Bio of STEPHENSON, Benjamin W. (b.1860), 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

Vol III, pg 590, 593
BENJAMIN W. STEPHENSON
Benjamin W. Stephenson has been a prominent representative of the flour
manu­facturing industry in Minneapolis, formerly western manager of the
extensive and important interests of the Russell-Miller Milling Company here.
His birth occurred in Galena, Illinois, on the 1st of October, 1860, his parents
being Charles L. and Martha B. (Washburn) Stephenson, who traced their ancestry
back to Revolutionary war heroes. The father, who spent the greater part of his
life in the government service, took up his abode in St. Paul, Minnesota, in
July, 1878.
Benjamin W. Stephenson obtained his education in the public schools of his
native city and after putting aside his textbooks was employed as clerk in a
grocery store for two years. On the expiration of that period he removed to St.
Paul, where for several years he was identified with the North Western Fuel
Company, after which he occupied a clerical position with a wholesale heavy
hardware concern for a few years. Subsequently he was connected with the
wholesale dry goods busi­ness in St. Paul for two or tliree years and afterward
acted as a railroad clerk until 1893, when he entered the flour milling business
at Grand Forks, North Dakota, and for four years remained in the service of the
North Dakota Milling Association. He then embarked in a milling venture at
Morristown, Minnesota, but at the end of a year removed to Buffalo, New York,
where he had charge of a selling agency for the North Dakota Millers
Association. In July, 1898, he went to Mandan, North Dakota, where he remained
in charge of a flour mill for eleven years or until 1909, when the company sold
out to the Russell-Miller Milling Company and with this change Mr. Stephenson
returned to Minnesota. As western manager of the extensive industry conducted by
the latter corporation in Minneapolis he has won and main­tained an enviable
reputation for executive ability of a high order and has materi­ally promoted
the interests of the mammoth concern which he represents.
In 1909 Mr. Stephenson was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret Artz. He gives
his political support to the republican party and is an active member of the
Civic & Commerce Association; has been treasurer of the Washburn Memorial Orphan
Asylum since 1911; and his religious faith is indicated in his connection with
the Church of the Redeemer. His appreciation for the social amenities of life is
manifest in his identification with the Minneapolis, Athletic, Interlachen,
Lafayette and Auto­mobile Clubs.