USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 13
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Dr. Ernst Hantke, who enjoyed a high reputation as fermentologist in the United States as well as in Europe, died suddenly in the year 1903, deeply mourned by his coworkers. The Institute had developed to the largest laboratories for general chemical, bacteriological, microscopical and research work west of the Great Lakes by har- monious cooperation of a staff of highly recognized chemists and bacteriologists.
In the year 1915 Frank Kremer died after having served the Institute most faith- fully as chief chemist and for twelve years as president and through his thorough and broad knowledge and his amiable way having endeared himself to his many friends and his copartners. Frank Kremer's place as president of the Institute was taken by Richard Schneider, who was connected with the firm since 1910, and to this date the officers are: Richard Schneider, president; Francis M. Dupont, vice president; and Alfred Fischer, secretary and treasurer.
This organization is the result of over twenty-five years of successful experience. With faith and diligence the Institute has provided for their clients a chemical and research service that may justly claim superiority in this part of the country. This institution solves problems in manufacture, engages in industrial research and makes chemical and bacteriological analyses. It renders their service under contract by the year or for each individual case. It acts as chemical advisors to the industries in a similar way as a counselor-at-law in legal matters. It also examines and reports upon the merits of new industrial projects. To explain the work in detail would be very difficult and beyond the scope of this article.
Analyses of widely different nature are made by the thousand and have developed a top notch efficiency. To the layman the words "chemical analysis" may be but a meaningless term and even the more enlightened and progressive manufacturers seem to think that chemical control of industrial plants sounds very theoretical but it is in effect intensely practical even to the point of necessity. It applies where those who are unfamiliar with the subject would least expect it.
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FRANCIS M. DUPONT
LA HAID SCHNEIDER
ALFRED FISCHER
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This institution not only determines the ingredient in any particular case but finds out the cause, difficulties in manufacture and suggests an improvement or remedy.
Practically every material used finds its way to this Institute. The baker has his flour tested to find out if it is suitable for his use; the feed merchant wants to have a proper combination of ingredients so he can guarantee his feed as to milk producing or other qualities; the soap manufacturer desires to know the quality of soap; the butterine manufacturer desires a particular blend of oils and fats to produce a butter- like article; the box manufacturer wants a glue which answers his requirement and then comes the manufacturer of pickles, sausages, beverages, vinegar, hosiery, toilet preparations, rubber goods, textiles, leather goods, ice cream, ice boxes, etc. This is only a hint as to the hewildering variety of questions which confront this Institute.
The efforts of this institution are continually bent towards improving methods of manufacture preventing rot, fermentation, mold, decay and producing new articles. An Institute of this kind can, therefore, justly be called a blessing to the industries and humanity.
GUSTAV W. KLAU.
Gustav W. Klau, who is at the head of an extensive advertising business as presi- dent of Klau-Van Pietersom-Dunlap, Incorporated, was born in Milwaukee, February 19. 1873, a son of Richard and Marie ( Von Orff) Klau, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Milwaukee. The great-grandfather, Matthias Stein, came to this city and joined Solomon Juneau of Kilbourn in the period of early development. here. The maternal grandfather, Henry Von Orff, was a native of Munich, Germany, and he, too, arrived in Milwaukee at a very early day. His father and brother had occupied high positions in the Bavarian king's court and he had been educated in various colleges and military schools, so as to be able to follow in their footsteps in later years. But young Von Orff's love for a democratic form of government changed the entire course of his future development. When Henry Von Orff reached the new world he settled in Milwaukee and when the Civil war broke out he organized a com- pany and fought for the Union throughout The period of hostilities, advancing to the rank of colonel. Several times he became ill with yellow fever during the war and was physically disabled for active field duty a portion of the time. He was a man of liberal education who could speak six different languages and he often did translation work for newspapers and magazines, for he had command of the English, German, Latin, French, Spanish and Italian tongues. He continued to devote his life to work as a translator and other educational vocations until his death in 1894.
Richard Klau, on coming to the new world, was a young man of twenty-one years. In early manhood he studied chemistry, qualifying for work of that character, and he also devoted five years to the theatrical profession, playing in a German stock company, during which time his company gave performances in nearly all of the large towns of the country, presenting many of the Shakespearean plays. At a later date Mr. Klau turned his attention to the distilling and brewing business, in which he continued for about forty years, but during the last several years of his life he was part owner of the A. F. Kling Sign Company, makers of high-grade porcelain signs, filling the position of secretary and treasurer until his death, which occurred February 27, 1922. For thirty years he was associated with the late F. W. Hartman Company, dis- tillers, and the National Distilling Company. He also served in the capacity of auditor with the Pabst Brewing Company for a period of ten years.
Gustav W. Klan was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and when he had completed his training he engaged in electrical engineering for about ten years with the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, having charge of the testing and meter department. This pursuit, however, did nol appeal strongly to Mr. Klau, as his taste lay more along artistic lines. It was about this time that Charles F. Pfister acquired ownership of the Milwaukee Sentinel, desiring to make it a thoroughly up-to- date metropolitan paper. Mr. Klau accepted a position on the staff as a contributing cartoonist and devoted two and a half or Three years to that work, during which time he was instrumental in dolng the paper's comic and political cartoon work with marked success. Still ambitious to enter upon a broader and more profitable field, Mr. Klau, in June, 1905. in connection with Anthony Van Pietersom, now secretary and treasurer of the corporation, organized the Klau-Van Pietersom Company for the con- duct of an advertising business. Three years later Walter F, Dunlap was admitted to a partnership and the business has since been carried on under the name of Klau-Van Pietersom-Dunlap. Incorporated, Mr. Dunlap having become the vice president of the company, while Mr. Klau has always remained the president. Their first venture was in giving out and preparing copy, art work, plates and printing in connection with the advertising service. They established business in a small way, but their patronage has steadily grown until they control one of the best known advertising concerns of the
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country, doing business all over the United States and Canada. They occupy the whole of the eighth floor of the Manhattan building and half of the seventh floor, having ap- proximately thirty-five employes. They do everything from the standpoint of mer- chandise advertising and have a very high-class business, enjoying in notable measure the confidence, trust and goodwill of their patrons. They employ only experienced men in all the different parts of the business and the splendid nature of their service is well known throughout this country and the Dominion. Mr. Klau not only is president but also art director of this well known concern. He is a practical man of business, understanding fully every detail of the work and at the same time carefully directing its more important features.
On the 16th of October, 1895, Mr. Klau was married to Miss Antoinette Van Pieter- som, a sister of his partner. They have become parents of two children, Harold and Ethel. Mr. Klau was registered for war service but was not called upon for active duty. The firm, however, took a helpful interest in promoting all war measures that had to do with holding the home line and furnishing financial support for the soldiers at the front. Fraternally Mr. Klau is a Mason, and he belongs to the Milwaukee Press Club, also to the Milwaukee Art Institute, the Milwaukee' Association of Commerce and the Wisconsin Club. Outside of art, music and drama he greatly enjoys outdoor exercises of various kinds and finds great pleasure in camping trips. Literature and chess are also large sources of recreation to him.
MATTHIAS STEIN.
Matthias Stein, who in many ways left the impress of his individuality and ability for good upon the history of Milwaukee, was born in Germany, December 17, 1808. Like so many of his countrymen before and after him, he sought the new world as the theatre of his ambition. He arrived in Baltimore in August, 1831. He found em- ployment in Norfolk, Virginia, as a mechanic, having learned his trade in the old country. One year later he went to Washington, D. C., finding work as an instrument maker. It was here that young Stein learned his lesson in the difference between social affairs in the United States and the empire of Germany. His experience in the capital of the new country was evidently impressed upon his mind, because in his old age it was recalled with a positiveness which did not characterize his recollection of his early life in Milwaukee.
It was Mr. Stein's custom for the three years he spent in Washington to take an early morning walk before going to work. During these strolls he met daily an old gentleman, who also enjoyed the morning air when the weather permitted. They he- came companions for an hour or so every day, during which the old gentleman ques- tioned young Stein as to life and conditions in his fatherland. One day after his morning companion had left him at the entrance to the White House grounds, Stein asked a servant who had just come out who the old gentleman was. The answer was: "Andrew Jackson, the president of the United States." The next morning they met as usual and Mr. Stein was naturally embarrassed when he realized with whom he had been walking. The kindness and grace of the president soon reassured him and he asked how it was that the ruler of such a great nation would condescend to walk with a young mechanic.
"Young man, you don't understand this country. I am placed in this position by the confidence and trust of the people of the United States. My duty is to carry out the law and our constitution and to do right to everybody. When my time is expired I will go to my tarm in Tennessee. At the present time I am no more nor no less than any other man."
President Jackson invited young Stein to call on him and at one of the public re- ceptions he did so. When he reached the president he was drawn to one side by that official, who introduced him to General Scott, Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun and ex-President John Quincy Adams. As Stein was leaving, a white-haired gentleman spoke to him and asked him if he knew the president, remarking that it was noticeable that the president was especially cordial to him (Stein) and that this exception must be the result of a long acquaintance. The white-haired gentleman was the chief justice of the United States, Roger B. Taney.
Thus it was that young Stein learned that in this country all men are created equal. It was in Washington, too, that Stein heard of Chicago as a coming great city and in 1834 he left for the west, going to St. Louis. From there he traveled overland to Chicago. There were no roads and only one team to transport him and four others to their destination. It took six days to make the journey. The prairie was wet and made a very uncomfortable bed at night. Crackers and ham were the food. A com- pass which Stein had made guided them. He reached Chicago the first week in March, 1835. Stein's high expectations of the place were doomed to disappointment. He found nothing but a collection of shanties-the abiding place of thieves and swindlers,
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with no laws to reach and punish them. Disgusted, he left for Detroit, Michigan. Here he became a gunsmith and from that city he came to Milwaukee in 1837, arriving on June 5th. He did not intend to stay, wanting to go farther south. He came on the steamer "Old Michigan" and his locating in Milwaukee was due to the fact that her engine broke down and it took three days to repair it. During that time he met Solomon Juneau and a friend, Louis Drayser. Juneau induced him to stay, and of all the western towns he had seen, Milwaukee's appearance impressed him most favorably. The result was that he remained and became identified with the growing town. He located on the east side, in what is now called the seventh ward, and built the first frame building on the east side. It was located on the hill overlooking old Market Square and was about where the St. Charles Hotel now stands. The market place had been filled with dirt taken from the hill. When Mr. Stein met Juneau, he asked the population of the place. The answer was: "Four hundred souls, mostly Indians." Stein kept bachelor's hall for some time, moving into his house on February 24, 1838. At his first breakfast he discovered he had no coffee mill and went to a hardware store kept by one, Green, on East Water street. Such an article was not kept in stock and Stein was compelled to tie the coffee in the arm of his shirt and beat it. Louis Drayser had a house on Martin street, near East Water, on a lot given him by Junean. Drayser built a house in Detroit, but when he moved to Milwaukee he tore it to pieces and transported it to this city on the deck of an old English frigate which had been sunk in Lake Erie during Perry's time but which was afterward raised. A man named Pixley kept a general store on East Water street, which was then the principal busi- ness street. What houses there were (Mr. Stein called them "shanties"), consisted of one room, one window and one door. Mr. Stein's home was surrounded by the wigwams of the Pottawatomies and his house was a favorite lounging place for their Indian chief, Onangese. Mr. Stein said: "He was an Indian, but a gentleman." Stein learned to talk the language of the red men and taught the chief squaw to eat with a knife and fork.
For several years Mr. Stein was treasurer, before that being a trustee of the town. Later he became the first sealer of weights and measures. In speaking of his term of office as treasurer, Mr. Stein related an incident which appeared in the Sentinel, being written by Rufus King, a warm friend. When Stein's term of office expired, investiga- tion showed that the town owed him two cents. The investigating committee worked for two days but could make no other result.
During the early '50s Mr. Stein kept the Deutsche House. This was Governor Barstow's stopping place whenever he came to Milwaukee. A few weeks before the death of Alexander Mitchell, former president of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, he met Mr. Stein on the street. The latter related proudly what the banker said to him on that occasion: "Stein, how are you fixed?" asked Mitchell. "With reasonable management and economy, I have enough to take care of me for the rest of my life," was the reply. "Well, if you are ever in want, you know where to come, and if I'm not at the bank, just speak to Dave Ferguson or John Johnston."
Mr. Stein will be remembered by his efforts in other directions. It was at his suggestion that the German-English Academy was founded and he was the first to see the feasibility of the German Theatre. Thereby he contributed much toward shaping conditions as they exist in this city at the present time.
WALTER HALL TOMPKINS.
Since 1912 Walter Hall Tompkins has been manager of the Western Electric Com- pany in Milwaukee and is recognized as a representative citizen and business man of the city. He was born in Batavia, New York, a son of William M. and Sarah (Hall) Tompkins and is descended on the paternal side from Lord. Marton and on the maternal side the ancestors were wealthy iandowners. William M. Tompkins passed away in 1889. He was born in England and came to the United States as a young unmarried man, locating in Batavia, where he soon became a leading citizen. For many years previous to his death he was manager of the Batavia Gas Light Company. His widow survived him two years, passing away in 1891. She was born near Youngstown, New York, a daughter of William Hall, a well known farmer of that vicinity.
In the acquirement of an education Walter Hall Tompkins attended the public schools of Batavia and after graduating from the high school attended Cornell Uni- versity. He had specialized in engineering at the university and upon putting his textbooks aside accepted a position with the Fort Wayne Electric Works, in the meter testing department, doing experimental work. After one year in that connection he went to Niles, Michigan, where he had charge of the Water & Light Plant until 1901, when he became traveling salesman for the Western Electric Company at St. Louis and covered Texas and Oklahoma. Three years later he was sent to Chicago in charge of the telephone sales and in July, 1912, was assigned to Milwaukee as manager of the
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branch there. He has since served in that capacity and has won the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come into contact because of his fair and honorable methods of doing business.
At Crown Point. Indiana, occurred the marriage of Mr. Tompkins and Miss Florence B. Krimbill, a daughter of William Krimbill, a merchant of that place. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having been a major in the Union army and he at all times took a prominent and active part in the political affairs of his community, having been connty treasurer and held other important offices. His death occurred in 1917.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Tompkins has been a stanch supporter of the republican party, although he has neither sought nor desired public office as a reward for party fealty. His religious faith is that of the Christian Science church and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being an exemplary member of the craft. He belongs to Kenwood Lodge, No. 303, R. A. M., of Milwaukee: Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 24, K. T .; Wisconsin Consistory, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His social connections are with the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Michiwaukee Golf Club and Tripoli Country Chib and as a man interested in all things pertaining to the general welfare of the com- munity, he has membership in the Association of Commerce. In line with his work he belongs to the Electrical Association of Milwaukee and devotes a great part of his time to the promotion of its interests. During the World war he gave unselfishly of his time and money and was a leading îgure in all of the various drives. His person- ality has won for him many friends and his ability, sincerity, and determination have been dominant factors in his success.
FRANK C. KLODE.
The romance in American life is perhaps nowhere found in more attractive form than it is in the field of opportunity. The most humble beginnings may he followed by the most successful and useful careers, bearing all the charm and thrill of surpris- ing changes, of environment, of human setting.
A bashful immigrant boy who enters upon the scene, helpless in knowledge of his new home, ignorant of the language of a new world, and hemmed in by surround- ings which he does not understand, may yet rise to a stage of importance and service. A clean heart, a clear mind and two willing hands to work, are the simple assets that form the basis for advancement and success.
Frank C. Klode's life career bears all the factors above outlined and reads like so many stories based upon them. He came in the fall of 1878 to Milwaukee, with his parents, at an age of less than fourteen years. Born February 13, 1866, and reared in a village near the city of Stettin in the Province of Pomerania, Germany, he possessed but a meagre common school education. But a strong body and a grain of good sense enabled him to substitute the advantages of a better education.
The actual beginning in the land of his adoption is characteristic of the man and the career that followed. He not only sought opportunity but actually created it. Arriving in Milwaukee late at night in the year named, he sought the air early next morning to ascertain just where he was and what the new world he had come into looked like.
He found that he had landed on the outskirts of the city on the west side, on Spring street (now Grand avenue) near the Menominee river. The scene presented nothing unusual. There were streets and roadways and straggling houses, com- monplaco and uninteresting. Bnt after all there was something, insignificant and worthless to everyone else, that attracted the boy's eye. He walked directly towards it and examined it. What was it? Swamp willows that grew beside the river, which at this point narrowed into a muddy creek. He inquired of the more immediate residents as to who owned them. He was told that they belonged to no one and that he could cut all the willows he wanted. They were worthless, hence common prop- erty.
But young Frank cut an armful, took them home and he, together with his father, wove them into large butcher baskets and sold them downtown. The venture netted them fifty-five dollars, which was deemed a fortune to the family. He con- tinued to ent willows and weave them into baskets until the willows were exhausted and the meat market trade was apparently supplied.
Frank, after working six weeks carrying laths for a builder, was then apprenticed in a cigar factory. The confinement and quiet of this occupation, however, was contrary to his inclination and animal vigor and in a spirit of restlessness, one day he packed his kit and sought an outdoor occupation. This spirit prompted him to take a train for the purpose of landing somewhere in the west.
He had bought a railroad ticket to Mankato, Minnesota, without knowing just what he would do when he got there. On the train he met a fellow traveler who
FRANK C. KLODE
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initiated him in the great American game of poker, with the result that when Frank landed in Mankato his meagre savings were lost and he found himself penniless. He applied to the station agent for a job sufficient to pay for a meal. The kindly station agent looked Frank over with some scrutiny, concluded that he was honest, and then took him to a nearby restaurant and ordered a meal for him. Next day he directed him to a farmer who hired him. Frank remained on the farm for two years. The first year he received one hundred and forty dollars and his keep, the second year two hundred and twenty-five dollars. Immediately after he secured his first dollar here he went to the station agent to pay for his meal. The latter refused to accept any remuneration and asked Frank to stick to his job and hold on to his money.
This incident has always lived in Frank Klode's mind. He has never allowed his family or his employes to send a hungry man away from his door. "I can appreciate what it means to be hungry and penniless, and I care not how worthless the man who comes to my store or my home for a handout; he will get a meal or enough money to bny a meal."
At the end of two years of farm life Frank came back to Milwaukee. Here he soon found a job as teamster for a hardware store, which position he held for three months, when he entered the employ of C. W. Fischer & Son, then a modest furniture house.
It was here that his life's career manifested an upward tendency, brought his qualities as a man under a severe test and rounded itself into a widened sphere of use- fulness. He began as a teamster at eight dollars and fifty cents a week, served as such for two and one-half years and then secured a place in the upholstery shop, where he helped to make oldfashioned carpet lounges. Here he earned nine dollars a week and remained for two years, when he became shipping clerk at twelve dollars a week. Soon after he was placed in the store as salesman.
He now became an indispensable factor in the business. His ability to prompt trade and to hold it, his counsel and advice as to policies and departures, his remark- able energy and industry won him recognition. He was given an opportunity to secure a small interest in the business. Men who had confidence in him encouraged him financially. The firm had been weakened through the death of its founder and the disinclination of the heirs to maintain standards of progress. This was twenty years ago.
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