USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 88
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Dr. Lawrence married Miss Ida Perkins, of Merrill, Wis. He is iden- tified with the Masonic fraternity and socially belongs to the Wausau City Club. He maintains his office at No. 517 Lawrence block, being the owner of this property.
PIERSON L. HALSEY,* justice of the peace in the town of Rietbrock, and the owner of 600 acres of valuable land here, for a number of years was well known in the county as an able attorney, practicing in the State, Federal and United States Supreme Courts. He was born February 5, 1871, at Oshkosh, Wis., and is a son of Lawrence and Mary L. (Loveridge) Halsey.
Hon. Lawrence Halsey, who, for the past twelve years has been presid- ing judge of Milwaukee, was born in New York. He was one of the early business men of this part of Marathon county and a member of the firm of Johnston, Rietbrock & Halsey, builders of the first mills at Athens. He married Mary L. Loveridge, also born in New York, and they had three children : Louisa, who is the wife of Philo C. Darrow, who conducts a printing establishment at Chicago; Pierson L .; and Cornelia, who is deceased.
Pierson L. Halsey went from the public schools of Milwaukee to Cornell University, where he was a student for three years, and then entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin, where he was graduated in
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the class of 1896. For fourteen years he was a member of the well known law firm of Rietbrock & Halsey and for seven years practiced alone, finally giving up his practice in order to give due attention to his large property interests. Two and one-half miles south of Athens lies his stock and dairy farm of 135 acres, and here he makes a specialty of raising Berkshire hogs and Guernsey cattle. In his political sentiments he is not hide-bound, but has always been inclined toward the principles of the Democratic party.
On June 10, 1908, Mr. Halsey was married to Miss Grace L. Green- wood, who is a daughter of Rev. Jolin W. and Gertrude (Loveridge) Green- wood, the former being rector of the Episcopal church at Oshkosh. Mrs. Halsey has one brother, John L. Mr. and Mrs. Halsey have one daughter, Mary Gertrude. They belong to the Episcopal church. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity at Milwaukee.
LEO SCHUBRING,* whose excellent farm of 180 acres lies five and one-half miles northeast of Wausau, in the town of Wausau, Marathon county, Wis., was born on this place, December 7, 1875, and is a son of Frederick and Amelia (Ventzke) Schubring.
Frederick Schubring and wife were born in Germany. He came to the United States a young man, in 1864, but two years later returned to Ger- many and married, and with his wife came back to America and then bought his farm in Marathon county, Wis., which is still known as the Schubring homestead. Here his children were born and here his widow yet lives, he having died at the age of seventy-four years. He was a hard-working man during his active years and his industry was rewarded by the acquisition of a large amount of valuable land, his possessions at one time amounting almost to 300 acres. To Frederick Schubring and wife six children were born, four of whom still live: Frederick, who is in the lumber business at Wausau; Rhinold, Leo, and Eric, the last named living on his farm of 112 acres, situated seven miles northeast of Wausau.
Leo Schubring grew up on the home farm and attended the country schools. Afterward he became interested in engineering and for five years worked as an engineer in different mills. After retiring from that line of work he purchased the old homestead and settled down to an agricultural life and ever since has followed general farming and dairying. The father erected the larger number of the buildings on the place, but he has made all needed additions and improvements and they indicate very practical methods and the right sort of interest to insure success in his undertakings.
Mr. Schubring married Miss Ella Lang, who was reared in the town of
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Berlin, a daughter of Carl Lang, and they have one child, Ethel. They attend the Lutheran church. Mr. Schubring is intelligently interested in public matters, but is attached to no political party, casting his vote inde- pendently.
MICHAEL BOWE, who is a general merchant at Edgar, Wis., was born in Dodge county, Wis., July 12, 1854, and is a son of John and Ellen (Mahoney) Bowe, both of whom died at Fox Lake, Wis., he at the age of eighty-seven years, and she when aged sixty-two years. They were mem- bers of the Catholic church. They had eight children, and with one excep- tion all are living. The father was a farmer. Both he and wife were born in Ireland, and when they came to America landed at Boston, Mass., and from there came to Wisconsin.
Michael Bowe obtained his education in two district schools in Dodge county and afterward worked on the home farm until he embarked in the mercantile business at Fox Lake, the home of his parents being three miles from there. After selling his store at Fox Lake Mr. Bowe traveled for two years for the Beaver Dam Woolen Mills through Minnesota and Iowa, and then entered 240 acres of land, which he improved with buildings. Some fifteen years ago he entered into his present line of merchandising, his stock including groceries, school supplies and candies. He is one of the trustees of the village, is a Progressive Republican in his political views and is a member of St. John's Catholic church.
Mr. Bowe married Miss Mary Moylan, a native of Dodge county, a daughter of John and Catherine Moylan, of Beaver Dam, and they have six children : Clare, Vigil, Helen, Frank, Clarence and Mark, the first three being teachers in the schools of Marathon county.
BERNARD F. LAABS,* music dealer, at Wausau, Wis., was born in this city, July 7, 1875, and is a son of August and Julia (Bartz) Laabs, who were born, reared and married in Germany. They came to Wisconsin in 1864 and often described early conditions to their children, relating how they walked the entire distance from Merlin, Wis., to Waukesha, on account of lack of transportation facilities. August Laabs acquired a farm near Wausau and cultivated it until 1906, when he sold it and purchased a resi- dence in Wausau, living retired during the rest of his life, and dying in April, 1911. His widow still survives, being in her seventy-third year. Six sons and one daughter were born to them: Julius, who lives in Lincoln county, Wis .; Annie, who is the wife of Henry Pautz, of Wausau; Robert,
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who lives in Mitchell county, Ia .; Otto, who is a resident of Wausau; Albert, who is deceased; and Bernard F. and Emile, both of Wausau.
Bernard F. Laabs attended a German school for four months and spent several winter evening terms in the Wausau Business College, but from the age of fifteen years has made his own way in the world. As a boy he entered the. employ of the St. Paul Railroad Company and remained one and one-half years, afterward, for eleven years, was with A. L. Kreutzer, and for eight years was with the James Music Company as a salesman. Upon the retirement of this company from business he embarked in the same line for himself, establishing his present store on March 1, 1912, at No. 314 Scott street. He has every reason to be satisfied with his future prospects, having secured the confidence of the public during his long association with other concerns and having made personal friends in all sections. From early manhood he has taken an intelligent and active part in politics and cast his first vote for William McKinley for president of the United States. He was the Republican nominee for register of deeds in the September primaries, 1912.
In 1899 Mr. Laabs was married to Miss Emma Garske, of Berlin, Mara- thon county, and they have five children: Bernard, Ruth, Kermit. Voliva and Quenton. Mr. and Mrs. Laabs are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to the fraternal order of Modern Woodmen of America. to the Fraternal Reserve Association, the E. F. U. and to the United Com- mercial Travelers.
JESSE RANDALL BRYANT, M. D.,* physician and surgeon, who has been established in his profession at Wausau since 1910, is widely known and is an examiner for the Wisconsin State Tuberculosis Commission. He was born at Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan county, Wis., October II, 1867, and is a son of Erasmus P. and Frances (Brown) Bryant.
The Bryants are one of the pioneer families of Wisconsin. John and Elizabeth Bryant, the grandparents, came to the United States from Corn- wall, England, locating first at Racine, but later moving into Sheboygan county. Erasmus P. Bryant was born in Wisconsin in 1849, and after fol- lowing the drug business for fifty years, retired; he and wife live at She- boygan Falls. They have one son and two daughters: Jesse R .; Helen, who is the wife of A. O. Heald, president of the German Bank of Sheboygan Falls : and Bessie, who is a teacher in the high school in that city.
Jesse Randall Bryant was graduated with the class of 1887 from the Sheboygan Falls High School. In the following year he was graduated in
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pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin, and in 1896 was graduated in medicine at Rush Medical College, Chicago. For a short time he practiced at Louis Corners, but afterward located at Lyndon Station, in Juneau county, Wis., and remained there for almost twelve years. He returned then to Chicago and took a post graduate course, and in December, 1908, established himself at Wausau, where he commands a large practice. He is a member of the Marathon County and the Juneau County Medical organizations, and the Wisconsin State and the American Medical Associations. For seven- teen years Dr. Bryant has been continuously in professional harness, and through ability has won a leading place as a physician and surgeon.
In June, 1889, Dr. Bryant was married to Miss Elizabeth Peterson, a daughter of Charles A. Peterson, of Omro, Winnebago county. He belongs to the various Masonic bodies, to the Knights of Pythias and to the Modern Woodmen of the World.
F. G. RADLOFF, secretary of the Berlin Fire and Lightning Insur- ance Company, in the town of Berlin, is a general farmer living in section 5, where he owns 120 acres, lying eleven miles west of Merrill, Wis. He was born in Germany, September 28, 1859, attended school there and was twenty-three years old when he came to America. He lived first in Lincoln county, Wis., and then came to his present place in the town of Berlin, when the whole country was covered with timber.
Mr. Radloff has cleared eighty acres of his land and has put up excellent buildings and still has standing the first house he and family occupied. He married Miss Alena Gearhohn, who was born in Lincoln county, and they have six children : Robert, Charles, William, Edwin, Elsie and Stella. Mr. Radloff and family belong to the Lutheran church, of which he is a trustee. For ten years he has been secretary of the above named insurance company and is a member of the Hamburg Telephone Company, No. I. In politics he is a Democrat. For eighteen years he served as school clerk of District No. 3, for four years was town treasurer and for one year was town assessor.
GUY A. MILLS, V. S.,* who has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Wausau for the past twelve years, is widely known in this section and maintains the best equipped hospital, at No. III Fifth street, Wausau, of any in Marathon county. He was born at Cross Plains, Dane county, Wis., March 19, 1870, and is a son of Amos and Sophia Mills, both of whom still reside in Dane county.
Guy A. Mills was reared and attended school at Black Earth, Dane
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county, and when he reached manhood chose medicine as his life work, entering the line of veterinary science, and through close study and con- siderable experience has become a leading practitioner and has a reputation that extends far beyond Marathon county. After six years of practice in Dane county he spent some time in Brown county, Wis., and a few months at Woodstock, Ill., but for twelve years he has been established at Wausau. Dr. Mills attended the Ontario Veterinary College, at Toronto, Canada- a noted institution-during 1893 and 1894, and completed his course at Chicago, Ill., in 1899. He is a member of the Chicago Veterinary Associa- tions, the Illinois State Veterinary Association and the Wisconsin State Veterinary Association.
Dr. Mills was married in 1900, to Miss Bertha Randall, daughter of William Randall, of Albion, Neb., and they had one son, Vernon G., who lived to be seven years and seven months old, his death on January 25, 191I, leaving a great void in the home circle. Dr. Mills' practice is large enough to claim all his business hours. He is a Republican in politics and frater- nally belongs to the Modern Woodmen, the Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
GEORGE A. RUNKEL,* postmaster at Brokaw and manager of the general store here for the Wausau Paper Mill, came here in April, 1908. He was born at Lowell, Dodge county, Wis., and is a son of John and Mary (Weber) Runkel.
John Runkel was born in Germany, and his wife in Massachusetts, of German parents. They reside at Oconto, in Oconto county, Wis., where he is a general merchant and is interested also in the cedar lumber business. Their children all survive, as follows: Frederick, Etta, Lena, Alberta, John, Jacob, George A., Mayme, Minnie, Catherine and Lulu.
George A. Runkel had only common school advantages, after which he learned the jewelry business with his brother and continued in the same for thirteen years at Oconto Falls, Wis. He was then an office man with the Rhinelander Paper Mill Company at Rhinelander, Wis., for four years. Mr. Runkel was then tendered his present position and accepted, and as soon as he was established here was appointed postmaster. This office does considerable business, having eighty lock boxes. In his political attitude he is independent. He is serving as superintendent of the village and also is school clerk, and while living at Oconto Falls was both village and town clerk.
On April 27. 1895, Mr. Runkel was married to Miss Lillian Reed, who was born at Oconto, Wis., a daughter of Louis and Jane (Gale) Reed.
BENJAMIN HEINEMANN
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Louis Reed was born in Germany, and after coming to this section followed fishing as a business. The mother of Mrs. Runkel was of English descent but was born in Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Reed's children were: Eliza- beth, Eva, Ira, Lillian, Wesley, Raymond and Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Runkel have one son, Floyd Reed, who is a school boy. Mr. and Mrs. Runkel attend the Methodist Episcopal church. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias at Rhinelander and to the M. W. A. and the Beavers at Brokaw.
CHARLES H. GEISLER,* proprietor of a meat market at No. 528 Forest avenue, Wausau, Wis., has been in the meat business here for the last twenty-three years. He was born in Wausau, December 14, 1869, a son of Frank and Minnie Geisler, both of whom are now living in Mara- thon county, in which they were early settlers.
Charles H. Geisler in his boyhood attended the public schools of Wausau and after his school days were over he began to learn the butcher's trade. Subsequently he established himself in business here, about 1890, and has since carried it on successfully. He does his own butchering, having a slaughter house about one mile east of the city.
Mr. Geisler married Nettie Klamenn, who was born in Germany, and they have had four children, namely: Arnold, Leona, Ermengarde and Carl. Mr. Geisler is a member of the M. B. A. and order of Maccabees. He stands high as a citizen and has done his part in helping to build up the commercial interests of Wausau.
BENJAMIN HEINEMANN is one of the foremost business men of Marathon county and has risen to this eminent position from a small begin- ning. His career furnishes another instance of the fact that the energetic young man who makes good use of the talents with which he is endowed may, even in this age of combination, advance by successive steps to a high place in the business world.
Mr. Heinemann came to America in 1869, and started in life for him- self as clerk in a store at Depere, Wis. He came to Wausau in the year 1873 with his brother Nathan and they opened a gentlemen's furnishing store, which soon branched out into general merchandise and became the leading mercantile institution in the city.
Desiring to embark in manufacturing and real estate he sold his interest in the firm to his brother and purchased an interest in the lumbering firm of the G. E. Foster Lumber Company, being made vice president of the cor-
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poration, which dealt extensively in lumber in Marathon and neighboring counties.
He withdrew from this concern in 1901 and started in the manufacture of lumber alone under the firm name of B. Heinemann Lumber Company, operating saw and planing mills near Antigo, Wis., until 1907, when he incor- porated as the B. Heinemann Lumber Company with the following officers : B. Heinemann, president; Walter B. Heinemann, vice president; Gabriel B. Heinemann, secretary and treasurer. This corporation purchased the mills of the Alexander Stewart Lumber Company at Wausau in 1912 and they have timber enough to keep them supplied for the next fifteen years. The B. Heinemann Lumber Company's mill is the oldest established mill in the Wisconsin pinery, being the mill originally built by W. D. McIndoe in 1849, after having succeeded to the property of George Stevens, the first settler and lumberman in Marathon county. It has been in continuous operation since erected and employs now from 150 to 200 men annually.
Mr. Heinemann is one of the founders of the National German-American Bank of Wausau, and has been its president since its first organization as a state bank in 1890. He is likewise one of the founders of the Wisconsin Box Company of Wausau, Wis., and vice president of that corporation, and is president of the Cisco Lake Lumber Company, a corporation holding large tracts of timber; secretary and treasurer of the Land & Loan Company, and a director in the Great Northern Life Insurance Company. These important and responsible offices filled by him are the best evidence of the confidence which other business men place in his ability as a business man- ager and in the integrity of his character.
B. Heinemann reached this high station in the course of an active, honor- able business and private life of forty years by diligent application of honest business methods, but making use of and grasping opportunities which others passed by without taking notice.
He was born at Gruensfeld, in Baden, Germany, on the 8th day of June, 1850, a son of Samuel Heinemann and his wife Jedda, nee Bernei. He was married to Miss Johanna Ullman, daughter of B. Ullman and his wife Doro- thea, nee Strauss, of Appleton, on the 30th day of November, 1873, and the following children were born to them, namely: Gustav N., Walter B. and Gabriel B., sons, and Belle, Dorothea Heinemann Sexsmith and Lita Heine- mann Steinam, daughters. The sons are each interested in the B. Heine- mann Lumber Company and actively engaged in the business. The daughter, Belle, is at home, a member of the Tuesday Musical Club, herself an accom- plished musician.
CHARLES HELKE
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CHARLES HELKE, who has been a resident of Wausau, Wis., since 1871, is one of the well known business men and substantial citizens of this city. He was born in Germany, October 19, 1854, and is a son of August and Augusta Helke, the latter of whom still survives and lives with her son, being probably the most venerable lady in Wausau, and enjoying good health, although aged ninety years. The father of our subject died March 24, 1909.
Charles Helke was reared and educated in Germany and learned the cabinet-making trade with his father. In 1871 the whole family-father, mother, four sisters and four brothers-came to the United States and immediately settled in Wausau, Wis., where Charles Helke, with his father, began the manufacture of furniture, bar and store fixtures, also doing fine church cabinet-making. On the father's death the manufacturing end of the business was dispensed with, Mr. Helke being now a furniture dealer and also engaged in undertaking. He owns the fine business block in which his business is located and has additional real estate. While closely devoting himself to the firm founding of his own enterprise, Mr. Helke has not been unmindful of the general welfare of others and has taken an interest in and has been willing to assume responsibilities connected with public affairs. For years he was a member of the volunteer fire department and also belonged to a local body of state militia. A Republican in politics, he was elected on that ticket a member of the city council from the Third Ward, serving for several years with honesty and ability.
Mr. Helke was married at Kilbourn City, Wis., September 23, 1884, to Miss Emma Radandt, who died August 18, 1900, survived by four children : Claire, Lillian, Mabel and Carl J. He is connected with a number of fraternal organizations. From a small beginning Mr. Helke has built up his furniture business to a large enterprise and has now the largest and most up-to-date store in the northwest doing a general furniture and undertaking business.
CARL C. ADAM,* city clerk of Wausau, Wis., well known both in busi- ness and political circles, was born in this city July 26, 1875, and is a son of John and Augusta Adam. The father of Mr. Adam, our subject, died in 1881, and the mother in the year 1898. They were old settlers and repre- sentative people here.
Carl C. Adam attended school at Wausau and after completing the high school course, engaged as a clerk with a local clothing house. He continued thus employed for four years and then embarked in the insurance business. Still later he went into the general commission business and remained inter- ested in that line until he was appointed city clerk by the city council. He
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is active in good citizenship and in the spring of 1912 he was made city clerk.
On September 21, 1912, Mr. Adam was married to Miss Eulalia Bris- bois, daughter of Joseph Brisbois, a leading citizen of Wausau. He is fraternally identified with the order of Eagles.
EVERETT WRIGHT,* who is engaged in the livery business at Athens, Wis., and is well and favorably known as a man of his word and as a good citizen, was born in Buffalo county, Wis., September 18, 1879, and is a son of Emerson and Sarah (Wray) Wright.
The parents of Mr. Wright were born in Canada, of English ancestry. The father was a farmer and a merchant and they were well known locally both in the Dominion and in Wisconsin, where they settled before the birth of their son Everett, the fifth of their family, the others being: Allen ; Mary, wife of Joseph Patrow; Elizabeth; Eugene; Alice, wife of Gilferd York; and Rosabel.
Everett Wright had common school advantages only and then learned the barber's trade, which he followed for twelve years prior to coming to Athens. Here he invested in residence property and, with a partner, em- barked in the livery business and also deals in horses. He married Miss Ella Plish, who was born in Marathon county, a daughter of Oswald Plish, whose other children are: Lilly, wife of Jacob Morrie; Robert; Edward; Alexander; Alma, wife of Louis Redtetzky; and Martha, wife of Peter Groff. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have three children : Evelyn, Alvera, and Mil- dred. The family attends the Presbyterian church. Mr. Wright belongs to the M. W. A. and in politics is an independent voter.
HERMAN T. SCHLEGEL, M. D.,* specialist in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, with offices in the McCrossen Building, Wausau, has been in practice in this city for about three years and has been very suc- cessful in his particular line. He was born March 13, 1870, in Switzerland.
Dr. Schlegel was educated in his native canton and remained in Switzer- land until 1891, when he came to the United States and continued his med- ical studies, graduating in the class of 1906 from the Chicago College of Medicine and Surgery. For eighteen months he was house physician and surgeon for the Illinois Charity Eye and Ear Infirmary at Chicago and for several years practiced in that city before coming to Wausau in August, 1910. Dr. Schlegel is a member of the Marathon County Medical Society, the Wis- consin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He has traveled extensively both in Europe and in the United States and spent four-
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teen months in Mexico City, partly for pleasure and partly for investigation and study.
SIGISMUND KARAS,* proprietor of the Karas Machine Shop and Automobile Garage, at Wausau, Wis., has been a resident of this city for . many years, owns valuable property here and is one of the reliable and well known business men. He was born at Vienna, Austria, April 18, 1860, and is a son of Mathias and Mary Karas, the former of whom was a farmer and also a mechanic and gunsmith.
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