USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 30
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THE HONORED NAME WHICH THIS COMPANY BEARS WILL SERVE AS A MONU- MENT TO THIS THE CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT OF HIS LIFE.
IN RECOGNITION OF HIS LIFE'S LABOR AND TO PERPETUATE THE ACKNOWL- EDGMENT OF THE DEBT WHICH THE BUCYRUS COMPANY OWES TO HIM AS ITS FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, THIS TABLET HAS BEEN ERECTED, THIS SECOND DAY OF MARCH, 1920."
The success which crowned this achievement, fraught as it was with many diffi- culties, was the most important of his business career. From the prominence which it gave him in the industrial life of the nation, Mr. Eells became affiliated with the National Metal Trades Association, for many years served on its council and hecame its president in 1915, acting in that capacity until 1917. His unsurpassed sense of justice and fairness lent much to the formulation and culmination of the policies of this association, the purpose of which was to promote cooperation between the employer and the employe, the freedom of the honest worker from the oppression of trade union methods. These purposes achieved much during a period of growing industrial unrest. Of the many enterprises with which the name of Howard Parmelee Eells will always be linked there is need to mention only those in which he was actively interested at the time of his death. From its reorganization, for which he was responsible, in 1898, Mr. Eells was president and treasurer of the Atchison & Eastern Bridge Company, which owns and operates a railroad and highway bridge across the Missouri river at Atchison, Kansas. This bridge, built in the early '70s hy Dan P. Eells, J. H. Wade and other Clevelanders, has played an important part in the development of the Missouri River region. He was president and treasurer of the Dolomite Products Company which controls large stoue quarries in Seneca county, Ohio. He was a director of the Sandusky Cement Company in Cleveland and as such was largely responsible for its financial reorganization in 1916. He was a director and member of the executive committee of the Superior Savings & Trust Company from its organization in 1905 and he was president of the Howard Realty Company.
Success of undertakings in this great industrial country is measured by constructive contribution to the progress of our civilization. The business career of Howard Parmelee Eells was eminently successful. But whereas time at some distant day will partially ohliterate industrial achievement hiding it in the detail of the development of science, the part which a man plays in the progress of a great city will ever he felt and remem- bered. The influence of Mr. Eells was potent in all which concerned the social and civic life of Cleveland. He gave with a great generosity to countless public philan- thropies. The span of the latter half of his life is in fact the history of the progress of the Cleveland Humane Society, which he served so faithfully since 1882. Taught in the ways of sympathetic affection for man and heast from hoyhood, and carrying out through life the precepts so thoroughly grounded, the full strength of his strong
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personality was brought to bear upon the urgent need of protection for the weak. IIe became treasurer of this society in 1900, in which position he also served the Cleveland Protestant Orphan Asylum from the year 1903. Another charitable organization aided by liberal contributions of his time and money was the Home for Aged Women, of which he was secretary and a member of the board of trustees. Few persons know of the extent and breadth of the liberality of Mr. Eells. His public acts were only an indication of his far-reaching private generosity.
With his whole heart Mr. Eells was actively interested in the development of art in Cleveland. He was a member of the accessions committee and the advisory com- mittee of the Cleveland Museum of Art. where his presence at the meetings, his un- selfish devotion to all its interests, his exquisite, richly cultivated tastes and practical judgment were ever an inspiration to his associates.
The educational life of the community he entered through his trusteeships in the Western Reserve University, the Cleveland School of Art and the East End School Association. From 1914 to 1918 he was president of the Cleveland branch of the Archeological Institute of America. No man could have been found more emin- ently fitted to counsel and advise in undertakings of this nature. His was an edn- cated, cultivated mind with keen appreciation of the beautiful in nature, in literature and in art. And dominating all these attributes there stood out that without which no life is fully rounded, the faith in the teachings of Christ and adherence to the principles of Christianity. He was for years a trustee of the Second Presbyterian church and he supported its work no less assiduously than his fathers before him.
The long list of social organizations of which he was a member only partially testifies to the qualities which made Mr. Eells a delightful, charming companion and an ideal host. He was a member of the Union, Tavern, Country, Mayfield, Chagrin Valley Hunt, Harvard, University, Rowfant, City and Tippecanoe Clubs, Shaker Heights Club of Cleveland, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Horticultural Society, the New England Society of Cleveland, the Western Reserve Historical Society, the University and Alpha Delta Phi Clubs, and the Ohio Society of New York, the American Academy of Political Science, the National Geographic Society, the Hamilton Chapter and Williams Chapter of Alpha Delta Phi, Shore Owners Association and Lake Placid Yacht Club, and a member of other similar institutions.
Howard Parmelee Eells was married in Cleveland on April 20, 1881, to Alice Mande Overton, who died May 26, 1885. On November 11, 1889, he married Maud Stager, who survives him. Of the first marriage there were born: Mrs. Robert H. Crowell of Cleveland, and Dan Parmelee Eells, who is treasurer of Bucyrus Company, at South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Of the second marriage were born: Mrs. Allen C. Honse, Howard P. Eells, Jr., Harriett Stager Eells, Samuel Eells and Maude Stager Eells. Mr. Eells' sons, Lieutenant Howard P. Eells, Jr., and Lieutenant Samuel Eells, served in the United States army in France from September, 1917, to the spring of 1919. To the love which he bore and dispensed with such liberality to mankind was added a devotion to his family that by its depth and power transfnsed his home with an atmosphere of refinement, virtne and devotion.
Mr. Eells' death occurred suddenly at Pasadena, California, on February 11, 1919. The funeral services were conducted at his residence in Cleveland by the Rev. Paul F. Sutphen, D. D., pastor of the Second Presbyterian church, who spoke the following memorial which may fittingly serve as a conclusion to this narration of the life of Howard Parmelee Eells:
"In glancing back over my long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Eells, I think his one characteristic which most impressed me was his strong personality, his spirit of confidence and victory. He thought and spoke in terms of strength. He recognized no obstacles or limitations in his forward march to lofty character and great success, and in this he set an example to all around him. This strength he displayed not only in his business achievements, but in everything that demanded his interest-everything that tended toward the welfare of his home city. A city is indeed bereaved when a great citizen, with a great vision and an open heart and hand passes away. Such a man was Howard P. Eells."
HERMAN HENRY KARROW.
Milwaukee has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar and among the younger representatives of the profession who are successfully practicing in this city is numbered Herman Henry Karrow, a native son, whose birth occurred May 19, 1885, his parents heing Frederick and lda C. ( Kletzsch) Karrow, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Fond du Lac, Wis- consin. The father was a farmer and stock raiser in early life but afterward. engaged in the restaurant business in Milwaukee, where he passed away in 1906, being still survived by his wife.
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Herman H. Karrow obtained a public school education, which he completed as a student in the East Division high school, after which he attended the University of Wisconsin for the study of law, and was there graduated in 1909 with the LL. B. degree. He had five years' training in the university and was admitted to practice immediately following the completion of his law course. He then returned to his native city, where he has remained, and he is now associated in law work with Walter Drew, concentrating his efforts and attention npon corporation practice and estate work. These men have a large clientage and occupy enviable places at the Mil- waukee bar. Mr. Karrow is a member of the Wisconsin State Bar Association, also the Milwaukee County Bar Association and the American Bar Association. In addition to his professional interests Mr. Karrow is the secretary and one of the directors of the Frank J. Grimm, Incorporated; a director and the secretary of The Valley Investment Company, also secretary-treasurer and one of the directors of Al-Sano Laboratories, Incorporated, and director of many other companies.
On the 5th of June, 1912, Mr. Karrow was married to Miss Estella G. Kussmaul, of Milwaukee, and they have become parents of two sons, Robert William and William Karl.
Mr. Karrow takes his outdoor sport in fishing and greatly enjoys a trip to lake or river to try his skill with the finny tribe. He belongs to The Cooperative Club, of which he is the first president. This club has but one member representative of each business, occupation or profession. He is a Mason, having membership in Kenwood Lodge, No. 303, A. F. & A. M .; Wisconsin Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M .; and Wisconsin Council, No. 4, R. & S. M. He likewise belongs to the Milwaukee Lodge No. 46, B. P. O. E., and is a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club and of the University Club. He has done much important public service of a varied character, having been a member of the citizens' committee of relocation of the courthouse and also a member of Mayor Hoan's committee. He served on the executive board of the Citizens' Lenroot Committee and during the World war he was one of the Four-Minute speakers at the theatres and in the country districts in Milwaukee county, enlightening the public as to the real issues and conditions before the country and the allied forces. He also served on one of the Liberty Loan drives. He has ever stood for progress and improvement and his interest in the public wel- fare has been manifest in many tangible ways.
WILLIAM E. MCCARTY.
William E. McCarty is recognized as a most efficient officer in the position of chairman of the county board of supervisors and is a member of the board by virtue of representation of the third district, comprising the third and fourth wards of Mil- waukee. He has displayed the keenest insight into many of the important problems which have come before the board and in the discharge of his duties has been guided by a most progressive spirit and unfaltering fidelity to the best interests of the county at large.
A native son of Milwaukee, he was born November 9, 1870, his parents being Thomas and Margaret (Hoey) McCarty, both of whom were natives of Ireland, but were brought to America in infancy by their respective parents, arriving in this country about 1844. The father was reared on a farm in Franklin township, Milwaukee county, and afterward became' a resident of the third ward of the city. He there engaged in the teaming business and also conducted a grocery store with a little bar in the rear of the store. He took active part in politics and was elected alderman of the third ward in the '60s, while later he was called to the position of supervisor. He was also a candidate for the office of county treasurer in 1870, but was defeated. He died in 1885 and his widow afterward became the wife of John Hannan and is again a widow. In the family were three sons: James B., who is deceased; Willam E., and Thomas, both of Milwaukee.
William E. McCarty was educated in the parochial schools and the public schools of the third ward and was a youth of fourteen years when his father died. He was then compelled to start out in the world to provide for his own support and worked at various periods in a grocery store, as telegraph messenger and at odd jobs. Later he engaged in the teaming contracting business, which he carried on until 1918, when he turned his attention to the insurance business, becoming connected with the Fidelity & Casualty Company, of which he is still a representative. With a thoroughness that has always characterized him in everything that he has undertaken he has gained comprehensive knowledge of every phase of insurance and has developed a large and profitable agency.
Mr. McCarty has also figured prominently in public affairs. In 1908 he was elected a member of the board of supervisors and was reelected to the office in 1910, 1912, 1914, 1916 and again in 1920. In 1914 he was elected chairman of the board and was re-
MILWAUKEF
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elected to that position in 1916-18 and 1920. Thus for three terms he has served as chairman, showing him to be most popular and efficient in that position. The value of his work speaks for itself. Since serving on the board there has been built one hun- dred and eighty miles of hard road in the county, outside of the city of Milwaukee. He was a member of the first committee that laid out the system for building roads in the county and he has done everything in his power to improve and develop the public highways. It has been during his service on the board that the Muirdale Sanitarinm for tubercular patients was built, this being one of the finest institutions of the kind in the country. The board of supervisors has also built the New House of Correction in the town of Granville and has likewise established an agricultural school. Its work has been truly of a constructive character and Mr. McCarty's aid and influence have ever been on the side of progress and advancement.
In July, 1896, was celebrated the marriage of William E. McCarty and Miss Margaret Costigan of Milwaukee. They have become parents of three children: Helen and James E., who are with their parents in a pleasant home at 652 Jefferson street in the third ward-the ward in which Mr. MeCarty was born; and Florence, who died at the age of fourteen years. Mr. MeCarty represents one of the pioneer families of the city, his father having hauled wood into Milwaukee with a yoke of oxen when the Indians were still in the state and would often camp around his farm. They used to stand on the market square to sell their wood and as a pioneer settler the father passed through many hardships and trials of the trontier. William E. McCarty is a member of the Old Settlers Club and he can relate many interesting incidents concerning the early days in this section of the state. He helongs to the Catholic church, has mem- bership with the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, with the Knights of Columbus, with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His has been a busy and useful life, fraught with much good for his fellowmen, while at the same time his carefully managed business affairs have brought to him sub- stantial and well merited success.
GEORGE E. KUNTZ.
At the time of his death George E. Kuntz was the proprietor of the Kirby Honse of Milwaukee, but it was not only in this connection that he became widely known. Few men in the state contributed so largely to the agricultural development as did he through the stimulus which he gave to farmers by his example and by his service as a member of the Wisconsin state fair board. Mr. Kuntz was born in Lorain, Ohio, on the 13th of July, 1854, his parents being George and Amelia Kuntz, who were natives of Alsace-Lorraine, and who on coming to America in the early '50s, made their way to Ohio, whence they removed to Dodge county, Wisconsin, in the early '60s.
George E. Kuntz, spending his youthful days under the parental roof, was largely reared in northern Wisconsin, whither the family removed in pioneer times. As the years passed he became closely associated with the agricultural development in that section of the state. He conducted farms in Reeseville and Marengo, and he managed the Ashland county fair for a period of eighteen years, so that he became most widely known among the farmers and exhibitors of the state. He was also made a member of the Wisconsin state fair board and contributed in large measure to the success of the state fair. In 1893 he was appointed registrar of the land office at Ashland, Wisconsin, under the administration of Grover Cleveland.
It was in 1908 that Mr. Kuntz removed to Milwaukee, where he continued to reside until called to his final rest. He had been engaged in the real estate business in Ashland following his retirement from the land office, and devoted his attention to real estate activity until his removal to this city. Here he engaged in the hotel business, conducting the Kirby House at the corner of East Water and Mason streets to the time of his demise. One who knew him well said of him: "I always found Mr. Kuntz an upright business man and reliable in all his affairs. His home life, too, was ideal. He was a pioneer in northern Wisconsin and was always optimistic as to the future of that country. Though his was a German name, there was no more loyal American and he preached loyalty to this country throughout the entire World war. His loss will be greatly felt."
On the 6th of March, 1879, Mr. Kuntz was united in marriage to Miss Bertha B. Drews, a daughter of Fred and Eliza Drews. They traveled life's journey most happily together for almost forty years, Mr. Kuntz passing away on the 4th of March, 1919. His death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret throughout Wiscon- sin. His public service had made him known in every section of the state. He had served on the state board of agriculture for several terms and at all times he was preaching and teaching development and improvement in connection with agricultural affairs. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party and in politics, as
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in other fields of life, his work was of a progressive nature. For many years he served as alderman of Ashland and he held office under the fire and police commission of that city. He ever looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the possibilities and opportunities of the future and labored not only for the present day but tor the later period of progress and improvement.
Mr. Kuntz is survived by his widow and six children: E. P., of Los Angeles; G. G., of Jacksonville, Florida; Mrs. J. S. Stevens, who makes her home in Ashland, Wisconsin; O. H., a resident of Rhinelander, Wisconsin; Mrs. W. T. Kirwin, of Spring Valley, Minnesota; and Harry R., living in Milwaukee.
JACOB F. DONGES.
Jacob F. Donges, a prominent merchant of Milwaukee, was born in this city January 1, 1860, and is a son of Jacob F. and Elizabeth Donges, both of whom were natives of Germany, the former born in 1814 and the latter in 1828. The paternal grandfather was born in 1781 and, coming to America, spent his last days in Mil- waukee, where he passed away in 1862. It was in the year 1842 that Jacob F. Donges. Sr., arrived in Milwaukee, where he followed the cabinetmaker's trade until 1860, when he accepted the position of janitor of the city hall and continued to act in that capacity until his death in 1871.
When eleven years of age Jacob F. Donges, Jr., succeeded his father as janitor of the city hall and thus supported his mother, brother and sisters. By reason of the fact that he was thus early forced to go to work, his educational advantages were exceedingly limited. The labor involved in his janitorship was extremely difficult for a mere boy, but he did it thoroughly and won the admiration and respect of all who had business at the city offices. In spare moments he sold papers and polished shoes and did other odd jobs, including carrying the chain under Moses Lane when the latter was surveying for the city water works. In addition to his other duties Mr. Donges also acted as fruit inspector when that office was established and during this period he likewise spent some time in working for different business concerns, includ- ing one engaged in the hat and cap business. These various tasks claimed his atten- tion for fourteen years-years of unremitting industry and toil during which he not only provided for his widowed mother and the other members of the family but was also enabled to save a small sum of money which at length made it possible for him to embark in business on his own account in 1884. In partnership with his brother, Charles C. Donges, he began business under the name of Donges Brothers at No. 315 Third street, dealing in hats and gloves, and this connection continued until his brother's death. For nearly a half century Jacob F. Donges has conducted the business with great success. He and his brother were instrumental in placing the enterprise upon a safe foundation and continuously developed their trade until their business had become one of the important commercial enterprises of the city. Since the brother's death in 1894, Mr. Donges has taken into his employ his brother-in-law, Harry Bexell, and a nephew, Arthur C. Hildebrand, and they have been contributing factors to the continued success of the business under the capable direction and man- agement of the owner. About 1884 Mr. Donges began to invest in real estate, purchas- ing first the property which is now known as Fox Point. He then purchased three miles of lake shore property known as Donges Bay and organized the Fish Creek Park Company, which has made of the property the two resorts known as Donges Bay and Fairy Chasm. It is often said that there is nowhere in Wisconsin a more picturesque section than Mr. Donges' lake shore property, which he has improved with the planting of thousands of trees, including black locusts on the lake bank, cedars, spruce, elm, birch, ash, poplar, maple and bass. In 1895 he planted eight hundred fruit trees, including apple, plum, pear and cherry, which have now developed into a thriving and productive orchard. In 1919 the Shore Cliff Park Company acquired an attractive lake frontage property of one hundred and twenty acres. The company was organized with Mr. Donges as president, Martin Rotier as secretary, Adolf Dernehl as treasurer and Ray Smith, Ernest von Briesen and Russell Wehe as directors. One of the first to build upon the property was Ray Smith and many others are now planning homes for this site. In March, 1922, Mr. Donges acquired thirty-five acres fronting on Lake Michigan, two miles south of Port Washington, which he has named The Lions Den.
In April, 1893, Mr. Donges was united in marriage to Miss Alma Bexell, a daughter of John and Frances (Salentine) Bexell. They now have two daughters, Erma Louise and Elsie Sophie, both of whom are graduates of the German English Academy, the Milwaukee Downer Seminary and the Wisconsin College of Music. Erma Louise was married June 14, 1916, to Herbert W. Dernehl, secretary and treasurer of the firm of Adolf Dernehl & Sons Company, conducting a wholesale and retail delicatessen and grocery business. The daughter, Elsie Sophie, married Fred
JACOB F. DONGES
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Usinger, Jr., the only son of Fred Usinger, of sausage fame. There are now two little grandsons, Robert Donges Dernehl and Frederick Donges Usinger, aged four and five years respectively. They are the delight not only of the home of the parents but of the grandparents as well. In 1912 Mr. Donges erected a large and attractive home of brick and tile construction, overlooking the lake at Donges Bay, and there he and his family have enjoyed both the winter and summer months.
In his political belief Mr. Donges has given unswerving allegiance to the republican party, while his religious views find expression in his membership in the Lutheran church. He also belongs to the Old Settlers Club. His has been a notably successful career. He has most wisely and carefully conducted his interests and from a humble position in commercial circles has worked his way steadily upward until he has long been a dominant factor as a merchant of Milwaukee and as one of its most progressive real estate dealers.
HILMAR GEORGE MARTIN, M. D.
Although one of the younger representatives of the medical profession in Milwau- kee, Dr. Hilmar George Martin has made for himself a creditable position in profes- sional circles and particularly in the field of his specialty, which is diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He was born in this city January 17, 1893, and is a son of George E. Martin, mentioned at length on another page of this work. He acquired his early education in the grammar schools, pursued his high school course here and after- ward became a student in the University of Wisconsin at Madison, there winning the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science. He studied at Madison for six years and was graduated in 1915. He also taught in the medical school of the University of Wisconsin, being associated with the department of pharmacology until 1917. Previous to this time he had received military training and had become a colonel of the Cadet Corps.
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