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 88
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controlling interest in the company and the firm became known as Starke Brothers. In 1865 an old dredge was purchased from Fox & Howard in Chicago, and when refitted became the nucleus of a colossal dredging plant. The firm was variously named for some years afterward, and finally became incorporated under the name of C. H. Starke & Company, by which it is known today. Within the past few years Mr. Starke has devoted most of his time and attention to the development of the Milwaukee Bridge Company, of which he is still serving as president. On Dec. 25, 1856, was celebrated Mr. Starke's marriage to Miss Alicetine Obierheider, a native of Colenfeld, who came to Milwaukee in 1854 in company with Mr. Starke's mother. Eight children were the issue of this union, three sons and five daughters. In his political relations Mr. Starke gives an allegiance to the men and principles of the Republican party, but has never himself sought public preference. Reared in the Lutheran faith, he has for many years been one of the devout communicants of St. John's church of that denomination. Socially he is identified with the Calumet and the Old Settlers' clubs. Beside his beautiful home in Milwaukee, Mr. Starke has a fine residence on Pewaukee lake, where he spends his summers.
Frederick Vogel, Sr., deceased, was one of Milwaukee's most prominent citizens and is justly entitled to distinctive mention in the annals of her history. A native of Germany, he was born in Kirchheim, a province of Wurtenburg, May 6, 1823, and was the youngest son of Jacob and Elizabeth Vogel, both natives of the fatherland. His early education was acquired at the gymnasium, and he was afterward trained to the trade of a tanner, which vocation he followed for a number of years, learning every branch in detail. At the age of twenty-three he embarked for America, and after a lengthy voyage arrived in New York city in July, 1846. After a few weeks' stay in New York city he proceeded to Buffalo and found employment with his cousin in a small tannery, his duties being the buying of hides and skins and selling leather. His duties often called him to Chicago and Milwaukee, and being favorably impressed with the latter city and its inhabitants, he de- cided to make it his future home. The year of 1847 witnessed his arrival in this city, and in 1848, with his cousin, the late Guido Pfister, he embarked in the tannery business, building a small place on the banks of the Menominee river. This was the nucleus of what is now known as the Pfister & Vogel Leather Company. Frederick Vogel was a man of exceptional ability, naturally honest and industrious. He was quick to grasp the problems of the ex- panding commercial institutions of a developing and growing country. He readily gave his moral and financial support to many budding institutions of early times, institutions which have since developed into Milwaukee's soundest enterprises. In politics he was a Republican, and as a candidate of that party was elected to serve as a member of the Common Council in 1856, and as a member of the State Legislature in 1873. He held many other offices of trust and honor, both in public and private life. On March 13, 1850, Mr. Vogel was united in marriage to Mrs. August
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Dresshel, and unto them were born seven children, of whom three daughters and two sons are now living. Frederick Vogel died on Oct. 24, 1892, in the sixty-ninth year of his age; his death oc- curred on the return voyage from Europe on board the steamer Lahun. His remains were brought to Milwaukee for burial and he was laid to rest, deeply mourned by his family and a host of friends in all walks of life. His name is inseparably interwoven with Milwaukee's pioneer history as one of that class of sturdy German-American citizens who laid the real foundation for her commercial greatness.
Jacob M. Ball, a popular and well-known commercial traveler of Milwaukee, and a native of the same city, is descended from good old Bavarian stock. His paternal grandparents, Jacob and Margaret (Eich) Ball, lived all their lives on a farm in Bavaria. Jacob lost his first wife about 1837, and was then married to Mar- garet Karans, of Bavaria. Both died on the old homestead in their native land. Their son, John Ball, the father of our subject, was born on the farm in Bavaria, Aug. 24, 1836, and lived at home with his parents until 1857, when he emigrated to the United States. He first located at Johnstown, Pa., where he found employment on a farm for some time, and then came west to Aurora, Ill., and there worked on a farm until 1861. He then went to Sheboygan, Wis., where he secured employment as a clerk in a hotel, and later did a commission business for some three years. In the year 1867 he moved to Milwaukee, which has been his place of residence ever since. He opened a saloon at 519 East Water street, and did a prosperous business there for a period of thirty-four years, retiring from active business in 1900. Politically he was always allied with the Democratic party, but never sought or held public office. He was reared a Catholic, and is a faithful member of St. Francis' Catholic Church on Fourth street. John Ball was married in 1864 to Miss Racina Bauer, a native of Wittenberg, Germany. His wife came to the United States with her parents in 1848, re- sided at Buffalo, N. Y., for six years, and then came to Milwaukee, where she met and married her husband. They reared a family of six children, as follows: Sophia, who is the wife of Rudolph Berni- ger, a Milwaukee brewer, and the mother of one son, Edward: Ja- cob M., the second child, who is the subject of this sketch ; Mathias G., who has been a traveling salesman for the H. M. Wiltzius Company of Milwaukee for the past ten years, and who is married to Hildah Host, and has two children; Catherine, who resides at the home, 699 Fourth street, and William, who also lives at home with his parents. Jacob M. was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee and since leaving school has devoted practically all his time to his profession as a commercial salesman. He has traveled for both Eastern and Western firms in different lines, and his territory has covered most of Wisconsin, Michigan, North and South Dakota, and Iowa. He is one of the best known and most successful members of the traveling fraternity, and numbers his friends by the thousands. He was married on June 26, 1892, to Miss Julia Cullen, of Milwaukee, by whom he has had two children, the Misses Ethel and Jessie.
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Gerhard A. Bading, M. D., Commissioner of Health of Mil- waukee, was born in this city on Aug. 31, 1870. He is the son of John and Dorothea (Ehlers) Bading, the former of whom was born in Berlin and the latter in Hanover, Germany. The father is a minister of the gospel of the Evangelical Lutheran faith, who came to the United States in 1853 and took his first charge at Calumet, Wis. In 1868 he came to Milwaukee and accepted the pastorate of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, which charge he held continuously for the ensuing forty years, retiring in Octo- ber, 1908, after an active life of more than fifty-five years. He still retains the presidency of the Synodical Conference of North Amer- ica, a position which he has filled for the past twenty-six years. His wife is still living. Dr. Bading is the youngest of five chil- dren. When he had completed his preparatory course in the city schools he matriculated at the Northwestern University, where he took a general science course. His professional studies were pursued at Rush Medical College at Chicago, and the faculty of that institution granted him the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1896. Immediately after graduation he returned to Milwaukee to become resident physician of the Milwaukee (Passavant) Hospital, and after a year in that capacity he opened offices in the Germania Building for the practice of his profession. The same year he was appointed United States Examining Surgeon for Pensions, and also received an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Principles of Surgery and Surgical Pathology in the Milwaukee Medical Col- lege. This latter position he filled for four years, when, in 1901, he accepted an appointment as instructor in surgery in the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1902 he was made chief as- sistant in the surgical clinic of the college and advanced to the posi- tion of Associate in Surgery. Subsequently he was appointed Professor of Operative Surgery, which position he resigned in 1908, when the duties of his position of Commissioner of Health conflicted with his work at the college. Since 1901 he has been an attending surgeon of the Johnson Emergency Hospital, and is at the present time also a consulting surgeon of the Milwaukee County Hospital. In 1906 he was appointed Commissioner of Health of this city, a position he still occupies. In his political relations Dr. Bading is a Republican, but has never sought to be- come his party's candidate for any public office. In December, 1895, Dr. Bading was united in marriage to Miss Carol Roval Clemmer, a daughter of Charles H. and Alice B. (Stafford) Clemmer, now residing at Springfield, Mass., but formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, where the paternal grandfather, Jacob H. Clem- mer, was an old resident, having practiced his profession of at- torney-at-law for more than fifty years. Dr. Bading is a member of the Phi Rho Sigma medical fraternity, and professionally is identified with the Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County, the Wis- consin State and the American Medical societies, also the Amer- ical Public Health Association. He is likewise a member of the Blue Mound Country Club.
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Fred W. Cords, the present incumbent of the office of clerk of the circuit court of Milwaukee county, was born at Milwaukee on Oct. 15, 1861, the son of Frederick William and Sophia (Lier- m'an) Cords. Both parents were natives of Germany, and the birthplace of both was Mecklenberg. The father came to the United States in 1837 and to Milwaukee in the same year, and here he labored for a few years in clearing land for the early set- tlers. Then for a time he was connected with a pottery concern, but later gave up that work to become night-watchman for a num- ber of business houses on Wisconsin street. He discharged this duty faithfully for twenty-five years, and then some years before his death retired to enjoy the well-earned fruits of his labors. His demise occurred on June 7, 1891, and his widow followed him into the great unknown on June II, 1893. Hon. Fred W. Cords, the subject of this review, received the educational advantages af- forded by the public schools of Milwaukee, and while still a youth secured a position in the James Morgan dry-goods establishment. He remained with that concern for a period of eight years, and during the nine years immediately following was associated with the Petley Shirt Company, four years of the time as manager and the remainder as secretary and manager. In 1893 he severed his connection with the Petley Shirt Company to embark in the men's furnishing and hat business under his own name at 81 Wisconsin street. In 1896 he disposed of his interests to become manager of the Skidmore Shoe and Clothing Company, in the men's fur- nishings department of that store. When he gave up that position four years later it was to become manager and buyer for a sim- ilar department in the T. A. Chapman Company, and this posi- tion he filled not only with great satisfaction to the proprietors of the establishment, but also to their patrons as well. In the summer of 1906 Mr. Cords became the candidate for the Re- publican nomination for clerk of the circuit court and received a handsome endorsement in the primary election. At the election of that year he was given a large plurality over his Democratic and Social-Democratic opponents. Again in 1908 he received the nomination and was again elected in November. In 1906 Mr. Cords' platform was: "I am in favor of making this office a salaried office instead of a fee-and-salary office, and all fees col- lected should be turned into the county treasury, where they be- long." Through his influence a bill making that requirement was introduced into the state legislature and became a law, and the fees, annually amounting to thousands of dollars, are now turned into the county treasury. In a social and civic way Mr. Cords is identified with the Millioki, the German Press and the Old Set- tlers' clubs, the Royal Arcanum, the Knights of Pythias, and Troop A, First Cavalry, Wisconsin National Guard. His religious views find expression in membership in the German Lutheran church. In July. 1890, was solemnized Mr. Cords' marriage to Miss Au- gusta Vogt, daughter of Frederick Vogt, a prominent grader and contractor of Milwaukee. Five children have been the issue of this union. Viola, the eldest, is a student in the third year in the
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East Division high school; Ilene and Gertrude are attending the third district of the Sixth ward school; Frederick is in the kinder- garten in the same school, and Robert is still a baby.
Edward S. Robbins is a highly respected citizen of the town of Wauwatosa, where he is engaged in farming, and he has achieved a high degree of success in that industry. He was born where he now resides on Sept. 25, 1868, son of Edward W. and Elsie N. Robbins, the former of whom was born at South Waterloo, Albany county, N. Y., and the latter on the east shore of Lake Champlain, in the state of Vermont. The father was born on April 24, 1825, and grew to manhood in his native county, receiv- ing his education in the district and select school. In his carly manhood he became a teacher and taught several terms of school in his native state, also following that profession for a time after his first removal to Wisconsin. He came to this state in 1850 and settled in Sheboygan county, where he purchased 160 acres of land, improved eighty acres of the same, and after living there until 1868 sold the farm and moved to Milwaukee county, pur- chasing the land upon which he now resides from a Mr. Hart. The land was purchased from the government by the Underwoods, who were early settlers of Wauwatosa. The farm he purchased con- sists of seventy-six acres, and he has highly improved it, erecting good buildings, including two large houses with all modern con- veniences, such as gas, steam or hot water heating, etc. The farm is well improved for dairy purposes, is located near the line of Waukesha county and also near the village of Elm Grove. Edward W. Robbins was authorized and administered the enlist- ment oath to a large part of Company F and was with it mustered into the United States military service on Oct. 25, 1862, by Capt. W. C. Ide, mustering officer, the company becoming a part of the Twenty-seventh Wisconsin infantry, which regiment left the state on March 16, 1863, being ordered to Columbus, Ky. It made an expedition to Cape Girardeaux to expel Confederate raiders and was sent to Snyder's Bluff in June for the siege of Vicksburg. It was attached to the Second brigade, Third division, Sixteenth army corps, and remained at Snyder's Bluff until after the capitu- lation of Vicksburg, soon after which it moved to Helena, and on Aug. 13 it was sent up White river to Little Rock, where it re- mained until March, 1864. It joined the "Red River" expedition as part of the Third brigade, Third division, Seventh corps, and it was in a skirmish near the Little Missouri river on the march to Camden, being also engaged in the action at Prairie d' Ane. It participated in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry and then returned to Little Rock, where it was stationed as a part of the Second bri- gade, First division, Seventh corps. On Oct. 3 it was ordered to reinforce Gen. Clayton's forces at Pine Bluff, but returned to Little Rock on the 22d and was detailed for railroad guard duty. Mr. Robbins was commissioned first lieutenant by Gov. Ed- ward Salomon on Sept. 1. 1862, and was acting regimental quar- termaster a large part of his term of service, which expired on May 29, 1864. Then, after nineteen months of arduous service,
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Mr. Robbins was honorably discharged and returned to his Wis- consin home, there to again take up the pursuits of a tiller of the soil, which he faithfully followed until his retirement from active participation in affairs in 1900. During his active career, aside from his private interests, he found time to devote to affairs of a public nature. For twenty-two years he served as secretary of the Wauwatosa Mutual Insurance Company, and he was also trustee of the Oliver Harwood estate for twenty years. A large portion of the increnent of this estate was given to the public library at Wauwatosa, which was named for Mr. Harwood, but after Andrew Carnegie gave a donation to the same institution the name Harwood was dropped, and it is now called the Wauwatosa Public Library. Mr. Robbins was clerk of the town of Wau- watosa five years, and virtually filled the office six years. The town then included what is now a part of the city of Milwaukee. Edward W. Robbins has been twice married; first in 1851, to Miss Susan Morse, of Westerlo, N. Y., who died in 1864, after bearing him three children, all of whom died in infancy. His second mar- riage was in 1865, to Mrs. Elsie N. Smith, and to this union one child was born, who is the immediate subject of this review. Mrs. Robbins died on June 24, 1907, and the husband and father now lives in retirement at the home of his only son, who operates and manages the farm. He is a member of the Congregational church at Wauwatosa, and his political views are those expressed in the platforms of the Republican party. Edward S. Robbins, whose name introduces this review, received his literary education in the Wauwatosa high school, after which he took a course at the Milwaukee Business College, thus fitting himself for the intelli- gent management of the interests which have fallen to his charge. Since leaving school he has remained devoted to the basic indus- try of agriculture, and the success which has been meted out to him is convincing proof that he chose wisely and well in select- ing his life's vocation. He was married on Sept. 26, 1889. to Miss Edith M. Farries, daughter of William and Jane (Brown) Far- ries, the former of whom was born in Scotland, and the latter in Granville, Milwaukee county, being descended from Pennsylvania stock. The parents of Mrs. Robbins were married in Granville and are now living in Wauwatosa, old settlers of the place, now in practical retirement. The father was quite an extensive farmer, owning a farm of 120 acres, but this he recently sold. To him and his excellent wife there were born five children, of whom Mrs. Robbins is the eldest, and one of whom, Jessie, died at the early age of two years. Mrs. Robbins attended the Normal school at Milwaukee for some time, but did not graduate, and she also taught school two years at Granville. Mr. and Mrs. Robbins are the parents of four children: Robert E., born Sept. 5, 1890; Helen M., born Nov. 20, 1891 ; Chester F., born July 27, 1893, and Harry S., who was born on Dec. 5, 1895. In politics Mr. Robbins gives allegiance to the men and measures of the Republican party, and in religious matters himself, wife and daughters are members of the First Baptist church at Wauwatosa.
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William Walter Webb, bishop of the diocese of Milwaukee, and successor to the Right Reverend Isaac Lea Nicholson, has at- tained note both as a clergyman and an educator. He was born in Germantown, Pa., Nov. 20, 1857, and is the son of William Hewitt and Esther Odin (Dorr) Webb. A number of the an- cestors of Bishop Webb were participants in the Revolutionary war, and his great-great-grandfather, the Reverend William Wal- ter, was chaplain of Harvard College and the first rector of Trin- ity Church, Boston. His maternal grandfather, Benjamin Dorr, was rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, for fifty years, and was elected bishop of Maryland, but declined. His father was, at the time of his death, vice-president of the Reading railroad. Bishop Webb received his early education at the Protestant Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia. He entered the University of Pennsyl- vania in the class of 1879, leaving in his junior year to enter Trin- ity College, Hartford, in which institution he was graduated in 1882 with the degree of A. B. and B. S., taking his A. M. from the same college in 1885. He entered the Berkeley Divinity School at Middletown, Conn., and finished his theological course in 1885, his ordination to the diaconate by Bishop Niles, of New Hamp- shire, immediately following. On Nov. 10, 1886, he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Williams, of Connecticut, having in the meantime served as assistant at Trinity Church, Middletown, Conn. From 1886 to 1889 he was assistant to the Reverend Dr. Henry R. Percival of the Church of the Evangelists, Philadel- phia ; from 1889 to 1892 he was rector of St. Elizabethi's, Philadel- phia ; from 1892 to 1897 he was professor of Dogmatic Theology at Nashotah Theological Seminary, Nashotah, Wis., and from 1897 to 1905 was president of the same. During his term of office at Nashotah he was canon of All Saints' Cathedral, Milwaukee; president of the standing committee of the diocese, and delegate to the general conventions of 1898, 1901 and 1904, being, however, unable to attend the convention of 1901. On Nov. 21, 1905, he was elected bishop co-adjutor of Milwaukee, and on the death of Bishop Nicholson, Oct. 29, 1906, Dr. Webb became the sixth bishop of the diocese. As bishop of Milwaukee he is president of the board of trustees of Nashotah House, Racine College and Kemper Hall. He is the author of "An Index to Electrolysis" (1882), of which there is a French translation: "A Guide to Seminarians" (1887), and "The Cure of Souls" (1892).
Isaac Lea Nicholson, deceased, late bishop of the diocese of Milwaukee, in the Protestant Episcopal church, was born in Bal- timore, Md., Jan. 18, 1844, and was the son of John J. and Jane (Ricketts) Nicholson. He was graduated from Dartmouth Col- lege in 1869 and received the degree of D. D. from Nashotah House. He was married in 1880 to Adele Everett Ellicott, of Baltimore, who died in 1897. In 1871 he was ordained as deason, as minister in 1872, and was the assistant at St. Thomas church, Hanover, N.H., and at St. Paul's church, Baltimore, previous to his appoint- ment to the rectorship of the Church of the Ascension, at West-
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minster, Md., in 1875. Removing to St. Mark's church, of Phila- delphia, in 1879, he remained there until his election to the posi- tion of bishop of Milwaukee in 1891, he having previously, in 1883, been elected bishop of Indiana, but declined the office. Bishop Nicholson retained his position in Milwaukee until his death, Oct. 29, 1906. He was considered one of the foremost members of the Episcopal church in the United States, and his character was a compound of highly contrasted traits. While a churchman of the most pronounced Catholic type, yet his character had received a strongly Evangelical impress by his early training, his mother having been a Presbyterian and his father a low churchman. He was a shrewd man of business, exacting of the dues to the church, . intolerant of opposition and maintaining a dignified reserve that many found impassable, yet he was a generous giver, full of sym- pathy for the suffering and exhibiting a large faith in human nature. While not a great preacher, he was a most effective one, and in spite of his high church learnings was evangelistic in his methods, it having been said of him that he was "a born exhorter." He was a financier of large powers, and during his episcopacy practically rebuilt the interior of the cathedral, paid off the debt upon the edifice and almost paid for the episcopal residence ; under his regime and Nashotah House entered upon a new era of prosperity and Racine College and Kemper Hall were re-established on a prosperous basis. While, unlike many prelates, he wrote no books or treatises, yet he was an indefatigable letter writer, and through a voluminous correspondence kept in touch with men and affairs everywhere. Following is an extract from an article of apprecia- tion written soon after his death: "It is a proof of the bishop's real unselfishness that, dearly as he loved his diocese, he felt no unworthy pangs when he saw its affection turning, during his ill- ness, to Bishop Webb. Rather it was a source of great happiness to him. There came to him from every parish, as he sat suffering in his chamber of the episcopal residence, letters telling of the place that his people were giving Bishop Webb in their hearts; of the love and affection he received everywhere; of the faith placed in him; of the honors paid him. And as he read these things, his face, seamed with pain, his eyes haggard with suffering and wait- ing, would light up with the rare old-time sweetness as he thanked God that his successor was well-beloved by those whom he himself had so long claimed as his 'dear people.'" His last illness was the result of overwork and his unwillingness to rest from the great demands which had been so long sapping his strength. The last time that he appeared before the people was at the consecration of Bishop Webb. His son, Isaac Lea Nicholson, Jr., was with him during his last hours, and he was laid to rest at Nashotalı beside his wife, who, nine years earlier, had been buried in the peaceful little cemetery at the mission.
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