USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 33
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Mr. Mielenz maintains an independent course in politics, favoring prohibition and law enforcement and supporting the candidate whom he regards as best quali-
ALBERT E. MIELENZ
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fied for office. In religious belief he is a Methodist, having membership with the Wesley church of Milwaukee since 1888, and he is now serving as one of its trus- tees. He served for some time as superintendent of its Sunday school and is now a member of the Area Council of the St. Paul area of the church. He belongs to the Gideons, has been national vice president and is now vice president of the state organization. He has likewise been president of the city organization, and he is a prominent member of the Young Men's Christian Association, with which he has been identified since 1884, serving now as a director of both the city and state organizations. He holds the chairmanship of the boys' work committee in the state association and was chairman of the same committee in the Milwaukee association for a period of twenty-five years. Mr. Mielenz has no fraternal relations, his time being devoted to his business affairs, his family interests and his church and kin- dred work; nor does Mrs. Mielenz attempt to figure in the social circles of the city, but their home at 175 Thirty-second street is always hospitably open for the recep- tion of their many friends.
CAPTAIN JOSEPH B. ZAWODNY.
The life record of Captain Joseph B. Zawodny is an interesting one, by reason of the important events with which he has been connected and the active part which he has taken in upholding various enterprises and promoting various well defined purposes for the public good. He was horn in Poland, March 18, 1881, a son of Albert and Sophie Zawodny. Having spent the first thirteen years of his life in his native country he crossed the Atlantic to America in 1894 with an uncle who had returned to Poland after living for a time in Milwaukee. It was the uncle's purpose to bring the parents of Captain Zawodny to the new world but they were both comfortably situated financially and did not care to make the removal. However, they allowed their son, Joseph, to accompany the uncle and thus Milwaukee gained a substantial citizen. He had previously attended the good German schools and he now speaks seven languages: German, Polish, Bohemian, Russian, Latin, French and English. His uncle promised to send him to college in Milwaukee but on arriving here he put him to work in his tailor shop, where Joseph B. Zawodny spent the succeeding four years, thoroughly learning the tailor's trade. In 1898, when war was declared with Spain, he volunteered, enlisting as a member of Company E, Fourth Wisconsin Infantry, in the month of July. He at once went with his regiment to Anniston, Alabama, and was there mustered out on the 1st of March, 1899. In April of the same year he enlisted in Company K, Wisconsin Infantry, known as the Kosciuszko Guards and served with that com- pany until 1902, when he was promoted to a second lieutenancy. In 1904 he was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant in the same company and with that com- mand he went to the Mexican border in 1916, being located during his period of service there at San Antonio, Texas. In October, 1916, he was sent by the gov- ernment to the state of Wisconsin on recruiting duty with six sergeants, having sub-stations at Madison, Beloit, Janesville, Racine, Kenosha and Camp Douglas, besides three stations in Milwaukee.
Captain Zawodny was released from the United States service in January, 1917, and transferred to the National Guard organization of Wisconsin. In May of that year he, received from the adjutant general of Wisconsin orders to organize a com- pany of infantry in Milwaukee on the south side. At that time there were two captains organizing companies on the south side and it looked as though it would be a difficult task for Mr. Zawodny to get a company together. However, he em- ployed what appeared to him the only method to accomplish results. He hired a band, gave concerts in the parks, also hired automobiles and made speeches until he had the young men of the community so enthused that in less than two months he had more than two hundred men enrolled. On the 19th of June, 1917, he was made captain of the company, which he organized and which became Company C. of the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry, and left Milwaukee for Camp Douglas on the 30th of July, 1917, being the first company out of the city. In August of the same year this company constituted the advance company going to Waco, Texas. When the reorganization took place at Waco, Mr. Zawodny was the only captain of his regiment who went through the service and returned to Wisconsin with his com- pany. By a single scratch of the pen they became a mounted organization with one hundred and ninety horses, thirty mules, eighteen caissons, two three-inch pieces, a rolling kitchen and a blacksmith shop and a harness shop. This company was composed of Polish people from Russia, Germany and Austria, and out of the command there were one hundred and three whom Captain Zawodny was instru- mental in having take out their citizenship papers. In January, 1918, they left Waco for Camp Merritt, New Jersey, being four days on the trip. Two of the bat-
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talions of the regiment got away on time but Captain Zawodny was with the third battalion and a snowstorm came up which blocked the road, cansing them to be four days late in arriving at Camp Merritt. Had this battalion been on time they were scheduled to leave on the Tuscania, the only boat which was sunk and which had on board two companies of his regiment, several of whose members lost their lives.
Captain Zawodny sailed on the Orduna on the 1st of February, 1918, and arrived at Liverpool, England, two weeks later. From there the command pro- ceeded to Winchester, a rest camp, which they left on the 21st of February, 1918. arriving on the following day at La Havre, France. They left there for Camp Coetquidan, France, for an intensive artillery training, being there stationed until June 10, 1918, in training for modern artillery warfare. They were equipped with French guns, horses and other needed supplies and left for the Alsace sector with headquarters at Roppe. From that point on the 3d of July they proceeded to the front and received their first baptism of fire at Reddy Farm, Chateau Thierry, being in the thickest of the fight of that memorable battle which turned the tide of war. It was here the American forces, hastily thrown in. checked the retreat of the French, bridging over the break in their line and stopping the advance of the Germans. They were ordered to change sectors on the 29th of August, 1918. and went to Juvigny, near Tartieres, where they worked with three different divi- sions. From that point they entered the St. Mihiel offensive, on which they were engaged from the 29th of August until the 7th of September, after which they proceeded into the Meuse Argonne forest, where was fought one of the most san- guinary battles of the war. From the 26th of September until the 11th of Novem- ber, they were in the thickest of the fight, being constantly under enemy fire until the armistice parley begun on both sides, When the actual fighting was over they were ordered to take the long expected march into Germany and were quartered at Rommersdorf, near Coblenz on the Rhine, there remaining until April 22, 1919, when they received orders for their return home and left for the embarkation camp at Brest. On the 1st of May they sailed, arriving in the United States on the 13th of May. Captain Zawodny went with his troops to Camp Merritt and after a rest of two weeks arrived at Camp Grant, near Rockford, Illinois, on the 30th of May. There he was mustered out on the 13th of June, 1919. and at the present time he is on the reserve list with the rank of captain, U. S. A.
In days of peace Captain Zawodny has been a designer of ladies' clothes for several years and in this connection has displayed marked business ability, bring- ing him a substantial measure of success.
In Milwaukee, in 1910, Captain Zawodny was married to Miss Frances Jagod- zinski, who was born in this city and is a daughter of Frank and Appolonia Jagodzinski, the former deceased. The captain and his wife have two children: Sophie and Stanley. In his political views Captain Zawodny is a democrat and re- ligiously is connected with the Polish Catholic church. He is a member of the Officers' Club of Foreign Wars. The military chapter in his career is a most inter- esting one. He has rendered valuable service as a member of the National Guard upon the Mexican border and later upon the western front in the great World war. No one has ever questioned his loyalty and his fidelity to his adopted coun- try, nor his devotion to any cause which he has espoused. Faithfulness is one of his marked characteristics and in times of peace he is as true to his country and her interests as he was when he followed the nation's starry banner overseas.
OTTO RATHMANN.
One of the pioneer granite men of Wisconsin is Otto Rathmann, vice president of the American Granite Company, located at Fifteenth and Cleveland streets. He was born in Gera, Germany, on the 11th of January, 1877. His father, Julius Rathmann, also a native of that country, is now residing in Milwaukee. For many years he engaged in teaching school and as an educator has won widespread promi- nence. He has compiled German textbooks for use in the Milwaukee schools, like- wise other schools in the United States, and he is now one of the directors of the American Granite Company. The Rathmanns were a literary family and the grand- father of Otto Rathmann was a publisher in Germany. Julius Rathmann came to the United States in 1883 and two years later the remainder of the family came to the New World. The mother of the subject of this review was Lina Schmidt, whose death occurred in 1917. She was born in Germany, a daughter of Justus Schmidt, and came to the United States two years after her husband.
Otto Rathmann received his early education in the schools of his native land and later attended the German-English Academy, In 1895 he was graduated from the East Side high school in Milwaukee and the following three years taught in
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the Milwaukee public schools. At the termination of that time he became asso- ciated with his present company, then known as the Milwaukee Monument Com- pany, as office manager. In his business fife being a persistent, resolute and ener- getic worker, possessing strong executive powers and a progressive spirit, he won constant promotion untit in 1903 he was made president. He was active in that office until 1920 and it was in 1905 that the company took its present corporate name, that of the American Granite Company. In 1920 John I. Beggs became president of the corporation and Mr. Rathmann is now holding the office of vice president. With extensive quarries at Lohrville and Granite Heights, Wisconsin, the corporation does a wholesale business in quarrying and preparing granite and its product goes all over the United States. In color the granite resembles mahog- any and it is known on the market as Wisconsin Mahogany Granite. This state is the third in the union in the production of granite monuments.
Mr. Rathmann has been twice married. On the 3d of July, 1903, he married Miss Charlotte Ludovici, a daughter of William Ludovici, and her death occurred on the 29th of December, 1919. Five children were born to their union: Otto R., attending the South Division high school in Milwaukee; Charlotte R., attending high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Elsa R., a student in the South Division high school in Milwaukee; Fritz R., enrolled in the Milwaukee public schools; and Robert R., a student in the Milwaukee public schools. On the 21st of June, 1921, Mr. Rathmann was again wedded, taking Mrs. Huidah Carlson for his wife. She is a daughter of Isaac Ofson, a native of Sweden, and was born in Granite Heights, Wisconsin, where her father was superintendent of the quarry owned by the Ameri- can Granite Company. Her father is still active in that position.
In politics Mr. Rathmann is an independent republican and although he is alive to the duties and responsibilities of a good citizen he has never taken an active part in political affairs nor has he desired public preferment. The religious faith . of the family is that of the Lutheran church. Mr. Rathmann belongs to the Elks and is identified with the South Division Civic Association, of which he is presi- dent, the Association of Commerce and the Accountants League. For recreation he turns to motoring and all outdoor sports and he is particularly fond of litera- ture and art. Mr. Rathmann is one of the best known men of Milwaukee, respected and honored for his conservative methods and sound business judgment. Mr. Rath- mann belongs to that class of men, who, equipped with a liberal education and innate business ability, have recognized the opportunities and possibilities before them. He has met the obligations of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, right conception of things and an habitual re- gard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.
AUGUST KIECKHEFER.
Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century and through the first two decades of the twentieth century August Kieckhefer was closely associated with Milwaukee, her interests and her development. As a contractor and builder he contributed to her architectural adornment and as head of the Kieckhefer Ele- vator Company he was a most active factor in promoting the commercial progress of the city. He was also prominent in political circles and he had many admirable traits that endeared him to his fellowmen to a degree that equalled the prominence which he gained in business circles. Mr. Kieckhefer was born in Milwaukee. April 1, 1854, being the second son of Charles and Justine Kieckhefer. The father, a native of Germany, came to the United States in April, 1851, and here took up the business of contracting and building, which he followed for many years. He was numbered among the pioneer residents of the city and his labors were an ele- ment in its continued development and improvement. Through an extended period he ranked with the leading builders of Milwaukee and he was recognized as one who made deep impress upon the progress of the city along many lines, owing to his public-spirited devotion to the general good.
August Kieckhefer was a pupil in the parochial and public schools of the Cream City and also attended the Spencerian Business College, thus being well qualified by thorough training for life's practical and responsible duties. He was only about fourteen years of age when he began learning the carpenter's trade, which he fol- lowed for six years. He gained an intimate knowledge of every phase of the busi- ness and at length began contracting on his own account with the result that many of the handsome structures of the city stand as monuments to his skill, ability and enterprise. He was the builder of the Immanuel Presbyterian church, also the Pfister block on Broadway, the Phillip Best Brewing Company plant on East Water street and in company with his brother, Charles, he erected the Exposition build- ing. For eight years he was a partner of Henry Buestrin in general contracting Vol. II1-20
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and building and the firm occupied a place of leadership in connection with their chosen field of endeavor. Turning his efforts in still another direction, Mr. Kieck- hefer in 1883 organized the A. Kieckhefer Elevator Company, filling the office of secretary and manager and contributing in notable measure to the success of the undertaking, the business becoming one of large proportions. In all that he attempted he displayed sound judgment coupled with untiring energy and he never failed to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertook, so direct- ing his efforts that he ultimately reached his objective. In 1892 he organized and incorporated the Milwaukee Brewing Company, which soon built up an exten- sive and profitable business and in 1894 he was elected by the directorate to the office of president of the company. He continued to serve as president of the A. Kieckhefer Elevator Company from 1895 until 1918, when he resigned the position. He afterward acted in an advisory capacity for about a year but with- drew from active connection with the business in 1919 when his sons took over the business and Mr. Kieckhefer retired. Another field of his activity was that of the iron industry, for in 1918 he became manager of the Globe Gray Iron Foundry Company and was elected president of the Wisconsin Foundrymen's Asso- ciation. In 1920 he withdrew from that position and sold out his interest in the foundry.
In June, 1876, Mr. Kieckhefer was united in marriage to Miss Anna Buestrin, a daughter of Henry and Catherine Buestrin, the former being president of the Buestrin Construction Company. Mr. and Mrs. Kieckhefer became the parents of four sons and five daughters: Emma, now the wife of George W. Phipps; Henry J .; Arthur C .; Edwin F .; Meta C .; August H .; Anna E .; Hilda L .; and Norma H. The interests of Mr. Kieckhefer centered in his family and he found his greatest happiness in promoting their comfort and welfare.
In his political views Mr. Kieckhefer was ever an earnest and stalwart repub- lican and his opinions carried weight in the councils of his party. He served con- tinuously for many years, beginning in 1884 as a public official. In that year he was elected to the common council and the value of his service is indicated in two subsequent reelections. He represented the seventh ward and supported all meas- ures that he believed were beneficial to the city's interest in any way. In 1892 he was elected register of deeds of Milwaukee county and discharged the duties of the office faithfully and efficiently for two years. Mr. Kieckhefer was a stock- holder in the Builders and Traders Exchange and also a prominent member of the Chamber of Commerce, cooperating heartily in every plan of that organization for the city's benefit and upbuilding. He belonged to the Elks Club and to the Milwaukee Athletic Club. His friends and all who met him in any relation of life found him a genial, courteous gentleman and many there are who attest to his kindly and sympathetic disposition. He was thoroughly reliable in all his dealings and was a man of pronounced views and marked force of character. He died very suddenly in the Northwestern depot in Chicago when ready to take the train to his home in Milwaukee, his death occurring July 16, 1921. He was sixty- seven years of age and had led a life of great activity and actuated at all times by a spirit of enterprise that made him a forceful factor in the community. Prog- ress was greatly promoted through his efforts and the public interests of Milwaukee were largely advanced by reason of the fact that Angust Kieckhefer was one of the residents of this city.
JOHN FORSYTH.
It has oft been said that death loves a shining mark and calls those whom we can ill afford to lose. Such was the feeling which spread over Milwaukee when it was learned that John Forsyth had passed away on the 14th of September, 1921. He was a young man of but twenty-eight years who had made for himself a most credi- table position in business circles and who had gained the respect and confidence of his fellowmen in every relation of life. Born in Milwaukee on the 17th of February, 1893, he was a son of Charles Sprague and Margaret (Knight) Forsyth, the latter a daughter of Bishop Knight, the fourth Episcopal bishop of the Milwaukee diocese. Charles Sprague Forsyth was born in Mobile, Alabama, and was a son of Colonel Charles Forsyth, who commanded a regiment in the Federal army and died when his son Charles was a young lad. The mother afterward came with Charles S. Forsyth to Milwaukee when he was still quite young and he acquired his education in the public schools of this city. After his school days were over he entered the leather business in connection with the William Becker Leather Company and re- mained in that association for several years, thoroughly acquainting himself with the various phases and details of the trade. In 1910 he organized the Forsyth Leather Company of Wauwatosa, of which he was made president, and as chief
JOHN FORSYTH
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executive officer he continued actively in the business to the time of his death, which resulted from an automobile accident on the 7th of November, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sprague Forsyth were the parents of five children: Elizabeth, the wife of John T. Johnston of Milwaukee; Jolin, whose name introduces this review; Mar- garet, the wife of Victor Morris of Milwaukee; William Herbert; and Charles Sprague.
John Forsyth obtained his education in the schools of his native city and when his textbooks were put aside in 1911 he joined his father in the leather business, starting out in a humble position in order to thoroughly learn everything connected with the trade. Steadily he worked his way upward until he was made secretary at the time of his father's death and this position he continued to fill until his own demise, which occurred on the 14th of September, 1921.
It was on the 2d of September, 1916, that Mr. Forsyth was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jordan, a daughter of Robert Anson and Edith (Taylor) Jordan, na- tives of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Forsyth became parents of three children: Mary Elizabeth. John, Jr., and Laura Sprague.
Mr. Forsyth was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, being the eldest son of the sixth generation of the descendants of Robert Forsyth, who was an officer of the Revolutionary war. The religious faith of Mr. Forsyth was indicated by his membership in All Saints cathedral and his political views were those of the repub- lican party. He stood loyally for every cause which he championed and every prin- cipie in which he believed. He was a young man alert and energetic, wide-awake to the possibilities that seemed to open before him, and yet he was cut down ere he had reached the prime of life. He leaves behind him a memory that is enshrined in the hearts of all who knew him, for his friends enjoyed his companionship to a marked degree and those who were associated with him in the closer circles of the home found him a dutiful son and a faithful and loving husband and father.
EDWARD R. RYAN, M. D.
Dr. Edward R. Ryan, who as a representative of the medical profession is devoting his attention to the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear and nose, was born August 31, 1892, in the city in which he still makes his home. His father, Daniel F. Ryan, is a well known resident of Milwaukee. The son was accorded good educational privileges and is a graduate of the Marquette Academy, while later he won his Bachelor of Science degree on completing a course in the Mar- quette University. He then became a medical student in that institution and gained his professional degree in 1917. Immediately afterward he joined the United States navy in the regular service and was with the navy for more than three years, receiving his discharge at the Annapolis Naval Academy on the 13th of May, 1920, with the rank of lieutenant. During six months of the time he was with the Grand Fleet on the United States Battleship Arkansas.
The war over, he came to Milwaukee, where he opened an office in the Provi- dence building and has since concentrated his efforts and attention upon the treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat. His ability in this field is pronounced and he is most conscientious in the performance of all of his professional duties. He helongs to the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Med- ical Society and the American Medical Association and he is serving on the faculty of the Marquette Medical College in connection with the eye department and also as a member of the staff of the Milwaukee County Dispensary.
Dr. Ryan has membership in the Roman Catholic church and he also belongs to the Knights of Columbus and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He enjoys a game of golf and other outdoor sports and by reason of this outdoor exer- cise maintains that even balance in physical development which is so necessary in the performance of the arduous labors that devolve upon the physician and surgeon.
ANDREW OSWALD.
Andrew Oswald, who passed away in Milwaukee. December 6, 1918, was for many years in public office and was at all times faithful and capable in the dis- charge of the duties that devolved unon him. He was born in Wittenberg, Ger- many, June 6, 1836, and was a young man of twenty years, when in 1856 he came 10 America. The year following his arrival on the shores of the new world he made his way to Milwaukee and in 1860 he here engaged in the shoe business, in which he continued without interruption for more than a half century, or until
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