USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 13
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After the close of the war George H. Wilbur came to Wisconsin and established his residence at Burlington, where he engaged in the retail lumber business. He eventually expanded his operations to wide scope and in 1885 effected the organization of the Wilbur Lum- ber Company, which is incorporated under the laws of the state and which at the present time operates seventeen branch establishments, located at various points in Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The com- pany also has a large and well equipped sash and door factory, the
John Mulra
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same being located in the city of Milwaukee, and the business of the concern is now one of great volume and marked prosperity. Richard W. Houghton is president of the company ; Joseph Kerwer, vice-presi- dent; and George H. Wilbur, secretary and treasurer. Employment is given to one hundred men in the various departments of the thriv- ing industrial enterprise, and the secretary and treasurer of the com- pany still maintains his home at Waukesha where he and his wife are held in highest esteem.
The present mayor of Waukesha attended the public schools and Carroll College of Waukesha and for three years was a student in the University of Wisconsin. Soon after leaving the university he became a clerk in the office of the Wilbur Lumber Company, at Burlington, and later he was made manager of the retail business of the company in that place. He was next transferred to the position of manager of the branch at Dixon, Illinois, where he remained until 1907, when he assumed the management of the company's business at Waukesha, in which city he has since maintained his home and in which he has gained impregnable vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. In 1912 Mr. Wilbur engaged in the ice and fuel business on his own responsibility. In this line he has built up a most prosperous enter- prise, which is constantly expanding, and he is known as one of the most aggressive and alert young business men of the city of which he is mayor. He is an active and valued member of the Waukesha Busi- ness Men's Association, which is doing much to promote civic and material progress in the city, and in politics he is unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party. In April, 1912, Mr. Wilbur was elected mayor of Waukesha, receiving a gratifying majority at the polls, and he is giving a most effective administration of municipal affairs, with progressive policies and proper conservatism in the ex- penditure of public funds.
On the 6th of December, 1906, Mr. Wilbur was united in marriage to Miss Avis A. Dement, daughter of Chas. H. Dement, a prominent business man of Dixon, Illinois, and the three children of this union are George H., Hawley W., Jr., and Charles R. Mayor and Mrs. Wil- bur are factors in the social activities of Waukesha.
JOHN MULVA. While claiming no gifts of prophetic order, the pres- ent able and popular mayor of the city of Oshkosh, Winnebago county, gives denial, through the high esteem in which he is held in his native place, to all possibility of any figurative application of the scriptural statement that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own coun- try." He has given a most progressive and effective administration as chief executive of the municipal government of Oshkosh, where his service in this capacity has not been limited to that of his present term. He has been one of the most influential factors in connection
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with city affairs during more than a decade and no citizen holds more secure place in popular confidence and esteem.
John Mulva was born in Oshkosh on the 22d of February, 1860, and is a son of Patrick and Ann (Martin) Mulva, both of whom were born in Ireland. They were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Wisconsin, as is evident when it is stated that they came to this state in 1850. They first located in Milwaukee, where they remained until 1854, when they removed to Oshkosh, where they passed the residue of their lives, the father having here been actively engaged as a laboring man for many years and having been a citizen whose sterling character and genial and kindly personality won to him un- qualified popular esteem. He died in the year 1905, and his cherished wife was summoned to the life eternal on the 20th of April, 1912, both having been devout communicants of the Catholic church. Of the seven children two sons and four daughters are living, the present mayor of Oshkosh having been the second in order of birth.
Public schools of Oshkosh afforded Mayor Mulva his early educa- tional advantages and he was graduated in the high school as a mem- ber of the class of 1878. In the following year he was graduated in the Oshkosh Business College, after which he was for two years in the employ of the Joseph P. Gould Manufacturing Company, one of the leading industrial concerns of his native city at that time. For ten years thereafter he was a valued attache of the Conley Lumber Company, with which he was promoted to the responsible office of superintendent, in 1884. Upon resigning this office he went to Daven- port, Iowa, where he remained one year, in the employ of the George Otte Company, manufacturers of sash, doors and blinds. He then re- turned to Oshkosh, where he entered the employ of S. Radford & Brothers, in the same line of enterprise. He became superintendent for this concern and continued the able and valued incumbent of this office until the spring of 1912, since which time his entire time and at- tention have been virtually engrossed by his executive duties in the mayoralty and his private business interests.
As a young man Mr. Mulva began to take a deep interest in public affairs of a local order and his loyalty to his native city has ever been of the most insistent type. He has been an influential factor in the ranks of the Democratic party and has given effective service in be- half of its cause, the while he has served as delegate to its conventions in his home county for a score of years, as well as to its state con- ventions in Wisconsin. He served continuously as president of the city council from 1895 to 1900, in which latter year the council elected him mayor, to fill out the unexpired term of James H. Merrill, who died while in office. In the regular city election of 1901 Mr. Mulva rolled up a most gratifying majority at the polls and became mayor of the city through popular support. In 1903 he was re-elected and
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his service continued until 1908. Public appreciation of his prior administrations led to his being again called to the mayoralty in the election of 1912, and his record in this office has been one most cred- itable to himself and of great value to the city, which now has the commission form of government. Mr. Mulva served continuously as representative of the third, ninth, sixth and thirteenth wards in the city council from 1888 to 1900, and initiated his work as a member of this municipal body when he was twenty-eight years of age. Both in an official capacity and through private influence and enterprise, Mr. Mulva has put forth the most zealous and effective efforts in pro- moting the civic and material progress and prosperity of his home city and his public spirit has been on a parity with his loyalty and high civic ideals. He is a stockholder and director of the South Side Ex- change Bank, of which he served as vice-president from 1898 to 1900, and he has been specially active and successful in the handling of and improving of local real estate. He was one of the principal figures in effecting the organization of the Oshkosh Loan & Investment Com- pany, of which he was secretary, and this concern, during its eighteen years of active operations, exercised most important and benignant functions in enabling those in moderate financial circumstances to obtain homes of their own. Mr. Mulva has in an individual way im- proved much local realty and has made a specialty of extending financial loans in connection with, home building, his operations in this line having been effective in furthering the material and social welfare of Oshkosh and in assisting those whose resources were such that otherwise they would not have been able to become home-owners, -a condition greatly to be desired in every community. He is also a stockholder in the Oshkosh Trust Company.
The mayor of Oshkosh clings to the religious faith in which he was reared and is a communicant of the Catholic church, the great mother organization of all Christendom. He is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, the Catholic Knights of Amer- ica, the Knights of Columbus, the Independent Order of Foresters and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
The attractive home of Mayor Mulva is known for its generous hospitality and ideal relations, and has a gracious chatelaine in the person of Mrs. Mulva. On the 22d of November, 1894, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Mulva to Miss Mary Fitzsimmons, daughter of M. J. Fitzsimmons, a representative citizen of Fond du Lac, this state.
ALFRED W. JONES. No other agency has been so influential in fur- thering the prestige of Waukesha and in bringing about its development as a health resort and most attractive residence city as that involved in the exploitation of the wonderful Bethesda water, and as president
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of the Bethesda Mineral Spring Company Alfred W. Jones is proving a most able and progressive executive of this important corporation, even as he is also one of the most popular and influential citizens of Waukesha. He succeeded his distinguished father in the presidency of the company mentioned and he has effectively carried forward the work which the latter developed to one of great importance in bringing to public attention the great remedial values of the Bethesda water. The Chicago Inter Ocean has made the following pertinent statement, the significance of which is prima facie; "The reputation of Waukesha has been gained by the curative properties of Bethesda and the best evidence of the value of the spring is found in the number of imitations following in its footsteps and trading upon the name it has acquired."
IIon. Alfred Miles Jones, father of him whose name introduces this article, was born at New Durham, New Hampshire, on the 5th of Feb- ruary, 1837, and he died at his home in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on the 8th of July, 1910. He was a son of Alfred S. and Rebecca (Miles) Jones, and his father was a true type of the sturdy New England farmer, the mother a representative of the old and prominent Miles family of Connecticut. When Alfred M. was about ten years of age the family removed to McHenry county, Illinois, and he remained on the home farm, near Hebron, that county, until he had attained to the age of six- teen years, in the meanwhile having availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. At the age noted he went to the pine forests of Michigan where he was employed for a time, and thereafter he passed about one year rafting on the Mississippi river. He made judicious use of the money which he earned, as he entered an academic institution at Rockford, Illinois, in which he was graduated in 1856. In the following year he engaged in the jewelery and stationery business at Warren, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, but he soon disposed of his little stock and went to Pike's Peak, Colorado, where the gold excite- ment was then at its height. Prospects did not prove inviting and he soon returned to Warren, Illinois, where he obtained employment. He was engaged in the sale of farming implements for five years and then turned his attention to the real-estate business and the practice of law. He was called upon to serve in various public offices of local order and became one of the leaders in the ranks of the Republican party in Jo Daviess county, where he served eight years as chairman of the county central committee. From 1872 to 1874, inclusive, he represented the county in the state legislature, and he was the acknowledged Republican leader in the session of 1874. It was at this time that he received the title of "Long Jones," under which he became widely known. He was more than six feet five inches in height and the title was given him to distinguish him from Representative Jones, of Massac county, with the result that the pseudonym ever afterward clung to him, the same having
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appealed to his sense of humor and having been rather pleasing to him than otherwise.
After retiring from the legislature, Mr. Jones served as a commis- sioner of the state penitentiary at Joliet and was secretary of the board for three years. President Hayes then appointed him collector of in- ternal revenue at Sterling, Illinois, and later President Garfield ap- pointed him United States marshal for the northern district of that state, with headquarters in the city of Chicago. He held this office until June 30, 1885, and for fourteen years he was a member of the Republican state central committee, having been chairman of the body for twelve of these years. Concerning his prominence and influence in political activities the following statements have been made : "One of the triumphs of which he and his friends were justly proud was that gained in the manoeuvering of forces at his command in 1878, when General John A. Logan was elected to the United States senate, Mr. Jones having at the time been chairman of the state central committee of his party in Illinois. For his effective efforts in this connection his admirers pre- sented him with a handsome silver service, as a token of appreciation. The last two times General Logan was elected to the senate, Mr. Jones who was his warm personal friend, had charge of the campaign work and was distinctively successful. He was in charge of the Harrison forces in the Republican national convention of 1892, at Minneapolis. when President Harrison was renominated."
On the 1st of July, 1885, Mr. Jones assumed charge of the Bethesda spring, at Waukesha, Wisconsin, and under his management the business was soon made profitable. In 1888 he became president of the Bethesda Mineral Spring Company, and he retained this office, together with that of manager, until his death, when he was succeeded by his son, as pre- viously noted in this context. He acquired the controlling interest in the stock of the company, and he did much to bring to Waukesha its wide reputation as a health resort, the Bethesda water being now shipped into all sections of the country. He also became the owner of the fine Terrace hotel, situated just across the street from the Bethesda spring ; was organizer of the Waukesha Beach Electric Railway Company, of which he was president, and in 1894 he established his permanent home in Waukesha, where he remained an honored and distinguished citizen until his death. He was a member of the Baptist church, as was also his wife, and he was actively affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. He was a man of broad views, fine intellectuality and most genial and kindly nature, so that his circle of friends was exceptionally large,- virtually coincident with that of his acquaintances. On the 13th of October, 1857, Mr. Jones wedded Miss Emeline A. Wright, who was born in the state of New York. Of the two children, Alfred W. is the only survivor.
Alfred Wirt Jones, who succeeded to his father's extensive interests
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in Waukesha and who has well upheld the prestige of the name as an able business man and progressive citizen, was born at Warren, Illinois, on the 14th of November, 1868. He prosecuted his studies in the public schools of his native town until he had completed the curriculum of the high school and at the age of eighteen years he entered Union Col- lege of Law, in the city of Chicago, where he was a student for three years. He has not found it expedient to engage in the practice of law but has found his technical knowledge of great value in connection with the ordering of his extensive property and business interests. After leaving the college mentioned Mr. Jones assumed charge of the Chicago branch of the Bethesda Mineral Spring Company, and three years later, in 1895, he became secretary of the company. Upon the death of his honored father, in 1910, he was elected, by the board of directors, to the offices of president and manager of the company, as successor of his father, and of these positions he has since remained the incumbent. He gives his entire time and attention to the interests of this important cor- poration, which is capitalized for two hundred thousand dollars, and the local business of the concern has grown appreciably under his regime, as well as its sales of the Bethesda water throughout all sections of the country.
Like his father Mr. Jones is a stalwart in the camp of the Republi- can party, and he has been an active worker in its cause, having served for some time as secretary of the Republican county committee of Wau- kesha county. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which his maximum membership is in the Waukesha commandery of Knights Templar, and he is also identified with the local organization of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is zealous in the support of agencies and measures tending to advance the fame and the general welfare of Waukesha and is a popular factor in the business and social circles of his home city.
On the 12th of May, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Jones to Miss Ella A. Tefft, of Warren, Illinois, and they have one child, Logan A.
It is but consistent to enter in conclusion of this review a brief rec- ord concerning the celebrated Bethesda Spring, the water of which has gained world-wide reputation in connection with the curing of certain elasses of diseases, especially those of the kidneys and bladder. To Colonel Richard Dunbar is due the credit of the discovery of the defi- nite therapeutic properties of the water from the Bethesda Spring, this discovery having been made by him in 1868, although for years prior to that time the Indians had drunk of the water with marked benefit. Colonel Dunbar, who was by vocation a railroad contractor and who had spent many years in South America, was considered a hopeless invalid, suffering from diabetes. His wife's mother, Mrs. William Clarke, a resident of Waukesha, was fatally ill in this village and he and his wife
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were summoned to her bedside. The colonel himself was in a most despondent mood, for the most noted physicians of the day had told him that he had but a few months to live. His skin was like parchment, and no perspiration had come from his pores for months. On the 9th of August, 1868, he was taken out for a drive and upon passing the spring he requested a cup of water, which was given him. In fact he drank nine cupfulls and almost immediately he began to perspire. Upon' arriving home he was put to bed and he soon fell asleep,-the first nor- mal sleep he had obtained for a long period. Upon awakening he called for more water, and he continued to drink it whenever thirsty. From that time his recovery was rapid, and he lived for a long time afterward, his appreciation having been such that he purchased an interest in the spring that prolonged his life.
In the autumn of 1868 the water was first sold for medicinal pur- poses, and it has been continuously on the market since that time. The business of bottling and selling in large quantities was initiated in 1878, and the water is now consumed in all parts of the United States and in many Canadian and European cities. In 1912 many thousands of bottles of the water were sold, and the business is constantly increas- ing. The greatest care is taken to furnish the water in a pure and unadulterated state and therefore it is sold only in new bottles filled at the spring with a seal over each cork. One hundred fifty-five thousand bottles are filled each day and the supply is unlimited, and the water has the endorsement of the medical profession, the while testimonials to its wonderful efficiency have been received by many of the most dis- tinguished men of the nation, especially in commending it as a great remedy for all kidney and bladder diseases including diabetes and Bright's disease. According to government reports there is more Beth- esda sold for medicinal purposes than any other American water.
Bethesda Park, in which the spring is located, is the most beautiful spot in Waukesha, as well as most popular with the thousands of visit- ors to the noted resort. Within a hundred miles of Chicago and less than twenty from Milwaukee, residents of those cities are always present in large numbers, and as a summer resort for southerners Waukesha rivals the reputation of Saratoga in the days before the Civil war. The Terrace hotel, controlled by the company, is modern in every appoint- ment and department of service and offers a most attractive place for rest and recreation under ideal conditions, the hotel and the park con- stituting one of the greatest and most popular summer resorts in the entire country. The president of the Bethesda Company has an able and valued coadjutor in its secretary, Amy L. Vincent.
HON. DAVID EVAN ROBERTS. High on the roll of Wisconsin's dis- tinguished citizens is found the name of Hon. David Evan Roberts, ex- Probate Judge of Douglas county, whose distinctive preferment at the Vol. VI-8
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bar and on the bench was attained through methods that qualify him for the proud American title of a self-made man. Judge Roberts' career has been characterized by episodes that have marked the lives of many of our leading statesmen and jurists. Of honorable but humble origin, with early advantages that were made conspicuous by their absence, he was forced to face the world at an early age, illy fitted with educational training but with a superabundance of ambition, energy and determina- tion. With these as his sole assets, he perseveringly fought his way up, step by step, to a position of prestige in his chosen profession and to a place in public confidence attained by but few men. His career is one worthy of emulation by the youth of any land or day.
David Evan Roberts was born at Florence, Oneida county, New York, January 18, 1854, and is a son of Hugh and Jane (Evans) Rob- erts. His father, born in Denbighshire, North of Wales, emigrated to the United States in 1848, locating on a farm in Oneida county, New York, on which he spent thirteen years, subsequently removing to Lewis county, New York, and when in advanced years, in 1894, coming to Superior, Wisconsin, where he made his home with his son, Judge Rob- erts, until his death, February 12, 1903. . He was buried at Constable- ville, New York. His wife, who was also born in the North of Wales, and who came to this country with her parents in 1839 as a child, passed away in New York State in 1886, being in her fifty-sixth year. They were the parents of six children, of whom David E. was the eldest, and of these four still survive.
The oldest of his father's children, David E. Roberts was forced to devote the greater part of his boyhood and youth to the work of the home place, and his attendance in the district school was limited to short periods when his father could spare him from the thousand and one tasks that mark the busy farmer's existence. Even at that early date, however, the lad determined upon a career apart from agricul- tural life, and made the most of every opportunity that presented itself, eventually succeeding in completing a course at the Potsdam (New York) Normal school, where he was graduated in 1878. Following this, he spent two years at Cornell University earning the means whereby to pursue his studies by intervals of labor at carpentering. bark-peeling and school teaching, and in the spring of 1880, deciding that better op- portunities awaited him in the West, made his way to the State of Kan- sas. Shortly thereafter, he continued on as far as Colorado Springs, Colo- rado, but his meager capital had dwindled to but a dollar or two in cur- rency. His indomitable energy and willingness to apply himself to whatever honorable employment could be found, however, were still with him, and he soon secured employment in a stone quarry, where, forty-eight hours later, his evident industry and intelligence had won him the position of foreman. Although this work was anything but agreeable to the youth who had set as his goal a high professional posi-
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tion, he philosophically accepted it as but a means to a desired end, and by the completion of six months found himself in position of sufficient funds with which to go to Ann Arbor, Michigan. In November, 1881, with other aspirants, he appeared before the Circuit Court at Ann Arbor and was one of the successful four (three men and one woman) out of eighty-three applicants who were then and there admitted to practice before the Michigan bar.
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