USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 40
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resentative of an honored pioneer family of Wisconsin. Five children were born to Samuel R. and Harriet Webster and concerning them the following brief data are given: Winifred is the wife of Alfred H. Proc- tor, of Columbus, Columbia county ; Ralph C. remains on the old home- stead farm and has the general supervision of its work; Harold C., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Edwin C. is an electrician and is in the employ of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Com- pany ; James A. is associated in the work and management of the home farm. All of the children were afforded the advantages of the high school at Columbus; Ralph C. completed a course in agriculture in the University of Wisconsin ; and the only daughter rounded out her early education by a course in the State Normal School in Milwaukee.
Harold C. Webster is indebted to the district schools of his native county for his rudimentary education, and after a course in the high school at Columbus, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1903, he devoted three years to earnest and appreciative study of civil engineering in the University of Wisconsin, where he admirably fortified himself for the practical work of his chosen profession. Soon after leaving the university he was sent to South Dakota, in the service of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, and after there devoting eight months to effective work along the line of his profession he went to the northern peninsula of Michigan, as a member of an engineer corps retained by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Company. There he continued in the service of this company, with vary- ing interims, until 1908, when he married and established his home in Milwaukee, where he entered the employ of the Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company, for which he served as civil engineer for a period of eighteen months. Thereafter he passed about eight months in the upper peninsula of Michigan, where he again did important civil- engineering work for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and upon his return to Milwaukee he established himself in an independent business as a civil engineer, by forming a partnership with Harry B. Kamschulte, with whom he has since been most effectively associated, under the firm name of Kamschulte & Webster. This alliance was formed in January, 1910, and the firm has been most successful in its operations, covering civil and architectural engineering, in which lines it has gained a high reputation. Mr. Webster is a trustee of the Badger Railway & Light Company, of which his partner is president, and con- cerning this corporation more specific mention is made in the sketch dedicated to Mr. Kamschulte on other pages of this work. On the 4th of November, 1912, Mr. Webster was elected county surveyor of Mil- waukee county, a merited tribute to his technical ability and personal integrity, and he assumed the duties of this office in January, 1913, for a term of two years. In politics he is found arrayed as a staunch sup- porter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party
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stands sponsor ; he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational church; and he is affiliated with Damascus Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons, in Milwaukee. In 1903-4, after his graduation in the high school, Mr. Webster taught one year in a district school near Grand Rapids, this state, and his wife likewise was a popular teacher for some time.
At Darlington, the judicial center of Lafayette county, this state, on the 29th of August, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Web- ster to Miss Eula Blaisdell, who was born in that attractive little city, where she attended the public schools until she had completed the cur- riculum of the high school, after which she was a student in the Univer- sity of Wisconsin for one year, this discipline being supplemented by two years in Stout Institute, at Menominie, Wisconsin, in which institution she was graduated as a member of the class of 1908, a few weeks prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Webster have two children, Dorothy Jane and Donald William, both of whom were born in Milwaukee.
JAMES H. DERSE. A native son of Wisconsin who has given further prestige to a name that has been identified with the history of this state since the early pioneer epoch, is James Henry Derse, of Milwaukee, who has marked for himself a high place in connection with educational affairs in Wisconsin and who attained to admirable precedence in the pedagogic profession, of which he was a prominent and honored repre- sentative for many years. He is a man of high intellectual attainments, his character is the positive expression of a strong and loyal nature, and he has a host of friends in the state that has ever been his home and the stage of his well ordered endeavors. He is now one of the successful and popular representatives in the agency field of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee; is a valued member of the board of education of the Wisconsin metropolis; and is a citizen whose character and services well entitle him to recognition in this pub- lication, aside from his being a scion of one of the honored pioneer fam- ilies of the state.
Mr. Derse was born on the old homestead farm of his father, near the little village of Alderly, Dodge county, Wisconsin, and the date of his nativity was February 19, 1862. He is a son of Anthony and Cath- erine (Hambert) Derse, the former of whom was born in the city of Paris, France, and the latter in the historic old city of Strasburg, in the province of Alsace-Lorraine, which was wrested from France in the Franco-Prussian war. The marriage of the parents was solemnized in their native land and not long after this important event in their lives they immigrated to America, the voyage being made on one of the old- time sailing vessels and being thirteen weeks in duration. They landed in the port of New York city and thence set forth for the west, contin- uing their journey by way of the Great Lakes. Their welcome to their adopted land can not be considered as being of specially grateful order,
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as the vessel on which they took passage in coming to the west was wrecked on Lake Huron, this disaster having been caused by the spring- ing of a leak in the ship. With other passengers they escaped in life- boats, and the year 1841 marked their arrival in Milwaukee, which was then little more than a village, Wisconsin having not been admitted to statehood until 1848. After having lost all ther worldy possessions in the shipwreck, they retained their ambition and indomitable courage, both of which were put to severe test in connection with the hardships and other trials incident to pioneer life on the frontier of civilization. Anthony Derse was a man of fine scholarship, as he had been a student in the University of Paris for eight years, besides which he served seven full years in the French army, so that the change was of most radical order when he established his home in the wilds of Wisconsin Territory. He secured a tract of timbered land in Ashippun township, Dodge county, where he reclaimed a productive farm from the wilderness and became a citizen of prominence and influence in the pioneer community. Though of high intellectual attainments and refined tastes, he assimilated thoroughly with the conditions and life of the new home and he ever found unequivocal pleasure and satisfaction in his active association with the great basic industries of agriculture and stock-growing, through the medium of which he gained definite success and independence, the while he held inviolable place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He became the owner of half a section of land in the township noted, and it is worthy of note that the property which he thus purchased for an average of about $1.50 an acre is today valued at $150.00 an acre. He kept pace with and assisted in the march of development and progress and was long numbered among the representative agricultur- ists and stock growers of Dodge county. In the later years of opulent prosperity both he and his wife delighted in offering graphic tales con- cerning conditions and incidents of the early pioneer days, when wild animals were a constant menace to the domestic livestock and when the Indians were much in evidence. There were no railroads and the nearest market place of importance was Milwaukee, from which embry- onic city Mr. Derse on one occasion carried to his home in Dodge county a five-pail iron kettle, the long and weary journey having been made on foot and through a virtual forest-wilderness. On another occasion his wife was milking a cow, when the animal suddenly took fright and ran away, the cause having been the clumsy approach of a large black bear. Anthony Derse was well equipped for leadership in thought and action and was influential in the civic and industrial development of Dodge county, where he took a deep interest in educational matters and public affairs of a local order, his political allegiance having been given to the Democratic party and he and his family having been devout communi- cants of St. Catherine's Catholic church at Mapleton, just across the line in Waukesha county. Both Anthony Derse and his wife continued to
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maintain their home in Dodge county until their death, he having been summoned to the life eternal in 1895, at the age of seventy-nine years, and she having passed away in 1897, at the age of seventy-eight years. Their mortal remains rest in the cemetery near their old homestead and the names of both merit enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of the great state in which they established their home in the territorial days. They became the parents of eleven sons and one daugh- ter, all of whom are living except two sons, the subject of this review having been the tenth in order of birth.
James H. Derse was reared to the sturdy and invigorating discipline of the farm and after duly profiting by the advantages of the public schools of his native county he continued his studies in the high school at Oconomowoc. In pursuance of higher educational discipline he en- tered the Whitewater Normal School, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1885. In his childhood and youth he was also for- tunate in having the environment and influences of a home of significant culture and refinement. After his graduation Mr. Derse taught for one year in the district schools of Milwaukee county, and his success in this initial period of pedagogic work augured for his advancement and greater prestige. For six years he served as superintendent and prin- cipal of the graded schools of Horicon, Dodge county, after which he held for nine years a similar preferment at Black River Falls, Jackson county. In the meanwhile he had gained high reputation as one of the earnest, able and popular factors in educational service in his native state and had been called upon to do work as conductor of various state teachers' institutes, in which field his success was on a parity with that which he gained in the more generic activities of the pedagogie pro- fession. He is well known in educational circles throughout Wisconsin, and is honored as a man of Sterling character and ripe scholarship, with naught of intellectual bigotry or intolerance, but imbued with a definite desire to be of service to his fellow men and to encourage and aid the aspiring young folk in their efforts to broaden their mental ken.
In the year 1900 Mr. Derse established his home in Milwaukee, where he has since been a valued representative of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, for which he is a special agent, with offices at 202 Wells building. As a solicitor he has brought to bear the same enthusiasm and zeal that conserved his marked success as an educator, and he has found his new field of endeavor most gratifying in opportunity and most substantial in its rewards for service rendered. He has accom- plished most successful work for the great insurance company with which he is identified and has shown marked initiative and executive ability. In the spring of 1911, in opposition to his own wishes, Mr. Derse was elected a member of the board of education of Milwaukee county, where his wide circle of friends recognized his special eligibility for this import- ant post. In the primary election he received fully five thousand more
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votes than did any other candidate, and in the ensuing general election he likewise led all other candidates when the ballot returns were can- vassed. He has shown characteristic zeal and progressiveness in the discharge of his official duties and is one of the most loyal and valued members of the board of education, his term of membership in which will expire in 1917.
In politics Mr. Derse accords staunch allegiance to the Democratic party and he is well fortified in his opinions concerning matters of eco- nomic and governmental polity. He and his wife are communicants of St. Rose Catholic church, and he is an appreciative and valued member of the Knights of Columbus, in which he holds at the time of this writ- ing, in 1913, the office of grand knight of the Milwaukee Council of the order. He also holds membership in the City Club and he and his wife are popular figures in the refined social circles in which they move, their residence being at 66 Thirty-first street.
On the 12th of August, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Derse to Miss Mary E. Donnelly, who was born and reared near the village of Monches, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and whose parents, the late Francis and Margaret (Keating) Donnelly, were sterling pio. neers of that county, where they continued to reside until their death, the father having become one of the prosperous farmers of that section of the state. Mrs. Derse was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Monches and also attended the schools of Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Derse have four children, all of whom remain at the parental home and are still attending school, their names being here entered in respective order of birth : James Francis, Willard Anthony, George Don- nelly, and Mary Gertrude.
WALTER C. PALMER. For more than thirty years one of the able lawyers of the Racine county bar, Mr. Palmer has had a career of varied and successful experience, both in his profession and in public affairs. He has spent all his life in this county and in addition to the large practice which he has long enjoyed, has become conspicuously identified with many local business enterprises.
Walter C. Palmer, who represents one of the pioneer families of Racine county, was born at Waterford, on the 8th of October, 1858, a son of Nelson H. Palmer, who was one of the early settlers in this vicinity. After his graduation from the high school of his native town, Walter C. Palmer attended the Rochester Seminary, and then with a view to entrance into the legal profession, he began his reading of law with Judge J. B. Winslow, under whose supervision he continued his studies for two years. With that sound basis of combined study in books and actual observation, he entered the law department of the Wisconsin State University to complete his training for the bar. He was grad- uated LL. B. in 1881 and almost immediately entered upon practice
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with the firm of Winslow and Brownson of Racine. Afterwards, he opened an office of his own at Waterford where he practiced his profes- sion until 1886. In that year occurred his election to the office of county clerk, and by re-election he served four years. The duties of that office caused him to take up his residence at Racine and he has now been a resident of this city for a quarter of a century. In January, 1891, on leaving the office of county clerk, he formed a partnership with C. C. Gittings, and this firm has now for more than twenty years been ranked among the strongest aggregations of legal ability and tal- ent in the city of Racine.
In the field of business Mr. Palmer has long had an active part and is still connected with some of the leading concerns of the city. He was a director and secretary for eighteen years and he and his partner were attorneys for the Racine Building & Loan Association for many years. At the present time and for some years he has been president of the White Hardware Company, one of the well known retail corporations of Racine. He is also a stockholder in the Racine Shoe Company. One of the large real estate holders of Racine, he owns many plats of valuable property, including that on which his handsome home at 1426 College avenue is located, and also a tract of seven acres of land situated within the limits of the city.
In Racine, on the 26th of March, 1889, Mr. Palmer was united in marriage with Miss Abigail Williams, a daughter of Mrs. Eleanor Wil- liams. Mrs. Palmer was born in New York state, but her parents were from Wales. She is a member of the Episcopal church. Mr. Palmer has for a number of years been prominent in fraternal circles. He took his first degree in Masonry at the Waterford lodge, but has long since been affiliated with Belle City Lodge No. 92, A. F. & A. M., Chapter, Royal Arch and Commandery. He is also affiliated with Racine Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias, is a charter member at Racine of the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp No. 379, and of Racine Lodge No. 220 of the Elks. He is a member of the board of directors of Racine Commer- cial Club and was elected county judge, his term to begin January 5, 1914. As a lawyer, his rank in the forefront of the Racine county bar is indisputable, while in civic affairs he has always been a leader and one of the representative men in the city of Racine.
REV. JOHN BADING. In July, 1853, John Bading was sent by a mis- sionary society from Germany to Wisconsin. Nearly sixty years later, on the twenty-fourth of May, 1913, when one of the oldest of the retired German Lutheran ministers in Wisconsin, he died peacefully at his home, 544 Fourth street, in Milwaukee. His death came as the crown not only of long years, but also of a life time filled with unselfish deeds and able service in behalf of his church and humanity. Rev. John Bading was for nearly six decades closely identified with the Lutheran ministry in
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Wisconsin. His own career was filled with service, and he left behind him a family of children who worthily represent his name, among them being Dr. Bading, the present mayor of Milwaukee.
Rev. John Bading was born near Berlin, Germany, November 24, 1824, so that he was in his eighty-ninth year at the time of his death. He was reared and educated in his native land, and early prepared for the minis- try. He was sent out by a German Missionary Society. He was ordained to the Evangelical Lutheran Synod on October 6, 1853, and was placed in charge of the church of Calumet in Fond du Lac county. The following fall he went to Theresa, in Dodge county, remaining there six years. From there he moved to Watertown, and in 1868 came to Milwaukee, and became pastor of St. John's church. St. John's congregation at that time numbered only a few families, and it was given to Rev. John Bad- ing, through his ability and earnest labors, to build up the congrega- tion to one of the largest of the denomination in the city.
Rev. Bading retired from the active ministry of his church in 1908. He had served more than forty years, as head of St. John's congregation at Eighth and Vliet streets. In this article it is possible to only briefly review and suggest the career of Rev. Bading. For more than fifty-three years he had been identified with his different pastoral charges in Wis- consin. He was for twenty-six years president, and for twenty years vice president of the Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran church. For forty-three years he was president of the board of trustees of North- western College at Watertown of which institution he was the founder. For twenty-six years he was president of the Lutheran Synodical Confer- ence of America, and for thirty years was president of the Lutheran Ministers' Seminary at Wauwatosa.
Then, after having been relieved from the burden which he so bravely carried for so many years, Rev. Bading lived quietly at home, and was quite ready and willing to meet death when it came. Seldom are mortals summoned to eternity more peacefully than was Rev. Jolin Bading. He retained his active intelligence up to the last and only two hours before his death had inquired of his son, Mayor Bading, concern- ing some local municipal measures. He was seated in his room, gazing peacefully out of a window, when Death came and conquered his mortal body. His death was a signal for the outpouring of many expressions of sorrow and esteem, and without doubt Rev. John Bading was one of the most respected and admired servants of the church in the state of Wisconsin.
In Brooklyn, New York, in 1854, Rev. John Bading married Miss Dorothy Ehlers, of Hermansberg, Germany. Mrs. Bading and five chil- dren survive the late husband and father. These children are: Mayor G. A. Bading; William G. Bading of Seattle, Washington; Mrs. E. A. Notz; and Mathilda and Ida Bading.
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GERHARD A. BADING, M. D. In a year marked by political happenings and at a time when the interest of the entire nation was becoming concen- trated on the most exciting presidential campaign of recent years, the one event of the month of April in 1912 which called to itself more atten- tion than any other was the municipal election in Milwaukee, by which the voters turned out of office the Socialist administration. Seldom has a change in the personnel and policies of local government been watched with more interest by the nation at large.
The head of the successful ticket and the city's chief executive in the new administration is a physician who had attained special eminence in his profession, and had made a notable record as city commissioner of health, but had not hitherto given much attention to the affairs of so- called practical politics. In this election the local citizenship had an opportunity to choose one of the really "best men" in civic life, and the result is a credit to the discrimination of the majority of voters.
Dr. Gerhard A. Bading, who by reason of this election is Mayor of the City of Milwaukee for the term 1912-14, was born in Milwaukee, August 31, 1870, a son of the Rev. John and Dorothea (Ehlers) Bad- ing. The career of his honored father, who died May 24, 1913, has been given in previous paragraphs.
Dr. Bading, the youngest of six children, was reared in his native city and attended the city schools. He later took the scientific course at the Northwestern University, and after four years of business exper- ience, entered the Rush Medical College of Chicago where he was grad- nated doctor of medicine with the class of 1896.
Since his return to Milwaukee and the beginning of his practice he has had many distinctions in his profession. The first year he was resi- dent physician at the Milwaukee (Passavant) Hospital, and then opened office for private practice in the Germania building. He was appointed United States pensions examining surgeon, and about the same time was appointed adjunct professor of principles of surgery and surgical path- ology in the Milwaukee Medical College. The four years in the latter capacity were followed in 1901 by his becoming instructor in surgery at the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 1902 he was made chief assistant in the surgical clinic of the college, and later advanced to associate in surgery. Subsequently he accepted the chair of operative surgery in the same institution and continued his work in medical edu- cation until 1908, when he felt obliged to resign on account of pressing duties involved in his work as commissioner of health. Dr. Bading was appointed health commissioner of Milwaukee in 1906, and gave an effi- cient administration of that important branch of municipal government until 1910. Since 1901 he has been attending surgeon to the Johnson Emergency Hospital, and at the present time is consulting surgeon to the Milwaukee County Hospital.
In December, 1895, Dr. Bading married Miss Carol Royal Clemmer.
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Her parents, Charles H. and Alice B. (Stafford) Clemmer, now resid- ing in Los Angeles, California, were formerly of Cincinnati, where Mrs. Bading was reared and lived until her marriage, and where her grand- father, Jacob H. Clemmer, was a prominent lawyer, who was identified with the Hamilton county bar for more than half a century. Mrs. Bading while loyally assisting her husband in his life work, is chiefly devoted to her home. She takes a conservative ground on the equal suffrage move- ment, and prefers the study of languages and the quiet domestic arts to the activities of clubs.
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