Seaver was on the board of directors of the 1891 Minneapolis Industrial Exposition. [183]

On 03-DEC-1894, Seaver’s Minneapolis dry goods store hosted a demonstration of Thomas Edison’s new Kinetoscopes. [8066]

Seaver built a large (58’ x 72’) home at 2417 Pleasant Ave., Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although the construction permit was issued 14-SEP-1911, it appears that the Olsons did not move in until 1912 or 1913. The original construction and most of the improvements were done by outside contractors, but in one case in 1923, “S. E. Olson” was listed as the contractor for an 8’x8’ addition. In 1958 the house was converted to a duplex and in 1960 the duplex was split up into a total of five apartments. After Seaver died in 1928, his widow, Ida, lived there at least through the time of the 1930 census (12 Apr 1930). Ida died in 1938, in Portland, Oregon, so she must have moved out sometime between 1930 and then. The 1940 census shows that in that year, the house was being rented by a widow, Clara K. CARPENTER, but it does not say she was in that house in 1935, only that she was in Minneapolis in 1935. The 1935 city directory lists 2417 Pleasant Av. as “vacant.”
[2495], [2496], [2570] [2494], [5068]

He left a will, dated 9-FEB-1927. [212]
The appraisement of his estate showed that his automobile was a 1927 Gardner Imperial Sedan Model 6B. [335] Appraised value was $500 but the original list price of that model was $1695. [938]
The will authorized an expenditure of up to $3000 for his grave monument. [212]

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The oldest of Ingebrett’s two boys, Seaver Olson, arguably achieved the greatest success in life of all his siblings. Though, depending on how you measure success, his younger brother Edward did very well up to the time of his premature death. Seaver helped his father with the farm for a few years and then went to La Crosse, where he obtained employment at Mons Anderson’s general store. In an attempt to get a college education and pay for it himself, he enrolled at Beloit College and obtained part time work to cover expenses. During this time he also attempted to join the Union Army in the Civil War, but his youth and small size disqualified him. His efforts to achieve his education goals also failed and he determined to work full time and fund his brother’s education instead. He started with a job at a store in Beloit. This lead to a management position at a store in Cambridge, Wisconsin. In 1865 his former employer in La Crosse gave him a job as bookkeeper, clerk and general manager. In 1867 he made the bold step of opening his own store in Rushford, Minnesota, under the name S.E. Olson & Co. Catastrophe struck only a month later when fire destroyed his entire stock. But he rebuilt and continued until 1870 when he sold out and returned to his former employer in La Crosse. In April, 1873, he formed the “Olson, Smith & Co.” dry goods store. This lasted until 1878 when Seaver took his portion of the partnership to Minneapolis, where he joined up with N.B. Harwood & Co. Competition was tough in Minneapolis and this venture collapsed in 1880. Not being one to give up, Seaver now teamed up with a Mr. Ingram and reorganized under the name “Ingram, Olson & Co.” with a store on Nicollet Ave. in downtown Minneapolis. This time the business was such a success that in 1887 Seaver was able to buy out Mr. Ingram’s interest, changing the name to S.E. Olson & Co. On the 9th of January, 1889, Seaver married Ida May Hawley, but they never had any children. In 1892 he leased the corner of Fifth Street and First Ave. South and built the famous “Big Store,” which opened in September of 1893. By 1900 the business had achieved annual sales volume of over $2 million. He expanded the store with frontage on Nicollet Ave. and an “arcade” connecting this to the “Big Store.” There was even a piece of music composed in honor of the S. E. Olson & Co. store, called "The Big Store March and Two-Step" composed by George Schleiffarth (1896). In 1901 he sold the store to the Powers Dry Goods Company (aka, Powers Mercantile Co.) and retired, with Powers providing him an annuity contract. In addition to his great wealth from his store, Seaver was also a major investor in real estate. It was claimed he was one of the “principal founders” (possibly an exaggeration but his land holdings have been confirmed) of Mobridge, South Dakota, having owned several large parcels of its land (some of which are now under water due to the damming of the Missouri River at Pierre). His prominence in Minneapolis was not limited to his retail businesses. He was involved in politics with the Republican party, acting as delegate to the 1900 convention in Philadelphia. At one time he was President of the State Bank of Minneapolis. In 1910, in his retirement, the U.S. Census reported his occupation was in Gold Mining (Reliance Gold Mining Co.) and later in the 1915 Minneapolis city directory, he was noted as President of Federal Finance Co. and Grand Crossing Land & Improvement Co. He was on the staff of three Minnesota governors. He was president and a founding member of the Odin Club. And he was a major proponent of the 1891 Minneapolis Industrial Exposition, which was credited with helping to make Minneapolis larger than St. Paul. His death on 05-APR-1928 made front-page news in the following day’s Morning Tribune (though they got his age wrong; they reported 73 but he was actually 83). [333], [334], [335], [3439], [2494], [3440], [3441], [3454], [3455, pp.387-8], [8524]

Historical note: Seaver died the same day as Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834 – April 5, 1928).

In 1940, who owned the house on Pleasant Ave.. to rent it to Mrs. Carpenter? When was the first time the house changed hands after Seaver died?