David T. Adams
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David Tugaw Adams | |
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| Born | September 6, 1859 Rockford, Illinois |
| Died | July 22, 1928 (aged 68) |
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David Tugaw Adams (September 6, 1859 – July 22, 1928) was an American mining explorer and industrialist. He was one of the pioneers of the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota, the largest iron ore range ever discovered in America.
Early Years, 1859–1879
David T. Adams was born in Rockford, Illinois on September 6, 1859, the youngest of seven children born to Moses Tugaw and Jane Castoney. Two years later in 1861, the family moved to Chilton, Wisconsin, and then in 1865, moved to Menasha. Moses Adams was a butcher by trade and was also a farmer. Adams was only 8 years old when his father died in the Fall of 1867, and his widowed mother was unable to support such a large family, he was sent to live with a foster family. He adopted the name Adams from this family. "His boyhood was one one of privation and hard physical work, and he never received a formal education."[1]
Mining career
At the age of 20, he became interested in a career in mining, and subsequently left his foster family to move to Oshkosh, Wisconsin and then to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to explore for iron in the Gogebic iron Range in the vicinity of Crystal Falls and Iron River, Michigan. Though he was unsuccessful in locating ore, his experience would later prove to be invaluable in the pursuit of his chosen career.
He left Michigan to pursue his mining career in the newly discovered Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota, arriving in Duluth on June 20, 1882. Thereafter, as the region's historical records show, "No one was so personally prominent in discovering and bringing to development the great iron wealth of northeastern Minnesota."[2]
Like many of his peers, his initial explorations were not successful in finding ore deposits. As author Paul DeKruif, in his book, Seven Iron Men, stated, "Even the able David Adams came back from the western Mis-sa-be in the middle eighties with empty hands."[3] But Adams' persistence finally paid off with the discovery of low grade ore in 1890. In the Fall of the following year, 1891, he discovered his first commercial blue grade ore in the Cincinnati Pit Mine. He subsequently discovered ore in the Eveleth region in July, 1892, and established the Adams, Spruce and Cloquet Mines. Fayal #2 and #3 soon followed. Adams established the Adams Corporation that same year with its headquarters located in Duluth. Local historian, W. R. Vanslyke, in an article he wrote on October 14, 1937, for the St. Louis County Historical Society, entitled "The Discovery of Iron Ore, the Mines of Eveleth and the Development of Eveleth", stated, "With these discoveries and many more in the Mesabi Range, mining companies were quickly formed resulting in a wild scramble by companies and individuals for options and leases and those were freely traded in with no accurate knowledge of whether any ore was in a particular property or not." [4] One of those mining companies formed at that time was The Adams Corporation, which was incorporated in 1892, establishing an office in Duluth. With the discovery of high grade Bessemer ore and the securing of leases, mining progress was rapid in the region. The first railroad for transport of the ore to the ore barges in Duluth for shipping across Lake Superior to the Pittsburgh steel mills arrived in Eveleth in 1894 with the second one arriving soon after that.
"David T. Adams is a name to be associated with the development of the largest range of iron ore ever discovered in America" stated the editor of The History of Duluth and St. Louis County. He credited Adams for "providing a manuscript account of his experiences as an explorer and discoverer to the Mesabi Range". The editor concluded "considering all the results accruing from his work, it may be said with little fear of contradiction that no single individual contributed more toward bringing about the phenomenal changes which took place on the Range during the early years of the nineties than Mr. Adams. To Mr. Adams is due not only the locating and development of a number of the richest iron mines of the Mesabi Range, but the building of the cities of Virgina and Eveleth, two of the most prosperous towns upon the Range." [5] David Adams is also credited with mapping the entire range which was subsequently published in 1893.
The Duluth News Tribune reported on November 19, 1906, "It is not to be doubted that Mr. Adams discovered mines of greater resources than any one man who ever explored the Mesaba range. The Adams, of which there's been taken about 7,000,000 tons of ore, was his discovery, the greater part of the Fayal, which has yielded 11,000,000 tons, was his find; the Lincoln, which has given up 2,500,000 tons; he found; the Commodore, 1,000,000 tons. Among the Adams discoveries, out of those working, there has been taken 25,000,000 tons of high grade ore. There are many more that are held in reserve of known value, some of them of enormous tonnage. If the subsequent shipments were to be included with the values given at that time, the total shipments from the Adams mines would be augmented by several millions of tons."[6]
David T. Adams made his original fortune in the mining of iron ore, but most of the wealth he passed on to generations to come was made through his diversification into oil and gas exploration. In 1900, he teamed up with Duluth businessman, Chester Adgate Congdon, to purchase the land and mineral rights for 17,800 acres located in St. Marys Parish, Louisiana. The St. Marys Parish Land Company was incorporated in 1908, and Adams moved his base of operations to Chicago to manage his diverse investments in natural resources until the day of his death on July 22, 1928. He left an estate valued at over $800,000, almost 15,000,000 in 2023 dollars. St. Marys Oil and Gas (NYSE symbol SM) is a viable business to this day with its headquarters in Denver, Colorado.
References
- ↑ "The History of Duluth and St. Louis County". The American Historical Society: 2–3 of 260.
- ↑ "The History of Duluth and St. Louis County". American Historical Society: 2–3 of 260.
- ↑ De Kruif, Paul. Seven Iron Men (Third ed.). New York City: Blue Ribbon Books, Inc. p. 82.
- ↑ Vanslyke, W.R. (October 14, 1937). The Discovery of Iron Ore, the Mines of Eveleth and the Development of Eveleth.
- ↑ "Historical Souvenir". The Virginia Enterprise. 1909.
- ↑ "Range History". Duluth News Tribune. November 19, 1906.
External links
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