USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 58
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HENRY C. HARMS.
Henry C. Harms, public accountant of Milwaukee, in which city he was born March 19, 1870, is a son of Frederick and Mary (Ehlers) Harms, who were natives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1857 and established his home in Milwaukee, which has been a haven of so many of those who have sought in this country the freedom and opportunity of the new world. Here he met the lady whom he made his wife. She died August 17, 1921, at the age of seventy-four years. He died in 1914. He was in the saloon and restaurant business for a number of years and in early life he learned and followed the cooper's trade.
Henry C. Harms was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and at an early age became identified with the printing business, which he followed until 1896. In 1898 he became a bookkeeper for the Lakeside Distilling Company and in 1914 was made secretary and treasurer of that company, which position he held until 1917, when the business was discontinued under the food control act. He then turned his attention to the accounting business, specializing in income tax work and has built up an extensive clientele of this character, making heavy demands upon his time and energy.
On the 24th of March, 1894, Mr. Harms was married to Miss Mary Lessing of Buffalo, New York, and they have one child, Marie. Mr. Harms belongs to the Knights of Pythias and to the Calumet Club. He is well known in Milwaukee, where his life has been passed and where he has gained many friends.
EDWARD W. STAADT.
Edward W. Staadt, a well known figure in financial circles in Milwaukee, has by capability and laudahle efforts advanced steadily in his business career until he has become the president of the Teutonia Avenue State Bank and is also a successful hard- ware merchant of the city. He was born in Milwaukee, December 31, 1885, and his parents. Charles C. and Elizabeth (Jensen) Staadt, are natives of Milwaukee county, His grandfather in the paternal line came from Germany and settled in this county, becoming the founder of the family in the new world. His father established the hard- ware business at 1110 Teutonia avenue about thirty years ago and it has remained a strong and substantial factor in the commercial activity and development of the city since that time. Charles C. Staadt was also a prominent figure in the public life of the community and was a member of the state legislature for one term. He still main- tains an interest in political affairs and is yet an active factor in business circles.
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Edward W. Staadt was educated iu the public schools of his native city and in the Spencerian Business College, from which he was graduated, thus becoming well quali- fied for life's practical and responsible duties. He received his business training under the direction of his father, for as soon as he had completed his school course he entered the hardware store and has remained active in its conduct, being today one of its owners. Both he and his father also became organizers of the Teutonia Avenue State Bank in 1914, at which time Edward W. Staadt was elected to the presidency of the bank and has remained its executive head. The bank has been a very successful institution and today has deposits amounting to more than one million, six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The business has ever been conducted along safe con- servative lines, which, however, do not interfere with progressiveness and that the public recognizes the strength of the institution is manifest in the constant growth of its patronage. There has recently been organized a Teutonia Realty Company, which was incorporated with a capital stock of a hundred thousand dollars, of which Edward W. Staadt is one of the organizers and the president. This company is erecting a building adjoining the bank on the north, which is to cost one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, the dimensions of the building being eighty-five by two hundred feet and three stories in height. It contains suites of offices and twelve bowling alleys. The stockholders of this company are among the leading business men on Teutonia avenue.
On the 22d of June, 1910, Mr. Staadt was married to Miss Ella Loth of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and they are parents of one son, Edward, Jr. Mr. Staadt is a member of the Calumet Club, also of the Elks Club and of the Knights of Pythias and he is always loyal to every cause which he espouses and to every interest to which he pledges support. He is a wide-awake business man, whose course has been characterized by close application and thoroughness, combined with a steady reliability that has won for him a good name, as well as gratifying success.
JOHN C. STUESSER.
John C. Stuesser, cashier of the Teutonia Avenue State Bank of Milwaukee, is numbered among the native sons of this state, his birth having occurred in Washing- ton county, August 25, 1887, his parents being John and Emily ( Wenninger) Stuesser, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to America in 1848, the year that brought so many people from the fatherland to the new world, people who sought the liberty and the opportunities of this country in contrast to the monarchical rule and lack of business advantages in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Steusser became early settlers of Washington county and were there identified with farming interests.
The annual financial statement of the bank in April, 1915, showed deposits amount- ing to one hundred and twenty-three thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven dollars and something of the growth of the bank in the intervening period of six years is in- dicated in the fact that in April, 1921, the deposits amounted to one million, six hundred and fifteen thousand dollars. The Teutonia Avenue State Bank has adopted as its slogan "a community bank for community service" and it is living up to the promises implied therein. It is conducted along safe, conservative, yet progressive lines and the thorough reliability of its methods is also one of the strong features in its continued growth. It has been an important element in the development of Teu- tonia avenue as a business community. Every phase of banking is here carried on and the officials of the bank have been most helpful and courteous in giving sound financial advice to their patrons. The capital and surplus of the bank amounts to seventy-five thousand dollars. Its officers are: E. W. Staadt, president; A. E. Schunk, vice president; J. C. Stuesser, cashier; and J. P. Mueller, assistant cashier. Mr. Stuesser is well known in financial circles, being a member of the American Bankers' Association and he also belongs to the Milwaukee Credit Men's Association.
WILLIAM WELLINGTON BURGETT.
William Wellington Burgett is the vice president and manager of Howard W. Russell, Incorporated, conducting business as secret service agents and confidential investigators. In this connection, with headquarters in Milwaukee, has been built up one of the largest business enterprises of this character in the country and as man- ager thereof Mr. Burgett is proving his capability, his forcefulness and his resource- fulness. Wisconsin numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Sharon, Walworth county, February 7, 1875, his parents being Addison and Jennie (Bogardus) Burgett. The father was born in Schenectady, New York, while the mother's birth occurred about sixty-five miles south of Paris, France. She came to the United
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States with her parents when but five years of age and in 1844 Mr. Burgett removed with his parents from the Empire state to Walworth county, Wisconsin. The grand- father, John S. Burgett, assisted in building and operating the first locomotive in the United States, the run being between Schenectady and Albany, New York. This same locomotive and a few of the small cars attached thereto were on exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. During the last few days Mr. Burgett was a visitor to the World's Fair there and saw the little engine, which was built on a narrow gauge plan, and he was told that if it had been known he was living, he could have made his fortune hy sitting in the cab of the engine during the fair as the representative of the first railroad operation in America. He was a master mechanic and when he removed to Walworth county, Wisconsin, he there set up a blacksmith shop two miles from Sharon, where he continued to work at this trade until his death. His son, Addison Burgett, was a cheese and butter manufacturer and continued in that line of business during the greater part of his life. He is still living but has retired. William Wellington Burgett pursued his education in the country schools of Wal- worth county and when his textbooks were put aside he became identified with his father in the dairy business, continuing in that field of labor for about twelve years. In 1907 he was appointed deputy state fish and game warden, which position he con- tinued to fill for five years, and subsequently he hecame associated with Howard W. Russell, Incorporated, thus entering the field of secret service work and confidential investigation. He was made manager in 1918 and in 1920 was elected to the office of vice president, in which position he continues. This company's business is that of industrial secret service work and general secret service and its clientage has become one of enormous proportions. When the business was established the employes num- bered but forty-two and today the number exceeds several thousand, representatives of the company being found in all parts of the country.
On the 11th of February, 1900, Mr. Burgett was united in marriage to Miss Purl Wheeler of Whitewater, Wisconsin, and they have become parents of three sons: Morton W., Raymond W. and Harland G. Mr. Burgett belongs to all the different Masonic bodies, having membership in the Knights Templar commandery, the Scottish Rite consistory and in the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Dramatic Order of the Knights of Khorassan and the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, in which he has passed through all of the chairs. In club circles, too, he is well known, having membership in the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Kiwanis Club and in the Shrine Motor Club, and in the last named connection there is indicated much con- cerning the nature of his recreation and diversion. He is widely and favorably known, his sterling qualities gaining him many friends. He is always approachable and genial and he has long been a close student of human nature, his mind being keenly analytical and logical in its trend. These qualities have been of marked value to him in his busi- ness and today he occupies an enviable position in connection with one of the im- portant industrial investigating companies of the country.
RALPH M. FRIEND.
Ralph M. Friend, president of the Western Iron Stores Company of Milwaukee, "has for many years been closely identified with financial and business interests of the city. He was born here on the 12th of Angust, 1864, his parents being Henry and Frances (Samuels) Friend, the former a native of Bavaria, Germany, while the latter was born in England. In the year 1840 the father came to the United States and after residing for a few years in the east came to Milwaukee. His wife arrived in the new world about 1852 and lived in New York for a brief period, accompanying her husband to Wisconsin. With the commercial interests of the city Mr. Friend became closely associated as senior partner in the firm of Henry Friend & Brothers, wholesale cloth- ing merchants, which firm he established. Some years later he incorporated the business under the firm style of the Friend Brothers Clothing Company. Henry Friend re- mained an active factor in the management and control of the enterprise to the time of his death, which occurred on the 7th of May, 1875, he and his wife being drowned off the Scilly island when passengers on the steamer Schiller. His brothers continued the business and after their deaths the business was continued for some years by their successors. Mr. Friend had made for himself a prominent position in commercial circles and was highly esteemed as well for his personal worth. He was president of the Temple Emanu-El, a reformed Jewish church.
Ralph M. Friend, one of a family of eleven children, five of whom are yet living, became a pupil in the seventh ward school in early boyhood and afterward attended Markham's Academy but put aside his textbooks in 1880, thirty days before graduation, in order to go to Colorado. Subsequently he removed to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and from there to Laramie county, where he engaged in cattle raising. In 1883 he dis- posed of his ranch in the west, selling to the Milwaukee & Wyoming Investment Com-
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pany, of which Alexander Mitchell, David Ferguson, John Johnson and Peter McGeogh were representatives. Mr. Friend then removed to the head of the Green river in Wyoming, where he successfully conducted a ranch until 1903. He next returned to Milwaukee, where he engaged in the brokerage business as a partner in the Charles Schley Company, one of the oldest brokerage houses in the northwest. His associa- tion therewith continued until 1909 and at the present time he is at the head of the Western Iron Stores Company, active in control of one of the large and important commercial interests of the city. His powers have steadily developed through the exercise of effort and his constant study of business conditions, and as the years have passed he has become a most forceful factor in the business life of his native city.
On the 30th of April, 1903, was celebrated the marriage of Ralph M. Friend and Mrs. Julia C. Kipp, a daughter of Henry and Josephine (Nunnemacher) Weide of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Friend have an extensive circle of warm friends in Milwaukee and the number constantly increases as the circle of their acquaintance widens.
Mr. Friend has always voted with the democratic party and while in Wyoming served as a member of the democratic state central committee. He is a well known representative of Masonic interests, having become a charter member of Wyoming Consistory when in the west and also a charter member of the Korean Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He belongs to the Wisconsin Club and to the Chenequa Country Club and Athletic Club, and his personal qualities make for popularity wherever he is known.
MORTIMER IRVING STEVENS.
Varied, interesting and important as have been the business activities and ex- periences of Mortimer Irving Stevens, none has perhaps indicated more clearly the character of the man, his lofty patriotism and his devotion to high ideals than his service for the benefit of the country during the World war. He gave practically his entire time for nearly two and a half years to war work, serving as state publicity director for all the Liberty Loan drives and many other drives for raising funds to prosecute war work. He is apt rather to discount than to overestimate his activities in the business world and yet, starting out in life in a humble capacity, he has also made a notable name and place for himself in connection with newspaper and publica- tion interests and is now the president of the Bankers Publishing Company of Mil- waukee.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Stevens was born at Joliet on the 14th of May, 1873, his parents being Irving D. and Katherine (Wheeler) Stevens. The father was a native of England and when a young lad was brought to the United States by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Stevens, who were also natives of that country. In later life Irving D. Stevens became a resident of Joliet, where he successfully conducted business for many years. winning prominence as a manufacturer of agricultural implements. His worth as a man and citizen occasioned his death, which occurred in 1916, to be deeply regretted. His widow, who is still a resident of Joliet, was born at Glens Falls, New York, a daughter of Mortimer Wheeler, well known in that locality.
The public schools of his native city afforded Mortimer I. Stevens the educational privileges which he enjoyed until gradnated from the high school. He afterward became a student in St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin, in which he completed his course with the class of 1890. He next entered the University of Michi- gan and in 1893 was graduated with the M. E. degree. Later he pursued postgraduate studies in mining engineering at the Colorado School of Mines at Golden, Colorado, and then entered the business world. Throughout the intervening period his atten- tion has largely been given to newspaper and publishing interests. He was first em- ployed as a reporter on the Chicago Daily News, with which paper he remained for a year, and in 1895 and 1896 he was connected with the advertising department of the Cycle Life, a paper devoted to the interests of the bicycle trade. In 1896 he was sent to Cuba as war correspondent for a syndicate of Chicago and St. Louis newspapers and for nearly a year he was in active service as a member of the staff of General Garcia, sustaining, in May, 1897, a bullet wound which confined him to the hospital for two months. On the expiration of that period he was recalled to the United States and then sent into Alaska with the rush of gold-maddened people who were pouring into the Klondike. He left Seattle, Washington, on the 6th of July of that year, sailing for Dyea, and upon reaching Alaska established headquarters in Skagway. In the spring of 1898 he purchased a weekly newspaper at Juneau and removed the plant to Skagway, where he continued the publication of the paper as the first daily of Alaska under the name of the Skagway Searchlight. After four months he disposed of this journal and in July, 1898, went to Dawson. Throughout this entire time he was acting as correspondent for the newspaper syndicate, which also sent him to China to cover the Boxer rebellion, his stay in the Orient continuing for five months. Ere
MORTIMER I. STEVENS
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returning to the United States he acted for three months as city editor of the Daily Advertiser of Honolulu and then again went to Alaska, where he remained until January, 1909. Resigning his position as newspaper correspondent, he returned to the United States and took up his abode in Milwaukee, where he became financial editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel. After five months spent in that connection he determined to engage in business on his own account and as a result of his laudable ambition and determined purpose he organized the Wisconsin Banker and in 1917 incorporated the business under the name of the Bankers Publishing Company, of which he has since been president.
During the World war, however, Mr. Stevens made all personal interests and considerations subservient to war work. He became state publicity director in con- nection with all of the Liberty Loan drives, instituting an advertising campaign that was most comprehensive in its scope and far-reaching in its effect. He also acted as state publicity director in connection with the Red Cross war fund and its membership campaigns, also the sale of the War Savings Stamps and the promotion of the Mil- waukee County Relief Fund. He likewise acted as a member of the executive com- mittee of the Milwaukee County War Finance Central Committee and for nearly two and a half years he devoted his entire time and energies to furthering the interests of the government.
On the 2d of August, 1913, occurred the marriage of M. I. Stevens and Miss Winni- fred Nichols of Searsport, Maine, a daughter of Captain Wilfred Nichols, who was a shipowner and retired ship captain. Mrs. Stevens is a representative of one of the oldest families in the United States. Her mother was a lineal descendant of the Pendletons who came to this country on the Mayflower. She is eligible to membership with both the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames.
Politically Mr. Stevens has been a stalwart republican since attaining his ma- jority. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church and fraternally he is con- nected with the Beta Theta Pi, a national college organization. As a man interested in the development and improvement of the community he is active in the Associa- tion of Commerce, while in club circles he is well known through his membership in the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club and the Milwaukee Gun Club. His interests have always been such as indicate him to be a broad-minded man and his cooperation is ever a most effective and resultant force in auything which he attempts. His friends find him a genial, social gentleman and those who have had business relations with him recognize his activity, progressiveness and persistency of purpose- qualities which are always essential to the attainment of success.
JAMES CASS MURTAUGH.
James Cass Murtaugh, president of the Wisconsin Savings, Loan & Building Asso- ciation of Milwaukee, was born in Cottage Grove, Dane county, this state, August 10, 1875, a son of William and Bridget (Cass) Murtaugh, both of whom were natives of Dane county. The grandparents came from County Tipperary, Ireland, and were pioneer settlers of Dane county, where they became identified with farming interests. The grandfather hauled his grain by ox teams to the Milwaukee market and took an active part in the early settlement and development of that section of the state. William Murtaugh also devoted his life to the occupation of farming and passed away in 1916. His widow is still living.
James C. Murtaugh was educated in the public schools of the twelfth ward of Milwaukee, his parents having removed to this city in 1898. He also attended the Marquette University, pursuing a course in commercial law for a short time. After leaving school he accepted a clerkship and was later buyer with Gimbel Brothers for several years. His original position after entering upon business life, however, was that of elevator operator for Frank A. Lappen. Step by step he worked his way upward, improving his opportunities and utilizing every advantage that came his way. In 1910, therefore, he engaged in the furniture business on his own account and con- tinued to conduct a store for about six years. During this time he became interested in building and loan enterprises and was a charter member and one of the directors of the Integrity Building & Loan Association, which elected him the first vice president. In 1916 he became associated with his present company as a director and subsequently was elected treasurer, while in 1918 he was elected to the presidency of the association. This is one of the oldest and largest concerns of the kind in the city and the only association that does business over the state of Wisconsin. Its business has been steadily growing, with a large increase each year. It places loans for building, for the buying of homes and business houses and has well appointed offices in the Brumder building. The officers of the company are: James C. Murtaugh, president; Judge Lawrence W. Halsey, vice president; Francis E. McGovern, counsel; Clem P. Host. secretary : and Charles J. Aburg, treasurer.
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In November, 1898, Mr. Murtaugh was united in marriage to Miss Mary Francis O'Keefe of Milwaukee, and they have become parents of four children: Geraldine M., James F., Margaret M. and Joseph W. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Murtaugh is identified with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin and the Catholic Order of Foresters. Since starting out in business he has made steady progress by reason of the wise use he has made of his time, talents and opportunities and he has today reached a prominent position in the financial circles of the city, while his business interests are of a character that contribute to public progress and prosperity as well as to individual success.
CHARLES MIEL EASTERLY.
Charles Miel Easterly, in whose career every day has marked off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to grow more, has advanced steadily in business connections until he is a prominent figure in the business circles of the middle west. Recogniz- ing and utilizing opportunities that others have passed heedlessly hy, he has advanced step by step and is now active in the control of many important industrial and finan- cial interests. He is the president of the Capital City Culvert Company of Madison, Wisconsin, the vice president of the Mid West Forging Company of Chicago Heights, Illinois, and district sales manager of the Inland Steel Company of Chicago.
Mr. Easterly is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Ithaca on the 26th of December, 1879, his parents being Charles Miel and Mary Ann (Lewis) Easter- ly, who were natives of New York. The father was a lumberman who for many years conducted business in Michigan. Both the Easterly and Lewis families were estab- lished in Gratiot county, Michigan, in pioneer times and both trace their ancestry back to England. The father was a veteran of the Civil war, having held a captain's commission in the Union army, serving with marked loyalty and valor on many a southern battle field. Both he and his wife are deceased.
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