USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 75
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
His steady advancement has resulted from the thoroughuess with which he has mastered every task entrusted to his care combined with his enterprise, his unabating industry and his initiative.
On the 25th of November, 1915, Mr. von Schleinitz was united in marriage to Miss Frieda Harnischfeger, a daughter of Henry H. Harnischfeger, mentioned elsewhere in this work. They have two children: Frederick and Rene, Jr. In his political views Mr. von Schleinitz has always been a stalwart republican, interested in the success of his party because of his firm belief iu its principles and never seeking political pre- ferment. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. He is a member of the Wisconsin Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, also of the City Club and of the Associa- tion of Commerce. He possesses much of the literary ability which characterized his father's editorial work and has written artieles for various trade papers, mostly on cost accounting and kindred lines. He is fond of sailing, having his boat on Cedar Lake, and he follows all outdoor sports as a means of rest and recreation.
EMIL HERMAN STEIGER.
The history of Emil Herman Steiger is the record of a man with a vision and possessed of initiative and determination. With a mind alert he saw opportunities that others passed heedlessly by, and he became one of the pioneers in the development of the grass rug industry, with which he is now prominently connected as the president of the Deltox Grass Rug Company, having its general office and mills at Oshkosh, Wis- consin, with large offices in Milwaukee and branch office and salesrooms in New York. What Mr. Steiger has accomplished constitutes a most readable chapter in the history of manufacturing and commercial development in Wisconsin.
He is a native son of this state, his birth having occurred September 18, 1871, on his father's farm on the Wolf river at Fremont, Wisconsin. His grandfather was John Steiger, who for half a century filled the office of sheriff of Grindelwald, Switzer- land. The father, Jaeob J. Steiger, was born at Grindelwald in 1833 aud when a young man of twenty-five years came alone to the United States, settling in Waupaca county, Wisconsin, in 1858. He filled various local offices while there residing and served for three and a half years in the Union army during the Civil war. He was a farmer of prominence in his community and was famous as a manufacturer of Swiss cheese. His death occurred February 16, 1916. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Amelia Spindler, died on the 4th of July, 1902. She was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and was a daughter of Gottlieb Spindler, who came to the United States about 1850 and settled on the Wolf river in Wisconsin aeross from the Steiger home. He was a farmer throughout his entire life, although the Spindlers were iron workers in Schles- wig-Holstein.
Emil H. Steiger pursued his early education in the district schools of Fremont, Wis- consin, and also attended the Oshkosh Business College for two years. He then worked upon his father's farm to the age of eighteen years, when he turned his attention to the sawmill and threshing business in Fremont in connection with his brother, Jacob Steiger, their business being carried on as a partnership relation under the style of Steiger Brothers until 1897. In that year Emil H. Steiger became actively and exten- sively interested in the raising of potatoes and in the live stock business, which claimed his attention through the succeeding two years. He next became interested in the harvesting of wire grass at Fremont and about 1900 developed the machinery for weav- ing grass carpets and rugs. The National Magazine of 1913 contained an interesting article from which various extracts are herewith given: "Within the past decade the grass carpet industry developed in Wisconsin and Minnesota has revolutionized trade in modern floor coverings. A little more than ten years ago E. H. Steiger, a young man born on the banks of Wolf river, came to Oshkosh full of enthusiasm concerning the production of grass and rugs made from wire grass. He clearly saw the change to be wrought in the use of wire grass and his enthusiasm was unbounded. One of the first men he interested was Leander Choate, a pioneer of that thriving city, a man who had in his long and active life-time helped many individuals to success and developed many important industries in Wisconsin. For two years Mr. Steiger talked the subject with all earnestness inherited from Swiss ancestors. Then a factory was put in operation and he took charge of the field work in looking after the grass, because he felt that the fabric was of primary importance and he was determined to master the new produetion in every detail. The first wire grass ever harvested in the state of Wisconsin was contracted for by Mr. Steiger and every year since he has been cutting thousands of tons of this fibre on the meadows which he has been acquiring, becoming thoroughly familiar with the wire grass industry, not only from a practical but from a scientific standpoint. He observed closely in his study the nature, growth and development of wire grass and is today acknowledged as one of the greatest experts in the country, having inspected wire grass meadows wherever they exist, from the
EMIL H. STEIGER
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gulf to the lakes and on to the limited area of territory in Manitoba. He was asso- ciated with the original patentees of straight grass twine machines. There were twelve or fifteen machines originally huilt which occasioned an outlay of more than twenty-five thousand dollars and this Mr. Steiger made a personal investment. After the machines were perfected, a partnership was formed, consisting of Leander Choate and others with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. The Oshkosh Grass Mat- ting Company was organized later with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars and a year later Mr. Steiger was elected secretary and treasurer. He is now presi- dent of the concern, which does a business of more than one million and a half dollars per year and has held every position in the company from foreman in the grass fields to the presidency. The days, months and years of perfecting these machines point by point, as well as the product, became with Mr. Steiger the one absorbing pur- pose of his life and he is recognized as the authority on grass products. In fact he has been the soul and spirit of his business from its inception and growth of the productions from a modest beginning to the tremendous proportions of the present time. The product of his factory was christened Deltox Grass Rugs and the trade- mark Deltox has become a standard in the rug market in all parts of this country and in South America, Panama and Europe. The development of the business in the matter of providing artistic carpet and rug designs brought grass matting to a close relationship to the Oriental rug in furnishing a home or office, for winter or summer, and has been an interesting trade evolution. The rapid advancement of Mr. Steiger, the farmer boy of Wisconsin, to a position of eminence in the carpet and rug trade, is the concrete evidence of the ability, common sense, cool-headed judgment of the young man who knew when to seize opportunity and when to work hard and to obtain results. He has been especially prominent in the development and exploitation of the grass rng and matting trade, and wherever he goes there is an exploitation of grass rugs that serves as a trade wake for salesmen to follow." The above was written nine years ago and through the intervening period to the present the business has continued to steadily grow and develop.
During the past years Mr. Steiger has owned farms and supervised them and has also been largely interested in cord wood. The farm interests he still keeps, but since September, 1902, his attention has been largely given to the weaving and sale of grass carpets and rugs. In 1903 he incorporated the Oshkosh Grass Matting Company, and in 1914 the name was changed to its present form as the trade-mark was Deltox. The grass used in manufacture is grown only in Wisconsin and in Minnesota, and today they find a market not only throughout the entire United States but in many foreign countries as well. Their plant at Oshkosh covers five acres, and they own in connec- tion more than twenty thousand acres of wire grass land in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada. They employ from nine hundred to ten hundred people during the summer and about six hundred throughout the year. The business has become one of the great productive industries of the country. Not only do they manufacture carpets and rugs of great practical utility but also of artistic work as well, producing the best in color, design and workmanship. Mr. Steiger is also president of the Oshkosh Pure Ice Company of Oshkosh; president of the Shawano Lumber Company of Shawano, Wis- consin; and a director of the Wisconsin Northern Railroad Company, having assisted in the construction of that line. He is likewise a director of the Phillips Company of Chicago, engaged in the making of automatic sprinklers, and he is a director of the Wisconsin Lakes & Parks Association.
On the 15th of May, 1895, Mr. Steiger was married to Miss Sophie Faust, a daughter of Peter Faust, of Oshkosh, who was engaged in the lumber business and later became a farmer at Weyauwega, Wisconsin. He was chairman of its town and county board and a man of prominence, who served as assessor and in other public positions. He was horn on a farm in Germany and came with his parents to the new world, the family settling at Oshkosh, where he was married and lived for a time. Mr. and Mrs. Steiger have become the parents of four children: Carl E., who is assist- ant superintendent of the Deltox, Grass Rug Company at Oshkosh; Sophie and Emil L., twins, who are now students in the University of Wisconsin; and Frances, who is in school at Ely Court, Greenwich, Connecticut. The elder son entered the army in Jan- uary, 1918, at Camp Dodge and in June was commissioned a second lieutenant, while later he was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant at Camp Pike, Arkansas. He was mustered out with that rank in December, 1918, and since his return home has been connected with the Deltox Company. He is now commodore of the Oshkosh Yacht Club. Emil was in the students' army training corps at the University of Minne- sota and became a sergeant.
Mr. Steiger has always been deeply interested in politics and is a stalwart advocate of republican principles. He served as a member of the state legislature from 1899 until 1903 and was chairman of the committee on privilege and elections, serving also as a member of other important committees. He was one of the stanch supporters of La Follette, when he was first elected governor. Mr. Steiger also served as president of the village board of Fremont and as supervisor and has many times heen a dele-
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gate to the state convention of his party. He belongs to the Reformed church and is an Elk with membership in the Milwaukee lodge. He also belongs to the St. Paul (Minn.) Athletic Club, of which he is a life member, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club and the Milwaukee Country Club. He is one of the two life members and one of the organizers of the Carpet Club of America, formed at New York City, and he belongs to the Carpet and Upholsters Club of Chicago. He is likewise a mem- ber of the Grant Park Golf Club of Milwaukee. He belongs to the Oshkosh Yacht Club and is a lover of marine sports. He has also been well known as a hunter and fisher- man and finds pleasure and recreation along these lines but throughout his entire life nothing has been allowed to interfere with the faithful performance of his public duties nor with his needed concentration upon business affairs. Thoroughness, energy and landable ambition have carried him steadily forward. He possesses initiative and has combined it with that diligence that has enabled him to thoroughly master everything that he has undertaken. Today he occupies a position of leadership in connection with one of the important and growing industries of the country, and his contribution to the world's progress has indeed been a valuable one.
WILLIAM ALFRED DAWSON.
William Alfred Dawson, president of the Layton Company, packers of Milwaukee, was born in this city March 23, 1868, his parents being Alfred and Emma (Morse) Dawson. The father's birth occurred at Great Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, England, while the mother is a native of the Empire state. Alfred Dawson came to Milwaukee among the pioneer residents of the city. He was a carpenter by trade and the boss carpenter in the building of the packing house of the J. & F. Layton Company. Fol- lowing the organization of this company he was admitted to a partnership and was elected to the presidency when the business was incorporated in 1900, at which time Mr. Layton retired. Mr. Dawson continned in active connection with the business to the time of his death, which occurred on the 1st of October, 1913, in London, England, whither he had gone on a vacation trip. His widow survived him for several years, passing away April 8, 1920.
William Alfred Dawson began his education in the public schools of Milwaukee and afterward attended the Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota, from 1882 until 1884. In September of the latter year, then a youth of sixteen, he became associated with the Layton Company and has since been identified with the packing business. He was elected president of the company on the 22d of October, 1913, im- mediately following the death of his father and has since been head of the corpora- tion which employs from eighty-five to one hundred people. This is an exclusive pork packing house only and is one of the few in the country that confines its atten- tion solely to pork. Its brand has a high reputation, the Layton brand and the Select Layton brand finding a ready sale upon the market. The firm furnished a great deal of pork to the allied countries during the war with Germany.
On the 5th of June, 1895, Mr. Dawson was married to Miss Clara Perkins of Mil- wankee, and to them was born a scn, William A., Jr., born March 3, 1911. Mr. Dawson is well known in club circles of the city, having membership in the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Blne Monnd Country Club and the Old Settlers Club. His life has been passed in this city and he has been a most interested witness of its growth and development, while at all times he has borne his share in the work of general progress and im- provement. Moreover, the name of Dawson has been most prominently and honorably connected with the commercial development of the city for many years and William A. Dawson has contributed towards making the Layton Company one of the prominent commercial concerns of the state.
OTTO A. LA BUDDE.
Otto A. La Budde, collector of customs at Milwaukee, was horn in the town of Rhine, Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, June 11, 1866, his parents being Ferdinand and Lena (Von Nametz) La Budde, who were natives of Germany and came to the United States about 1852, settling in Plymouth, Wisconsin, where the father engaged in the wagon making business. After three years, however, he turned his attention to farm- ing and remained on the farm until 1880, when he returned to Plymonth, there residing until 1887, at which time he took np his abode at Elkhart Lake, continuing his residence at that place until his death in 1897. For more than a decade he had sur- vived his wife, who passed away in 1886.
Otto A. La Budde was the youngest in a family of three sons and two danghters and was educated in the public and high schools of Plymouth, after which he started
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out in the business world at Elkhart Lake by becoming identified with the hardware trade in 1886. There he developed a business of substantial proportions and in 1904 he opened a branch house at Oconto. The following year he disposed of his business at Elkhart Lake and in 1909 sold his store at Oconto.
Mr. La Budde has given much time, thought and effort to public duties. In 1910 he was elected to the Wisconsin assembly, representing the second district of Sheboy- gan county for a term of two years. In 1914 he was the acting chairman of the demo- cratic state central committee and in the following year was elected chairman, which position he held until July, 1919, and then resigned. On the 23d of December, 1919. he was appointed collector of customs by President Woodrow Wilson and has held the position continuously since. In May. 1920, he removed to Milwaukee, having formerly maintained his residence at Elkhart Lake. From this point he has since directed the activities of the office and his efficiency is widely acknowledged. He has also held other positions of a local character, having in 1892 been elected president of the village of Elkhart, a position which he has held altogether for ten terms at various times. His life has been one of activity and usefulness and into various fields his labors have been directed. For several years he was a representative of the directorate of the Bank of Elkhart but has recently resigned. During the World war he was vice president and on the executive committee of the Loyalty Legion.
On the 25th of June, 1890, at Elkhart Lake, Mr. La Budde was united in marriage to Miss Anna Freutel, a daughter of William Freutel, of an old and prominent family of Plymouth. Their children are three in number: Walter, who married Miss Bess Post of Weyauwega, Wisconsin, where he is engaged in the hardware business; Arthur, who is cashier of the Bank of Gonvick at Gonvick, Wisconsin, following his service in the Aviation Corps during the World war, being chief auditor for aviation at Flint, Michigan, and receiving his discharge as sergeant; and Raymond, who was a member of the Fifth Marines and served overseas for one year and nine months. He is now a deputy in the internal revenue service at Milwaukee. Mr. La Budde and his wife are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and they occupy an enviable social position. He is an influential factor in political circles and has always been a great reader and student of economics and the political conditions of the country.
ROBE BIRD.
Prominent among the business men of Milwaukee is Robe Bird, the alert, pro- gressive and enterprising vice president of the Milwaukee Mechanics' Insurance Com- pany, one of the largest fire insurance companies in the northwest. He is widely and favorably known in Wisconsin, where he has spent the greater part of his life, his birth having occurred at Madison on the 29th of January, 1877. The Bird family were among the first settlers in Madison and are closely connected with the history of the progress and development of Dane county.
His initial experience in the business world was acquired at Madison, and on the Ist of November, 1902, he was appointed special agent, having state supervision over the business of a prominent fire insurance company in Wisconsin, with headquarters at Milwaukee. Following his work in Wisconsin, he was sent to Chicago to take charge of his company's business in the middle west and after one year there was called to New York to join the official family of the institution which he represented in the west. The death of William L. Jones, president of the Milwaukee Mechanics' Insurance Company, created a vacancy in the staff of that well known fire insurance organization, and Mr. Bird was offered an opportunity, in January, 1919, to return to his native state to fill the position of second vice president, which position he has held ever since. Charles H. Yunker is president of this company, further mention of which is made in his sketch to be found on another page of this work. Resolute and ener- getic, he has made steady advancement in the business world, each forward step bring- ing him a broader outlook and wider opportunities.
On the 1st of September, 1905, Mr. Bird was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Trainor. Three children have been born to them-Roberta, Robert and Jean, all at- tending the Milwaukee schools. Mrs. Bird is a musician of considerable ability and since her graduation from the Dudley Buck School of Voice in New York city has been actively identified with the musical clubs in this city.
Since age conferred on Mr. Bird the right of franchise, he has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands sponsor. He does not take an active part along that line, however, never seeking nor desiring political preferment as a reward for party fealty. As a man keenly interested in the material, intellectual, social, political and moral welfare of his city, he is a director of the Milwaukee Association of Commerce, a trustee of the Milwaukee Citizens' Bureau, and is also a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Drug & Chemical Club of New York.
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Although the greater part of his time is devoted to his business affairs, Mr. Bird loves the outdoors, and his spare time is spent in golfing and motoring. The force of his personality, the keenness of his insight and the soundness of his judgment have brought him to a position of prominence in the business circles of Milwaukee, and he has been a factor in promoting the growth and improvement of his city, where he is widely known and highly esteemed.
ARWIN R. WEIDNER.
Arwin R. Weidner, president of the Mid-Western Soap Products Company of Mil- waukee, was born in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, September 12, 1887. He was but six years of age when his father died in 1893, leaving a widow and three small chil- dren, of whom Mr. Weidner was the eldest. In 1897 the mother, with the little family, removed to Milwaukee and here Arwin R. Weidner continned his education until at the age of fourteen years he entered the business world as a private messenger for the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. From that time forward he has played his part in business circles and has made steady advancement, until he now ocenpies an enviable position on the stage of business activity in the city. When twenty years of age he established business on his own account as a grain and stock broker and was identified with that line for a period of seven years.
Leaving Milwaukee in 1909, Mr. Weidner went on the road as a commercial traveler and was thns employed nntil 1918, when he enlisted for service in the army during the World war and went overseas the same year. He was on active duty in France, made his way to the front line and in action against the Germans was badly wounded and gassed.
After the armistice was signed Mr. Weidner returned to the United States and was sent to California, where, while convalescing, he originated Hyssop, a waterless soap, the demand for which was immediate throughont the western states. In 1919 he organized the Western Soap Products Company of Modesto, California, which today enjoys a flourishing business. In 1921 he organized the Mid-Western Soap Products Company of Milwaukee for the purpose of manufacturing Hyssop products for the mid- western and eastern demands. He possesses splendid business and executive ability and his untiring energy and keen sagacity are reflected in the rapid and successful growth of the company which he heads and directs.
WALTER F. TESCHAN.
Through the efforts of such enterprising and reliable business men as Walter F. Teschan, commercial progress and prosperity are conserved. Entering the Milwaukee Concrete Mixer Company as engineer in 1912 he was made president of the company in 1916 and has since been active in that capacity. Mr. Teschan was born in Winona, Minnesota, on the 22d of September, 1883, a son of Rudolf C. and Lena (Gilbert) Teschan, both natives of Switzerland, where they were married. The father was born in 1852 and passed away on the 1st of February, 1921, at the age of sixty-nine years. He came from his native land to the United States in 1873 and lived for some time in Buffalo, New York; Detroit, Michigan; and Winona, Minnesota, but finally removed to Milwaukee in 1888. He was a physician and surgeon of prominence and had received his medical education in Switzerland. His father was Marti Teschan, a well known silk manufacturer. The mother of our subject survives her husband and is making her home in Milwaukee.
Removing with his parents to Milwaukee when a small child, Walter F. Teschan received his education in the public, schools of the city and was graduated from the Sonth Division high school with the class of 1903. He then entered the University of Wisconsin and was graduated from that institution in 1907 as mechanical engineer. He put his training into practical use as a member of the engineering department of the Johnson Service Company in Milwaukee for two years. He was then in the employ of the Universal Machinery Company for a year and at the termination of that period went to Europe. Six months he spent abroad, visiting the larger manufacturing plants of Germany and Switzerland, and there was little of their equipment and system that he did not absorb. After returning to the United States he entered into his present business in 1912, first as an engineer, and in 1914 he was promoted to vice president, holding that office for two years, when he was made chief executive of the company. His promotion was rapid and well deserved and since he has been president of the con- cern the business has been tripled. A brother-in-law, George R. Banmbach, is associated with him in the conduct of the business, as secretary and treasurer. The Milwaukee
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