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 120

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

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Stutley I. Henderson, to whose industry may be accredited the culmination of many of the large enterprises in West Allis, just west of Milwaukee, was born in a house on the site of the present

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MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Home for the Friendless, in Milwaukee, on Jan. 17, 1864. He is a son of Stutley W. and Mary Adelia (White) Henderson, both natives of Watertown, N. Y. His father came to Wisconsin in 1853 and located in Milwaukee, where for many years he was en- gaged in general land speculation. He was the owner of ninety- eight acres of land in the heart of what is now West Allis, and be- sides he held the title to considerable city property. His death occurred in 1873 and his widow passed away in May, 1907. Stutley I. Henderson, the subject of this review, is the sole survivor of the three children born to his parents. His education was received in the Eighth district school, and until he was sixteen years of age he made his home with his parents. He then secured a position as a laborer with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company, working between Milwaukee and Madison, and during the season following was occupied in a like position with the Wisconsin Central between Schleisingerville and Fond du Lac. During the year immediately following he was in the employ of the Western Union Telegraph Company, and when he severed his connections with that company it was that he might attend the Spencerian Busi- ness College. In the following spring he followed the advice of Horace Greeley to "go west," and he arrived in Colorado early in 1882. During the balance of that year he was employed as a team- ster between Deer Trail and Denver, and at the end of the season, finding himself out of funds, he stabled his horses and secured employment in a brickyard, afterward traveling through Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. Mr. Henderson still retains as a memento of his first visit west a piece of brick which he made in this brickyard. In 1884 he returned to Milwaukee. Here for a time he was engaged in various occupations, among others, the buying and selling of wood and the sale of books. In 1887 he and his brother, F. W. Henderson conceived the idea of platting the land on which the village of North Greenfield now stands. The venture proved highly successful and the result was the establishment of the village of North Greenfield. The money which accrued to him from the sale of lots in North Greenfield he invested in the sawmill business in Arkansas. At different times he has been highly successful in min- ing ventures. In 1890 he invested heavily in a quicksilver mine in old Mexico, and in 1901 he and W. E. Bell sold the California mine in Texas for $105,000. He was the incorporator of the North Green- field Land & Improvement Company, and of the Milwaukee and Waukesha electric line. He had started to build the Waukesha and Milwaukee line when he disposed of his interests to H. C. Payne. He also obtained a franchise to build the Muskego Lake line, but being unable to obtain right of way into the city he sold his interest to John I. Beggs, under whose direction the line was completed. The electric line now connecting Beloit and Janesville with Rock- ford, Ill., was also one of Mr. Henderson's schemes but he did not carry it through. Among other interests he was engaged in the real- estate business, and within a period of six months he located six large manufacturing plants in what is now West Allis, among

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them the Allis-Chalmers Company. Prior to the building of the latter plant Mr. Henderson made a verbal agreement with Charles Allis, that the naming of the city which would grow up about the plant would be left to Mr. Allis, who accordingly named it West Allis, in memory of his father. Mr. Henderson at the present time has about a hundred lots in the city and eighteen acres of unplatted ground. The lots he sells for twenty-five dollars down and five dollars a month until paid for, the title to revert to the heirs in case of the death of the original purchaser. He also owns a half interest in the Airopine Company, doing a patent medicine business at West Allis. To Mr. Henderson may be credited the inauguration of horse-racing in the county. He leased from the state agricul- tural association the state fair grounds and carried on harness racing until the legislature of 1897 prohibited it. In his political relations Mr. Henderson has been a lifelong Democrat, although at the present time he is not in accord with the policies exploited by William J. Bryan. When but sixteen years of age he became a deputy clerk of his town, under his brother, Fred W. Henderson, and has been the candidate of his party for the lower house of the state legislature. On Dec. 14, 1887, Mr. Henderson was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth C. Neeb, born at Burlington, Wis., in August, 1864, a daughter of Charles and Dorothy Neeb. Both parents were born in Indiana, and came to Wisconsin before the war. The father was a private in one of the Wisconsin volunteer regiments during the Civil war and died in 1865, one year after his honorable discharge, as a result of the hardships and privations of his army career. His widow still lives in Burlington. To Mr. and Mrs. Henderson were born two children. Georgiana, born Jan. 6, 1890, is now a student at the University of Wisconsin, at Madison ; and Stutley C., born Oct. 6, 1892, is a student in high school at West Allis.

Siegfreid W. Gottschalk, one of the prominent real-estate deal- ers of Milwaukee, also engaged in the insurance, loan and invest- ment business, was born in Trier, Germany, on August 27, 1863, the son of Isaac and Bertha (Hess) Gottschalk, the former a native of Kottenheim and the latter of Trier, Germany. Mr. Gottschalk came to this country and Milwaukee while still a youth, and attend- ed the Milwaukee public schools, later taking a course and graduat- ing in the Spencerian Business College, there gaining a knowledge of American business methods. He began his business career in a wholesale gent's furnishing establishment, and later, for seven years, he was engaged as a traveling representative for furniture manufacturers. In 1893 he engaged in his present business, which he is successfully conducting under the firm name of S. W. & G. H. Gottschalk, at 123 Grand avenue, Milwaukee. The enterprise was started just before the panic of 1893, and the fact that it was en- abled to become so well established in a year of the worst financial depression ever known in the history of the country speaks more highly for Mr. Gottschalk's capacity as a business man than any words of commendation. The firm is now doing a great deal of

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MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

building of houses, stores and flats for homes, selling for cash or on the monthly payment plan and it has the reputation of doing first class work. In his political belief Mr. Gottschalk espouses the Republican cause, but has never sough public preferment for himself. His religious nature finds expression in membership in the Temple B'ne Jeshurun. He is a member of Milwaukee Lodge, No. 261, F. & A. M., Calumet Chapter, No. 73, Kilbourn Council, Kermat Grotte, Real Estate Board, Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, Old Settlers' Club and the West Side Turners, of which he has been a member since boyhood. On Dec. 1, 1891, was solemnized Mr. Gottschalk's marriage to Miss Flora Black, daughter of John and Mary (Pereles) Black, of Milwaukee. The children of this marriage, in order of their birth, and their ages are : Marie Black, thirteen years ; Janet Black, a twin of Janet ; John Black, nine years; and Elizabeth Black, an infant less than a year old.

Gustav H. Gottschalk, who is prominently identified with the real-estate business in Milwaukee, is a son of Isaac and Bertha (Hess) Gottschalk, the former a native of Kottenheim, and the latter of Frier, Germany. Gustav was born in Milwaukee and ac- quired his education in the public schools, supplemented by a course in the Spencerian Business College, of which he is a graduate. Having fully equipped himself for a business career, he entered at once upon the active duties of life. He started as office boy in the office of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Upon attaining his majority he became connected with his father in the live-stock business, which he followed until 1900. Realizing the op- portunity presented in suburban real-estate he purchased the farms where South Milwaukee now is and became one of the original pro- moters of that thriving suburb. Mr. Gottschalk's ventures have proven fortunate and he has acquired a competency ample to satisfy most men. He is yet a large owner of lots and subdivisions. Po- litically he is a Republican, and socially and fraternally belongs to the following organizations : The Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council in Masonry; the Old Settlers', Athletic, and Progress clubs ; the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association; and Real Estate Board. Mr. Gottschalk is a bachelor.

Charles O. Manegold, deceased, who for more than twenty years was a foremost figure in the business life of Milwaukee, was a native of Germany, and one of those shrewd, calculating and en- terprising citizens who aided so materially in the upbuilding of Mil- waukee's commercial life. He was born in Holzminden, Germany, on March II, 1851, the son of William and Johanna (Comloehn) Manegold, both natives of Brunswick, Germany, and with them came direct to Milwaukee from the Fatherland in 1858. Here he attended school and as a youth learned the tinner's trade, but the work of the vocation was not congenial and after a few years he abandoned it for more congenial labor. In 1875 he purchased from T. W. Hart, a half-interest in the stone quarry, which was operated by Schweickhart & Hart, and the firm name was changed to Schweick-

CHIARLES O. MANEGOLD

THE NEW YORK

WERTOP LENON F-F & F .ORDATIONS

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BIOGRAPHICAL

hart & Manegold, Mr. Manegold becoming the junior member of the firm. With this enterprise he was actively and successfully oc- cupied until 1890, in which year he retired from active participation in the affairs of the business world to devote himself to the manage- ment of the property which he had acumulated. In May, 1895, with several others-among whom was H. J. Steinman, a brother-in-law,-he opened the Hardwood Lumber Company, which was located on First avenue, and remained a member of the firm until the time of his death, which occurred Dec. 6, 1897, after a lingering illness. When the West Side Bank was opened he also became a stockholder in that institution. Throughout his life he was prominently identified with the German Lutheran church, to whose material well-being he contributed liberally. Personally he was a man of fine carriage and deportment, courteous and kindly in his treatment of all with whom he had dealings. Mr. Manegold was united in marriage in 1875 to Miss Louisa Schweickhart, by whom he had two children.

Michael Kruszka, founder of The Kuryer Polski (1888), of Milwaukee, the leading newspaper in the Polish language in the United States, was born in Slabomierz, in the German province of Posen, Sept. 28, 1860; and in 1880, his adventurous spirit pining for greater freedom and opportunities than his native country afforded him, he landed in the United States hopeful of gratifying his heart's desire. His first services after landing in the United States were for the Singer Sewing Machine Company in Elizabeth, N. J. Then for a time he worked on a farm and later in a factory, attending night school while occupying the last position. Subsequently he became a member of the agency force of a life insurance company of New York, working in that city one year, and in the fall of 1883 he came to Milwaukee as a repre- sentative of the company. He started a Polish weekly paper in 1885, calling it "The Krytyka," which had for its special purpose the advo- cacy of the rights of the laboring man, the first paper of its kind in this country, and his labors were crowned with success. In company with others, in 1887 he launched a daily paper on the troublous sea of journalism, naming it The Dziennik Polski, but by bickerings and dis- sensions among the stockholders it expired in half a year, and our sub- ject saw all his accumulations vanish with it. Being of courageous and heroic disposition he did not repine and lament over his losses, but with the assistance of a few friends he determined to seek his fortune where he lost it, and he gave to the newspaper world the present great champion of the Polish people, the daily Kuryer Polski, the oldest, the most extensively read, and the most influential newspaper of its kind in the nation. In 1899 Michael Kruszka organized the Kuryer Publishing Company, of which he is the main stock holder and president, and which publishes the daily Kuryer Polski, the Semi-Weekly Kuryer, the Gazeta Wisconsinska, and the Kuryer Ilustrowany, the first and only Polish fine-grade illustrated magazine in this country. Michael Kruzka also organized and is president of the "Polish Newspaper Association of America," an organization composed of all prominent Polish papers in this country ; and he is stockholder and otherwise interested in several

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MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Polish newspapers. He is a member of many Polish societies and or- ganizations, and certainly one of the most prominent if not the most prominent Polish-American. The Kuryer at first advocated the political principles of the Democratic party ; but during the Spanish-American war supported the Republican administration and remained Republican thereafter. In 1890 Michael Kruszka was elected Assemblyman from the Twelfth and Fourteenth wards by 2,000 majority ; and as a candi- date for State Senator in 1892 he received a majority of 540. During his incumbency as Senator he advocated the cause of the people and introduced and passed several bills, especially one compelling the regis- ter of deeds of Milwaukee county to accept a fixed salary and turn his fees into the county treasury, thereby saving the people many thou- sands of dollars per year; one compelling the street car companies to provide vestibules on their cars; one favoring the Australian Ballot laws ; one reforming the caucus system, and many other statesmanlike laws. His chief object in life seems to be to bring the people of his country up to the ideal standard of American citizenship. He is proud of our American institutions out of gratitude for what they have done for his advancement, hence he urges upon the people the blessings of an education and respect for law and order. His ambition is to make of them American citizens in the fullest meaning of the word and to a large degree he is succeeding. To afford his people a better opportunity for understanding the local laws he has caused the official acts of the city council to be published in Polish so that his readers may obtain a clearer knowledge of laws and customs. He is anxious to make them understand that this is their government in reality. He advocated the teaching of the Polish language in the public schools, and through his efforts Polish books were added to the public library. In 1882 our subject married Miss Hedwig Linkiewicz, of Znin, Province of Poland, and their union has been blessed by one child, Felicia Aurelia, now en- gaged to be married.

William Goodrich, proprietor of the Milwaukee Linseed Oil Works at Keefe avenue and Hopkins road, was born in Milwaukee in 1862. His father, Timothy Goodrich, was born in Benson, Vt., and his mother, Gertrude (Hunter) Goodrich, was born in New York. The parents came to Chicago from the East in 1836, and for twelve years was engaged in the wholesale grocery business in the Windy City. In 1848 he came to Milwaukee to accept the Northwestern agency for a large sugar company, and later entered the wholesale gro- cery business again with a partner, under the firm name of Goodrich & Hunter. Mr. Hunter disposed of his interest sometime later and the firm became Goodrich & Terry. In 1871 he disposed of his wholesale grocery interests and with a Mr. Hamilton opened a linseed oil mill on the south side. This continued to be his occupation until he retired from active participation in business affairs in 1900. His death oc- cured in 1906 and his widow passed away in 1907. William Goodrich, the subject of this review, received his primary education in the schools of the Cream City, and then went abroad to study, being a student for different periods at Paris, Berlin, and Frankfort. On his return from abroad he entered the employ of his father in the oil business, and

THE NEY . YOF. PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR LENON SILDEN PLUNDATIANS

GEORGE SCHWEICKHART

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upon the latter's retirement, in 1900, he purchased the controlling interest in the concern of which he has since been proprietor. Business was continued at the old location on the south side until 1907, and then, additional room being necessary, Mr. Goodrich built the fine plant at Keefe avenue and Hopkins road, where the company is now housed. His other business interests include the presidency of The Dutcher Company and a directorship in the Pabst Brewing Company. His social relations are with the Milwaukee, Country, and Town clubs. In 1892 Mr. Goodrich was united in marriage to Miss Mary Pabst, a daughter of Frederick and Mary (Best) Pabst, of Milwaukec. To this union have been born six children: Lorine, Frederick Pabst, William, Jr., Mary Best, Hunter, and Timothy Watson.

George Schweickhart, deceased, whose business career in Mil- waukee is closely associated with the growth of the city as a commer- cial center, was born in Alsace, July 10, 1824. With his parents he came to the United States in 1838 and located in Erie county, N. Y., and there learned the brewer's trade under the able preceptorship of his father. J. Daniel Schweickhart. In 1856 he made his way to Mil- waukee, and with little capital save unlimited ambition and a capacity for work he founded a brewery known as the George Schweickhart Brewing Company's plant, which was the nucleus of the present Get- tleman Brewing Company. At the start the establishment had a capac- ity of but thirteen barrels a day, but later the plant was enlarged, and Mr. Schweickhart owned and conducted it alone inntil 1870. In that year he sold a half-interest to a son-in-law, Mr. Gettleman, and five years later disposed of the remaining half interest to a brother-in-law of Mr. Gettleman. In 1868, with T. W. Hart, Mr. Schweickhart had bought a stone quarry in the town of Wauwatosa, and in 1875 Mr. Hart sold his half-interest in the business to Mr. C. O. Manegold, a son-in-law of Mr. Schweickhart, and under the name of Schweickhart & Manegold they continued in the active condiict of the business until 1890. In that year a syndicate purchased the property and both gen- tlemen retired, and Mr. Schweickhart devoted himself thereafter to his private affairs until the time of his death. Although he had never sought public office he was twice elected a member of the board of su- pervisors, first in 1872 and again in 1882. Throughout his residence here he was known as one of the foremost members of the German L11- theran church. Mr. Schweickhart's wife was formerly Miss Margaret Schultz, and they were the parents of seven children. He died April 30, 1905.

George Brumder, president of the Germania Publishing Com- pany, the Germania National Bank, and the Concordia Fire Insurance Company, and one of the best known of Milwaukee's German-born citizens, is a native of Alsace-Lorraine. His birthday was May 24. 1839, and he is a son of George and Christena (Noeppel) Brumder. who spent all their lives in Alsace-Lorraine. His father was engaged in pedagogic work, and gave all his attention to his labors, being a deep thinker and a broad reader. When George Brumder, the subject of this memoir, was but eighteen years of age he came to the United States and located at once in Milwaukee. In order to acquire a thor-

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ough knowledge of the English language he studied under the precep- torship of a tutor." His first business enterprise he started in 1862, opening a store for the sale of books and periodicals. His inherent qualities of thrift and integrity assured him success from the start, and as the business developed hie combined with it a publishing company. In 1872 he became the owner of the Germania Publishing Company, publishers of the Daily and Weekly Germania, one of the most widely circulated German periodicals in the country. His sagacity and keen business acumen have contributed largely to the upbuilding of the firm. For a number of years Mr. Brumder has been president of the Concordia Fire Insurance Company, and since 1904 has been at the head of the Germania National Bank. Politically Mr. Bruinder is au solutely independent of party ties, and the policy of his paper has always been to support the men and measures which in his judgment were for the betterment of the city, state and nation. Mr. Brumder's wife was formerly Miss Henrietta Christena Erandharst, a native of Germany. Four sons and three daughters born to the union survive. They are William C., associated in business with his father; Amelia C., wife of George P. Mayer : Ida, Emma, George F., Herman Otto, and Herbert. William C. Middleton, president of the Middleton Manufac-

. turing Company, of Milwaukee, was born July 25, 1849, a son of Thomas B. and Lucy (Davison) Middleton, the former born in Philadelphia, Pa., and the latter in Ohio. The parents came to Milwaukee in 1854, then went to Horicon, where the wife died, and the family returned to Milwaukee, where the father spent the re- mainder of his life and died July 13, 1906, aged eighty-seven years. The father was all his life a railroad man, working in various capa- cities for the Milwaukee & Horicon railroad, the Milwaukee & La Crosse railroad, which was afterward the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, and the Huntsville & Alabama railroad. He was in Huntsville, Ala., when the war broke out and by the authorities he was given twenty-four hours for him and his men to enlist in the Confederacy or leave the state, so he came north at once. Our subject received a limited education in the public schools of Hori- con, Wis., but at the age of twelve began working for the Mil- waukee & La Crosse railroad, and at the age of thirteen years he was braking on the same railroad. He followed railroading until he was twenty-eight years old, advancing from stage to stage until he became conductor, and finally became train dispatcher. After abandoning the railroad business he was a traveling salesman for several years, until in 1879 he reached his present position with Shaw, Ellsworth & Company, the firm afterward, 1891, being changed to the Shaw-Ellsworth Manufacturing Company. In 1901 the firm divided, our subject taking as his part of the assets the manufacture of hats, caps, and straw goods, and the other members took for their share the manufacture of fur coats and gloves. Our subject took in other partners and has prosecuted his branch of the business with signal success ever since the dissolution of the older firm, under the firm name of the Middleton Manufacturing Com- pany. On Jan. 27. 1868, he married Miss Martha A. Weaver, of Can-

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ada, whose parents are both deceased. This union was blessed with two children: Florence, now the wife of A. L. Pike, of Mil- waukee, a member of the firm, and Fred S., also a member of the firm. Fred S. married Miss Sylvia Morgenson, of Sheboygan, Wis., who is a native of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. A. L. Pike are the parents of one child, Corinne, aged seven years. Mr. Middleton, while never taking anything but a casual interest in politics, is a mem- ber of the Republican party, and he and all the members of his family are adherents of the Episcopal church. Since he was twenty- one years of age he has been a Free Mason, being a charter member of Damascus Lodge, No. 290. Mr. Middleton is proud of tracing his lineage back to some distinguished ancestors who won imper- ishable renown on the fields of bloody carnage and in the highest councils of the nation in those days that tried great men's souls, during the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812. His paternal grandfather was a lieutenant in the War of 1812 and received ad- vancement from the ranks for conspicuous bravery, while the fa- mous General Stark, the husband of brave Molly Stark, is on the mother's side in the direct line of kinsmanship ; and finally, Arthur Middleton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was a paternal ancestor. Unaided, but by slow and sure pro- gress, Mr. Middleton today occupies a front rank as a business man, because he is made of the right kind of fiber, and blood and fiber count for much in every age. He is a self-made man, having the high respect of all who know him.

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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 120

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