Bio of RINGER, Charles Wesley (b.1861), 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 736-737
CHARLES W. RINGER (Charles Wesley Ringer)
It too often happens that the service of our public servants is taken for
granted, and the slight interest manifested in their duties is attached to the
office and not to the man filling it. Doubtless many of the people in the crowds
that turn to see the little clanging red car of the fire chief flash down the
avenue know little of the per­sonality and work of the man who is protecting
them against the horrors of a great fire. The story of the chief of the fire
department of Minneapolis is an interesting one, and one well worth the telling.
Charles W. Ringer was born in Monroe county, Wisconsin, on New Year's Day, 1861.
In 1867 his parents, Adam and Jane (Carnahan) Ringer, moved to a farm in Chisago
county, Minnesota, where he spent his boyhood and attended the public schools.
In the summer of 1876, at the age of fifteen, he set out to make his way in the
world with a capital of five dollars. After riding all night on a load of hay
with a neighbor who was coming to Minneapolis, he arrived in this city, and
spent all day tramping up and down Washington avenue hunting for a job. At last
he found one driving four mules, hauling freight on University avenue, between
Minneapolis and St. Paul. In the fall he went into the woods and for the next
five winters worked in the snow-laden pine forests as a lumberjack, coming into
the city in the summer to work in a lumberyard. Doubtless it was during the long
winter evenings spent in the bunk houses of the northern lumber camps that Mr.
Ringer learned much of the thoughts and ways of men, and developed bis broad
Human sympathies.
In April, 1884, Mr. Ringer entered the Minneapolis fire department as a call man
and began his steady climb to the position of chief. He became a regular fireman
April 16, 1887; was made lieutenant, December 4, 1891; captain, June 2, 1896;
tire marshal, March 3, 1902; and lastly chief, January 1, 1911, on the fiftieth
anniversary of his birth. During the eleven years that Chief Ringer has headed
the department, the force has been increased from four hundred and fifteen to
five hundred and forty men. In this time a number of important changes have been
accomplished, all of which have increased the efficiency and raised the morale
of the force. The introduc­tion of the two-platoon system has contributed
greatly to its efficiency, as has also the motorization of the department. This
last innovation was not accomplished with­out opposition, nor until Chief Ringer
had gone before the city council in person and convinced that body that such a
step would be a long one in the right direction. In building up the personnel
Chief Ringer has shown the same executive ability. Realiz­ing that the way men
play is as important as the way men work, he organized the Fire Department Band,
which is not only a high class musical organization, but an uplifting influence
throughout the department. He also inaugurated the custom of awarding a medal
annually to the fireman who has performed the most heroic deed, and a cup to the
fire company making the best record during the year. When the cup has been won
by the same company three times it passes into their permanent posses­sion. One
of the most interesting things the department does is to maintain a charitable
fund to which each man contributes two dollars a month. The money from this fund
is used to assist poor and needy women and children. Another of their
philan­thropic enterprises is the procuring of employment for worthy men. In
these ways the firemen have done a vast amount of good. All this progress is due
as much to the initiative and constructive thought of their chief as to the high
character of the men themselves.
In March, 1886, Mr. Ringer was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Marden, and
they have one son, Walter M., who is connected with the Washburn Crosby
Corporation. Mr. Ringer takes a keen delight in operating a small farm and
raising purebred Holstein cattle, this constituting his chief diversion from the
duties of a most onerous and responsible position.
Mr. Ringer was elected president of the International Association of Fire
Engineers at San Francisco, in August, 1922, a high token of the respect of the
firemen of the world. He is an active Mason, belonging to Lake Harriet Lodge, F.
& A. M., to which he was transferred from Arcana Lodge; Arcana Chapter, R. A.
M.; Mounted Com-mandery, No. 23; and Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was
master of Arcana Lodge for one term. He also belongs to the Benevolent
Protective Order of Elks Lodge, No. 44, of which he is treasurer; the
Minneapolis Athletic Club, the Interna­tional Order of Odd Fellows, the Ancient
Order of United Workmen, and the Knights of Pythias. His religious affiliations
are with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a member of the Hennepin
avenue church.