USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 3
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OLIVER CLYDE FULLER.
During a residence of thirty-one years in Milwaukee, Oliver Clyde Fuller has come to occupy a central place on the stage of financial activity in the city. Honored and respected by all, his prominence is due not alone to the success he has achieved but also to the straightforward business policy which he has ever followed. In the line of an orderly progression he has reached the presidency of the First Wisconsin group of financial institutions, which includes the First Wisconsin National Bank, the First Wisconsin Trust Company and the First Wisconsin Company.
His birth occurred at Clarkesville, Georgia, on the 13th of September, 1860, his parents being Henry A. and Martha Caroline (Wyly) Fuller. He numbers among his ancestors some of the oldest and most honorable names in the south. On the maternal side he is descended from General John Sevier of Revolutionary war fame, who was the first governor of Tennessee. Mr. Fuller's father was a well known merchant of Atlanta, Georgia, heing the head of one of the largest wholesale grocery firms in that city.
Mr. Fuller attended public and private schools in Atlanta and afterward completed his education in the University of Georgia as a member of the class of 1880. He then accepted a clerkship in the wholesale grocery house of Fuller & Oglesby, of which his father was the senior partner, and was admitted to the firm in 1883. when the style was changed to H. A. Fuller & Son. A few years later the father retired from business and the son, Oliver C. Fuller, concentrated his attention upon the investment banking business, becoming a member of the firm of Jones & Fuller, investment bankers, with which he was identified from 1886 until 1889. Seeking a larger field, he then removed temporarily to the city of New York, where he resided until 1891, when he came to Milwaukee. Two years later he organized the firm of Oliver C. Fuller & Company, investment bankers and dealers in high-class bonds. It was not long before the new firm had gained a large clientele. In 1903 Mr. Fuller organized the Wisconsin Trust Company, taking over the business of Oliver C. Fuller & Company. He became the president of the Trust Company and on the 1st of July, 1919, was elected to the presi- dency of the First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee, an organization resulting from the consolidation of the First National Bank and the Wisconsin National Bank. In August, 1919, he was elected president of the First Wisconsin Trust Company, a consolidation of the First Trust Company and the Wisconsin Trust Company, and on the 1st of January, 1920, he organized and was elected president of the First Wisconsin Company, dealers in investment securities, the latter corporation being closely affiliated with the former. The nature and importance of his interests establishes him in a
OLIVER C. FULLER
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
position of leadership among the financiers of his adopted city, where for almost a third of a century his name and place have been an honored one. In 1906 he was elected a member of the executive committee of the trust company section of the American Bankers Association and in 1908 was made chairman of that committee and a member of the council. In 1909 he was elected vice president and in 1910 was elected to the presidency of the trust company section of the American Bankers Association.
The scope and the importance of Mr. Fuller's business interests outside of the field of banking is indicated in the fact that he is a director of the Allis-Chalmers Manufac- turing Company, the Milwaukee Mechanics Insurance Company, the Wisconsin Tele- phone Company, the Baltimore Dry Docks & Shipbuilding Company, the Wisconsin Securities Company and the Milwaukee Auditorium and is a trustee of the North- western Mutual Life Insurance Company.
On the 25th of May, 1881, Mr. Fuller was married to Miss Kate FitzHugh Caswell of Atlanta, Georgia, and they have become parents of two sons and four daughters. Mr. Fuller belongs to various social organizations, including the Milwaukee Club, the Milwaukee Country Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Town Club. Ile is also a member of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, of which he was formerly president, and of the Society of Colonial Wars. He and his family occupy an attractive country residence, "Riverdale," at North Milwaukee, while their city home is at No. 585 Marshall street. His religious faith is indicated by his mem- bership in St. Paul's Episcopal church. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, but political activity has had little place in his life, his efforts and attention being concentrated upon the careful management and development of his business and financial interests.
HON. JOHN COLONEL KAREL.
Hon. John Colonel Karel, judge of the second division of the prohate court of Milwaukee county, came to this state from Nebraska, having reversed the usual order of immigration westward. He was born in the city of Schuyler, Colfax county, Nebraska, February 28, 1873, his parents being John and Elizabeth Karel, the former born in Briza, Bohemia, in 1851, while the latter is a native of Calumet, Wisconsin, born in 1852. Coming to the new world he settled in Wisconsin and became a prominent factor in democratic circles in this state and was called to fill various city and county offices. In 1884 he was a candidate on the party ticket for the position of insurance commissioner, but met defeat with the others on the ticket. In 1888 he received presi- dential appointment to the office of consul at Prague, Bohemia, and six years later was appointed by President Cleveland consul general at St. Petersburg. While he was traveling in Europe with his wife in 1883 she passed away and her remains were interred in a cemetery in the city of Prague. The family numbered two sons and a daughter: Albert Karel, who is a banker at Kewanee, Wisconsin; Flora, who is now engaged in teaching; and Judge Karel, of this review.
In his youthful days Judge Karel attended the public schools of Kewanee, Wis- consin, passing through consecutive grades to the high school and later he supple- mented his studies in educational institutions of Prague, Bohemia, while eventually he matriculated in the State University at Madison, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Letters degrees, in recognition of work completed in that institution. He entered upon the practice of his profession in Milwaukee and had gained a large and distinctively representative clientage, when on the 1st of June, 1907, he assumed the office of judge of the second division of the probate court, which had been created by the legislature of that year and to which he was elected on a non-partisan ticket. Previous to taking up the work of the profession he had been a purser on Lake Michigan boats and had also been employed in the bank of Kasper & Karel of Chicago. He had likewise done newspaper work on various publi- cations and all of his previous experiences have been of benefit to him in the discharge of his professional duties.
On the 11th of June, 1901, Judge Karel was married to Miss Josephine A. Henssler, daughter of Louis and Bertha Henssler of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and they have one child, Gladys Josephine, born March 28, 1905. The parents are members of the Roman Catholic church and he helongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, to the Bohemian Athletic Club, the Jefferson Club, of which he was president for two terms; the Milwaukee Press Club, the Bohemian American Club, the University Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Canoe Club, the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Fin de Siecle Club and the Illinois Athletic Club of Chicago. He is also identified with the Bohemian Slavonian Brotherhood and the Equitable Fraternal Union and is now state president of the latter organization. He has ever given unfaltering support to the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and was elected on its ticket from the ninth Milwaukee district
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to the general assembly, in which he served during the sessions of 1901 and 1903. In the latter year he was made register of probate of Milwaukee county and con- tinued in that office until elected probate judge. He is an expert linguist, having a comprehensive knowledge of the English, German, Bohemian and Polish languages and he has traveled extensively through all the continents of the globe. His lectures relating to his travels have received high commendation from the press and from the general public, and he is also known as a lecturer on legal subjects before the Milwaukee Law School. He has taken the initiative in all movements having for their object the betterment of the Bohemian element in this country and has represented various Bohemian societies, with which he is affiliated, in public movements of varied characters.
HERMAN FEHR.
Herman Fehr, who in January, 1920, was elected to the presidency of the National Bank of Commerce of Milwaukee, has long been a close and discriminating student of the problems of finance and for eighteen years has been associated with the institu- tion of which he is. now the head, making it one of the strong and substantial moneyed concerns of the state. Milwaukee numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred February 27, 1865, his parents being Jacob and Katharine (Stocker) Fehr, who were natives of Switzerland. They came to this country in early life and were married in Milwaukee, where they had settled in 1852. The father was a black- smith and followed that trade among the earliest representatives of the business in this city. The family home was on Prairie street, between Third and Fourth streets, now in the down-town district.
Herman Fehr was educated in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades until graduated from the high school of Milwaukee, after which he entered the University of Wisconsin and there completed a course in 1884, obtaining the degrees of Bachelor of Science and Mechanical Engineer. He afterward took up the study of law and in 1886 was graduated from the law department of the University of Wisconsin with the LL. B. degree. The same year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon active practice in Milwaukee and later became a member of the firm of Austin, Fehr, Mueller & Gehrz, which is still in existence. In 1911, however, Mr. Fehr went to New York city, where he engaged in the theatrical business for a number of years, retiring therefrom in 1919, when he returned to take up his abode in Milwaukee. He has been a director of the National Bank of Commerce since its organization in 1903 and in January, 1920, was elected to the presidency. This is one of the leading banks of the city and has had a steady and satisfactory growth from the beginning. Mr. Fehr has been retired from active law practice for the past twelve years but is still a director of the Orpheum Theatrical Circuit. This and his banking interests constitute the scope of his business connections at the present time. He has met with success, carefully and wisely directing his activities, and the soundness of his judgment is manifest in what he has accomplished.
Mr. Fehr is an active member and one of the directors of the Milwaukee Associa- tion of Commerce. He also belongs to the Milwaukee Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club, the Calumet Club, the 'Milwaukee Country Club and the Blue Mound Country Club, while in New York he has membership in the Lambs Club, one of the most noted organizations of this character in the country. The interests and activities of his life have been broad and varied, making him a man of liberal culture and of wide vision.
HON. DANIEL WEBSTER HOAN.
Hon. Daniel Webster Hoan, attorney at law, who for many years has devoted his life largely to public service, filling the position of mayor for five consecutive terms, was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, March 12, 1881. His father, Daniel Webster Hoan, was born in Canada of Irish parentage and when sixteen years of age emigrated to the United States. He volunteered for service in the Union army and was promoted to color sergeant of the One Hundred Ninety-third New York Volunteers. After the war he settled in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he resided until his death in 1895. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Margaret A. Hood, was of American ancestry dating back to Revolutionary war days. She was born in Waukesha, where she still resides.
Mayor Daniel W. Hoan obtained a public school education and won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon the completion of a course in the University of Wisconsin in 1905. His professional course was pursued in the Chicago Kent College of Law. His start in life was a humble one. His early youth was spent as a cook and the money thus
HERMAN FEHR
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
earned was saved to pay the expenses of his college education. The elemental strength of his character and the laudable ambition which he thus early displayed have carried him forward to a prominent position in professional and political circles. His first big work as a lawyer was the drafting of a workmen's compensation act and the prepara- tion of a brief on its constitutionality for the State Federation of Labor. Both attracted the interest of thoughtful people and led to Governor Davidson's advocating the measure and the creation of a legislative committee which rounded the measure in workable shape, with the result that Wisconsin was the first state in the Union to put such a measure in operation.
In his political views Mr. Hoan is a socialist and his efforts have all been directed toward making Milwaukee in particular and the world at large a better place in which to live. He filled the office of city attorney from 1910 until 1916, resigning the position in the latter year to assume the duties of mayor. One who has been an interested witness of his public activity writes of his services as city attorney and as mayor as follows: "While serving as city attorney he fought the railroads public utilities and secured a legal enforcement of their duties according to their franchises and the statutes under which they were operating. In this way local improvements approxi- mating fifteen million dollars in value were wrested from the companies, such as elevating and depressing railroad tracks, paving, sprinkling and removing snow be- tween the street railway tracks and reduction of rates. Another accomplishment of his was that the amounts paid out annually in settlement of miscellaneous damage claims against the city was reduced over three hundred per cent. This saving alone equalled the salary of himself and his staff during the six-year period. During this time he and his staff compiled the city charter laws and the city ordinances in separate volumes.
"City Attorney Hoan also managed to defeat in the common council by a narrow margin of one vote, an attempt to railroad through a proposed ten-year contract be- tween the city and the electric company for furnishing city illumination. This contract would have burdened the city with a costly and inefficient privately owned lighting system. Its defeat brought about the adoption of the present scientific and economical street illumination with its municipally owned distribution system designed for beauty as well as utility. Its construction was instituted during Mr. Hoan's first term as mayor and is rapidly nearing completion.
"His term as mayor from 1916 to 1921, though marked by a common council set on obstruction has shown our greatest advance in civic progress. Tremendous strides have been made in city planning, including the civic center, the passage of the zoning ordinance, the development of arterial highways, the securing of a municipal airport, the expansion of the greater municipal harhor plan, the filtration of our drinking water supply and the restoration of the central purchasing bureau unfortunately abol- ished after Mayor Seidel's defeat.
"He succeeded with the aid of his able housing commissioners in securing state legislation authorizing a modern and progressive housing program under a plan which secures the benefits not only from the economy of wholesale home building and the desirability of private ownership of homes, but also secures the cooperative henefits of community playgrounds and other joint opportunities for the development of good citizens as a group.
"The labor policy of his administration beginning with the drafting of the eight- hour law and the minimum wage ordinance during his term as city attorney con- tinues to stand out as a real accomplishment.
"Organized labor is consulted on all questions in which it is interested and is fairly represented in the various commissions and departments of the city govern- ment. Mayor Hoan has not hesitated to state his stand without compromise. His reply to the local Association of Commerce when they requested him to invite the King of Belgium to this city was: 'I stand for the man who works, to hell with kings.'
"The police department has carried out, at the mayor's request, the labor policy which meets with the approval not only of union lahor but good citizens generally, namely, that no violence or destruction of property in times of strikes is to he per- mitted but every constitutional right of the worker on strike is to be strictly enforced. This policy has kept Milwaukee free from the disorders which have taken place in most American cities during labor disputes.
"In addition, Mayor Hoan undertook a thorough investigation and clean-up of the police department in which several prominent members resigned rather than face the mayor's charges. This clean-up has been followed by courtesy and efficiency on the part of the police force and has earned the commendation of every citizen.
"During the years 1918 to 1920 the high-cost-of-living problem was met by Mayor Hoan personally because the city government had no legal authority to take action. On his personal credit he bought and sold over two hundred carloads of food products direct to the people at a saving of over one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. These sales, together with the operations of the public markets which were carried
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
on despite much bitter opposition, forced down prices not only of the products sold but of other related articles.
"As a socialist party leader and as mayor of the city, he has led the fight in the legislature which secured the passage of the home rule amendment and of measures granting authority for municipal ownership, city planning, city forestry and housing. "One feature of the mayor's work has been the constant effort to arouse public sentiment against militarism as well as promoting sentiments for peace.
"In conclusion, Mayor Daniel W. Hoan and his socialist associates have been a powerful factor in achieving clean and progressive city government.
"From 1910 to 1921 he has been successful at the polls five times, four times by a majority vote of the electors. The mandate of these elections to carry out the policies here reviewed has been very clear and the construction of his majority at every election has been unique. In the five elections he has never yet carried a single ward in the down-town rooming-house, so-called slum districts, nor has he ever car- ried a single ward occupied by the very wealthy. Mayor Hoan's support has been from the solid, substantial hard working productive element in the community which has encouraged him to pursue this progressive policy and which has strengthened his hand at every turn."
At Morris, Illinois, October 9, 1909, Mr. Hoan was married to Miss Agnes Bernice Magner, whose grandfather was one of the early well known settlers of Chicago- Michael Walsh. He sold his holdings at the time of the epidemic and removed with his family, including Mrs. Hoan's mother, to Morris, Illinois. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoan have been born two children: Daniel Webster and Agnes Bernice, aged eleven and five years. Mr. Hoan's activity during the World war lay along the lines of work taken up hy the Milwaukee county council of defense, of which he was chairman. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, with the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and Traveling Men's Protective Association, and he is a member of the Community Club. His interest centers in those channels through which flow the greatest good of the greatest number and his activities have at all times been forceful factors in bringing about reform, progress and improvement in public affairs.
CHARLES QUARLES.
Charles Quarles was not only a lawyer of eminent ability but was a thorough student of the great industrial, economic, political and sociological problems of the day and at all times kept abreast with the best thinking men of the age. He delved deep into every matter which claimed his attention, and his opinions were never of a superficial char- acter but showed a thorough investigation which brought him comprehensive and accu- rate knowledge. The analytical mind of the lawyer enabled him to solve other questions outside the strict path of his profession, and thus it was that his opinions came to be an influencing force upon many matters which had to do with the progress of Wisconsin.
Mr. Quarles was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, February 13, 1846, his parents being Joseph Very and Caroline (Bullen) Quarles. The father, a descendant of sturdy colonial stock, came to Wisconsin in 1838. The maternal grandfather, John Bullen, was one of the first settlers of Kenosha, which was then known as Southport. Their son, Joseph Very Quarles, Jr., became prominent in politics and represented Wisconsin in the United States senate. The father, Joseph Very Qnarles, Sr., was actively connected with the industrial development of Kenosha as the founder and promoter of a large wagon factory in that city.
Charles Quarles obtained his early education in Kenosha and in 1863 became a stu- dent in the University of Michigan, where he pursued a classical course. Going to Chicago in 1868 he there became identified with the Home Fire Insurance Company of New York, spending five years in that connection, after which he returned to his native city and entered upon the study of law in 1873 in the office of Head & Quarles, well known and prominent attorneys of the city. He was admitted to practice in 1875 and entered upon his professional career in his native city.
In 1888 Charles Quarles came to Milwaukee and was one of the organizers of the firm of Quarles, Spence & Quarles, the senior partner being his brother, Senator Quarles, and the second member of the firm Thomas W. Spence. From the outset the professional career of Charles Quarles was one of steady advancement. He studied most carefully every case which came under his direction and displayed great strength in the presenta- tion of his cause, while his deductions were at all times clear and logical. A contempo- rary writer has said of him: "He was a ruthless cross-examiner, persistent in following out a line of inquiry and dogged in his efforts to obtain the result he desired. The purity of his diction, the rhetorical charm of his sentences and the clearness of his thought made argument on the most commonplace subject a delight to the ear. His jury addresses were masterful and characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the evidence, and a pro-
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
found knowledge of human nature. So great was his acumen and ability as a lawyer. that he rarely suffered defeat in a case, and his record of successful work in the supreme court stands as a monument to his industry and high ability as an advocate. In the celebrated Schandein will case he successfully resisted the efforts of a son and daugh- ter of Wisconsin's wealthiest woman to break that document. In 1905 he was special counsel for the government in the suit against the General Paper Company for viola- tion of the Sherman law, which resulted in the dissolution of the concern, and later in the government's suit against the Milwaukee Refrigerator Transit Company and several railroads, for alleged rebating, and in which he was successful. One of his most brilliant achievements was his prosecution of the libel suit of Charles F. Pfister against the Mil- waukee Free Press, in which, after one of the most bitterly contested battles that ever took place in Wisconsin, his client was awarded a heavy verdict. The successful out- come of the libel suit of Emanuel L. Philipp, now governor of Wisconsin, against Me- Clure's Magazine, which was tried in New York city in 1908, was likewise largely due to his ability. An earlier case in which he was prominent was that of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, in which he appeared as attorney for the striking railroad men. Subsequently he was attorney for the receivers of that road. In proceedings before the supreme court in 1908 which resulted in the release of Fred C. Schultz, con- fined in the house of correction after a conviction for bribery, he wrote the reply brief for Schultz, in which he demonstrated to the court conclusively that the law of con- spiracy had not been properly laid down in the proceedings in the municipal court. Among the instances of his sagacity may be cited the Milwaukee street car franchise fight of 1900, when he advised the city council to pass a certain franchise regardless of the injunction by which opponents of the measure sought to prevent its passage; the supreme court sustained the action of the council in passing the ordinance and of the mayor in signing it."
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