USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 50
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Eugene F. Yahr received his early education in the public schools of Princeton, Wisconsin, and in the second ward high school at Milwaukee. Later he entered Engle- mann's School, now the University School, and subsequently took a course in the Spencerian Business College, his studies including bookkeeping. After completing his course he returned to Princeton and entered his father's business. In 1882 he became a partner of his father in the banking house of F. T. Yahr at Princeton, and was made cashier. He continued to fill that position to the complete satisfaction of the bank and its patrons for eleven years, or until 1893, when the bank was reorganized and the name changed to the Princeton State Bank, with F. T. Yahr as president. On the 6th of July, 1893, Mr. Yahr came to Milwaukee and became connected with Vol. III-29
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the Charles Baumbach Company, being elected assistant treasurer. He maintained that association until 1898, when the company was reorganized as the Yahr & Lange Drug Company, and Mr. Yahr was elected treasurer. In 1910 he resigned because of ill health and took a complete rest for a period of two years. At the termination of that time he again entered the commercial world in the investment business, first in Chicago, where he remained for five years. In 1917, however, he returned to Mil- waukee and has since been actively engaged in the investment business, winning prominence and substantial success.
On the 11th of March, 1896, occurred the marriage of Mr. Yahr and Miss Marie Schorse, a daughter of Dr. William Schorse of Milwaukee. He was a native of Ger- many and came to this country at an early date, making his home in Milwaukee for many years. His demise occurred in 1898. Dr. Schorse was prominent among the professional men of the city and state and had received his medical education in his native land. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Yahr two children have been born: Henrietta E., who is the wife of Harley F. Drews of the Milwaukee Lace Paper Com- pany; and Eugene F. Yahr, Jr., now associated with the Yahr & Lange Drug Company. He was but eighteen years of age when he enlisted for service in the World war and served for some time before receiving an honorable discharge due to accidental injuries. He reenlisted, however, before the close of the war but the armistice prevented his going abroad. He is one of the prominent young business men of the community, and is active in the affairs of the Masonic order, being a member of Kenwood Lodge. For some years Mr. Yahr gave his allegiance to the democratic party but he now follows a strictly independent course, voting for the man without regard for party principles. His religious faith is that of the Christian Science church and he is a member of the First church. Fraternally Mr. Yahr is a Mason, holding membership in Damascus Lodge, No. 290, of Milwaukee; Calumet Chapter, No. 73; Ivanhoe Com- mandery, No. 24, Knights Templar; and Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He has likewise attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. Socially he is associated with the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Wisconsin Club, Tripoli Country Club, Hamilton Club of Chicago and Edgewater Beach Yacht Club of Chicago. He is always interested in any movement for the development and improvement of the general welfare and to that end is active in the affairs of the Milwaukee Association of Com- merce. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yahr are artistic and musical and they are well known in such circles in the city. Mr. Yahr is held in high regard in local business circles, the policy and methods he pursues in the conduct of his business being such as to recommend him to the respect and esteem of all who have transactions with him.
JOHN GRAF, SR.
John Graf, Sr., president of the John Graf Company, soda water manufacturers of Milwaukee, was born in this city, February 27, 1853, his birthplace heing at the northeast corner of Eleventh and Chestnut streets, where the old Philip Best Brew- ery now stands. His father, Lorenz Graf, a native of Germany, was born in Thier- schein in the year 1826 and was twenty years of age when he came to the United States in the spring of 1846. He had wedded Elizabeth Thneriug, a native of the same place, who became his wife on the day on which they left Germany. Her father was a brewer and baker there. Lorenz Graf was a silk weaver by trade but after coming to the new world he worked on the railroad in New York until his hands bled and because of the arduous nature of the task he was obliged to give it up. He then went to Quebec, Canada, but later returned to New York and subse- quently came to Milwaukee in the spring of 1847. He made the trip west on a sail- ing vessel, which dropped anchor at Huron street, and he had also crossed the Atlantic on a sailing vessel, which was ninety-six days in making the voyage from Germany to New York. He dealt in wood throughout the entire period of his resi- dence in Milwaukee and also acted as a surveyor helper with Nicholas Engel from 1872 until 1900. He died in 1914 at the age of eighty-eight years, while his wife survived only until 1915.
John Graf, whose name introduces this review, pursued his early education in the second ward school at Ninth and Chestnut streets and in 1865 was confirmed in the Muhlhausen church at Broadway and Division streets. Starting out in the busi- ness world he went to work for Hickey & Sons, soda water manufacturers on Martin street, between Broadway and Market streets. In 1871 he went to Decorah, Iowa,. where he conducted business for Fred Hencke, soda water manufacturer, for six months. In the fall of that year, however, he returned to Milwaukee and here was employed by Carl Kunckel until 1873. In the spring of that year he formed a partnership with Phillip Madlener, under the style of Graf & Madlener for the pur- pose of engaging in the soda water business, their plant being situated on Elizabeth street at the southeast corner of Grove. Success attended the new venture and after
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JOHN GRAF, SR.
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three years they removed to 530 National avenue, between Fourth and Fifth ave- nues. Five years later Mr. Graf purchased the interest of his partner and has owned the greatest part of the stock in the enterprise since that time. He has prospered and in 1888 purchased property on Greenfield avenue situated at the corner of Seventeenth avenue. His factory is situated at the southwest of the intersection, and he has his office and warehouse on the same tract of land, while the barn and sheds are situated on the northwest corner of Seventeenth avenue and Orchard street. In January, 1914, he incorporated the business under the name of the John Graf Company.
On the 7th of February, 1872, Mr. Graf was united in marriage to Miss Annie Bertha Gleisherg, of Mequon, Wisconsin, a daughter of a farmer of that place. Mrs. Graf passed away November 5, 1913. There were six children of that marriage: Edward J., who is connected with his father's business as vice president of the company; Mollie, who is the wife of Herman Heinen, of Milwaukee, connected with a glove factory and by whom she has four daughters; Amanda, who is the wife of Alfred Pellman, of Milwaukee, and has one son; Annie, who is now Mrs. John Murphy, of Milwaukee; Clara, who is the wife of Clifford Loew, of Milwaukee; and John, Jr., who is the youngest of the family and is the secretary of the John Graf Company. The two sons are also married. Edward J. wedded Bertha Boerner, of Milwaukee, while John married Sylvia Schaefer, of this city, and they have two sons.
Mr. Graf has never taken an active part in politics, and his position is that of an independent republican. He has been a lifelong member of the Lutheran church and is loyal to its teachings and purposes. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias, also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and he has membership in the Calumet Club, the Wisconsin Club, the Turn Verein and the Old Settlers Club. His entire life has been passed in this city, covering a period of more than two-thirds of a century, and he has ever been an interested witness in the changes which have occurred and the transformation that has been wrought as Milwaukee has emerged from a village to a city of metropolitan proportions.
CHARLES H. EIFF.
Charles H. Eiff, vice president of the Milwaukee Chair Company, is numbered among the active and prominent business men of the city. Thoroughness and energy characterize everything that he undertakes and in the conduct of his business he has displayed initiative and sagacity which have led to the improvement of the business methods followed by the firm and a consequent increase in the patronage of the house. The company specializes in office furniture and the trade is growing daily-a fact attributable in large measure to the labors and the ability of him whose name in- troduces this review.
Charles H. Eiff was born in Milwaukee on the 15th of August, 1882. His father, John Eiff, who is now living retired, was born near Toronto, Canada, December 31, 1835, and has therefore passed the eighty-sixth milestone on life's journey. His parents were John and Mary (Lane) Eiff and his grandparents were natives of Ireland, whence they crossed the Atlantic to Canada at an early day. The grand- father in the paternal line removed from Canada to Chicago and worked on the drainage canal for a time but subsequently returned to the Dominion, where he spent his remaining days. John Eiff came to Milwaukee in 1841, later went to Greenfield, Wisconsin, and for fifteen years there engaged in farming. Subsequently he returned to Milwaukee and here took charge of teaming for the Northwestern Railroad, con- tinuing to fill the position until 1901, when he was retired on a pension by the railroad company. He is today one of the oldest residents of Milwaukee, few having for a longer period made their home in this city.
John Eiff was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Welch and they became the parents of seven sons and a daughter. Of this family three sons are living: Charles, Edward and Fergus. The eldest surviving son, Charles H. Eiff, pursued his education at St. John's cathedral and was graduated in 1899. He afterward completed a com- mercial business course at the Marquette University in 1901. In October of that year he became associated with the Milwaukee Chair Company, working in the ship- ping department at wrapping chairs and other such tasks. From that position he gradually worked his way upward through various departments until May, 1920, when he was made vice president of what is today the largest exclusive manufacturing concern devoted to the manufacture of office chairs in the country. His steady rise indicates thoroughness, faithfulness, capability, determination and a laudable ambition. At the outset he resolved to make his services worth while to his employers, realizing that this constituted the pathway of advancement, and steadily he has forged to the
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front until he is now the second executive officer in a business that occupies a place of leadership in the manufacturing circles of the country.
Mr. Eiff is keenly interested in public welfare and cooperates heartily in all plans for the general good. He was made a member of the drive on Centralized Budget of the Industrial Committee of Charity and he has membership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, with the Milwaukee Athletic Club and with the Rotary Club-associations that indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. To any public duty he brings the same qualities of capability, determination and resolution which characterize him in his business career and in anything that he undertakes he never stops short of his objective. Thoroughly trained, energetic and ambitious, he has steadily advanced in his business career and since entering upon official connection with the company has made valuable contribution to its continued development and success.
WILLIAM CONRAD.
William Conrad, who has been closely associated with business activity in Mil- waukee, is now living retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He was born February 16, 1845, in Rahmrad, Dusseldorf, Germany, and is a son of Joseph and Mary Conrad, who came to America in 1858 and settled in Wash- ington county, Wisconsin, where they remained for two years.
William Conrad, then a youth in his teens, started out to work for a farmer and was employed for seven months at seven dollars per month. His economy is indicated in the fact that at the end of that time he was in possession of forty-nine dollars, his entire wage for the period. The following summer he also worked for the same farmer, a fact indicative of his faithfulness, industry and capability.
It was in the fall of 1860 that Mr. Conrad came to Milwaukee, where he learned the tanning business, at which he worked for others until 1869. In 1870 he became one of the organizers of the firm of Peiffer Conrad & Company and established a tannery, which was operated under that name until 1874, when a change in the partner- ship led to the adoption of the firm style of Conrad Brothers & Wendland. This was continued until 1877, when the Conrad brothers purchased the interest of their partner and afterward continued their operations under the style of the Conrad Brothers Company until 1917. In that year William Conrad purchased the interest of his brothers and reorganized the business under the name of the Conrad Brothers Tannery Company. He continued operations in this manner until the fall of 1920, when he sold out to Wilson Brothers, but still maintains an interest in the business. He is likewise heavily interested in the United States Glue Company, being one of the di- rectors thereof. He was formerly president and secretary of the Tannery Company, while his daughter was vice president. His business interests have been of an extensive and important character and his successful management of his affairs places him with the men of affluence in Milwaukee.
On the 27th of May, 1871, Mr. Conrad was married to Miss Mary Stahl, a daughter of Philip Stahl, who came to the United States from Germany in 1844. Mr. and Mrs. Conrad had a family of four children: William, Ida and Katie, all deceased; and Anna, the wife of Frank Krehl of Milwaukee. Mr. Conrad gives his political allegiance to the republican party, which he has long supported and he is a member of the Old Settlers Club. The long period of his residence here has made him thoroughly familiar with the history of the city and in many ways he has contributed to its upbuilding and improvement.
JOSEPH P. McMAHON, M. D.
Dr. Joseph P. McMahon, a surgeon of Milwaukee, was born in Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, and is one of the five sons of P. J. McMahon of this city. He pursued his early education in the public schools of Manitowoc county, of Ripon and of Oshkosh. Wisconsin, and was granted his B. S. and M. D. degrees by Marquette University, after which he served an interneship in St. Joseph's Hospital. He located at Union Grove, Racine county, Wisconsin, in 1903, where he conducted an extensive practice for three years, during which time he served as county physician for the west half of the county. At the conclusion of his residence at Union Grove he took up a year of postgraduate instruction on diseases of women in Vienna and other continental medical centers, and in New York.' He located in Milwaukee in 1907 and shortly became identified with the obstetrical and gynecological departments of Marquette University. He was ap- pointed professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Marquette University in 1908, in which capacity he served for five years. He was chief of staff of Misericordia Hos-
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pital for several years. He has at different times been a member of the staffs of the Johnstons Emergency Hospital, the Milwaukee County, St. Mary's, and Trinity Hos- pitals, and is now serving on the staff of Columbia Hospital only. He belongs to the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, the Medical Society of Milwaukee County, the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, American Medical Association, Obstetrical and Gynecol- ogical Societies of Milwaukee, of which he was one of the founders, and the American Academy of Medicine. He is an honorary member of the second district Medical Society of Wisconsin. He served from 1911 to 1917 as chairman of the committee on public policy and legislation of the Medical Society of Milwaukee County and of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin. In 1908 he was appointed chairman of a special committee of the Medical Society of Milwaukee County which investigated midwifery as practiced in Milwaukee, and at the conclusion of this investigation he drafted and secured the passage of a bill providing for the proper education and regulations of mid- wives. He has been managing editor of the Wisconsin Medical Journal since 1910, and has discharged the duties of treasurer of the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine during the fast ten years.
Dr. McMahon has read numerous papers before Medical and Sociological societies on subjects related to obstetrics and diseases of women, proper physical and mental development of young girls, sex physiology and hygiene, early diagnosis of cancer, etc. He has served as a representative of the State Medical Society, and to different councils of the American Medical Association. He was chief surgeon of Milwaukee's prepared- ness parade. He served as a director, a member of the executive committee, and as chairman of the committee on cooperation of the Milwaukee Chapter of the American Red Cross. He served as adjutant to Dr. C. A. Evans during the organization of the Milwaukee Red Cross Base Hospital, No. 22. He was among the organizers of the Physicians' Radium Association of Wisconsin and has served as its director since its inception; is a member of the postgraduate medical instruction staff of the extension division of the University of Wisconsin; is chairman of the State Medical Society for the study and control of cancer, and as seen from the above, he has rendered pro- fessional and sociological service of far-reaching benefit.
He is well known in the social circles of the city, being a member of the University ('Inb, the Town Club, and the Milwaukee County Club.
CONRAD KREITER.
Prominent among the energetic, enterprising and successful business men of Mil- waukee is Conrad Kreiter, president of the Kreiter Piano Company, Incorporated, and of the Kreiter Manufacturing Company, Incorporated. A native of Germany he sought greater opportunities in the new world and his career is another illustration of the fact that the road to usefulness and prosperity is open to any who wish to pursue it. On the 2d of January, 1859, in Kridort, Germany, occurred the birth of Mr. Kreiter, his parents being Peter and Marie ( Hedrich ) Kreiter, both deceased. The father was like- wise a native of Kridorf, Germany, born August 18, 1818. He engaged in business as a carpenter and contractor, along which lines he gained substantial success. He came to Milwaukee after three of his children had located here and passed away here January 14, 1891. Mrs. Kreiter was also a native of Germany, in which country her marriage took place. She was born June 14, 1823, and died January 29, 1890.
Conrad Kreiter is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his early education. After putting his textbooks aside he entered the business world, working
with his father in the carpenter's business. Subsequently he engaged as a clerk in a wholesale tobacco concern and remained in that connection until he reached the age of twenty years, when he established an installment household goods establishment on his own account, conducting it successfully for a period of four years. For about two years he worked in Holland, selling clothing, and then, disposing of his establish- ment, he came to the new world. He arrived in the United States in 1884 and located in Racine, Wisconsin, where for three years he engaged in the clothing business. In 1887, however, he removed to Milwaukee and there associated with the Singer Sewing Machine Company as closing salesman for ten years. The last five years of that time he was assistant manager of the company, the promotion having been tendered him as the result of untiring energy, laudable ambition and inherent ability. In 1897 he founded his present business known as the Kreiter Piano Company, which he in- corporated in 1903. As a side enterprise he established and incorporated, in 1907, the Kreiter Manufacturing Company and he is chief executive of both enterprises. The Kreiter Piano Company is a retail house and the factory which was first located in Milwaukee at Third street is now located in Marinette, Wisconsin, where it furnishes employment to over three hundred men. The rapid increase in business necessitated the removal of the factory. It now stands upon seven acres of ground and has perfect rail facilities. The annual production of the factory totals over ten thousand pianos
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and each year more extensive preparations for production are being made. The offices of both the factory and the retail store are located in Milwaukee.
In July. 1880, occurred the marriage of Mr. Kreiter and Miss Marie Euer, a daughter of William Euer, who was born in Elberfelt, Germany. He was a successful salesman and specialized in fancy linens. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kreiter: Frieda, who is the wife of Robert Wagner, a piano salesman of Milwaukee, and she is the mother of one son, Reginald; Amanda, the wife of Frank Leyer, an accountant in Youngstown, Ohio, and she is the mother of two sons; Oscar, who passed away in 1918, and is survived by a widow and three children; Agnes, now the wife of Isaac Jasculea of Chicago; Waldemar, vice president and business manager of the Kreiter Manufacturing Company at Marinette, Wisconsin, who married Ida Hanson of that place; Elsie, the wife of Glenn Rowe of Marinette, and the mother of three children; Anna, who is now Mrs. Frank Malloy of Milwaukee; and Herbert G., general manager of the Kreiter Piano Company, who married Pauline Thums of Marshfield, Wisconsin. During the World war Waldemar Kreiter served nine months in France and Herbert served as a drill sergeant in the United States camps.
The Kreiter family are consistent members of the German Lutheran Evangelical church and contribute liberally to its many charities. Strict principles of integrity and honor have always characterized Mr. Kreiter's business affairs and as a result he has reaped a substantial reward. He has high standards of citizenship and bas always strongly indorsed every public movement that would tend to elevate the moral, in- tellectual or social welfare of the community.
THEODORE D. SCHILLING.
Theodore D. Schilling is the president and largest stockholder in the Milwaukee Bedding Company, the business which he established in September, 1892, and which entered upon a profitable existence that makes it one of the important productive industries of the city. Mr. Schilling was born in 1868 in Graudenz, Germany, a city of about twenty-five thousand population, his parents heing Joseph and Anna (Ker- ber) Schilling. His father conducted a merchant tailoring establishment in Grau- denz for many years, or until the death of his wife in 1880, after which he retired. He took pride in giving his children good educational opportunities and Theodore D. Schilling there attended the Royal Gymnasium until be was graduated from that school. After a few years of business training in Cassel, Hannover and Essen, Theodore D. Schilling emigrated to the United States in 1888, being then a young man of twenty years.
Having already acquired an excellent command of the English language and considerable business experience, Mr. Schilling thereby was enabled to make head- way rapidly in the business world and in the year of his arrival became manager of the largest store in Hartford, Wisconsin. It was four years after reaching American shores that in September, 1892. be established bis present business in Milwaukee. It was formed as a partnership concern but was changed to a corporation on the 18th of November, 1892, after which time it was conducted for nineteen years by Theodore D. Schilling and J. Van Ess as the principal stockholders. In August, 1911, Mr. Schilling purchased the interest of Mr. Van Ess, wbo then retired and Mr. Schilling has since had control of the affairs of the company, although a small percentage of the stock is held by members of his own family. The business has been built up mainly through hard work and close application on the part of Mr. Schilling, who traveled for twenty-five years in the interest of the firm and gained a large following and a host of warm friends in the central states. On the 24th of February, 1920, a fire destroyed the former plant of the Milwaukee Bedding Com- pany, which was a substantial three-story brick building at Nos. 292 to 296 Fourth street. It was one of the old landmarks of Milwaukee, known as the old West Side Turner Hall, to which many of the residents of the city in years past went for recreation and gymnastic training. The present factory at No. 256 to 258 South Water street is one of the finest in the northwest. It is a four-story structure with all modern equipment for the manufacture of mattresses and comforters, its output being handled by the largest stores in Milwaukee and other cities. It speaks for the reputation of their goods, that even Chicago, which boasts of a number of large bedding concerns, has some of its finest hotels outfitted in this particular by the Milwaukee Bedding Company. The business has grown steadily year by year and is today one of the profitable manufacturing concerns of the city, standing as a monu- ment to the enterprise and ability of the founder and promoter.
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