USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 66
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In 1890 Mr. O'Conner was married to Miss Margaret Newman, who was born in the Dominion of Canada but was reared in Marathon county, her father, Patrick Newman, being a retired farmer living at Wausau. One daughter has been born to the above marriage, Catherine May. The family belongs to St. James Roman Catholic church in this city. Mr. O'Conner is a member of the Knights of Columbus and belongs also to the fraternal order of Eagles.
CARL LEMKE, one of Wausau's best known business men, who for twenty-eight years has been in the photographic line here, was born in Pomerania, Germany, August 9, 1862, and is a son of Frederick Lemke, whose life was passed in Germany.
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Carl Lemke was reared in Germany and after attending the public schools learned the art of photography, which he successfully followed for seven years before coming to the United States. In the fall of 1884 he came first to Wausau and spent the following winter in the employ of Lee Goff, a local photographer, in the spring of 1885 embarking in business for himself. His studio at No. 508 Jefferson street is in a fine brick building which he entirely remodeled and in addition owns other valuable city property. Mr. Lemke's artistic work is known all over the county and embraces everything in the line of photography.
Mr. Lemke was married in 1885 to Miss Ulricke Block, who was born also in Germany and came to Wausau in 1883. They have had five children: Alfred, who died when aged fifteen years; Walter J., who is a member of the faculty of an academy at Enterprise, Kans., was given fine educational advantages, including four years of college and a post-graduate course at Berea, O .; Meta, who is a student at Berea College; Carl, who is his father's asisstant; and Erna, who is a student in the Wausau High School. Mr. Lemke and family are members of the German Methodist church.
FRED W. GENRICH, a leading member of the bar at Wausau, Wis., belonging to the well known law firm of Brown, Pradt & Genrich, with offices in the First National Bank Building, has been a resident of Wis- consin since he was eight years old. He was born in Germany, August 9, 1872, a son of Fred W. and Wilhelmina Genrich.
In 1880 the parents of Mr. Genrich came to the United States with their children and settled first at Berlin, in Marathon county, Wis., but shortly afterward came to Wausau. In his native land the lad had al- ready attended school and been a credit to his class, but the strange English language in America was difficult to learn, with its many shad- ings and meanings, and it was a task indeed to conquer it and not only to write and speak it with correctness but also with eloquence. When fourteen years of age Fred W. Genrich entered the law office of Neal Brown as an office boy, by that time having acquired a speaking knowl- edge of English, and perhaps here he found the encouragement that aroused his ambition and made him resolve by day and night study, whenever opportunity offered, to become not only master of the Eng- lish tongue but also to qualify in law. In the course of time he success- fully passed his examinations and in the fall of 1899 was admitted to the bar and immediately thereafter became a member of his present firm,
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and this association has continued for twenty-five years. Politics have also interested Mr. Genrich and on the Democratic ticket he has been elected to the city council and from 1896 until the spring of 1899 filled the office of supervisor and from 1900 until 1904 made a creditable rec- ord as district attorney. His business interests in addition to those of his profession are well placed and he is a director of the Citizens State Bank and is vice president of the Wilson Mercantile Company, whole- sale grocers.
Mr. Genrich was united in marriage with Miss Anna M. Erdman, of Grand Rapids, Wis., in 1894, and they have two children: Helen, who was born in 1895, and Fred W., Jr., who was born in 1898, both of whom attended the Wausau High School. Fraternally Mr. Genrich is identified with the Knights of Pythias and with the Masons and is serv- ing at present as master of the local Masonic lodge.
GEORGE A. KREUTZER, who may be named as one of the most enter- prising of the business men who have built up the village of Athens, Wis., is owner and proprietor of a general store, is vice president of the Athens Bank, of which he was one of the organizers, and also is president of the Athens Implement and Manufacturing Company. He was born in Ozaukee county, Wis., March 8, 1861, and is a son of Andrew and Caroline ( Haus- halder) Kreutzer.
Andrew Kreutzer and wife were born in Germany and both came to the United States when young people and afterward married. He worked at first in a grist mill, but after coming to Wisconsin engaged in farming and lumbering. His death and burial were at Athens. His widow makes her home with her children and is well known and much beloved here. She is a member of the Lutheran church as was her husband. Ten children were born to them, as follows: Amelia, wife of Nicholas Allers; Caroline, wife of Henry Degner: George A .: Andrew L .; Henry; John; Charles; Rose, wife of William Wilson; and Alfred and Oscar.
In the public schools George A. Kreutzer secured his educational training and afterward worked on the home farm for his father until he was twenty years of age, after which came five years of hard work at logging and sawing in the woods. Following this he embarked in the mercantile business at Athens, where he has continued. He has done his share in promoting the best interests of the place which has grown into not only a desirable business center but one in which culture, comfort, and education have been developed equally and pleasant homes have resulted.
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In 1886 Mr. Kreutzer was married to Miss Eliza Rietz, who was born in Wisconsin, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Ciege) Rietz, the former of whom is deceased. Mrs. Kreutzer has the following brothers and sisters : Charles; Edward; Martha, wife of Charles Werdeman; Minnie, wife of Alfred Cleveland: Clara, wife of Frank Zett; Caroline, wife of John Bau- man; and George and Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Kreutzer have five children : Louise, wife of Arthur Durpkoff; Eleanora; Andrew; George, and Felice. The family belongs to the Lutheran church. Politically Mr. Kreutzer is a Republican and fraternally he is a Mason, identified with the lodge at Abbots- ford, Wis.
WALTER OBY, cashier of the Stratford State Bank of Stratford, Wis., was born in Switzerland, December 3, 1882, and is a son of Ulrich and Eliza Oby. In 1888 the parents of Mr. Oby came to America with their six children, and selected Wisconsin as their home, settling at Al- bany, in Green county. The father engaged there in the manufacture of Swiss cheese, moving later on a farm and in 1897 removing to a farm near Leroy, Minn. There the family home was maintained until 1902, when a farm was bought in Wright county, Minn., on which the father died in 1911. The mother survives and still lives in Minnesota, the home farm being under the care of her son Ernest Oby. Walter Oby was the fourth born of his parents' children. After attending the public schools he entered the Southern Minnesota Normal School & Business College and in 1903-4 attended a business college, after which he re- turned for a time to the home farm. In 1907 he became a bookkeeper in a bank in Minnesota and eighteen months later was placed in charge of a bank, in the meanwhile being elected the first cashier of the Strat- ford State Bank at Stratford, Wis.
The Stratford State Bank was opened for business on December 10, 1908, organized to meet a public demand and, according to the report of its condition on February 4, 1913, it is in a very prosperous condition. The following are its present officers: R. Connor, president; Chr. Franzen, vice president; and Walter Oby, cashier. The directors are: R. Connor, Chr. Franzen, H. L. Klemme, William F. Goetz, and H. S. Wahl, M. D. A general banking business is carried on, small accounts as well as large ones being welcomed, and other features may be enumer- ated as according to its statements. The bank receives deposits, loans money, writes and looks after insurance, draws up legal instruments, rents safety deposit boxes, loans customers' money on first class mort-
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gages, supplies abstracts, acts as notary public, and at all times is ready and willing to give expert advice concerning business transactions. The names of the men representing capital and business probity all over Marathon county are the names of the officials of this institution. They occupy a fine modern brick building equipped with steam heat and have the latest improved steel vaults and burglar proof safes for the preserva- tion of their money and documents. This building, with its cement base- ment, was built in 1909, and among other provisions there is a com- fortable directors' room.
Mr. Oby was married in May, 1909, to Miss Alma Kotilinek, a daugh- ter of Thomas and Mary Kotilinek, of Maple Lake, Minn. Mr. Oby is local representative of twenty-two insurance companies; is treasurer of the Stratford Telephone Company, and is a member of the village board. He is interested also in the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Sav- age, Mont.
HENRY G. McGROSSEN, receiver U. S. Land Office at Wausau, was born June 19, 1865, at Rural, Waupaca county, Wis., and is a son of James and Cornelia A. (Jones) McCrossen, and a grandson of Robert McCrossen and Julius A. Jones. Robert McCrossen spent his life at Lynnfield, New Brunswick, and died there when aged eighty-six years. James McCrossen, father of Henry G., was born near St. Stephens, N. B., in February, 1827, and for the past five years has been a resident of Pasadena, Cal. He came to Wisconsin in early manhood and went to work in the woods on the Fox river and while residing in Waupaca county, conducted a store and grist mill at Rural. In 1870 he came to Wausau, where, for more than twenty years, he was in business, but in 1891 moved to Hurley, Wis., and there built the mill for the Mon- treal River Lumber Company and continued to reside at Hurley for several years when he came back to Wausau. He has always been a man of great business sagacity, and still, to some degree, oversees his interests, owning valuable timber lands at Everett, Wash., and property in other states.
On July 4, 1853, he married Miss Cornelia A. Jones, who was born in New York, in 1834, and was young when she was brought to Wis- consin by her father, Julius A. Jones, who settled near Rural, in Wau- paca county. Mr. and Mrs. McCrossen have been permitted a long and happy companionship and have celebrated their golden wedding. Three daughters and four sons were born to them: Julius J., who is in the
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real estate business at St. Paul, Minn .; Ellen I., who is the wife of L. E. Thayer, who is in the real estate business at Everett, Wash .; James, who died from the results of an accidental shooting while hunting ducks, was, at that time, manager of a real estate and insurance office at St. Paul, Minn .; Elizabeth, who is the wife of H. H. Grace, who is an at- torney at Superior, Wis .; Charles A., who is in the real estate business at Glendive, Mont .; Henry G .; and Kittie C., who died young.
Henry G. McCrossen completed his course in the Wausau High School and then spent three years at Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Ia., being only nineteen years of age when he returned home to go into busi- ness. For three years he was assistant manager of the Montreal River Lumber Company and then returned to Wausau and for a short time was in his father's real estate office and then embarked in the mercantile business, in which he continued until 1898, when he was appointed by President McKinley, receiver for the U. S. Land Office in this city, the duties of which office he still performs.
In January, 1892, Mr. McCrossen was married to Miss Emily L. Thompson, a daughter of John H. and Eleanor Thompson of Medford, Wis., and they have one daughter, Cornelia A., who resides at home. Mr. McCrossen is prominent in Masonry, having attained the thirty-second degree and belongs to the Mystic Shrine. His social interests and ac- tivities include membership in the Marathon County Country Club.
WILLIAM F. GOETZ, postmaster of Stratford, Wis., superintend- ent of the R. Connor Company of this place, is a prominent citizen and is identified with many of the most important interests here. He was born February 9, 1875, at Milwaukee, Wis., where he was educated and from there came to Stratford eighteen years ago.
Mr. Goetz has been very active and continuously public spirited ever since coming to this place, where he was elected the first president of the village after incorporation and served two years. He is an inde- pendent voter in local affairs. In 1905 he was appointed postmaster and has served with the greatest satisfaction ever since. His capable as- sistant is Miss Elsie Kuehlman and they have two rural routes, the first one being covered by Thomas J. Hoesly, and Route No. 2, established in 1911, which includes twenty-two and one-half miles, is covered by Robert Allen. The office quarters are in the R. Connor Company store, on Third avenue, and postal savings are accepted here.
Mr. Goetz married Miss Ernestine Grambow, and they have the fol-
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lowing children: Fred, Etta, Alma, George, Robert and William, Mr. Goetz is president of the Stratford Telephone Company, a director of the Stratford State Bank, a member of the Marathon county board and belongs to the fraternal order of Beavers.
JACOB HORNUNG, Sr., justice of the peace, and for the past thirteen years clerk of the town of Marathon, is a retired farmer living two and one-half miles southeast of Marathon City. He was born in Clarion county, Pa., October 25, 1845, a son of Joseph and Mary Hornung. Joseph Hornung and wife were born in Germany and from there came to the United States in 1830 and settled first in Pennsylvania. In 1859 they removed with their children to Marathon county with the idea of securing and clearing up a farm. He was a hard working man, one of good principles, and was chosen a member of the school board and treasurer of the school district in which Judge Marchetti, of Wausau, was once a resident and school teacher. Joseph Hornung died when aged sixty-five years and his widow survived him, passing away at the age of seventy-four years, their burial being in St. Mary's cemetery at Marathon City. They had two sons, John and Jacob, the former of whom is deceased.
Jacob Hornung had few educational advantages as he was only twelve years old when he went to work in the coal mines and labored both in Clarion and Armstrong counties until 1859, when he acompa- nied his parents to Marathon county, where through close attention to his books he prepared himself for an examination test, was given a cer- tificate to teach school, and for fourteen years was a very acceptable teacher. Mr. Hornung has always resided in the town of Marathon, se- curing his farm of 120 acres, which he has but recently sold to his son, when the land was wild, and clearing and improving it himself.
On January 19, 1869, Mr. Hornung was married to Miss Mary Seliger, who was born at Lancaster, Pa., and accompanied her father, Herman Seliger, to Marathon county in 1857. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hornung: Otilla, who is the wife of Henry Berris, of Osh- kosh, Wis .; Herman, who lives in the town of Marathon, married Frances Blume; Jacob; Jr., who is deceased; John, who resides on a farm ad- joining his father's place, married Theresa Sannatag; Peter, who lives on the old homestead, married Mary Murr; Anthony, who lives at home ; and Helen, who is the wife of Peter Knauf, a farmer in the town of Mara- thon. Mr. Hornung and family are members of St. Mary's Catholic
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church and Mr. Hornung belongs to St. Joseph's Society. He and sons are all stanch Democrats and he served first for three years in the office of town clerk, and then, after an intermission, was reelected and has served for the past thirteen years uninterruptedly.
RINGLE & SCHILL, lumber manufacturers, at Edgar, Wis., suc- cessors of the Queen Lumber Company, have a large plant here and give · employment to fifty men, their monthly pay roll aggregating a vast amount. The present owners and operators, Gustav Ringle and M. N. Schill, have been associated since January, 1913, have seven acres, and the output will reach three million feet of lumber yearly.
Gustav Ringle was born at Wausau, Wis., January 19, 1873, and was reared and educated in his native place, which continues to be his home. He has been identified with lumbering all his business life and is well known in lumber circles all over Northern Wisconsin.
M. N. Schill was born at Ashford, in Fond du Lac county, Wis., February 9, 1872, and after his school days remained on the home farm for some years and then, in partnership with three others, bought a section of timberland in the town of Holton, built a mill there which- they operated for one year. After selling his interest in the mill Mr. Schill came to Edgar where he was in the saloon and hotel business for six years, then became interested in handling livestock and later added lumber, in January, 1913, becoming associated in the present large manufacturing business with Mr. Ringle, at Edgar. He has resided in the village for thirteen years and for twelve years has been a trustee and supervisor. He is a director and stockholder in the Edgar Tele- phone Company and also is a stockholder in the Marathon County Tele- phone Company. He has a farm of 100 acres located in the town of Cassel and has cleared twenty acres of the same. He has been one of Edgar's public spirited and enterprising men and is serving in his second year as village president.
Mr. Schill was married to Miss Gertrude Jaeger, who was born in Ashford, Wis., and they have five children: Edward, Louella, Alex- ander, Gertrude and Loretta. Mr. Schill and family belong to St. John's Catholic church. He is identified with the Catholic Order of Foresters, and the Beavers.
ALMON L. BROWN, M. D., who is a leading exponent of the medical profession at Wausau and a highly esteemed citizen in every cir-
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cle, was born at Jersey City, N. J., October 6, 1865, and is a son of John M. and Agnes (Gauker) Brown. Both paternal and maternal ancestors of Dr. Brown settled in America during the colonial period and many participated in the Revolutionary War. On the father's side the ancestry is Scotch and on the mother's side, German and English, the family coming to the colonies from England, however, where pre- vious settlement had been made. The parents of Dr. Brown were born in New York. Later they moved to Cincinnati, O., and there he passed through the public schools, graduating from a High School and later entered Purdue University, at Lafayette, Ind., from which he was gradu- ated in Science. Having chosen medicine as his field of effort, he ap- plied every energy to advance himself in that science, later entered Rush Medical College at Chicago, and after graduating in the class of 1894, entered into medical practice in that city. He continued there until 1900 when he came to Wausau, where, as a result of medical skill, he has built up a large and satisfactory practice. He is very thoroughly equipped for the duties of his exacting profession, for, in adition to the training the best American schools could afford him, he has enjoyed several post graduate courses in Europe, twice visiting the great clinics at Vienna and passing under the instruction of the most eminent scien- tists of the times.
Dr. Brown is an enthusiast in his profession and is widely known throughout Wisconsin. He is a member of the Marathon County Medi- cal Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and outside his profession has many fraternal con- nections, including the Masons, the Mystic Shrine, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks.
PATRICK GORMAN, a highly respected resident of Wausau and one of the best known men in Marathon county, in which he was a pioneer in the lumber industry, was born at Burritts Rapids, Canada, November 9, 1848, and is a son of John and Mary (O'Brien) Gorman.
When twenty-two years of age Mr. Gorman came to the United States and directly to Marathon county. At first he worked by the month at logging on the river and continued to be interested in lumbering for many years in different sections of the state of Wisconsin, and also in farming, owning valuable and productive land in the town of Maine. Although he returned to Wausau from his farm some ten years since, he has continued his interest in agricultural matters in a broader way,
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being long connected with the Marathon County Agricultural Society, belonging to its executive board for thirteen years, serving several terms as its vice president and two terms as its president. During his residence of forty years in this section he has witnessed the wonderful progress made in agricultural conditions and has seen lumbering develop from an industrial infant to one of the giant activities of the state.
Mr. Gorman was married in Marathon county to Miss Mary Gauth- ier, of Stevens Point, Wis., and they had a family of seven children : Mary, who is a trained nurse ; Edward P., who is serving ably in the office of district attorney of Marathon county : Susan, who is the wife of J. L. Slover, of Merrill, Wis .; Walter, who is purchasing agent for Barker Stewart Co .; Ralph, who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada; Rose; and John, who died at the age of thirteen months. Mr. Gorman and family belong to St. James Catholic church at Wausau. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and during his long life at Wausau has fre- quently taken part in public movements and served on charitable boards. and has always been ready and prompt in performing the duties of good citizenship.
WILLIAM N. DANIELS, M. D., who, for twenty-nine years has engaged in the practice of medicine at Mosinee, Wis., of which he is postmaster, is well known over Marathon county and has been a resi- dent of this state since he was ten years old. He was born at Mellen- ville, Columbia county, N. Y., December 3. 1845. and accompanied his parents to Northern Wisconsin in 1855.
Dr. Daniels easily recalls the old log school houses in which he received his rather meager educational training prior to enlisting for service in the Civil War. He was only seventeen years old when he became a member of Co. I, 3rd Wis. Vol. Cav., and three years later, on October 12, 1865, was honorably discharged. He then turned his atten- tion to the study of medicine, for some time being a student under Dr. Emory Stansbury of Appleton, Wis., later entering Rush Medical Col- lege, Chicago, where he was graduated in 1878, six years later estab- fishing himself at Mosinee, where he is entrenched in the affections of the people and enjoys the confidence of his professional brethren and fellow citizens generally. For a number of years he was physician for some of the railroad systems but in later years has confined himself professionally to the demands of his very large private practice.
Dr. Daniels was married June 26, 1866, to Miss Jane S. Leach, who
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died February 26, 1903, the mother of two children: William C., who lived but four years; and Edna J., who passed away in early woman- hood. On May 19, 1904, Dr. Daniels was married (second) to Miss Hattie M. Kettring of Minneapolis, Minn. In his political views Dr. Daniels is a Republican. While never an ardent politician he has, from youth, been loyal and patriotic, and takes a deep interest in all the chang- ing movements which determine the progress of the country he gave three years of his young life to keep united.
WILLIAM W. WALKER, proprietor of the Wausau Monu- mental Works at No. 1204 Grand avenue, Wausau, is a thoroughly expe- rienced man in his line, in which he has been a continuous worker since he was sixteen years of age. He was born in 1862, at Belfast, Maine, but was reared at Brookville. His father, R. P. Walker, was a granite cutter and did contracting for many years all along the Atlantic coast and did much of the granite work on the great East River bridge.
Under his father William W. Walker learned his trade and before coming westward, worked all over New England and in other sections. In 1887 he reached St. Cloud, Minn., where he worked for some time at his trade and then visited other points and was employed in the con- struction of the Auditorium hotel and theater, one of the notable build- ings of Chicago, and was so engaged from its beginning until its com- pletion. The Wausau Monumental Works were started here by Edward Smith, from whom Mr. Walker bought first a half interest and after- ward the other half and has been proprietor for six years. He employs two men as granite cutters and his plant is equipped with the proper machinery to do all kinds of monumental and granite work.
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