USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 57
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Dr. Gramling began the practice of his profession in St. Martins. Milwaukee county, where he remained for a period of eleven years and since that time he has resided in the city of Milwaukee, winning a most creditable and substantial place as one of the forceful and resourceful members of the medical profession in this city. He is a partner of the Gramling Clinic and member of Trinity Hospital staff. He belongs to the Milwaukee Medical Society, and also to the American Medical Associa- tion and by broad reading and study he keeps informed concerning the onward march of the profession. He is also one of the owners of the Gramling Farm, being con- nected with his two brothers in the ownership and conduct of a valuable tract of land of five hundred acres in Waukesha county, which is devoted to the breeding of pure bred Holstein-Fresian cattle and he now has on the farm about one hundred head, which are raised for sale and milk production. Dr. Gramling is also the treasurer of the Milwaukee Snow Conveyor Company.
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On the 1st of October, 1907, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Gramling and Miss Juliana Link, who passed away on the 5th of July, 1913, leaving a family of four children: Margaret, Joseph J., Dorothy Lou and James Anthony. The family residence is at number 450 Layton boulevard. Dr. Gramling and his family are communicants of the Catholic church and he is identified with the Knights of Columbus. Through- out his career he has been actuated by a laudable ambition that has prompted him to retain the highest possible position in his profession, in business circles and in his connection with public interests, for at all times he endorses those projects and plans which receive the support of all leyal and progressive citizens.
JOHN P. BRUEMMER.
John P. Bruemmer, a live stock commission merchant of Milwaukee, is a pioneer in this business, in which he has been engaged for thirty-five years, long occupying a position of leadership among the business men in this line in Wisconsin. He was born in Milwaukee, December 3, 1863, and is one of a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, whose parents were Joachim and Ernstina ( Striemke) Bruemmer. The father came to the United States in 1854 and remained a resident of Milwaukee to the time of his death in 1899. He was a brickmaker and for twenty- two years he was in the employ of George Burnham. His wife, who came to the United States when a maiden of but twelve summers, lived on the south side of Milwaukee throughout her remaining days, covering a period of seventy-one years. She passed away on the 3d of August, 1920, at the age of eighty-three. Their children are all living, all married and all residents of Milwaukee.
John P. Bruemmer was educated in the eighth ward school and in his youth clerked in his father's grocery store until he had attained his majority. When twenty- one years of age he entered the employ of George B. Van Norman, a prominent stock yardsman of that day and now of Chicago. His connection with Mr. Van Norman covered a period of fifteen years and since that time Mr. Bruemmer has been engaged in the live stock commission business on his own account. His life has been passed in Milwaukee with the exception of the period of fifteen years spent in Chicago. He has been very successful in the management of his affairs and is now in comfortable tinancial circumstances-in fact, he is numbered among the men of affluence in this city and occupies a beautiful home at the corner of National and Thirteenth avenues.
On the 28th of November, 1894, Mr. Bruemmer was united in marriage to Miss Bertha. Clara Heitman, who was born in Milwaukee, and they have become parents of three living sons and a daughter: Lyman, Arthur, John and Florence. They also lost one son, George, who was killed in an automobile accident August 12, 1914, when twelve years of age.
Mr. Bruemmer is a thirty-second degree Mason and a loyal follower of the teach- ings and purposes of the craft. In politics he is a republican when national issues are involved but at local elections casts his ballot for the most capable candidate, regardless of party ties. He belongs to the Association of Commerce and to the West Side Old Settlers Club, also to the Eleventh Avenue Advancement Association and he is a director in the Wisconsin State Bank. His home, however, is his club and his interest centers at his own fireside. This does not preclude his active support of plans and measures for the general good and Milwaukee has long classed him with her representative citizens.
FREDERICK CHARLES MEINHARDT.
Frederick Charles Meinhardt, secretary and treasurer of the Milwaukee Motor Products Company, Incorporated, was born in this city August 16, 1880. His father, Fred John Meinhardt, is also a native of Milwaukee, born here in 1856, where he still makes his home and is engaged in the boat building business. His father was Charles F. W. Meinhardt, a native of Saxony, Germany, who came to the United State in 1846, and at once established his home in Milwaukee. He made the trip to the new world alone when a young man of twenty-six. He represented one of the old families of Saxony and he became the founder of the family in the United States. Born and reared in Milwaukee, Fred John Meinhardt, after reaching adult age, married Margaret Schiffler, a native of this city. Her father was Michael Schiffler, a native of Bavaria, who was brought to the United States by his parents in 1851, when a child of fifteen years, the family settling in Oak Creek, or what is now South Milwaukee. They afterward became farming people of Minnesota and from Minneapolis, Michael Schiffler returned to Milwaukee about 1880. Thus in both the paternal and maternal lines Frederick Charles Meinhardt is a representative of old families of this city.
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After acquiring a public school education, he entered the employ of Landauer & Com- pany, with whom he remained for four years, starting in the position of elevator boy and working his way upward until he was a salesman in the notions department. He was afterward employed in the United States engineering department as stenographer in connection with river and harbor improvements and devoted nineteen years of his life to the government service, rising to the position of auditor. Colonel William V. Judson, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A. who, as American attache with the Russian army during the Russo-Japanese war, was captured by the Japanese at Mukden and returned to the United States. Mr. Meinhardt was the stenographer who took down and assisted Colonel Judson in the arrangement of the report on the Russian army maneuvers. In 1916 he had charge of the office at Nogales, Arizona, being there situated during the troublous times when the city was fired upon by the Mexicans and it seemed that war with that country was imminent. At Nogales he was in charge of the engineer's office, having control of railroad operations into Mexico in case of war, for Pershing and his troops.
In June, 1918, Mr. Meinhardt resigned from the government service and became office manager for the Milwaukee Auto Engine & Supply Company, which on the 1st of December, 1921, adopted the name of the Milwaukee Motor Products Company, Incor- porated. In June, 1920, he became secretary and treasurer of this company and in his official position has since bent his energy to administrative direction and exe- cutive control. With his return to Milwaukee, Mr. Meinhardt became a teacher of bookkeeping and accounting in the evening sessions of the South Division high school in 1918 and in 1919 taught the same branches in the West Division high school. He is now a lecturer in the Marquette University on the subject of auditing, theory and practice, in connection with the third year course of certified public accounting. Mr. Meinhardt has always been a student himself and has devoted much time to the study of law, business administration, salesmanship, philosophy and psychology, being well versed along all these lines. He is a deep student of human nature and keenly interested in those mental processes which are analyzed through the science of psy- chology. He loves a good book and reading is his hobby. He likewise greatly enjoys swimming and takes long hikes, finding keen pleasure in the out-of-doors.
On the 5th of May, 1902, Mr. Meinhardt was married to Miss Clara Meyer, a daughter of Henry Meyer, a native of Germany and formerly a Milwaukee carpenter. They have become parents of four children: Lucile, who is now a student in the Normal School at Milwaukee and possesses marked musical talent, while she has also written an acceptable play adopted by the North Division high school. She is prom- inent in local dramatic circles and has given many readings before Milwaukee audiences; Alan, a student in the Washington high school; and Fred and John, who are pursuing the work of the grades.
Mr. Meinhardt has never been active in politics except during the period of the World war, when he was prominent as a worker in the Wisconsin Loyalty Legion. He was also a member of the registration board in the twenty-first ward, local division No. 10. He is a Mason, belonging to Damascus Lodge, No. 290. The nature of his interests are further indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Office Managers' Association of Milwaukee and chairman of its membership committee, also a member of the City Club and of the Association of Commerce. No activity or project looking to the benefit and welfare of the city seeks his aid in vain. He stands at all times for progress and improvement in relation to the community, to the commonwealth and to the country. He is of the third generation of the Meinhardt family residing in Milwaukee and throughout the period representatives of the name have been forceful factors in upholding high civic standards and interests.
EMIL REINHOLDT BINTE.
Emil Reinholdt Binte, the pioneer chiropractor of Milwaukee, who is engaged in practice as a member of the firm of Binte & Binte, which was organized in 1910. is a native son of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred on his father's farm near Iron Ridge, December. 28, 1884. His father, William Binte, still resides at Iron Ridge, where he is living retired. The family has long been an influential one of Dodge county and Herman F. Binte, an uncle of E. R. Binte of this review, has served as sheriff of the county. The father, William Binte, was also born on the farm of his father, Ferdinand Binte, who was a native of Germany but came to the United States when quite young. Throughout his life to the time of his retirement William Binte followed the occupation of farming but is now enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He married Louise Schultz, who passed away in January, 1905. She was born in Herman, Dodge county, Wiscon- sin, a daughter of Carl Schultz, who was a native of Germany and who became a Wisconsin farmer.
EMIL R. BINTE
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E. R. Binte was educated in the schools of Dodge county and in the North- western University at Watertown, Wisconsin. He also attended Hoffman's Metro- politan Business College at Milwaukee and in preparation for a professional career entered the Palmer School of Chiropractic at Davenport, lowa, from which insti- tution he was graduated in June, 1909, with the degree of D. C. For a time he practiced in Iron Ridge and since January, 1910, he has practiced in Milwaukee, save for a brief period which he spent in Chicago. He was licensed by the Illinois board of health, being the only chiropractor in Milwaukee who has achieved that
distinction. He practiced in connection with his wife, Beryle H. Binte, who has largely assisted him in building up their practice under the firm style of Binte & Binte. She is a lady of splendid business ability as well as of marked skill in her chosen profession. They have offices at No. 404 Majestic building.
It was on the 19th of October, 1909, that E. R. Binte was united in marriage to Miss Beryle Holliday, a daughter of C. T. Holliday, D. C., of Broken Bow, Nebraska, who was born in that state, where he has won prominence as a chiro- practor. In politics E. R. Binte is a democrat but has never been active in seek- ing office. His religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. He possesses great love for music and has a natural talent in that direction. He is fond of all out- door sports, wrestling and baseball and he is likewise greatly interested in the arts, sciences and philosophy. Moreover, he possesses marked mechanical skill and ingenuity and applies his knowledge of mechanics to the human body. More- over, he is capable in the field of teaching, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he has acquired. He belongs to the Milwaukee and Wisconsin Chiropractic Associations, also to the Universal Chiropractors Association and in his chosen life work he specializes in nervous disorders and chronic cases. His labors have been attended by a notable degree of success and his practice is now very extensive, the public thus manifesting its confidence in his ability and power in the restoration of health.
FRANK S. ROST.
Frank S. Rost, for a third of a century identified with the William Frankfurth Hardware Company of Milwaukee, of which he is the vice president, entered the employ of this concern as a traveling salesman and through various promotions has reached his present official position, his expanding powers making him a forceful factor in the commercial circles of the city. Mr. Rost was born in Richmond, Indiana, November 18, 1862, a son of Fred F. and Anna (Houdoff) Rost, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father's birth occurred at Bismarck, Prussia, while the mother was born near Bremen. They came with their respective parents to the United States in the winter of 1848-9, crossing the Atlantic on a sailing vessel which had a stormy and hazardous voyage. At length, however, they reached an American port in safety and made their way westward to Defiance, Ohio, later became residents of Dayton, Ohio, and eventually established their home in Richmond, Indiana, in 1859. There Mrs. Anna Rost is still living at the advanced age of eighty-two years, enjoying excellent health and remaining very active, her physical and mental faculties being unimpaired. The grandfather in the paternal line was John C. Rost, a skilled musician who played all kinds of instruments. He was a member of the Richmond band during the Civil war and his son, Fred F., was also connected with that musical organization. It was the result of political activity in opposition to militaristic dominance and lack of freedom in Germany that brought John C. Rost and his family to the new world and thus Fred F. Rost, reared under the parental roof, became a cigar manu- facturer of Richmond, Indiana, where for many years the family name has figured promi- nently in business circles.
Frank S. Rost was educated in the public schools of his native city until graduated from the high school with the class of 1880. Of this school Jane Grey Holcomb, who was at that time its principal, is still living, at the notable old age of ninety-one years. After leaving school Mr. Rost worked in the shops of a corn planter factory in Richmond for a year or more and in November, 1881, he went to Dubuque, lowa, for the purpose of securing employment in that city. After a search for work for more than two months he was driven almost to despair, when one morning he picked up a paper and found an advertisement saying if Mr. Rost was still in the city he would learn something to his advantage by calling at a designated place. It seemed that soon after his arrival in Dubuque he had formed an acquaintance who had inserted the advertisement and when Mr. Rost presented himself to the Great Western Orchestra -as designated in the paper-his friend told him that he might secure a position as a member thereof. Having played the violin from the age of seven years he was proficient with that instrument and continued a member of the orchestra for some time. In January, 1882, he turned his attention to commercial pursuits by entering
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the hardware store of Schreiber, Conchar & Company, there remaining for a period of three years. In July, 1884, he left this concern with the intention of going to college, but circumstances later prevented him from carrying out his plan and he made arrangements to enter the employ of the Pullman Company. However, upon returning to Dubuque, lowa, he was prevailed upon to travel for a hardware concern -the firm of Andrew, Tredway & Sons-whom he represented on the road for three years in northern Iowa and southern Minnesota.
It was on the 1st of January, 1888, that Mr. Rost came to Milwaukee and became commercial traveler for the William Frankfurth Hardware Company, whom he rep- resented in the same territory for three years. He was then called into the house to take charge of the house furnishings department and was likewise made buyer of agricultural implements and dairy goods. He was connected with these departments for about thirty years and in 1915 was elected to the vice presidency of the company, having become a stockholder and one of the directors in Jannary, 1895. As a boy it was always his ambition to become a lawyer and one day in 1907 when he was lying under a big willow tree at Beaver Lake dreaming of his boyhood and thinking of his aspirations in early days he made up his mind to take up the study of law and following his return to the city entered the Milwaukee Law School in the month of September, 1907. For three years he attended the school and in July, 1910, passed the bar examination at Madison. thus becoming a full-fledged attorney. He has never practiced law a day in his life, but his knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence has proven a great asset to him in his business and he has never regretted carrying out his boyhood ambition. He is a member of the Milwaukee Bar Association.
On the 6th of January, 1887, Mr. Rost was married in Dubuque, Iowa, to Miss Martha Wunderlich of that city, and they now have two children: Erminie, who is now Mrs. Lewis Sherman of Milwaukee; and Nadj, who is now Mrs. George N. Arpin of Minneapolis. In club circles and in other organized efforts Mr. Rost is well known. He belongs to the Wisconsin Club, the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Rotary Club. He is chairman of the boys work committee of the Milwaukee Rotary Club and as a member of the Association of Commerce has served on the board of directors for several years. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and he is also a member of Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. During the war period he participated in fourteen different drives and was vice chairman and later chairman of Group 10. In this work he was particularly active and his labors were most effective. He has been a member of the Milwaukee council of the Boy Scouts for several years and was recently elected vice president. He takes the keenest interest in everything that has to do with the welfare of the youth and believes in safeguarding the hoys by giving them a vent for physical energy and activity in well devised and carefully directed sports and pleasures. He is a close student of the boy problem and his work in this connection is of practical value.
HON. JACQUE S. BLETCHER.
Throughout his life Hon. Jacque S. Bletcher has been identified with the print- ing business and along the line of a steady progression that has resulted from thorough training, capability and initiative he has reached his present position as the president and treasurer of the J. S. Bletcher & Company, Incorporated, in which connection he has been very active in the development of the business until it has now reached substantial and gratifying proportions. He was born in Fremont, Ohio, July 24, 1850, and was there educated, attending the parochial and public schools. In 1864, when fifteen years of age, he ran away from home and became a drummer boy in Company K, of the One Hundred and Twenty-second Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, stationed at Johnson's Island, Ohio, serving for eleven months, after which he was mustered ont at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1865.
Starting out in the business world Mr. Bletcher worked in connection with the confectionery trade for a short time but not finding this congenial he began learning the printer's trade in the office of the Journal at Fremont, Ohio. There he remained for about four years, gaining comprehensive knowledge of the busi- ness through practical experience. On the expiration of that period he took charge of the Messenger, a Fremont publication, which he controlled for about four years. He afterward worked in various cities and in October, 1881, arrived in Milwaukee. Here he was employed for a time in the Sentinel composing-room and afterward spent five years with the Riverside Printing Company. A similar period was passed in the printing department of the Evening Wisconsin and at the end of that time he went to San Antonio, Texas, where he remained for about a year. Upon his return to Milwaukee he worked for the J. H. Yewdale Sons Company and also for the firm of Burdick, Armitage & Allen before organizing the Twentieth Century
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HON. JACQUE S. BLETCHER
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Press. After two years he engaged in business on his own account in the fall of 1901, under the name of J. S. Bletcher & Company. Since then he has con- ducted his interests individually and has developed a large business, his being the only printing office in Milwaukee that does not solicit patronage, for his business has reached such proportions that it is all he can do to take care of it. His varied experience in many printing offices of the country has given him knowledge of every detail of the trade, as well as the principal features upon which the success of such an undertaking depends. He has been watchful of every indication point- ing to success, has never deviated from the course which he believed to be right between himself and his fellowmen and his thorough integrity in all business trans- actions, combined with the high standard of his work, has secured for him the gratifying prosperity which is today his.
On the 10th of January, 1882, Mr. Bletcher was married to Miss Frances Tamer Brown of Detroit, and they have two children: Louise E. and Edgar J., the latter now associated with his father in business. The daughter was a member of the National League of Woman's Service during the World war, acting as assistant secretary to Mrs. George Lyons without remuneration and took part in every drive
Mr. Bletcher belongs to the Elks Club and is a member of the Milwaukee Asso- ciation of Commerce, in which organization he has been quite active. He was elected to the Wisconsin legislature in 1905 and was the father of the present school board bill and also the present police and firemen's bill and was instrumen- tal in the passage of the bill creating the new normal school. He was likewise a factor in creating the first railroad commission, which was one of the important and forward movement bills introduced in Wisconsin in recent years. He stands at all times for those interests and activities which feature as factors in good gov- ernment in city, commonwealth or country and a little volume which he has pub- lished and which is most beautifully gotten up in colors, known as Our Nation's Flag, is one of the visible evidences of his one hundred per cent Americanism. His life is an illustration of the fact that in this country opportunity is open to every individual. His record illustrates what can be accomplished through deter- mined effort, intelligently directed, for starting out in life in a humble capacity he has worked his way steadily upward and is today one of the foremost repre- sentatives of the printing business in the state of Wisconsin.
C. C. POLLWORTH.
C. C. Pollworth, a Milwaukee florist conducting an extensive wholesale business, was born at the corner of Grand avenue and Third street in this city in February, 1872. He is a son of John F. and Eva (Schmitz) Pollworth. The father was a son of Frederick Pollworth, who worked on the first telegraph line between New York and Chicago. He was a native of Germany and came to the United States at an early day, crossing the Atlantic in one of the old-time sailing vessels that was eighty-one days in completing the voyage. The year 1842 witnessed his arrival in Milwaukee. John F. Pollworth was brought to this city by his father and acquired his education in the public schools here, having been but five years of age when the family home was established in this locality. The grandfather, Frederick Pollworth, purchased a farm which he improved and developed and afterward sold. In this manner he continued for several years, owning and selling many farms in the vicinity of Milwaukee, and he was considered one of the best judges and best informed men on farm lands at that period. His son, John F. Pollworth, eventually became a leading figure in hotel circles, devoting the greater part of his life to hotel management. In this he was active until about 1893. He was a prominent figure at the Old Settlers' Club and a recognized leader in political circles in his community. He exerted a widely felt influence along many lines and he passed away at the age of seventy-two years, leaving behind him many warm friends.
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