USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 43
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the fullest measure of popular confidence and respect. IIe passed from the stage of life's mortal endeavors in 1905, at a venerable age, his cherished and devoted wife having been summoned to eternal rest in 1895. Both were zealous members of the Catholic church and in politics the father gave his allegiance to the Republican party. Of the seven children four sons and one daughter are now living. Julius Fieweger was not only one of the representative business men of Men- asha for many years but was also most loyal in the supporting of those measures and agencies tending to advance the material and social pros- perity of his home city. He served as a member of the board of aldermen of Menasha and was here identified with several fraternal organizations, in which he manifested a lively interest.
Joseph L. Fieweger attended the Menasha public schools until he had attained to the age of thirteen years and a year later he entered upon a practical apprenticeship to the trade of wagonmaking, in the establishment of his father. After devoting eighteen months to this line of work he obtained, in 1873, the position of messenger boy in the National Bank of Menasha, his compensation being set at one hundred and twenty-five dollars for the first year. Through close attention and faithful service he won advancement and gained a most thorough knowl- edge of the executive details of the banking business. He has held in the bank every office from that of messenger to president, and this advance- ment has been won through his own ability and inviolable integrity. The National Bank of Menasha was organized by Henry Hewitt, Sr., Henry Hewitt, Jr., and Robert Shiells, and it was conducted as a national bank until 1879, when it was incorporated as a private bank. As such it was thereafter operated until 1891, when Henry Hewitt, Sr., and others purchased of Henry Hewitt, Jr., the controlling stock of the institution, which was in that year re-organized and incorporated as a state bank, the title being changed from the Hewitt & Sons Company to the Bank of Menasha. Under the reorganization Henry Hewitt, Sr., became president; William P. Hewitt, vice-president; and Joseph L. Fieweger, cashier. The history of the bank has been one of consecutive growth and marked by impregnable solidity as well as careful and con- servative management. Operations are based on a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, surplus thirty-five thousand dollars and undivided profits fifty thousand dollars, and Mr. Fieweger has been president of the institution since 1907, prior to which he had served as cashier. His splendid energies have also been directed along other lines of produc- tive enterprise, and he is at the present time president of the Hewitt Land & Mining Company, and treasurer and secretary of the Lakeside Park Company, two important corporations that are aiding in the development of the greater and larger Menasha. Mr. Fieweger has been a most enthusiastic advocate of progressive policies and high civic ideals in his home city and has given liberal support to enterprises and meas-
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ures projected for the general good of the community. He has served as a valued member of the city board of aldermen and as chairman of the Menasha board of education. He is a staunch Republican in his political proclivities and both he and his wife are communicants and liberal supporters of the Catholic church. He is the owner of valuable real estate in Menasha, including his attractive and modern home, which is a center of gracious hospitality.
On the 9th of November, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fieweger to Miss Theresa Stolz, who was born at Milwaukee and whose parents were early settlers in Wisconsin. Of the three children of this union two are living,-Adele, married to T. E. McGillan and living at Chicago, and Gertrude, at the parental home.
NICHOLAS GROSS, secretary and manager of the Stevens Point Brew- ing Company, and one of the successful and prosperous men, has been a resident of this part of Wisconsin since 1866, when he came with his parents from the home in France. The early history of the family, dating from the time of its arrival in America, is an interesting one, and space may well be given here to some brief data concerning the life and activities of the various members.
It should be stated that Nicholas Gross is the son of Nicholas and Christina (Demmerle) Gross, and that he was born in Lorraine, then under French rule, on April 4, 1854. The father was a farmer in his native land, and the fall of 1865 he moved his family to the United States, making the long and tedious journey in the good ship "Bremen," and being forty-two days on the way. They arrived in New York in January, 1866, and the day following their landing they went to Buf- falo, there remaining until about the middle of March, when they set out for the west. They made the trip by rail to Berlin, Wisconsin, then the terminus of the railroad in this section of the country, and from there a part of the family went by stage, the remainder driv- ing their own team. The stage, however, did not penetrate the country farther than Stevens Point, then a flourishing little mill town, and the family proceeded to move on to Pollard Corners, some eight miles north east of Stevens Point, making the journey as best they might in the cold and stormy weather. At that point the father bought two acres of land and there erected a building which he used in conducting a tavern. It was a fine structure for its day, and the business he conducted was a flourishing one, the place being well patronized from the start. A huge barn or stable sheltered the teams stopping overnight on their way through the wilderness country to Wausau and other points, and the place was a popular one indeed, in those days. Nicholas Gross pros- pered there, and he continued to run the tavern until he died in August, 1876. He was then fifty-seven years of age. His widow continued with the business, but was burned out the following year, after which she
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came to Stevens Point, where she died in March, 1892, aged sixty-seven years. They possessed many excellent and praiseworthy qualities, and unlike many of the early settlers of that day, they gave to their children each a good common school education, and had it been possible, higher educations would have been afforded them. They had a family of thir- teen children, two of whom died in Germany prior to the family removal to America. They include: Richard; Catherine, the wife of N. Jacobs; Victor ; Nicholas, of this review; Henry; Christina, the widow of John Kheil; Aloysius; Felix, deceased; Mary, who was a nun, and died in a convent in Milwaukee; and Rose, married John Martin.
Nicholas Gross, the fifth born child of his parents, attended school in Lorraine as a boy, and when he came to America with his parents he thereafter attended a Catholic school in Buffalo for a time. Like all the little foreign lads of his day, he wore a wool toque with a tassel, and the little Yankee boys with whom he was thrown, willy-nilly, took much pleasure in teasing him about his foreign clothing and manners. When the family removed to Wisconsin, young Gross attended school at Polland Corners, and in 1868, after coming to Stevens Point, he attended the old "White School House," which stood until in very recent years as a landmark of former times. This school for many years has been hav- ing a reunion each year, its former attendants coming from all parts of the United States, and many of them are today widely known and prom- inent in the various walks of life. Mr. Gross has made a practice of attending these reunion sessions regularly, and has found a distinct pleasure in them.
When he left school for the sterner realities of life, Mr. Gross was employed by his brother-in-law, Mr. Jacobs, at the Jacobs Hotel in Stev- ens Point, continuing there until 1881. Then he was active in business for himself for three years. In the fall of 1883 he took the agency for the Pabst Brewing Company, and he was the first agent for this firm in Stevens Point. He continued with the Pabst people until 1901, and he gained a host of friends in his years of activity in that capacity. It was in the year last named that Mr. Gross became one of the incorporators of the Stevens Point Brewing Company, of which he has been secretary and manager from then up to the present time, and it is undeniable that much of the success and progress of the firm has been due directly to his practi- cal knowledge of the business. It should be said that the firm is one of the old established concerns of Stevens Point, the plant having been run as far back as in the fifties by Messrs. Wahle & Rueder, who were succeeded by Lutz Brothers. They replaced the old wooden buildings with a stone one in 1872, which is still a part of the present plant, although many changes have been wrought in recent years. Andrew and Jacob Lutz sold out to Gustav Kuensel and the present concern took over the busi- ness from him in 1901, as has already been stated. The plant has a . capacity of 35,000 barrels, and they maintain their own bottling works.
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All modern machinery features the new plant, and under the regime of the present company the establishment has risen to a high place in brewing circles in the state. Their buildings, all of steel and concrete, are known to house one of the finest brewing plants in the state, and their products, known as "Pink's Pale," "Pink's Crystal" and "The Eagle," are popular with the public. They maintain a storehouse at Waupaca and their shipments are made far and wide. The president of the firm is B. Polebski, with W. E. Kingsburg, vice-president, and Nich- olas Gross, secretary and manager, A. C. Schenck, treasurer, and a directorate comprising T. H. Hanna, W. L. Plagman and John Martin, in addition to the officials already mentioned. The corporation is based on a capital stock of $100,000, and is one of the soundest and most pros- perous establishments of its kind in the state.
In 1875, on November 21, Nicholas Gross was married to Miss Johanna Splawn, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Patrick and Johanna (Walsh) Splawn, and to them have been born children as follows: Nicholas, who died aged two years and two months; Alice, the wife of C. F. Morris, an attorney at Iron River, Wisconsin, and the mother of three children, namely, Robert, William and Katherine; and Mabel, who died at the age of two years and five months.
Nicholas Gross is widely known in these parts and is one of the most popular men to be found in the county. He has long had membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Stevens Point, and in the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin, as well as the Catholic Order of For- esters. He is a member and communicant of the St. Stephen's Catholic Church, and has been a life long Democrat. Although he has on a num- ber of occasions run for office, he has always met with defeat, and his friends do not hesitate to say that it is due entirely to the fact that he is too upright and honorable in his political ventures to resort to the usual method to secure votes. For several years he served on the Stev- ens Point City Council, and one year was president of the council. In 1896 he ran for the office of sheriff of Portage county, and while he did not win the election, he was accorded a heavier vote than any other Democratic candidate for the office was ever accorded, or has since received. He has also been the choice of his party for mayor and city treasurer, and at all times made an excellent run, though his party was in the minority. At one time he was mentioned very favorably for the office of postmaster under President Cleveland, but was unwilling to compete for the office. Mr. Gross was never a man to make any cam- paign promises, but he ran solely on his merits. He has now retired from any active participation in local politics, although he still manifests a good citizen's interest in matters that concern the community in a political way, and acts accordingly. He has a fine residence at 1060 Main street, near the Normal school, where his family extend a true German hospitality to their many friends, for there are few families, if
Vol. VI-24
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indeed any, in the city, who are more widely or favorably known than the Grosses. Mr. Gross is a man who makes friends and holds them fast through all circumstances, and is prominent and popular in the city that has so long represented the family home.
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