Men of Progress. Wisconsin. (pages 520-555) 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 520 continued

TAYLOR, Horace Adolphus, president of the State Journal Printing
company, Madison, Wis., was born in Norfolk, St. Lawrence county, New
York, May 24, 1837, and was the youngest of five children, three sons
and two daughters, born to the Rev. Adolphus Taylor, a Congregational
clergyman, and his wife, Orra, nee Copeland, who were among the early
settlers of Vermont, but whose progenitors for two generations
preceding his birth resided in northern New York. His mother was a
native of Pennsylvania. In 1843, when Horace was six years of age, his
father met an untimely death by being fatally kicked by a horse, and
his mother was left with her family of children and with but little
means of support. Horace attended the common schools of Madrid, St.
Lawrence county, New York, until he was ten years of age. He early
displayed a spirit of independence and self-reliance, and determined to
make his own way in the world. He journeyed westward in 1847 to Hancock
county, Illinois, where he engaged in work as a farm hand until 1850.
Three years later he worked on a farm in that part of St. Croix county,
Wisconsin, of which Pierce county is now formed, and where the town of
River Falls was afterward built. Before he was fourteen years of age he
had put in four years of hard and steady work, and, being economical,
succeeded in saving nearly three hundred dollars, with which he
returned to St. Lawrence county, New York, and began a course of study
at the Pottsdam Academy. He worked during the summer months and
attended the academy in the winter, paying for his tuition and expenses
out of his savings. In 1855, having reached the age of eighteen years,
he determined to locate in some undeveloped section of the west and
grow up with the country. Therefore, he returned to River Falls,
Wisconsin, where he began work upon a farm. After a short time he
purchased a stage and horse, which he drove between Hudson and
Prescott, which at that time were the two most important towns in the
northwest. As a stage operator he was a success, and accumulated

Page 521

considerable money, which he invested in real estate. This he shortly
after converted into cash, with which he purchased the material
necessary to conduct a newspaper, and associated with him his brother,
Lute A. Taylor, established The River Falls Journal, and issued the
first paper, June 13, 1857, when he was but a few days over twenty
years of age. Three years later he presented his interest in this
journal to his brother Lute, and went to Hudson, where he purchased The
Hudson Chronicle, and changed its name to The Hudson Times. Shortly
thereafter he purchased The Hudson North Star, and consolidated the two
papers under the name of The Hudson Star and Times, and continued to
publish the paper under that title, and for over thirty years its
proprietorship was vested in his name, although during the latter years
of his ownership he was not actively engaged in its management, but he
always controlled its policy. In 1869, in connection with his brother
Lute, he established The La Crosse Daily and Weekly Leader, which they
sold out some three years later, when the Leader and Republican were
consolidated under the name of The La Crosse Republican and Leader,
which is still published. Shortly after the passage of the act
authorizing national banks Mr. Taylor participated in the organization
of the First National bank of Hudson, and served as member of its board
of directors for a number of years, resigning when he removed to
Washington in 1889. He is, however, still a stockholder in the
institution. From 1883 to 1890, he acted as president and general
manager of the Hudson Lumber company. In 1890 he disposed of his
interest in this company, and in February of that year purchased the
plant of The Wisconsin State Journal. Some years later he organized the
State Journal Printing company, which is capitalized for one hundred
thousand dollars, and has since acted as president of that corporation.
Mr. Taylor is also president of the Uwharrie Gold Mining company of
Montgomery county, North Carolina, and has large

[image: HORACE ADOLPHUS TAYLOR.]

investments in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Maryland and
California.

In political affairs, Mr. Taylor has steadily affiliated with the
Republican party. In its campaigns he has been active both with pen and
public address, and has contributed much to the party success. He has
held many public positions and has been an able and efficient public
servant. He was appointed timber agent in 1876, and held the office by
reappointment for five years, when he resigned to accept the
appointment of consul at Marseilles, France, tendered him by President
Garfield. This position he held two years, during which he traveled
extensively in Europe and northern Africa. Resigning the consulship in
1883 he returned to Hudson, where he gave his attention to business for
several years. In 1888 he was elected to the state senate, but resigned
the following year to accept the appointment of railroad commissioner
tendered him by President Harrison. He was also appointed one of the
commissioners in charge of the government exhibit at the Columbian
exposition. He was a delegate to the Republican national convention in
1876 and in 1884,

Page 522

supporting Blaine in the first and Arthur in the second. Mr. Taylor has
been a prominent candidate for the nomination for governor before two
of the Republican state conventions, but various considerations carried
the prize to other hands. From 1883 to 1887 he was chairman of the
Republican state central committee.

November 12, 1860, Mr. Taylor was married, in Chicago, to Lizzie E.
Madden, a native of Lockport, N. Y., and they have had three children:
Florence E., the wife of Judge Reed of La Crosse; Willis A., who died
in May, 1893, aged twenty-five years, and Grace E.

Mr. Taylor is a writer and speaker of ability and one of the most
generally informed men regarding public affairs in the state. He has
long been a potent factor in state politics and is a man of positive
views and the courage to express them whenever the occasion demands it.

LYNN, Alexander W., superintendent of the Milwaukee street railroad
lines, was born in Saratoga, N. Y., March 3rd, 1847. His father was
William Lynn, who came to this country from Scarborough, England, in
1829, and settled in Saratoga. Mr. Lynn's mother was Anna Wilson, and
was married to William Lynn before they left England. William Lynn came
west with his wife and children, of whom A. W. was the youngest, in
1851, settling in Elgin. I11., on a farm, where he died in 1855. In
1858 the family removed to Sparta, Wis., where A. W. Lynn went to
school several terms, after which he learned the business of brewing;
then took up telegraphy, devoting several years to it and to teaching
writing school; this he was engaged in braking and working as
baggageman on what is now the La Crosse division of the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad.

When twenty-two years old Mr. Lynn secured contracts for carrying the
United States mail from Black River Falls to Greenwood, and from
Humbird to Neillsville, routes previously carried by the late
congressman, William
Price of River Falls, Mr. Lynn buying the equipments for the lines of
Mr. Price and conducting those mail and stage lines some six years,
with marked success, his lines being the most finely equipped in the
country. While engaged in this business, he built the telegraph line
from Humbird to Neillsville and Greenwood, and also carried all express
goods through that region for the American Express company, for the
safe transportation of which he gave bonds in the sum of $40,000,
frequently having in his care $60,000 to $80,000, for the payment of
the wages of lumbermen in that region.

After six years of activity in the business, Mr. Lynn was attacked with
spinal fever. Despairing of recovery, he sold his stage lines and all
business connected therewith, paid every bill against him, and went to
Denver, as the physicians said, and as his friends expected, to die. At
the end of a year and a half, however, he had regained his health; and,
returning as far as Algona, Iowa, then the western terminus of the St.
Paul road, he engaged in the livery and omnibus business and in
farming. The livery and omnibus business was a success, but
grasshoppers took possession of the farm enterprise. While still
conducting the livery business. Mr. Lynn built a telegraph line and
began steam railroading, as conductor for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.
Paul company, in which he continued until 1882.

While living in Algona, Mr. Lynn was married to Mrs. Emma J. Burroughs,
a widow, daughter of John K. Fill, a merchant of Algona.

In 1882 Mr. Lynn left steam railroading, and, with his wife and
daughter, removed to Racine, Wis., and superintendent the building of
the street railway in that city. In the spring of 1884 he removed to
Cleveland, Ohio, and took the management of the St. Clair, Superior
street and Paine avenue street railway in that city, where he remained
two years, during which he rebuilt the entire lines, changing them from
narrow to standard gauge tracks,

Page 523

and replacing the old-time "bob-tail" cars with modern cars with
conductors.

In 1888 Mr. Lynn removed to Milwaukee and took the management of the
Cream City street railway, then operated by horse power. He immediately
inaugurated improvements in the operating of the lines. The "bob-tail
cars" soon disappeared, and improved cars with conductors in uniform
took their places, with the time between cars reduced from ten to four
minutes. Improvement in the service was his watchword, and the marked
changes made on the Cream City lines soon exerted an influence upon all
other street railway lines in the city. In 1891, when the work of
consolidating street railways in Milwaukee was begun, and the work of
transforming them into electric lines was started, the entire
supervision of the change to electricity was passed into his hands, and
has practically been there throughout the entire transforming period,
as well as that of extending the lines to suburban points. To his skill
and indomitable perseverance is due the fact that the electric railway
system in Milwaukee is one of the very best in the United States. He
has been the head of the work at every step and has made the estimates
and has direct charge of all the track work, as well as making plans
for all of the company's car stations, and the extensive machine and
car shops on Kinnickinnic avenue. He has also designed all of the new
cars built by the company or built for it by car companies at other
points. The overhead electric construction and operation is also in his
charge. He is regarded by street railway authorities everywhere as one
of the most thoroughly competent men in that business in the entire
country, and is a leading authority on the construction and operation
of electric railroads.

When Mr. Lynn brought his family to Milwaukee he located at 104 Johnson
street, where he has resided constantly since; his family consisting of
his wife and one daughter.

Although always an ardent and active Republican, and frequently
importuned to become

[image: ALEXANDER W. LYNN.]

a candidate, he has ever persistently declined to seek any political
office, preferring to work in the ranks for the success of the party
principles and its nominees.

HAMILTON, Charles Hadley, recently city attorney of Milwaukee, is the
son of Gen. Charles S. Hamilton, a distinguished officer in the Union
army during the war of the rebellion, who died in April, 1891. Gen.
Hamilton was a graduate of the military academy at West Point, where he
had for classmates Generals Grant, Quimby, Franklin, Steel, Augur and
others who won fame in the war of the rebellion. He served through the
Mexican war and was brevetted captain for gallant conduct at the battle
of Molino del Rey, where he was severely wounded. He entered the Union
army in our recent civil war as colonel of the Third regiment of
Wisconsin infantry, but was shortly promoted to be brigadier-general,
and the next year major-general. The date of his commission to the
latter office, September 19th, 1862, is that on which he fought and won
the battle of Iuka.

Page 524

[image: CHARLES HADLEY HAMILTON.]

When General Grant became president he appointed Gen. Hamilton United
States marshal for the Eastern district of Wisconsin, and this office
he held for eight years. At the time of his death, and for many years
before, he had been engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil. Mrs.
General Hamilton, the mother of City Attorney Hamilton, was Sophia
Shepard of Dansville, N. Y. General Hamilton's mother was a niece of
General Israel Putnam of revolutionary fame. The Shepards are of
English origin, and they trace their lineage to the first of the New
Englanders. The Hamiltons are of Scotch descent, the first of the name
who came to this country being William Hamilton, a native of Glasgow,
who emigrated to New England in 1668, and died at the age of 102 years.
The Hamiltons have a record for patriotic service, Attorney Hamilton's
great-grandfather having been a captain and surgeon in the
revolutionary army.

Charles H. Hamilton was born in Rochester, New York, August 5th, 1850,
but came to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, with his parents, in 1852. His
early education was received in the public schools of Fond du Lac, where 
he was prepared for college, and from which he entered the University of 
Michigan, graduating from that institution in 1869. The course of study 
which he pursued in the university was that of mining engineering. While 
a student he was a member of the Psi Upsilon Greek letter fraternity, 
and the Literary Adelphi. He entered upon the study of the law while 
acting as deputy United States marshal, and was admitted to the bar in 
1872, but did not begin the practice of law until 1888. In the meantime 
he was engaged in the wholesale paper business, and was a grain and 
stock commission merchant.

In 1891 he formed a partnership for the practice of the law with W. H.
Austin, under the firm name of Austin & Hamilton, which continued until
his election as city attorney in 1894. Mr. Hamilton has been a member
of the legislature, of the board of school commissioners and of the
common council. In politics he has always been a Republican, an active
worker and adviser in its councils, and has contributed not a little to
its local successes.

His club membership is with the Milwaukee, the Country, the Deutscher,
the Iroquois, the Empire State Sons of the American Revolution, the
Loyal Legion, Knights of Pythias and the Elks.

He was married on the 10th of April, 1873, to Carrie A. Nichols of
Milwaukee, and they have two children living--Howard S. and Reginald
Hamilton.

BLEEKMAN, Adelbert E., a resident of La Crosse, a prominent member of
the bar of that city and an ex-member of both houses of the
legislature, is a native of New York, and was born in Salisbury,
Herkimer county, March 26th, 1846. His father, Warren Bleekman, was
born in Stratford, Fulton county, N. Y., December 14th, 1816, but
removed to Medina county, Ohio, where he successfully followed farming
until his death in 1865. A.

Page 525

E. Bleekman's mother, whose maiden name was Amanda Jacobs, was born in
Salisbury, Herkimer county, N. Y., February 26th, 1826, and died in
Medina county, Ohio, in 1857. Mr. Bleekman's paternal ancestry is
traceable to Holland, the first immigrants settling in Connecticut
prior to the Revolution. His maternal ancestry was of German
extraction, the first representatives of the family settling in
Massachusetts. Daniel Bleekman, the great-grandfather, was a soldier in
the Revolutionary war, and was with Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga when he
demanded the surrender of the place "in the name of the great Jehovah
and the continental congress," and was one of a party that erected a
liberty pole and protected it against the British ax by forging nails
and driving them into it. After the war he removed with his family to
Fulton county, N. Y., and the home which they made there is still owned
and occupied by his descendants. Mr. Bleekman's grandfather was a
soldier in the war of 1812, stationed at Sackett's Harbor, and he is
favorably mentioned as a hunter and trapper in the early history of New
York. Afterward he was a farmer and in general business and prominent
in local politics, first as a Democrat, then a Free-Soiler and
Republican. He was once a defeated candidate for the legislature. The
maternal ancestors came from Massachusetts to Herkimer county, N. Y.,
and were active in religious matters and identified with the Baptist
denomination.

Young Bleekman received his primary education in the common schools at
his Ohio home, and after that attended a select school until he
enlisted in the army in February, 1864, when but seventeen years of
age. He served in the Second Ohio cavalry, in Custer's "red necktie
brigade," and participated in most of the battles under General Grant
from the Wilderness to Petersburg; and then in the Wilson raid around
Petersburg and Richmond for the destruction of the Danville railroad.
In this raid the regiment suffered greatly in the loss of men and
artillery, and the young soldier was seriously injured, sent

[image: ADELBERT E. BLEEKMAN.]

to hospital and then home on a furlough. His military record was highly
creditable to him, both for courage and patriotic devotion.

Returning home at the close of the war he resumed his studies at Little
Falls Academy, where he spent a year and a half, and then at Albert
College, Belleville, Ontario, where he was a student for a like time,
but did not complete his college course for lack of means.

Mr. Bleekman came to Wisconsin in March, 1869, settling in Tomah,
Monroe county, where he had charge of the graded schools for more than
two years. He had begun the study of law before coming to Wisconsin;
and, upon taking up his residence in Tomah, resumed his law studies in
the office of George Graham, when not engaged in teaching, and, in
1870, was admitted to practice in the circuit court at Sparta, Judge
Romanzo Bunn presiding. He began practice in July, 1871, in partnership
with Judge Graham of Tomah, with whom he had studied. This partnership
was succeeded by one with H. C. Spaulding of Tomah, as junior. Removing
to Sparta in 1875, he had as junior partners, successively, C. W.
Graves and F. H. Bloomingdale. In

Page 526

August, 1886, Messrs. Bleekman and Bloomingdale entered into
partnership with Mills Tourtellotte of La Crosse, and they removed to
that city. Mr. Bleekman was at the head of this firm, which continued
for five years. Mr. Tourtelotte then retired, and Messrs. Bleekman and
Bloomingdale continued their partnership, to which were added, 1894,
Judge R. S. Reed of Hudson and Martin Bergh of La Crosse, Mr. Bleekman
still being at the head of the firm. In 1896 Judge Reed retired, and
the family is now Bleekman, Bloomingdale & Bergh. Mr. Bleekman has had
an extended practice in both state and federal courts, embracing many
cases of importance and extending into all branches of the profession.
He is regarded as an able lawyer and a safe counselor; and his standing
at the bar is among the foremost in his section of the state.

Mr. Bleekman has been a Republican since he was ten years old, when,
stirred by Republican enthusiasm, he went into his father's woods, cut
a pole, dragged it home, made a flag, upon which he sewed the letters,
cut from some poster, making the names Fremont and Dayton, and nailing
this flag to the pole, erected it; and it stood throughout the campaign
as the exponent of the principles of the budding politician. These
principles the mature man holds as strongly as he did in youth.

Mr. Bleekman was a member of the assembly in 1873, and of the state
senate in 1874 and 1875, district attorney of Monroe county in 1877 and
1878, city attorney of La Crosse in 1889. In the memorable senatorial
campaign of 1875, Mr. Bleekman supported Gen. Washburn for United
States senator, but when Matt. H. Carpenter received the nomination of
the caucus, he refused to join the "bolters," and supported the nominee
to the end in his defeat. Before the caucus Gen. Washburn wished Mr.
Bleekman to take charge of his campaign, but the declined, feeling that
he was too young and inexperienced for so responsible a place. When a
member of the senate he prepared and drafted what became known as the
Potter law, Senator Potter introducing
the bill. Mr. Bleekman is a member of the Congregational society, and
has been for thirty years.

In October, 1868, Mr. Bleekman was married, at Belleville, Ontario, to
Eliza M., daughter of Timothy and Tirza Farnham, of that place. She
died in April, 1875, leaving one child, William E. In August, 1876, he
was married to Alice (Whiton) Bush of Tomah, a relative of the former
Chief Justice Whiton of Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Bleekman have had three
children, namely: Katie, deceased; Adelbert E., now a student in Beloit
College, and Ruth, a student in the La Crosse high school.

KOEFFLER, Charles August, Jr., a member of the Milwaukee bar, and a
resident of the city in winter, though having a summer home in
Wauwatosa, is the son of Charles August and Sophia Herrmann Koeffler.
C. A. Koeffler, Sr., was a distiller up to about 1866, but after that
was engaged in farming the acquired a large property. He, with his
wife, emigrated from the Rhine provinces, Germany, directly to
Milwaukee, where he was obliged, from want of means, to work for a time
as a day laborer, although he had thoroughly learned farming and the
trades of dyeing, brewing and distilling. He established and operated
with great success the first alcohol and spirits distillery in the
state, and, for many years, was a director of one of the leading banks
of Milwaukee. He was a man of much more than ordinary ability, and
possessed a clear comprehension of the general principles of law, and
may be said to have had a judicial mind.

C. A. Koeffler, Jr., was born in Milwaukee, December 24th, 1856. His
early education was acquired at the German-English Academy, in
Milwaukee, during the principalship of that eminent educator, the late
Peter Engelmann. The character of the school at that time was very
high, and the influence of the education received there, Mr. Koeffler
thinks, has been of especial service in his professional

Page 527

career; particularly does he regard as of especial service to him the
thorough command which he there attained of the German language and
mathematics. His knowledge of geometry acquired there he regards of
great value to him in the examination of titles to real estate--one of
the most important branches of his business. After leaving the German-
English Academy he took a course in the Spencerian Business College,
and graduated therefrom in April, 1876, with a standing of 963/4 per
cent. Of this institution and its influence in his professional work
Mr. Koeffler also speaks in highest terms. After his graduation from
his school he spent two months in the private office of the principal,
Mr. Spencer, from whom he received much valuable information and
instruction relative to business and business principles. Mr.
Koeffler's first professional training was had at the business college
in commercial law. He then studied law in the office of Frank Van
Valkenburgh for two years from September, 1876, when he entered the law
department of the University of Wisconsin, from which he graduated in
1880. While he was a student there the faculty embraced such
distinguished lawyers as J. H. Carpenter, county judge of Dane county;
J. B. Cassoday, chief justice, and S. U. Pinney, associate justice of
the supreme court of Wisconsin; Romanzo Bunn, judge of the United
States district court for the western district of Wisconsin; Judge P.
L. Spooner, Hon. J. C. Sloan, Hon. Wm. F. Vilas and others. Mr.
Koeffler was admitted to the bar of the supreme court and the circuit
courts of this state, and to the United States courts in June, 1880. In
the spring of 1881 he formed a law partnership with Wilson W. Graham,
the oldest member of the bar in Milwaukee, and this partnership
continued until 1886. Since then he has practiced alone, and his
professional success has been marked. He has had many important cases,
and in one succeeded in establishing the law in this state that a
widows' homestead rights cannot be decreed by the courts to be sold in
partition,

[image: CHARLES AUGUST KOEFFLER, JR.]

the supreme court, on his appeal, reversing the decision of the lower
court. This is the first and only decision of the kind in the state.

He has always been an ardent Republican, but has not taken an active
part in politics. He was formerly a member of the Milwaukee Turnverein,
the Germania and the Milwaukee Athletic society. He is still a member
of the Milwaukee and the State Bar associations, the Alumni association
of the University of Wisconsin, the Calumet club and the Humane
society. He is unmarried.

BOYLE, William J., is one of the few successful railway men who have
also made a success as popular men in their business and in social
circles. Without the title which makes railway men prominent in the
business world, Col. Boyle enjoys the distinction of occupying a
position near the top in the passenger-handing profession, and has a
much better and more pleasant job than many men in the business who
wear greater titles than he.

Born at Chatham, Ont., August 10, 1846, Mr. Boyle early became active
in mercantile

Page 528

[image: WILLIAM J. BOYLE.]

business. When 14 years of age, after attending school in his native
village, he went to Detroit, where he entered the service of an
extensive vessel transportation company as a clerk. A few years later
he returned to Ontario, locating at Dresden as a clerk for the same
Detroit company he began work for. He entered the railway service in
1868 and has been prominent in that ever since. His first experience in
this business was at Boone, La., where he was employed by the North-
Western road as cashier of the freight office, a position he filled
with credit until 1871, when he was transferred to Cedar Rapids as
ticket agent of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern, remaining in
that capacity four years. After some time spent in leisure and
traveling he landed in Milwaukee, May 1, 1875, as assistant ticket
agent of the North-Western. The following September he was appointed
freight contracting agent of the same road in this city, which he held
for one year, when he was made Milwaukee agent of the Blue line,
returning to the North-Western a year later as city passenger agent of
the same. The following spring he was appointed general agent
of the Blue line and Canada Southern, which position he held until he
joined the forces of the chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road, as city
passenger and ticket agent. This was in October, 1889, succeeding Mr.
Ingersoll in that important position.

During the administration of Gov. Peck, Mr. Boyle was honored by the
appointment to a place upon the governor's staff, the distinction being
entirely unsought and unexpected, as Col. Boyle had always been a
Republican in politics, although never a partisan. He was reappointed
by Gov. Upham, and during the suffering in Phillips and the iron range,
as a result of the big fire and the miner's troubles, Col. Boyle had
full charge of the state aid and distribution of funds and provisions,
clothing, etc., acting, in fact, as quartermaster-general throughout.
It appears of record, and to his credit, that not a dollar was wasted
or carelessly expended in that long siege, when the man in charge was
besieged continually for assistance from hangers-on as well as from the
real sufferers, and with consummate skill Col. Boyle received and
properly handled all comers, until it became thoroughly known and
understood that it was no use to try to bull-dose or brow-beat Col.
Boyle, nor did any one entitled to consideration fail to get what he
was rightfully entitled to in the important and trying work of properly
caring for the sufferers. After all in need had been provided for and
many were carried by public charities for months after the calamity.
Col. Boyle turned over to the state about $5,000 of unused funds, which
money was afterwards distributed among several state institutions of a
charitable character. Gov. Scofield honored him for the third time as a
colonel on the staff.

Socially, Col. Boyle is well and popularly known. He is a bachelor of
the genial and popular kind. A man of considerable financial
independence, he has several "hobbies" which he indulges in to his
fullest desires. Among these is a love of fine horses, and he is
credited among horsemen with owning and

Page 529

driving the handsomest and best carriage team in the state of
Wisconsin. He is a hotel liver, and has been comfortably established at
the Plankinton house for the past twenty-three years, where he
maintains an elegant suite of rooms and where he has one of the best
private libraries in the city. Col. Boyle is also a neat, though not a
loud, dresser, and the tailor who gets his yearly trade considers
himself quite fortunate.

VERGES. Henry A., register of deeds of Milwaukee county, is one of a
large number of young men in Milwaukee who have shown, in various ways,
that they have in them the making of men equal to the duties of any
position to which they may be called. Mr. Verges is a native of
Germany, where he was born on the 21st of July, 1816. His parents,
William F. and Regina Verges, nee Schmidt, came with the family to this
country in 1868, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio. Henry A. received his
education in the public schools: and earned his first money by packing
soap in the factory of Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati. His first really
serious work was the learning of the trade off currier, and, having
completed his apprenticeship at that, he came to Milwaukee in 1882,
where he followed that occupation until 1890. He was, however, looking
for a more rapid way of getting on in the world, a very reasonable
ambition in a young man, and so he became an insurance agent, and it
may be inferred that he was a successful one, and that he made friends
wherever he went, for, without special effort, so far as known, he
received the appointment of deputy register of deeds, January 1st,
1895. This position he held until July, 1896, when, deciding to become
a candidate himself for the nomination for register before the
Republican convention, he resigned the office of deputy, and was thus
at liberty, without incurring any imputation of unfairness, to strive
for the position of his superior officer. He received the nomination
which he sought and was elected by a large majority. He made a capable
and popular

[image: HENRY A. VERGES.]

deputy register, and as register will doubtless be even more popular
than when in the subordinate position.

Mr. Verges has been an active Republican since he attained his
majority, and is chairman of the Republican committee of his ward. He
is one of those Republicans that thoroughly believe in the principles
of his party, and that it is his duty to promote them by every
honorable means in his power, and to support at the polls the men who
believe in them.

He was married May 12th, 1889, to Mollie Fitz, and they have two
daughters--Edna and Irene.

HANITCH, Louis, one of the younger members of the Superior bar, was
born October 9th, 1863, at Dayton, Ohio, the youngest of nine children-
-three girls and six boys. His father, John Hanitch, was a native of
Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and came to the United States when nineteen
years of age. He settled in Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged in
mercantile business, was a wholesale grocer when he died in 1868, and
had accumulated considerable property. His ancestors were

Page 530

[image: LOUIS HANITCH.]

artisans, and served in the wars during the reign of the first
Napoleon. The great-grandfather was in Napoleon's army that marched to
Moscow. The mother of Louis Hanitch, whose maiden name was Mary E.
Schilb, was born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, and came to this country
with her parents when a child, they locating in northern Ohio, and
subsequently removing to Dayton, where she was married to John Hanitch
in 1844. Her ancestors were peasants.

Louis Hanitch completed the course in the public schools of Dayton, was
two years at private schools, two years at the Ohio State University,
and pursued a course in book-keeping at a business college. While in
college he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. In February, 1883,
he, in company with an older brother, went to Burleigh county, Dakota
territory, onto a wheat farm, where he remained until October, 1884
when he was twenty-one years of age. He then went into the law office
of Flannery & Cooke, in Bismarck, and began the study of law. He was
admitted to the bar in the fall of 1886, and immediately began practice
at Bismarck. In the spring of 1887 he was appointed district attorney 
for Burleigh county, D. T., the office becoming vacant by the removal of 
Geo. P. Flannery to Minneapolis. (To the instruction and training of Mr. 
Flannery, while studying in his office, Mr. Hanitch ascribes whatever of 
success and ability he has had in the practice of his profession.) The 
office to which he had been appointed was one of considerable 
importance, as there were six counties attached to Burleigh county for 
judicial purposes. This office he held for two years. In January, 1889, 
he was appointed assistant attorney-general for the territory of Dakota, 
which office he held for about six months, or until a change in the 
administration. In 1889 he formed a partnership with John E. Carland, 
which lasted until the latter's removal to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 
where he is now United States district judge. Mr. Hanitch was engaged in 
almost all important litigation that arose in the western part of North 
Dakota from 1887 to 1891. In the latter year he removed to Superior, and 
opened a law office with Geo. J. Douglas. In February, 1892, Mr. Hanitch 
and his partner became associated with another firm under the name of 
Ross, Dwyer, Smith, Hanitch & Douglas. Mr. Douglas afterward removing to 
Chicago and Mr. Smith being elected judge of the superior court of 
Douglas county, the firm has since been Ross, Dwyer & Hanitch. The firm 
has taken part in almost all the important litigation in the county 
during the last six years. In February last the Northwestern National 
bank of Superior, having gotten into some financial difficulties, Mr. 
Hanitch was elected a director and president and placed in control of 
the bank, for the purpose of straightening out its affairs and reducing 
the capital stock, which was found to be necessary. As soon as this is 
accomplished Mr. Hanitch will give up the office of president, as he 
does not purpose abandoning the practice of law.

Mr. Hanitch has been a Democrat, but not active in politics. He was
president of the

Page 531

Jefferson club of Superior in 1892, and in the campaign of 1896 he was
with the gold Democrats. He is a director of the Superior Commercial
club. He and his family attend the Presbyterian church of West
Superior, of which he is a member of the board of trustees.

Mr. Hanitch was married, March 12th, 1890, at Los Angeles, Cal., to
Elizabeth S. Farquhar. They have had three children, only one of whom
is now living.

FREAR, James Archibald, district attorney for St. Croix county, was
born in Hudson, Wisconsin, October 24th, 1861. His father, Aaron H.
Frear, is a clerk in the adjutant-general's office in Washington. He
served in the army, during the civil war, three years and a half, and
is at present commander of the Garfield Post, G. A. R., in Washington.
D. C. He is also prominent in the Independent Order of Good Templars.
He is of German descent. Mr. Frear's mother was Margaret J. Rickard,
who is of New England ancestry on both her father's and mother's side.
In 1865 the family removed from Hudson to Chicago, where they remained
for some five years, when they returned to Hudson. There they lived
until 1879 and then moved to Washington. Young Frear attended the
public schools in Chicago and Hudson, and was glad to have that
privilege. He had a brief term in Lawrence University, Appleton, in
1878-9, but when the family took up their residence in Washington, he
entered the National Law University there, from which he graduated in
1883. He then took a post-graduate course and was admitted to the
supreme court of the District of Columbia in 1884. Previous to this,
however, he had entered the United States signal corps of the army,
served at various posts for five years, and finally at headquarters in
Washington, where he completed his law course.

After being admitted to the bar he returned to Hudson, where he was,
for a year, in the office of Senator Spooner. He then began

[image: JAMES ARCHIBALD FREAR.]

the practice of law, and has become a successful practitioner. He has
held several minor local officers, among which was city attorney of
Hudson. In 1895 Mr. Frear served as judge advocate of Wisconsin
division, Sons of Veterans. In April, 1896, he was appointed district
attorney of St. Croix county by Gov. Upham, and at the fall election
following was elected to the same position.

Although too young for a war record, he has been interested in military
matters. Besides his service in the signal corps of the regular army,
he helped to organize the Hudson City Guards in 1885; has been
interested in later organizations up to the present time, and is now
connected with the quartermaster's department of the Third regiment of
the Wisconsin National Guard. He delivered the memorial oration at the
congressional cemetery in Washington, D. C., in 1897, and has the
reputation of being a pleasing speaker.

Politically Mr. Frear is a Republican in principle, showing his faith
by his works.

He was married in March, 1889, to Hattie E. Wood of Washington; and
they have two children--Marguerite M. and Philip A. Frear.

Page 532

[image: OTTO STRACK.]

STRACK, Otto, is the son of August Strack, a forester of Germany, whose
ancestors for five or six generations have held the same position. His
mother, Emma, nee Unger, is the daughter of a prominent musician. Mr.
Strack was born in Roebel, northern Germany, where he received his
early education in the public schools. After the father died his mother
moved to Hamburg, and he went to Wismar on the East sea to attend the
high school of that city, and after graduating from this school he
learned the practical trade of a carpenter and joiner in the same city.
From here he followed his mother to Hamburg, and learned also the
blacksmith and mason trades before he entered the building school of
that city. After graduating from that school he studied building art at
the poly-technical schools of Berlin and Vienna, and graduated in this
special course in 1879. Two years later he came to Chicago with a
reputation as an architect of great ability, both practical and
technical, which enabled him to secure important positions as
architect, and later as civil engineer with one of the largest bridge
building and iron construction contractors of that city. In 1886 he 
opened an office for himself as architect in Chicago, and, having built 
many fine and notable buildings there, he had also some work in 
Milwaukee, such as the malt house of the Hansen Hop & Malt Co., which 
was destroyed in the Third ward fire, and the office building of Romadka 
Brothers on Third street. Taking a liking to Milwaukee he concluded to 
make it his home, and since 1888 he has been a resident of the city. 
Shortly after settling in Milwaukee he accepted the position of 
supervising architect of the Pabst Brewing Co., which position he held 
for four years, during which time he erected various small and large 
buildings in the city and all over the country, and also superintended 
the Pabst building and planned and executed the café in that building, 
which is one of the finest places of such character in the country. 
Since that time he has opened an office for himself in the Pabst 
building, and has erected some of the best buildings in the city--among 
others, the Pabst theater, one of the finest and most conveniently 
constructed theaters in this country, the Pabst power house, the 
addition to the Pabst residence, the residences of Messrs. Goodrich, 
Kalvelage and Borchert, the Blatz hotel, the Empire block,  which 
contains one of the most complete bar-rooms ö nd restaurants in the 
country. He is at present working at the Pabst Union hotel in Chicago, a 
very imposing building of fine architectural details and skillful 
construction. He has also planned and superintended the erection of a 
number of structures for business purposes, such as the entire Hansen 
malting plant, the Gugler Lithographic institute, the Wm. Rahr's Sons 
brewery and malting plant at Manitowoc, and many others; most of these 
structures show architectural skill and taste of a high order and 
contain the promise of more such fine work to come.

In the political matters of his adopted country Mr. Strack has not been
indifferent, but has taken an interest in the controversies of parties,
and so far as he has taken part in practical

Page 533

politics it has been in affiliation with the Republican party.

He is a member of the La Fayette Masonic Lodge and of the Ivanhoe
Commandery, and of the Deutscher club.

On the 10th of October, 1891, he was married to Carrie Yahr, a daughter
of F. T. Yahr, a banker of Princeton, Wisconsin, and president of
Charles Baumbach Drug company of Milwaukee, of which company he himself
is also a heavy stockholder. Mr. and Mrs. Strack have two children--
Emma and Elsbeth.

FLANDERS, James Greeley, a resident of Milwaukee from childhood, and a
member of the law firm of Winkler, Flanders, Smith, Bottum & Vilas, was
born in New London, New Hampshire, on the 13th of December, 1844. He
received his preparatory education at Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H.,
from which he graduated in 1861, and the same year passed the
examination for admission to Yale College, but he did not at once
proceed with his college course. Two years he spent in teaching and in
business, and in 1863 took up his studies at Yale College, from which
he graduated in 1867. The following year was spent in reading law in
the office of Emmons & Van Dyke of Milwaukee, after which he entered
the Columbia College law school of New York city, whence he was
graduated in 1869 and was at once admitted to the bar of the New York
supreme court. Returning to Milwaukee he began practice in July, 1869,
and has continued it without interruption since. He was first
associated with De Witt Davis, under the firm name of Davis & Flanders,
with whom he remained for five years. After the dissolution of this
firm, Mr. Flanders was associated with E. H. Bottum for eleven years,
the latter being the junior member of the firm. In 1888 the present
firm of Winkler, Flanders, Smith Bottum & Vilas was formed, which is
regarded as one of the strongest legal firms in the state. Mr. Flanders
had one of the best educational preparations for his profession,

[image: JAMES GREELEY FLANDERS.]

and his success in it has demonstrated the practical value of such
preparation. His systematic study of the law covered two years, and
this and his robust physical constitution and intellectual vigor have
given him a facility in the preparation and trial of cases that is a
source of the power conceded to him in his professional work. He has
from the beginning of his career devoted himself assiduously to his
profession, and although greatly interested in the leading questions of 
political, industrial and social life, he has seldom actively
participated in the partisan struggles to which they have given rise.
In politics he has usually been in accord with the Democratic party,
and represented the First ward, as such, in the legislative assembly in
1877. He also represented the same ward in the school board form 1875
to 1877. He was a delegate-at-large to the Democratic national
convention in Chicago in 1896, but was unable to accept its platform,
and he joined those who held the Indianapolis convention, which adopted
a "sound money" platform, nominating thereon Palmer and Buckner as
their candidates for president and vice-president. He was also a

Page 534

delegate-at-large to the Indianapolis convention. During the ensuing
campaign Mr. Flanders made several able speeches in advocacy of the
maintenance of the financial integrity of the government and in
opposition to any and all experimenting with free coinage of silver at
the ratio of sixteen to one of gold.

He is a member of the Milwaukee, the Deutscher and the Country clubs,
but is not what is termed a "club man."

Mr. Flanders was married June 18th, 1873, to Mary C. Haney, daughter of
Robert Haney, deceased. Their children are: Charlotte B., Kent and
Roger Y. Flanders--the eldest twenty-one years, and the youngest
fourteen.

Mr. Flanders is descended from a New England family, several members of
which have achieved distinction as lawyers, so that the legal
profession has come to be a sort of inheritance in the family.

His grandfather, James Flanders, who was born in 1740 and died in 1820,
was distinguished as a lawyer and legislator in New Hampshire, and
participated in the Revolutionary conflicts, both civil and military. 
His father, Walter P. Flanders, also a native of New Hampshire, was a
lawyer by profession and practical several years in his native state,
where he was twice a member of the legislature. In 1848 Walter P.
Flanders removed with his family to Milwaukee, and became a member of
the bar of the city, but did not engage in the practice of his
profession. He invested largely in real estate, and was one of the
promoters, if not the projectors, of the Milwaukee & Mississippi
railroad, and was first treasurer of the company. He was also prominent
in other enterprises and in the early history of the city. He is
remembered by the older residents for his strong character and
distinguished personal presence and bearing. His wife, J. G. Flanders'
mother, was Susan Everett Greeley of Newburyport, Mass., from whom Mr.
Flanders takes his middle name.

The practice in which Mr. Flanders has been engaged has involved every 
branch of the profession, and he seems equally proficient in all. His 
leading characteristics as a lawyer are thorough study of his cases, 
fertility of resource, courage and persistence in the pursuit of his 
methods and devotion to the interests of his clients. As an advocate he 
is direct, forcible and comprehensive in argument, pungent in speech, 
dignified and honorable in his bearing in court and among the members of 
his profession.

ADAMS, Charles Kendall, president of the University of Wisconsin, is a
native of Derby, Vermont, born on the 24th of January, 1835. The first
ten years of his life were spent in his native town, and the next ten
years upon a farm in that vicinity. During the winter months of a
portion of this period he attended the district school, showing more
than the usual aptitude for study, especially in mathematics, mastering
algebra, geometry, trigonometry and surveying before he was seventeen
years old. He then taught district school for the next three winters,
thus earning the money to enable him to attend Derby Academy in the
spring of 1854 and 1855. In the fall of 1855, he went to Iowa, whither
he was followed by his parents the next spring. It was not until after
he had attained his majority that he decided to fit himself for a
classical course in college. Although his parents could not render him
any financial assistance in the accomplishment of his ambition, he set
himself earnestly to the task; and by arduous and persistent study in
the Denmark Academy, Iowa, he had completed his preparation in one
year, and he entered the classical course of the University of Michigan
in the fall of 1857. During his four years a an under-graduate in the
university he supported himself by manual labor, by teaching and by
assisting in the administration of the university library, and was
graduated in 1861. The following year he pursued a graduate course of
study, at the end of which he received the master's degree, and was
immediately appointed

Page 535

instructor in Latin and history. In 1863 he was appointed assistant
professor, and this position he held until 1867, when he was advanced
to a full professorship with the privilege of spending a year and a
half in Europe. This time was occupied in study in the universities of
Germany, France and Italy. Returning home, he entered upon the duties
of his professorship in the autumn of 1868. Very soon thereafter he was
the first in America to establish the historical seminary method of
advanced instruction modeled after that of Germany. Upon the
establishment of a school of political science at the university, Prof.
Adams was made its dean, and at the same time received the appointment
of non-resident lecturer in history in Cornell University. These
positions he held with great credit until 1885, when he received
appointment to the presidency of Cornell University, which position he
occupied until 1892. That his administration of the affairs of the
university was successful is shown by the fact that during the seven
years of his presidency the number of students increased from five
hundred and sixty to more than fifteen hundred, and the endowment of
the university was increased by nearly $2,000,000. The courses of study
were reorganized and multiplied, facilities for graduate work
increased, and the institution strengthened and broadened on its
literary side to correspond with its position with respect to natural
and applied sciences. He also presented to the trustees an elaborate
argument in favor of the establishment of a school of law; and, though
they were at first not inclined to favor it, they finally yielded their
judgment to his, and it was organized, and within a few years it had
become one of the leading law schools of the country.

In 1892 Dr. Adams resigned the presidency of Cornell University with
purpose of thenceforth devoting himself to literary work, principally
in the writing of history; but, during the summer, he received several
invitations to resume his educational labors, one of which was from the
regents of the University of Wisconsin,

[image: CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS.]

and this he finally accepted, entering upon the duties of the position
in September of that year. The wisdom of the choice of the regents was
soon apparent, for the first year of his administration the number of
students increased from one thousand and ninety-two to one thousand two
hundred and eighty-nine, and during the collegiate year of 1896-7 it
had risen to one thousand six hundred and fifty. Since Dr. Adams'
accession to the presidency of the university, many important
improvements have been made, the faculty has been strengthened and
enlarged, its courses of study, especially for advanced work, has been
broadened and deepened, its popularity in the state greatly enhanced,
and it now occupies a position among the half-dozen great educational
institutions of the country.

Upon the resignation of Dr. Adams from the presidency of Cornell
University, the trustees of that institution adopted the following
formal expression of their personal regard for him and their
appreciation of his official labors:

"It is in obedience both to a sense of duty and to a feeling of strong
personal respect and

Page 536

attachment that the trustees of Cornell University place upon their
minutes this formal expression of their cordial appreciation of the
services of Dr. Charles Kendall Adams as their chief executive officer
during the past seven years.

"He came to the presidency at a time when a great addition to the
material resources of the institution demanded commensurate effort. New
departments were to be created, old departments enlarged and
reorganized; large additions were to be made to the faculty and great
extension given to the equipment.

"It is not too much to say that President Adams distinguished himself
by the fidelity with which his multifarious duties were discharged. The
formation of his plans was marked by wisdom, and their execution by
unwearied labor and care. In the choice of professors he showed
remarkable sagacity; rarely in the history of any institution has such
a series of eminent professors been brought into any faculty as that
which has been introduced under his administration into Cornell
University. A very striking testimony to the wisdom of his nominations
is seen in the efforts which other leading institutions have made to
attract into their own faculties the men he had thus selected.

"In the relations between the university and the national and state 
governments, and especially with the department of public instruction
in the state of New York, President Adams has also shown his ability to
deal with men in the conduct of large public affairs.

"As regards the influence of the university on the public and wide
discussion of the leading educational topics of the time, President
Adams by his writings and speeches has materially influenced the most
enlightened public opinion of his country, and as a writer upon
historical subjects he has done work which has elicited praise from the
highest sources on both sides of the Atlantic.

"His administration will be remembered in the history of Cornell
University as equally important to the interests of the institution
and creditable to himself, and we tender to him as a scholar, as an
educator and as a man the assurance of our sincere respect and regard,
with our best wishes for his future success and happiness.

"Resolved, That President Adams be requested to sit for a portrait to
be placed in the university, and that the chairman of this board be
empowered to carry out this resolution."

President Adams published, in 1872, "Democracy and Monarchy in France,"
a volume that soon passed to a third edition and was translated into
German in 1873. He also published, a few years later, a "Manual of
Historical Literature," a third edition of which, revised and enlarged,
was published in 1888. He edited with historical and critical notes
three volumes of "British Orations," and, in 1892, published the "Life
and Work of Christopher Columbus." From 1891 to 1896 he was editor-in-
chief of "Johnson's Universal Encyclopaedia," with thirty-five
prominent scholars as his associates. President Adams, in 1886,
received from Harvard University the degree of doctor of laws; he is
also a member of many learned societies, and in 1890 was president of
the American Historical association. An accomplished scholar, a born
educator and a man of intellectual power, his connection with the
university has lifted it to a higher plane in scholarship and imparted
a new impulse to the educational forces of the state.

NICHOLSON, The Rt. Rev. Isaac, Lea, S. T. D., fifth bishop of the
Milwaukee Episcopal diocese, was born in Baltimore, Jan. 18, 1844. His
early education was received at St. Timothy's Hall, Catonville,
Maryland, at that time a church school of high grade, and taught by the
late Rev. Dr. Bokkelen of Buffalo. His health becoming impaired, he did
not at once enter college, but spent seven years in commercial life in
Baltimore, in his father's banking house, finally becoming a member of
the firm. Later, he entered Dartmouth

Page 537

College, where, coming under the influence of the Rev. James Haughton,
now of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and of the present Bishops Talbot and
Abiel Leonard, who at that time were also students at Dartmouth, he
turned his thoughts toward the ministry. Graduating at Dartmouth in
1869, he entered the Virginia Theological seminary, from which he
graduated in 1871. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Whittingham in
1871, at Grace church, Baltimore, and ordained to the priesthood in St.
Paul's church, Baltimore, in 1872, by Bishop Pinkney. As deacon he
served as assistant to the Rev. James Haughton at Hanover, New
Hampshire. Later, he became assistant to the Rev. Dr. Hodges at St.
Paul's church, Baltimore, and then succeeded to the rectorship of the
Ascension church, at Westminster, Maryland. This was in 1875. In
December, 1879, he accepted a call to the rectorship of St. Mark's
church. Philadelphia, one of the most influential churches in the east,
and where he remained until his elevation to the episcopate. In 1883 he
was elected bishop of Indiana, but declined the honor. In 1890 the
degree of Sacred Doctor of Theology was conferred upon him by Nashotah.
Dr. Nicholson had been for several years a trustee of Nashotah, and at
the death of the president, Dr. A. D. Cole, he was elected president,
but declined. He has been a member of the Missionary Council of the
Episcopal church since its formation in 1886, and is also a trustee of
the American Church Building Fund commission. Bishop Nicholson was
consecrated in St. Mark's church, Philadelphia, October 28, 1891, by
the bishop of Chicago, with the bishops of Pennsylvania and Maryland as
co-consecrators. He was enthroned in his cathedral in Milwaukee
November 10 the same year. The election of Dr. Nicholson to the
episcopate of Milwaukee was a fortunate one for the diocese. Through
his efforts, with the aid of wealthy friends in the east, many of its
institutions have been cleared of debt and new life infused in others.

[image: RT. REV. ISAAC LEA NICHOLSON.]

His career as a banker has served him in excellent stead and enabled
him to bring his charge through a sea of trouble of more than ordinary
severity. The Milwaukee Episcopal diocese is a missionary diocese;
receiving aid from the church for the support of its missions. The way
has been paved by Bishop Nicholson, however, for its emancipation, if
such it can be called, and before the close of the year it is expected
to complete its first year as a free and independent diocese.

RAND, Henry Harrison, a resident of north Greenfield, Milwaukee county,
and prominent in the councils of the Republican party, was born in
Rindge, Cheshire county, New Hampshire, in 1840. He is the son of
Liberty and Abbie Whitney Rand. Liberty Rand was prominent in town and
county affairs in New Hampshire, and a worthy and useful citizen. H. H.
Rand's great-grand-father, Col. Daniel Rand, who served through the
Revolutionary war, was captain of a company of minute men that marched
from Rindge, N. H., at the first call for troops in the

Page 538

[image: HENRY HARRISON RAND.]

beginning of the Revolutionary struggle. "The Rand mansion," built in
1773-4, still stands on the "Rand farm," which was reclaimed from the
wilderness, then known as Rowley, Canada. This farm has always remained
in possession of the family, and is now owned by H. H. Rand, the
subject of this sketch. His great-grandmother was Mary Hemmenway of
Shrewsbury, Mass. Her family is one from whom have sprung persons of
distinction in the various callings.

H. H. Rand received his education in the common schools of his native
place. He enlisted for service against the rebellion in the Sixth
regiment, New Hampshire infantry, but was rejected by the examining
board on account of the loss of the sight of the right eye. He
subsequently enlisted in the Fortieth Massachusetts regiment, but was
again rejected for the same reason.

In the fall of 1867 he came to Wisconsin and settled on a farm near
Madison, where he remained for some years.

He is a Republican in politics, and with one exception never voted the
ticket of any other part; and that exception was in a judicial
election where there was no other candidate in the field. He has for a
number of years been engaged in official life--has been clerk of the
committee on claims in the United States senate; chief of the revenue
division of the treasury department of the United States government;
secretary of the Wisconsin Republican state central committee, three
years; member of the executive committee of the Republican National
league, two terms, and assistant secretary of the Republican national
committee, three years. During the presidential campaign of 1896 he was
assistant to Gen. Perry S. Heath, having in charge the letting of all
contracts for campaign printing, and the organizing of an extensive
newspaper service. His long residence in Washington and connection with
the Republican national committee have given him a wide acquaintance
with public men, and rendered his services of great value in the
conduct of a campaign. Mr. Rand is an enthusiastic and efficient
campaign worker, as the records of his party campaigns abundantly
testify. He is a man who believes that campaign work may be and should
be done with that regard for honesty and honor which is the rule in all
other employment. He is at present interested in mining and real estate
enterprises, with headquarters in Chicago. He is a member of the
Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Rand was married January 1st, 1865, to Harriette E. Laurence, and
they have four children--Grace Minnie, Amy Gertrude, Alice Marion and
Annie Isabelle.

TIBBITS, Francis G., long conspicuous in business circles in Milwaukee,
was born in Whitesborough, New York, October 28th, 1819, and was the
son of Freedom and Sophronia Guiteau Tibbits. His grandfather, Joseph
Tibbits, a native of Newport, Rhode Island, settled in Vermont, and
removed thence to Whitesborough about the beginning of the present
century. His father, Freedom Tibbits, took part in the battle of

Page 539

Sackett's Harbor, came to Milwaukee in the early forties, and a few
years later took up his residence in Madison, where he died in 1863.
Mr. Tibbits' mother was a daughter of Dr. Francis Guiteau, a descendant
of a Huguenot refugee who settled at Whitesborough, N. Y., and there
passed the remainder of his life. When Francis was but two years of age
his mother died, and he was placed in the care of his grandmother
Tibbits, who brought him up. His education was secured at the public
schools, the local academy, Oneida Institute and a school in New
Prunswick, N. J., where his attention was mainly devoted to civil
engineering. At the age of fifteen years he went to sea on the United
States frigate Delaware, the voyage lasting two years. Upon his return
he resumed his engineering studies and completed the prescribed course.
In 1837 he was employed in the survey of a railroad from Ogdensburg to
Lake Champlain, and, afterwards, in a topographical survey on Lake
Ontario, including service at Sackett's Harbor and Oswego. In 1840-42
he was engaged in surveying the route of the New York & Erie railroad,
and afterward, for two years in surveying in the Indian Territory.

In 1844 he came to Milwaukee, where he was in the lumber business for a
short time, when he formed a partnership with L. J. Farwell in the
hardware and stove trade, which was continued until 1849. About this
time he invested in property in Madison, and the following year removed
to that city, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits for som
twenty years. In 1868 he disposed of his business in Madison, and
going, to Philadelphia, engaged in the wholesale trade in farm
implements. This business he conducted successfully for six years, then
he went to Europe, and spent one year there in settling the affairs of
ex-Governor Sprague of Rhode Island. Returning to Philadelphia he sold
his extensive business there and moved to Chicago where he made
investments, some of which he still retains. In 1880 he again

[image: FRANCIS G. TIBBITS.]

became a resident of Milwaukee, and this is still his home, his time
being principally occupied in caring for his property.

He is one of the directors of the old Milwaukee & Mississippi railroad,
and a participant in its construction. He has taken a commendable pride
in the growth and prosperity of Milwaukee and the state; was one of the
first members of the Milwaukee Historical society, and while a resident
of Madison was greatly interested in the State Historical society; and,
in all respects, he is a worthy and valued citizen.

On a political questions he is a Democrat, but has not taken an active
part in political affairs and has never held an office or been a
candidate for one.

In religion he is an Episcopalian, and was one of the first
communicants of St. Paul's church of Milwaukee, and is now one of its
most interested and active members.

In 1880 Mr. Tibbits was married to Mrs. Eliza Martin, widow of James B.
Martin, who died two years previously, Mr. and Mrs. Tibbits had known
each other in youth. Mrs. Tibbits died February 6th, 1893.

Page 540

[image: CURTIS THADDEUS BENEDICT.]

BENEDICT, Curtis Thaddeus, was born at Deposit, in Delaware county, N.
Y., November 19th, 1837. He is descended from Thomas Benedict, who came
from Nottinghamshire, England, to Massachusetts Bay in 1638, and soon
afterward removed to South-old, Long Island, and thence to Norwalk,
Conn., where, and in the vicinity of which, many of his descendants are
still living. By the marriage of an ancestor with a granddaughter of
Gen. N. Herkimer he has Dutch blood in his veins, while from the Shaw
and Dayton families on his mother's side she has Scotch and French
blood. He was educated at the common schools at Deposit and in the
academies at Hamilton and Norwich, N. Y. He came to Wisconsin in
October, 1856, and lived at Janesville, writing in the office of the
register of deeds, teaching school and serving as book-keeper and
financial man for The Janesville Standard during the financial
cataclysm of 1857. Subsequently he returned to New York and read law at
Norwich, and was admitted to practice in all the courts of that state
on November 17th, 1859. In June, 1860, at Janesville, Wis., he was 
admitted to practice in the circuit courts of Wisconsin. The following 
winter he spent in Iowa, but again returned to New York in April, 1861, 
and soon afterward commenced to practice law at Ovid. In 1863 he ran on 
the Republican ticket for county attorney, but was defeated in the 
Democratic avalanche that swept the state, carrying Horatio Seymour into 
the governor's chair. Subsequently he became attached to the army as 
chief clerk under Gen. H. Biggs of the quartermaster's department on the 
staff of Gen. B. F. Butler of Fortress Monroe, in the quartermaster 
general's office at Washington, and in charge of the purchasing 
department at Philadelphia, Pa. In 1867 he went to Rochester, Minn., and 
commenced again the practice of law. He was soon after elected clerk of 
the district court and city attorney. In 1875 and 1876 he was in 
partnership with Charles M. Start afterward attorney general, and now 
chief justice of Minnesota. While living in Minnesota he was active in 
politics, making campaign speeches for the Republican party, attending 
its conventions, serving on the state committee, and in 1872 was a 
delegate to and a vice-president of the National Republican convention 
that met at Philadelphia. In 1875 he was nominated and ran on the 
Republican ticket for probate judge, but was beaten by a few votes by 
his Democratic opponent, a retired clergyman, who made a personal house-
to-house canvass of the county.

In 1878, his health being impaired under stress of office work, he went
into the employ of the C. & N.-W. R. R. Co. and procured the titles to
most of the right-of-way for what is now a part of that railway, from
Tracy, Minn., to the Sioux river in Dakota, crossing the prairies by
following government section stakes and the stakes of the railway
survey.

In 1880 he removed to Milwaukee, and entered into partnership with Col.
Geo. B. Goodwin in the practice of law, withdrawing from the
partnership in 1883, to give his attention specially and only to
soliciting for patents and to patent litigation. He is now the senior

Page 541

member of the firm of Benedict & Morsell, which firm is doing a large
and lucrative business in patent law. Mr. Benedict is employed much of
the time in suits in the circuit courts of the United States in this
and other circuits, being of late often called to Boston, New York,
Washington and other eastern cities in litigation in the patent office,
in the circuit courts and the supreme court of the United States.

On December, 21st, 1870, at Geneva, N. Y., he married Janet McCrea
Doig. There are no children living of this marriage.

HYDE, Edwin, was born in Keinton, Somersetshire, England, June 8, 1828.
He received a common school education in England and came to America in
1857, locating in Chicago. In 1858 he removed to Milwaukee, and has
resided in that city ever since. Mr. Hyde has held many public offices
and for a considerable length of time. He was a member of the Milwaukee
common council in 1861, 1866, 1896 and 1897. In the county board he was
a supervisor of Milwaukee county in the years 1860, 1870, 1871, 1874
and 1875. He has served in the state legislature of Wisconsin, both in
the upper and lower houses. He had a seat in the assembly in 1867, 1877
and 1878. He was state senator in 1879 and 1880. Mr. Hyde is a
Republican and was last elected to the common council from a previously
Democratic district, the Fourth ward. The Methodist church has always
received a great deal of attention from Mr. Hyde and he is now an
ordained elder of the church with power to perform marriage ceremonies.
Mr. Hyde's interest in religious work is of long standing and
originated in England. For many years he has been a local preacher, and
when a young man he came very near entering the ministry. In Milwaukee
he has been connected with the Grand Avenue Methodist church (formerly
the Spring Street Methodist church) for considerably more than a
quarter of a century. For a period of thirty-five

[image: EDWIN HYDE.]

years he was superintendent of the Sunday school of this church. He
resigned October 28, 1896, and was then elected honorary superintendent
of the Sunday school for life, an unprecedented honor. Mr. Hyde has
been in the stone and contracting business for a great many years, a
member of the firm of Cook & Hyde. This firm built the Belvedere block,
the first big apartment house in Milwaukee.

MILLER, Benjamin K., lawyer, was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, May
6, 1830. Nine years later his parents moved to Milwaukee, where Mr.
Miller has since resided. For two years, from 1846 to 1848, he studied
at Washington College, Pennsylvania, preparatory to entering upon the
study of law. He studied law with his father, the Hon. Andrew G.
Miller, who was judge of the United States court from 1838 until his
resignation in 1873. He was admitted to practice in 1851, and on the
first day of January entered the law firm of Finch & Lynde with Henry
M. Finch. The firm at that time consisted of Asahel Finch and William
P. Lynde, and upon

Page 542

[image: BENJAMIN K. MILLER.]

the addition of the two new members the firm name became Finches, Lynde
& Miller. This firm continued unchanged until the decease of Mr.
Miller's partners. In 1885 his sons, Messrs, Benjamin K. Miller, Jr.,
and George P. Miller, were admitted to the firm, and in 1890 the Hon.
George H. Noyes, upon his resignation as judge of the superior court,
became associated with the Messrs, Miller. The firm name was then
changed to Miller, Noyes & Miller, and so stood, occupying the
reputation of one of the leading law firms of the west, until 1895,
when George H. Wahl was admitted, and the firm became Miller, Noyes,
Miller & Wahl. For some years past, Mr. Miller has given his time
almost wholly as counsel for corporations and estates. Of this branch
of the law Mr. Miller stands as the recognized leader of the profession
in Milwaukee. He serves as director in many large and prominent
corporations, both abroad and at home, among them being the
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company, the First National Bank of
Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Gas Light company and the Wisconsin Telephone
company. Mr. Miller holds no public office of his own choice, but he has 
always been closely identified with every public improvement and 
everything, of any nature, tending to develop and enlarge the city's 
importance is sure to command his free and hearty support. He has taken 
an important part in the erection and maintenance of many of the city's 
important institutions, notable among them being the Milwaukee club, the 
Hotel Pfister and St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which he is a staunch 
and devoted member. He is still actively engaged in practice, and it is 
but a short time since that his fellow members of the bar attested their 
respect and admiration for him and his many sterling qualities by 
procuring and presenting, unknown to him, a marble bust that now 
occupies, and is destined to occupy for all time, a prominent place in 
the Milwaukee Law Library, to which he has ever been a generous 
contributor, his latest gift being a donation of $5,000 to purchase 
needed additions to the library and which he has unselfishly presented 
as the contribution of Finches, Lynde & Miller. A leader in his 
profession and a pioneer in the practice in Milwaukee, he is universally 
respected and esteemed. He has ever taken considerable interest in 
social affairs, and as an citizen there are none more public-spirited or 
more devoted to the general good of all people.

ROBERTS, David Evan, a resident of Superior and county judge of Douglas
county, is the son of Hugh and Jane Evans Roberts, both natives of
Denbighshire, North Wales, who came to this country, the former in
1848, and the latter in 1839, and settled on a farm in Lewis country,
N. Y. They were hardworking, honest people, temperate in all things and
of sound morals. To them religion was a reality, and life serious in
all its aspects and relations.

D. E. Roberts was born in the town of Florence, Oneida county, N. Y.,
January 18th, 1854. His schooling was limited to three months in the
winter after he was seven years

Page 543

of age. His father insisted on the legal proposition that a minor's
time and services belong to the parents; and, when the young man became
of age, the father intimated that "the world is wide;" and the young
man, thinking so too, left home and took the making of his fortune into 
his own hands. Before he was twenty-two years old he had taught country
school two terms and had saved $200. Realizing that his education was
too narrow and deficient to enable him to make anything of himself, he
determined to improve it, and, with that end in view, he entered the
State Normal School at Potsdam, N. Y., and graduated therefrom, in the
higher English course, in June, 1878, at the age of twenty-four.
Failing to secure a position as teacher, and his money all gone, his
prospects were not flattering. In this perplexity his mother offered to
loan him money enough for a course in college. Accepting this loan, he
entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, N. Y., securing one of the
scholarships provided by the state. He took a course designed for those
intending to enter the legal profession; and, as he found the course
easy, he spent about half of his time studying law in the office of
James L. Baker. He was not prominent in college societies, as his
financial means were limited, and he felt it important not to put
himself in positions that might involve unnecessary expense. In a
literary society to which he belonged, however, he was called one of
the "heavyweight debaters." While in the university he was assistant
editor, for one year, of The Cornell Review--a monthly magazine
published by students. In June, 1880, his funds were gone and his
college work ended. Then began his search for work, and, within a
month, he had visited Kansas, but found nothing, and a little later was
near Colorado Springs working for two dollars a day in a stone quarry,
having arrived there a total stranger with only one dollar and a half
in his pocket. A little latter he was working in a silver mine at
better wages, and by November had accumulated money sufficient to
warrant

[image: DAVID EVAN ROBERTS.]

his beginning a course in the law school of the University of Michigan.
By economy and work during vacations, he completed the course and
graduated with the degree of B. L. in April, 1882. At an examination,
the fall before, for admission to the bar, he was one of three only out
of eighty applicants who passed. Borrowing money enough to leave town
after graduation, he landed in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where his
financial affairs were improved through his ability to do carpenter
work, for which he received twenty-five cents an hour, and at which he
worked fifteen hours a day. In January, 1883, he went to Superior,
which was then a place of only about a thousand inhabitants, but it had
natural advantages and was thought to have a promising future. His only
capital was an education, a carpenter's kit and any amount of
determination. He began the practice of his profession, meeting with
about the usual successes and discouragements of other young lawyers.
He became connected with and was at the bottom of a suit to set aside
as void a deed of land from Douglas county to the Northern Pacific
Railroad company. The case, which involved

Page 544

$200,000 in value, was hotly contested through the state and national
courts, an array of distinguished counsel being employed by the
company. After five years the case was lost to the plaintiff through
the decision of the United States supreme court. During the progress of
this suit the "boom" was on in Superior, and large blocks of this
property were sold and the proceeds divided between the claimants, and
Mr. Roberts received some thousands as his share. Another notable case
in which Mr. Roberts was counsel for the plaintiff was Bratt vs. the
Butcher's Union. The union sought to control the price of meats, and
thus drove Bratt out of the business, because he would not yield to
their dictation. He sought redness through a suit for conspiracy to
control trade. Mr. Roberts managed the plaintiff's side alone against
seventeen lawyers, and secured a verdict for his client. The case was
appealed, but the union was shattered.

Mr. Roberts has always been an active Republican, and was elected
district attorney in the fall of 1884, but was defeated for re-election
two years later. In February, 1889, Gov. Rusk appointed him county
judge of Douglas county to fill a vacancy, and in April following he
was elected to the same office by a handsome majority. At the end of
his term he was renominated without contest, but a factional fight
broke out in the party, and he was re-elected by a plurality of only
six votes. He was nominated for re-election in the spring of 1897,
after sharp opposition, but, though the defeated candidate for the
nomination ran independently. Judge Roberts was re-elected by a
plurality of about one thousand votes. He was a candidate for congress
in 1894 in a "three-cornered" contest, but was defeated, owing to
factional fights inside the party in Douglas county.

Judge Roberts is a Unitarian in religion, but in the absence of a
minister of that denomination, he and his family attend the Episcopal
church.

On the 10th of September, 1884, Judge Roberts was married to Kate Rhodes 
of Trempealeau county, Wis., whose acquaintance he made at Cornell 
University. She was a successful teacher, has unusual literary ability, 
and in intellectual fields is a constant stimulus to her husband. She is 
also possessed of good business ability, and has taken an active 
interest in the public schools and suggested substantial reforms which 
have been embodied in the city school system. They have seven children--
four sons and three daughters.

SHERIFFS, Thomas William, a resident of Milwaukee, and manager of the
Sheriffs Manufacturing company, is a native of Milwaukee, having been
born in the Fifth ward on the 26th of March, 1852, one of a family of
six--four boys and two girls. His father, James Sheriffs, was a native
of Banff, Scotland, born in 1822. He was a molder by occupation, and
after working at his trade in Glasgow, Belfast, Belgium and London, for
some time, he sailed for America, arriving in New York on the 4th of
July, 1846. He soon after started west, working at his trade in
Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago. From the latter place he went to St.
Louis, but soon returned to Chicago, whence he came to Milwaukee, where
he found employment with Lee & Walton, proprietors of what was then
known as the Menominee foundry, where he remained until he went into
business for himself, establishing the Vulcan Iron works in June, 1854,
on the present site of the Sheriffs Manufacturing company. He made the
castings for the first locomotive built in Milwaukee, and the first
propeller screw or wheel cast in the city, the style of which is known
as the "Sheriffs Propeller," and is used throughout the United States
and Canada, as well as in foreign countries, and is considered one of
the standard wheels on the market. This foundry he owned and operated
from its establishment until his death in July, 1887.

In 1849 he was married to Miss Christiana Duncan of Jericho, Waukesha
county, a sister

Page 545

of John Duncan, the prominent lumberman of Westboro, Wis. The elder
Sheriffs was a Republican in politics, and a vigorous and effective
worker for the promulgation of its principles. He was an enterprising
business man, an untiring worker and accumulated considerable property.
His wife is still living in Milwaukee in comfortable circumstances.

T. W. Sheriffs received his education in the Fifth ward public school,
Markham's Academy and the east side high school. During his vacations
he worked in his father's shop, did collecting and other work, and, in
1868, commenced to serve time as an apprentice in the foundry, and
varied that by keeping the books. He worked as a machinist until his
father's death, when he took charge of the business as manager, having
been foreman for some seven years, and was given one-third of the
business. He held the position of manager until it was incorporated, in
1890, as the Sheriffs Manufacturing company, when he became secretary
and treasure of the organization as well as manager of the business.
This establishment, which is but a continuance of the Vulcan Iron
works, is the oldest foundry and machine shop in the city practically
under the same management. At first the foundry turned out general
jobbing work, then in addition saw mill machinery, stationary and
marine engines, the latter of which are found in many of the lake
steamers and tugs. The plant occupies a frontage of two hundred and
thirty-five feet on South Water street and three hundred and thirty-
five on Barclay. The company employs thirty-five to forty men and the
annual product of the company amounts to about $135,000.

Mr. Sheriffs was married in August, 1874, to Miss Kate Storm Nelson,
daughter of Joseph Nelson, one of the early settlers of Racine county,
one district of which he represented in the assembly in 1858. She is a
granddaughter of William Nelson, many years ago a prominent member of
congress from the state of New York. Both Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Nelson
are living at an advanced age

[image: THOMAS WILLIAM SHERIFFS.]

in this city in fair health. Mr. and Mrs. Sheriffs have three
daughters, namely: Flora May, Grace and Cornelia Mandeville.

Mr. Sheriffs is a Republican and has been closely identified with the
party for a dozen years or more, has been a delegate to all the party
conventions, local and state, in that time, and represents the Fifth
ward in the county committee. He is a member of the Calumet and
Iroquois clubs. He is not a member of any church, but is connected with
the society of the Hanover Street Congregational church, of which his
parents were among the founders back in the fifties.

BURDICK, Melvin Lee, a resident of Milwaukee, was born in the town of
Lake, Milwaukee county, June 14th, 1857, and is the son of Morgan Lewis
and Olive Simonds Burdick, who came to Wisconsin in 1834, and settled
on a farm in the town of Lake, not far from the present limits of the
city of Milwaukee. Mr. Burdick was prominent in the early history of
the county--frequently held positions of honor and trust, and
contribution not a little to the making of the local history of his

Page 546

[image: MELVIN LEE BURDICK.]

time. He died in 1886, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife is
still living in the old homestead, and, at the age of seventy-nine, is
still in the enjoyment of her usual health. M. L. Burdick had two
brothers in the civil war, Geo. B. and Alfred E., who served from its
beginning to its end. The latter was taken prisoner in one of the
engagements, and, while being transferred to Andersonville prison pen,
he, with several others, escaped by cutting a hole in the bottom of the
car and hiding in the swamps and forests, where they were ministered to
by the negroes until they reached the Union lines.

Melvin Lee Burdick had his primary education in the primitive school
house of the district where he was born--a log structure which, in
time, gave place to a more comely and commodious one of brick; but it
is doubtful if the more modern structure with the improved methods of
instruction has always furnished a more thorough and practical
education, or better men and women than the old. After leaving school
he learned the carpenter's trade, beginning when he was seventeen years
of age. After completing his apprenticeship he worked at the trade for 
ten years, and then spent two years prospecting for mineral in the iron 
region in Wisconsin and Michigan. From 1887 to 1893 he was in the 
mercantile business on the south side of Milwaukee, conducting a boot 
and shoe store. Retiring from this business he accepted the appointment 
of building inspector under the city board of public works. In 1895 he 
was appointed deputy sheriff, and under-sheriff in 1897, and this 
appointment he now holds.

He has always been an active and intelligent Republican, and one who
has rendered the party substantial service in its campaigns. He belongs
to the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Royal Areanum. He is not a member of
any church, but is a Protestant in his religious affiliations.

Mr. Burdick was married in May, 1884, to Mary M. Hickman, daughter of
ex-Coroner and ex-Deputy Sheriff Hickman. Mr. and Mrs. Burdick have
three children, Lyman L., Addie M. and Harold M.

MOSES, Lorenzo Dow, whose residence is Ripon, is officially connected
with more banks than any other man in the state, and has shown an
ability in and taste for the management of financial institutions which
is remarkable and almost unprecedented. He was born March 8th, 1842, in
St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and is the son of William and Melinda
Robinson Moses. His father was a farmer, and, like many of his
occupation, in only moderate circumstances. At the age of eight Lorenzo
had the misfortune to lose his father, and, in 1853, he came with his
mother and stepfather to Waupaca county, Wis., where they settled on a
farm near Ogdensburg, and where he remained until he was sixteen years
of age. Having obtained, through close application to his studies in
the district school, a good education in the common branches, he turned
it to practical account by teaching district schools in his home
county. In 1860 he became a clerk in a general store, and the following

Page 547

year began business on his own account in Ogdensburg. In 1865 he and
his brother formed a partnership for carrying on a general mercantile
business, and the partnership was continued until 1866, when he
purchased his brother's interest and greatly enlarged the business,
carrying it on for ten years, when he disposed of the store in
Ogdensburg, but retained his interest in stores in Manawa and Marion.
In October, 1880, he removed to Antigo, where he successfully carried
on a store, and where he established, in 1881, the Langlade County
bank, a private bank, which, owing to Mr. Moses conservative and
careful methods, became noted as one of the soundest institutions of
the kind in the state--a reputation which it still retains. Close
application to his extensive and varied business interests so impaired
his health that he was compelled to retire from active business in
1883, and the following seven years he spent in extensive travel in the
United States, principally in California and Florida, in the effort to
recuperate his wasted health and strength. In 1890 he had so far
recovered as to warrant him in resuming business. Taking up his
residence in Ripon, he entered at once upon his favorite business of
banking by establishing the German National Bank of Ripon, with a
capital of $50,000. Of this institution he was chosen the first
president and still holds the position, his administration of its
affairs having been so able as to commend it to the confidence of the
prosperous business community in which it is located. In 1890 he also
organized the Waupaca County National Bank of Waupaca, of which he is
vice-president. In 1892 he organized the Markesan State Bank of
Markesan, and of this institution he is vice-president. The following
year was organized the Princeton State Bank of Princeton, and he is now
president of it. In 1894 he organized the National Bank of Manitowoc,
and has been it president from its establishment. He is president of
the First National Bank of new London, an institution having a capital
of $50,000, and doing a large

[image: LORENZO DOW MOSES.]

and prosperous business. In the management of these institutions there
is work and responsibility which not many men would care to assume, but
Mr. Moses has performed these onerous duties with a cool head and a
success that are rare in business records. His career both as a
merchant and banker has been so signally successful as to inspire
confidence in his business sagacity and honor, and his counsel and
advice have often been sought on important commercial and financial
questions.

April 14th, 1864, Mr. Moses was married to Miss Fannie M. Jaquish of
Madison, and three children have been born to them, namely: Frederic
L., Guy J., who is now in the German National Bank Ripon, and Blanche,
the light of the home.

Mr. Moses is a Republican on political questions, and naturally is for
sound and stable currency. He is profoundly interested in all questions
of national policy, and keeps himself thoroughly informed thereon,
neglecting no duty of the conscientious citizen, and using his
influence for the promotion of whatever will tend to advance the
material and moral welfare of the community.

Page 548

[image: REV. CHARLES STANLEY LESTER.]

LESTER, Rev. Charles Stanley, comes of a New England family. He is the
son of John Henry and Louisa H. Lester, and was born in New London,
Conn., May 28, 1846. The family removed to Boston in 1851, and Mr.
Lester graduated at the Roxbury Latin school in 1863. In July of the
same year he went to Europe, together with three other boys, under the
charge of the master of the Latin school. The first year was spent in
Italy, Greece and Germany. In November, 1864, Mr. Lester left the party
and returned to Italy for the winter of 1865, in company with his
mother. He returned to this country in April, 1865, and entered Harvard
College in the following fall in the class of 1869. Leaving Harvard in
1867, he went to the University of Berlin for two years, spending the
December vacation of 1867 in Russia, and other vacations in
Switerzland. In July, 1869, he returned to this country and, in the
following fall, entered the Theological School in Cambridge, Mass. On
July 5th, 1870, he was married to Miss Eliza Cleves Lawrence.
Graduating at the Cambridge Theological school in June, 1872, in the
following September, he became rector of the Church of the Messiah, at 
West Newton, Mass. In April, 1873, he accepted a call to the rectorship 
of St. Paul's church, Holyoke, Mass.; resigned the same in the spring of 
1876, and in the following spring, accepted a call to the rectorship of 
St. Paul's church, Kenwood, Chicago. He removed thence to the rectorship 
of St. Paul's church, Milwaukee, in September, 1880.

The parish was then domiciled in a primitive wooden building on the
corner of Mason and Jefferson street. The present building was begun in
1882 and occupied in October, 1884, since which time the tower, chapel
and parish house have been built. The total cost was $225,000, and the
final balance was paid in the spring of 1890.

St. Paul's was formally consecrated by Bishops Nicholson in November,
1891. It is the first Episcopal church in Wisconsin in wealth and
influence, and the beautiful edifice of brownstone is one of the finest
in the country. It contains some of the most artistic and valuable
memorial windows in America, and its interior embellishment is not
surpassed in any western church. The name of Mr. Lester is inseparably
connected with this splendid church, for both the edifice with its
commodious parish house adjoining and the charities for which St.
Paul's is renowned, have been built up under his wise administration.

QUARLES, Charles, a resident of Milwaukee and member of the law firm of
Quarles, Spence & Quarles, is the son of Joseph V. Quarles, who came to
Wisconsin in 1838, and, some time after, with Henry Mitchell, built and
operated the factory at Kenosha, now known as the Bain Wagon works, his
interest in which was lost in the early fifties, through financial
embarrassment. Thenceforward his financial circumstances were poor. His
death occurred in 1874. His wife, Charles Quarles' mother, was Caroline
Bullen, daughter of Gen. John Bullen, who

Page 549

was one of the settlers of Southport, now Kenosha, having located there
in 1836. She died in 1882. On both sides the ancestors are traceable to
Massachusetts--on the father's, by way of New Hampshire, and on the
mother's, through central New York; and both were represented in the
long military struggle for the independence of the colonies.

Charles Quarles was born in Southport, now Kenosha, on the 13th of
February, 1846. His early education was received in the free public
school in Kenosha, after which he attended the Kenosha high school,
graduating therefrom in 1863. He then entered the University of
Michigan, in the classical course, and pursued that until the latter
part of the senior year, when he left the institution. During his
university course he was a member of the Greek letter society of the
Alpha Delta Phi.

After leaving college he had a position in the Chicago office of the
Home Fire Insurance company of New York, most of the time from the
spring of 1869 to 1873. Leaving the insurance business, he began the
study of law in the office of Head & Quarles of Kenosha, was admitted
to the bar in the spring of 1875, and entered at once upon the practice
of the profession in Kenosha, where he remained for thirteen years. He
came to Milwaukee in the spring of 1888, and, with his brother, J. V.
Quarles an T. W. Spence, formed the law firm of Quarles, Spence &,
which has rapidly acquired a leading place among the legal firms of the
city. Mr. Quarles, though a clear, direct and forcible advocate, does
not rely so much upon the graces of oratory for success as upon the
effect of a formidable array of the legal points involved in the cases
which he has in charge. In this department of the practice, he has
acquired unusual distinction, and his recognized as an authority in the
law by his fellow members of the bar. He has given special attention to
corporate law, as it relates to the steadily growing corporate
interests and the social and industrial questions that have arisen in
consequence of the multiplication of labor and protective
organizations.

[image: CHARLES QUARLES.]

He recognizes this as becoming one of the most extensive and fruitful
fields for investigation and study that there is in the whole range of
the legal profession.

Mr. Quarles is a pronounced Republican in politics, but has not been
active in party work, and never held a public office until the spring
of 1897, when he was appointed, without his solicitation, a member of
the new board of school directors of Milwaukee; and it is an evidence
of the confidence and esteem in which he is held by the public, that at
once upon the announcement of his appointment as a member of the board,
he was named as a suitable man for the responsible of president. When
the board met for organization he was chosen president without
opposition. He is a member of the following organizations: The
Milwaukee, the Deutscher, the Country and the Yacht clubs, and the
Humane society.

He was married in November, 1881, to Miss Emma W. Thiers of Kenosha,
and they have four children, namely: Louis, Charles B., Henry C. and
Ethel--the oldest fourteen years and the youngest eight.

Page 550

[image: HENRY C. PAYNE.]

PAYNE, Henry C., known throughout the country as a political leader of
consummate ability and as a business man of unusual sagacity and
courage, came to Milwaukee soon after the close of the civil war, with
only fifty dollars in his pocket, and has ever since been one of its
most active, enterprising and influential citizens. He early developed
a taste for politics, and began his career in this line when Milwaukee
was a stronghold of Democracy. In 1872 he organized the Young Men's
Republican club, which was the nucleus for the Republican central
committee of Milwaukee county. He served at different times as chairman
and secretary of this organization, and the sagacity and executive
ability which he displayed in this position gave promise of the success
which he afterward acquired as chairman of the Republican state central
committee. A natural sequence of this leadership of the party in the
state was his selection by the Republicans of Wisconsin as their
representative on the national committee, a position which he filled
with great credit to himself and to the advantage of the party of
large. In fact, he has long been recognized as one of the leaders of the 
party in the nation, and one who has done as much to shape its policy 
and win its victories as any other. No one man in the city contributed 
more largely to the overthrow of the supremacy which the Democratic 
party had so long maintained in the city than he did, and no one has 
been more potent in preventing that party from regaining its old-time 
power.

Henry C. Payne's ancestors, both lineal and collateral, were Puritans.
His father was a descendant of Moses Payne, or Paine, who came from
England in 1630, and settled in Braintree, Mass. This ancestor married
for his second wife the widow of the first Edmund Quincy, and was a
conspicuous figure among the early colonists of Massachusetts. Mr.
Payne's mother, Eliza Ames Payne, belonged to the Ames family, which
came originally from the County of Norfolk, England, and is still
largely represented in that county and in Massachusetts. Rev. William
Ames, the eminent Puritan theologian, whose differences with the
Established Church of England drove him into exile in Holland in the
early part of the seventeenth century, and Joseph Ames, distinguished
as an antiquarian, were members of this family, which is historic in
both England and America.

Henry C. Payne was born in Ashfield, Franklin county, Massachusetts,
November 23rd, 1843. He received a home training calculated to
inculcate habits of industry and fit him for the life of activity and
usefulness which has made him prominent in his state and in the nation.
In his early boyhood he attended the common school, and he graduated
from Shelburne Academy in 1859. After a few years of effort in
mercantile pursuits, and an army experience in the Tenth Massachusetts
regiment of infantry, he turned his face westward, as the most
promising field for carving out a fortune. His first efforts in
Milwaukee were in the mercantile line, but he had surplus energy
sufficient to enable him to take a leading place in almost every public
movement. He was one of the presidents of the

Page 551

Young Men's Library association of Milwaukee, which, after a long and
useful existence, gave its collection of books as the nucleus of the
Milwaukee Public Library. It was through his connection with public
effort of this nature that Mr. Payne came to take a hand in politics
with such good results for the Republican party. He was appointed
postmaster of Milwaukee by President Grant, in 1876, and was
reappointed to successive terms by Presidents Hayes and Arthur, until
his term of service was prolonged to ten years. His administration of
the office was such as to win the commendation of all classes of
citizens, without regard to party, for its efficiency, excellence of
service and improved methods. When he retired from the post-office in
1886, Mr. Payne again turned his attention to business enterprises. He
became president of the Wisconsin Telephone company, and afterwards a
director of the First National Bank of Milwaukee, and president of the
Milwaukee & Northern Railroad company. He then became interested in the
street railway business, and was elected vice-president of the
Milwaukee and the Cream City Railroad companies, and when the
properties of these companies were acquired by the syndicate which now
controls all the street railway lines and the electric lighting plants
of Milwaukee he was made vice-president and general manager of the new
corporation. The active management of this corporation with its
investment of many millions imposed heavy responsibilities upon Mr.
Payne, but he met them all, and with characteristic enterprise, 
instituted improvements in the street railway service that amounted
almost to a revolution of methods. At a meeting of the American Street
Railway Association, held in Milwaukee in 1893, Mr. Payne was elected
president of that organization, and his ability as a railway manager
has been recognized in other ways. When the Northern Pacific railroad
became involved in financial trouble, in 1893, and it became necessary
to place the road in the hands of receivers, Mr. Payne was appointed
by the United States court as one of the conservators of the property
of the road, amounting in the aggregate to hundreds of millions of
dollars. This trust was as faithfully administered as has been every
trust imposed upon him.

Mr. Payne was married in 1867 to Miss Lydia W. Van Dyke, a descendant
of one of the colonial families of New York, and his social and
domestic life has been as happy as his business and political life has
been eventful and successful. Mrs. Payne is an influential member of
the order of Daughters of the American Revolution and Colonial Dames,
and although of a retiring disposition, as a result of many years of
ill-health, she is an active force in the higher circles of Milwaukee
society.

MITCHELL, John Lendrum, United States senator, was born in the city of
Milwaukee, October 19, 1842. His parents were Alexander and Martha
Mitchell, and he was the only child of three to survive, the others
dying in infancy. His father, Hon. Alexander Mitchell, was a native of
Scotland, and his mother came from Vermont. The present senator
therefore acquired from his parents the strength of character, self-
reliance and progressive spirit which comes from the Scottish Highlands
and the granite-bound hills of New England. The peculiar characteristics 
which distinguished the father were largely inherited by the son, and, 
although differently employed, have made for the latter the record of a 
useful public and private life. He acquired the rudiments of an 
education in the Milwaukee public schools, followed by a course in a 
military school in Hampton, Conn. He was then sent abroad and studied in 
Dresden, Munich and Genoa. Upon the breaking out of the rebellion he 
returned home, and at the age of 19 entered the military service as 
second lieutenant of Company I, Twenty-fourth Wisconsin Volunteer 
infantry. He was promoted to be first lieutenant January 17, 1863, and 
transferred to Company E of the

Page 552

[image: JOHN LENDRUM MITCHELL.]

same regiment. In June, 1863, he was detailed for service on the
brigade staff of Gen. Rousseau; participated in the battles and
engagements of his regiment, including Perryville, Murfreesboro,
Hoovers Gap and the campaigns about Chattanooga. Threatened with loss
of eyesight and on surgeon's certificate of disability, he resigned his
commission, which was accepted. His services in defense of the Union
have been officially acknowledged by the War Department as efficient,
faithful and brave, and the anxiety of parents for the safety of an
only child did not avail against a patriotic duty until he was disabled
for further service.

In 1872 Mr. Mitchell made his first venture into politics, and was
elected as a Democrat to the state senate of Wisconsin. He was again
elected in 1875, serving altogether four years. He was elected
president of the Milwaukee School Board for two years--1884-5;
president of the Wisconsin State Agricultural society and president of
the Northwestern Trotting Horse Breeders' association. In these latter
positions Mr. Mitchell took great interest and delight. Possessing one
of the finest farms in Wisconsin and a large and carefully selected 
library of good books, Mr. Mitchell finds his chief delight in reading 
and in the care of his 440 acres. He therefore took great interest in 
the work of the school board, and in promoting the success of state 
fairs. His splendid farm is well stocked with high-bred animals of all 
kinds, and as a judge of fine stock he is a recognized authority. His 
service on the school board made him thoroughly acquainted with the 
educational needs of his native city, especially among the poor; and, 
beginning in 1887, a standing order was given the superintendent of 
schools that school books would be furnished by Mr. Mitchell to every 
child in Milwaukee whose parents were unable to supply them. An ardent 
lover of agriculture and of a rural life, Mr. Mitchell undertook to 
revive interest in the farmer's calling, and established at the state 
university a short course in agriculture, at the same time offering 
twenty scholarships to poor boys. This beneficent offer accomplished the 
purpose desired, and was continued from year to year, until there are 
now more than 200 boys taking the "short course" at the university.

In 1886, by joint resolution of congress, Mr. Mitchell was appointed a
member of the board of managers of the National Home for Disabled
Volunteer Soldiers, reappointed in 1892, and elected vice-president of
the board in 1895. As such he has had immediate charge of the
Northwestern Branch near Milwaukee, with 2,500 inmates, in addition to
a share of the responsibilities in the management of six other
branches. In 1890 he was elected a representative in congress from the
Fourth district, by a majority of 7,000 over his Republican opponent,
and was re-elected in 1892. While serving his first term in the house
representatives he was chosen chairman of the Democratic congressional
committee, which conducted the campaign of 1892, resulting in a
Democratic majority in both branches of congress. He was the Wisconsin
representative on the National Democratic

Page 553

committee four years, and also treasurer of the Democratic state
central committee of Wisconsin.

In 1893 Mr. Mitchell was elected to the Senate of the United States,
succeeding Philetus Sawyer. The contest for the Democratic nomination
was a protracted one and stubbornly contested, there being three
candidates--E. S. Bragg, J. H. Knight and Mr. Mitchell. The latter had
the largest following as "second choice" in addition to his own band of
unyielding adherents, and after a memorable campaign finally won out.
As a member of either house of congress Mr. Mitchell has won the
respect and esteem of associates. His military training and the
legislative needs of the soldiers' homes, as well as a large soldier
constituency, not only secured him places on the military and pensions
committees, but provided him with an abundance of work. He makes no
stump speeches, but attends to his legislative work, in committee and
otherwise, with fidelity and with a fixed determination to do what he
believes is right. He supported the imposition of an income tax against
the influence of associates in business and opposed the free coinage of
silver in opposition to the platform of associates in politics. A great
reader and student of public questions, and with quick and accurate
perceptions, he is prepared to pass upon legislative matters as they
arise, and his opinions pass at par with his associates in the senate.

Upon the death of his father Mr. Mitchell succeeded to the interests of
the former in various important trusts and business enterprises, chief
of which are the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Company Bank and the
Northwestern National Insurance company. He is also trustee, director
or patron of public institutions, such as the Layton Art Gallery,
Milwaukee College, Milwaukee Hospital, etc.; is a member of the Grand
Army of the Republic, the Wisconsin Commandery of the Loyal Legion and
the Society of the Army of the Cumberland. He was married in 1878 to
Harriet Danforth Becker, a lady of many graces of character and rare 
intellectual attainments, who is prominently identified with the 
National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. They have 
seven children. The eldest, Willie, is attending Columbia College; the 
second child, Martha, is in an academy for young ladies near Washington. 
The others are Janet, Harriet, Ruth, Catherine and John L., Jr. One 
child, born abroad, died in infancy, and is buried in Florence.

AIKENS, Andrew Jackson, editor and manufacturer, was born at Barnard,
Vt., Oct. 31, 1830. His paternal ancestors were Scotch, from Montrose,
settling in Massachusetts about 1660, and on his mother's side he is
descended from John Howland, the last survivor of those who came over
in the Mayflower. After being graduated from the high school at the age
of fifteen, he entered the printing office of Charles G. Eastman at
Woodstock, and served an apprenticeship of four years, when he was
promoted to the editorship of the paper. He edited a weekly newspaper
at Bennington, Vt., and afterward a weekly at North Adams, Mass.,
whence he went to Boston, acting as reporter in the state legislature,
and as proof-reader in the state printing office. He took an active
interest in politics early in manhood, and his ability as an organizer
and campaign speaker was recognized by his selection as a delegate from
Massachusetts to the Free Soil national convention at Pittsburg in
1852, which nominated John P. Hale for president. He was active in this
campaign, which marked the beginning of the Republican party, and spoke
in many towns of New England in behalf of the Free Soil national
ticket. His adherence to the Republican party has been steadfast, and
he is still a vigorous advocate of its principles. Going from Boston to
New York, he was engaged upon The New York Evening Post

Page 554

[image: ANDREW JACKSON AIKENS.]

in 1853, and was sent to the western states as special correspondent.
He visited Milwaukee in the spring of 1854, settled there in the early
summer, and soon after became connected with the Evening Wisconsin.
Jan. 1, 1857, he assumed the business management of the newspaper and
printing departments. In this capacity he was chiefly instrumental in
building up the Evening Wisconsin, until it became one of the most
influential and prosperous newspapers west of the great lakes. He has
been a contributor to the columns of the Evening Wisconsin for forty-
three years, expressing his opinions upon current topics with clearness
and cogency. During two trips to Europe, in 1877 and 1878, his letters
to the Evening Wisconsin were received with wide interest and
admiration. He is a man of broad culture, who is thoroughly familiar
through daily reading with the books of his private library, a
collection of unusual size, and it is his invariable practice to
consult daily with his partners, the venerable and wise head of the
Evening Wisconsin company, William E. Cramer, and his careful and
prudent junior, Jno. F. Cramer. Although he is 66 years of
age, he is in daily attendance at his business office, and in close
control of the largest and most complete newspaper and printing
establishment in the state of Wisconsin. Mr. Aikens has a natural
aptitude for mechanics, and has exhibited facility in the mechanical
matters of his business, many of his mechanical devices and methods of
work having been sufficiently novel to be patented. This naturally
brought him in close contact with the working forces of the mechanical
departments of his establishments, and he has always taken a deep
interest in the welfare of his employes. He personally instructed the
printers, pressmen and engineers of all his offices, and hundreds of
prosperous newspaper men and printers in various parts of the United
States, who learned the business in the Evening Wisconsin, acknowledge
with pleasure the value of the early instruction they received from
him. Mr. Aikens placed in important responsible posts in the offices he
established in other cities men who learned the printing business under
his supervision in Milwaukee. The method of printing newspapers on one
side at a central office and on the other side at the office of
publication (commonly called "patent insides") originated with Mr.
Aikens in 1863. Mr. Aikens' improvement upon the English method of
printing auxiliary newspapers consisted in the addition to the general
news of the paper of a page of general advertising; the compensation
for this advertising partly, and sometimes wholly, paying for the cost
of the white paper to the publisher. The firm of Cramer, Aikens &
Cramer commenced the publication of the "patent insides" with
advertisements in 1864, being the pioneer house in the business. There
are now 8,000 papers printed upon that plan in the United States--more
than one-half of all the weekly newspapers, at a saving of millions of
dollars. Mr. Aikens was active and energetic in the development of his
method of providing country newspapers with ready-printed sheets. He
founded the Newspaper Unions at Chicago, New York, Cincinnati,
Nashville,

Page 555

Atlanta and Memphis, establishments which furnished "patent insides" to
over 2,000 newspapers while under his management, and which now serve
over 3,000 newspapers with ready-printed sheets. For three years
previous to his assumption of the business management of the Evening
Wisconsin, Mr. Aikens was city and commercial editor of the paper. He
was the first secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, and published for
three years a compilation of the statistics of the trade and commerce
of Milwaukee. One of these statistical reports was deemed so valuable
by the city authorities that the common council ordered the purchase of
a large edition for distribution in foreign countries, in the interest
of immigration. Mr. Aikens is an officer of the Associated Press, of
which he has been an active member for the past thirty years. He was a
charter member of the Milwaukee club, which was organized in his
private office, and was an important officer of the club during the
time in which it was placing itself on a permanent footing. He is at
present at the head of the Milwaukee Typothetae, an association of
employing printers. He has been actively interested in shooting clubs,
and was for many years at the head of the Caw-Caw Shooting club. He is
also one of the oldest members of the Chicago club. Mr. Aikens has been
twice married. In 1854 he was united to Amanda L. Barnes of Pittsfield,
Mass., by whom he had three daughters who are still living--Stella
Cramer-Johnson, Alice Marian-Bremer, and Mary Lydia Aikens. In May,
1893, he was married to Katharine Vine-Crehore of Minneapolis, by whom
he has a son, Andrew Jackson, born March 22, 1896. Mr. Aikens' ability,
integrity, high character and generosity make him popular among all
classes of people. Like most men of his rare type, he is loth to assume
any special credit for his ability or for his business achievements,
and his consent to the insertion of this brief history of his busy life
among the sketches of the progressive men of his adopted state was
hesitatingly given.

End Part 17