USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine > Racine, belle city of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 17
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JACOB STOFFEL, JR.
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director of the First National Bank, in which capacity he has continued for twenty years.
Mr. Stoffel was married to Miss Emma Savall, of Melvina, Wisconsin. His children are: William, who is now a dealer in dental supplies in Milwau- kee, Wisconsin; Annette, the wife of Roy Martin, a prosperous manufacturer of surveying instruments, also a resident of Milwaukee; Earl, who is a prac- ticing dentist of Racine: Arthur, who is engaged in business with his father ; Elmer, who is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. and who is now in business in Delaware; Selda, who is attending the Wiscon- sin University at Madison : and Leona, a high school pupil in Racine.
Mr. and Mrs. Stoffel are members of the English Lutheran church, loyal to its teachings and generous in its support. Mr. Stoffel belongs to the Elks, the Eagles and the German M. V. His political indorsement is given to the republican party and in the '90s he represented the Fourth ward on the board of aldermen. The cause of education finds in him a stalwart champion and for ten years he has served as a member of the school board, acting as its presi- dent for two years of that time. He was appointed commissioner on the army board by Mayor Thiesen, July 18, 1916. At the present time he is serv- ing as a director on the board of St. Luke's Hospital and he is chairman of the city committee of the National Security League. Those who know him entertain for him warm regard and his business relations and public service have brought him a wide acquaintance. Moreover; he has always lived in Racine and his life history is an open book. Those who have known him longest speak of him in most creditable terms and acknowledge his right to be classed with the representative and progressive citizens and business men of this county.
EDWARD H. WADEWITZ.
Edward H. Wadewitz, secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company, is prominent among the alert, enterprising and successful business men of Raeine, whose efforts have been a substantial factor in the city's growth and prosperity as well as in individual success. Honored and respected by all, he occupies an enviable position, not only by reason of the success to which he has attained, but also owing to the straightforward business methods which he has ever followed. In the conduct of his interests he has displayed marked initiative, as well as executive force.
A native of Wisconsin, Mr. Wadewitz was born in Fredonia, February 22, 1878, a son of Henry and Augusta (Muehlberg) Wadewitz, the latter a native of this state, where her parents located in pioneer times. The father, Henry Wadewitz, a mason by trade, also came to Wisconsin at an early day and eventually removed to Iron Mountain, Michigan, where he passed away in 1892. His wife remained there for a number of years and is now in Racine.
Edward H. Wadewitz removed to Port Washington, Wisconsin, about 1890, and in 1894, when a youth of sixteen years, came to Racine, where he was afterward joined by others of the family. He was one of four sons and there
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was also a daughter in the household. He obtained a common school education and started in the business world as an employe in a trunk factory owned by his unele. In 1900, when a young man of twenty-two years, he went to the east and pursued a course in the Potts Shorthand School at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. In 1904 he returned to Racine and was connected with various lines of business, making successive steps in an orderly progression, which brought him, in 1908, to active connection with the printing business, for in that year he bought out the Westside Printing Company, which had been established two years before by John Geller. There were various changes in the partnership, but from the beginning Mr. Wadewitz has served as secretary and treasurer. With the incorporation of the business. in 1910, he was re- tained in that position and also made general manager. The name of the busi- ness was then changed to the Western Printing & Lithographing Company and a history of the enterprise is given at length on another page of this work. Throughout the years Mr. Wadewitz has been a moving spirit in the develop- ment, enlargement and control of this undertaking. The company today has the largest, complete printing plant in the state. being thoroughly equipped in every department from that of printing and binding to engraving and electro- typing. The concern today is largely a monument to the efforts, enterprise and business ability of Mr. Wadewitz, whose well defined plans have been promptly executed and who. in the conduet of his interests, readily discrim- inates between the essential and non-essential.
In 1906 Mr. Wadewitz was married to Miss Nettie M. Joslyn, of Fond du Lae, Wisconsin. They had three children: Eunice, who died at the age of three years; Robert, and Winifred. Mr. Wadewitz belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen, the Knights of Pythias, the United Commercial Travelers and the Racine Commercial Club. In politics he maintains a non-partisan attitude, while in religious faith he is connected with the German Evangelieal church. He feels concern for all those things which touch the interests of society and he supports the plans and measures which he deems of the greatest value in promoting publie good. At the same time he has won and maintained a position in business circles that should make his example one of inspirational worth to those who must start out, as he did, empty handed.
FRANK KELLOGG BULL.
The name of Bull has been associated with the development of Raeine's greatest industry and one of the most important manufacturing enterprises of the country-the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company-since 1863, when Stephen Bull assumed financial management of the enterprise. He was sue- ceeded in the presideney of the company by his son, Frank Kellogg Bull, who remains in active connection with the business at the present time as chair- man of the board, and in all the years his developing powers have proven adequate to the demands made upon him in the control and development of this gigantic concern. Mr. Bull has been practically a lifelong resident of
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Racine, although his birth occurred at Spring Prairie, in Walworth county. on the 7th of May, 1857. His ancestry is traced back to New England, he being a descendant of one of the Mayflower Pilgrims. His paternal grand- parents, De Grove and Amanda M. (Crosby) Bull, established the family within Wisconsin's borders and spent their remaining days as farming people of Raymond township, Racine county, where both reached advanced age. Their son, Stephen Bull, who was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, New York, March 14, 1822, was accorded but few educational or other opportunities in his youth, mastering only such branches of learning as were taught in the subscription schools, but learning such lessons of life as could be gained through actual experience in the work of his father's farm, for between the ages of ten and eighteen years he spent most of his time in the fields. Then came a broadening experience as clerk in a grocery store in New York city. where he not only learned something of commercial methods but also of the broader phase of life in the great metropolis. Upon his return to Wisconsin in 1845 he located in Racine, but the following year established a general store at Spring Prairie, Walworth county, where he conducted business for a decade. He again came to Racine in 1857 and went to work with his brother-in-law, J. I. Case, an association that was thereafter maintained. Mr. Bull becoming a partner in the business in 1863 and assuming control of the financial interests of the firm, in which M. B. Erskine also became a partner. Upon the death of Mr. Case, Mr. Bull succeeded to the presidency of the business, which in the meantime had been incorporated under the name of J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company. He continued as the chief executive officer until 1897 and he was also a most prominent figure in banking circles, becoming a stockholder of the Manufacturers' National Bank of Racine in 1872. In its presidency he succeeded M. B. Erskine, who in turn had suc- ceeded J. I. Case, the first president. Mr. Bull remained at the head of the bank until January 1, 1904, when he resigned. His last days were spent in honorable retirement and, vigorous in mind and body, he retained his interest in questions and affairs of the day, bearing loyally the burden of advanced years. His worth as a factor in the development and promotion of Racine's chief industry can scarcely be overestimated, as his sound judgment, keen discrimination and insight enabled him to so direct the finances of the com- pany as to make for notable success. His death occurred November 15, 1913.
Stephen Bull was married June 7, 1849, to Miss Ellen C. Kellogg, who passed away March 27, 1880, leaving five children, while two of her family had previously been called to the home beyond, a son having died about three months old. while Herbert passed away at the age of twenty-three. The others are: Ida R., the wife of H. W. Conger, of San Francisco, California ; Frank K .; Jeanette, the wife of Richard T. Robinson, of Racine; Lillian M., the wife of Frederick Robinson; and Bessie M., the wife of A. Arthur Guilbert.
Brought to Racine at the age of three months, Frank K. Bull attended its public schools and for six years was a student in Racine College. He was nineteen years of age when he became connected with the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company under the immediate supervision of R. H. Baker, who had become a partner in 1863 and who directed his efforts in various clerical and mechanical departments with a thoroughness that made him master of the
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business in principle and detail. With the reorganization of the business in 1881 under the name of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, Mr. Bull succeeded Mr. Baker as secretary-treasurer, the latter retiring on account of illness. Mr. Bull remained in that official connection for fifteen years and then became his father's successor, retiring from the presidency in 1915 to become chairman of the board, and thus still remains an active direeting foree in the management of the business, which today has about four thousand employes, while its ramifying trade relations reach out to all parts of the world. A contemporary biographer has said of him: "The great growth of the business in the last two years is due largely to the individual efforts and foresight of Frank K. Bull. Though he commenced his business career with unusual opportunities, he nevertheless has been obliged to sustain a difficult role, for the responsibilities placed upon him have required great ability, and no amount of prestige would have compensated for lack of energy or executive foree. His predecessors in his present position were men of re- markable strength, and to maintain their standards and continue to progress within reason requires a breadth of judgment and a measure of farsighted enterprise which few possess."
The demonstration of his power to correctly solve intricate business prob- lems and co-ordinate seemingly diverse elements into a unified whole has led many concerns to seek his eo-operation and he has become an important factor in promoting the sueeess of various Wisconsin corporations. He be- came the president of the Belle City Manufacturing Company, which he aided in organizing.
On the 16th of September, 1880, in Milwaukee, was celebrated the mar- riage of Frank K. Bull and Miss H. Belle Jones, a native of that city and a daughter of Louis Emery Jones. The children of this marriage are Stephen and Jeanette. Of the Episcopal church Mr. and Mrs. Bull are communicants and he was one of the organizers and for some time a member of the surpliced choir of St. Luke's. His political allegianee has always been given to the republican party and he keeps well versed on the significant questions and issues of the day that the weight of his influence may be given in support of the measures of value to the country. He belongs to the Union League Club of New York and his club relationships also extend to the Milwaukee Club, the Chicago Athletic Association and the Racine Club. In addition to his attractive home at No. 1121 Main street, Racine, the family occupy through the winter months a beautiful residence at Camden, South Carolina. In a review of the life history of Frank K. Bull one is led to the reflection that to accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius, to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the publie the greatest benefit requires quite another kind of genius. Mr. Bull seems to be the possessor of both. He is a representative of that younger generation of business men who have been called upon to shoulder responsibil- ities differing materially from those resting upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise he found himself obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude than those with which the founders of the Case Company had to do and to solve more difficult and complicated financial and economic
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problems. However, he has met each test and by reason of the judgment which has characterized his efforts at all times he stands today as a splendid representative of the prominent American manufacturer and capitalist.
JEROME 1. CASE.
Jerome I. Case, a representative of the Case family. needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. No name figures more conspicuously on the pages of Raeine's history. The great manufacturing enterprises conducted by the family have been the chief source of material development and con- sequent prosperity of this section of the state. Into this heritage came Jerome 1. Case, and he has made it the purpose and aim of his life to uphold the high reputation of the family in its business connections. He was born May 6, 1887, a grandson of Jerome I. Case, founder and promoter of the great manufactur- ing interests still maintained by the family, and a son of Jackson I Case.
Exceptional educational advantages were accorded Jackson I. Case, so that he was well prepared to meet the responsibilities and obligations that devolved upon him in carrying on the business interests instituted by his father. He supplemented his high school training by study in the Racine Academy and in the Michigan Military Academy and then entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. In 1883 he accepted the position of bookkeeper with the Fish Brothers Wagon Company, with which he remained for almost two years, and for some time afterward he served as secretary to his father. As the years passed he became interested in many enterprises. He was president and a member of the board of directors of the JJ. 1. Case Plow Works, treasurer and director of the Racine Hotel Company. a director of the JJ. I. Case Thresh- ing Machine Company, and also of the Manufacturers' National Bank. He was also interested in raising and training turf stock and owned a number of notably fast horses, among these being Echora, with a record of 2:231, dam of Direet, at that time the fastest pacer in the world, with a record of 2:06. Mr. Case served several terms as secretary of the Wisconsin Association of Trotting Horse Breeders, and was also vice president and a member of the executive board of the Northwestern Association of Trotting Horse Breeders. In 1889 he served as president of the Wisconsin Industrial Association. He was widely and favorably known all over the country. It was but in just recognition of his sterling character and business integrity that in 1891 Mr. Case was offered the nomination for mayor of Racine. His political opponent was Adolph Weber, who was up for re-election, having previously been elected by a ma- jority of seven hundred and twenty-six votes. but Mr. Case won the election by a majority of two hundred and eighty-six votes, thus changing the results of the previous year by over one thousand votes. He bore the distinction of being the youngest man who ever held the position in Raeine, and was, at that time, said to be the youngest mayor in the United States. He proved capable, and little opposition was found during his administration.
On the 25th of March. 1886, Jackson I. Case was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Rov. On the 8th of January, 1903, death called him from his activ-
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ities. His four sons are : Jerome I., named for his grandfather; Roy; Harry; and Percival.
The first named attended the public schools and afterward attended the Manor School at Stamford. Connecticut. It has been customary with the Case family that their representatives should have a thorough business training and that family connection should not be allowed to interfere with this. Accord- ingly Jerome I. Case of this review started at the bottom with the J. I. Case Company in 1905 and worked his way upward through the various depart- ments, learning the business in its many phases. Promotion came to him not as the result of influence but as the outcome of his merit and efficiency and he is today assistant superintendent of the J. I. Case Plow Works.
On the 22d of April, 1911, Mr. Case was married to Miss Constance Allien, of Stamford, Connecticut, a daughter of Victor S and Mariana Allien. The children of this marriage are Constance and Mariana. The parents attend the Christian Science church and Mr. Case maintains an independent political at- titude. He maintains a position in harmony with the record of the family in the breadth and activity of his interests as relating to the public welfare as well as to business relations.
JOHN A. BROWN.
John A. Brown, manager of the interests of the Goodrich Transit Company, at Racine, was born in this city, July 16, 1875. a son of William P. and Mary T. (Murphy) Brown, who were also natives of Racine, the former born September 7. 1850, and the latter March 7. 1851. The father was a son of Thomas Brown, who brought his family to Racine in 1848, becoming one of the early settlers of this part of the state, since which time the family name has been asociated with the substantial development and progress of the district. The father is a molder by trade and has always engaged in business along that line. About 1886 he began manufacturing on his own account. under the name of the Raeine Malleable Wrought Iron Company, and in 1892 he purchased the controlling interest in the Racine Iron Company with which he remained until 1908. He then sold out and removed to Elgin, where he is conducting business under the name of the Elgin Brass Foundry Com- pany. His wife died August 5. 1905. In their family were eight children. five of whom are still living.
At the usual age John A. Brown became a public school pupil of Racine and passed through consecutive grades to his graduation from high school. He was connected with his father in the Raeine Iron Company from 1894 until 1897 and in April of the latter year became connected with the Goodrich Transit Company with which he has since been identified. His ability and fidelity won him promotion and he was made manager of the interests of the company at Racine on the 1st of June, 1902, since which time he has served in that capacity.
On the 17th of April, 1906, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Callista A. English of Kenosha, a daughter of Edward J. and Rose (Kupfer) English.
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The children of this marriage are: Edward William, John English, Rosemary E., Dorothy E., and Catharine. Mr. Brown is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic church and the Knights of Columbus. In politics he maintains an independent course, but has never been active in political circles as an office socker, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs. His time has been well spent and the adaptability and energy which he displays have gained him a responsible and lucrative position in the business circles of Racine.
W. J. HIGGIE.
W. J. Higgie, conducting an extensive and profitable business as a dealer in fuel, having a large plant on the river, was born in Racine on the 18th of February, 1856, a son of William M. and Margaret S. (Peel) Higgie, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of Ireland. The father was one of the first settlers of Racine and commanded a vessel, sailing on the Lakes as its captain. He continued his residence here until death ended his labors in 1882.
After mastering the common branches of learning taught in the graded schools of Raeine, W. J. Higgie spent a winter in the high school and after- ward sailed with his father until he reached the age of nineteen years. He then turned his attention to the teaming business and for six years was in the employ of James R. Morris, keeping, however, his own team. At the expira- tion of that period he engaged in the fuel business on a small scale. The trade. however, gradually increased and after a few years he purchased his present plant. He owns a dock of one hundred and thirty feet frontage on the river and has four fifty-foot lots. In connection with the fuel business he does teaming contraeting and in both branches he is accorded a liberal patron- age, his energy and enterprise having brought him prominently to the front in his chosen line of work. That he has prospered in his undertakings is indicated not only in the fact that he now controls an extensive business, but also finds tangible evidence in his property holdings, for he has a fine home on North Main street and also a house and four lots on Michigan avenue.
In 1897 Mr. Higgie was married to Miss Ida IIurst, by whom he has five children, namely: Leslie, Margaret, Beatrice, Lincoln and Cynthia. In pol- ities Mr. Higgie follows in the political footsteps of his father, who was an ardent republican. Since reaching adult age he has studied the questions and issues of the day and believes that the platform of the republican party con- tains the best elements of good government. While not an office seeker in the usually accepted sense of the term, he has served for two years as alder- man from the seventh ward and is city weighmaster. Ile was reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church and he is fraternally connected with the Foresters and the Royal League. Mr. Higgie is a self-made man and deserves all the praise which that term implies, for since nineteen years of age he has depended solely upon his own labors and has won all that he has achieved or enjoyed. In the conduet of his affairs he has employed progressive methods and the basis of his success is his unremitting industry. He has worked hard
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day after day and there have been no spectacular chapters in his life history. Such an example should serve to encourage and inspire others, showing what may be accomplished when honorable purpose points out the way and industry perseveres therein.
FRANK J. MILLER.
Various corporate interests have felt the stimulus and benefited by the co-operation of Frank J. Miller, who is recognized as a man of sound business judgment and keen discrimination. His plans are ever earefully formed and promptly executed, and energy and determination have enabled him to over- come all obstacles and difficulties in his path. His chief interest, perhaps. is that of the J. Miller Company, one of the oldest and largest shoe manufactur- ing coneerns of this seetion of the country, of which he is the president. The difficulties of an undertaking do not deter him, for he recognizes the fact that when one avenue of opportunity seems elosed he can carve out other paths which will bring him to the desired goal.
Mr. Miller is a native of Raeine. He was born February 17, 1860, a son of Joseph and Theresa (Bauer) Miller, the former the founder of the J. Miller Company and long prominently and actively associated with shoe manufactur- ing interests here.
Frank J. Miller supplemented his studies by a course in the MeMynn Academy, from which in due time he was graduated. He made his start in the business world with the J. Miller Company, acquainting himself with the praetieal end of manufacturing and thus becoming qualified to direet the labors of employes. About 1901 he became treasurer of the company and upon the death of his father in 1905 succeeded to the presidency. The J. Miller Company is one of the oldest and most important shoe manufacturing concerns of this section. The plant has a capacity of twenty-five hundred pairs of men's and boys' shoes per day and their stock is well known to the purchasing public as the Miller Made Shoe. They sell to the retail trade direct and employ over twenty traveling men to represent them upon the road. The plant was burned during the great fire in Raeine but was at onee rebuilt and has been equipped with the most modern machinery. It is supplied with steam power and a sprinkler system, while the buildings are of mill construction. The plant is one hundred and forty by one hundred and twenty feet, four stories in height. and the employes now number three hundred and seventy-five. They manu- facture an attractive line of footwear and enjoy a growing trade which has made the undertaking a very prosperous and profitable one.
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