USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 35
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In 1862 Senator Sawyer purchased his partner's interest in the mill, which they had established at Oshkosh, and in the spring of 1864, Edgar P. Sawyer was admitted to partnership in the business, which at that time entered upon a year of distinctive prosperity. Gradually the senior member of the firm shifted to the shoulders of his son a large share of the cares and responsibilities of the business, and the ability displayed by the latter justified Senator Sawyer, when he diverted his attention from his private business activities and entered public life.
From the time Senator Sawyer entered public service, in the capacity of member of the assembly body of the Wisconsin legislature, up to the close of his distinguished career as a member of the United States Senate, during the major part of a quarter of a century, the business of P. Sawyer & Son reached great magnitude, and became intimately related to the industrial development and progress of this section of the state. With its amplification, the burden of responsi- bility increased, and this rested mainly upon the shoulders of Edgar P. Sawyer. Under his direction and supervision, new enterprises were initiated and large investments made. For many years he was the general manager and executive head of the business established by his honored father. While Senator Sawyer laid the foundation for the handsome fortune which has accrued as a result of the operations of this firm, his son had a large share in all its subsequent develop-
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ments. Entering fully into the plans and purposes of his father, Edgar P. Sawyer displayed the same genius for organization, the same keen insight into trade conditions, and the same masterful and comprehensive grasp of commercial problems. Energy, initiative, resourcefulness and administrative ability of the highest type have been hardly less prominent traits of his character than of that of his father, and rugged honesty and integrity of purpose have been dom- inating attributes of both father and son.
The enervating effects of wealth are not apparent in this succes- sion. Vigor of mind and body has been transmitted without impair- ment, and Edgar P. Sawyer is in the most significant sense a plain, matter-of-fact, sagacious man of affairs-a veritable captain of in- dustry and one of the world's worthy and constructive workers. Aside from his lumbering operations he has become largely inter- ested in other enterprises, which have been quickened by his indi- vidual ability. For several years he was vice-president of the First National Bank of Oshkosh. This bank in February, 1903, was reor- ganized, under its present title of the Old National Bank of Oshkosh, and since that time Mr. Sawyer has been its president. The Sawyer Company is owners of a fine cattle ranch in Irion and Reagan coun- ties, Texas, comprising about one hundred and sixty thousand acres of grazing land, and stocked with fully ten thousand head of cattle. Mr. Sawyer is a stock holder and director in many other corpora- tions.
A man of broad liberality and generous impulses, Mr. Sawyer has done much for the improvement and upbuilding of his home city. Though unwavering in his allegiance to the Republican party, of which his father was one of the most distinguished representatives in Wisconsin, Mr. Sawyer has never sought or desired participation in practical politics. In Masonry, he has taken thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite.
In the year 1864 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sawyer to Miss Mary Jewell, who was born in Columbia county, New York, July 3, 1842. Her father was the late Hon. Henry C. Jewell, a ster- ling pioneer and influential citizen of Oshkosh, which city he served as mayor, besides having represented Winnebago county in the state legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer have one son and one daughter. Maria M. is the wife of Charles Curry Chase, general manager of the Banderob-Case Company, engaged in the manufacture of furni- ture at Oshkosh. Mr. Sawyer also is a stockholder and treasurer of this corporation, of which John Banderob is president and Mr. Case secretary and vice-president and general manager. Philetus Horace Sawyer, the only son, is secretary and treasurer of P. Sawyer & Son, Ltd .; and is also secretary and treasurer of the Oshkosh Gas Light Company. The home relations of Mr. Sawyer have been ideal, and
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literature and travel have occupied a large share of his leisure time. He is a man of broad mentality, of genial and Democratic person- ality, and of fine civic loyalty and progressiveness. All his successes have been worthily won, and he is truly one of the representative citizens and leading business men of the Badger State, in which his interests have ever been centered, and of whose great advantages and attractions he is deeply appreciative.
KATHERN K. BRAINARD. Justly to be accredited with admirable executive ability and marked circumspection is this well known and pop- ular citizen and representative business man of Pepin county, where he is the able incumbent of the position of cashier of the State Bank of Durand, one of the strong and effectively managed financial institutions of this part of the state. He has been a resident of the judicial center of Pepin county since 1901, when he assumed his present official position, and he has been a potent factor in the upbuilding of the substantial business of the institution with which he is identified.
Mr. Brainard was born at St. Charles, Winona county, Minnesota, on the 23d of February, 1870, and is a scion of one of the sterling pioneer families of that state. His early educational discipline was acquired in the public schools of Montevideo, Chippewa county, Min- nesota, and he initiated his business career in the capacity of clerk for the Northern Pacific Railroad, as a representative of which he was stationed in North Dakota. He gained familiarity with the details of railway work and was finally appointed station agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Millard, South Dakota, two years, then to Mellette, where he continued to serve in this capacity for seven years, and where he was prominently identified with the civic and material development and progress of the town, until he came to Durand and remained with the same rail- road seven years. Then in 1909 he became cashier of the State Bank of Durand, and he has been zealous and efficient in the discharge of the duties of this executive post, in which his record has been altogether admirable, even as it has been of inestimable value in furthering the best interests of the institution and making the same a conservator of community welfare. He is a stockholder of the bank of which he is cashier, and the other members of the executive corps are as here noted: John Brunner, Jr., president; E. Oester- reicher, vice-president, and George L. Howard, assistant cashier. Besides the president and vice-president the directorate of the insti- tution includes H. Goodrich, M. Hurlburt, H. E. Stanton, J. Engel- dinger, C. A. Ingram, George Howard, and M. Dorwin. The bank bases its operations upon a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dol- lars, its surplus fund is six thousand dollars, and, according to its. official statement at the close of business on the 4th of February,
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1913, its individual deposits were shown to be $95,815.99, with time certificates of deposit to the amount of $192,727.12.
In politics Mr. Brainard has been found at all times arrayed as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and as a citizen he is essentially broad-minded, liberal and progressive, though he has manifested no desire for public office. He is an appreciative member of the time-honored Masonic fraternity, and has been active and influential in the various Masonic bodies with which he is affili- ated, his maximum affiliation being with the Eau Claire Commandery, Knights Templar, No. 8, at Eau Claire, this state. He is at the present time (1913) master of Durand Lodge, No. 149, Free & Accepted Masons; is past high priest of Durand Chapter, No. 61, Royal Arch Masons; and worthy patron of Truth Chapter, No. 110, Eastern Star, an office in which he had previously served for three years. He is also affiliated with the local organization of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a charter member of the Durand Business Men's Association and gives earnest co-operation in the furtherance of the high civic ideals and activities of this progressive organization.
On the 23d of October, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brainard to Miss Mary A. Kohr, and they have four children: G. Vaughn, Carroll, Docela, and Kathyrn. The eldest of the children was graduated in the Durand high school as a member of the class of 1912.
WILLIAM J. LEADER. For more than a quarter of a century William J. Leader has been connected with the official life of Douglas county, Wisconsin, and through this long, faithful and capable service is en- titled to the gratitude and esteem of his fellow-citizens. He has been conscientious in his discharge of the duties of every trust imposed in him, and his record as a public official will bear the most searching scrutiny. Mr. Leader is an Illinoisan by birth, being a native of Jo Daviess county, where he was born August 17, 1855, the oldest of six sons and three daughters born to John Hall and Honora (O'Donoghue) Leader. Six of these children still survive.
John Hall Leader was born in County Cork, Ireland, and emigrated to the United States on a sailing vessel, in 1848, settling at Syracuse, New York, where he was married to Honora O'Donoghue, a native of County Kerry, Ireland. In 1854 they removed to Galena, Illinois, where Mr. Leader entered the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad and for many years served in a clerical capacity and as baggagemaster. He was an early Democrat in politics, but later transferred his support to the Republican party. Mr. Leader died at the age of sixty-six years, while his widow survived him until 1904, and was seventy-four years old at the time of her demise.
After attending the graded and high schools of Galena, Illinois, Wil-
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liam J. Leader took up the study of telegraphy, and subsequently spent two years in the employ of the Illinois Central Railroad at Galena, and the succeeding five years at Decatur and Springfield, Illinois, with the same company. He then entered the service of the Texas Pacific Railroad, acting as operator at Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and as station agent at Pecos, Texas, for about two years, and in 1884 came to Superior, Wisconsin, to accept the position of cashier of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad. In 1886 Mr. Leader resigned this position when he was appointed assistant county clerk of Douglas county, and since that time he has been continuously in public service. In 1887 and 1888 he acted in the capacity of county assessor; became deputy county treasurer in the latter year and continued as such in 1889 and 1890; was county clerk in 1891 and 1892, and deputy county clerk from 1893 to 1910, and in the latter year was again elected county clerk, in which capacity he is at present acting. A service covering twenty- seven years in positions of public responsibility and trust is indeed an unusual one and is indicative of the general confidence which Mr. Leader has inspired in his fellow-citizens. He has interested himself in various movements for the public welfare, and since 1908 has been a director of the Superior Public Library. He is a life member of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and is affiliated also with the Knights of Columbus and Siberian Lodge No. 403, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has always supported Republican principles.
On June 8, 1882, Mr. Leader was married at Dallas, Texas, to Miss Margaret Keating, who was born at New Diggins, Lafayette county, Wisconsin, and to this union there have been born three daughters: Cora, who is a teacher in the public schools of Superior; Katherine, who is a student in the State University, at Madison; and Honora, who is teaching in the schools of Winston, Minnesota.
JAY FOOTE EGERTON, vice president and cashier of the Mitchell Street State Bank of Milwaukee, is a descendant of families which from the days of the American war for independence have furnished men of prominence in every walk of life. Still further back, several of his progenitors had been distinguished in the civil and political annals of Great Britain, were faithful supporters of the Crown and defenders of the faith, and were honored by their sovereign with emoluments and honors as rewards for upright citizenship and loyalty. The Eger- ton branch of the family furnished a prime minister of England as far back as the year 900 and a bishop of England in 1500. Mr. Eger- ton's great-great-grandfather Arnold came to America as an officer in the army of General Braddock, and fought in the French and Indian Wars in 1756; his great-great-grandfather Asa Egerton, was one of the founders of Randolph, Vermont, obtained the charter for the town and named it, and was its first militia captain, a position of great dignity
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and responsibility. Libbius Egerton, the grand-uncle of his father, was at one time lieutenant-governor of Vermont, and Judge Converse, his father's uncle, served as governor of that state. Mr. Egerton's maternal grandfather, Ezra Albert Foote, was one of the territorial legislators from Rock county, Wisconsin, and a pioneer of Footeville, which was named in his honor, and a sketch of his career will be found in another part of this work.
Jay Foote Egerton was born at Footeville, Rock county, Wisconsin, April 1, 1879, a son of Henry Arnold and Louisa (Battelle) Foote. His father was born at Northfield, Vermont, January 4, 1830, and, los- ing his father when he was two years of age, spent his boyhood and youth at Woodstock, Vermont, at the homes of his grandfather, Henry Arnold, and his grand-uncle, Judge Converse, the latter governor of Vermont. At the age of twenty-six years he migrated west to Wis- consin, and two years later entered the employ of the Chicago & North- western Railroad, subsequently having charge of the stations at Foote- ville and Oregon, Wisconsin, and Algona, Iowa. From the latter place he returned to Footeville, and here the remainder of his life was passed in breeding fine Jersey and Berkshire cattle on Egerton Farm. His death occurred at Footeville, September 14, 1908. In politics Mr. Eger- ton was a Republican, and, although it was never characteristic to covet public office, he had pronounced convictions regarding men and ideas. He served a number of years as a member of the Board of County Com- missioners. On December 23, 1860, Mr. Egerton was married at Janes- ville, to Miss Louisa Battelle Foote, who was born at Goshen, Con- necticut, September 28, 1839, daughter of Ezra Albert and Clarissa (Beach) Foote. She still survives her. husband and resides on the old homestead at Footeville. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Egerton were: Clara, born at Algona, Iowa, who is now Mrs. John Lugg and resides with her mother on the homestead; Jay Foote, of this review; and Arnold Gardner, the eldest, who died April 21, 1884, at the age of nineteen years.
Jay Foote Egerton received his early education in the district schools of Center township, Rock county, this being supplemented by one year of attendance at Beloit Academy. Succeeding this he passed one sum- mer traveling in Europe, and on his return was stricken with illness. It was seven years before his health returned, and in 1903 he became connected with the First National Bank of Milwaukee, as a clerk, con- tinuing with this institution until 1907, when he became one of the organizers of the Mitchell Street State Bank, of Milwaukee, as its cashier. In 1910 he assumed the duties of vice-president, and also was made a member of the board of directors, and at this time acts in all three capacities. This financial institution, known as one of the most solid and substantial State banks in Milwaukee, is capitalized at $50,000, and is located at the corner of Mitchell street and Second avenue. Its
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other officers are Stephen H. Eller, president; Syl. J. Wabiszewski, vice- president; and Jacob T. Thomas, assistant cashier. Its members are all men of business prominence, who have won the confidence of the public through their connection with large ventures, no less than through their capable handling of the institution's affairs. As cashier, Mr. Egerton has been instrumental in popularizing the institution's coffers, and among his associates and bankers generally is known as a thoroughly capable financier. In addition to the duties of his official positions, Mr. Egerton manages the affairs of the Egerton Estate, owner of the Eger- ton Farm at Footeville, a tract of 160 acres, on which he has been very successful in raising fine cattle, this being one of the fine stock farms of this part of Wisconsin.
In politics, Mr. Egerton is a Republican in national affairs, but in local matters gives his support to the men and policies which he deems will best serve the interests of the people. He is a popular member of the Milwaukee Athletic and City Clubs. Mr. Egerton is unmarried and keeps bachelor's hall on Layton boulevard.
EZRA ALBERT FOOTE. The late Ezra Albert Foote, who was one of the first territorial legislators of Wisconsin, and who was subsequently elected to serve in both houses of the State Assembly as well as in vari- ous other positions of public trust and responsibility, was a member of a family that became identified with America at a very early period in its history, Nathaniel Foote, the American ancestor, having come to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1630, subsequently settling in Watertown, and later moving to Windsor, Connecticut. His descendants still main- tain a national association, and among them have been Commodore Foote, who commanded a river fleet during the Civil war, Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Ezra Albert Foote was born February 6, 1809, at Goshen, Connecti- cut, a son of Joseph and Abigail (Baldwin) Foote. He was married at Goshen, June 4, 1829, to Clarissa Beach, who was born December 5, 1807, daughter of Julius and Eunice Beach, of that place. In 1845 Mr. and Mrs. Foote removed to Rock county, Wisconsin, settling at the point where the village now stands which bears his name. In the spring of 1846, Mr. Foote entered public life when he was elected chairman of the town Board of Supervisors, and from that time until 1869 he held various offices within the gift of his fellow-townsmen. In 1854 he embarked in the produce business, and so successful was he in this venture that he became the owner of seven warehouses. Mr. Foote was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1857, and in 1861 was made a member of the Senate, where he served as chairman of the finance committee in 1861 and 1862. In the latter year he was appointed a trustee and member of the executive committee of the State Hospital for the Insane, and held the former position until
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1869. In 1867 he was again sent to the State Assembly, and was there chairman of the railroad committee.
In August, 1869, Mr. Foote went to La Cygne, Kansas, where he spent seven years, and during this time was the first mayor of the city, and police judge for three years. Returning to Footeville in the spring of 1876, in 1877 he was elected chairman of the Board of Supervisors, a position which he held for a number of years. He was one of the main factors in securing the building of Evansville Seminary, and for many years was president of its Board of Trustees, was a director of the Beloit & Madison Railroad, and a member of the directing board of the Central Bank of Wisconsin. In his death, which occurred December 21, 1885, his community lost a citizen who had ever been loyal to its best interests, and who, more than any other individual, had forwarded its growth and development. His wife passed away June 5, 1886.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Foote: Ruth Roxana, born April 30, 1831, who died at Footeville, Wisconsin, December 7, 1863; Joseph Ives, born December 17, 1834, who died in San Diego, California, July 18, 1899; and Louisa Battelle, born September 28, 1839, the widow of H. A. Egerton, now living on Egerton farm, at Footeville.
Joseph Ives Foote received a liberal education, attending first the public schools and subsequently graduating with honors from Law- rence University, following which he took a civil engineering course and the course required for teachers in the Wisconsin State Normal school. He rose to a high position in his chosen vocation of educator, being at one time regent of the State Normal school and superintend- ent of schools of Rock county, Wisconsin, was called to the presidency of the Spanish-American College in Chili, was professor of elocution in Avoca Ladies Seminary, professor of languages and civil engineer- ing in Austin (Texas) College, and president of the literary and agri- cultural departments of Polytechnic College of Houston, Texas. In 1879 Mr. Foote was admitted to the bar of Kansas City, with license to practice law in the courts of the State of Missouri. He was chap- lain of the Thirteenth Wisconsin Volunteers and Veteran Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the Civil war. He had entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1858, and served as a pastor therein during five years.
In 1886, on account of ill health, Mr. Foote went to California, where he was appointed pastor of a church at Coronado Beach, where he continued to labor until his death, which occurred at San Diego, July 18, 1899. He left a widow, who had been Miss Emma A. Love- joy. Their three little daughters died in infancy.
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ALBERT KALMBACH. From the old days of the "float-and-stone system" and the open sail boat to the modern methods and appliances of the present day, the career of Albert Kalmbach has been con- temporaneous with the fishing industry of Wisconsin. In this voca- tion he spent his early youth, gradually he learned its lessons, event- ually he established a business of his own, and today this veteran of the calling, although now sixty-three years of age, continues to direct a business that is extensive in volume and important as a factor in the business life of Sturgeon Bay. Mr. Kalmbach was born January 12, 1851, at Hollidaysburg, the county seat of Blair county, Pennsylvania, not far from the famous "Horseshoe Bend" of the Pennsylvania Railroad, known all over the country. His parents, Godfrey and Christina (Sager) Kalmbach, were born in Germany and were there married, for sometime thereafter conducting a hotel. Feeling that they could better their condition in the United States, they embarked for this country in a sailing vessel, and after a hazard- ous journey covering many weeks arrived in the land of promise. Mr. Kalmbach, being experienced as a hotel-keeper, chose that calling and established himself in business at Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, but after five years moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent one year. At the end of that period, at the solicitation of old J. W. Craw, who owned the harbor at Washington Island, Wisconsin, he came to this place and took charge of a boarding house for Mr. Craw. At that time this was one of the important harbors of the Great Lakes, and the Island depended chiefly upon its fisher and sailormen, and great quantities of salted fish were shipped from this point all over the surrounding territory. After conducting the boarding house for four years the Kalmbachs moved to the southern side of the Island, and there cleared a farm, upon which both parents spent the remainder of their lives, the father dying at the age of eighty-seven years, and the mother four years later. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom all but five died young, these five being : Michael F., a resident of Duluth, Minnesota; Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Jacob Richter, also deceased; Minnie, deceased, who was the wife of H. W. Davis, also deceased, who was for many years manager of the Blue Line Railroad at Cleveland, Ohio; Albert, of this review; and Susan, deceased, who was the wife of Andrew Olsen.
Albert Kalmbach was six years of age when the family came to Washington Island, and he can still remember the trip as made in the old "side-wheeler" City of Cleveland. Here he grew to man- hood, assisting first in the boarding house and later on the farm, and in the meantime acquiring his education by attendance at the dis- trict schools, this latter being subsequently supplemented, when he was eighteen years of age, by one winter at the Green Bay High School. His career as a fisherman was started when he was sixteen Vol. VI-20
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