BIOGRAPHIES: George C. HUEBENER, Eau Claire, Eau Claire County, WI

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George C. Huebener, button manufacturer, Eau Claire.  Among the early 
settlers of the Chippewa Valley is George C. Huebener, who came here direct 
from Germany in 1865, and worked for Henry Sammermeyer and the Elk Creek 
mills for five years, at the end of which time he began the mercantile 
business.  In 1876 he formed a partnership in the hardware trade with F. W. 
Miller, under the firm name of Miller & Huebener.  They soon became the 
leading hardware house of Eau Claire, and from 1880 to 1884 did a business 
of $60,000 per year, running two stores.  In September, 1884, when the flood 
came, both their stores and cellars were damaged, and they suffered to the 
extent of many thousand dollars, which crippled them to such an extent that, 
in order to do business, a new partnership was formed.  Mr. Miller sold out, 
and the new firm was known as Huebener, Robertson & Slosser.  In 1887 Mr. 
Robertson retired.  The firm then became Huebener & Slosser for a short 
time, when it was dissolved.  Mr. Huebener then became manager of the One 
Price Boston clothing house, which position he still holds.

After the passage of the famed McKinley bill, and the protection it gave to 
the pearl button industry of this country, Mr. Huebener conceived the idea 
of starting a pearl button factory in Eau Claire, so associating with 
himself some men of capital, he went to Europe and visited the pearl button 
factories of the old world.  After a thorough investigation a manufactory 
was built and fitted with the necessary machinery early in the fall of 1891.  
When running at its full capacity employment is given to from fifty to 
seventy-five men.  While Mr. Huebener was in Europe he visited his 
birthplace and the old homestead in Geodoriegen, Prussia.  This homestead 
has been in the possession of the Huebener family for three hundred years.  
He has a record of his industry back to his grandfather, George C. F. 
Huebener, who was a miller by trade, and who was presented with a diploma 
for being the best miller in the province.  His son, George C. F. Huebener, 
the father of our subject, was also a miller, and married Wilhelmine 
Weinguertner, who was also a native of Germany.  The grandfather died aged 
eighty-nine years, and the father aged seventy-six years.  Mr. Huebener has 
in his possession an old fusion snuff box, which he obtained in Europe, that 
has been in the Huebener family 180 years.

Mr. Huebener was baptized in the Lutheran church, but is independent both 
in politics and religion, and is a member of the K. of P., Germania lodge 
No. 49, John Bow Glen division No. 10, and the I.O.O.F.  In 1878 he married 
a daughter of Otto and Adlina (Weyer) Seidel, of German ancestry.  They have 
had six children, four of whom are now living.

--Taken from "Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley
Wisconsin" Including A General Historical Sketch of the Chippewa Valley;
Ancestral Records of Leading Families; Biographies of Representative 
Citizens, Past and Present; and Portraits of Prominent Men.  Edited by
George Forrester.  Chicago, Illinois: A. Warner, Publisher.  1891-92
Pages 705-706