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 II, Part 11

Author: Watrous, Jerome Anthony, 1840- ed
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Madison : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 1072

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BIOGRAPIIICAL

to Miss Florence Myers, a native of Milwaukee, and a daughter of Lehman Myers.

August A. Jonas, the popular president and treasurer of the Jonas Autombile Company of this city, was born in Milwaukee on Aug. 19, 1883, and is a son of Carl and Johanna (Zenke) Jonas. Both parents were born in Germany, the father in 1849 and the mother in 1844. The father was reared on a farm, and after his marriage came, in 1881, to the United States, locating first in Brook- lyn. He remained there but a year, however, and then came to Milwaukee to become associated with the Falk Brewing Company. Later he was with Jung & Borchert, and when this firm and the Falk company were absorbed by the Pabst interests he continued with the company as then formed. He remained with the Pabst company until his death, which occurred in 1906. Four sons were born to Carl Jonas: Theodore, deceased ; William G. ; Gustave, and August A. The subject of this memoir received his education in the public schools of his native city, including the high school, and then took a stenographic course in the Spencerian Business College. For a time he earned his livelihood by the practice of typewriting and stenography. In 1905, when the Jonas Automobile Company was incorporated, he was made its president and treasurer, William G. Jonas became secretary and manager, and Gustave Jonas vice- president. The company is the oldest in the state, having had its inception when automobiles first began to come into general use and developing into its present size by the energy and enterprise of its incorporators. It has the Milwaukee agency for Peerless and Cadillac machines, and beside its sales department conducts a garage and repair shop. Mr. Jonas is unmarried. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Deutscher Club. Throughout the city he is known as an active, progressive young man.

Gustave Jonas, vice-president of the Jonas Automobile Com- pany of Milwaukee, is a native of Germany, having been born in that country on July 1, 1879. A brief review of the lives of his parents, Carl and Johanna (Zenke) Jonas, may be found in the sketch of August A. Jonas elsewhere in this volume. He received his educational advantages in the public schools of the city. When he completed his scholastic work he engaged in the bicycle busi- ness, conducting with a Mr. Miller a salesroom and general repair shop. They continued this business for eleven years, but as auto- mobiles began to come into vogue Mr. Jonas turned his attention to them, and later, with his two brothers, organized the Jonas Automobile Company, the first company of its kind to be organized in the state of Wisconsin. The firm was incorporated in 1905 with August A. Jonas as president and treasurer ; Gustave as vice-presi- dent, and William G. Jonas as secretary and manager. The firm's place of business is at 726 National avenue, and includes a garage. repair shop and salesroom. The subject of this memoir is a capable master mechanic and oversees the mechanical part of the firm's business. On June 30, 1903, Mr. Jonas was united in marriage to Miss Lily Ters, a native of Milwaukee and a daughter of James

MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Ters, a railroad man. A son, Walter by name, has come to bless this union. Mr. Jonas is prominent in fraternal circles as an active member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Truman H. Curtis, an efficient sanitary inspector of the health department of the city government, was born in Port Hope, in the province of Ontario, Canada, on Oct. II, 1841. He is a son of Leonard S. Curtis, who was born in East Dorset, Vt., on Jan. 27, 1815, and his wife, Clymena (Stinson) Curtis, born in Dunbarton, N. H., in 1813. The Stinson family were the first settlers in Dunbar- ton, coming from the north of Ireland in 1680. They were of sturdy Scotch stock, and the great grandfather saw service as a member of the Continental Army in the War of the Revolution. The grand- father was a major of militia in the War of 1812. Leonard S. Curtis was a prominent citizen of Wauwatosa, having held several of the town offices. He was of English descent, his ancestors hay- ing migrated to this country from England in 1745. Mr. Curtis received his primary education in the common schools of his birth- place and in Wauwatosa, and at the latter was prepared for college. In January, 1860, he matriculated at Beloit College, but owing to various circumstances he did not graduate until 1867. At the out- break of the War of the Rebellion he enlisted in Company B of the First infantry, Wisconsin volunteers, for the three months' sery- ice. With the regiment he participated in the advance on Martins- burg, which the First Wisconsin led, and in the battle of Falling Waters ; and Aug. 22, 1861, was honorably discharged from the serv- ice. He then re-entered college, but again was compelled to leave before completing his course by his election to the lower house of the state legislature. He served in the session of 1866, and repre- sented the towns of Wauwatosa and Greenfield. In June, 1867, he was one of the thirteen members of the class who graduated at Beloit College. Ten of the thirteen are still living, and keep in touch with each other by means of a class letter, which each year circles the globe. There are sixty-two volumes so far compiled, the latter of which is at the present time in transit. It required ten months for the first volume to complete the circuit, but it is now done in much less time. After his graduation from college he entered the meat and grocery business, in which he was engaged for a period of thirteen years. He entered the employ of the city as assessor of the city water rates under Mayor Stoll, and served in that capacity for a period of two years. In May, 1883. he be- came an inspector in the health department and holds that position at the present time. That he has filled the position in a most satis- factory manner to all concerned is evidenced in the fact of his long service through the various administrations. In politics he has al- ways been a stanch adherent of the principles of the Democratic party, and his election and appointment to public office have always been under that regime. He is a liberal in his religious views, be- lieving that the standard of citizenship and manhood is not in- fluenced by creed or sect, and his only social relations are with the Beloit College Alumni Association and the Grand Army of the Republic. On Feb. 22, 1869, Mr. Curtis was united in marriage to

BIOGRAPHICAL

Miss B. J. Carpenter, a daughter of Thomas and Ann Carpenter, of Milwaukee. The following children were the issue of this union : R. K., born July 17, 1870, an engineer of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway ; Leonard S., born March 21, 1872, a member of the Milwaukee Fire Department ; Chester J., born May 8, 1874, a government inspector; William, born July 3, 1876, died at the age of seven months; Helen M., born Dec. 25, 1879; Willard .\., born in 1883; John Wesley, born in 1881; Leo F., born in 1885 ; Truman H., Jr., born July 21, 1887 ; Jessie Rose, born Aug. 28, 1890 ; and Cosy Clymene, born in 1893. Mr. Curtis arrived in Milwaukee on Oct. 6, 1845, and has been one of the most progressive and pub- lic spirited citizens in the upbuilding of the city since that time.

Alfred Hilton, the genial and efficient secretary and treasurer of the Slocum Straw Works, one of the large manufactories of Mil- waukee, was born in the Cream City on May 19, 1860, and is a son of Alfred and Ann Hilton. The father was born in Oldham, Eng- land, on May 18, 1824, and the mother in Lancashire on April 9, 1825. Mr. Hilton received his educational advantages in the pub- lic and high schools of the city, and when he had graduated at the latter institution he entered the Northwestern Straw Works as a hatmaker. He has since had no other employment, and has worked through the various departments of the institution, thoroughly mas- tering each stage of the work. His promotion to the position of secretary and treasurer has been the result of hard work, enter- prise and attention to details until he has become one of the most valued officials of the business. In his political relations he is allied with the Republican party, but has never found the leisure to become a candidate for public office, being too engrossed in busi- ness affairs. In religious matters he is a loyal member of the Con- gregational church and one of its most zealous workers. On Nov. 29, 1883, Mr. Hilton was united in marriage to Miss Mary Welsh, a daughter of William B. and Leticua Welsh, of Milwaukee. Three children have been born to bless this union, Alice May, now twen- ty-two years of age; Amy Adeline, twenty-one years old, and Fannie, nineteen years of age. Mr. Hilton's brother, John, was a member of a Wisconsin infantry regiment during the Civil war and served all through that struggle.

William N. Hilton, well known in commercial and manufac- turing circles of Milwaukee, as the vice-president of the Slocum Straw Works, was born in Milwaukee on March 3, 1858, a son of Alfred and Ann (Needham) Hilton. His father was born in Old- ham, England, on May 18, 1824, and his mother in Lancashire on April 9, 1825. Mr. Hilton attended the public schools of his native city and graduated at one of the high schools. Immediately after graduation he entered the employ of the Northwestern Straw Works, and his business career since that time has been continu- ously with the same firm. His enterprise, thrift and integrity won recognition for him from his employers, who appreciated that he was one of many in business dealings. Consequently his promo-

MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

tion through the various departments of the works was rapid, and in each department he made a study of the details of the work, so that today .in his official capacity as vice-president, he is thoroughly conversant with each step in the process of manufac- ture. The concern's output consists chiefly of ladies' straw and felt hats, and the Slocum quality is everywhere known as the best. In politics Mr. Hilton is a stanch adherent of the principles of the Republican party and in religious matters is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal church. On July 28, 1886, he was united in marriage to Miss Jennie McCreedy, a daughter of James and Jane McCreedy, of the town of Lake. Five children have been born to bless this union, Needham I., Eugene B., Marjorie, Harriet and Cora Viola.

John Ziehl, the genial proprietor of the Hotel Bismarck, is a son of Ferdinand and Opleona Ziehl, and was born at Hoerdt, Ger- many, on March 28, 1863. Both parents were born in the same town, the father in 1820 and the mother in 1828. He comes of that sturdy German stock which has been such a powerful influence in the development of the German empire, and is a direct descendant of many German patriots. His paternal grandfather lost his life while serving his country as a soldier in the Franco-Russian war. John Ziehl's education was limited to eight years of study in the common schools of Hoerdt. He was a young man of ambition, with a desire for travel, and when but eighteen years of age we find him crossing the ocean to meet the hardships and trials of life in a new country. He arrived penniless and friendless, but with superb courage he undertook the struggle for an existence. He located first at Erie, Pa., and his first means of livelihood was as a laborer in a brickyard. Nothing better offered for a year, and he stuck to the work, meantime making himself familiar with the English language and the customs of the country. For two years he was engaged as a moulder and then for some time as a clerk. In 1886 he came to Milwaukee and embarked in the hotel. The measure of his success can best be judged by the popularity of his house, which has always been a great favorite with the traveling public. He conducts a modern hostelry with every convenience, and is espe- cially anxious that his patrons receive the most courteous treatment at the hands of his employes. In politics Mr. Ziehl is a Democrat, but has never found the leisure to devote to a candidacy for public office. despite the urgent solicitation of his many friends. His re- ligious relations are with the Catholic church and fraternally he is identified with Columbia Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. On Dec. 28, 1886, Mr. Ziehl was united in marriage to Mrs. Ottelie Spindler, a native of Germany and a daughter of Peter Winter. They have no children.

Alfred L. Kastner, M. D., a practicing physician in the city of Milwaukee, was born in that city on Sept. 29. 1878, son of Ernst and Emma (Vogel) Kastner, both of whom are also natives of the Cream City. The paternal grandparents, John and Rosina Kastner, were natives of Bavaria, Germany, migrated to America about 1849

BIOGRAPHICAL

and settled in Milwaukee, where they lived the remainder of their lives. The maternal grandparents were Ludevig and Dora Vogel, who also were pioneer citizens of Milwaukee and there lived and died. Ernst Kastner, the father of the subject of this review, is interested in the B. Hoffman Manufacturing Company at Milwau- kee. Dr. Kastner received his early education in the public schools of Milwaukee, including a course in the high school, after which he began the study of medicine and graduated in the Wisconsin Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons with the class of 1902. After his graduation he spent about seven months as interne at the Milwau- kee County Hospital and also as assistant surgeon at the Soldiers' Home, and he then opened an office in the city for the active prac- tice of his profession, in which he has since been engaged with highly gratifying success. He maintains an independent position in political matters, not caring for official honors nor deeming it prudent to worship at the shrine of any political organization, but he takes a live interest in all affairs of a public nature. He keeps in touch with his professional brethren by having membership in the Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County, and the Wisconsin State Medical associations, and he is a member of the Phi Rho Sigma medical fraternity, and of the Masonic order. He is also a mem- ber of the Beavers, of which organization he is the local medical examiner, and he is also the examiner for the Brotherhood of Loco- motive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Firemen. On June 10, 1908, he was married to Mathilda Hoffmann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Balthasar Hoffmann, of Milwaukee.

Adolph Ehrler, one of the prominent confectioners of Milwau- kee, was born in Switzerland Sept. 22, 1870, being the son of Adolph and Elizabeth Ehrler, both of whom were born, lived and died in Switzerland. The father of our subject was a business man in Switzerland. His deep love for his native mountains was so great that no inducement could change his determination to die amidst their enchanting influences. He was a true, hardy child of nature, as the Swiss usually are, and he judged and concluded correctly when he resolved that no matter where his footsteps might roam he could find no scenery more beautiful than his own, beneath the shadow of the Matterhorn, of Pilatus, and of the Jungfrau, so here should be his and his wife's grave in the lovely land of William Tell. To himself and wife were born two children, our subject and a daughter, both of whom were educated in Switzerland. It appears that the son was not imbued with the same patriotic devotion to the land of his birth as was the father. Neither the pursuit of the chamois from cliff to crag, the ripplings of a thousand rills fed by everlasting glaciers, nor that sweetest music, the jodel of the fair daughters of his native land, could restrain his "wanderlust," hence we find him at the age of twenty, in 1891, a citizen of Milwaukee. In 1900 he engaged in the confectionery business at 276 Third street, but in 1907. his business increasing, he began on an enlarged scale at 301 Third street, where he is still located in a thriving busi- ness. In 1902, in seeking a life partner, he concluded he could not

MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

do better than choose a daughter of his native country, so he mar- ried Miss Lena, daughter of John Ruegg, who was born in Switzer- land. They have one child living, a daughter, Elizabeth ; and one son, Thomas, deceased. In religion Mr. Ehrler is a member of the Lutheran church and in politics he is an independent. He is a member of the E. F. U. and M. W. A. His success is due to his methods of fair dealing and to his great care of details.

Carroll Milton Edmund Towne, of Milwaukee, was born at Mil- ton, Vermont, Oct. 2, 1855, being the son of Byron and Sarah (Fargo) Towne, both born at Milton, Vt. His parents came to Ripon. Wis., in 1860, and engaged in the hotel business and then moved to Fond du Lac in 1867, where they conducted the Ameri- can and Patty hotels for several years. Finally in 1885 the family moved to Minneapolis, Minn., where father and son continued as landlords until the father's death Oct. 29, 1889. The mother died Nov. 2, 1882. The father was an alderman of Fond du Lac, and also served a term as city treasurer. He was a Master Mason and a prominent member of the K. of P. The paternal grandfather, John Towne, was a native of Vermont, and his wife was Anna Jackson, granddaughter of Gen. Giles Jackson. The maternal grandfather was John Fargo, a native of Vermont, who died there in 1846. His wife was Sarah Merritt, who died in Fond du Lac, Wis., in 1884, at the great age of 96 years. Carroll Milton Towne received his education in the public schools of Ripon, at Mrs. Pooler's private school at Fond du Lac, and at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Chicago. He was with his father in the hotel business in Fond du Lac until 1879, when he became secretary of the Wheel Seeder Co., which position he held for ten years and he then again joined his father in the hotel business at Minneapo- lis, Minn., until the latter's death in 1889, and he continued the business by himself until 1892, when he came to Milwaukee. Soon after his arrival in this city he became connected with the J. L. Burnham & Sons, brick manufacturers, and for the past four years he has been secretary of the Burnham Brick and Supply Co., dealers in brick and building supplies. On Aug. 8, 1882, Carroll M. Towne married Miss Annie L .. daughter of Jonathan L. and Louisa (McCarty) Burnham, of Milwaukee. They are the parents of one son, Jackson Edmund, born June 21, 1894, and now a student of the Milwaukee Academy. Mr. Towne is a Mason, a member of Kilbourn Lodge, No. 3; Kilbourn Chapter, No. I. R. A. M .; Ivan- hoe Commandery, No. 24, K. T., and Wisconsin Consistory. He is secretary of the Greater Milwaukee Association. In politics he is a member of the Republican party.

John A. Becher was born in Weimar, Germany, March 13, 1833. He was educated in Germany and came to the United States in 1853 and to Milwaukee in 1857, where he engaged in the grocery business until 1859, when he opened a real estate office, in which business he was interested until 1891, when he retired. Being a man of great energy and business foresight he was eminently suc- cessful in his business enterprises, and he is now enjoying his well

JOIIN A. BECHER

THE NET HOTY PUBLIC ILLARY

ASTOR LENOX TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

BIOGRAPHICAL

earned quiet. During the war Mr. Becher offered his services to his adopted country and was commissioned first lieutenant and quartermaster of the Thirty-fourth Wisconsin regiment, in which capacity he acted from its organization until he was mustered out in September, 1863. In 1857 he married Miss Johanna Krueger, of Milwaukee, whose parents belonged to the earliest settlers of Mil- waukee county. She died in April, 1892, at Philadelphia while she was returning with her husband from a trip to Europe. One son, Franklin A., was the result of their union. An adopted daughter, Emily, is a member of the family. The son married Miss Adda M. Wolf, of Milwaukee, a daughter of Commodore W. H. Wolf, the well-known ship builder, and they have a daughter, Marion, who married Harry L. Bradley, a grandson of William Pitt Lyon, a prominent attorney of Milwaukee. In politics Mr. Becher is a stanch Republican, being thoroughly devoted to the principles of that party, and he, in turn, has been honored by many evidences of its approval and appreciation of his patriotic services. In 1869 he was appointed a member of the State Board of Immigration, which he held until 1871, when it was abolished by the legislature. In 1879 the board was re-established by an act of the legislature, and he was reappointed a member and was elected its President, which position he occupied until 1887, when it was again abolished. He was a member of the city school board from 1873 to 1877 and a mem- ber of the legislature from Milwaukee in 1873. He is a member of the E. B. Wolcott Post, G. A. R., and a member of the Loyal Legion. Mr. Becher has won a high place in the esteem of his fel- low citizens by his splendid qualities of head and heart. his thorough-going, rugged honesty and devotion to whatever he thinks is just and right.

Harvey Greenwood Morton, D. D. S., a young man of great promise in the profession of dentistry in Milwaukee, was born in that city Oct 18, 1874, the son of Josiah Lyman Morton, of Hat- field, Mass., and Mary (Greenwood) Morton, of Lincoln, England. The father of Dr. Morton came to Milwaukee in 1862 and began life as a clerk, but this he soon abandoned, engaging in merchan- dising, which he followed for twelve years, when he changed to work in the postoffice for about six years, which he quit to go into the wholesale wagon business, which he continued until 1900, but his health failing he retired from worldly cares and is now living in Wauwatosa, Wis. To him and his wife were born two chil- dren, Frederick Lyman and Harvey Greenwood. Our subject was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and graduated from the high school at Wauwatosa. He graduated from the dental department of the Milwaukee Medical College in 1893. since which time he has been in the active and successful practice of dentistry in his native city in the Mack Block. On Oct. 21 1900, he married Miss Helen, daughter of E. R. and Susan ( Rogers) Godfrey, of Wau- watosa. Their marital relations have been blessed with two chil- dren, Catherine Godfrey and Godfrey Lyman. Dr. Morton is a member of the Congregational church and a member of the Re-

MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

publican party, being also a member of the Odontological Society, of the Wisconsin State Dental Society, and the Milwaukee Dental Society ; and is also a member of Wauwatosa Lodge, No. 276, Free and Accepted Masons; of Kilbourn Chapter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons; of Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 24, Knights Templar, and of Wisconsin Consistory.

Percy Bennet Wright, D. D. S., the dentist and the dean of the dental department of the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons, of Milwaukee, was born in Jackson, Mich., June 30, 1874, the son of George M. and Anna M. (Townsend) Wright, the for- mer born in Oswego, N. Y., July 23, 1834, and the latter in Amherst, Ohio, July 21, 1838. The paternal grandfather was Joseph Wright of Bernardstown, Mass., where he and his wife were born in 1812. He came to Jackson, Mich., about 1860 and died in Brooklyn, Mich., in 1899, aged 87 years, and his wife died in 1877. The father of our subject was a sign painter and house deco- rator, who died in Oct. 14, 1894, at Jackson, Mich.,

where his widow now lives. They had two children, Mrs. A. R. Martin, of Jackson, Mich., and Percy B., our sub- ject, who was educated in the public schools of Jackson, graduat- ing from the high school in 1892, and in the fall of 1893 he began the study of dentistry in the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in June, 1896. He began practice in Chicago in 1896, but in November of the same year he came to Milwaukee, where he has been ever since engagd in a successful practice of his pro- fession. He is dean of the dental department of the P. & S. of Milwaukee. On April 10, 1902, he married Ettie E., daughter of A. R. and Belle (Elliott) Matthews, both deceased, of Milwaukee, and his beloved wife followed her parents to the final resting place Feb. 8, 1905. In religion Dr. Wright is an Episcopalian and attends St. James church, while in politics he is Republican. He is a member of Milwaukee Odontological Society, of Wisconsin State Dental Society ; a member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 265, F. & A. M .; of Calumet Chapter, No. 73, R. A. M .: of the University Club, of Blue Mound Country Club, and of the Town Club of Mil- waukee.

Ernest Demin, a very successful real estate and insurance man of Milwaukee, was born April 23, 1849, in Germany, being the son of Christian and Caroline (Trapp) Demin, natives of Germany, who came to Milwaukee in 1856 direct from the old country, where the father had been the overseer and manager of a very large domain. The family was composed of four daughters and four sons, of whom our subject is the only survivor. The father died in 1866 and the mother in 1876. Our subject received his education in the public schools of Germany and Milwaukee. At first he clerked in a grocery store and then went into the commission business for twenty-five years. Of recent years he has been successfully en- gaged in the real estate and insurance business. From the start he had to rely upon his own resources and natural abilities for whatever progress he has made in the battles of life. Besides a

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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 II, Part 11

Author: Watrous, Jerome Anthony, 1840- ed Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Madison : Western Historical Association Number of Pages: 1072

Author: Watrous, Jerome Anthony, 1840- ed
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Madison : Western Historical Association
Number of Pages: 1072