USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volume VII > Part 42
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PATRICK J. NOLAN. During the greater part of his residence in Milwaukee, covering a period of more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Nolan has been one of the successful representatives of the North- western Mutual Life Insurance Company and has turned in such aggre- gates of business at different times as to win some of the prizes so coveted among the staff of workers with that company. Outside of busi- ness Mr. Nolan is a man noted for his talents in music and literature and has been specially prominent in the musical organizations of the
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city. Patrick J. Nolan, who comes of a prominent old family in Ireland, was born in Kings county, Ireland, August 27, 1863, a son of Bernard Nolan and Catherine (Gorry) Nolan. IIis father was born in Kings county and his mother in county Westmeath. Bernard Nolan was in business as the operator of flour and meal mills, and at one time was presented with a gold medal by the Dublin Corn Exchange for the best oatmeal produced in Ireland.
Concerning the father's family, little ancestral information is at hand. Mr. Nolan's mother, bearing the old family name of Gorry, was also connected with the Coynes, Cantwells and McElroys, all of whom were prominent in both Kings and Westmeath counties. The acknowl- edged head of the Gorry family was interested alternately with the family of the Goff's in supporting the Westmeath county hounds. This Gorry was an old bachelor, which perhaps accounts for an item of for- eign news lately published stating that a certan Mr. Smythe of Boston had purchased an Irish estate and was supporting the Westmeath hounds. While possessing a due respect for his family forbears and some curiosity respecting some of their records, Mr. Nolan has never been a worshipper of a family tree. At the same time he has not ex- alted the matter of individual accomplishment, apart from the influ- ences of heredity and environment, and the ambition for such achieve- ments as would justify him in quoting the remark of the conceited Frenchman, "I am my own ancestor."
Patrick J. Nolan received his education in the national schools of Ireland, but admits that he was never specially studious nor was he much troubled by what might be happening "beyond the Alps." His father in the meantime had suffered from business reverses, and at the age of nineteen, Patrick followed a brother and sister to America. For a short time he was employed as a timekeeper in a factory at Water- bury, Connecticut, and then entered the employ of the late P. L. Col- lier as a collector. In 1887 he moved to Milwaukee to become assistant to the manager of the Milwaukee branch of the Collier Publishing House. In 1891 he was appointed manager of the Minneapolis Branch, but when that was shut down on account of the depression caused by the panie in 1893, he returned to Milwaukee, and for a short time man- aged the advertising department of the Catholic Citizen. Later he was business manager for a year of a magazine published by Yewdale & Sons.
In April, 1895, Mr. Nolan signed his first contract as agent for the late D. E. Murphy, General Agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. He has been connected with this company ever since, and has always been fairly successful. He was a prize winner in 1908 and again in 1913.
The writing of insurance probably does not belong in a classifica- tion as a literary pursuit, but Mr. Nolan was some years ago in the
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habit of writing verse, and his literary output in that direction always was welcomed by Mr. Bleyer of the Evening Wisconsin, by Arthur Weld of the Journal, and by the late Horace Rubless of the Sentinel. A member of no political party, Mr. Nolan has always voted for the man he believes best fitted for office, whether in city, state or nation. He has no affiliation with any lodges or societies. He is a pew holder in St. John's Catholic Cathedral. For years his favorite diversion has been music. He has long sung in the choir of St. John's Ca- thedral and the Arion Musical Club. He was a charter member and a member of the first membership committee of the Lyric Glee Club. At present he is an associate member of the Arions and of the Milwaukee Maennerchor.
In October, 1896, at Milwaukee, Mr. Nolan married Jennie Skid- more. a daughter of the late Benjamin Skidmore, who was one of the oldest members of the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce. They are the parents of three daughters: Constance, aged fifteen; Eveleen, aged eleven; and Patricia, aged nine years.
HERMAN WERTHEIMER. Numbered among the representative busi- ness men of Watertown, Mr. Wertheimer is proprietor of a substantial and prosperous enterprise in the buying and shipping of grain, and his success is the more gratifying by reason of the fact that it is a result entirely of self-attainment. He came to America a youth with- out money and dependent entirely upon his own exertions to bring him success. He has made a good account of his career as a produc- tive worker, and in Wisconsin and Watertown enjoys a high place in popular confidence and esteem.
Herman Wertheimer was born in Austria, on the 28th of August, 1849, and is a son of Leopols and Helma (Worawitz) Wertheimer. Both parents lived and died in Austria, and were people of sterling character, but of very modest financial means. The son Herman gained his early education in the schools of his native locality, and in 1868, when about nineteen years old set forth to seek his fortune in Amer- ica. Arriving in the new world, a stranger in a strange land, and with his cash funds reduced to the minimum, he was fortunate in possessing an ample equipment of energy and ambition. After reaching Wiscon- sin he found employment as a laborer for Frank Sipp, at that time engaged in the commission business of Watertown. Young Wert- heimer proved industrious, adaptable and earnest in his work, and gained substantial advancement. After two years in the employ of Mr. Sipp, he was similarly engaged by Hall McMillan. His next posi- tion was with William Buchheit, one of the leading commission men of Watertown. From the ranks of a common laborer he advanced on his merit to manager of his employer's business. His associations with Mr. Buchheit continued on a most agreeable basis for sixteen years,
N. Wertheimer
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and at the end of that time Mr. Wertheimer engaged in business inde- pendently as a partner of Frederick Miller. Their partnership was formed in 1888 and the enterprise was finally merged into the Water- town Grain Company. After the withdrawal of Mr. Miller, Mr. Wert- heimer continued the business under the same name. He now has as a valued assistant and partner, his son Oscar C., and the concern con- trols a large and flourishing business as the leading buyers and ship- pers of grain in Watertown.
Mr. Wertheimer's course has been marked by inflexible integrity and honor, thus becoming one of the substantial and thorough repre- sentative business men of Watertown, and holds a place of equal honor and influence as a citizen. Closely concerned with the civic and material development of Watertown, he served several years as a member of the board of aldermen, was then elected mayor, and his administration during 1902-03 was most progressive and fully justified the popular confidence shown in his election. He is one of the enter- prising men, always ready to give his cooperation for the success of movements that will bring Watertown greater prosperity. Mr. Wertheimer is president of the Watertown Advancement Company, which has done much to further the commercial and industrial wel- fare of the city, and from its organization he has been a zealous worker in this company. He is also president of the Watertown Canning Association, of which he was one of the promoters and organ- izers, this being a substantial addition to the industrial enterprises of the city. He is president of the Oak Hill Cemetery Association, president of the Farmers & Citizens Bank, and has for many years been a stock holder in the Wisconsin National Bank of Watertown.
Mr. Wertheimer is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On July 16, 1872, Mr. Wertheimer married Miss Emily Birk, who was born in Watertown, a daughter of Mathew Birk. The four chil- dren of their marriage are: Esther, wife of Rev. P. T. Broekman, of Waukesha; O. C., associated with his father in the grain business; the third child died in infancy; and Zayda, the wife of E. W. Arbogast, of Chicago.
REV. JOHN M. NAUGHTIN. Thirty years of faithful service for his church has marked the career of Father Naughtin, the pastor of St. Rose Catholic Church at Racine. As practically all of this time has been spent in Wisconsin, Father Naughtin is one of the oldest priests in the Catholic service of this state, and as the head of one of the im- portant congregations, his career has an appropriate place in the his- tory of this state. John M. Naughtin is a native of the State of Ohio, having been born in the city of Zanesville in June, 1854. His parents,
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Thomas P. and Bridget Naughtin, were both natives of Ireland, whence they immigrated to America, and became settlers of Ohio during the early days. His father was a man of modest means, but of the strictest integrity. He gave attention to merchandising, and was for many years postmaster at Mauston, Wisconsin, his ineumbeney of this office cover- ing three years and his death occurred during the term.
Father Naughtin was chosen for the church at an early age, and his liberal education was directed toward that end. He was a student for some time in school at Watertown, Wisconsin, afterwards at St. Bona- venture, Allegany, Cattaraugus county, New York. His final studies for the priesthood were pursued at Allegany, a little city three miles distant from Olean, New York, and at St. Francis, Wisconsin, he was ordained priest by the Most Reverend Archbishop Michael Heiss, in June, 1882. Then the first two years, from 1882 to 1884, his service was as a teacher at Pio Nono College, near Milwaukee. From 1884 to 1892 Father Naughtin was assistant of St. John's Cathedral in Mil- waukee, and remained for eight years. For the following three years he was pastor of St. Matthews, and then for fourteen years was located at Madison, Wisconsin. Father Naughtin came to assume the pastorate of St. Rose Catholic Church in Racine in 1909, and in the subsequent three years has given faithful and efficient service to that large and wealthy congregation.
Father Naughtin is one of the scholars of the priesthood, and also a genial gentleman, whose associations with all classes of citizens has been productive of many good results for the betterment of the city and its people. Father Naughtin has a fine private library, and is a keen observer and student of all social conditions.
STEPHEN STRONG GREGORY. A Chicago lawyer for the past forty years, and president of the American Bar Association in 1911, Stephen Strong Gregory was reared in Wisconsin, and is a graduate of the State University.
He was born at Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, November 16, 1849, and his parents, J. C. and Charlotte C. Gregory, moved to Madi- son, Wisconsin, in 1858. Most of his primary education was obtained in Madison, and in 1870 he graduated A. B. from the University of Wisconsin, and took his degree LL. B. from the same school in 1871. Mr. Gregory practiced law at Madison from 1871 to 1874, and since the latter year his home and practice have been in the city of Chicago. From 1874 to 1879 he was a partner of Judge A. H. Chetlain. His next association was with the firm of Tenney & Flour, which later was succeeded by Flour, Remey & Gregory. The firms of Gregory, Booth & Ilarlan existed from 1888 to 1893, after which Mr. Gregory practiced alone, and subsequently established the present firm of Gregory, Pop- penhusen & MeNab.
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Mr. Gregory served as special counsel for the city of Chicago before the supreme court of the United States in the Lake Front case. With John P. Wilson he defended and successfully maintained the constitu- tionality of the law creating the sanitary district of Chicago. Mr. Greg- ory defended the murder case of Prendergast, the slayer of the elder Mayor Harrison. Another notable cause with which he was associated was the conspiracy case against Eugene V. Debs, in which he was at- torney for the defendant.
Mr. Gregory was president of the Chicago Bar Association in 1900, of the Illinois State Bar Association in 1904, and in 1911 was honored by election to the presidency of the National Association. He is also a former president of the Chicago Law Club. His church is the Episco- pal, in politics he is a Democrat, and for two years was election com- missioner of Chicago. His clubs are: Chicago; Iroquois, of which he was president in 1886; the Church; Skokie Country Club; the Lawyers Club of New York; and others. Mr. Gregory's offices are at 69 West Washington street, and his home at 1349 Astor street in Chicago.
JOHN VAN HECKE. One of the prominent attorneys of Merrill, Wis- consin, is the Hon. John Van Hecke, who has been practicing law in Merrill for thirty years. Judge Van Hecke has not only made a repu- tation as a fine lawyer but he is also a successful business man, being interested in several prominent business enterprises in Merrill. He is of that type of lawyer who attains success by constant study, close atten- tion to his cases, and a thorough knowledge of the law, not depending on crooked methods or political pull to win his cases for him, in conse- quence of which he has the esteem and respect of all the citizens of this city and county and is considered a strong trial lawyer.
John Van Hecke was born on a farm near Stevens Point, Portage county, Wisconsin, on the 28th of April, 1857, a son of Charles L. and Barbara (Veulstecke) Van Hecke. Both of his parents were born in Belgium, near Antwerp. Here they grew up and were married. It was in 1856 that they came to America and to Portage county, Wisconsin. Here Mr. Van Hecke bought a farm which he improved and made prof- itable and here they lived until 1886. At this time Mr. Van Hecke retired and moved to Stevens Point, Wisconsin, where he lived until his death, which occurred in 1909. His widow still makes her home in Stevens Point, and she celebrated her eighty-sixth birthday on the 25th of June, 1913.
John Van Hecke was reared on his father's farm and lived the healthy, normal life of the farmer's son, attending the country school and helping his father with the work of the farm. After completing the courses offered in the country schools the boy taught country schools and saved the money with which to enter the State Normal School at Mankato, Minnesota, from which he was graduated in time. He then
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began to teach school in Marathon county. After several years of teach- ing Mr. Van Hecke entered the law offices of Raymond and Hazeltine at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and read law with them until he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1883. He remained in the offices of the above firm for a year after his admission to the bar and then he came to Merrill, and has been in active practice here ever since, his offices now being in the Lincoln County Bank Building. Judge Van Hecke enjoys a large practice, and between his professional and his business interests he has little spare time. He is the attorney for the A. H. Stange Company, the H. W. Wright Lumber Company, the Lincoln County Bank, the C. M. & St. P. Railway Company and "Soo" Railway Company. Judge Van Hecke's business interests include the vice-presidency of the H. W. Wright Lumber Company and he is also a member of the board of di- rectors of the Lincoln County Bank.
Judge Van Hecke has served on the School Board and Board of Aldermen in Merrill and has also served several terms as city attorney. He has served as county judge of Lincoln county and for two terms was district attorney.
Judge Van Hecke is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, being district deputy of that body. He is also a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters and of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin.
In 1884 Judge Van Hecke was married to Miss Mary McGuire, a daughter of John McGuire, of Merrill. Three children have been born to Judge Van Hecke and wife, namely: Max, who is reading law in his father's office; Stanley, who is attending medical college in St. Louis, Missouri; and Kathleen.
CAPT. EGBERT MORTON COPPS. When Captain Copps concluded his service in the Civil war, the same being one that began with the incep- tion of the long struggle and ended not until the last gun had been fired, he came to Wisconsin, here entering into business activities, and this state has been the center and pivot of his industrial and commercial enterprises from then until now. He has made consistent and praise- worthy advance along the lines mentioned, and has for years been ac- counted one of the foremost business men of Portage county, and in Stevens Point, where he has been located since November, 1874. He occupies a foremost place among the leading men of the city. From the mill business, with which he was identified for years, lie became con- nected with the commission business, and this enterprise led him eventu- ally, with his partner, into a wholesale grocery enterprise that has grown apace with the passing years, and is today, and long has been, the only enterprise of its kind in this city. Some years back Mr. Copps became the sole proprietor of this department of the business, but in later years his sons have become associated with him, under the firm name of the
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Copps Company, Wholesale Grocers. Mr. Copps is one of the sturdy, reliable and successful men of the county, and his identification with its business activities has been one of marked value to the district. He comes of one of the oldest families in the United States today, and men of his name have been foremost in every war that the nation has known, from Revolutionary days down to the present time.
Egbert Morton Copps was born in New York State in 1840, on the 10th day of September, and he is a son of Darius and Parmelia (Hol- lister) Copps, natives of Boston, Massachusetts, and Montpelier, Ver- mont, respectively. The Copps family, it should be stated here, were of English origin, the first of the name to visit these shores having come as early as 1632, and many of the family are sleeping today in the old Copps Hill burying ground of Boston, originally owned by William Copps, of Boston, the name of Copps being seen on many a crumbling headstone in those parts. Darius Copps was a son of Simeon Copps, who was born in Boston, and who ran a tavern in that historic old city during the War of 1812. His son, Darius, was born in 1792, the only son of his parents. As a boy he went to sea, being pressed into the serv- ice of an English man-o'-war, and when the War of 1812 came on he deserted from the service on the coast of South America, and came back to his home. He was given a commission as ensign in the army, and when the English captured East Port, Maine, he was made a prisoner. Later he was parolled and returned to Boston. When the war was over, he turned his attention to farming in New York State, and he died on his farm in 1856. He married his wife in Franklin county, New York, and she died about two months before death claimed him. They were the parents of eight children, of whom three died in infancy. Concern- ing the remainder brief mention is entered here as follows: Alfred, the first born, died in 1866; Rufus P., now ninety-two years of age, is a resi- dent of Boulder, Colorado; Elizabeth married E. J. Hildreth, and lives in Cleveland, Ohio; Mark W. lives in the vicinity of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia; and Egbert Morton, who is the immediate subject of this review.
Egbert Morton Copps was reared on the parental farm in New York state, and when his father and mother died within two months of each other, he was a youth of sixteen years. He made his home with his elder brother for a time thereafter, and his education was gained chiefly in the country schools, in so far as actual schooling was concerned, but it should be mentioned that he advanced himself very materially and noticeably in the matter of education by close study and observation in later years. When he was twenty years old he went to Manchester, New Hampshire, and there worked for one year in a cotton mill. While there, he enlisted on April 19, 1861, in the First New Hampshire Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, as a member of Company K. His enlistment was for a three months period only, and at the end of that time he was hon- orably discharged and mustered out on the 9th of August, 1861, at Con-
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cord, New Hampshire. One week later the young patriot re-enlisted in the First New Hampshire Battery of Light Artillery, continuing in serv- ice until May 22, 1862, when he was honorably discharged at Washing- ton, D. C., as a result of disability. He returned to his New York home, there to recuperate from the stress of military activity, and when he had recovered sufficiently to make possible his return to the service, he once more enlisted, this time in the Ninety-eighth New York Infantry, on September 19. 1862, for the ensuing three years or the remaining period of the war. On September 15, 1865, he was discharged from the service and mustered out at Albany, New York, when the war was over. It is worthy of mention that Captain Copps entered the service as a private, and that he advanced step by step until when he was finally discharged from the service at the close of the war, he was Captain instead of Private Copps. His service was of a nature that must inevitably be rewarded with successive promotions, and the entire period of his service was marked by the most constant devotion to duty and the most valiant and heroic conduct on the field of action.
When the war was over, Mr. Copps continued for a few months in New York, and then, in the spring of 1867, he came to Wisconsin, seek- ing new country and greater opportunity than seemed to lie at his door in. the east. He located first in Marinette, Wisconsin, then a small vil- lage, but now a thriving eity in the northern part of the state, and there he applied himself to the work of a millwright. That was the only trade he ever learned. continuing there for four years, the town being then in the early days of its prosperity as a mill center. He then crossed the Menominee river, and located in the sister town of Menominee, Michi- gan, which also has come in later years to be a prominent mill town and is now a busy and prosperous city, although no longer the center of lumbering activities as in former years. In Menominee Mr. Copps bought an interest in a sash and door mill, and continued there in pros- perity until the panie of 1873 wiped out their enterprise completely. It was then that Mr. Copps first came to Stevens Point, identifying him- self with the planing mill business here in company with Knox Brothers. In later years Mr. Hildreth, the brother-in-law of Mr. Copps, purchased the interest of Knox Brothers, and the business was successfully con- ducted in 1885, when they met with financial reverses that crippled them sadly. Looking about for a proper opening, Mr. Copps identified him- self with L. Stark, the largest dealer in potatoes in the United States. with headquarters in Chicago. For fifteen years thereafter Mr. Copps continued to operate in conjunction with Mr. Stark, having full charge of the Wisconsin end of the business, and in the first year of their asso- ciation they began to see possibilities in a wholesale grocery way. The result was that they entered into the wholesale grocery business on a small scale, and as time passed they increased their activities in that line. until it came to be one of the biggest enterprises in the county.
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They continued as they had commenced until 1910, when Mr. Stark withdrew from the grocery end of the business, leaving that entirely to Mr. Copps, who released all interest in the commission business, and he has since continued as the head of the largest wholesale grocery business in this section of the state. In 1912 Mr. Copps took his son into the business with him, and still later in the year the business was incorpo- rated with a capital stoek of $50,000, with Mr. Copps as president ; Clarence F. Fletcher, vice-president ; and A. M. Copps, secretary and treasurer. C. W. Copps, another son, is a stoekholder in the company, and his work in connection with the enterprise is in the field of sales- manship, that part of the work being conducted in the state by himself and one other traveling salesman. The business is a sturdy, healthy and growing one, and is a credit to the eity and the county, owing the best of its prosperity and growth to the splendid business enterprise and judgment of its executive head.
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