Sebastian County ArArchives Biographies.....Koller, Erwin ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ar/arfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Robert Sanchez http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00027.html#0006574 July 17, 2009, 11:05 am Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922) ERWIN KOLLER. The development and upbuilding of every community depends not alone upon one line of activity but upon the combined efforts of many men of enterprise who control various phases of business, all of which are essential to the welfare and well-being of a community. In this connection, therefore, mention should be made of Erwin Roller, who is the senior partner in the Koller-McKim Plumbing Company of Fort Smith. Mr. Koller is a native of Switzerland and spent the first fourteen years of his life in the land of the Alps, after which he came to America, attracted hy the broader business opportunities which he believed he might secure on this side of the Atlantic. Arriving in the new world in 1884, he worked for a time in a grocery store and afterward learned the machinist's trade at Fort Smith. He was employed for a period in St. Louis and then returned to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he secured a position with the Electric Light & Power Company. Each experience that came to him brought to him wider knowledge of business conditions and activities and step by step he has advanced, utilizing fully the opportunities which have been his. In 1907 he established a gas appliance store and in 1910 formed a partnership with Paul McKim, opening a plumbing department in connection with the other business. Their present establishment is located at No. 16 North Seventh street, where they have one of the most complete display rooms of its kind in this part of the state. They handle gas appliances, furnaces and plumbing fixtures, do all kinds of plumbing and steamfitting and are agents for the Round Oak furnaces and also for the American radiators. Their business has assumed extensive and gratifying proportions. They are expert workmen in their line and they have thus secured many important contracts of this character and have rendered valuable service in the field of their chosen labor. Mr. Koller was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Graber and they have become parents of three children, as follows: Cecilea, Edwin and Robert. Mr. Koller has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has steadily advanced. His position is now a gratifying one in connection with the industrial and commercial interests of Fort Smith and whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own labors and careful management. Additional Comments: Citation: Centennial History of Arkansas Volume II Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1922 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/sebastian/bios/koller191bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/arfiles/ File size: 3.2 Kb