USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 2
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
At an early age Louis Allis displayed keen interest in manufacturing, a consider- able part of his childhood having been spent in his father's shops, where he was a great favorite with the men. He was educated at Markham Academy in Milwaukee and in the Pennsylvania Military College, winning the Civil Engineer degree in June, 1888. Following his graduation he entered the employ of the Edward P. Allis Company in the capacity of storeroom clerk. His advancement in the business world since that time has been continuous, but the attainment of wealth has never been the sole end and aim of his life. Other interests have been outstanding features in his career, making his record one which might well serve as an example to employ- ers throughout the country. About 1889 he was responsible for the installation of first aid and hospital facilities at the Edward P. Allis Company, and from this nucleus in connection with the then established Allis Mutual Aid Society, developed one of the first complete welfare organizations of any consequence in this country. His advance to receiving clerk and purchasing agent was rapid, and although he nominally re- tained that title, he expanded his activities until he was virtually general manager. He left the employ of the Edward P. Allis Company, due to illness, in July, 1901. From then until March, 1906, Mr. Allis was interested in the control of eighty thou- sand acres of timber land and various mining properties.
In 1903 Mr. Allis was elected president of the Mechanical Appliance Company, his manufacturing and executive talent making it natural that he should get back into the manufacturing business. There was another and more important motive which actuated Mr. Allis in assuming the presidency, and that was a broad and sym- pathetic comprehension of and a desire to aid in the improvement of conditions surrounding employes. Those who have been closely associated with him have good reason to remember numerous instances in which, through advice and in a much more substantial manner, he has enabled them to improve their condition and char- acter. Under his guidance the Mechanical Appliance Company has grown from a comparatively small and insignificant beginning to a position of very considerable
12
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
importance in the electrical industry. His policy has been one of consistent integrity as regards the quality of apparatus, and under his encouragement a very consid- erable amount of specialized development has taken place, which has resulted in placing the Mechanical Appliance Company in a unique position among the American electrical manufacturers. Under his guidance the condition of the company has shown a steady improvement to the point that today it has become a real institution. Mr. Allis is or has been a director and president of the Cazenovia Land Company, Battery Light & Power Company, the Edward P. Allis Company, Elizabeth Mining Company and the Mechanical Appliance Company; director, vice president and treasurer of the Mil- waukee Boiler Company; director and general manager of the Gogebic Lumber Company; director and treasurer of the Geneva Land & Mining Company; director and vice presi- dent of the Central Improvement Company; general manager of the Horseshoe Mining Company, all of Milwaukee; and director of the National Wrapping Machine Com- pany, now of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Mr. Allis has been married twice. On the 17th of September, 1890, he wedded Carol Yates and on the 1st of May, 1911, Louise Hegen became his wife. The son of his first marriage is Edward Phelps (III) and of the second marriage there are three sons: Louis, Jr., John Watson and William White. Louis Allis, Jr., was born April 14, 1916. Edward Phelps Allis (III) was born August 1, 1892, was graduated from Harvard University at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1915 and had previously completed a preparatory course at Milton School in Milton, Massachusetts. Since his college days he has been identified with the manufacturing interests of Milwaukee in con- nection with his father and bids fair, like his father and grandfather, to become a notable figure in the industrial and financial circles of the city. At the age of five he was playing a notable game of golf and as the years passed he won championships in state and college contests. His father, Louis Allis, has largely found his recreation on the links and is a prominent figure in club circles, having membership in the Mil- waukee Club, Milwaukee Country Club, University Club, Blue Mound Country Club, Milwaukee Athletic Club, Town Club of Milwaukee, Rotary Club of Milwaukee, Mil- waukee Association of Commerce and the Electrical Association of Milwaukee, all of Milwaukee; the Electric Power Club, Electrical Manufacturers Club; the Travelers Club of Paris, France; and the Societe de la Boulie, Golf de Paris, near Versailles. Mr. Allis is also particularly interested in the American Constitutional League of Wis- consin and in the hospitals of the city, which largely claim his active cooperation along philanthropic lines. He resembles his illustrious father in his notable powers of organization, his ability to foresee and foretell coming events and conditions and to plan accordingly.
WILLIAM WATSON ALLIS.
William Watson Allis was a man of most scholarly attainments and patriotic de- votion to community, commonwealth and country. Milwaukee profited largely by his efforts in many directions and mostly along those cultural lines which lift the individual above the merely sordid things of life. He was a native son of Milwaukee, born No- vember 14, 1849, and his entire life was passed in this city, where from early youth to the time of his demise he commanded and enjoyed the respect and confidence of all. He was the eldest son of Edward Phelps Allis, one of Milwaukee's honored pioneer business men and manufacturers, and he carried to still larger fields the business instituted and directed by his father. His public school education was supplemented by study in Markham's Academy and in Little Blue Academy at Farmington, Maine. For a time he was also a student in Franklin, New York, under his uncle, Henry Calla- han. He then entered into business with his father, and after assuming the duties of a salesman for a short time he was promoted to sales manager of the flour mill depart- ment of his father's institution. After the death of his father William W. Allis became president of The Edward P. Allis Company, due to his alertness in matters pertaining to sales and finance, and after The Edward P. Allis Company sold its interests to the present Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, Mr. Allis was elected chairman of the board of directors of the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company, which position he resigned in a short time on account of his health.
On the 14th of November. 1877, Mr. Allis was married to Miss Mary Simmons Phillips, a daughter of George A. and Mary (Nazro) Phillips, who were natives of Boston and came to Milwaukee soon after the close of the Civil war. They cast in their lot with the pioneer residents of the city and long occupied a position of social prominence here. Mr. Phillips, too, was a dominant figure in business circles. He was associated with a Mr. Stone in the hardware trade under the firm style of Stone & Phillips, recognized as leading merchants of the city.
Mr. Allis was distinctly a home man and found his greatest enjoyment at his own fireside with his family. During the summer and autumn months they spent their
--
WILLIAM W. ALLIS
15
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
time at their beautiful summer home, Alden Wood, on the banks of Nemahbin lake, in one of the most picturesque spots in all Wisconsin. Upon the grounds are found nearly all varieties of timber native to this section of the country. Mr. and Mrs. Allis were members of the Unitarian church and the former was a lifelong republican, giving unfaltering allegiance to the party and its principles, He passed away October 10, 1918, but many years will have been added to the cycle of the centuries ere his name ceases to be a household word among the many friends who knew, loved and honored him. He was a man of most kindly disposition and refined taste. He found the greatest enjoyment in literature and in his home at No. 526 Marshall street he had a splendid library, containing one of the finest collections of rare editions and auto- graphed copies of books in the country, including one which bears the autograph of Queen Victoria. He read most widely and along many lines. He contributed most generously to all patriotic calls and there was no good work done in the name of charity or religion that sought his aid in vain. There was no resident of Milwaukee who took a more intense and kindly interest in educational problems and in all the questions relative to the school system of the city. Nor was he unappreciative of the social amenities of life. On the contrary, anything that pertained to his fellowmen was of interest to him. He belonged to the Milwaukee Club, the Town Club, the Mil- waukee Country Club and the Athletic Club. Because of the natural refinement of his nature he shunned anything gross or common and sought out those things which add to the beauty and to the cultural values of lite. Association with him meant expansion and elevation.
CHARLES ALLIS.
When death called Charles Allis he was serving as chairman of the Milwaukee County Council of Defense, giving practically his entire time and effort to the cause of his country, having been the one man upon whom diverse factions would unite as an acceptable leader in this crisis of world history. A son of one of Milwaukee's honored pioneer business men and manufacturers, he carried to still larger fields the business instituted and directed by his father. He became a forceful factor in connection with the successful management of various corporations and financial interests of Milwaukee and the middle west and was equally well known as a patron of art and as a leader in the social life of the city.
A native of Milwaukee, Charles Allis spent his entire life in this city, where he was born May 4, 1853, his parents being Edward Phelps and Margaret M. (Watson) Allis. He was one of a family of eleven children and acquired his early education in the public schools, while later he attended Markham's Academy and subsequently the Little Blue Academy at Farmington, Maine. In the meantime his father had be- come one of the prominent iron manufacturers of the upper Mississippi valley and Charles Allis became secretary and treasurer of the Edward P. Allis Company follow- ing his father's death. In 1901 the business was reorganized as the Allis-Chalmers Company, of which Charles Allis became the first president. He likewise extended the scope of his interests by becoming vice president and one of the directors of the Mil- waukee Trust Company, with which he remained until it was merged into the First Savings & Trust Company. He was likewise a director of the First National Bank and a trustee and member of the finance committee of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He aided in organizing the Chicago Belting Company, of which he became the president.
In October, 1877, Mr. Allis was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Esther Ball, a daughter of Edward Hyde and Sarah E. (Cobb) Ball. Extensive mention of her father is made in the review below. From the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Allis made their home in Milwaukee, residing for many years at No. 400 Royal Place, where Mr. Allis erected a fireproof residence for protection of his valuable art col- lections. Aside from his home and his business there was no other interest which claimed so much of his time and attention as art and he had membership in a num- ber of the leading art societies of the country. He became one of the organizers of the Milwaukee Art Society, which elected him its first president, and he was also a trustee of the Layton Art Gallery and a member of the American Numismatic Society and of the Circle of Friends of the Medallion as well as of the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York. He was likewise vice president of the Bureau of Municipal Research of Milwaukee and belonged to the State Historical Society. His home contained a notable and valuable collection of rare pictures, bronzes, porcelains and rugs, which he gathered in his travels in all parts of the world. He was well known in club circles in New York and Chicago as well as in Milwaukee, having membership in the Union and Whitehall Clubs of New York, the Chicago Club, the Chicago Athletic Association, the Milwaukee Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Town. Country and Fox Point Golf Clubs of Milwaukee. When he passed away on the 22d of July, 1918, one of
16
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
the local papers said: "The death of Mr. Allis is a great loss not only to the County Council of Defense but to all Milwaukee, said Willits Pollock, secretary of that body. When the council was reorganized recently Mr. Allis was the only man upon whom all the elements could agree as the head. Everyone had the utmost confidence and faith in him, in his judgment and wisdom and absolute fairness. He took up the office of chairman of the council really at the risk of his life and against his doctor's advice, although it is not felt that his death was caused by overwork. His physician urged him to drop all work and attend to the care of his health. This he refused to do. ‘I should hate myself all the rest of my life,' he said, 'if I were to refuse this call of duty to our country.' "
The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, in a memoir prepared fol- lowing the death of Mr. Allis, said: "The executive committee has learned with great sorrow of the sudden death on Monday, July 22d, 1918, of its valued member, Mr. Charles Allis. Mr. Allis has served continuously as a member of the board of trustees of this company since 1892, and a member of its finance committee since July, 1908, and has freely given his time and counsel to its interests. We record here our appreciation of his service. His long and useful career in business matters in this city, his zeal in the interest of this company and attention to the performance of his duties, and his uniform modesty and courtesy form the framework of his outer life, while his strength of character, his unswerving integrity in purpose and action, his patriotic feeling, his devotion to good works for mankind and his sense of duty to every trust submitted to his care, portray a friend and associate whose. memory we cherish and whose loss we mourn."
An excellent characterization of Mr. Allis was written by Judge James G. Jenkins, as follows: "He was an ahle business man, careful and prudent, a public-spirited citizen, willing to devote his time for the public good, upright and honest in all his dealings. He led a life without reproach. It is seldom that the community loses a man who has so quietly and unostentatiously performed every duty that devolved upon him, seeking neither praise nor public recognition. He was deserving of the highest regard of the public."
The mayor of the city expressed appreciation for the life and work of Charles Allis as follows: "The city of Milwaukee not to speak of the County Council of Defense, suffers a great loss in the untimely death of Charles Allis. He was a big- hearted, broad-minded, public-spirited citizen. His sense of justice and duty knew no bounds. He accepted the chairmanship of the County Council of Defense with the knowledge that he was jeopardizing his own life, for no other reason than he knew his services were needed and desired hy all. In short, Charley Allis loved his fellow- .men."
EDWARD HYDE BALL.
On the pages of the pioneer history of Wisconsin appears the name of Edward Hyde Ball, who came to the state in the period of its early development. He was born May 29, 1825, in Ogden, Monroe county, New York, where his parents, Joseph and Esther Ball, had settled, removing to the Empire state from Lee, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. In his youthful days Edward Hyde Ball acquired a good public school education and also attended a select school for one year. He received his initial busi- ness training in the store of Church & Ball at Spencerport, New York, then one of the largest mercantile establishments in the western part of that state. After seven years' connection with that firm, during which period he had gained comprehensive knowledge of business methods, he removed to the west with the thought of engaging in business on his own account.
It was in 1846 that Mr. Ball took up his abode in East Troy, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where he opened a store, and for sixteen years was busy in the conduct of that enterprise. He was located in the midst of a frontier district where settlers were few and where their finances depended upon the growth of crops. It was necessary to extend credit to many, but he carefully watched all points of his business and so directed his affairs that he soon won a substantial measure of success as the years passed cn. He enjoyed an unassailable reputation for straightforward dealing and reliability and as the years progressed he secured for himself a comfortable competence. He also built up a most enviable reputation as a citizen and his advice and counsel were sought in many connections having to do with public welfare. In 1862 he dis- posed of his mercantile interests in that town and removed to Milwaukee, where he hroadened the scope of his activity by becoming connected with a wholesale grocery house as a member of the firm of Dutcher, Ball & Goodrich. This association was maintained until 1869 when Mr. Dutcher withdrew, the business being then carried on by the firm of Ball & Goodrich until the death of Mr. Ball, which occurred in Mil- waukee, September 7, 1878. His business career in Milwaukee was characterized by the
CHARLES ALLIS
Vol. II~ 2
19
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
success which had hitherto attended him and was marked by unswerving honesty and uprightness, which made him a model worthy of lasting remembrance and emula- tion.
On the 26th of August, 1847, Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. Cobb, a daughter of Dr. John Cobb, of Ogden, Monroe county, New York, and they became the parents of four daughters and a son. Mrs. Ball passed away March 30, 1897. When but eleven years of age Mr. Ball became a member of the Plymouth Presby- terian church and later was one of the organizers of the Immanuel Presbyterian church, of which he was made an elder, and he also took an active part in the Sunday school, teaching the young men's Bible class. No more fitting tribute to his memory can be paid than by quoting from the Rev. G. P. Nichols, pastor and friend of Mr. Ball, who on the occasion of his funeral said: "A thoroughly good, wholly useful, truly admirable man of God has ascended to his crown. There are few who live from beginning to end who will yield so much pure wheat, so little worthless chaff. I never heard him utter a foolish word. I never saw him do a selfish act. His integrity was without a flaw, his honor without a spot. He had a strong conscience himself, without anything of intolerance or imperiousness towards others. The young men of Milwaukee sustain irreparable loss today. They lose a model to imitate, a friend to sympathize, a counsellor to guide and encourage. His memory remains to cherish, his spirit remains to animate, his image remains to comfort, his work remains to be taken up and carried forward."
JOHN HOFFMANN.
From obscurity to prominence is the phrase that sums up the life record of John Hoffmann, who for many years was at the head of one of the largest wholesale grocery houses of Wisconsin. During many years he concentrated his efforts and attention upon the development of his trade until his business was one of extensive and gratifying proportions and, moreover, he had made for himself an honored name in the com- mercial circles of the state. While he quietly pursued the even tenor of his ways, building up a business hy progressive methods, close application and honorable com- petition, there is much of inspirational value in his life record, proving as it does what may be accomplished by personal labor intelligently directed. Mr. Hoffmann was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, December 4, 1839, and was a youth of seventeen years when in 1857 he crossed the Atlantic to the United States, making his way at once to Milwaukee, with the hope of finding employment in a grocery house of this city, having previously served an apprenticeship to the business in his native land. He did not win the coveted position here, however, and was forced to accept any employment that would yield him an honest living, eventually gaining a position in a butcher shop. He had to learn the trade and while thus engaged saved a little money from his meager wages. The hope of finding hetter opportunities further west led him to remove to St. Louis, but he did not see a favorable opening there and proceeded down the Mississippi to New Orleans, establishing a small shop in the old St. Mary's market, where he soon gained a profitable trade.
When Mr. Hoffmann saw the war cloud gathering and recognized the imminent danger of hostilities between the north and the south, he sold his business in New Orleans and returned to Milwaukee. This time the city seemed more hospitable from a husiness standpoint and he opened a butcher shop at 500 East Water street. His trade steadily grew and a little later he purchased the corner of East Water and Market streets, now the site of the city hall. In 1875 he broadened the scope of his activities by entering into partnership with Jacob Wellauer and establishing a whole- sale grocery business, which was conducted under a partnership relation until 1898, when Mr. Hoffmann became sole owner thereof. He carried on the business in that way until 1904, when a corporation was formed and the name of John Hoffmann & Sons Company was adopted. Since the death of the father the business has been carried on by the sons, the present officers being: Willibald Hoffmann, president; Emil O. Hoffmann, vice president; H. J. Hoffmann, vice president; Walter Hoffmann, treasurer; Edward W. Hoffmann, secretary. The sons have followed in the footsteps of the father, becoming most progressive, alert and energetic business men and the wholesale grocery house remains one of the foremost commercial interests of the city. After engaging in the business for a brief period the father began the manu- facture of sausage in a wholesale way and was one of the first western manufacturers to make such a shipment in large quantities to New York and other eastern markets. On the 7th of July, 1861, Mr. Hoffmann married Suzanne Schweitzer, who sur- vived him only a few months. Their seven children are the five sons already men- tioned and two daughters, Mrs. Oscar Schmidt and Mrs. George Salentine. All are residents of Milwaukee. As the years passed John Hoffmann become more and more firmly established in the business circles of the city as a prosperous merchant and
20
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
in the regard of his fellow townsmen as a progressive and highly esteemed citizen. He had reached the age of seventy-nine years when death called him in 1919, at which time one of the local papers characterized him as "an ideal citizen and a good man." Rev. S. T. Smythe, president of St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, said at the funeral services: "I am not here to pronounce words of eulogy. John Hoffmann needs none such. Writ deep in the hearts and memories of us who knew and loved him is the record of his worth. I am not here because John Hoffmann was a great man. I know of no man, I never shall know a man, who cared so little for what the world calls greatness. His life was lived above the petty ambition of notoriety. We are not here because our friend was a charitable man. He was all that, but few I fancy, knew of his charities. I fancy that many a one, a lowly man, some humble woman, some man once down and out-on his feet again-may read of his death notice through unhidden tears.
"We are not taking leave of a hoon companion. This man . loved the hearth, the quiet of his home, the companionship of her who had heen sweetheart in his earliest years and was sweetheart still as the years gathered. This man loved children. We are not here because in a day of loose living and looser morals this man was a pattern and type of what a husband and father should be. We are not here because in a day of civic unrighteousness, of graft, of greed, this man rendered unto Caesar the things that of a right belong to Caesar. We are not gathered here to do honor to a successful business man, though he was superlatively that, a man of rare integrity in his dealings with other men.
"We have not come today because John Hoffmann was a religious man. I, who was his friend, knew little of his inmost thoughts concerning those great mysteries which are collocated under that word 'religion.' As I think of his life free from cant and hypocrisy, I say to you that this man's life hegan where ours so often ends, in service to his fellows. Maybe his religion was not yours, perhaps not mine, but we shall wander far afield ere we find a better one. No, you are not gathered with me here today because of any one of these things, nor of all of them. We are about to bear away to the quiet of God's acre the mortal remains of a good man. Yea, a good man. Need we say more?"
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.