USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 10
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Having always taken an active interest in affairs bearing directly upon the welfare, upbuilding and improvement of the city, Mr. Larsen was called upon to serve several years as alderman of Fort Howard and was also mayor of the city one term, before its annexation to Green Bay. He is now presi- dent of the water works. He is a self-made man, for his capital on starting out in life for himself consisted only of good health, a clear, discriminating brain and the courage of his convictions to do what he deemed right. He has builded well his business and his reputation until in both he is the peer of any man in Brown county. His analytical mind rendered him a valuable and most efficient public official and made him a successful business man, highly esteemed by his large force of employes. He has always personally attended to the small as well as large details and proverbially is held to be fair in all his dealings. He is today regarded as one of the most progressive, honorable and highly esteemed citizens of Brown county. It has been said of him that he is endowed in a remarkable degree with the characteristics possessed by his hardy, brave and adventurous ancestors-traits of character which enabled them to secure a more than prominent place in the history of the world. These same characteristics which made the Norsemen heroes, adventurous navigators, the first discoverers of America, warriors whose prowess was feared in all Europe, also made them in later years the highly civilized. Christianized and prosperous business men and exemplary citizens.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Larsen have been born ten children but one died in infancy. The others are Mabel, Austin, Leslie, Edith, Grace, Charles Sum- ner, Marie, Milton and Warren. They have extended to their children the advantages of the best schools obtainable. The family home in Green Bay is a large and handsome structure, modern in all its equipments, built in 1 888.
FRANK J. B. DU CHATEAU.
Frank J. B. Du Chateau is the president and general manager of the A. Du Chateau Company, wholesale liquor dealers, with offices at 329 North Washington street. This business was incorporated in 1906 and has enjoyed continuous growth through the intervening years to the present time. The president of the company is one of Green Bay's native sons, his birth having here occurred September 25, 1868. His parents were Abelard and Felicite Du Chateau. The father came to Green Bay in 1856 from France and in 1869 founded the business which has developed into the largest wholesale liquor house of the city. He was continuously connected therewith until his death on the 25th of August, 1889, when he was fifty-two years of age.
The son pursued his education in the public schools here, leaving the high school at the age of sixteen years, at which time he became office boy for J. C. & A. C. Melville. He was next employed as clerk by the Otto Dut Chateau Company, retail dealers in shoes, and remained with that house for a year. or until May, 1885. He next entered his father's establishment as bookkeeper and manager and has continued in active control of the business since that time. When he became connected with the undertaking it was conducted under the name of A. Du Chateau and so continued until the incorporation in 1906, at which time Frank J. B. Du Chateau was chosen president as well as general manager. His business interests have been of constantly growing volume and importance and he is now connected with many enterprises which are valuable factors in the commercial, industrial and financial affairs of the city. He is a director of the Kellogg National Bank and has long been manager, secretary and treasurer of the Brown County Telephone Company. He is also the owner of much real estate, hav- ing bought and sold considerable property in Green Bay, and he has also erected business houses and blocks on vacant property, there being six large blocks in the city which have been built by the family.
Mr. Du Chateau was married, September 15. 1890, to Marie Beaupre, who died October 20. 1893. leaving one child, Olive Felicite, who is a graduate of St. Joseph's Academy. Mr. Du Chateau was again married, November 28, 1894. his second wife being Julia Lucas, who died on the 28th of Novem- ber, 1911. He resides at No. 703 South Monroe street, having there a pleasant and attractive home.
In politics Mr. Du Chateau is a republican, believing firmly in the prin- ciples of the party, and he has taken quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, serving as alderman of Green Bay for five consecutive years,
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from 1892 to 1897 inclusive. During that time he was chairman of several important committees.
Ile belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, is a trustee of the lodge and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge, in which he at one time was master of finance. He likewise belongs to the Green Bay Yacht Club, to the Green Bay Driving Club, the Green Bay Turn Verein and the Green Bay Gun Club-associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and recreation outside of business. He is an alert, enterpris- ing man, accomplishing what he undertakes in any connection, and he enters heartily into pleasures as well as business and thus maintains that even balance which can not be preserved when one concentrates his energies upon business affairs to the exclusion of other activities. For many years lie has been collecting relics of the Indians and early French traders and now has a collection of over five thousand pieces, embracing guns, copper imple- ments, spearheads, stone hammers, hatchets, etc., which are all catalogued. He has a brass sundial made by the Pere Lemares of Paris. On the back of this is given the longitude and latitude of many of the well known cities of those early days. It was found by him and another gentleman at Point Au Sable and is a rare curio. Mr. Du Chateau also has a mortar and pestle used by the Menominee Indians. It stands about two and a half feet in height and the pestle is six feet in length, it being used by the Indians to crush corn. Both are made of white oak.
MARCHANT BROTHERS.
Prominent among the men whose activities are important factors in the agricultural development of Scott township are the four Marchant brothers, James, August, Telesphore and Julius, who are operating the family home- stead of one hundred and thirty-three acres and by practical and systematic methods are rapidly making it one of the model agricultural enterprises of the section. The four brothers are sons of Joseph and Philomena (Villiess) Marchant, natives of Belgium. Their father came to the United States when he was twenty-two years of age and located in the Belgium settlement near Green Bay, where he resided for two or three years. Afterward he bought forty acres of land in Scott township and began a very successful agricultural career. This was a tract of land very slightly cultivated, but Joseph Mar- chant soon had the work of development begun. From time to time he added to his property until his holdings amounted to one hundred and thirty-three acres. Gradually his interests expanded and he became identified with many phases of the life of the section. At the time of his death he was not only a successful and prosperous agriculturist but also owned and operated a profitable flourmill. He passed away August 12, 1911, when he was seventy-three years of age. He had long survived his wife, who died in 1897.
The Marchant brothers belong to a family of eight children. Their brother William has become a Catholic priest and is stationed in New York
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city. In 1887 James, August, Telesphore and Julius purchased the home farm from their father and have operated it successfully since that time. They have brought their fields to a high state of cultivation, raising the grains best adapted to the soil and climate and adding to the farm many modern equipments and improvements. They erected the fine residence which is upon the property and have made other substantial improvements, all of which have added to the excellent condition and to the value of the farm. The brothers have been closely identified with Scott township in its upbuild- ing and prosperity for a quarter of a century and are justly numbered among its most active and progressive farmers. For some time they conducted the flourmill which had belonged to their father but have now given up this branch of their activities. Their success is well merited, for they are capable in management and display the industry, public spirit and resourcefulness which lead to prosperity.
JOHN P. WAGNER.
A life record covering seventy-four years has brought John P. Wagner to a position where respect and honor are uniformly accorded him by those who know him. Diligent, determined and enterprising, he worked on per- sistently year after year and is now living retired, for his industry and economy at a previous period brought him a competence sufficient to meet the demands of the evening of life. He was born February 2, 1838, near Coblenz on the Rhine, Germany, a son of Peter Wagner, who was born in 1801 and in 1845 came with his family to America, settling in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, among its early residents. There he took up the occupa- tion of farming, which he followed to the time of his death on the 13th of August, 1888. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Weber, died in 1873 at the age of sixty-nine years.
In their family were eight children, of whom five are yet living. No unusual event occurred to vary the routine of life for John P. Wagner in his boyhood save the emigration to the new world when he was a lad of seven years. He attended the public schools near his father's home to the age of seventeen, when he made his start in the business world as a clerk in a dry- goods store in Fond du Lac. Later he went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he was connected with commercial interests in a similar capacity until 1857. He afterward spent three years in Milwaukee and then returned to Fond du Lac, where he remained for two years in the employ of others. He next joined a brother in the conduct of a dry-goods business in Fond du Lac and in 1870 he came to Green Bay, where he was associated with W. C. Pettibone until 1874. He was afterward for thirteen years with George Sommers and later with a New York store as a clerk until 1890. He then became connected with the A. Spuhler Company, with which he continued until 1901, after which he spent a year in rest from business. He was next for three years with John Baum and for six years he was with the Brennen & Gazette Candy Company, with which he continued until the Ist
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of July, 1912, when he retired from active business. He is now enjoying a well merited rest-the fitting reward of his years of earnest, persistent and honorable labor.
On the 6th of July, 1862, Mr. Wagner was married in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to Miss Martha Wall, who was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1840, a daughter of William and Anna (Hurley) Wall, who were farming people. Mrs. Wagner, with a brother, came to America in 1856, their destination being Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, where she formed the acquaintance and eventually became the wife of John P. Wagner. Nine children have blessed this union, of whom four are living: William, at home; Mary, who is the wife of Louis Garot and has three children; Martha, who is the wife of George A. DeLair, proprietor of a cafe and restaurant at Green Bay ; and Agnes, the wife of A. B. Casey, of St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Wagner and his family are communicants of the Catholic church. On the 6th of July. 1912, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding, having for fifty years traveled life's journey happily together, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years went by. This was a memorable event in the social life of Green Bay, over one hundred of their friends being in attendance at the celebration. They received many valuable and substantial tokens of esteem and friendship from their guests, who delighted in thus showing their. appreciation of the good qualities of this worthy couple. It was an event long to be remembered by those who participated therein and most of all by the gentleman and lady who were the chief factors of interest on that day.
FRANK W. KUEHL.
Frank W. Kuehl is one of the enterprising and successful business men of De Pere, where he is engaged in the general furniture and undertaking business, located on South Broadway. He was born in Kewaunee, Wiscon- sin, in 1870, and is a son of Joachim F. C. and Dora (Krohn) Kuehl. The father emigrated to America in 1865 and settled at Kewaunee, where he en- gaged in the general mercantile business until his death, June 29, 1912. He was also a director in the Kewaunee Bank. The mother died in 1890.
Frank W. Kuehl was reared at home and received his early education in the public schools in Kewaunee. On starting in life for himself he learned the cabinet-maker's trade with his father. In 1891 he accepted employment with the Illinois Steel Company of Chicago as cabinet-maker and remained in that position for three years. In 1894 he came to De Pere and established himself in the furniture and undertaking business, to which he has since given his undivided attention. He has the distinction of having been the first licensed embalmer in De Pere and one of the first in Brown county. In addition to his furniture and undertaking business he is a stockholder in the Cooperative Coal Company of De Pere.
Mr. Kuehl was united in marriage in October, 1895, to Miss Wilhelmina Reiff, a daughter of John and Christina ( Fritz) Reiff, of De Pere. Her fa-
F. W. KUEHL
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ther is a veteran of the Civil war. To Mr. and Mrs. Kuehil four children have been born : Myron, Randall, Margaret and Howard.
Mr. Kuehl is a member of the Equitable Fraternal Union and the Ger- man Benevolent Society, and is one of the conservative, careful business men of De Perc.
E. N. MURPHY.
E. N. Murphy, who has served as secretary and treasurer of the Murphy Supply Company since its organization on the 8th of March, 1907, is one of the most energetic and progressive young business men of Green Bay, his close application and unfaltering diligence being potent factors in winning him success. In the business world he occupies a place of prominence and affluence. Mr. Murphy came to Green Bay from Detroit, Michigan, where his birth occurred on the 27th of May, 1878. His father, A. M. Murphy, brought his family to Green Bay in 1892 and was for a number of years actively and prominently connected with business interests here as secretary and treasurer of the Murphy Lumber Company but is now living retired.
E. N. Murphy began school in Detroit and continued his education after removing to Green Bay, at which time he was a youth of fourteen years. He remained in school to the age of eighteen and then started out in the business world, accepting a position as bookkeeper in one of his father's lumber camps. He was not ashamed to turn his hand to any work needed, and his willingness, industry and perseverance constituted the foundation upon which he has worked upward, making his way through every department to foreman. Later he went on the road as a traveling salesman and was after- ward secretary and treasurer of the Murphy Box Company, a branch of the Murphy Lumber Company. Eventually he became assistant manager and later manager of the box factory, thus year by year adding to the experience which has qualified him for his present business connections. When, in 1907, the Murphy Supply Company was incorporated, he was made secretary and treasurer. The business had previously been conducted by others who had failed to make it a success and they also predicted Mr. Murphy's failure, but under his management the business has grown to be one of the most prosperous and paying institutions of Green Bay. He is a man of keen dis- crimination and sound business judgment. He seems to readily recognize the relation of business possibilities and combines these into a harmonious whole. He is now bending his efforts to administrative direction and executive control of a business the success of which is attributable in no small measure to his efforts. His sagacity and enterprise have been constantly manifest in its control and development. Ile is also secretary and treasurer of the Green Bay Planing Mill and as a young man is today accounted one of the fore- most representatives of commercial and industrial activity in his adopted city.
In September, 1891, Mr. Murphy was united in marriage in Green Bay to Miss Gertrude A. Joannes, a daughter of Mitchell and Fanny Joannes, the Vol U-6
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former the president of the Joannes Brothers Company. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have three children, Morris G., Elbridge F. and Maxwell Door. The family residence is at No. 816 South Madison street and the hospitality of the home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. Mr. Murphy belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks but has comparatively few out- side interests, having always preferred to concentrate his energies upon his business, which has claimed his entire time and attention and which in its excellent results shows his careful fostering and wise management.
JACOB SCHMITZ.
Jacob Schmitz, a well known and successful agriculturist of Howard township, devotes his attention to that branch of activity which George Washington designated as the most honorable as well as the most useful pursuit of man. He has managed his father's estate since the latter's death and is the owner of one hundred and fifteen acres of land on the Oneida Indian reservation. His birth occurred in Oneida, Brown county, on the 14th of January. 1877, his parents being Ernest and Kathryn ( Hirt) Schmitz, both of whom were natives of Germany. Their marriage was celebrated in Green Bay, this state. Ernest Schmitz, who was born in 1846, emigrated to the United States in 1867, when a young man of twenty-one years, settling in the town of Howard, Brown county, Wisconsin. Subsequently he spent three years at Oneida but on the expiration of that period returned to Howard. He devoted his attention to general agricultural pursuits through- out his entire business career and prospered in his undertakings, owning at the time of his demise three hundred and sixty acres of excellent farming land. He passed away on the 26th of March, 1906, after a residence of almost four decades in this county, and his loss was the occasion of deep and wide- spread regret. His widow is still living at the age of sixty-five years. Their children were as follows: Sebastian ; Maggie, who passed away at the age of thirty years ; Jacob. of this review : John : Peter ; Henry and Louis, who died in infancy ; and Henry, the second of the name.
Jacob Schmitz obtained his early education in the district schools, subse- quently attended the parochial school until thirteen years of age and then continued his studies at Duck Creek, where he spent two years. After put- ting aside his textbooks he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm and since the latter's death has had charge of the same. On the estate are seventy-two head of cattle and six horses. He makes a specialty of dairying and finds a ready market for his products at Green Bay. In his undertakings as an agriculturist he has been very successful. the well tilled fields annually yielding golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestows upon them. He owns one hundred and fifteen acres of land on the Oneida Indian reservation and is also a stockholder in the creamery.
On the 15th of October, 1902, at Duck Creek, Mr. Schmitz was joined in wedlock to Miss Margaret Crooks, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret
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( Bell) Crooks. Her father is a farmer residing in Howard. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Schmitz have been born five children, as follows: Francis, who died in infancy; Bertha: Lattra; and two who passed away in infancy.
In politics Mr. Schmitz is independent, supporting men and measures rather than party. In religious faith he is a Catholic. He has resided in Brown county from his birth to the present time and has gained an extensive circle of warm friends within its borders.
JACOB DAVIDSON.
Jacob Davidson, a well known and prosperous merchant of Green Bay, now sole owner of a well appointed dry-goods store at Nos. 109-1I North Washington street, started in the business world in America peddling matches. There is therefore marked contrast between his condition at pres- ent and in the past, and he has reached his present position through close application, intelligent effort and unfaltering determination. He was born in Kovno, Russia, and his education was acquired in that country, his opportu- nities, however, being quite limited. He came to America in 1885, landing in New York city with a single coin, valued at about a cent and a half. He remained in the eastern metropolis for about two weeks and then went to Trenton, New Jersey, where he spent six months peddling matches, working from early morning until late at night in order to earn a living, and at length he began peddling dry goods. In this his profits were a little greater, his sales being larger, and in that business he continued for two years. He afterward did a little jobbing for about six months, at the end of which time he removed to Chicago, having lost everything he had made, and started again at peddling. Six months passed in that way and at the expiration of that time he secured a position as salesman in a clothing store, where he was employed for about a year. He then accepted a position as salesman in a dry-goods store at Menominee, Michigan, at a salary of twenty-five dollars per month, continuing there for two and one-half years. He then returned to Trenton, New Jersey, and entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, A. Moosovich, in the bakery business, Mr. Davidson driving the wagon and waiting on customers, while the partner did the baking. A year and a half was thus passed, at the end of which time Mr. Davidson took a position as manager at Crystal Falls, Michigan, offered him by his former employer, A. Block, of Menominee. A year and a half was spent at that place and he next took charge of the store at Menominee, where he remained for about eighteen months. Mr. Block then sold his stock to Brexton & Block, of Marinette, and Mr. Davidson then went with the stock to that place, where he again acted as manager for about a year. In September. 1893, he opened a store in Republic, Michigan, where he carried on business for three and one-half years, at the end of which time he formed a partnership with J. M. Block and opened a dry-goods store at Negaunee, Michigan, where the firm continued in business until the partnership was dissolved in 1894, after which
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Mr. Davidson conducted the store alone until 1897. Following a removal from Negaunee to Champion, Michigan, he entered into partnership with J. Levin for the establishment of a dry-goods store, with which Mr. David- son was connected until he came to Green Bay in 1903 and opened his present store. He has since been sole proprietor of this establishment, which he has successfully conducted. The business has continually grown and the success of the undertaking indicates his reliable and enterprising business methods.
On the Ist of August, 1893, Mr. Davidson was married in Republic, Michigan. to Miss Anna Levin, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. Levin of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Davidson have an adopted son, Harold, who is assist- ing his father in the store. The family residence is at 339 South Adams street and is a gathering place for many friends. In politics Mr. Davidson is a republican, his study of the political questions and. issues of the day confirming him in the opinion that the principles of that party are most conducive to good government. Mr. Davidson certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, having been both the architect and builder of his own fortunes. Starting out in life empty-handed he has sought the opportunities which have enabled him to advance, never sitting idle and waiting for opportunities to come to him. His life has been indeed a busy one and the steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible. He lias steadily advanced, never regarding any position as final but rather as the starting point for still further accomplishment. Not afraid of hard work he has conquered obstacles and difficulties in his path and today stands among those whose success has been honorably won and is richly merited.
CONSTANT DEQUAINE.
Constant Dequaine, cashier of the New Franken State Bank, is a native son of Brown county and from an early date his interests have been identified with its development. He is familiar with the agricultural life of this section for his father was a pioneer in its development and he himself was born on a farm. He has also been successfully engaged in schoolteaching and is at the present time an important figure in financial circles. He was born in October, 1888, and is a son of Philip and Matilda (Nelis) Dequaine. The family was founded in America by the grandfather of our subject, Constant Dequaine, who came from his native country, Belgium, in the early '50s and with his family settled near the village of Champion, where he took up land. It was covered with a dense growth of timber and this Constant Dequaine cleared and developed the property until his death. His son, the father of our subject, carried on the work already begun and has been identified with the agricultural progress of Brown county for a ntiin- ber of years.
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