USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 42
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and suitably equipped to serve the public in many ways. Recently a substantial new building has been erected, adjoining the original blacksmith shop and in this new building in addition to commodious offices there are several departments for general repair work in both metal and wood and for the manufacture of new ma- terial as well. One feature of the business that is being developed at the present time is the repair of automobiles. A natural mechanic, Mr. Volkman has devel- oped his skill and efficiency to a high point and has also displayed marked execu- tive power and keen discrimination in the conduct of his interests.
RUDOLPH ZEDLER.
Rudolph Zedler is the organizer of the Rottel Refrigerating Machine Com- pany, a Milwaukee corporation, and is its present business manager. He was born in this city, August 24, 1884, and is a son of Hugo Zedler. He was educated in the public schools, being graduated from the old East Side high school, after which he completed a course in a business college and started as an active factor in busi- ness life when nineteen years of age. By the time he attained his majority he was the head bookkeeper, cost accountant and cashier of a manufacturing business. Feeling that better opportunity would come to him if his preliminary training were more thorough and comprehensive, he next attended the University of Chicago as a student in the departments of law, commerce, accountancy and general education. At the age of twenty-four years he was placed on the permanent staff of the Audit Company of New York, leaving his position to become secretary-treasurer of the Hugo Zedler Company of Milwaukee. Mr. Zedler later became the secretary and cost man of the Frank P. Turck, Incorporated, wholesale and retail meat business, but sold out his interest to become identified with the ice machine company, of which he was the organizer and which is operating under the name of the Rottel Refrigerating Machine Company. The company was formed in 1920, established its plant ready for operation in April, 1921, and during the first year of its business its progress and sales were phenomenal. Mr. Rottel, the general manager of the works, was the inventor of this refrigerating machine which is being manufactured, while Mr. Zedler remains as the business manager and his thorough acquaintance with the trade and his progressive methods are manifest in the splendid results which have been achieved by the new company. Mr. Zedler is also well known as auditor and business advisor for a number of Milwaukee concerns.
THEODORE DAMMANN.
One of the representative business men of Milwaukee is Theodore Dammann. secretary and treasurer of the American Granite Company, located at Fifteenth and Cleveland avenues. He is a native son of Milwaukee, where his birth occurred on the 4th of November, 1869, his parents being Rev. William and Emma (Streiss- guth) Dammann. His father, a native of Germany. came to Milwaukee as a mis- sionary in 1859 and founded the Lutheran churches of St. Peter and St. Jacobi and various others in the southern part of the county. His death occurred in 1894, at the age of sixty-five years. His wife was likewise a native of Germany and came to this country in 1856. Their marriage was celebrated in Milwaukee and she survived her husband until 1920.
Theodore Dammann received his early education in the parochial and public schools of Milwaukee and later entered Concordia College. Upon the completion of his studies he entered the employ of Kroeger Brothers, dry goods merchants, where he remained for three years and after becoming familiar with that line of business resigned to enter into business on his own account. He subsequently established a haberdashery business in the old Plankinton House, which he con- ducted for twenty years, achieving substantial success in that connection. In 1912 he was elected county treasurer and selling out his business served in that office for a period of six years.
Mr. Dammann is well known in musical circles of Milwaukee as a pianist and organist and is now serving as president of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. to which office he succeeded upon the death of Dr. Louis Frank, president of that institution for some time. Mr. Dammann was first connected with the school in the capacity of vice president, having been elected to that position upon the re- organization of the school in 1911. The Wisconsin Conservatory of Music is the leading institution of its kind in that part of the country, having a faculty num- hering fifty teachers, and is fortunate in having for its chief executive a man so widely liked and so well fitted for the responsibilities of the office as Mr. Dammnann.
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On the 30th of July, 1896, occurred the marriage of Mr. Dammann to Miss Alma Ulbricht of Milwaukee. To their union two children have been born: Ruth, who is teaching in the Milwaukee public schools; and Mildred, attending the State Normal School. Mrs. Dammann is prominent in the club and social circles of the city and has made frequent public appearances, being the possessor of a splendid soprano voice. She received her education along musical lines under William Boeppler and other well known teachers.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Dammann has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and the principles for which it stands. He has always taken an active and prominent part in its interests and was a dele- gate to the national convention in 1920, which nominated Harding for president. He is an outstanding figure in various associations, being president of the Lutheran Altenheim Association of Wisconsin, an institution affiliated with the Synodical Conference; has been president of the Wisconsin County Treasurers Association and is now the chief executive of the A Capella Chorus, one of the leading mixed choruses in the United States. He was one of the organizers of the American Lutheran Association and is still serving that body as an official. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, holding membership in the Apostle Congre- gation and his club affiliations are with the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Asso- ciation of Commerce. Fond of outdoor sports, he finds much of his recreation along those lines and outside of business hours devotes a large part of his time to his musical interests. The Dammann family reside at 3115 Clybourn street and their home offers unlimited hospitality to their many friends.
PETER J. BRAUN.
Peter J. Braun occupies a conspicuous position in business circles in Milwaukee as president of P. J. Braun & Sons, Inc., a concern widely known throughout the state for the manufacture of leather gloves and mittens. He was born near South Germantown, Wisconsin, on the farm of his father, Frank Braun, who passed away in 1919. Ilis grandfather, John Braun, was a native of Bingen, Germany, and came to the United States in 1837 when his son Frank was but two years of age and lived for two years in Erie, Pennsylvania. He then purchased a farm from the government in Washington county, Wisconsin, where he resided until 1897. Com- ing to Milwaukee, he died in this city in 1919. The mother of our subject was Mary Grode, whose demise occurred in 1918. She was likewise a native of Germany, having been born in Hesse-Darmstadt, a daughter of John Grode. She came to this country with her parents in early childhood.
In the acquirement of an education Peter J. Braun attended the district schools of South Germantown, also the parochial schools, and after putting his textbooks aside assisted his father on the home farm. He left the parental roof at the age of twenty-one years and for some time thereafter worked at the harness trade. The year 1889 witnessed his removal to Milwaukee, where he became associated with the Haelfor Glove Company, having hecome skilled in the making of fur gloves and mittens. For three or four years he remained in the employ of that firm and was occupying the position of foreman at the time of his retirement. Feeling that he would be successful in that line of work he then entered into the glove making business on his own account, founding what is now known as the Standard Glove Works of Milwaukee. For three and one-half years he was chief executive of the glove works hut resigned in 1898. In 1900 he again founded a business, which was known as the P. J. Braun Glove Company, and, becoming its president, he was active in its conduct for four years, when he sold out his interest and went to dairy farm- ing in Waukesha county for a year. At the termination of that time he returned to Milwaukee, where for the following two years he was active as superintendent of the Tabor Glove Company. He was then with the P. J. Braun Glove Company as superintendent until 1915, when he bought out the business, of which he has been chief executive ever since. In 1915 the name was changed to P. J. Braun & Sons. and on the 30th of December, 1919, it was incorporated with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, which was increased to fifty thousand dollars in 1921. The company engages in the manufacture of all kinds of leather gloves and mittens and also flexible shoes. Their business has grown to extensive proportions, and they have six representatives who cover the entire United States. Mr. Braun owes his success in business to his own determined effort, for he is a man of keen business and executive ability.
On the 28th of October, 1890. Mr. Braun was united in marriage to Miss Anna Elizabeth Hahn, a daughter of Martin Hahn. Her father was horn in Saxony but came to this country at an early day and for many years was superintendent of quarriers for the Schultz & Bond Lime Company. He offered his services to the
PETER J. BRAUN
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Union army during the Civil war and lost a leg in the battle of Gettysburg, then serving as a sergeant of the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin regiment. He passed away in 1916. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Braun eight children have been born. The eldest daughter, Clara, is now the wife of Fred A. Steinhoff, a farmer of Burlington, and they are the parents of five children: Catherine, Arthur, Rosalind, Florence and Genevieve. Alexander F. Braun is vice president of the glove company, having entered business with his father soon after putting his textbooks aside. He was born on the 7th of September, 1893, and received his education in the parochial schools. He is prominent in church work as a member of the Young Men's Society of St. Michael's church. Walter M. was born on the 24th of August, 1895, and after receiving his early education in the parochial schools of his native city entered the School of Engineering of Milwaukee and subsequently became a student of electrical engineering and economics in Marquette University. He is now serving as secretary and treasurer of the company. He is a member of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Knights of Columbus, and the Young Men's Sodality of St. Michael's church. Paul J. Braun was born June 26, 1898, and after completing his education in the Milwaukee parochial schools entered business with his father. Like his brother
Walter M., he took a course in Marquette University and is also active in the Knights of Columbus and the Young Men's Sodality of the St. Michael's church. Marie F. Braun was the fifth in order of birth. Alfred was born May 9, 1902. Elizabeth C. is now attending Holy Angels Academy after having completed her preliminary education in the parochial schools. Martin F., born on the 2d of Janu- ary, 1906, is now attending Marquette Academy.
Mr. Braun follows an independent course in politics but slightly favors the re- publican party. He is well versed on all questions and issues of the day but prefers to devote the greater part of his time to his family and business interests. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and they are communi- cants of St. Michael's parish. Mr. Braun is identified with no clubs or societies. In the conduct of his business he is meeting with such prosperity as is the reward of the man of industrious habits, who directs his transactions in accordance with high standards of commercial integrity.
JOSEPH F. SCHEUER.
Joseph F. Scheuer, president of Scheuer & Tiegs, Incorporated, was born in Kewannee, Wisconsin, February 27, 1863. His father. John G. Scheuer, was a native of Germany and was brought to Milwaukee when a lad of six years by his parents, who soon afterward settled on a farm near Mishicot, Wisconsin. John G. Scheuer was united in marriage to Miss Frances Paulu, a native of Bohemia and a daughter of Joseph Paulu. Both Mr. and Mrs. John G. Scheuer have de- parted this life.
Their son. Joseph F. Scheuer, pursued his early education in the common schools of Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, and afterward was graduated from the high school at Kewaunee, his native city. He then took up the profession of teach- ing, which he followed for a year, after which he became a bookkeeper for Frank Hamacheck, with whom he continued for four years. He then turned his atten- tion to mercantile business on his own account, forming a partnership with Julius Lindstedt and Isaac Craite, and was thus associated for three years.
It was at this time, on the 18th of May, 1886, at Mishicot, Wisconsin, that Mr. Scheuer was united in marriage to Miss Anna Seidel, and they have become parents of four children, namely: Paula, Edmund, Ralph and Lillian, now Mrs. Ben W. Zoerb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
April 22, 1889, the business was destroyed by fire. Later Mr. Scheuer became identified with mercantile interests and with the operation of a sawmill and car- ried on the business independently for one or two years. Subsequently, however, he returned to the employ of Frank Hamacheck, with whom he remained for two years, on the expiration of which period he removed from Kewannee to Plymouth, Wisconsin, where he was connected with the manufacturing business for about two years.
In 1892 he sold his interests at Plymouth and came to Milwaukee, where he went into the real estate business, conducting it for several years under his own name and later under the firm name of Scheuer & Kunz, Peter Kunz having ac- quired an interest in the business. After about three years of successful business under the firm name of Scheuer & Kunz, that firm was succeeded by a new organi- zation under the firm name of Schener & Grieb, Joseph G. Grieb being the junior partner. This firm of Scheuer & Grieb continued in the business for approximately three years and after a successful career Mr. Scheuer again took over the entire business. In 1905 Mr. Scheuer moved to Manitowoc county, took over the prop-
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erty that had for many years previous been conducted as a tannery, farm and mer- cantile business, as well as a hay and grain business, by the well known firm of Guido Pfister Estate, buying produce from the farmer and in turn selling all sorts of wares to the farmer. This business was conducted under the firm name of Two Creeks Trading Company, with Mr. Joseph F. Scheuer as president and manager of the company. Here Mr. Scheuer conducted a general mercantile and hay and grain business for about six years. In the meantime he disposed of the farm, hotel, blacksmith shop, hay and grain warehouses, as well as the bridge pier and the last disposition was made of the merchandising store and property. From here Mr. Schener moved to Two Rivers, where he remained for about two years, when he had the misfortune of losing Mrs. Scheuer by death. In 1916 Mr. Scheuer moved to Milwaukee again, embarking in the real estate business with offices in the First National Bank building and two years later he moved from this building to the northwest corner of Broadway and Mason, the present location of his office.
He has gained many patrons, building up a business of large and substantial proportions. In 1918 Mr. Schener took in as a partner, Arthur F. Tiegs, and shortly after this partnership organized what is today known as Scheuer & Tiegs, Inc. The firm has gained a creditable position among the realtors of the city and their suc- cess is steadily growing.
In 1917, Mr. Scheuer was married to Grace E. Smith, daughter of ex-Alder- man, Henry Smith.
Mr. Schener is to be commended for what he accomplished in the business world. Starting out without special advantages, his educational opportunities be- ing those accorded in the public schools, he has since steadily worked his way upward. All days in his career have not been equally bright. At times he has seen the storm clouds gathering which have threatened disaster, but he has been able to turn seeming defeat into victory and by the persistent and intelligent effort has so directed his labor and investments that he is today one of the men of affluence in Milwaukee, controlling important property interests and transfers and numbered with the leading realtors of the city.
PATRICK P. DONAHUE.
Patrick P. Donahue, president of the Donahne-Stratton Company, grain dealers of Milwaukee, was born in Walworth county, Wisconsin, May 27, 1863. His father, Thomas Donahue, a native of Ireland, came to the United States with his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Manion, and their eldest child. They resided for a time in Syracuse, New York, and afterward removed to Troy, Walworth county, Wisconsin, where the father followed the occupation of farming. He died in the year 1885, his wife surviving until 1890.
Patrick P. Donahue obtained a district school education in Walworth county and worked on his father's farm to the age of seventeen years. He then began learning the trade of a practical miller af Troy, Wisconsin, spending about three years in mastering the business. He afterward went to Palmyra, Wisconsin, where he operated a flonr mill for three or four years and during that period he was mar- ried. Subsequently he removed to Mason City, Jowa, where he resided for a year and then established his home in Marysville, Kansas, where he lived for two years, operating a flour mill at that place as he had in the other towns in which he resided. From Kansas he returned to Wisconsin and became an employe of Charles R. Lull & Company, whom he represented as a traveling salesman in con- nection with their grain, flour and feed business for a year. He was then given a position in the office and eventually became interested financially in the business" and was made manager of the flour and wheat department. He continued with that firm altogether for twelve years and then severed his connection with the house in 1907 to engage in business on his own account, having his office in the Chamber of Commerce building. After carrying on business independently for two years he formed a partnership with H. M. Stratton, and their interests were incorporated under the name of the Donahue-Stratton Company, with Mr. Donahne as president from the beginning and Mr. Stratton as vice president. They do a cash grain business and operate the two largest elevators in Milwaukee. In 1909 they leased the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway elevator A, of one mil- lion bushels capacity. and operated it successfully until it was destroyed by fire in January, 1921. They then leased the Rialto on the Chicago & North Western Railroad with a capacity of one million six hundred thousand bushels and the Kinnickinnic elevator with a capacity of one million four hundred thousand bushels. Mr. Donahne is the president of the Cooperative Orchard Company, which has a six hundred acre orchard at Sturgeon Bay. Of that tract of land five hundred acres is planted to sour cherries, being the largest sour cherry orchard in the United
PATRICK P. DONAHUE
Vol. III-25
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States. The balance of the land is planted to apples, plums and other fruits. Mr. Donahue is likewise interested in the Palmyra Enterprise, a weekly paper, which was established by his father-in-law, Oliver P. Dow, as a prohibition paper. He is likewise connected with a sheep feeding company at Manitowoc, feeding from five to ten thousand sheep at a time and also two hundred cattle. Mr. Donahue is the president of the feeding company and is thus controlling another large and important business enterprise. He is a man of marked capacity and power in business affairs, his, labors constituting a dynamic force in bringing about progress in the business life of Milwaukee and the state. He readily recognizes and utilizes opportunities, and as the years have passed he has achieved success that is most gratifying.
Mr. Donahue was united in marriage to Miss Nellie Dow, a daughter of Oliver P. Dow, of Palmyra, Wisconsin, who was engaged in the hardware business and was also editor and proprietor of the Palmyra Enterprise. He was a native of Massa- chusetts and died about 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Donahue have become parents of two children: Mildred and Lawrence D. The latter has charge of the Donahue-Stratton office in Chicago and he married Alaine Kallmeyer, a daughter of C. J. Kallmeyer, of Milwaukee.
Mr. Donahue has never been active in politics but maintains the position of a liberal democrat. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church. He loves all outdoor sports and greatly enjoys hunting, and he belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Milwaukee Club, the Blue Mound Country Club, the Ozaukee Country Club and the Lake Shore Gun Club. He is also a member of the Rotary Club and his interest in the welfare and progress of the city is manifest in his connection with the Association of Commerce.
HERMAN W. ROTTEL.
Herman W. Rottel is the president of the Rottel Refrigerating Machine Com- pany and the inventor of this modern perfected ice machine, which is sent out by the corporation. Mr. Rottel has long heen looked upon as a mechanical genius, a position to which his work justly entitles him. He was horn in Oldenburg. Germany, on the 11th day of March, 1876, and came to this country in 1891, at the age of fifteen years. He attended the Chicago School of Electricity, from which he was graduated and gradually he has developed bis powers and skill along mechanical lines, something of the breadth of his activities being indicated in the fact that he has been connected in his professional capacity with the Illi- nois Steel Company, the Pullman Palace Car Company, the Otis Elevator Com- pany and the T. A. Chapman Company, mechanical engineers. He is a man of careful deliberation and anything to which he turns his hand has the assurance of mechanical perfection. He took up the study of ice refrigerating machines and his methods and systems of refrigeration are designed to give the utmost results with the greatest simplicity. On the 17th of December, 1920, the Rottel Refrigerating Machine Company of Milwaukee was incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin and commenced business on the 3d of January, 1921. The factory was put in operation at the present location at 605 to 609 Walnut street in April, 1921. That year was a most successful one for the new business. The company
did as much business as the amount of cash capital invested during the first year and in addition increased its physical assets hy a like figure at the end of the year. The ice machine manufactured by the company is guaranteed as safe and odorless, utilizing the inexpensive and harmless carhonic gas which is commonly used in ice cream sodas. These machines are now in use in some of the repre- sentative business houses of Wisconsin and are a distinctive advancement in the science of mechanical refrigeration from the standpoint of efficiency, safety and economy of operation. The officers of the Rottel Refrigerating Machine Company are: Herman W. Rottel, president; Fred C. Fass, vice president; Rudolph Zed- ler, secretary; and Theodore Neuzerling, treasurer. The active management of the corporation is administered by Herman W. Rottel as general works manager and Rudolph Zedler, business manager. The practical management of the com- pany could not be in better hands. The improvements which Mr. Rottel has brought about as a result of his investigation and experiment are of a perma- nent character and bid fair to be far-reaching in the field of refrigeration. They strike the keynote of improvements demanded to increase the use of mechanical refrigeration and what has been accomplished by the company in the year 1921 argues well for a most successful future. A practical engineer, Mr. Rottel, under- stands refrigerating problems both from theory and many years of experience and as the inventor of this modern perfected ice machine he is today widely known throughout the country. The refrigerating machine is made in sizes from a half
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ton to fifteen tons for hotels, restaurants, hospitals, meat markets and all husi- ness houses where large refrigeration is needed.
In 1901 Mr. Rottel was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Brockmueller, a resident of Blue Island, Illinois, and they have become parents of six children: Irene, Alice, Norma, Leona, Herman and Lucile. He has never sought nor de- sired office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs and the thoroughness with which he enters upon any undertaking insures his steady advancement to his objective point.
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