USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 36
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Dr. Banzhaf was but three years old at the time of his father's death and his mother soon afterward returned to the home of her
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parents, in Manitowoc county. There the Doctor passed the days of his boyhood and youth and there he duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools, including the high school at Two Rivers. There- after he attended for two years an excellent private school at Mani- towoc, where he devoted special attention to the study of Latin and French, and in preparation for the work of his chosen profession he entered the dental department of the celebrated University of Michi- gan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1886, and from which he received his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Before entering the university he had received excellent preliminary training under the preceptorship of Dr. Andrew J. Patchen, who was at that time a leading dental practitioner at Manitowoc, and after his gradua- tion Dr. Banzhaf succeeded to the well established practice of Dr. Patchen. He continued in the successful practice of his profession at Manitowoc for sixteen years, and in the meantime became known as one of the most studious and progressive representatives of dental surgery in the state. In 1889 he was appointed a member of the state board of dental examiners, by Governor Scofield, and of this position he con- tinued the incumbent four years, during the last year of which period he was secretary of the board.
On the 1st of May, 1902, Dr. Banzhaf removed to Milwaukee, to accept the position of dean of the dental department of Milwaukee Medical College, in which he was also made professor of operative dentistry, a position which he still retains. He has wielded much influ- ence in the development of the dental department of this institution and has been unflagging in his efforts to advance the standards in the educational, and consequent practical, work of his profession. He has continuously given attention to the private practice of his profession. He resigned his position on the state board of dental examiners at the time of identifying himself with Milwaukee Medical College, and he has been dean of the dental department of Marquette University since October 1, 1906, his effective service in this fine Milwaukee institution having further enhanced his reputation as an educator and a dis- tinguished representative of his profession. He has been at all times a close student and in June, 1910, the degree of Bachelor of Science was consistently conferred upon him by Marquette University. Since 1909 Dr. Banzhaf has been secretary of the Dental Educational Coun- cil of America, the highest educational body of its kind in the United States, and he is also a member of its committee on legislation, besides serving as its treasurer. He is general manager of Trinity Hospital, Trinity Hospital Training School for Nurses, and of the school of pharmacy of Marquette University, as well as general manager and dean of the School of Dentistry of the latter institution.
Dr. Banzhaf is a member of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts and Letters; is a member and former president of the Wisconsin State
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Dental Society; and is prominently identified with the Milwaukee County Dental Society ; is a member of the Chicago Dental Society, the National Dental Association, the National Association of Dental Facul- ties, the National Association of Dental Pedagogics, and the Interna- tional Dental Federation.
In politics Dr. Banzhaf has been found staunchly arrayed as a supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and he and his wife are communicants of St. James' church, Protestant Episcopal, in their home city. The Doctor has served as vice-president of the Milwaukee Medical College and was active in the splendid movement that resulted in the founding of Marquette University. On the 18th of April, 1911, he was elected a member of the board of education of Milwaukee, and in this position he is showing characteristic zeal and loyalty, his term expiring on the 1st of July, 1917. He is past master of Manitowoc Lodge, No. 65, Free & Accepted Masons, at Manitowoc, and also of Damascus Lodge, No. 290, of Milwaukee. He is likewise affiliated with Manitowoc Chapter, No. 16, Royal Arch Masons, and Ivanhoe Com- mandery, No. 24, Knights Templar, in Milwaukee. He is affiliated actively with the Psi Omega dental fraternity, and in his home city holds membership in various social organizations of representative order. His home, known for its gracious hospitality, is at 876 Hackett avenue.
On the 5th of October, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Banzhaf to Miss Ida Schuette, who was born and reared at Manitowoc and who is a daughter of Fred and Laura (Kemper) Schuette, promi- nent and honored citizens of Manitowoc county. Mrs. Banzhaf acquired her early education in her native city and supplemented this by a course in the Milwaukee-Downer College. Dr. and Mrs. Banzhaf have two sons,-George Leo, who was born at Manitowoc, October 8, 1899, and Henry Frederick, who was born in Milwaukee on September 27, 1912.
JAMES BLAYNEY LEEDOM. Insurance is a line of business that in the last quarter of a century has rapidly grown in importance all over the world and especially in our own country. The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has a prominent and successful representative in this busi- ness in James Blayney Leedom, the senior member in the W. T. Durand- Leedom Agency, one of the largest insurance agencies of the city. Edu- cated for the law and with naturally keen business ability, Mr. Leedom has been a leading and forceful spirit in building up a very extensive business. He is also well known in this city through other business re- lations and public activities, and through his prominence in the Masonic Order.
James Blayney Leedom was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 27, 1874. His father, James Leedom, and his mother, Katherine A. (Blay- ney) Leedom, are both natives of Dublin, Ireland, but were married in Chicago, Illinois, though their acquaintanceship had begun in their
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uative land. Each emigrated to America when young, the Blayneys having settled in Chicago, while the Leedoms located in Milwaukee. James Leedom was credit man for Plankinton & Armour and for the Cudahy Brothers Company up to 1909, but after that retired on account of failing health, his death occurring in Milwaukee, May 9, 1913. He was for many years president of the Henry George Single Tax Club of Milwaukee, and a charter member of the Arion Musical Club. The religion of the family is Unitarian. Five of the nine chil- dren are still living, namely : James Blayney Leedom; Hampton B. Leedom; Mary E., at home; Mrs. George F. Bartlett, now of Denver, Colorado; and Elizabeth at home.
James Blayney Leedom was educated in the public schools of Mil- waukee, and after graduating became a student in the Milwaukee night law school, which has since been absorbed by the Marquette University. He completed the course and was admitted to the bar, receiving the degree of Doctor of Laws, as did all others who completed the pre- scribed course in that school, but he never practiced law. After a thorough training in an insurance office, he entered the insurance busi- ness as a partner of Francis T. Furlong, under the firm name of Fur- long and Leedom. Later Mr. Leedom bought his partner's interest and for some time conducted the business as the James B. Leedom Agency. At the death of W. T. Durand, another insurance man of Milwaukee, Mr. Leedom bought the Durand business and consolidated it with his own, taking as a partner at that time, George B. Miller. The firm then assumed the name of the W. T. Durand-Leedom Agency, and recently Hampton B. Leedom, a brother of James, joined the firm. They handle a general line of insurance, except life insurance, and represent ten fire insurance companies, being also general agents in the state of Wisconsin for the Royal Indemnity Company of New York, a liability and bonding company. Mr. Leedom is a director of the Milwaukee Board of Fire Writers, is president of the State Association of Wiscon- sin Fire Insurance Agents, and is one of the most alert and energetic men in the Wisconsin insurance field.
In political views he is aligned with the Democratic party, and in an official way has served one term in the city council from the Sixteenth Ward. He is one of Milwaukee's prominent Masons. In the York Rite he is affiliated with Lafayette Lodge, Calumet Chapter and Ivanhoe Commandery of Milwaukee, and in the Wisconsin Consistory of the city has attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish Rite Masonry. He is also a member of the Temple of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Leedom has membership in the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, and for social pleasure and recreation is affiliated with the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Blue Mound Country Club and the Milwaukee Club.
Vol. VII-20
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NORMAN L. JAMES. A resident of Richland county since 1855, a veteran of the Civil war, and for fully fifty years identified with the commercial and larger business and industrial developments of his section of the state Norman L. James has a career of such importance as to make the following brief sketch an appropriate page in this publication on the history and biographical annals of Wisconsin.
Norman L. James was born in New Hampshire, Nov. 29, 1840, a son of George H. and Lois E. (Hurd) James, the father a native of New Hampshire, and the mother born in Canada. The James family is of staunch old New England lineage, and its history goes back to the colonial times. George H. James, in 1855, brought his family west to Wisconsin, and on the second day of May, established his home at Richland Center. The family circle at that time consisted of three sons and one daughter. The senior James, who was a farmer and car- penter by occupation, became one of the early settlers in what was the village of Richland Center, and in the same year brought a large quantity of land in both Richland and Bad Axe (now Vernon) county. The early investment was in quantities of flour and groceries and for several years George H. James supplied a large community with that staple article. In 1962 a hardware business was started under his name, and was conducted by him until 1881, in which year he with- drew from active participation in affairs and lived a retired life until his death on July 29, 1894. He was almost fourscore years of age at the time of his death, having been born in New Hampshire Septem- ber 6, 1815. His political support was always strongly in favor of the Republican interests, and in the decade before the war and while a resident of New Hampshire he was one of the vigorous abolitionists, and his home was a station on the underground railroad. As a con- ductor on that unique line, he helped many a black man to his free- dom across the Canadian border. In politics he was a "Free Soiler" before the organization of the Republican party. His brother, Cap- tain Warren James, did important service in organizing troops for the Union army during the war. George H. James' wife was born July 11, 1815, and survived her husband nearly nine years, passing away May 29, 1901. Her father had taken an active part as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and fought at Bunker Hill. The children of George H. James and wife were as follows: Norman L., David G., William G., and Lizzie, the wife of George H. Strang. When the James family came to Richland county in 1855, the nearest railroad station was at Madison, and from that point they drove across the country with wagon and team and crossed the Wisconsin River on a ferry boat at Sauk City.
Prior to coming to Wisconsin Norman L. James had attended the public schools in his native state, and his education was then con- tinued for a time in Richland county. His practical career began at
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the age of eighteen, and while hard at work in earning a living he continued to better his mental training and equipment by attending private schools, and employing private instructors to assist him in his studies. In this way be was educated much better than the ordi- nary youth of Wisconsin in that day, and was qualified and taught school in the Brush Creek District during the winter of 1860-61. The following summer was spent in like manner, but the events during the early months of 1861 disclosed the fact that the nation was engaged in a tremendous struggle for existence and that the services of all the youth of the land were required for active military duty. Consequently, on October 12, 1861, Norman L. James enlisted at Maus- ton, Wisconsin, in Company F of the Sixteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He went in as a private and was with the command at Camp Randall until March 13, 1862, and arrived at Pittsburg Landing on March 20. The regiment was assigned to General Prentiss' Brigade and was at the front when the battle of Shiloh opened. Two days of fearful exposure seriously affected the health of Mr. James and he was sent to the hospital at Mound City, and from there invalided home in October, 1862, and discharged for disability.
On February 3, 1863, Mr. James entered into partnership with his father in the hardware business at Richland Center, under the firm name of E. H. & N. L. James. After the close of the war, his brother David G. was taken in as a partner and the firm was then continued under the title of G. H. and N. L. James & Company. Later the father retired and James Brothers continued the business until 1881. In that year Norman L. James disposed of his stock in the hardware business and opened a lumber yard and also operated a lumber mill. From that time his business was conducted on a large scale, and he transacted to furnish ties and bridge timbers to the St. Paul Railroad Company.
In the summer of 1875, a railroad company was organized in Rich- land Center, with George Krouskop as president, and Mr. James as general manager. This company was the Pine River & Stevens Point Railroad Company, organized for the purpose of constructing a line between Lone Rock and Richland Center. The work of construction was continued during the following year, and on the first day of July, 1876, the operation of trains was begun between Richland Center and Lone Rock. Mr. James managed the affairs of the road for two years, and then turned its management to J. W. Lybrand. In a short time the stockholders began to realize that they would never receive any dividends from the investment, and in 1880 they placed the road in the hands of Mr. James to be sold. He succeeded in disposing of the line to the St. Paul Company and got fifty cents on the dollar for all the stock of the original subscribers, to the construction of the line.
In the fall of 1899, the Kickapoo Valley Railroad was sold at pub-
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lie auction to pay the receiver's certificate, and the property was bid in by a capitalist and a company was organized with H. A. J. Upham of Milwaukee as president. Mr. James was elected general manager of the company with full power to operate and improve the same. After expending about ninety thousand dollars in addition to all the earnings, he finally succeeded for the first time in reducing the oper- ating expenses below the gross earnings. In March, 1903, Mr. James sold the road to the St. Paul Company, and retired from its manage- ment. He was content to know he had built up the industrial and com- mercial interests of the Kickapoo Valley, until it was a valuable property.
The career of Mr. James has brought him in contact and intimate association with many of the leaders in the state of Wisconsin, and he himself in ability and practical accomplishment has long been recognized as one of the ablest Wisconsin commercial men. Prior to the building of the railroad in Richland Center, in 1876, Mr. James took the contract to carry the mail between Lone Rock and Richland Center. He secured a relay of horses, and also established a freight express carrying system, his brother David G. being associated with him in that enterprise. They ran two teams each way daily, and also carried passengers, but that mode of travel and conveyance was of course rendered obsolete as soon as the railroad was completed.
One of the former enterprises of Mr. James was the management of a furniture factory at Richland center. This factory had come into his hands as a result of a failure in business on the part of its former proprietor. Mr. James shipped furniture by boats and rafts to Burlington, Iowa, and he also used the river to float his railroad ties during the early days. At the present time his business interests are concentrated in the lumber yard and sawmill at Richland Center. There are many things that may be credited to Mr. James' commercial initiative and enterprise. He brought the first creamery to Richland county in 1878, establishing it in Bear Valley, and in 1884 introduc- ing the first centrifugal separator in the state of Wisconsin at Rich- land Center. Mr. James is the owner of a farm of more than five hundred acres, and also owns a place within the city limits. Farming and every venture which he has undertaken has proved profitable, and he well deserves a position among the leaders in Wisconsin busi- ness interests.
Mr. James has long been an active Republican, has filled offices of public trust and responsibility, was a member of the county board of supervisors and chairman of the body, served in the state assembly in 1873 and again in 1875, was state senator from his district, during 1885-87, and in 1880 a delegate to the Republican National Convention.
On September 11, 1865, Mr. James married Miss Georgia Lane, who was born in New York City and came to Richland Center with her
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parents. Her father for some years before coming to Wisconsin had been engaged in business in New York City. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. James were born four children, as follows: Eva L., born October 11, 1866, is the wife of E. B. Clark a prominent banker and lumberman in Montana; Harry L., born in May, 1868, is a captain on the retired list of the regular army, who saw active service in the Spanish-American War, with the rank of lieutenant, and has also been in the Philippines. One child, Lois, was born September 19, 1894 by the marriage of Captain Harry L. James. Norman L., Jr., born in 1881, has charge of a part of the lumber business at Richland Center. Mabel L., born in 1887 is now the wife of R. B. Pierce of Richland Center. They have one child, Jean, born in May, 1913.
Mr. James took his first degrees in Masonry in the Lodge at Rich- land Center in 1868. In 1873 he took the Royal Arch degrees, and the Commandery Degrees at Madison, and in 1893 came the Thirty- second degree of the Scottish Rite and joined the Wisconsin consistory at Milwaukee. He is also affiliated with Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Milwaukee, is a life member of the Mystic Shrine, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
GEORGE R. ERNST, M. D. A physician of attainment, Dr. Ernst is to be consistently designated as one of the talented representatives of the medical profession in his native state, even as he is a member of a family whose name has been prominently identified with the history of this commonwealth for nearly half a century. His father, Professor August F. Ernst, has long been one of the most influential and honored figures in the Wisconsin field of education, and he still holds the im- portant office of president of Northwestern College, at Watertown, of which institution he has been the executive head for many years and in the upbuilding of which he has been a dominating and resourceful factor, the title of the institution having within recent years been changed to its present form. It was long known as Northwestern University and the alteration of its name was made principally to avoid misconstruction and confusion, owing to the fact that at Evanston, Illinois, is situated the great Methodist institution long bearing the title of Northwestern University.
Professor August F. Ernst is widely known as a man of fine scholar- ship and gentle and noble character. He is an ordained clergyman of the Lutheran church, under the auspices of which Northwestern Col- lege is maintained, and his administrative ability has proved on a par- ity with his high intellectual attainments and earnest devotion to re- ligious and educational work. Professor Ernst was born in the king- dom of Hanover, Germany, on the 25th of June, 1841, and is a scion of one of the prominent old families of that section of the great German empire. He was reared under most auspicious conditions and influences
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and thus received the best of educational advantages, including those of the colleges in the city of Celle and of the celebrated University of Gottingen. After leaving the university Professor Ernst devoted one year to teaching in the schools of his native land, and in 1863, as a young man of twenty-two years, he came to the United States and established his residence in the city of New York, where he engaged in ministerial work, as a zealous and devoted member of the Lutheran church. In 1864 he was formally ordained, at Pottstown, Pennsyl- vania, and he thereafter continued his earnest service as a clergyman in the national metropolis until 1868, after which he held for ten months a pastoral charge at Albany, New York. He was then called to Wisconsin to become a member of the faculty of Northwestern Uni- versity, at Watertown, and shortly after his arrival he was elected president of the institution, over the destinies of which he has pre- sided. with all of zeal and devotion, during the long intervening years. He is well known throughout the state and has the affectionate esteem of all who have come within the sphere of his benignant influence. He has long been influential in connection with educational work in Wisconsin and also in the affairs of the Lutheran church. As a citizen he has exemplified the utmost loyalty and public spirit and has been a staunch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party, in which he was specially active as a worker in the Bennett Campaign.
In New York city, on the 7th of January, 1868, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Ernst to Miss Agnes Hartwig, who was born in Germany and who was but two years of age at the time of her parents' emigration to America, the family home being established in New York city, where Mrs. Ernst was reared and educated. This noble and revered woman, loved by all who knew her, was summoned to the life eternal, at Watertown, in 1909, and of the eleven children, six sons and three daughters survive the devoted mother, the firstborn of the children being Dr. Ernst, to whom this sketch is dedicated.
Dr. George R. Ernst was signally favored in being reared in a home of distinctive culture and refinement and he naturally availed him- self of the advantages of the excellent institution of which his father was and remains president. He was graduated in Northwestern Uni- versity (now College) as a member of the class of 1888 and received therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In his scholarship and char- acter he has well upheld the high prestige of the name which he bears and that he has attained to distinction in other domains than that of his profession is shown by the fact that as a youth he was appointed United States consul to the city of Reichenberg, Austria, where he served during the second administration of President Cleveland. He retained this consular post four years and after his return to America he entered with characteristic vigor upon the work of preparing him- self for his chosen profession, which he has significantly dignified and
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honored by his character and services. He entered the celebrated Rush Medical College, in the city of Chicago, and in the same he was grad- uated as a member of the class of 1901, with the well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the ensuing year he devoted his atten- tion to the general practice of his profession in Milwaukee, and he then, in the autumn of 1902, returned to Europe, for the purpose of forti- fying himself further in his chosen vocation. He pursued most effect- ive post-graduate study in Middlesex Hospital until 1904 and in that year was made a licentiate in the Royal College of Physicians and a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Realizing the definite con- sistency of concentration of effort and study in the profession of medi- cine and surgery, Dr. Ernst devoted himself assiduously to study and investigation concerning the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, and in prosecuting his work along this line he passed three years under the distinguished preceptorship of Dr. Carl Spangler, of Davos, Swit- zerland, after which he continued his studies in Zurich, Switzerland, and later assumed the position of assistant polyclynic at the Univer- sity of Munich, where he did effective work and also gained valuable experience.
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