History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 10

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 912

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Dr. William E. Fox has spent his life in Milwaukee and, being descended in both lines from representatives of the medical profession, it is not strange that he turned to this calling as a means of livelihood. In the acquirement of his preliminary education he was graduated from the East Side high school and later became a student in Marquette Academy, white subsequently he spent three years in Notre Dame Uni- versity at South Bend, Indiana. There he was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1899 and while attending that school he played on the famous Notre Dame football team and also was a member of the baseball and the track teams. In prepara- tion for his professional career he spent three years as a student in Rush Medical College in Chicago and then returned to Milwaukee, where he studied for another year in the Marquette Medical College and was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1904. He put his theoretical knowledge to the practical test hy serving as interpe in St. Mary's Hospital for a year, thus gaining the broad and valuable experience which hospital work brings. Since 1905 he has engaged in general practice in Mil- waukee and has made a creditable name and place for himself as a physician and

surgeon. He gave to his country the benefit of his professional service during the World war, being connected with the army for eighteen months as a first lieutenant in the United States Medical Corps at Camp Riley, Kansas.

In 1907 Dr. Fox was married and has four children, a son and three daughters,

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

all in school. In religious belief he is a Roman Catholic and fraternally he is con- nected with the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also a charter member of the Marquette Alumni Association and is a member of the American Legion. In professional lines his membership connection is with the Mil- waukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is fond of outdoor sports, especially baseball, football, motoring, fishing and golf. He acts as club physician to the Milwaukee baseball team.

HERMAN J. RADEMACHER.

Herman J. Rademacher, president and general manager of the Cream City Casket Company, his business establishment being located at Thirty-second and Cherry streets in Milwaukee, was born in Achen-on-the-Rhine, Germany, Jannary 13, 1878, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth ( Derichs) Rademacher. The family came to Wood county, Wisconsin, now known as Wisconsin Rapids, in 1881. The family moved to Milwaukee in 1891 and has since been represented in this city. The father was engaged in the leather business, conducting both a wholesale and retail store and remaining an active factor in the commercial life of the city to the time of his death, which occurred in 1918. The mother is still living.

Herman J. Rademacher was three years of age when brought by his parents to America, obtaining his early education in the public schools of Wood county. His first employment was in a casket factory as a trimmer, which vocation he followed for many years. In this line of work his experience is large and varied, as he was employed by many of the largest manufacturers throughout the country. In 1903 he established the Cream City Casket Company in a small way and has developed it until it is today a large business, now occupying a three-story brick building, one hundred and thirty by one hundred and twenty feet. He employs an average of about fifty-five people and has won substantial success in the conduct of his enterprise, which was in- corporated in 1907, with Mr. Rademacher as president, William Rademacher, vice president and Edwin Baier, secretary-treasurer. The company specializes in the manu- facture of wood covered caskets and jobs a complete line of undertakers' supplies. Five traveling salesmen cover a large territory.

Mr. Rademacher was married June 28, 1907, to Rose Biechler of Random Lake, Wisconsin, and they reside at No. 473 Fortieth street. Mr. Rademacher is a member of the Elks Club and also of the Kiwanis Club and is most widely and favorably known in Milwaukee, where he has established himself as a progressive and representative business man and as a substantial citizen, interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of the community and commonwealth.

CORNELIUS LEENHOUTS.

Cornelius Leenhouts, member of the firm of Leenhonts & Guthrie, prominent and well known architects of Milwaukee, is descended from an old French family who made their home in that country in the sixteenth century. They were Huguenots, members of the Reformed or Calvanistic communion of France, who were noted in general for their austere virtues and the singular purity of their lives. During the reign of Francis I and his immediate successors they suffered constant persecution. After the massacre of St. Bartholomew, on the 24th of August, 1572, three brothers of the Leenhouts family escaped and took refuge in Holland. It was in that country that Cornelius Leenhouts, the father of our subject, was born in 1815, and for many years followed farming in connection with his father. In 1847 he came with his parents to the new world and located in Milwaukee. He was a broad and liberal minded man. He passed away in 1893. His wife was, before her marriage, Elizabeth Beckens, and her death occurred in 1891. She was born in Ostberg, Zeeland, Holland, and came to the United States at the same time as her future husband but not on the same sailing vessel. They met and were married in Milwaukee county.

Cornelius Leenhouts is indebted to the schools of Milwaukee for his education. He made his initial step into the business world as a student in the office of W. H. Parker, a graduate of Cornell University. For three years Mr. Leenhouts remained in that office, becoming thoroughly familiar with every phase of the business and then associated with James Douglas for a like period of time. For two years he was actively identified with E. T. Mix & Company, architects of the Mitchell building, Chamber of Commerce, St. Paul depot and other well known structures and his con- stant application and ability soon won for him recognition in architectural circles. In 1892 he was employed in construction work at the World's Fair in Chicago, having

HERMAN J. RADEMACHER

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

charge of the working drawings of the Agriculture and Transportation buildings. In 1897 he determined to enter business on his own account in Milwaukee and three years later formed a partnership with Hugh Wilson Guthrie, of whom further men- tion is made elsewhere in this work. The business is conducted under the name of Leenhouts & Guthrie and has become a leading architectural firm in Milwaukee and throughout the state. Their first offices were located at 102 Wisconsin street but their business grew to such extensive proportions as to necessitate removal to larger quarters and in 1913 they established themselves in offices at 424 Jefferson street, where they are still located. They have gained widespread reputation for their re- liability and their work expresses a keen appreciation of architectural beauty and in construction the utmost attention is given also to comfort and convenience. The Y. M. C. A. building on Fourth street, the Grand Avenue Methodist Episcopal church and many other churches in the city and state, the Kenwood Masonic Temple and other Temples in the state, the House of Correction and about thirty large apartment houses, among which is the Blackstone, stand as examples of their work.

On the 6th of June, 1898, occurred the marriage of Mr. Leenhouts and Miss Jennie Ouwenweel, a daughter of William Ouwenweel, a native of Holland. He won promi- nence as a tailor in Milwaukee and was a representative citizen of the community. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Leenhouts: Sarah Elizabeth, Marian Naomi, and Willis Cornelius. Mrs. Leenhouts takes a prominent and active part in the club and social affairs of the city and both she and her daughters are members of the Eastern Star.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Leenhouts has given his support to the democratic party and holds to the teachings of Henry George, an American writer on political economy and sociology, of whom he is a great admirer. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the First Reformed church of Milwaukee and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, holding membership in Kenwood Lodge, No. 303, A. F. & A. M., of Milwaukee, Kenwood Chapter, R. A. M., Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 24, Knights Templars; and he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a member of Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. As a man always interested in the develop- ment and improvement of the general welfare, Mr. Leenhouts is a member of the Association of Commerce and the City Club, of which latter organization he is a charter member, and in the line of his profession he is a member of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and an associate member of the national organization. He is also a director of the Y. M. C. A. and has always heen interested in outdoor sports. He has cultivated his artistic ability to a high degree and has done some painting. The entire family are extremely fond of music. A hearty welcome is always extended their friends at their home at 836 Marietta avenue and they are classed among the representative citizens of Milwaukee.

MICHAEL SEEBOTH.

Michael Seeboth, secretary and treasurer of the Seeboth Brothers Company, Inc., was born in Breitenbach, Germany, on the 12th of November, 1851, a son of Adam and Katherine (Faulbier) Seeboth, both natives of the village where their son was born. For centuries the Seeboth family resided in that community where they were representative and highly esteemed citizens. The father, Adam Seeboth, passed away in 1895. For many years he was engaged in the mercantile business in Breitenbach and in 1868 he arrived in the United States with his brother, John, coming direct to Milwaukee. His father was Michael Seeboth. Mrs. Seeboth was the daughter of Franz Faulbier, a merchant of Breitenbach, and her marriage was celebrated in the old country. She came to Milwaukee in 1872 and her demise occurred on the 4th of December, 1872, just three months after locating here.

Michael Seeboth received his early education in the parochial schools of his native country and after putting his textbooks aside learned cigar-making. He was active at that trade for two and one-half years and after three years in the German army came to Milwaukee, arriving here in 1873. Here he resumed his cigar-making, in which trade he continued successfully, until 1878, when he, in association with his brothers, founded the present business, conducting it under the name of Michael Seeboth & Brothers. In 1893 they incorporated the enterprise under the present name of the Seeboth Brothers Company, Inc., Albert S. becoming president of the concern and Michael, secretary and treasurer. The third brother, Adam, passed away in 1895. The company deals in scrap iron and scrap metals and buys and sells through- out the United States. Mr. Seeboth is thoroughly American in spirit and interests and is a typical citizen of the present day, alert to every opportunity and recognizing the fact that in this day of close competition, strenuous effort must he put forth to achieve the success which is worth while.

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

On the 25th of November, 1880, occurred the marriage of Mr. Seeboth to Miss Josephine Hauswirth, a daughter of George Hauswirth, a baker of Milwaukee. Her father was born in Baden, Germany, and came to this city when about thirty-five years of age, in 1852. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Seeboth: Sister Leona, of Notre Dame convent, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, where she teaches in St. Mary's College; Albert M., manager of the Albert G. Seeboth Company, making wiping, waste and cotton batting; Cecilia, the widow of Alfonso Cassel, an under- taker, who passed away in 1916; Henry, manager of the Milwaukee Bronze Castings Company; Katherine and Magdalene; Adam, now attending the agricultural school at Wauwatosa; and Corinne, a student in the West Side high school.

For over forty years Mr. Seeboth was a stanch democrat but he is now an inde- pendent republican. Although he is alive to the duties and responsibilities of a good citizen he does not seek public preferment but furthers the interests of his community by a strict attention to his business affairs. The family are consistent communicants of St. Mary's Catholic church and fraternally Mr. Seeboth is identified with the Family Protective Association, Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, St. Pius Society, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Being a representative business man, Mr. Seeboth is a member of the Association of Commerce and his aid may always be counted upon in furthering any movement for the development and improvement of the general wel- fare. The hope that led Mr. Seeboth to leave his native land and seek a home in America has been more than realized. He found the opportunities he sought and making the best of these, he has steadily worked his way upward. His career is identified with the history of Milwaukee and he is an honored and respected citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Seeboth reside at 293 Eleventh street.

SARKIS H. KASH, M. D.

Dr. Sarkis H. Kash, physician and surgeon of Milwaukee, was born in Armenia, September 6, 1892, and was reared in his native land, where his parents spent their lives. The father was a merchant of that country and is now deceased. The mother is still living. Dr. Kash, one of a family of four sons and one daughter, is the only one in the United States. He was reared to the age of twenty years in his native country and in 1912 came alone to the new world. Ambitious to enter upon a pro- fessional career, he matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and was a student there from 1913 until 1917, when he was graduated with the M. D. degree. Immediately afterward he came to Milwaukee and spent a year as interne in the Milwaukee Hospital, while subsequently he was for a year house physician and surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in Milwaukee. Since 1919 he has been engaged in general practice and he enjoys the distinction of being the only Armenian physician in the state of Wisconsin. He has made excellent use of his time, talents and opportunities in preparation for the profession and in the performance of his professional duties, and his practice is steadily growing. He will do postgraduate work in London in 1922.

Dr. Kash is a member of the Armenian church and he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, also to the City Club and to the Wisconsin Players, a dramatic organiza- tion. He is likewise a member of the Business Men's Club and of the Young Men's Christian Association and he finds his recreation largely in music and reading. A laudable ambition brought him to the new world in young manhood that he might enjoy the opportunities here afforded and, steadily working his way upward by reason of merit and ability, he has gained a creditable position among the younger physicians of his adopted city.

OTTO BORCHERT.

Otto Borchert. sportsman and successful business man, was born in Milwaukee on the 12th of August, 1874, and is a son of Frederick Borchert, Jr., who was a pioneer brewer of Milwaukee. The latter was born November 2, 1845, in Mecklenburg, Germany, son of Frederick Borchert, Sr., and was associated with his father in the brewing business, under the style of F. Borchert & Son. For a considerable period he was identified with the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. He came to this city with his parents from Germany in 1848 and continued his residence here to the time of his death, which occurred February 19, 1906. He was a brother of Ernst Borchert, late vice president of the Pabst Brewing Company, and a brother of the late Charles Borchert, who was a prominent member of the Board of Trade. Frederick Borchert, Jr., married Miss Barbara Neubauer, who was born in Milwaukee, a daughter of Franz Neubauer, and she is still living here.

OTTO BORCHERT

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Otto Borchert, whose name introduces this review, acquired his education in the public schools and in Engelman's Academy. He started out in the business world as an employe of the firm of B. Young & Son, saddlery dealers, with which he remained for two years, and for a similar period he was connected with the firm of Goll & Frank. He also spent three years with the Wisconsin Milling Company under General Otto H. Falk, was later identified with the Wisconsin Telephone Company and for twenty years was a traveling salesman for the Julius Andrae Sons Company. On the 1st of January, 1920, he was made president of the Milwaukee Ball Club, having always taken a great interest in the national game and other manly outdoor sports. He has con- tinned as president and displays excellent ability in the management of the club. He and his associates bought the Milwaukee Ball Club from Hugh Brennan and Clarence Rowland on the 1st of January, 1920, and Mr. Borchert has been at the head of the organization since, giving the club two highly successful seasons. He greatly enjoys boxing and was instrumental in giving Jimmy Wilde, England's mighty atom, his first opportunity to show his skill in the United States. Mr. Borchert is also the president of the Cream City Athletic Club and is vice president of the Peoples Power Company of Westgate, Iowa.

On the 24th of December, 1899, Mr. Borchert was married to Miss Idabel Ruby Wilmot, a daughter of Henry Mitchell Wilmot of Milwaukee, who is a teacher of stenography and commercial methods and is still living in this city. Mrs. Borchert was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and was brought to Milwaukee when but three years of age. By her marriage she has become the mother of a daughter, Florence Mila Borchert, who is now attending the public schools of this city.

Mr. Borchert has always maintained an independent political course, voting for men and measures rather than party. He belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, of which he is a life member, and also to the Association of Commerce, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Elks. He is a believer in clean sport and holds to high standards in the management and control of all sporting events.

CLARENCE ALBERT GUNDERSEN.

Clarence Albert Gundersen is the youngest bank cashier in the city of Milwaukee. Left an orphan at the age of eight years, he spent ten years of his life in an orphan asylum and was thrown upon the world at the age of fifteen years, with no assets but stanch courage and the determination to win for himself an honorable position. Milwaukee is proud to call him a native son, for he was born in this city on the 20th of June, 1896, a son of Gunder and Emma ( Waall) Gundersen. His father was a native of Christiania, Norway, and his mother of Hamburg, Germany. Her demise occurred in 1904. Mr. Gundersen has three brothers, Russell and Herbert of Mil- waukee and Hans of Portage; also two sisters, Mrs. Paul Ohst and Mrs. Eric Ohst, both residents of this city.

Clarence Albert Gundersen received his education in the Milwaukee public schools and also received some private training. Upon the completion of his education he entered the employ of the Second Ward Savings Bank as messenger, serving in that connection for a period covering two years. He remained in the employ of that bank for seven years, winning constant promotion until he became receiving teller, in which position he was active at the time of his resignation. In April, 1918, he enlisted in the United States Merchant Marines, with which he served until the signing of the armistice closed hostilities, when he returned to Wisconsin and located in Portage, where he became assistant cashier of the First National Bank. Two years later, on the 1st of June, 1920, he returned to Milwaukee and became associated with the Milwaukee Commercial Bank as general utility man, in which capacity he was active but ten days when he was made cashier. This bank is a state institution and was founded on the 7th of June, 1919. It has a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars and in the two years of its existence has accumulated a surplus of ten thou- sand dollars and undivided profits amounting to ten thousand dollars. Alfred Kay is president of the institution. The position of prominence that Mr. Gundersen oc- cupies in the financial circles of his native city has been won by earnest, self-denying effort and he is riglitly entitled to the proud American title of self-made man, for all that he is today is the result of intelligently directed effort and the will-power to surmount all obstacles, no matter how great.

On the 24th of April, 1920, occurred the marriage of Mr. Gundersen to Miss Ingred Marie Gundersen, a daughter of Annun Gundersen, a native of Norway and now a resident of Milwaukee. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Gundersen has given his political support to the republican party but he is not active in political affairs. Both he and his wife belong to the Lutheran Church of the Ascension in Milwaukee and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, having membership in Fort Winnebago Lodge, No. 33, of Portage. Mr. Gundersen is too Vol. 111-7

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

busy to take much interest in social life, outside of that afforded by his family, and he therefore belongs to no clubs in this city. Although now but twenty-five years of age he has gained substantial success and in addition to a town residence at 466 Thirty-first street, has a summer home at Pewaukee Lake.

WILLIAM O. VILTER.

Among those who have been prominently connected with Milwaukee's commercial history in the making is William O. Vilter, who is the secretary and treasurer of the Vilter Manufacturing Company and who in all that he has undertaken has manifested a spirit of marked progress and enterprise. While success has been the ultimate goal of his business endeavor, he has yet found time for activity in various other fields and his social prominence is the result of unfeigned cordiality and deep interest in his fellowmen. He was a youth of nine years when he first knew Milwaukee-upon his arrival from Germany, his native land. His birth occurred in the grand duchy of Oldenburg, February 12, 1862, his parents being Christian and Elise ( Meiners) Olt manns, whose family numbered four sons and a daughter: Anton. deceased; William O .; Theodore O., mentioned elsewhere in this work; Gustave; and Helen. The last two died in Germany in early childhood and the father passed away there, leaving the little family to the care of the widowed mother, who afterward became the wife of Ernst Vilter, long a prominent and honored resident of Milwaukee. It was in 1871 that the family crossed the Atlantic to the new world and Ernst Vilter became one of the partners in an enterprise devoted to the manufacture of machinery. He continued to make his home in this city until his death in 1888, his widow surviving him for almost a quarter of a century, or until the 9th of February, 1912. In 1900 and again in 1908, in company with her son, William O., she had made an extended trip through Europe. By her second marriage she had one child, Emil Vilter, who is now president and superintendent of the Vilter Manufacturing Company.

With the arrival of the family in Milwaukee, William O. Vilter resumed his edu- cation, which had been begun in the schools of his native country, and here he attended the German-English Academy and also ward schools of the city, completing a thorough course of study by graduation with the class of 1879.

Opportunity has ever been to William O. Vilter a call to action-a call to which he has made ready response. Alert and energetic, he has improved the opportunities which have come to him and step by step has alvanced in his business career until he is today one of the dynamic forces in the commercial circles of the city. He knows what he wants and he gets it. He made his start as an employe of the hardware firm of William Frankfurth & Company and after a year entered the employ of Edward Barber, a real estate dealer, with whom he continued for two years. His association with the present business covers a period of forty years, his initial position being that cf hookkeeper and correspondent with the firm of Weisel & Vilter, of which his father was the junior partner, and with the incorporation of the business in 1886, under the style of the Weisel & Vilter Manufacturing Company, he became the secre- tary. Following his father's death in 1888 he was elected treasurer of the corporation and has continued as secretary and treasurer to the present time. In March, 1893, the name was changed to the Vilter Manufacturing Company and this is today one of the oldest existing enterprises of Milwaukee, having been established in 1867. Their business is the huilding of ice-making and refrigerating machinery, improved Corliss engines and machinery for varied lines and special purposes. Their plant is one of the largest of the kind in the country and its product is sold throughout the world. The corporation enjoys a reputation for progressiveness, thorough reliability and enterprise-a reputation which has been won in no small measure through the efforts and the high standards of William O. Vilter of this review. He is an excellent executive and his administrative ability has been a definite factor in the constant growth and development of the business. He not only studies the problems of his individual enter- prise but also the questions that affect the trade of the country and is a member of the American Association of Ice and Refrigeration, an organization of concerns and people interested in such industries. At the present time he is serving as chairman of its finance committee.

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 10

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844 Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 912

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 912