USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
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Brown (Martin)
HISTORY OF
BROWN COUNTY
WISCONSIN
PAST AND PRESENT
ILLUSTRATED
VOLUME II
CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY IQI3
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 63335? ASTOR LENOX AND TILOFA 19:3
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR, LEMAX' AND TALDER FOUNDATIONE
CAMMigman
BIOGRAPHICAL
HON. JOHN H. M. WIGMAN.
John H. M. Wigman, a general practitioner at the bar of Green Bay, is the oldest representative of the legal profession liere, having practiced continuously since 1863.
He came to Green Bay from Amsterdam, Holland, in 1848, with his brother Henry J. Wigman, who in 1861 enlisted for service in the Civil war and sacrificed his life in the cause of the Union at the battle of Fred- ericksburg. He rose from private to the rank of first lieutenant, his con- mission arriving on the evening of the day on which he was killed.
Mr. Wigman was born in Amsterdam on the 15th of August, 1835, and is a son of James B. and Matilda ( Doorenbos ) Wigman, the father dying in 1862 and the mother in 1847. The Wigman family were prominent in Holland for generations. The father was an architect and constructor of many prominent buildings in Amsterdam. He was a man of great influ- ence and standing in his home city.
John H. M. Wigman was a lad of but thirteen years when he crossed the Atlantic. He attended the schools of his native city till he was nine years of age and then attended the Catholic College in the Province of Limburg, where he remained until the fall of 1847. Besides a classical edu- cation and mastering his native tongue, he became proficient in French and German, speaking and writing both languages perfectly and obtaining a considerable knowledge of Latin. On the death of his mother and owing to his father's rapidly failing health, it became evident that a change would be necessary in the affairs of the family. At this time the Rev. Theodore Van den Broek was on a visit to Holland and he being an old acquaintance of Mr. Wigman's father, induced him to let Mr. Wigman and his brother Henry J. go to Wisconsin with him.
After arriving here Mr. Wigman remained with Rev. Van den Broek until the end of July. 1849, during which time he was employed in teaching the ordinary branches of a common school as well as the catechism to the half breeds, Canadians and Indians. At this time coming in contact with the Indians, he learned their language and became well acquainted with their customs and mode of living.
At the close of the school term July, 1849, Mr. Wigman wanted more out-door exercise. He left Father Van den Broek and engaged in farming in Wrightstown where again, at the request of Father Van den Broek he occupied his leisure hours in teaching the Indians and half breeds and pre- paring them for their first communion.
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
Mr. Wigman continued in the occupation of farming and other manual labor until the year, 1854, when he entered a dry-goods and general store as clerk, which position he occupied for a little over two years, when he was induced to teach the public school in the town of Green Bay (now town of Scott). The town of Green Bay was then composed of the now towns of Scott, Preble, Humboldt and Green Bay. While teaching school he entered upon the study of law under the direction of the late Judge Cotton and Hon. Timothy O. Howe. He also filled the offices of justice of the peace, town clerk, treasurer and assessor. Meanwhile he continued the study of law borrowing books for that purpose from the lawyers of Green Bay and practicing whenever opportunity offered itself before justice courts. His father having died in 1862 the following spring he made a visit to Holland to settle up his father's large estate. Many of his relations were living at that time.
His father had, at first, intended to follow Mr. Wigman to the new world but later on reversed his plans and wanted his sons to return to him. Our subject, however, could not comply with this wish and so it happened that father and son never met again.
On this visit to Holland Mr. Wigman had the distinguished honor of having an audience with his former sovereigns, King William and Queen Sophia who graciously conversed with him on subjects mostly pertaining the United States, especially the Civil war, in which the queen was greatly interested. He returned to the United States in July, 1863, bringing with him his sister Helena M., afterward Mrs. Berendsen ( now deceased ).
On his return Mr. Wigman took up his residence at Appleton and entered into partnership with Hon. Thomas R. Hudd, which relationship continued until November, 1889.
While there he was elected district attorney for Outagamie county in 1864, reelected in 1866 and again in 1868. In 1868 the firm opened offices in Green Bay, to which city Mr. Wigman removed with his family in 1870, in which year he built his present commodious residence which he still oc- cupies. This, with a selected and one of the finest private libraries in the city, consist in making a home life that is most desirable,-a hearth place where the parents are ever found in the bosom of the family.
In the year 1882 Mr. Wigman was elected mayor of the city of Green Bay and gave to the city a practical, business-like and progressive admin- istration characterized by various needed reforms.
In 1893 he was appointed United States attorney for the eastern dis- trict of Wisconsin and held that position for four years during the Cleve- land administration. During his term of office he tried several very im- portant cases not only in the district and circuit courts of the United States but also in the court of appeals in Chicago, outside his district, being ordered so to do by special order from the attorney general of the United States. Shortly after his appointment all of the litigation relating to the Fox and Wisconsin river overflow cases, as well as cases of the Green Bay & Missis- sippi Canal Company, which had theretofore been in the hands of a special assistant were turned over to Mr. Wigman, who succeeded in bringing all the issties to a successful termination, besides establishing the permanent
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
rights of the United States in the navigation of the Fox river by enjoining the Mill owners at Neenah, Appleton and Kaukauna from using the water below a certain level. Although Mr. Wigman was also personally inter- ested in the suits brought by his predecessor, Mr. Colman, against the gov- ernment he successfully defended the United States in those suits, both in the circuit court for the United States and in the United States circuit court of appeals, and under date of April 9, 1895, the Hon. Richard Olney, United States attorney general wrote him, "It is a personal gratification to me to find the government so well represented and a vexed question of law so well presented. I desire to congratulate you upon your success in the defense of these cases and to assure you that the anomaly and incongruity of the position of yourself in common with other district attorneys in de- fending the government in cases where your own personal interest is adverse to it, is not overlooked by this department and that it is a source of much gratification to find entire loyalty in the performance of the public duty notwithstanding the adverse private interest." He was also instrumental in getting congress to abolish the fee system and fix a salary for the United States attorneys and marshals. Perhaps one of the most important of the cases he was engaged in was in connection with the reading of the Bible in the public school in which he was employed as counsel and argued the case before the supreme court. The case arose from school district No. 8, in the city of Edgerton, Rock county. It was a custom to read from the King James version of the Scriptures. The parents of Catholic children objected thereto and requested the school board to discontinue the custom but were refused. The parents then petitioned the circuit court which up- held the school board. The case was carried to the supreme court which reversed the decision of the lower court and sustained the parents in their objection. The case is reported in the 76 Wisconsin reports, on page 177. In his brief Mr. Wigman showed great research, quoting liberally from the original Latin showing the perverted meanings and omissions which would render the King James version undesirable for use in the public schools as "Sectarian instruction."
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The firm Hudd & Wigman was dissolved in November, 1889, on MIr. Hudd moving to Chicago. Mr. Wigman continued the business and took in P. H. Martin, who had been clerking for the firm and had married Mr. Wigman's daughter. He is a member of the American Bar Association and president of the Brown County Bar.
Mr. Wigman has been married twice. In 1857 he wedded Matilda Lyonnais, who passed away in 1876, leaving nine children of whom two died in infancy, while Alexander passed away at the age of twenty-five, at which time he was employed in the postoffice in Milwaukee. The others are Mary, the wife of P. H. Martin ; Ellen, the wife of John F. Water- molen, a lawyer of Green Bay; John C., passenger engineer for the Green Bay & Western Railroad Company since 1882: Anna, residing at home ; Elizabeth, the wife of James Hart of Marinette, Wisconsin ; and Josephine, the wife of Charles Wieber, a clerk in the postoffice of Green Bay. On the Ist day of July, 1876, Mr. Wigman was again married, his second union being with Miss Jennie Meagher of Cleveland, Ohio. To them were born
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
four children: Jennie, who died in infancy, and Joseph, who died at the age of four years, both being buried in Allouez cemetery ; James B., a civil and mechanical engineer, educated at Wisconsin University; and Margaret M., a graduate of Sinsinnawa College, now finishing her course in domestic science at the Stoute Institute at Menomonie, Wisconsin. All his children received their primary education in the Catholic schools.
Mr. Wigman is a democrat in politics but has no other active interests outside of his profession, having for twenty-two years been state president of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, which society was organized by him in 1885.
He was appointed a Knight of St. Gregory by Pope Leo XIII. in 1885 and is a devoted member of the Catholic church, doing all in his power to advance its success and extend its influence. Mr. Wigman, although nearly seventy-eight years of age, still devotes practically all his time and attention to his professional duties.
FRANK F. KRESS.
Frank F. Kress has been prominent in manufacturing circles of Green Bay for some years. His specialty is the making of horse collars and he maintains his factory and office at No. 419 North Van Buren street in this city, where he has been located since 1906. He was born at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, June 22, 1877, a son of Louis and Louisa (Metz) Kress. The father came from Germany in 1858 and lived in this country until his death, in 1884. He was a member of the Federal army during the Civil war and received a dangerous wound in the arm in the course of an engagement. In 1865 he was honorably discharged and his death occurred in Wisconsin in April, 1884. at the age of forty-four years. His wife preceded him and both are buried in the same cemetery at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
Frank F. Kress received his early education at Nenno, Washington county, Wisconsin. At the age of seventeen he laid aside his books to accept a position as clerk in a general store at West Bend, Wisconsin, where he remained for two years. He then took up the trade of harness making. specializing in horse collars, and when he had mastered its details he went to Milwaukee and worked at his trade for three years in that city. He became proficient in this line and soon received an offer to fill the position of foreman of the Krueger Saddlery Company of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which he imme- diately accepted. He remained with this firm until it became defunct, five years later, and during his period of connection therewith he had entire charge of the horse collar manufacturing department, buying the machinery. tools and all the new material needed in the factory. In this way he became thoroughly acquainted with all the various branches of the business and became an expert workman by personal experience. In 1906 he started in business for himself. He had scarcely any capital and his principal assets were ambition, firm determination and a thorough knowledge of the matter in hand. In the six years of his activity his success has been rapid and
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
remarkable. Every year his business increases and the market for his output enlarges. At the present time he employs on an average twenty-five men and is considering the erection of a large and modernly equipped factory to take care of the large volume of business.
On September 3, 1900, Mr. Kress was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Schmidt, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. August Schmidt, the former a black- smith at West Bend, Wisconsin, until his death. Mrs. Kress died May 2, 1911, leaving two children, George and Melvin, who reside with their father at No. 1002 Cherry street. Politically Mr. Kress is absolutely nonpartisan. He votes for the man and the idea and keeps himself independent of party lines and policies. He is a devout member of the German Reformed church at Green Bay, in which faith he has reared his two sons. He is one of the men who do not care to push themselves forward into public life, preferring to aid in the progress of their city by the development of their own business interests.
CHARLES S. KERR.
Charles S. Kerr has been for a long period closely associated with news- paper interests of Green Bay and his enterprise and progresive spirit ena- bled him to become prominent and successful in his chosen line of work. The business methods he has followed have commended him to the respect of all with whom he has been associated, for he has based his actions on the rules which govern strict and unswerving integrity. Mr. Kerr was born in Milwaukee, January 9, 1858. His father is a retired journalist and one of the pioneers in this line of occupation in the city. He is numbered among the residents of Green Bay that Scotland has furnished to the new world, his birth having occurred in Montrose. He spent his childhood and early manhood in his native country and then came to America with his wife and family, settling in Milwaukee, from whence in 1870 he came to Green Bay. He had long been prominent in the newspaper business and the object of his removal to this city was to take charge of The Green Bay Gazette as local editor, in which capacity he served for twelve years, at the same time editing and publishing The Green Bay Review. The Review was the first paper published in Fort Howard, now the west part of Green . Bay, and The Gazette is the oldest paper in this city. The father of our subject continued active in journalistic circles until his retirement, carry- ing on his paper and doing job printing and binding. He was the first secretary of the Typographical Union of Milwaukee, and has the distinction of being the oldest living editor in northern Wisconsin. He is well known in local political circles and was appointed collector of United States cus- toms, which office he held until February 8, 1910, when he retired on account of ill health. He married Miss Betsy Dickie, and they have three living children: W. L., city clerk of Green Bay, who married Miss Estella Kinney, by whom he has four children: Charles S., the subject of this
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
sketch; and Harriet Ann Taylor, who married Dominick Hagerty, who is living retired in Green Bay, by whom she has three children.
Charles S. Kerr was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and after laying aside his school books secured a position as messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company. He later went to Florence and worked as a bell boy in a hotel in that city and came to Green Bay as operator for the St. Paul Railroad, in which capacity he acted for four years and a half, being transferred at the end of that time to the northern division as timekeeper. In 1880 he returned to Green Bay and became associated with his father in the printing business and still fills the posi- tion of editor of The Review.
In his political views he is a progressive republican and always strives to promote his party's interests. For two years he served in the United States Customs office with his father as collector. He is a member of the Order of Elks. Washington Lodge, No. 21, F. & A. M., Col. Catlin Camp, Sons of Veterans and belongs to the Presbyterian church. For thirty-two years he has been a resident of Green Bay where he is known as a pros- perous, enterprising and successful business man. He is regarded as one of the leading and valued citizens here, being held in high esteem for the uprightness and integrity of his character.
HON. SAMUEL DEXTER HASTINGS.
The position of circuit court judge is one of large responsibility. It calls for sound judgment, high intelligence and broad tolerance, and re- quires in addition a degree of special knowledge on many subjects only possible to a liberally educated man. Hon. Samuel Dexter Hastings, now circuit court judge of the district comprising Brown, Kewaunee and Door counties, possesses all these requisite qualifications in an eminent degree and since 1883 has been engaged in the discharge of judicial duties, his record indicating his marked fairness and impartiality as well as his clear and comprehensive understanding of the principles of law. He has made his home in Brown county since 1867, taking up his abode here when a young man of twenty-six years. He was born in Philadelphia, June 19, 1841, his parents being Samuel D. and Margaret (Schubert) Hastings. The family is of English lineage, representatives of the name coming from Great Britain to America many years prior to the Revolution, since which time members of the family have been prominent in various localities in which they have resided. The name Samuel Dexter Hastings has been handed down from generation to generation, having been borne by the father, son and grandson. The father of Judge Hastings was a prominent and influential figure in Wisconsin politics during the middle portion of the nineteenth century and served as a member of the legislature then as state treasurer for eight years, covering the time of the Civil war. He came to this state in 1844. settling first on a farm but later removing to La Crosse, where he engaged in merchandising, his energy and enterprise winning for him a prominent position in commercial circles. He was a resident of Trempealeau county when elected state treasurer, and removed
4
Same I Hastings
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LI: 'ILY
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
to Madison, where he continued to reside until 1895, when he removed to Green Bay. He was a practical reformer and traveled extensively in the interest of the prohibition party, with which he was prominently identified for twenty years. He was honored with election as grand chief templar of the international organization of the Independent Order of Good Temp- lars and his life and influence proved a potent force for good wherever he was known. He died in 1903, in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and was laid to rest in Woodlawn cemetery. The Schubert family, from whom Judge Hastings is descended in the maternal line, was represented in the Revolu- tionary war by his great-grandfather, who as a private aided in winning independence. His mother, Margaret (Schubert) Hastings, died in 1902, her grave also being made in Woodlawn cemetery.
In the acquirement of his education Samuel D. Hastings entered the preparatory school connected with Beloit College, in which he was later a student until the completion of his collegiate course with the graduating class of 1863. Determined to take up the study of law, he then entered the Albany Law school, at Albany, New York, and won his LL. B. degree after a year's course in 1865. He at once entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. urged on by the ambition and enterprise which have ever distin- guished his career. He settled first at Madison, Wisconsin, where he en- gaged in general practice for two years, and then came to Green Bay. His clientage increased annually in volume and importance and his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. It was soon manifest that he prepared his cases with great thoroughness and care, was clear and concise in speech, strong and forceful in argument and logical in his deductions. He continued in the general practice of law until 1883, when elected to the circuit bench, on which he has since sat. When he was first elected judge the circuit comprised the counties of Brown, Marinette, Oconto and Door and so continued until the redistricting in 1912, when the area of the circuit was limited to Brown, Kewaunee and Door counties, the population, however, having greatly increased in the meantime. Throughout the entire district over which he presided Judge Hastings came to be known as an able jurist, displaying a thorough mastery of all the intricate prob- lems of the law, together with rapidity as well as accuracy in the execution of the business of his court. His honor and good faith have never been questioned and he upholds the dignity of the office in a worthy and becom- ing manner. When he closed his work in Marinette county the members of its bar, as a mark of their appreciation of his ability and his fidelity to the high ideals of his profession, tendered him a banquet and presented him with a magnificent cane of ebony and gold, most beautifully engraved, and when in April, 1912. he terminated his labors in Oconto county a similar honor was conferred upon him, the citizens of that county joining with the members of the bar in tendering him a banquet in order to pay tribute to one who had served them long and well. On that occasion he was pre- sented with a massive silver loving cup. His decisions were always models of judicial soundness, indicating not only a thorough knowledge of the law but also a clear understanding of the equity of the case.
In politics Judge Hastings has always been a stanch republican and in early manhood took an active interest in city and county politics but. be-
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
lieving with Justice Hughes that when a man ascends the bench to decide with fairness the laws which he must administer he must cease to be a partisan, Judge Hastings has never during the past three decades taken active part in campaign work. Moreover, the judges in the state are not chosen by political parties and, therefore, he deems it doubly incumbent upon the bench to refrain from aggressive political activity. He is, how- ever, well known in educational circles and was president of the school board until elected to the bench, when he resigned. At the solicitation of his friend, Rufus B. Kellogg, who established the library which bears his name, Judge Hastings became president of the board of directors and has held that position during the past twenty-four years. At an earlier day it was the custom for the regents of the University of Wisconsin to select lecturers from the profession, who lectured to the students on special topics of law. Judge Hastings was so chosen and continued as one of the lec- turers in the State University until that system was abolished by the em- ployment of regular law professors.
Judge Hastings has been married twice. He first wedded Mary C. Ken- dall, of Beloit, Wisconsin, who died in 1868. They were the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy, while Mary C. passed away in 1886, at the age of nineteen years. The mother and two children are buried in Woodlawn cemetery. The other daughter, Lilias, is now the wife of James P. Arter, who is prominent in real-estate circles in Cleve- land, Ohio. On the 25th of December, 1872, Judge Hastings married Miss Hetta Sue Clapp, a daughter of Nathaniel P. and Sarah Clapp of Kenosha, Wisconsin, who were pioneer farming people of that district. The father was killed in a railroad accident when a comparatively young man, while his wife survived until 1887. Judge and Mrs. Hastings have two children : Florence N., who is now the wife of Byron H. Stebbins, assistant attorney general of Wisconsin ; and Samuel Dexter Hastings III, who is secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Barkhausen Oil Company, of Green Bay. The family reside at 827 South Monroe avenue and are well known in the social circles of this city. For forty-five years Judge Hastings has here made his home and for more than twenty-eight years has sat upon the bench, honored and respected by all who know him as a judge, as a man and as a citizen. In all his judicial service he has had a keen sense of the dependence of men upon each other, has displayed the quality of justice tempered by mercy arising from his tolerance for human frailty, his kindliness and his broad humanitarianism.
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