USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 13
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
a humble one and he received for his services fifty cents a day. Even in this minor capacity, however, he showed himself a capable, willing worker, and his advancement was rapid. By hard labor and concentrated industry he gradually mastered the details of the machinist's trade and became an expert workman along this line. Early in his career he showed the me- chanical bent of his mind and proved himself capable of handling the most delicately balanced apparatus. He gradually rose from the position of con- mon laborer in the machine shop to that of foreman and his work in this capacity was marked by a keen intelligence and a remarkable executive power in the management of the men under his charge. The early hardships of his career had taught him economy, and he saved his money until in 1904 he had amassed a sufficient amount to enable him to buy an interest in the business. In 1910 he purchased the interest of his two partners and became sole owner of the Green Bay Foundry & Machine Works. The plant which the business occupies is situated at the corner of Arndt street and South Broadway, and occupies a floor space of one hundred by one hundred and seventy feet. Mr. Miller employs on an average of forty people, and this number is at busy times increased to seventy-five. The Green Bay Foundry & Machine Works is recognized today as a promising and growing indus- trial enterprise and its success is largely the result of the expert knowledge and capable management of its owner.
On November 20, 1897. Iver Miller was united in marriage to Miss Martha Hansen, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hansen, the former a pioneer farmer of New Denmark, Brown county. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of one son, Carl H., now attending the public schools of Green Bay. The family residence is at the corner of South Ashland and Mason streets, and is a pleasant and comfortable home which Mr. Miller erected in 1897.
Mr. Miller is affiliated with the republican party and takes an intelligent interest in public affairs. He has, however, never sought office for him- self. being absorbed in the management and development of his great in- dustrial enterprise. He holds membership in the Moravian church of Green Bay, and has always been active in the affairs of that organization. He is an intelligent and upright man whose life has been devoted to the upbuild- ing and improvement of his flourishing foundry and he highly deserves the respect and esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
ROBERT B. VICKERY.
Robert B. Vickery, a representative business man and worthy native son of Brown county, makes his home on section 23, Suamico township. For the past seven years he has successfully conducted a general mercantile es- tablishment at Big Suamico, and he is also the senior member of the con- tracting concern of Vickery & De Bruin. His birth occurred in Suamico township, this county, on the 4th of March, 1873, his parents being Robert and Elizabeth (Wyatt) Vickery, both of whom were natives of England.
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The father, who was born on the 16th of March, 1837, emigrated to the United States as a young man of twenty and spent one year in New York. Subsequently he made his way to Waupaca county. Wisconsin, where he pur- chased land and followed farming for a few years. Disposing of his prop- erty, he came to Brown county and purchased and located on a tract of land in Suamico township. In 1909 he put aside the active work of the fields and has since lived in honorable retirement. His wife passed away in 1910, at the age of seventy-four years, her birth having occurred in 1836. Their children were five in number, namely: John; Charles; William; Eva, who died at the age of three years : and Robert B., of this review.
The last named attended district school No. 2 of his native township until sixteen years of age and after putting aside his text-books assisted his father in the operation of the home farm throughout the summer months. while during the winter seasons he worked in the woods. In 1905, when thirty-two years of age, he purchased the general store at Big Suamico and has since conducted the same most successfully, being accorded a liberal and gratifying patronage. He carries a stock of general merchandise valued at four thousand dollars and is at all times in a position to meet the demands and wishes of his customers. In connection with his mercantile undertaking he is interested as half owner in the contracting firm conduct- ing business under the name of Vickery & De Bruin. He is likewise a stockholder in the Howard Creamery Company and also owns the old home- stead farm of one hundred acres.
Mr. Vickery has been married twice. On the IIth of October, 1895, at Green Bay, he wedded Miss Winifred Knapp, by whom he had one child, James. The wife and mother passed away on the 13th of September, 1896, and on the 18th of April, 1900, at Green Bay, Mr. Vickery was again mar- ried, his second union being with Alta Dickinson, a daughter of John Dickin- son, who is an agriculturist of Howard township. By his second wife Mr. Vickery has a son, George.
Mr. Vickery is a republican in politics and has served in the capacity of town clerk for twelve years. Fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, while his religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. He has always lived in Brown county and has established himself in the regard of his fellowmen as an energetic and progressive business man, while his social qualities have won him favor and friendship.
EDMUND F. QUINTAL.
More than twenty-five years devoted to commercial education has placed Professor Edmund F. Quintal in a prominent position among the educators of his class in the middle west. He is now proprietor of the Green Bay Business College, which occupies the second and third floors at No. 100 North Adams street. The school has made steady advance- ment in the character of instruction and in the number in attendance since its establishment. Professor Quintal has been a resident of Green
THE NEW YOR) PUBLIC LIEKYPA
ASTOR, LEMAX AND
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Bay since 1887. He was born in West Stockholm, New York, Septem- ber 9, 1862, and is a son of Felix and Phila Quintal. The father re- moved from Canada to the United States in 1852, following the wheel- wright's trade, and in 1909 he, too, became a resident of Green Bay, where he is now living retired, making his home with his son, Professor Quintal. The family is of French and English origin. Patriotic de- votion to his adopted country led Felix Quintal to enlist in defense of the Union and for a year he was on active duty at the front.
Edmund F. Quintal acquired his primary education in the schools of his native town and his business training was obtained in the Cedar Rap- ids (Iowa) Business College. It was then that he came to Green Bay to accept the position of teacher in the Green Bay Business College, with which he was thus connected for seven years. Subsequently he was a teacher in the Brown's Business Colleges in Bloomington, Peoria and Galesburg, Illinois. He afterward purchased the Green Bay Business College, which has enjoyed continued success throughout the period of his principalship, the present enrollment being about three hundred pupils dur- ing the year. The school was organized in 1868 and the fact that it has lived and prospered so many years is certainly strong evidence of its superi- ority and merit. The founder and subsequent proprietors and managers of the Green Bay Business College have been men of great ambition and en- ergy. They have sacrificed much and expended large sums of money in the changes and improvements in courses and facilities which have been made from time to time in order to keep abreast of the foremost in methods and systems. During the last six years the attendance has almost doubled and it is impossible for the school to meet the demand for help from business men, for it has become a recognized fact that its graduates are competent to fill responsible business positions. Professor Quintal, expert accountant and penman, is superintendent of the courses of study, lecturer on business topics, office methods and systems and gives drills in bookkeeping. He has associ- ated with him F. D. Hoover and F. J. Jonet, expert accountants, who are in- structors in arithmetic, advanced bookkeeping, farm accounting, business and office practice, letter writing, penmanship, spelling, rapid calculation and commercial law. The other members of the faculty are Eva M. Waggoner, Louise M. Stern and Lewis B. Quintal, expert stenographers who are teach- ers of stenography, stenotypy, typewriting, court reporting, legal forms, mimeographing, tabulating and manifolding. Thorough instruction is given in all these branches, which are needed in the business office of the pres- ent day, and no higher testimonial concerning the school could be given than that it cannot supply the demand made by those who wish graduates for business positions. Professor Quintal has ever held to the highest ideals in the conduct of the school, recognizing that theory that cannot be borne out in practice has no value. His pupils therefore, are well quali- fied to enter at once upon positions where the only requirement is not the mastery of principles, but the task of familiarizing themselves with the details of specific business enterprises.
Professor Quintal was married in Bloomington, Illinois, November 8, 1893, to Miss Laura A. Brower, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. D. Brower,
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and unto them have been born three sons and a daughter : Lewis B., now a teacher in the Green Bay Business College; and Elwyn W., Kenneth E. and Alice L., all students in the public schools. The family reside at No. 1124 South Webster avenue and they attend the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Professor Quintal and his wife are members. His political support is given to the Republican party, but he has no time nor inclination for office, feeling that he can best serve his fellowmen by the capable conduct of a school that will prepare the young for life's practical and responsible duties.
LUDOLF M. HANSEN.
The career of Ludolf M. Hansen exemplifies in a conspicuous manner the splendid qualities of industry and good citizenship which distinguish so many of the native sons of Germany who have left the fatherland to come to the new world. Mr. Hansen is treasurer of the Wilson-Walter-Hansen Hardware Company, one of the most flourishing institutions of its kind in Green Bay, and he is also prominently identified with the real-estate busi- ness in Brown county. He was born in Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Ger- many, June II, 1875, and is a son of John M. and Inger Hansen, also na- tives of Germany, who came to Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1895.
Ludolf M. Hansen received his education in the public schools of his native country and learned the carpenter's trade before he came to America. He crossed the Atlantic with his parents in 1895. He was at that time twenty years of age and for some time he followed the carpenter's trade. He never refused to do any honest work, however, and was not above splitting and sawing wood at fifty cents a day. After devoting some time to various occu- pations he obtained a position in a furniture factory. His salary when he started in was a dollar and twelve cents a day, but by his industry and in- telligence he gradually rose to the position of manager and drew a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars a month. During the years 1894 and 1895 the financial condition of this section of the country was extremely unstable. There were many men out of employment and the streets of Green Bay were filled with laborers who were unable to get work at the wages of two and three dollars a day, which they demanded. With his characteristic in- dustry Mr. Hansen accepted any position which was offered to him, prefer- ring to work at a low wage rather than be idle for any period of time. His love of activity and his power of concentrated industry have been his dominant characteristics and are the secret of his success. When he re- signed his position with the Green Bay Furniture factory he worked for a short time as foreman for a local contractor and then started in business for himself as a hardware dealer, meeting with remarkable success along that line. He is now in partnership with Messrs. Wilson and Walter under the firm name of the Wilson-Walter-Hansen Hardware Company and he has held the position of treasurer of this concern since March 1, 1911. The company has two stores in Green Bay, one at 406-410 Dousman street and the other at 115 North Broadway.
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Mr. Hansen is also interested in the real-estate and building business and has met with his usual success along those lines. He builds on an average of forty houses every year and is the owner of much valuable property in Brown county. He buys real estate as a speculation, builds upon it and im- proves it and finally sells at a fair profit. He has erected about two hun- dred and fifty of the finest residences in Green Bay. Aside from his in- dividual speculations in improved real estate he also takes contracts for others and has built up a rapidly growing business in this connection. He is also half owner and treasurer of the Akin Laundry Company, one of the largest concerns of the kind in Brown county, and is interested in every movement looking toward the commercial development of Green Bay.
On August 20, 1901, Mr. Hansen was united in marriage, in Green Bay, to Miss Inger Selmer, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Selmer, the former a prominent farmer of Brown county. Mr. Hansen and his wife are the parents of three children: Alma, now attending school in Green Bay ; Mil- dred ; and Pearl. The family reside at 114 South Maple street in a beautiful home which Mr. Hansen erected some time ago. He holds membership in the Green Bay Commercial Club, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ausgar Society. He is well known and widely popular in Green Bay and has done much to further the commercial and industrial development of the city. He possesses exceptional musical ability, becoming very proficient on both the violin and trombone during his boyhood. He turned this to account by playing for parties, etc., and not only supported himself but also saved enough to make a start in the business world as he made from seventy to eighty dollars per month. He continued to play in the evening after em- barking in other enterprises until his business had increased so in volume that it claimed his entire attention. IHe still keeps up his practice however.
ROBERT T. JENNEY.
Robert T. Jenney, who established the Western Steel & Iron Works in De Pere in 1906, is a native of Wisconsin, having been born in Waupaca county in 1874. His family was founded in America in early colonial times by representatives of the name who came from England to the Plymouth colony in Massachusetts, about 1630. Members of the family resided in and about New Bedford, Massachusetts, up to the time when Thomas Jenney, the father of our subject, came to Wisconsin in 1848. In the Revo- lutionary war the family was represented by the great-grandfather of Robert Jenney, who served under General Washington in the Continental army. Thomas Jenney was a builder and architect and spent his early youth and manhood in Massachusetts. He went to Waupaca county, Wisconsin, in 1848, where he followed his profession for many years. He also built the first power boat ever operated on the Wolf river running between Fond du Lac and Gill's Landing. It was extremely primitive in construction and was run by horse power on a treadmill. He died in 1896 at the age of eighty years, and is buried in Lind cemetery, Waupaca county.
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Robert Jenney early became acquainted with the profession of en- gineering and attained a degree of expertness in designing and inventing which caused him to be sent to England by a Chicago engineering company to take charge of their British interests. He remained in England from 1898 until 1903, during which last year he was entrusted with the perfecting of various electrical devices for Lord Kelvin. It was in the line of invention that Mr. Jenney especially distinguished himself while abroad, but on ac- count of ill-health was eventually obliged to resign his position and return home.
Mr. Jenney married in 1901, in Edinburgh, Scotland, the English writer known as Shirley Carson. They have two children : Evelyn, born in Lon- don in 1902 ; and Rosamund, born in Green Bay, in 1912. Mrs. Jenney has continued her profession, and in addition to a good deal of magazine work. published both in England and America, she has written a novel called "The Motto of Mrs. McLane," which is a picturesque sketch of the early days of Wisconsin settlement. The family reside at North Broadway, De Pere, Wis- consin.
MICHAEL JOSEPH MCCORMICK.
No history of Green Bay would be complete without extended reference to Michael Joseph McCormick, who long occupied a central place on the stage of public activity here. He was a business man whose efforts were of far-reaching importance. Many, indeed, were the lines that felt the stimulus of his cooperation and benefited by his sound judgment, and throughout his career he was actuated in all that he did by a spirit of devotion to the public good. His life was, indeed, one of usefulness to the community in which he lived and his memory is yet cherished by all who knew him.
A native of Brown county, he was born on a farm in Suamico, in 1854. and was a resident of that town until 1870. He came of Irish ancestry, his parents, John and Mary ( Earley ) McCormick, having been natives of the Emerald isle, where they were born in 1813 and 1816 respectively and whence they sailed for the United States in 1850. For a time they were residents of New Hampshire but later removed to the middle west, establish- ing their home on a farm in Brown county, Wisconsin. The tract of land which the father purchased was covered with heavy timber and in connec- tion with farming he engaged in lumbering throughout the remainder of his life. He died upon that place in 1865 and his wife, who long survived him, passed away in 1910, at the venerable age of ninety-four and a half years. They were the parents of three children, the daughters being Sarah and Amelia McCormick, who reside in Green Bay.
The family remained upon the old homestead property until 1870, at which time Michael J. McCormick was a youth of sixteen years. He had previously acquired a fair English education in the public schools and later became one of the first students in the Green Bay Business College, where he finished the course with high honors, his record being often cited by the principal as an example for the others to emulate.
M. JJ. MCCORMICK
THE NEW YURI PUBLIC LIENZIY
AUTOR, LEADX AND TELDEA FOUNDATIONS.
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For a long period he was prominent in business circles and was at all times trustworthy, practical, industrious and progressive. He entered busi- ness circles as a bookkeeper for the Monitor Iron Works of Fort Howard and prior to 1876 was for some time bookkeeper for the N. C. Foster Lum- ber Company. He then began business for himself, selling flour and feed, in which line of trade he continued in connection with other business activ- ities for several years. In 1878 he became agent for the Goodrich Transport- ation Company at Green Bay and was long identified with the carrying inter- ests of the country, either navigation or rail. In 1886 he became agent for the Delaware & Lackawanna Railroad Company, which was then operating a through boat from Buffalo to Green Bay. His business connection with the navigation interests at this port and his consequent familiarity with all local needs of navigation made his opinions of great usefulness to the Busi- ness Men's Association and to the city in shaping and securing harbor im- provements, which in recent years have been carried steadily forward by the government. As the years passed by Mr. McCormick's cooperation was sought in connection with the control of many important business concerns which have proven of value in promoting the commercial and industrial growth of the city as well as individual prosperity. He made investment in many of the most prominent business concerns of the city and was elected officer or director therein. He planned, promoted and started the Northern Paper Mills in 1901 and on the organization he was elected to its presi- dency, and also as secretary and director of the Green Bay Paper & Fiber Company he took an active part in its management and in shaping its policy. Fle also figured in financial circles as a director in the Citizens National Bank and as treasurer and one of the directors of the Brown County Build- ing & Loan Association. He was made a director on its organization in 1893 and four years later, or in June, 1897, was elected treasurer. He was also the secretary of the Farm Garden Company. For fourteen years, from 1892 until 1906, he served the Business Men's Association as its secretary and was elected its president more than a year prior to his death. Some regard this connection with the association as the most important work of his life. It is certain that in that office he contributed in notably large measure to the upbuilding and development of the city, his cooperation in its industrial and commercial progress being of the greatest benefit to individual enterprises and to the city at large. He had the greatest faith in Green Bay and its future. He recognized its possibilities and sought the wise use of every op- portunity that led to its upbuilding. It was Mr. McCormick who erected a large warehouse between Pine and Main streets on Fox river in 1892. When the Northwestern Fuel Company withdrew from the field here Mr. McCormick continued to engage in the retail coal trade and in this, as in other connections, won success through close application, unfaltering dili- gence and honorable effort. He had been for twenty years a representa- tive at Green Bay of the Northwestern Fuel Company and this and his many other business connections had made him very widely known through- out the state. As previously stated he organized the paper mill business in Green Bay and, indeed, it is impossible to name any of the more im- portant business concerns which have not benefited by his efforts either
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directly or indirectly through his labors for the promotion of the city's welfare.
Mr. McCormick was very prominent in whist circles and was honored by being elected the first president of the Northwestern Wisconsin Whist League. He was president of the Elks Whist Club at the time of his death and was at one time at the head of the Green Bay Whist Club. He held membership with the Elks lodge at Green Bay and also the Green Bay council of the Knights of Columbus. His religious faith was that of the Catholic church. He passed away on the 7th of November, 1908, at which time one of the local papers wrote: "In the fifty-three years of his business life M. J. McCormick gained a position of which any man might be proud. . . All of the city is in mourning for the de- parted man, flags are hanging at half-mast and expressions of regret and sorrow are heard on every hand among all classes of people from laborer to capitalist. In every walk of life he was the same genial, sympathetic individual, beloved by those who knew him or knew of him. His list of friends and acquaintances was one of great proportions and he was known in every city of Wisconsin as a most honorable and progressive business man." He had been ill for some time from dropsy and a weak heart, but the end came suddenly. He fell from his chair unconscious and in a few minutes his spirit had taken its flight. His funeral was attended by a multitude of his friends, who gathered at what was probably the largest funeral ever held in Green Bay, to pay the last, sad tribute to his memory.
GUS A. WALTER, JR.
Gus A. Walter, Jr., is one of the prominent and representative young business men of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and has carried out the progressive policy with which he began his business career. He is secretary and treasurer of the Hagemeister Brewing Company, with which he has been connected since his arrival in Green Bay in 1901, and he has served in his present capacity since 1903. He also holds the office of secretary and treasurer in the Hagemeister Realty Company, which is affiliated with the brewing business.
Mr. Walter was born in Wheeling, Virginia, in 1880, and is a son of Gus A. and Mary ( Hagemeister) Walter. He attended the public schools of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, later took a high-school course there, and afterward a course in a business college in Green Bay. He acquired a good education, which he considers one of his most valuable assets in his business career. It was in 1901 that he came to Green Bay and en- tered the office of the Hagemeister Brewing Company. His promotion was rapid and due to his undoubted ability. After three years' service he was appointed secretary and treasurer of the Hagemeister Brewing Company with a similar office in the realty company of the same name. He is one of the energetic and alert young men who are the bulwark of
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