History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 9

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 912

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JAMES JOSEPH MCCLYMONT.

The prosperity of any community, town or city depends upon its commercial activity, its industrial interests and its trade relations, and therefore among the builders of a town are those who stand at the head of the business enterprises. Since 1919, when he organized the business, James Joseph McClymont has been an important figure in the industrial circles of Milwaukee as president and treasurer of the McCly- mont Marble Company, his plant being one of the largest of its kind in the United States.

WILLIAM F. BORGES

Vol. II1-6

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

He is a native son of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred near Troy, on his father's tarm, on the 25th of January, 1867, a son of James and Bridget (Enright) McClymont. The paternal grandfather, Samuel McClymont, was a prominent land- scape gardener in Scotland and in that country his son, James, was born and reared to manhood. In 1849, however, at the age of twenty-seven years, James came to the United States and on arriving here first settled near Boston, Massachusetts. He subse- quently came to Wisconsin and located at Troy, where he resided until 1859, when he bought a farm on which he resided the remainder of his life. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the Forty-Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers. Mrs. McClymont passed away in 1875. She was born near Limerick, Ireland, a daughter of Timothy Enright, who came to this country with his family about 1850, locating in Walworth county, where he engaged in farming.

James Joseph McClymont received his education in the Troy district schools and also in the night schools of Chicago and Kansas City. Subsequently he went into the marble and tile business, learning the trade of mechanic and when he was but nineteen years of age he was foreman over eightceen men. His rise in the business world was rapid, due to his innate ability and his conscientious performance of every duty assigned him. He became estimator and finally general superintendent of the Fitze- Lohr Company of St. Louis, a large marble concern. He remained with that company until 1899, when he organized the N. O. Nelsen Marble Works at Edwardsville, Illinois, and becoming its president and general manager was active in those capacities until 1911. In that year he came to Milwaukee as president of the Grant Marble Company and he was head of that concern for eight years. In 1919 he organized his present com- pany, and became its president and treasurer. The concern deals in all kinds of interior marble, imported and domestic, and carries on a large wholesale and con- tracting business. Mr. McClymont has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a careful man of business and in his dealings is known for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellowmen.

On the 28th of June, 1892, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. McClymont to Miss Jessie C. Randall, a daughter of Frank Randall. Her father was a native of George- town, Kentucky, where he was a well known and successful undertaker. He was in active service during the Civil war, having served under General Price in the Con- federate army. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. McClymont, three children have been born: Alice, now the wife of Robert W. Falge, an electrical engineer of Cleveland, Ohio .: Jessie C., now a student in the University of Wisconsin; and James J., Jr., a stu- dent in the Riverside high school.

Mr. McClymont has always maintained an independent course in politics and has never sought nor desired public office. His religious faith is evidenced by his attendance at the Grand Avenue Congregational church and fraternally he is a Mason, having membership in Lafayette Lodge, No. 265. For some time, when a resident of St. Louis. he was chairman of the congressional committee of his district. In the line of his business he belongs to the National Marble Dealers Association and was president of that body in 1918 and is now a director. Mr. McClymont has a watch which was presented to him by the association. He also holds membership in the Chicago Marble Dealers Association and as a man interested in any movement for the development and improvement of the community he is identified with the Association of Commerce. He finds his greatest recreation in motoring and is particularly fond of basehall. . He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends.

PAUL GRAW.

Since 1911 Paul Graw has been sole owner of the C. M. Goutd Pharmacal Com- pany, which under his careful management has become one of the representative business interests of Milwaukee. Mr. Graw was born near La Crosse, Wisconsin, March 10, 1884, on his father's farm, a son of Peter and Amelia (Parsch) Graw, both of whom are deceased. The grandfather was John Graw, who came to this country sometime after 1860 and located near La Crosse, where his son, Peter, grew to manhood. Peter was born in Germany but came to this country at an early date and hecame identified with farming, building up a reputation along that line in the community. He possessed untiring energy and devoted himself unselfishly to the growth and development of the general welfare, holding numerous public offices. His death in 1918 came as a severe blow to his many friends. His wife's demise occurred in 1904. She was a daughter of John Parsch, a farmer near La Crosse, in which vicinity her birth occurred.

Paul Graw received his education in the common schools of Monroe county and after graduating from Cashton high school with the class of 1900, he enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, from which institution he was graduated in 1906 with

IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

the degree of Ph. G. Subsequently he worked one year for the United States govern- ment in the pharmaceutical department of the National Soldiers Home at Milwaukee and later became associated with the C. M. Gould Pharmacal Company as laboratory manager and chemist. From 1908 until 1911 he continued that association but in the latter year, determining to enter business on his own account, he bought out the company, which he has since operated alone. In the past ten years the business shows an increase of five hundred per cent and stands as a representative business interest of Milwaukee. Chemical and pharmaceutical products are manufactured by the company and are sold for the most part to medical and veterinary establishments, two traveling salesmen covering Wisconsin and the north central states. Pluck, in- telligence and perseverance have been dominant factors in the conduct of his business and as an energetic and progressive business man Mr. Graw's success in life has been on a parity with his well directed endeavors.

On the 15th of June, 1910, Mr. Graw was united in marriage to Miss Lenore McCarthy, a daughter of John McCarthy of Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Her father was a native of this state and here resided until his death about 1907. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Graw six children have been born: Robert, James, Kathleen, Helen Louise, Lawrence and William. The three eldest are attending the Milwaukee schools.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Graw has maintained an independent course in politics but has never been particularly active along political lines. The family are all communicants of St. Roberts Catholic church and fraternally Mr. Graw is au Elk, having membership in Milwaukee Lodge, No. 46. In the line of his work he is active in the American Pharmaceutical Association and his hobby being chemistry he spends all of his spare time in research along that line. Mr. and Mrs. Graw reside at 504 Stratford court.

JOHN H. MOSS. (By William George Bruce.)

Through the propinquity of modern urban life the influences of our associates become a forceful factor in coursing our careers. To a very large degree our welfare is dependent upon the virtuous or vicious character of these influences; upon the noble or ignoble character of our associates. Influence is the medium through which per- sonalities affect one another. It is the force which character possesses and exerts. We fill our lives with the desire to get and to give influence. The propagation of desirable influences is the culmination of a pleasing personality. Pathetic, indeed, is the career of him who is unable to bestow these creative influences for good and is so devoid of friendships as not to receive theni.

Possessing those traits of character which make a personal appeal and allied in the common purpose of promoting civic welfare (he as president and ] as secretary of the Merchants & Manufacturers Association of Milwaukee) the influences which first brought me into business relationship with the subject of this biography resulted in such close and continuous contact with Mr. Moss as to form a friendship as valuable as it has been pleasing. It was he who brought into prominent place the ethics of in- dustrialism as a proper phase of associated commercial activity. Men ally themselves in organizations that they may share in one another's aims, desires, visions and labors and they are in harmonious accord when they work in unity for a common interest. An organization owes its strength and stability not so much to its formal creation as to the confidence and cooperation of men who share in the beliefs and ideals of its aims, in a conviction of its usefulness, its essentialness and its destiny. These were the issues emphasized in Mr. Moss' labors as leader of Milwaukee's commercial organization and they gave to it a strength and cohesiveness which built for laudable purposes.

The birth of my friendship for the character portrayed in this sketch was through the instrumentality of our mutual endeavors for civic, social and industrial better- ment as actuated by the activities of the Merchants & Manufacturers Association, the aims and purposes of which appealed to both of us. As pleasant as was the birth of this friendship, so pleasant has been its uninterrupted continuance during the past twenty years and it has grown in depth and strength as it has grown in years. It thus becomes a pleasing privilege to here record something of the career and activities of John H. Moss and to acknowledge the power for advancement he has been in this community.

It is not an easy task to describe with any degree of exactness the exceptional character combinations of Mr. Moss and the unique place he fills in the life of the community. The writer, who has known bim intimately for many years, would say that he is at once a captain of industry and a scholarly gentleman. But that does not complete the description. While he possesses a grasp of the intricacies of factory production he manifests also a remarkable power and skill in literary production.

JOHN H. MOSS

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

We have here a business man with a magnificent hobby or, if you will, a professional man with a penchant for business. While his vocation is readily told in the one word, manufacturer, it would be difficult to describe in one word with equal aptness his inclinations unless we employ the word, education.

As an orator he excels. In fact, among his contemporaries he has no rival. In beauty of imagination, in a mastery of English diction, and in fluency and eloquence of expression he is a peer. He not only manages to hold his audiences spell-bound in a discussion of serious problems but also entertains them with his rare wit and delightful humor. The writer, who has listened to him on numberless occasions, has never seen him fail in winning his audiences by humorous stories and shafts of wit and then sway them by the power of his logic and the mastery of his oratory. He is constantly in great demand by civic, social and commercial organizations throughout the northwest as a speaker on topics dealing with the ethics and philosophy of life.

Mr. Moss is of English descent. His paternal grandfather, Robert Moss, born in England in 1802, was a Methodist minister at Reading, Berkshire, England. His paternal grandmother, Hannah Griffin, was also of English extraction. The couple had two children, Charles H. Moss and a daughter who died in infancy, and two adopted children, Elizabeth Meakes and Thomas Salt. They came to the United States in 1855. Robert Moss died at Waukesha in the year 1886, at the age of eighty-four. The paternal grand- mother, Hannah Griffin Moss, died in 1869 at Little Pinery, near Plainfield, Wisconsin.

The father of John H. Moss was born in Reading, Berkshire, England, December 13, 1828, received his early education in his native city and his business training in London. He preceded his parents in coming to the United States, arriving in New York during September, 1848. Soon after he located at Athens, Pennsylvania, and Jater established himself at Buffalo. From there he removed to St. Charles, Illinois, remaining there three years, and on January 21, 1857, he went to Chicago and soon after to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where he became interested in the lumber business.

Charles H. Moss arrived in Milwaukee on January 3, 1860, becoming connected with a saw and planing mill, assuming soon after the foremanship of a basket factory operated by Judd & Hiles, at the corner of Reed and South Water streets. The estab- lishment was removed in 1866 to the corner of West Water and Clybourn streets and was known as the Cream City Sash, Door, Blind, Box and Patent Basket Manufacturers, but was destroyed by fire five years later. Mr. Judd then engaged in the lumber busi- ness and Mr. Hiles went into the manufacture of sash, doors and blinds. Here was the inception of the company of which John H. Moss is now in charge the Rockwell Manufacturing Company. The plant was located at the corner of Park street and Sixth avenue and after admitting Charles H. Moss and Henry H. Rockwell as partners in 1872, was conducted under the name of John Hiles & Company. When Mr. Hiles lost his life on the Steamer Ironsides a reorganization of the business was effected whereby Caspar M. Sanger, Charles H. Moss and Henry H. Rockwell became partners under the name of Sanger, Rockwell & Company, in the year 1874.

In 1893 Mr. Sanger retired and the present corporation, the Rockwell Manufactur- ing Company was formed with Henry H. Rockwell as president, Charles H. Moss as vice president, Fred W. Rockwell as treasurer, George Donald as secretary and Charles A. Radcliffe as superintendent. Mr. Donald and Mr. Radcliffe withdrew in 1897 and Henry H. Rockwell died March 7, 1901. Charles H. Moss then became the president and continued in that position until his death in 1903. From the time of his arrival in Milwaukee he remained here, with the exception of four years spent in Waukesha and thirteen years in California.

In 1856 Charles H. Moss was married to Miss Elizabeth Barton. They had two chil- dren: Charles H. Moss, Jr., born at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, January 21, 1858, and a daughter who died soon after birth in 1860, at which time the mother also died. On October 16, 1869, at Milwaukee, Mr. Moss married Cordelia Angenette Churchill- Allard, widow of William Allard. This marriage was blessed with four children: John H. Moss, born March 7, 1871; Marshall C. Moss, born April 15, 1872; Antoinette Moss, born February 2, 1878, and a daughter born December 20, 1876, who died a few months later and was buried at Waukesha. Bion Adelbert Allard, the son of Mr. Moss' second wife, was adopted by Mr. Moss on March 8, 1880.

Charles H. Moss died April 16th. 1903, at Los Gatos, California, at the age of seventy-four. In the early '80s he had gone to Hot Springs, Arkansas, for his health. One night, watching a large hotel fire he contracted a severe cold which developed into rhenmatism, from which he never recovered. He visited the Hot Springs in New Mexico and Carlsbad, Germany, in search of health. His remains are buried at the Forest Home cemetery in Milwaukee.

Mr. Moss' mother was descended from old New England stock. Tracing Mr. Moss' maternal ancestry back to 1814 his maternal grandfather, Daniel Churchill, son of Zenos and Almira Castle Churchill, was born on October 22 of that year in Caledonia county, New York. He married Antoinette Joslyn in 1837, and died near Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois, in 1845.

Antoinette Joslyn, born March 16, 1821, married Daniel Churchill in 1837. This marriage resulted in the birth of two children; Orphanie Louisa Churchill, who died

IHISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

when two and one-half years old, three weeks after her father passed away; and Cordelia Angenette Churchill. After the death of her husband, Daniel, in 1845, the widow married Joseph Chesebro on April 8, 1847. Their children, in the order of their ages, were Orpbanie, Lorinda and Lorenzo. Antoinette Joslyn Churchill-Chesebro died in Cortland, De Kalb county, Illinois, in 1905. Joseph Chesebro died in Wellman, Iowa, and was buried near Cortland, Illinois, on February 28, 1907, beside his wife.

Cordelia Angenette Churchill was born August 19, 1840, in De Kalb county, Illinois. She was descended from old New England stock. Her maternal grandfather was Phineas Joslyn. whose birth was about 1794, probably in the state of New York. Her maternal grandmother was Lorinda Woodruff-Joslyn who was probably born in Vermont about the year 1797. Her paternal grandfather was Zenos Churchill, who was born March 12, 1784, probably in New York state and died about 1874 when over ninety years of age. Her paternal grandmother was Almira Castle, who was about four years younger than her husband and who was also probably born in the state of New York.

The marriage of Zenos Churchill and Almira Castle resulted in the birth of eight children who, in the order of their birth, were: David, Daniel (father of Cordelia Angenette Churchill), Ann, Castle, Sally, Almira, Zenos and Enos.

Cordelia Angenette Churchill married William Allard on Monday December 18, 1855, in Pampas township. De Kalb county. Illinois. One child was born of this marriage on March 12, 1861, named Bion Adelbert Allard, in De Kalb county, Illinois. William Allard was wounded by a rebel sharpshooter while engaged in the construc- tion of breastworks near Dallas, Texas, and died on April 22, 1864, at that place. As hereinbefore noted Cordelia Allard was united in marriage to Charles H. Moss in 1869, at Milwaukee. Since the death of her husband in 1903 Cordelia A. Moss has re- sided at San Jose, California.

John Hiles Moss, the principal subject of this sketch, received his early training in the public schools of Milwaukee and at Carroll College, Waukesha. After graduating from the East Side high school in 1889 he entered the University of Wisconsin, taking the eivic historie course, and later the law course, and was given the degree of B. B. L. in June, 1893. He also took a postgraduate course under Prof. Richard T. Ely in banking and economics.

While in the aniversity he took an active interest in the Athenae Debating Society and for two suceessive years delivered its annual toast. Interesting himself in news- paper work he became one of the editors of the University Badger, the annual publica- tion of the Junior elass. He also reported for the Madison State Journal, the Mil- waukee, Chieago and New York papers and was local dramatic critic for the New York Dramatic Mirror. Much of his writings appeared in Judge, Puck, Truth and Vogue during the early '90s.

Having been associated with a cadet military company and the Light Horse Squadron Trumpet Corps while in Milwaukee. Mr. Moss became adjutant of the University Battalion, Colonel H. J. MeGrath sending his name to the United States war department at Washington, D. C., which, in case of enlistment, would entitle him to the rank of lieutenant.

Upon leaving the university Mr. Moss spent six months in traveling through the western states and in June, 1894, commenced the practice of law in Milwaukee. This was continued until March, 1901, when, upon the death of his father's business asso- ciate, Henry H. Rockwell, he connected himself with the Rockwell Manufacturing Company. He became treasurer of the corporation in 1901, was elected vice president in 1904 and superintendent in 1911, which three offices he has since continuously held.

On September 8, 1897, at Milwaukee, he married Grace Horton King. They had one child, Walter King Moss, born October 22, 1898. Walter's education was obtained at the publie schools of Milwaukee, Carroll College at Waukesha, and the University of Wisconsin. He is now publicity manager for The City Bank of Milwaukee. Graee Horton King Moss died at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Interested in civic affairs, he served on the public affairs and legislative com- mittees of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association of Milwaukee; later was eleeted a member of its board of directors, served two years as its vice president, and in 1908 was elected president of the Association.

Mr. Moss was actively interested in the organization of the Milwaukee Aero Club in the winter of 1907-8; served on its first board of directors, and was its first presi- dent. Several successful flights were made with Major Henry B. Hersey as pilot.

Mr. Moss is a member of the Milwaukee Club, Milwaukee Athletic Club, Milwaukee Press Club, Milwaukee Bar Association, Kiwanis Club, Psi Upsilon Greek Letter College Fraternity, Phi Delta Phi, a law school fraternity, and is a thirty-second degree Mason. He is a director and vice president of The City Bank and is a regent of Marquette University. During 1920 he was district trustee of the Kiwanis Club for the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan Distriet and in January, 1921, was elected governor of that organization for the same district.

Mr. Moss received the Symbolic degrees of Free Masonry in Excelsior Lodge No. 175, as follows: Entered apprentice, March 8, 1899, Fellowcraft March 29, and master

HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE

Mason, April 26. He at once petitioned for the degrees in Wisconsin Chapter No. 7 and on June 5, 1899, was made a Mark Master. He received the past and most ex- cellent on June 12 and was exalted to the Royal Arch on June 19 of that year. In Templar Masonry Mr. Moss received the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross on August 15, 1899, and the order of the Temple and of Malta on August 22, in Wisconsin Commandery No. 1. In the fall of the same year he received all of the grades in the Scottish Rite bodies from the fourth to the thirty-second, inclusive, and was made a Noble of Tripoli Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. Mr. Moss is also a member of Kilbourn Council No. 9. Mr. Moss served the Commandery in most of its offices and was eminent commander in 1906. During the same year he was high priest in Wisconsin Council Princes of Jerusalem, and deputy grand master and M. E. and P. K. Junior warden in Wisconsin Chapter of Rose Croix. For several years he has presided over the thirty- first degree of Wisconsin Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Mr. Moss occupied all of the appointive and elective offices in Tripoli Temple and presided over that body as Illustrious Potentate in 1906.

During the late World war Mr. Moss was engaged in the activities of the several drives, made many patriotic speeches throughout the state and was prominent as one of the Four-Minute men, the talks delivered in the last named work having been published in book form, a copy of which was requested for the State Historical Library. Mrs. Moss devoted her time during the war period to Red Cross work and as a member of the Motor Corps.

Thus we find in the history of Mr. Moss the education and training which de- veloped a combination of talents fitting him for a variety of activities. Successful at first as a practicing attorney and later as the executive of a large manufacturing in- dustry he also found opportunity to devote considerable time to civic affairs and altruistic efforts. In each line of activity he has evidenced a comprehensive view of fundamental essentials which has made him a leader in all he has undertaken. In the constructive upbuilding of civic and social thought the community owes Mr. Moss a deht not easily discharged.

WILLIAM E. FOX, M. D.

Dr. William E. Fox, a physician and surgeon, with offices in the Goldsmith build- ing at No. 141 Wisconsin street, was born in Milwaukee, March 29, 1880, and was the third in order of birth in a family of five sons and two daughters, whose parents were Dr. William and Narcissa (McDill) Fox, both of whom have departed this life. The father was also a physician, well known throughout Milwaukee by reason of his valuable professional activity. He was born in Oregon, Dane county, Wisconsin, and had reached the age of fifty-three years when he passed away on the 12th of April, 1897. His widow, who was born in Pennsylvania, survived him for an extended period, her death occurring November 12, 1920. The family is of Irish lineage on the paternal side and of Scotch descent through the maternal line. The mother's father was Dr. Alexander Stewart McDill, who was born in Pennsylvania and who throughout his life was a physician, practicing medicine for a time in Dane county, Wisconsin, while at another period he was superintendent of the Southern Insane Hospital at Mendota, Wisconsin. He likewise took an active and prominent part in political affairs and for two terms was a member of congress from the Madison (Wis.) district. His only son, Dr. John Rich MeDill, also became a well known physician and is now associated with the surgeon general's office in Washington, D. C.

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History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III, Part 9

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844 Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 912

Author: Bruce, William George, 1856-1949; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), b. 1844
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Chicago : S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 912