Norman Bronson Stevens

As printed in 1894

N. B. STEVENS.

Norman Bronson Stevens.

NORMAN BRONSON STEVKNfS, the eldest son of Silas and Seliiia (Bronson) Stevens, was born at Ilouesdale, Pa., May 15, 1828. His early life was largely spent in the family home in Lake County, In., the family having located there during his childhood. In the spring of IS.iO, possessed of an uncontrollable desire to travel and see the world, he joined a company bound overland for the gold fields of California. Passing through many vicissitudes and enduring incredible hardships in crossing the plains and Rocky Mountains, the i)arty arrived at I'laccrville, Cal.,.July 29, 1850, and at once began mining for gold.

Mr. Stevens remained in California, meeting with varying success, until the spring of 1855, when he returned to his home in the East. August 16, 1855, he came to Winona County and settled upon the claim located by his father in 1851 in what is now the city of Winona. IIc! later established a nursery in Burns Walley, and for many years was engaged in the fruit-tree industry. In this line he was uniformly successful, especially so in the propagation of varieties of fruit suitable to this climate, very many of the trees now in bearing in the surrounding country having been introduced by him.

- In addition to the latter business, in 1862 Mr. Stevens was appointed by the firm of D. M. Osborne tt Co. agent for the "Kirby" reaper, and in the development of this business during a series of years he was remarkably successful, carrying off the awards in many severely contested field trials. Having demonstrated his rare ability as a business man, Mr. Stevens was, in 1868, called on to take the general agency for the entire Northwest of the '-Kirby" reaper, with headquarters at Chicago, and in this wider field he fully maintained his reputation for ability and enterprise. When, in 1873, the D. M. Osborne Company decided to send a man to properly represent their great interests at the Vienna (Austria) Exposition of that year, the choice naturally fell to Mr. Stevens, and he spent the entire summer of that year abroad, exploiting the merits of the "Kirby." and thus becoming widely known among the machine men of the world, and winning for his house the highest prize medals over all competitors in many field trials. After so ably discharging the arduous duties devolving upon him abroad, Mr. Stevens returned home 10 Chicago, and feeling the need of rest and recreation, he retired from traveling and spent the following winter in New Pngland.

Returning to Chicago Mr. Stevens remained there until the spring of 1876, when he came with his family to Winona. He purchased the residence on the northeast corner of Broadway and LaFayette Streets, where he made his home during the remainder of his life.

On the 29lh of March, 1879, Alfred Terry, of Detroit, Mich., a representative of the Royal Arcanum, with Mr. Stevens, organized the Pioneer Council of Winona, the first lodge organized in the state of Minnesota. He also received a Deputy- Supreme Regent's commission in the district in which the Pioneer Council is located, and was prominent in the work of the (order until failing health forced him to abandon it. He was a member of the Old Settlers" Society and was one of the moving spirits among the early settlers of Winona County.

In the fall of 1882 Mr. Stevens accepted the position of traveling agent for the L. C. Porter Milling Company, selling goods and establishing agencies in Canada and the Maritime Provinces, and meeting with excellent success until the winter of 1885, when failing health warned him against further work, and he remained at home for years, a sufferer from nervous prostration. During the summer of 1888 he took a trip to California for his health, revisiting many of the scenes of his early trials and privations. Returning home in" the spring of 1889, he there remained until death ended his sufferings. All that human mind could suggest or hands do was done to alleviate his sufferings during those j-ears. After his life work was accomplished he quietly passed away, October 6, 1892.

Mr. Stevens w.as a man of characteristics positive in the extreme. Whatever he did was done with all his might, and his success in life was due partly to his exceptional energy and a high order of intelligence. His love of travel and adventure was strong to a degree, and being a remarkably close observer, with a wonderful recollection cf places, dates of events, etc., joined to an exceptional command of language, his many writings are interesting beyond the common. In his dcscrij)- tion of sights and scenes in both the Old and New World he was particularly happy, and these writings are treasurer by his family. Me was for many years a member of the Congregational Church, and contributed liberally to its support.

Mr. Stevens was married, September 26, 1860, in Lake City, Minn., to Miss Orilla A. Howe, a native of Millbury, Worcester County, M.ass. She was a member of the noted Howe family, of which the well known Julia Ward Howe is also a member. At a reunion of the Howe family at South Framingham, Mass.. in 1871, where over five thousand members were present, Julia Ward Howe gave the address of welcome. The original ancestors in this country were three brothers, descendants of Lord Howe, of England, who crossed the Atlantic in the "Mayflower," and the branch of the family to which.Mrs. Stevens belongs settled at Sudbury, Mass., and kept the Howe Tavern in that town, made famous in Longfellow's song as the "Wayside Inn."

Mr. Stevens' daughter by a former marriage, Mary E., is now the wife of Willard S. Farrington, of Portland, Oregon, a son of Dr. Farrington, formerly of Winona.

Almon Sartwell.

As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Winona county, Minnesota. Containing biographical sketches of prominent ... citizens .. (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.