USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 26
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ยท For his wife and helpmate Mr. Basche chose Miss Carolina Miller, a daughter of Nicholas Miller, and to them have been born the following children : Cora, who married John Kroening, living at 124 Eleventh street,
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Green Bay: A. A .. a machinist of this city, who married Viola Collard ; Frank, an assistant machinist, living at home ; and Philip, assistant machin- ist for the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, also at home.
Mr. Basche is a convert to the Catholic faith. His fraternal relations are confined to the Royal Arcanum lodge. Having passed his entire life in Green Bay, he is well known and has many friends, the majority of whom were comrades of his boyhood.
CHARLES H. QUACKENBUSH.
Modern business requires for its successful operation unique qualities of mind and temperament. To succeed a man must have an alert, active, intel- ligence, a breadth of view and a liberal outlook, combined with industry, integrity and cool judgment. All these qualities Charles H. Quackenbush, manager of the Cargill Elevator Company, possesses in a remarkable degree. He has been identified all during his business career with grain interests in Green Bay and has occupied his present position since 1908.
Mr. Quackenbush is a native son of Wisconsin. He was born in Pine- hill, Jackson county, July 23, 1870, and is a son of George and Josephine (Keith) Quackenbush. The family have been in America since pre-revolut- tionary times and its representatives have been prominent in industrial circles in this country for many years. Mr. Quackenbush's father is a native of New York state and came to Pinehill, Wisconsin, in 1854. He farmed in Jackson county for a short time and later removed to Whitehall, this state. He served during the Civil war in the Twenty-fifth Regiment Wisconsin Vol- unteer Infantry, and was mustered out with honorable discharge in 1865.
The public schools of Whitehall, Wisconsin afforded Charles H. Quack- enbush his early educational opportunities. He laid aside his books at the early age of fourteen and assisted his father in the work on the farm until he was nineteen years of age. In 1889 he became associated with H. E. Gettz & Company as grain buyer for that concern and has been actively engaged in the elevator and grain business in Green Bay since that time. He remained in his first position one year when he entered the employ of the W. W. Cargill Company in the capacity of buyer. He was stationed first at Sherwood, Wisconsin, and after one year of service in that city removed to Chilton in the same state, where he remained for three years. He rapidly gained a knowledge of grain values and the different grades of grain and became an expert judge in his line. He had a keen business instinct and a talent for salesmanship, and he made a remarkable record as a grain buyer. His advancement with the W. W. Cargill Company was rapid from the time of his association with it. After three years spent in Chilton he was appointed to the position of traveling superintendent with charge of all the Wis- consin stations operated by the company. He remained in this capacity for several years, traveling from place to place and keeping his territory under his personal supervision. He then returned to Green Bay to accept the position of assistant manager and acted in that capacity until he was
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C. H. QUACKENBUSH
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR, LENOX AND TILDER FOUNDATIONL.
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promoted to the office of manager with charge of the operation of the Terminal Elevator at Minneapolis. He remained in that city for two years and returned to Green Bay at the expiration of that time to take up his present position as manager of the Cargill Elevator Company. Mr. Quack- enbush is capable of a rapid grasp of the situation, and during the many years of his activity has made a thorough study of the values and different grades of grain. He is an expert judge of barley and his opinion upon any subject relating to his particular line is eagerly sought and it is conceded by the leading grain men that he is one of the most expert barley judges in the northwest. Aside from his activities with the Cargill Elevator Company Mr. Quackenbush also occupies the position of general manager of all the Wis- consin county and southern Minnesota elevators and is also in charge of the Terminal Elevator at Green Bay. There are at the present time over one hundred institutions of this kind operating under his administration in the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota.
On July 22, 1894, Charles H. Quackenbush was united in marriage to Miss Mary Thomas, a daughter of Henry and Gertrude Thomas, the former a pioneer blacksmith and wagon manufacturer of Sherwood, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Quackenbush are the parents of one son, Earl, who is a student in the Green Bay public schools.
In his political affiliations Mr. Quackenbush is a consistent republican but his responsibilities in the management of his large grain interests prevent his taking an active part in public affairs. His positition calls for a thorough, special knowledge of grain values, for a broad executive ability and a power of management, and upon his possession of these qualities Mr. Quackenbush has founded a remarkably successful and still advancing business career.
GODFREY JONES NEJEDLO.
As a member of the firm of Nejedlo Brothers, Godfrey J. Nejedlo is as- sociated with the affairs of one of the oldest grocery establishments in the city and has been an important influence in its growth. He was born in Montpelier. Kewaunee county, November 10, 1868, a son of John and Barbara Nejedlo. The father was born near Prague, Bohemia, and came to America when he was still a young man, settling on a small tract of land near Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he followed farming for some time. When he abandoned agricultural pursuits he became a partner in the oper- ation of a steam gristmill. one of the first of its kind in this part of the state. He remained in Cooperstown, where the mill was located, until he disposed of his interest in the enterprise, after which he removed to Door county, where he farmed for some time. It was in 1872 that he took up his residence in Green Bay, where he lived practically retired until his death. He became well known in political circles of the city and held vari- ous important public offices, including those of town clerk and town treas- urer. In America he married Miss Barbara Wesley, whose father was a farmer in Kewannee county, and they became the parents of nine children : Vol. II-14
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John, who is living in Montpelier ; Louis A., of Bayview Beach ; Zath A., who is now in the thirtieth year of his service in the employ of the North- western Railroad Company at Green Bay; Frank; Mitchell R .; Godfrey Jones, of this review; Albert L., who is in partnership with his brother God- frey : Joseph, a pressman living in Chicago ; and James, a traveling sales- man whose residence is in Green Bay.
Godfrey J. Nejedlo received his education in the public schools of his native section and began his career when he was twelve years of age. At that time he was employed as gardener in the old Smith gardens of Green Bay and retained his position for three years. Later he engaged in fishing and followed this line of occupation until he was twenty years old, abandon- ing it eventually in favor of carpentering and millwrighting, in which trades he became proficient and continued for five years. He later entered into partnership with his brother Albert, operating a grocery store under the firm name of Nejedlo Brothers, with which he is identified at the present time. It is a well established business concern and its owners, having steadily adhered to the honest and upright standards and to the pro- gressive ideas upon which they founded the business, have met with well deserved success and have seen their enterprise expand along modern lines. Godfrey Nejedlo has given his energies and ability to the promotion of its ad- vancement and is regarded as a representative of the highest business quali- fications.
Mr. Nejedlo was united in marriage to Miss Anna Lynch Duff, who was born in New York city, March 4, 1872. They have one daughter, Genevieve, whose natal day was December 9, 1899. Mr. Nejedlo is well known in the affairs of the Modern Woodmen of America and has many friends in Green Bay, who respect him for the qualities of industry and discrimination which have marked his business career and for the personal characteristics which gain him the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
AUGUST DAEMS.
The success which crowns persistent effort and careful management has come to August Daems, who for many years was engaged in the bakery busi- ness and is now living retired at Green Bay, for the rewards of his former labor are such as supply him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life without recourse to further business activity. He was born in Langdorp, Brabant, Belgium, February 19, 1846, and is a cousin of the celebrated priest, Father Damien. He comes of an old Belgium family. his parents being Jacobus and Patronella (De Kock) Daems. The father was a merchant in his native country, owned and operated a ferry boat and also engaged in various other business enterprises. He died in 1853 at the age of sixty years, while his wife, who was born in 1801, passed away in 1884. Among their children a daughter died at the age of ninety-four, and a son passed away in 1910 at the venerable age of eighty-eight.
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August Daems is the only surviving one of a family of seven children. He attended school until seventeen years of age and later engaged in the bakery business in connection with a sister. He was afterward employed for four years in a bakery in Brussels and he followed his trade in the employ of others until his marriage. He afterward engaged in the bakery business on his own account in Belgium until 1882, when he came to Green Bay with a Belgian colony. In this country he was first employed as cook in the lum- ber camps but in 1883 opened a bakery on Main street and is now the oldest living representative of his trade in Green Bay. A year after establishing his business in this city he removed to Adams street and rented another bakery on Main street, where he built his first oven. He continued to occupy rented property until he erected his own building, to which he removed his business. Subsequently he built the bakery which is now occupied by his son-in-law. He remained an active factor in the trade circles of the city until 1904, when he retired, having invested his money largely in real estate. From the outset his bakery business grew. for the excellence of the output and his reasonable prices commended him to the public patronage. As the years passed by, his success increased and he came in time to be reckoned with the more prosperous and representative business men of his adopted city.
Mr. Daems was married to Regine Bekaert, who was born in Belgium in 1843 and a daughter of Norbert and Sophia (Van der Zicker) Bekaert. the latter a representative of Flemish nobility. Mrs. Daems was one of a family of five children and has a brother, Benjamin, still living. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children : Theodore, of Oconto Falls, who married Vina Schuetzle and has two children: Emma, the wife of D. Willart ; Celina, at home ; and one deceased, also named Emma.
August Daems was reared in the Catholic faith and he is one of the charter members of the Knights of Wisconsin. For the past eight years he has been president of St. Joseph's Society and is deeply and helpfully in- terested in the various lines of church work. He started out in life empty- handed and, while possessing laudable ambition, he never took unwarranted risks but with sound judgment directed his efforts until his labors brought him prosperity.
ROBERT W. H. HOPPE.
Robert W. H. Hoppe, who is the oldest tailor in Green Bay, where he is conducting the business founded by his father thirty years ago, was born in Strassburg, Germany, on the 13th of November, 1856. He is a son of Albert Johann Gottlieb and Augusta ( Schrodt) Hoppe, who were born, reared and married in Strassburg, the father's natal day being the 4th of June, 1827. In 1872. the family emigrated to the United States, locating in Green Bay, where the father, who was a tailor, followed his trade during the remainder of his life. The paternal grandfather was a shoemaker in Germany. The father passed away June 28, 1899, at the age of sixty-nine
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years, but the mother is still living at the venerable age of eighty-two years, being born December 17, 1830, and makes her home with our subject. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoppe were born six sons, of whom our subject is the eldest. There are but two of the others now living: Theo, who is a tailor in Green Bay ; and Paul O., a tailor of Eugene, Oregon.
The education of Robert W. H. Hoppe was acquired in the common schools of his native land, where he passed the first sixteen years of his life. He subsequently learned the tailor's trade from his father, who, on his retirement sold his business to our subject, who still continues it.
Mr. Hoppe was first married in Green Bay, December 7, 1879, to Miss Josephine Mattern of Monroe, Wisconsin, who died after eighteen years of happy married life at the early age of thirty-nine years, on October 1, 1897. She had become the mother of a son and a daughter, both of whom died in infancy.
For his second wife Mr. Hoppe chose Mrs. Sophia (Pahl) Hoppe, the widow of Albert Hoppe, a brother, and a daughter of Albert and Louisa (Kramer) Pahl, natives of Germany, the ceremony taking place June 19, 1899. Mrs. Hoppe by her first marriage had two sons: Albert, who is twenty-seven years of age, a resident of Green Bay; and Julius, also a resi- dent of Green Bay.
The family are members of the German Lutheran church. Fraternally Mr. Hoppe is affiliated with the Royal Arcanum, and held the office of col- lector in that organization for eighteen years; the Maccabees; the Knights and Ladies of Honor, of which he is financial secretary ; and the Green Bay Turn Verein. Mr. Hoppe shows in his business taste, skill and care, and as he carries a high-grade and up-to-date line of materials and is reliable, enjoys a large patronage, among a most desirable class of people. He car- ries on his business in North Adams street, on the same site which he has occupied for fourteen years and as his trade has extended he has made many lasting friends, and his satisfied patrons are proof of the worth of his work and his honest business methods.
M. J. HEYNEN.
M. J. Heynen, well known in the musical circles of Green Bay as pro- moter and leader of an orchestra band and now serving as city treasurer. has come to be recognized as one of the valued and representative citizens of Brown county. He was born at Wavre, Belgium, December 22, 1869, and is a son of Martin and Adolphine (Collart) Heynen. The father was engaged in the wholesale meat business in Belgium, where he and his wife spent their entire lives. The son pursued his education in the Normal school at Namur, Belgium, and is also a graduate of the Brussels Conserv- atory of Music, cultivating a native talent for that art which has made him a valued factor in musical circles wherever he has lived. After com- pleting his conservatory course he engaged in the conduct of a music house until 1897, when he left his native land and came to the United States,
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making his way direct to Green Bay. Here he has since been identified with musical interests of the city and established Heynen's band and orchestra which he still conducts. He holds to high standards in this organization and it has become one of the leading musical organizations of this part of the state. Mr. Heynen also takes an active and helpful interest in political affairs and was elected city treasurer, entering upon the duties of that office on the Ist of May, 1912, for a two years' term.
In January, 1897, Mr. Heynen was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Servais, a daughter of Emil and Theresa Servais, of Belguim, who lived near Wavre. Mr. Heynen brought his bride to the United States and dur- ing the period of their residence here their home has been blessed with seven children, namely: Eugenie, Martina, Margaret, Emil, Gabriel, Har- riet and Catherine.
Mr. Heynen holds membership with the Knights of Columbus of Green Bay and with the Elks lodge, No. 259. While a resident of Belgium he served for six years as a musician in the Queen's regiment band. His interest in music has always been deep and abiding and his broad study has brought him into close contact with the masters of the art. He believes in the interpretation of the best music that the populace may become familiar with the work of the leading composers and his orchestra and band have proven educative factors along musical lines. As a public of- ficial he is making a creditable record, carefully discharging the duties of his position, the work of which he has thoroughly systematized.
NIELS W. HANSEN.
Niels W. Hansen is one of the early settlers in New Denmark and one of the most enterprising, prosperous and representative farmers of the district. He has a fine farm of ninety acres all under cultivation and by well directed energy and activity has made it one of the valuable properties of his section. He was born in Denmark in 1853, and is a son of Hans and Minnie Hansen. He was twenty years of age when he came to America, settling first near Lake Superior, where he worked in the mines for some time. From there he went to Winnebago county, settling ten miles west of Oshkosh and worked in that section for four years, coming to New Den- mark at the end of that time. After four years he purchased land in Shannon county but returned to this section after two years' activity. He was one of the early settlers in the village, coming here at a time when there was only one store and a saloon in the business section and he was obliged to travel to Manitowoc for most of his provisions. Having deter- mined to engage in farming he bought forty acres of land. He has made two purchases since that time, buying first thirty acres and then twenty, which he has added to his original tract. The land was covered with timber at that time and he was obliged to cut down the trees and pull up the stumps before he could begin the work of cultivation. He was ambitious and energetic and soon had his acres planted in the most suitable grains.
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He erected a barn and made other substantial improvements and his farm is today one of the finest enterprises of its kind in this part of the country. He never hires any help, doing all the work incident to the management and direction of his property himself.
Mr. Hansen married Miss Anna Petersen, and they became the parents of nine children, three of whom have passed away: namely Freda, who died at the age of four years; Tora, who died when she was two years of age ; and Hans Christian, who lived only one month. The living children born to this union are: Minnie, the wife of Henry Jensen, residing in New Denmark township: and Hans Christian, Amanda. Otto, Agnes and Esther, all at home. The family belong to the Danish Lutheran church.
Mr. Hansen gives his allegiance to the republican party, but never seeks public office, preferring to give his entire attention to the management of his farm which is ably conducted and intelligently operated in all its depart- ments, making him one of the leading agriculturists of this section of the state.
BYRON L. WALTER.
The history of any American city is rich in records of successful men who have entered industrial ranks when they were mere boys and have worked out their careers, despite a meager education but helped by innate ability and energy to triumphant success. The career of Byron L. Walter, president of the Wilson-Walter-Hansen Hardware Company, is an example of the power of energy and ability in the making of a prosperous business life. He was born at Monroe, Michigan, November 1, 1877, and is a son of Franklin Pierce and Barbara Walter. The family is of German origin and has been in this country for three generations. Franklin Pierce Walter is a native of Milwaukee and is now director of the River Raisin Paper Company at Monroe, Michigan. He and his wife are the parents of three sons : Joseph W., a partner in the Monroe Merchandise Company at Mon- roe, Michigan : Byron L., the subject of this sketch; and Carl W., now manager of the tobacco manufacturing firm of Smith Brothers Company of Milwaukee, and also a director and one of the organizers of the company.
Byron L. Walter had very little education in his youth. He attended the public schools of Milwaukee for a short time but laid aside his books after he had finished the third grade to become an apprentice to a plumber. He worked at this trade for two years and after serving a short time as office boy in a Milwaukee business house he entered the employ of the Shadbolt & Boyd Iron Company. After three months with this concern he took a position with the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company and remained in this connection for about five and a half years. He started as office boy and worked himself up by energy and industry to the position of house sales- man. He resigned this position in 1898 and removed to Green Bay, where he placed the stock of the hardware concern of Gotfredson Brothers, and put the enterprise upon an active working basis, he himself taking charge
BYRON L. WALTER
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ISTOA, LENAX AND .DER FOUNDATIONE.
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of the shipping and receiving department. His success in Green Bay was remarkably rapid. He soon worked himself into the office of the enterprise with which he was connected and compiled a catalogue of twelve hundred and thirty-nine pages. His work was exhaustive and systematic in every detail and gave an accurate account of the stock carried by his company. It was a book worthy of a specially well educated man and, considering Mr. Walter's limited opportunities, was a work of remarkable merit.
When the firm of Gotfredson Brothers sold their business to the Mor- ley-Murphy Hardware Company Mr. Walter remained with this concern in the capacity of buyer for one year. He had held stock in the old concern and bought more when the new firm purchased the business. In 1906 he sold out his entire holdings and in partnership with John C. Wilson started in the hardware and sheet metal business at 123 North Broadway. The com- bined capital of the two men did not exceed two thousand dollars. The busi- ness was started on a small scale but succeeded rapidly in spite of many obstacles. The number of patrons of the firm increased yearly and the market for its product gained in extent with great rapidity. The plant outgrew its original quarters and in 1908 the business was moved to 406 to 410 Dousman street. The plant occupies a building fifty by seventy-five feet, with two floors and a basement. It has recently added a branch depart- ment at 115 North Broadway, where the business is located in a building thirty by one hundred and seventy feet and occupies two floors and a basement. Even with their two stores the Wilson-Walter-Hansen Hard- ware Company is rapidly outgrowing its quarters, and the firm has just com- pleted a new building fifty by eighty-five feet at Nos. 107 to III West Wal- nut street, and the company promises to become, in a short time, the largest retail hardware dealers in Green Bay. The business was incorporated March 1, 1911, with three partners. Byron L. Walter, John C. Wilson and Ludolf M. Hansen, and with a capital stock amounting to twenty thousand dollars. The concern has met with phenomenal success during the short period of its existence and its prosperity is due to its well known policy of fair and honorable commercial methods.
On June 10, 1903, Mr. Walter was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Griebling, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Griebling, the former a pioneer hardware merchant in Green Bay and a veteran of the Civil war. He died in 1910 and is buried in Woodlawn cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Walter are the parents of one daughter, Arlene, now attending kindergarten in Green Bay. The family reside at 812 Hubbert street and are well known socially in this city.
Mr. Walter does not affiliate with any of the established political parties but reserves independent judgment in his support of candidates and meas- ures, upholding those causes and men that he deems best fitted to sub- serve the interests of the public. That he occupies an important position in the mercantile life of the city and in the particular branch of business with which he is connected is evident by the position he holds as president of the local Retail Hardware Dealers' Association. His fraternal relations are many and in the Masonic order, in which he has attained high rank, he is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 21. A. F. & A. M., Warren Chapter,
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