History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens, Part 73

Author: Marchetti, Louis. cn
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1042

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In 1893 Mr. Mehl was elected county treasurer, when he retired

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from the shoe business, and served two terms in that office. As early as 1876 he was elected a member of the city council and served also in 1877, and from 1887 until 1888, was mayor of Wausau and his thorough business administration advanced many of the important measures that benefited the city. He still has numerous business interests, being vice president of the Wausau Building and Loan and Investment Company, of which he was the first president; is a director of the Citizens State Bank, and a director of the Ruder Brewing Company. Mr. Mehl was president of the board of trustees of the Marathon County Asylum for six years and has frequently served on other charitable boards and be- nevolent committees. He is president of the German-American Alliance.

In 1873 Mr. Mehl was married to Miss Mary Schuetz and five chil- dren were born to them: Mary, who is the wife of George Falch, of Merrill, Wis .; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Otto Fehlhaber, cashier of the Wisconsin Valley Trust Company; Annie, who is the wife of Hans Mehl, who lives at Milwaukee; Lena, who is the wife of Charles Gen- shin, a wholesale leather dealer; and Hattie, who conducts a millinery business in this city. Mr. Mehl and family belong to St. Stephen's church.

EDWARD C. KRETLOW, who is president of the Marathon County Abstract Company, with offices in the First National Bank Building at Wausau, Wis., has been a resident of this city for forty-six years and his interests, business, social and political, are mainly centered here. He was born at Milwaukee, Wis., July 22, 1852, and is a son of Edward and Fredericka (Schmidt) Kretlow.

During the first fourteen years of life, Mr. Kretlow lived in his native city and attended school there. His father was a music director and as a professional man came to Wausau with his family in 1866, but one and one-half years later returned to Milwaukee. In 1871 Edward C. Kretlow came back to Wausau and this city has continued his home ever since. Prior to this he had learned the cigar making trade, in Mil- waukee, and established a factory of his own at Wausau, in which busi- ness he remained interested for thirty-two years and then disposed of his interests in that direction. During eight years he was a bookkeeper for the firm of Heinemann Bros., from 1880 until 1888, and was then elected, on the Democratic ticket, city clerk, and remained in that posi- tion through two terms, and for the fourteen succeeding years was reg- ister of deeds for Marathon county. Still earlier than above mentioned, Mr. Kretlow had served officially, from 1874 until 1878 having been

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deputy circuit court clerk, and in all positions of trust and responsibility has fully met expectation and performed his duties in an efficient and satisfactory manner. After retiring from public service, Mr. Kretlow embarked in his present line of business and is president of the Mara- thon County Abstract Company, dealing in real estate, insurance and collections.

Mr. Kretlow married Miss Johanna Staege, who was born in Dodge county, Wis., and they have one son, Louis J. Mr. Kretlow has identi- fied himself with the Odd Fellows and the order of United Workmen and belongs also to the Royal Arcanum. He is recognized as a sound, reliable business man and in every way is a representative citizen of Wausau.

OTTO G. FEHLHABER, a well known financier of Marathon county, Wis., who has been secretary of the Wisconsin Valley Trust Com- pany, at Wausau, Wis., for the past four and one-half years, had pre- viously had bank connections and is experienced along this line. He was born in Marathon county, May 12, 1872, and is a son of August and Amelia (Plisch) Felilhaber.

Otto G. Fehlhaber was reared in his native county and was educated in the country schools and the Wausau High School, after which he taught school very acceptably for three years, during which period he enlarged his circle of friends in the county and cemented friendships that have continued ever since. He then accepted a clerkship in the of- · fice of the county judge and also was clerk in the land office under Judge Marchetti and from that connection entered the office of Mylrea, Marchetti & Bird, attorneys, where he pursued law studies but has never asked admittance to the bar although well qualified, his subsequent in- terests and activities lying in another direction. For four and one-half years he was cashier of the bank at Edgar, Wis., and then came to the Wisconsin Valley Trust Company.

Mr. Felhhaber married Miss Elizabeth Mehl, of Wausau, Wis., and they have two children: Esther and Orville. He is identified frater- nally with the Knights of Pythias and socially with the Wausau Club.

ERNST RINGLE, who is one of Marathon county's substantial men and representative citizens, resides on his farm of 240 acres sit- uated in sections 34, 29 and 5-east, in the town of Rib Falls, four and one-half miles northwest of Marathon City. He was born in the town of Herman, Dodge county, Wis., July 19, 1867, and is a son of Carl

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and Johanna (Erdmann) Ringle. The father was born in Bavaria, Ger- many, and came to America when eight years of age. In early manhood he married Johanna Erdmann, who was also born in Germany, and they had five sons, Ernst being one of twins.

Ernst Ringle attended first a parochial school in the town of Her- man and afterward was sent to college at Galena, Ill., following which he taught three terms of school in the town of Rib Falls, Marathon county. Here, in April, 1893, he was married to Miss Augusta Rux, a daughter of David and Minnie (Kunarski) Rux. The parents of Mrs. Ringle were natives of Germany. The mother died at Rib Falls when aged sixty-eight years but the father lives and still resides there. Mr. and Mrs. Ringle have four children: Herbert, Elvira, Milliard and Marvin.

After marriage Mr. Ringle settled on his present farm. At that time there were twenty acres cut over and a log house, 18x24 feet, a barn, 24x60 feet, and a stable, 18x42 feet on the place. Mr. Ringle brought his horses and wagon and immediately started improvements and now has sixty acres under cultivation and forty acres cleared for pasture. He grows about the average amount of grain for the land cultivated and has fine stock and cattle, his herd of Holsteins being exceptionally valuable. He has other business interests, being a stockholder in the Marathon County Telephone Company, a stockholder and a director in the Marathon Bank, and since July, 1907, is secretary of the Marathon City Brewing Company and is also a stockholder in the Farmers Union of Marathon county. He is secretary of the Stettin Mutual Fire In- surance Company, an office he has held since January 2, 1895, being the third incumbent in this company, which was established in 1876. He also keeps the minutes and books for the Stettin Mutual Fire In- surance Company. Mr. Ringle and family belong to the Lutheran church, of which he is secretary and treasurer. He is now serving in his eighth year as chairman of the town of Rib Falls and member of the county board and since July 5, 1892, has served continuously as clerk of School District No. 5. He also serves as a justice of the peace. He has been and still is one of his town's busiest and most useful and reliable men.

FRANK SCHUBERT, proprietor of a shoe store and shoe repair shop at Athens, Wis., is one of the enterprising young business men of the village, where he is the only exclusive shoe merchant. He was

ST. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, MARATHON CITY, WIS.

GRADED SCHOOL, MARATHON CITY, WIS.

PAROCHIAL SCHOOL, MARATHON CITY, WIS.

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born March 31, 1883, in Austria, and is a son of Martin and Emily Schu- bert, the former of whom died when his son was three years old.

Frank Schubert attended the excellent schools of his native land and then learned the shoemaking trade which he has continued to be in- terested in ever since. He was twenty years old when he came to the United States and directly to Athens, Wis., where he remained for two years and then went to Chicago, Ill., and worked there until 1906, when he returned to Athens and established his present business. He car- ries a well assorted stock of footwear and has installed modern ma- chinery in his repair shop. In 1910 Mr. Schubert was married to Miss Anna Frieders, who was born at Appleton, WVis., a daughter of Philip and Lucy (Miller) Frieders, who still reside at Appleton, where the father follows the trade of brick mason. Mr. and Mrs. Schubert have one daughter, Dorothy Anna. They are members of the Catholic church. He belongs to three well known fraternal organizations: . the Eagles, the Maccabees and the Beavers.

EMIL DERN, assessor of the town of Rib Falls and a general farmer living on his 160 acres situated in section 2, six miles north and one mile west of Marathon City, was born at Wausau, Wis., June 14, 1875, and is a son of Henry and Henrietta (Heise) Dern. Henry Dern and wife were born in Germany where they were reared and married and were about twenty-one years old when they came to Wisconsin. Henry Dern was the second settler in the city of Wausau. He died when aged sixty-two years, his wife passing away in her fifty-eighth year. They had nine sons and of this family Emil is the only survivor.

Emil Dern attended school in boyhood in District No. I, Rib Falls, and afterward worked for three years at the carpenter trade and for six years remained on a farm in the summers and worked in the woods through the winters. Following his marriage he lived for seven years in Marathon City and from there came to his present farm, of which he has cleared fifteen acres himself. He has made all the excellent improvements here including the erection of all the buildings except the house and has a very comfortable and attractive home.

In November, 1899, Mr. Dern was married to Miss Alvina Rux, who was born in the town of Rib Falls, a daughter of David and Minnie Kanuski Rux, both of whom were born in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Dern have three children: Verna, Florence and Kermit. The family belongs to the Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Dern has been identified with the Republican party for many years and occasionally

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has accepted public office, but has been more interested in raising high grade cattle. He is a member of the Farmers' Produce Company of Marathon City, is a member of the Stettin Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany and is a stockholder in the Marathon Bank.

HERMAN GEORGE FLIETH, cashier of the National German Ameri- can Bank of Wausau, has been a resident of Wausau for twenty-seven years and his business connections during this long-period have been of great im- portance. He was born at Sheboygan, Wis., February 26, 1861, and is a son of Fred and Katherine ( Haefner) Flieth.

The parents of Mr. Flieth were of foreign birth, the father a native of Prussia and the mother of Baden, Germany. They came to America and to Wisconsin in the early fifties and settled at Sheboygan, where the father entered the employ of the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad, now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern system. He assisted in some of the surveys and later helped to survey the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Rail- road and was with these roads for a number of years. "He resided at She- boygan until his death in 1906, aged seventy-one years. The mother sur- vived two years more although seven years older. Two sons were born in the family : Herman George and Jolin, four years intervening. John Flieth died in 1905, having been a railroad man all his life.

Herman George Flieth was educated in the public and parochial schools at Sheboygan, attending until he was fifteen years of age. He then became a railroad employe working with the construction department and after the completion of the road was made freight check clerk and later baggagemas- ter. He climbed steadily upward, beginning railroad life as water boy on a gravel train and later found time to learn telegraphy, holding the position as telegraph operator at Shebyogan several years. Mr. Flieth came first to Wausau, in 1880, and, as agent, took charge of the office for the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western, now the Chicago & Northwestern, and continued until May 1, 1887. In that year he was sent to Milwaukee as commercial agent for the same road and remained almost six years or until 1893, when he resigned his position with the railroad company in order to accept that of cashier of the National German American Bank, with which he has been continuously identified ever since. During this time the capital of the bank has been increased from $100,000 to $300,000 and its deposits from $175,000 to a million and three quarters. Other business connections of Mr. Flieth are as follows: Treasurer of the Wausau Canning Company; treasurer of the Wausau Quartz Company; secretary and treasurer of the Peth Candy Company; president of the Thompson & Flieth Lumber Company, located

HERMAN G. FLIETH

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at Cornucopia, Wis .; secretary and treasurer of the Wausau Realty and Loan Company; treasurer of the Marathon County Building, Loan and Investment Association, and treasurer of the Wisconsin Bankers' Association.

On June 17, 1880, Mr. Flieth was married to Miss Mary Harsch, a daughter of Adam Harsch, of Sheboygan, Wis., and they have two children : Walter N. and Mabel. Walter H. Flieth, who was educated in the public schools of Wausau and took a business course after leaving the High School, has charge of the Thompson & Flieth Lumber Company at Cornucopia, WVis. He married Miss Matie Mitchell, of Oshkosh, and they have three children : Herman George, Jr., Cornelia and Charles William. Miss Mabel Flieth attended the public schools and later both Downer and Carroll Col- leges. Mrs. Flieth died January 3, 1910. She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, to which Mr. Flieth also belongs, and of which he has been a trustee many years, but was reared in the German Reformed faith. In his political views Mr. Flieth is a Republican, but no seeker for office, the extent of his public service being as trustee and treasurer of the Public Library. For years he has been identified with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained to the thirty-second degree and is treasurer of Omer Commandery and Masonic Temple. He belongs also to the Knights of Pythias and to the Wausau City and the Wausau Country Clubs.

EDWARD HEIMANN, proprietor of the Washington Hotel at Wau- sau. a well appointed hostelry which Mr. Heimann erected in 1888 and still owns, has made this city his home for thirty-nine years. He was born in Germany, December 15, 1855, and was sixteen years old when he left his native land for America, landing at New Orleans, La., in 1872, in the fall of the same year reaching Marathon county, Wis.

For several years after coming to Marathon county, Mr. Heimann worked in the woods after which, in 1874, he came to Wausau, found steady employment and saved his money and in 1886 started for himself in the saloon business. In 1888 he erected the Washington Hotel and operated the same for a number of years then rented it and retired from the business, taking up his residence in his beautiful home which stands on Grand avenue. Here he has almost three acres of land and he has taken a great deal of enjoyment in experimenting in the growing of different plants and has won considerable reputation on account of his success with tobacco, being the only planter in the county to raise it with profit. In the summer of 1912 Mr. Heimann again took charge of his hotel and found the public glad to see him once more its genial host.

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In 1886 Mr. Heimann was married to Miss Minnie Krueger, who was born in Germany and was three years old when her parents, Capt. Will- iam Krueger and wife, brought her to Wausau. Mrs. Krueger survives but Captain Krueger, who was captain of the German Veteran Asso- ciation, died in 1893, aged fifty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Heimann have three surviving children: Meta, Edward and Arthur. Those deceased were: William, who was accidentally killed by the kick of a horse when aged about six years; Olga, who died when aged three months; Freda, who died at the age of six months; Lilly, who lived to the age of eight- een months; and Helen, whose short life span was one year and eight months. Mr. Heimann is a member of the fraternal and social organiza- tion known as The Druids.

WALTER E. PIERCE, who is superintendent of one of the large industrial plants of Wausau, the Curtis & Yale, manufacturers of sash, doors, etc., is one of Wausau's best known and valued citizens, having been identified with many things of importance in this city. He is a member of the Wausau School Board and is also serving as alderman representing the Sixth ward. He was born at Princeton, Wis., June 17, 1865, and is a son of Jonathan Pierce.

Walter E. Pierce was three years old when his parents moved to McIntosh Mill, Marathon county. In the following spring they came to Wausau, and when thirteen years old he went to Merrill, Wis., lived there three years and then returned to Wausau. He had very little chance to attend school. When he took his future in his own hands, all his earthly possessions were wrapped in a newspaper, and thus he started on foot for Merrill, Wis. There the brave boy secured work in the office of the Northern Wisconsin News and remained as print- er's devil for one and one-half years, in the meanwhile absorbing con- siderable knowledge of the trade. After that he was employed in the office of the Lincoln County Advocate, also at Merrill, afterward returning to the News and completed his apprenticeship. In the fall of 1881 Mr. Pierce came to Wausau and went to work for Curtis & Yale, who were then installing machinery for their large plant and when operations began in February, 1882, Mr. Pierce returned to the com- pany as a machine operator, at wages of one dollar a day. This is indeed a contrast to the position he occupies with the same company today as superintendent over its force of 400 men. Through all departments he rose step by step and has been continuously with the company with the exception of an interval of four years, during a part of this time, from April, 1896, to April, 1898, he served in the office of chief of police at

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Wausau, under Mayor Anderson and Mayor McEachron. He moved then to Milwaukee where he was with the Northwestern Railroad for two years, returning then to the Curtis & Yale people.

Mr. Pierce was married to Miss Catherine Saurbrei, of Kingston, Wis., and they have three children: Gertrude, Ethel and Erwin. The eldest daughter is assistant librarian of the Wausau Public Library, while the second daughter has charge of the typewriting room in the Wausau High School. Mr. Pierce, notwithstanding his early disad- vantages, has made steady progress in life from his lonely boyhood and there are few men who can, at present, more readily find friends on every hand. He has been so useful as a citizen that once he was elected to membership on the county board and is now serving in his third term as alderman of his ward. He was one of the earliest members of the E. F. U., an organization which has grown, in the last few years, into one of much prominence in Wisconsin.

FRANK F. ZIELSDORF, who has been chief of the Wausau Fire Department since the fall of 1909 and a member of this brave and effective organization for about twenty-five years, is one of Wausau's best known and most respected and useful citizens. He has lived here for forty-one years but was born in Germany, January 30, 1870, and is a son of William and Louise Zielsdorf, who brought him here when two years old. The father settled on the west side and Chief Zielsdorf has always lived in this section of the city. The father died in 1891 but the mother survives being now in her eighty-first year. She is well known and much beloved in the west side and has always retained, more or less, her thrifty, wholesome German customs.

Frank F. Zielsdorf obtained his education in the public schools and then went to work with the firm of Curtis Bros., now Curtis & Yale, in their sash and door factory, where he remained for eight years. He was one of the early members of the volunteer fire department and after the pay system came in and the department was made a part of the city gov- ernment, he was made second assistant chief at the West Side Fire House. In 1907 he was appointed first assistant chief and in 1909 he succeeded Chief Miller as City Fire Chief, a responsible office for which he is admirably qualified in every way and he has the high regard of his fellow citizens as well as the confidence and admiration of his men.

Chief Zielsdorf married Miss Ida Kuhlmann, who was born in Wash- ington county, Wis., and came from there to Wausau with her parents at the age of twelve years and was educated here. Her father, John C.

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Kuhlmann, is assistant postmaster of Wausau. The following children have been born to Chief and Mrs. Zielsdorf: Florence, Earl, Lucile, Byron, Frank and Margaret. Florence and Frank both died in infancy. Chief Zielsdorf is a member of the Order of Owls and of the E. F. U.

GUSTAV A. SCHOCHOW, one of the large realty owners at Wau- sau and the well known proprietor of the blacksmith shop on the corner of Scott and Second streets, is a citizen whose absence for many reasons would be noted by his fellow citizens, for he has occupied his present stand for thirty years, and it is, thus, in a way, one of the city's land- marks. He was born at Wausau, March 10, 1871, and is a son of Otto and Augusta Schochow.

Otto Schochow was born in Germany, January 1, 1841, and came to the United States in June, 1867, settling at once at Wausau, Wis. He purchased a blacksmith shop of Charles Klein, one of the pioneers here, which was situated on Clark's Island. He became one of the sterling men of Wausau, carried on his blacksmith business more or less all his life and acquired property, and his death in 1902, was a matter of regret to many and such men as Judge Marchetti acted as pall-bearers on the occasion of his funeral. In January, 1869, he married Miss Augusta Marquardt, who was born also at Pomern, Germany, and they had eight children : Bertha, Gustav, Martha, Robert, Otto, Emma, and Delia and Anna.

Gustav A. Schochow was reared at Wausau and obtained his educa- tion in the city schools. As soon as he was old enough he began to assist his father in the shop and in the course of years became known as an expert horse-shoer and for many years has been in this business. He owns the whole block in which his establishment is situated, running from Second street 120 feet west and within this boundary are also located the Duncan harness shop, the Bijou Theater and a saloon.

Mr. Schochow married Miss Bertha Sorges of Wausau, and they have one son, Wilbert. They are members of St. Stephen's church. He belongs to several fraternal and beneficiary organizations, including the Royal Arcanum, the Yeomen and the Eagles.

EDWARD L. PINE, plumbing and heating contractor, with place of business at No. 116 Callon street, Wausau, is a thoroughly expe- rienced man in this line, having been in business for himself since 1896. He was born at Eureka, Wis., May 21, 1879, and is a son of John and Ruth Pine. When he was two years old his parents moved to Omro,

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Wis., and there both died, the mother in 1893 and the father in 1897. He was a blacksmith by trade.

Edward L. Pine was reared and attended school at Omro and for eight months worked at the blacksmith trade with his father and brother. After leaving home he worked in mining camps as a miner in the north- ern part of Wisconsin, and from there engaged as assistant cook in lumber camps in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, for two winters, after which, for several months he was fireman in a saw mill and might have continued there had not a freshet come that destroyed two bridges and carried 80,000,000 feet of lumber down the river, this catastrophe closing all the mills. Mr. Pine then went to Minneapolis where he became an apprentice with the firm of Hobart & Willis, plumbers and heating contractors, and there learned his trade and afterward worked in various places as a journeyman until 1896, when he established himself in the plumbing and heating business at Columbus Wis., where he remained until 1905, when he came to Wausau. At all times Mr. Pine " has been an industrious man and through his energy has been successful in whatever he has undertaken. At present he has a heavy trade and many important contracts and is held in such high regard by his trade associates that on January 13, 1913, he was a second time elected presi- dent of the Wausau Master Plumbers' Association, and is also president of the Central Wisconsin Sanitary & Benevolent Social Club which com- prises Master Plumbers from ten different cities.

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History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens, Part 73

Author: Marchetti, Louis. cn Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1042

Author: Marchetti, Louis. cn
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1042