Bio of BULL, Benjamin Seth Jr. (b.1869 d.1920), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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BENJAMIN SETH BULL, Jr. - Vol III, pg 750-754
When one takes into consideration the business activities which have featured
most prominently in the upbuilding of Minneapolis, due tribute must be paid to
those men who have stood back of the great industrial, commercial and
manufac­turing enterprises which have made this a metropolitan center with its
trade connections reaching out to every pan of the world. As the word "Chicago"
has become the synonym of the packing industry in America, so the name
"Minneapolis has become the synonym of the flouring interests, and it is in this
connection that Benjamin Seth Bull won advancement and contributed to one of the
world's largest business projects of this character. For a quarter of a century
he was connected with the Washburn-Crosby Company, advancing from a minor
position to official connection with this great corporation. He was born in this
city, on the 21st of June, 1869, at the old homestead of his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Benjamin Seth Bull, Sr., his father having become a pioneer of the city in
1855, after which he was closely associated with various commercial enterprises
here and entered as a pioneer into the milling business as one of the builders
of the Humboldt mill in the late '60s, being at that time senior partner of the
firm of Bull & Newell.
The public school system of Minneapolis afforded Benjamin Seth Bull, Jr., his
educational opportunities and he entered business life in connection with his
father's real estate office. In 1889, when a young man of twenty years, he
became a bank clerk and at different periods was employed by the Union National,
the First National and the Northwestern National Banks. His identification with
the Washburn-Crosby Company dated from 1895, when he took charge of its
accounts, his capability and faithfulness winning him steady advancement until
September, 1910, when he was elected to the directorate. He was called to
official position in September, 1914, as secretary of the company, and in May,
1919, became treasurer, continuing to fill that office to the time of his
demise, being also treasurer of the St. Anthony Elevator Company, the Royal
Milling Company, the Kalispell Flour Mill Company and the Rocky Mountain
Elevator Company. He was also one of the directors of the St. Anthony & Dakota
Elevator Company and likewise of the Northwestern National Bank and the
Minneapolis Trust Company, so that his name was well known in financial as well
as grain trade circles.
On the 10th of May, 1892, Mr. Bull was united in marriage to Miss Anna McCord, a
daughter of Colonel W. B. McCord of Minneapolis. She died in June, 1903. On the
24th of April, 1907, Mr. Bull married Miss Mabel Miller of this city, a daughter
of W. A. and Charlotte (Wheelock) Miller, the former at one time man­ager of the
Pioneer Press of Minneapolis, having come to this city in 1876. Mr. Bull is
survived by his widow and two children, Benjamin Seth (III) and Mary McCord, the
former a student at Andover Academy of Massachusetts and the latter at Pine
Manor, Wellesley, Massachusetts. Mr. Bull held membership in the Min­neapolis
Club, the Lafayette Club and the Minikahda Club and served as president of the
first named in 1919. He was always intensely interested in matters of public
concern and acted as chairman of the advertising committee during all the
Liberty Loan drives in the Ninth Federal Reserve District. He passed away on the
1st of November, 1920, when fifty-one years of age. No higher testimonial of his
worth nor clearer picture of his personal qualities can be given than by quoting
the memorial article which was prepared and accepted at a meeting of the
directors of the Washburn-Crosby Company, called to honor his memory. On this
occasion Charles C. Bovey said: "Fellow directors, again death has broken in
upon the business family and this time has taken the treasurer, Benjamin Seth
Bull. How empty seem words to record your feelings and mine, or fittingly
bespeak those character­istics that made him a true business associate and
endeared him as a friend. As I attempt to record this brief sketch of his life
with us, I am mindful of that exactness with which he was wont to perform a
similar duty. How truthfully he exempli­fied that old axiom-that anything worth
doing at all is worth doing well. My mind wanders back to the time when our
offices were in the Flour Exchange and when he first appeared as a member of the
staff, the thoroughness with which the transfer sheets were kept and filed. This
systematic high grade work more and more unlocked the door of responsibility.
Did anyone ever serve a leader as Benjamin Seth Bull strove in every way to
carry into perfect execution the suggestions of James S. Bell. His devotion to
Mr. Bell was the chief corner stone of the never shaken loyalty to this company.
Follow along the years of our growth from small advances to large, when a
complete change in accounting was necessary. Then back to those early beginnings
of our magazine and outdoor publicity, and you find his system of accounting a
forceful and yet more artistic display culminating in 'Eventually,' the mark he
chose and which for years will bear his handwriting. Following methodically
month after month without a break, he presented those clear and neat looking
figures which tell the story of our efforts. At every turn you find his work
well done. He was an untiring worker, loyal, accurate accountant, perfect,
artistic and forceful advertiser. What else made this man a tower of strength? I
think it was singleness of purpose. When he once had thought out a course of
action that he believed was right every effort was bent to reach that goal. As
we recall the almost countless ways in which this rare genius touched the
progress of this company, and as we grieve to think that the end has come in the
very noonday of his life, is it not true that in his short span of life he has
untiringly worked-accomplished more than most men in the full measure of years?
Yes, we will look long to find his equal as advertising manager, as director, as
secretary, as treasurer. As friends we mourn most deeply the place left vacant.
Our loss is great, our sorrow is keen, but as John Kay once beautifully
described the sorrow he felt in the loss of a friend: 'In his grief he worked
but in the penumbra of the shadow, he wandered so cheerfully in the umbrage of
the cloud.' How our hearts go out in sympathy to his wife and the children, whom
we affectionately know as Mary and Benjamin. May the boy take on the strength of
the father and be the kindly counselor of the sister and mother. May I, Mr.
President, be permitted to lay aside the usual but more formal style of
resolution and ask that our secretary record upon the record all this and those
more informal yet most sincere expres­sions of our regard for our business
associate and friend, and with deepest sympathy tender a copy to the members of
the family."