Isidore Valiere Gedney

EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical

Vol II, pg 756-757

ISIDORE V. GEDNEY From pioneer times to the present the name of Gedney has figured conspicuously in industrial circles of Minneapolis in connection with the manufacture of condiments, and Isidore V. Gedney is now at the head of the business, which for over forty years has been operated by members of the family in this city. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, March 11, 1870, a son of Matthias Anderson and Calista Jane (Bailey) Gedney, in whose family were twelve children. A complete record of the parents appears elsewhere in this work.

Isidore V. Gedney has been a resident of the city since 1892 and he attended the public schools until he reached the age of fourteen, when he entered his father's plant, beginning in a humble capacity and working his way through each department of the business. He has since been identified with its operation and at the death of its founder, in 1905, Mr. Gedney succeeded him in the presidency, which office he is now capably filling. The business is conducted under the name of the M. A. Gedney Com­pany and the products of the firm are shipped to all parts of the country. They are manufacturers of vinegar, pickles and condiments and operate three finishing plants and fifty salting houses in Wisconsin and Minnesota. During the busy season, which comprises two months, Mr. Gedirey directs the labors of eight hundred persons, but his regular force of employes numbers two hundred and fifty. He is proving an able successor to his father, never deviating from the high standards upon which the business was founded, and his progressive spirit has enabled him to institute many well devised plans for the further expansion and development of the undertaking, which ranks with the largest industries of the kind in the Northwest and is one of the pioneer concerns of the city. He also has financial interests, being a director of the North American Bank of Minneapolis.

On the 3d of October, 1896, Mr. Gedney was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Huntington of this city, and they have become the parents of two daughters: Ruth, who married Jefferson Jones of Minneapolis; and Louise. In Masonry Mr. Gedney has taken the thirty-second degree and he is also a Noble of Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is appreciative of the social amenities of life and is a member of the Minneapolis Club, the Lafayette Club, the Minikahda Country Club and the Minne­apolis Athletic Club. The spirit of the father has descended to the son, who displays marked executive ability in the management of the interests built up by the latter's constructive genius and worthily bears a name which for over four decades has stood as a synonym for honor, integrity and enterprise in business circles in Minneapolis.