, as in April the city switched to the commission system. On April 14, 1913, all Alderman were dismissed and replaced by a city council consisting of five commissioners, including the mayor. McCuen (also the county coroner) was replaced by William Prince on April 14, 1913, which was fine by him, as he hadn't run for reelection because he didn't want to be mayor of a commission system anyhow. When asked by the press to make a statement on the new form of government, McCuen told them, “I have nothing to say on the question. Having had nothing to say, and will have nothing to say.”

Matthew James

about 1 year ago

Not surprisingly, Tony got it exactly right. Another copy of this photo is in the Minnesota Reflections archive with the title "Last meeting of old Duluth city council." Their copy of the photo comes from the Duluth News Tribune archives with a number above every single person. I think if you want to win the internet, you just need to go to their archives and flip over the picture. 

But wait! I just have to identify one specific person in the photo to win the internet. I’ll give you five.
 
Based on the minutes posted by Ghist1 and another Minnesota Reflections photo, the man at the desk next to Mayor McCuen is alderman and later state house member William Albert Hicken (1859-1932), buried in Forest Hill Cemetery. 

Seated at the chair of the lower desk is C.S. Palmer, city clerk. You can read a short letter where he tells a New York magazine reporter how the Duluth City Commissioners dealt with high unemployment rates in the winter of 1914 by hiring any able-bodied man who applied to work on winter sewer construction.

And on the wall, from left to right, are portraits of Duluth mayors Joshua B. Culver (1870-1871), John Drew (1876-1877) and Peter Dean (1875-1876). All three are the same paintings that are part of the current Duluth City Hall mayoral portrait collection.

The internet is mine.

Paul Lundgren

about 1 year ago



I like the clarity of the Minnesota Reflections version, which allows us to zoom in and help with the theories that #45 is Mayor McCuen and #46 is Alderman Hicken.

My theory on #46, based on seating position alone, was that it was Council President Hoar, but I had no clue on a first name and no image to compare. 

I think all three of you have won the internet on some level, but indeed it was only Matthew who identified a specific person, so the internet belongs to him (assuming no one calls the Hicken theory into question).

Well, I guess I have a problem, because I'm calling my own Hicken theory into question, making my tenure as owner of the internet rather brief. The Minnesota Reflections copy of the photo provides a description that starts with “Duluthians and nine city councilors, seated at decks with President Hicken presiding ...” so I assumed Hicken was the one holding the gavel. He also seemed to be the same man with a moustache in the other city council photo. But that unique moustache style wasn’t so unique in the 19th century, because on closer inspection, the faces do not match. And according to the minutes as shown above, Hoar was president not Hicken. So I think the Minnesota Reflections page mistakenly lists Hicken as president and you are correct in identifying #46 as Hoar. And then W.A. Hicken is #37, based on the other council photo and this portrait.

Paul Lundgren

about 1 year ago



Maybe the most important thing to note is that #35 is doing an Upset Duluth pose.

Matthew James

about 1 year ago

I think he's upset about all the spittoons on the floor. Gross.

Ghist1

about 1 year ago

Great internet-winning minds think alike! I was just going to mention the spittoons. Not just for bar rooms!

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