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 121

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 121

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Albert N. Fairchild, of 643 Shepard avenue, Milwaukee, prin- cipal of the Seventh district school of that city, is probably one of the best known educators in the state. He is a native of Wisconsin, having been born Jan. 23, 1854, on a farm in Walworth county. His parents, Nelson and Laura C. (Kinney) Fairchild, came from New York to Wisconsin before it had been admitted to the union and located on a farm near Elkhorn. Besides being an agricultur- ist, the father was a contractor. He built the first store in the city of Kenosha, and many of the private and public buildings in the early history of Walworth county were the fruits of his labors. The latter years of his life were spent in Delavan, where he died in 1902. Mr. Fairchild was the third child in order of birth in a family of five sons and a daughter. He received his early education in the district and high schools of Walworth county. Following the completion of his studies there, he took a commercial course in Madison, Wis., with the intention of making business his life work. Circumstances, however, led him, at the age of sixteen, to engage in teaching district schools, which he followed for five con- secutive winters, in the meantime pursuing a practical course in banking in the First National Bank at Elkhorn, under the direction of William H. Conger, cashier. Encouraged by success attained in some of the most difficult schools in the county, he entered the State Normal School, at Oshkosh, in 1876, and there he remained tor four years, having earned the money to defray his entire ex- penses. Upon graduation from that institution, in 1880, he was 61

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called to the principalship of the schools of Mechanicsville, Iowa. Two years later he resigned to accept the position as principal of the Garfield School, in Racine, Wis., where for several years his pupils took the lead in competitive examination with other schools in the city. His residence in Racine continued for nearly eight years. He left there to come to Milwaukee in November, in 1889. Ever since that time Mr. Fairchild has been principal of the Seventh District School, and he has been a powerful factor in the growing educational development of the Cream City. It was his influence which brought about the introduction of teachers' rest rooms in the schools of the city, the first being introduced into the Seventh District School. In 1890, he organized in the seventh and eighth grades of his school the Whittier Literary Society, an organ- ization still in a flourishing condition. On an easel in the room hangs a framed autograph letter from the poet, thanking the mem- bers of the society for the honor conferred upon him. Ever since his connection with the school, Mr. Fairchild has endeavored to bring about an aesthetic decoration of the building, believing that it has much to do in the proper training of the child's mind. The finest reproductions of masterpieces have been selected, artistically framed, and hung so as to represent schools of painting, thus carry- ing out a definite theme in the decoration of each class room. To what extent he has succeeded may be judged from the high compli- ment paid Mr. Fairchild by art critic, Henry Turner Bailey, agent for the promotion of industrial drawing in the Department of Pub- lic Education of Massachusetts, who, while visiting Milwaukee, re- marked that the Seventh District School was one of the most sat- isfactorily decorated school buildings in the United States, so far as he knew, outside of New England. In 1884, Mr. Fairchild mar- ried Miss Marion Elma Brey, a prominent teacher, who far many years has been closely identified with philanthropic and club work in the city of Milwaukee. Mr. Fairchild has always been deeply interested in the advancement of his profession and the educational development of both city and state. He has been one of the leading members of the Milwaukee Principals' Association. He has filled every office in that association, from secretary to president. His administrative term was one of the most successful and progressive in the history of that association. For many years he has been an active member of the Wisconsin Teachers' Association. He has never sough any administrative offices, but has done efficient ser- vice as a member of many of its important committees. He has always stood for thorough, conscientious work in essentials, and has been ready to take the initiative in advanced educational methods, provided such a course was consistent with his duty as a principal in a large public school system. While he has been en- gaged in educational work, he has not lost sight of his early training and has kept in touch with certain lines of business. In 1902, he was made executor, without bonds, of his father's estate, and re- ceived high compliments from attorneys and judge for a most carefully prepared report, which was filed among the records of the

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probate court of Walworth county. He was one of the first who saw the advantages of Prospect Hill as a residential site, and built his home before a street was paved in that district, which has grown to be one of the most beautiful in the city of Milwaukee.

Jerome Van Alstyne, of Oakwood, a descendant of a long line of gallant pioneer ancestors, is a native of New York state, having been born at Danube, Herkimer county, June 10, 1839. He is the son of James and Delia (Timmerman) Van Alstyne, both natives of New York, the former born at Utica on June 3, 1806, and the latter at Dan- ube. The Van Alstynes are descended from a royal line, the ancestry dating back to William, Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau, who was born April 16, 1533, at Dillenburg, and was assassinated at Delft by Balthasar Gerard on July 10, 1584. Another ancestor was at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when Protestantism was finally estab- lished in England. William and Mary, rulers of England, who es- tablished the second higher institution of learning in the United States, were also numbered among the ancestors. The father's an- cestors located at Albany, N. Y., soon after the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on the shore of Massachusetts Bay, and his mother's ancestors were among the first pioneers to venture into the unbroken wilderness of the Empire State. Both maternal and paternal great grandfathers were participants in the War of the Revolution and were captured by the British when New York fell. An older brother of our subject, Harvey, responded to the call for volunteers during the War of Seces- sion and enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifty-second New York in- fantry as orderly sergeant. During the fighting in the Wilderness campaign Harvey and a cousin, Eli Pettibone, of Syracuse, N. Y., were wounded and captured by the enemy, taken to Andersonville prison, and there died as the result of their wounds and the privation incident to their confinement. Jerome Van Alstyne, the subject of this review, received his elementary education in the public schools of New York state and then went to work in a grocery store at Frankfort. near Utica, N. Y. To this labor he devoted himself for two years, and by close application and diligent work saved sufficient capital to buy some land. Hearing of the excellent opportunities offered a young man in Wisconsin he came to the Badger State. He first settled in Racine and continued his studies under J. J. Macman, but it became necessary for him to earn a living immediately, and he abandoned his studies and came to the town of Franklin, Milwaukee county, where he engaged in farming. From time to time Mr. Van Alstyne has added to this farin, and now is the owner of 136 acres of the best farming land in the county. In 1865 he was united in marriage to Miss Char- lotte C. Healy, daughter of James Patrick and Lucinda ( Francisco) Healy, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of New York. Mr. Healy came to America when but sixteen years of age and located first in Canada, but later removed to Geneva, N. Y., in 1835, and after four years came to the town of Franklin, where he purchased a section of land and engaged in farming. He continued in this occupation until he retired from active life, in 1898, and passed his last days in Racine. Mrs. Van Alstyne's maternal grandfather fought for the freedom of

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the colonies during the Revolution, and her father's cousin was a member of Parliament in England. She was the second female child born in the township. Her brother, Francis Maurice Healy, served throughout the Civil war in the Thirty-first Wisconsin volunteer in- fantry under General Sherman, and received an honorable discharge at the close of the war.

Adolph George Schwefel, A. B., LL. B., was born in the town of Lebanon, county of Dodge, state of Wisconsin, on April 5, 1871, in a log house upon a farm on which his paternal grandfather, Ernst Schwefel, took out a patent granted by the Federal government, and built his homestead. The paternal grandparents were peasants near Freierwalde, in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, where, on Jan. 8, 1836, William Schwefel was born. The paternal grandparents im- migrated to the United States, together with four children, and settled at Lebanon, Wis. The paternal grandfather died at the age of ninety years, on the land taken from the government, and the paternal grand- mother lived to the age of ninety-five. The father continued the oc- cupation of a farmer up to the time of his death, in the fall of 1906; and the mother, Wilhelmina (Heilman) Schwefel, died when Adolph G. was seven years of age. The subject of this review received his early education in the public and private schools at Lebanon, Wis. He took up private instructions and preparatory work for admission in Capital University ; and in the fall of 1890 entered as a freshman the university, taking the Ancient Classical course. He was graduated in the class of 1894 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The same year he entered the law department of the University of Wisconsin and was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In September, 1896, he came to Milwaukee as a Democratic delegate to the State convention held here, and ever since has remained as a practicing attorney in the city. He opened an office for the general practice of law on Sept. 7, 1896, and continued to practice his profes- sion alone until Jan. 1, 1905, when the law firm of Schwefel & Knoell was formed. Mr. Schwefel has always taken an active interest in politics, and in 1906 was the Democratic candidate for district attorney for Milwaukee county. Mr: Schwefel was married on June 27, 1901,. to Josephine Kissinger, of Milwaukee. To this union there was born two sons, William Allen and Norman Edward. In both politics and. religion, Mr. Schwefel has adhered to the teachings of the fathers, and where in the former instance he is affiliated with the Democratic party, he has in religious matters adhered to the Lutheran church. He belongs to various clubs of political, religious, and social natures, and is a member of the Milwaukee County and Wisconsin State bar associations.

Theodore Kronshage, Jr., of Milwaukee, is one of the leading attorneys of that city. He was born at Boscobel, Grant county, Wis., on Nov. 6, 1869, and is a son of Theodore, Sr., and Pauline ( Hilde- brand) Kronshage, both natives of Germany, the former born at Lip- pe-Detmold and the latter at Bielefeld. Both are still living. The parents came to Wisconsin in 1866, the father entering business in a general mercantile line, in Boscobel, and was very prosperous, building

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up a large trade in the town and surrounding country. He has now retired from active business life. The family consists of the parents and two sons, the brother, Ernest H., being the editorial writer of the Milwaukee Free Press. Theodore, Jr., acquired his elementary edu- cation in the public schools and then entered the University of Wis- consin, where he was graduated in 1891 with the degree of A. B., and in the college of law with the degree of LL. B., in 1892. The follow- ing autumn he began the practice of his profession as a member of the firm of Tarrant & Kronshage, the partnership continuing until 1898, when Francis E. McGovern, former district attorney of Milwaukee, was added to the firm. Since that time several changes have been made in the firm name. In 1899 Charles Dielman joined them, and later dropped out as did Judge Tarrant after his election to the circuit bench, in 1902. In 1906 two new members were added, the firm now being Kronshage, McGovern, Corrigan & Fritz. Many important cases have engaged Mr. Kronshage, especially those involving trade-marks and unfair competition, and he has made a special study of this line of litigation. He is the attorney for the Pabst and Schlitz companies, and the Milwaukee Brewers' Association, in all litigation involving these subjects, and has stopped all outside brewers from using the word "Milwaukee," on beer not brewed in the city. He was the principal attorney in the case of the American Publishing Company vs. Fisher, et al .- in which the Utah law allowing nine jurors to give a verdict was set aside-winning the case in the United States supreme court. He is at the present time engaged in an important case, Ellinge vs. the Equitable Life Assurance Company of New York. The Wisconsin supreme court held that a policy holder, at the completion of a Ton- tine policy, had a right to examine the books of the company and see to how much surplus he was entitled. This new principle of law is now on examination in New York. Mr. Kronshage was one of the organi- zers of the Milwaukee Free Press Company and has been its president since 1901. In politics he is a Republican and has served as a normal school regent, on the Republican county committee, and a number of times on the state central committee, serving in that capacity in 1904 on the memorable occasion when there was a split in the convention in session at Madison, and a part retired, holding an independent conven- tion in the Fuller Opera House. This committee passed on the cre- dentials of all delegates, and upon their report the litigation which followed was based. Mr. Kronshage has been an active factor in the politics of the state, particularly those connected with the recent re- forms, in which Wisconsin has led in many particulars, other states following and supporting the stand taken in this state. Mr. Kronshage is a member of the Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee University clubs and of the Milwaukee Bar Association.

Dr. George G. Hirth, deceased, one of the founders of the Mil- waukee Medical College, and one of the most expert and successful physicians who ever practiced in Milwaukee, was born in the city of Quincy, Ill., Sept. 25, 1865, of German parentage. His parents, Jacob and Katherine (Maus) Hirth, are both natives of Germany, and his father has been a farmer by occupation all his life, but

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has lived retired for some fifteen years past. He came to America shortly before the Civil war, and spent a number of years in New York state before coming west to Illinois. Dr. Hirth was the youngest member of a family of seven children, and obtained his early education in the common shools and high school of Quincy, Ill. ; he then pursued a course in chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and subsequently took the medical course in the same institution, graduating therein with the class of 1891. He then spent something over a year abroad, where he studied under some of the most renowned surgeons of the world. He remained for several months at the celebrated Eppen- dorf Hospital in Hamburg, Germany, and studied under the great surgeon, Dr. Schede. He furthermore pursued special post-grad- uate work at the University of Berlin, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from that university in 1892. In the fall of the same year he returned to the United States and located in Milwaukee, where he entered upon the active practice of his profession. His splendid equipment and genuine enthusiasm for the work brought him into immediate success, and he speedily acquired, not only a lucrative practice, but a most enviable reputa- tion as a skillful operator and highly trained specialist. After three years of active practice, he again went to Europe, and spent five months more at the University of Berlin and the hospitals of Hamburg. It was at this time that the fearful epidemic of cholera raged in Hamburg and Dr. Hirth assisted materially in stamping out this dreaded disease. Returning to Milwaukee he continued in successful practice up to about a year before his death, which unhappy and premature event took place in the fortieth year of his life, Sept. 15, 1904. Cut off thus in the very prime of life, the profession lost an eminent physician and surgeon, who gave every promise of achieving a brilliant career, and his family mourned the death of a kind and most indulgent husband and father. Dr. Hirth actively assisted in the organization of the Milwaukee Medical College, and was an efficient aid of Dr. Neilson, and later held the chair of lecturer on rectal diseases at the college. Dr. Hirth was a faithful attendant at St. Paul's Cathedral, and was an earnest Christian gentleman. He was a member of the Masonic order, in which he had attained the Thirty-second degree, and was a Knight Templar, and he was also a member of both the State and Fox River Valley medical associations. He was married on May 26, 1897, to Miss Ella, daughter of August F. and Julia (Kraus) Gal- lun, of one of the old pioneer families of Milwaukee. Two charm- ing daughters, Helma and Elfriede, were the fruit of this union, and they make their home with their widowed mother at 883 Cam- bridge avenue, Milwaukee. The parents of Mrs. Hirth were both natives of Germany, her father having been born in the town of Osterwick in the Harz mountains, and her mother in Holzminden, a town in the duchy of Brunswick, located on the river Weser. They came to the United States and settled in Milwaukee in 1854.

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Mr. Gallun is a prosperous tanner, and is still in business on North Water street, under the firm name of A. F. Gallun & Sons, tanners and leather dealers.

George C. Markham has been recently elected to the respon- sible position of president of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insur- ance Company, of Milwaukee, and he brings to the duties of this high station the experience of years in the service of the company. He was President Palmer's right-hand man and counsellor for years, and during the more recent ones has practically carried all the burden of the details of the chief executive office upon his own shoulders. Mr. Markham is a native of the state of New York, having been born in Wilmington, Essex county, that state, on May 7, 1843. He decided upon the legal profession as his life's vocation and was admitted to the New York bar in 1868. The year following he removed to the city of Milwaukee and became associated with his brother, Henry H. Markham, which association continued until 1879, when the latter removed to California. After the re- moval of his brother to California, George C. Markham formed a partnership with Judge George H. Noyes, who is now the General Counsel for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, and this professional association continued for a number of years. Mr. Markham was first elected a trustee of the company in 1895 and in January of 1901 he was elected third vice-president. In 1904 he became the second vice-president and one year later was elected to the position of vice-president, which he retained until the meet- ing of the board of trustees on July 15, 1908, at which time he was chosen to succeed Henry L. Palmer, as president of the company. He is eminently fitted by long training and an intimate knowledge of all the company's affairs to fill the office of president, and his election was greeted with the liveliest expressions of approval by all the home office staff and agency force of the company. He has the enthusiastic support of all his subordinates, and under his intel- ligent management and administration of affairs the fine old North- western is continuing its phenomenally successful career.

Rudolph Weise, deceased, a prominent druggist of Milwaukee, was born at Schanschoenlanke, Posen, Germany, April 4, 1830, the son of Gottfried and Wilmina (Michelsteder) Weise, both natives of Germany. The father was a manufacturer of woolen goods and never came to the United States, but the mother came, however, after the father's death, and resided for several years in Chicago, where she died. There were four children in this family : Rudolph. Wilhelmina, Augusta, and John. all deceased except John. who is living in Chicago. By a second marriage of the mother to Louis Kussman, there were two children, August and William, both deceased. Our subject received his primary, advanced and scien- tific education in Germany, where he was a pharmacist for ten years, until he came to the United States in 1854. He located in Milwaukee, where he continued in the drug business and resided on Ju- neat avenue until he died. Aug. 5. 1905. On April 1, 1860. he married Miss Louise, daughter of Carl and Johanna Marssa Stamm,

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of Milwaukee, and their union was blessed by fourteen children, nine of whom are living: Charles, wholesale druggist, city; Wil- helminia, wife of W. Ferore, Fond du Lac; Johanna, wife of F. Griebe, city; Rudolph, druggist, city; Edward, machinist, city; George, resident of Fond du Lac; Louise, wife of B. Prepps, Fifield, Wis. ; Alfred, at home ; and Walter, machinist, city. Mrs. Weise's parents were natives of Germany, where her father had a large farm and occupied the important government position of revenue officer. He came with his family to the United States in 1852, locating on a farm near Milwaukee, but the mother dying in 1875 caused him to retire from all work till he died, Dec. 4, 1886. In religion the family were Lutherans and in politics the father was a Republican. Rudolph Weise was a Lutheran in religion and in politics he as- sociated himself with the Republican party. He was also a mem- ber of the United Workmen, the Legion of Honor, and the Knights and Ladies of Honor. He was a substantial and careful business man, a lover of his home circle, toward which his every effort seemed to center, for his greatest joy was to gather his large and interesting family around the circuit of his bounteous board, and then his cup of pleasure was filled to the fullest measure.

Milwaukee Yacht Club .- Organized in 1894 by a number of enthusiastic lovers of water sports, the Milwaukee Yacht Club, has become a decided factor in the club life of the Cream City and a power to be reckoned with in the annual regatta of the Lake Michi- gan Yachting Association. It was organized on Feb. 17, 1894, and incorporated on Feb. 21, the first officers being: C. J. Williams, commodore; H. A. Coleman, vice-commodore ; John Joys, Jr., rear- commodore: E. T. Balcom, secretary ; and Fred P. Cook, treasurer. Since 1894 the following gentlemen have filled the office of com- modore : 1895, C. J. Williams (resigned and succeeded by E. T. Balcom, who also resigned and was succeeded by A. B. Cambier) ; 1896, C. J. Williams : 1897-1898, H. A. Coleman ; 1899, B. H. Dally ; 1900-1901, R. B. Mallory ; 1902-1903-1904-1905-1906, E. P. Vilas ; 1907-1908, E. P. Vilas (resigned and succeeded by R. B. Brown, whose term of office expired in October, 1908, when Charles J. Wild was elected for the term, extending from October, 1908, to October, 1909). The other officers of the club for the same term were John J. Rice, vice-commodore ; Dr. Herman Stolte, rear-commo- dore; Fred W. Dickens, secretary-treasurer ; John T. Mason, fleet captain ; and Dr. H. E. Bradley, fleet surgeon. The present board of directors is composed of S. S. Tatum, 1908-1909: R. B. Mallory, 1908-1909; R. B. Brown, 1909-1910; Adam Strachan, 1909-1910. The club at present has 166 members, of which 134 are active, II non-resident, 17 life and 4 junior. The boat roster records twenty- five boats, as follows: four yawls, one schooner, three 21-foot race- abouts ; one 21-foot cabin class ; six 18-foot sloops, four brig class, and six power boats. The club maintains a commodious club house and anchorage on the lake at the foot of Kane Place and dur- ing the season holds a number of interesting racing events, the fea- ture being the annual race for the Corinthian trophy. It also holds

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOK TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

SAMUEL WALWIG

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several club races and is always represented in the annual regatta of the Lake Michigan Yachting Association, while the annual club cruise is a most enjoyable event.

Samuel Walwig, the popular general agent of the Wisconsin National Loan & Building Association, is a native of Milwaukee, in which city he was born on Feb. 20, 1857. He is a son of William F. and Grunhild (Clasen) Walwig, both natives of Norway, who came to the United States early in life. The father enlisted as a private in the regular army in 1866, and participated in Indian campaigns in the West. A portion of the time he was in the hospital service, from which branch he received an honorable discharge at the close of his term of enlistment. Samuel Walwig has seen Milwaukee become a large and prosperous city from a mere village, whose adjacent rivers teemed with fish and whose marsh lands and surrounding woods were fre- quented by wild ducks and wild pigeons in great numbers. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of the city, and at the age of fourteen years assumed the duty of earning his own living. His first employment was in the rolling mill at Bay View, and his next as a railway newsboy on trains running out of Milwaukee. Following this employment he became a jobber in cigars, and subsequently a dealer in safes. In 1896 he became associated with the Wisconsin National Loan & Building Association, with which institution he has since been connected almost continuously. His promotion of the association's business has been marked by characteristic energy, scrupulous integrity, and a devotion to detail, which is the secret of success in undertakings of that kind. He has been a business man bent upon the achievement of results, and has refrained from politics further than the exercise of his right of suffrage in accordance with the dictates of conscience and business judgment. Mr. Walwig's religious interests are allied with those of the followers of John Wesley. Mr. Walwig inherited a love for the sea from his Norwegian forefathers, and became devoted to yachting when a mere boy, long before amateur sailors had become sufficiently numerous in Milwaukee to sustain a yacht club. His boy- hood sport on Lake Michigan in sailing and cruising embraced many riskful ventures far from port in small open sail boats. In 1893, feel- ing that the time was ripe for an undertaking of that kind, Mr. Walwig joined with other enthusiastic amateur sailors in the organization of the Milwaukee Yacht Club, of which body, early in its history, he was a member of the board of directors and chairman of the regatta com- mittee. He is prominently identified with the Knights of. Pythias, the Independent Order of Foresters, and the Sons of Norway, and is now one of the trustees of the latter organization. While engaged in pro- moting the interests of the Milwaukee Yacht Club. Mr. Walwig noted the importance of the harbor of refuge breakwater for the formation of an anchorage basin for storm-driven vesels, and observed also that the basin would provide sheltered water for a yachting station and anchorage, and for inside sailing. Work on the breakwater had dragged through a dozen years or more, and there was no prospect of its early completion. Despite adverse predictions as to the outcome of his labor, Mr. Walwig set out to hasten matters. He obtained sig-

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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 121

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