Michael L. McCormack

Michael L. McCormack (born November 26, 1847 in Friendsville , Pennsylvania , † November 15, 1922 in Saint Paul , Minnesota ) was an American ship captain, businessman, banker, landowner and politician ( Democratic Party ).

Career

Michael L. McCormack was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania in 1847 . The first year of his life was overshadowed by the Mexican-American War . The McCormack family moved to the Minnesota Territory during his childhood . There he attended community school. His youth was overshadowed by the civil war. At an early age he went to the Mississippi River and worked on a steamship under Captain Alexander Griggs, his future brother-in-law.

James J. Hill hired him as an employee. As part of his work, McCormack took care of the Hudson's Bay Company's holdings in the Dakota Territory . McCormack came to the Territory with his family in 1870. On April 1, 1871 he was authorized to build the Grand Forks County together with Captain Alexander Griggs and David M. Holmes . The men also determined the location of the city of Grand Forks , which was founded by the Griggs, Walsh Company , and selected it as the administrative seat of Grand Forks County.

Over time, McCormack was the captain of various ships on the Red River of the North , including the Red River Transportation Company's steamship Alpha , when all of the freight and passenger business for the northwestern part of the country was still on the Red River of the North from Moorhead and Fargo ( United States ) with Winnipeg ( Canada ). In 1873 he took part in the Griggs, Walsh & Co. trading business in Grand Forks - a company which was sold to Lyons & Doheny in 1879 after it became a successful and prosperous company. In 1878 he gave up his job as a ship's captain and entered into a partnership under the company name McCormack & Griggs . In the following years he became involved in the real estate and grain business. In this context, the flour mill Grand Forks Roller Mill was built in 1882 , of which he became president and managing director. McCormack owned a large stake in this. He was president of Grand Forks National Bank, founded in 1884 . He also owned a large piece of land in the Red River Valley , several hundred acres of which were under cultivation.

McCormack was Grand Forks County's first county treasurer. He also established the first school district. In the elections in 1880, he ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic delegate to the United States Congress . His defeat was due to the fact that few Democrats lived in the territory at the time. McCormack was an Alderman of Grand Forks Fifth Ward in 1881 . In the spring of 1882 he was elected Mayor of Grand Forks and re-elected three times in a row. President Grover Cleveland appointed him Secretary of State of the Dakota Territory in 1885 - a post he held from 1886 to 1889. During his tenure, McCormack served for a brief period as acting territorial governor of the Dakota Territory. He later served in the North Dakota Senate for several years .

McCormack was married twice. His first marriage was with Miss Jennie Strong († 1880), a sister of Captain Alexander Griggs. His wife died at the age of almost 29. Her child was three weeks old when she died. On October 3, 1882, he married his two wives, Miss Adele A. Lyons. McCormack had two daughters: Josephine and Ettie, which in 1891 Notre Dame ( Indiana lived).

In the late 1890s, McCormack moved to Minnesota and settled in Saint Paul, Ramsey County , where he lived for the next 25 years until his death. McCormack died on November 15, 1922 of a heart attack at his home in Saint Paul. His funeral took place the following day.

Trivia

His house in Grand Forks was on the banks of the Red River of the North.

In 1882, he sued his mother, Mrs. Strong, for alleged fraudulent withholding of real estate, which they entrusted to him confidently, their former value about 100,000  dollars was.

Web links

• Michael L. McCormack in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Michael L. McCormack on the reshapingthetornadobelt.com website