USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 30
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J. W. Miller came to Wausau in 1866, being then only sixteen years of age. He had received a good common school education in Germany ; learned the shoemaker trade; then worked as clerk and bookkeeper, also as school teacher, until he was elected city clerk in 1878, which office he held for many years, and he served also as county clerk of Marathon county, and in every position he has acquitted himself with honor. In 1901 he was appointed by President Mckinley to the office of register of the United States land office
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at Wausau, which position was made vacant by the resignation of Mr. Ed. Wheelock, and was reappointed in 1905 and 1909-a deserved recognition of his ability and integrity. When he took charge of this office he found a large amount of unfinished business which awaited disposition. He was per- fectly at home with the clerical work of the office, but unacquainted with the legal practice and the laws and their construction concerning United States land laws; but, with the determination and perseverance characteristic of him, he applied himself to the study of laws and the procedure, and in a short time all unfinished business was disposed of to the satisfaction of the department in Washington, which in nearly every instance confirmed the decision of the Wausau office, which was recognized as the model land office of Wisconsin.
It is now the only United States land office in this state, the offices for- merly existing in Eau Claire and Ashland having been transferred and com- bined with the Wausau land office since his appointment to office.
In addition to the offices mentioned he has been deputy county clerk during the incumbency of this office by Henry Miller. He was born in Ger- many, and has always taken great interest in German societies and interested himself especially to assist the German emigrant with advice and instruction where the newcomer's ignorance of the knowledge of the language and laws of the country made such an advice much valuable.
In the discharge of official duties as well as in private life, he was always affable and courteous, freely giving all information requested of him, and the writer acknowledges his gratitude for courtesies extended to him in allowing examination of United States land office records and assistance rendered him in the gathering of information from the United States land office in the compilation of this book.
H: E. MCEACHRON.
H. E. McEachron, who was elected in 1895 and again in 1897, was the first mayor of Wausau who had the benefit of a college and university edu- cation. At the state university he became intimately acquainted with the late Charles V. Bardeen, later a justice of the supreme court, and with Alva Adams, thrice elected governor of Colorado, who were, like him, university students at that time. He had served as chairman of the finance committee during Mayor Miller's administration and negotiated the bond sale of $75,- ooo previously referred to. Fully realizing the necessity of practicing econ- omy, he followed in the footsteps of the previous administration, trying to
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keep city expenses down without allowing public utilities or public property to suffer or depreciate for want of repairs.
The abutments of the high bridge built in 1892 were found to be defec- tive and were promptly repaired; inquiries were made as to the cost and manner of different kinds of pavement and much useful information was gathered. The Brodie tannery was encouraged to locate here by giving it a five-acre tract for a site, which tannery is now owned and operated by the United States Leather Company, and is one of the important industries of Wausau. A franchise was granted to the Wausau Telephone Company-a sort of cooperative society-and its organization encouraged so far as the city could give it aid legally. This company has reduced telephone rates in Wausau from $4.00 per month for business 'phones and $3.00 per month for residence 'phones theretofore charged by the Wisconsin Telephone Com- pany, to $3.00 for business and $1.50 per month for residence 'phones.
Soon after his election in 1897, he urged the construction of the so-called Seventh street sewer, which was a new main sewer outlet, calculated not only to give sewerage to the middle and eastern portions of the city, but to effect- ually and permanently drain the low grounds which were formerly marsh, and a large part of which were subject to overflow at every spring freshet and after heavy rains. His recommendations were acted upon and the work accomplished at a cost of over $14,000. This expenditure was met by a bond issue of $12,000, bearing 5 per cent interest and payable $1,000 semi- annually. The last of these bonds were paid in 1903. The drainage of these low grounds was demanded in the interest of public health, and the fevers which were of frequent occurrence in that territory have entirely disappeared. It was also successful from a pecuniary point of view, because that region is now dotted with good residences, the revenues from which swell the tax income of this city.
Mr. McEachron came to Wausau in 1882 and acquired an interest in the Herchenbach flour mill by purchase, but soon bought his partners out, became sole owner until he organized a corporation. The large increase in the business of this mill since Mr. McEachron acquired it speaks volumes for his ability and integrity as a business man, and as he is diligent and accom- modating in his business affairs, so was he in his official capacity. A person of great intellect and fine address, he is nevertheless unassuming in his man- ner and enjoys great popularity. His fine residence on Franklin street is one of the salons of Wausau, where since the death of Mrs. McEachron, his daughter, Miss DeEtte, delights to do honors to a large circle of literary and music loving people of Wausau.
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1896-The People's party, so called, which was in reality the reorganized Greenback party under a new name, with a somewhat changed political pro- gram, demanding the equal coinage of gold and silver as money, with govern- ment ownership of all public utilities added to the program, which under this new name and program achieved sudden success in Kansas and other western states in 1892 and the year immediately following, had its enthusiastic adher- ents in Wausau, more so probably than in any other city in Wisconsin.
E. J. ANDERSON.
It held a convention, nominated E. J. Anderson as its candidate for mayor, and after a short but enthusiastic canvass, he was elected. With commendable frankness the new mayor acknowledged in his inaugural that he had no previous experience as legislator or executive officer, having in fact held no office whatever up to this time, but that he was desirous of doing his full duty and coveted the aid and counsel of the older and more expe- rienced public officers. Still, his message, which by the way, is the lengthiest document of the kind on record in Wausau, shows him to be well informed on city affairs, and reveals him as a man of original ideas. He pointed to the unpleasant fact that the city treasury was empty and that unpaid obliga- tions to the tune of about $7,000 were to be met. As a remedy he urged spartan simplicity and economy, not failing to specify where, in his opinion, expenses could be reduced in order to relieve the tax payers and clear the way in the near future for the improvements of public streets, the establish- ment of a public library, and the purchase of land for a large public park. The vacuum in the treasury was so apparent, that the city council at its first meeting authorized a temporary loan of $6,000 to meet the demand, until the receipts from the water department on May Ist and for liquor licenses would become available.
The mayor made a strong effort of adhering to his policy of economizing and in that he was fairly successful. No great works were undertaken, but the city emerged with a greatly reduced indebtedness towards the end and the treasury recovered somewhat from the chronic depletion which charac- terized it on the beginning of his administration. A new bridge was ordered to be built at an expense of $2,400 and plans prepared for the drainage of the eastern and southern portions of the city, which work was carried out under the succeeding administration.
E. J. Anderson enlisted in the army when yet a boy and served his country in the great struggle for the integrity of the Union. He came to Wisconsin
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in 1873 from Michigan, arriving at Wausau and making this city his home, although he spent a large portion of his time working in Merrill or for Mer- rill parties. He took to cruising, timber hunting and estimating, and the relia- bility of his estimates caused the late Thomas B. Scott to take an interest in him, which was of great mutual benefit to both. Later on Anderson bought timber lands on his own account and has since been dealing in pine and farm- ing lands, and has acquired an enviable reputation for fair dealing.
JOHN MANSON.
1898-John Manson, who took the office of mayor in 1898, has the dis- tinction of being the first mayor born and educated in Wausau. His first message to the council was like the air in which he was brought up, breezy and pointed. The treasury was in the chronic state of exhaustion which had been its condition since 1892, excepting only the close of Mayor J. W. Mil- ler's administration, and the new mayor's first business was to find a remedy for the disease. The streets, with the exception of a few blocks on which cedar pavement was laid, were more like country roads than city streets, and their improvement became the question of the hour.
This administration made the first step in that direction by purchasing a Kelly steam roller, which is still in service, for $3.300, payable one-half on January 15th, 1899, and the other half in June following.
The erection of a larger high school building became necessary. Its cost was estimated at $50,000-and the board of education, while strongly in favor of letting the contract, desired, however, the city council to express its judgment upon the need of erecting it without delay, which was done and the building was authorized on the assurance that the Wausau banks would advance the money at 6 per cent. The loan had to be made from the banks. because no bonds could be issued as the bonded debt had already reached the 5 per cent limitation on the assessed valuation. But, while the estimates for the schoolhouse called only for $50,000, the actual cost, including furniture, was $65,000. Messrs. Miller & Krause were given the contract for the build- ing, and the council borrowed $8,000 to make the first payment.
A very good improvement made by this administration was the arching of the Stiensfield creek where the same crosses Third street, instead of build- ing a bridge over it.
During the year the Spanish-American war broke out, and the part there- _ in played by the city of Wausau and its mayor will be referred to in a sep- erate chapter.
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John Manson is in the insurance business and a gentleman whose word can be relied upon. Born a pinery boy, he is broad-gauged, fair-minded, charitable where charity is proper, and he is not only well schooled, but had that deeper, wider education which comes to a man who is brought in con- tact with people in all stations in life. This makes him at home with people in the cottage as well as with refined society. He has been elected for years as supervisor of the third ward; has been chairman of the county board, chairman of the committee on public property, and in that capacity was in- strumental in having the Marathon County Home and Hospital built, and the control of that institution put in the hands of the board of trustees of the insane asylum. He takes much interest in educational matters, has taken charge of a class of boy scouts and is deservedly popular generally. He is the oldest living son of R. P. Manson, one of the best remembered pioneers. It is safe to predict that his political career will not be closed with his term as mayor.
JOSEPH REISER.
1899-Joseph Reiser was elected to succeed John Manson in 1899. In his first message he recommended among other things, drainage for the 7th, 8th and 9th wards, the funding of the debt created by the building of the high school house (which was to be ready for use at the commencement of the new term in September of this year ) and economy in public expenditures.
Additional real estate to the existing school sites was purchased, on de- ferred payments, however, no money being available for that purpose. The Elm street sewer was built at an expense of $3,400-a stone crusher pur- chased for $900. In this year a good road convention was held under the supervision of General Harrison of he United States army, and a short piece of Grand avenue from the railroad cut south was macadamized by way of example, the city aiding the movement, securing the material and machinery. It was pronounced a success, and permanent street improvement of this kind became now the slogan.
In conformity with this demand, Third street from Grant street north to the St. Paul Railroad crossing was macadamized, which pavement proved satisfactory and serviceable. Another contract was entered into for lighting the city by electric lamps at the price of $80 per arc light of 2,000 candle- power each, and 84 lights were installed, in consideration of which the city engine houses, pumping station and city hall were to be lit with incandescent lights without charge. This was precisely the same contract the city had previously made with the electric company.
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The hard times had now passed away, business began to flourish, work- ingmen could find employment at living wages, the city looked prosperous, and new buildings sprang up. This necessitated the extension of water service and sewer facilities; but the cost of the high school forbade any other great municipal undertaking at the time.
Joseph Reiser was born in Michigan on a farm. As a boy of fourteen he learned the carpenter trade at Detroit, shifting for himself. In 1882 he entered the Ferris Institute at Detroit and graduated after a four years' course. He came into the Wisconsin valley in 1866, where he was put in charge of logging operations in Grand Rapids and Merrill. He came to Wausau in 1891, when he became a partner, or rather stockholder, in the Werheim Manufacturing Company, which at that time was one of the leading industries of the city. After some years he sold his stock in the concern and became salesman for some large lumber concerns, and at present is now engaged in that capacity by the B. Heinemann Lumber Company, with head- quarters at Madison. He served four years as alderman and supervisor before his election as mayor, and for one term as trustee of the Marathon County Asylum.
V. A. ALDERSON.
V. A. Alderson was elected as mayor in 1900. He had been in public service before, having been a member of the city council for several terms, member of the county board and also of the police and fire commission. He was known to be an expert accountant, and in his inaugural he gave a de- tailed and exhaustive treatment of the finances of the municipality, itemizing the public debt, and also an estimate of the probable expenses for the ensuing year. The treasury was in the same anæmic condition it had been, already referred to, with the debt piling up higher from year to year. The mayor struggled to the best of his ability to change this condition of things, and it was with that end in view that he gave the city council a resume of its finan- cial obligations. The total net debt had now reached the sum of $195,000, of which $50,000 was drawing interest at 6 per cent. Under his direction and after earnest solicitation, steps were taken which resulted in making a loan from the state of $45,000 at 31/2 per cent, payable in annual installments of $2,500, with which the notes held by the banks for money advanced on the high school house building were taken up. The debt had reached the highest figure, and it was time to think of paying up.
A contract was let for macadamizing Grand avenue from the railroad cut on the south to the intersection of Forest street on the north at a price
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of somewhat over $3,000 for a 20-foot macadam. On account of the un- usual wet autumn season of that year, it was not finished until the following spring. It proved unsatisfactory after being finished, and people lost con- fidence in having such work done by contract. A bridge was built to McIndoe Island, to Barker & Stewart's mill, at a cost of $1,030, and Seventh street opened from Franklin to Grant street at a cost of $2,200. The extension of this street became necessary to enable children attending the high school to reach it without going six blocks out of their way. This measure had been pending in the council for over a year, and its accomplishment was much to the credit of the administration.
Mr. Alderson was born near Toronto, Canada; he came to Wausau in 1869; his first engagement was as bookkeeper in the bank of Silverthorn & Plumer, in which capacity he remained for several years. In 1877 he ac- quired an interest in the Thayer & Corey flour mill, which property later came in the ownership of H. E. McEachron, Mr. Alderson selling his interest therein in 1880. Since that time he has made insurance and real estate a specialty, doing some lumbering at times. By strict attention to all matters entrusted to him and reliability, he has built up a large business in that line and a high reputation. He has organized the V. A. Alderson Investment Company, and is secretary of the Wausau Street Railroad Company. He was married to Miss Jesse Corey, whose father was one of the pioneers, coming to Wausau in 1846, and who was one of the original owners of the first flour mill in Wausau.
According to the United States census, the population of Wausau was 12,354 in 1900, a gain of 3,101 over 1890, not near as much as from 1880 to 1890.
LOUIS MARCHETTI.
1901-1904-Louis Marchetti was elected mayor in 1901. Up to this time the city was governed by a special charter which was subject to amend- ment by every state legislature, and which was amended from time to time, making its government an experimental one from year to year, without any stability.
Under the special charter, all city officers from the mayor down were elected annually, with the accompanying frequent changes of officers. Under this practice it was practically impossible for one administration to map out a program extending over one year and adhere to it. To take future needs in consideration was out of question in providing for the present. To rem- edy this evil, the general charter was adopted under which the city is gov-
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erned now, which makes the terms of all officers two years under a charter which can be understood, and which is not liable to the changing whims of legislators, because a change affects every city governed by it, which is a guarantee that no changes can lightly be made, or made without a full and due consideration of the desirability and need for the change. To govern a city of ten thousand and more, is a large business, because it includes in its operation not only its own municipal property, but affects more or less every private business, and as no private business would possibly prosper with an annual change of its manager, no more can a public business prosper under such conditions. The general charter went into effect in the spring of 1902, when the mayor was reelected, this time for two years, and so were all other officers elected at this time.
His predecessor had given more attention to the fiscal affairs of the city than most of former mayors and administrations, and insisted that the sum of $5,000 annually levied as a sinking fund to be applied in payment of the bonds issued for the payment of the water works, was to be kept intact for the purposes for which it was levied.
That tax had been raised ever since the bonds were issued and would have been sufficient to pay the whole bond issue had it been preserved, but it was not, and was used for other purposes, because it could not be directly applied in payment from year to year. When the bonds became due, only the sum of $35.000 was in the fund instead of $90,000-all of which had been accumulated in the last three administrations of Alderson, Marchetti and Zimmermann.
When the new administration went into office in 1901, there was more than the usual amount of work to do.
The chief of police tendered voluntarily his resignation, but at the request of the mayor remained in service until his place could be filled. After a care- ful review of all available timber, he selected for this important position Mr. Thomas Malone, an ex-sheriff of Marathon county, who had made an envia- ble record while in that office. He has been chief of police ever since, and is universally respected as an efficient, painstaking, clear-headed officer, prompt in the discharge of his duties, firm but quiet, and the smell of corrup- tion never touched his garments.
The heavy late rains in the previous fall immediately before the ground froze, had washed out the roads, especially those leading over the east hills in the city, and north out from Wausau, making them impassable for heavy traffic. Immediate repairs had to be made, and they were made with a view of making them permanent if the word permanency can be applied to high-
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ways. The condition of the city is summed up in the last message of the mayor to the council, from which is quoted in part :
FINANCES :
"On the Ist day of April, 1901, the regular funded interest-bearing debt of the city was $190,000, and $10,000 assumed for school purposes, making a gross total debt of $200,000, from which must be deducted the sum of $22,500 cash in the treasury applicable to the payment of this debt, leaving a net debt of $177,500. On the first day of April, 1904, the debt of the city was, and now is $181,200, from which must be deducted the sum of $35,000 cash on hand applicable to the payment of this debt, leaving a net indebtedness of $146,200, showing a reduction of the liabilities of the city in the amount of $31,500 since April 1, 1901. Aside from this amount of $35,000 in the sinking fund and bond fund, there is in the treasury the sum of $10,000, as a special bridge fund to apply in part payment of the contract for the new bridge across the Wisconsin river.
GENERAL FUND:
"On the Ist day of April, 1901, there was in the general fund the sum of $5,602.86, against which orders had been issued to the amount of $5, 164.76, leaving a balance of $438.10 in the treasury to the incoming administration. There became due during the summer of 1901 the sum of $1, 100 and the sum of $191 on the unfinished contract of Bellis & Co. for the macadamizing done by this company on Grand avenue and Forest street, the completion of which contract having been delayed because of the wet fall season of 1900. The general fund is in a satisfactory condition at the present time. After allowing and paying all current expenses of the city up to April 15. 1904, including salaries of officers, and including the payment of labor for street cleaning up to April 9th, 1904, the general fund was overdrawn to the amount of $1,586.87, which, however, is more than offset by the amount of $3,000 paid out during the winter for rock to be used for macadam pur- poses, which can and will be used during the working season of 1904. There · are no unpaid bills against the city, except the salaries of officers since April 15th and a small amount for street cleaning since April 9th, 1904. On the first day of next May there becomes due to the city the sum of $10,000, or
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a little more, for water rentals, and on July Ist next the sum of $12,500, or a little more for licenses, and on the Ist of November there will be due again from water rentals the sum of $10,000, all of which belongs to the general fund.
"While the city debt has been decreased at about the rate of $10,000 per annum on an average, needed improvements were not neglected, as is shown by the amount of money expended in improvements during the same term, to wit: On Lincoln School, $30,000; on bridges, $3,000; on machinery for rock crusher, $2,800; for city hall site, $4,500. Besides this, 31/2 miles of streets were macadamized and more than the usual work of grading and opening of streets was done. The water works were extended so that the income from the same was $19,913.54 for the year ending May ist, 1904, an increase of $4,247.42 over 1901 ; the sewer system was increased by about 31/2 miles of pipes, with three new outlets to the river."
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