USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 37
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
In 1911 Dr. Ernst returned to his native land and he has since been engaged in active practice in Milwaukee. He devotes his atten- tion specially to treatment of diseases of the respiratory organs and is a recognized authority in connection with the most advanced methods for the prevention and treatment of tuberculosis. Since 1910 he has held the position of superintendent of tuberculosis in the health depart- ment of Milwaukee, and he is a valued member of the city's board of health, hesides which he has active charge of the Blue Mound Sana- torium, devoted to the treatment of tuberculosis. He is a member of the faculty of the medical department of Marquette University, in Milwaukee, in which he now gives regular courses of lectures on dis- eases of the respiratory organs, the special field in which he has gained marked distinction and high reputation. He is actively identified with the American Medical Association, the Wisconsin State Medical Society, and the Milwaukee County Medical Society. He is the only physician in Wisconsin to have received the degrees of Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, and the only member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, who lives in Wisconsin. He is a member of the City Club, and a member of its health committee.
Dr. Ernst was born at Watertown, Jefferson county, Wisconsin, on the 15th of October, 1869, and thus is in the very zenith of his powers as a broad-minded and loyal citizen and as one of the essentially representative physicians of his native state. He maintains his office in the Majestic building and his residence at 270 Twentieth street.
2060
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
JOHN C. COLEMAN. In the year 1855, the late John Crapser Cole- man established his home in Milwaukee county. He developed a fine farm and large orchard a short distance south of the city of Milwau- kee and became a prominent factor in the agricultural and horticultural industries of this section of the state of Wisconsin. The imposing brick mansion was originally the homestead of Mrs. Coleman's par- ents, who settled here in 1844, and who continued to live with Mr. and Mrs. Coleman for the remainder of their lives.
In addition to his agricultural interests, Mr. Coleman was at vari- ous times more or less directly interested in important business enter- prises, and in all that stands for loyal and progressive citizenhip he was a resourceful and influential factor. His life was guided and gov- erned by the loftiest principles of integrity and honor. He was a man of broad intellectuality and strongly religious temperament, and his generous and sympathetic nature manifested itself in kindly words and kindly deeds. He was tolerant in his judgments of men and strove at all times to live up to his high ideals of personal stewardship. He held the unqualified confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life, and the world is better for his having lived. His name and memory will long be cherished and honored in the city that was his home and the center of his interests for the long period of two score years. His death occurred at Milwau- kee on the 28th of May, 1896, about two months prior to his seventy- eighth birthday anniversary.
Mr. Coleman was born July 28, 1819, at Newton, Sussex county, New Jersey, where his parents were temporarily residing. He was a son of William and Ann (Conklin) Coleman, and both his paternal and maternal ancestors, of stanch English lineage, established their residence in America in the early colonial epoch of our country's his- tory. The original progenitors of the Coleman family in America set- tled at Gloucester, Essex county, Massachusetts, but in the latter half of the seventeenth century, representatives of the family were num- bered among the early settlers of Southold, Long Island, and later in Orange county, New York. In that county, near the village of Florida, William Coleman, the father of the subject of this memoir, was pro- prietor of a carding mill. This he later converted into a flouring mill, to the operation of which he thereafter devoted his attention until his death in 1850, his wife surviving him by a number of years. She was a daughter of Nathaniel and Margaret (Bradner) Conklin, early set- tlers at Goshen, Orange county, New York.
John C. Coleman was one of a family of nine children. While he was still a young child, his parents were persuaded to allow him to be taken into the family of a Mr. Crapser, an old friend of the family in New York City, and it was here that he received his early schooling. He was a very delicate child and a few years later was taken into the
2061
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
pine woods of St. Lawrence county, New York, where Mr. Crapser was conducting logging and lumbering operations along the St. Lawrence river. The boy became a great favorite in the lumber camps and the free outdoor life and such active work as he was able to do, completely establish his health. He continued to be identified with the lumbering industry in that section of the Empire state for several years, during which time he also had the opportunity of attending school. Through self-discipline, appreciative reading and active association with men and affairs, he eventually rounded out a symmetrical education and became a man of broad and accurate information. Finally Mr. Cole- man established himself in the lumber business at Montreal, Canada, as a member of the firm of Sims & Coleman. On the 28th of July, 1851, he married Miss Ellen R. LeFevre, daughter of Rev. Clement F. Le- Fevre, an honored pioneer and distinguished clergyman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin., Thereafter he and his wife continued to reside in Mon- treal until 1853, when they removed to the city of New York, where Mr. Coleman was associated with his brother in the brokerage business until 1855. He then decided to come to the west, and accordingly located in Milwaukee, he and his wife taking up their abode at Hazel- wood, the fine large home estate of the latter's parents. Soon thereafter Mr. Coleman purchased additional land from his neighbor, Dr. Enoch Chase, and for many years thereafter as above stated, he was here engaged in farming and fruit raising.
The growth of Milwaukee early resulted in the farm being em- braced within the corporate limits of the city and on account of the rapid increase of population, Mr. Coleman finally found it necessary to abate his enterprise as an agriculturist.
In 1870 Mr. Coleman enlarged and remodeled the old homestead, which is still one of the landmarks and points of historic interest in Mil- ยท waukee, and there he continued to reside until his death. In 1890 and again in 1900, the city purchased wooded portions of "Hazelwood" for park purposes, the aggregate area of the land thus acquired being thirty-six acres. This land has been converted into one of the most attractive public parks in Milwaukee, known as Kosciusko Park. The remainder of the farm, except the dock frontage on the Kinnickinnic river, has been platted into building lots under the names of "Cole- man's Subdivision" and "Hazelwood Subdivision" and is now sub- stantially built up with attractive residences. The original home- stead, facing First Avenue, with a sufficient plot of ground, is now the settlement house of the University of Wisconsin Settlement Asso- ciation, which is conducting most effective benevolent and educational work in that section of the city.
In politics Mr. Coleman was a stanch supporter of the Republican party, from the time of its organization until his death.
It has already been noted that on the 28th of July, 1851, Mr. Cole-
2062
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
man was united in marriage to Miss Ellen R. LeFevre, concerning whose family history adequate data appear in the memoir dedicated to her honored father, the late Rev. Clement F. LeFevre, D. D., on other pages of this work. Mrs. Coleman was born at Sherbrooke, Canada, on the 7th of February, 1823, so that she will celebrate her ninetieth birth- day anniversary on the corresponding date in 1913. Though venerable in years, she retains her mental faculties unimpaired and enjoys good physical health, and none of the pioneer women still residing in Mil- waukee is held in more loving esteem than she. With her two daugh- ters, Misses Mary E. and Nellie L. Coleman, she still resides in Mil- waukee, and the city is endeared to her by the hallowed memories and associations of many years, as she has resided here the greater part of the time since her girlhood days.
Three sons also survive the honored father: Clement LeFevre Cole- man, who is now a prominent and influential resident of Fairhope, Alabama; John George Coleman, who still resides in Milwaukee, and for upwards of twenty-five years was prominently identified with the business interests of the city as secretary and treasurer of the Wiscon- sin Malleable Iron Company; and Theodore Lincoln Coleman, of this city, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this publi- cation.
THEODORE L. COLEMAN. On the first anniversary of the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States, Theodore L. Coleman was born, November 5, 1861. To this circumstance and to the further fact that his father was an ardent supporter of the Presi- dent and of the northern cause, he is indebted for his middle name. The place of his birth was the old family homestead "Hazelwood" on the southern limits of the city of Milwaukee in what is now the eighth ward of said city. Elsewhere in this publication are given memorials to his father, the late John C. Coleman, and to his maternal grand- father, the late Rev. Clement F. LeFevre, D. D., and it is, therefore, unnecessary to further review his family history in this article.
Mr. Coleman was fortunate in being born and reared in the coun- try and to have enjoyed many of the advantages of rural life. He was the youngest of five children, who, together with their parents and maternal grandparents, made up a large family, in the midst of which he was surrounded with the most wholesome influences of home life. The first few years of his schooling were obtained at "The Little Red School House" in the town of Lake, which stood where now Lincoln avenue is intersected by Eighth avenue, but which has long since been engulfed by the southward march of the city. Mr. Cole- man completed his education in the public schools of his native city and was graduated from the high school as a member of the class of 1879.
2063
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Shortly thereafter he obtained a position as shipping clerk in the establishment of the Wisconsin Malleable Iron Company. Here his efficient services and loyalty to the interests of his employers were re- warded by gradual advancement, and after several years he became the vice-president of this important industrial corporation. This office he retained until 1892, when he resigned to take up the study of law, beginning his legal studies in the office of that able and highly esteemed member of the legal profession, the late Judge George E. Sutherland of Milwaukee.
In the fall of that year he entered the Law College of the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, as a member of the class of 1895. During the fol- lowing year he resumed his work with Judge Sutherland and on Decem- ber 31, 1895, was admitted to the bar. Since that time he has been engaged in practice in Milwaukee, devoting his attention principally to the management of properties and estates for a limited number of clients. As legal representatives and supervisor of important interests in this line he finds ample demand upon his time and attention.
In politics Mr. Coleman has always been a supporter of the prin- ciples of the Republican party and as a citizen he is essentially progres- sive and public-spirited.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are prominent members of the Plym- outh Congregational church, as a member of whose Board of Trustees Mr. Coleman has served a number of terms. He is at present, 1912, treasurer of that board and chairman of the Board of Deacons.
On June 10, 1896, at Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Coleman was united in marriage to Miss Grace Pier Smith, who with her family had re- moved from Milwaukee to that city a short time before. Mrs. Coleman is a daughter of Lewis and Fannie (Stevens) Smith and was born at Fox Lake, Wisconsin, where her parents were then residing. Mrs. Smith is still living and makes her home with her daughter. The family residence is at No. 552 Lake Drive.
Mr. and Mrs. Coleman have three children: Ruth Stevens, Philip LeFevre and Margaret Pier, all of whom were born in Milwaukee.
CHARLES H. WATSON. One of Wisconsin's ablest insurance men was the late Charles H. Watson, who during the greater part of his career was identified with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, and who at the time of his death on April 14, 1906, was secretary of the company. To attain such a position in such an organization requires exceptional ability in handling the large de- tails and infinity of business relations of such a- company, and also has at its foundation the confidence of all his associates.
The late Charles H. Watson was born at Newark, New Jersey, April 22, 1843, and was two years of age when the family came to Milwaukee. Matthew Watson, his father was a native of England, and
2064
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
came west to Milwaukee in 1845. In this city the son grew up and attended public schools and later graduated from the Michigan State Agricultural College at Lansing. On graduating from college he en- tered the law office of Emmons and Van Dyke, and after his studies there was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-three years. He practiced law only a short time and then entered the service of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Beginning as a clerk he was advanced to the position of bookkeeper, then in September, 1889, became assistant secretary, and for many years had the practical man- agement of all the secretarial duties until July, 1905, at which time Secretary Skinner became second vice-president of the corporation and Mr. Watson succeeded him as secretary. He took over the affairs of the office with a ripe experience gained by seventeen years of hand- ling practically all the duties of the place, and both before and after his work proved to the highest degree satisfactory to all the officials of the company.
Of Secretary Watson, Mr. Skinner, with whom he had been so closely related in association for many years, said: "Too much can- not be said of Mr. Watson, as he was a man of the very highest type. He was most proficient in his line of business; in every way responsible and reliable, and at the same time a man of the highest sense of honor and manliness."
Mr. Watson on June 26, 1873, married Josephine M. Bailey. Their children were: Charles Harry; Dr. Frank H., who died December 15, 1909; Roy Stuart, and Miriam.
ROCKWELL J. FLINT. Among the noteworthy men of Wisconsin who "have come down to us from a former generation," there is one who still remains on the "firing line" and continues to exert a forceful influence in public affairs regardless of the flight of time. This vener- able youth is R. J. Flint, of Menomonie, who is now serving his second term as United States Marshal for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Rockwell Joseph Flint, only son of Joseph Flint, Jr., and Lora A. (Fuller) Flint, was born in Williamstown, Vermont, March 23, 1842. His earliest ancestor in this country was Thomas Flint, who came from Wales in 1640 and settled near Salem, Massachusetts.
In 1846, the family moved to New Haven Mills, Vt., where Joseph Flint, Jr., engaged in the manufacture of carriages and sleighs in partnership with his brother, Samuel B. Flint. When the news of the discovery of gold in California spread like wild fire over the country, Joseph Flint, Jr., joined the Argonauts of 1850 and made the long journey to the New Eldorado by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He spent a year working his claim in the placer mines on Feather river, when his health failed and, returning home, he died in June, 1852. Two years later the widowed mother married Samuel B. Flint and the
R& Fluit
2065
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
family moved to Wisconsin in 1855. They settled on a farm in the town of Buffalo, Marquette county and for five years the subject of this sketch had the full measure of experience of a farmer boy in a new country. Game was plentiful and hunting and fishing were his most attractive pastimes to break the monotony of work on the farm. Indians were numerous in those early days, but they were friendly and he found playmates among the Indian boys in the band of Potta- wotomies that camped on Grand river near his father's farm. By this intimate association with these children of nature, he acquired a knowledge and insight of Indian character that made him a friend of the race and proved of great value when he was called to deal with them, many years after, as a government commissioner.
Mr. Flint received his education in the common schools and that "poor boy's college"-the country printing office. His first introduc- tion to the "art preservative" was in the office of The Independent, a weekly newspaper published at Portage by J. C. Chandler, an eccen- tric humorist, known throughout the state by the sobriquet, "Shang- hai." While attending school in Portage, he met Mr. Chandler and this acquaintance opened the "door of opportunity" to the farmer lad to work in the printing office after school hours. Returning to the farm at the close of the term, the lure of the type and press grew stronger with the passing years and in April, 1861, he entered the office of the Wisconsin State Register at Portage, published by Brannan & Turner, to serve an apprenticeship of three years at the printer's trade.
The Civil war came on and the great struggle to preserve the Union was the absorbing issue of that exciting period. Thousands of boys in blue were mustering on the tented field and in response to the call of President Lincoln for "three hundred thousand more," Mr. Flint enlisted August 6th, 1862, as a private in Company C, Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry for three years, or during the war. His regiment was assigned to Burbridge's brigade, Gen. A. J. Smith's division, Thir- teenth Army Corps. He participated in Gen. Sherman's attack on Vicksburg at Chickasaw bayou and the capture of Fort Hindman at Arkansas Post January 11, 1863, where 5000 prisoners were taken.
During the siege of Vicksburg, Mr. Flint was transferred to the Signal Corps, U. S. A. and sent to the signal camp of instruction at Memphis, Tenn. He was promoted to Sergeant in the Signal Corps in October, 1863, and was transferred to the Department of the Gulf where he remained in active service until the close of the war, receiv- ing an honorable discharge from the army at New Orleans, Louisiana, July 4th, 1865.
The war was now over and Mr. Flint returned to the State Register office to finish his trade. In November, 1868, he formed a partnership with Edwin H. Weber and bought the Prescott Journal of
2066
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
Lute A. Taylor and the firm of Flint & Weber published the paper until the plant was destroyed by fire in June, 1871. It was then deemed advisable, for business reasons, to seek a new field. The fol- lowing August they bought the Dunn County News at Menomonie, and the firm continued its publication for twenty-seven years. This mutually agreeable partnership was dissolved by the death of Mr. Weber in January, 1898. During his illness Mr. Weber transferred his interest in the business to Mr. Flint and he remained the sole owner until November, 1901, when Fred F. Morgan was admitted to partner- ship under the firm name of Flint & Morgan and in 1906, Joseph T. Flint became a member of the firm. Mr. Morgan died in February, 1908. During the same month, Mr. Flint was appointed United States Marshal by President Roosevelt. The position requiring his official residence at Madison, it was deemed advisable to part with the old "family paper" with which he had been closely associated for thirty- seven years. The News was accordingly sold to W. R. Hotchkiss, June 1, 1908, and Mr. Flint thereby was enabled to devote his entire time to the discharge of his official duties.
In politics Mr. Flint is a Republican and has been an earnest advocate of the principles and policies of that party. During his long career as a newspaper man, he was always interested in public affairs and has held many positions of trust. He was Member of Assembly in 1875; state senator in 1876-7 and again in 1882-3. For eight years he was chairman of the county board of supervisors and under his administration the Dunn county asylum for the chronic insane was erected and put in successful operation. In 1889 President Harrison appointed him member of a commission authorized to purchase a large section of the Crow Indian reservation in Montana that required the expenditure of nearly a million dollars. He was also appointed a member of the Chippewa Indian Commission at White Earth, Minn., in 1892, and served nearly two years. In 1894 he was elected Mayor of Menomonie and re-elected for a second term, during which the sew- age system of the city was installed. He received the appointment of United States Marshal from President Roosevelt in 1908 and was reappointed for a second term in 1912 by President Taft.
Mr. Flint was united in marriage to Miss Alice Prentice at Portage, Wisconsin, November 9, 1871. She is a daughter of Dr. James Pren- tice and Emily (Bonney) Prentice and was born in the surgeon's quar- ters of old Fort Winnebago, near Portage, December 7, 1851. Dr. Prentice was one of the pioneer physicians and surgeons of Columbia county and served in the Civil war as surgeon of the Twenty-third Wisconsin Infantry with the rank of Major. Four children were born of this union,-Anna Katherine, James Prentice, Fred Rockwell and Joseph Turner, all of whom are living.
In addition to his other activities, Mr. Flint for many years has
2067
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
been identified with several fraternal and benevolent societies. He was made a Mason in Fort Winnebago Lodge, No. 33, A. F. & A. M. at Portage in 1866, and has been a member of Menomonie Lodge, No. 164, for more than forty years, serving several terms as Master. He received the chapter degrees in Fort Winnebago Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M. in 1867, and is now affiliated with Menomonie Chapter, No. 53, of which he is a charter member and was its first high priest. In 1869 he was created a Knight Templar in Fort Winnebago Command- ery No. 4, K. T. The Council degrees were conferred on him at Madison in 1876 and he was elected grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of Wisconsin in 1890. In all these Masonic bodies he has been an active and zealous craftsman. Mr. Flint is also a member of Eau Claire Lodge, No. 402, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
His strong attachment to his old comrades who fought for the preservation of the Union in the Civil war is manifest in his loyal support of the Grand Army of the Republic and its auxiliary societies. He is affiliated with William Evans Post No. 58, G. A. R., at Menom- onie, of which he is a charter member and served as its first com- mander.
In the realm of religion Mr. Flint may be considered a liberal. He took an active part in the organization of the First Unitarian Society of Menomonie nearly thirty years ago and in which he still retains his membership. He is also one of the trustees of the Mabel Tainter Memorial Library Association who have in charge the splendid free library at Menomonie, which was erected, furnished and liberally endowed by the pioneer lumberman, Capt. Andrew Tainter. A unique feature of this library is that its service is free to all the people of Dunn county.
Such, in brief, is the meager outline of a busy life. It is the story of a born optimist whose faith in the future rests on the solid ground of past experience, covering a period of nearly sixty years in the growth and development of the commonwealth from pioneer days to the present time.
BERNHARD LEIDERSDORF. He to whom this memoir is dedicated long held a place of prominence as one of the representative wholesale to- bacco merchants of Milwaukee, where he established his home more than half a century ago and where he became an honored and influ- ential factor in connection with the civic and business activities of the community. He was one of the sterling pioneers of the South side of the Wisconsin metropolis, and his eharacter and achievement gave him an inviolable hold upon the esteem and good will of all who knew him. He was most loyal to the land of his adoption and was known
2068
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN
as a liberal and public-spirited citizen, so that there is all of consistency in according in this volume a tribute to his memory.
Mr. Leidersdorf was born in the town of Peine, province of Han- over, Germany, on the 9th of February, 1837, and thus he was seventy- five years of age at the time of his death which occurred at his home, 779 National avenue, Milwaukee, on the 2d of September, 1912. He was for many years one of the well known and substantial business men of Milwaukee, where he established his residence when a young man and where he won definite success and prosperity through his own ability and well directed efforts. In his native land Mr. Leiders- dorf received excellent educational advantages, including instruction in the English language, which he could speak with considerable fluency at the time of his arrival in America. In 1858, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, Mr. Leidersdorf severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland and emigrated to the United States, where he was assured of better opportunities for the winning of independence through personal endeavor. For two months after his arrival in the city of New York he there found employment in a leading dry goods house, and he then set forth for Wisconsin, where many of his country- men had located, the German element having been one of the most valued and influential in connection with the social and material de- velopment and upbuilding of this state. He arrived in Milwaukee on the 17th of May, 1858, and for a few months he was employed as salesman for the firm of Strohn & Reitzenstein, pioneer cigar manufac- turers of the city, with headquarters at the corner of East Water and Chicago streets. Mr. Leidersdorf had the prescience to appreciate the future possibilities of this line of enterprise and his ambition and energy soon found the means to the desired end, that of establishing himself in an independent business. Without waiting the prescribed four years demanded by apprenticeship to the trade of cigarmaking, he formed a partnership with Henry Helmholz, and the new enterprise was instituted on the 26th of September, 1858, under the firm name of Helmholz & Leidersdorf. Mr. Leidersdorf had gained practical ex- perience during his connection with the firm previously mentioned, and in establishing a modest wholesale and retail tobacco business he placed this experience and his excellent business ability against the capital supplied by his partner, operations having been instituted on a financial investment of only seven hundred dollars. The firm estab- lished headquarters in a building at the corner of Reed and Lake streets and in the upbuilding of the enterprise were put forth the best energies and discrimination of the interested principals. During the period of the Civil war the firm made large purchases of tobacco and through the sale and manufacture of the same they realized substantial profits, the close of the war finding them with a net capital of ten thousand dollars. In 1860 removal was made to a place near the pres-
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.