Bio of WERNESS, Otto (b.1878), 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 822-823
OTTO WERNESS
Minneapolis numbers among her self-made men Otto Werness, a member of the firm
of Weber-Werness Studios, Interior Decorators. Mr. Werness was born at Red Wing,
Minnesota, on the 26th of October, 1878, a son of Ole and Ingeber Werness. Both
parents were natives of Norway. Ole Werness came to this country in 1869 and
en­gaged in business as an interior decorator. He located in Red Wing in 1869
and was living there at the time of his demise. He was very successful and was
conceded to be one of the representative citizens of Red Wing. Mrs. Werness died
in 1894.
Otto Werness attended the public schools of Red Wing through the eighth grade.
He then put his textbooks aside and accepted a position with Dr. King
Richardson, a well known dentist at Duluth. At the termination of one and
one-half years he took a position with the Glass Block Store in Duluth and he
was active in that capacity for one year. For the following two years he was a
salesman for the American Wringer Company. About that time the Spanish-American
war broke out and Mr. Werness en­listed in 1898 for the duration of the war. At
the close of the war he returned to Duluth and became a salesman for the concern
known as A. B. Siewert & Company, Men's Furnishings, with whom he remained six
years. At the termination of that time he located in St. Paul and in 1904 became
associated with the Boston Clothing Store in the capacity of salesman. At the
end of two years he resigned his position and for six years was in the employ of
the Wm. A. French & Company, decorators. In 1914 he resigned his position with
the Wm. A. French & Company and became a member of the firm of the then G. F.
Weber Studios, which, in 1922, changed to the name of the Weber-Werness Studios,
in the capacity of Secretary and Treasurer. They have become prominently known
in their line of business throughout the northwest. Mr. Werness is a self-made
man in every sense of the word. Starting out into the business world at the age
of fifteen years, his close application to the thing at hand, determination and
laudable ambition won for him success. Success in any branch of life depends to
a great extent on the person who desires it. The biggest man eventually wins and
is accorded the confidence and esteem of all who know him.
On the 22nd of April, 1908, at St. Paul, was celebrated the marriage of Otto
Wer-ness to Miss Beryl Beatrice Blair, a daughter of Horace Blair, a native of
Wisconsin. He was engaged in the art business in Milwaukee for many years and is
now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Werness a son has been born: Blair, fourteen years
of age.
In his political views Otto Werness is a stanch republican, having firm belief
in the principles of that party as factors in good government. His religious
faith is that of the Lutheran church. Mr. Werness spends the greater part of his
time and attention in the furtherance of his business interests.