USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Milwaukee > History of Milwaukee from its first settlement to the year 1895 > Part 70
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
Soon after his arrival in Milwaukee Dr. body of municipal legislators. In 1853 President
Leo, M. Allen
الأصنا
373
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
Pierce appointed him Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northwest, in recognition of the valuable services he had rendered to the Demo- cratic party and the general public, and he dis- charged the duties of the office with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the administra- tion, until the term for which he was appointed expired, in 1857.
When the rebellious Sonthern states undertook to withdraw from the Union in 1861 Dr. Huebsch- mann was one of the vast number of Northern Democrats who declared themselves, both by word and deed in favor of the perpetuity of the Union. Entering the Twenty-sixth Regiment of Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, as regimental surgeon, he was promoted first to brigade and then to division surgeon with rank of major, par- ticipating in the battles of Chancellorsville, Get- tysburg, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek. Atlanta and many other less important engage- ments. At the battle of Gettysburg, in company with nine assistants and five hundred wounded, he was captured by the Confederates and held for a short time a prisoner. As a surgeon he was noted for his bravery and his devotion to the loyal and patriotic men thrown under his care, and he was at all times ready to face any danger in their be- half. On one occasion, when in charge of a hos- pital, temporarily established in a church, the hospital was attacked by a mob of "Southern Bush whackers," who threatened its destruction, which was only averted by the prompt and cour- ageous action of Surgeon Huebschmann.
In 1864 he was honorably discharged, and re- tiring from the service he returned to Milwaukee, where his family continued to reside during his absence at the front. In 1870 he was again elected to the state senate, receiving two-thirds of all the votes cast in his district for the candidates for that office. At the close of his term of service in the legislature he withdrew in a measure from public life, but he continued to take a deep in- terest in all matters involving the public welfare. In later years he was frequently called into con- sultation by the younger and more active men of affairs, who sought an expression of his views rel- ative to various public improvements, such as the building of the Exposition, the cleansing of the river, and other matters of consequence to the city. On all matters of public import he had decided views, to which he always gave forcible
and intelligent expression, and his clear pereep- tions and good judgment won for him a large measure of popular regard and esteem. In poli- tics he was always a Democrat. He came to America a Democrat, served his adopted country as a Democrat and died a Democrat. He affili- ated with that party because in his judgment it was in thorough harmony, in the main, with the purpose and intent of the framers of the govern- ment, whom he had revered always for their wis- dom and patriotism. ^A close student of the theory of government, he was profoundly im- pressed with the beneficence of the American system and the righteousness of its underlying principles. Ile was, therefore, an ardent lover of American institutions, and no man was ever more loyal to his fatherland than was Dr. Huebschmann to his adopted country.
In religion he was brought up a Lutheran, but became a Freethinker when he grew to manhood, and was broadly liberal in his views during the remainder of his life. True to himself and his convictions, a man of high moral character, com- manding presence and extremely interesting per- sonality, Dr. Huebschmann was one of the his- toric characters of Milwaukee.
Married in 1852 to Crestensia Katharine Hess, a daughter of John Hess, one of the early settlers of Milwaukee, he had a family of four children, who, with his widow, still reside in the city. Dr. Huebschmann died March 21, 1880, lamented by the people of a community with which he had been identified nearly forty years.
GEORGE W. ALLEN was born in Cazenovia, New York, December 10, 1818. He was the eldest son of Rufus Allen, a man of great enterprise and of the most unswerving integrity, who had by his own exertions built up a large and prosperous business. George was graduated from Union College, of Schenectady, New York, in 1841, and then studied law, but never practiced the profes- sion, preferring commercial pursuits. He first entered into business with his father in his native town, but in 1851 he joined his two brothers, William and Rufus Allen, Jr., in business in Mil- waukce. They built a large tannery at Tiro Rivers, with business headquarters in Milwaukee, and conducted their business in accordance with approved economic theories. During the terrible convulsion of 1857, when Western bank paper was practically worthless in Wall street, they
374
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
paid sixty per cent. premium on gold, in order to remit to New York, and meet their obligations, not only in amount but on the day specified in the obligations. In 1861 they erected a second large tannery, and in 1870 a third of great dimen- sions, which was said to be the largest " upper" leather tannery in the world.
George W. Allen, though a natural orator and an educated and forcible speaker, always refused to enter the political arena as a candidate for office. Though many times called upon to stand for office' he invariably refused. He was often in vain solicited to stand as candidate for Congress and other offices, and in several instances declined after the nomi- nations were forced upon him. But in 1861, at the breaking out of the Civil War, he warmly en- dorsed a vigorous war policy and his voice was powerful in aiding to fill up ranks of our volun- teer armies. He gave largely and willingly of his means to promote the enlistment of soldiers, and in 1862 he and his brother equipped one com- pany, the " Allen Guards," which served in the Twenty-ninth Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. They agreed to support the families of those volunteer- ing in that company and did so until the close of the war.
He never complained of the high taxation for the support of the government, but always urged the levying of heavier taxes, and held that the generation then existing should bear a larger share of financial burdens, and not leave all to an impoverished posterity. To save the government financially as well as to preserve the Union was his ardent desire. Though the manufacturers' taxes were heavy, he always urged that they be increased. When, upon the gross product of his business the taxes were three per cent., he urged that they should be increased to five per cent., and afterward, as the exigencies of the war were great, he thought they should be raised to eight per cent.
At the close of the war he was among the first to raise the alarm about the extravagances into which we had been led as a nation, and made many speeches in different cities to warn the people of the danger that threatened them. He was appointed a delegate to Washington from a National Convention of manufacturers to enforce these views upon the people's representatives. The Ways and Means Committee of Congress acknowl-
edged the force of the views presented, and pro- posed to remove the tax from certain manu- factures and place it upon others, as had been done at the previous session to a considerable ex- tent. It was proposed to take it from leather, in which industry Mr. Allen was engaged, because leather was the most universally used of any one manufactured product.
This proposal aroused Mr. Allen almost to indig- nation. He told the committee that there was no justice in such favoritism, and that if the taxes could not all be removed they should be lowered in equitable ratio. IIe would not compromise his integrity by taking advantage of his position to get his own taxes removed while other great in- dustries of the country were left to suffer.
When so many theories were afloat concerning the resumption of specie payments Mr. Allen thought that financial ruin was likely to result if an attempt were made to carry out some of the then popular plans. In an able letter to Senator Howe of Wisconsin he showed the danger to the business industries of the country in adopting certain prevalent theories. He argued that time and natural laws of trade would solve the finan- cial problem, and that all panaceas would increase the difficulty ; that if the government would but let business take its own course specie payments would resume themselves as gently as the dew falls upon the grass. The wisdom of this judg- ment is shown in the course which led up to final resumption of specie payments.
Mr. Allen took a deep interest in the moral and religious as well as material advancement of the city of his residence. He gave liberally to many public and private charities, but it was especially in the erection and maintenance of Immanuel Church that his heart was most deeply enlisted. He was a member of that church and for many years president of its Board of Trustees, and to all its varied interests he gave most cheerfully of time and thought and money.
In 1873 he was appointed one of the United States commissioners to the Vienna Exposition. After visiting Vienna he and his family traveled extensively on the continent and in the British Islands. IIis death occurred after a short illness at his home in Milwaukee on January 24, 1889.
EDWARD SANDERSON, who died at his home in Milwaukeee May 20, 1889, was for many years, not only a leading citizen of this city, but
375
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
was also one of the most widely-known men in the state of Wisconsin. He was of Irish extraction and was born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, March 14, 1829. After obtaining an academic education he turned his face westward and settled in Ohio. Thence he removed to Madison, Wis- consin, in 1847, and some months later he settled in Milwaukee, whither he went to engage in the milling business with his brother, William, who had purchased the mill then recently ereeted by Cicero Comstock. At that time Mr. Sanderson had but a few hundred dollars in money, but a large capital in energy and business sagacity, and all the qualities that make a man useful and suc- cessful. The mill of the Sanderson Brothers was rightly named "Phoenix;" although it did not rise from the ashes like the fabled bird, it did rise from nearly nothing to assume vast proportions, keeping pace with the progress of the time.
There is no line of business in this country which has witnessed such an entire revo- lution in the space of a few years as that of the manufacture of flour, commencing early in the seventies with the introduction of the Middlings Purifier, which necessitated an entire change of the bolting system; and as time went on and the advan- tages of the purifier gradually began to dawn upon the minds of some of those engaged in the busi- ness, the long used Buhr or " millstone " as it was called was superceded by a different process of reducing the wheat into flour. The roller system began to be agitated, and the advantages to be gained by such an entire revolution were very re- luctantly accepted by the millers generally, on account of the large expense incident thereto. Mr. Sanderson in this, was a power in the National Councils of the Millers' Association, advocating the advisability of adopting the best and most improved methods of milling as soon as the mill- ers became satisfied that such improvements were of practical utility. He was among the first to fully comprehend what a change was coming, and among the first to adopt, and avail himself of the advantages to be derived from the new system. He was secretary and treasurer of the National Millers' Association from the time it was organ- ized until his death, and his labor and counsels were of inestimable value to his associates, at a time when many of them became involved in liti- gation as a result of infringement suits brought
by the George T. Smith Middlings Purifier Com- pany of Jackson, Michigan.
A large milling business involves large opera- tions in grain, and when the Board of Trade was formed in Milwaukee Mr. Sanderson was one of its charter members, and was one of the largest and most successful operators on the board for many years. He was also a director of the Com- mercial Bank of Milwaukee, and was interested in other enterprises. Associated with him in the mill- ing business, were his brother-in-law, the Hon. I.W. VanSchaick, his nephew, William Sanderson, and his son Harry B. Sanderson.
As a business man Mr. Sanderson had but few equals. His keen discernment, his sound reason and well-balanced judgment and his self confi- dence made him an aggressive operator, and caused him to enter where others feared to go, while his cautiousness and quick intuition kept him from making disastrous investments where others saw no danger. He was not only a man of executive ability, but also a financier, and though he accumulated a fortune, had he loved money and made the accumulation of wealth his main object in life, he might have become vastly richer.
Public-spirited, liberal and magnetic, a public enterprise needed but the support of Mr. Sander- son to assure its success. Anything that would benefit the needy or the public, appealed to his generosity and received both financial and moral support. Though not a soldier Mr. Sanderson's patriotisin and his earnest support of all efforts to suppress the rebellion, and his great sympathy for the soldier, caused the Loyal Legion to confer on him one of three honorary memberships granted by the Commandery of Wisconsin.
In politics Mr. Sanderson "was the power behind the throne," in Wisconsin. Upon the formation of the Republican party he identified himself with it and became one of its strongest sup- porters. Desiring no office for himself, he was free to give his genius full seope, untrammeled by hope or fear. If he had the traits of a suc- cessful business man, he had the elements of a statesman and politician in a still higher degree, for he was a born leader. He was bold, fearless and discreet. His knowledge of men was wonder- ful and he knew so well how to handle them that his influence was felt in national politics and largely controlled the party in his own state.
376
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
He had the genius to map out the right course, the energy to pursue it actively, money and liber- ality to support him, and a most extraordinary power of winning others to his support. Mr. Sanderson could doubtless have had the highest office within the gift of the people of his state, and his continued refusal to accept any political office makes his modest, unselfish character stand out the more prominently. He was several times a delegate to the National Republican Convention, and was unquestionably largely instrumental in nominating both Mr. Hayes and Mr. Garfield for the presidency. He was the organizer of the Young Men's Republican Club in 1872, and largely through its efforts the city of Milwaukee was transformed from a Democratic to a Republican city.
Mr. Sandersou will long be remembered for his admirable social qualities, his genial manner and the characteristic good humor which made him a general favorite and warmly attached to him his friends. No man can leave a better monument than to be held in grateful remembrance by the many whom he has helped, and Mr. Sanderson helped more business men than any man in Mil- waukee, and gave freely, both of money and sympathy, in all directions. Want or distress always touched at the same time his sympathy and his purse.
He married Elizabeth Byron, February 13, 1856. Mrs. Sanderson is a lady of rare accomplishments, who has surrounded herself with a large circle of friends, by whom she is both admired and loved. She has shown extraordinary ability in adminis- tering her estate since her husband's death and presides with dignity and grace over the affairs of her home. Their union was blessed with one son and three daughters, who share with their mother an ample fortune.
HENRY C. PAYNE, who has acquired na- tional prominence by reason of his influence and activity in politics and through his identification with vast corporate interests, is a typical repre- sentative of the able and accomplished class of business men which has shouldered the burdens laid down by the pioneers of Milwaukee.
A native of Franklin county, Massachusetts, Mr. Payne was born in Ashfield, November 23, 1843. His ancestry on both sides of the family is Puritan. His father, Orrin P. Payne, married Eliza Ames, and the families thus brought to-
gether have been conspicuous in New England since within a few years after the landing of the Mayflower. Moses Payne-or Paine-the immi- grant ancestor of the Payne family, was a mer- chant who came from England and settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1630, and the Ames family tree took root in America about the same time. The Ames family came originally from the county of Norfolk, England, and is still largely represented in that county and Somersetshire. Rev. William Ames, the eminent Puritan theolo- gian whose differences with the established church of England drove him into exile in Holland in the early part of the seventeenth century, and Joseph Ames, distinguished as an antiquarian, were members of the family whose names were historic in the mother country.
Brought up in a village, in a modest country homestead, the chief inheritance of Henry C. Payne was a vigorous intellect and a capacity for hard work. In the Payne homestead, industry was looked upon as a cardinal virtue, and his economic training was of the character which so admirably qualifies the New England youth for successful effort in broader and more productive fields. In his early boyhood, he attended the common schools and was gradu- ated from Shelburne Falls Academy in 1859. At the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in Company H, of the Tenth Regiment Massachu- setts Infantry, but his youthfulness and some- what diminutive stature combined to thwart his ambition to become a soldier, and he turned his attention to commercial pursuits. Restless energy and intense activity were as dominant character- istics of the boy as they have been since of the man, and before he was twenty years of age he had determined to seek the broad field of Western enterprise in beginning life on his own account.
Estimated in dollars and cents, his resources at that time were meager, but in mental endowment pluck, and self-reliant manhood he had abundant capital. In 1863 he arrived in Milwaukee with fifty dollars in his pocket, and found employment soon after his arrival as clerk in a dry goods store. To this business he gave his attention for the next four years, becoming recognized by his employers as a most capable and efficient sales- man, and by that portion of the general public with which he came in contact as a young man of more than ordinary ability and enterprise. He
377
HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL.
was especially conspicuous during the early years of his residence in Milwaukee for the interest which he took in promoting culture and self-edu- cation among the young men of the city, and at- tracted attention also to the capacity for organ- ization which has since gained for him much more than local renown, both in the conduct of public affairs and business enterprises. An early mem- ber, if not one of the organizers of the Young Men's Library Association of Milwaukee, he soon became its president, and contributed largely toward making it one of the leading social and intellectual organizations of the state. This asso- ciatiation, which numbered among its members many of the most talented and promising young men in the city, acquired a valuable collection of books and periodicals, which at a later date was turned over to the Milwaukee Public Library. and formed the nucleus of an institution which has since become the pride of the city. As president of the Library Association, Mr. Payne grew rapidly in popular favor and acquired an influence which extended to social, political and business circles. Having a natural liking for politics, and being an earnest and enthusiastic Republican, he took an active interest in the presidential campaign of 1872, devoting his energies to the organization of the Young Men's Republican Club of Milwaukee, which at a later date became the Republican Central Committee of Milwaukee county, since recognized as the official representative of the party in this county. He served at different times both as secretary and chairman of the city and county organizations, his zeal and ability commanding the enthusiastic admiration and endorsement of his political associates, not of Milwaukee only, but of the entire state. The result was that he was elected to the chairman- ship of the Republican State Central Committee and entered the broader field of state politics. It soon became apparent that in measuring him for increased responsibilities the managers of the Re- publican party in Wisconsin had well subserved its interests, substantial victories being achieved time and again under his leadership. His devo- tion to the interests of his party, which he has conscientiously believed to be the best interests of the country as well, his admirable judgment, and correct estimates of political situations, have com- mended him to the Republican party at large and given him a commanding influence in the councils
of the party. Designated by the Republicans of Wisconsin to act as their representative on the National Committee, he has been called into that inner circle of campaign managers known as the National Executive Committee, and has had much to do with formulating the policies and directing the course of the party. In 1880 he sat as a dele- gate in the National Republican Convention at Chicago and was one of the men through whose efforts the nomination of Gen. James A. Garfield was brought about. In 1888 he was a delegate at large to the convention which nominated Gen. Benjamin Harrison and also headed the Wisconsin delegates to the National Convention of 1892 at Minneapolis.
In 1876 he was appointed postmaster of Mil- waukee by President Grant and reappointed to successive terms by Presidents Hayes and Arthur, serving in all ten years in this important official capacity. His administration of the postal affairs of the city was such as to command itself to all classes of citizens regardless of politics, for its efficiency, excellence of service, and improved meth- ods. Retiring from this office in 1886, Mr. Payne has since held no public political positions, other than those connected with the campaign work and conventions of the party, but has devoted his time and energies entirely to varied and extensive business interests.
In the conduct of the various business enter- prises with which he has been identified, he has shown executive ability of such high order as to bring to him constantly increasing responsibilities. The Wisconsin Telephone Company recognized his ability as an organizer and director of affairs by making him president of that corporation in 1885, and he still retains the position. He has also been for some years a director of the First National Bank of Milwaukee, and president of the Milwaukee & Northern Railroad Company. Be- coming interested in the street railway system of Milwaukee, he was elected vice-president of the Milwaukee City and Cream City Street Railroad companies, and when these lines were transferred to the syndicate which obtained control of all the street railway property of the city, he was made vice-president and general manager of the new corporation. The active management of the affairs of this corporation, with its capital of five millions of dollars, and one hundred and thirty miles of railway, is one of the important responsi-
378
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE.
bilities resting upon Mr. Payne, and a vastly improved service has been the result of his man- agement. At the meeting of the American Street Railway Association held in Milwaukee in 1893, he was elected president of that organization and his ability as a railway manager has been recognized in various ways.
In August of 1893, when the affairs of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company became in- volved to such an extent as to necessitate placing it in the hands of receivers, Mr. Payne was appointed by the United States courts one of the conservators of this vast interest, amounting in the aggregate to hundreds of millions of dollars. This trust is one of the most important ever com- mitted in whole or in part to a citizen of Milwaukee, and evidences the high esteem in which Mr. Payne is held in the business world, while it is also the tribute of a high judicial tribunal to his integrity and business capacity.
In addition to his interests in the corporations already alluded to, he was associated with other gentlemen in founding the town of Tomahawk, Wisconsin, which in three years has developed into a city of seven thousand inhabitants. He was also interested to a considerable extent in building np the towns of Minocqua and Babcock, both flourish- ing young towns in the timber belt of this state.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.