.jpg)
On the corner of Fourth Avenue East and Harvey Street stands an imposing tan-colored stone building whose history has now become largely unknown.
Now owned by the Alley A Company (the Ott family), it is now occupied by Ely Community Resources and Range Mental Health.
But since 1933 it served as the home office of the American Fraternal Union, a fraternal insurance company. The AFU was founded in Ely in 1898 and it lasted from 1898 until 2011, a total of 113 years.
As was the case with a number of early immigrant groups, fraternal organizations and benefit societies were formed soon after significant numbers of immigrant groups sought to protect themselves in cases of injuries and deaths due to working conditions at the time. Among those were the Saint Cyril and Methodius Societies. They later together formed the South Slavonic Catholic Union in 1898.
Their purpose was to form a non-sectarian and non-political legal reserve life insurance society. They sought to encourage and foster acts of fraternity, to promote good citizenship, and to provide death benefits, and indemnities for the loss of a limb, or accidents, sickness, and surgical benefits. Benefits were first set at $2 and $3 a day.
Credited with organizing such a fraternal group first came from Joseph Agnich of Ely during a convention in Pueblo, CO, who eventually became the first president. Death benefits then were upped to $800 and sick benefits were established at $15 a day. This was in 1898. After 94 deaths of members, 18 of which were in Ely, benefits were increased substantially. During WWII the AFU purchased $675,000 in U.S. War bonds.
The first office in Ely was in the (first) State Bank Building. That building later became the home of Louis Stember’s Jewelry Store and is now the Blue Loon boutique.
The AFU then moved up the street to the newer State Bank building (which is now part of the Boathouse building). The third move in 1917 was to the Slogar building at 116 East Sheridan.
In 1933 an imposing building of quarried stone was designed in the PWA Moderne style. PWA was the Public Works Administration under the Roosevelt presidency. It was built on the corner of Fourth Avenue East and Harvey Street, a most suitable building for a home office of the AFU. The city hall, the post office, and the former Community Center were also built in a similar style.
By 1941 the name of the organization was officially changed from the South Slavonic Catholic Union to the American Fraternal Union. In 2011 the decision was made to merge the AFU with Catholic United Financial whose home office was in Minneapolis. The Ely AFU office was closed.
The building was shuttered and put up for sale. Kevin Richards bought the property for an undisclosed amount and used it for several years for storage. It finally caught the eye of John Ott of Alley A Investments who bought it in 2015 and it was remodeled into space now used for Ely Community Resources and Range Mental Health. It has proved particularly convenient for the school population it serves from across the street.
An extensive collection of this history was assembled by Leona Janezich, a long-time employee of the AFU. This is on file at the Ely Winton Historical Society Office at Minnesota North College, Vermilion Campus. Winter office hours are noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. The phone is 218-365-3928 and the email is ewhsmuseum@gmail. com.
