USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 35
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In club circles Mr. Bayer has a wide acquaintance, belonging to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Rotary Club. He is also identified with the various Masonic bodies, with the Knights of Pythias and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he has membership in the Milwaukee Association of Commerce, cooperating in all of the plans and projects of that organization for the city's benefit and upbuilding, the extension of its trade relations and the maintenance of high civic standards and ideals.
EMERSON D. HOYT.
Emerson D. Hoyt is living retired in Wauwatosa. He has passed the seventy- fourth milestone on life's journey and a career of intense and intelligently directed business activity has brought him to the point where necessity no longer forces him into the strenuous business world. His record is as an open book which all may read, for he is a native son of Wauwatosa and has spent his life in this state. He was born March 7, 1847, a son of Thomas D. and Catharine ( Smith ) Hoyt, the father a native of New Hampshire, while the mother was born in Jefferson county, New York. Thomas D. Hoyt came to Milwaukee with his father, Thomas Hoyt, in the year 1835 and Catharine Smith arrived with her parents in 1836, so that both were representatives of old pioneer families of this city and were here married in the year 1842. The paternal grandfather of Emerson D. Hoyt conducted a hotel in Chicago before coming to Milwaukee and was also engaged in merchandising there. After taking up his abode in Milwaukee county he obtained a farm and filed a claim on land at Thirty-fifth and North avenue in 1835. He was, indeed, one of the earliest of the pioneer settlers of this county and contributed in large measure to its prog- ress and development in that early period. In 1836 he was appointed justice of the peace by Governor Dodge.
Thomas D. Hoyt, the father, was also a farmer by' occupation, devoting his attention to the work of tilling the soil until his death, which occurred in 1850, when he was but thirty-five years of age. He was commissioned by Governor Dodge as a lieutenant in the state militia and he also served as the first tax collector of the town of Wauwatosa. His widow long survived him, reaching the advanced age of ninety-four years ere death called her in 1911.
Emerson D. Hoyt was the only child of this marriage. He acquired a limited education hy attending public and private schools, but though his opportunities for educational training on the western frontier were limited, he has learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience and has added greatly to his knowledge through reading and observation. He, too, started in life as a farmer and con- tinued to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits until he reached the age of forty years, when he sold his farm and took up his abode in Wauwatosa. In 1892 he became interested in the building of the street car line extending from Walnut and Twenty-seventh streets to Wauwatosa and also the building of the electric light plant. He was associated with that enterprise until the business was sold to the Milwaukee Electric Company in 1896, at which time he practically retired from active business and has since enjoyed a well earned rest.
Mr. Hoyt nas figured quite prominently in public life and his activities have constituted a valuable contribution to advancement and upbuilding in the state.
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He was a member of the Wisconsin general assembly for four terms, being first elected in 1886, and his frequent reelections indicated most clearly the value of his service and the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen, who thus again and again called him to office. He was also elected the first president of the village of Wauwatosa and upon its incorporation as a city in 1897 was elected its first mayor and served for ten years as president of the village and mayor, or in other words as its chief executive officer, at all times giving to the city a business- like and progressive administration. In 1907 he became one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Wauwatosa and was elected its first president, continuing to serve as such until 1921. He is also one of the Milwaukee county park com- missioners, having filled this position since the organization. In a word Mr. Hoyt has been instrumental in the upbuilding of the town of Wauwatosa to a marked degree and has made it one of the most beautiful and attractive suburbs of Mil- waukee, having now a population of about six thousand. He has always been accounted one of the leading spirits in the community, and while he has retired from business, he always stands ready to do his part in relation to any activity for the public good.
On the 22d of September, 1870, Mr. Hoyt was married to Miss Carrie F. Holston, a native of Columbus, Ohio, whose parents, however, came to Milwaukee during her infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt had two children: Samuel D., who follows farm- ing; and Miriam, who resides with her father. Mrs. Hoyt passed away March 22, 1896, her death being deeply deplored by many friends as well as her immediate family. In Wauwatosa, not to know Emerson D. Hoyt is to argue one's self un- known. He has heen a most prominent and influential resident there for many years and Milwaukee claims him as a splendid type of the progressive citizen who has promoted her development and welfare. Ont of the struggle with small oppor- tunities he came finally into a field of broad and active influence and nsefulness, and while he has passed the Psalmist's span of threescore years and ten, in spirit and interests he seems yet a man in his prime.
ANTON ASMUTH.
For many years Anton Asmuth was prominently known in connection with the grain trade and the malting business in Milwaukee, operating extensively along hoth lines and winning a leading position as an astnte, far-sighted and sagacions business man. His advancement was attributable entirely to his own efforts. Without special advantages at the ontset of his career he worked his way steadily upward, obstacles * and difficulties in his path seeming to serve but as an impetus for renewed effort on his part. He was born at Eppe, Waldeck, Germany, December 19, 1851, his parents being Anton and Elizabeth ( Bergenthal) Asmuth, who were also natives of Germany, where they spent their entire lives, the father devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits.
It was during his boyhood that Anton Asmuth left his native country and came to the new world, where he supplemented his early educational training by thorough study in the German-English Academy of Milwaukee and also in the East Side high school. His financial condition made it imperative that he accept any employment that would yield him an honest living and for several years he worked in various ways until he conld gain a start. He first became connected with the grain business of his uncle, Franz Bergenthal, and while thus employed gained an accurate knowledge of barley and in later years became a heavy operator in that cereal. In 1871 he entered the employ of the Philip Best Brewing Company, with which he con- tinned for a period of five years, and in 1876 he became a member of the firm of Salomon, Asmnth & Company, dealers in produce, carrying on a general commission and grain commission business. In 1878 Mr. Salomon retired from the firm and the name of Asmuth, Grau & Company was then assnmed. In 1879 this became Asmnth & Krans, and the firm prospered in the conduct of a general commission business and also in the purchase and sale of coarse grains, hay and feed, specializing in barley, They likewise had a large feed mill at the foot of Broadway on Erie street, where their office was located. They extended the scope of their activities, moreover, in 1879, when they began the business of malting. erecting a malt house at the corner of Sonth Water and Park streets in the fifth ward, with a capacity for the manufacture of one hundred and seventy-five thousand bushels of malt annually. In 1881 they en- larged their plant hy the erection of a barley elevator adjoining the malt honse, with a storage capacity of two hundred and fifty thousand bushels. The business was profitably carried on for some time and then the name was changed to the Asmnth Malt Grain Company, Mr. Asmuth remaining in active association therewith until 1898, when he disposed of his interest and retired. In 1901 the Milwaukee Malting Com-
ANTON ASMUTH
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pany was organized, having its plant at the corner of Reynolds and South Bay streets, and Mr. Asmuth was closely associated therewith to the time of his demise.
In 1889 Mr. Asmuth was married to Miss Gertrude Stolz, a daughter of Henry and Margaret Stolz, and they became the parents of a son, Anton William Asmuth, who wedded Jane Ellsworth Schumacher, a daughter of Ferdinand Schumacher. There are three children of this marriage: Anton William, James Ellsworth and Robert Stolz.
Such in brief is the life history of Anton Asmuth, who was a man of marked business capability, a splendid organizer, possessed of much executive force and ad- ministrative power. In early life he recognized the value and the power of industry and determination, and he always cultivated these qualities in the conduct of his business affairs. As the years passed on his operations grew in volume and importance, and for many years he was a prominent factor in connection with the grain trade and with the malting business in the Cream City. His life illustrated clearly the possi- bilities open to the young man of foreign hirth who sought to take advantage of the business conditions here found and utilized their opportunities in the attainment of success. The reward of earnest and intelligently directed labor came to Anton Asmuth and his business associates and his many friends greatly mourned his death, which occurred January 3, 1912.
LOUIS E. H. WILL.
In the trade development of Milwaukee which has transformed North avenue into a splendid business section, many enterprising men have figured and to this class belongs Louis E. H. Will, who is now conducting a well appointed drug store at 2425 North avenue, his establishment being one of the most attractive on the thoroughfare. Milwaukee claims him as a native son. He was born January 13, 1886, his parents being Charles and Johanna ( Papenfuss) Will, both of whom were natives of Pommern, Germany. Crossing the Atlantic, they first settled in Ontario, Canada, in 1878 and in 1880 they came to Milwaukee. The father was employed by the Milwaukee Street Railway Company as a blacksmith when the corporation was running its dummy line. He continued to act for the company after it made mules the motive power and subsequently when electric power was installed.
Louis E. H. Will pursued his early education in the public and parochial schools of Milwaukee and afterward attended Concordia College, a theological school of this city, but was obliged to give up his studies there on account of ill health. He subsequently turned to the study of pharmacy under Professor Mieding, now a practicing physician, and later Mr. Will worked as assistant chemist under Dr. Ortho Fiedler. He took his final examination at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 17th of April, 1908, and later went to Kenosha, this state, where he was manager for the Olle Pharmacy for a period of five years. On the 28th of August, 1913, he established himself in business at his present address-2425 North avenue in Mil- waukee-and has here since conducted a most attractive store, building up an ex- cellent trade as the years have passed. He carries a large and carefully selected line of drugs and druggists' sundries, makes every effort to please his customers and now has a very extensive patronage. He belongs to the Milwaukee Pharmaceutical Association and to the National Association of Retail Druggists.
On the 21st of September, 1909, Mr. Will was married to Miss Erna Barthmann of Milwaukee, and they have one son, Hubert Louis. Mr. Will has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He also belongs to the North Avenue Advancement Association, which indicates his keen interest in the welfare and progress of the section of the city in which he is located. He likewise has member- ship with the American Concord Men. He stands at all times for those things which are of greatest value and benefit in community advancement and in business life he has ever been actuated by a strong and steadfast purpose, never deviating from the path which he has marked out and overcoming all obstacles and difficulties by determined will and resolute effort.
JOSEPH B. KALVELAGE.
Joseph B. Kalvelage, secretary and treasurer of the Hoffmann & Billings Manu- facturing Company, manufacturers and johbers of plumbers' supplies, was born in New York city, August 20, 1850, his parents being John B. and Anna M. (Trenkamp) Kalvelage, both of whom were natives of Oldenburg, Germany, whence they came to America in 1845, settling in New York city. The year 1851 witnessed their arrival in Milwaukee, where the father engaged in the soap manufacturing business under the firm name of F. Trenkamp & Company, the plant being located where the elec-
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tric power house now stands, while later a removal was made to 209 Michigan street. The concern huilt up quite a big business, dealing with the jobhers for a number of years, and Mr. Kalvelage continued in the business to the time of his death in 1870. His wife long survived him and had reached the notahle old age of ninety-one years when she passed away in 1902.
Joseph B. Kalvelage was educated in the German-English Academy, now the Milwaukee University School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1864. He started on his business career with the Price Brothers, a brokerage firm, which was afterward merged into the firm of Goodrich, Rumsey & Company. Mr. Kalve- lage remained with the latter concern for about three years and then became the successor of his father's partner in the soap manufacturing business, with which he was associated for a decade. On the expiration of that period he accepted the position of bookkeeper with the Michigan Salt Agency of Milwaukee and so con- tinued for three years. His identification with the Hoffmann & Billings Manufacturing Company dates from 1878. He had heen with the concern for hut a brief period when he was made treasurer of the company and about a year later was also elected secretary, since which time he has filled the dual position, covering a period of ahont forty-two years. His enterprise, his cooperation and his farsighted business methods have been important features in the continued growth and progress of this under-
taking. He has long enjoyed a most enviable reputation as a progressive and thoroughly reliable business man, one whose business methods have at all times been such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.
On the 27th of May, 1877, Mr. Kalvelage was married to Miss Dorothea Hoff- mann, a daughter of John C. Hoffmann, the founder of the Hoffmann & Billings Manu- facturing Company. To them have been born four children: John B .; Clements; Dorothea, who is the widow of Dr. Richard Schorse; and Emily, the wife of C. G. Ortmayer of Milwaukee. The second son, Clements, was with the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Engineers under Major Greene during the World war. He went overseas to France, serving for two years with the rank of sergeant, and was under bomb fire. For a time he was with the Army of Occupation in Germany. The family resides at No. 305 Prospect avenue. Mr. Kalvelage is a member of the Old Settlers Club. At the present, however, he is not identified with club organizations, confining his attention to his business affairs, his civic obligations and the pleasures of home life.
ERNEST TRETTIN.
The history of Milwaukee must accord considerahle space to the life record of Ernest Trettin, who for many years was a substantial business man and was always identified with those projects and interests looking to the benefit and welfare of the Cream City. He was horn in Pomerania, Germany, in 1870 and departed this life in Milwaukee, June 4, 1921, having scarcely more than passed the half century mark on life's journey. His father, Ludwig Trettin, had come to the United States in 1883, settling in Milwaukee, where he opened a bakery, which he conducted for several years, retiring in 1896.
Ernest Trettin was a youth of thirteen years when he accompanied his parents to the new world and became a resident of Milwaukee. Here he continued his educa- tion as a public school student for a year, having previously spent the greater part of his boyhood in school in Germany. When twenty-six years of age he took over his father's bakery and continued in the business until his death, his establishment being located on Third and Harmon streets. He had one of the largest bakeries in the city, and it was ever noted for the sanitary conditions that prevailed as well as for the excellence of the product which he handled.
On the 20th of April, 1900, Mr. Trettin was married to Miss Emma Schumacher, a daughter of Henry and Anna (Kimme) Schumacher and a granddaughter of Fred Schumacher, who was a native of Germany and settled in Milwaukee about 1838, finding here nothing but a little village. At that time he wished to buy the property where the city hall now stands but it was a swampy district and he decided against making the purchase. Instead he went to Cedarburg, where he took up a homestead claim. He was a carpenter hy trade but cleared his land and spent his remaining days in farming. The old home place was owned by the Schumacher family up to two years ago. The Kimme family arrived in America a few years after the Schumacher family and settlement was made at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The Schumacher farm was developed into one of the hest farming properties of Ozaukee county and com- prised two hundred acres of land, which by reason of the care and cultivation that was bestowed upon the tract produced splendid crops. Mr. Schumacher built a stone house, which was the first residence of the kind in the county. He also owned the first buggy used in that vicinity and kept only hlcoded stock. He paid as high as six hundred
ERNEST TRETTIN
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dollars for a colt, and his cattle were full blooded Holstein. He continued the work of developing and improving his property as the years passed on until it was one of the show places of the county, and thereon he spent his last days, passing away in 1879. To Mr. and Mrs. Trettin were born six children, of whom two died in infancy, the others being: Minnie, William, Florence and Ernest.
In 1891 Mr. Trettin returned to Germany, being then twenty-one years of age. He was drafted into the German army and held as a subject of Germany, but through the influence of Alderman Fass of Milwaukee he obtained his release and returned to this city. In 1911 he again visited his native land. He was a member of the Germania Club and also of the Old Settlers Club. His political endorsement was given to the democratic party, and his religious faith was that of the German Lutheran church. He had a wide acquaintance in this city by reason of his activity in business and his long residence here. Those who knew him speak of him in terms of warm regard, for he displayed the sterling qualities of the progressive, alert and energetic business man who while promoting his individual fortunes also recognized his duties and obligations in regard to the community at large and greatly assisted in any project for the public good.
CYRUS H. KOKEN.
Cyrus H. Koken, president of the Kraus & Koken Company, dealers and con- tractors in paints and paper, in which connection he has developed a substantial business, was born December 6, 1849, in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, his parents being Levi and Matilda (Fenicle) Koken, who were also natives of Pennsylvania. The son obtained his education in the schools of his native city and after putting aside his textbooks learned the trade of painting, paper hanging and decorating, serving a three years' apprenticeship in that connection in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was a young man of about twenty-eight years when he made his way westward, settling first at Freeport, Illinois, where he continued to reside until 1885.
In that year Mr. Koken came to Milwaukee. An elder brother had preceded him to Freeport in 1875 and also removed to Milwaukee prior to the arrival here of Cyrns H. Koken. The latter at once hegan work at his trade and was thus employed for about three years or until he formed a partnership in 1888 to carry on business on his own account under the firm name of Nase, Kraus & Koken. This connection continued until 1905, when Mr. Nase retired and the business is now carried on under the name of Kraus & Koken Company. For a period of more than a third of a century, the company has been active in the business in Milwaukee and has long enjoyed a liberal patronage. Their success is the direct result of capability, marked skill and efficiency. They have done work in some of the finest homes in the city and their patronage has steadily increased as the years have gone hy, bringing them gratifying success.
In 1876 Mr. Koken was married to Miss Martha Frey, a daughter of Jacob Frey, a resident of Bangor, Northampton county, Pennsylvania. They have become parents of eight children: Forrest; Bertha, the wife of Adelbert Sheldon; Robert; Roy; Florence, the wife of James Burke; Harry; George; and Myrtle, the wife of Oscar Spies.
Mr. Koken belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees, while in politics he is a republican, voting for the party where national issues and questions are involved yet never hesitating to cast an independent ballot if his judgment dictates this to be the wiser course. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and throughout his entire life has been guided by high and honorable principles, his course com- mending him to the confidence and respect of all who know him.
THE DOWNING BOX COMPANY.
The Downing Box Company is composed of men who have spent a great many years solving the problems of the shipping public. Thorough study and undaunted enterprise lie hack of the steady development of the business of this concern, a business that has rapidly grown. The company was organized in July, 1918, with a capitalization of three hundred thousand dollars. Work was immediately begun in connection with the erection of a factory building which is four hundred by one hundred feet and which was completed within a comparatively short time. The factory and general offices are located at 1702 Third street and in planning the first unit ample provision was made for the natural development of the business in the purchase of a five acre plot of ground. The second unit, which will be a duplicate
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of the first, has since been started and will be brought to completion as rapidly as conditions will permit.
After operating at their present location for a period of a year the officers of the Downing Box Company readily saw the necessity of further provision for expansion purposes and purchased twenty-two acres of ground situated on the upper Milwaukee river, where they will ultimately erect a large paper mill.
The Downing Box Company is headed by A. C. Downing as president. He it was who pioneered the fibre and corrugated box industry from its infancy and in the years when the use of fibre and corrugated boxes were considered mostly a dream, Mr. Downing forged ahead with such experiments and exhaustive tests that it was not long before the shipping public realized that a new era had been reached in the packing-room- department. Back of Mr. Downing's experience, of course, stands the facilities of the Downing Box Company, which are second to none. The energies of this company are devoted entirely to the problems of the American shipper, which on the surface may seem of small import but are of a complex nature in many ways. By exhaustive practical tests the use of fibre and corrugated shipping boxes has been reduced to a science so that the problem of each shipper can be handled with such nicety as to avoid any confusion or disruption in his packing-room and at the same time insure proper service which enables him to move his goods to destination with little or no damage.
The field work in a proposition of this kind is of so much importance that the salesmen who represent the Downing Box Company in the various territories can very well consider themselves as packing engineers, as the problems presented re- duce themselves to that category.
Among the objects for which the Downing Box Company is continuously striving is service and quality and as all shipments are carefully inspected before leaving the factory, quality can readily be assured, but the service feature is one which requires constant attention. The company does not merely content itself with analyzing a situation and shipping boxes according to the original analysis but has certain tol- low-up features with the trade which insure service in exactly the same measure that quality is insured. The Downing boxes can be found in the remotest corners of the United States, for the activities of the company cover all states from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border.
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