USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 22
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Leaving the farm, finally, in 1874, Mr. Hanson read law in the office of Cottrill & Cary in Milwaukee. This was one of the leading law firms of the city and state. Mr. J. P. C. Cottrill was known for his brilliancy and ability, and Mr. Alfred Cary is still among the leaders of the Milwaukee bar. Mr. Hanson advanced rapidly. He was admitted to the bar in 1876, three years later was made junior partner, and during the succeeding four years the firm of Cottrill, Cary & Hanson flourished. Then Mr. Hanson was appointed, at the age of thirty-two as assistant general solicitor, in the legal depart- ment of the railroad with which he has since risen to a foremost posi- tion. The general counsel of the road at the time Mr. Hanson entered its employment was the late John W. Cary, a man of unusual abili- ties, one of the distinguished lawyers of the West, and a man who, intellectually and professionally, was ranked among the great law- yers of the country. Mr. Cary was succeeded by Mr. George R. Peck, whose fame is national, and who as general counsel emeritus is still a fount of wisdom and legal lore, for the St. Paul Railroad.
That Mr. Hanson, has with such models and associations, advanced steadily and securely, to become at last the successor of Mr. Peck, as general counsel, is evidence enough that he has won his spurs by ability, sagacity and breadth of knowledge, the sort of capacity that, without meteorie display rises from day to day, equal to, and master of, every situation. At sixty-two, after thirty years of continuous · service, he stands securely and deservedly as the highest legal author- ity of one of the greatest corporations in America.
The forbears of Burton Hanson were of the New York pioneer stock that was plentiful in Wisconsin's early history. His father Cornelius Hanson, and his mother, Catherine (Tremper) Hanson, were natives of Montgomery county, New York, whence, in 1850, they jour- neyed by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, then by lake steamer to Sheboy- gan, and from there by team and wagon to Rushford township, in Winnebago county. Mr. Hanson entered 160 acres of heavily tim- bered land and set up his log cabin in a veritable wilderness. It now illustrates the truth that such Americans have been Wisconsin's chief agricultural dependence, in the fact that it is still in the family, one of the well improved farms of a splendid agricultural section, its owner being Mr. David JIanson, an elder brother of the subject of this sketch. The boy reared on such a farm and the scion of such
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sturdy stock, enjoys many advantages, though they are not always appreciated in youth. But the long line of successful men who have gone to the front from the farm, of Wisconsin and the other agricul- tural regions of America, amply illustrate that sturdy health, and robust physical and mental endowments get something of the master touch of Nature through close contact with the soil.
On June 4th, 1896, Mr. Hanson married Carolina MeClure, they having two children, Alexander and Madeline. His home is in Ken- wood, a suburb of Chicago, where he lived since 1896.
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JAMES GLEN WRAY. In the field of electrical engineering, probably no native son of Wisconsin and graduate of the University of Wiscon- sin has gone further in practical achievements than James Glen Wray, who in the twenty years since he came out of technical college has been steadily advancing to a position among the ablest experts in his profes- sion in the country. Mr. Wray belongs to a family which has been identified with Wisconsin from the early years of the state and though his residence and business headquarters during the greater part of his career have been in the city of Chicago, he is a loyal son of Wiscon- sın and well known in this state.
James Glen Wray was born at Janesville, Wisconsin, May 19, 1872. His parents were James Glendenning and Helen (Edgar) Wray, both natives of Janesville. The father was born in that city in 1848, and died in 1908, and the mother was born in 1850, and is still living. Of their nine children, two died in infancy, and all the rest are alive. James was the second child. The ancestors were both Scotch and Eng- lish, English on his father's side and Scotch through his mother. His paternal great-grandfather was James Glendenning Wray, who came from the north of England to America in 1830, and after a brief resi- dence in New York state, moved to Rock county, Wisconsin territory, where he was one of the early pioneers, and spent the rest of his life. in that vicinity.
James G. Wray was liberally educated in the public schools and then entered the University of Wisconsin, where he specialized in elec- trical engineering and was graduated Bachelor of Science in 1893. In the same month of his graduation, he entered the employ of the Chicago Telephone Company in the engineering department. Only few men have it in them to grow in understanding and capacity, in proportion to the tremendous growth of modern business. The Chicago Telephone Company twenty years ago had only a few thousand instruments in ope- ration throughout that city. In 1900 there were only about twenty thousand telephones in use, while at the present time the service has extended until this corporation has over three hundred and fifty thousand . telephone subscribers listed in its directory. With this splendid evolu- tion of the Chicago Telephone Company on its mechanical side, James
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G. Wray's abilities for individual service were likewise expanding. He successively held the positions of assistant chief engineer, assistant superintendent of maintenance, superintendent of maintenance, super- intendent of equipment, and in 1902 became chief engineer for the com- pany. In 1910 Mr. Wray was appointed chief engineer of the Wis- consin Telephone Company, the Michigan State Telephone Company, the Cleveland Telephone Company, and the Central Union, those com- panies comprising practically all the Bell Company's interest in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. These vari- ous companies at this writing operate about one million eight hundred thousand telephones.
In the line of his profession Mr. Wray has a number of other im- portant relations. He was a director of the Wray Publishing Company, of the Technical Data and Appliance Company, and the Charter Electric Company. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Electrical En- gineers, has served as chairman of the Chicago section and also chair- man of the joint committee of the Chicago Section of the A. I. E. E. and the Electrical Section of the Western Society of Engineers; is a member of the Western Society of Engineers, of the Illuminating En- gineering Society, and of the Chicago Electric Club. Of his more immediate connections with his native state it may be noted that he was a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Wisconsin, for eight years was a member of the Executive Committee of the Alumni Association of Wisconsin, was formerly connected with the Wisconsin National Guards, and has been secretary of the Wisconsin Society of Chicago since 1913. Fraternally he is an honorary member of the Tau Beta Pi, The Royal Arcanum, and the Wisconsin Society of Chicago, also with Wilmette Lodge A. F. & A. M. No. 931. In politics Mr. Wray is a Republican, and his church is the Congregational. His social clubs are the University, the City, the Ouilmette Country, and the Uni- versity of Wisconsin Club of Chicago, besides the University Club of Madison.
On September 26, 1895, Mr. Wray married Clara May Williams of Chicago, a daughter of Cyrus L. and Sila L. (Starks) Williams. Mrs. Wray was the second in a family of five children. To this marriage have been born six children, as follows: Florence Vivian, Alice May. Ethel Lois, Helen Norma, James Glen Wray, Jr., and Clara Grace.
W. F. WOLFE. A representative of that profession which stands as the conservator of human rights and liberties, furthering the ends of justice and maintaining public stability, W. F. Wolfe is well known at the Wisconsin bar as a man of high attainments in his calling. In the very difficult and perplexing vocation of law, the very occupation of superior position argues for its possessor solid ability, signal skill, sound learning, untiring industry and uncompromising integrity. In
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none of these is Mr. Wolfe lacking, for it has been through their posses- sion that he has, for twenty years, been known as one of the leading attorneys of La Crosse, where he is the senior member of the firm of W. F. and A. C. Wolfe.
W. F. Wolfe was born August 30, 1851, in Appleton, Wisconsin, and is a son of Hubert and Matilda (Bartlett) Wolfe, both parents be- ing natives of Germany. The family on coming to the United States, located at Appleton, where the father became engaged in agricultural pursuits, owning a large tract of land in Outagamie county. He be- came connected with the Democratic party, supported its principles stanchly and was sent as representative to the State Assembly two terms, and continued to take a keen interest in the success of his party up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1909. His widow still survives and resides in Appleton. They became the parents of seven children, all of whom are living, W. F. being the eldest.
W. F. Wolfe received his early education in the graded and high schools of La Crosse, graduating from the latter in 1887. Following this, he took an academic course in the Wisconsin State University, from which he was graduated in 1891, and then spent two years in the law department. Mr. Wolfe entered upon the practice of his profession in La Crosse in 1893, and in the following year formed a professional part- nership with C. B. Miller, this association continuing under the firm style of Miller & Wolfe until 1904, when the partnership was dissolved. In that same year Mr. Wolfe and his brother, A. C. Wolfe, formed the present firm of W. F. & A. C. Wolfe, which has since become one of the leading law firms in western Wisconsin. Mr. Wolfe has confined himself to a general practice, and has won substantial recognition of his fine legal attainments, his fidelity to professional duties, and his care- ful conservation of all interests entrusted to his care. An active Demo- crat, he has served as city attorney and district attorney, and in various other positions of trust and responsibility, where he has shown his executive ability.
Fraternally Mr. Wolfe is connected with La Crosse Lodge No. 45, A. F. & A. M. With other earnest and hard-working citizens he has been instrumental in bringing about varions municipal reforms, and has also been identified with the promotion of business and financial enterprises, and at this time is a member of the directing board of the West Salem Bank of La Crosse.
On September 17, 1894, Mr. Wolfe was married in Madison, Wiscon- sin, to Miss Margaret LaMont, and they have become the parents of two children. .
LUCIUS C. COLMAN. In preparing the biographies illustrating the growth and progress of the state of Wisconsin, the greater number are found to be those of early settlers or of the founders of great business
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enterprises, or of leaders in public life or in professional vocations. Through the circumstances of their coming, or the period of their con- nection with affairs, such men possess a certain advantage quite apart from their individual characters. Those who follow them, while they may possess equal endowments, are in a measure overshadowed by the veneration in which men hold their elders. Nevertheless, the life of the state cannot be commensurately depicted without taking into con- sideration those who have taken up the labors of their fathers and carried them on with success quite equal to and often exceeding theirs.
Lucius C. Colman belongs to the second generation of La Crosse's business men. A product of her schools, his entire business life lias been spent here, and the ability which he has brought to the manage- ment of a business already established marks him as one of the most important factors in the city's industrial life. Mr. Colman was born March 27, 1853, in Fond du Lac, and is a son of the late Charles L. Col- man, who was one of the pioneer lumber men of the Northwest. Charles L. Colman was born at Northampton, Fulton county, New York, Feb- ruary 23, 1826. His father, originally a farmer, abandoned his agri- cultural pursuits to enter the ministry of the Methodist church, and in 1840, after some years spent in circuit riding, accepted an appointment as missionary to the Oneida tribe of Indians on their Wisconsin reserva- tion, situated about twelve miles west of Green Bay. There he remained for five years, combining the preaching of the Gospel with the activities of an agriculturalist.
Charles L. Colman received the greater part of his education under his father's tutelage and attended school at Green Bay. In 1845, when the family removed to the city of Fond du Lac, he entered upon a career of his own as a farmer. In 1853 he embarked in the manufacture of steamed and cut shingles, using horse power for his means of operation, and being associated in the enterprise with one Noble. In this humble manner an enterprise that was destined to become one of the leading industries of the state found its inception. From the start this business proved successful, but believing that a readier market could be found farther west, Mr. Colman and his partner, in 1854, packed their ma- chinery upon a wagon, and utilized their horses to draw the load to the mouth of the Black river, where the city of La Crosse now stands, then but a small hamlet, but eligibly situated to command a large trade in lumber products with the rapidly growing towns on the Mississippi river. It is supposed that about this time Mr. Noble retired from the business,-at any rate Mr. Colman continued the use of his horse power shingle mill for about two years, when his rapidly increasing trade made it possible for him to substitute a steam engine for his horses, thus greatly increasing his output. At this time sawed shingles were but little known. The articles principally used were the "rived and breasted" product and those which were first steamed in the block
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to soften the timber and then sliced to proper shape by a machine so constructed as to bring a thin point alternately. These shingles at that time were finding a ready sale at five dollars per thousand, yielding a handsome profit in their manufacture.
In 1863, desiring to extend his operations, Mr. Colman purchased the mill which had been operated by Denton & Hurd, and increased his output to 350,000 shingles daily, but this mill was destroyed by fire in 1868, and was not rebuilt. Previous to this time, however, Mr. Colman, in 1866, had purchased the mill of Goldthwaite & Brown (then owned by Peter Cameron) which he refitted to a cutting capacity of 30,000 feet of sawn lumber per day, lumber at this time commanding twenty- seven dollars per thousand log run. In 1869 he added the boilers of his former shingle mill, thus increasing the capacity to 50,000 feet daily, at which the mill was operated until it was burned in 1875. The structure was immediately rebuilt, being fitted with all modern appli- ances which had at that date so completely revolutionized the methods of sawing. The new mill contained two double rotaries with the re- cently introduced wire rope feed for operating the carriages, two mod- ern gangs (one 54 and one 36 inch), two double edgers, two trimmers and a twelve block shingle machine, the mill having capacity for manu- facturing 25,000,000 feet of lumber and 6,000,000 sawed shingles per season. In 1886 this mill was destroyed by a fierce conflagration, but by the opening of the following season a still more modern mill had been erected, containing two band saws, which, as the latest innovation in saw-mill machinery, were just claiming the favor which has since been aceorded to them for the rapid and economical manufacture of lumber; two gangs, one modern trimmer, two edgers and a full comple- ment of shingle and lath machinery, the capacity of this thoroughly modern structure being 40,000,000 feet of lumber, 16,000,000 shingles and 6,000,000 lath annually.
For his character and his labors, Charles L. Colman is worthy to be remembered among the substantial builders of La Crosse. His his- tory was that of the lumber trade, beginning with the epoch of the crude upright saws, through the day of the rapid but destructive circu- lar, and scarcely less crude gang of the earlier days, which gave place in their turn to the equally rapid and far more economical band saw and modern gang, while the cut shingle with its predecessor, the breasted shingle, has been completely superseded by sawed shingles manufactured by machines which take in twelve blocks at one time. The horse power and the engine of but a few horse-power have been replaced by mammoth engines of many horse-power, reaching to the hundreds; the rachet and finger feed has given way to steam feed; the minor adjuncts of the saw mill suited only to the manufacture of a few hundred feet per day have found successors in the band saw, edger, trimmer and live rolls which have done away to large extent with manual labor, and, in short, the
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mill of 500 feet capacity of which so frequent mention is made in his- tory has given place to the vast manufactory in which a daily product of 100,000 feet is but an ordinary experience, while a production of from 300,000 to 400,000 feet daily is by no means difficult to locate.
In 1850 Mr. Coleman was married to Miss Laura A. Place, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, who shared with him the trials incident to pioneer life and the honors accruing to one of La Crosse's most honored citizens. Mr. Colman attained a commanding position among the lumber manu- facturers of Wisconsin and was able to hold it amid the strong compe- tition which increasing capital and trade brought here. His success was due alone to his energetic character and business capacity, for he began life without pecuniary assistance or the aid of family or other favoring influence. His career adds another to the thousands which Wisconsin has furnished the world, of the great results which are to be attained by intelligence, tact and perseverance, when applied to the building up of a large business under the favoring conditions which have attended the state's enterprises. It is true that during the period of his life unusual opportunities opened to business men, but they only yielded their need of great success to those who had the sagacity to per- ceive them and the boldness to push them to their best results.
After the death of Mr. Colman, which occurred July 1, 1901, the business was reorganized and incorporated as one of the largest lumber concerns in the Northwest, known as the C. L. Colman Lumber Com- pany, of which Lucius C. Colman is president; Edward L. Colman, vice- president; and Harry L. Colman, secretary.
Lucius C. Colman received his education in the public school of La Crosse, Laurence University at Appleton, Wisconsin, and Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, from which latter institution he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He at once entered his father's business, and at the time of the death of the latter, as before stated, succeeded him as the head of the concern. The business qualities that are essential to the management of so vast and intricate a business are obvious. To breadth and comprehensiveness of mind, quickness to perceive opportunities and. readiness to improve them, energy and push, there must be added a capacity for organization, as well as an atten- tion to detail, that every part of the complicated machinery may move harmoniously. In all these qualities Mr. Colman excels. Amidst his active business life he has found time and manifested inclination to perform all the duties of good citizenship, and for many years has served in the capacity of police and fire commissioner of La Crosse. From 1899 to 1904 he was a member of the State Board of Normal School Re- gents, and in 1910 and 1911 was president of the Wisconsin State His- torical Society. He has taken an active part in bringing about munici- pal reforms, and has actively and efficiently aided in whatever has been undertaken to raise the tone of morality among the people. Fraternally
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Mr. Colman has attained to the Knights Templar degree in the Masonic order. His political support has always been given to the Republican party.
CHARLIE TOY. There is a special propriety in including within the pages of this history of Wisconsin some facts concerning the career and accomplishments of Charlie Toy, whom thousands of Milwaukee and Wisconsin citizens know as proprietor of the "New Shanghai Man- darin Restaurant" in the splendid Toy building at 172-174 Second street. Mr. Toy is a merchant, a business builder of extraordinary capacity and a Chinaman who has gained a distinctive place in the citizenship of Milwaukee.
He was born in Canton, China, fifty-two years ago and his father was a merchant before him in Canton. Charlie Toy came to America in 1880, landing in San Francisco, and after several years in that city and elsewhere in the United States, came to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he was a dealer in Chinese and Japanese goods and decorations. In 1904 he moved to Milwaukee, and has since steadily prospered and built np a splendid business. Besides having one of the finest Chinese restaurants in the world, he is also head of the wholesale house at 207- 209-211 West Water street known as the Wing Lung Company, whole- sale importers of merchandise, handling Chinese goods of every deserip- tion. Mr. Toy's enterprise goes still further, and he has a wholesale house in Canton, China, conducted by his oldest son. Charlie Toy has three boys and five girls, and an interesting family event, which received half a column in the local Milwaukee papers recently, was the departure of two of the sons for China to celebrate their marriage. According to the article just mentioned the boys were betrothed by the will of their father to Chinese girls of excellent standing a number of years ago. This was the old-time custom of Chinese families, and Charlie Toy has adhered strictly to the orthodox Chinese faith. Charlie Toy has been back to China three times since his first arrival in America, and has large and extensive interests in both countries.
In March, 1913, the formal opening of the Toy Building, said to be the largest and finest Chinese restaurant building in the world, was an occasion of more than ordinary note in the city of Milwaukee. The Toy Building is described as a "veritable Chinese temple in its interior designs," and such as would attract notice and admiration anywhere. It is Chinese in every line, from the great green dragon which frowns from the skyline at the top of the six stories to the smaller dragons which guard the balcony of the restaurant floor and the entrance to the main stairway. The front is of green enamel terra cotta throughout, the conventional color of brick in China. One hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars were spent in the erection of the building, while the decora- tions and furnishings cost nearly fifty thousand dollars more.
a.C. Subreit.
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Concerning Mr. Toy as a business man, the Milwaukee Journal at the time the building was opened, had this to say: "By his upright business methods, he won the confidence of the Federal officials in Milwaukee from the start and his dealings with them were extensive, for he has been the largest individual payer of import duties at the Mil- waukee custom house for some years. Soon he was called upon when- ever Uncle Sam had difficulties to straighten out with any other China- man, and his fame spread as far as Washington.
"Mr. Toy's oldest son, thirty-two, is in charge of the branch of the importing business in Canton. A married daughter has recently moved to San Francisco from Chicago; a son is studying engineering in the Armour Institute, Chicago, and another son is a student in the George Junior Republic, New York. Those who in the past have enjoyed the Toy hospitality at the mandarin dinners with which for years, or until the new Chinese republic did away with the old Chinese calendar, Charlie always observes the Chinese New Year's day, have met the little Chinese wife and mother.
"In addition to the New Shanghai Restaurant Mr. Toy has an in- terest in Kings Yen Lo Restaurant on Third street next to the Saxe Theatre, which is managed by his brother.
"As an example of Chinese thrift, Charlie Toy's husiness career in this country carries a lesson to all native born citizens. He was quick to adopt the customs of the New World, and for many years before his countrymen awakened to modern ideas he was doing his part to arouse them to action, while in thirty-three years in this country he has at- tained a position of influence and wealth which many a native son might envy.
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