Chester Adgate Congdon - Business

Business

In 1892 he moved from St. Paul to Duluth, becoming a member of the law firm of Billson & Congdon as the partner of William W. Billson. In 1893 they were joined by judge Daniel A. Dickinson and the firm style of Billson, Congdon & Dickinson was adopted. On the death of the judge in 1902 the surviving partners resumed their original title and thus continued until 1904, when both retired from active practice. In the meantime Mr. Congdon had extended his efforts to various lines of commercial, industrial and financial enterprise in his adopted city. He became a prominent figure in connection with the development of the iron and copper mining resources of the Lake Superior country and at the same time his advice and assistance were sought by many business and financial institutions on the directorate of which his name never appeared. He was general counsel of the Oliver Mining Company before its consolidation with other companies, now forming the United States Steel Corporation. He was also the president of the Chemung Iron Company and the Canisteo Mining Company, the vice-president of the American Exchange National Bank of Duluth and a director in the Calumet & Arizona Mining Company, the Hedley Gold Mining Company, the Greene Cananea Copper Company, the Marshall-Wells Hardware Company, the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company and various other banking, mining and jobbing enterprises which claimed his attention and profited by his cooperation and direction. He also became interested in agricultural pursuits, making extensive investments in farm lands in the northwest.