FERDINAND WILLIUS AND FAMILY:

Ferdinand and Gustav Willius were the sons of Frederik Willius, a merchant in Bremen, Germany, and his wife Doris (Niemann) Willius. Ferdinand was born in 1830 and Gustav on November 25, 1831. After their father's death in 1838, the orphaned boys were sent for training to the Educational Institute Louisenthal in Lehe, near Bremen. Ferdinand remained there until 1847, when he left school to become an apprentice in a grocery and drug store in Bremen. He remained in the business until 1850, when he entered the employ of the owner of a sugar factory, again in Bremen. In 1853 he left Germany to seek better opportunities in the United States. He landed in Baltimore, searched for work in Philadelphia, then found a position in New York with Cowdry Brothers, bill brokers. In 1854 a Bremen friend, Henry Meyer, joined him, and the two young men went to Chicago to open a grocery store. In 1855 they went to Saint Paul, where in 1856 they opened the private banking house of Meyer & Willius.

Gustav left school in 1848 to enter a wholesale wine and liquor house in Bremen. In 1856 he went to New York to find employment. When he failed to locate a job, Ferdinand, then established in Saint Paul, asked him to join him in Minnesota's capital city. Upon arrival, he took a position with Ambs and Wiedemann, cap makers. The following year Ferdinand asked him to join his banking firm which had established a branch in Saint Peter.

The Willius brothers were prominent figures in Saint Paul banking for many years after their initial venture as Meyer and Willius. The firm name became successively F. & G. Willius (1859); Willius Brothers and Dunbar (1862); the German American Bank, incorporated in 1873; and the National German American Bank, incorporated in 1883. In 1893 Gustav became president of the Germania Bank, a position he held until the bank's failure in 1898. From 1898 to 1909 he acted as receiver for the bank. Ferdinand founded the State Savings Bank of St. Paul in 1891 and remained with the organization for ten years. Ferdinand was also German Consul in Saint Paul (appointed in 1867) and was interested in the social, cultural and economic life of the city.

Ferdinand married Clara Holterhoff in 1859. Among their children were Märtha (Mrs. Oscar Claussen), Henrietta, and Otto. Ferdinand died in 1916.

Gustav married Emma Klausmeyer of Cincinnati in 1872. Their children were Gustav, Stella, Doris, Frieda, Johanna, and Frederick. Gustav died in Saint Paul on September 24, 1924.

Fredrick Arthur Willius, the author of the genealocial narrative, was born in Saint Paul on November 24, 1888, the son of Gustav and Emma (Klausmeyer) Willius. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Minnesota in 1914, and was associated with the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, from 1916. He married Stella Mae Popple of Stewartville, Minnesota, on September 26, 1917.

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Biographical material consists of a brief genealogy of the Willius family, with pictures of Holterhoff, Hutz, Waldthausen and Pfeiffer ancestors (no compiler given); an autobiographical sketch by Gustav Willius, translated by Martha Willius Claussen (Mrs. Oscar Claussen); a manuscript and notes concerning Ferdinand Willius by Henrietta W. Willius; a reminiscence, "As I remember," by Martha Willius Claussen; "The Family story," by Clara H. Willius (Mrs. Ferdinand Willius); and miscellaneous reminiscent data.

Undated materials include business cards of Willius banks and blank checks; articles by Ferdinand Willius on the establishment of the State Savings Bank of St. Paul; articles (unsigned but presumably by Ferdinand Willius) on savings banks; invitations; a picture postal card of the Schiller Monument in Como Park, Saint Paul; and miscellaneous family letters.

Letters and printed items are a mixture of correspondence among the Willius, Waldthausen and Holterhoff families, correspondence between Ferdinand Willius and his personal friends in the United States and Germany, and business letters and announcements. There is information on the Willius family in Bremen; on the migration of the brothers to the United States; Ferdinand's residence in Baltimore, New York, Chicago, and Saint Paul; Gustav's residence in New York and Saint Paul; Henry Meyer's association with Ferdinand in the business in Chicago, in Meyer & Willius, then with both brothers in Meyer, Willius and Brothers; the firm of F. and G. Willius; the firm of Willius Brothers and Dunbar; the German American Bank; the National German American Bank; the Germania Bank; the State Savings Bank of St. Paul; the Republican Party in Minnesota (Ferdinand was a member); Ferdinand's real estate investments in Minnesota; Ferdinand's appointment as German Consul in 1867 and his work as consul (fragmentary); the terra cotta works in Red Wing that sought capital and support from Saint Paul businessmen; the Billerica and Bedford (Massachusetts) railroad; Iowa coal lands; a drug store in Detroit, Minnesota owned in part by Frank Meyer, a nephew of Ferdinand Willius; a proposal for immigration commissioners in England and Germany; Ferdinand Willius’ management of C. C. Andrews’ financial affairs while Andrews was in Brazil and Andrews' comments about Brazil; the St. Paul Credit Men's Association; the Order of Home Defenders, Saint Paul; the Indianapolis Monetary Convention; the National Municipal League; coal deposits in Montana; lignite deposits in North Dakota; the Badger Cranberry Company; the Commercial Club of St. Paul; the St. Paul Roller Mill Company; the Lilydale Brick Company; Unity Church, Saint Paul; the Minnesota Dairy Board of Trade; the anniversary celebration of the First National Bank of St. Paul (1954); and the travels, education and work of Ferdinand's children.

A great deal of the correspondence from 1814 through the 1870s is in German. After 1880 there are many German letters, but the preponderance of the correspondence is in English. Much of the material is in old German script.

A translation project was partially completed in 2013, but since then has been on indefinite hiatus. Translations of some of the letters were made by Mrs. Helen Beckmann, Saint Peter, Minnesota. Translations of many other of the letters were made by Minnesota Historical Society volunteer Ria Newell. Completed translations are included in the collection.

Cataloger's notes to certain of the boxes are contained in the first folder of each of those boxes.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

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

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 6702; 7354; 8052; 8192; 8193; 8927; 9017; 10,407; 10,939; 10,959; 10,997; 11,414; 13,108

Processing Information:

Portrait of Ferdinand Willius used as an illustrative image in this finding aid is taken from the Minnesota Historical Society Sound and Visual collections.

Catalog ID number: 990017308930104294

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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:

Banks and banking--Minnesota--Saint Paul.

Brickmaking--Minnesota--Saint Paul.

Business enterprises--Minnesota--Saint Paul.

Coal mines and mining--Iowa.

Coal mines and mining--Montana.

Coal mines and mining--North Dakota.

Cranberries--Wisconsin.

German Americans--Minnesota--Saint Paul.

Real property tax--Minnesota.

Street-railroads--Minnesota--Saint Paul.

Persons:

Andrews, C. C. (Christopher Columbus), 1829-1922, author.

Betcher, Charles, 1830-1903, author.

Brown, Hamilton, author.

Claussen, Martha Willius, 1867-1959, author.

Davis, Cushman Kellogg, 1839-1900, author.

Mansfield, George E., author.

Marshall, William Rainey, 1825-1896, author.

Meyer, Frank, author.

Meyer, Henry, -1857, author.

Miller, Stephen, 1816-1881, author.

Nelson, Knute, 1843-1923, author.

Philleo, William Marvin, 1840-1885, author.

Sanborn, John B. (John Benjamin), 1826-1904, author.

Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906, author.

Swift, Henry A., 1823-1869, author.

Villard, Henry, 1835-1900, author.

Willius, Clara Holterhoff, 1838-1928, author.

Willius, Fredrick A. (Fredrick Arthur), 1888-1972, author.

Willius, Henrietta W., 1878- , author.

Fisher, J. W.

Holterhoff, Robert T., 1804-1876.

Ireland, John, 1838-1918.

Pfaender, William, 1826-1905.

Scheffer, Charles, 1835-1875.

Willius, Gustav, 1831-1924.

Holterhoff family.

Horton family.

Popple family.

Waldthausen family.

Willius family.

Organizations:

Ambs and Wiedmann (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Badger Cranberry Company (Shell Lake, Wis.)

Billerica and Bedford Railroad Company (Bedford, Mass.)

Commercial Club of St. Paul (Saint Paul, Minn.)

F. & G. Willius (Saint Paul, Minn.)

First National Bank of Saint Paul.

German American Bank (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Germania Bank (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Iowa Coal Land and Mineral Prospecting Company (Des Moines, Iowa)

Lilydale Brick Company (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Meyer & Willius (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Meyer, Willius and Brothers (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Minnesota Dairy Board of Trade.

Moore and Bennett, Land Office (Sauk Centre, Minn.)--Letterhead ǂy July 6, 1880.

National German American Bank of Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Order of Home Defenders (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Republican Party (Minn.)

St. Paul Association of Credit Men.

St. Paul Roller Mill Co. (Saint Paul, Minn.)

State Savings Bank (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Willius Brothers and Dunbar (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Meetings:

Monetary Convention ǂn (2nd : 1898 : Indianapolis, Ind.)

Places:

Big Stone City (Dakota Territory)

Brazil.

Detroit (Minn.)

Minnesota--Emigration and immigration.

Minnesota--Politics and government.

Red Wing (Minn.)

Saint Paul (Minn.)

Seattle (Wash.)

Document Types:

Letterheads.

Genealogies.

Photographs.

Sheet music.

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