USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee, city and county, Volume III > Part 98
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Mr. Mitchell was a native son of Milwaukee, born October 19, 1842. He came of Scotch ancestry and had many of the sterling qualities of the Scotch people. His father, Alexander Mitchell, was a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and the son inherited his love of the land of hills and heather. At various Scotch gatherings he was wont to say that he "was half Scotch and his heart was in the Scotch half." He enjoyed to the fullest Scotch games, Scotch music and literature and, more than all, the Scotch traits of character.
Mr. Mitchell became a pupil at eleven years of age at a military school in Hampton, Connecticut, and in 1854, in Chester, England, later in Geneva, in Munich and in Dresden. In fact he remained throughout his life a deep student. He was but twenty years of age when he enlisted in defense of the Union as a member of Company I, Twenty-fourth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving until incapacitated by disability and resigning with the rank of first lieutenant. He was at all times brave and efficient, as attested by his comrades in arms, and he was commended for gallant conduct in battle. After having been discharged because of serious injury to his sight he continued in the service as volunteer aide on the staff of General Bayard He ever continued to feel the deepest interest in the welfare of his fellow comrades in arms and was a member of Robert Chivas Post, G. A. R., and also of the Loyal Legion. When for him the last taps had sounded, one of the members of his regiment said: "We were always the best of friends and I esteemed him highly. He never put on airs, and was free from all conceit. We went to the war together in the same regiment, and I know that he was a good soldier. One of his characteristics was his thoughtful care of those who were too weak to march and carry knapsack and gun. These men he would relieve by taking upon his own shoulders part of their burdens." General John C. Black said of him: "I loved him as a brother and admired him as a man." Mr. Mitchell always believed in maintaining the highest standards of military service and in making military promotion a matter of merit. Years after he had worn the nation's blue uniform in the Civil war his son
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entered the army for service in the Spanish-American war. Mr. Mitchell might readily have secured for him a commission for the asking. but he would not do this and the son won his promotion through efficiency and service.
In 1867 Mr. Mitchell took up the study of law with a view of making the profession his lite work but because of impaired eyesight he was obliged to give up this plan. His attention for many years was given to banking interests, to agricultural pursuits and to other business affairs, and Mr. Mitchell's attitude on the failure of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company Bank was thoroughly characteristic of the man. The country was in the throes of a widespread financial panic and because of this condition the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company Bank, of which Mr. Mitchell was president and stockholder, could secure no cash on the six million dollars of securities which it carried. At length on the 25th of July the bank closed its doors as a measure of equal protection to all creditors. Facing the situation squarely, Mr. Mitchell turned over to the bank for the benefit of creditors substantially everything he possessed except his homestead. No one heard a word of complaint from him nor did he hesitate to sacrifice his fortune in order to meet his obligations. In this connection one of his biographers has said: "His course during this ordeal did much to restore confidence. Nine months after that fateful day in July, the bank was running as though nothing had happened. All time restrictions had been removed. No one ever heard Mr. Mitchell utter a word of regret. Not in a single detail did he attempt to evade his responsibilities. It was a source of gratification to him that in a few brief years the bank was re- established on an improved basis and that not a dollar should be lost by any creditor." His fellow members of the directorate of the bank, at the time of his death, said of him in a memorial: "He was the very soul of integrity and honor. His word given was just as binding upon his conscience and as sacredly observed as any document, however signed and sealed. He was a rare judge of human nature and had a wonderfully com- prehensive grasp of the important questions of the times."
Throughout his active life Mr. Mitchell was interested in agricultural pursuits. Meadowmere became one of the ideal country homes of the Mississippi valley. He was a naturalist who studied not only the prepared textbooks of man but from actual experience. He served for a number of years as president of the State Agricultural Society, to which he was elected in 1884. His addresses before the State Agricultural Society, also at the opening of the state fair in 1889 and again at the state agricultural convention in 1890 showed that he was as familiar with the different subjects which he discussed as with any point of business that claimed his attention. Mr. Mitchell was appointed by President Palmer, chairman of the committee on live stock at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Concerning Mr. Mitchell, H. D. Mckinney said: "He was an excellent judge of the horse, both as to breeding and individuality. My first acquaintance with him was in the south during the war. The acquaintance then formed was renewed later in Wis- consin, and ripened into warm friendship. Mr. Mitchell might very properly be con- sidered as a pioneer in the breeding of high-class standard bred light harness horses in our state, and to him the breeders of Wisconsin are greatly indebted, as he brought from Kentucky the first representative of such select breeding. He never engaged in the business as a money-making proposition, but to gratify his love for fine horses.
Mr. Mitchell's interest in agriculture also took definite form in other ways. When the University of Wisconsin in January, 1886, instituted a twelve weeks' course in agricul- ture and found that the opportunity thus offered was not being used to any great extent, he offered twenty scholarships to the agricultural department at fifty dollars each "to be given to graduates from the country district schools in accordance with the merits and needs of the boys." The offer was gratefully accepted by the university and the thoroughness of these students who profited by the scholarships is indicated in the fact that nearly if not all of the prizes offered for competition in their classes were carried off by these scholarship lads.
Aside from serving as president of the State Agricultural Society, Mr. Mitchell was also president of the Northwestern Trotting Horse Breeders' Association. He was like- wise president of the Milwaukee school board and was an officer, trustee and director of numerous local institutions, hospitals and societies. In 1886 he was elected a member of the board of managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, was re- elected in 1892 and again in 1898, serving until within a short time of his death. He was a strong exponent of better highways and did effective work in that connection.
Mr. Mitchell was long a recognized leader in democratic circles in Wisconsin. He was first elected to office in 1871, when he was chosen to represent his district in the Wisconsin state senate, to which he was reelected in 1875, being but twenty-nine years of age when first chosen to the upper house of the general assembly. He was instrumen- tal in securing the passage of a bill which he introduced to establish a state fish hatchery and to encourage the artificial propagation of fish, which was the first practical move towards state conservation of fish and game. When the fish hatchery bill was intro- duced the joint committee on claims recommended it for indefinite postponement, but after a most clear, concise and convincing statement of facts and conditions made by
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Mr. Mitchell, the recommendation to indefinitely postpone was rejected by a vote of twenty-eight to one and with some slight modifications the bill was passed and became a law. When the question of the removal of the Kilbourn dam was brought up before the senate Mr. Mitchell again figured prominently in the settlement of the question and also in support of the passage of various bills granting state aid to several Milwaukee charities. In 1890 he was the successful candidate of his party for congress and was reelected to the office in 1892. He was made a member of the committee on military affairs and did valuable service in connection with the National Home for Disabled Volun- teer Soldiers and for a large soldier constituency. Of his service in the national halls of legislation it has been said: "He firmly believed that a tax on incomes was the most equitable that could be devised, and he earnestly supported that measure. He advocated the 'filled cheese bill' as necessary to suppress fraud, yet he opposed the oleomargarine law as being simply an effort to tax one industry out of existence for the benefit of another, thus showing that he was governed entirely by the merits of a proposition rather than by the prospect of political advantage. Upon the same principle he opposed the anti-option bill. During the first year of his service in the house of representatives he was elected chairman of the democratic congressional committee and conducted the campaign which resulted in a large majority for his party in both branches of congress. Two great tariff contests occurred during Mr. Mitchell's congressional service. The first was in the fifty-third congress when the Wilson bill with provision for a tax on in- comes was enacted. The second was in the fifty-fifth congress when the Dingley law was passed. The Wilson bill was a democratic measure: Dingley law was a re-establish- ment of the republican doctrine of protection. Between the two there was a period of industrial depression and hard times. Whatever may have been the cause of this depression it did not alter Mr. Mitchell's position on the question of a protective tariff. He continued to oppose legislation for the favored few at the expense of the many. In his letters and in his public utterances he declared that 'manufactories which could not keep afloat without receiving tribute wrongfully exacted from con- sumers ought to sink- would die the death they deserve, while those industries that have been working honestly for a living ( not filching from the pockets of their neighbors ) would go on in well-doing.' He had nothing but contempt for the concern which locked out its employes when legislative favoritism was withdrawn. There was a principle in the idea of an income tax that appealed strongly to Mr. Mitchell's sense of fairness. It proposed a system of taxation based upon ability to pay, and was particularly offensive to tax dodgers. A storm of detraction raged about those who in 1894 advocated an in- come tax. Mr. Mitchell remained unshaken. After the supreme court had pronounced the law unconstitutional he continued in the faith that an income tax is fundamentally right. In 1892, yielding to solicitations and encouragement from various parts of the state, Mr. Mitchell became a candidate for the United States senate. There were two other candidates. Mr. Mitchell was the last to enter the race. When the legislature convened at Madison in January. 1893, there were eighty-one democratic members. Forty-one votes were necessary to nominate. After a spirited contest a choice was made on the thirty-first ballot when, with one Mitchell man absent on account of illness, Mr. Mitchell received forty-five votes or four more than were necessary. The nomination was made unanimous. The formal election occurred the following day, January 28."
It was characteristic of Mr. Mitchell that he strongly opposed war and when the subject of war with Spain came up before the senate committee on military affairs Mr. Mitchell stood out firmly against war to redress the wrongs of Cuba, for he knew from experience what war means. With the destruction of the battleship Maine, however, his opinions changed and he immediately joined in the declaration of war as the only appropriate method of punishment for the Spanish government. Mr. Mitchell did not always agree with the course that the democratic party pursued, but he always believed in submitting to the will of the majority, and while he opposed the free coinage of silver, he bowed to the expressed wish of the national democratic convention of 1896 and supported Bryan. In 1892 he was the choice of the democratic delegates to the national convention for the vice presidency, with Grover Cleveland as the candidate for president. He remained an active factor in state and national politics until the summer of 1898, when he made a public announcement that he was not a candidate for any office.
Of a most studious nature, Mr. Mitchell was always the champion of education. He went abroad in 1878 and spent four years in European residence and travel, during which time he was a constant student of the history of the old world as well as of modern-day conditions. In 1899, accompanied by his family, he again sojourned in Europe for three years, during which time he was again a student and was graduated from the university at Grenoble, France, in 1902. At every period in his life he did what he could to promote knowledge and for years he furnished school books to the children of Milwaukee whose parents were unable to pay for the same. He was fre- quently called upon to address bodies of students and on the 9th of June, 1897, in speak- ing before the graduates of the Columbian University at Washington, D. C., he gave a most beautiful address describing the ideal republic of Switzerland, in which he
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voiced a hope that, in the light of the present disarmament conference seems possible of future fulfillment, his words seeming almost prophetic. On that occasion he said: "I have had a dream-an iridescent dream. The nations of Europe do not differ more radically in races, religion, speech and local customs than do the cantons of Switzerland. Why might not these nations of Europe federate themselves together under a similar system-one which centuries of experience has proved to be more beneficial and more stable than the forms of government under which they live?
Then the drums would beat no longer,
And the battle flags be furled
In the parliament of man, The federation of the world.
The waste of treasure would be stopped. The flower of Enropean manhood would he restored to productive pursuits. This programme seems perfect."
Over the picture of home life in its intimate details the curtain of privacy should be drawn, but all who knew Mr. Mitchell recognized in him an ideal husband and father.
Mr. Mitchell was a lover of literature and of art and he fluently spoke five languages, being almost equally at home in the use of French, German, Italian and Spanish as he was in English. Starting with a classical education, his inclination and training made the acquisition of other languages comparatively easy. It was along these lines that he acquired that accurate knowledge of the value of words, their origin and relationship, that developed the extraordinary felicity of expression which characterized his speech and writings. He took special delight in French history and in the political affairs of nations of the old world. One of his marked characteristics was his love of literature and he remained throughout his life an indefatigable reader, possessing a remarkably retentive memory. One of his biographers said: "With a power of analysis highly cultivated and endowed with keen perceptions, he had a mental equipment nnsurpassed, and his mind hecame a storehouse of useful knowledge. Favored with opportunities for travel and observation as well as instruction at the great schools of this country and Europe, he acquired a grasp of affairs which was broad, deep and comprehensive. As a writer he was rapid but painstaking. He was careful in the choice of words and in the construction of sentences. He had the faculty of stating a proposition with so much clear- ness and force that there could be no mistaking the subject or his relation to it. His speech and compositions were models of conciseness. He had the courage of his con- victions and when convinced as to the proper course for him to pursue he could not he shaken." He was an art connoisseur and served as honorary commissioner on the selec- tion of fine arts for the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition at Omaha. His own private collection of paintings has drawn the admiring attention of all his friends.
When John L. Mitchell was called to the home beyond many organizations pre- pared memorials and resolutions expressing the high regard entertained for him in every relation of life. These included memorials by the Robert Chivas Post, the directors of the Northwestern National Insurance Company, the Milwaukee school board, the board of directors of the Marine National Bank, the St. Andrew's Society and the board of trustees of the Layton Art Gallery. In the memorial of the last named appeared the following: "In the death of the Hon. John L. Mitchell the trustees of the Layton Art Gallery and its art committee have lost one of their original members. His studious nature, ripe scholarship and experience gained by extensive traveling in foreign lands, together with his high social, business and political positions which afforded him op- portunities to see and enjoy the best the world has produced in art and literature, and meet personally many of its great artists and authors, all contributed to make Senator Mitchell one of the most valuable members of the board of trustees and of its art com- mittee. He was an industrious worker and ever ready to perform any duty coming to him. His judgment was most highly valued, and the selection of many of the pictures in the gallery are lasting witnesses to the wisdom of his choice." He heard the call of death in the spring of 1904 and after an illness of several weeks passed on, June 29.
ENOCH FRED PETERSON, M. D.
Dr. Enoch Fred Peterson, a physician and surgeon successfully practicing in Wauwatosa, was born on a farm at Weston, Iowa. July 1, 1880. His parents, John Frederick and Margaret Peterson, were natives of Denmark, whence they came to the United States in 1875. At this time they had three children, while others were added to the family in the new world. The father has departed this life but the mother is living in Chicago. Their family numbered six sons, three of whom are physicians, namely: Dr. Sophus G. Peterson, who is practicing in Rutland, Illinois; Dr. Enoch F. Peterson of Wauwatosa; and Dr. Axel E. Peterson of Toluca, Illinois. The eldest son, John Frederick Peterson, is living in Chicago.
Dr. Enoch F. Peterson was but seven years of age when his parents removed from Weston to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and at the age of twelve he accompanied them to
DR. ENOCH F. PETERSON
Vol. III-54
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Chicago. He completed his academic studies in the latter city and afterward took up the study of medicine in the University of illinois, being graduated in June, 1905, with the M. D. degree. For six months thereafter he practiced in Chicago and then located at Varna, Illinois, where he followed his profession for seven years. In Sep- tember, 1912, he came to Wauwatosa, where he has enjoyed a steadily growing practice. He is particularly skillful in surgery and devotes much of his attention to that branch of his professional work yet continues in general practice. He is keenly interested in everything that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life and has studied deeply in order to acquaint himself with the basic principles of the profession and with all the results which have been brought to light through modern research and investigation.
On the 31st of May, 1902, Dr. Peterson was married to Miss Edna M. Ledwith, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri. They are parents of four children: Florence, Freddie, Ruth and Jacquelyn, aged, respectively, eighteen, ten, eight and four years. Dr. Peter- son is a Royal Arch Mason, also a member of the Elks lodge and of the Knights of Pythias and in the last named he is a past chancellor commander. During the World war he served on the local examining board. Along strictly professional lines his association is with the Milwaukee County Medical Society, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He is fond of sports, such as swimming and boating, and thus he keeps physically fit, building up that vigorous physical nature which must constitute the foundation for all successful professional activity.
ALBERT R. TAYLOR.
Albert R. Taylor, the secretary of the Taylor & Bournique Company, operating grain elevators at Milwaukee, was born in Chicago on the 23d of August, 1885, and is a repre- sentative of one of the old New England families. His grandfather. Jemore Taylor, was born in Bennington, Vermont, and became a resident of Rome, New York, where he spent his remaining days. He was an inventor of various mechanical contrivances, in- cluding the first family washing machine and one of the first raking machines. He married a granddaughter of Major Hawks of Revolutionary war fame. Their son, Albert K. Taylor, was born in Rome, New York, where he was educated in the Rome Free Academy, from which he was graduated. He then entered the employ of Armour & Company at Rome, being in charge of their grain business for many years, and in 1898 he removed to Milwaukee to take charge of their business here. He became a man of national prominence in connection with the grain trade, and when he passed away one of the trade journals of the country wrote as follows: "A man of extraordinary force and the most indomitable energy, of wide knowledge and sound judgment in the difficult and intricate matters of business-but in his heart the tenderness of a child, and a sympathy with the griefs of his followman that will ever remain as a pleasant memory, and as a source of consolation to his friends. Albert K. Taylor, president of the Taylor & Bournique Company, died at his summer home at Lake Nagawicka on Thursday, July 14, 1921, after an illness of about two weeks. Mr. Taylor's Milwaukee career began in 1898, when he came to this city as the manager of the Armour Grain Company's sub- sidiary, the Milwaukee Elevator Company. In 1906 he formed a partnership with Mr. Clark Fagg, the firm being known as Fagg & Taylor, operating Elevator B, on the Mil- wankee road. Later they took over Elevator E on the same road. Mr. Fagg retired from the grain trade in 1916, and the Taylor & Bournique Company was organized, Lyman G. Bournique becoming associated with the new concern. Mr. Taylor was first vice president of the Chamber of Commerce for three terms, serving in that capacity from 1913 to 1916, and rendered valuable services as a member of the supervisors of grain inspection and weighing for thirteen years, holding the position of chairman of that important committee at the time of his death." Albert K. Taylor was united in marriage to Clara Wicks, who was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and is still living in Mil- waukee. All who knew Albert K. Taylor-and he had an extremely wide acquaintance- feel that no words of praise can be said too great to honor the memory of this man. He made for himself a notable position in business circles, occupying for many years a commanding position in connection with the grain trade of the country, but he never allowed success to thwart the finer attributes of his nature. He was kindly, generous and helpful and met his obligations to his fellowmen not from any sense of duty but because of a real interest in the welfare of the individual and of the race.
Albert R. Taylor pursued his education in the public schools of Chicago and of Mil- waukee and then entered business circles in connection with his father, who was then operating under the name of the Milwaukee Elevator Company and afterward under the firm style of Fagg & Taylor, while eventually a change in partnership led to the adop- tion of the present name of the Taylor & Bournique Company. in 1915 Albert R. Taylor became the secretary of the company, which was organized under the present style in
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that year. They handle cash grain transactions and operate Elevator E at Milwaukee and the Standard elevators at Chicago. Mr. Taylor is proving a worthy successor of his father, developing splendid administrative powers and executive ability, and is fully sustaining the untarnished record which has always been associated with the name of Taylor in grain trade circles.
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