Minnesota Steel and Iron Company (Signed by T. J. Walsh)

Product Details

Nicely engraved antique stock certificate from the Minnesota Iron and Steel Company dating back to the 1910's. This document, which has been signed by the company President (T. J. Walsh) and Secretary, was printed by Goes, and measures approximately 9 3/4" (w) by 5 1/2" (h).

This certificate's vignette features a trio of mining scenes.

Images

Historical Context

The Minnesota Steel and Iron Company was one of four T. J. Walsh promotions along with the North American Iron Mining Company, the Vermilion Steel & Iron Company and the Extension of Vermilion Steel & Iron Company.

The company had properties along the Vermilion range on Minnesota. The Vermilion Range still exists today, and runs between Tower and Ely, and contains significant deposits of iron ore.

T. J. Walsh

This piece is signed by T. J. Walsh. Walsh was one of the makers of history in the development of the iron ore district of northern Minnesota.  Walsh came to Duluth in 1882, and in June of that year with two companions was sent out by G. C. Stone & Company over an Indian trail to explore the Vermillion Lake country. They reached the present site of Tower five days later, and there did the first development work on iron ore in the state of Minnesota. The site subsequently became famous as the Soudan Mine, the oldest iron property in the state, Mr. Walsh in those early years performed some of the hard physical labor and endured the hardships of prospecting, and rapidly picked up a practical knowledge as a miner.

Eventually he used a limited capital of twelve hundred dollars, supplied by himself and one or two associates, in developing a timber and iron ore property, and later sold out for eight thousand dollars, that being the first of his many business triumphs. Eventually he acquired about seven thousand acres in the Vermillion district under his individual control, and some of his more important connections in recent years have been as president and treasurer of the North American Iron Mining Company, the Minnesota Steel & Iron Company, the Consolidated Vermillion & Extension Company, vice president of the Great Northern Land Company and treasurer of the Duluth Clay Products Company. One of the iron ore mines which he was instrumental in developing was sold September 25, 1919, for seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.