Bio of LAU, William J. (b.1865), 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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Vol II, pg 546
WILLIAM J. LAU
William J. Lau, comptroller of the Shevlin Interests, with offices in the First
National-Soo Line building, Minneapolis, is a native of Wisconsin, his birth
having occurred in the Township of Mequon, Ozaukee county, on the 23d of May,
1865. His parents were Charles Frederick and Elizabeth (Jochem) Lau. His
education was obtained in the public schools of Thiensville, Cedarburg and
Milwaukee in his native state. At the age of fifteen William Lau left his books
and entered the business world, his first position being with Charles F. Ruggles
of Manistee, Michigan, for whom he began to work in 1880. For the ensuing
fifteen years he remained at Manistee, asso­ciated with Mr. Ruggles and allied
interests, gaining a wide experience in the field of commerce and finance and at
the same time accumulating a little capital which enabled him to secure a
financial interest in some of the enterprises with which he was connected.
During this period, before he was thirty, the young man was made secretary of
the Buckley & Douglas Lumber Company and secretary and treasurer of the Manistee
& Northeastern Railroad Company, both of Manistee. In 1896 he entered the employ
of the Shevlin Interests, his first position being with the Shevlin-Carpenter
Company. In the more than twenty-five years that he has been associated with
them, Mr. Lau has become thoroughly acquainted with every phase of the
enterprises con­ducted by this prominent Minnesota family. His present office of
comptroller is one in which he can profitably employ his executive ability and
sound business judgment, for with him rests much of the responsibility for the
wise administering of largo financial interests. In addition to his work in
connection with the Shevlin Interests, Mr. Lau has made extensive investments of
his own which have identified him with a number of commercial and financial
organizations in Minnesota and elsewhere. He is president of the Security State
Bank of Baudette, Minnesota, and president of the Baudette Provisions Company of
the same place; president of the Ranning Lumber Company of Seattle, Washington;
and treasurer of the Texas Coast Land Company of Minneapolis.
Mr. Lau and Miss Julia Baur were married at Manistee in 1897. They have become
the parents of two sons, John F. and William J. Lau.
In political affairs Mr. Lau gives his allegiance and support to the republican
party and his religious affiliations are with the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Lau
is a member of the Minneapolis Athletic Club and the Automobile Club of this
city. For recreation he turns to the outdoor sports-motoring, boating and
fishing. In the land of ten thousand lakes, with good boating and fishing always
within easy reach by automobile, Mr. Lau has ample opportunity to indulge his
love for these sportsman­like pastimes and few disciples of the immortal Walton
are more devoted to the anglers' pursuits.