USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 18
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Frank Gabryszek received his early education in a parochial school of his native district and when not engaged with his books studied the printer's
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trade. Later he took a college course in Pulaski, Wisconsin, and supple- mented this by one year in a business college, where he specialized in book- keeping. This occupation he has followed since laying aside his text- books and has also done some interpreting work in the courts of Brown county. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church. In his political views he is a consistent republican and is rapidly becoming well known in local affairs. He is now a candidate for the office of county treasurer. He is still too young to have achieved his final success but his enterprise, force- fulness and progressive ideas are a fair promise for the future.
NICHOLAS MILLER.
For a quarter of a century Nicholas Miller was engaged in sawmilling as an engineer but for the past fifteen years has lived retired, the fruits of his former toil supplying him with all the necessities and many of the comforts of life. Earnest, persistent toil was the foundation of his pros- perity and his life record indicates what may be accomplished when perse- verance and ambition lead the way. Hle was born at Coblenz, Germany, in December, 1840, a son of Jacob Miller, who was a farmer by occupation and came to America in August, 1845. He made his way to Green Bay, where he followed gardening and also worked as a general laborer. He at one time owned and occupied the old Jourdain home, which is used as one of the illustrations in the historical volume. He married Margaret Hopbrecht, who was also born in Germany, in the same locality in which her husband's birth occurred. He died in January, 1890, when eighty-four years of age, and his wife passed away at the age of eighty-two. They were among the oldest German settlers living in Green Bay and here they reared their seven children, of whom two are still living, Nicholas and John of Green Bay, the latter also mentioned in this volume.
Nicholas Miller was but five years of age when the family came to the United States. Ile pursued his education in the schools of Green Bay and then became an engineer, in which connection he was employed for twenty- five years in the sawmills of Wisconsin and other sections of the country. IIis expert ability enabled him always to command good wages and as the years passed by he acquired a comfortable competence, that now enables him to rest from further labor. For the past fifteen years he has lived retired, making his home in Green Bay, where he has resided during the greater part of his life.
In 1862 Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Clara July, who was born in Blankenheim, Germany, and when a year old was brought to America by her father, Nicholas July, who was a shoemaker by trade. After coming to the new world he engaged in farming in the Oneida settle- ment, where both he and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Reitz, passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born eight chil- dren : Carolina, who is the wife of Ed Basche, of Green Bay, and has four children; John Jacob, of Winona, Wisconsin, who married Rose Weiney,
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and has three children; Edward, of Green Bay, who married Anna Bung, and has three children; Frank, of Green Bay, who wedded Minnie Hobey, and has one child; Raymond, a resident of Geneva, Illinois; Archie, of Green Bay, who married Retta Hoolihan and has two children; Nicholas, of Green Bay; and Mabel, at home. Mrs. Miller died in September, 1903.
Mr. Miller was reared in the Catholic church. He has never been active in politics, for his business affairs have made constant demand upon his time and attention. He is a representative of one of the old pioneer fami- lies of Brown county and recalls the days when as a boy he frequently took his gun before breakfast and shot ducks and pigeons within a short distance of his home. Game at that period was very plentiful and was an indication of the unsettled condition of this part of the state, where many evidences of pioneer life were to be found. He has been an interested witness of the changes that have since occurred, making this one of the prosperous districts of the state.
REX I. MCCREERY.
Rex I. McCreery, who has been engaged in the practice of law in Green Bay for the past two years, was born in Lancaster, Grant county, Wiscon- sin, on the 31st of January, 1881. His father, James N. McCreery, was a native of New York, his birth having there occurred in 1834. In his early manhood he came west, first settling in Michigan, where he engaged in farming for a time, but he later became a resident of Wisconsin, and here passed the remainder of his life. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in 1861 and remained at the front until the close of hos- tilities. For his wife he chose Mrs. Harriet Strong Johnson, the widow of Alvin Johnson, who is still living at the age of sixty-eight years and makes her home at West Allis. To Mr. and Mrs. McCreery there were born three children, of whom the younger daughter is now deceased, leaving our sub- ject, who is the youngest of the family, and Hattie, the eldest, who is the wife of Harry Chalker, a stone-cutter of Milwaukee. By her first marriage Mrs. McCreery had three sons: Alvin E. Johnson, who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Waukesha, Wisconsin; Abner S., who is farm- ing in Michigan; and Arthur N., who is deceased.
Rex I. McCreery was reared at home and educated in the public schools, completing his course of study in the North Greenfield high school, from which he was graduated in 1897, his class containing four members. He subsequently turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, which he dili- gently followed until 1907. It had long been his desire to become an attorney and in the latter year he went to Milwaukee, where he later enrolled in the Marquette College, formerly known as the Milwaukee Law School. He had previously been appointed to a position in the United States postal service and was engaged in carrying mail during the day, so that it was necessary for him to pursue his professional studies at night school. He completed his course in three years, and in July, 1910, successfully passed
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his examination for admission to the Wisconsin state bar. In January of the following year he removed to Green Bay and formed a partnership with J. H. M. Wigman, with whom he continues to practice.
Wauwatosa was the scene of Mr. McCreery's marriage to Miss Maude Leonard, a native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and a daughter of S. S. and Anna Reilly Leonard. Her father is a veterinary surgeon, and her mother is now deceased.
Mr. McCreery was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church and fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is chancellor commander of the Green Bay lodge. He is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is past consul of the local camp. His political support Mr. McCreery gives to the democratic party, taking an active inter- est in all local affairs, and is spoken of as a probable candidate for the office of district attorney. He is a man who well merits success, as he has worked hard and has conscientiously applied himself to acquiring a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the profession to which he is in every way a credit.
THOMAS JACKSON.
Thomas Jackson is the oldest living blacksmith in Brown county and for forty-six years followed his trade in De Pere, conducting a shop in con- nection with the management of a fine farm near the city. He has been in- timately connected with the growth and upbuilding of the community, for he came here in 1853 and until his retirement in 1909 was active in munici- pal affairs. One winter during the early days he shod two hundred and eighty-three yoke of oxen in De Pere and he was one of the first wagon manufacturers in the city. He can remember the time when De Pere was the county seat and the courthouse, an old frame building, was located one block east of Main street, on George street. In the fall of 1853 the county seat was moved by popular election to Green Bay, where it has since been retained.
Mr. Jackson was born in Fifeshire, Scotland, April 5, 1832, and is a son of Henry and Ann ( White) Jackson, the father, who was a well known blacksmith, died in 1850 at the age of fifty years. A more extended men- tion of Mr. Jackson's parents appears in another part of this work.
At the age of twenty-one years Thomas Jackson came to De Pere and in 1853 established himself in the blacksmithing business in West De Pere. For a number of years he had almost as many oxen to shoe as horses but with advancing civilization this branch of his business was abandoned. At length Mr. Jackson formed a partnership with a Mr. Gow in wagon-making and together they managed one of the first manufacturing concerns in Brown county, giving special attention to making spokes and hubs. The business grew and expanded with the development of the city by reason of Mr. Jackson's energy and ability and it became in time an important factor in industrial progress. Since 1909 he has lived retired in De Pere.
THOMAS JACKSON
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR, LENNY INO TILDEN FRONTATIONZ
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Mr. Jackson married Miss Jeannette Lambie, who was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, February 5, 1832. They have three children : Robert ; Margaret, who married James Ogilvie, of Appleton, Wisconsin; and Anna, the wife of M. Bowman, of Minnesota. Mr. Jackson is now in the eighty-first year of his age. His active life covered an important period in the business and in- dustrial development of De Pere and his enterprise was important enough to be numbered among the influences which promote growth. By steady, untiring and useful work he built up a substantial prosperity and earned his retirement and rest.
DANIEL F. DEVROEY.
Daniel F. DeVroey, living retired in Green Bay, was born in Vieux, Belgium, February 25, 1845, and is a descendant of a noble Flemish fan- ily. His parents were J. B. and Angelina (Quatsoe) DeVroey, also natives of that country. His father followed farming all his life and died in Belgium in 1852, when he was forty-five years of age. His wife was born in 1809 and passed away in 1871.
Daniel DeVroey was educated in the public schools of his native sec- tion and when not engaged with his books aided his father in the work of the farm. When he was twenty-one years of age he came to America and settled immediately in Green Bay where he followed the plastering trade until 1875, when he was married. For some time after this he con- ducted a grocery store on Main street but sold this enterprise and moved to Colorado where he remained for about ten years. He next established himself in the general contracting business in Green Bay which he fol- lowed until his retirement in 1900. During the intervening years he built up a prosperous and flourishing enterprise, founding a distinct success upon ability. integrity and industry and he earned his retirement by diligent and faithful labor.
In 1875 Mr. DeVroey was united in marriage to Miss Elinora Gotto, a daughter of Joseph Gotto, steward of the Elks Club of Green Bay. He is one of the prominent figures in business, fraternal, and political circles of the city where he is now living in comparative retirement. He was born in Belgium, April 25, 1837. coming to America at an early date, his resi- dence in Green Bay dating from 1855, and he has been identified with various important local enterprises since that time. He married in 1857 Miss Josephine M. Van der Vesse, who was born in Belgium, July 3, 1834. and they became the parents of five children : Elinora, the wife of our sub- ject ; Flora, who married John L. Pond of New Mexico; twins, who are deceased; and Augustine, who has also passed away. To Mr. and Mrs. DeVroey have been born the following children : Daniel J., a salesman of Green Bay, who married Kate Sloan, by whom he has one daughter, Marion ; Lillian, the wife of Herman Greiling, a government contractor, also of Green Bay; Evangeline, who is the wife of L. Daggett, a salesman, of Vol. II-10
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Green Bay, and the mother of one child, Ina; Frank, who resides at home ; Louis, who married Victoria DeKaiser, of Green Bay; Leslie, who mar- ried Miss Beatrice Campbell, and who reside in California; and Myrtle, who resides at home.
Mr. DeVroey gives his allegiance to the socialist party and is actively and intelligently interested in public affairs. He never seeks public office, although when he resided in Colorado he held the position of county assessor and since 1910 has been justice of the peace in this city. He has many friends in Green Bay who honor him for his well known business ability and for the integrity and energy by which he made his active life successful.
CORNELIUS DENESSEN.
Cornelius Denessen is one of the foremost men in mercantile circles of Green Bay, where for the past ten years he has been conducting a large grocery store. For many years his name was also connected in a promi- nent way with steamboating on the Great Lakes and he has taken an important part in the development of this representative industry. A native son of Wisconsin, Mr. Denessen was born in Fort Howard, October 7, 1867, and has lived his entire life in this part of the state. His father, John Denessen, was a native of Holland but came, at the age of twelve. with his father, Nicholas Denessen, to America, coming directly to Green Bay by sailing vessel by way of Quebec. Nicholas Denessen farmed for the remainder of his life in Bay Settlement and there the father of our subject attended school for a short time. At the age of sixteen he became interested in steamboating and was one of the first men to conduct a ferry across the Fox river, between Green Bay and Fort Howard. At first he took his passengers across by a rowboat but later built the first steamboat ever used for ferrying purposes on Green Bay or on the Fox river. He married Miss Nettie De Graff, of Belgium. Both have passed away. To their union were born nine children: Anna, the wife of H. Berensteen, a grocer in Green Bay; William, captain and owner of a vessel on Green Bay; Joseph, owner of a vessel, and a marine engineer, who resides at 867 Elmore street; Captain Theodore J., also a vessel owner ; Cornelius, of this review; Josephine, the wife of Ernest Schwartz, of Green Bay; Henry, who is also engaged in passenger and freight navigation on Green Bay; Mary, who married L. Rondou, of Green Bay; and John, who resides in the same city.
Cornelius Denessen acquired his education in the public schools of Green Bay and when he laid aside his books engaged as fireman on a lake vessel until 1888, when he was promoted to the position of engineer. In this capacity he traveled all over the Great Lakes and became familiar with the conditions and the best methods of navigation. In 1893 he bought a line of boats, which he called the Denessen Steamboat Line, and operated
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it until 1897, when he sold the enterprise and built at Manitowoc, in partnership with John Johnson a steamboat which he called the "Two Myrtle." This vessel was used during the spring and fall months for freighting fish and carrying fishermen's supplies and during the summer time was in the fruit trade. For some time Mr. Denessen owned also an interest in the steamer "Liberty," which was used mainly for carrying fish. In 1902, however, he sold out all his steamboat interests and bought a grocery store in Green Bay, which he has conducted since that time. He has built up a flourishing business, for his integrity and ability are well known and he has achieved a degree of success which places him among the leading business men of the city. He is also interested as a stock- holder in the McCartney Bank.
Mr. Denessen married Miss Anna Zegers, who was born in Holland and came to America as a child with her parents, Peter and Mary (Tevoren) Zegers. Mr. and Mrs. Denessen have eight children: Hiram, aged twenty-two, who married Miss Mabel Conroy, of Neenah, Wiscon- sin; Arthur, nineteen years of age, and Myrtle, seventeen, who live at home; Elmer, aged fifteen; Ethel, thirteen; Dominick, ten; Raymond, eight; and Magdalene, six. The family are devout adherents of the Roman Catholic church, holding membership in St. Patrick's church of Green Bay. All during his active life Mr. Denessen's interests have been closely associated with those of Green Bay and his work has been a factor in the city's development.
ANDREW A. JOHNSON.
The position of the city of Green Bay, on one of the largest bodies of water formed by Lake Michigan, has led to the growing up of an extensive industry in the building of boats and the trading in nautical supplies. Prominent in this line of industry is Andrew A. Johnson, carrying on a large boatbuilding business in connection with a shipyard. His plant is located at the Fox river levee, where he has been in business since 1876. He was born in Norway, June 12, 1843, and his parents were Andrew and Marie Johnson. The father came to Green Bay in 1871 but remained only a few years, when he returned to his native country for a short time. Later he again came to America and carried on an extensive boatbuilding business in Green Bay until his death in 1899, which was the result of an accident. His grave is in Woodlawn cemetery. His wife had long preceded him in death, and she is buried in her native city in Norway.
Andrew A. Johnson attended the public schools of his native country and when he had finished his education learned his father's business of shipbuilding and carpentering. He worked at these trades until he came to America in 1870. For the next six years he was occupied in doing car- penter work and shipbuilding in the employ of others at Oshkosh and Green Bay until 1876, when he established a business of his own, in
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which he is still engaged. The enterprise began upon a very small scale. His facilities for work were not great and the market for his output at that time had not increased to its present proportions, but he was a skilled work- man and had grown up in the atmosphere of boats and boatbuilding and had acquired a thorough mastery of every detail of construction and equipment. His reputation soon grew, his clientage increased and his. business developed into numerous branches. He now builds boats of every kind and description-large lake steamers, tugboats, schooners, small motor boats and even rowboats. His plant has increased to such an extent that he now employs upwards of thirty people continually and the boats from his shipyard have attained a reputation in the ports around Green Bay for their thorough construction and their efficient equipment.
Mr. Johnson was married in Green Bay, in August, 1876, to Miss Petra Hogh. a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Severeine Hogh, the former a well known sailor. To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born five children: Arthur, who is assisting his father in the boatbuilding business; Hattie, who married Gustav Gunderson, an engineer on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; Cora, who is living at home; Aleda, who died at the age of thirteen years; and Gerhard, whose death occurred when he was twenty-five years old. The two last named are buried at Woodlawn cem- etery, Green Bay. The family is residing at 1222 Monroe avenue, in a beautiful home which Mr. Johnson purchased several years ago.
Mr. Johnson is a stanch supporter of the republican party but beyond casting his vote at each election he takes no active part in public affairs. He is a member of the Lutheran church of Green Bay, in which faith he was brought up and in which he is educating his children. In building up a business from a humble beginning to a large and prosperous enterprise Andrew A. Johnson has helped in the progress of Green Bay by promoting his own prosperity.
PHILIP R. MCGINN.
Philip R. McGinn, agent for the Arnold Transit Company at Green Bay, has since starting out in the business world been connected with trans- portation interests and has gradually worked his way upward to his pres- ent responsible position. He was born in Rockland township, May 23, 1890, and is therefore yet a young man. His father, Michael B. McGinn, followed farming in his earlier life and later took charge of the bridge for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. He married Catherine Gonlee, who is now living at No. 109 North Ashland avenue, but Mr. McGinn passed away on the 5th of April, 1909, at the age of forty-six years. In their family were six children : Philip, John, James, Frank, Pat- rick and Margaret, all of whom are living in Green Bay.
Philip R. McGinn pursued his education in the public schools of this county and from the age of fifteen years has depended entirely upon his own resources. At that age he began running an elevator for Phil Sheridan,
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with whom he continued for two and a half years, and then accepted the position of assistant purser on the steamer Eugene Hart, sailing on the lakes to Soo, Michigan. He was thus employed for two seasons and later became purser on the steamer McVea. His next position was that of purser on the Eugene C. Hart and when he severed that connection he became general agent for the Arnold Transit Company of Green Bay and is now general agent. Thus step by step he has advanced in his business connections and the record is a creditable one, indicating his faithfulness as well as his capability. In politics he is a stanch democrat but has never been an office seeker, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs. He has a wide acquaintance in the city and county where his entire life has been passed and many of his warmest friends are those who have known him from his boyhood to the present time, showing that his life has been well spent.
WALTER TRESTER.
Walter Trester has served as secretary and treasurer of the Green Bay Cold Storage Company since the organization of the concern in 1910. During this period he has gained extensive knowledge of the most improved methods of cold storage and has kept up-to-date by much observation and travel. He was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, August 9, 1887, and is a son of Henry W. and Katherine Trester. The father is a native of Milwaukee, in which city his birth occurred in 1857. He removed with his parents to Sheboygan in 1858 and is now located in that city as United States internal revenue collector. The family is of German descent but has been in this country for many generations.
Walter Trester received his early education in the public schools of Sheboygan and was graduated from the high school in that city in 1905. He immediately entered the employ of the wholesale cheese firm of George S. Hart & Company as stenographer, working in that capacity until 1907, when he was appointed manager. At this time he supplemented his high school education by a course in the Sheboygan Business College. He served as manager of George S. Hart & Company until 1909, when the firm failed and Mr. Trester started on an extended tour through Texas and Mexico. Upon his return he took the position of general office mana- ger and salesman for the S. J. Stevens Company and in the spring of 1910 was elected secretary and treasurer of that concern, serving in that capacity from May, 1910, until December 24, of the same year, when he resigned in order to tour the middle west in the interests of that company and of the Sheboygan Evaporated Milk Company, an enterprise affiliated with the S. J. Stevens concern. This was followed by an extensive trip through the southeast, where Mr. Trester studied industrial conditions in their rela- tion to the cold storage business. He returned in June, 1911, and was sent to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to organize and manage a new branch of the enterprise in that city. He remained in Green Bay until January 1, 1912,
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when he was again sent on an extensive business trip to the far north, after which he returned to Green Bay as manager of the local branch of the cold storage company. Mr. Trester has met with remarkable success in his chosen line of activity. His extended travels and his close observa- tion have made him an expert in everything relating to the storage and preservation of food products. He has gained his information in every part of the United States and Canada and has put in practice the most important and valuable points from the various concerns which he has visited, combining with these his own knowledge along progressive and modern lines. He has made the branch of which he is at the head one of the most efficiently equipped and thoroughly organized institutions in Green Bay and has given his time and energy to the improvement and development of the cold storage business along scientific lines.
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