Men of Progress. Wisconsin. (pages 251-251) 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 252 continued

EARLES, William Henry, M. D., is a resident of Milwaukee, and a
prominent member of the faculty of the Milwaukee Medical College. He is
the son of Thomas Earles, a retired farmer, and of Hannah McMahon
Earles, and was born in Genesee, Wisconsin, on the 19th of December,
1852. The family having removed to Manitowoc, the boy was sent to the
common schools of the county, which he says were good and efficient for
those of so early a day, considering the lack of the facilities now
deemed essential to instruction and the securing of the best results in
the educational work. Young Earles' attendance at the common schools
was supplemented by a short term at the Oshkosh Normal School and two
years at the University of Wisconsin, where his progress and popularity
were such as to secure for him at the hands of

Page 252

[image: WILLIAM HENRY EARLES.]

his fellow students, the position of president of the class.

He began teaching school when sixteen years of age, and taught for six
years, earning in this work his first money and that which materially
aided him in procuring his professional education. In 1877 he entered
the office of Dr. Blake, in Manitowoc, as a student of medicine, 
supplementing his studies there by a course in Rush Medical College,
Chicago, from which he graduated in 1880. His medical course completed,
he immediately began practice in Wrightstown, Wisconsin, continuing
there until 1885, when he removed to Milwaukee, where he opened an
office and where he built up an extensive practice. In 1889, in company
with Dr. Neilson, he founded Trinity hospital, and two years later he
gave efficient aid in establishing the Milwaukee Free Dispensary, which
has been prolific in benefits to the poor and suffering. He was also
associated with Dr. Neilson, in 1893, in the founding of The Milwaukee
Medical Journal, of which he is still one the editors. He aided in
forming the Practitioners' society of Milwaukee; but one of the most
important enterprises with which he has been identified is the founding of the Milwaukee Medical College and School of Dentistry, which has rapidly grown into a flourishing institution. Dr. Earles is dean of the faculty of the college, professor of the principles and practice of surgery, and treasurer of the board of directors. He is now devoting most of his professional time to the work of the college and to surgery. He is surgeon to Trinity and Milwaukee county hospitals, and consulting surgeon to Milwaukee Free dispensary. He is a member of the American Medical association, the State Medical Society of Wisconsin, the Fox River Valley and the Northwestern Medical societies, and also of the Practitioners' society of Milwaukee.

In politics Dr. Earles is nominally a Democrat on state and national
issues, but in 1890 he voted with the Republicans on the Bennett law
issue, and in 1896 he was what was known as a gold Democrat, and voted
for Palmer for president.

The doctor is a member of the Calumet club of Milwaukee, but is not a
member of any church. He was married, in June, 1892, to Miss Percie Day
of Greenleaf, Wisconsin, and they have three sons, Wesley, Ray, and
John Earles.

PABST, Frederick, one of the best known and most enterprising of Milwaukee's business men, is of Dutch ancestry, although his forefathers for several generations have been natives of Germany. In 1470 Paul Pabst van Ohorn and his brother, Julius Pabst van Polsenheim, whose father had been executed at Antwerp for participation in some revolutionary proceedings, and his estate, doubtless confiscated, left Holland and settled in Saxony; and it is to these brothers that the German family of Pabst trace their origin.

Frederick Pabst is the son of Gottlieb and Frederika Pabst, who were
natives of Thuringen in Saxony; and in the little village of
Nicolausreith, which was their home, Frederick was born on the 28th of
March, 1836. The

Page 253

father possessed something of an state, and was a man of importance in
his native place; but he had heard of the large possibilities for
enterprise and effort in America, and having friends in Milwaukee, he
determined to see the "land of promise" for himself. Selling his
property in Germany, he, with his wife and boy, sailed for America in
1848. After a short stay in New York the family came on the Milwaukee.
Her they remained but a few months, when they went to Chicago, as the
more promising place, specially for the boy. There he found employment
in the Mansion House, and subsequently, the New York House, at five
dollars a month and board. These positions he occupied for something
over two years; in the meantime his mother had did of cholera, and the
boy, now left largely to his own devices for a living, and having a
passion for the traffic that is carried on by water, and an ambition to
is to importance in that line, he secured a position as cabin boy in
one of Captain Sam. Ward's steamers which were plying on the great
lakes. He saved his earnings and as he was advanced from time to time
to more important positions and his wages were increased, he ere long
found himself possessed of a considerable sum of money. This he
invested in the line of his ambition, and became part owner of the
steamer Comet. By the time he was twenty-one he had advanced to the
position of captain of the steamer of which he had become part owner.
Hence his title of captain. This business be followed for several
years; and, as it was then much more profitable than it is now, Captain
Pabst ere long found himself in possession of a handsome property.

In 1862, Captain Pabst was married to Marie Best, daughter of Philip
Best, the early owner of the Best brewery. Captain Pabst, with that
business sagacity which has always characterized him, saw in this
brewery the germ of what Dr. Sam Johnson pronounced, in a similar case,
"the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice," and he
determined to change his business, and secure

[image: FREDERICK PABST.]

an interest in it. Converting his steamer and other property into cash,
he invested it in the brewing company, and this was the beginning of
his great fortune. From his connection with the brewery dates a new era
in its history. The captain infused into it, at once, something of his
own indomitable energy, and it leaped almost immediately into
commanding prominence among the institutions of the kind in this
country. He introduced into it new methods, new machinery, new
facilities for the manufacture of beer, and greatly increased the
amount of the product and relatively reduced the cost. His ambition was
not satisfied--he wanted a larger market for the product than merely
the local on, and he established agencies in all the leading cities of
the country, so that now the consumption of Milwaukee beer outside of
the city is as 9 to 1. This beer is not all consumed in the United
States, but much of it s exported to foreign countries. It is probably
not true that Captain Pabst is entitled to all the credit for the
wonderful growth of this business, but a large share of it is his. When
he embarked in the business, he was ignorant

Page 254

of its details, but he went diligently to work to familiarize himself
with them, and it was not long before he was as well informed in all
departments of the trade as if he had been bred to it, for he had
studied it from all its sides, and his knowledge was more comprehensive
than that of the professional manufacturer could be. The capital stock
of the Pabst Brewing company is ten millions of dollars, and its annual
product over one million barrels, making it the largest brewery in the
world.

But Captain Pabst is not only a brewer. He is a business man of broad
views, and has done much to benefit Milwaukee, both in a material and
from an artistic point of view. He was the principal force in
establishing the Wisconsin National bank, and among the fine buildings 
which owe their origin to him are the present St. Charles Hotel
building, the office building on the corner of East Water and Wisconsin
streets, and the Pabst theater, and he has contributed in various ways
not only to the beautifying of the city, but to its fame as the
metropolis of th state and its liberality in good works. His princely
gift of fourteen thousand dollars to Milwaukee for the entertainment of
the old soldiers upon the occasion of the meeting of the Grand Army of
the Republic in the city a few years ago will long be remembered by the
old soldiers, and by the citizen of Milwaukee, as a deed which stamped
him as a most generous man and one who is ready to do great things for
the good name and honor of the city. It was, moreover, a most graceful
recognition of what the country owes its old soldiers for their
services and sacrifices for the maintenance of the government and its
sacred institutions.

In the year 1889, in recognition of the ceaseless efforts of Captain 
Pabst, during the twenty-five years of his connection with it, to build
the brewery into on of the directors of the company, by a unanimous
vote, changed the name of the brewery from that of Best to Pabst, and
so it now known all over the country, and in many localities it is not known by any other name, so rapidly and far has its fame spread.

Captain Pabst has a family of several sons and daughters, and his
palatial home on Grand avenue is said to contain a cultivated and happy
family.

Personally, he is a man of commanding presence, but genial and kind to
all whom he meets. He is a man, as may be inferred from what has
already been said, of great energy--one who thinks before he acts, when
haste is not demanded by the circumstances; yet who can act with great
rapidity when haste is necessary. He has great schemes in
contemplation; and, if he lives, will doubtless surprise his friends
and associates with what he will yet accomplish.

BRENNAN, John Henry, a brilliant and able young lawyer of Stevens
Point, was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, September 3rd, 1861. His father
was born in Ireland, but gave his life for his adopted country. He was
a first lieutenant in the Third Wisconsin infantry, and fell at
Winchester, Va., early in the war, when only twenty-five years of age,
leaving a widow and the children, the youngest of which, the subject of
this sketch, being but on year old. Mr. Brennan's mother, whose maiden
name was Katharine Martin, and who is still living at Oshkosh, is a
Canadian by birth, but of Irish descent a woman of strong and noble
characteristics, and possessing unusual business tact and judgement.
Left with three young children and without pecuniary resources, she
succeeded, by her own efforts, in saving some property and in
thoroughly educating her children. Young Brennan was educated in the
public schools of Oshkosh the normal school of that city and the state
university. He then had the advantage of a legal training, under the
guidance and friendship of Charles Barber, Esq., of Oshkosh, in whose
office he was for several years. His early training for the law was
especially careful

Page 255

and thorough, and continued for more than the ordinary period. He
passed an examination for admission to the bar before the then new
state board of examiners, at Eau Claire, in October, 1885, receiving a
rating which has never yet been equalled by any other applicant since
admitted by that board. After his admission he entered the law office
of Hudd & Wigman in Green Bay, in 1886, and was rapidly advanced by
that able firm. After a short partnership in Kewaunee, he went to
Stevens Point in 1889, and into partnership with Hon. James O. Raymond.
After that he formed the firm of Brennan, Lyon & Frost, but is now
practically without a partner. He has always had a wide practice in all
the courts, and is devoted to his profession because of the great
principles which underlie it.

As he devoted to the law, he rarely appears in politics and then only
to take an aggressive and stand. He never ran for office and never was
a candidate for one before any convention. He is an independent
Democrat: and, as an evidence of his independence in political matters,
he was twice appointed city attorney of Stevens Point by a Republican
mayor. Mr. Brennan wrote vigorously for the press during the Peck-Hoard
Bennett law campaign, advocating the continuance of that law. An pen
letter addressed to the bishops of Wisconsin and published in the
Milwaukee papers, attracted wide-spread attention. In the campaign of
1896 he was recognized as a leading gold Democrat of the state.
Although a delegate to the Chicago convention in July, 1896, he refused
to vote for a candidate on a "free silver" platform. In the committee
on credentials he led the contest over the Michigan delegation, and
carried the contest into the convention, making a vigorous address
there in support of the minority report in favor of the admission of
the sound money delegation. He was temporary chairman of the gold
Democratic convention in Milwaukee, August 26th, 1896, and as such made
the first gold

[image: JOHN HENRY BRENNAN.]

Democratic address of the campaign in this state. He was a delegate to
the Indianapolis convention in September, and was recognized by being
made chairman of the committee on credentials. Free in the expression
of his opinion, and a firm believer in principle above party, he has no
political ambition, but devotes his attention to his legal business.

Mr. Brennan was married, in 1888, to Miss Katherine Shields of Appleton.

KRAUSE, Max Charles a very busy member of the Milwaukee bar, is the son
of Dr. Gottfried Krause, a native of Elbing, East Prussia, who,
becoming an orphan at the age of six years, was, because of his native
ability, educated at government expense, graduating from the University
of Koenigsburg, Prussia, as doctor of botany. After his graduation, he
delivered lectures as professor of botany, at Bonn, Prussia. Owing to
ill-health, caused by over-study at college, he came to America in
1852, and settled on a farm in Greenfield, Milwaukee county, where he
resided up to the time of his death in

Page 256

[image: MAX CHARLES KRAUSE.]

April, 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Rosalia Nobbe was
the maiden name of M. C. Krause's mother, who was born in Magdeburg,
Prussia, of wealthy parents, who were large land owners. She died, at
her home in Greenfield, at the age of forty-four years. The ancestry on
the father's side is unknown, but on the mother's the ancestors were
persons of wealth who occupied high positions as officials under the
Prussian government.

M. C. Krause was born in Milwaukee, December 9th, 1852. He received his
education in one of the public schools of the town of Greenfield, which
was brought to a high standard of excellence through the influence of
his father, who devoted much time and thought to his son's early
education, so that at the age of sixteen years, with only the
opportunity of attending school during the winter months, he submitted
to a teacher's examination, and received a certificate of qualification
to teach in the public schools. From that time he taught during the
winter months in the county schools for several years. He attended
Lawrence University at Appleton, for two terms; afterward the state university for several years, but lack of means prevented his taking a full classical course. As a student he ranked with the best in the classes to which he belonged. At the age of twenty-two, he entered a law office in Milwaukee, as a clerk, remaining there four years, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar. He then entered into partnership with his brother, A.A. Krause, in the practice of his profession, in Milwaukee. After some ten years his brother withdrew to accept a lucrative position as attorney for a railroad company in St. Louis. Since that time Mr. Krause has practiced alone, devoting his entire time and attention to his law business, his specialty being admiralty cases, of which the court records will show that he has had at least as many during the last ten years as any other member of the Milwaukee bar. This practice has necessitated his trying cases in every federal court in the cities along the chain of the great lakes. He has tried collision cases involving large sums of money, and other cases where damages were demanded for personal injuries resulting from negligence, and has on the whole been very successful. One of his most important cases was one involving the application of the "Harter act," in the case of the E. A. Shores, Jr., to the inland navigation of the United States, in which case he succeeded in releasing from liability an innocent owner of a vessel for the loss of a cargo through errors of the crew in the navigation of the vessel.

Politically Mr. Krause has been a Republican all his life on national
questions, but has never desired or held any office, and never entered
politics with a view to gaining political distinction.

His parents were Lutherans, and he was brought up in that faith, but
rarely attends church.

Mr. Krause was married on the 20th of November, 1880, to Emma Heintz of
Milwaukee, and they have four children, namely: Clara, Oscar, Hilda and
Edwin.

Page 257

MORSE, George Thompson, president of the Citizens' Bank of Reedsburg,
is a native of Hobart, Delaware county, New York, and is the son of
Hiram A. and Mary E. Mackey Morse. Hiram A. Morse was a soldier in the
war of the rebellion, was in the first battle of Bull Run, and died or
was killed in battle during the war. George T. Morse's grandfather on
his mother's side was a soldier in the Mexican war. Young Morse
received his education in the common school, but left it when quite
young to engage in the banking business. Coming to Reedsburg, Wis., in
1867, he entered the private banking house of his uncle, Joseph Mackey,
where he remained until 1872, when he became assistant cashier of the
Reedsburg bank. This position he held until 1875, and then resigned it
to accept the position of assistant cashier of the First National bank
of Lincoln, Ill. Here he remained until 1879, but spending the winter
of 1878-9 in Florida. After that he returned to Reedsburg and became
cashier in the Reedsburg bank, and held that position for eight years,
when, in company with Charles Keith, he organized the Citizens' Bank of
Reedsburg, of which institution he is now president.

In politics Mr. Morse is a Democrat. He was an alternate delegate to
the national convention at Indianapolis in 1896, but conceived it to be
his duty as business man to vote for McKinley for president, the first
Republican vote he ever cast. He has held several positions of public
trust, such as city treasurer, etc., but is not ambitious of office,
and is not specially interested in the mere machinery of politics.

He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He is not a member of
any church, but attends the Presbyterian.

Mr. Morse was married to Miss Belle Ward of Dubuque, Iowa, and they
have two children --Emma Ward Morse, aged fourteen years, and Ward
Stone Morse, aged eleven years, Mrs. Morse's parents make Washington,
D. C., their home, but travel extensively. They have been abroad
several times, have visited

[image: GEORGE THOMPSON MORSE.]

the Holy Land and the scenes along the Nile, Mr. Ward was one of the
organizers and stockholders of the first water power put in at Buffalo,
N.Y.

TROSTEL, Albert, at the head of one of the largest tanneries in Milwaukee, if not in the country, is the son of Michael and Louise Trostel, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany. Michael Trostel was a farmer in very moderate circumstances. Albert was born at Unterberken, Wurtemberg, in 1834. He received a common school education, and came to Milwaukee in 1852. Without money and influential friends, his first work was on a farm. He had learned the trade of tanner and currier in the old country, and after some time spent in farm work, he secured a position in a tannery of William Schroeder, at the foot of State street, where he worked for four years. At the end of that time he leased the plant and worked it alone for a year, when he formed a partnership with A. F. Gallun, which was continued for twenty-eight years. During that time the Star Tannery was acquired,

Page 258

[image: ALBERT TROSTEL.]

which, after being destroyed by fire, in 1865, was rebuilt by the
partners on a larger scale. In 1876 the property known as the old paper
mill was purchase, and the old building refitted for tanning and
currying purposes. New buildings were erected, and the capacity of the
whole plant was increased to three times that of the old Star Tannery.
In 1882 the old Milwaukee Hide and Leather company's tannery, which was
partially burned out, was purchased by the firm, and called the Phoenix
Tannery.

In 1885 the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Trostel acquired the Star and the Phoenix tanneries. These plants have since been enlarged to three times their original capacity. For three years th business was conducted in Mr. Trostel's name alone, after which his sons were taken into partnership, and the firm name adopted was Albert Trostel & Sons. In the year 1895 the old canal tannery of the Pfister & Vogel Leather company was added by purchase, and since the first of May, 1896, it has been operated by the firm. When the changes and contemplated improvements are completed the capacity of the plant will be among the largest in this country, requiring the employment of six hundred men.

The growth of the Trostel tannery is another of the many evidences of
the great progress of the city in manufacturing, as well as of Mr.
Trostel's industry, enterprise and business sagacity.

In politics he is a Republican, and is a member of the Deutsche
Gesellschaft, the Old Settlers' club, the German and English Academy
association and the United Workmen.

He was married, in 1863, to Miss Charlotte Gallun, and they have two
sons and a daughter living. One son died in infancy.

HOPPER, George Henry, who resides in Racine, Wisconsin, and who is
manager of the Hotel Racine in that city, is the son of Samuel Hopper,
who was born in Jefferson county, New York, in 1812, and resided there
all this life of eighty-two years. He was a prosperous dairy farmer,
and was the son of a soldier of the war of 1812-14. George H. Hopper's
mother's maiden name was Betsy Ten Eyek, and she was a native a
Canajoharie, New York. Both the Hoppers and the Ten Eyeks are of
Holland descent, their ancestors having been among the earliest and
most valued settlers of the state.

George H. Hopper was born in Antwerp, New York, May 12th, 1838. His
primary education was received in what he properly terms the "primitive
district schools" of that time in his native village, and later he
pursued a course of study in the Ives seminary at Antwerp. He early
began to assist his father on the farm and in stock buying and
shipping, often going to New York City to dispose of carloads of
cattle; and in this manner he acquired a familiarity with business
methods which has been of great service to him in his subsequent
career.

During the dull season on the farm he found employment with some
carpenter in the village; and having a fondness for tools, he soon
acquired considerable practical knowledge

Page 259

of the trade without having served an apprenticeship thereat. This
knowledge he also found of great practical value of him, as, later, in
company with an architect, a fellow townsman, he helped to finish the
interior of the Palmer House, the Sherman House and other public
buildings in Chicago, where he lived a year, having moved there in
1867. These experiences have been and still are of great value to him,
as they rendered him thoroughly familiar with the quantity and quality
of material required for a given job, and enabled him to judge when
work is done, and what it should cost.

In 1868 he removed to Rock county, Wisconsin, where he bought a farm
and managed it for five years. He then left farming and went to Elroy.
Wisconsin, in the capacity of car accountant for the Chicago & North-
Western Railroad company. This position he resigned in 1878, and took
charge of the railroad eating house in Elroy. This business proved
pleasant and profitable, and he continued it until 1883, when he
removed to Ashland, where he bought and operated the Colby House. He
remained in Ashland eleven years, in the hotel business, at one time
having the Colby and the Chequamegon in Ashland, and the Bardon House
in Hurley, under his care. In 1894 he closed the Chequamegon, and
removed to Racine, where, on the first of January, 1895, he took the
management of the Hotel Racine, which he is still conducting.

Though a thorough Republican, Mr. Hopper has ever figured at all in
politics.

He has been a Mason since 1863, having held many offices in the Blue
Lodge, and been a charter member of the lodge in Elroy, and also a
charter member of the Ashland Commandery of the Knights Templar, and
held several offices in the same. He was elected an officer in the
Grand Commandery of Wisconsin in 1891, and held the offices in that
body successively, and was elected grand commander in 1895, served his
term and is now past grand commander. He is also a thirty-second

[image: GEORGE HENRY HOPPER.]

degree Mason, and a Shriner. He is one of the most advance Mason in the
order in this state, as he is ones of the most accomplished and
successful hotel managers.

Mr. Hopper was married to M. A. Wentworth, a Wisconsin girl, residing
near Fort Atkinson, November 12th, 1863. They had one daughter, who
died at the age of twenty-two.

MOTT, Charles W., who is widely known in business and political
circles, has had, in many respects, a unique career. He has followed
several callings and been successful in all of them, has traveled
extensively as a man of business, and, although modest and unassuming,
he has, perhaps, a wider acquaintance than almost any man in the
northwest. Born in 1852, in New York City, of parents who were ardent
abolitionists, and, if possible, still more ardent patriots, although
his mother was a native of England, he was by birth a politician,
patriot and soldier. He had seen the leading abolitionists of the
country in his parents' home, had heard them in conversation and in
public address, and knew of their

Page 260

[image: CHARLES W. MOTT]

earnest thought and work in the cause of freedom for all mankind. His
step-father was an active member of the Republican party after it was
formed, and one of its most earnest workers. It was he who was
instrumental in bringing that sturdy patriot, Zach Chandler, into
political position, by nominating him in convention for member of his
ward committee. He was accustomed to hear his father and mother reading
to each other, in turn, the fervid literature of those stirring times,
and so, almost as soon as he could fairly understand speech he was
impressed with the gravity of the questions at issue in the political
world. It is not surprising, therefore, that when the war broke out,
this boy of nine years, and meager physical development, begged to be
permitted to go into the army and serve the cause about which he had
heard so much. But of course he could not be received at his age,
however old he might be in information and thought. He noted all he saw
of military life, and took a deep interest in the war, anxiously
looking forward to the time when he could become a soldier of the Union
if the war lasted long enough for him to reach an age at which he would be received into the army. At last, in June, 1864, when but twelve years old, measuring but four feet eight inches in height, and weighing but sixty-three pounds, he with his father's and mother's consent, enlisted as a drummer in the Sixth Michigan heavy artillery, and served until August, 1865. He was in the battles of Spanish Fort, Forts Huger and Tracy and the bombardment of Mobile. It is rare if so young a soldier saw so much of real war or had such an experience of men and the sterner side of life. He was mustered out in August, 1865, and, returning home, entered school, where he remained four years. At the end of his schooling, he joined a party of engineers as rod-man on the Michigan Central railroad. After four years of this work, which included a merited promotion, at nineteen years of age he built twenty-two miles of railroad, being engineer in charge; he then became a commercial traveler, went south, revisited the scenes of his military service, and traveled there some four years, making many friends among his former enemies through his inimitable stories and his genial manners. Returning to the north in 1879, he made his home in Milwaukee, but he remained on the road and became a well-known figure in Wisconsin, and in fact throughout the whole northwest.

During his traveling he was a careful student of men and politics, and
politics, and came to know more, perhaps, about them than any man in
the country. Under a quiet demeanor, he gained the confidence of many
men of political prominence, and was able to do them much service--the
more so as he was not an aspirant for office or position for himself.
Politicians often conferred with him regarding the political situation
or their own chances for the success of their own pet schemes; but he
always kept his own counsel and his own secrets and thus exercised an
influence which not very many possessed. There has scarcely been a
politician in Wisconsin in the last dozen years that has not known him
and

Page 261

respected his judgement. During Senator Spooner's gubernatorial canvas
in 1892, he traveled through the state with him studying the political
situation, and was of special service to him and to the managers of the
campaign.

Not only is Mr. Mott a good story-teller and a shrewd politician, but
he is also a clear-sighted, energetic and successful man of business.
Some three years ago. Mr. Mott was appointed special agent of the land
department of the Northern Pacific Railway company, and so successful
has he been in this work that he has been promoted to the position of
general emigration agent of the company, and is devoting his time and
energies, with rare success, to the securing of a substantial class of
settlers for the Northern Pacific lands. His wide knowledge of the
different classes of people who are seeking homes, which knowledge was
acquired through his extensive journeyings as a commercial traveler,
has especially qualified him for the work in which he is now engaged.
Then again he has a positive genius for advertising, which is another
qualification in the successful prosecution of work of this kind. His
facility in designing catching methods for bringing anything to the
special attention of the people was utilized during the last
presidential campaign, when he devised the tariff and wages cards, a
series of pictures and maps illustrative of the questions at issue in
the campaign, which were printed and circulated by the thousand, and
which, to many voters, were a stronger and more effective appeal than
any speech, however eloquent. The idea of using the flag with campaign
devices of various kinds and pictures of the candidates was also his,
and the resulting renewed enthusiasm for the emblem of the nation's
power was one of the most gratifying features of the great political
contest. He is the more thoroughly qualified for his present position
form having been, under President Harrison's administration, inspector
of immigration for Wisconsin and northern Michigan. He received his
military title of colonel from having held a position on the personal
staff of Gov. Rusks, to whom he had been of service through his
extensive acquaintance.

Mr. Mott is a master Mason, a member of Independence Lodge, Wisconsin
Chapter and Wisconsin commandery, K. T. He is also a Scottish Rite
Thirty-second degree Mason, and for many years one of the four leading
officers of the consistory, being the most equitable sovereign prince
grand master of Wisconsin Council P. of J.

In 1881 Mr. Mott was married to Miss Agnes T. Smith, a resident of
Wisconsin from childhood. They have had three children--all boys--one
of whom died several years since. They have a pleasant home on
Sixteenth street, to which Mr. Mott always hastens when he can get away
from business.

HEMLCOK, Daniel, James, a member of the Waukesha bar, is the son of
William Hemlock, a pioneer of what is now Ozaukee county. He and his
wife, whose maiden name was Ellen Lynch, came from Ireland in 1846, and
bought and settled upon land in the wilderness in the vicinity of
Cedarburg. By industry and economy they succeeded in clearing the land
and making a comfortable home and a productive farm, where they lived
in comfort for many years, until Mr. Hemlock died in 1892 at the
advanced age of ninety-three years, and where Mrs. Hemlock still
resides.

D. J. Hemlock was born at Cedarburg, Ozaukee county, August 6th, 1854.
His educational training was begun at the district school, where he had
the not unusual experience of boys inn regarding teachers and studies
with little or no favor. In the winter of 1871-2 he attended St. Gall's
school for boys in Milwaukee. In the fall of 1872 he began teaching a
district school in Mequon, in his native county, at forty dollars per
month, which he regarded as good wages. In the spring of 1873 he
entered the state

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[image: DANIEL JAMES HEMLOCK.]

university, at Madison, but remained only one term. He returned to farm
work the following summer and to teaching the two following winters. In
the spring of 1875 he entered the state normal school at White-water,
and alternating study there and teaching district schools he finally
graduated in the elementary course at that school in 1878. After
teaching for a year he returned to the normal school and completed the
junior year in the advanced course. The culture received at this
institution, Mr. Hemlock says, had an important bearing on his career.

In September, 1880, Mr. Hemlock entered the law department of the state
university, and graduated therefrom with the degree LL.B. June 19th,
1882. In July following he began the practice of law in partnership
with D. S. Tullar, under the firm name of Tullar & Hemlock, in the
office with Geo. W. Foster at Port Washington, thus having the
advantage of Mr. Foster's counsel and his large library. The new firm
met with a fair measure of success, but removed to Waukesha in 1883,
and formed a partnership with D. H. Summer, under the firm name of
Summer, Tullar & Hemlock, which expired by limitation in two years,
since which time Mr. Hemlock has practiced alone.

In 1887 he was elected trustee and village attorney of Waukesha, and
also justice of the peace for four years. He is also senior court
commissioner, having been appointed by Judge A. A. Sloan, in 1888, and
reappointed by Judges Parks and Dick. He has declined the use of his
name in connection with the position of representative in congress,
district attorney, circuit judge and other offices, believing that the
struggles often necessary to attain them are incompatible with the
duties of his profession. Mr. Hemlock has a large and well-selected
library and a lucrative and growing practice.

In politics he is a Democrat and cast his first vote for Tilden for
president in 1876. He is a member of the Waukesha club, and last year
was its president. He is also a member of the Catholic Knights of
Wisconsin, Catholic order of Foresters, and the Catholic church.

He was married on the 4th of September, 1888, to Miss Mabel Frances
Kerin of Wauwatosa, daughter of J. A. Kerin, a woman of rare grace and
accomplishments. They have one child--Allan R. Hemlock.

MESSMER, Sebastian Gebhard, bishop of Green bay, was born in Goldach,
canton of St. Gall, Switzerland, on the 29th of August, 1847. His
father was Sebastian Gebhard Messmer, a farmer by occupation, though he
held office for over twenty years in his town and canton. His mother
was Rosa, nee Baumgartner. The ancestors on both sides were of the
agricultural class. The education of young Messmer was begun in the
common schools of his native town, from which he went to the high
school at the neighboring village of Rorschach, on the Lake of
Constance. There he spent three years. From 1861 to 1866 he was a
student in the electrical preparatory seminary of St. George, near the

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city of St. Gall, where he took he full classical course. For the
following five years he pursued the study of philosophy and theology in
the University of Insbruck in the Tyrol, Austria. There he was ordained
to the priesthood, July 23rd, 1871, for the diocese of Newark, New
Jersey. In October following be came to this country as professor of
theology in Seton Hall College, near South Orange, N. J. Here he
remained until August, 1889. During the same period he was chaplain of
St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, in South Orange, for six years, and served
St. Leo's Catholic congregation at Irvington, N. J., for two years. In
1883 he was one of the secretaries of the provincial council of New
York, and in 1884 he held the same position in the plenary council at
Baltimore. For several years he was moderator of the diocesan
conference, synodical examiner, and member of the bishop's council. In
1885 he was made a doctor of divinity by the pope.

Dr. Messmer edited the acts and decrees of the Baltimore council, made
an English translation of a work on "Canonical Procedure," and compiled
a manual for diocesan and provincial synods. Dr. Messmer has also
written much,both in German and English, for ecclesiastical
periodicals, relating to questions of interest to the church.

In 1889 he was called to the chair of canon law in the Catholic
university at Washington, D. C.; but went first to Rome for a course in
Roman civil law, and there took the degree of doctor of canon law.
Returning, he took his chair in the university in September, 1890, and
taught there until March, 1892. In December, 1891, he was appointed
bishop of Green bay, Wisconsin, and was consecrated by the Rt. Rev.
Otto Zardetti, then bishop of St. Cloud, Minnesota, March 27th, 1892,
in St. Peter's church, Newark, N. J. On the 7th of April following, he
arrived in Green Bay, and entered upon there discharge of his episcopal
duties.

Bishop Messmer is a very scholarly man, and has taken great interest in
Educational

[image: SEBASTIAN GEBHARD MESSMER.]

matters and everything which tends to the promotion of intellectual
culture. He is a member of the State Historical society of Wisconsin,
and since 1894 president of the Columbian Catholic summer school.

BOWLES, T. H., general agent of the Mutual Life Insurance company of
New York for Wisconsin and Northern Michigan, is descended from an old
family, the various members of which were among the early settlers of
New England and Virginia. His branch having gone to the Old Dominion,
Mr. Bowles was born in Fluvanna county, October 16, 1854. As a result
of the war, he was early thrown upon his own resources; but possessed
of a sanguine temperament, an active mind, great determination of
character and a strong constitution, he was well equipped for contest
with the world.

Before embarking in the business of life insurance, Mr. Bowles brought
out several inventions that did credit to his intelligence as well as
his ingenuity. Among other things he invented and patented a device for
"rotary

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[image: T. H. BOWLES.]

advertising" in street and railway cars; and it was while waiting for
the formation of a stock company for the purpose of putting his
invention on the market that he took up life insurance as a "side
issue." Once in the business, however, he found that it afforded full
scope for all of his powers of mind and body; and thus it happened that
the public was deprived of the benefits of a useful invention, and the
business of life insurance gained a powerful advocate. Beginning as a
special agent in the south, under O. F. Breese & Sons of Baltimore, Mr.
Bowles made rapid strides into the confidence and favor of his company.
Sent on special business of Florida, to straighten out some
entanglements there, his success in the mission, as well as the unusual
amount of business written by him, attracted the attention of Mr.
McCurdy, president of the Mutual Life, who showed appreciation of his
services by appointing him, in May, 1887, to a general agency.
Mississippi and Louisiana were designated as his field, with
headquarters at New Orleans. Beginning with sharp competition from
companies that had long occupied the field, his success was beyond the
anticipations of his superior officers--the amount of business written
in four years is said to have exceeded $20,000,000. His success was due
not only to his executive ability, energy and push, but to his
integrity and manly bearing, by which he won the confidence and respect
of the community. He was made president of the Life Underwriters'
association of Louisiana, member of the Cotton Exchange, Board of
Trade, Chamber of Commerce, and the Pickwick, Boston and other clubs.
He was also a delegate from Louisiana to the Trans-Mississippi
congress, held in Denver, Colorado, in 1891. He has acquired a
reputation as a writer and speaker on the subject of life insurance,
and has made valuable contributions to the literature of his company in
the shape of leaflets which are useful in the prosecution of its work.
As a member of the National Underwriters' association, he is a
convincing advocate of the highest and best interests of life
insurance.

The energy and ability with which he represented the interests of his
company in the southern field doubtless suggested his appointment to
the agency of Wisconsin and Northern Michigan. In accepting this agency
he did not relinquish his southern field; but, trough an able
assistant, continued to control that territory. It was, however,
necessary that his home be made in Milwaukee, and thither he removed in
January, 1893. The first two years of his life in the northwest
embraced the period of greatest stress in the financial and industrial
world that the country has known for many years, yet the fact that
during that time he greatly increased the business of his company is
the best evidence of his business ability and of his straightforward
methods and unflinching courage.

Personally, Mr. Bowles is a gentleman, and quite worthy of the traditions of his Puritan and Cavalier ancestors. He is the prime of life, has a charming wife, a winsome little daughter, and an amount of this world's goods that indicates that his labors have not been fruitless.

Page 265

TANNER, Herbert Battles, M. D., a resident of Kaukauna, was born in
White-water, Wisconsin, February 13th, 1859, the son of Ford Tanner,
now retired and living in Appleton. The first of the Tanners in this
country came to Rhode Island from Wales, and thence their descendants
spread throughout the country. Dr. Tanner's great-grandfather served as
a private in the Revolutionary army, and his grandfather, Dr. Cuyler
Tanner, was a surgeon in the war of 1812-14. The maiden name of Dr.
Tanner's mother was Mary A. Battles, and her ancestors settled in
Bridgewater, Mass., about 1725, and many of their descendants still
remain in Massachusetts. Dr. Tanner's grandfather on his mother's side,
Dr. J. D. Battles, was a merchant in Boston from 1821 to 1845, when he
came west, settling in Griggsville, Illinois. After that he studied
medicine and practiced there for over forty years, dying at the age of
ninety.

In 1864 H. B. Tanner's parents removed from Whitewater to La Fayette,
Ind., where the boy received his elementary education in the common
schools. In 1872 the family left La Fayette and came to Chicago, where
young Tanner continued his education in the public schools, and in a
business college. After leaving school he spent some time as a clerk,
and, in 1876, went to Philadelphia to see the Centennial Exposition and
as agent of a Chicago firm in which his father was interested. At about
this time his father moved to Indianapolis, Ind., and, upon the advice
of his grandfather, Dr. Battles, he entered the Indiana Medical
College, and graduated in the class of 1878. He did post-graduate work
in the hospitals of New York and Philadelphia. Returning to Chicago, he
practiced there for a time, but in July, 1880, he became a resident of
Kaukauna, his present home.

He is a member of the American Medical association; the National
Association of Railway Surgeons; the Wisconsin State Medical society,
of which he was secretary of committee on laryngology in 1890, chairman
of

[image: HERBERT BATTLES TANNER.]

the committee on obstetrics in 1892, and materia medica in 1889, member
of the committee on practice in 1893, and in 1895 secretary of the
committee on obstetrics; served five terms as secretary and treasurer
of the Fox River Valley society, and is now its president; member of
the Medico-Legal society of New York; was city physician from 1886 to
1893. He has served three years as secretary of the south side school
board; was elected in 1894 the first Republican mayor of Kaukauna, and
re-elected for a second term. He was a member of the pension examining
board in 1890-93. In 1895 Gov. Upham appointed him state supervisor of
inspectors of illuminating oils for a term of two years. He was
reappointed to the same office by Gov. Scofield. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, lodge, chapter and commandery, and of the
Congregational church. He is now serving his third year as treasurer of
Kaukauna Lodge, I. O. O. F.

Dr. Tanner was married September, 1st, 1881, to Miss Mary G. M.,
daughter of James M. and Maria M. (Lawe) Boyd; granddaughter of Col.
George and Harriett (Johnson)

Page 266

Boyd; and great-granddaughter of Joshua Johnson, a pioneer of Maryland
and first United States consul at London, England. Col. George Boyd was
a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams, and a life-long
government official, and was a bearer of dispatches to Ghent at the
time of the treaty in 1814. They have three sons and a daughter.

In politics Dr. Tanner is an active Republican, having been secretary
of the Kaukauna Republican club for eight years and its president nine
years. The latter position he still holds. He is also a member of the
county committee.

MOE, Ernest Stiles, one of the younger lawyers of Milwaukee, is the son
of Stiles Moe, a prosperous merchant of Union Grove, Wisconsin. His
mother was Grace Victoria, nee Mather, who was born on the day that
Queen Victoria was crowned, and was named for her.

The family name is properly DeMoe, and the family is of French origin
of the paternal side. Two brothers DeMoe emigrated from France to the
state of New York, settling near Plattsburg about 1750. Edwin Moe,
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born at Plattsburg in
1804, and witnessed from his father's house the naval battle on Lake
Champlain, fought during the war with Great Britain in 1812-14. He
often told the story of the battle to his grandson and others. He died
some three years ago at the age of ninety years. Mr. Moe's paternal
ancestors fought both in the revolution and in the war of 1812.
Representatives of the family removed from Plattsburg to Cayuga county,
New York, where their descendants may still be found. Mr. Moe's great-
grandfather, about 1820, settled in Lorain county, Ohio, and there the 
family name is still heard. Ernest Moe's father was born near Avon,
Lorain county, in 1834, and when but ten years old drove one of his
father's teams from Lorain county to Racine county, Wisconsin, in which
the family settled on a farm near what is now the village of Union
Grove.

Ernest Moe's grandmother, whose family name was Case, was a direct
descendant of Pilgrim stock, tracing her ancestors to those who came in
the Mayflower. The Case family resided in Litchfield, Connecticut,
prior to the revolutionary war, and members of the family were soldiers
in that struggle for liberty. They were originally of mixed English and
German blood. Mr. Moe's mother was born in Quebec, and is of English
descent. His maternal grandfather was born near Bolton, England, where
his family, named Mather, had lived for generations, numbering among
its sons Cotton and Increase Mather, famous in the early history of the
New England colonies. His grandfather, James Mather, was one of the
early settlers of this state, coming to Racine county about 1840. He
was a farmer, hotel-keeper and produce buyer. His maternal grandmother
was one of the well-known and wealthy Pennington family, from the
vicinity of Liverpool, of which city his grandmother's brother, Dr.
Thomas Pennington, was once mayor. Dr. Pennington was a physician of
great wealth, ability and influence. The family is still represented in
Liverpool and other English cities by a younger generation, of which
the men are mostly of the learned professions.

Ernest S. Moe was born at Union Grove, Racine county, Wisconsin, on the
26th of August, 1860. His primary education was received at the village
school of Union Grove, which was one of the leading schools of the
county; and, by reason of the excellence and ability of its teachers,
exerted a far-reaching influence for good upon its pupils, not a few of
whom are among the leading men and women of the state. Mr. Moe left the
school at the age of thirteen, and received from the county
superintendent a third grade certificate, entitling him to teach,
barring his age. When seventeen he entered the freshman class in the
scientific course in the University of Wisconsin. After a few weeks he
decided to change

Page 267

his course from scientific to classical, notwithstanding it would take
two years longer to complete it, by reason of the more extended
preparation required. While a student he was a member of the Athenean
Literary society, the Greek letter fraternity of the Phi Kappa Psi; was
on the staff of the college paper for three years, and managing editor
of the first weekly college paper established in the western colleges.
He was elected junior orator by the Athenean society as its
representative, but did not compete for the prize. He was interested in
college athletics, and was a member of the first ball team sent out by
the university to compete with other college teams. He graduated with
the class of 1883, and was selected by the faculty as one of the
commencement orators of the class. He was presiding officer of his
fraternity during his senior year, and secretary of the Athletic
association for two years.

During the years between his leaving the village school and entering
the university, he was a clerk in his father's store, and this was his
first experience in money earning; but the practical knowledge thus
gained he considers of more value than the money earned.

Immediately after graduation from the university he entered the law
office of W. C. Williams, in Milwaukee, as a student of law, and, after
a year of hard study, he passed the examination and was admitted to the
bar in October, 1884. He continued in the office of Mr. Williams for
some time after he entered upon his second term as district attorney,
and, in the spring of 1886, he opened an office for himself, and has
been in continuous practice since. He became local attorney for the
Northwestern Collection Agency in 1887, and the next year one of its
owners, and its resident general attorney. Most of his time for ten
years has been given to the rapidly increasing professional work of
this organization. He had for a short time Rublee A. Cole for partner;
and, in 1896, he formed a partnership with Otto R. Hansen, under the
firm name of Moe & Hansen, which still exists.

[image: ERNEST STILES MOE.]

The firm is the general counsel for the Northwestern Collection Agency,
and is engaged in general practice as well, representing large
commercial interests.

Mr. Moe is a Republican, but not to the exclusion of individual
judgment in political action. He takes a keen interest in local
politics, and has been chairman of his ward committee for several
years. He is a member of various clubs and societies, is a Knight of
Pythias, belongs to the Elks, Royal league, Commercial club, Psi
Upsilon Alumni association, and the Milwaukee and State Bar
associations. He is not a member of any church, but affiliates with the
Grand Avenue Congregational church.

He was married on the 30th of June, 1891, to Miss Isabella Williams of
Paris, Kenosha county, and they have one child, Margaret.

Mrs. Moe's parents are natives of Wales, but came to this country when
quite young. Mr. Lewis Williams came to Kenosha county about 1838, owns
a farm there of 1,600 acres, and is an extensive stock raiser. He is
widely known in Southern Wisconsin for his uprightness and strength of
character.

Page 268

[image: HENRY M. LEWIS.]

LEWIS, Henry M., a member of the Madison bar, was born in Cornwall,
Addison county, Vermont, September 7, 1830, and came to Wisconsin in
1846. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1853. The first
year of his professional life was spent in Hudson, Wisconsin, but since
that time he has been continuously a resident of Madison, where he has
gained a standing among the foremost members of the profession, and as
an authority upon all questions of commercial law he is regarded as
second to none in the state.

He was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state in 1855,
and since that time has had many and important cases before that body,
where his arguments have been regarded as those of an able and well
equipped lawyer. He was admitted to the supreme court of the United
States in 1878.

In 1860 Mr. Lewis was elected district attorney of Dane county, and
held the office for two years. In March, 1867, without solicitation on
his part, he was appointed collector of internal revenue for the second
district of Wisconsin, which position he held until June, 1873. He received the appointment of United States district attorney for the western district of Wisconsin in 1878, and was reappointed four years later, serving until 1886. His long occupancy of these official positions is alone evidence, if any were required, that his duties were ably and faithfully performed, for, while incompetent and unworthy men may secure appointment to federal offices, it is very seldom that they long retain them. Both in the position of collector of internal revenue and United States attorney, Mr. Lewis received the highest commendations of his superiors, and made a record for exceptional ability and efficiency.

Mr. Lewis has also taken a deep interest in education matters, and in
recognition of this fact he was appointed a member of the board of
education of Madison in 1881, and served continuously in that position
until January 1, 1896; the last three years of his term he served as
president of the board, and was thus at the head of the legislative
department of the city school system.

He has been an active member of the Republican party since it was
organized, and has done much toward promulgating its principles and
securing its victories. This he has done not because he has been
identified with the party, but because he believes in its principles
and policy. During the presidential campaign of 1896, he was deeply
interested in the currency question, regarding the issue as scarcely
less important to the financial integrity of the country than was that
of 1860 to 1865 to the preservation of the government itself.

Mr. Lewis now has associated with him in the practice of law Messrs.
Briggs and Dudgeon, he being at the head of the firm. On the death of
Hon. James C. Hopkins, judge of the district court of the United States
for the western district of Wisconsin, his name was prominently
mentioned and considered in connection with the appointment as his
successor, but the present incumbent. Hon. Romanzo Bunn, who at that
time for several years had been the judge of the Sixth judicial

Page 269

circuit, and proven his eminent ability and fitness for judicial
positions, was finally selected over Mr. Lewis and the Hon. B.
Cassoday, now chief justice of the state supreme court, whose name had
also been mentioned in connection with the office, but who at that
time, like Mr. Lewis, had been untried in a judicial position.

On the death of Judge Alva Stewart, he was the choice of many members
of the bar of the Ninth judicial circuit, as his successor.

Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Charlotte E. Clarke of Madison,
September, 1, 1858. She died in August, 1884. Mrs. Lewis was well known
in literary and horticultural circles, and especially as a writer upon
horticultural subjects. She was the secretary of the State
Horticultural society at the time of her death.

Three daughters were born to them, Lottie Breese, who died in July,
1883; Bessie Russell, now the wife of Lloyd Skinner of Wauwatosa,
Wisconsin, and Sophie M., wife of Hon. H. E. Briggs of Madison,
Wisconsin, now United States attorney for the western district of
Wisconsin, and a member of the law firm of which Mr. Lewis is the
senior member.

SIMMONS, Zalmon Gilbert, has been a resident of Kenosha since June
12th, 1843, and in a very large sense may be said to be the father of
that thriving city. The family is of German-English origin, but has
been so long in this country that it may be said to be American in all
its characteristics. The grandfather of Z. G. Simmons, Rouse Simmons,
moved from Rhode Island to Montgomery county, New York, near the
beginning of the present century. There Ezra Simmons, the father of the
subject of this sketch, was born, April 3rd, 1805, there he met and
married Miss Maria Gilbert, and there Z. G. Simmons was born, September
10th, 1828. Soon after his marriage, Ezra Simmons, who had been a
teacher and clerk, moved into the forest of Oneida county, New

[image: ZALMON GILBERT SIMMONS.]

York, cleared a farm, on which he lived until 1839, when he took up his
residence in Rome, the county scat of the county. Lured by the great
promise of the country west of Lake Michigan, Ezra Simmons, with his
wife and young boy, set out by boat for Lake county, Illinois, and
landed at Southport, now Kenosha, on the 12th of June, 1843. The lad
was but fifteen years of age, but physically well developed, and of
great courage and inflexible determination. He attended the local
schools in his new home, and his eighteenth year, when he became a
teacher. This occupation he followed until he attained his majority,
when he became a clerk in the store of Seth Doan, in Kenosha, receiving
a salary of two hundred dollars for the first year's service. Not long
after entering this position he had an amusing experience, which
illustrates the courage and tenacity of purpose which have
characterized him all through his career. Mr. Doan sent him into the
country to collect a bill from a creditor of rather doubtful honesty.
The man said that he could not or would not pay the debt. But young
Simmons stuck to his man until the latter told him he

Page 270

could have a steer for the debt if he would take him away from the
herd. This offer was accepted, and, after some hours of struggle, the
animal was driven into Kenosha and sold for about the amount of the
bill, which was turned over to Mr. Doan, to his great satisfaction and
amusement.

Within six months' time Mr. Simmons had acquired the confidence of his
employer to such an extent that he was placed in charge of the
business, and at the end of sixteen months he had bought out the stock,
mostly on credit, and became the proprietor of what he developed into a
large and prosperous business, in which he continued for twelve years,
meantime having an eye for other enterprises which soon absorbed all
his time. In 1856 he acquired a half interest in the Wisconsin State
Telegraph company, of which he became president and manager. The
company at that time had little promise of the magnitude into which it
has since developed, and it is said that the sum paid by Mr. Simmons
for his interest, $500, was all it was worth. Under his vigorous
management, however, the lines were extended, the facilities for
business enlarged as fast as money for that purpose could be obtained,
in short, the work was pushed with a sagacity and vigor that never
faltered until, in 1881, it was leased for ninety-nine years to the
Western Telegraph company. At the time of the lease the business had
paid the cost of construction, the interest on the capital invested and
$1,000,000 beside. The annual rental of these lines, $100,000, was so
graduated that within sixteen years it should pay $150,000 per annum
for ninety-nine years, divided in $3,500,000 stock, in addition to the
seven per cent on a bond issue of $1,250,000. Mr. Simmons became a
director in the Western Union company and retained the position for
several years.

His next enterprise was in connection with the Kenosha, Rockford & Rock
Island railroad. The company which had been constructing this road had
become hopelessly involved, before it was completed, and appealed to him for aid in their dilemma. He was made president, and by endorsing the paper of the company he succeeded in having the road completed. But there was no money to equip it, and the stock-holders, refusing to submit to an assessment for that purpose, turned the road over to Mr. Simmons to conduct as he pleased. The company was bankrupt, but he shouldered the burden, and, in time, the difficulties were surmounted, and the road has now become a branch of the Chicago & Northwestern system.

In 1865 Mr. Simmons purchased a half interest in the First National
bank of Kenosha, and became its president, which position he has held
up to the present time. During all these years the bank has promptly
met all its obligations, and has proved a source of great convenience
to the many manufacturing establishments of the city.

His enterprises, however, have not been confined to Kenosha, or to the
state. He conceived the idea of constructing a railroad from Maniton
Springs to the summit of Pike's Peak in Colorado, and it was completed
in June, 1891, the terminus of the road being 14,143 feet above the sea
level, the highest point ever reached by rail. The road is a marvel of
engineering skill.

Mr. Simmons has been a Republican "from his youth up." He represented
his county in the legislature in 1865, and was mayor of Kenosha in
1884-5. During his incumbency of the latter office he succeeded in
refunding the enormous debt of the city, $1,750,000, in twenty-year
bonds for $200,00, thus relieving it of the incubus under which its
industrial interests had been well nigh ruined. All this herculean work
he accomplished without compensation, and for the interest he felt in
the growth of the city and its future prosperity.

On the 20th of April, 1850, Mr. Simmons was married to Miss Emma F.,
daughter of Captain Morris Robinson, a prominent pioneer of Lake
county, Illinois. They have

Page 271

had six children, but three of whom are living, namely: Mrs. Arthur F.
Town of Chicago, Mrs. A. H. Lance of Kenosha, and Zalmon G. Simmons,
Jr., treasurer and general manager of the Davy Clay Ballast company of
Kenosha. The eldest son, Gilbert M., died in 1890, universally
regretted by those who knew him. He was cashier of the First National
Bank of Kenosha at the time of his death, and was a young man of great
ability and promise.

Mr. Simmons is a Unitarian in religion, and makes friends of all with
whom he becomes associated. He is a member of the Milwaukee and Chicago
clubs.

A man of great enterprise and boundless courage and resources, he has
accomplished much both for himself and for the communities in which he
moves, and for the social and material progress of the state.

WILLIAMSON, Dr. James Louis, owns and lives in the old residence. No.
325 Hanover street, long occupied by Dr. Ortem one of the early
settlers of Milwaukee. His father is Selah M. Williamson, a well-to-do
farmer, now retired and living in Layton Park. Milwaukee county. He was
born in New York, moved with his parents into Canada, and then at
twenty-one years of age came to Wisconsin, settling first near Fond du
Lac, and later removing to the town of Trenton, four miles north of the
village of Fox Lake, where he bought a valuable farm, upon which he
lived many years, and which he still owns. He also owns farms in
Delaware and Minnesota. Dr. Williamson's mother, Amanda Learned, was
born in New Hampshire, removed with her parents to Canada, and taught
school for a number of years prior to her marriage to Mr. Williamson.
She was one of a family of thirteen children, one of whom, Monroe
Learned of Waupun, Wisconsin, is one of the largest and wealthiest land
owners in that region. Both parents have always been active in the M.
E. church. One of Dr. Williamson's uncles, Rev. Sprague Williamson, is

[image: DR. JAMES WILLIAMSON]

one of the leading men in the M. E. church in the province of Ontario,
and a lecturer and orator of considerable renown both in the province
and in the State. He holds a position analagous to that of bishop in
the United States. Another uncle, Truman Williamson, lately deceased,
was a large land owner in the San Juan valley of California, and a
member of the firm of Mattson & Williamson Co., extensive manufacturers
of agricultural implements, in Stockton, California. A brother of the
subject of this sketch, Dr. Luther R. Williamson, is also a resident of
Milwaukee. He was born near Fox Lake, Wisconsin, was educated in the
district school, Ripon College and the state university. He studied
medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, from
which he graduated with honors, and is now enjoying a lucrative
practice.

Dr. J. L. Williamson was born on a farm on what is known as Mackford
prairie, town of Trenton, Dodge county, Wisconsin. His early education
was received in the home district school; but, when twelve years of
age, he entered the Fox Lake High School, which

Page 272

he attended until he was seventeen. He then took a course in the
business college in Oshkosh, and after that had nearly two years at
Ripon College. He next entered the Chicago Medical College, from which
he graduated in 1881, with high class honors; and had awarded to him,
by Dr. N. S. Davis, dean of the faculty, the first prize for the best
graduation thesis in a class of fifty-one. He began the practice of
medicine and surgery in Milwaukee in 1882, opening an office on Grove
street, and has enjoyed more than the average of patronage and success.

He is a member of the State Medical society, and was assistant health
officer under Dr. Martin for eight and a half years.

In politics he is a Republican, and always voted that ticket.

He is a trustee of Asbury, M. E. church, and one of its most ardent
supporters.

Dr. Williamson was married, in 1884, to Miss Florence Blood of Chicago,
and they have one child, a daughter, Dorothy.

Dr. Williamson is something of a sportsman, and is one of the best
amateur marksmen in the country. In a recent contest at National Park,
the doctor made one hundred and ninety out of a possible two hundred
live bird shots, which is a world's record breaker.

COLE, Charles Eugene, M. D., Ph. B., a resident of Prairie du Chien, is
the son of Samuel C. Cole, a native of New Jersey, who came to
Wisconsin with his parents in 1848, locating first in Fond du Lac
county, and afterward removing to Monroe county, where he was a
prosperous farmer for many years. In 1883 he removed to Ransom county,
North Dakota, where he opened up a large farm. While at that place his
health failed, and he died January 30th, 1887.

Dr. Cole's mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth H. Littell, was also
a native of New Jersey, and came with her parents to Wisconsin at the
same time the Coles came. After her husband's death she resided with her son, the doctor, until her own death, November 17th, 1894. In addition to the death of his parents, Dr. Cole, since he began his medical studies, has lost by death two brothers and a sister, and he is now the sole survivor of a family of six.

Dr. C. E. Cole was born in Monroe county, Wis., on the 8th of April,
1858. He was educated in the public schools of his native county and in
the Tomah high school. He also read the full Chautauqua course, passed
the examination therein and received the course diploma in 1890. The
same year he finished a course in the Chicago College of Science, and
received the degree of Ph. B. Dr. Cole began his medical studies while
a school boy at Tomah, and later pursued them in the office of Dr. F.
D. Cass, then a prominent homeopathic physician of that place. After
several years of study under a preceptor and in a pharmacy, he took his
first course of medical lectures, in the winter of 1884-5, at the
Minnesota Hospital Medical College in Minneapolis. He then practiced
medicine and pharmacy in the Red River valley, N. D., until the winter
of 1886-7, when he returned to the Minnesota Hospital College and took
another course of lectures; but, when within six weeks of graduation,
he was called home by the sudden death of his father, and he was
prevented by business affairs from returning to complete his course at
that time; the purpose, however, remained. Business in Dakota being
unpromising on account of the failure of crops, the young doctor
resolved to return to his native state, Wisconsin, and seek a new
location. Accordingly, in 1887, he made his home in Wauzeka, Crawford
county, where he remained for nearly four years, acquiring a large
practice throughout the county. In 1891 he removed to Prairie du Chien,
but he did not lose any of his extensive practice by the change of
residence. Although his previous medical training had been received in
an allopathic college, and he had studied under both homeopathic and
allopathic preceptors,

Page 273

his preference had always been for the eclectic system of medicine; and
he, therefore, purchased and read the literature of that system and
adopted it in his practice. In the winter of 1892-3 he attended the
Iowa Eclectic Medical College, and graduated therefrom in the spring
following. He is a member of the State Eclectic Medical society, the
National Eclectic Medical association, the American Public Health
association and the United States Medical Practitioners' Protective
alliance. He was present at the world's congress of eclectic physicians
and surgeons, convened in Chicago in June, 1893, and is a member of the
World's Congress auxiliary. Dr. Cole is also a registered pharmacist,
and during his early years of medical study had practical experience in
compounding physicians' prescriptions. He was vice-president of the
State Eclectic Medical society for 1896, and was elected president at
the meeting in Milwaukee in May, 1897. He was also a committee on
legislation for Wisconsin in the National Eclectic Medical association
at Minnetonka, Minn., July 15-17, 1897.

As were his father and grandfathers, Dr. Cole is a thorough Republican:
he has held the office of town or village clerk for several terms, in
places where he has resided, and has taken a prominent part in the
organization of two villages, and in the construction of village
ordinances. While in North Dakota, during the early days of its
settlement, he was for four years deputy sheriff of Ransom county, and
had a large experience in dealing with criminals and made many daring
arrests. Dr. Cole is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman.

He was married in June, 1891, to Miss Letta Rice of Wauzeka, Wis. They
have no children.

Dr. Cole's medical library and office equipment are second to none in
western Wisconsin, and he neglects no effort to keep up with the
progress of his profession. He has successfully performed many
difficult surgical operations, and has also discovered specifics

[image: CHARLES EUGENE COLE.]

for the cure of hernia and hemorrhoids which have effected a cure in
eighty per cent or more of the cases which he has treated. He has
attended lectures at the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School, and
anticipates soon taking a thorough course in that institution.

BULL, Stephen, president of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine company of
Racine, president of the Manufacturers National Bank and president of
the Milwaukee Harvester company, is a son of De Grove and Amanda Maria
Crosby Bull, and was born in Scipio, Cayuga county, N. Y., on the 14th
of March, 1822. His opportunities for an education were very meagre;
but he made the most of them, and acquired the best that the district
school of that time afforded. His attendance at school was limited to
the winter, as the homestead farm required his labor during the other
seasons. He has always been a persistent reader; and, although a very
busy man, he has kept himself well informed upon all leading questions
of the day, and this he has accomplished by allowing no waste of
opportunity

Page 274

[image: STEPHEN BULL.]

or time. A life thus regulated is bound to be successful and his has
been pre-eminently so.

In 1845 he came to Wisconsin, settling at Spring Prairie, Walworth
county, where he remained for some years. In 1857 he made his residence
in Racine, entering the employ of J. I. Case, and five years thereafter
entered the firm of J. I. Case & Co., as an equal partner with J. I.
Case, M. B. Erskine and R. H. Baker. The firm was incorporated, in
1880, under the name of the J. I. Case Threshing Machine company. Both
as a firm and as a corporation it has been uniformly successful, and
has grown into the leading concern of its kind in the United States, if
not in the world. Upon the death of Mr. Case, in 1891, Mr. Bull was
chosen president of the company, in which capacity he has rendered it
most efficient service.

Mr. Bull's life is one of the best examples of the rise of a prudent,
painstaking and honest worker to which one can point. It has, since
childhood, been marked by an earnest effort for the solutions of some
of the industrial problems which are to be faced in living; and those
who labor under the delusion that opportunities
are now all gone and that a prosperous career was a simple matter
during his time may correct such notions when they learn that at the
age of seven years he was receiving but ten cents a day for riding a
horse in the lead of a plowing oxen team.

Business has so occupied Mr. Bull's time and thought that he has
devoted little attention to political affairs; he has however always
been a public-spirited citizen, aiding in the progress and prosperity
of the community in which he has so long lived. Many positions of
trust, responsibility and honor, in the state, county and city, have
been tendered him, but he has always believed in doing well whatever
duties he assumed, and for this reason he has not felt that he could
suffer his attention to be diverted from the business in which others
as well as himself were so deeply interested. His life has been one
without ostentation, and what leisure he has had has been passed
largely in the enjoyment of his home and the company of his family. His
charities are numerous, but rarely known beyond their recipients.
Highly respected by all his acquaintances, he is perhaps most esteemed
by those who are connected, in any way, with the enterprises which he
directs.

Mr. Bull was married, in 1849, to Ellen C. Kellogg, who died in 1880.
He has one son and four daughters living. He is a Knight Templar and a
member of the Universalist church.

BECKER, Danforth, who resides in Milwaukee, is the son of Abraham
Becker, who was a lawyer in active practice in Central New York for
forty years prior to his death in August, 1868. He was the leading
trial lawyer in several counties in that portion of the state, and was
owner of a national bank of $200,000 capital, and a number of farms in
the region of his home. His father went to New York City from
Pennsylvania, rich in continental bank money, but, on arriving at the
end of his then long journey, he discovered that the bank had failed,
and he was

Page 275

penniless. But nothing daunted, he took an ax and chopped his way
through the wilderness to the region where the subject of this sketch
and his father were born.

The mother of Danforth Becker was Maria Danforth, the third daughter of
Judge Thomas Paine Danforth of Middleburg, Schoharie county, N. Y. The
judge was the builder and owner of toll roads and bridges, and
naturally an anti-railroad man. The Danforth family came to
Massachusetts Bay in 1634, from England, and are of Danish-British
stock, dating from the conquest of the English in the ninth century.
Mrs. Becker's youngest brother, Volney, married the sister of Gabriel
Bouck of Oshkosh, and daughter of Gov. Bouck, who was elected governor
of New York on the canal reform issue.

Danforth Becker was born the 11th of March, 1850, in South Worcester,
Otsego county, New York, the county made historic by the works of J.
Fenimore Cooper, the novelist. He attended the public, select and
academic schools at and near the place of his birth, Anthony's Latin
School in Albany, graduated from Bryant & Stratton's Commercial
College, received instruction in chemistry in the state normal school,
attended the law and medical department of Union University, graduated
from the Albany law school, and was admitted to the bar at the general
term of the supreme court held in Schenectady, in November, 1873. He
immediately began the practice of law in New York City, on Pine street,
opposite the United States sub-treasury, remaining there until July,
1886, when he removed to Milwaukee, where he has since been in the
practice of his profession, which for twenty-four years has been that
of general law business, covering mercantile, banking and corporate
law, realty and street railway litigation and counsel for the oldest
bank in the west.

He was a member of the Albany Burgesses corps, the oldest company of
light infantry in the United States, from the year 1868 to 1875, with
which he made many trips to different

[image: DANFORTH BECKER.]

cities, including Washington, upon the occasion of the inaugurals of
President Grant, and resisted the first railroad riot in the United 
States--at Albany.

Politically he is a Democrat by birth, education and inclination.

He was married on August 9th, 1892, to Birdella Alsytha Markham, who
was born and raised at Eureka, Winnebago county, Wisconsin. Her father
was born in 1847, at Dayton Summit, now Markham, Cattaraugus county, N.
Y., of the old English Markham stock. Her mother was born in Eureka,
Wisconsin, a member of a Pennsylvania family of the name of Adams. Her
mother's name was Boules or Boullé, and she was born in New York City,
near where Washington market is located. Her parents were also born in
New York City, and were descendants of French Huguenot stock. When Mrs.
Becker's grandmother settled at Eureka, she was offered all the land
where the city of Oshkosh now stands for the sum of $24.00; but she
declined the offer because it was "so very marshy," and located in
higher and better ground.

Page 276

[image: DANIEL PROTHERO.]

PROTHERO, Daniel, is a native of South Wales, having been born in
Ystradgynlais, November 26th, 1866. He received his early education in
boarding schools and Ystradgynlais College. He attended the normal
school of Swansea, from which he received senior honors. Trinity
College, London, England, made him an associate in music, and member of
the Society of Science, Letters and Art. Trinity College, Toronto,
Canada, also made him bachelor of music.

Like most of his countrymen, he early developed a taste for music, and
his studies have been pursued with the view, first of all, of fitting
him for the practice of that profession. Possessed of a voice of great
power and compass, and of most pleasing tone, he has at once won the
popular favor both as a singer and instructor. Coming to Milwaukee, in
October, 1894, he met with a hearty reception in musical circles, and
speedily made professional engagements sufficient to fill the greater
part of his time. He has students in voice culture, has appeared as
singer in concerts, in great religious conventions, and has a bright
professional career opening up before him. He is conductor of the choir of the First Baptist church, and vocal class in the Young Men's Christian association, the Lyric Glee club, of the Orpheus club of Racine, Wisconsin, and of the Union  Christian chorus of Milwaukee.

Mr. Prothero is a member of the Welsh Presbyterian church, as are many
of his countrymen, and there are no more stirring, useful citizens than
they. He was married to Miss Hannah Harris of Seranton, Pennsylvania,
on the 26th of April, 1892; and they have one daughter, Helen.

HAIGHT, Theron W., a prominent attorney and journalist of Waukesha, was
born in Jefferson county, New York, on the 14th of September, 1840. His
parens were Morris and Lois Myrick Haight, descendants of early New
England settlers--the founders of the family on the paternal side in
this country coming here in 1629. The parents of T. W. Haight came to
Wisconsin in 1867, and died here in the seventies. Of the four sons,
Theron, the youngest, is the only one living; two died in the army,
sacrifices to the purification of the nation and the maintenance of the
integrity of the government.

T. W. Haight had the advantage of a good elementary education in the
schools of his home, and afterward had private instruction form Dr.
Paret, subsequently bishop of the Episcopal church of Maryland, by whom
the boy was prepared for college. The breaking out of the civil war
found him temporarily engaged in teaching in Dr. Paret's school, as a
financial and educational preparation to the full college course which
he purposed pursuing. The strains of martial music and the tramp of
armed men on every side ended all thought of further study, and the
young man enlisted at Ellisburg, N. Y., in May, 1861, in the Twenty-
fourth New York infantry. He was soon in the thickest of the conflict,
passing, as so many others did, from the quiet and contemplative walks
of college life to the terrible

Page 277

scenes of battle and carnage, yet performing all these stern duties
with bravery, fidelity and an intelligent comprehension of the
principles involved. Sick and wounded he still adhered to the duties
which he had voluntarily taken up, and step by step he was promoted
from corporal to first lieutenant, which rank he held when the term of
service of his regiment expired, in May, 1863. He participated in the
Virginia campaigns, was in the battles of Manassas, Fredericksburg,
Spottsylvania, Front Royal, Gainsville, second Bull Run, and many other
scarcely less sanguinary conflicts.

Both of his brothers having lost their lives in the service, and his
parents protesting for this reason against his re-entering the army,
Mr. Haight did not return there, but spent a year in study, principally
the German and French languages, and, going to Waukesha country in
1864, taught school in Mukwonago for a year and a half. After his he
studied law with Paine & Co. in Milwaukee, taught in the Spencerian
Business College, and in 1868 was city editor of the Sentinel. In 1870
he became proprietor of The Waukesha Freeman, and published it for six
years, when he sold it to its present proprietor--Mr. Youmans. He was
then appointed secretary of the state board of charities. This position
he held for two years, when he resigned and opened a law office in
Waukesha, which he has conducted since. In 1880 and 1881 he was
principal editorial writer of the Sentinel, and has done much
correspondence for leading journals in Milwaukee and elsewhere, and has
written several of the war papers published in the Loyal Legion
collections, as well as pamphlets on various subjects. He held the
office of justice of the peace for many years, and has been a member of
the country board of supervisors. His law business and journalistic
work keep him fully employed; yet he finds time for active membership
in the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has held many important
official positions, and also in the Wisconsin commandery of

[image: THERON W. HAIGHT.]

the Loyal Legion. In the order of Odd Fellows, he has been grand
patriarch of the state.

In the spring of 1870 he was married to Annie, daughter of Dr. H. A.
Youmans of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, and they have a family of five
surviving children--two girls and three boys, their eldest son, a young
man of highest promise, having died in 1893.

LORENZ, Richard, of Milwaukee, a painter of note and a teacher of art,
is the son of German parents, and was born in Voigtstest, Prussia,
February 9th, 1858. His early education was received in the public
schools, and this was followed by a course of study in a private school
in Weimar. His art education was also obtained in the same city.

Mr. Lorenz came to Milwaukee in 1886, under an engagement to paint
panoramas of the battles of Chattanooga and Atlanta, and the
Crucifixion of Christ. He has resided in Cleveland, but most of the
time since coming to this country he has spent in Milwaukee. In 1887 he
went to San Francisco, and put up the panorama of the battle of
Chattanooga.

Page 278

[image: RICHARD LORENZ.]

After this he spent one year in Texas, making studies in frontier life.
In 1888 he took Professor von Ernst's place in the Milwaukee Art School
during his absence of several months. Since then he has been engaged in
teaching art and in painting.

Among his most notable productions are "Burial on the Plains," a study
of cow-boy life, which was exhibited at Weimar and at the international
exposition at Munich, and which belongs to Mrs. Schandein of Milwaukee;
"Alone," which was exhibited at the World's Columbian exposition at
Chicago; "Caught in a Blizzard," and "Sunday on the Plains."

During Mr. Lorenz' academic course he took the Carl Alexander prize
twice--the highest prize at the Welmar school. Before coming to this
country he exhibited his work, first, at Antwerp, in 1885, and,
secondly, at the Berlin international exposition.

Mr. Lorenz is politically a Democrat, but voted in 1896 for McKinley
for president. He belongs to number of the art societies in Germany. In
matters of religion his sympathies are with the Lutherans.

ZIMMERMAN, Albert Gregory, one of the prominent lawyers of Madison, was
born in Elgin, Iowa, July 23rd, 1862, the second child and oldest son
of a family of seven children. His father, George Zimmerman, is a wagon
and carriage maker, who came to this country from Germany in 1852, when
sixteen years of age, and settled in Iowa. George Zimmerman served in
the Union army in the civil war, as a private and corporal, in the
Thirty-eight and Thirty-fourth Iowa infantry. He also had three
brothers in the military service of their adopted country. His present
home is Mt. Hope, Grant county, Wisconsin.

In 1868 the family removed to Wisconsin, where they have since resided.
Young Zimmerman, after the age of twelve years, took care of himself,
working of farms in summers and attending the common schools in
winters. In this way he secured education sufficient to enable him to
teach a district school, a certificate of qualification for which he
obtained when but fifteen years of age. He afterward also obtained a
state teacher's certificate. At seventeen he began teaching, and for
the next ten years he was either student or teacher. In 1885 he
graduated from the Northern College of Indiana, receiving the degree of
B. S., and subsequently organized the Bloomington, Wis., high school,
and for four years was its principal. In 1889 he entered the law
department of the state university, studying at the same time in the
office of Judge Sicbecker, and graduated in 1890, with the degree of
L.L. B. In April of that year he was admitted to the bar on state
examination, and formed a law partnership in May with G. E. Roc, which
lasted until July following, when it was merged into that of La
Follette, Harper, Roe & Zimmerman, which continued until October, 1894,
when it was dissolved. Since that time he has practiced alone. As a
member of the firm just named he acquired an experience in all the
various courts more extensive than ordinarily falls to the lot of
beginners in the profession. On a judicial turn of mind, and a thorough

Page 279

student, he soon attracted attention by the breadth of his knowledge
and the maturity of his judgment. In addition to what may be termed his
general court practice, he had charge of the probate practice of the
firm, and thoroughly mastered the intricate questions in the laws
relating to that branch of the profession, and he has been connected
with some very important litigation in all branches of practice.

On account of his strict integrity, natural ability and his legal
qualifications, public attention has been turned toward him as one well
fitted for public office, but he has not shown much inclination in this
direction. He is an active Republican in politics, and has rendered his
party excellent service in the campaigns of recent years, but not
simply for personal ends. His political methods are open and above
reproach, and while he is a strong advocate of the principles and men
that receive his approval, he is a generous and just opponent. He has
been a delegate to many conventions, was chairman of the Republican
city convention of Madison a year ago, and was an ardent supporter of
the nomination of Mr. La Follette for governor in the convention last
August.

In response to a call from many members of the bar and leading citizens
of Dane county, he became an independent candidate for county judge of
Dane county, in the spring of 1897, against the sitting judge and
another candidate; and after a sharp contest he came within 219 votes
of an election in a total vote of nearly 12,000; and, under the
circumstances, he came out of the contest with a prestige that could
not have been much enhanced by a complete victory.

In 1892 Mr. Zimmerman was married to Miss Nell Brown of Bloomington,
Wis., whose unusual attractions of mind and person have made them many
friends in social life, and contributed much to her husband's success.

He is an attendant of the Congregational church, a member of the
Masonic order, and

[image: ALBERT GREGORY ZIMMERMAN.]

active in measures for social and educational advancement.

Although a thorough lawyer and devoted to his profession, Mr. Zimmerman
finds time for the study of history, of which he is very fond, and for
excursions into the field of lighter literature, which serve as a
relief from the sterner duties of his profession, and give his
productions a marked literary finish.

MANN, John E., judge of the county court of Milwaukee county, is a
native of Schoharie county, New York, where he was born on the 4th of
March, 1821. He was prepared for college in the local schools of his
native county, and entered the sophomore class of Williams College,
where he remained two terms, and then entered Union College, at
Schenectady, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1843. After leaving
college, he entered the office of Jacob Houck as a student at law; and,
having pursued the study the usual time, he passed the examination, and
was admitted to the bar at the general term of the supreme court in
Utica, in 1847. Returning to his

Page 280

[image: JOHN E. MANN.]

home, he opened an office, and began the practice of his chosen
profession, which he continued seven years, or until the summer of
1854, when he removed to Wisconsin, settling in West Bend, the county
scat of Washington county. Here he formed a partnership with L. F.
Frisby, long known as a prominent lawyer and politician, and toward the
end of his life, attorney-general of the state. This partnership
continued until 1859, when Judge Mann was elected judge of the circuit
court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Larabee.
In the following April he was re-elected for the full term of six
years. At the expiration of this term, he removed to Milwaukee, and
returned to the practice of his profession, forming a partnership with
F. W. Cotzhausen, then as now â prominent member of the bar. This
partnership continued until 1874, when he was appointed county judge,
by Governor Taylor, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of
H. L. Palmer. To this office he was afterward elected, by popular vote,
for the full term, and this position he has filled by successive re-
elections, as often as the term expired, until the present time. Judge Mann has now filled the office for more than twenty years, and the fact that the has had little or no opposition to his re-election when his term has expired is the best testimonial to his ability and integrity that could be produced. Thoroughly versed in the law, especially that branch of it involved in the discharge of his official duties, painstaking in his work, courteous in manner toward all appearing in this court, he has made many friends who will long retain a pleasant memory of him as an upright judge and a genial gentlemen in private life.

In 1845 Judge Mann was married to Catharine Dietz, granddaughter of
William Dietz, who was an intimate political friend of Martin Van
Buren, and at one time a member of the lower house of congress.

FLETT, William Hadley, member of the legislature of 1897 from Merrill,
Lincoln county, was born in the town of Somers, Kenosha county,
Wisconsin, May 10th, 1856. His father, James Flett, a retired farmer,
in comfortable circumstances, living in Somers, is a Scotchman by
birth, and came to Wisconsin from the Orkney Islands, in 1855, settling
in Kenosha county. Mr. Flett's mother, Ann Heddle prior to her
marriage, was a native of the Orkney Island, where she was married in
1845. She came to this country with her husband, and, after a most
useful life, died in 1895, at the age of seventy years. She was a woman
of strong character and deeply conscientious nature, was devoted, in
the highest degree, to her family of eight sons, over whom she
exercised a profound influence, and for whose greatest good she was
ever zealous. The ancestors on both sides were of the middle classes in
Scothland, and for generations had been engaged in agricultural
pursuits.

Young Flett received, during his boyhood, such education as was
afforded by the common country schools, and at seventeen years of age
he began to learn the carpenter's

Page 281

trade, at which he worked for two years. He had, however, a desire for
a liberal education, and, while following his trade of carpenter, spent
his evenings in study, and in this way finally secured a certificate
that he was qualified to teach a district or common school, and began
teaching when nineteen years of age. By teaching winters and working at
his trade in the summer, he at length succeeded in saving money enough
to enable him to take a two years' course in the University of
Wisconsin. In the fall of 1880 he was compelled by lack of means to
resort again to teaching, which he continued for two years. While in
the university he was a member of the Hesperian Debating society, and,
just before leaving, represented that society in a public debate. At
about this time he decided to abandon further prosecution of literary
and scientific studies, and take up the law. In pursuance of this
determination he entered the law office of Quarles & Winslow of Racine,
in the fall of 1882, and studied there for one year. He then entered
the law department of the university, and graduated therefrom in 1884.

He began the practice of law in Madison the year of his graduation, but
remained there only a few months, going thence to Merill, Lincoln
county, where he opened an office in 1885. Business prospered from the
start, and it became necessary, in 1888, for him to take a partner. The
business has since been conducted under the firm name of Flett &
Porter. It has been successful beyond anticipation, and Mr. Flett may
well feel satisfied with the result.

He is financially interested in many business enterprises in Merill,
and has taken a prominent part in all measures for the betterment of
the city and county. He has for some years been a director of the Scott
free library, and the Merill Advancement association.

Mr. Flett is a Republican in politics, and has taken active part in
party work, both in party councils and on the stump. He has

[image: WILLIAM HADLEY FLETT.]

been chairman of the Republican county and congressional committees,
and is now city attorney and has been for five years. He was elected
member of the assembly, in the fall of 1896, for Lincoln and Taylor
counties.

He is a Free Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He
was married to Miss Clara Baker of Madison, in 1887.

COHN, Alfred Julius, D. D. S., is a resident of Milwaukee, and the son
of Hugo Cohn, who came to Milwaukee in 1854, and has been continuously
employed in the store of T. A. Chapman & Co. for thirty-three years,
being the oldest clerk in the service of that firm. Dr. Cohn's mother,
nee Magdalena Reinel, has been a resident of Milwaukee since 1846.
Loebel Cohn, the doctor's grandfather, was born in Germany in 1792, but
when very young removed to France, where he took part in the Napolconie
wars that convulsed Europe in the early part of the present century. He
entered the French army when under eighteen years of age, and was in
the historic march to Moscow and the fearful retreat therefrom.

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[image: ALFRED JULIUS COHN.]

He was also in the battle of Lutzen, and at Waterloo under Marshall
Ney. His Wife, nee Johanna Friedberg, was born in France, Christmas
eve, in the year 1799. She had two brothers in the French army who
fought for the French in Algeria. One was a captain and the other a
lieutenant; and they also took part in the campaign against Moscow, but
never returned and were never heard of after they began their march.
Loebel Cohn arrived in Milwaukee in 1854, with his wife, two daughters
and son Hugo, three brothers of the latter, Julius, Maurice and David,
having preceded him. Loebel Cohn died in 1879, and his wife, Johanna,
in 1886. Dr. Cohn's maternal grandparents, Nicholas Reinel and wife,
immigrated from Selb, Bavaria, to Milwaukee in 1846, the former being
then thirty-five years of age and the latter some five years younger.
Of their nine daughters four were born in Bavaria and the others in
Milwaukee. Nicholas Reinel was by trade a wire weaver, but left that
for civil engineering, and was one of the corps of engineers that
surveyed and directed the construction of the first railroad that was
built into Milwaukee. Hugo Cohn married Magdalena Reinel in 1863. Four children were born to them, Arthur H., Alfred J., Alida M., and Alice H. Both sons received a collegiate education, the elder receiving at graduation the degrees of M. D. and Ph. G., and Alfred that of D. D. S.

Alfred J. Cohn, the subject of this sketch, was born in Milwaukee on
the 27th of July, 1869, and was educated principally in the schools of
the city. After leaving them in 1886, he began the study of dentistry,
under the direction of Drs. Maercklein; and, at the end of two years,
he left for Philadelphia, to finish his studies, and entered the
celebrated University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated, after a
two years' course in 1890. On returning to his native city he began the
practice of his profession at once, meeting with unusual success. Upon
the organization of the dental department of the Milwaukee Medical
College, he was called to the chair of materia medica and dental
pathology and therapeutics, and was elected to the board of directors,
his term expiring in 1895.

Dr. Cohn is a member of the Wisconsin State Dental association; and, in
fraternal circles, he is a well-known Knight of Pythias. His party
affiliations have been and still are Republican. He is a member of the
West Side Turner society, and has won many prizes in the contests of
the organization. He is also a member of the Germania society. He is
unmarried.

ROGERS, Daniel Graham, one of the older and most widely known members
of the Milwaukee bar, was born at West Point, Orange county, New York,
November 20th, 1824. He was fitted for college at Montgomery Academy,
and, after his graduation, was assistant principal of that institution
for about two years. After leaving this position he studied law in the
office of Hon. Hugh B. Bull, and subsequently took a course in the
National Law School at Ballston Spa, New York. While pursuing this
course, he attended a general term of court at Poughkeepsie,

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was examined for practice and admitted to the bar July 7th, 1851. He then completed his studies at the law school and received the degree of B. L., signed by Chancellor Walworth, president of the board of trustees of the school. He began practice in Montgomery, New York, but came west in 1853, in search of a more promising location for the practice of his profession, and a more desirable place of residence. These he found in Milwaukee. He returned to Montgomery, was married, and finally, in 1856, removed to Milwaukee, where he was admitted to the bar, opened an office, and has been in continuous practice in all the courts ever since.

During the war of the rebellion he was examined for service, but the
examining board rejected him as unequal to military duty, but, with
patriotic purpose, he hired a man to represent him in the army, a
certificate of which service he received from J. B. Frey provost
marshal-general. This recruit served his term and came back uninjured.
This was the first, if not the only volunteer recruit sent from
Milwaukee.

Mr. Rogers has been a Republican since the formation of the Republican
party. Prior to that he was a Henry Clay Whig. He has not sought
office, and never held any except that he was for a time member of the
city council, and afterwards member of the board of aldermen,
representing the Seventh ward in both bodies.

He has five children, all of whom were born in Milwaukee, and have
reached adult age.

Mr. Rogers has dealt largely in real estate, and laid out several
additions to the city, which bear his name. He has also had, for many
years, a large law practice--at times more than could be properly
attended to; and he has had the settlement of many estates, some of the
largest in the county.

He is a man remarkable for mental and physical activity, forms his
opinions with great rapidity, and has, in an unusual degree, the
courage to maintain them. When convinced that he is right he is seldom
swerved

[image: DANIEL, GRAHAM ROGERS.]

from the course which he has marked out for himself. He has been an
enterprising and useful citizen, and one who has made his mark in the
growth and progress of the city.

BOSTWICK, Joseph Morton, for many years one of the leading and most successful merchants of Janesville, has a genius for business. In all the years that he has been in trade he has not had a failure, but his business has steadily grown until it is now one of the largest in the interior of the state. This phenomenally successful man is the son of Joseph Bostwick, who was a farmer and drover in comfortable circumstances a part of the time, J. M. Bostwick's mother, whose maiden name was Fannie Mattison, was a native of Vermont. Her father and three or four brothers fourth in the battle of Bennington, their farm being near the battlefield.

J. M. Bostwick was born in Genesee country, New York, February 3rd,
1834. He had slight educational advantages in the common district
school near his home, and this advantages, such as they were, he
surrendered at

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[image: JOSEPH MORTON BOSTWICK.]

the early age of fourteen years, and never afterward resumed them. But
the boy had what has stood him in good stead--he had courage, industry
and tenacity of purpose. He came to Janesville in the fall of 1847, and
that has been his home since that time. The next fall he went to work
for Bailey & Dimock, merchants, and has been selling dry goods ever
since. After he had worked for them about two years, they sold out to
H. O. Clark &Co., and that firm, after continuing the business some
four years, failed. Young Bostwick then went to work for A. W.
Wheelock; and after two years, he also failed Mr. Bostwick, in company
with Wm. Knowles, bought the stock of goods, and closed it out. Then,
in company with O. K. Bennett, he purchased new goods and the balance
of the H.O. Clark stock, and began the mercantile career which has
proved so successful. The partnership lasted four years and a half, and
was dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Bostwick then formed a partnership
with M. C. Smith, which continued twenty-one years and was then
dissolved. Mr. Bostwick, desiring to establish his sons
in business, took them into partnership with him, under the firm name
of J. M. Bostwick & Sons, and so the business is now conducted in a
most extensive and successful manner.

During the war, Mr. Bostwick says, he belonged to the income guard,
whose duty it was to keep the city quota of soldiers full, look after
soldiers' families and furnish the means for such demands. He gave
fifty dollars for these purposes every time he was called upon, which
was quite often.

Mr. Bostwick has always been a Republican, and was once elected to the
board of aldermen. Becoming a candidate for re-election, he was
defeated, and that quenched all his political aspirations.

He is a Knight of Pythias. He says that his religion is universal--that
he treats all churches alike--pays something to all of them.

Mr. Bostwick has been twice married, the first time to Harriet Allen,
and the second time to Emma G. Coryell. The first wife had nine
children--six sons and three daughters; the second has had three--two
daughters and one son. The oldest son graduated from the naval academy
at Annapolis, has been in the navy for twenty-four years, and is now a
lieutenant, stationed at Vallejo, California. He has an excellent
record in the service.

BARTLETT, Francis Wayland, a prominent business man of New Richmond,
Wisconsin, was born in the town of Harmony, Maine, May 13, 1834. His
father, Joel Bartlett, was a resident of Maine, in good financial
circumstances, and a man of standing and influence in the community
where he lived, and was a member of the Maine legislature in 1830. He
was actively engaged for many years in the lumber business in Maine,
but came west in 1858, and located in New Richmond, where he was among
the earliest settlers. F.W. Bartlett's mother was Jane G. McCurdy of
Bath, Maine, who died in 1838. Mr. Bartlett received an academic

Page 285

education and began earning money by clerking in a country dry goods
store, where he remained four years. He came with his father to New
Richmond in 1858, and was engaged in teaching school until 1861, when
he was appointed by President Lincoln register of the United States
land office at Bayfield, Wisconsin, in which office he served until
1867. In the spring of 1868, he engaged in the coal and wood business
in Milwaukee, under the firm name of Stewart, Bates & Bartlett. He was
successful in this business, and, after continuing it for several
years, disposed of his interest, and, returning to New Richmond,
engaged in the lumbering business with his father, under the firm name
of J. Bartlett & Son, and was also interested in the furniture
business. He was one of the incorporators and principal stockholders of
the Bank of New Richmond, which was organized in 1878. Of this
institution he served as vice-president for three years, when he was
chosen president, and has held that important position ever since. He
was the first president of the village and president of the first city
council.

He has been a member of the Republican party since its formation, and
has always given it his support, though never actively engaging in
political campaigns.

He is a member and regular attendant of the Congregational church.

In 1867 he was married to Mary J. Stewart of Greenville, Pennsylvania.
They have two sons--Maitland Vance and Lawrence Stewart. The eldest is
a graduated of Princeton College, having been a member of the class of
'91, and received the degree of A. M. in 1892. He graduated from the
Princeton Theological Seminary in 1895, and spent two years in study
and travel in Europe. He is at present pastor of a Presbyterian church
in Wilkesbarre, Pa. The youngest son is at school in Lawrenceville, New
Jersey.

The Bank of New Richmond, of which Mr. Bartlett is president, has
passed through the last three or four years of financial depression

[image: FRANCIS WAYLAND BARTLETT.]

without serious trouble, which is, perhaps, the most substantial
testimonial to the wisdom and conservative methods of its management
that could be produced.

END PART 9