History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 38

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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ADOLPH LANDAUER.

The firm of Adolph Landaner & Son, merchants, is one of the representative business interests of Milwaukee. Mr. Landauer has long been prominent in the commercial circles of the city and is a man to whom life is earnest and purposeful. A native of Germany, he was born in Bavaria on the 27th of March, 1847, a son of Joseph and Mathilde ( Wasserman ) Landauer. On both paternal and maternal sides the ancestors were rabbis for many generations and the paternal ancestry may be traced back over one hundred years. His father, Joseph Landauer, passed away in 1853, at the age of forty-seven years. He was a rabbi and a most devout student of his religion. His wife was born in Germany and her demise occurred also in 1853. Her father was Rabbi S. Wasserman.

The public schools of his native town afforded Adolph Landauer an education until he was twelve years of age, when he removed to Stuttgart and attended the commercial college there for three years. He then became an apprentice in a mercantile concern conducted by some relatives, established for the manufacture of corduroy and velvets. He remained in that connection until 1863, when he became a traveling salesman for a woolen house. In everything he undertook Mr. Lan- dauer achieved a substantial success and in 1866 he determined to seek his for- tune in the United States. He located first in Madison, Wisconsin, where he resided for a year and then removed to Milwaukee, where he accepted a position as clerk for the S. Klanber Retail Dry Goods Company and was active in that connection until 1867. In that year, however, he determined to go into business on his own account and with his brother Max hought out the business and changed the name to Landauer & Company. The success of this venture seemed assured from the start and the company is still in existence, although in 1869 both brothers retired from the firm and entered the jobbing business. The brothers were associated in that line of work until 1900, when Adolph Landauer withdrew from the firm and

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established a dry goods business under the name of Adolph Landauer & Son. Mr. Landauer specializes in silks and dress goods, and acting upon his belief that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement, he has built up an extensive and ever increasing trade. Seven traveling salesmen are always in the employ of the firm and their territory extends over ten states.

On the 18th of October, 1871, occurred the marriage of Mr. Landauer and Miss Bertha Boguslawsky, a daughter of Marcus Boguslawsky, a native of Russia who came to Milwaukee at an early day and here won prominence in mercantile circles. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Landauer, Matty and Joseph Adolph. Matty is now the wife of Dr. Carl Holty of Milwaukee and they are the parents of a son, Carl Robert, who is an artist of ability, having already achieved some recognition as a painter of landscapes. He enlisted for service during the World war as a sergeant in the infantry, but he did not get across to France. The son, Joseph Adolph, is in business with his father. He married Agnes Berg, a daughter of Morris Berg of Chicago.

Mr. Landauer gives his political allegiance to the republican party and his religious affiliation is with the Temple Emanu-El in Milwaukee. Fraternally he is an exemplary member of the Masonic order, belonging to Wisconsin Lodge No. 13, A. F. & A. M .; Wisconsin Chapter No. 7, R. A. M .; and Wisconsin Council No. 4, R. & S. M. As a man interested in the social and civic development of the com- munity in which he resides he is connected with the Chamber of Commerce, being one of its oldest members. He has been active in its affairs for a period of over fifty years. He likewise holds membership in the Wisconsin Club, is a member of the Federated Jewish Charities, of which organization he was chief executive for three years, the Hebrew Relief Association, of which he is now vice president, and of the Schlaraffia Milwaukia, which he is serving as master of ceremonies. He is of a musical and literary turn of mind and to that end finds pleasure in the Maen- nerchor and German Press Club. Other interests in addition to his dry goods business make demands upon his time and he is president of the German Theatre Company. The residence of Mr. and Mrs. Landauer at 639 Jefferson street con- tains one of the finest libraries in the city, for both are lovers of good music and good literature. Mrs. Landauer is a woman of much culture and refinement and is a linguist of ability, being able to speak fluently German, English and French. The interests of Mr. Landauer are broad and varied, and while he has always found time to cooperate in any measure for the general good, he has at the same time carefully promoted his individual interests, becoming a prominent and prosperous business man.

FREDERICK J. GAENSLEN, M. D.

Dr. Frederick J. Gaenslen, a distinguished orthopedic surgeon of Milwaukee, was born December 7, 1877, in this city, a son of Julius Gaenslen, now a well known leather merchant here. The father was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1866. He married Matilda Hummel, also a native of that country, whence she came to the new world about 1869. Their marriage was celebrated in Milwau- kee, where they have since made their home.

At the usual age Dr. Gaenslen entered the public schools and, passing from grade to grade, eventually was graduated from the East Side high school with the class of 1895. He pursued his academic course in the University of Wisconsin and won the Bachelor of Science degree in 1899, having completed a four years' course at Madison. He next matriculated in the Johns Hopkins Medical College at Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued until 1903, during which period Dr. William Osler was one of his teachers. He afterward became an interne in the German Hospital in New York city, where he continued from October, 1903, until May, 1906, gaining valuable experience through his practice there. In 1900 he was a student in the Harvard summer school and in every possible way, through public and private study and through individual research and investigation, he has promoted his knowledge and increased his efficiency. Since 1906 he has been en- gaged in private practice in Milwaukee, continuing in general practice until 1912, since which time he has specialized in orthopedic surgery, displaying marked skill in this field. He studied abroad in 1912, coming under the instruction of some of the eminent medical authorities of London, Berlin and other cities. He is serving on the staff of Columbia Hospital, the Children's Hospital, Mount Sinai and the Milwaukee Hospital also the Milwaukee County Hospital and the Bradley Memorial Hospital at Madison, the Methodist Hospital at Madison and is consulting ortho- pedic surgeon of the Wisconsin State General Hospital at Madison. Thus his hos- pital work, like his private practice, is extensive and of a most important char- acter and he is regarded as an authority on orthopedic surgery in this state.

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During the World war Dr. Gaenslen served on the local advisory board. He has been a frequent contributor to medical journals and his articles are always of interest to those who desire to keep in touch with the most advanced thought of the profession. He belongs to the Milwaukee Medical Society, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Milwaukee Surgical Society, the American Medical Association and is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Orthopedic Association.

In the year 1909 Dr. Gaenslen was married to Miss Clara F. Schock of New York city, and they have become parents of two children, Eleanor and Frederick (., aged, respectively, eleven and seven years. In religious faith Dr. Gaenslen is a Lutheran and along social lines he is connected with the Milwaukee University Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Ozankee Country Club. He wins warm friends among the laity and in professional circles and he is ever generous and kindly toward his professional brethren, appreciating and encouraging advancement and efficiency on the part of all.

JAMES P. MCKANE.

James P. McKane, secretary and treasurer of the McKane-Lins Company, en- gaged in trunk manufacturing in Milwaukee, belongs to that class of inen to whom determination, enterprise and diligence have constituted the basis of success. His entire business career has been marked by the steady progress that follows the possession of these qualities.

He was born in Darlington, Wisconsin, October 31, 1882, and is a son of Patrick and Mary ( McWilliams) McKane. The father, a native of Ireland, came to the United States when about twenty-eight years of age and settled in Wisconsin, where he was an accountant. He died in the year 1903. His widow, who still resides in Milwaukee, was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, a daughter of James McWil- liams, a native of Ireland, who became one of the early settlers of Lafayette county, Wisconsin, where he became famous as a stock raiser.

James P. McKane acquired his early education in the St. John's school at Mil- waukee and in McDonald's Business College, where he prepared for the duties of a practical commercial career. He was first employed by Romadka Brothers, trunk and traveling goods manufacturers, as a salesman for about four years, at the end of which time he took over the business in conjunction with Christian J. Lins, his present partner. This was in the year 1911 and in 1912 they incorporated the business under the name of the MeKane-Lins Company. They have three retail stores, handling trunks and traveling goods of all sorts. They also operate a factory where they manufacture trunks and leather goods and also the "Kamlee" line of automobile trunks, which is now nationally known. They find market for their product throughout the United States and Canada and they are today the most extensive handlers of high-grade trunks in Milwaukee and are successors to the old- est established business in their line-that of Romadka Brothers, which was founded in 1848.

On the 4th of February, 1912, Mr. McKane was united in marriage to Miss Almira Henrich, a daughter of August Henrich, who is a native of Germany and a mechanic of Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. McKane now have two children: Hugh, horn November 8, 1914; and Catherine, born November 9, 1916.

The family is of the Catholic faith, attending St. Sebastian's church. Mr. Mc- Kane maintains an independent course in politics, never allying himself with any

party and never seeking or desiring office. He belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, to the Rotary Club, to the Milwaukee Lodge of Elks and to the Association of Commerce. He is also fond of outdoor life and spends much of his time at his country home at Lake Beulah, where he has a beautiful place of two acres bordering on the lake. He is especially fond of fishing and is an enthusiastic motorist and turns to these pursuits for pleasure when leisure permits.

ERNST CLARENBACH.

Ernst Clarenbach is president of the Hotel Medford Company, the Hotel Martin Company and the Ernst Clarenbach Systems Company. He was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, on the 2d of July, 1874, a son of Ernst and Lina ( Koehler) Clarenbach, both deceased. His grandfather, Raphael C. Clarenbach, was a manu- facturer in Germany and his father, Ernst Clarenbach, was horn in Westphalia, Germany, and came to the United States at the age of twenty years. Soon after reaching the shores of the new world he made his way to Wisconsin, locating in

JAMES P. MCKANE

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Sheboygan, where he engaged in the real estate and loan business and where for a period of eleven years he served as register of deeds for the county. His demise occurred in 1890.

The public schools of Sheboygan afforded Ernst Clarenbach, the subject of this review, a preliminary education and after graduating from the high school there with the class of 1893 he entered the Milwaukee Normal School. After completing his course there he accepted a position as clerk in a bank at Sheboygan and was active in that connection for a short time when he established a collection busi- ness on his own account and operated it for a year. He then made his initial step into the hotel business, taking over the Foeste Hotel in his native town and after four years spent in its management became associated with F. J. Matchette in the operation of the Palmer House at Fond du Lac. This latter connection he main- tained for four years and then, selling out his interest, Mr. Clarenbach bought stock in the St. Charles Hotel of Milwaukee, and subsequently bought the lease on the Blatz Hotel. While in the hotel business he devised what is known as the Claren- bach System of Hotel Accounting, which is now being installed on a correspond- ence school basis, but to which Mr. Clarenhach devoted his entire time, personally introducing the system throughout the United States and Canada, for four years after severing his connection with active hotel operations. In 1913 Mr. Clarenbach again entered the hotel business and, organizing a company, took over the lease of the Hotel Martin in Milwaukee, in the operation of which he is still active, and which was doubled in size in 1921. In 1918 he also took over the Hotel Medford under a corporation he had founded for that purpose and has developed his busi- ness interests to extensive proportions. Since 1913 he has reorganized the Claren- bach System of Hotel Accounting, putting it on a correspondence basis, with offices in the Hotel Martin. The system is one of cost accounting and covers every de- partment of a hotel. Its coprighted books and blanks are used in every state in the Union and Mr. Clarenbach has also published a textbook on accounting for country hotels, which is in wide use. He is chairman of the committee for uni- form system of hotel accounting for the Northwest Hotel Men's Association and chairman of a special committee of the American Hotel Association, while for some time he served as president of the Milwaukee Hotel Association.

On the 2d of July, 1898, occurred the marriage of Mr. Clarenbach and Miss Hildegard Wolf, a daughter of Christopher Wolf, a shoe manufacturer of Sheboy- gan. Two children have been born to their union: Marie, a graduate of Downer Seminary; and Ernst, attending the Milwaukee Normal School. A man of broad intelligence and industry, Mr. Clarenbach is most faithful in the performance of every duty assigned him. He has always upheld every interest and measure which lie has deemed of benefit and value to the community and the many sterling characteristics which he has displayed have gained for him the friendship and high regard of those with whom he has been associated.

JOHN J. McGOVERN, M. D.

Dr. John J. McGovern, who is on the staff of the Emergency Hospital and of the Martha Washington Home and in his private practice is associated with his brother, Dr. P. H. McGovern, with offices at No. 221 Grand avenue, was born on a farm near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, February 14, 1864. and was the fifth in order of birth in a family of six sons, whose parents were Lawrence and Ellen (Wren) McGovern, both of whom were natives of Ireland and have passed away. In addition to their six sons there was one daughter in the family and three of the sons and the daughter are living.

Dr. J. J. McGovern was reared on his father's farm and attended the country schools during his early boyhood. He afterward taught school for three years and thus earned the money to continue his education with a college course. He spent a year and a half in the academic department of the University of Wisconsin and later was for two years a student in Rush Medical College of Chicago. He then matriculated in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania and at the end of a year's study was graduated with the M. D. degree as a member of the class of 1893.

Dr. McGovern at once located in Milwaukee, where he has remained in the general practice of medicine for twenty-eight years. He was first associated with Dr. Dwight Mereness, the partnership being maintained until the latter's death in 1901. Since then he has maintained offices with his brother, Dr. P. H. McGovern, each with his private suite of rooms but a central reception room. From the be- ginning Dr. McGovern has enjoyed a large practice of an important character. He is surgeon for the Soo Line Railroad, is doing important work as a member of the staff of the Emergency Hospital and of the Martha Washington Home and in addi-

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tion has a large private practice. He belongs to the Milwaukee County Medical Society, of which he has been president, also to the Sioux Railroad Surgical Society, the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, the Wisconsin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Through the proceedings of these bodies he keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress and is famil- iar with the latest scientific researches and investigations. Dr. McGovern is a member of the Medical Reserve Corps, becoming a member during the World war. He also belongs to the Medical Veterans of the World war.

In November, 1899, Dr. McGovern was united in marriage to Miss Grace Ellen Neilson and they have become the parents of five living children: Margaret G .; John N. and Francis H., twins; Isabelle A .; and Allan W. The three eldest are pupils in the Milwaukee high school.

Dr. McGovern is a republican in his political views and he is a Mason of high rank, having become a Knight Templar and a member of the Consistory as well as of the Mystic Shrine. He is loyal to the teachings and high purposes of the craft and has ample opportunity to exemplify the principles of Masonry in the course of his active and useful life.

JESSE ALFRED SMITH.

Jesse Alfred Smith, president of the Jesse A. Smith Auto Company of Milwaukee, was born on his father's farm in Racine county, October 2, 1871. He is a son of Warren H. and Amelia C. ( Hunt) Smith, who are residents of Waukesha. The former is a son of Jesse A. Smith, who was born in Vermont and became one of the pioneer settlers of Wisconsin. Warren H. Smith followed farming in early life but later removed to Waukesha, where he has filled various local offices and is now liv- ing retired. His wife, a native of Racine county, is a daughter of Alfred Hunt, who was a well known farmer of that locality.

Jesse A. Smith attended the district school at Caldwell, Racine county, until thirteen years of age, at which time his parents moved to Wankesha and his educa- tion was continued at Carroll College and the Milwaukee Business College. After finishing school he was associated with his father for some fifteen years in the hotel and livery business at Waukesha. He next turned his attention to the automobile business in 1910 and for a year was sales manager for the Buick Motor Company. In 1911 he established business independently and organized and incorporated the Jesse A. Smith. Auto Company of Milwaukee. They now handle and distribute the Hudson and Essex cars, with Wisconsin and upper Michigan as their territory, and the business has been steadily growing until it is now one of substantial propor- tions.

On the 24th of October, 1895, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Elizabeth C. Cahill, a daughter of Michael Cahill, of Waukesha, who was of Irish descent. They have one adopted child, Hawley, born in 1905 and now a student in the North- western Naval and Military Academy at Lake Geneva.

The religions faith of the family is that of the Catholic church, their membership being in St. Robert's parish at Shorewood. Mr. Smith is a republican in politics but not an office seeker. He belongs to the Blue Monnd Country Club, the Milwaukee Conntry Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Association of Commerce. He greatly enjoys a game of golf and when leisure permits is seen on the links. In fact he is a lover of all manly outdoor sports and an enthusiastic motorist. He is well known among the automobile dealers of the country, having been a director of the Milwaukee Automobile Dealers, Incorporated, for ten years and its president for two years, while for four or five years he served as treasurer. He is now president of the National Automobile Dealers of America and his initiative and enterprise have enabled him to be of great benefit to the trade at large. He closely studies every phase of the business and the signs of the times bearing upon the automobile industry and his opinions are sound, his sagacity keen and his judgment reliable and far-reaching.

WILLIAM KAUMHEIMER.

William Kaumheimer, attorney at law and now (1920) president of the Mil- waukee Bar ' Association, was born in Houston, Texas, April 22. 1869, a son of Jacob and Lissette ( Klein) Kaumheimer, the former a native of Bavaria, while the latter was born in Baden, Germany. They came to this country in early life. however, being married on this side of the Atlantic. For a time they were resi-

JESSE A. SMITH

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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

dents of Philadelphia and afterward removed to Houston, Texas, whence they came to Milwaukee in 1874. Both have passed away.

William Kaumheimer acquired a limited education in the public schools, spend- ing one year as a high school pupil in Milwaukee, but at the age of thirteen started out to provide for his own support. This was in 1882 and he was employed in the real estate office of Benjamin M. Weil, with whom he remained for about six years. On the expiration of that period he entered the employ of the Milwaukee Harvester Company, with which he continued until 1895, and that he made wise use of his time and opportunities is indicated in the fact that he devoted his evening hours to the study of law and attended the Milwaukee Law Class, now a part of the Mar-

quette University. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1894, and entered upon active practice in connection with O. T. Williams, with whom he remained for eighteen months. He then hegan practicing alone and so continued until 1918, when he became senior partner in the firm of Kaumheimer & Kinney, the junior memher thereof being Reginald 1. Kinney. Mr. Kaumheimer has been very suc- cessful in his law practice. He has never sought political office nor attempted to figure in any public light outside the strict path of his profession but has confined his attention solely to his legat interests and his devotion to the interests of his clients has become proverbial. That he enjoys the highest regard, confidence and goodwill of his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession is indicated in the fact that he was elected president of the Milwaukee Bar Association in 1919.

On the 22d of June, 1898, Mr. Kaumheimer was married to Miss Elsie Katzen- stein, a native of Platteville, Wisconsin, and they have become parents of a son, Leon, who is with his parents at No. 630 Stowell avenue. Mr. Kaumheimer is a member of the Milwaukee Athletic and City Clubs, also of the Benevolent Protective Order of Etks and of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the degrees of lodge and chapter, being a loyal follower of the beneficent teachings of the craft. He has always done his share as a citizen in community interests and his aid has ever been on the side of progress and improvement. He has served as a member of the board of trustees of the Milwaukee public library since 1916. He was chair- man of the legal advisory board of Milwaukee county during the World war and has been president of the Legal Aid Society since its organization in 1916. He has been connected with the organization providing for a sane Fourth of July cele- bration and he was the first chairman of the Community Christmas Tree celebra- tion, acting in that capacity for two years. Everything which tends toward general progress and improvement receives his endorsement and his cooperation has at all times been counted upon as a factor in plans for the general good. In fact his labors have been far-reaching and resultant and the worth of his efforts is ac- knowledged by all.

H. V. KANE.

II. V. Kane, a lawyer, was born at Milwaukee, December 18, 1879. He gradu- ated from Marquette College with the A. B. degree in 1899; in the postgraduate department of Georgetown University, he won his A. M. degree in 1901, and the Ph. D. and LL. B. degrees in 1902. He was admitted to the bar and began prac- tice in 1902. His wife is Marion E. Kane, and his daughters are, Mary Catherine Kane and Elizabeth Kane.

CHARLES J. COFFEY, M. D.

Dr. Charles J. Coffey, physician and surgeon, specializing in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat in Milwaukee, was here born July 15, 1870, and is a son of Michael J. and Catherine (Sullivan) Coffey, the former a native of Quebec, Canada, while the latter was born in Vermont. Both have passed away. The father was a hauling, teaming and cartage contractor and fol- lowed that business throughout his life.

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 38

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