USA > Wisconsin > A political history of Wisconsin > Part 36
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penter, purchased by public subscription, was presented to the State Historical Society, to serve as a monument of his fame. a marble bust of William E. Cramer was also presented; and accepted on behalf of the Historical Society by the late- Chief Justice Harlow S. Orton, of the State Supreme Court, who said: "Mr. Cramer is in many respects a very remarkable man. For about half a century he has been the proprietor and editor of the Evening Wisconsin, of Milwaukee, one of the ablest, purest and best of Wisconsin newspapers. His editorial writings woukl make many ponderous volumes, of high moral and literary excel- lence, on all the varied subjects which have commanded attention in this long period of time. He is entitled to the highest honor in that his newspaper has always been clean and pure. without the least taint, and its influence has always been salutary and for the best interests of society. His writings have been pure because their author has always been pure and honorable. Through all the commercial revulsions and political excitements of the past fifty years Mr. Cramer has held the even tenor of his way. and ·has been fair, forbearing and courteous. In his line of life he has manifested the highest abilities. He is the Nestor of the Amer- ican press. His memory may well be perpetuated in enduring marble." Mr. Cramer was married in 1869 to Miss Harriet I .. Barker. They have traveled extensively and had the memorable experience of being locked up in Paris for several months during the Franco-Prussian War while that city was besieged, securing their liberation at length through the good offices of United States Minister Washburne and Chancellor Bismarck.
GUSTAV WOLLAEGER.
The late Gustav Wollaeger, whose full baptismal name was John Henry Gustav, was born in Plathe, Prussia. April 6. 1836. the son of Johann and Christine (Spiering) Wollaeger. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and the high schools of Nuernberg and Leipzig, and came to this country in July, 1858, settling in Milwaukee in the following September. The first nine years of his residence in this city were spent as
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pastor of the St. Paul's congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran church. Resigning this position in 1867, he accepted that of bookkeeper in the hardware store of John Pritzlaff. In March. 1870, Mr. Wollaeger assisted in the organization of the Concordia Fire Insurance Company of Milwaukee, and was elected its Secretary. This office he has held continuously since, to the great advantage of the company and those who hold its policies. Con - servative in thought and action, conscientious in the discharge of official duty and of sound judgment, he made an excellent executive and administrative official, and the one to whom the success of the company is in large measure due. In politics Mr. Wollaeger acted with the Republican party until the Bennett compulsory school law became a party issue, when he voted the Democratic ticket. He was chosen one of the Presidential electors- at-large in 1892. and in the electoral college he cast his vote for Cleveland for President, and was chosen messenger to convey the result of the vote of the electors to Washington. In the Presidential election of 1896 he voted the straight Republican ticket, believing that the policy of that party on the currency question would best subserve the public welfare. Gov. Scofield appointed him a member of the State Board of Normal School Regents. Mr. Wollaeger was long and closely identified with the Lutheran church and its interests in this State. and was a member and trustee of the local Trinity Church in that denomina - tion. He was also a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of Concordia College, Secretary of the Union Cemetery Association. and President of the a Capella Choir. He was married in October, 1859, to Emilie Koehler of Plathe, who died in November, 1865, after years of wasting sickness, leaving no children. On the 27th of August, 1867, he married Miss Hen- rietta Thomas. of Milwaukee. To them were born seven children. Mr. Wollaeger died July 21. 1899. His son Gustav was appointed his successor on the State Board of Normal School Regents by Acting Governor Stone.
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DR. T. F. MAYHAM.
Dr. T. F. Mayham, of Fond du Lac, is a professional man, but one phase of whose many-sided career belongs in a political history. He was born at Blenheim, Schoharie county, New York, January 30, 1830. His father, who was born in New York, was of Irish and Dutch extraction, and his mother of Scotch. English and French. The boy was brought up to habits of industry and study. While reading medicine, he occupied for two years the chair of chemistry, geology and botany in Carlisle Seminary. He was graduated from Albany Medical College in the class of 1854, and came West in the same year in the hope of benefit to his health, which was badly shattered. For a year he taught school in the town of Empire. Fond du Lac county, and was Superintendent of Schools in that town for three successive years. In the intervals of his duties in this capacity he traveled through- out Wisconsin, introducing a uniform series of text-books into the schools of the State. In 1858-9 he took a post-graduate course in medicine at Ann Arbor, Michigan, after which he practiced his profession at Empire until 1863. when he became post-surgeon of the Government Military Hospital at Cairo, Ill., where he remained until the close of the war. Since then he has been a practicing physician in Fond du Lac. His zeal in keeping abreast of scientific progress in the healing art was evidenced in 1868, when he took the ad cundem course in Chicago Medical College. The esteem in which Dr. Mayham is held by his fellow-citizens has been shown not only by their recourse to him in his profes- sional capacity, but also by his frequent elections to important official positions. He has served as a member of the County Board of Supervisors four terms, and was for many years a member of the City Board of Aldermen, and for six years Presi- cient of the Council. For several years he was a member of the Board of Education, and was chosen President of the Board four times. In 1882 he was first elected Mayor of the city, and has since been re-elected, serving in all nine terms as head of the city government. During his incumbency of the office of Mayor he was a most active promoter of public improvements calculated to enhance the beauty, healthfulness and attractiveness
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of the city. The water-works and sewerage systems, electric lighting and street paving improvements were mainly constructed during his administrations, or as a result of movements set on foot with his official sanction and assistance. Dr. Mayham's first vote was cast for Franklin Pierce for President, in 1852, and he has ever since affiliated with the Democratic party, wielding an important influence in local and State politics. In 1896 he refused to endorse the Chicago platform or to give his support to the candidates nominated thereon. was a delegate to the Indianapolis convention that nominated as candidates Generals John M. Palmer and Simon B. Buckner, and gave his hearts support to and voted for those candidates at the election. He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In religion he is inclined to liberalism, but at the same time has been a generous friend and patron of the churches of all denominations. He was married in 1860, in the town of Empire, to Miss Mary E. Baker, a native of New York State, and has one child. Miss Bessie M. Mayham, whose rare musical ability gives promise of more than local celebrity.
EDWARD P. ALLIS.
When Edward P. Allis, on the Fourth of July, 1877, accepted the nomination of the Greenback party for Governor of Wisconsin, the party was practically without organization in the State. Mr. Allis had up to that year been a Republican, but differing radically from the financial policy of that party, he had publicly withdrawn from its ranks. Entering into the canvass which ensued with characteristic energy and ability, he combined the disjointed ele- ments favoring a paper currency issued by the government. and soon found himself at the head of a compact political organization. which in the fail election of that year cast no fewer than 26.216 votes for the ticket of which he was the head. He delivered speeches throughout the State. and won respectful attention from thousands. The ticket upon which he ran was defeated, but the new party compacted by his candidacy and his canvass elected a
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sufficient number of members of the State Assembly to control its organization. To the close of his life Mr. Allis steadfastly adhered to the convictions on the subject of finance which had led him, on that occasion, to assume the leadership of the Green- backers. Had he devoted himself to politics, his executive genius and personal magnetism would undoubtedly have produced con- spicuous results. But his inclinations and interests lay in another direction. Politics was only an episode in his career. He will be remembered as one of the most extensive and successful manu- . facturers in the history of the West. Mr. Allis was born at Cazenovia, New York, May 12, 1824. and supplemented an academic education with a course at Union College, from which he was graduated with high honors in 1845. He came to Mil- waukee in 1846, and read law for a short time. after which he established himself in business as a leather dealer, erecting, in company with others, large tanneries at Two Rivers, which were under his personal management until 1857. During a portion of the next three years he was engaged with John P. MeGregor in the banking business, and in 1860, in company with Mr. McGregor and C. D. Nash, he purchased the Reliance Works in Milwaukee, founded by Decker & Seville, for the manufacture of engines and milling machinery. Under his able management. the business was expanded until it became one of the largest institutions of its kind in the country, manufacturing power plants of all kinds. and filling orders not only from every part of the United States, but from every part of the world. When Mr. Allis died. April 1, ISSO, he carried on the employment roll of his great establishment nearly 2,000 men. of whose interest he had always been so con- siderate that he had never been called upon to confront a strike. He organized for their benefit a mutual aid society, into the treasury of which his corporation paid an amount equal to the total contributed by the employes. In dull times he contrived to keep his force engaged by taking work at little or no profit. rather than turn his industrious mechanics away from work. He was a man of broad culture. fine sensibilities and artistic tastes. His home was adorned with one of the richest collections of French. Dutch, Italian and American art owned anywhere in the West.
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He was survived by his widow, who was Margaret M. Watson of Geneva, New York, whom he married in ISIS, and by a large family of sons and daughters, one of whom, William W. Allis, is his successor in the presidency of the great industrial corporation that remains and flourishes as a monument of the ability, the energy, and the genius of Edward P. Allis.
JOHN A. BARNEY.
John A. Barney, Judge of the County Court of Dodge county, was born at Lenox, Madison county, New York, June 14, 1840, and came to Wisconsin in 1847, settling at Mayville, Dodge county, which has been his home 'ever since. He was educated in common and private schools. After studying law for two years, lie left his books to enter the army, enlisting as a private in Company B. Tenth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in 1861. He was with that regiment in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama and Georgia, participating in all its engagements until he lost an arm at the battle of Chickamauga, where he was taken prisoner. Gen. Fairchild commissisoned him Captain by brevet for meritorious services rendered at Perryville and Chickamauga. President Johnson appointed him Postmaster, which office he resigned upon the election of President Grant. He has served as Clerk and Chairman of the Town Board, Clerk and President of Mayville, and was Superintendent of Schools for the East District of Dodge county for four years ending December 31, 1874. In 1875 and 1876 he represented Dodge county in the State Senate. During the Forty-sixth Congress he served at Washington as Clerk of the Committee on War Claims. He has held the offices of Justice of the Peace, member of the Board of Aldermen of the city of Mayville, and Secretary of the Dodge County Soldiers Relief Association. In ISSS he was elected to the State Assembly. He served as Sergeant-at-Arms of the State Senate in 1891. Mr. Barney was elected County Judge of Dodge County in April, 1897, and assumed the duties of the office January 1, 1898.
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JOHN BLACK.
When John Black died, on the 25th of October, ISayy. a Mil- waukee newspaper, not of his political faith, said of him editorially: "John Black was a man who had high ideals of truth, of honesty. of courage and of chivalry, and he lived up to them. He was a man of keen foresight and rugged energy. By his death Mil- waukee has lost a public-spirited and useful citizen, whom she could ill spare. Possessing large means, which he had secured by his own exertions. Mr. Black was never of the class of rich men who discourage municipal progress for the sake of keeping down taxes. The stride which took Milwaukee out of villagehood into cityhood, equipping her with a sewerage system and water- works, was largely due to his initiative, and under the very shadow of the wing which has borne him hence, he was busy with the consideration of projects to increase the city's railway facilities. He had served with credit in the Assembly and in the State Senate. as well as in the office of Mayor. He was a candidate for Congress and received the votes of many Republicans, but was defeated because he had alienated a section of the Democrats by outspoken remarks in opposition to the disorder accompanying the eight- hour movement in 1886. All his life a Democrat. he refused to endorse the Chicago platform of 1896, and it was an open secret that in the Presidential election of that year he cast his vote for the maintenance of the gold standard. Without religious ostenta- tion, Mr. Black was attached to his church, but he had no touch of bigotry. He was kind and charitable to his fellow men irre- "spective of race or creed. He will be sadly missed. The mourning evoked by his death is widespread and sincere." Every word vi this eulogy was sincere and deserved. Mr. Black was a native oi Lorraine, France, where he was born in 1828. his father being Peter Black. a farmer and grape-grower. The young man was educated at college, in Metz, and in 1844 he came with his family to this country, settling at Lockport. N. Y. After spend- ing some years on his father's farm and acquiring a command of the English language, he took a clerkship in a wholesale liquor establishment, and there began a business career which resulted in making him wealthy. He contracted to work the first year
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for $30, the second for $50 and the third for $80, and board and washing. After three years he became a clerk in a dry goods store at a salary of Șio a month, and while filling this position he occupied his odd hours selling real estate to German immigrants, who came to this country in large numbers at that time. This was profitable work and soon enabled him to buy an interest in the wholesale liquor house by which he formerly had been employed. In 1857. after having married Miss Elizabeth Schoeffel of Rochester, N. Y., he sold out his business in Lockport and came to Milwaukee, where he at once started in the wholesale liquor business. Not a politician in the meaner sense of the word, he took a deep interest in municipal affairs and at once became identified with movements for the improvement of the city. He had advanced ideas of government and soon was called on by his fellow-citizens to put them to a practical test. being elected to a number of public offices of honor and trust. In I870 he was elected a member of the Common Council and immediately bent all his energies to build up a system of waterworks, and, in spite of opposition, he succeeded, giving the city the foundation of the excellent system which it now has. In 1871 he was a member of the Assembly. He was a candidate for elector-at-large on the Demo- cratic Presidential ticket in 1872. In 1873 he was a State Senator. While a member of the Senate he was instrumental in securing the passage of a law to punish bribery at elections. In 1878, when the city was strongly Republican, he was nominated for Mayor by the Democratic party and was elected, rauch to the surprise of his opponents. One of the first reforms that he introduced was to require the members of the police force to wear uniforms. During the early part of his administration the members of the Common Council conspired to hold a meeting while he was out of the city attending the funeral of a relative and nullify his appointments. A telegraph message was sent to him and he returned at once to the city, arriving here just an hour before the meeting was to be held and in time to thwart the conspirators. He was a delegate to the . National Democratic Conventions of 1884 and 1888 and voted for the nomination of Grover Cleveland. Mr. Black lost his wife in 181, a shock from which he never entirely recovered. As a
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memorial to her he erected a spire on St. John's cathedral which cost $10,000. Mr. Black was a life-long member of the Roman Catholic church. Personally he was genial, approachable, warm- hearted and earnest in his friendship. He was pronounced in his likes and dislikes and never endorsed a man or measure that did not meet his full idea of integrity and justice. He was frank and outspoken, and no one ever left his presence in doubt as to where he stood or what he thought.
N. S. GILSON.
Norman S. Gilson was born on the Western Reserve in Ohio in 1839. He taught school in his native State in 1859-60, and early in 1861 entered the law office of his uncle, the late Leander F. Frisby, of West Bend. The breaking out of the Civil War inter- rupted his law studies, and in September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company D, Twelfth Wisconsin Infantry, and was soon promoted to Sergeant-Major of the regiment, which at that time was doing service in Missouri and Kansas. The regiment was soon after transferred to the Army of the Tennessee, and for a time he was on detached duty with the staff of General Robert B. Mitchell. He remained with that army until the capture of Jackson, Miss .. in July, 1863. In the following August he was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company H. Fifty-eighth Regiment. United States colored infantry; he was rapidly promoted to the position of Adju- tant and finally became Lieutenant-Colonel of the regiment. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg and in the battles of Jackson and Perryville, and several other prominent engagements. Colonel Gilson served on the staff of Major-General Davidson and was assigned to duty as Judge-Advocate of the Natchez District. In IS65-6 he was Judge-Advocate of the Department of the Missis- sippi, serving at the time on the staff of Major-General Osterhaus. Although his regiment was mustered out of service in 1865. Colonel Gilson was retained on duty for more than a year afterwards by the direction of the Secretary of War, on account of being Judge- Advocate of the court-martial convened for the trial of Captain Speed for criminal carelessness in overloading the steamer Sultana,
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whereby the lives of 1, 100 paroled prisoners of war were lost. Ile was mustered out of service June 12. 1866, at Vicksburg, and was brevetted Colonel of United States Volunteers by President John- son, retiring from the army at the end of five years of constant serv- ice with a record creditable alike to his ability, his valor and hi- patriotism. Returning to civil life, Colonel Gilson reengaged in his, iaw studies, completing the full course of the Albany Law School with the Class of '67, and being admitted to the Supreme Court of New York. He settled at Fond du Lac and opened a law office, soon gaining recognition as a conscientious and well read lawyer, which brought him popularity and a large practice. In 1874 he was elected City Attorney of Fond du Lac, and after two years of service was elected District Attorney. Occupying a conspicuous position at the bar, lie was an available candidate for the Judgeship of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. and received the Democratic nomi- nation in March, 1880, being elected by over 8,000 majority. He was reelected without opposition in 1886 and again in 1892. On the expiration of his third term, in 1898, he declined renomination. In 1899 Governor Scofield appointed him as the Democratic mien- . ber of the newly created State Tax Commission, and his appoint- ment was unanimously confirmed.
JOHN J. ESCH.
John Jacob Esch, Congressman from the Seventh District of Wisconsin, was born near Norwalk, Monroe county, Wisconsin, March 20th, 1861. His education was obtained in the public schools of Milwaukee up to the age of 10 years, and for the next seven years in the schools of Sparta, including the High School, from which he graduatedl in 1878. The next four years he was a student in the State University, graduating in the modern classical course in 1882. From 1883 to 1886 he was a teacher in the Sparta High School. After that he took the law course in the State University. and graduated with the Class of 1887. While in the University he .was one of the debaters representing the Athenaeum Society in the team of IS82. He was one of the founders, and, during the senior year, was managing editor of the "Badger," which was one of the
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few weekly college papers of that day. He was one of the prophets of the Class of 1832 on class day, and appeared on the programme at commencement with an oration entitled "The Jews." He secured his college education by his own exertions, his expenses in the University having been paid by his brother, whom, in turn. he sent through Rush Medical College, Chicago. Since his graduation from the Law School he has been engaged in the successful practice of his profession at La Crosse. The only elective office he ever held, until his election to Congress, was that of Treasurer of Sparta. for which he was nominated without solicitation. In 1883 he organ- ized the Sparta Rifles, Company I, Third Regiment, W. N. G., and was its first Captain, remaining such until 188 ;. Upon remov- ing to La Crosse, he helped to organize the Gateway City Guards, Company M, Third Regiment, W. N. G., and was Lieutenant and afterward Captain of the company, resigning some two or three years after. In 1895 he was appointed by Governor Upham Judge- Advocate-General and Aid-de-Camp with the rank of Colonel on his staff, and was tendered the same position by Governor Scofield on his staff, but declined it. In March, 1896, he was chosen Chair- man of the Republican State Convention to select delegates-at- large to the National Convention which met in St. Louis. In the Republican State Convention which met in Milwaukee in Septem- ber, 1844, to nominate candidates for State offices. he was a dele- gate from La Crosse, and made a notable speech nominating F. A. Copeland for Lieutenant-Governor. In the convention which non- inated General Griffin for Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George B. Shaw, Mr. Esch received 26 votes against Gen. Griffin's 32. During the campaigns of 1804 and 1896 he made effective stumping tours of the State under direction of the Re- publican Committee. In the fall of ISOS he received the Republican nomination for Congress to succeed Gen. Griffin, and was elected by a large majority. Since his election he has made two public addresses in support of President McKinley's policy in the Philip- pines which have attracted wide attention. One was delivered in his home district on the Fourth of July and the other at Milwau- kee on the occasion of the banquet in honor of the visit of the President and his Cabinet to Wisconsin.
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PHILO A. ORTON. .
Philo .A. Orton was born March 27, 1837. at Hamilton. Madi- son county, New York, receiving his education at Madison (now Colgate) University and Beloit College. He came to Wisconsin in 1850, and after living at Beloit for five years, removed to Darling- ton, Lafayette county, where he has resided ever since. He read law in the office of James R. Rose at Darlington, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. since which time he has been engaged in the practice of the profession. He was elected District Attorney of Lafayette county in 1862 and County Judge in 1870. In 1874 he was appointed a Regent of the State University. He was President of the Board of Education of the city of Darlington for more than twenty years. In 1898, nominated for the State Assembly by the Republicans of Lafayette county, he was elected over .James H. Clark, Democrat, and Byron J. Eaton, Prohibitionist, and became a prominent member of the Legislature, serving on the Judiciary Committee and securing the passage of laws in regard to railroad and insurance taxation which have considerably increased the income of the State. During the civil strife Judge Orton was a . War Democrat. He was a candidate for the office of Attorney- General on the Democratic State ticket in 1861, and Democratic candidate for Congress in 1876. When a candidate for the County Judgeship, in 1870, he ran as an Independent, and the fact of his election in a strong Republican district attested his great personal popularity. In 1880 lie voted for Garfield for President, and since that time he has acted with the Republican party. Throughout the State Judge Orton is recognized as one of the leading members of the Wisconsin bar. In addition to keeping his extensive law prac- tice, he has been interested in the business of banking since 1874. He belongs to the Masonic Fraternity, and for two years was Deputy Grand Master of the Deputy Grand Lodge of Wisconsin. January 27. 1862. he was married to Sara M. Osborn, daughter of Capt. S. W. Osborn, of Darlington. He has two children- Susanne and Robert E., the former a graduate of Rockford College and a student of medicine; the latter a bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Darlington.
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