USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 26
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and then began his college course at Iowa State University, pursuing his studies there for four years, after which he took up the occupation of farming. This work did not give scope to his ambitions and we find him entering the grain business. A little later he began in a small way a contracting business, making a specialty of building grain elevators.
In 1892 the Barnett & Record Co. was incorporated and established at Minneapolis and under that name his business has been carried on since, he being the President and active manager of the corporation. This corporation is known throughout the country as builders of grain elevators, mills, docks and other kinds of heavy structures and has grown to be one of the leading concerns of the United States.
In 1905 there was incorporated in Canada the Barnett-McQueen Co., Ltd., of which Mr. Barnett is president. This company carries on an extensive business in contracting in the Dominion of Canada.
Mr. Barnett is the active directing head of both of these corpora- tions and is known and recognized as the moving spirit in the great undertakings for which the concerns bearing his name are celebrated.
By close application to his business and by integrity in his dealings he has established for himself and his concern a reputation second to None in the United States.
Since 1893 he has made his home in Superior with the exception of one and one-half years and has been devoting the greater portion of his time to looking after his investments.
He is a director in the First National Bank, Superior, Wis., a member of the Minneapolis Club of Minneapolis, the Iroquois Club of Chicago, the Kitchi Gamma Club of Duluth and the Commercial and Gitchi Nadji Clubs of Superior.
In 1893 he was united in marriage with Miss Laura Tombler and to them has been born one daughter, Lucy Cable.
JOHN M. McCOY. One of the progressive citizens and representative business men of Milwaukee, John M. McCoy has also helped advance the general good of the community, and his public spirit along practical lines of philanthropy has been equal to his business ability. Big of mind and big of heart, he has well employed his talents in whatever angle of the fight fortune has placed him. Prominence as a man of affairs, and of broad and varied business interests has for years been his position, and as a resourceful and influential factor in the progress and prosperity of Milwaukee along both civic and material lines he is fully entitled to consideration in this history of Wisconsin.
John Martin McCoy was born in the city of Springfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, June 22, 1855. His parents, Martin and Mary (Nolan) McCoy, were both born and reared in County Galway, Ireland, and both were of old Irish stock, as is indicated by the fact that each of
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them spoke the original Gaelie language of the Emerald Isle with marked fluency. They came to America about the year 1852, and were married at Holyoke, Massachusetts. After several years' resi- dence at Springfield, Massachusetts, they removed to the city of Boston, where Martin McCoy engaged in the work of his trade. In the early part of the Civil war he manufactured cavalry boots for soldiers of the Union. From Boston he finally removed his family to the village of Abington, Plymouth county, a place situated on the Old Colony Road, eighteen miles distance from Boston. There he maintained his resi- dence until March 17, 1863, when he set forth for the west. He came with his family to Wisconsin, and established his home in Milwaukee, where he found employment at his trade and where he was for many years in the employ of the well known firm of Bradley and Metcalf. Martin McCoy was a man of alert mentality and well fortified opinions, and was an active worker in connection with political affairs in Mil- waukee during the years of his business career in Wisconsin, though he never manifested a desire for the honors or emoluments of public office. He was a man of exalted integrity of character, of genial and kindly nature, and all who knew him accorded to him the fullest measure of confidence and respect. He continued to reside in Milwau- kee until his death, which occurred on the second of July, 1886. His wife died several years later. Both were devout communicants of the Catholic church. They became the parents of three sons and five daughters, and of the six children now living, John M. is the eldest. Mary maintains her home in the city of Chicago; Catherine, who is now the wife of Ignatius Stapleton of Portland, Oregon, first married Captain John Sullivan, who, with three others, was killed just off North Point on the Wisconsin Coast, in the explosion of the engine on the tug "A. W. Lawrence," during the middle of October, 1888. Ellen is the widow of Thomas E. Barrett, a former sheriff of Cook county, Illinois, the first Democratic sheriff elected in that county in a period of thirty years, and who was likewise a prominent member of the Chicago Board of Trade, and Mrs. Barrett now resides in Ravens- wood, Chicago. William H. and James E. McCoy reside in Milwaukee.
John M. McCoy was a lad of eight years at the time of the family removal from Massachusetts to Milwaukee. Here he attended the St. Gall's parochial school on the site of the present Public Service Build- ing. After his school days, for a time he assisted his father in the latter's work. His next employment was with the firm of Godfrey & Crandall, printers and publishers, this firm having published the old- time commercial letters as a source of daily record of the Milwaukee Board of Trade, at a time when Edward Sanderson, Joseph Oliver, William Young and other representative citizens were members of the board. In 1876 Mr. McCoy engaged in business for himself by opening a cafe and restaurant at 210 W. Water street. This became the most
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popular establishment of its day in Milwaukee, and was successfully conducted for years.
Mr. McCoy formulated his views on public matters, and became an active factor in local political affairs. In April, 1885, he was elected on the Democratic ticket as representative of the Fourth Ward on the city board of aldermen, and upon the expiration of his three years' term in 1888 was made the nominee on the Fusion ticket, through the medium of which he was reelected alderman for a term of two years. As a member of the city council he was steadfast and loyal and did all in his power to bring about a wise administration of the municipal government. Prior to thus serving in the city council, he had served as deputy sheriff of Milwaukee county, under the regime of Sheriff John R. Bentley. After his retirement from the office of alderman, Mr. McCoy was appointed by Governor George W. Peck to the position of state oil inspector for the district comprising Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Washington counties, and he continued in that post during the admin- istration of Governor Peck. He finally removed to the eighteenth ward of Milwaukee, and in April, 1902, was elected alderman from this ward, in which he has maintained his home for the past twenty years. In 1908 Mr. McCoy was the Democratic nominee for sheriff of Milwaukee county, but met defeat in the general Republican predomination of that year. As a member of the city council Mr. McCoy always mani- fested the courage of his convictions, and was as ready at all times to defend the rights of the people as he was to make evident his oppo- sition to ill-advised policies and equivocal methods. He served on many important committees of the council and his record as a public officer is without a shadow or a blot. He was a staunch friend of the late Captain Pabst, and was interested in several enterprises controlled by that representative and honored citizen.
Mr. McCoy continued his cafe business from 1876 to 1906, and his establishment became virtually as well and favorably known to the general public as was the name of the city itself. His success has been won through his own well directed endeavors. He has made many and important investments in Milwaukee real estate. A number of years ago he sold eighty feet of frontage on West Water Street, receiving therefor the highest price paid for frontage up to that time.
In September, 1912, Mr. McCoy made a very important investment when he purchased the fine Hotel Charlotte property at 138 Third Street in the very heart of the business district of Milwaukee. This attractive and essentially modern building is the only re-inforced concrete and absolutely fire-proof hotel structure in Milwaukee, and the hotel is conducted by the Randolph Brothers Hotel Company.
In connection with political activities, Mr. McCoy has been a dele- gate to various conventions of his party including the national conven- tion which nominated Judge Parker for the presidency and the Wiscon-
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sin State Democratic Convention which nominated George W. Peck for governor. As a citizen he has shown himself most public spirited and progressive and his appreciation of the opportunities and advan- tages which have enabled him to achieve large success in his present business in Milwaukee has been shown in his enterprise along lines that have conserved the material advantages of the city. He has erected several dwelling houses and apartment buildings, and is still actively engaged in the buying and selling of real estate, in which line his operations have been of broad scope. He erected what is now called the City Building, in which are kept the various municipal supplies. Ile built this structure in 1905, and had a garage there until 1907, when he sold the property to the city. The building was orig- inally known as the McCoy Building, and is located at 52-56 Biddle Street. Mr. McCoy is one of the chief stockholders of the Prospect Hill Land Company.
In the domain of practical philanthropy Mr. McCoy has achieved no work of greater credit and benefit than that involved in his orig- inating the plan of "the penny lunch" for the school children of his home city. This provision now constitutes one of the most worthy and successful benevolences of the city of Milwaukee. It was the sub- ject of an extended article in the New York Tribune of March 10, 1907. These lunches are served in the Milwaukee schools for the benefit of the children in the departments of the first to the fourth grade inclusive. Mr. McCoy inspired this innovation while a member of the board of aldermen. He had learned from his wife that their washer-woman had on a certain occasion asked leave of absence at the noon-hour and had stated as her reason that she had forgotten to leave at home a nickel to supply her children with a loaf of bread for dinner. She said also that the children had gone to school without any breakfast and that the loaf of bread would constitute their noon- meal. It is needless to say that Mrs. McCoy provided a good dinner for the children, and dispatched the same by the mother, and when, with gentle sympathy, she related the incident to her husband, his heart likewise was touched, and he began to give the matter close thought, with a view to devising ways and means to ameliorate such deplorable conditions. He later learned that in a local department store a little cash girl had fainted from hunger and after these hap- penings he publicly declared his conviction that hundreds of children went to the public schools with insufficient breakfasts. He urged the need of investigation and contributed to a fund which started what is now known as the "penny lunch," a system which has spread through all parts of the United States and even to Europe. Mr. McCoy also promised contributions to the fund if some women's club or other responsible organization would assume the administration of the money. A sufficient sum was pledged before definite plans for its use were
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formulated. Then the Woman's School Alliance of Milwaukee became interested in the project, with its membership of influential women from all parts of the city. This noble organization of women has been instrumental in effecting many reforms in public schools, and foremost among the original devoted workers of the cause were Mesdames W. II. Halsey, C. B. Whitnall, W. Farnham, W. K. Downey, J. P. Miley and H. Sullivan, of the School Alliance, and Mrs. McCoy, who became a most zealous worker and generous contributor. The Milwaukee schools were the first in which were served such lunches to children, the food pro- vided being excellent though simple, and the expense to the child being only the nominal sum of one penny. The women who assumed charge of the penny-lunch fund were convinced that to serve free lunches would but tend to encourage negligence on the part of those to be aided. The service costs more than is received at the low rate of compensation, but is working most admirably, and the children show an appreciation of the plan. The service was first inaugurated in the city school for the deaf. Soon after the system was established there came the problem of caring for the children who were unable to buy even a penny lunch. In these cases, under an absolute rule of secrecy the children are provided with tickets, the child being allowed to sup- pose that its lunch was being paid for in the usual way. In many in- stances it has been shown that the supposedly dull children were not dull but hungry, and the serving of the lunches has been followed by greatly improved class work in the schools, this being a great argument in favor of the noble work. The serving of the lunches has also proved the means of giving employment to women in the neighborhood of the various schools and thus the benefits of the service are even further extended. The success and value of this philanthropy as shown by the pioneer efforts in Milwaukee brought about a general awakening to the importance of the matter, and today many of the leading cities throughout the country have adopted similar plans.
Mr. McCoy was a member of the council committee that first rec- ommended the abolishing of horse-cars on the street railways of Milwaukee, and the substitution of electric service. He was also a member of the committee that investigated electric plants and railways in various cities, and was chairman of the railway committee of the council. He thus exerted marked influence in gaining to Milwaukee the facilities and service now represented in its excellent system of street railways. He is president of the McCoy-Nolan Heater and Supply company, engaged in the handling of general supplies at whole- sale and retail. He is vice president of the Thomas E. Hoye Heating Company, besides being a director in several land companies. He is affiliated with Wisconsin Lodge, No. 1, Knights of Pythias, and Mil- waukee Conclave, No. 243, Order of Heptasophs. Mr. McCoy was the first initiate in the Fraternal Order of Eagles in the state of Wisconsin.
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Both he and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church, being members of the parish of Sts. Peter & Paul.
On the fifteenth of May, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McCoy to Miss Julia Teagan, who was born and reared in Milwaukee, and whose father, the late Thomas Teagan, was a pioneer citizen of the First Ward. Mrs. McCoy is a woman of the most kindly and gracious personality, instant in good works and generous of spirit, and in her native city her circle of friends is limited only by that of her acquaintances. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy have four sons, namely : John R., was graduated in St. John's Military Academy at Delafield, Wisconsin, in which school he held the commission as lieutenant, and is now man- ager of the McCoy-Nolan Heating & Supply Company, of which his father is president; Ross A., who finished the work of the public schools of the Eighteenth Ward, is a member of the firm of MeCoy & Thompson, conducting a first-class automobile garage and sales room at Seymour, Indiana ; George N., who was a student of the Marquette University of Milwaukee, is now a member of the class of 1915 in the law department of Notre Dame University at South Bend, Indiana ; and James A., is a student in the public schools of Milwaukee.
JOHN P. DAVIES, president of the Racine Malleable & Wrought Iron Company, was one of the popular, enterprising and public-spirited men of the city of Racine. His birth occurred January 31, 1853, in Racine, but his parents, William and Ann (Pugh) Davies, were natives of Wales.
William Davies was a locomotive engineer in his native country, and on coming to America located in Racine, Wisconsin, where he followed stationary engineering for several years in the lumber mills. He then entered the employ of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad Com- pany, in the shops at Racine, and there continued until his death, which occurred in 1872. He married Ann Pugh, who survived him until April 2, 1901, passing away aged seventy-one years. She was a mem- ber of the Welsh Congregational Church. Mr. and Mrs. Davies had six children born to them, of whom there are now living, namely : John P., of Racine ; Elizabeth, the wife of T. M. Jones, of Racine; and Grace, the wife of W. H. Rothermel, of Chicago.
John P. Davies was reared in Racine, and attended the public and high schools. He began learning telegraphy when about sixteen years of age in the Western Union Telegraph office at Racine. and the first office of which he had charge was in that city. He then worked one year in Chicago. and six months in Oshkosh, at the end of that time entering the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Company, for which he was the operator and ticket clerk at the Racine depot for several years. He then purchased an interest in the Jansen Manufac- turing Company, and became one of the organizers, secretary and trea- surer of the company, which was later reorganized, the name being
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changed to the Racine Malleable & Wrought Iron Company; as such it has continued since. Mr. Davies was secretary and treasurer of the company for a few years, and then was elected president and general manager. About 325 people are employed in the plant, where all kinds of saddlery hardware and special castings are manufactured. The es- tablishment was destroyed by fire July 13, 1898, at which time it was located on Milwaukee Avenue and West street. In this conflagration Mr. Davies personally lost $75,000 in about thirty minutes. The com- pany chose a new location, Twenty-first and Clark streets, known as Lakeside, and at once rebuilt the works. In the new plant there are six large buildings and several smaller ones, built of brick, on modern plans. Mr. Davies was also president of the Reliance Iron & Engine Company, which is one of the new industries of Racine, for the manufacture of gas and gasoline engines and castings of all kinds.
Fraternally Mr. Davies was a thirty-second degree Mason, belonging to Racine Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M .; Orient Chapter No. 12, R. A. M .; Racine Commandery, No. 7, K. T., of which he was a past commander, and Tripoli Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Politically he was a Republican, and served as police commissioner one term, and as a member of the board of education for the same length of time.
On May 12, 1884, Mr. Davies married Miss Cora A. Crane, daughter of Mrs. Jennie (Burch) Crane, and she died eleven months after mar- riage, of typhoid fever. Mr. Davies married September 17, 1889, Miss Lillie E. Case, daughter of DeWayne and Eliza (Greenhow) Case, and to this union have been born four children: John P., Jr., Anna E., and Frank Case and Clinton William twins. The family reside at No. 744 College Avenue. Mr. Davies was genial and affable and possessed a kind heart. Domestic in his tastes and habits, he loved his home, and it was there he was to be found after a busy day at his office. John P. Davies died December 11, 1911.
JUDGE H. F. STEELE, county judge of Oneida county, Wisconsin, with office and residence at Rhinelander, in Oneida county, was ap- pointed to the judgeship in 1912 to fill an unexpired term caused by the death of the late Judge Levi J. Billings. In the spring of 1913 Judge Steele was elected to the office for the full term of six years. Judge Steele has been a resident of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, since the autumn of 1905. He was born at Eldorado, near Fond du Lac, Wiscon- sin, on February 28, 1878, and is a son of John F. and Charlotte M. (Holliday) Steele.
Both parents of Judge Steele are now deceased, the father having died in 1902, while the mother passed away in 1880, when their son was yet a mere infant. The father came to Wisconsin, from Oneida county, New York, in 1848, and he took up a homestead in Fond du Lac county, where he settled and where he spent many years of his life. His
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wife was a native daughter of the county, whose parents were prom- inently numbered among the very earliest pioneers to that section of the state. H. F. Steele was reared on his father's farm, until the age of twelve, attending the public schools, and at that age he undertook pre- paratory work at a school in Ripon, Wisconsin, from which he later graduated. Judge Steele made possible his college career mainly through his own exertions, his father being unable to finance his educational affairs. He earned the money to carry on his studies by acting as a telegraph operator in the general offices of the Northwestern Lines at various points throughout Wisconsin, Iowa and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and he saved most assiduously during those years for the furtherance of his education. His literary course was followed by his entering the law department of Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, and he was graduated from there in 1905. In October of the same year he came to Rhinelander and was soon thereafter appointed City Attorney of that place, an office in which he continued until his appointment to the post of county judge made his resignation incumbent upon him.
Judge Steele was married in 1906 to Miss May Gordinier, of Wau- paca, Wisconsin, a daughter of C. S. Gordinier. One child shares their home-Charles Steele.
Judge Steele is president of the Rhinelander Library Board, and is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
REV. WILLIAM W. PERRY. The year 1913 marks the centennial anni- versary of the winning of the historic naval victory on Lake Erie by Commodore Perry, in connection with the War of 1812, and he whose name initiates this paragraph can not but take especial interest in the celebration of that important event in American history, by reason of the fact that he is probably of the line from which descended the great commander of the American naval forces in the memorable conflict mentioned. Mr. Perry is a native son of Wisconsin, is a man of high intellectual attainments, has labored long and with all of consecrated zeal as a clergyman of the Presbyterian church, is one of the most dis- tinguished figures in the Wisconsin contingent of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, and is the present associate pastor of the Berean Presbyterian church in his native city. A man of most gracious per- sonality, he is widely known through his services as a clergyman and his conspicuous identification with Masonic affairs, and it may be con- sistently said that his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. He is the scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Wisconsin, and, as already intimated, bears a name that has been significantly distinguished in the history of the nation.
Rev. William Watson Perry was born in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the 28th of July, 1853, and is a son of James and Ellen (Smith) Perry, the former of whom was born in Manchester Decem-
William. Watson Perry
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ber 23, 1804, and the latter in Burnley, Lancashire, England, on the 22nd of April, 1813. James Perry came to Wisconsin in the year 1848, the year that marked the admission of the state to the Union, and he became associated with the pioneer lumbering firm of Benjamin Bag- nell & Company, in Milwaukee, in which city he continued to main- tain his home until 1855, at which time on account of ill health he removed to a farm midway between North Prairie and Eagle, Wau- kesha county. His death occurred on the 30th day of November, 1864, at that place. He united with the Republican party at the time of its organization and only a short time prior to his death he cast his vote in support of the party's presidential candidate, Abraham Lin- coln, on the occasion of Mr. Lincoln's second nomination. Mrs. Perry survived her honored husband by more than a score of years and was summoned to her last home at North Prairie, in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, on the 19th day of January, 1885. She was one of the ven- erable pioneer women of Wisconsin at the time of her death, and her memory is revered by all who came within the compass of her gentle and gracious influence.
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