RICHARD CHUTE AND FAMILY:

An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Chute, Richard, 1820-1893, creator.
	Title:	Richard Chute and family papers.
	Dates:	1826-1977 (bulk 1852-1939).
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Correspondence and papers of a pioneer Minneapolis businessman and his family. Includes information about Chute's involvement in the fur trade and his association with the Ewing and Chouteau fur trade interests; real estate deals in Indiana, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; the construction of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad line; the promotion and development of Princeton, Minnesota with associate John S. Prince; the activities of the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, including the development of water power at Saint Anthony Falls; and the family's involvement in Twin Cities real estate through its Chute Brothers and Chute Brothers Company.
	Quantity:	3.4 cubic feet (4 boxes including 5 volumes, 2 unboxed oversize folders, and 3 items in reserve).
	Location:	See Detailed Description section for shelf locations.

Richard Chute was born September 23, 1820, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the son of James Chute (1788-1834) and his wife Martha Hewes Clapp. James Chute initially was a school teacher but later became a Presbyterian minister, moving his family to Columbus, Ohio. In 1831 the family moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Chute's parents both died by the time he was 15 years old.

In 1841 Chute went to work as a clerk for W. G. and G. W. Ewing, Fort Wayne, Indiana-based buyers of furs and skins. In 1844 the firm sent him to build a fur trading post along the Minnesota River about eight miles above Fort Snelling. In 1845 he became a partner with the Ewings, and the name of the firm became Ewing, Chute & Co. A few years later he became involved in the fur business with P. Choteau, Jr., & Co. In 1854 Chute moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota, where he engaged in the real estate business. He was also for many years associated with, and an owner of, the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company. After retiring from the company in 1880 he spent time in Washington, Atlanta, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Chute died in Chicago of heart disease on August 1, 1893. He was survived by brothers James Thurston and Samuel Hewes Chute (1830-1913), both of Minneapolis, and sisters Sarah R. Chamberlain, Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Alex Sharp, Brooklyn, New York.

Richard Chute married Mary Eliza Young (1832-1918) in 1850. They had five children: Charles Richard, Minnie Olive, Mary Welcome, Will Young, and Grace Fairchild. It was claimed that Charles was the first student enrolled at the University of Minnesota.

Richard Chute was an organizer of the Republican Party in Minnesota (1855), a regent of the University of Minnesota (1876-1882), a president of the Minneapolis Board of Trade (1880), and an elder in the Andrew Presbyterian Church.

St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company

The St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company was incorporated in 1856, although it had been operating informally for a few years prior to this. The company controlled the water power on the east side of the Mississippi River at the Falls of St. Anthony. The east bank land was at that time owned by Franklin Steele, Thomas E. Davis, John F. Sanford, and Frederick C. Gebhard. Chute and John S. Prince of St. Paul purchased a one-eighth interest in the property from Steele. Chute's interest in the company eventually grew much larger, and by 1875 he and his brother Samuel held a one-half interest in the company. Chute became agent of the company and manager of the property in 1856, and served as its president from 1868 to 1880. During these years a dam was built, sawmills erected, flumes excavated, and mills and factories located on the east bank of the river. The Chute brothers sold the stock of the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company to James J. Hill and his Great Northern Railway Company associates in 1880. Hill, in turn, managed and controlled the company until it was merged into the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company.

In 1865 Richard Chute formed a business partnership with his brother, Dr. Samuel H. Chute. Chute Brothers described themselves as "dealers in real estate, mill sites, and water power," and by the late 1870s also as "Agency of St. Anthony Falls Water-Power Co." Around 1890 the name of the firm was apparently changed to Chute Brothers Company, "dealers in real estate." These firms were involved in major business deals with New York investors Frederick Butterfield and John E. Andrus. Other family real estate businesses included Chute Realty Company (established by 1903); Samuel H. Chute Company (established by 1910); and L. P. & F. B. Chute (established by 1897), which was actually a Minneapolis law firm that specialized in real estate matters.

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

Includes correspondence and memoranda; diaries, reminiscences, and genealogical information; newspaper clippings; deeds, assignment of mortgage documents, and county tax statements; maps; legal briefs and papers; water power agreements; lists of lots and other properties; and a watercolor cross-section drawing of Saint Anthony Falls (1868). There is information about water power rights at the falls; real estate investments and transactions, including deals involving New York investors John E. Andrus and Fred Butterfield; the Andrew Presbyterian Church (St. Anthony); the construction of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (1879-1882); and land sales in Winona County (Minn.) and in Princeton and other Minnesota towns.

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ARRANGEMENT

These documents are organized into the following sections:


		Personal and Family Papers
		General Correspondence and Papers
		Chute Bros./Chute Bros. Co.
		Saint Anthony Falls Water Power Company

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Access Restrictions:

Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Richard Chute and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 1975; 3889; 5089; 6716; 9728; 15,741; 15,872; 15,906; 16,427; 17,202

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Legacy Amendment logo

Processed by: M. Barnes, Kathryn A. Johnson, and other staff members, 1921-1964; recataloged and reprocessed with additions by David B. Peterson, August 2003; additions by David B. Peterson, September 2011.

Digitized by: Christopher G. Welter, May 2011

Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.

Catalog ID number: 990017332930104294

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

PERSONAL AND FAMILY PAPERS

These files include genealogical information, reminiscences of Richard's son Charles (1921), and four diaries (1875-1883) containing brief entries on Chute's personal, civic, and business affairs. Documented are his long friendships with men like Butterfield of New York and John S. Prince of St. Paul; his work with the Minneapolis Board of Trade; state politics; and his railroad, water power, and real estate interests. Most of the entries are very brief. An account book (1854-1882) documents Chute's wide-ranging economic interests. There is also some biographical information about Charles R. Chute, and some papers of Samuel H. Chute and his Samuel H. Chute Company.

Location

Box

145.C.7.3B

Chute, Samuel H.: Litigation and miscellaneous legal papers, undated and 1880-1894.

Reminiscences and genealogy, 1854-1939.

Includes an obituary of Richard Chute (1893).

Reminiscences of Charles R. Chute, 1921.

Samuel H. Chute Company: Water power as security (indentures), 1910.

Volume 1. Account book, 1854-1882.

Volume 2. Diary, 1875.

In the back of the volume are a few notes on plans for Minneapolis' participation in the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.

Volume 3. Diary, 1876.

Volume 4. Diary, 1882.

Accounts in the back of the volume cover the years 1882-1889.

Volume 5. Diary, 1883.

Miscellaneous papers, undated and 1909.

This file includes biographical information on Charles R. Chute.

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GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERS

Chronologically-arranged files centering largely on land and real estate deals, townsite development, and railroad construction. Correspondents include George W. Ewing and W. G. Ewing, Jr.; William J. Patterson and Robert Watson, both of Montreal; John S. Prince; Vickers Fell; David Olmsted; Edward H. Thayer, editor of the Clinton Age (Iowa); United States Senator William Windom; and a variety of prominent politicians, government officials, and business leaders from early Minnesota and early Minneapolis. This series also includes deeds; mortgage documents; powers of attorney; real estate tax receipts; merchandise receipts and statements of account; canceled checks; handbills and small posters; newspaper clippings; and plat maps of portions of Winona, Minneapolis, and other towns. There is genealogical information about the Joseph Hewes Clapp family (1879), and information about a Clapp Family gathering (reunion) at Boston (1873). There are obituaries for Richard Chute (1893) and Chute associate Frederick Butterfield (1883). There are receipts and accounts of Ewing, Chute and Co. (1845-1851), and information about Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Co.; litigation between Richard Chute and the Ewings (1857); the development and promotion of Princeton, Minnesota; real estate deals in St. Anthony, Winona, Duluth, and Forest City (Meeker County), Minnesota, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin; the construction of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad between the Twin Cities and Montreal; and evening classes offered by the Minneapolis Y.M.C.A. (1895-1901). There is material concerning Chute's Andrew Presbyterian Church, especially the construction of its new church building (1860s-1870s). There are some Fort Wayne Female College tuition receipts for Lovina and Charlotte Ewing (1851); a biographical sketch ("obituary") of David Olmsted (1861); an Odd Fellows lodge membership certificate (1862); a historical sketch of the First Presbyterian Church (Fort Wayne, Indiana) (1881); and bylaws (1903) and the first annual report (1904) of the [Minneapolis] Voters League.

Location

Box

145.C.7.3B

Correspondence and papers, undated and 1826-1907. 11 folders.

Includes an obituary of Frederick Butterfield (1883).

Samuel and Richard Chute correspondence, 1857-1871.

Correspondence regarding business dealings and Samuel H. Chute’s life insurance policy premiums.

Location

+282

Statements of account, 1852-1854. 2 oversize items.

Oversize indentures for the sale of real estate in the Town of Princeton, 1858. 3 oversize items.

Agreement for the sale of lots in St. Anthony, January 27, 1858. 1 oversize item.

Warranty deed issued by the Town of St. Cloud, Stearns County, to Samuel H. Chute for one lot in the town, May 10, 1862.

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CHUTE BROS./CHUTE BROS. CO.

These files contain correspondence, deeds, a few maps, and miscellaneous papers documenting the Chutes' real estate business and investments, largely those apart from the Falls and the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company. This section contains considerable information about the Chutes' business relationships with and real estate transactions involving Andrus and Butterfield. The Andrus materials seem to focus largely on real estate located in Minneapolis and in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, while the Butterfield materials seem to relate largely to properties located in St. Paul and in Ramsey County.

Location

Box

145.C.7.3B

Andrus: Water power rights documents, 1879-1880, 1921-1923, 1977.

This material includes warranty deeds and assignment of lease documents conveying water rights from members of the Washburn family and others to Andrus, an abstract of title, a deed from the Minneapolis Mill Company granting five "mill powers" to William D. Washburn, and a "memorandum abstract to documents pertaining to water rights" (1977).

Andrus-Chute Trust Deal:

Chute Bros. Co. in account with J. E. Andrus (1897-1902), 1902.

Directors and stockholders resolutions, etc., 1893-1897.

Hennepin County tax statements, 1898.

Minnesota Loan and Trust Company, 1899-1905.

Opinions of attorneys as to lands of Chute Bros. Co., 1897.

Papers pertaining to John E. Andrus Trust, 1897-1935.

Park Hotel (St. Louis Park, Minn.), 1904-1907.

Partial release from trust deed documents, 1898-1907. 2 folders.

Receipts from real estate taxes and assessments paid by Andrus, 1898-1908. 2 folders.

Location

Box

145.C.7.4F

Samuel H. Chute Company, 1900, 1913-1920.

Satisfaction of trust deed and amendment, 1908-1909.

Schedule A properties, undated.

Schedule B documents, 1897-1901.

Schedule B property: Rental ledger, 1898-1910.

St. Anthony Falls property, undated and 1908.

Thorpe Bros. (Minneapolis, Minn.), 1897-1907.

Trust deed and extensions, 1897-1904.

Miscellaneous correspondence, deeds, etc., undated and 1897-1911.

Assignments of mortgage, 1887-1890.

Butterfield Case:

These files seem to relate to real estate located in St. Paul and in Ramsey County.

Agreement in regard to water power company stock, 1880-1882.

Assessments on St. Paul real estate, 1882-1888.

This file contains information on the Butterfield family and its business interests.

Assignment of Mortgage documents: Butterfield to S. H. Chute, 1880-1883.

Correspondence, 1866-1870, 1880.

Foreclosure papers, 1878-1886.

Franklin Steele agreement (1859), etc., 1859-1882.

Powers of attorney, 1868-1871.

Partitioning of Ramsey Farm, 1888.

Ramsey Farm papers, 1882.

Settlement and receipts, 1871-1881.

Settlement with Butterfield (April 16, 1880), 1868-1881.

Taxes on St. Paul real estate, 1884-1888.

Warranty deeds transferring real estate to Butterfield, 1872.

Water power agreement and indentures, 1871-1880.

Miscellany, 1872-1882.

Hydraulic air compressors, undated and 1879-1880.

Litigation, 1894-1911.

Marshall, William R.: Letters to Chute, undated and 1882.

Pillsbury Flour Mills Company, 1911-1929.

Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Limited, 1905-1908.

Water Power:

Agreements, deeds, indentures, leases, etc., 1875-1909.

Articles, lectures, and speeches, undated and 1914-1924.

Clippings from Twin Cities newspapers, 1913-1923.

Water power tax assessment, undated and 1897-1907.

Water power tax case, undated and 1897-1916.

Water power tax case: Guilford, Jonas, 1898-1899.

Water power taxes: Points and authorities, etc., 1887-1910.

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ST. ANTHONY FALLS WATER POWER COMPANY

These files include legal briefs, decrees and opinions, financial statements, powers of attorney, water power agreements and leases, and miscellaneous deeds and tax statements.

Location

Box

145.C.7.4F

Appointment of Richard Chute as agent of St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, 1856.

Decrees and opinions, 1866-1869.

Description of the real estate and water power owned by St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, undated.

Financial records and information, 1859-1861.

Financial statements, etc., 1859-1872.

Indentures made with Pillsburys, 1880.

Legal papers, 1859-1862, 1867.

Mainly case papers in the case of William H. Gebhard vs. St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company et al. (Hennepin County District Court) and Laurence vs. Gebhart (Supreme Court, City and County of New York). Also includes agreements with Henry H. Sibley (1859) and George S. Babcock (1867).

Letter from Tom ____ to J.F.A. Sanford in New York, 1854.

Litigation:

Eastman and Merriam v. St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, 1867-1870, 1912-1913.

St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company v. Albert H. Gowen, 1868.

St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company v. William I. Greeley, undated and 1865.

William H. Gebhard v. St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, 1862-1868.

Memorandum abstract to documents pertaining to water rights (1871-1924), 1977.

Powers of attorney, etc., 1860-1880.

Location

Box

145.C.8.1B

Saw mill site no. 2, 1875-1878.

Statement of lots and lands belonging to St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, undated.

Surrender of deeds made out to John Martin, 1871-1873.

Water Power:

Agreements, deeds, indentures, leases, etc., 1868-1889, 1936-1938.

Leases, 1871-1881, 1896.

Newspaper clippings and background information, 1890-1919.

Miscellaneous deeds, tax statements, etc., 1863-1880.

Location

Box

142.G.13.6F-2

Mortgage bond and coupons, 1859.

Mortgage bonds and coupons, 1872.

Location

+Reserve 21

St. Anthony Falls watercolor with narrative:

Access Restricted.

Digital version

Falls of St. Anthony watercolor, 1868.

Made by Major G. K. Warren; includes his handwritten annotation.

Falls of St. Anthony color reproduction, undated.

Found in Chute Bros. Co. offices on May 18, 1910, by L. P. Chute.

Transcription of letters, undated.

Found in Chute Bros. Co. offices on May 18, 1910, by L. P. Chute.

Covers an undated letter by Minneapolis and St. Anthony Board of Trade, Major Warren's letter to Minnesota Governor William R. Marshall (June 27, 1868), and Major Warren's annotation on his original watercolor (1868).

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CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Capitalists and financiers.; Fur trade.; Real estate business -- Minnesota.; Townsite law -- Minnesota.; Water-power -- Minnesota.; Waterfalls -- Minnesota.

Places:: Forest City (Minn.).; Fort Wayne (Ind.).; Minneapolis (Minn.).; Mississippi River -- Power utilization.; Princeton (Minn.).; Saint Anthony (Hennepin County, Minn. : 1855-1872).; Saint Anthony Falls (Minn.).; Winona County (Minn.).

Persons:: Andrus, John E. (John Emory), 1841-1934.; Butler, Levi, 1818-1878.; Butterfield, Fred (Frederick), 1822-1883.; Chute, Charles Richard, 1852-1928.; Chute, Louis P. (Louis Prince), 1868-.; Chute, Samuel H. (Samuel Hewes), 1830-1913.; Chute, William Young, 1863-1939.; Chute family.; Clapp family.; Fell, Vickers, 1819-.; Olmsted, David, 1822-1861.; Patterson, William J., active 1879.; Prince, John S.; Steele, Franklin, 1813-1880.; Thayer, Edward H., active 1880.; Warren, G. K. (Gouverneur Kemble), 1830-1882.; Watson, Robert, active 1879.; Windom, William, 1827-1891.

Organizations:: Andrew-Riverside Presbyterian Church (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Chute Bros. (Firm : Minneapolis, Minn.).; Chute Bros. Co. (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Chute Realty Company (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Ewing, Chute and Company (Fort Wayne, Ind.).; Fred Butterfield & Co. (New York, N.Y.).; L.P. & F.B. Chute (Firm : Minneapolis, Minn.).; Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad Company.; Minneapolis Young Men's Christian Association (Minneapolis, Minn.).; Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Company.; Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company.; Presbyterian Church -- Minnesota.; Samuel H. Chute Company (Minneapolis, Minn.).; St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company.; Voters' League (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Types of Documents:: Deeds.; Diaries.; Reminiscences.

Occupations:: Businessmen -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.; Real estate agents -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

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