USA > Wisconsin > Brown County > History of Brown County, Wisconsin, past and present, Volume II > Part 48
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In 1872 Mr. Schmidt was united in marriage to Miss Maria Blaeschke, who was born in Germany on the 2d of February. 1854, a daughter of Christian Blaeschke, a laborer who came to America in 1871 and located in Green Bay, where he spent the remaining years of his life. Ilis wife
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was in her maidenhood Miss Christina Wallenberg, and to their union were born four children, of whom the wife of our subject is the only one now living. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt are the parents of six children : Gustave, who married Louisa Larscheid, of Green Bay, by whom he has two children: Bertha, at home; Arthur, who married Mary Kluth, by whom he has three children ; Amelia, Clara and Carl, all of whom reside at home. The upright and honorable standards by which Mr. Schmidt directs his life and the energy and ability which marked his business career have gained him a high place in the regard of his fellow citizens. for his activities have been useful and valuable and his success well deserved.
JOHN G. GROSS.
The able and efficient work which John G. Gross has done as a mem- ber of the Green Bay city council is evidenced by the fact that for four- teen years his fellow citizens have retained him upon the board of alter- men, returning him to office at each succeeding election with a unanimity which speaks well for the efficiency of his past service. He was born in Morrison township. Brown county, January 20, 1857, a son of John G. and Margaret (Moshel) Gross, natives of Bavaria, Germany. The father lived in that section until he was nineteen years of age and then crossed the Atlantic to America, coming to Milwaukee after a short stay in New York city. After some time he took up land in Brown county and farmed and operated a sawmill in that section from 1865 until the time of his death. Ile was one of the oldest pioneers in the settlement of this section and witnessed much of the gradual development and expansion and was, more- over. a factor in it. He was a charter member of the Masonic lodge in De Pere, and a charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Green Bay. He served as township treasurer at the time when the old courthouse of Brown county was standing and served also as chairman of Morrison township and was otherwise prominent and important in democratic politics. He was drafted during the Civil war but was released before serving. His wife came to America with her parents when she was a young girl and settled in Brown county with her husband in pioneer times. In their family were nine children: August, a fireman, of Green Bay: Carolina, who is married and resides in Seymour; John, the subject of this review; Louisa, the widow of Joseph Leonard, of St. Paul, Min- nesota : Fred, who is a boilermaker' foreman in De Pere: Margaret, who married a Mr. Schunk, of Wayside ; Sophia, who became the wife of Wil- liam Peters; Godfrey, who resides in Green Bay; and Christina, the wife of Charles Fertenburg, of Reedsville.
After pursuing the usual course of studies in the public schools of his native section John G. Gross engaged in farming and logging until he was twenty-four years of age. In 1881 he came to Green Bay and estab- lished himself in the saloon business and has been operating the enterprise
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which he founded since that time, gaining a success which is the natural result of business ability.
John Gross married Miss Bertha Schultz, who was born in Prussia, in 1861, a daughter of Ferdinand and Bertha (Timm) Schultz. She came to America with her parents when she was six years of age and settled on a farm in Morrison township, which her father operated until his death. Mr. and Mrs. Gross have two children: William A., who is married and resides with his parents ; and Clarence A., who is engaged in the mercan- tile business in Green Bay. The family belong to the German Lutheran church.
Mr. Gross gives his allegiance to the republican party and is one of the foremost figures in city politics. For three years he was chief of the hire department of Old Fort Howard, which is now Green Bay and was later elected alderman, which position he has held continuously for fourteen years. He is a member of the Green Bay Lodge, No. 119, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to the Order of Moose and the local Turn Verein, and in all these relations his geniality and kindly spirit have gained him the confidence and liking of all with whom he comes in contact.
GEORGE GAZETT
Success is largely a matter of knowledge and hard work. The truth of this statement is evidenced in the career of George Gazett, who is president and proprietor of the Gazett Candy Company, 624 Main street. Green Bay, where its store has been located since June, 1906. His knowl- edge of his business is unquestioned. He learned the candy-making trade in all its details and is a practical and expert candy maker himself. His capacity for hard work cannot be denied, as he left school at the early age of thirteen and commenced immediately to acquire a knowledge of the details of his future business. He is a native of Minnesota, having been born at St. Cloud on March 18, 1869. He was a son of Jacob and Annie Gazett, the former a native of Switzerland who came to America in 1852 and settled on a homestead farm. The land was at that time a wilderness but Jacob Gazett, by hard work and indefatigable labor. brought it to a high state of cultivation. He volunteered his services in the Federal army in the Civil war and was employed as cook for a Minnesota regiment until 1865, when he received his honorable discharge. His death occurred in 1895 at the age of sixty-three years. He had long survived his wife, whose death occurred in 1878. Jacob Gazett is buried in the Woodlawn cemetery, Green Bay, while his wife's grave is in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
The public schools of Minneapolis afforded George Gazett his educa- tional opportunities until the age of thirteen years, when he laid aside his books and entered upon active business life, for himself. He worked for six years at candy making and at the expiration of that time obtained a position in the employ of the Hewitt Candy Company of Denver, Colo- rado. in which connection he continued for the next four years. After
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leaving Denver he worked at his trade in many different cities until he arrived in Green Bay in 1893. Here he obtained a position with the Annen Candy Company as manager of their candy department, and he worked at this occupation with great success for some time. He resigned his posi- tion with the Annen Candy Company to go into a partnership with Wil- liam P. Brenner in the operation of a wholesale and retail candy store in Green Bay. This business continued on a small scale until 1897, when the partnership was dissolved and the business sold. Mr. Gazett then entered the employ of the National Biscuit Company, where he worked for some years. Eventually, however, his partnership with William P. Brenner was resumed. They bought back their little candy business and, abandoning the retail department, organized the Brenner & Gazett Company. They did a flourishing wholesale candy business under this name for some time, Mr. Brenner eventually severing his connection with the firm. George Gazett then organized the concern of which he is now president-the Gazett Candy Company. He built a large factory, equipped it with the most modern machinery and started in for himself in the manufacture of high grade candies. He now employs in his plant over forty people. His business is continually increasing and the high quality of its product is attaining a reputation throughout the state.
On May 16, 1900, Mr. Gazett was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Mueller, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mueller, the former a retired merchant and pioneer settler of Green Bay. Our subject and his wife have one son, Milton, now attending school in his native city. The family reside at 438 South Monroe avenue, in a beautiful home which Mr. Gazett erected for himself.
Mr. Gazett takes an intelligent interest in current politics. He never allows party lines to influence him in any way, preferring to cast his vote for the man whom he considers best fitted for the position. His only fraternal affiliation is his connection with the Knights of Pythias, of which he is an active member. He was reared in the doctrines of the French Presbyterian church and to this faith he adheres. He is one of the suc- cessful business men of Green Bay, absorbed in his work, which, however, he never allows to interfere with his intelligent and broad-minded interest in municipal affairs.
SMITH BROTHERS.
The city of Green Bay owes much of its business activity to the Smith family, who for two generations have been active and prominent in the truck-gardening business. In the city the name stands for everything enter- prising, energetic and constructively progressive in commercial life and is honored on account of the valuable work and the upright lives of the men who have borne it. The firm of Smith Brothers at the present time con- sists of Henry C., George, Filmore, and the brothers, Kenneth and Walter Smith, sons of the senior partner. Together they are carrying on the
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important truck-gardening business established in Green Bay by the father of the three brothers, who was one of the pioneers in this line of work in Brown county and one of the greatest individual forces in horticultural development in Wisconsin. Upon his solid foundation the business is being built up today, Smith Brothers being numbered among the repre- sentative business men of the city. Aside from this they are also con- ducting a flourishing general merchandise business which was established in 1876.
John M. Smith, the founder of the enterprise, came to Green Bay in early times and here established the truck-gardening business of which the present large concern is the outgrowth. He did some work in lumber scaling but devoted most of his time to gardening, being the first man to engage in this line of occupation in the vicinity. He dealt in garden produce, selling at wholesale, and gradually but surely built up one of the largest enterprises in Green Bay. He was interested in every growing thing and was conspicuously successful in making trees and plants thrive and flourish and became widely known as a horticulturist. His business acumen enabled him to make his ability along this line particularly effec- tive and the organization of the first horticultural society and the pro- motion of the first fair in Brown county came as the result of his efforts. He was a member of the State Horticultural Society and one of the most progressive and enterprising citizens of Green Bay. He died in 1894. His wife was in her maidenhood Miss Emily Torey and by her he had eight children: Henry C., senior partner of Smith Brothers; George. also one of the firm; Filmore, the third brother interested in the enter- prise : Frank, who is engaged in farming; Stewart, who has passed away ; Emmeline, the wife of Rev. F. Dexter, of Ashland, Wisconsin ; Silas, who is farming in Brandon; and Irving, who resides in Ashland.
Henry C. Smith was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and came to Green Bay with his father when he was still a child. He grew up in this city and was educated in the public schools and has always been identified with the business which his father founded. He married Miss Louisa Berger, a native of Germany and a daughter of Christian Berger, a watch- maker and jeweler in that country. To this union were born eight chil- dren: Victor and Edward, both of whom are engaged in the gardening business : Kate : Walter, who is a member of the firm of Smith Brothers ; Frank, who has passed away; Kenneth, a member of the firm of Smith Brothers; Ida, who lives at home; and Herbert. Henry C. Smith has given his entire time and attention to the operation and development of the business with which he has been connected since his youth, his ability and resourceful energy having been prominent factors in its success. He is still active in the conduct of the enterprise, being in the sixty-sixth year of his age. His brother, George B. Smith, is also an active partner. He mar- ried Miss Emily Bader, and to them ten children were born.
Filmore B. Smith married Miss Julia Crandle and they have two chil- dren. The other two partners in the concern are Walter and Kenneth Smith, sons of Henry C. Smith, and together the members of the firm work in harmony for the accomplishment of their substantial success.
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Walter Smith was born September 15, 1877, in Green Bay, and after completing his education in the public schools became identified with the business with which he is at present connected. For twelve years he traveled through the surrounding country, representing his firm and sell- ing high-grade garden produce. He made such a success of his work that he was finally taken into partnership and is now interested in the truck-gardening business and in the general merchandise enterprise which the firm operates. In 1903 he married Miss Ida Richardson, who was born in New York city. They have three children, Arthur, Wellesley and Catherine.
All of the members of the Smith family belong to the Episcopal church, in which faith they were reared. Their truck-gardening business is the largest of its kind in the city and one of Green Bay's most ably managed and profitable concerns. Upon the dignified and conservative foundation laid by John M. Smith the partners have built a modern, pro- gressive and up-to-date enterprise while preserving the best elements of the earlier times and have made their name a synonym for efficiency, pros- perity and business ability.
HARTVIG JOHNSON.
Hartvig Johnson owns and operates one of the finest farms in Brown county, comprising one hundred and ninety-seven and one-half acres of excellent land, which was his father's original purchase upon arriving in this section in pioneer times. Mr. Johnson, of this review, was four- teen years of age when he came from Denmark with his parents and has spent his life since that time in agricultural pursuits in this section. He was born in 1862, a son of Hans and Sena (Mortensen) Johnson. The father came to America at an early date and was joined by his wife one year afterward. They came immediately westward, settling on the farm which is now owned by our subject. The land was covered with timber and it was necessary to clear the trees before beginning the work of improve- ment and cultivation. From the lumber thus obtained he built a rude log cabin which is still standing upon the property. He was associated with much of the work of development which has resulted in making Brown county a productive farming region and before his death had made his farm an attractive and thoroughly modern agricultural property. When he came to Wisconsin wild game was abundant in this section and the condi- tions of living were yet primitive.
Hartvig Johnson was fourteen years of age when he came to the United States with his parents. When the family settled in Brown county he aided his father in clearing the timber and grubbing the stumps and has been a hard and conscientious worker since his childhood. His educa- tion was limited on account of the need for his help in the improvement and development of the land. This property is now in his possession and gives little idea in its attractive and prosperous state of its crude condition
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at the time of its purchase. Mr. Johnson has built a comfortable and modern residence, in which he lives with his family and has replaced all of the old buildings by new and up-to-date structures.
In 1887 the subject of this review was united in marriage to Miss Anna Johnson, a daughter of Peter and Sophia (Hanson) Johnson. They are the parents of ten children, Hans, Sophus, Viggo, Ingeborg, Alfreda, George, Elvira, Walter, Harvey and Ernst.
Mr. Johnson gives his political allegiance to the republican party, and is a member of the Lutheran church. He has carried on his father's work of development and improvement, changing his methods to keep pace with modern advancement but adhering steadily to the old standards of hon- esty and industry.
JAMES W. McNEVINS.
James W. McNevins, manager of the Retail Merchants Association of Green Bay, was born in Champion, Michigan, on the 24th of May, 1876. His father, James McNevins, was born in the city of Galway, Ire- land in 1832, and there passed the first eight years of his life. The paternal grandfather. also James McNevins, passed away in Ireland dur- ing the early boyhood of his son. His widow, Mrs. Bridget ( Hines) Mc Nevins, together with her son James, emigrated to America in 1840. first settling in Canada, whence she later removed to Cleveland, Ohio. residing there until her death. James McNevins was reared to manhood and educated in the common schools of Canada and Ohio. He subse- quently followed shipping on the lakes as fireman and engineer and for thirty years was employed as engineer on the copper and iron range of northern Michigan. For his wife he chose Miss Rose Smith, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1844, and was a daughter of John Smith, a native of England. Mr. and Mrs. MeNevins are both deceased, their deathis having occurred in 1889. They were both reared in the Roman Catholic faith, and were most loyal to the teachings of their church. He enjoyed the full rights of citizenship and took an active interest in local politics, although he never aspired to or sought public office. They were the parents of four children, those beside our subject being as follows: Mary who is living at home, acting as housekeeper for the family ; Delia, a university graduate, who is teaching in the public schools, also at home ; and Edwin, a student in the Medical College at Marquette, Michigan.
The education of James W. McNevins was acquired in the public schools of his native state, which he attended until he was a youth of fourteen. He then terminated his student days and became a wage earner, and for three years thereafter was employed in the mines. Next he engaged in railroading, his first position being that of fireman, from which he was later promoted to a clerkship in the freight department. He was later advanced to the office of cashier, from which he resigned. spending the next three years in travel. At the expiration of that time he came to Green
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Bay and opened a billiard and pool room in connection with which he also carried a stock of cigars. Subsequently he disposed of this establishment and in 1906 became identified with the official circle of Green Bay through his appointment to fill out an unexpired term as deputy sheriff. He was candidate for the office of sheriff in 1908, but was defeated by Frank Deviley, whose biography also appears in this work. Two years ago, in 1910, Mr. McNevins accepted a clerkship in the law office of Kittell & Burke, in whose employ he still remains, and in addition to his duties in this connection is acting as manager of the Merchants Association. Ile is a capable man and has proven to be very efficient in the latter position, possessing both the powers of organization and executive ability indis- pensable in an office of this nature.
Mr. McNevins is a Roman Catholic in religious faith, and fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and the Benevolent Protec- tive Order of Elks. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he is now candidate for the office of clerk of the circuit court. Mr. McNevins possesses the happy faculty of readily making friends, by reason of his pleasant nature and adaptable manner and is popular both in social and public life.
CHARLES PRUST.
Charles Prust, superintendent of the Brown county almshouse, is one of the prominent and influential citizens of Green Bay and a force in local business and political circles. Since 1903 he has held his present position and has made a record for honesty and efficiency in the discharge of his duties. He was born in Germany, March 8, 1846, a son of John and Char- lotte (Combis) Prust, natives of that country. In their family were seven children, two of whom are now deceased.
Charles Prust was educated in the public schools of his native country and served for three years as an apprentice to a wagon maker. When he had learned his trade he came with his parents to America, settling first in Quebec, and then in Wrightstown. Wisconsin. Here the father bought a tract of land of forty acres which he cleared and cultivated until 1888 when he moved to Marshfield and lived retired until his death, which occurred May 12, 1890. His son Charles worked for some time at Glen- more, following the carpentering trade in that city for two years. In 1887 he established himself in the general machine business in De Pere, and from that city went to Morrison, where he continued the same line of occupation until 1893. Since becoming a resident of Green Bay he has taken an active part in public affairs and has given his energy and atten- tion to movements looking toward the public welfare. After serving in various important capacities in 1903 he was chosen superintendent of the Brown county almshouse and is still serving in this capacity, discharging his duties with ability and efficiency.
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On October 5, 1869, Mr. Prust was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Conrad, a daughter of Ludwig and Augusta ( Prust) Conrad, and they became the parents of eight children: Minnie, Mary, Augusta, Anna, William, Bertha, John and Harrison. The family belong to the German Evangelical Lutheran church. Mr. Prust has been well known in republi- can circles of Brown county for many years and has served his fellow citizens ably and honorably in various capacities. For fifteen years he served as township trustee and for thirteen years was township treasurer. During the period of his activity in the latter office he became a local preacher and for four years continued his labors along this line. He was supervisor and assessor of his township and sheriff of Brown county from 1900 to 1903 and entered upon his present position in the following year. At present he is candidate for reelection to the office as sheriff and has made himself a distinct power in the political life of his city. Success has come to him by reason of his energy, labor and persevering study of mod- ern conditions directed by administrative ability and a power of control. Quietly by hard work and intelligent activity he has made his influence felt as superintendent of the county almshouse, gaining success in a difficult position by tact, business discrimination, and unflagging industry.
ELI J. GOTTO.
A modern hotel calls for economic management, the capacity for grasp- ing innumerable details and an administrative ability of a high order. All of these qualifications Eli J. Gotto, proprietor of one of the important hotels of Green Bay, Wisconsin, possesses in a high degree and they have united to form his success. No one who sees his smoothly running enterprise or who obtains a glimpse of its orderly and systemmatic manner of operation can question his fitness for his position nor doubt the flourishing condition of his establishment. Mr. Gotto was born in Belgium, May 14, 1847, his birth having occurred in the village of Pietrebais, in the province of Brabant. He is the son of Joseph and Elinora ( Mansart ) Gotto, both natives of Belgium. The father of our subject came to America with his wife and three children and lived in this country until his death. His wife died in 1890, when she was ninety years of age. To their union were born eleven children, five of whom are still living : Joseph, who is now retired and who makes his home in Green Bay, where he is steward of the Elks Club; Anatalie, who became Mrs. Max Morey, and resides in Michigan ; Florentine and Theofeld, both of whom reside in Belgium ; and Eli J., of this review.
Eli J. Gotto was educated in the public schools of his native country and after laying aside his books followed farming for some time. He also was a railroad engineer for a year and a half and fireman for four years. He came to America with his parents about 1870 and located in Green Bay, Wiscon- sin, where he clerked in general mercantile establishments for twenty-two years and gained in this time a knowledge of modern business methods. In 1893 he established himself independently in the clothing business, but lost his
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investments during the panic. He then took a position as night guard of the state reformatory and acted in this capacity for three years. He filled the position of baggage man for the St. Paul railway for a like period of time and later opened his present hotel opposite the station. His enterprise has all the aspects of an up-to-date and modern hostelry. It is equipped with all conveniences and is conducted along careful and conservative lines, with a view to the welfare of the guests of the house. Mr. Gotto is also inspector of canals, streets and sewers in Green Bay and has done able work in putting the city in a more sanitary condition.
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