USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 40
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upon the nation Mr. Pierce was one of the first of the patriotic young men of Wisconsin to tender his services in defense of the Union. On May 10, 1861, he was mustered into the state service in Milwaukee, and on July 13 of that year the company was mustered into the United States service as Company B of the Fifth Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry. He was made corporal of his company and he continued in active service with his gallant regiment during virtually the entire period of the great conflict through which the integrity of the nation was perpetuated, his actual term of service having been four years and three months. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and with it he participated in many of the most important battles marking the progress of the war, besides taking part in innumer- able minor engagements. He was ever found at the post of duty and endured to the full the hardships and perils of the long and weary con- test between the North and the South. Among the prominent engage- ments in which Mr. Pierce took part may be mentioned the following : Lewinsville, Lee's Mills. and Williamsburg, Virginia; siege of York- town; battles of Seven Pines, Golding's Farm, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spottsylvania Court House. He was wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville and also in that of Spottsylvania Court House, where he was taken prisoner. He was held in captivity for seven months,-at Andersonville and Flor- ence prisons. He retains in his possession the bullet that was extracted after he received his severe wound at Chancellorsville. At the time of his capture by the enemy, after being wounded, he was about to receive his commission as lieutenant. He was mustered out, as first sergeant, on the 30th of August, 1865, in Milwaukee. Mr. Pierce endured the full tension of the long internecine conflict and his rem- .iniscences concerning the Civil war are most graphic and interesting.
After the close of his long and valiant service as a soldier of the Union Mr. Pierce turned his attention once more to the winning of the victories of peace. He became bookkeeper in the office of his brother Robert W., who was engaged in the lumber business in Mil- waukee, under the title of R. W. Pierce & Company, and later he was admitted to partnership in the substantial business, which was continued under the original title until 1889, the firm having long been one of the substantial and representative business concerns of Milwaukee and having ever maintained an unassailable reputation. After this enterprise was closed out Oscar H. Pierce turned his atten- tion to the real estate and loan business, in which he continued to be engaged until 1891. In the autumn of 1890 he was elected, on the Republican ticket, to the office of register of deeds of Milwaukee county, and of this important position he continued the incumbent for two terms, during which he gave a most careful and satisfactory adminis-
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tration. He assumed the office on-the 1st of January, 1891, and re- tired therefrom at the close of the year 1894. In a generie sense he has ever been a stalwart advocate of the basic principles of the Repub- lican party, but his partisanship has not been so rigid as to prevent him from supporting men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, without reference to partisan lines.
After his retirement from the office of register of deeds Mr. Pierce again engaged in the real estate and loan business, in which he has continued successfully during the intervening years, and he also con- trols an excellent business in the insurance department of his enter- prise. He is affiliated with Kilburn Lodge, No. 3, Free & Accepted Masons; Kilburn Chapter, No. 1, Royal Arch Masons, and is one of the most appreciative and honored members of E. B. Wolcott Post, No. 1, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has served as com- mander and of whose board of trustees he is a chairman at the time of this writing. He also holds membership in the Milwaukee Mer- chants' & Manufacturers' Association. He is a member of the Congre- gational church, as was also his loved and devoted wife, and both were for many years actively identified with the work of Plymouth church, in Milwaukee.
On the 24th of January, 1867, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pierce to Miss Martha J. Horning, who was born at Danville, Pennsylvania, and who was summoned to eternal rest on the 16th of January, 1905, secure in the love and high regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. The supreme loss and bereavement in the life of Mr. Pierce was that which came when his loved helpmeet was called from his side, after nearly forty years of ideal companionship. Mrs. Pierce was a daughter of John and Harriet Horning, who came from Pennsylvania to Milwaukee in 1855 and who passed the residue of their lives in the Wisconsin metropolis. Mr. Horning was a millwright and was a prominent busi- ness man in Milwaukee at the time of his death. The death of Mrs. Pierce occurred at the home of her younger daughter, at Wauwatosa, Milwaukee county, and the funeral services were held at the home apartments maintained by her husband and held in the Belvidere building, on Grand avenue, Rev. Judson Titsworth, pastor of Plym- outh Congregational church, officiating and interment being made in beautiful Forest Home cemetery. Mrs. Pierce is survived by two daughters, both of whom were born and reared in Milwaukee. Marion is the wife of Edward H. Wilson, of this city; and Ella P., who is the widow of Dr. David G. Hathaway, of Wauwatosa, has maintained a home for her father since the death of the loved wife and mother, this home being one of the attractive places of the fine little city of Wauwatosa, from which Mr. Pierce makes daily trips to his office in Milwaukee.
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WILLIAM FINKLER. No state in the Union owes more to the Ger- man element of population than does Wisconsin, and in this state the pioneers of this sterling stock were foremost in laying broad and deep foundations upon which has been reared the great superstructure of opulent prosperity and progress. Colonel Finkler was one of the distinguished citizens of Wisconsin and honored the commonwealth by his character, his fine poise, his civic loyalty and his high achieve- ment. He was a gallant officer in the Union service in the Civil war and was called to various offices of distinguished public trust. He was a man of most generous and considerate nature, numbered his friends by the number of his acquaintances, and long played a prominent and influential part in the social and business activities of the Wisconsin metropolis. He left an unblemished reputation and in recognition of his character and accomplishment it is altogether consonant that a tribute to his memory be entered in this history of Wisconsin, of which state he was one of the leading pioneers of German birth.
Colonel Finkler was born in the duchy of Nassau, Germany, in the year 1821, and was a scion of one of the old and honored families of that part of the great German empire. He was reared to maturity in the fatherland and there received excellent educational advantages of most liberal order, including thorough training of his admirable mu- sical talent. In 1849, at the age of twenty-eight years, he severed the ties that bound him to home and native land and was swept into the tide of immigration that was steadily pouring from Germany to Amer- ica at that period. He disembarked in the port of New York city and thence came direct to Wisconsin, where he established his home in Milwaukee. Soon after his home had been established in America and he had become a naturalized citizen he received marked recog- nition and distinction, in that he was appointed United States consul to Germany, the place of his birth. He held this post a number of years and then returned to Milwaukee. Before the war he became associated with the late Mr. Townsend in the real estate and banking business. Impaired health finally caused him to seek release from the cares of business and in 1857 he returned to his native land, for an interval of rest and recuperation. Upon his return to the United States he resumed his activities in Milwaukee and at the inception of the Civil war he promptly and enthusiastically gave evidence of his loyalty to the Union and to the land of his adoption. He received appointment to the office of quartermaster and recruiting officer, and the older citizens of Milwaukee today will recall his office in the Kirby House block, where he had charge of the mustering in of the Ninth Wiscon- sin Volunteer Infantry. With this gallant command he proceeded to the front, and he proved a most able commanding officer, having been advanced to the rank of colonel and having continued in active service until the close of the war. He participated in many of the important
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engagements marking the progress of the great internecine conflict and lived up to the full tension of that dark and stormy epoch in our national history. He ever retained a vital interest in his old comrades in arms and signified the same by his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. While he was with his command in the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, his wife received tidings that he had been wounded in battle and lay at the point of death. She forthwith started for the front, her only thought being that she must make her way to the loved one and be present at his burial. She was so moved by fright and grief during this experience that she proved a ready victim to fever when she reached the side of her husband, and she soon after- ward died, at Vicksburg, where devolved upon her grief-stricken hus- band the melancholly duty of seeing her laid to eternal rest,-the last sad office which she had anticipated to be her portion in connection with him.
In 1876 Colonel Finkler was appointed United States consul to the city of Barmen, Rhenish Prussia, but he declined to assume this post, owing to the exactions of other and personal interests.
Colonel Finkler was a most liberal and progressive citizen and commanded the highest esteem in the city and state of his adoption. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party. He was a most popular factor in the social and musical circles of Milwaukee and did much to promote the development of the city in appreciation of the higher forms of musical interpretation. He served for some time as president of the Milwaukee Musical Society and also held the posi- tion of treasurer of the same for a number of years. His name and memory will long be cherished in the city that was long his home and in which his death occurred on the 14th of July, 1879, his mortal remains being laid to rest in beautiful Forest Home cemetery. He was sur- vived by three sons and one daughter of his first marriage,-Charles C., William, Bertha and Gustav,-and two sons and one daughter of the second marriage,-Henry, Adolph and Lillie. Only three are now living,-Charles C., who is a resident of New York city; Henry P. M., who maintains his home in London, England; and Adolph, who is the youngest of the children and who is secretary of the Albert Trostel & Sons Company, one of the important industrial concerns of Milwaukee. The first wife of Colonel Finkler bore the maiden name of Heyl, and she died at Vicksburg, Mississippi, as previously noted. For his second wife he wedded Miss Kroener, the ceremony having been performed in Germany, where he was at the time giving his attention to certain business transactions. Mrs. Finkler still survives her honored hus- band and maintains her home in Germany.
ROBERT V. BAKER. Half a century ago a new name was added to the list of Kenosha lawyers. One of the first, if not the first, of Wis-
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consin volunteers for the Civil war, wounded and incapacitated for further service, had returned home, and admitted to the bar had offered his services to any who would entrust their cases to him. From that time to the present, the local bar has been honored with the ex- ceptional ability and achievements of the Bakers, father and son. The Senior Baker, though no longer active as counsel is Nestor of the Kenosha bar, while his son has for fifteen years enjoyed success in the same profession and is also the present postmaster of the city.
Robert V. Baker was born in the city of Kenosha December 9, 1874. His parents are Myron A. and Rachel T. (Burgess) Baker. His father was born in Cayuga county, New York, and the mother in the town of Salem, Kenosha county, Wisconsin. The Bakers were settlers at Keno- sha when the village was known as Southport. Myron A. Baker was a child when his parents brought him to this vicinity in 1842, and he was reared to manhood on a farm, educated in the grade and high schools of Kenosha, and also in the state university. While teaching school during the winter, he read law during his vacations, and was almost ready to begin practice when the Civil war broke out in 1861. Promptly upon the firing on Fort Sumter, he enlisted for service in defense of the Union flag, and had a very just claim to being the first enlisted man in the state. He served for three months as a private in Company G of the First Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and in the battle of Falling Waters received a gunshot wound which sent him home, and which prevented him from again entering active service as a soldier. With his duty done toward his country, he at once turned his attention to the law and in May, 1862, was admitted to the bar. For forty-four years he was active in practice as a member of the Kenosha bar, and now stands not only as the oldest, but as one of the most eminent members of his profession in Kenosha county. For many years the Senior Baker was Circuit Court Commissioner, and for twelve years was district attorney. In politics he has always been a Repub- lican. He is now living a retired life at his comfortable home in Kenosha. Fraternally he is affiliated with Kenosha Lodge No. 47, A. F. & A. M., with Kenosha Chapter No. 3, R. A. M. and with Racine Commandery No. 7, K. T. He also affiliates with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
In a family of six children, Robert V. Baker was the third. He was reared in a home of comfort and given excellent advantages in preparation for life. His first instructress was his mother, a cultured and educated woman who trained him thoroughly before he entered the public schools of Kenosha. In 1897 he was graduated from the Chicago College of Law, and in the same year was admitted to the bar. He was employed by his father until 1899, and then began private prac- tice, which he continued until 1907. In that year was formed a part- nership with James R. Clarkson, under the firm name of Baker &
Walker Buckner
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Clarkson. This partnership lasted two years, after which Mr. Baker was alone until 1911, and his appointment to the office of postmaster in Kenosha in that year somewhat restricted his devotion to his pro- fession. Mr. Baker has given an excellent administration to the Ken- osha postoffice, and during his term the receipts have increased twenty- five per cent. In 1912 his office was made a Postal Savings Branch, and the deposits have grown so that now they maintain an average of about eighteen thousand dollars. These deposits are largely kept by the numerous employes of the manufacturing concerns in Kenosha.
Mr. Baker served as district attorney of Kenosha county for six years, from January 1, 1905, to 1911. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and in politics is a Progressive Republican. For a number of years he has taken an active interest in his party.
On September 21, 1902, was celebrated his marriage with Miss Ada May Bright, of Sheboygan county, Wisconsin. She completed her education in the schools of Fond du Lac. Four children born to this marriage are: Robert V., born December 9, 1903; Ransom B., born August 11, 1905; Myron E., born February 26, 1907; and Nancy Lou, born August 9, 1911.
WALKER BUCKNER. The man himself and the prestige that was his as a representative of one of the old and distinguished families of America render it most consonant that in this publication be entered a review of the career of the late Walker Buckner as a tribute to his memory. He was a dominating figure in the field of life insurance for many years, and the precedence of the family name in connec- tion with this benignant line of enterprise has been well upheld by his sons. He whose name initiates this paragraph was a man whose life counted for much, and in its beneficence, its rectitude, its pro- ductiveness and its altruism are to be found much of perpetual in- centive and inspiration of an objective order. He was for many years one of the valued and honored representatives of the great New York Life Insurance Company and attained marked distinction as an under- writer. He was the Wisconsin representative of the company men- tioned and upon his retirement from this position was succeeded by his son, Samuel O., whose jurisdiction has since been greatly extended and concerning whom specific mention will be made in later para- graphs of this review of the Buckner family.
Walker Buckner was born at North Middletown, Bourbon county, Kentucky, on the 11th of October, 1838, and his death occurred at Evanston, Illinois, one of the most beautiful suburbs of Chicago, on the 12th of August, 1901. He was a son of Samuel and Louisa M. (Dodge) Buckner, both of whom passed the closing years of their lives at Independence, Jackson county, Missouri, where the former
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died in 1877 and the latter on Christmas day of the year 1880. The father was born in Caroline county, Virginia, on the 18th of Novem- ber, 1801, and was a scion of one of the patrician and distinguished families of the historic Old Dominion, within whose borders the original progenitor settled in the early colonial epoch. In the exist- ing records of Virginia, the first mention of the family name is that of John Buckner, of York county, who patented one thousand acres of land in Gloucester county in 1667. Authentic data give evidence of the fact that John Buckner was one of the progressive, honored and influential colonists of Virginia, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits and where he also developed his extensive and valuable landed estate. One of his sons served with distinction as major in the colonial militia and aided greatly in repelling the attacks of the Indians. Another representative of the name was a gallant soldier in the command of General Washington in the war of the Revolution, and other scions, in different branches of the family, have attained marked distinction as soldiers, patriots, clergymen, statesmen, law- yers and merchants. Kentucky, Missouri and other states of the Union have gained much from the interposition of representatives of the Buckner family, and a high order of intellectuality and civic loyalty has characterized the name in all generations. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, of Kentucky, a man of national reputation as a sol- dier, legist and statesman, was a kinsman of him to whom this memoir is dedicated, and it will be recalled that General Buckner not only served as governor of Kentucky, but was also the candidate for vice- president of the United States on the National Gold-Democratic ticket in 1896, when General John M. Palmer of Illinois, headed the ticket, which was advanced in protest to the financial heresies of the platform adopted by the so-called regular Democratic party, under the leader- ship of William Jennings Bryan. General Buckner's great-grandfather was a Virginian and a brother of the great-grandfather of the father of Walker Buckner of this review.
Walker Buckner was afforded excellent educational advantages in his youth and was reared under the gracious conditions and influences of the fine old southern regime. It was given him to gain unqualified success and distinction in connection with life insurance work, and from an article published in "The Argus" at Chicago, at the time of his de- mise, are taken the following pertinent statements, in which slight paraphrase and transposition are indulged: "His first experience in the field of underwriting was as a local agent at Paris, Kentucky, where he located in 1866, representing the Connecticut Mutual Life and one or two fire companies. In 1869 he was appointed an agent of the Equitable Life of New York, with headquarters at Kansas City, and he continued to represent this company almost ten years. September 1, 1879, Mr. Buckner received the appointment of manager
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of the New York Life for Wisconsin, a few years later having the states of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota added to his territory. He continued in the capacity of Wisconsin manager of the company, with headquarters at Milwaukee, until the latter part of 1894, when, on account of failing health, he retired and was succeeded by him son, Samuel O. Having sufficiently recovered his health, Mr. Buck- ner was, on the first of January, 1897, appointed general manager of one of the leading agencies of the New York Life at Chicago, which position he retained up to the time of his death.
"From a theoretical and practical standpoint Mr. Buckner had few equals and no superiors in the business of life insurance. The progressive record of his three sons, as well as of many successful agents of the New York Life who were instructed by him, amply testify to his marked ability as an educator of agents.
"Grown aweary of life's fitful battle, Walker Buckner lay down to rest at his home in Evanston, Illinois, on Monday, August 12, 1901, with his children by his bedside to minister lovingly to him in his last moments and make the transition from life to death as painless and peaceful as possible. Thus passed away one of nature's noble- men. A southern gentleman of the old school, Mr. Buckner was at all times the soul of politeness, and even during his last illness he dis- played on more than one occasion that courteous trait of character that was inherent in him."
From an appreciative statement issued at the time of the death of Mr. Buckner by Darwin P. Kingsley, who was then third vice-presi- dent of the New York Life Insurance Company, of which he is now president, are taken the following extracts: "In the president's ab- sence, I announce, with profound sorrow, the loss of a venerable and honored member of our Nylic household. Few men, directly or indi- rectly, ever had or ever can have so great an influence on the destinies of the New York Life. For more than twenty years and for all the period of the company's great activity in the middle west, Mr. Walker Buckner was a leading figure and a faithful servant. His influence on the growth of the company is not measured by his individual serv- ice as general agent and manager. He has three sons in the service of the company,-all successful men and all holding important posi- tions. Mr. Buckner was a man of keen intelligence, refined tastes, unquestioned integrity and unswerving loyalty. He was one of the Old Guard. His example will remain as an inspiration and an object lesson to all our organization."
In all the relations of life Walker Buckner was a man whose course was guided by the highest principles of integrity and honor, so that he well merited the confidence and esteem that were uniformly accorded to him. He was kindly and tolerant in his judgment and was ever ready to aid and succor those who were in affliction or dis-
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tress. His was the gentleness of a strong and noble nature, and his character was positive, distinctive and benignant. His political alle- giance was given to the Democratic party, and he was well fortified in his opinions concerning matters of economic and governmental polity, though he had no predilection for the honors and emoluments of political office. That he possessed marked executive and construct- ive ability is manifest in the success which he achieved in his chosen field of endeavor, and above all he left the priceless heritage of a good name. Mr. Buckner was a Knights Templar and he and his wife were members of the Christian church.
As may well be inferred, the domestic life of Mr. Buckner was one marked by ideal relations, and there can be no desire to lift the gracious veil which guarded the home sanctuary, though it is but consistent that brief record be given concerning his marriage and his children.
At Pleasant Hill, Cass county, Missouri, on the 2nd of September, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Walker Buckner to Miss Mar- garet Ann Tully, who was born on the 18th of March, 1837, and whose father, Dr. David O. Tully, was a representative physician and sur- geon of Kentucky. The most bitter chalice lifted to the lips of Mr. Buckner was that which came when his cherished and devoted wife was summoned to the life eternal, her death having occurred in Mil- waukee, on the 12th of July, 1885, and her memory being revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. In following paragraphs are given brief data concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Buckner, and it will be especially noted that the prestige of the name in connection with life insurance affairs is being admirably maintained.
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