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 3
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J. H. Kamper is the only survivor of a family of six children. He pursued a district school education and when his textbooks were put aside, concentrated his efforts upon farm work, to which he has since given his attention. He was married in 1885 to Miss Ella Adland, a daughter of Knud and Phoebe (Drought) Adland. Her father located at North Cape, Wisconsin, in 1840, and established the first store there. He was postmaster for thirty-two years and gave it the name of North Cape in honor of North Cape in Norway, from which country he and most of the other carly settlers of the town came. It has the distinction of being the only town of that name in the United States.
Mr. and Mrs. Kamper have become the parents of four sons, as follows : Leslie Haddock, who was born in August, 1886, and is now superintendent of
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
King's Model Laundry in Chicago; Ray Stanley, whose birth occurred on the 1st of June, 1891, and who is at home; Lloyd Vincent, who was born in August, 1894, and drives a delivery truek in Chicago, and Irwin Adland, who was born in September, 1899, and is a high school student.
Throughout the entire period of his manhood Mr. Kamper has carried on agricultural pursuits and now has one hundred and forty aeres of rich and arable land, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation and to which he has added many improvements. The buildings upon the place include two large silos which he erceted himself, and there is no equipment of the model farm that is lacking. His residence was ereeted in 1872, at a cost of forty-two hundred dollars, and there are splendid buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. He not only tills the fields but also does considerable dairying, keep- ing for this purpose thoroughbred Holstein cattle.
Mr. Kamper has never concentrated his energies upon private affairs to the exclusion of outside interests. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and also has membership with the Modern Woodmen of America and the United Order of Foresters. In polities he is a republican, recognized as one of the leaders in the local ranks of the party. Several times he has been called upon to fill positions of public honor and trust and twice he has represented his distriet in the general assembly, where he gave careful consideration to all questions which came up for settlement, supporting mueh important construc- tive legislation. On another occasion he and an opponent received an equal vote for the legislature. For fourteen years he has been a member of the town board. of which he is now chairman, having occupied that position for four years. He has also been on the drainage commission and at all times he stands loyally in support of every plan and measure for the general good, giving active aid and co-operation to every effort that is put forth to advance the progress of the community by reason of his deep interest in its welfare.
GEORGE ALVIN UEBELE.
George Alvin Uebele, eashier of the Bank of Burlington, exemplifies in his business career that thoroughness and efficiency which have always character- ized the institution which he represents, making it one of the strong finaneial centers of southeastern Wisconsin. His entire life has been spent in this seetion of the state, his birth having occurred at Wheatland, Kenosha county, February 25, 1874. His father, Frederick Uebele, a native of Germany, came to America in the early '50s and settled in Wheatland, near Slades Corners. He was but eight years of age when his parents died and in 1848 the children of the family. of whom he was one of the youngest, came to Wisconsin. He was a young man of twenty-one years when, in 1861, he responded to the country's call for aid and enlisted in the Ninth Wisconsin Light Artillery. He went to St. Louis and much of his service was in Colorado and the west, fight- ing the Indians. He experienced many hardships owing to the extremes of heat and cold and starvation conditions which existed. He continued to serve. however, until almost the elose of the war, when he received an honorable
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discharge and with his regiment returned to Wisconsin. Soon afterward Mr. Uebele began farming on his own account and was very successful in the cul- tivation and management of his property, winning well merited prosperity through his close attention to business. In 1866 he married Susan Runkel, and in October. 1916, they will celebrate their golden wedding. Mr. Uebele has always avoided publie office, but has a good, clean record as an enterpris- ing eitizen whose influenee has always been on the side of progress, reform and improvement. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the Meth- odist church and are regarded as people of the highest respectability. In their family of seven children six are now living: Emma, the wife of William Richardson, a resident of Chicago; George A., of this review; Walter, who is owner of the Burlington Feed Company, of Burlington; Clara, now the wife of Clarence Gleason, a jeweler of Burlington; Oscar, who is now in charge of the old homestead upon which his parents reside, and Roy, who is engaged in farming.
George Alvin Uebele obtained his early education in the public and high schools of Burlington and afterward pursued a commercial course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana. He left school in 1892 and the same year went to Milwaukee, where he secured a position in the Milwaukee National Bank, remaining there until 1906, at which time he was chief bookkeeper. In October of that year he accepted his present position as cashier of the Bank of Burlington and has successfully filled that place for ten years, during which time the business has increased over one hundred and fifty per cent. He is a courteous and obliging official and has made an excellent record, winning for himself a most creditable name in the banking circles of the state.
In 1902 Mr. Uebele was married to Miss Ellen Heideman, of Milwaukee, a daughter of Paul Heideman of that city, and their children are Evelyn and Florenee. Mr. Uebele is a Mason and has served as past master of his lodge, while of the chapter he is the present high priest and of the Eastern Star is a past worthy patron. He also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and he and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist church. He is a director of the Burlington Business Men's Association and is treasurer of the Burlington Advancement Association. In a word, he co-operates heartily in every plan and project for the benefit and upbuilding of the city and has taken a prominent stand in connection with its public affairs. His worth is widely acknowledged and colleagues and contemporaries speak of him in terms of warm regard.
BANK OF BURLINGTON.
The Bank of Burlington was organized under the name of the First Na- tional Bank of Burlington, December 14, 1871, by Jerome I. Case, Stephen Bull, R. H. Baker, B. B. Northrop and Chauncy Hall, and other prominent business men of this part of the state were among the stockholders. The bank opened its doors for business on the 26th of February, 1872. That the first
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years of business were not entirely along flowery paths, is evidenced by the report of Chauncy Hall, cashier, at the end of the first fiscal year, in which he says: "You are well aware of the active and persistent opposition we have encountered, from the day our first effort was made to organize our bank, to the present time." The bank, however, steadily prospered until 1883, when its deposits reached the amount of one hundred and sixty thousand dollars; this was considered considerable for those days, and was the highest point reached as a national bank. Because of the inability to loan on real estate, and the state of Wisconsin having passed a safe and adequate banking law. the stockholders deemed it inadvisable to renew the national charter when it expired in 1891, and, by unanimous vote, agreed to "take the necessary steps to form a state bank, to succeed to all the assets, goodwill and business of the First National Bank of Burlington, to be organized under the banking laws of Wisconsin, under the name of 'Bank of Burlington'." This course was pur- sucd and from the beginning the reorganized bank prospered. At length a number of enterprising business men of Burlington, believing that a local institution should be owned and managed by home people. on the 6th of June. 1902, purchased all of the stock owned elsewhere and have since conducted the bank for the benefit of Burlington and its residents.
Jerome I. Case, founder of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company, and his business associate, Stephen Bull, were intimately connected with the early management of the First National Bank, Mr. Case serving as president and Mr. Bull as vice president for a period of over twenty years. Chauncy Hall served as cashier from the organization in 1871, until his death, in October. 1894, and bent every energy toward the development and upbuilding of the institution. He was succeeded in turn by Eugene Hall, J. C. Heddle, Roger Whinfield, F. Roberts, E. H. Schnederman and G. A. Uebele, the last named becoming cashier October 1, 1906. Mrs. Florence C. Hall served as president from 1895 until 1902. C. B. McCanna became president October 1, 1906, and so continued until his death, which occurred December 11, 1913, when his son, C. Roy McCanna, was elected his successor. The other officers of the bank at the present time are: Louis H. Rohr. vice president ; G. A. Uebele, cashier ; J. T. Prasch, assistant cashier, and S. D. Slade, T. J. Cunningham, H. A. Runkel and A. M. Brehm, directors.
In 1909 the present handsome bank building at the corner of Pine and Chestnut streets was erected. It is constructed of Bedford sandstone, is three stories in height and is designed especially for bank purposes, the bank occupy- ing the first floor. The bank's equipment affords every modern convenience. Its vaults are especially large and strong and there is a safe deposit vault with a capacity of fifteen hundred boxes, all enclosed in massive walls twenty-six Iches in thickness. Massive steel doors guard the entrance and a system of electric protection makes the whole as nearly burglar-proof as modern in- genuity can invent. Something of the growth of the business is indicated in the fact that the deposits on January 1, 1873, were fifty thousand four hundred and seventy-four dollars and on the 1st of January, 1916, one million one hun- dred and sixty thousand two hundred and fifty-eight dollars. On the 15th of November, 1902, a savings department was opened which pays three per cent interest, computed semi-annually, on all deposits in that department. On Jan-
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HISTORY OF RACINE COUNTY
uary 1, 1916, there was on deposit in the savings department the sum of two hundred and sixty thousand dollars, which represents the small savings of a large number of depositors.
JOHN H. SMITH.
John H. Smith, a famer of Kansasville, is one of the native sons of the county, his birth having occurred in Dover township, March 14. 1851. His parents, William and Mary (Welsh) Smith, were natives of England and Ireland, respectively, the former born June 17, 1824, and the latter in 1826. They were married in Racine county, but the parents of neither ever came to America. It was in 1842 that William Smith crossed the Atlantic and estab- lished his home in Dover township, Raeine county, after remaining for a short time in the east and for a brief period in Milwaukee. On reaching this county he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land from the government for a dollar and a quarter per aere and upon the farm built a log cabin, after which he began to clear his land of timber, for it was a wooded tract. In 1875 he purchased forty acres more and he continued to reside upon the old homestead and devote his attention to its cultivation up to the time of his death, which oeeurred in 1898. For twelve years he had survived his wife, who died in 1886. He was well known and well liked and left behind him many warm friends. His wife was a member of the Catholic church and Mr. Smith gave his politieal allegiance to the republican party. In their family were eight children, of whom Robert, the eldest, a carpenter of Union Grove, died in 1914. Those still living are: Amelia, the wife of William Donald, a retired farmer, living in Union Grove; John H .; Eliza, the wife of John Crane, a ro- tired farmer of Union Grove: William, a resident of Union Grove: Anna, the wife of H. G. Dardis, a lumber merchant of Burlington; Carrie, the widow of James Bell and a resident of Waukesha, and Hattie, the wife of J. H. Youngs, a merchant of Union Grove.
John H. Smith obtained a district school education and afterward took up the occupation of farming, which he has always followed. He started out on his own account with a forty-aere tract of land which he purchased and since that time he has continuously carried on general agricultural pursuits. He today has one hundred and sixty acres and in addition to tilling the soil he raises considerable stock. He has a beautiful residence and outbuildings, which he erected, and the farm presents a most neat and attractive appearance. Progressiveness characterizes him in all that he undertakes and he is num- bered among the leading agriculturists of his community.
In 1875 Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Lewis, a daughter of William and Mary (Millard) Lewis, both of whom were natives of. England and about 1850 came to Dover township. Mr. Lewis always followed farming and won a substantial measure of success in that undertaking. His fellow townsmen spoke of him in terms of high regard and he was widely and favorably known. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born five children, namely : Mary E., the wife of George B. Wherry, a butcher of Racine; Nellie
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E., the wife of Harry Apple, a repsesentative and progressive farmer of Nor- way township; Lulu B., the wife of Fred Dixon, a real estate man of Union Grove, who also has other business interests; Aliee May, the wife of Dr. W. L. Dunkirk, a dentist, of Union Grove, and Boyd Arthur, who is with his parents upon the home farm.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen. In polities he is a republican and has been an active party worker. He has served as chairman of the board of supervisors for eleven years altogether and has made a most ereditable record in that office. He also served as town elerk for four years and for thirty-eight years has been treasurer of the school board. His aid and co-operation can always be counted upon to further any plan or project for the general good and his worth is acknowledged by all who know him.
WILLIAM HORLICK, JR.
It is too often true that successful business men seem to find no time for publie affairs and lightly regard the duties and obligations of citizenship. A notable exception to this rule and one whose example is well worthy of emulation is that of William Horliek, Jr., who, while actively connected with the management and interests of the Horlick Malted Milk Company, has also found time and opportunity for co-operation in those plans and projeets which have to do with the development and upbuilding of the community in which he lives. He was born in Chicago, in 1875, a son of William and Arabella Horliek, and after attending the public schools continued his studies in Racine College, which constituted his preliminary preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. Soon afterward he began his life work as an assistant of his father in the development of the business known the world over under the name of the Horliek Malted Milk Company. Resuming his studies he spent several terms as a student of applied science, division of engineering, at King's College, London, England, during 1898, 1899 and 1900, thus splendidly equip- ping himself for the further conduet of most extensive and important business interests.
In 1900 William Horliek made an extended European tour, also visiting Egypt and the Holy Land, and soon after his return, as a recognition of his industry, elose application and resourcefulness in business, he was elected secretary of the Horlick Malted Milk Company, and to the duties of that position, manifold and intricate, he has since devoted his attention.
Mr. Horliek is well known in fraternal cireles in Raeine, having long been a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Masons and in the last named organization he has reached the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. In polities he is independent. He is well informed, broad-minded and a elose observer of men and of busi- ness conditions. His ability is recognized by all and especially by those who know him best and his friends and admirers have called upon him for various
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public services. He has been particularly active in support of the cause of education and for many years has occupied the position of school director. In his nature there is nothing narrow nor contracted. A truly generous and enterprising business man of the highest type, he is a credit to the community and his record refleets honor upon the district which has honored him.
JUDGE WILLIAM SMIEDING, JR.
Judge William Smieding, Jr., who for the past fifteen years has been the municipal and juvenile court judge of Racine county, is a native son of this city and his life record stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, for his worth and ability have gained him professional recognition and he is regarded as one of the represen- tative members of the Raeine bar. He was born September 9, 1868, a son of William and Mary (Wustum) Smieding. The father's birth occurred at Lüb- becke, in western Prussia. November 11. 1831, and he was a son of August and Amelia (Mix) Smieding, who were likewise natives of that country, while his paternal grandfather was a brewer and baker of Germany, where he owned a sinall shop. He and his wife both died in Germany at an advanced age. Their son August followed in the footsteps of his father, acquainting himself with the trades of brewing and baking, but afterward went to Holland, where he secured a situation as clerk in a store. He was engaged in military duty under Napoleon I in the year 1815. His death occurred in 1850, when he was fifty- six years of age, while his wife passed away about six years before. Their family numbered seven children, including William Smieding, who obtained his education in the publie schools near his home and at the age of fourteen was apprenticed to a general merchant for a term covering about five years. The reports which he heard concerning the opportunities of the new world led him to the determination to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic and when he reached the age of eighteen years he left the fatherland for the new world, making his way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he resided for a year. He then came to Racine where he joined his brother, Henry E. Smieding. in the drug business, opening a store at the corner of Third and Main streets. For years theirs was one of the pioneer drug houses of the city and their business was successfully continued until about 1890, when they sold out, since which time Mr. Smieding has lived retired, now making his home on a small farm near Racine, his place comprising thirty-five acres of land situated just across the road from the factory of the Horlick Malted Milk Company.
In September, 1864, William Smieding was united in marriage to Miss Mary Wustum, a daughter of George and Mary Wustum, and they have be- come the parents of six children : Henry, a Racine lawyer ; William ; Herman, who is a bookkeeper with the Horlick Malted Milk Company and who married Jessie Conroe; George, who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Jefferson, Wisconsin ; and Frederick and Marie, residing in Racine.
Judge Smieding, the second son, began his education when a little lad of six years as a public school pupil and promotion brought him eventually to
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the high school from which he was graduated. His more specifically literary course was pursued in the State University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1891, after which he continued there as a student in the law department and was graduated in 1893. He had previously attended the University of Berlin, Germany, in the year 1890. On the com- pletion of his law course he was admitted to the bar and entered upon active practice in Racine, devoting attention to the trial of cases before the state and federal courts for eight years, or until elected judge of the municipal court in 1901, since which time he has served upon the bench, giving his at- tention to the duties of the office. He has gained a reputation for being fair and impartial in the discharge of his judicial duties.
Judge Smieding holds to a nonpartisan course politically. He is well known in fraternal circles, belonging to the Masonic lodge, the Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 32, of which he is a past chancellor commander, and the Elks lodge, No. 252, of which he is past exalted ruler. He is also president of the Boy Scouts council of Racine. A member of the Commercial Club, he is much inter- ested in its purposes and plans for the improvement and development of the city.
JUDGE ELBERT OSBORNE HAND.
Judge Elbert Osborne Hand, long a distinguished member of the Raeinc bar and for thirteen years occupying the bench of the county court, passed away June 19, 1915, an occasion which carried with it a sense of deep regret and sorrow to many who have been his associates and contemporaries. He was then nearing the eighty-fifth milestone on life's journey and there came to hin "the blessed accompaniments of age-honor, riches, troops of friends." Judge Hand was a native of New Lebanon, Columbia county, New York, born No- vember 29, 1830, and came of English ancestry in both the maternal and paternal lines. His grandfathers were natives of New York, and John S. Hand, father of the judge, was born in New Lebanon, in 1804. He became a mechanie and was employed along that line until after his removal to the west. when he became connected with agricultural pursuits. Before leaving New Lebanon, however, he married Miss Emma J. Cowells, who was there born in 1810. She too was of English descent and her grandfather served in the War of 1812. It was in 1841 that John S. and Emma Hand arrived in Wisconsin, settling in Walworth county, where the father entered land and with characteristic energy began the development of a farm. He lived a quiet and unassuming but useful life, never seeking to figure prominently in public connections. He gave his political allegiance to the whig party until the question of slavery became a foremost one in the minds of the public, when he supported the abolition party. When the republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery into the north he joined its ranks and continued to follow its banner until his death. which occurred in 1875. He had long survived his wife, who died at the age of fifty-three years. They were both devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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Judge Hand was the eldest of their nine children. He was reared on the old homestead with the usual experiences that fall to the lot of the farm bred boy, dividing his time between the acquirement of an education in pioneer schools, and the work of developing a fertile farm. He displayed aptitude in his studies and at the age of eighteen became a teacher, but with the discovery of gold in California he joined the Argonauts who went to the Pacific coast in search of the golden fleece, arriving at Hangtown, now Placerville, in 1849. He engaged in mining in that locality and also on the north fork of the American river until 1853. when he returned home by way of the Panama route. His ambition prompted his preparation for a professional career and after master- ing the preparatory studies, he entered the sophomore class of the State Uni- vesity at Madison and won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation in 1859. The following year was devoted to the study of law in Albany, New York, and he was there graduated in 1860.
Before leaving his native state, Judge Hand, in September, 1861, wedded Miss Margaret S. Budd, of Chatham, New York, who was born in Rensselaer county. In time the young couple established their home in Racine and as the years passed five children were added to the household: Mary E., who became the wife of John D. Rowland, of Phillips, Wisconsin ; Imogene F .. the wife of Charles R. Carpenter. of Racine; Elbert B .; Mrs. Jessie L. MacGregor, of Racine, who married Wallace F. MacGregor, formerly of Janesville, Wis- consin. and Mrs. Edith M. Simmons of Chicago, Illinois, who married John Edward Simmons, formerly of Racine.
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