Morton Enterprise: The Morton brick yard has been incorporated with a capital stock of $50,000. H. A. Sodergren is president, H. A. Hanson vice-president, J. A. Nelson, secretary; Henry Beckman, treasurer; Joseph Wild, manager and foreman. The new company expect to spend about $10,000 in new equipment, thereby enlarging the plant so as to manufacture fire brick, drain tile, pottery and all kinds of earthen ware. Messrs. Nelson and Hanson have been in Morton this week looking after the interest of the company… (unknown newspaper, unknown date, 1908?)
Tile Making in Morton. There is great activity nowadays at the works of the Morton Brick and Tile Co. A large crew of workmen are employed full hours manufacturing various sizes of cement tile for which large orders are constantly being received by that company. From present indications there will be no dirth of work at this establishment until the season closes late this autumn. The proprietors, Orth and Aufderheide anticipated doing a much larger volume of business this season than they enjoyed last year. It takes time to thoroughly build up a business of this nature and to establish a reputation for the product, but in this the local company has been most fortunate. The company is under the efficient management of Joseph Wild. (Morton Enterprise, June 26, 1908)
It is understood that the Morton Brick & Tile plant, at Morton, Minn., will change hands and the new proprietors will take possession Nov. 1. J. E. Nelson, of Minneapolis, bought the plant of the Morton Brick & Tile Co., at Morton, Minn. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXIX, Number 4, October 1908, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 460)
The newly incorporated Morton (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co., capitalized at $50,000, takes over the old brick, tile and firebrick works, having bought out the former co-partnership. New machinery will be added, including a drier, and the capacity largely increased. H. A. Sodergren is president, and Joseph Wild, manager. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXX, Number 5, May 1909, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 265)
The Morton (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co. is contemplating extensive improvements in order to increase the capacity of the plant. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, August 14, 1909, Volume XXXV, Number 3, Page 34)
Extensive improvements are contemplated to the plant of the Morton (Minn.) Brick & Tile Co. which is now in the hands of Minneapolis parties. Three new down-draft kilns will be installed. Joseph Wild, manager. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXI, Number 3, September 1909, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 120)
A large deposit of the best silica fire clay has been found at Morton, Minn., and it is probable that the Morton Brick & Tile Co. will enter the fire brick and fire clay industry. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXII, Number 1, January 1910, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 47)
Morton (Minn.) Brick Co. – This plant passed into the hands of Minneapolis capitalists during the past year and is under the management of Joseph Wild. Extensive improvements have been made, including new kilns and stack and a Swift tile drier, also a new machinery building. About $5,000 worth of machinery has been contracted for with the Raymond Co. A large deposit of silica fire clay has been found and it is the intention of the company to develop that industry. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXII, Number 1, January 1910, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 76)
Joseph Wild, of Morton, Minn., spoke on "Does it pay to build small houses and buildings of brick?" his answer being that it does pay, both to the brick manufacturer and also to the owner who has them put up. He outlined the fact that the lumber trade finds a great deal of good business in small bills for chicken houses, barns, and other small buildings on the farm, the bills running from $100 to $200, but aggregating a nice business. He had taken up the matter of erecting such buildings of brick, and had found it profitable. He had been able to show that they cost less than frame construction, while the buildings themselves were far more satisfactory. Two poultry houses of the same size were built – one frame and one brick. The brick structure cost $30 less than the frame, while the condition of the frame structure was far less satisfactory, and the poultry in the brick structure were in better condition both winter and summer, and were more productive. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXII, Number 4, April 1910, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 222)
Jos. Wild, of Morton, Minn., told of good results which had come from his making a small display of his brick and tile at an old settlers’ gathering and another at a county fair, attributing it to the value of advertising. (Brick and Clay Record, Volume XXXII, Number 4, April 1910, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Page 221)
Morton Company Rebuilding Plant. The Morton Brick and Tile Company of Minneapolis, Minn., are rebuilding and enlarging there (their) brick and tile plant at Morton, Minn., to a capacity of seventy-five thousand brick per day. The large amount of this output will be fire brick. They have discovered and tested these large beds of fire clays and find that they stand a higher degree of heat than any other fire clays found in this country. They have secured the service of Mr. P. B. Broughton of Pennsylvania, one of the oldest and most experienced brick makers of the day, who will be the manager to rebuild and operate the large plant. (Clay Record, Clay Record Publishing Company, Chicago, April 15, 1910, Volume XXXVI, Number 7, Page 28)
A Twenty-Three Thousand Dollar Contract. The Morton Brick & Tile Co., who have an office in the Lumber Exchange, Minneapolis, and a plant at Morton, Minn., write us that practically all the farmers in that section of Minnesota are tiling, and a number of county jobs are being let. This company just made a contract to furnish $23,000 worth of tile for Redwood County alone, in size from 4-inch up to 20-inch. The company has recently finished rebuilding the entire plant, and has installed modern machinery. They are building down-draft kilns, and have a 6-tunnel drier and six more under construction. Also have installed a Swift drier of large capacity. The clay is all handled from the pit by machinery, and is prepared with dry pans, disintegrator and crusher. In addition to drain tile the company manufactures an extra grade of fire brick and common brick. The manager of the plant is C. W. Ruff, a former Ohio brick man. (Brick and Clay Record, Kenfield-Leach Company, Chicago, IL, Volume XXXIII, No. 3, September 1910, Page 118)
Brick and Tile Plant to be Fitted up Ready for Heavy Run of 1915 Orders. Mr. Sodergren of Minneapolis was in Morton recently making arrangements for the improving of the local brick and tile plant in condition for operation in the spring, as it now appears the demand for local products will be such as will again make the operation of the local plant profitable. It is understood that if the outlook then is as good as expected the plant will be opened under the management of a competent and experienced eastern brick man and will employ a crew of goodly size. Everyone in Morton will hope their plant may work out as outlined. We surely need just such an institution as this to give employment to local laborers. (unknown newspaper, November 13, 1914)
Page 253. Morton Brick & Tile Company v. H. A. Sodergren. July 2, 1915. Nos. 19, 337 – (224). The complaint alleges that defendant was president, treasurer, general manager and a director in plaintiff corporation; that an agreement was made by which defendant agreed to finance the corporation, provide it with sufficient funds to carry on its business and pay its debts as they matured; that mortgages for $24,000 upon the company’s real and personal property were given him to secure such advances; that defendant, in violation of his agreement, incurred debts in the name of the corporation in the sum of $20,000, fraudulently neglected and refused to pay the same or to finance the corporation, and, for the purpose of defrauding the corporation, conspired with certain of its creditors to wreck it and to procure it to be adjudicated a bankrupt on petition of creditors, and that upon his procurement it was so adjudicated a bankrupt; that defendant
Page 254. then connived to purchase of the trustee in bankruptcy and did purchase from said trustee all the assets of the corporation, paying therefor only $1,250, whereas they were worth $90,000; that defendant took title to all said assets in his own name but in trust for the use and benefit of the corporation; that in violation of his duties he wrongfully disposed of all of said assets and converted the same and the proceeds thereof to his own use, and that plaintiff sustained damages in the sum of $90,000. Defendant answered admitting the official capacity of defendant in the corporation, admitting the mortgages, alleging that they were given to secure money theretofore advanced and loaned to plaintiff, admitting the adjudication in bankruptcy of plaintiff, the appointment of a trustee and the sale of the assets to defendant, and denying the other allegations of the complaint. (Minnesota Reports, Volume 130, Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Minnesota, June 11 – September 10, 1915, Lawyers’ Co-Operative Publishing Co., St. Paul, 1915)
Sodergren v. Nelson et al. (No. 19508 [179].) (Supreme Court of Minnesota. Dec. 24, 1915.) Action by H. A. Sodergren against William F. Nelson and others. Verdict for defendants, and, from denial of new trial, plaintiff appeals. Affirmed. The plaintiff and the defendants were interested in the Morton Brick & Tile Company. They were its officers and stockholders. The company made notes to the First State Bank of Morton. They were indorsed by the plaintiff and the defendants. The company did not pay them. They were protested and were paid by the plaintiff. The plaintiff sues the defendants to recover the proportion which they should contribute. The defendants claim that the original agreement was that the plaintiff should finance the company, and that while they were to indorse company paper at his request it was understood that he would pay it, and that it was so agreed as to the paper in suit; in other words, that as between them they were sureties for him. The brick and tile company was adjudged a bankrupt and the plaintiff bought its property. Order affirmed. (The Northwestern Reporter, Volume 155, December 31, 1915 – February 11, 1916, West Publishing Company, St. Paul, 1916, Page 760)
The Morton Brick & Tile Co. was incorporated February 27, 1899 by H. A. Sodergren, president; H. A. Hanson, vice-president; J. A. Nelson, secretary; William F. Nelson, Henry Beckman was elected treasurer. The stock was placed at $50,000. (The History of Renville County Minnesota, Volume 1, Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge, H. C. Cooper Jr. & Company, Chicago, IL, 1916, Page 542)
Page 146. The gray drift at most places in the county (Redwood County) is not as good for brick making as the alluvium of the Minnesota River which is successfully used near Morton for brick and tile.
Page 147. Between Redwood Falls and Morton, along the south bank of the Minnesota River, a test pit has been dug by the Morton Brick and Tile Company into a bank of residual decomposed gneiss. South of the river on the road to Redwood Falls, where the road has been graded, there is an exposure in the river bluff which is one of the most instructive crops of Cretaceous in the State.
Page 148. The Morton Brick and Tile Company have made various attempts to use the clay from this deposit in connection with their main deposit which is alluvial clay of the Minnesota River. In Redwood County, near the town of Morton in Renville County, the alluvium of the Minnesota River occupies a great many acres of the river flat. Locally it is 10 feet thick.
Page 149. The Morton Brick and Tile Company have been manufacturing red brick and drain tile for many years in a modern plant of medium capacity. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, Frank F. Grout and E. K. Soper, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1914)
Page 219. In Redwood County, near Morton, Renville County, the alluvium of Minnesota River occupies a great many acres of the river flat to a depth of 10 feet. The section consists of sod, 5 feet of black sandy clay, and 5 feet of yellow-sandy clay, underlain by river gravel. The Morton Brick & Tile Co. for many years manufactured red brick and draintile in a very excellent plant of medium capacity. It uses an auger machine and sometimes a re-press and has six round downdraft kilns. The company has made a series of experiments to ascertain the possibilities of making paving brick or some high-grade product by the addition of small amounts of high-grade residual
Page 220. and Cretaceous clay of the neighborhood to this alluvium but with little success. (Clays and Shales of Minnesota, By Frank F. Grout, With Contributions by E. K. Soper, United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 678, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1919)
Morton Brick and Tile Co. As early as April 1, 1892, Morton was trying to secure a brick company. On this day, Mr. Fred Aufderheide of New Ulm, came to check clay samples around town. However, we read nothing more about this company until 1895. On April 19, 1895, the brickyard was busy erecting buildings and a side track had been laid. Work began one week later and the business was beginning to boom. They hired twenty-five (25) men and a new quaker brick machine had arrived. They were busy erecting buildings and also making bricks. It wasn’t long before they were bringing samples to the stores in town for people to see. In June they shipped four (4) carloads of bricks out east and were preparing to ship more. This company was owned and operated by Fred Aufderheide and was located across the river, on the other side of the wagon bridge. In 1908 the Morton Brick and Tile Co. was sold to Mr. J. E. Nelson of Minneapolis. The people of Morton hope that Mr. Nelson will keep this company operating. In 1915 we find this company had been closed for some time. Mr. H. A. Sodergren had stated that he did have an experienced person to help him operate the tile company. They would be happy to re-open this company if they would get some support, financially and morally from the people of Morton. Mr. Sodergren, on March 15, 1915, did decide to re-open the plant and was looking up former employees. His manager was Mr. N. P. Ostrum. (Morton Centennial 1884-1984, Morton Centennial Committee, 1983, Page 34)