USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 14
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Klode's vision and constructive ability now came into play. He was disinclined to see the commercial ship sink. He assumed the captaincy and steered a straight course along the sea lanes of growth and development. His leadership became un- questioned. Financial support followed. He began to rear the small enterprise into larger fields of service. The public bought furniture. He was ready to sell it. Fur- niture involved the elements of utility and ornamentation. He was ready to supply it. The public manifested taste in design, in form, in color. He stood ready to satisfy taste and personal preference.
The secret of the success which followed must be found in the same elements which came into play when he first saw the tufts of willow at the edge of the creek. He saw an opportunity and possessed the ability to realize on it. What applied at an early date in his career to a small chance, applied now in the larger prospects that were before him. With years of observation and training he had not only formulated notions as to the door of opportunity but also as to entering the same with both feet. He also had constructed principles and policies which should guide him. He was clear as to an attitude which should guide him in his dealings with customers, with his associates and with the producers. An unquestioned integrity, he believed, must run like a red line through every transaction. A bargain, be that with buyer or seller or employe, must be characterized with honor and fairness. The customer must be prompted to come again, the manufacturer must be anxious to replenish his stock, the employe must realize that his employer is considerate and just.
"Our customers support our business," Frank Klode tells his salesmen. They make us what we are. Without them. we could not exist. They are entitled to the best service we can give them-honest service, prompt service, courteous service."
He does not expect the salesman to perform the impossible. If he has the inherent qualities to become a salesman these qualities will be encouraged in a kindly and cooperative spirit. Thus, Klode has been the one dominating force that has reared a small business enterprise into one of the largest and most complete of its kind in the country. The one time small store is now an institution housed in a monster structure which is fireproof and contains acres of space. It is no longer a mere store or shop, but an institution which exemplifies the best achievements in the art of furniture production and in the thousand and one articles that make for the comfort and beauty of a home. Here are apartments completely furnished from kitchen to parlor, embodying all the utilities and refinements of a modern abode. Here are floor upon floor of inexhaustible varieties of tables, chairs, beds, chiffoniers, secre- taires, curtains and carpets, and draperies and what not. Here are original designers who serve the department of interior decoration, the workers in willow basketry who Vol. III-9
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produce the most utilitarian and attractive furniture and household equipment. Here is even a children's department which supplies everything that can make for child comfort. Here is a department given up entirely to the decorative art-a thousand items of ornamentation that add so richly to the dignity and grace of an interior.
It is not within the province of this article to become descriptive of the institution, which was reared through the efforts of a man, but rather to touch upon the same as an achievement of that man.
The enterprise which goes under the name of the C. W. Fischer Furniture Com- pany means Frank Christian Klode, While he built his foundation upon the old firm, the present million dollar enterprise, with all its splendid proportions and a trade which extends far beyond the confines of the city, is the creation of Mr. Klode. He has not only demonstrated that humble beginning may lead to an important con- mercial and industrial enterprise but he has also proven that a man with a limited fund of schooling may become a leader in the things that surround those of high culture and refinement.
While on his way to this country when a boy; . Frank C. Klode met a young lady named Emilie Tom. She was coming over with her parents, who have since passed away. In September, 1885, Mr. Klode and Miss Tom were married. Their children are: Emil, who married Margaret Dawson, a daughter of Robert Dawson, and they have two sons, Frank C. and James; and Helen, who married August Moeller, an attorney, and they have two daughters, Emily Jane and Elizabeth. Mr. Klode belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Calumet Club, the Elks and the Eagles.
Frank C. Klode makes no pretense to education and yet he possesses that vision and grasp which constitute true education-namely to be fitted for an important task in life. His speech may lack the touch and finish of the so-called educated classes, yet his thoughts find intelligent and convincing expression. He may discuss inadequately the principles which govern art, yet he has an instinctive knowledge and appreciation for the things that are chaste and beautiful. His enthusiasm for his calling and for the things in which he deals, his hearty and humane manner, and his constant concern for those whom he serves, have been the motive power of his success.
The compensation which he seeks and treasures lies in the contribution he can make to the well-being of his fellowman, rather than in the immediate financial return that comes to him. The spirit of service has been the keystone of his enterprise. It has been the real impulse of a career which is remarkable in its constantly upward tendency, and in demonstrating the element of opportunity in American life,
EMIL VILTER.
Emil Vilter, entering upon an apprenticeship with the Vilter Manufacturing Com- pany, has worked his way upward through successive positions to the presidency of this concern, which is one of the important productive interests of the city. He was born in Milwaukee, Mareh 13, 1871, and is a son of Ernst and Elise ( Meiners) Vilter, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to America in 1866, while the mother crossed the Atlantic in 1869 and they were married in Milwaukee. The father was interested in the distillery of Meniers & Vilter and later with B. Leiders- dorf and Company. He became one of the founders of the Vilter Manufacturing Com- pany, which in the early days was conducted as a partnership enterprise under the firm style of Weisel & Vilter. As the business grew and developed and changes in the ownership occurred, the name of the Vilter Manufacturing Company was adopted in 1892. This was five years after the death of the father in 1887.
Emil Vilter was educated in Milwaukee, where he attended the German and English Academy. He afterward became a student in the State University of Wisconsin at Madison and having thus qualified by liberal educational training for life's practical and responsible duties he started out in the business world as an apprentice with the Vilter Manufacturing Company, working as a machinist and advancing through the various branches of the business. He worked at his trade for eight years and afterward passed on through the engineering and sales departments, thoroughly ac- quainting himself with every phase of the business and at length becoming an active factor in the organization and direction of the company. After the death of Theodore O. Vilter, his brother, he was elected to the presidency of the company in 1920 and has since remained in this position of administrative direction and executive control.
On the 2nd of October, 1895, Mr. Vilter was married to Miss Clara M. Plathner of Milwaukee, and they have one son, Ernest Frederick, who is now a student in the Milwaukee University high school. Mr. Vilter took a helpful part in promoting war activities. He was for many years a director of the Engineers Society of Milwaukee, of which he also was president, and he belongs to the American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, the Association of Stationary Engineers and the Engineers Club of New York. He is connected with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Wisconsin
EMIL VILTER
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Lodge, No. 13, A. F. & A. M., and exemplifies in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. He is also well known in club circles, belonging to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club, the Safe Drivers' Club of Milwaukee, the Pine Lake Yacht Club, the Milwaukee Automobile Club and the Rotary Club. He is also a member of the Milwaukee Art Institute and is interested in all those forces which make for cultural progress and civic advancement. His life has been passed in this city and there are many who attest his worth as a business man, his progressiveness and his loyalty as a citizen.
WILLIAM J. EBERLE.
William J. Eberle, who since 1919 has been president of the Ozone Company of America, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on the 3d of August, 1872, a son of Charles and Caroline (Sutter) Eberle, both deceased. His grandfather, Jacob Eberle, won prominence as a manufacturing jeweler of Germany and in that country Charles Eherle was born. In 1870 he came to the United States and located in Pittsburgh, where he followed the occupations of school teacher and accountant until his demise in 1896. Mrs. Eberle passed away in 1902. She was born in Germany and came to this country with her parents in early childhood, making her home also in Pittsburgh. There she met her future husband while teaching school.
In the acquirement of an education, William J. Eberle attended the public schools of his native city and later entered Duff's College, from which institution he was graduated in 1888. Upon putting his textbooks aside he entered the business world, obtaining employment as errand boy for a wholesale hardware firm. He remained with that company for several years, during which time his tireless energy and keen perception won him constant promotion until he became stock manager. After severing his relations with that concern he took charge of the hardware storerooms for the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company and also held the position of general shop accountant. He served in those capacities for eleven years, at the termination of which time he became traveling salesman for the Messer Candy Company of Pittsburgh. In 1910 he removed to Milwaukee and for one year represented the Western Printing & Lithographing Company of Racine and the following three years was secretary of the Milwaukee health department. The next four years Mr. Eberle spent as secretary and treasurer of the American Metal Products Company, of which he is now vice president, and in 1918, with several others, took over the Neel-Armstrong Company of Akron, Ohio, and organized the Ozone Company of America. That organization was formed by the consolidation of the Neel-Armstrong Company with the Ozone Company of Wis- consin. He was made vice president upon organization but in 1919 was elected chief executive.
On the 14th of October, 1920, occurred the marriage of Mr. Eherle and Miss Ottilia A. Jahn, a daughter of William Jahn. Her father is a successful and progressive agriculturist near Thiensville, Wisconsin, in which town his birth occurred, and he is also a surveyor and engineer.
Mr. Eherle was reared in the faith of the Protestant church and fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in Stuckrath Lodge, No. 430, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Kenwood Chapter, No. 90, R. A. M., of Milwaukee; and Wisconsin Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templars. He belongs to no clubs nor social organizations, finding his recrea- tion in reading and extensive study along the line of various sciences, economics and philosophy. Mr. Eberle maintains a home in the village of Mequon, Ozaukee county, located on two acres with three hundred and ten feet on the Milwaukee river. The business affairs of Mr. Eberle, no matter how varied, have been capahly conducted. He has since entering business been an important factor in commercial circles and he is public-spirited, giving cooperation to every movement which tends to promote the general welfare of the community.
FRANK JOSEPH MEYER.
Milwaukee numbers among her native sons Frank Joseph Meyer, prominent in the business circles of the city as vice president of the firm of Hackett, Hoff & Thier- mann, Incorporated, handling general insurance, real estate and loans. His birth occurred November 12, 1867, his parents being Ludwig D. and Marie (Hollander) Meyer, the latter deceased. Ludwig D. Meyer is residing at 337 Sixth street, financially independent as the result of his success as a cooper. He was born in Baden, Germany, and came to this country, locating in Milwaukee when a young unmarried man. His wife was likewise born in Baden, coming to this country in childhood. Her demise,
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which occurred about 1909, was a severe blow to her family and many friends in the community.
In the acquirement of an education Frank Joseph Meyer attended the Milwaukee public schools and in due time enrolled in the Spencerian Business College, where he took a commercial course. Upon the completion of his studies there he became asso- ciated with Louis Auer & Son in the foreign exchange and insurance business as office boy and as the result of natural business ability and the conscientious manner in which he performed every duty assigned him he was constantly promoted, being taken into the firm as a partner in the early '90s. Mr. Auer died in 1910 and six years later the firm name was changed to the Fehrer & Meyer Company. Joseph Fehrer passed away in 1920 and in September, 1921, Mr. Meyer combined the business of the old firm with that of Hackett, Hoff & Thiermann, Incorporated, handling general insurance, real estate and loans and also conducting a foreign exchange and steamship business.
On the 18th of May, 1893, Mr. Meyer was united in marriage to Miss Mathilda Hartman, a daughter of the late F. W. Hartman, a prosperous and well known mer- chant of Milwaukee. Mrs. Meyer is well known in club and social circles and has many friends who find her a woman of culture and charming personality.
Mr. Meyer is a prominent Mason, belonging to Lafayette Lodge, No. 265, A. F. & A. M .; Calumet Chapter, No. 73, R. A. M .; Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 24, K. T., being for five years commandant of the Ivanhoe drill corps; Kilbourn Council, No. 9, R. & S. M .; and Wisconsin Consistory, A. & A. S. R. He is likewise a member of Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine and was for seven years captain of the Tripoli Patrol. He endeavors to the best of his ability to live up to the teachings of the craft and is always ready to take an active interest in any of its affairs. The standing he has acquired in insurance circles is evidenced by his membership in the Milwaukee Board of Fire Underwriters, which he served as president for three years, and he has also been chief executive of the Wisconsin Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents. He has thoroughly identified his interests with those of the community and to that end is a prominent member of the Association of Commerce, belonging to the in- dustrial committee of that organization. Socially Mr. Meyer is identified with the Wisconsin Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Old Settlers Club, Washington Park Zoological Society and the Farmers Club. Both Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are very fond of music and his favorite form of recreation is fishing, this pleasure having frequently been denied him during the last few years, due to the heavy pressure of his business. During the World war he took an active part in all kinds of work and was a leading figure in all of the drives. Mr. Meyer displays those qualities which show him to be thoroughly conversant with modern-day business conditions and enterprise. He is actuated by a spirit of progressiveness that accomplishes results and success is attend- ing his well defined efforts.
DAN JOHN HEWITT.
Dan John Hewitt, president and treasurer of the Dan J. Hewitt Desk Supply, Incorporated, was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on the 22d of September, 1893, a son of Fred John and Annie Bell (Brooks) Hewitt. Both parents are still living and reside in Milwaukee. The father is vice president of the corporation. He was born at De Pere. Wisconsin, a son of the Rev. John L. Hewitt. Mrs. Hewitt was born in Ogdensburg, New York, a daughter of John Brooks.
In the acquirement of an education Dan John Hewitt attended the public schools of Milwaukee and the West Division high school and upon putting his textbooks aside accepted the position of timekeeper for the Kip & Side Tannery of the Pfister Vogel Leather Company. He remained in that connection for about a year, when he entered the insurance business and was one of the dominant factors in the organization of the Business Men's Mutual Indemnity Company, which business is still active. For two years he was associated with the Old Line Life Insurance Company, having charge of the health and accident department of the Racine district and the following two years he spent as city agent for the Time Insurance Company. By this time he had decided that he did not care to make the insurance business his life work so he entered the employ of the Winnebago Furniture Manufacturing Company at Fond du Lac, to learn the business. He started in as trucker and by the conscientious performance of every duty assigned him, intelligently directed effort and laudable ambition, he won constant promotion until he became superintendent of the plant. He was with that company three years but at the end of that time he went into business for himself. On the 15th of March, 1919, he established a business under his own name and in 1920 it was in- corporated, with Mr. Hewitt as president and treasurer. The capital stock is thirty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Hewitt's father is the vice president and the board of directors are: Dan J. Hewitt, Fred J. Hewitt, Victor Glanz, who is also secretary, Fred P. Werner and Henry W. Wessel. The corporation deals in all kinds of office supplies and
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equipment and in addition carries a full line of stationery, etc. It retails throughout the state, both by salesman and mail orders, and its business has become of extensive and important character.
On the 28th of May, 1914, Mr. Hewitt was united in marriage to Miss Esther Dorsch. She is a daughter of Lorenz Dorsch, a member of John Dorsch & Sons, dealers in farm implements, who has been for many years a resident of Milwaukee. His father, John Dorsch, was of German birth but came to this country at an early day and was one of Milwaukee's pioneer business men. The mother of Mrs. Hewitt was Bertha Brunckhorst of Kewanee, Wisconsin. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt: Dan J., Jr., Lorenz Dorsch, and Grace Esther.
Mr. Hewitt has always followed an independent course in politics and although well informed on all the questions and issues of the day, he has never taken an active interest in political affairs. He is a Methodist and attends Kingsley Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. As a leading business man and one interested in any movement for the better- ment of the general welfare, Mr. Hewitt has membership in the Association of Com- merce and in line with his work he belongs to the Association of Office Managers, the Salesmanship Club of Milwaukee, and the National Association of Stationers. For recreation he turns to the great outdoors and is particularly fond of tennis. He enjoys motoring and is interested in all athletics. The family are all musically inclined and are regular attendants at popular concerts. Mr. Hewitt's activity in business has not only contributed to his individual success but has also been an active factor in the development of the community. As a business man he has been conspicnous among his associates not only for his success but for his probity, fairness and honorable methods. In everything he has been eminently practical and this has been manifest not only in his business undertakings but also in social and private life.
JOKUM JOHN MUNSON.
Jokum John Munson, president of the Munson-Kenney Company of Milwaukee, was born in the city of his present residence on the 7th of March, 1881. His father, John B. Munson, passed away in 1920, after a long and useful life. He was born in Bergen, Norway, and when about sixteen years of age came to the United States and located in Milwaukee. He was a ship chandler and sailmaker, being most skilled in that work, and he was descended from a long line of seafaring ancestors. His wife, the mother of Jokum .John Munson, was before her marriage, Anna Christensen, a native of Mil- waukee and a daughter of Jokum Christensen, who won prominence in the wood and coal business. Like the paternal grandfather, Mr. Christensen was a native of Norway and of a famous family, tracing back their ancestry many generations, to the time when the family resided in Chernagle, Germany. Mrs. Munson passed away in 1914.
The schools of Milwaukee afforded Jokum John Munson educational advantages and after putting his textbooks aside he worked for his father until reaching the age cf nineteen years. At that time he became associated with the Prudential Life In- surance Company for a period of two or three years and then resigned his position to enter business on his own account. He established a tent and awning business in association with Thomas S. Kenney, conducting it under the name of the J. . I. Munson Company, but the name was later changed to the Munson-Kenney Company, by which it is now widely known. The greater part of the original knowledge of the business was supplied by Mr. Munson's father, but gradually both partners became familiar with the business and now there is no phase of it on which they are not well informed. In 1916 the company was incorporated under the same name, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, Mr. Munson becoming president and Mr. Kenney, secretary and treasurer. The products of the firm are sold all over the United States and their spe- cialty is awnings. During the war they made covers for ammunition wagons.
On the 2d of October, 1916, Mr. Munson was united in marriage to Miss Rose Kathemann, a daughter of Bernhard Kathemann of Milwaukee. Mr. Kathemann was born in Germany and came to this country at an early date, hecoming associated with the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Munson : Mavis Rose and Jane Ann.
Mr. Munson maintains an independent course in politics, supporting the man he thinks best fitted for the office, without regard to party principles. Mr. Munson is an exemplary member of the Masonic order, belonging to Excelsior Lodge, No. 175, F. & A. M., of which he is senior warden; Excelsior Chapter, No. 40, R. A. M .; Galilee Com- mandery, No. 38, Knights Templars, of which he is senior warden; Kilbourn Council, No. 9. R. & S. M .; Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine; and he has attained the thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is likewise a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Wisconsin Lodge, No. 1, Knights of Khorassan and El Wakodis Temple, No. 165. For recreation Mr. Munson turns to hunting and fishing and he spends a great deal of his
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time with the Tripoli Patrol. Mrs. Munson is an Eastern Star, being a member of Electa Chapter, No. 75. In the club circles of Milwaukee Mr. Munson takes a prominent and active part and as a man interested in the development and improvement of his community he is numbered among the members of the Rotary, Milwaukee Athletic and Builders Clubs and the Association of Commerce. The activities of Mr. Munson's life have been those which make for honorable manhood, progressive citizenship and for success in business, and his sterling worth is attested by all who know him.
CHARLES RAYMOND MESSINGER.
Charles Raymond Messinger, vice president and general manager of the Chain Belt Company and thus actively associated with one of the important industrial interests of Milwaukee, comes to the middle west from New England, his birth having occurred in New Haven, Connecticut, October 27, 1883. His parents, Charles F. and Helen (Beecher) Messinger, were also natives of Connecticut, the father being a business man of New Haven.
Charles R. Messinger was educated in the public schools of his native city and in Yale University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906, receiving the Bachelor of Philosophy degree. Following his graduation he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was associated with the Harbison-Walker Refractories Company in the sales department and in the plant. There he remained until 1909, when lie came to Milwaukee and entered into active connection with the Sivyer Steel Casting Company as its secretary at the time of its organization, while later he became vice president and general manager, which position he still occupies, thus retaining active connection with a leading business enterprise of the city. On the 1st of January, 1917, he became vice president and general manager of the Chain Belt Company and has his office with that concern at the viaduct and Park street. This is one of the mammoth industrial interests of the city, employing about thirteen hundred people in the manufacture of concrete mixing machinery, conveying and handling machinery, chain belts and allied products, which are not only sold extensively throughout the new world but are found today in many foreign countries. Mr. Messinger has been active in the upbuilding and development of the business until it is one of the mammoth and profitable manufactur- ing interests of the state. He is also president of the Interstate Forge Company, vice president of the Federal Malleable Company and a director of the Electric Steel Com- pany of Chicago. His plans are carefully formulated, his activity intelligently directed and the results achieved are most satisfactory.
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