USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 34
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For many years Mr. Case was an ardent admirer and patron of fine horses. He took great pleasure in breeding and training turf stock, and not only had fine barns and a track at Racine, but owned a third interest in the Glenview stock farm near Louisville, Kentucky. Some of the fastest trotting horses in the world were owned by Mr. Case. Perhaps the best known of them all was the famous "Jay-Eye-See." He had bred, and at one time was owner of forty-eight horses which made rec-
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ords ranging from 2:10 to 2:34. "Jay-Eye-See" had a record of 2:10; "Phallas" was rated at 2:1334, while "Brown" made 2:1834 in a race when four years old.
The Hickory Grove Farm was the name of the splendid stock farm of Mr. Case, located just south of the City of Racine, and adjacent to the city limits.
Mr. Case not only because his own business lay in that direction, but with a disinterested ambition to see improvement in every line in agricul- ture, was always foremost in promoting every thing of advantage to the farming interest, particularly of his home state. He was long identified with the County and State Agricultural Societies. He was one of the founders and a life member of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.
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Mr. Case was more than seventy years of age at the time of his death, which occurred on the twenty-second of December, 1891. He had begun his life in the pioneer country of Western New York, had trans- ferred to similar conditions in Wisconsin, and throughout his career had been a hard worker, who never spared himself in the advancement of business and affairs, yet he had attained a good old age and few men in the state of Wisconsin have passed away carrying with them such respect and sincere admiration as the late Jerome I. Case.
Mr. Case in 1849 married Miss Lydia A. Bull, a daughter of DeGrove and Amanda (Crosby) Bull. Seven children were born to their mar- riage, and the four that grew up were as follows: Henrietta is the wife of Percival S. Fuller, a prominent lawyer of Chicago; Jessie F. became the wife of H. M. Wallis, who is the owner of a large interest and had full charge of the J. I. Case Plow Works at Racine; Amanda became the wife of J. J. Crooks of San Francisco, California; Jackson I. is now deceased. The last named had at one time been mayor of Racine, and was said to have been the youngest mayor of any large city in the United States.
FERDINAND A. GEIGER was born at Cassville, Grant county, Wiscon- sin, October 15, 1867. His father, who was born near Frankfort. Ger- many, emigrated to this country in 1833 and located at Cassville in 1848, where he was a prosperous merchant until his death in 1873. The mother, a native of Weisbaden, Germany, came to America in 1851 and to Cassville in 1861, and was married in Cassville. She died there in 1901.
As a boy Judge Geiger attended the district schools of Cassville until 1883, when he was sent to the high school at Madison, and a year later entered the academic department of the University of Wisconsin, from which he was graduated with the class of 1888. He continued his studies in the law department and was graduated with his law degree in 1890. In December of the latter year he entered as clerk the law office of Miller, Noyes & Miller, of Milwaukee, with which firm he re-
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mained over three years. In the spring of 1894 was formed his associa- tion with John F. Burke and N. S. Robinson, in the firm of Burke, Robinson & Geiger. A year later Mr. Burke withdrew, and Robinson & Geiger continued together a year, after which Mr. Geiger practiced independently for the sixteen years before his elevation to the district federal bench. The date of his appointment was March 20, 1912.
June 8, 1897, Judge Geiger married Miss Kathyrine L. Mayhew of Milwaukee, where she was born and educated, her parents being among the old residents of the city. Judge Geiger and wife have four children, and their home is at 888 Summit avenue.
EARLE S. WELCH. One of the most successful men in the business world of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is Earle S. Welch. He has been a prom- inent leader in the business affairs of Eau Claire for fifteen years and has exerted no small influence upon the industrial and financial growth of the city. In his close connection with the two daily newspapers of the city he has had numberless opportunities to be of service to the citi- zens of Eau Claire, and being a far sighted and able man of affairs he has been of service to more than one good cause.
Earle S. Welch was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on the 21st of July, 1867, the son of William and Jane (Petherick) Welch. William Welch was born on the 12th of November, 1821, at Lorain, Jefferson county, New York. He came to Wisconsin in 1846, and plunged right into the backwoods, for at this time there was no railroad west of Milwaukee. He went to Madison in Dane county and there established a hotel. Later he studied law and after his admission to the bar he practiced law in Madison until 1882. At this time he removed to Minneapolis, Minne- sota. Here he continued the practice of his profession, and when he retired from active work he had been practicing for upwards of fifty years. He retired from general practice about twenty-five years ago but he has been a consulting lawyer up to this time, and his opinion is highly valued in the city of Minneapolis where he and his wife now make their home. He married Jane Petheriek in Madison, Wisconsin, in Septem- ber, 1850, and four children have been born to this union. Mrs. Welch was born in London, England, but has lived in this country practically all of her life. Their children were Victor John, who died on the 18th of February, 1912, William P., Rosina L., and Earle S. Welch. Mr. Welch was active in polities during his stay in Madison and held several public offices. He was a member of the Whig party until the foundation of the Republican party when he became a loyal adherent of the latter.
Earle S. Welch received his education in the schools of Madison, Wisconsin, but he was ever impatient of the restraint of the school room and was eager to get away from books and go to work. He was there- fore not very old when he left school and secured his first position, being fourteen years of age at the time. He first worked in a book store in
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Minneapolis, and later became a bookkeeper. From this position he stepped into that of a traveling salesman, going on the road for a Min- neapolis house. He next became a traveling salesman for a New York house and these years on the road were to prove of value to him later in life, for he gained a practical and valuable knowledge of the business world.
In 1899 Mr. Welch came to Eau Claire to accept the position of busi- ness manager of the Daily Telegram. He is now vice-president and one of the publishers of this paper and the advance that has been made both in the circulation list and in the appearance and value of the paper as a dispenser of news must be credited in large measure to the work of Mr. Welch. He is also vice-president and one of the publishers of the Eau Claire Leader, another influential newspaper of the city. He has other business relations, being connected with the Culver Realty Com- pany as secretary.
In politics Mr. Welch is a member of the Republican party, and he has always been a loyal adherent to his party, having given valuable assistance in more than one political battle. He was appointed post- master of Eau Claire in April, 1907, and was re-appointed in April, 1911. He is an active member of Eau Claire lodge, No. 402, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he is past exalted ruler.
Louisa Culver became the wife of Earle S. Welch on the 18th of February, 1903. Mrs. Welch is a daughter of Joseph C. and Angeline E. (Kern) Culver, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have become the parents of three sons, namely, Earle S., Jr., John Culver, and William Joseph.
HERMAN T. LANGE. As a representative business man Mr. Lange has taken an active part in various enterprises in Eau Claire. As president and treasurer of the H. T. Lange Company, wholesale grocery and fruits, Mr. Lange has a practical achievement, which is both the flower and fruit of a long career as a business man, and in a number of other ways Mr. Lange's name is identified with the business history of this state where he has been a resident for more than thirty years.
Herman T. Lange was born at Portage, Wisconsin, April 9, 1858, a son of Lewis T. and Louisa B. Lange, both parents, born in Germany, are now living, the father having been born in 1826 and the mother in 1836. The father in Germany had learned the cabinet-makers' trade under the direction of his father, who was a skilled workman in that line, and when a young man sought a new field for his energies in Amer- ica. He embarked upon a sailing vessel, and spent seven weeks upon the ocean, finally landing in New York City. In the course of the voyage the food supplies had run short and the passengers subsisted upon a scant allowance for a number of days. From the Atlantic coast he came on west and located at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he had a brother,
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and some time later moved to Chicago, from there to Watertown, Wis- consin, all the time working at his trade as a journeyman, and finally settled in Portage where he was employed by a firm which manufactured fanning mills and thrashing machines. Besides his training in a trade he had a natural mechanical talent, and this faculty proved very use- ful in his successful career. While connected with the Portage firm he invented a machine for separating the grain from the chaff, this being one of the earliest workable inventions for the threshing of grain. Sub- sequently he was connected with a furniture manufacturing concern until its plant was burned to the ground. In that fire he lost all his tools and that was a serious setback. The company moved their plant to LaCrosse, but Mr. Lange remained in Portage. This was a period of Wisconsin history when the Indians were still hostile and causing con- siderable trouble to the early settlers in that section of the state. Sub- sequently he made his home at Kilbourn City, where he was engaged independently in the manufacture of furniture. He then moved to Dunn county where he operated a farm for seven years and then moved to Eau Claire, where he is still living, aged eighty-four years and where he is a respected resident. During his early life he was a Whig in poli- ties, and now for many campaigns has voted for Republican candidates. He was married during his residence in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he and his wife became the parents of seven children, six sons and one daughter. The daughter is now deceased and the sons are all living and named as follows : George A., Herman T., Charles G., Lewis T., Gustav J. and Fred A.
Mr. H. T. Lange attained most of his education in the schools of Kil- bourn City, Wisconsin. He left school and books at the age of sixteen in order to turn his attention to practical work of life, and began learning the bakery trade at Portage. After two years of training and experience he went to Minneapolis where he began work at his trade. His work as manager of a bakery on Fourth avenue north, continued for eight years, and at the end of that time, with George Johnson, he engaged in business for himself under the firm name of Johnson & Lange. This was in the fall of 1882 and the location of the partners was in Eau Claire, the city with which Mr. Lange has ever since been identified. In a little while a confectionery stock was added to the business, and by their enterprise and push they increased their busi- ness until they had three stores in the city. In 1892 Mr. G. J. Lange, a brother of Herman T., bought out Mr. Johnson, and the business was then conducted under the firm name of H. T. Lange & Brother, up to 1895, at which time the latter bought out his brother's interest in the business.
Mr. Lange in 1895 built a fine brick building at the corner of Gib- son and River streets and disposing of his retail store he engaged in the wholesale grocery and fruit business by himself. In 1903 the business Vol. VII-19
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was incorporated under the name of H. T. Lange Company, Wholesale Grocers and Fruits, Mr. Lange being president and treasurer of the company. He is also director of the Lange Canning Company, a local enterprise which was incorporated in 1901; is a director in the Union National Bank, director of the Union Savings Bank, and is president of the Y. M. C. A. in Eau Claire. He has represented the Sixth Ward as alderman for three terms, and is one of the citizens whose support can be depended upon for the promotion and betterment of all local welfare. Mr. Lange is a member of the Methodist church, and is affiliated with the Eau Claire Lodge No. 112, A. F. & A. M. and the Eau Claire Chap- ter No. 36, R. A. M. In politics he is a Republican.
On November 23, 1886, he married Minnie L. Weidenbacher. Mrs. Lange was born in Kilbourn City, and is the mother of three children, namely : Laura, Gladys and Vernon.
NATHAN PERELES. Among the worthy men of the past who seem at once a reproach and an encouragement to us of the present, the name of the late Nathan Pereles holds prominent position. It has been said, and truly, that there are some whose lives are shaped by circum- stances and others who overcome circumstances and shape their own lives, and to the latter class Mr. Pereles surely belonged. Tens of thou- sands, born as he was, in obscure poverty, never emerged from it. From his parents, however, he enherited the best of legacies, industry, integ- rity and perseverance. These, united to thrift, temperance and shrewd intelligence, were the equipment with which he won his way in life to eminent success.
Nathan Pereles was born in the village of Sobotist, Neutra county, Hungary, April 2, 1824, and was the son of Herman and Judith Pereles, teachers in the old country and remarkably intelligent people, but poor in worldly goods. Very early in life Nathan learned to share with his parents the family cares, for he was a most dutiful and devoted son, as his father had been before him. His education was limited, but the lessons of devotion to work and family taught at home silently bore fruit. When but fifteen years of age he became a clerk in a wholesale indigo and seed house in the city of Prague, Bohemia. He had been taught by his parents as much as lay in their power, and after he entered the busi- ness house furthered his education by attending evening school. By the time he was twenty-one years of age he had become chief clerk in the business house, but at this point it seemed that his progress was stayed, and in 1845 he decided to attempt to better his prospects, accordingly emigrated to the United States. Although he came to New York with letters of recommendation to prominent capitalists and business men, he soon imbibed the independent spirit of the new land, albeit he was unable to speak the language, and therefore passed by these men of influence and went to work for a New Jersey farmer. While not en-
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gaged in the duties of his position, he devoted his time to mastering the English tongue and to the teaching of German and French to the young people of the neighborhood. Mr. Pereles spent two years in the East, and in 1847 came West, locating in Milwaukee. Although his economy and industry had enabled him to accumulate a small capital, with commenda- ble judgment and foresight he first obtained employment in order to investigate the situation with a view of independently establishing him- self. In company with two friends of his youth, A. Neustadle and HI. Scheftels, he finally opened a grocery store on Chestnut street, near Third street, but in 1849 this firm was dissolved, Mr. Pereles continuing the business alone. For the succeeding five years he continued such a prosperous trade that he was able to retire and devote a fair portion of his time to the study of law, to which he had been partial for a num- ber of years. The panic of 1857, however, found his name upon the notes of several friends who were unable to meet payments, and others upon whom he depended failed, so that with the fall of others his entire fortune was swept away.
This blow but aroused Mr. Pereles to redoubled efforts, and he con- tinued the study of law with a definite and serious purpose. For about one year he was in the office of George W. Chapman, and September 11, 1857, he was admitted to the bar. Soon thereafter the firm of Austin (afterward Judge 'R. N.) & Pereles was formed, a partnership which continued for nine years, when D. H. Johnson (later Judge Johnson of the Circuit Court) was received into partnership. The firm style was Austin, Pereles & Johnson, and continued as such until its dissolution, in December, 1868, on account of failing eyesight on the part of Mr. Pereles, cause by intense application to his work. Personal care and skilled medical treatment, however, averted the threatened calamity of blindness, and in 1874 he was able to resume business, taking as his partner the late James M. Pereles, an association which continued for two years. Later, another son, Thomas Jefferson Pereles, was taken into the firm, which continued as Nathan Pereles & Sons. Mr. Pereles' life experience, educational training and natural inclination peculiarly fitted him for the practice of probate, real estate and commercial law, and he therefore refused all criminal cases. It is doubtful if there has been a practitioner in the history of the Wisconsin bar who so thor- oughly understood his specialty as did Mr. Pereles. Whether he man- aged large estates or handled the small money matters of poor citizens, he possessed the complete confidence of his clients, and among his con- freres he bore the highest reputation. For many years Mr. Pereles was connected with such institutions as the Bank of Commerce and the Con- necticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was a man of remarkable strength and vitality and for years accomplished an enormous amount of work. His kindness of heart, his modest deportment and true benev- olence marked him as a gentleman. Whatever work he undertook, he
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did well; every duty cast upon him he discharged; no one who reposed confidence in him was disappointed; to the client he was a wise counselor and to the judge was a valuable assistant. In his death, which occurred January 28, 1879, Milwaukee lost a citizen whose career presents an example worthy of imitation by future generations and encourages the young lawyer to practice the manly virtues which were the ornaments of this well-directed and useful life. Mr. Pereles was a Master Mason and a member of the oldest lodge in Milwaukee, and at the time of his death was one of the three surviving charter members of the oldest Ger- man Odd Fellows lodge in Wisconsin, viz: Teutona No. 57, of Mil- waukee.
Mr. Pereles' wife was formerly Miss Fannie Teweles, daughter of a Prague merchant, to whom he had become engaged prior to coming to the United States. There were three sons and one daughter in the fam- ily : B. F., James M., Thomas J. and Julia E. Mrs. Pereles was a help- mate to her husband in every sense of the world. She survived him thir- teen years, passing away March 31, 1892, universally mourned by her many friends.
JUDGE JAMES MADISON PERELES, president of the Citizens Trust Com- pany, of Milwaukee, and a member of the law firm of Nathan Pereles & Sons, died at his home in Milwaukee, on December 11, 1910, at the age of fifty-eight years.
Judge Pereles was the second son of the late Nathan Pereles and his wife, Fannie (Teweles) Pereles, who is also deceased, and concerning both of whom specific mention is made in other pages of this work. James Madison Pereles was born in Milwaukee on April 27, 1852, and was educated in the grade schools of the city. He lived here all his life with the exception of the time in which he was absent in attendance at the State University from which he was graduated in the law department in 1874. Upon his return to Milwaukee after his college career was con- cluded, he entered his father's law office, and it was then that the firm of Nathan Pereles & Son was established. When his younger brother, Thomas Jefferson Pereles, was admitted to the bar in 1876, the firm was changed to Nathan Pereles & Sons, and the business continues in that name today. James Pereles took charge of all the court work of the firm and in 1899 he was appointed judge of the county court by Governor Edward Scofield to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the late Judge John E. Mann.
Judge Pereles enjoyed a career of large public usefulness in his home city, and many important positions were filled with praiseworthy effi- ciency and precision by him. He was at one time one of the school com- missioners of the city and during his term of office was elected president of the board. In 1897 he was elected one of the citizen members of the board of trustees of the public library and he was president of that board
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for the last thirteen years of his life. During that time he established a special department supplying books for the blind, and he made annual contributions to the growth of that department. He also created a number of scholarships for the benefit of the Wisconsin Free Library commission, as well as fellowships in his father's name for the depart- ment of law in the state university. He was for several years a member of the board of regents of the State University and was associated with the late Senator Stout in establishing the first free public libraries. In addition to being a contributor to charitable and benevolent institutions in the city, he contributed generously in a private way to many benev- olent causes, and was known as a philanthropist of note, although it is probable that his greatest benefactions were carried on in a strictly private manner.
The Citizens' Trust Company was incorporated by Judge Pereles and his brother, Thomas Jefferson Pereles, concerning whom a sketch will also be found in this historical and biographical work. This con- cern was established by them in the year 1897, primarily as a means to keep alive the loan department and several trust estates handed down to them by their father upon his death. Since its organization Judge Pereles was its president continuously until his death. He was also inter- ested in a number of industrial companies of more or less importance in the city.
Judge Pereles was well advanced in Masonry, and was honored by his lodge, Independence Lodge No. 80, F. & A. M., as its worshipful master and one of its trustees. For a number of years he was one of the alternate treasurers of the Grand Lodge, and when he died his funeral was con- ducted under the auspices of his local lodge of the order.
Judge Pereles was one of the chief movers in the Auditorium pro- ject and a member of the auditorium board from the date of its organ- ization up to his death. His interest in the finished building was so great that when ill health forbade his visiting the building on foot, he would enter the State street door in his automobile and be assisted to the meetings by other members of the board.
Upon his death the Board of Trustees of the Public Library adopted the following resolutions, which were presented by Trustee James G. Flanders : "The Board of Trustees of the Public Library desire to place upon record the high appreciation of the board of the able and dis- tinguished services of the Hon. James Madison Pereles, who for more than thirteen years was a member of this board and its president, and who gave to the library and to the City of Milwaukee untiring, faithful and intelligent service, and whose public spirit was repeatedly manifested by generous gifts to the library and other objects of public interest.
"Resolved, That the secretary of the board be and is hereby requested to record this tribute in the minutes of the board, and to forward to his family an engrossed copy of the same, properly certified."
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The board attended the funeral in a body. The public library and its branches were closed during the afternoon of the funeral. Courts were suspended and the judiciary attended the funeral, and the entire Auditorium board, of which Judge Pereles was an active member, attended in a body.
THOMAS J. PERELES. On Sunday, June 8, 1913, Milwaukee lost one of the flower of her citizenship in the passing of Thomas J. Pereles, head of one of the best known banking houses in the city, former debt commissioner of the city, long time school director and veteran traveler. His illness had been an extended one, and resulted from complications arising from an attack of pneumonia, the last three months of his life being carried out in confinement to his rooms. He was a brother of James Madison and Benjamin Franklin Pereles, the former having died in 1910 and the latter in 1902. James Madison and Thomas J. Pereles were partners in the law firm of Nathan Pereles & Sons and in the con- duct of the Citizens' Savings and Trust Company.
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