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 99
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126
Arthur John Puls, M. D., one of the foremost physicians of Mil- waukee and a regent of the University of Wisconsin, was born at Mayville, Wis., on Aug. 10, 1857. He is a son of Dietrich and Johanna (Oehr1) Puls, both of whom were born in Germany, the father in 1823, and the mother ten years later. Dietrich Puls mi- grated to the United States and Wisconsin from Lippe Detwold in 1849, and his wife came in 1851 before her marriage, from the vi- cinity of Coburg. Dr. Puls received the scholastic training af- forded by the common schools of the day and then matriculated at the University of Wisconsin. In 1879 the regents of that institu- tion granted him the degree of Bachelor of Letters, and imme- diately thereafter he went to Germany, where, in 1883, he was grad- uated at the University of Heidelberg with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Upon his return to Milwaukee he began the practice of his profession and has since been thus engaged. In his political views the doctor has always been a stanch Republican, but has never sought to become his party's candidate for any office, and the only office of public trust which he has ever held is that of regent of the state university, to which he was first appointed by Gov. Robert M. LaFollette in 1902, and which he held continuously un- til 1908. Professionally and socially Dr. Puls is prominently iden-
787
BIOGRAPHICAL
tified with the American Medical Association, the American Acad- emy of Medicine, the state, county, and city medical associations, the Brainard Medical Society, the Verein Deutscher Aertze, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, the Milwaukee Musical Society, the Milwaukee Maennerchor, and the German Press Club. On July 17. 1886, Dr, Puls was united in marriage to Miss Marie Rahte, a daughter of Henry and Marie ( Lauenstein) Rahte, of Milwaukee. To this union has been born a daughter, Elinor.
Francis E. McGovern, ex-district attorney of Milwaukee coun- ty, was born on a farm near Elkhart, Sheboygan county, Wis., Jan. 21, 1866. His parents came to this country in 1846 and seven years later settled as early pioneers in the town where the subject of this sketch was afterward born. Francis E. is the youngest of a family of seven children. At the age of seventeen he began teaching a country school, and for three years taught during the winter months and worked upon the farm the remainder of the year. In the fall of 1886 he entered the University of Wisconsin and was grad- uated with the class of 1890. While at college he was chosen man- aging editor of the university paper, class orator, and joint debater, then esteemed one of the highest college honors. After being grad- uated from the university he taught school for seven years. For three years he was principal of the high school at Brodhead, Wis. In 1893 he resigned this position to become principal of the Ryan High School at Appleton, where he remained four years. Desiring to take up the practice of law, which had always been his intended life-work, he resigned his position at Appleton in June, 1897, and came to Milwaukee, where he was admitted to the bar in December of the same year. He has followed his profession ever since. In 1898 he became a member of the law firm of Tarrant, Kronshage, McGovern & Diehlman. Subsequently the personnel of this firm was changed, first by the retirement of Charles Diehlman in 1899, the appointment and subsequent election of Warren D. Tarrant to the circuit court bench in 1902, later by the addition of Messrs. Walter D. Corrigan and Oscar M. Fritz, as co-partners, and finally by the retirement of Mr. Corrigan to become the general attorney of the Wisconsin Central Railway Company. Thus the firm is at present Kronshage, McGovern & Fritz, with offices at 802-808 Wells Building, Milwaukee. In politics Mr. McGovern is a Re- publican and he has always taken an active interest in public af- fairs. In the fall of 1900 he was appointed first assistant district attorney of Milwaukee county. This position he held for two terms. In 1904 he was elected district attorney of Milwaukee county, to which office he was re-elected in 1906. When he first took up the work incident to these offices the entire structure of the city and county governments of Milwaukee was honeycombed with corrup- tion. Systematic bribery had become the rule, and the letting of public contracts was usually impossible, except upon the payment of money. A grand jury met in 1901, heard abundant evidence of crime of this sort, but returned no indictments, chiefly because its
788
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
members had been selected by those against whom such indict- ments should have been returned. To obviate this difficulty in the future, Mr. McGovern drew a new grand jury law and secured its passage at the legislative session of 1903. Its enactment laid a solid foundation for the work which was to follow. Real grand juries now convened in Milwaukee county. Within two years more indictments for bribery were returned than during all the prior history of the county from the establishment of the government down to the present time. Bribe-givers and bribe-takers were con- victed and sentenced to prison. Others pleaded guilty and were fined. Thus dishonesty in public life was checked, bribery ceased to be a curbstone jest, and the practice of systematic corruption was abandoned. But when Mr. McGovern came up for re-nomina- tion in 1906, under the operation of the new primary election law, which permits Democrats to participate in the making of Repub- lican nominations and vice versa, every weapon known to guerrilla warfare in politics was used against him to secure his defeat. Hypo- critical appeals to local pride, shameless political trades, the lav- ish use of large campaign funds, and an unexpected invasion of the Republican primary by boss-controlled voters belonging to other political parties, conspired to bring about his defeat. In response, however, to urgent calls from public-spirited citizens he became an independent candidate at the general election to follow in Novem- ber. One of the most exciting and hard-fought campaigns in the history of the county then ensued. Against the People's Campaign Committee, which sought to secure Mr. McGovern's election as an independent candidate, were arrayed the political organizations of the Democratic, Republican, and Social-Democratic parties, aided as they were by the difficulty of voting anything but a straight party ticket upon the recently introduced voting machines, the average voter's loyalty to his party in a general election, and the prestige of victory won by Mr. McGovern's opponent at the primary. But the best men of all parties rallied to Mr. McGovern's support. They resented his defeat at the primaries as a reflection upon themselves and the honest citizenship of Milwaukee. Public meetings were held in every part of the county. As the real issue was thus clarified a mighty wave of righteous sentiment swept over Milwaukee, and when the returns came in Mr. McGovern's election was assured. While the remainder of the Republican county ticket was elected by a plurality of about seven thousand, he defeated the regular Re- publican nominee by more than sixteen hundred votes, the Socialist candidate by 126, and his Democratic opponent by over eight thou- sand. Thus was the work of enforcing civic honesty in Milwaukee continued. Many of the cases were taken to the Supreme Court. The records there show that those in which Mr. McGovern participated as prosecuting attorney have made more law upon the subject of bribery than has been evolved in any other state, and as a result of these prosecutions political corruption has practically ceased in Milwaukee. In the summer of 1908 Mr. McGovern was an unsuc- cessful candidate for the Republican nomination to the office of
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTON LENOX TILPEY PUTINS
REV. JOSEPH RAINER
789
BIOGRAPHICAL
United States Senator. He made a personal canvass of the state, speaking in nearly all of the larger cities and towns. His three opponents were millionaires, whose unprecedented and extravagant expenditure of money in this campaign attracted general attention and evoked widespread comment. Not unnaturally, the nomination went to the man who spent the most money to get it. Mr. McGov- ern is a member of a number of social and professional organiza- tions, including the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the University Club of Milwaukee, the University Club of Madison, the District At- torneys' Association of Wisconsin, the bar associations of his city and state, the American Political Science Association, and a num- ber of fraternal orders.
Rev. Joseph Rainer, rector of St. Francis Seminary of Milwau- kee, is a native of Kaltern, Tyrol, Austria, born Feb. 10, 1845, and is the son of Joseph and Genevieve (Pernstich) Rainer, both na- tives of the same place, and now deceased, the former in 1872 and the latter in 1860. The parents spent their lives in their native land, where Father Rainer was reared, receiving his early educa- tion at Bozen, Tyrol, later at the University of Innsbruck, the capi- tal of Tyrol, and his ecclesiastical training at the Seminary of St. Francis, Milwaukee. He was ordained as a priest on Sept. 4, 1867. by Bishop Henni, at St. Francis. He said his first mass at Rox- bury, Dane county, Sept. 8, 1867, and at once began teaching at St. Francis' Seminary, as professor of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and various other branches, Holy Scriptures and liturgy. In July, 1887. he was made president of the seminary, and has since been at the head of the institution. About 500 priests have been educated and ordained under his administration. He has written the "Life and Times of Dr. Salzmann, founder of St. Francis Seminary," "Short Conferences on the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception." "Poems on the Jubilee of Pope Leo," and a Greek exercise book for use in the class room. He was made "Domestic Prelate of His Holiness" in 1904, and "Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Mil- waukee" in 1905. On June 22, 1908, he was raised to the dignity of a Protonotary Apostolic by Pope Pius X. Father Rainer is a man of exceptional executive ability, and has conducted the large inter- ests of the church committed to his care in the responsible position of the head of St. Francis Seminary, with great wisdom and skill : and, through the large number of students educated under his care and sent out as active workers in the field, has been able to make his personality felt in many and various directions. He is a rare scholar, especially in the ancient classics, and his writings exhibit not only knowledge but literary taste of a high order.
Rt. Rev. Michael Joseph Lochemes, rector of the Catholic Nor- mal School and Pio Nono College, of Milwaukee, was born in New York City, Sept. 29, 1860. His parents were John and Catherine (Lavo) 'Lochemes, the former born in Mettendorf, Rhenish-Prus- sia, and the latter in Steinbach, Rhenish-Bavaria. The parents came to America in 1854 and located in New York, where the father fol- lowed his vocation of merchant tailor. In 1861 the family moved
790
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
to Milwaukee, the father still following his calling for a time, but later going into the undertaking business. He served in the com- mon council in the seventies, and has always been very prominent in the Catholic societies, having been in that relation one of the best known and most popular persons in German Catholic circles in the United States. He was one of the founders of the Catholic Pro- tective Society of Milwaukee, and for a time its president. His death occurred on Dec. 16, 1896, having outlived his wife over thir- ty years. The latter died on March 25, 1866. Father Lochemes ac- quired his education in Holy Trinity parochial school on the South Side, Milwaukee, and in St. Francis Seminary, and was ordained to the priesthood on Aug. 5, 1883, at Mount Calvary, Wis. On Aug. 12, following, he said his first mass at the Holy Trinity church, Milwaukee. He was appointed pastor at Random Lake, Wis., the same month, and served the church there as pastor for four and one-half years, being then transferred to St. Michael's church in Washington county, Wis., remaining at the latter place until August, 1889. At that time he was appointed prefect of studies and professor at the Catholic Normal school, teaching peda- gogy, elocution, literature, and history. In 1895 he was appointed rector of the institution and has since held that responsible and important position. He is president of the school board of the archdiocese of Milwaukee, and is at the same time the president of the Catholic Teachers' Society of the United States. He is very active in the church societies and is a prominent and favorite speak- er at their gatherings. In spite of his many duties as pastor and teacher, Father Lochemes has found time to devote to literary com- position. Among the products of his pen which have gained spe- cial attention are his "Recollections of Oberammergau," "Theoto- tus," a drama in five acts, and a collection of poems in German, en- titled "Gedichte eines Deutsch-Amerikaners," and many others. His genial personality and literary taste and ability has extended his circle of friends beyond the boundaries of his own church. On June 22, 1908, Father Lochemes was appointed a domestic prelate by his Holiness, Pope Pius X, in recognition of his work in the field of Catholic education.
William Joseph Turner, attorney, and one of the judges of the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, is a descendant of old Colonial families. The Turner family was among the earliest settlers of Connecticut, and the enactment of the so- called "blue laws" of the colony are attributed in part to some of the progenitors of the Turner family. From Connecticut some of the family went up into Vermont, and thence to New York. Joseph Turner, the paternal grandfather of William J., was a soldier in the War of 1812. He immigrated to Wisconsin in 1839 and lo- cated at Waukesha, then Prairieville. He was elected a member of the first senate in 1848, after Wisconsin was admitted to the Union as a state. He was a member of the first board of super- visors of Waukesha county and was prominent in the early history of that county, but later moved to Winnebago county, where he be-
791
BIOGRAPIIICAL
came one of the founders of the present city of Menasha. He mar- ried Mary Griswold. The parents of William J., of this sketch, were Harvey Griswold and Emma Griswold (Tcall) Turner, the former born at Oswego, N. Y., on June 7, 1822, and the latter in Fairfield, N. Y., on May 4, 1826. H. G. Turner died in November, 1893, and his wife in 1887. The name "Griswold" occurs repeat- edly, as the subject of this sketch is connected on both sides of the family with Governor Griswold, of Connecticut. Mrs. Emma Griswold Turner was a daughter of William and Rhoda (Conant ) Teall, and granddaughter of Joseph Teall, of Herkimer county, N. Y., who served in the Revolutionary war and was one of the body- guard of General Washington. For his services in the war he was granted a large tract of land in Herkimer county, N. Y., much of which is still in the family, and on a part of which the present vil- lage of Fairfield is located. William Teall and his family came to Michigan City, Ind., about 1827, and there established the largest mercantile business west of Buffalo, and also owned the line of stages running from Michigan City to Buffalo. This was in the days before Chicago aspired to be the metropolis of the West, and Michi- gan City was the principal settlement in the Northwest. Mr. Teall acquired much land in Wisconsin in 1827, but a few years later lost a large amount of property. He moved to Port Washington, Wis., where he resided until his death in 1875. The Tealls can trace their family record back for many generations. William Joseph Turner, of this sketch, was born on Sept. 13, 1848, in the village of Waukesha, Wis. He was educated in the public schools of New York City, at Carroll College, Waukesha, and Beloit Col- lege, Beloit, Wis., completing the sophomore year at the latter in- stitution. He then entered the University of Albany, and was grad- uated from the College of Law in 1871 with the degree of LL. B. He practiced first in Port Washington, remaining there until 1872, when he removed to Manitowoc, where he was a member of the firm of H. G. and W. J. Turner until 1882, when he removed to Milwaukee, there forming a partnership with Leander F. Frisby, attorney-general of Wisconsin from Jan. 2, 1882, until Jan. 3. 1887. In 1887 W. H. Timlin, now associate justice of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, H. G. and W. J. Turner entered into a partnership which continued until 1893, when it was dissolved by mutual con- sent, and the following November the senior member of the firm, Harvey G. Turner, died. Since practicing in Milwaukee W. J. Tur- ner has been actively interested in municipal affairs, especially in connection with educational matters. He was a member of the school board from 1877 until 1894, and president of the board part of the time, and has ever since maintained his interest in all mat- ters connected with the public school. Mr. Turner was chosen by the bar of Milwaukee county as its candidate for one of the judges of the Circuit Court of Milwaukee county, and was elected to such position on April 7. 1908. He is now filling that position. lle was connected, while in practice, with a number of particularly interest- ing cases. Among others, with H. A. J. Upham, in 1885, he in-
792
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
stituted proceedings in the interest of the heirs of Cyrus Hawley to recover 100 acres of land which had been entered by their grand- father, Cyrus Hawley, and was located north of Grand avenue and west of Twenty-fourth street, and a part of which is occupied by the Schandein residence. The litigation resulted in the recovery of the land or its value, amounting to over $450,000. The recovery was made on the "discovery of a secret trust," by which the man named as the executor of the will of Cyrus Hawley had conveyed the property to a relative, to hold in trust for him, thereby intend- ing to defraud the heirs. Another important case in which he was engaged was the prosecution of the rioters of May, 1886. He was specially appointed by Judge A. Scott Sloan to conduct the trials. In politics Mr. Turner is a Democrat, but aside from his position on the school board of Milwaukee, and the holding of the office of district attorney in Manitowoc county in 1873-4, he has taken no active part in practical politics. He is a member of St. James Episcopal church, has been a member of the vestry since 1885, and is at present senior warden, taking an active interest in all matters pertaining to the church. He belongs also to a number of associa- tions, professional and social, including the city, state and national bar associations and the Masonic order. He is a Thirty-second de- gree Mason and a Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee county, the Milwaukee Club, the Blue Mound Country Club, and the Sons of the American Revolu- tion. On Aug. 1, 1871, Mr. Turner was married to Miss Alice P. Morgan, daughter of Lyman P. and Delaney Teed Morgan, of Port Washington, Wis. Their surviving child is Leland M. Turner, a manufacturer, of Port Washington. Mrs. Alice Turner died in 1898, and Mr. Turner married Mrs. Seville Degarmo, daughter of C. C. Barnes, of Manitowoc.
Hon. Neele Bruno Neelen, judge of the District and Juvenile courts of Milwaukee county, was born at Riddott, Stephenson county, Ill., Oct. 24, 1862, his parents being Bruno N. and Bertha (Meier) Neelen, both natives of the town of Emden, Hanover, Germany, though they were married in Stephenson county, Il1. The father was a miller by trade in his native land, and was a man of indomitable will power and perseverance. In 1851, having deter- mined to seek out his fortune in America, he worked his way across the Atlantic on a sailing vessel, nine weeks being required to make the voyage. Upon landing at the city of Baltimore, and being de- sirous of settling in the western country, he arranged to work his passage aboard another vessel to the city of New Orleans, from which city he ascended the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Sa- vanna, Ill., as an employe on a steamboat, and walked from Sa- vanna to Freeport, Ill., where he secured employment as a gang foreman in railroad construction. He next became employed at his trade as a miller, and being of a saving disposition, soon ac- cumulated sufficient to purchase a farm near Riddott, when he mar- ried. He was the first of the family to come to this country, and after locating he paid the passage of his parents and four sisters
793
BIOGRAPILICAL
to the United States. A brother also started from the Fatherland, but the ship aboard which he took passage was lost at sea with all on board. A brother of Judge Neelen's mother was also lost at sea about the same time. Several relatives of Bruno N. Neelen served in the United States navy during the Civil war. The Judge's father was successful in business ventures, and became the owner of several farms. One of these, near Rockford, Ill., is now the property of Judge Neelen, who spends his vacations there. The Judge's mother died in 1864 and his father in June, 1895. Judge Neelen received his elementary education in the schools of his na- tive county, after which he attended an academy at Rochester, N. Y., and the Rochester University. In 1891 he graduated at the Buffalo Law School with the degree of LL. B., having been em- ployed in the office of the Hon. George W. Cothran while a student, thus gaining a practical as well as a theoretical legal education. Returning to Baileyville, Ogle county, Ill., where his father had moved in 1873, he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of Illinois in the summer of 1892, at Ottawa. Soon after that he located in Milwaukee, and in 1895 was elected police justice. When the court was changed to the District Court in 1901 and its juris- diction greatly enlarged, he was elected to preside over the new court. About the same time the Wisconsin legislature established the Juvenile court and the Detention Home for youthful offenders. who had prior to that time been confined in the county jail with older and more hardened criminals. The judges of Milwaukee county were given the power to select one of their number to pre- side over the Juvenile court. Their choice fell upon Judge Neelen, and his record in that capacity has demonstrated the wisdom of the selection. Through the influence exerted by Judge Neelen and others interested in the welfare of children, the county board of Milwaukee county appropriated $95,000 for the building of a new Juvenile court building and Detention Home. A proficient corps of probation officers is maintained, who are paid salaries ranging from $1,200 to $1,800 per annum, thus assuring the permanency and reliability of the officers employed. In the election of 1907 Judge Neelen was chosen to succeed himself, receiving 17,000 votes out of 23,000, the most sweeping majority ever given a candidate for any office in Milwaukee county. This triumphant victory at the polls tells the story of his personal popularity and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow townsmen, who have thus expressed their unqualified endorsement of his judicial course. The Juvenile court is a comparatively recent addition to the tribunals of the country. but it has come to stay. Presided over by such men as Judge B. B. Lindsey, of Denver. Col .- the pioneer in the work-and Judge Neelen, of Milwaukee, the problem of dealing with delinquent chil- dren bids fair to reach a satisfactory solution. For this work Judge Neelen is eminently fitted both by nature and experience. E11- dowed with the judicial temperament, his analytical mind soon fathoms the intricacies of each case that comes before him. Firm. without being unnecessarily harsh : quick to discern the true char-
794
MEMOIRS OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
acter of the offender, upon whom he must pass sentence ; and with the welfare of the body politic always uppermost in his mind, his decisions are based upon the principles of absolute justice, tem- pered with mercy as circumstances will permit. Off the bench Judge Neelen is a companionable gentleman. He is a member of several secret orders and fraternal societies, in all of which he is deservedly popular because of his many sterling qualities and gen- eral good-fellowship. In national politics he is a Republican, but in local affairs he is independent. However, he takes no active part in political work. On Feb. 22, 1896, Judge Neelen and Miss Ida Mehnert, of Buffalo, N. Y., were united in marriage, and this union . has been blessed with five children: Robert B .; Lloyd, deceased ; Ruth M .; Harvey L., and Kenneth A., the last two being twins. Mrs. Neelen was a teacher in the Buffalo schools prior to her mar- riage.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.