History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 47

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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Upon reaching school age Charles William Pendock entered the parochial schools of Bristol, England, the Colston school there, and in due time enrolled in the M. V. T. C. division of the University of Bristol, where he specialized in mechanical engineering. After putting his textbooks aside he was apprenticed to the Midland Railroads of England, remaining with them for five years, at the end of which time he became associated with the Bristol Tramways & Carriage Company, having charge of the engine building department. Subsequently he accepted a position with Douglas & Company, manufacturers of shoe machinery and motor cycles, in its engineering department, but resigned that position to return to the Midland Railroads, where he engaged in engineering in the locomotive department. At about that time he determined to come to the United States and here try his for- tune, and as a result the year 1911 witnessed his arrival in this country. He first located at Cleveland, where for one and one-half years he was employed in the designing department of the Cleveland Automatic Machine Company, and in Octo- ber, 1913, he removed to Milwaukee. He was engaged in special engineering work for the Kearney & Trecker Company and later became engineer for the Milwaukee Machine Tool Company. He became associated with that concern when they first started to manufacture engines and was not only engaged as engineer but was made general manager. He was an important factor in the success of that con- cern and remained with them until October, 1916, when he became president of the Le Roi Company, which was founded at that time to continue the business of the Milwaukee Machine Tool Company. The company engages in the manu- facture of gas engines for automobiles, trucks, tractors and industrial and agricul- tural equipment, and they sell to manufacturers and distributors, their market extending over the world.

On the 17th of October, 1917, Mr. Pendock was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Engleman, daughter of Karl Engleman, vice principal of the West Divi-

CHARLES W. PENDOCK

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sion high school of Milwaukee, where Mrs. Pendock received her education. Her father was born in Frankfort, Germany, and emigrated to Milwaukee at an early day. He is still active as vice president of the high school. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Pendock one son, Charles Edward, has been born, his birth occurring on the 2d of April, 1919, and one daughter, Edith Doris, born May 20, 1921. Mrs. Pendock is prominently known in club and social circles of Milwaukee and is musically inclined, being a pianist of ability.

The political allegiance of Mr. Pendock is given to the republican party, and both he and his wife are consistent members of St. James Episcopal church. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, belonging to Excelsior Lodge, No. 175, of Milwaukee, and in the line of his work he holds membership in the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Society of Agricultural Engineers and the Engineers Society of Mil- waukee. Mr. Pendock takes an active interest in every movement for the general development and improvement and to that end is a member of the Association of Commerce. He is very fond of outdoor life and finds his recreation in touring and following various athletic sports. His thorough business qualifications and his well known executive ability are widely recognized in commercial circles of Milwaukee, and he is a typical young business man of the present age-wide-awake, energetic and resourceful, finding his opportunities in prevailing conditions, which he wisely utilizes.

GEORGE E. MORTON.

George E. Morton was born at Winneconne, Winnebago county, Wisconsin, January 5, 1868, but his parents removed to Omro when he was three years of age, so that his boyhood was spent in the latter place. His life has been passed in this state and he is now accorded an extensive law practice in Milwaukee. His parents were Charles Calvin and Lois Samantha (Olin) Morton. The father was born in Morley, St. Lawrence county, New York, while the mother's birth occurred in Waukesha county, Wisconsin. She was the daughter of Nelson Olin, who was one of the early settlers of Milwaukee, taking up his abode here in 1835, while two years later he removed to Waukesha county. Subsequently he went to Winnebago county, settling in the village of Omro, where he continued to reside until his death. On leaving the Empire state Charles Calvin Morton came to the middle west, establishing his home finally at Omro, Wisconsin, where for forty years he was engaged in the manufacture of sash, doors, blinds and millwork, heing numbered among the most respected business men at that place. He died December 15, 1914, and is still survived by his wife, who yet resides there. In the public affairs of the village he took an active and helpful part and served as village trustee and as a member of the school board for a number of years. When the country became involved in the Civil war in 1861 he joined the First Wisconsin Cavalry but after serving for less than a year became ill and was invalided nome. Upon his recovery, however, he reenlisted as a member of the Forty-eighth Wisconsin Infantry and saw active service in Missouri and Arkansas until the close of the war. He became a first sergeant and had been recommended for promotion to the rank of lieutenant just before the war ended.

George E. Morton, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public schools of Omro and pursued his preparatory course in Ripon College, which he attended for a year. He entered the University of Wisconsin in the fall of 1887 and was graduated from that institution in 1891, with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He immediately entered the University Law School, devoted the two succeeding years to law study there and received his Bachelor of Law degree in June, 1893, being at once admitted to practice in both the state supreme court and the federal court. In the fall of that year he opened an office in Omro, his home town, there remaining for a period of two years, practicing in the Winnebago circuit court. It was on the 2d of November. 1895, that he came to Milwaukee and here he has continued the active work of his profession. For a short time he was associated with A. C. Bell and Alvin C. Brazee. In 1909 he became a partner in the firm of Perry, Morton & Kroesing in the Majestic building, an association that was maintained for ten years. This partnership was dis- solved in 1919, since which time Mr. Morton has practiced alone, now having his office in the Security building.

On the 2d of November, 1897, Mr. Morton was married to Miss Mary Catherine Brown of Madison, Wisconsin, a daughter of Dr. Lindsey S. Brown, a well known oculist there. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Morton: Catherine, who is a senior in Ripon College; Ruth, who was graduated from the Riverside high school in 1921; and Mary Louise.

During the World war Mr. Morton was one of the Four-Minute speakers, serving in this capacity throughout the period of hostilities. He was also a director of the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion and served as president of the fifteenth ward branch in that

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organization. In politics he has always been an earnest progressive republican and in 1912 served as a member of the legislature during the special session. In 1920, how- ever, on the issue of a League of Nations for the peace of the world, he voted the democratic national ticket and stood for the United States going into the league with such reservations as seemed necessary to secure ratification. Along the line of his profession he is connected with the Milwaukee Bar Association, the Wisconsin State Bar Association and the American Bar Association and for seven years occupied the position of secretary and treasurer of the State Bar Association, resigning the office in September, 1920. He is a director of the City Club and a member of the Optimist Club and also of the Grand Avenue Congregational church. He belongs to various fraternal organizations, including the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. That lie is a man of broad humanitarian principles is shown by the hearty support and cooperation which he has given to many organized efforts for the public good. He has been for several years director and counsel of the Children's Home So- ciety, also a director of the Wisconsin Home and Farm School at Dousman, Wiscon- sin, and is chairman of the educational committee of that institution.

REV. MICHAEL J. GRAETTINGER.

Rev. Michael J. Graettinger, a well known representative of the Catholic priest- hood in Milwaukee, was born in this city on Christmas day of 1864, his parents being Alois and Anua (Seel) Graettinger. The father was a well known physician of Mil- waukee until 1897, when he retired from active practice in this city and removed to California. He passed away in Ontario, that state, in October, 1907, at the age of seventy-seven years. The mother was an invalid for the last twelve years of her life and died in St. Mary's convent at Thirty-fifth and Center streets in Milwaukee, in January, 1916, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years.

Rev. Michael J. Graettinger completed his preparation for the priesthood in St. Francis Seminary and was ordained on the 27th of October, 1887. As early as his fourteenth year he had decided that his vocation should be the priesthood and at the age of thirteen years he entered St. Lawrence College. Mount Calvary, near Fond du Lac, this being in the year 1877. The following year he began his second class of studies in St. Francis Seminary. He was assistant to the Rev. Michael Wenker at St. George's church in Kenosha, Wisconsin, from 1887 until 1889 and during the last year there, through the absence of Rev. Mr. Wenker, he had charge of the parish. In October, 1889, he became pastor of St. Michael's parish at Dane, Wisconsin, with the mission Lodi in Columbia county, Wisconsin. At that time Dane had ninety and Lodi seventy families. In July, 1902, he took charge of the work of organizing the Holy Ghost parish at Lincoln and Twenty-sixth avenues, beginning with seventy families. In 1906 he built the present parish house and at the time he severed his connection with that church in November, 1910, the parish had two hundred and seventy-five families. He was instrumental in having the city limits extended to Twenty-seventh avenue

In November, 1910, he was transferred to the mother parish, St. Anthony, at Fourth avenue and Mitchell street. During the first year of his labors there he had the task of reducing a heavy debt and making many necessary repairs and changes. Sermons in English were introduced in 1914. In 1919 the old site and school buildings at the southeast corner of Fifth avenue and Mitchell street were sold to the American Ex- change Bank for seventy-seven thousand dollars and a new site, one hundred and forty by one hundred and twenty feet, on Fourth avenue and Maple street, was purchased for seventeen thousand, five hundred dollars. In 1920 the new school was erected on the place at a cost of ninety-six thousand, six hundred and sixty-three dollars and forty-six cents. During his time there were two missions, one in 1915, given by the Precious Blood Fathers, Benedict and Vitus; the other in 1921, by the Redemptorist Fathers, Steinbach and Wagner.

ALEXANDER J. FRIEDLANDER.

Milwaukee has developed rapidly because of its manufacturing and industrial interests and it is in the former connection that Alexander J. Friedlander has become widely known, being now president and treasurer of the M. Friedlander Knitting Company. Born in Mason City, Iowa, on the 9th of November, 1879, he is a son of Morris Friedlander, whose birth occurred in Hungary in 1850 and who came to the United States in 1871. Morris Friedlander resided for a time in Toledo, Ohio, but afterward married a Milwaukee lady and removed to Mason City, Iowa, where he engaged in the cigar business. In ISSO he returned to Milwaukee and here en- gaged in selling leaf tobacco for a New York house. A little later, however, he

ALEXANDER J. FRIEDLANDER

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turned his attention to the knitting business and in 1888 founded the present enter- prise. Steadily concentrating his efforts and energy upon the development and ex- pansion of the business, which in 1905 was incorporated, Mr. Friedlander became the president, a position which he continued to occupy to the time of his death, which occurred in November, 1914. The company manufactures knit gloves and mittens, and their market covers the jobbing trade of the United States. Mr. Friedlander not only made for himself a creditable position in business circles but was also a charter member of Milwaukee Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Celia Friedberg in January, 1879. She was born in Germany, a daughter of Isaac Fried- berg, one of the old time residents of Milwaukee. Mrs. Friedlander passed away in 1913.

In the public schools of this city Alexander J. Friedlander pursued his prelimi- nary education and afterward became a student in the Spencerian Business College. When his commercial course was completed he began working for his father in 1894 and has been identified with the business continuously since. He became the secre- tary and treasurer when the company was incorporated and has filled every posi- tion with the company from that of porter to that of president. He is now in the latter connection bending his efforts to administrative direction and executive con- trol, and in all questions vital to the enterprise he displays notable discrimination and keen sagacity. In addition to his connection with the M. Friedlander Knitting Company, Alexander J. Friedlander is the vice president of Klein, Brady & Fried- lander, Incorporated, of Chicago, having a factory devoted to the manufacture of gloves and mittens in that city. The M. Friedlander Knitting Company also has a branch factory at Two Rivers, Wisconsin, which is incorporated under the name of the M. Friedlander Manufacturing Company, of which the subject of this review is the president and treasurer.

On the 14th of Angust, 1916, Mr. Friedlander was married to Mrs. Zerlina F. Liebling, of New York city, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben C. Frank, the secretary of the New York Times. Mrs. Friedlander has a daughter, Virginia, now in the Riverside high school; and by her present marriage has a daughter, Peggy Fried- lander.

In religious belief Mr. Friedlander is a Hebrew and belongs to Temple Emanu- El, of which he is one of the trustees, devoting much of his time to charitable work and is a trustee of Mt. Sinai Hospital. He enjoys a game of golf and is fond of fish- ing. In fact he finds pleasure in all manly outdoor sports and in music, playing both the piano and the violin. He belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Wisconsin Club, the Woodmont Country Club, and his social qualities make for popularity in all of these organizations. He likewise has membership in the Milwaukee Associa- tion of Commerce and in the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He has been a close student of business problems, situations and conditions, and his thorough understanding of the trade has enabled him to make steady advance along the lines to which he directs his energy, but while a successful business man he is also a public-spirited citizen and one who is at all times appreciative of the social amenities of life.

CHARLES GILLETT.

Charles Gillett, of the printing firm of Gillett & Company in the Montgomery build- ing on Michigan street, was born at Tomah, Wisconsin, January 6, 1863, his birthplace being the farm of his great-grandfather who received the property in recognition of his services in the War of 1812. He was Griswold Gillett, who was born in the state of New York and came to Wisconsin in 1848. He first located in Milwaukee but subsequently settled in what is now Tomah, there passing away in 1863. He was the father of Robert Edwin Gillett, who was born in Farmington, Ohio, in 1809 and he in turn was the father of Robert Arthur Gillett, whose birth occurred in Oberlin, Ohio, July 5, 1834. The last named served as a soldier of the Union army, becoming cap- tain of Company K, Forty-third Wisconsin Regiment, which company he commanded in the Civil war. His father, Robert E. Gillett, was appointed by President Lincoln am- bassador to one of the South American countries but he did not live to take his post, his death occurring a few days later. Rohert Arthur Gillett was married to Miss Sarah C. Turner, who was born in Bath, Maine, in 1841, a daughter of Dwelly Turner, member of a family of seafaring men. Her mother was an Edwards and her grand- mother a Le Mont, both representatives of pioneer families of the town of Bath. The first Le Mont came to the United States from Ireland, whither his ancestors had fled from France because of the persecution of the Huguenots. In Maine he devoted his attention to shipbuilding. After becoming established in the new world he sent for his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Le Mont, and Elizabeth McClanathan, his affianced bride. They were married in Maine and there the family home was main-

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tained. The Le Mont family was represented in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Sarah C. ( Turner ) Gillett passed away in 1873 and was long survived by her husband, who died December 29, 1907.

Their son, Charles Gillett, pursued his early education in the public schools of Tomah and afterward continued his studies in Milwaukee. Subsequently he learned the printing trade in the plant of Burdick & Armitage and afterward was associated with the firm of Corbett & Skidmore, winning promotions until he was made foreman of their plant when he was twenty-three years of age. Later he spent a year in Chicago as superintendent of a publication called Light, a cartoon paper, and in 1893 he returned to Milwaukee, where he entered the printing business on his own account, associated with David E. Roberts under the firm name of Roberts & Gillett. A year later Mr. Roberts sold his interest in the business to J. Louis Wolff and William Van de Kamp and the business was reorganized under the style of Gillett & Company. The firm conducts a general commercial printing business and its field is local. It does much printing for banks, printing honds, stocks and certificates and its business includes general financial printing. Its patronage is now extensive and the business has beeeme one of the profitable industries of the city.

On the 6th of June, 1888, Mr. Gillett was married to Miss Marie A. Bigsby, a daughter of Edgar Bigsby and a native of Vermont, who located in the west soon after the Civil war, in which he had served as a soldier with the Union army. He died at the reunion which was held on the fiftieth anniversary ef the battle of Gettysburg, in which he had fought a half century before. Mr. and Mrs. Gillett have become parents of two children: Elsie, now the wife of Dr. F. W. Kappelman of Milwaukee; and Ruth, the wife of Harold M. White, who is engaged in the insurance business in Buffalo, New York, and they have two children, Robert Gillett and Barbara Jane.

Mr. Gillett votes with the republican party but has never been an active worker in politics. He has served, however, for twelve years as a member of the board of educa- tion of Wauwatosa and the public schools find in him a stalwart champion and supporter. In religious faith he is a Congregationalist and fraternally is a Mason, belonging to Wauwatosa Lodge, No. 267, A. F. & A. M .; and Wauwatosa Chapter, No. 92, R. A. M. He has membership in the City Club, in the Men's Club of Wauwatosa, in the Milwaukee Typothetae, of which he is now the president, and in the Association of Commerce, His activities are broad and varied, touching the general interests of society and his support and aid are always found on the side of material, intellectual, social and moral progress.

REV. RUDOLF A. KIELPINSKI.

Rev. Rudolf A. Kielpinski, pastor of St. Casimir's Catholic church of Milwaukee and a son of Paul and Anna Kielpinski, was born in Poland, September 25, 1875. He largely acquired his education in the schools of Germany and of Belgium and came to the United States on the 1st of September, 1899, when twenty-four years of age. He first went to St. Meinrad, Indiana, where he spent a year in the Benedictine Seminary. He afterward became a student in St. Francis Seminary at Milwaukee, in which he pursued his studies for three years and entered the priesthood in 1903, receiving holy orders at the completion of his seminary course. He was then appointed as assistant to St. Hedwig's church for five years and on the expiration of that period was assigned to duty as pastor in the organization of a new parish at Chambers and Franklin streets, known as St. Mary's Cezstochowa. There he erected a building, it being a combination of school and church and also a Sisters' house, continuing his labors in that parish until May, 1915, during which time he succeeded in gathering a large congregation. He was next appointed to St. Casimir's parish and through the intervening period has introduced many improvements, including the installation of a central heating plant at a cost of twenty-one thousand dollars. He also bought additional ground and today the parish is in a splendid financial condition. He has been instrumental in paying cff an indebtedness of forty thousand dollars and met the expense of installing the heating plant in a single year. Today there is a parish school of one thousand. three hundred pupils under the care of nineteen Sisters and Father Kielpinski has three assistants in his work.

GEORGE W. BOLLOW.

George Washington Bollow, secretary of the L. Breithaupt Printing Company of Milwaukee, was born in this city February 22, 1865. His father, Christian Bollow, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, came to the United States in 1852, a young man, unmarried, and settled in Milwaukee after spending two years in Jersey City,

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New Jersey. He was a tailor by trade and followed that business until his enlistment for service with the Wisconsin troops in the Civil war. He laid down his life on the altar of his adopted country, dying in Nashville, Tennessee, while with the Union forces. His wife, who hore the maiden name of Sophia Fass, was also born in Germany and crossed the Atlantic to Jersey City to become his bride, the voyage being made in the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the ocean. Her father, who came to Milwaukee about 1850, was known for miles as "Hexenmeister" Fass because he had the remarkable gift of relieving pain and curing ailments in man and beast without much medicine. Mrs. Bollow continued to make her home with her son, George, to the time of her death, which occurred in 1917, when she had reached the notable old age of ninety-five years.

George W. Bollow was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and started out in the business world in 1880 with the Hansen Fur Company, at a salary of two dollars per week. He was bill clerk and assistant bookkeeper. A year later he became connected with a Board of Trade house and in 1883 started with the Roundy-Peck- ham Company, his association with that house covering a period of seven years. Form- ing a partnership with his brother, Christian, they established business as shoe mer- chants under the firm style of Bollow Brothers in 1890, opening their store on Twelfth street near Walnut and there remaining for a period of five years. In 1895 Mr. Bollow entered the employ of the city as chief clerk in the city engineer's office, having charge of the water department. His connection with the city service covered seven years and in 1902 he became identified with the L. Breithaupt Printing Company. The busi- ness was incorporated in 1900 under the present firm style, after having been in ex- istence under the firm name of Breithaupt & Sontag for a period of fourteen years. Mr. Bollow was elected secretary of the company and is serving in that capacity now.

On the 21st of August, 1887, Mr. Bollow was married to Miss Gertrude B. Menges, a daughter of Charles A. Menges, deputy city clerk of Milwaukee, who was horn in Watertown, Wisconsin, and was a Civil war veteran, serving as major of the Turner Regiment which was formed in Milwaukee and Watertown. He died in the year 1906. Mr. Bollow had three brothers. William Bollow, oldest of the family, was elected city treasurer in 1898 and held that office for four years. He died January 15, 1916. Another brother, Henry Bollow, was for many years postmaster at Station C, Upper Third street, and died in July, 1921. Christian Bollow, who had at one time been associated with George W. in the shoe business, died in October, 1901. Christian was the youngest of the three and was ten years older than George. These boys stood heroically by their widowed mother and soon obtained employment. William, through his remarkably good penmanship, hecame messenger in the Mitchell Bank and in a short time procured jobs in banks for both Henry and Chris. The mother was very proud of her boys and all prospered.

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 47

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