USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 79
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On the 15th of April. 1915, occurred the marriage of Mr. Becker to Miss Helen Hoffbraner, and they have one son, John Casper, born on the 15th of October, 1918. Mr. Becker gives his political endorsement to the republican party, in the interests of which he has taken an active part, although he has never desired political preferment as a reward for party fealty. The religious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Vol. III-45
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church, and fraternally Mr. Becker is an Elk, belonging to Milwaukee Lodge, No. 46. He is active in the development and improvement of the community and to that end is a prominent member of the Association of Commerce. He is fond of all outdoor sports, baseball in particular, and his recreation is found in fishing and hunting. He maintains a cottage on the lakes and there spends his summer vacations with bis family. An energetic business man, his success in life has been on a parity with his well directed endeavors, and he may truly be called a self-made man for he started in the business world empty-handed and has steadily worked his way upward through the wise use of his opportunities, through his indefatigable energy and his sound judgment.
ALFRED E. UIHLEIN.
To a student of Milwaukee history no member of the Uihlein family needs introduc- tion, nor to the readers of this volume. Alfred E. Uihlein, long prominently and honorably known here, was born in Wertheim-on-the-Main, Baden, Germany, April, 1852, his parents being Joseph Benedict and Katherine (Krug) Uihlein, the former being proprietor of Hotel Krone at Wertheim.
Alfred E. Uihlein was educated in the gymnasium or high school in his native city. He came to America in 1867, when a youth of fifteen years, in connection with his brother August and engaged in the brewery business with the Uhrig Brewery Company of St. Louis. Later he went to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was active along the same line. In 1871 he arrived in Milwaukee and was associated with his brother, who was then with the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Following the death of Joseph Schlitz, Alfred E. Uihlein was made superintendent of the brewery, which position he filled until 1917, when be was elected to the presidency of the company succeeding his brother Henry. He had thus long been prominently associated with the brewing in- terests, which have been a most important factor in Milwaukee's npbuilding and con- tinual financial growth and expansion.
It was in the year 1875 that Alfred E. Uillein was united in marriage to Miss Anna Pilger, a daughter of William and Catherine Pilger and a representative of one of the old and honored families of the city. Their children are three in number: Mathilda, the wife of A. C. Elser, vice president of the Second Ward Savings Bank; William B., vice president of the J. Schlitz Brewing Company and a director of the Eline Corpora- tion; and Herbert E., who is also with the brewery.
In politics Mr. Uihlein has always maintained an independent course, voting for men and measures rather than party. He was one of the school commissioners of the city from 1890 until 1893 and has always heen deeply interested in everything pertaining to Milwaukee's advancement and progress. He is a member of the Association of Com- merce and the Merchants and Manufacturers Association and belongs to the Wisconsin Club, to the Calumet Club, to the Milwaukee Musical Society and the West Side Turnverein. He is fond of fancy stock and the three brothers, August, Henry and Alfred, at one time as a means of diversion from the onerous cares of an extensive business, maintained the Uihlein Stock Farm at Truesdell. Wisconsin, where they raised and bred fancy thoroughbred horses, having seven hundred head of fine horses, including many specimens of splendid racing stock, among the number being Harvester and Alcazar and others noted for speed on the track.
It seems almost superfluous in this connection to speak of the business ability and capacity of Alfred E. Uihlein, whose commercial history is a part of the story of Mil- waukee's growth and development. A master of his trade he came into power and prominence among the leading brewers of the country, possessing comprehensive knowl- edge of every practical phase of business, combined with splendid executive ability. Forceful and resourceful, ready at any time to meet any emergency and quick to recognize and improve opportunities, he has advanced step by step to a position of leadership in business circles here, nor has he ever been neglectful or unappreciative of the social amenities of life, so that today the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
WILLIAM F. LUBENOW.
William F. Lubenow, identified with the manufacturing interests of Milwaukee, has been engaged in the machine business throughout his entire life. He was but fourteen years of age when he built an engine. The skill and efficiency which he early developed have been augmented as the years have passed and notwithstanding almost limitless hardships and difficulties he has nevertheless pressed forward and is today at the head of one of the large and prominent productive industries of the city. His birth occurred near Berlin, Germany, March 28, 1860, his parents being William and
ALFRED E. TIHLEIN
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Louisa Lubenow. In 1866 he came to the new world with his mother and they located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, his father having passed away in Germany.
William F. Lubenow was a lad of but six years when brought to the new world, and his education was largely acquired in the public schools at Sheboygan. In 1880 he came to Milwaukee, where for two years he attended night school after starting out to provide for his own support by working in the daytime. Later he spent two years as a student in the Cooper Union School of New York and thus he availed himself of every opportunity to promote his knowledge and thereby increase his efficiency, so that he became well qualified for life's practical and responsible duties. He started out to work at the machinist's trade when quite young and early manifested marked aptitude along this line, his mechanical skill and ingenuity being developed to such an extent that when he was but fourteen years of age he built an engine. He eagerly availed himself of every chance to advance in business and steadily worked his way upward by reason of his diligence, determination and indefatigable energy and faithfulness. In 1894 he opened his present shop at No. 592 First avenue with a capital of but one hundred and fifty dollars. He took this step in the face of the most determined opposi- tion and the hardest kind of competition, but by unremitting effort he succeeded in advancing slowly but steadily until today he occupies a place in the front rank of those engaged in mechanical pursuits in Milwaukee. He now has fifteen automatic and six hand machines, together with four drill presses, and a total of forty machines of all kinds. This is indicative of the steady growth of his business, for he started with but one. From the beginning he has been engaged in the manufacture of screw machine products and his output is largely sold to the Milwaukee trade. He has ever held to the highest standards in the quality of goods turned out and his success is largely at- tributable to the excellent reputation which he has thereby built up.
In 1884 Mr. Lubenow was married to Miss Louisa Hubacker and they became the parents of four children: Arthur and Flora, who were educated in the public and high schools of this city; Nettie; and Edna. The son was married in 1910 to Miss Katherine Meier and they have two children, Herbert and Margaret. The religious faith of the family is manifest in their connection with St. Stephen's Lutheran church, Mr. Lube- now is a member of the Association of Commerce and is interested in all those forces which are making a thorough study of municipal and trade conditions with a view to upholding civic standards and of promoting the business relations of the city. His cooperation can be counted upon to further any plan or measure for the public good and at the same time he is wisely, carefully and profitably directing his business affairs. Step by step he has advanced and his course illustrates what can be accomplished Through earnest and unfaltering effort.
THE CUDAHY STATE BANK.
It was in 1909 that the Cudahy State Bank was organized as the result of the efforts of David M. Rosenheimer and Charles A. Nicolaus, and from the beginning the latter has served as cashier of the institution. Some years before Patrick Cudahy had looked about him for a suitable location on which to locate the Cudahy packing industry, when the city council of Milwaukee had characterized such a business as an undesirable addition to the community, and he found an agricultural region on which were a few scattered houses, and this he acquired. Steadily the population of the district in- creased until its inhabitants numbered approximately six thousand and while there were various important manufacturing and industrial interests in the town and many modern improvements, the little city was without a bank until early in the year 1909, when David M. Rosenheimer and Charles A. Nicolaus visited the town and noted its need of a banking institution. They at once interviewed several business men and within a brief time applied for a bank charter, holding a meeting on the 25th of May, of that year, at which fifty-five stockholders were present. Mr. Rosenheimer was elected presi- dent of the new bank, with A. L. Wirth as vice president, and Charles A. Nicolaus as cashier. The bank at once entered upon an era of growth and prosperity, meeting a long-felt want in the community. Mr. Rosenheimer continued to act as president until February 2, 1910, when he was succeeded by Michael Cudahy, who was one of the criginal stockholders and directors and who served until January 8, 1913. J. D. Bird was then elected to the position and still remains president of the bank.
Business was begun on the 2d of October, 1909, in a small brick building at 1003 Packard avenue, and it was then that the bank received a permanent charter and was capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars. On the 1st of February, 1915, the capital stock was increased to thirty thousand dollars and three years later this was doubled, becoming sixty thousand dollars on the Ist of February, 1918. On the 1st of January, 1915, a surplus was distributed, and since that date the further surplus of fifteen thousand dollars has accumulated. Naturally with the development of the business the bank ontgrew its original home and in January, 1919, the erection of a new bank building was deemed feasible. Three months later a lot, forty-seven by one hundred
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and twenty feet, at the southeast corner of Packard and Layton avenues, was pur- chased, and Leigh Hunt, architect of Milwaukee, hegan preparation of the plans, resulting in the building of one of the beautiful and attractive bank buildings of the state. In fact the new home of the institution is the last word in modern bank architecture. It is built of pressed brick and Bedford stone, with richly carved panels and capitals, and shows dignity and beauty in every line of the structure. Its equip- ment is of the most attractive and modern character, and, in addition to the regular banking rooms and offices for the president and his associates and the safety deposit vaults protected with electric lining aud burglar alarm system, there is a ladies' rest room, while in the basement are to be found a kitchen, dining room and showers for the exclusive use of employes. The men at the head of the institution have demon- strated their ability to organize and develop a sound financial institution, and the bank is certainly worthy of public patronage. The officers have had wide experience and their capability is manifest in the continued and substantial growth of the business, which finds tangible expression in the splendid new bank building recently completed.
AUGUST J. LUEDKE.
August J. Luedke, entering upon active connection with the Milwaukee Corrugating Company as an apprentice in 1916, is today secretary and assistant treasurer of the corporation. The steps in his orderly progression are easily discernible and mark the wise use of his time and talents. He was born in this city, May 18, 1884, and is a son of H. August and Emma (Pritzlaff) Luedke, who are mentioned at length on another page of this work. He pursued his education in the parochial and public schools of the city and in the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated with the class of 1907.
It was in the previous year that he became an apprentice with the Milwaukee Corrugating Company. He found the work congenial and believed that it gave him opportunity for advancement. Step by step he has worked his way upward, gaining valuable knowledge with each advance made, while his powers have steadily grown through the exercise of effort. Acquiring familiarity with the business as his ex- perience has broadened he was later elected to the position of secretary and assistant treasurer, in which dual capacity he has since served. He is also the vice president and one of the directors of the Concordia Fire Insurance Company, and thus important interests are under his guidance and control.
In 1915 Mr. Luedke was married to Miss Anita Goll, a daughter of Fred T. Goll, of Milwaukee, and they have become parents of one child, Margaret. Mr. Luedke's prom- inence in his chosen field of lahor is indicated in the fact that he has become the representative of his line in the Rotary Club. He belongs also to the Wisconsin Club and to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, and his friends in these organizations are many, for his social qualities have made for personal popularity wherever he is known.
HENRY WERBA.
Henry Werba, conducting a real estate, foreign exchange and banking business, together with a steamship agency, at No. 6171/2 Chestnut street in Milwaukee, was born in Bohemia, December 16, 1861. After acquiring a public and high school education in his native land he attended a university and took up the profession of teaching, becoming a well known educator in connection with the schools of Bo- hemia. There he remained until twenty-two years of age and in 1885 emigrated to the new world, making his way at once to Milwaukee, where he has since lived. He was employed in various ways and in different places until he could earn enough money to establish business on his own account. He found it no easy task for several years, having a hard struggle to make both ends meet. For several years he en- gaged in the wholesale and retail wine and liquor business and at the same time he was conducting business along the line in which he is now engaged. His entire time has been devoted to the management of his real estate, foreign exchange, hank- ing and steamship agency since 1917 and in this connection he has built up a very lucrative business. He represents all the leading steamship lines and he also con- ducts a foreign exchange business, while in the field of real estate he has negotiated a number of important property transfers.
Mr. Werba is a valued member of all the different Bohemian societies of Milwaukee and has held office in all of them. He is one of the best known and most prominent men in Bohemian circles in Milwaukee today and is the supreme trustee of the Bohemian lodges for the United States, while in local lodge circles he is equally well known. For twenty-five years he has held the office of supreme trustee and his work in this connection has been of a most valuable character. He was the
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founder of the Bohemian Hall, which was erected in 1895, and he has been untiring in his labors to promote the interests of his fellow countrymen. He taught the children in the Bohemian free schools the Bohemian language and history, and for thirty years he has been at the head of the Bohemian theatre. He is likewise a member of several American lodges and societies and is closely associated with all the organized charities. He is likewise one of the members of the Milwaukee Auditorium and he is justly accounted one of the alert and progressive citizens, ready to support any plan or measure which his judgment sanctions as of real value in the upbuilding of Milwaukee.
In 1892 Mr. Werba was married to Miss Ludmilla Pfeffer, a native of Prague, Bohemia, and they have four children: Arthur M., who is a lawyer; Edward Otto, an engineer; Daniel Richard, a physician who has taken postgraduate work in the Rush Medical College of Chicago; and Louisa, the wife of Louis Potter, an attorney. In 1885 Mr. Werba took the examination for teacher in the Milwaukee high school but did not enter upon the active work of the profession here. He can speak French, English, Latin, German, Greek and Bohemian and all the Slovak languages and is a man of broad and liberal culture who has had marked influence in shaping public thought and action in this city, especially among people of his own nation- ality. His friends, however, are found among the representatives of the various nations that have sent their sons to the new world to become American citizens.
JOHN RICKARD DUNDON, M. D.
Dr. John Rickard Dundon, physician and surgeon, with offices at 334 Brady street, Milwaukee. was born at Ishpeming, Michigan, July 26, 1893, a son of Thomas John and Margaret (Stack) Dundon. The father, a native of Ireland, came to the United States with his parents in 1853 and is yet engaged in the practice of law at Ishpeming. The mother, whose birth occurred in Delaware, Ohio, is also still living.
Dr. Dundon was reared in his native city, where he was graduated from the high school, and later he pursued a classical course in Notre Dame University, being gradu- ated there with the Bachelor of Literature degree in 1914. He afterward spent two and a half years as a student in the University of Chicago and for two years attended Rush Medical College. He was accorded his Master of Science degree by the University of Chicago in 1916, while his professional degree was conferred upon him by Rush in 1919. For a year and four months he served an interneship in the Cincinnati General Hospital and then located for the private practice of medicine in Akron, Ohio, where he continued from July, 1919, until December, 1920. At the latter date he came to Milwaukee and for several months was physician to the Milwaukee plant of the International Harvester Company. He then opened his present office and entered upon general practice independently. He was also house physician for seven months in the Milwaukee Maternity Hospital and spent two months as house physician in the Mil- waukee Children's Hospital. His hospital practice has brought him wide experience of a varied and valuable character and his ability has been constantly augmented, moreover, by his wide reading and study. He belongs to the American Medical Associa- tion and thus keeps in touch with modern professional progress.
In religious faith Dr. Dunden is a Roman Catholic, being a communicant of Jesu church. He belongs also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Phi Beta Pi, a medical fraternity. He likewise has membership in the Akron ( Ohio) University Club.
PAUL WEISE.
Paul Weise, president of the Paul Weise Company, manufacturers of and dealers in fine artistic furniture and draperies, in connection with which they conduct a rug and drapery cleaning establishment, has been successful in organizing and developing this business to one of the chief mercantile interests of Milwaukee. Mr. Weise was born in Germany, July 3, 1863, and following his graduation from the public schools entered upon an apprenticeship in a furniture and decorating establishment, his term of in- denture covering three and a half years. Thus he laid a good foundation for his success in later life.
It was in May, 1882, that Mr. Weise came to the new world and drifted to Birming- ham, Connecticut, where he was employed as an upholsterer. Hearing about the op- portunities in the golden west, he came to Milwaukee in May, 1883, and here accepted employment with Mathew Brothers, who were among the leading furniture manufac- turers in the west at that time. At length, however, lack of work in the shop forced him out of employment. He then solicited work on the upper east side among private
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families and, receiving much encouragement from prosperous customers, he opened a little repair shop in a building on the present location of the Paul Weise Company, paying a rental of ten dollars per month. This was on the 8th of February, 1886, and his first year's sales amounted to five hundred and thirty-nine dollars and seventy-one cents. On the 28th of June, 1887, he bought his first horse, harness and delivery wagon, for which he paid one hundred and forty-three dollars and eighty cents. The struggle was a difficult one. Several years elapsed before he felt that he was really on the highroad to success and was able to purchase the first part of the present location, on which stood an old dwelling. This he remodeled to suit the conditions of the business and later on he purchased the remainder of the site on which his plant now stands. In September, 1903, he admitted his brother, Carl W. Weise, to a partnership and in- corporated the business under the name of the Paul Weise Company with a capital of thirty thousand dollars. At that time the first section of the present building was erected and in 1912 further additions were made until the plant reached its present proportions. On the 1st of March, 1922, the capital was increased to one hundred thou- sand dollars and a new addition was put up to cover the entire ground owned by Mr. Weise. The officers of the company are: Paul Weise, president; 1da Weise, vice presi- dent; and Car! W. Weise, secretary. The stockholders of the firm are all old and faithful employes. No outside capital is solicited, for Mr. Weise is a believer in the plan of allowing those who have helped him make his profits to share in the profits. He has always followed a most judicious system of advertising, carried on to a con- siderable extent through personal letters to patrons and others. Thus he has called attention to his business and gradually his patronage has increased until he is now conducting an extensive enterprise in the manufacture and sale of fine furniture and draperies. He also handles high-grade rugs and his household furnishings likewise include much that pleases the most artistic taste. Mr. Weise is most careful in making selections and in as far as possible advises patrons that their furnishings may be truly harmonious and artistic.
On the 23d of January, 1888, was celebrated the marriage of Paul Weise and Miss Ida Kaestner, a daughter of Bernhard Kaestner, a pioneer resident of Milwaukee. They have many friends in this city, enjoying the high regard of those who know them. Alr. Weise belongs to the Masonic fraternity, has taken the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also has mem- bership with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
ELIAS HUNTINGTON BOTTUM.
Elias Huntington Bottum was born in the rural town of New Haven, Addison county, Vermont. His birthplace was an ancestral farm in the center of the Champlain valley, within sight of the Adirondack mountain peaks at the west and the foot-hills of the Green mountains at the east. He was taught in the district school until qualified to enter Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, New Hampshire, in 1866. He then, after graduating there, graduated from Middlebury College, Vermont, class of 1871. After his graduation from college, he commenced to study law in the office of Evarts, Southmayd and Choate in New York city but finished his course of legal study and obtained admission to the bar in Columbian College, now Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. He located in Milwaukee shortly after his admission to the bar, in October, 1873, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He has been a member of several prominent law firms, consistently observing the ethics and traditions of the profession. He has at times taken a warm interest in political questions, being independent in thought and expression. He is apt to differ from his friends and associates but without acrimony or bitterness. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and received the degree of LL. D. from his Alma Mater.
FREDERICK W. SIVYER.
The life of Frederick W. Sivyer constituted a valuable contribution to the industrial upbuilding and the civic development of Milwaukee. In each field his labors were far- reaching and important and were of great worth to the city. Opportunity was ever to him a call to action, and he was never neglectful of his stewardship in any particular but used his talents wisely and well.
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