USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 82
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Mr. Lang is a Republican and takes an interest in public matters and commands public confidence to such a degree that in 1912 his fellow citizens elected him town assessor. He is a stockholder in the Cassel- Edgar-Emert Telephone Company.
JOHN SEUBERT. There are many wealthy and prominent men in Wisconsin and Marathon county has its full quota, and the larger number of these have built up their fortunes through industry and good judgment in their lumber and agricultural operations. One of the well known men of the town of Cassel, Marathon county, residing in section 9, four and one-half miles west of Marathon City, owns 650 acres of valuable land, on which stands the finest rural residence in the entire county. He was born in Washington county, Wisconsin, April 15, 1855, a son of Nicholas and Margaret Seubert. The father died when John was nine years old, leaving a family of six sons and four daughters.
The early years of Mr. Seubert were more or less toilsome for the family was large and a living had to be made out of the home farm and he worked for neighboring farmers, getting a very small amount of schooling in the meanwhile, and spent many winters in the logging camps in the woods. In 1882, near Marshfield, Wis., he bought eighty acres of land, made a clearing there and built a house. His next purchase was of eighty acres two miles north of his first farm, in the town of Spencer, Marathon county, cleared sixty acres of it, remodeled the house and built a barn. During some seven years while owning that place he engaged in logging in the winters in Ashland county for Henry Sherry, devoting his summers to farming. After he sold that place he moved to Marathon City where he went into a general store business under the firm name of Miller, Ritger & Seubert, and during the succeeding ten years he was a buyer of lumber and the other mem- bers of the firm carried on the store, all having their capital involved. Mr. Seubert then sold his interest there and in the spring of 1901 bought his present farm, which was then all woods and so dense that he had to cut a road for two miles in order to reach his property. He built a log house there and since then improvements have followed swiftly. He has 288 acres cleared, 170 acres of which he calls hay land and he carries on all his large agricultural operations himself, with the assistance of his sons. In November, 1901, the present handsome modern residence of fourteen rooms was completed, in which has been installed city com- forts including a system of hot water heating.
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On May 16, 1882, Mr. Seubert was married to Miss Frances Bayer, who was born at Menasha, Wis., a daughter of George and Katie (Waltdrap) Bayer, who were born in Germany. The following chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seubert: Johanna, who is the wife of Jacob Martin; Clara, who is the wife of Fred Misoll, residing in Idaho; Peter, who was born at Marshfield; Gust, who was born after the family moved to Marathon City, where all the remaining children were born: Madaline, Mathilda, Frances, Agatha and Aloysius. Mr. Seubert and family are members of St. Mary's Catholic church, to the building of which he was a liberal contributor. He is a Democrat but his business interests have always so engaged his time that he never felt free to accept public office. He is a stockholder in the State Bank of Marathon City; is interested also in the local telephone company, and in the Seubert Harskin Land Company, the Colby Southern Land Com- pany and the Wausau Southern Land Company. He is identified fra- ternally with the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin and the Foresters.
MATHEW WAGNER. who is one of the substantial and repre- sentative men of the town of Cassel, of which he has been supervisor for the last four years, resides in section 14, where he owns 120 acres of valuable land, situated three miles southwest of Marathon City. He was born in Dodge county, Wis., December 25, 1867, and is a son of John M. and Catherine Wagner, the former of whom lives on the above mentioned farm. The mother of Mr. Wagner was. born in Germany in 1826 and came to America in 1864 and in December of that year was married to John M. Wagner, at Chicago, Ill., after which they moved to Dodge county, Wis. She died December 31, 19II, at the age of eighty-six and her burial was in the Catholic cemetery at Marathon City.
Mathew Wagner has three brothers: John, who has been a wid- ower some eight years and has three children, follows the trade of scaling and working in the woods, and makes his home in the town of Cassel; Peter, who lives in Edgar and also follows lumber scaling and works in the mills, is married and has six children; and Nick, who lives in Canada, is a thresher.
Mathew Wagner attended the public schools until about twelve years of age when the family came to Marathon county and since then his activities have been farming, threshing and work in the woods. For twenty-three years he followed threshing during the season, worked
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at lumbering and in saw mills in the winter time and on farms as oppor- tunity offered. During the last three winters he has been engaged in log scaling, for two years being with the Wausau Lumber Company at Rib Falls and one year at Marathon City for Philip Menzner. He carries on general farming on his seventy acres of cleared land, the rest being in timber. Mr. Wagner is considered a man of excellent judg- ment in the management of his own affairs and as reliable and trust- worthy as a public official. He has been a Democrat in politics since he cast his first vote.
Mr. Wagner was married to Miss Mary J. Kohler, who was born in Elmore, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, June 4, 1866, a daughter of Joseph Kohler and his first wife, the latter of whom was born in Swit- zerland, was married in Germany, where Mr. Kohler was born. They came to America in the year 1865 and settled in Fond du Lac county, Wis. They had three children: Mary, Annie and Joseph. The mother of Mrs. Wagner died when she was nine years old and afterward the father married Catherine Kastel, who was also born in Germany, and they had the following children: Katie, who married a Mr. Imhoff ; Maggie, who is the wife of Anton Vebelacker; Susanna, who is the wife of William Kutchenreter: Grace, who is the wife of August Kutchen- reter, and Rose, who is the wife of Herman Kutchenreter. The mother of the above children died in her forty-third year and her burial was in St. Mary's cemetery. The father was a wagonmaker by trade but later became a farmer and a pioneer in the town of Cassel, Marathon county, where he died, November 23, 1912, when aged seventy-three years. Mrs. Wagner attended the public and parochial schools at El- more and New Castle, Wis., and was twelve years old when her parents came to Marathon county. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have the fol- lowing children: Raymond P., Gertrude K., Andrew N., Thaddeus J., Mathew J., and Robert W. The family belongs to St. Mary's Catholic church, and Mr. Wagner belongs to the St. Leo Court, No. 795, Cath- olic Order of Foresters, and Germania Lodge, No. 44. He served effi- ciently as supervisor in 1899.
CARL G. KRUEGER, whose important business interests are mainly centered at Wausau, Wis., where he is assistant cashier of the First National Bank, is a native son of Marathon county. He was born January 15, 1873. on a farm in the town of Stettin, Mara- thon county, Wis., and is the son of A. W. and Wilhelmina Krueger.
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A. W. and Wilhelmina Krueger were both born in Germany and for a number of years after coming to Wisconsin, the father carried on farming in Marathon county, when failing health caused him to change his mode of life. He then came to Wausau and for some years after- ward successfully conducted a general store in this city, but now lives retired.
Carl G. Krueger was reared at Wausau and here attended the pub- lic and parochial schools, and helping his father in his business. At the age of eighteen he went to Milwaukee where he entered the employ of Wm. Steinmeyer Co., wholesale and retail grocers. But Mr. Krue- ger had an ambition; he was looking for things beyond. After leav- ing school at the age of fourteen he did not feel that he had had suffi- cient learning, but employed his evenings attending the public night school during the winter season. After a year's satisfactory service for Steinmeyer & Company, he entered the Spencerian Business College at Milwaukee, completing the course in the year 1893. In March, 1894, he entered the service of the First National Bank of Wausau, as a junior clerk and collector, and he has been advanced step by step, ac- cording to bank custom, until he became assistant cashier.
He is prominently identified with other business interests in Wusau and is president of the Northern Milling Company, which is operating with a capital stock of $100,000. Mr. Krueger is well known all over the county and is recognized as an able and trustworthy business man. Because of his great faith in the future possibilities of Wausau and Marathon county he has taken an active interest in the development of its resources, especially has he been interested in getting the young men to become a success and help to this community. For the past fifteen years he has been a director and treasurer of the Wausau Y. M. C. A., and since its organization has been a member of the Wausau Board of Industrial Education.
In early manhood Mr. Krueger was married to Miss Frances Hooker, of West Salem, Wis., who was born at New Orleans, La. They have four children : Gretchen, Rhoda, Richard and William.
JULIUS H. KEIL, capitalist, is one of the largest property owners at Wausau, Wis., and is one of the city's best known men. Not only is Captain Keil prominent in business affairs, especially in im- proved real estate, but has honorable military standing as well. He is a member of the Council of Honor of the Central Union of the German
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Veterans and Soldiers' Federation of North America, and second vice president of all the German Veteran Associations in the state of Wis- consin, the members of these bodies all having formerly been soldiers in the German army. Captain Keil was born in Germany, February 28, 1855, and is a son of Frederick and Rosa Keil. The father was a military man all his life and won many honors.
Julius H. Keil was reared and educated in his native land and when twenty years of age entered the army in which he served with credit for three years. By trade he is a dyer and after his army service was over he engaged at work in the line of his trade until 1880, when he crossed the Atlantic ocean and visited in New York for six weeks. Find- ing his expenses heavier than he had anticipated he returned then to Germany but his impressions of the country and people had been so favorable that in 1886 he came back to America. Shortly afterward he became foreman of large dye works in the city of Philadelphia, Pa., where he remained for eight months, then spent a short period in Cin- cinnati and afterward came on to Milwaukee, Wis. In that city he became foreman for the Northwestern Woolen Mill Company and continued such for one year and then came to Wausau. Here he pur- chased a property opposite the Northwestern Railroad depot and con- ducted dye works there for eighteen years. In the meanwhile he had been purchasing property and improving it in different parts of the city, both on the East and West sides and now occupies his handsome residence on Sherman street, West side, and also owns all the resident buildings between Third and Fifth avenues, South, having built them all. He also built the West side Roller Skating Rink. He devotes much of his time to looking after his numerous properties and many invest- ments. His position in connection with the German Veterans Associa- tion is one of such honor that when he visited Germany in May, 1910, where he remained for eleven weeks, he was the guest of royalty and great consideration was shown him. He travels over many sections of the United States on lecture tours, largely in connection with the mili- tary organization in which he is so interested.
On November 28, 1890, Captain Keil was united in marriage with Miss Emma Eschman, who was born in Switzerland, and they have three children: Freda, Rosa and Helen. He is identified with the fra- ternal organization known as the Eagles and belongs also to the Royal Arcanum. Wausau owes much to Mr. Keil's public spirit in the way of material development and his improvement of property here has un-
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doubtedly done a great deal in the way of attracting capital to this city and the establishing here of permanent residents.
W. F. BIELKE, justice of the peace and general merchant at Zeig- ler, Wis., was born in the town of Berlin, May 11, 1865, and is a son of Henry and Augusta (Neumann) Bielkea, who were natives of Ger- many and among the first settlers of the town of Berlin. They had three sons and two daughters. The father died when his son, W. F., was seventeen years of age and was buried in the Lutheran cemetery in the town of Berlin.
W. F. Bielke attended the public schools in his native town and then worked on a farm until he embarked in the mercantile business, first at Naugart, where he continued for six years and then sold to A. J. Fehlhaber, after whch he bought the stock and good will of George W. Zeigler, at his present place. For the entire time he was engaged at Naugart, Mr. Bielke was postmaster there and was appointed post- master of this village and continued until the office was discontinued here. He is a stockholder in the Marathon-Zeigler telephone line, in the Marathon City Brewing Company, the George Ruder Brewing Company, and the City State Bank at Wausau, and is a member of the Berlin Fire and Lightning Insurance Company. He has served in a number of local offices, being justice of the peace and town and school clerk.
In 1890 Mr. Bielke was married to Miss Mary Crochiere, a daughter of Peter Crochiere, of Stettin, and they have five children: Ervin, Viola, Walter, Mildred and Delora. The family belong to the Lutheran church.
. CLAIRE BRAYTON BIRD, attorney at law, and member of the firm of Kreutzer, Bird, Rosenberry & Okoneski, was born at Jefferson, Jefferson county, Wis., October 27, 1868. His ancestry on both sides were pioneers in the very earliest settlement and building of the state.
His paternal grandfather, Col. A. A. Bird, was employed to lay out the site of the city of Madison, and to build the first capitol building, when that location was chosen for the capitol site of the state. He started with a party of forty men from Milwaukee, went through the forests to the four lakes, building his own roads and bridges, platted and laid out the city of Madison, built the first capitol building, the first court house, hotel, depot, south building of the University, and other
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buildings. He was also sheriff of Dane county, and mayor of Madison. As soon as the capital city site was established and sufficient housings for the family prepared, the eldest Colonel Bird removed his family from Milwaukee to that city. There his son Col. George WV. Bird grew up, went through the shools, including the University ; studied law, enlisted in the army, after which he practiced law at Jefferson, where his chil- dren were born. He removed back to Madison in 1886, and there prac- ticed law until his death October 1, 1912. He was well known through- out the entire state as a leading Democrat, and one of its best lawyers.
On his mother's side, his great-grandfather, Jeremiah Brayton, moved into the Rock River Valley and established a small colony of original homesteaders. His daughter, Louise Brayton, was the first school teacher in Dane county. She subsequently married George Swain, who died in middle manhood leaving two children, a son and a daughter. The son, then the sole support of the mother and daughter, enlisted in the 29th Wisconsin, and gave up his life in the Vicksburg campaign. The daughter married Col. George W. Bird. They had five children of whom three are living, to wit: Claire Brayton Bird, Hobert S. Bird, a lawyer in New York City, and Louise B. Warren, the wife of a Chicago architect.
Claire Brayton Bird was graduated from the University of Wis- consin, in the collegiate class of 1889 and the law class of 1891. In 1892 he came to Wausau, became the junior member of the firm of Myl- rea, Marchetti & Bird, which firm terminated in 1900, when it was suc- ceeded by his present firm. On June 20, 1892, he was married to Miss Laura Eaton of Muscatine, Iowa. They have two children: Marie, now a student at Downer College, Milwaukee; and George, student at Lake Forest Academy. He is prominently identified with the Masons (of which Lodge he is now Master), the Elks (of which he has twice been Ruler) and other fraternal societies.
He has devoted himself during his twenty years residence here, al- most exclusively to the practice of law. While he has taken advantage of the financial opportunities resulting from the growth of northern Wis- consin, so as to acquire for himself a substantial competence, yet he has never allowed the matter of outside investments or such other distrac- tions to divert his attention from his main purpose and business of practicing law in this community. He is considered one of the most effective lawyers in argument of legal propositions to the court as well as able advocates before a jury that we have had in Wausau. Aside front court practice, (which is getting to be less and less important in the
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work of a lawyer) he is also considered a very wise and safe counsellor upon whose opinion of the law and advice as to policy, clients are accus- tomed to rely with safety.
Mr. Bird has taken an active interest in the welfare of the Baptist church of this city, being what may properly be called a Liberal Bap- tist. He has also been active in politics though not seeking office. Of late years he has affiliated with the Republican party, but has always been independent and outspoken in his views and has never been a par- tisan of either wing.
OSCAR LOUIS RINGLE, who is a well known member of the Wausau bar and the junior of the well known law firm of Regner & Ringle, was born at Wausau, Wis., April 12, 1878, and is a son of Hon. John and Augusta (Engle) Ringle.
Hon. John Ringle is mayor of the city of Wausau and is one of the city's capitalists and is vice president of the First National Bank of Wau- sau. His people came early to Dodge county, Wis., and there he was born and mainly reared. He married Augusta Engle, who was born in Germany, and nine children were born to them. Oscar Louis being fourth in the order of birth.
Oscar L. Ringle was reared in his native city and has made his home here all his life. After he completed the public school course he entered the University of Wisconsin and was graduated there in law in the class of 1901, immediately entering upon the practice of his profession. In 1902 he formed a law partnership with Frank R. Regner under the style of Regner & Ringle, which has ever since continued. Mr. Ringle is a member of the Marathon County Bar Association, and fraternally is identified with the Masons and the Elks. Politically he is a Democrat, and was elected a member of the assembly of the Wisconsin Legislature, from the 2nd District of Marathon county at the general election in November, 1912.
Mr. Ringle married Miss Clara Baesman, a daughter of G. H. Baes- man, of Wausau, and they have one daughter, Dorothea. Mr. Ringle and family belong to St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church.
THOMAS C. RYAN, deceased, who, for many years was closely identified with the people and affairs of Wausau but had a circle of acquaintanceship which included the state, was born at Utica, N. Y., July 4, 1841, and died at Wausau, December 10, 191I.
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The parents of Thomas Curran Ryan died during his childhood and he was reared on a farm in the town of Hemingford, Lower Canada. His natural ambition for an education was encouraged, fortunately, both his grandfather and his uncle, James Ryan, willingly giving him all the opportunities in their power but in that newly settled country the schools offered but few advantages. He was gifted with a quick in- telligence and had a real genius for mathematics. In the fall of 1853, with his older brother, John Ryan, he came to Wisconsin where the youths found work on farms but later both learned the shoemaking trade at which Thomas C. worked during the winters until 1861 and as a farmer during the summers. The brothers became soldiers when the Civil War opened, both serving from 1861 until 1863 as privates, in Company G, 5th Wis. Vol. Inf., and all his spare time the younger brother devoted to study, thereby gaining a fair knowledge of Latin, German and French. Three times he was wounded, the last injury being of so serious a nature that it resulted in his honorable discharge from the service and he then returned to his former home, Berlin, Wis. His capital was $350, and with this sum to depend upon he began his struggle for a law education, becoming a student in the office of Trues- dall & Waring, at Berlin, and in the fall of 1865 was admitted to the bar at Dartford, in Green Lake county. After a term of school teaching, which added slightly to his now depleted resources, he opened his office at Berlin and his successful career as a lawyer began. He was thrice elected district attorney and then county judge, afterward being ad- mitted as an equal partner of Hon. George D. Waring. In 1881 he moved to Wausau and became a law partner of Neal Brown, in 1882 moving to Merrill where he soon afterward formed a law partnership with George Curtis, Jr., the beginning of the present firm of Curtis, Van Doren & Curtis. In December, 1883, Mr. Ryan returned to Wausau and became a partner with Silverthorn & Hurley, under the firm name of Silverthorn, Hurley & Ryan. Mr. Jones was admitted to the firm in 1886 and the firm name then became Silverthorn, Hurley, Ryan & Jones, which name continued until eleven years later when Mr. Silverthorn went on the bench, when the firm style then becoming Ryan, Hurley & Jones. In August, 1902, Mr. Ryan retired from the firm and during the following two years sought health in travel and at one time pur- chased a home in the South but never settled there permanently, his af- fections being centered in Wisconsin. In his later years he devoted a large part of his time to literary pursuits. He was a keen and daring
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thinker and had a wide range of subjects. His satire on the appellate courts, entitled "O'Hooligan's Fine Forms" had a large circulation and the publishers are about to issue a second edition. His second book, "Finite and Infinite," has sold well and his writings and theories on astronomy brought him into touch with the great astronomers of the world. His latest work, "Intellectual Religion" which has just been pub- lished is a lawyer's arrangement of the evidence in support of the case for immortality and has created considerable favorable comment.
THOMAS H. RYAN, a well known member of the bar at Wausau and a member of the law firm of Ryan & Sweet, with offices in the First National Bank Building, was born at Berlin, in Green Lake county, Wis., September 3, 1876, and is a son of Thomas C. and Emma E. (Thurston) Ryan.
In 1881 Thomas H. Ryan accompanied his parents to Wausau, and his mother still resides here, his father having died some years after locating here. He was educated in the public schools and at St. John's Military Academy and his military training was brought into play dur- ing the Spanish-American War; he enlisted as a member of Company K, 4th Wis. Vol. Inf., recruited at Washburne, Wis., and later served as principal musician ; this regiment being held at Anniston, Ala. After he returned to his home he entered the law department in the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, where he was graduated in the spring of 1901 and was admitted to the bar at Madison. He entered into practice at Merrill, Wis., at first alone and later as senior of the firm of Ryan & Runke, and for several years while living at Merrill was president of the board of education and also was president of the Lincoln county training school board, was treasurer of Lincoln Farm & Timber Co., a director in other corporations and took an active part in the business and social life of the city.
In 1904 Mr. Ryan was married to Miss Mollie V. Murray, a daugh- ter of D. J. Murray, of Wausau, and they have one daughter, Ellen Mur- ray Ryan. Mr. Ryan is a prominent factor in Democratic circles, is a member of the Wisconsin Democratic State Central Committee and was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention of 1912 where he took an important part in the efforts to secure the nomination of President Wil- son. He was manager of the Democratic presidential campaign in north- ern Wisconsin in the election following and assisted greatly in obtain-
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