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Luger Furniture Company

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Re: Luger Furniture Company

Posted: 1 Jun 2003 10:14PM GMT
Classification: Query
Minnesota and Its People, vol 4, p 383, 1924, SJ Clark Publisher

Frank J. Luger
Frank J. Luger, secretary and treasurer of the Luger Furniture Company, Luger Realty Company and the St. Paul table Company, and vice president of the Luger Cabinet Company is an enterprising and popular business man of Minneapolis. He was born in Dubuque, Iowa on the 11th of November, 1857 and is the eldest of the family of John and Katherine (Rhomberg) Luger, and one of several sons who have for years associated manufacturing business.
The Luger business was started in a small way at Wabasha, Minnesota, by John Luger, the father, who was a cabinetmaker. For several years, or until 1872, horse power was used and then a steam plant was installed and increased operations. Associated with John Luger in the conduct of business were his two brothers, and the enterprise was operated under the name of Luger Brothers, until Mr. Dugan became a partner and the firm name was changed to Luger Brothers & Dugan; a few years later when Mr. Dugan disposed of his interests to a Mr. Box, the firm style became Luger Brothers & Box, and the business was conducted under the latter name for two years. In February of the year 1882 they incorporated and changed the name to the Luger Furniture Company, Frank J. Luger becoming a stockholder and being made secretary and treasurer, which position he has since filled.
Frank J. Luger was educated in the common schools of Wabasha, to which his parents removed from Dubuque when he was a small boy, and like his brothers he began working in his father’s shop in the mornings, evenings and during vacation periods. He literally grew up in the business and therefore has been well fitted to discharge the many duties devolving upon him as secretary and treasurer of the Luger Furniture Company, the Luger Realty Company and the St. Paul Table Company, and vice president of the Luger Cabinet Company.
In the spring of 1887, some five years after Frank J. Luger took over the duties of secretary and treasurer of the Luger Furniture Company, the company broke ground for a new factory at North St. Paul and put up one building, fifty-six by one hundred feet and three stories high. They also built a single room, forty by fifty feet; two dry kilns, each thirty by sixty feet; a warehouse, fifty-six by one hundred and twenty-five feet, four stories high; and a few small buildings for storing lumber. This plant during the intervening years has been doubled in capacity and today is the largest in the west. The company also started a branch in Minneapolis, at first as sample rooms, and in 1890 the firm bought what was known as the Gilmore property at No. 173 Western avenue, which property it improved by erecting a building sixty by two hundred and seventy-five feet and four stories in height. Here the firm now maintains sample rooms and has its main office, and it also does its own jobbing. In 1892 the Lugers organized a separate company, the stockholders being members of the Luger family and others, and this concern has since been known as the St. Paul Table Company, of which Frank J. is also secretary and treasurer. The growth of this enterprise has been notable and its capacity has been doubled. Associated in the conduct of the Luger interest are five sons of John Luger, Sr., together with eight of his grandchildren. In 1919 he and his brother John, with their sons, purchased the Minneapolis Office and School Furniture Company and they manufacture dining room furniture. The Lugers are now operating four plants, confining each plant to specialty productions.
In June of the year 1883 Frank J. Luger was married to Miss Louisa Schwirtz, a native of Wabasha and a daughter of John Schwirtz. Mr. and Mrs. Luger have seven children: Robert G., Walter, Gertrude, Alfred, Irving, Alvina and Clara. The four oldest are married. All of the children are graduates of the Minneapolis high school and three are graduates of the University of Minnesota. Walter is living in Minneapolis, where he is a salesman with the Luger Furniture Company.
Mr. Luger votes the republican ticket and is a firm believer in the principles of that party as factors in good government. He has served as a trustee of North St. Paul and has been a delegate to both county and state conventions. He is a man of high intellectual attainments, for he has gained much knowledge in the broad school of experience. During his business career he has come into contact with all classes and types of men and being a keen observer he has studied human nature and therefore acquired a fund of valuable information not to be gained in schools and colleges. The best principles of honesty and integrity have been employed by Mr. Luger in all aspects of his transactions and he well merits the confidence and esteem accorded him by his fellow citizens.

SubjectAuthorDate Posted
Jim 18 Dec 2002 7:08AM GMT 
jmcgill165 2 Jun 2003 4:14AM GMT 
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