MALE VOICEOVER: Funding for
Glensheen and the Congdon
Legacy is provided by
the Citizens of Minnesota
through the Minnesota Arts
and Cultural Heritage Fund.
NARRATOR: A gentle slope
leads to the water's edge.
The broad expanse
of Lake Superior
reaches far beyond the eye.
The nearby cliffs are a reminder
of the big lake's power,
yet on this stretch,
access to the shoreline
is across a pebbly beach.
It's here that Chester
and Clara Congdon
decided to put down roots, to
build their home place, modeled
after an English country estate.
The Jacobean style
mansion, Glensheen,
built more than a
century ago, stands today
as a timeless tribute
to the American dream,
a dream built on hard
work, fortunate timing,
and a relentless
pursuit of knowledge.
TONY DIERCKINS:
Basically, Chester Congdon
spent his life becoming an
expert at what he wanted to do.
When he didn't want to
be a school principal,
he became an expert lawyer.
When he got into Oliver Mining,
he became an expert in mines.
NARRATOR: Glensheen Mansion
is more than a structure
of concrete and steel.
It's a connection to a city's
history and development.
Through every season and
the passing of years,
Glensheen stands
the test of time,
a fitting tribute
to a family that
gave so much to the region.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So he provided
the money to get the land.
He provided the
landscape design for it,
and so in 1908, the city named
the park after Mr. Congdon.
That's why we have
Congdon Park now.
NARRATOR: Today thousands
visit the house and its grounds
every year, making Glensheen
the number one house
museum in Minnesota.
The understated grace
and beauty of the estate
impresses as much today
as it did 100 years ago.
Well, you have a lot of
grand homes in Minnesota,
but there are a few
that really showcase
the talents of our state better
than this grand mansion here.
NARRATOR: More than a
century after it was built,
visitors continue to marvel at
this true Minnesota original,
and they want to learn
more about the people who
lived here, the staff
who served them,
and the continuing legacy
of Glensheen and the Congdon
family.
In 1853, the Lake
Superior region
was the Western frontier,
and Duluth, nothing more
than a small settlement.
That same year,
Chester Adgate Congdon
was born in this house
in Rochester, New York.
On the other side
of the continent,
Clara Bannister, Chester
Congdon's future wife,
was born and spent
her formative years
in San Francisco, California.
MARY VAN EVERA: Her
father went west
at the time of the gold
rush, and he was a minister,
a Methodist minister.
His job out there was
to be a clergyman,
and he had a parish
in San Francisco.
NARRATOR: Chester
Congdon's father
was also a Methodist minister,
preaching at various New York
parishes when scarlet
fever struck the family.
TONY DIERCKINS: Two of his
siblings and his father
died when he was
about 14 years old,
and he went to work
in a local lumber yard
where they lived in
upstate New York.
NARRATOR: Chester worked
at the lumber yard
to support his widowed
mother and surviving siblings
until 1871 when he enrolled
in newly founded Syracuse
University.
Although he would have
preferred going to Yale,
tuition was too expensive.
As the son of a minister,
he could attend Syracuse
at half tuition, a sum
of just $10 per term.
The first class
at the university
consisted of 41
students, four of them
women, including
Clara Bannister.
TONY DIERCKINS: They became
sweethearts at school
and both graduated in
Syracuse's first class together.
She went on to become a
school teacher in Ontario,
and he tried his luck after
sitting for the bar in New York
as a principal, a high
school principal in Chippewa
Falls, Wisconsin.
NARRATOR: The job in Chippewa
Falls paid $900 a year,
and it allowed
Chester the chance
to see what opportunities
existed in the Upper Midwest.
He moves out west
like a lot of Americans
do in hope of a better life.
And at the time,
Minnesota was kind of one
of those further
west territories.
NARRATOR: Clara, meanwhile,
followed her love of art
to a teaching
position in Ontario.
MARY VAN EVERA:
Taught in a school
in Canada, a girls
school, I believe,
and also in Pennsylvania.
And Grandfather wrote to
her and knew her then,
but didn't feel that he
could marry her until he
could afford to support her.
NARRATOR: Looking to
further his law career,
Chester left his position
in Chippewa Falls
for Saint Paul, Minnesota, where
he passed the Minnesota bar
exam and landed a job with
an established law firm.
While gaining experience
in his chosen profession,
Chester was still frustrated
with his inability
to earn enough money to
afford to marry Clara.
He outlined his financial
position to her in a letter.
MALE SPEAKER: "$9.67 in cash,
$5 receivable from my law firm,
amongst prepaid rent at $8,
a meal ticket worth $5.75,
two pounds of crackers,
two pounds of canned meat,
and one half pound of coffee."
Chester's fortunes
would soon change
thanks to a
professional friendship
with William Billson,
the US Attorney
for the state of Minnesota.
Billson was impressed
with Congdon's work
and offered him a job as
assistant US attorney.
His spirits buoyed by the new
position and a slight increase
in pay, Chester sent word to
Clara to set a wedding date.
Chester Adgate Congdon and
Clara Hesperia Bannister
were married in Syracuse, New
York on September 29, 1881,
and boarded a train back to
Saint Paul that same afternoon.
The Congdons made to
the best of their life
in Minnesota's capital city,
and they began a family.
Between 1882 and 1891, Clara
gave birth to five children--
Walter, Edward, Marjorie,
Helen, and John.
During this period,
Congdon's mentor, Billson,
left the US Attorney's Office
and went into private practice
in Duluth.
TONY DIERCKINS: A lot of
Congdon's professional business
took him to and from
Duluth, and there, he
would visit with his old boss
and mentor, William Billson.
Billson, in the meantime, had
developed a lucrative practice
in Duluth.
He was considered one of the
Zenith City's top attorneys.
NARRATOR: Congdon's
practice prospered,
buoyed by the experience he
had gained in the US Attorney's
Office.
He also invested in
Western mining stock
and made some significant land
deals in the Pacific Northwest.
Just as it seemed
he was building
a practice for the long
term in Saint Paul,
Congdon received
an enticing offer.
TONY DIERCKINS: In 1892, Billson
offered Congdon a partnership.
He said, why don't
you come on up?
Bring the family to Duluth.
It was growing by then.
And relocate here, and
become Billson's partner.
NARRATOR: It was a
difficult decision,
but Billson's offer was
too good to let pass.
Moving a family of seven
was a daunting task,
so Chester moved first to
establish himself in Duluth,
with Clara and the children
following a few months later.
The Congdons found
a home to rent
on East 1st Street in
Duluth, and two more children
were born to the couple--
Elizabeth and Robert.
Tragedy struck when their son,
John, died at the age of two
from scarlet fever.
With six other children to care
for, the Congdons needed space.
TONY DIERCKINS: When the
Congdons first moved to Duluth,
they settled in Duluth's
Endion neighborhood,
and they had a modest house
they were renting then,
and in 1895, Duluth's premier
architect, Oliver Traphagen,
announced that he was
closing up shop in Duluth
and moving to Hawaii.
And the Congdons bought
the home that Traphagen had
designed and built for himself.
NARRATOR: The
redstone building was
one of Duluth's most elegant
and fashionable residences,
and it was home to the
Congdons for the next 13 years.
The biggest break of
Chester Congdon's career
came because his law partner
was away from the office.
Henry Oliver owned
a steel company
in Pittsburgh, which was
second only to Carnegie Steel
in its level of production.
In 1892, Oliver came
to northern Minnesota
to see firsthand the discovery
of iron ore on the Iron Range.
He was so impressed with
the Mesabi properties
of Duluth's Merritt
Brothers, he struck a deal
to mine their ore.
On his return trip
from the range,
Oliver came through Duluth
seeking a local attorney
to represent him in future
Minnesota business deals.
He was told that William
Billson had the sharpest
legal mind in Duluth, and he
went to visit Billson one day,
and Billson was out.
And he wouldn't return before
Oliver had to leave town,
so his junior attorney, Chester
Congdon, took the meeting.
The two Republicans hit
it off almost immediately,
and it is said they
became lifelong friends
after that meeting.
Before it ended, they decided to
form the Oliver Mining Company
with Chester Congdon as
its chief legal counsel.
NARRATOR: The formation of the
Oliver Mining Company in 1892
started a chain of
events that would
result in a financial
windfall for Congdon.
There's a financial
panic the next year,
and Oliver merges
with Carnegie Steel.
Carnegie takes over 50% of that.
Meanwhile, JD Rockefeller
takes over the Merritt Brothers
holdings on the Iron Range.
NARRATOR: The panic of
1893 put Rockefeller
in control of the railroad
that Oliver Mining
needed to transfer its ore.
Rockefeller quickly
increased his rail rates,
forcing Oliver and
Congdon to consider
building their own railroad.
Then Rockefeller
increased the rates
on his fleet of
Great Lakes ships.
The high stakes game put
America's very economy
in peril, and got the attention
of another 19th century
business tycoon.
TONY DIERCKINS: Then JP
Morgan, who owns and runs
most of the nation's banks,
it's fair uncomfortable.
So he forms US Steel, buying
out Rockefeller, Carnegie,
and Oliver, and this increases
Congdon's stock by 550%.
NARRATOR: Chester Congdon's
partnership with Oliver
continued as the two formed
other mining companies,
developed new mining
techniques, and succeeded
where others had failed.
He was just in that frontier
period of opening up the iron
range, and that was
very exciting to him,
getting business going, and
the development of the steel
industry.
NARRATOR: Chester traveled
extensively through the years,
looking for attractive
investment opportunities
in Minnesota and beyond.
TONY DIERCKINS:
Basically, Chester Congdon
dealt in mining properties
for the rest of his life.
They not only had the iron
mines in the Mesabi range,
but they invested in copper
mines in Arizona and mines
elsewhere.
NARRATOR: Chester's
successful mining ventures
made the Congdons one of
Minnesota's wealthiest
families, and soon, he and
Clara turned their attention
to building a family home.
While wealthier
Duluthians had begun
moving further east at the
turn of the 20th century,
few were building near the
shore of Lake Superior.
But the idea of a lake home
intrigued the Congdons.
TONY DIERCKINS: Clara's diary
as early as 1900 or 1901
mentions looking for
a site and finding
a site along Tischer Creek.
He was very interested in the
north shore of Lake Superior.
NARRATOR: Chester began to
purchase the land in 1903,
soon acquiring just over
21 acres bordering the lake
and reaching a quarter
mile up the hillside.
The Congdons hired noted
Minnesota architect, Clarence
Johnston, to design their home.
Clarence Johnston in 1901
had become the Minnesota state
architect.
He had done many buildings
for the state, including
many for the University of
Minnesota over the years,
considered Minnesota's
premier architect, one
of the premier architects
in the nation really.
NARRATOR: The Congdons
asked Johnston
to design a manor that resembles
an English country estate.
They chose a name that reflected
the mansion's location.
You can see it right here.
It's called Glensheen
because of this glen
that you see here, and then
the shine off of Lake Superior,
or the sheen, Glensheen.
NARRATOR: In June
of 1905, excavation
began for the house
foundation-- 42 by 140 feet
with the long side
paralleling Lake Superior.
Construction would
continue that first year
until winter closed in, then
resume the following spring.
Bricklayers were back on
the job in April of 1906,
and by that fall, all
three floors and the attic
had been finished.
At the same time the manor
house was being built,
workmen also constructed
a carriage house,
gardener's cottage with four
greenhouses, and a boat house
with an attached pier.
All were constructed from
the sturdiest materials
under the Congdons'
watchful eyes.
DAN HARTMAN: Not only is this
mansion built almost entirely
on a steel beam and concrete,
so was the carriage house,
and so was even the
little gardener's cottage.
Chester and Clara
were both intimately
involved with the
design of the building,
with the siting of it, with
the landscape approval,
with the implementation.
NARRATOR: By 1907,
work had begun
on Glensheen's interior
mechanical systems
and the pilasters, bricklayers,
and interior wood finishers
busied themselves completing
the structure of the home.
By February of 1908, the
mansion was turned over
to the company that
would be responsible
for interior decoration.
Glensheen's graceful
restrained exterior design
is a hallmark of
Clarence Johnston's work.
Yet for all its classic beauty,
the mansion's Jacobethan
revival facade only hints of
the rich details found inside.
Chester awarded the
interior design contract
to the William A French
company of Minneapolis,
a major commission that required
the full attention of French.
DAN HARTMAN: The interior
designer, William A French,
he was here constantly.
He actually is repetitively
showing up inside
of Clara's diary, and
so they're having tea.
He's showing things.
They're just making
decisions, and it's ongoing.
William French was
concerned that he
didn't have sufficient
financial resources in order
to manufacture all
of the furniture
in order to stockpile
it to get it ready,
because the order had to
be placed a year and a half
in advance.
Chester actually became
the vice president
and one of the largest investors
annoying in the William
French company in order
to ease that cash flow
situation for William French.
The vast, vast majority
of the furniture
you see throughout this
house is all actually custom
made for Glensheen.
A lot of it is
actually hand-sketched.
The sketches are actually then
brought to you, usually Clara,
and then Clara would
say up or down.
NARRATOR: Elements of Clarence
Johnston's interior design
mingle throughout the house
with ideas from William French,
making for a truly
unique living space.
DAN HARTMAN: You'll
see a lot of oddities
through the house, where
typically, the architect would
have a little bit more leeway.
But the designers clearly
changed the design.
And frankly, I
think that's partly
why this house looks
as great as it does,
and you can definitely
tell the Johnston elements,
and then also the immediate
interior designer elements.
The very kind of
classical Johnston element
is our staircase with
the leather strapwork
design going up.
That is Clarence Johnston.
DENNIS LAMKIN: It wasn't
at all uncommon for when
a mansion of this
caliber and scale
was being built to employ
different decorators to do
different areas so that
you had some variety
in your interior design.
William French did the majority
of the work in the house.
He decorated-- this
is Chester's room.
He decorated this
room, for example.
But other rooms in the
house were subcontracted
by William French
to John Bradstreet,
and Bradstreet was
probably in many
regards a bigger name
than William French was
as far as an interior designer.
NARRATOR: Bradstreet design the
famous Green Room at Glensheen,
a longtime favorite of visitors.
It's where the Congdons
took their breakfast.
Bradstreet was heavily
influenced by his many visits
to Japan, as evidenced by his
craft house in Minneapolis.
Here, his clients could see
his latest inspired designs,
and here, he developed
a process of treating
wood that gives Chester's
smoking room a unique look.
DAN HARTMAN: I love
John Bradstreet's
jin-di-sugi process, where he
actually physically torches
the wood.
He burns off the lighter
grains, so you can really
see-- the cypress with the
red and the wood just really
pops out.
NARRATOR: The
jin-di-sugi method,
developed by
Bradstreet, accelerated
the Japanese technique, which
required the wood be buried
for years to allow rock and
decay to dissolve the softer
pulp.
Also in the smoking room,
hand-hammered copper lighting
shows off Minnesota
craftsmanship, a point
of emphasis for Congdon.
DAN HARTMAN: The overall
purpose of Glensheen
is to show the talents that
we have here in Minnesota.
When Glensheen was being
built, a lot of people
out east didn't know
what we had over here.
They didn't know we
had an outdoor element.
They didn't know that
we had a craftsman who
could to do anything.
NARRATOR: Of all the
rooms in Glensheen,
the third floor bedroom
of Walter Congdon
holds a special place in
American design history.
DAN HARTMAN: And this room
here is a John Bradstreet room.
This is one of the
very few-- I think
it's the only set completely
of arts and crafts
that John Bradstreet left.
I love that you have the
desk, the chair, and notice
that they all match together.
But also, even the
wastebasket matches.
And I just love that all
this stuff fits in together.
It's clearly a set.
But I also love the inlay
in the wood in this room,
and it's kind of hard to
see, but right over here,
there's just this little
decorative design of Bradstreet
that is just so-- that is
one of his signature styles
that you'll see on his pieces,
only his arts and crafts.
This is one of our
greatest things
here is we can still show this
time frame of American history,
and I'd say, really,
this is a moment
in interior design
in our country
that is best showcased
here at Glensheen.
NARRATOR: Since
his death in 1914,
Bradstreet's name
has been mentioned
with Tiffany, Stickley,
and even Frank Lloyd Wright
in the pantheon of
American designers.
His work, along with that
of French and Johnston,
make Glensheen a unique fusion
of American design history.
DAN HARTMAN: Usually, when you
have a house of this nature,
you'll have one
general style that'll
dominate the whole house.
That's not the case here.
You have this third floor,
which is very heavy on the arts
and crafts.
On this side, it's
done by Bradstreet.
The other side is done
by William A French.
Well, the floor below us
and the floor below that
are Beaux-Arts style, which is
a very different style, almost
a little post-Gilded Age.
You also have Helen's
room, which is actually
an art nouveau style, and so
you have these very differing
elements that make up Glensheen.
NARRATOR: Chester and Clara
Congdon accented the design
elements with fine
carpets, objects
collected on their many travels,
and an extensive collection
of art.
DAN HARTMAN: One of the
things I love about Glensheen
from an art
perspective is you go
into a lot of these grand
homes in the country,
and it's just filled with really
famous international artists.
And what I love
about Glensheen is
you have that, but
immediately next to it
is a regional artist, because
Chester and Clara weren't
buying art just
as an investment.
They were buying art because
they actually enjoyed it.
DENNIS LAMKIN: They, together,
would look at catalogs of art,
and both would have
comments in the Notes
section of the artwork
which pieces they liked.
DAN HARTMAN: Chester, in
particular, went on this trip
through the Pacific,
and there's a lot
of pieces throughout the
home that are from that trip.
You'll see a lot of pieces
from Australia, Japan.
It's kind of fun to see
them throughout the house.
NARRATOR: Even with its art
work, fine craftsmanship,
and highest quality
materials, Glensheen
was meant to be a
respite, a place
to get away from the
worries of the world
and relax with
family and friends.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: With the house
as its centerpiece,
the landscape at Glensheen
is patterned in the style
of an English country estate.
In a departure, the Congdon's
looked outside of Minnesota
for their landscape architect,
hiring Charles W. Leavitt
from New York City.
So you have Clarence
Johnson, who's
a great architect
here in Minnesota.
You have the two interior
designers-- great Minnesotan.
But for the landscape
designer, he
chose Charles Leavitt
out of New York.
Definitely, this is a little
guy of national landscape fame.
And you can really see
that in the estate.
NARRATOR: Leavitt's plan
for the estate's 22 acres
included formal garden areas, a
large paddock for the Congdon's
livestock, and extensive use
of the natural landscape.
Sustainability was a
major goal of the plan.
But the formal garden is
the focus of the grounds.
DAN HARTMAN: This is
something that visitors
have enjoyed I think since
the day we've opened.
But really, it's
just a beautiful spot
to showcase the beautiful
gardens that we can have
here in northern Minnesota.
And this has been that constant
photograph of Glensheen
that we've seen in everyone's
photographs for 30 years.
NARRATOR: At its center, a cool
and beautiful marble fountain
grace the formal garden.
Glensheen's original fountain
featured four jets that
shot an arching spray of water.
That configuration
was changed in 1913
when the current
fountain was installed.
DAN HARTMAN: And
then, eventually, they
decided with what see here,
which is Italian marble.
And it's made by George Thrana,
actually carved here in Duluth.
He's one of Duluth's
master stone carvers.
And this is not George
Thrana's first design.
He actually gave them
a different design
of a young woman
riding an alligator.
And the Congdon family
said, ah, maybe not so much.
And this is the second
design which they did choose.
NARRATOR: In the Northeastern
portion of the landscape plan,
a clay surface tennis court was
built next to a bowling green.
A beautiful flower garden is
just below the tennis court.
And vegetable gardens tear
down toward the waterfront.
The Gardener's cottage
stands in the lowest corner
of the vegetable gardens.
Adjacent to the cottage,
four adjoining greenhouses
marched up the hillside, an
important part of the estate's
sustainable design.
Some of the greenhouses
were used to start flowers,
including annuals and perennials
for the estates formal gardens.
And at the top of the
hill, the Palm House
contained a real treat for
the Congdon grandchildren.
We used to come down on
my brother's birthday,
this would be in
the '30s and '20s,
to pick a banana
from the banana tree
down there, because they
seemed to ripen right in April.
So that's part I remember most.
NARRATOR: Sadly, the
greenhouses no longer exist.
They were dismantled in 1970
after their coal burning
heating plant failed.
Just below the quaint
gardener's cottage
stands a much larger
building-- the carriage house.
DAN HARTMAN: This is kind of
that overlapping period where
carriages were still
very heavily used
here in the city of Duluth,
while at the same time,
the automobile is really
starting to come on the scene.
So here in this
carriage house, you'll
have the horses that are
carrying their carriages
while immediately in
the same building,
we'll have a garage for
their new automobiles.
NARRATOR: Along with space
for the cars and carriages,
some of the Congdon's
male servants
lived in the carriage house.
DAN HARTMAN: They
had their own kitchen
here-- their own set
of bathrooms here.
This is where they lived.
This is kind of their house.
And you actually had a
full-time staff member
named a stableman
who actually would
be living in that quarter.
You'd have the
chauffeur-- the coachman.
NARRATOR: The carriage
house had stalls
for the estate's
award-winning Morgan horses
along with space for
a few Guernsey cows
kept for their milk and butter.
To the east of the gardens
and carriage house,
several acres of
paddocks were set aside
for the estate's livestock.
was a large boat house
with a protective pier
and breakwater extending
well out into Lake Superior.
The structure provided shelter
for the Congdon's yacht,
the Hesperia.
DAN HARTMAN: And a lot of the
commercial maps for captains,
you'd actually see the
Glensheen pier on the map
because it was just such
a significant structure.
NARRATOR: The boat
house itself is
made of rough cut stone
similar to the stone
bridge over Tischer Creek.
More than 500
loads of black soil
were brought in to sculpt
Glensheen's landscape.
And over 200 varieties
of trees and vegetation
were planted on the grounds.
Today, the Congdon
Estate's 22 acres
is a living testament to
Charles Leavitt's master plan
and ongoing efforts to
maintain his original intent
from more than a century ago.
DAN HARTMAN: We have
the original 1907
map of where things are
supposed to be planted.
And it corresponds to a list
of the plant that was planted.
And so it was just kind of fun
to be able to still go back
in time and be able to point
out this is the heritage tree
or this is a new one.
And it's fun that we have
so much of that history
still available.
So we can restore it to what
it was meant to look like.
[music  playing]
NARRATOR: On a
beautiful summer day,
Glensheen director
Dan Hartman walks
a neglected trail along the
western edge of Tischer Creek.
All but forgotten
over the years,
these trails are
an original part
of landscape architect Charles
Leavitt's ambitious plan
for the property.
DAN HARTMAN: One of the unknown
parts of the trail system
is this beautiful
outlook of Lake Superior.
And notice that the original
stone staircase leading down
to the outlook is still here.
Oral history has it that
this is where Chester came
for his morning cup of coffee.
NARRATOR: From the
rock outcropping
And visitors to the grounds
came away impressed.
DAN HARTMAN: And when this was
completed in 1910 when guests
came here, they didn't
walk away necessarily
talking about the house.
They mostly walked away talking
about how beautiful this trail
system was.
And how it almost felt
like mini North Shore
here on the property.
NARRATOR: The centerpiece
of the trail system
is the beautiful stone arch
bridge over Tischer Creek.
Its timeless design has made
it one of Glensheen's most
iconic locations.
DAN HARTMAN: On the
family's postcards,
the picture wasn't
the house over here,
it was actually the bridge and
then the side of the house.
That's how important this
landscape was to the family.
So you think Chester had
his own private hiking
trail here on the property.
And that beautiful stone bridge
is that it actually connected
you to that hiking trail.
So many have referred to
it as the bridge to nowhere
in the past.
But clearly, it is a
bridge to something
and is one of the more
beautiful parts of the estate.
NARRATOR: The
extensive trail system
wraps around the estate grounds
on both sides of Tischer Creek.
Getting up and down
this steep creek banks
required the construction
of stone steps
which were artfully
carved into the slopes.
So this is one of the
completely unknown staircases
here at Glensheen that
we hope to bring back
and that are not actually
even available at all
to the public today.
But it's the other
side of the trail, kind
of that eastern
portion, which still
has that great view
of the stone bridge.
And you can really
see now how the trail
system wraps around both
sides of Tischer Creek.
NARRATOR: Stepping stones
that once led across the creek
have been washed away.
But the trail continues
through an impressive tunnel
to the Congdon property
located above London Road.
DAN HARTMAN: You have this
beto Duluth's Congdon Parkteny
on land that Chester
had donated to the city.
It was a seamless
transition to a park
that complemented Glensheen's
Lake Superior location.
DAN HARTMAN: What I think
is really unique about going
on the other side of London
Road is you can really
see that continuity of design.
in merging land and building
towas ahead of its time.l
Visitors to Glensheen
today once again see
the mansion and grounds much
as they were first imagined
more than 100 years ago.
We cleaCongdon's visionw shed.
NARRATOR: Chester
for a trail system
along Tischer Creek
didn't end at his property line.
He had something
more in mind that
would benefit his adopted city.
NANCY NELSON: He
owned the property
from the lake shore all
the up to Graceland Road
along Tischer Creek.
So he proposed that the city
acquire the land from Graceland
Road all the way up to Vermilion
Road along Tischer Creek
and make that a city park.
NARRATOR: The creek plunges and
winds down the Duluth hillside,
carving out impressive valleys
and peaceful pools on its way
to Lake Superior.
A scenic canvas--
it seemed perfect
for an extension of the trail
work planned for Glensheen.
But it was also badly polluted.
At the time, the
people who lived up
at the top of the hill
in the Woodland area
were using Tischer
Creek as a sewer.
So it was fairly contaminated.
NARRATOR: Congdon made his
donation of land and money
contingent on the city
redirecting the sewage
into a holding tank.
The park board accepted
Congdon's offer in 1905
and completed
acquisition of another 30
acres of land for the
park by the end of 1907.
But Congdon's generosity
didn't end there.
He offered the services
of his landscaping team
to come up with a
plan for the park.
He had hired Charles
Leavitt from New York
to help design the
landscaping for Glensheen.
And Anthony Morrell and Arthur
Nichols worked with Leavitt.
And so then Congdon
offered the services
of Mr. Morrell and Mr.
Leavitt to help develop a plan
for the rest of the park once
the city to acquired the land.
NARRATOR: Leavitt
and Morrell's work
in the park included stone steps
and a series of wooden bridges
that crossed Tischer Creek
at various locations.
Other elaborate plans for
the park were never built.
But the city honored Congdon for
preserving the natural beauty
of Tischer Creek.
NANCY NELSON: So he provided
the money to get the land.
He provided the
landscape design for it.
And so in 1908, the city named
the park after Mr. Congdon.
That's why we have
Congdon Park now.
NARRATOR: A 1909 article in
the Duluth Herald newspaper
called the new park, "the
leading outdoor beauty
spot of the city,"
and went on to exclaim
that, Tischer Creek lends
an atmosphere of wildness
such as is seldom met
within a city park."
The park today still boasts
its original stone steps
and beautiful
vistas of the creek
much as it did 100 years ago.
The wooden bridges have been
replaced by modern versions.
And the park remains
a taste of wilderness
in the midst of the city.
Brought to Duluth by Leavitt to
work on Glensheen's landscape,
Morrell and Nichols went on to
make their mark on the Zenith
City.
NANCY NELSON: They made
a plan for Lester Park.
They designed all the stone
bridges on Seven Bridges Road.
They designed the bridge
over the Lester River
on London Road.
Any place in Duluth you see that
kind of nice stone arch bridge
probably is something
that was designed
by a Morrell and Nichols.
NARRATOR: The
automobile was beginning
to change the way Americans
traveled in the early years
of the 20th century.
Chester Congdon saw the need
to improve the region's system
of roads and once again was
willing to help foot the bill.
MALE SPEAKER: He had a vision
in fact for the Lake Superior
International Highway that
was stretched all the way up
to the Pigeon River.
And he purchased and
donated all the land
that is now the scenic
Highway 61 from 60th Avenue
east all the way
up to Two Harbors.
NANCY NELSON: I think
he did a lot of his very
quietly like purchasing some
of the land for the Congdon
Boulevard.
He tried to do as much of
that on his own as he could.
And there's a
newspaper article that
says that he was trying
to do it quietly.
And the newspaper was
cooperating and not
publishing anything
about it until he
finally came to the
city council and asked
for help getting land.
NARRATOR: As they would
have it, Chester Congdon
did not live to see the dream of
his Lake Superior International
Highway completed.
But the Congdon name was forever
linked with the North Shore
highway development.
Later after his death,
Clara and the Congdon estate
paid for the Lester River
Bridge, the historic bridge,
that crosses the Lester
River on this stretch.
NANCY NELSON: So
Congdon Boulevard
became part of
Highway Number 1 that
went from Duluth up the shore.
Now we know it pretty
much as Scenic Highway 61.
He really was a
visionary in that sense,
realizing that it was going to
be an important transportation
corridor to get
people up the shore.
[music playing]
NARRATOR: The Congdons moved
into their spacious new home
in late November of 1908,
though a small amount
of finishing work remained.
While the family
settled in, workers
completed the final details
and the supervisor of the work
declared end of
house construction
on February 1st, 1909.
The final cost of building
and equipping the estate
was $854,000.
The majority of that money
was spent on the interior
and furnishings.
DENNIS LAMKIN: And it took
33 train car loads, boxcars,
of furniture to
furnish the house,
and that took about a
month long period of time
to install the
furniture in the house
and to get it placed properly.
NARRATOR: In those first
years, the Congdons
employed about 30
people at Glensheen
in a variety of positions.
DAN HARTMAN: The domestic
service was the number one
occupation in the
country, and so
to work at the number one
house in the state at the time
was kind of a big deal.
SPEAKER 1: They did have
a chauffeur at one time,
then you had your houseman.
The chauffeur lived
upstairs and the houseman
lived downstairs there.
Well, they had a
cook and I think they
had a cook helper at one time.
And then they have
a housekeeper,
she was in charge of the
house and all the people
that worked there.
Then they'd have an upstairs
girl, downstairs girl.
NARRATOR: Permanent
staff members
had excellent living facilities,
and the jobs at Glensheen
were coveted.
DAN HARTMAN: Imagine you've
just come over from the seas,
you come from terrible
working conditions,
and now you're living on
this beautiful property
in a heated building with some
really good food generally
every meal, and frankly,
you're paid pretty good.
NARRATOR: Even before
it was completed,
the Congdon engine
was drawing attention
as one of the finest
homes in Minnesota.
DAN HARTMAN: Glensheen
is a sought after house.
The architect, the
interior designers, people
want this job because
they know it's going
to help show off what they do.
NARRATOR: A year
after the family
moved in, a national magazine
came to Duluth to do a feature
story on the residence.
DAN HARTMAN: Western
Digest comes and does
photo spreads of
almost every room
in the house, the
landscape, they write up
this great story of it and
it goes into this national
NARRATOR: The photos taken for
The Western Architect in 1910
are a remarkable document,
a curator's dream,
that illustrates how little
the furnishings, artwork,
and family mementos have
changed in over a century.
DAN HARTMAN: We just redid
Robert's room last year
and it was the
only reason we were
able to identify
the furniture that
was meant to be in that room.
NARRATOR: Though most
of the Congdon children
were already off to boarding
school and college when
the family moved
in to Glensheen,
each had their own
bedroom in the mansion.
And there were another
half dozen guest bedrooms
on the second and third
floors of the Congdon home.
Guests from far and near
were welcomed at Glensheen,
and the house hummed with
activity in those early years.
Summer was an
especially busy time
with the children
home from school
and friends and family visiting.
And the estate took full
advantage of its Lake Superior
location with its fine
peer and boathouse.
TONY DIERCKINS: When
they built the house,
they imagined people arriving
by coach in the front
and by yacht in the back.
In fact, they had their
own yacht, the Hesperia.
Alfred Bannister,
Clara's orphaned nephew,
actually came to live with
the Congdons in the 1890s,
and in 1911, he and a
friend piloted the Hesperia
from Maine all the way through
the Great Lakes to Duluth.
It was the longest such
journey by a motorized vessel
of that size at its time.
NARRATOR: Even with all the
activity of a large family
and staff at the estate,
Glensheen still functioned
as an oasis for Chester Congdon
between his frequent business
trips.
TONY DIERCKINS: Chester in
particularly enjoyed the west
porch, where we have photos
of him relaxing and sitting.
They say that's where he
spent most of his time while
at Glensheen.
Of course, during those
years from 1909 to 1916,
while Glensheen
was his residence,
he didn't spend much time here.
NARRATOR: Chester Congdon's
foray into politics
came relatively late in his
life although he had long
supported Republican
candidates and causes.
DAN HARTMAN: Chester was
an extremely influential
Republican in this region.
He was the leader
of the Republicans
in northeast Minnesota.
NARRATOR: Content to advocate
for his beliefs of the party
level, Congdon had never
run for elected office,
but that changed when
he ran for and won
a seat in the House of
Representatives in 1908.
TONY DIERCKINS: He
represented Duluth in two
different legislative sessions.
He really entered politics
because of a tonnage tax issue,
a tax that was going
to be put on iron ore.
DAN HARTMAN: He was
only in two sessions,
and in one of the sessions, he's
the chair of the committee that
actually decides the
districts of the state
for the next election.
You don't get that typically
as a freshman represent.
Chester got that.
NARRATOR: Disillusioned by
the legislative process,
Chester left the state house
when his second term ended.
In 1914, he embarked on
several month-long voyage
through the Pacific
Rim and continued
to pursue his orchard
interests in Washington State,
building a large castle-like
residence there known
as Westhome.
Congdon's political advice was
often sought by Republicans,
and in 1916, he was elected the
Republican National Committee
man for the state of Minnesota.
The party's endorsement went
to Charles Evans Hughes,
and Congdon was confident
the nation would oust
President Wilson from office.
TONY DIERCKINS: Chester Congdon
did not like Woodrow Wilson.
He thought his
policies of staying out
of what we now call
the First World
War made America look weak.
He was so confident that
Wilson would lose the election
that he had the estate's cook
prepare a special celebratory
dinner the night
of the election.
NARRATOR: To Congdon's
great disappointment,
Wilson won reelection.
3 days later, while on
business in St. Paul,
he messaged Clara to tell
her he wasn't feeling well.
DAN HARTMAN: He was in St. Paul.
He was at the St. Paul
Hotel, he sent a note
that he was feeling sick.
People thought he
was getting better,
and then it had a
turn for the worse,
but it all happened very quick.
NARRATOR: The
sudden heart attack
that killed Chester
Congdon at the age of 63
shocked the region and
left a void in Duluth that
would not easily be filled.
TONY DIERCKINS: By all
newspaper accounts,
the community loved and
appreciated Chester Congdon.
His Duluth News Tribune
obituary is gushing, really,
over the wonderful things
he did for this community,
and they considered him
fairly irreplaceable.
DAN HARTMAN: And he
was so heavily involved
in so many things of
Duluth at the time
that there is this moment
of what are we going to do?
I mean, this is the
guy who has been
a major donor and the vision
for so many different ideas
in Duluth.
NARRATOR: The untimely death
of Chester Adgate Congdon
was a blow not only
for his family,
but for the region has a whole.
At the time of his
death, Chester Congdon
was reportedly the
richest man in Minnesota.
He was well able to
afford frequent travels
at home and abroad, and to
keep the large staff that
tended to the Congdon estate.
But change was coming to
Glensheen and its staff
of domestic servants.
DAN HARTMAN: Now,
after World War I,
that number gets cut
in half immediately,
and then after World
War II, it drops down
to around five or so,
and frankly that's really
common nationally, as well.
NARRATOR: One by one, the
Congdons' adult children
married and moved
out of Glensheen.
Clara Congdon went about
her business living
in a much different style
than her well-known husband.
DAN HARTMAN: Here's Chester who
was this very proactive, very
public person.
He runs for state
legislature, he
builds a mansion on London Road.
Clara, not so much.
Clara believes really intensely
in supporting her family
and being more private, and
that was her way of thinking.
She was still a huge
supporter of the community
but she didn't want to do
it in such very public ways.
NARRATOR: Clara was a firm
but caring mother, encouraging
the family trade of generosity
and life-long commitment
to the community.
TONY DIERCKINS:
The children were
raised with what at
the time was called
a sense of noblesse oblige.
It's a French term, and those of
us who are blessed with wealth
are obliged to share it.
NARRATOR: Clara was 62 years old
when Chester died and burdened
with a difficult hearing loss.
As seen in this vintage
Congdon family film,
she tried a number of
cumbersome hearing aids
to keep up with conversation.
Even though she
didn't hear well,
she was always there
for her grandchildren,
often with gentle encouragement.
MARY VAN EVERA: She had
her own advice for us
as if she were our
mother, and we always
came to see her before we went
away to school or college.
NARRATOR: Clara's
preference for privacy
led to some subtle changes
on the Congdon estate.
It seemed like she
asked the guard staff
to plant pine trees and cedar
trees throughout the property,
kind of close up some
of these viewing lanes
so that this would be
more of a private home.
TONY DIERCKINS: She let the
grounds grow wild a bit,
and let things develop.
And by 1930, the photograph
shows this much more
lush, full look to the grounds.
NARRATOR: Throughout
her long life,
Clara Congdon
never lost her love
of art, a passion she practiced
often and supported in others.
DAN HARTMAN: David
Erickson, who I'd say
is easily one of the
more popular painters
around the turn of the
century here in Duluth--
it was her who actually paid for
him to go overseas and actually
study the arts.
VERA DUNBAR: The
one oil that she
did was Reuben's David
that is in the library,
and that, I think she did
that when she was teaching art
before she was married.
NARRATOR: As the years
went by, one constant
with Clara at Glensheen was her
youngest daughter Elisabeth,
who was 14 years old when
the Congdons moved in.
Elisabeth dropped out of
college when her father
died and returned home
to help her mother manage
the estate while brothers
Walter and Edward took
over the varied
business interests.
By 1930, all of the Congdon
children except Elisabeth
were married and had moved
out, but for many years,
returning to the home
place for Christmas
remained a treasured
family tradition.
MARY VAN EVERA: My
very earliest memories
are I think around
Christmas, riding
in the sleigh,
the Troika sleigh,
on London Road with a horse in
front of us pulling us along.
There was lots of snow, and I
was under a big buffalo robe,
and there was a hot brick
to keep our feet warm,
and I thought that
was very exciting.
NARRATOR: In the 1930s,
Elisabeth Congdon,
still unmarried and in her late
30s, adopted two daughters.
She and the girls continued
to live at Glensheen
with her mother, who enjoyed
good health for many more
years.
In July of 1950, Clara
Bannister Congdon
passed away at the age of 96.
In the ensuing years
with her children grown,
Elisabeth Congdon split
her time between Glensheen
and other family homes.
DAN HARTMAN: And
after Clara dies,
then Elisabeth really
is here sparingly
throughout the year,
not nearly as much
as her mother nor Chester.
And so there's stories of
this entire floor just covered
in sheets for weeks on end.
And so it's a very
different era.
NARRATOR: In 1964,
a massive stroke
left Miss Congdon disabled
and in need of nursing care,
but she continued to
handle her own affairs
with the aid of her personal
manager, Vera Dunbar.
VERA DUNBAR: Elisabeth
had had this bad stroke
and was partially paralyzed
and in a wheelchair,
and had difficulty
talking sometimes.
NARRATOR: In 1968,
the family decided
to donate Glensheen to the
University of Minnesota
with the stipulation that
Elisabeth Congdon could
stay until the end of her life.
That life tragically ended
the night of June 26th, 1977
when Elisabeth and her
night nurse, Velma Pietila,
were murdered.
The story of that dreadful
night and its connection to Miss
Congdon's adopted
daughter Marjorie
has been told many
times, and it's
a story that is not
ignored at Glensheen,
but neither is it emphasized.
DAN HARTMAN: That
murder has overshadowed
this much greater legacy of
what the Congdon family has done
for northeast
Minnesota, and so part
of what I feel like
my mission here
is to have everyone hear that
broader story so they know
that there's more to
what this family did
than just this one day event.
Several months after
wayElizabeth's death,
the University of Minnesota
took full ownership
of the Congdon estate.
In 1979, the mansion and
grounds were open to the public.
And today, Glensheen is one of
the most visited house museums
in the state of Minnesota.
It provides a glimpse into
an era and a lifestyle that
can't be found anywhere else.
TONY DIERCKINS: The Congdons
weren't the only wealthy family
to build a grand estate at the
early part of the last century,
but because it stayed in
one family all these years,
it's filled with almost
all original furnishings,
and the same pictures
are hanging on the wall.
NARRATOR: When Chester
Congdon built Glensheen
on the shores of
Lake Superior, he
sent a message to his
business colleagues
in cities around America.
DAN HARTMAN: I think he did
a remarkable job of showing
people in the eastern
part of our country
that there was more to
Minnesota than the bitter cold.
DENNIS LAMKIN: It also said
the people of Duluth, I think,
that it's here to stay.
That the wealth is not
going to be a flash
and it's not going to
disappear, that there's
going to be a sustainable
future for the city.
NARRATOR: From the mansion
to the formal garden,
to the impressive carriage house
holding the Congdon's original
sleighs and carriages, Glensheen
offers the visitor a rich
experience that
cannot be duplicated.
DAN HARTMAN: The craftsmanship
of this house you can't beat,
and the local element
of it, especially,
is just astonishing.
You'll go to some beautiful
homes out in the east coast,
but none of those
homes will show
the identity of their state or
the region like Glensheen will.
