USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
During the World war Rev. Stearns became a chaplain of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Infantry of the Thirty-second Division, A. E. F., and was with the army for more than twenty-two months. During fifteen months of this period he was overseas and was on duty on three battle fronts in France, including the Alsace trench sector, the Aisne-Marne offensive, at Chatteau Thierry, France, and the Oise- Aisne offensive near Soissons, France. He was wounded by the enemy's shrapnel fire July 12, 1918, at Badricourt, France, and following the battle of Juvigny, France, September 1, 1918, he was honored for gallantry in action, being awarded the highest of the three grades of citations, signed by General Pershing. On one occasion he preached to over four thousand wounded soldiers and he buried fifty-one fallen com- rades in one day on the battlefield under shell-fire. He wrote weekly letters to the Church of the Ascension in Milwaukee, which were read to his congregation, and many of them were published in the newspapers. Since his return he has compiled and published these letters in book form. Previous to the World war Rev. Stearns had been associated with the Wisconsin National Guard. In October, 1914, he was commissioned by the governor of the state a chaplain in the Wisconsin National Guard, being given the rank of captain and assigned to the First Wisconsin Infantry. When the Wisconsin troops were sent to the Mexican border in 1916 he went with them and remained with them six months until the troops returned, heing mustered out in Jannary, 1917. After the World war he received a commission in the reorganized Wisconsin National Guard, being appointed by Governor Blaine as chaplain with the rank of captain. He was also given federal recognition by the war department at Washington and was assigned to his old regiment-the One Hundred and Twenty- seventh Infantry of the Thirty-second Division. He performs his duties of a military character in addition to his service as pastor of his church, which has steadily grown under his guidance both numerically and spiritually. He is greatly loved by his parishioners and his labors have been a telling force for good in the moral develop- ment of Milwaukee.
On the 22d of June, 1920, Rev. Stearns was married to Miss Reidun Moe, a daughter of the late John P. Moe, and a graduate of Milwaukee-Downer College. Rev. Stearns is widely known outside of his own denomination. He is the author of a hook entitled "Army Camps and Battlefields," containing two hundred and eighty- two pages, published by the Augsburg Publishing House of Minneapolis in 1919. This
100
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
and his work for civic righteousness and development and his association with the military organization of the state has brought to him a very wide acquaintance and all who know him esteem it a privilege to call him friend.
SYLVESTER B. WAY.
Sylvester B. Way, who since the 1st of April, 1914, has occupied the position of vice president and general manager of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company and who is the patentee of varions devices employed in construction and maintenance of electric distributing lines, has gained a position of professional emin- ence that is the direct ontcome of his thorough study, his scientific investigation and his broad practical experience. Throughout his lite since completing his college edn- cation he has been identified with electrical engineering, for which he qualified by a thorough course of study in Philadelphia, his native city. He was born Angust 29, 1874, and at an early age removed with his father to Kansas, there acquiring his education in district schools. He afterward returned to his native city to continue his education as one of the first students in the Drexel Institute of Philadelphia in 1892, there pursuing a technical course in electrical engineering. On the completion of his course in 1896, he entered the service of the Electric Storage Battery' Company as a draughtsman and subsequently was promoted to the position of erecting engineer, in which connection he installed central station batteries in various cities of the country and this brought him into contact with the public utility business.
Mr. Way entered the latter field in St. Louis in the fall of 1898 as chief electrician of the Imperial Electric Light, Heat & Power Company, which corporation by a series of purchases and consolidations abont four years later became a subsidiary of the North American Company. Mr. Way remained as electrical engineer of the consolidated property until November 1, 1911, when he became assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, in charge of the electric light and heating business of that company. On the 1st of April, 1914, he was elected to the position of vice president and general manager of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, assuming charge of the entire business of that corporation. In con- nection with his duties in the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, Mr. Way was also charged with the supervision of the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company as its president and other smaller public utility properties as chief operating executive.
Aside from achieving prominence and renown as the patentee of varions devices employed in construction and maintenance of electric distributing lines, Mr. Way is also responsible for the maximum development of train operation on surface lines and particularly the conception and design of the articulated two-car train, permitting two cars to be handled by one conductor.
Aside from professional connections Mr. Way has become well known in cinb circles of Milwaukee, having membership in the University, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Athletic, Milwaukee Country and Rotary Clubs.
CHARLES EDGAR ALBRIGHT, M. D.
A modern philosopher has said that "success does not depend upon a map, but upon a time-table," a fact which finds exemplification in the life record of Dr. Charles Edgar Albright, who by reason of the use that he has made of his time has become the largest individual writer in the field of any life insurance company in the world today. As the representative of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, he has the record of being prize winner for the amount of new business for fourteen consecutive years, a record that equals more than that of any other representative of the company. He represents various other companies as well and has become, moreover, a stockholder and director in many corporations of nation-wide prominence. The story of his life as to. the usual features of biography is commonplace; the story of his achievement is inspirational. Dr. Albright-for he was once a practicing physician and is always known by his title-was born in Dancyville, Tennessee, Jann- ary 1, 1867. His parents, George N. and Barbara (Thompson) Albright, were natives of North Carolina, but spent the greater part of their lives in Tennessee, where the mother died in 1877, leaving a family of six children, five of whom survive. At the outbreak of the Civil war the father joined the Confederate army as a member of the Seventh North Carolina Infantry and participated in many of the hotly contested engagements, including the battles of Bull Run and the seven days' battle of the Wilderness. As the war neared its close he was captured and for several months was incarcerated in the Federal prison on Johnsons Island in Lake Erie,
SYLVESTER B. WAY
103
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
off the coast of Ohio. He had previously been promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and as such was mustered out of the Confederate army.
Dr. Albright, after completing his education in the public schools of his home town, qualified for the practice of medicine as a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago and won his M. D. degree on graduation with the class of 1889. He then spent two years as an interne in the Presbyterian Hospital of that city, after which he became connected with the medical department of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company at Milwaukee, continuing to act in that capacity until 1903. He then went abroad for European travel and study, spending a year and a half on the other side of the Atlantic. With his return to his native land he resumed connection with the Northwestern Mutual Life, but on this occasion became a rep- resentative of the soliciting department. During the first year or two he was con- stantly forging forward and in the year 1907-8 he had out-distanced all competitors in the volume of new business for the company. He has never lost his place of leadership through the intervening years, but has for fifteen consecutive years headed the list and today does about one per cent of the total business out of about six thousand agents under contract. His contract is the same as that of all other agents of the company and in 1919-20 his policies amounted to three million and two hundred thirty-four thousand dollars, exceeding his own record of his best previous years by over nine hundred thousand dollars.
Naturally, to reach a point not only of company leadership but of world leader- ship in the amount of insurance written, has made Dr. Albright the subject of wide comment and his methods a question of keeu scrutiny and analysis. There are some intensely interesting points in his career. There is scarcely a moment when he is not thinking insurance, but he does not talk it in season and out of season. On the contrary he never broaches the question of life insurance until it is spoken of to him. The Eastern Underwriter, an insurance journal has said of him: "There is nothing particularly striking nor conspicuous in his personality. He dresses modestly, but modishly, as becomes his vocation and station. He is quiet and earnest in de- meanor, indicating a forcefulness that certainly is his. He lacks that effervescence which some consider an asset in. salesmanship, and what affability he has is that of the gentleman. Indeed, in appearance Dr. Albright is exactly like countless other successful American men; nicely groomed, sure and certain of his steps, calm and sane in his actions and earnest and sincere in his endeavors. He is not a rusher, but a plodder. He may lack 'pep,' but he has stability. The 'high pressure' man viewing him for the first time and not knowing upon whom he looked, might size him up for about a two hundred thousand dollar producer and not be uncertain of his judgment. Dr. Albright, himself, once said to his fellow agents that he had heard one of their number say, after listening to one of his speeches: 'Well, if that man can sell life insurance, I certainly can!' So it is not personality that characterizes his success. It is something else and something Albrightesque. We know what the doctor has said about it. He has ascribed his success to all the commonplaces of salesmanship. Let us analyze him a bit ourselves:
"Item No. 1: Dr. Albright has the advantage of an unusual equipment. His service as an officer of the company has given him an insight into certain features of the husiness that the average agent never knows. This is a big advantage, too, especially as he makes that knowledge and experience coordinate nicely with a splen- didly developed selling system. Just how this advantage has frequently redounded to his favor might be illustrated by numerous citations, but the fact is too apparent to need illustration.
"Item No. 2: Dr. Albright has the advantage of unusual business relations. He is financially interested in numerous successful industrial concerns and is a director in one of the largest banks in the middle west. He maintains offices in several of the big cities of the United States and has the personal acquaintanceship of a larger number of the national leaders of industry and finance than any other life insurance solicitor. This gives him a tremendous prestige. He approaches big men as one of their number and has entree where mere life insurance agents would seldom get. "Item No. 3: Dr. Albright takes advantage of unusual methods. He never talks life insurance until invited so to do. This remarkable statement is literally true. Dr. Albright makes it an inviolable rule never to introduce that subject. He always lets the 'other fellow' do it and the best of it is, the 'other fellow' always does. One cannot truthfully say that the doctor endeavors to dodge it, but he never takes the initiative. When he does start, though, his auditor-now a prospect-is astonished at the intimate knowledge Dr. Albright has of his business and family affairs. How he finds these things out is another story. This much must be said, however, and that is, that when Dr. Albright talks life insurance he is equipped. He knows what he is talking about and is never surprised. He is ready when a prospect is.
"Item No. 4: Dr. Albright has the advantage of an unusual disposition. He loves his work. Not long ago a good friend suggested to him that as he had plenty of money and was about the right age, lie would better retire and give up selling
104
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
life insurance. 'No, sir,' he replied. 'I am getting too much fun out of this business to retire from it.'
"Visualize 'this situation for a moment. Here is a man a little over fifty years of age, wealthy beyond the needs of any man, with business connections enough to keep him active and with a splendid home and wonderful family, who works harder every day of his life than most men in shops; who knows nothing of time and little of diversion; who is in New York today and possibly in San Francisco the next time one hears of him; a man who never tires and seldom rests and who refuses, withal, to retire and watch the world go by. Why? Because he is getting 'fun' out of his work! As our English friends would exclaim, 'Fancy!'
"Item No. 5: Dr. Albright has the advantage of a sustained interest in his work. Possibly in this we have discovered the true secret of his success. Other men may have won first prizes as many aggregate years as he but none so many in succession. He has never been headed since he started. For twelve years straight, he has distanced the field-last year writing more than the winner of second, third and fourth prizes combined-and he has already laid a strong foundation for 1919. "Summing up, Dr. Albright uses all the equipment which the science of selling recognizes and recommends; he has the advantage of the special items noted and he does all with a wonderful sustained interest that cannot help bring him his paramount place in the world of life insurance salesmanship."
After all that has been written one must acknowledge several things. He did not start out in the business world with a wide acquaintance among prominent, successful and influential men and he had no preliminary training that would specially qualify him for insurance salesmanship. The result comes from the fact that he has wisely used his time, talent and opportunities as the years have gone on. His life proves that activity does not tire. It gives resistence and power. With him each day has marked off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to grow more and the constant expansion of his ability has resulted until his position is one of world leadership in the field of insurance sales-a point, however, to which Dr. Albright would never himself refer.
Nor has Dr. Albright studied only insurance. He has used the broad field of business with a discriminating eye and sound judgment, with the result that he is today a director of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, the First Wis- consin National Bank of Milwaukee, the First Wisconsin Trust Company of Milwaukee, the First Wisconsin Company of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Securities Company of Milwaukee, the Globe Seamless Steel Tubes Company and other corporations of na- tional importance.
On the 21st of November, 1899, Dr. Albright was married to Miss Laura Uihlein, a daughter of Henry and Helena (Kreutzer) Uihlein, pioneer residents of Milwaukee. Dr. and Mrs. Albright have two daughters, Lorraine and Marion, and a son, David. He and his family hold membership in Emanuel Presbyterian church and Dr. Al- bright is a republican in his political views. He is also a worthy follower of Masonic teachings, having taken various degrees in the order up to and including the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a member of the Mystic Shrine and in club circles he is widely known not only in Milwaukee but in various sections of the country, having membership in the Milwaukee, Milwaukee Country, Wisconsin, Town and University Clubs of this city, the Midday and University Clubs of Chicago, the Union Club of Cleveland, Ohio, the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh and the Union League Club of New York. He can use his club life as a means of recreation and relaxation, but he knows when the psychological moment comes to talk insurance and that the talk is convincing is shown by results that appear upon the books of the various companies which he represents.
WALTER PALMER BISHOP.
Walter Palmer Bishop, whose business career of steady progression brought him to the high position of president of the E. P. Bacon Grain Company of Milwaukee, was as the executive head of the business directing its affairs at the time of his death, which occurred October 10, 1917. He was then sixty-seven years of age, his birth having occurred at Twinsburg, Ohio, August 9, 1850, his parents being Sanford H. and Melissa (Cannon) Bishop, who were natives of Connecticut. Removing westward, they settled in that part of Ohio known as the Western Reserve and there Mr. Bishop devoted his attention to merchandising.
His son, Walter P. Bishop, acquired his education in Twinsburg, Ohio, and in 1868, when eighteen years of age, came to Milwaukee, where his older brother, A. V. Bishop, had been living for two years. Here, assisted by his father, he had established the com- mission firm of A. V. Bishop & Company and Walter P. Bishop joined the business as a partner of his brother and continued in the same for several years. Later the busi-
WALTER P. BISHOP
107
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ness association between them was dissolved and W. P. Bishop in 1892 hecame identified with the E. P. Bacon Grain Company. He was with this firm for eighteen years and during eight years of the period was a partner in the undertaking. Elected to office, he served first as vice president and afterward as president, filling the latter position at the time of his death. He was in fact for a number of years the leading figure in the firm, active in directing its policy and promoting its development. He built up an extensive business in this connection, becoming prominently known as one of the leading grain merchants of the city. He possessed initiative and creative talent in business and his indefatigable enterprise and progressive spirit constituted the broad foundation upon which he builded his success.
Mr. Bishop was married in 1875 to Miss Mary E. Graham, a daughter of Nathaniel Merrick and Mary Louise (Foster) Graham, who were natives of the state of New York and came to Milwaukee in the fall of 1860. They had a family of four daughters and two sons, of whom Warren M. Graham, the eldest son, was killed in action while serving in the Civil war, meeting death at the battle of Falling Water, near Hagers- town, Maryland, in 1861. He was a well known young newspaper man at the time, working on the Evening Wisconsin of Milwaukee when he enlisted, hecoming sergeant of Company B, First Wisconsin Infantry. To Mr. and Mrs. Bishop were born four children, two sons and two daughters: Sidney H., who is a resident of Davenport, Iowa; Warren J., living in Milwaukee: Adelaide V., the wife of Arthur V. D. Clarkson, vice president of the First National Bank; and Myrtle B., who is the wife of Paul W. Hammersmith of Milwaukee.
Mr. Bishop was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution-a fact in- dicative of the long connection of his ancestry with American interests. He helonged to the Knights of Pythias; was a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club; was a life member and vice president of the City Club at the time of his death. Religiously he held membership in Plymouth church. He also figured prominently in musical circles and was a director and president of the Ryan Musical Cluh for many years. His in- fluence was thus an effective force for social and cultural progress as well as for the material development of the city and his life was indeed a potent element for good in the city in which he so long made his home.
JOHN T. JOHNSTON.
John T. Johnston, president of the Mitchell Street State Bank and thus well known in financial circles in Milwaukee, is a native of this city and a son of John Johnston, deceased, who for many years was a prominent banker of this city. The son was educated in the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated with the class of 1905. He received his business training in some of the large banks of the city and as the years passed he constantly broadened his knowledge and effi- ciency through his training and experience. In 1911 he organized a bank called the West Allis State Bank and is still interested therein, being president of the bank. The Mitchell Street State Bank, of which he is the president, was organized in 1907 and established business at Second and Mitchell streets. In 1916 a building was erected at Sixth and Mitchell streets, a two-story brick structure, which is the largest outlying bank in the city. This bank carries on a general banking business very successfully and the active officers are: John T. Johnston, president, and Frank J. Grutza, cashier. In addition to his activities as president of the banks mentioned Mr. Johnston is also vice president of the Forsyth Leather Company and vice president of the Badger Manufacturing Company.
On the 31st of August, 1912, Mr. Johnston was married to Miss Elizabeth Forsyth, a daughter of Charles S. Forsyth, and they have three sons: 'John, Forsyth and Douglas. Mr. Johnston belongs to the Milwaukee Club, also to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Milwaukee Country Club and to the Town Club. He has many friends both within and outside these organizations and he is well established as one of the pro- gressive young business men of the city, his carefully directed affairs bringing him prosperity and prominence in financial circles.
CLIFTON WILLIAMS.
Clifton Williams, attorney of Milwaukee, was born in Richmond, Indiana, July 1, 1885, a son of Isaac and Ruth Haisley (Peacock) Williams, who were likewise natives of Indiana. The mother is still the owner of the tract of land between Earlham College and Richmond, Indiana, which was taken up by the great-grand- father in 1808. In the Williams line the ancestry is one of long connection with America, for Otho Holland Williams was a general in the Revolutionary war. Isaac
108
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Williams was born at Hinkle Creek, Indiana, and was a grandson of General Solomon Meredith. Isaac Williams became a manufacturer, conducting business along that line for many years. He came of a family of Quakers, prominent, honored and respected in Indiana for their valuable contribution to the material, intellectual and moral development of the state. The death of Isaac Williams occurred in 1917 and he is still survived by his widow, who makes her home in Connersville, Indiana.
Clifton Williams, after completing a high school course in his native city, entered Earlham College and subsequently attended the School of Mines at Denver, Colorado. He next became a student in the State University of Indiana and later matriculated in the College of Law of the State University, from which he was graduated in 1908 with the LL. B. degree. The same year he was admitted to practice at the Indiana bar and soon afterward went to Chicago, where he was assistant attorney for the Wisconsin Central Railway Company, which then had its head offices in that city. Mr. Williams remained there until the Soo Line purchased the Central in April, 1909, after which he came to Milwaukee and entered the law office of Glicksman, Gold & Corrigan as an employe, remaining there for a year. On the expiration of that period he was appointed assistant city attorney in April, 1910, and became city attorney in April, 1916, to fill out the unexpired term of Daniel W. Hoan, who was elected mayor. In April, 1918, Mr. Williams was elected city attorney and has thereby devoted eleven years to service in the office, discharging his duties to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. He is most faithful, capable and efficient and his position is now a very important one, for the office covers all of the city's civic affairs, making the business one of large and substantial proportions. Mr. Williams has also been connected with the law faculty of Marquette University for ten years. He is at the present time a member of the firm of Scholtz & Williams, specializing in insurance law. He is not only recognized as a leading attorney, ranking with the representative members of the bar of this city, but is also serving on the board of directors of the Vliet Street State Bank and is president of the Interstate Automobile Insurance Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.