So, another in an off-and-on series of non-whaleback related posts.

An interesting component of Alexander McDougall’s life that gets short shrift in his Autobiography is his on-going business interests. After more than one presentation, I’ve been asked if McDougall ended up in poverty and nothing could be further than the truth. If one is thinking of serious wealth on par with the financiers and Wall Street types he had rubbed shoulders with during the 1890s, then he wasn’t in possession of that either.

What did come his way was a series of activities that not only kept him busy, but also demonstrated both his own business acumen, and then also the position he held within the Duluth / Great Lakes maritime community. At times he would extend beyond that, something I’ll touch on in other blog posts over the coming months.

Today, my interest is to touch on McDougall’s position as a director on the City National Bank of Duluth in the early years of the 20th century. A “national bank” was one created by National Banking Act of 1863 to foster a system of national banks under the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. Unlike the 21st century, banks tended to be overwhelmingly state-chartered and local from the colonial era and throughout the 19th century. These “national banks” were intended to stabilize the money supply and to have a longer and more transparent financial life than their state contemporaries. This system would continue until the formation of the Federal Reserve System after the financial crisis of 1907 (also called the Panic of 1907) one of nearly a half a dozen since the end of the Civil War.

Though McDougall had only a limited role in the day-to-day operation of the City National Bank, it’s worth considering that with the higher reporting requirements and more prudent financial measures required, it was a position of some note. Within the hierarchy of local finance, such a position traded on McDougall’s good name, and he on theirs. It would pay dividends in the years to come.

It’s also interesting to note in the image below, the people who served as directors with McDougall. His connection with Joseph Sellwood likely brought him into the position, and his description as “inventor and capitalist” also reflected his own sense of self. This unabashed identifier might seem a bit odd to our present-day ears, but there it is.

Sticking with the prior post on the Christopher Columbus, the publication Scientific American covered the fact that the passenger whaleback had recently had a third deck added. In noting the arrival of the Columbus’ 27th season the article noted:

“Those of us who visited the World’s Fair in Chicago will remember a large passenger steamer of unusual design, which carried great crowds of passengers between Chicago and the Fair grounds [sic]….That was 26 years ago; and it will interest some of us to learn from its designer, Capt. Alexander McDougall, that this vessel, enlarged by the addition of a third passenger deck, is still in active service, and we are told, is capable of making its original speed of 20 miles an hour.”

The photo placed above gives a good sense of the Columbus on Lake Michigan with a good head of steam and the third deck. It is also a slightly different angle on the traditional “beauty” shot of ships from the bow. Even so, it does show the prominent “snout” of the whaleback type.

Even images that are clearly snapshots provide some sense of a ship:

It’s a good reminder, that while we today look back upon these ships with nostalgia and wonder, they were at the end of the day, working vessels with schedules to keep and passengers to manage.