Alonzo Cooper Rand


Alonzo Cooper Rand was an innovator in the petroleum industry and the 11th mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Life and career

Rand was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1831 to Charles T. Rand and Deborah F. Rand. As a child he moved to Buffalo, New York where he attended school before going to college at the nearby Gowanda Institute. In September 1853 he married Celine M. Johnson. Rand soon became involved in the oil industry, patenting a unique process for oil refining. He moved around New England and later to Aurora, Illinois perfecting his technique and eventually becoming quite wealthy from it.
In 1874 Rand visited Minneapolis and decided to move there, arriving two years later. With his background he soon became involved in the Minneapolis Gas Light Company. Despite being a fairly new resident he was elected mayor in 1878 and would serve two terms. One account noted his term was "a model administration" which provided for the city's growth and better law enforcement. Another suggests that he was elected and that "he...makes a splendid officer, but thinks it was rather cruel on the part of his friends to drag him from retirement and place him in the mayor's chair, with all its perplexing duties."
On July 12, 1885 Rand was killed along with his wife and several of his children when their boat capsized during a sudden storm on Lake Minnetonka. He is buried at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

Electoral history