USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
The late Thomas Jefferson Pereles was born in Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, on December 14, 1853, and was a son of the late Nathan Pereles, who is mentioned at length on other pages of this historical and bio- graphical work, as is also Judge James Madison Pereles, deceased. Mr. Pereles was educated in the public schools of Milwaukee, and following his high school course, took the law course at the University of Wiscon- sın, and was graduated from that institution when he was twenty- three years old. He was admitted to the bar on June 20, 1876, and on July 1, of the same year, associated himself with his father and brother, thus forming the partnership known as Nath. Pereles & Sons. They enjoyed a widespread and immensely lucrative practice for many years. During the life of the father and since that time, the law practice has been largely confined to probate, commercial, corporation and real estate law, and in their specialty Mr. Pereles was an unquestioned authority. He had a reputation for sound judgment in commercial and financial matters, and was twice appointed commissioner of the public debt,-first on March 14, 1893, by Mayor P. J. Somers, a Democrat, and for the second term by Mayor William J. Rauschenberger on April 19, 1896, the latter a Republican. He served long and faithfully as a mem- ber of the school board, and was ever the ardent advocate of free educa- tion and better education for the masses. Since the inception of the Citizens' Mutual Loan and Building Association a quarter of a century ago, Mr. Pereles has been active and prominent in its management, and he was, in the years of his career, found identified with many projects for the betterment of the city and was always one of the foremost in helping worthy civic movements, his retirement from public life alone staying his activities in those matters, although he continued to the last to maintain his interest in civie welfare, and aided in many excellent
Janelle Duvall
2043
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
causes after he had been compelled by necessity to give up his active interest.
Mr. Pereles was a generous and affable gentleman, wide-minded and sympathetic, and like his honored brother, the late Judge James M. Pereles, was a sturdy advocate of free education, and always a liberal contributor in that direction. It was years before the fact became public property that he and his brother were the liberal donors of the fund that supplied the children of indigent parents with school books, a gift that enabled them to attend the public schools where other- wise that might not have done so, and thus have been deprived of some opportunities for education. The school board reports of Mil- waukee show that the late Judge Madison and his brother, the subject, filled the requisitions for school supplies of many thousand children during the years of their giving in that line alone, a fact that may not be adequately estimated in summing up the benefactions of Mr. Pereles and their results.
Mr. Pereles was a great lover of travel, and has given many inter- esting lectures in the public schools of the city, relating to the places he had visited, adding zest to the discourse by showing attractive lan- tern slides which he had prepared for the occasions.
A former president of the Milwaukee Bar Association, Mr. Pereles was long a member of that fraternity, and took an active part in its work. He was a member of the Old Settlers Club. He was a promi- nent Mason, having received the thirty-third degree, was a member and a Past Master of Independence Lodge No. 80, charter member and Past High Priest of Calumet Chapter No. 73, and a member of Ivanhoe Commandery Knights Templar No. 24, Wisconsin Consistory and Tri- poli Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. At one time he was Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Wisconsin, and he was a trustee of the Wisconsin Consistory, the Grand Chapter of Wisconsin and of Independence lodge at the time of his death.
On October 4, 1877, Mr. Pereles was married to Miss Nellie Weil, of Merton, Waukesha county, this state, and they have three living chil- dren, as follows: Nathan Pereles, Jr., David Walter, and a daughter Janet, who is the wife of A. L. Strouse, of New York City. The widow and three children survive the honored husband and father.
JOSEPH DUVALL. A pioneer in the Kewaunee country, the late Joseph Duvall had the genius of a business builder, the power of attracting to himself those elements which constitute success. He was courageous in face of misfortune, and never became conceited because of fortune's favors. To the last he was known among a large host of friends and associates as "Joe Duvall."
Joseph Duvall was born at Nicolett, Province of Quebec, August
2044
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
31, 1835, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Hilaire Duvall. At the age of eleven years he left home, and went to Massachusetts, and in 1848 came to the Kewaunee country in Wisconsin, where he was employed in a lumber camp in the southern part of the county. In 1852 he came to Kewaunee and worked for John Valk, the first lumberman upon the Kewaunee River, and when Daniel Slauson purchased the Valk property in 1853-54, Mr. Duvall entered his employ and continued to be identified with D. P. Slauson & Son until the Pike's Peak gold excitement, when he set out for the gold fields with a party of Two Rivers people. That was in 1859. Mr. Duvall went to Pike's Peak with fifteen hundred dollars in his pocket, and returned six months later "dead broke." He frequently told the story of how the cara- van, with which he was traveling, on coming to two passes in the mountain was undecided upon which route to take, and separated, one body taking the upper path, and the other the lower path. Those who took the upper path were never again heard from. On returning from this ill-starred expedition, Mr. Duvall worked for a time in the sawmill of MeNally & Ritter, at Sandy Bay. His first employment was that of wheeling sawdust, but his promotion was gradual and sure. In 1862, the Slausons purchased the adjoining mill of Cun- ningham, Taylor & Company, and associated with them Messrs. George Grimmer & Joseph Duvall as junior partners. Ten days after this partnership was formed the new mill was burned, and soon after the partnership of Slauson, Grimmer & Company was formed with Mr. Duvall as an associate partner, and as superintendent of the mill property. The firm of Slauson, Grimmer & Company consisted of George Slauson, J. H. Kelley, George Murray, George Grimmer and Joseph Duvall, and did an extensive lumbering, shipping and mer- cantile business at Kewaunee until the spring of 1877, when they dis- continued the mill, dissolved partnership, and went out of business. Mr. Duvall took over the mercantile business as a part of his share of the property, organized Joseph Duvall & Company partnership, and in 1878 erected the large store business on Ellis street which the firm continued to occupy for many years, and in which they carried on an extensive business.
The late Mr. Duvall's business activities were- many. He associ- ated his son George A. with himself and organized the Kewaunee Grain Company, dealing in grain and coal and later establishing branches at Casco, Luxemburg and New Franken. In 1881 he became a partner in the banking house of Decker, Duvall and Walender, and for thirty-one years was connected with the banking business at Kewannee. He was also interested in the shipping business and held interests in several lake crafts. He built the fine schooner Joseph Duvall at Manitowoc, which capsized off Sheboygan, with the loss
2045
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
of the entire crew in 1880, and two years ago it went to pieces and sank on the lime kiln Flats in St. Claire River.
It will not be inappropriate to insert here an appreciation of Joseph Duvall written by a friend, L. Albert Karel of Kewaunee, which was printed in the Kewaunee Enterprise at the time of Mr. Duvall's death :
"For more than fifty years Joe Duvall was a conspicuous figure in the business and social life in and around Kewaunee. A rugged, strong Frenchman, who emigrated here from Canada in the days when Kewaunee was a lumber camp, he stayed after the mills were razed, and the river drivers and the mill gang moved further north and west. He had an abiding faith in the future of this city and invested his money in and around it. A man of great determination and uncompromising to a fault, he enjoyed business success through his absolute honesty and determination to win out. He was a leader in helping the general progress of the city; as a rich man he was asked to contribute toward everything from the baseball subscription list for the boys to the giving of factory sites for the general welfare of the city, and no one donated more liberally. Joe Duvall will always be remembered with Decker, Grimmer, Karel, Maskek and Seyk, as the men who helped to develop the resources of Kewaunee county by bringing in money and loaning it to the settlers; by developing ship- ping facilities and making markets for farmers, all of which con- tributed to the ground work which helped materialize the present day advance state of prosperity. As a lumberman, a merchant, a money loaner, a grainman and a banker, he was known as one of the solid, substantial men of his community, who detested hypocrisy and gum-shoe work; he was plain, blunt, outspoken; struck direct from the shoulder and did not mind a little rough work, but there was no hate or maliciousness in him. His word was as good as his bond, and he was a self-made man in the fullest sense of the word. He amassed a fortune and kept it intact and working; and the last few months that he was on earth he chafed under the restraint which compelled him to stay indoors."
In 1862 Joseph Duvall was married at Kewaunee by Justice of the Peace C. W. Dikeman, who still survived, to Miss Caroline Hol- sted. To this union three children were born: Eli A., a resident of Oregon; Mrs. Myrtle Laurie of Milwaukee; and George A. Mrs. Duvall died April 24, 1890, and on September 26, 1895, Mr. Duvall married Mrs. Minnie Seeger of Manitowoc, whose death occurred in 1908. By the second marriage there are two step-children, Dr. Stan- ley Seeger of Chicago, and Mrs. Phil Schaefer of Marshfield. Mr. Duvall's brother, Adolph Duvall of Kewaunee, died September 1, 1913.
Joseph Duvall died Saturday morning June 1, 1912 of Bright's disease, and the funeral took place Monday forenoon. The body lay
-
2046
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
in state at the family residence on Milwaukee street and was viewed by hundreds of people. The flag upon courthouse was placed at half- mast in honor of the deceased, and his funeral was attended by a large delegation of county board members as well as by people in every station of life, of every creed and of every denomination.
The late Joseph Duvall left a worthy successor in his son, George A., who as president of the Kewaunee Grain Company, and of the Duvall Company, one of the city's largest department stores, has won the right to be classed among the community's most substantial and progressive men.
George A. Duvall was born at Kewaunee, December 23, 1870, a son of Joseph and Caroline (Holsted) Duvall, was educated in the grammar and high schools, and completed his course in the University of Wisconsin. On the death of his mother he left his studies to assist his father in business, and had previously gained some experi- ence as a clerk in his father's department store. He later became a partner in the grain business known as the Kewaunee Grain Company, and after the death of Joseph Duvall reorganized with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, and has since been president. He also reor- ganized the department store company, incorporating with a capital of thirty thousand dollars, and in addition to that large Kewaunee business has a store at Casco as well as a grain elevator there and also at Luxemburg. Mr. Duvall is a director and the principal stockholder in the State Bank of Kewaunee, and as a side line conducts a dairy farm of two hundred acres, in which he takes a great deal of interest, visiting it each day.
In February, 1892, George A. Duvall was married to Miss Maude E. Lathrop of Kewaunee. Her father, the late James Lathrop, was the well known superintendent of dredges on this shore for the United States Government. . Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Duvall: Gladys C., a member of the sophomore class in the Uni- versity of Wisconsin; and Clarence L., who spent two years in the University at Madison, and is now associated with his father in the grain business. Mr. Duvall is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. His acquaint- ance is large, and he has numerous friends both in business and social eireles.
MAYHEW MOTT. The Mott family has been represented most prom- inently and honorably in connection with the development and up- building of Winnebago county, where it was founded fully sixty years ago and where Mayhew Mott, associated with his father in active gen- eral practice in the city of Neenah, is one of the successful members of the bar of his native county and a scion of the third generation of the family in Wisconsin.
2047
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Mr. Mott was born in Winchester, Winnebago county, on the 3d of May, 1874, and is a son of Wesley and Harriet (Porter) Mott, both of whom were born in the state of New York, their marriage hav- ing been solemnized in Chittenango, Madison county, New York. Wes- ley Mott, a son of Mayhew D. Mott, one of the honored pioneers of this county, came with his parents from the old Empire state in 1853, and his father became one of the pioneer farmers of Winchester town- ship, Winnebago county, where he reclaimed his land from the wilder- ness and contributed his quota to the civic and material development of the county. He was a man of strong personality, commanded un- qualified popular esteem and was an influential figure in the public affairs of his community in the pioneer days. Both he and his wife continued to reside in Winnebago county until their death and their names merit enduring place on the pages of its history. Wesley Mott has long been numbered among the representative members of the bar of this section of the state, was formerly engaged in the work of his pro- fession in the village of Winchester and for the past twenty-eight years has maintained his home in the city of Neenah, as one of its leading lawyers and as a citizen who has been influential in the community affairs, his course having been marked by great civic liberality and progressiveness and his character and achievement having been such as to lend dignity and honor to the profession of which he has been a most able and effective exponent. He is now the senior member of the firm of Mott & Mott and his son Mayhew, whose name initiates this review, has been his effective and valued coadjutor since 1902.
Mayhew Mott is indebted to the public schools of the city of Neenah, Winnebago county, for his early educational discipline, which included the curriculum of the high school. He was graduated in the high school. as a member of the class of 1893, and his study of law was initiated under the able direction and preceptorship of his father. In further- ance of his academic education he entered Lawrence University, at Appleton, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1899 and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Science. There- after he gave close and appreciative attention to the reading of law and in 1902 he proved himself eligible for and was admitted to the bar of his native state. He forthwith became associated with his father in practice and the alliance has proved most gratifying and suc- cessful, the firm of Mott & Mott controlling a large and substantial law business and having a clientage of representative character. The finely appointed offices of the firm are located on the second floor of the National Manufacturers' Bank. In politics Mayhew Mott maintains an independent attitude and he takes a most lively interest in public affairs of a local order. In April, 1912, he was appointed city attorney of Neenah, and of this office he is the efficient incumbent at the time of this writing. He is affiliated with Neenah Lodge, No. 61, Free &
2048
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Accepted Masons, and also with the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias. He is one of the popular figures in the social life of his home city. Mr. Mott was married Sept. 22, 1910, to Emma A. Holmes, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Holmes, of the city of Neenah, Wis- consin. They have one daughter, Ruth Harriet Mott, born October 9, 1912.
JOHN W. SUETTERLE. To be noted with certitude as one of the progressive and sterling business men who are contributing to the in- dustrial pre-eminence of the city of Milwaukee is Mr. Suetterle, who is president of the Loeffelholz Company, brass founders and finishers, the plant of this corporation being one of an extensive order and its equipment being of modern type throughout. The establishment is located at 170-172-182 Clinton street and controls a large and substan- tial business in its various departments, the while it is recognized as one of the leading concerns of the kind in the Wisconsin metropolis.
The enterprise conducted under the corporate title noted dates its inception back to the year 1867 and was founded by the firm of Loeffel- holz & Prier. The business has had a history of consecutive growth and prosperity during a period of nearly half a century and now represents one of the substantial industries of Milwaukee. In 1880 Mr. Prier retired from the firm and John W. Snetterle acquired an interest in the business, whereupon the title of the firm was changed to Loeffelholz & Company, under which the enterprise was successfully continued for a quarter of a century, when, as a matter of commercial expediency and to make provision of the greatly increased volume of business transacted, the firm effected a reorganization and incorpora- tion, in 1905, when was adopted the title under which the enterprise is now conducted. Mr. Suetterle has been president of the company from the time of its incorporation, and as executive head of the busi- ness he succeeded Mr. Loeffelholz, who died on the 18th of May, 1906. The business basis its operations on a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars; the plant utilizes thirty thousand square feet of floor space; and the working staff comprises an average of eighty skilled operatives, besides assistants in the different departments of work. The products of the plant find sale in all parts of the United States and Can- ada and are known for their superior excellence, as the highest type of craftsmanship and the best of materials enter into every piece of work turned out, the result being that the reputation of the company constitutes its most effective commercial asset. Progressive policies have characterized the business and thus it has kept in advance in the matter of the most improved methods and mechanical accessories by which to insure productions of the finest type of construction and artistic merit. The output includes metal fittings for railroad cars, steamships; cabinet, office and bar trimmings, art metal work, bank
2049
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
fixtures; gasoline carbureters and generators; door and switch locks; pressure cocks and valves; turret nozzles for boats, hose wagon, etc .; Foley combination shut-off and Judge distributing nozzles, and many other products of original design and of superiority in the matters of finish and durability. The concern makes a specialty also of brass patterns and models, aluminum castings and axle brasses, and a well equipped department is maintained for general silver and nickel plat- ing. A separate department is also devoted to the manufacture of the Gibbs electric train-lighting connectors, which are in general use on all important railway lines in both the United States and Canada. The secretary of the company is John J. Miller, who proves an able and valued coadjutor to its president.
Adam Loeffelholz may well be termed one of the pioneer business men of Milwaukee and his career was one of consecutive and worthy endeavor, so that he at all times maintainel inviolable vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. He was staunch of mind and body and showed effectively the value of right living and right thinking. He was born in the town of Kastel, on the Rhine, in Hesse, Germany, and the date of his nativity was June 14, 1827. He was reared and educated in his fatherland and in 1848 emigrated to America. He re- mained eight years in New York city and then came to Wisconsin and numbered himself among the pioneer business men of Milwaukee, where he established his residence in 1856 and where he continued to maintain his home until his death, in 1906. Here he originally en- gaged in the work of his trade, that of locksmith, and eventually he became the founder of the business which still perpetuates his name. He was a skilled artisan and an industrious, conservative business man whose earnest endeavors were eventually crowned with a high degree of material success. He was well known and highly esteemed in the city that was long his home, was liberal and public-spirited, and was prominently identified with the local bodies of the Masonic fraternity.
John W. Suetterle claims the Wisconsin metropolis as the place of his nativity and is a scion of one of the sterling German pioneer families of the state. He was born in Milwaukee on the 29th of Novem- ber, 1848, and was afforded the advantages of local schools, including that from which was developed the present German-English Academy, -an institution that has long contributed much to the prestige of the city along educational lines. His business career has been principally in connection with the fine enterprise of which he is now the adminis- trative head, the Loeffelholz Company, and his energy and ability have otherwise made him a potent force in connection with industrial activi- ties in his native city, where he is also vice-president of the Milwaukee Hay Tool Company and the Milwaukee Malleable & Grey Iron Works. He is a valued and popular factor in connection with civic and social affairs in his home city and is loyal and progressive in his attitude as
2050
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
a citizen. His political support is given to the Republican party. He is president of the Milwaukee Maennerchor, one of the largest and fin- est organizations of the kind in the Union, and served as president of the noteworthy saengerfest held in Milwaukee in 1904.
HENRY LEO BANZHAF, B. S., D. D. S. In his chosen profession Dr. Banzhaf has attained to wide reputation and unequivocal precedence, and it may with all of consistency be said that he is one of its fore- most representatives in the United States. He has been specially en- thusiastic, prominent and influential in the educational work of his chosen calling and has done much to advance the science and art of dentistry in its varied and important phases. He is at the present time actively engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Milwaukee, is also dean of the dental department of Mar- quette University, and is secretary and treasurer of the Dental Edu- cational Council of America. Further interest attaches to his career by reason of the fact that he is a native son of Wisconsin and a scion of one of its honored pioneer families, his father, a man of distinguished ability, having been one of the early clergymen of the Evangelical Association in this state, where he died when still a young man.
Dr. Banzhaf was born at Hartford, Washington county, Wisconsin, on the 15th of October, 1865, and is a son of Rev. Jacob and Marie (Rasch) Banzhaf, the former of whom was born in southern and the latter in northern Germany. The paternal grandparents of Dr. Banz- haf passed their entire lives in the fatherland, but the maternal grand- parents came to America and established their home at Two Rivers, Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, in 1852, about five years after the admis- sion of the state to the Union, and here they passed the residue of their lives, their names meriting place on the roll of the honored pioneers of this favored commonwealth. Rev. Jacob Banzhaf came to America in his youth. He entered the ministry of the Evangelical church and became one of its distinguished representatives in Wisconsin, where he labored with all of consecrated zeal and devotion in his high calling for eleven years prior to his death, which occurred on the 14th of October, 1868, his memory being revered by those of the pioneer citizens who came within the sphere of his influence. In Wisconsin was solemnized his marriage to Miss Marie Rasch, who was a girl at the time of her parents' emigration to the United States and who still survives her honored husband, being now venerable in years and maintaining her home with her only surviving child, Dr. Banzhaf, of this review. Her husband was but thirty-seven years of age at the time of his death. and of their other two children a daughter died in infancy and a son at the age of nine years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.