USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 34
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Gustav A. Reuss, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the Peter Engleman School of Milwaukee and in 1885, when a youth of seventeen years, he entered the Marshall & Ilsley Bank as a messenger boy. Step by step he won ad- vancement through various positions, owing to his close application and capability in mastering the task assigned him. In 1911 the bank opened a branch at 374 National avenue and Mr. Reuss became its manager and has since conducted the branch estab- lishment which has grown to be one of the solid financial institutions of the city. In connection with his banking interests Mr. Reuss is president of the Pelton Steel Company, director of the Niagara Falls Power Cmpany and of the Schoellkopf Holding Company of Buffalo, New York, president of the Oconomowoc River Power Company and president of the Nashotah Realty Company. His business interests are thus extensive and of a most important character and his sound judgment, keen discrimina- tion and unfaltering enterprise are regarded as valuable assets in the conduct of all the business concerns with which he is identified.
On the 14th of September, 1906, Mr. Reuss was married to Miss Paula Schoellkopf, a daughter of Mrs. Emelie Nunnemacher of Milwaukee. They have become the parents of four children: Emma Emilie, Auguste Vogel, Henry S. and John William.
Mr. Reuss belongs to the Knights of Pythias and to the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a trustee of the Milwaukee Hospital and he helongs to the City Club. and the Milwaukee Athletic Club. He has a wide acquaintance in the city and state in which his life has been passed and where he has so directed his efforts that notable success has crowned his labors. His progressiveness has been manifest in many connections and his activities have been of a character that have contributed to public progress and prosperity as well as to individual advancement.
CHARLES S. UTZ.
Steady progress from the outset of his business career to the time of his death placed Charles S. Utz in a prominent position among the representatives of commercial and industrial activity in Milwaukee, his native city. He early came to a realization of the fact that industry and energy are among the most potent forces in life and he employed these to good advantage in the attainment of success. Born in 1859, he was a son of Frederick and Eliza (Ries) Utz, who were natives of Switzerland. The father crossed the Atlantic in 1852, settling in New York city, and in 1854 the voyage was made by his wife and three children who joined him there. In September, 1856, they removed to Milwaukee and Frederick Utz, who was a pattern maker by trade, here secured employment along that line of work, devoting his entire life thereto.
Charles S. Utz acquired his education in the public schools of his native city, which he attended to the age of fourteen years, when the father died, leaving a large family. The mother had been a student under Friedrich Froebel, the noted scholar
CHARLES S. UTZ
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of Switzerland and the promoter of the Froebel educational system. Charles S. Utz took up the printer's trade at an early age and for twenty-three years was in the employ of George Brumder of the Germania. He steadily acquainted himself with various phases of the business and worked his way upward step by step. When almost a quarter of a century had passed, through the assistance of Mr. Brumder he engaged in the manufacture of printers' rollers, becoming president and manager of a company devoted to that line of business. Mr. Utz continued at the head of the undertaking until his demise, which occurred May 18, 1921. He had been an employer who enjoyed in the fullest measure the respect and confidence of employes and the goodwill and high regard of his colleagues in the business. Mrs. Utz is now vice president and treasurer of the company.
It was on the 15th of October, 1884, that Mr. Utz was married to Miss Nettie H. Van Horn, a daughter of Zachariah and Mary Elizabeth (Hyde) Van Horn, who came to Milwaukee about 1845. They were married in this city in 1850 and Mr. Van Horn was an active factor in shaping the history and development of Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Utz hecame parents of four children: Gretchen Annette, who is now the wife of Walter C. Atherton, is a resident of Milwaukee and the mother of two children, Richard C. and Robert W .; and Edith Mary, Charles S. and Fielding Alfred, who are at home. Charles S. Utz, Jr., is a veteran of the World war. He enlisted in April, 1917, for overseas service in the Thirty-second Division, the famous Red Arrow Division. He was a member of the Field Hospital No. 126 and sailed for France on the 3d of March with the field artillery, having been prevented from sailing with his company by illness. On arriving in France, however, he joined his own company and he participated in some of the most important engagements in which the American troops took part, including the Aisne-Marne offensive, the Oise-Aisne offensive, the Meuse-Argonne and other important movements of the American troops, who so successfully turned the tide of battle at Chateau Thierry and from that time forward kept the Germans on the retreat. Following the signing of the armistice Mr. Utz spent five months with the Army of Occupation in Germany and was discharged May 21, 1919. While in Germany he was stationed at Rengsdorf. His brother, Fielding A., was with the Army of Occupation at Oberhieber, Germany, for he, too, was a soldier of the World war. He enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Seventh Engineers of the Thirty-second Division, in April, 1917, and sailed for France on the 29th of January, 1918. He was in all of the battles in which his brother took part and in other engagements as well in which the company of engineers participated. He received his discharge on the 28th of May, 1919, after having served for five months with the Army of Occupation. The family have every reason to be proud of the record of these two sons.
The father, Charles S. Utz, Sr., was a member of the Masonic fraternity and loyally followed the teachings and high purposes of the craft, helonging to Lafayette Lodge. He also had membership in the Old Settlers Club and in the Credit Men's Association. He belonged to the Grand Avenue Congregational church and was a warm admirer of Dr. Beale, its pastor. For many years he served as one of the trustees of the church and was greatly loved and honored not only in that congregation but hy friends throughout the city and state. Mr. Utz was always actively and prominently identified with those things that made for the betterment of the city and for the uplift of the individual. His life was guided by the highest and most manly principles. He was a faithful citizen, a lover of the home, devoted to the welfare of wife and children and he also at all times held friendship inviolahle.
JAMES A. BACH, M. D.
Dr. James A. Bach, who has been engaged in the practice of his profession for a longer period perhaps than any other physician of Milwaukee, is now specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and for a third of a century has devoted his time and energy to professional work of a most important character in the Cream city. A native of Wisconsin, he was born on a farm in Washington county, October 13, 1860, and is a son of Mathias and Anna (Moots) Bach. The father was born in the grand duchy of Luxemburg and came to America in 1846, settling in Washington county, having married, however, prior to crossing the Atlantic. Here he devoted his attention to farming throughout his remaining days. To him and his wife were horn thirteen children, four of whom are living.
Dr. Bach was reared on the old home farm to the age of twelve years. In early manhood he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for two years, but prior to that time was a student in the State Normal School at Oshkosh. He afterward spent three years as a medical student in the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1884, and having thus thoroughly qualified for the practice of medicine, he entered upon the work of the profession in Milwaukee, where he has remained since, save for the period from 1887 until
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1889, which he spent ahroad in further study, specializing in the treatment of dis- eases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna.
Following his return in 1889, Dr. Bach reopened an office in Milwaukee and through the intervening period to the present has given his attention solely to his specialty, occupying offices in the Wells building since 1902. Constant study and broad experience have continually promoted his knowledge and efficiency and he is today a recognized authority upon that field of practice which claims his attention. He has written largely for medical journals, which is indicative of the value placed upon his opinions in medical circles. He belongs to the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He, likewise has membership in the Milwaukee Oto-Ophthalmic Society and in the American Oto-Ophthalmological Society and with modern research and the latest developments of scientific investigation he is thoroughly familiar. For a quarter of a century Dr. Bach held the chair of ophthalmology and otology in the Wiscon- sin College of Physicians and Surgeons, which later became the medical department of Marquette University, where he continued to teach these specialties. He is now a member of the staff of St. Mary's Hospital and chairman of its executive committee. His private practice is extensive, patients coming to him from many states.
In 1895 Dr. Bach was married to Miss Catherine E. Pick, a native of West Bend, Wisconsin, and they have become parents of six children, the family circle yet re- maining unbroken by the hand of death. These children are: C. Edwin, James J., Marcus J., Catherine T., John R. and Rosemary Louise, the last named being now five years of age. The eldest son, Clarence Edwin Bach, is a senior in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, while James J. is a graduate of Mar- qnette University. Marcus J. is a junior in the medical college of the University of Pennsylvania. Catherine is attending the University of Wisconsin and John R. is a student in Marquette University.
Dr. Bach belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club. He is fond of golf, of fish- ing and hunting and greatly enjoys travel, spending his leisure hours in this way, whereby he has become largely familiar with the history of Europe, Canada, Alaska, Cuba and Mexico.
During the war Dr. Bach offered his services several times, but owing to his age was never called into service. All through the war he was active as a member of advisory board No. 1, at Milwaukee.
His three sons, C. Edwin, James J. and Mark J. volunteered and served in the Navy, though not abroad.
ADOLF HAFNER.
Adolf Hafner, president and manager of the firm of Adolf Hafner & Company, public accountants, production engineers, auditors and taxation counsellors, with offices in the Caswell block in Milwaukee, was born in this city March 6, 1889, a son of Adolf and Louise (Tyre) Hafner. The father was a native of Switzerland, while the mother's birth occurred in Milwaukee. The father came to the United States in 1879, taking up his abode in this city, where he met and married Miss Tyre. To them were born a son and three daughters. Mr. Hafner served as weighmaster with the Layton Packing Company throughout the period of his residence here and at the time of his death the plant was closed down during the funeral hours, this being the first time that such an honor was ever paid to an employe of the company. Mr. Hafner was an active member of the Schweitzer Club and also of the South Side Turnverein. He passed away in 1916 and is still survived by his widow. The three daughters of the family are Mrs. Myron York, Mrs. Herman Engelke and Erna, all living in Milwaukee.
The only son, Adolf Hafner, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public schools of his native city and in a commercial college and when his text- books were put aside he was employed by the F. Mayer Boot & Shoe Company in the capacity of bookkeeper for a period of five years. He afterward occupied the re- sponsible position of credit manager with the Milwaukee Leader for a year and later became credit manager for the Gem Hammock & Fly Net Company and its many subsidiary companies, holding that position for two years. He was next with the vocational school known as the Central Continuation School as instructor of higher accountancy for a period of five years and in the meantime he established his present business, thus providing a training place for his own juniors and seniors. In April, 1917, the business was incorporated under the name of Adolf Hafner & Company, with nine of his pupils who had been his students for five years as stockholders in the busi- ness. Most of these men are still associated with him. The first year's business of the company amounted to two thousand dollars and was developed to a business of fifty thousand dollars in 1920, showing a wonderful growth. The officers of the com- pany are: Adolf Hafner, president; Joseph C. Brauer, secretary; Walter Windfelder,
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vice president; Miss Marie Vette, treasurer; and Leonard Hunger, assistant secre- tary. The company was incorporated for twenty-five thousand dollars paid up capital stock, with Mr. Hafner as the majority stockholder. He has always held to the highest professional standards and today he Is at the head of the largest local concern of its kind in the city. The officers and the representatives of the house are all Milwaukee men and today there are more than twenty who are permanently employed by the com- pany, while their clients number more than four hundred business men and firms.
Mr. Hafner belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having taken the degrees of hoth the York and Scottish Rites, becoming a member of Wisconsin Commandery, K. T .; Wisconsin Consistory, A. A. S. R .: and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has been very active in the various Masonic bodies and is a loyal and exemplary follower of the teachings of the craft. He is a member of the Association of Commerce, the newly created Ozaukee County Country Club, the South Side Turner Society and the Milwaukee Athletic Club and is assistant secretary of the Milwaukee Optimist Club. He is actuated in all that he does by a progressive spirit and manifests the utmost devotion to the city in all matters of vital public concern.
FRED HOFFMANN ..
Prominent among the energetic, farsighted and successful business men of Mil- waukee is Fred Hoffmann, the president of the Hoffmann & Billings Manufacturing Company, manufacturers and jobbers of plumbing and heating supplies in Milwaukee. He not only deserves mention in the history of the city by reason of his close and prominent connection with its commercial interests, but also by reason of the fact that he is one of the native sons and a representative of one of the old pioneer families. His parents were John Christian and Wilhelmina (Cordes) Hoffmann, both of whom were natives of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany. The father was born June 1, 1828, a son of Balthasar Hoffmann, who was a furrier by trade and owned a small farm near Frankfort. John C. Hoffmann acquired his education in the schools of his native city and throughout life embraced every opportunity that would promote his knowl- edge, thus becoming a thoroughly well informed man. In his youthful days he served a four years' apprenticeship to the locksmith's trade under a celebrated mechanic of Frankfort and later, because of his deep interest in the political revolution of Ger- many of 1848, being opposed to the militarism and autocracy of Prussia, he bade adieu to the fatherland and after a brief stay in Paris, where so many German refugees found temporary shelter, he crossed the sea, arriving in New Orleans in September, 1848. There he saw human beings hought and sold as goods and chattels and the horror of this so impressed him that he early allied himself with the republican party, remaining one of its stanch supporters. Cholera was raging in New Orleans at the time of his arrival and business was prostrated. After a few days spent in a fruitless search for work he accepted a position as nurse at a liberal compensation to attend cholera patients and fortunately escaped the dread disease, although later his own home suffered from the encroachment of that malady.
Leaving New Orleans John C. Hoffmann went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was employed as a journeyman machinist and while there residing he was married, but his wife and their one child passed away in 1850 when the cholera epidemic broke out in that city. A little later Mr. Hoffmann removed to Springfield, Ohio, where in the employ of William Constantine, machinist, he won the reputation of being an expert in fine workmanship as an iron planer and as an adept in dispatching work quickly. In 1854 he removed to Milwaukee in company with Mr. Schrieber, one of his fellow townsmen in Germany. Soon afterward they purchased a farm near Muskego lake, but soon tired of agricultural life and Mr. Hoffmann then engaged in business in Milwaukee on his own account. Subsequently he formed a partnership with Mr. Schrieber and purchased a small machine shop on State street, there establishing a brass foundry and general machine shop. The partnership continued until 1865, when Mr. Hoffmann purchased the interest of his partner, but continued the business under the old name until 1870. His patronage grew rapidly and in 1870 O. F. Billings and M. Coogan were admitted to a partnership, under the firm style of Hoffmann, Billings & Company. In 1882 their interests were incorporated under the name of the Hoff- mann & Billings Manufacturing Company, capitalized for two hundred thousand dollars, which was later increased to two hundred and forty thousand dollars, Mr. Hoffmann becoming president of the company, then employing one hundred and fifty men. Still their trade increased rapidly and they built the south side foundry and machine shops, giving employment to four hundred men. In 1891 Mr. Hoffmann was stricken with paralysis and passed away January 6, 1892. He was succeeded in the presidency of the company by his elder son, Balthasar Hoffmann. In politics the father was a republican, but would never accept office, although frequently solicited to do so. He was always loyal in his support of his adopted country and met all of the demands
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and obligations of citizenship. On the 18th of December, 1856, he married Wilhelmina Cordes, a native of Leipsic, Germany, who passed away in August, 1881, her death being deeply regretted by many friends. They were the parents of five children, two sons and three daughters, who reached adult age, namely: Balthasar, Dora, Fred, Emelia and Matilda, while those still living are: Emelia, Fred and Matilda.
Fred Hoffmann was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and in the State School of Mines at Golden, Colorado, being there graduated from the engineering department in 1892. He afterward returned to Milwaukee and became a member of the firm of Hoffmann & Billings, working in the different branches of the manufactur- ing end of the business and acquainting himself with the enterprise in principle and detail. For about two years after his father's death Balthasar Hoffmann was president of the company, but in February, 1893, he withdrew, at which time he was succeeded by Fred Hoffmann, who has since been the head of the establishment, which is today one of the large and important manufacturing enterprises of the city.
On the 20th of November, 1895, Mr. Hoffmann was married to Miss Clara Lang of Milwaukee, a daughter of Dr. J. Lang, a noted physician of this city. They have two sons and a daughter: Frederick and Edward, twins, who are active Boy Scouts; and Mrs. Carl Pieper of Milwaukee.
During the World war Mr. Hoffmann took active part in promoting the various drives and gave his undivided attention to the manufacture of shower baths for the government, these being sent to France. He also made valves for the different navy yards and spent all of his time in supervising the work in connection with govern- ment needs. Mr. Hoffmann belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Wisconsin Club, of which he is a director and he is serving on the athletic committee of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. The greater part of his time and attention, however, is given to the control and direction of the extensive business which is now carried on under the firm style of Hoffmann & Billings Manufacturing Company, manu- facturers and jobbers in plumbing and heating supplies. His active association with the business covers a long period and he has ever displayed thoroughness and efficiency in whatever he has undertaken.
HUGO L. JACOBI, D. D. S.
Dr. Hugo L. Jacobi, well known as one of the capable dentists of Milwaukee, with office at No. 2704 North avenue, was born in New Holstein, Wisconsin, September 30, 1880. His professional training was received in the old Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, now the Marquette University, from which he was graduated in 1902 with the D. D. S. degree. He entered upon the practice of his profession on North avenue and through the intervening period has steadily advanced until his patronage is today very extensive. He has ever kept in touch with the advanced thought and improvement in methods made by the dental fraternity and he thoroughly understands all of the scientific principles back of the actual work of the office. He belongs to the Milwaukee County, Wisconsin State and National Association of Den- tists and also to the Marquette Alumni.
In 1901 Dr. Jacobi was married to Miss Catharine S. Henrich of Milwaukee, and they are well known socially in the city. Dr. Jacobi has membership with various leading fraternal organizations. He is a Mason, belonging to Independent Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Wisconsin Chapter, R. A. M .; Wisconsin Conncil, R. & S. M .; Wisconsin Commandery, K. T .; and Wisconsin Consistory, A. A. S. R., while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert to Tripoli Temple. He is likewise a member of the Tripoli Motor Club and he belongs to the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks. His social qualities as well as his professional ability have established him high in public regard and he is most widely and favorably known in this city.
RICHARD O. BAYER.
Among the important business enterprises of Milwaukee is that with which Richard O. Bayer is connected. He is president of the Milwaukee Toy Company, whole- sale jobbers in toys, the business having been founded by him in 1914, since which time it has grown to extensive proportions. Mr. Bayer is one of Milwaukee's native sons, his birth having occurred February 18, 1874, his parents being Dr. William and Rose Bayer. both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to Milwaukee in 1848. Dr. Bayer was one of the pioneer teachers here and established the first husi- ness college of the city known as the Bayer Commercial College, which he maintained for many years, making it a well known institution and one of the leading business colleges of his day. Dr. Bayer was also a teacher of languages and was a linguist of
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marked ability, speaking many tongues fluently and proving most successful in in- structing others in this way. He died in 1906, having for a decade survived his wife, who passed away in 1895.
Richard O. Bayer was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee, being graduated in 1886. He then started out in the business world as an errand boy in the employ of the Meinecke Toy Company, with which he remained until the firm went out of existence in 1913, or for a period of twenty-seven years. He had steadily worked his way upward from one position to another until he had become secretary of the com- pany, his powers being steadily developed through his experience, while the scope of his activity constantly broadened with each promotion that he won. In 1913 he went abroad, spending that and the succeeding year in Europe, visiting various countries and upon his return to Milwaukee he organized the Milwaukee Toy Company in 1914. This is a corporation, of which he is the president, and from the beginning the undertaking has met with substantial success. His plan was to gather from foreign and domestic markets all of the novelty toys and make a specialty of supplying churches, schools, societies and clubs for their various entertainments, such as picnics, bazaars and dances. The business has grown from a small beginning until the house is now recognized as one of the leading establishments of the kind in the middle west, the officers of the company concentrating their energies upon securing and selling to toy and novelty houses. Mr. Bayer constantly studies the markets and goes abroad every year to buy his goods. The business is indeed one of broad scope and in its conduct Mr. Bayer shows initiative, enterprise and marked progressiveness.
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