History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 2

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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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

the firm style of F. Borgwardt & Son. At his death he was succeeded by his two sons, who still successfully continue in the business. Fred J. Borgwardt was a stalwart supporter of the republican party but did not seek nor desire office as a reward for party fealty. Both he and his wife were carnest and consistent members of the Lutheran church and gave generously to its support and to all good work done in the name of charity or religion. Mr. Borkwardt belonged to the Wisconsin State Funeral Directors' Association. On the 2d of May, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Frederica Niemann, daughter of Christian and Sophia (Lembke) Niemann of Milwaukee, both of whom were natives of Germany. They became parents of six children: Clara, the wife of Reinholdt Racdisch; George F .; Fred C .; Elsie; Ervin; and Rose, who died at the age of four years. The father of these children passed away on the 26th of October, 1909.

The two sons who are now in partnership were reared and educated in Milwaukee and learned the business under the direction of their father, who was one of the pioneer business men on National avenue. At his death they took over the business which he had established and have continued it to the present time. They are both enter- prising and progressive business men, studying at all times the most scientific methods of their business, and their success has come as the result of close application, thoroughness and enterprise.

Both the brothers are married. George F. married Miss Ella Pick and they have two children, Irma and George, Jr. Fred C. Borgwardt was united in marriage to Miss May Dinnauer of Milwaukee, and they have one son, Frederick. George F. Borg- wardt is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of Pythias, while Fred C. Borgwardt belongs to the Knights of Pythias, also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the G. U. G. G. Germanias. He has a wide acquaintance in the city in which his life has been passed. Both brothers are well known here and enjoy the respect and confidence of all, not only those wbom they have met in a business way but those with whom they have social relations. They represent a family that has been connected with Milwaukee for more than a half century and they have each, for more than a third of a century, been witnesses of the growth and progress that has marked . the history of this city.

JOHN J. SEELMAN, M. D.

Dr. John J. Seelman, physician and surgeon of Milwaukee and now president of the Milwaukee County Medical Society, was born in Port Washington, Wisconsin, November 12, 1877, and is a son of George Seelman, manufacturer, who is president of the George Seelman & Sons Company of Milwaukee and is mentioned elsewhere in this work.

Dr. Seelman was six years of age when brought to this city, where he has since made his home. Determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work he prepared for his chosen calling in the Milwaukee Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1901. He has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Milwaukee for a period of more than two decades and has maintained his office in the Iron block for the past five years, having a well equipped suite of rooms for offices and laboratories. He makes a specialty of laboratory diagnosis, having one of the largest and best equipped laboratories not only in the west but in the entire United States, and he has attained to a position of distinction in this field of scientific service. He belongs to the Wisconsin State Medical Society, to the Tri-State Medical Association and to the American Medical Association.

On the 20th of June, 1905, Dr. Seelman was united in marriage to . Miss Mar- guerite Reynolds, who was born in Milwaukee and represents one of the old families of the city. Her paternal grandfater was one of the first to establish a home at Greenfield. Dr. and Mrs. Seelman have two daughters: Margaret and Eleanor, aged respectively fifteen and twelve years. Fraternally the doctor is connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a past chancellor in the former organization.

EMANUEL D. ADLER.

Occupying a prominent place on the stage of mercantile activity in Milwaukee is Emanuel D. Adler, the treasurer of the wholesale clothing firm of David Adler & Sons. He was born in this city in 1854, two years after his parents, David and Fannie ( Newbouer ) Adler, arrived in Milwaukee. Both were natives of Austria and after re- siding for a few years in New York they came to Milwaukee. Extended mention of David Adler is made on another page of this work.

EMANUEL D. ADLER

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

The son, Emanuel D. Adler, is indebted to the public school system for his early educational opportunities. He afterward attended the German-English Academy, also the Milwaukee Academy and the Spencerian Business College. When seventeen years of age he became an active assistant of his father in the clothing trade and through the intervening period has been identified with the firm. When the business was re- organized he and his two brothers were admitted to a partnership under the firm style of David Adler & Sons and following the death of the father, Emanuel D. Adler became treasurer of the company and has since acted in that capacity, while Isaac D. Adler is president and general manager; S. D. and B. F. Adler, vice presidents; and Henry M. Obendorfer, secretary and credit man. The continued growth of the business led to a removal to their present location at Buffalo street and Broadway, where more than double their previous floor space was secured. They do not manufacture goods at this location but use the entire space for store rooms and offices, while their seven manufactories are scattered in various parts of the city. Their trade extends through- out the United States and the house is represented by traveling salesmen in New England, in the Mississippi valley, in the south and in the northwest. Their business has constantly expanded in its scope and today the goods of the Adler house are found in almost every section of the country. Those in the service of E. D. Adler regard him more in the light of a friend than as an employer. He never refuses a salesman an interview and it is a well known fact that no worthy applicant seeks his aid in vain, for he possesses the spirit of true democracy and is ever willing to extend a helping hand.

On the 3d of May, 1888, Emanuel D. Adler was joined in wedlock to Miss Clara H. Schloss ef Detroit, Michigan, and they have become parents of four children: Frederic Emanuel, Helen Theresa, Frances Elsie and Carol Janet.

Mr. Adler gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has held the office of public debt commissioner for five years. He is generally found among the leading spirits in any plan or project instituted to promote the welfare of Milwaukee, withholding his active aid and cooperation from no movement for the city's advance- ment. He is prominently identified with all charitable organizations and is now serving as vice president of Mount Sinai Hospital. His name is on the membership rolls of the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club, and the Oconomowoc Country Club and he is popular in the social circles in which he moves. His business affairs, however, have made him most widely known and aside from his connection with the wholesale clothing trade he is one of the trustees of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and vice president of the National Straw Works.

FRANK HOLDEN MEADOWS.

Milwaukee has enjoyed a notable period of growth and development in con- nection with its manufacturing interests during the last quarter of a century or more, previous to which time its manufacturing was largely confined to its brewing and tanning interests. Many important industries, however, have sprung up which have made the city one of marvelous growth in the past twenty-five years. Contributing to this growth is the Meadows Heating Company, of which Frank Holden Meadows is the secretary and manager. He was born in East Troy, Wisconsin, September 6, 1877, and comes of English ancestry, his grandfather having been William Meadows, who was born in England. The father, George Meadows, now living retired in East Troy, Wisconsin, was born in the Empire state and came to Wisconsin with his parents about 1855. There he conducted a hardware store for some time. He married Eliza- beth Holden, a daughter of John Holden, a native of England, in which country Mrs. Meadows was also born. Her father was a great traveler and crossed the ocean twelve times. Mrs. Meadows passed away in the year 1910.

Frank H. Meadows obtained his early education in the public schools of East Trey, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, while eventually he became a student in Beloit College at Beloit, Wisconsin, where he was graduated in 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He afterward spent a year in the Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland, where he pursued a medical course, at the end of which time he returned to Milwaukee and entered the employ of the Lindemann & Hoverson Company as office assistant in the heating department. There he remained for ten years, during which time he won various promotions until he became assistant manager of the department. In 1911 he bought out that department of the business at No. 497 East Water street and incorporated it under the name of the Meadows Heating Company. In 1916 he removed to his present location, where a substantial business has since been carried on. They are heating contractors and engineers and their patronage comes from all parts of the state.

On the 24th of May, 1911, Mr. Meadows was married to Miss Bertha Parker of Indianapolis, Indiana, a daughter of Justus B. Parker, advertising manager for the

IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

American Thresherman. Mrs. Meadows passed away May 17, 1914, leaving a little daughter, Betty Jane, who is now a student in the East Troy school.

In politics Mr. Meadows may be termed an independent republican, for while he usually supports the men and measures of the republican party he does not consider himself bound to any particular leadership, exercising freedom of thought and opinion in the use of his franchise. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist and fraternally he is connected with the Elks and the Eagles. He also belongs to the Sigma Chi, a fraternity of Beloit College, and he has membership in the Association of Commerce. Along business lines he is identified with the Heating and Piping Contractors Associa tion in its local, state and national branches and he is now a member of the board of directors of the national organization. He is fond of motoring and touring, enjoys out- door sports and is a public spirited citizen, who during the war took an active and helpful part in all drives. The major part of his life has been spent in the middle west and in his business career he has always exemplified that spirit of progress and determination which have characterized the upbuilding and development of this section of the country.

GUSTAV E. STRANDT.

Gustav E. Strandt, president and general manager of the Milwaukee Dairy & Supply Company, is thus identified with an industry which has been one of the chief factors in bringing Milwaukee into commercial prominence and making it known through the world as the Cream city. Mr. Strandt claims Wisconsin as his native state, for his birth occurred in the town of Cedarburg, December 9, 1875, his parents being Ernst and Wilhelmina ( Detman) Strandt, both of whom were natives of Germany, They came to the new world in childhood and the Strandt family settled on a farm near Cedarburg, in which locality Ernst Strandt for many years carried on agricultural pursuits.

Gustav E. Strandt pursued his education in parochial schools but his opportunities in that direction were very limited. He was reared on the home farm and the urge of necessity prompted him early to take his place as a factor in the work of the fields, assisting in the early spring planting and in the cultivation of the fields until crops were gathered in the late autumn, having little time to attend school. When he was twelve years of age he began working in the Cedarburg Woolen Mill for thirty-two cents per day, his day's work covering ten hours. He was there employed for about two years, after which he obtained a position in the Cedarburg Planing Mill, receiving a little better salary there. He worked there for two years and at the age of sixteen he left the parental roof with a cash capital of sixty-five cents. Already he had had considerable experience in the business world and had developed self-reliance and industry far beyond that attributed to most lads of his years. Making his way to Milwaukee he paid fifty cents of his precious capital for his railroad fare and had in his possession but fifteen cents when he reached his destination. His financial condi- tion rendered it imperative that he obtain immediate employment and he started out to seek work. He soon secured a job with the Rockwell Planing Mill at five dollars per week and at a later period he entered the employ of the Cream City Planing Mill. In the meantime he was experimenting with patents and when but eighteen years of age had displayed much skill and ingenuity in that connection. It was at that time that he organized the Cedarburg Milk Company and for fifteen years was engaged in the business. During this entire period he continued his experimenting on dairy machinery and has produced many styles of dairy machines, which he did not put upon the market, however, for lack of funds. He patented what is known as the Milwaukee sanitary bottle filler and capper, which has become known all over the world and was the first rotary milk bottle filler and capper invented. Many firms have attempted to imitate this but such a course is an infringement on Mr. Strandt's rights. Mr. Strandt had no path of roses before him. He encountered obstacles and difficulties which would have discouraged many a man of less resolute spirit but perseverance, courage and determination enabled him to continue on his way. He labored night and day to get his patent completed, selling his home for funds and borrowing money from his friends but in the end he has won the victory and is now enjoying the success of his inventions. Today the company of which he is the head has a large factory with modern buildings and is doing an excellent business, while its goods are sent to all parts of America, also to England, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, South America, Panama and other lands. Mr. Strandt has given his entire time to his business, having little leisure for social activities.

On the 10th of December, 1898, Mr. Strandt was united in marriage to Miss Dora Nero, a native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and they are rearing four adopted children, which is indicative of the kindly spirit and benevolent purpose which has actuated their lives. These children are: Norval, eleven years of age; Harold, who is nine;

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GUSTAV E. STRANDT

Vol. III-2

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Hertha Strandt, aged six; and Dorothy Strandt, aged four. Mr. Strandt is a member of the Bethany Lutheran church and is serving on the church board. His entire career has been actuated by devotion to high ideals and to a notahle sense of duty and what he has accomplished is the direct result of capability, guided by intelligence and by the highest principles of integrity and honor.

AUGUST FREY.

August Frey, president of the Fairbanks-Frey Engraving Company of Milwaukee, has held to the highest standards in workmanship and in the matter of service rendered to the public. His ability in this field is pronounced and the business, of which he is one of the proprietors, is now one of gratifying proportions.

Mr. Frey is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He was born July 22, 1884, of the marriage of Theodore Frey and Marie Kraft, both of whom were natives of Germany. Theodore Frey came to the United States in young manhood and was employed as a salesman in the east, residing in New York for a time hefore removing to St. Louis. There he made his home until 1889, when he took up his abode permanently in Mil- waukee, residing here to the time of his death in 1910.

August Frey pursued his education in the Milwaukee public schools and was graduated from the German-English Academy. He then went to work as a salesman for an engraving company, with which he remained for three or four years and later he opened an art studio in the Pereles building, in which he continued for about a year. In 1900 he became associated with C. T. Fairbanks and opened an art studio in the Sentinel building. After about a year they put in an engraving plant and in- corporated their interests under the name of the Fairbanks-Frey Engraving Com- pany. Mr. Fairbanks retired from the business in 1911 and since that date Mr. Frey has been the president. The company conducts an art and engraving business, doing work of various kinds and displaying at all times high artistic skill. Their patronage largely comes from Milwaukee and near-hy towns and their business is one of very gratifying proportions.

On the 7th of December, 1905, Mr. Frey was married to Miss Ella Welky, a daughter of Anton Welky of Milwaukee, who was a native of Bohemia. Mr. Frey maintains an independent course in politics, voting for men and measures rather than party and never seeking nor desiring office. He belongs to the Milwaukee lodge of Elks, also to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and to the Association of Commerce, being in hearty sympathy with all of the plans and purposes of that organization for the upbuilding of the city and the advancement of high municipal standards. He hunts and fishes, being fond of all manly outdoor sports but the demands of his business leave him comparatively little leisure time. He is ever seeking legitimate methods whereby to develop his business and enhance the worth of his work and today the Fairbanks-Frey Engraving Company is recognized as a leading concern in connection with the engraving business in this state.

JACKSON G. GILMORE.

For only a brief period has Jackson Gardner Gilmore been identified with the business interests of Milwaukee but already he has become established as a progressive and enterprising man and substantial citizen through his connection with the Nokol Company of Wisconsin, of which he is the founder and president. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, September 15, 1890, and represents one of the old families of that state. His paternal grandfather, Judge William J. Gilmore, was a justice of the supreme court of Ohio. He was born at Gilmore Mills, in Rockbridge county, Virginia, and it was in the '50s that he accompanied his parents on their removal to the Buckeye state, where for many years he made his home, winning prominence as an able lawyer and jurist. His son, Clement R. Gilmore, was born in Eaton, Ohio, and was educated in Wooster University, completing liis course by graduation with the class of 1882. He then studied law with his father and afterward entered upon active practice in Columbus, while subsequently he removed to Dayton, Ohio, where he served for several terms as prosecuting attorney. He was also treasurer of the Ohio Bar Association from 1900 until his death, which occurred in April, 1919. His long continuance in this office indicates most clearly the esteem and honor accorded him by his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession. He married Ellen Porter Gardner, who was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, a daughter of George W. Gardner, of the grain firm of Clark, Gardner & Rockefeller. Mr. Gardner has also figured very prominently in public life, serving as mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. He is widely known as a yachtsman and was the original promoter of yacht racing on the Great Lakes. He controlled business

IIISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

interests of great extent and importance, becoming a director of many banks and steamship companies subsequent to his partnership with John D. Rockefeller.

Jackson Gardner Gilmore obtained his early education in the schools of Eaton, Ohio, and later studied in the Steele high school in Dayton, from which he was graduated in 1908. He next matriculated in the Ohio State University, where he won his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. During his college days he became a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was also a member of the junior and senior honorary societies-the Bucket and Dipper and the Sphinx. He was president of the Varsity O Association. When his textbooks were put aside he went into the shops of the United Engineering & Foundry Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he spent nearly a year as a working student. He afterward became a working student with the Oxweld Acetyline Company, the Linde Air Products Company and the Union Carbide Company. His next position was that of assistant to the vice president of the Stewart-Warner Speedometer Company of Chicago. In 1915 he established business on his own account at Columbus, Ohio, representing the Stewart-Warner Company, the Willard Storage Battery Company and the Westinghouse Electric Company as district representative. He sold that business in 1917 and became district salesmanager of the Carbo-Hydrogen Company of Chicago, with which he remained until 1920, when he removed to Milwaukee and organized and incorporated the Nokol Company of Wis- consin. He has since been the president and his territory covers Wisconsin and upper Michigan. He handles the Nokol, a device for automatic oit heating, the only one of the kind that is on the fire underwriters' list of approved appliances. It is manu- factured by the Steam Corporation of Chicago. Already Mr. Gitmore has gained many patrons and his thoroughly satisfied customers are an advertisement for the business which is steadily growing.

On the 27th of June, 1913, Mr. Gilmore was married to Miss Harriett Crimmins of New York, a daughter of John D. Crimmins, a teacher and later a successful miner of Alaska, who was born in Maine, in 1860. Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore have become parents of two sons: Clement R., born January 30, 1915; and William Hastings, born February 16, 1920. Mr. Gilmore has usually been an advocate of democratic principles but has never sought nor desired office for himself. He has membership in the Congre- gational church and he belongs to the University Club and the Milwaukee Athletic Club. He has always enjoyed aquatic sport and he still follows baseball and occasion- ally plays a game. enjoying all manly outdoor sports. He is a lover of music and art and thus the interests of his life are varied, keeping him in touch with the trend of the world progress along many lines. He has never held to any false ideas concerning the methods of success but by legitimate efforts carefully directed has won a credit- able place which he now occupies in the business circles of his adopted city. His training has been thorough and comprehensive in some of the largest establishments in his line in the country and unfaltering industry has constituted the ladder on which he has climbed.

EARL CHARLES JANKE.

Earl Charles Janke, with a tendency to discount his own accomplishments, is nevertheless recognized as a resourceful and capable business man, one who through his own efforts has worked his way steadily upward untit he stands today as the president and treasurer of the Janke Shoe Company, one of the important mann- facturing interests of the city. His entire life has here been passed, and his record is as an open book which all may read. Diligence and determination have been numbered among his sterling characteristics from early boyhood. and his persistency of purpose and intelligently guided efforts have been the potent forces in the attain- ment of his present day prosperity

Mr. Janke was born on the 9th of May, 1875, a son of August and Emilie (Gruen- wald ) Janke, both of whom were natives of Germany, in which country they were reared and married. They came to the United States in 1874, and the mother passed away in this city in 1912.

Earl C. Janke obtained his early education in the public schools and when still quite young began earning his living as a shoe cutter for the firm of F. T. Neubert & Com- pany, with whom he remained for four years. On the dissolution of that firm he joined Mr. Neubert in a new business enterprise and continued with him for two years as a shoe cutter. He next became identified with the V. Schoenecker Boot & Shoe Company, for whom he worked for seven years, after which he spent a year in the employ of Bradley & Metcalf. This was followed by two years' connection with the Rich Shoe Company, and later he was identified with the Mayer Boot & Shoe Company for a similar period. Removing to Chicago, he there entered the employ of R. P. Smith, with whom he con- tinned for a few months, and then established business on his own account in that city, making burial shoes. At the end of six months be moved his plant to Milwaukee and

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 2

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