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 116

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

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 II > Part 116

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John Henry Kopmeier is the president of the Wisconsin Lakes Ice and Cartage Company of Milwaukee, and with the exception of a few years of his earliest childhood, he has spent his entire life in the ice business. From assisting his father as a boy of eight years on the ice fields he has steadily risen until to-day he is at the head of the largest Wisconsin company harvesting and selling ice and having practical control of the business in Milwaukee, the me- tropolis of the state. Mr. Kopmeier was born at 411 Reed street, Milwaukee, Feb. 16, 1854, the son of John T. and Mary Adelaide (Allen) Kopmeier. He was educated in the parochial schools of the Cream City and later attended the Spencerian College, at which he was graduated with signal honors. While following his studies he was called upon to assist his father in his business of ice dealer, being compelled to do such work at the tender age of eight years, Wisconsin at that time having no child labor laws on its statute books. But the little boy never uttered a word of dissatisfaction, and felt happy in being able to be of some assistance to his parents. This early employment limited to a considerable extent his attendance at school, as he was only able to attend during the spring and autumn months, but he acquired an excellent education through study at home in the few leisure hours at his command late at nights. The philanthrophic quality in Mr. Kopmeier's character made itself manifest on frequent occasions while thus employed in the ice fields with his father, and he established an en- viable record in saving lives of others of his father's employes as well as of those who ventured too near thin ice while indulging in the sport of skating. In all he has saved nine men from drowning. When he was twenty-four years of age Mr. Kopmeier acquired an interest in his father's business whose great possibilities he foresaw even thus early, and later he secured entire control of the business by buying out his father's partner. For ten years he then conducted the business alone, and in 1890 he took his brother, J. G. Kopmeier, into partnership with him, the firm being styled Kopmeier Brothers. Later, his keen sagacity brought about a consolidation of several of the largest firms then deal- ing in ice in the city of Milwaukee, the company becoming known as the Wisconsin Lakes Ice and Cartage Company, but notwithstanding the position of power this consolidation gave him, he has never per- mitted his company to take advantage of the situation, and he has con- tinually maintained that ice, being a necessity in the modern house- hold. should be sold as cheaply as circumstances would permit, with nothing more than a fair return on the investment to the company. This course is in striking contrast to that pursued by many American cor- porations, and had the others been equally considerate of the rights of the great mass of consumers the present agitation against "predatory wealth" would never have presented itself. Because of this consolida- tion the cost of handling ice was considerably reduced, so that without increasing the price to the consumer better returns on the investment could be guaranteed. The company is a Wisconsin concern. has a capital of $560.000, and handles close to 300.000 tons of ice annually. In 1878, when Mr. Kopmeier secured his father's interest, the annual business of the firm had been 4,000 tons. The property to-day repre-

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sents an actual investment of $1,500,000 and consists of more than 100 ice houses, distributed among the finest lakes of Wisconsin, where an absolutely pure article is always a certainty ; so that Wisconsin ice is known as the best ice for domestic or any other purpose in the coul- try. The ability of Mr. Kopmeier has been called upon in several other business affairs. He is the president of the Lindwurm Company, which years ago purchased a large tract of land for park purposes, holding it until the city was ready to take it over. He is a director in the Wisconsin Compressed Air House Cleaning Company, and is inti- mately identified with the Twin Buttes Mining & Smelting Co., of Arizona. Mr. Kopmeier was married Feb. 26, 1878, to Miss Dorothy M. Germershausen and is the father of four children, only two of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Kopmeier have taken a deep interest in char- ity, and there is hardly an organization in Milwaukee that is not in some measure indebted to their generosity. On account of his exec- utive ability and his intuitive grasp of business details, he has frequently been called on to take charge of the administrative work of such organizations. He is president of the Milwaukee Home Finding Association, whose object is principally to rescue children who because of environment or inattention by those who should be best qualified to direct them aright, have gone wrong. He is also one of those who have been most intimately identified with the Milwaukee Tuberculosis Sanitarium Association, which is conducting a sanitarium for the cure and prevention of consumption in Milwaukee county, and he has also contributed liberally to the churches. To his efforts is due the establishment of the Italian mission in the Third ward of Milwau- kee, as he was chiefly instrumental in raising the necessary funds to call this institution into life. Conditions were extremely bad among the Italians who almost exclusively inhabit that ward. Children were running around on the streets and all indications pointed to this dis- trict's becoming a fertile school for crime. The mission has more than met the expectation of its patrons, and its establishment has resulted in bettering conditions in general. Children whose parents cannot give them needed advantages are taken care of and are being taught useful occupations, and press and public are united in the opinion that it has been the greatest influence for good ever conceived in the Third ward. Mr. Kopmeier has been a member of the common council and has served as chairman of its committee on health. He has taken a live- ly interest in club and society life and is a member of the Milwau- kee Athletic Club, the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, the Calumet Club, the Millioki Club, the Deutscher Club, and is also a prominent member of such organizations as the Travelers' Protective Association and the Knights of Columbus. He is the president of the Citizens' Business League of Milwaukee.

Louis Kuehn, president and treasurer of the Milwaukee Cor- rugating Company, was born in Alsace-Lorraine on Nov. 5. 1867. He is a son of Karl and Margaret Magdaline ( Deutch) Kuehn, both of whom were born in Alsace-lorraine, the former in 1847 and the latter in 1851. The father lived all his life in Germany, raising hops on a small farm in the growing season and weaving

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cloth in the winter months. He had a family of four children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the third in order of birth. Louis Kuehn took advantage of the educational opportunities af- forded by the common schools of his native land, and on graduation secured a position as clerk in the government courthouse. This position he retained until his emigration to the United States in 1888. His first home in this country was in Canton, Ohio, and he earned his livelihood at different times by working in a bakery and later for a pottery company. Then he secured employment with a sheet metal company, and worked through the various stages of the vocation until, in 1896, having gained a sufficient competence, he came to La Crosse, Wis., and opened a sheet-metal business under the name of the La Crosse Steel Roofing and Corrugating Company. This he conducted most successfully for a period of six years. In 1902 he removed to Milwaukee, and in partnership with W. P. Yahn organized and incorporated the Milwaukee Corru- gating Company. He became president and treasurer of the com- pany, and Mr. Yahn its secretary. In 1906 Mr. Yahn resigned and August J. Luedke became secretary. The concern is now doing a large business, which increases from year to year. Fraternally Mr. Kuehn is identified with the Free and Accepted Masons and the Milwaukee Athletic Club. His marriage to Miss Viada B. Rose, daughter of George B. Rose, of La Crosse, Wis., occurred in Sep- tember, 1903. To this union has been born a son, George Louis, and a daughter, Yiarda Marie.

Theodore O. Vilter is one of Milwaukee's best known and pop- ular manufacturers, being the president of the Vilter Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of refrigerating and ice making machinery. He is a native of Northwestern Germany, where he was born on Oct. 25, 1857, and a son of Christian and Eliza (Mei- ners) Vilter. The father was a farmer by vocation and died when the subject of this sketch was an infant. The mother was married a second time, her second husband being Ernst Vilter. In 1871 the family moved to Milwaukee, where Ernst Vilter established him- self in a partnership in a machine manufacturing company. His death occured in 1882. By her first husband the mother had four children : three sons-Theodore, Anton, and William-and a daugh- ter, who died in Germany. By her second husband she is the mother of one son, Emil. The mother is still living and during the summer and fall of 1908 took an extended trip through Germany with her son, William. Theodore O. Vilter attended the public schools of Germany, and received his education in English at the German-English Academy in Milwaukee. After he had completed his course at the latter institution he served an apprenticeship in the shops which were the foundation of the present large establish- ment which he presides over, and which were then owned by Peter Weisel. At the time there were four journeymen employed, with three apprentices to assist them. As an evidence of the growth of the concern may be mentioned the fact that to-day there are 650 men given employment. In 1882 Mr. Vilter purchased his first

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share of stock in the company, being at the time foreman of the shops. When the disastrous fire of 1892 swept the Third ward the factory was destroyed, but it was at once rebuilt with better ac- commodations on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and Clinton street, and several times since floor space has been added. Since the incorporation of the company under the laws of Wisconsin, in 1882, Mr. Vilter has been gradually acquiring more stock, until now with his brother he owns a controlling interest. The officers of the company at the present time are Theodore O. Vilter, president ; Edward F. Goes, vice-president ; and William O. Vilter, secretary and treasurer ; and the officers, with Fred Ulrich and Emil Vilter, compose the board of directors. The company was organized originally for the manufacture of brewers' and bottlers' ma- chinery and later manufactured Corliss engines, but at the present time it devotes the greater part of its resources to the man- ufacture of ice-making machinery, for which it is famous all over the country. Mr. Vilter is too absorbed in his business interests to take an active part in politics, and he is not affiliated with any religious organization, believing that to lead a correct life a man need not be bound by creed or sect. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, the Milwaukee Turners' Society and the Deutscher Club, and he is one of the trustees of the German- English Academy who have been active in keeping that institution up to its present high standard. On Feb. 16, 1884, Mr. Vilter was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Meiners, a native of Milwaukee and a daughter of John Meiners, a distiller. To this union have been born three daughters: Erna, Alma and Ida.

Edward F. Goes, the capable vice-president of the Vilter Man- ufacturing Company, was born in Milwaukee on Nov. 16, 1858, a son of Frederick and Emma (Terlach) Goes. Both parents were native Germans, the father first having seen the light of day in Bavaria in 1819. The father came to Milwaukee from the Father- land in 1850 and shortly afterward became part owner of the Goes & Falk Brewing Company. In 1867 he returned with his family to Germany and spent the remainder of his life there, his death oc- curring in 1893. He was the father of three sons: George W., deceased, Edward F., and Frederick, Jr., the latter now residing in Germany, Edward F. Goes, the subject of this memoir, removed to Germany with his parents in 1867 and there received his education. He attended first the common schools and then the gymnasium at Frankfort, and completed his scholastic work by taking an en- gineering course at Munich. In 1883 he returned to Milwaukee and became associated with the Vilter Company as a draughtsman. and he became a member of the firm by the purchase of some of the capital stock. Within a short time he was made head of the draughting department, and in 1898 was elected vice-president. the position he has since filled with eminent credit to himself and the firm as well. He is recognized throughout the city as a sane, con- servative business man of sterling integrity and exceptional capa- city. He is prominently identified with the Deutscher and the

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Milwaukee Athletic clubs. On April 25, 1889, Mr. Goes was united in marriage to Miss Addie Schweitzer, a native of Milwaukee and a daughter of Joseph Schweitzer, one of the prominent liverymen of the city. To this union has been born one son, Frederick T. Some- thing of the marvelous growth of the firm with which Mr. Goes is connected may be learned from the sketch of Theodore O. Vilter, president of the company, elsewhere in this volume.

Edward Clark Davis, one of the substantial citizens of Mil- waukee, was born in the Cream City, a son of John and Mary (Clarke) Davis. The father was born at Benton, N. Y., on Sept. 8. 1828, and the mother at Port Huron, Mich. The paternal grand- father. S. Brown Davis, founded the Davis-Baird Transfer Line, owned jointly by Mrs. Kate C. Davis and Joseph C. Baird. Be- tween 1840 and 1846, the grandfather was interested in the old stage line in Michigan known as the Bissell-Humphrey Company, and when it was sold and consolidated with the Frederick Walker Com- pany, of Chicago, Mr. Davis disposed of his interest and removed to Milwaukee. This was in 1848, and the same year he purchased the livery of Davis & Moore, on Mason street. He continued to maintain this business as a livery alone until 1856, and then added to it the bus and transfer branch, which has since that time out- grown the other. After his death his son, John, took over the active management of the company. John Davis was a lieutenant in the old Light Horse Squadron between 1857 and 1860. He was the father of two sons, one of whom, Fred, died on Dec. 23, 1902. Edward Clarke Davis, the subject of this review, received his pre- paratory education in the public schools of Milwaukee and then took a course in the Notre Dame University at South Bend, Ind. Immediately after graduation at the latter institution he came o Milwaukee and relieved S. S. Merrill, who had been administrator of his father's estate for four years, of the duties of that office. He continued in active conduct of the affairs of the estate alone for three and a half years, until in February, 1883, when his wife took charge of the business. In political belief Mr. Davis has been a life- long Republican, but never held or sought public office. In his religious relations he was associated with St. James Episcopal church. On June II, 1874, Mr. Davis was united in marriage to Miss Kate C. Cochran, a daughter of Joseph and Emeline (Gambia) Cochran, of Milwaukee. Mr. Cochran was an engineer who came to Milwaukee in the early history of the city. Subsequently he en- gaged in the brick manufacturing business in the Menomonee val- ley, and later started the first sprinkler business in the city. His other interests included membership on the board of trade and the ownership of a woodyard on East Water street. Mr. Cochran died on March 19, 1878, and his widow passed away on March 23, 1898. To Mr. and Mrs. Davis were born two children: John, now an accountant at Glendora, Cal., and Katherine, at home.

George A. James, a substantial farmer of the town of Wauwa- tosa. is a native of New York city, but of English and Scotch de- scent. His father. George R. James, was born in Cornwall, Eng-

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land, about 1816. He was a sailor and came to America with his family in 1838, making his home in New York city, but still con- tinued his occupation as mate and he was lost at sea in the spring of 1857. His wife, Mary ( Barkley) James, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1822. She died in New York city in 1855. George A. was born in New York city on June 22, 1839, and attended school there until the death of his mother, when he was sixteen years of age. In company with his brother he then came west, making his home with an uncle for nearly thirty years. A few years after his marriage. in 1878, he purchased the farm of his uncle in section 13, but has since disposed of that property, and now owns a tract of eighty acres in section 19, which he devotes to general farming and dairying. On Oct. 12, 1878, he was married to Miss Julia Yale, daughter of Augustus and Mary ( Edmunds) Yale, of Brookfield, Waukesha county, Wis. Mrs. James is one of a family of seven. Helen, the oldest, is the wife of Henry Ecklor, a farmer of the state of Iowa: Mary Jane is the wife of Thomas Atkin, of Waukesha ; Mrs. James is the third ; Emily died at the age of ten years : John is married and lives in Kansas, and is now retired from active business life : Carrie died at the age of twenty, and William died in infancy. To Mr. and Mrs. James two children were born. George A., Jr., died in 1897, at the age of eighteen, and Mary Barkley is now the wife of Edwin G. Halbut, a resident of Milwau- kee, and an employe of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company. Mr. James is a Republican, active in local politics, and he has held the office of clerk of the school district and supervisor on the town board. He is a man of strength and independence of character, a conscientious member of the Methodist church, and one who has the respect and esteem of the neighborhood where he has spent the greater portion of his life. His brother, William B. James, for many years a sailor on the great lakes, is now retired and is a resident of Wauwatosa.

Benjamin Siegert, one of the respected and highly prosperous farmers of the town of Wauwatosa, Wis., was born in Gorlitz, Saxony. on Jan. 15, 1843, the son of Wilhelm and Elizabeth (Ginsel) Siegert. His parents were also natives of Gorlitz, where his father was born in the year 1797. The elder Mr. Siegert first came to the United States in 1846, though he only remained here for about two years on this occa- sion, and again returned to the old country. A year or two later he once more came to America, proceeding direct to Milwaukee, Wis. Immediately after his arrival he bought a quarter section of land, which he worked for a time and then disposed of it at a profit. He next bought a twelve and one-half acre piece, situated at what is now Cen- ter street, Milwaukee. Here he followed the vocation of a gardener for many years, and finally sold his land some forty years ago. He then retired from active business pursuits and made his home with his son. Benjamin, the subject of this sketch, until the time of his death. in 1880, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Our subject's mother died many years earlier, in Germany. They reared a family of four children to maturity, three of whom are still living : Benjamin, our sub-

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ject : Henry, who now makes his home in Oregon; Mary, the wife of Henry Lucemore, of St. Catherines, Canada (now deceased) ; and Anna, who resides at St. Louis, Mo. Our subject is one of the hon- ored veterans of the Civil war, as was his brother, Henry. He enlisted as a private in Company H, of the Forty-fifth Wisconsin infantry, Col. Henry F. Belitz commanding, in the summer of 1864, and was stationed at Nashville during most of his term of service. He participated in the battle at that place, also in a number of minor engagements, and was honorably discharged from the service in August, 1865. His brother Henry served during the entire war, having re-enlisted on three separate occasions. Benjamin received a good elementary education in the common schools of Germany, and came to America when still a young boy, accompanying his father on the latter's second trip. He

first came to Wauwatosa in 1852, and assisted his father in his garden- ing work for a number of years, until he was able to buy his own place. He bought his present fine farm of about sixty acres in 1867, and has since made all the extensive improvements on the same, including the beautiful home in which he still lives. Here he has grown prosperous, gardening and farming, and is known as one of the most successful agriculturists in this section of the state. Thrift, industry, sterling honesty, and common sense, qualities inherited from his sturdy German ancestors, have materially contributed to his success in life. He is still hale and hearty, and is now in a position to enjoy the fruits of a long life spent in honest industry and devotion to duty. In politics he is a member of the Republican party, and he has held the office of trustee of the city of Wauwatosa. In the matter of religion he is affiliated with the German church of Wauwatsoa, to which he is a most liberal contributor. Mr. Siegert was married on Feb. 9, 1869, to Frederica, daughter of Charles and Mary (Mindeman) Rambatt, of Mecklenburg, Germany, and three children were the fruit of this union : Emma, wife of George Bandurant, who resides in Chicago, Ill .; Herman, married to Annie Landgrebe; and William, who died in early manhood at the age of eighteen years and two months.

Gutsav Preusser, one of the pioneer settlers and early resi- dents of Milwaukee, who has retired from active business, was born at Itstein, Prussia, Germany, Dec. 3, 1829. He is the son of Jacob Preusser, a native of Itstein, who was a self-made man who learned the machinists' trade and afterward became a manufacturer of barometers and thermometers. Jacob Preusser earned a sufficient competence by this business to retire some years before his death, in 1854, leaving his widow-who lived to be eighty years of age- and twelve children, of whom the youngest is the subject of this sketch. Gustav attended the public schools of his native town until he was fourteen years of age, when he emigrated to the United States and located in Milwaukee in 1843. He immediately engaged in the watch-making business, but did not remain in Mil- waukee any length of time before he went to Detroit, Mich. Six months later he returned and established himself with his brother, Christian Preusser, in business as watch-maker and jeweler, on East Water street, south of the City Hotel. They increased their

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stock and continued in that line with continued success until 1887. when Gustav sold out his interest in the store to his brother, and since then has not engaged in active business life. The Preusser brothers were careful workmen, and their store became one of the well-known and best-patronized in the city ; and as the years have gone by it has increased until it is one of the best of its kind in the city. Mr. Preusser takes an active interest in the politics of the Republican party, is a member and supporter of the Protestant church, and a liberal contributor to the charitable institutions of his city. He is prominently identified with the educational move- ments of the city, was one of the charter members of the German- English academy, and since he retired has devoted himself to study and research. He is a charter member of the Natural History So- ciety, the Immigration Society, and he is interested and an active worker in the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he is a member. He is also a member of the Deutscher Club and of the Horicon Shooting Club.

Dietrich Homeyer, retired, one of the most respected citizens of Milwaukee, was born in Westphalia, Germany, on Feb. 15, 1851. His parents were Christian and Wilhelmina Homeyer, both natives of Germany. The father was a farmer in his native land, and after com- ing to this country engaged in truck farming near Fort Wayne, Ind., retiring some time before his death, in 1869. The mother died in 1870. Dietrich Homeyer is the youngest of the thirteen children of his father's family. His education was received in the public schools of his native land and the district schools of Adams county, Ind. For a time after completing his studies he engaged in agricultural pursuits in Adams county. Then for four years he served an apprenticeship in the file-maker's trade with C. Schmidt & Company, of Fort Wayne. When he became a master workman he went to Cleveland, and later to Toledo, Ohio, working at his trade in both cities. In 1871 he came to Milwaukee, but remained only a short time, removing to Chicago shortly after the fire which destroyed that city, and worked on the re- building. Upon his return to Milwaukee, late in 1872, he entered the employ of Buler & Hart on West Water street and continued with them for five years. In 1878, in partnership with Mr. Westphal, he purchased the Buler & Hart Company, and continued in the active management of it until 1905. In that year he disposed of his in- terests by sale and retired from active participation in business life. Although nominally a Republican, he is guided more by principle than by party loyalty in the exercise of his right of suffrage in local elections. In religious matters he is affiliated with the Lutheran church, and fraternally he is identified with several German so- cieties. On June 30, 1878, Mr. Homeyer was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Meier, of Milwaukee, a daughter of Herman and Mary (Crusmann) Meier. Both Mr. and Mrs. Meier were born in Germany and came to Milwaukee in 1845. The father was a dealer in ice and milk for some time, and later conducted a flour and feed store. For some years before his death he was in the fire insurance business, having the agency of the Concordia, the Me-

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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 116

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