Dr. Storer came to Duluth from New York in 1893, where he set up practice as a local dentist. This post uses the Duluth Herald archives to recount notable events from his life, including his legal battle with Dr. Laird’s Travelling Medicine Show, his second marriage to a locally renowned German dietitian, and his role in what the original Duluth Rip-saw referred to as the “worst war in the glorious history of Lester Park.”

William Sheldon Storer was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1864. He married Frances Finck, eleven years his senior. They had their first child in 1892 in New York when William was 28 and Frances was 39. They then moved to Duluth, where William set up a dental practice. They had two more children in 1893 and 1894. From at least 1901, the family spent the rest of their lives at 210 E. 61st St. in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood.

July 15, 1893
The first mention of Dr. Storer in the Duluth Herald involves a fight with Dr. Laird’s Medicine Show. Dr. Laird traveled the state pulling teeth for free while providing lectures and general entertainment. When Dr. Laird came to Duluth, Dr. Storer had him arrested for practicing medicine without a license. The article notes that Dr. Laird’s “bonds were fixed at $100, which he furnished by putting in Deputy Clerk Tischart’s hands one $100 bill.”

Dr. Laird had been acquitted on the same charge in Duluth just a month earlier, as noted in Herald articles from June 1883. At that time he successfully argued that he was not a dentist but had the right to pull teeth as a physician and surgeon licensed in Arkansas, Ohio and Massachusetts (and argued that he would be licensed in Minnesota too if the board of examiners met more than once a year). After his first acquittal, Dr. Laird made the following statement:

I will continue business at the old stand — Fourth Avenue West and First Street — the rest of this week. Yes, I have pulled teeth. The facts in this matter were never disputed by either side. The extraction of teeth, however, is only a side issue with me. I am engaged principally in introducing my Mountain Bud and Herbal Oil, the curative qualities of which are unquestioned as is shown by the testimonials of thousands in Duluth who are unanimous in their praise.

Dr. Laird wasn’t lying about the praise, as the Duluth Herald noted in the same article that Dr. Laird would be pulling teeth again for free that evening and that “he extracts teeth with an astonishing ease and grace.”

There is no follow-up article about whether Dr. Storer won his case, but he certainly did not stop Dr. Laird. Two years later, he was pulling teeth in Rochester, Minnesota, and had added an elephant to his show.

Articles about Dr. Laird and his medicine show from newspapers across the state.

Nov. 23, 1901
The Herald publishes one of many notices on Mrs. Storer’s participation in The Lester Park Literary Club. This one notes that next Tuesday Mrs. Storer will be giving a presentation on Italian history.

July 14, 1907
The Duluth Herald produces a feature on an old newspaper that Dr. Storer has in his possession, a well-preserved copy of New York’s Albany Argus from December 31, 1816. The Herald summarizes the top stories from nearly 100 years ago and reprints some of the old ads, noting that “many of the old advertisements are quaint to the present day newspaper readers.”

June 27, 1912
The Herald covered the marriage of Dorothy Storer, Dr. and Mrs. Storer’s daughter, to Hoyt Beslin de Shields at St. John’s Episcopal Church at 52nd Avenue East and Superior Street in Lakeside. The bride “wore a gown of white silk net over satin and carried a shower bouquet of lilies of the valley and white sweet peas … After the ceremony, Miss Hazel Hobbs of Minneapolis sang ‘Because’,” a song written in 1902 that was re-popularized by Perry Como in 1947.

After the ceremony, Dr. Storer and his wife held a wedding reception for 50 people at their home, decorating the rooms of their house with lilacs, peonies and Mexican poppies. The couple left on a two-week honeymoon, with plans to move into their parents’ home upon their return.

July 13, 1914
Burglars broke the door lock at Dr. Storer’s office, stealing $12 worth of tools and fillings. They left no clues to their identity.

Aug. 3, 1917
August 3 marked the opening day of a trial that received coverage throughout the month in both the Duluth Herald and the scandal sheet the Duluth Rip-saw, which featured a lengthy write-up in its Aug. 18 edition. The following summary combines information from all of these articles, with more extended quotes from the Rip-saw, as its writing is far more colorful than my own.

In 1915, Sophie B. German secured permission from Thomas Cole, a Lester Park land owner, to use his field for the Lester Park Ball Club so that her adult son and friends could use it for baseball games. The city put in a backstop and lent its roller to level the field. The club made its own investments in the field over the subsequent two years.

In April 1917, the U.S. entered World War I. Europe was facing food shortages and a movement began to plant local gardens, known as victory gardens, to allow more food to be sent to Europe. Dr. Storer and two other prominent Lakeside residents decided to plant one of these gardens. They received permission from Little & Nolte, a local property administrator, to plant a garden on a section of the company’s undeveloped land. This was the same piece of land that the ball club was using to play baseball.

Advertisements promoting victory gardens.

Dr. Storer and his friends planted their garden and the baseball stopped, at least until late July when some of the ballplayers asked Mrs. German to do something to get their field back. On July 22, a Sunday afternoon, Mrs. German went with five of the players and some basic farm equipment and started digging up the garden. Dr. Storer and other local men who had supported the victory garden were alerted and went to confront her. This is how the Rip-saw recounts what followed:

Mrs. German and her base ball boys did not have things all their own way. There was a sudden gathering of the big, strong men. Some of the men were accompanied by their wives and daughters. Swear words and biting invectives were hurtled at Madam General German. One prominent society doctor it is alleged, threatened to “smash” her with his gold-headed cane.

“She’s a she-devil!” screamed one young society bud.

“She’s crazy!” shouted a dignified matron.

“She’s a German spy,” yelled another “perfect lady.”

Shot for shot, hit for whack, tit for tat was handed her opponents by Madam General German.

Although bearing the name of German, the friend of boys and base ball is as Scotch as an oatie cake or a scone and her banners bear the insignia of some of the greatest fighting clans in all Caledonia.

The men and teams and grader were getting in their work. The alleged war garden was rapidly changing back to a base ball ground. The gallant doctor took a smash at the driver of the team. The blow missed the man but hit the horse. The Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals had its back turned.

Finally, exhausted and out of breath, both forces withdrew from the field and retired to their castles. The sable wings of night sheltered in their battle-torn war garden, its anaemic spuds, carrots, beets and other dream stuff that the big, strong men fondly hoped would, this fall, win the war in Europe.

The fight on the field having ended, Dr. Storer brought in the police and had Mrs. German arrested on charges of trespassing and destruction of property. In its introduction to the case, the Rip-saw stated

Before Mrs. German tastes defeat or consents to surrender, there will be weeping and wailing in several prominent homes in Lester Park over big, strong men who will bite the dust, just as sure as war gardens grow or water runs. This worst war in the glorious history of Lester Park started over a war garden.

The trial was a short one. In a packed courtroom, the judge determined that the behavior of Mrs. German and the five ball players did not constitute a chargeable offense and the judge dismissed the case. But the real drama of the day started when the defendants tried to leave the courtroom. As stated in the Duluth Herald on August 15:

At this point, Capt. of Police Fiskett, Court Officer Butchart and two police officers blocked the doorways and announced that they would rearrest Mrs. German and the five men. The opposing attorneys and police rose to their feet and shouts and threats were hurled across the room.

Mrs. German and her attorneys told the police they could not arrest them without warrants. Capt. Fiskett told her that he had done it before and that he could do it again. Mrs. German declared that she would “beat up” any officer that “laid a hand on her.”

For a time the situation was delicate, but order was restored and Judge Lanners ruled that the police could not rearrest the defendants without warrants.

Mrs. German and the other defendants then left, but were rearrested this morning as soon as new warrants charging trespass were made out.

The second trial was just as crowded as the first. The Rip-saw noted that “witnesses were thicker than roses in June.”

At one point, Mr. Neal, the prosecuting attorney, suddenly stopped the questioning of a witness to enter an objection. He wanted Mrs. German to stop drawing cartoons of him. The Herald noted, “The judge sustained his appeal, but Mrs. German replied that Mr. Neal was ‘unsketchable.”

As reported in the Rip-saw, “At noon, the lines of the prosecution were wavering and as the Rip-saw went to press, wagers of 10 to 1 were offered that the verdict would be in favor of the defense.”

On Aug. 20, the judge dismissed all charges brought by Drs. Storer and Webster. With the war garden destroyed, baseball games presumably resumed.

July 3, 1919
Corporal Harold S. Storer, the son of Dr. and Mrs. Storer, returned from 14 months of service overseas.

June 15, 1922
J.B. Greenfeld pays $30 to the Duluth Herald to run an ad supporting Dr. Storer in his run for county commissioner in the second district. The ad proclaims

Dr. Storer has been a resident and taxpayer of Duluth for 32 years, living all that time in the Second commissioner’s district. He owns his own home at 210 Sixty-second Avenue East and has his office at 225 New Jersey building, which is now his campaign headquarters.

The top floors of the New Jersey building at 106 W. Superior St. where Dr. Storer had his dental practice and campaign office. (Photo from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection)

Dr. Storer ran on a platform of eliminating waste, cutting taxes, improving roads and promoting agricultural opportunities to attract people to Duluth. The field for Second District County Commissioner was a crowded one. Seventeen candidates ran, including the incumbent Coleman Naughton, who ran under the slogan, “When you get a good man, keep him.”

When the primary results were announced on June 23, Dr. Storer came in 12th with 171 votes. Naughton advanced to the general election against challenger T. Ham Little. The Herald declared Little the winner on Nov. 16 by a margin of 49 votes. Naughton made allegations of voter fraud and inaccurate ballot counting, claiming he received more legal votes and demanding a recount. A judge granted the recount and each ballot was scrutinized. Both sides only protested a total of 25 ballots, and Little ended the recount ahead by 50. On Nov. 24, Naughton conceded the election.

Ads from the Duluth Herald for Second District County Commissioner in 1923.

Dr. Storer ran for city commissioner the next year against 11 other candidates. During an event at Central High School on March 13, the Herald reported “Dr. Storer outlined his life, education and work and explained he was eager to get into the council and face all sorts of trouble, ‘because that’s what I’ve been doing all my life and I love it.’”

When the results were announced on March 24, Dr. Storer again did not advance beyond the primaries. Based on the Herald archives, this ended his attempts to enter electoral politics.

Aug. 12, 1925
Dr. Storer’s wife, Frances Elizabeth Storer, aged 65, died at 10:45 a.m. after complications from an operation performed three weeks earlier.

Jan. 1, 1927
On the first day of the new year, Dr. Storer places the following classified ad in the Duluth Herald:

DRIVING MITT lost, left hand, fleece lined, on W. 1st St. or E. Superior St. Dr. Storer, 203 New Jersey Bldg. Lakeside 127.

March 1, 1929
The Herald gives the first indication that Dr. Storer had remarried. It notes that a Mrs. Storer will set sail the next day for Berlin to attend to her seriously ill brother.

July 12, 1930
The Herald announces that Margaret Mienack Storer, Dr. Storer’s German-born second wife, has become a U.S. Citizen.

Nov. 10, 1931
The first of a series of advertisements appears in the Duluth Herald, prominently announcing Mrs. Storer as the head of the health food department of the George A. Gray Company department store on Superior Street, directly across the street from Dr. Storer’s dental practice. Mrs. Storer is described as a trained nurse and nutrition expert who worked in the Battle Creek Sanitarium, made famous by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the creator of Kellogg’s Cereal.

Advertisement’s in the Herald in the early 1930s promoting Mrs. Storer’s health food department.

Sept. 13, 1932
Dr. Storer places the first of many similar classified ads in the Herald:

LESTER PARK end bus line – 2 furnished rooms for 2 or 4; excellent meals; free garage. Near golf course. Dr. Storer. Lakeside 335.

Nearly 100 years later, a postcard advertising those rooms makes it onto eBay and is found by someone with an interest in Duluth history who shared it with me, leading to this post.

Dec. 28, 1934
The Herald announces that Mrs. Storer will be hosting a party at her home to participants in her adult education German classes. It notes, “The event will be a typical ‘kafee klatsh’ with German to be spoken and German songs sung. German delicacies will be served.”

March 16, 1936
The Herald publishes the following notice:

STORER, Doctor W. S. 210 South 61st Ave. East. Funeral services 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson mortuary chapel, the Rev. J.H. Green officiating. Interment Forest Hill cemetery.

April 13, 1939
A chamber of commerce ad appears in the Herald naming Mrs. W.S. Storer as the proprietor of a tourist home.

Feb. 3, 1954
The final mention of Dr. Storer appears in the Herald. It notes that Mrs. Margaret McKinney, Dr. Storer’s widow, has passed away. After Dr. Storer’s death she remarried Col. Garfield McKinney and moved to Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania. She died on Dec. 30, 1953, while visiting her brother in Berlin. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

This month’s Geoguessr Challenge looks at Minnesota cities where Dr. Laird brought his traveing medicine show. Each round lasts five minutes.

Geoguessr Challenge: Dr. Laird’s Medicine Show

A guide to playing Geoguessr can be found here.