USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume II > Part 78
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RUDOLF HOKANSON
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hangs the tale. Now Hokanson had a mechanical bent. The doctor did not. So Rudie was given a day off ou a vacant lot where he learned the mysteries of piloting this mechanical devil around a circle. Later he journeyed to Detroit and worked iu motor car factories. Not long after he noticed that the men who sold cars seemed to have a prosperous, well-fed appearance, so he tackled selling. He's been at it ever since and has made a whale of a record.
"What is the cause of this remarkable success? How could a young Swedish lad, without knowing a word of English. come to this country and in nine short years secure the controlling interest in a concern capitalized at thirty thousand dollars? How is it that he is able to hold a big trade and be in position to reach out for more? 'Oh, I just worked a little and tried to please everybody by giving everybody a square deal,' said Rudie Saturday afternoon, as he wiped some oil off his hands with a bit of waste. 'You see, I never found I could get anything without working for it, and I found I never could keep it very long unless I got it honestly.' "
The Nash Sales Company is a million dollar Wisconsin company with its own branches in Minneapolis, Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City, the home office being in Milwaukee, and in those cities the company occupies its own buildings. In 1909 George P. Miller, formerly state senator, became interested with Mr. Hokanson in carrying on the business at Madison and the relation has since been maintained, Mr. Miller heing president of the company, with Mr. Hokanson as vice president and general manager. They have built up a splendid organization, surrounding themselves with a most able corps of assistants, and their executive ability and notable enterprise has made their undertaking one of the most successful in the automobile distributing field.
Another portrayal of Mr. Hokanson is seen in a letter of acceptance to opening in- vitation by his business associate, Mr. Miller, written in January, 1921: "This morn- ing I received your special invitation to be present at the opening of your new Nash home at Broadway and Oneida, Milwaukee, and after carefully reflecting on your com- ments concerning the past, together with your words of wholesome optimism concern- ing the future, my mind unconsciously reverted to the past-our past together. The reminiscence was most interesting. The splendid business place which you are soon to dedicate to the furtherance of the interests of Nash products stands as a monument to your untiring energy, square dealing and business acumen, coupled with that un- failing faith in yourself and the product you handle which is so vital to the successful prosecution of a business career. As contradictory as it may seem, the Nash Sales Company was conceived and had its real origin way back in the year 1903-although its charter and that of the Nash Motors Company bears a date thirteen years later. It was then, Rudolf, as I remember. that you a poor, untried young man, but possessed of an indomitable will and a determination to succeed in spite of difficulties, started your automobile career. As we look back on our activities, especially from 1910 to 1916, we of course remember one real good friend that we had-one who was the head and guiding genius of the concerns whose products we were handling. His friendship did not mean special or unwarranted favors, but it did mean proper recognition of duty well performed and guaranteed to us that feeling of security that made our business life happy and militated for our success. The name of the man is carved in the stone above the main entrance of your new business home; it forms the name plate of tens and tens of thousands of automobiles and trucks in the hands of satisfied owners-it will be the name plate on hundreds and hundreds of thousands of other automobiles and trucks in the year to come; it is a name that typifies honesty, square dealing and full value received-'NASH.' I just happened to run across an old file in which I found a statement of our business for the year ending December 31, 1910. We sold in that year eighty-five automobiles and our total business amounted to one hundred and sixty-seven thousand five hundred and twenty-eight dollars. Do you recall how pleased we were at that accomplishment? Let us contrast that result with the year 1920, only ten years later. I find that for the present fiscal year our total exceeds twenty million dollars, represented by the sale of approximately thirteen thousand Nash cars and trucks, together with our parts business."
On the 10th day of May, 1906, Mr. Hokanson was married to Miss Cora Huertli, a daughter of John Huerth of Sauk City, Wisconsin, who was born in that place and had followed farming in that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Hokanson have no children of their own but have adopted two, Arthur and Siri.
In his political views Mr. Hokanson has always been a stalwart republican since becoming a naturalized American citizen, yet he does not seek nor desire office as a reward for party fealty. His religions faith is that of the English Lutheran denomi- nation. He is a member of the Lake Park church of Milwaukee. He has taken active and helpful part in church work and does everything in his power to promote the cause of Christianity. Mr. Hokanson is widely known through his fraternal and club con- nections. He belongs to the Association of Commerce, serving at the present time as a member of the board of directors; to the Milwaukee Lodge of Elks; to the Milwaukee Athletic Club; Wisconsin Club; Rotary Club: Blue Mound Country Club; Ozaukee Country and Golf Club; the Automobile Dealers' Association; to the Wisconsin State
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Automobile Association, of which he was president in 1907 and is now chairman of the executive committee; the Milwaukee Automobile Club; and the Aero Club of Wis- consin. He has always concentrated his attentiton and interests upon business, finding his recreation in motoring, in which connection he has made some long tours over the country. He greatly enjoys travel and has made extended journeys through the West Indies, Panama, Costa Rica and the European countries. He also enjoys the pleasures of the out-of-doors and participates in golf and fishing. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for he has here found the oppor- tunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady progress. Today he is recognized as one of the most forceful and resourceful business men of the middle west, having developed an enterprise of mammoth proportions, the ramifying trade re- lations of the company extending to many sections of the country. Such a record should serve to encourage and inspire all who read it.
JOHN EDWARD SHARP.
John Edward Sharp, president of the Milwaukee Reliance Boiler Works and the Panay Horizontal Show Jar Company, is a splendid representative of that class of enterprising business men who recognize and utilize opportunities and coordinate forces into a unified and harmonious whole. A native of England, he was born in Liver- pool on the 16th of August, 1863, and is a son of John and Mary (Davis) Sharp, also natives of England. The father passed away in 1874. He was born in Yorkshire, and was for many years superintendent of the gas plant at Liverpool. His wife survives and is making her home in California. Her birth occurred in Cheshire, England, and her father was Richard Davis. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sharp was celebrated in Liverpool.
John Edward Sharp received his education in the public schools of Liverpool and later entered Shaw Street College there. For four years after putting his textbooks aside he was employed in a lawyer's office but in 1886 left his native land and came to the United States-the land of greater opportunities. On arriving in this country he came immediately to Milwaukee and entered the employ of his uncle, Richard Davis, learning the boiler business from the ground up. For about five years he continued with his uncle and then for one and one-half years was with the T. L. McGregor plant. In 1900 he determined to enter the business world on his own account and founded his present business, starting in the manufacture of concrete mixers in a small shop. It was not long, due to his laudable ambition and thorough knowledge of the business before the business had grown to extensive proportions with every year witnessing a steady increase. In 1909 the company was incorporated and up to this time his brother, William Sharp, had been his partner. The brother resigned, however, in 1909, and since then John E. Sharp has conducted the business alone. Not only is he chief executive of the Milwaukee Reliance Boiler Works but is similarly connected with the Panay Horizontal Show Jar Company, which latter organization was incorporated March 24, 1915. Mr. Sharp follows a safe conservative policy in the conduct of his business interests and is widely recognized as a man of excellent business ability, who readily discriminates between the essential and nonessential.
In 1882 Mr. Sharp was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte Edwards, a daughter of Issac Edwards. She was born in Middlefield, England, and passed away in 1916. She is survived by eight children. The eldest son, George Sharp, is associated with his father in business as director and secretary of the boiler works as well as the Panay Company. He is a widower, having married Miss Dorothy Houck, daughter of George Houck, of Princeton, Illinois, who is now deceased, and he has one child, Edward Kenneth Sharp. The second son, William John, is also associated with his father in business. He married Miss Florence Allen, of Milwaukee. The third son, Richard Arthur, married Emma Neitzke, of Milwaukee, and they are parents of two children. Albert Edward passed away in 1919. Gertrude is the wife of F. C. Keller, of Milwaukee, who is with his father-in-law in business. They have one child, Hazel Keller. The two youngest members of the family are Dora and Elsie. In 1912 Mr. Sharp married Mrs. Etta S. Hoskinson, of Milwaukee.
Fraternally Mr. Sharp is identified with the Masons, holding membership in Kil- bourn Lodge, No. 3, F. & A. M .; Kilbourn Chapter, No. 1, R. A. M .; Ivanhoe Com- mandery, No. 24, K. T .; and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has likewise attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Socially he is known as a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Blue Mound Country Club and the Tripoli Country Club, and as a representative business man and citizen he is a prominent member of the Rotary Club and the Association of Commerce. Religiously the family is connected with the Grand Avenue Methodist church, and Mr. Sharp is one of its trustees. Mr. Sharp is a great reader, and his home at 2921 Cedar street contains a library of fine books and many autographed editions. He finds recreation in outdoor
JOHN E. SHARP
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sports and is a golf enthusiast. Mr Sharp has many friends and is not only prominent in commercial circles of Milwaukee but is well known in financial circles being a direc- tor of the City Bank. He is ambitious, resolute and energetic, and whatever he under- takes, whether in business or other connections, is carried forward to successful completion.
ERNEST WRIGHT.
For almost a decade Ernest Wright has been prominently associated with hotel interests in the upper Mississippi valley and since the 1st of January, 1920, has been the manager of the Pfister Hotel of Milwaukee, a name that for a number of years has been a synonym of excellence in hotel service and accommodation and to these standards Mr. Wright gives strict adherence. A native of England, he was born in Birmingham, September 28, 1887, a son of Ernest and Catherine ( Hinks) Wright. His grandfather in the paternal line also bore the name of Ernest Wright and was an architect of prominence in his native country. He made his way to Chicago after the great fire of 1871 and materially assisted in designing and planning for the re- building of the city. He was born in England, as was his son, Ernest Wright, who is now living in Glasgow, Scotland, being a professor of music in the Glasgow Athenaeum. He is widely known as a composer of music, having published scores of pieces of his own composition. His special instrument is the cornet but he writes for all instru- ments, including orchestra and band music. He married Catherine Hinks, whose father was a building contractor of Birmingham, England. She was born in Leicester- shire, England, and passed away in the year 1906.
Ernest Wright, whose name introduces this review, obtained his education in the public schools of Glasgow, Scotland, which he attended to the age of nineteen years. He then became identified with theatrical interests as assistant manager of the Royalty Theatre of that city, of which he afterward became manager, his con- nection with that theatre covering a period of five years. He then went on a brief tour in 1911, with Fred Terry and Julia Neilson, two of the prominent stars of Great Britain, whom he represented as acting manager and treasurer. The year 1912 wit- nessed his arrival in the United States and after a few weeks spent in New York city he went to Chicago and accepted a position in the anditing department of the Hotel La Salle, being made assistant auditor. He was with that hotel for a period of five years and seven months, resigning his position to become auditor of the Hotel Pfister of Milwaukee, of which he was appointed manager on the 1st of January, 1920, and has since most acceptably filled that position.
On the 1st of May, 1908, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Mary Kemp Diack, a daughter of James H. Diack of Edinburgh, Scotland, in which city their marriage was celebrated. Her father is now manager of McEwan's Brewery of Edinburgh and is a representative of an old Scotch family of Presbyterian faith, dating back in Aberdeen through many generations. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have become parents of two children: Ernest William and Catherine Mary. Fraternally Mr. Wright is a Mason, belonging to Independent Lodge, No. 80, A. F. & A. M., of Milwaukee, and he also has member- ship in the Association of Commerce, thus manifesting his interest in the welfare and progress of the city with whose development he is now associated, for there is perhaps no single agency which indicates so clearly the nature and character of a city as do its hotels.
RUDOLPH H. MEISENHEIMER.
Rudolph H. Meisenheimer, treasurer of the Meisenheimer Printing Company and thus identified with one of the foremost industries of this character in the upper Mississippi valley, was born March 24, 1876, in Milwaukee, where the plant of the printing company now stands. He is a brother of Edward J. Meisenheimer, in con- nection with whose sketch on another page of this work appears an extended reference to the family. He was educated in the Fifth Ward school of Milwaukee and when but fourteen years of age went to work with his brother, Edward, and has since as- sisted in building up the business. He learned the printer's trade thoroughly and has been practically manager of the business from his early life. He is thorough and painstaking and attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm that brings most substantial results.
On the 15th of April, 1916, Mr. Meisenheimer was united in marriage to Miss Clara MI. Strassburger, a daughter of Henry Strassburger, who is now seventy-one years of age and who was born on the south side of Milwaukee, being now probably the oldest native horn citizen of the south side. He has been a dredge engineer but Vol. 11-48
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has lived retired since 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Meisenheimer have one child, Ruth, who was born September 3, 1918.
The Masonic fraternity finds in Mr. Meisenheimer a worthy follower. He belongs to Excelsior Lodge, No. 175, F. & A. M .; Excelsior Chapter, R. A. M .; Wisconsin Consistory, A. A. S. R .; Galilee Commandery, K. T .; Wisconsin Consistory, and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the National Lodge, No. 131. He belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, to the Milwaukee Old Timers 1907 Auto Club. He greatly enjoys motoring and is also fond of all phases of outdoor life. He finds pleasure in athletic sports, especially boxing and baseball hut all these interests are made subservient to his business affairs and his diligence and determination have placed him in a position of leadership in connection with the printing and lithographing business of Wisconsin. His entire career has been marked by steady progress and he has always reached out along broadening lines in order to gain a more thorough and comprehensive knowledge of every phase of the trade, keeping ever in touch with the trend of modern development and achievement.
ISAK J. DAHLE.
Isak James Dahle, manager at Milwaukee for the Equitable Life Assurance Society . of the United States, has risen to prominence in the insurance field by reason of long experience, close study, thoroughness and marked devotion to the duties that have devolved upon him as he has passed from one position to another, until he is now in a place of executive control in connection with one of the large and thoroughly reliable insurance organizations of the United States. Mr. Dahle is a native of Wisconsin, his hirth having occurred at Mount Vernon, February 1, 1883. His father, the Hon. Herman Bjorn Dahle, was horn at Perry, Wisconsin, in 1855, and was a son of O. B. Dahle, who was one of the '49ers that went across the continent in search of gold in California, following the discoveries there. Herman B. Dahle became. a prominent banker and merchant, who for many years successfully carried on business, constantly broadening the scope of his activities, his life at all times constituting an element in public progress and prosperity, as well as in individual success. Not only did he leave his impress upon the commercial and financial history of the state, but also upon its political record, for he was twice chosen to represent his district in congress, where he proved an admirable official for two terms, carefully considering the vital questions that came up for settlement and lending his aid and support to all measures and bills which he believed would prove beneficial to the country at large. Mr. and Mrs. Herman B. Dahle resided for many years at Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, but the father passed away April 25, 1920. To them were born three sons, one of whom died in infancy, and six daughters, all of whom survive.
Isak James Dahle, after obtaining his early education in the public schools of his native county, became a pupil in the Mount Horeb Academy and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1898. He further continued his studies in the Wisconsin Academy at Madison and completed his course in that institution in 1900. He then matriculated in the University of Wisconsin and won his Bachelor of Arts degree on graduation with the class of 1904. During his college days he became a member of the Delta Tau Delta and during the period of his residence in Madison he also became a member of the Commercial Club and the Yellow Helmet Clnb. He likewise took much interest in athletics and other college sports and was manager of the baseball team of the State University in 1903 and 1904.
Following the completion of his course at Madison, Mr. Dahle went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and for two years occupied the position of western sales manager with the Sheffield King Milling Company. Through the succeeding year he was associated with the Russell Miller Milling Company of Minneapolis and continued his identification with the milling business by becoming a stockholder in the Northwestern Milling Com- pany of Little Falls, Minnesota, which he also represented as western sales manager. A year later, however, he disposed of his interest in that business and in 1909 arrived in Milwaukee, where he has since made his home. Throughout the intervening period he has been connected with insurance interests. Here he opened the first local office of the Central Life Assurance Company and became director of its agencies and busi- ness in the territory embracing Milwaukee and eastern Wisconsin. He has ever been actuated by a most laudable ambition in the development of his business since entering the insurance field. He was chosen president of the Central Life Agents' Association of Wisconsin and he remained in active connection with that corporation until October, 1915, when he was made city manager of the Equitable Life Assurance Society. He resigned that position March 1, 1921, having in the meantime become a member of the Million Dollar Corps of Equitable Agents. It is now his intention and purpose to operate in all the large cities including New York and Chicago, his resignation
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as manager in Milwaukee having gone into effect on' the 1st of March, 1921. He is today one of the prominent insurance men of the middle west and also has become well known through this connection in eastern cities.
Mr. Dahle is well known socially through his membership in the Milwaukee Ath- letic Club, Milwaukee Yacht Club, the Blue Mound Country Club and the Wisconsin Club. He also has membership in the Odin Club of Minneapolis. His social qualities, as well as his business ability, have brought to him an extensive circle of warm friends and in Milwaukee few men are more highly esteemed than Isak J. Dahle.
ULRICH SENN, M. D.
Dr. Ulrich Senn is recognized as a physician and surgeon of ability in Milwaukee and comes of a family in which medical and surgical skill has been a pronounced attribute, heing a relative of the late Dr. Nicholas Senn, who was one of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of Chicago, where he made his home, and of the entire country as well. Dr. Ulrich Senn is a native of Camphellsport, Wisconsin. He was horn December 20, 1883, and is a son of John Senn, a farmer, whose hirth occurred in Switzerland, whence he came to the United States with his parents, who were also accompanied by Nicholas Senn, the future distinguished surgeon.
Dr. Senn was reared on his father's farm and attended the country schools hut cannot remember his father, being but a year old at the time of the latter's death. The mother still occupies the old homestead near Campbellsport and is still active and well preserved at the age of eighty-six years. Her family numbered ten children, seven sons and three daughters, all of whom are living with the exception of the eldest, John Senn, who died ten years ago,
Dr. Ulrich Senn, the youngest of the family, after attending the public schools engaged in farming on the old home place for his mother for several years. As soon as practicable, however, he took up academic studies in the Charles City College of Iowa, where he remained for six years, winning his Bachelor of Science degree in 1911. Later he spent four years as a student in the Marquette Medical College of Milwaukee and gained his M. D. degree in 1915. For a year thereafter he was interne in the Milwaukee Hospital and later in the Emergency Hospital of this city. He next entered upon private practice of medicine and surgery in Milwaukee and so continued until August, 1917, when he volunteered for service in the medical department in con- nection with the World war. He was on active duty from August, 1917, until March, 1919, the first four months being spent at Fort Riley, Kansas, after which he returned to Milwaukee to aid in mobilizing Base Hospital Unit No. 22. This was in January, 1918, and in April of the same year he was sent to France, where he served with Base Hospital No. 22 until February 15, 1919, when he sailed for America, receiving his discharge at Camp Grant on the 14th of March. He entered the service as a first lieutenant and was promoted to the rank of captain on the 27th of January, 1919, while in France. The war over, he resumed the private practice of medicine in Mil- waukee and has made steady progress here, being now accorded a large and important practice.
On the 20th of August, 1917, Dr. Senn was married to Miss Laura A. Rusch of Merrill, Wisconsin, who was a teacher in the School for the Deaf at Milwaukee. Dr. Senn is a member of the National Alumni Association and also of the American Legion, while along professional lines his connection is with the Milwaukee Medical Society, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the Tri- State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He holds to the most advanced standards and ethics of the profession and he is also an exemplary Mason, his life guided by the high principles of the craft. In all the varied relations of life his course has commended him to the confidence and respect of his fellowmen, to whom he is rendering valuable service in his professional connection.
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