USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 64
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Robert M. McGucken acquired his early education in the school of St. John's cathedral at Milwaukee and in the Holy Rosary School. He worked for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad for six years, advancing in that connection to the positiou of freight conductor. He then turned his attention to the contracting business, working for John J. Crilley & Sons for two years. At the end of that time he began contracting on his own account, this being in the fall of 1906, and in January, 1920, organized his business under the name of the MeGucken Construction Company, of which he is the president, with John Soevig as treasurer. They conduct a general contracting business and have done much road paving, including some of the new concrete country roads. They built the Sixth street bridge in Racine and numerous smaller bridges throughout the state for the highway department and they are now engaged on the construction of ten miles of trunk state highway in Waukesha county. Their work has always been highly satisfactory to their patrons, for they have maintained the highest standards of construction and therefore they have gained a very substantial business.
On the 18th of . April, 1907, Mr. McGucken was married to Miss Cora M. Havlish, a daughter of Joseph Havlish of Streator, Illinois, where he is engaged in cigar manu- facturing. Mr. and Mrs. McGucken are parents of four children: John Joseph, Robert M., Rose A. and Margaret Mary.
In his political views Mr. McGucken was a democrat for a considerable period but now maintains an independent course. He is a Catholic in religious faith, belonging to St. Sebastian parish, and he has membership with the Knights of Columbus, also with the Milwaukee Lodge of Elks. He likewise belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club and the Association of Commerce and he has membership in the Wisconsin Municipal and Highway Contractors Association, of which he is the secretary. His time and , attention are concentrated upon his family and his business and his devotion to the former equals his diligence in connection with the latter.
CLARKE WOODDELL.
Clarke Wooddell, president of the Wisconsin College of Music, located at 133 Second street, is one of Milwaukee's most prominent and successful teachers of the violin. He was born iu Augusta county, Virginia, a son of William H. and Elizabeth Wooddell, both natives of that state, the ancestors in both paternal and maternal lines having lived in Virginia for several generations.
In the acquirement of an education Clarke Wooddell attended school in Staunton, Virginia, and at an early age became ambitious to teach the violin. His parents had planned a legal career for him and it was much against their wishes that he took up the study of music. His first instruction was received under the direction of his father, who was a musician of ability. He advanced rapidly, studying with teachers of distinction, until he became associated as an instructor in one of the largest institu- tions of his native state. He came to Milwaukee in 1900, and the following year he was accepted as a teacher of the violin in the Wisconsin College of Music, Hans Bruening being director and owner of the college at that time. For eleven years he was a valued member of the corps of teachers and in 1913 became a director of the college and a co-worker of Mr. Bruening. At a meeting of the directors, held shortly after the death of Hans Bruening, April 7, 1922, Clarke Wooddell was made president of the college. The growth of the college has been of a steady and important nature and where there were but two violin teachers when Mr. Wooddell became associated with the institution, there are now eighteen and the total number of teachers in the college is over seventy, an increase of forty-five since 1901.
A contemporary writer says of Mr. Wooddell: "From the beginning of his musical career; Mr. Wooddell has been ambitious to excel as a teacher rather than as a public performer, and so he has attained prominence through the success of his pupils. Many who are teaching and others who are on the concert platform pay high tribute to the ability and faithfulness of their instructor."
Gerald Kunz, Milwaukee boy violinist, had only one teacher in Milwaukee and that one was Clarke Wooddeli. Some years ago Kubelik gave a concert at the Pabst Theatre, after which he consented to hear Gerald play. Contrary to the usual attitude of foreigners to pupils educated in America, he was greatly pleased, remarking on "his beautiful cantilina" and said, "Gerald has been well taught-well schooled." Mr. Kunz, who is now a distinguished artist, wrote a short time ago saying "Mr. Franz Kneisel, with whom I studied for several years in New York praised Mr. Wooddell very highly for the excellent tutelage he had given me at the Wisconsin College of Music."
Another writer says of him, "Mr. Wooddell is a thorough musician who possesses the faculty of imparting to others musical appreciation as well as technical execution. His remarkable success as a teacher of the violin is due largely to a rare combination of talent and a personality that causes each pupil to strive to do his best. His imagina-
CLARKE WOODDELL
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tion and sympathetic understanding of human nature are a constant source of inspira- tion to his pupils and his patience in helping pupils over tedious places is unbounded." He is a natural born violinist, possessing a thorough knowledge of his instrument and all that modern violin playing requires of the artist.
In December of the year 1903, Mr. Wooddell was united in marriage to Miss Frances Burr Way. eldest daughter of Charles Burr Way and Martha Howell Way of Waco, Texas. Major Way served in the Civil war, was prominent in local and state politics, and a lawyer of repute. His health failed during the war and he was discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability July 8, 1862. He moved to Asheville, North Carolina, for reasons of health after some years and remained there until his demise. Mrs. Wooddell is of Puritan ancestry, ninth generation descent from Jehue Burr, original settler Fairfield, Connecticut, 1632; and tenth generation from Henry Way, original settler Dorchester, Massachusetts, 1630. In the fourth generation of the Burr family we have the Rev. Aaron Burr, the founder and first president of the present Princeton University. Mrs. Wooddell's preliminary education was under her father and was followed by normal training, specializing in work for the deaf. She taught in the Florida State School for the Deaf at St. Augustine and in the Virginia State School for the Deaf located in Staunton. She grew up in a musical household, her mother being a beautiful singer and her father playing the violin. She studied piano and voice at the Asheville Female College. She is also interested in art and has studied under artists of reputation. She has been an active member of the Arion Musical Club of Milwaukee, is a member of the Tuesday History Club and an associate member of the MacDowell Club.
Mr. Wooddell has never taken an active part in politics, preferring to devote his entire time to his music. He has, however, always been keenly interested in the de- velopment and improvement of the community in which he resides and to that end maintains membership in the civic associations. The Wisconsin College of Music is fortunate in having so capable a man for its president, and the city of Milwaukee is also fortunate in having him for a citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Wooddell reside at 784 Stowell avenue.
SAMUEL ROBERT MITCHELL, M. D.
The medical profession in Milwaukee has a splendid percentage of capable and thoroughly trained men who. holding to high ethical standards and utilizing every means in their power for advancement, have rendered most valuable service to their fellow citizens. Among the number is Dr. Samuel Robert Mitchell, who engages to some extent in general practice but is making a specialty of urology. He was born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, November 13, 1886, and is a son of Samuel and Emma ( Brown) Mitchell, the former yet living at Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he is a prominent man of affairs. He has served his city in various capacities as an official and has also been the incumbent in several county offices. He is a prominent republican of his com- munity and has exerted wide influence over public thought and action. His wife passed away September 11, 1919. In the paternal line Dr. Mitchell is of English lineage, while on his mother's side he comes of Scotch ancestry. . His grandfather, William Brown, was a native of Scotland and, crossing the Atlantic, established his home in Milwaukee at an early day, but his last years were spent at Lake Mills, Wisconsin. The Brown family in Scotland was one of prominence and possessed a coat of arms.
Dr. Mitchell was reared in Elkhorn and passed through consecutive grades in the public schools to his graduation from the high school with the class of 1905. He took an active part in high school athletics during that period and in 1905, when a lad of nineteen years, he came to Milwaukee, where he was variously employed until 1909. In that year he became a clerk in the registered mail section of the Milwaukee post office and while thus employed he became a student in the medical department of Marquette University, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1915. During three years of his student days at Marquette he retained his position in the post office and thus provided for the expense of his professional course. Following his graduation he was for eighteen months an interne in the North Side Hospital of Mil- waukee, which has since passed out of existence. Since 1916 he has practiced con- tinuously in this city save for the period of a year spent in the World war at American camps, being a 1st lieutenant in the Medical Corps. He was stationed at Camp Hancock, Georgia, when the armistice was signed. There he received his discharge on the 5th of February, 1919. He is a member of the visiting staff of St. Mary's Hospital and he enjoys a large private practice, which is steadily growing as the results attending his efforts demonstrate his skill and ability. He is a fellow of the American Medical Asso- ciation and a member of the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society and the Tri-State Medical Society and through the proceedings of
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these bodies he keeps in touch with the trend of modern professional thought and progress.
Dr. Mitchell has various other connections which indicate the nature of his in- terests and the line of his ideals. He belongs to the Episcopal church, is an Elk and also a member of the Knights of Pythias. He finds recreation in golf and belongs to the Michiwaukee Golf Club and also to the Washington Park Driving Club. He has a wide acquaintance in this city and his personal characteristics make for popularity wherever he is known.
JAMES FLETCHER FOX.
James Fletcher Fox is connected with one of the most reliable business inter- ests of Milwaukee, being president of Fox's Incorporated, which business was established in 1882. He was born at Madison, Wisconsin, on the 19th of June, 1879, a son of James M. Fox, who passed away in 1916. The father was a native of Oregon, this state, born in 1857, and was a son of the Rev. Matthew A. Fox, a Presbyterian minister there. Rev. Mr. Fox was born in Ireland and came to Oregon, Wisconsin, from his native country when a young man, accompanied by his bride. James M. Fox resided in Wisconsin his entire life. Removing to Milwaukee at an early day he established the business of which his son, James Fletcher, is now president in 1882. His brother, Edwin M. Fox, was associated with him and they conducted the store under the name of Fox Brothers. James M. Fox is survived by a widow, Frances A. Tappan Fox, who is residing in Milwaukee. She is a daughter of Edward A. Tappan of Madison, in which place she was born. Her father was a native of New York state and a son of Arthur Tappan, a well known abolitionist.
James Fletcher Fox is indebted to the public schools of Milwaukee for his education and after graduating from the Milwaukee Academy in 1899 he entered his father's store as general clerk in order to become thoroughly familiar with every phase of its conduct. The business was at that time a partnership and in 1909 he became a member of the firm, but in 1916 it was incorporated as Fox's Incorporated, with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars. Upon the death of the father in June, 1916, James Fletcher became president, a position which he is still holding. He is a keen and intelligent business man, possessing a rapid grasp of details and a thorough knowledge of the line of activity in which he is engaged. The company does a large business as florists, confectioners and fruiters and are also wholesale dealers in teas and coffees.
Mr. Fox gives his political allegiance to the republican party, but has never sought nor desired political preferment. He is a communicant of the Holy Rosary parish and belongs to no fraternal organizations. He is keenly interested in the development and improvement of the community in which he resides and to that end is an active member of the Association of Commerce, while socially he holds membership in the Milwaukee, Milwaukee Athletic and Town Clubs. Mr. Fox is a keen and farsighted business man of unerring judgment and excellent executive ability. He has followed the example of his father and has made the name of Fox an honored one in Milwaukee and vicinity.
EMIL T. GUMZ.
Emil T. Gumz, residing at No. 1023 South Pierce street, south side, is a representa- tive of one of the old and well known families of this city, established here more than a half century ago. He is the third son of Rudolph Gumz, mentioned elsewhere in this work, and was born at the old family home on Fifteenth avenue, south side, January 30, 1868. He has resided in this section of the city throughout his entire life and when he had completed his education he started out in the business world. For fifteen years he was buyer for the firm of R. Gumz & Company, packers, of which business his father is still one of the owners. For the past fifteen years he has been engaged in the live stock commission business and has won a very gratifying measure of success through his well directed efforts. He has closely studied every phase of the business and his determined purpose has resulted in careful management, in indefatigable energy and persistency. He has never neglected business for other things, yet he has found opportunity for different interests. He has always been fond of harness horses and has been owner of many valuable horses in the past, both trotters and pacers. He is now an honorary member of the Washington Park Driving Club. While yet a mere youth he became interested in horse racing as a jockey, riding running horses as early
JAMES F. FOX
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HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
as thirteen years of age. He afterward drove his own harness horses and was a prom.nent figure on the tracks of the great western circuit for many years.
On the 7th of November, 1889, Mr. Gumz was married to Miss Amalia C. Berninger, who was born on South Pierce street, Milwaukee, April 16, 1868, the year in which her husband was aiso born. They were schoolmates in the old eighth ward school, and the friendship of early days ripened into love as the years advanced. Mrs. Gumz is a danghter of Peter Joseph and Fredericka Marie ( Schirmer) Berninger, both of whom were born in Germany and became early settlers of Milwaukee To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Gumz two children have been born: Alma, whose birth occurred Septem- ber 3, 1890; and Arthur F., who was born September 19, 1893. Both are at home. Mr. Gumz and his family occupy a beautiful residence at 1023 South Pierce street, overlook- ing the Mitchell Park sunken gardens. Their home is on the site of the old Berninger home, where his wife's parents resided at an early day. Mr. Gumz belongs to the Milwaukee Old Settlers' Club, having spent bis entire life in this city, covering a period of more than half a century, so that he has long been an interested witness of the changes which have occurred and the transformation that has been wrought as Mil- waukee has emerged from villagehood and taken on all of the dimensions and the advantages of a metropolitan center.
MARTIN ZWOSTER.
Martin Zwoster, formerly proprietor of the Cream City Smelting Works, was born March 11, 1851, on East Water street in Milwaukee, and has been a lifelong resident of this city. Here he went through the struggles of establishing a business with limited capital, leading to his steady advance step by step until he was at the head of one of the large and important industrial plants of the city. He is a son of Andrew Zwoster and Anna (Grings) Zwoster, the former a native of Bavaria and the latter of Essen, Germany. They came to Milwaukee about 1846 and were married in the same year. The father was a teamster and bauled emigrants to all parts of the state in the early days.
Martin Zwoster was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children, one of whom died at the age of three years. The father passed away when Martin was but six years of age and the limited financial circumstances of the family made it neces- sary that the children start out to provide for their own support as soon as possible. The oldest sister, who was only nine years of age when the father died, worked for one dollar per week. Martin Zwoster obtained his early education in St. Mary's school, but his opportunities of continuing his studies were very limited. When a lad of but twelve years he began to learn the shoemaker's trade and was employed in factories for several years. In 1883 he engaged in the liquor business, in which he continued for eight years, and in the spring of 1891 he turned his attention to the smelting busi- ness, having his shop in a barn on Clinton street and Greenfield avenue. This con- stituted the nucleus of the present Cream City Smelting Works, and though capital was extremely limited and equipment was crude, he there instituted a business which under his guidance grew and developed with the passing years. In the early days they washed the material by hand. This was called brass ashes, being the waste from brass foundries. The growth of the business and consequent increase in the capital of the little concern enabled them in 1893 to install a crusher. In 1895 a removal was made to Barkley street and Greenfield avenue, where Mr. Zwoster remained for three years. There he installed another crusher, which was operated with a gasoline engine. In 1899 a further removal was made to Muskego avenue, where Mr. Zwoster erected a building and installed the third crusher but still did the washing by hand. In the meantime the name of the business had been changed to the Cream City Smelting Works. The business was conducted on Muskego avenue for twelve years, at the end of which time a removal was made to the present location at No. 708 National avenue, where Mr. Zwoster had purchased property upon which he erected a building fifty by one hundred and ten feet. At that time he installed another crusher and two concentrating machines, also one of Dings large separators to separate the iron from the brass. Later he installed electric power for the operation of the plant and two furnaces to melt the brass into pigs, in which form it is sold back to the brass foundries. In the spring of 1922 Mr. Zwoster turned his business over to Edward S. Tohin, who had served him most faithfully through a period of twenty-seven years and had been of great assistance to him in his efforts to win success. It was in recogni- tion and appreciation of this fact that Mr. Zwoster turned over to Mr. Tobin the entire establishment, including one ton and a half truck, one large fifteen horse-power motor, one small three horse-power motor, three crushers that weigh twenty-seven hundred pounds each, two concentrators, one Dings magnetic separator that separates the iron from the hrass, two furnaces and all other equipment and implements pertaining to the business. Mr. Zwoster said in this connection: "This is something unusual for a
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business man to do, but E. S. Tobin had worked for me so faithfully that I felt it my duty to help him. In the early days in England and Scotland, when a business man was worth fifty or sixty thousand dollars, he turned his business over to his faithful workmen or relatives and retired." Mr. Zwoster is the owner of the garage adjoining the foundry on the west This building is fifty-eight by one hundred and fifty feet and is rented to the Sterling Service Company.
Mr. Zwoster makes his home at the corner of Twenty-fifth and National avenues. In 1880 he was married to Miss Mary Roelke and to them have been born ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom six are yet living: Mabel, the wife of William Pfeiffer; Milton; Mrs. Malinda Pratt; Millard; Monroe; and Myrtle, the wife of Ernest Doughty. Mr. Zwoster belongs to the Knights of Pythias, but the major part of his time and attention throughout his active career was concentrated upon his business affairs and his energy, industry, close application and perseverance constituted the broad foundation upon which he builded his prosperity. He has led a busy and useful life and what he has achieved and enjoyed is the result of his own labors.
ERWIN F. WENZEL, M. D.
Dr. Erwin F. Wenzel, a capable and successful young physician and surgeon of Milwaukee, has here remained in practice continuously during the past decade and maintains well appointed offices at the corner of North avenue and Seventeenth street. Numbered among the worthy native sons of the city, he is a representative of one of its old and well known families. He was born on the 4th of July, 1887, the only son of Louis and Emma ( Krauss) Wenzel, who have spent their entire lives in Milwaukee and enjoy an extensive and favorable acquaintance throughout the city.
Following his graduation from the North Side high school in 1908, Erwin F. Wenzel entered upon preparation for a professional career as a student in the Wisconsin Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons, which conferred upon him the degree of M. D. in 1912. Throughout the intervening period of ten years he has continued in active practice in Milwaukee and has remained in the vicinity of his present office. He en- gages in general practice but specializes to a considerable extent in obstetrics. He is very careful in the diagnosis of his cases and seldom, if ever, is at fault in foretelling the outcome of disease, a fact indicative of his sound judgment and keen discrimination.
On the 24th of May, 1916, Dr. Wenzel was united in marriage to Miss Esther Minnie Rupp, who was born at Reedsburg, Wisconsin, but was reared in Milwaukee. They have become parents of two sons: Lloyd Waldon, three and a half years of age; and Erwin Robert, Jr., who is one year old. Fraternally the doctor is identified with the Knights of Pythias and he is popular in both professional and social circles of the city in which his entire life has been spent, winning the esteem and confidence of all with whom he comes into contact.
WILLIAM G. RAUSCHENBERGER.
Prominent as a manufacturer, a political leader and a capable public official, William G. Rauschenberger thus in various ways left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the history of Milwaukee and her progress. His life story is an interesting one, showing the possibilities for successful achievement in various fields. He was born in Soldin, Prussia, December 6, 1855, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 6th of April, 1918, when he was called to the home beyond. His father, John Rauschenberger, was engaged in the business of manufacturing cordage and also dealt in woodenware in Soldin, Prussia, and for a number of years was a member of the city council there. He married Amalia Schmieden and in the year 1860 the family came to the new world, making their way first to Milwaukee. Mr. Rauschenberger, however, did not find conditions favorable for the establishment of a business in this city and also had met with difficulty in obtaining other employment. Accordingly he removed with his family to New Berlin, Waukesha county, where he devoted his attention to farming for several years.
It was while the family was residing upon the farm that William G. Rauschen- berger began his education as a public school pupil. Following their return to Mil- waukee the father established a small cordage manufacturing plant on Fourth street in 1864 and his son, William G., entered the public schools of this city and also con- tinned his studies in the Lutheran school of St. Petrie until 1868. Later he devoted many evening hours to study at home and thus broadened his knowledge and promoted his efficiency. He hecame his father's assistant in the factory when his textbooks were put aside and there learned the trade of cordage making, continuing in the business throughout the remainder of his life. In 1880 he was admitted to a partnership and
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