Theodore H. Rowell

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Theodore H. Rowell, Sr. (July 15, 1905 – September 26, 1979) was a Minnesota pharmaceutical industrialist and politician.

Rowell was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, and was the great grandson of John S. Rowell of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin (1825-1907), noted pioneer inventor and manufacturer of farm machinery. He moved with his family to Chetlo Harbor, Washington in 1912 where his father Joseph C. N. Rowell and Uncle Douglas Rowell founded the Chetlo Harbor Packing Company., a salmon cannery. After canning 10,000 cases of salmon in 1914, the cannery failed in 1915, Ted and his family moved to Warroad, Minnesota, eventually settling at Wheeler’s Point on Lake of the Woods, north of the town of Baudette, Minnesota.

Rowell studied pharmacy at the University of Minnesota, was Class President 1926-27; upon graduation in 1928, he returned to Baudette and opened a drugstore. His father Joe, who continued in commercial fishing, also raised blue foxes for their fur. When fur buyers commented on the quality of his foxes' furs, Joe figured it was in the food they were fed, a diet consisting primarily of burbot. The only fresh-water relative of the cod, the fish had no market value, but came up in his nets and were fed to the foxes.

Ted in an early lab.
Ted in an early lab.

Contents

[edit] Burbot Liver Oil & Rowell Laboratories, Inc.

Ted Rowell extracted oil from a burbot, and upon scientific assay, it was determined to be 8 times more potent in vitamins A & D than cod liver oil, which was a big seller at the time. Ted and Joe thus formed the Burbot Liver Products Company in 1933, and began extracting, processing, bottling, and selling burbot liver oil. Over the years, the company became Rowell Laboratories, Inc., grew to manufacture more than 200 products, and became the largest industry and largest employer in Lake of the Woods county, adding multi-vitamins and minerals, and later becoming a national manufacturer of prescription drugs. Ted retired in 1966 and turned the direction of the company over to his son Ted, Jr. The company, later called Reid-Rowell Laboratories, has since become a subsidiary of Solvay Pharmaceuticals.

Ted as 1954 University of Minnesota Homecoming King with Queen Carol Goulet (Mpls).
Ted as 1954 University of Minnesota Homecoming King with Queen Carol Goulet (Mpls).

[edit] Political career

Rowell was active in local and national politics, having served 6 years as mayor of Baudette. During his term as mayor of Baudette, the city built a new hospital, sewage disposal plant, an international airport, a new city well system, and other projects. As Chairman of the International Bridge Committee, he successfully raised $1.6 million for construction of the International Bridge spanning the Rainy River, linking Baudette and Rainy River, Ontario. Ted started working on the bridge project in 1947 - the idea was sparked in a poker game. On May 24, 1955, Ted received a telegram from Senator Edward Thye telling him that the US Senate had just passed the bill authorizing the building of the 1,280 foot long traffic bridge across the Rainy River, linking Baudette, Minnesota with Rainy River, Ontario. After a dozen years of organizing and disappointments, construction was completed and the bridge was opened on July 1, 1960 before a crowd of 15,000 people. Hubert Humphrey, and Eugene McCarthy attended with WCCO radio covering the event. Ted was close personal friends with Minnesota Governor Luther Youngdahl, Governor Harold Edward Stassen, and Senator Edward John Thye. Ted was a delegate to the 1948 Republican National Convention, where his friend Harold Stasson was the hands-down favorite to receive that year's Republican nomination for president. As Ted tells it, at this point during the convention Harold was asked to meet with northeastern money people, who then proceed to tell him how things were going to be, some of which Harold would not agree with. From this event on, Dewey was pushed hard by the party, and the tide at the convention turned, and New York Governor Thomas Dewey received the nomination.

Rowell Laboratories as it appeared in the 1940s.
Rowell Laboratories as it appeared in the 1940s.

[edit] Other accomplishments

Rowell was named Minnesota Tree Farmer of the Year, Minnesota Small Businessman of the Year, and received the University’s 1959 Outstanding Achievement Award.[1] He was vice-chairman of the Minnesota Republican State Central Committee and a member of the Greater Upper Mississippi River Road Commission. In 1954 Rowell was honored for his outstanding achievements by being selected as the first Home Coming king of the University of Minnesota.

[edit] Theodore H. Rowell Graduate Fellowship

After Ted's death, the Rowell family set up the Theodore H. Rowell Graduate Fellowship [2] at the University of Minnesota for graduate students in the College of Pharmacy. Grants range from $3,000 to $6,000 with preference to Minnesota residents who are US citizens.

Ted was married to Margaret Lawson in Warroad, Minnesota in 1929, and had 2 children, Ted, Jr., and Peggy. Rowell died September 26, 1979.

[edit] Publications

  • "The Art of Coating Tablets by T.H. Rowell, copyright 1949" . 
  • "Two Men... and A Fish: The Story of Rowell Laboratories by Jenny Morman, copyright 1986" . 
  • "Vitamins from Our Own Fish" . Scientific American April 1939: 215. 
  • "Conservation from a new angle: Account of burbot liver oil" . Minnesota Conservationist 1939: 19–20. [3]
  • "Burbot: Producer of vitamins" . Minnesota Conservation Volunteer 10: 18–20. [3]
  • Official Report of the Proceedings of the 24th Republican National Convention, Philadelphia 1948, Pg. 121

[edit] References

  1. ^ Outstanding achievement awards. University of Minnesota. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.
  2. ^ Ted Rowell Fellowship. University of Minnesota. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
  3. ^ a b Fishery Manuscript No. 4: An Annotated Bibliography of Burbot. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Division of Sport Fish (June 1987). Retrieved on 2006-12-13.