USA > Wisconsin > Milwaukee County > Memoirs of Milwaukee County : from the earliest historical times down to the present, including a genealogical and biographical record of representative families in Milwaukee County, Volume I > Part 19
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In 1866 he engaged in contracting on an extensive scale in company with his two brothers, John and Wilhelm Kraatz, and for many years they were among the most extensive builders in the city. In 1880 he engaged in the manufacture of brick, establishing yards at Wauwatosa, where he built up an extensive and valuable plant. In 1868 he was made a member of the common council of Milwaukee and served as an alderman from the Sixth ward two terms. In 1875 lie was elected a representative to the lower branch of the state legislature and served with credit to himself and his constituency. Mr. Kraatz died on Jan. 27, 1892.
Charles L. Colby was born in Roxbury, Mass., May 22, 1839. He received his education at Brown University, Providence, R. I., and graduated with high honors in 1858. In 1859 he entered the employ of Page, Richardson & Co., of Boston, engaged in foreign shipping, with whom he remained three years, visiting Europe in their interest in 1860. In 1862 he located in the city of New York, entering into a partnership with his brother under the firm name of C. L. & J. L. Colby, and engaged in the shipping trade, which business they con- ducted successfully for nine years. From 1865 to 1871 they had charge of the large government warehouses, where importations of foreign goods entering the port of New York were held in bond. In 1870 Mr. Colby first became interested in the building of the Wisconsin Central railroad. In 1873 he was elected its vice-president, and being a large stockholder he devoted his energy and business talent to the work of developing the railroad system of which the Wisconsin Cen- tral is a part. After embarking in railroad enterprises in 1870, he widened his sphere of operations in that direction and constructed new roads, all parts of one system and all tributary to Milwaukee. In poli- tics he was a prominent Republican, and served as a member of the Wisconsin Assembly in 1880. He was a member of the board of trus- tees of Brown University, his alma mater. In 1886 he removed to New York city, where he has since died.
Jerome Ripley Brigham was born in Fitchburg, Mass., July 21, 1825, the son of David and Elizabeth (Ripley) Brigham. He came with his parents to Wisconsin in 1839, and after he was fourteen years of age he resided in this state. After being fitted for college in West- ern schools he was sent back to New England to complete his education and was graduated at Amherst College in the class of 1845. Return- ing to Wisconsin after his graduation, he taught a private school in Madison one year, and in the meantime studied law. In 1847 he was elected town clerk of Madison and held that office one year. He was clerk of the village of Madison for several years, and upon the organ-
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ization of the Supreme Court of the state in August, 1848, he was ap- pointed clerk of the court, and this office he held until 1851, when he resigned, having been admitted to the bar and being desirous of enter- ing upon the active practice of his profession. Removing to Milwaukee about this time, he formed a co-partnership with Hon. A. W. Stow, who had served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the state, and Hon. Edward G. Ryan, who became chief justice at a later date. This partnership lasted but a short time, and in 1852 he associated himself in the practice with Charles K. Wells, thus establishing a professional partnership which continued until the death of Mr. Wells in 1892. For many years the style of this firm was Wells & Brigham, but in 1879 Horace A. J. Upham was admitted into the partnership, and the firm of Wells, Brigham & Upham came into existence. Mr. Brigham was for several years a member of the board of regents of the University of Wisconsin, served for a time as member of the city school board and was also one of the trustees of Milwaukee College. He was elected city attorney in 1880, and served in that capacity two years. He was a member of the board of City Fire and Police Commissioners from the organization of the board in 1885 until he resigned in 1888, and was a member of the state assembly in 1887. Identified politically with the Republican party, he championed the interests of that organization with ardor in all contests in which political issues were involved, but, at the same time, he favored such independent political action as would give the city the best kind of local government. A ready writer, he was a frequent contributor to the press, and had an official connection with the Sentinel Publishing Company. Mr. Brigham died in Milwau- kee on Jan. 21, 1897.
SHERIFFS .- The first executive officer of the courts in Milwaukee county after the adoption of the state constitution was Egbert Mose- ley. He was elected in April. 1848, and was re-elected in November of that year for the full term. Mr. Moseley was among the very earli- est settlers in the county, and his successors in the office of sheriff, with the years of their election to office, are as follows: 1850, John White; 1852, Herman L. Page; 1854, Samuel S. Conover; 1856, Her- man L. Page; 1858. Andrew J. Langworthy ; 1860, Charles H. Larkin ; 1862, Nelson Webster; 1864, C. M. Hoyt; 1866, Joseph Deuster; 1868, Gustav Brunst : 1870, William G. Parsons: 1872, John F. McDonald ; 1874. Charles Halzhauer: 1876, Casper M. Sanger; 1878, P. Van Vechten, Jr .; 1880, John Rugec : 1882, John Bentley; 1884, George Paschen ; 1886, Newell Daniels; 1888, John F. Burnham ; 1890, Michael P. Walsh ; 1892, Michael Dunn; 1894, William S. Stanley ; 1896, Fred G. Isenring; 1898, George Durner; 1900, Theodore Zillmer; 1902,
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Frederick Tegtmeyer ; 1904, William J. Cary ; 1906, William R. Knell; 1908, Herman E. Franke.
Herman L. Page was born in Oneida county, N. Y., May 27, 1818. In 1844 he removed to Milwaukee and opened a drygoods store. On his retirement from business, he accepted the position of under- sheriff of the county, in which office he particularly distinguished him- self as a detective in 1851. In 1853 he became sheriff of the county and appointed William Beck as his deputy, and, being a man of great will and nerve, he was one of the most efficient officials the county ever possessed. He was chosen to the position again in 1856 and has the distinction of being the only man as yet to serve two terms as sheriff of Milwaukee county. He was the first Grand Patriarch and the third Grand Master of the Odd Fellows of Wisconsin, and in 1848 was a representative to the Grand Lodge of the United States. He was elected mayor of Milwaukee in 1859, and materially advanced the in- terests of the city by increasing the efficiency of the police force. Mr. Page died at Dresden, Germany, in October, 1873.
Nelson Webster was a native of Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Mass., where he was born in May, 1818. He followed bookkeeping during his early life; came West in 1850, and established a wholesale wine and liquor business in Milwaukee. He was elected alderman in 1860, and held the office of sheriff from 1862 to 1864. He died in 1866.
REGISTERS OF DEEDS .- The following occupants of this office are given in the order of their service: Andrew McCormick, Moritz Schoeffler, Charles J. Kern, Albert Bade, Samuel Waegli, Christian Fessel, Francis Baggeler, John W. Fuchs, John B. Stemper, Frederick Charles Best, Frederick Schloewitch, Emiel Weiskirch, H. Schloemer, John E. Eldred, Bernard W. Doyle, Henry J. Baumgartner, Louis Auer, August Kieckhefer, John J. Kempf, Henry A. Verges, Oscar H. Pierce, Otto Seidel, Jr., Charles C. Maas.
Moritz Schoeffler was born on March 8, 1813, in Zweibruecken, Rhenish Bavaria. The printer's trade he learned in due course of time, becoming an expert in the art, and acquiring at the same time a good general knowledge of the publishing business. In August, 1842, he came to this country, landing in New York and spending a short time there working at his trade as a journeyman printer. From New York he went to Philadelphia and from thence to Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, in which cities he found sufficient employment to defray his expenses while traveling about, seeking to broaden his knowledge of the country in which he proposed to make his home. After leaving St. Louis he worked about six months in the Advocate
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office at Belleville, Ill. Going from there to Jefferson City, Mo., he established in that capital city a German newspaper, which he edited, printed and delivered himself, after the pioneer fashion. In the early spring of 1844 he came to Milwaukee and located here permanently. Shortly afterward there appeared the first number of a very modest weekly newspaper, published in the German language, and entitled the Wisconsin Banner. The names of Polk and Dallas, nominees of the Democratic party for president and vice-president, respectively, appeared at the head of its editorial column, and it was thus committed to the support of Democratic principles and policies. In 1845 Mr. Schoeffler was elected the first German school commissioner of Milwau- kee, and he was also prominent about the same time as one of the organizers of the "Washington Guard," a German military company, of which he acted as secretary. Having been active in his efforts to secure the admission of Wisconsin territory as a state, Mr. Schoeffler's services in this behalf were recognized in the fall of 1847 by his elec- tion as a delegate to the constitutional convention of that year. In January, 1850, he began publication of a daily issue of The Wisconsin Banner, which had become the leading paper of its kind in the Northwest. Five years later he brought about a consolidation of his newspaper and the Volksfreund-another German paper started at a later date-and under the name of the Banner-Volksfreund he continued its publica- tion with signal success until 1874. In that year he organized the Banner and Volksfreund Printing Company, to which corporation he transferred his interests, living in quiet retirement thereafter until his death, which occurred on Dec. 29, 1875. In 1851-52 he was register of deeds, and at a later date he served as collector of the port during the administration of President Buchanan.
Frederick Charles Best was born in Mettenheim on the Rhine, near Worms, in the province of Rhein-Hessen, Germany, Jan. 26, 1812. He was the eldest son of Jacob Best and received a fairly good educa- tion in the schools of Mettenheim, after which he learned the cooper's trade. In 1840, he came with his brother, Jacob Best, Jr., to America, and the same year settled in Milwaukee, where they engaged first in the manufacture of vinegar. That he was pleased with the country and had a keen appreciation and intelligent comprehension of its ad- vantages and opportunities is evinced by the fact that in 1841 he re- turned to his old home in Germany with a report which induced his father and the entire family to return with him to Milwaukee in 1842. Soon after this second arrival in Milwaukee, Frederick Charles Best and his brother Jacob sold out the business which they had established, and in company with their father and two other brothers founded the
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brewing business which afterward grew to such vast proportions. At the end of three years he withdrew from the partnership with his father and brothers and again engaged in the manufacture of vinegar, ex- tending his trade to Chicago and other towns. After a time he added to the vinegar plant a small brewery, and in 1850 he founded what was known as the Plank Road Brewery, associating with him his brother, Lorenz Best. During the panic of 1857 he lost the larger share of his accumulations through the manipulations of a partner, and went to Chicago, where he lived from 1857 to 1864. He then returned to Milwaukee, where he came more prominently before the public there- after as a county official than as a business man. In 1870 he was elected register of deeds for Milwaukee county and was twice re-elected, serv- ing the public faithfully and acceptably in that official capacity. Al- though not an active politician, he was a Democrat in his political affiliations, and acted always with the conservative element of that party.
COUNTY TREASURERS .- 1848, A. S. Sanborn; 1849, John White ; 1852, Garrett M. Fitzgerald; 1858, Garrett Barry; 1860, Timothy Carney ; 1862, M. Hackett ; 1864, James M. Reynolds; 1868, William Kennedy ; 1872, Edward Ehlers; 1874, Richard Rooney ; 1876, Hiram H. Evarts ; 1878, Lemuel Ellsworth; 1882, James L. Foley ; 1884, John C. Corrigan ; 1886, Eugene Cary ; 1890, Frederick Lange ; 1894, George W. Mayhew ; 1898, Henry F. Schultz; 1902, George Thuering; 1906, Julius J. Goetz.
COUNTY CLERKS .- 1848, Charles Lorenzen; 1852, Albert Bade ; 1856, Charles F. Kasten ; 1860, F. W. Hundhausen; 1862, Henry Gosch; 1866, Henry Hillmantel ; 1870, John Saar; 1876, Christian H. Meyer; 1878, Theodore O. Hartman; 1880, George P. Traeumer ; 1886, Frederick Wilkins; 1888, Frank Sebastian; 1890, Charles S. Brand ; 1894, August F. Zentner ; 1898, Otis T. Hare; 1902, Frank O. Phelps.
Henry Hillmantel was born in Neubruenn, Bavaria, Feb. 1, 1826, and received a liberal education at one of the seminaries of Augsburg. Shortly after he graduated he emigrated to this country and settled at Covington, Ky., in 1850, and there his musical abilities gained for him the position of organist of St. Mary's church of that place. He took up his residence in Milwaukee in 1851, and for nearly twenty years, until his death, presided at the organ in St. John's cathedral, with great favor and success. From the time of his arrival he took a warm interest in politics, linking his fortunes with the Democratic party. When the municipal court was established in 1858, Mr. Hill- mantel was elected clerk. At the close of the term he was appointed
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deputy sheriff, in which capacity he served the people until 1866, when he was elected county clerk, to which office he was re-elected in 1868, and performed its duties with credit up to the time of the attack of the disease which caused his death. He died on Jan. 8, 1870.
CLERKS OF COURT .- Henry K. White was the first clerk of court in Milwaukee county after the adoption of the state constitution in 1848, and continued in the office until 1853, when Mathew Keenan succeeded him, holding the office until 1861, when he was in turn succeeded by William H. Jacobs. In November, 1862, Duncan McDonald was elect- ed clerk of court and served one term. The successors of White, Kee- nan, Jacobs and McDonald have been the following, all men of ability and prominence : 1864, James Hickox; 1872, Patrick Connolly, Jr .; 1876, Julius Wechselberg; 1882, Christian Paulus ; 1886, John B. Mill- ington ; 1888, Albert De Leur; 1890, Ignatz Czerwinski; 1892, Fred- erick C. Lorenz ; 1894. Alexander W. Hill; 1898, Gabe Ringenoldus ; 1902, Albion A. Wieber; 1906, Fred W. Cords.
SURVEYORS .- 1848, Frederick F. Schumacher; 1850, John Greg- ory; 1860, H. W. Buttles; 1862, George K. Gregory; 1872, John K. Gregory; 1874, George F. Epeneter; 1878, Moses Lane; 1880, Robert C. Reinertsen : 1886, Frederick F. E. Seyring; 1888, Robert C. Rein- ertsen ; 1890, Gustav Steinhagen; 1892, Hans Reinertsen ; 1894, Fred- erick Kirchmann ; 1906, Hans Reinertsen ; 1908, H. R. Barnes.
CORONERS .- 1848, Leverett S. Kellogg; 1850, Thomas Hatchard; 1852, Timothy O'Brien; 1856, Robert Wasson, Jr .; 1858, Duncan C. Reed; 1860, Charles C. Mayer; 1862, Andrew McCormick; 1864, Charles J. Rattenger ; 1868,- -Holland; 1870, Charles Ost- helder ; 1872, Albert Bade ; 1874, Charles Kuepper; 1880, W. W. Hick- man; 1881, Charles Kuepper ; 1884, Charles Fricke; 1886, John Czer- winski; 1888, Ernst A. M. Leidel; 1890, Fred Leich ; 1892, Henry Ott ; 1894, John W. Winkenwerder; 1898, Jacob P. Van Lare; 1902, Harry J. Broegman ; 1908, Frank Luehring.
COUNTY JUDGES AND PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS .- See chapter on Bench and Bar.
COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS .- See chapter on Schools.
CHAPTER XI.
TOWNSHIP HISTORY.
TOWN OF LAKE.
This town was originally created by act of the territorial legisla- ture on Jan. 2, 1838. Since its organization the territory has been sub- divided, and the encroachment of the city of Milwaukee has reduced it until it is now considerably smaller than an exact congressional town- ship. The town of Lake was originally organized from towns five and six north, ranges twenty-one and twenty-two east. It will be noticed that this extended the town to the Waukesha line on the west, and in- cluded what is now Oak Creek, Franklin, Greenfield and Lake, as well as one tier and half of another tier of sections, since absorbed by the city. The territory bordering on Waukesha county was lost when the town of Kinnickinnic (now Greenfield) was created, March 8, 1839. The territory on the south was taken from it when the town of Oak Creek was organized, Aug. 13, 1840, and the tiers of sections on the north have been given up at different times in response to the demands of the steadily growing metropolis. The present limits of the town ex- tend four and one-half miles north and south, and an average of about five miles east and west. This gives to the town about twenty-one sec- tions of land and makes it the smallest subdivision of Milwaukee coun- ty. It is bounded north by the city, east by the Lake, south by Oak Creek, and west by the town of Greenfield.
The town of Lake was settled, as was Milwaukee county generally, by people from the Eastern states, with an occasional immigrant from the mother country, and a considerable number from the Fatherland. Descendants of these early pioneers people the town to a considerable extent, but of later years it can be said that the population is decidedly cosmopolitan. But whatever their ancestry or wherever their birth- place, the residents of the town of Lake are a class of intelligent and
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progressive citizens, many of whom are highly cultured and intellec- tual.
The town has but a small number of running or unfailing streams. The largest of note is Kinnickinnic river. It drains the northwest corner of the town, and in its course is very crooked and sluggish, and passes into the city limits in a northeasterly course to the Milwaukee river near its mouth, and all of the streams of the town of course finally reach Lake Michigan.
Traditional history at best is unreliable, but becomes especially so when transmitted to the third or fourth generations. No written record exists as to the first settler in the town of Lake; neither have we the names of the first town officers. The lands in this township were kept out of market longer than those north of it for the reason that the Pottawattomie Indians while ceding their lands in 1833, still retained possession until 1838; and they were not at all pleased with the eagerness with which the white intruder overran and made himself at home in advance of his time. Add to this the effect of the passage of the Rock River canal grants, which included much of this township, and we have a clue to the fact that no titles were obtained in this town until late in the year 1838, and but seven pieces during that year. The purchasers were as follows: Jacob Mahany, John Ogden, George H. Wentworth, Lewis Millery, H. Bigelow, John Davis and John Howell.
John Ogden was born on Feb. 18, 1801, in Essex county, N. J., and was one of a family of thirteen children. He was apprenticed to a wagon-maker and served five years, afterward spending ten years at the bench, and subsequently to that was connected with a bank, but not liking the business he disposed of his interest. The four years follow- ing he spent in Elizabeth in mercantile pursuits. At the end of that period he sold out, and in the fall of 1834 moved to Ohio. After spending several months visiting his brothers in Cincinnati, he re- turned to Elizabeth and spent the winter. In 1835, in company with H. H. Magie, he visited Chicago and attended the great government sale of lands there, where, as agent, he purchased three or four sec- tions of land, near what is now Riverside. In September of the same year he reached Milwaukee and bought one claim of forty acres and another of 280 acres of land in the present limits of the city, to which he obtained title in 1839 from the United States government. His first settlement was in the town of Lake, at the mouth of the river, where the Illinois Steel Company's rolling mill now stands, in what after- ward became Bay View. There late in the year he erected a two-story frame building. so near the lake that it was afterward nearly under- mined and had to be moved. In 1835 and 1836 he and Moses Ordway
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and Rev. Cutting Marsh-the last two named were missionaries here- formed on April 11, 1837, the first church in the territory of Wisconsin, which adopted the confession of faith of the Presbyterian church. The first eight years immediately following his settlement here, Mr. Ogden cultivated the farm he had settled upon, which is to-day covered with factories, stores and residences, and immensely valuable. From 1843 to 1849 he was engaged in a manner as a live-stock merchant, receiv- ing from stock dealers herds of cattle often amounting to 200 or 300 head. In 1849 he saw a favorable opportunity to go back to his old employment, and started in business as a dealer in carriages at what is now Nos. 165 and 167 West Water street. In the year 1851 he built a building, the frame of which was put up of hewed timbers, for a car- riage shop, on Spring street, at what is now 218-22 Grant avenue, where he continued the business till 1867, when he sold it to G. W. Ogden & Company, the silent partners of the firm being J. G. Ogden till 1879, and later Henry M. Ogden. In politics Mr. Ogden was a staunch Republican. In 1842 he was appointed justice of the peace and served one term. His death occurred on Jan. 23, 1891, when he had almost attained the age of ninety years.
Even 1839 furnished but few buyers, and they were as follows : Joel S. Wilcox, Horace Chase, Alexander Stewart, David Merrill, John Hodgson, Joseph Cross and Enoch Chase, all within or adjoining the present city limits. Of the persons named, Horace Chase seems to have been the first settler to have cast his lot in the town of Lake, as at first organized, he having arrived on Dec. 8, 1834.
Joel S. Wilcox was one of the pioneers who, by his genial, whole- souled manner, kindness of heart, strict integrity and uprightness, en- deared himself to his many friends and acquaintances. Born on Oct. I, 1809, at Vesper, N. Y., he was the son of Jonathan and Sybil (Smith) Wilcox. He attended the common schools of his native place, and until 1834 worked on the farm with his father. He was married in Decem- ber, 1833, to Jane Shields, and in the fall of 1834 left his native state and came to Detroit, and from there "footed" it around the lakes to Chicago. He then came to Milwaukee and took up land in section four, town of Lake, which was the first high land south of the old harbor mouth. Here he decided to locate and build his home, and with that object in view he made arrangements to have a house built on the place and returned East for his wife. The next summer they came together, by way of the lakes, to Milwaukee on the steamer "United States", landing here on July 17, 1835. Mr. Wilcox immediately repaired to his claim, where he found that nothing had been done toward building his dwelling, and with his young wife he made a temporary home in
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a brush shanty. He immediately commenced building a home and im- proving his farm, and being a man of resources and energy, was soon on the high road to fortune. At this time, when the young settlement, like all Western towns, was growing fast, the freight and most of the immigrants were coming by way of the lakes by sail and steam vessels, and Mr. Wilcox went largely into the business of supplying these ves- sels with fuel. This business grew to large proportions, and for a number of years he had a thriving trade in this commodity, but when the harbor mouth was changed and the vessels were enabled to come up the river he gradually withdrew from the business and gave his en- tire attention to the cultivation of his farms, until during the later years of his life, when he gave especial attention to gardening, from which occupation he derived much pleasure and comfort. He died in 1873. sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
Alexander Stewart was born in Scotland in 1799, and resided there until 1822. He had learned the carpenter's trade, and in that year came to America with his young wife and settled at Parisburg, Giles county, Va., where he was engaged in farming, owning property on the edge of the village and at the same time holding the appointment of postmaster at Parisburg until 1834, when with his family he moved West, coming first to Chicago, where he took up a claim near what is now the center of the city. There he remained through the winter of 1834, and came to Milwaukee in the spring of 1835, settling in the town of Lake, where he filed a claim on 160 acres of land before the government survey was made, and later in the year went to Green Bay and bought the land from the government at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre. Mr. Stewart was for many years actively engaged in working his farm, and for several years was interested with the well known pioneer, Joel S. Wilcox, in the wood business, the main feature of which was supplying wood to the lake steamers when they put into the bay. Mr. Stewart was in every sense a progressive, public-spirited man, and is credited with having given the first land donated by any private citizen for the purpose of establishing a school in the town of Lake. Through his personal efforts, given to the circulation of a sub- scription paper among the settlers, the first school in the settlement was opened in the court house and was taught by Mr. Bates, who, during the first term of school made his home with Mr. Stewart. He also donated one-half acre of land for the use of a burying ground for the neighborhood, and this is believed to have been the first cemetery cs- tablished in Milwaukee county. Mrs. Stewart died at the old home in 1869, and Mr. Stewart died there in 1873, mourned by all who knew them.
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