USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 36
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Victor W. Alexander pursued his early education in the public schools of Mil- waukee and started out in the business world as an office boy in the employ of the Milwaukee Harvester Company, with which he remained for a year. Later he was associated with the Milwaukee Trust Company for fifteen years and rose to the posi- tion of teller. In 1917 he severed his connection with the trust company and has since concentrated his entire time and attention upon the interests of the Corpora- tion Coupon Envelope Company. Three years before leaving the trust company he had undertaken the work of formulating and developing this business, which has now grown to extensive proportions. The company manufactures the Victor "coupon in sight" envelopes and this is the only business of the kind in the country. His services in this connection have been extended to nearly three thousand institutions in every state in the Union. Mr. Alexander has invented and constructed special machines for the manufacture of the product and the enterprise has fast become one of the important productive industries of the city.
On the 6th of April, 1912. Mr. Alexander was united in marriage to Miss Helen Raduenz, a daughter of August Raduenz, of Milwaukee, and they now have one child, Carol Jane. In politics Mr. Alexander maintains an independent course, nor has he ever sought or desired office. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical church. Fraternally he is connected with Harmony Lodge No. 142, A. F. & A. M .; Calumet Chapter, R. A. M .; Ivanhoe Commandery, K. T .; and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Association of Commerce and is inter- ested in its efforts to promote the civic standards and activities of the city. He is a lover of music and displays marked skill as a violinist, possessing a natural gift in that direction which was further developed through study under an old German master. He has found much of the pleasure of life in music and he also enjoys various phases of nature and the outdoor life, including motoring and canoeing. His initiative spirit has been manifest in the development of a business unlike that of any other in the United States and by reason of his thoroughness, enterprise and sagacity he has won substantial success in instituting and directing a new business concern.
HENRY FINK.
Henry Fink, octogenarian and one of the honored citizens of Milwaukee, is, like a great percentage of the residents here, of German birth and lineage and like the large number of those who came from the fatherland to the new world he has been most loyal to the interests of his adopted country. When America was in the throes of Civil strife he wore the blue uniform that pronounced him a defendant of the Union cause and in later years he most capably served for a long period in public office. Now at the age of eighty he is enjoying well earned rest in an honorable retirement from labor. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 7, 1840, bis parents being John Engelhart and Catherine (Dielmann) Fink. The first twelve years of his life were spent in his native country and then he came to the United States in company with his parents, who established their home on a farm in the town of Oak Creek, Milwaukee county. Farm labor then largely occupied the time and attention of Henry Fink until he reached the age of twenty, when he came to
VICTOR W. ALEXANDER
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the city, securing the position of a porter in a store in Milwaukee. He was thus employed until Angust 17. 1862. For more than a year the country had been en- gaged in Civil war and feeling that his first duty was to aid in the preservation of the Union he enlisted as a private of Company B, Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Infantry on the 17th of August, 1862. On the 5th of October of the same year the regiment left Wisconsin for the south, going direct to Fairfax Court House, where the com- mand was attached to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Eleventh Army Corps. With that command Mr. Fink participated in some of the hotly contested battles of the war. He took part in the expedition to Thoroughfare Gap, was at New Balti- more and Warrenton. On the 27th of April, 1863, the Eleventh Corps under com- mand of Major General O. O. Howard left Stafford Court House and entered upon the Chancellorsville campaign, crossing the Rappahannock river at Kelly's Ford. On the 1st of May the corps took position on the right of the Federal line, bearing the brunt of the terrible onslaught of the Confederate forces under General "Stone- wall" Jackson. At length the Union line wavered and then fell back and in the attack Mr. Fink was wounded, a musket ball piercing his right arm and rendering it useless. He was then sent to the field hospital at Falmouth, where he received medical and surgical aid and on the 7th of January, 1864, he was transferred to Harvey Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, there continuing until he received an hon- orable discharge May 10, 1864, being no longer fit for military duty at the front.
Mr. Fink at once returned to Milwaukee and through the intervening years has been variously connected with business and public interests. In 1878 he began dealing in land and in addition to his activity in the field of real estate he also be- came financially interested in the Wilkin Manufacturing Company, makers of ma- chinery.
Mr. Fink's capability for public office led to his election for service as a member of the county board of supervisors. He was elected on the republican ticket and filled the office from 1870 until 1874. Two years later he was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature and in 1877 he received appointment to the position of United States marshal, filling the office during the administrations of Presidents Hayes, Garfield and Arthur. He retired on the 10th of May, 1885, and then after a period of four years was again called to office in his appointment on the 13th of June, 1889, as collector of internal revenue for the first district of Wis- consin. His incumbency in that position covered a quarter of a century. He re- tired in 1914 and since that time he has devoted some attention to the manufacture of chemicals in partnership with his son, Edward, but is now practically retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil.
Mr. Fink has been married twice. On the 3d of May, 1866, he wedded Miss Catherine Streiff, who passed away in 1883, leaving three children: Albert, a violinist; Edward, who is in business in Wauwatosa; and Emma. On the 12th of September, 1883, Mr. Fink wedded Miss Rosa Blankenhorn, a native of Cedarburg, Wisconsin.
For a period of almost threescore years and ten-the Psalmist's allotted span of life-Henry Fink has lived in the Badger state and this entire period has been passed in or near the city of Milwaukee. There are few men who have longer wit- nessed the growth and progress of this section and at all times he has given his influence and his work to aid in measures for the public good. His life record covers a most momentons period in the history of city, state and nation. Great, indeed, are the changes in the methods of life of today from that of his boyhood. He has lived to witness the introduction of many inventions which have revolutionized trade and commerce and he has rejoiced in every forward step taken. His own record is a creditahle one of faithful service and faithful performance of duty in every iela- tion of life. He was long a public official and his course in office was ever char- acterized by the utmost fidelity to duty.
ROLAND F. COERPER.
Roland F. Coerper is the president and general manager of the Western Motor Supply Company, engaged in jobbing in automobile accessories and supplies at Nos. 434-36 Jefferson street. Throughout the period of his residence in Milwaukee he has been active in connection with the automobile industry and by reason of his close application, his thoroughness, his persistency of purpose and his progressive- ness he is meeting with substantial success in his present undertaking. He has al- ways lived in Wisconsin, his birth occurring in Hartford, Washington county, on the 3d of March, 1889, his parents being John C. and Adah (Johns) Coerper. His grandfather in the paternal line was Christopher Coerper, a native of Germany, who became a resident of Milwaukee at an early day. The father, John C. Coerper,
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now living in Hartford, where he is engaged in the lumber business, was born in Milwaukee and is a representative of a family that has been closely associated with the business development of the city and state for an extended period. J. C. Coer- per is also interested in Coerper Brothers Lumber Company here, having been the original purchaser. He is also director in the North Avenue State Bank. The grandfather, Christopher Coerper, was a carriage-maker, while two of his sons, George C. and William F. Coerper, are engaged in the lumber and banking business in this city, connected with the North Avenue State Bank. The father of Roland F. Coerper is the president of the City Bank of Hartford and all are men of pro- gressive and enterprising spirit, who carry forward to successful completion what- ever they undertake, while their labors constitute an important force in public progress and upbuilding as well as in the advancement of their individual fortunes. John C. Coerper was united in marriage to Adah Johns, who passed away in 1921. She was a daughter of August Johns, a native of Germany, who at an early day settled at Hartford, Wisconsin.
It was in the public schools of his native city that Roland F. Coerper began bis education, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, while later he attended the Stout Training School at Menomonie and was graduated from the high school of that city. When his textbooks were put aside he became his father's assistant in the lumber business, working in that way for a year at Hartford, after which he matriculated in the University of Wisconsin and completed his course there in 1912, becoming a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity during his college days. From Madison Mr. Coerper came to Milwaukee, where he entered the employ of the Milwaukee Motor Company, becoming stock manager, a position which he filled for a year. In 1914 he organized and incorporated the Western Motor Supply Company, of which he has since been president and general man- ager. They are jobbers in all kinds of automobile hardware, tires, equipments and tools, their territory covering Wisconsin and upper Michigan. They are the largest exclusive jobbers in the section covered and the business is enjoying a substantial growth under the steady directing hand of Mr. Coerper, who closely studies every feature of the trade and the market and hy honorable business dealing and progres- sive methods has gained a very liberal patronage.
On the 31st of May, 1913, Mr. Coerper was married to Miss Alice Ringling, a daughter of August Ringling of the firm of Ringling Brothers, proprietors of the far-famed circus. Mrs. Coerper was born in Minneapolis and by her marriage has become the mother of two sons, Roland F. and Philip Ringling. Mr. Coerper belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, of which he is treasurer and is also a mem- ber of the board of directors. He is likewise a director of the Rotary Club and of the Blue Mound Country Club and he also has membership in the Wisconsin Club and the Milwaukee Gun Club. His name is on the membership list of the Asso- ciation of Commerce and his cooperation is heartily given to all the well organized plans and projects of that body for the city's upbuilding, the extension of its trade relations and the advancement of civic standards. One of his marked characteris- tics in his love of music and he also takes an active interest in the production of amateur theatricals. While in the University of Wisconsin he was production and general business manager of the Wisconsin Dramatic Society. He has frequently had charge of entertainments given by the Milwaukee Athletic Club. His wife was a classmate of Mr. Coerper in the University of Wisconsin and she, too, displays considerable dramatic ability and talent along theatrical lines. She was graduated from the University of Wisconsin with the Bachelor of Arts degree and is a lady of liberal culture. During the World war Mr. Coerper made a one hundred per cent record in war work activities among the automobile men, having charge of that division and participating in every campaign. In days of peace he is equally loyal to the interests of the government, standing at all times for those forces which make for progress and improvement in the community, the commonwealth and country.
JULIUS HOWARD PRATT, PH. D.
Julius Howard Pratt, member of the faculty of the Milwaukee University School, was born at Montclair, New Jersey, August 20, 1860. His parents, Julins Howard and Adeline F. ( Barnes) Pratt, were natives of Connecticut but in 1858 removed to New Jersey, where they spent their remaining days.
Professor Pratt was reared in his native city and obtained his early education in the schools of Montclair, after which he attended Yale University and was there gradnated in 1882. During his student days he became a member of the Psi Upsilon, being identified also with Beta Chapter of Psi Upsilon fraternity and the Wolf's Head Society of Yale and of Phi Beta Kappa. Following the completion of his university
JULIUS HOWARD PRATT
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course in 1882 he taught in the public schools of Montclair, New Jersey, for two years, after which he returned to Yale and devoted three years to postgraduate study, winning the Ph. D. degree in 1887. During a part of this time he also engaged in teaching and was instructor at Cornell University for the year 1887-88. Later he spent two years as one of the professors in the Illinois College at Jacksonville, Illi- nois, and in 1890 he came to Milwaukee, where he accepted the principalship of the Milwaukee Academy, continuing with that institution until 1909. He then assisted in organizing the high school department of what was then the German-English Academy now the Milwaukee University School and through the intervening period has been dean of the academic department. This school was founded by Peter Engel- mann in 1851 and has long been one of the strong educational institutions of the state. The highest standards are now maintained in methods of instruction, and Professor Pratt has been a contributing factor to the desired results secured.
In December, 1892, Professor Pratt was married to Miss Annie Barclay, a daugh- ter of D. Robert and Mary (Shepard) Barclay, of St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Pratt passed away in 1913.
In his political views Professor Pratt maintains an independent course. He was one of the charter members of the University Club of Milwaukee and also has membership in the City Club, the Art Institute, in the Schoolmasters Club, the Classical Association of the Middle West and Archaeological Institute of America. For many years he was a member of St. Paul's church. In every relation of life he has measured up to the highest standards of American manhood and chivalry and is a valued representative of one of the honored old New England families.
REV. PIUS STUTZER, O. M.
Rev. Pius Stutzer, pastor of St. Francis Catholic church of Milwaukee, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1878, a son of Joseph Stutzer, a well known teacher and organist. Rev. Father Stutzer was but ten months old when taken by his parents to Morrillton, Arkansas, where he lived to the age of eight years. He afterward went to Little Rock, where his father was a teacher in St. Edward's parish. It was there that Rev. Father Stutzer first attended school and he was but eleven years of age at the time of his father's death. His mother then sent him to his uncle in Pittsburgh, who was an organist, connected in his profes- sional capacity with Trinity church. In April of the same year he removed to Jersey City, New Jersey, and there Rev. Father Stutzer attended St. Peter's College, a Jesuit institution. Later removal was made to Yonkers, New York, where he continued for a year and next went to St. Lawrence College, Mount Calvary, Wis- consin, where he completed his college course. On the 21st of July, 1897, he en- tered upon his novitiate of the Province of St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order at Detroit, Michigan, where he continued for a year. At the end of that time he was transferred to Milwaukee to complete his studies in St. Francis monastery and was ordained to the priesthood on the 24th of July, 1904. Since then he has been stationed at St. Francis church, which under his guidance has steadily de- veloped in both a material and spiritual way.
ELMER L. ARNOLD.
Elmer L. Arnold, president and treasurer of the S. E. Tate Printing Company, which is conducting what has been termed the "most progressive and up-to-date printing establishment in Milwaukee," was born in Adams county, lowa, on the 5th of April, 1873, his parents being Charles B. and Mary R. Arnold, who were farming people of that state. The son completed his education by study in the high school at Creston, lowa, and in a business college and then started out to provide for his own support. He was first employed in country newspaper and job printing offices, acting as carrier on the papers and learning the trade in every phase and branch of the business. There is no work around a printing office that he has not done and his broad and thorough experience has constituted the founda- tion for his present-day success. Step by step he has worked his way upward and has from time to time reached positions of larger responsibility until today he is one of the most forceful factors in printing circles in Milwaukee, occupying the enviahle position of president and treasurer of the S. E. Tate Printing Company, having one of the largest and best equipped printing establishments of the state and controlling a business of large extent and importance. Neither has he con- fined his efforts solely to this line, although to manage an establishment of this character would be considered sufficient business activity by the great majority of
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men. Mr. Arnold, however, is now president of the Safety Truck Brake Company and he was one of the incorporators of the American Founders Securities Company, which elected him a director for the three-year period.
On the 20th of March, 1910, in this city, Mr. Arnold was married to Miss Mary Ellen Ward, a daughter of M. L. Ward of Columbus, Ohio. Their religious faith is that of the Methodist church and in political belief Mr. Arnold is a republican, supporting the principles of the party yet never seeking nor desiring office as a reward for party fealty. He is a prominent figure in Masonic circles in Milwaukee, having membership in Capital Lodge, No. 110, F. & A. M., of Des Moines, Iowa, while the advanced degrees have connected him with Wisconsin bodies. He be- longs to Wisconsin Chapter, R. A. M .; Wisconsin Commandery, K. T .; Des Moines Consistory, S. P. R. S .; and Tripoli Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Of the Optimist Club he is a director and the fact that he is identified with an organization of this character is indicative of his mental attitude on all questions. He has always looked on the bright side of things and has been actnated by a spirit of courage and determination that has enabled him to make the best possible use of his time and opportunities and to reach his objective in everything that he has planned.
GUSTAV A. HIPKE, M. D.
Dr. Gustav A. Hipke, physician and surgeon, specializing in diseases of women, has his office in the Wells building and is recognized as one of the foremost medical men of Milwaukee.
Dr. Hipke was horn on a farm in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, April 25, 1867. His father, Jacob Hipke, a native of Germany, came to the United States when a youth of eighteen years and first made his way across the country to Illinois, where he worked on the Illinois Central Railroad for a time. After spend- ing two years in that connection he returned to Germany and brought his widowed mother, Mrs. Margaret Hipke, and nine brothers and sisters to the new world. At this time the family settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Jacob Hipke after- ward devoted his attention to farming. Of this family, consisting of mother and ten children, only one is living, George Hipke of Erie, Pennsylvania, who has reached the age of seventy-three years. Jacob Hipke was united in marriage to Elizabeth Schroeder, a native of Germany, and both parents are deceased. They had a family of seven children, all of whom are living, and two of the sons are physicians, one of these being Dr. William Hipke of Marshfield, Wisconsin, An- other son, Arthur Hipke, is a druggist located at Chilton, Wisconsin, and Alfred T. Hipke is a prominent banker and owner of a canning factory at New Holstein, Wisconsin. The last named is the youngest of the four brothers. There are three sisters: Mrs. Anna Piper of Sheboygan. Wisconsin; Cecelia, who is living at New Holstein: and Milla, who is a trained nurse located in Honolulu.
Dr. Gustav A. Hipke, the fourth in order of birth in this family, was reared on his father's farm and began his education in the rural schools of the neighbor- hood, going two and a half miles to the nearest school until he had attained the age of sixteen years. The following year he began teaching in the school in which he had previously been a pupil and thus he earned the money with which he met his college expenses. He became a student in Lawrence College, a Methodist institu- tion at Appleton. Wisconsin, which he attended for three years and then entered upon preparation for a professional career by becoming a student in the Medical College of the State of Illinois, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1890. He at once began practice in Casco, Wisconsin, where he remained for eight years, and later he took postgraduate work in New York city, in Paris, Berlin, Vienna and London through a period of two years, coming under the in- struction of some of the most eminent physicians of both the old and the new world. Following his return to America he settled in Milwaukee in 1902 and has here been located for twenty years, having his office during the past fourteen years in the Wells building. He has specialized throughout this period on diseases of women and displays eminent ability in this branch of practice. He is the author of many treatises on medical topics and is a member of the teaching staff of Mar- quette University. He is also serving on the staffs of the Milwaukee Maternity Hospital and the Milwaukee General Hospital. His practice is now extensive and of a most important character, the profession as well as the public attesting the worth of his work and his high standing in his chosen branch.
On the 12th of August, 1890, Dr. Hipke was married to Miss Clara Belitz. who was born in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, and was formerly a teacher. Dr. and Mrs. Hipke lost a son and daughter in infancy and have two living sons, Lucius W. and Malcolm M. The former is a physician of Cleveland, Ohio, and was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin before beginning
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preparation for his professional career. He won his M. D. degree at the Western Reserve Medical School in Cleveland, Ohio. The younger son, Malcolm M., is now a student in the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Hipke finds his recreation in gardening through the summer months and in duck hunting in the fall. He is a Master Mason, loyal to the teachings and purposes of the craft, and he belongs to the University Club, in the membership of which he has many friends, Along strictly professional lines he is connected with the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Tri- State Medical Society, and is a charter member of the Society of Endocrinology, and he has been a most faithful and loyal follower of high professional ethics and ideals.
REV. AUGUST B. SALICK.
Rev. August B. Salick, one of the representatives of the Catholic clergy in Milwaukee, now having charge of St. Ann's church, was assigned to the present pastorate on the 16th of April, 1895, and has here remained through the inter- vening period of twenty-six years. He was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, July 29, 1859, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hepp) Salick, who were natives of Germany. The mother came to America when but four years of age in company with her parents, who in 1849 took up their abode in Wisconsin. The father crossed the Atlantic in 1850 and first settled in Milwaukee, where he resided for two years, after which he removed to Watertown, Wisconsin, the family home be- ing long maintained there.
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