USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 81
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William A. Paff attended the public schools of his native place and his first work afterward was in a harnessmaking shop where he con-
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tinued for several years, when he entered the employ of his brother, Carl Paff, as his bookkeeper. In 1883 the late Carl Paff, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Fred Zentner, embarked in the cement, lime and sand business under the firm name of Zentner & Paff and they continued to- gether for several years when Mr. Paff bought out his partner and ran until 1899, when William A. Paff bought the business, and Carl Paff died in 1908. Mr. Paff is enjoying a profitable volume of business and is numbered with the city's reliable business men and owns the building in which his office is located. He has never been very active in politics but has settled convictions and when necessity arises is not backward in announcing them.
In 1906 Mr. Paff was married to Miss Ida Moeller, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they have two children: William Jacob and Marjorie.
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON, president of Johnson's Electric Shop at Wausau, contractors and electric supply dealers, is a well known citizen here, where he has lived since he was fourteen years of age. He was born at La Crosse, Wisconsin, August 5, 1876, and is a son of Jere- miah F. Johnson, who is a retired railroad man, having continued as an engineer until he was sixty-five years of age, being then retired, some five years since.
Until prepared for the eighth grade, William R. Johnson was a student at La Crosse, and after accompanying his father to Wassau he entered this grade in the public schools and in 1895 graduated from the Wausau High School, after which he entered Lawrence University and spent three years in that institution. Mr. Johnson then became prin- cipal of the schools of Hermansville, Mich., and one year later was called from there to Wausau to become principal of the Lincoln School. At that time there were but six rooms in the building, but, largely through Mr. Johnson's influence, the taxpayers enlarged the school facilities and made it a 14-room building, four years later. He then suggested a manuel training course, the first equipments for which he purchased. The enthusiasm of the students, both boys and girls was so great that they willingly worked after regular school hours and so impressed the visiting members of the school board with the advantages that would accrue through a thorough training along this line, that they advised Mr. Johnson to take a summer course at Lewis Institute, Chicago, for better preparing him to take up this work and encouraged him to visit many of the leading centers of Industrial Education, at Indianapolis,
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Dayton, Oak Park, and Minneapolis. The following year the Domes- tic Science and Manual Training equipments were installed in the high school building. Mr. Johnson then fitted up a room appropriately and in the following fall became principal and director of Manual Training in the Lincoln School, and interest in the work increased. He left this school in 1909, to enter into the electrical business, after a continuous period of ten years.
Johnson's Electric shop was incorporated in April, 1912, and constant employment is given to from six to eight men. The company contracts and does wiring of all kinds, both in and outside the city, and handles electric fixtures and supplies.
Mr. Johnson was married in August, 1904, to Miss Minerva Eckels, of Buena Vista, Wisconsin, who, before marriage, was a teacher in the Lincoln School. They have three sons : Raymond, Charles and Harold. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a steward. Formerly he had charge of a mission school on the West side, the average attendance being seventy-five. He has been active in the Y. M. C. A. since its organization, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity.
NICHOLAS P. MOLTER, who is at the head of the Nicholas P. Molter Plumbing & Heating Company, No. 206 Scott street, Wausau, has been a resident of this city since 1908, coming here from Chicago, Illinois, where he was born October 17, 1859. He is a son of Peter and Anna M. (Simon) Molter, who were natives of Berfeld Trier, Ger- many. They came to America in 1845, landing at New Orleans, where they remained one year and then came north to Chicago, Illinois. There Peter Molter continued to live until his death in 1874, when aged sixty-one years. He was a Roman Catholic in religion. Of his family of children reared in Chicago, there are three living: Mary, who is the wife of J. Henry Schoenemann; Kate, who is the wife of Jacob Weiler; and Nicholas P.
In his native city Nicholas P. Molter attended school and assisted his father in the foundry and machine shops where he was employed, until he was fourteen years of age, when he entered upon his apprentice- ship to the plumber's trade, which he completed and has been in the business ever since. His first visit to Wausau was made in 1884, when he came here to be married, after which he returned to Chicago and went into the plumbing business and continued until he decided to re-
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turn to Wausau. Here he embarked in the same business as a partner of Benedict J. Hett, his brother-in-law, who had learned the business with Mr. Molter in the later's Chicago establishment. The firm of Hett & Molter existed until January, 1913, when Mr. Hett retired, and A. R. Marson and H. P. Molter, the latter being a son of Nicholas P. Molter, were admitted as partners. A general plumbing business, in- cluding steam and hot water heating, is carried on, and the firm, as a business house, stands high in public confidence.
In 1884 Mr. Molter was married at Wausau, to Miss Bertha T. Hett, whose father, Henry Hett, was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1846. Mrs. Molter passed her childhood in Chicago and came to Wausau in 1881, teaching school in this county until her marriage when once more she lived in Chicago. Since returning to Wausau with her husband and children in 1908, she has renewed many old friend- ships. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Molter, namely: Frank, who is deceased; H. P., who is a member of the Nicholas P. Molter Plumbing & Heating Company: Benedict A., who is in business at Los Angeles, Cal .; Catherine, who, after graduating from the Wausau High School and the Oshkosh Normal School, became a teacher at Appleton, Wisconsin .; Edna, who is a student in the Wausau High School; and Leander J., who attends St. Mary's School. Mr. Molter and family are members of the Catholic church. He belongs to the Royal League and the Catholic Order of Foresters, and to other local organizations.
HENRY RUDER, secretary and treasurer of the George Ruder Brewing Company, of Wausau, Wis., has efficiently served in this connection since 1892, when the company was incorporated, his father having been its founder. He was born in this city, in a house that then stood on the present brewery site, in 1871, and he is a son of George and Louisa Ruder, well known residents of Wausau.
Henry Ruder was reared in his native city and secured his educa- tion in its excellent schools and a business college at Milwaukee, which he attended three years. From boyhood he has been to some extent employed around his father's brewery and thus may be said to have grown up in the business, which, from a small beginning, has been de- veloped into an industry that commands a capital stock of $200,000. In 1892 the business was incorporated with Jacob Gensman as president ; Julius Quade as vice president ; and Henry Ruder as secretary and
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treasurer. The plant is located at Nos. 502-516, inclusive, on Grand avenue, Wausau.
Henry Ruder married Miss Alma Kickbush, who was born at Wausau, and they have two children: Paula and Leona. He is widely acquainted with business men all through this section and is prominent in Odd Fellowship, belonging to Lodge No. 215 and Marathon En- campment No. 79.
LOUIS C. LEAK, merchant tailor and representative business man of Wausau, Wisconsin, where he has been established for the past seventeen years, has been identified with this city for twenty-two years and is justly proud of his own hard won success and also of the general prosperity which makes Wausau a desirable place commercially and socially, in which to secure and maintain a home. He was born at New Lisbon, Wisconsin, March 24, 1871, and is a son of Julius and Augusta Leak. While still an infant, the parents of Mr. Leak moved from New Lisbon to Tomah, in Monroe county, Wisconsin. By trade the father was a shoemaker, but never worked at his trade in this country, but was in the employ of the C. M. & St. P. Railroad for sey- eral years. Both parents died at Tomah.
Louis C. Leak was reared at Tomah, Wisconsin, and there obtained a public school education, after which, as soon as his parents would permit, he went to Milwaukee and there learned the tailor's trade. For several years after his apprenticeship ended he traveled as a journey- man and then came to Wausau, where he worked for others until he embarked in business for himself. He is an expert cutter and carries a large and carefully selected stock of the finest goods on the market and his customers are among the most particular and fastidious men of the city. Mr. Leak enjoys the distinction of having it said of him that a customer once gained is never lost.
Mr. Leak was married at Wausau, Wisconsin, to Miss Ida Arendsee, of this city, and they have one son, Louis C., Jr. He is identified with a number of fraternal organizations, including the Masons, the Elks, the Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcanum and the Independent Order of Foresters, and for twenty-two years has belonged to the German body, the Liederkranz.
HERMAN E. MARQUARDT, city comptroller at Wausau, Wis- consin, and serving in his fourth term in this important office, has al-
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ways claimed Wausau as his home, for he was born here, May 6, 1873, although business responsibilities have demanded his absence for pro- tracted periods. His parents, August W. and Johanna (Lueck) Mar- quardt, were born in Germany and came to this section in 1868, settling in the village of Wausau, later securing farming land in close proximity, in town of Wausau, Marathon county, so that it was possible to there carry on agricultural operations and still maintain the home at Wausau. Here his death occurred June 14, 1909, his widow still surviving.
Herman E. Marquardt attended the public schools and graduated from the Wausau High School in the class of 1891, and then entered the law office of A. L. Kreutzer, with the intention of studying for that profession. He continued his studies there for two months when a more attractive proposition presented itself and he entered the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company, in its construction depart- ment and during the following two years traveled over Wisconsin, Idaho and Washington. The succeeding two years he spent at Duluth, where he had charge of the business there relating to the lines, batteries and other necessary working paraphernalia, and filled the same position at Superior, from 1894 until 1896, and from the latter year until 1905 he was in the inspection service, having jurisdiction over Wisconsin, Northern Iowa, Minnesota, Upper Michigan, North and South Dakota and a part of Montana, with headquarters at Minneapolis, Minn., for thirteen consecutive years belonging to the same department, resigning March 1, 1905, and for one year was with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Although Mr. Marquardt retained his headquar- ters at Minneapolis, he returned to his native city January 18, 1900. In April, 1906, he was first elected to his present office, the first favor he had ever accepted from the Republican party, of which he had been a loyal member for many years.
In 1897 Mr. Marquardt was married to Miss Emma Rollenhagen of Wausau and they have two children: Gladys E., who is a student in the Wausau High School; and Milton A. Mr. Marquardt has consider- able prominence in the fraternal orders of Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen, being a trustee of the former in this city, and a member of the board of managers of the latter; being also a member of the Commercial Club and the Y. M. C. A.
GEORGE PFEIFFER, whose name is well known in the large manufacturing industries of Marathon county, Wisconsin, for many
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years having been connected with milling interests here and is vice president and superintendent of the H. E. McEachron Company, whose great mills are located on Clarke's Island, Wausau, was born at Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, August 9, 1862, and is a son of John George and Mary (Scheck) Pfeiffer.
When George Pfeiffer was about thirteen years of age his father, who by trade was a wagon maker, moved with his family to Monroe, Wisconsin, and two years later bought a small flour mill there and the son worked in his father's mill for four years. He then went to Cedar- burg, Wisconsin, and was employed there in a flour mill for two years, returning then to his father's mill for a year, when he came to Wausau and in January, 1884, entered the employ of his present company as a miller. At that time the mills were considered very prosperous, the output being about ninety barrels of flour daily, but compared with the present output of over 800 barrels a day, the former volume of busi- ness seems very small. At first Mr. Pfeiffer worked as assistant miller but in 1891 took charge as head miller and superintendent and when the company was incorporated became also vice president. Mr. Pfeiffer confines his attention, in a business way, to this concern and his duties are so numerous and important that he is fully occupied.
At Tomahawk, Wisconsin, in 1889, Mr. Pfeiffer was married to Miss Mary Oelhafen, and they have one daughter, Marian, who was born in 1903. They belong to the Presbyterian church. He has never been very active in political life and his only fraternal connection is with the Knights of Pythias.
H. A. VEDDER, M. D., physician and surgeon at Edgar, Wiscon- sin, is a native of this state, born in Walworth county, November I, 1878. After completing the public school course and graduating from the High School at Marshfield, Wisconsin, he entered the medical de- partment of the Northwestern University at Chicago, where he was graduated in the class of 1905. Dr. Vedder located immediately at Edgar, selecting his present suite of office space in the Dapratto Build- ing. He has built up a practice that extends three miles east of the village, fourteen miles south, nine miles west, and seven miles north. Additionally he is examining physician for a number of the leading in- surance companies. He keeps well informed concerning scientific prog- ress through membership in the Marathon county, the Wisconsin State and the American Medical Associations.
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Dr. Vedder married Miss Mary Wilson, who is a daughter of Rev. Wilson, formerly a Presbyterian minister at Wausau, now of Reeds- burg, Wisconsin. They have three children: Janette, Lillian and Harry. Dr. Vedder confines himself closely to his profession but, when occasion arises, takes a good citizen's part in public matters.
WILLIAM R. CHELLIS, a representative business man of Wausau, Wis., who conducts a real estate business, including loans and investments, with office at No. 310 Scott street, is a prominent ctizen of Marathon county who has served with efficiency in public office and is a recognized factor in Republican politics. Of New England ancestry, he was born in Grafton county, N. H., August 18, 1869, a son of Sumner and Emma Chellis, having only one brother, Herbert, a twin sister having been scalded to death at the age of six months, his parents being also of New England birth and rearing. When the Civil War broke out Sumner Chellis, at the age of fifteen years, enlisted for service in one of the early New Hampshire regiments. In 1873 he came with his family to Green County, Wis., and in 1881 to Wausau, where he died at the early age of thirty-seven years.
William R. Chellis was eleven years old when his parents came to Wau- say and was not much older when he lost his father. He went to school until he was old enough to be useful on a farm and from school went to the lumber regions where he took part in the rough work of saw milling and logging, promoting his health and gaining muscle and taking pleasure also in the rough life, hard as it was. It was while working in the saw mills at Wau- sau, where he had learned the saw-filing trade, that, in August, 1893, a serious strike was called under his leadership on account of existing conditions that in- volved all the lumber and factory workers, the contention being on account of the long period of working time required by the employers. The strike was soon settled, and Mr. Chellis has the satisfaction of knowing that through his efforts and diplomacy, the working hours of the day since then have been ten instead of eleven hours, which proved beneficial to all concerned.
Mr. Chellis represented the ward in which he lived as alderman for two terms, resigning to accept a position on the police force, where he served for six months as a patrolman and when the office of captain was created he re- ceived the appointment and served as such for a year and a half, subsequently being appointed under-sheriff. After serving two years in the latter capacity he was elected sheriff of Marathon county and held the office for two years, ad- ministering it to the satisfaction of all except law breakers. Then for six years
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he served as register of deeds for Marathon county. In 1910 he embarked in his present business.
Mr. Chellis married Miss Ethel Sampson, a daughter of Frank and Rowena Sampson, of Wausau, and they have one child, a daughter, Edna. Mr. Chellis belonged to the Wisconsin National Guards for four years, serving as corporal. He belongs to the Masonic Lodge, Eastern Star, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, Eagles, and Equitable Fraternal Union, orders of which he is very proud. He is a member of the Marathon County Building- Loan and Investment Association and is on its board of trustees, and is on the appraisal board. He is also one of the trustees of the Marathon County Agri- culture Society.
Mr. Chellis is one of the men that believe in giving a hearty welcome to all and a good word of praise for his friends, which is enjoyed by all who know him. The rich and poor are one to him. His watch word is forward and upward.
OLAI BACHE-WIIG, a mechanical engineer, who is superintendent of the Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company, at Mosinee, Wisconsin, and one of its stockholders, was born in Norway, June 3, 1876, and is a son of Hartvig and Amalie Bache-Wiig. Neither of the parents and only two of the ten children ever came to America, these being Olai and Jens, the latter being in the employ of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, at Pittsburgh, Pa., as an electrical engineer.
Olai Bache-Wiig attended school in his native land, studied me- chanical engineering in Germany, and, returning to Norway, engaged in pulp and paper mill engineering. He came to the United States in 1903, carrying on the same kind of work here and in Canada. In 1910 he was engaged by Wausau capitalists to design and build the pulp and paper mills of the Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company, located at Mosinee, Wis.
In February, 1912, Mr. Bache-Wiig was married to Miss Agnes Ravn, who was born at Scandinavia, Wisconsin, a daughter of Dr. Michael and Valborg Ravn. Mrs. Bache-Wiig's father conducts a pri- vate hospital in Merrill, Wisconsin. His family consists of four chil- dren : Bjarne, Agnes, Signe and Erling. Mr. and Mrs. Bache-Wiig have one son, Lars Ravn. They are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Bache-Wiig is a Republican in polities but is not a close party man.
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CHARLES A. BERNIER, owner and proprietor of a general store at Mosinee, Wisconsin, has been more or less identified with mer- chandising all his business life. He was born at Grand Rapids, Wis- consin, May 10, 1861, and is a son of Louis Alexander and Clementine (Blanchette) Bernier. His parents were natives of Canada and his father followed lumbering. He is one of the following family of chil- dren, all of whom survive except the second born: Arminigile, Zellier, Charles A., Delvine, Frank, Laura, Louis A. and Mary.
Charles A. Bernier attended first the public school and then became a pupil of the Howe School at Grand Rapids, after which he was a clerk in a general store in that city for four years. He came then to Mosinee and for fourteen more years was connected with mercantile firms, when he became associated in business with Hon. Willis F. La Du, and for twenty years their continued their mercantile partnership and are still connected in their real estate enterprises.
In 1884 Mr. Bernier was married to Miss Maggie Keefe, who was born in West Virginia, a daughter of John Keefe, who engaged in farm- ing near Mosinee after coming to Marathon county. Mr. and Mrs. Bernier have three children: Charles A., Willis Owen, and Eva, who is assistant superintendent of the schools of Marathon county. They are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Bernier belongs to the Knights of Columbus and to the Catholic Order of Foresters. In politics he is a Democrat.
GUSTAV GRUNEWALD, who has many important business in- terests and owns considerable valuable property at Athens, Wis- consin, is one of the well know men of Marathon county and for the past thirty-one years has been a resident of Athens. He was born June 1, 1863, in Germany, and is a son of August and Louise (Huhn) Grune- wald. The parents of Mr. Grunewald remained in Germany until 1885, the father working at his trade of blacksmith. Both parents are now deceased but their children all survive, as follows: Gustav, Herman, who still lives in Germany; Tena, who is the wife of Edward Brant; Bertha, who is the wife of Carl Ratz; and Frank.
Gustav Grunewald remained in his native land until he was nine- teen years of age, attending school as does every German boy, and learn- ing the blacksmith trade with his father. In 1882 he came to the United States and for one year lived at Wausau, Wisconsin, from there moved to Hatley but very soon afterward settled permanently at Athens. Here
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he has continued ever since and through industry and good judgment has built up prosperous business enterprises and has become a leading man of the place. He owns a blacksmith shop and a wagon and sleigh shop, both manufacturing and repairing, and gives several men em- ployment all the year round. He also owns a general store, a fine res- idence that he occupies and another that he rents out, and has two busi- ness blocks, together with stock in some local concerns. He has also been active in public affairs and was elected town treasurer on the democratic ticket and for thirteen years served also as school treasurer. In every position of trust and responsibility he has shown himself a man of capacity and integrity.
Mr. Grunewald was married first to Miss Josephine Lepack, who died in 1900, the mother of the following children: Anna, wife of Wal- ter Clotere, Frances, Henry, John, George, deceased, Margaret and Frank. In 1901 Mr. Grunewald was married (second) to Mrs. Alverna Jones, widow of Edward Jones and mother of four children: Caroline, wife of George Fulmer; Agnes, wife of William Hanson; Ethel, a teacher in the public schools; and Elmer. Mr. Grunewald is a member of the German Lutheran Church. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and attends the lodge at Athens.
JOSEPH LANG, JR., one of the leading citizens of the town of Cassel, resides in section 21, five miles southwest of Marathon City, owning 159 acres of excellent land lying in sections 21 and 17, Cassel. He was born at Neilsville, Wis., October 9, 1886, and is a son of John and Mary Waldkirch, and was left an orphan when six months old. At the age of five years he was adopted by Andrew and Benedicta (Bau- man) Lang, who were early settlers in the town of Cassel. These good people reared the orphan child as their own and gave him their name, one on which he has always reflected credit.
Joseph Lang obtained his education in the district schools in the town of Cassel and the parochial school at Marathon City. He grew up a farmer and has always resided in Marathon county except during one year, when he traveled in the West. After his return he was mar- ried in the town of Cassel to Miss Matilda Lang, a daughter of Emil and Martha Lang, Emil and Andrew Lang being brothers and both fine men. After marriage the young people settled on the present farm which was already improved. They have one child, Emil, who is yet an infant. They are members of St. Mary's Catholic Church. In politics
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