USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 76
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It was in 1860 that Phillip Gross was united in marriage to Miss Ernestine Bleck
PHILLIP GROSS
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and they became the parents of five children, but three passed away ere the death of their father, the surviving son and daughter being: Arthur E. Gross, who during his father's presidency became vice president of the Gross Hardware & Supply Company; and Mrs. Charles E. Mueller, whose husband was made secretary and treasurer of the company. At the time of the death of Phillip Gross there were also eight grandchildren, five of whom were connected with the hardware concern. In the year 1899 Mr. Gross and his wife made a trip to Europe, spending six months abroad, but with this exception al- ways continued their residence uninterruptedly in Milwaukee.
Mr. Gross was a republican in his political views and a Methodist in religious faith. No good work done in the name of charity or religion sought his aid in vain and he was continually extending a helping hand to those who needed assistance. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, had membership with the Associa- tion of Commerce and the Merchants' Association and he also belonged to the Old Settlers' Club. It was on the 21st of December, 1918, that Phillip Gross passed away and his demise was the occasion of deep and widespread regret, so firmly had he estab- lished himself in the public regard as a business man and as a citizen.
EDWARD J. KETTELHUT, M. D.
Dr. Edward J. Kettelhut, a Milwaukee physician and surgeon, was born January 22, 1886, in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and is the elder of the two sons of Paul and Katie (Lange) Kettelhut, who now reside in Milwaukee, where the former is superintendent of a large chair factory. He was born in Germany and was brought by his parents to the new world when six years of age. His wife was born in Wisconsin. They removed to Milwaukee when their son, Dr. Kettelhut was but five years of age. Accordingly he was reared and educated in this city. He was graduated from the West Side high school at the age of sixteen years and soon afterward took up the study of medicine in Marquette University, which he entered in 1902, pursuing a five years' course. He was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1907, having paid his own way through college by working for a telephone company and in a drug store at night and on Sundays. Since 1907 he has engaged in general practice in Milwaukee and has been extremely busy. In fact he is constantly overburdened by the demands made upon him for professional attention. He pursued a postgraduate course in New York city in 1916 and he has at all times kept thoroughly informed concerning the latest scientific researches and dis- coveries of the profession. He belongs to the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On the 10th of November, 1908, Dr. Kettelhut was married to Miss Ella Baireuther, who was born in Jefferson, Wisconsin, of German parents. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias, while in Masonry he has attained the Knights Templar degree in the York Rite and has also taken the Scottish Rite degrees, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. All interests and activities, however, are made subservient to his professional duties, which he meets with a sense of conscientious obligation that leaves nothing to be desired on the part of his patients. His practice is now extensive and his labors are being attended with excellent results.
THE MILWAUKEE HEROLD.
The Milwaukee Herold may be justly proud of its record. A prominent writer has said: "A newspaper is the history for one day of the world in which we live, and with which we are consequently more concerned than with those that have passed away and exist only in remembrance." While in one sense a great newspaper is a business enterprise, designed to produce an income for its owner, it is also an institution for promoting the economic, social, political and cultural interests of the community through which it circulates. The Milwaukee Herold, published in the German lan- guage, has had the additional task of assisting those coming to the new world from the old country, who have not yet fully entered into the American spirit to become true and complete Americans, and also to help the German speaking element within our composite nation to contribute its due share to the common fund of a rapidly develop- ing civilization. In proportion as it performs all these various functions with equal skill, a newspaper may lay claim to being a successful undertaking, and without hoastfulness it may be said that the Milwaukee Herold has achieved such success in a supereminent degree.
The Herold, as it exists today, may be compared to a great river, the result of a multitude of lesser streams, mingling all in one impressive flood, for it represents a merger of a considerable list of other newspaper enterprises. Each of these served
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well in its day the needs of a particular group among the Americans of German descent of the city and the state. When, however, the divisions of religious and political belief which the immigrants brought with them from the European countries, gradually changed to mutual toleration, as the newcomers, together with their chil- dren and children's children, were more and more completely received into the melting pot of American life, the time also came when one single paper could under- take to give to every social group and shade of opinion equal consideration. As a consequence of this natural evolution, the Milwaukee Herold has become the one metropolitan daily of Wisconsin, printed in the German language.
The first editor of the Herold, established in 1860, was Bernhard Domschcke, born in Dresden, Germany, in 1823. He was a student in the University of Leipzig, when the revolutionary movement of 1848 broke out, and his connection therewith led him soon afterward to seek a home in the United States. On the 6th of August, 1854. Mr. Domscheke arrived in Milwaukee, and his introduction to the public was a speech in favor of the republican party which had just been organized at Ripon. A German democratic leader, Fratny, then challenged him to a debate, and it was the prominence gained thereby that led Rufus King to become his financial backer in a newspaper enterprise. After becoming associated with W. W. Coleman, Mr. Domscheke continued to profitably conduct and develop the Herold until August, 1862, when the editor, the entire force of the composing room, and even the bookkeeper, enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Regiment, composed entirely of patriotic Americans of German descent, for service in defense of the Union. As captain of Company H, Mr. Domschicke participated in the battle of Gettysburg, where, with forty- six others of his regiment, he was captured, his health being completely shattered during the long periods that he was obliged to spend in Libby and other southern prisons. He was at last liberated in the spring of 1865, and on the 29th of March of that year returned to Milwaukee, the entire city turning out to receive him and his companions. After a few weeks he resumed the editorial guidance of the Herold, which he continued until May 5, 1869, when he passed away as the result of his experiences as a prisoner of war.
William Werner Coleman had come to America from his native city of Bremen in his fifteenth year, and thus his interests were early merged into the life of the republic. He displayed marked initiative and a most progressive spirit in the conduct of the paper, and the Herold became the first German language paper in the west to obtain an Associated Press franchise, which was precisely what made it a great daily paper and laid the foundation of its owner's private fortune.
In 1873 a number of men formed the Protestant Printing Association and began a publication with George Koeppen as editor, which they called "Germania." This paper, as a weekly and a daily, rapidly gained considerable circulation, but a secure economic condition was not reached until it had come into the possession of George Brumder, a man comparable to Mr. Coleman for business ability and possessing, besides, unusual will power.
Mr. George Brumder was born in Alsace, France, in 1839, and came to the United States at the age of eighteen years. After various employments, he established a book store in 1862. The business connections thus acquired, pointed to him as the proper man to take over the Germania when the members of the Protestant Printing Associa- tion could no longer carry the burden themselves. As time passed and the small busi- ness with which he had begun grew ever larger, Mr. Brumder became a prominent figure in Milwaukee business circles, even outside his newspaper and other publishing enterprises. He became president of the Concordia Fire Insurance Company, of the Germania National Bank, now the National Bank of Commerce, and the holder of considerable real estate property, including the large building erected by him to house its newspapers. He died in May, 1910, leaving the management of his various business undertakings to his sons.
For a time there were six German dailies published in Milwaukee, each struggling for existence. Notwithstanding the fact that there was a great influx of German settlers at that time who could read no English and were therefore dependent upon the German press, Milwaukee could not support six German dailies, and Mr. Brumder, showing admirable foresight, in 1879 abandoned the daily edition of the Germania and extended the weekly field all over the United States. He found liberal response among the hundreds of thousands of German farmers of the Protestant persuasion, anxious to get a paper in sympathy with their own beliefs. And here George Brumder's wisdom in retaining such an eminent editor as George Koeppen was revealed. His editorials began to draw attention from the beginning. They breathed the spirit of true Americanism, while upholding the best traditions of German culture. The conservative opinions in politics and religion, which it was the policy of his paper to uphold, found in him a devoted and indefatigable champion. Mr. Koeppen's useful activities were by no means confined to his editorial labors. For some time he was president of the German Society for the Aid of Immigrants, which did a work of great practical im- portance at that time. Of wider influence, however, was his service during many
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years as one of the regents of the University of Wisconsin and one of the trustees of the public library. Thus, when George Koeppen died, in January, 1897, it was not only his paper, not only the readers of the Germania, but the whole community that felt the loss. The weekly Germania soon outstripped all its competitors and became the largest and most influential German language weekly in the country with a truly national circulation.
Time showed George Brumder's policy as the most successful. The other dailies succumbed one by one. The "Banner und Volksfreund" was the first to discontinue, turning over its subscription list to the "Seebote," the organ of the Catholics of German descent. Meanwhile, W. W. Coleman's aim had been to make his daily paper in every feature equal, if not superior, to the local English papers. In this policy he had measurable success, and the enterprise gained its height shortly before and after the death of W. W. Coleman in 1887, under the management of his oldest son, Edgar W. Coleman.
In 1892 the Germania again entered the daily field as a politically independent publication, and in January, 1895, the valuable services of Gustav Haas were obtained as managing editor. Mr. Haas, who had served his apprenticeship in the newspaper line in Cleveland, stamped the impress of his character upon the daily Germania, while Mr. Koeppen's efforts were centered more particularly upon the weekly. Competition between the four active dailies of the decade of 1890 to 1900 waxed ever keener, and the year 1900 saw the "Abendpost" under the management of the daily Germania and the Seebote under the management of the daily Herold,
The Germania-Abendpost soon forged ahead of its older rival. An investigation into the circulation of Milwaukee newspapers, made by a firm of certified accountants in 1903, showed that the Germania-Abendpost had the largest city circulation of any paper in Milwaukee, whether German or English, if street sales were excluded, and that it had the second largest city circulation and the third largest total circulation of any daily newspaper in the city.
With the beginning of the new century the antagonism between the various ele- ments among the American people of German descent had lost the bitterness of earlier days, so that readers no longer felt it indispensable to have a paper reflecting their particular views only. Nor were the existing papers, having become great business enterprises, any longer disposed to make themselves the organs of particular cliques and interests. Men of insight began to anticipate the time when a single German language newspaper could best serve the needs of the German reading public and the business community. This day came in the year 1906, when, under the controlling influence of the Germania-Abendpost, the two rival German language papers were taken over by one corporation. For more than a decade a daily morning and a daily evening edition were issued, while now a morning edition is mailed to readers outside of Milwaukee and the evening edition is sold to those in the city. The Sunday issue appears under the name of Milwaukee Sonntagspost. The original weekly papers, Herold and Germania, have been amalgamated under the name of Milwaukee America, now by far the largest weekly printed in the German language with subscribers in every state of the Union, in Alaska, Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentine, Australia and South Africa, as well as in all German speaking countries of Europe. In this way the name of Milwaukee is carried all over the world.
After the death of Mr. Koeppen in 1897, the successor in the editorial chair was, for a short period, Dr. Oehler, and then Emil v. Schleinit who came to this post from Louisville, Kentucky, where he occupied a similar position. He was a man of rather different type from that of his predecessor. However, he tried to carry on the traditions of the paper with devotion and ability until he became ill in April, 1917, his malady finally causing his death in June, 1920. Soon after he had to stop active work the position of editor was conferred upon Gustav Haas, who at the same time retained bis position as managing editor. So the daily Milwaukee Herold and the weekly Milwaukee America of today are still imbued with the same spirit in which the old Germania originally achieved its great success by men like George Brumder and George Koeppen.
Prior to America's entrance into the World war, the paper had expressed its belief that the United States should observe a policy of neutrality. When, however, the de- cision had been made by the constitutional bodies that the United States should asso- ciate itself with the entente in the war, there could not be a moment's hesitation. The Herold, being an American newspaper, published for American readers, must stand by its country; and it made this clear to the readers of the paper as well as to everybody else through an editorial article written on the day of the declaration of a state of war hy congress. Few outsiders will ever realize the patience, the self-restraint, the diplomatic prudence which was necessary during the period of the war by the editorial staff. Difficult was the task of preventing the suspicions, the ill-will, the hysterical hostility surrounding the paper on all sides, from destroying an institution which the skill and devotion of so many able men during so many decades had built up, yet especially during the period of the war, the necessity of publishing an American news-
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paper in the German language, was proven beyond any doubt. The Milwaukee Herold may be proud of the services rendered during this period. Though ahout seventy per cent of all the inhabitants of Milwaukee and its environs were of German descent, no disturbance of any kind occurred, and the authorities met with no trouble what- soever in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
Today the Milwaukee Herold maintains its policy of supporting all that is of cultural worth and value to the city and of promoting all those industrial and com- mercial activities which are an element in upbuilding a greater Milwaukee. Its policy, through a period of sixty years, has ever been one of continuous progression, and it remains today one of the strongest American newspapers printed in the German language.
SIDNEY HERBERT WETZLER, M. D.
Dr. Sidney Herbert Wetzler, with offices in the Palace Theater building at 521 Grand avenue in Milwaukee, is a well known representative of the medical profession, low confining his practice exclusively to industrial surgery. He was born in this city February 2, 1883, and is a son of Henry Wetzler, a retired merchant now residing in Chicago. The father was born in Germany and came to the United States about the time of the Civil war. He married Jennie Haber, who was also born in Germany, and about ten years ago they removed to Chicago, where they now make their home.
Dr. Wetzler, however, was reared in Milwaukee and was graduated from the West Side high school with the class of 1900. He took a most active interest in school athletics and has always been fond of manly outdoor sports. He supplemented his public school training by two years' academic work in the University of Wisconsin and then entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1905, on the completion of a four years' course. He was appointed interne in the Cook County Hospital of Chicago, where he continued for a year and a half, and his active practice there was of a most valuable character, bringing him wide experience. In January, 1906, he returned to his native city, where he has since remained, and through the intervening period of sixteen years he has built up a large and gratifying practice. During the past five years he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon industrial surgery and is at the head of the surgical department of Mount Sinai Hospital. He has written much for medical journals and his writings have received wide and favorable attention. He belongs to the Milwaukee Academy of Medicine, the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society, the Wisconsin Surgical Association and the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons.
On the 12th of October, 1908, Dr. Wetzler was married to Miss Helen Thal, a native of Milwaukee, in which city she was reared, being graduated from the Milwau- kee Normal School. She was a teacher prior to her marriage and she is now devoting her attention to the management of her attractive home, blessed by a little daughter, Louise Babette. born November 23, 1910. Dr. Wetzler is a Royal Arch Mason and he has membership in the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Woodmont Country Club and the Chamber of Commerce associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and activities outside of the field of his profession. He has many friends in this city, where much of his life has been passed, and that he has developed high skill and efficiency in his profession is indicated in the liberal practice accorded him.
AUGUSTUS C. UMBREIT.
Augustus C. Umbreit, attorney at law, with offices in the First National Bank build- ing in Milwaukee, was born in Green Lake, Wisconsin, January 7. 1861, his parents being the Rev. Traugott and Catherine ( Blockwitz) Umbreit, who were natives of Germany. The father came to the United States in 1848 when eighteen years of age, making his way direct to Wisconsin, and the mother was but six years of age when brought by her parents to the new world in the year 1844. Rev. Mr. Umbreit became one of the pioneer ministers of the Evangelical church in this section of the country and went from place to place according to the itinerant custom of the Evangelical ministry at that day. He filled the pastorate in four different churches in Milwaukee and after retiring from the active work of the ministry made his home in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. where both he and his wife passed away.
Augustus C. Umbreit acquired his early education in the public and high schools of Madison, Wisconsin, being there graduated with the class of 1879. He later entered the State University and after a comprehensive course was graduated in 1883 with the
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AUGUSTUS C. UMBREIT
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degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Letters. He spent two years in teaching as principal of the high school at Winnebago, Illinois, and was also principal of the Allen Academy in Chicago for a time. In 1885 he won his Master's degree in Greek and history, and he continued his work as an educator for two years longer. He received his LL. B. degree from the Milwaukee University Law School and in October, 1892, he was admitted to the bar. He then continued in private practice until appointed assistant district attorney in January, 1895, filling that office continuously until 1901. He is a lawyer of unusual ability and has been very successful in his practice, handling inter- national cases of renown and conducting many trials involving extensive and important interests. His preparation of cases is always thorough and exhaustive, and his presenta- tion of a cause clear, cogent and logical. He belongs to the Milwaukee County, Wiscon- sin State and American Bar Associations and at all times commands the respect and confidence of his colleagues and contemporaries at the bar.
On the 1st of September, 1886, Mr. Umbreit was united in marriage to Miss Helen Stanton, a daughter of Lodavic and Emma ( Mackenzie) Stanton. Lodavic Stanton was a relative of Edwin M. Stanton, secretary of war under Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Umbreit is of colonial descent, tracing her ancestry in both the paternal and maternal lines back to the sixteenth century and she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as some of her forbears participated in the war for independence. To Mr. and Mrs. Umbreit have been horn three children: Stanton, who was married August 1, 1921, to Ethel M. Jones and is now living in Cleveland, Ohio; Freda E., who was married June 15, 1921, to William Elliott of Madison, Wisconsin; and George M., who is a junior in the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
During the World war Mr. Umbreit served on the legal advisory board. In politics he has always been a republican, active in support of the principles of the party. He is of the Episcopalian faith and socially is connected with the Calumet Club, the Sunset Club, the University Club and with the Royal Arcanum. He is likewise a member of the Westminster Civic League. His interests are broad and varied, and he is a man of wide and liberal culture, thoroughly conversant with the vital questions and issues of the day and at all times occupying a progressive stand in relation to any measure affecting the welfare of community, commonwealth and country.
HARRY B. PODLASKY, M. D.
Dr. Harry B. Podlasky, an X-ray specialist of Milwaukee, was born in Moscow, Russia, January 4, 1884. He came to the United States with his parents when but seven years of age, the family home being established in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he continued for twelve years and then removed to Milwaukee. The father, a fur dresser and dyer, is still a resident of Milwaukee, as is the mother, who hore the maiden name of Clara Goldberin. There are two sons and two daughters in their family.
Dr. Podlasky was graduated from the East Side high school of Milwaukee with the class of 1903 and afterward spent a year as a student in the University of Minne- sota, while later he matriculated in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, and completed a four years' course in that institution, being graduated in 1909 with the M. D. degree. He afterward spent a year as interne in Mount Sinai Hospital in Milwaukee and subsequently became director of the Mount Sinai Dis- pensary, in which position he continued for two and a half years. At the same time he taught anatomy in the old Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons. He hegan practice in this city in 1910 and continued in general practice for seven years.
On the 27th of September. 1917, Dr. Podlasky entered the United States army and was sent first to Camp Oglethorpe, Georgia, where he remained for six weeks. The government then transferred him to Cornell University of New York, where he spent three months in studying X-ray work entirely. He was afterward assigned to the United States General Hospital No. 1 at Williams Bridge, New York, where he remained until he received his discharge on the 11th of February, 1919. While there, on the 20th of May, 1918, he was promoted to a captaincy, having previously served with the rank of first lieutenant.
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