Men of Progress. Wisconsin. (pages 81-115) A selected list of
biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business,
professional and official life. Together with short notes on the
history and character of Wisconsin.

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Page 81 continued

BURNHAM, John F., is the son of Jonathan L. Burnham, long a prominent
resident of Milwaukee, who was born in Plattsburg, N.Y., March 13th,
1818, and came to Milwaukee in 1842, coming as far as Detroit by team.
Soon after he reached Milwaukee he bought eighty acres of land within
the present city limits, a part of which still belongs to the estate.
The following spring he, in company with his brother George, began the
manufacture of brick, which they carried on together until 1856, when
the partnership was dissolved. J. L. Burnham continued the business on
his own account until his sons, John F. and Clinton, became connected
with him. Mr. Burnham

[image: JOHN F. BURNHAM.]

was a member of the legislature in 1852, was enterprising and public-
spirited, a man of the highest integrity, and always regarded as one of
the solid and successful business men of the city. He died September
24th, 1892. A notable instance of the esteem in which he was generally
held and the confidence of business men in his integrity was that the
late Alexander Mitchell, when aa mob in 1861 attacked his bank, took
the deposits and securities, drove hastily to Mr. Burnham's residence
and delivered them into his hands for safekeeping. Mr. Burnham at once
conveyed the treasure on board a steamer, which was run out into the
lake, and kept there until the mob had been dispersed, and the
excitement had subsided, when the money and securities were returned to
Mr. Mitchell without the loss of a dollar.

John F. Burnham's mother was Lovisa McCartey before marriage, the
daughter of F. D. McCartey, at one time sheriff of Fond du Lac county,
and once United States marshal. She was born in Fond du Lac in 1839,
and died in 1863, leaving the two sons already mentioned, and a
daughter, Mrs. Annie L. Lowne.

Page 82

John F. Burnham was born in Milwaukee, July 23rd, 1856, attended the
public schools of the city for his primary education and then took a
course in Notre Dame University, Indiana. Having finished his
education, he and and his brother were taken into partnership by their
father in the manufacture of brick, the firm name being J. L. Burnham &
Sons. The business was most successfully conducted by the firm until
the father's death, when the sons succeeded to it and still carry it on
near the site where it was established fifty years ago. The business
has always been a very extensive one, employing many men and teams, and
furnishing the building material for a vast number of the new and more
substantial structures erected in the city each year. The annual output
of the yard is reported at over ten millions of bricks a year.

Mr. Burnham is a Republican in politics, was an unsuccessful candidate
for the legislative assembly in 1884, was elected sheriff of Milwaukee
county in 1888 and served the full term of two years. In the fall of
1896 he was the Republican candidate for the legislative assembly in
the Eighth district of Milwaukee county, and was elected by a plurality
of 734.

On June 14th, 1883, Mr. Burnham was married to miss Nellie Secore of
Manistee, Michigan, and they have three children&two boys and a girl.

LAYTON, Frederick, the donor to the city of Milwaukee of the beautiful
art gallery bearing his name though a native of England, has spent
nearly this whole life in this county, and for fifty years has been
intimately identified with the growth of Milwaukee and its industrial
and commercial development. He is the son John Layton, and was born at
Little Wilbraham, seven miles from Cambridge, in Cambridgeshire,
England, on the 18th of May, 1827. His father was a native of the same
parish; and the family of his mother, whose maiden name was Mary King,
lived at Great Swaffham, in the county. His parents removed to Great 
Wilbraham when he was nine years old. His father was engaged in a small 
butcher business and when but fourteen years of age Frederick left 
school and learned the trade. Not succeeding very well in his business, 
his father, in 1842, decided to leave England and try his fortunes in 
America. Mr. Layton's father and himself left their home in September of 
the year and took passage in a sailing ship, the Ontario, from London 
for New York, where they arrived in due time. Thence they took passage 
on the Erie and canal for Buffalo, where they spent their first winter 
in this country. In May, 1843, they came on to Milwaukee, and took up 
their residence on a farm which Mr. Layton purchased in Raymond, Racine 
county. There they remained for two years, Mr. Layton and his son 
carrying on the farm. That business, however, was that what neither 
father nor son had been accustomed to, and they wisely decided to return 
to the business in which they had been brought up. Accordingly, in 1845, 
they moved into Milwaukee engaged in the butcher business, opening the 
"Layton Market" on East Water street. This market yet exists under the 
management of Robert Dawson & Co. Mr. Layton's business was a success 
from the start, and grew into large proportions, and finally into an 
extensive beef and pork packing establishment. Since the death f his 
father, in 1875, Mr. Layton has been the head of the well-Known firm of 
Layton & Co., which ws established in 1861, and which is still one of 
the leading industries of the city. Mr. Layton, at one time, was 
associated in the packing business with the late John Plankinton, under 
the firm name of Layton & Plankinton.

In 1847 Mr. Layton's mother came to this country, and died in 1884 at
Layton Park, at the age of eighty-one years.

Mr. Layton was married, in 1851, to Miss Elizabeth Hayman, daughter of
Joel and Mary Hayman of Oak Creek, Milwaukee who came from Devonshire,
England, in 1836. They have no children.

Page 83

He has been known all these years as a quiet, unostentatious citizen,
looking carefully and closely after the interests of his extensive
business and doing what came in his way to promote the material and
social progress of the city. Though making no pretensions to
scholarship, or liberal or artistic culture, he had a taste for the
fine, arts, and, years ago, he determined to do something for the city
of his adoption, which would prove a lasting source of pleasure too
this and coming generations, and a source of culture of all classes of
his fellow citizens. This something he determined should be an art
gallery, and so he went quietly too work, secured the site for a
building, procured plans for a structure which in itself should be an
object lesson in art, and ere the citizens were aware of his purpose,
the building was under way. When completed, citizens found that they
had indeed an art gallery, even before a picture was hung upon its
walls. But Mr. Layton was not satisfied with giving Milwaukeeans a
beautiful place for pictures, he gave many of the pictures that adorn
its walls, and he is still giving--scarcely a year has passed since the
gallery was opened that he has not contributed some notable painting to
the collection. The gallery now contains one hundred and fifty-eight
pictures, of which eighty-five are his direct gifts. When Mr. Layton
began his work, he did not pretend to a connoisseur, but he had a
natural taste for works of art and a discrimination that, in some
measure, supplied the place of extended culture in this respect; and
with the study which he has since devoted to the subject and with the
experience and information which he has acquired in his visits to the
art centers and galleries of Europe and to notable sales of pictures
his judgements of the artistic merits of a picture is inferior to that
of few other American collectors, whether amateur or professional; and
happily, the gallery likely to have the benefit of his judgement and
taste for years to come. The commercial value of a number of the
pictures in the gallery and the

[image: FREDERICK LAYTON.]

public appreciation of them in an artistic sense has greatly increased
since they were procured.

In making this gift too the city, Mr. Layton has done that which will
be a source of unmeasured pleasure and improvement to many coming
generations; and, in so doing, modest though he be and indifferent too
popular applause, he has builded himself a monument more enduring than
marble and of infinitely greater value.

PETERSON, Sewell A., state treasure, is one of those men who, in spite
of adverse circumstances, often come to the front in the political
struggles of this country and obtain recognition by reason of their
mental vigor, their innate honesty, their natural adaptability for the
efficient discharge of the duties of public position, and the force of
considerations which always seem to be necessary part of their
personality. This is peculiarly true of many of our foreign-born
citizens. Mr. Peterson is a native of Norway, as might be guessed from
his name, and was born in Soloer, in that

Page 84

[image: SEWELL A. PETERSON.]

county, on the 28th of February, 1850. He attended school in his native
town until he was fourteen years of age, when he came to Wisconsin, and
settled in Dunn county. Here he attended the public school in the
district where he resided, and soon mastered the English language.
Afterward he took a course in a commercial college at La Crosse, and
thus fitted himself for a commercial or official life, should the way
thereto open to him. The accomplishment of his ambition, however, was
no easy task, as many another boy has found, but not daunted by
difficulties, he worked on at anything which would bring him honest
money--he worked on the farm, in the lumbering districts, on the log
drive, and at school teaching, the while devoting what leisure he could
command to study and substantial reading. In this way he made slow, but
steady progress toward the responsible position to which he was elected
to years ago. How much of wearing toil this young Norwegian endured,
how much of courage he exercised, and how much of perseverance his
course required only those who have had a like experience. It is the
story over again of the rugged path through which not a few of America's 
conspicuous men have climbed to greatness. Such stories cannot be read 
by the youth of our country without receiving an impulse to nobler 
endeavor, and a clearer knowledge of the possibilities which the human 
will may control.

Mr. Peterson continued to reside in Dunn county until 1887. His energy
and ability came to early recognition among those who knew him best. He
was elected treasurer of the town of Sand Creek in 1874, when but
twenty-four years of age. He was register of deeds of Dunn county from
January 1st, 1876, to January, 1882; alderman of Menomonie for the
years 188607; clerk of Rice Lake, Barron county, to which he removed in
1887, for the years 1888-90; city treasurer in 1891, and mayor, 1892-4.
He was a member of the lower house of the legislature from Barron
county in 1893. his readiness to assume any duty which might be in
accordance with or demanded by good citizenship, is shown in the fact
that while a resident of Menomonie he was a member of the Wisconsin
National Guard, being first lieutenant of Company H, Third infantry.

As a member of the legislature Mr. Peterson made many friends, by his
popular manner and his prompt and intelligent discharge of his
legislative duties. Like nearly all of his countrymen who become
citizens of the United States, he is in thorough sympathy with American
institutions, and rejoices in the individual liberty and independence
which it is their purpose to guarantee to each individual.

Mr. Peterson, early in the summer of 1894, began to be very prominently
talked of for candidate for a place on the Republican state ticket,
principally for that of state treasurer. When the convention met it did
not take long to discover that he was sure of some place, and that he
had a host of friends both in and out of the convention. When
nominations came to be made, he was named for the place which he
wanted, that of state treasurer. He

Page 85

made a strong candidate, receiving 197,742 votes, next to the highest
number received by anyone on the ticket, the largest vote being that
cast for Emil Baench, the candidate for lieutenant-governor, 198,181.

Mr. Peterson has been engaged in mercantile business for the last
fifteen years, and has met with unusual success. He also owns and
carries on a farm of 240 acres in Dunn county, where he resided the
greater portion of the time since coming to this country, and where he
received many honors at the hands of the people.

On the 4th of September, 1884, Mr. Peterson was married to Miss Helen
Sophia Gabriel of Madison, Wisconsin, and they have three, children--
Raymond Victor, Hazel Victoria and Ruth Marguerite.

CASSON, Henry, secretary of state, one of the strong men of the present
state administration, and for many years the intimate friend and
advised of the late Gov. Rusk, is the son of Henry and Mary Cocks
Casson, and a native of Brownsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania,
where he was born on the 13th of December, 1843. He received a common
school education in Illinois, which was sufficiently thorough, with
subsequent private study, to fit him for entering upon the official
duties that for many years he has been called upon to discharge, and to
enable him to make such a record for faithfulness and ability as few
men in like station can boast. He came west with his parents when but
five years of age, and his first western home was in Illinois, where he
early learned the trade of printer, which he followed with slight
intervals for some eighteen years, or until 1873, when he came to
Wisconsin, settling at Viroqua, Vernon county, which has ever since
been his legal home, though much of his life has been spent in Madison
and Washington, whither his official duties have called him. In 1875 he
purchased The Vernon County Censor, and for ten years was its editor
and publisher.

[image: HENRY CASSON.]

Governor Rusk, in 1885, appointed him his private secretary, and this
position he held through the remainder of the governor's service. So
thorough a knowledge did he acquire of the executive office and of the
routine of its duties and of executive affairs generally, that his
services had become almost indispensable to any occupant of the
executive office. Gov. Hoard, therefore, upon his assuming the duties
of the position, wisely retained Mr. Casson in the position with the
duties of which he had become so familiar. He served Gov. Hoard through
his term; when the political complexion of the administration having
changed, he retired from the office with the good will of all who ever
had any official relations with the executive department during his
connection with it.

Gov. Rusk, upon receiving the appointment of secretary of agriculture
in President Harrison's cabinet, remembering Mr. Casson's efficiency
and fidelity in the discharge of his official duties, appointed him his
private secretary, and this position he held for a year, when he was
made chief clerk of the department. In this place he remained until the

Page 86

expiration of President Harrison's term, March 4th, 1893, when he
retired. In August, 1893, he became private secretary to Congressman J.
W. Babcock, and held the place for a year, when he was nominated by the
Republican convention of Wisconsin for secretary of state, and elected
by a plurality of 60,125, and a majority over his three opponents of
24,704. When his term was drawing to a close there was no suggestion of
a change, and he was renominated by the convention by acclamation. He
is a man of clear and rapid judgment in the formation of opinions,
conscientiously accurate in all he does, and holds his subordinates to
a like discharge of their duties. Genial in manner to all, yet never
forgetful of his official obligations, he commands the confidence of
those with whom he has business. He has, therefore, many of the
qualifications of the ideal official.

Mr. Casson was married, in 1874, to Miss Ethel Haughton of Vernon
county, Wisconsin, and they have one son, who is the third to bear the
name of Henry.

KENNAN, Thomas Lathrop, an accomplished lawyer and a citizen of high
character, traces his lineage to immigrants from Scotland, who left
their native land about the year 1670, because of religious
persecution. One branch of the family settled in Massachusetts, and the
other in Virginia. Of this latter branch Gen. Richard Kennan was
appointed first governor of Louisiana, and Commodore Beverly Kennan,
who married a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, was killed by
the bursting of a gun on the frigate Princeton in 1844.

Col. George Kennan, great-grandfather of T. L. Kennan, was an officer
in the revolutionary army, and a prominent citizen of Massachusetts,
and subsequently of Vermont, where he was repeatedly elected to the
legislature. One of his sons, Jairus Kennan, graduated in the first
class of the University of Vermont, in 1804, and became professor in
that institution. His early death in 1813 cut short a career that was 
full of promise in learning and literature.

The eldest son of Col. George Kennan was Rev. Thomas Kennan, a
Presbyterian clergyman of prominence, who was the father of three sons,
one of whom was John Kennan, who was the father of George Kennan, the
distinguished traveler and author. The eldest son of Rev. Thomas
Kennan, George Kennan, was the father of the subject of this sketch.
This George Kennan, in 1816, married Mary, daughter of Captain Chester
Tullar, and took up his residence in Morristown, St. Lawrence county,
New York. He was one of those hardy pioneers, who, with unflinching
integrity and far-reaching foresight, have always been among the
founders of free institutions. This man had four sons and six
daughters, the oldest of whom was Thomas Lathrop Kennan, who was born
in Morristown, New York, February 22nd, 1827. His vigorous work on the
farm developed him physically, and laid the foundation of that
independence and self-reliance which have characterized him all through
life.

After exhausting the facilities of the country school, he, with a few
other farmer boys, employed a private instructor, and in this way
fitted himself for teaching; and, at the age of eighteen, he left home
to make his own way in the world. In 1847 he came to Norwalk, Ohio, and
began the study of law with his uncle, Jairus Kennan, a leading lawyer
in that region. Having completed his legal studies, he was admitted to
the bar in 1851; and, coming to Wisconsin, he began the practice of his
profession in Oshkosh. Two years later he formed a partnership with
Judge Wheeler, previously of Neenah. This partnership continued for two
years, when, in 1855, Mr. Kennan removed to Portage, which was then
thought to be one of the rising towns of the state. Here he practiced
successfully for some years, gaining at one time a wide reputation as a
criminal lawyer; but this kind of practice he did not covet, and
ultimately abandoned

Page 87

it, and confined himself to civil business.

Upon the breaking out of the civil war he promptly tendered his
services to the government, and was commissioned by the governor to
recruit a company. In the fall of 1861 he was mustered into service in
the Tenth Wisconsin regiment, and received a commission as first
lieutenant of Company D. Afterward he was elected captain to fill a
vacancy, but declined it in favor of an officer of more military
experience. He served with the regiment until 1862, when he was
assigned to duty on the staff of the commanding general and served in
this capacity until July, 1862, when he was compelled to resign on
account of ill-health. As a soldier he was prompt and faithful in the
discharge of duty and popular with his men. Upon leaving the service he
devoted his time to regaining his health, by looking after the affairs
of his large stock farm in Marquette county. While in this capacity his
voice and influence were given in support of a vigorous prosecution of
the war. Upon the recovery of his health he was appointed deputy
provost marshal, and served in this position until the end of the war.

He has had no ambition for official position--he declined a nomination
to the assembly, and practically threw away a nomination for the
senate. Some time after the war he resumed the practice of his
profession in Portage, built up a large and profitable business, and
rose to the front rank in the profession. In 1880 he gave up general
practice to accept the position of attorney for the Wisconsin Central
railroad, a laborious and important post, which he held for ten years.
Upon accepting this office he removed to Milwaukee, and built him a
fine residence on Prospect avenue, where he still resides.

Since severing his connection with the railroad company, he has devoted
himself to private law practice and to real estate, gold mining in
Colorado, and iron mining in the Gogebic range. He is a stockholder and
director of a national bank, and has other large interests.

[image: THOMAS LATHROP KENNAN.]

Mr. Kennan is an active and useful member of the Immanuel Presbyterian
church, and was for many years one of its board of trustees. He is a
member of the Loyal Legion, the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a
thirty-second degree Mason.

He was married, in 1850, to Miss Loa Brown of Norwalk, Ohio, a lady of
education and cultivated tastes, whose social and domestic
accomplishments have rendered his home life exceptionally happy. Six
children, three sons and three daughters, are the result of this union.

WURDEMANN, Harry Vanderbilt, M. D., born in Washington, D. C., on the
13th of June, 1865, is the son of John Vanderbilt (C. E.) and Matilda
Barnard Würdemann, and grandson of William Würdemann of Washington, who
was famous in his day as an inventor and manufacturer of mathematical
instruments. His grandfather on his mother's side was Henry Barnard, a
painter and engraver of London, England.

Dr. Würdemann was educated in the public schools of Washington, St.
Louis, Leavenworth,

Page 88

HARRY VANDERBILT WURDEMANN.
Kansas, and in the high school of the latter city, his parents having
removed from Washington to Fort Leavenworth in 1870, and subsequently
to the city of Leavenworth. While in the high school he began work in
the office of E. T. Carr. state architect, with whom the remained two
years, until the return of the family to Washington in 1881. Here he
took a course of study in the Columbian University, at the same time
learning the trade of engraver with Maurice Joyce. In 1882 the began
the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Drs. Z. T. Sowers and
D. K. Shute in general medicine, and Drs. F. B. Loring and Swan M.
Burnett in opthalmology and otology; and attended four courses of
lectures in the medical department of the Columbian University, from
which he was graduated with honors, March 15th, 1888.

From 1884 to 1886 he was employed in the United States geographical
survey, being rapidly advanced from subordinate positions to that of
topographer. He is skilled in the illustration of medical subjects, his
own writings and a number of modern text-books being illustrated by
him, among which are some atlases of the larynx and ophthalmic works. 
The medical illustrations in the Century Dictionary were drawn by him. 
All his expenses during his student days were paid by his brush and pen. 
After graduation Dr. Würdemann practiced medicine in Washington, 
meanwhile taking a post- graduate course in the school of ophthalmology. 
He then went abroad, and attended the lectures in clinics, both general 
and special, in the Poliklinik and general hospitals in Vienna, and in 
the Royal London Ophthalmic hospital, whence he returned in 1889.

During his four years of medical study in Washington, he was assistant
of Prof. Loring and later of Prof. Burnett, was prosector of anatomy in
the Columbian University, attending surgeon to the Washington Eye and
Ear Infirmary, assistant to the ophthalmic and aural clinic of the
central dispensary and emergency hospital.

He has been a resident of Milwaukee since 1890, and has been prominent
in the medical work of the city for the greater portion of that time.
He has been a director of the Wisconsin general hospital and secretary
of the association; oculist and aurist to the children's hospital, to
the Milwaukee County Hospital for the Chronic Insane, and to the Elms
hospital, and was instructor in the disease of the eye, car and throat
in the training school connected with the latter institution. He is a
member of the editorial staff of the Annals of Ophthalmology and
Otology, in charge of the department of German literature, and
associate editor of the Ophthalmic Record.

Dr. Würdemann is a member of the American Medical association, and was
secretary of the section on ophthalmology in 1894-5; is a member of the
Wisconsin State Medical society and of other prominent medical
societies in the state, and of the Chicago Ophthalmological and
Otological society. He is a life member of the Alumni association of
Columbia University, has been a delegate to the Pan-American and
international congresses of physicians and surgeons, a member of the

Page 89

Philosophical society of Washington, and all of the Masonic bodies to
the thirty-second degree; of the Milwaukee Chapter of Alpha Mu Pi
Omega, and the Milwaukee and Deutscher clubs.

Dr. Würdemann has invented a number of instruments, and has conducted
original researches, principally in ophthalmology and otology. His
medical writings embrace many articles, principally on special
subjects, which have appeared in treatises or special journals. He is
the translator of a number of foreign brochures, and collaborator in
modern textbooks on the eye.

He served in the state militia of Kansas and in the National Riffles of
Washington. In religion he is an Episcopalian, being a member St.
James' church.

In 1888 he was married in Washington to Miss Rachel Field, daughter of
Gen. John C. Starkweather of Milwaukee. Their children are Converse
Vanderbilt and Helen Vanderbilt.

MATHEWS, Thomas Jefferson, a resident of Merrill, and county judge of
Lincoln county, is the son of Thomas P. Mathews, who was born in New
York City, December 9th, 1825, and was a schoolmate of Charles
O'Connor, afterward the celebrated New York lawyer. His father was
Michael Mathews, who died when T. P. Mathews was but five years old,
and his mother moved to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., in 1837, where they
continued to reside until 1854, when T. P. Mathews came to Wisconsin.
He resided near Ripon two years, and then, in 1856, removed to Wausau,
Wis., immediately engaging in the lumber business, which he followed
until 1874, when he temporarily abandoned it to take the office of
county treasurer of the newly organized county of Lincoln. He removed
to Jenny, now Merrill, in 1859, and resided there until his death,
December 29th, 1887. He was instrumental in the organization of Lincoln
county, and was its first county treasurer, holding the office three
terms and then declining

[image: THOMAS JEFFERSON MATHEWS.]

further re-election. He was mayor of Merrill in 1884-5, and
presidential elector on the Greenback ticket when Peter Cooper ran for
president. He held the offices of justice of the peace, school
director, alderman and county supervisor. He was a defeated Greenback
candidate for the assembly. He took a lively interest in school matters
and in all things relating to the welfare of Merrill. He was a large
owner in the original plat of the village and in several additions
thereto, some of which bear his name. His interest in the town led him
to invest heavily in the ill-fated Lincoln Lumber company, by which he
lost the accumulations of a life-time of industry and economy. He was a
man of wide and extensive acquaintance, and highly respected by all who
knew him. T. J. Mathews' mother was Martha Ann Green, who was born in
Reaver Center, Pa., May 20th, 1838, and was married to T. P. Mathews at
Wausau, Wis., in 1858. She was the daughter of Jared Green and Sarah
Washburn, and on her mother's side was a granddaughter of Judge Asa
Washburn of Putney, Vermont, who was a direct descendant of John
Washburn, who

Page 90

was the first secretary of Massachusetts Bay company, and came to
America in 1631. John Washburn married the granddaughter of Mary
Chilton, who was the first white woman to set foot on Plymouth Rock.
The Washburns were among the early settlers of Massachusetts and the
Greens were natives of that state. Jared Green was a soldier in the war
of 1812-14. The Mathews are of Irish ancestry, and T. J. Mathews'
grandfather came to America in 1812. He was a descendant of Red Hugh
McMahon, prince of Monaghan. The Mathews branch of the family was
deprived of the title of McMahon during the first year of the reign of
William, Prince of Orange. T. J. Mathews' grandmother on his father's
side was Mary Doyle, whose father, Francis Doyle, came to America from
Ireland in 1826, and was directly descended from the ancient Milesians.

Thomas J. Mathews was born in Jenny, now Merrill, Wis., June 18th,
1865. He attended the public schools in Merrill, and, after completing
the course of study therein, went to work, in 1883, in the lumber
woods, and continued there until April, 1887, at which time he started
for Washington territory, to "grow up with the country." He worked
there during the summer of 1887, locating settlers on government land
and in laying out roads in and around Seattle, being a practical
surveyor at that time. He returned home in December, 1887, at the time
of his father's death, and soon after began work for the Land, Log and
Lumber company of Milwaukee, helping to estimate the value of their
immense tract of timber lands in the northern part of the state. He
continued in the employ of the company until November, 1888, when he
entered the law office of Bump & Hetzel of Merrill, as a student, and
remained with them until September, 1890. He then entered the law
college of the University of Wisconsin, passing the examination of the
state board of law examiners, and was admitted to the bar in July,
1891. Continuing his law studies in the law school, he graduated with
the class of 1892, with the degree of LL. B. While in the university he 
was a member of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity, the Ryan and Arion 
Debating clubs, was chief justice of the Sloan moot court, and historian 
of the court in the 1891 Badger. After graduation he returned to 
Merrill, opened a law office in July, and his receipts for the first 
months were seven dollars and fifty cents, of which five dollars was 
given him for a ten minutes' speech to some striking laboring men. The 
following year he was elected to the office of city attorney of Merrill, 
which office he held one year, during which term, with a committee 
appointed by the council, he revised the city charter. In the spring of 
1893 he was elected county judge, and on May 21st, 1893, the office 
becoming vacant, Gov. Peck appointed him to fill out his predecessor's 
unexpired term; and he has held the office to the present time. On April 
6th, 1897, he was re-elected county judge for the term expiring January 
1, 1903.

Judge Mathews has always been a Democrat.

He is a member of the Chap club, a local social organization, and of
the Myrtle Lodge, No. 78, K. P.--a charter member.

Judge Mathews was married to Miss Grace Peck of Neenah, Wis., October
29th, 1896.

HOLLISTER, Seymour W., well and favorably known as one of the
substantial business men of Oshkosh, was born in Racine county,
Wisconsin, on the 17th of August, 1845. His father was a native of
Wayne county, N. Y., and his mother's ancestors were of
Buckinghamshire, England. When Seymour was but a child, his parents
removed from Racine county to Oshkosh, which was then but a very small
village. His father preempted the land embracing the present fair
grounds, now within the city limits, and devoted himself to farming.
The boy acquired the rudiments of an education at the local schools,
and at the age of fourteen years went to work for J. H. Weed on the
river at Bay

Page 91

Boom. He continued in this employment and in the lumber woods on the
Wolf river until 1864, when he enlisted in the Third Wisconsin calvary,
in which he served until the close of the war. Returning to Oshkosh in
August, 1865, he made arrangements for engaging in lumbering for
himself, and the following winter began logging at Red Banks on the
Wolf river, and continued in the business until 1871, when he disposed
of it; and, going to Iowa, engaged in farming. This occupation he
followed for four years; when, concluding that lumbering was more
remunerative than farming, he returned to Oshkosh and engaged again in
lumbering, but on a larger scale than in his first essay. He found the
business promising, and subsequently formed a copartnership, which, in
1882, was made to embrace the manufacturing plants of Robert McMillen &
Co. Some time afterward he became interested in the manufacturing plant
of Stanhilber, Amos & Co. In 1887 he withdrew from the firm of Robert
McMillen & Co.; and the firm of Hollister, Jewell & Co. was formed,
embracing S. W. Hollister, II. A. Jewell and Philetus Sawyer, for the
manufacture of lumber at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Five years thereafter
the mill was burned; but the company still does a lumbering business
there. In 1894 he purchased the Stanhilber interest in the firm of
Stanhilber, Amos & Co. and the firm name was changed to Hollister, Amos
& Co. He is also a member of the Choate-Hollister Furniture company,
and is president of the Builders and Manufacturer's Supply company,
wholesale lumber dealers of Chicago.

Col. Hollister was married in 1869 to Kate G. Smith, and they have four
children--Asa Ray, Winifred, Carl and Rex. He belongs to the Masonic
Order, the Elks, the Hoo-Hoos and the Grand Army of the Republic, and
he was an aid-de-camp on Gov. Upham's staff with the rank of colonel.
He is a Republican in politics, but has never devoted much time to
political affairs.

As a business man, Col. Hollister has shown good judgment, great
industry and perseverance

[image: SEYMOUR W. HOLLISTER.]

in carrying forward whatever he has undertaken, and his success in life
is largely, if not wholly, due to these characteristics. Col. Hollister
is a striking example of what a man may accomplish who relies upon his
own unaided efforts.

ROETHE, Emil L., superintendent of the public schools of Milwaukee
county, outside of the city, resides at Williamsburg, and is the son of
Edward and Katherine Gottfried Roethe, both of whom were born in
Germany and came to Wisconsin about the year 1850, settling at
Whitewater, Wisconsin, where their son Emil was born, January 22nd,
1871. He attended the public and high schools of that city; and after
that entered the Whitewater normal school, in which he pursued the
regular course, graduated in 1894, and now holds an unlimited state
certificate.

He began teaching in a country school near Oakwood, Wis. After nine
months' experience there, he received an appointment to a position in
the public schools of Williamsburg. He taught there until January,
1897, when he entered upon the discharge of the

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[image: EMIL L. ROETHE.]

duties of superintendent of the public schools of the county of
Milwaukee, not including those, of course, within the limits of the
city of Milwaukee, to which he was elected in the fall of 1896. Having
had a good preparation for his work, being a graduate of one of the
best normal schools of the state, and having had experience as a
teacher in the kind of schools which he is to superintend, he has
entered upon his work with flattering prospects of success therein.

In political matters Mr. Roethe is a Republican, and was, the
Republican candidate for his present office, but has not been an
"offensive partisan," and is not likely to be. The position of
superintendent of the county schools is one in which a scholarly man,
possessed of good judgment and well versed in the details and needs of
the public school system, can do work which will make his own
reputation while rendering the schools the most effective possible.
That Mr. Roethe will accomplish these objects there is reason for
believing.

Mr. Roethe is not a member of any clubs, and is unmarried.

McDILL, G. Edward, cashier of the Citizens' National bank of Stevens
Point, Wis., is a resident of McDill, a suburb of Stevens Point, and
was born in Plover, Portage county, Wis., April 16th, 1856. His father,
Thomas H. McDill, was a native of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and
was born in July, 1815. He came to Wisconsin in 1840, settling at Mill
Creek, Portage county, at a time when there were only about three
hundred inhabitants north of Portage City. He followed lumbering there
for two years, then built a saw mill on the Eau Claire river near
Wausau. Selling the mill in 1844, he engaged in the hotel business in
Plover, was appointed sheriff of the county by Gov. Dodge in 1847,
elected to the see office in the following year; and, in 1856, was
chosen county treasurer. He was chairman of the town board of Plover
for many years, and eight years chairman of the county board of
supervisors. He was also county judge for several years, and a member
of the state assembly in 1867, 1871, 1879 and 1880. From the 1850 to
1870 he carried on a general merchandise business in Plover, with his
brother, A. S. McDill, who represented that district in congress in
1873. In 1864 the brothers purchased the saw mill and water power on
the Plover river in what is now known as the village of McDill, and
added lumbering to their business. In 1870 the store was sold, and Mr.
McDill moved to the village named for him, where he continued lumbering
until his death in 1889. During the civil war he held the position of
quartermaster, with the rank of captain. G. E. McDill's mother's maiden
name was Mary R. Harris, daughter of Jonathan Harris of Sauk county,
and granddaughter of Col. John Harris of revolutionary fame. She was
born in Ohio in 1826, and died in 1881.

G. E. McDill attended the common schools of Plover from 1860 to 1871,
and earned his first money as messenger in the assembly of 1871, of
which his father was a member and the late Gov. Smith was speaker. He
made many acquaintances among the legislators,

Page 93

the memory of whom has always been a source of pleasure to him, and
often of advantage. In the fall of 1872 he entered Lawrence University,
at Appleton, and was a classmate of W. S. Stroud, ex-mayor of Portage
City, and Attorney-General Mylrea. Dr. Steele was president of the
institution then, and it is Mr. McDill's testimony that he taught them
lessons of courage and self-reliance that they have never forgotten.
While there he was a member of the Phoenix society of the college. At a
competitive examination at Stevens Point, in 1873, he won an
appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, and
entered there in June of that year. Love of order in all things and a
desire to go to the bottom of every subject is acquired and usually
practiced by all West Pointers. He resigned his place in the academy,
in 1876, to take up a business life. After a short course in a
commercial college, he was appointed, in 1877, steward and purchasing
agent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Madison, which he held
until 1880, when he went into the lumber business with his father,
operating the saw mill at McDill. The company built a flour mill on the
same site in 1885, which has run steadily ever since. In 1893, in
company with other gentlemen, he organized the Citizen's National bank
of Stevens Point, with a capital of $100,000, and he was elected
director and cashier, and these positions he still holds.

Politically he is a Republican, and an effective worker in the party.
He has been honored with official positions, which show the confidence
reposed in him by his fellow citizens. He has been chairman of the town
of Plover, chairman of the county board of supervisors, is chairman of
the Republican county committee and a member of the Republican state
central committee. April 20th, 1897, he was appointed resident regent
of the normal school board by Gov. Scofield, was confirmed by the
senate under suspension of the rules, and took his seat with the board
the same day. He is also a member of the

[image: G. EDWARD M'DILL.]

library board of Stevens Point, the Sons of the American Revolution,
the Episcopal church of Stevens Point, and one of the members of its
vestry.

Mr. McDill was married, in 1879, to Miss Alice Babcock Stilson of
Galesburg, Ill., an honored graduate of Knox College, class of 1877.
She is a lady widely known and highly respected; of marked artistic
ability and superior mental endowments. She is a decendant on her
mother's side of the Howlands, Crapos, Kirbys and Allens of New
Bedford, Mass.; and a lineal descendant of Wm. White of the Mayflower
(son of Bishop John White of the Church of England) and Susannah
Fuller, his wife, and thus eligible to the "Society of Mayflower
Descendants." Mrs. McDill represents the Eighth congressional district
in the state Federation of Woman's clubs, and is a member of the
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and its
chapter regent for Stevens Point and vicinity. She is also a member of
the Woman's club of Stevens Point and one of its founders. Mrs. McDill
is a member of the Episcopal church and largely associated with

Page 94

charitable enterprises. Both Mr. and Mrs. McDill are active
participants in the social life of Stevens Point, and they delight in
hospitality that has as a rare charm graced by a spirit of kindliness
and a desire to give rather than to receive.

They have two children, Genevieve Stilson, born in 1880, a graduate of
the Oakland Grammar School of Chicago, as well as a graduate of the
Stevens Point high school, and at present a student in the normal
school of Stevens Point; and Allan Conover, born in 1888, and attending
the model department of the normal school.

CAMP, Hoel Hinman, has long been a resident of Milwaukee, and is widely
known in business circles as one of the leading bankers and financiers
of the state. He was born in Derby, Orleans county, Vermont, on the
27th of January, 1822, the son of David M. and Serepta (Savage) Camp.
The Camps and the Savages were of English origin, and were among the
colonists who settled in Massachusetts early in the seventeenth
century. David M. Camp was a graduated of the University of Vermont, a
lawyer of prominence and ability in his state, having long held the
office of lieutenant-governor, and organized the first state senate,
and established its rules, which are still in operation.

H. H. Camp received his education in the public schools of his native
village; and, at the age of fifteen years, went to Montpelier, the
capital of the state, where he filed the position of clerk in a
prominent mercantile establishlishment. Here he served in this position
and as book-keeper for four years, something quite unusual in these
days, but by no means an unimportant part of a business education. At
the conclusion of this apprenticeship, he was employed as a salesman in
Boston for two years, and then opened a store of his own in Montpelier,
and later in Northfield. Vt., having for partner Hon. Charles Paine,
ex-governor of Vermont. His business grew and prospered, but seeing 
larger opportunities for business in the fast developing west, he sold 
his interest in the business in Northfield and came to Milwaukee in the 
beginning of 1853, where he established his home, and where he 
temporarily engaged in the wholesale grocery business. Disposing of this 
within the first year of its establishment, he became interested in the 
Farmers' & Millers' bank, which had been organized under the state 
banking law, and was at once made its cashier. This position he held up 
to the time the national bank act was passed, when, realizing the 
advantages of the national bank system over state institutions, he 
organized to supersede the Farmers' & Millers' banks the First National 
bank of Milwaukee, which was the first corporation in the state under 
the national banking law. Mr. Camp became first cashier of the new 
institution, and was its moving spirit and controlling head from the 
beginning up to the expiration of its charter in 1882. Upon the renewal 
of the charter and the reorganization of the bank. Mr. Camp was elected 
president, and held the office for eleven years. It is the best 
testimonial to his sagacity. His administrative ability and his fidelity 
in the discharge of hi responsible duties, that the bank steadily grew 
from the beginning in business, and the confidence of the people, until 
it is now one of the leading financial institutions of the state, and 
none has a stronger hold upon the confidence of the business community.

Having for so many years been the responsible head of the bank, he
began to feel the need of some relief from his arduous duties, and
hence retired from the presidency in 1893, after forty years of
unremitting and most honorable service. During all his long career,
there was no one whose counsel was more sought after in financial
matters than his. His papers read before financial bodies were
conservative in tone, wise in suggestion, and eminently practical in
detail, and few commanded more thoughtful attention. Wild schemes for
swelling the bank's dividends

Page 95

found no favor in his eyes, and to this feature of his administration
is to be attributed chiefly the bank's exceptionally prosperous career.

At the beginning of 1894 Mr. Camp organized the Milwaukee Trust
company, with a capital of the hundred thousand dollars, of which he
became president, and to which he has devoted a portion of his time
since his retirement from the presidency of the bank.

Mr. Camp has been a public-spirited citizen, and has done many things
which were calculated to promote the public interests, and which, in a
measure, have put charitable work upon a sure foundation. Among these
was his organization of the Charity Relief association of Milwaukee, to
which he made the generous donation of forty thousand dollars; and this
has been increased by his own gifts alone, and accumulations of income
therefrom, to over seventy thousand dollars, that, by the terms upon
which the association was formed, is to constitute a permanent fund, a
part of the interest of which is annually devoted to relieving the
wants of the deserving poor. This is the kind of charity that is
eminently practical, and has the very desirable feaure of permanency;
and, while it may not make so much noise as some other forms, it will
accomplish more real good. He has also been prominently identified with
other organizations, among which is the Chamber of Commerce gratuity
fund, of which he is a trustee. Mr. Camp was a trustee and officer of
the Milwaukee College and a liberal contributor for several years
during its trying experiences, and until the present endowment fund was
raised. He is now, and has been for several years, director and
chairman of the finance committee of the Northwestern National
Insurance company. He has also been connected with the Associated
Charities since its organization, and for many years was a trustee of
the Milwaukee County Insane hospital. It will be see, therefore, that a
great business has not absorbed all his thought, but he has given much
attention to

[image: HOEL HINMAN CAMP.]

the demands of the poor and unfortunate and to the permanent bettering
of their condition, and to the removal, in some measure, of the burden
which their presence imposes upon society.

In politics Mr. Camp has been a steadfast Republican; but, while taking
an active interest in the party's success, occasionally acting as a
delegate to conventions, and laboring for the adoption of its
principles and the election of its candidates, he has never sought
office for himself, or been a politician at least not in the obnoxious
sense of the term.

He is a member of St. James' Episcopal church, of which he was senior
warden for twenty years, during which time the stone edifice was built,
and rebuilt after it was burned, and to which he has been a liberal
contributor, and in the work of which he has taken an active and
zealous interest.

He has been twice married, and has two sons and four daughters. One of
the former is secretary and treasurer of the Milwaukee Trust company,
and the other has, for some years, been connected with the First
National bank.

Page 96

[image: WILLIAM HENRY FRENCH.]

FRENCH, William Henry, a woolen manufacture of Reedsburg, Sauk county,
Wisconsin, was born in the village of Holt, Wiltshire, England, January
29th, 1837. His father, Thomas French, also a woolen manufacturer, came
to this country from England in 1846. With him came his wife, three
sons and three daughters--a married son and daughter remained in their
native land, and the eldest son had preceded the family to the United
States, which was the cause of the family's migration hither instead of
to Australia, whither a brother of the senior French went about the
same time. Two of the brothers of Wm. H. French were also woolen
manufacturers.

Young French had little opportunity for education, for he began work,
at the age of thirteen years, in a woolen mill, in Rockville, Conn. Not
being able to secure more than a dollar a day wages in the mill, even
when nineteen years old, he left the business, was married, and bought
a farm in Canada. But the venture was a failure for various reasons--
neither was accustomed to farm life. The farm, therefore, was sold, and
the young couple moved back to Naugatuck, Conn., where Mr. French tried 
his hand at work in a rubber factory. He could male good wages, but his 
health failed him, and, in 1861, he accepted a position as overseer of 
the card room in a factory in Ansonia, Conn. Here he remained until 
February, 1863, when he accepted the superintendency of a woolen mill at 
Howells, N. Y. In 1865 he resigned to go into business for himself, but 
was disappointed in securing the mill that he had in view, and accepted 
an offer from parties in New York City to put two sets of machinery into 
a mill and take charge of it. Not liking city life, however, he resigned 
as soon as the machinery was in operation, and took a position in one of 
the woolen mills in Westerly. R. I., in which he was promoted to the 
superintendency in 1866. This position he resigned and accepted a 
similar one with the Ypsilanti Woolen company of Michigan, as he had a 
desire to see and try the west. Remaining here until 1869, he formed a 
company under the firm name of French, Osborne & Knill, for the 
manufacture of woolen goods, for a year, at Owasso, Mich. This was not a 
success and the partnership was not renewed at its expiration. A 
partnership with his brother in-law, Geo. Gerrish, under the firm name 
of French & Gerrish, was more successful--they had all they could do at 
good profits; but the mill and all its contents were totally destroyed 
by fire. They were in debt for money borrowed and invested in wool, 
which was all burned. Upon settling their accounts Mr. French found that 
he owed personally $1,400 and had not a cent with which to pay it. 
Depressed and disheartened at his misfortune, his career seemed at an 
end, until a clergyman reminded him that in yielding to his misfortune 
he was doing himself and his family an irreparable wrong, and spoke 
words of hope and encouragement to him. He set himself to the task of 
recovering the ground lost, but he made no progress, until Mr. Stone of 
Flint, Mich., offered him a working interest in his mill, which was 
folowed in 1873 by a partnership

Page 97

under the firm name of Stone, French & Co. This was a success, but
sickness intervened and, upon the advice of a physician, he sold out,
and went to Ann Arbor, where, in 1880, he formed a partnership with the
Cornwell Brothers under the firm name of Cornwell & French. This mill
was also destroyed by fire, but the stock and manufactured goods being
stored in another building were saved. He had not expected to embark in
the business again, but in 1886 he found himself in partnership with
the Reedsburg Woolen Mills Co., at Reedsburg, Wis. Mr. French took the
superintendency and management of the mills, and has continued in that
position to the present time, increasing its capacity from ten to
thirty-two looms.

Mr. French is conservative in politics, but has always voted the
Republican ticket. He has never sought political honors, but was
elected mayor of Reedsburg in 1886 and re-elected in 1887, not,
however, on any political issue. He was made a Master Mason at
Middletown, N. Y., in 1863; a Royal Arch Mason in 1866, a Knight
Templar in 1893 and a thirty-second degree Mason in 1896. He was
admitted into the Episcopal church at Naugatuck, Conn., in 1852, being
confirmed by Bishop Williams, and has been more or less active in
church work ever since.

Mr. French was married September 19th, 1855, to Sarah Morton, and they
have five children--three daughters and two sons.

LAFLIN, John Warren, a resident of Milwaukee, secretary of the Masonic
grand bodies of the state and editor and publisher of "Masonic
Tidings," was born in Hartford, Connecticut, November 24th, 1844, the
son of John and Margaret Kinnc Laflin, who were natives of Ireland,
were married there in 1833, emigrated the same year, landing in Quebec,
subsequently locating in the state of New York, removing thence to
Connecticut, and coming to Wisconsin in 1845. They settled near
Watertown, where John Laflin, who was
a cabinet-maker and worker in wood, died in April, 1847, at the age of
thirty-six years.

[image: JOHN WARREN LAFLIN.]

John W. Laflin, the son, had but limited educational opportunities, and
the prominent position which he now occupies he has attained almost
wholly through his own unaided and persevering efforts. Upon the death
of his father, the family was broken up, and he lived with different
families until 1856, when he went to New Lisbon and began work in a
general store, living with the family of the proprietor. The only
schooling he received was at Aztalan and New Lisbon, and this was of
short duration. He enjoyed no business or professional training other
than that which he gathered in the severe school of experience. In 1859
he was clerk in the postoffice at New Lisbon under Richard Smith, who
held the position of postmaster under appointment from President
Buchanan. In 1861 he went to live on a farm with a brother-in-law near
Fox Lake, where he remained engaged in farm work until August, 1862,
when he enlisted in the Twenty-ninth regiment of Wisconsin infantry. He
accompanied the regiment in all its movements in the Vicksburg campaign
up

Page 98

to April 28th, 1863, when he was left behind, in the field hospital,
with typhoid fever. He remained at Young's Point and other places in
the vicinity until the fall of Vicksburg, when he was, with other
convalescents, taken up the Mississippi to Benton barracks, St. Louis,
where he remained until the fall, when, with a company of
convalescents, he was sent to Missouri to repel the Confederate raid
under Price. Returning to Schofield barracks with a view to rejoining
his regiment, he was, after a medical examination, transferred to the
veteran reserve corps. Subsequently, he was assigned to clerical work
under Col. Morrison, commandant of the recruiting and draft rendezvous
for Missouri, was appointed quartermaster-sergeant of the post, whence
he was afterward transferred, as clerk, to the headquarters of Gen
Rosencrans, the commander of the Department of Missouri, in which
position he remained, under Gen. Rosencrans, and subsequently Gen.
Dodge, until mustered out of the service at the close of the war, in
July, 1865.

Returning to his former home, New Lisbon, he engaged in mercantile
business there, in which he continued until 1872, when he removed to
Oshkosh, where he carried on the grocery, flour and feed business until
1883, when he was chosen secretary of the Masonic grand bodies of the
state and changed his residence to Milwaukee. In 1886, in connection
with his Masonic work, and in company with M. L. Youngs, grand lecturer
of the fraternity, he began the publication of "Masonic Tidings," a
monthly fraternal paper, which compares favorably with the leading
Masonic periodicals of the country. Mr. Laflin became connected with
the Masonic fraternity, upon attaining his majority, in the winter of
1865-6, and has since continued a zealous and active member, having
attained all the degrees, including the thirty-third and last degree of
the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is not a member of any other
society, except the Grand Army of the Republic. He is not a member of
any church, but for twenty-five years has been a member of the
congregation of the Presbyterian denomination.

When a boy, in 1856, Mr. Laflin became imbued, in the Fremont and
Dayton campaign, with the spirit of Republicanism, and has always
remained a zealous advocate of the principles of that party; but he has
never held or been a candidate for any political office.

Mr. Laflin was married December 3rd, 1868, to Helen M. Daniels of New
Lisbon, and they have four children--one son and three daughters.
Herbert N. passed through the graded schools of Oshkosh and Milwaukee,
the east side Milwaukee high school, graduated from the law department
of the University of Wisconsin, and is now engaged in the practice of
his profession with the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company. The
oldest daughter, Lettie G., married W. G. Cook and resides in Oshkosh.
The second daughter, Mary L., graduated from the state university in
June, 1897, and the third daughter, Helen M., is a student of music and
resides with the family.

STOUT, James Huff, lumberman of Menomonie, Dunn county, is the son of
Henry L. Stout of Dubuque, Iowa, who has long been one of the prominent
business men of that city, and known as a public-spirited and generous
citizen. During the war he, with Senator Allison, was appointed to
organize the Iowa troops, and has been mayor of Dubuque. He is a man of
great benevolence. Among his gifts for charitable purposes and for the
promotion of social and educational improvement may be mentioned his
own fine homestead in Dubuque to the Young Men's Christian association,
as a home for its organization, and $25,000 to the Findlay hospital of
Dubuque.

The maiden name of Senator Stout's mother was Eveline Deming, who was
of English ancestry.

James H. Stout, the subject of this sketch, was born in Dubuque, Iowa,
September 25th,

Page 99

1848. He received his education in the public schools of Dubuque and at
the Chicago University.

For a number of years prior to his removal to Menomonie, Wisconsin, in
1889, he was actively engaged in the lumber business at Dubuque and St.
Louis, as a member of the great lumber firm of Knapp, Stout & Co.,
whose founders began business at Menomonie in 1846, and incorporated as
the Knapp, Stout & Co. company in 1878. He retains his connection with
this company, and is a member of its board of directors, but takes no
active part in the details of its management.

He was always shown intense interest in educational work and in public
libraries, and he has devoted a large measure of time to the practical
side of these subjects.

In order that he might put some of his ideas to a practical test, he
built and equipped at Menomonie, in 1893, a small two-story manual
training school, and conducted it in connection with the public
schools. The experiment was carefully watched and the results noted,
and so well satisfied was he with the success attained that he
determined to enlarge its scope. He therefore, in 1894, built and
equipped at his own expense the Stout Manual Training School, a large
three-story building, locating it on the Central school grounds, and
connecting it by passageways with the High School building.

The equipment of the school was complete in all its details. It was
organized and carried on as a part of the city's public school system,
its aim being to give information and instruction in "the use of
materials, tools, machines, apparatus and other appliances of the
several practical arts," for the purpose of intellectual and moral
education and industrial training. Its course was systematic and
thorough in carpentry and joining, wood turning, moulding, forging,
machine shop, practice, pattern making, sewing, cooking, drawing, wood
carving, modeling in clay and other branches.

The citizens of Menomonie realized the great value of Mr. Stout's gift
from the first,

[image: JAMES HUFF STOUT.]

and gave it generous support and increasing appreciation as the work
grew and demonstrated its right to public favor by its successful
results. Unfortunately, the building, together with the high school
adjoining, was destroyed by fire in February, 1897. The school had
acquired an almost world wide reputation, and educators in all parts of
the country were watching its course with deep interest, as it was in
several respects the pioneer institution of its kind. However, the
interruption in the work will be only temporary, as Senator Stout will
at once rebuild and equip the institution, enlarged and improved, and
the city will continue to maintain it as a part of its public school
system. He has also built and equipped three commodious kindergarten
schools, which are carried on as a part of the same system.

He instituted the system of traveling libraries, designed to furnish
villages and farming communities with the best in the line of reading
that otherwise is accessible only to cities of considerable size. He
first bought about five hundred books, carefully selected, which were
divided into sixteen libraries, each in a

Page 100

neat, strong case, and sent them out to various portions of Dunn
county, where local associations had been formed to receive and care
for them. The scheme proved a success from the outset, and so great has
the demand been for them that he now has thirty-seven libraries, or
sections, in circulation, and each library has been increased to forty
volumes. The libraries are changed from station to station as they are
read, and as each one remains in a station about three months, it will
be seen that it will take about nine years before each station has had
the full set, even without further additions to the list of books. The
example set by Senator Stout has been followed by others, and the state
now boasts of several free traveling libraries that are a power for
good in the communities in which they circulate.

In politics Mr. Stout is a Republican, and, while he is not offensive
in the promulgation of his political principles and the promotion of
his party interests, he has done effective work for his chosen party.
He was elected senator from the Twenty-ninth district, composed of the
counties of Barron, Buffalo, Dunn and Pepin, in the fall of 1894,
receiving 7,298 votes against 1,405 for his opponent.

This result illustrates the estimation in which he is held by his
fellow citizens. He was one of the four delegates-at-large from
Wisconsin to the St. Louis convention in 1896.

Mr. Stout is a member of the Unitarian society of Menomonie, and is one
of the trustees of the society.

He was married, in 1889, to Angelina Wilson, daughter of the late
William Wilson of Menomonie, and two children have been born to them,
James H., Jr., and Eveline, with whom the senator is always ready for a
romp.

Although his private business demands much of his time, he has accepted
many positions of honor, responsibility and hard work, not for the
glory of them, but because of the opportunities presented for promoting
the public welfare. He was recently appointed regent of the state
university by Governor Scofield; he is chairman of the State Historical 
Library Building Commission; a trustee and member of the library 
committee of the Mabel Tainter Memorial Free Library at Menomonie; a 
life member of the Dubuque library; president of the board of education 
of the city of Menomonie; trustee of the Dunn County Asylum for the 
Chronic Insane, and president of the Wisconsin Free Library commission.

FAVILLE, Alden Gage, for many years a prominent and popular musician in
Milwaukee, is the son of Cornelius Faville, who was a man of note in
St. Lawrence county, New York, a generation ago, and, who, at one time,
was a candidate for congress on the Whig ticket, but, his party being
in a hopeless minority, he suffered defeat. A. G. Faville's mother,
Hannah Gage, belonged to a family of influence, some of whose members
have attained distinction in the literary world. She was an own cousin
of Park Benjamin, the author and lecturer, who, in his day, was very 
popular in both capacities. Henry Barnes, the widely known commentator
on the Bible, whose works have probably had more readers among
Christian people than any other author in this country, was also her
cousin. Ancestors of Mr. Faville served with distinction in the
Revolutionary army, one of them being a prominent Mason, and member of
the same lodge with George Washington.

A. G. Faville was born in De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York, on
the 20th of February, 1838, and was educated in the common schools and
academies of the region of his birth. He developed, however, a decided
taste for music; and, after his literary education had progressed
somewhat beyond the practical point, he was sent to Montreal, and,
subsequently, to New York for instruction in both voice culture and
instrumental music. To those who have long known his attainments in
these branches, it is needless to say that he made rapid and
substantial progress; and, when still a very young man, he had acquired

Page 101

a reputation for great abilities both as a singer and organist. He was
appointed professor of music in the state normal school at Potsdam, New
York, a position which he held for seven years. Coming to Milwaukee in
1869, he at once entered upon the work of his profession, and met with
very general and cordial recognition. He has been leader of some of the
most noted church choirs of Milwaukee, has been a successful teacher in
voice culture, an accomplished organist, and always a leader in the
musical circles of the city. When the subject of establishing what is
now the Arion Musical society began to be agitated, Mr. Faville came at
once to the front, and, by his skill as a musician, his experience as a
conductor of such organizations, and his knowledge of the details of
the work, was one of the efficient organizers of the society, which has
become one of the established institutions of the city, and one which
has already exerted a profound and wide-spread influence in the
elevation of the musical taste of the community, especially as it has,
in its concerts, presented only the higher class of compositions. Had
Mr. Faville done nothing else for musical culture, his part in the
founding of this society would entitle him to the favorable
consideration of those who rejoice in the broad educational progress of
the community.

Mr. Faville's political sympathies are with the Republican party,
although he has never engaged actively in political struggles, save
that when a little fellow he sang in the presidential campaign of 1844,
some of the Whig songs in honor of Clay and Frelinghuysen. His first
vote was cast for Lincoln for president, and doubtless he regards
remembered that act as something to be most pleasantly remembered. He
is an Episcopalian, but not a member of any church. He is a Free Mason
and Grand Patriarch organist of the Masonic fraternity. On the twenty-
fifth anniversary of his entrance upon his service as organist,
Professor Faville was presented by the Wisconsin lodge with the
patriarchal jewel, with the name of the lodge, his name and the years

[image: ALDEN GAGE FAVILLE.]

of his service, 1869-1894, engraved thereon. This is considered very
valuable and is highly prized by the professor, as there is but one
other jewel of the kind in this country.

He has never married.

O'KEEFE, Rev. John, C. S. C., president of the Sacred Heart College,
Watertown, Wisconsin, was born August 14th, 1852, in Knocktopher,
Kilkenny county, Ireland. His father was James O'Keefe, a farmer in
comfortable circumstances, and his mother before marriage was Johanna
O'Gorman. Young O'Keefe studied in Knocktopher National School until
1863. He then entered the Carmellite college of his native town, and
studied therein until 1872, when he became a member of the congregation
of the Holy Cross, Notre Dame, Indiana. In 1875 he was appointed a
professor in St. Joseph's College in Cincinnati. This position he held
until 1877, when he was ordained, and, subsequently, made president of
the college and prefect of discipline. Remaining in this position for a
year, he was transferred to Watertown, Wisconsin, where

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[image: REV. JOHN O'KEEFE.]

he was made assistance pastor in St. Bernard's Catholic church. This
position he also held for a year, and was then returned to Notre Dame
University, where he was prefect of discipline for a year, at the end
of which time he became president of the Sacred Heart college in
Watertown, Wisconsin, which position he has since filled, to the great
acceptance of the patrons of that institution.

Adler, David, founder and senior member of the wholesale clothing house
of the David Adler & Sons company, one of the oldest firms in Milwaukee
and one of the most extensive in the northwest in its line of business,
is a native of Austria, having been born in Neustadt, province of
Bohemia, October 9, 1821, his parents being Isaac and Bertha Adler. His
father was a small trader in his native city, where he lived fifty-
eight years. His financial circumstances were limited, but he managed
to have his sons fitted for some trade or profession in which they
could earn a livelihood. David, after receiving schooling confined to
the elementary branches, was appenticed to a baker in his native town, 
with whom he remained three years. After that he traveled through 
Europe, as was the custom, visiting the larger cities for the purpose of 
observing the different methods of conducting the business in which he 
had served an apprenticeship. Returning to Neustadt, he remained there 
two years; and, on the 15th of August, 1846, left his native land for 
New York, where he established himself in the bakery business; but, 
seeing greater possibilities in the new developing west, he closed up 
his business in New York, after five years, and came to Milwaukee and 
opened a small retail clothing store. His capital was but $1,200, and it 
may be guessed that the store was small and the aggregate profits in 
proportion. Yet with economy in expenses, care in buying and selling and 
with untiring effort, his business steadily increased, until he saw 
there was a promising field for the building up of a wholesale trade. In 
1857, therefore, he commenced the business of wholesaling, having taken 
into partnership with him his nephew, Jacob Adler, the firm being D. & 
J. Adler. The first year the sales amounted to $75,00--a very good 
beginning. Jacob Adler remained in the firm two years and was then 
succeeded by Solomon Adler, David's brother. In 1870 Solomon retired and 
was succeeded by David Adler's eldest son and H. M. Mendel, the firm 
being changed to Adler, Mendel & Co. Mr. Mendel remained with the firm 
eight years, when he retired, and since then the firm has been known as 
David Adler & Sons and the David Adler & Sons company. Three of Mr. 
Adler's sons are now in the firm. Nine hundred hands are regularly 
employed in manufacturing clothing, and the annual sales aggregate 
$1,500,000, the business extending over the northwest, as far as the 
Pacific shore. With increasing business came the need for more room. The 
old building was remodeled and enlarged, but it was still inadequate to 
the business, and, in 1889, an elegant brick building was erected on the 
corner of East Water and Huron streets,

Page 103

seven stories above the basement in height. It is one of the handsomest
and most substantial business blocks in the city, and every portion of
it is occupied by the company's business. The cutting and making
department being fitted up with the latest machinery and appliances for
rapid and accurate work, the whole establishment is one of the most
complete to be found anywhere in the country. The house stands both
financially and in the character of its goods among the best in the
land, and its great success has been largely due to the wise management
and high character of him who founded it, and who has, for forty years,
been and still is at its head.

Mr. Adler has no military record, but he has that of a patriot who gave
of his time, influence and means for the support of the government in
its struggle with those who sought to overthrow it.

In politics Mr. Adler has been a Republican since the organization of
the party, but has not held or sought any political position, but he
has held numerous positions of honor and trust, among them vice-
president of the Merchants' & Manufacturers' association, of which he
has been treasurer of the past three years.

For twenty-six years he has been a member of the board of trustees of
the Jewish Orphan Asylum at Cleveland, and for fifteen years its vice-
president. He is now its president, having been unanimously elected to
this office in July last by a rising vote of the trustees and
directors. He is also one of the most prominent Odd Fellows of the
state, having for the past twenty-five years been grand treasurer of
the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin. In religion Mr. Adler is of the Jewish
faith, and was president of the Congregation Emanuel for sixteen
years. He has been president of the Cemetery association since its
organization, and was one of the organizers of the Wisconsin National
bank, of which he has been a director since its establishment.

Mr. Adler was married, in 1848, to Fanny Newbouer, and six sons and two
daughters have been born to them, namely: Isaac D.,

[image: DAVID ADLER.]

Edward D., Emanuel D., Samuel D., Frederick D., B. Franklin, Mrs. H. M.
Mendel and Alvina Deuisch. Mr. Adler is known and recognized as a
public-spirited man, and ready to aid every enterprise that will in any
way advance the interest of the city of which he has been so long an
honored citizen.

JOHNSON, Daniel H., judge of the Second judicial circuit, embracing
Milwaukee county, ws born in Ontario, near Kingston, July 27th, 1825.
His primary education was received in the schools of Kemptville, Ont.,
and after his removal to Illinois, he continued his education in Rock
River Seminary at Mount Morris, where he spent one year. The next five
years, embracing the period from 1844 to 1849, he was engaged in
teaching school, employing his spare time in the study of law and
English literature. He was admitted to the bar in the circuit court of
Crawford county, Wisconsin, where he began the practice of the
profession. For several years, while residing in Prairie du Chien, he
edited and published The Prairie du Chien Courier,

Page 104

[image: DANIEL H. JOHNSON.]

but his time was given mainly to the practice of law until 1861, when
he was elected to the lower house of the state legislature, to
represent the counties of Crawford and Bad Axe, now Vernon. A part of
the years 1861 and 1862 he served as assistant attorney-general. In the
summer of 1862 the went south and was engaged for some months as clerk
in the pay-master's department of the Union army. Returning to
Wisconsin, he took up his residence in Milwaukee, and resumed the
practice of his profession of the law.

For several years he was deeply interested in local politics and in the
great questions involved in the civil war and in the reconstruction
period. His sympathies were then, for the most part, with the
administration and deeply absorbed in the Union cause. In 1869 and 1870
he was again member of the assembly, representing the Seventh ward of
the city of Milwaukee, as a Republican, and was an intelligent, capable
and useful member. After this his views upon political questions
changed somewhat and he was not again so active in that direction. He
was, however, city attorney of Milwaukee from 1878 to 1880, and filled
the office with credit to himself and to the advantage of the
municipality. In 1887 he was elected judge of the Second judicial
circuit, and re-elected in 1893, for the term expiring with the year
1899. As a judge he has been generally recognized as just and wise in
his rulings and decisions, efficient in the conducting of the business
of the court and courteous in his manner toward those who appear before
him.

He is not only thoroughly versed in the principles of the law and a
careful student of it in all its phases, but has a fine literary taste,
keeps fully informed as to current literature, and is an interested
reader of whatever is best in its various departments.

MYLREA, William H., attorney-general for the state of Wisconsin, was
born in Rochester, New York, January 1st, 1853, but came with his
parents to Kilbourn City, Wisconsin, in 1856, where he resided until
1883. He attended the village school, and, through diligent study and a
natural aptitude for learning, he was prepared for college, and entered
Lawrence University, at Appleton, in 1874, where he was a student until
the close of the junior year, in 1877. After leaving college he became
a student in the law department of the state university, at Madison,
but while pursuing his studies there he received the appointment of
postmaster at Kilbourn City. Discontinuing his studies in the law
school, he returned home and entered upon his duties as postmaster,
holding the position for three years. His leisure from his official
duties, however, was devoted to his law studies, under the general
direction of Hon. Jonathan Bowman of Kilbourn; and, in 1879, he passed
the required examination and was admitted to the bar, at the session of
the Circuit court in Portage. Resigning the position of postmaster in
1881, and entering upon the practice of his profession, such was his
ability and attention to the cases committed to him that he rapidly
acquired a large business. In the

Page 105

summer of 1883, he removed to Wausau, and entered into a partnership
with C. V. Bardeen, now judge of the Sixteenth Judicial circuit. This
partnership continued until 1892, when Judge Bardeen entered upon his
judicial duties. He devoted himself with great energy and close
application to the duties of his profession, not seeking office or
position until 1886, when, without solicitation on his part, he was
nominated by the Republican county convention for the office of
district attorney of Marathon county, and elected by a majority of
nearly 130, although on other offices the Democrats carried the county,
as they have usually done since its organization. Two years later he
was re-nominated. He made no canvass for himself, but spoke throughout
the state for the general ticket, and although the Democrats carried
the county by about 1,000 majority, on the general ticket, the
majority, on the general ticket, the majority against him was but about
400. These facts show his popularity and the estimation in which his
discharge of his duties of district attorney was held, in a clearer
light than could any language, however forcible.

In 1894, Mr. Mylrea decided to become a candidate before the Republican
state convention for the office of attorney-general. There were several
other candidates of ability and experience, but he received the
nomination without a serious struggle. In 1896 he was re-nominated by
acclamation. He has made an able, attentive and careful official, and
is popular with those having official relations with him.

He has been an earnest Republican since he was old enough to take an
interest in political affairs, and as an expounder of the principles of
his party he is very effective. He has spoken in all parts of the
state, and in the campaign of 1896 he devoted much time and thought to
the discussion of the important question of the currency, and is said
to have been a very entertaining and instructive speaker.

Mr. Mylrea was married, in Milwaukee, November 12th, 1884, to Miss
Minnie Ostrander,

[image: WILLIAM H. MYLREA.]

eldest daughter of D. Ostrander of Chicago, and formerly of Jefferson
county, Wisconsin. They have one child--John D. Mylrea.

ZILLMER, Theodore, supervisor of the Tenth ward, Milwaukee county, is
of German parentage, the son of Christian Zillmer, whose occupation is
that of a carpenter, and of Helena, nee Weber. Theodore Zillmer was
born in Milwaukee on the 21st of September, 1862, and received his
education in the public schools and in the Spencerian Business College,
from which he graduated in 1877. He then served as messenger in a bank
one year, after which he became entry clerk and assistant book-keeper,
and subsequently traveling salesman for the wholesale clothing firm of
H. S. Mack & Co. of Milwaukee. In 1883, when twenty-one years of age,
he began business for himself in retail clothing with a capital of only
$600. Subsequently he added a shoe department, and this business,
steadily increasing in volume, he has continued, on Fond du Lac avenue,
up to the present date. Besides his two stores he owns a large amount
of productive

Page 106

[image: THEODORE ZILLMER.]

real estate, including a fine residence on Sixteenth street.

In 1894 Mr. Zillmer was elected a member of the county board of
supervisors from the Tenth ward, and re-elected in 1896. In September
last he was elected chairman of the board, and this position he now
holds. In his political affiliations he is a Republican, and has been
prominent and efficient in party work. In 1894 he was elected a member
of the Republican state central committee, and was elected a delegate
to the Republican national convention at St. Louis that nominated
McKinley for president.

As a member of the county board of supervisors, Mr. Zillmer has always
been opposed to what is termed the "ring," and has steadily and
consistently advocated economy in all county affairs so far as
compatible with the public good and consistent with that real
enterprise which should characterize all business, whether public or
private.

He is a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was married
September 1st, 1886, to Kunigunda Lessel, and they have three children-
-Raymond, Aimee and Helen.

MEINECKE, Adolph, one of those men to be found in every considerable
community, who, while building a fortune for themselves, contribute to
the comfort and happiness of scores of others, and also to the public
welfare, was born in Burhave, in the grand duchy of Oldenburg. He
received what educational advantages the place of his nativity
afforded, and in addition thereto private instruction and direction
from his father, who was a physician and well qualified by his own
scholarly acquirements to aid his son in his studies. When the lad had
reached the age of thirteen years he was sent to the high school at
Oldenburg, and then to the commercial college in Osnabruck. With this
training he was well equipped to make his way in the world. But his
means were meager, and naturally his thoughts turned to the "land of
promise," America; and, in the spring of 1848, he took passage for New
York, which he reached on the 10th of June of that year. Soon after
arriving in New York he found his money gone, and to live he must find
work. In this crisis in his personal affairs, he was so fortunate as to
secure a position in the importing house of Edward Hen of Liberty
street, where he remained for seven years, rising ultimately to a
position of trust. Here he probably might have remained indefinitely,
but for the fact that he was not content to remain in a subordinate
position--he saw larger things before him, if only he could put his own
hand upon the wheel of some enterprise. He, therefore, came to
Milwaukee in 1855, and opened a store for toys and fancy goods. In
1864, when importation of foreign goods was at a low ebb, owing to the 
high duty on most articles and the large discount on currency, Mr.
Meinecke thought it a promising time to establish a factory in
Milwaukee for children's carriages, baskets, toys and the like. But
this was not all; he found it necessary, or at least advisable, to
begin the cultivation of osier willow for use in the factory. His
willow crop soon proved insufficient for the demand of the factory, and
farmers

Page 107

in the vicinity of Milwaukee began to add the willow to their crops;
and ere long they found it very profitable, the factory having grown to
such proportions that it consumed all the willow offered that was
suitable for the purposes of manufacture. The factory thus begun
steadily grew in size and importance until it has now covered the whole
block along the river front from Mason street to Oneida, and has become
the most important factory of the kind in the west, the articles that
it manufactures being of the very best in the market. Mr. Meinecke's
sons now control the business under his general direction, Ferdinand
having the management of the factory, which employs some two hundred
and fifty persons, and Adolph Meinecke, Jr., and Carl Penshorn having
in charge the toy department. The various departments of the factory
are a most interesting subject of study, as showing what useful and
beautiful things are made there, not only, but how great a business may
grow from small beginnings.

But Mr. Meinecke is not simply a manufacturer. He is a most public-
spirited and intelligent gentleman, and has been conspicuous in
connection with educational measures. He was one of the commissioners
from Wisconsin to the Centennial exposition in Philadelphia, in 1876,
has been one of the trustees of the Public Museum ever since it was
established, and has done a large amount of work in promotion of its
interests and aims, and has made many important donations to its
collections, which alone would entitle him to public gratitude. His
contributions to German papers both here and in Germany are evidence
that he is an accomplished man not only, but one who thinks deeply upon
public questions. He is such a citizen as Milwaukee may well feel proud
of, whether he be considered simply as a man of business or in the
broader character of one who thinks for the welfare of the public.

Politically he is a pronounced Republican, but is not one for revenue
or honors, as may

[image: ADOLPH MEINECKE.]

be readily inferred from what has already been said of him. As to
religious faith, he was brought up a Lutheran. On the 25th of February,
1854, he was married to Mary Louise, daughter of George Kraft of
Heilbronn, a woman of many virtues and unusual culture. Two children
were born of this union. Mrs. Meinecke died three years since, to the
unspeakable grief of her husband.

Mr. Meinecke's native town recently paid him the compliment of
conferring upon him honorary citizenship therein.

ROSS, Frank A., prominent as a lawyer of Superior, is the son of George
N. and Sarah A. Hyatt Ross, the former a farmer in moderate
circumstances. The ancestors on both sides were Pennsylvania Dutch.
Perin Ross, great-great-grandfather of Frank A., was killed in the
battle of Wyoming, July 3rd, 1778. The Ross family and connections seem
to be of fighting stock, for the mother of Frank A. had six brothers in
the Union army in the struggle with the rebellion, all but one of whom
suffered injuries from that service.

Page 108

[image: FRANK A. ROSS.]

Frank A. Ross was born in the town of Good Farm, Grundy county,
Illinois, March 24th, 1856. A year after his birth the family moved to
Pierce county, Wisconsin, and settled on a farm near Prescott, where
the boy, after he was old enough to labor, alternated between farm work
and school until he was fifteen years old. At eighteen he began
teaching a district school, and continued it during winters until 1880,
his summers being devoted to other occupations. In the year last named
he entered the law office of White & Smith in Prescott, as clerk and
law student, and continued there with some intermissions for teaching
until December 13th, 1879, when he was admitted to the bar at
Ellsworth, Wisconsin. He recognizes his obligations to J. S. White,
senior member of the firm with whom he studied, for much careful
training in the law. Charles Smith, the junior member of the firm, he
says, was also of great service to him. Mr. White is still practicing
in Prescott.

Mr. Ross opened an office in Prescott and began the practice of law in
June, 1880. In November following he was elected district attorney
of Pierce county, and held the office by successive re-elections until
January, 1887. His immediate predecessor in the office was the late F.
L. Gilson, afterward judge of the superior court of Milwaukee county.
Mr. Ross removed to Superior in March, 1887, and practiced his
profession there alone until October, 1888, when he formed a
partnership with W. D. Dwyer, under the firm name of Ross & Dwyer. In
1890 Charles Smith, his former preceptor in the law, entered the firm,
having transferred his residence to Superior, and the firm became Ross,
Dwyer & Smith. In February, 1892, the firm was still further increased
by the addition of Louis Hanitch and George J. Douglas, and the firm
became Ross, Dwyer, Smith, Hanitch & Douglas, and so continued until
1893, when Mr. Smith was elected judge of the superior court of Douglas
county. Mr. Douglas also retired from the firm at that time, and since
then the firm has continued as Ross, Dwyer & Hanitch. The business of
the firm has been chiefly that of corporations, representing some of
the heaviest corporate interests at the head of Lake Superior. This
business has involved much important litigation, and the firm has met
with a fair measure of success.

Mr. Ross is a Republican, but has not sought political preferment; the
only office he has ever held was that of district attorney. He was a
delegate to the national Republican convention at Minneapolis in 1892,
representing the Tenth congressional district, and voted for James G.
Blaine to the last ballot. He has also been a delegate to several state
conventions, and is at present chairman of the Douglas county
Republican committee.

He was married December 19th, 1878, to Hettie Viroqua Newell, daughter
of L. D. Newell, who, in 1866, opened one of the first dry good stores
in Minneapolis. Six children were the fruit of this marriage, four of
whom are still living. Mrs. Ross died October 17th, 1894; and on June
18th, 1896, Mr. Ross was married to Carrie Blanche Newell, sister of
his former wife.

Page 109

KUTH, Frederick William, oil inspector for the county of Milwaukee and
a resident of the city, was born in Milwaukee on the 24th of January,
1856. His parents, John and Anna Maria Hett Kuth, are natives of
Cologne, Rhenish Prussia, whence they came to Milwaukee in 1848 and
have resided in the Eighth ward ever since.

John Kuth, whose occupation was that of miller, survived the cholera in
1852, and thereafter went to work for the Pfister & Vogel Leather
company, in whose employ he remained until his retirement from active
work in 1880, in the enjoyment of a fair amount of this world's goods.

Frederick Kuth attended the Eighth ward public school until he reached
the age of sixteen, when he found employment in a drug store, where he
worked for two years. He then went into the tannery of the Pfister &
Vogel Leather company, where he learned the curriers' trade, and was
afterward made assistant superintendent of the currying department, an
important position for a young man, and one which would undoubtedly
have led to higher and better positions if he had continued in the
business.

Mr. Kuth has always taken great interest in public affairs, been a very
active and intelligent Republican since he was old enough to vote, and
has contributed of time and attention to the management of party
machinery. He was elected alderman from the Eighth ward in 1892, and
re-elected in 1894. He was chairman of the committee of railroads, and
a member of the committee on viaducts, which enabled him to work with
much advantage in pushing to completion the scheme for connecting the
west and south sides of the city by means of a viaduct at Sixteenth
street, which has proved already of immense value to those two great
municipal divisions, and which is destined to prove one of the most
convenient of all the street improvements.

In 1895 Mr. Kuth was appointed by Gov. Upham, deputy oil inspector, at
the suggestion of Dr. H. B. Tanner, state oil inspector.

[image: FREDERICK WILLIAM KUTH.]

He was also a member of the executive committee of the semi-centennial
committee of one hundred to arrange for a suitable celebration of the
admission of the state into the Union.

Mr. Kuth is a member of the National Union and of the Knights of
Pythias.

He was married to Theresa M. Bongard in the year 1881, and they have
three children, namely: William Henry, Elsie and Viola.

McDONALD, Alexander C., at the head of the Milwaukee business college
hearing his name, is the son of Daniel McDonald, a superintendent of
mines, who was born in Scotland, and came to this country in the
fifties. He gained a competence in his business, and died January 5th,
1892. His wife, the mother of A. C. McDonald, was also a native of
Scotland and bore the historic name of Wallace. They settled in
Pennsylvania, subsequently came to Minonk, Illinois, where the mother
is still living. The children are five in number, two girls and there
boys, all of whom spent their early days in the present

Page 110

[image: ALEXANDER D. M'DONALD.]

home of their mother. One brother is on the board of trade in Chicago,
and the other in real estate and law in Chenoa, Illinois.

A. C. McDonald was born May 25th, 1860, in Mount Pleasant, Schuylkill
county, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the public schools of Minonk,
Ill., and graduated from the Evergreen City Business College of
Bloomington, in 1897, completing the full course in bookkeeping,
shorthand and penmanship. He came to Milwaukee from Bloomington, Ill.,
and for a time held the position of shorthand correspond to the
superintendent of the American Express company. Later he was chief
clerk in the purchasing department of the Wisconsin Central railway,
and then shorthand assistant and M. Lee, the present manager of summer
and winter hotels at Waukesha and Jacksonville, Florida. He began
teaching shorthand, in a small way, in 1883, and soon after established
a college of shorthand. This grew rapidly, necessitating larger
quarters, which were secured in the new Matthews building. The yearly
attendance of students is now between three and four hundred and the
institution is one of the foremost in the northwest. Five high-grade 
teachers, of many years experience, are regularly employed, and the 
college has been equipped at a cost of over seven thousand dollars. In 
this age when a business education is rendered almost a necessity for 
every one who expects to be fully equipped for an active career, whether 
it be in the channels of business proper or in any of the professions 
that have relation thereto, the business college has an important place 
among the educational institutions of the country; and the McDonald 
College is worthy of the attention of progressive men.

Naturally, Mr. McDonald has a love or the institutions of his
ancestors, society, which is devoted to keeping alive among our Scotch
citizens and their children the loving memory of Scotch customs and
institutions.

Mr. McDonald was married June 4th, 1891, to Jennie Louise Hill, and
there are two more of Scotch descent in the second generation--
Frederick Wallace and Ethel Gladys.

HANNON, Rev. Mathias, who resides at Darlington, La Fayette county,
Wisconsin, is the son of Mathias Hannon, who was a "gentleman farmer"
in good financial standing and of ample means, and of Ellen Trant,
daughter of Patrick Trant, who was a large landed proprietor in North
Kerry, and who was one of the first magistrates appointed by the
English government after the passage of the act of emancipation. It
will be remembered that prior to this date no Catholic could hold such
an office under the government. The act was passed in 1829, under the
powerful leadership of O'Connell.

Father Hannon was born on the 4th of February, 1830, in the historic
village of Lixnaw, County Kerry, Ireland. Lixnaw, on the River Brick,
seven miles from the Atlantic ocean, is noted for its ruins of the
ancient castle and court of the earls of Kerry and Lixnaw, whose family
name was Fitzmaurice.

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Young Hannon's early education was received at home under private
tutors until the age of twelve years. After that he was under the
instruction of a Mr. Horan, a graduate of Trinity College, who was
principal of a private seminary in the town of Tralee. The young man
graduated after a five year's course in the classics and the modern
languages.

In the year 1847 he came to the United States, and became a student at
the University of Notre Dame, at South Bend, Indiana, now the first
Catholic college in the United States. Here for four years he studied
philosophy and theology, completing the course in 1852. On the 19th of
December of that year, he was ordained to the Holy Catholic priesthood
by the first bishop of Dubuque, Iowa, the Right Rev. Mathias Loras.
Immediately after ordination he was given the charge of the Catholics
of Iowa City. Some time afterward he had charge of the church in
Burlington, Iowa. In the year 1868 he came to the diocese of Milwaukee,
and for eight years had charge of the congregations of Byron and Eden,
in Fond du Lac county.

February 1st 1876, he took charge of the Church of the Holy Rosary in
Darlington, La Fayette county, Wisconsin, and as retained the charge
ever since. He has spent several thousand dollars in the payment of
mortgages on the church, and in its interior and exterior decorations.
During his long pastorate of twenty-one years his whole time has been
devoted to the spiritual and temporal welfare of his congregation.

With his Protestant fellow citizens Father Hannon stands in high
esteem, for one of the maxims of his life is the scriptural one: "All
things whatsoever ye would that me should do to you, do ye even so to
them." In religious controversies he takes no part and little interest.

On the 19th of December, 1897, Father Hannon will celebrate forty-fifth
anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, and next to the church
to which he has given almost half a century of his life and labors, he

[image: REV. MATHIAS HANNON.]

loves the government of the country that guarantees to all men,
irrespective of religion, race of color, its powerful protection in the
pursuit of life, liberty and happiness.

LIBBEY, Daniel Lord, who was for many years a conspicuous figure in the
business circles of that stirring city, Oshkosh, was born in Ossipee,
New Hampshire, on the 28th of October, 1823. He was a lineal descendant
in the seventh generation from John Libbey, who came to this country
from England in 1635. His father, Nathaniel Libbey, was a sailor in his
youth, but afterward was engaged in lumbering and farming. He removed
to Bethlehem, N. H., where he was a selectman, and which he represented
in the state legislature. When the boy was seventeen years of age his
father died, leaving the mother with scanty means and a family of
eleven children, six of whom were younger than himself. With a limited
education, and no means but a brave heart and strong arms, Daniel
determined to make his own way in the world; and, going to Lowell,
Massachusetts, he secured

Page 112

[image: DANIEL LORD LIBBEY.]

employment in a foundry, learning the trade of moulder. The excitement
over the discovery of gold in California in 1849 found him
industriously working in the foundry, where he had managed to save
something from his earnings. The hope of profiting by the rich
discoveries induced him to become one of a hundred young men who fitted
out a ship for the new Eldorado. Each of the company put in $300; the
ship freighted, and, in February, 1849, they sailed from Boston on the
long voyage around the Horn for the land of gold, which they reached on
the third of July following, without any mishap beyond experiencing
some very stormy weather. They sold the ship and cargo, paid a debt of
$5,000, and each took his share from the venture and went his way. Mr.
Libbey went to the gold diggings and worked there three years, and then
returned home. After a visit of a few months he went back to the gold
fields and remained two years longer. In the spring of 1855 he again
visited home, was married, and in the fall removed to Wisconsin,
settling in Oshkosh, where he engaged, with his accustomed energy, in
the manufacture of lumber. This was before the day of railroads in 
Wisconsin, and the lumber business was subject to many drawbacks; but 
Mr. Libbey's energy, perseverance and sagacious management were rewarded 
by a good measure of success. In 1862 he had the misfortune to lose his 
mill and a large amount of lumber by fire, on which there was no 
insurance; but, within three months, he had a new and better mill, and 
business proceeded as before.

Within a few years he began to rank as a capitalist, and, in 1871, when
the Union National Bank of Oshkosh was organized, with $100,000
capital, Mr. Libbey was chosen its president, a position which he held
to the day of his death. He was much interested in the growth and
prosperity of Oshkosh, and contributed greatly by his capital and
industrial skill to the success of various business enterprises. He was
one of the organizers of the Oshkosh Water Works company and its
president up to the time that it was sold to a foreign corporation. He
was also treasurer of the Thompson Carriage company, and interested in
other business enterprises, which furnished employment to large numbers
of men. He had a fine farm of three hundred acres a mile north of
Oshkosh, on the shore of Lake Winnebago, which was a source of great
pleasure to him.

Mr. Libbey was married, May 29th, 1855, to Mary Caroline Reynolds of
Greenfield, New Hampshire, who died January 29th, 1869. On June 11th,
1872, he was married to Laura A. Reed of Phillips, Maine. There are
four surviving children.

Mr. Libbey was a man of simple habits and unostentatious manners, yet
one, who by his honorable business methods, and the manner in which he
used his fortune, was justly entitled to the esteem and confidence
which were so freely awarded him by those who knew him best. He held
several local offices, and discharged their duties with that fidelity
for which he was noted; but he did not desire official position of any
kind. He died December 25th, 1894.

Page 113

ZUERNER. William Frank, who desires at 1410 Burleigh street, Milwaukee,
is the son of William Zuerner, who is by ocupation a cabinet-maker in
fair financial circumstances. The elder Zuerner is a native of Germany,
where he was born on the 29th of February, 1824. Leaving his native
land in 1852, he landed in New York on August 4th of that year. In 1861
he came to Milwaukee and established a furniture and piano store on the
corner of Van Buren and Martin streets, which a year thereafter he
sold, and purchased a small farm on Burleigh street, where he still
resides. In 1865 he enlisted in the Union army, and served in the
Forty-fifth Wisconsin infantry until the close of the war. In politics
he is a Republican "without variableness or shadow of turning." Wm. F.
Zuerner's mother, Johanna, whose maiden name was Barkow, was born in
Germany on the 15th of January, 1830, and came to Milwaukee in 1841.
Her mother died on the ocean, leaving her husband and this girl of
eleven years to care for the two brothers and a sister still younger
than herself. When this family reached Milwaukee there were more 
Indians to be seen than whites. She and William Zuerner were married in
September, 1862, and have lived to see Milwaukee grow from a pioneer
settlement of a few hundred inhabitants to a city of two hundred and
seventy-five thousand.

William F. Zuerner was born in Milwaukee on the 18th of June 1863. He
received his early education at the public schools, attending them
until he was fourteen years of age, when he began the serious business
of life, as assistant to his father in the business of gardening. He
continued at this work for four years, when at the age of eighteen, he
went into the business for himself, at the same time doing something in
the real estate line. This business he closed out in the beginning of
1892, and the spring following he was elected constable, on the
Republican ticket, for the Ninth district of the city and county of
Milwaukee. In 1894 he was re-elected for a second term by a majority of
2,000, the largest

[image: WILLIAM FRANK ZUERNER.]

ever received by any candidate for that office in that district. In the
fall of 1894 there occurred a vacancy in the office of justice of the
peace in the Ninth district, by reason of the resignation of August F.
Zentner, who had been elected county clerk of Milwaukee county. To this
vacancy Mr. Zuerner was elected by a large majority. Having served the
unexpired term, he was elected for the full term in the spring of 1896,
and this office he now holds.

Mr. Zuerner has always been an earnest and consistent Republican, and
has, at different times, served as delegate in city, county,
congressional and senatorial conventions. He has sat as police justice
in the absence of Judge Neelen, and was director of the school board of
the First district of the town of Milwaukee for two years.

On the 6th of March, 1886, he was married to Louise Eicksteadt of the
town of Grainfield, and they have a family of six children.

The only secret organization to which Mr. Zuerner belongs is that of
the Knights of Pythias.

Page 114

[image: MELANCTON H. FISK.]

FISK, Melancton H., M. D., is a resident of Wauwatosa, Milwaukee
county, Wisconsin, and is the son of one of the pioneers of northern
Wisconsin. His father, Joel S. Fisk, was born in St. Albans, Vermont,
October 24th, 1810. He was at first engaged in mercantile pursuits in
New York state, but came west to Ohio in 1833, and two years later
settled in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was the pioneer lumberman in
sections of northern Wisconsin, and built the first lumber mill at De
Pere, and the first grist mill at Fond du Lac. With a purpose to be
prepared for the various emergencies of business in those early times,
he studied law, and was admitted to practice at Green Bay soon after
his arrival there. He was made judge of the probate court in Brown
county in 1836, appointed postmaster in 1846, and register of the
United States land office in 1848. He laid out and platted the original
site of the city of Fort Howard, now consolidated with Green Bay, and
was an active, prominent and useful man in the pioneer settlement. He
finally abandoned the profession of law for the more active and
remunerative pursuits of merchandizing and investments in real estate, 
and in these he amassed a fortune. He died on the 27th of May, 1877. Dr. 
Fisk's mother, Charlotte A. Fisk, was born December 17th, 1809, and died 
April 5th, 1877, a little more than a month before her husband. The 
ancestors of the Fisks are traceable back to the parish of St. James, in 
the county of Suffolk, England, in the time of Queen Mary. The Fisks 
came to America about 1636, and settled in Massachusetts, where they 
were prominent in the development of the country and in the formation of 
its institutions. The descendants of the early generation scattered 
through Vermont and northern New York, and many of them may be found 
there still.

Dr. Fisk was born May 28th, 1843, at De Pere, Wisconsin. After
attendance at he district school for his primary education, he went to
Hopkins' Academy at Hadley, Mass., and returning to Wisconsin, entered
Lawrence University at Appleton, but left it at the commencement his
senior year to enlist in the army with a company largely made up of
students, and assigned to the Fortieth regiment, Wisconsin volunteer
infantry. At the conclusion of his military service, he did not return
to complete the course at college, but immediately began the study of
medicine, and graduated from the medical department of the University
of Michigan i 1866. He began practice at De Pere, Wisconsin, and, after
five years, took a course of study at Belleview College, New York, and
then resumed his practice at De Pere. In addition to his professional
work, he took an active interest in the public affairs and improvements
of the city charter, and twice re-elected, but resigned in the spring
of 1886 to remove to Wauwatosa, Milwaukee county, Wisconsin, where he
now resides and where he has acquired an extensive practice.

Dr. Fisk was married on the 19th of October, 1868, to Mary Joy Lawton
of De Pere, formerly of Pottsville, Penn. They have one son, Raymond
Douseman, who was born July

Page 115

12th, 1875, and is now conducting a drug store at North Greenfield,
Milwaukee county. A daughter was born on the 13th of April, 1884, but
died three days thereafter.

Dr. Fisk is a pronounced Democrat in politics, and generally has been
quite active in political campaigns. He did not vote in the fall
election of 1896, however, not being satisfied with either of the three
party nominees at that time. He has never accepted any purely political
office, or had any ambition in that direction.

The doctor is a member of the Wolcott Post, G. A. R., is a thirty-
second degree Mason, a Shriner, and has been master of Wauwatosa Lodge,
No. 267, for several years. He is now consulting surgeon to the Asylum
for the Chronic Insane, to the Hospital for the Insane, and to the
Milwaukee county hospital. He is now president of the Brainard Medical
society. In religious matters he is an agnostic, and has never been a
member of any church.

END PART 4