USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 37
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JOSEPH SCHNEIDER
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR LENOX INS TILDEA POLADOISONG.
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HISTORY OF BROWN COUNTY
advancement. In 1905 he was elected town clerk and has held that office since that time, discharging his duties ably and efficiently. For seven years he has been justice of the peace and has other important political connec- tions. During the course of his active life he has become well known in business and in politics. He is admirably fitted for attainment along both lines, for he possesses an executive force and a power of control, com- bined with keen and acute business discrimination, founded upon a compre- hensive knowledge of modern conditions and actuated by broad standards of honesty and industry.
PETER HANSEN.
Peter Hansen is a fine example of the self-made man. He came to America from his native country, Denmark, and settled as a pioneer in Brown county. He remembers the time in the history of this district when wild game was plentiful in the surrounding woods and tribes of Indians were constantly passing through the country. He is today the owner of a fine farm in New Denmark, cultivated, improved, and highly productive, its excellent condition testifying to its owner's care and skill. Mr. Hansen was born in Denmark in 1849, and is a son of Hans and Anna Peterson. His childhood was spent in his native country and when he reached manhood he borrowed enough money to pay his passage to America and after landing in this country came immediately to Brown county. He was not only practically penniless but was also encumbered by a debt and was obliged to work for three summers in the employ of others in order to repay his obligation. He, however, saved a little of the small salary which he received and bought his present farm. It was covered with a heavy growth of tim- ber and Mr. Hansen was obliged to clear the property before beginning the work of development. Upon his land he built the first house in this sec- tion of the county. He erected barns and necessary outbuildings and gradually by persistent and intelligent work made his farm the excellent property which it is today.
Mr. Hansen was united in marriage to Miss Stina Gerhardsen, a daugh- ter of Peter Gerhardsen. They have five children: Robert, Catherine, Sena, Minnie and Nellie. The family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Hansen has achieved a tangible success and has gained a high place in the respect and esteem of the citizens of the community, to which he came in pioneer times.
STEPHEN BURDON.
In a history of the agricultural development of Brown county it is meet that mention be made of Stephen Burdon, who for many years figured as one of the leading and influential citizens, contributing much to the development and progress of the county along agricultural lines.
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His life, manly in its purposes and imbued with high principles, commended him to the confidence and good-will of all with whom he came in contact. He was born at Byers Green in Durham county, England, in 1816, and came to America in 1845. After traveling through several of the states and also through upper and lower Canada he returned to his native country.
Since her husband's death Mrs. Burton has continued to reside upon the home farm. Her early life was spent among people of culture and refinement and she preferred the country to city life, devoting much of her time to her family and home duties. In the early days of her residence here there was little communication between Green Bay and the outside world. Even books and other reading matter were hard to obtain. She has lived to witness a remarkable change during the sixty-two years of her residence here as the country has become thickly settled and the work of civilization and improvement has been carried steadily forward. She rejoices in what has been accomplished and takes pride in the work that has transformed Brown county from a pioneer district into one of the populous, prosperous and highly enlightened portions of the state.
where he remained until 1850. In that year he married Miss Adelaide Howard, a daughter of Captain Charles S. Howard, who died in India while stationed there with his regiment in 1833, leaving a widow and one daughter. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Christina Cameron, was a daughter of Daniel Cameron, of Inverness, and was born in Edin- burgh, Scotland. Her father at the time of his death was captain in the Inverness militia. Mrs. Howard came to America in 1850 with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Burdon, and remained with them until her death, which occurred in 1870. The daughter, who was born in England in 1833, had been educated in a private school of her native country and was seventeen years of age at the time of her marriage. Immediately after that event the young couple, accompanied by her mother. started for the United States and, making their way into the interior of the country, settled at Bay. Grove in Howard township, Brown county, Wisconsin. They met many of the hardships and difficulties incident to pioneer life but faced these bravely and became factors in the early devel- opment and progress of this portion of the state. Mr. Burdon's purchase of land comprised one hundred and sixty acres near Green Bay, which he cleared, developed and improved, making his home thereon until 1865, when with his wife and her mother he visited England and Scotland, returning the same year. He then sold the farm and bought a tract of one hundred and sixty acres five miles from Green Bay, known as the Burdon Hill farm. Upon that place he resided until the time of his death, which occurred in 1880. He became a prosperous agriculturist, his success being due to indefatigable labor, unfaltering perseverance and progressive methods. He was a leader in much of the improvement along agricultural lines and became a charter member of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society, taking a prominent and helpful part in the work of that organization.
It was on March 8. 1850, that Mr. and Mrs. Burdon were married and as the years went by eight children were added to the household. The eldest, Rose Jane. married John Correa, by whom she had one
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son, George A. After the death of Mr. Correa she became the wife of John Jennings and she is again a widow, now living in Spokane, Wash- ington. Ada died in infancy. Adelaide became the wife of Eugene Low, who is a resident of Milwaukee. Marion is the wife of John Russell, who is engaged in general merchandising in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and they have two children, Adelaide and Eugenia. Stephen H. married Miss Caroline J. Davidson and died February 18, 1895, leaving a son, Stephen M. Rowland S., engaged in the real-estate and insurance business at Green Bay, married Miss Elva Vosburgh and has four children, Lorraine, Thomas. Alice and Margaret. John C. is engaged in the real-estate business in California. Reginald M. is engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery in Green Bay. He married Miss Louisa Lang, of Houghton, Michigan. The family hold membership in the Episcopal church.
MIRS. ANNA CATHERINE VANDERBERG.
Mrs. Anna Catherine Vanderberg is one of the highly esteemed resi- dents of Green Bay and a representative of one of the honored pioneer families here. She was born on the 15th of August, 1837, in Blankenhain, Prussia, a daughter of Nicholas Juley and his wife, Catherine Raths. The father was born in Germany, July 12, 1806, and the mother on the Ist of April, 1812. She was a daughter of Peter and Maria Clara (Simmons) Raths. Nicholas Juley followed the occupation of shoe-maker as a life work. He came with his family to America in 1842 and, making his way into the interior of the country, settled at Green Bay, where he con- tinued to reside to the time of his death, which occurred in 1864, when he had reached the age of forty-eight years. His wife long survived him, passing away in Freedom, Wisconsin, February 5, 1894, at the venerable age of nearly eighty-two years.
The daughter, Anna Catherine Juley, was but four years of age when brought to the new world by her father and for more than sixty years she has been a resident of Brown county. Here she grew to womanhood and was married to Albert Vanderberg, who was born in the northern part of Holland, October 27, 1833, a son of Laurence and Johanna (DeWitt) Vanderberg. The father was born April 14, 1796, and died April 14, 1867, on the seventy-first anniversary of his birth. His wife, who was born in 1801, passed away March 23, 1885. They had come to America in 1853, settling at Little Chute, Wisconsin, while subsequently they removed to Freedom, this state, where they are buried.
After his school days were over Albert Vanderberg worked in the mills of Freedom at different intervals and subsequently went to Oconto, Wisconsin, where he engaged in loading vessels during the summer sea- sons, while the winter months were spent in the lumber camps. Ten years afterward he came to Green Bay and here opened a grocery store which he conducted successfully to the time of his death, which occurred July 27, 1901. 'He carried a large and carefully selected line of staple and fancy
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groceries and his business management and enterprise were such as brought to him substantial success. Following his demise Mrs. Vanderberg con- tinued to manage the store until 1907, when it was taken over by her son- in-law, who is still in charge.
Mr. and Mrs. Vanderberg were the parents of four children. William Ernest, living at Whitewater, Wisconsin, wedded Catherine O'Neil and they have two children, both of whom are now married, and in that line of the family there are three great-grandchildren. Lawrence R., the sec- ond son of Mrs. Vanderberg, is living at home in Green Bay. Clara Anna, born March 5, 1869, in Oconto, is the wife of Henry L. De Tennis, who was born in Menasha, February 6. 1876, and was one of a family of five children, who, however, were left orphans at a very early age, so that he was reared in an orphan asylum. Mr. and Mrs. De Tennis have two chil -- dren : Harry Paul, born June 30, 1908; and Maria Clara, April 1, 1910. Catherine Mary, born July 31, 1872, is the wife of George M. Kelly, a conductor on the St. Paul railroad. He was born in Oconto, Wisconsin, in 1879, a son of John and Margaret (Reynolds) Kelly, both of whom are deceased. The father came to America when a child of five years, his parents having died in Ireland, after which he was brought by friends to the new world. Mr. and Mrs. George M. Kelly have three children : Laurence John, born August 12, 1905; Catherine May, December 11, 1907 ; and Georgia Mary, September 15. 19II.
Mr. Vanderberg was a communicant of the Catholic church with which Mrs. Vanderberg is still identified in Green Bay. Few of the resi- dents of this city have so long resided here. Mrs. Vanderberg has been a witness of the growth of Green Bay from villagehood and has ever been deeply interested in what has been accomplished. Hers has been a wide acquaintance here and throughout the long years of her connection with this city she has made many friends. A kindly spirit and admirable char- acteristics have won her the high regard of all and she is today one of the most esteemed ladies of Green Bay.
FRED ALTMAYER
Fred Altmayer is owner and manager of the Union Hotel of De Pere, headquarters for the best transient trade of the city, a well kept hostelry with all the features found in the fine modern hotels. This fact alone would entitle Mr. Altmayer to a place among the representative business men of De Pere but he has other claims to prominence lying in his stal- wart integrity, his energy and business acumen, and his effective public spirit. He was born in Washington county, Wisconsin, January 1, 1861, and is a son of Nicholas and Susan ( Gross ) Altmayer, natives of Germany, who came in their early years to America, settling first in Milwaukee and later in De Pere. In their family were seven children besides the subject of this review: M. P., of Shawano; Mary, the wife of G. Sweetman, of Appleton ; John S., of Chicago; Christine, the wife of A. Schunk, of Green
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Bay; George, of Neenah; William, of De P'ere; and Clara, the wife of Al Schwartung, of Iowa.
Fred Altmayer attended the public schools of his native section and after laying aside his books farmed until he was twenty-three years of age. Later he came to De Pere and entered the hotel business, engaging in this association with his father until he went to Shawano, where for seven years he conducted a shoe store. At the end of that time, however, he sold out and returned to De Pere in 1899 and opened the Union Hotel, which he has managed for thirteen years with constantly increasing suc- cess. Visitors in De Pere and especially trancient guests in the city go immediately to the Union Hotel, where they are sure of efficient service, comfortable quarters and the utmost courtesy. By his expert management . of the enterprise, his keen business instinct and the excellent results he has attained Mr. Altmayer has made the hotel one of the finest in the city and has definitely established himself among the leading business men.
Mr. Altmayer married Miss Louise Hochgreve, a daughter of Mrs. C. Hochgreve, widow of the founder of the Hochgreve Brewing Company of Green Bay. Mr. and Mrs. Altmayer have one daughter, Susanna C., who lives at home.
Mr. Altmayer gives his allegiance to the democratic party and is an active worker in its interests. While a resident of Shawano he served for three years as city clerk and demonstrated fully his ability along public lines. He is well known in the affairs of the Knights of Pythias and the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His position as proprietor of one of the important hotels of the city enables him to be practically in the midst of public affairs and gives him an opportunity to follow public opinion and sentiment. Thus he has gradually become prominent in the affairs of the district and has served as supervisor for the past ten years. He was also one of the organizers of the Brown County Fair Association and is at present a director and treasurer. His kindly and genial qualities have gained him widespread popularity both in the city and among the people who. have been his guests, so that his influence has gradually expanded beyond local limits.
A. McCOMB.
A. McComb is engaged in the general practice of law in the city of Green Bay, having his offices with the Fox River Land & Loan Company at suite 313, Minahan building. He is also member of the assembly for the first district of Brown county, having been elected on the republican ticket in the fall of 1912. He was born January 22, 1885, at Fort Atkinson, Wis- consin, and is a son of Thomas and Deborah McComb. His father died August 10, 1910.
A. McComb received his early education in the public schools of Fort Atkinson, graduating from high school there in 1903. Immediately follow- ing graduation he taught school for sometime and also ran his father's
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farm in Rock county, where his mother still resides. Later Mr. McComb entered the University of Wisconsin and during his student life became prominent as a debater, taking part in the joint debate of the university for the year 1909. In February, 1910, he was graduated from the law department of the university with the degree of LL. B. He then entered the law office of Buell & Lucas, in Madison, Wisconsin, and later returned to Fort Atkinson, where he was associated with the firm of Webb & Tratt in the practice of his profession. He was also manager of a real-estate paper which he published at Fort Atkinson and later at Green Bay. This paper was called the American Real Estate Seller. It has since been merged with a Chicago real-estate paper. In August, 1911, Mr. McComb came to Green Bay and opened up an office for the practice of his pro- fession.
Mr. McComb is a member of several fraternal orders and business organizations. Since locating in Green Bay he has identified himself with many movements for the welfare of the city. As a lawyer he has practiced with marked success in all the courts and has shown himself to be a man of undisputed legal ability.
FRED GOTHE.
Fred Gothe has devoted many years to the hotel business in different parts of Wisconsin and operated enterprises of this kind in various sections of the state for almost twenty years. He met with a substantial success in this line of business and upon his retirement in 1902 was accounted a distinctly successful man. He was born in Germany, September 20, 1859, a son of Martin and Carolina (Meyer) Gothe, also natives of that country. The father's birth occurred in 1834 and he followed the trade of weaving until he came to America. Settling in Pittsfield township, Brown county, Wisconsin, in 1866, he purchased forty acres of land, which he cleared and cultivated and upon which he built a log cabin. In this dwelling he lived for fifteen years and then sold his Wisconsin prop- erty and went to Michigan, locating in Iron Mountain, where he opened a restaurant and café, in the conduct of which he met with gratifying success until his death, which occurred in 1900. His widow is still liv- ing and makes her home in Iron Mountain. By their union were born six children, Fred, Christ, Rynert, William, Lena and Recke.
Fred Gothe remained in Germany until he was seven years of age and was then brought to America by his parents, who settled in Pitts- field township, Brown county. They were extremely poor and during the hard winter months were unable to buy sufficient clothes to enable their son to attend school. Thus it was that his educational opportuni- ties were extremely limited, as he was a pupil in the district schools only during a portion of the summer. After he laid aside his books he worked as a laborer upon neighboring farms until he was twenty years of age and then went to Eau Claire, where he followed the same occupation for
FRED GOTHE
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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
AUTOR LEMAX AND TILDEN POLADATIONE.
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three years. For one year he mined in Michigan and then spent three years in the lumber camps of that state. In Iron Mountain he opened the first German hotel and conducted it for several years, returning eventually to Wisconsin, where he engaged in the same business until his retirement. He still owns the Arlington Hotel in Green Bay, set in the midst of ten acres of land, and a restaurant and café on the Shawano road in Howard township.
On August 15, 1889, Mr. Gothe was united in marriage in Iron Moun- tain to Miss Mary Cilia, who died in 1903. They became the parents of seven children, F. Leonard, Lucy Eva, Mary Louisa, Fred James, Sophia Margaret, Cecilia and Phoebe.
The family belong to the Catholic church, with exception of Mr. Gothe, who is a Lutheran. He gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never sought public office. He is a member of the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks and has many warm friends in this section. He has given up business activities of all kinds and is enjoying a rest made possible by intelligent and well directed labor.
ERNEST T. STRAUBEL.
Ernest T. Straubel is secretary and treasurer of the Straubel Machine Company located at 625 Willow street, Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was born in Green Bay, October 28, 1874, and is a son of F. E. and Christina Straubel, of whom more extended mention is made in the review of Louis A. Straubel, published in another part of this work. Ernest T. Straubel was reared at home, received his early education in the public schools of his native city and immediately following the close of his school years he engaged at work in his father's brickyard at Green Bay until he attained the age of twenty years. He then engaged as an apprenticed machinist and continued as such for two years. He later worked as an apprenticed machinist in the shop of his brother, Louis A., for one year, and for two years was em- ployed in the same shop as a master machinist. In 1899 he went to Mil- waukee and there took up work as a machinist with the Vilter Manufacturing Company for one year and later followed his trade as an employe of Gueder & Paschke for a similar length of time and engaged in the same work for a year with the Luther & Gies Company. He then entered into partnership with his brother, Louis A., in the machine business which was conducted under the firm name of the Straubel Machine Company, and later the company admitted to a partnership in the business another brother, at which time the business was incorporated under the firm name of the Straubel Machine Company and has since continued to be successful in the machine manufacturing business.
Mr. Straubel was united in marriage in Green Bay, July 25, 1906, to Miss Frances A. Sprague, a daughter of James and Annie Sprague. The father was a carpenter by trade and followed this occupation for a living in Green Bay until the time of his death, which occurred July 23, 1905. Vol. II-20
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Mr. and Mrs. Straubel are the parents of one child, Ernest S., and the family reside at 314 South Madison street.
Mr. Straubel, as secretary and treasurer of the Straubel Machine Com- pany, is a man who is well known throughout northeastern Wisconsin as one of the enterprising and successful business men of his county and state.
CHARLES T. KIMBALL, JR.
The wholesale and retail hardware business, which also comprises depart- ments of blacksmiths' and mill supplies, which is at present owned by Charles T. Kimball, Jr., has been in his family for three generations. It has busi- ness traditions and a well marked-out commercial policy which has been handed down from father to son. Charles T. Kimball, Jr., its present owner. is a native of Green Bay, where his birth occurred July 27, 1877. He is a son of Charles T. and Elizabeth C. Kimball. His grandfather was Alonzo Kimball, the founder of the hardware business, which bears the name of his grandson today. Alonzo Kimball was descended from Richard, of the same name. who came to America in 1634 from Rattlesden, Suffolk county, Eng- land. The grandfather was the fifth son of Rev. Reul Kimball and Hannah Mather. His birth occurred at Leroy, New York, November 20, 1808. He was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, and was study- ing for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary in the same state when he became ill and was obliged to abandon his ambitions along this line. He was married at Dalton, Massachusetts, October 1, 1840, to Miss Sara Weston, a daughter of Rev. Isaiah and Sara ( Deane) Weston. In 1848 he removed to Milwaukee and two years later to Green Bay. He celebrated his golden wedding in 1890, surrounded by the united families of his five children : Mary, now Mrs. M. H. Walker, of Green Bay; A. Weston, for- merly postmaster at Green Bay and now agent for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, whose son, Alonzo Kimball of New York city, is an illustrator of note ; Charles T., the father of our subject, who succeeded Alonzo in the hardware business; Mather D., now a resident of Milwaukee ; and Mrs. William H. Hobbs, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mrs. Alonzo Kin- ball died June 27, 1891, and her husband survived her until August 7, 1900. Alonzo Kimball, during the period of his residence in Green Bay, was an active figure in business and religious circles. He founded the store, of which his grandson is now the head, in 1854, and was an elder of the Union Con- gregational church until the time of his death in 1900. His son, Charles Theodore Kimball, Sr., the father of our subject, succeeded in the hardware business. He was born at Dalton, Massachusetts, October 10, 1847, and came to Green Bay with his parents in 1849. He grew up and was educated in that city, later attending the Spencerian Business College at Milwaukee for a short time. He married on September 5, 1871, Miss Elizabeth Caw- thorne, formerly of Port Hope, Canada, a daughter of William B. and Jane ( Bell) Cawthorne, the former a native of Newcastle-on-Tyne, England.
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and the latter of Scarborough, England. They are the parents of three chil- dren : Mary B. ; Myra W. ; and Charles T., Jr., of this review. Charles Theo- dore Kimball, Sr., became associated with his father in business in 1870. Ile is active in various fraternal orders in Green Bay and is affiliated with Pochequette Lodge, No. 26, Knights of Pythias, and is a past grand chan- cellor of the state of Wisconsin. He succeeded to entire charge of the busi- ness in 1900, keeping the original name of the firm. All during his life he has been prominently interested in musical enterprises, was director and organist in his church choir and a leader of the Kimball's Silver Band and other bands of Green Bay for over twenty-seven years. He has composed and published music of various descriptions and has attained quite a reputa- tion along this line.
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