USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 38
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When America sought to win independence from Great Britain, Seth Capron, too young to be drafted, was also too short in stature to pass inspection at muster. In 1781, at the time of his country's greatest peril, he managed, by elevating himself upon his toes, to pass the mustering officer and so enlisted at the age of nineteen, serving first as a private and afterward as a corporal in Colonel Shephard's regiment. He first heard artillery fire at the siege of Newport, when attached to General Lafayette's corps of light infantry, and it was there that a cannon ball, aimed at the general, grazed the top of his head. This led to an acquaintance between Dr. Capron and Gen- eral Lafayette that was renewed fifty years later when the great French general re- visited this country, Dr. Capron being one of those who received him at Newburgh, New York.
Dr. Capron participated in the battle of White Plains, New York, and was then . transferred to headquarters at West Point under Washington, where he served during the remainder of the war, commanding the barge that conveyed the "Father of his country" to Elizabethtown Point, where he was the last man to receive the General's benediction as the great commander-in-chief bade adieu to his army.
TAKEN OCTOBER 2ND, 1921 ON THE ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY OF MY BIRTH MRS. LOUISA K. THIERS
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When the war was ended Dr. Capron returned to Attleboro, where his father, Elisha Capron, owned a good farm, but about that time he sold it, taking his pay in continental money, which was soon declared worthless. The young man then began studying medicine under Dr. Bazeleel Mann, an eminent physician and man of letters who had also served his country during the Revolutionary war, his fellow townsmen having placed him upon the committees of safety, correspondence and judiciary- services which at that time were demanded of the best citizens. Moreover, Dr. Mann was the great-grandson of William Mann of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who was grand- son of Sir Charles Mann of Kent county, England, knighted in 1625 for loyalty to King Charles I. When Dr. Capron studied medicine there were but two medical colleges in the country-one at Cambridge, Massachusetts, the other at New Haven, Connecticut. Like most physicians of that period, he pursued his preparation through private study and began practice in 1789 at Cumberland, Rhode Island. He married Eunice Mann, daughter of his preceptor, and in 1806 removed to Oneida county, New York, traveling across the country in his own carriage with his wife and four young sons-a journey of five hundred miles. He located at Whitesboro, now a part of Utica, New York, and there by diligent attention to his profession secured a handsome competence. He also took great interest in manufacturing, built the first cotton mill and afterward the first woolen mill in the United States, it is said, being associated in his enterprises with Dewitt Clinton, Elisha Jenkins and Francis Bloodgood of Albany, New York. In 1823 Dr. Capron removed to Walden, Orange county, New York, travel- ing by canal boat from Utica to Albany, the Erie canal having just been completed, thence to Newburgh, on the Hudson, hy steamboat ninety-five miles. He remained in Walden until his death, which occurred September 4, 1835, thus closing an eventful life of seventy-three years. In a publication of that day it was said: "He was a man of great integrity and moral worth, uncommon ardor, industry and enterprise. Few have led more active lives and few have accomplished more. His mild, persuasive manners, the honesty and goodness of his purposes and the uniform correctness of his example gave him a wonderful influence over the villagers. Obedience followed his will as if he had been invested with absolute power. The village will long mourn for him as for a father." Of his wife it was written: "The mother ordered well her household, being a woman of strong intellect, and she commanded through a long life the respect and love of all who knew her." It was while the family was residing at Whitesboro that the daughter, Louisa K. Capron, was born in 1814. She was reared in a home of culture and refinement, trained to the activities which girls of the period participated in, and thus she was well qualified to manage a household of her own when in 1847 she became the wife of David B. Thiers, a merchant of Orange county, New York. They afterward removed to Laurel, Maryland, traveling on the canal boat Pumpkin Seed from Utica to Albany and from the latter city to Newburgh, New York, on one of the first steamers on the Hudson river. In the year 1850 Mr. and Mrs. Thiers came to the west, arriving at Kenosha on the 7th of June. They lived in the Thomas Bond house until July, 1851, when they removed. to the town of Alden, McHenry county, Illinois, where besides Mr. and Mrs. Thiers the members of the household were her mother, her brother, John Capron, and five children of her brother Horace. They lived upon a farm in that county until March 1, 1854, and Mrs. Thiers' mother there passed away in 1853. To Mr. and Mrs. Thiers, while upon the farm, there were born two children, Herbert and Emma, and after a second marriage of her brother Horace and his return to the farm Mr. and Mrs. Thiers again came to Kenosha, renting the house of Dr. Hatch, which they purchased a year later. There two other children, Edward and Louis, were born to them. The three sons became prominent business men of this section of the country, while the daughter is now Mrs. Charles Quarles of Milwaukee, with whom Mrs. Thiers has made her home for many years. Her husband died in 1875 and for thirteen years thereafter she continued to live in Kenosha but in 1888 went to live with her daughter, Mrs. Quarles, with whom she has now resided for more than a third of a century. It seems hardly possible to those who see her that she has passed the one hundred and seventh milestone on life's journey. She is described as a lady upon whom age has laid a light hand. Her blue eyes are still bright, her hair snow white but soft and abundant and, best of all, her mentality is still keen. Unlike many aged people, she does not live in the past hut in the present, keeping in touch with what is going on in the world around her, yet her calm and placidity are not disturbed by the turmoil of the present times. She enjoys greatly the birthday parties and receptions which are annually held in her honor and Mil- waukee's citizens count it a keen pleasure to have a few minutes' conversation with this most interesting woman, whose memory covers an entire century of America's existence. When the World war came on, Mrs. Thiers saw much similarity to con- ditions which preceded and followed the Civil war in this country. From the first her sympathies were with the allies-hoth by reason of her French descent and her recognition of America's debt to Lafayette and his French soldiers, who aided in winning the Revolution. When the Liberty loans were launched she became the oldest subscriber thereto, on which occasion she received from Secretary McAdoo a personal
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letter of thanks which reads as follows: "My Dear Mrs. Thiers: It is a great privilege, and I esteem it an honor as well, to thank you in behalf of the government for your subscription to the Liberty Loan of which I have just been advised. Let me take the opportunity also of congratulating you upon the completion of your one hundred and second year of useful life; and upon the fact that your father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under Washington and Lafayette, and that he contributed to the establishment of the liberty which we enjoy today. It is a thrilling and in- spiring thing to receive a subscription from an immediate daughter of a soldier of the American revolution, and it is significant of the fact that almost within the span of one human life was our liberty acquired and that within the same relatively brief period of time that liberty is threatened by an autocratic military power which seeks to build upon its destruction military despotism throughout the world. You have lived to see a new war for liberty, this time a war for universal liberty throughout the world. I hope you will live to see this new and greater victory for liberty and humanity which will come just as inevitably as the rising of tomorrow's sun."
Another letter which came to Mrs. Thiers at the time of the war from a soldier in the French trenches is of equal interest and is as follows: "Happening to read an account of your subscribing to the Liberty Loan, I am writing to compliment you about the fine example you gave to younger generations. As a French soldier, on the front since the beginning of the war, I am very pleased to compliment you about the fine example you gave to younger generations. It is indeed a great comfort to us, who have suffered beyond what human thoughts can imagine, to see that a great nation like America is helping us to crush the most cruel enemy that ever existed. It is a great comfort, too, to see that you, a lady, a very old lady in fact, but one who knows what war means, shows without hesitation the way to final victory. I am a man of thirty- five, pilot in the French flying corps. I left in Scotland the dearest wife and two darling wee babies. I know what and who I am fighting for and do it gladly. Perhaps you have someone at the war, perhaps not. If the latter is the case will you adopt me as your 'godson?' I daresay that I should be proud to have for my godmother such a courageous old lady as you! I cannot help to think, too, that your very name was that of our most famous presidents, namely the one who forty-six years ago was called the liberator of the country. A reply from you, dear madam, will he very much appreciated. With all my best wishes of health, so that you may see our victory, I am very truly and respectfully yours, Marcel Joly." Mrs. Thiers personally answered the letter, declaring that she would be glad to adopt him as her godson and ex- pressing her hearty sympathy for the French cause.
She also has a personal letter from President Harding, written in February, 1922, thanking her for the vote of the oldest known voter in the country.
Throughout the war period Mrs. Thiers was an active worker for the Red Cross. She continually engaged in knitting for the service men and for the children of France, and she also made many knitting bags but specifically stated that they were "to be used for Red Cross knitting only." Mrs. Thiers even since passing the century mark has read and written her own letters. The Milwaukee Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has honored her by placing her name in the Continental Hall of Fame in Washington. Her spirit of contentment is beautiful to see. "I have health, happiness and love," she says, "and what more can anyone want?" She does not believe that times were better in the past than at present but regards it as a won- derful age of progress through which the country has passed during her lifetime, and says that while we are told there are seven great wonders of the world, she believes that there are seventy-seven. "Her children rise up and call her blessed and her good works do follow her."
W. R. McKOWEN.
W. R. McKowen, owner of the Mt. Pleasant dairy and vice president of the West Allis State Bank, was born in Milwaukee county, April 7, 1870, a son of William and Helen (Tennant) McKowen, hoth of whom were natives of Waukesha county, Wis- consin, where the father followed the occupation of farming. The McKowen family came from Scotland, while the mother's family was of English origin and was founded in America in 1630. The MeKowens arrived in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, in 1836.
W. R. McKowen was educated in the schools of West Allis and losing his father when but fifteen years of age he then began providing for his own support, turning his attention to the dairy business, in which he has since engaged. He has conducted the business started by his father under the name of the Mount Pleasant Dairy, since it was established. He has thoroughly familiarized himself with every phase of dairying and has most carefully, wisely and successfully conducted his interests, so that his labors have brought to him substantial returns and he is now one of the successful
W. R. McKOWEN
Vol. II-24
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dairymen of this part of the state-a region which has so extensively followed dairying as to win for Milwaukee the name of the Cream city. Mr. McKowen is also president of the McKowen estate, for the interests left by his father had been incorporated under that name. He was also made the vice president of the West Allis State Bank in 1919 and has served as a director of the bank from its organization in 1911.
It was in 1907 that Mr. MeKowen was united in marriage to Miss Adelia Tanner of West Allis, and to them has been born a daughter, Jane Tanner. Politically Mr. McKowen is a republican and thoroughly alive to the political conditions and interests of the day, but has never sought nor desired office. He has always been interested in public welfare, however, and has given active support to many measures for the general good. He was likewise one of the organizers of the Neighborhood Association, a charitable society. He has figured quite prominently in public affairs of his com- munity, serving on the village board of trustees of West Allis from the time of its organization in 1901 until 1905. He also filled the office of judge of the police court for six years. Fraternally he is connected with West Allis Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master and he is likewise a past master of Wauwatosa Lodge, at all times faithfully following the teachings and purposes of the craft. He took an active and helpful interest in all the war drives in West Allis and at no time has he been remiss in the duties of citizenship but on the contrary has stood loyally for every cause which he has deemed of vital importance to community, commonwealth and country.
WILLIAM CALVIN NICHOLSON.
William Calvin Nicholson is the vice president and general manager of the Plankin- ton Packing Company of Milwaukee. The business had been placed upon a broad and substantial basis long before he took charge but he has displayed splendid business qualifications in enlarging and still further developing the industry, utilizing well de- fined plans and unfaltering purpose in carrying forward to successful completion what he has undertaken. Mr. Nicholson was born in Lexington, Missouri, July 4, 1883, a son of Edward F. and Clara (Fall) Nicholson. The father was a native of Lexington, North Carolina, while the mother was born at Somersworth, New Hampshire. In the year 1830 the father emigrated westward with his parents, the family home being established in Lexington, Missouri, and he became one of the pioneer implement dealers of that place. In 1861 he entered the Civil war and raised a company under Colonel Rathburn, of which company he became captain. He saw active duty in and around Vicksburg and was several times wounded while at the front. He was at the sur- render at Shreveport, Louisiana, after which he returned to Lexington, Missouri, and there he engaged in the manufacture of farm implements, carrying on the business until his death, which occurred in 1905. His widow survived him for several years, passing away in 1918.
William C. Nicholson was educated in the public schools of his native town and also pursued an extensive course of study in the University of Missouri. He left college, however, in the year of his graduation-1901-just a short time before con- pleting the course and entered the employ of Swift & Company, packers at Kansas City, Missouri. He first worked as a laborer but was advanced from one position to another until he became department foreman. In 1905 he was transferred to Fort Worth, Texas, as general foreman and in 1908 was sent to East St. Louis as division superintendent. In 1913 he was transferred to St. Louis as sales manager and in 1916 was sent to St. Joseph, Missouri, as department manager, continuing to act in that capacity until 1917, when he was appointed by the war council at Washington, D. C., a member of the Billings commission to Russia. The object of this commission was to make a survey of the Russian situation immediately after the overthrow of the Czar. Mr. Nicholson spent about six months in that country, engaged in in- vestigation work. In 1918 he returned to St. Joseph, Missouri, where again he entered the employ of Swift & Company and in 1919 he was transferred to the Omaha Packing Company of Chicago as general manager. In 1920 he was assigned to duty with the Plankinton Packing Company of Milwaukee as vice president and general manager and in this dual position he is now serving, making a most creditable record as an executive officer. The Milwaukee business had its inception soon after the arrival of John Plankinton in this city. He had come from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, arriving September 8, 1844, with the intention of joining George Metcalf, a former acquaintance in the butchering business. Mr. Metcalf, however, entered into other business relations about a week before Mr. Plankinton's arrival and the latter accordingly started out independently. Renting a small tract of land at sixty dollars per annum he erected thereon a little frame building, in which he opened a meat market on the 22d of September, just fourteen days after his arrival, his capital stock amounting to four hundred and fifty dollars. Such was his business ability, however, that his first year's
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sales amounted to nearly twelve thousand dollars. His business steadily increased and in 1849 he began the slaughtering and packing business. After a year he formed a partnership with Frederick Layton, under the firm style of Layton & Plankinton and the business was thus carried on, the company confining its attention principally to the slaughter of cattle. In 1860 this partnership was dissolved, after which Mr. Plankinton carried on the business alone until 1863, by which time there were only three enterprises of the kind in the United States that had a larger volume of trade. After a time he formed a partnership with Philip D. Armour and their power as factors in the business world was soon manifest, leading to the constant growth and steady development of the business. After Mr. Plankinton was joined by Mr. Armour under the firm style of Plankinton & Armour, they extended their business to Kansas City and Chicago with an exporting house in New York city conducted under the name of Armour, Plankinton & Company. Their export business rapidly developed and they had an extensive trade with foreign countries. When Mr. Plankinton retired in 1888 the plant was leased to Patrick and John Cudahy and when the latter estab- lished the Cudahy Brothers plant at Cudahy, Wisconsin, in 1893, the business was taken over by William Plankintou and conducted by him until his death in 1905. It was then leased and operated by the National Packing Company until its dissolution in 1912. At that date it was acquired by Swift & Company of Chicago and has since been operated by them. They placed Mr. Nicholson in charge and his capability, resourcefulness and enterprise have been salient features in the attainment of the success of the Milwaukee plant. Moreover, as the result of his hard work and close application he has risen to a most enviable position among the packers of the country.
On the 18th of December, 1907, Mr. Nicholson was married to Miss Hazel Robinson of Topeka, Kansas, and they have become parents of two children: William C., born May 5, 1911; and Jane M., born December 14, 1912. Mr. Nicholson belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Rotary Club and the City Club, and also to Milwaukee Lodge, No. 46, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is widely and favorably known in this city, his sterling qualities, his genial disposition and his unfeigned cordiality making for personal popularity wherever he is known.
EDMUND GRAM.
No establishment in Milwaukee can rival in beauty and artistic arrangement the music house of Edmund Gram, Incorporated, of which Edmund Gram is the head and which represents Steinway & Sons and other high-grade piano concerns. He is like- wise the president of the Edmund Gram piano factory, where the Edmund Gram piano is manufactured in uprights, grands and player pianos. His name is not only synonymous with the piano trade of the city but in a large measure with the piano trade of the state, while his patrons are found in every section of the country. Ability, thoroughness and high standards are the words that shadow forth the course which he has ever followed in his business career, bringing him to a point of leadership in connection with the music trade of the middle west. Back of his success is his love of the art and his proficiency as a musician, for even in his boyhood days he was well known in musical circles of the city and acted as director of various musical organiza- tions and as pipe organist in churches of Milwaukee.
Mr. Gram was born in Buffalo, New York, August 23, 1863. His father, the Rev. Charles Gram, was a native of Magdeburg, Germany, born May 22, 1834, and when but three years of age was brought to the United States by his parents, who settled in Buffalo, where the son was reared and eventually was married there on the 26th of August, 1860, to Miss Louisa Lohous, of Buffalo, a descendant of the distinguished Henry Adam, who spent his entire life in Germany and won renown in that country. Mrs. Gram was born in Buffalo, September 25, 1842, and by her marriage became the mother of four children-the son Edmund and three daughters. Tillie became the wife of August Rintleman of Milwaukee, who passed away leaving two daughters, Leonora and Clara. Later his widow became the wife of George Goetting of Altamont, Illinois, but both are now deceased. Another daughter, Alvina, is living in Milwaukee, while Clara is deceased. The father long devoted his life to the work of the ministry and was called to a pastorate in Milwaukee when his son, Edmund, was but ten years of age. He served the church here for nearly forty years, resigning two years prior to his death at the age of eighty.
Edmund Gram was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee, in Markham's Academy, now the Milwaukee Academy, and in the Spencerian Business College. He displayed considerable business genius and initiative in his early youth and began earning money by the operation of a small printing press, which he developed to quite a job printing establishment, until his academic and music studies took up all of his time. Nature endowed him with a love of music which he cultivated in early life, playing the pipe organ when yet but a youth and acting as director of various musical
EDMUND GRAM
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organizations when in early manhood. He is still deeply interested in such organiza- tions and has done much to stimulate musical taste and the love of the art in this city. He thus early became closely connected with music interests iu Milwaukee and it was a logical step to his identification with the piano trade. He became a retail dealer of pianos and made it his purpose while so engaged to give to the public the best possible instruments which their money could buy. He continues a leading factor in the retail trade, today having as beautiful a musical establishment as can be found in the country, and was chosen Steinway & Sons representative for Wisconsin. The store at Nos. 207 and 209 Grand avenue was erected by Mr. Gram on a twenty-five-year ground lease and on the expiration of this period in 1912 he purchased the present location and remodeled the building into what is conceded to be one of the finest music establishments in the United States. 'Rendering the greatest possible service to his patrons in the selection of instruments, his name became known as a retail dealer not only throughout Wisconsin but in many other states as well. Today his piano house is a marvel of beauty, showing artistic arrangement and the most dis- criminating study as to color, design and harmony in the adornment of his rooms. He took another forward step in his business career by entering the manufacturing field. It has been said that there are very few men who have been successful as re- tailers of pianos who have made a success as manufacturers, but Mr. Gram is an ex- ception to the rule. He entered the business actuated by the same high ideals that characterized him as a merchant. He surrounded himself with the most expert work- men in piano building, putting at the head of each department a most competent and efficient foreman, each one of whom became a stockholder in the newly organized factory. They thus had a personal interest in bringing the business up to the highest standards, for again it is Mr. Gram's purpose to be surpassed by none in the quality of the instruments which he sells to the public. He reorganized the manufacturing end of his business under the name of the Edmund Gram Piano Company and now has an extensive and well equipped factory at the corner of Fourth and Clybourn streets in this city. He built up the business with infinite pains and care and has never sacrificed quality in the slightest degree. He insists that every part of the piano shall be as perfect as can be made and that the tone shall be the expression of the highest degree of the art that has thus far been attained. Moreover, the salesrooms of the company display the utmost magnificence in arrangement, furnishings and art decorations and the business has grown year by year until it is one of the extensive commercial interests of Milwaukee, where for forty years Mr. Gram has figured in con- nection with the piano trade. His name has been a synonym for progressiveness of measures, for the best values in return for investments and now equally a synonym for the greatest efficiency in manufacture. He has ever held to the highest ideals and the results achieved are certainly most gratifying. His work has been told in a num- ber of the leading musical journals of the country and the story of what he has accomplished is of inspirational value. In 1921 Mr. Gram incorporated the retail business for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and every person in his employ was presented with some stock, the amount being in proportion to the position and length of their service. Something of the growth of his retail business is indicated in the fact that when he took possession of his five-story building on Grand avenue he occupied only the basement and the first floor, leasing the second floor to the Luehning Conservatory of Music, while the Commercial Club occupied the third, fourth and fifth floors. In the new present quarters he is occupying the entire building with recital hall. He has the state agency for such standard pianos as the Steinway, the A. B. Chase, the Everett, the Estey and the world famous "Welte Artistic Player."
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