USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people; its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume III > Part 31
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HON. CARLOS D. SHELDEN .- The family of the late Hon. Carlos D. Shelden, Member of Congress from the Twelfth Congressional District of Michigan to the Fifty-Fifth, Fifty-Sixth and Fifty-Seventh sessions, has been prominently identified with the Northern Peninsula for many years. Mr. Shelden was born in Walworth county, Wisconsin, June 10, 1840, and died June 24, 1904, in the town of Houghton, which in 1852 his father, Ransom Shelden, and that gentleman's brother-in-law, C. C. Douglas, had platted and started on the road to growth and de- velopment. When Ransom Shelden came to the Northern Peninsula in 1846 he was a man of moderate means. He came here for his health but his energy and enterprise brought him success and he became a man of large property and of great consequence in the community. At the time of his arrival the great mineral wealth of the region was not even dreamed of, but not long afterward the south shore of Lake Su- perior underwent a geological examination and its secrets began to be disclosed.
Ransom Shelden was born in Essex county, New York, July 14, 1814, and died May 17, 1878. About 1836 when somewhere near his majority he resolved to go west to try his fortunes and set out for Wis- consin where some of his relatives had previously settled.
He settled at Bigfoot Prairie, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he began work on a farm about two miles from the southern end of Lake Geneva. He knew many of the important secrets of agriculture and it is said that he enjoyed no small fame in the neighborhood for his skill and speed in the use of the cradle. While there he met and married (in 1839) Theresa M. Douglas, a cousin of Dr. Douglas Houghton, the first state geologist of Michigan for whom the county of Houghton was named. Dr. Houghton made an examination of the copper and iron regions along the south shore of Lake Superior, and in truth gave up his life to the work, being drowned off Eagle River in the fall of 1846. The mother of the subject of this biography was born at Fredonia, New York. When a young girl she came west with her parents, located for a time at Mount Clemens, near Detroit, and later removed to Wal- worth county, Wisconsin, where the father and mother spent the rest of their lives.
The removal of Ransom Shelden and his family to the Northern Peninsula occurred in the summer of 1846. He had farmed for awhile
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in Walworth county, Wisconsin, and for a time after arriving in Michi- gan. He formed a partnership with C. C. Douglas and in the spring of 1847 they opened a store at Portage Entry and remained there for the next four or five years, when they took up their residence at Quincy Mine, and there conducted a mine store where general merchandise was sold. One of the most important of their enterprises in the the develop- ment of the new region was their platting of Houghton in 1852. They located their store in a primitive building opposite the site of the present postoffice on Isle Royale street and continued its operation for about ten years when they sold out to Smith & Harris.
But even more to be remembered than their platting of Houghton and their work in its growth was the part they played in the mining history of the region. In the winters of 1849 and 1850, Ransom Shelden pretty thoroughly explored the country in the vicinity of the present towns of Houghton and Hancock and in the summers of the two years following he and his partner organized the Portage, Isle Royale and Huren Mining Companies, active operations beginning in the spring of 1852. They were astute business men, with eyes keen to the needs of the new country and they accumulated a vast fortune. The land owned by them in Houghton and adjoining counties amounted to fifty-five thousand acres. They had also large water interests, owning two steamers which plied between Houghton and Portage Entry, and the steamer "Napoleon" which plied between Sault Ste. Marie and the head of Lake Superior. A sawmill at Dollar Bay was another of their properties. After the father's death, his estate was managed by Mr. Shelden of this sketch and his brother, George C. Shelden. The latter was born in December, 1842, married Mary E. Edwards of Houghton, Michigan, and was the father of two daughters, Mrs. Stephen J. Bowl- ing of Detroit, Michigan, and Mrs. V. T. Barry of Houghton. He died October 2, 1896, and the handling of the estate fell entirely to Mr. Shel- den. Ransom Shelden, the distinguished pioneer, had two children be- sides those mentioned: Ransom B., of California, an extensive fruit grower, and a daughter who became Mrs. E. S. Gilbert and is now deceased.
Carlos D. Shelden attended the district schools in the nsual manner of the boy of his day and generation. He supplemented this with a thorough course in the Union school at Ypsilanti, Michigan. He had scarcely finished there when the Civil war cloud broke and he came home, weightier matters than the attainment of an education being at stake. In 1861 he raised a company at Honghton and early in 1862 began service as a captain in the Twenty-Third Regiment of Michigan Volunteer Infantry. His service continued until the latter part of 1864 and he was most of the time in the division headed by General Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamanga." He saw some of the hottest of the conflict, being present at the Siege of Knoxville, and in the battles of Franklin and Resaca.
Mr. Shelden's political career was a brilliant one and can be re- membered with gratification by his widow and children. By inheritance and by honest conviction he was a Republican. In 1892 he was elected to the Michigan legislature and in 1894 he was sent to the state senate where as a member of some of the most important committees he gave eminently distinguished service and succeeded in accomplishing much that was beneficial for his county. As before stated he was a member of the Fifty-Fifth, Fifty-Sixth and Fifty-Seventh congresses. On the last occasion the voice of the people in his support was by no means un- certain, for he received a majority of twenty-one thousand votes over
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the Democratic and Prohibition candidates. He served previously as a member of the Board of Supervisors of Houghton county, and as president of the town.
Mr. Shelden was first married in 1865 to Mary E. Skiff, daughter of George and Eliza Skiff of Willoughby, Ohio. Their married life was a brief one for the wife died in 1868, leaving a six months old son, named Ransom Skiff Shelden, who is now one of Houghton's leading attorneys. He was educated at Racine College, Wisconsin, and the Uni- versity of Wisconsin at Madison, being graduated from the law de- partment of the latter. The second wife of Mr. Shelden was before her marriage Sally Gardner Dashiell, a native of the state of Maryland, and a daughter of John J. and Mary A. Dashiell. This union was blessed by the birth of two daughters, Mrs. J. D. Ryan of Butte, Mon- tana, and Nellie who is Mrs. William R. Thomson.
Mr. Shelden was very prominent as a Mason, having attained to the thirty-second degree of that order, and holding membership in the Blue Lodge of Houghton, the Chapter at Hancock, Montrose Commandery at Calumet, the Consistory at Grand Rapids and the Shrine at Marquette. Although his death occurred some half dozen years ago, the loss of Carlos D. Shelden is still keenly felt in the community in which he was an ornament and an inspiration and the record made by him and his forbears is indelibly inscribed upon the annals of Houghton county.
LOUIS J. LEISEN .- To be noted as one of the distinctive "captains of industry" in the city of Menominee and also as a member of one of the honored pioneer families of this city, which has been his home from his boyhood days to the present, Louis J. Leisen merits special recognition in this publication as one of the representative business men of the Upper Peninsula. He is a son of the late Captain Jacob Leisen, to whom a memoir is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further review of the family history is not demanded in the sketch at hand.
Louis J. Leisen was born at Centerville, Manitowoc county, Wis- consin, on the 12th of March, 1862, and thus he was about eleven years of age at the time of the family removal to Menominee, Michi- gan, in 1873. He gained his rudimentary education in the public schools of his native village and thereafter continued his studies in the Menominee schools, in which he partially completed the curricu- lum of the high school. As a youth he became associated with his father's business enterprises, especially the brewing business con- ducted under the firm name of Leisen & Henes. Finally a stock com- pany was organized and incorporated, under the title of the Leisen & Henes Brewing Company, and of the same Louis J. Leisen became vice-president. Of this office he continued incumbent until the death of his honored father, in 1900, when he succeeded the latter in the presidency of this company, which chief executive position he still re- tains. Concerning the large and prosperous enterprise conducted by this company the following pertinent statements have been made: "One of the important elements of industrial and commercial activity in Menominee is that represented in the well conducted business of the Leisen & Henes Brewing Company, one of the largest and most important concerns of its kind in the Upper Peninsula. This exten- sive brewery was established in 1872 and passed from the first owner- ship into other hands ere it came into possession of the present com- pany. In February, 1876, the firm of Leisen & Henes assumed con- trol of the enterprise, and in July, 1891, to meet the ever increasing
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demands placed upon the establishment, the business was incorporated under the laws of the state of Michigan, with a paid-up capital of one hundred thousand dollars, and with Jacob Leisen as president; Louis J. Leisen as vice-president; and John Henes as secretary and treas- urer. The brewery was destroyed by fire in 1877, was promptly re- built, and again, on the 24th of June, 1890, the plant was practically obliterated by fire. With characteristic energy and progressiveness the interested principals again erected a larger and more substantial plant, and the same has the best of equipment throughout, while the careful attention paid to all details of the manufacturing insures the highest grade of product, so that the brewery has at all times con- trolled a large and substantial trade. It now has a capacity of fifty thousand barrels annually, and the large volume of business controlled represents the direct result of the energy and careful methods brought to bear by those concerned in the prosecution of the enterprise." The officers of the company at the present time are as here noted: Louis J. Leisen, president ; Joseph W. Leisen, vice-president; and John Henes, secretary and treasurer.
The subject of this review has also shown his enterprising spirit and initiative powers through his association with other local busi- ness concerns of important order. The most noteworthy of these is the Menominee Stained Glass Works, which represents one of the most important industrial enterprises of Menominee and one of the leading manufacturing concerns of the entire Upper Peninsula. Of this corporation Mr. Leisen is general manager. In the large and well equipped plant of the company is manufactured a large and artistic line of stained and Mosaic glass for churches, residences, public build- ings, steamboats, etc. A specialty is made of high artistic group and figured windows, and original designs are furnished in this and other departments when desired. The company also handle, both at whole- sale and retail, window glass and all kinds of plate glass, besides other specialties in the glass line.
Mr. Leisen has ever maintained the attitude of progressiveness and public spirit, and in his home city his influence and co-operation have been given to the furthering of all measures for the general wel- fare of the community. He is held in unequivocal esteem as a citizen and business man and has been called upon to serve in positions of public trust. In 1900 he was elected supervisor of the Third ward, and in 1902 he was chosen as his own successor in this important of- fice, of which he thus continued incumbent for a period of four years. In 1904 he was elected city assessor, for a term of three years, at the expiration of which, in 1907, he was elected for a second term of the same duration. This term expires January 1, 1911. In politics he ac- cords a stalwart allegiance to the Democratic party and he is a com- municant of the Catholic church, in whose faith he was reared.
On the 13th of September, 1905, Mr. Leisen was united in marriage to Miss Hattie C. Bruce, who was born in Sweden, and who is a daugh- ter of Nelson and Charlotte Bruce, who came to America when she was a child. The father died in Menominee, Michigan, in 1906, and the mother still resides in this city. Mrs. Leisen is the youngest in a family of five children, all of whom are living. Iler father, who was a blacksmith by trade and vocation, took up his residence in Menom- inee in 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Leisen have three children,-Verena Char- lotte, Dorothy Beatrice and Jacob Louis.
JACOB LEISEN .- There is all of consistency in incorporating in this publication a memoir to the late Captain Jacob Leisen, who was one
Jacole Leis
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of the honored and influential citizens and pioneer business men of the city of Menominee, a veteran of the Civil war, a loyal and progres- sive citizen and one who did much to further the civic and commer- cial development and upbuilding of Menominee, where he continued to reside until his death, which here occurred on the 22d of Septem- ber, 1900.
Captain Jacob Leisen was born near the city of Coblenz, Germany, on the banks of the picturesque river Rhine, and the date of his na- tivity was May 7, 1828. His grandfather, Jacob Leisen, was an officer in the forestry service in Prussia, and there was born Jacob Leisen (II), father of the subject of this memoir. The latter was reared to maturity in Prussia and he married Margaret Gobel, daughter of Joseph Gobel, who was in the revenue service of the government. The parents of Captain Leisen passed their entire lives in the Fatherland, and their two children, both sons, are now deceased. Captain Leisen was reared to manhood in his native land and was afforded the ad- vantages of its excellent schools. At the age of fifteen years he en- tered upon an apprenticeship at the cabinetmaker's trade, to which he devoted his attention for some time. In 1849 he entered the Prussian army, in which he served the prescribed three years, as a member of the Eighth Battalion of Sharpshooters, with which he was stationed at Baden for one year and the remainder of the time at Wetzlar, where the barracks were in the ancient and historic high-court room. He received his honorable discharge from the army in 1852 and there- after continued in the work of his trade until the following year. when he embarked on a sailing vessel and set forth to seek his for- tunes in America. He landed in New York City on the 25th of No- vember of that year, and he was employed at his trade in the states of New York and New Jersey until the autumn of 1854, when he made his way to the city of Chicago, where he remained until the fall of the following year. There also he availed himself of the advantages of a night school, and thus added to his knowledge of English, besides pursuing other studies. In the autumn of 1855 he removed to Center- ville, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the work of his trade. In 1859 he there established himself in the general mer- chandise business, in which he continued to be engaged until May, 1873, save for the period of his service in the Civil war.
In October, 1864, Captain Leisen showed his loyalty to the land of his adoption by tendering his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in Company B, Forty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Madison, the capital of the state, and he was appointed captain of his company by Governor Lewis, who was then the chief executive of the state. He proceeded with his command to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was assigned to provost and picket duty, besides which he had charge of prisoners who were sent to the north. He remained at Nashville until July, 1865, and during the entire period of his service he was never absent from duty for a single day. He received his honorable discharge and forthwith returned to his home in Centerville, Wisconsin. He was one of the most influen- tial citizens of that place, where he served eleven years as postmaster. During his absence as a soldier his wife had charge of the office. He also served about fourteen years as township clerk and for an equal period was incumbent of the office of justice of the peace.
In May, 1873, Captain Leisen removed with his family to Menom- inee, where for a time he was engaged in the manufacturing of soda water. In 1876 he formed a copartnership with John Henes and pur-
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chased a brewery business that had been established a number of years previously. They continued the enterprise under the firm name of Leisen & Henes until 1890, when it was incorporated under the pres- ent title of the Leisen & Henes Brewing Company. The enterprise, under the able executive management of Captain Leisen, became one of broad scope and he continued president of the company until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Louis J. Captain Leisen had marked constructive and administrative ability and he did much to further the commercial advancement of Menominee, where he iden- tified himself with the promotion and upbuilding of various enter- prises in addition to the one already mentioned. He was a member of the directorate of the Lumbermen's National Bank at the time of his death and was also a director of the Menominee Electric Light & Power Company and the local street railway company, besides being virtually the owner of the Menominee Stained Glass Works. He was associated with his son-in-law, John Henes, in the erection of the Leisen & Henes block, one of the finest business blocks in the city.
In politics Captain Leisen was aligned as a supporter of the cause of the Republican party until 1872, and thereafter he gave an unqual- ified allegiance to the Democratic party. He was a man of mature judgment and broad mental ken and ever showed an intelligent inter- est in the questions and issues of the hour. He served as a member of the board of aldermen of Menominee and was twice the candidate of his party for the office of mayor of the city. He was a communicant of the German Catholic church, the parish of the Epiphany, in Me- nominee and was liberal in its support, as was he also generous in aiding all measures tending to promote the best interests of the com- munity. He was genial and kindly in his association with his fellow men, and his sterling integrity brought to him the most assured pop- ular confidence and esteem. He was affiliated with Lyman Post, No. 266, Grand Army of the Republic, and also with the Michigan Com- mandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. He was one of the organizers of the Menominee Turn Verein, of which he was president during the first eight years of its existence. Captain Leisen was one of the leaders in the ranks of the Democratic party in the Upper Peninsula and served two terms as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee.
At Centerville, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, in the year 1858, was solemnized the marriage of Captain Leisen to Miss Maria Verena Fehrenbach, who was born in Switzerland, on the 21st of February, 1841, being a daughter of Antoine Fehrenbach. She died in the city of Menominee on the 5th of August, 1907, secure in the affectionate regard of all who knew her. Concerning the six children of Captain and Mrs. Leisen the following brief data are entered in conclusion of this memoir: Rosa is the wife of John Henes. of Menominee; James A. is deceased; Louis J. is individually mentioned elsewhere in this volume; Lena is the wife of Richard Kirkham, of Menominee; Ida is the wife of Dr. Hurbert Higgs; and Joseph is vice-president of the brewery at Menominee.
CHRISTOPHER J. THIELMAN .- To be numbered among the truly suc- cessful and enterprising citizens of Laurium, Michigan, is Christopher Thielman, a general contractor, and a native of the neighboring county of Ontonagon. He was born October 7, 1870, and is the son of Chris- topher and Madeline (Vogtlin) Thielman, the former born in Germany and the latter in Switzerland. Christopher Thielman came to the Cop-
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per Country in 1858. He later removed to a small farm upon which he resided until his death which occurred in August, 1901. His wife who survived him died in September, 1909. Mr. Thielman was one of sev- eral sons and daughters. The names of the former are Albert C., Will, and Frank W .; the sisters are Adeline, wife of William Schenetter, Josephine and Agnes.
The public school education of Mr. Thielman was obtained in Rock- land, the town in Ontonagon county in which the family resided. When he had finished at the common school, he entered a normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he pursued his studies for one year. Not being particularly drawn by natural inclinations to a professional ca- reer he pursued a commercial course in a college in Detroit, Michigan, after which he entered the employ of Ernest Bollman. After remaining in Mr. Bollman's employ for some time, he decided to achieve inde- pendence by engaging in business for himself and accordingly he launched out as a general contractor. He has sound judgment, unusual ability in making his ideas actualities, and the integrity which is one of the principal ingredients in success, and his career has been most satisfactory, while at the same time promising greater things for the future. He has built many of the dwellings and stores in Laurium and the surrounding country.
On the 27th of June, 1900, Mr. Thielman was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth, daughter of James Trevillian, an old and much respected citizen of Laurium. Their residence is one of the most attrac- tive in Laurium, and is modern throughout, and in itself constitutes an eloquent argument in favor of its owner's wisdom in his choice of a career.
DANIEL NEHMER .- An able representative of the agricultural and horticultural interests of Ontonagon county, Daniel Nehmer is a valued resident of Ontonagon, where he is prosperously engaged in general farming, giving especial attention to the culture of small fruits. He was born, March 31, 1852, in the village of Kostenhagen, Prussia, which was likewise the birthplace of his father, Daniel Nehmer, Sr.
Of Prussian ancestry as far back as the family record shows, Daniel Nehmer was reared to agricultural pursuits in his native village, re- maining there the larger part of his life. In 1864, accompanied by his family, he came to America, and the following three years resided in Berlin, province of Ontario, Canada. Migrating in 1867 to Michigan, he bought a large tract of stump land in St. Clair county, and had just got well started in his pioneer labor of clearing a farm when, in 1868, death claimed him for her own. He married Mary Gruenburg, who was also born in Kostenhagen, Prussia. She was a woman of courage and enterprise, and after the death of her husband kept her family together until each child was well married, and had a home. She died at the age of four score and four years, having lived a long and useful life, rearing six children, as follows: Regine, Christine, Sophia, Frederick, Christian and Daniel.
The youngest child of the parental household, Daniel Nehmer, at- tended school in his native village until twelve years of age, when he came with the family to this country. After the death of his father, he and his brother Christian, the two sons, took turns in managing the home farm, and in working out, continuing thus employed until ready to establish a home of his own. After his marriage, Mr. Nehmer was engaged in farming in St. Clair county, Michigan, for two years. Going then to Marion county, Oregon, he bought one hundred and fif-
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teen acres of timbered land, and for nine years was employed in clear- ing the land and tilling the soil. His health failing, he disposed of his farm, returned to St. Clair county, and for a year made his home with his father-in-law. Having recovered his former physical vigor, Mr. Nehmer then purchased forty acres of land in Sanilac county, Michigan, and was there a resident until 1891. Locating in that year in Ontona- gon, he was for awhile employed at the mills, after which he assumed the management of the farm belonging to James Mercer, retaining it awhile. He then took up a homestead claim seven miles east of Onto- nagon, built on the land, and lived there six years. Purchasing then a tract of land within the limits of the village, Mr. Nehmer began the raising of fruits, making a specialty of strawberries, and has since met with excellent success in this line of industry. He has now a snug little property, owning twenty and one-half acres of tillable land in the vil- lage, and twenty acres of marsh land.
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