Le Duc, William Gates, 1823-1917

William Gates LeDuc (1823-1917) was born in Wilksevill, Gallia County, Ohio. In 1848, he graduated from Kenyon College and was admitted to the bar in 1849. In the early 1850s, he was engaged in the book trade, an occupation that took him to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Minnesota where he decided to settle. He lived first in St. Paul and in 1856 moved to Hastings, Minn. LeDuc promoted immigration to Minnesota, prepared and obtained the first charter for a railroad in the territory, organized the Wabash bridge company to build the first bridge over Mississippi river, and was the first to produce and ship Minnesota spring wheat-flour. During the Civil War, he served as a quartermaster to the XI Corps and in 1865 was made brevet general of the volunteers. After the war he returned to Minnesota was engaged in mainly unsuccesful railroad enterprises. On July 1, 1877 he was appointed commissioner of agriculture by President Hayes. In 1880, he was appointed as a receiver of the National Bank in Fayetteville, N.C.

From the description of Recollections of a Quartermaster 1911. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 657892502