Bio of LINDQUIST, Gustav, 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 712-715
GUSTAV LINDQUIST
Gustav Lindquist was born in Sweden, but from his early boyhood America was
woven into the plans for his future. He received his early schooling in his
native country up to the age of twelve years, and then became a drummer boy in
the Swedish army, being in military service for seven years. There he acquired
much secular education along with military training, but through all those years
of service his determination to make America his permanent home kept growing
stronger. So, in the spring of 1901, at the age of nineteen, he borrowed his
passage money, and on May 1st, landed in Boston and shortlv afterward went to
St. Paul. Minne­sota. He took a job handling lumber but quit that to enter a
shoe factory. While. learning a trade he attended night school and improved his
literary education also. Then he began to write life insurance among his fellow
employes, and in this line of work was so successful that he left the factory
and turned his whole attention to insurance. He began as a local agent in St.
Paul but advanced rapidly, and soon became assistant manager of the northwestern
department of an insurance company, for the states of Minnesota and North and
South Dakota.
Through his insurance work Gustav Lindquist rapidly acquired an extensive
acquaintance, and when a political door opened before him he was ushered in.
This rapid advancement of a young man of foreign birth would seem to indicate
that the hand of destiny was guiding him. Perhaps it was, but his own efforts
and ability were very large contributing factors. He was always a student. One
of his first studies in America was the history of the United States; American
ideas and American sentiments had been eagerly absorbed; his early military
training and his determination to succeed had made him tirelessly persistent,
and added to these his personality and intellectual endowments brought him
friends and influence. Tremendous force, delicately applied in all that he does,
is undoubtedly the secret of his power.
By 1915 he had a state-wide acquaintance; his genius for organization had placed
him in a strong position through his local agents all over the state; he was an
ardent republican, and he was selected to conduct the gubernatorial campaign,
and for the success of that campaign he has been accorded much of the credit.
He was then offered a position in the new administration, and requested a place
in the insurance department, where he could study a new phase of his own
particular business; accordingly he was appointed deputy commissioner of
insurance. He had been in that position less than a year when the governor's
secretary resigned. The World war had drawn the United States into the conflict,
and the governor needed a patriotic American of tact and ability to fill the
vacancy, and he selected Mr. Lindquist. Soon thereafter he was made chairman of
the republican state cen­tral committee.
The political campaign of 1918 was one of the bitterest ever fought in
Minnesota, but the entire republican ticket was reelected, and as chairman Of
the state central committee Mr. Lindquist was the commanding general on the
republican side. His position as a political chieftain brought him into contact
with many of the big men in political life, among them that great American,
Theodore Roosevelt, whose friend­ship he enjoyed for many years. In 1920 the
office of commissioner of insurance became vacant and Governor Burnquist
appointed Mr. Lindquist to that position. When Governor Preus came into the
gubernatorial chair in 1920, he reappointed Commissioner Lindquist. During his
terms as commissioner he recommended and aided in securing the passage of laws
which strengthened the public control of companies doing business in Minnesota.
He also did the public a distinct service by revoking the licenses of unsound
companies. His work in Minnesota attracted the attention of the National
Association of Insurance Commissioners, and that body made him chairman of a
committee charged with the duty of taking constructive action to improve and
strengthen insurance laws throughout the United States.
Then his success as insurance commissioner became the cause of his resigna­tion.
The board of directors of the Travelers Equitable Insurance Company of
Minneapolis, recognizing his ability and power, offered him the presidency of
their company. This was in line with his chosen work and gave him the
opportunity to become the head of the largest and most successful casualty
company in the North­west, so he accepted the position and tendered bis
resignation as insurance commis­sioner to Governor Preus. Since then he has
devoted his time and energies to the duties of his position as president of the
Travelers Equitable Insurance Company.
Mr. Lindquist is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is affiliated with the
St. Paul Athletic and Minnesota clubs.
Mr. Lindquist is married and has three children. His wife was Miss Anna M.
Johnson, and their children are: Raymond G., Mabel Anna Lenore, and Margaret
Edna Marie.
To every true American a perusal of the biography of Gustav Lindquist brings the
wish that it could be read and pondered over by every alien coming to our
shores. The day he set his foot upon American soil he was an American at heart,
and ever since he has not only sought to be as good a citizen as the best of the
native born, but he has done all in his power to advance America and American
sentiment. His own success in this country is the best proof of his full accord
with its life, laws and institutions.