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Charles Kittelson

American banker and politician (1837–1914)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ139328194 ↗
Source-derived summary

Charles Kittelson (December 21, 1837 – May 24, 1914), also written as Kittleson, was a Norwegian American soldier, banker, and politician who served three consecutive terms as the seventh Minnesota State Treasurer from 1880 to 1887.

Early life and career

Charles Kittelson was born on December 21, 1837, in Sigdal, Norway (then part of the Union of Sweden and Norway). Kittelson emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 and initially resided in Wisconsin for seven years before moving to the city of Albert Lea in Freeborn County, Minnesota. While in Albert Lea Kittelson worked at a mill before being employed as a store clerk and later the proprietor of a saloon.

Military service

At the outbreak of the Dakota War of 1862 Kittelson volunteered for service in the Union Army and was mustered into service on September 2, 1862, as a Lieutenant in Company E of the 10th Minnesota Infantry Regiment. Kittelson subsequently served in Sibley's 1863 Campaign in the Dakota Territory where the 10th Minnesota fought against the Dakota people at the Battle of Big Mound, the Battle of Dead Buffalo Lake, and the Battle of Stony Lake. Kittelson and the rest of the regiment later took part in the Western theater of the American Civil War at the Battle of Tupelo, the Battle of Westport, the Battle of Nashville, the Battle of Spanish Fort, and the Battle of Fort Blakeley. Kittelson mustered out of service at Fort Snelling on August 18, 1865, with the rest of the regiment. Immediately following the war Kittelson became a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Politics

Following his military service Kittelson ran for the political office of treasurer of Freeborn County, Minnesota in 1866 and served until 1877.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Charles Kittelson” is american banker and politician (1837–1914). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Charles, Kittelson and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1837, 1914, 1880, 1887—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1837-12-21. For this dossier, Charles, Kittelson and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american banker and politician (1837–1914)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q139328194. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1837, 1914, 1880 and 1887.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Charles Kittelson”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Charles Kittelson primary sources, Charles Kittelson archive and Charles research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Charles Kittelson”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Charles Kittelson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.