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 95

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

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chief executive of the state for his action in the Third Ward fire in Milwaukee and at the Camp Douglas fire. In August, 1893, lie was sent to Ashland by the governor to investigate the dock riots, and in two days succeeded in settling the trouble to the entire satis- faction of all concerned. The following message was sent to Governor Peck by the business men of Ashland: "A resolution was adopted tendering your honor sincere thanks for the timely and efficient aid rendered in the past two days to the milling and business interests of this city, through the personal efforts of Gen- eral Falk, who readily grasped the situation." In July, 1892, the general was ordered to Merrill, where a strike was in progress and succeeded in settling the difficulty without the aid of troops. In July, 1894, during the great railroad strike in Chicago and else- where, the general succeeded in keeping the state free from all rioting, except at Spooner, where the authorities experienced some trouble in quelling disturbances. In the winter of 1893 he was in charge of the Hurley relief expedition, rendering aid to the starv- ing miners of northern Wisconsin and Michigan. During his term of office as adjutant-general he revised the rules and regulations and the laws governing the National Guard of Wisconsin, and was president of the National Guard Association in 1894. Governor Upham, in general orders retiring General Falk, said of him: "Few officers in the state have held so many appointments or filled them so well. Whether as adjutant, battalion commander, quartermaster or adjutant-general, he brought to the discharge of his duties rare ability, sound judgment and enthusiastic devotion. In the equip- ment of the state force and in the system existing in this office he has left a monument to his executive skill. His unfailing cour- tesy and consideration will be long remembered, and he carried with him to his retirement the respect and esteem of the Wisconsin National Guard." At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war 'General Falk at once tendered his services to the state, and as there were no vacancies to be filled in the guard, to the president of the United States. On June 8, 1898, the president commissioned him major and chief quartermaster, and on the 30th of the same month he was assigned to the Third army corps. He reported for duty on July 4 at the headquarters of the Third corps, and was the same day assigned as chief quartermaster of the First division with a station at Chickamauga Park. Two months after the above assignment he was made chief quartermaster of the corps and was stationed at Anniston, Ala. The corps was disbanded early in October, and the general became chief quartermaster of the Second division of the Fourth corps. Later in the year, on Dec. to, he was commissioned special inspector of the quartermaster's department of the United States army, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During January and February, 1899, he visited many American camps, and in the latter part of the last-named month was ordered to take station at Washington, whence, on March 4, he was ordered to Cuba on a tour of inspection. While on the island General Falk inspected the following camps: Havana, Pinar del Rio, Guanajay,

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Buena Vista, La Union, Matanzas, Cardenas, Santa Clara, Cienfue- gas, San Luis, Manzanillo, Santiago and Guantnamo. On April I he received orders to join the secretary of war at Santiago and pro- ceed to Porto Rico on the United States transport Ingalls. The quartermasters' departments at Ponce and San Juan, Porto Rico, were inspected, and the party then returned to the United States, reaching Fortress Monroe in the lattr part of April. From that time until his discharge from the service, on June 20, General Falk was stationed at Washington. On his return to his native state he was ordered by Governor Scofield to assume command of the First regiment of infantry, Wisconsin National Guard. Milwaukee was made a military post and Troop A and Battery A were attached to the post with General Falk in command. He commanded the First Wisconsin when, in 1903, the regiment took part in the army maneuvers at West Point, where the regiment made an enviable record. The chief umpire, General Wagner, said of it: "Their work in the field was most excellent and highly satisfactory." General Kobbe, of the United States army, in a letter to General Falk, said : "The inspector-general of the division made verbal report to me yesterday to th effect that the camp of the First Wisconsin was in most excellent condition, and that the sanitary precautions en- joined in orders were implicitly followed." He added: "They have nothing to learn in this respect from any regiment on the grounds." In 1905 General Falk requested Governor La Follette to place him upon the retired list, but the governor, appreciating General Falk's. valuable service to the National Guard, refused to do so. A year later General Falk was transferred to the general staff as chief engineer officer, with station at Milwaukee, where he is at the present time engaged with the important duty of constructing bar- racks for Battery A. General Falk's business interests at the pres- ent time include the vice-presidency of the Falk Company, a directorship in the Wisconsin Telephone Company and also in the Milwaukee Metal Trades & Founders' Association. In his political views he is allied with the Republican party on national issues, but in local affairs he does not allow his party fealty to influence the judicious exercise of his right of franchise. He is popular in a social and business way, and is prominently identified with the Milwaukee, Deutscher and Country clubs, the United States In- fantry Association, the Military Service Institute, the American National Red Cross Society, the National Guard Association of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Rifle Association, the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, the Milwaukee Auto- mobile Club, the Wisconsin State Automobile Association and the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of Milwaukee, being a member of the legislative committee of the last-named organiza- tion. He has also been a member of the charter convention and chairman of the track elevation committee of that body. On Dec. 10, 1901, General Falk was happily married to Miss Elizabeth A. Vogel, a daughter of Fred Vogel, Jr., and his wife, Louise (Pfister) Vogel, of Milwaukee. To General and Mrs. Falk was born, on

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Feb. 15, 1903, a daughter, Elizabeth Louise, and on April 25. 1905. a son, Otto Herbert, Jr.

Edmond J. Lindsay, of the firm of Lindsay Brothers, one of the largest wholesale implement houses in the United States, was born in Dundee, Scotland, on June 22, 1838. He is a son of David and Jessie (Edmond) Lindsay, the former a native of Dundee and the latter of Glasgow, Scotland. The mother was born on July 21. 1813, the eighth in order of birth of the thirteen children of James and Ann (McKim) Edmond. Her father was a successful manu- facturer and an active member of the Scotch Baptist church. David Lindsay, the father of Edmond J., was also a prominent manufac- turer, and his marriage to Jessie Edmund occurred on Jan. 9, 1837. By a previous marriage he had four children-two sons and two daughters-all under twelve years of age. Soon after their mar- riage the parents felt the burden of the severe financial trouble of 1837 which swept the country. In 1840 fire destroyed the father's milling property, and the doubled trial made it necessary to form new plans. In October, 1840, David Lindsay sailed for America as a steerage passenger on the Brittannia, the first steamer of the Cunard line. His wife was left with her four step-children and two sons, Edmond and William, in Dundee, while he sought a new field. In May of the following year, with the six children, the mother sailed to join her husband, and arrived in New York on July 4, after a stormy passage of seven weeks. Two years were spent in New York, but the business opportunities were not what the father had anticipated, and attracted by tales of the fertility of the soil and the unlimited resources, they determined to seek their fortunes in the new territory. So, in June, 1843, they started for the West, their destination being what is now Fox Lake. The trip was made by steamer to Albany, the Erie canal to Buffalo, and a sailing vessel to Milwaukee. Three weeks were consumed in the trip between Buffalo and Milwaukee, and a landing was made at a pier at the foot of what is now Huron street. The overland journey was made with teams, eighty miles northwest, and the con- dition of the roads was such as to cause indescribable hardship. Eighty acres of land were purchased from the government at a dollar and a quarter an acre, and the father erected on it the first frame house erected in the town of Trenton, Dodge county. On Thanksgiving day of that year the home was occupied and the new life was begun. Within twelve years after her marriage the mother was left a widow with six small children, the eldest eleven years old. With renewed courage she undertook the battle of life and imbued her children with the spirit that makes for the betterment of mankind. In 1861 her only daughter passed away in the six- teenth year of her age, and the sons did what they could to fill the vacant place. Each one received the limited educational advan- tages afforded by the log school-house curriculum, and as they reached manhood they passed out of the family home to make domiciles for themselves. During the last thirty-five years of her life the mother made her home in the homes of her sons in Mil-

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waukee. She was a devout member of the First Baptist church and before the infirmities of age overcame her she was active in the work of the Sunday school and the Woman's Mission Circle, Her death occurred on Nov. 15, 1907, at the home of her son, Wil- liam Lindsay. Her age was ninety-four years, three months and twenty-five days. The son, Edmond J. Lindsay, was reared amid the scenes of agricultural life. When he had completed the course offered at the log school house he engaged in pedagogic work, and for several years he was actively interested in it. His last labors in the scholastic field were as principal of the Fox Lake school. For a number of years following he had a varied career, including a period of produce-buying and the sale of agricultural implements at Fox Lake. In 1870 he was appointed agent for the Cayuga Chief Company, of Auburn, N. Y., and removed to Milwaukee to take charge of their agency here. In 1872 he and his brother William organized the firm of E. J. and William Lindsay, which continued until 1884. In that year two other brothers were admitted, and the firm which now comprised Edmond J., William, G. I. and Henry Lindsay, became known as Lindsay Brothers. The com- pany does a wholesale manufacturing business which extends all over the Northwest and into Canada, the northwestern headquar- ters being at Minneapolis, and those for Canada at Winnipeg. Started in a small way, the firm has by honesty and fair dealing made its way until now it is one of the largest concerns of its kind in the United States. Beside his interest in the firm of Lindsay Brothers, Edmond J. Lindsay is a trustee of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, in which he is a member of the financial and executive committees; a director of the Marine Na- tional Bank, the Milwaukee Gas Company and the Fuller & War- ren Company, and he is the president of the Central Investment Company, which owns the Chamber of Commerce and the Mitchell buildings. Fraternally he is identified with the National Union. While engaged in teaching in Fox Lake Mr. Lindsay was united in marriage, on Oct. 25, 1861, to Miss Celia E. Hawes, a native of St. Lawrence county, New York state. This union has been blessed with six children: Arthur H. is cashier of the Marine National Bank; George W. and Frank H. are identified with Lindsay Brothers; Walter E. resides in New York; Edmond J., Jr., is man- ager of the Milwaukee Transfer & Storage Company, and Jessie E. is the wife of Professor Hoben, of the University of Chicago.

Edward Sack, a well-known and proficient harness-maker, was born in Germany on April 5, 1857, a son of Joseph and Marvina (Dosick) Sack, both native Germans. The mother passed away in 1863. The father was a finely educated man, a teacher by vocation, who came to this country and spent his last days here. Mr. Sack attended the public schools of his native land, and then spent four years as an apprentice to the harness-maker's trade. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three he traveled through Germany, working as a journeyman in most of the large cities of that coun- try. In 1881 he migrated to the United States and settled in Mil-

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waukee, and ever since has made this city his home. In 1893 he engaged in the harness business, and has since been most pros- perously engaged in it. His thorough knowledge of the business, gained through years of experience and his skilled workmanship, made the venture a success from the start. Mr. Sack was reared in the Roman Catholic faith and is today a devout communicant of that church. His fraternal relations are with the Sts. Peter and Paul branch of the Catholic Family Protective Association of Wis- consin. Mr. Sack was united in marriage, in 1883, to Miss Helen Broecker, a daughter of Joseph Broecker, of Milwaukee. One son, Albert, born on Oct. 9, 1887, is the issue of this union. Albert is now associated in business with his father.

Frank Ziegler, who is recognized as one of the leading candy manufacturers of the middle west, is a native Milwaukeean, born there on Oct. 9, 1856. He is the third child and the second son of George Ziegler and Barbara Ziegler, nee Boll, both natives of Ger- many. He was reared on the West Side of the city and received his education in the parochial and public schools of the city of Milwaukee. Prior to entering the candy factory of Boll & Ziegler, in 1871, he had six months' experience on a candy wagon, selling from store to store, after which time he went into the factory as an apprentice, and he showed such aptitude and applicability in his chosen profession that he soon mastered the art of manufactur- ing confectionery, and in the course of three years he was in a posi- tion to assume control of his father's factory. By close application he developed into the master of his teachers and continued to rise from the very beginning, until he has the reputation of a practical man in his line which is equal to the best in this country. He was always of a progressive disposition, and with the aid of his father developed their factory from one with forty employes at his com- mencement to the one of its present magnitude. On June 30, 1888, they had the misfortune to be burned out on the present site of the Gimbel Brothers store, which misfortune compelled the seek- ing of new quarters, and the factory at 233 to 239 East Water street was then established. It was a Herculean task for him to get his factory into operation for the fall business, which task he accom- plished, however, but the consequence was a breaking down of his nervous system, which finally resulted in his seeking renewal of health in a trip abroad in 1887. While on his travels in Scotland during this period he had occasion to give a practical demonstra- tion of his ability as a confectioner to Buchanan Brothers, of Glas- gow, who, after realizing his ability, made him a very flattering offer to accept the management of their plant. He felt, however, that he had better prospects at home and declined the offer. In 1887, when the present business was incorporated, he was elected vice-president and continued to act in the capacity of superintend- ent, which office he held up to the time of his father's death, which occurred on Feb. 24, 1904. After the death of his father he was elected president, which position he holds at the present time. On Jan. 22, 1878, Frank Ziegler was united in marriage with Mary, the

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daughter of Joseph and Madeline Klein, of Milwaukee. Six chil- dren have been born to this union: Margaret, in 1880; George, in 1881; Josephine, in 1883; Clara, in 1885; Lillia, in 1886, and J. Edmund, in 1890. Mr. Ziegler professes the Catholic faith and is a member of the St. Joseph's church. He is a Democrat in politics. He is a member of the Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, the Catholic Order of Foresters, and the St. Joseph's Sodality.

Rev. John F. Bading is now living a retired life in Milwaukee after a busy career of fifty-five years in the Lutheran ministry, forty years of the time as pastor of St. John's Church of Milwaukee. He was born at Rixdorf, Berlin, Prussia, Nov. 24, 1824, the son of John G. and Anna (Wanzlick) Bading, born respectively in 1803 and 1807, in Rixdorf, Berlin, and he is a descendant of a direct line of freeholders, of whom the first is known in 1727. Rev. Bading received his classical and theological education in the mission seminary in Berlin and at Hermansburg, Hanover. In 1853 he was sent to this country by the Evangelical Society of Langenberg, Rhenish-Prussia, was ordained on Oct. 6, 1853, and took charge of the first parish at Calumet, Fond du Lac county, Wis. Here he remained but sixteen months and then assumed charge of a parish at Theresa, Dodge county, Wis. In 1860 he accepted a call to Watertown, where he remained until October, 1868, when he came to Milwaukee to assume the pastorate of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church. He remained as pastor of that church for forty years, retiring on Oct. 4, 1908, forty years to the day on which he accepted the charge. In 1860 Rev. Mr. Bading was chosen presi- dent of the synod of Wisconsin and other states and served in that capacity continuously for twenty-six years. In 1863 he was sent to Europe by the synod for the purpose of securing funds for the establishment of the Northwestern University of Watertown, and as such representative traveled throughout Germany and Russia, delivering addresses and lectures. He was receivd in audience by King George V, of Hanover ; Prince Frederick Charles, of Prussia, the conqueror of Metz during the Franco-Prussian war and a nephew of Emperor William I of Germany; Grand Duke Peter, of Oldenburg, and the Duke Soworow, the governor of St. Petersburg. He also obtained a special permit from Alexander II, czar of Rus- sia, to deliver lectures and addresses throughout the Russian do- main. After seventeen months of travel he returned to the United States with sufficient funds to establish the university, and as a recognition of his ceaseless labor he was elected president of the board of trustees, a position he still occupies. In 1882 Mr. Bading was elected president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synodical Con- ference of North America, and he still fulfills the duty of that, the highest official position in the power of the church to confer. When he retired from active service as pastor of St. John's church the congregation insisted on retaining him as assistant pastor for the remainder of his life, thus permitting him to enjoy a well-deserved rest after an active career of more than fifty-five years in the min- istry, as a vigorous worker, a competent official, and a beloved

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pastor. He was formerly a director and first vice-president of the German Society of Milwaukee, and was the officiating clergyman at the banquet given to Prince Henry of Prussia, who requested that the venerable clergyman be presented to him. Although Mr. Bading has been unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party he has never sought public office. On Jan. 22, 1854, at Brooklyn, N. Y., was celebrated his marriage to Miss Dorothea Ehlers, daughter of William and Dorothea (Hornbostel) Ehlers. of Hermansburg, Hanover, Germany. Nine children were born to this union, three of whom died in infancy. Dr. John P. Bading, for many years a practicing physician, died in 1887. The survivors are Mrs. Dorothea Notz, widow of the late Prof. Eugene A. Notz: Mathilda, a teacher in this city; William C., an attorney-at-law, of Seattle, Wash .; Ida, at home, and Gerhard A., commissioner of health of Milwaukee, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.

Charles G. Forster, one of the leading business men of Mil- waukee, president of the Forster Lumber Company, the M. Hilty Lumber Company, the Forster Brothers Company, and the Forster- Whitman Lumber Company, and vice-president of the A. O. Smith Company, was born in Milwaukee on Aug. 13. 1858. He is a son of John and Walburga Forster, both of whom were born in Ba- varia. The father rendered distinguished service in the Bavarian army under King Maximilian. Mr. Forster received the educa- tional advantages afforded by St. Joseph's parochial school and when but fifteen years of age left the institution to accept a posi- tion with J. S. Mabbitt & Company. Two months later he was made bookkeeper, and through the various changes of management of the company retained the position until May, 1879. He then became bookkeeper for Holzhauer & Forster, and after Mr. Holz- hauer's retirement from the concern in 1881, he was made a partner in the company with his uncle, George Forster, the firm name being changed to Forster & Company. Until 1885 the firm did a profit- able retail business at Cherry and Cape streets, and in that year it was incorporated as the Forster Lumber Company. In 1899 it re- tired from the retail end of the business and engaged in the manu- facture of lumber. Also, in 1899, the Forster Brothers Company was formed, with a saw-mill and timber holdings in Schoolcraft county, Mich., and a mill at Munising, and, in 1902, Mr. Forster purchased an interest in the M. Hilty Lumber Company, whole- sale and retail lumber firms in the city. With A. O. Smith Mr. Forster later organized the A. O. Smith Company, dealers in auto- mobile parts and steel stampings, and was made vice-president of the same. The Forster-Whitman Lumber Comapny, the other con- cern in which Mr. Forster is interested, has saw-mills and planing- mills at Hiles, Wis., and was organized on April 12, 1906. This last-named company employs between 300 and 400 men. One of the best evidences of Mr. Forster's executive ability is the fact that the companies in whose direction he is actively interested employ some 1,500 men. He is also interested as a stockholder and director

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in various other concerns throughout the city and state. In No- vember, 1885, he became a member of Troop A, Wisconsin National Guard, known locally as the Light Horse Squadron, and served in the same until 1893, receiving the various promotions up to and including that of sergeant. He is not allied with any of the exist- ing political parties, preferring to exercise his right of franchise as his better judgment dictates rather than at the will of party leaders. He was reared in the Roman Catholic faith and is today one of the most devout communicants of the church of that de- nomination. Fraternally he is associated with the Knights of Col- umbus and the Calumet Club. On Nov. 24, 1892, occurred Mr. Forster's marriage to Miss Emilie V. Yahr, a daughter of F. T. and Emilie (Schaal) Yahr, formerly of Princeton, Wis., now of Mil- waukee. To this union have been born six children, whose names and ages follow: Carl A., fifteen; Gertrude I., fourteen; Viola M., eleven ; Irene W., nine ; Emilie, five, and Margaret, three.

Samuel Marshall .- In carefully compiling the biographical volume of this work, special mention must be accorded those citi- zens who have been most prominently identified with the various departments of commerce and finance, and whose labors and exer- tions, combined with their ability and enterprise, and the sagacious use of their capital, have so largely contributed to the city's won- derful prosperity and progress. Samuel Marshall was born of Quaker parentage in the village of Concordville, Dalaware county, Pa., on Nov. 24, 1820. His father, Samuel Marshall, was a mem- ber of a family who came from Elton Farm, Derbyshire, England, and who date their residence in Pennsylvania back to the time of the founding of Philadelphia by William Penn. The house in which he was born was built by Thomas Marshall, a paternal an- cestor, in 1726, and the deed for the land on which the house still stands bears the seal of William Penn. His mother was Philena Pusey, whose paternal ancestor came over in the vessel with Wil- liam Penn, landing with him at Chester, Pa., where together they built and operated a grist-mill. 'Later the Pusey family moved to the neighborhood of London Grove, Pa. The son of a farmer, Samuel Marshall was early accustomed to the privations and hard manual labor of farm life. The local educational opportunities were not high, but he took dvantage of what was within his reach, attending the private schools and going, at the age of thirteen years, as a boarder to the Friends' School at Westtown, Chester county, Pa. Two years later, after continuing his studies at odd hours and upon days when he could be spared from the work upon his father's farm, he entered Belmont Academy, near Philadelphia. A winter at that institution completed his education as far as the schools were concerned. In the spring of 1836 he was appren- ticed by his father to a hardware merchant at Wilmington, Del., for five years. the stipulation being that he should receive forty-five dollars a year with his board. Afterward he found employment în a hardware store in Philadelphia, where he remained until 1846. Although he received such a small salary he managed by frugality

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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 95

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