USA > Wisconsin > Wisconsin, its story and biography, 1848-1913, Volumr VI > Part 9
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In a reminiscent way it may be stated that Mr. Gutenkunst learned his trade under the late Carl F. Kleinstuber, a pioneer ma- chinist and manufacturer of Milwaukee. Mr. Gutenkunst early gave manifestation of his progressive spirit and initiative, as he was the first business man to provide for the sprinkling of streets on the South side of the city, his service having been on Reed street, where his place of business was then established. He utilized one of the prim- itive types of street-sprinklers and personally operated the same in the evenings, after the completion of his regular day's work. Those of the business men along the street who failed to contribute a due quota for the service were accorded definite mark of their lack of enterprise, as Mr. Gutenkunst shut off the water from his sprinkler when passing their places of business, there having been several "arid strips" of this order. In the early days he also filled his father's place on the fire department when his sire was ill or other- wise unable to attend to the matter. Mr. Gutenkunst has ever main- tained his home in Milwaukee and has shown the highest degree of civic loyalty, with a deep and abiding appreciation of the advantages and attractions of the fine metropolis which he has seen evolved from a city of minor order.
P. F. DOLAN. In the quarter century covering the active career of Mr. P. F. Dolan he has risen to an important place of influence and business prestige in Shawano county, which has been his home for the past seventeen years. Mr. Dolan was for many years one of the capa- ble educators of Wisconsin, and had charge of schools in different locali- ties. He is now the head of the firm of P. F. Dolan Land Comany, real estate, insurance and loans, and is a director in the German-American National Bank of Shawano. He still keeps in active touch with educa-
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tional affairs and is president of the Shawano School Board, having held that office five years. He moved to the city of Shawano from Wittenberg, in this county, in 1905, and had served on the Wittenberg school board. He was also in the real estate and loan business at Wittenberg for four years, from 1901 to 1905.
Mr. Dolan came to Shawano county. from Highland, Iowa county, Wisconsin, where he was born May 12, 1868. His father, P. H. Dolan, came to Wisconsin as a small boy from Pennsylvania, settling in Iowa county, where he was a substantial and well known farmer. His wife, Mary Hughes, was born in Canada. Both parents died in Iowa county.
The early years of Mr. Dolan were spent on an Iowa county farm, and largely through his own efforts and careful economy, he received what amounted to a liberal education. From the local rural schools he entered the high school at Highland, graduating in the class of 1888. He then took a course in the normal school at Platteville, and graduated there in 1895. He also attended the University of Wisconsin during the winters of 1896-97, but did not have enough money to complete his course. In the meantime he had qualified as a teacher, and altogether spent thirteen years in that vocation. His services included one term at Almond in Portage county, four years at Wittenberg, in Shawano county, four years at Drybone, one term at Hollandale. He entered the real estate business in Wittenberg in 1901, and continued there until early in 1905. His removal to Shawano was the consequence of his elec- tion to the office of registrar of deeds of Shawano county, a post which he held for one term.
In 1892 Mr. Dolan married Miss Sadie Wallace, of Hartford, Wis- consin. Their two sons are Francis and Wallace. Mr. Dolan is a pop- ular member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is one of the best known citizens of Shawano county.
D. E. WESCOTT. Prominent as a banker, business man and public official of Shawano county, Mr. Wescott represents one of the first of the pioneer name in the history of this locality. His father was one of those brave and self-reliant home-makers, who pushed through the wil- derness and advanced the frontier of civilization during the early days. His father was a very prominent man in public affairs for many years, and the son has been a worthy successor, having a long record of service in important official capacities, and being closely identified with the busi- ness life of his home community.
Though born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, December 11, 1850, D. E. Wes- cott may properly claim Shawano county as his life-long home, since the family had been living in this county for a number of years before his birth, and only the temporary absence of his mother in Oshkosh pre- vented him from being a native son of the county. His parents were Charles D. and Jane (Driesbach) Wescott. Charles D. Wescott came to
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Wisconsin territory about 1841. He was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, while his wife was a native of Livingston county in the same state. During his early residence in Wisconsin, Charles D. Wescott belonged to the lower ranks of the industrial army, and worked as, a laborer in different parts of the state. In 1843 he first came to Sha- wano county, and assisted in the construction of a dam across the outlet of Shawano Lake. In 1848 he was married, and brought his bride to Shawano county. She was the first permanent white woman settler in Shawano county. A short time before the birth of her son she left the frontier settlement and went to Oshkosh in order to get medical attend- ance, and it was for these pioneer reasons that D. E. Wescott was born and spent the first nine or ten months of his life at Oshkosh. The father had some land in Winnebago county, and traded it for a tract in Sha- wano county, and it was on this land, located about a half mile north of the city limits of Shawano that D. E. Wescott grew to manhood.
Charles D. Wescott was for many years chairman of the board of supervisors of Shawano county. By occupation he was a farmer and logger throughout his active career, and was considered one of the most expert loggers and river drivers in this section. His death occurred in Shawano county on his old farm at the age of eighty-five years and was preceded by his wife's some five or six years. She was seventy-seven years of age at the time of her death.
Mr. D. E. Wescott was reared on the home farm, had a country school education, and later taught school about three terms. He early took a prominent part in public affairs, and on leaving the school room was elected and served four years as registrar of deeds. Four years after that he held the office of county clerk, and for a similar period was county treasurer. For one term he was elected and served in the state senate from 1893 to 1897. Mr. Wescott has also been mayor of Sha- wano for two terms. He is now administering the office of city clerk, a place which he has held since 1900. In connection with his official duties Che conducts a fire insurance agency. He was for a number of years a director in the old Shawano County Bank, and when that bank was re- organized in 1900 as the First National Bank of Shawano, he was elected vice president, a position which he still holds. Mr. Wescott has for more than forty years been an active member of the Masonic Order, and for a long time served as master of his local lodge.
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In 1874 D. E. Wescott and Harriet E. Coon were united in mar- riage. She was born at Friendship, New York, and had come to Wiscon- sin to visit her relatives, the MeCords. It was during this visit that she met Mr. Wescott, and the latter some time later followed her to Friend- ship, New York, where they were married in the same house in which she had been born. A brother of Mrs. Wescott, Charles E. Coons, was at one time assistant secretary of the treasury, afterwards moved out to the state of Washington, where he was lieutenant governor. Mr. and
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Mrs. Wescott have a family of three living children. Warde A. is a prominent attorney at Crandon, Wisconsin; Bernard, died at Blaine, Washington, in 1900. He was born in 1877, entered the revenue depart- ment of the government service, and was connected with that work at the time of his death. The next child, a daughter, died at the age of four months. Harriet died also in infancy. Percy E., who saw three years of military service while in the west, is now a resident of Hammond, Oregon. He was married in Oregon, brought his wife home to Shawano, where he spent a year, and then returned to Oregon to live. Ralph Rogers, is a graduate of the Shawano high school in the class of 1913 and is now a student at Lawrence College of Appleton, Wis.
THOMAS B. KEITH. In the general commercial activities of the city of Eau Claire, there is no firm that stands higher and has greater influ- ence in the scope of its enterprise than that of Keith Brothers, two vig- orous young business men, who direct and control very important lum- ber and land interests in this state and elsewhere.
Thomas B. Keith is a native of the city of Eau Claire, and a son of the late John J. Keith and his wife Agnes (Barland) Keith. His father located at Eau Claire half a century ago, while his mother is one of the oldest pioneer women of the city, and belongs to a family which was established here before the town itself. The interesting details of the family history of the Keiths and the Barlows will be found in the sketch of Mr. Alexander J. Keith, elsewhere in these pages.
Mr. Thomas B. Keith received his early education in the grade and high schools of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. On leaving school he applied himself with energy and ambition to acquiring the essential experiences necessary to success in business. His first business employment was as bookkeeper for the Eau Claire Rolling Mill Company, subsequently he was bookkeeper with the Drummond Brothers, and in 1891 entered the Eau Claire National Bank as assistant cashier. He was an active official in that bank until 1903 at which date was organized the firm of Keith Brothers, consisting of himself and his brother Alexander J. They have since then done an extensive business in timber and farm lands, operat- ing extensive holdings both in Wisconsin and in the west. They are also actively interested in a large logging and saw-milling business in Oregon. Mr. Keith is a director in the Eau Claire National Bank and in the Eau Claire Savings Bank.
He takes a very prominent part in Masonry. His local affiliations are with Eau Claire Lodge No. 112, A. F. & A. M., with Eau Claire Chapter No. 36 R. A. M., and with Eau Claire Commandery No. 8 K. T. He is also a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and affiliates with the Wisconsin Consistory, and the Tripoli Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In politics he is a Republican.
On October 18, 1898, Mr. Keith married Miss Mary Grassie. She was
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born in Methuen, Massachusetts, a daughter of Thomas G. and Mary Elizabeth (Holbrook) Grassie. Her father, a native of Scotland, came to this country at the age of eight years, and was educated in Amherst College, and took up the work of the ministry in the Congregational church. When a young man he came west and began his ministry in Wisconsin during the early days of the state. He held charges at Osh- kosh and at Appleton, Wisconsin, and later had charge of the mission- ary work covering the entire state. The four children comprising the home circle of Mr. and Mrs. Keith are named as follows: Effie G., Thomas G., John Johnston and Mary E.
HENRY SCHOELLKOPF. The late Henry Schoellkopf who was one of the best known younger attorneys of Milwaukee, a member of the firm of Markham & Schoellkopf, was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1879, and died in St. Mary's hospital in Milwaukee in December, 1912.
A grandson of the late Fred Vogel, he received his preparatory edu- cation in Switzerland and then entered Cornell University. On grad- uating from Cornell he entered Harvard where he took the law course and was graduated in 1906. Mr. Schoellkopf was prominent in college athletic circles while a student in Cornell and Harvard. He was a member of the football team of both schools and was named in the all- American teams during his football days. On leaving college he kept in touch with the sport and made trips to Cornell to assist in coaching the team. He was a member of the University Club of Milwaukee, and the University Club of Chicago. A short time before his death he had been elected president of the Milwaukee University Club, and besides he was a member of the Milwaukee Club and the Town Club. Mr. Schoellkopf's business connections were numerous. He was attache of the Northwestern Mutual Life & Insurance Company, was a share- holder in the Niagara Falls Power Company, and was interested in a number of other large enterprises.
On November 29, 1911, he married Miss Elizabeth Murphy, daugh- ter of the late John P. Murphy. A daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Schoellkopf a few weeks before his death.
JOHN P. MURPHY. Until death laid its restraining finger upon him, the late John P. Murphy was one of the best known and ablest of Mil- waukee's bankers, and men of affairs. He was at his death vice presi- dent of the Milwaukee National Bank, and for many years had been prominent in financial and business affairs of the city.
John P. Murphy was born in the Third ward of Milwaukee, Septem- ber 15, 1850, and his boyhood was spent in attendance at the old "Pome- roy" school with other sturdy boys of that locality, including Thomas G. Shaughnessy, later president of the Canadian & Pacific Railroad. The late Mr. Murphy was a graduate of the school of hard work and
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varied experience. As a boy he sold newspapers on the street. When eleven years old he was taken in as an assistant in the Lydston & Mosher photographic studio, and was soon set to coloring photographs, an art in which he displayed great skill. At the age of eighteen he began work- ing for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad as a bill clerk in Milwaukee.
From his native city he transferred his activities to Chicago, where he was in the freight offices of the Northwestern road as a clerk, and also spent some time as a railroad freight clerk with the old Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad in Kansas City. While in Kansas City at the age of twenty, he began his banking career as bookkeeper in the First National Bank. In 1873 he was made receiving teller in the Mauston Bank. Mr. Murphy in 1874 returned to Milwaukee, and entered the services of the First National Bank in this city. Twelve years later he became cashier of the newly organized Plankinton Bank. Before the failure of this institution, at the beginning of the panic of 1893, he had gone over to the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company Bank, in the office of cashier. When that bank was closed he became vice president of the Milwaukee National, where he still continued as an important factor in the welfare of the institution until his death on January 24, 1909.
The late Mr. Murphy was vice president of the Milwaukee Bankers Club. He held membership in the Milwaukee, the Deutscher, and the Athletic Clubs. As a citizen he served some time as a member of the Fire and Police Commission. He was a director of the Milwaukee Gas Light and the Milwaukee Trust Company, and was chairman of the Gas Light Company.
In social life, Mr. Murphy was a genial, friendly companion, a man who possessed the ability to make and to keep friends. In business he was the soul of honor, and was noted for his painstaking exactness and accuracy. In banking and financial circles, he stood in the highest esteem of his associates and fellows.
Editorially the Evening Wisconsin of January 25, 1909, said of him ; "John P. Murphy, vice president of the Milwaukee National Bank, who passed from life yesterday afternoon, after a prolonged illness, was a 'Milwaukee boy' of the first generation following the pioneers who laid the foundation of the city. Except for a few years during which he was identified with banking interests in the southwest, the energies of Mr. Murphy's mature years were exerted in his home city, to which his heart clung during his absence and to which he was glad to return. His familiar face will be missed by many business asso- ciates, including valued friends who through long years of association came to know his sterling qualities as a man of business and as a friend."
June 2, 1875, Mr. Murphy married Miss Catherine Shea, daughter of the late Thomas Shea, and to them were born three sons and three
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daughters: Harry, who resides in Kansas City, Missouri; Fredrick, a resident of Milwaukee; Frank, who resides in Akron, Ohio; Elizabeth, who married the late Henry Schoellkopf, and resides in Milwaukee; Alice and Ruth. Mrs. Murphy and her family now reside in the old home at 512 Terrace Avenue in Milwaukee.
HON. GEORGE WILBUR PECK, who gained world-wide fame as the author of "Peck's Bad Boy," and who incidentally was the sixteenth Governor of Wisconsin, celebrated the seventy-second anniversary of his birth on September 27, 1912. The Milwaukee Sentinel in its issue of that date said of him: "Former Governor George W. Peck, one of Milwaukee's most famous literary men, author of 'Peck's Bad Boy' and several other stories, will celebrate the seventy-second anniversary of his birth on Friday. No elaborate celebration is planned, but Mr. Peck will spend the day quietly at his home, 190 Farwell avenue, with his family. He has been on a business trip to Lomira, Wisconsin, for the last few days, and will return to Milwaukee on Friday. 'I would rather be in a duck boat in a blizzard than sit- ting quietly in front of a fire in the house any day in the week,' said the governor, 'and I think that the trouble with young men is that they do not get fresh air enough. I walk seven or eight miles every day, and that is why my friends are congratulating me on my good health.' "
George Wilbur Peck was born in Henderson, Jefferson county, New York, on September 28, 1840, and is the son of David B. and Alzina Peck. When he was three years old his parents moved to Wisconsin and settled near Whitewater, and in the schools of that place he received his early educational training. In 1855 he entered the office of the Whitewater Register, as an apprentice, and when he had mastered his trade worked as a journeyman printer on numerous papers in the state of Wisconsin. He finally became foreman of the Watertown Republican. For a time he served as hotel clerk at Janesville, remaining there until the proprietor of the hotel failed in 1860, and in that year he established the Jefferson County Republican. In 1863 he disposed of his interests there and moved to Madison, where for a time he was occupied as a typesetter on the Wisconsin ยท State Journal. Later in the same year he enlisted as a private in the Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, and after the cessation of hostilities was mustered out with the rank of Lieutenant. Upon his return to the state he established the Ripon Representative, but in 1868 sold it to respond to a call to an editorship on Pomeroy's Democrat in New York City. Three years later he returned to Wisconsin and became editor of the La Crosse branch of the same paper and in 1874 pur- chased a half interest in the concern. In the same year he started Peck's Sun, which he removed to Milwaukee in 1878, that year mark-
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ing a decided advance in the prosperity of his journalistic career. The Sun soon became known throughout the country because of a certain flavor which editorial and other articles in the paper bore, and a strong tinge of humor which was a latent quality of the editor was allowed to penetrate the columns of his paper, which resulted in a popularity which brought the paper a circulation of eighty thou- sand copies a week, extending to all parts of the country. Thus his finances promptly assumed a more healthy aspect, and his present financial independence was reached directly through the success of his paper, the Sun.
Mr. Peck's first political activities dated back to the year 1867, when he was city treasurer of Ripon, Wisconsin, and thereafter he held various offices of more or less importance. In 1874-5 he was chief clerk of the Assembly, and he served as Assistant State Treas. ury Agent for a year while Governor Taylor was filling the guberna- torial chair of the state. He supported Cleveland in both of his administrations, and when he removed to Milwaukee he manifested a healthy interest in municipal affairs which resulted in his election to the mayoralty in 1890. Soon thereafter he received the nomination of his party for Governor, and was duly elected to that office, winning in the contest by a plurality of 28,000 votes. Two years later he succeeded himself in the governorship, his plurality in this event being 8,000. In 1894 he was again the candidate of his party for election to that high office, but with the rest of his party, suffered defeat at the election. Ten years later, in 1904, he was again his party's choice for governor, but failed of election. He has the unique distinction of having been four times candidate for the gov. ernorship of Wisconsin, being twice elected.
As a humorous writer, it is conceded that Governor Peck is one of the best known in the United States. His "Bad Boy" sketches won him universal fame, while his humor touched upon every phase of life, and attracted a notice that made his paper famous all over the country, while many of his writings were produced in book form.
Concerning this phase of his nature and disposition, the Tammany Times in writing of him has well said: "Peck's sunshine is not all in print. He shows the quintessence of good nature in his daily walk and conduct. In his public speaking, newspaper writing and in repartee he is full of bubbling, innocent fun. Although the humorous side of his nature is largely developed, when occasion demands he has the dignity and bearing of the most reserved, and carries his honors with a grace that is seldom equaled. He is sympathetic and generous, charitable to the opinions of those who differ from him, and his political life is without a blemish."
In 1860 Governor Peck was married to Miss Francena Rowley, of Delavan, Wisconsin. Since his retirement from public life, he has.
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lived quietly in Milwaukee, where he maintains his home, at 190 Farwell avenue.
EDWARD R. ESTBERG. One of the best known financial institutions in Wisconsin is the Waukesha National Bank, with a continuous his- tory of more than half a century, and with resources and facilities which place it on a par with the leading institutions of the state. On other pages of this history will be found the career of the honored president of the bank, Mr. A. J. Frame, one of the ablest authorities on banking and finance in the country. The cashier of the Waukesha National is Edward R. Estberg, who has been continuously identified with this institution for more than a quarter of a century, and entered it as a messenger, and for a number of years past has been entrusted with much of the management of this institution. Besides his position as a banker, Mr. Estberg is identified with other local business interests. He is one of the progressive citizens of his native city and county, and enjoys the thorough confidence and esteem of the entire community.
Edward R. Estberg was born in Waukesha, November 25, 1862. His parents were Claes A. and Sophia (Schlitz) Estberg. The father was born in Sweden, where he was reared and educated and learned the trade of jeweler. His birth occurred on February 23, 1825, and at the age of twenty-four, in 1849, he came to America. About ten years after his arrival, he established his home at Waukesha, and there built up a prosperous business as a jeweler. On Christmas day of 1864, he mar- ried Miss Sophia Schlitz and she survived her husband a number of years. They became the parents of four sons.
The early youth of Edward R. Estberg was divided between local schools and practical training for his business career. At the age of fourteen he left the Waukesha schools, and for four years worked in his father's jewelery store. On the nineteenth of June, 1880, he took his place as messenger in the Waukesha National Bank. It was his ambition to learn banking in all details and make that his permanent career, and by close attention to his work and proving himself trust- worthy in every responsibility, he was advanced to the office of book- keeper and then to teller. His work as teller of the Waukesha National continued for more than twenty years, and in 1907 he was elected cash- ier. The Waukesha National Bank succeeded the Waukesha County Bank that was organized in 1855. The national charter was taken out in 1865, and it is now not only one of the oldest among national banks of Wisconsin, but has had a continuous record of substantial growth and prosperity. Its capital stock is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, its surplus funds aggregate more than its capital, and its de- posits are nearly two and a half million dollars. The home of the Wau- kesha National is one of the finest and most modern bank buildings in in the state. The executive officers of the Waukesha National are: An-
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