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WILLIAM (iKDltCI m:i < I
HISTORY
OF
MILWAUKEE
CITY AND COUNTY
EDITED BY
WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE
VOLUME I
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO— MILWAUKEE
THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY
1922
£
^ -*m f%
V
^
PREFACE
Mon- than forty years have elapsed since the story of the City and County
of Milwaukee was presented in anything like a compact, comprehensive and
accessible form. Since then the newspapers, the local governmental depart-
ments and various agencies have hourly and daily recorded the several activi-
ties of the community. These activities have grown in number, variety and
importance, and have amplified themselves in so many diversified directions
that only an assembling of certain leading farts will afford a true picture of
the whole.
The current records have served their purpose and the needs of their
period. These records, however, soon become obscured in the mass of things,
and the important and more outstanding facts and events become imbedded
in the mesh of routine and in matters of temporary concern only. Thus, the
essential facts and data must periodically be rescued from their submerged
state and brought to the light again, collected and arranged with order and
sequence, and with a due regard for their meaning and import.
And since history is a continuous record of activities, tendencies and move-
ments it demands not only their adequate treatment but successive presenta-
tion as well. The story which has been halted must be resumed and told to its
finish, which means that it must be brought up to the present time, and left to
the future to be resumed and told again.
With this thought in mind the History of Milwaukee, city and county, is
approached, presenting in compact form not only the struggles and trials of
a pioneer day and the story of humble beginnings but emphasizing the crown-
ing achievements of a later period as well. In his treatment of the work as a
whole the editor has aimed to deal more generously with the history of the
past forty years and to reveal with reasonable clearness the forces and in-
fluences that have made for the growth and development of a great urban
center of population. While the early pioneer and settlement period is by no
means minimized it has been sought to accord the fullest measure of attention
to the later period. It will here be recognized that the city secured in this
period that economic, civic and social momentum which has reared it to its
present splendor and importance as an American city.
A Large part of the manuscript was prepared by J. Seymour Currey who
wrote an acceptable history of Chicago several years ago and whose services
as a writer on historic subjects have been recognized. The chapters on the
Industrial Beginning and Achievements, the Commercial Rise and Expansion,
the Milwaukee Harbor, the Auditorium and the Milwaukee Association of
Commerce, Alt-Milwaukee to an American City were written by the editor in
v
vi IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE
the belief thai his immediate identification with these interests and institutions
qualified him to treal them more intimately and adequately. The entire his-
tory, however, has been written under the supervision of the editor who has
spared 00 ei'i'urt in verifying the facts presented.
In the treatment of these several subjects some of which are primary and
basic in the city's growth and development, the authors have aimed to go
beyond the mere recital of facts and events by bringing cause and effeel into
play and in drawing from them permissible and warrantable deductions and
conclusions.
The Editor.
Aii American city! What splendid forces — latent and active — arc implied
in that name! Let us miss no opportunity to bring to our service the best
thought and experience of the world in city planning, city building and city
living. Let us not only proclaim a place among our sister cities of the Great
Republic, but deserve to be arrayed with the most progressive among them.
Only by exemplifying the truest and best in American urban life shall we
render ourselves worthy of being an integral part of the greatest nation on
earth.
WILLIAM GEORGE BRICK.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Preface v
Introduction 17
CHAPTER
I Discovery of the Great West 21
1 1 Ordinance of 1787 37
III Discovery of the Great Lakes 43
IV Hail Carriers and Routes . 53
V Indian Villages '. 61
VI Days of the Fur Trader 67
VII The Lead Mining Industry 77
VIII Solomon Juneau and His Family 83
IX Byron Kilbourn and George H. Walker 99
X Life and Labors of Andrew J. Vieau 107
XI Milwaukee in the Pioneer Period 113
XII The Lady Elgin Disaster 129
XIII The Great Milwaukee Fire 147
X I V Lincoln in Milwaukee 153
X V Immigration and Race Origin 171
XVI Beginnings, Dates, Events 189
XVII The Era of Internal Improvements 207
XVIII Industrial Beginnings and Achievement 219
XIX Commercial Rise and Expansion 257
XX Harbor and Marine Interests 569
XXI The Coming of the Railroads 319
XXII Banking and Finance 339
XXIII Life and Fire Insurance 369
XXIV The Chamber of Commerce 379
XXV Milwaukee Association of Commerce 383
XXVI The Milwaukee Post Office 415
XXVII The Milwaukee Auditorium 421
XXVIII The Municipal Government 435
XXIX Water Works Department 469
XXX The Health Department 477
XXXI City Planning and Zoning 481
XXXII Milwaukee County Government 557
XXXIII Woman's Suffrage in Wisconsin 565
XXXIV Participation in War 571
XXXV Roosevelt's Visit to Milwaukee , 607
XXXVI .Milwaukee Public Schools 629
ix
x CONTENTS
PAGE
XXXVI] Higher Institutions of Learning <H7
XXXVII] The Public Library and Museum 667
XXXIX Milwaukee's Musical History 675
XL The Progress of Art in .Milwaukee 685
XL! Newspapers and Trade Publical inns 707
XLI1 Public and Private < lharities 739
XLII1 The Transition Period 755
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Bruce, William George Frontisjriect
Milwaukee— An Old-Time View 20
M ihvaukee in 1840— Outline Map 24
Milwaukee in 1820 — Bird 's-eye View 36
Form of Proclamation — 1825 44
An Old Marriage License 14
Old Settlers' Club— Presidents 52
Milwaukee in 1853 — Bird's-eye View 60
Milwaukee in 1873 — Bird's-eye View 66
Site of First House— Tablet 80
Solomon Juneau — Portrait 84
Solomon Juneau Monument 88
Solomon Juneau, First Mayor of Milwaukee 92
Solomon Juneau — Original Letter 94
Juneau Trading with Indians — Ba's Relief 94
Byron Kilbourn — Portrait ' 08
Byron Kilbourn Residence 100
Walker, George H— Portrait 104
Chestnut Street in 1860 112
Increase A. Lapham — Quit Claim Deed 124
Sinking of "Lady Elgin" 130
" Augusta" — Schooner 134
Steamer "Lady Elgin" 140
John Wilson, Captain of the "Lady Elgin" 140
Matthew Stein Gun Shop, The 172
Rufus King Residence 1 7(i
Old Cream City Base Ball Club 176
Wisconsin Street in an Earlier Day 180
John Pollworth 's Restaurant ' 180
Milwaukee House 1<S4
Mrs. Milwaukee H. Smith Hackelberg 190
Charles Milwaukee Sivyer — Tablet 194
Bauer & Steinmeyer's Store -{^
East Water Street in the Early Forties 208
Wesf Water Street— Looking North 210
Wisconsin Street— About 1867 214
Ludington Block 216
Original Penny Store 216
Skyline of Milwaukee — Looking North 218
First Steam Flour Mill 218
Northeast ( lorner Milwaukee and Wisconsin, 1871 220
Looking North on Main Street. 1870 220
Republican House 224
Old Newhall House 224
Astor Hotel 226
Medford Hotel 230
Wisconsin Street — Looking West 232
xi
xii LIST OF [ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Miller Hotel and Third Streel 236
Menominee Valley — Manufactuiiag ( 'cut it 240
Milwaukee Manufacturers' Some Building 240
The Hotel Wisconsin 244
Toj Theatre and ( Ihinese Restaurant 2 Hi
Easl Water Street, North of Wisconsin Street 258
New Plankinton Hotel and Old Plankinton House 260
Grand Avenue East from Sixth Street 2f>2
The Pfister Hotel 264
View of Milwaukee — Looking West 266
( >hl-Time Schooner Entering Harbor 270
Car Perry "Grand Haven" 270
Steamer "Christopher Columbus" 274
Kinniekinnie Basin 274
Harbor Plans— Outline Sketch 278
A Lake Coal ( larrier 2-2
Me ninee River. Coal Doek Center 282
Jones Island and Kinniekinnie Basin 288
Coal Handling Scenes 294
Menominee River, Coal Shipping ( 'enter 298
Milwaukee River, Grain Elevators 298
Sidewheeler "John A. Dix" 304
Old Goodrich Dock 304
.Milwaukee River and Commercial ('enter 310
Milwaukee River North from Buffalo Street 314
Old Lake Shore Depot 320
First Railway Depot 320
Old Lacrosse Depot and Third Street in 1860 322
Railroad Rate Table 324
Officers and Employes, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry 326
( Ihicago & Northwestern Station 330
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. Station 330
Stock Yards at West Milwaukee 334
East Water Street — Looking North from Wisconsin Street 338
First Wisconsin National Bank Building 346
The .Marshall & Ilsley Bank : 350
Second Ward Savings Bank 356
Old insurance Building 370
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Building 374
Northwestern National Fire Insurance Company Building 374
( 'hamber of Commerce and Mitchell Building :'>7>
Merchants' Association — Dinner Program 384
Merchants' Association .Menu Cover Design 386
Merchants' Association — Banquet Menu 386
Milwaukee Athletic Club 390
Grand Avenue, West from Bridge 392
Wells Office Building 396
View of Milwaukee Looking Southwest 398
Majestic Building 402
The Milwaukee Club 404
The Calumet Club W8
The Wisconsin club 408
Milwaukee Yacht Club U0
Old Elks' Club House 410
Post Office Old Building 414
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
PAGE
Post Office and Wisconsin Street -US
Soldiers' Home Fair Building, 1865 422
Auditorium Building- 424
Auditorium — Interior Main Arena 428
Exposition Building — Old 430
City Hall and Market Square 436
Old Courthouse and County Jail 440
Old-Time Campaign Document 442
City Hall and Bergh Fountain 444
Old City Hall ! . . 448
Fourth of July Announcement 450
Milwaukee Engine Company No. 1 452
Hook and Ladder Company No. 1 456
Expenditure of City Tax Revenues 458
Mass Meeting of Electors 460
Carpenter, Matthew H. — A Sentiment 462
Army Call of 1862 for Volunteers 466
Water Tower and Park 470
McKinley Park — Bathing Beach 470
Columbia Hospital 476
Milwaukee Hospital 476
Washington Park— Moonlight Scene 482
Christian Wahl — Bust 484
Mitchell Park — Sunken Gardens 484
Lake Park, Grand Terrace 486
Entrance to Lake Drive 4!K)
Skyline of Milwaukee from the Bay 490
North Point Light House 490
Grand Avenue Viaduct 492
Prospect Avenue 494
Layton Boulevard — Looking South from National Avenue 494
Juneau Park — Solomon Juneau Monument 4! Mi
Civic Center Group — Clas 500
Arteries — Proposed East and West, in Connection with Auditorium and
City Hall Sites 502
Sketch of Suggested Grouping of Public Buildings 504
City Hall Civic Center— Map 504
Bridge and River Scheme — Clas 506
Lakeshore Drive and Parkway — Clas 508
Civic Center Scheme — Bird's-eye View Milwaukee's Proposed Parkway. . . . 508
Washington Monument 510
Arteries — Proposed East and West, in Connection with Revised Park Board
Site 512
River Improvement Scheme — Clas 514
Von Steuben Monument 518
Plan Proposed by Park Board in 1909 520
Lake Front Study — Clas 522
Bridge and Dock Area — Clas 522
Auditorium Site — Plan for Grouping 524
Dr. E. B. Wolcott Monument 526
City Hall ( 'ivic Center — Bird's-eye View 530
Civic Center Plan 1 .' 532
Civic Center Plan 2 532
Kosciuszko Monument 5:; I
City Hall Site — Proposed Grouping 538
xiv LIST OF [LLUSTKATIONS
PAGl
Auditorium Site — Suggested Grouping 540
Roberl Burns Monument ."ill
Goethe-Schiller Monument, Washington Park 544
Washington Park. Seal Enclosure 546
Liei' Ericson Statue. Juneau Park 546
Washington Park —Winter Scene 550
South SI Li ire Park Bathing Beach 554
Courthouse and St. John 's ( lathedral 556
Soldiers' Monument , .".Til
.Milwaukee Light Guard — Group 576
Milwaukee Light Guard — Card of Thanks 582
National Soldiers' Home 590
Fourteenth Distrid School 630
Twenty-third Distrid School 630
Trinity Hospital 646
Marquette University Administration Building 646
( Joncordia College 650
Milwaukee-Downer College Buildings 650
Milwaukee University School 656
Milwaukee State Normal School 662
Riverside High School, East Side 662
Public Library 668
Old Dam at North Avenue 672
Layton Art Gallery 684
Old Academy of Music 690
Pabst Theatre 696
Davidson Theatre 702
Ivanhoe Commandery Temple 706
Kenwood .Masonic Temple 706
Emergency Hospital 74(1
St. .Mary's Hospital 740
Grand Avenue Methodist Church 742
Grace Lutheran Church 742
The Rescue Mission 744
St. Paul's Church 746
Altenheim (Lutheran Old Polks' Home) 74s
Trinity Lutheran ( Jhurch 750
The Gesu Church 752
Temple Emanu-El 754
St . Josaphat 's Church 754
Old-Time Milwaukee Garden Saloon 760
Schlitz Park, Now Lapham Park 760
I lenrv Wehr's, a Famous Restaurant 766
Old-Time Whitelish Lav Bay Resort 77-
Old-World •' I'.ierstulie" 77-
Bar at Schlitz Palm Garden 784
Interior of a Famous Palm Garden 784
PART I
EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY
PIONEER AND SETTLEMENT PERIOD
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
INTRODUCTION
Every community has its story of humble beginning's, of earlier struggles
and trials, and of hard won achievements. Every generation receives its
inspiration and guidance from the preceding generation. Every people
demonstrates its character and worth by the estimate it places upon its pro-
genitors, and the respect and appreciation it manifests for them.
Thus, an eventful past, with its achievements and its lessons, is reduced
to historic record that we may enter into the charm of its romance, profit
by its teachings, and emulate its examples in effort equally worthy and benefi-
cent. Moreover, it enables a grateful progeny to measure human values,
pay tribute to the builders of a former day, and realize as well as recognize
the blessings and benefactions conferred by preceding generations.
The story of an Indian village that grew in less than a century to the pro-
portions of a great American city, that has reared mighty structures dedicated
to the useful arts, to commerce and trade and to the cultural aspirations of
man, is not wholly without interest or charm.
True, it notes no historic battles, no brilliant or decisive strokes in war-
fare, no epoch making turns in the tide of human affairs, no momentous
events in our national history. And yet it tells of a most splendid conflict —
a conflict in which man has grappled with the elements of nature in order
to subject them to uses for which the Creator intended them — a conflict in
which mind has triumphed over matter.
The founders of Milwaukee were men of character, of vision, of action.
The Indian instinctively sought that spot where three rivers converged and
opened into a beautiful inland ocean. But, the white man saw the gifts of
nature, the advantage of location and environment, and proceeded to build
a habitation that should suit his fancy, his needs, his purposes. He applied
his ingenuity, his enterprise, and his industry, and thus performed his part
in the great march of human progress and civilization.
It was the trading instinct that first brought the white man to the haunts
of the Indian. It was, however, the industrial bent rather than the com-
mercial instincts of the former that gave stimulus to subsequent economic-
stability and population growth. The individual mechanic, who, single
handed and alone, fashioned useful things became the founder of monster
industrial enterprises. The individual worker gradually resorted to the group
17
IS IIISTOKV OF MILWAUKEE
system, then came the era of organization and of quantity production. Thus.
greal manufacturing plants, whose products now go to the four ends of the
world, found their inception witli the simple manic in overalls, who under-
stood the immediate wauls of his fellowman and knew how to supply them.
A glance at the cast and west shore lines of Lake Michigan reveals a
peculiar phenomenon. The easl shore presents a series of small eities and
villages while the shores of Wisconsin maintain a number of large and impor-
tant manufacturing centers. The binterland of the two shore lines has. no
doubt, much to do with the material vitality of these cities but the primary
cause must be sought elsewhere. The population thai sougbl the wesl shore
was in the main industrially inclined. It included a preponderance of skilled
mechanics. There were, of course, those who were trained in commercial and
professional pursuits, but the artisan at all times predominated.
The Yankees who came from New England and the Knickerbockers, as
they were then called, who came from New York state between the thirties
and forties of the last century, were young, strong and hopeful. They sought
business opportunities and concerned themselves with transportation, bank-
ing, insurance and general commercial undertakings.
With the tide of immigration that rolled in between the years of 1840
to 187.") from Germany, Austria, Ireland, Scotland and tin' Scandinavian
countries, came also that industrial impetus which since has so strongly char-
acterized the Wisconsin lake cities and led to Milwaukee's rise as a greal
manufacturing center.
In connection with the foregoing it should be added that the transition,
too, from a community whose racial origin was at one time more largely
foreign than native, passing in an orderly, logical and consistent manner from
a stajre of foreignism to Americanism, constitutes a chapter that deserves
treatment in the lie-lit of present day conceptions and of developments id' a
more recent period.
What is told of the men of Milwaukee in point of industry and perse
verance, is equally true of the women. They braved the privation and hard-
ships of a pioneer day. They bore the burdens of motherhood and shared
with their husbands the sterner realities of life in a new and rough country.
In the subsequent development and maintenance id' educational, charitable
and welfare endeavor they assumed the larger task, and thus made a mag-
nificent contribution to the social and moral progress of their time and their
community.
It is safe to say that adequate recognition has never been accorded to
the part which women here played in tin- earlier foundations of a social order
and in the development of those agencies which gave practical expression to
the higher anil nobler impulses id' man.
Histories are frequently subject to revision not so much as to the bare
facts they chronicle bu1 rather as to the spirit they breathe, the atmosphere
they aim to reflect, ami the impressions thej ultimately convey. Even isolated
facts may obtain their true setting and relative import in the light of later
facts and conditions. ('oiistaut research and the coupling of event with
event lead to the correction of missl atemenl s, the adjustment id' values, and
INTRODUCTION 19
the fixing of conclusions. Again, histories already begun must from time to
time be brought up to date and amplified by subsequent events.
In the light of the marvellous progress made by the city and county
of Milwaukee during the past two decades, and in amplification of the
assembled records of the past, a new history must be deemed timely and
desirable. The more important events of that period, a record of the later
influences and forces that have entered into the growth and development of
a great population center, must be rendered accessible to present and future
generations. The lessons and precepts of that period must not be lost.
The contribution which the people of that political unit with which this
volume deals, have made to the economic and civic life of the nation is well
worthy of a dignified and permanent record. Out of the aggregate of events,
out of its successes and its failures, must spring the history of a nation.
The people of whom this history treats have manifested the same inven-
tive genius, the same enterprise and energy, the same constructive ability and
the same loyalty and patriotism that has characterized the nation as a whole.
They have been so closely interlinked with its material progress as to share
in its adversities as well as in its successes; they have constituted so intimately
a part of its political life as to share fully in its burdens as well as its blessings.
At all times have they responded, willingly, readily and unselfishly, to the
national spirit and impulse as they have complied with the duties of citizen-
ship at home.
It is with this thought in mind, and in this manner of approach, that the
task of writing a new history of Milwaukee city and county, as an integral
part of the Great Republic, is undertaken — a history that shall be concise,
comprehensive and complete in form and presentation, and worthy of the
people whose story it tells.
WILLIAM GEORGE BRUCE.
CHAPTEK I
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST
In the year 16.34, Jean Nicollet, accompanied by .seven Indian companions,
entered Lake Michigan by way of the Straits of Mackinac, and thus was the
first white man to behold the broad surface of this inland sea. "Along its
northern shores his canoe was paddled by his dusky oarsmen," says H. E.
Legler in his "Leading Events in Wisconsin History." "At the Lay de
Noquet he briefly tarried, and finally came to the Menomonee, where that
river pours its waters into Green Bay."
Later Nicollet ascended the Fox River until he came to the country of the
Mascoutens and at that point he turned south, when within three days' journey
of the portage, into the Wisconsin River, thus missing the route to the Missis-
sippi which -Joliet and Marquette followed in 1673. At length in the course
of his extended .journey he reached the country of the Illinois Indians. After
a sojourn with these tribes he returned to Green Bay, "doubtless along the
western shore of Lake Michigan," says Legler. However, as this is a con-
jecture the statement may not be accepted as fully authentic.
Nicholas Perrot came to visit the Wisconsin Indians in 1665, having been
intrusted by the authorities at Montreal with the task of making peace among
the tribes who were "fierce as wild cats, full of mutual jealousies, without
rulers and without laws." In this mission Perrot succeeded remarkably well.
Voyages of Joliet and Marquette. — The discovery of the Upper Mississippi
River was made on the celebrated voyage of Joliet and Marquette in 1673.
The beginning of the recorded history of the Great West dates from this year
and this voyage, and its importance requires some account of the events which
marked one of the most brilliant and daring enterprises in the annals of west-
ern adventure and exploration.
The Mississippi River had been discovered by a Spaniard, Hernando De
Soto in 1541, at" a point near the present City of Memphis; but this discovery
had been well-nigh forgotten at the period of time here spoken of. That a
great river existed, far to the north of the region where De Soto found and
crossed the Mississippi, was well known to the French from the reports made
to them by the Indians, vague and indefinite though they were; and these
reports excited the imagination and stimulated the ambition of many of the
adventurous spirits of the time.
It does not appear to have been suspected by any of the early French
explorers that the Great River of which the Indians told them, was one and
the same with that discovered by the Spanish explorer, more than a century
21
22 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
before. .Manx conjectures were made as to where it reached the sea, on which
point the Imlians could give no reliable information. Some thoughl thai it
emptied into the "Sea of Virginia," others contended thai it flowed into the
Gulf of .Mexico, while Front enae. the governor of New Prance, was convinced
that it discharged its waters into the Vermilion Sea. thai is the Oulf of Cali
furnia: ami that by way of it. a passage mighl lie found to China.
The Great Unknown River.- Reports having reached France, regarding
the "Ureal River of the West," as it was often spoken of, the French minis
ter, Colbert, wrote to Talon, the intendanl at Quebec, in 1672, that efforts
should he made "to reach the sea:" meaning to explore tie- great unknown
river and solve the mystery of its outlet. This was followed by appropriate
instruct ions. Father Dablon, in the "Jesuit Relations." says: "The Counl
Frontenac, our governor, am! Monsieur Talon, then our intendant, recogniz-
ing: the importance of this discovery [to lie made], appointed for
this undertaking Sieur Joliet, whom they considered xcry tit for so greal an
enterprise: and they were well pleased that Father Marquette should lie of
the party."
It must he understood that the government of New France ;it this period
was of a dual character. The French King did not believe it safe to intrusl
the affairs of his American dominions to the hands of a single man. and there-
fore the office of "intendant" was created, the ineumbenl possessing coordi-
nate authority with the governor general. Thus the acts of the intendant
were regarded as of equal authority with those of the governor general, and
as mentioned above through the joint action of these two officials the expedi-
tion was authorized.
Choice of Leader. — The authorities were not mistaken in the choice they
made of Louis Joliet. lie was a young man then twenty-eighl veins old.
possessing all the qualifications that could he desired for such an undertaking;
he had had experience among the Indians, and knew their language; he had
tact, prudence and courage, and. as the event proved, he fulfilled all the
expectations which were entertained of him by his superiors. Father James
Marquette was a Jesuit missionary, thirty-six years old. and. in addition to his
zeal for th inversion of the Indians, he was tilled with a burning desire
to behold the "Great River'' of which he had heard so much, lie was sta-
tioned at this time at St. [gnace, and here Juliet joined him late in the year
ltiT'J, and broughl him the intelligence of his appointment to go with him in
the conduct of tl xpeditiou. "I was all the more delighted at this good
news," writes Marquette in his journal, "since 1 saw that my plans were
about to he accomplished; and since I found myself in the Messed necessity
of exposing my life for the salvation of all these peoples, and especially of
the Illinois, who had very urgently entreated me. when 1 was at the point
of St. Esprit, to carry the word of God to their country." Here at St. [gnace
1 1 1 ' ■ \ passed the winter.
As the spring advanced, they made the necessarj preparations for their
journey, the duration of which they could not foresee. In two hark canoes.
manned by five frenchmen, besides the two intrepid Leaders, the partj em-
barked, "fullv resolved to do and suffer evervthine Eor so glorious an enter
DISCOVERY OP THE GREAT WEST 2:1
prise;" and on the 17th of May, 1673, the voyage began at the mission of
St. Ignaee. Father Marquette writes in his journal: "The joy that we felt
at being selected for this expedition animated our courage, and rendered
the labor of paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. And because
we were going to seek unknown countries, we took every precaution in our
power, so that if our undertaking were hazardous, it should not be foolhardy."
The journal of Father Marquette is the principal source of our information,
and is full of detail and written in a simple style. Joliet also kept a record
and made a map, but, most unfortunately, all his papers were lost by the up-
setting of his canoe in the St. Lawrence, while he was returning to Quebec
the following year to make a report of his discoveries. Thus it happens thai
Marquette's name is more frequently and prominently mentioned in all the
accounts than that of Joliet.
Beginning of the Journey. — The adventm-ous voyagers proceeded along
the .northern shore of Lake Michigan, tin' only portion of the lake which had
at that time been explored, and entered Green Bay. They arrived at the mis-
sion established by Father Allouez two years before, and from here they began
the difficult ascent of the Fox River. On its upper waters they stopped at a
village of the Mascoutins, from whom they procured guides; and by these
friendly savages they were conducted across the portage into the upper waters
of the Wisconsin River, whence the travelers made the r way alone. As the
Indians turned back, they "marvelled at, the courage of seven white men, ven-
turing alone in two canoes on a journey into unknown lands.''
They were now embarked on the Wisconsin River anil soon passed the
utmost limits of Nicollet's voyage on this river made thirty-five years before.
Their route lay to the southwest, and, after a voyage of seven days on this
river, on the 17th day of June, just one month from the day they started from
St. Ignaee, they reached its mouth and steered their canoes forth upon the
broad bosom of the Mississippi, "with a joy that I cannot express." wrote
Marquette.
"Here, then, we are," continues the ivood Father in his journal, "on this
so renowned river." Westward, coming down to the water's edge, were Lofty
wooded hills intersected by deep gorges, fringed with foliage. Eastward were
beautiful prairie lands; while great quantities of game — deer, buffalo and
wild turkey — were seen everywhere. In the river were islands covered with
trees and in the water they saw "monstrous fish," some of which they caught
in their nets. Following the flow of the river, they note the changes in the
scenery, while passing between shores of unsurpassed natural beauty, along
which a chain of flourishing cities was afterwards to be built.
Afloat on the Mississippi. — Steadily they followed die course of the river
towards the south, and on the eighth day they saw, for the first time since
entering the river, tracks of men near the water's edge, and they stopped to
examine them. This point was near the mouth of the Des Moines River, and
thus they were the first white men to place foot on the soil of Iowa. Leaving
their men to guard the canoes the two courageous leaders followed a path
two leagues to the westward, when they came in sight of an Indian village.
As they approached, they gave notice of their arrival by a loud call, upon
OUTLINE MAP OF MILWAUKEE MADE IX L840
See Key mi opposite page
KEY TO .MILWAUKEE MAP OF 1840
A.
B.
c.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
K.
L.
X.
0.
p.
1
2
3
4
The East Side.
Kilbourn Town.
Walker's Point.
Milwaukee River.
Msnomonee River.
Red Bridge,
Menomonee Bridge.
Spring Street Ferry (Grand Avenue i .
Walker's Point Ferry.
Old Harbor Entrance.
Proposed Straight Cut (Xew Harbor En-
trance i .
Lighthouse.
Courthouse.
The Canal.
East Water street.
Swamp — Present City Hall Site.
Market Street.
Division Street (Juneau Avenue i.
Chestnut Street.
Wesl Water Street.
Spring Street (Grand Avenue).
Chicago Road.
Prairieville Road.
I liven Bay Road.
11
12.
13
14
15
16
17
L8
19
20
21
2 2
23.
24,
25
2 il
29
30
32
33
35
:;r,
Washington House.
Kilbourn Warehouse.
Leland & American House.
Fischer Kroeger's German House.
St. Peter's Chapel (Cathedral).
Fountain House.
Milwaukee House.
Cottage Inn.
Lutlington's Corner.
Wisconsin Street.
Beam & Company Store.
George H. Walker's Home.
Rogers Old Corner.
Market Square.
1 rge Dousman's Warehouse.
Longstreet's Warehouse.
Walker's Warehouse.
Sweet & .Ten is Warehouse.
Barber's Wharf near Ludwig's Garden.
Little German Tavern.
River Street Swamp.
34. Small Islands in the Milwaukee River
Later Removed.
Lake Brewery.
Huron Street.
26 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
which the savages quickly rami' forth from their huts and regarded the stran
gers attentively. Some of their uumber who had evidently visited the mis-
sion stations recognized tham as Frenchmen, and they res] ded to Mar
quette's greeting in a friendly manner and offered (lie "calumet," or pet
pipe, which greatly reassured the visitors. Pour of the elders advanced and
elevated their pipes Inwards the sun as a token of friendship: and. on Mar
quette's inquiring who they were, they replied, "we are Illinois;" at the
same time inviting the strangers to walk to their habitations. An old man
then made them a speech in which he said. "All our people wait for thee, and
thou shalt enter our cabin in peace."
The Illinois Indians lived at this time beyond the Mississippi, whither ti!
had been driven by the fierce Iroquois from their former abode, near I.
Michigan. A few years later most of them returned to the east side and m
their abode along the Illinois River. Indeed. Joliel and Marquette found a
large village of them on the upper waters of tin1 Illinois, while ascending that
river a few weeks later. It may be remarked here, however, that the Illinois
Indians never fully recovered from the disastrous defeats they suffered from
the Iroquois, and held only a precarious possession of their lands along the
Illinois River after that time: until a century later, the last broken 1 mna il
of them was exterminated at Starved Rock by the Pottawatomies and
Ottawas.
Visit to the Illinois Indians. — While still at the village of these Illinois
Indians, a grand feast was prepared for the travelers, and they remained until
the next day, when they made preparations for their departure.
The chief made them two gifts which were a valuable addition to their
equipment, namely, an Indian lad. the chief's own son, for a slave, and "an
altogether mysterious calumet, upon which tin' Indians place more value
than upon a slave." The possession of this "mysterious calumet." was th •
means of placating several bands of hostile Indians, whom they met later in
their journey. The chief, on learning their intention to proceed down the
river "as far as the sea,*' attempted to dissuade them on account of the
great dangers to which they would expose themselves. "1 replied." says
Marquette, "that I feared not death, and that 1 regarded no happiness as
greater than that of losing my life for the glory of Him, who has made us
all. This is what these poor people cannot understand." These were no idle
words of Marquette's, for before the lapse of two years from that date, he
died of privation and exposure, a martyr to the cause he had s,, much at
heart.
The sequel to the story of the little Indian boy mentioned above was a
sad one. He accompanied the voyagers to tl ml of their journey. In the
following year, when Joliel was on his way to Quebec to make the report
of his discoveries, his canoe was overturned in the rapids of the Si. Lawrence
near Montreal, as previously stated. The resl of tin' narrative is quoted from
Mason's "Chapters from Illinois History." "His box of papers, containing
his map ami report, was lost, and he himself was rescued w'th difficulty. Two
of his companions were drowned; one of these was the slave presented to
him by the greal chief of the Illinois, a little Indian lad ten years of age, whom
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 27
he deeply regretted, describing him as of a good disposition, full of spirit,
industrious and obedient, and already beginning to read and write the French
language."
Friendship of Marquette and Joliet. — On the departure of the party, Mar-
quette promised the Indians to return to them the next year and instruct
them. They embarked in the sight of the people, who had followed them
to the landing to the number of some six hundred. The people admired the
canoes and gave them a friendly farewell. We cannot fail to note the har-
mony which existed between the two leaders on this expedition, in such strik-
ing contrast with the bickerings and disagreements observed in the accounts
of other expeditions of a like nature. For there is no severer test of the
friendly relations between officers of an exploring expedition than a long
absence in regions beyond the bounds of civilization. Joliet and Marquette
were friends long before they started together on this journey, and both were
single minded in their purpose to accomplish its objects. No more lovely char-
acter appears in the history of western adventure than that of Marquette,
a man who endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact, and made
himself an example for all time. Joliet, in turn, "was the foremost explorer
of the West," says Mason, "a man whose character and attainments and
public services made him a man of high distinction in his own day."
Continuing their journey the voyagers passed the mouth of the Illinois,
without special notice, but when in the vicinity of the place where the city
of Alton now stands, and while skirting some high rocks, they "saw upon
one of them two painted monsters which at first made them afraid." The
paintings were "as large as a calf," and were so well done that they could
not believe that any savage had done the work. Joutel saw them some eleven
years later, but could not see anything particularly terrifying in them, though
the Indians who were with him were much impressed. St. Cosme passed by
them in 169!), but they were then almost effaced; and when, in 1867, Parkman
visited the Mississippi, he passed the rock on which the paintings appeared,
but the rock had been partly quarried away.
They had scarcely recovered from their fears before they found themselves
in the presence of a new danger, for they heard the noise of what at tirsl they
supposed were rapids ahead of them: and directly they came in sight of the
turbulent waters of the Missouri River, pouring its flood into the Mississippi.
Large trees, branches and even "floating islands" were borne on its surface,
and its "water was very muddy." The name Missouri, which was afterwards
applied to this river, means in the Indian language "muddy water," and the
river is often spoken of to this day as the "Big Muddy." They passed in
safety, however, and continued on their journey in good spirits and with
thankful hearts.
They now began to think that the general course of the river indicated
that it would discharge itself into the Gulf of Mexico, though they were still
hoping to find that it would lead into the South Sea, toward California. As
they passed the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi, the shores changed
their character. They found the banks lined with extensive fields of cane-
brakes: mosquitoes tilled the air. and the excessive heat of the sun obliged
28 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
them to seek protection from its rays by stretching an awning of cloth over
their canoes. While they were thus floating down the current of the river,
they were in communication with Europeans, probably the Spaniards of
some savages appeared on the banks armed with guns, thus indicating that
Florida. The savages at first assumed a threatening attitude, but Marquette
offered his "plumed calumet," so called because of the feathers it was
adorned with, which the Illinois chief had given him, and the strangers were
at once received as friends. These savages told them that they were within
ten days' journey of the sea. and with their hopes thus raised they soon
resumed their course.
Soothing Effect of the Calumet. — They continued down past the monot-
onous banks of this part of the river for some three hundred miles from the
place where they had met the Indians just spoken of, when they weir sud
denly startled by the war-whoops of a numerous band of savages who showed
every sign of hostility. The wonderful calumet was held up by Marquette,
but at first without producing any effect. Missiles were flying, but fortunately
doing no damage, and some of the savages plunged into the river in order to
grasp their canoes; when presently some of the older men, having perceived
the calumet steadily held aloft, called back their young men and made re-
assuring signs and gestures. They found one who could speak a little Illinois:
and, on learning that the Frenchmen were on their way to the sea, the Indians
escorted them some twenty-five miles, until they reached a village called
Akamsea. Here they were well received, but the dwellers there warned them
against proceeding, on account of the warlike tribes below who would bar
their way.
Joliet and Marquette hei-e held a council whether to push on, or remain
content with the discoveries they had already made. They judged that they
were within two or three days' journey from the sea. though we know that
they were still some seven hundred miles distant from if. They decided
however, that beyond a doubt the Mississippi discharged its waters into the
Gulf of Mexico, and not to the East in Virginia, or to the West in California.
They considered that in going on they would expose themselves to the risk
of losing the results of their voyage, and would, without a doubt, fall into
the hands of the Spaniards, who would detain them as captives. The upshot
of their deliberations was the decision that they would begin the return
voyage at once. The exploration of the river from this point to the sea was
not accomplished until nine years later, when that bold explorer. La Salle.
passed entirely down the river to its month; where he set up a column and
buried a plate of lead, bearing the arms of France: took possession of the
country for the French King, and named it Louisiana.
The party were now at the mouth of the Arkansas, having passed more
than one hundred miles below the place where l)e Soto crossed it in the
previous century, had sailed eleven hundred miles in the thirty days since
they had beei the greal river, an average of about thirty seven miles a
day, and had covered nine degrees of latitude. ( in the 17th of duly, they
began their return journey, jusl one month to a day after they had entered
the river, and two months after they had left the mission at St. [gnace.
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 29
The voyage up the river in the mid-summer heat was one of great diffi-
culty, but steadily they "won their slow way northward,'" passing the mouth
of the Ohio and that of the Missouri; until at length they reached the
mouth of the Illinois River. Here they left the Mississippi and entered the
Illinois, being greatly charmed "with its placid waters, its shady forests, and
its rich plains, grazed by bison and deer." They passed through the wide
portion of the river, afterwards known as Peoria Lake, and reached its upper
waters, where, on the south bank, rises the remarkable cliff, s'nce called
"Starved Rock." They were thus "the first white men to see the territory
now known as the State of Illinois."
On the opposite bank of the river, where the Town of Utica now stands,
they found a village of Illinois Indians, called Kaskaskia, consisting of sev-
enty-four cabins. It should here be stated that the Indians removed this
village, some seventeen years later, to the south part of the present State of
Illinois, on the Kaskaskia River, where it became noted in the early annals
of the West. The travelers were well received here, and, on their departure,
a chief and a number of young men of the village joined the party for the
purpose of guiding them to the Lake of the Illinois, that is, Lake Michigan.
The course of the river was now almost directly east and west, and the
voyagers could not fail to notice the ranges of bluffs flanking the bottom
lands through which the stream meanders in its flow. This broad channel
once carried a mighty volume of water from Lake Michigan to the Missis-
sippi, at a time when the glaciers were subsiding and the lake level was some
thirty feet higher than in historic times.
The travelers soon arrived at the confluence of the Desplaines and the
Kankakee rivers which here, at a point some forty-five miles from Lake
Michigan, unite to form the Illinois River. Under the guidance of their
Indian friends they chose the route by way of the Desplaines as the shortest
to the lake. On reaching the place where the portage into the waters tribu-
tary to Lake Michigan was to be made, their Indian guides aided them in
carrying their canoes over the "half league" of dry land intervening. As
this portage is much longer than that, it is likely that the "half league"
mentioned by Marquette referred to one stage of the portage, between the
Desplaines and the first of the two shallow lakes which they found there and
on which they, no doubt, floated their canoes several miles on their way to the
waters of the south branch of the Chicago River.
Beaching Lake Michigan. — Here their Indian friends left them while they
made their May down the five miles that yet intervened before they would
reach Lake Michigan. (Troves of trees lined its banks, beyond which a level
plain extended to the margin of the lake. This level plain was the only por-
tion of the "Grand Prairie" of Illinois which anywhere reached the shore
of Lake Michigan, a space limited to some four miles south of the mouth of
the Chicago River. They were not long in coming into view of that splendid
body of water which they were approaching, and must have beheld its vasl
extent with the feelings of that "watcher of the skies" so beautifully written
of by Keats, "when a new planet swims into his ken."
No date is given by Marquette in his journal of the arrival of the party
30 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
a1 this point, luii it was probably early in September of the year 1673 thai
the site of the present City of Chicago was firsl visited by white men. It
is quite possible thai coureuf^ de Inns ("wood-rangers" may have visited
tlic spol while among the Indian tribes, bu1 no record was ever made of such
visits before the time that Joliel and Marquette arrived u] the scene, and
made known the discovery to the world. The mouth of the river is shown
<m all tl arly maps as at a point a quarter of a mile south of the presenl
nutlet, owing to a long sand spit that ran out from the north shore of the
river near its confluence with the lake, which has long since been dredged
away. This was Juliet's first and only view of the Chicago River and its
banks, as he never passed this way again.
The stimulating breath of the lake breezes which met them ;is they issued
forth upon the blue waters of the ""Lake of the Illinois," must have thrilled
the explorers with feelings of joy and triumph, having escaped so many
dangers and won such imperishable renown. Turning the prows of their
canoes northward, they passed the wooded shores still in their pristine love-
liness. The emerald hues of the prairies, whieh they had left behind them.
were now replaced by the mottled foliage of the early autumn, and the waves
breaking on the beach of sand and gravid must have impressed them deeply
as they proceeded on their way. The shores began to rise and form bluffs
as they passed the regularly formed coast on their course.
Throughout their journey the voyagers gaze on scenes familiar now to
millions of people, then unknown to civilized man. They see the gradual
increase in the height of the bluffs, reaching an elevation at the present town
id' Lake Forest of 100 feet or more above the surface of the lake, and the bold
shores of the present site of the City of Milwaukee. No comments arc made
regarding the events of this part of the journey by Marquette in bis journal,
and it most likely was made without special incident. He closes his narra-
tive by saying that "at the end of September, we reached the Bay des Puants
(Green Bay), from which we started at the beginning of June."
The world renowed voyage of Joliet ami Marquette thus ended at the
.Mission of St. Francis Xavier, where the Village of De Pere, Wisconsin, now
stands. The explorers had traveled nearly twenty-five hundred miles in about
one hundred and twenty days, a daily average of nearly twenty-one miles.
had discovered the Mississippi and the Chicago rivers, as well as the site id'
the present City of Chicago: and had brought back their party without any
serious accident or the loss of a single man. Here they remained during the
tall and winter, and in the summer of the following year (1674), Joliel set
out for Quebec to make a report of his discoveries to the governor of Canada.
It was while Hearing .Montreal on this journey that his canoe was upset in the
rapids, his Indians drowned, and all his records and a map that lie had care-
fully prepared were lost. Joliet never returned to the West, lie was rewarded
for his splendid Services with a grant of some islands in the lower St.
Lawrence, including lie- extensive island of Anticosti, and died in l"tM>. As
regards the credit due Joliel for the discovery made, the late Mr. Edward G.
Mason in his valuable work entitled. "Chapters from Illinois History," s-iys:
••Popular error assigned the leadership of the expedition which discovered
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST :I1
the Upper Mississippi and the lllino s Valley to Marquette, who never held or
claimed it.. Every reliable authority demonstrates the mistake, and yet the
delusion continues. But as Marquette himself says that Joliet was sent to
discover new countries, and he to preach the gospel; as Count Frontenac
reports to the home authorities that Talon selected Joliet to make the dis-
covery; as Father Dablon confirms this statement; and as the Canadian
authorities gave rewards to Joliet alone as the sole discoverer, we may safely
conclude that to him belongs the honor of the achievement. He actually
accomplished that of which Champlain and Nicollet and Radisson were the
heralds, and, historically speaking, was the first to see the wonderful region
of the prairies. At the head of the roll of those indissolubly associated with
the land of the Illinois, who have trod its soil, must forever stand the name of
Louis Joliet."
Marquette Continues Exploration. — Father Marquette was destined never
to return to the French colonial capital. His health had become impaired
on account of the hardships he had suffered during the return journey on the
Mississippi, and he remained nearly a year at the Mission of St. Francis
Xavier in an effort to recover his health and prepare himself for another
journey to the Illinois Country, as he had promised his Indian friends he
would do.
Early in the summer of 1674, that is, about seven or eight months after his
return to Green Bay from the voyage described in the previous pages, Joliet
started on his journey to Quebec to inform the authorities regarding the new
countries he had found. As already related, Joliet met with disaster on this
journey, and had it not been for the journal kept by .Marquette we should
have had no detailed record of the explorations of the previous year, though
Joliet gave some oral accounts afterwards, records of which have only in
recent years come to light. Later in the same year Marquette, having re-
covered from the poor health he had been suffering, received "orders to pro-
ceed to the mission of La Concepcion among the Illinois." On the 25th of
October, 1674, accordingly, he set out with two companions, named Pierre
and Jacques; one of whom had been with him on his former journey of dis-
covery. From this journey Marquette never returned; and indeed it would
seem to have been a most perilous risk for him to have taken considering his
physical condition, having only recently been "cured," as he says, of his
"ailment,"' and starting at a time of year when he would soon be overtaken
by the winter season. But no toils or exposure could deter those devoted
missionaries of the cross from engaging in any undertaking which seemed to
hold out the least prospect of saving souls, as the history of those times
abundantly shows.
Details of the Journey. — The route taken was by way of the difficult
portage at Sturgeon Bay, where now there is a canal, cutting through the
peninsula, and thus saved them a circuit of nearly one hundred and fifty
miles. Accompanying his canoe was a flotilla of nil thers, containing parties
of Pottawatomie and Illinois Indians; and in due time they embarked their
little fleet on the waters of Lake Michigan. They encountered storms and
the navigation proved difficult, but at length the party arrived at the mouth
32 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
of the Chicago River, which Marquette calls "the river of the Portage,"
early in December. Finding thai the stream was frozen over, they encamped
near by at the entrance of the river and engaged in hunting, finding game
very abundant. While here the two Frenchmen of the party killed "tin
buffalo and four deer." besides wild turkeys and partridges, which, con-
sidering the Ideality as we of this day know it, seems difficult to imagine;
and this passage in the journal composes the lirst sketch on record of the
site of the great city of the West.
Having followed the course of the river some "two leagues up.'" Mar-
quette "resolved to winter there, as it was impossible to go farther." His
ailment had returned and a cabin was built for his use and protection. Tier.'
he remained with his two Frenchmen while his Indian companions returned
to their own people. It must be borne in mind that Marquette's destination
was the village of Illinois Indians on the Illinois River, where he and Jolict
had been entertained the year before; and that the cabin here spoken of was
merely a temporary shelter where he would remain only until spring. But
sometime during the interval of the fifteen months since Marquette had pre
viously passed the portage, two Frenchmen had established themselves, about
"eighteen leagues beyond, in a beautiful hunting country," and these men
in expectation of the holy father's return had prepared a cabin for him.
stocked with provisions. This cabin Marquette was not able to reach, and
the two hunters, hearing of the good Father's illness, came to the portagi
to render such assistance as was in their power. One of these Frenchmen
was called "the Surgeon," perhaps because he possessed some knowledge of
medicine, but his true name is not given. The other was called "La Taupine,"
that is, "the Tawney," whose proper name was Pierre Moreau, a noted
coureur de bois of the time. Indians passing that way also e-ave assistance.
and late in March Marquette found himself with strength recovered and able
to set out on his journey to the Illinois, though not before he was driven out
of his winter cabin by a sudden rise of the river which obliged him to take
refuge near the place now called "Summit."
As in the previous year, Marquette kept a journal which has come down
to us among that valuable series of papers called the "Jesuit Relal -.
This journal is the sheet anchor of all the writers treating of the history of
the two journeys of discovery and exploration which we are here narrating.
Marquette occupied a portion of the time during his stay at the cabin in writ-
ing the memoirs of his voyages. In his journal the good Father breathes
the spirit of self-sacrifice, the concern for the conversion ami spiritual welfare
of the savages; and with it all tie shows a kern curiosity and interest in the
manners and customs, the country and habitations, of the tribes he meets
with.
Winter Quarters of Marquette. — The location of the cabin in which Mar-
quette spent the wilder of lti74-."i was marked with a cross made of mahogany
WOOd, at the base of which in recent years was placed a bronze table! with
an inscription. The site was fixed upon m 1905 by a committee of the Chicago
Historical Society under the guidance of the late .Mr. Ossian Outhrie, an in-
telligent and devoted student of local antiquities, with a view of marking tin'
DISCOVERY OP THE GREAT WEST 33
spot in a suitable manner. An entire day was spent by the party in driving
and walking over many miles of country in order to compare the topography
with the journal of th'e missionary, and a scries of photographs taken. The
investigations resulted in confirming the opinions of Mr. Guthrie, namely, that
Marquette's winter cabin was situated on the north bank of the south branch
of the Chicago River at the point where now it is intersected by Robey Street,
and from which at the present time can be seen, by looking westward, the
entrance to the great Drainage Canal.
There is also a. monument at Summit a few miles distant from the site of
Marquette's winter cabin, marking the spot where Marquette landed after
being flooded out of his winter quarters at Robey Street. This monument
is constructed of boulders taken from the Drainage Canal while in process
of building, and was placed there in 1895 by the Chicago and Alton Railroad
Company. The inscription on the monument reads, "Father Marquette landed
here in 1675."'
Marquette reached the Illinois village which he called Kaskask a in the
journal of his first visit, and which lie refers to as the "mission of La Concep-
cion" in his later journal. This was on the 8th of April, 1675, and on reach-
ing the village "he was received as an angel from heaven." There was always
an atmosphere of peace wherever the good missionary went, and, no matter
how unfavorable the circumstances were, he was the object of solicitude and
kind attentions from his followers. From the time that he crossed the portage
he discontinued his journal, probably owing to his increasing weakness. The
account of the remainder of his journey is written by Father Dablon, his
superior at Quebec. lie summoned the Indians to a grand council and "dis-
played four large pictures of the Virgin, harangued the assembly on the
mysteries of the Faith, and exhorted them to adopt it." His hearers were
much affected and begged him to remain among them and continue his in-
structions.
Last Days of Marquette. — lint Marquette realized that his life was fast
ebbing way, and that it was necessary if possible to reach some of the older
missions where he could either recover his health or hand over his responsi-
bilities to others. Soon after Easter he started on his return, pledging the
Indians on his departure that h ' some other one would return to them and
carry on the mission. He set out with many tokens of regard on the part
of these good ] pie, and as a mark of honor a party of them escorted linn
for more than thirty leagues on his way. and assisted him with his baggage.
Some writers have supposed that he took the route by the Desplaines-Chicago
portage, but it is more probable, according to Mason, that he ascended the
Kankakee, guided by his Indian friends, and reached the Lake of tin' Illinois
by way of the St. Joseph River. His destination was St. lgnace and his
course lay along the eastern shore, which, as yet, was unknown except
through reports from the Indians. Now alone with his two companions, he
pushed forward with rapidly diminishing strength, until, on the 19th day of
May, 1675, the devoted priest felt that his hour had come, and being near a
small river, he asked to be placed ashore. Here a bark shed was Imill by his
companions, and the dying man was placed within its rude walls.
::i HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"With perfed cheerfulness arid composure," relates Parkman, "he ga^
directions for his burial, asked their forgiveness for the trouble he had caused
them, administered to them the sacrament of penitence, and thanked Ood that
he was permitted to die in the wilderness, a missionary of the Faith and a
member of the Jesuit brotherhood." Soon after I xpired, and was buried
by Ins ( panions at that place, while they made their way to St. [gnace
with their sad tidings. Two years later a party of Ottawa Indians, who were
informed of the death and burial place of Marquette, were passing thai way,
found the grave, opened it, washed and dried the bones, and placed them in
a box of birch bark; and bore them, while chanting funeral songs, i ■ ► St.
[gnace, where they were buried beneath the floor of the chapel of the mission.
A statue now stands in a public place1 near the water front at the Town of
St. [gnace placed there in recent years.
Thus ends the story of Marquette, who is, one may say. the patron saint
of the people of Illinois and Wisconsin. He participated with Joliel in dis-
covering the Mississippi River and- described its vast expanse of plain and
forest. He came again and spent a winter in a rude cabin on the river bank,
and from here passed on to his chosen field of work where his last missionary
labors were performed. Memorials of him have been placed all over the West,
where lie spent the last two years of his brief but memorable career. The
story has been often told but never loses its interest. "Let it be told in every
western home," writes Pres. E. J. -lames, and "every good cause in this section
will feel tin- beneficent results of its influence," in awakening a pride in our
earliest annals, "and quickening the spirit of service in all our people." A
statue of Marquette, clad in his robes, has been placed by the State of Wis-
consin in Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington.
Father Marquette's Successor. — The promise made by Marquette to the
Illinois Indians did not long remain unkept. Father Claude Allouez was sum-
moned by his superior to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Father Mar-
quette, and promptly responded to the call. Allouez, with two companions,
embarked in a canoe at St. Francis Xavier in October, 1676, just two years
after Marquette had set out from the same place: but owing to the ice in
Green Bay they were not able to reach Lake Michigan until the following
February. At length in April, 1677, the party reached "the river that leads
to the Illinois." that is, the Chicago River, where they met eighty Indians
coming towards them. The chief presented a tire brand in one hand and a
feathered calumet in the other, from which Allouez discreetly made choice
of the latter. The chief then invited the little party of whites to his village,
which was soi listance from the mouth of the river, "probably," as Mason
says, "near the portage where Marquette hail passed the winter" two years
previously. Allouez remained at tins village a short time and then passed
on to the Illinois River Mission, which he reached on the 27th of April. After
erecting a cross at the mission he returned to Green Bay, as he had made
the journey, it seems, "only to acquire the necessary information for the
perfect establishment of tin' mission." He came again the next year, but
retired to the Wisconsin Mission in 1679 "upon hearing of the approach of
La Salle, who believed that the .lesuits were unfriendly to him. and that
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT WEST 35
Allouez in particular had sought to defeat his plans." "The era of the dis-
coverer and missionary was now giving plan- to that of the explorer and
colonist," and the great figure of Robert Cavelier de La Salle appears upon
the scene.
mmm
v 4y^T
CHAPTER II
THE ORDINANCE OP 1787
< (wing to its profound influence on the later history of the State of Wis-
consin and its people some account will here be given of the Ordinan* f
1787 and a brief analysis of its provisions.
The Ordinance of 1787 was passed by the Continental Congress on the
13th of July in the year named in the title of the ordinance, and the Federal
Constitution was adopted by the same body mi the 17th of September of the
same year. Thus the famous ordinance enjoys a priority of date of more than
two months over that of the constitution. The Ordinance of 1787 has been
termed by Senator George F. Hoar "one of the title deeds of American con-
stitutional liberty," and it lias, indeed, all the authority and force of an article
of the constitution itself.
By the Ordinance of 1787 there were to be formed from the Northwest
Territory not less than three nor more than live states. In case there should
be only three states formed the ordinance provided that these states should
have certain boundaries, with this proviso: "It is further understood and
declared that the boundaries of these three states shall be subject so far to
be altered, that if Congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have
authority to form one or two states in that part of the said territory which
lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or
extreme of Lake Michigan."
Before the formation of states, however, there were territorial divisions.
When the Territory of Illinois came to be formed in 1809, the boundaries were
established on the same lines as those of the present State of Illinois except
that the territory extended northwards to the boundary line between Canada
and the United States. When the Enabling Act (enabling the people of Illi-
nois to form a state constitution) was passed, April 18, ISIS, the northern
boundary of the new State of Illinois was fixed in accordance with the Ord:-
nance of 1787, on the east and west line drawn through the southerly or
extreme bend of Lake Michigan, afterwards ascertained to be forty-one
degrees and thirty-nine minutes of north latitude.
Nathaniel Pope who was the delegate in Congress from the Territory of
Illinois moved an amendment to the bill, which was then under consideration
in the committee of the whole, by striking out that part which defined tli •
northern boundary and inserting "forty-two degrees and thirty minutes north
latitude." The amendment was agreed to ami the bill was passed.
The effect of Pope's Amendment was to include within the limits of the
new state a strip of country sixty-two miles in width, extending from Lake
37
38 ■ HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Michigan to the .Mississippi River, containing an area of 8,500 square miles
n!' fertile country, diversified with forests and rivers, within which at the
presenl time are located fourteen counties with many populous and pros
perous cities.
Mr. Pope's Argument. — In presenting the amendmenl to the enabling ad
in L818, Mr. Pope made the following argument: "That the proposed new
state (Illinois), by reason of her geographical position, even more than on
account of the fertility of her soil, was destined to become populous and
influential ; that if her northern boundary was fixed by a line arbitrarily estab-
lished rather than naturally determined, and her commerce was to be con-
fined to that great artery of communication, the Mississippi R'.ver, which
washed her entire western border, and to its chief tributary to the south. I
Ohio River, there was a possibility that her commercial relations with the
South might become so closely connected that in the event of an attempted
dismemberment of the Union, Illinois would east her lot with the southern
states.
"On the other hand," he continued, "to fix the northern boundary of Illi-
nois upon such a parallel of latitude as would give to the state jurisdiction
over thi' southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, would he to unite the in-
cipient commonwealth to the states of Indiana. Ohio, Pennsylvania and New
York in a bond of common interest well nigh indissoluble. By the adoption
of such a line Illinois might become at some future time the keystone to the
perpetuity of the Union. It was foreseen, even at that early time that • Ihicago
would be a lake port of great importance, and that a canal would be con
structed across the state between the lake and the Mississippi; and Mr.
Pope urged that it was the duty of the National Government to give Illinois
an outlet on Lake Michigan, which, with the support of the population back of
tl oast, would be capable of exercising a decisive influence upon her own
affairs, as well as strengthening her position among her sister states."
Effects of Altering the Boundary. -When we reflect that the region affected
by Pope's amendment was at that time an almost unbroken wilderness, that
the advantageous position of Chicago and its contiguous territory was only
a matter of speculation, we must recognize in Pope's action in proposing and
urging the adoption of his amendment the work of a keen and far-sighted
statesman. "No man," says John Moses in his "History of Illinois." "ever
rendered the state a more important service in Congress than did Nathaniel
Pope." That the fixing of the northern boundary of the state where it is
today had momentous consequences can be seen in tile subsequent historj
,d' the state. Had the northern tier of counties included within the sixty-
two mile Strip become attached to Wisconsin, as it inevitably would have
been, the State of Illinois would have lacked, when issues of tremendous
moment were at stake, a vital element in her legislature at the time of the
breaking out id' the Civil war. an element that Wisconsin did not require,
;,s the Union sentiment in that state was at all times verj strong.
Whether or not the splendid support given to the Union cause in the state
of Illinois was of such importance as to justify Pope's declaration, when
arguing for the amendment, that the state mighl become "the keystone to
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 39
the perpetuity of the Union," may be regarded differently by historians. Hut
the commanding position occupied by Illinois during- the Civil war, with one
of its citizens in the presidential chair and another leading- the armies of the
Union, went far to make good the claim made by Hope in his declaration.
The part taken by Hope in the boundary matter well illustrates whal has been
called "his almost superhuman sagacity."
lion. Clark E. Carr, in an address made in 1911, referred to Pope's dis-
tinguished services in the following eloquent words: "Long- after that greal
statesman had passed away, his arguments were tested, in the midst of car-
nage and death, in the smoke of battle by brave Illinois heroes, some of them
led by his own son, Maj. Gen. John Pope, and proved to be sound."
Analysis and Comments on the Ordinance. — It may be well to recall the
opinions of eminent statesmen regarding the importance of the Ordnance
of 1 7.S7 in the formation of the states under its provisions. A brief summary
of the ordinance may here he inserted: These provisions, it is declared, shall
"forever remain unalterable unless by common consent"; "no person shall
be molested on account of his mode of worsh'p or religious sentiments" ; every
person shall be "entitled to the benefits of the writ of habeas corpus and of
trial by jury"; "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good
government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa-
tion shall forever be encouraged"; "the utmost good faith shall always In-
observed towards the Indians": there shall he formed "not less than three
nor more than five states in the said territory"; "there shall he neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the
punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted."
Perhaps to some readers the word "ordinance" as applied to an act of
Congress may not be readily understood. Why was it not called an "act"
for certainly we should so call it if it had passed in a similar manner at the
present day. The term "ordinance" is now Hinted in its use to measures
passed in a city council. There is no legal distinction, however, between an
ordinance and an act or statute. The term has gone out of use as applied
to acts of Congress, though at the time of the old Continental Congress it
was quite usual to so employ it. But after the United States became a
nation, by the rat'fication of the Constitution in 1 7 S 0 , the term act or statute
became the usual one.
Lincoln's View of the Ordinance. In his great Cooper Institute s] h
Mr. Lincoln referred to the Ordinance of 1 7 s 7 . making use of the provisions
therein contained to buttress his arguments against the extension of slavery
into the territories. He showed that federal control as to slavery in federal
territory, as asserted in tin- ordinance, was the deliberate expression of the
highest power then existing in the country; and that after the Constitution
had been ratified, namely, in 1789, an act was passed by the new Congress
"to enforce the Ordinance of 1787, including the prohibition id' slavery in the
Northwestern Territory," and that this act had been signed by George Wash-
ington.
Quoting from Dr. William V. Poole's treatise on the ordinance, summariz-
ing the benefits accruing to posterity, it is said: "The Ordinance, in the
40 BISTORT OP -MILWAUKEE
breadth of its conception, its details, and its results, has been perhaps the
must notable instance of legislation thai was ever enacted by the representa-
tives of the American people. It fixed forever the character of the immigra-
tion, and of the social, political and educational institutions of the people who
were to inhabit this imperial territory — then a wilderness, but DOW covered by
five great states."
Of the ordinance as a whole Daniel Webster said: "We are accustomed
to praise the lawgivers of antiquity — we help to perpetuate the fame of Solon
and Lycurgus; but I doubt whether one single law, ancient or modern, has
produced effects of more distinct, marked and lasting character than the
Ordinance of 1787."
A Famous Boundary Controversy. — When Wisconsin had arrived at the
dignity of territorial existence in ]S'-'S, the southern boundary of the territory
Mas naturally placed at the line of the northern boundary of Illinois as it
was fixed by "Pope's Amendment" when the latter state was admitted to
the Union in 1818; that is, at 42 degrees and 30 minutes north latitude. The
Ordinance of 1787, under the terms of which the states of Ohio, Indiana.
Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were afterwards formed, prescribed the
northern boundary of the state which became Illinois on an east and west line
drawn through the southern bend of Lake Michigan, that is, sixty-two miles
south of where it was eventually placed. It was claimed by the Wisconsin
statesman of that day that Illinois was not entitled to the strip of land thus
enclosed and added to its area. They contended that this land belonged to
the new territory and that Congress should repeal that part of the act creat-
ing the State of Illinois though it had been a settled transaction for eighteen
years.
It will be remembered that by reason of "Pope's Amendment" the line had
been changed while the enabling act was passing through Congress so that
an area of some eighty-five hundred square miles in the northern part of the
state had been added to Illinois against the plain provisions of tin- Ordinance
of 1787.
This tract of country had been rapidly filled with settlers, great projects
of public improvement were under way, ami it had thus become a very im-
portant addition to the wealth and population of the state. The Wisconsin
people appealed to the language of the Ordinance of 17S7 which seemed to
justify their claim.
The Ordinance of 1787 provided for the erection of three states out of
the northwest territory (which afterwards became Ohio. Indiana and Illi-
nois), and further specified that "if Congress shall hereafter rind it expedient
they shall have authority to form one or two more staler in that part of
said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the
southerly bend of Lake Michigan," and that this provision was to "forever
remain unaltered except by common consent." The Legislature of Wisconsin
Territory sent a somewhat belated memorial to Congress nearly three years
after the organization of the territory, declaring that the determination of
the nothern boundary of Illinois was "directly in collision with and repug-
nant to the compact entered into by the original states with people and states
THE ORDINANCE OF 1787 11
within the Northwest Territory." Finding that Congress gave no heed to
this protest the Legislature passed a resolution that Congress had "vio-
lated the Ordinance of 1787," and that "a large and valuable tract of
country is now held by the State of Illinois contrary to the manifest right
and consent of the people of the territory."
Appeal to the Ordinance of 1787. — Congress, however, still turned a deaf
ear to these proceedings, and in 1840 the people living in the disputed tract
in Illinois were invited by a resolution of the Territorial Legislature of Wis-
consin to hold an election to vote on the question of forming a const. tution
for the proposed new State of Wisconsin, as if the tract were really a part
of Wisconsin Territory. Strange as it may seem, the people of the counties
within the disputed tract complied with the invitation, and delegates were
chosen to a convention to be held at Rockford. This convention formally
declared that Wisconsin was entitled to the disputed tract as it claimed.
Nothing came of this, as it was found that the people of Wisconsin Territory
generally regarded the movement for the formation of a state government
as premature, and no action was taken on their part in the matter until a year
or two later.
So matters stood until 1812, when a new impulse was given to the move-
ment for a state organization in Wisconsin. It was argued that if the strip
of country in Northern Illinois were reckoned as a part of Wisconsin Terri-
tory, as it rightfully should be, there would be a sufficient number of in-
habitants, when added to those of the territory, to warrant a demand to be
admitted as a state to the Union. Orators became belligerent in their claim
for the "ancient limits," which was how they described the disputed land in
Illinois. One member of the Legislature declared that Wisconsin ought to
assume jurisdiction over Northern Illinois, saying: "Let us maintain that
right at all hazards, unite in convention, form a state constitution, extend our
jurisdiction over the disputed tract if desired by the inhabitants there, and
then, with legal right and immutable justice on our side, the moral and
physical force of Illinois, of the whole Union, cannot make us retrace our
steps."
It seemed impossible, however, to arouse any marked interest among the
Wisconsin people themselves on the subject, the interest being almost wholly
confined to the Illinois northern counties and the politicians guiding the
sentiments there. This willingness of the Northern Illinois people to unite
with Wisconsin seems the more singular when it is remembered that already
the Illinois and Michigan Canal, reaching far to the south of Wisconsin's
possible limits, was in course of construction; and that the chief dependence
of these northern counties was on the rapidly growing City of Chicago, whose
future was bound up with the canal's prosperity. The Illinois people, how-
ever, recovered their senses and in later appeals from the Wisconsin leaders
became indifferent, and finally were entirely reconciled to their Illinois
allegiance.
Failure of Congress to Heed Appeals. — The last shot in the controversy
was tired by a committee of the Territorial Legislature which late in 1813
prepared an address to Congress on the boundary question, running in part as
J2 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
follows: "Had we formed a constitution and state government, and ex-
tended our jurisdiction over all the territory appropriated, though it mighl
have involved us in a dbnflict with [llino!s, qo one could truly say we had
done more than exercise our lawful rights iii a lawful manner." Bu1 Con-
gress made qo response io this warlike appeal, and the subjeel failed to
attract any further attention; no doubl for the reason thai the boundary ih
it stood was an accomplished fact, and any disturbance of the line after a
quarter of a century from the time it was established would result in endless
confusion. Wisconsin was admitted to the Union .May 29, 1848, the presenl
boundary line being accepted withoul further question.
It is an interesting fact in this connection that while the boundary line is
described as at "41' degrees, 30 minutes of north latitude" in all lie acts ami
proceedings connected with the subject, ami boundary posts ami monuments
were placed in supposed accordance with that line, yet it was found in later
years that the old surveys were incorrect, and that there was a variance of
three-fourths of a mile in places from the true parallel. Indeed the line of
monuments is north of the parallel in the western part of the state, and
zigzags to and fro. finally landing some distance south of the parallel at the
eastern end on the shore of Lake Michigan.
Wisconsin was admitted as a state of the Union on May 29, Is Is after
a probation period of twelve years as a territory. It was the fifth state to
be formed out of the Northwest Territory whieh had been organized under
the Ordinance of 1 7S7. We have previously given some account of the
boundary controversy with Illinois while Wisconsin was yet a territory. But
in the generally prosperous conditions prevailing throughout the regions
occupied by Illinois and Wisconsin all the grievances between the two sections
were forgotten, or became the subjeel of humorous references. It is recalled
that Hon. James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin, in a speech at the beginning of
work on the great Chicago Drainage ('anal in 1892, spoke in terms of praise
for the work. The veteran ex-senator said he hoped to see the greal enter
prise completed and a "'waterway established between the lakes and rivers."
He eonti I as follows: "I say it with jusl as much earnestness as if all my
interests were identical with Chicago. I still live in Wisconsin. 1 live in the
state to which Chicago belongs according to the < Irdinance of 17*7. i Laughter
and applause, i I sometimes give ; xcuse to those gentlemen who ask me.
'Why is it you practice law in Chicago, and yet live in Wisconsin?' I tell
them that by the Ordinance of 17*7. Chicago belongs to Wisconsin, and I
have a righl to be there. Bui independent of all that my interests are of a
national characl er. ' '
CHAPTER III
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES
A prospect of Lake Michigan from any point along its shores is like thai
of the ocean itself in its seeming boundless expanse. And yet all this vast
flood is destined to pass over the Kails of Niagara in its eventual flow to the
sea. There will be considerable hiss in its volume from evaporation before
reaching the falls, and il will also be somewhat diminished by reason of the
withdrawal of a small fraction of its waters for the use of man ami his works.
The entire volume of the four great lakes above the falls. Lakes Superior,
Michigan, Huron and Erie, must find an outlet into Lake Ontario ami so on
down to the sea through the Niagara and St. Lawrence rivers. It can well
be imagined that the Hood pouring over the brink of the cliff at Niagara is
so tremendous that there is not on earth a rival to it in its size ami magnifi-
cence save the great Victoria Falls of the Zambesi River in South Africa.
The Order in Which They Were Discovered. — With a map of the Great
Lakes spread out one sees them clustered in a group like a bunch of tubers
on a stem, each one connected with the other by rivers or straits. Going back
to the time when these large bodies of water were as yet unknown to civilized
men, it is curious to note the course of events through which their existence
ami bounds were made known to map makers and geographers. It would be
natural to suppose while looking at the map that Lake Ontario would have
been the first one of the great lakes to be opened to the knowledge of white
men, always remembering that the French were the leaders in these dis-
coveries. From their settlements on the St. Lawrence the French gradually
pushed westward into the wilderness, but in the early period of their ad-
vances they chose the Ottawa River as the route towards the west and north-
west rather than the St. Lawrence itself. This led them in the direction of
Lake Huron, and thus this lake was the first one of the Great Lakes to be
discovered. Champlain was the man -who, in Kilo, first saw the waters of
Georgian Bay, which opened from the larger body of Lake Huron, and thus
became the pioneer in the discovery of the Great Lakes of the Northwest.
The discovery of Lake Ontario followed soon after, which was also discovered
by ( ihamplain.
Lake Erie Eluded Them.— A few years later, that is in 1634, Nicollet
crossed Lake Huron, and passing the Straits of Mackinac entered the northern
waters of Lake Michigan ami penetrated as far as Green Hay. Here he
entered the mouth of the Fox River and traveled as far as the portage into
the Wisconsin River, but he did not continue to the .Mississippi as he might
43
jfflrm 0% $t&Klai$aUmu
THERE is a purpose of Marriage between
residing in
of which proclamation is hereby made for the
time.
£s~
" the jCC~^sfc~-^lay of ^W^_Tl82«^'
It is hereby certified, That the above-mentioned Parties have
been Three Times Proclaimed in order to Marriage, in the Parish
Church of £*^
no objections have been offered
&f/<.>? t
and that
Sess. Clerk.
-.»»*—; 'Sir et«>-
At {Zu-lt****? — the 2-4 day of lyyu/^C IS2j'
The above Parties were Married by
C^UCS! Vt^Zo <y*A^ Minister.
COPY OF AN OLD WISCONSIN MARRIAGE LICENSE IN POSSESSION OF THE
SETTLERS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 45
have done if he had held on a few days longer. The discovery of the latter
river was reserved for Joliet and Marquette, who passed over the same route
thirty-nine years later. In 1658 De Groseilles entered Lake Superior through
the St. Mary's River. Thus four of the Great Lakes had become known to
the French, but still Lake Erie eluded their knowledge, and it was not until
1669 that Joliet, passing south on Lake Huron through the St. Clair River.
discovered Lake Erie, the last one of the group to become known.
Thus the five great lakes were discovered in the following order: Huron.
Ontario. .Michigan, Superior and Erie. Between the discovery of Lake Huron
the first, and Lake Erie the last, there was an interval of fifty-four years. It
will be interesting to make a brief survey of what was happening in other
parts of the country during this interval. Champlain had founded Quebec in
1608, that is twelve years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, and in 1609
Hudson sailed up the river now called by his name; and five years later the
first Dutch settlements were made at New Amsterdam, now New York. Settle-
ments had been started on the James River in Virginia, and others were scat-
tered along the Atlantic Coast at Delaware and Maryland.
Iroqucis Blocked Way. — After the discovery of Lake Erie in 1669 it would
seem to have been inevitable that Niagara Falls would almost at once have
been discovered by the French. Cut it must be remembered thai the Iroquois,
those "pests of the wilderness," who held possession of the region about the
Niagara River were hostile to the French and prevented their approach. It
was well known, however, that there was a great cataract somewhere along
the river connecting the two lakes, Ontario and Erie. But during a lull in
the age-long hostility between the [roquois and the French, La Salle organized
his expedition to explore the Mississippi, and laid his route by way of the
Niagara River. A part of his force, starting from Fort Frontenac on Lake
Ontario, went in advance of La Salle himself, and landed at the mouth of
the Niagara River. Father Hennepin was with the advance party, and he
lost no time after landing in making a search for the falls so long known by
report, but as yet never seen by white men.
The Imperial Cataract. — Parkman's account is well worth quoting as to
what happened, which at the same time is a fair specimen of the famous
historian's style. "Hennepin, with several others," he says, "now ascended
the river in a canoe to the foot of the mountain ridge of Lewiston. which,
stretching on the right hand and on the left, forms the acclivity id' a vast
plateau, rent with the mighty chasm, along which, from this point to the
cataract, seven miles above, rush, with the fury of an Alpine torrent, the
gathered waters of four inland oceans. To urge the canoe farther was impos-
sible. He landed, with his companions, on the west bank, near the foot of that
part of the ridge now called Queenstown Heights, climbed I he steep ascent,
and pushed through the wintry forest on a tour of exploration. On his left
sank the cliffs, the furious river raging below; till at length, in primeval
solitudes, unprofaned as yet by the pettiness of man, the imperial cataracl
burst upon his sight."
The date of the discovery was December li, 1678, so that when it is remem-
bered that Joliet and Marquette discovered the Upper Mississippi in June.
46 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
1673, it is seen thai the gn a1 river of the West, as well as the Illinois country
ami the sites of Chicago and Milwaukee, were actually discovered more than
five years before the discovery of Niagara Palls was made. Hennepin, in
his account, described the Falls as 600 feel in height, which, of course. was a
greal exaggeration. It is well known that the falls arc onlj aboul 171 feel
high, hut Hennepin was given to enlarging on his facts. With all his failings,
however, he will go down to posterity as being the discoverer of the most
wonderful natural feature, perhaps, in the world. The Greal hakes together
with their connecting straits and rivers were now completely made known
to the civilized world.
Aspect of Lake Michigan. — As one stands on the shore of Lake Michigan
and gazes on its broad expanse stretching far to the north, east and south.
a noble view is presented. One realizes the great extent over which his eye
wanders by noting the lake craft in the distance, some vessels lying "hull
down" with their white sails only in sight, and some trailing clouds of smoke
along the horizon, indicating passing steamers beyond the limit of vision.
Those in plainer sight seem to stand motionless while in strange contrast the
waves near the shore dash violently on the breakwaters and piers, throwing
up clouds of spray, or break in thunderous surges on the sand and gravel
at one's feet.
Such a view from the bluffs along the north shore forms a grand and
impressive spectacle, and such an outlook is one of the principal attractions
to the dwellers in the beautiful homes that have been built in the neighbor-
hood. When tossed by the wind the ruffled surface of the lake shows many
shades of blue and green according to the light reflected upon it from the
sky; and when light, fleecy clouds are passing over it, casting broad shadows
upon its far-extending surface, the colors arc shown in varied hues ranging
from neutral tints to most beautiful olive greens and violet blues. One of our
local poets happily likened its broad expanse under these conditions to a
"pictured psalm."
"A level plain of a vast extent on land is certainly no mean idea," wrote
Edmund Burke in his celebrated essay on the •"Sublime and Beautiful."
"The prospect of such a plain may be as extensive as a prospect of the ocean;
but can it ever fill the mind with anything so great as the ocean itself?"
This can be well understood by those who have long dwelt on the shores of
Lake Michigan. I bit when
" — storms and tempests wake the sleeping main.
And lightnings flash while winds grow hoarse and loud.
And writhing billows toss their white crests high,"
then, indeed, Lake Michigan's aspeel changes from the beautiful to the sub-
lime. It is then when darkness adds its terrors to the scene that the perils
of the mariner come home to the observer with moving force and quickened
s\ mpathy.
Natural History of Lake Michigan. Lake Superior is the largest bodj of
fresh water in the World, with an approximate area of 31,200 Square miles.
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 47
Next in order of size comes Lake Victoria Nyanza in Africa, with an approxi-
mate area of 22,500 square miles. It is 320 miles long and 85 miles broad at
its widest part.
'"Lake Michigan receives the drainage of only a very narrow bell in north-
eastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, comprised mainly in the drainage
of the Chicago and Calumet rivers," writes Frank Leverett, the eminent
geologist, in his monograph published by the Cnited States Geological Survey.
"It drains about one-half the area of the southern peninsula of Michigan and
adjacent portions of Wisconsin, mainly tributary to Green Bay. South of the
Green Bay drainage system only a narrow belt is tributary to the lake. The
watershed draining to Lake Michigan is estimated to be 45,000 square miles,
and the total area of the basin (including the lake itself) is 68,100 square
miles."
Physical Features of Lake Michigan. — There is no other lake in America,
north or south, which traverses so many degrees of latitude, extending from
45 degrees, 55 minutes on the north, to 41 degrees, 37 minutes on the south.
There are a number of islands in the northern part of the lake: Beaver
Island, comprising an area of about forty square miles, the Fox Islands ami
the Manitous. South of the latter there is a stretch of over two hundred
miles to the southern end of the lake in which there are no islands or even a
sand bar of any description rising above the surface. As the bed of the lake
is composed of clay, sand and gravel throughout this portion of its extent,
there is no danger to navigation from the occurrence of rocks either in its
bed or on its shores, and vessels driven by storms can find good holding
ground for the'r anchors. There are, however, some rather dangerous shoals
and reefs, especially in the vicinity of Racine and South Chicago which are
plainly indicated on the Government "Lake Survey" charts, printed for the
use of navigators.
The elevation of the surface of Lake Michigan above the level of the
sea is 581 feet, and its approximate maximum depth is eight hundred and
seventy feet. Its southwestern shores are bordered with "dunes" of sand
rising in mounds of many graceful shapes. Many of these dunes rise to a
height of 100 feet or more.
Schoolcraft's Observations. — "These dunes are, however, but a hem on the
fertile prairie lands," wrote Schoolcraft, in 1820, "not extending more than
half a mile or more, and thus masking the fertile lands. Water, in the shape
of lagoons, is often accumulated behind these sand-banks, and the force of
the winds is such as to choke and sometimes entirely shut up the mouth of the
rivers. We had found this hem of sand-hills extending around the southern
shore of the lake from the vicinity of Chicago, and soon found that it gave an
appearance of sterility to the country that it by no means merited." On
other portions of the lake the shore consists of a somewhat irregular line of
bluffs, from fifty to seventy-five feet in height, though there are eminences
which attain a much greater altitude, as for instance. "Bald Tom," situated
on the Michigan shore, on a line directly east of Chicago, which is 240 feet
in height.
An English traveler, in the course of a description of the view landward
48 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
from the deck of ;i passing steamer, used the expression, "the monotonous
shores of Lake Michigan," which as they appear from a distance may have
deserved such a mention. 'if by thai it was intended to notice the absence of
hills or mountains in the vicinity of its shores. But Schoolcraft's observations
as above quoted will go far to give a true impression to the beholder.
The whole extent of the shore line of Lake Michigan is 1,320 miles. The
length of the shore line bordering on Wisconsin, from the Illinois state line
on the south to the end of the Door Peninsula on tin- north, is about two
hundred in les. This does not reckon in the coast line of Green Bay.
Tin' fluctuations in the Level of the waters of the Greal Lakes have at-
tracted much attention among scientific observers, to ascertain if possibly
these fluctuations could be identified witli regular tidal movements. As early
as 1670, Father Dablon in the "Jesuit Relations," says, "as to the tides, it
is difficult to lay down any correct rule. At one time we have found the
motion of the waters to be regular, and at others extremely fluctuating. We
have noticed, however, that at full moon and new moon the tides change once
a day for eight or ten days, while during the remainder of the time there is
hardly any change perceptible.
It is worth while remarking in this connection that Schoolcraft, who was
an eminent geolog'si and who visited Green Bay in 1820, did not believe
there were any tides in the lakes. "Governor ('ass caused observations to be
made.*' he says, "which he greatly extended at a subsequent period. These
give no countenance to the theory of regular tides, but denote the changes in
the level of the waters to be eccentrically irregular, and dependent, so far as
observations extend, altogether on the condition of the winds and currents
of the lakes."
Whether or not there is actually a lunar tide in Lake Michigan was made
the subject of an address by Lieut. -Col. James I). Graham, a Government
engineer, before the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
in 1860. Referring to the writings of the early missionaries and explorers,
he said that in the lakes were noted some peculiar fluctuations in the eleva-
tion of the waters of these inland seas. "In the speculations indulged in by
some of these writers." he continued, "a slight lunar tide is sometimes sus-
pected, then again such an influence on the swelling and receding waters is
doubted, and their d'sturbanrc is attributed to the varying courses and forces
of the winds.
Lack of Systematic Observations. — "But we have nowhere seen that any
systematic course of observation was ever instituted and carried on by these
early explorers, or by any of their successors who have mentioned lie subject,
giving the tidal reading's at small enough intervals of time apart, and by long
enough duration to develop the problem of a diurnal lunar tidal wav i thes
lakes. The general idea has undoubtedly been thai no such lunar influence
was here perceptible.
"In April. 1854, I was stationed at Chicago by the orders of the Govern-
ment," continued Colonel Graham in his address, "and charged with the
direction of the harbor improvements on Lake Michigan. In the latter part
of Augusl of that year, 1 caused to be erected at the east or lakeward ex
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 49
tremity of the north harbor pier, a permanent tide-gauge for the purpose of
making daily observations of the relative heights and fluctuations of the
surface of this lake.
"The position thus chosen for the observations projects into the lake,
entirely beyond the mouth of the Chicago River, and altogether out of the
reach of any influence from the river current upon the fluctuations of the
tide-gauge. It was the fluctuations of the lake surface alone that could affect
the readings of the tide-gauge.
"On the first day of September, 1854, a course of observations was com-
menced on this tide-gauge, and continued at least once a day, until the thirty-
first day of December, inclusive, 1858. * * These observations were in-
stituted chiefly for the purpose of ascertaining with accuracy the amount of
the annual and also of the secular variation in the elevation of the lake
surface, with a view to regulating the heights of break-waters and piers to
be erected for the protection of vessels, and for improving the lake harbors."
Results of Tidal Observations.— The result of this series of tidal observa-
tions, continued over a period of four years and four months, is given by
Colonel Graham as follows: "The difference of elevation of the lake surface,
between the periods of lunar low and lunar high water at the mean spring
tides is here shown to be two hundred and fifty-four thousandths (.254) of a
foot; and the time of high water at the full and change of the moon is shown
to be thirty minutes after the time of the moon's meridian transit."
For the benefit of readers who may not be accustomed to terms familiar
enough to residents of tide-water regions, we will here state that "spring
tides" have no relation to the spring season. Spring tides occur twice a
month.
Colonel Graham sought to justify himself in taking so much pains to
ascertain the facts regarding tidal movements in Lake Michigan, by saying:
"Although this knowledge may be of hut small practical advantage to navi-
gators, yet it- may serve as a memorandum of a physical phenomenon whose
existence has generally heretofore been either denied or doubted." He con-
cluded his paper by submitting his observations as a solution of the "problem
in question," and as "proving the existence of a semi-diurnal lunar tidal
wave on Lake Michigan, and consequently on the other great fresh water
lakes of North America," varying from fifteen hundredths of a foot to
twenty-five hundredths of a foot, that is, from one and four-fifths inches to
three inches' rise and fall.
"Col. J. D. Graham's report on the tides of Lake Michigan," says R. A.
Harris in the Coast and Geodetic Report for 1907, "have not been altered by
subsequent observations." Graham's work was discussed by Ferrel in his
book "Tidal Researches": and Harris accords Colonel Graham the honor of
being the discoverer of tides in the lakes.
Prof. Rollin D. Salisbury of the University of Chicago, sums up the matter
in his work, entitled, "Physiography," as follows: "Tides are imperceptible
in small lakes and feeble in large lakes and inclosed seas. In Lake Michigan,
for example, there is a tide of about two inches."
Sudden and Gradual Fluctuations. — Oscillations of the lake level are
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
familiar phenomena to residents on the shores of the lake "Thej- are g
crally attributed by scientific men," wrote Thomas C. ('lark.' in the Atlantic
Monthly for March, I86I5 "to atmospheric disturbances which, by increasing
or diminishing the atmosphere pressure, produce a corres] ling rise or fall
in the water level. These are the sudden and irregular fluctuations. The
gradual fluctuations are probably caused by the variable amounl of 1
which falls in the vast area of country drained by the lakes."
Thus it may be said in general that the levels of lakes with river outlets
of a limited volume change from time to time, according 1" the amount of
precipitation on their surfaces and the contiguous territory. The sources of
supply of such a body of water as Lake Michigan, fur example, are springs
and rivers; and, since they are dependent upon rain and snow, the sources
of the supply of lake water may be said to be atmospheric precipitation.
The fluctuations in the level of Lake Michigan in different seasons is thus
accounted for, though in the case of the frequently observed sudden changes
in lake levels the cause is found in the atmospheric pressure. "A sudden
change in atmospheric pressure on one part of a large lake." says Professor
Salisbury, "causes changes of level everywhere. If the pressure is increased
in one place, the surface of the water there is lowered and the surface else
where correspondingly raised."
Disastrous Fluctuations. — On the 30th of April, 1909, a very remarkable
rise of water of the lake occurred, reaching a heighl of six feet at Evanston.
It rose and retired within the space of a few hours, coming just after a storm
of unusual severity. The accounl of it in the Evanston Index of the next
day says: '"The lake shore presents a highly interesting sight following the
action of the tidal wave which washed clear to the middle of the lake front
park, filling the lagoon with debris andTeaving a big windrow of driftwood
of all sizes and shapes to mark its extreme reach."
The Chicago Tribune of May 1, 1009, states that the storm above referred
to caused the loss of five lives, and of property estimated al sl'.inhi.iiuii
Collapsed and unroofed houses dotted the stretch of prairie land near the
Illinois Central Railroad in the neighborhood of Seventy-fifth Street. "The
storm caused unusual disturbances in Lake Michigan at the Thirty-ninth
Street pumping station; variations in the lake level of between four and five
feet occurred The authorities caused the flow of water into the Sanitary
Canal to be nearly doubled in order to ease the pressure, but despite the
efforts made the Chicago River at times was reversed and ran its old course
into the lake.
In the Coast and Geodetic Survey Report for 1907, it is stated thai "the
most common cause of these periodic movements is the wind blowing over
bodies of water in which they occur. The sudden variations in barometric
pressure maj cause ■seiches' (tidal waves in lakes and other Dearly enclosed
bodies of water."
Gradual Fluctuations of the Lake. — The variations in the water levels of
the lake extending over comparatively lone' periods of tune, for example a
month, a year, or even for a Longer period, have been carefully measured at
stated intervals, for more than fifty years. Results from such measuremei
DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT LAKES 51
disregarding the sudden rises and subsidences of which we have spoken, show
a slow increase or decrease in the general height of the surface, as compared
with the level of the sea, such fluctuations sometimes extending over years
of time.
The mean stage of water on the lake, for the period extending from 1860
to 1907 (inclusive), is given on the chart of Lake Michigan, issued by the
United States Lake Survey, as 581.32 feet above mean tide at New York.
The highest stage of water on record was that of "the high water of 1838,"
when it stood at 584.60 feet above sea level. The lowest stage was that of
December, 1895, during which month the average was 578.98 feet. Thus be-
tween the extremes there was a variation of 5.71 feet.
There had, however, been many noteworthy fluctuations throughout the
period from 1838 down to the end of the century between these extremes, as
will be shown below. For example, in the year 1869 the level declined to
580 feet, followed two years later by a rise to 582.7 feet. Again, there was a
decline in 1873, to 579.9 feet, followed by a rise, in 1876, to 583.5 feet.
In 1880, a low stage was again reached when the level stood at 580.7 feet ;
after which there was a gradual rise to the year 1S86, when the level stood at
583.6 feet. After that there was a gradual descent for ten years, and, in
1896, the level dropped to 579 feet, the lowest on record. The level again
began to rise, so that by the year 1900, the elevation was 580.7 feet above
thi> level of the sea.
Aspect of Milwaukee from the Lake. — In an article printed in Scribner's
Magazine for March, 1892, by Charles C. Rogers of the United States Navy, he
says: "Perhaps the most pleasing prospect of the lake (Lake Michigan) is
Milwaukee, whose cream-colored buildings produce a peculiar and most agree-
able effect. Eight railways center here after traversing a rich and rapidly
improving country, whose grain forms the chief element in the city's pros-
perity. In entrances and clearances, it follows closely upon Chicago, the
number last year (1891) exceeding 20,000; one of the chief contributors to
this record is the line of wooden steamers to Ludington, in the service of the
Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad. Its vessels arc built especially7 to con-
tend with the lake ice; they run regularly in winter and are never detained
more than a few hours." *
FORMEK PRESIDENTS OF THE old SETTLERS CLUB OF MILWAUKEE COUNTY
Wild WERE ALU LIVING AT THE TIME THIS GROUP PICTURE WAS
MADE IN mis
Photo liv Guttenstein
CHAPTER IV
MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES
The first mail route that crossed the Alleghany Mountains was established
in 1788, coming west as far as Pittsburgh. Within the next few years routes
were extended to Louisville (1794), to Vincennes (1800) and from Vandalia
to Springfield (1824). As the northern part of Illinois was sparsely settled,
it was not until the early '20s that mail was brought to Chicago by regular
"express"' as the carriers were called. Before that time letters arriving had
come through special conveyance or messenger as opportunity offered, and
when conditions Were favorable.
In 1826 David McKee agreed with the Government to carry dispatches and
letters once a month between Chicago and Fort Wayne. This was mainly
for the convenience of soldiers or agents occupying Fort Dearborn. He took
with him an Indian pony to carry the mail bag and sleeping blankets, driving
his pony ahead of him. For his own food he relied upon the game which he
could kill, and for his pony's eating he cut down an elm or basswood tree
here and there on the path. The route lay from Chicago to Niles, Michigan ;
thence to Elkhart, Indiana; and thence to Fort Wayne. The average tr'p
took fourteen days, it beiug sometimes accomplished in ten days.
Writing of the mail at Chicago in 1825, Mrs. Kinzie says, "The mails
arrived as may be supposed, at very rare intervals. They were brought occa-
sionally from Fort Clark (Peoria), but were more frequently from Fort
Wayne, or across the peninsula of Michigan, which was still a wilderness
peopled with savages. The hardy adventurer who acted as express was, not
unfrequently, obliged to imitate the birds of heaven and 'lodge among the
branches,' in order to insure the safety of himself and his charge." The
carriers often suffered from "snowblind" having to suspend the journey
or hire it done by another while they recovered in some cabin or other stop-
ping place along the route. Although usually provided with parched corn
against the scarcity of game, there were many times when the mail carriers
traveled for days on the verge of starvation ; just as common a hardship
was freezing the feet, in sonic instances the men losing their toes as a result.
One might wonder why horses were not in general use for these long wilder-
ness journeys. The question is answered by point'ng out the difficulty of
progress through forests crossed by few or no paths. In writing of his
western tour, Storrow says, "The thickness of the forest rendered marching
difficult, and almost entirely impeded the horse; but for exertions in assisting
him over crags, and cutting away branches and saplings with our tomahawks,
53
54 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
we should have been obliged to abandon bim. 'J'lic land was broken with
hillocks and masses of rock."
The eastern mail was- brought to Wisconsin twice a year by a soldier,
whose route was overland from Detroit, around the southern bend of Lake
Michigan and through Chicago. Aboul the year 1825 postoffices were estah
lished in towns west and smith of Chicago, and mail routes put through i
necting these places. Tn this way the older settlements in Illinois were more
closely connected with the northern part of the state. Of the route between
Green Bay and Chicago much is found in historical records, as it was o E
the oldest western routes. In an account of one who lived in Green Hay in
182o. we read, "Once a month a mail arrived, carried on the hack of a man
who had gone to Chicago, where he would find the mail from the Bast, des
tined for this place. lie returned as he had gone, on foot, via Milwaukee.
This day and generation can know little of the excitement that overwhelmed
us when the mail was expected — expectations that were based on the weather.
When the time had come, or was supposed to have come, that the mail carrier
was nearing home, many of the gentlemen would start off in their sleighs t..
meet him."
Alexis Clermont, Pioneer Mail Carrier. — One of the well known carriers
of the early days was Alexis Clermont, who regularly made this journey,
after the Black Hawk war. He has told his own story of it: "1 would start
out from the postoffiee in Shantytown, taking the Indian trail to Manitowoc.
jOuly twice would I see the lake between Green Bay and Milwaukee — at
Sauk River, twenty-five miles north of Milwaukee, and at Two Rivers. From
Milwaukee I went to Skunk Grove, then to Cross Point, where I struck tin-
lake again, and then I would see no more of the lake until I reached Chicago.
In making my trips I was not alone. An Oneida Indian always
accompanied me. The load was limited to sixty pounds and we usually had
that weight. As a rule it took us a full mouth to make the round trip from
Green Bay to Chicago and return. We carried two shot haps tilled with
parched corn; one of them hulled, the other ground. For the greater part
of our diet we relied upon the Indians, or on what wild panic we could kill:
the hags of corn wen- merely to fall back upon, in case tin- Indians had moved
away, as they were apt to do, on hunting and fishing expeditions. At night
we camped out in the woods, wherever darkness overtook up, and slept in tic
blankets which we carried on our hacks. In Chicago we merely stopped over
night, and promptly returned the way we came; unless we were delayed by a
tardy mail from Detroit, which reached Chicago by steamer in summer, and
h\ fool, overland, in winter. * Our pay was usuallj from $60 to $65
for a round trip such as I have described, although in the fall sometimes it
reached .+70."
The receptacle carried by the express was not always the bag that i- re
ferred to so frequently. John II. Fonda, in starting on his trip from Green
Bay to Chicago, was intrusted "with not mail-bag hut a tin cannister or
box of a tlat shape, covered with untamed deer hide, that contained the dis-
patches and letters of the inhabitants."
MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTKS 55
In the period about 1825 "the United States mails coming from the East
to Chicago and other lake ports were conveyed, during' the season of navi-
gation, by the irregular and lardy conveyances of sail vessels, and the in-
habitants of the country were oftentimes for weeks and months without
intelligence of what was passing in other parts of the world from which they
were completely isolated." The privilege of mail service "was purchased
partly by voluntary contributions of the citizens and an allowance from U. S.
Quartermaster's Department, and the military post fund at Fort Howard.
The Government at Washington found it would not pay to establish a mail
route, or defray the expenses of carrying the mail, and decreed, no doubt
wisely, that no expenditure could lie made by the Post Office Department
for that purpose, exceeding the net proceeds of the mail matter."
The narrative of Alexis Clermont, from which the above account is in
large part derived, is printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections in Vol.
XV. In that interesting volume, entitled "Historic Green Hay," by Ella Hoes
Neville, Sarah Greene Martin, and Deborah Beaumont Martin, it is related
that one Moses Hardwiek was also employed during tin:' ':!(is as mail carrier
to Milwaukee, where Solomon Juneau was at that time postmaster. The small
newspaper published semi-monthly at Green Bay, in 1834, had this refrain
at the head of its columns:
"Three times a week without any fail.
At four o'clock we look for the mail,
Brought with dispatch on an Indian trail."
Trusty carriers, it is said, "were hard to find, although the pay was ample
according to the scale of wages in those days, $45 to Milwaukee, and from
$60 to $65 to Chicago and return, but communication must have been very
irregular, to judge from letters that passed between Bernard Grignon who
had the contract for transporting the mail, and the Milwaukee postmaster."
"The mail carrier (it was said), was necessarily a man of tough fibre
and strong nerve, for, burdened as he was with his pack, mail pouch, and
loaded musket, he was forced to keep on his feet day and night, wading
through snow so deep at times as to require snow-shoes. When overcome with
sleep he wrapped himself in his blanket and lay down in a snow-bank, taking
such rest as he could with the wolves howling around him."
Unsettled State of the Country. — "The country was in a wild, unsettled
state," continue the authors above quoted from. "Acts of violence were
frequent, although summary punishment was usually inflicted upon the of-
fender. The enlisted soldiers at the fort were often desperate characters,
and officers were in danger of assasination by their own men in revenge for
arbitrary punishment, as well as from the suspicion and enmity of the
Indians. In the summer of 1S21, the post surgeon, William S. Madison, was
shot and instantly killed near the Manitowoc River by a Chippewa Indian
concealed in the brush. The murderer was captured, taken to Detroit, and
tried at the September term of the Supreme Court.
56 HISTORY (IF MILWAUKEE
"His counsel, James D. Doty, denied the jurisdiction of the court, alleging
thai tlic murder was connnitlt'd in a district of country to which the Indian
title bad qo1 I n extinguished, ami therefore the United States could no1
take cognizance of the crime, for the Chippewa ami Winnebago nations, both
being sovereign ami independent, exercised exclusive jurisdiction within their
respective territorial limits. Further, he argued that the American Govern-
ment, by repeated treaties with the Indians, had acknowledged that its
dominion extended no further than as actual owners of the soil by purchase
from the savages; that the Indians must 1 ither citizens of the United
states or foreigners; yet were evidently not considered citizens by our Gov-
ernment, the privileges id' our laws and institutions not being extended to
them, nor had any aet of theirs been construed as treason or rebellion.
"He said they had 1 n regarded by the French, English ami American
governments as allies, and were not a conquered people. Various other argu-
ments were urged by the brilliant young advocate, hut his plea was over-
ruled by the court, and Ketauka was sentenced to be hung at Green Hay.
on December 21, 1821. The sentence was executed at the appointed time and
place."
Moses Hardwick, Noted Mail Carrier. — In one of the chapters of the
Wisconsin Historical Society's collections 'for 1882) there is a sketch of a
mail carrier of the period of 1817, contributed by Morgan L. Martin. This
mail carrier's name was .Moses Hardwick. He was a discharged soldier and
was employed for several years by the quartermaster at the fort in carry-
ing the mail from Detroit by way of Chicago and Milwaukee to Fort Howard
during the season when lake navigation was closed. He made monthly trips
on foot between these points for seven consecutive winters, commencing in
1817.
"It was a service," says the writer, "which few could perform, requir-
ing powers of endurance ami strength, with which men are rarely endowed.
The depth of snow was such as to require the use of snow-shoes, and to give
no opportunity for providing a comfortable camp for the night. The person
engaged in this service was obliged to keep on his feet day and night until
overcome by fatigue and want of sleep, when rest bei ting an absolute
necessity In1 wrapped himself in his blanket, lay down in a snow bank, ami
took the needed repose, after which he continued the same rout in,' of tramp-
ing and rest until his destination Mas reached. The severity id' the trial of
strength seems almost incredible, for in addition to the mail-ba'g, weighing
usually from fifty to sixty pounds, the carrier had the necessary supply of
provisions to pack on his back.
"There were two or three other men engaged in this arduous service, hut
none it is believed suffered greater hardships than Hardwick: and yet after
many years of this severe and continued labor, exposed to all changes of
weather, he lived to tin* remarkable age of eight-eight year1-." Hardwick
was employed to carry the mail on the route between Green Bay and Mil-
waukee when it was established in 1833.
Iii an address before the Old Settlers' Cluh in 1873, Judge Andrew G
MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES 57
Miller, who came to Milwaukee in the late thirties, referred to the early mail
carriers and the mail routes. He said that between Milwaukee and Green
Bay the only intermediate stopping places were Port Washing-ton, Sheboy-
gan Falls and Manitowoc; and that "the postman traveled the trail on foot,
delivering the mail at the terminus of his route on the fourth day. Return-
ing from holding court in Green Bay, in October, 1839, a beautiful Indian
summer day, between Sheboygan Falls and Milwaukee, I met the mail car-
rier on foot, who was the only white man I observed mi the trail that day,
but there were numerous Indians enjoying their hunting season."
John H. Fonda. — Having previously referred to John H. Fonda we will
here give some account of this picturesque traveler with a brief description
of his movements through the West. Fonda was a rover who left accounts
of his travels in the form of memoirs winch are printed in the early records
of Wisconsin. He belongs to the "Realm of Vagabondia" who, urged by
his boyish love of roving, joined in about 1819, a party which was going
to Texas, taking their departure from New York State. After following
the occupation of fur trader in that country for about four years which
seemed to be as long as his interests in his surroundings held out, he
traveled in a haphazard fashion toward Saint Louis, sometimes crossing the
plains "on board an old pack mule," at one time stopping for a season in
a mixed settlement of trappers, Mexicans and Indians; moving on again to
Saint Louis in charge of a caravan of wagons and cattle over a barren coun-
try, that even then seemed to him rich in its possibilities. In Texas he had
been a fur trader; in Saint Louis he was a bricklayer; and next, after a few
months in that place, hearing that fortunes were to be made in lead mining
near Prairie du Chien. and that a number of men were starting up the Missis-
sippi, he made himself one of this party. It was sufficient for him that they
were seeking new experiences. On the journey up the river rumors of Indian
disturbances in the mining region came to them, so they branched off at
the Illinois River, went on up the Desplaines, across the old slough into tin.'
Chicago River, and thus Fonda first entered Chicago paddling down toward
Fort Dearborn in a canoe.
Feeble Beginnings of Chicago. — "At this period,'" he relates, "Chicago
was merely an Indian agency; it contained about fourteen houses, and uo1
more than seventy-five or one hundred inhabitants at the most.
The staple business seemed to be carried on by Indians and runaway sol-
diers, who hunted ducks and musk-rats in the marshes. There was a great
deal of low land, mostly destitute of timber. The principal inhabitants were
the agent (Dr. Alexander Wolcotti, a Frenchman by the name of Ouilmette,
and John B. Beaubien. It never occurred to me then that a large city would
be built up there."
From Chicago he started to Green Bay, but at the scanty trading settle-
ment of Milwaukee he stayed two years, perhaps for no reason at all, per-
haps for one having to do with the fact that a few years later he married the
niece of the only merchant in the settlement. In 1827 he roved toward Green
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Bay. In all his wanderings the scenery on the way afforded him as much
interesl and exeitemenl as actual adventures.
Al Fori Howard, neat Green Hay. hi' was delighted i" see Yankee sol
diers, after eighl years' absence from his eastern home. Colonel McKenney
was in command of the Eort, and visiting him was Oen. Lewis Cass, who was
thereon a commission to hold a treaty with the Local Indians. Ai Oreen Bay,
he was continually hearing rumors increasingly alarming, of Indian disturb
ances,- the first warning notes of the Winnebago war: he "continued," as
he said, "to hang around the fort, leading a sort of free ranger life, some-
times accompanying the officers on their hunting tours, hut refusing all pro-
posals to enlist. "
Soon there came a task that suited his fancy. "It was the winter of '27
that the U. S. Quartermaster, having heard of me through son I' his
men with whom I was a favorite, came to me one clay, and asked mi- if I
thought I could find the way to Chicago. I told him it wasn't long since
I had made the trip up the lake, lie said he wanted to get a person who
was not afraid to carry dispatches to the military post at Fort Dearborn.
I said I had heard that the Indians were still unfriendly, hut 1 was readj
to make the attempt. He directed me to make all the preparations neces
sary, and report myself to his quarters at the earliest moment. 1 now began
to consider the danger to lie provided against, which might he classed under
three heads, viz., cold, Indians, hunger. For the first i1 was only needful to
supply one's person with good hunting shirts, flannel and deer-skin loggins.
extra moccasins, and a Mackinaw blanket; these, with a resolute spirit, were
deemed sufficient protection against the severest weather. And fortunate
was he who possessed these. Hunger, except in case of getting lost, was
easily avoided by laying in a pouch full of parched Indian corn and jerked
venison."
Against danger from Indians, he provided himself with adequate arms,
a rifle, a sheath knife, and two pistols. — took unto himself a comrade lor
sociability's sake and was ready to start on the long journey to Chicago.
Suffice it to say that Fonda with his companion started for Fori Dearborn
(Chicago) on foot in the dead of the winter of lM'T. passed through a coun-
try then little known to the white man, depending upon his compass and
the course of rivers to keep the right direction. <>u the fourteenth day after
leaving Qreen Bay (Fori Howard thej arrived at Juneau's settlement on
the Milwaukee River, and at the end of one month arrived at Fort Dear-
born. Here he delivered his dispatches and in a few days started on the
return journey, arriving at Green Bay, ahoiit the lasl of February. In the
Black Hawk Mar he served in the army and from that time forward lived
at Prairie du Chien for the remainder of his life.
Mail Carriers of the Early Days. It is amusing to regard these two com-
panions together, •Fonda, the valiant, Eree lat tall, powerful. <j 1
natured; and Boiseley beside him in comical contrast, a short, uncouth, hir-
sute woodsman, with long arms, having an endurance and power even greater
than that of his companion. These two lei't Fori Howard on foot, with
MAIL CARRIERS AND ROUTES 59.
letters and dispatches for the Indian agenl at Fort Dearborn. The trip was
made by land, and in a little more than a month then- destination was
reached. This was the second time that Fonda had come to Chicago, and
in 1] is approach as a carrier of dispatches, he felt a certain importance, a
dignity which his former arrival as a casual tourist had lacked. The dis-
patches were delivered to Captain Morgan, whom he found in command
at the fort with a company of volunteers from the Wabash country, who had
come in response to Gurdon S. Hubbard's appeal for aid. The two men then
went out from the fort into the settlement to a house "built," as Fonda says,
"on the half breed system, — partly of logs and partly of boards." At this
house, kept by a Mr. Miller, Fonda and his companion stayed while in the
settlement. Of the place at the time of his second visit he said, "With the
exception, that the fort was strengthened and garrisoned (that is, by the
volunteers mentioned), there was no sign of improvement having gone on
since my former visit."
In another month they were hack at Fort Howard with return dispatches
from Fort Dearborn. Regarding this experience Fonda makes his confes-
sion: "The Quartermaster at Fort Howard expressed himself satisfied with
my performance, and he wanted me to make another trip; but as 1 had seen
the country, which was all I cared for, I did not desire to repeal it. Get-
ting my pay from the Department and a liberal donation from the people,
a portion of which 1 gave to Boiseley, 1 left Uncle Sam's employ and took
up my old profession, as a gentleman of leisure, and continued to practice
as such until the spring came, when with a view to extend the field of my
labors, I made ready to bid goodbye to Green Bay." Urged on by the "joy
of the open road," he started forth with his little goblin of a companion
towyards Fort Crawford, near Prairie du Chien, where Col. Zachary Taylor
took command in 1829.
Fonda in the Black Hawk War. — During the Black Hawk war Fonda
served in the army, and for his service he received at the end of the war
a land warrant, whereupon he married and settled down. From that time
he lived at intervals, in Prairie du Chien, taking his family with him as he
moved from place to place. After his last discharge from the army he was
a Justice of the Peace for a number of years. In 1858, Fonda related the
story of his pioneering. lie was then about sixty years old. ami for the
past thirty years a resident of Prairie du Chien, having come there as a
young man when it was the extreme frontier settlement in the Northwest.
He is interesting rather as a personality than in any historical connection
with Milwaukee or Chicago. He was one of the brotherhood of Borrow and
Stevenson, of Josiah Flynt and Richard Hovey. lie felt the glory of the
open air and knew the worth of a wayfaring companion. He loved adven-
ture, was brave in danger, of great physical endurance and did well what-
ever he set himself to do. It is characteristic of him that he fought hard
against the Indians and yet could say, "No person under heaven sympathizes
more sincerely with them than I do."
p ™
«r. o
O ?-
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CHAPTER V
INDIAN VILLAGES
When Lieutenant James Gorrell of the British army visited the western
posts in October, 1761, in order to take them over from the French (Canada
now having passed into the possession of the English in consequence of the
surrender of Quebec two years before), he found at Green Lay, or La Bay
as the French called it, but one family of Indians in the village at that place,
the other Indians having gone, according to their custom, on their annual
hunt.
The English detachment under Lieutenant Gorrell consisted of twenty
men. The absent hunters were not expected back at the village until the
following spring when it would be in order to hold councils with them and
cultivate their friendship and loyalty. There were six tribes that visited
La Bay where they met with the traders, some of them having two or more
villages within their limits, and each of these subdivisions would expect the
indispensable wampum belts as well as various other presents. In May of
the following year (1762), a1 a council with the chiefs of the Folles Avoines,
the name given by the French to the Menomonees, Lieutenant Gorrell pre-
sented them with belts of wampum and in addition a number of other articles
both useful and ornamental.
While Lieutenant Gorrell was at La Bay holding councils with the re-
turning Indians he was visited by a party of Indians from "Milwacky" mak-
ing complaint of a certain trader among them, but as the trader had come
to them from Mackinac the lieutenant referred the visitors to the officer in
command at that point. In later years when Col. Arent de Peyster was in
command at Mackinac, he delivered a speech to the Indians in which he
spoke of "those 'runegates' of Milwakie, a horrid set of refractory Indians."
In the same speech he alluded to "a sensible old chief at the head of a re-
fractory tribe." probably the Milwaukee band whom he had already called
"runegates," and who no doubt dwelt in a village at this place.
The Menomonee Indians. — The Menomonee Indians were an Algonquian
tribe the members of which, according to Dr. William Jones, claimed to
understand Sauk, Fox and Kiekapoo far more easily than they did Chippewa,
Ottawa or Pottawatomie. "Hence it is possible," writes a contributor to
Hodge's "Handbook of American Indians," "that their linguistic relation was
near the former group of Algonquians. Grignon speaks of the Noquel as
a part of the Menomonee, and states that 'the earliest locality of the Menomo-
(il
(12 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
nee, al the firsl visil of the whites, was a1 Bay de Noque and the Menomonee
River, and those al Bay de Noque were called by the early French Des Noques
or Des Noquia.'
"The Jesuil Relation for Kill includes the Menomonee among the trihes
driven from their country, that is. 'the Lands south of the Michilimackinac, '
which is the locality where Hip Noquet lived when they firsl became known
in the French. It is generally believed that the Noquet, who disappeared
from history at a comparatively early date, were closely related to the Chip-
pewa and were incorporated into their trihes; nevertheless, the name
Menomonee must have been adopted after the latter reached their historic
seat: it is possible they were previously known as Noquet." Charlevoix
says: "I have been assured that they had the same origin and nearly the
same language with the Noquet and the Indians at the Falls."
"The people of this tribe," says the same writer, "were first encountered
by the whites when Nicollet visited them, probably in 1634, at the month of
the .Menomonee River. In KiTl. and henceforward until about 1852, their
home was on or in the vicinity of the Menomonee River, not far from where
they were found by Nicollet, their settlements extending at times to Pox
River. They generally have been at peace with the whites. A succinct
account of them, as well as a full description of their manners, customs, art-,
and beliefs, by Dr. "W. J. Hoffman, appears in the Report of the U. S. Bureau
of Ethnology for 1896. In their treaty with the United States. February 8,
1831. they claimed as their possess;on the land from the mouth of Green Hay
to the mouth of the Milwaukee River, and on the west side of the bay from
the height of land between it and Lake Superior to the headwaters of the
Menomonee and Fox rivers, which claim was granted. They now reside on
a reservation near the head of the Wolf River. Wisconsin.
Characteristics of the Tribe. — "Major Pike described the men of the tribe
'as straight and well made, about middle size: their complexions generally
fair for savages, their teeth good, their eyes large and rather languishing;
they have a mild but independent expression of countenance that charms
at first sight.' Although comparatively indolent, they are described as gen-
erally honest, theft being less common than among other tribes. Drunken-
ness was their most serious fault, but even this did not prevail to the same
extent as among some other Indians. Their beliefs and rituals are substan-
tially the same as those id' the Chippcwas. They have usually been peaceful
in character, seldom coming in contact with the Sioux, but bitter enemies of
the neighboring Algonquian tribes. They formerly disposed of their dead
by inclosing the bodies in Ion"' pieces of birchbark, or in slats id' wood, and
burying them in shallow "raves. In order to protect the bodies from wild
beasts, three logs were placed over the grave, two directly on the grave, and
the third on these, all being secured by stakes driven oil each side. Tree
burial was -asioiially practiced.
"The Menomonee -as their name indicates- subsisted in pari on wild
rice; in fact it is spoken id' by earlj writers ;is their chief vegetable Eood
Although making such constant use id' it from the earliesl notices we have
INDIAN VILLAGES 63
of them, and aware that it eould be readily grown by sowing in proper
ground, Jenks, who gives a full account of the Menomonee method of gather-
ing, preserving and using the wild rice, states that they absolutely refused
to sow it, evidently owing to their unwillingness to 'wound their common
mother, the earth.' "
There are two rivers in Wisconsin bearing the name of Menominee or
Menomonee, the former being a. comparatively small stream that flows into
the Milwaukee River at Milwaukee, the latter forming part of the boundary
line between Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Indians at Milwaukee. — "The Indians were principally Pottawatomies, "
says A. J. Vieau, in the narrative elsewhere quoted from. "Those who were
at what came afterwards to be called Walker's Point, on the south shore of
Milwaukee River, were considerably intermixed with Sacs and Winnebagoes.
They were lazy fellows as a rule, and preferred to hind and fish all summer
long to cultivating corn. They were noted players of the mocassin game
and la crosse, were heavy gamblers and given to debauchery. In the winter
time these fellows scattered through the woods, divided into small hunting
parties, and often Walker's Point was practically deserted.
"But in the summer there was a large settlement here, the hark wigwams
housing from a thousand to twelve hundred Indians of all ages and condi-
tions. On the old Juneau marsh, where are now Water, Main, Milwaukee,
Jefferson and Jackson streets, Indian ponies would graze in great droves in
the earlier years, it being then, I am told, a quite dry meadow; but as far
back as I can remember it, it was flooded and the home of countless water-
fowl.
"The Spring Street flat, from the river back to the bordering highlands,
the Indians had under • j ■ i te excellent cultivation. On the lime ridge there
was a big Indian settlement. Some of the Indian families there would raise
as much as one hundred and fifty bushels of corn and a considerable store
of potatoes; they were quite industrious and counted as honest, in striking
contrast to what we used to call 'the Walker Point rogues." On the K nm-
kinnick River, there was a small band of one hundred fifty or two hundred
Pottawatomies."
The Menomonee Tribe was peaceful and friendly, and in consideration in
part of benefits received of government, they ceded to the United States the
lands described in the following treaty:
"The Menomonee Tribe of Indians, in consideration of the kindness and
protection of the government of the United States, and for the purpose of
securing to themselves and posterity a comfortable home, ceded and forever
relinquished to the United States all their country on tin- southeast side of
Winnebago Lake, Fox River and Green Bay, described in the following
boundaries: Beginning at the south end of Winnebago Lake and running
in a southeast direction to Milwaukey or Minnawakey River, thence down
said river to its mouth, thence north along the shore of Lake Michigan to
the entrance of Green Bay, thence up and alontr Green Bay, Fox River and
Winnebago Lake to the place of beginning excluding all private land claims.
6-1 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
which tlic United States has heretofore confirmed and sanctioned — and also
all the islands in Fox River and Green May arc likewise ceded, the lands
ceded comprising by estimation, two million five hundred thousand acres."
This treats- and a cession from the Pottawatomies and other tribes in-
cluded the lands covered by this city. The month of the Milwaukee River
was the extent of the Menomonee's lands on the south, the lands of the I'ot-
tawatomies, and other tribes extending from that point south and west. The
cession of the friendly Menomonee was made in 1831, the year before the
Black Hawk war. The cession of the Pottawatomies and of the Sacs and
Foxes, which tribes were warlike, was made in 1833, the year after that
war. ,
At Milwaukee, says A. C. Wheeler in his history, the unexplored wilder-
ness of Wisconsin lay all about the early traders. " If the treacherous natives
in a moment of vindictiveness came out of their lurking places and shot down
the trader they had but to fall back into the recesses of their own forests,
and pursuit or punishment was impossible." Still the red man was sus-
ceptible to a certain kind of treatment which the early traders knew how
to employ. He quickly realized that outrages and revengeful cruelty towards
the whites reacted disastrously upon him in many ways for early in their
relations he found that he had become dependent upon the trader for the
supply of his wants, rude as they might be. Thus the wisdom of the chiefs
often put a restraint upon their followers which operated as a protection
to the traders.
The Indians at Mahn-a-wauk-kie, as the Indians called this trading post,
were very difficult to manage. "At one time O-nau-ge-sa, a well known
chief, would seem to wink at the overbearing disposition of certain bullies
of his tribe," says Wheeler, "and the violence must needs be overlooked
by the sufferers from it. Treachery lurked under the guise of friendship.
and the scalping knife was worn nearest the heart. Discretion was the higher
law, and it required all the shrewdness of the white men to preserve their
own standing in the community of traders."
The Whiskey Tribute. — O-nau-ge-sa levied a tax of several gallons of
whiskey a week for himself and his followers, and if the traders refused the
regular supply, or demanded money therefor, it was regarded as a cause for
hostility, upon which "the scalping knife leaped from its lurking place, and
the lords of the forest put on their most fiendish war paint." A copious
supply of lire water pacified them but it usually brought a demand Eor more
and that made demons of them. "When under its influence all the dark vil-
lany of their natures came uppermost, and to refuse to satisfy their drunken
thirst but precipitated violence. Therefore was cunning greatly exercised by
these early traders in order to save their own lives as well as to preserve
their goods and chattels."
These Mahn-a-waukies were incurable thieves besides being confirmed
whiskey sots. "They would at all times." says the historian, "rather steal
than trade, and it is but justice to say that the fear of the white man's guns
alone saved the trailer's stock from rapid depletion without equivalent
returns."
INDIAN VILLAGES 65
The historian invites us to gaze with him on the scene presented in 1818.
"Could the reader have seen Milwaukee then," he says, "he would have
beheld the still expanse of forest and river rendered picturesque by these
savages, mayhap in an encampment, or it may be gathering the wild oats
in their canoes, where now commerce has piled up monuments of brick and
stone, and mechanical industry thunders night and day." He would have
beheld the far-flung lines of breakers on the shore of Lake Michigan, its sur-
face as today stretching away blue in the distance beyond the bounds of
human vision.
2 *
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— s
3
CHAPTER VI
DAYS OP THE FUR TRADER
Wisconsin, Early Forms of Name. — In the oldest French documents the
name is spelled "Misconsing, " " Ouisconching, " " Ouiskensing, " etc., bnt in
time the name was finally crystallized into " Ouisconsin, " says R. <i. Thwaites
in a footnote on page 233 of his volume in the American Commonwealth
series. "The meaning of the aboriginal word thus variously rendered," con-
tinues Thwaites, "is now unknown. Popular writers declare that it signifies
'gathering of the waters,' or 'meeting of the waters', having reference pos-
sibly to the occasional mingling of the divergent streams over the low-lying
watershed at the Fox-Wisconsin portage; but there is no warrant for this.
In order to preserve the sound in English it became necessary, on the arrival
of the Americans, to modify the French spelling." Thus the official spell-
ing has become "Wisconsin."
Pioneer Traditions. — The rich variety of picturesque names applied at
one time or another to the historic site upon which the City of Milwaukee
now stands is constantly met with in the narratives of the explorers and
missionaries, and in the traditions of the aborigines. One writer says:
"Man-a-waukee (rich and beautiful land)!" said the Indian brave as the
slow current carried his canoe out of the forest twilight. His gutturals
christened a metropolis, and he was its first citizen; for Milwaukee stands
on "the ashes of by-gone wigwams."
"The future heart of the city was a swamp of wild rice which his squaw
beat into the bottom of the canoe as he paddled slowly along. Three rivers
— the Milwaukee, the Menomonee and the Kinnickinnic — brought the beaver,
the nniskrat, the mink and the otter to his traps among the, alders.
"After the first Indian found 'Man-a-waukee' it wasn't many moons he-
fore other Indians followed him to the 'rich and beautiful land.' They came
with the war-paint washed from their faces to set up their tepees when white
winter covered river and lake. Some of the later arrivals, in a different
dialect, named the attractive spot 'Mahn-a-waukec Seepe' — 'gathering place
by the river.' •
"On the open glades in the forest the squaws planted and harvested the
golden corn while the braves stalked wild game in the woods and took fish
and furs from the streams. A warm welcome awaited the pale-face when
he journeyed hither from the land of the sunrise."
"Near Thanksgiving time in 1674, fifty-four years after the Pilgrim
67
68 IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE
Fathers landed on Plymouth Bock," says the writer of the historical Leaf-
lets for the First Wisconsin National Bank, "Father Marquette, the Ji
missionary, saw the beautiful Milwaukee harbor and its sheltering blull's. It
is possible that he stopped here, where many years later a greal university
was named in his honor, lie was on his way, with a party of Indians, from
Green Bay to 'Chicagou.' During the next decade other missionaries fol-
lowed him, and they left record of 'Millioki,' ' Alehvarik. ' and ' Mie-sit-gan. '
"Indian legends tell id' a greal battle on the .Milwaukee between the
Menomonee and the Sioux tribes for the mastery of this rich territory,"
continues the account printed in the bank leaflet already quoted from,
piping of the blue-bird mingled thenceforth with the lapping of the waters
"Hut never after that was the war-whoop heard in 'Man-a-waukee,' and the
where the wild daisies held watch over the braves whose spirits roamed the
'Happy Hunting Grounds.' "
Early Mention of Milwaukee.— Among the early notices of .Milwaukee in
which the name of that city appears in one or another of the various forms
of spelling met with in the records is found a mention by St. Cosme in his
letter to the Bishop of Quebec printed in John G. Shea's "Early Voyages Up
and Down the Mississippi." The letter states that St. Cosme ami his party
set out from Miehilimackinac on September 14. 1698, and reached Melwarik
on the 7th of October, where they remained two days, •partly on account
of the wind and partly to refresh our people a little, as duck and teal shoot-
ing was very plenty on the river."
In Lieutenant James Gorrell's Journal, printed in the Collections of Cm
Wisconsin Historical Society, Volume I, it is stated that he visited Detroit
in 1762, and there met "a party of Indians from Milwaeky," as he writes
the name in his journal. A note by the editor of the reprinted collections,
Mr. Reuben Gold Thwaites, says that at the time it was "quite an Indian
town," and adds that there was "an English trader residing there." In
Hodge's "Handbook of American Indians," other modes of spelling are
given, — Meliwarik and Melwarik (St. Cosme), Mellioki (Shea), and Milwau-
kee (in a Congressional document in 1824).
Origin of Name. — In Schoolcraft's "Mississippi." the author gives the fol-
lowing account id' the origin of the name, Milwaukee, or Milwaukie.
"The name id' Milwaukie exhibits an instance of which there are many
others in which the French have substituted the sound of the letter / in place
of n in Indian words. Mia, in the Algonquin languages signifies .</<»'</. WauMt
is a derivative from mil.-ii, earth or Land, the fertility of the soil along the
banks of that stream being the characteristic trait which is described in the
Indian compound."
In William George Bruce'fi "Century of Progress" it is stated that the
name is id' Pottawatomie origin, first spelled Mil-wah-kie, derived from Man-
na wah kie, meaning "good land." Bu1 Milwaukee cannot compare with
Chicago in tin' variety of its forms of spelling as found in the early records,
giving occasion for l'residenl John Quincy Adams' remark thai "during his
administration no two government officers, writing from Chicago, r\rv spelled
the name the same way;" and Doctor stennett. the historian of the Chicago
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 69
& Northwestern railway, gives examples in his book of a score or more of
the uncouth combinations that served to indicate the name of Chicago.
The early fur traders made extensive use of the streams and lakes for
the transportation of their furs to the greal centers of the trade, principally
at Mackinac Island. The accumulations of their winter's trading with the
Indians were made up into bales and transported along the smaller channels
and trails, eventually passing into the great routes as they aeared their
destination, ('amies and barges- in charge of voyageurs, usually Canadian
French, were employed in great numbers. The share of the Indians in this
trade was that of trapper and hunter with whom the traders exchanged
various articles of merchandise for their furs.
Each year the fur traders assembled in great numbers at Mackinac Island
which although only a village of some five hundred permanent inhabitants
was swelled to a transient population of several thousands, — traders, voy-
ageurs and Indians, who remained during the summer, until as fall
approached they gradually left the island and returned to their winter hunt-
ing grounds and trading posts scattered throughout the vast region of the
western country.
Gurdon S. Hubbard. — About the time thai Solomon Juneau was becoming
established at Milwaukee in 1818, Gurdon S. Hubbard, then a young man
under twenty years of age, was in the employ of the American Fur Company
which made its headquarters at Mackinac Island, or Miehilimackinac as the
traders of those days seemed to prefer to call it. During the winter of 1818-19
young Hubbard was learning the details of the fur trade at Mackinac, and
in tlie spring he accompanied Antoine Deschamps on a trip to tin' Illinois
country with a stock of supplies suitable for the trade with the Indians.
In later years Hubbard wrote a book of reminiscences in which is de-
tailed many adventures in the life of the fur traders of those days, a book
which is of great value to the historian in later times. Hubbard made many
trips to and from Mackinac in succeeding years and became well known to
the traders and Indian tribes throughout the country among the latter of
whom he was known by an Indian name which meant "Swift Walker," by
reason of Ins speed when traversing the trails of the region. lie was in-
trusted by the A I'ienn Fur Company with the conduct of many expedi-
tions in later years.
Navigation of Lakes and Rivers. — The boats which in the spring bad
brought the furs to Mackinac and bad deposited them in the warehouses
of the American Fur Company were in due time loaded with merchandise
of every description for the Indian trade, ami dispatched in fleets on their
return journeys in the fall, not to appear again until the following spring
or early summer. These fleers were called "brigades," and one of them
described by Hubbard was in charge of a commander (in this case Antoine
Deschamps i with himself as clerk, and a full complement of voyageurs to
act as paddlers on the twelve boats of the brigade. There were also passen-
gers to be accommodated who found this the speediest method of reaching
various points on the distant frontiers. Tn fact these passengers were con-
sidered a very desirable addition to the expedition as they paid well for
70 IIIstoKY OF MILWAUKEE
their subsistence and transportation. The Pur Company al Maekinac Wore
the necessary expenses of these expeditions and provided ample supplies
besides the merchandise designed for bartering with the Indians.
The boats in use by the i'ur traders were called "batteaux." They very
much resembled the boats used in later days by fishermen on the lake Each
of them was manned by a crew of five men besides a clerk, called "the bour-
geois." "Four of the men rowed while the fifth steered," continues Eub-
bard. "Eaeh boat carried about three terns of merchandise, together with
the clothing of the men and rations of corn and tallow. No shelter was
provided for the voyageurs, and their luggage was Limited to twenty pounds
in weight for each man, carried in a bag provided Eor that purpose. The
commander of the brigade took for his own use the besl boat, and with
him an extra man who acted in the capacity of orderly to the expedition.
The will of the commander was the only law known. The clerks were fur-
nished with salt pork, a bag of flour, tea and coffee, and a tent for shelter,
and messed with the commander." The men hail only such shelter as was
provided by the boat tarpaulins, and no other covering than a single blanket
for each of them. Their rations isisted id' one quart of "lyed corn" and
two ounces of tallow daily, or "its equivalent in whatever sort of food is
to be found in the Indian country."
Characteristics of the Voyageurs. — The voyageurs, or "it-jj^-'v "
were a race of people unlike any other class of men. In Mrs. John 11.
Kinzie's book, entitled "Wau-Bun," she describes them as Eollows: "1.
the poet they seemed born to their vocation. Sturdy, enduring, ingenious,
and light-hearted, they possessed a spirit capable of adapting itself to any
emergency. Xo difficulties baffled, no hardships discouraged them: while
their affectionate nature led them to form attachments of the warmest char-
acter to their 'bourgeois,' or master, as well as to the native inhabitants
among whom their engagements carried them."
An atmosphere of romance surrounded the lives of these children of
the frontier. They are always regarded with the greatesl interesl by his-
torians through the sympathy fell for the hardships they endured and the
example they furnished of light-hearted cheerfulness at all times. Their
simplicity, their readiness to undertake any task of physical endurance.
their inextinguishable sense of fun and hilarity, and their capacity for enjoy-
ment under every vicissitude that fell to their lot. rendered them the mosl
picturesque feature of the life of the early day, especially in the part they
tools in the Ui\- trade which we are here describing.
"One of the peculiarities of the voyagteurs," writes .Mrs. Eanzie in "Wau-
Bun," was "their fancy for transforming the names of their 'bourgeois'
into something funny resembling them in sound." Thus Kinzie, the Chii
trader, would be called by them "quinze nez" (thai is. fifteen noses . and
another of the traders '.Mr. Shaw) was by the voyageurs called "Monsieur
Le Chat" (that is, Mr. Cat . It is related thai "ti quitting the Indian coun-
try Shaw married a Canadian lad\ and I ame the father of several chil-
dren. "Some years after his return to Canada, his old foreman, named
DAYS OF THE FIR TRADER 71
Louis la Liberte, went to Montreal to spend the winter," Mrs. Kinzie relates.
"He had heard of his old 'bourgeois' marriage, and was anxious to see him.
"Mr. Shaw was walking in the Champ de Mars with a couple of officers
when La Liberte espied him. He immediately ran up and seizing him by
both hands accosted him, "Ah! mon cher Monsieur le Chat, comment vous
portez vous?" "Tres bien, Louizon." "Et comment se porte Madame la
Chatte" (How is the mother eat?) "Bien, bien, Louizon; elle est tres
bien." (She is very well.) "Et tons les petits Chatons?" (And all the
kittens?) This was too much for Mr. Shaw. He answered shortly that the
kittens were all quite well, and bidding him call at his house, turned away
with his military friends, leaving poor Louizon much astonished at the ab-
ruptness of his departure.
Practices of the Fur Traders. — It is a generally accepted notion among
white ] pie that the traders took advantage of the ignorance and sim-
plicity of the savages with whom they dealt. On one occasion a lady travel-
ing in a party conducted by Joseph Rolette, a famous fur trader of those
days, remarked, "I would not be engaged in the Indian trade; it seems a
system id' cheating the poor Indians." "Let me tell you, madame," replied
Rolette, "it is not so easy a thing to cheat the Indians as voir imagine; 1
have tried it these twenty years, and have never yet sin eded."
While one of the American Fur Company's boats, on another occasion,
was passing through Lake "Winnebago enroute to Green Lay for supplies,
it came in sight of a party in charge of Rolette himself returning to his
post at Prairie du Chien after an absence of several week's duration. As
Rolette was one of the agents of the American Fur Company the men of
both parties were his employees.
The meeting of the boats in these lonely waters was an occasion of great
excitement among the men and the news from home was eagerly inquired
for by the men of the returning party. The boats were stopped, earnest
greetings exchanged, questions following each other rapidly. Rolette asked
if the new house was finished, whether the chimney smoked, if tin1 harvest-
ing had been completed, and if the mill was at work. Then he asked about
his favorite horse, about the store, and about other activities of various
descriptions; and having exhausted his stock of inquiries lie shouted the
order to his men to move on.
Then suddenly seeming to remember something he called out, "arretez,
arretez!" (stop, stop!) "comment se portent Madame Rolette et les enfas?"
(How are Mrs. Rolette and the children?) Saving now received satisfac-
tory answers to Ids questions the parties then resumed their melodious boal
songs, bent themselves to their oars, and quickly lost sight of each other.
Of Rolette the editor of the Wisconsin Historical Society collections says:
"In consequence of his early settlement in the country, and from his energy
and enterprise as a trader and a merchant, Rolette well deserves to be kindly
remembered as one of the prominent pioneers of Wisconsin.
Boats of the Fur Traders.-— When Mrs. Elizabeth Therese P.aird was
traveling from Green Pay to Mackinac Tsland in 1S2.~>. she took passage in
72 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
one of a fleet of six boats lailcn with furs belonging t<> the Americai] Pur
Company, m charge of her brother-in-law, Joseph Rolette. Mrs. Baird at
that tunc was a young woman scarcely fifteen years of age. In later years
she contributed a paper to the collections of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, printed in volume XIV, pages L7-64, drawn from In')- recollections
of the time.
This interesting holy was horn at Prairie du Chien in L810, ami was the
granddaughter of an Ottawa Indian chief, thus having a strain of Indian
blood in her veins. ".Mrs. Baird," says the editor of the historical series
quoted from, "was a woman of charming personality and excellent educa-
tion, proud of her trace of Indian Mood, and had a wide acquaintance with
the principal men of early Wisconsin." In the previous year (1824) she had
been married to Henry S. I laird, a rising young lawyer of Green Bay.
During his life there it was said of him that he had taken long journeys
in the eourse of his law practice by various primitive modes of conveyance
to Mackinac and Detroit by sailing craft, to Prairie du Chien by bark canoes
with Indian voyageurs, and to .Milwaukee on horseback.
Journey from Green Bay to Mackinac- Mis. Baird's descriptions of the
boats in use by the fur traders and other particulars of the journey arc
here given in her own words in the main, though involving some repetition
of portions of the previous narratives in this history. The route taken by
the party was along the eastern shore of Green Pay to its opening into the
northern portion of Lake Michigan, and thence to Mackinac Island. The
account is replete with many lively details of the passage.
"In each of the boats," she says, there were seven men, six to row ami
a steersman, all being Frenchmen. There was in addition in each boat a
clerk of the American fur Company, to act as commander, or bourgeois.
These boats were each thirty feel long, the furnishing of which was com-
plete. The cargo being furs a snug-fitting tarpaulin was fastened down ami
over the sides, to protect the pelts from rain. This cargo was placed in the
center of the boat. A most important feature of the cargo was the mess
basket, one of the great comforts of the trip and a perfect affair of the
kind. It was well filled with everything that could be procure! to satisfy
both hunger and thirst, such as boiled ham. tongue, roast chicken, bread,
butter, hard biscuit, crackers, cheese, tea. coffee, chocolate, pickle, etc., and
an abundance of eggs. Then there were wines and cordials, and in addition
we depended upon securing fresh game and fish on the way. Rolette was
a generous provider, sending to distant markets for all that this part of
the country could not supply.
"'The mess basket on this occasion see 1 to have an extra supply of
eggs. It seemed strange, however, that such faithful workers as the men
were should have been fed so poorly; they had nothing but salt pork, 'lyed
corn' ami biscuit, the general Eood of workmen in the fur trade. Our bo; '
Carried two tents and had a cot bed ami camp stool for my use.
"The party in our boat consisted of Rolette (the head man . John Ivu/ie
'of Chicago), my husband and myself. Starting quite late in the day we
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 7:i
were only able to gel as far as Red Banks before it was time to stop and
camp for the night. As I stepped from the boat I saw that my tent was
almost ready for me, so quickly did these men arrange matters for the
encampment.
"Next morning dawned gloriously, and we started off in our boats after
breakfast in fine spirits, cheered and enlivened by the merry songs of the
boatmen who always begin the journey with a song'; always keeping within
easy distance of the shore in ease of a sudden squall or violent wind. The
camping hour was always hailed with delight by the men at the close of a
hard day's work, and it was an agreeable change to the passengers as well.
"As we rowed away from Red Banks on that most beautiful June morn-
ing many were the amusements indulged in by the crews of the boats. This
morning the men began by throwing 'hard tack' at each other, but this did
not last long as the prospect of needing the biscuits later checked their
sport. Shortly after we began to sec eggs flying in the air which continued
with considerable activity until the end of the day's journey. It was re-
newed after the men got ashore amid great hilarity until the ammunition
was nearly exhausted." This stopping place was afterwards called "Egg
Harbor," in honor of the occasion, a name it has ever since borne.
The Shores of Green Bay. — "The names of some of the islands in Green
Bay have been changed since our trip in 1825, and many that in that day
had no names whatever have since been christened. Then we knew by
names only Washington Island, the Beavers, — Big and Little, — Chambers,
Fox, and Pottawatomie, or Rock Island. Never were we obliged to dine or
encamp on the east shore at any spot not attractive. One night we encamped
at a place called Petit Detroit, not far from Death's Door. It is a small
island formed like a half moon, the inner portion being a most beautiful har-
bor beyond which rose rather high bills. The whole island was then a per-
fect garden of wild roses. Never have 1 seen at one time so many flowers
of any kind as I then saw. The charms of the place so attracted us that
we made an early landing. The men had to clear a spot to pitch the tent,
and in finishing their work they very thoughtfully decorated my lent with
roses. ' '
Mrs. Baird, in her account, goes on to describe the practical features of
the long journeys of the fur traders. "This fleet of boats," she says, "was
originally loaded at Prairie dn Chien, ami then unloaded at the portage
between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers, where the men carried firs! the packs
of furs on their backs, then returned I'm' the boats, and reloading them would
run down to the Big Chute, now Appleton. Here the boats again had to he
unloaded and the furs portaged around by the men. The boats, however,
made the journey down the swift water, which was called 'jumping the
rapids.' The unloading was repeated at Grand Kaukauna; but at Rapides
Croche and at Rapides des Peres, now De Pere, the loads Mould hi' carried
through on the boats, all the men walking in the water to guide the boats
with their valuable cargoes. Our boats were loaded for the last time at
Kaukauna, not to be unloaded until they reached Mackinac.
"We now traveled slowly, waiting for a day which would show signs
74 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
of being fine throughout, thai we might make in safety 'La Grande Traverse'
— to cross the lake 1" the easl or north shore. The crossing started from
Rock Island and we ma'cle a successful crossing. We were six days in mak-
ing- the journey from Green Bay to Mackinac." As they neared their des
tination the fleel stopped at Pointe a la Barbe to give the men an opportunity
to shave for the first time si they Lef1 Green Bay and to array themselves
in fresh garments so that they mighl make a presentable appearance upon
their arrival at the "grand emporium of the West." "Each man Looked
well in his striped cotton- shirt, blue pantaloons, red sash around the waisl
and red handkerchief around his neck. Caps of all surfs they wore but no
hats. They purchased high hats when they reached Mackinac; everybody
then wore the hat since called the 'stove-pipe.'
The Fashion for Tall Hats. — Making a brief digression a1 this point in
our history we may remark that one ran scarcely imagine the rage among
all classes nf men for the tall hats of the period of which we are writing.
As we see by the above allusion to this ungainly feature of men's attire even
the voyageurs did not consider themselves completely equipped in dress
until they had provided themselves with tall hats, a notion which they shared
with men of all classes and degrees everywhere. It is recalled that when the
mounted men of the Kentucky volunteers made their appeara at the battle
of the Thames, in 1813, they wore stove-pipe hats in the charge that resulted
in the death of Tecumseh, and doubtless the ground was strewn with hats of
this description in all stages of battered ruin after the fight.
It has been said that when Sir Thomas Picton led the charge of the British
cavalry at Waterloo he wore a frock coat and a tall hat. not having had time
to put on his military uniform before the action commenced. Tt is recalled
by veterans of the Civil war that General Sheridan habitually wore a hat
with an abbreviated crown of the same description, in battle ami on his cam-
paigns; and after the war he was often seen on the streets of Chicago in
a tall silk hat of the latest fashion.
Conductors on passenger trains in the thirties and forties usually wore
tall hats while on duty: Mississippi River pilots likewise wore high hats as
•well as the ocean pilots of the present day. Even the Indians wore them if
they were able to procure them, though often devoid of other clothing, as
it is mentioned in the recollections of a pioneer printed in the "Pro dings
of the Wisconsin Historical Society for 1916. John Kinzie. the Chicago
pioneer, is shown wearing a high hat in a picture of the fort Dearborn mas-
sacre of 1812, where he was present endeavoring to assuage the fury of the
savages on that terrible occasion. Everyone is familiar with the numerous
portraits of Abraham Lincoln thai are in existence showing the tall hat in
all its glory.
Effects of the Fur Trade on the Indians. The fur trade was at its b.eigb.1
in 1820, ami seriously on the wane by 1835. The fur trade was dependenl for
its successful prosecution on the Indian hunter though his advancemenl
towards civilization was imperilled by this occupation. The most important
step for the improvement of the Indian's condition was in the practice of
DAYS OF THE FUR TRADER 75
agriculture rude as were his methods. It was a distinct reversion in savage
life when they became hunters exclusively.
"The introduction of the fur trade,-' says Thwaites, "wrought a serious
change in the life and manners of the Indians. They were induced to aban-
don much of their agriculture and most of their village arts. Becoming
hunters, they took a backward step in the long and painful road towards
civilization. Heretofore they needed furs only for raiment, for sleeping-
mats and tepee coverings. Now they found that peltries were eagerly sought
by the white trader, who would exchange for them weapons, cloth, iron
kettles, tools, ornaments, and other marvelous objects of European manu-
facture, generally far better and more efficient than those which they had
been wont to fashion for themselves.
"Thus the Indians soon lost the arts of making clothing out of skins,
kettles from clay, weapons from stone and copper, and heads from clam-
shells. They were not slow to discover that when they hunted their labor
was far more productive than of old. Comparatively slight effort on their
part now enabled them to purchase from the white traders whatever they
desired. Moreover, the latter brought intoxicating liquors, heretofore un-
known to our savages, but for which they soon acquired an inordinate greed,
of which advantage was taken by charging prices therefor that brought
enormous profits to the traders. Aside from this new vice, the general
result was disastrous to the improvident aborigines, for in considerable meas-
ure they ceased to be self-supporting. They soon came to depend on the
fur traders for most of the essentials of life; and so general was the credit
system among them, the summer's supplies being bought on the strength
of the following winter's hunt, that the tribesmen were practically always
heavily in debt to the' traders, which rendered it advisable for them to stand
by their creditors whenever two rival nations were contesting the held. In
the end these conditions materially ass;sted in the undoing of the Indian."
In the forest traffic of the American Fur Company the variety of goods
was extensive, and the enumeration of a few of the articles may he found
interesting. There were blankets, shawls of brilliant hues, coarse cloths,
cheap jewelry, heads of many colors and sizes, ribbons and garterings, gay
handkerchiefs, sleigh and hawks' hells, jewsharps, mirrors, combs, hatchets,
knives, scissors, kettles, hoes, firearms, gunpowder, tobacco, and the never
failing intoxicant.
These goods were brought to Mackinac from Montreal in canoes, bat-
teaux. and later by sailing vessels; the cargoes were there divided and dis-
tributed to the several larger agencies and posts, whence they ultimately
found their way to the farthest "trading shanties." This was the heyday
of the fur trailing days, hut the trade gradually declined, as American agri-
cultural settlement slowly developed.
The Fur Traders of Revolutionary Times. — The influence of Gen. George
Rogers Clark on the Milwaukee Indians was felt even in those early days
succeeding his conquest of Illinois. Clark did not himself penetrate into
"Wisconsin, but from his headquarters in Kaskaskia there were sent out active
agents by him to gain the neutrality of the tribes, throughout the southern
76 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Wisconsin region, towards the struggle then in progress between the Ameri-
cans and the British. In this he was successful and be secured a promise of
neutrality from the Saulf, Fox and Winnebago chiefs, and an alliance with
the Americans even was accepted by the Milwaukee Pottawatomies.
The British maintained three sloops on Lake Michigan during tin- war. and
one of them made a reconnoitering voyage around the lake in 1779, "visiting
ami supplying the Indians and traders at the mouths of several rivers on the
cast shore, and at 'Millwakey' on the west," according to a narrative printed
in the collections of the Wisconsin state Historical Society (Volume XI. 203 .
At the last named port the captain found a white trader and a "mixed tribe
of Indians of different nations."
This allusion to the Milwaukee trading post of that early period hint- at
certain complications with the American and Spanish settlers of Cahokia,
Illinois, which would require many pages of narrative to set forth clearly.
The events thus referred to may be found in full detail in the collections of
the Wisconsin State Historical Society, Vol. XVIII, preface (p. XXI i, and on
page 416 of the same volume.
The events thus referred to occurred many years prior to the permanent
occupation of Milwaukee as a fur trading center. But it may be said that
the fur trade of Milwaukee, carried on at that time, as it was. by visiting
traders from Mackinac (then in British possession i was not of sufficient im-
portance to exercise much influence on the later development of that trade,
except as indicating where the site of a great city would eventually be
established.
In his volume entitled. "Leading Events of Wisconsin History," the late
Henry E. Legler wrote as follows: "The influence of the fur trade has been
well described by Frederick .1. Turner as 'closing its mission by becoming the
pathfinder for agricultural and manufacturing civilization.' for where the
posts were located, the leading cities of the state have since been built. 'The
Indian village became the trading post, the trading post became the city. The
trails 1 aim- our early roads. The portages marked out the locations for
canals at Portage City and at Sturgeon Bay; while the Milwaukee and Rock
River portages inspired the project of the canal of that name, which had an
influence on the early occupation of tin1 state. The trader often put his
trading house at a river rapids, where the Indian had to portage his canoe,
and thus found the location of our water powers.'
"Among the cities that have been built on the sites of the trading sta-
tions and 'jack-knife posts.' as the dependent stations were termed, may be
enumerated. Milwaukee. La Cross.', Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, Manitowoc,
Sheboygan, Eau Claire. Black River Falls, Eudson, Racine, Two Rivers, Kau-
kauna. Peshtigo, Oconto, Fond du Lac. Oshkosh, Chippewa Falls, Kewaunee,
Portage, Trempeleau, .Madison, st. Croix Falls, Shullsburg, Rice Lake, Cass
ville, .Menonionee.
"For many years the fur trade was Wiscons'n's chief source of wealth.
It continued such until the lead mine fever in Southwestern Wisconsin de-
veloped a new channel of industry and started the immigration that brougb.1
thousands of settlers to the territory."
CHAPTER VII
THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY
Among the earliest exports passing through the porl of Milwaukee was the
movement of lead from the mines in Southwestern Wisconsin across the
territory both in pig metal form and in the form of shot, for both of which
there was a constant demand at home and abroad.
During the period that the lead mining industry flourished in Southwestern
Wisconsin, there were lively times and every sort of business activity. It con-
tinued to flourish until the discovery of gold in California proved a stronger
magnet. . Its decline was hastened by unfriendly tariff legislation, and in
addition, inadequate transportation facilities operated largely to prevent its
continued successful prosecution. "In this age of myriad ribbons of steel
radiating from every commercial center," says Legler in his volume, "Lead-
ing Events of Wisconsin History," "it is hard to appreciate the difficulties
encountered by the pioneers in transporting commodities.
"There were then no railroads in the Northwest, and the great transporta-
tion projects all centered in canals. The lead industry and its transportation
necessities influenced many of the early canal schemes which played a large
pari in the early politics of the territory. The Pox- Wisconsin route, as well
as that of the greater Mississippi River highway, was used for the shipment
of ore to a considerable extent."
Shot Tower on the Wisconsin River. — In the year 1831, Daniel Whitney,
a merchant of Green Hay. built a shot tower at Helena on the Wisconsin River,
which on account of its contiguity to the lead mines insured a reliable supply
of metal for the manufacture of shot. Whitney hail observed that shot
towers were successful commercial ventures in Missouri and a company was
formed under the name of Whitney, Platte & Company to build one. The
tower was two years in course of construction. It was built on the sum.mi1
of a bold escarpment fronting Pike Creek. A contemporary description is
cited by Legler, as follows: "One hundred feet from the base of the rock
there is a ledge or landing place; on this ledge rises the shot lower, of frame
construction, eighty feet to the roof: of course the depth from the top of the
tower to the base of the rock is 180 feet. A well or shaft has been sunk
through the rock, which is of sandstone. 100 feet, and a lateral drift or
entrance ninety feet in length, has been cut from I he bank of the creek to
the perpendicular shaft."
77
78 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
The daily outpul of the shol tower employing six bands was 5,000 lbs. of
shot, and the i ess of making it is described as follows: "At the edge of
the cliff stood the melting. house with two kettles in which the mineral was
prepared for dropping. A little to the cast of tins were an arch ami a Large
kettle protected by a small roof. Here the lead was tempered by the addi
tion oi' arsenic, and run into 'pigs' I'm- further use; the pigs thus obtained
were used tu give the requisite brittleness to the Lead from which the shut
was made. A small portion would suffice to temper a kettle holding 1,003
pounds of lead. The 'dropping ladle' was perforated with hoi.- of varying
si/e. and when partly full of melted Lead would be tilted gently sidewise, forc-
ing the metal out in drops to form the shot, which falling 1v0 feet would
assume a spherical shape and at the same time he cooled.. At the bottom of
the shaft the shot fell into the shot-cistern, tilled with water, which served
to break the fall, and cool the shot."
Shipping Eoutes for Lead and Shot.- The earliest shipments of shot made
at Helena were to Galena and Fori Winnebago, though shipments of lead
had been made to the cast by way of Green Bay in previous years. "The
importance of the early shot trade of Wisconsin in developing lines of com-
munication with the lake, overland across the state, deserves mention here."
says Prof. O. G. Libby in a chapter by him in the "Collections" of the state
historical society, for 1895. "The Helena shot tower passed from the owner-
ship of Daniel Whitney in 1836, and was bought up by certain Buffalo capi-
talists, who held it with hut little interruption till Is IT.
"Now when we remember," continues Professor Libby, "that tin- Missis
sippi markets were monopolized by the shot makers of Missouri, the signifi-
cance of this eh a nue of owners will he at once apparent. ( 'ut off from western
markets by the competition of long-established rivals, the only cuius,, open
was to develop eastern markets, with which the Buffalo capitalists wen
already more or less familiar. As a consequence of this, the shipments
shot between 1841 and 1844 were made to Buffalo and by no other than the
lake route. For at least ten years then, interest and necessity combined t"
turn the shot trade through Milwaukee."
Iii the Milwaukee Sentinel for September 18, 1838, it is stated that "it
was a common thing to see oxen haulm-' wagons laden with lead from Grant
and La Payette counties appear at the wharves after a journey of eight or
ten days." Even two years before this time the Milwaukee Advertiser an-
nounced that, at Racine, "two wagons, containing 4,200 lhs. of Pig Lead,
arrived there last week from the rapids of Rock River."
Increasing Popularity <6f the Lake Route.— Following the example of the
shot tower owners the lead smelters began sending an increasing proportion
of their produd to the lake ports. This movement had begun as early as
1836 and 1838, and in a Madison paper for 1841, cited by Professor Libby,
the following statements appear: "The Lead Trade: We arc pleas..,! to
Observe by notices in the .Milwaukee and Southporl (Kenosha papers that
this trade is beginning to find its way to our lake ports on its way tu eastern
mark-els. The Milwaukee Courier of the Ith inst. says: 'Our citizens mi Satur-
day afternoon were not a little surprised by the appearance on mir streets
THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY 7.9
of four sucker teams loaded with lead from the furnace of Thomas Parish,
near Muskoday in Grant County. These teams brought over about ten tons
of lead to be shipped to New York.' "
The Madison paper adds to its quotation from the Courier that "the lead
which arrived here on Saturday was shipped on the steamer 'Madison' on
Monday, and will be in New York within twenty days from the time it left
the furnace near the Mississippi River; and the owner will get his returns in
about four weeks from the time the lead was smelted. A gentleman from
Galena recently informed us that he shipped over ninety days since about
fifteen hundred dollars worth of lead to New York by the southern route and
he had not then got his returns from it. Besides getting a better price for
their lead on the lake shore than can be afforded on the Mississippi, our
miners can procure their necessary supplies more cheaply, generally, at the
lake cities than at Galena or other points on the river where they have been
in the habit of trading, and this including the cost of transportation. The
teams of which the Courier speaks returned with salt which was obtained at
Milwaukee for about two dollars and fifty cents per barrel, and can be sold
at the mines at about seven dollars per barrel.-'
Influence of the Lead and Lead Mining Industry. — The history of the lead
mining industry has been very fully investigated by various industrious in-
vestigators whose contributions to this important branch of activity have
been printed at different times in the series of the state historical society
publications. The preparation of these contributions has required much
painstaking research and an adequate presentation of the subject would need
a volume or more to contain the details.
The lead was brought across the country to Lake Michigan in wagons
drawn by oxen, at a cost of $10.00 a ton. The teamsters found it a profitable
business as they got loading both ways, carried their own provisions, and the
prairies afforded all the fodder for their cattle at the nightly camping places
in the open. The teams would return to the mining regions laden with
lumber, shingles, salt and merchandise, which under these circumstances could
be obtained from lake shore ports to better advantage than from any other
quarter.
In 1842, nearly two million pounds of lead and "2,(114 kegs of shot were
shipped from Milwaukee to New York; and in 1843, the shipments from the
same point totaled 2,200,000 lbs. of lead and 250,000 lbs. of shot. The route
from Milwaukee was by way of the Straits'of Mackinac, Lake Huron, and
Lake Erie to Buffalo, where it was transshipped on the Erie Canal to New
York and from there distributed to Boston and other Atlantic cities.
Commenting upon this movement of heavy metals, a Buffalo paper said,
'•Illinois. Iowa and Wisconsin will soon send to this mart an incalculable
amount of lead and copper, in addition to the whole of their surplus agricul-
tural products. We already export lead to England, from whence we have
heretofore imported many millions of pounds. * * Capitalists interested
in the lake and canal trade should not delay in aiding the construction of
a canal or railway from Milwaukee, or some other point on Lake Michigan,
to the Mississippi River."
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TABLET ERECTED ON WISCONSIN TRUST COMPANY BUILD
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THE LEAD MINING INDUSTRY 81
Milwaukee Merchants Alert for Trade. — An advertisement in the Mil-
waukee Courier for April 5, 184:!. announces thai Weeks and Miller of Center
Store, M'lwaukee, offer goods in exchange "for most kinds of country prod-
uce— lead, shot, furs, peltries, etc." A Milwaukee store at Walker's Poinl
advertises that "James Rathbun has just arrived from New York with an
extensive assortment of goods suitable to the wants of the country round
about which he will sell or exchange at the lowest prices for cash, wheat,
shot, copper, lead, flax and timothy seed." A Rochester (New York) paper.
in 1S44. says that "Within the last eighteen months an excellent road has
been opened from Milwaukee to the .Mississippi, passing through the mining
district which will be much used hereafter in sending lead to the East by
way of the lakes. "
.Mail stages followed (dose after the freight routes already in use. It was
announced in the Argus of September 26, 1844. that "we would call the atten-
tion of the traveling public to C. Genung & Co.'s line of mail stages now
running between Madison and Milwaukee, on the old United States road
leading from Madison through Cottage Grove, Lake Mills, Aztalan, Summit
and Prairieville to Milwaukee." In Lapham's ""Wisconsin," referring to the
trade of Mineral Point, he says: "The quantity of lead and copper sent from
here is very considerable; most of it finds its way to Galena, Illinois, whence
it is shipped down the .Mississippi and by way of the ocean to Xew York.
Within the last few years, however, much of i1 is sent by wagons to Lake
Michigan, mostly to Milwaukee, and thence sent direct by way of the lakes
to New York."
A Milwaukee newspaper published the following item in 1847: "The
'Lead schooners' (a variation of the term 'prairie schooners' as used by the
pioneers to denote the great covered wagons carrying the emigrants and
transporting heavy freight i are constantly arriving here from the mineral
region. These singular teams, drawn by six. eight or more yoke of oxen,
excite some curiosity in those who are not used to such sights in the East.
The teamsters and their cattle sleep under the canopj of heaven beside their
camp fires, their meals prepared military fashion, and rising with the early
dawn to continue their journey."
Decline of Lead Production.- -" Next to the wheat and grain products,"
says Miss Phelps in her "Story of Wisconsin." "the minerals of Southwestern
Wisconsin brought wealth. This, the oldest settled region, kept for a long
time a distinct character allied to the south and southwest, its population,
however, remained nearly stationary. The production of lead reached its
highest point in 1844. and thereafter declined. With the decline of mining
the old frontier character of the mining region passed away, the shifting
populace moved off to new centers, notably to California in 1848. About the
middle of the '4()s the lines of transportation shifted. Lead began to be
hauled to the lake board: by 1*47 the bulk of the product crossed the terri-
tory in wagons drawn by six- and eight-yoke ox-teams, and was transshipped
by steamer to the Last .
"With this change in connections the population of the southwestern por
Vol. I— 6
82 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
t ion of Wisconsin began to assimilate to the type of the remainder of the
territory. The lead-mining region, however, has never quite overtaken the
remainder of 1 1 1 <■ stale in enterprise and in the production of wealth."
Planning for Improved Transportation Lines. -By 1847 tl verland lead
trade from the mining regions to Milwaukee was well estahlished. -lust as in
1839 and 1840 the delays and difficulties of the Mississippi mute brought
about the opening of better and shorter, routes to the eastern markets, so now
it began to be keenly felt that improvements must be made in the means of
communication between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. The agri-
cultural interests also began to suffer for want of transportation facilities.
"The capacity of production has satiated and overpowered the capacitj of
consumption," wrote a correspondent to his paper; "we need a reliable,
liberal market for our increasing agricultural products."
But men's thoughts tended towards canal navigation as the most desir-
able method of transporting products of all description. Railroads were
dreamed about and, indeed, occupied the thoughts of multitudes. Canals,
however, had proved successful in several states. Steam navigation on the
large rivers and lakes was already established and steadily increasing. Canals
were enormously popular wherever the country was adapted for their con
struction. The Erie Canal in New York State was opened in 1825, and was
regarded as the mother of canal transportation. As early as 1826 Ohio began
the construction of a canal to join the waters of Lake Erie and the Ohio
River. Indiana launched an extensive system of improvements, and Illinois
began the eonstruct'.on of a canal between Chicago and the Illinois River in
1836. Wisconsin, then a territory, began a preliminary survey for the
Milwaukee and Rock River Canal in 1837 which, however, was destined never
to be completed.
CHAPTER VIII
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY
An interesting sketch of Solomon Juneau and his family is found in the
pamphlet issued in June, 1921, under the title of the "Milwaukee Diamond
Jubilee." This sketch is here included in the early history of Milwaukee
as it contains many details not readily accessible from other sources, although
throughout the pages of this volume frequent mention is made of Juneau
in connection with the stirring events of the early day.
More than a century ami, 2,000 miles intervening, two babes were born,
a boy and a girl, who were destined to play important roles in the early his-
tory of the great Northwest. The boy was born of pure Alsatian French
parents, the girl was of French and Indian extraction. The boy was reared
in a home of refinement, the girl grew to womanhood amidst the primitive
surroundings of the frontier. Fate decreed they should meet.
Across the broad expanse of wilderness extending from the St. Lawrence
Valley to the beautiful shores of La Baye Verte (Green Bay), braving the
perils and hardships which lay before him, this young man — in all the strength
and beauty of youth — came to seek his fortune in this land of vast commercial
advantages. It was at the old Indian trading post in historic Green Bay that
he met the noble-hearted child of the forest that fate had decreed should be
his. Joined in the holy bonds of matrimony, they began their journey
through life and together laid the foundation of a city.
At the outbreak of the French Revolution, in 1789, Francois and Therese
La Tulipe left France and sought refuge in Canada, settling in the little ham-
let of L'Asumption, near Montreal. As did many others, who left France
during those troublous times, they changed their name from La Tulipe to that
of Juneau, trying in a way to obliterate all sad memories connected with hav-
ing to leave the land of their birth and of their honored ancestors.
. "The French Revolution was a violent reaction against that absolutism
which had come in time to supplant the old feudal institutions of the country.
It began with an outbreak of insurrectionary movements in July, ITS!), includ-
ing the destruction of the Bastile. On January 21, 1798, King Louis XVI
was beheaded, the Christian religion was deposed, the sacredness of the re-
public and worship of reason established, and a disastrous reign of blood and
terror followed, which was brought to an end in 1704, when Robespierre,
himself, suffered the same fate to which be had condemned countless numbers
of his countrymen."— Library of Universal Knowledge, Vol. NIT, p. 598.
Birth of Juneau. — Solomon Laurent Juneau, the subject of this sketch,
second son of Francois and Therese Juneau, was born at L'Asumption, Can-
83
SOLOMOK JIXI'.A!'
Milwaukee's first permanent white settler, village president and mayoi
l i am an engraving in possession of the Old Settlers < lull ot Milwaukee
( .unit I
SOLOMON JUNEAU AXD IMS FA.MIL t 85
ada, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, August 9, 1793, where his boy-
hood days were spent. On reaching manhood he became imbued with the
spirit of adventure so common among the young men of the St. Lawrence
Valley in those early days, and during the summer of 1816, a1 the age of
twenty-three years, he left L'Asumption to seek his fortune in the great
Northwest, arriving in Mackinac in September. Shortly after his arrival at
that place, he met Jacque Vieaux, a French trader, who had trading posts at
Mackinac, Green Bay and Milwaukee, and into whose employ he entered at
the Green Ray and Milwaukee posts as a clerk, which position he held until
the year ISIS, after which year he was not connected with Mr. Vieaux in a
business way.
He attended the village school at L'Asumption, later entering a Catholic
colle.se where he completed his education. Tie was well educated in French.
and was in this country but a short time before he mastered the English
language which he spoke fluently, ami was well versed in many Indian dia-
lects, especially the Menomonee tongue.
Solomon Laurent Juneau was a man of rare personality. Of commanding
figure, in height he was six feel four inches, he had brown curly hair, clear
cut features, and large gray eyes. While of a jovial temperament, he never
for a moment lost his natural dignity; of a kind and benevolent nature, he
was the friend and confidant of all. Tin' Indians looked upon him as a father,
and whatever advice their beloved "Solomo" gave them, was accepted and
followed in f\cry detail. His word was sacred, and once given, nothing could
make h m change his promise either in public or in private life.
During the year 1818 the American Fur Company established a trading
post at Milwaukee and Mr. Juneau was their authorized agent up to Hie time
of the removal of the Indians in 1838. lie. however, continued in business
on his own account in Milwaukee until 1852, when he removed with his family
to Theresa. Wisconsin.
As agent of the American Company lie settle, 1 in Milwaukee in 1818, at
which time lie erected the log house, corner of East Water and Wisconsin
streets, which lie occupied as his residence until the year 1835, when he
erected a dwelling house on the southeast corner of Michigan and East Water
streets, where he resided a number of years, later building the commodious
dwelling, corner of Milwaukee and Division (now Juneau Avenue) streets
where he lived until 1852.
During his many trips as an Indian trader between Milwaukee and Green
Bay, he was attracted to a pretty spot on the banks of the Rock River where
during the early '30s he established a trading post, which in later years
became a prosperous village. Mr. Juneau named the post Theresa, in honor
of his mother, whose memory and early teachings he held sacred and were
his guiding spirit in all dealings through life with his fellow men. Mr.
Juneau's mother died February 2, 1815. His father died in 1828.
In September. 1820, .Mr. Juneau married Miss Josette Vieaux, of i liven Bay.
Seventeen children were born to them, three dying in youth. Seven of their
children were born in the old log house. Mr. and Mrs. Juneau resided con-
tinuously in Milwaukee for thirty-two years.
S(; BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
White men had visited Milwaukee trading with the Indians prior to
advenl of Solomon Juneau, but their stay was of shorl duration. To Mr.
Juneau must be conceded the honor of being the firsl permanent white settler,
as well as the firsl land owner, he having acquired title to a Large tract of
land. He was known as the most successful of all the Indian traders and
in and around Milwaukee, being closely connected with the commercial life
of that region.
He was closely identified with every step in the progress of Milwaukee.
In 1835, when a postoffice was established, he was appointed postmaster,
which office he held for a period of nine years. In 1837, when Milwaukee was
incorporated as a village, he was elected president. In 1846, when Milwaukee
became a city, he was chosen its first mayor. He encouraged every under-
taking that could benefit the community. He was a member of the State
Historical Society, and was liberal in his contributions to its archives and
picture gallery. Aside from his interests on the east side, he had property
on the west side. He and T.ynm Kilbonrn were warm personal friends and
close business associates in many enterprises. He assisted Mr. Kilbourn in the
platting of the west side. Mr. Kilbourn was an intimate friend of Mr.
Juneau's entire family.
Mr. and Mrs. Juneau were generous in their gifts to the city which they
founded. He built the first courthouse, and with the land upon which it stood.
they presented it to the county, that the people might have a temple of
justice. They gave the land upon which St. Peter's Catholic Church stood
(corner Martin and Jackson streets), and the material for building, that their
family, the incoming white population and the Indians might have a place to
worship; they gave largely to St. John's Cathedral, among which was a strip
of land between the pastor's house and the Cathedral, for which they and
their descendants were forever to have two seats in the church; they gave
the land for the first C4overiiment lighthouse at the bead of Wisconsin Street ;
they gave the land, corner of Milwaukee and Division streets, whereon a
college was erected. All this they gave that their city might lie as other
cities. To those who were too poor to buy, they gave land and in many
instances the material for building, that their poor might have homes.
Generous Hosts. — They were fond of entertaining their friends and pos
sessed the virtues of hospitality and thai warmth of heart which was char-
acteristic of those good old pioneer days. The few remaining old settlers
look back with fond recollection to those ties of friendship and good cheer
which at all times prevailed in and around the •Juneau home.
.Mr. .lean Pierre Busting, Mayville, Wis., once said of Mr. and Mrs. Juneau:
"They united in their personality those qualities of unselfishness, generosity,
Christianity, nobility of purpose and good will toward all mankind, rarely,
if ever, found in any one individual."'
After his removal to Theresa. .Mr. Juneau engaged in many b pur-
suits, among which were a general merchandise store, saw and grisl mill,
and trading with the Indians. He was postmaster of the village. At the time
of his death he was reputed to have left quite a fortune. Aside from his
husiness enterprises, lie hail large real estate holdings. Mr. Juni d to
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY S7
see his Indian trading posl at Milwaukee develop into a thriving city, which
from the very first had been his highest ideal.
In the early part of November, 1856, ^Ir. Juneau left Fond du Lac for the
Indian Reservation at Keshena, near Shawano, Wis., to attend the annual
payment of the Indians, lie bad not been well for some time, the death of his
wife had completely crushed his spirit and broken his health. His daughter,
Mrs. Frank Fox, at whose home he had been visiting in Fond du Lac prior to
his departure for the reservation, tried in vain to persuade her father to
abandon the trip, but all effort on her part and that of her husband were of
no avail. Owing to his indisposition and the inclement weather, he was taken
very ill shortly after his arrival at the reservation, and he continued to grow
worse until November 14, when he passed away.
All that medical aid and careful nursing eould do was done for him.
Doctors Hiibschmann and Wiley did not leave his bedside until death came.
To Doctor Hiibschmann he gave his dying messages for his children, and he
proved a faithful messenger. With him at the time of his death were Doctor
Hiibschmann, Indian agent ; Doctor Wiley, Hon. Geo. W. Lane, B. Hunkins,
Edward Outhwaite, Win. Johnson, Wm. Powell, Chas. Corron and others. At
the time of his death Mr. Juneau was sixty-three years, three months and five
days.
When the announcement of his death reached Milwaukee, it was a great
shock to the citizens and in fact to the entire country from Green Bay to
Chicago. The Indians were broken hearted over the loss of their beloved
"Solomo." He was buried on the reservation, the Indians would have it so.
Had not the ''Great Manitou" claimed his spirit. Why then did they not
have the right to claim his body. The spot selected by the Indians was on a
knoll just back of the Council House. But there were others who claimed him
— his grief-stricken children and the citizens of Milwaukee.
The funeral on the reservation was held from the Catholic Church, fol-
lowed by a large concourse of white men and Indians. Four of his pall-
bearers were Indians, one of whom was the famous Chief Oshkosh. During
the services at the grave, the deep and solemn grief of the Indians, both men
and women, over the loss of their "Solomo," was indeed pathetic.
When the news of Mr. Juneau's death reached Theresa, his sons, Nar-
cisse and Paid, and his son-in-law, Frank Fox, left for the reservation to con-
vey the remains to Milwaukee, the trip both ways being made by team.
The Indians accompanied them as far as Shawano, loth to give up all thai
remained of their beloved friend.
On arriving at Milwaukee his remains were taken to the home of his
daughter, Mrs. II. K. White. The funeral was held on November 26, from
St. John's Cathedral, Reverend Riordan officiating. Interment was in the
Catholic Cemetery at the head of Spring Street. This, however, was not the
final resting place of Solomon Juneau and his wife. After a period of sis
teen years their remains were removed to Calvary Cemetery.
The monument erected to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Juneau
in Calvary Cemetery bears the inscription: "In memory of Solomon Juneau,
Founder of Milwaukee, Born August 19, 17!):!. at L'Asumption, Canada."
THE SOLOMON JUNE \! VION1 Ml VI
Located at i In* lake front . Juni .1 u Pari
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 89
On the reverse side, "Josette Juneau, Wife of Solomon Juneau, Born at Fort
Howard, 1803." In 1906 members of the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee
placed marble markers at the head of the graves of Mr. and Mrs. Juneau.
Mrs. Solomon Juneau. — Josette Vieux was horn at Fort Howard, Brown
County, Wis., April 16, 1803. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacques
Vieux and was the granddaughter of an Indian chief, Ah-ka-ne-po-way. Her
girlhood was spent amidst the primitive surroundings of the frontier. She
was taught to read in French. Reared a Roman Catholic, she began at an
early age to do mission work among the Indians, which work she continued
for many years after her marriage. She was of medium height ; her black
hair and eyes, clear olive complexion, low sweet voice and courteous manner,
gave evidence of her French and Indian origin.
In 1820, at the age of seventeen years. Miss Yieux was married at the old
Mission Church in Green Hay to Solomon Laurent Juneau. Their wedding
journey from Green Bay to Milwaukee was made in a hark canoe, paddled by
Indians. She received from her parents the customary wedding presents of
those pioneer times, consisting of feather beds, pillows, quilts, blankets, etc.
Although young in years at the time of her marriage, she was an adept in
the art of housekeeping.
The country at the time Mr. Juneau brought his" young bride to Milwaukee
was destitute of roads; nothing hut the Indian trail traversed .the wide
expanse of prairie and forest between Milwaukee and Green Bay, and travel
was made on foot or on horseback. There was little to break the monotony
during the firsl few years aside from an occasional vessel bringing goods
and taking away furs, or the Indian traders passing thrbugh that section
from Green Bay to < Ihicago.
Mrs. Juneau exercised great influent ver the Indians and was of much
assistance to her husband in carrying on his business in the fur trade with
the Indians, speaking several Indian dialects. She dressed in Indian costume,
which style of dress she wore for many years. Of a retiring nature, she
mingled little with the incoming white population and rarely spoke English,
French being the language used in the home circle.
Jas. S. Buck, in his "Pioneer History of Milwaukee," pays the following
tribute to Mrs. Juneau: "She was among women what her husband was
among men, one of the noblest works of God. Honest and true, a fitting wife
for the noble-hearted man with whom she lived so long.
"Many of the first settlers were indebted to this braveJiearted woman for
their persona] safety, more than once, in 1836, when the Indians were anxious
to destroy them, which they certainly would have done upon one occasion,
had she not interfered to protect them, upon which occasion she stood guard
over the whites all the night hm,e- during her husband's absence."
Mrs. Juneau possessed many noble traits of character. Aside from her
many duties to her family, she was every ready to minister to the wants of
the sick and the needy. The poor she had always with her. Her home was a
stopping place for ministers of all denominations who passed through the
trading post. She made them all welcome. She mighl lie called the guardian
angel of the unfortunate. Many a p • girl who had started life wrong "a-
90 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
taken into her home, given religious instruction, taughl to do housework and
sew, and positions secured for them.
As years passed, and'the tide of immi'jrat ion eontinued to How into the
infant metropolis, the inhabitants numbering thousands, where a few short
years before the country was but a wilderness, .Mrs. Juneau longed for the
quiet of the country, and persuaded her husband to remove to their summer
home at Theresa. There, surrounded by every comforl a Loving and indul-
gent husband could provide, she settled down to enjoy the declining years of
her life.
After removing to Theresa she became ill and gradually failing, Mr. Juneau
took her to Milwaukee to consult their family physician, Dr. E. I>. Wolcott.
It was found her malady was of a more serious nature than was at first sup-
posed. Doctor Wolcott. assisted by Doctor Hewitt and a specialist from Chi-
cago, held a consultation and it was found necessary to perform an opera-
tion, which proved unsuccessful. At the time of her death Mrs. Juneau was
fifty-two years, seven mouths and three days. Thus closed in perfect peace,
a life of love and service to God, November 19, 1855.
The funeral was held from the residence of her daughter, Mrs. II. K.
White. Services were conducted by Reverend Riordan at St. John's Cathedral.
of which church she was a devout member during her residence in Milwaukee.
Burial was in the Catholic Cemetery at the head of Spring Street.
Uriel B. Smith pays the following tribute to Mrs. Juneau: "I was in-
timately acquainted with Airs. Solomon Juneau. My child, Milwaukee Smith,
was born October 10, 1835. She was the first white child born in Milwaukee,
and Mrs. Juneau was present at her birth, and attended upon my wife in
such a kind and motherly manner as to win the love and esteem of my wife
as well as myself.
"Mrs. Juneau was also an attendant and watcher at the death bed of my
wife some two years after, and during the whole period of our acquaintance
we were on the most intimate terms.
"For such services rendered to my wife during her sickness. 1 offered
ample remuneration, which was immediately declined — she saying to me.
'Such services were due all, and that, too, without consideration.' Such inci-
dents cannot he forgotten. 1 trust that Milwaukee today has her equal — I
know it has not her superior."
Martin's Estimate of Solomon Juneau. — In the narrative of Morgan I..
.Martin, printed in the Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume XI. extended
mention is made of Juneau and others contemporaneous with him. "I firsl
visited Milwaukee in -July, is:;:;.'' he says, "on a tour of exploration. With
me were Daniel Le Roy and P. B. Grignon, and wo were mounted on horses.
As far as Fond du Lac our course lay on the same trail that Judge Doty
and I hail made in 1829. After thai we struck southeast to the shore of
Lake Michigan, following it closely until Milwaukee was reached.
"Jacques Vieau and Sol >n Juneau traded at this point. 1 had known
them and their families since 1827, for their homes Mere really in Green Baj
at which place they obtained all their supplies. Both Vieau, senior, and
Juneau were in Chicago with the greater pari of their families at the time
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 91
of our arrival, but young Jacques Vieau, sou of the elder, officiated under the
parental roof.
"When we set out on our tour, we agreed to eat everything we saw, and
one time we were compelled to thus dispose of a hawk. At Milwaukee there
were no provisions for us, but there were several Indians loafing around
and we engaged one of them to go out and get us some ducks. These Jacques
cooked for us and we ate them cold upon our return trip which was made by
way of the lake shore. On Sheboygan River, four miles above its mouth,
there was an Indian village. We found a net spread near the mouth of the
river, and in it two tine fish which we appropriated without ceremony.
En Route to Green Bay. — "Next morning an Indian. from the village over-
took us and supplied us with dried and smoked whitefish which we found
quite palatable. Manitowoc was out of our line of travel so we did not see
the native village said to be there. We reached Green Bay after a delight-
ful trip, in which the eager search for provisions only served to strengthen
our appetites. Both Solomon Juneau and Jacques Vieau were intelligent and
worthy men, Mr. Juneau having the polished manners and airs of the French
gentleman. In a certain 'History of Milwaukee,' published by the Western
Historical Company, in 1881, Juneau has been described as being on a par
with the Indians, as to intelligence and manners. That they and their fami-
lies were far removed above the savage tribes by which they were surrounded,
is proven by the fact that they were enabled to procure goods and supplies
to a large amount on the usual credit from the American Fur Company.
"Neither of them did at that time regard themselves as permanent settlers
of Milwaukee, but were temporary residents there for the purposes of trade
with the Indians. Their homes were in Green Bay. When I first visited
Milwaukee in the summer of 1833, on the tour of exploration before nar-
rated, they and their families were not there, the premises being in charge
of employees and one of Vieau 's sons. A further evidence that all were mere
sojourners was found in the fact that no land was cleared, fenced, or even
under cultivation, except a small patch of ground used by a brother of
Juneau, in which he cultivated a few vegetables. Subsequent events, how-
ever, proved Solomon Juneau to be the first permanent settler, when the
land he occupied was ceded by the Indians and subjected to sale as Govern-
ment land.
Martin a Frequent Visitor. — "From 1833 forward, I was a frequent and
always welcome visitor to the house of Solomon Juneau. His home was the
'old trading house,' and so far from being the filthy, disgusting home repre-
sented in the 'History of Milwaukee,' was in all respects neat and comfort-
able; for the proverbially neat and tidy French women know how to make
their habitations attractive. In the fall of 1834, the late Governor Doty,
Byron Kilbourn and myself were at Milwaukee and spent a few days, being
entertained at the hospitable old trading house, the only habitation there.
In April previous, on my way home from Detroit, Mr. Juneau's house was my
only stopping place between Chicago and Green Bay; my business relations
with him compelled my sojourn there for several days. At none of my visits
did the partially cured skins or the odors given off by fresh meats and fish
o
-
y 3
< S
< —
— i
< —
W -
r
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND II IS FAMILY 93
winch had become rank produce an unsavory sine]]. If there were any such
they never invaded the comfortable dwelling in which we were entertained.
but wer mfined to the storehouse, the usual adjunct of all Indian trading
posts.
"As a man, Solomon Juneau needs no encomiums from me. He was
always the same unselfish, confiding, open-hearted, genial, honest and polite
gentleman. Our business relations commenced in October, 1833, and con-
tinued for several years. His first hint of the prospective value of his loca-
tion at Milwaukee came from me, and he was so incredulous that it was some-
times difficult tn prevent his sacrificing his interest to the sharks who soon
gathered about him. Himself the soul of honor, and unaccustomed to the
wiles of speculators, without a friend to caution him he would have 1 n an
easy prey of designing individuals. Green Bay was his home as well as that
of the Vieaus, and it was not until is:;.") or 1836 that Juneau first thought of
permanently residing in Milwaukee, after it came to he seen that the place-
was going to become a village.
Martin and Juneau Original Plat Owners.— "Juneau and 1 were joint
owners of the original plat of .Milwaukee. We never made any written
memorandum of the terms of our partnership, and on account of his residence
on the spot he took the principal management of our joint interest for more
than three years. At the close, accounts were adjusted between us and
property valued at hundreds of thousands divide. I, with as little difficulty as
one would settle a trifiiiie.' store bill.
"It would take a volume to enumerate the many admirable traits of char-
acter which distinguished my friend. Solomon Juneau. The intimate rela-
tions existing between us made me well acquainted with his family, ami
their every day social relations. Mrs. Juneau, instead of the pure French
of her husband, had a slight tincture of Indian blood. Her native tongue
was French, and that language was used in their family intercourse, though
both spoke English. They both probably had also acquired a knowledge of
the languages of several Indian tribes, with whom Mr. Juneau was accus-
tomed to do business; but that they 'dressed and ate like Indans. and in their
domestic conversation spoke in the Indian tongue,' is far from the truth.
Mrs. Juneau was an amiable and excellent woman, and many of the first
settlers around Milwaukee will no doubt bear ample testimony to the deeds
of charity by which she was distinguished."
The Dawn of a Better Day.— " Hut in the year 1818," says the historian,
"the first grey streaks of the coming dawn in Milwaukee were visible. So
faint were they that the wily chief, O-nau-ge-sa, with all his natural watch-
fulness, did not perceive them. They were to gradually brighten into the
rosy tints of civilization, as the night of barbarism sank away in the west."
Up and down the river Solomon Juneau pursues his search for a suitable
place for settlement. Finally he finds "a green spot a1 the fool of a long,
wood-covered hill that rises to the east, and here he builds his own cabin
with the river between him and tin' opposite swamp."
But wandering traders have already appeared and for a brief time have
lent an appearance of activity to the scene. ".Mi-. Hypolite Grignon is alreadj
rT^-
ts^fc^ /L&^t -PWY
^yuV-L^i-iic fi'/fr^ ^jy(/<<(si /z^r^t^ ^uuc-^^^Uc.
~ff ' ^tot-is /My /jz^r ' ys<^^
■ISlSls^'
J t/t-t^tsz^^
COP'S OF A LETTEE WRITTEN BY SOLOMON JUNEAU IN 1838
SOLOMON JUN1 \\ TRADING Willi THE [NDIANS
Bas relief on pedestal <'t Solomon Juneau Monumenl
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 95
here," says the chronicle, ''and James Kinzie (the half -brother of John Kinzie
of Chicago) is expected with a large stock of goods from the American Pur
Company at Mackinac. There are three other white men in the settlement,
and this constitutes the entire white population. Chicago, or 'Eschicagou'
(as Col. Arend De Peyster called it), contains two white inhabitants living
outside of Fort Dearborn. Detroit is composed of French half-breeds, and
lias one brick house which had been built by Governor Hull many years
lief ore. There is one little steamboat on the Upper Lakes called the 'Walk in
the Water,' which makes the round trip from Buffalo to Detroit once in two
weeks, but never ventures into the unknown waters past Mackinac."
About this time Jacques Vieau built a trading post up the Menomonee
two miles where the Green Bay trail crosses that river. "The sand heaps at
the mouth of the Milwaukee River," says historian Wheeler, "with the one or
two bark wigwams and the scarcely better tenements that had been erected
under the supervision of French Wanderers,, offered no attraction to him; and
so we find the first trading post which was destined to be permanently located
away off to the west. Here Vieau, who-coming from Green Lay, a place already
somewhat advanced in civilization and Christianity, had more refined ideas,
perhaps, than his neighbors, built a log house, a magazine and repository
for furs. All three of these structures were standing in 1836."
From the time when Jacques Vieau first settled here up to IMS, there
was very little of historic interest transpired, says Wheeler: "the Indians
flitted about the bluffs, and when a companion died they lighted their funeral
fires on the burial ground at the foot id' Michigan Street, and danced their
wild orgies between the lurid flames and the dark midnight on the lake."
Juneau as a Young Man. — "A few years later than 1818," we read in
Wheeler's "Chronicles," "there might have been seen, leaning against the
door of Jacques Vieau 's log house, a young man attired in a calico hunting
shirt and corduroy pantaloons. His countenance is rather pleasing, not from
any beauty in its outline, but on account of an open, frank expression, which
is at once indicative of a generous nature and a steady will. This is Solomon
Juneau, clerk for Jacques Vieau, his father-indaw. He stands in the doorway
of the cabin, and looks listlessly across the great marsh to the east, and up
to the oak-crowned bluffs beyond; nor does it occur to him that in the short
space of a few years the bayou beneath his eyes will be swarming with
vessels, and that a populous city will be crowning the eminences with wealth
and magnificence.
"Young Juneau does not for a moment allow his youthful enthusiasm to
soar into even improbabilities: not being a visionary young man his fancy
sees no Utopia in the green banks of the Mahn-a-waukie. The outlines of
a few duties to be carefully performed are enough for his contemplation at
present. "
Juneau's Claim as "First Settler." — But lest the foregoing account might
seem inconsistent with the statement frequently made that Juneau was the
first settler and founder of Milwaukee in 1818, it is proper to add some
explanation. In Isabella Fox's biography of Solomon Juneau, published in
11)16, it is stated that "as agent of the American Fur Company he settled
96 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
in Milwaukee in 1818, and continued to live there until 1852." Isabella Pox
was a grand-daughter of Solomon Juneau, and in the biographj mentioned
she says thai "white men had visited Milwaukee, trading with the Indians
prior in the advenl of Solomon Juneau, bu1 their stay was of shorl duration.
To Mr. Juneau musl 1"' conceded the honor of being the firsl permanenl
white settler as well as firsl landowner, he having acquired title to a large
tract nf land."
Jacques Vieau who has been mentioned as having built a trading posl
two miles up the Men onee River, was a resident of Green Bay and his
trading post here was a branch of his Green Bay establishment. Henry B.
Legler, in his bonk. "Leading Events of W sconsin History.'" says of Juneau,
"It was as Vieau 's clerk that he came to Milwaukee in 1818; he was the first
landowner here, for the others exercised 'squatter sovereignty' merely. Th -
Eacl iias probably had some influence in crediting Juneau with having been
.Milwaukee's first permanenl settler."
Many years lain- (in 1887) Andrew Vieau, in an interview with th litor
of the Wisconsin Historical Collections related to him that he was a son of
Jacques Vieau, and thai his father had for many years previous to 1818
••considered Green Bay his home; he had a farm there and I and several
oilier members of the family were horn upon the homestead." As to the form
of the name which is variously spelled. Andrew said: ■■The family name was
originally De Veau; but as that meant calf or veal in French, other children
would annoy my ancestors in their youth by bleating in their pre-, .nee. so
the name was changed to Vieau in self-defense."
In Andrew J. Vieau's narrative printed in the "Collections of the Wisi
sin State Historical Society," Volume XI. it is stated thai Solomon Juneau
was appointed clerk to Jacques Vieau in 1818 at .Mackinaw. "Tim- il was,"
says the son. "that Juneau arrived at the Milwaukee River in August of that
year in my father's company. The next year father withdrew as agenl of
what had by that time become the American Fur Company, and procured the
agency for Juneau, who had in the meantime married my half sister. Josette.
He had a farm there and J ami several other members of the family were
My father had for many years before this considered Green Baj his home.
born upon the homestead on the west bank of the Fox River.
"Green Bay also became Juneau's home and remained such until about
1834 ,,|- 1835, when Milwaukee began to grow and Juneau platted the village
ami settled there permanently. Juneau was one of the lasl to recognize that
Milwaukee was dest i I to hecome a permanent settlement, and had to 1
persuaded by his friends into taking advantage of the laid. Green Bay re
mained as his home and that of my father despite their business interests at
.Milwaukee. From about 1810 forward the family would frequently remain
at tin' Bay during the winters while father was off among the [ndii
Description of Mackinaw Boats. A description is given of the-, boats
by Mrs. Elizabeth Therese Baird in a chapter of renvniscences, printed in the
Wisconsin Historical Society's collection-. Volume XIV. p. 17. Ill 1825
made a journey from Green Baj to Mackinac Island, accompanied by her
husband. Their route lay alone ti astern shore of Green Bay and the
SOLOMON JUNEAU AND HIS FAMILY 97
northern shore of Lake Michigan. They took passage in a Mackinaw boat,
one of a fleet of six which were laden with furs.
"In each of the boats," she writes, "there were seven men, six to row
and one a steersman, all being Frenchmen. There was, in addition, in each
boat a clerk of the American Fur Company to act as commander or bourgeois.
The furnishing of these boats, each thirty feet long, was quite complete. The
cargo being furs a snug-fitting tarpaulin was fastened down and over the
sides to protect the pelts from the rain. The cargo was placed in the center
of the boat. A most important part of the cargo was the mess basket, one
of the great comforts in the past days, well filled with everything to satisfy
both hunger and thirst. Rolette, who was in charge of the fleet, was a gen-
erous provider, sending to St. Louis for all that this part of the world could
not supply.
"It seemed strange that such faithful workers as the men were, should
have been fed so poorly. They had nothing but salt pork, 'lyed' corn, and
bread or biscuit. This was the general food for workmen in the fur trade.*"
The boats are usually unloaded from the time they leave port until they
reach their destination, which in this ease occupied six days. "This fleet of
boats," she continues, "was originally loaded at Prairie du Chien, and then
unloaded at the portage between the AVisconsin and Fox rivers, where the
men carried first the packs of furs on their backs, then returned for the
boats, and after reloading them would run down to the Big Chute, now
Appleton. Here the boats again had to be unloaded and the furs portaged
around by the men.
"The boats made the journey down the swift water which was called
'jumping the rapids.' The unloading was repeated at Grand Kaukauna, but
at the rapids below the loads were carried through, all of the men walking in
the water to guide the boats and their valuable loads. Our boats it will be
seen were loaded for the last time at Kaukauna. not to lie unloaded until they
reached Mackinac."
VA i;m\ Ml BOURN
Founder of Kilboum Town. 1 1 < > w known :is the Wesl Side
CHAPTER IX
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER
Byron Kilbourn. — "Byron Kilbourn came to Milwaukee in 1835, from the
State of Ohio. He was by profession a civil engineer, and as such, held a high
rank in his profession," says James S. Buck in his "Pioneer History of -Mil-
waukee."
"In person he was tall and commanding, sharp features, keen, expressive
eye; looked you square in the face when speaking, and was in every respect
one who would command attention from all with whom he came in contact.
"He was possessed of a will of iron, good judgment, excellent executive
abilities, great brain power, saw far away into the future, and possessed a
magnet ism that would both attract and attach to himself and his plans all
who came under its influence. He was a horn leader.
"He knew the value of money, and how to use it; could tell at a glance
the competency of every man, and the right place for him. He was the
originator of our railroad system, and it was mainly due to his great executive
abilities that they were so soon completed.
"His positive character often made him enemies, but for that lie eared
very little. The more he was opposed the stronger became his will, and tic
result would he the accomplishment of whatever he undertook.
"He took a deep interest in politics ami was a democrat. He was twice
mayor, and to his liberality is the city indebted for the ground upon which
stands the Kilbourn Park Reservoir. Such was Byron Kilbourn. He has left
a record, both in city and state, that shall never die. He died and was buried
at Jacksonville, Florida, December 16, 1870."
Juneau and Kilbcum. — In Wheeler's history it is said that Juneau and
Kilbourn were rivals, hut the two men were friendly to each other and
cooperated in procuring legislation, in 1839, to consolidate the two towns
known at the time as "Juneautown" on the east side and "Kilbourntown"
on the west, in the Town of Milwaukee, with two wards, the East and the
West.
In commenting upon the rivalry which existed between the two towns the
historian remarks: "The Milwaukee River was the dividing line with our
settlers. Not only the nation but states, communities, sects and families, all
have a Mason and Dixon's line." The very harmony of our system, observes
our historian in a curious strain of reasoning, its "discords, antagonisms and
•wars,' afforded a healthy recrimination essential to the stimulation and pros-
perity of the contending opinions." Whether the reader will agree with such
OLD BYRON KILBOURN RESIDENCE
Corner Grand Avenue anil Fourth Street after same had been converted into stores
Originally built in isj.1
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER 101
a view or not the fact remains that whatever virtue there may have been
in that doctrine it was thoroughly tested in the early days of Milwaukee.
In a paper by James Seville, printed by the Old Settlers' Club of Mil-
waukee, in l'J16, it is said that there were but few men of his time "whose
opinions had more influence in the state at large than those of Mr. Kilbourn.
He could do more with the Legislature, governor, etc., than any other man,
and that, too, without any seeming effort on his part. He was a man of large
build, a large head and brain, a skilful engineer, and just such a man as is
required to manage large enterprises; sociable, communicative, benevolent
and always ready to engage in anything to help his adopted city."
Byron Kilbourn was born in Connecticut in 1801, but when a young lad his
parents moved to Ohio. His father was a member of Congress in 1812 and
again in 1814. Having received a good education young Kilbourn, at the age of
twenty-two, entered the service of the state as an engineer for the great
system of internal improvements then being carried on by Ohio. In 1832, he
journeyed to the far-off country beyond the western shores of Lake Michigan.
He landed in Green Bay May 8, 1834, and soon found employment as a sur-
veyor of public lands. In the course of his travels he was attracted by the
advantages offered by the region around the mouth of the Milwaukee River.
Here he found Solomon Juneau who had been settled here many years in the
fur trade with the Indians.
"Juneau was one of Nature's noblemen," says a writer in a history of
Milwaukee published in 1881, "and was the very soul and embodiment of
hospitality and good cheer. Among his pleasantest recollections Mr. Kil-
bourn often adverted to the cheerful fireside scenes in Mr. Juneau's wildwood
home after days of travel, toil and privation."
Here Kilbourn determined to settle and purchased a tract of land on the
west side of the Milwaukee River at the same time that Juneau purchased a
tract on the east side. Both of these tracts were in the same section and
were divided from each other by the river. These two tracts extending along
the river for one mile constituted the nucleus of the present City of Mil-
waukee.
"The east side was platted in the summer of 1835," it is stated in tin-
article on Milwaukee, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "and very soon after-
ward the plat of a settlement on the west side was also recorded, Byron
Kilbourn being the chief projector and proprietor of the latter." These two
settlements bore the popular names of Juneautown and Kilbourntown respec-
tively. A third settlement, begun mi the south side by George II. Walker.
and known as "Walker's Point," was subsequently platted. The rivalry
between the east and west sides of the river became intense, the plats were
so surveyed that the streets did not meet at the river, and there were bitter
quarrels over the building of bridges. On one occasion a force of armed men
was assembled on the east side "to defend their rights," and a cannon was
leveled at Mr. Kilbourn 's house on the opposite bank of the river. After some
further complications the "bridge war" was amicably settled, and since that
time bridge building has gone forward in an orderly manner.
"When the public mind began to comprehend the importance of railroad
102 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
communication with the interior," says a writer in ;i history of Milwaukee,
published in 1881, "Mr. Kilbourn was by common consenl designated as thi
mosl suitable person to lead the firsl enterprise of thai description. Be was
accordingly elected president of the 'Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad
Company.' This company was organized in the early pari of 184!), and Mr.
Kilbourn continued to occupy the position of president of the company until
1852."
In 1846, the City of Milwaukee was chartered, and Mr. Kilbourn was
chosen a member of the first board of aldermen. In the next year Mr. Kil-
bourn was chosen a delegate to the state constitutional convention, and in
that body he drew up and reported the "Declaration of Rights" and some
other important articles. In ISIS, he was (dec-ted mayor of Milwaukee, which
had then become a city of about fifteen thousand inhabitants. Mr. Kilbourn
was again elected mayor in 1854.
•"It has been said that no man in Wisconsin has made so many railroad
speeches," says the writer above quoted, "or lias s,, often presided over
state and district conventions ami other public meetings as Byron Kilbourn.
.Mr. Kilbourn was a zealous Free Mason and left the use oi a beautiful hall
to the lodge and chapter named after him. He was a member of this lodge
and chapter, and also of Wisconsin Commandery, K. T.
"Owing to exposure in early life Mr. Kilbourn was afflicted with rheuma-
tism, and in the fall of 1868 he made a tour of the South for the benefit of his
health, lie spent several months at Hot Springs, Ark., but received no
especial benefit. Finding the climate of the extreme South most agreeable to
his exhausted system he located at Jacksonville, Florida, where on December
Hi. 1870, he died suddenly and painlessly of apoplexy, in the seventieth year
of his age. He passed away full of years, an honor to his familj name, and
a benefactor to his race."
George H. Walker. — In 1834, George II. Walker came to Milwaukee from
Virginia, where he was born October '2-. 1811, and located on the south side
of the river. He was then twenty-three years of age. Mere be erected a log
house, "the first." says J. S. Buck in his "Pioneer History," "ever built by
a while man upon that side of the river." The spot is known to this day in
common parlance as "Walker's Point." He carried on the business of an
Indian trader ami was identified thereafter with the growth of Milwaukee in
many and various ways throughout his life.
In 1S4'_\ he was elected to the territorial legislature and was made speaker
of that body, and two years later was re-elected to the same office. In 1851,
Walker was elected mayor of Milwaukee and again in 1853. He was a demo-
crat m politics but at the breaking out of the civil war he look a decisive
stand in favor of the preservation of the Union.
"The city was largely indebted to him." writes -1. A. Watrous in his
"Memoirs of Milwaukee County," "for the building of the Milwaukee and
Mississippi Railroad. He was at oik' time president of this railroad company,
and lone a member of the hoard of directors. He built the first streel rail-
way ill Milwaukee at a considerable hiss to himself which was the foundation
of the present splendid system. One of the last public acts of his useful life
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE II. WALKER 103
was to aid in securing the Ideation here of the National Soldiers' Home."
He died at his home on Biddle Street, September "in, 1866.
George II. Walker engaged in many building enterprises and promoted
various corporations of a semi-public or public nature. He built a large four-
story brick block bearing his name, which stood on the corner of South
Water and Clinton streets, and was. at one time, the center of the largest
trade upon the South Side. This brick building is undoubtedly the most
substantial brick building ever built in the City of Milwaukee.
In a pamphlet issued by the Milwaukee Times in June, 1921, the leading
events of his life are described. From this pamphlet much information has
been derived for this work, as for example the following paragraph:
"Colonel Walker was a very active, energetic and pushing citizen. He
was a large and portly man, with a genial manner, betokening hearty good
will to all whom he met, with genuine kindliness beaming from every feature
of his face. He had a magnetic presence, ami a most hearty greeting for
all whom he knew. He was selected to rill many offices of responsibility by
his fellow citizens, and among them we find he was made supervisor, twice
elected a member of the Territorial Legislature, in 1 S4l2 and 1844, and on each
occasion was made speaker of the lower house, was appointed register of the
Milwaukee Land office, elected alderman, and twice elected mayor of Mil-
waukee, once in 1851 and subsequently in 1853. At that time the mayors held
office for Imt one year. As register of the Land office one of the strong char-
acteristics of (he man became ('specially prominent, and that was his most
perfect honesty. In this position as register he had abundant opportunity for
making himself very wealthy, hut he would neither permit himself nor any of
his subordinates to take advantage of the knowledge which the office afforded
them to enrich themselves. This characteristic was always a prominent one
throughout his life. His integrity was unquestionable.
"From 1835 to 1849 he was continually pestered by men who tried to
'jump Iks claim' to his quarter section, and who insisted that the pre-emption
laws of that day did not permit the location of a 'float' claim upon so valu-
able a piece of land."
Colonel Walker's Picturesque Heme. — Tin- writer of the pamphlet re
ferred to describes the location of Colonel Walker's home with some interest-
ing details. He says that it was located upon a high hill fronting upon Han-
over Street in the center of the double block lying between South Pierce
and Virginia streets. The house was built in the style of an old Virginia
mansion, with broad doors and windows, spacious rooms with a wide hall
running through from front to rear, into which might he driven a horse
hauling logs for the fire places.
The house had a beautiful outlook over the city and a complete view of
Milwaukee Bay clotted over with the white-winged messengers of commerce
Hanover Street in front of tin' residence had been graded down some twenty-
five or thirty feet leaving a steep bank in which many deep cavities had
been left. These cavities formed convenient uesting places for hundreds upon
hundreds of swallows in which to brood and mir their young. The whole
front and perpendicular face id' this block- id' land was a curiosity to passersby
GEORGE II. WAl.KKl;
Founder of Walker's Point, now known as the South Side
BYRON KILBOURN AND GEORGE H. WALKER 105
upon the street below, and they often stopped to view the myriads of birds
flitting in and out from these holes in the clay bank, busy with their domestic-
duties. In consequence of this deep cut of the street in front of his resi-
dence. Colonel Walker's only means of access to his home was by way of
Greenbush Street, upon the west front of this tract of land. As the colonel
was a very ponderous man, it was difficult for him to do much walking, and
at a regular hour each morning he could be seen getting into his buggy,
which he filled to its full capacity, to drive down to his place of business,
returning with the same regularity at noon and in the evening. His horse and
buggy and his corpulent figure and benignant face were known all over Mil-
waukee, and nothing seemed to please him more than to be greeted with the
familiar appellation of "George," omitting all titles whatsoever.
Pioneer Railroad Construction. — It was through the active and persistent
work of Colonel Walker and other prominent citizens that the City of Mil-
waukee was at this time induced to loan its credit to the first railway enter-
prise by issuing its bonds to the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Company
for the sum of $234,000, and it further aided this enterprise, which was then
urgently in need of funds, by subscribing in cash for $16,000 worth of the
railroad company's stock.
In addition to his many other enterprises for the development of the city,
Colonel Walker undertook the construction of a street railway, which was
opened to the public in May, I860. It began at the foot of East Water Street,
north to Wisconsin Street, east on Wisconsin to Jefferson, on Jefferson to
Biddle, on Biddle to Van Buren, north on Van Buren to Juneau Avenue, thence
up Prospect Avenue to Albion. The cars ran on a single track with turn-
outs at intervals. The cars were entered by a single step and door at the
rear and drawn by mules. The fare-box was at the front of the car where
passengers deposited their fares. This was the beginning of the present
splendid system of street railways in Milwaukee.
Activities in the Civil War. — At the breaking out of the Civil war no man
living north of Mason and Dixon's line could have been more ardent in his
loyalty and more active in his efforts for the preservation of the Union than
Col. George H. Walker. Though a Virginian by birth and a democrat in his
political allegiance he joined the party of the Union and aided in the most
conspicuous manner in its efforts to suppress the rebellion. He made it his
daily and nightly occupation to attend meetings in every part of the city and
lent his voice and great influence toward arousing his fellow citizens to the
necessity of prompt action for the preservation of the Union.
He was seen at these meetings with Hon. Matt. Carpenter, Judges Mc-
Arthur and Hubbell, engaged in awakening the loyalty of the people. Being
a corpulent and heavy man as heretofore noted, he would often find difficulty
is ascending the steps of the platforms used for the speakers, and it was
necessary for his friends at such times to assist him in the operation. But
ready hands pulled and pushed him up amid the cheers and laughter of his
audiences. He worked most faithfully and loyally until there was no longer
necessity for such patriotic labors.
106 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE
And al the conclusion of the war, be was among the Eoremosl in securing
from the Government the location and purchase of grounds near this city
for the establishment of £ comfortable and adequate Soldiers' and Sailors'
Eome, for the wounded, maimed and worn-out veterans who had helped pre-
serve our common country. He was appointed one of the Board of Soldiers'
Home Commissioners by the secretary of war, and beld this office at the time
of his death. It is said that his trip to Washington, D. ( '.. on behalf of the
Soldiers' Home caused bis death, as he never recovered from a cold contract
at that time.
(_'ol. George II. Walker died September 20, l<S(i6, at the early age of fifty-
four years and eleven months, after an active life spent in hardships, trials
and labors in behalf of his fellow men, mourned by a loving wife and by
every one who knew him. Truly may it be said of him as was said by the
poet Homer, "He was a friend to man and lived in a house beside the road."
A. C. Wheeler's "Chronicles of Milwaukee." — Concerning this excellent
history it may be remarked that a vein of humor pervades its pages through-
out. Writing of the difficulties he encountered in gathering the facts about
early history the author, in his introduction, says: "So bitterly opposed were
some even to open their mouths that the author was at first fain to believe
that the early hisory of .Milwaukee had formerly been the witness of a mon-
strous iniquity in which all the first inhabitants were implicated."
The reluctance hinted at above gradually disappeared anil the author
acknowledges the assistance of many of the "Id settlers in the preparation
of ids history, which was published in 1861. "To such men as Colonel Walker.
Byron Kilbourn, Elisha Starr. II. Kirke While. Jonathan E. Arnold. Joshua
Hathaway, William Brown ami a host of others, the author is indebted for
all that is of any material value in these pages."
CHAPTER X
LIFE AND LABORS OP ANDREW J. VIEAU
After stating that he was born in Green I'.ay in 1818, Andrew J. Vieau, in
iiis narrative, says that he went to the French school kept by John 1!. Jacobs
in 1826 or 1827. Mr. Jacobs abandoned the school a year or two after and
J. B. Dupre became his successor. After some time with Dupre young Viean
received instruction at home from his father's old clerk, Petteel. "Father
Fauvel was also my teacher for a time. Rev. R. F. Cadle, the Episcopalian
missionary, came in 1830. He was a very fine gentleman, and 1 went to his
excellent mission school in company with my brothers, Nicholas and Peter."
It is thus seen that the elder Vieau hail an exalted idea of the value of
education for the younger generation.
"There I remained until 1833, when I went to clerk for R. & A. J. Irwin
at their general store and post office in Shanty Town. Robert Irwin was the
postmaster and I served as his deputy. This was during the Black Hawk
war, ami 1 well remember the soldiers coming down the Fox River with Black
Hawk in 1833 on his tour to the Fast. The Irwins failed in 18:14. and I went
to -Milwaukee to clerk for my brother-in-law, Solomon Juneau, who was agent
for the American Fur Company." It is stated in the narrative that Juneau
was doing a fine business in those days. ''I think," says the narrator, "that
the company allowed him one-half the profits as a commission."
Young Vieau remained in the employ of Juneau seven months and then
went to Chicago to clerk for Medore Beauhien a merchant there. "I suc-
ceeded in this new position." he continues, "to a Mr. Saxton, who had gone
to Racine to do business there. There were several clerks in Beaubien's store
and I was at the head of them. I stayed in Chicago until September, 1836,"
when the payments to the Indians were made in that year. In the course of
the narrative young Vieau enters upon a brief description of what he saw in
Chicago which we will quote in this place.
"Chicago was very small then," he says. "The principal store was kepi
by Oliver Newberry and George W. Dole, on South Water Street. ner of
Dearborn. Beaubien's stor icupied the opposite corner. Mai. John Greene
was commandant at Fort Dearborn, with perhaps one company of soldiers.
J. B. Beaubien, father of my employer, lived in the old American Fur Com
pany's post, south of Fort Dearborn on the lake shore. There were, perhaps,
from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty buildings in Chi
cago, shops and all, at the time of which I speak. They were mostly un-
107
108 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
painted and there was certainly no promise of the place ever amounting to
anything. On the streets mud was knee deep, and wagons had often to be
lifted mit of the mire with handspikes. I am sure thai nearly every inhabitant
of the place would have smiled incredulously if any one had prophesied thai
here was to be the great eity of the west."
Milwaukee in 1836. — In December, 1836, Andrew J. Vieau 'whose narra-
tive lias been so freely drawn upon) returned from Chicago to Juneau's post
in Milwaukee and served him for a time as his bookkeeper. Soon after he
bought out the Juneau establishment, "lock, stock and barrel," and con-
tinued the business on the west side of the river, a half block north of Spring
Street. There had been a big rush to Milwaukee while he was in Chicago,
and it continued unabated during that fall. In the following February he
was married at Green Bay to Pebeeea R. Lawe. "Our bridal trip." he says.
"was made across the country to Milwaukee on what was called a 'French
train." The sleigh was a deep box, (i feet lone' by :!•"> inches broad, which
slipped easily on the surface of the snow, when drawn by two horses hitched
tandem. There were, of course, no wagon roads in those days, but there
were two regularly traveled trails to Milwaukee.
"The one we took led first on a short cut southeast from Green Bay to
Manitowoc. At Manitowoc rapids, 2C> miles from the lake shore, the path
turned almost due south, striking' the mouth of the Sheboygan River. Thence
we would proceed south along the lake shore, sometimes on the beach and
aga'n on the high land, for fifteen or sixteen miles; thence west southwest to
Saukville; thence directly southeast to Milwaukee. This path between Green
Bay and Milwaukee was originally an Indian trail, and very crooked; but
the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their
jumpers, wearing bare streaks through the thin covering, to be followed in
the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path.
"The other trail was by way of Fond du Lac, taking advantage of the
military road along the east shore of Lake Winnebago; thence south-south-
west to Watertown; thence east to "Waukesha, and coming into Milwaukee on
the Kilbourn Road. The time occupied in traveling from Green Bay to Mil-
waukee was four days, either by foot or by 'French train.' the distance being
estimated at 12.") miles."
Having returned to Milwaukee from his wedding trip in the picturesque
manner described, Vieau soon afterward sold out his establishment to Solomon
Juneau, his brother-in-law, not being satisfied to lead the humdrum life of
an Indian trader, these two men buying and selling out to each other on fre-
quent occasions.
In the fall of 1837, he removed to Port Washington with a small stock
of goods and was appointed postmaster at that place. "A little settlement
had been established here," he relates, "by Wooster Harrison and other
.Michigan City speculators, but the place had been starved out and practically
abandoned." It is interesting to note in this connection that Abraham Lin-
coln about Ibis time contemplated making Port Washington his home, having
traveled all the way from his place of residence at Xew Salem. Illinois, to
make the necessary arrangements. An article in the Wisconsin Magazine of
LIFE AND LABORS OF ANDREW J. YIEAU 109
History for September, 1920, describes this episode in the life of the great
Emancipator, and mentions the man whom he met on that journey.
Abraham Lincoln in Quest of a New Home. — In a history of Port Wash-
ington it is stated that the first dwelling house built in the village was erected
by "Gen." Harrison, as Wooster Harrison, above mentioned, was familiarly
termed by the old settlers. This first dwelling house was erected in 1835.
"It is still standing," so a writer states in the history mentioned which was
published in 1881. "It is a little story-and-a-half frame building with gable
ends, the sills resting on the ground. A partition divides the first floor into
two apartments, and also the upper or half story. It was at this house that
the first votes of the town were polled.
"This old and time-worn structure has become one of the sacred relics of
the past, commanding a prominent place in the history of the town of Port
Washington, not only on account of the relation it bears to the first white
settler of the village, but because it once served as a shelter to one of Amer-
ica's greatest statesmen. It may be of interest to mention the fact that the
great and martyred President, Abraham Lincoln, during his days of 'rough-
ing it,' once walked from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, and stopped a night or two
in this old house."
Lincoln's Purpose in making the Visit. — Professor Julius E. Olson of the
University of Wisconsin contributed the article printed in the Wisconsin
Magazine of History referred to -above, and in the article he elucidates some
particulars of this historic visit, which does not appear to be mentioned either
in Nicolay and Hay's or Miss Ida Tarbell's works. Mr. Lincoln "s purpose in
making the journey was to find a location where he might establish himself
in the practice of the law, as he was just then completing his preparation for
that profession. Professor Olson says that in an interview furnished by
Harry W. Bolens to the Milwaukee Daily News, sometime during the Lincoln
centennial year (1909), Mr. Bolens. who had formerly been mayor of Port
Washington, stated that the Lincoln visit was made at some period between
1835 and 1840, the exact year not being known. Mr. Lincoln was returning
from Sheboygan having concluded after his visit to that place that "it had
no future before it."
Mr. Lincoln remained at Port Washington two days during which time
he arranged with General Harrison for the rent of quarters for his law office.
This was in the fall of the year (probably 1835), and the arrangement w;is
that Mr. Lincoln should return in the spring and take possession of his quar-
ters. "In the spring, however, the floods put a quietus on all travel, the Wes1
was fairly afloat in the freshet, and the heavy rain storms kept up until Late
in the summer. Under these conditions Mr. Lincoln decided to locate else-
where and later sent his regrets to General Harrison." From this it would
appear that Lincoln's presence in Milwaukee in 1835 (at least about that
time), while going to Sheboygan and Por1 Washington, considerably ante-
dates the visit he made in 1859 to Milwaukee when he addressed the Wiscon-
sin State Agricultural Society giving his views on agriculture; though in
Conard's excellent work it is stated thai this latter visit was his "only visit."
What had induced Mr. Lincoln to direct his attention to the lake shore
Ill) HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
region uorth of Milwaukee and to look here for a location for his new home?
Professor Olson answers the question. Mr. Lincoln had seen considerable of
Southern Wisconsin during his brief service in the Black Hawk war and knew
the country had many attractions. In fact the Black Hawk war was Wiscon-
sin's introduction to the American people, jusl as ii proved i<> be the start
in emigration from the eastern states to Illinois. "There was an immediate
and rapid increase of immigration, not only in the mining region, bu1 in vari
mis parts of what is now Wisconsin, more especially in thai portion bordering
mi Lake Michigan," using the quotation from the history of Washington and
Ozaukee counties found in Professor Olson's article "Lincoln knew of this
strong trend of immigration," adds Professor Olson. "Then he may have
wanicd in see Lake Michigan, particularly as the eastern part of the state
was the most accessible."
Lincoln in Milwaukee. — Lincoln visited Milwaukee, October 1. 1859, and
made an address at the State Fair being held there at the time. He attended
the performance of a so-called "strong man" which greatly interested him.
The performer went through the \isual antics, — tossing iron balls and letti
them roll down his arms, lifting heavy weights, etc. Apparently Lincoln had
never seen such a combination of strength and agility before, and every now
and then gave vent to the ejaculation, "l!y George! By George!' After
making his speech Governor Iloyt introduced him to the athlete; and as Lin-
coln stood looking down at him from his great height, evidently pondering
that one so small could be so strong, he suddenly gave utterance to one of
his quaint speeches. "Why." he said. "I could lick salt off the top of your
hat!"
Lincoln was called on by many of his admirers during his visit to .Mil-
waukee. He stopped at the Newhall House and in the evening he delivered
a campaign speech, standing on a table while doing so. Tin' presidential cam
paign of 1860 occurred a year later than the period of his visit above spoken
of. All of Lincoln's speeches at that period were discussions of the issues
raised during the debates of the previous year between himself and Senator
Douglas. These debates had attracted nation-wide interest, and the able
ami original treatment of these subjects at the hands of Mr. Lincoln were
i Ii nil it less responsible for the immense popularity he had achieved when the
nominating convention met in Chicago in May, 1860.
Vieau Leaves Port Washington. — "In the spring of 1839," continues the
narrative of A. .1. Vieau, which is written remarkably in the vein of Sinbad,
the Sailor's, narratives, "I (dosed up my post, bought a lot of sugar from
the Indian^, loaded a boat with the sugar and furs that I had collected and
went up to Milwaukee, where I disposed of my venture, having had an e\
cellcnt winter's trade. 1 had started in with only seven hundred dollars'
worth of ■- Is. While at Porl Washington I would take in loads of turkey s,
venison, and other game by ox teams to Milwaukee, in which enterprise 1 was
particularly successful. "When I left Milwaukee for tin- Port, my frame
house in the former place was rented from me by Governor Harrison Luding
toil, then a young man newlj married. With the results of my venture I now
built two new houses and had iej enough h-ft in the fall of Is:'.'1 to go into
LIFE AND LABORS OF ANDREW J. YIEAU 111
business with Solomon Juneau who had traded but little since I originally
bought him out. In the spring of 1840, we dissolved partnership and divided
our stock. That summer I bought and handled lumber from Two Rivers
and other points, and dealt as well in dry goods, groceries and Indian sup-
plies. This store was on the west side of East Water Street, between Huron
and Michigan streets.
"I thus continued in trade in Milwaukee and made money, until the fall
of 1843, when I went to Two Rivers, then called Twin Rivers, and took pos-
session of John Lawe's old sawmill there. The place was then a small fish-
ing village of some eight or ten houses, with perhaps twenty-five inhabitants.
A part of the time I ran the sawmill myself, but leased it for the most part,
at first to Bascom and Ward; then to Daniel Smith of Manitowoc; in 1845, to
II. II. Smith of Milwaukee, who finally bought the plant about 1846. I also
did some trading with the Indians while at Two Rivers."
Editor's Note. — It is not generally known to the people of Milwaukee that the small park
bounded by National Avenue, South Pierce, Hanover and Greenbush streets was named Yieau
Park at the public opening of the same in memory of Jacques Yieau, father of Andrew
J. Vieau, and father-in-law of Solomon Juneau.
—
K
r-
f.
y.
v.
:_
CHAPTER XI
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD
The first permanent settlement of Milwaukee was made by Jacques Vieau
who came in 1795. Vieau was an Indian trader and was quite successful,
though he lost his property in 1832. He was well known for his integrity.
Solomon Juneau bought Vieau 's trading post in 1819, at which time "he was
already married to Vieau 's daughter, Josette, so that his relations with Vieau
were necessarily close," says Edwin 8. Mack in a sketch entitled, "The Found-
ing of Milwaukee,'* printed in the Proceedings of the Wisconsin State His-
torical Society for 1906.
Vieau, however, soon resumed trading, becoming the agent of Michael
Dousman of Chicago. His son, Andrew J. Vieau, is quoted at length in the
Wisconsin Historical Society's Collections for 1888. He says that his father
was "the first man to engage in the Indian trade on the ground now occupied
by the City of Milwaukee." The editor in a note qualities this statement
(which also applies to the statement contained in the first sentence of the
previous paragraph) by saying that "there were, off and on, several traders
at the mouth of the Milwaukee River previous to the arrival of Jacques Vieau,
chief among them, Alexander La Framboise, v ho commenced his trade in
1785."
Continuing his narrative Andrew says: "The family name was originally
De Veau, but as that meant veal or calf in the French, the language we were
familiar with in childhood, other children would annoy my ancestors in their
youth by bleating in their presence; so the name was changed to Vieau in
self-defense." Other particulars about his father are given. He was a full-
blooded Frenchman but he married Angeline, daughter of Joseph Le Roy, a
trader at Green Bay in 178(3, and she was of Indian blood, so his children
partook of that strain. His father's family were quite numerous, the children,
in order of their birth, were as follows: Madeleine, Josette, Paul, Jacques,
Louis, Joseph, Amable, Charles, Andrew (the narrator), Nicholas, Peter, and
Mary, — "a round dozen in all," as he says.
Andrew's narrative is continued as follows: "My father (Jacques) first
went to Mackinaw from Montreal as a voyageur for the Northwest Fur
Company, in 1793, when he was forty-two years of age. His first trip in
that capacity was to La Pointe in Lake Superior. In 1794, he returned to
La Pointe, but this time as a clerk for the company. In 1795, he was appointed
one of the company's agents being sent out with a supply of goods to explore
and establish posts on the west shore of Lake Michigan. The goods were con-
113
114 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Mined in a large Mackinaw boat, beavily loaded and manned by twelve men.
He with Ills family, consisting then of mother, Madeleine, Paul and Jacques,
followed in a Large bark canoe, in which was stored also the camping equipage.
My father's clerk mi That trip was .Mike le Petteel."
Establishing a Site for a Trading Post.— The expedition started from
Mackinaw in July, and the first important camping pla was where Kewaunee
is now situated. Here he established a "jack-knife" posl to open the trade.
and left a man in charge of it. "My father's expedition," continues Andrew,
'•arrived at Milwaukee on either the 18th or 20th of Augusl (1795). He me1
at the month of the river a large number of Pottawatomies, but mingling
freely with them were Sacs and Foxes, and a few Winnebagoes who had mar-
ried into the other three tribes. The Indians told my father that he was the
first white man whom they had seen there, and he was warmly welcomed. He
had a good stock of -nods, and French traders Mere always particularly well
received at the outposts of civilization in those days. He erected two log
buildings, one for a dwelling and the other for a warehouse, a mile and a
half up the Menomonee River, on the south side at the foot of the lime ridge.
I was in Milwaukee during the Civil war period (nearly seventy years after
the arrival of my father), and the places where the store and dweUing had
stood were plainly visible from the remains of banks of earth which had sur-
rounded them."
The editor of this narrative remarks in a note, as follows: "It will be
noticed that nowhere does the narrator mention Jean Baptiste Mirandeau,
who is reported in all existing histories of Milwaukee to have been in Jacques
Vieau's company. In answer to later questions relative to his recoUections
of Mirandeau. I have letters from A. J. Vieau. dated October _7 and 'J!». 1887,
in which he says in substance: 'I never heard my father say that Jean I!.
Mirandeau went to Milwaukee in his company. 1 never heard him say what
time Mirandeau arrived there. 1 am of the opinion that Mirandeau came after
my father, but not long after, lie was never in any sort of partnership with
my father. 1 have heard my father and mother and older brothers all say
that Mirandeau carried on blaeksmithing and did father's work whenever
engaged to do it, like any other mechanic' lie was. from my father's account
of him, a very good man but had one bad fault— he drank whisky, and that
was the cause of his death.
•'.Mirandeau married a Pottawatomie squaw with whom he lived t;ll his
death in the sprine; of 1819. After Ins death she and her children went to
live anion- the Pottawatomies again, except Victoria, who was raised by the
Kinzies in Chicago, and in 1822 she married a Canadian named Joseph Por-
thier. .Mrs. Porthier is still living (1887 in the town of Lake near Mil
waukee. I think nearly all Mirandeau's sons and daughters married Indians.
Louis was alive fifteen years ago near Grand Rapids, Wisconsin. Several of
the others went with the Pottawatomies to Kansas in 1837.
"Mirandeau was buried on the slope of the hill on what is now the north-
easl corner of Main and Michigan streets. When in 1837 or 1838, Michigan
Street was being graded Solomon Juneau told the workmen to take care ot
Mirandeau's bones, their resting place being marked by a wo,, den cross, i
MILWAUKEE IX THE PIONEER PERIOD 115
was standing near the grave with others when the blacksmith's skull came
tumbling down the hank. The greater part of the hair was still attached to
the skull, and some one remarked that the reason for this was that Mirandeau
had drunk so much poor whisky that he hail become sort of pickled. I do
not know how much truth there was in the remark. The rest of the bones
came down almost immediately after, and all the remains were picked up by
Juneau's orders, put in a box and placed in the regular cemetery."
Life Routine of a Fur Trader. — "My father remained at his post during
the winter of 1795-17nG, and indeed, every winter thereafter for two or three
years. Each spring, after packing up the winter's peltries and buying all the
maple sugar obtainable from the Indians, father would start out with his
family and goods on his return to Mackinaw, after leaving a clerk in charge
of the post, to superintend the planting of potatoes and corn and the purchase
of what were called "summer furs." These were the 'red skin' or summer
skin of the deer: this was the only summer fur that was good for anything,
for all other animals shed their hair during that season.
"Upon his return down the lake father would stop at his various 'jack-
knife posts' and collect their furs and maple sugar, and often relieve the men
stationed there by substituting others for them. This trip to Mackinaw would,
with fair weather, take about a month. He would set out on his return in
August, distributing goods to the lake shore posts, and stay at Milwaukee
until May again. Thus he did not abandon any of his posts; he was not doing
a roving business, but was in possession of the establishments the entire time."
It is stated in the further course of A. J. Vieau's narrative that his father
while still in charge of the lake shore posts was ordered by the Fur Company
to the Fox-Wisconsin portage in 1797 or 1798, and thither he went with h'.s
family, remaining there in the company's behalf for two or three seasons.
Then he returned to Milwaukee anil resumed his former mode of life there,
going either to Mackinaw or Green Pay, each spring, with 'long-shore goods
and returning in the fall.
"After disposing of his interests to Juneau in 1819," continues the narra-
tive of A. J. Vieau, "my father was equipped by Michael Dousman of Chicago,
and for several years traded at his old post on the Menomonee River near
the bluff. He was an active man, very prompt and precise in his business deal-
ings and sociable in his manner, so that he commanded much influence with
the Pottawatomies. In the winter of 1832-33 the small-pox scourge ran
through the Indian population of the state. Father and bis crew were busy
throughout the winter in burying the natives who died off like sheep.
* * In this work and in assisting the poor wretches who survived, my
father lost much time and money, while of course none of the Indians who
lived over were capable of paying their debts to the trailers. This winter
ruined my father almost completely, and in 1836, aged seventy-four years,
he removed to his homestead in Green Bay where his father-in-law, Joseph
Le Roy, still lived."
Cabins of the Pioneers. — Living conditions in the thirties while terri-
torial government prevailed (1836 to 1848) were bard but wholesome. In
the Wisconsin Magazine of History, for December, 1919, Miss Louise Phelps
116 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Kellogg describes some of the features of life among the settlers. "As a rale
eaeli family was a unit largely self-sufficing," she writes. "When necessity
arose for combined labor, .it was accomplished by voluntary services called
'bees,' which were made the occasion of social recreation. The must impor-
tant 'bee' was that for cabin-making. The logs were cut and trimmed before
hand, and people came for miles around to take part in the 'raising.1 The
proper space having been marked off, the logs were quickly rolled and laid
in plaee, notched at the ends to hold firm. The roof was made of bark or
'shakes,' the floor of puncheons — logs split in two with rounded side down.
The interstices between the logs were chinked in with clay or mud and
usually whitewashed both inside and out. Sometimes the entire cabin was
made without the use of nails. A blanket was used for a door until a board
one could be made. Windows were covered with shutters, but few had in
them any glass.
"The most important part of the structure was the chimney, which some
times occupied all one side of the cabin. This was commonly built of small
stones and (day, although sticks occasionally took the place of stones, lid"
this capacious fireplace great logs were hauled, somet'mes by the help of a
horse, to keep the family warm in the severe Wisconsin winters. Almosl
all the immigrants from the older states brought with them furniture, cook-
ing utensils, linen for tables and beds, and some store of quilts and clothing
Additional furniture was quickly provided by the handy skill of the men
and boys. Bedsteads were improvised with one side fastened between the
logs, ticks were filled with straw or hay and most housewives brought with
them a cherished feather bed. The •truck patch' quickly furnished vege
tables, while the woods and streams abounded with fish and game. Deer
were easily obtained, and plenty of smaller animals and game birds were
within reach of a gun.*'
This attractive picture of living conditions among tin' pioneers is made
more interesting by other matter-of-fact details. "Tools and implements
were precious," continues Miss Kellogg in her account. "Except the axe
and hammer, tools were freely borrowed and lent, agricultural implements
were almost common property. One grindstone usually served a considerable
community." The neighbors assisted one another not only at house raising
but at plowing and harvesting, clearing land and grubbing stumps, fencing
and planting. "Sickness, death, anil marriage were community affairs;
everyone lent a helping hand, and any skill or ability he possessed was at
the service of his neighbors."
A Pioneer Journey from New York State. — The incidents of a journey
undertaken by one of the emigrating families from the eastern portion of
New York Stale about the year 1820, form a picture of pioneer conditions
such as was commonly experienced among the arrivals in the New Wesl of
that period. The following account, substantially quoted below, was written
by one id' the daughters of the family as she recalled the scenes of her girl-
hood days. In an address prepared in late)- years and read before a small
company of fr'ends, she said: "I will ask yon to take with me the journey
■which seemed like a weary march from one world to another.
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 117
"No railroads had then been planned, and as a great internal improve-
ment the Erie Canal was being constructed. My father and second brother
had preceded us and my mother and eldest brother had charge of the cara-
van, the mental picture of which may increase your appreciation of the rail-
way and palace ear of the later days. We may see several wagons waiting
loaded with household necessities (all else had been sold at auction), with
only room for personal belongings and places for the accommodation of the
members of our large family.
Breaking- the Old Home Ties.— "When all was ready a tearful company
assembled at the parting, and the caravan moved on toward 'the West' not
knowing whither it was going beyond that indefinite destination. At Utica
we exchanged our teams for canal travel as far as Rochester, then wagons
aga'n to Buffalo, where we arrived just in time for the steamer waiting with
tires burning at the wharf. We were to sail on the 'Superior,' the second
steamboat put afloat on Lake Erie. Only time remained to get a hasty din-
ner which I decided to forego,
"I had asked about the boat and it had been pointed out to me, so being
somewhat enterprising, I set out on my own account to make sure of my
passage and got safely aboard without question. So when the family were
ready to take ship one silly lamb was missing. In great consternation the
missing one was sought for everywhere. The moments were growing pre-
cious. If they should miss the steamer it might be two weeks before an-
other trip Mould be made.
"At the last moment my mother remembered my question as to the
whereabouts of the steamer, and with a faint hope of finding the lost one
they all came dashing down to the wharf, the horses being urged to the top
of their speed in dread of beinjj' left, when, behold, the lost child stood wait-
ing for them, well satisfied with her performance and quite innocent of any
intention to give the anxiety and trouble she had caused.
The Voyage on Lake Erie. — "Very soon we were steaming out into the
open sea which practically was just as boundless as the broader Atlantic,
for when you are out of sight of land, what matter whether the distance
be one hundred or one thousand miles. And as for sea-sickness the inland sea
is worse for the waves arc shorter and the motion more upsetting. Well, as
retribution for the trouble I had caused my friends, or as a precaution lest 1
climb over the guards to have a visit with the fishes, I was taken very ill
and continued so during the four or five days between Buffalo and Detroit.
The voyage, I think, was stormy but I only know that it seemed interminable
and that I was very, very sick. I did not recover quickly and was still poorly
when we embarked again on a small boat which plied between Detroit and
Monroe, the place to which we were going."
A few words as to the status of both Michigan and Wisconsin at this
period may be appropriate in this place. At the period referred to in the
pioneer's narrative Lewis Cass was the governor of Michigan Territory which
included the present State of Wisconsin, the capital being at Detroit. This
area had previously formed a part of the old Northwest Territory under the
Ordinance of 1787, but in the organization of Indiana Territory in 1800 it was
118 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
included in its boundaries. In 1809, it became a pari of Illinois Territory
after its formation. When Illinois vvas admitted to the Union, in 1818, it
became a pari of Michigan Territory, and did not have a separate and dis-
tind existence until 1836, when it was organized under a territorial form of
governmenl and took the name of Wisconsin, although Governor Doty en-
deavored long and hard to secure the adoption of the name of "Wiskonsan"
in which, fortunately, he did not succeed.
Territorial Days (1836-1848). "Previous to 1836," says II. E. Legler in
his volume, "Leading Events in Wisconsin History." "Wisconsin had been
a neglected section, successively, of the territories of the Northwest, Indiana.
Illinois and Michigan. As early as Isiid. Judge -lames Duane Doty, who rep-
resented the judicial authority of Michigan Territory in the region west of the
lake, had begun an agitation to secure separate territorial governmenl for
Wisconsin. He represented that the seal oi governmenl Detroii .
being 600 miles distant, totally inaccessible during the winter season and
nearly so by land at all periods of the year, the people regarded it as little
more than the capital of a foreign government; that their votes for repre-
sentatives could not lie forwarded in time to he counted; that this being the
home of some of the most numerous and warlike nations of Indians within
the United States, the people ought to have better facilities for protection,"
ete.
While Judge Doty was partial to the ungainly orthography of the name
of "Wiskonsan." he also proposed as an alternative choice the name "Chip-
pewau." Other names proposed during the long period of agitation were,
"Huron" and "Superior," hut the euphonious rendering of the French
"Ouisconsin" finally prevailed in the present form. Into the territorial lump
was included a large section of what is now Iowa. .Minnesota and a part
of Dakota. "Until given separate territorial rights," says heeler. "Wiscon-
sin was an orphan in the neglectful charge, first of the Northwest Territory,
then of the territories of Indiana. Illinois and Michigan."
Albert Fowler, Early Settler. -The firsl countj clerk of Milwaukee County
was Albert Fowler, a sketch of whom is given in .1. S. Buck's "Pioneer His
tory of Milwaukee." lie was also the first justice of the peace in the county.
lie was thirty-one years of age when he came to Milwaukee an. I soon after
his arrival he entered the employ of Solomon Juneau as a clerk. "He was
the first white man of Anglo-Saxon hi 1 to settle in Milwaukee," says
Watrous, and he held many town and county offices during his residence here.
In 1853 he removed to Etockford, Illinois, where he was three times elected
to the mayoralty of that city. He died there at the age of eightj oni
.Mr. Fowler's narrative of his coming 1" Milwaukee in the fall of 1833
is full of interest and presents a lively picture of pioneer conditions. "Having
acquired a few hundred dollars." he relates, "by speculating in corner lots
ami trading with the Indians at Chicago, during the summer and autumn of
1833, I left during the early pait of November of that year, in company \
K. .1. Furrier. Andrew .1. Lansing and Quartus <i. Carley for Milwaukee. Tii
journey passed without further incident than the difficulty experienced in
getting through a country with a team, where neither roads nor bridges
MILWAUKEE IX THE PIOXEER PERIOD 119
existed; until the evening of the 12th of November, 1833, when we were en-
eamped on the banks of Root River, and on which oeeasion the great meteoric
display occurred that so alarmed the Indians and which has become a matter
of historical remark to this day.
"We pursued our journey the day following, I being compelled to swim
Root River no less than three times in getting over our baggage and team
although the weather was so cold as to freeze our water-soaked clothing. At
Skunk Grove we found Col. George H. Walker who had a small store of
Indian goods and was trading there. We reached Milwaukee on the 18th of
November, 1833. After our arrival in Milwaukee, my three companions and
myself took possession of an old log cabin where we lived during the winter
of 1833-4, doing our own cooking and amusing ourselves as best we could,
there being no other white man in the place during the winter except Solo-
mon Juneau."
Fowler made a trip to Chicago a few weeks after his arrival in Milwaukee
which was the occasion of considerable hardship and suffering. "In the early
part of the month of January. 1834," he says, "Mrs. Juneau was taken ex-
ceedingly ill, and there being neither medicines nor physicians nearer than
Chicago, I was started off by Juneau on an Indian pony, clad in Indian
mocassins and leggins and a spare blanket, for medical aid. The journey in
mid-winter, through eighty-five or ninety miles of wilderness, was one of
great hardships, and one' I should never desire to undertake again. The
Indians predicted I would perish, but thanks to a vigorous constitution and
a physique already inured to frontier life, I succeeded in reaching Chicago,
pbtaining the desired aid, and was rewarded with the double satisfaction of
having assisted in relieving a most kind and noble hearted woman, besides
the gift of a new su'.t of clothes from .Mr. Juneau."
"In the spring of 1834, my companions went up the river to the school
section and made a claim, upon which they afterwards built a mill, and 1
went into Mr. Juneau's employ, kept his books and accompanied him in his
trading expeditions among the Indians. I soon learned to speak the Potta-
watomie and Menomonee languages with considerable fluency, dressed in
Indian fashion, and was known among them as 'Red Cap,' a name given me
because 1 wore a red cap when I first came among them. I remained in Mr.
Juneau's employ until 1836. After he was appointed postmaster I assisted
him in the post office, and prepared the first quarterly report ever made out
at that office."
Modes of Travel. — There were several different modes of travel employed
by the immigrants of the '30s and '40s. J. S. Puck mentions in his book
two men, Palser and Holmes, who came from Michigan City in an open boal
drawn by a horse following the beach tiie whole distance. Enoch Chase came
in 1835, traveling in a wagon from Chicago in company with James Plinl
and Gordon Morton. The first day they traveled as far as Gross Point,
twelve miles from the starting point, and the next day they covered the dis-
tance to Sunderland's, back of the present City of W'aukegan.
"We intended to stay at Louis Vieau's trading house at Skunk Grove
(in Racine County) the third night, but found the house filled with drunken
120 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
linliaiis. and concluded to push on, reaching Root River which we crossed on
a pole bridge before dark. * * The following day we reached Walker's
Point in Milwaukee about noon."
Edward D. Holton's Reminiscences. — In his address before the .Milwaukee
< 'handier of < lommerce in 1858, Edward U. Holtmi gave a rapid and interesting
review of his arrival in .Milwaukee in 1838, and of his subsequent experiences
as a citizen. Portions of his address are given below:
"When a boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age I read the history of the
Valley of the Mississippi by the Rev. Timothy Flint, an itinerant missionary
of the Presbyterian Church. Never will the impressions of his graphic and
delightful descriptions of our own portion of the great valley pass from my
mind. I longed to depart from my New England mountain home and I ome
a citizen of that fair land. Following the open door of opportunity I made my
way first to Wisconsin in the fall of 1838. I spent one day in Milwaukee.
A period of high water was then prevailing on the lake and much of the
lower part of the settlement was submerged — no sidewalks, no streets; specu-
lation had raged here through the years 1836 and 1837, and everything was
now prostrated. Surely a more desolate, down-at-the-heel, slip-shod looking
place scarcely could be found than was Milwaukee in October, 1838. It
population was from twelve to fifteen hundred.
"I turned away from the town then with the feeling that if it was a fair
sample of tin' glorious and beautiful West. I had seen enough, lint my journey
took me into the interior of the state, through all the southern part of our
own ami the northern and central parts of Illinois. At this time the popula-
tion was very sparse. As an illustration, 1 passed a night and a day at the
cabin of a gentleman who was almost the sole occupant of the beautiful little
prairie known as Prairie du Lac which later became the site of the Village of
Milton, in Rock County, and the populous region round about. The owner
and occupant of that cabin is now a member of this board and is present
upon this floor. I allude to N. G. Storrs.
"At what is now the site of Janesville, I tarried a number of days. There
were there then three log houses and one log blacksmith shop. John P.
Dickson, just elected a member of the Legislature from the City of Janes-
ville. entertained travelers in his more than usually ample log house. Old
Squire Janes, a frontiersman from whom the town took its name, was residing
there. At that time there were no bridges and but \\'\v roads in the whole
country. But the weather was delightful, and who that saw Southern Wis-
consin and Northern Illinois in that early day. when the annual tires swept
prairie and opening, and made them (dean and smooth as a house floor, will
ever forget their beauty, or the facility with which the traveler passed through
the country even without roads and bridges? Most fully now did my own
observat'ons confirm the description given by Mr. Flint, of the beauty and
natural wealth of the country !
"It was not difficult for the commonesl observer to arrive at a conclusion,
after an observation of the surrounding country, that important towns must
arisu upon the west shore of Fake Michigan, and hence it was that my own
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 121
mind turned again toward Milwaukee as one of those natural commercial
I mints to which this delightful interior country must become tributary.
Takes Up His Abode in Milwaukee.— •' On the 12th day of November, 1840,
I took up my abode iii .Milwaukee, with the profession of merchant. I first
opened my goods in one corner of a warehouse known as Hollister Ware-
house, just below Walker's Point bridge, but soon after removed to another
location on the corner of Wisconsin and East Water streets." Mr. Holton
then recalled some of the early business men of the period. There was
Maurice Pixley, a brother of John Pixley, who did business on the west side
of East Water Street; Ludington & Company, composed of Lewis Ludington,
Harrison Ludington and Harvey Birchard; Gary & Taylor, clothing; Higby &
Wardner, general merchandise; Cady & Parwell, iron and tin; J. & L. Ward.
This firm did a large business and was •"the first to induce the transportation
of lead across the country by wagons drawn by oxen from the lead mines."
This business was continued to a greater or less extent for two or three
years.
Among the other places of business mentioned by Mr. Holton in his
address were the shop of Robert Davis, Tailor; the shoe shop of Richard Ilad-
ley; and the store of George Bowman. These were all above Michigan Street.
and on the west side of East Water Street. Below Michigan Street and above
Huron, was the store of William Brown & Company, one of the first firms
which did business in Milwaukee. Next to them was the store of L. Rock-
well & Company; next, that of Goo. F. Austin, and of Cowles & Company.
George Dousman was the leading forwarder of that day; and Holton 's store
was the only one on the east side of the street. Below Michigan, and above
Huron, was the residence of Mr. Juneau, and the Cottage Inn. The hotels
and taverns were made up as follows: The Milwaukee House, kept by Graves
& Myers, on the corner of Wisconsin and Main streets; the Cottage Inn, kept
by Mr. Vail; and the Fountain House kept by X. P. Hawks. The Cottage Inn
was consumed in the great fire of 1845.
•"And now I am amazed," cont'nued Mr. Holton in his address, •'when I
visit either the northern or southern ends of our city and witness the extent
of business done. Now, hundreds of people come to the city daily to do busi-
ness, and in coming from the north, market their productions ami make their
purchases, and do not get east of the river, or south of Tamarack Street. The
same is approximately true when an equal number approach the city from
the south and do not get north of the Milwaukee and Menomonee rivers; so
numerous and extensive are the mercantile and manufacturing establishments
in those quarters of the town, where, at the time to which our observation
goes back, not one of them existed."
Professional Men and Others. — Following the mention of the business men
Mr. Holton gives the names of professional men and others belonging to that
period. Among the members of the legal fraternity there were J. II. Tweedy;
Upham & Walworth; Wells, Crocker & F neh ; Graham & Blossom; Charles
J. Lynde; J. E. Arnold; and Francis Randall. The physicians of that day
were Drs. E. P.. Woleott, Proudfit, Ilewett. Bartlett and Castleman. Members
of the clerical profession were Rev. Lemuel Bull, rector of St. Paul's Church;
122 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Rev. Stephen Peet, minister in charge of the Presbyterian Church; Rev. Mr.
Bowles, of the Methodisl Episcopal Church; and Rev. Father Morrissey of the
< 'at Inilic- ( Ihurch.
Others mentioned by the speaker were Cyrus Hawley, clerk of the court;
Rufus Parks, receiver; Colonel Morton, register; Daniel Wells, deputy sheriff;
Clark Shepardson, blacksmith; Ambrose Ely, shoemaker; C. I>. Davis, livery
keeper; .lames Murray, painter; Elisha Starr and Geo. Tiffany, stage men;
Matthew Stein, gunsmith; Doney & Mosely, founders; I. A. Lapham and
Joshua Hathaway, land agents; 1'.. II. Edgerton and Garretl \*liet. surveyors;
Harrison Reed, publisher of the Sentinel; Daniel II. Richards, publisher of
the Advertiser; Alexander Mitchell, banker; and Messrs. Kilbourn, Juneau,
G. II. Walker. I.. W. Weeks. James II. Rogers, Mayor Prentiss, ami E. Cramer.
proprietors, land dealers and money lenders. These were the names of the
leading men of that day and their occupations.
Beginnings of the Grain Business. — Mr. E. D. Holton, in his address before
the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce in 1858, gave some interesting infom
tion about the grain business in its early days. "I")) to 1841, no grain had
gone iint of Wisconsin," he said. "I think 1 am correcl in stating that I
purchased during the winter of ls-h> and 1841 the firsl cargo of grain thai
was sent from the then territory. The amount was small: I advertised to
pay cash for it. and gathered about four thousand bushels which wenl to
Canada in the spring of 1*41. From this time on more or less grain came to
town, and I suppose I am correct still in saying that the firm of Holton iV
Goodall, up to ]N44. purchased more wheal than all others put together. But
still the amount was trifling, not exceeding in tl ntire year, nor even reach-
ing, as much as now arrives in a single day in the season of marketing this
commodity.
As the grain hnsiness increased there were warehouses hnilt fur handling
this important staple. In 1848, the first building to use a steam engine for
the elevation of grain was completed by Alanson Sweet. From thai tun i
building operations were frequent in adding t<> the facilities I'm- storage.
"It took three days in 1*41." says Holton, "to ship the 4,000 bushels of wheal
I spoke of, as the first shipment made from Wisconsin. Now, I suppose, if
need be, more than as many hundred thousands of bushels could he shipped
in t he same time. "
Piers Along the Lake Shore. — The first pier was hnilt at the font of Huron
Street in the year 1842, by Horatio Stevens, of New 5Tork. He added to this
a second in the next year, and .Mi'. Higby hnilt a third iii 1845. These piers
were near together. In 1845, Doctor Weeks hnilt the smith pier. For several
years these piers did nearly the entire business both for imports and exports,
until their construction," says Bolton, "vessels and steamers anchored
and in the absence of a harbor they answered the purpose admirably. "For,
in the hay. and received ami discharged their cargoes at infinite cosl and
trouble upon a small steamhoat. or sc,,\\s." The opening of the new harbor
was begun ami partly broughl into use in L844. From L840 until the new
liarlmr came into use the little steamer. "C. < '. Trowbridge" performed the
hnsiness of running up and down the river, taking freight and passeng ts,
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 123
to and from the steamers and vessels in the bay. This little steamer drew
about two feet of water and was able to get over the bar at the mouth of the
river.
Increase A. Lapham. — The records of early Milwaukee as well as those of
the state are filled with allusions and frequent mentions of this distinguished
man. Increase A. Lapham came to Milwaukee in July, 1836. He was then
a young man of twenty-five having emigrated to this state at the invitation of
Byron Kilbourn, and at once became a conspicuous figure among the early
settlers and later among the scientific men of the state, as his tastes were
chiefly in the direction of scientific investigations. He studied and made
known through various publications the physical features, topography, geol-
ogy, natural history, meteorology ami antiquities of the state.
The animal-shaped mounds of Wisconsin early attracted his attention of
which he made an extended survey, and an account of which was published
by the Smithsonian Institution in 1855. He also examined and described
several masses of meteoric iron found near Milwaukee on which he found
peculiar marks afterwards known as "Laphamite markings." Mr. Lapham 's
education consisted only of that obtained in the common schools, supplemented
by his own studious efforts. In I860, he received from Amherst College the
degree of "LL. D."
In the biographical sketch printed in Conard's "Milwaukee," it is stated
tiiat Doctor Lapham made numerous observations on the rise and fall of water
in Lake Michigan by which the highest and lowest and the mean or average
stage was determined. These observations were used by the engineers of
Milwaukee and Chicago in establishing their systems of sewerage and water
supply. "In 1849, he made a series of very careful observations by which
he discovered in the lake a slight lunar tide like that of th •can. This im-
portant fact was announced in the papers at the time, and the observations
were communicated to the Smithsonian Institution. Many years later Lieut. -
Col. James I). Graham of Chicago made a like discovery at that city, the tide
there being much larger than at Milwaukee." More extended remarks are
made on the subject of lake tides in another portion of this work contained
in tiie chapter on the Natural History of Lake Michigan.
At the unveiling of the Lapham Memorial in Lapham Park, Milwaukee,
on June 18, 1915 (the centennial anniversary, it may be noted, of the battle
of Waterloo), Mr. William Ward Wight made an address which contains
many interesting facts concerning the subject of this chapter.
Increase Allen Lapham was horn at Palmyra, New York, .March 7, 1811.
His father, Seneca Lapham, was a contractor on the Erie ('anal, and in 1824
the family lived at Lockport, N. Y., where stupendous and intricate engineer-
ing was employed in the const met ion of the canal locks at that place. He
acquired experience and knowledge in surveying while at work with his
father, and was afterwards employed in similar work in Ohio and Ken-
tucky. On his arrival in Milwaukee he engaged in a variety of occupations
and soon gained recognition for his scientific accomplishments both al home
and in more distant centers of learning.
"Mr. Lapham was intensely interested in the education of youth, and his
KJOW ALL MEX, That
part b of the fret part, in comideiolim of >L&t\^ ^C- fi^L^^X^i^J
/l^vvw paid by L/ dj 6^ 3-<- t^OZCV
^___ . ■ — part'P of the second part, the receipt thereof
is ncrcby acknowledged, do£d "hereby bargain, sell, convey, and forever Q, U I T CLf A I M, to the said pari 4f oj the
second party jwj heirs and assigns forever, \hc following real estate, viz: ^t!^/^' vl^t^-v-v^/L
t-ls!Tuy_
li/Cih Iv-^isO ff £fca- 7^-i^n^ cS^
Together with all the privileges and appirrtenances to the same belonging: TO HAVE AND TO HOLD the same to the
said partis of the second part, Av-? heirs and assigyis forever: Hereby covenanting that the title so conveyed is elecx,
free, afnd unincumbered by any act of the grantor herein.
In witness whereof the said part if of the frst part has hereunto set *ti~? luimd and scat , flu*
£fa^/€Z£^Z£- day of ^tf&-/j fc^S^-r- •" ">* y<"v eighteen hundred and UsmtifA ■rj7fci*^ .
In the presence of J *
J? ^.e£ajtJL
fLtt&t*.
COPY OF A (HIT CLAIM DEED ISSUED BY LNCKEASE A. LAPHAM IN L843
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 125
name appears at the head of those citizens who, on March 1, 1851, became
incorporated by legislative act as the Normal Institute and the High School
of Milwaukee. This institution became later the Milwaukee Female College,
and still later the Milwaukee Downer College. Of this girls' school he became
president in 1851, and so continued until he declined further election in 1863.
He was a trustee from 1851 until his death, twenty-four years. In the welfare
of the young women gathered in that college he was deeply interested, tem-
pering and holding in check the extreme views of the early patron of the
school, Miss Catherine Beecher, yet advocating the advanced and symmetrical
development of the feminine mind. His bonks, his collections, the wealth of
his varied learning were always at the service of teachers and pupils."
"How gladly would I," continued Mr. Wight in his address, "his remote
successor at the head of the trustees of Milwaukee Downer College, exhibit
to President Lapham the present institution in the Eighteenth Ward the seeds
of which his labors planted and his industry watered!"
In a bibliography of Wisconsin authors published in 1873, Doctor Lap-
ham's name appears as the author of a long list of works in the form of
contributions to periodicals or in separate volumes and pamphlets, on his
chosen subjects. Of these the list mentions some fifty titles. In a list of
eminent meteorologists by Prof. Henry J. Cox, of the United States Weather
Bureau, and Dr. J. Paul Goode of the University of Chicago, published by
the Geographic Society of Chicago in 1906, Doctor Lapham is named by these
authors as "the man who took a prominent part in influencing Congress to
establish the Weather Service, then known as the Signal Service, in this
country." He helped to organize the new service and for a time in 1870
hi' served as forecaster in charge of the Storm Warning service. In 187.'! he
was appointed state geologist of Wisconsin.
Doctor Lapham was married October 24, 1838, to Ann M. Alcott of
Rochester, N. Y. Mrs. Lapham died in Milwaukee February 25, 1863. In
the address of Mr. William Ward Wight at the unveiling of the Lapham
Memorial in Lapham Park, Milwaukee, June 18, 1915, he adds this tribute to
tlie memory of Mrs. Lapham: "She was a worthy helpmeet for her husband;
his papers received her criticism, all his labors her encouragement, all his scien-
tific tasks her assistance, all his varied successes her applause."
In the publication of the "State Historical Society" (Volume VII, 472).
Dr. Lyman C. Draper writes of the death of Doctor Lapham, as follows:
"Wisconsin's great naturalist, Increase A. Lapham, LL.D., died of heart dis-
ease while alone in a boat on Lake Oconomowoc, September 14, 1875, in the
sixty-fifth year of his age. Coming to Wisconsin in 1836, he, probably more
than any other person, drew attention by his writings to the advantages
for settlement and enterprise which the territory, afterwards the state, of
Wisconsin, presented to eastern emigrants; and as a scientist his nam,' had
become familiar to the savants of both hemispheres. For twenty-two years lie
served as president or vice president of the Wisconsin State Historical So-
ciety. The services and memory of such a man deserve fitting memorial
recognition by the society."
li'ii HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Rapid Growth of City.- I. A. Lapham, writing of the growth of the city
in bis history of Wisconsin, in the early times, --ays:
"No town or city has grown up with anything like the rapidity of Mil
waukee. Within ten years from the time when the first family arrived here,
with a view to permanent residence, we see a city with a population of at
leasl ten thousand.
"The City of Rochester, in Western New York, lias often been referred
to as having increased more rapidly in wealth and population than any other
in the world — and perhaps she has Keen entitled to that distinction. Mr.
O'Reilley, who lias written a very valuable hook, entitled, 'Sketches of
Rochester and Western New York.' asks exultingly, 'Where, in what place,
through all the broad and fertile West, can there be shown any town which
has surpassed Rochester in the permanent increase of population, business and
wealth?' We may answer the question by making a little comparison.
"Rochester was laid out in 1812, and in 1816, or in four years, the popu-
lation was 331. In 1820, or eight years, the population was 1,500.
"Milwaukee was laid out in ls:!,">, and in is:',!), or in four years, the popula-
tion was 1,500 — or as much increase in four years as Rochester had in eight.
B\it in 1843, or in eight years, the population of Milwaukee was over m\
thousand, or an increase of four times as much as Rochester during a similar
period.
The "Father of the Typewriter." — An important page in the history of
inventions which have had their birthplace in .Milwaukee should he assigned
to the inventor of the typewriter, and the beginnings of his useful invention.
Christopher Latham Sholes was horn in Columbia County. Pennsylvania,
February 14. 1819. At an early aye he entered a newspaper office to learn
the printing business, and at the age of eighteen he joined a brother in the
same business at Green Bay, Wisconsin. A year later, when only nineteen
he compiled the house journal of the Territorial Legislature and attended to
its printing.
At twenty years of age young Sholes took charge of the Wis, sin "In-
quirer" at .Madison, and later he edited the Southport (Kenosha "Tele-
graph." In 1844 he became tin1 postmaster, receiving his appointment from
President Polk. "Later." says the biographical sketch of ( '. L. Sholes in the
"National Cyclopaedia of American Biography," "during his residence at
.Milwaukee he was postmaster, and filled with credit the positions of COmmis
sinner of public works, and collector of customs. He was for a long tint''
editor of the 'Sentinel,' and the 'Xews' which at a later date was absorbed
into I he 'Sentinel. '
While discharging the duties of collector of customs at Milwaukee in
1866, sholes became interested in making a consecutive numbering machine
especially \'^v use on hank notes and on the pages of blank hooks. Hi-
attention being directed to an account of a machine devised by John Pratt,
an A ri, 'an inventor, published in an English journal, for writing by me-
chanical means, lie at once saw the possibilities of "a revolution in the
handling of a pen," and "from that moment he devoted his whole time and
MILWAUKEE IN THE PIONEER PERIOD 127
thought to the idea which has given to the world the typewriter." This won-
derful creation is the result of his creative genius.
"In 1SU7, the first crude instrument was made. James Densmore became
interested, and, in 1S7>>, the invention was so far perfected as to warrant
the production of machines on an enlarged scale. The Remington factory
at Ilion, X. Y., was selected, and the manufacture begun. For a long time
the financial returns were small, and Mr. Sholes, who was to receive a royalty
on each machine, disposed of his right for a comparatively small sum. Later
he invented several improvements, which with an excess of conscience char-
acteristic of the man he gave to the persons in control of the manufacture.
In the last years of his life, although confined to his lied, lie invented two new
machines for typewriting- which were more satisfactory to him than any of
his previous inventions. This last work of the weary hours in the chamber
of sickness was consigned to tin1 care of his executors."
Mr. Sholes' Folitical Activities. — "In addition to his inventive powers,"
continues the sketch, "Mr. Sholes did much as an editor and a politician.
He witnessed the evolution of the State of Wisconsin from its wild begin-
nings, and contributed no small share to shape the laws that were necessary
to set the new state government in successful motion. Although at all times
interested in general politics, he was never a strictly party man. He was
raised a democrat, but in 1848 joined the free-soil movement. He served in
the State Senate in 1848-49 from Racine County, and in 1852-53 represented
Kenosha County in the Legislature; and in 1856-5? was state senator, being
president pro tern, for more than a year. He was a man of such broad and
generous sympathies that he took naturally to the side of the minority. His
innate abhorrence of wrong and cruelty made him an abolitionist, and he was
one of the most active founders of the republican party in the state. He was
a dreamer and an idealist, and though not a writer of poetry, was imbued with
a true poetic nature."
Mr. Sholes disliked the details of business and the painstaking efforts
usually found necessary to make money was with him a particular aversion.
A man of an excessively tender conscience in all matters pertaining to the
practical affairs of life he failed to secure the pecuniary reward that was
undoubtedly due to his abilities in perfecting the first successful typewriting
machine. "He lived to see the work of his genius," says the cyclopaedia
article already quoted from, "accepted throughout the world, and to hear the
pleasing compliment rendered him, that he was "the father of the type-
writer. '
Mr. Sholes died in Milwaukee February 17, 1890, at the age of seventy-one
years.
The foregoing sketch of C. L. Sholes and his invention is by no means a
complete history of the typewriter. Such a history is found in widely scat-
tered publications of which the more important ones are the biographical
cyclopaedia mentioned above, under the names of James Densmore, G. W. N.
Yost and John Pratt.
In a historical sketch of Kenosha County of which C. L. Sholes was one of
the early settlers (printed in the collections of the State Historical Society)
128 HISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
it is quaintly remarked by the writer thai C. 1j. Sholes had "always been for-
ward in every improvement and good work, and that if the spirits of the de-
parted influence none to worse deeds than they did to him we shall not be very
jealous of their visits."
In Commemoration of Sholes' Invention. — On the occasion of the "Dia-
mond Jubilee," held in Milwaukee during the month of June. 1921, a letter
written by Mr. Frederick Heath was sent to the committee in charge urging
that some action be taken to honor the memory of C. Latham Sholes. the
inventor of the typewriter. Mr. Heath is a member of the county board, and
in the course of his letter he said: "It is more than fifty years since the
typewriter was invented, and it was a product of Milwaukee genius. Mr.
Sholes, the inventor, has never been fittingly recognized by Milwaukee, and
it is coming to be a matter of remark on the part of visitors to the city.
Even his grave lacks a monument and a collection is now being taken up
nationally by court reporters and stenographers for such a purpose.
"A few years ago, the Milwaukee County Board, of which 1 am a member.
purchased a piece of ground west and north of the Grand Avenue viaduct,
and just beyond what was known as Castalia Park. It was known as the
Winkler tract, and I had it named Sholes Park; with the design also of
making it a so-called historic park, in which might be placed educational
evidences of the lives of the early settlers, such as a log house, trading post.
windmills, etc. The park has never been formally thrown open to the people,
and I would suggest that it be fittingly dedicated."
CHAPTER XII
THE STORY OF THE '-LADY ELGIN" DISASTER
The appalling disaster, known in the history of Lake Michigan as the
"Wreck of the 'Lady Elgin'," occurred on September 8, 1860, on which occa-
sion 297 lives were lost, most of them residents of Milwaukee. The particulars
of this disaster are narrated in the following pages. In point of the number
of lives lost this disaster was the greatest that had ever up to that time
occurred on any of the Great Lakes. It remained the most important event
of that kind for fifty-five years until the foundering of the steamer "East-
land" in the Chicago River on July 24, 1915, with the loss of 812 lives.
The steamer "Lady Elgin," a large side-wheel steamer, and the finest one
on the lakes, left Chicago late in the evening of September 7, 1860, with
nearly four hundred passengers on board bound for Milwaukee. While pro-
ceeding on her course about three hours later, that is, about two o'clock in
the morning of September 8th, the steamer came into collision with the
schooner "Augusta" bound for Chicago. Immediately after the collision tin'
captain of the schooner hailed the captain of the steamer inquiring if his
ship had suffered any damage and whether help was needed, but receiving an
answer that no assistance was required the schooner proceeded on her course.
<>u her arrival in Chicago Harbor next morning the captain of the schooner
learned from the papers that tin' steamer had gone down in half an hour after
the collision and that a large number of lives were lost.
Position of the Ill-fated Steamer. — The blow received by the unfortunate
steamer was far more serious than her captain realized at first. The bow of the
schooner had struck her forward of the paddle box on the port side, the
broken stump of her bowsprit entering the sal i where many of the pas-
sengers, largely composed of young people, were occupied in dancing and
merry-making at the time. A great hole was opened in her side reaching
far below the water line and the water began pouring in flooding the engine
room and lower decks. The steamer was proceeding north about five miles
from shore and was then about opposite Highland Park, a village twenty-
three miles from Chicago. As Milwaukee is eighty-five miles from Chicago
the steamer had covered a little more than a quarter of the distance to that
port which was the destination of the great majoriy of her passengers.
There was a gale blowing from the northeast accompanied by rain, and
the waves were running high. The steamer was brought to a stop imme-
diately after the collision and three boats were lowered manned by sailors
provided with mattresses and sail-cloth for the purpose of stopping the hole
129
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THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 131
in her side; but the oars were broken or lost in the attempt and the boats
drifted away, eventually arriving on the neighboring shore with their occu-
pants in safety though no passengers were with them. It was the report
of these men that gave the first intelligence of the disaster mi shore and
which was telegraphed to Chicago from the Highland Park Railroad Station.
Foundering of the Steamer. — Large quantities of wreckage were loosened
as the steamer went down, and the passengers seized upon any object that
would serve to keep them afloat. In the cargo was a drove of cattle and
the struggling animals were precipitated into the lake among the passengers.
Many found a precarious hold on the backs of these animals as they swam
about, although none of the cattle reached the shore alive. A large piece
of the hurricane deck of the steamer became detached at the moment when
the steamer went down, and on this raft-like object the heroic captain
gathered more than fifty people and navigated the improvised raft toward
the shore at Winnetka. The steamer hail no other boats than those lowered
by the sailors in the attempt to stop the leak and these did not return to
the ship, and consequently proved of no assistance in the work of rescue.
The raft ran on a sand bar at some distance from the shore and went to
pieces and most of those who had so nearly reached a place of safety were
lost in the raging surf, and with them the captain who was plainly seen
from the shore holding a child in his arms whose life he was endeavoring
to save while retaining his hold on the raft. Llis efforts, however, were in
vain, as will appear in the later course of this narrative.
Newspaper Accounts. — The issue of the New York Illustrated News for
September 22, 1860 (preserved' in the rooms of the "Old Settlers' Club" at
Milwaukee), contains an account of the disaster accompanied by a number of
illustrations, a portrait of Capt. John Wilson, and a picture of the schooner
"Augusta" after her arrival at Chicago showing her damaged condition.
There are other views, one of them a large double page picture of the steamer
just before she sank, which of course is drawn from description.
The disaster is described as taking place twenty-five miles from Chicago
and ten miles from shore. The schooner, says the account, struck the steamer
"at the midship's gangway on tin.' larboard side." She sank in half an hour
"in nearly three hundred feet of water." .Mr. Caryl, the clerk of the steamer,
was one of the survivors, and his account is printed among others, which is
substantially as follows: "Left Chicago Harbor at 11:30 P. M. of the 7th
with Milwaukee excursionists, a party of about three hundred persons known
as the 'Union Guard' and their invited friends." The plan of the excursion
party was to spend the day in Chicago where they were to attend a political
meeting which was to be addressed by Stephen A. Douglas, United States
Senator from Illinois, and return to .Milwaukee in the evening. The Union
Guard was a volunteer military company composed of Irishmen and demo-
crats, and, as in consequence of a controversy with the state government
some mouths before, their arms had been called in by the adjutant general,
if was intended that the profits from the excursion should be used to pur-
chase a new outfit.
Efforts to Stop the Water. — In the direction opposite to that in which
132 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
the steamer was moving the schooner "Augusta," lumher Laden, was bearing
down upon her, though all Lights were burning both on the steamer and
schooner, with her sails set and approaching a1 a bigh rate of speed with
the wind in her favor. As appears from subsequenl reports both the officers
of the steamer and the schooner bad seen the Lights of the other for some
time before the collision. After the crash a dumb panic seized the throngs of
passengers. The mate reported afterwards that be passed through the cabin
after the collision and "the silent women sal there with their beautiful pale
t'aees. motionless and resigned, sunn to be engulfed in the raging waters of
the lake."
At this point Lake Michigan is about sixty miles in width, ami the land
on the Michigan shore even in clear daylight is invisible. No Life savings
crew was then in service, the Government not having yel established the
station at Gross Point which indeed did not begin its existence until June,
1871. There was therefore little or no hope of relief from the shore. The
three boats of the steamer were quickly lowered manned by sailors provided
with blankets and mattresses with which it was intended to stop the yawning
gap in her side, as stated above. The engine and walking beam had broken
away from their fastenings as the result of the collision and dropped through
the bottom of the steamer, thus relieving her of an immense weight but at
the same time causing another great opening through which the water rushed
hastening the inevitable moment of her sinking.
In an editorial article of one of the papers it was said: "A tragedy which
almost puts a paralysis upon one's faculties, and certainly strikes t hen
for words to utter or tears to express its agonies." is that of the sinkinc il
the "Lady Elgin." "The excursionists were composed." it says, "of a volun-
teer military company of Milwaukee known as the 'Union Guard.' In the
party were many youths and maidens, the flower ami beauty of Milwaukee
and Chicago, anil of young and old from various parts of the States and
foreign countries. Universal merriment ami revelry prevailed among the
passengers, a band furnishing the music for the dancing in the saloon which
was brilliantly lighted." Outside the sky was dark and murky, the m had
risen at midnight and it was able to lighten the gloom only slightly through
the heavy clouds, while a steady rain was falling.
The Account of the Captain of the Augusta. Captain Malott, of the
schooner "Augusta," states that when he first discovered the steamer's lights,
both red and blight, hi' supposed her to be from a quarter to a half mile dis-
tant, and steering northeast: il was raining very bard at the lime. "We
kept our Vessel on the course east by SOUth, Until We saw a collision was
probable, when we put the helm hard and struck the steamer two Or three
minutes afterwards on the port side; the steamer kept on her course, her
engine in full motion. The 'Augusta' headed around north, alongside the
steamer, but they got separated in about a minute, when the schooner fell
into the trough of the sea: all the head '/ear. jibboom and Stanchions were
carried away. We took in sail and cleared away the anchor, supposing the
\esscl would till. After we hail cleared the wreck and got up tin- Eoresail,
THE STORY OF THE -LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 133
we succeeded in getting before the wind, and stood for land; we lost sight of
the steamer five minutes after the collision."
.Mr. Beman, second mate of the steamer "Lady Elgin," stated thai "at
half past two a small squall struck us, and in five minutes more we saw the
lights of the vessel one point off the port bow. I sung out 'hard-a-port,' but
the vessel seemed to pay no attention, and struck us just forward of the
paddle-box, larboard side, tearing off the wheel and cutting through the
guards into the cabin and hull. We were steering northwest by west, a point
to windward; our course at the time was northwest. After striking us the
vessel hung for a moment, and then got clear; I went below to see what
damage was done, and when 1 got back the vessel was gone."
The Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, was traveling in
America at the time of the disaster, and the same storm which prevailed over
so extensive a territory as to include both the Lake Michigan region and the
surrounding shores of the great lakes, held him and his party storm-bound
at Toronto, Canada, for a week. 11 will be remembered that the Prince
visited Chicago in the latter part of the same month as that in which the
disaster occurred.
There is a piece of sheet music to be obtained at any music store entitled,
"Lost on the Lady Elgin," by Henry ('. Work, who it will be recalled was
the composer of many popular songs. The refrain of the song is as follows:
"Lost on the 'Lady Elgin,'
Sleeping to wake no more!
Numbered in that three hundred
Wile failed to reach the shore."
There were some notable passengers on board and among others was Mr.
F. A. Lumsden of New Orleans, the proprietor of the "Picayune." one of
tin' most prominent of the southern newspapers. Mr. Lumsden had estab-
lished this paper some thirty years before the event described. His wife and
son were with him and all of them perished.
On board, also, was another gentleman, Herbert Ingram, Esq., M. P., well
known both in England and America as the proprietor of the London Illus-
trated News, who had his son with him, both of whom perished. .Mr. Ingram's
history is very interesting from the fact that he "rose from the ranks" ami
from a mechanic became one of the richest commoners in England, and a
member of the English Parliament. About twenty years before he had
started the London Illustrated News. It was at this time that the illustrated
papers -first began to appear, and owing to the energy ami judgment which
Mr. Ingram bestowed upon the Illustrated News, it succ led, and got the
start of the five or six competitors which made their appearance about the
same time in London. Since the starting of the pictorial paper Mr. Ingram's
career had been one of unbroken prosperity, and everything he hail put his
hand to of any importance had succeeded with him. He was a large landed
proprietor, and his paper realized a princely income.
The body of .Mr. Ingram was r >vered and sent to England where it is
now lying in the churchyard of the Church of St. Botolphe, Boston, England.
THE sciiooxi'.i; ■ wcrsTA." AFTEB THE COLLISION
WITH THE "LADY ELGIN," AS SEEN AT THE
LAKE STREET BRIDGE, CHICAGO, AN
lion: AFTEB HEB ARRIVAL
THE STORY OF THE •'LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 135
The body of his son, a lad of twelve years of age, was never found. A monu-
ment to Mi-. Ingram's memory was built for him surmounted by a statue of
himself. In Harper's Magazine for September, 1908, there is an article by
William Dean Howells giving an account of a visit made by him to old Boston,
the "Mother of the American Athens," and in the course of his description
he notes the monument to Herbert Ingram standing near the church ami
overlooking the market place of the city, of whom he writes, that he founded
the "Illustrated London News" with the money he made by the invention ami
sale of "Old Parr's Pills." Regarding the monument the guide book records,
"that whilst on a visit to America in I860 Ingram was drowned, together with
his eldest son, Herbert, in Lake Michigan."
Thus a reminder of this great disaster exists in a quiet churchyard over
seas, but few of the visitors to that spot will know the details of the event
as Ave have here related them. Even our own Howells did not seem to con-
nect the event witli the monument he was describing.
Scenes in Milwaukee When the News Arrived. — The news of the calamity
cre-ated the wildest excitement in Milwaukee and Chicago and the morning
papers in both cities were filled with vivid details of the disaster. There was
scarcely a house or place of business which had not lost an inmate or an
employee and it was said that there were 300 orphans in the homes of Mil-
waukee caused by the deaths of young parents on board of the ill-fated
steamer.
An eye witness related that the scene in Milwaukee on Saturday morn-
ing, when the news of the catastrophe was first received, can never be effaced
from his memory. The stores in the principal streets were deserted imme-
diately, many of them being left open and unattended, and all rushed to the
telegraph office to learn the extent of the disaster. In walking along the
streets, it seemed as if every second person met was either crying or so dumb-
stricken that lie could not express himself, nor recognize his friends and
acquaintances.
The campaign in which Abraham Lincoln was the presidential nominee
of the new republican party was in full swing, but the political excitement
was forgotten in the face of such an appalling calamity. All the tales of the
survivors were unanimous in, according to Captain Wilson, the commander,
praise for his bravery and daring throughout. He was foremost in confront-
ing danger and earnest for the safety of his passengers. He was drowned
within a hundred feet of the shore. More than a hundred persons arrived
within fifty yards of the beach but were swept back by the returning waves
and lost. Up to nine o'clock on Saturday night only twenty-one bodies had
been recovered most of which were recognized by friends as those of residents
of Milwaukee.
Scenes at the Wreck. — At about ten o'clock in the morning of the daj
of the wreck a number of reporters for the newspapers of Chicago readied
the scene at Winnetka where most of the passengers from the "Lady Elgin"
came ashore. The surf was rolling in heavily and breaking in thunder along
the beach, the gale having risen to a fearful fury from the northeast. The
136 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
shore there is an uneven bluff, ranging from thirty to sixty feet in height,
with a narrow strip of beach al its base.
"The whole beach for three miles we found strewn with fragments of the
light upper portions of the ill fated steamer," said one of the papers, "and
out to sea, where the waves were rolling inure heavily than is usually seen
even in our September gales, the surface of the angry waters for miles in
extent, as far as the eye could reach seaward, was (lotted with fragments
of the wreck, and rafts and spars, with what was made out (dearly to be
human beings clinging to them. At this time various authorities estimated
that from eighty to one hundred persons could have been counted driving at
the mercy of the maddened elements, toward the high rolling breakers and
surf-washed beach and bluff, from the tup of whieh thousands, with straining
eyes, watched their progress, and with pale cheeks noted that many met their
fate in the waves."
Parties of men were on the alert and ready for the work id' rescue. Word
was sent to Evanston, some four miles distant, and the citizens and its entire
student community came up in force. Attention was first directed to a large
raft coming in steadily hut bravely over the waves, upon whieh were clinging
a large number of human beings, since known to have been some fifty in
number. Around it and beyond it on all sides were single survivors and
groups of two or three or more keeping afloat on pieces of wreckage, hut
interest centered about the fate of that large raft. It ueared the seething line
of surf. "With a "lass, those on shore could see that the company on board the
raft seemed to obey the orders of one man, and that there were ladies and
children on hoard. The hearts of those on shore forgot to heat for an
instant when they saw the raft break up and disappear in the seas. Of the
entire number on board of the raft only fifteen appear to have been saved.
Among the lost was the brave heart who tried his Lest to save those com-
mitted to his charge and who perished in the attempt — brave ('apt. Jack Wil-
son, tin' commander of the unfortunate steamer.
Spencer's Rescue Work. — Among the students of the Garret! Biblical
Institute at Evanston many of whom rendered heroic service on that day
was Edward W. Spencer who by his own exertions saved seventeen lives
Spencer was a man of slight physical frame hut a famous swimmer, having
heen brought up on the banks of the Mississippi River where he had learned
the art thoroughly. As he looked out on the distressing sceue lie perceived
;it once that it was a case of swimming out and seizing the half-drowned
people and forcibly drawing them through the surf, as tew or none of them
were able to reach the shore by their own efforts, lie divested bimself of his
outer clothing and with a line fastened around his body he boldly swam
through the waves when he would grasp tin' persons in the water and bring
them through to a point where others could help them to s footing on dry
land.
Others followed his example and soon there were a number of resellers
working by the same methods. The steepness of the bluff alone the Winnetka
shore, where most of the unfortunates reached the laud, made it very diffi-
cult to gel a foothold after coming out of the water in a weakened condition.
THE STORY OF THE '-LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 137
Spencer repeatedly plunged through the surf and each time brought out a
sufferer, though some would escape his grasp and drown in spite of every
effort to help them.
But soon Sjiencer's strength began t<> be exhausted and he was obliged
to lie down to recover his strength after each effort. All day. at short in-
tervals, he would rise to enter again upon the work of rescue. This continued
until he had in this manner saved the lives of seventeen persons. The last
persmis saved by Spencer were a man and his wife. The man was observed
coming toward the shore near the high bank of the bluff, to strike against
which would be almost certain death. He was clinging with one arm to a
piet f wreck-age. and in the other he seemed to be holding a bundle which
he was trying to keep above water. It was seen that it was a woman or child
whom lie was trying to bring to the shore.
Spencer at this moment was almost at the end of his endurance, bid he
pulled himself together for another effort. "Cost what it may," he exclaimed,
"I will save them or die in the attempt." S i be was seen far out in the
lake where he reached the man who then cried out, "Save my wife!" "I'll
save her and you too," he answered; and fastening his hands in their cloth-
ing he said to them, "You must swim now for your lives and mine as well."
They obeyed his instructions ami safely reached the land. Many rescues
were made on that dreadful day which deserve to be recorded. Altogether
there were about one hundred lives saved along this shore.
Recognition by Evanston People.— The citizens of Evanston presented
Spencer with a gold watch in recognition of his heroism and efficient services
in saving lives. .Many years later the class of 1898 in the Northwestern Uni-
versity erected a bronze tablet in the reading room of the University library
which bore this inscription: "To commemorate the heroic endeavors of
Edward W. Spencer, first Northwestern student life saver. This tablet is
erected by tin- Class of 1898. At the wreck of the Lady Elgin, off Winnetka,
September 8. 1860. Spencer swam through the heavy surf sixteen times,
rescuing seventeen persons in all. In the delirium of exhaustion which fol-
lowed, his oft-repeated question was, 'Did I do my best?' '
The Lady Elgin disaster occurred many years before the establishment of
the Government life-saving service, now known as the Coast Guard. The
strain upon his physical endurance on that occasion broke his health so
that he was never the same man as he had been before. At that time the
power to reward life savers had not been conferred on the Secretary of the
Treasury to bestow medals for heroic deeds, and thus no official recognition
was ever given to Mr. Spencer who so richly deserved it. But he won an
enduring fame and will be remembered as long as golden deeds such as his
are cherished in the memories of his neighbors and friends.
Efforts to Obtain Medal for Spencer. — At different times during the years
1907, 1908 and 1909, persevering efforts were made to obtain a medal from
the Government in recognition of Spencer's heroic services at the time of
the disaster above described. .Mr. David I). Thompson, for many years editor
of the Northwestern Christian Advocate, joined with the Evanston Historical
Society and a number id' other friends and neighbors of Evanston, in these
138 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
efforts. Mr. Thompson was a frequent visitor to Washington during those
years and often was a welcome guesl of Presidenl Roosevell al the White
Eouse. < > 1 1 one occasion while a1 the tahle he related the story of Spencer's
rescue work at the time of the Lady Elgin disaster nearly half a century
before, which attracted the deepesl interesl of the President. The Presidenl
was so much impressed with the story thai he soon after caused an investiga
lion to be made to ascertain whether a medal could not In- obtained even
after so long a time had elapsed since the event. A hill was introduced in
Congress but it failed of passage because it was feared thai by conferring
a medal on an individual for an action so long in the past would open the
door for many other claims that could no1 he considered.
Spencer died in California in 1917 at the age of eighty-one. In the later
years of his life the papers of Los Angeles, near which city he had his resi-
dence, frequently printed pictures of him with lone- accounts of the rescue
work performed by him at the time of the Lady Klein disaster. lie was
aboul the most popular hero of that section of the country on account of his
exploit at the famous disaster which we have lore described, an evenl not
connected with the history of California, hut adopted as a part of their
heritage in common with us dwellers here on the shores of Lake Michigan
Distressing Scenes Along Shore. — Thenceforward the scene on shore until
L' P. M. when the last survivor was drawn out of the surf, was a scene which
lookers-on will never forget. Of its nature the best proof is the fact that
the forty or fifty persons saved alone- this shore were less than one-third of
the number that came from the open lake to pass that fearful gauntlel of
the line of breakers, several hundred feet off shore, where under tic verj
.yes ami almost within hail of those on shore the majority perished. The
rafts would come into the line of surf, dip to the force of the waves and then
turn completely over. Again and again would rafts containing from one to
five persons gradually near the shore and then he lost, where a stone's cast
would reach them, yet really as far from human help as if .in mid-ocean.
A peculiarly distressing experience was that of Mrs. Jane Cook and her
daughter Elizabeth of Fond du Lac. who had hut a day or two before come
up the lakes from Buffalo on the steamer Sun, intending to land at Mil-
waukee. But owing to the gale blowing at the time the steamer did no1
make ils usual call there and they were brought to Chicago, where they were
placed on hoard of the Lady Elgin to return to Milwaukee. Both of them
were lost. William Farnsworth, an early settler of Sheboygan, was also
among the lost.
The Damage Done in the Collision. — It afterwards became evident from
the appearant I' a portion of the wreck which came ashore near Waukegan
thai the final catastrophe was broughl aboul by the dropping of the engine,
walking-beam and its supporting frame through the side and bottom. At the
point mentioned all that pari of the hull abaft the midships, on the larboard
side, lay upon the beach, a full fourth of the hull from the plank shear to
the keel. The most rational explanation of the disaster seems to have been,
according to contemporary accounts, that the colliding vessel carried away
the Larboard paddle wheel and most of the engine braces on that side, and
THE STORY OF THE "'LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 139
that as soon as the steamer rolled a-port, the engine, walking-beam and its
heavy frame, having nothing to support them, were loosened and fell through.
carrying away a large part of the hull. These heavy objects went out on
the larboard side of the vessel, producing the catastrophe, which all the sur-
vivors describe as very sudden. It is probable that the first violent roll after
the collision did the fatal work. On no other hypothesis can the separa-
ration of the hull be accounted for, or the positive testimony of some of the
officers be explained, than that the walking-beam went down through the
lower part of the hull before the upper works floated off.
The Lady Elgin and Her Captain.— The Lady Elgin was built in Canada
about nine or ten years before, and named after the wife of the then governor-
general of British America, Lord Elgin. She was a side-wheel steamer of
about three hundred feet in length and 1,000 tons burden. She was a fas1
and favorite boat, and went on three or four excursions annually. For the
first five years after her construction the Lady Elgin was employed in the
Canadian traffic of the lakes, and carried the mails along the northern
shores, while the Grand Trunk Railway, which now perforins that service,
was yet incomplete, or even in embryo. Four or five years previous to the
disaster she Mas purchased by Hubbard, Spencer and Company of Chicago,
to whom she belonged at the time of the calamity. Captain Wilson, her com-
mander, was a man of ten years' experience in the navigation of the upper
lakes, a fine officer, vigilant in his duties, and a popular commander among
the travelers on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, lie was also a man of
family and resided in Chicago.
The News at Milwaukee.— It was Sunday forenoon when news of the
appalling calamity reached Milwaukee. Inquiry brought the confirmation
"Only thirteen saved." Out of 400 happy pleasure seekers only thirteen
saved !
"The excitement was dreadful. A crowd of several hundred collected
about the Sentinel office, and it required the presence of all the clerks to pass
out to the crowd the slips on which was printed the meager intelligence,"
reported the Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, in black bordered columns, on Monday
morning, September 10, I860. "Still the extent of the calamity, the awful
magnitude did not seem to be fully comprehended by the public. That some-
thing appalling had transpired was felt, but that so many of our citizens
had been hurried into Eternity was hard to believe.
"It would be utterly impossible to convey any idea, to- those who did
not visit the Third Ward, of the scene presented there. It seemed as though
sounds of moaning proceeded from every third house. Little crowds of
women were congregated along the walks, some giving free expression to
their grief, others offering condolence. Never before has our city been
stricken witli such a calamity.
"The scene at the lake shore depot baffles description. Thousands had
congregated there to await the arrival of the noon train, and as it approached
the crowd, impatient to learn tidings of friends, could not wait for the loco-
motive to stop, but besieged the train.
"Then it was that the heart-rending tidings were received by broken-
CAPTAIN JOHN WILSON OF THE STEAMER
"LADY ELGIN"
Published in the New York Illustrated News, September -"-', L860
THE ST] \MI i: "LAD! ELGIN" As SHE LAID AT II KK DOCK IN' MILWAUKEE
BEFORE -III u SlS LOS1
THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 141
hearted parents and friends with demonstrations of grief thai could not be
repressed. Timothy O'Brien was the first survivor who was recognized, and
it was doubtful for some time whether lie could survive the rude but honest
congratulations of his friends. All about the long depot were anxious
females, some with their heads bowed, and others too heavily stricken to weep.
With each detail of news there were fresh wails and wringing of hands.
"A special train of five cars was sent to the scene. At the suggestion of
Charles H. Larkin a committee was formed with John L. Doran as chair-
man, whose duty it became to take charge of the work of searching the beach
and caring for the bodies recovered. Francis Hubsehmann, the acting mayor,
issued a proclamation declaring Tuesday. September 11, 1860, a day of mourn-
ing, fasting and prayer, and ordering the closing of all public offices. At a
meeting of citizens held at Albany Hall suitable resolutions were adopted
and arrangements made to provide for destitute survivors."
The survivors as recorded in the newspapers following the disaster were:
Timothy O'Brien, Frank Boyd, Thomas Keogh, John McLander, Edward
Burke, John J. Crilley, Charles Beverung, William Beman, John Doyle, "W
Elwood, John Gillmore, Bridget Kehoe, Fred Kuttemeyer, Thomas Ken-
nedy. Adelbert Doebert, Wm. Kinsella, Isaac Kingsley, .John II. Millard,
Charles May, Wm. Miller, Patrick Maher, James McManus, John McCanley,
John McLinden, Patrick Myers, T. McCoslen, John O'Brien, James Rogers,
John Rossiter, E. J. Powers, Wm. Weiger, Fred Snyder, Wm. Sivyer, W. C.
Smith, P. Walsh, Wm. Wilson.
A military and civic funeral procession was held on Tuesday morning.
It was formed at the City Hall Square and moved to St. John's Cathedral
where a solemn requiem high mass was read for the repose of the souls of
the victims.
Some of the survivors had a miraculous escape from a watery grave bj
holding to pieces of wreckage. It is told of Charles Beverung, the drummer
boy of the band, that he swam ashor i his drum which he had converted
into a life preserver.
On the anniversary a year later in the calm of retrospection, the Sentinel
said: "Never, perhaps, did such a calamity fall upon one city, as did that
of the Lady Elgin disaster upon Milwaukee. The victims of the wreck were
mostly poor — mostly from the Third. Ward mostly Irish. Whole blocks
of houses were rendered nearly tenantless; and, perhaps never was more' real
Christian charity exhibited than was there and then. Never was there a
nobler sight than that of the Sisters of Charity, like ministering angels, dis
pensing their Cod-directed aid and assistance."
Every year since 1860 a solemn requiem mass is read on the morning of
September 8th. On this day the survivors attended in a body until they had
all passed away. The last survivor, Adelbert Doebert, a musician, died at
Milwaukee November 10, 1921, at the age of eighty-nine years.
Number of Lives Lost in the Disaster. — "The loss of life in the Lady
Elgin disaster is nowadays given as 295," says Dr. Henry M. Bannister of
Evanston, in his account of the wreck. "It may have been more. When a
vessel goes down in deep water in Lake Michigan few bodies are recovered
1 12 HISTORY <>K MILWAUKEE
and sometimes doI any. NTone, so Ear as I have heard, were recovered from the
Alpena, lust October 16, L880, or from the Chicora, lost January H4. 1895,
in the same waters. Only about two hundred, however, were rescued or their
bodies washed ashore from the Lady Elgin, though sin- sank a number of
miles from the shore in deep water. There musl have been, therefore, a
large number thai went to the bottom with the ship."
Doctor Bannister in his lifetime was recognized as an eminenl scientisl
and his observations are perfectly reliable and ran safely be accepted as
good authority. The Lady Elgin had about four hundred people aboard
when she sank and only about one hundred bodies were recovered besides
the same number rescued. Thus half the whole number were entirely unai
counted for, the most of whom presumably went down with the ship and
remain at the bottom where their hones are no ilonht lying at the presenl
hour.
The loss of the Lady Elgin is the classic event in the long and thrilling
chapter of marine disasters on Lake Michigan. It resulted in poignant
grief to hundreds of families especially in Milwaukee where the greal ma
jority of the lost previously lived, and it was the great evenl with which
all disasters of a like nature were compared. In these days of coast guards
and numerous lighthouses, of fog-horns and careful regulations for sailing,
the chances of such appalling events are reduced to the lowest proportions,
ami it may he fervently hoped that such disasters cannot again occur for
ages to come.
Lessons of the Disaster. — When a vessel founders far from land, either
on the lake or on the ocean, the scenes at the crisis of the calamity are of the
most heart-rending description. The interest aroused among the readers
of a tale like this easily becomes morbid, and although it is perhaps not wise
for the historian to dwell al too great length upon calamities of any kind.
ye1 the warnings and cautions involved in such narratives have their use^.
However, it is needful and proper to relate enough to give the later genera-
tions of travelers a knowledge of necessary precautions, at least such as it
is in their power to take for themselves. The most important lessons of
the Lady Elgin disaster were the necessity of life-saving stations along the
shore which in consequence id' this dire evenl began to lie apparent, a full
supplj of life preservers (those provided by the steamer were merely short
pieces of plank six feet long ami a foot wide with a short line looped at the
end), a letter system of signalling between passing vessels, and a lar
number of life-boats than were carried by any of the passenger steamers
at thai time.
A few days after the disaster Dr. Daniel 1'. Kidder, one of the professors
at the Garrett Biblical Institute at Evanston, addressed a letter to a Chicago
paper in which he said: "A principal object of the presenl note is to suggest,
while the topic is before the minds of the community, that measures he taken
to establish life leal stations along this shore." Eventually such measures
were taken and though it was not until 1^71 that a life-boal was provided by
the Government, manned by students of the Northwestern University, it
THE STORY OF THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 14:;
speedily proved its usefulness, and in time a regular station house with crew
and full equipment was established ou laud donated by the University.
Other Notable Lake Disasters. — The Indians of the Mackinac Island region
called Lake Michigan "the man-devouring lake," so we are told by Col.
Arent de Peyster who was in command of that post when it was held by the
British in 1776. In view of the dangerous character of the waters of the
Straits of Mackinac and of the lakes which are connected by them the epithet
is an appropriate one, as will appear from the record of disasters, a few of
which' will be mentioned in this place, particularly those occurring on Lake
Michigan.
The earliest disaster of which there is a record was that which befell the
Griffin, built by La Salle at the entrance to the Niagara River, in 167!t. She
was a small sailing vessel of about forty-five tons burden, was armed with five
small cannon and carried about thirty-four men. La Salle himself was in
command and in due time the vessel safely reached Mackinac and then con-
tinued its voyage to Green Bay. Here La Salle left the vessel in charge of
the pilot and continued his journey in canoes down the west shore of Lake
Michigan after leaving orders for the vessel to follow him a few weeks later
to the St. Joseph River. His purpose was to reorganize his party at St.
Joseph and push on to the Illinois River at Peoria where he intended to build
another vessel and go down the .Mississippi River to its mouth as that river
had never yet been fully explored.
Not finding the Griffin at the expected rendezvous La Salle went on fo
the Illinois without knowing any further particulars as to the cause of her
failure to arrive. It seems from later accounts that after La Salle had parted
company with the Griffin in Green Hay she was loaded with furs to he scut
back to the Niagara River where they were to he forwarded to .Montreal.
Some Pottawatomie Indians reported that after La Salle's departure the pilot,
who had anchored off the north shore of the lake under the shelter of a
headland near the wigwams of these savages, determined to proceed to
Mackinac, despite the warnings that a mighty tempest was raging in the
open lake, which was white with foam. "Mocking at their fears and assert-
ing that no wind could stay his course," says E. G. Mason in his "Chapters
from Illinois History," "the pilot set sail in the face of the increasing storm.
Hardly had the little vessel gone a quarter of a league from its anchorage
when the natives saw it rolling wildly amid the huge waves, and then with
its canvas furled, driven irresistibly before the blast. In the gathering gloom
and floods of rain it disappeared from view, ami they never saw it more."
There were discovered, however, some relics of the disaster. Mason relates
that in the following spring there was found "some clothing along the shore,
and in the summer a hatchway, a hit of cordage and a few packages of beavei
skins." These, with the head of ;i flagstaff', were the sole relies of the un-
fortunate craft, which undoubtedly foundered not many hours after it was
last seen from the Pottawatomie Village. .Midnight guns had been heard by
the wondering savages above the roar of the tempest, her last appeals for
help as she went to her doom in the depths of the lake.
"Romance has been busy with her fate," says Mason, "and has even
1 H HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
fancied thai the Griffin, shaped as we sec her in the picture in Hennepin's
'New Discovery,' after the fashion of ancienl men-of-war, her bow and stern
lmili high and her beat head displaying a flying griffin and an eagle, with
her five small cannon and all the rest of her antique equipment, is preserved
in this day beneath the sand dunes of the coast."
Loss of the Fropeller Phoenix.— The Milwaukee Sentinel and Gazette, in
its issue of November -4, 1S47. contained the startling announcement thai the
propeller Phoenix had been burned on Lake Michigan with the loss of 250
lives, and told that it was "the must terrible calamity that lias ever occurred
on the waters of Lake Michigan." The following account is summarized from
the Sentinel and Gazette, a photographic copy of which, taken from the files
preserved in the State Historical Society at .Madison, is before us as we write.
The Phoenix had Left the previous week from Buffalo bound for Lake
Michigan ports. She had made a stop at Manitowoc and lay there for
several hours waiting for the sea to go down, intending to make the uexl call
at Sheboygan, twenty-five miles distant. At one o'clock in the morning she
started on her fatal voyage. After being out an hour or two the fireme i
discovered that the pumps did not work and this fact was immediately re-
ported to the engineer, but he seemed to pay no attention to this alarming
condition. Soon afterward it was observed that the water in the boilers
was very low.
Before any steps had been taken to remedy the difficulty, and aboul four
o'clock in the morning, the boilers had become red-hot on top and had com-
municated fire to the boat. The firemen in the hold at once tools active steps
to stop the fire, but the progress of the flames was so rapid that they were
soon driven out of the hold. The alarm had now become general, tin- pas-
sengers were all amused, lines formed on deck and water passed up in buckets
and poured upon the flames. But it soon became apparent that all efforts
to check' the tire were utterly unavailing, and both passengers and crew began
to think only of how they might save their lives.
Tic Phoenix carried three boats. Captain Sweet who was confined to Ids
quarters with a fractured knee resulting from an injury he had received
while coming up Lake Erie, consented, at the entreaty of Mr. Blish, to
eider the first boat to leave the burning propeller in company with twenty
others, and reached the shore in safety. The second boat, carrying nineteen
persons also arrived safely on the shore, about ten miles north of Sheboygan.
The light of the fire was firsl seen at Sheboygan at 1:30 in the morning
and the propeller Delaware, then lying there, immediately got up steam
and started to the assitance of the burning vessel. But it was an hour and a
quarter before she reached her and aid was impossible bj that time. The
Phoenix was burned t" the water's edge. The rescuing vessel eould only
take the burning wreck in tow and bring her into the harhor where she sunk
soon after.
The propeller Delaware was able to rescue only three persons from the
burning wreck, and these besides those who had reached the shore in the
boats were ;ill that were saved old of a total 300 souls. The boats when the\
left the burning propeller made directly for the shore, distant about four
THE STORY OP THE "LADY ELGIN" DISASTER 145
miles. The intention was to leave the passengers on the land and return to
the wreck to take off others, but long before this could be done all human
aid was unavailing'.
Scenes and Incidents. — Among the incidents of this famous wreck it is
related that "one man ascended to the mast-head and there remained till
the mast itself toppled over into the lake. As the fire advanced the shrouds
became thronged with human beings who, scorched by the ascending flames,
gradually dropped off one by one. Many, frightened, or despairing, threw
themselves into the lake, in the vain hope of struggling to the distant shore."
The Phoenix had on board a full cargo of freight, and of her passen-
gers, about fifty were Americans, including the crew, and l!.~>() emigrants, all
Hollanders and all coming to Milwaukee. Among the latter were many who
had considerable sums of money with them. It was supposed that they had in
the aggregate some fifty thousand dollars in gold. One young girl of seven-
teen was the sole survivor of a party of twenty-five who had together $18,000.
An old man, the father of nine children, was left to mourn the loss of all
those for whose sakes he left his native land and emigrated to America.
"Indeed," concludes the account, "the whole calamity is the most afflicting
in its details that we have ever been called upon to record." The vessel
was insured in Buffalo for $12,000. Her books, papers, freight and pas-
senger list, etc., were all lost.
The Burning of the Sea Bird. — <>n the morning of the 9th of April,
1868, the steamer Sea Bird, while on her way from Two Rivers, Wis.,
to Chicago, and while opposite Lake Forrest, Ilk, caught fire and was totally
consumed. There were seventy persons on board at the time, and of these but
three escaped. The Sea Bird was a sidewheel steamer of about five hundred
tons burden, and was making the first trip of the season on her regular route
along tlie west shore of the lake.
"How the fire originated," says Andreas, "was never known, but is was
supposed to have been through the carelessness of one of the porters, who was
observed by one of the survivors to throw a scuttle of coal and ashes over-
board, ami a very short time afterward the fire broke out in the after
part of the vessel, near where the porter hail stood. It was a little be-
fore seven o'clock in the morning when the fire was discovered, as the pas-
sengers were rising from breakfast. The steamer was immediately headed
for shore, but the wind was blowing heavily from the northeast and drove
the flames forward, soon stopping the machinery. The fire rapidly drove
the passengers toward the bow, and then over into the lake. No boats seem
to have been lowered nor any effective effort made to save life, by the
officers. If there were any life-preservers, mi board, and there presumably
were, n ■ was used. Panic seems to have seized officers, crew and pas-
sengers alike. Before noon the vessel was burned to the water's edge. The
survivors were A. C. Chamberlain, Mr. Hennebury of Sheboygan, Wis., and
•lames II. Leonard of Manitowoc.
"In recalling lake disasters," says a recent writer, "many old residents
confuse the particulars of the Lady Elgin disaster with those of the Sea Bird.
The details of the former event are related in previous pages of this history.
Vol. I-IO
146 HISTORY OK .MILWAUKEE
Tin' Lady Elgin was lost September 8, 1860, and nearly three hundred persons
drowned. Its loss was occasioned by a collision with a Lumber schooner on a
stormy night, the steamer sinking within half an hour after the accident. The
Lady Elgin was a much larger steamer than the Sea Bird. The two events
were separated by an interval of nearly eight years.
Loss of the Steamer Alpena. — The steamer Alpena was built in lstii;.
and bought by the Goodrich Company two years later. She was a staunch
boat of 650 tons burden, and for several years was engaged on the route
between Chicago, Grand Haven and Muskegon. The Alpena left Grand
Haven for Chicago about 8 o'clock Friday evening, October 15, 1880, though
the weather bureau signals indicated that a severe storm was approaching.
Captain Napier was in command.
She carried a crew of thirty men and there was a "fair passenger list."
numbering in all about seventy-five persons. The steamer as she put out
into the open lake encountered a gale of great severity. The narrator who
contributed an article giving this information in the Chicago magazine for
June, 19112, says that he was the clerk of the propeller Messenger which
safely made her regular trip that night from Benton Harbor to Chicago. At
midnight the gale had greatly increased in violence and it was thoughl that
the Alpena encountered the full force of the storm when about forty
miles from Chicago at which point she probably foundered. At all events
she was never seen after her departure from Grand Haven. Not a soul
survived to tell the tale.
Loss of the Car Ferry steamer Pere Marquette, No. 18. — The loss of
the carferry steamer, Pere Marquette, No. IS. occurred September 9. 1910,
while she was on her voyage from Ludington, .Mich., to Milwaukee. She sank
in Lake Michigan, between 6 and 8 o'clock on Friday morning, when about
thirty miles off Sheboygan, Wis. Two passengers and thirty-one of the officers
and crew were drowned. Thirty-three persons were rescued by ear ferry No.
17, which had been summoned to the scene by a wireless call for help.
The exact cause of the disaster could not We ascertained. The weather at
tin' time it occurred was good and only a moderate sea was running.
Accident to the Steamer, Christopher Columbus. — The Chicago Daily
News Almanac fur L918, printed the following record of the painful event
referred to above. "Sixteen lives were lost by a peculiar accident to the
whaleback excursion steamer, 'Christopher Columbus,' hi the river at Mil-
waukee, Wis., June 30, 1917. The craft was starting mi its return trip
to Chicago when i' became unmanageable and ran into the river bank,
where it struck one of the supports of a Large Steel water tank on top of a
tower 10(1 feet high. The tank fell and hit the steamer, carrying away part
of the pilot house and the tWO upper decks, and flooding the ship with water.
There were some four hundred excursionists mi board at the time, most of
them teachers and pupils in Chicago summer schools. In addition to the
sixteen killed a number of other persons were severely injured."
CHAPTER XIII
THE OREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE
The most serious fire that ever occurred in Milwaukee was that which
broke out October 28, 1892, often referred to as "the Great Fire." The fire
started in the evening of the date above mentioned at 275 East Water Street,
between Detroit and Buffalo streets, on the premises of the Union Oil com-
pany, and quickly communicated to an adjoining wholesale drug establish-
ment. The fire spread to other large buildings near by and involved a large
portion of the Third ward before it was finally got under control, destroying
sixteen blocks which included extensive residence districts. The surging
flames shot high in the air and the reflection of them in the heavens could
be seen at a distance of thirty miles from the city in various directions.
"The conflagration," writes Mr. E. P. Bacon in Conard's history, "was
prevented from extending farther northward than Detroit Street by the
strong wind which prevailed from that quarter. It extended eastward and
southerly to the lake in one direction and to the main arm of the river in
the other. It swept over the side tracks of the Chicago & Northwestern
railway which were filled with standing cars, and there were 215 cars con-
sumed, most of which were loaded with merchandise of various kinds. The
freight houses of the company were partially destroyed, with a large portion
of their contents.
"The loss sustained by the company, including claims paid to owners
of freight damaged and destroyed, amounted to $160,000. The total number
of buildings destroyed by the fire was 440, of which 81 were brick and 359
were of frame or wood. The value of the buildings and contents destroyed,
as estimated by the officers of the fire department, was upwards of $4,500,000.
The insurance thereon was $2,111,450, which was collected by the owners."
Fire engines from other Cities. — Two firemen and an unknown man were
killed during the efforts made to combat the flames, besides a number se-
riously injured. Fire engines from the cities of Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan
and Oshkosh quickly arrived in the course of the evening and rendered
effective aid. Four engines from Chicago with forty men came by the
Chicago & Northwestern railway, the train making a speed of fifty-six miles
an hour, but they did not reach the scene until near midnight when the
fire had been brought pretty well under control. They afforded great
relief, however, to the almost exhausted force of the Milwaukee tire depart-
ment in staying the further progress of the flames.
"The region devastated by the fire," continues the narrative, "was one
147
I 18 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
of the oldesl quarters of the city and contained a large number of frame
dwellings which had been occupied for many years by a class of laboring
men with their families, ma"inly of Irish origin. Large business blocks, bow-
ever, used for commercial and manufacturing purposes, covered the western
portion of the region, a large number of which were destroyed. Hundreds
of families were driven from their homes by the flami s in their rapid progress,
without opportunity being given by the occupants to rescue any of their
possessions.
Relief Measures Organized. --A mass meeting of citizens was called the
following- morning by the Chamber of Commerce in the exchange room of
their building, ami measures were promptly adopted to afford relief to the
victims of the conflagration. A committee was appointed to take general
charge of the work of providing relief, known as the "Board of Organiza-
tion and Control," consisting of the following persons: E. P. Bacon, F. <l.
Bigelow, C. C. Rogers, J. E. Hansen. II. C. Payne, Washington Becker, -las.
A. Bryden, P. J. Somers, Patrick Cudahy, Rev. J. J. Keogh, J. G. J. Camp-
bell, Prank Siller. -lames Hannan, and George W. Porth. Mr. Bacon was
elected chairman.
A special Relief Committee was appointed at once to which all applica-
tions were to be made, and through which the distribution of funds should
he administered, consisting of -1. (i. -I. Campbell, chairman; Rev. -I. -I. Keogh.
James Hannan, George Koeppen, Prank Siller, Bernard Goldsmith, Adolph
Meinecke, Rev. Judson Titsworth, Rev: -lames I). Foley. Paul -I. Foley, Cor-
nelius Corcoran, (i. Prellson, and R. D. Whitehead.
Efficient Aid Extended. -The committee had the advantage in organizing
their work of relief of the example furnished by the Chicago Relief and
Aid society in their work of a similar character after the great Chicago lire.
twenty-one years before. The report id' the Chicago society was published
in a thick volume of 441) pages, in 1874. The report gave a complete
history of that great event ami of the disbursements made in the vast work
of relief after that unparalleled disaster, and the committee had access to the
record there printed for their guidance.
The population of Chicago at the time of iis great tire (in 1>>71 was
334,270. The loss of life was estimated to he nol less than three hundred
persons though the number was never accurately ascertained. The property
losses were given at $196,000,000. One hundred thousand people Were drA'en
from their homes by the Chicago fire. In tin' work of relief the vast sum
of $5,000,000 was disbursed, contributed by every civilized country on earth
as well as by every stale and nation of the western hemisphere.
The Chicago World's Pair was dedicated October 21, 1892, seven days
before the greal lire in .Milwaukee occurred. It will he re inhered that
the World's Fair was nol opened to visitors until .May firsl of the following
scar, namely, .May 1, 1893. An interval of over six months took place
between the "dedication" and the formal "opening." The immense amount
O.f news in regard In the World's Fair which tilled tile ordinary channels
of the newspapers prevented tin' wide publicity which the great importance
of the .Milwaukee lire would otherwise have claimed.
THE GREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE 149
The work of the Milwaukee committee was of much the same character as
that of the Chit-ago committee though of course was not on so large a scale.
Both committees discharged their Herculean tasks in a thoroughly credit-
able manner, so that both cities have always taken pride in the splendid
record made by them.
Methods of Relief. — The first and most pressing needs were food for
those rendered destitute, and shelter for the homeless. The Milwaukee com-
mittee lost no time in supplying f 1 and money as the first requisite and then
proceeded to make plans to provide houses for the victims of the great
conflagration.
"This committee devised a plan for the systematic canvassing of the
city for funds,"' says Mr. Bacon in his account, "'but voluntary contribu-
tions were offered so freely that solicitation proved wholly unnecessary. The
spontaneity and liberality with which money was poured into the hands
of the committee by all classes of citizens, was a demonstration of human
kindness and sympathy rarely witnessed. Many of the individual contribu-
tions were three or four times as large as would have been expected if
solicited, and people of all conditions of life and of all creeds, were par-
ticipants alike. Over $53,000 had been contributed before three o'clock of
the day following the fire."
The population of Milwaukee in 1890 according to the Federal census
was 204,468, and ten years later, in 1900, it was 285,315. Thus for the year
1892, the year in which the fire occurred, it was not far from 230,000.
"Telegrams were received from the mayors of several cities and from
various commercial organizations offering aid, which were gratefully ac-
knowledged, lint tin' kind offers were courteously declined on the ground that
local contributions were on such a scale that they seemed likely to meet
all requirements. Several contributions were, however, received from indi-
viduals residing elsewhere who were former residents of Milwaukee, or were
specially interested in her welfare.
"Collections were taken for tin' relief fund in all the churches of the city
on the Sunday next following the occurrence of the tire (October, 30), which
amounted in the aggregate to $6,293. Members of several branches of trade
and clerks and employees of large establishments, and some benevolent
societies also, made up separate funds among themselves, which they con-
tributed to the general fund. Several newspapers, both English and German,
opened their columns for subscriptions to the fund, through which medium
$10,448 was contributed and added to the fund. Proprietors of the principal
places of amusements gave benefit performances, the proceeds of which were
contributed to the fund. By the 14th of November the contributions amounted
to $136,825, and the Board of Organization and Control adopted a resolution
to the effect that a sufficient amount of money had been subscribed to meet all
probable requirements for the suitable relief of the sufferers by the fire, and
directed that the public be so notified through the press of the city which was
immediately done.
"The two principal railways whose lines concentrate in Milwaukee, namely:
the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paid, and the Chicago & Northwestern, each
150 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
contributed $5,000, although the latter suffered ;i very heavy Ions from the
fire. The Milwaukee Sired Railway company also contributed $5,000."
Work of Various Committees. — other committees were appointed in order
to make more effective the work of relief, one of which was an advisory
committee to give aid and counsel to the fire sufferers in their endeavors to
better their condition, and also to aid in the proper adjustment of insurance
claims. This committee consisted of Bernard Goldsmith, chairman; Rev. J. J.
Keogh, Benjamin M. Weil. Matthew Keenan, and Peter Doyle. The committee
rendered valuable assistance in numerous eases. A committee on providing
quarters was also appointed to devise some plan for temporary quarters for
families unable to privide dwelling places for themselves. This committee con-
sisted of S. E. Hansen, chairman; Jeremiah Quin, John Johnston, Edward Bar-
ber, and Emil Burr.
The report of the last named committee recommended that barracks be
constructed for 100 families, or such portion as might be found requisite, on
such suitable public or private grounds as might be secured for the pur-
pose. The recommendation was adopted and the committee was authorized
to proceed at once with the erection of tin' barracks. Before the close of tin-
week the barracks for ten families were erected in the Lake Shore Park
grounds. It was then found that dwellings and apartments had been secured
for occupancy by the homeless families to such an extent that further provision
was unnecessary. In a short time all the homeless families were comfortably
housed and provided with needful furniture and bedding.
The Board of Organization and Control held two meetings daily dm
the first three days following the fire, and daily meetings thereafter during
the ensuing week, then less frequently until the loth of December. A few
days after the fire the relief committee was authorized to give to the bead
of each family made destitute by tin' tire the sum of $50, and, in addi-
tion thereto, $5 tor each child or other dependent of the family, for the
purpose of immediate relief, (in the 5th of November the sum <<\' $70 to $100
was authorized to be given to each family for furniture, varying accordi
to the size of the family, excepting to those whose loss of furniture was made
good from insurance.
No money was given to any person or the Eamilj of an\ person <e\ inn-
real estate- or other available property. Pupils in public or parochial schools
who had lost their school books in the tire Mere supplied with new ones, and
mechanics who had lost their tools were provided with monej to purchase
a new supply. Sewing women were supplied with sewing machines and wo
ing girls received monej Eor new clothing. "The case of every applicant
aid in an} way, " continues Mr. Bacon 's narrative, " was carefullj investiga
by the relief committee. It is believed that very few if any received aid Erom
the fund thai were ao1 in destitute circumstances and had become so in
consequence of the fire; and on the other hand that none who wej -red
SO destitute were refused neeiled aid."
Expenditures for Relief.— I >urinu the winter months following the fire aid
had been rendered to 1.710 persons, including members of families and single
persons. mostlj obi people in .the receipl of monthlj allowances |',\ the 6th
THE GREAT MILWAUKEE FIRE 151
of May, 1 S ! > : ; . the number requiring continued aid was reduced to fifty-seven
persons comprising- old, and infirm people, widows and invalids. The amount
remaining- in the hands of the treasurer was $655, which was ordered to be
distributed among the remaining beneficiaries from month to month until
exhausted. The total amount thus distributed, according to the treasurer's
statement was $137,136.
"It is worthy of note," concludes Mr. Bacon's chapter, "that the entire
expense incurred in the administration of the fund was only $1,158, being
less than one per cent of the amount disbursed. There was received for in-
terest on deposits $1,016 which nearly covered the expenses of administra-
tion."
The systematic manner in which the work of relief had been performed
by the various committees working in cooperation reflected the highest credit
on the public-spirited citizens who devoted time and means to the relief of
distress resulting from the losses in the great fire of 1892.
The Great Fire of 1871 in Chicago. — During the preparation of the manu-
script for this history the City of Chicago has been engaged in the commemo-
ration of the fiftieth anniversary of its great fire which occurred on October
9th, 1871. This event also claims the particular notice of the people of
Milwaukee because of the distinguished share they had in the work of relief
and aid rendered by them in that dreadful event.
In the report of the Chicago Relief and Aid Society, published some three
years after the great fire, in a volume of over 400 pages, there occurs frequent
mention of the aid rendered by I lie people of Wisconsin and Milwaukee in
particular to the sufferers in that great calamity. The numerous proclamations
and telegraphic messages calling attention to the extremely serious nature of
the disaster, and the words of sympathy thus extended, accompanied by more
substantial gifts of money and provisions to the people of the stricken city,
are briefly noticed in the following quotations from the report.
<»n the day of the great fire, the governor of Wisconsin, Hon. Lucius Fair
child, issued a proclamation, in which he appealed to the people id' tin' state
for aid to the sufferers from forest fires, then raging, in the regions of the
northern part of the state. That part of the proclamation referring to the
Chicago lire was as follows: "The telegraph also brings the terrible news that
a large portion of the City of Chicago is destroyed by a conflagration, which
is still raging. Many thousands of people are thus reduced to penury, stripped
id' then- all. and are now destitute of shelter and food. Their sufferings will
he intense, and many may perish unless provisions are at once sent to them
from the surrounding country. They must be assisted now.
"In the awful presence of such calamities the people of Wisconsin will
not be backward in giving assistance to their afflicted fellow-men. I, there-
fore recommend that immediate organized effort he made in every locality to
Forward provisions and money to the sufferers by this visitation, and suggesl
to mayors of cities, presidents of villages, town supervisors, pastors of
churches, and to various benevolent societies, that they devote themselves
immediately to the work of organizing effort, collecting contributions, and
L52 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
sending forward supplies for distribution. And I entreal all to give of their
abundance to help those in such sore distress."
Response to the Call of -Humanity. — Prom far away Switzerland was re-
ceived a message from the United Slates minister to thai country, Hon. Horace
Rublee, well-known in Milwaukee (having been appointed to thai posl by Pre-
sident Grant, the year before), addressed to .Mayor Mason of Chicago, enclos-
ing a draft I'm- $1,500 for the relief of the fire sufferers. In the accompanying
message Mr. Kid dee said, "this sum is the aim mnt of divers contributions made
in Switzerland for the benefit of' the sufferers by the <rrea1 fire in Chicago, and
forwarded through this legation."
A message was r tved by Mayor It. B. .Mason id' Chicago from ll. Luding-
1 mi, mayor id' .Milwaukee, on the day id' the fire, saying, that a ear load of pro-
visions would be sent the next morning, and this was followed up by the
visit of a representative from the Milwaukee Chamber of ( !ommerce with offers
id' further supplies and contributions. .Mayor Ludington closed his letter
accompanying this offer with a warm expression of sympathy in these words:
'•Yours with respect and sorrowful feeling for the sad calamity that has been
east upon your once beautiful city."
Many car loads of provisions and materials of all kinds were sent to
during the period of distress through which the city passed in those troublous
Chicago by the kind and generous people throughout the state of Wisconsin,
days.
CHAPTER XIV
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE
The centennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln occurred February 12,
1909, and the anniversary was distinguished at that time quite generally
throughout the country by a great number of newspaper articles and remin-
iscences concerning this renowned man. The vast volume of literature in
existence, know among collectors as "Lincolniana," received a great acces-
sion in that year and has continued to increase ever since. Much additional
information in the form of the recollections of former friends, neighbors and
associates has been published, and the newspapers of former years have been
carefully searched for every scrap of mention or reference to the great Eman-
cipator.
Thus we find that Milwaukee has had a notable share in the incidents of
Mr. Lincoln's wonderful career. In a previous chapter of this history we have
described .Mr. Lincoln's appearance in Wisconsin, first as a captain of Illinois
volunteers in the Black Hawk war of 1832, and some years later as a visitor
to Milwaukee and Port Washington while on a search for a location for a
future residence.
Again, in 1859, Mr. Lincoln came to Milwaukee to make an address at the
State Fair, in September of that year. An article by -J. E. Moriarity was
printed in recent years, in the Milwaukee Free Press, giving interesting de-
tails of h.s visit, and quotations from his speeches made on that occasion.
"Few among us remember the day," writes Mr. Moriarity, "when Mil-
waukee was just branching out of its infancy, that Abraham Lincoln spoke
before the people of this city a1 the State Fair, held September 30, 1859, at
tin' old Brockway Fair grounds. There was nothing about Abraham Lincoln
in those days to distinguish him much above the average man in public life.
True, it was just following the (dose of the famous 'Lincoln-Douglas1 debates
which had trained the eyes of the continent on the rising young lawyer of
Illinois. He bad battled his way in a few short months to the front rank
among the orators, and when the time came for choosing a speaker for the
annual exhibit of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society Abraham Lincoln was
invited as worthy of that honor.
Previous Visits Referred To. — "Before going further," continues the
writer, "we might state that this was not Mr. Lincoln's first connection with
Milwaukee. Few among us know how close Milwaukee came to being the
home of the martyred president id' the United States. Back in 1836 or 1837
(the exact date is not known) when young Lincoln was a member of the
153
154 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Illinois legislature, he began to look aboul him for more Lucrative prospects
in liis law practice. He was then living in New Salem, and it was aboul this
time thai he came north fo Milwaukee which was a thriving town in those
days. He found the prospects hen' favorable bu1 wenl on to Port Washing-
ton for further investigation. He returned to Milwaukee after a short stay,
and soon afterward he went back to his home in Illinois." The writer then
quotes from Henry Bleyer, the veteran newspaper man. who said of the visit.
"he did not meet with much encouragemenl in Milwaukee, however. The
same was true of Port Washington."
It was not until 1859 that Mr. Lincoln ajrain came to Milwaukee, this time
as the state fair orator. "There was no brass hand to greel him at the depot
when lie arrived. There was no crowd of hacks or swarming reporters. It
was just plain Abraham Lincoln, the citizen, who was met by a representative
of the State Fair board and quietly conducted to the old Newhall House where
he was to stay."
The old Brockway Fair grounds were located at Twelfth Street and Grand
Avenue which was "the edge of the city" in those days. Just where the
platform stood from which Lincoln spoke is a much disputed question. It
was somewhere, probably, near the intersection of the two streets— near the
grand stand not far from the gate. "It was a dusty day. a high wind sweeping
the grounds, making it uncomfortable for speaker and audience. The papers
of the next morning made slight mention of the occasion, merely that "at
the conclusion of the address three lusty cheers were given to the 'Kentucky
boy.' "
"That was all." proceeds the account. "And yet hut a few months later
the country over was ringing with the name of Abraham Lincoln." In the
National Republican convention, held in the following May at Chicago, he was
nominated for the presidency ami triumphantly elected in the following No-
vember of 1860.
Epitome of the Address. — "One feature. I believe, of every fair is a regular
address," Mr. Lincoln began. "The Agricultural Societj of tin- young and
prosperous state of Wisconsin has done me the high honor of select inu me to
make that address upon this occasion, an honor for w h it-li 1 make my profound
and grateful acknowledgment. I presume I am not expected to employ the
time assigned to me in the mere flattery of the farmers as a class. My opinion
of them is that, in proportion to numbers, thej are neither better nor worse
than other people. In the nature of things they are more numerous than any
other class, and I believe there are more attempts to flatter them, the reason
for which I cannot perceive, unless it be thai they can cast more votes ti
any other. On reflection I am nol quite sure that there is no1 a positive
suspicion againsl you in selecting me, in some sort a politician, ami in no sort
a farmer, to address you. The farmers being the most numerous class, it
follows thai their interest is the largest interest. It also follows thai thai
interest is most wurthj of all to be cherished and cultivated and thai if there
be inevitable conflict between thai interest and anj other, thai other should
yield."
"\li Lincoln then branched into a discussion of labor and capital, the
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 155
relation of one to the other, a discussion that has often 1 n repeated, and
which has been heard many times in Milwaukee since in the .Socialistic
campaigns," continues Mr. Moriarity. "But he was not a Socialist. Mr.
Lincoln's argument aimed rather at the existence of slavery and he had not
talked many minutes before he struck right into the heart of his subject.
"He met a willing audience. lie was in the heart of the abolition north,
in the country where everyone was excited, where the Missouri Compromise
was being fought out as bitterly as the conflicts in the war that was to follow.
"Those farmers of Wisconsin, whom he did not flatter, whom he did
not praise, were attracted to him as a man, and according to the few survivors
who remember his speech, cheered him repeatedly throughout. They were
free men, believed in free labor, and his comparison of the lot of the 'mud
tiller* with the 'free laborer" touched them with sympathy for the black men of
the South who were held in bondage to the soil which they tilled ; who were
sold as so many cattle, were traded back and forth as so many horses, who
Worked their lives throughout, creating wealth for their owners but never a
cent for themselves.
"No community whose every member possesses this art (the art of deriving
a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil) can ever be the
victim of oppression in any of its forms. Such community will alike be
independent of the crowned kings, money kings, and the land kings."
Took Interest in the Fair. — Lincoln was given a rousing applause "three
lusty cheers for the 'Kentucky lad/ ' "Such words today." continues Mr.
Moriarity 's narrative, would lie hurled across the continent, printed from coast
to coast in a single day. He was attacking an institution, that institution
that while it was tottering seemed to he on its strongest legs, bound to exist
as long as the South was the South and the North was the North.
"Mr. Lincoln was royally entertained that afternoon, and it is said he
enjoyed the attractions as much as any man at the fair. Then- were the
ordinary county fair attractions of that time, the races, and all was followed
by a big fireman's parade. He did not get much opportunity to see Milwaukee.
He viewed the city in his carriage as he rode to the grounds and again on
his way back to the hotel. He saw many of the improvements that hail
occurred since the time more than twenty years before when he had thoughl
of settling in the city as a young lawyer.
"He may have remained around the fair grounds for a while after that
speech. No one remembers. lie was just the 'Hon. Mr. Lincoln.' He had
given his speech and he might go. Perhaps some crowded around to shake his
hand and tell him of their sympathy in the new cause.
"The next we know of him in his visit to Milwaukee was that night at
the Newhall house. Train service was crude in those days. There was no
two-hour schedule to Chicago, and no trains running every two hours. There
was no railroad commission to appeal to for better service. Automobiles had
not made their appearance and Mr. Lincoln was obliged to remain in Mil-
waukee until the next day.
"Peter Van Vechten, Jr., then a youngster working in his father's store
adjoining tin' Xewhall house, tells a, picturesque story of the tlighl of Septem
L56 EISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
ber 30, 1859, at the Newhall bouse. 'He arrived at the hotel rather late from
the Pair grounds. Many local politicians had gathered at the hotel. Some
remained around to talk to him, or gathered in the lobby to talk over his
speech. Slavery was a great question in those days, more important than
the tariff question of today, and caused more discussion than the Canadian
reciprocity treaty.
" 'After supper a number of Mr. Lincoln's friends prevailed upon him to
make a short speech,' said .Mr. Van Vechten. 'Then' was not much of a crowd
there, not over fifty men. He consented.
What shall I stand on .'" he asked.
" 'There was nothing there, so I ran hack to tin' store and gol a dry g Is
box. This we placed in a eornei- in the lobby. 1 don't remember much id' thai
speech. 1 know it was on the slavery question. < hie sentence stands out
prominently in my mind, however, a sentence which lias often since been
quoted.
I do not believe," he said, "that this nation can exist half free and
half slave." '
"Those words became a part of the campaign issue when he was nominated
for president and proved to the South that the time had come to make or
break when Mr. Lincoln was elected.
"Little more id' Mr. Lincoln's visit can he learned. That was the lasl time
he ever visited Milwaukee. In the campaign which followed there was no use
of his spending tine in Wisconsin. The Badger State was strongly for aboli-
tion, and it was in this state that Republicanism and Mr. Lincoln's policies had
their birth, lie spent the time fighting the question out in the east and on
the border states, where the battle for votes was to be followed by the battle
of blood.
"Then came his election, his inauguration, lapping almost into the period
of the war. There was no traveling and little speech-making for him after
that. He was confined to a ghastly business which ended in his own death by
an assassin's bullet, after he had piloted the country to the' freedom for which
he pleaded in his only Milwaukee address."
Walter Distelhorst, president of the Milwaukee Historical Society, in an
address delivered before that body on February 8th, 1922, gave a most inter-
esting account of "Lincoln in Milwaukee," which we republish herewith:
If tin' Milwaukee newspapers in 1859 had told with the same richness of
detail the story id" Lincoln's visit to this city as they do today whenever some
celebrity conies to town, we might have a verj interesting picture of the
incident and of the period. Bui the art of quick photography and of photo
engraving were not discovered until many years later, so that no illustrations
appear in the papers id' the day upon which we must depend for the printed
record of Lincoln's visit; and furthermore, there did not seem to he at that
early time that intense curiositj on the part of the newspaper-reading public
for tiie intimate details ihat obtains at the present day. If it did exist.
the journalists of 1859 did not cater to it. for their reports are extremely
brief, not to say barren, of such facts as we today would like to read.
As to Lincoln's personal appearance, we are safe in saying ihat Milwau-
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 157
keeans of this early day did not see the Lincoln with whom we are familiar,
for the MeClure portraits show that he was smooth-shaven in 1859. His
pictures do not show him as wearing' a beard until 1861.
There is a story to the effect that while he was riding on the train to
Washington a little girl, his fellow passenger, suggested that whiskers would
improve his appearance, and that it was her suggestion upon which he acted
when he let his beard grow.
The Milwaukee Public Library lias mi file only the Milwaukee Sentinel
and the Daily News of this particular period. Both were morning papers of
four pages, eight columns wide (as is the present width of the .Milwaukee
dailies), tlie length being about four inches more than now. Th litors
must have been unusually busy witli their "blue pencils" on the Lincoln
"copy," or the papers may have been short-handed of compositors (all type
being at that time set by hand), for it does seem that in view id' Lincoln's
participation in the epoch-making debates with Douglas only a short time be-
fore, which served to make him a national figure, somewhat more extended
mention should have been made id' his address in .Milwaukee.
In connection with these debates, it may he of interest to (piote from an
Associated Press report which appeared in the daily papers of the country
on October 7, 1921, under a Galesburg, 111., date line. My ({notation is taken
from the .Milwaukee Journal, the item in full reading as follows:
Standing where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas stood on
the same day in 1858, in front id' "Old Main," the historic building of Knox
college. Dr. William E. Barton, Chicago, spoke on the emancipator at a
celebration commemorative id' the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
The celebration was under the auspices of Knox college, which conferred on
Lincoln the honorary degree of doctor of laws.
"Lincoln's high title to honor in that notable series of debates lies in
the fact that he did not rest his ease on the opportune split in the party of
his opponents, hut forced the moral issue, and would not permit even so
astute an opponent as Douglas to evade it," said Doctor Barton. "Standing
in this spot, Lincoln said to Douglas:
' 'Judge Douglas declares that if any community wants slavery, they have
a right to it. He can say that logically if there is no wrong in slavery; but
if you adm'.t that there is wrong in it. he cannot logically say that anybody
has a right to do wrong. Now", I confess myself as belonging to that class
of society who contemplate slavery as a moral, social and political wrong.
He is blowing out the moral lights around us when he contends that who-
ever wants slaves has a right to hold them.'
"<>n that platform Lincoln lost the sonatorship of Illinois in 1858 and on
that platform he won the presidency in 1860."
It is not unlikely that these debates were largely influential in inducing
the Wisconsin Agricultural Society to invite Lincoln to deliver the annual
address at the State Fair. Vet in its announcement in the Sentinel running
during Fair Week, Lincoln's name was not given. Evidently this was a paid
advertisement, similar to our present-day display advertisements, for it ap-
peared in a '.)Yi> inch single-column spi >n the front page and presented the
158 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
program for the Pair in a way similar to that followed today. It was headed
"Ninth Annual Shite Fair of the Wisconsin Stair Agricultural Society. Sep-
tember 26, 27, 28, 29 & 30" 1859." Lincoln's speech was mentioned as the
"annual address" which was to be delivered on Friday al 10 a. m.
In the issue of Monday morning, September 2tith, the Sentinel article on
the opening of the Fair had these words:
"Hon. Abram (note the spelling of the firsl name) Lincoln, of Illinois, will
deliver the annual address."
In the issue of Friday morning, September 30th, substantially the same
words were used- and that was the day of the address.
No more space was given in the Monday issue to Lincoln and his forth-
coming address than to "Professor Steiner" who was scheduled to make a
balloon ascension on the Saturday following.
On Tuesday the Sentinel in referring to the speaker said: "No better
orator for the occasion could have been found in the whole Northwest."
This is not waxing unduly enthusiastic, in the light of similar mention of
our public men today by a journal that is of the same political faith as the
man referred to.
We learn also from the news columns that the schools closed on Thursday
and Friday to permit "scholars and teachers" to visit the Fair. An announce-
ment appeared for several days to the effect that the hanks would close at
1 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, to permit their employees to visit the Fair
also, and it bore the signature of a number of banks, but nothing was said
about the following day, the day on which Lincoln was scheduled to give
his address.
Henry W. Bleyer, a veteran Milwaukee newspaper man. who died in
.Madison on January 19th, 1922, at the age of 86 years, recalled that Mr.
Lincoln's train was late when he reached Milwaukee on Friday, September
30th, so that Lincoln did not arrive until late in the forenoon. These recol-
lections are included in a letter which was written at Mr. Bleyer's dictation
by his nephew, Prof. Willard G. Bleyer. of the University of Wisconsin, at
Madison, where he resided. The date of the letter is October 3rd, 1921. Owing
to his advanced age, Mr. Bleyer was himself unable to write.
Mr. Bleyer, the uncle, recalls that the distinguished visitor was driven in
a carriage to the Newhall House, and from there to the fair grounds. It was
probably after his speech that he made the rounds of the fair grounds with
the president of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society. Elisha W. Edgerton.
George Richardson, a Milwaukee pioneer, who was a boy a1 the time of
Lincoln's visit, told the writer i in a personal reminiscence al the Old Settlers
Club in the fall of 1920) thai Lincoln walked over to the scene of the plow
ing contest, in the course of his rounds, the contest being held somewhere in
the vicinity of what is now about Twelfth and Clybourn streets, outside the
Fair Grounds proper, and thai his homely comments on the eontesl were
enjoyed by the by-standers quite as much as his more formal words a few
minutes before.
The address has until very recently been practically unknown. Prof.
Julius Iv oison. of the University of Wisconsin, writing in the quarterly
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 159
of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, the "Wisconsin Magazine of
History," Volume IV, Number 1, for September, 1920, says that the only
place in which he found it was in the C. S. Hammond & Company edition
of Lincoln's works, which was published in 1907, and in none of the other
biographies of Lincoln, so far as he knows. A page of the manuscript was
reproduced in connection with this article, the page being among Professor
Olson's treasured possessions.
On October 1, 1859, the "Sentinel" printed Lincoln's address in full
on the front page. It ran several columns. For this journalistic feat the
writer had been led to believe that the paper was indebted to Henry Bleyer,
as the writer had understood from Julius Bleyer, a brother of Henry and
a Milwaukee newspaper man, too, but the letter already referred to (now
in the collection of the Milwaukee Historical Society) explains that "the
manuscript was secured from Lincoln by a 'Sentinel' reporter" — obviously
not Mr. Bleyer — "and the speech was set up in the 'Sentinel' composing
room," of which another uncle of Professor Bleyer, Louis Bleyer, was foreman.
This letter also corrects another mistaken impression on the writer's
part (and this was generally shared because it was repeated in the press
at the time of Mr. Henry Bleyer's death), that during the Civil war, after
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, that Mil-
waukee negroes visited the "Sentinel" office and begged Mr. Henry Bleyer
for hits of the manuscript penned by their beloved Lincoln's own hand.
Professor Bleyer writes :
"Louis Bleyer kept the original manuscript and later gave it to my uncle,
Henry W. Bleyer. After Lincoln became prominent, Henry W. gave awray
pieces of the manuscript to various persons, cutting it up for the purpose.
Another uncle, George, gave Lathrop E. Smith, of Beloit, the page of tin'
manuscript reproduced in the 'Wisconsin Magazine of History," while Smith
and George Bleyer were working together on one of the Beloit papers.
"The story about Henry Bleyer distributing some of the pieces of manu-
script to negroes from the steps of the 'Sentinel' office is incorrect. My
uncle (Henry) says that he recalls giving some pieces to some of the leaders
among the negroes in Buffalo, New York, after he moved to Buffalo in 1860,
but not to any negroes in Milwaukee."
The manuscript, Mr. Bleyer says, was in large part written in ink on
legal cap paper, "but apparently on the (rain Lincoln had written a page
about the importance of the steam plow, in lead pencil."
Referring to the page of the manuscript reproduced in the Historical
Society quarterly, Professor Olson says in his article that "a 'Sentinel'
printer" gave it to Mr. Smith that same year (1859), and ultimately it
came into his (Professor Olson's) possession.
The headline over the article in the "Sentinel" on the day after the
address was a single line of small blackfaced type — "Hon. Abram Lincoln's
Address." The introduction follows:
In another column we publish in full the very able address of Abram
Lincoln, of Illinois, before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society. It is
in every sense a practicable and readable effort and will receive attentive
160 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
perusal. Yesterday ;i high wind combined with the dusl rendered the day
s >wha1 unfavorable bu1 there was ;i large attendance al the Pair Grounds
nevertheless. At 11 o'clock the plank auditorium a1 Brockway's was filled
with an expectant crowd waiting with commendable patience the appeal
ance of Abram Lincoln who bad been announced to deliver the address at
10 o'clock. It was qo1 Ear from noon when the distinguished gentleman
made his appearance and be was immediately welcomed with clapping of
hands and a stamping of feel <m the raised scats which caused the afon
mentioned Brockway to show considerable nervousness. Upon being in-
troduced Mr. Lincoln waited a few minutes for the applause to subside and
spoke as follows.
Just before the opening of the Wisconsin State Pair late in August,
1921, the .Milwaukee "Journal" ran a considerable portion of Lincoln's
address delivered at the Fair sixty-two years before, under title of "Here's
Lincoln Message to Wisconsin Fair in 1859," two lines of type across two
columns, the letters being half an inch high.
The address" in full can be found at the Public Library, so only two
excerpts will be given :
"1 presume 1 am not expected to employ the time assigned me in the
mere flattery of the farmers as a class. My opinion of them is that, in
proportion to numbers, they are neither better nor worse than other people.
In the nature of things they are more numerous than any other class, and
I believe then' are really more attempts at flattering them than any other,
the reason of which I cannot perceive, unless i1 be that they can cast more
votes than any other. On reflection, I am not quite sure that there is not
cause of suspicion against you in selecting me, in some sort a politician,
and in no sort a farmer, to address you.
"But farmers being the most numerous class, it follows that their interesl
is the largest interest. It also follows that that interest is most worthy
of all to he cherished and cultivated — that if there he inevitable conflict
between that interest and any other, that other should yield.
"hi all this, book learning is available. A capacity and taste for reading
c-ives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the
key. or one of the beys, to the already Solved problems. And not only SO;
it gives a relish and facility for successfully pursuing the unsolved ones.
The rudiments of science are available, and bighly available. Some knowl-
edge of botany assists in the dealing with the vegetable world with all
growing crops. Chemistry assists in the analysis of soils, selection ami ap-
plication of manures ami in numerous other ways. The mechanical branches
of natural philosophy are ready help in almost everything, but especially
in reference to implements and machinery.
"The thought recurs that education— cultivated thought- can best be
combined with agricultural labor, on the principle of thorough work;
that careless, half-performed, slovenly work makes no place for such
a combination: and thorough work, again, renders sufficient the smallest
quantity of ground to man: and this, again, < forms to what musl occur
in a world less inclined to wars and more devoted to the arts of peace than
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 161
heretofore. Population must increase rapidly, more rapidly than in former
limes, and ere long the most valuable of all arts will be the art of deriving
a comfortable subsistence from the smallest area of soil. No community
whose every member possesses this art can ever be the victim of oppression
in any of its forms. Such community will be alike independent of crowned
kings, money kings and land kings."
In the Sentinel art'cle, after the text of the address we find the following:
"At the conclusion of the address three hearty cheers were given for
the 'Kentucky boy' and the Secretary proceeded to read the awards of the
premiums. "
In the Daily News of the same date we read that the speaker occupied
an "elevated stand" — and the article does not contain much els-, the editor
going on to explain the reason for the brevity of the mention (tin article
also appeared on the front page) in these words:
"Mr. Lincoln's address was a written one and will doubtless be pub-
lished, hence we refrain from giving a synopsis id' it. .Mr. Lincoln
spoke about an hour and was listened to with attention by the large auditory,
lie is a man of ability and is possessed of a stentorian voice which could
be distinctly heard by every person in the vast assemblage."
The Daily News, which was democratic, made another mention of the
occasion on its editorial page. This was headed "In Questionable Taste"
and refers to the short speeeh made by Lincoln the evening before at the
Newhall House. Some of Lincoln's friends had gathered there after dinner
and insisted on his addressing them.
We read :
"There is some diversity of opinion as to the propriety of bringing black
republican speakers here to make political speeches under the auspices id'
the State Agricultural Society."
Peter Van Vechten gave some reminiscences of this Newhall House ad-
dress in an article written for the Milwaukee Free Press of February 12,
1911, by J. E. Moriarity. Mr. Van Vechten worked in his father's store
adjoining the NewhaU House at the time, and brought a box from the store
fin' the speaker to stand on. (This is corroborated in Professor Bleyer's
letter.) .Mr. Van Veehten's recollection as here given is that about fifty
persons heard this talk, but tin' Daily News, from which the foregoing
quotations were taken, was probably nearer right when it gave the number
as 250.
(Newhall House, which was located on the northwest corner of Michigan
Street and Broadway, was on January 10th, 1883, the scene of one of Mil-
waukee's greatest tragedies, when it was destroyed by tire and sixty-four
persons lost their lives. In Lincoln's day it was the largest and finest hole]
in the West, being of brick, six stories high and having 300 rooms, accord-
ing to the "History of Milwaukee," 1663 pages, published by the Western
Historical Company, of Chicago, in 1881. The hotel was built by Daniel
Newhall ami his associates in 1857 (p. 1426), and the property, including
building, site and furnishings, represented an outlay of $270,000. Messrs.
M. Kean and A. M. Rice were the landlords at the time of Lincoln's visit.)
Vol. 1—11
L62 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
A letter from \V. P. Powers, of Los Angeles, Cal., appeared in the Mil-
waukee Journal of September 4th. 1921, which throws considerable light
mi Lincoln's visit to Milwaukee. David J. Powers, mentioned in the letter
was the secretary of the Agricultural Society, under whose auspices Lincoln
spoke. The letter follows:
"In 1859 my father, David J. Powers, in arranging for the State Pair
al Milwaukee, invited Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer of Springfield, Illinois.
In dr|i\ .■!• the address.
"Mr. Lincoln had become widely known through the debates between
himself and Stephen A. Douglas.
"To the first letter of invitation, written in July, no answer was re-
ceived, and a second letter written a few- weeks later broughl the following
reply :
" 'Dear Sir: — Reaching I ie after an absence of nine days 1 find yours
of the twelfth. I have also received that of July 27th: and to lie plain. I
disliked to decline the honor you tendered me. Two difficulties were in the
way — first, I could not well spare the time from the courts: and secondly,
I had no address of the sorl prepared, and could scarcely spare the time
to prepare one: and 1 was waiting, before answering yours, to determine
whether these difficulties could lie surmounted. I will write you definitely mi
the first of September, if you can safely delay so long.
"•Yours very truly. A. LINCOLN'.'
"Upon receipt of the letter my father, reading between the lines, thought
In- saw the real reason for the stand-off when he remembered that he had
said nothing about compensation in either of the previous letters, lie there-
upon wrote him again, saying he had neglected to mention in his former
letters that there would he a compensation of .^loO, which appeared to strike
him favorably, as in a few days a letter came to the effect that he was
phased to say that he had so arranged matters in the courts that he could
come.
"He came and delivered the address and j| appears in some of the lives
of Lincoln, interested as he was in the absorbing topics, of tiie day. he was
little adapted to a talk to farmers, and the address nave slight promise of
the wonderful heights to wh'ch his genius later mi attai I.
"His address was largely devoted to the desirability of steam plows, a
want that is now so happily filled by the modern tractor of which he seemed
to have a vision.
"He was careful in his address to avoid anything of a political nature
hut in the evening at the old Newhall House, to a select company of those
of his own faith, he freely held forth on the suliject that was nexl to his
heart.
".My father said he had given tie- letter to the Illinois State Historical
Society, and it is now in the Lincoln Memorial Collection at Springfield,
Illinois.
"Now conies to the writer, the i nt crest ' ng part of this matter. At the
San Francisco Exposition in 1915, entering the Lincoln .Memorial room in
the Illinois Building, my attention was attracted to a frame over which
LINCOLN IN .MILWAUKEE 163
was the inscription, 'Letters of Abraham Lincoln previous to I860.' Re-
membering the story often told by my father, I intuitively looked at the
letters under the glass in the frame and to my surprise and delight the
first one I saw was addressed to D. J. Powers."
There is more to the letter, but the rest is of a personal nature and
has no special bearing on this particular subject.
At the time of Lincoln's visit Milwaukee had a population of about
forty-six thousand.. The edge of town was at about Twelfth Street, and the
stand from which Lincoln spoke was probably close to what is now the
corner of Twelfth Street and Grand Avenue, or perhaps a little to the north
of this spot.
Mr. Lincoln on leaving the grounds was driven about the city. Accord-
ing to Mr. Richardson's recollection, he attracted comparatively little atten-
tion, and Mr. Richardson himself, with others, did not stay for more than
a part of the address at the Pair, little realizing that they were in the
presence of a later president of the United States and one of the greatest
figures of all time.
On October 4th, following Lincoln's address in .Milwaukee, he gave an
address during the afternoon at Beloit and during the evening af Janes-
ville, both being political addresses.
In view of the manner in which the Milwaukee papers handled Lincoln's
speech, it is unlikely that he was at that time considered seriously as a
candidate for the presidency. This reminder is found in the Carl Schurz
essay, "Abraham Lincoln" (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1891):
"As late as April, 1859, he had written to a friend who had approached
him on the subject that he did not think himself tit for the presidency.
The vice-presidency was then the limit of his ambition."
Lincoln's visit to Wisconsin on the occasion of his address at the State
Fair at Milwaukee in 1859 was his third to this state.
His first visit was in 1832 during his participation in the Black Hawk
war. He was among the first to respond to the call of Governor Reynolds
for volunteers to repel the invasion of Black [lawk. It is an early testi-
monial to Ins leadership that at the age of twenty-three he was chosen
captain by his fellow militiamen. His power over men was shown when he
defended an old Indian who strayed into camp and was detained because
the men though! he was a spy, and they wanted blood.
Before Lincoln's company go1 as far as Wisconsin, however, it was mus-
tered out; and on the same day (May l2Sthi he re-enlisted as a private in
the Independent Spj Company and with that organization crossed the state
line near Beloit on June 30, 1832.
With the company Lincoln pushed north, but they did not come in con-
tact with the enemy, and no fighting was done. On July 10th they wen1
'mustered out near Fort Atkinson, and returned home before the battles of
Wisconsin Heights ami Bad Axe, with which the Black Hawk war was
ended on August 2d. In all Lincoln spent about two weeks in Wisconsin
at that time.
The Black Hawk war episode was an important one in the life of the
1(1! HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
future president, because ii broughl him to the notice of Maj. John K. Stuart,
the Springfield lawyer, which resulted in the latter's giving Lincoln en-
couragemenl and assistance in his law studies, and in his inviting Lincoln
in 1837 to become his law partner.
The record of Lincoln's second visit to Wisconsin to which reference is
made also in Professor Olson's article is found largely in the "Historj of
Washington and Ozaukee Counties," 1881, Western Historical Company,
Chicago. The visil is more or less shrouded in mystery, If Lincoln did
come to Wisconsin, and it is very likely that he did, in the ligh.1 of what
follows, then of course he visited .Milwaukee also.
On page 508 of the "History" we read:
"The lirst dwelling house buill in the village was erected bj Gen.
(Wooster) Harrison in 1835. It is still standing (1881), apparently in a
good state of preservation. It is a little story-and-a-half frame building,
gable end. the silk resting on the ground. A partition divides the lirst floot
into two apartments, and also the upper or half story. It was at this bouse
that the first votes of the town were polled. This old and time worn si mc
ture has become one of the sacred relics of the past, commanding a prom-
inent phi.ee in the history of the town of Port Washington, not only on
account of the relation it hears to the first white settler of tin' village, bu1
because it once served as a shelter to one of America's greatesl states
men. It may he of interest to mention the fact that the greal and martyred
president, Abraham Lincoln, during his days of roughing it, once walked
from Milwaukee to Sheboygan, and stopped a night in this old house. After
the defeat of the Merrimac by the Monitor, .Mr. Lincoln, in company with
some of his Cabinet officers, visited Fortress Monroe to gel a practical knowl-
edge of the fort. While viewing the works, desiring some information, lie
approached an officer, who proved to he ('apt. Berger, from Port Washing-
ton. 'Well, my man.' said Lincoln, 'where are you from.'' 'Porl Wash
ington,' replied the Captain. 'Por1 Washington— le1 me see: that is in
Wisconsin about twenty-five miles north of Milwaukee is it not.'' The Cap-
tain answered that it was. "1 stopped there over night once.' said the
President; 'jusl name over some of tin' men who lived there in the early
days.' The Captain proceeded to name over quite a number, finally men
tioning thai of Harrison. 'Harrison, that is the man!' said .Mi-. Lincoln. I
remember him well.' He then walked off to join Ids escort, Leaving Capt.
Berger very much elated to think that his town hail been honored h\ the
presence of so great a man."
Harry W. Bolens, ex mayor of Port Washington, and a well known journal-
ist, in an interview in the Milwaukee Daily News during the year of the
Lincoln centenary (1909), supplemented this story. He said that the visit
occurred some time between 1836 and L840. Lincoln also visited Sheboygan,
Mi'. Bolens said. L't In returned at once to l'ort Washington and stopped
there for two days, during which ii he rented quarters for a law office
from General Harrison, This was in the fall. It was Lincoln's intention
to return in the spring, hut Hoods prevented all travel in the Middle West
LINCOLN' IX .MILWAUKEE 165
during the following year, rains continuing till early fall, so Lincoln sent
his regrets to Harrison and remained in Illinois.
Professor Olson thinks that all this may he true. The records show an
abnormally heavy rainfall during 1836. Furthermore, Ann Rutledge died
on August 25, 1835, the great tragedy of Lincoln's life. He was driven
nearly msane with grief, Ave read in all his biographies. Friends urged a
change of scene, and his Wisconsin trip probably resulted, there being
some weeks at this period in his life which none of his biographers can
account for satisfactorily.
In this connection, biographers and lecturers on Lincoln call attention
to his great liking for William Knox's poem "0, Why Should the Spirit
Of Mortal he Proud?" He often quoted passages from it during these
dark days.
(The first stanza is as follows:
[
Oh, why should the spirit of mortal he proud?
Like a swift-flitting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,
A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,
lie passeth from life to his rest in the grave.)
Carl Schurz, considering this great tragedy, writes in his essay on "Abra-
ham Lincoln" :
"In the meantime he had private sorrows and trials of a painfully afflict-
ing nature. He had loved and been loved by a fair and estimable girl, Ann
Rutledge, who died in the flower of her youth and beauty, and he mourned
her loss with such intensity of grief that his friends feared for his reason.
Recovering from his morbid depression, he bestowed what he thought a now
affection upon another lady, who refused him. And finally, moderately
prosperous in his worldly affairs, and having prospects of political distinc-
tion before him, he paid his addresses to Mary Todd, of Kentucky, and was
accepted. Bui then tormenting doubts of the genuineness of his own affec-
tion for her, of the compatibility of their characters, and of their future
happiness came upon him. His distress was so great that he felt li mself
in danger of suicide, and feared to carry a pocketknife with him ; and he
gave mortal offense to his bride by not appearing on the appointed wedding
day. Xow the torturing consciousness id' the wrong he had done her grew
unendurable. He won back her affection, ended the agony by marrying her,
and became a faithful and patient husband and a good father. Hut it was
no secret to those who knew the family well, that ins domestic life was full
of trials. The erratic temper of his wife not seldom put the gentleness of
his nature to the severest tests; and these troubles and struggles, which
accompanied him through all the vicissitudes of his life from the modest
home in Springfield to the White House at Washington, adding untold private
heartburnings to his public cares, and sometimes precipitating upon him
incredible embarrassments in the discharge of his public duties, form one of
the most pathetic features of his career."
Two years before Lincoln's trip through Milwaukee to Port Washing
166 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ton and Sheboygan, a pioneer Norwegian, EQeng Peerson, traveled alone
from Chicago to Milwaukee on foot, over the Chicago Green Bay Indian trail.
This trail had for sometime been used by the half-breed who packed the
mail on his back between the two lake shore poets. Peerson found only
Solomon Juneau ami one other white man at Milwaukee at thai lino-.
If Lincoln actually made tin- trip, as it seems likely that he did. it is
strange that no record of it has come down to us. Quite likely he spenl
less time here than at Port Washington, but Milwaukee was the more im-
portant post and without doubt even for a brief visit Lincoln would have
come in contact with more whites in Milwaukee than at the post further
up the lake shore.
Henry Bleyer is quoted in the Milwaukee Pree Press in .Mi-. Molarity's
article as saying that Lincoln met with little encouragement to settle either
here or at Port Washington at that time, and so returned to Illinois. And
as success came to him later in his native state, there was little likelihood
of his leaving; so that Wisconsin lost its opportunity of numbering the
Great Emancipator among its famous sons, if it ever had the opportunity.
Milwaukee achieves connection with Lincoln once more in the controversy
which raged in 1916 and 1917 over the Bernard statue of Lincoln. The Mil-
waukee Sentinel took part in this controversy and is quoted as follows by
the Literary Digest under date of February Id, 1917, the article appearing
in the "Art World"' of June of that year under the title of "A Mistake in
Bronze," which fj-ives a hint as to its purpose:
"The question arises (says the Sentinel), is it realism at all!1 Is it a faith-
ful presentment in bronze of the real Lincoln? That question is still fairly
capable of settlement, There are entirely credible and competent witnesses
now living who knew Lincoln in the flesh and remember perfectly well how
he looked — no difficult thing, for 'Old Abe' was a striking figure that, once
seen, was never forgotten.
"We have tried this test, by submitting to some who knew Lincoln in
life the appalling photographic cut of the production, which is supposed to
perpetuate for < Jincinnatians the appearance of Lincoln. The consensus of
usually indignant testimony is that it is fearfully and wonderfully unlike
Lincoln as they knew him.
"The sculptor seems to have evolved his conception of Lincoln out of
his inner consciousness, though he states that he was greatlj assisted by
Contemplating a man he met in Louisville, who was six feel EoUT and one-half
inches tall, who was horn not far from Lincoln's birthplace, and who had been
splitting rails all his life.
"The finished artistic result of these processes is one that, s,, far as our
own inquiries go, is calculated to stir to wrath and resentment those who
knew Mr. Lincoln in life and must be admitted to be competenl witnesses
as to his personal appearance.
"It is perfectly possible to combine good art with a respectable degree
of verisimilitude in these productions. If we are going to have statues of
Lincoln, a decent respect for tin' memory of 'Old Abe' seems in require that
thej resemble him, and are not Leaks of fancy that with a few alterations
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 167
might do duty as figures of [chabod Crane, or Dominic Sampson, or St.
Simeon Stylites on his penitential pillar."
A noble statue of Lincoln, seated, occupies the crest of the Upper Campus
hill at the State University of Madison, in front of Bascom Hall (formerly
known as "Main Hall") where it dominates the vista between the great
elms over the beautiful lawns. A mile to the east is the State Capitol, under
whose great dome is housed the machinery that keeps this great Common-
wealth functioning in our democracy, and toward which the spirit of Lincoln
gazes steadily out of the bronze eyes. It is one of the shrines of the State
of Wisconsin. It helps to shape the ideals of the thousands of young men
and young women from this Nation and cither nations who are training them-
selves for citizenship in the shadow of this great memorial.
Adolph Weinman is the sculptor, the original of which it is the replica
being at Hodgensville, Ky., Lincoln's birthplace. It is the Lincoln whom his
neighbors knew and loved, the statesman who piloted a nation through a great
war and then gave his own life on the altar to heal the breach caused by the
four years of bloody warfare.
Weinman was born in Germany in 1870, but came to this country at an
early age and was educated in the public schools of New York. He was a
pupil of St. Gaudens, another of the outstanding sculptors of the immortal
Lincoln.
A personal reminiscence by a Milwaukee man of the nomination of Lincoln
at the convention of 1860 may be of interest. Amherst W. Kellogg, a resident
of Wisconsin since 1836, was an eye-witness. The following is from an inter-
view given by him to the Milwaukee Sentinel on October 23, L'21 :
When Illinois presented the name of Abraham Lincoln I was much surprised
at the demonstration that occurred: however, when Seward was nominated by
New York he seemed to awaken even greater enthusiasm. Salmon P. Chase
was Ohio's favorite son; Edward Bates was .Missouri's choice; Pennsylvania
presented Simon Cameron. On the first ballot Seward had more votes than
any of the others, but not enough for a nomination. Before the second
ballot was taken Simon Cameron withdrew his name and his votes went to
Lincoln, who then almost equaled Seward's vote.
With the third ballot the excitement grew intense; state after state turned
over to Lincoln and lie seemed likely to succeed ; but we who had been keeping
tab found as the last vote was cast that he was two votes short of the number
necessary to nominate. Then just before the figures of the ballot were an-
nounced Carter of the Ohio delegation got the floor and shouted: "Ohio
changes four votes from Salmon I*. Chase to Abraham Lincoln.''
With that such a wave of emotion swept over the vast audience as I have
never seen in all my experience; women threw up their parasols and men their
hats. Though we were packed in so we could scarcely move, Mr. Daggett
(S. S. Daggett, also of Milwaukee, who was at that time seventy years old)
danced up and down like a boy. One man standing beside us, down whose face
the tears were pouring in streams, cried out: "I can't help it! I can't help it!
I've been working for him a week and I didn't really hope for it." Another
old man near us began to shout at the top of his voice: •'Glory, Glory Halle-
168 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
lujah ! Now, Lord, lettesi Thou Thy servanl deparl in peace, for mil yes
have seen the redempt on of Egypt" (as Southern Illinois was then called).
Meanwh;le the chairman of the convention, George Ashmun of Massa-
chusetts, moved thai the vote for Abraham Lincoln be made unanimous. With
that the enthusiasm broke out afresh and continued until the audience was
fairly exhausted.
Notwithstanding the impression made by Lincoln in his address at the
state Pair, the feeling of dismay which was common throughout the country,
as Carl Schurz rem mis us, dovibtless was shared by citizens of .Milwaukee
and Wisconsin when after Lincoln's election the Southern states s< ded and
war became imminent.
Mr. Schurz writes :
"Honest Abe Lincoln." who was so good-natured that he could not say
"no;" the greatest achievement of whose life hail been a debate on the
slavery question; who had never been in any position of power; who was with-
out the slightest experience of high executive dut'.es, ami who hail only a
speaking acquaintance with the men upon whose counsel anil cooperation he
was to depend. Nor was his accession to power under such circumstances
greeted with general confidence even by members of his party. While he hail
indeed won much popularity, many Republicans, especially among those who
had advocated Seward's nomination for the presidency, saw the simple '•Illi-
nois lawyer" take the reins of government with a feeling little short of
dismay. The orators ami journals of the opposition were ridiculing ami
lampooning him without measure. .Many people actually wondered how such
a man could dare to undertake a task which, as he himself had said to his
ueighbors in his parting speech, was "more difficult than that of Washington
himself had been."
The Gettysburg address is great, if short, hut the closing words of Lincoln's
second inaugural, Schurz says, are "like a sacred poem. No American presi-
dent hail ever spoken worils like these to the American people. Americans
never hail a president who found such words in the depths of his heart."
Let us consider Lincoln 's words :
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of
war may speedily pass away. Vet if God wills that it continue until all the
wealth piled up by the bondman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall he sunk,
and until every drop of blood drawn with the last shall be paid by another
drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said.
"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." With malice
toward none, with charity for all. with firmness in the righl as God gives us
to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in; to hind up the
Nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for
his widow and for his orphan ; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just
and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
And then the closing scenes of the war. The fall of Richmond, with Lincoln
himself entering the citj on font, where the slaves crowded about him. kissing
his hands and his garments, while tears streamed down his care-furrow ed
cheek's. Following cdose on the heels of the news of Lee \ surrender, came llie
LINCOLN IN MILWAUKEE 169
stunning' news of Lincoln's assassination. And all the civilized world wept
beside his coffin. The judgments of those mourning nations of his worth and
greatness have never been reversed.
The "History of Milwaukee," page 736, says:
"The city was hushed in grief. Silently and sorrowfully the buildings,
many of them still gaily flaunting the joyous decorations of the week before,
were clad in the habiliments of woe."
11 was the saddest week in Milwaukee's history.
Mayor Abner Kirby issued a proclamation, the day, April 15th, being the
hist of his term. This is what he said.
Mayor's Office, April 15 — The joy of the Nation is turned into mourning.
The Chef .Magistrate of our country is reported to have been slain at the
hands of an assassin, and the life of our Secretary of State taken by a still
more infamous hand. Therefore, I, Abner Kirby, Mayor of Milwaukee, do
hereby recommend that all the dwellings and business places of our city forth-
with be clad ill mourning as a token of the deep and common sorrow that
prevails; and that the people, abstaining from all excitement improper for
such solemn occasion, postpone their ordinary duties today, and that in all
the churches, tomorrow, such services be performed as will duly express the
great and general grief. ABNEB KIRBY, Mayor.
Word of the assassination, which occurred on Pr'.day night. April 14th,
did not reach .Milwaukee until the following day.
Issuance of the foregoing proclamation was Kirby's last official act. for
John J. Tallmadge was inaugurated as mayor immediately afterward. Tall-
madge's first public proclamation, which appeared on Tuesday, April 18th,
announced the public funeral, set for the following Thursday.
Services were held in all the churches between It and Id o'clock. The
procession was scheduled at 11 o'clock, but rain interfered and the sun did
not come out till afternoon, so that the procession did not start until •'! o'clock.
There was a hearse, and the following well-known Milwaukeeans acted as
pallbearers: Hans ( 'rocker, Jackson Hadley, Alexander Mitchell (later United
States senator). Angus Smith, John Bradford, James S. Brown, Doctor John-
son. John W. Cary and Mortiz Schoeffler.
There wen1 4,(10(1 persons in line, the procession being over a mile long,
while 40,000 more, with bared heads, lined the streets as the solemn pageant
passed to the accompaniment of dirges, tolling bells, muffled drums and the
firing of minute guns, the afternoon sun shedding its benign rays over all.
A great meeting on the Courthouse Square hail been arranged to take
place during the forenoon, but this too had to be postponed on account of
the downpour. Addresses were to have been made from three stands at
different parts of the grounds, three speakers being scheduled at each stand.
George II. Walker, founder of Milwaukee's South Side, was one of the
chairmen, and Senator Matt II. Carpenter was one of the speakers. These
eulogies had to be given indoors, meetings being held in the Plymouth Con-
gregational and the First Presbyterian Churches.
Milwaukeeans have a personal interest in the splendid Lincoln memorial
recently completed at Washington. Lyman II. Browne, for many years a
170 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
residenl of this city, informed the writer thai his brother-in-law, Fred Drew,
of Washington, I). C, was the contractor and builder.
Theodore <i. Joslin sonic time ago described the memorial in the Boston
Transcript, the article being reprinted in the Literary Digesl of December 20th,
1919. We read:
"A great axis planned scores of years ago is completed by the memorial.
At one end is the Capitol, containing the national legislative and judicial
bodies, which is a monument to the United States Government. A mile to
the westward, in the center of the axis, is the monument to Washington, who
established the Government. Terminating the axis is the new memorial to
Lincoln, who saved the Government."
The movement to establish the Lincoln memorial had its inception in
1867. The memorial, costing over two and a half million dollars, takes the
form of a monument symbolizing the union of the Nation, enclosing in the
walls of its sanctuary three memorials of the man. himself — one a statue 'of
heroic size expressing his humane personality; the others memorials of his
two great speeches, one of the Gettysburg address and the other his second
inaugural, each with attendant sculpture and painting telline; in allegory of
his splendid qualities evident in those speeches. William Howard Taft turned
the first spadeful of earth on Lincoln's birthday in 1H14.
CHAPTER XV
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN
In the process of assimilation, as exemplified in sections of the Middle West,
where, during the last half of the nineteenth century emigrants grouped
themselves in great numbers, striking social situations have been evolved
which either have escaped, or have been deemed unworthy, the attention of
the essayist and fiction writer.
Every phase of American life, susceptible to literary treatment, has- been
explored to the fullest, The conditions, characters and complications of a.
quaint New England village, of a peaceful Dutch settlement in New York
Stale, or a German county in Pennsylvania; the race problem and Creole life
of the South, and the thrilling picturesqueness of the western frontier — all
have been treated by author and poet.
The home-hunting foreigners, who came to the north central west, may
have tended to that prosaic industrialism which leaves no surface indications
of romance or dramatic situations, and yet upon closer analysis they reveal
in unique setting and scenery, life's drama in climaxes as compelling and
touching as those enacted in other parts of the new world.
Where the foreigners are sparsely sprinkled among the natives the absorp-
tion is necessarily rapid, but where those of similar racial origin have settled
in numbers, they cling tenaciously to language and customs, and stand out in
stronger contrast to social order of the native.
The assumption that the transition stages from a raw emigrant to a
fullHedged American citizen are colorless, or that the collective newcomer
merely offers in subdued colors a reproduction of old world customs and
mannerisms, might be wholly true if the foreigners wholly isolated themselves
from the natives. But where, in the commingling of foreign and native born,
the amalgamation proceeds along social as well as economic and civic lines,
the element of conflict and heart interest become pronounced and appealing.
The clashes between foreign and native tradition, between old and new
world conceptions are bound to ignite the sparks of prejudice and hatred.
In the manifest course of human adjustment many situations are created
in which tolerance and the nobler impulses of man may come vividly into
play. The writer has here seen an unplowed held rich in material and setting
for the dramatist and novelist.
In thus directing attention to what seems to the author an unexplored, or
at least only partially explored field tor study and treatment, he is convinced
that much, in the inner struggles and outward movements of the emigrant,
during the transition period, constitutes an essential factor in American life,
171
i
THE n[.D MATHEW STEIN GUN SHOP ON MARKET SQUARE IN" THE LATEE
'40s -VXD KAK'I.V '50s
See "lil Town Pump to the left below
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 173
and is therefore worthy of permanent record. Admirat'on is aroused when
the progress of the emigrant is contemplated, when his preconceptions per-
ceptibly have yielded to openmindedness, when alienism has faded into a
sturdy loyally to American institutions, when the humblest and must unpromis-
ing lies linings are followed by useful service and valuable contributions to
the prestige, power and prosperity of the nation.
Racial Complexion. — It would be difficult to establish with any degree of
accuracy the racial origin of the population. That is, it would be practically
impossible to deal in exact figures, separating the native from the foreign
horn and at the same time trace the ancestry of the native born. Yet we may
venture appropriate figures based upon the various sources of information that
nave been at our command.
Before doing so. it may be well to ascertain the probable order and the
periods in which the different nationalities made the r appearance. Tin.'
Indian, the primitive man, was first joined by the French Canadian. Then
came the Anglo-American from the New England states and the so-called
Knickerbockers, Dutch descendants from New York state. The "New England
Society" and the "Sons of New York" flourished for several years as social
and patriotic bodies.
Tiie Easterners wen' followed in large numbers by the Irish and Germans,
with a sprinkling of Scandinavians. Hollanders, Bohemians and Austrians
In the period from 1S44 to 1878 the German immigration outnumbered all
other nationalities. During the latter part of this period the Polish immigra-
tion began to secure momentum, continuing for some years. While the emigra-
tion from Central Europe declined, the peoples from eastern and southern
Europe began to turn towards the United States and Milwaukee received a
goodly number of them.
Those coming from eastern and southern Austria-Hungary included Sla-
vonians, Croatians and Hungarians. The Slovaks and Serbs came somewhat
later. During the past thirty years there has also been a steady but some-
what meager influx of Italians, Greeks and Russians.
Composition of the Population. — Prof. Lawrence M. Larson, in his review,
remarks that "Milwaukee is a cosmopolitan city. She has drawn her citizen-
ship from all parts of the civilized world. In the old Third ward, once the
heart of the city, the Italian now (LUIS) reigns supreme; while in Kilbourn-
town the African and the Russian .Jew have inherited the earth. On the
South side of the city the Poles arc the strongest, numbering more than
90,000 and controlling two or three wards. The Scandinavian elements are
located principally on the south side. Greeks and Hungarians have their rep-
resentatives in the city, and occasional Asiatics may also be found. The more
distinctly American population is found in greatesl numbers on the East side
and in the southern part of the West side. But most numerous of all is the
German element. It is estimated that at least 200,000 Germans, native born or
of German parentage, live in Milwaukee.
"It is therefore inevitable," continues Professor Larson, "that the city
should display certain prominent foreign characteristics. On the religious side
these are particularly evident. Stronger than all the Protestant churches
combined is the Catholic church with its large German, Polish, Irish ami
171 HISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
[taliaii parishes. Of the Protestants more than half belong to the Lutheran
churches, mainly Germans and Scandinavians. The presence of these two
powerful organizations lias treated an interesting situation in the system of
elementary schools. About forty per rent of the total school attendance is
found in the parochial schools. Alongside of the public school system has
grown up therefore, a group of rival systems entirely independent of the
former. ' '
Language Difficulties of the Immigrants. — The first obstacle met with by
the newly arriving immigrants was the diversity of languages among them
The acquisition of the English language by foreigners was of course a neces-
sity, but it often proved a very difficult task for the older men and women.
The children, however, quickly learned to speak and write it. and families
gradually dropped the use of their native forms of speech, ami thus could co-
operate with their neighbors in affairs of business and government. The estab-
lishment of schools for the young was the chief agency in this amalgamating
process, and few neighborhoods were without a schoolhouse and teachers, even
in the earliest stages of settlement.
Thus was developed a community spirit of vital importance in the main-
tenance of our American form of government and its institutions. Americans
indeed have made language a more powerful nationalizing instrument, says
a recent writer, than even the English people themselves have I n able to
do in their own country. The same writer goes on to say that the old stock
of native born Americans have been largely replaced by the newly arriving
elements from foreign countries, now represented in our population; and
that the nationalizing processes have been of such a thoroughgoing character
as to produce a new type spoken in a purer language than that in use in the
country of its birth.
"Political and social institutions in the United States," continues the
writer above mentioned, "have a quality which speedily transmutes various
types into one type, the public school probably being the most powerful of
them. "
The German Immigration. —" When .Milwaukee was but a small cluster of
houses in the early thirties," writes II. E. Legler in his volume, "Leading
Events of Wisconsin History," "Germans had made their home in the village.
but it was not until a decade later that colonists began to arrive ii nsider-
able numbers from the fatherland. Political disturbances at I sent many
id' them over the ocean, and the low price of land and liberal laws of Wiscon-
sin attracted many of them to this territory. Between 1840 and 1848
pamphlets and books describing the resources and favorable climatic condi-
tions of Wisconsin were circulated in greal numbers in some parts of Germany,
and undoubtedly greatly influenced intending settlers to seek tin' golden
Northwest. In the Rhine region, in the Wupper valley and in the duchy
of Brunswick these guides for immigrants found especially eager readers.
".Milwaukee soon became known as the German Athens of America, but
the German population of Wisconsin was not confined to the chit' citj of
the territory. The wooded sections aloni;- the lake shore and In the inteii
attracted large numbers of h seekers. The early German settlers were
mostly of the Catholic faith, but In the early forties I'omerania and luanden
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 17.".
burg, as the result of religious contentions, lost many of their people, and
their leaders directed many of them to Wisconsin."
Prominent among the citizens of Wisconsin who were born in Germany
was Carl Schurz whose political career opened in this state when he was yet
a young man of twenty-seven. He settled at Watertown, Wis., in 1856, and
became prominent in the republican party of the state. He had received a
good education in his native country, and after his arrival began the study
of law. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1858, and began the prac-
tice of law in Milwaukee. In the Republican National Convention of 1860,
he was chairman of the Wisconsin delegation which voted for William II.
Seward for the presidential nomination. He was a member of the committee
appointed to notify Mr. Lincoln of his nomination. In 1861, he was sent as
minister to Spain, but lie returned In the United States in the following year
and was commissioned brigadier general. As a commander of division he
took part in the second battle of Bull Run. He was promoted to the rank
of major general and was present at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg
and at Chattanooga.
After the close of hostilities he resigned his commission and thereafter
became identified with .Missouri affairs. From 1869 to 1875, he was United
States senator from Missouri, and in 1S77 he was secretary of the interior
in President Hayes' cabinet. In 1881, he removed to New York City where
he became engaged in editorial work, and died there in 1906.
A most interesting study of Wisconsin's German element, by Kate A.
Everest, is printed in Volume XII of the Wisconsin Historical Collections. "In
the Western States many large German settlements were formed," she says,
"especially in Ohio, but they did not become centers of attraction, nor of
any political importance. The masses of colonists hail German sentiments, hut
not the German ideals. They would not suffer themselves to be directed by
their countrymen, especially since the leaders, who were often idealists and
free-thinkers, were men far removed from the general German sentiment ; but
the immigrants settled rather where business interests were most favorable.
"The general sentiment of later years is well expressed by Priedrich Kapp
and Carl Schurz. 'The well-being of the Germans,' says Kapp, 'does not lie
in separation from the American educational interests nor in fantastic dreams
of founding a German state in America — a German Utopia. A German
nation within the American they cannot be, but they can throw the rich
treasures of their life and thought into the struggle for political and human
interests, and their influence will penetrate the more deeply and create for
them a wider field of activity, the less peculiar they make it.' '
In a speech by Carl Schurz in New York he expressed himself as follows:
"Let us never forget that we as Germans are not called upon here to form a
separate nationality, but rather to contribute to the American nationality
the strongest there is in us. and in place of our weakness to substitute the
strength wherein our fellow Americans excel us, and to blend it with our
wisdom. We should never forgel that in the political life id' this republic
we as Germans have no peculiar interests, hut that the universal well-being
is ours also."
These sentiments were held and expressed by eminent writers and pub-
OLD CREAM CITY BASEBALL CLUB— 1869
Archie McFadden, M. Lumkin, I'.. C. Wells. \Y. II. Dodsworth, \V. ( . Smith, George Redding,
.1. II. \Y I. K. A. Smith. t . S. Norris.
OLD Rl FUS KING RESIDEN< i:
Northeast corner Mason and Van Buren Btreets. Built 1 > v Henry Williams, 1838
IMMIGRATION AND EACE ORIGIN 177
lieists many years ago and are still held by the clear-thinking men of our later
time. We honor the German element in our population, and that element in
turn forms a most valuable ingredient in the development of the "one hundred
per cent Americanism" of Wisconsin people.
Native versus Foreign Bern. — The attitude which obtained among the
Germans, and the reciprocal prejudice which the native and foreign born
entertained for each other, were some years later well expressed by Hugo
Miinsterberg, who said:
"The German immigrant can justly claim to be a respectable and very
desirable element of the American population ; he has stood always on the
side of solid work and honesty; he has brought skill and energy over the
ocean, and he has not forgotten his music and his joyfulness; he is not second
to any one in his devotion to the duties of a citizen in peace and in war, and
without his aid many of America's industrial, commercial, and technical
triumphs would be unknown.
"But all that does not disprove the fact that he is often somewhat unfit
to judge fairly the life which surrounds him. First, lie belongs almost always
to a social stratum in which the attention is fully absorbed by the external
life of a country, and which is without feeling for the achievements of its
mental life; he was poor in his fatherland, and lives comfortably here, and
thus he is enthusiastic over the material life, praises the railroads and the
hotels, the bridges and mills, but does not even try to judge of the libraries
and universities, the museums and the hospitals.
"On the other hand, he feels socially in the background; he is the 'Dutch-
man,' who, through his bad English, through his habits and manners, through
his tastes and pleasures, is different from the majority, and therefore set apart
as a citizen of second rank, if not slighted, at least kept in social isolation.
On the side of the German, the result of this, situation is often an entire
ignorance of the Anglo-American life.
"But there were more important factors — industry and civic virtues,
which, brought from Germany, helped to build up the land and the nation,
and it is unfair to stamp the German-American as a citizen of second rank
and thus to isolate him socially."
In placing an estimate upon the American the same writer says: "What
most quickly misleads is, doubtless, his consuming interest in money-making,
together with the sharp struggle for existence, the gigantic scale of his
undertakings, his hasty, impulsive movements, his taste for strong sensational
stimuli, his spoils politics, and the influence of corporations upon his legis-
lation. But is not all that merely the surface view? The American is not
greedy for money; if he were, he would not give away his wealth with such
a liberal hand, and would not put aside all the unidealistic European schemes
of money-making which exclude individual initiative, as, for instance, the
pursuit of dowries, or, on a lower level, the tipping system.
"The American runs after money primarily for the pleasure of the chase;
it is the spirit of enterprise that spurs him on, the desire to make use of his
energies, to realize his personality. And there is one other factor: in a country
where political conditions have excluded titles and orders and social distinc-
tions in general, money is in the end the only means of social discrimination,
178 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
iinil financial success becomes thus the measuremenl of the ability of the in-
dividual and of his power to realize himself in action. That the struggle for
existence is sharper here than in Europe is simply a fairy tale. In a country
where the greatesl enterprises are undertaken in the service of charity, and
where the natural resources of the land are inexhaustible, even the lowest
classes do not struggle for existence, but, seen from the Continental stand-
point, merely for comfort; of this the lyrical character of the discussions of
social problems here compared with their dramatic character in Germany
gives the fullest evidence.
"■But the most amusing misunderstanding arises when the American him-
self thinks that he proves the purely practical character of his life by the
eagerness with which he saxes his time, on the ground that 'time is money.'
It strikes me that, next to the public funds, nothing is so much wasted here
as time. Whether it is wasted in reading the endless newspaper reports of
murder trials or in sitting on the base-ball grounds, in watching a variety
show or in lying in bed, in waiting for the elevator or in being shaved after
the American fashion, in attending receptions or in enjoying committee meet
ings, is quite unessential.
"The whole scheme of American education is only possible in a country
which is rich enough not to need any economy of time, and which can there
fore allow itself the luxury of not asking at what age a young man begins
to earn his own living. The American shopkeeper opens his store daily one
hour later than the German tradesman, and the American physician opens
his office three years later than his German colleague of equal education.
This may be very good, hut it is a prodigality of time which the Germans
would he unable to imitate.
"Add to it tin' American's gratefulness and generosity, his elasticity and
his frankness, his cleanliness and his chastity, his humor and his fairness;
consider the vividness of his religious emotion, his interest in religious and
metaphysical speculation, his eagerness always to realize the besl results of
science — in short, look amund everywhere without prejudice, and yon eannol
doubt that behind the terrifying mask of the selfish realist breathes the
idealist, who is controlled by a belief in ethical values.
"Undeniably, every one of these characteristics may develop into an ah
surdity; gratitude may transform the capture of a merchant vessel into a
naval triumph, speculative desire may run into the blind alleys of spiritualism,
fairness may lead to tin' defense of the most cranky schemes, and the wish
for steady improvements may chase the reformer from one fad to another;
and yet it is all at bottom the purest idealism.
"Whenever I have written about America for my German countrymen,
1 have said: 'You are righl to hate that selfish, brutal, corrupt, vulgar
American who lives in your imagination; hut the true American is at least
as much an idealist as yourself, and Emerson comes nearer to representing
his spirit than do the editorial writers of the New York Journal.' If 1 had
to draw the American with a few lines, I should emphasize three mental
elements,
" 'All the essential features of his public life spring from the spirit of self
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 179
determination, which was developed by his separation from his mother
country; the features of his economic life, from the spirit of self-activity which
was developed by his pioneer life ; and the features of his intellectual life
from the spirit of self-perfection, which has partly a utilitarian and partly
Puritan origin.' Every one of these three strong tendencies involves dangers,
but essentially they are forces of purely idealistic poAver."
The Story of an Old Neighborhood. — The older section of the city known
as the Lower East Side was described in a paper before the Old Settlers' Club
some years ago by William George Bruce as follows:
"The section of the city now known as the lower Seventh and First
wards is not only one of the oldest but also one of the most interesting as far
as its earlier history is concerned. It possessed a community life seventy years
ago that was peculiarly its own, and was in its time the very heart of the
small city. While the upper and eastern part of the ward, known as Yankee
Hill, was the residence district of the better conditioned, the lower part was
the industrial and commercial centre.
"It was the home of the mechanic, the laborer, the small shop keeper, and
the small manufacturer. Everybody knew everybody else. The policeman
wore no uniform but lie was known by everybody in town. Every physician,
preacher and lawyer was known by everybody. The names and location of
streets were as familiar to everyone as the alphabet.
"To tell the story of this section means after all only to say something in
a fragmentary way of some of the people who resided there and who were
a part and parcel of its activities; to recall names that later figured in the
life and traffic of the city. Again, such a story must be told from the stand-
point of recollections and the vision and views of a child — a condition of life
as seen by a small boy and remembered as a man.
"My earliest recollections take me back as a four year old boy peering out
of the windows of my grandfather's old home on East Water Street near the
corner of Johnson Street, a two storied wooden structure with, a moss covered
roof, slanting towards the street. Large locust trees shaded the cottage which
sat back a respectable distance from the street and gave the immediate
neighborhood a village air.
"This section of the city was distinguished from the others in point of
nationality in that its residents were in the main German-born. The people
residing on the hill and who were known as Yankees, came from New York
and the New England states. That portion lying to the south of the hill and
known as the Third Ward was almost wholly settled by the Irish as they
landed here.
"The Know-nothing movement which had its inception in the East and
which swept across the country in early '50s found some expression here.
The Germans of this neighborhood were obliged to hear the cry 'Damn the
Dutch,' and the constant influx of both Germans and Irish gave the Yankee
element some concern. But, when these foreigners began to manifest their
thrift and industry, adding to the growth and development of the city, and
incidentally adding to the wealth of so-called Yankee element, the motto
'America for Americans' became more faint and finally died out.
JOHN POLLWORTH'S HOME RESTAURANT
Located ai No. 2 Grand Avenue and established in L846
WISCONSIN STREET
The dwellings i<> the ri^lii gave way ;>» ;i — i t « - for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
i < • 1 1 1 1 • .- 1 1 1 \ Building.
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 181
"The Larger industries which clustered in the valley at that time were
Mabbett's lumber yard, Elmore's coal yard, Higby's elevator, Bertchy's mill,
the old Davidson ship yard and the Pierrou Pottery. It was the small indus-
tries, however, that thrived more actively. The machine had not yet come
into use as a potent factor in manufacturing products. Shoes were made by
the shoemaker who took the measurements of the foot, the tinsmith made
the pots and kettles, the cooper made washtubs, etc.
"The German market at the corner of East Water and Division streets,
now known as Juneau Avenue, was a bee hive in small trade. It was more
popularly known as the 'Green Market,' a designation which had its origin
from the green vegetables which formed the principal commodity. The good
housewives from all sections of the city came here to get the provisions, their
vegetables and dairy products.
"The hills now forming the handsomest residence districts in the First
and Sixth wards then were the choice grazing grounds for the cattle that fur-
nished the butter and cheese that was sold by the market women. The little
back yard gardens on the northside provided the cabbages, onions and lettuce
which was brought in wagon loads to the market before sunrise each morning.
"The market life, aside from its congenial commercialism, had its interest-
ing phases. The market men and women were not devoid of that human
interest which embraces the liveliest gossip and which concerns itself with
everything from the merry wedding bells to the solemn strains of a recpiiem.
It was the clearing house for the news of the day and when the good house-
wife carried home the day's provender in her basket she took with her also
the town gossip of the day.
"Many of the small vendors and hucksters of the Green Market later
became well to do business men and in course of time retired with a hand-
some competency. Their sons in many instances are now among the important
merchants and manufacturers of the city. Their daughters are the wives of
some of the most prosperous men in the community.
The Main Street. — East Water Street from Wisconsin Street to Juneau
Avenue was like the main street of a country town. There was the butcher,
the baker, and the candlestick maker; the small dry goods merchant, the
druggist and the hotel keeper.
At the corner of Biddle Street was Hoffmann's butcher shop. The owner
of this small shop was none other than John Hoffmann, later the head of John
Hoffmann Sons & Co.. the wholesale grocery house. Across the street was the
small retail grocery store of John Wellauer, who later with John Hoffmann:
founded the great grocery house above mentioned.
"Further down the street were John Poss, the butcher; Krauthoefcr, the
shoemaker; Boeshaar and Manschot, the cobblers; Stephen Hoff, the grocer,
the father of Stephen II. Hoff, later of Ilackett, Hoff & Thiermann ; Higler,
the second hand man, father of James A. Higler, manager of the Alhambra
Theater; Koch's barber shop, owned by the father of William Koch, a promi-
nent musician; Chaintron, the dyer; Gebhardt and Hubmann, the bakers;
Memminger's restaurant conducted by the father of the late Fire Chief Mem
minger; Wiese's drug store; Grosch's horse shoeing shop; Friedberg's notion
182 HISTORY OK U ILWAI'KEH
store, conducted by the father of Joseph Friedberg, later manager of the
Friend Bros. Clothing Co.; Mittendorf's milliner simp. etc.
"At the German markai a modesl booth in Yankee notions was conducted
by the mother of Bishop A. P. Schinner; Oscar F. Miller the late manager of
the Alhambra Theater was born and raised on Markel Street ; a curly headed
handsome lad raised in the same neighborhood, later Judge John C. Ludwig;
Hans .!. and Max Grove the show printers saw their boyhood days here; the
immediate relatives of Solomon Juneau resided here; the Geilfuss family from
which A. B. and Frank Geilfuss sprang, lived in Hi is vicinity, etc.
The Old Pierron Pottery. — There was a time when Milwaukee promised
to be a greal pottery center. Clay was brought in vessel loads across the lake
from Ohio and eastern points and loaded on the docks at the fool of Johnson
Street. Here it was taken to the Pierron Pottery, for a time known as the
Hermann Pottery, aud turned into jars and jugs. These were set out on the
streets and back yards to dry and were then placed into large kilns to be
burned into solid earthenware.
"At night the heavens would blaze in scarlet red from the heat which
shot forth from the great kilns as an emblem of useful industry. These kilns
were for years fed with the choicest maple wood brought in by the farmers
from the neighboring country districts.
"The interior life and activities of the pottery was intensely German in
character. The men who were gathered here had come from different portions
of Germany, but principally from South Germany. They possessed all the
prejudices of a divided Germany. The Bavarian who came from South Ger-
many had no particular love for the Mecklenburger who came from Northern
Germany. They differed in religion, in politics, and in their social views
They were known to each other as Hans, Fritz or Michel, or else as the Prus-
sian, the Bavarian, the Hannoverian, the Pommeranian, etc.
"They enjoyed their pint of beer during the several luncheon periods of
the day, denounced the money grasping Y'ankee and the corruption in Ameri-
can public life and incidentally praised the solidity of Germany's officialdom
and the beauties of their native villages.
"The pottery industry thrived until the competition from Akron and other
Ohio points became too strong, and what was once a thriving local industry
has been converted into a warehouse and distributing center for Ohio pottery."
Polish Immigration. -The immigration of Poles had its beginning in the
early '60s. A few families came and settled on the lower east side towards
the south. The tide of immigration secured its real momentum, however, in
the early '70s of the last century when a great number of Poles arrived daily.
The old Hoed Street Station was the scene of their coming.
William George Bruce, in an article published in one of the local news-
papers offers this description of the advent of the Polish immigrants: "We
deemed it one of the sights to behold these anxious men and women and
abashed children nestled among the boxes, bundles and bedding of an old
world household, awaiting transfer to a permanent abode. Usually a ricket \
express wagon took them to the southern limits of the city which up to this
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 183
time had only been sparsely populated. They were travel stained, poor and
ignorant, but they were hopeful, courageous and ambitious.
"The wooded lands south of Greenfield Avenue were soon transformed
into a vast area of cottages with high basements accommodating two families,
with gardens in the rear and some shrubbery and a rest bench in the front.
"Their life in a new world began. Everybody went to work. The men
dug sewer trenches, built streets, bridges and houses. The boys and girls
entered the factories and mills and stores. Many of the married women
went out to do a day's washing in addition to doing their daily housework.
"They imbibed the American spirit. Progress was in the air. With the
passing of time the rising generation performed more exacting duties in the
industrial and commercial life of the city. They entered the skilled trades.
Some of the young men entered the professions. Others went into the chan-
nels of trade, still others into the public service, until there are among the
present generation young lawyers, physicians, judges and representatives in
the city, county, state and national legislative bodies.
"The Poles also settled upon the east and the north sides of the city. The
colony on the south side is by far the larger. These several colonies, aggre-
gating a population of approximately one hundred thousand, note the progress
of the Polish-American by thousands of neat and cozy homes and the mar-
velous size and beauty of their churches."
Mr. Bruce, in discussing the tendency of the Polish element to colonize,
says: "If the Polish-Americans have colonized in certain sections of American
cities, it has been clone in response to expedience rather than from a desire
to foster isolation. Their colonies or neighborhoods not only manifest from
within an intense progress in the various activities that make for a modern
city, but they are an essential part of the community as a whole."
He adds: "There is a disposition on the part of those of other nationali-
ties to ridicule Polish names. In the days of political conventions it was not
uncommon to resort to laughter and jeers when the names of the Polish-
American delegates were read. I took occasion to remind one of these con-
ventions that these names were no more subject to laughter than were any
series of German, Irish, or Scandinavian names. These names had been in-
herited from honorable fathers and mothers, were borne by the families of the
present generations and hence were sacred to them. The convention there-
after indulged in no more laughter at the mention of Polish names. In his
home life the Pole may foster the traditions and the nobler impulses of a
mother country, but in his economic and civic life he is an American."
In discussing the advancement by the Polish-American element, the same
author says: "My evening walks frequently extend into the southern part of
the south side and when I contrast the scenes which attended the earlier
Polish immigration at the railway station with the thousands of clean and
comfortable homes, magnificent churches and schools, the business blocks on
Mitchell Street, Kosciuszko Park and the many beautiful streets which char-
acterize the Polish section, I am thrilled with the transformation that has
taken place. Here is the evidence, eloquently demonstrated, that the Polish
immigrants were industrious and thrifty, law abiding and God fearing, and
SiWl
. i- r'rir, -.- J^"'*V~L^S'|l'WiB'lF lniYVI M I
"i 1 1,-..: nSn»^''iri|iMr,iiiii i
*H9
I!W B ffl B IMS
j^aJp is 1*1
Usi
8 fell
THE OLD MILWAUKEE HOUSE, WHERE THE FIRST PASSENGER ON THE UNDER-
GROUND RAILWAY ARRIVED IN SLAVERY DAYS
(From ;, wood cut in Milwaukee Under the < barter, published in L884)
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 185
that to tlic best of their ability, they arc making their contribution to the
progress of the city and to American civilizat'on as a whole."
While many of the Poles hail from Austria and Russia, the larger number
come from what was the grand duchy of Posen, formerly a part of Germany.
A number of Poles, specially those formerly residing on Jones Island, were
known as "Kashubes" who have their own peculiar dialect and customs and
came from a northeast section of German-Poland.
Monsignor Goral, in a chapter on the Poles in Milwaukee, says, "Whoever
is closely acquainted with the psychology of the Polish nation will readily
understand why it always has been, and still continues to be, the ambition of
the Poles to organize a parish and to have their own school and church when-
ever the numbers warrant it. It is admitted by all that at least ninety-five per
cent of the Poles are Catholics. There is probably no other nation on God's
earth that loves so fanatically and clings so tenaciously to its language and
national traditions as the Poles do. Woe to those that would ever dare to
conspire against this most sacred heritage of theirs!"
The Jewish Pioneers.-— The first Israelite to come to Wisconsin was Jacob
Franks who settled in Green Bay in 1704. He was an agent of the Canadian
Fur Company and became one of the enterprising men of that settlement.
Franks and Meyer Levi of La Crosse, concerned themselves in the erection
of the first sawmills in the territory then known as Wisconsin.
Isador S. Horwitz, who is the acknowledged historian of the Jewish element
in Wisconsin, says that the arrival of Jews in Milwaukee had its beginning
in the early '40s. The records of those years reveal a number of Jewish
names. Among the first and most prominent among them were1 the Sehoyer
brothers. Gabriel Sehoyer, the older, conducted a mercantile enterprise on
East Water Street for a number of years.
In the year 5610. according to the Jewish calendar, or in the year 1S47, the
beginning for a Jewish Synagogue with ten members was made. The first
religious services were held on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashona, and the
feast of Torn Kippur.
The synagogue was at first located at the home of Henry Neuhaus ami a
year later at the home of Isaac Neustadel. In 1849 the first regular Jewish
congregation was formed and located over a small store on Chestnut Street
conducted by Nathan Pereles. Gabriel Sehoyer became president of the con-
gregation and Solomon Adler its secretary. The congregation later erected
the Temple Emanu-El on Broadway and Johnson Street.
The first Jews to arrive here were of English and Holland birth and later
came the Bohemian and German. The Russian Jews who are represented in
larger numbers came at a later period and colonized in the area hounded by
Chestnut, Center, Third and Sixteenth streets.
The Jewish worshipping places are Emanu-El and B'ne Jeshurum (Re-
form), Beth Israel, Anshe Stard, Anshe Lebowita, Moshab Zkenim, Anshe
Ungarn, Degel Israel, Agudath Ahim and Beth Hamedrosh Hagodel (Ortho-
dox).
Italian Immigration. — The Italian population is estimated at nine thousand,
of which probably one-quarter is American born. The greater number live
186 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
in the districl bounded by Michigan Street, Broadway, the hike and the river.
They are mostly Sicilians who came from the Province of Palermo. The
Italians residing elsewhere "in the city come from south, central and north
Italy.
Fully seventy-live per cent of the Italians of the city are common laborers.
The number of skilled mechanics and small tradesmen is minor. (!. La Piana,
who in 1915 made a survey of the Italian population in Milwaukee, stales thai
many of those who had been farmers, fishermen and mechanics in their native
laud, had been obliged to resort to common labor in this country. Ee claims
that the difference in language and usage in a new country lias been respon-
sible for this condition.
This explanation, however, must be deemed insufficient. Some years ago
(1912) the editor of this volume met a distinguished Italian nobleman in
Rome who was much concerned in the progress of the 7,000,000 Italians who
had left their native land and were now settled in different countries of the
world.
"We have just held a convention here in Rome" said the nobleman, "of
delegates who came from all parts of the world for Hie purpose of advancing
the interests of Italians who had left their mother country.
"It is a pecular fact that our Italian emigrants are not sharing adequately
in the economic fruits of their adopted countries. They colonize, for in-
stance, in the American cities, and at the same time isolate themselves from
the life and activities about them. They continue to eat Italian food, drink-
Italian wines, and sing Italian songs. This is all very well. But they should
assimilate some of the customs, habits and ways of their new surroundings.
"Italians who live in America should become Americans, in England become
Englishmen, in Prance become Frenchmen, in Germany become Germans. They
should, as do other nationalities, find their way into the commercial, indus-
trial, professional and political activities of their adopted countries, and share,
adequately in the material and civic advantages afforded them.
"The object of this international convention, which was under the patron-
age of the Queen of Italy," said the nobleman, "was to stimulate our country-
men in distant lands to make for greater material and civic progress and thus
secure a more adequate share of the world's material blessings."
Skandinavian Element. — Among the immigrants who came to Milwaukee
in the '40s and '50s there was a liberal sprinkling of Skandinavians, particu-
larly of Norwegians. Upon lauding they lived for a time on the lower east
side. Later, as their numbers grew, they settled on the central and eastern
part of the south side. Many of them became identified with the marine
activities. They excelled as seamen and fishermen, and in some ef the me-
chanic arts. A number of them owned vessel property and became well to do.
They founded a number of churches, sonic of which have discarded the native
tongue, and employ only the English language in their sermons. When the
tide of Skandinavian immigration was directed to Minnesota it practically
ceased here.
Negro Population. The negro population compared with that of other
American cities has always been rather small. At no time did the number
IMMIGRATION AND RACE ORIGIN 187
exceed the three thousand mark. When the leading hotels some years ago
dispensed with colored help the population dwindled to even a smaller num-
ber. During the World war, when white labor was at a premium, several of
the larger manufacturing concerns brought several hundred negroes from the
South. Some of these have returned to their native states again.
Variety of Nationalities. — During the World war in 1918 a local patriotic
woman's committee made a survey of the city and located the foreign born,
and the districts in which they dwelled without, however, dealing in any
statistics or attempting to separate accurately the native from the foreign
born. They prepared an interesting chart showing the sections where the
foreign born resided indicating proportionately their race origin.
Aside from the native born, some twenty nationalities were represented
as follows: Albanian, Anglo-Saxon, Armenian, and Syrian, Austrian and
Hungarian, Belgian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Colored, Croatian, Czechoslovakia,
English, German, Greek, Hebrew, Holland, Irish, Italian, Polish, Roumanian,
Russian, Scandinavian, Scotch, Serbian, Slovene, Welsh, Dalmatia, Ukriane,
Macedonian, Turkish (thirty-one nationalities). Recording also the following
scattering nationalities: Arabians, Canadians, Finns, French, Lithuanian.
Spanish and Swiss (thirty-seven nationalities in all).
The Census Bureau gave out the following statistics regarding the country
of birth of foreign born white for Milwaukee for the year 1920:
Total foreign-bom white 110,068
England 1,968
Scotland 589
Wales 252
Ireland 1,447
Norway 1,852
Sweden Sli:!
Denmark 732
Belgium 109
France (incl. Alsace-Lorraine) 565
Luxemburg 164
Netherlands 528
Switzerland 931
Germany 39,576
Poland 23,060
Austria 5,906
Hungary 4, SOI!
Czechoslovakia 4,497
Jugo-Slavia 4.359
Russia 7,105
Finland 147
Lithuania 398
Portugal 7
Spain 43
Italy 4,022
188 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
Greece 1,815
Bulgaria 53
Roumania r 633
Turkey, Europe II
other Europe 283
Asia 386
Africa 14
Australia 37
Canada, French 22:;
Canada, Other 1,830
Newfoundland 26
Cuba and other West Indies 29
Mexico 36
Centra] America 4
South America 4-")
Atlantic Islands 4
Pacific Islands 8
At Sea 82
( 'ountry not specified 623
These figures are based on a population of approximately four hundred
and sixty-five thousand. Basing the population of city and county in round
numbers at one-half million, the proportion of nationalities will probably
undergo but slight changes. On the whole it may be safe, assuming that cities
like Cudahy, South Milwaukee and West Allis have large percentages of
foreign horn, to fix the entire foreign horn population at 125,000 and the native
horn at 375,000.
The census of 1920 fixed the citizenship of foreign-born white men at
50,856, the number of those naturalized at 27.44s, and those who had taken
out their first papers a1 12,454, leaving the number of aliens at 14,7:!1. with
1,953 unreported.
CHAPTER XVI
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS
A compilation of dates relating' to the beginning' of things in the several
activities of men, the inauguration of movements, establishment of enter-
prises and institutions, events and occurrences was made in 1915 and am-
plified since then by John R. Wolf, a Milwaukee journalist, as follows :
Advertising.— March 15, 1890— First whole page ads published by Frank
A. Lappen.
Aeronautics.— .March 2, 1908— Aero Club; 1910— Aviator Art Hoxey at
State Fair; 1911-12-14 — Aviator Lincoln Beachey at State Far.
Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co.— May, 1847— Established as Reliance Works by
Decker & Seville; 1860, bought by Edward P. Allis, Charles D. Nash and
John P. McGregor, and conducted under name of E. P. Allis & Co.; March,
1913, incorporated in Delaware.
Area.— 1910 Census — 14,585.8 acres; metropolitan district — city and im-
mediate environs, 112,826.6 acres; 1910—24.35 miles; 1900—21.5; 1880—15.
Art.— 18S6— Milwaukee Art Society; 1910— revived ; April 5, 1888— Lay-
ton Art Gallery opened; Feb. 17, 1890 — Carl Marr left for Germany; April
21, .1890— Art League organized; April 10, 1896— Carl Marr's "Flagellants"
presented to city by Mrs. Emil Sehandein. Later placed in lobby of Audi-
torium.
Automobiles.— May, 1899— First car operated by George L. Odenbrett;
1912 — Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prix races.
Auditorium.— September 21, 1909— Opened.
Baseball Championship. — April 8, 1868 — Founded; 1887, annexed.
Bald Heads. — June :!0, 1889 — Neumueller's Park scene of a picnic held by
the Moonshiners, an organization of bald-headed men.
Bennett Law.— April 18, 1890— Bennett Law Democrats organized; March
14, 1890 — West Side Turners support law; May 2, 1890 — Wisconsin Lutherans
called convention to oppose Bennett Law.
Bethel Home.— August, 1868— Established by the Wisconsin Seamen's
Friend Society.
B'Nai B'Rith.— June 29, 1861— Gilead Lodge, No. 41.
Butterine.— April 20, 1915— First butterine factory.
Canal. — January, 18:58 — Milwaukee and Rock River.
Cemeteries. — 1850— Forest Home; Nov. 2. 1857 — Calvary ; 1859— Holj
Trinity; January 11, 1865— Union ; August, 1880— Pilgrim's Rest: April 1.
1872— Greenwood : September 6, 1894— Wanderers' Rest; June 5, 1909— Holy
Cross.
189
MRS. Mil. \\ AIM E II SMITE ffiLCKELBERG
First white yirl born in Milwaukee, 1835
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 191
Centenarians. — October 2, 1914 — ^\Irs. Louise K. Thiers, 100; December 25,
1914— Thomas Kelly, resident of the Soldiers' Home, 100; 1913— Mrs. Kath-
erine Orzechowski, 100.
Chamber of Commerce. — 1854 — Known as Board of Trade ; February 3,
1863, new building; November 18, 1880, present building at Michigan Street
and Broadway opened.
Churches. — 1835 — Methodist Mission, Rev. Mark Robinson first pastor,
place of worship, carpenter shop, Huron and East Water streets; May, 1841,
first church built on east side of Broadway, between Oneida and Biddle streets;
1848, first German Methodist Church, Rev. Casper Jost, pastor, built on Fifth
Street; 1849, Welsh Methodist Church built on lake shore at Huron Street;
March 25, 1865, Norwegian Methodist, Rev. A. Haagenson.
1836 — First Baptist Church, Washington Street, and First Avenue, Elder
Griffin; 1855, First German Baptist Church, Chestnut and Third streets; Rev.
Carl Kleppe.
1836 — St. Paul's Episcopal, Milwaukee and Wisconsin streets.
April 13, 1837 — First Presbyterian, Rev. Moses Ordway.
1837 — First Congregational Church; 1857, Welsh Congregational Church.
August, 1837 — First Catholic services held in home of Solomon Juneau by
Rev. Fleurimont Bonduel, March 19, 1844, Very Rev. John Martin Ileum con-
secrated bishop of Milwaukee; St. Mary's 1846; 1863, St. Stanislaus Church
established at Grove and Mineral streets by Father Bonaventura Buczynski.
1839— St, Paul's Lutheran; 1847, Trinity Lutheran.
1848 — Our Saviour's Norwegian Evangelical, Scott and Reed streets.
1841 — Unitarian.
1844 — Universalist.
April 19, 1846 — Corner stone of St. Mary's Catholic Church laid; conse-
crated September 12, 1847.
1847 — Evangelical.
1848— First Reformed (Dutch).
October 5, 1856— B'ne Jeshurum ; August 5, 1869— Temple Emanu-El ; 1900
— Sinai.
1862 — Trinity Evangelical, Fourth and Lee streets, Rev. William Geyer.
November 17, 1877 — Union Gospel.
September 6, 1878 — Lutheran Theological Seminary.
1889— -First Christian Science.
March 9, 1890 — Methodists celebrated semi-centennial.
City Hall.— February 24, 1894— Corner stone laid; December 23, 1895—
inaugural proceedings; cost of building and fixtures, $1,016,935; height of flag
pole, 393 feet; bell weighs 20,505 pounds and cost $4,000.
Clearing House — December 1, 1868.
Clocks. — 1906 — Street clocks removed by Mayor Becker.
Colleges.— September 14, 1848— Milwaukee College; 1895— Milwaukee-
Downer ; 1864 — Marquette University.
Comm'on Council. — 1851 — First meeting held in Spring Street Methodist
Church, Grand Avenue and Fifth Street.
Courts. — 1835 — Albert Fowler appointed justice of peace; 1836 — Court-
192 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
house sit.' donated by Solomon Juneau and Morgan L. Martin ; June 13, 1837 — ■
Federal Court opened by Judge William ('. Frazier; 1>,:!7 -Cyrus Eawley
first clerk of Federal Courf; July 7. 1848-J. S. Rockwell first United States
marshal; March 18, 1859 — Erasmus Foote elected first judge of Municipal
Court; election later declared unconstitutional and -lames A. Mallory, then
district attorney, appointed judge; 1872 — Courthouse, cost $1,000,000; June
29, 1889— Jury commission; April 19, 1910— Civil courts.
Dancing.— < Ictober, 1856 — First academy. Prof. L. W. Vizay; November
'iii. 1910 — People's dances. Auditorium.
Debate, Liquor.-- April 30, 1909— Rose-Dickie.
John Dietz, Cameron Dam Hero. — April 2s. 1905 Seventeen Milwaukeeans
sworn in to arrest Diet/: October S, 1910 — Captured.
Dime Museum. — December 31, 1889 — Closed.
Disasters. — May 7. 1875 — Steamer Schiller lost off England; Joseph Sehlit/..
Henry Friend. Herman Zinkeisen, Marcus Stein and .Mrs. Marie Millner and
chilli of Milwaukee lost; April 20, 181)3 — Waterworks crib disaster, fifteen
lost; March 1. 1N92 — Seven killed in wreck in Milwaukee road yards: Feh
ruary 4, 189.") — Three drowned when car ran into open draw at Kinnickinnic
bridge; May 29, 1914 — Mr. and Mrs. Henry Freeman saved from the steamer
Empess of Ireland, lost in St. Lawrence River.
Drama. — 1850-56 — Albany Hall, on site of Chamber of Commerce: March
24, 1S62, burned.
February. 1852 — Young's Hall completed; February 17. 1 S. V2. burned;
March, 1853, rebuilt: April 8, 1853, opened with the production of "The Czar
and the Ship Carpenter." by the Musical Society; June 21, 1859, burned.
1860- Academy of .Music: 1869, leased to Young Men's Association, became
first public library.
January 10, 1865 — Daniel Bandmann.
January .'51. 1865 — Music Hall dedicated: 1869, name changed to Academy
of Music.
October 21, 1868— Stadt Theater. Third Street, dedicated.
August 29, 1889— Bijou Opera House.
Augusl 17. 1871 — Grand Opera Eouse opened with production of "Martha"
by fhe Philharmonic Society.
April l(i. 1890 Booth and Modjeska played at Grand Opera House.
April 6, 1890— Ernest I'ossart. German actor, firsl appearance.
1891— Pabst Theater; 1890— Davidson Theater; 1909— Drama Club.
March 20, 1910— -Hedwig Beringer's golden jubilee at Pabst Theater.
May 21. 1915 Ludwig Ereiss silver jubilee. I'abst Theater.
Druids.- -Augusl 22. 1853 Walhalla Grove, No. 2.
Earthquake. — Augusl 31, 1>SSC
Eight-Hour Day. -.May 9. lsiio Carpenters' demand granted.
Epidemics.— Cholera. 1849 104 die; Ship fever. September. 1850—37
die; Smallpox. 1871 — 774 die; 1872-217 die: 1894-5 268 die; rioting during
removal of patients to isolation hospital.
Exposition Building.— September 6, 1881 Opened: June 4. 1905, burned
Famous Sayings. — 1898 — "There are some things worse than war: somi
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 193
things better than money." — Senator John L. Mitchell in debate on question
of declaring war on Spain after the destruction of the battleship Maine.
Father of Weather Bureau. — November 1, 1870 — Increase Allen Lapham.
Federal Building.— April 22, 1899— Opened.
Fire Department. — December, 1836 — First tire, Samuel Brown's residence.
Cherry Street, between Second and Third streets; 1837 — Volunteer Hook and
Ladder Co.; 1839 — "Neptune, No. 1," first fire engine; 1840 — Second com-
pany; 1844 — Third company; February, 1869 — Alarm system; March, 1874 —
Paid department established; February, 1878 — Relief fund established:
August 17, 1885 — Thomas A. Clancy joined Engine Co. No. 4; 1S.")8-1867 — .
Jobst II. Buening, first chief; December 2, 1877 — Fire insurance patrol; 1889 —
Henry Haerter, first fireman pensioned; September 4, 1889 — Mayor Brown
christened Cataract; 1885 — Fire and Police Commission; Thomas Shea. Gen
F. C. Winkler, Jacob Knoernsehild, Jerome R. Brigham; April 10, 1915 — First
fire engine placed on Jones Island.
Fires. April li, 1845 — First big fire burned block bounded by Broadway,
East Water, Huron and Michigan streets; August 24. 1854 — Block bounded by
Broadway. .Michigan, Huron and Fast Water streets, old Mitchell Bank, Tre-
mont House, United States Hotel at East Water and Huron streets, and four
livery stables on Broadway destroyed. January 18, 1851 — Block bounded by
Broadway. Erie, East Water and Chicago streets; March 20, 1860 — Twenty
stores on Wisconsin Street; January 1, 1863 — Camp Siege! barracks, three
soldiers killed; November 15, 1869 — Gaiety Theater, three killed; February
2, 1865 — Van Etta, Treedman & Co.'s tobacco factory; October 23. 1865
Block on Wisconsin Street between Broadway and Milwaukee streets; October
10, 1871 — Refugees from Chicago fire came to Milwaukee; January 10, 1883 —
Newhall House, northwest corner of Broadway and Michigan streets; 90 to
100 kiUcd; October 20, 1883— First Assistant Chief George M. Linkman
joined department; October 26, 1913 — Goodyear Rubber Co. Building, 380
East Water Street; nine firemen killed and seventeen injured; October 28,
1892— Twelve blocks in the Third Ward: started in Union Oil Co. store on
East Water Street and burned to the lake and the river; two firemen killed.
two women died from excitement; loss, $3,000,000 to $4,000,000; Milwaukee's
most disastrous fire: April 9, 1894 — Davidson Theater burned; Third Asst.
Chief August Janssen and eight other firemen killed; fifteen firemen injured;
March 28, 1895 — Grand Avenue, Landauer Bros, wholesale dry goods house,
loss $1,000,000; July IS, 1899— Hotel Grace, Park and Heel streets, one fire-
man killed and six injured; February 3. 1903 — Schwaab Stamp ami Seal Co.,
372-4 East Water Street; nitric acid gas caused death of Chief James Foley
Capt. Andrew White and Pipeman Edward Hogan and Thomas Droney; Asst.
Chief Thomas A. Clancy and twelve firemen overcome; February 24, 1905 —
Lieut. Charles Dressel killed by fall from hosecart; February 13, 1909 — H.
W. Johns-Manville Co.. Clybourn Street, fire firemen killed, one employe
killed and several firemen injured; January 3, 1910 — American Bridge Co.,
Seventeenth Street and St. Paul Avenue, four firemen killed; October 29,
1910 — Phoenix International Light Co., 317 Chestnut Street, one fireman
"iUir:.-.? _..:-£ •
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.
TABLET ERECTED ON FIBST WISCONSIN NATIONAL BANE
BUILDING, CORNEB WISCONSIN AND MASOH STRJ ETS
The first white boy born in Milwaukee was Charles Milwaukee
Sivyer whose parents resided on the site now occupied bj the First
Wisconsin National Bank. Be died ai Los Angeles, California, in
October, 1921, at the age of eighty-five, and was buried in
Milwaukee.
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 195
killed; March 24, 1911 — Middleton Manufacturing Company, 354 Broadway,
fire firemen killed; March 19, 1914 — Windsor Hotel, one life lost.
First Bank Chartered. — 1839 — Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Co.
(now Marine National Bank).
First Barbecue. — January 1, 1841 — Honor of Harrison and Tyler's election.
First Blacksmith Shop. — 1835 — D. W. Patterson.
First Block Pavement. — 1861 — West Water Street from Clybourn Street
to Grand Avenue.
First Brewery. — 1840 — Owens & Pawlett.
First Brick. — September, 1835 — Nelson Olin.
First Bridge. — Built by Byron Kilbourn across the Menomonee to connect
Chicago road and Kilbourntown (west side).
First Commissioners of Public Works. — May 10, 1869 — C. Latham Slioles,
Henry Millman and James Reynolds. In April, 1871, Mr. Reynolds resigned;
sm-ceeded by Jacob Velten.
First City Attorney.— 1846— Charles E. Jenkins.
First City Clerk.— 1846— A. H. Bielfeld.
First City Comptroller. — 1852 — Cicero Comstock.
First City Directory.— February 10, 1847 — Julius P. B. McCabe; April,
1881, A. G. Wright began publication of city directory.
First Electric Car.— April 3, 1890— Wells Street line.
First City Engineer.— May 20, 1869— Theodore C. Brown.
First Dam. — 1842 — Built on Milwaukee River for Rock River Canal Co.,
by Capt. John Anderson.
First City Treasurer. — 1846 — Robert Allen.
First Commissioner of Health. — April, 1S77 — Dr. I. II. Stearns.
First Commissioners of the Public Debt. — 1861-65 — Alexander Mitchell ;
1864-72 — Charles II. Larkin; 1871-86— Guido Pfister.
First Constable. — October, 1835 — Sciota Evans.
First Express Line. — 1852 — Arthur Flanders, over Milwaukee and Prairie
du Chien Road.
First Foundry. — 1842 — Egbert Mosley, Loring Dewey and Stephen New-
hall.
First German Settler. — 1835 — Wilhelm Strothman.
First Grocer, Wholesale.— 1845— P. W. Badgley.
First Hotel.— 1835— Triangle, East Water Street, Jacques Vieau; 1836,
called ( !o1 tage Inn.
First Lighthouse.— is: 18.
First Match Factory .—1844— R. W. Pierce.
First Marshal. — 1846-7 — Thomas II. Fanning.
First Mayor.- 1846— Solomon Juneau.
First Milwaukee Surgeon in the Philippines. — 1899 — Dr. John R. MeDill.
First Motion-Ficture Theatre.— July 10, 1906— Saxe Bros., N. E. Grand
Avenue and Second Street.
First Murder. — November, 1836. — Indian named Manitou killed by Joseph
Scott and Cornelius Bennett at southeast corner of Michigan and East Water
196 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
streets, murderers escaped from jail; Scotl hanged in Indiana: Bennetl never
found.
First Natatorium. — February 14. 1890.
First Newspaper. July 14. 1836 -The Advertiser, democratic, published
mi the sit'1 of the Republican House by Daniel II. Richards; June 9, 1*17.
absorbed by the Evening Wisconsin, founded by William E. Cramer.
First Passenger Conductor. — November 21, 1850— Edwin Bridgeman of
the Milwaukee & Mississippi.
First Pier. — ls42 — Built by Horatio Stevens of New York, fool of Huron
Street.
First Planing Mill. — 1 84'^ — Robert Luscombe and John T. Perkins.
First Poet. — 1836 — Egbert II. Smith. Oak Creek.
First Postmaster. — 1835— Solomon Juneau; Augusl 7. 1*4:;. removed; suc-
ceeded by Josiah A. Noonan.
First President of the Common Council. — 1874 — II. M. Benjamin; served
until 1878.
First Sailing Vessel. — 177!) — British sloop Felicity, Capt. Samuel Robert-
son, vis ted Milwaukee.
First Steamboat. — June 17. 1835 — United State-.
First Survey of Lots. — 1834 — By William S. Trowbridge.
First Tannery. — 1 848^Pfister & Vogel.
First Tax Commissioner. -1869-72 — Matthew Keenan.
First Type Foundry. — December, 1856.
First Vessel Built Here. — 1836 — Sloop Wenona, by George Barger for
William Brown.
First Water Registrar. — 1872-4 — .Matthew Keenan (secretary board of
water commissioners i .
First Woodenware Factory. — 1844 — ('. E. Woolsey.
Five Times Mayor.— 1898, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1908— David Stuart Rose.
Flood.— November 2, 1858; March 23, 1865.
Flushing Tunnel.— September 8, 1884 -Finished; Sept ember 18, 1888, first
service.
Foundation.- -May 24, 1915 — Milwaukee Foundation organized at meeting
of Wisconsin Trust Company directors.
Gas Works.- Nqvember 12, 1852 — First jet lighted.
Gatherings.— June 8, 1880; August 26, 1889 -G. A. R.; June 17. 1888
First national skat tournament; June 20, 1889 Saengerfest, July 23, 1893
Turnfest; 1896 -Semi-centennial; 1898 Carnival; Augusl 3-7, 1909 Home-
coming; September 1910— American Health Association; Augusl 1. 1913—
Perrj Centennial; June 11. 1914 -Comptrollers.
German Association. Ma\ 8, 1880 Organized to proted immigrants.
Harugari. — February 18, 1855 — Guttenberg Lodge, No. 57.
Home for the Aged. September, 1878 Established by the Little Sisters
of the Poor.
Home for the Friendless. October, 1867.
Hospitals. -July. 1848 st. Mary's, at Jackson and Oneida streets; Augusl
:;. 1863 Milwaukee, established by the late Rev. William Passavant; Octo-
BEGINNINGS. DATES AND EVENTS 107
ber 15, 1877 — City (isolation), Mitchell Street and Nineteenth Avenue; August,
1880 — County; May, 1888 — Johnston Emergency Hospital.
House of Correction. — 1865 — Windlake Avenue.
House Numbers.— April 24, 1865— Property owners given ten days to
number houses under penalty of $5.
Humane Society. — December 5, 1879.
Illumination.— April 5, 1880— Streets lighted by electricity by Prof. C. II.
Ilaskins; February 28, 1890— $600,000 municipal electric light plant plans
before board of public works.
Immigration, Board of. — March, 1879.
Indians.— September 4, 1862— Fear of Uprising; October, 1844— Last
annual dance.
Industrial School for Girls. — February 11, 1875 — Michigan Street; April
15, 1875 — Jackson Street; 1878, North Point.
Infants' Home. — June 1, 1882.
Insurance, Fire—February, 1852— M lwaukee Mechanics; February 20,
1869 — Northwestern National; March, 1871 — Concordia.
Insurance. Life.— November IS. 1858— Northwestern .Mutual Life Insurance
Co. organized in Janesville : moved to .Milwaukee, March 7. 1859 — February
14, 1915, George W. Young, 50 years in its employ; October 1, 1915, occupied
new building on Wisconsin Street; April, 1910 — Old Line Life Insurance Com-
pany of America.
Inventor of Typewriter.— 1S68 — C. Latham Sholes.
Investigations.— March :;, 1905— Beef "trust;" March 0, 1905— Tenement
houses; October 2, 1911 ; Senator Isaac Stephenson; July Li. 1914 — Vice com-
mission.
Jenny Lind Club.— 1861.
Jitneys.— Fein-nary 6, 1915— First license issued to W. B. Putnam; May
I'. 1915. Robert Stauss killed; June 3, 1915, 1.0(1(1 licensed.
Journalism.— 1910 — School Founded at Marquette University by Rev. J. E.
i lopus, S. J.
Klondike Gold Excitement. — luly 15, 1891— News of discovery; Milwau-
keeans prepare to leave for gold fields.
Knights of Honor.— September 9, 1870— Milwaukee Lodge. No. 300.
Knights of Pythias.— September 9, 1870— Milwaukee Lodge, No. 1; May
21, 1890 — Wisconsin brigade, uniformed rank, organized; July, 1890 — encamp-
ment.
Labor.— February 20, 1887 — Federated Trades Council organized; August
14, 1887, received charter; March 7, 1890 — Eight-hour day, building trades.
Legion of Honor.— 1880— Six subordinate councils.
Library, Public— February 7, 1878— Established, taking over books of
loung Men's Association.
Library and Museum Building. 1898— Cost $(27,674.
Lincoln. April IS, 1865 — Funeral services in memory of President Lincoln.
Literary Workshop.— 1915— 420 Marshall Street.
Lynching. September (i. 1861— Marshal] Clark Lynched following murder
of Darbey Carney.
198 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Man Girl.— May 4, 1914 — Ralph Kerwiniec discovered to be .Miss Cora
Anderson.
Marine.— 1S47 — Dry doffk, floating; slip. February, 1877, Wolf & David-
son; .May I, 1877— Life saving station; 1838 Lighthouse, fool of Wisconsin
Street; 1855— Lighthouse, North Point; November I, 1870 -U. S. Signal
service; January 5, 1890— Whale Club; 1908— Strike of lake seamen, fire-
men, oilers, watertenders, cooks and stewards against Lake Carriers' Asso
ciation; December1 5, 1912 — Ligbtship, three miles off Wisconsin Street; May
l.'i, 1!H.">— Interstate Commerce Commission divorces lake-rail lines: order
effective December 1, 1915.
Marine Disasters. — June 17, 1852— S. P. Griffith burned; 322 lost: October
24. 1856— Steamer Toledo foundered off Port Washington; thirty lost: Sep-
tember 8, 1860 — Steamer Lady Elgin lost off Winnetka, III.: about 300
drowned ; April 9, 1868 — Steamer Sea Bird burned off Waukegan, III. ; seventy-
three drowned; October 14, 1872 — Steamer Lac La Belle foundered in Lake
Michigan; seven lost; September 15, 1873 — Steamer Ironsides foundered in
Lake Michigan; Captain Sweetman and sixteen others lost: September 9, 1875
—Bark Tanner wrecked; Captain Howard drowned; crew of nine saved by a
volunteer life-saving' crew, Henry M. Lee, X. A. Peterson. Burnt Oleson, Henry
Spark and John MeKenna, assisted by the revenue cutter Andy Johnson and
the tug F. C. Maxon; October 16. 1880 — Steamer Alpena foundered in Lake
Michigan; about 10H lost; March 19, 1885 — Steamer Lake Michigan crushed by
ice in Lake Michigan; no lives lost ; October 20, 1887 — Steamer Vernon found-
ered; twenty-two lost; October 30, 1888 — Explosion on tug Lawrence kills
Capt. John Sullivan and three others; May 18, 1894 — Schooner M. J. Cum-
mings lost off Milwaukee; six drowned: January 21, 1895 — Steamer Chicora
lost in Lake Mchigan; thirty-six drowned; September !), 1910 Car ferry
Pere Marquette No. 18 foundered in Lake Michigan: twenty-eighl lost; Octo-
er 8, 1913 — Explosion, cutter Tuscarora; November 7. 1913 — Storm on great
lakes: I'll sailors drowned and seventeen vessels lost.
Masonic.--.! uly 5, 18.43 — Milwaukee Lodge. No. 22.
Medical Society County. -1846-53, lapsed; November, 1879, revived.
Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association. March. 1861 Organized as
Merchants' Association. Later changed to Milwaukee Association of Com
merce.
Military. -1845— Washington Guards; Milwaukee (German) Riflemen;
1854, reorganized as the City Rifles; 1847— Milwaukee (German) Dragoons;
1848 Milwaukee City Guards; 1854 — Milwaukee Union Sarsfield Guards;
National Guards; 1855, reorganized as the Union Guards; July 16, 1855, again
reorganized as the Milwaukee Light Guard; 1856 Washington Artillery;
1857 — Milwaukee Light Guard Cadets; 1858 reorganized as Milwaukee
Cadets; 1861, changed name to Milwaukee Zouaves; July 13, 1861, mustered
into the 1". S. service as Company I!. Fifth Wisconsin Regiment; August .'!.
1864; mustered out; 1857 Black Yagers; entered U. S. service for three
months as Company I). First Wisconsin Regiment; mustered oul at expira-
tion of thai term; 1858 Montgomery Guards; July Pi. 1861, mustered into
C. s. service as Company P>. Fifth Wisconsin Regiment; mustered ou1 at
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 199
the close of Civil war; 1858 — Juneau Guards; 1858 — Milwaukee Cavalry
Company; 1859 — Green Yagers; October 10, 1861 — Second Wisconsin Bat-
tery; June 15, 1869 — Company A, Sheridan Guards; September 14, 1874 —
Company K, Kosciuszko Guards; June 20, 1879 — Company L, South Side
Turner Rifles; April 22, 1880 — Light Horse Squadron organized; April 25,
1 ss 4 — Sheridan, Kosciuszko and Lincoln Guards and South Side Turner Rifles
organized into Fourth Battalion, W. N. G. ; 1887 — Company I. Rusk Guard;
October 24. 1888, mustered into National Guard as Company E; January 19,
1889— Company F, Badger State Rifles; June 25, 1898— Fourth Infantry at
Oshkosh riots; July 26, 1898 — Company D, Scofield Guard; February 28,
1899 — Fourth Regiment mustered out at Anniston, Alabama.
Milk Famine.— July •"., 1914.
Milwaukee Lyceum. — January 10, 1839 — Lucius I. Barber, president.
Milwaukee to Liverpool. — July 21, 1856 — Schooner Dean Richmond sailed
with 14.0(H) bushels of wheat; arrived December, 29.
Monuments and Statues. — November 7, 1885 — Washington; (lift of Miss
Elizabeth Plankinton; July 6, 1887 — Juneau: Charles T. Bradley and William
II. Metcalf; November 15, 1887 — Ericson : Mrs. Joseph T. Gilbert; March 25.
1901— Elk: B. P. O. E.— June 19, 1905— Kosciuszko : Popular subscription:
June 28, 1898— Soldiers : Popular subscription; July 14, 1908— Schiller-Goethe :
Popular subscription; June 26, 1909 — Burns: James A. Bryden; August 11)21,
Baron von Steuben.
Music. — January, 1843 — Beethoven Society; E. I). Holton, President ; May
1, 1850 — Musical society; Jacob Mahler, president; 1840 — First music hall
built at Third and Chestnut streets by John Hustis; July 23, 1858 — Lieder-
tafel; John Marr, president; November 2D, 1877 — Arion Musical club; June
16, 1859 — Deutscher Maennerverein, originally the Catholic Young Men's As-
sociation: September 17, 1871 — Nunnemacher 's Grand Opera House (now
Pabst theatre); "Martha" presented by Philharmonic Society; March 29,
1905— "Parsifal," in English.
Museum, Public. — April 14. 1882 — Accepted collection of Wisconsin Natural
History Society.
Odd Fellows. — 1846 — Kneeland Lodge, No. 5.
Odotological Society. — August 25, 1878 — To protect and further interests
of dentists.
Orphan Asylums. — May !», 1848 — St. Rose's (Catholic); January 4, 1850—
Protestant; June 12, 1877 — St. Vincent's.
Paper Mill.— 1848 — North side of Menomonee River, block west of West
Water Street bridge; owned by Ludington & Garland; destroyed by a freshet
in 1864.
Parks.— June 1, 1864 — Quentin's park opened; April 4, 1865 — Juneau
park established; 1889— Park law authorized, $1,000,000 bond issue; 1889
Park Commission: Christian Wahl, Calvin E. Lewis, Charles Manegohl, Jr.,
Louis Auer and John Bentley.
Pfeil Funeral Pyre.— < >ctober 22, 1855.
Phonological Institute for Deaf Mutes. — January, 1878 — 594 National
Avenue.
200 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Police Department.— September 10, 1855 Organized with Chief William
Beck and eleven patrolmen; chief's salary, $800; men, $30 a month; October
26, 1885 — John T. Janssea made chief. .May 7. 1921, Jacob G. Laubenheimer
made chief.
Thirteenth City (Census 1920)
13. Milwaukee 457,1 17
12. San Francisco 506,676
11. Buffalo 506,775
10. Los Angeles 576,673
9. Pittsburgh 588,343
8. Baltimore 733,826
7. Boston 748,060
6. St. Louis 772,897
5. Cleveland 796,841
4. Detroit 993,678
3. Philadelphia 1,823,779
2. Chicago ■ 2,701,705
1. New York City 5,620,048
Population.— 1915, estimated— 41 9,054.
Growth— 1850— 20,061; 1860—45,246; 1870—71,440; 1880—115,587; 1890
—204,468; 1900—285,315; 1910—373,857; 1920—457,147.
Press Club, English. — September 7, 11)10 — Silver jubilee; Theodore Roose
velt guest of honor: "The Big Stick" published, Harlowe Randall Hoyt, editor;
Fred W. Luening. associate editor.
Press Club, German. — 1887.
Postal Service. — 1835 — First post office, southwest corner East Water and
Wisconsin streets: April 13, 1915 — Louis Manz a letter carrier for fifty years:
aged <s<> years April 9, 1915; oldest letter carrier in the United States.
Pound. — May 12, 1865 — Thirty cows were reported in Caleb Wall's Seventh
Ward pound.
Railroads, Steam.— 1S47 — Milwaukee & Waukesha chartered: 185] — Mil-
waukee & Mississippi finished to Waukesha; 1854 — Finished to Madison:
1857 — Built to Prairie Du Chien; 1854 — Milwaukee & Watertown built from
Brookfield to Oconomowoc; 1854 — Line south from Fond du Lac. now owned
by Chicago & Northwestern; 1856 — Milwaukee >.y. La Crosse begun; Is'1-
Reached La Crosse: 1866— Union depot, Reed Street; 1879-80 -West Milwau-
kee shops; December 19, 1886 — First train ran into new Tnion passenger
station, between Third and Fourth and Everett and Clybourn streets, a1 5:45
p. in., Sunday, June 24, 1889 — General passenger and freight departments
of the Milwaukee mad moved to Chicago; December 10, 1889 — Northwestern
depot, Wisconsin Street ; June 16, 1905 — Passes abolished.
Railways, Street.--. Inly 1859 — River and Lake Shore City Railway; May
30, 1859, first two cars operated with four horses each, from Fast Water
Street bridge to Juneau Avenue; one car's receipts first day were $38; March,
L865 Milwaukee City: 1874- Cream City; June 1, L874 West Side; April
17, 1890— Pittsburgh syndicate boughl Cream City; April 3, 1890 First
eh'. 'trie car. Wells Street : February 1. 1905 — Public Service Building planned;
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 201
February 11, 1905 — Henry C. Payne, president Cream City; October, 1905—
Milwaukee-Northern organized; October 28, 1907, first train to Cedarburg;
November 2, 1907, Port Washington ; September 22, 1908, Sheboygan ; February
I, 1915 — Railroad conrmiss:on rescinds order directing Electric Co. to sell
thirteen tickets for 50 cents; June 14, 1915 — U. S. Supreme Court upholds
Circuit Court order in thirteen-tickets-for-50-cents (coupon) case.
Real Estate. — May 22, 1905 — Railway Exchange (Herman) building, sold
for $400,000; March 3, 1890— Pabst Building site leased for 99 years.
Riots. — April 6, 1845 — Rev. E. Leahy attacked in Spring Street (Grand
Avenue) Methodist Church and at U. S. Hotel; May 8, 1845 — Bridge ; March
4, 1850— Residence of State Senator John B. Smith in Third Ward mobbed
by crowd which objected to a measure he had introduced in the Legislature
and which became known as "the blue liquor law"; June 24, 1861 — Bank;
May 4, 1886 — Bay View; five killed; March, 1889 — Chinese mobbed; August
22, 1893— Unemployed ; May 3, 1896— Street railway.
Roosevelt Shot.— October 14. 1912— Theodore Roosevelt shot by John
Schranck while leaving Hotel Gilpatrick.
Royal Arcanum. — December 29, 1877 — Alpha Council, No. 4.'!; February 2.
1878, Allen ( louncil.
Sane Fourth Commission. — 1911.
Schools. — 1835 — Private schools established; 1845 — Thirteen schools, four
public; 356 pupils out of 1,781 children of school age; 1885 — State Norma!
School; August, 1857 — Three high schools established; 1860 — abolished; No-
vember, 1859 — Normal class established; 1859 — Rufus King first superin-
tendent; 1879 — First kindergarten; June 7, 1904 — Frank M. Harbach, sec-
retary; March IS, 1890 — Supreme court decides against reading bible in
public schools.
Settlement. — 1789 — Jean Baptiste Mirandeau and Jacques Yieau arrived;
September 14, 1818 — Solomon Juneau located on the site of the Wisconsin
National Bank, northwest corner of Wisconsin and East Water streets; 1833 -
Morgan L. Martin of Green Bay became a partner of Juneau: 1834 — George
II. Walker located on Walker's Point, south of the Milwaukee River; 1835 —
Laid out as a village; 1835 — Byron Kdhourn bought a tract on the west side;
September, 1835 — First town meeting held at Juneau's home; May 4, 1835 —
Charles Milwaukee Sivyer, first white boy horn in Milwaukee; October 10,
1835 — Milwaukee H. Smith, daughter of Uriel B. and Lucy C. Smith, horn;
first Anglo-Saxon girl horn in Milwaukee; December 25, 1837 — Louis Bleyer,
son of Henry Bleyer, first German child horn in Milwaukee; September 12,
1844 — Aid. Henry Smith arrived from Stark County, Ohio, with his parents,
two. brothers and sister: January 31, LS46 — Charter adopted; .Inly 5, 1S69 -
Old Settlers' Club organized.
Slave Rescued. — 1S42 — Caroline Quarles; March 11, 1858 — Joshua Glover,
a runaway slave, rescued by abolitionists led by Sherman M. Booth, editor
of the Free Democrat.
Slot Machines.— March 22, 1905— Destroyed by Sheriff Cary; June 9.
1915, destroyed by Sheriff Melms.
202 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Socialists.— 1<J10— Emil Seidel elected mayor; 1910— Victor L. Berger
elected congressman from Fifth District.
Soldiers' Home.— March"31, 1864^-Opened ; June 28, 1865 Greal fair raised
$110,000 iii ten days for new building.
Sons of Hermann. — April 20, 1848 — Milwaukee Lodge, No. 1.
Spelling, in Early Days— Minwaki, Minewaki, Maunawaukee, Meloaki, Me]
leoki, Meloaky, Milouaqui, Milwaukie, Milwalky.
St. Andrew's Society. — January 25, 1859— Alexander Mitchell, president.
Stockyards. — 1870 — Established by Milwaukee road.
Strikes.— .March 10, 1890— Switchmen ; .May 1.".. 1905— Molders.
Swimming record. — August 17, 1894— World's record, eighty yards: fifty
seconds, George J. W li it taker.
Tax, Income. — March 19, 1865 — Incomes for year: Alexander Mitchell,
$53,071; Guido Pfister, $42,221: Angus Smith. $30,000; 1913— Largest tax-
payer, Patrick Cudaliy, $9, 556.31! ; largest woman taxpayer, Charlotte Hartig,
$5,128; 1914 — Largest corporation tax. Schlitz Brewing Co., $103,852.
Titanic Victim. — April 15, 1912 — Capt. E. G. Crosby among the 1 . -"> 1 7
victims.
Telegraph. — January 17, 1848 — First dispatch sent to The Evening Wis-
consin from the Chicago Journal: "Chicago and Milwaukee united."
Telephone. — 1877 — John S. George, first subscriber; first exchange. 411
Broadway.
Traveling Men. — December 9, 1893 — Post IS. Travelers' Protective Asso-
ciation; June 29. 1895 — Milwaukee Council, No. 54, United Commercial Trav-
elers of America.
Turners. — July 18, 1853 — Turnverein Milwaukee.
United Workmen.— March 23, 1877— Schiller Lodge, No. 21.
Visitors.— 1679— La Salle; October 7, 1698— De St. Oosme; 1778— Charles
de Langlade: April 28, 1853— Ole Bull; April 28, 1853— Adelina Patti (at the
age of 13 i : September 30, 1859— Abraham Lincoln ; October 14, lsiiii Stephen
A. Douglas: January 23. ISlio Ralph Waldo Kmerson ; February .">. 1865
John B. Gough; 1865 — Artemus Ward: 1865 — Josh Billings; September 4.
1865. June 9, 1880— Gen. U. S. Grant; October 2, 1865— Gen. W. T. Sherman;
November 2. 1870 — James A. Garfield; January 2, 1872— Grand Duke Alexis;
September 12, 1878— President Rutherford B. Hayes; 1880— Henry Ward
Beecher; July 9, 1887— Earl of Aberdeen: October 6, 1887 Presidenl Grover
Cleveland and bride, Frances Folsom Cleveland: June 20, 1889 -June 28, 1899,
September 1. 1901, April 4, 1903, September 7, 1910, October 14. 1912 Theo-
dore Roosevelt; April 10, 1890 Rev. T. De Witt Talmage; January 12, 1890
Princess Engalitcheff ; March 9, 1890- George Francis Train: March 15,
L890— Bill Nye; 1890-1910— Nelly Bly; October 9, 1894 October lb 17. 1899
Presidenl William McKinley; October 21, 1896— Carl Schurz; January 11,
1898 Cheiro; February 9, 1898 James J. Corbett; February 10, 1899 Wal-
ter A. Wyekoff; October 26, 1900 James Whitcomb Riley; March I. 1902
Prince Henry of Prussia; April 10, 1903 -George Kennan; June 5, 1904
Mayor Weaver of Philadelphia, with liberty bell; October 26, L904 -Libert
Hubbard; November 3, 1904 -Gen. Nelson A. Miles: January 14. 1905
BEGINNINGS, DATES AND EVENTS 203
Melba ; March ](i, 1905 — Harry K. Thaw and wife, on their honeymoon trip;
January 25, 1905— Judge Ben. B. Lindsey; April 21, 1906— Admiral Robert
E. Peary: October 16, 1906— Sir Thomas Lipton; March 2, 1907— Edward
Payson Weston: May 29, 1907— Gen. Tamemato Kuroki ; October 16, 1907
— Sir Thomas Lipton; November 7, 1907 — Senator Benjamin R. Tillman:
April 21, 190S— Dr. Frederick A. Cook: February 9, 1909.— Admiral Robley
I). Evans; February 10, 1909— James Bryce; March 6, 1909— Count Joliann
von Bernstorff ; November 12, 1909— Opie Read; October 21, 1910— Karl Lid,.
knecht ; November 17, 1910 — Woodrow Wilson; December 8, 1910 — Charles
W. Eliot; February 20, 1912— Attorney-General Wickersham ; February 8,
1913 — Capt. Roald Amundsen; August 9, 1913 — Cardinal Gibbons; January
23, 1914— Miss Anne Morgan; 1912, 1915— William II. Taft.
War. — August 6, 1847 — Mexican war enlistments; April 15, lsiil — War
meeting called to order by Dr. Lemuel Weeks; April 25, 1861 — Seven com-
panies recruited and assigned to the First Wisconsin Regiment; April 23,
June 9, 1861 — Camp Scott, north side of Grand Avenue, between Twelfth and
Fourteenth streets; May 8, 1861 — Flag, gift of the women of Milwaukee,
presented to the First Wisconsin Volunteers by Mrs. George II. Walker; July
2, 1861 — First engagement at Falling Waters; George Drake first Milwaukee
soldier killed; February 13, 1862 — Milwaukee celebrates capture of Fort
Donaldson on February 12, 1862; October 19, 1862— State draft; November
1863 — National draft; October 19, 1861 — Milwaukee Ladies' Association for
the aid of military hospitals organized; February 27, 1865 — City enjoined from
paying bounties; 1S98 — Camp Harvey, state fair grounds, Spanish-American
war; July 28, 1014 — Many Milwaukeeans marooned in Europe when great
war broke old.
Waterworks. — October 24, 1873 — River supply; September 14, 1874, lake:
July 21, 1014 — Record consumption, 65,975,480 gallons.
Weather.— June 4, 1816 — Blizzard; June 17, 1816 — Snow storm; (known
as the year thai had no summer) ; January 1, 1846 — 35 to 40 below zero; June
2, 1866 — Tornado; May 2, 1875 — 25 below zero coldest May day in history of
weather bureau ; March in. 1881 — Record-breaking snow storm; .May 31, 1889
— Snow; June 23, 1892 — forty-one days' rain ended; May 18, 1894 — Snow;
May 24, 1901— Snow ; May 27, 1907— Snow.
Whisky Cases.— October, 1875— July, 1876.
Wisconsin's Birthday. — May 29, 1848 — Wisconsin admitted to the Union.
Woman's Industrial Exchange. — 18S2.
World's Fairs. — May 20, 1890 — Wisconsin commissioners to Chicago
World's Fair appointed; August 9, 1904— Milwaukee day; June 29, 1904—
Wisconsin building at St. Louis presented to the management.
Youngest Mayor. — 1906 — Sherburn Merrill Becker, aged 29 years.
Young Men's Association. — December 8, 1847 — J. II. Van Dyke, president.
Y. M. C. A.— December 22, 1876— Organized ; May 3, 1890— German branch
opened. Y. W. C. A.— September. 1892.
Zoo.— 1005.
PART II
INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL
HARBOR AND RAILROADS
BANKING AND FINANCE
CHAPTER XVII
THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS
Along in the middle thirties a great wave of enthusiasm swept over the
country in favor of public improvements. Building of railroads, canals, and
new towns everywhere were proposed. The legislatures of the older slates
were besieged with demands for new lines of communication, improvement
of country roads, building of bridges and establishment of stage lines. The
sentiment became so strong that the more conservative element of the com-
munities, both rural and urban, was overwhelmed and completely silenced
for some years while the fever lasted.
At the session of the Territorial Legislature of Wisconsin, held in 1837 and
the following years, the most important measures for interna] improvements
were discussed. "Numerous roads were ordered to be laid out, charters
granted for railroads that were never built, ferries were licensed and dams
permitted on unnavigable streams," writes Miss Kellogg in her "Story of
Wisconsin." Petitions to the national government were sent asking for the
improvement of harbors on Lake Michigan and for the rivers Mowing into
the lake, for lighthouses and mail routes. "Two large projects for water-
ways were vigorously promoted. These were the Milwaukee and Rock River
ranal and the Fox-Wisconsin Improvement. The former was promoted by
Milwaukee capitalists, the latter by those of Green Bay. Both projects se-
cured land grants from Congress and both became seriously involved in
political disputes. No work of importance was ever done on the Rock River
project: the canal at Portage and the water control of the lower Fox River
are the results of the Fox-Wisconsin improvement which, in 1872, was taken
over by the Federal government. In fact the navigation of either route was
possible only to light draft and small sized craft that could never compete
in modern times with the rail carriers."
Land Speciilation. — The internal improvement craze was accompanied by
an era of wild speculation in town sites. About the year 1836 the speculative
madness reached its height. Men besieged the land office and purchased tracts
of land from the Government at a $1.25 an acre which in a few days would be
regularly staked out and platted into town sites, exhibiting in the highly
colored drawings the public spirit and generosity of the promoters in provid-
ing public squares, church sites, and schoolhouse reservations. The prairies
of Illinois, the forests of Wisconsin and the sand hills of Michigan presented
an almost unbroken chain of imaginary cities and villages which as yet were
in a state of nature.
207
EAST WATER STREET, SOUTH OF WISCONSIN STREET, IX THE KAK1.Y FORTIES
■
A BUSINESS HOUSE (iN CHESTNUT STREET
Corner of Fourth si r>>.-t , occu] 1 bj Bauer & Steinmeyer until L8T<
THE ERA OF [NTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 209
Often in these pictorial prospectuses could be seen a fi < > w i 1 1 i_f stream
winding its romantic course through the heart of an ideal city thus creating
water lots and wharfing facilities even though no stream existed on the
spot. But where a real stream, however diminutive, did rind its way to the
shores of the lake, no matter what was the character of the surrounding
country, some enterprising promoter would hasten to the nearest land office
and secure the tract at the Government price. "Then the desolate waste of
sand and Fens," says a historian of the period, "was suddenly elevated into
a nrghty city with a projected harbor and lighthouse, railroads ami canals,
and in a short time the circumjacent lands were sold in lots. Not the puniest
brook on the shore of Lake Michigan was suffered to remain without a city
at its mouth, and whoever will travel around the lake will find many a mighty
mart staked out in spots suitable only for the habitations of wild beasts."
Speculation in Milwaukee. — In a paper by Silas Chapman, read before the
"Old Settlers' ('lub" in IS]):;, he graphically described the conditions pre-
vailing at that time. "Speculation ran rampant." he said, "prices of every-
thing went upward, ami this speculat'on culminated in 1836 by platting and
throwing on tin- market lots, not only in cities and villages, but on mountain
tops and under water. It mattered not where the real estate was, it became
real to the speculator, and his credit if not his money was invested in it. It
was supposed to lie a fact that lots were platted and sold that were then and
are to this day under water. It was nearly true of lots in Milwaukee."
The land -where our city is now located has just been surveyed and
was an enticing field for speculation. The place was outs'de of civilization
and could only be reached by tramp boats on the lake. The land was
platted., the plats looked well on the map and the maps were ready. In all
nearly 5,000 lots were in the market."
"Then began the furious and reckless sale id' lots," continues Chapman.
"Sellers were as reckless as buyers, for everybody was a seller and everybody
was a buyer. There was no limit to the prices and expectation of prices.
Lots were sold for a given price with a guarantee that within a named period
they could be sold al a certain per cent advance. Mr. Juneau is said to have
sold lots with such guarantee, and afterwards, according to his ability, honor-
ably redeemed his pledge." Milwaukee recovered slowly from the madness
of 1836. "It has since kept its real estate at a fair but not at a speculative
value."
Canal Building. — "The movement toward establishing steamboat naviga-
tion," says E. B. Usher, in his "History of Wisconsin." "by the route then
uppermost in tin- minds of all southwestern Wisconsin, as well as Green Bay.
began early. It obtained a footing in 1834 by the chartering of tin' Portage
Canal Company by the Michigan Legislature." Morgan L. Martin, a leading
citizen of Green Hay. was chiefly instrumental in procuring the charter which
was to «Miable Daniel Whitney to build the canal. In 1838, Martin was elected
to the Wisconsin Territorial council which position he held until 1S44. and
was twice its president.
In 1845, .Martin was a delegate to Congress and during that time he pro-
cured tin' first grant of lands to aid "the improvement," and in the years
vol. i—: 4
WEST VVATEE STREET LOOKING NORTH FROM SPRING STREET, \<>\\ GRAND
\\ I.MT.
The original Caswell store and building to the lefl
THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 211
from 1851 to 1853 he lent his powerful aid to the work. When the state failed
to complete the canal Martin devoted his whole energies and all the fortune
he had made af Milwaukee and Green Bay to render it a success. However,
in spite of these efforts, it may be said that no more complete extinction of
the great expectations and high hopes indulged in by the people of Wisconsin
in regard to canals and waterways could be imagined than the Fox-Improve-
ment Company was shown to be in its hugely disappointing results.
The Fox-Wisconsin Improvement. — From the time of the early explorers
the portage from the upper waters of the Fox River to those of the Wisconsin
River had been seen to be a reasonable possibility. The natural obstacles
were not great, as only a boggy plain but \\U miles in width separated the two
rivers at the site of the modern City of Portage. The Fox River, however,
was much broken by rapids, and until improvements could be made in its
channel the navigation of that river for boats of considerable size would he
impossible. For canoes and boats of light draft a limited communication
could be kepi up. The early explorers found it answered their purpose, and
it was across this portage that Joliet and Marquette, on their voyage for
the discovery of the Mississippi River in 1673, carried their canoes from the
Fox to the Wisconsin.
In IS06, the Illinois and Michigan canal to connect Chicago with the Illi-
nois River at La Salle was begun, about the time that the Territory of Wis-
consin was organized, and it was opened for navigation soon after Wisconsin
was admitted, as a state in the Union, in 1848. The people of Wisconsin, hav-
ing this example before them, began an agitation for an improvement of the
Fox River by Congress, and a canal to connect the two rivers at the ancient
portage. Tn 1846, a grant of land in aid of the project was made by Congress.
But the board of public works, having this enterprise in charge, soon ran the
state in debt, and in 1851 it was announced the work would have to stop on
account of the slow sales of land.
Work Continued by a Citizen of Green Bay. — At this critical juncture
Morgan L. Martin, a citizen of Green I lay, offered to do the work from Green
Bay to Lake Winnebago through the channel of the Fox River, the cutting
through the portage plain having already been completed. This proposal
was accepted by the Legislature and Martin began his task witli a large force
of men, being given state scrip as the work progressed, which was to be
redeemed from the proceeds of land sales and prospective tolls. Hostile
legislation interfered with this arrangement, but in spite of many discourage-
ments the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Company, as it was called, sent
its first boat through on its passage from Pittsburgh to Green Bay in 1856.
A year or two previously Congress had increased the land grant to the
company, but as the enterprise still Lacked capital for its future operations,
the whole enterprise was foreclosed by creditors, and the corporate title was
changed to the "Green Bay and Mississippi Canal Company." In 1872 the
entire plant was sold to the United Slates government.
Subsequent Status of the Work. — "The Fox-Wisconsin improvement,"
said the late R. G. Thwaites in his 1 k, "Stoiw of Wisconsin,"' "cost tile slate
and nation millions of dollars but it has never been a complete success. The
212 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
lower Fox has by means of an elaborate system of locks been made navigable
for boats of a few feel draughl between Green Bay and Omro, bu1 the traffic
is slight, the chief advantage accruing to the thrifty manufacturing towns
of Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Kaukauna and Depere, where splend'.d water
powers have been incidentally developed by the governmenl works.
"From Omro to Portage there is a slight spasmodic freighl traffic for small
flat-bottomed steamers of not over three feel draught. The canal at Portage,
fast falling into decay, is sometimes not opened throughoul an entire season
(1887). The Wisconsin River is clogged with shifting sandbars and wholly
unreliable for vessels of three feet draught except at high water. It is
seldom used now that logging on the Upper Wisconsin has I q greatly re-
duced in extent; and a government engineer lias made the assertion that the
only way to 'improve' it for a national waterway, is 'to either lath-and-plaster
the bottom or construct a canal alongside all the way from Portage to
Prairie du < 'hien.'
Concerning the general sentiment of the people regarding the Fox-Wis
cousin improvement Mr. Thwaites remarks: "In early days, there was no doubt
whatever in the minds of the Wisconsin public, that this projected improve
ment, apparently so feasible, could be easily constructed and the historic
streams be made to bear monster war and freight vessels through the heart
of the state, between the Great Lakes and the great river artery of the con-
tinent: but it is now the general opinion that the difficulties in tic way are
too great to be overcome, chiefly owing to the peculiar character of the
Wisconsin River, and 'improvement talk," so common in former years, is now
no longer heard in our legislatures and political conventions."
The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal. -A charter for the Milwaukee and
Rock River 'anal Company was obtained in 1838 from the territorial legis-
lature, as previous efforts to secure Congressional aid had proved a failure.
Congress, however, finally voted a land grant to the canal company, and its
promoters endeavored to procure financial aid from the territorial govern-
ment, but it was ultimately refused. In accepting the gift of land from Con-
gress it was stipulated that the territory was to conduct the sales therefrom
and to use tin' proceeds in completing the canal. "Iii accepting tin-- gift,"
writes Reuben Gold Thwaites, in his volume on Wisconsin, in the American
Commonwealth series. "The territory unwittingly 1 ame m effed a partner
in the undertaking, a condition of affairs leading to much popular discontenl
and legislative bickering, and ultimate disaster to the canal lsll . upon
which some $57,000 hail been expended, chiefly in improvements to the .Mil-
waukee River.
"The territory fell heir to some of the canal bonds, which it repudiated.
although later the state itself paid them. When Wisconsin entered the Union,
the Federal Government claimed that she still was owing upwards of $10 1,0 (0
to the canal fund, and withheld this sum from the net proceeds due the
stale from the sale of public lands within her bounds. As to whether 01
not this canal, had it been completed as designed, would have proved a
valuable asset of the commonwealth, is still an open question in Wiscon
sin history."
THE ERA OP INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 213
Preliminary Steps in Construction.— During the year 1S.">7 a preliminary
survey of the proposed route of the .Milwaukee and Rock River Canal, and
an approximate estimate of the cost of the work, had been submitted by
Byron Kilbourn and Increase A. Lapham, both of whom were surveyors.
The cost was estimated to be about $800,000, and its length about fifty-one
miles. A charter was obtained from the Territorial Legislature dated
January 5, 1838, and work commenced July -t, 1839.
The object of the proposed canal was to connect the waters of the
Milwaukee River and the Rock River near Lake Koshkonong and thus to
form a waterway from the Great Lakes to the 'Mississippi. .Mi-. Kilbourn
was the president of the company.
The canal was tobe built by a private corporation, aided by the pro-
< ds of a Federal land grant held in trust by the territory of Wisconsin
in anticipation of Wisconsin being admitted as a state in the Union. The
congressional grant of lands had been secured the year before the work
began. A newspaper published in Green I lay called the improvement of
the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to open connection with the Mississippi, as
the "Green Hay hobby,"' and the Milwaukee and Rock River Canal as
the "Milwaukee hobby."
Historical events of whatever character were regarded in those days
as good material for humorous accounts, and this occasion was no exception
in this respect. In his "Pioneer History," J. S. Buck relates that Mr, Kil-
bourn, at the head of a procession led by a brass band, arrived at the spot
where the "incision" in the earth was to be made. The work having been
performed in a satisfactory manner, the participants marched to the old
"American," at the corner of Third and West Water streets, then kept by
James Ward, where a dinner suitable for the occasion had been provided.
Canals Versus Railroads. — There is a very full discussion of the early
canal and ra'lroad enterprises of the '40s in the publications of tin1 Wis-
consin State Historical Society (NIY, pp. 206), and in the article there
printed we find the following passage in reference to the Milwaukee and
Rock River Canal:- "While a bare beginning was made in building it, for
a number of reasons the project was soon recognized as -a failure." Argu-
ments were urged to bend the energies of the people in the direction of
railroad building. Even during territorial days agitation was begun to<
divert the Federal grant of lands from canals to railroads.
The Milwaukee Sentinel and Gazette, on October 23, 1841, published an
article on the subject, as follows: "The Milwaukee and Rock River Canal
has been regarded as a project of great importance, and is one which has
received the favorable consideration of Congress as well as the public gen-
erally. But the mere connection of Lake Michigan with Hock River will
not answer the end for which the wm-k was originated, until it shall be con-
tinued to tiie Mississippi; and then the immense expense of such a work ren-
ders its i struction impracticable; and, if constructed, that it should pay
the interest upon the money expended. While a railroad, besides offering
every facility of a canal for purposes of transportati< ould be built in
WISCONSIN STREET LOOKING FROM CORNER OF MAIN STREET AND BROADWAY
BEFORE CHAPMAN'S FIRST BUILDING w ^.S ERECTED.
The old Insurance Building in course "t construction, iboul 1861
THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 215
one quarter of the time, and would be available at all seasons of the year.
a canal would be locked up by iee nearly half the time."
The .Madison Argus, in 1844, remarked upon the project, as follows: "A
canal is to be made from Milwaukee to the Rock River, and there it stops.
What is there at Roek River? Neither an ocean nor a lake nor
even a navigable river. There are neither steamboats nor flatboats run-
ning on Rock River anywhere in the neighborhood of the proposed termi-
nation of the canal, and the river will not admit of this kind of navigation
to any advantage." Instead, however, of the blessing the canal might
have been, says C. R, Tuttle in his "History of Wisconsin," "it proved a
curse and a blight upon the early prosperity of the territory, owing mainly
to the antagonisms that grew up between the officers of the canal company
and the territorial officers intrusted with the disposition of the lands granted
by Congress and of their proceeds, and to the conflicts between the benefi-
ciaries of the land grant, and some of the leading politicians of the time."
Growth of Wheat Production.— In the early part of the Civil war period
the slate of Wisconsin had become one of the principal producers of wheat
among the western and northwestern states, the effect of which was to
greatly enhance the growth and relative importance of Milwaukee which
had now become the state's chief port for the shipment of surplus products
of every kind.
"The impetus thus given to Milwaukee," writes Thwaites, "was such as
to assure her future as a great lake port. In due time she became a promi-
nent center for the influx ami distribution of immigrants from the eastern
states and from Europe, her manufacturing interests grew to large pro-
portions, and her commerce and population kept full pace with the growth
of the sturdy state of which she had early become the metropolis."
Effects of the War. — The war with its heavy demand for men to supply
the Union armies seemed to threaten a shortage of farm labor, a danger
which the South did not fear with its abundant supply of slave labor.
But the invention and perfection of the reaping machine during the few
years before the war prevented by its use a deficiency in grain production.
"The reaper is to the North," said Edwin M. Stanton in 18111, "what slavery
is to the South. By taking the place of regiments of young men in the
western harvest fields, it releases them to do battle for the Union at the.
front, and at the same same keeps up the supply of bread for the nation
and the nation's armies." The Commissioner of Agriculture, in his report
for 1862, asserts that owing to the absence of so many farm laborers at the
front, it would have been impossible to harvest the wheat crop for that
year had it not been for the increased use of mechanical reapers each of
which effected a saving of the labor of five men. "Notwithstanding the
enormous draft of recruits from our rural districts to fight in the armies
of the Union," says Thwaites, "agricultural operations could still not only
be carried on by the North, and in numberless instances by mere youths,
Imt the product itself was substantially increased."
Comparison with the Southern States. — Comparing the northern and
southern sections of the country at the time previous to the Civil war it has
MILWAUKEE'S ORIGINAL PENNY STORE— BARRE1 I-
245 Water Street— Built 1836 by father of Caleb Harrison
THE LUDIXGTON BLOCK CORNER WISCONSIN AND EAST WATEB STREETS,
IN THE i: \i:i.Y SEVENTIES.
sit,, of Pabsl Building, later known ;i* First Wisconsin Trust Company Building
THE ERA OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 217
been found, generally speaking, that in the South slavery and manufactures
excluded each other. The South lived almost entirely by agricultural indus-
tries, its capital was monopolized by agriculture. "Manufacturing industry,"
says Von Hoist, "did not accord with the longing for aristocratic leisure
which must characterize the free population in a community which owes its
specific industrial character to slave labor." Therefore the manufacturing
industries of the northern slates easily surpassed those of the southern states,
and this, indeed, was one of the determining factors in the greal ('ivil war of
1861-1865, which abundantly proved the superiority of the North in its ma-
terial resources over the limited advantages possessed by the South in the
prosecution of that unhappy war.'* Even the importance of cotton, claimed
to lie the "king" of agricultural productions, failed in the final test in com
parison with th? food producing power of the North.
THE FIRST sl'i: \u FLOUR MILL
Original Site, South Water street. Now located on Virginia Street
SKYLINE OE MILWAUKEE LOOKING NORTH
Taken from the south Bide
CHAPTER XVIII
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT
The labors of the earliest artisans who came here were naturally confined
to the satisfying of local needs. Gradually, as the Land in the surrounding-
territory became settled the farmers required many thing's which these skilled
mechanics could supply. They could grind wheat into Hour, make a harness
and build a wagon, quarry stone and make brick, shoe a man as well as shoe
a horse, and turn raw products into usable articles.
Hut, the local artisans by no means met every need. The ships that
plied regularly between Milwaukee and Buffalo brought in many articles
of household equipment, wearing apparel and food products. The mechanics
required tools, every household needed pottery and hardware, cloth for wear-
ing apparel, and food products such as coffee, tea and spices.
But the same economic law which governs exports and imports of a
nation applied here in a diminutive way. The balance of trade had to be
kept at an equilibrium. The ability to buy was governed by the ability to
produce and market. The importations had to be met in gold or its equiva-
lent in agricultural or manufactured products.
The earlier exports consisted of furs, lumber and grain. It was not until
the production ability of the community had met both local needs and those
of a. surrounding territory and had reached a surplus that the exports of
manufactured articles found its beginning.
When it is contemplated that Milwaukee has, in a very brief period, risen
from most humble beginnings to one of the most important industrial centers
in the United States, we may well inquire into the causes that have led to
it. This development assumes significance when it is remembered that Mil-
waukee was reared within the shadows of a great world city, exposed to all
the absorbing power of Chicago the great metropolis of the Midwest.
Large cities do not as a rule spring up adjacent to each other, but usu-
ally, owing to the trend of commerce and the exigencies of distribution, leave
large areas of territory between them. Thus, it follows that every other
large city coming within the commercial zone of Chicago is located at a dis-
tance of several hundred miles from that city. Chicago becomes the veritable
hub with Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Louisville, Si. Louis, Omaha, St. Paul
and Minneapolis, all placed upon the outer rim and within a night's ride from
the great world city with its three million population.
Milwaukee is the only city, which lies within a distance of only eighty-
five miles and only a two hours' ride from Chicago, which has resisted the
219
LOOKING NORTH ON MAIN STREET, NOW BROADWAY, TOWARD MASOK
STREET, 1870.
m
i 'r U1 * I % 1 " 2 *
; fl 1 1 » -v3- I- 1 15' II ?, t iff
NORTHEAST CORNER OF MILWAUKEE AND WISCONSIN STREETS 1871
AFTER A BIG s\o\\ STORM.
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 221
absorbing power that all great metropolitan centers possess, and has grown
to over a half million population.
Natural conditions and environment, more than accident, usually cause
the location of cities. Ft is true that three rivers and the promise of a fine
harbor primarily prompted the location of Milwaukee, but its subsequent
growth in population strength and rise as a producing center must in large
part be found in the character of the people who sought their homes here.
East and West Lake Shore Cities. — In order to demonstrate this statement
let us for a moment look at the east and west shores of Lake Michigan. On
the east shore may he found a series of small cities and villages while on the
west, or Wisconsin shore, are presented a number of important manufacturing
cities, including Kenosha, Racine, Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Milwaukee.
True, the Wisconsin shore offers many tine harbors hut the Michigan shore
has been equally blessed with harbor possibilities.
Thus, the industrial development of the Wisconsin lake cities is due to other
causes besides favorable water inlets. Nor can it he held that a rich hinter-
land alone lias been the main cause for their growth. The interior of the
State of Michigan is fully as fertile as is the State of Wisconsin.
While favorable harbor entrances and a fertile back country have con-
tributed to the growth of the lake shore cities, it was in tin- main the enter-
prise of the population that availed itself of the natural advantages which
weic at their command.
Admitting all this, we must find the real cause of the power and prestige
of these Wisconsin cities in the industrial character of the earlier settlers
and of the subsequent immigration that added itself to them. Tin' new comers
were mechanics who came from both the old and the new world, while those
who settled on the east shore followed agricultural pursuits. This accounts
for the fact that nearly all the important manufacturing cities bordering on
Lake Michigan are located on the Wisconsin shore.
An Industrial Population. — The population that settled them not only
understood how to build houses and ships, make a plow and shoe a horse,
but they also knew how to tan hides into leather, saw lumber and grind
flour. There were butchers, bakers, and basket makers, bookbinders, broom
and brick makers, coopers, cobblers and cabinet makers, potters, printers and
paper makers, weavers, wagon ami wheelbarrow makers.
The young Yankees who came from the New England states and the so-
called Knickerbockers who came from New York, were in the main of the
commercial class. There were, however, many skilled mechanics among
them. The main body of the workmen came from Europe, including Ger-
mans, Austrians, English, Irish. Scotch, Bohemian and Dutch. The greater
number of the skilled men came from Germany. The Polish, Italian. Hun-
garians, Slavonians anil Croatians came at a later period.
These mechanics knew how to fashion useful things for themselves ami
their fellowmen. At first they worked, singly and alone, then they were joined
by an apprentice and a journeyman. With the passing id' time these groups
enlarged themselves and the backyard shed grew into a factory plant. Fur-
nace and engine, chimney and smokestack, engine and machinery came upon
222 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
the scene. Organization was introduced. The area of distribution was
widened. The era of quantitj production arrived. Greal industries became
a reality.
Thus, the mciili'st men in overalls, who stood a1 the workbench themselves,
who conceived and constructed their own enterprises, became the founders
of mighty industrial enterprises whose products now go to the four ends
of the world. They fashioned useful things— things thai were classed among
the necessities rather than the luxuries of Life.
The one factor which lent both stimulus and stability to these industrial
enterprises was the pride and sense of honor which characterized these work-
ers. They breathed their character into their products. Every article was
honestly made. The names that were behind them became synonyms for in-
tegrity and honesty.
Secret of Industrial Success. — The younger generation thai joined and
succeeded them availed itself of the precepts and policies that had been estab
lished. The sons of the founders went into the factories and worked through
the various branches of manufacture from the crudest labor to the most
skilled arts. Thoroughness became the goal of the recruits. "Start at the
bottom and work your way up," became the watchword of their elders.
But, the example set by the early founders was repeated again and
again through the years that followed. Men who began life as mechanics in
workshops and mills ultimately founded new industries, making small begin-
ings and rising to eminence and power as producers. A new idea, an im-
provement or an invention usually became the basis for a new industry.
Frequently, too, articles hitherto manufactured in the East could, it was
found, be manufactured more advantageously at home.
Tn this connection it is interesting to note many industries, specially those
dealing in textiles, which found their origin in the fact that wholesalers and
jobbers, who were buying and selling goods made elsewhere, themselves be-
came manufacturers. Usually the "nods were made in the industrial centers
of the New England states which adhered to fixed designs and styles. The
western jobber who sold in a competitive market sought a greater variety
of goods and the introduction of innovation and changes.
The traveling man, for instance, who sold goods in the lumber and
ging districts of Wisconsin, Michigan and .Minnesota, came home with practi-
cal suggestions as to the making of a glove, a si or a garmenl thai would
meet the need of climatic and industrial conditions more adequately.
Jobber Becomes a Producer. — The enterprising jobber in the Midwest
made his rceommeudat ions tn a conservative manufacturer in the East. The
latter was slow in recognizing innovations, with the result that the former
began to produce at home and found a ready sale tor tin' improved article.
In many instances the Milwaukee manufacturers, who aimed to make their
product more attractive and at the same time more utilitarian, met with
i • ■ 1 1 1 . j 1 1 able success.
These strokes of enterprise, together with the constant addition of new
lines of production, gave diversity to the industrial activities of th.- com-
munity. The clement of diversify also tended towards greater stability in the
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 223
economic progress of the community, steadying- the general output, and
keeping the workmen more uniformly employed. If the demand for one
product plant laid oft' men another added them.
The result was that there grew up in time a remarkable industrial con-
stituency. The number and quality of skilled mechanics became a factor
that lent momentum and efficiency to production and made the expansion
of manufacture a possibility. The manufacturers were enabled to compete
successfully, in many lines of production, with the manufacturers of other sec-
tions of the country.
Middle of the Last Century. — The status of the manufacturing interests
in 1856 is well told in a report made by the Board of Trade during the year
following-. It reads as follows:
""We have found more difficulty in arriving at a just estimate of the value
and extent of this branch of business than any other. A large class of manu-
facturers arc unwilling to give the amount of their business or other essential
particulars concerning it.
"But we have been able to gather sufficient accurate information to show
that there has been a large increase in manufactures over the year 1855, both
in value and variety.
Steam Engines, Boilers, Machinery, etc. — "Under this beading, we find
in the city some eighteen shops, employing from 12 to 100 men each, and
turning out an aggregate amount of $800,000 of work per annum. Fully
one-half the presenl capital was added the past year, and no less than six of
the establishments were new during the year 1856. Extensions and enlarge-
ments are contemplated for the present year to the amount of $300,000,
besides one or two entire new establishments.
Ale, Beer, Etc. — "There were in operation during the year 1856, in the
city, twenty-six breweries, manufacturing 75,000 barrels of ale and beer, the
larger portion of which was Lager beer. Of this amount, probably 30,000
barrels were sent from the city. The entire capital employed in this Imsincss
is little short of -$1,000,000. Enlargements and extensions were made during
the year to the amount of $25,000. The number of men employed is about
five hundred, at average wage of $8 per week. The increase over the pro-
duction of 1855 was nearly 50 per cent.
Brick Making. — "Notwithstanding the demand from abroad for the
beautiful .Milwaukee brick has been unabated, still the consumption at home
has been so great that but few have been exported. While we manufactured
20 per cent more— or 35,000,000 in 1S56— we exported only about 1,000,000.
Then- arc eight brick-yards in operation employing about 300 men. It is con-
templated to increase the manufacture the coming year to 40,000,(100. The
pressed brick of Milwaukee is not exceeded in beauty and durability by any
made in any other part of the world.
Flouring Mills. — "During the past year large outlays have been made
upon the mills of the city, causing them to remain idle a considerable portion
of the time. The aggregate amount expended upon them is $50,000, one-
third of which consisted in the construction of an immense steam engine and
,.j5> '■ ' -'■■■ ■ "i ^t^m v. »m\
,«** "
>
L-. !
THE OLD NEWHALL HOUSE
Destroyed by fire Janvary 10, 1883. Seventy-five lives lu>t. Albany Hall, for mam years
a model meeting place, to the left.
I III, REPUBLK AN HOI -I
i 'orner Third and i edar bI reel -
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 225
machinery for the Empire Mills. The total amount of flour manufactured
by the five mills, aside from custom work, was 116.000 barrels.
Miscellaneous Industries. — "During the past year the first eattle market
ever opened in the city was started by Layton & Plankinton. It was com-
menced in August, and they sold, to the close of the year about $60,000.
They anticipate a large increase another season.
"The beef packing- season is now over, and amounts to about the
same as 1855, or about 10,000 bbls. The pork packing is not yet closed, but
will evidently fall considerably below the amount packed in 1855. About
100 men men are employed in this business at $1.50 per day for the season.
"There has been a material increase in the manufacture of boots and shoes.
The whole amount manufactured the past year was $350,000, against $185,000
for the year before. There are 500 men employed at average wages of $7
per week.
'"The manufacture of clothing for the year 1856 was nearly double the
amount of 1855, and foots up at $600,000. The number of hands employed
by the wholesale house is over 450, at average wages of $7.50 per week.
"A want spoken of in the last Annual Report has been supplied by the
establishment of a Lard Oil Manufactory, which has been in operation for
several months.
"In the ship-building branch of industry the present winter has not
witnessed so much advancement. During the first months of 1856 the amount
of tonnage launched was 1,600 — one propeller and five schooners. About the
same tonnage will be launched during the coming season.
"There are many branches of industry that could be spoken of with
interest, would the limits of this report permit. It is a satisfaction to notice
that our manufacturers are so prosperous and successful. The advancement
has been beyond all expectation, and the future bids fair to outrival the past
history of our industrial city.
Table. — Showing the principal articles and their value manufactured
in Milwaukee, for the year 1856 :
Articles
Ale and Beer $ 750,000
Brick 350,000
Barrels 120,000
Boots and Shoes 350,000
Burr Mill Stones 30,000
Book Binding 25,000
Bread and Crackers 175,000
Brooms 10,000
Billiard Tables 45,000
Clothing 600,000
Cabinet Furniture 225,000
Confectionery 35,000
Carriages 30,000
Camphene and Fluid 30,000
Cigars and Tobacco 75,000
Vol. 1—15
THE ASTOE HOTEL
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 227
Cow Bells 1,000
Daguerrean and Photographs 50,000
Engraving and Lithography 20,000
Flour 696,000
Guns and Pistols 7,500
Glue 12,000
(Moves and Mits 8,500
Harness and Carriage Trimmings 150,000
Horse Shoeing and Smithing 55,000
Iron Manufactures of all kinds 1,500,000
Jewelry and Silver Ware 20,000
Job Printing 75,000
Lumber Planing 250,001)
Millinery 75,000
Maps, ( 'harts, &e 6,000
Piano Fortes 9,500
Paper 31,000
Patent Machines ; . . . 200,001 1
Pipes 9,000
Pork and Beef Packing 400,00(1
Rope 20,000
Root Beer 6,000
Railroad Cars 20,000
Rectified Whisky and Spirits 500,000
Stone and Earthen Ware 26,000
Sheet Iron, Tin & Copper Manufactures 250,000
Soap and Ca ndles 150,000
Ship Building 140,000
Safes 35,000
Stoves and Hollow Ware 35,000
Saleratus 30,000
Sleighs 90,000
Tanning and Wool Pulling 280,000
Turning, Wood and Brass 50,000
Vinegar 8,000
Umbrellas 3,000
Window Shades 3,000
Wool and Yam 35,000
Wire Screening 15.000
Total 1856 $8,057,000
Total 1855 5,590,000
Total 1854 4,633,000
Then and Now. — In noting the production ability of the city for 1S56 it
may be well to observe by contrast the figures presented a half century later.
They demonstrate the vitality which the city had assumed as an industrial
center. In naming the ten leading manufacturing cities of the United States
228 HISTORT OF M I I.WA I'K EE
the United States Census Bureau in L910 named Milwaukee as the firsl for
thai year.
The five leading' industries and the value of their production for 1910 was
as follows :
Iron, steel and heavy machinery $34,] 12,555
Leather anil tannery products 24,940,000
Beer and malted tonics 23,510,344
Packed Meats 21,650,000
Railroad equipment and supplies 12,931,000
Some idea of the volume the manufacturing interests had then assumed
may be formed from the following figures :
Number of manufacturing concerns 4,126
Number of factory employes 109,216
Amount of wages paid $ 65,853,152
Amount of capital invested 2:36,558.011
Value of total year*s production 329,526,667
A summary of Milwaukee industry and commerce during the year 1918
was as follows :
Total of all manufactures $741,188,557
Total Capital 392,644,414
Total Wages Paid 141,455,203
Total Number of Employes 1 Hi. 109
Ten leading manufactures in 1918:
Iron, Steel, Heavy Machinery 155,696,044
Packed Meat 68,200,000
Leather 45,000,000
Auto Accessories, Commercial Trucks 31,000,000
Boots and Shoes 30,100,000
Coal and Wood Products 30,100,000
Electric and Phone Supplies 29,233,000
Malt 21,000,000
Hosiery. Knit Goods 12,300,000
Soap 11. 475. 1 mi)
Agricultural Implements 10,800,000
Obsolete and New Industries.-- A study of the manufacturing activities of
the past half century reveals some interesting changes. Some of the indus-
tries which led in an earlier day have been reduced to minor importance while
others have disappeared entirely.
For instance, brick making- was a thriving industry in the '50s of the lasl
century. The cream colored brick made during that period attained great
popularity and led to the city's nickname of "Cream City." It was used
as a face brick for some of the best structures, and many of the older build-
ings of a substantial character, seen in Milwaukee today, were made of the
famous cream colored brick. But the industry declined gradually until the
kilns were redu I both in size and number. The cream color faded par
tially with time and exposure into a dusty gray and the brick lost its popu-
larity. Only mi i brick is now being made. The face brick employed in
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 229
modern l>u Idings and construction work usually comes from other sections
of the country. Willow basket weaving1, which was at one time a flourishing
industry, has practically gone out of existence.
The brewing of beer and ale was one of the earliest ami remained for
many years one of the most important industries, ranking third and fourth
in the value of annual output. In 1856 the city already boasted of having
twenty-six breweries and a capital investment in them of over one million
dollars. Gradually the number of breweries was reduced but those remain-
ing in the business increased their capacity from year to year until some
id' them were classed among the largest in the United States.
The rapid development of this industry may be accounted for in the fact
that while the brewers in most American cities produced for local consump-
tion only the Milwaukee brewers built up a national and even international
trade. Through ingenious advertising and efficient sales organizations the
output grew into enormous demands. Tin; slogan "The Beer that Made
Milwaukee Famous" became a national by-word and gave the city extensive
publicity as a beer producing center.
It created the impression in many sections of the country that beer
making was Milwaukee's leading industry, whereas its steel and iron indus-
tries, its machinery and engines, meat packing and leather products were
always in the lead. Those who chafed under the erroneous impressions which
had been gained throughout the country frequently boasted that the water
pumping machinery produced by Milwaukee factories pumped more water
throughout the United States in a single day than the beer produced by all
the breweries in a year.
Decline of the Breweries. -This by no means argued that the industry
or its owners were unpopular. Their product was locally sold in 2,200 saloons.
The brewers were regarded as public spirited men, who were concerned in
I he progress of the community and wdio gave liberally to civic, educational
and charitable projects. They had large property holdings in the business
section of the city and manifested at all times ciderpri.se in building up
and beautifying the city.
The annual production of beer had run into many millions of dollars in
value when the dry wave struck it and practically rendered the industry
obsolete. Buildings and machinery, constituting enormous investments, were
rendered idle and thousands of men were thrown out of employment. Some
of the breweries were dismantled, others engaged in the manufacture of near
beer and non-alcoholic beverages, still others were thrown open to other
industries. Those who were formerly engaged in the brewing industry are
gradually directing their energy and capital into other fields of production.
In an article discussing industries that arc no longer pursued in Milwaukee,
and at the same time describing some of the newer and somewhat unique
articles produced, a writer in the Sunday Milwaukee Telegram of February 12,
1922, says the following :
"Now that beer is out of the way and the spread of Milwaukee's fame
in that direction has ceased to be a jarring note to the ears of a certain part
of its citizenry, there arises a question as to just what has taken or is taking,
TIIK MEDFORD HOTEL
Third and Sycamore streets
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 231
or even will take the place of the foaming beverage, as a rallying product
of this tremendously industrious city.
"Some hard headed individuals point to the fact that Milwaukee is char-
acterized by its production of iron fabrication, leather, packinghouse spe-
cialties and textile goods. It is a fact that these products lead in Milwaukee
industries. More than that, the first three have led the brewing industry, in
value of product, for many years. Still, even when these industries stopped
brewing, there was no life to the cry: 'Milwaukee leads in iron goods,' or
'Leather is making Milwaukee famous,' or "The packinghouse product that
made Milwaukee made the world sit up!'
"Things like iron, leather or meat do not lend themselves readily to
tuneful slogans. The beer epigram was an inspiration. And, incidentally,
it cost several millions to tell the world about it.
"There must have been a little romantic flavor to the word 'beer,' to
make it the basis of so popular a cry. Perhaps some people thought the word
just a little naughty, and used it with a tinge of mischievous pleasure. At
any rate, the reaction of the epigram on many Milwaukeeans was quite
similar to that caused by flying a crimson scarf before a maddened bull. But
still it prevailed until Volsteadean days sheared it oft', as a waste page in a
ledger is removed.
"I 'pon what subject is Milwaukee now gaining fame? What do they
manufacture here that characterizes the town in such a way that the popular
mind will take to it. Is prestige and the value of free advertising to go.
just because beer is not?
"Things to Be Proud of. — Well, there are a number of things that appear
susceptible to segregated fame in connection with the city — things that might
be picked up ami singled out and parted from the hum of industry, ami
placed upon a pedestal before which America would stand in admiration.
"For instance there are tacks; there are birdcages: there are rimless silk
stockings which the girls wear; there are amazing fabrications in flowers;
there is tempting mayonnaise: there are beautiful mannequins; there are —
well, there are rye bread and there are sausages. And the greatest of these
is sausages !
"Sausages! Spicy, savory, tasteful sausages! Sausages for every race,
creed and personal preference ! Sausages given a zip by round black peppers ;
sausages which are given a flavor of garlic.
"Is it possible that this, to the average mind, humble and prosaic tid-bit
will mount upon a commercial steed and ride gloriously tilting through the
world with flaunting banners, emblazoned with its emblems, heralding the
fame of Milwaukee as the supreme master of the art of sausage-making?
"Will the flavor of romance achieve ascendency over the flavor of garlic?
It. looks as if it would, and as a matter of fact Milwaukee today is recognized
from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico (and even into the interior
of those countries) as the monarch of the sausage kingdom.
"Amid the blare and confusion of hundreds of Coney Island resorts, the
shouts of waiters for 'Milwaukee sausages' burst above the clang and clamor
of orchestrion and 'leedle German band.' At Revere beach, in staid Bos-
tl MM
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 233
ton, the 'hot dog' purveyor who gets the cream of the business is able to
bark 'Milwaukee frankfurts!'
"The Cliff House in San Francisco echoes the fame of Milwaukee as
sausage producer par excellence. Forest Park Highland at St. Louis is a
big consumer of this Milwaukee product. And along the beaches at Venice
and Santa Monica, at the Minnesota State Fair in the Twin Cities, on Belle
Isle at Detroit, and at Atlantic City, the prestige of the Milwaukee sausage
iias become a watchword with vendors, in season, and the one-time fame of
Milwaukee on the playgrounds of the big cities is being superseded by a
more substantial, if more pungent and less 'heady,' reputation for excellence.
It is extremely unlikely that an anti-'hot dog' amendment will ever be placed
upon the federal constitution.
"Both Chicago and New York City are large consumers of Milwaukee
sausages and in thousands of markets and delicatessens in those cities
preference of the trade for the Milwaukee product is manifested by proud
placards denoting its presence in stock.
"And in this connection — literally — the fame of Milwaukee rye bread
is not to be sneezed at. Milwaukee rye bread is a standard preference in
hundreds of cities. How many people here know that big shipments of
'Milwaukee rye' are made every day in the year to New York, Washington;
Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Seattle and
intermediate points?
"It is a fact, nevertheless. Rye bread and frankfurt sausages make a
particularly appetizing combination, especially with mustard added. It ap-
peals to the masses, and the masses are responsible for slogans and epigrams
becoming a part of ordinary speech.
"It all comes to conclusion of fact that Milwaukee excels in industrial
effort. If the government suppresses the manufacture of an excelling beer
which the populace acclaim by giving credit to the city, the spirit of
supremacy manifests itself in another direction — the preparation of excel-
ling sausages and rye bread.
"Milwaukee is bound to be noted for something. Away back in the early
days Milwaukee was known nationally as the 'Cream City.' This was not
on account of the creamy frothiness of the beer made here, as some have
believed in later years. It was on account of a certain type and color of
building brick made here. And the name continued until the certain kind
of clay with which the bricks were made ran out and Milwaukee's brick
industry shrank to an unimportant place.
"Milwaukee used to produce great quantities of pottery — the clay was
brought here from Ohio. But many years ago the potters went to the clay
hanks and Milwaukee subsided as a pottery center.
"Right after the Civil war Milwaukee was quite a center for the manufac-
ture of coffee essence. This article, besides being a popular substitute for
coffee, winch was scarce then, made a great hit with the 'kids' as a means
of fooling parents, teachers or friends with the fiction that tobacco was
being 'chawed.' The public preference for coffee, however, wrecked the
business and several essence factories in .Milwaukee were closed. One of
234 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
the lasl ones was operated by the grandfather of Walter Bummel, the North
Side rea] estate man.
"Milwaukee has produced and still is producing many oddities of manu-
facture which are somewhat interesting for her citizens to know, and many
achievements of invention are marked to the credit of the city in the far
readies of the commercial world.
"Leads in 'Hobbies.' — It requires something to eat or drink, perhaps, to
inspire a general recognition of a certain production, in a line or a sentence.
Commercial oddities, however, crop out here and there in an interesting man-
ner. The product may not be as unusual as some feature of its production,
but the feature emphasizes notices.
"Who would think to inquire, for instance, if Milwaukee was the Leading
producing city of America for toy horses.' If such inquiry were made, never-
theless, it would be found that Milwaukee, for nearly 50 years, has I u
manufacturing' and selling more toy horses than any other city in the United
States, and perhaps the world as well.
"Who would imagine that from every quarter in the United states and
from Europe come orders for a certain make of artificial flowers, used for
show-window adornment and clothing display, and — even as window dis-
plays for the most fashionable florists in the large cities.?
"The fame of the art flowers of Milwaukee is abroad throughout the
country and a large portion of the outside world. They are the product of
the artistic efforts of a woman who started making a few at a time some
years ago, but who enlarged the scope of her work as the demand for perfect
imitations of posies grew. These flowers are made with a secret waxing
process and are said to be so exact in reproduction that frequently mistakes
are made winch lead to much amusement.
"The story is told of a woman who went into one of Chicago's fashionable
stores for a nosegay anil ordered a selection from a salesman. The eroupine
was laid down momentarily beside a cluster of imitations of a similar flower.
When tlie salesman picked them up again the customer objected.
'No, not those,' she said. 'These are the ones I selected,' pointing to
the imitations. After some indignation had arisen by the salesman's persisl
ence that the bouquet he held was the right one. she was asked to Eeel the
imitations, and did so. Her surprise was equaled by her astonishment.
"Bird houses! A lot of wooden cages and houses for domestic and wild
birds, does not sound very important. But it is important in Milwaukee, for
there is one manufacturing plant which turns out nothing else.
"In Hie bird store world .Milwaukee is of the highest Standing. The
maker of Milwaukee bird houses started in business while a youngster at
School. He made a little wooden cage one day and showed it 1" some of his
chums. 'Aw. that's punk,' said one of the Imy spectators. 'Better chop it
up for kindling.'
"Apparently this was what the young manufacturer needed, for instead
of becoming discouraged, he persevered in his efforts to make a perfeel cage
and eventually became a specialist in that line. Today there come to him
orders from all parts id" tl unilry and bis trade is a large one. Incidentally.
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 235
and having nothing to do with the story, this bird house builder related
recently that he had been informed that the boy who jeered at his first effort
was convicted of a forgery in an Eastern city and now serving time.
"Though the bird houses are diminutive as a workman's task, compared
to a real house, the volume of output from the bird house factory is greater
than many a millwork concern which manufactures for the construction of
human habitations.
"In fineness and skill in the manufacture of delicate instruments for gaug-
ing, Milwaukee is at the fore, also. A number of concerns manufacture gauges
of miscroscopic measurement capability, and during the war the government
found that Milwaukee was a valuable possession, indeed, in the production of
this class of instruments.
"A pair of specialities, whose coupling seems somewhat incongruous, is
mayonnaise and mannequins. There are several large makers of mayonnaise
and other dressings, one specializing in 'Thousand Island dressing' a product
that is distributed all over the United States. The volume of business that
this line of industry develops is so large as to be astonishing, running into
several hundreds of thousands of dollars a .year.
"The making of mannequins is an industry of comparatively recent origin,
but it is rapidly increasing, largely because of the superior production attained,
which, in turn, is due to a high quality of workmen procurable in Milwaukee.
"In a modest way Milwaukee aspires to be a silk hat center, and one
large hat manufacturer distributes this (in the West) infrequent article of
apparel to many parts of the country. In fact, it is probable that much of
this product is used to dislodge French or English importations.
"People who light their gas stoves by pressing a button connected with
a. Hash lighter, probably do not know that the device was born and bred in
Milwaukee and is, even now, largely manufactured here. Yet it is perfectly
true. Another common device that is 'Milwaukee' is the automatic lubricator,
in a variety of forms for various uses. This device was developed here and is
still a large factor in manufactured products.
"Refrigerating machinery, electrical appliances, wheelbarrows, iron
'washers,' boat propellers, locomotives, cigar boxes ('cedared'), heavy dig-
ging, hoisting and conveying machinery, magnetic separators, herringbone
gears and battleship fire control devices are some of the oddities of Milwaukee
manufacture.
"Growth of Enterprises. — 'There is a great romance in Milwaukee in-
dustry,' said William George Bruce, long secretary of Milwaukee's merchants'
and manufacturers' organizations. 'It lias its incept inn in the lowly condition
which existed when many of our present industries were founded. It lies
in the transformation of back yard shacks into great factories — from the
tumble down huts where sonic gritty man with real vision, started fashioning
with his own hands some article which would be useful to mankind. Those
were the days when the apprentice was the boss' chum. Then came the step
to quantity production, scientific organization and distribution on a systematic
scale.
MILLED HOTEL AND THEATRE AND TIIII.M) STREET, LOOKING NORTE
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 237
" 'Today those little enterprises have forged ahead and into huge in-
dustrial mnts of tlie city. Romance? I'll tell the world it is.
" 'Then there is the interesting phase showing how Milwaukee came to
lean toward manufacture. In early days the wholesale district, east of the
river and south of Wisconsin Street, was a large, important factor of the city.
These houses handled Eastern manufactures. There came a time when the
trade in the Middle West demanded special attention in adaptations of manu-
factures to meet local needs. The Eastern makers did not respond. One by
one, the wholesalers turned to producing the goods wanted here, and grad-
ually the wholesale business quarter shrunk to what it is now.
" 'Milwaukee is a wonder city. It has grown and thriven as no other
city in the world, in the usually destructive shadow id' a huge metropolis —
Chicago. Every commercial advantage exists in Chicago, and nature itself
conspires to defeat large cities in the shadows of a metropolis. Yet Mil-
waukee has increased, though Chicago's roots reached out to deprive it of
nourishment.
" 'The vision of the pioneers of industry who settled here lias proved
correct. The initiative of a later generation has made it a great center. The
cause is something besides geography, and 1 have concluded that it is what I
may describe as "production ability" of the population. For Milwaukee is
a great factory town, and commercial interests are secondary.
" 'We manufacture so much here that we do not know all that we make.
I recall a worsted maker here, who tried to sell his cloth directly to tailors.
He was unsuccessful. But one day a tailor sent a rush order to his cloth
dealer in New York for an additional piece from a cei'tam bolt. The tailor
was surprised a week later to receive his cloth from the worsted maker. He
had supposed his purchases were imports.
'We have been selling that "import house" for years;' the manufacturer
said to the tailor. 'And I tried to get you to buy direct. But you wouldn't.
And it cost you a great deal more the way you got it.'
" 'It did, but it won't any more,' replied the tailor.
" 'And I know that it didn't." "
Paper making also was an industry fostered many years ago, and while
it never gained any considerable proportion and in fact led a somewhat pre-
carious existence, it had to give way to the more favorably situated paper
mills in northern and central Wisconsin.
The same may be said of some of the woodworking industries. While
the manufacture of sash, doors, and blinds and the designing and building
of interior wood work grew to magnificent proportions other woodworking
industries declined. Boxes and barrels, and particularly the former, how-
ever, are still produced on a large scale, but the manufacture of such things
as ax handles and household utensils is no longer carried on.
One of the old time industries somewhat unique in character, consisted
of pottery making. The kilns were located in the very heart of the city.
and the product consisted of jugs, mugs and jars which went into the econo-
mies of the household. The raw materials, namely the clays, came in ves-
sels from Ohio ports. The competition of Ohio potters who had ready access
238 11ISTOKV OF MILWAUKEE
to clays, ii is said, eventually caused the decline of the industry here. Today
the plant is still a jobbing house for pottery made in other states.
Individual Enterprise -and Location.- In noting the industries thai •
flourished here and then declined it would be difficult in every instai to
assign the causes for such decline. It is commonlj assumed thai industrial
enterprises secure a better footing in certain Idealities than in others because
of definite advantages, such as ready access to raw materials, proximity to
markets and favorable labor conditions. This claim might be urged here, but
the writer fears that it, does not hold good entirely.
The iron industries may flourish best near the supply of ore and the fuel
beds, coupled with a favorable center of distribution, but this does not
apply too all other industries. The cotton for instance, which is grown in
the South is largely manufactured at the New England mills. .Many other
industries might be enumerated where individual enterprise ami energy
rather than location 'and environment have led to success.
Thus, in noting some of the industries in Milwaukee which have become
obsolete through unfavorable conditions, it may be well to point to the fact
that many new industries have since come into existence through the sheer
force of individual foresight and industry. The stability of an industry is
also aided by the momentum it has acquired and the prestige thai has
been achieved. Certain centers in Ohio that created pottery industries be-
cause of their proximity to clay beds now draw their raw materials from
other states and even from foreign countries. Their plants and organiza-
tions have become highly developed, and their trade connections and reputa-
tion firmly established. Proximity to the supply of raw materials is no
longer an essential factor.
Thus, there are today large and flourishing industrial enterprises in Mil-
waukee whose success is largely if not wholly due to the enterprise and in-
genuity of their projectors. When the knitting industry, for instance, was
projected some years ago there were sceptics who held that the East enjoyed
advantages in the way of access to materials, skilled labor and distribution
facilities not at command in the midwest territory.
But, today the knitting industry in .Milwaukee has assumed enormous
proportions and its products have found a market in all parts of the coun-
try. Individual enterprise, ingenious production, successful advertising and
marketing overcame the advantages usually credited to location. The in-
herent ability of .Milwaukee to produce wisely and market Successfully is
well demonstrated in tin' many new industries which have sprung up during
the past quarter of a century. While the older industries have steadily grown
in proportion and stability they have also amplified themselves in point of
variety ami in the newer things evolved with the progress made in the
mechanic arts ami the science of production.
With the advent of electricity, and its application to the uses of man.
there also sprung into existence a number of plants making a great variety
of electrical apparatus ami devices. Inventive genius also made its ,
tribution and evolved improvements which found universal recognition.
"Milwaukee now ranks as the fourth largest candy manufacturing center
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 239
in the United States, while from the standpoint of per capita output it is
the largest. There are now more than twenty candy manufacturing plants
in the city, including two chocolate manufacturing concerns,"' says Alva H.
Cook, an authority on the subject.
"During the year 1920, Milwaukee's confectionery output amounted to
$18,659,115, but the 1921 output is valued at a lower figure because of the fact
that candy prices declined during the year, while the volume of production
was smaller. The candy factories here employed during the last year between
3,000 and 4,000 people, representing a wage expenditure of nearly $3,000,000.
The capital stock of the manufacturing confectionery houses totals more
than $8,000,000.
"Despite the fact that Milwaukee candy factories employ more than
3,000 people, there never has been even a hint of labor trouble here, largely
because of the fairness shown by the manufacturers, who strongly believe
in a spirit of cooperation between employer and employes."
The evolution of the automobile, too, found expression in many new
plants producing accessories and parts. The efficiency manifested here has
made. Milwaukee one of the largest producers in this field of industry. While
the production of pleasure cars has never gained great importance it has at
least a good start. In the meantime the building of 1 rucks has made consid-
erable progress. Whether or not the city will ever become an automobile
center it remains that it has received sufficient momentum in the production
of accessories to promise even greater activities in this field in the future.
But, a long array of industries, which did not exist twenty-five years ago,
have risen to importance and have attained a demand for their product cov-
ering a wide area.
Inventors and Inventions. — C. Latham Sholes was the inventor of the
typewriter. He germinated the idea which was developed into the modern
typewriter and which has become an indispensable instrument in the field
of intercommunication and record keeping. Mr. Sholes' device was crude
in construction and incomplete in operation, but it embodied the principles
which later on led to the development of the finished machine.
Arthur L. Morsell, a leading .Milwaukee patent attorney, tells the story
of this remarkable invention as follows: "While the Sholeses, father and
son, were not the first inventors of the broad idea, they developed the same
into a really practical and commercial machine. The first patent taken out
for a typewriter in which the Sholes family figured was one issued to Sholes,
Glidden and Soule on June 23, 1868. Another patent Mas issued July 11,
1868, to Sholes, Glidden and Soule. On August 29, 1871, C. Latham Sholes
obtained another patent covering an improvement on the machines patented
to Sholes, Glidden and Soule in June and July, 1868. Subsequently, in 1876,
Sholes and Schwalbach, and in 1878, Sholes, Sholes and Glidden obtained
other patents for improvements in typewriting machines.
"These patents of Sholes, Glidden and Soule (Sholes, Sholes and Schwal-
bach having come into the control of Remington & Sons of Ilion, New York),
formed the basis that, in connection with excellent mechanical workmanship
and extensive and persistent advertising, has placed machines of the gen-
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MILWAUKEE MANUFACTURERS' HOME BUILDING
Foot of Mason Street
Ml NOMINEE \ \l.l.i:> MANUFAI I I RING I I Mil:
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 241
eral class covered by these patents in extensive use. The typewriter is one
of the important inventions of modern times. As a substitute for handwrit-
ing it is a great labor saver, not only for the individual who would himself
write, but enables him to divide the work with another. In giving oppor-
tunity for wider business transactions with more accurate results and in
providing employment for young women, it is the chiefest instrument of the
age, and Milwaukee, as will be seen, has contributed largely to the develop-
ment of this wonderful invention, and has had, and is entitled to, an important
and honorable part."
The invention of a system of temperature regulation by Prof. Warren
S. Johnson has proven a beneficent contribution to the welfare of mankind.
The thermostatic control of temperature enables the saving of fuel wher-
ever artificial heat is employed. The system is installed in thousands of
schoolhouses, hotels, office buildings, hospitals, horticultural hothouses, re-
frigeration plants, etc., in this country. It has not only proven a fuel saver,
but also a conserver of health. The system has gone into general use through-
out the United States. It may also be found in many foreign countries. Some
of the most sumptuous palaces of Europe, including those of many royal
families, as well as hospitals, schools and .hotels, are equipped with it.
During the earlier part of this century a body of scientists of Germany sub-
jected the invention to the severest test and declared it a permanent con-
tribution to the well-being of the human race. Among the noted buildings
equipped with the Johnson thermostat and temperature regulation in Europe
is the Peace Palace^ located at the Hague, Holland, erected by the late Andrew
Carnegie. On the whole, Professor Johnson was a remarkably prolific inven-
tor having invented several electric, pneumatic, horologic and thermatie de-
vices of the greatest utility.
The old Allis Works have used to advantage hundreds of patented de-
vices, beginning with Edwin Reynold's improvement on the Corliss engine.
The late W. D. Gray's inventions in the line of milling machinery also con-
tributed very greatly to the success of the original Allis Company. Other
manufacturing plants in the same line in this city are likewise to a great
extent dependent upon patented devices, so it is unquestionably true that
Milwaukee's success in the line of iron, steel and heavy machinery is due,
in a siderable measure, in patented devices. The leather industry, judging
from the many patents taken out in this field, has also been greatly benefited.
The endless railway rail was the product of the inventive thought of a
former Milwaukeean, A. von Hoffmann, now a resident of St. Louis. The air-
brakes which are now used generally on railroad cars throughout the world
are the invention of Niels A. Christensen. A standard concrete mixer, which
amassed a fortune for its inventor is the invention of the late Thomas L.
Smith of Milwaukee. Stephen V. Moore, now deceased, a poor man. was
without sufficient funds to pay for his application for patent, and the fees
were advanced for him. He invented a machine for carving wood, particu-
larly adapted for use in carving furniture. He made a fortune out of his
United States patent, and obtained $15,000 cash for his English patent.
Henry II. Cutler, one of the original organizers of the Cutler-Hammer
242 HISTOEY OF MILWAUKEE
Company of this city, a stupendously successful company, lias taken out
patents on various types of electric controllers which perhaps have a larger
sale than any device of n similar character now on the market. Thus a
whole manufacturing directory might be catalogued.
The boat motor invented by Ole Evinrude and known as the Fvinrude
motor has met with great success. It consists of a portable motor which
can be attached to small boats providing ready propelling power. The motors
have found recognition in all parts of the world.
Other inventions which have proven their utility and value are the uni-
versal bolter by J. F. Harrison, saw mill set works by W. II. Trout, single roll
crushers-convex by R. C. Newhouse, hydrocone by W. M. White, high speed,
low head hydraulic turbine by F. Nagler, brazed steam turbine blading by
C. E. Search, electrical machinery by B. A. Behrend, retarded relay electrical
machinery by II. W. Cheney, governor by J. F. Max Patitz, a so-called island
light by William W. Rumsen, and a carburetor by E. <i. Hodge.
Diversified Production. — One of the elements of strength which attaches
to the industrial activities of the city is found in the diversification of its pro-
duction. Serious conditions have arisen in manufacturing centers where pro-
duction has been confined to a few lines only. In time of a depression in these
lines unemployment leads to migration of labor and the dissolution of plant
organization.
It has been a peculiarity of Milwaukee's industrial field that while many
of the plants have grown to enormous size and output, many smaller industries
covering a large variety of output have come into existence. Nor. are the
larger plants confined in the production to a limited number of articles.
The advantage which has accrued here is that while certain articles may
for the time being command a limited sale other articles of production may
command a fair market. Labor that may be rendered idle in one branch of
industry may find employment in another, and while labor is not readily
shifted from one to the other, it nevertheless follows that a part of the labor
forces is constantly employed.
Another phase of industrial stability is found in the fact that .Milwaukee
factory plants deal in the main with the useful and the n< ssarj things
of life. Few industries are engaged in the production of luxuries. Bence, a
greater steadiness of output.
It will not be altogether out of place to mention here the progressive and
humane attitude of the employer towards his employes. The manufacturers
have been able to maintain efficient working organizations because they have
paid good -wages and accorded fair treatment. In times of depression they
have managed to distribute the days of labor among those most deserving and
in greatest i d.
Notwithstanding the changed relations from the old time employer and Ins
few journeymen to the monster plants, many employers have succeeded in
remaining in personal touch with their men and in demonstrating a practical
and helpful interest in their material and moral welfare.
Exceeded the Billion Dollar Mark. — In the year 1920 the maximum figures
in the value of production was reached. The increased cost of material and
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 243
labor, together with an intensified production, no doubt, tended to swell the
figures over those of previous years. At the same time these figures included
the normal increase as well, and it must be assumed that if the war had not
come the growth for that period would have continued at the rate of former
years.
The figures are stupendous. The billion dollar mark was exceeded by a
handsome margin. The statistics compiled by the Commercial Service Depart-
ment of the First Wisconsin National Bank for the year 1921 show a return
to normal figures. (See statistics beginning with page 247.)
Where Industrial Milwaukee Excels.— As already stated, the industries of
the city enjoy both stability and momentum in that they deal with a diversified
list of articles which go in useful channels of life and must be regarded as
necessities rather than luxuries. It is equally interesting to point out where-
in, or in what branches, the production is notable or excels. The following
provides instructive reading in this direction :
Iron and Steel — Milwaukee is one of the largest steel casting centers and
has turned out some of the largest steel and grey iron eastings made in the
United States.
Machinery — Has some of the largest machinery construction shops in the
world. Is a large producer of water pumping, ice-making and refrigeration
machinery. Has exported more excavating machinery than any other city
in the country.
Engines — Has turned out large Diesel engines, the largest gas engines,
Uniflow engine and a majority of the gas engines built in the United States.
Traveling Cranes — Has the largest and best equipped plant for the manu-
facture of electric traveling cranes and hoists in the United States.
Mine Hoists — Constructed the largest mine hoist units in the world, now
building one still larger.
Car Works — The third largest locomotive and car works in the United
States, the largest owned by a railroad corporation.
Gears and Controls — Milwaukee leads the country in the manufacture of
herring-bone gears for power transmission and gasoline locomotives for min-
ing and plantation use. Furnished the electric firing controls for many
battleships in the United States Navy and most of the automobile electric
controls vised in the country.
Refrigeration Machinery — Is an important center for the construction of
ice-making and refrigeration machinery.
Enameling — It is one of the largest tinware and enameling producers in
the world.
Saw Mills — Manufactures 75 per cent of the heavy saw mills machinery
made in the United States.
Boat Motors — Makes more outboard, detachable rowboat motors than any
other city in the world.
Motorcycles — Milwaukee leads the world in the manufacture of highest
quality motorcycles.
Automobile Accessories — One of the largest general automobile accessory
manufacturing centers in the United States.
THE HOTEL \\ 1st o\si\
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT 245
Leather and Shoes — Milwaukee manufacturers a more varied line of
leathers than any other city in the United States. Is one of the leading shoe
manufacturing cities in America. Its tanneries are among the greatest in the
world.
Temperature Regulation — Was the pioneer in temperature regulating de-
vices and leads the world in the manufacture of this line.
Rubber Tires — Maintains one of the leading rubber tire manufacturing
plants in the United States.
Dyes — Has since the war built up the second largest dye industry in the
United States.
Trunks and Grips — Is one of the three largest trunk and grip manufac-
turing centers in the United States.
Clothing — Stands as the eleventh city in the production of clothing.
Candies and Chocolates — According to population, makes more candy and
chocolates than any city in the United States.
Delicatessen — Sends fresh rye bread daily to nearly all sections of the
United States. This applies also to a large variety of fine prepared meats.
Dairy Capital — Is the metropolis of the greatest dairy producing state
in the Union.
In bringing to a close this chapter, which must be regarded as the most
important in noting material progress, the reader is brought to the inevitable
conclusion that Milwaukee is primarily a monster factory town. Moreover,
its future must be found in industrial production. It cannot in the nature of
things become a successful rival to the world metropolis to the south, either
as a great financial or commercial center. Its operations in commerce and
finance will always be important and will continue to grow, but Milwaukee's
future clearly lies in the industrial field.
As a producing center it has acquired stability and prestige. Its products
have demonstrated their utility and value, its markets are established, and
its reputation is fixed. The industries are capable of producing efficiently and
marketing advantageously. Their future is assured. Just as they have in
the past made an ever growing contribution to the material progress and
economic stability of the nation so they will continue to grow, and expand
and prosper and thus promote the advancement, the well-being and prestige of
the City of Milwaukee.
THE TOY THEATRE A.ND CHINESE RESTAURANT
INDUSTRIAL BEGINNINGS AND ACHIEVEMENT
247
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CHAPTER XIX
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION
The earlier records dealing with the activities of Milwaukee do not always
clearly distinguish between trade, commerce and industry. The figures relat-
ing- to production and distribution are not only imperfect, as might be
expected, but frequently too interwoven to afford accurate deductions.
Then, too, the business man of the last century was less inclined to submit
figures regarding his operations than is the modern business man who, through
tax laws and governmental regulations, has been taught to lay all his cards
on the table. Besides the old-time merchant was less thorough in the keeping
of his business accounts.
Those who were inclined to occasionally summarize the trade activities
of the community, in order to demonstrate economic progress, preferred to
speak in terms of imports and exports. The figures here employed were
designed to demonstrate commercial importance without any attempt at
showing what the trade balance in favor of or against the community might be.
It is an economic law in international trade that nations cannot buy more
than they can sell. This applies to communities as well. Yd some of the old
time records would go to show that Milwaukee usually imported much more
than she exported. This, of course, cannot be true. The constant growth
and development of the city would prove that the products of its labor were
advantageously marketed and that it bought wisely, and kept expenditures
well within its means.
The commerce of Milwaukee had its earliest beginning in the fur trading
engaged in between the Indians and the white men. The latter were the
French who came from Canada to gather the trophies of the savage man and
carry them back to the marts of civilization. The consideration usually con-
sisted of trinkets and articles that appealed to the fancy and appetites of the
Indian until money became a medium of value and enabled him to purchase
what lie pleased. When civilization brought its general commercial parapher-
nalia, giving the Indian his choice of purchase, he began to appreciate the
value of money and exacted it.
The young Yankees who came from the New England Slates and the young-
Knickerbocker coming from New York State were decidedly commercial in
their inclinations. They soon outnumbered the few French Canadians who
had arrived before them. They were not only traders but builders ;is well.
In the course of time they constructed mills and warehouses, ships ami road-
ways and railroads. They also became the founders of banks and insurance
257
EAST WATEE STREET NORTH OF WISCONSIN STREET
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION 259
enterprises. They became the land speculators as well as the constructors
of their time.
Imports and Exports. — A report made by Secretary Andrew J. Aikens of
the local Board of Trade in 1856 is interesting not only in that it reveals the
character of the imports and exports of that period but also because it deals
with the comparative value of the two factors.
Articles Imported at the Port of Milwaukee, for the year 1858
Lumber, joists, etc., feet. . .84,000,000
Lath, pieces 18.382,000
Shingles 21.0(1(1.(1(10
Shingle bolts, cords 7,24-9
Wood, cords 2,000
Bark, cords 3,628
Square timber, feet 339,000
Railroad iron, tons 19,846
Coal, tons 20,000
Horses, number 5,000
Salt, barrels 94,277
Salt, sacks 180.000
Plaster, barrels 8,800
Oats, bushels 150,000
Com, bushels 250,000
Barley, bushels 10,000
Potatoes, bushels 20,000
Sugar, hhds 9,072
Sugar, barrels 38,508
Molasses and syrup, barrels 18,243
Codfish, boxes 7,107
Coffee, bags '. 28,440
Mackerel, barrels 4,266
Dried apples, bushels 105,675
Dried peaches, bushels.... 14,582
Apples, barrels 33,790
Tea, chests
Raisins, boxes
Candles, boxes
Glass, boxes
Nails, kegs
Axes, boxes
Candy, boxes
Starch, boxes
Rice, tierces
Tobacco, pounds
Soap, boxes
( )il, barrels
Saleratus, boxes
White lead, kegs
Cheese, pounds
Steel, tons
Bar iron, tons
Cider and vinegar, barrels.
Alcohol, barrels
Oranges, boxes
Lemons, boxes
Prunes, pounds
Spices, pounds
Nuts, pounds
Pipes, boxes
Wooden Ware, doz
21,519
16,317
22,503
46.720
117,720
7,120
16,572
14.000
2,000
2,952,000
33,47:1
9,000
13,153
48,000
1,347,000
210
6,539
5,201
10,000
14.790
27,300
200,000
240.000
600,000
10,000
25,000
Comparative Value of Imports
Total. 1854 .+11,124.000
Total, 1855 18,649,832
Total, 1856 27,974,748
Articles Exported from the Port of Milwaukee During the Year 1856
14.000
I leer, ba rrels
12.000
Oats, bushels
White fish, barrels ....
500
Barley, bushels
20.400
580
THE OLD I'l.AXKIXTuX HOUSE,
Grand Avenue between Wes1 Water and Second streets, which was razed to give place t<>
the Plankinton Arcade.
THE NEW PLANKINTON HOT] I.
Corner Wesi Watei and Syca streets
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION
261
Malt, bushels ' 32,250
Grass seed, bushels 10,300
Cranberries, bushels 1,464
Flour, barrels 213,451
Pork, barrels
Beef, barrels
Vinegar, barrels .
Lime, barrels
Lard, barrels
Beans, barrels
Whiskey, barrels .
Peas, barrels
Tallow, barrels
Provisions, barrels
Corn meal, barrels
12,000
5,200
546
5,900
•j .Slid
220
8,000
40
50
2,000
500
Bacon, boxes . . . .
! loap, boxes
Fish, boxes
Packing barrels .
Ashes, casks
Hides
Pelts
Wool, pounds . . .
Brick
Broom corn, bales.
Hops, hales
Pig iron, tons
Ship knees
Staves
Comparative Value of Exports
990
3,100
1,700
12.700
260
25,550
26,305
850,000
5(10,000
1,500
500
200
300
800,000
1854 $ 7,709,571
1855 17,329,531
1856 20,274.301)
"By the above it will be seen that the ratio of increase on imports has
been about 50 per cent on the year 1855, while the increased exportation is
somewhat less. The same circumstances that explain the deficiency of east-
ward bound produce on the railroads, will explain this want of a larger
increase. Besides the rates of freights for the last three months of navigation
were unprecedentedly high — ranging from fifteen to thirty cents per bushel
for wheat from Milwaukee to Buffalo.
"The tables of imports and exports will be defective until Congress makes
some requirement of inland ship masters and ship owners in regard to reports
made at the Custom houses. Every steamer, propeller and vessel should be
compelled to give a duplicate copy of the bill of lading to the collector of each
port. The board should take some action in the matter, and see if such a law
could not be passed.
"The Lake Commerce now amounts to .$700,000,000, and seems to us is of
sufficient importance to attract the attention of Congress. The imports and
exports for the year 1856 amount, as given above, for the Port of Milwaukee,
to the sum of $48,000,000. This docs not represent the entire traffic of the
city by many millions of dollars. We estimate that the entire imports and
exports by lake and railroad, amount to $75,000,000 or about one-fifth of the
entire commerce of Lake Michigan.
"As soon as our railroads are all in operation from the lake to the Missis-
sippi River, the traffic will at once double or treble its present extent. Not
only shallwe drain a vast and new region of its products, but we shall receive
their supplies of eastern merchandise at our docks and forward it over our
various and diverging lines of railway.
■J.
-
P
55
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION 263
"Speculations upon the future prospects, however well founded, are not
the purpose of this report, and we leave them for a simple record of what
Milwaukee has done in the past."'
Jobbing and Wholesaling. — The early trader was followed by the local
small merchant. He bought from the producers in the East and sold direct
to the consumer. The local producer usually sold direct but frequently also
to the retailer.
But, the commerce of the community soon demanded an additional agency
of distribution and the wholesaler came into being. He bought from pro-
ducers everywhere and sold to the retailer, both at home and elsewhere. He
either bought his goods outright or received them on consignment.
It may here be stated as a remarkable fact that the wholesale trade grew
rapidly in volume and in the widening of its zone of operation. This fact, too,
verified the prediction made by some of the pioneers that Milwaukee was well
situated to become a great distributing center. The ships that entered the
harbor increasing in numbers came from all parts on the Great Lakes and
brought a great variety of commodities. With the constant development of
the rich agricultural territory to the west of the city there came also increased
trade possibilities. This was clearly foreseen by those concerned in securing
a substantial commercial footing. The farmers travelled long distances to
sell their products in Milwaukee and to make their purchases. The horse and
wagon method of transportation was slow and the volume thus transported
was meagre. They could supply their own needs only in the ratio that they
were able to dispose of their own products. Upon his prosperity depended the
prosperity of the merchant.
The problem became clear. Transportation facilities must be provided.
Just as the ox-cart gave way to the horse and wagon so the horse and wagon
must be superseded by the steam railway in reaching the larger distributing
centers of the state. The zone of trade must be widened.
Thus, with the advent of the railroads the wholesale trade began to take
definite form. While there were those who engaged in the export of grain,
hides, wool, fish, flour, meats, etc., there came upon the scene the wholesalers
of groceries, dry goods, hardware, drugs, clothing and boots and shoes.
Status in 1858 of Wholesale Trade. — The status of the wholesale trade in
1856 is well stated in a report made by the Board of Trade, as follows:
"Tlie penetration of the interior of the state by railroads, and the tapping
of the great Mississippi Valley in the early part of the year, have given a new
impetus to the wholesale business of Milwaukee; and though the trade fur the
last year has been such as to astonish even those engaged in it, there is
abundant reason to believe that it has but just begun, and that the future will
see it increase in still greater ratio.
"During the present year, the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad will
be opened to Dubuque and Galena, and also to Prairie du Chien. By either
of these routes merchandise can be delivered from Lake Michigan to the
Mississippi River with less railroad transit than any routes now in existence
from the lake to that river.
.-K
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THE PFISTEB HOTEL
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION 265
"By the lines of propellers now running between this and the lower hike
ports, the merchants of this city procure transportation at the least possible
tariff of freight of any port on the lake, so that the wholesaler here is able
to sell to the more western houses at rates of advance on New York, Boston
and Philadelphia prices, little more than cost, insurance and transportation.
"We have made diligent inquiry for the amount of wholesale trade done in
The city for the past year, in the principal branches of business. The increase
upon former years has been limited only by increased capital. We find that
our merchants have had more good orders than they could fill, and that
double the capital invested would double the sales for the present year.
"A number of heavy houses have been opened in different kinds of trade
the past year, and we learn of several to be opened this year by merchants
from eastern cities.
"There are engaged in the various wholesale branches of trade, 150 mer-
chants, besides a larger number who do a heavy retail trade with 11 ountry
lying on the railroad lines.
"Below we give the result of a careful collection of figures, showing the
amount of sales for the year 1856 :
Groceries (twenty houses) * 3,401,
Dry Goods (eight houses) 1,830,000
Furniture 450,(1(10
Crockery 280,000
Drugs and Dye Stuffs 750,000
Wines and Liquors 856,000
Clothing 500,000
Boots and Shoes (125.000
Iron, Hardware and Stoves 2.200,000
Salt and Coal 550,000
Lumber (sixteen yards) 2,505,000
Not enumerated 3,000,000
Total wholesale trade $16,942,000
"Among the houses included in the above table are eighteen whose sales
are over two hundred thousand dollars each; eight that sell over three
hundred thousand dollars each: three that sell over four hundred thousand
dollars each; and two that sell over five hundred thousand dollars each.
"During the present year our railway connections will open up a region
of country to our wholesale merchants, populated by 500,000 inhabitants — or
nearly as many as were supplied by this city durin<_i' the year 1856. We may
then safely estimate that the wholesale trade of the city will double in the
course of the next two years."
For a number of years the Milwaukee wholesale trade area was free from
outside competition, except such competition as came from the eastern
markets. But, Chicago began to extend her trade territory and became a
strong rival. Later St. Paul. Minneapolis and Duluth merchants not only
iz ,-
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3 /
COMMERCIAL RISE AND EXPANSION 267
secured trade within a certain radius of these cities but invaded the Milwaukee
territory as well. Even cities like Green Bay, Eau Claire, and LaCrosse en-
tered the wholesale field in certain commodities.
But, be it said to the credit of the Milwaukee merchants that they met
competition on all sides. They continued to multiply their numbers and to
extend their trade area far beyond the borders of the state. While certain
wholesale lines are restricted in their trade area by freight rates, others have
entered every state in the midwest and have even extended their business
relations to the Pacific Coast.
Thus, monster grocery, hardware, dry goods and drug wholesale institu-
tions have become established whose annual trade volume runs into large
figures. Moreover, the jobbing trade has amplified itself in many other lines,
including clothing, furniture, machinery, coal, building materials, crockery,
household utensils, etc., forming on the whole a large factor in the commer-
cial activities of the metropolis.
The enterprise and energy of the jobbers and wholesalers may be noted
in the annual trade extension journeys which were planned and carried out
under the auspices of Merchants and Manufacturers Association and its suc-
cessor the Milwaukee Association of Commerce. They were inaugurated about
the earlier part of this century and were organized upon a well planned basis.
They are dealt with elsewhere in this volume.
The Retail Trade Interests. — The retail trade interests of Milwaukee
present one peculiarity seldom found in American cities, or at least not empha-
sized in the same degree, namely a decentralization in store location.
What is here meant is this: Every city has its downtown retail trade
center where the larger department stores are located and where the various
trade interests are grouped. They meet every human want in food, raiment
and household paraphernalia, and thus concentrate the retail trade activi-
ties within a given radius, or in a central section of the city.
In .Milwaukee this tendency is not true in the same degree that it is true
in the average American city. Large department stores and a great variety
of trade interests may be found at a distance of one and two miles from the
heart of the city. While the downtown retail district is large and important
it has its rivals in the centers that have grown up in both the northern and
southern sections of the city.
The merchants in these several sections manifest the same enterprise and
energy that is manifested by the downtown merchants. Through local busi-
ness men's organizations they promote all the conditions that tend to bold
and increase trade. They maintain well stocked shelves and advertise
liberally.
For the downtown merchants it may be said that a more keen, progressive
and public spirited body of men cannot be found anywhere. They realize to
the fullest the opportunities at their command, aim to serve the public
efficiently and concern themselves in all that makes for the welfare of the
community. Many of the more important merchants give liberally of their
time ami means in fostering civic, educational or charitable projects.
11 is sometimes remarked by strangers, who sojourn in the city, thai its
268 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
downtown streets do not, during nil hours of the day, manifest the same
crowding and bustle thai is observed in other American cities. This state
ninii is unquestionably true, and is in pari accounted for in the somewhal
decentralized character of its retail trade activities. Again, ii must be remem-
bered thai Milwaukee is an industrial rather than a commercial or financial
center.
In this connection the question, whether the retail interests draw an ade-
quate share of trade from outside of the city, may be asked. The answer
must be in the affirmative.
The merchants have from time to time advanced their individual trade
interests as far as this may be dime consistent with the interests of the city
as a whole. This statement requires an explanation.
.Modern retail trade promotion, as exemplified in many American cities,
contemplates various devices, methods and agencies, fostered individually
and collectively, to attract customers from the outside. They include excur-
sion trains from interior points, special bargain days, rebating of railroad
fares, free lunches, etc.
When some of these promotional efforts were engaged in by the Milwaukee
merchants it was found that the socalled country merchants, namely the re-
tailers in the cities and villages affected, raised serious objections. They were
not inclined to see their trade diverted to the metropolis without a struyjrle.
The retaliatory weapon was in their own hands, and they threatened to use
it if organized trade extension efforts were not discontinued. They boughl
their stocks from the jobber and manufacturer of the metropolis and could
readily shift their patronage to Chicago or other markets.
Here it became clear to the Milwaukee merchant that the producing in-
terests of the metropolis were primary. Their output must not lie lessened.
The payroll supported the community and gave vitality to its retail trade.
The manufacturer believed that it was more important to the community as
a whole to hold tiie patronage and good will of an entire state for Milwaukee
made products than to secure added trade for the retailer. The latter readily
shared in this view and desisted in all trade methods likely to incur the ill
will of the upstate merchants.
The policy adopted by the Milwaukee Association of Commerce in dealing
with the subject, may he summed up in the following: Loyalty to community
interests implies support for the local merchants. The latter is a citizen, an
employer and a taxpayer who is entitled to the patronage of the community.
If the customer requires anything which the local merchant cannot supply then
such customer is warranted in going to the larger center for his purchases. All
things equal, the local merchant is entitled to the preference.
Thus, the customer in the inland city is advised to support his local mer-
chant, and to extend his patronage to the merchant of the metropolis only
when the former is unable to supply his needs. Price, quality and personal
prefere: of course, guide all purchases, bul consistent with thes,. Eactors
the integrity and welfare of the home town should receive first consideration.
CHAPTER XX
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
The Indians, who, in a primitive day, came down the three streams later
known as the Milwaukee, Menomonee and Kinnickinnie rivers, found these
converging into a waterway which emptied in a beautiful inland ocean.
They were lured into the blue waters of the bay. Their canoes were rocked
by the waves and their bronze visages were cooled by the breezes that traveled
over the broad expanse of the sea. They were fascinated by that mysterious
horizon to the East which separated water and sky. The land which skirted
the lake with its high bluffs, receding into a valley to the West which was
traversed by the main river, rose again beyond that river to a magnificent
eminence.
'I he spot that commanded a view of this valley and at the same time
afforded a view of the blue waters of the lake, with its distant horizon, was
indeed desirable for human habitation. The savage instinct yielded to its
allurements. An Indian village was reared.
'I he earlier explorers noted the spot in their chronicles, and the traders
who came after them landed here to carry on their negotiations with the
Indians of that day. As navigators they found that nature had here pro-
vided a harbor which was readily accessible, and upon whose shores a peaceful
tribe of Indians had taken up their habitation.
While the Indian was drawn to this spot by instinct the white man came
by design, lie sought the treasures of the savage for the comforts of the
civilized man. lie continued to come with each season in increased numbers.
He saw the commercial advantages of a natural landlocked harbor. Com-
munication with the outer world was confined to the vast waters which
stretched out to the north and the east.
The harbor had attracted the aborigine, it had brought the Caucasian.
The harbor had prompted an Indian abode, it gave impetus to a white man's
village. The harbor afforded commercial relations with the eastern centers
of population, and became the great incentive for the rearing of a city.
Until 1850 the only communication which Milwaukee had with an outer
world was via the Great Lakes. It brought supplies to the city through the
means of water transportation and sent the products of the state on to the
East in the same way. The small wooden vessels that came to its shores not
only brought those earlier pioneers who founded the village but also the
immigrants who later formed the bulk of the population and enabled it to
pass from the rural to the urban stage.
269
ul.D T1MIC SCHOONEB ENTERING THE MILWAUKEE BAY
TIIK ( Al;i-'Kl;l!V oli.W'll IIAYKN OF THE GRAND TRUNK LINK ENTERING
THE HARBOB
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 271
The First Vessel Arrivals. — Solomon Juneau, Milwaukee's first permanent
white settler, chartered two vessels to bring stores for the trading post and
to carry away the furs he had accumulated. The first of these made its
appearance in 1823 and anchored in the hay. It was a small schooner with
a. carrying capacity of thirty tons, bore the name of "Chicago Packet" and
was commanded by Captain Brittain. During the same year came the " Vir-
ginia" with a capacity of 180 tons, followed by the "Aurora," sailed by Capt.
David Graham who brought a cargo of supplies form Green Bay. The land-
ings were usually made on the lake front in the vicinity between Wisconsin
Street and the present harbor entrance. The second vessel that arrived, how-
ever, entered the river.
The men of that day soon realized that an inner harbor must be provided.
A petition for a survey of the river was sent to the War Department at
Washington. The authority to proceed with the survey was granted in 1835
but owing to the slow means of communication the work could not be imme-
diately undertaken. Besides, the Government had made no provisions for
employing and compensating the engineers.
The support of the National Government had to be sought. Byron Kil-
bourn communicated on January 2D. 1836, with Senator Louis F. Linn of
Missouri, then a member of the Committee on Commerce, of the Tinted States
Senate. In Ins letter Kilbourn describes the rivers and their outlet into
the bay.
"This bay," says Kilbourn. "will form a safe and easy entrance into the
harbor when constructed. The liar al the mouth of the river is narrow;
indeed it is peculiar in this respect and different from most of the rivers mi
the lakes."
Here it should be explained that the "bar" referred to consisted of a
narrow strip of land later known as Jones Island. This strip of land which
is now a peninsula was then virtually an island. The natural outlet spoken
of was located at a point east of what is now known as Greenfield Avenue.
What constitutes the present harbor entrance was then a submerged sand bar.
But, the survey which was conducted by Lieutenants Center and Rose of
the United States Topographical Engineer Corps was accompanied with the
recommendation that a "straight cut" be made 3,000 feet north of the
"natural outlet." That meant that the old natural harbor was abandoned
and that the present harbor entrance was determined upon. In ls:>7 the
Government engineers decided upon the construction of two piers at a cost
of $92,183.54.
Era cf Wateroorne Commerce. — The encouragement given by the National
Government in enabling the entrance of vessels to the inner harbor aroused
considerable interest. Newspapers in the Last began to discuss the great
possibilities of the Milwaukee harbor and gave glowing accounts of the
commerce likely to result with this improvement. The ships, too, that trav-
eled between the several ports, including Detroit, Buffalo, Cleveland, .Mil-
waukee and Chicago came in for liberal praise. "The majestic steamer
Michigan sailed westward," etc., wen' some of the phrases employed.
The local people soon caught the spirit of enterprise. They saw a future
272 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
in their proximity to the lakes and in their ability to bring ships into the
several rivers. Solomon Juneau Imilt a wharf on the river hank adjacent
to his first house which stood near what is now known as the corner of East
Water and Wisconsin streets. Private enterprise as well as Government aid
were well warranted for the open navigation season of 1836, from April 14th
to November 14th. saw 314 vessel arrivals.
That year, too, in the winter saw the construction of the first vessel in
.Milwaukee. It was built on the Milwaukee River near Division Street, now-
known as Juneau A venue, by Capt. George Barber. Her capacity was ninety
tons and her name Solomon Juneau. The timbers for this vessel were
secured in the immediate vicinity which prompted the citizens to make an
effort in securing some of the eastern builders to locate a shipyard on Mil-
waukee River. The Solomon Juneau met with a mishap in 1839 by run-
ning oil the beach SOUth of the old harbor. She was. however, safely released
hut was years later lost on Lake Ontario.
While the Solomon Juneau was the first vessel to he planned and placed
under construction, the Wenona was the first to he completed. She had a
tonnage capacity of only thirty tons and was used as a lighter. Yet. she
deserves the distinction of being the first craft built in Milwaukee. Further
enterprise in the direction of ship building was manifested when the sum of
$45,000 was subscribed for the purpose of constructing a steamboal to ply
between Milwaukee and Chicago.
In the spriny of 1837 the James Madison then known as the Largesl steamer
on the Great Lakes arrived. She brought 1.00(1 passengers and 4.000 barrels
of freight. In June of the same year there arrived also the first steamboal
owned by Milwaukee men. She was known as the Detroit and was in com-
mand of Capt. John Crawford. During her short five months' career she
always landed at the foot of Wisconsin Street, she was lost off Kenosha in
November, 1838.
Byron Kilbourn, in 1837. caused the construction of a river steamboal with
a tonnage of fifty tons. This boat was largely built in a competitive spirit
againsl the east side. The fact that she was a steamboal was an achievement
for the west side and designed to overshadow the schooner Solomon Juneau,
a sailing vessel. The cast siders, however, said that •"she was an old scow
with an engine that was about seven mule power and her course about as
gyratory as a hen that has eaten salt, and that her commander was scpiint-
eyed, and never knew which way he was steering."
Another steamer was Imilt by Kilbourn during the following year and
records show that the trustees of the wesl side village passed resolutions
urging him to refuse to land passengers <>n the rival hank. While these small
river steamers stimulated rivalry between Juneau Town and Kilbourn Town,
it is not recorded that any gross discrimination was entered into. More river
steamers followed to hecome husiness competitors to each other. They prac-
tically went out of use when the harhor was fully opened.
A more pretentious venture was a steamboat named Milwaukee built at
Buffalo for Solomon Juneau ami George II. Walker, They sacrificed some
valuable land in order to raise the monei for this the firsl real steamboal to
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 27:3
be owned by Milwaukeeans. On July 9, 1841, this proud craft steamed into
the Milwaukee River but struck a sand bar and was held fast. The old chron-
icles stated that she "mocked her owners" by her inability to float. During
the following year she was sold to Detroit parties and the same chronicles state
that all that Juneau realized from his venture was "a quantity of the ship's
bedding and furniture."
The first warehouse was built in 1838 by G. D. Dousman at the foot of
East Water Street. Three years later there was shipped from this ware-
house Milwaukee's first export cargo of wheat consisting of 5,000 tons. In
the same year the first lighthouse was built by the Federal Government and
placed at the foot of Wisconsin Street.
Government Aid Is Sought. — While the lake navigation of that day had
its discouragements in delays and losses caused by storms, the navigators
remained courageous and ambitious of success. The citizens, too, were zealous
in encouraging lake commerce and to that end sought the improvement of
the harbor at the hands of the Federal Government.
A meeting of citizens was held at the Milwaukee House on March 6, 1840,
to formulate plans for petitioning Congress to improve the harbor. The
men who figured prominently at this meeting were George A. Tiffany, II. X.
Wells, George J). Dousman and William A. Prentiss.
The event of the meeting was an address by Col. Hans Crocker in which
he enumerated facts and figures regarding the Village of Milwaukee designed
to impress Congress with its commercial progress. Colonel Crocker stated
that Milwaukee had a population of 1,600, that it maintained twenty-two dry
goods and grocery stores, an iron foundry and a machine shop; also that two
stage lines penetrated the agricultural districts to the south and the west.
The river which was navigable the entire length was not readily accessible
to all the craft that sought entrance, but that, notwithstanding that fact, in
a few years the waterborne commerce of the village had experienced an enor-
mous increase. In 1835 two steamboats entered the bay and in 1839 there
was a total of 179 vessel arrivals.
A petition was sent to Congress asking for a liberal appropriation for
harbor improvement. Various towns joined in the petition and when Con-
gress manifested dilatory tactics there was much indignation on the part of
the lake towns.
This indignation was intensified on the part of the Milwaukee people
through an accident which occurred in the bay due, it was alleged, to the
negleet of the Government. A boat was upset by getting caught in a buoy
line and two men were drowned. The Courier remarked: "Two more citizens
have found premature graves in consequence of the cruel injustice id' Congress
in not making appropriations for our harbor."
The catastrophe was followed by an indignation meeting in which a com-
mittee consisting of W. A. Prentiss. L. J. Farwcll, Hans ('rocker, L. 1'. Can
ami A. Finch, Jr., drafted resolutions "favoring the raising of funds by
private subscription for the construction of a harbor." Subsequently plans
were submitted by 1. A. Lapham, L. II. Carlton and B. H. Edgerton. Public
projects id' this character, however, are somewhat slow of realization. The
Vol. 1— IS
THE KTNNICKTNNIC BASIN LOOKING SOUTH
A portion of the . lours Island area seen tn the I'll
Till-: STEAMEB ( HRISTOPHEE COL1 MBUS PASSING THROUGH I^I;»»_VI»NX .%'S BRIDI
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 275
citizenship had evidently come to the conclusion that the improvement of the
harbor was a matter of Government concern and not a private undertaking'.
In the summer of 1S42 the Sentinel and Parmer, the enterprising newspaper
of that day, offered to loan the Government $20,000 wherewith to begin the
improvement. It was assured that the Government would ultimately raise
the sum out of the sale of public lands.
In the spring of 1843 Congress appropriated the sum of $30,000 which
caused much rejoicing. The struggle in Congress had been an intense one
owing to the fact that the southern statesmen were hostile to expenditures
for public improvements in the western territory. When the news of favor-
able action arrived the town went wild with delight.
About this time the commercial importance of the village was again
demonstrated in facts and figures. It was shown that the imports had in-
creased from $588,950 in 1835 to $1,805,277 in 1841. The exports proved even
more illuminating. In 1835 there wen' shipped 125,000 pounds of furs,
25,000 pounds of "merchandise and sundry articles."' 5,000 pounds of hides
and 3,500 cords of wood at a total value of $2(i,145. In 1839 there were
exported 100 barrels of flour, 25 barrels of pork and 5,000 pounds of shot
and lead. The latter was brought over land from Fever River, later known
as Galena. The total value of these shipments aggregated the sum of $43,568.
Milwaukee's subsequent importance as a wheat shipping center had its
beginning in 1841. It was then that 5,000 bushels of wheat were shipped
by Holton and Goodall to the East via the Great Lakes. During the same
year there were shipped 30,000 pounds id' copper and 1,738,175 pounds of
lead. Tlic latter was valued at $75,546. The total exports for the year were
estimated at $28(5,777.
On May 22d an industrial parade under the leadership of Marshal L. II.
Cotton, was held. This festive event included a float picturing a shipyard
at work and a blacksmith's forge in action. The speech of th icasion
was delivered by Hon. Jonathan E. Arnold in front of the Milwaukee House.
The parade and (he speech drew "enthusiastic cheers from the throngs of
S] tators. " Public dinners were engaged at the Cottage Inn and other
taverns.
The German-American residents conducted a separate parade and demon-
stration led by Dr. Francis Iluebschmann and Rev. Father Kundig. The
records also show that a Reverend Schmidl and Messrs. Loth, Luther, Wiesner
and Winter served on the committee on arrangements. "The body moved
from the Wisconsin House to the Catholic Church where it was joined by
French and Irish citizens, and thence proceeded to the Milwaukee House
where all united in a general body."
The congressional action which caused this jubilant expression was ap-
proved March 3, 1843, and read as follows: "For the construction of a,
harbor at the most suitable situation at or near .Milwaukee, in the Territory
of Wisconsin, to be made under the survey id' an officer to lie appointed by
the Secretary of War, for the said half of the calendar year (ending December
31, 1843) $15,000, and for tin- said fiscal year (ending June 30, 1844) $15,000."
The joy expressed, however, proved to be somewhat premature. In the
judgment of the leading citizens the "straight cut" where the harbor en-
276 EISTOEY OF MILWAUKEE
trance is now located was the more direcl and practical. The Government
engineer was reticent and no1 over friendly to Milwaukee. He led il iti-
zens in believe that he would ignore their judgment altogether. Indignation
meeting's followed, protests were sent to Washington, and for a time great
turmoil prevailed. With the passing of another year the projeel was com-
pleted to the satisfaction of the citizens.
Then opened the period when the municipality spent money for the im-
provement of its harbor. The enterprise of the individual citizens began to
assert itself in the construction of docks and warehouses, and the National
Government, recognizing the growing commerce of the port, gradually
■granted appropriations for harbor protection.
The local Chamber of Commerce later asserted its influence in maintaining
the harbor upon a high plane of efficiency. Government support came, from
time to time, with increased liberality, and competent engineers were assigned
to carry out the needed improvements.
Milwaukee's Grain Trade. — Milwaukee made her debut as a grain ship-
ping port in the spring of 1841, when the late E. 1). Ilolton. then a member
of the firm of Ilolton & Goodell, shipped a cargo of 4,000 bushels of wheat to
a Canadian port on the schooner Illinois. No doubt small driblets of grain
went to Chicago by lake previous to that time, but the cargo above noted
marked the beginning of the grain trade to the lower lakes and thence to tide-
water ports, a trade which eventually won for .Milwaukee the proud distinc-
tion of being the greatest primary wheat market in the world.
This nattering title was achieved in 1862, when the total receipts of wheat
reached the aggregate of 15,613,995 bushels and the shipments 14,915.680
bushels. The total receipts of all kinds of grain during the same year
amounted to 16,451.789 bushels and the shipments to 15,174,794 bushels. Chi-
cago, which was Milwaukee's only rival as a wheat market, received 13,978.116
bushels in 1862 and shipped 1:5,809,898 bushels.
Milwaukee's wheat trade reached high tide in 1ST:! when the total re-
ceipts of that grain aggregated 28,457,937 bushels and the shipments 24,991,266
bushels. The total receipts of all kinds of grain in 1873 amounted to 32,567,565
bushels and the shipments to 27,124,194 bushels.
Beginning with 1875, owing to various causes, but mainly to the develop-
ments of markets at St. Paul. Minneapolis ami the head of the lakes. Mil-
waukee's wheat receipts began to fall away steadily. On the other hand.
the receipts of other grains began to increase, hut it was not until 1892
that the total receipts of all kinds of grain exceeded the record of 1875.
Since that time, with the exception of two or three years, the combined
receipts of all grains increased annually. The record of tin- year 1914 id'
76,654,300 bushels represents the largest amount of grain received during any
one year in the history of the city.
In 1920 wheal represented only 12.9 per cent of the volume of all kinds
id' grain received at .Milwaukee, whereas, in 1873, when wheal receipts were
at high tide, it made up s7. 1 pel- cent of the volume of all kinds of grain. In
1862, when .Milwaukee became famous as a wheal market. 9ll.il per cent of
the total grain r ipts consisted of that product.
HARBOR AND .MARINE INTERESTS 277
Naturally the total shipments of grain from this market have kept pace
with the receipts, minus, of course, the amount consumed by local millers and
others. The course of grain shipments has undergone a great change, however.
In the early days of Milwaukee's prominence as a grain market, the bulk
of the outgoing surplus went forward by way of the lower lakes; but rail
routes gradually made inroads on the sum total of grain shipments, until in
late years shipments by way of the lower lakes, except on railway line
steamers, have been nominal in character.
The change was largely the result of rail rate manipulation, the ex-lake,
or the rate between the lakes and the seaboard, being maintained at a point
which, coupled with other insinuating advantages, made it more profitable for
shippers to consign grain products by way of all-rail routes. Since 1880 ship-
ments of grain from upper lake ports by way of the Great Lakes, and Erie
Canal have declined over 85 per cent. Shipments from Milwaukee by way
of the lower lakes during 1914 were larger than during any -year since WOO.
Report of Milwaukee's First Harbor Commission. — Rendered February 17,
1842, by Messrs. I. A. Lapham and F. Randall, who were appointed by the
trustees of the Town of Milwaukee to make a survey relative to the commerce
of the Town of Milwaukee and the commerce of Lake Michigan.
To the President and Trustees of the Town of Milwaukee : In compliance
with the requirements of the resolution of your board, appointing the under-
signed to collect information in relation to* the Imports and Exports of this
town since its first settlement in 1835, and such other facts, as may be im-
portant with reference to the application for an appropriation from Congress
for the construction of a harbor at Milwaukee, we have attended to that duty,
and now beg leave to submit for .your consideration the result of our in-
quiries :
As a more ready means of obtaining the desired information, a printed
circular, giving an appropriate form, and requesting that it might be filled up,
was sent to the principal business men (amounting to eighty-six in number),
and from most of them, full and satisfactory returns were received; a state
ment of the amount of these returns, with a suitable addition for those who
neglected, from sickness or other cause, to make return of their business, is
herewith communicated, marked A.
A copy of this statement was sent on the 12th hist, to Col. J. J. Abert,
"of the Topographical Bureau, in answer to his letter directed to thi Hector
of the Port of Milwaukee, accompanied by a letter calling his attention to the
subject; a copy of which is herewith communicated, marked B. This letter
and statement, in order to secure their being brought properly before the
Bureau, were inclosed with a letter (marked (') to our delegate in Congress.
The whole amount of business each year, in the sha | £ Imports and
Exports, is shown in the table marked I). The grand total being nearly six
millions and a half of dollars.
We have also received the statements of the business done at one of the
towns in this county (Prairieville), and a table of the result for the past year
is inclosed, marked E. The commerce of this town is of course done through
the Port of Milwaukee.
The Register of the Land Office has obligingly furnished at our request, a
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 279
statement of the proceeds of the sales of public lands, in this district, which
with the amount received at Green Bay, for land in this district before the
establishment of the land office at this place, amounts to about one and- a half
millions of dollars.
From this statement we can safely say that this portion of our country
has paid at least its due proportion toward the support of the General Gov-
ernment, and is therefore as much entitled to consideration as any other part
of the country. Five per cent on the amount we have paid for lands alone
would be more than sufficient to construct the work we ask for, and this is
no more than is now granted, as a permanent fund, to several of the states.
From the general statement, marked A, a great many facts may be seen
which show the growing importance of our place from a commercial point of
view, and the high character of the surrounding country in agriculture. It
will be seen that the amount of merchandise, lumber, shingles and salt im-
ported has been increasing with a gradually augmenting ratio — while the im-
portation of agricultural products which are now mostly supplied from our
own soil — as flour, pork, etc., has been gradually diminishing until they are
now taking their places in the tabic of exports.
The very great excess of 1841, over those of former years, occasioned by
the introduction of several new articles of trade (especially lead, shot and
copper), and by the rapid increase of the agricultural products, cannot fail
to strike every one, and it goes far to prove, what is believed by us all,
that our commerce is yet only beginning to be developed. We will not, how-
ever, stop to enumerate all the inferences that may be drawn from the facts
collected by us, as they will readily occur to intelligent persons, upon in-
specting the statement herewith presented.
The experiment now made, in the transportation of the valuable mineral
products of our western counties, has shown that Milwaukee may, and soon
will, be made the outlet of most of that trade, even during the present unim-
proved state of the roads — and when greater facilities, which are now being
made for transportation across our territory shall be completed, the amount
of business of this kind which will be done here, can hardly be calculated.
Another subject has engaged our attention, which in importance we be-
lieve to be inestimable. We allude to the information in the accompanying
paper marked G, in which we have enumerated all the losses of life and prop-
erty, on Lake Michigan, so far as we have been able to ascertain the facts,
since 18-'J4, which may be considered as the commencement of navigation
upon this lake. We can say with truth that we are astonished at the result
of our inquiries on this subject. We may state as the general result, that 118
lives have been lost — or fifteen each year. That $1,052,450 worth of prop-
erty has been destroyed or lost — being $131,556 per annum. That eighty-nine
vessels, including several steamboats, have been more or less injured or lost
being eleven each year.
These are facts, not mere conjecture, and to show that we have confined
ourselves to facts, we give the name of each vessel injured, the nature of the
injury, and the year in which it happened; so that if we have exceeded the
bounds of truth, the means of detection and exposure are before you. We
280 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
will nut pretend to say thai none of these accidents would have occurred, and
all this loss of life and property been prevented, had there been harbors Eor
shipping, lint when it is renjembered thai the lisl is Ear from being complete,
we may with safety suppose thai a very considerable proportion mighl in
that way have been saved. We might enlarge upon the various considerations
suggested by our inquiries, lml it is uru ssary. Enough has been elicited
to show the pressing necessity of harbors on Lake Michigan and the prominent
importance of one at Milwaukee.
1)
A statement of the aggregate amount of Imports and Exports, at the Porl
of Milwaukee, for each year, from the firsl settlement of the town, up to
January 1, 1842, made by I. A. Lapham and F. Randall, in pursuance of a
resolution of the trustees of said town:
Years Imports Exports Total
1835-136 $ 588,959 .+ '26.145 $ 615,095
1837 641.235 47.745 688,980
1838 783,458 47,690 831,148
1839 866.710 43,568 910,308
1840 1,147,803 53,828 1,200,631
1841 1,805,277 286,777 2,092,054
$5,833,472 $505,753 $6,338,216
E
Statement of the amount and value of the exports and imports, at the Town
of Prairieville (Waukesha), Milwaukee County. Wis., for the year 1841:
T. Exports
Flour. 7.(10(1 barrels $35,750
Pork, 250 barrels 2,250
Hides. 12,000 pounds 840
Total value of exports $38,840
II. Imports
Merchandise $20,000
Lumber, 100,000 feet 1,400
Salt. 600 barrels 1,500
Irons. 35.000 pounds 2,800
Total value of imports +25.700
Total amounl of exports ami imports $64,540
HARBOR AND .MARINE INTERESTS 281
A statement of the loss of life and property on Lake Michigan, much
or all of which might have been avoided or prevented by the construction
of suitable harbors at the most prominent points; made by I. A. Lapham and
F. Randall, in pursuance of a resolution of t he trustees of the Town of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory:
1834. — The navigation of Lake Michigan may be considered as having been
commenced in this year; only three steamboats and a few sail vessels having
landed at Chicago; and the amount of life and property lost was probably
not very great when compared with the next year. The Town of Milwaukee
was not then in existence. Although there doubtless were many more, we
have been able to ascertain, witli certainty, only two accidents within this
year :
The schooner Prince Eugene was driven ashore near the mouth of C4rand
River, nearly opposite Milwaukee. One man, the captain, lost.
'1 lie schooner Juliett, with a valuable cargo, was driven ashore near St.
Joseph. The expense of getting her off was $1,500.
1835. — The brig Austerlitz, attempting to land passengers in a small boat,
it was swamped (or tilled with water by the waves), by which accident four
men were drowned.
The brig Austerlitz was afterwards driven ashore, during a severe storm,
having on board a full cargo of valuable merchandise, which, with the vessel,
was entirely lost. Two lives lost by this accident.
The schooner Bridget was sunk at sea — all hands and passengers lost.
The number of persons on board not known, but supposed to lie twelve.
The schooner Chance was also sunk while at sea in this year, and the
number of persons drowned was nine.
The steamboat Newberryport was driven ashore at Chicago, and proved
a total loss.
The schooner Swan (Captain Gilbert), was lost, with all on board, supposed
to be twenty.
The schooner Hoe went ashore at four different times during the year.
No lives lost.
The steamboat Pioneer was driven ashore at the south end of the lake.
Total loss.
The schooner Marengo went ashore opposite Chicago. Cargo and vessel
lost.
The schooner Erie Packet — driven ashore in a gale and totally lost.
The schooner Post Boy was upset, with ten persons on board ; of whom
only two escaped.
The schooner Adelade went ashore twenty miles from Milwaukee, and was
wholly lost.
1836. — Four men were drowned in the early part of the year, near the
mouth of the Milwaukee River.
A gale occurred in October, in which nine vessels were more or less injured
or destroyed.
1. Tin' schooner Martin Van Buren sustained a hole stove in her stern
and sunk.
THE MENOMINEE RIVER COAL DOCK (T.N I J 1.
Vessel unloading coal
A LAKE COAL ( \l;i:in: OF THE LARGER TYPE UNLOADING AT A MENOMLNEE
l;l\ II; COAL DOCK
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 283
2. The schooner General Harrison, with a hole stove in her side, was
driven ashore very much injured.
3. The schooner Celeste was driven ashore and filled with water; her
main mast "gone by the board," and otherwise much damaged.
4. The schooner Erie was driven ashore, her fore and top-mast gone, and
her hull not very much injured.
5. The barque Detroit broke from her fastenings, and dropping an anchor,
which was dragged some one hundred and fifty rods, finally rode out the
storm with but little damage.
6. The schooner Sea Serpent parted her cables and was driven ashore
near Michigan City, and was entirely knocked to pieces.
7. The brig North Carolina went ashore thirty miles from Chicago, and
was thrown upon the beach "high and dry."
8. The sloop Clarissa Harlow was driven ashore near New Buffalo, on
the east side of the lake.
9. The schooner Chicago parted her cables, and was driven ashore with
immense velocity.
Several other vessels (one dismasted) were reported to have been seen
passing Chicago, and if so they were undoubtedly all blown ashore.
All the vessels lying at Chicago pier, were more or less injured — the
harbor being then in an unfinished state.
Several lives were lost during the gale, but the number not ascertained.
The schooner Wave was driven ashore at three different times during the
year; no material damage done, except loss of time of vessel and crew and
cost of getting her off.
The cost of getting vessels off from the shore, varies from one hundred to
fifteen hundred dollars, according to circumstances.
The schooner Agnes Barton lost her main-mast while lying at anchor.
The schooner Ocean was driven ashore at Milwaukee, but little damaged.
1837. — The steamboat Detroit, which had been engaged in -the trade
between Milwaukee and St. Joseph, after having several times been much
endangered and once actually grounded at Michigan City, was finally, in
November, driven ashore and totally lost at Southport.
The steamboat Champlain was driven ashore at St. Joseph, and wholly
lost.
The Harbor Steamboat at Milwaukee, used to convey passengers and
freight between the town and vessels lying in the bay (unable to enter the
river), was driven ashore and lost at the mouth of the river.
There is an annual loss to community at Milwaukee, id' 25 cents for all
passengers, and 10 cents per barrel bulk, or $10 per ton, on all freight passing
to or from hike vessels at that place; occasioned directly by the want of a
harbor.
The schooner Sea Serpent having I n re-built at Michigan City, was
driven ashore and lost, at the mouth of the Milwaukee River.
The schooner Owanungha was driven ashore at the south end of the lake.
The schooner America, driven ashore near the mouth of the Muskegon
River, in Michigan, and with her cargo was totally lost.
■2M BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
The seho r Wenona wenl ashore near Milwaukee.
The schooner J. S. King went ashore al the mouth of the St. Joseph.
Such was the force of the storm, thai she was driven over ;i sand bar, which
is entirely ahove water in*calm weather!
1838.— Captain Powell killed in the Milwaukee Bay, on board of a vessel.
The schooner Julietl was thrown upon a rock at the 'them extremity
of the lake, and much damaged. The cargo was thrown overboard, to save
the vessel and the lives of the persons on board.
The steamboat Taylor was driven ashore and totally lost at Michigan
City.
The schooner Illinois was ashore twice this year, but not materially
injured.
The schooner White Pigeon was driven ashore at Michigan City.
The brie; John Kenzie went ashore at Michigan City, and proved a total
wreck.
The bri<j Queen Charlotte, one of the trophies of Perry's splendid achieve-
ment on Lake Erie, was driven ashore near Chicago this year and lost.
The schooner Virginia was driven ashore at the south end of the lake.
1839. — Four men were drowned at Milwaukee, in attempting to land from
the steamboat De Witt Clinton, lying in the bay, in a gale; and several others
very narrowly escaped the same fa*te.
The schooner Solomon Juneau was driven ashore near the Milwaukee
River.
The schooner Van Buren was driven ashore at Milwaukee.
A gale occurred in November, in which five vessels (two of them steam-
boats) were injured or destroyed :
1. The schooner Thomas Jefferson driven against the pier at Chicago,
and much injured. Two lives were lost by this accident, and many more
would have been lost, but for the timely assistance of the citizens id' Chicago.
'_'. Tin' schooner Victor was blown by the Chicago pier, and was only
secured, with her crew, from destruction, by the almost superhuman exertions
of her captain.
3. The schooner Virginia, which had just been got off shore, was again
beached near Michigan City.
4. The steamboat Vermillion broke her shaft near the Manitou Islands,
and was driven, by the gale, to St. Joseph. One of her passengers became
deranged, from fear, and jumped overboard, she was out id' sighl of land
three days, without wheels.
.">. The steamboat Kairport was driven back to Chicago, by the gale, not
having been able to reach Milwaukee Hay.
The brig Neptune was this year driven ashore on the uninhabited coast
of M tchigan, north of Grand River, and proved a total loss. 0u1 of twenty-five
persons on board, only three were able to reach the nearest settlement: the
others having perished on the way, from cold, fatigue, and hunger. Of tile
three persons saved, one lost both his legs, the others, each one leg, from
freezing.
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 285
The ship Milwaukee was driven ashore, having on board a cargo of wheat,
which was much damaged.
The schooner (belonging to Leavenworth) went ashore, a total
wreck.
A man was drowned in the Milwaukee Bay, while engaged in supplying
wood to steamboats.
Two wood scows were driven ashore, at Milwaukee; one of them, and a
considerable quantity of wood, totally lost.
1840. — Mr. L. Robbins was killed by accident, on board the Harbor Steam-
boat, at Milwaukee, while engaged in unloading vessels lying in the bay.
The schooner Marsh went ashore at the mouth of the Milwaukee River.
Total loss, vessel and cargo.
The schooner Milwaukee, and the sloop Clarissa, driven ashore at Mil-
waukee.
1841. — Four persons drowned near Milwaukee by the swamping of a boat,
viz.: R. Young, A. Brown, - - Pinney, and I. S. Skinner.
The schooner Post Boy again upset, and sunk, and with crew, passengers
and cargo — all lost — twenty persons thus found a watery grave.
The steamboat Milwaukee, in attempting to enter the Milwaukee River,
got fast on the bar, and laid there until driven in by the gale in October —
thus materially interrupting the business connected with the navigation of the
lake.
Two wood-scows, and a large amount of wood lost at Milwaukee.
The schooner Horner was driven ashore near Racine, (twenty-five miles
from Milwaukee) and was totally lost.
In November a gale occurred which did much damage to the shipping viz.:
1. The schooner Jefferson was driven ashore at Chicago.
'2. The schooner Drift was driven ashore at Chicago.
3. The schooner Wave was driven ashore at Chicago.
4. The schooner Dolphin was driven ashore at Racine
5. The schooner McFarlane was driven ashore at Racine.
6. The schooner Manitowoc was driven ashore at Southport.
7. The schooner Memee was driven ashore at Milwaukee.
8. The schooner Wenona was driven ashore at Milwaukee.
9. The sloop Black Hawk was driven ashore at Milwaukee.
10. The schooner Henry Norton was driven ashore at Milwaukee.
11. The brig Francis Mills, and
12. The brig Osceola, were driven about at the mercy of the wind but
not materially damaged.
13. 'I lie brig Winslow which was heavily laden with merchandise, while
discharging her cargo at Milwaukee, was obliged to put to sea. and was
driven ashore seventeen miles north from Chicago, and was with her cargo
wholly lost. This occurrence, by which about $50,000 worth of property was
lost, is directly chargeable to the want of a harbor at Milwaukee, which
could be constructed with the amount lost by this one accident!
It is supposed that several other vessels were driven ashore on the Easl
side of the lake, of which we can obtain no definite information.
286 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
The steamboal Dlinois entered the Milwaukee Bay in September in a gale,
and having no wood, was compelled to lie a1 anchor three days until the
storm abated— although she dragged her anchor some distance, she came
off finally with but little damage.
The detent inn of vessels ill 1 ll is way, is a very greal drawback upon the
navigation of Lake Michigan. A large steamboal may have on board some
five hundred to eight hundred passengers, and their time and expenses, ami
tin- expenses id' the officers and crew, forms a pretty considerable item to
he charged against the traveling and trading community. — Prudenl navigators,
knowing that if they leave the port there is no safety for them, are compelled
to lie by two or three days waiting for fair weather; while, it' there were
safe harbors at convenient distances, which could lie made in a storm, thej
would not hesitate to pursue their voyage.
The schooners Dolphin, McParlane, Manitowoc, were got off shore after
the November gale, and were each driven ashore a second time and lost.
The schooner Drift was also got off and upset ; one man being lost. Vessel
and cargo also lost.
The schooner Milwaukee also got off, and while on a voyage to the Manitou
Islands, with provisions from Milwaukee for the men there engaged in
supplying wood to steamboats, was driven across the lake and beached on the
Michigan shore, late in fall. In consequence of this loss, serious apprehensions
are entertained for the fate of the unfortunate islanders, who depended upon
this cargo for their winter's supply of provisions.
The steamboats Madison, Chesapeake and Missouri, three of the largest
and most powerful steamboats in the world, were ashore on the west side of
tin' lake during this year. They were not however materially damaged.
Recapitulation. — From the foregoing statement, it appears that the number
of lives lost on Lake Michigan was:
In 1834 1
In 1835 53
In 1836 4
In lS.'W 1
In 1830 33
In 1840 1
In 1841 25
Total 11s
Making a total of 118 lives lost, or about fifteen each year, since the
commencement of the navigation of Lake Michigan, in 1834.
We have, with the assistance of several persons well acquainted with
the history of the different vessels hist or damaged, and of the amount id'
freight, &C, injured or destroyed on each, formed an approximate estimate of
the amount of property destroyed on Lake Michigan during each year, the
result of which is as follows :
HARBOR AND .MARINE INTERESTS 2S7
In the year 1834 amount of loss $ 37,500
In the year 183-5 amount of loss 178,500
In the year 183(3 amount of loss 298,750
In the year 1837 amount of loss 171,400
In the year 1838 amount of loss 78,000
In the year 1839 amount of loss 111,800
In the year 1840 amount of loss 31,(100
In the year 1841 amount of loss 145,500
Total $1,052,450
Showing a grand total of more than a million of dollars, being over
•$131,000 yearly, and enough each year to construct two harbors.
From the foregoing statement it appears further, that the number ol'
vessels lost or injured has been :
In 1834 2
In 1835 11
In 1836 15
In 1837 !)
In 1838 8
In 1839 13
In 1840 3
In 1841 28
Total 89
Showing a yearly average of eleven.
In these statements, it will he perceived that we have included only those
cases about which we have obtained definite information, and we do not
hesitate to say that were all the facts ascertained, this list would be very
materially enlarged.
Besides the actual loss and damage, there have been many hair breadth
escapes of which we have no account. If from the superior skill of the
captain and crew or from the greater strength of the vessel, she is able to
endure the storm, we seldom hear anything of the circumstance, although
the actual danger might have been as great as in other cases where accidents
did really happen. The enumeration of those would till a small volume.
Major Judscn ar.d the Randolph Report. — The movement which led to
the first study of the ultimate possibilities id' Milwaukee's harbor had i1s
inception with the creation of a special harbor committee by the City Council.
This committee was headed by Alderman Frederick C. Bogk who displayed
unusual zeal and energy in bringing expert engineering service into play
and in providing the municipality with a comprehenisve harbor plan.
.Ma.j. W. V. Judson, then the resident United States engineer, manifested
a. deep interest in the harbor and made the statement that "Jones Island
is the key to .Milwaukee's future harbor development." He discussed the
subject as follows :
"Ports of the composite class to which .Milwaukee belongs need harbors
which are adapted to perform two functions. In the first place, being ports
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HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 289
of general importance, such as Chicago, Duluth, Superior and Manitowoc.
they must compete among themselves for tonnage to be transhipped from
lake to rail and vice versa. As to such tonnage it is of the greatest impor-
tance that vessels coming to the wharves shall experience the least possible
delay. A very few cents, or even a fraction of a cent per ton imposed upon
this tonnage through avoidable delays will by at least that much increase
the cost to the consumer or producer in the region tributary to the port.
This certainly means that a portion of such ports must be comparatively
free from bridges and tortuous channels and be prepared to do through
business at a minimum of expense. If any economies are neglected, as at
Chicago, for example, the through business of the port declines.
"Jones Island the Key. — To perform'the second function, to-wit, to serve
the needs of local commerce and local industries, ports of this class must
possess great extension of dock frontage, alon<i- which factories and ware-
houses may be built. The manufacturing establishments, jobbing houses,
etc.. will not, of course, use their docks to the same extent as will those en-
gaged exclusively in the transportation of business. The dock is a mere
auxiliary to the manufacturer or .jobber. It is not so important in this case
that the vessel shall secure great dispatch as that commercial or industrial
plants shall be conveniently near their consumers, labor supply, etc. Further-
more, the dockage for local trading vessels should be located near the center
of the town. Tortuous channels and bridges may be endured by these in-
terests. In fact, it is absolutely necessary to use the interior channels for
local industries by reason of the great extent of dock frontage required.
"Jones Island is the key to the future greatness of Milwaukee as a port
to serve through commerce. It is complementary to the inner harbor, which
is, or can be made, so well adapted to the use of local commerce and local
industries. If there were an outer harbor at .tones Island there would be
less congestion in the inner harbor, as the latter would be relieved of the
vessels engaged in through commerce. And if the wharves for through com-
merce were on Jones Island, there would remain a greater extension of dock
frontage on the interior rivers to serve local needs. That the development
of .Jones Island would 1 f the greatest benefit to the region Lying west
of Milwaukee itself, and to nearly every one resident thereat, cannot for a
moment be doubted. "
The Bogk committee in making its report to the Common Council pre-
f; il the same with the following paragraph: "The proposition id' con-
verting Jones Island into a useful municipal dock and wharf and thereby
adding to the city's transportation facilities, both water and rail, has had
the serious attention of your special committee. We find, upon a thorough
investigation, that the project bears many phases which deserve the most
careful consideration. Aside from the advantage to be derived to the city
as a commercial and shipping proposition, which is generally admitted, we
find that the physical, legal and financial consideration involved must be
set forth before an intelligent judgment can be formed. In fact, the final
determination to proceed with the project must rest primarily and solely
upon the feasibility and the utilitarian advantages to be derived from such
Vol. 1—19 .
290 HISTORY OK MILWAUKEE
project. Both factors, we believe, have I □ established in this report. Every
phase is discussed with candor and with such thoroughness as was within
the grasp of your committee."
The committee which-in addition to Alderman Frederick C. Bogk con
sistcil of Alderman Osear Alpeter, Max Grass, 1'. II. Connelly and L. IL
Tarrant, submitted an exhaustive report to the council, summarizing its
arguments and recommendations in the following twenty points:
1. Increased transportation facilities are absolutely necessary to growth.
2. No prospect of more railroads unless we build them ourselves, and
not much prospect of improved conditions on the part of present railroads.
3. Lake transportation necessary to maintain parity as between Chicago
and the East.
4. Inner harbor, though great, cannot be extended so as to care for our
growing needs.
5. Jones Island has natural advantages. "The key to our future great-
ness." Who shall hold the key?
6. Will provide directly more and needed facilities for water and ulti-
mately for railroad transportation.
7. We need more harbor room, docks, warehouses, storage houses, ele-
vators, earferry slips, team tracks, storage tracks.
8. Good investment.
9. Docks now monopolized by railroads.
10. Systematic, efficient building, and the working out of a greal plan.
cannot be done by individuals, but only by the city.
11. The Government will assist, if we begin, spending large amounts
in Milwaukee.
12. Jones Island the only suitable location and area.
13. Our responsibility for the future and its needs, we must provide for.
14. Opportunity is passing; we are not getting our share.
15. No legal obstacles.
16. No engineering or physical obstacles.
17. Finances can be provided.
18. When private capital cannot or will not act for public good, then it
becomes the duly of the municipality to act.
l!t. Property is cheapest now.
20. It is a good thing, grab it, and do it now.
Thereupon the council appropriated the sum of $5,000 for a survey and
report on the harbor and Isham Randolph, a well known engineer, was
employed. This reporl laid the basis for the development of Jones Island
and the utilization of the Kinnickinnic basin. The realization of this plan
involved considerations which were no1 readily overcome. Delays were en
countered in the acquirement of Jones Island and in complying with the
Legal and financial requirements connected with such acquirement.
With the advent of the Milwaukee Harbor Commission the subject was
approached from a new and broader angle and the II. McL. Harding report
followed in 1920. This study dealt with the entire harbor problem in the
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 291
light of changed conditions and was that year adopted unanimously by the
common council.
Concentrating the Harbor Traffic— With the passing of the small wooden
schooner and the advent of the large steel vessel there also came about changes
in the character of the harbor traffic. The larger ships could not be afforded
the extreme depth in all parts of the three rivers. Again, they were obliged
to seek the well-equipped terminals for their cargoes.
The constant growth of the traffic on the streets paralleling the river
in the business section of the city, and the location of manufacturing plants
in increasing numbers on dock property, rendered, in many instances, the
location of terminals impracticable. On the one hand some dock property
had become obsolete, owing to changed conditions, while on the other their
use for commercial or industrial purposes had rendered them too costly
for terminal purposes.
With the introduction of more bridges and the regulations governing
the opening and closing hours, the movement of large craft about the channel
has become more cumbersome and at the same time more hazardous.
All this lias led to the thought that some day the inner harbor traffic
must be concentrated to the more readily accessible points and that the
undeveloped areas near the mouth of the harbor must be developed.
The time which elapsed between the earlier conception of the plan and
its final formulation also developed the difficulties which would eventually
have to be encountered. The island was privately owned and had to be
acquired by the municipality if the contemplated improvements were to be
made. It was in part owned by fishermen who lived on the island and in
part by the Illinois Steel Corporation.
About this time the municipality was confronted with the problem of
locating its sewage disposal plant. The various sites which had been under
consideration had been objected to by the citizenship. The location of the
plant in the northern end of Jones Island Mas deemed most practical, and
consequently an area having 1,000 feet of lake frontage was chosen.
The city administration then conceived the idea of creating a so called
harbor commission consisting of nine members, citizens who were familiar
with the physical and commercial conditions attending the harbor. This
body served in an advisory capacity to the common council.
The harbor possibilities were then subjected to close study and the formu-
lation of plans which utilized all the natural advantages afforded in the
land and water areas involved, were worked out. The acquisition of the
island and the control of the basin was determined upon. Every successive
recommendation to that end was adopted by the common council, and the
citizens loyally supported the bond issues that were submitted. Members
of the common council, especially President Cornelius Corcoran, became
strong champions of a comprehensive harbor plan and the steady and un-
hindered development of the same.
Through the efforts of President Corcoran and Mayor G. A. Hading the
municipality secured the riparian rights of the lake frontage from Wisconsin
Street south to the mouth of the harbor.
292 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Subsequently the city condemned the north half of -I ;s Island to a
point opposite Greenfield Avenue, and also took steps t< lemn thai part
of the island lying south down to Wilcox Street.
Harbor Needs Winter TVIooring- Facilities. — .Mdwaukee harbor found itself
greatly in need of a place where a fair-sized fleel of vessels could be moored
for the winter without the possibility of being disturbed during the closed
period. This shortcoming of the port had never been more apparent than at
the elose of the season of 1919, when the Harbor Master was called upon to find
berths for forty-three of the larger class of coal and ore carriers. The task was
a difficult one, but the fleet was finally provided for. Eowever, si. me of the
steamers had to be shifted about during the winter. This involved considerable
expense. Vessel-owners seek to avoid trouble of this nature when they assign
craft to winter quarters, and this explains why .Milwaukee's winter fleets have
been so insignificanl in recent years. The assignments of cargoes to Milwaukee
by the coal administration at the (dose of last season lefl many owners im choice
l»ut to lay up their vessels at this port.
There is seemingly miles of water frontage in the harbor where vessels could
be moored for the winter with reasonable surety of not being forced to move,
but some property-owners are averse to allowing large craft to lie alongside
their docks for so lone' a period. Other points lack mooring piles, ('are was
also taken to keep channels clear so that fire tugs would be able to navigate
freely in times of stress. This latter necessity prevents vessels from lying
abreast where channels are narrow.
Aside from the advantage to navigation interests, a winter mooring basin
would be profitable from a business point of view, because of the large amount
of money required to tit out vessels in the spring. Kinnickinnic Bay, when
properly deepened will provide winter berths for fifty or more large vessels.
The Harbor Commission had this in mind when it planned for the enlargement
of the inner basin behind Jones Island.
Jones Island Condemnation. — The Common Council, on Monday, duly 7.
1913, passed a resolution requesting the Harbor Commission to make imme-
diate recommendation as to what lands on Jones Island should, in its judg-
ment, first be taken in prosecuting the proposed inner harbor improvement, the
COSt of Such lands not to exceed ihe sum of $50,000.00, the amounl of a bond
issue ordered by the Common Council for that purpose.
The matter was taken up by the Harbor Commission on Friday, August 15,
1913, when the secretary presented a draft of a communication recommending
the condemnation of certain blocks, as platted, i'ii the southern extremity id'
the island. Action was deferred, however, until the members of the Commis-
sion and Committee on Harbor had made personal inspection of the premises
involved. Tins was accomplished on August l!'. 1913.
At a meeting of the Harbor Commissi n Friday afternoon. September
4. 1913, it was decided that a conference be had with representatives of the
Illinois Steel Company, which corporation is the owner id" most of the land on
Jones Island, and the secretary was ordered to make arrangements Eor the
same.
HARBOR AND .MARINE INTERESTS 293
A conference was had on Friday afternoon, October :!, HUM, two repre-
sentatives of the legal department of the Illinois Steel Company appearing'
for that corporation. The Jones Island situation was discussed in its every
phase, with a view to opening the way to the acquirement of the island in whole
or in part. The representatives of the steel company gave the city officials to
understand that their company would not stand in the way of the proposed
improvement, Tint that it wished to retain sufficient land in the outer or inner
harbor area to admit of the enlargement of the present works, should the com-
pany so desire at some future time.
In response to a growing sentiment in favor of acquiring the whole of
Jones Island in one proceeding, the Harbor Commission submitted a request
to the Common Council on Monday, October I-'!. 1913, that it direct the Hoard
of Estimates to provide the sum of $250,000.00 in the budget for 1914, for the
further acquirement of Jones Island property. At the same time the commis-
sion submitted a recommendation in accordance with the resolution passed by
the Common Council July 7, 1913, that blocks 185, 186, 1ST and 188 of Jones
Island, as platted, be condemned. The former communication was referred to
the Committee on Finance and the latter to the Committee on Harbor.
The Board of Estimates having meanwhile included the sum of $250,000.00
in tin' budget for 11114 to be applied to the acquirement of Jones Island prop-
erty and making other harbor improvements, a resolution was introduced in
the Common Council on .Monday, January 5, 1914, to the effect that the whole
of Jones Island he acquired by the city. The resolution was referred to the
Committee on Harbor anil also the Hoard of Public Land Commissioners, who
rendered a favorable report at a meeting of the Common Council on Monday.
February 2, 1914, whereupon the resolution was adopted unanimously.
At the same meeting tiie first formal step in the condemnation pr dings
was taken by the introduction of a resolution formally authorizing the con-
demnation of the property.
Fishermen Plead for Consideration. — One of the problems involved in the
transformation of Jones Island into a shipping center is the disposition of the
fishermen who uow occupy the land and maintain sheds and small mooring
piers for tugs and launches along the river frontage. The Harbor Commission
has given the matter serious thought, for the reason that the fishing business
occupies an exclusive field and is one of the pioneer industries of the city. It
is also the main support of a small colony of people who will be compelled to
remove elsewhere if another base of operations cannot be established in Mil-
waukee harbor. The further fact that the fishing business has a favorable
bearing on the food supply of the city also counts in favor of its retention,
although it must be admitted that in this respect it would render more efficient
service if it was conducted in a less isolated location than it is at present.
The magnitude of the industry can best be uiiderst 1 by a study of the
following figures showing the total catch of fish and the valuation of the same
during the past eight years. The figures were obtained from the records of
the State Conservation Commission at Madison, Wis. No record of the Jones
Island catch was kept prior to 1909:
A SCENE IN THE COAL RECEIVING CENTER OF THE MENOMINEE RIVER AKKA
MOUNTAINS OV COAL IN THE MENOMINEE YALLKY
A vessel in process of unloading
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 295
Year. Pounds of Pish. Value.
1909 1,614,990 $ 96,571.00
1910 1,693,838 68,708.70
1911 1,535,524 100,619.25
1912 1,658,544 91,161.75
1913 2,328,340 125,527.40
1914 2,003,670 106,629.40
1915 1,913,865 102,006.90
1916 1,370,460 101,554.40
Total 14,119,231 $792,778.80
Average yearly catch, 1,764,904 pounds.
Average yearly return, $99,097.35.
A delegation of Jones Island fishermen appeared before the Harbor Com
mission on Thursday afternoon, September 10, 1917, and presented their claims
for consideration in connection with the development of the island. The peti-
tioners represented the owners of fifteen tugs and nine gasoline launches, which
constitute the fishing fleet operating out of Milwaukee Harbor at the present
time. The object of the petitioners was to secure from the commission some
assurance that they would be permitted to continue their business on the island
under reasonable regulation and rental.
Mr. Cornelius Tamms, spokesman of the delegation, stated that there are
about 175 men directly engaged in the fishing business and that about an equal
number make a livelihood in selling fish. He said if the fishermen were forced
to leave the island most of these people would have to move away from the
city. He promised that during the progress of preliminary operations on the
island the fishermen would shift about and double up so as not to interfere with
the work of the contractors. Mr. Tamms favored the construction of a slip 600
feet in length with two-story sheds or warehouses on each side, the lower stories
to be used for drying nets and the upper floors for storing extra nets and
supplies. For such facilities Mr. Tamms said the fishermen would be willing to
pay a reasonable rental.
Chairman Bruce informed the delegation that in formulating its plans for
the future use of Jones Island the Harbor Commission would take the needs of
the fishermen into serious consideration, and that meanwhile they would not
be disturbed any more than was actually necessary.
On the day following, Friday, September 11, 1917, the same delegation of
fishermen attended the meeting of the Common Council Committee on Public
Buildings and Grounds, where the assessment of benefits and damages in the
Jones Island condemnation was being considered. Members of the. Harbor
Commission who were present, repeated the assurances given the fishermen at
the commission meeting the day previous, whereupon the fishermen withdrew
the objections they had intended to present and the assessment was favorably
reported upon.
The Harbor Commission of 1911. — In response to agitation on the part of
public officials, and manufacturing and shipping interests of the city, in favor
296 HISTORY OF .\l IIAY.U'KKK
hi in
niter hai bor developmenl on the lake side of whal is known as Jones Island,
the ( 'iiiiiiiiiiii Council, on Monday, September 25, 1911, adopted a resolution
authorizing the mayor to appoinl ;i commission of nine members, to be known.
as the Harbor Commission, whose duty it should be to make a careful survey
of thr present and future needs of the city in the Line of barbor facilities,
miii! tn in vest i gal e all proposed plans and suggestions, and report its findings
tn the mayor at as early a date as possible.
Iii pursuan f the resolution, the mayor, on Monday, October 23, 1911,
appointed as members of the commission, M. A. Beck, \V. P. Bishop, William
George Bruce, K. G. Butler. Robert Clarke, Edward Cornillie, Capt. -T. J. Mc-
Sweeney, Prank J. Weber, and A. L. Worden. K. G. Butler. Robert Clarke
and A. L. Worden declining to serve, the mayor, on Monday, November 2().
1911, appointed Carl C. -Toys, Win. Selilosser and ('apt. < >. X. Anderson to
the vacancies.
The commission was formally organized on Wednesday. November 22.
1911, luit did not begin active work until Tuesday. February 13, 1912, the
Common Council having meanwhile made financial provision for the prosecu-
tion of the investigation. The first act of the commission was to eleel Herman
Bleyer as secretary.
On May 27, 1H12, the commission rendered a preliminary report to the
Common Council recommending the early acquirement of Jones Island and
the deepening and docking of Kinnickinnic Bay fur inner barbor purposes,
the outer harbor plan being rejected. It also recommended that conditions
in the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers be improved in accordance with
the recommendations of United States engi rs.
At this stage of the investigation the legality of the Harbor Commission
was challenged on the ground that the appointment to its membership had
not been confirmed by the Common Council, in obedience to tin' rules of that
body. The i- mission thereupon ceased its activities. The secretary, bow-
ever, continued the work inaugurated by it up to that time.
The Harbor Commission created by act of the Common Council of the City
of Milwaukee, August 1!'. 1D12. was simply advisory in capacity and had no
authority to carry out what it planned. Its function was to study the shipping
needs of the city and make recommendations to the Common Council looking
to improved harbor facilities. The definite purpose of the Harbor Commis-
sion was to promote harbor development along progressive lines, with an
eye to the betterment of present adverse conditions and to till' probable needs
of the city in the ultimate future.
The following were the members of the Committee mi Harbor of the
Common Council in 1912, when the Harbor Commission was created: Alder
man Edward A. Wittig, chairman, Frederick C Bogk, George T. Grede, Harry
Dempsey, Arthur Urbanek.
While the members of the committee were named ex-officio members of
the Harbor Commission by the resolution creatine- the latter body, the com-
mittee as a whole or in part met with the Harbor Commission mi only one
or two occasions.
In April. 1914, the Common Council committees were reorganized, and the
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS l!!»7
old Harbm- Committee abolished, its duties being- transferred to the Commit-
tee on Public Buildings and Grounds. Prom that time on committee connec-
tion with the Harbor Commission was disregarded.
The following- citizens served on the original commission up to the time
of its disqualification: Messrs. William George Bruce, W. P. Bishop, M. A.
Beck, J. J. McSweeney, Edward Cornillie, Carl C. Joys, 0. N. Anderson, Win.
Schlosser.
The Harbor Commission was reorganized in pursuance of a resolution
adopted by the Common Council on .Monday, August lit, 1912, authorizing
the mayor to appoint nine citizens of the City of Milwaukee to act in an
advisory capacity to the regular Harbor Committee of the Common Council
regarding the development of shipping facilities and the best means of pro-
viding for future requirements of a like nature. The terms of the first ap-
pointees to the commission were fixed as follows: Three for one year, three
for two years, and three for three years, the mayor being empowered to
appoint three members of the commission annually thereafter. The com-
missioner of public works and members of the Harbor Committee of the
Common Council were constituted ex officio members of the commission. The
commission was required to report its findings to the Common Council once
each year, or as often as the urgency and importance of the proposed work
dictated.
The initial appointments to the commission were made by the mayor, and
dulv confirmed bv the Common Council, on Monday, October 14. 1912. They
were as follows: William G 'ge Bruce, Walter P. Bishop and Carl C. Joys
for three years; Fred J. Schroeder, Fred C. Reynolds and Conrad Trimborn
for two years, and Jesse B. Whitnall, William C. Starke ami (apt. Henry
Leisk for one year.
In order to provide the commission with a secretary, it having no author-
ity to create a salaried position, tin- Common Council, on Monday, September
30, 1H1:!, passed an ordinance creating the position of secretary of harbor sur-
vey work within the Department of Public Works, and in conformity with
the ordinance the commissioner of public works, on Tuesday, October 15,
1912, appointed Herman Bleyer, secretary of the first Harbor Commission,
to the position.
The first report of the reorganized commission was rendered .May 12,
1913. It urged the early acquirement of Jones Island by the city, on the
ground that it afforded the only remaining opportunity for the municipality
to acquire water frontage capable of comprehensive terminal development.
Acting upon this recommendation the Common Council provided for a bond
issue of $250,000 in the budget for 11)14 for the purpose of securing the island.
The following citizens served on the reorganized Harbor Commission for
various periods, from its inception up to July 1, 1920, when it was superseded
by tile Board of Harbor Commissioners : William George Bruce, W. I'. Bishop,
Carl C. Joys, Pred J. Schroeder, Pred C. Reynolds, Conrad Trimborn, Jesse
B. Whitnall, William C. Starke, Henry Leisk, John C. Davis, I). W. Chipman,
John S. Stover, Frank Tilley, William F. Quick, R. II. Pinkley, Harry M.
Stratton, L. J. King, Bennett Larson, John F. Jackson.
MILWAUKEE RIVKR— (iRAIN ELEVA TOKS
MENOMINEE RIVER— COAL SHIPPING CENTKK
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
Personnel of the Harbor Commission
L'!l!l
1912
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
Carl C. Joys.
M. A. Beck.
Win Schlosser
John J. McSweeney.
E. A. Cornillie.
0. N. Anderson.
Frank J. Weber.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1913
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
John C. Davis.
Carl C. Joys.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
Jesse B. Whitnall.
William C.Starke.
Conrad Trimborn.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1914
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
John C. Davis.
Carl C. Joys.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
Jesse B. Whitnall.
William C. Starke.
Conrad Trimborn.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1915
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
John C. Davis.
Carl C. Joys.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
Jesse B. Whitnall.
William C. Starke.
D. W. Chipman.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1916
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
John C. Davis.
Carl C. Joys.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
Jesse B. Whitnall.
William C. Starke.
D. W. Chipman.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1917
William George Bruce, chairman.
W. P. Bishop.
Carl C. Joys.
John C. Davis.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
D. W. Chipman.
John S. Stover.
Frank Tilley.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1918
William George Bruce, chairman.
Carl C. Joys.
Fred C. Reynolds.
Henry Leisk.
John S. Stover.
R. H. Pinkley.
Harry M. Stratton.
William F. Quick.
Frank Tilley.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
1919
William George Bruce, chairman.
Henry Leisk.
Fred C. Reynolds.
R. H. Pinkley.
Harry M. Stratton.
L. J. King.
Bennett Larson.
William F. Quick.
Frank Tilley.
Herman Bleyer, secretary.
3 ifl HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
1920 L921-22
William George Bruee, chairman. William George Bruce, president.
1 [enry Leisk. Fred < '. Reynolds.
Fred ('. Reynolds. R. II. Pinkley.
li. II. Pinkley. I >ennet1 Lai son.
Harry M. Stratton. G.J. DeGelleke (sue Led by
I lennel t Larson. ( '. F. Ringer i .
L.J. E0ug. Herman Bleyer, secretary.
William F. Quick. Changed from commission to Board
John F. Jackson. of Harbor Commissioners.
I lerman I Sleyer, secretary.
Board of Harbor Commissioners. The Board of Harbor Commissioners
was created by the Common Council on Monday, June 1. 1920, under author-
ity granted by Chapter 289, Laws of Wisconsin, 1919. The membership of
the Board is confined to five qualified electors of the City of .Milwaukee with
terms of office extending over three years. The resolution creating' the board
fixed July 1, 1920, as the date of the beginning of the terms of its members,
and provided that the initial appointments to the hoard should be for one.
two and three years, all successive appointments to he for three years.
Agreeable to the action of the Common Council, the mayor, on Monday,
June 14. 11)20, made the following appointments, which appointments wen
continued by the Common Council on the same day:
Term Expires
G. J. DeGelleke July 1. 1921
Henry Leisk July 1. L922
R. II. Pinkley July 1. 1922
Bennett Larson July 1. 1923
William George Bruce July 1. 1923
The hoard formally organized on Thursday. July 15, 1920. William George
Bruce was elected president for a term of one year, and R. II. Pinkley, \ ice
president, for a similar term. Herman Bleyer was chosen secretary.
On January IS. 1921, Fred ( '. Reynolds was appointed a member of the
board in place of ('apt. Henry Leisk. it having been determined thai the latter
was disqualified under the law for service on the hoard, being a residenl of
Wauwa'tosa. C. F. Ringer was chosen in H'21 to succeed Mr. DeGelleke.
The Hoard of Harbor Commissioners, under the law authorizing its ere,,
tion, is empowered to make plans for the improvement of all waterways of
the harhor. to provide for and supervise the construction and equipment of
docks, wharves, warehouses, etc., and railway connections to the same, sub-
ject to approval by the Common Council, and is given jurisdiction over all
publicly-owned docks and public lands abutting on public waterways, and
the dock lines of the various channels in the harhor.
The Milwaukee River Problem. — The Milwaukee Harbor Commission en-
tertains the belief thai some day the city will have to determine upon the
final disposition of the Milwaukee River. Will this part of .Milwaukee's inner
harhor become obsolete, or will it he wise, even with a declining commerce,
to maintain the navigati fficiency of the channel.' The commission pro
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 301
poses to solve the problem before it assumes acute form and before the econ-
omies of the situation force the solution. On the one hand the navigation
service of the river must be dealt with, and on the other the cost of dredging-,
the building of draw or bascule bridges, and their maintenance and operation.
Hence the question, does the commercial utility of the river warrant the con-
tinued expense of maintaining the same as a navigable stream?
A study was made by a local engineer's society several years ago which
answered this question in the negative. Landscape artists have devised elab-
orate plans for converting the river surface into a great boulevard, or to
narrow the stream into a canal and to boulevard both banks. The municipal-
ity is harassed over the problem of introducing stationary bridges and thus
obviating the great cost of building bascule bridges and operating them.
The United States Government is in absolute control of all the navigable
waters within its domain and jealously guards every inch of water surface
and combats all encroachments upon the same The Milwaukee River is a
navigable stream of no mean importance. The annual tonnage carried north
of Grand Avenue exceeds 700,000 tons. This is a large tonnage when con-
sidered in the light of the fact that the United States has spent millions of
dollars in river and harbor improvements followed by a smaller tonnage or
by absolute failure.
The tonnage which goes up the Milwaukee River north of Grand Avenue
consists in the main of coarse bulk' such as coal, sand anil stone. Whether
this tonnage will diminish, as time goes on, remains to be seen. With the
concentration of the port activities nearer the harbor entrance, namely, on
and about Jones Island, the Kinnickinnic Basin and the Menomonee River,
one thing becomes clear, namely, that the .Milwaukee River has seen its besl
days as a navigable stream and that ils service will lessen rather than in-
crease in the future.
If, on the one hand, the municipality finds that the cost of river main-
tenance is too high compared with the commercial utility that is secured and
on the other hand Uncle Sam will not surrender the river, then one practical
solution which will meet both exigencies may be open.
Tin' introduction of a type of lighters or barges that may navigate up and
down the river without compelling the opening and closing of bridges is in
order. Such barges, if successfully devised would, it is believed, obviate the
maintenance of draw and bascule bridges and at the same time permit the
introduction of the stationary type of bridges at a greatly reduced cost of
construction.
North of Grand Avenue there are now six bridges — Oneida, State, Chest-
nut. Cherry, Walnut and Ilolton. Five of these would have to be raised from
an average of eight feet of vertical clearance over water levels to at lasl
twelve feet if they are to be rendered stationary. The Harbor Commission
inaugurated a careful study of the whole subject with a view of reaching
a solution of the navigation problem as applied to the Milwaukee River north
of Grand Avenue.
Railroads Own Steamboat Wharfage. — Practically all of the wharfage in
Milwaukee Harbor suitable for warehouse and transhipping purposes is owned
302 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
by railway companies. The exceptions arc the docks of the Goodrich Transit
Company, those of the Chicago, Racine & Milwaukee Line, and some ware-
houses belonging to the E. H. Abbot estate on the north side of Milwaukee
River, near the harbor entrance. In the case of the two steamboat lines just
named, however, the wharves are devoid of railway connection. The Good
rich warehouses are on ground leased from private parties, and the Chicago,
Racine & Milwaukee Line occupies modern fire-proof warehouses on the -Mil-
waukee River east and west of Broadway Bridge. The Abbot warehouses
are managed by an agent for the estate and are not under lease to any rail-
road or steamship line. Freight intended for rcshipment or local delivery
is discharged at these warehouses by steamers of various lines, subject to a
charge for storage. The warehouses have connection with the < 'hicago &
Northwestern line only.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company is the largesl
single owner of Milwaukee dock property. Virtually all of the desirable
frontage in the Menomonee Valley suitable for the warehouse transhipping
trade, or 27 per cent of the entire river frontage in that zone of the harbor,
is owned by this road. Its holdings on the Menomonee River and Kneeland
Canal represents 32.2 per cent of the dock facilities on these channels. On
the South Menomonee and Burnham canals the same company's holdings
amount to 22.1 per cent of the entire frontage. Some of the railway's river
property in the Menomonee Valley is under lease to parties engaged in the
coal and salt trade, and to others requiring yard room for handling coarse
freight, such as lumber, wood, ties, etc.
One grain elevator, with a capacity of 1,650,00(1 bushels, situated on the
South Menomonee Canal, is also owned by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railway Company. In fact, no other railroad has access to this immense
manufacturing and grain and coal receiving district.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company owns the only piece
of warehouse frontage in the upper shipping zone of the Milwaukee River.
This property was used by lower lake steamboat lines in the early history
of the city. It is now under lease to the Pabst Brewing Company which
devoted two large warehouses to its bottled beer shipping industry, which
made use of railway transportation exclusively and there was no provision
for handling freight on the river side of the warehouses. The same road owns
the best warehouse property in the harbor zone of the Milwaukee River — on
the west front of the river, north and south of the entrance to the .Menomonee.
The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company owns two elevators and
a warehouse in the lower harbor zone. One elevator wilh a capacitj of L,500,-
000 bushels is situated on the Milwaukee River jusi east of Broadway Brid
The other elevator faces ELinnickinnic Bay, opposite Jones Island, and has
a capacity of 1,350,000 bushels.
The F. & P. M. Railway Company owns ISO feet of warehouse property
in the mercantile section of the .Milwaukee River. It lies just north of Buffalo
Street bridge, on the west hank «\ the river, and is the landing place of the
I'ere Marquette Line steamers. The Milwaukee Electric Lighl & Railway
Companj is the owner of 800 feel of dock property on the Milwaukee River.
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 303
It represents the sites of power houses on the west bank of the river, north
of Chestnut Street bridge, and some vacant frontage on the east bank of the
river between Martin and Oneida streets.
The railway ownership of property on the Milwaukee River, between
Racine Street and the harbor entrance, is divided as follows: Chicago, Mil-
waukee & St. Paul, 6.12 per cent; Chicago & Northwestern, 5.04 per cent;
F. & P. M. Railway, 0.6-4 per cent; Milwaukee Electric Light & Railway Com-
pany, 2.88 per cent. Total, 14.68 per cent.
The Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company owns considerable water
frontage in the Kinnickinnic zone of the harbor, but none of it is, as yet,
available for shipping purposes. The F. & P. M. line owns 425 feet just west
of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway bridge, on the north bank of the
Kinnickinnic River, which it uses as a carferry terminal.
The Milwaukee Electric Light & Railway Company owns 300 feet adjoin-
ing the F. & P. M. property, which is used for storing coal and transferring
the same from rail to barge. The holdings of the Chicago & Northwestern
Company represent 11 per cent of the entire developed and undeveloped
water frontage on the west shore of Kinnickinnic Bay and in the Kinnickinnic
River. The Illinois Steel Company has an ore dock and trestle 1,400 feet
in length reaching from the point of the old harbor entrance south along the
inner front of the neck of land leading to Jones Island proper. This com-
pany claims the greater portion of Jones Island and the submerged land
known as Kinnickinnic Bay.
The Milwaukee Gas Light Company owns 2,270 feet of valuable dock prop-
erty, the greater portion of which lies on the Menomonee River. The Menomo-
nee River frontage is leased in part to the Y. & O. Coal Company. The
Milwaukee River frontage of this company is situated just west of the Chicago
& Northwestern Railway bridge, near the harbor. It is used as a drying yard
for material used in filtering gas and also as a site for gas purifying tanks.
Amount Expended for Bridge Repairs and Maintenance. — The following
table shows the amount expended by the City of Milwaukee during the years
named, for bridge repairs and maintenance:
1853 * 8,878.15 1868 45,991.46
1854 13,053.70 1S69 50,625.58
1855 9,243.66 1870 92,494.72
1856 26,217.04 1871 79,059.54
1857 40,270.87 1872 77,404.63
1858 7,744.09 1873 83,543.30
1859 1 874 29,641.86
1860 7,436.75 ]875 43,698.91
1861 9,860.34 1876 12,265.54
1862 9,539.83 1877 33,995.52
1863 1 5,960.06 1 878 50,616.85
1864 13,118.55 1879 39,143.41
1865 8,998.73 1880 51.909.47
1866 71,396.25 1881 57,922.52
1867 53,542.67 1882 138,829.90
THE OLD .infix A. MX SIDEWHEEL STKAMK1
— ^-
in u
VIEW OF THE OLD GOODRICH DOCK ON THE MILWAUKEE RIVER, BETWEEN
SY< A.MORE AM) i l.\ BOURN STREETS
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 305
1883 82,258.08 1903 215,546.26
1884 156,307.31 11)04 341,685.8Q
1885 57,065.74 1005 124,034.13
1886 149,315.1)4 1906 94,179.30
1887 55,946.71 1907 389,742.40
1888 $ 44,780.83 1908 645,796.20
1889 46,277.48 1909 377.013.70
1890 58,261.2s 1910 415,518.49
1891 112,767.49 1911 190,581.50
1892 109,349.21 1912 175.62S.74
1893 117,077.73 1913 130,750.06
1894 387,378.25 1914 136.368.17
1895 206,448.16 1915 123,172.54
1896 93,230.64 1916 124.207.19
1897 79,709.25 11)17 153,665.25
1898 60,228.69 1918 135,658.58
1S99 60,864.84 1919 246,075.37
1900 60,921.66 1920 279,728.77
1901 130,880.62
1902 181,645.86 Total $9,309,373.12
These figures include not only river bridges, but all stationary bridges
and viaducts over streets, valleys and railway subways.
Amount Expended for Dredging and Docking. — Following is a record of
the amount expended by the City of Milwaukee for dredging and docking,
during the years named. The sum includes th jst of the original '"Straight
Cut."
1 853 * 1874 40,935.34
1854 3,050.00 1875 20,522.07
1S55 1,521.63 1876 17,063.10
1856 736.S1 1877 14.S46.35
1857 *72,763.57 1 878 21 ,923.06
1858 1879 25,665.96
1S59 1880 31,243.32
1860 7,186.86 1881 14,216.15
1861 981.60 1882 22,171.62
1862 1,722.91 1883 18,645.18
1863 5,416.44 lss4 15,111.89
1864 12,316.91 1885 24,21 7.08
1565 9,960.43 1886 23,977.26
1566 9,073.95 1887 14,576.2s
1867 21,165.67 1888 $ 31,010.75
1868 8,227.97 1889 23,694.94
1869 *44,4S9.s;i 1890 27,081.88
1870 *S5,s55.s:i 1S91 23,829.33
1S71- *56,026.50 1892 25,400.83
1872 *68,974.36 1893 37,194.63
1873 21,501.09 1894 35,590.88
Vol. 1—2 0
306 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
1895 21,560.82 1909 48,946.44
»1896 30,721.77 L910 37,921.43
1897 31,989.53 1911 25,699.64
1898 *19,598.67 191-2 30,000.00
1899 16,145.17 1913 66,189.7 1
1900 14,473.58 1914 53,527.10
1901 19,971.86 1915 40,956.78
1902 21,538.21 1916 42,067.46
19(13 18,626.23 1917 19,020.64
1904 1 9,058.02 1918 27,216.46
1905 17,921.69 1919 25,960.00
1906 31,237.27 1920 32,395.66
1907 *181,137.39
1908 9,493.86 Total $1,843,265.68
There are six years in which extraordinary expenses are shown — (*) 1857,
1869, 1870, 1871, 1872, and 1907. The figures for 1857 include Milwaukee's
first investment of $50,000 in the "Straight Cut." The expense in the next
four years enumerated was augmented by payments in liquidation of the
Ilasbrouck claim growing out of the construction of the "Straight Cut," and
in 1907 the expense included the sum of $142,724.30 which was awarded to
owners for land taken for a turning basin in the Kinnickinnic River and for
widening the river.
There is no record of dredging and docking expense in 1853 and 1858,
and possibly no river work was done in those years. There are no records
of 1859 extant.
The expenditures enumerated above do not take into account tin- amounts
spent on the greater harbor project during the past few years.
Milwaukee's Lake Freight Tonnage for the Past Thirty-One Years
Year Inbound Tons Outbound Tons Total Tons
1890 1,706.973 655.149 2,362,052
1891 2,155,311 761,167 2,916,478
1892 2,181,730 838.741 3,020.471
1893 1,926,604 735.233 2,661,827
1894 2,160,706 718,889 2,879,605
1895 2,238.401 826,651 3,065,055
1896 2,328,196 1,118,301 3,446,497
1897 2,656,889 1,093,457 3,750,346
1898 2,753,243 1,357.44:: 4,110,686
1899 2.720.097 1,226,423 3,946,520
1900 2,630,348 1,072,892 ::. 703,240
1901 3,031,163 1,006,434 4,037,597
1902 2.579.157 1,014,965 3,594,122
1903 3,935,816 1.135.952 5,071,768.
1904 3,895,255 1,032,912 4,928,167
19ii5 4.197.5:13 1,256,874 5,454,407
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS
307
1906 5,013,304 1,190,720 6,204,024
1907 6,091,333 1,604,669 7,696,002
1908 5,027,416 1,314,529 6,341,945
1909 5,619,155 1,395,350 7,014,505
1910 6,563,345 1,500,739 8,064,084
1911 6,061,164 1,445,329 7,506,493
1912 6,456,160 1,316,804 7,772,965
1913 7,225,887 1,649,344 8,875,231
1914 6,546,478 1,942,487 8,488,965
1915 6,444,367 1,683,334 8,127,698
1916 6,616,116 1,308,783 7,924,899
1917 5,744,662 1,075,230 6,819,892
1918 5,475,340 1,611,210 7,086,550
1919 5,591,434 1,411,557 7,002,991
1920 4,792,868 1,068,638 5,861,506
Milwaukee's Lake and Rail Freight Tonnage for the Past Twenty Years
Year Lake Rail Total
1901 4,037,597 6,034;869 10,(172,466
1902 3,594,122 7,187,595 10,781.717
1903 5,071,768 6,947,511 12,019,279
1904 4,928,167 6,767,972 11,696,139
1905 5,454,407 7,899,817 13,354,224
1906 6,204,024 8,414,620 14,618,644
1907 7,696,0:i2 9,155,717 16,851,709
1908 6,341,945 8,356,774 14,698,719
1909 7,014,505 9,389,223 16,403,728
1910 8,064,084 10,326,515 18,390,599
1911 7,506,493 9,924,538 17,431,031
1912 7,772,965 9,545,420 17,318,385
1913 8,875,231 13,347,806 22,223,037
1914 8,488,965 14,274,251 22,763,216
1915 8,127,698 13,097,561 21,225,259
1916 7,924.899 15,452,251 23,377,150
1917 6,819,892 14,279,726 21,099,618
1918 : 7,086,550 14,262,459 21,349,009
1919 7,002,991 11,753,968 18,756,959
1920 5,861,506 13,407,299 19,268,805
Status of Proposed Harbor Development. — A rather long and complicated
legal procedure put the island into the city's hands in 1917 at a cost of
about $500,000. The condemnation was made in conformity with the bound-
ary limitations established by the original plat, which represented a total
acreage of 49.34 acres, 36.1 acres of which were condemned. The remainder
the city already possessed. In the official appraisal two prices were fixed,
$5,227.20 per acre for submerged land, and $8,712.00 per acre for dry land.
308 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
There were at the time of condemnation 339 buildings of all kinds and con-
ditions on 311/-) acres of 1 his land.
"The island could no1 be used without firsl changing its irregular shape
and increasing its area," said K. A. Kaiser, senior engineer of the Harbor
Commission. "Steps were then taken to remedy these conditions and as ;i
starter an ordinance was passed by the Common Council on September 22,
1919, establishing a new inner harbor line on Jones Island, reaching from
the south pier of the harbor entrance to Greenfield Avenue extended. On
November 18 of the same year a contract was lei for the construction of
1,375 feet of -pile and timber revetment along this newly established dock
line. The south end of this revetment was placed on the south limit of the
city's property, which is the old harbor entrance, and thence it extends
northward.
"The revetment consists of a single row of round piles spaced three feel
apart with sheet piling driven behind it, and secured by wales, binders and
tie-rods to anchor piles, driven about 30 feet back from the face of the dock.
The dock is so designed that it can readily he converted into a permanent
concrete structure by the addition of extra piles ami a concrete cap. It is
impervious to the passage of dredged material and provides for water 30 feel
in depth. The cost was $99, 4S7.
"Along the outer frontage of Jones Island, aboul 700 feet from shore, it
was planned to build a bulkhead or revetment to retain the fill for the en-
largement of the island and on February 24, 1920, the Common Council pro-
vided for the construction of 2,250 feet of bulkhead, at a cost of $215,863.
•'This bulkhead is of heavier type than the inner revetment; it consists
of two parallel rows of closely driven round piles of variable distances apart,
depending upon the 'depth of water in which it is constructed. As a general
rule the width equals the depth of water. These rows of piling are hound
together by wales, binders and tie-rods, and the space between is filled with
stone, carried above the tops of the piles to a height of about 7 feet above the
water. The lakeside of the bulkhead is rip-rapped to three feet below water
level.
"The lake frontage north of the harbor entrance as far as Wisconsin
Street, about 5,000 feet in length, was not included in the Randolph plan,
because the city, at that time, had in mind to use this area for park purposes.
Later, however, the Government refused to permit this to be used for park
purposes, and set il aside as a proper held for outer terminal development.
To complete the riparian rights for the entire area, the city had to condemn
a number of lots in the Third Ward.
"A story is connected with the condemnation of these lots, the motto of
which is: 'Look before yon fill, especially when condemnation is in view.'
The city, in this case, had to pay for property which had been made at its
own expense and without cost to the beneficiaries. The city received these lots
at a cost of $17,650.
"To protect the filling which was being deposited north of the harbor
entrance, a rubble-mound bulkhead was built, made up of quarry run stom-
as a core, and large stone for covering. Work was begun on this bulkhead in
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 309
May. 1917, and it was built at an expenditure of $319,304. It is proposed to
develop this frontage for piers and warehouses to be devoted to the passenger
and freight business of the port.
"In January, 1919, an appropriation of $5,000 was made to engage en-
gineering service for the purpose of drafting plans for harbor improvement.
Important changes from the situation which existed in 1909 when the Ran-
dolph plan was submitted, caused the Harbor Commission to seek new plans,
or a modification of the old plan. As, for instance, the large lake frontage
north of the harbor entrance was not utilized in the plan of 1909 and the
selection of the north 1,000 feet of Jones Island for the Sewerage plant was
exceedingly disadvantageous to the general harbor plan.
"H. McL. Harding, a leading terminal engineer of New York City, who
had executed plans for a number of important harbors of the country, was
engaged to prepare plans for the future development of the port. The en-
gagement was authorized by the Common Council on May 5, 1919.
"The plan is not intended to construct at once the entire system of wharves,
piers and slips outlined in the plan. This is to be a project of progressive
development, the most important units will be built and equipped as neces-
sity requires.
"Tlie plan shows that the lands in the old harbor entrance and those
south thereof as far as Wilcox Street are necessary for harbor development
under this plan. The ore and stone docks of the Illinois Steel Company, are
located on the west side of this peninsula and these facilities are reached by
tracks crossing the lands which an' necessary for the harbor project as laid
out. Provision, however, has been made in this plan for the extension of the
steel works, eastward, on lands to be filled in, which will add about 100 acres
to the steel plant, as compared to 4:! acres required to lie taken by plan. At
present, condemnation proceedings are pending with reference to this land.
"The dredging in the Kinnickinnic River along the west side of Jones
Island and filling in behind the bulkhead on the outer side id' the island, to
an elevation of 6 feet above lake level, amounted to 430,000 cubic yards.
"So far there have been 19 old hulks and wrecks of vessels removed from
the bottom of the water area to be dredged, west of Jones Island. These
wrecks, including schooners 100 feet Long, tugs, dredges, scows, floating dry
docks, launches, and skiffs, were deposited there at various times between
1872 and 1911. These wrecks were removed by the contractor who is doing
the dredging, and were broken up by the use of dynamite and loaded onto
a wrecking barge and then deposited at the foot of Greenfield Avenue, where
the general- public scrambled for the wood. Trucks loaded with this wreck-
age could be seen there daily.
"After having acquired the lands south of the old harbor entrance, which
is Greenfield Avenue extended eastward, it will be possible to develop the
great inner Kinnickinnic Basin and also acquire, by filling, a large tract of
valuable land. The material from the basin, which is about 1,500,000 cubic
yards, considering dredging to 25 feet, would be removed by hydraulic dredge
and deposited behind a bulkhead in tin' Lake, which would be built in the
extension of the present lake bulkhead. It will require 3,800 feet of bulk-
-
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 311
head to reach the scmth street line of Wilcox Street and 600 feet more to
close in to the shore along the south street line, or a total of 4,400 feet,
"With the Kinnickinnic Basin developed, many large vessels could moor
there for the wilder and relieve this situation which has been a serious one
so far. This basin could be filled every fall with these large coaldaden ves-
sels, which could afterwards be taken to the river docks and unloaded as
needed, thereby lessening the possibility of a coal shortage in the winter
season. It is estimated that 40 or 50 vessels could find room in this basin.
The revenue from these vessels could be applied against the expense of dock-
age maintenance, etc.
"The fill from the basin and the remainder of material at the north end
of the island in the Kinnickinnic River will be sufficient material to level
up the entire area between the basin and the lake bulkhead and give about
113 acres of land in addition to the 37 acres now being filled in, or a total of
150 acres.
"As soon as the Government builds the outer breakwater which will pro-
tect the harbor, the piers shown on the east side of the peninsula can be built
successively as needed, and in accordance with the best practice. The slips
as shown south of the harbor entrance are 1,000 feet in length. Those north
are 700 feet with widths of 250 feet, This width of slip permits free move-
ment of the vessels in docking and gives ample room for lighters or barges to
tie alongside of the vessels, to load or unload, without disturbing the vessel
docked on the opposite side of the slip."
The Future Harbor Project. — When the Milwaukee Board of Harbor Com-
missioners urged the acceptance of its plans by the common council in 1920
and again when it urged the condemnation of Jones Island south to Wilcox
Street in August, 1921, it outlined its future plans and policies in a brief
from which the following extracts are taken :
A comprehensive study of Milwaukee's harbor possibilities leads to the
inevitable conclusion that the peninsula known as Jones Island affords the
primary basis for practical development and the ultimate key to a ultilitarian
port. In connection with the Kinnickinnic Basin it affords a complete land-
locked harbor, and at the same time such outer harbor facilities as the future
may demand. The island area, with its contemplated enlargements, will en-
able the establishment of such terminal facilities as will be required by the
constantly increasing and exacting demands of a modern lake commerce.
The question as to whether the entire island will be required to realize the
city's best opportunities and possibilities in providing for a future lake com-
merce has been raised. The answer must be in the affirmative. It is the pur-
pose here to demonstrate that the entire island area, as outlined by the plans
laid down by both Mr. Isham Randolph and Mr. H. McL. Harding, two
eminent terminal engineers, will be required to ensure Milwaukee's future as
a serviceable lake port, and enable the construction of such facilities as will
render the harbor efficient for the handling of a future lake commerce.
In support of the Harbor Commission's contention that the Jones Island
area, to be utilized for harbor and terminal purposes, must extend south to
Wilcox Street, the following facts and arguments are here set forth:
312 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
Water Frontage and Land Areas. J< s Island has »i lake frontage from
the mouth of the harbor to Wilcox Streel of 6,900 feet, and a frontage on
the inner or river side of 5,750 feet. On the north end of the island L,000 feel
has been reserved for the sewerage plant, thus reducing the water frontage
mi the outer side to 5,900 feet, and on the inner side to 1,480 feet. After
straightening the inner dock line and filling in the lake to a bulkhead line
approximating 700 feet from the present shore, the total island area will be
166 acres.
The total inner harbor area employed at present for shipping purposes
approximates 217 acres. Here it should be added that the tracts of proper
size and suitable for water and rail transshipping purposes are no longer avail-
able. The industrial and commercial enterprises which have located about
the river fronts cannot he displaced to accommodate water shipping interests.
Thus, all the dock property having rail facilities is being utilized and more
cannot 1 btained.
Furthermore, the future of Milwaukee's present barbor facilities is not
definitely assured. Practically all river frontage is privately owned and
there is nothing to prevent the owner of I he best water frontage now in
existence from building upon it and using it for factory or like purposes.
Milwaukee's Future Water-borne Commerce. — When it is remembered
that .Milwaukee's water-borne commerce increased about 260 per cent dur-
ing the twenty-five years preceding the war. and applying this ratio of
increase to the future, it will become clear that the present dockage will have
to be materially increased. No doubt, with increased commerce, the pres-
ent facilities will lie subjected to more intense use. In the ease of coal business.
this is bound to lead to serious congestion of some of the channels. It is
not a good advertisement for a port to have an ordinance on the statute books
forcing vessels to anchor behind the breakwater ami await their turn at the
docks.
Here it should also be remembered that the Milwaukee River is destined
ultimately to go into disuse, except for barge traffic. The time will arrive
when the Municipality will no longer submit to costly bridge maintenance
in the face of a diminishing commerce north of Grand Avenue. In pail this
will apply to the more remote sections of other harbor channels.
On the other hand the large vessels will seek docks most conveniently
accessible, and which can be reached without navigating through bridge
openings and around river turns,— docks where cargoes can be discharged
or received with a minimum loss "id' time, labor and expense.
What applies to ordinary channels of trade applies also to lake commerce.
The lake port that affords the most economical conditions for the handling
id' freight will draw the lake business. The element of time is an important
one in the movement of vessel property which represents large investments
and heavy operating expenses. Expeditious arrivals and departures constitute
important factors in the conduct id' water-borne commerce.
Increased Facilities Not Unreasonable. For the reasons outlined, and
as years progress, much of .Milwaukee's inner harbor facilities will have
become inefficient or obsolete; therefore it would be fallacious to entertain
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 313
anything like comparisons between present shipping frontage and acreage
with the frontage or acreage proposed to be added by the new harbor plan;
nor can it be denied that in the main the proposed new harbor area, under
modern utilization, has a potentiality for service far beyond thai of a like
area in the present harbor. Exception in this respect must be made in the
matter of coal dockage, however, as Milwaukee's present coal handling fa-
cilities are of the very best.
The Harding plan adds about 280 acres to the shipping area of the harbor.
Of this area about sixty acres will be taken up by railway tracks and road-
ways. The. plan adds fifty-five acres to the coal facilities of the port, or an
increase of about thirty-seven per cent over the acreage at present employed
in the trade. The new coal acreage will have to be worked intensively in
order to keep pace with the growth of the coal trade, which, it is figured,
will he more than doubled in the next tw. nty-five years. The prospect is
that Jones Island will eventually hi' devoted to coal handling' exclusively.
Thus, with a prospective increase of 26(1 per cent in Milwaukee's lake
commerce in the next twenty-five years, it must be admitted that the increased
facilities provided by the Harding plan are in no wise unreasonable.
Public vs. Private Interests. — In estimating the interests of the city as
a whole in the creation and maintenance of an efficient system against the
interests of a private corporation there can he hut one line of reasoning:
Which of the two is id' greater importance to the material welfare of a whole
community?
The harbor interests on the other hand, however, affect the welfare of a
larger constituency. While the water shipping interests distribute a payroll
of over $'J,(iliO,0Oil annually and $250,000 in the purchase of supplies, they
affect the entire industrial life of the city and to some extent the state.
The item of fuel alone is so vital as to overshadow the interests of any
one private institution. Wisconsin does not produce an ounce of coal. All
coal must lie shipped in from a long distance and the element of economical
water transportation becomes a vital factor in keeping the factory furnaces
ablaze and in warming the homes of the people. Here it becomes highly
essential that the port he kept upon a basis of the highest efficiency. The
import of 5,000,000 tons id' coal will in a comparatively few years he increased
to 10.000,000 tons. To bring this quantity of fuel in at the most advantageous
transportation cost involves an economy that will readily mean millions in
actual saving, and winch concerns the workingman's home as well as the
manufacturing plants.
Why More Dock Room is Absolutely Necessary. — Milwaukee is a great
coal distributing center, and ample provision must be made for the growth
of this important trade. It is impossible to move coal out by rail as fast
as it can be received by water, hence reasonable storage space is absolutely
essential to the coal business. In normal times Milwaukee receives approx-
imately five million tons of coal during the season id' navigation.
Ahoid half of this coal moves out by rail to interior points or to suburban
industries. To ensure the needs of this trade during the closed winter season
it is necessary to have close to three million tons of coal on the dock when
H
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f.
O
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O
-
-
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HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 315
navigation closes. In the same ratio, when Milwaukee's coal receipts ag-
gregate 10,000,000 tons, which they eventually will, the stock required to
tide over the winter season must aggregate 6,000,000 tons.
The area necessary to handle this large additional amount of coal can be
found only on Jones Island peninsula. All water frontage on the several
channels of the inner harbor suitable for receiving and shipping coal is now
occupied. Business is conducted at a disadvantage in some instances. In
the Menomonee Valley district some yards are compelled to dock vessels
in narrow slips extending from the main channels. This confines such yards
to the use of the smaller-sized vessels carrying from 5,000 to 6,000 tons.
Small-sized vessels are growing fewer in number on the Great Lakes every
season and the time will come when this class of carriers will be able to com-
mand a premium freight on coal delivered to docks located in slips. When
terminals are provided nearer the harbor mouth, large vessels will no doubt
also discriminate against coal delivered to docks remote from the lake, be-
cause of the heavy tow bills in navigating the narrow river channels.
Tow Bills in the Inner Harbor Burdensome. — The tax imposed on the earn-
ings of coal and grain carriers by tow bills is necessarily reflected in freight
rates demanded to and from the port. Large craft require two tugs to assist
them in moving up and down river channels, as the danger of damaging bridges
or docks is very great. It has been estimated that tow bills and loss of time
in going to and from receiving docks mean a loss of 5 cents per ton to the coal
carrier. This is a serious handicap to the business of a port and must event-
ually result in a loss of business, as a differential of this amount runs up into
big figures when millions of tons of freight are involved.
With ample outer and inner terminals on the Jones Island peninsula Mil-
waukee will be able to overcome to a great extent the burden at present
imposed on the carrying trade by tow bills and loss of time in port. For this
reason the surrender of any of the water frontage embraced in the Harbor
Commission's plan would mean the sacrificing of a valuable economic ad-
vantage.
Milwaukee to Marseilles. — Someone has picturesquely_said that an Amer-
ican Mediterranean will wash the shores of Wisconsin. This is practically
true now and will, with the passing of time, become absolutely true. A water-
borne commerce from Milwaukee to Marseilles, from Chicago to Liverpool,
from Sheboygan to Stockholm, sending the products of the great Mid-West
directly to the markets of Europe promises to become an assured fact within
a comparatively few years. It involves the construction of a deep waterway
from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, via the Welland Canal and the
St. Lawrence River — a project that is at once feasible, practical and desirable.
During the World wTar substantial vessel cargoes were carried directly
from the ports of Chicago, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Toledo to ports of
Europe. The thoughtful man will here ask why we do not constantly send
cargoes abroad during the open season of navigation. If you can send one
ship from Lake Michigan to Europe why not send many ships? On this
question hinges the answer to the inquiry.
The immediate answer is that the ships which the ports of the Great Lakes
316 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
have been able to semi to Europe were doI large enough to prove profitable
in norma] times. Again, it is easier for a vessel to go down stream on
the St. Lawrence River than to plow its way back up stream.
The size of ships and their cargoes, together with the depth of the water-
ways constitute the controlling factors. A ship carrying a cargo of 1,000
tons will have a draft or water displacement of 13% t'eet depth. The present
Welland ("anal and the locks and canals paralleling the St. Lawrence River
have a depth of fourteen feet, just deep enough to carry a vessel of the size
named.
But, a 4,000-ton cargo is a small cargo. During the World war, when
shipping facilities on the Atlantic Ocean were taxed to the utmost and freighl
rates ran sky-high, it paid to send even the smaller ships to Europe, lint,
in normal times the unit must be larger. Ships must carry from 8,000 to
15,000 tons in order to render the trips profitable. Thus, a deeper water-
way must he provided, and the most direct, natural and utilitarian route is
by way of the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence River.
The peninsula of land which separates the lakes Erie and Ontario con-
sists entirely id' Canadian territory. Just ten miles west of Niagara Falls
the old Welland Canal was due- many years ago and has rendered excellent
service in permitting certain types of ships to pass from one lake to tl ther.
The present Welland ( 'anal cuts across twenty-five miles of land, is equipped
with seven locks, and lowers and raises ships 325 feet which is the water level
difference between lakes Erie and Ontario.
The Canadian Government began the construction of the new so-called
Welland Ship Canal some five years ago which in part utilizes the old canal
and in part takes a new course. This new canal, together with the locks will
he considerably wider, longer and deeper than the old.
Note the difference. The present Welland locks are 14 feet deep. 30 feet
wide, and 240 feet long. The New Welland locks will be 30 feet deep. 80 feet
wide, and sou feet long. These several locks will have a lifting capacity of
4b1 » feet each, rivalling the great locks of the Panama Canal.
Locks with similar dimensions will be built in connection with the St.
Lawrence River, thus enabling the larger sized ocean freighters as well as
tin' larger lake vessels to pass through them.
Why the Saint Lawrence Route?- By consulting a globe instead of a Hat
map, it will be found that the route from Milwaukee to Liver] 1 via the
St. Lawrence River is more direct than the route via New York City. In
fact, it is over four hundred miles nearer. When it is considered that Mil-
waukee lies within the latitude of Rome, Italy, it is found that the I'.ritish
Isles and Central Europe are considerably to the northward. The route via
the Great Lakes, the Welland ('anal ami the St. Lawrence River runs in a
northeasterly direction and is, therefore, the most direct route that could be
ehosen, between Wisconsin and the leading ports of Europe.
But the MilwaukeeanS adhere to another and more COgenl argument in
favor of the direct all-water route. The freight now shipped from the west-
ern lake ports destined for Europe is transferred at Buffalo to tin' rail
lines or to barges. From there it is carried to New York City, where it is
HARBOR AND MARINE INTERESTS 317
subjected to another handling. Here it is finally loaded into the ocean
freighters and carried to Europe.
The extra handling- of grain involves an enormous expense. It is esti-
mated that by eliminating this extra handling fully $200,000,000 annually
will be saved to the producers of the West on grain alone. The country
raises 1,000,1 mid, in hi bushels of wheat. Two-thirds is raised in the lake region.
One-half is sent via the lakes to Buffalo where it is transferred to the rail
lines or into tow barges for destination to the port of New York.
When the world's production will have caught up with the world's de-
mands there will be a trade rivalry of the most strenuous character. The
countries that can bring their products expeditiously and economically to the
coast cities will enjoy an advantage over those that cannot. If .Milwaukee
transforms her lake port into an ocean port she can ship from her very door
to the markets of Europe.
When the Rivers and Harbors Bill was passed in 1919, Senator Lenroot
of Wisconsin secured the insertion of a clause which provided that the United
States and Canada get together, establish the engineering problems involved,
ascertain the cost to be met and the commercial utility to be attained.
Thereupon the several states bordering on the Great Lakes, with the ex-
ception of New York, organized private and public bodies to make propa-
ganda for the project. The states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and
Illinois created public deep waterway commissions while the states of Indiana.
Ohio and several of the western states, including the Dakotas, Nebraska.
Kansas, Wyoming and Idaho formed organizations of business men under
the leadership of the governors and commercial bodies.
How Will Milwaukee Benefit? — It will make Milwaukee an ocean port.
With the development of Jones [sland and the lake frontage between Wis-
consin Street to the harbor Milwaukee will be amply equipped to receive ocean
ships. The harbor entrance is deep enough and with terminals now planned
it will lie able to receive the water-borne commerce from all parts of the
world.
This port will enable Milwaukee to make her imports direct instead of
making them through the Port of New York. It will enable immigrants to
land on the Wisconsin shores and be near the farm sections of the Mid-West
instead of becoming lost in the congested cities of the East.
(In the other hand, Wisconsin's products, both farm and factory, may
be shipped directly to the various ports of Europe, to the east coast of South
and Central America and to Africa. This will prove a tremendous advantage
in a competitive sense as it will eliminate the costly rail haul to the Easl
and tin' trans-shipment expense.
Wisconsin normally has an export trade of thirty millions in factory prod-
ucts and as much more in farm products. By securing a direct market ami
eliminating unnecessary freight charges the volume of trade can, no doubt,
be doubled. When the world gets back to normal production, the products
of the Mid-West will face a stronger competition which will only be met by
tin' advantages involved in reaching the high seas expeditiously and econ-
318 HISTORY OK .MILWAUKEE
omically. The Port df Milwaukee will then prove the most ; ssible and
serviceable on Lake Michigan.
But, after summing up the concrete arguments why tin' city should possess
itself of the entire water frontage embraced in the comprehensive harbor
plan evolved by the Harbor Commission, there still remains the broad con-
tention that it is the imperative duty of the municipality to protecl its future
by availing itself of every advantage presented by a most wonderful natural
situation.
Water fronts such as Milwaukee is favored with are a priceless heritage
which should be safe-guarded in the interest of the people. Let it not be
said, fifty years hence, that those of this period of commercial enlightenment
were so blind to the needs of the future as to permit one of the finest natural
harbor situations in the world to be encroached upon by selfish interests and
thus rendered useless to posterity.
W. G. B.
CHAPTER XXI
THE COMING OP THE RAILROADS
Along in the thirties the people had begun to long for the appearance
of the "iron horse" of which they had heard remarkable tales from the East.
As early as 1825 the first railroad had been opened in England. In that year
George Stephenson, the famous engineer, had run a train of a dozen or more
cars, some loaded with coal and others with passengers, from Stockton to
Darlington, in England. Descriptions of this event filled the newspapers
of the clay, and the news of its success was the inspiration of railroad building
in this country. The people everywhere saw in the railroad the promise of
better conditions in transportation, and became possessed with the desire to
see them built throughout the land.
In Illinois, a vast system of railroad construction was undertaken in 1836,
a period since known in the histories as the "Era of Internal Improvements."
The disastrous results which followed is of more interest to the people of
that state than it is to those of the neighboring communities. Among the
old settlers of the Western states the coming of the railroad was long antici-
pated as the fulfillment of their fondest hopes for the future prosperity of
the region in which they dwelt. People had heard of the railroads building
in the East and a few had actually seen and traveled upon them. In 1852,
the Michigan Central railroad had been extended from its former western
terminus at New Buffalo, in Michigan, to Chicago, soon to be followed by
other lines from the East. Milwaukee was connected with Chicago by the
Chicago and Milwaukee railroad in 1856, and its influence on lake navigation
soon began to be felt.
It was said by Lord Bacon that "there are three things which make a
nation great and prosperous, a fertile soil, busy workshops, and easy trans-
portation for men and goods from place to place." This saying was placed
as an inscription on one of the great World's Fair buildings erected in Chi-
cago in 1893. Without a doubt the greatest advantage that any city can
enjoy is its transportation facilities, and by this is meant freight transporta-
tion as well as passenger traffic. Without industries a city is without life;
without railroads and canals industries are strangled in embryo. "Com-
merce is one of the most beneficent among the activities which have engaged,
or can engage, the abilities and energies of man," wrote George P. Stone,
formerly secretary of the Chicago Board of Trade. "The demands of com-
merce for constantly increasing facilities for rapid and economical exchange
of commodities, are imperious and resistless. There is no alertness so sensi-
319
FIRST RAILWAY DEPOT IX MILWAUKEE L851
Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad, corner Fowler and Second Streets
OLD LAKE SHORE DEPOT
Chicago and Northwestern Railway About 1865
THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 321
tive and swift as that of commerce; there is no vigilance equal in intensity
and constancy to commercial vigilance."
"When railroads were first talked of in the thirties and forties, people
and communities were ready to "go broke" to assist new railroad enterprises,
and it actually happened that towns, counties and cities voted for the pur-
chase of stock and bonds to assist them far beyond what seemed to be their
power of ultimate payment. In these days the statement seems hardly cred-
ible when we consider the state of public sentiment in regard to them, when
railroads, their projectors, financiers and officers are subjected to disparage-
ment and every form of hostile criticism.
Changed Attitude of the People. — "Immediately after the Civil war," says
Legler, in his history of Wisconsin, "railroad extension was carried on in
the state at a remarkable rate. The attitude of the railroad magnates toward
the people grew so arrogant that in a message to the Legislature Governor
Cadwallader C Washburn declared with emphasis that 'many vast and
overshadowing corporations in the United States are justly a source of alarm,
and the Legislature cannot scan too closely every measure that comes before
it which proposes to give additional rights and privileges to the railways
of the state.' He further recommended that the granting of passes to the
class of state officials who, through their public office, have power to confer
or withhold benefits to a railroad company, be prohibited."
"The farmers considered themselves aggrieved by discriminations in rail-
road charges," continues Legler in his volume. "The hard times of 1873-4
were popularly accredited to the dominant party. William lv. Taylor, a
democrat, was elected governor. The pendulum of polities made the sweep
to the other end of the are, and the passage of the famous 'Potter law' fol-
lowed at the next legislative session. This was a drastic measure, limiting
transportation charges and regulating prices for freight, creating a railroad
commission and making stringent provision for general regulation of railroad
traffic. The railroad officials openly defied the provisions of the law, and the
presidents of the two leading railroad corporations of the state served formal
notice on the governor that they would disobey them." Governor Taylor
responded in a proclamation that "the law of the land must be respected and
obeyed." Long litigation followed which attracted attention all over the
country on account of the important principles involved, namely, the power
of the state to control corporations of its own creation. "The railroads were
beaten in the state and federal courts, and were compelled to acknowledge
submission."
Early Railroad History. — A passage of the early railroad history of Mil-
waukee has come to light recently through an interview with Edwin II.
Abbot, printed in the Milwaukee Journal in its issue of January 16, 1!*'J1.
This interview is transcribed here in full because of its interest to the student
of our history.
The recent sale of the Abbot dock property, near the harbor entrance
to the Hansen Storage Company, and the visit to Milwaukee of Edwin 11.
Abbot on that and other business, recalls a chapter of great interest in Mil-
waukee's railroad history.
Vol. 1—21
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THE COMING OP THE RAILROADS 323
Mr. Abbot, who is now a resident of Cambridge, Mass., although for nearly
thirty years a Milwaukeean and largely interested in the growth and de-
velopment of Wisconsin, through his large financial interest in the Wisconsin
Central railroad, is still a holder of Milwaukee real estate ; among other items
the Colby-Abbot Building.
In speaking of the manner in which the dock property, just transferred,
came into his possession, Mr. Abbot said:
"The clocks were known in the old days as the Shea & George docks,
and, if I remember rightly, were built somewhere about 1886 fir 1887. I
purchased the property, some 840 feet of waterfront, in 1889, for the Wis-
consin Central for $325,000.
Project Joint Terminal. — "The Northern Pacific had leased the Wisconsin
Central, in which Charles Colby and I were heavily interested, with the inten-
tion of using it as an entrance to Chicago. Villard and Oakes wanted to
bring the Central into Milwaukee. Its nearest approach to the city was
Waukesha. Having leased it, and having purchased terminals in Chicago,
on which the Grand Central station now stands, they wanted to swing the
entire Wisconsin Central and Northern Pacific business down through this
city. It would have been a tremendous thing for the development of Mil-
waukee.
"As a part of the plan, I was authorized to spend $1,000,0011 in picking
up property, at the then market price, which would he needed later. We
took an option on the Milwaukee Northern road and the stock of Angus Smith,
and there was an understanding arranged with .Mr. Rhinelander, of the Mil-
waukee, Lake Shore and Western, by which both of those roads, now parts
of the Milwaukee and Northwestern systems, respectively, were to use the
new terminal which we were planning.
"The idea was to enter the city from the north, striking the end of Jack-
son Street and tunneling under the property along the east side of that
street until we came out on the slope across from the present post office build-
ing and there our passenger station was to he located. The four roads were
all to use this tunnel entrance to Milwaukee.
"The plan was of course kept secret. I bought certain parcels of land
in advance, which would have been difficult to acquire later, this dock prop-
erty among others. It was an important link in the scheme, as we planned
to cross to Jones Island at that point and then, turning to the natural land,
cross the Northwestern tracks into the Chase Creek district, where I bought
twenty-three or twenty-four acres for yard purposes ; then run south to the
main line of the Wisconsin Central and into Chicago. There they had bought
something like four hundred acres of land, covering the only available entry-
way.
"That was our plan, and it was a great one, but Villard and Oakes went
under in the crash of '93 and the Northern Pacific went into the hands of a
receiver. That killed it.
"When the Northern Pacific failed, I determined to break the lease and
regain control of the Wisconsin Central. I petitioned the United States
circuit court to intervene in the Northern Pacific foreclosure proceedings
The First Kate Table or the Milwaukee \ Mississippi
Rail-Road, (Now the Chi. Mil. ft St. Paul Kv.)
(SSSffii
,<2>7V,
JmL
R AT E TA B L E .
Resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors of the Mil
wauliee and Mississippi Rail-Road Company, Deo. 1850.
Resolved, That the following Rules be adopted relative
to passengers — to be conspicuously posted in each Pas-
senger Car:
There is to be no free list: no persons whomsoever snail
be entitled to a free passage on any train, except by order
of the Board, or by a free pass, singed by the President
of the Company, or Superintendent of the mad; and ex-
cept also in cases of persons on Company business —
which exceptions will be specially communicated to each
Conductor.
The following low rates shall he established for Passen-
ger Fare, until otherwise ordered, viz :
. o
r-n\
Milwaukee, - -
.Spring Street Road
Chase's Mill, 7
Wauwatosa, -
Blanchard's, -
Underwood's, -
Elm Grove, - -
Dixon's Road, -
Power's Mill, -
"Few's Road,
Plank Road, -
Fox River Cottage
Waukesha, - - -
10
15
20
25
30
35
45
50
55
60
66
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Note. In cases of l'aesengqfci being .taken up between any of hi?^
(be aforesaid [Kiints, the fare will be the* same as if taken at the \fa~~,'J
point back of tliflt at which such paesengern may be received. /rTN'**
Children under ten years of ai;e, at half the above rates. vw^/
' DAILY FREE DEMOI 'HAT KT I NT-'wll.WAL'Iil'E."
AN OLD-TIME SCHEDULE OF RAILROAD RATES
THE COMING OP THE RAILROADS 325
and succeeded in having the lease canceled for nonpayment of rent, bringing
young Mr. Brandeis, now on the United States supreme bench, here from
Boston as my attorney.
"The land which I had picked up, in furtherance of our plan for a joint
entry into Milwaukee, was disposed of from time to time. At the request
of the company I took this dock property off its hands and have held it
ever since. With its sale to the Hansen Company about the last trace 'of the
Northern Pacific-Wisconsin Central plans for a Milwaukee entrance vanishes.
"We had figured on this water frontage as a most available site .for a
carferry terminal, as it is the first dock- property after entering the Mil-
waukee harbor, with no bridges to pass and with 375 feet of open water in
front of it, because of the junction of the Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers.
I still expect some day to see it put to such a use."
Two warehouses, one brick and the other frame, stand on this property,
which adjoins the city's incinerator plant on the west. One of these houses
is used by the Milwaukee, Chicago & Michigan City line of steamers, re-
cently organized by Milwaukee interests, and the other is used by the Hansen
Company for the storage of automobiles, for manufacturers and dealers,
and other wares.
First Locomotive Built in Milwaukee. — The pamphlet published at the
time of the "Diamond Jubilee" in June, 11121, contains an account of the
first locomotive built in Milwaukee in October, 1852. This account was com-
piled by George Richardson, the librarian of the Old Settlers' Club in Mil-
waukee.
This locomotive was called the Menomonee for in that day all locomotive
engines bore names just as ships always do. The Menomonee was buill
at the shops of W. B. Walton & Company, and when it was completed and
ready to be moved to the tracks where it was to operate, Mr. Richardson
had an important part in the task which was indeed a formidable one. lie
was at that time an employee of John Miller, colloc[uiallyi known as "Long
John." He relates as follows: "Much has been recently said and written
in a local controversy as to the identity of that particular locofSdtive, to
which should attach the credit of being the first one built in the State of
Wisconsin.
The Locomotive Leaves the Shop. — "My interest in th'.s matter," con-
tinues Mr. Richardson, "attaches not only from a motive of fact, but from a
motive of personal pride, and the latter condition arises from the fact thai
I am — so far I know — the only person now living who had anything to do
with Milwaukee's first locomotive before if was put into active service. It
is true that my connection with Milwaukee's first locomotive was not over
important, as I now consider it, hut was such as to give me the right to claim
connection with it, and to vouch for the absolute truth of all 1 may say
relative thereto, from a personal standpoint.
"During the years 1852, 1853 and 1854, I was employed by John Miller
('Long John' he was called by reason of his great size, six feet nine inches
in height). Mr. Miller was a1 that time Milwaukee's heavy moving eon-
tractor, and he it was who moved Milwaukee's first locomotive from the
p- z
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THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 327
shop where it was built and placed it on the tracks of what was then the
Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, now the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Railroad.
"The locomotive was built at the works of W. B. Walton & Company,
known as the Menomonee foundry, and located at the southwest corner of
Reed and South Water streets. The first locomotive differed from all alleged
drawings of it recently published in some of the Milwaukee papers, and also
from the alleged drawing of it in the possession of the Milwaukee Old Set-
tlers' Club, inasmuch as it was what is .known as 'inside connected,' that is,
the machinery, cylinder, etc., was all underneath the boiler, except the parallel
rods connecting the two pair of driving wheels. Recently published drawings
claiming to represent the first engine show the cylinders and machinery as
being located on the outside, as locomotives of today are built. This is a
mistake. If such, however, is in existence, this controversy may be the
means of bringing it to light. I recollect this engine as plainly as though
I had seen it but yesterday, and I remember that on its dome or sand box
on top of the boiler was the following:
MENOMONEE LOCOMOTIVE WORKS,
No. 1
JAMES WATERS, Engineer;
W. B. WALTON & CO., PROPRIETORS.
On the side of the boiler was this word :
'MENOMONEE'
Locomotive Crosses the River. — "On October 15, 1852, 'Long John,' with
his crew of a dozen men and several yoke of oxen, began laying temporary
tracks from a point at the foundry near which is now located the scales of
Seeboth Brothers, and thence to Reed Street, on Reed to the bridge over the
Menomonee River — then a float bridge. No trouble was experienced until
the bridge was reached. At that time Reed Street was just about wide
enough for ordinary wagons to meet and pass, and the locomotive and its
tracks occupied the whole street. At the bridge all the power of men, block
and tackle, as well as oxen, was needed to enable us to get the locomotive up
the incline. The engine's weight was about twenty-six tons, and under it
the bridge barely escaped sinking, but it was safely landed on the north side
of the river and placed on the track, located about seventy-five feet away
from the bridge, and here my connection with it ceased."
From the Milwaukee Sentinel of October 14, 1852, is quoted the following
comment: "The Menomonee is the name of the splendid locomotive just
built by the Menomonee foundry for the M. and M. R, R. company. The
Menomonee leaves the foundry for the track today. It was designed and built
under, the superintendence of James Waters, to whose skill it bears ample
testimony. The next engine, now nearing completion, is to be called White-
water. ' '
Again, the Sentinel of October 16, 1852, says: "The new locomotive, the
Menomonee, now fairly launched from the Walton & Company's foundry
yesterday, commenced its march toward the railroad track."
:;-js HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
This "march" of the Meno] se is described above. Also, the follow
ing from the Sentinel cm October 25, L852:
"The locomotive Menomonee, built by Walton & Company, at the Me-
nomonee foundry, the first-one manufactured there, was pu1 in motion on
the track on Saturday (October 23), and performed to the complete satis-
faction of all concerned. We note the fact with no little pride thai here in
Milwaukee has been built the first locomotive west of Cleveland."
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. -As early as 1836 a meeting
was held in Milwaukee, of which Samuel Brown was chairman and Byron
Kilbourn, secretary, to consider the feasibility of building a railroad from
Milwaukee to the Mississippi River. A resolution was adopted to petition
the Legislature to pass an act incorporating a company for such a purpose.
In the year 1836 there was great activity in every branch of business through-
out the country but the following year the panic of 1837 prevented the further
consideration of any such enterprise. Some influential citizens favored the
construction of canals rather than railroads, having the example before them
of the great Erie Canal which had been completed in 1825. But the fad that
canals could not be operated throughout the entire year gave the advantage
to the railroads as the proposed means of transportation.
However, all plans either for railroads or canals had to be abandoned
until the times became more propitious in which to launch new projects,
and it was not until 1847 that a bill passed the Territorial Legislature au-
thorizing the construction of a railroad from Milwaukee tit Waukesha though
in the following year its provisions were extended to allow of its construction
to the Mississippi River. At the same time its capital which at first was limited
to $100,000 was increased to an amount necessary for the extension of the
road beyond Waukesha.
The sum of $100,000 of the stock having 1 n subscribed as required by
the act, an election of directors and officers was held May 10, 1849, thus com-
pleting the organization of the Milwaukee & Mississippi R. R. Company.
Byron Kilbourn was chosen for president, Benjamin If. Bdgerton, secretary,
and Walter P. Flanders, treasurer; the directors were as follows: Lemuel
W. Weeks, Edward D. Holton, Alexander Mitchell, Erastus B. Wolcott, Anson
Eldred, James Kneeland, John II. Tweedy. E. D. Clinton.
In his report to the stockholders in 1850, Mr. Kilbourn gave a liistorj of
the company from the beginning, including the vicissitudes through which
it passed in its efforts to secure a charter. In the course of his report \f
said: "It is of the first importance that this undertaking be in the hands
exclusively of the people of Wisconsin, and as generally diffused through
the body of fhe community as possible, so that everj citizen may feel that
in its success his individual interest is to be promoted. In tin- hands of such
owners its sui ss is far more certain than if held as a monopoly in the hands
of foreign capitalists for their benefit alone, and to whom the people of
Wisconsin would be required forever to pay tribute."
A suitable corps of engineers was appointed id' which the president. Mr
Kilbourn. was designated as the chief. His qualifications for this task were
no doubt suggested by his early experience as a young man in canal building
THE COMING OF THE KAILROADS 329
when lie was a resident of Ohio. It should be remembered also that Mr. Kil-
bourn was at that time serving as mayor of Milwaukee then a rapidly growing
town of 15,000 inhabitants.
The surveys for the new railroad were begun under the immediate super-
intendence of Jasper Yliet, I'.. II. Edgerton, and, at a later period, Richard
P. Morgan. "About four-fifths of the whole number of stockholders," says Mr.
Kilbourn in his report, "were farmers and mechanics in towns and villages
of the interior, and the remainder consisted of laborers, mechanics and busi-
ness men in the City of Milwaukee."
After the charter of 1847 had been secured and the organization of the
road completed, there came a pause, owing to the cessation of interest on the
part of the public. "It was a great undertaking for that day," said E. D.
Holton in a historical address made in 1858 before the Chamber of Com-
merce in Milwaukee; "we were without money as a people either in the city
or country. Every man had come to the country with limited means, and
each had his house, his store, his shop, his barn to build; his land to clear
and fence, and how could he spare anything from his own individual neces-
sities? Some wise men looked on and shook their heads, and there were
many croakers.
" P. ut in the minds of those who had assumed the undertaking there was a
sober, earnest purpose to do what they could for its accomplishment." And
so for an entire year after tin' work had commenced in 1849 the grading
was carried on and paid for by orders drawn on the merchants, "payable
in goods, — by carts from the wagon-makers, harnesses from harness-makers,
by cattle, horses, beef, pork, oats, corn, potatoes and flour from the farmers,
all received on account of stock subscriptions, and turned over to the con-
tractors in payment of work done upon the road. A large part of the work
done from here to Waukesha was performed in this way."
Put the payments for iron rails and rolling stock could not be made
on any system of barter and a large amount of cash must be provided. At
a meeting of stockholders at Waukesha in the spring of 1850, most of whom
were farmers, the question before the meeting was how to secure the sum
of $250,000 for the purchase of iron to reach from Milwaukee to Whitewater?
It was during this meeting that Maj. Joseph Goodrich of Milton arose ami
said: "See here; I can mortgage my farm for $3,000 and go to the East
where I came from, and get the money for it. Now, are there not loo men
between Milwaukee and Rock River that can do the same? If so, here is
your money, T will be one of them." The 100 men were found who put up
the required amount of mortgages. These, however, at first could not be
sold, but the bonds of the City of Milwaukee could be negotiated, and the
city came forward promptly and issued $234,000 in aid of the road. The iron
was at once purchased, and the success of the Milwaukee & Mississippi rail-
road was thereby assured.
The road was completed to Prairie du Chien, April 15, 1857, seven and one
half years from the time that ground was first broken for its construction.
Meantime a number of other railroads were incorporated which, through
various mergers, eventually became a part of the original Milwaukee & Missis-
CHICAGO & NORTHWESTERN* DKI'oT
DEPOT OF THE CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY
THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 331
sippi railroad. By 1863 the road had become known as the Milwaukee & St.
Paul railroad. "The present Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Com-
pany," says a writer in the "History of Milwaukee" of 1881, "grew out of
the organization formed May 5, 1863, for the purpose of purchasing all tin-
roads which had thus far been formed," though it was not until February,
1875, that the present name of the system was adopted.
Mileage Owned and Operated in 1921. — Owned, 10,158.6 miles; owned
jointly with other lines, 51.36 miles; lines operated under trackage rights,
400.14. Total, 10,613.10.
Capital Stock.— Authorized, $350,000,000 consisting of $233,725,101) com-
mon and $116,274,900 non-cumulative preferred; issued December 31, 1920,
$233,686,200, consisting of $117,411,3(10 common and $116,274,9(10 preferred.
Shares, 100.
Officers. — H. E. Byram, president ; B. B. Greer, vice president in charge
of operation; R. M. Calkins, vice president in charge of traffic, Chicago; R. J.
Marony, vice president, assistant treasurer and assistant secretary, New York;
II. B. Earling, vice president, Seattle; E. D. Sewall, vice president, Chicago;
E. W. Adams, secretary, Milwaukee; A. G. Loomis, treasurer, Chicago; A. C.
Hagensick, assistant secretary, Milwaukee; F. B. Simpson, assistant treasurer,
assistant secretary and transfer agent, New York; Walter V. Wilson, comp
troller; J. Welch, assistant comptroller; C. F. Loweth, chief engineer; Burton
Hanson, general counsel; H. H. Field, general solicitor; J. T. Gillick, general
manager, lines east, Chicago; Macy Littleton, general manager, lines west,
Seattle.
Executive Committee. — John A. Stewart, William Rockefeller, Samuel
H. Fisher, H. E. Byram, P. A. Rockefeller, Edward S. Harkness.
Directors. — J. Odgen Armour, Stanley Field, Burton Hanson, Chicago;
Samuel McRoberts, New York; A. J. Earling, W. E. Griswold, Edward S
Harkness, George G. Mason, New York ; H. E. Byram, Chicago ; M. N. Buekner,
Donald G. Geddes, Samuel L. Fisher, William Rockefeller, New York. Prin-
cipal office and address, Chicago. Financial and executive office, 42 Broadway,
New York.
The Chicago and North Western Railway. — The great forward movement
in railroad construction occurred during the fifties. The year 1855 especially
was an epoch-making period in the history of Milwaukee, for it was in the
early months of that year that the Chicago and Milwaukee railroad was
completed which connected Chicago with this city, and which afterwards
became a part of the great Chicago and North Western railway system, the
pioneer line of the Northwest. This railroad has played a most important
part in the progress of Milwaukee, and has aided in a remarkable manner
its great industrial and commercial growth, affording it at all times trans-
portation facilities second to none and contributing vitally to its develop-
ment into one of the greatest manufacturing centers and shipping marts in
the West.
"The Chicago and North Western line," says a writer in the .Milwaukee
Sentinel, in its issue of January 1, 1921, "opened the way for this city to be-
come the gateway to the productive and great manufacturing field covered by
332 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
the Pox River Valley, the famously rich iron and copper country in Northern
Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, the vast lumber resources,
agricultural and dairy products of the Badger State, and the grain bell of the
Dakotas and Northwest, by providing terminal facilities in the city which
have always kepi a stop ahead in the march of progress. This is strikingly
illustrated especially by the great terminal facilities of the Chicago and North
Western railway in the City of Milwaukee at the present time."
Brief Description of Terminal Facilities.— "First and Eoremost," con-
tinues this writer, "is the Butler yard, which was i ipleted in L912, and
which was a part of the terminal facilities of the new line built thai year
across Wisconsin from Milwaukee to Wyeville. This yard covers an area o
i24!i acres, lias a capacity of 2,130 cars per day. and also has repair tracks for
240 additional ears. Butler Yard is located on what is known as the Mil-
waukee belt line of the Chicago and North Western railway, which provides
interchange freight service at Milwaukee without the necessity of bringing
the ears into the business district."
Some of the great industries of .Milwaukee may be mentioned, for ex-
ample: leather, cooperage, rubber, vinegar, lumber, machinery, electrical sup-
plies, glass, packing house products, cement, coal and grain. The Chicago
and North Western railway has built connecting lines to the various plants,
yards and premises of these various industries to facilitate the transportation
of the raw materials as well as the finished products, to be shipped to numer-
ous destinations. Many of these plants now "rank among the largesl of
the'r kind in the world. "
The terminal facilities of the Chicago and North Western railway in Mil-
waukee are given as follows: Third Ward, South Side, Bay View, St. Francis,
Cudahy, South Milwaukee, Becher Street, Russell Avenue. Dayton Park,
Lincoln-National Avenue, (West Allis)-North Greenfield, (North Avenue and
Dake Shore Junction )-Lindwurm. "These facilities." says tOie writer above
mentioned, "afford direct connection between the central terminal and prac-
tically all the great manufacturing plants and districts in the City of Mil-
waukee. "
Between .Milwaukee and Chicago the Chicago and North Western railway
is provided with a trunk line of four Macks, and at various points diverging
lines to principal cities throughout the state and in the Northwest, as well as
ear ferry service across Dake Michigan to ports on the east coast where they
connect with lines to eastern territory.
" Ninety eight passenger trains arrive at and depart daily from the Lake
Front station located at the fool of Wisconsin Street," it is said. The heavy
street traffic in Milwaukee caused by this movemenl of passenger traffic is
plain to the observer. The present commodious passenger station of the
North West, in was completed during the year L890. Thus frequent com
munication is maintained with Chicago, Madison. Pond du Dae, Oshkosh,
Green Bay, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Superior, Sioux City, Omaha,
Denver, Salt Lake City and the many important cities of the Pacific Coast.
The present North Western system is able by its connecting lines to reach
practically every point throughout the Greal West.
THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 333
Conditions in the Pioneer Period.— "In 1835," says this writer, "there
was neither a mile of railroad built nor a corporation chartered to build a
line in Northern Illinois or Wisconsin. Milwaukee was then but a small vil-
lage, looking for its commercial prosperity to come by way of boats on Lake
Michigan, and they were few and far between." One of the oldest of the
constituent parts of the North Western system was the Galena and Chicago
Union Railroad, completed from Chicago as far as Elgin in 1850. This road
had been chartered as far back as 1836, and had been fourteen years in ac-
complishing this short distance, — forty-two miles.
The rails of the old Galena road were what were known as "strap rails,"
consisting of an iron plate 2% inches wide by % inch in thickness, laid on
an oak ribbon, which in turn was laid flat-wise on timbers or ties about six
inches square, and firmly secured by spikes. A better form of rail was about
that time coming into, use called the "edge-rail," one of the earlier forms
in the development of the T-rail, but the company was not able to stand
the greater cost of these rails. On that point the president of the company
in his report regarding the plans of construction said that owing to the condi-
tion of the money market the company was prevented ''from getting iron
and engines in the East, or to purchase edge-rails for their road ; and that
hence it has been decided that strap-rails (flat or plate rails) would have to
be used."
Engines and Rolling Stock. — The first engine in the service of the Galena
road was called the "Pioneer," and in fact this was the only engine in use for
many years. In the early days of railroading all engines had names given
to them just as all vessels bear names by which they are distinguished.
When in the course of time the railroads acquired possession of large num-
bers of engines the names, as we find them in the older histories and the
recollections of the pioneers, form an interesting and picturesque feature of
early railroading. The old Pioneer lias since become a famous curiosity and
was exhibited at the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, and at St. Louis in
1904. This engine was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Phila-
delphia ; it had cylinders ten inches in diameter with an eighteen-inch stroke,
it had but one pair of driving wheels of 4]L. feet diameter, and weighed ten
tons. John Ebbert was appointed the engineer to take charge of and run
this engine, and did so for many years. He had the satisfaction of exhibiting
the engine at the Chicago World's Fair, and there told its story many thou-
sand times. Mr. Ebbert died in 1899 in his eighty-sixth year.
There is a letter in the possession of the Evanston Historical Society, writ-
ten by A. Z. Blodgett who was an employee of the old Chicago and Milwau-
kee railroad in which is given an account of the first trip made from Chicago
to Milwaukee, May 24, 1855. The train consisted of five Hat cars tit ted up
with seats around the sides to accommodate the invited guests numbering
some two hundred persons. "We stopped the train about where Zion City
is now," he writes, "and cut pine trees and put them in the stake sockets
for shade." This outfit he rather humorously called an "excursion train."
The Milwaukee Sentinel, in its issue of Friday, May 25, 1855, prints a
notice of the arrival of the train from Chicago, as follows: "The train
THE STOCK VARUS AT WEST MILWAUKEE— MENOMONIE VAI.LKV
THE COMING OF THE RAILROADS 335
from Chicago brought up a good load. This is to be a popular and paying-
route from the start. We are indebted to Conductor Hibbard for New York
papers of Tuesday (22d), St. Louis papers of Wednesday (23d), and Chicago
papers of yesterday morning, received at 2 o'clock yesterday afternoon."
Operation of Trains. — The old wood-burning locomotives used on the rail-
roads of the fifties were objects to arrest the attention of the beholder as they
arrived at the station, or dashed by on their "path of steel," leading their
trains of coaches. The smokestacks on those old-time engines were fear-
some things to look upon while pouring forth volumes of smoke and sparks
sent through them by the exhausts from the cylinders. The smokestacks
were shaped like a balloon often having a breadth as great as the top of
the boiler itself, and the puffing of the engine was such a terror to horses
and cattle that a stampede usually took place in the adjoining fields and
roads when the engine came in sight. The terror was greatly heightened by
the clanging of the engine bell and the blast of the whistle. The passing
or arrival of a train was an event calculated to try the nerves of any person
but those long accustomed to its appearance. Up to the year 1856 wood
alone was used for fuel, but in this year coal began to be used. However,
the great smokstacks of the early type of engines continued in use for many
years and it was only by degrees that coal displaced the use of wood as fuel.
When coal burning engines came into general use, requiring smokestacks of
reduced size, it seemed to those who had become familiar with the older type
that there was a distinct loss of dignity in their appearance. The names
bestowed upon the engines of the Chicago and North Western line after it
came into existence were generally associated with some historic personage
or event. For example, there were such names as Algonquin, Mohawk, Wood-
bine, Tiger. Moose. Blackhawk, Shabbona, etc.
It is related that the old Indian chief, Shabbona or Shaubena, after whom
one of the engines was named, was often to be seen in his old age in the Chi-
cago depot standing alongside of the engine while passengers were leaving
the cars, and pointing to the engine in the view of the passing throng he
would exclaim, "Shabbona, — me!"
Growth of the Railroads. — In the early days of railroading it was not cus-
tomary for the employes of the railroad to wear uniforms as is now the
universal practice. Every conductor, brakeman, and others at the stations,
wore such clothes as pleased him best. If we should suddenly return to the
conditions in this respect then prevailing the sight of "plain clothes men"
on duty would astonish the beholders. It is related that on the eastern roads,
the New York ( lentral for example, it was usual to see the conductor in a
silk hat and frock coat passing through the train taking fan's or collecting
tickets and at the stations giving the signal to start by waving a red silk
handkerchief. In fact the conductor of a train was the personage who in
the eyes of the public represented the glory and power of the entire railway
system, and to whom due homage was rendered by travelers and the resi-
dents along the line. Trains were known to the regular patrons of the rail-
road by the name of the conductor, and passengers exchanged greetings with
33G HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
him and his associates od the most intimate terms of respect and neighborly
familiarity.
Last Days of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad. — When the Galena
and Chicago Union was chartered in 1836 the initial name of the corporation
■was taken from the larger and at thai time the more important City of
Galena. The charter provided for a railroad from Galena and Jo Daviess
County to the town of Chicago, and fixed the capital at $100,000. It also
provided that "if at any time, after the passage of this act. ii shall be deemed
advisable by the directors of the said corporation to make and construct a
good and permanent turnpike road upon any portion of the route of the rail-
road, then the said directors are hereby authorized and empowered to con-
struct a turnpike."
At the time of the "Great Consolidation," June :>, 1864, the Galena and
Chicago Union railroad and the Chicago and North Western railway became
united in one great corporation, under the name of the latter, though the
Galena road was the older of the two. Other railroad corporations had al-
ready been merged with the North Western system, as well as in the Galena
system. "The union of the Galena corporation with that of the North West-
ern," says Dr. W. H. Stennett, in his historical account of this event, '"was
much more than a seven days' wonder. It was talked about from the Atlantic
to the slopes of the Missouri River, and opinions were as varied about it as
were the people that gave them. It is believed that this was the first really
important railroad consolidation that had taken place in the United States."
Thus the extinction of the old Galena road became an accomplished fact. It
had become a highly prosperous system and it was the most important unit
in the consolidation. It was then "the leading railroad of the West."
Railroad Connection with Chicago. — The Chicago and Milwaukee railroad
and the Milwuakee and Chicago railroad had already consolidated the year
before the great consolidation, under the name of the former. After .May 2.
1866, the corporation was leased to the young giant among the railroads of
the West, the Chicago & North Western Railway.
The Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad completed its line
to Chicago, February 20, 1852, and on May 21st in the same year the .Mich-
igan Central did likewise. Thus on the opening of these lines, and that be-
tween Chicago and Milwaukee, the latter city was placed in full communica-
tion with rail routes to the East.
Telegraphic Communication.— On the evening of January 15, 1848, the
first telegraphic message between Chicago and Milwaukee was sent and an
answer received, the message and reply being as follows: "J. J. Speed "s
respects to the intelligent, liberal, hospitable people of .Milwaukee. Long may
their noble city be as now, the pride of the lakes, and the home of enterprise,
prosperity and happiness." The answer came immediately: "The people of
Milwaukee thank Col. Speed for his friendly salutation and for the manner
in which he sends it. Milwaukee tenders to Chicago the right hand of friend
ship: once united may they never be divided." This, it will be observed,
was seven years before the two cities had been connected by rail.
It was usual in those days to se1 the poles supporting the wires along
THE COMING OP THE RAILROADS 337
country roads, as it is at present in many cases, rather than along the right
of way of railroad lines which indeed did not exist as yet. A country road
passing a few miles west of the north shore from Chicago to Milwaukee is
known to this day as the "old Telegraph Road," owing to this usage.
Chicago & North Western Railway. — Mileage by States: December 31, 1920,
Illinois, S24.53 miles ; Wisconsin, 2,160.12; Michigan, 510.90; Minnesota, 650.30;
Iowa, 1,632.55; North Dakota, 14.28: South Dakota, 1,230.45; Nebraska,
1.100.S0; Wyoming, 278.35; second track, 278.35— total, 8,402.28 miles.
Capital Stock: Authorized $200,000,000 in $100 shares, of which $169,963,-
596 was issued up to December 31, 1920, as follows: Preferred stock and scrip,
$22,398,955; common stock and scrip, $147,499,641; special stock outstanding,
$65,000 — total capital stock and scrip (outstanding, $167,617,249; owned by
company, $2,346,347), $169,963,596.
Officers: Marvin Hughitt, chairman of hoard ; William II. Finley, president,
Chicago; Samuel A. Lynde, vice president and assistant secretary, New York;
Marvin Hughitt, Jr., vice president in charge of operation; A. C. Johnson, vice
president in charge of traffic; John D. Caldwell, secretary and assistant treas-
urer, Chicago; Arthur S. Pierce, treasurer and assistant secretary, New York;
James B. Sheean, general counsel; Lewis A. Robinson, comptroller; Charles D.
Brandriff, general auditor; Frank Walters, general manager; Walter J. Towne,
chief engineer; G. B. Vilas, general superintendent; Frank J. Berk, general
purchasing agent, Chicago.
Executive Committee: Marvin Hughitt, Chauncey M. Depew, Oliver Ames,
Edmund D. Hulbert, D. P. Kimball, W. K. Vanderbilt, Chauncey Keep, W. H.
Finley.
Directors: C. M. Depew, S. A. Lynde, New York; D. P. Kimball, Gordon
Abbott, Boston; Marshall Field, Chicago; Childs Frick, L. I. Roslyn, New
York ; Marvin Hughitt, E. D. Hulbert, Chicago ; William K. Vanderbilt, New
York; H. C. McEldowney, Pittsburgh; Oliver Ames, Boston; F. W. Vanderbilt,
H. S. Vanderbilt, New York ; C. H. McCormick. Chauncey Keep, W. H. Finley,
James B. Sheean, Chicago. Chicago office, 226 Jackson Boulevard; New York
office, 111 Broadway, Manhattan.
Vol. 1—2 2
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I i.ST WATEE STREET LOOKING NORTH PROM WISCONSIN STREET
CHAPTER XXII
BANKING AND FINANCE
A banking institution is primarily an integral and essential part of the eco-
nomic life of the community. Its intimate relation to the industrial and com-
mercial activities, its function as a conservator of integrity and stability,
and its services to the general public, render it at once an indispensable factor
in the material progress and welfare of a modern day.
Its assets, therefore, embrace more than the cash and securities in its vaults;
its function is greater than the service rendered to borrower and lender; its
influence wider than an immediate touch with its clients. These assets include
also the character and efficiency of its directorate and official heads. They
must stand as guardians of the financial stability and material advancement of
a whole community.
The banker not only sets standards in business methods but he must up-
hold the ideals of business honor and rectitude. He must not only protect
the solvency of his own institution, foster promptness and the orderly relations
between himself and his customers, but in his capacity of financial adviser
must hold his customers to wise and safe policies. He must, when the occasion
arises, stand against the speculative tendencies of his client, protest against
enterprise born of unwarranted confidence, and counsel a course of action
that shall ensure security as well as steadiness of purpose in the path of
development and growth. He must serve as a barrier against ruin as well as
a guide to success.
The community may be likened to the family. What makes for the wel-
fare of the smaller unit applies to the larger. The necessities of life precede
comforts and pleasures. The farm must be productive, the factory must be
busy, the mine must yield its treasures. Trade and transportation must be
moving. Production and the exchange of products must continue.
The collective community like the individual family must be afforded a
livelihood. There must be wages and profit. Food, housing and clothing are
primary; comforts and pleasures secondary. Education and morality must
be fostered simultaneously with material advancement. One is dependent
upon the other. The increment of profit and wage must be garnered. It forms
the capital which must give vitality and zest to labor, to constructive enter-
prise, to commerce and trade.
What may concern the material welfare and progress of the community
as a whole must necessarily concern the bank. The interests of the community
and the bank are mutual and reciprocal. It follows then that the banker
must at all times manifest a lively and active interest in the movements
making for community advancement. Wherever he can, by his presence, his
339
340 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
counsel, bis assistance, promote the material and moral progress <>t' bis com-
munity, he should do so.
Early Banking Days. — The Territory of Wisconsin was established by a<-t
nf Congress, April 20, 1836, and at the firsl session of the new Legislature
three banks were incorporated, as follows: the Miners' Hank of Dubuque
i then under Wisconsin for governmental purposes), the Hank of Mineral
Point, and the Hank of .Milwaukee. The charters of the three hanks were alike
but in this sketch the latter will be noticed especially.
At that time .Milwaukee was a little more than an Indian trading posl and
local hanking facilities did not exist. The capital stock of the hank of Mil-
waukee was to be $200,000 in shares of $100 each. The commissioners named
to take subscriptions to the stock were as follows: Rufus Parks, Horace ( !hase,
James Sanderson, Giles S. Brisbin, Sylvester W. Dunbar. G 'ge Bowman,
Jesse Rhodes, Cyrus Hawley, and Solomon Juneau. These men were to be
the first directors until a regular meeting of the stockholders should elect a
board of directors (limited to seven) to manage its affairs.
The first meeting of the commissioners was held at the office of Rufus
Parks. January 5, 1837, and S. W. Dunbar was elected president. The sub-
scriptions were slow in coming in and in the course of the following year but
sixteen shares had been subscribed for, with payments of $10 made on each
share. By the end of the year the entire remainder of the unsold shares i l.itM
were taken by Francis K. O'Farrell, who had been appointed fiscal agent.
However, dissatisfaction arose because O'Farrell made no other payment than
appeared in a bookkeeping entry. He was authorized to procure necessary
blank books, stationery, an iron safe, etc. Mr. Juneau made the first deposit
and his example was followed by others.
O'Farrell did not long retain the confidence of the board. At a meeting
held in February, 1838, he was required to lay before the board all books.
papers and funds belonging to the bank which he failed to do. The public
was warned not to pay him for stock or notes discounted. Thereupon O'Far-
rell retired and his purchase of stock was declared forfeited.
In 1839 the charter of the bank was repealed by the Legislature and what
residuary value remained was sold to Joseph ami Lyndsey Ward and Alexan-
der Mitchell for a trifling sum. "Little mischief was done by the bank." says
the writer of an article under this head in "The History of Milwaukee." pub-
lished by the Western Historical Company, in 1881, "as it never got enough
together to make a fair start. The times were unpropitious, the panic of ls'17
left no money for the speculative purposes of wildcat banking. The history
of this bank, however, shows what might have been done had times been flush,
and what sort of machinery it was through which the 'red dog' banking of
early 1 imes was done.
Paper Money Issues.- A great deal of the paper money of the '30s, '40s
and 'oils was in the for f bills issued bj banks which in a large number of
eases failed and left their obligations nine, lee 1. This kind of currency
acquired the epithet "wildcat." a term applied to all the issues of this char
acter. It was said that John Wentworth, publisher of a paper in Chicago, firsl
applied the name to the issues of the state banks, and in his paper he printed
BANKING AND FINANCE 341
a picture of the ferocious animal. Wentworth, in season and out, denounced
the evil system of irresponsible banking prevailing in those times.
The bills of the wildcat banks were usually engraved in an inferior style
and were often counterfeited. Judge Henry W. Blodgett of Waukegan is
quoted as remarking that it was not difficult to detect the counterfeit bills
"because they were so much better engraved than the genuine." On one
occasion a certain storekeeper, having some wildcat money offered him in pay-
ment of a bill of goods, exclaimed, "Oh, see here, can't you give me something
else? If you've got any good eastern counterfeits, I'd rather have them."
The bills of the wildcat banks were generally at a discount among eastern
banks at from ten to twenty per cent. But little coin was in circulation;
occasionally would be seen silver pieces from the United States or Mexican
mints, or a little gold and silver brought by immigrants from foreign coun-
tries. Very little American gold was in use. What gold coins there were con-
sisted of English sovereigns and half-sovereigns and the French "Louis d'or."
The silver money was principally made up of Mexican coins which became
much worn in use.
"Thompson's Bank Note Reporter" was the authority as to the value and
genuineness of all money in circulation, whether of metal or paper. Prior
to 1835 practically the only subsidiary coinage in use was the silver coins
just referred to supplemented by traders' scrip which was good for mer-
chandise. The towns issued scrip good for taxes, merchants issued scrip
good for the kind of goods in which they dealt. Of all this paper some was
good and the rest ranged downwards in all degrees of badness to utter worth-
lessness.
It was a saying in the "wildcat" times of hanking, when every kind of
financial heresy was rampant in the land, that "illegal hanking honestly con-
ducted was better than legal banking dishonestly conducted." Throughout
the middle decades of the last century the business of the country was con-
tinually menaced by the widespread practice of "wildcat hanking." The
idea of regulating the hanking business by law was a favorite one with legis-
lators, and there were laws in every state, all ;it variance with each other
and all honestly intended to regulate the business of banking. The situation,
however, was not much helped by these attempts to place a curb upon specu-
lative individuals who found in the conduct of banks a profitable channel for
their operations.
This state of things continued until the period of the Civil war, when the
National Banking Act was substituted for the discordant state laws, and
since that time the entire business of banking has been greatly improved,
and the tendency is constantly towards a higher standard of safety in ac-
cordance with the practice of sound principles of finance.
About this time the Michigan legislators conceived a "brilliant idea" which
it was believed would remedy the evils caused by the specie and currency
famine; and they passed what was known as the "Real Estate Banking Law."
Real estate, it was contended, was plentiful, and what could be better than
land on which to base an issue of currency? Michigan bankers were author-
ized to make issues based on land mortgages, and the country soon became
312 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE
flooded with this new variety of wildcal currency. The bubble soon burst,
however, and the people looked to other schemes of financial relief which
were promptly supplied. "Some of the speculators of Illinois," said John
Wentworth, "thought they would try the Michigan system, with state bonds
substituted for lands. Money was borrowed and state bonds purchased. The
most inaccessible places in our state were sought out for the location of banks
and bills were extensively issued. The consequences of this system were
quite as disastrous as those of the real estate system of Michigan.
The Panic of 1837. — We are now approaching the period of the severest
panic ever experienced in this country, that of the year 1837. In tracing the
causes of this famous panic we must momentarily take a wider view of con-
ditions as they existed in the years preceding.
Andrew Jackson occupied the presidential chair from 1829 to 1837, and
the country generally was in a highly prosperous condition. In 1836 the
United States was out of debt and had a surplus of nearly forty millions of
dollars, largely derived from the sales of public lands. These sales had been
increasing at a tremendous rate for some years previously, and as payments
were accepted by the Government in the currency of the time it began to be
feared that the banks, which were the sources of issue of the paper money,
would not be able to redeem their bills. The treasury surplus bad been largely
deposited with the banks throughout the country, and the banks bad soon conn-
to regard these deposits as sufficiently permanent to make use of the funds
in an unwise expansion of loans.
About this time a proposal was made in Congress to distribute the treasury
surplus as "loans'" among the states, and accordingly a bill was passed on
June 23, 1836, to that effect. The spirit of speculation by this time had almost
reached its climax, and President Jackson, "in his own inconsiderate and
thoroughgoing manner," (as Yon Hoist expresses it), endeavored to check
the speculative rage. On his own responsibility President Jackson issued his
famous "Specie Circular," under date of July 11, 1836, in which he forbade
the acceptance by the agents of the United States of anything but gold and
silver in payment for public lands. After this circular had been issued it
was but a question of time when the bubble would burst. "It was barely
deferred," says Larned, "till Jackson went out of office, in the spring of
1837."
The effects of the panic after the deluge broke were appalling. The
banks began to suspend payments of their obligations in specie, failures
among mercantile houses rapidly followed and the distress became wide-
spread. Trade relations were almost suspended, bankruptcies came in
avalanches, and factories were closed throwing thousands out of employment.
Almost the entire business community was engulfed by the financial storm.
The wild speculative madness of the previous years now began to abate leav-
ing a waste of wreckage Oil every hand.
Writing of conditions throughout the country the German, Professor Her-
mann vim Hoist, in his valuable work. "Constitutional History of the United
States." commented thus: "The farmer, the manufacturer and in. •reliant,
instead of paying their debts, bought lands. The country merchant bought
BANKING AND FINANCE 343
lands and paid the city merchant, as well for his old debts as for his new
purchases in this new currency, upon the strength of valuation which de-
ceived himself as well as his creditors." A writer in the North American
Review gives the following description: "All property seemed for a while to
have lost its value. In some of the new states it was difficult even for the
wealthy to obtain money for the daily uses of life. We have heard of farm-
ers, owning large and well stocked farms, who could hardly get money enough
to pay the postage on a letter. They had scarcely any currency, and most of
that which they had was bad. In the commercial states, matters were but
little better. Failures were almost innumerable. Trade had fallen off, and,
when prosecuted, was hazardous."
Recovery from the Panic. — "The outlook at the opening of navigation in
the spring of 1838 was much brighter than in 1837," writes J. S. Buck in his
"Pioneer History of Milwaukee." "The great financial cloud which had
covered the country was broken, and the sun of prosperity began to shim'
once more upon the western shore of Lake Michigan. People began to take
courage; the hard winter was past and a new lease of life seemed to have
come to all. An unusual cheerfulness and vivacity of spirit was exhibited
throughout the whole community. Hope in the ultimate success of the young
hamlet grew stronger, causing all to feel sure that the night of commercial
disaster was past, and the dawn of the morning of prosperity had come.
"Every one was at work; new buildings were commenced in all the differ-
ent parts of the city, immigrants began to flock in, new farms were opened
here and there by the hardy sons of toil who quickly made the wilderness to
blossom as the rose, all of which helped to make the country self-sustaining.
Roads were opened south and west, new locations for town sites were selected,
to the building up of which the owners put forth all their energies, each
claiming for his particular location advantages superior to any possessed by
the others, and all seemed bright and fair."
Alexander Mitchell. — This gentleman, whose success in business has made
the city famous, came to Milwaukee from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1839, as
secretary for the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company's Bank,
George Smith, president; and at once commenced to lay the foundation for a
life business, the growth of which has been wonderful, says J. S. Buck in
his "Pioneer History of Milwaukee." Mr. Mitchell, who for executive and
financial ability and business integrity, has had no superior west of New
York if he has had there, at once took the lead of the banking business in
the West, supplying the whole country with a currency equal to gold. And
though often subjected to "runs," his bank never failed to pay or redeem its
bills, throughout all the commercial panics under which our country has
suffered for the last thirty years.
"This famous bank," continues Mr. Buck, "was first opened in a small
frame building standing upon Broadway, between Wisconsin and Mason
streets, west side, about the center of the block, in May of that year, Mi-.
Mitchell giving his personal attention to the business, acting not only as its
secretary, but as cashier and teller also. Here he remained until the spring
of 1840, when he was joined by Mr. David Ferguson, who became his able
:;il HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
cashier, and the office was removed to the north side of Wisconsin Street, near
the alley, in a small one-story frame house built by Mr. Juneau. Here il re-
mained until the spring of 1842, when his increasing business necessitated a
second removal, which was made to the old Lowry mansion, northwesl corner
of Broadway and Wisconsin Streel where the [nsurance Building mm stands.
Here a new and commodious office was fitted up where be remained until
L846, when the still increasing business necessitated a third removal to the
lot upon the southeast corner of Eas1 Water and Michigan streets. Upon this
site a suitable building was erected, into which the office was removed. At
or about this time Mr. Smith withdrew his interest, Mr. Mitchell becoming
sole proprietor. Here the business was conducted until August. 1853, when
the whole square was burnt. So rapid was this fire that .Mi-. Mitchell's
clerks had barely time to place the money and effects of the bank in its
securely built vaults, before the flames reached the building. This tire was
scarcely extinguished before the ground was alive with men clearing away
the debris, such was the energy of Mr. Mitchell; and. Phoenix-like, a new-
building quickly appeared, of vastly increased dimensions, in which the busi-
ness of this pioneer bank was thenceforth conducted until it was pulled down
to make room for a new and costly structure.
"Such, in brief, is the history of this famous bank and banker: but it is
not as a banker alone that Mr. Mitchell has been prominent, lie was also
one of the most successful railroad presidents in the country, never failing to
accomplish whatever he undertook, as the success of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& St. Paul Railroad fully demonstrated, it having become under his manage-
ment one of the most powerful corporations in the country, extending its
long arms into Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois, clear through to the Pacific
coast.
"Mr. Mitchell twice represented his district in Congress, with much
ability; his knowledge of and experience in money matters being of greal
value in settling financial issues of the day. He was also a prominent member
of the 'Old Settler's Club,' taking a deep interest in its affairs, and felt a just
pride in belonging to that early band of old settlers who made the first marks,
and performed pioneer work in this Queen City of the Lakes.
"In person Mr. Mitchell was of medium height, stoutly built, had a keen,
expressive eye, a voice (dear and musical; witli the Scotch accenl strong, very
reticent with strangers, hail few intimate friends, seeing at a glance all thai
was being enacted around him. decided quickly, read a man like a 1 k. and
was seldom or never deceived."
Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company. — "It was near the firsl
summer days of 1839 thai Alexander .Mitchell first saw Milwaukee," said Dr.
.lames I). Butler at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin State Historical
Society, held January 5, 1888, a condensed account of which is printed in the
Collections of the Society, Volume XI, page 4".7 : ami from which the follow-
ing is substantially quoted.
He came thither to serve as secretary of an insurance company, so called.
The first proof discoverable of his presence in that village of perhaps twelve
hundred people, and which Contained no frame house more than five years
BANKING AND FINANCE 345
old, is a ten-line advertisement in the Advertiser of June 15th. In this he
notifies the insurance stockholders that a payment of $10 on each of their
shares must be made on the first of August, at the company's office in Mil-
waukee.
On the 13th of August the Sentinel printed the following notice: ••Insur-
ance : The Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company have commenced
business in Milwaukee, and are ready to enter into contracts of insurance at
low rates of premium. The Company will also receive money on deposit, and
transact other moneyed operations in which by their charter they are allowed
to engage."
Such, with an office outfit costing $280, was the birth of an institution
that for more than a decade was the only bank in Wisconsin, which for a
generation held in its vaults a third of the Milwaukee deposits, and which
gave to Alexander Mitchell a colossal fortune as well as more than national
fame as a financier. Accordingly, the rise and progress of this establishment
will reveal to us where lay the strength of the financier whose career is here
commemorated.
Fundamental Principles Adopted. — The Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insur-
ance Company was in fact a bank, with all which that name implies, yet it
shunned the name of "bank." It was a concern ingeniously devised by
George Smith, a Scotch farmer who had reached Chicago in 1834, with the
intention of purchasing farm lands. Friends of his in the banking business
in the old country soon joined him, and turned his mind towards banking.
But all parties in Illinois were crying, "Down with the banks!" The name
"bank" was everywhere spoken against in those times of "wildcat" hank-
ing, and a banker was as hateful as a mad dog. Many of the settlers had
been driven AVest by the collapse of eastern banks, and all of them had in
their pockets "rag money" of western institutions which was not worth the
paper it was printed on.
The necessity of the people for a circulating medium was Smith's oppor-
tunity. An insurance charter granted him in Illinois, while denying banking
privileges in bulk, conferred some of them in detail. He procured certificates
of deposit properly engraved with promise of payment on demand. These
papers he put forth as banks do their notes, and never failed to redeem his
issues the moment they were presented for payment.
George Smith's Removal to Milwaukee. — His success in Illinois turned
Smith's eyes toward new-born Wisconsin. In that territory the Legislature
met at Madison for the first time, in December, 1838. In the legislative coun-
cil there was then Daniel Wells, a Milwaukee friend of Smith. To him Smith
betook himself. "I know," he said, "the name of bank is as hateful in your
region as that of a king in a republic. The name is a bugbear they detest,
but the thing is a boon they need and will welcome. I will sugar the pill and
it will prove sweet and of sovereign virtue to your body politic. Get me then
a charter with franchises as like a bank as you ran, but call it what you will."
Wells drew up a bill modeled, as he informed the council, on one that hail been
enacted in New York for forming a corporation in Utica. The bill became
a law.
irniittH-tf-W Hliiiuij
■iPMiiiiHiiP Hiiiniiii
lilllHHHttSt
ifi
FIRST WISCONSIN NATIONAL HANK BUILDING, EAST WATKK AND
MASi IN STREETS
BANKING AND FINANCE 347
The act allowed the company, besides insuring on ship and shore", to re-
ceive money on deposit, give certificates, loan on the same terms as indiv duals,
and employ its surplus capital in the purchase of stock or in other moneyed
operations, "provided nothing- herein contained shall give banking privileges."
Smith's charter was approved by the governor on the last of February, 1839.
Early in May, subscriptions to its stock were invited in Milwaukee, and $101,-
300 was at once subscribed. It was voted that the salary of the secretary of
the new-born nondescript should be $1,10(1. To fill the secretaryship Smith
had a Scot ready in Chicago whom he had just imported, namely, Alexander
Mitchell.
Early Life of Alexander Mitchell.— This young Scotchman was born near
Aberdeen in Scotland in 1817. He was the son of a farmer and never attended
any school except that of his native parish. Some years later he was employed
in a bank at Peterhead where he became familiar with banking practice. In
these years of juvenile training some signs of his characteristics must have
been manifest, for he had scarcely reached his majority when on the recom-
mendation of a law firm of Aberdeen he was invited to America by George
Smith, with the promise of a position there.
Thus in 1839, this young Scotchman, nut yet twenty-two, and 1 hanks to
ruddy cheeks and a mild blue eye looking still younger, appeared to a Milwau-
keeans too young and inexperienced to be trusted with the management of a
bank; but Smith had measured his man more justly. From first to last Smith
left everything in the hands of his young lieutenant and lie quickly proved his
worth and ability. "This Caledonian stripling, whose nationality was be-
trayed in every word of his tongue," said Doctor Butler in his address, "was
as reticent and taciturn as if he wished to hide his origin. His spruce but not
costly attire, and particularly a very long-tailed dress-coat and pantaloons
of Scotch plaid, were a theme of sportive remark. He lodged in his office,
swept it himself, and was his own factotum. He went little into society and
was seldom seen abroad."
Among his callers he was always found at his post, and "what is more,"
continues Doctor Butler, "with insight into the standing of every man as
well as the value of all property, no less than if he had been to the manner
born. One secret of his apparent •omniscience' was the fact that he boarded
at the house of Smith's friend Wells, whose knowledge extended over the
whole region and back to its settlement, and whose judgment equaled his
knowledge."
To save appearances the Smith Insurance Company issued a few policies
against accidents by fire and flood, but its principal dealings were of another
nature. Multitudes of new arrivals in the country were then seeking farms
west of Lake Michigan. Homesteads ought to have been free to such a
yeomanry. Payment was required by the Government for every acre, and
that in advance, for the homestead laws were not enacted until 1862. Such
payments could not be made by settlers, but if they were once masters of
their land their labor would soon double its value. In a biography of Galusha
A. Grow, speaker of the House of Representatives in Lincoln's time, "true
statesman, patriot in so large a sense that today we are reaping a harvest
348 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
which tie helped to sow and largely cultivated.'" the writer says thai "he did
historical work which should make him proportionately honored."
The Homestead Laws of 1862. — To the Eoresighl and persistence of Grow
we owe, in great part, "the* settlement of the Par West with genuine homes,
the peopling of vast tracts with earnest homesteaders who eould give that
invaluable element, personal interest, to the task of breaking open thi i
tinent, and the retention to such people of a considerable part of the domain
which, in 1850, was in so large a measure not only new possession lmt entirely
unassimilated, " says his biographer.
Much of the business of Mitchell's hank soon took the form of assistance
extended to these prospective homeseekers. When the lands were selected
by the incoming settler. Mitchell offered to purchase the land from the i»n
ernment and give him a contract to deed the title at the end of "our years at
a moderate advance on the cost. Owing to this liberal arrangement on the
pari of the bank hundreds were enabled to make a start in lite which would
otherwise have been impossible. "Their debt to him in this regard," says
Doctor Butler, "is still held in grateful remembrance at many a farmer's
fireside."
Another branch of the Mitchell business which soon became gigantic was
issuing certificates of deposit." About six months after he opened his office
that is, in March, 1840, the amount in circulation was less than $5,000," says
Doctor Butler in his address. "But within ten years it had run up to a full
million, and for years after it still grew. These certificates had the similitude
of bank notes and bore on the left an Indian, and on the right a goddess
pointing to a shield. They promised payment mi demand, and they never
failed to be paid on presentation."
Many of the competing banks which issued "promises to pay" claimed
to he based on solid foundations because required by law to keep a certain
large percentage of specie on hand for redemption purposes and were Ere
quently inspected. The specie so held often did duty in other banks than the
one to which it belonged. The reserve of one bank was so manipulated that
it often performed a similar function in ten banks. The inspector would see
it one day in "Bank A" but it would be spirited away to "Bank B" before
the bank official could arrive there: and so through all the bank alphabet
it still outstripped the inspector.
Those who took the first Mitchell certificates made many trials to gel
Specie for paper. As early as 1841, some id' the paper money issued by tie-
bank turned up in Laporte, lud., where no convertible paper was then in
circulation. A hundred dollars worth of these issues were gathered up by
incredulous holders and a messenger dispatched to Smith's Chicago redemp-
tion office. The prompt return of the messenger with the specie, dollar "or
dollar, seemed a "miracle" to the holders which vastly increased the faith
in Milwaukee paper. Thus confidence was established anil this paper was
more and more sought for.
Growth of the Banking Business. -Between 1840 and 1850 the population
of Wisconsin increased from 31,000 to 300,000. It was admitted as a slate into
the Union May I'll, 1848, and most of this marvelous increase took pi. while
BANKING AND FINANCE 349
it was yet in its territorial condition. An article in the Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica, on this point, says: "At the census of 18-40, with the exception of a
few thousand French-Canadians, the population was made up of American-
born pioneers from the Eastern states, and in the southern portion of the terri-
tory of a sprinkling of men from Kentucky, Virginia and farther south. Be-
fore the next census was taken the revolutionary movement of 1848 in Ger-
many, led to the emigration of thousands from that country to Wisconsin, and
there was an increase of nearly 900 per cent in the population from 1S40 to
1850. * * * The German element predominates markedly in Milwaukee."
Thus while in proportion to population the need of banking facilities in 1841
was double what it had been in the year before, each of the nine years fol-
lowing added an equal increment to that need. But the Mitchell business grew
faster. The hour had come and also the man. He saw his opportunity and
made the most of it. His deposits which in 1840 were but $6,000, within a
dozen years had been augmented to a million and a half. Within fourteen
years the institution in which he as clerk had been paid less than a hundred
dollars a month was all his own. Smith was bought out, all the shares and
prestige of the establishment, all had become Mitchell's.
Vicissitudes of a Banker's Life. — "Let it not be supposed," says the writer
of the article in the Wisconsin Historical Society's Collection, "that our
banker, though 'monarch of all he surveyed,' had been walking a primrose
path. There were many so-called 'runs' which rushed upon him like torrents
or cataracts. Panics, fomented by distant rivals or neighbors who hoped to
rise by his ruin, would seize depositors. Then steamers would suddenly land
crowds, all calling for coin. Still larger swarms from the country would
throng in. In 1849, Chicago and Detroit combined to crush the only for-
midable opposition their bankers encountered in the Northwest.
"Whatever Mitchell certificates the conspirators could accumulate were
concentrated for payment in Milwaukee on the day after Thanksgiving of
that year, simultaneously with the announcement that Smith's bank, the
Chicago fountain of all the Mitchell monetary streams, had shut up. The
report appalled Wisconsin depositors like thunder from a clear sky. But
Mitchell denied its truth, hurried swift riders to Chicago, so that Smith
expressed specie by both land and lake, while Mitchell paid up all comers I ill
banking hours were over, and then had his cashier, David Ferguson, keep on
paying till bed-time.
"Even at this crisis money came in as well as went out. People laughed
at their own fright when they learned that Smith's bank had been (dosed on
no week day but Thanksgiving. The raid blew over leaving nine-tenths of
the certificates outstanding. Nothing heightened his prestige more than
these cyclones, which proved him to be invincible."
Milwaukee Banks. — Although the First Wisconsin National Bank is now
only a little more than two years old, in tracing its history we must go back
to the Farmers' and Millers' Bank, which was chartered in 1853 with a capital
of $50,000. E. D. Holton was the president and II. II. Camp was the cashier.
In 1863 when the National Bank Law went into effect, the First National
Hank was formed. It was a reorganization of Die Farmers' and Millers' Bank.
THE MARSHALL & II.SI.KY HANK
BANKING AND FINANCE 351
On April 4, 1870, the Home Savings Bank was opened for business. This
remained in existence for only a few months, for on October 27, 1870, it
merged with the private banking firm of Moritz von Baumbach & Company,
thus forming the German Exchange Bank. In August, 1879, the German
Exchange Bank merged with the Bank of Commerce which had been organized
in June, 1870. The new bank took the name of Merchants' Exchange Bank.
This bank was absorbed by the First National on January 1, 1894. In the
'60s, the Houghton Brothers and Samuel McCord organized the private bank
of Houghton, McCord & Company. In 1875 the name was changed to Houghton
Brothers & Company, while in 1893 the Houghton Bank was reorganized as
the Central National, with George G. Houghton as president and Herman F.
Wolf as cashier.
The Central National was consolidated with the Wisconsin National in
1898. The latter had been organized with $1,000,000 capital in 1892. Fred-
erick Pabst was the first president. In 1908 when L. J. Petit was president,
the capital was doubled. Mr. Petit remained as president until July, 1919,
when the Wisconsin National merged with the First National. Fred Vogel,
Jr., the president of the First National, resigned at the time of the merger.
Oliver C. Fuller, the president of the Wisconsin Trust Company, was chosen
president of the First Wisconsin National Bank. Mr. Fuller heads the First
Wisconsin National Bank, First Wisconsin Trust Company and First Wiscon-
sin Company, the three financial institutions which comprise the First Wiscon-
sin group. The vice presidents of the bank are Walter Kasten, II. O. Seymour,
Edgar J. Hughes, Herman F. Wolf, Robert W. Baird, Henry Kloes, J. M.
Hays and August W. Bogk.
The First Wisconsin National Bank occupies the spot on which Milwau-
kee's first white boy was born in 1836. On the same block but on the site of
the Trust Company Building, there is a tablet erected to Solomon Juneau, who
began trading with the Indians here in the early days.
The oldest bank in Wisconsin is that of Marshall & Ilsley. It began in
1847, when Samuel Marshall opened a brokerage business here. In 1849 he
went into the banking business with Charles F. Ilsley. This bank was incor-
ported and has been in existence ever since. John H. Puelicher is the pres-
ident.
The Second Ward Bank was established in 1855 with a capital of $25,000.
This became the Second Ward Savings Bank in 1865. It is frequently re-
ferred to as the Uihlein Bank because it is owned largely by the Uihlein
family.
Following the passage of the State Banking Law in 1853 a good many
institutions were organized in Milwaukee. The Bank of Milwaukee which
later was made the National Exchange Bank was established in 1855. J. W. P.
Lombard is the president and William M. Post the cashier. The Marine Na-
tional Bank which is still in existence was established in 1856, with a capital
of $50,000. Washington Becker is the president.
The Plankington Bank, which was organized in 1877, failed during the
panic of 1893.
The Marshall & Ilsley Bank is the oldest bank in continuous existence in
352 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
the Northwest. Seventy-five years ago, on April 21, 1847, Samuel Marshall
opened a banking office in a small store on Eas1 Water Streel under the name
of Samuel .Marshall & Company. Seventy-five years a long time when
measured by the life of a business fir r of an individual a short time when
measured by the extent of civilization. How few there are lel't to tell of.
those days when Milwaukee was an infant city of one year, when Wisconsin
was still a territory. Those were days of young men ami of small beginnings.
Mr. Marshal] was twenty-seven years old, a Quaker of sound judgment and
high principles, a man of integrity.
The first advertisement of his firm as it appeared in the Daily Sentinel and
Gazette, May 3, 1S47, is illustrative of the type of business Air. Marshall ami
.Mr. W. J. Bell, his partner at that time, were carrying on:
SAMUEL MARSHALL & CO.
Exchange Brokers. Milwaukee, Wis.
Land Office .Money. Uncurrent Hank Notes, ami
Certificates of Deposits, bought and sold ou liberal
terms. Sight Exchange on New York for sale in
sums tn suit purchasers. Collections on New York,
Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit, made on favorable
terms. Deposit accounts kept. Office, 196 E.
Water Street.
In 1S4D, Charles P. Ilsley became associated with Mr. Marshall and shortly
afterwards, the firm name was changed to Marshall & Ilsley. Five years later,
in 1854, the capital of Marshal] & Ilsley had grown to $25,0 mi. The bank had
been prospering along with the city which now contained 25,000 inhabitants.
Not only was Milwaukee growing rapidly, but people were pouring into the
whole state and a pressing need for banking facilities became widespread.
One of the first duties of the newly formed legislature, therefore, was to
frame a general banking law. Doubtless, not many persons realize that in
those days the referendum was already an integral pari of democratic gov-
ernment, for the people had incorporated in their state constitutions a clause
which provided that no banking act could become a law until it had first been
passed by the people themselves. A referendum on the question, "Bank or
no Rank" was held in 18.11. when a large majority voted for hanks, and in
1852, after the Legislature adopted a carefully drawn banking act. it also had
to be submitted to the people before it could become a law. The law under
which all the banks of Wisconsin, except the national banks, are doing busi-
ness today is based on that act, which may be called "essentially, preeminently,
and peculiarly a people's law."
In 1888 the bank was incorporated under the Wisconsin state Banking Law
as Marshall & Ilsley Bank with a capital of $200,000. This was increased in
1895 to $300, , in 1905 n. $£ ,000, ami in HUT to $1,000,000. The increase
in deposits for the last thirty years shows that the business of the bank has
steadily grown. Tim deposits were:
1890 $2,545,516.00
1900 3,923,366.77
BANKING AND FINANCE 353
1010 8,617,488.47
1920 22,862,472.5S
In 1901, Mr. Marshall retired as president to be succeeded by Mr. Ilsley who
held this office until his death in 1904. Succeeding presidents have been
Gustav Reuss, 1904-1908; James K. Ilsley, 1908-1915; John Campbell, 1915-
1920; John H. Puelicher, 1920-
The rapid growth of the bank from its inception, necessitated continual
moving into larger quarters. The various offices, each considerably larger
than the one before, have been located on East Water Street and on Broad-
way. In 1906, a branch bank was erected to care for the south side business.
The present building of the bank was completed in 1913. It was designed not
only to furnish a fitting and convenient home for the bank, but by its strength,
dignity and architectural beauty, to be a fitting monument to its founders,
Samuel Marshall and Charles F. Ilsley.
The bank is carrying out the ideals of its founders. Its aim is to serve well
the community with which it has grown. Each succeeding group of officers
has recognized that solidity and substantiality combined with character and
integrity are the elements which make for the longest life and the greatest
usefulness in business ; and each group has steadfastly held to these basic
considerations in planning for the growth and development of the business.
The bank has grown as the community has grown — solidly and substantially
— and today stands as an evidence of the spirit of those who gave and those
who are giving their lives to a community service of high character.
The Marine National Bank of Milwaukee dates its ancestry back to May
7, 1839. when the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company was organ-
ized by George Smith and Alexander Mitchell.
That company was empowered by its charter to receive deposits, issue
certificates, lend money and do an insurance business. George Smith was
president and Alexander Mitchell, secretary. Their certificates of deposit
resembled bank notes and circulated throughout the country the same as
currency, and while notes issued by other institutions frequently depreciated
in value or became utterly worthless, those of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire
Insurance Company were always redeemed on demand in gold coin. The
total amount outstanding in 1840 was about $42,000 which increased gradu-
ally until in 1852 there was outstanding $1,470,235.
It is a well known fact, and within the recollection of pioneer citizens
still living, that the "Mitchell Bank" currency, as it was known, enjoyed
the prestige throughout the entire Northwest of being the only currency in
circulation during the period named that was considered safe to accept and
hold over night without fear of depreciation.
In 1853 a charter was taken out by Mr. Mitchell under the banking laws
of Wisconsin and the word "Bank" was added to the name. Again in 1880 the
charter was renewed for twenty years or until 1900.
Mr. Mitchell died in 1886 and being the sole owner of the bank bequeathed
the capital stock in equal shares to his son John L. Mitchell, David Ferguson,
and John Johnston, who became officers of the bank, remaining such until
1893.
Vol. 1—2 3
354 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
At the time of Mr. Mitchell's death the capital of the hank was $100,000.
the surplus $2,158,000, which was a fund really representing a sum due to
Mr. Mitchell carried outside of the deposits, while the general deposits
amounted to $6,000,000. *
In 1887 the capital stock was increased to $500,000, and the deposits and
general business of the hank grew steadily until the panic id' 1893 fell mi tin1
country, when the bank was found to have a substantial amount of slow and
uncollectible loans, making it necessary to suspend payment and have a
receiver appointed. Mr. Washington Becker was made receiver and within six
months, after overcoming what appeared almost insurmountable obstacles,
fresh capital of $500,000 was raised and the bank resumed with Mr. Becker as
president, John L. Mitchell, vice president, and John Johnston, cashier. Win n
the charter expired in 1900 the deposits, which aggregated $7,870,000 at the
time of the suspension, had been fully liquidated with interest.
In July, 1900, The Marine National Bank of Milwaukee was organized
under the national laws with a capital of $300,000 and began business, assum-
ing the deposit liabilities of the old hank.
Washington Becker became president, John L. Mitchell and John Johnston,
vice presidents, and Arthur II. Lindsay, cashier. The deposits wTere then
$1,693,000. In 1906 the capital was increased to $500,000 which remained
unchanged December 31, 1921. The earned surplus on that date amounted to
$1,000,000, while the deposits were $8,756,000.
The officers are: Washington Becker, president; Arthur II. Lindsay, vice
president; Edward II. Williams, cashier; George W. Moore, assistant cashier;
George D. Prentice, assistant cashier; Thomas J. Durnin, secretary.
Directors: Washington Becker, president; Thomas Daly, vice president
Old Commercial National Bank, Oshkosh, Wis.; Francis E. Dewey, president
Edward Dewey Company; Stephen II. Hoff, president Haekett. Hoff <x Thier-
mann, Inc.; Alfred F. James, president Northwestern National Insurance
Company; Arthur II. Lindsay, vice president; Edmond J. Lindsay, president
Lindsay Brothers, Inc.; Samuel McCord, capitalist; Herbert A. Viets, presi-
dent Fuller-Warren Company.
National Exchange Bank. — January 2, 1922, marks the sixty-seventh anni-
versary of the founding of the National Exchange Bank of Milwaukee.
Organized in December, 1854, as the Bank of Milwaukee, by C. D. Nash.
it began business the following month and continued until March, 186"), when
it became the National Exchange Bank. During these sixty-live years, the
bank has had but three presidents. Mr. Nash served until 1892 when he was
succeeded by Charles Ray who retired in 1900. Mr. Hay's place was taken by
J. W. P. Lombard, now the active head of the institution.
A glance at the list of officers and' directors from the date of the hank's
organization to the present time, — sixty-seven years filled with remarkable
changes, — shows that men prnniinent in the business life of Milwaukee have
been connected with the National Exchange. The directorate included : CD.
Nash, 1865 1892; John Bradford, 1865-1878; John Plankinton, 1865-1888; S. S.
Daggett, 1865-1868; J. II. Van Dyke. 1865-1909; R. \Y. Peake, 1868-1869;
Edward I'. Allis, 1869-1878; F. J. Blair, 1878-1890; W. G. Fitch. 1879 L891;
BANKING AND FINANCE 355
Grant Pitch, 1888 to date; G. D. Van Dyke, 1890-1899; George R. Nash, 1890-
1893; Charles Ray, 1890 to date; J. W. P. Lombard, 1891 to date; Samuel
M. Green, 1893-1901; J. E. Friend, 1893-1912; Charles Allis, 1900-1901; Henry
F. Whitcomb, 1902 to date ; Frederick W. Sivyer, 1902-1903 ; W. D. Van Dyke,
1909-1910; F. L. Pierce, 1910-1919; Lawrence Fitch, 1910 to date; Harry J.
Brown, 1912 to date, and Frank R. Bacon, 1919 to date.
Vice presidents who have served the National Exchange Bank are : John
Bradford, 1865-1879; John Plankinton, 1879-1888; W. G. Fitch, 1888-1891;
Charles Ray, 1891-1892; J. W. P. Lombard, 1892-1900, and Grant Fitch, 1906
to date.
Second vice president: Charles Ray, 1890-1891, and J. W. P. Lombard,
1891-1892.
During the sixty-seven years of the life of the National Exchange Bank,
the bank has had but three cashiers. They are: W. G. Fitch, 1865-1888;
Grant Fitch, 1888-1906, and William M. Post, 1906 to date.
The list of assistant cashiers includes: Abbott Lawrence, 1882-1886;
Grant Fiteh, 1886-1888; George R. Nash, 1888-1889; Frederick Fasten, 1889-
1892 ; William M. Post, 1900-1906, and G. W. Augustyn, 1913 to date.
The National Exchange Bank, then the Bank of Milwaukee, opened for
business in a three-story brick structure at Detroit and East Water streets.
This was a most pretentious structure in the days before the Civil war. After
several years in this location, the bank moved into a new five-story building
at 86 Michigan Street, in the heart of Milwaukee's financial district. This
banking house soon became too small and in 1887, the bank was moved to
its present location at Michigan and Broadway, up to that time the site of the
Newhall House, Milwaukee's famous hostelry which burned with the loss of
scores of lives. The bank's capital has grown to $500,000, with surplus and
undivided profits of over $700,000.
Through the period of the Civil war and the troublesome reconstruction
days that followed the end of the struggle between the North and South,
and through financial panics which wrecked many larger banks and made
paupers of millionaires, the National Exchange Bank has been of service to
the community in precisely the fields which at present identify it — the fur-
thering not of speculation but of commerce, and the furnishing of assistance
to the individual merchant, business man and country bank.
Second Ward Savings Bank. — Three score and ten years ago the founda-
tion was laid for the Second Ward Savings Bank. From that day to this
the corner stone policy has been to provide a sound and conservative bank-
ing service for the Milwaukee and Wisconsin public, under the direction and
management of men of wide business experience and conservative judicial
minds.
On December 26, 1855, by formal articles of partnership, the old firm of
Wilmanns, Jacobs & Company was reorganized to conform with the new state
banking statute of April 19, 1852, and took the chartered name of "Second
Ward Bank." This name in those days was more significant than it is today
as the Second Ward embraced all of Milwaukee west of the river fortifications.
The partners were Messrs. Augustus A. Wilmanns and William H. Jacobs.
THE SECOND WARD SAVINGS BANK
Located at the intersection of Wesl Water and Third
itreeta
BANKING AND FINANCE 357
In about 1866 a further reorganization was effected under the corporate
name of "Second Ward Savings Bank" and the controlling interest fell to
Messrs. Joseph Schlitz, Valentine Blatz, William H. Jacobs and Phillip Best.
Mr. Jacobs was cashier and active manager until his death in 1882. He was
succeeded as cashier by Mr. C. C. Schmidt, who was succeeded by W. L.
Cheney in 1912. Mr. Cheney was cashier until his death in 1916. Mr. G. L.
Weigle was then made cashier and is still in that position. At the death of
Mr. Best in 1869 his interests were acquired by Capt. Fred Pabst and Emil
Schandein. At the death of Mr. Joseph Schlitz, in 1875, his interest fell to
Mr. August Uihlein. Mr. Blatz continued as president until his death in
1894, when Mr. August Uihlein became president. After the death of Mr.
Schandein and Captain Pabst in 1900, their stock interests were acquired by
Mr. August Uihlein. At the death of Mr. August Uihlein, in 1911, Mr. Joseph
E. Uihlein, the present incumbent, became president.
Except for a few years, under the early partnership arrangement when the
headquarters were on Chestnut Street, near Third, the main office has been
located from the beginning at Third, West Water and Cedar streets. The
present banking building, constructed in 1 912, is the third structure occupied
by the bank on the same site.
In 1873 a branch known as the Sixth Ward Branch was established at
Third Street and Reservoir Avenue, and in 1874 another branch known as
the Ninth Ward Branch was established at Vliet Street and Central Avenue.
Both of these branches were rebuilt in 1912 and are now known as the Ninth
Ward Branch, Twelfth and Vliet streets, and the North Side Branch, Third
and North Avenue.
With the advent of the new structures in 1911-12 came an enlarged or-
ganization and the aggressive policy of developing a commercial as well as
a savings banking business. At present the bank is on about a 50-50 basis.
That is, about half of its deposits are savings and half commercial.
In this policy of progress the securities business was also included, and a
bond department was organized in 1911. In January, 1920, the business of this
department was turned over to the Second Ward Securities Company, a cor-
poration organized for the express purpose of dealing in securities. It is
controlled by the identical stockholders of the bank.
The capital which was originally $25,000 has been consistently increased
to meet the needs of an enlarged business. It was raised from $200,000 to
$1,000,000 in 1909, and is backed up today with a surplus of $1,000,000 in
addition to liberal undivided profit and contingent reserves.
It took about thirty years (to 1880) for the deposits to reach a million
and another thirty years (to 1910) to reach ten million. In 1920 the deposits
passed the thirty-five million mark. The latter figure represents the bank
balances of some fifty thousand (50,000) clients, of which about forty thou-
sand (40,000) are savings depositors. This makes the Second Ward Savings
Bank the second commercial bank and the first savings bank in the State of
Wisconsin.
The bank has an imbroken dividend record of twenty-five years. It has
withstood the shock of three United States wars. It has weathered the
financial storm of four major panics. It is now emerging from the economic
358 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE
crisis of the World war in the enviable positi ujoyed by few banks — with
a large surplus, and Liberal reserves.
Second in Commercial importance, first in Savings, unexcelled in personal
service, the Second Ward'Savings Hank and the Second Ward Securities
Company boasl of their unmarred history, and look to the future with thai
assurance of continued success and usefulness to the community which sueli
a record justly inspires.
American Exchange Bank. — The American Exchange Bank had its incep
lion in the fad that the southern section of the city was without an adequate
financial institution to render immediate service to the business interests lo-
cated there. While the retail interests, which had in an earlier day grown
up in the northeastern part of the south side had been drifting westward, the
manufacturing and small jobbing interests continued to grow.
The need, therefore, of an efficient hanking institution to serve not only
for the business interests that had grown up in this section of the city, but
for the general public as well, became apparent.
Thus, the German-American Bank, which later became the American
Exchange Bank was founded by Emil Durr, who had for years been identified
with the lumber business and later with the United States Gypsum Company,
and who became its president. Charles F. P. Pullen. formerly a hanker at
Evansville, Wis., became the organizer, cashier and manager of the institution,
associating with him F. F. Riedel, also an experienced banker.
The charter was issued in 1892 and the bank was opened at the northeasl
corner of Reed Street and National Avenue, where a branch of the present
bank is still maintained. Owing to the large German population in this sec-
tion of the city, business expediency suggested the name of the German-
American Bank. The original capital stock was $100,00(1 and the opening
deposits aggregated $160,000.
In January, 1900, the capital stock was increased to $200,000. Edwin
Reynolds, who was then the general manager of the E. P. Allis Company,
became the president of the bank. During the same year a branch bank was
opened at the corner of Kinnickinnic and Lincoln avenues, with F. F. Riedel
as manager. It was known as the Bay View Branch.
A second branch, known as the Mitchell Street Branch, was opened in
1906 at the corner of Mitchell Street and Third Avenue. Mr. Henry J. Mill-
man, who was then connected with the Western Worsted .Mills, became the
active manager. The opening of this branch was followed by an increase in
the capital stock to $250,000.
During the following year Edwin Reynolds, owing to ill health, retired
from the presidency, and was succeeded by Jesse B. Whitnall, who served until
L915. Edward A. Farmer was then chosen.
During the years of 1 !'l 7 and 1918 the bank engaged in an important de-
parture. The main bank was moved down town and the old hank location
became a branch. At the same time the capital stock was increased from
$250,000 to $500,000. During this period, too, the old name was discarded and
the name American Exchange Bank was chosen.
New hank quarters were opened in the Plankinton Arcade on Second
BANKING AND FINANCE 359
Street. d"'gnified and modern in appointment, and in keeping with the demands
of a first class financial institution. Safe deposit vaults for the use of the
patrons of the bank were provided and a bond department was established.
Inasmuch as the banking laws no longer permitted the addition of new
branch banks the Bay View branch became an independent institution and is
now known under the name of the Bay View Commercial and Savings Bank.
The National Avenue and the Mitchell Street branches were retained and are
now operated as branches of the American Exchange Bank. Early in the year
1921 the Mitchell Street branch was housed in a new and commodious home,
constituting the most imposing bank structure in that section of the city.
In December, 1919, Edward J. Kearney was made the president of the
bank. He is of the firm of Kearney & Trecker Company of West Allis, and
enjoyed a high standing among the industrial and commercial interests of the
city. Thus, his active connection became a distinct asset to the bank. About
this time the capital stock of the bank was increased to $1,000,000, made neces-
sary by its increase of 68 per cent in its deposits.
Speaking prospectively of the American Exchange Bank it should be
stated that it has secured a long term lease on the northeast corner of Grand
Avenue and Second Street, upon which site it will erect a modern bank struc-
ture within the next year or two.
The growth of the bank has been a steady and substantial one. "While its
capital stock was increased within a comparatively few years from $250,000 to
$1,000,000, its deposits have grown with equal steadiness having now reached
the $8,500,000 figure.
National Bank of Commerce. — The Germania National Bank opened for
business July 1, 1903, with a capital of $300,000. The first board was com-
posed of the following nine directors: William Berger, Louis W. Bunde,
George Brumder, Herman Felir, Willibald Hoffmann, George P. Mayer, Alfred
G. Schultz, Frederick M. Wilmanns, Frank P. Ziegler. George Brumder was
the first president and held this office until the time of his death, May 9,
1920. June 9, 1910, Wm. C. Brumder was elected president of the bank. In
1918 the old name was discontinued and the title National Bank of Com-
merce was adopted. In July, 1919, the capital of the bank was raised from
$300,000 to $1,000,000 and the number of stockholders increased from 65
to 400.
In January, 1920, Mr. Brumder severed all his active business connec-
tions. He retired from the presidency of the bank and was succeeded by
Herman Fehr. At that time the number of directors was increased to thir-
teen and all of those who then constituted the board are still active.
The first statement to the Comptroller of the Currency in 1903 showed
total footings of $900,000. The quarters were very small and the entire
official and working force consisted of five people. From this small be-
ginning, the business has grown steadily and at the last statement call the
footings amounted to about $10,000,000. Additional space has been taken
on from time to time. The number of employes now exceeds sixty people.
Building up of a bank is due to the confidence placed in it. Only by giv-
ing good service and satisfaction can a bank retain and continue to enjoy
360 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
the confidence and patronage of its customers. The bank is thoroughly
equipped to handle the business of its clients promptly and to extend every
accommodation consistent with sound banking. Bond Departmenl was added
in 1912.
The present Board of Directors consists of: Wm. Berger, Prank P.
Blumenfeld, Geo. P. Brumder, Wm. C. Brumder, Louis W. Bunde, Herman
Pehr, Albert T. Friedmann, Wm. J. Krauthoefer, Ceo. P. .Mayer, Arthur
E. Munkwitz, Alfred G. Schultz, Herman A. Wagner, Chas. II. Whiffen, and
Frederick M. Wilmanns.
The West Side Bank of Milwaukee. — A State Bank, was organized in
April. 1893, and opened for lmsiness on .May 10, 1893, the premises occupied
being then known as Doctor Senn's Block. This location is known as historic
ground to the old settlers of Milwaukee. It was on this site that the first
brick building in the City of Milwaukee was erected by John Hustis. and
known to the old settlers as The Hustis Block, the pride of early Kilbourn-
Town, this being the name of the settlement on the west side of the river,
before its consolidation with the settlement on the east side of the river.
then known as the original Milwaukee.
The first Milwaukee newspaper, the Milwaukee Advertise]-, owned and
published by Alonzo Richards, was printed on this same site that is now
occupied by the West Side Bank Building.
The West Side Bank was originally a branch of the Merchants Exchange
Bank, of which the late Rudolph Nunnemacher was cashier and manager.
When the Merchants Exchange Bank and the First National Bank were
consolidated, early in 1894, the West Side Bank incorporated as a separate
institution, with a charter from the State, as a State Bank, the National
Banking Laws at that time not permitting branch banks.
Due to conservative management, the West Side Bank is today one of the
soundest and financially strongest institutions of the city, which is clearly
demonstrated by a perusal of its annual statement.
The first officers elected on July 1, 1894, were as follows: President, Adam
Gettelman ; vice president, Oscar J. Fiebing; cashier, George Koch: assistant
cashier, Alfred G. Schultz.
In 1903 Alfred G. Schultz, assistant cashier, resigned, to become cashier
of the Germania National Bank, and ('lias. J. Kuhnmuench, who had been
connected with tin' West Side Bank, since its opening on May It). 1893, be-
came assistant cashier.
Oscar .1. Fiebing resigned as vice president in October, 1910, owing to
continued illness, and George Koch was elected vice president and Chas. J.
Kuhnmuench, cashier. Herberl Feerick, connected with the bank since 1895,
became assistant cashier. So that the officers today are: President. Adam
Gettelman; vice president, George Koch: cashier, Charles J. Kuhnmuench;
assistant cashier, Herberl Peerick.
The capital on duly 1. 1894, was $100,000. This was increased to $200,000
on May Id, 1911, and to +400,000 on May 10. 1920. Today, the surplus is
+200,000. and undivided profits approximately $175,000. Deposits arc ap-
proximately $3,000,000.
BANKING AND FINANCE
361
The original Board of Directors elected to serve on July 1, 1S94:, was as
follows : George Koch, A. C. Zinn, Adam Gettelman, Oscar J. Fiebing, Geo.
P. Mayer, F. L. Schmitt, Chas. Pittelkow, Fred W. Schroeder, and H. J. Kill-
ilea. The present board is as follows : George Koch, Adam Gettelman, Victor
Schlitz, V. J. Schoenecker, Otto J. Schoenleber, <T. A. Schwalbach, and Walter
A. Zinn.
Consolidated Statement of Milwaukee Banks
RESOURCES
NATIONAL
Loans
Bonds and
Securities
Real Estate
Fur. & Fix.
Cash & Due
from Banks
Totals
First Wis. National
$ 77.519.04fl.39t
6.234.8S6.37
6,158,561.52f
5,281,016.02t
$ 6,282,790.70
2,341.9 IN 78
2,273,384 12
1,610,936 30
$3,477,333.79
$18,506,352.19
2,763,893.72
1.313,933.33
2,197,616.29
$105,785,523.16
11.340 728 87
Natl. Bank of Com
National Exchange . .
20,153.20
150.000 00
9,775.032.47
9.239.56S61
STATE
American Exchange
8,S63,227.49t
1,710,119.32
1,442,642.17
1,252,595 881
508, 24 1.33
565,2,88 17
80,000 00
806.3H, 96
1,103,661.51
1,563,323 39
50.173 30
10,035 96
81,920.00
221,512 93
10.000 00
317,086 96
45,538,61
537,930.71
187,484.58
106.339 80
2,975.762.41
591,484 22
189,841.40
61,844.15
10,897 93
2,111,424 99
753,438.10
355,389.64
6,839.651.03
55,049.45
780,994.19
158,065.15
128,624.11
254,588 32
1,248,050.43
216,350.57
22,793.90
35,504.45
32,853.12
1.6(1 1,037.30
585.686.05
277,683.58
189.291.28
1 1,903.48
210,842.42
15,986.65
189,497.73
15,153 48
170,466,30
68,247.24
114.751 37
1,171.103 77
240,759.50
477,245.14
101,119.05
1,799.39
312,221.51
245,891.77
210,440.48
6,154,465.66
99,318.50
204.666.16
110,066.48
62,760.01
667.982 SO
203,675.80
11,7S9,276.S7
Bav View Conil. & Sav. . .
City Bank
1,806,003.50
1,484,776.24
635,064.81
K:i-l Siilc Kink . .
Holton Street
16.289 19
6,982 56
28.894 72
5,641 69
2,000.00
11,363.97
43,000.00
555,620 It
41.303.91
150,000.00
25.000.S4
1.013,933.01
112.969 21
1,3 11,796 37
Laytun Park State
Lincoln State
Marshall & Ilsley. . .
Merch. & Mfrs
513,026 67
271.707 37
356,477.30
19,579,877.96f
1,411,186.80
2,278,403 851
938,325.70
20,795.00
121.541.89
1.223,423.68
538,803 16
620,568.47
27,585,364.28
2,284,734.43
3,095,490 39
Milwaukee Coml. . . .
1,126.289.74
33,492 32
Mitchell Street
906,284.17
1,623.594 88
11.279.95
78,347.66
28,468.72
500.000.00
10,732.30
20,482.14
23.7X7 69
6,293.24
10,417 80
32,979.90
3,341,210 62
2,701,272 41
Park Savings
1.378.712.72
20,318.905.76
502.283.01
1,973,011.56
33,813,022 45
667, 3S3 26
675,660.90
1,681,803.39
Vliet Street ....
473,342.57
427,374.09
765.261 89
West Side Bank
2,903,983 22
l,355,026.84t
3,836,972.20
2,839,73297
$166,415,118.54
$150,407,452.22
$33,259,173.56
$35,903,415.21;
$5,572,875.75
$3,227,652.39
$41,836,858,49
$54,529,909.68
$247,084,026.34
82 1 1.(11,8,429,55
LIABILITIES
NATIONAL
Capital Surplus and l'rohts
Circulation
Reserves
Deposits
First Wis. National
Marine National
$ 6,0011.000 1111
500,000.00
1,000,000 on
$ 3,488,158 29
1,051,845.06
346,540.25
719.801 50
$2,515,795.00
500,000.00
292,800.00
305.100.00
$23,622,483.07 1*
762,340.57*
1,898,792. 84*t
1,036,171.871*
$ 70,159,086.80
8,526.534.24
6,236,899.38
National Exchange. . . .
500,000.00
6,678.495 24
STATE
American Exchange
1,000.000.00
200,000 00
lOO.ooo 00
300.00(1 00
50,000.00
100,000.00
50,000 00
50,000.00
50,000.00
11)0,000 1)0
1,000, 000. 00
130,000.00
400,000 on
100,000,00
377,573.10
92,857 27
10,431 79
30,000.00
8,718.06
20,355.64
12,969 2]
44,103.81
152 7.;
23,635 36
7,567.01
6,83 1 38
1,656,150 18
62,331 89
185,112 15
16,895.11
297.35
88,786 1 1
52,301.23
107,523.45
1,500,853 37
17.57 1 83
54,048.62
15,(191 72
20,0011 (III
372,726.18
1 1 1,860.67
1,792,795 43t*
4,000 (in
26,516.65
68,519.611"
10,613.09s
8,932.76*
8,618,908.34
City Bank
615,733.66
East Side Hank.. . .
934,644 61
Holton Street
22,531 88*
3.800 Oils
5,296 04*
8,866.50*
3,510.40
3,360,720 961*
1 1,956.70
298,967. 82f*
1,225,160.68
Italian Mutual
120,280 16
Kilbourn State
1.144.492 28
472,369.65
Lincoln State
510,223.69
Marshall & Ilsley. . ..
21,, MIS, 493. 14
2,077,445.84
Merch .V- Mfrs
2,211,110 12
Milwaukee Coml..
1,009,394.63
s Is
205,000.00*
38.726 15
2,500.00
576,815.64*
32,394.97
Mitchell Street
50,000.00
200,000.00
211(1.1 inn 00
1.1)00.0011 00
100,000 00
50,000 00
50,000 00
loi i.i ion 00
400,0 0
100,000.00
2,997.12 1 18
Second Ward Sav
311.735.353.44
510,808.43
Teutonia Ave
Union Bank
Vliet Street
West Side Hank
1,600.00
66,179.09*
2,606,67
81, 26(1 66
52, 234. 1ST
1,576.154.77
633.991.08
502 144.78
2.979,985.36
2,572,638.12
$ 13,880,000 00
$ 12,980,000.00
$10,536,696.35
$ 9.247,331 54
$3,613,695.00
$3,622,095 00
$33,980,547.88
$ 8.508.071.58
$185,073,087.11
$209,710,931 13
t Rediscounts. * Bills pay
able, bonds borrowed.
■ it her liabilities ai:
d unearned discounts iiicludeil s ( liiar.mt.y fund.
362 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Bank Officers and Directors, in hanks Located in the city and county of
Milwaukee serving with the beginning of the year 1922:
First Wisconsin National Bank. — Officers: Oliver ('. Fuller, president;
Walter Kasten, vice president; II. 0. Seymour, vice president; Edgar J.
Hughes, vice president; Heriflan F. Wolf, vice president; Roberl W. Baird,
vice president; Henry Kloes, vice president; J. M. Hays, vice president;
August W. Bogk, vice president; A. 0. Casper, cashier; Win. K. Adams,
assistant vice president; F. K. McPherson, vice president; Fred R.'Sidler,
assistant vice president; George C. Dreher, vice president; A. V. I). Clark-
son, assistant vice president; Oscar Kasten, assistant cashier; Frederick
Wergin, assistant cashier; Franz Siemens, assistant cashier; Oeo. E. Fleisch
mann, assistant vice president: L. K. Houghton, assistant cashier; II. 6. Zahn,
assistant cashier, E. R. Ormsby, assistant cashier; Win. ( '. Haas, manager
Foreign & Savings Department; Herman W. Eskuche, assistant manager
Foreign & Savings Department; William Zimmer, assistant manager Foreign
& Savings Department; R. E. Wright, manager Commercial Service Depart-
ment, S. R. Quaden, auditor. Directors: Isaac D. Adler, Dr. C. E. Albright,
Robert W. Baird, John I. Beggs, Fred C. Best, L. O. Bournique, Robert Camp,
Michael F. Cudahy, Walter Davidson, Herman W. Falk, Otto H. Falk, Adolph
Finkler, Oliver C. Fuller, Fred T. Goll, Howard Greene, Edgar J. Hughes,
J. P. Hummel, Walter Kasten, Harry Landauer, George P. Miller. II. J. Xun-
nemacher, Gustave Pabst, Ludingtou Patton, L. J. Petit, Charles F. Pfister,
Fred C. Pritzlaff, Louis Schriber, H. O. Seymour, Frederick L. Sivyer, Clement
C. Smith, Henry M. Thompson, Edward A. Uhrig, George I). Van Dyke, John
C. Van Dyke, Fred Vogel, Jr., Herman F. Wolf.
Marshall & Ilsley Bank.— (Founded 18-47). Officers: J. II. Puelicher,
president; John Campbell; vice president: G. A. Reuss, vice president and
branch. manager ; F. X. Bodden, vice president; J. H. Daggett, vice president
and manager Bond Department; John E. Jones, cashier; II. .1. Paine, assistant
cashier; Jos. C. Moser, assistant cashier, A. B. Nichols. Jr., assistant cashier:
C. R. Jeske, assistant branch manager; Chas. F. Ilsley, assistant cashier; Albert
S. Puelicher, assistant cashier. Directors: J. 11. Puelicher, John Campbell,
G. A. Reuss, J. K. Ilsley, William S. Marshall, J. H. 'IV ly, Jr., Robert X.
McMynn, Julius 0. Frank, A. P. Woodson, Albeit F. Gallun, Win. W. Cole-
man. Win. E. Black
Second Ward Savings Bank. -Officers: J. E. Uihlein, president: Henry
Bielfeld, vice presidenl ; Albert C. Elser, vice president: J. U. Lademan, vice
president; Robert A. Uihlein, vice president; R. S. Peotter, vice president;
G. L. Weigle, cashier; W. (i. Whyte, assistant cashier; M. E. Baumberger,
assistant cashier; Kurt Meyer, assistant cashier: A. II. Ilorneil'er. assistant
cashier; F. T. Nicolai, assistant cashier: Russell .Jackson, counsel. Directors:
Jos. E. Uihlein, Henry Bielfeld, Albert < '. Elser, Fred -I. Schroeder, Robert
A. Uihlein. Win. B. Uihlein, Russell Jackson, Erwin 0. Uihlein, .1. 1'. Lade-
man, (I. L. Weigle, R. S. Peotter, Fred I'abst. Willits Bollock.
American Exchange Bank. Officers: E. .1. Kearney, president: l>\ I..
Stone, vice president; Carl G. Engelke, vice presidenl and cashier: ('. I).
Raney, vice presidenl ; -I. Edgar Robertson, assistant cashier; Frank M. ('overt.
BANKING AND FINANCE 363
assistant cashier ; Jas. L. White, assistant cashier ; W. A. Manegold, assistant
cashier; E. A. Nowak, manager; Roman Czechorski, assistant manager;
Mitchell Street office; W. II. Correll, manager National Avenue office; G.
H. Babenroth, assistant manager National Avenue office. Directors: Aug.
C. Beck, John D. Bird, Wm. George Bruce, Hugo Deuster, W. D. Johnson,
E. J. Kearney, F. A. Lange, M. S. Sheridan, R. L. Stone, Theodore Trecker,
Frank L. Weyenberg, Edgar L. Wood.
The National Bank of Commerce.— Officers : Herman Fehr, president;
Geo. P. Mayer, vice president ; Alfred G. Schultz, vice president ; E. A. Redde-
man, cashier ; Walter C. Georg, assistant cashier; Harry W. Zummach, assistant
cashier. Directors: Wm. Berger, Geo. F. Brumder, L. W. Bunde, Wm, C.
Brumder, Herman Fehr, Geo. P. Mayer, F. M. Wilmanns, F. P. Blumenfeld,
W. J. Krauthoefer, Alf. G. Schultz, ('has. II. Whiffen, Arthur R. Munkwitz,
Albert T. Friedmann, Herman A. Wagner.
The National Exchange Bank. — Officers : J. W. P. Lombard, president;
Grant Fitch, vice president; Wm. M. Post, cashier; G. W. Augustyn, assistant
cashier. Directors: F. R, Bacon, II. J. Brown, Grant Fitch, Lawrence Fitch,
J. W. P. Lombard, Charles Ray, II. F. Whitcomb.
The Marine National Bank. — officers: Washington Becker, president;
Arthur II. Lindsay, vice president; Edward H. Williams, cashier; Geo. W.
Moore, assistant cashier; Geo. D. Prentice, assistant cashier; Thomas J.
Duruin, secretary. Directors: Washington Becker, Thomas Daly, Francis
E. Dewey, Stephen H. Hoff, Alfred F. James, Arthur H. Lindsay, Edmond J.
Lindsay, William B. Strong, Herbert A. Viets.
Merchants and Manufacturers Bank. — Officers: L. M. Alexander, chair-
man of the board of directors; W. F. Myers, president; H. P. Andrae, vice
president; Benj. V. Dela Hunt, cashier; Frank Brand assistant cashier;
James K. Edsall, assistant cashier. Directors : L. M. Alexander, H. P. Andrae,
Fred Doepke, Benj. V. Dela Hunt, W. F. Myers, E. C. Knoernehild, Judson G.
Rosebush, George F. Ruez, T. H. Spenee, Gustav J. A. Trostel, F. J. Wood,
Haskell Noyes, W. H. Park, George Gibhs.
Bay View Commercial and Savings Bank. — Officers : E. J. Kearney, pres-
ident ; R. L. Stone, vice president ; Fred W. Niles, vice president and cashier ;
Frank J. Amann, assistant cashier; Paul A. Papke, assistant cashier. Directors:
Aug. C. Beck, E. J. Kearney, Fred W. Niles, M. S. Sheridan, R, L. Stone,
W. P. Westenberg, Edgar L. Wood.
The City Bank. — Officers: Edw. A. Farmer, president; F. M. Weinhold,
vice president; John H. Moss, vice president; W. F. Jackson, cashier: W. B.
Frank, assistant cashier; W. H. Sullivan, assistant cashier. Directors: II. II.
Bloedel, Chas. L. Borst, Edw. A. Farmer, M. II. Grossman, W. F. Jackson,
John H. Moss, Benj. Poss, J. E. Sharp, L. R. Stollberg, F. M. Weinhold, J. C.
Zeman.
Home Savings Bank. — Officers and Directors: Faustin Prinz, president;
Michael B. Wells, vice president; Alfred Prinz, cashier; Geo. E. Trupke, as-
sistant cashier; George Durner, Albert Froede, Julius J. Goetz, Chas. J.
Poetsch, Hugo Zedler.
Kilbourn State Bank of Milwaukee. — Officers: J. II. Weber, president;
::iil EISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Jos. Miller, vice president; F. B. Wallber, cashier; C. II. Elwing, assistanl
cashier; Edwin Schulz, assistant cashier. Directors: John E. Dirk, Val.
Gerhardt, M. J. Grueschow, ('has. Sommerfield, Frank Frentz, Gust. Kohl-
hardt, Geo. Bauer.
Layton Park State Bank. — Officers: M. II. Traub, president; II. J. Gram-
lin, M. D., vice president; E, W Behrens, cashier. Directors: W. II. Dick.
II. J. Gramling, M. D., II. Held, Prank Serda, A. M. Lohr, E. II. Mayer, Wm.
Mitchell. M. Schneider, M. II. Traub.
Lincoln State Bank. — Officers: A. Szcerbinski, president; P. L. E. Dro
zniakiewicz, vice president: .Martin J. Daly, cashier. Directors: Thomas
Kuczynski, Anton Hauerwas, I!. A. Dziennik, Anton Lukaszewicz.
Milwaukee Commercial Bank. — Officers: Alfred Kay, president; Paul
Hammersmith, vice president; Wm. C. Ahlhauser, vice president; C. A. Gun-
derson, cashier; E. M. Kells, auditor. Directors: Alfred Kay, Paid llanimer-
sniith, Wm. C. Ahlhauser, Theodore Ernst, M. J. Guenther.
Mitchell Street State Bank.— Officers : J. T. Johnston, president; S. J.
Wabiszewski, vice president; P. J. Grutza, cashier. Directors: J. T. John-
ston, S. J. Wabiszewski, Frank J. Grutza, A. E. Martin, J. M. Schneider, J. T.
Esser, A. P. Kunzelmann, Chas Miksch
North Avenue Bank. — Officers : Wm. F. Coerper, president ; George L.
Baldauf, vice president; A. J. Langholff, vice president; Joseph M. Wolf,
vice president; F. A. Lochner, cashier; J. A. Chivas, assistant cashier: E. 0.
Perschbacher, assistant cashier. Directors: George L. Baldauf, J. H. Binney,
J. C. Coerper, Wm. F. Coerper, John Diercksmeier, Wm. C. Garens, A. H.
Hammetter, Wm. P. Hug, F. W. Kaufman, A. J. Langholff, P. A. Lochner,
E. L. Mohr, Alberl Sehultz, John Stuesser, Joseph M. 'Wolf.
Security Bank of Milwaukee. — Officers: Louis Scheich, president; Ernst
Demin, vice president; Oscar E. King, vice president; Burne Pollock, cashier;
(ieu. A. Knauer, assistant cashier. Directors: Jos. H. Becker. Henry J. Bend-
inger, Henry Cook, Ernst Demin, Oscar E. Klug, Chas. Knoersehild, John
Mueller, Burne Pollock, Dr. Theo. H. Rolfs, Louis Scheich, John P. Schmitt,
Henry Spielvogel.
The Union Bank of Milwaukee. — Officers : John ('. Karel, president; Jos.
M. Crowley, vice president ; J, M. Ettenheim. vice president ; Ceo. I). Luscher,
vice president and cashier; C. A. Florey, assistant cashier; L. W. Williams,
assistant cashier. Directors: John C. Karel, Jus. M. Crowley, J. M. Etten-
heim, Geo. D. Luscher, John Reichert, W. A. Schroeder, D. T. Leisk, Herman
Toepfer, Prank Roemer, Chas. Stolper, B. V. Davis.
Vliet Street State Bank.- -Officers: ('has. Knoernschild, president; Mas
Schoetz, Jr., vice president; Wm. C. Heib, vice president: Arthur If. Emer-
son, cashier ; Cus. Fondrie, assistant cashier. Directors: ('has. Knoernschild,
Wm. C. Heib, Max Schoetz, Jr., Arthur R. Emerson, Thomas A. Clancy, Wm.
R. McGovern, Wm. C. Blommer, Emi] F. Henoch, Clifton Williams.
Wisconsin State Bank. Officers: Chris, (dans, president; Harry S. Pig
gins, vice president; Wm. II. Hasse, cashier; C. A. Kamhe. assistant cashier.
Directors: John P. Bruemmer, Chris. (Hans. Wm. Gutenkunst, Wm. II. Hasse,
BANKING AND FINANCE 365
Oscar C. Mehl, John Muekerheide, Herm. Noll, John H. Paul, Harry S. Piggins,
Ed. E. Plaum, Aug. C. Sehrt.
First National Bank (West Allis). — Officers: 0. L. Hollister, president;
Henry Freeman, vice president; I. L. Tipple, cashier, M. W. Markert, assistant
cashier. Directors: C. Edwin Search, Henry Freeman, S. Breese, Jr., Theo.
Trecker, 0. L. Hollister, L. H. Schmidt, Theo. Mueller, A. LeFeber, Orville
Evans, I. L. Tipple.
The Citizens Bank of North Milwaukee. — Officers: H. A. Wagner, pres-
ident; E. D. Coddington, vice president; Chas. H. Krolm, cashier; J. F. Mies-
bauer, assistant cashier; A. Polglase, assistant cashier. Directors: 11. A.
Wagner, J. H. Rohr, Ed. Butler, Wm. II. Momsen, T. II. Spence, E. D. Cod-
dington, Wm. 0. Neilson, C. H. Krohn.
Wauwatosa State Bank. — Officers: Gilbert J. Davelaar, president; S. J.
Brouwer, vice president; II. A. Digman, cashier. Directors: Gilbert J. Dave-
laar, S. J. Brouwer, II. A. Digman, Jos. M. Guentner, Wm. Gettelman, L. L.
Gridley, Michael Schmidt, Robt. Kuhnmuench, Edw. Geske.
First National Bank of Wauwatosa. — Officers: P. D. Gates, president;
Wm. R, Nethercut, vice president: F. N. Ferguson, cashier; M. J. Plautz,
assistant cashier. Directors: Donald 0. Barbee, W. H. Eastman, C. T. Fisher,
P. D. Gates, E. II. Graber, Wm. R, Nethercut, E. A. Swan, F. D. Underwood.
West Allis State Bank.— Officers : J. T. Johnston, president; W. R, Mc-
Kowen, vice president; T. E. Lusk, cashier. Directors: J. T. Johnston, W.
R. McKowen, T. E. Lusk, P. J. Biwer, Chas. II. Hathaway, Aug. Rosenthal,
G. C. Hinkley.
West Side Bank of Milwaukee. — Officers: Adam Gettelman, president;
George Koch, vice president; Chas. J. Kuhnmuench, cashier; Herbert Feerick,
assistant cashier. Directors: Adam Gettelman, Otto J. Schoenleber, V. J.
Sehoeneeker, Jr., Walter A. Zinn, Victor Schlitz, John Sehwalbach, George
Koch.
Teutonia Avenue State Bank. — Officers: E. W. Staadt, president; A. E.
Schunk, vice president; Chas. Elkert, second vice president; John C. Stuesser,
cashier; J. P. Mueller, assistant cashier. Directors: C. C. Staadt, E. W.
Staadt, A. E. Sclrank, Frank Dau, Chas. Elkert, Fred W. Kaufman, Geo. Kaul,
A. G. Netter, Ed. Radtke.
Park Savings Bank. — Officers: Jesse Cappon, president; Alex Ritter, vice
president; F. G. Exner, cashier; P. II. Wendt, assistant cashier. Directors:
Jesse Cappon, Alex Ritter, Peter Kotvis, Robert Reinhold, Fred W. Kemp,
Stephen P. Croft, Wm. C. Feerick, Paul Hartung, F. G. Exner, Henry Ilnnholz,
R. S. Witte.
Holton Street State Bank. — Officers: Henry Vetter, president; A. R.
Punke, vice president; W. S. Clarkson, cashier. Directors: F. W. Fellenz,
Theo. A. Trapp, E. II. Williams, Jos. Pozorski, Peter P. Glysz, August Zamka.
Italian Mutual Savings Bank. — Officers: John Busalacchi, president; N.
S. Maniaei, vice president; I). M. Giuli, treasurer; J. M. Giuli, secretary.
Directors: John Busalacchi, X. S. Maniaei, D. M. Giuli, J. M. Giuli, E. ('.
Baroni, T. Reliant, S. Busalacchi, A. C. Giuli, N. Romano, l>. Coraggio, T.
1 lusalacchi, A. Arena.
366 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Liberty State Bank. — Officers: I. J. Rosenberg, president; Charles E.
Tegge, Dr. H. F. Jermain, vice presidents; B. G. Schlieger, cashier; P. II. SosofiE,
assistant cashier. Directors: A. J. Bitker, George Born, II. \>. Eder, II. R.
King-. Henry Kurtz, M. Miller, William M. Raasch, F. Stocklass, Dr. II. L.
Tilsner, W. A. Wegner, 11. 0. Wolfe.
East Side Bank.- Officers: William I. Greene, president; P. I>. Dean, vice
president: W. F. Nolan, cashier. Directors: Dr. W. T. Nichols, W. I. Greene,
Richard Kiel, P. W. Dean, Otto Best.
Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank. — Officers: Emil Brodde, president;
John C. Kleist, first vice president ; E. G. Rahr, second vice president : C. B.
Whitnall, secretary-treasurer. Directors: Emil Brodde, John C. Kleist. E. G.
Rahr, C. B. Whitnall, Louis A. Arnold, Gabriel Zophy, R G. Schuffenhauer,
Paul E. Schmidt, Howard Tuttle.
Building and Loan Associations. — Milwaukee County :
American Mutual Loan & Bldg. Assn. — Samuel S. Weil, secretary. 815
Railway Exch. Bldg., Brdw. 681.
Atlas Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — John G. Reuteman, secretary. 442.">
Lisbon Ave., Kilb. 216.
Badger Savings, Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Louis E. Stanton, secretary. 902
Majestic Bldg., Grand 16.
Bahnfrei Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — John Stattner, Jr., secretary. 1120
North Ave., Line. 3184.
Bay View Bldg. & Loan Assn. — J. C. Bullock, secretary, 1285 Kinnickinnic
Ave., Han. 1831.
Bohemian Mutual Loan & Bldg. Assn. — F. A. Ambroz, secretary, 661
Muskego Ave.
Citizens Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Frank Armitage, secretary, Loan &
Trust Bldg., Grand 1532.
Community Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Nic. W. lleintskill. secretary. 2411 Vliet
St., Kilb. 3108.
Employes' Mutual Savings, Bldg. & Loan Assn. — E. J. Evans, secretary.
215 Sycamore St., Grand 5100.
Excelsior Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Charles P. Hermann, secretary.
640 First St, Line. 4473.
Fidelity Bldg. & Loan Assn. — G. A. Karsten, secretary. 795 Twenty-first
St., Kilb. 2613.
First Slovak Nat'l. Bldg. & Loan Assn. — John Bzdusek, secretary. Cndahy.
Wis., Cudahy 95-M.
Green Bay Ave. Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — William .Meyer, secretary,
14.16 Green Bay Ave.. Line. 327.
Integrity Savings, Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Fred W. Krueck, secretary, 507
Trust Co. Bldg.. Brdw. 87.
Keystone Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn.. A. Kay. secretary, 158 Fifth St,
Grand 5167.
Kinnickinnic Mut. Loan iv Bldg. Assn. — Aug. F. Dunst. secretary, 1141
Lincoln Ave.. Han. 598.
BANKING AND FINANCE 367
Layton Park Bldg. & Loan Assn.— A. J. Muth, secretary, 1141 Lincoln Ave.,
Orch. 895.
Lincoln Ave. Loan & Bldg. Assn. — A. Szcerbinski, secretary, 556 Lincoln
Ave., Orch. 1207.
.Marquette Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — P. Muckerheide, secretary, 985
Greenfield Ave., Orch. 3551.
Milwaukee Mutual Loan & Bldg. Assn. — J. J. Maker, secretary, Brumder
Bldg., Grand 1020.
Mitchell Street Bldg. & Loan Assn.— R. J. Talsky, secretary, 735 Mitchell
St., Orch. 788.
Modern Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — H. R. Graham, secretary, 523 Grand
Ave., Grand 4224.
Northern Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — II. E. Ruggaber, secretary, 1092
Teutonia Ave., Line, 4643-R.
Northwestern Mutual Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Nic. Hoyer, secretary, 3325
Lisbon Ave., Kilb. 1080.
Polish Nat'l Loan & Bldg. Assn. — Louis A. Pons, secretary, 442 Mitchell
St., Han. 1300.
Polish-American Loan & Bldg. Assn. — August M. Fons, secretary, "West
All is, Wis., W. Allis 64.
Second Bohemian Loan & Bldg. Assn. — Frank Stocklasa, secretary, 1410
Fond du Lac Ave., Kilb. 3936.
Security Loan & Bldg. Assn. — Theo. Mueller, secretary, 353 National Ave.,
Han. 364. *
Skarb Kosciuszko Loan & Bldg. Assn. — B. A. L. Czerwinski, secretary,
41M Lincoln Ave., ITan. 470.
Skarb Polski Loan & Bldg. Assn. — I. A. Przybyla, secretary, 442 Mitchell
St., Han. 159.
Skarb Pulaski Bldg. & Loan Assn. — S. J. Jazdzewski, secretary, 33 Locust
St., Line. 825.
Skarb Sobieski Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Val. Jendrzejczak, secretary, 1090
Fifth Ave., Han. 3365-W.
South Milw. Mutual Loan & Bldg. Assn., Viola M. Scott, secretary, So.
Milwaukee, Wis.
Standard Bldg. & Loan Assn. — A. R. Calhoun, secretary, Brumder Bldg.,
Grand 4083.
South Side Mutual Loan & Bldg. Assn. — J. M. Schneider, secretary, 493
Mitchell St., Han. 627.
Sterling Savings, Loan & Bldg. Assn. — August Rebhan, secretary, 405
Broadway, Brdw. 3687.
United Bldg. & Loan Assn.— Paul F. Berndt, secretary, 1211 Walnut St.,
Grand 256.
Washington Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Otto T. Salick, secretary, 3610 North
Ave., Kilb. 3790.
Wauwatosa Bldg. & Loan Assn. — Edw. F. Geske, secretary, Wauwatosa,
"Wis., Wau. 1062-W.
368 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
West Allis Bldg. & Loan Assn. — I. L. Tipple, secretary, West Allis, Wis.,
W. Allis 630.
Wisconsin .Mutual Loan & Bldg. Society —P. A. Schmidt, secretary, Wesl
Milwaukee Shops, West 4570.
Wisconsin Savings, Loan & Bldg. Assn. — Clem. P. Host, secretary, Brumder
Bids'., Grand 6811.
CHAPTER XXIII
LIFE AND FIRE INSURANCE
In the field of insurance, particularly life insurance, Milwaukee has fig-
ured in a prominent way. This is due to the fact that it founded and reared
one of the largest life insurance institutions in the United States and which
here deserves first place in the treatment of the subject of insurance. We
can do no better than quote Henry F. Tyrell who says:
"The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company is sixty-four years
old. It came to Milwaukee when the city was thirteen years old and when
the company could hardly stand alone. It was not a stalwart child and its
prospects were poor, indeed. Its sponsors turned it over to its new guardians
with less than $300 in assets and without enough genuine sustenance to last
a day. Judge Henry L. Palmer and S. S. Daggett went to Janesville where
it was born and literally carried the whole institution including 'books, pic-
tures and family wearing apparel' in their arms, to Milwaukee, where it was
nurtured and cared for, and where it has 'waxed exceeding strong.'
"Gen. John C. Johnston was the founder of the institution. Down in old
Vermont he had been teacher of the Hydes, one general agent of the Mutual
Life Insurance Company at Boston and the other, president of the great
Equitable of New York, and when the spirit of unrest moved him, he traveled
down to New York City taking an agency for the Mutual Life. He served
seven years, from 1847 to 1854, and resigned, coming west to Janesville, Wis.,
with $30,000 in his pockets, a real fortune for those days.
"He purchased a tract of about one thousand acres of land 7% miles north-
west of Janesville, on the Madison road, built thereon a large brick house
and stone 'milk factory' and cherished the hope that he might establish
a successful dairy farm. He was poorly equipped for this plan and because
of lack of experience, rapidly sunk his fortune in the project. Then his
thoughts reverted to life insurance and he succeeded in getting a bill passed
by the company incorporating the Mutual Life Insurance Company of the
State of Wisconsin, the name being changed to the present one, January 20,
1865.
"The company began business at Janesville, Wis., but moved its head-
quarters to Milwaukee, March 8, 1859. On coming to Milwaukee, The North-
western was first housed on the site of the present Railway Exchange Build-
ing. It now occupies an imposing structure at 210 Wisconsin Street, said to
be the handsomest office building in the world.
"Imagine for a moment the circumstances in which The Northwestern
369
THE OLD INSURANCE BUILDING, MARBLE HALL. KAILWAV EXCHANGE BUILDING
(The larger building was formerly occupied by the Northwestern Mutual
Life Insurance Company.)
LIFE AND FIRE INSURANCE 371
first saw the light of day. That was back in 1857 when the Badger state was
not yet ten years old and the City of Milwaukee, less than fifteen. Wiscon-
sin was sparsely settled, and it was struggling against the hardships of pio-
neering. The state had but one railroad, and that had just been completed.
.Markets were few and far between. Financial devastation stalked grimly
abroad. Civil war, with all its prospective horrors and desolations, loomed
up menacingly. Doubt and distrust took away the nerves of men. The pres-
ervation of property appeared far more important than the insurance of lives
and it was amid these handicaps that Gen. John C. Johnston, from out the
eastland, came to Wisconsin. Tiring of his preconceived idea of settling
down on a stock farm near Janesville, he began to interest men in the estab-
lishment of a life insurance company.
"The material progress of The Northwestern starts with the day it entered
Milwaukee, March 8, 1850. The story of that progress is written into the
official records of nearly every state in the American union and it is a narra-
tive of accomplishment — of marvelous, but deserved, success.
"It is the story of hundreds of thousands of persons happily insured;
of vast sums of money saved from small surplus by thrifty farmers, work-
men, artisans and others; of millions of dollars furnished for the protection
of homes and the maintenance and education of American families; of other
millions which have merged into nation building accessories — railroad sys-
tems, turnpikes, drainage, canals, telegraph and telephone companies, com-
mercial and industrial institutions.
"Indeed, the true story of the material progress of The Northwestern, if
properly told, would make as fascinating a fiscal recital as a Midas could wish,
but it would involve an array of figures which would not be particularly
interesting to the casual reader. It is necessary — and it is eminently proper —
to say, however, that from a weak, toddling infant which was brought to
the doorsteps of Milwaukee in 1859, The Northwestern has developed into
stahvart proportions in its sixty-two years of experience here. Some idea of
its development may be had from the fact that the company now is composed
of more than 730,000 American members whose homes are protected to an
amount exceeding $2,250,000,000 !
"Figures are easily written and hastily forgotten. It means little to the
casual reader, for example, to note that during the year 1920 The Northwest-
ern paid out in death losses alone, the sum of $18,763,000 but the analyst with
imagination catches the picture of the producer of the family gone and the
money turned to the protection of home and to the happiness of survivors.
"It requires but the dash of a pen and the click of a linotype to record
that in the year 1920 The Northwestern paid out more than $50,000,000 to its
policyholders and their beneficiaries, and the casual reader will pass on to
the next paragraph without a thrill, but the thoughtful reader will instantly
realize, with proper astonishment, that the state and nation were relieved of
possible pauperism to just exactly that immense amount.
"The casual reader misses much of the romance of life insurance. He does
not appreciate the real service of the institution. He vaguely senses the fiscal,
but misses the sentimental altogether. He looks upon the picture blankly.
372 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
But the man of imagination sees in life insurance an instrumentality of home
protection, family support, business conservatism, thrift, solvency, nation-
building and contentment.
"It is well enough to* show figures which evidence successful business
administration, for they are a source of pride, naturally, but the real figures
of life insurance are graven upon the hearts and minds of those who have
received of its beneficence 'to keep the broken home from separation and
from charity.'
"In a history of this description, however, one would fail to do justice to
the book, or to the company, if he neglected to point out one paramount
feature of the development of The Northwestern. For many years — indeed
so long as to entitle it to the distinction of being the pioneer — The North-
western has loaned a goodly percentage of its available funds to farmers for
the purchase and improvement of their property. Millions upon millions of
dollars have been thus loaned, particularly in the West and Middle West.
and the largest portion of the investments of the company today is in real
estate mortgage loans. Equally important and striking is the fact that for
many years past farmers have been the leading insurers in The Northwestern.
"Why did The Northwestern succeed? Because it had men administering
its affairs who knew how to do it and who never compromised a principle.
It is not the way of the world to dwell upon the accomplishments of the dead,
but any writer who undertook to account for the success of The Northwestern
and who neglected to mention the sterling ability of Henry L. Palmer: the
great genius of Emory McClintock and the constructive facility of Willard
Merrill, would fail of his undertaking. During the sixty-four years of its
history The Northwestern has had but five chief executive officers: S. S. Dag-
gett, who served from 1859 to 1868; John H. Van Dyke. 1869-1874: Henry
L. Palmer, 1874-1908; George C. Markham, 1908-1919 and W. D. Van Dyke
elected January 29, 1919, and still serving.
"The Northwestern has just come through the two greatest years in its
history. The men who preside over its destinies today are building well upon
the foundation eternally laid for them by master hands. To these later men
belongs the credit for the astonishing records of recent years. The executive
officers are: President, W. D. Van Dyke; vice presidents. P. R. Sanborn and
M. J. Cleary; secretary, A. S. Hathaway: general counsel, Geo. Lines: actuary.
Percy II. Evans; superintendent of agencies, George E. Copeland : and medical
director. Dr. J. W. Fisher."
The Northwestern National Insurance Company. — This company, which
has played a leading part in the insurance history of the city, was founded
in 1869 by some of the foremost business men of thai period. The articles of
association were signed by Alexander Mitchell. Angus Smith. Lester Sexton.
Levi H. Kellogg, John Plankinton, Greenleaf D. Norris, Sherburn S. Mer-
rill, David Ferguson, and John J. Tallmadge. its first presideni was Alexander
Mitchell who served in that capacity for eight years.
The original purpose of the company was to engage mainly in marine
insurance, but it soon took up fire insurance and gradually extended its
operations to the entire Middle West. The company's first office was located
LIFE AND FIRE INSURANCE 373
at 99 Michigan Street. From there the company in 1878 moved into more
commodious quarters in the Mitchell building at the corner of Michigan and
East Water streets. Its present home on Wisconsin Street, which is monu-
mental in architectural design and a model in interior orientation, \v;is con-
structed in 1906.
The company not only brought to its service the most honorable and
capable business men of Milwaukee in building for an important and useful
enterprise, but also continued the many years of its existence to gain in
stability and financial strength.
This fact was amply demonstrated in the record the company has made.
It braved the storms which have wrecked so many fire insurance companies,
met the great losses caused by huge conflagrations throughout the country,
and stood like a rock against the financial waves that were lashed against it.
There was the Chicago fire in 1871, the Milwaukee fire in 1892, the San
Francisco fire in 1906, the Minnesota forest fires in 1918. In these and many
other conflagrations the company suffered enormous losses which were
, promptly met. Its loss in the San Francisco fire reached the sum of over
one-half million dollars.
The company now does business through more than six thousand agents
and fifteen branch offices. It carries on its payroll nearly three hundred
employes. Its annual income exceeds the sum of $5,000,000.
In 3887 Alfred James succeeded Alexander Mitchell as president of the
company. Upon the death of Mr. James, Wilford M. Patton was chosen and
served until 1916. On April 8, 1916, the present incumbent of the office,
Alfred F. James, was chosen.
President James has maintained the high standards of business integrity
and of institutional stability which the early founders have espoused. He
has not only the distinction of succeeding a line of remarkable predecessors
but also to succeed his own father who was one of the most important factors
in the earlier history of the company.
The assets of the Northwestern National Insurance Company on January
1, 1919, aggregated the sum of $8,576,596.13, including a net surplus of $1,-
905,731.07.
The officers of the company are: President, Alfred F. James; vice presi-
dent, William D. Reed; second vice president, Joseph Huebl ; secretary, Lubin
M. Stuart; assistant secretary, Herman A. Schmidt; general adjuster, Arthur
J. Wright; manager automobile department, Roger G. Calton; chief examiner,
Albert L. Hentzen: manager local department, Joseph E. Williams; manager,
Northwestern Underwriters Agency, John B. Faatz. Directors: Charles
Ray, Hon. James G. Jenkins, Washington Becker, Grant Fitch, Howard Greene,
Fred Vogel, Jr., J. Ogden Armour, H. A. J. Upham, J. H. Tweedy, Jr., Robert
Camp, William D. Van Dyke, Alfred F. James, William D. Reed, Joseph Huebl.
The Milwaukee Mechanics' Insurance Company was incorporated under
a charter given by special act of the Legislature of Wisconsin, February 15,
1852, and, originally, was a mutual company, bearing the name of Milwaukee
Mechanics' Mutual Insurance Company. In its infancy the company did not
show much progress ; in fact at times its very existence was endangered, but
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Home ollice building on Wisconsin Street
NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL FIRE LNSURANCE COMPANY
LIFE AND FIRE INSURANCE 375
it weathered the many storms and soon won an enviable reputation among
the citizens of Milwaukee and vicinity.
After the close of the Civil war the company made astounding progress
and its growth from that time was steady and largely exceeded all expecta-
tions of its founders. When the desire for greater expansion of the company
was handicapped by the many failings of mutual companies, the doors of many
states barring its entrance into new and profitable territory, the company was
reorganized, the change having been resolved upon by a general vote of the
members, at the annual meeting in January, 1884, under a special act of the
Legislature and became a stock company with a capital stock of $200,000
paid into the treasury, and the company took a place among the millionaires.
This reorganization vested the company with new power and it immedi-
ately branched out in every direction, adding to its territory from time to
time until it now operates throughout the United Sates in practically every
state. It is the oldest and one of the most reliable of the fire insurance com-
panies in the Northwest, The cash capital of the company is now $1,250,109,
and the total assets including the reserves amount to $7,127,867.99, an in-
crease of about $3,000,000 over the assets of four years ago.
Its first year closed with assets totaling $1,236.63, while the report of
January 1, 1922, shows present assets of $7,828,586.13, testifying to the ex-
pansion of the company.
The collapse of several foreign insurance companies in 1850 and 1851, and
the many losses resulting, prompted a group of Milwaukee business men to
consider the organization of a home mutual fire insurance company, which
was incorporated under a charter given by special act of the Legislature of
Wisconsin on February 15, 1852.
The eight charter members of the board of directors were Isaac Neustadtl,
William Reinhart, Fred Schloemileh, Val Schranck, Charles Rau, Francis Hoff-
man. Ernest Prieger and William Schroeder. At a meeting on March 6, 1852,
they chose the following officers: Isaac Neustadtl, president; E. Prieger,
secretary, and Fred Schloemileh, treasurer.
The first policy — and present officials believe there was an omen in that
name — was issued to Joachim F. Luck on April 1, 1852.
Up to 1854 there was no startling progress in the company. But after that
lime, when Christian Preusser was elected president, development was rapid
and steady. Familiarly known as " Preusser 's Insurance Company," it
achieved an enviable reputation among the citizens of Milwaukee and vi-
cinity.
John C. Dick, who was appointed general agent in 1856 and later elected
vice president, and Adolph J. Cramer, who became secretary in 1865, were two
who contributed to the early success of the organization.
The failures of many companies as a result of the Chicago fire prompted
the management to cross the Wisconsin boundary line. When the company
celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary it was operating successfully in nine
states, and at present is operating in all but California, Delaware, Mississippi
and Nevada.
In January, 1884, under a special act of the Legislature, the company
376 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE
was reorganized as a stuck company, a capital stock of $200,000 paid into
the treasury, and the company placed among the millionaires.
Tlic company has occupied six offices during its career, first in the .Martin
Mock on the present site of-the Mack block, and. in succession, Grenacher's
building', Wiesmann's block, the Preusser block and its own building adjoin-
ing the Preusser block.
At the present time it occupies the entire sixteenth floor of the First Wis-
consin National Bank building.
Charles H. Yunker is president of the company and other officers are:
G. W. Grossenbach, first vice president; Robe Bird, second vice president;
R. H. Wieben, secretary; Emil Teich, Charles Klenk, Rene Steckel, assistant
secretaries, and Ernest G. Ebert, assistant treasurer.
The board of directors includes Fred Vogel, Jr., Charles F. Pfister, Gustave
Pabst, Otto H. Falk, W. C. Quarles, Carl G. Stern, Charles II. Yunker, Henry
J. Nunnemacher, William E. Black, Dr. Joseph Schneider, A. ( '. Swallow.
G. W. Grossenbach, Fred T. Goll, Armin W. Finger, Oliver C. Fuller, Arthur
R. Munkwitz, Robe Bird, William H. Schuchardt.
Old Line Life Insurance Company. — Commenced business in 1910; on De-
cember 31, 1919, its assets were $2,341,455.16; its surplus $202,453.26.
The commissioner of insurance, Mr. Piatt Whitman, in the foreword of his
annual report, says: "The progress of a company or society is usually more
clearly indicated by the figures covering a period of years than by the figures
for any particular year." This method is followed throughout the report,
and detailed statistics of all insurance companies in the state: — life, fire, ma-
rine, hail and casualty insurance are shown in five-year periods in compara-
tive form.
Milwaukee Stock Fire Insurance Companies (December 31, 1920). — Mil-
waukee Mechanics, commenced business 1852, assets, $7,511,472.88. North-
western National, commenced business 1869, assets, $9,076,638.24. Concordia,
commenced business 1870, assets, $4,640,812.52.
Milwaukee Domestic Mutual Fire Insurance Companies (December 31,
1920). -American .Mutual, commenced business 1905; risks in force $5.012.7'ls
Badger Mutual, commenced business 1891; risks in force, $16,945,940. Cream
City Mutual, commenced business 1889; risks in force, $6,893,266. Druggists
Mutual, commenced business 1907; risks in force, $648,600. Furniture healers
Mutual, Ltd.. commenced business 1917: risks in force, $700,750. .Jewelers
Mutual, commenced business 1914; risks in force, $3,521,300. Limited Mutual
Conditional Sales Insurance Company, commenced business 1919; risks in force,
$243,049. Market Men 's Ltd., Mutual, commenced business 1917 ; risks in force,
$699,000. Milwaukee .Mutual, commenced business 1907: risks in force. $3,031,-
308. Mutual Church, commenced business 1891; risks in force. $4,845,274.
Retail Lumbermen's Mutual, commenced business 1897; risks in force. $3,309,-
172. Security Mutual, commenced business 1919; risks in force. $1,782,019.
Wisconsin Ltd.. Mutual, commenced business 1905; risks in force. $328,094.
Wisconsin Retailers .Mutual Fire Insurance Com pa ny. Ltd., commenced business
1920, risks in force, $172,200.
Stock Casualty Insurance Companies in Milwaukee. — Midland Casualty
LIFE AND FIRE INSURANCE 377
Company, commenced business 1912. (December 31, 1919), assets, $178,512.67;
capital and surplus, $133,265.84. Old Line Life, commenced business 1911.
(See table under "Life Insurance.") Time Insurance Company, commenced
business 1910. (December 31, 1919), assets, $129,741.38: capital and surplus,
$76,383.59. Wisconsin Accident and Health Insurance Company, commenced
business 1915. (December 31, 1919), assets, $44,810.27; capital and surplus,
$32,504.81.
11 IP i.
iniissun
CIIAMBKK OK COMMERCE AND MITCHELL BUILDING
CHAPTER XXIV
MILWAUKEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
In the Milwaukee Sentinel of January 1, 1922, Mr. H. A. Plumb tells the
story of the chamber's earlier activities, as follows .
"The Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce, organized in 1S58, is one of the
oldest of the grain exchanges in the West — the oldest with the single excep-
tion of the Chicago Board of Trade.
"The Chicago exchange came into existence at about the same time, in the
same year, at least, but the other exchanges, some of which are now Large
and important bodies, were organized later — many years later, with the excep-
tion that the St. Louis Merchants' exchange came onto the scene in 1862.
"Before Civil War. — Away back in the years before the Civil war there
was considerable trading in wheat in Milwaukee on the old 'corn exchange,'
and it was so far back that the word 'corn' had more particularly the mean-
ing of 'grain,' as we understand the use of those words today, for there was
very little corn — or 'maize' — handled in this part of the country commercially
in those days. It was nearly all wheat, but a corn exchange was a grain ex-
change, and such was Milwaukee's first trading organization, whose members
were accustomed to gather in the railroad yards during the morning hours
and buy and sell the wheat upon its arrival. The grain at that time was shipped
in bags, the handling of bulk grain beginning about 1857.
"The records kept in the secretary's office show the shipments of grain
from Milwaukee to the East from 1845 to 1849 as consisting entirely of wheat,
but do not show the receipts until the year 1858, the year of the organization
of the chamber, when the total arrivals are given at 5,827,000 bushels of all
kinds of grain, less than 1,000,000 bushels covering all the corn, oats, barley
and rye, the balance being wheat.
"Had Ninety-Nine Members. — In 1858, on October 21st, these early day
grain merchants of what was by that time one of the most important ter-
minal markets in the United States organized -'The Chamber of Commerce of
the City of Milwaukee,' the association being housed at 1 Spring Street, the
site of Gimbel's store today. There were ninety-nine of these men, of whom
the late Robert Eliot, who died in 1917, was one, and so far as the writer
knows, lie was last of the charter members of the Chamber of Commerce.
"The original organization of the chamber was effected under the general
laws of the state, but after ten years the grain industry had grown to such
importance and become so highly specialized that the need for the authority
' of law for special activities, such as inspection and weighing of the grain, ami
379
::mi BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
arbitration i>f business differences and things of thai nature was apparent,
and so application Avas made to the Wisconsin Legislature for a charter granl
[ng certain rights and privileges and defining the powers of the association.
The charter was granted, becoming effective on February 29, 1868, the date
of its formal approval.
".Meanwhile the chamber had been removed, in 1863, to a building on the
site of the present one, which it occupied until Alexander Mitchell erected
the building now housing the association. This was completed in 1880, the
grain men being quartered in the interim at 415-417 Broadway.
"A National Factor. — During this period the Milwaukee Chamber of Com-
merce became a factor in the grain trade of the United States, and Milwaukee
was recognized as one of the principal markets of the country.
"In 1873 the receipts of grain of the various kinds amounted to 32,567,565
bushels, 28,457,937 bushels of which was wheat. These were extraordinarily
large receipts, and for a number of years, in fact, all through the '70s, Mil-
waukee handled what for those times was an immense volume of strain yearly.
Milwaukee's fame as a market spread all over the world, and 'Milwaukee
No. 2 wheat' was quoted in Liverpool as a standard.
"In the '80s the great markets, Milwaukee and Chicago, began to feel the
effects of the establishment of exchanges at other points. In 1S81 the Minne-
apolis Chamber of Commerce and the Duluth Board of Trade were organized
and opened up for business, as the development of the great Northwest
progressed with the building of railroads and the extens'on of agriculture
over its wide plains.
''While the grain industry at Milwaukee did not exactly retrogress, it
did not progress at the rate to which it had been accustomed, and a period of
comparative depression ensued, culminating in the early 1900s. Since that
time the growth has been steady and substantial, and Milwaukee has main-
tained a position as one of the leading grain markets of the country.
"Pioneer in Trade. — Being one of the oldest and most progressive ex-
changes of the middle western states, the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce
has been in many respects a pioneer in grain exchange methods. The rules
in effect in this organization have served as the patterns after which the
structures of other and more r mtly created trading associations have been
built. In fact, if one will turn to the rules of almost any of the numerous
exchanges organized since 1860 he will find entire sections copied word for
word from the rule book of the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce.
"A fact that is not generally known, even among the traders themselves,
is that the pit — the octagonal trading platform, with steps on the inside and
outside — which is used by the traders as a convenient device for their par-
ticular purpose, was first used in the Milwaukee exchange.
"The grain industry is today one of the mosl important commercial activ-
ities of Milwaukee. Property valued at $75,000,000 to $100,000,000 is ban, lied
yearly by the grain and seed firms, which are members of the Chamber of
Commerce, and this greal business is carried on with so little fuss and feathers
— due to the high degr »f perfection to which the grain exchanges have
attained in facilitating the distribution of grain— -thai the average citizen
MILWAUKEE CHAMBER OP COMMERCE 381
does not realize its magniture nor the prestige it gives Milwaukee with the
outside world.
"But this standing has not been maintained without effort — the grain
merchants here have not had things handed to them on a silver tray. It has
meant hard and continuous labor, and the element of persistency and keeping
everlastingly at it has entered into the situation. Unremitting watchfulness
was necessary to prevent the other markets from benefiting from discrimina-
tory railroad rates, and every so often a battle royal before the interstate
commerce commission had to be waged to keep Milwaukee on her feet, for
her grain merchants are facing the keenest sort of competition. New markets
and new exchanges are springing up at about the rate of one a year, each one
having its effect, more or less serious, in drawing grain from Milwaukee.
The strength of Milwaukee, however, as a market for the sale of grain is the
buying power exerted by her numerous manufacturing plants, which lends
a steady and continuous demand and this makes for permanence and sta-
bility— a great advantage over a strictly merchandising or distributing mar-
ket. "
At the opening of the Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce in 1858, the prin-
cipal address was made by Edward D. Holton, portions of which are quoted
elsewhere in this volume. This was followed by an appropriate speech by
J. B. D. Cogswell. In his references to the preceding address of Mr. Holton,
the speaker said: "We have listened to the addresses made, especially that
of Mr. Holton, with much pleasure. That gentleman is himself an evidence
of the thrift and prosperity of Milwaukee. He is now in the prime of life,
and the patriarchs of this state are not yet whitened with age.
"The day of small things for Milwaukee is but as yesterday. The patri-
archs of this city less than a generation ago laid the cornerstone of the enter-
prise and prosperity which you are enjoying. So great has been your growth
that the pioneers have been almost buried up in the great crowd that has
followed. You are to be congratulated upon the locality and elegant room
which you have chosen for your use. It is a place where you will be proud to
invite the stranger and friend. The organization of the Chamber of Com-
merce is indicative of the prosperity and wealth of the city.
Review of the Previous Conditions. — "It is well that such an institution is
now organized. In small towns there is no need of such things; there was
no commerce when Juneau came here and traded with the Indians, selling them
blankets, powder and traps for their furs; there was no commerce when farm-
ers drew their loads to town over heavy roads ; the place was small and every-
body knew where to find his neighbor. The common road has been succeeded
by the plank road, the plank road by the railroad; the farmer went through
the land and sowed the seed where the prairie flower grew; the axeman and
surveyor went forth, and then followed the construction of those arteries
which now enter our city on every hand, and heavy trains come thundering
along laden with the produce of the land, which but for these roads must
have rotted in the fields and in the barnyards."
The advantages derived from such an association are numerous, the mem-
bers will meet here every day, they will be near each other, they can speak
382 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
to cacli other from stall to stall, ami ran sell whole cargoes by mere samples.
This is what such an organization is lor. Here may be found the newspapers
from all the large rities of the Union and here will be received the telegraph
reports of the eastern and foreign markets.
"There are other benefits besides," continued the speaker. "This institu-
tion will be of direct benefit in elevating the character of the business man: it
is good to come together, it is not good to be alone anywhere. Man isolated
becomes selfish; if we mingle together we become philanthropic, take each
other by the hand with more confidence and promote what the French call
esprit de corps." Mr. Cogswell concluded his address with an appeal Eor
the strictest business morality among the members, a high integrity which
should pervade the dealings and actions of the business men ami merchants
of this city. "To them," he said, "was confided the future prosperity and
reputation of our city. We have a noble start and the best and only elements
out of which a large and prosperous city can arise — a fit population, an excel-
lent natural location and a superior country to back it up."
The Chamber of Commerce has through its entire career been a trading
body. It has not been a civic promotional organization as chambers are in
many American cities. Aside from its strictly trading activities, however, it
has concerned itself in the rail and water transportation facilities of the city.
It was for many years the sole guardian of Milwaukee's harbor interests, and
always maintained a traffic bureau promoting expedition and efficiency in rail
service.
The Chamber of Commerce has participated from time to time in move
ments designed to advance the civic and material progress of the community.
It has never failed to respond to the call. Whenever the interests of the city
were at stake its membership came forward readily, loyally and liberally in
tendering their support.
CHAPTER XXV
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE
The effort of American cities to gain in prestige, power and prosperity must
primarily be credited to individual initiative. The complex character and
scope of modern business life, however, has evolved a tendency to go beyond
individual effort and bring into play the concerted force and influence of
the many. A body or an association of men rather than any one man becomes
the instrument for promotion and for guidance. Thus every city, large and
small, has its organization of business and professional men through which
is expressed the hope, ambition and aspiration of the community.
The activities engaged in by the local commercial body, in a measure at
least, is a suggestive index to the commercial, industrial and civic tendencies
of the community. It supplements individual effort by collective effort,
prompts a spirit of progress, stimulates enterprise and growth, brings the
natural advantages of the city to their highest stage of development and
advances the civic ideals and standards of the community.
The Hon. James Bryce, a former British ambassador, during an address
delivered in Milwaukee some years ago said: "A new force has risen in
American cities which must be dealt with, and which has a peculiar power
for good. The commercial organization, properly constituted as to policy and
personnel, wields an influence not only in the promotion of industrial and
commercial development but becomes also a wholesome civic, factor. And
what could be a greater influence for good than a body of high-minded,
progressive and aggressive men, organized on non-political and non-partisan
lines? The official authorities do not always represent the highest ideals of
the community. The non-political commercial and civic body may become
the strongest factor in collecting, focusing and diffusing public opinion, in
cultivating higher aims and purposes."
The extent to which commercial bodies fulfill the mission assigned to them
depends upon the financial support they receive and the intellectual strength
of the executive officials and upon the spirit of progress with which the mem-
bership may be imbued. Much, of course, depends upon intelligent and ag-
gressive leadership, and where the local business men are not too hidebound
in their conservatism, an active and useful organization can be brought into
life.
The nature and character of the work performed depends largely upon
the natural surroundings and the possibilities of the locality. One locality lias
natural advantages which adapt it admirably for industrial growth, another
383
i i] ill -/Amuu
■
. \ terclianls -/Ar j t! on,
MWW.
COVER DESIGN FOR DINNER PROGRAM PROVIDED AT Till
PLANKINToX HOUSE, JUNE 5, 1884, liY THE MERCHANTS'
ASSOCIATION (NOW THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION
OF COMMERCE)
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 385
by virtue of peculiar location enjoys commercial advantages. But, whatever
the local conditions may be, as to advantages and disadvantages, it neverthe-
less remains that the efforts of commercial organizations are directed along-
economic and civic lines.
Outline of Association History. — The .Milwaukee Association of Commerce
is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the United States. It was on
March 5, 1861, that twenty-three public-spirited business men, headed by John
Nazro, then the hardware king of Milwaukee, came together for the purpose
of organizing a business association.
They sought to stimulate local commercial activities, establish trade con-
nections with the outside world, bring current business usage and methods
upon a higher plane, cultivate cordial relations among business men and
spread the fame and prestige of Milwaukee as a progressive and prosperous
commercial center.
Since the beginning of the association Milwaukee has seen its little shops
and stores grow in number and size, its business districts grow into important
marts of trade and commerce, its few small factories multiply themselves into
thousands of manufacturing plants many of which have grown into industries
of world-wide reputation. It covers a period when Milwaukee grew from a
small struggling community into a great city occupying a proud place among
the sister cities of the nation.
While the original founder merely sought the extension of trade it took
many years to develop correct ideas, as to the mission and purposes of a com-
mercial organization. Many obstacles and difficulties were encountered and
overcome and only with patient, application and loyalty to the cause in hand
was an efficient working body finally brought into life. Milwaukee's best
citizenship was identified in the development of the organization and took a
lively and active part in all its efforts to promote the growth and prosperity
of the city.
Among the association achievements of recent years are the erection of
the Exposition building, the permanent location of the State Fair in Milwau-
kee, the establishment of the Milwaukee School of Trades and construction
of the Auditorium Building and the preparation of the initial plans for the
acquirement of Jones Island as a public wharf and shipping center.
The Earlier Beginning's. — The suggestion for some form of organization
of business men had been under consideration for several years before anyone
took definite steps in that direction. The immediate cause for the organi/.a
tion was an excursion trip to the City of Philadelphia undertaken in January,
1861, by a small group of Milwaukee merchants. Those who participated
discussed the subject with some enthusiasm and upon their return a meeting
was called.
A local paper of that day described them as a "body of enterprising and
wholesouled men" who saw a future for the city and believed in striving
upon broad lines for its growth, development and prestige.
On March 5, 1861, the following, then leading business men of the city
met: Lester Sexton, Sexton Brothers & Company; W. P. Young, Young &
French; F. J. Bosworth, H. Bosworth & Sons; W. S. Candee, Candee, Dibble
Vol. 1—2 5
COVEB DESIGN OF MENU FOB BANQUET GIVEN AT THE PLANKINTON BOUSE,
JUNE :.. 1884, UNDEE THE AUSPICES OF THE MERCHANTS' ASSOI [ATION
PENING
IN j-foNOR
MERCHANTS ASSOCI^
&!$*&
■
■
i. id.
' "
' 4 ,
/ ... ...
( I, <*~
/
m
S
\li \l' FOB THE SEVENTH ANNUAL BANQUET GIVEN BY THE
ASSOCIATION AT THE PLANKTNTON BOUSE IN 188-1
Mi-:i;i BANTS
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 387
& Company; J. T. Bradford, Bradford Brothers; A. II. Atkins, Atkins, Steele
& White; George J. Sivyer, J. A. Benedict & Company; E. Terry, Terry &
Cleaver; John De Bow, Hanley & De Bow; Edward O'Neill, J. Dahlman &
Company; E. H. Terry, Goodrich & Terry; T. A. Greene, Greene & Button;
J. S. Richer, Jewell, Davis & Company; John Nazro, George Tracy, W. M.
Sinclair, Henry Fiss, Jr., Edward Truslow, George Bremer, George William-
son, J. A. Dutcher, G. P. Hewitt and Clarence Shepard.
The name chosen for the young organization was that of the Merchants
Association of Milwaukee. The officers elected were the following: Presi-
dent, John Nazro; vice president, (J. P. Hewitt; secretary, J. A. Dutcher;
treasurer, F. II. Terry; directors: J. T. Bradford, George Bremer, Lester Sax-
ton, F. J. Bosworth and W. M. Sinclair.
The first promotional effort that was undertaken by the association con-
sisted of the employment of a man named Captain Mapes who visited the
various sections of the state to make propaganda for Milwaukee as a trading
center. This was in 1S62. During the same year the organization together
with the Chamber of Commerce raised a company of soldiers for the Civil war.
In 1865 George W. Allen made the charge that the fire insurance rates
were exorbitant in that they were four times as high as those exacted in
Chicago. The charge was substantiated in a subsequent committee report.
The insurance companies responded with considerable sarcasm but the asso-
ciation eventually won out and the rates were reduced to an acceptable basi°.
At the same time the fire protection of the city was improved so as to meet
the requirements of the companies.
During the following year a unique report was made to the effect that "not
one member had failed in business." An effort was made to hold high the
credit of the business men of the city and to worry through the "storm and
stress" period of the Civil war without bringing commercial calamity upon
the city.
In 1S66 George H. Walker, one of the three original pioneers of the city,
died. The association adopted a resolution which embodied tiie following
sentence: "May the fair white city, now so young and vigorous, become great
among the cities of the world, and may the name or the virtues of one of its
founders, George H. Walker, never be forgotten."
During the same year Guido Pfister went to Madison to secure legislation
in the interest of the city. The legislators of both Minnesota and Wisconsin
visited .Milwaukee in 186!) for the purpose of studying problems of city gov-
ernment. Under the laws then existing the association had the appoint incut
of fish inspectors. The fish industry had been an important one for many
years. The last to serve in the capacity of such inspectors were Edward Fur-
long, J. W. Barnum and Edward Burke.
In 1875 funds were collected to secure the state fair and all business houses
and factories were closed for a day in order to enable the employes to attend
the fair. Funds were also gathered to aid the fire sufferers of Oshkosh.
The same year a committee consisting of Charles T. Bradley, E. II. Ball
and Elias Friend was sent to New York to induce capital to seek investment
in local enterprises. In 1890 funds were raised to help the New Richmond
:;ss HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
tornado sufferers and for the starving Porto Ricans. Tn 1900 the sum of
$15,000 was raised to retain the state fair.
Until 1893 the organization was known as the Merchants Association. A
Manufacturers' Club had been organized a few years before and in 18!*4 a
consolidation was effected and the mw organization with a membership of
346 was named the Merchants and Manufacturers Association. That year
Mr. John E. Hansen was the president. He urged a campaign to increase
the membership to 500. The headquarters were then located in the University
Building.
It would be difficult to crowd into a single chapter the long list of labors
performed during the period that now followed and the results obtained.
There were, of course, years when little or nothing was accomplished, but
there also came periods when the actual services performed on behalf of tin
city's commercial and industrial interests were of immeasurable value.
Efforts in Transportation. — The association members soon recognized the
fact that efforts would have to be made against discrimination in railroad*
rates and service. The protests were frequent and usually attended with
success.
Among the first moves made by the association was an agitation for a union
depot. This movement failed as the railroads claimed financial inability to
build. In 1863 the association aided in the sale of $75,0(>o of bonds of tin-
Fox River Valley Railroad. Three years later a large delegation witnessed
the opening of the McGregor and Western Railroad at Cresco, la.
The Northern Railroad to Menasha was completed in 1872 when a party
of 200 merchants made an excursion trip over the line. Then followed the es-
tablishment of a traffic bureau. With an expert in charge, the association has
been able to render a valuable service to the business public. Thousands of
complaints were investigated, shipping routes prepared, overcharges collected,
rate legislation fostered, etc.
While the association has always advocated more railroads for Milwaukee
it has not been inclined to disparage the facilities now existing. Its position
is outlined in the following which is taken from the history of the association
prepared in 1910 :
Transportation Facilities. — "Much has been said in recent years about .Mil-
waukee's transportation facilities. It has been asserted again and again
that the city needs more railroads and that our connections with the outside
world should be materially strengthened. This cry still holds good. It will
hold good in any growing community, more especially when it is recognized
that shipping connections create trade and add to the prosperity of such
community.
"But, here it should also lie remembered that the local commerce must
grow to a magnitude that will employ all additional facilities. The mere
passing through the city of trains means little, freight that originates here
as well as the freight that is destined for Milwaukee really counts and means
commercial activity and prosperity.
"Again we must not underestimate what we have. The two railroad lines
which enter here are among the greatest railway systems in the country. They
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 389
tap the great Northwest and connect us directly with the Pacific coast, They
carry our goods to the North and to the South.
"The connections with the East are via the Great Lakes. The various
boat lines and car ferries connect with the important railroad lines which run
to the ocean ports and through them connect with European centers. Thus,
it may be said that Milwaukee is linked either by water or land routes with the
four ends of the world.
"But, while this is true it does not preclude the desirability of more trans-
portation facilities. The cry for more roads still has efficacy when it is re-
membered that more direct connections will bring us in closer touch with the
other markets and afford more extended opportunity to stimulate new trade
relations. In 1879 active steps were taken to secure the construction of the
Lodi branch of the Chicago & North Western Railway to Milwaukee. In 1883
the effort to induce the C, M. & St. P. Ry. to build a union station was renewed.
"In 1887 a strong protest was made against freight rate discrimination.
It was charged that the railroads favored Chicago and exacted unfair rates
from the Milwaukee shippers.
"In the year 1894 theassociation secured the defeat of the plan of the rail-
roads to increase excess baggage charges, and also secured a reduction on
freight rates and collected many claims for over charges.
"The necessity of watching the question of shipping facilities and rates
became more apparent from year to year. A permanent committee on trans-
portation was finally created and is maintained to this day."
The Reconstruction Period. — In 1907 the association, then under the lead-
ership of William N. Fitzgerald, secured the services of William George Bruce
as secretary-manager. The headquarters of the organization were then located
in the University Building. The executive staff had up to this time consisted
of a secretary and a stenographer.
Under the new regime the dues were increased from $10 a year to $25
and the membership increased from 900 to 1,200. A few years later a general
membership campaign was undertaken and the list of members increased to
3,000.
The organization, which still went under the name of Merchants and
Manufacturers moved its headquarters to the Germania Building, now known
as the Brumder Building, located at the corner of Wells and Water streets.
Later the headquarters were transferred to the First Wisconsin National Bank
Building, then a few years ago the present home in the Milwaukee Athlet'c
Club Building was occupied.
The arrangement whereby the organization secured the second floor of
the Milwaukee Athletic Club located at the comer of Broadway and Mason
Street proved an advantageous one for both bodies. The members of the
Association of Commerce had become the principal financial backers of the
Athletic Club, but a merger of the two was nut deemed expedient owing to
their wide divergence in purpose.
The association, however, sought certain facilities which the club was able
to supply. On the other hand the club sought patronage. The jointure
whereby the association became a tenant of the building and the club re-
*^^
Till, MILWAUKEE ATHLETIC CLUB BUILDING. ALSO EOME OF THE MILWAUKEE
ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 391
mained the landlord, each retaining its own particular character and function,
was carried into effect. The association located its offices on the second floor
fronting on Mason Street, secured the use of an assembly hall, and dining
privileges. The noon luncheon meetings are held in the assembly hall, while
private dining rooms are reserved for special committee luncheon meetings
whenever desired. This arrangement has been deemed practical and has been
emulated in other cities between commercial bodies and social clubs.
The offices of the Association of Commerce are arranged to secure the
highest efficiency in performing the business of such a body. The various de-
partments are readily accessible by the business public. A large and com-
modious directors' room is provided which serves also advantageously for
various kinds of conferences and gatherings.
During the period beginning with 1907 the Merchants and Manufacturers
Association absorbed the Retail Merchants Association which had been in
existence for several years. The Citizens Business League, which has con-
cerned itself mainly with securing conventions and with city publicity was
also amalgamated with the association. The league had been originally
brought into life by the hotel men and brought to a high stage of efficiency
by Richard B. Watrous. A charities endorsement bureau which had been
conducted by E. C. Mattison as a private enterprise was absorbed by the
association.
When the drive for the larger membership was completed the organiza-
tion changed its name from the Merchants and Manufacturers Association to
Milwaukee Association of Commerce. This change was largely due to the fact
that the older name was somewhat restricted. There had now come into the
organization many members who could not be classed either as merchants or
manufacturers. Besides, the word "commerce" in its broader interpretation
seemed better suited to the aims and purposes of the association.
Here it should be added that the so-called commerce bodies throughout
I he United States have widened their scope from purely business promotional
purposes and included efforts in civic advancement as well. The Association
of Commerce had also broadened its scope and function whereby it concerned
itself with both the economic and civic welfare of the community, on the
established theory that the two are intimately interwoven and that primarily
a city must lie a good place to live in before it can become a good place in
which to prosper in a material sense.
During the period mentioned the association established a traffic bureau,
with a competent transportation man in charge which rendered a valuabh
service to the shippers. A convention bureau was also created and the effi-
ciency of that body was demonstrated in the increased number of conven-
tions secured since then for the city each year. The establishment of a credit
bureau was also deemed an achievement. This bureau provided thousands
of credit ratings to the local retail merchants and has since become an indis-
pensable agency in securing stability and regularity in retail credit trans-
actions.
The endorsement bureau, too, rendered a valuable service not only i'i
eliminating wasteful and fraudulent charity solicitations bul also in aiding
-
Q
3
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OP COMMERCE 393
worthy charity institutions towards more adequate support. The scope of
the bureau has in recent years been enlarged in that the subject of advertis-
ing solicitations receive attention. On the whole the bureau has saved the
community thousands of dollars annually in protecting it against unworthy
solicitations.
In 1918 the association began to concern itself with foreign trade promo-
tion. While no regular bureau was created committees served each year in
disseminating foreign trade information. The committee also issued a Spanish
edition of Civics and Commerce, the association's house organ, in which a
complete list of the manufacturers of the city producing exportable articles,
is given. This publication was widely circulated in Spanish-speaking coun-
tries.
The association has always given careful attention to legislative matters.
A committee representative of the various industrial and commercial inter-
ests has during each session of the State Legislature examined the bills and
joint resolutions that have come under consideration. The watchful care
given here has also been extended to measures affecting the professional and
educational interests.
The position of the organization lias frequently been misunderstood and
misinterpreted. While the policy of its legislative committee has been to
protect the business interests of the state against oppressive regulatory laws,
it has also supported measures designed to promote the social, educational and
civic welfare of the state. It has always supported the educational en-
deavors of the city and state in a loyal manner.
In local school matters the association has always taken a progressive
attitude. Among the things worthy of mention is its leadership in establish-
ing the trade schoool idea and securing the legislation therefor. It also secured
the abolition of the vertical system of penmanship in the public schools a few
years ago.
The Annual Merchants' Trips. — The first trade excursion was taken in
1878, covering a week beginning with June 17th, when a body of 108 Mil-
waukeeans, mainly business men, visited a number of Wisconsin and Minne-
sota cities. The party also included Gen. E. W. Hincks, of the Soldiers Home,
Judge James G. Jenkins, Mayor John Black, Postmaster Henry C. Payne,
Judge J. A. Mallory, Gen. C. S. Hamilton and Rev. Dr. John Fulton. Among
the prominent business men of that day who went on the trip to spread the
city's fame were T. A. Chapman, S. S. Merrill, Edward P. Allis, Henry L.
Palmer, Benj. M. Weil, Charles G. Starck, H. N. Hempstead, Edward Ascher-
mann, Bernard Goldsmith, W. S. Candee, Henry Niedecken and many others.
They were accompanied by Bach's band. Speeches, extolling the merits of
Milwaukee as a trade center and as a promising American metropolis were
made in every town visited. Doctor Fulton was the most popular orator of
the first trip.
Some years later the merchants' trips became an annual affair. Over five
hundred cities, towns and villages have since been visited, thousands of peo-
ple have been told of the beauties and the natural advantages of Milwaukee,
and of its manufacturing and commercial interests. Millions of souvenirs
394 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
mid pieces of advertising matter have been distributed throughout the west-
ern and northern territory.
For the period beginning with the year 1900 Franklin P. Blumenfeld
served ms the genius and 'guiding spirit of these trade extension journeys.
Another business man who won distinction as a promoter of the jobbers' and
wholesalers' interests was John L. Klingler whose energetic leadership was
generally recognized.
The thorough manner in which these remarkable trade extension trips
have been established, the plan of operation and their purpose may lie noted
by tin- following study prepared by the association.
The purpose and value of the animal trade trips and their management
may he analyzed as follows: The larger commercial centers of the Middle
West have in recent years engaged to a considerable extent in so-called trade
excursions or merchants' trips. The jobbers and wholesalers of Milwaukee
were among the first to engage in such trips and for a time no city sent out a
larger number of trade promoters or managed such trips with greater success
Here it should also be said that these excursions were undertaken only by the
class of cities to which Milwaukee belongs. The larger cities, such as Chicago,
and the smaller cities such as Des Moines. Sioux City, Aberdeen, etc.. did not
engage in them until within recent years.
Thus, it may he said that their value, or at least their popularity, is estab
lished. ' Hut. it may also lie well to analyze more closely just wherein and to
what extent the trade excursions are beneficial to the business houses that
engage in them and to the city that promotes them. The benefits or ad-
vantages derived from them may he summarized as follows:
First: They promote the spirit of friendship among those who participate
in merchants' trips. Business men are afforded an opportunity to become
more intimately acquainted with their competitors, learn to appreciate one
another as man against man, with the tendency to substitute wholesome com
petition for unfriendly rivalry.
Second: The members or managers of a business firm who participate in
such trips have an opportunity.
fa) To meet their customers in person, which is usually appreciated and
tends to strengthen the business relations existing between the firms and their
customers.
(b) These trips are apt to prompt immediate orders or pave the way for
future orders. Frequently a sufficient number of orders is secured by busi
ness men, the profits upon which cover the cost of several trips.
(c) The visiting merchant is afforded an opportunity to see his customer
in his home environments ami under conditions which furnish an answer to
the questions: " Is this a careful business man .' 1 las he a good store, centrally
located.' Does he keep his stock ill good condition.'" In the adjustment of
Credits' it is important to know something about the customer's methods o\'
doing business and the reputation he has at home.
Third : Affording an opportunity to those who have no trade in the region
visited, to study its lius'noss possibilities. It has frequently developed that
business houses have found it to their advantage to place salesmen in a field
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 395
after visiting the same, that had before such visit seemed unpromising. Thus,
many new trade accounts have followed as the result of these merchants' trips.
Fourth: A distinctive gain is made for the city that engages in these
trade trips. If the firms and individuals engaging in them did not derive an
immediate benefit there is still an advertising value which goes to the city.
It adds a prestige to such city which could be gained in no other way.
From the Standpoint of the Cities Visited. — Experience lias taughl (bat the
expressions of good will and friendship showered upon the Milwaukeeans all
along the routes traveled have been of the most sincere and cordial character
The personal expressions as well as the numerous speeches made, taken in their
entirety, have revealed the elements of genuine hospitality, geniality and good-
fellowship. While the attitude of the smaller centers of population is not
entirely unselfish in character there is usually a reciprocal spirit which forms
an important stimulus to strengthened business relations.
The basis for the friendly attitude on the part of the smaller town is usually
found in the following:
First: A local pride in the thought that an important merchants' exclu-
sion train honors the town with a visit. Such events are comparatively rare.
Second: A satisfaction in being afforded an opportunity to point out the
home town's achievements and possessions. Whether the local commercial or
industrial or institutional interests are large or small the resident citizen is
always proud to dwell upon them.
Third: The authorities usually recognize the fact that hospitality is ;i
virtue which applies to eommunit'es as well as to individuals and that hos-
pitality manifested on occasions of this kind denotes also the enterprise ami
public spirit of a people.
Fourth: That trade relations between the larger and smaller cities are
reciprocal; that the products of the farm which maintain the small city must
find their ultimate outlet for consumption in the larger centers of population:
that the manufactured article of the large city is in turn essential to the life,
activities and comforts of the farm and the small city.
Fifth: That, in other states the element of friendship is always strength-
ened by the men who claim their birth place in Wisconsin; and in this state
by the men who have relatives and friends in Milwaukee or who at some time
in their iives res'ded in this city. Thus, the social element becomes a factor
in the courtesies which are extended to the visiting merchants.
Attitude of the Visiting Merchants. — The responses usually made by the
executive officers and members of the Association of Commerce may be summed
up in the following thoughts and expressions:
First: That commerce knows no limitations; that state lines are created
for purposes of government only; that an interstate commerce is consistent
with the American idea and conducive to the welfare and prosperity of the
whole country; that we are fine people, under one flag, with one and the same
destiny.
Second: That the progressive merchant of the large city believes in the
integrity, mission and purposes of the smaller units of population; that the
WELLS "ITU E Bl 1 1 . 1 > 1 \ < ■
Corner Wisconsin and Milwaukee streets
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OP COMMERCE 397
smallest village alike with the greatest metropol's performs a function in the
economic, civic, educational and moral welfare of the nation.
Third: That, while the price list, quality of goods, taste and personal
preference are leading factors in trade, the element of personal contact and
friendship cannot be ignored or overlooked.
Fourth : That honesty and integrity are a permanent and self-accruing
asset in business and that the Milwaukee merchants come with honorable
motives, with clean hands and clean intentions.
Fifth: That commercial and industrial Milwaukee means to compete
aggressively with other markets; to apply enterprise, energy and industry in
developing its possibilities.
Sixth: To tell the world what Milwaukee is, what it has, and what it
stands for; to tell of its natural advantages, its geographical location; its
commercial and industrial achievements, its hopes, its aspirations and its
future.
Administration and Management. — The trade excursions heretofore under-
taken by the Milwaukee Association of Commerce have been uniformly suc-
cessful in the ends and purposes which they have aimed to serve, namely
to promote and strengthen the business relations between Milwaukee and the
outside world. They have also been conducted upon a self-sustaining basis.
The expense has been almost wholly borne by those who participated in them.
In order, however, that the greatest degree of service be attained in point
of participation, in the selection of an itinerary, in securing a reasonable rate
of per capita cost, in securing an efficient train service, in prompting a cordial
reception and in attaining favorable publicity in the towns to he visited, the
merchants' trips are planned with discriminate care months in advance and
with a supervisory care on the part of the executive officers and the board
of directors. More especially must this be done if the trips are to be made
self-sustaining in point of cost.
The committees entrusted with the immediate and detail arrangements are
apt to become engrossed in certain phases of the trip and lose sight of the
larger problems involved and the ultimate outcome of the financial end of the
project. Thus, action which shall be timely enough so as to make the veto
power of the board effective and practical both as to the itinerary and the
cost involved, should be recommended. The following suggestions have been
observed :
First: That, all trips are planned with a view of making them self-sus-
taining in point of cost.
Second: That the jobbers' committee plan its itinerary during the month
of January of each year for the tra.de excursion to be undertaken during the
month of June following, and that a list of probable participants be prepared
and acceptances be secured as early as possible.
Third: That the jobbers' committee present to the board of directors at
their meeting held in February a report on the next merchants' trip, the
itinerary and date for same, the number of prospective participants, the ar-
rangements for transportation, specifying cost for mileage, meals and sleep-
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMER< E 399
mg car service, accompanied by estimates as to the total receipts and expendi-
tures involved.
Relation between Civics and Commerce. — In fixing the status of the modern
commerce body in its relation to Local government and to the economic progress
of the community, William George Bruce has defined its scope, which defini-
tion has been accepted throughout the United States. It embodies the follow-
ing:
"1. All conditions making for the health and comfort and the educational
and moral progress of the people, in themselves wield a wholesome influence
upon the material advancement of the community. Industry and commerc ■
gain in efficiency and in ethical standards. Community power, prestige and
prosperity find their best impulse in a constituency that is morally and physi-
cally sound.
"2. The commercial organization must assume an advisory and coopera-
tive attitude towards the local governmental factors. It must primarily
recognize the powers, duties and prerogatives conferred by law upon thus;'
entrusted with the legislative and administrative branches of government.
It must speak only from the standpoint of the private citizen who acts in a
collective capacity, who is concerned in wise expenditure of pub! c funds, in
the introduction of laudable innovation, and in the upholding of acceptable
standards.
"3. A commercial organization must confine its efforts to principles an i
policies involved in local government rather than to persons and parties. Ic
cannot consistently engage in any activity which can be construed into a
partisanship between candidates and political parties. Here is the danger line.
Political parties have their adherents; candidates have their friends. Both
adherents and friends may be members of the commercial organization. To
exert partisanship here means to invade the field of practical polities and ths
domain of opposing political partes and organizations. Among these, divi-
sion and contest are the order of the day. Such invasion, therefore, leads to a
sea of disruption and sends the commercial ships upon the. rocks where it will
surely be wrecked and destroyed. The member of a commercial organization
may, in his individual capacity, support or oppose men and parties. That is
his privilege and his duty as a citizen. But, the commercial organization, as
such, cannot engage in political campaigns without exposing itself to the
danger of disruption and extinction. Nor is it, wise for the executive officers
of an organization, the president or secretary, to publicly champion the cause
of candidates or parties.
"4. The line of demarkation between civic activities and political activ-
ities, drawn by commercial bodies, must lie somewhere between ante-election
campaigning and post-election cooperation, between selfish partisanship and
unselfish non-partisanship, between party preferment and community progress
and welfare. Where the partisan efforts of the political organization end, or
ought to end, namely, on election day, the efforts of the non-partisan com-
mercial organization ought to begin. The local administration, in attempting
to carry out laudable measures and in seeking to conduct public affairs with
economy and efficiency, is entitled to the support of every loyal citizen. Per-
400 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
sonal and party preferences must yield where the welfare of an entire com-
munity is involved. What applies to the duties of the individual citizen
applies, iii a larger degree, to the collective citizen, as exemplified in the
modern commercial organisation. It must stand in a helpful attitude towards
the public servant, and the governmenl he represents, focus public attention
in the direction of desirable ends and purposes, crystallize public opinion in
their behalf, and support policies in municipal housekeeping thai are sound
and acceptable, and oppose those that are unsound and unwise.
"5. Among the civic promotional labors coming legitimately within the
province of commercial bodies, are those relating to the educational, sanitary,
welfare and recreational conditions of the community. A commercial organ-
ization must not attempt, as is frequently done, to duplicate a service already
well performed by the local government. Such activity is likely to prove
meddlesome and a waste of time and energy. Local conditions must determine
where effort is most needed. In some communities the educational factors are
lax, in others the sanitary conditions are weak, the traffic regulations are
antiquated, etc., requiring a wholesome public sentiment towards correction
and strengthening.
"6. The line of demarkation between commercial and civic affairs places
payroll and profit on one side, and physical and moral wellbeing of the com-
munity on the other. On the assumption that all the nobler ends and pur-
poses of life are predicated upon material progress of a people, it logically
follows that profit and payroll must lay the foundation for that civic and
social progress which is to follow. Or better still, economic and civic progress
must go hand in hand.
"7. The exact extent to which commercial success and progress is de-
pendent upon good government cannot be definitely fixed in dollar marks or
in financial statements. Commerce must have a clear roadway in which to
perform all its legitimate functions. Good government means to afford that
freedom of action and that protection to life and property which enables the
merchant, the manufacturer, the mechanic and the professional man to per-
form his part of the world's work.
"8. A progressive government, be it national, state or local, invites the
experience and judgment of a thoughtful and honorable constituency on pend-
ing measures, policies and departures. A modern commercial organization
stands ready to serve as the medium through which the judgmenl and the
conclusions of the citizenship are gathered, collated and submitted to the
government.
"9. It is the duty of the commercial organization, that aims to serve the
civic welfare of tin' community, to submit such facts, figures and arguments,
as are not already at, the command of the public authorities, for or against
pending policies and measures. An attitude of open protest can be engaged
in only when palpable or gross misgovernment is in prospect, and as a last
resort.
"lit. The i lorn commercial organization does not hesitate to express
itself for or against local, stale and national legislation, involving tin' eco-
nomic or civic progress of the several units mentioned. But, many con-
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OB"1 COMMERCE 401
troversial questions, upon which the membership may be seriously divided,
must be ignored. In some organizations, for instance, it would be unwise to
take a position on questions relating to woman's suffrage, prohibition, an
eight-hour work day, etc., while in others it would be feasible to do so. Here
an organization must, in a measure, he guided by a considerable fraction of
that membership, if it is to maintain its identity and continued usefulness.
"11. There is no purely commercial or selfish basis upon which a com-
mercial organization can consistently urge its members to civic activity. On
the accepted basis that good citizenship implies an active interest in civic
progress, and that good government does contribute to the material advance-
ment of the community, the commercial organization can foster an active
interest in all that will make for better life and living. To foster such inter-
est purely from the standpoint of commercial gain, without striving also for
the blessings which civic progress confers, would be unworthy of the American
business man."
Competition versus Rivalry in Business. — In striving for higher business
standards the Association of Commerce enunciated the following:
"One of the main purposes of organization for the promotion of trade
and commerce should lie in the substitution of wholesome competition for
ruinous rivalry, and thus ensure stability as well as security and honor in
business enterprise. Those seeking mutual advancement for the seller must
also recognize the interests of the buyer. The consumer has rights which
the producer and dealer must respect. The adjustment must he found in
honest competition, not in dishonest rivalry. The objects therefore which
should guide organization for the mutual advancement of those engaged in
trade and commerce must include certain fundamental considerations.
"Those identified with a calling or an interest should primarily seek to
dignify the same. Every member should become inspired with the ambition
to direct his activities upon standards that will stimulate pride and command
the respect of his fellowmen; to strive for higher aims and purposes. Every
man may contribute something, by word or deed, to the general advancement
of society. The work of the blacksmith is no less honorable than that of the
banker if he will but make it so; the vocation of the mechanic as well as that
of the merchant, be it salesman or savant, tailor or tutor — all, in their own
spheres, may attain an honorable usefulness.
"The abuses which from time to time creep into our commercial life must
be corrected. A checking influence is wholesome in every calling. In their
contest for gain individuals are apt to lapse into errors and abuses which may
be selfishly advantageous hut extremely harmful to the many. These are best
eliminated by pointing them out and thus making them unpopular. Discus-
sion w II tend to sift the desirable from the undesirable, the worthy from
the unworthy.
"The effort for mutual advancement is Laudable. Here it is not meant
the formulation of combinations designed to control prices or restrain trade.
These are to be discountenanced. But, it is held that methods and means may
be standardized so as to insure a higher degree of efficiency and business in-
tegrity.
Vol. 1—20
> ii i ...
i in: majestii mil. dim.
i ;rand Avenue, near Third SI reel
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 40:;
"Cordial relations should he fostered. The cloven footed competitor is
usually the man who is personally unknown to us. A closer acquaintance
with him frequently reveals a genial human being. The social contact between
competitor and competitor has the tendency to change hatred into friendship
and transform bitter rivalry into fair competition."
An Industrial Exposition. — The most comprehensive exposition of Milwau-
kee-made products ever presented in the city was made under the auspices of
the Association of Commerce on September 2-1*2, 1911, in commemoration of
the fiftieth anniversary of the organization.
The association records contain the following interesting description of
this remarkable demonstration of the production ability of the city.
The inception of the exposition was prompted by a desire to emphasize
in some dignified and at the same time useful manner, the fiftieth anniversary
of tlie association. Enquiry as to the average life of commercial bodies had
revealed the fact that the attainment of a half century mark in their existence
is indeed rare. Few of the commercial organizations of the leading cities of
the country can point to a record that will compare in point of age and useful
service with that oi the Merchants and Manufacturers Association.
But, if the service rendered, had been nominal in character the longevity of
the association in itself must be considered unique as well as unusual. The
fact, however, that the association has an honorable record, has had from
time to time identified with its activities the best men which this community
has produced, and has certain distinctive achievements to its credit, rendered
the anniversary period more important and significant.
Sentiment and Practicability. — It therefore remained for the organization
to turn a matter of sentiment into a useful reality and to express in some
tangible form the achievement of a given period in the history of the city.
Q] approaching the subject of a celebration that should express in an
appropriate manner the successful conclusion of an important period in the
flight of time, it soon developed that the projectors were not dealing mere
with the anniversary of an association hut the most important period in the
history o'f tin/ city.
The thought soon grew that during the past half century the city had
grown from a modest village into a greal metropolis, an unimportant com-
munity to an important, thrifty and progressive population unit. Those in
charge awakened to the realization that years of intelligent toil of enterpr se
and energy had wrought wonders and that the community had achievements
to its credit of which any American city might well lie proud.
The exposition idea assumed a new phase ami met with the enthusiastic
approval of both press and public, it was soon realized that while the com-
mercial spirit may have been the primary incentive in tin- display of the home
products, that the renewed civic pride which they aroused in the community
and the educational influences which they excited, had a specific value. It
broughl the c tizenship to an appreciation of itself and its mission and excited
an enthusiasm in, and ambition for the future.
An Important Anniversary. — That the anniversary period of the associa-
tion could not be passeil over in silence and inactivity was apparent, but thai
Til 10 MII.W'.UKIOIO (I. IT!
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OP COMMERCE 405
there were several ways of giving emphasis to the event was equally clear.
That the exposition was the best means, however, of giving useful expression
to the event may now no longer be questioned.
"With a building like the Auditorium, the installation of an exposition of
a certain scope was not only feasible but eminently practical. The building
which was conceived and brought into realization by the association, con-
templated the housing of industrial exhibits as well as to serve other public
functions.
It remained, therefore, to plan a series of exhibits which should prove a
fair index of Milwaukee's industrial importance and at the same time accom-
modate them to the facilities at command. The earlier plans which were
under consideration contemplated a much larger exhibit, involved a heavy
administration expense in the employment of exposition experts and pro-
vided for an undertaking which increased the financial risk almost tenfold.
Experience would now indicate that the larger scheme could not have been
carried out without inviting failure and incurring a financial loss. The condi-
tions in the manufacturing field have not during the past year (1911) been
so promising as to prompt general support among the manufacturers of the
city.
The exposition, therefore, was confined to the space now afforded by the
Auditorium, and all plans for additional buildings were discarded. The
estimate of expense was held, or aimed to be held, within the sum realized from
the sale of exhibit space, thus guarding against a deficit and placing the pro-
ject upon a sound financial basis.
Administration of the Exposition. — The experience gained by other cities in
the planning and management of industrial expositions was applied and the
services of the executive officers and members of the association were drawn
into active service. In this manner the employment of expensive expert serv-
ices was avoided and the financial risk of the enterprise held to a minimum.
The association employed no solicitors and paid no commissions. The addi-
tional help which was employed served in the administrative labors only.
Mr. A. G. Nicoud, the assistant manager of the Auditorium, who was em-
ployed as manager of the exposition, gave the greater part of his time to the
work of soliciting of exhibit space and in directing the installation labors.
Secretary Bruce assumed the general direction of the exposition and the pre-
paratory labors involved in the project.
Thus the administration of the exposition was at all times kept upon a
self-sustaining basis. At no time were the funds of the association drawn
upon. The part payments made upon the exhibit space covered the current
administration expenses, while the final payments almost met the entire cost of
installation. The receipts at the box office met the remainder of the expense
and provided the surplus. The exposition attracted nearly eighty-five thou-
sand visitors and yielded a net return of over $11,000 into the treasury of the
association.
Plan of Installation. — In approaching the subject of a plan for the installa-
tion of the exhibits it was proposed to provide a general classification of in-
dustries and then a special grouping of products. While the management
106 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
succ led in preserving the general classification, it failed in securing the
grouping of exhibits in the manner desired. It was found thai in some in-
stances certain manufacturers objected to becoming exhibit neighbors to their
competitors. Here concessions and compromises had to be made in order to
get the exhibits.
The grand divisions were made with a due regard to the industries
which lead and which are characteristic of Milwaukee. Tims was pro-
vided a Mechanics Arts section, a Leather and Garmenl section, a Brewing
section and a F 1 Products section. While these enabled classification of all
the exhibits it was impossible in all instances to avoid inconsistencies. But,
as already stated, these inconsistencies were in a large measure unavoid-
able inasmuch as expediency and prompt action were just then more im-
portant than exacting rules.
The Educational Exhibits. — Some weeks before the exposition op,- 1.
negotiations were begun with the school authorities regarding an educa-
tional exhibit. The School Hoard was notified that the policy id' the
management aimed to emphasize tl lucational phases of the Exposition,
and that in this direction the cooperation of that body was sought.
The hoard was not only requested to place classes in manual training
and domestic science, but also to provide an arrangement by which the
pupils of the upper grades and the high schools could visit the Exposition
accompanied by their teachers during the regular school hours. The re-
quest was favorably received by the board and instructions given to install
classes from the elementary to the advanced, illustrating the work done
by the schools in the branches named. To these classes were added de-
partments from the School of Trades covering carpentry and joinery as
well as plumbing and some machinery work. Tims, nearly one hundred
and fifty pupils were employed in class work each day. During the after-
noon pupils if accompanied by their teachers, were admitted regardless
of a<re at an admission price of 10 cents. The regular price of admission
for adults and for children over the age of ten was 25 cents.
The number of children who visited the exposition warrants* the state-
ment that educational purposes of the enterprise were fully met. In this
connection it should be added that Superintendent Pearse and the School
Hoard readily appreciated the value of the exhibits as an educational
factor, and lent their hearty cooperation towards utilizing tie' same.
Engelmann Hall, in which the several classes were located was crowded
with visitors during the hours of 2 to A P. M, and from 7 to ;t l>. M., indi-
cating thai the public was interested in this phase of the exposition. The
exhibitors were not only liberal in the distributing of souvenirs among
the children who came but they also aimed to explain to them the opera-
tions of their machinery ami the utility of their products.
Advertising and Prizes. The advertising for the exposition was placed
in the hands of a committee of experts connected with prominent business
concerns of the city and appointed by the Advertiser's Club of the city.
The advertising in the main consisted of 10,000 hangers or posters, and
display space in the dailies and weeklies throughout tin1 state.
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OP COMMERCE 407
One of the features adopted by the committee for the purpose of stim-
ulating attendance was the award of nearly four hundred prizes consisting
of various articles from a piano to a box of socks and from a residence
furnace to a box of candy. These prizes were donated by the retail mer-
chants. The advertising given the prizes was the only remuneration re-
ceived by the merchants. This advertising consisted of a display of the
prizes in the most prominent show windows of the city. While this promise
was carried out it was expected also that suitable newspaper publicity be
given in which the prizes and their donors were to be named in the pub-
lication of the winning numbers.
In tlrs effort the committee met with a decided disappointment; the
federal government notified the press that all mention of prizes would
be contrary to the laws and must be omitted. The result was that many of
the prizes drawn were not called for because the winner had no means
of knowing the result except as announced at the Auditorium.
A prize of $100 offered for the best poster design was awarded to
Gus Klau of the firm of Klau and Van Pietersom. The advertising com-
mittee also instituted a Slogan contest. For a week each day five single
dollar prizes were awarded for the best slogans and on the last day a $25
prize was awarded for the best slogan submitted during the entire week.
The slogan, "Name it, Milwaukee makes it," submitted by S. A. Minturn
of West Allis was awarded the first prize.
A Promotional Factor. — It may justly be said that, in providing for this
exposition, the association added materially to its laurels as a promotional
and useful influence in the community. Not only was the exposition the
first in which Milwaukee-made products were exclusively shown but in
point of variety of products, artistic and dignified installations, and a rep-
resentation characteristic of the city as a manufacturing center, the project
■was an unqualified success.
At no time in the history of the city have its products been shown
in a more complete or in a more auspicious manner. The fitness, too, of
celebrating the association's fiftieth anniversary in an exposition has been
demonstrated.
If expositions possess any value, and experience has taught that they
do, Milwaukee has been benefited commercially as well as educationally.
The demand for Milwaukee-made products was stimuated and the youth
of the community received a valuable and lasting lesson in the importance
of well directed labor and its results and achievements. The civic pride
of the community was stirred with a renewed enthusiasm in the achieve-
ments of a brilliant past and an ambition for a prosperous future.
Upholding Law and Order. — The association has on several occasions
asserted its influence in the direction of preserving the tranquility and
peace of the community. During a serious strike trouble it issued the fol-
lowing pronunciamento to the mayor and the public: "Recent events in
the community reveal a tendency which demands the earnest consideration
of the great body of thoughtful citizens as well as the attention of the
child' executive. The fact that expressions have recently gained currency
Till': CALUMET CLUB
Till: WIS* ONSIN < l.l B
(Formerly known as the Deutscher Club)
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 409
which tend to disturb the peace and good order of the community and
seriously impair its prosperity and stability, is to be deplored.
"We are not unmindful (if the fact that differences necessarily arise
between employer and employe and that there are rights and equities on
both sides. We believe that labor has rights which capital must respect
and that organization is a legitimate weapon, both defensive and offensive,
in compelling those rights. But, in reaching adjustments, sane judgment
and peaceful methods should and must be employed. Law and order must
be maintained and life and property must be protected.
"Milwaukee is a manufacturing center. Its material stability and
prosperity must be derived through the product of the factory which is
sold to the four quarters of the world. The commercial, financial and
shipping interests are largely dependent upon the industrial interests. The
factory pay roll is the very life and soul of Milwaukee's material existence.
The more employment can be given and the more money can be distributed
in wages each week the more prosperity will come into the thousands of
Milwaukee homes.
"It cannot be denied that a depression exists and has rested during
the "past year upon many of Milwaukee's important industries. In some
of these the losses have been heavy. The number of unemployed is already
distressingly large. Manufacturers are straining every nerve to improve
conditions, secure what orders they can and keep their plants in full op-
eration and thus afford more employment.
"The reports of public utterances of an inflammatory character which
are heralded to the world tend to impair the credit and standing of the city.
While they cause unrest at home they are also destructive of the confidence
which prompts the sale of our municipal bonds and the bringing of out-
side capital into the city for investment.
"The destruction of local property is infinitesimal as compared with
the losses which the community sustains in being deprived of the patronage
and good will of the country at large. And here it should not be forgotten
that any losses so sustained will not only fall upon the manufacturers
but upon the working people as well. A diminished demand for the prod-
ucts of our factories will reduce the demand for labor and thus the losses
will have to be borne by both employer and employe. This statement needs
no elaborate explanation. It speaks for itself.
"In discussing thus frankly a condition as well as a growing tendency,
which if permitted to continue unchecked will lead to catastrophe and
ruin, we are not attempting to sound an alarm. We are merely in a rational
manner directing the public mind to a dangerous tendency.
"It is to the interest of all, irrespective of business or calling, that law
and order be maintained and that those who menace life and property
be dealt with accordingly. In view of the sentiment above expressed, be it
RESOLVED. That, we the Directors of the Merchants and Manu-
facturers Association strongly condemn ;ill public expressions designed to
incite class hatred and to destroy respect for law and order; that we
demand the punishment of those who threaten the safety of their fellow-
MILWAUKEE YACHT CLUB
THE ol.n I LKS i LUB HOUSE
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 411
men and who wantonly destroy property; that we pledge ourselves to
employ every honorable means to secure obedience to the law and secure
that j)eace and goodwill which is so vital to the community's material and
social progress and welfare."
List of Presidents. — The business men who have been honored from time
to time to serve in the capacity of first officer of the association are shown
in the following list, together with the year of service: Years 1861-1863,
John Nazro; lS64-18o7, John A. Dutcher; 1868-1870, II. II. Button; 1871-1874,
F. J. Blair; 1875-1876, Clarence Shepard; 1877-1882, John R. G Irich; 1883-
1884, George W. Allen; 1885-1886, B. B. Hopkins; 1887-1889, Chas. E. Andrews:
1890-1892, Chas. M. Cottrell; 1893-1895, John E. Hansen; 1896-1898, John C.
Spencer; 1899-1900, Fred T. Goll; 1900-1901, Ira B. Smith: 1901-1903, E. A.
Wadhams; 1904-190.-). Fred W. Sivyer; 1906-1908, fm. X. Fitzgerald; 1909-
1910, John H. Moss; 1911-1912, Gen. Otto II. Falk; 1912-1914. Fred W.
Rogers; 1915-1916, Franklin P. Blumenfeld; 1916-1918. John L. Klingler; 1918-
1920, A. T. Van Scoy; 1920-1921 ; Walter ( !. Carlson, 1921-1922; J. G. Kissinger,
1922—.
A List of the Secretaries. — The gentlemen who served as secretary of the
Merchants and Manufacturers Association during the past fifty years are th?
following: 1861-1863, J. A. Dutcher; 1864, H. H. Button; 1865-1870, A.
B. Cleaver; 1871-1874, Robert Hill; 1875-1876, W. A. Collins; 1877-1878,
C. II. Hamilton: 1879-1886, Chas. E. Andrews: 1887, Ira B. Smith: 1888, Chas,
L. Blanchard; 1889, L. J. Petit; 1890, A. Meinecke, Jr.; 1891-1892, A. R.
.Matthews: is!):!. Oscar Loeffler ; 1894, A. Meinecke. Jr.: 1895-1899, H. E.
Wilkins; 1900-1906, L. O. Whitney: 1907-1909, Wm. Geo. Bruce; 1909-1920,
Phillip A. Grau, 1920.—
Invited Notable Men to City. — The first formal banquet given by the -Mil-
waukee business men who later formed the Merchants Association was held
at the Newhall House, January 11. 1861. The late John G. Inbusch presided.
The speakers and the subjects discussed were the following: E. D. Bolton.
The Commonwealth of Wisconsin; L. \V. Wicks. -Milwaukee and Its Com-
merce; O. H. Waldo. The Manufacturers of Milwaukee; George W. Allen,
The Merchants of Milwaukee; Judge McArthur, The Judiciary and Bar of
Milwaukee; C. E. Andrews, The Newhall House and Its Proprietors.
The association invited ami entertained many distinguished guests.
Among them were Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt.
William II. Taft, Hon. James Bryce and many others. President and Mrs.
Cleveland were entertained October 6, 1887: President ami Mrs. McKinley
October 16 and 17. 1890; Theodore Roosevelt April 3, 1903; and William II.
Taft June 10, 1907.
On March 4. 1902, the association participated in the entertainment of
Prince Henry of Prussia, also in the entertainment a few years ago of Count
von Bernsdorff, the German Ambassador. Other distinguished guests, among
them prominent statesmen, diplomats and financiers have at various times
been brought to the city and entertained by the association.
Principles and Policies. — It was upon the principles and policies govern-
ing modern commercial bodies, as outlined in the introductory paragraphs,
412 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
thai the .Milwaukee Association of Commerce gained its high standing and
service as a factor in the community.
It prompted Milwaukee In take an inventory of itself, and then seek an
answer to each of the following questions: What are the advantages of its
geographic location? What are its connections with the outside world?
What are the natural resources of the territory tributary to Milwaukee? What
are its industrial and commercial possibilities? Is there more room for popu-
lation and capital? What can be done in the direction of civic and educational
progress?
These and other questions were answered before a line of action along
promotional lines could wisely be adopted. It taugh.1 -Milwaukee to know
itself before it determined what was best for itself. Economic', civic and
social progress is always possible, but in order to avoid a waste of energy
and to work efficiently and effectively it is well to know what materials are
at command and how to utilize them.
The commerce body assumed that Milwaukee drew its share of trade from
the surrounding agricultural district; thai its financial institutions amply
met the needs of local business enterprise and that the transportation fa-
cilities were fairly satisfactory. But, it also held that more stores, more banks
and more trains did not necessarily mean more business for the city unless
a greater prosperity must be sought in the manufacturing field. More fac-
tories meant more population, more capital, more activity, more prosperity.
It also taught that a new grocery store divided the grocery patronage:
that a new bank drew business from the older banks, and that the estab-
lishment of more retail stores and banks did not necessarily increase the
business of the city. Further, that the dollar which goes from one local pocket
into another local pocket does not necessarily increase the total wealth of
the city, but that the dollar which came into your city from the outside for
labor performed added to that wealth. That dollar is distributed through
the payroll and finds its way into the markets, thus demonstrating that the
payroll constitutes the economic vitality of the city. The profits of the retail
trade go to the few, the payrolls of factories go to the many.
Milwaukee's possibilities, it was realized, must be found in the industrial
rather than in the commercial field. One factory employing KID men will
be worth more than ten new retail stores. Industrial productivity precedes
commercial activity.
Association Purpose and Mission. — The primary purpose of the Milwau-
kee Association of Commerce has been to round out and bring to tin' highest
stage of development the possibilities of the city. These possibilities were
studied and analyzed and the prospective growth and development of the
Commercial ami industrial interests summarized;
First: That there are greal possibilities. The natural advantage as well
as a favorable location are there. The capital, brains ami energj essential to
further commercial development may be found.
Second: That it is necessary to develop a clear vision as to future pros
pects, a proper c prehension of the means at command ami the application
of that enterprise which must lie behind everj bold and determined effort.
THE MILWAUKEE ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE 413
The business men realized that an organization, representative in char-
acter, infused with enthusiasm and a broad progressive spirit, free from
selfish motives, safely guided, and amply financed, with a helpful jmblic press
and a wholesome public sentiment to cheer it on, can become a dominating
and beneficent force in the community.
The self-assertive spirit which served to found every industrial and com-
mercial enterprise in Milwaukee and maintained it successfully also found
an enlarged expression in new and renewed efforts. The association realized
that there was ample room for enlargement, for new factories, new firms, new
connections and an extension of trade into both old and new territory.
It has also realized that the country is expanding its productivity along
agricultural lines at an enormous rate, and that with this expansion comes
the increased demand for manufactured products if proper propaganda for
such product is made. Thus Milwaukee could continue to grow numerically,
commercially and industrially : in educational and civic strength ; in social and
moral advancement.
W. G. B.
r- -2
■ * mm ,m»' ~ H -
*. •; » im «a 1 *"" »>S
$
- r
if->4
< II AFTER XXVI
THE MILWAUKEE POST OFFICE
The first postmaster at Milwaukee was Solomon Juneau, who began his
term of service early in the summer of 1835. His commission was signed by
President Andrew Jackson. The post office was opened in charge of Albert
Fowler in a building situated at the corner of Wisconsin and East Water
streets. This building had been occupied by Mr. Fowler as a real estate offic '..
The rates of postage ranged from 6 cents to 2"> cents on each letter, accord-
ing to the distance traveled and its bulk. There were no envelopes or postage
stamps in use at that time. The mail arrived once a month at first, but soon
a contract was let and mail came after that from Chicago once each week ami
from other points whenever convenient.
Mr. Juneau continued in office until 1S4:! when he was succeeded by Josiah
A. Noonan. The change in postmasters in the latter year occasioned much
dissatisfaction among the residents of the village, as Mr. Juneau was ex-
ceedingly popular and Mr. Noonan was not approved generally by the spokes-
men for public opinion. However, Noonan was retained as postmaster until
1849 when he was suc< led by Elisha Stan-. In 1851, John II. Tweedy held
the office during a portion of that year in succession to Mr. Starr. -la -
D. Merrill became postmaster and held the office from 1851 to 1853, and
was succeeded by Josiah A. Noonan in the latter year notwithstanding his
unpopularity during his former term.
In the spring of 1857, John Ii. Sharpstein was appointed postmaster and
held the office for a little more than a year, when .Mitchell Steever received
the appointment and continued as postmaster until 1861. He was succeeded
by John Loekvi I who remained in office until the appointment of his suc-
cessor. 0. K. Wells, in 1864. Wells was succeeded by Henry A. Stan- in 1868,
who in turn was followed by Samuel < '. West in 1870.
Henry < '. Payne received the appointment after the expiration of West's
term, namely, February 4. 1876, and was reappointed February 1, 1880. The
mention of this name recalls the fact that Mr. Payne became postmaster
genera] in President Roosevelt's cabinet in 1901, and continued as such until
1!I04.
Those who followed .Mi-. Payne as postmaster were George II. Paul, Wins
low A. Xowell, George W. Porth, F. Et. Stillman, David ( '. Owen and Frank
B. Schutz, the present incumbent of the ot)\v<\
1 1 5
Hi; BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Post Office Locations.— The firsl location of the posl office in 1 ^!"> was
as mentioned above at the corner of East Water ami Wisconsin streets, h
was soon after removed to Mr. Juneau's store on the opposite corner of the
same streets. Somewhat later Mr. Juneau erected a building for a post office
on the north side of Wisconsin Street. When Mr. Noonan became postmaster
in 1843, the post office was removed to the City hotel, afterwards to Tweedy's
block and was again removed by J. D. Merrill when he was postmaster, to
a building at the northwest corner of Mason and East Water streets.
Here it remained until 1860. A new l>uildin<r was constructed by the Gov-
ernment for a post office and custom house at the northwest corner of Wis
cousin and Milwaukee streets, which was completed and occupied January
1, 1860. This structure resembled in its general outlines the building com-
pleted in the same year for a similar purpose at Chicago which was destroyed
in the great fire in that city. This building has long since disappeared in the
march of improvements, and a splendid new building was constructed on the
block bounded by Wisconsin, Jefferson, Jackson and Michigan streets.
A half century of steady growth of the city in population and commerce
is demonstrated in the following postal receipts:
1870 $ 90,437.7.")
1880 186.771.00
1890 368,882.79
1900 666,863.5]
1910 1,630,288.96
1920 3,187,570.66
On January 1, 1922, Postmaster Frank P>. Schutz reported the transactions
of the post office for the previous year as follows:
"Approximately two hundred million pieces of mail matter of all classes
were handled at the Milwaukee post office during the year 1921. This be-
ing an increase of about fifteen million pieces over the previous year. Of this
number 50,544,910 pieces were for local delivery. Machine cancellations num-
bered 94,158,100, an increase of 4,781,500 over the year 1920; 95,919 pouches
of first class mail were dispatched during the year 1921; 1,440,589 sacks, con-
taining second, third and fourth class matter, were dispatched, an increase
of 464,207 sacks over the previous year. Of this number about 705,000 sacks
wen' made up for dispatch at the Milwaukee terminal and 17,996 sacks con-
tained circular mail: 10,049,208 pounds of newspapers, magazines, and other
second class publications were mailed, an increase of 238,767 pounds; Eor
which $195,753.78 in postage was paid, an increase of $22,183.06 over the year
1920.
"Directory Section. — One million, one hundred thirty-six thousand, one
hundred and seventy-eight letters received without street address, or bear-
ing incorrect address, were given directory service during this year. This
is an increase of nearly two hundred thousand over the year 1920, and shows
an increasing tendency to 'let Qncle Sam do it.' when it comes in supplying
THE MILWAUKEE POST OFFICE 417
addresses. As a result of bad addressing, a total of 73,480 letters were sent
to the dead letter office, in comparison with 58,085 in 1920. Over four hun-
dred parcels and pieces of third class matter, of obvious value, were given
directory service daily, on account of deficiencies of address.
"It is not generally understood that if the sender will place the words 're-
turn postage guaranteed' on third and fourth class matter it will be returned
promptly if undeliverable, and return postage collected on delivery to the
sender.
"The government-owned motor vehicle service, operating on a twenty-
four hour schedule, transported an average of 3,235 tons of mail per month
during the last year.
"The fleet has, in the course of the year, been augmented by four trucks
of one ton capacity and now consists of twenty-eight three-eighths ton; fif-
teen one ton. and five one and one-half ton trucks. Five hundred and sixty
thousand miles were covered in 1921 in the transportation of depot and sta-
tion mails, the collection from 850 street letter boxes and parcel post de-
liveries throughout the city.
"All chauffeurs assigned to transport registered pouches carry forty-five
caliber firearms as a means of affording the necessary protection while the
mails are in their custody.
"The fleet is housed at the post office garage, corner Huron and Milwau-
kee streets, and a force of mechanics, garagemen and dispatchers is engaged
day and night to enable proper maintenance of this service. All repairs are
made there and every truck is repainted and finished by the garage force
each year. The long standing mail blue body with the white panels and
vermillion chassis color scheme, has this year been discarded and the more
serviceable olive drab body with black chassis is now the standard color.
"Special Delivery Section. — The following is a comparative report of total
pieces of special delivery matter delivered during the last year, which shows
an increase of about two per cent over the previous year:
Special delivery matter delivered during the year of 1921. .526,518
Special delivery matter delivered (luring the year of 1920. .514,718
Increase 11,800
"We now employ thirty-six well trained messengers, thirty-one of whom
are ecpiipped with motorcycles, three with autos and two with bicycles.
"Three hundred and twenty-eight carriers are employed in making de-
livery and collection. Two hundred ninety-nine are assigned to delivery and
twenty-nine in making collection from 850 street letter boxes. Twelve addi-
tional carriers were added to the delivery force during the year. This in-
crease was made necessary by the large number of new residences erected,
and delivery service limits being extended.
"There was a twenty-seven per cent increase in the receipt of parcel post
and second class matter for local delivery over the year 1920.
Vol. 1—27
THE MILWACKEE POST OFFICE 419
"Registry Section. — Comparative report for the years 1920 and 1921 on
registered, insured and collect on delivery articles handled:
Domestic- letters and parcels 335,394
Foreign letters and pan-els 111,437
Total pieces registered 446,831
Increase over 1920 25,081
Articles received for local delivery. 44!), 537 : increase of 55,380 over l!>2o.
Articles received in transit, 287,180.
Articles dispatched, 539.487; increase of 10,446 over 1920.
Total pieces insured, 642,107, an increase of 115,671 over 1920.
Total C. O. I), parcels mailed. 200,836, an increase of 56,932 over 1920.
1921. 1920.
Amount to be collected on parrels mailed at this
office $1,374,670.28 $1,063,342.24
Number of parcels received from other post offices
for delivery 51,957 32,258
Amount collected and remitted to the senders $ 400,615.81 $ 354,713.16
"The registrat'on of mail matter is growing greater each year on account
of the special safeguards provided for the transmission of money, securities,
jewelry and other valuable mail to domestic and foreign destinations. For
the registration fee of 10 cents the department pays a limited indemnity in
case of loss. A receipt is given to the sender for each article registered. In
addition to this the sender may secure a receipt showing delivery of the ar-
ticle if the envelope or wrapper is marked, 'Return receipt desired.'
"Inquiry Section. — Within the last year the personnel of the inquiry sec-
tion was increased from five to nine. Since December 15. 1920, all claims
on insured and C. O. D. parcels wen- investigated and paid through the in-
quiry section of the Milwaukee post office, originating at this office and all
third and fourth class offices throughout the state. This resulted in a con-
siderable saving of time in the settlement of these claims, which formerly were
paid through the office of the third assistant postmaster general, Washington,
D. C. Twenty-one hundred claims on insured and C. O. D. parcels, amounting
to $15,673.73 were paid during the year 1921. Claim cases and investigations
handled: In 1920, 10,500; in 11)21. 15,109. Articles found loose in the mails:
In 1920, 3,000; in 1921, 2,642.
Clerks 379
Carriers (Del. 3 13, Col. 25) 328
Laborers 20
Chauffeurs, mechanic's and clerks in motor vehicles service. . 79
Clerks in charge, sub-stations 100
Total 906
120 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"Following is a comparative statemenl of postal business ;ii the Milwau-
kee post office during the year ending December 1, 1M21 :
"Gross receipts for 1921 were $3,379,062.08, compared with $3,182,203.05,
an increase of $196,859.03 or'six per cent.
Receipts.
1920. 1921.
Stamps $2,869,112.81 $3,023,968.12
Envelope excess 166.48 1 51 1. 1 s
Second class matter 175,464.17 195,753.78
Third and fourth class matter 128,996.80 150,161.62
Waste paper 1,581.39 1 ,442. t-i
Box rents 6,881.40 7,585.65
$3,182,203.05 $3,379,062.08
From Wisconsin post offices 2,046,308.28 1,771,719.56
Stamps sold to district post offices... 1.480,148.88 1,637,910.39
Total $6,708,660.21 $6,788,692.03
Disbursements.
Rural delivery service $3,056,813.89 $3,176,072.61
Clerk hire 615,654.14 660,881 .61
City delivery service 574.507.27 624,821.41
Motor service 91,568.85 H4.044.41
Special delivery service 40,714.64 41.084.24
Total $4,379,258.79 $4,596,904.28
Money Order Business.
1920. 1921.
M. O.s (domestic) issued: \
Number 404.501 410,300
Amount $ 4,715,166.45 $ 4,318,944.88
M. O.s (domestic) paid :
Number 757.563 817,497
Amount $ 6,847,489.41 $ 6,898,561.17
Money order funds from Wisconsin
posi offices $11,147,085.44 $10,214,741.23
"The postal savings bank closed the year 1921 with a balance on deposh of
$1,051,741.00."
CHAPTER XXVII
THE MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM
The Auditorium may be justly designated as the model structure of its
kind in the United States. This fact alone would entitle it to fulsome atten-
tion here. But, it deserves extended consideration also because it performs
au important function in the civic and social life of the community, and be-
cause of the peculiar features which attend its creation and its administration.
There is no other similar structure which is at once publicly and privately
owned, possesses in larger degree the utilitarian features of that sort of an
enterprise, and has proven itself a greater success. It is not in any sense
a money making enterprise, but fortunately it has escaped the financial embar-
rassments which attend large buildings of this character.
The desire to capture and house the great national political conventions
prompted a number of enterprising American cities some years ago to erect
huge convention halls which these cities have not been able to maintain on
a self-sustainiiij:' basis. This has been mainly due to the fact that the com-
munities have not had a sufficient number of large functions during the year
to keep these monster structures profitably employed.
The Milwaukee Auditorium has been on a self-sustaining basis from the
clay it was opened. Besides, it has been able, out of its earnings, to make
improvements and to enlarge its ecpiipment, and these have from year to
year increased its services to the public. This has been due to the fact that,
in addition to the main Auditorium, the building is provided with a series
of smaller halls which are in constant service for a great variety of functions.
The several halls and entrances are so arranged that various functions
may be carried on simultaneously without disturbing each other. Thus it has
happened that six or seven different functions, such as public meetings,
expositions, lectures, dinners, dances and other civic, social or educational
affairs were conducted at one and the same hour under one roof without the
slightest interference to each other.
Some of the leading opera singers and musical artists have appeared at
the Auditorium and pronounced the acoustics excellent. The main arena, too,
has proven its utility for winter circuses, athletic sports and industrial shows.
How the Project Was Realized. — The movement to provide the city with
a commodious auditorium building received its first inception on July 28,
1903, when the Merchants and Manufacturers Association appointed a com-
mittee of business men to consider the subject in all its phases and advise upon
421
THE .MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM 42:1
a suitable course of action. The old Exposition building was destroyed by fire
on Sunday afternoon, June 4, 1905, nearly two years later.
While the desirability of a suitable convention hall was generally rec-
ognized the actual necessity for such a new structure became more pressing
with the passing of the old Exposition building. It awakened the public
mind to the fact that the city was without any building in which could be
housed any gatherings of an unusual size. The theatres, some of which had
a large seating capacity, were not always obtainable for functions of a public
character. It also prompted public-spirited men to recognize the movement
already begun, and to respond to the call for cooperation and support.
The conditions which confronted the so-called Committee on Convention
Hall were somewhat complicated. A portion of the site occupied by the Ex-
posit'on building had originally been deeded to the city by Byrou Kilbourn,
an early pioneer, upon the condition that the same be used for market pur-
poses. The balance of the site belonged to the city. The Exposition building
had been erected by private subscription and had been conducted without
profit and in the interest of the community as a whole.
The condition provided for in the original deed gave rise to some appre-
hension as to the use of the site for the purposes in hand. The first step,
therefore, taken by the committee was to establish the legal status of the site
question. Here it was found that the city could not be dispossessed of the
site providing it was used for public purposes.
The question of erecting a suitable convention hall, or series of convention
halls, that would accommodate large as well as smaller gatherings involving
an expense of nearly half a million dollars was seriously debated. [t was not
likely that such a sum could readily be raised by private subscript ion nor was
it deemed probable that the municipality would furnish the needed money.
The solution, it was believed, could be found in some arrangement by
which the municipality and the public could join hands in providing tin'
necessary means. A measure was framed under the direction of the com-
mittee, and enacted into law by the Legislature in the month of June, 1905,
which authorized "cities of the first class to provide for the erection and
maintenance of auditoriums and music halls by cooperating with private as-
sociations or corporations."
It was resolved to raise the sum of $250,000 by private subscription and
ask the municipality to vote an equal sum, thus providing a total building
fund of $500,(100. A campaign committee consisting of twenty active citizens
was chosen to secure the subscription fund winch was completed by the fall
of l!t()(i. The bond issue, providing for the city's portion of the fund, was
voted and the common council perfected the jointure with the Milwaukee
Auditorium Company which had been organized in the meantime and which
represented the citizens who had subscribed to the private fund. Subsequently
the city council voted $25,000 more and a like sum was subscribed by the
cit;zcns, thus making a total investment in the building of $550,000.
The fact that the city was the owner of the site bounded by Cedar, State,
Fifth and Sixth streets, proved most fortunate in that it obviated an invest-
I 6
M CO
=
H
H
THE MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM 425
merit of a sum of money which would have been even greater than that re-
quired for the building.
Legal Complications. — Few enterprises of a public character have been sub-
jected to greater annoyances and difficulties than the Auditorium project,
notwithstanding the fact that the same enjoyed the ardent support of the gen-
eral public.
The men who were first to consider the feasibility of replacing the old
Exposition building with a modern convention hall were well aware of the
doubts which existed as to the title of the land upon which the old structure
rested. They proceeded, therefore, with care and circumspection, and not
until the best legal minds in the city had determined that the municipality
was in complete legal possession of the premises in question, were steps taken
to provide a new building.
In deeding a certain parcel of land to the municipality, the late Byron
Kilbourn, an early pioneer, stipulated that the same must be used for market
purposes. To what extent these stipulations were valid proved a subject of
serious consideration.
It was found that the heirs of Byron Kilbourn had brought suit against
the- city soon after the completion of the old Exposition building fur having
violated the terms (if the deed. This document provided that the city must
maintain a public market as a part of the building. Any failure to comply
.with this condition would cause the title of the land to revert back to the heirs.
The suit finally found its way into the Supreme Court, but that body failed
to act because the building had been erected, was in use and served partially
at least for market purposes.
It was found that the Exposition grounds were owned by the city in the
manner as follows: The piece of land bounded north by State Street, east
by Fifth Street, south by Cedar Street, and west by 14 Section line, being
the east half of the square, was donated to the city, conditioned that the city
may erect a market house thereon, and that no buildings be erected 111 tne
space in front of Block 52; Block 165, which is the west half of the square,
was purchased by the city in 1880, for the sum of .$54,339. The estimated
value by the city authorities in the city records of the two tracts was in 1900
$52,000 for the east half, and $64,000 for the west half.
In October, 1835, Byron Kilbourn dedicated by plat a part of the locus
in quo, and particularly that part which upon the plat at that time was marked
"the four vacant spaces marked Public," conditioned that the said spaces be
left vacant as public grounds, and that no buildings be ever erected thereon
by anybody, corporate or public, except in the case of the town being in-
corporated, and that then the town authorities may erect a market house on
either of the spaces laying in front of Blocks 36, 52 or 76, but no buildings
should be erected in the space in front of Block 52. At the time the plat
was made. Milwaukee was not incorporated, either as a village or a city.
In 1867, certain residents erected a large building covering the south half
of the square, and two years thereafter it began to he used as a public market
house, until 1880 or 1881, when the building was torn down. In 1875, a
corporation was formed called the West Side Market Association, and the
126 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
city leased in that year to the corporation, all of the part dedicated by Kil
bourn, including the building, for five years, at a nominal rate.
In 1880, a number of Milwaukeeans formed a corporation with a capital
stork of $150,000, called the Milwaukee Industrial Exposition Association,
for the purpose of constructing and maintaining an Exposition for industrial
and other purposes. The eity leased to this association, the public square
of ground west of Block f>:>, to be used only for industrial exposition and
other purposes of public nature, as the directors of the association might see
fit, for the term of fifty years. This was done under the authority of Chapter
4(il of tlif Laws of 188."), which provided that "The City of Milwaukee is
hereby authorized to lease the piece of ground (describing the piece in ques-
tion) to any association, for the purpose of maintaining a building thereon,
to be used for annual industrial exposition or for public museum."
Subsequently, one of the Kilbourn heirs brought suit in ejectment, but
was defeated, the Supreme Court intimating that an adjoining lot owner mighl
enforce the trust and compel the eity to refrain from misappropriating the
square for other purposes than for those dedicated.
The committee set about to procure and did procure certain contracts
of option from the Kilbourn heirs, with the intent of securing the options
from all those that might be interested as heirs or abutting owners in the
premises in question. Thereafter, and for the purpose of inquiring how the
city's interests may be affected or promoted, the committee hail various con-,
sulfations with the city authorities and the mayor, which resulted in the draw-
ing by Louis Bohmrich, of the bill, enacted into law by the Legislature, and
known as Chapter 426 of the Laws of Wisconsin of 1905.
The bill, as proposed, was first seriously misunderstood and reported by
the legislative committee, who had charge thereof, for indefinite postpone-
ment, until the convention hall committee succeeded in convincing: the
various members of the Legislature of their mistaken conception, and after
being furnished with the details and written argument, the bill was taken
up by the Assembly, after it had passed the Senate, and became a law.
An opinion later rendered by the late Charles Quarles, and approved by
other leading attorneys, prompted the Board of Directors of the Merchants
and Manufacturers Association to believe that it was absolutely sale to proceed
witii the project without further delay. Hut, mi August 7. 1908, after the
construction of the new building had begun, the Kilbourn heirs once more
brought suit for the possession of the premises.
The case was earnestly contested and on November 9, 1908, it was decided
by Judge W. .1. Turner, that the city and the Auditorium Hoard were in law-
ful possession of the premises. The case -was thereupon appealed to the Su-
preme Court, where the decision reaffirmed the lower court.
• in January 3, 1908, an injunction suit was brought by certain citizens
restraining the Auditorium authorities fron ipleting the building upon
the plea that ll Hit em pla I ed uses of the same diverted it from purely public
purposes, and that the law authorizing the jointure with the city was un-
constitutional.
On September 1!». L908, after it had become known that changes hail been
THE MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM 427
made in the plans of the building which obviated the danger of competition
with the local theatres, the suit was dropped by mutual consent.
The Governing Board, however, realizing that the constitutionality of the
law might be attacked at any time concluded to secure an amendment which
would allay all question on that score in the future. It had become apparent
that the public purposes of the building were not set forth in the law with
sufficient clearness and that an amendment correcting the defect, if such
defect existed, should be enacted by the Legislature.
Halls and Their Capacity. — The original plans, as carried nut, provided
for a main hall and seven smaller halls. Since that time, however, the floor
area has been almost doubled by the addition of what is known as the Me-
chanics Hall.
The floor of the main hall or arena rested on solid ground when the build-
ing was completed. In 1918, however, it was decided to remove the earth
under the main floor and thus create a new hall room of large area. This
project involved a difficult engineering problem, and the expenditure of a
large sum of money. The cost was met out of the earnings made by the build-
ing and special support granted by the City Council. The capacity of the
several halls is as follows:
Halls. Seating Capacity. Exhibition Space.
Square Feet.
Arena 8,008 29,428
Mechanics 46,800
John Plankinton 1.112
Solomon Juneau 850 5,400
Byron Kilbourn 900 5,580
Peter Engelmann 850 5,520
George H. Walker 800 2.574
Market 1.50(1 9.655
Total 13,520 104,952
The three halls on the ground floor of the Annex to the main hall were
named after the pioneer builders of the city. Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn
and George H. Walker. One of the second floor halls was named after John
Plankinton who had been a liberal supporter of the old Exposition Building.
Inasmuch as the purpose of the structure was in the main educational it was
believed that one of the halls should be named after a pioneer educator. Thus
the name of Peter Engelmann was chosen for one of the second floor halls.
Plankinton Hall is equipped with theatre seating and a large organ, all
of which were donated by Miss Lizzie Plankinton, daughter of the pioneer
Milwaukeean. The former pupils and friends of the late Professor Engel-
mann decorated and equipped Engelmann Hall. The firm of Ferry & Clas,
architects, designed and superintended the construction of the building.
Administration of Building. — The law under which the municipality was
permitted to enter into a jointure with the private corporation, in the con-
struction, maintenance ami management of the Auditorium, provides for a
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THE MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM 429
Governing Board of eleven members, five chosen by the corporation and six
consisting of government officials.
The Auditorium Company is represented in the Governing Board by five
directors, and the municipality by six representatives, namely, the mayor,
city treasurer, city attorney, comptroller and the presidents of the library and
museum boards. The five directors of the company are chosen by a vote of
the stockholders, one being chosen each year to serve for a term of five years.
The first so-called Auditorium Committee was appointed July 21, 1905, by
President Fred W. Sivyer of the Merchants and Manufacturers Association,
consisting of the following gentlemen: E. A. Wadhams, chairman; Wm. N.
Fitzgerald, David S. Rose, John P. Murphy, Alvin P. Kletzsch, Henry C.
Schranck, Sherburn M. Becker, Edward G. Pratt, B. G. Ellsworth, Chas. L.
Blanchard, Arthur Koenig, Chas. E. Sammond, Col. W. J. Boyle, Fred W.
Rogers and Wm. Geo. Bruce.
The effort to secure subscriptions was undertaken at once and pursued
for a time with considerable energy. The plan of operations was in the main
confined to the leading merchants and manufacturers and those generally
known as public-spirited citizens. Here it developed that the plan was too
limited in scope in that it confined itself largely to a class of men who are
usually called upon for financial aid of a public character. The response
from this source was as generous as could be expected, but it was far from
the ends yet to be attained.
When the sum of $72,250 was reached, it was found that the work of
soliciting became more difficult from day to day and that in order to complete
the fund of $250,000, future operations must assume a wider scope. Chairman
Wadham's business engagements called him from the city quite frequently
and prevented his giving the required time to the Auditorium project, and
for some months there was a complete cessation of the campaign labors.
Early in the year of 1906, a reorganization of the committee was deemed
expedient and Wm. N. Fitzgerald, then president of the Merchants and Manu-
facturers Association, appointed the following citizens to constitute the new
Auditorium Committee: Alvin P. Kletzsch, chairman; Oliver C. Fuller, Ed-
ward A. Uhrig, Frank K. Espenhain, B. G. Ellsworth, E. A. Conrad, Chas.
E. Sammond, Albert J. Lindemann, Robert J. Miller, E. A. Wadhams, Mayor
S. M. Becker, Wm. Geo. Bruce, Frank N. Snell, Emil II. Ott, David C. Owen.
August S. Lindemann, Chas. A. Paeschke, John II. Puelicher, Otto J. Sch-
oenleber, Fred C. Fass, and Hugo Loewenbach.
On November 14, 1906, the following were elected members of the Board
of Directors of the Auditorium Company: Alvin P. Kletzsch for five years;
Wm. Geo. Bruce for four years; Oliver C. Fuller for three years: Charles E.
Sammond for two years; F. A. W. Kieckhefer for one year. The Auditorium
Governing Board organized on January 2, 1907, with the following officers:
President, Alvin P. Kletzsch; vice president, F. A. W. Kieckhefer; secretary,
Wm. Geo. Bruce; treasurer, Oliver C. Fuller.
The first meeting of the Auditorium Governing Board was held January
2, 1907, when an organization was effected. Representing the city: Mayor
S. M. Becker, City Attorney John T. Kelly, City Comptroller Caul Bechtner,
THE MILWAUKEE AUDITORIUM 431
City Treasurer W. II. Graebner, President Library Board J. M. Pereles, Pres-
ident Museum Board Edwin W. Windfelder; representing' the Auditorium
Company: Alvin P. Kletzsch, Win. Ceo. Bruce, Oliver C. Fuller, Chas. E.
Sammond, and F. A- W. Kieekbefer.
Since then the following have served as president of the Governing Board:
Win. George Bruce, Charles E. Sammond, Otto J. Schoenleber and again Alvin
P. Kletzsch.
The Auditorium Governing' Board. — The following served as officers of
the Auditorium Governing Hoard for the years named:
1907: President, Alvin P. Kletzsch; vice president, F. A. W. Kieckhefer;
secretary, William George Bruce; treasurer, Oliver C. Fuller.
1908: President and vice president, same; secretary, A. M. Gawin; treas-
urer, V. J. Schoenecker, Jr.
1909 : All officers same as previous year.
1910: President, William George Bruce; vice president, Alvin P. Kletzsch ;
secretary, Carl P. Dietz ; treasurer, Charles B. Whitnall.
1911 : All officers same as previous year.
1912: President, same; vice president, Charles E. Sammond; secretary,
Louis M. Kotecki; treasurer, Joseph P. Carney.
1913 : All officers same as previous year.
1914: President, Charles E. Sammond; vice president, 0. J. Schoenleber;
secretary, Louis M. Kotecki; treasurer, Joseph P. Carney.
1915: President, Otto J. Schoenleber; vice president, Alvin P. Kletzsch;
other officers same as in 1914.
1916: Officers same as previous year, excepting treasurer, John 1. Drew.
1917 : All officers same as previous year.
1918: President, Alvin P. Kletzsch: vice president, William George Bruce;
treasurer and secretary, same as previous year.
1!t1 9-1920-1921-1922: All officers same as in PUS.
Directors of the Auditorium Company.- -As already stated the directors of
the Auditorium Company elected in 1907 were: William George Bruce, Oliver
C. Fuller, F. W. A. Kieckhefer, Alvin P. Kletzsch, Charles E. Sammond. The
personnel has remained the same through the several years except -with the fol-
lowing changes: In the year 1913 Otto J. Schoenleber succeeded F. A. W.
Kieckhefer. In 1915 Edward A. Uhrig succeeded Charles E. Sammond.
City's Representation. — With the changes in the city government there
came also changes in the representation on the governing body, as follows:
1907: S. M. Becker, mayor; John T. Kelly, city attorney: Paul Bechtner,
city comptroller; William II. Graebner, city treasurer; J. M. Pereles. president
library board; Edw. W. Windfelder, president museum board.
1908: David S. Rose, mayor; John 'I'. Kelly, city attorney; A. M. Gawin,
city comptroller; V. J. Schoenecker, Jr., city treasurer; J. M. Pereles, president
library board; George A. West, president museum board.
1909 : Same as previous year.
IDK): Emil Seidel, mayor; Daniel W. lloan. city attorney; C. B. Whitnall,
city treasurer; Carl P. Dietz, city comptroller; J. M. Pereles, president library
board; George A. West, president museum board.
132 BISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
1911: All officers same with the following exceptions: J. <;. Flanders,
library board; Robert Nunnemacher, museum board.
1!)12: G. A. Bading, mayor: Daniel W. Eoan, city attorney: Joseph P.
Carney, city treasurer: Louts M. Kotecki, city comptroller; E. W. Windfelder,
president museum board ; J. <L Flanders, president library board.
1913-1914 and 1915: All officers the same as 1912.
1916: Daniel W. Hoan, mayor; Clifton Williams, city attorney; John [.
Drew, city treasurer: Louis M. Kotecki, city comptroller; E. W. Windfelder,
president museum hoard: William I. Greene, president library board.
1917 : All officers the same as previous year.
1918: All officers same excepting R. P. Wheeler, museum board ; George C.
Nuesse, library board.
1919: All officers same excepting William J. Kaumheimer, library board.
1920: All officers same excepting William L. Pieplow, library hoard.
1921 : All officers same as previous year.
1922: All officers same except George II. West, library board.
Joseph C. Grieb, who served as secretary of the original campaign commit-
tee, was in 1909 chosen the manager of the Auditorium, which office he has tilled
with remarkable ability ever since.
The Auditorium project has also been fortunate in that it has always en-
joyed the loyal support and cooperation of the city council, and the successive
administrations which have been represented on the governing board since the
establishment of the same. Nor has the dual form of ownership and adminis-
tration ever led to friction. The directors of the stock company and the
city's representatives have always worked together in harmony and for the
best interests of the institution.
There is one other factor which deserves mention here, namely, the
stockholders of the Auditorium Company. There are nearly three thousand
of these, who subscribed in sums ranging from $10 to $10,000, and who have
regarded their subscriptions in the nature of contributions to the public
welfare. No stockholder has ever demanded a cash dividend. Every man
and woman that has invested a dollar in the Auditorium enterprise has re-
garded the service which this remarkable public utility renders as the best
dividend that could he exacted.
When the enterprise was conceived and carried into realization the liberal-
ity and local patriotism were put to a splendid test. There were men who
readily recognized the need of such a public utility: there were those who took
the initiative in securing it ; there were also those who undertook the burden
of carrying the project to a su ssful complel ion; ami finally there were those
who stood ready to give such financial encouragement as the projecl required.
But, better still is the altitude of the general public — subscribers and tax-
payers— who take a just pride in this model structure and who want the
earnings reinvested in such improvements as will maintain the integrity of
the structure and enable it to render the highest measure id' service to the
community. W. <i. B.
PART III
GOVERNMENT, CITY AND COUNTY
PARTICIPATION IN CIVIL AND
WORLD WARS
THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION
OF ROOSEVELT
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
"Traders had come and gone," says Professor Laurence M. Larson, "but
no one seems to have taken up a permanent abode in the Milwaukee country
before 1818. In that year Solomon Juneau came to take charge of the fur
trade and for the next fifteen years the log cabin of the Juneau family was
the only evidence about the bay of an approaching civilization." By the
year 18-S4 the population of Milwaukee numbered about thirty souls, and in
the following year the arrival of immigrants rapidly increased the number.
In 1836, "some sixty buildings were erected, many of them of goodly dimen-
sions, streets were graded, ferries established, officers of the law appointed,
medical and agricultural societies formed, a courthouse and jail erected, and
all in five short months," as stated in J. S. Buck's history.
Rapid Growth of the Settlement. — The early settlers of Milwaukee who
came in the '30s believed that a large city would grow up here. "Many
even thought," says Professor Larson, "that most of the commerce of the
region west and south of Lake Michigan would eventually center at this point.
For a number of years it was a matter of speculation as to whether Chicago
would ever become a dangerous rival; and had it not been for the influence
of the railways the final outcome in the race for local supremacy might have
been somewhat d'fferent.
"It was felt in those early days that Milwaukee had greater possibilities
in the way of a harbor than any other city on the lake. No great importance
was attached to the bay — it is hardly more than a westward curve in the
shore line — but tin- rivers were full of promise. Of these the larger is .Mil-
waukee River, a small stream less than a hundred miles in length, which at
that time emptied into the bay a short distance below the point where the
shore begins to curve southeastward. For several miles of its lower course it
flows almost parallel to the lake shore, in places approaching it very near.
"Within the limits of tiie present city the stream is about two hundred
and fifty feet wide ami of considerable depth. MeLeod, who wrote a history
of Wisconsin in 1846, states that it was then from fifteen to eighteen feet deep
and navigable for three miles for the largest vessels on the lake; however,
the winds and the waves had built up a sand bar at the river-mouth which
virtually closed the stream to all but the smaller craft. About a mile and a
quarter from its mouth the Milwaukee is joined by a stream from the west,
the Menomonee. These two rivers divide the region into three distinct sec-
tions; a narrow strip lying between the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan
4:i.">
THE UTY IT ATT, AND M \i:m:t SQUARE
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 437
known as the East Side; the territory lying to the west of this river and north
of the Menomonee called the West Side; and the country lying south of the
Menomonee Valley, or the South Side. At that time this division into sections
was further emphasized by broad belts of marsh land that edged the rivers
for several miles along their lower courses."
Incorporation of the Town of Milwaukee. — In 1836, the year in which the
Territory of Wisconsin was organized, Milwaukee was merely a group of three
small villages rather than one community. On the east side of the Milwaukee
River the settlement which clustered around Juneau's old trading post was
commonly known as " Juneautown," while across the river to the west was
"Kilbourntown," so named in honor of Byron Kilbourn who had first begun
a settlement there; and south of the Menomonee River where Gol. George H.
Walker was the principal resident the settlement was known as "Walker's
Point."
From the beginning a feeling of hostility between these three settlements
had grown up which resulted in some violence. However, in 1838, Juneau
and Kilbourn harmonized their differences so far as to jointly petition the
Territorial Legislature for a consolidation of their two villages into the
"Town of Milwaukee," to be divided into an East and a West Ward. This
was granted and later, in 1845, the town was enlarged by the addition of
Walker's Point as a South Ward.
Financial Troubles of the Town. — With the organization of the town a
host of demands arose requiring the expenditure of money. There were
streets to improve, schools, fire and police protection to provide for, ferries
to be established and bridges to be built. The act (if incorporation empowered
the trustees to levy a small tax, but little could be done with the meager pro-
ceeds. Still the. board bravely passed ordinances for necessary purposes
which were either slow or impossible of accomplishment. The trustees made
a loan of $15,000 in 1838 at ten per cent, which afforded some relief. Property
owners — Solomon Juneau, Morgan L. Martin and others — spent their own
money in making improvements of a public character. Some help was de-
rived from a poll tax. In 1840, Mr. Kilbourn built a bridge over the Menomo-
nee River, "the first one built in Milwaukee."
At the beginning of the year 1846, the settlement on the Milwaukee River
was twelve years old. During the years which had elapsed great progress
had been made ; a town of 10,000 people had grown up where stood a solitary
log cabin only a few years before. "The population was scattered over three
separate areas," says Professor Larson, "each of which was practically self-
governing. There was no police department and no organized effort had been
made to protect and preserve the public health. The fire department was a
crude affair, the wards had provided something in the way of apparatus for
fighting fires, but the municipality seems to have owned nothing. The school
facilities were miserable ; the streets were generally unimproved. Thus far
the village had built no bridges. The Federal Government had done some-
thing to improve the harbor, but the sand bar was again forming at the river
mouth. As far as municipal activities were concerned matters were at a
standstill.
l.is HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"The citizens of Milwaukee cannol be wholly blamed for iliis situation,
nor can they be wholly excused," continues Professor Larson. "As ;i rule
pioneers are not wealthy; in a new country revenues from taxation are bound
tn be small, the shrinkage in land values that came with the panic of 1837
caused, of course, a corresponding shrinkage in the available taxes. The tax
of 1838 was only about one-fifth of thai <>f the preceding year.
"Moreover, the Location was one that demanded vast expenditures. Where
the down-town section is at presenl there was a marsh in those days. In such
a locality small expenditures would make an exceedingly small impression.
It is also true that the limitations of the village charter were such thai the
trustees could undertake no extensive improvements. But, after all. if the
leading citizens had not been so utterly lacking in foresight, and if sectional
feeling had not been allowed to grow so strong and so arrogant, Milwaukee
could have accomplished much more in those days than she did." At this
point Professor Larson adds in a footnote that "it was said that Byron Kil-
bourn, when he laid out the streets mi his side of the river, took care that the
streets should not meet those planned by Mr. Juneau on the east side."
Milwaukee Incorporated as a City. — While Morgan L. Martin was a resi-
dent of Green Bay he explored the harbor facilities of Milwaukee, and in 1833
made a map of the small settlements there which he called "Milwaukie."
He entered into an agreement later in the same year with Juneau and Michael
Dousman for its development. A sawmill was built in 1834, and settlers began
to arrive.
In the article on Milwaukee, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it is said
that "the east side was platted in 1835, and very soon afterward the plat of a
settlement on the west side was also recorded, Byron Kilbnurn being the chief
projector and proprietor of the latter. The rival settlements, officially known
as Milwaukee East Side and Milwaukee West Side, bore the popular designa-
tions of 'Juneautown' and 'Kilbourntown.' A third settlement, begun on
the south side by George II. Walker and known as 'Walker Point.' was subse-
quently platted independently.
"The rivalry between the east and west sides was intense, the plats were
so surveyed that the streets did not meet at the river, and there were bitter
quarrels over the building of bridges. Milwaukee County was set off from
Brown County in 1834, and in 1836 the establishment of townships was
authorized. Under this act the east and west sides were independently incor-
porated in February, 1837. A realization that the continuation of independent
and rival corporations retarded growth eventually led to a compromise by
which the two were united as two wards of the same village in 1839, the
autonomy of cadi being siill recognized by an odd arrangement whereby each
maintained practically independent managemenl of its own affairs and finances.
Walker's point, the south side, was annexed as a third ward in 1845, and
in 1846 the three wards were incorporated as the City of .Milwaukee, of which
Solomon Juneau was elected firsl mayor."
A charter for the incorporation of .Milwaukee as ;i city was obtained from
the Territorial Legislature, January 31, 1846, more than two years before the
state of Wisconsin was admitted to the Union. The charter incorporated an
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 439
area of nearly eight square miles, its boundaries corresponding' to the fol-
lowing outlines: North Avenue and Walnut Street on the north; Twenty-
seventh Street on the west ; Greenfield Avenue on the south ; and the shore of
Lake Michigan on the east.
This area was divided into five wards: the old East Ward made up the
First and Third wards; on the west side were the Second and Fourth wards;
and Walker's Point became the Fifth Ward.
The old plan of ward autonomy was continued under the new charter.
Each ward was made responsible for such debts as existed December 31, 184"),
and must provide for later indebtedness incurred on account of expenditures
to be made within its own limits. Loans for the general improvements of the
city were to be paid by those wards only, a majority of whose aldermen voted
for such loans.
It is clear that such a system would eventually result in confusion as
indeed it did. Amendments to the charter and special acts authorized the
aldermen of the wards "to levy special taxes for improvement of the streets,
building wharves, dredging rivers, and to levy a general harbor tax; also to
borrow money and issue ward bonds for street work, for building market
houses, and to provide in various ways for building sidewalks, sewers and
the like,*' says Professor Larson. All such work was supervised by the alder-
men in their own wards.
County and Township Government. — In describing the provisions of the
charter under which the City of Milwaukee was incorporated in 1846, Pro-
fessor L. M. Larson, in his '•Financial and Administrative History of .Mil-
waukee," says of the powers and duties of the aldermen, that in addition to
the clauses in the charter already enumerated, "the aldermen also had a
hand in the comity government. Each ward was also a township and as such
was governed by its three aldermen acting as township supervisors. One of
the three was chosen chairman, and represented the ward in the county
board." In a footnote it is added that at the time the history was written
(1908), "Each ward is still a township, but a supervisor specially chosen
represents it in the county board; the ward has no town government."
Continuing our quotation from Larson's history the author says, "The
charter also provided that each ward should be a school district, the alder-
men acting as school commissioners. But the aldermen soon lost this distinc-
tion. By tin- law of February 3, 1846, a board of school commissioners was
created, composed of three commissioners from each ward appointed for three
years by the mayor and council. To this board the complete management of
the school system was entrusted, though in the matter of finance it was some-
what dependent on the council."
Municipal Revenues. — The chief dependence of the city for revenue had to
lie upon some form of direct taxation, for in the absence of a well organized
police department but little revenue could be collected from fines. "A wave
of temperance sentiment," says Larson, "was just then sweeping over the
state which threatened to deprive the city of all income from licenses issued to
liquor dealers. In 1853 the state by referendum actually declared for pro-
THE OLD COURTHOUSE AND JAIL IX THE EARLY '60s
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 441
hibition, but the vote was taken merely to determine public sentiment, and
had no legal effect. Milwaukee opposed prohibition."
Assessments made as the basis for general taxation were as a rule loose
and unsystematic, and often did not bear much relation to actual values in
those early years of the newly incorporated city. In 1846, the assessed valua- ,
tion was $1,428,370, or $142 per capita. Five years later the assessor reported
$1,995,616, or $99 per capita. Five years later still (1856) the per capita
valuation was only $80; but in 1870, after a determined effort had been made
to enforce the assessment laws it rose to $650 per capita, showing the effect
of more thoroughgoing methods of making assessments.
Naturally the city finances benefited greatly by such reforms with the
result that its credit stood higher and its ability to enter upon and carry out
much needed improvements was much increased. In 1849, the ''ward funds"
were abolished and the accounts transferred to the general fund.
Special assessments for street improvements were also resorted to as in
all modern cities. "The general practice in making local improvements,"
says our author, ''was to assess a large part of the cost on the property own-
ers most directly interested. There is nothing peculiar about this practice,
but we must remember that in a city still rapidly developing both in popula-
tion and in settled area, the cost of necessary improvements would be great
from the beginning.
"In the earlier years of charter government such work seems to have been
paid for, as follows : two-thirds by the property owners of the vicinity and
one-third by the city. Ordinarily these assessments were for street purposes,
but other forms of local improvement were sometimes paid for in the same
way. In 1849, the aldermen of the Fifth Ward were empowered to build a
wharf and to dredge the river in front of it, the cost to be assessed on the lots
fronting the wharf in proportion to the frontage. The next year we find
similar legislation for the Fourth "Ward, and in 1851 the Third Ward was
authorized to proceed in a like manner. In all these instances the property
owners seem to have been assessed for the entire cost of the wharves."
Changes in Methods. — But it was found extremely difficult to collect the
taxes under the special assessments, as the amounts were large and the prop-
erty owners were frequently unable to meet the payments. In 1849 and 1850,
so large a part of such taxes remained unpaid at the close of the fiscal year
that it was deemed unwise and impracticable to enforce collection. In 1851,
the Legislature sanctioned a new method of payment, a method with which
we are familiar at the present day, namely: "on completing the work under-
taken, the contractor might receive a certificate stating what amount was due
and what parcels of real estate were responsible for its payment. These
certificates drew interest at the rate of twelve per cent and were transferable.
In case the owners of the lots specified neglected to pay what was due judg-
ment could be obtained in the circuit court." This method proved to be a
satisfactory solution of the problem.
The Charter of 1852. — In the early '50s it began to be realized that the
old charter needed revision especially in respect to the finances and taxation.
There was a great diversity of views among the people but eventually a charter
u
rm
For the Council.
DANIEL WELLS, jr.
For the House of Representatives.
HENRY C. SKINNER, MOHI5IS S. BARNETT,
WILLIAM SHEW, GORDON C. CONE,
LUCIUS I. BARBER.
For Commissioner.
FREDERICK S3. OTIS.
For Treasurer.
GEORGE D. DOUSMAN.
For Assessor.
JAMES ¥. WATSON.
For Coroner.
HENRY MILLER.
Milwaikll. Au? 30th 1833
To Daniel Wells, William A Plenties,
Ilsvav C Skiuneii Moaais 3 Habnctt,
Gobdo* (' Comb, William Shew, qoJ
Lccit's I Uabded.
Gentlemen : —
We herein enclose te you the proceed
iags of a ccnvcDtion held at Prairie VH«
la^'e on the 'Jciih mst . by which you are
nominated as Candidates lor the Legisla-
tive Assembly, to be supported at the Dem
election.
Jn these proceedings the undersign-
ed weie appointed a CommiUeeto notify
-you of your nomination, and require of you
pledges to resign your olfices, if elected,
83 soon as one half of the term )f sei v ice,
nou fixed bv la* has expired Hnd lo use
ovei y effort to piucure from Congress an
alteration ottbo organic act cf our Terri-
tory, limiting the term of service of the
members of the Legislative Assembly, to
Iwo years for members of thef ouncil.and
one year for members of the House of Rep-
resentatives You are desired to notify
us immediately by letter whether you will
accept the nomination on the terms pro
posed bv said convention.
Very Resper.tfhily,
Wm R if own.
Jno H Tweedy,
Philip Schuyler,
> Comvii
MiLWAi'EED, Aug 31st 1838
Gentlemen — We hereby acknowledge
- ip! of your letter of the 30th iost aa-
Douticmg to ua our nomination by the
Convention, held at Prairie Village on
the -Qth mat, as candidates for the Legis-
lative Aesembly to be supported at the
lies' election We gratefully accept the
Qominution on the terms proposed, and
cheerfully pledge ourselves, if elected, to
resign our offices as scon as one halfof the
term cf service now fixed bv law has ex
pred , and to use every effort to procure
from Congress an alteration of the organ-
ic act ol our Territory, so as to limit the
term ofservice of the members of the
Legislative Assembly to two years for
members of the Council and one year for
members of the House of Representatives
Yours Rcspeef fully,
DANIEL WELLS, Jr.
WILLIAM A. PRENTISS.
HENRY C SKINNER
MORRIS S. BARNETT,
CORDON C. CONE,
WILLIAM SHEW,
LUCIUS I. BARBER.
To Wm. Brown, Jno. II Tweedy,
and Philjp SciicYLER.
To tho Eloctora of Milwanfeeo and
Washing toe Ooontioe -
The undersigned wore nominated by a
convention at Prairie Village on the 28th
uli as Candidates for tbe Legislative As
sembly, to be sapported at the eosuiog
election
'Believing it lo be tbe right of the people
lo reqaire, and the duty of every Candidate
to avow his views upon every enbject of
future legislation, we hert frankly declare
the course w<* shall pursue, if elected, in
relation to the canal and other subjects
now agitaiiog the public
It will be our first object, if elected, to
secore to the settlers on the Cinal Lands,
not merely their ivi; < ' , but 'be
title to their lands, bv the . . ..'- sail
thereof on a credit oi ten yean, or en sutha
credit as the settlers themselves mnv pre
fer, with soch guards as will effectually
prevent the competition of tbe speculator ;
Our oeit object will be to jodace Con-
gress, if possible, to reduce the price of tbo
evt-n" sections on the Canal Route to 91.25
per acre, and to give a pre-emption t igat
thereto.
Oh r third object will be the earlv sn!e of
the residue of ihuiannl tands 6n terms the
most favorable to the settler, with n tierv
to the rapid settlement of the country
and the early and vigorous preseca-
hod of tbo work of the canal.
Affit respects the location of the Uni-
versity bnde, we suppose that no ramcan
be elected, from any part of the Territory,
who Mill not vote for restricting ihe Com-
missioners in trie mesl positive terms, not
to interfere v. it h the rights of any pre emp-
tor or claimant
If elected, ue shall also do every thing-
in our power to check thai hasty and crude
legislation which his lumbered our stat-
ute books with laws of no service but to
tho printer, and to procure such a reform
ofour laws and present "county system"
as is demanded by the wants and wishes
of the people In short, fellow citizena,
in our puhhf rourse, upon these as well
os upon cverv other subject, of public in-
terest, we shall strive, if elected, to truly
represent ihe interests and views of the
great body of the people, without re-
gard lo persons, patties or localities
DANIEL WELLS Ji
WILLIAM A. PRENTISS
LUCIUS I BARBER,
WILLIAM SHEW
Our fellow nominees, Messrs Skinner.
Cone, and Barnrit, residing to the coun-
try have had no opportarnty to affix their
Dames to ibis paper , bill knowing their o-
pinions upon these subjects, we do net hes-
itate to aay 'bat they oriil erscn' to tLitt
pledge.
A\ OLD-TIME CAMPAIGN DOC1 MINI'
Issued in 1 838
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 44:?
was agreed upon which was approved by the Legislature and enacted into
law February 2, 1852. The area of Milwaukee in 1852 was but slightly
greater than it was six years before. The new charter continued the old divi-
sion into five wards. The form of government devised resembled very closely
that of the old charter. The tax levies increased during' the following years.
as follows: In 1852, the total tax levy was $57,331, to pay the expenses of
the city, the wards, and the schools; and to meet the interest on the public
debt. In 1853, the levy was $64,71 9; in 1854, it amounted to $86,203; in 1855,
to $105,80(1: and in 1856, it rose to $132,346.
"Thus the city taxes had more than doubled in five years, the increase
being in part due to the higher tax rate and in part to the rapid growth of
the city, the population of which increased by about 80 per cent in the same
period. The next year (1857) the assessed valuation was doubled and the
total of the city's taxes (general fund, sinking fund, interest fund, ward
funds and school funds) rose at once to the amazing figure of $325,56(1."
In a review of the financial history of Milwaukee following the record as
given above. Professor Larson notes that something of a revolution was pro-
duced in Milwaukee when these figures were published. "A reform ticket
headed by William A. Prentiss carried the day in the March election. A few
days later the Legislature amended the charter by limiting the general city
and ward taxes to $235,000 yearly." In the following year Mayor Prentiss
was able to report that the tax levy for the year past (1858) had been $226,363
which was $77,725 less than that for 1857.
Railway Stocks and Bonds. — When the railroads began to be built the
people were in a perfect frenzy to hasten their completion, and the city author-
ized the use of its credit to assist in marketing their stocks and bonds. The
city, in 1N4!) and 1851, subscribed t<> the stock of the Milwaukee & Waukesha
Railroad Company to the amount of $234,000. But later the city issued bonds
directly to the railroads who were required to keep up the interest, and when
the bonds were due to pay the principal. On these conditions the city issued
bonds in 1853 to the amount of $800,000. The amounts were increased from
year to year until in 1856 the aggregate had risen to $1,614,000. This in
addition to its other indebtedness amounted to a municipal debt of nearly
$2.5(1(1,0011. It was evident, says Larson, that so large an amount of securities
could not be thrown on the market without injuring the city's credit. Some
of these bonds in 1854 sold in Wall Street at 70 cents. Before these issues
had reached their maximum figure some opposition to further loans developed.
.Mayor ( 'ross used his influence and even his veto against them when they were
proposed, but all in vain.
For a considerable time it seemed as if a large share of the bonds would
fall to the city to pay notwithstanding the conditions agreed upon. During
the years from 1S57 to 18511 several of the roads failed to pay the interest as
it tVII due, but in the end all the bonds were paid by the corporations respon-
sible except two issues of $100,000 each which after prolonged litigation the
city had to redeem, the principal and accrued interest at the time of redemp-
tion amounting to more than $400,000.
Of course in a general history of the municipal finances covering so long
THE OLD CITY HALL AND THE HENRY BERGH FOUNTAIN
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 445
a period of years only the more important transactions can be mentioned in
this review, though in Professor Larson's intensive study of the subject a
multitude of details are given which may very well be omitted.
The "Albany Hall Movement." — After the tax levy for 1857 had been made
public a taxpayers' meeting was called at Albany Hall where resolutions were
passed demanding a reduction of the tax just levied. The meeting also de-
manded the repeal of all laws authorizing bond issues and the reenactment
of laws limiting the taxing power of the council. At a later date a meeting
was again held at the same place at which a report was presented by a com-
mittee appointed at the previous meeting to investigate the finances of the
city. In this report the alarming state of the situation was revealed.
Resolutions were adopted at the meeting calling on the Legislature to
make changes in the charter. As a result the Legislature amended the charter
so as to provide for a two-chamber system in the council, and other important
changes were made one of which limited the amount of revenue that could
be raised each year for city purposes to $175,000. Also all laws permitting
bond issues by the city were repealed.
Efforts at Readjustment. — The two years following the publication of the
Albany Hall report brought but slight alteration in the financial situation of
the city. At the beginning of the fiscal year for I860, there were no funds in
the city ■treasury and city orders were selling at a heavy discount. "It was
finally determined to appoint a committee of prominent citizens and members
of the council," says Professor Larson, "whose duty it should be to study the
situation and formulate a plan by which the city's credit might be restored."
This committee published its report August 1, 1860, in which it was declared
that the city would have to provide $280,000 annually to meet its interest
charges and maturing bonds ; that the municipal debt amounted to $2,825,850.
The conclusion reached was that as matters then stood Milwaukee could not
pay her debts. The only hope was that some of the railroads would pay the
bond issues in their favor, but the prospect was not hopeful that they could
or would do so.
A plan of readjustment was arrived at by which a long time bond issue
covering all the city's indebtedness at a lower rate of interest was recom-
mended. A bill to carry out these recommendations was accepted by the com-
mon council and became a law in the following March. This law provided for
a new set of bonds, afterwards known as "readjustment bonds," to run for
thirty years at the rate of 5 per cent, except for the first five years when the
rate was 4 per cent. These were to be exchanged for the old bonds and other
evidences of indebtedness. If the bonds offered and accepted were not an
even exchange the commission was empowered to adjust the matter in an
equitable manner.
The whole matter of readjustment was entrusted to a board of three mem-
bers to be called the Public Debt Commission. June first (1861) was fixed
upon as the date when the readjustment was to begin. Interest on the old
debt would then cease. Holders who delayed in the matter of exchange for
new bonds would lose their interest after that date. Looking ahead to the
completion of these measures it may be added I hat by March, 1863, it was
44(1 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
reported thai the readjustment had been su ssful. More than four-fifths of
the old bonds had by that time 1 n exchanged for the new issue.
It will lie remembered that in 1858 the loans to the railways had reached
a total df $1,614,000; that in the years of 1858 ami 1859 several roads failed
to pay the interest on loans made in their favor, and that a fear had been
expressed that the city would ultimately have to pay the larger part of the
railway debt, lint the large crops of 1860 brought a great increase in the
transportation business, and the railroad corporations found themselves able
to meet their obligations. It should also he remembered that in the years from
lXfil to lsii.'i, during which the armies of the Union were engaged in colossal
military campaigns in the Smith the demands for railway transportation, hot h
in conveying troops and supplies, rose to vast proportions resulting in greatly
increased prosperity to producers and railway systems everywhere.
During the decade ending with the year 1869, says Professor Larson, "the
office of the mayor was steadily growing in importance. In 1861, it was
enacted that the mayor's veto should stand unless overruled by a two-thirds
vote in each house in the common council. As the older departments grew in
importance and number of officials and as new hoards were being organized,
the mayor acquired great influence from the use of his nominating power.
At the same time power was as steadily passing away from the coun-
cil. By the creation of new executive departments, its authority was dimin-
ished on every side. After 1X70, the members of the council were no longer
street commissioners, that office having been abolished. The wards also by
this time had lost their old significance, partly because of frequent subdivi-
sions, and in part also because the new generation was interested in the city
as a unit rather than in some section that had by this time lost the marks of a
distinctive region. After 1870, Milwaukee was a city."
As in writing the h'story of the decline and fall of the Roman empire the
historian Gibbon often paused to discuss the merits of his authorities, so we
may here pause to express our appreciation of Professor Larson's valuable
monograph. Here is a treasury in which may he found a store of informa-
tion that can be rearranged into tables of statistics or embodied in narrative,
and no collection of source material for the history of Milwaukee would he
complete without it.
The Civil war ended by the surrender of (Jen. Kobert E. Lee on the 9th of
April. 1865, which began almost four years before when Fort Sumter was
fired upon, April 12, 1861. The national debt at that time had climbed to
the unprecedented figure of nearly three thousand millions of dollars. An
outstanding issue of "greenbacks" amounting to about three hundred and
fifty-six million dollars seemed to many people to involve much uncertainty
as to their ultimate redemption. Their value as measured by the gold standard
was at one time only 4(i cents on the dollar. Hut owing to the prosperity of
the ecu lit r\ in the years succeeding the war the value had increased to about
85 cents in 1870. As time elapsed, however, confidence grew especially as
Congress passed the SO-Called "resumption act" setting the date of their final
redemption at January 1. 1x7!'.
Resumption of "Specie Payments." As we shall not have occasion to
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 447
refer to this subject again we may here describe the final scenes in the removal
of this incubus which rested heavily upon the financial affairs of the country.
and with its removal marking a new starting- point where "specie payments
became the rule in every transaction. In anticipation of the time when resump-
tion was to take place the United States treasury accumulated a store of gold
amounting to $1:55,000,000. Meantime the premium on gold had been gradually
growing less until at the date that resumption was to become effective green-
backs stood at par. On the day set a salute of guns was ordered in honor of
the event, and a special display of flags was made in the banking district in
New York of which the Government treasury was the center. Specie was
piled up in the form of gold and silver coins on the counters of the treasury
in anticipation of the expected rush for the redemption of the paper currency.
The hanks cooperated with the treasury by making similar preparations for
the expected demands. But as it turned out there was no excitement and
nothing like a rush either at the treasury or at the banks. The demand for
specie was so small that at the end of the day it was found that more specie
had been received over the counters than had been paid out. The money
market, instead of becoming "close" as had been predicted by many, grew
easy, and the country whose sound financial system had been thus established,
entered upon a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity.
Upward Tendency of City Expenses. — While the Legislature had placed a
limit on the amount of taxes that could be levied by the City of Milwaukee
in any one year (for example, in 1857, the limit had been placed at $2:15,001)),
yet the Legislature was often appealed to for "amendments to the charter"
for certain unavoidable outlays. Thus the total expense of running the city
government often far exceeded the limit thus named. Bridge-building and
repairs were imperative requirements. So also was the work on streets and
sidewalks. The police and fire departments had to be maintained in a state
of efficiency, the schools were constantly increasing their demands, and the
new departments of public works and health had to be provided for. Special
taxes under the authority of the Legislature were levied by which the in-
creased expenditures were met.
Still the decade ending in 1870, considering the great heritage of debt and
difficulties left to it by the preceding administrations, was a period of progress.
The city debt was less than half that of ten years before (it now stood at
$1,388,222), the bonds of the city in 1865 were "firmly held at 90 and 95
cents on the dollar" in spite of the low rate of interest they bore. The popula-
tion of Milwaukee in 1870 was 71,440, an increase of 58 per cent during the
decade.
Mayor Kirby's Inaugural Address. — The message delivered by .Mayor Abner
Kirby on April 20, 1864. is interesting because it pictures the problems of
government which confronted the city at that time and the intense partisan-
ship which found expression in a denunciation of Abraham Lincoln. The
message is addressed to the common council and reads as follows:
"In entering upon my duties as chief magistrate of our good city, it is
expected of me, in accordance with custom, to ask you to consider in candor
such suggestions and recommendations as in my judgment may seem proper
THE OLD CITY HALL
Photo taken January, 1892
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 449
and just in the management of our municipal affairs. With you I can do
much ; without you, nothing. The trust reposed in the members of the city
government is one of a high order and of grave responsibility. We are pledged
in the most solemn manner to discharge our duties honestly and to the best of
our ability. I have the utmost confidence in the council. You will favor all
measures necessary to the prosperity of the people, to the public convenience,
and to the lasting good of our city. You will be bound down with iron chains
to strict economy in all expenditures.
In this, Councilmen, I shall act with you. Death and expenses, however,
are unavoidable, but the latter may be restricted and in times like the present
they should not exceed actual necessity. The most rigid economy must pre-
vail in the administration of our municipal affairs. This is your disposition
and it is mine. So far as our influence and jurisdiction extends, our great
and good country in its mournful state of blood and financial trial, also must
and shall receive the support of our ever ready hearts and hands. We must
help and foster every effort to re-establish an honorable peace. Under present
circumstances that can best be done by sending to the field our best men.
"The City of Milwaukee differs from the administration now in power,
as to its policy. We believe our riders are not taking the right course to
suppress this accursed rebellion. The present Constitutional Chief of our
nation, is, in my humble opinion, not fitted for the place, the occasion, or the
times. He is the weakest man on the whole list of presidents. His honesty I
never question. A weak and vascillating president, is quite as fatal to our
prosperity in these times, as a dishonest president. He is in dishonest hands.
His predecessor ran away with the nigger, and Abraham runs the nigger away.
Which of the two has shown the greater weakness, and brought the larger
amount of trouble upon us? I leave you to judge. A few fanatics have
dragged the country into this bloody and unholy strife. These fanatics do
not all abide in the South ; neither do they all live in the North.
"While General Grant was working into Yicksburg last summer, the tele-
graph the same day announced that Yicksburg was in our hands, and Bill
Yancy was dead. When this news reached old Boston, one of our Badger
boys standing by, remarked: 'God and Grant are at work now, and this
makes us hope that rebellion and abolition will fill a common grave by No-
vember.' I have always mourned that the officials at Washington sent hack
Alexander H. Stevens, when, under the flag of truce he implored us to receive
him within our lines. He might have borne the olive branch, and opened the
way to that glorious reunion, which all except the higher law abolitionists, so
much desire. As for the abolitionists, there is no power in heaven to please
them for they hate peace on earth. For our Government, the constitution and
its laws, what would we not do that is honorable. It is the best government
ever formed or lived under. All true men believe this.
"Schools. — The public schools in our city are institutions of great merit,
and every good citizen is, or ought to be proud of them. Great care should be
exercised in selecting good teachers, for upon them, in a great measure, de-
pends the character and intelligence of those to come after us.
"Fire Department. — Under present circumstances, our lire department
Vol. 1—2:1
^EL^THEiEXETETETETEriHEii
y AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. £
Hi it
JULY 4, 1844.
OFFICERS OF THE DAY.
DVRON KILROIIRN PmU*M •/ (»« C.»
SOLOMON JUNEAL, , ,
■OHN HUSTIS )
GEORGE H WALKER /
HENRJf WILLIAMS, - {,. _ ,
IOHN WHITE . .../ l"r '
■ i r :e f. graves, ■.
CAVio GEORGE ]
WILLIAM BROWN, Ja . >*
Colond E B WOLCOTT.. N ...
DAVID M KT.EI.EK,..
Miijot JOHN II MEIGS,
Men GEORGE W LOSS
JOHN I HOMSSEN
i Mill M FITZOEHALD,
ALEXANDER W STOW..... Of. /#f
AM II,
PI II ir IT ATI
DANIEL II IN. II MIL -
mils WHITE,
81 . W LOSS,
'■■'. IH .-1 IS
t Ill Mlii IIMAS'N
III' IMBIl MIKPIU
n IIP MANN.
■ n *■• '.nirinii,
Mil' I / >-J-J I
ai ix MATKICSOK,
OltDEIt OF I II i: DAY. jj2
I Him- Gun Ol di) -break,
3 — Federal Salute of 13 gum at junriar, accompanied by lht ringing
...( the belli.
3 — Ai the firing of the lignaJgun ai 10 o'clock, tin Pr*<oeeion, (with
id rigln wing in line, ealending down Eait Walet Sited, ) will form in/ronl
of the "Corr«or h*," in the following order
I -MARSH Al„
2— Muitc,
n — Preiidenl an.) Vic^Frcaidentej
4 — Header and Orator.
6— The Clergy,
6 — Ini'itcd i.n. '..
7- -Field Piece and Colon.
6 — Commlllce of Arrangement, ,
O-.-om.'-r, ,.t Milwaukie County,
10— .Prcaidcnt and Board of TiuitceeofNilwiukie,
II- -Masonic Society,
19— Odd Fcllowa' Society,
13— Young Men i Aetocialion,
U.-Wieeotuin Repeal Aeeodaiioii,
la— Engine Company, No. i
10— Ilooli in i 1 . i-l-L-r !'•- ipony, No I
IT — Salibntti School Sociclic*,
1 8-— Cititeni generally.
1 —Two men on horacbieli,
3---- German firm Bind,
i -Colonel D UrMairff, Chief Officer, with Adjutant!,
1 — -Capiam Senti/re, of the Ride Company, wilh Adjutanle,
:, — Rifle Company, with banner,
6— Head nn. era "f 'he train ..i ettizoni with A ljutaata,
-.._ i. 'ih.-.-tiC u-rih ihe Hermann'! banner,
S— CtpUin D.Gt»aec, o( the Lam ant, with Adjutants,
0 — EacadfOfl of Lancen, wilh il
li. PROCESSION will then proceed <m Eait-Walct to Wiieonm
lire, i up Wiaconein lo Jackson ilfOcli up Jack ion loOnciJa ■(recti d..»i
Oneida to Weill aireol opWcllatoW n-Waler Hreol ii| Weil- Water ti
'Cheanul itroet; down west-Wati • la Second itroet; down Second lo ih<
i ,...-,, ;.!,.i iICIi ■ : . wl ". ■':!■ wing will be irie
ORDER OF THE EXERCISES
I— Mualq I tfuili
1— Prayer, Oration,
3 — Reading Ihe Declaration, I K - Muti' ,
gt.iW.i
II be fitti on fjff|
7 — Bencdi. li
Th-- Procession will i hen rt-fonn and proceed d<i«n Spi .
ilrcot; up Wh ionain lo Baal*Watcr itrcei.iip F.»«t Waier loMaaon tire.
„ M, .',, i,. I, rl. rv.ii llml; down JaSinon M Hur,,., .' el u| II. |
to East-Water llrCCl; and lip Ea<l Water to Ihe "Cc-Magf Inn. ' where
tumptttOu) DINNER will be served tip by Menu. Tarr 4: Sri'i
(.it all woo may wish i^pnriile.
DvrinH the mar.-h of the Proceition lo Ihe Ditwei Table,
Salute of 30 c«n., an I an additional one for each Itirilory, will
Ihe Publii So,uai
Th" inhabitanti of ihe adjacent eounlry and neighboring lowna, are
reipeetfull) tnvilod to narlicipale innho feitit.uei of the day.
The Manhnl particularly requi ita t Con
■ . . ■ iTiini.i wbe p*eat nt,
to rcn.t.v. - -to foTBi ■" their diatini ine bodiea, and be in
rcadmen M mar.-h lo ihe poatlMxraiaigned Idem in il. I I
lh( iignnl gun at 10 o'oclcck,
i r to elate, thai lundi ratand ng hai
i ,i I. ,-n .-IT.-.-I...I Willi iilllhe nii'.m S'leiCliCf oi !ra(ed id this Ordti
iho Marthi ' ■ I I ■ I ■■ il 1
nun. w.ili tbc oarneil hope thn' i ■ .
Tho Marahal'l Stall; and the m ■ ■ ■ ■ German Corp*,
are required i? rendeivoui at hah'-p»«t aight, for farther oraVn
AXXlirM I.MI.N 1 OF I'oriiTH OF JULY
CELEBRATION IX 1844
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 451
ought to be an efficient institution. We have three of the best steam fire
engines now in use. Much good they have already accomplished. According
to my own observation, they have already paid for themselves. In two in-
stances, more than ten times the cost of these machines was saved. Our chief
engineer should use great care in the selection of men, in making proper ar-
rangements for getting to fires with dispatch, and for working the machines
with rapidity and facility when there. He ought to be sure, if possible, that all
his assistants are capable, honest, trustworthy, and of all things, sober men.
I would suggest that the horses be exercised each clay in the week, and when
so exercised that they only be driven around the block where the engine is
located, so that in case of fire the horses shall not be too far from the engine
house.
"Police. — Our police force is quite too small in numbers, but under our
charter it cannot be increased. Therefore it is of the utmost importance to
employ on that force, the best men only, in order to make it as efficient as
possible. To this end I will recommend a man for the chief of police, subject
to your confirmation, with whom I shall entrust the responsibility of employ-
ing the entire force under him, with the privilege of discharging all who do
not please him ; then, with your cooperation, I shall hold the chief solely re-
sponsible for the faithful performance of his whole duty under the law; any
failure or negligence to cost him his official head.
"Harbor and River. — It is well understood that we have the best harbor on
this great chain of inland seas. Without such a harbor, Milwaukee, as a com-
mercial point, might be but little better than Port Washington. In order to
retain our vast lake trade, the dredging of both Milwaukee and Menomonee
rivers must engage our earliest attention. The completion of this all import-
ant work will save a large sum on our freight. The largest class of vessels are
very ready to load at Milwaukee, rather than at Chicago, for one cent per
bushel less. This difference of tariff on shipments in favor of Milwaukee in one
single year amounts to over fifty thousand dollars. This sum saved goes into
the pockets of our producers. It also makes Milwaukee a better market than
Chicago, and thus we are compensated. The council, therefore, should exert
every available means to render our rivers navigable for the largest vessels
on the lakes. Parties are now contemplating the erection of large and exten-
sive iron works on one of our rivers this very season, and should they locate
above where dredging has been done, I propose to give them a channel of
sufficient depth of water so that the deepest laden vessel may load or dis-
charge at their docks."
The City Hall. — In 1846, when Milwaukee was chartered the city had no
place that could be called the city hall. "The council met in the basement of
a church," says Professor Larson, "the various city officials had their offices
wherever they found it convenient." In 1847, the council moved to the upper
story of a stable and remained there three years when the building was de-
stroyed by fire. The city government then occupied the Martin Block until
1857 when rooms were rented in the Cross Block. This block was burned in
I860, soon after which the city moved to the old market building where it
remained until 1872. After this time the city rented the east wing of the
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
453
courthouse for city purposes though some of the departments remained in the
old city hall.
In 1886, Mayor Emil Wallber declared that a city hall must be built, but
it was not until 1893 that it was finally decided to erect such a building. At
length, on January 1, 1896, a new city hall was completed and occupied. The
cost of the building, including furniture and fixtures, was $1,016,935. The
population of Milwaukee in 1890 was 204,468, and ten years later, in 1900,
it was 285,315.
Milwaukee Has Had Thirty-three Mayors. — The mayors of Milwaukee, be-
ginning with Solomon Juneau, who was president of the Village of Milwaukee
when it was chartered as a city, and who became the first mayor of the future
metropolis of Wisconsin, have been as follows:
1846 — Solomon Juneau.
1847—11. N. Wells.
1848 — Byron Kilbourn.
1849-50— Don A. J. Upham.
1851— George II. Walker.
1852— Hans Crocker.
1853— George H. Walker.
1854 — Byron Kilbourn.
1855-57— James B. Cross.
1858-59— William L. Prentiss.
1859— Herman L. Page.
I860— William Pitt Lynde.
1861 — James S. Brown.
1862 — Horace Chase.
1863— Edward O 'Neil.
1864 — Abner Kirby.
1865-66— John J. Tallmadge.
1867-68-69-70— Edward O'Neil.
1870-71— Joseph Phillips.
1871-72 — Harrison Ludington.
1873-74-76 — Harrison Ludington.
1876-78— A. A. R. Butler.
1878-80— John Black.
1880-82— Thomas H, Brown.
1882-84— John M. Stowell.
1884-88— Emil Wallber.
1888-90— Thomas H. Brown.
1890— George W. Peck.
1890, December 6 to June 5, 1893— P.
J. Somers, Henry Hase, acting
mayor from June 5, 1893, to
July 1, 1893.
1893, July 1 to 1896— John C. Koch.
1896-98— William G. Rauschenberger.
1898-1906— David S. Rose.
1906-1908— Sherburn M. Becker.
1908-1910— David S. Rose.
1910-1912— Emil Seidel.
1912-1 916— Gerhard A. Bading.
191 i;-PI24— Daniel W. Hoan.
1872-73— Da v:d G. Hooker.
George W. Peck resigned as mayor, November 17, 1890, because of his
election as governor of the state, while Peter J. Somers resigned June 5, 1893,
to take the seat in Congress to which he had been elected. Mayor Hoan's
term will not expire until April 1, 1924, because of the change to the four-year
term for city officers.
The Milwaukee Police Department. — In the early days of the city's settle-
ment the village marshal, assisted by the lowly constables, were in charge of
the lives and property of the inhabitants. Joseph Chaunier was a marked
figure among the early keepers of the peace and continued in the service of
the city after it had been incorporated in 1846. He met his death in the line
of duty in 1849 having been killed while endeavoring to stop a runaway horse.
The police department of the city was established on September 3, 1855,
and, on the following 5th of October, William Beck was appointed the first
chief. He was an efficient officer and served some twenty-four years in the
15 1 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
capacity of chief, though not continuously. The police force a1 first was
composed of six men chosen "for their fighting qualities." Chief Beck once
said thai "it Mas always necessary to whip a man in fair fighl before you
could arrest him." One of the members of ihis first force, a man named
James Rice, was lost on the Lady Elgin when she foundered September 8,
1860, while on a trip from Chicago to Milwaukee.
The force was increased from time to time as the city grew in population
and importance. In 1861, it numbered twenty-one men, by 1866 it consisted
of thirty-seven men, continuing thus until 1874 when it was increased to
forty-eight men. Since that time there have been frequent additions to the
force. In the Manual of Municipal Government for the year 1920, the total
number of officers and patrolmen in the police department of the city is
given as 671.
The names and terms of service of the Milwaukee chiefs of police since the
organization of the department, are as follows :
William Beck, appointed October 5, 1855. He served until 1862 when he
was succeeded by H. A. Page, who continued as chief until 1863. In the
year following, William Beck again became chief of police and served fifteen
years. Daniel Kennedy became chief in 1878, and two years later William
Beck was again appointed and continued in office until 1882.
In this year, 1882, Robert Wasson was appointed and served until 1884,
and was then succeeded by Lemuel Ellsworth, who served until 1885. He in
turn was succeeded by Florian J. Ries, who served until 1888. John T. Janssen
entered upon his long term of service October 26, 1888, which ended by his
resignation in April, 1921, a period of thirty-three years. A few months later
he was succeeded by the present chief, Jacob L. Laubenheimer.
The Milwaukee Fire Department. — In the chapter devoted to the fire depart-
ment in the Western Historical Company's "History of Milwaukee," it is said
that "the old volunteers were firemen, policemen, and if worse came to worst,
they fell in with the militia, and preserved public peace." Like most of the fire
departments of other cities in their early days, the Milwaukee tin' department
consisted of volunteers, "all the bright and plucky young men who have since
built up the financial prosperity of the city, and protected it from the disorders
of fire and panic."
The fire department was then composed of the cream of the growing city.
and in 1SH7 a hook and ladder company was formed and in the following year
a house was built for its accommodation on what afterwards became the custom
house site. Among the names of the volunteers were: Benjamin Edgerton, F. C.
Pomeroy, L. J. Higby, William Brown, Jr., William Winslow, Joseph Qreen,
Elisha Starr, Rufus Parks, A. 0. T. Breed, Nathaniel Prentiss, A. A. Bird, Wil-
liam Webber, John Pixley, Albert Fowler, A. \V. Hatch. George Vail, William
Gardiner, tieorge D. Dousman, Alexander Mitchell, and Fred Otis.
In the .Manual of the Common Council and Municipal Government of the
City of Milwaukee for the year 1920, the personnel of the lire department is
driven, as follows: One chief engineer, one firsl assistant chief engineer, six
assistant chief engineers, and 584 assistant firemen.
The names and terms of service of the chief engineers of the Milwaukee
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 455
Fire Department since the beginning- are as follows: Jobst H. Buening,
whose term of office was from 1858 to 1867; Patrick McLaughlin, from 18(17
to 1871; Henry Lippert, from 1871 to 1878; Henry Claymier, 1S7S to 1880;
Henry Lippert, from 1S80 to 1883(T'James Foley, from 1883 to 1903 ; Herman
Meminger, from 1903 to 1905; Thomas A. Clancy, appointed July 11, 1905,
present fire chief.
The Budget System of Milwaukee. — The report of the city comptroller,
Mr. Louis M. Kotecki, for the year 1921, explains briefly in the introductory
chapter that "the city budget is the financial program of the city for the
fiscal year." It is a system by which the members of the common council
may examine in detail the activities of the various city departments. "Each
item that appears in the budget," he says, "constitutes a separate and dis-
tinct appropriation, and department heads must plan their work for the year
in accordance therewith.
"It is necessary, however," he continues, "that some elasticity be provided
for, because, however carefully a budget be prepared, due to the fact that it
is based on estimates made months in advance of actual expenditures, some
appropriations will prove to be too small while others will be larger than
necessary. This is taken care of by a provision of the budget law which
provides that, within a given department, the board of estimate may take
from one appropriation and add to another in case the necessity for it arises.
The board of estimate is a comparatively small body, and, as it is not circum-
scribed by an involved procedure, is able to act promptly and make adjust-
ments, when, in its opinion, they are advisable, and thus avoid delaying the
legitimate activities of any department.
The Contingent Fund. — "A safeguard for unforseen emergencies arising
during the year is provided for by means of the common council contingent
fund. The contingent fund is a fund out of which the common council can
take care of all new purposes not anticipated in the making up of the budget,
and cases where a department's appropriations, due to abnormal conditions
or a change of program, prove to be inadequate and must be increased.
All appropriations from the contingent fund require the affirmative vote of
three-fourths of the members of the entire common council. With these safety
valves provided, there can be no serious objection to the common council
setting up appropriations for the departments in whatever detail they deem
necessary or advisable in order to control the business of the city.
Tax Levies Prepared in Advance. — "The Milwaukee budget, due to the
peculiar conditions of our financial affairs," says the comptroller, "is adopted
in two sections. . Funds for the appropriations for some of the departments
are provided for in the tax levy preceding the year in which the money is to
be spent ; for other departments in the tax levy of the current year ; so that the
tax levy for any one year covers collections to meet the expenses of parts of
two separate budgets. Consequently, no one budget can be used in figuring
the tax levy for any given year.
"To put it into concrete form, the taxes to meet the appropriations for
the following departments, namely: Board of Examiners of Engineers, Board
of Fire and Police Commissioners, Bureau of Building and Elevator Inspec-
y. -
z ',-
X. _
'^ "r
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 457
tion, Bureau of Smoke Suppression, City Attorney, Workmen's Compensa-
tion, City Clerk, City Treasurer, Common Council, Comptroller, Johnston
Emergency Hospital, Mayor, Public Land Commission, Sealer of Weights and
Measures, Tax Department, Art Commission, Board of Industrial Education,
City Service Commission, Harbor Commission, Public Library Board, Public
Museum Board, School Board, and Sewerage Commission for the year 1921
were included in the 1920 tax levy, while the taxes to cover the appropriations
for all other departments for the year 1921 will be included in the 1921 tax
levy, which will be collected in December, 1921, and January, 1922. By
means of the Taxation Readjustment Law, drawn at the request of the comp-
troller and passed by the Legislature in 1913, the city will eventually come to
the point whereby a single tax levy will cover a single budget. When that
time comes the taxation and budget system in Milwaukee will be consider-
ably simplified."
Procedure in Making Up the Budget. — The procedure in making up the
city budget, in brief outline, as follows: "The various city departments
submit to the comptroller, on forms furnished by him, and in accordance with
instructions given by him, requests for appropriations for the purpose of con-
ducting their departments during the ensuing fiscal year. These requests
represent the recommendations of the department head to the board of esti-
mate, and, through them, to the common council, which is the policy deter-
mining branch of the city government, of the services which he believes his
department should render. The comptroller tabulates the requests, checks
them carefully as to classification and other essential details, and lays them
before the board of estimate.
"This body is composed of the mayor, president of the common council,
comptroller, treasurer, city attorney, commissioner of public works, and the
members of the finance committee of the common council. From the requests
submitted to them they make up and submit to the common council a pro-
posed budget. To expedite the work the board of estimate appoints a com-
mittee of three to examine into the details of the requests and make recommen-
dations as to the amounts to be allowed.
"Many weeks are spent by the committee in this wTork. The committee
does not attempt to pass on requests involving questions of policy, such as
proposed bond issues, the amount of the contingent fund, new activities, and
items such as those set up as common council special funds. But the great
mass of detail is cleared away and the board as a whole can devote its time
more fully to the larger questions involved. All board of estimate sessions
are by law open to the public, and in addition it is required that at least one
public hearing be held before submitting the proposed budget to the common
council. A summary of the proposed budget is printed by the comptroller
each year prior to the public hearing so that those interested may have some
knowledge of what it is proposed to allow for the various purposes.
The Budget Submitted to the Council. — "The proposed budget is sub-
mitted to the common council and printed in detail in the proceedings, and
thus the aldermen are given an opportunity to familiarize themselves with it
before acting upon it. Under the law the eounei] must also hold at least one
l.->s
HISTORY OF -MILWA1KKK
public hearing to afford an opportunity for citizens to express their views to
them. After the council adopts it the budget goes to the mayor for his ap-
proval. The mayor has the power to veto any item appearing in the budget
without affecting the rest of the items. The council may by a two-thirds vote
pass such item over the mayor's veto, or in case the veto is sustained, may
offer a substitute in place of it, which must go to the mayor for his ap-
proval.
"In connection with the foregoing explanation of budgel procedure*"
continues Mr. Kotecki in his comprehensive account of the city budget
system, "it must be borne in mind that the so-called independent boards of
the city make up their own budgets, and neither the board of estimate nor
the common council has any authority to alter or amend the appropriations
set up therein, except when requested by resolution of the various boards,
prior to the formal adoption of the budget. It is mandatory upon the com-
mon council to observe such requests. Inasmuch as the budgets for these
boards and commissions amount to approximately 40 per cent of the total,
it will readily be seen how greatly the control of the financial affairs of
the city has been taken' out of the jurisdiction of the common council."
EXPENDITURE OP CITY TAX KKVEXUES
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 459
Total tax levy for all city purposes $ 15,413,060.50
Assessed valuation of all taxable property:
Real estate 207,717,875.00
Improvements 301,813,140.00
Personal property 171,667,145.00
Total of assessed valuation $681, 198,160.00
City tax rate :
Average $22.63 per $1,000.00 of assessed valuation.
Park System of Milwaukee. — There are fifteen parks in Milwaukee, be-
sides a number of center plots, squares, and triangles, maintained under the
control of the board of park commissioners. The total area included in the
parks, squares and triangles is 8HV2 acres.
The names of the larger and more important parks and squares are given
below in the numerical order in which they occur in the park system records,
according to the report of the commissioners for the year 1918.
Juneau Park 13.7 acres
Lake Park 125.2 acres
Riverside Park 24.0 acres
Gordon Park 13.5 acres
Kern Park 25.0 acres
Lincoln Park 180.6 acres
Sherman Park 24.0 acres
Washington Park 150.0 acres
Highland Park 6.0 acres
Mitchell Park 63.3 acres
Jackson Park 80.0 acres
Pulaski Park 14.4 acres
Kosciuszko Park 36.9 acres
Humboldt Park 45.7 acres
South Shore Park 22.0 acres
Clark Square 2.0 acres
Walker Square 2.0 acres
Fifth Ward Square (Vieau) 2.0 acres
The total cost for the operation and maintenance of the parks in 1918,
according to the report for that year, was $633,187.
Shade Trees in Streets and Parks. — "The forestry division, under the juris-
diction of the park commissioners, now entering upon the third year of its
activities, have completed the taking of a census of the trees in highways
of the City of Milwaukee," it is stated in an article by O. W. Spidel, city
forester, printed in the New Year's number of the Milwaukee Sentinel, for
January 1, 1921.
The result of the census shows that there were 82,392 trees counting all
the varieties thus enumerated. Elm trees predominated with 37,239 ; next
to which were found 15,081 maples, and lesser numbers of box elders, bass-
wood (linden), ash, poplar, catalpa, horse chestnut, willow, oak, sycamore,
To the Electors
OF THE
7
AND COUNTY
OF
a ymi
Believing the office of Judge of the Circuit and Su-
preme Courts to be the most important in the gift of the
People. And being* desirous that a man ot competent
abilities, of ample legal knowledge, of regular business habits, and of known
sobriety and morality of character, should be selected by the People of the
2d Judicial District to fill such office. A Mass Meeting of the Electors of the
city and county of Milwaukee is respectfully recommended to be held at the
COURT HOUSE on Saturday Eycning. July 22d, at 8 o'clock, for the pur-
pose of selecting an Independent Candidate, to be supported without distinc-
tion of Sect, or Party, for the office of Judge of the 2a Judicial District.
Milwaukee has honest and able men, such as Wells. Hubbell, Hollidey, Finch, Randall, Collins,
Arnold and many others from whom the people e»n select.
A general and punctual attendance is requested.
Milwaukee, July 20, 1848.
CALL FOR A .MASS MEETING IX 1848
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 461
etc. Elm trees seem best adapted for shade trees in this climate, and are
mainly chosen for such use by the commissioners.
The commissioners have experienced the usual difficulties of park officials
in other parts of the country in their fight against insect pests, and have
succeeded in partially exterminating- the tussock moth (the formidable enemy
of elm trees in the New England states), and in checking the "scurvy scale"
in the badly infected districts.
The pruning of more than 3,000 trees is reckoned as a part of the year's
work, besides the removal of dangerous and dead trees which have become a
menace to the public and a hindrance to the growth of other trees. "In
some tree borders where trees were too closely planted," says the city for-
ester, "alternate trees were removed so as to save those remaining. This
too closely planted condition throughout the city will require action in the
very near future to save' many of Milwaukee's trees."
Mr. Spidel reported on January 1, 1022, that: "Eleven thousand five
hundred and thirty trees or sixty-five miles of trees of different sizes and
varieties were pruned and brushed for moth egg masses ; 8,895 trees or fifty
miles were sprayed for the extermination of the predominating, destructive
insects and fungous diseases, such as the Tussock moth, cottony maple scale,
scurvy scale, and aphides in general."
Zoological Gardens. — An inventory of the animals, birds, etc., in the
zoological gardens of the Milwaukee parks, taken in December, 1918, shows
that there were at that time six African lions, six tigers, five leopards, thirty
monkeys, four polar bears, two grizzly bears, and twelve black and brown
bears. There were also an elephant, a hippopotamus, a herd of buffalo, a herd of
deer and elk, kangaroos, zebras and many smaller animals. Of birds there were
a great variety including a pair of ostriches and other rare winged creatures.
The total value of the animals and birds in the --Zoo" is stated to be $38,449.
A lecture hall, especially intended for the use of school teachers with
their classes, is provided, and other improvements are proposed by the com-
missioners in their report of 1918. The average attendance at the Zoological
gardens on Sundays was estimated to be 30,000.
"Never before," continues the report, "were the parks used as freely
as during the past year, not only for recreational activities, but also for mili-
tary drills, patriotic celebrations and other public demonstrations." The
parks have been extensively used for band concerts, chorus singing, com-
munity singing, picnic parties; also for all kinds of outdoor games, — base
ball, football, tennis, golf, ice skating, boating, swimming and athletic tourna-
ments.
In the New Year's issue of the Milwaukee Sentinel for January 1, 1921.
there is printed an article by Frank P. Schumacher, secretary of the park
board, detailing some of the recent improvements which have been made dur-
ing the previous year. "A unique addition to the zoological garden in Wash-
ington Park," he writes, '■and which it is certain will attract considerable
attention, is the so-called 'Monkey Island.' The same consists of an artificial
hill, the base. of which is approximately 120 feet in length by SO feet in
width, and about 35 feet high. Caves which are to serve as shelter houses
"The loves and friendships of individuals
partake of the frail character of human life;
are brief and uncertain. The experiences of
human life may be shortly summed up: a
little loving and a good deal of sorrowing;
some bright hopes and many bitter disap-
pointments; some gorgeous Thursdays, when
the skies are bright and the heavens blue,
when Providence, bending over us in blessing,
glads the heart almost to madness; many
dismal Fridays, when the smoke of torment
beclouds the mind, and undying sorrows
gnaw upon the heart; some high ambitions
and many Waterloo defeats, until the heart
becomes like a charnel-house, filled with
dead affections, embalmed in holy but sor-
rowful memories; and then the cord is
loosened, the golden bowl is broken, the indi-
vidual life — a cloud, a vapor — passeth away."
MATTHEW H. CARPENTER.
A COPY OF MATTHEW II. CARl'FXTF.R'S FAMOUS "(JOKi ;Im H S Till l>|>.\\s AND
BLACK FRIDAYS.'' HUNG OX THE WALLS OF THE OLD SETTLERS' CLUB
OF MILWAUKEE COUXTY
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 463
for the monkeys are built in the sides of the hill. An artificial water fall,
fed by a two-inch water pipe, flows from the top of the hill to the base.
Rustic stone ledges crop out in various parts of the hill which is sodded
and planted with pines and shrubbery."
Changes in Sherman Park. — "Up to comparatively a few years ago Sher-
man park was in a rural district and was used principally for picnic pur-
poses. Within the last few years, however, the residence districts have been
extended in a northwesterly direction towards the park and, at the present
time, additional houses are being built on all sides of it. The entrances to
the park were located at Sherman Boulevard and Chambers Street, at Forty-
first and Chambers streets, and at Grant Boulevard and Locust Street. These
entrances are connected by new roadways, the grading of which has been
finished. One roadway running east and west along the line of Chambers
Street connects Sherman Boulevard with Forty-first Street, the other road
runs in a northerly direction from the Grant Boulevard entrance and the
others towards the Forty-first Street entrance.
"When Sherman Park was purchased, a tree screen was planted around
its borders to shut out the adjoining country roads and tracts of farm lands.
These trees were planted close together and with the growth of years were
crowding one another. It was, therefore, necessary to move certain of the
trees to give enough room for the proper development of others. Moreover,
all of the trees along the west border of the park had to be moved when Sher-
man Boulevard was graded. Besides this a certain number of old trees in
various parts of the park had to be cut down. Therefore, all the trees which
had to be moved to make room for others in the border screens, and the trees
which had to be moved on account of the grade of Sherman Boulevard, were
planted in various parts of the park where there were openings."
Park Lighting Equipment Installed. — Early in 1920 plans were adopted
by the commissioners for the more adequate illumination of Washington
Park. Eighteen thirty-five foot standards, each with two lamps of the street-
lighting pattern, under these plans have been placed around the lake area;
and 154 fifteen-foot standards with holophane refractors have also been placed
in suitable positions. Lighting equipment of similar designs have been planned
for Mitchell, Juneau, Gordon, Riverside, and Sherman parks; as also for
Walker, Fourth Ward, and courthouse squares, and also Mickiewicz and
Eighteenth Ward triangles. An electric lighting system has already been
installed in Clark Square.
The filling in of the Lake Shore Drive and park made good progress dur-
ing the year 1920, five acres having been added to the area of the park. "In
all," says the secretary, "fifty-three acres have now been reclaimed." The
Lake Shore Drive, from Russell Avenue to the southern city limits, was
completed, and there is now constructed along the outer line of this drive
and park 5,520 feet of breakwater built up to a height of four feet above the
water line. "Considerable filling is also being done along the inner shore
of the yacht harbor, just south of Russell Avenue."
Sanitary Sewage Disposal Plant. — The method of sewage disposal which
has prevailed in Milwaukee for many years, which still prevails at the time
464 HISTORY OF .M I LYVAIKEE
of the writing of this chapter, was to divert the same into the three rivers
and thence into the lake. The result has been that the river waters have
become foul and stenchy during the summer months, and have tended to
pollute the drinking watSr which is secured from the lake.
It became clearly evident that other methods for the disposal of the
sewage must be found. With the constant growth of the city the evil of
foul rivers and impure drinking water would from year to year become
more threatening.
Tims, the municipality, through the aid of a commission, inaugurated
a study of the situation with the result that a sewage disposal system, op-
erated on a scientific basis, was planned. By this system no sewage S
diverted into the rivers but is carried directly to a central disposal plant
now in course of construction on Jones Island. Here it is treated in a series
of tanks and containers, reducing the sludge into solid matter usable as fer-
tilizing material, and rendering pure the liquid which goes into the lake.
The project will involve an expenditure of $13,000,000, but will, it is
believed, solve for many years to come, Milwaukee's sewage problem.
The progress made in establishing the plant is reported upon, January.
1922, by the chief engineer of the sewage commission, T. Chalkley Hatton,
as follows :
•"During 1921, the sewerage commission has expended $1,618,920.97 for all
purposes. These expenditures cover the cost of administration, engineer-
ing, testing station, extensions of intercepting sewers and the sewage dis-
posal plant.
"The main work being done on sewer extensions has been the building
of an intercepting sewer in tunnel in Second Avenue, from Becher Street to
Scott Street; Scott Street from Second Avenue to Sixth Avenue; Sixth Avenue
from Scott Street to National Avenue; and in National Avenue from Sixth
Avenue to Eighteenth Avenue. This sewer has been built entirely in tunnel,
and much of it has been built under compressed air.
"Contracts were let early in June of this year for furnishing and driving
approximately 21,500 wooden piles, amounting to Toll, 000 lineal feet, to sup-
port the aeration and sedimentation tanks for the sewage disposal plant on
Jones Island. These contracts have been completed in record breaking time,
the drivers moving out before December 1. This is the greatest number
of piles ever driven under one contract on the great lakes.
"The steam turbine driven air compressors and the steam turbine driven
generators for the power house have been completed and are ready to be
installed as soon as the buildings for housing them arc completed.
"Each of the air compressors, of which there are four, has a capacitj
of compressing 30,000 cubic feet of free air per minute to ten pounds pres
sure, this air being used to aerate the sewage
"Contracts were entered into this year for the steam equipment and the
work is well under way. Th:s consists of four 874 horsepower boilers de
signed to develop a maximum of 6,272 boiler horsepower which will be used
ti, operate all the machines connected with the disposal plant and to heal
the plant.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 465
"The coal and ash handling machinery has been contracted for and on
January 13, 1922, the commission expects to receive proposals to build the aera-
tion and sedimentation tanks which form the largest portion of the disposal
plant. These tanks are to be built of reinforced concrete and cover about
lOi/o acres of ground.
"The above brief description of the sewage disposal work under way will
convey to those interested the information that work upon this project is
rapidly going forward and it is expected that it will be far enough advanced
by the last of 1923 to begin to treat the city's sewage.
"The sewerage commission is active collecting the data necessary to design
the main intercepting sewers which the metropolitan sewerage commission
proposes to build, this latter commission having authorized the sewerage com-
mission to use its staff upon this preliminary work rather than to create a
separate organization.
"By early spring, the metropolitan sewerage commission will be in a po-
sition to award contracts for several main intercepting sewers which are
very necessary to connect the outlying communities up with the city's system.
"Under Chapter 554 of the Laws of 1921 for the State of Wisconsin the
metropolitan sewerage commission was created. One of the provisions of
this statute was that the three members comprising the commission were to
be appointed by the governor; one upon the recommendation of the sewer-
age commission of Milwaukee; another upon the recommendation of the state
board of health, and the third without recommendation, two of the members
to reside outside of Milwaukee and within the metropolitan district.
"In compliance with this provision, Charles B. Perry of Wauwatosa was
recommended by the state board of health; George P. Miller, by the sew
erage commission, and F. U. Ullius, Shorewood, was appointed as the third
member. Upon the organization of this commission on October 2(1, 1921,
Mr. Perry was elected chairman. A brief review of the causes which led up
to the creation of the metropolitan sewerage commission and the object to
be obtained thereby is as follows:
"First Law in 1913.— In 1913 the Legislature had passed a law creating
a sewerage commission for cities of the first class, the duty of which was to
build an intercepting sewerage system and a sewage disposal plant for the
City of Milwaukee for the purpose of protecting the public water supply, the
rivers and bathing beaches.
"This law did not confer any authority upon the sewerage commission of
Milwaukee to build intercepting sewers for the outlying districts in the
county which contributed to the pollution of the rivers and lake waters. It
was realized therefore, that even after Milwaukee expended millions of dol-
lars in collecting its sewage, carrying it to a sewage disposal plant and there
treating it so as to discharge it into the lake without serious pollution, the
waters of the rivers and lake would still be polluted from the sewage from
the outlying districts within that portion of the county which drains into
the rivers passing through the city, and therefore the object Milwaukee was
seeking would be largely nullified.
"To collect the sewage from each individual community and treat it in-
Vol. 1—30
AROUSEI
MILWAUKEE COUNTY
For Volunteering before the Draft!
The Centra] War Committee now understand distinctly tliat no more Voluntcei • will I" r. . , ived
EXCEPT FOR THE OLD REGIMENTS NOW IN THE FIELD.
Ami with the view of filling them, nil oar efforts are to lie directed We are informed by the Gorenior 'Imt thti fiu'iit-i-t to be furniah«d by
tbe State lias been inoreaaeT by 5,900, in order to fill the old RegiraeaU , Lenee the narab-T 10 be furuished by tbo County of Milwaukee ha*
been increased by abc
962
112
147
116
97
92
77
110-
-2713
ut 500, making
For Milwaukee City,
Town of Milwaukee,
Town of Wauwatosa,
Town of Granville,
Town of Oak Creek,
Town of Lake,
Town of Franklin,
Town of Greenfield,
Some of the INDUCEMENTS FOR VOLUNTEERING for tbe old Regiment* ere as followa
lit. The Volunteer Celt) an Advaavce Roiinly from the General l;o» eminent of
'JO lie gels the i. .. i r i >, n.. n i lloM » l„ the person I Im; ■ Hecmil. if he prevent* him«rir.
3d. He til- Ii ..in the I • nlr.il II nr I .inn, >il I. . - ■ s
4th. He reeelTei One Tlonlh'a Advance Pay from the l>o>crianaeDl
t n«li paid on I iili.im; - ■ $67
Id addition to the above, the Volunteer will get, at the end of the War, Skventt-Fivk Dollabs, making in all for
H-oiar-xties e.n<l A.dLxre».X3.o& f o,y, S14Q.
t^-The families of volunteers who enlist in the OLD REGIMENTS receive $5 per Month from the Stale
Should the War he coiled by nest Soring, [of which there is no reasonable doubt,) each Volunteer will receive in money, besides his food
and clothing, as follows:
#"
33
13
Citizens' Bounty,
Say Nine Months' pay-nt 813 a_Month,
S100
4
25
117
45
3201
State pay to Families, say Nine Months,
Total for Nine Months, < and found, I
rjs- Drafted nun receive NOTHING in money beyond the monthly pay of the regular soldiei
*^" Tne volunteer who enlists in an old regiment can select ins regiment and the COMPACT in that regiment, a* rill ft] ippeat by the
ollowing extract from General Order No, 88
Sf1, 3 j( .^its for regiments now in the field will be permitted to select any company of the regiment they may prefer. Should the company
thus selected be full when they joiuit, they will beallowed to select another.
S I Ml men who desire singly or by squads, to join any put ticuur regiment or company id the ftel.I are hereby nulli.
"-— ^ » «°*°*° i IW' ' '*" L THOMAS, Adj.u.tG.,
The volunteer who "oes into an old regiment in sure to be with EXPERIENCED OFFICERS, and to be better taken cue of, an. I a ■
fact that nine out of teueoldiera who 1 their lives in ;... army die b] Uses istead of being killed m battle, .i i- therefore, Tusllv
more lor Hit- safety of the soldier lo bo into an olil it k'nnint.
\Ve understand that our State [and of couise our city and county] must tarnish the met) lo nil the old PI mi '- 1 10 ma
State has furnished e oi less than its rroota ','"1" »u the calls for new regiments. The Government ... determined u illl tbe old ...
immediately, md if iot ailed by volnnteering, it trill be done by draft. ,,,„.„, .,
The volunteer who goes into au old regiment does so only for the unexpired term of the regiment, which will mat.
8 '"'"u- n~» MTisT URGENTLY call ution EVERY citisen of the city and comity of Mile uiltee, to i rvi I p, II neci teary, all aiians o?
, forthfpurpoH of recruiting, and if we AU, MAK K Tills < H'K (SPECIAL fil'SINI SS foi the ... k thi I ALL WILL BE I II.LKD
Let no one hesitate! This work iiuuat bo done by Ihe first of September,
E. H. BRODHEAD.
ALEX. IVIITCHELL, War Committee
C. F. ILSLEY.
Mi.w-.nk'-, At)gU, -' 5. 1888.
llii I la •'rllllimrl e'rlnHaf lluutr
COPY OF THE ARMY CALL ISSUED IN" 1862
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT 467
dependency of its neighbor was impracticable because it would largely in-
crease the expense to each municipality, by building and operating inde-
pendent intercepting sewers and sewage disposal plants, and many of the
communities were not able to finance such large expenditures, and yet each
community was equally interested in securing a pure water supply from the
lake, with the possible exception of Wauwatosa which maintains its own
supply.
"One main sanitary intercepting sewer could be built for two or more
outlying communities which would collect the sewage from these commu-
nities and which could be carried by gravity to the intercepting sewerage
system of Milwaukee and through it be carried and disposed of at the dis-
posal plant being built by the city, large enough not only to take care of the
population within the present city limits but considerable addition outside.
By combining all of the territory within the county which lies in the same
drainage district as the sewerage system of Milwaukee, the sewage from
which could be treated at the city's disposal plant, into a metropolitan sew-
erage district, the waters of the rivers and lake coidd be kept free from
pollution. It was necessary to have some central board authorized to finance
and build the collecting intercepting sewers necessary to carry the sewage
from this drainage district to the intercepting sewer system of the city.
"Commission Makes Plans. — This metropolitan sewerage commission in
required to project, plan, construct, and maintain in the county outside of
the city limits main sewers for the collection and transmission of sewage to
and into the intercepting sewerage system of Milwaukee. It may require any
town, city or village in the county, or any occupant of any premises outside
of Milwaukee located in the county, engaged in the discharging of the sewage
effluent from any sewage plant, sewage refuse, factory waste into any river
or canal within the county which is within the same drainage area as Mil-
waukee to rebuild any outlet, drain or sewer so as to discharge the said
sewage waste or trade waste into the sewers of the city or into such inter-
cepting sewer located in or near the town or village which the metropolitan
sewerage commission may establish.
"This does not mean that the metropolitan sewerage commission is to
build the lateral sewers within the cities, towns, and villages outside of the
city, but is to build the main intercepting sewers into which these lateral
sewers are to connect. The cost of these intercepting sewers is to be met
by bonds, issued by the county board. The interest on and sinking fund
for these bonds are to be collected as a direct annual tax against the .entire
drainage district in the county lying within the same drainage district as
the city.
"The statute also provides that after the organization of the metropolitan
sewerage commission, the sewerage commission of Milwaukee shall prepare
maps and surveys showing that portion of the county which is within the
same drainage area as the sewerage system of the city, the sewage from
which may be cared for by the disposal plant located in the city and the
metropolitan sewerage commission shall determine the boundaries thereof
in each of the respective towns and villages outside of the city limits.
Ills HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
"Will Spend $1,300,000.-111 compliance with this statute the sewerage
commission lias presented plans and surveys to the metropolitan sewerage
commission. It in turn has determined the boundaries and has filed plans
of the same with the clerk t>f each of the communities outside of the city and
within the commission's jurisdiction.
"The work, which the metropolitan sewerage commission was created to
do, has been started. It has adopted a budget for the coming year which
comprises the expenditures of about $1,300,000 with which it contemplates
the construction of a main intercepting sewer for Shorewood and White-
fish Hay; one in the town of Milwaukee and a portion of the town of Wau-
watosa for the purpose of collecting- and carrying to the eity's west side in-
tercepting sewer the sewage from the rapidly growing section north of the
city and from North Milwaukee; another intercepting sewer in the Water-
tewn plank road from the western city limits to the sewage disposal plant
now located in Wauwatosa and an intercepting sewer in National Avenue from
the western' city limits to the disposal plant located in West Allis.
"These intercepting sewers appear to he the most urgent ones to he built
at the present time and, as soon as the bonds are sold and money is provided,
contracts will be entered into for their construction.
"The county hoard has authorized the issuance of bonds for the metro-
politan sewerage commission in the amount of $1,300,000 for building these
intercepting sewers.'"
CHAPTER XXIX
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS
The distribution of water lias, since the establishment of a waterworks
system, been under municipal control. The city owns the entire plant, in-
cluding the intakes, tunnels, reservoirs, street piping, and lias managed the
same strictly as a municipal enterprise. The cost to the public of the water
supplied has always been reasonably low, and the utility has been deemed
most successful.
The manner in which the waterworks is operated is told by II. P. Boh-
mann, superintendent of the waterworks and water purification department,
as follows :
Water Supply and Intake. — Lake Michigan is the source of Milwaukee's
entire water supply. The new intake in service since December 2.'!, 1918,
is known as the Linwood Avenue Intake and consists of a concrete lined
tunnel twelve feet internal diameter which extends from the lake shore,
at the foot of Linwood Avenue out into the lake in a northeasterly direction,
a distance of 6,565 feet in sixty-seven feet depth of water. At the shore end
of the tunnel there is a circular shaft fifteen feet in diameter which connects
with the lake tunnel, which at this point is eighty-one feet below lake level.
At the outer end, the tunnel is 150 feet below the level of the lake and term-
inates in a submerged intake crib by means of a twelve-foot lake shaft car-
ried slightly above the bottom of the lake.
The submerged intake crib sets on the bottom of the lake immediately
over the top of the lake shaft. This intake crib is octagon in shape, eighty
feet in diameter and twelve feet in height, so that there is a clearance of
fifty-five feet of water over the top of the submerged intake crib, which
removes all possible danger of damage to the crib by boats or troubles from
the formation of ice. The submerged timber intake crib of the tunnel is
located about five miles from the month of the harbor. The capacity of
the intake is approximately 220,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours at a.
velocity of three feet per second and was designed to supply not only the
present Xorth Point pumping station, but also a future station which will
be located on the Milwaukee River near Chambers Street (extended), and
which will be known as the Riverside pumping station.
A shore tunnel nine feet in diameter, twenty feet below lake level, ex-
tends from the shore shaft up to and in front of the North Point pumping
station. From this tunnel in front of the pumping station branches lead
into the pump wells located in the basement of the pumping station. These
469
WATER TOWER AND PARK— MILWAUKEE
BATHING BEAI II. MrMNI.IA PARS
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS 471
wells are of various dimensions, but all are fourteen feet in depth, the top
of the wells being at lake level.
Water Purification. — Lake Michigan in its unpolluted state is a most ideal
potable water and for this reason was selected as the best source of water
supply when the city had outgrown the proverbial "town pump."
It is very unfortunate that topographical conditions compel the city to
dispose of its sewage in the same body of water from which it draws its water
supply, and it is quite remarkable that the continued practice of polluting
our water supply year in and year out did not exact a heavier toll in typhoid
deaths and kindred diseases, when we consider the amount of fecal matter
and trade waste deposited daily into the lake by a population of nearly one-
half million people.
In the absence of a sewage disposal plant, or a water filtration plant to
protect the water supply, and fully realizing the dangerous condition of the
water, as confirmed by a continued high typhoid death rate, the use of chlorine
as a method of water purification was first resorted to in June, 1910. Hypo-
chlorite of lime, or bleaching powder, was first used. Since March 31, 1915,
liquid chlorine is being used. The amount of chlorine applied varies from
sixteen ounces to forty-two ounces per million gallons of water, depending
upon the condition of the raw lake water.
In these amounts, liquid chlorine does not impart a taste to a treated
water. The objectionable tastes which have appeared from time to time were
due to certain trade wastes of a coal tar derivative nature getting into our
water supply and combining with the chlorine used to purify our water,
forming compounds which produced these obnoxious tastes. Chlorine, being
a volatile gas, can be expelled from water by boiling, leaving no trace of taste.
Whenever this obnoxious taste appeared in the water supply, boiling did not
remove it; in fact, it intensified the taste, which in itself is proof that chlorine
was not the cause of the obnoxious taste.
The use of chlorine as a sterilizing agency has very materially reduced
the typhoid death rate, but this method of purification alone must not be
looked upon as a permanent safeguard. A sewage disposal plant and water
filtration plant are the real solution for a safe public water supply.
North Point Pumping Station. — The North Point pumping station at the
lake shore is the main pumping station of the waterworks. There are eight
pumping engines of the vertical triple expansion crank and flywheel type,
whose total pumping capacity is 126,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.
Four of the pumping engines are low service pumps, capable of pumping
water to an elevation of 165 feet, and four are high service pumping engines
capable of pumping water to an elevation of 275 feet. There are ten boilers,
which provide the necessary steam to operate these pumps. The suction pipe
of each pumping engine extends into and within two feet from the bottom
of one of the pump wells previously mentioned.
Since the bottom of the pump wells are fourteen feet lower than the level
of the lake, it follows that water from the intake tunnel will flow by gravity
into a pump well as fast as it is being pumped out by the pumps. If all of the
pumping engines were shut down, the water in the pump wells would then
172 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
stand a1 lake level. After the water passes through the pinups, it is dis-
charged Ln.1 e of the five Large force mams from thirty to forty-two inches
in diameter, leaving the pumping station on the west side of the building.
These force mains are carriecTup the hill west of the pumping station to the
stand pipe, with which they are cross connected, and then branch off in dif-
ferent directions.
Only a fraction of the water pumped passes through the reservoir. The
large feeder mains branch off in different directions at the stand pipe, and a
thirty-inch main in North Avenue, which leads to the reservoir, is cross-
connected with the mains in several cross streets before reaching the reservoir,
so that the greater portion of water pumped never reaches the reservoir.
The stand pipe at the North Point pumping station is four feel in dia-
meter and 125 feet high. It was originally built to relieve the water mains
from the pulsation of the old type of beam engines. With the new type of
triple expansion pumps the delivery of water from the pumps is so constant
that a stand pipe is no longer an absolute necessity: however, as air collects
in a pump when it stands idle, the stand pipe, which is open at the top, per
mits any accumulated air to escape when the pump is started and in this man-
ner the stand pipe serves a very good purpose. The stone water tower which
encloses the stand pipe is 175 feet in height and its artistic beauty is admired
not only by the citizens of .Milwaukee, but also by outside visitors to the city.
Reservoir. — The reservoir, which is located in Kilbourn Park, is not a
storage reservoir, but rather an "Equalizing reservoir," which equalizes the
water pressure in the low service district and also serves as a source of
supply for the high service pumping station located on North Avenue be-
tween Tenth and Eleventh streets. The reservoir is of irregular shape. Its
average width is 310 feet, average length 515 feet. The depth of the water
in the reservoir when tilled is 21% feet and the elevation of the water at this
beight is 1.10 feet above city datum.
While it is possible to operate a waterworks by direct pumpage only, a
system having a reservoir connected with it is very desirable. It permits the
operation of the pumping engines at their most efficient rate, regardless of
the consumption, and experience has shown that higher efficiency is obtained
when the speed of the pumping engines is maintained nearly uniform. Lf
during the day hours the consumption is somewhat greater than the rate of
pumpage, the water in the reservoir is slightly lowered. As the consumption
decreases at night, the loss in the reservoir is again made up during the night.
High Service Pumping Station. -(North Avenue between Tenth and
Eleventh Streets). As the elevation of the City of Milwaukee varies con-
siderably, the distribution system is divided into two separate areas or /ones.
The low service pumping engines at the North Point pumping station pump
water into the low service district and into the reservoir. The high service
pumping engines at this station pump directly into the high service district,
in which they an- ass'sted by the pumps at the High Service pumping station,
which is a "booster station"; that is to say. tie' pumps at the High Service
pumping station pump water from the reservoir and elevate it in the stand
pipe adjacent to the pumping station to a height of 258 feel above the lake
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS 473
Tn this manner the districts which are located nearly as high as the reservoir.
and some of them even higher, can be supplied with water, which could not
be done if they were connected with the low service. There are four pumping
engines installed in this station, having a combined pumping capacity of
25,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours.
Pipe Distribution System. — The general arrangement of the pipe distribu-
tion system is what is known as the '•grid-iron" system, viz.: the water
mains are cross-connected witli the mains laid in cross streets. At intervals
of a half mile, larger mains are laid usually from eight to sixteen inches in
diameter, and between these mains pipes of six-inch diameter are laid, thus
forming a grid-iron system. Large feeder mains from twenty to thirty-six
inches in diameter are also extended along certain streets to the outskirts
of the city and connected with the larger distributing mains for the purpose
of reinforcing the pressure lost by friction in the smaller mains. These feeder
mains are not tapped for service connections.
The sizes of water mains laid in the city range from four to forty-two
inches in diameter. Gate valves are set at nearly every street intersection,
for the purpose of shutting off the water supply in case of leaks or repairs.
At street intersections and in blocks over 300 feet in length, tire hydrants
are placed. Water mains are laid on the north and east sides of the streets,
the south and west sides of the streets being reserved for gas mains. Water
mains are laid at a depth of six feet, which makes them secure from frost.
Connected with the distribution mains there are service connections which
connect with the various residences, stores and factories and supply them
with water. Services from s/i to' l1/^ inches in diameter are of lead, two
inches and over are of cast iron. One foot inside the curb on the service
pipe, leading to dwellings, there is a stop-cock enclosed in a cast iron box,
wdiere the water supply can be shut off in case of leaks or breaks inside of
the building or property line. The stop-cock and shut-off box for large serv-
ices supplying stores and factories is located out in the street. A record of
the location of every stop-cock box is kept by the water department.
All services are controlled by meters, which measure the amount of water
consumed for each premise. The small disc type of meter is for residential
purposes, the velocity type of meter is for factories and hydraulic elevators,
and the compound type of meter, which is a combination of a large anil small
meter, is used in stores and factories where the consumption at times is very
small and again quite high. A repair shop is maintained by the water de-
partment in the basement of the city hall, where all defective meters are
repaired.
Water is furnished outside of the city to the villages of Shorewood, West
Milwaukee, North .Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay, the City of West Allis. county
institutions in the town of Wauwatosa, and to a number of individual con-
sumers in the towns of Lake, Milwaukee, Greenfield, and Wauwatosa.
Water Rates. — The charges made for water arc based on the quantity used
as indicated by the meter. Meters are read monthly for the purpose of dis-
covering, as quickly as possible, any leakage or unnecessary wastage, thereby
474 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
avoiding high water hills to 1 lie consumer. Hills for water are rendered
quarterly, viz.: January 1st, April 1st, July 1st. and October 1st.
The metered rate for water used inside of the city is 6 cents per one
thousand gallons and for water used outside of the city 8 cents per one thous-
and gallons, regardless of the quantity used. There is no '"11111111111101 rate,"
the consumer paying only for water actually passing through the meter.
City Datum. — In establishing street grades or when reference is made to
depth of sewers or to pumping water to certain elevations, it is usually stated
in terms of feet above or below city datum. City datum is the horizontal
base line from which heights and depths are recokoned. The datum used
in this city is supposed to have been low water in Milwaukee River as it was
iu the month of March, 1836. Permanent bench marks upon stone monu-
ments have been fixed and established by ordinance and are located as follows:
East Side — Southeast corner of Court House Park 54.83 feet above city
datum.
"West Side — Southeast corner of Eighth and Chestnut streets 52.83 feel
above city datum.
South Side- — Southwest corner Greenbush and Park streets 24.95 feet
above city datum.
These are the original bench marks set in the early years of the city.
Since then there are a great many distributed all over the city for greater
convenience as a starting point in taking levels.
General Statistics For the Year 1919.
Date of original construction of waterworks 1S72-1>7 I
Estimated population supplied (including suburbs) 500,000
Total pumpage for the year (North Point Station) 22,590,435,210 irallons
Total re-pumpage for the year (High Service Station) . . . 1,638,223,400 gallons
.Maximum pumpage any one day, September 8th 85,697,210 gallons
Minimum pumpage any one day. April 20th 40,912,220 gallons
Maximum rate of pumpage or "peak" 112,000,000 gallons
Average daily consumption for the year 61,S91.tit)3 gallons
Average daily consumption per capita 123 gallons
Amount of coal consumed during 3 ear 19,783 tons
Total water mains laid to date 544 miles
Total number of fire hydrants 3.771
Total gate valves in distribution system 4,459
Total service connections with water mains 87,949
Total service connections in actual use 66,422
Total meters in service 65,769
Temperature of water From 32 -f to 71 degrees Fab.
Range of water pressure 20 pounds to 90 pounds
Total cost of waterworks, less depreciation $ 0,395,122.14
Total bonded indebtedness, Less sinking fund L9 ..'M10.00
Total revenues received for water for the year 1919 1,132,072.27
Total operating expenditures 4.")S.!'7"J.7s
THE MILWAUKEE WATERWORKS 475
Useful Information.— A gallon of water (U. S. Standard) contains 231
cubic inches and weighs 8% pounds.
A cubic foot of water contains 7% gallons or 1,728 cubic inches and weighs
62x/2 pounds.
The height of a column of water equal to a pressure of one pound per
square inch is 2.31 feet.
A column of water one foot high exerts a pressure of .433 pounds per
square inch.
Doubling the diameter of a pipe increases its capacity four times.
The mean pressure of the atmosphere is usually estimated at 14.7 pounds
per square inch, so that with a perfect vacuum it will sustain a column of
mercury 29.9 inches or a column of water 33.9 feet high at sea level.
r r 1
imA
I
1
HI lUllUT
THE COLUMBIA HOSPITAL
THE MILWAUKEE BOSPITAL
CHAPTER XXX
THE .MILWAUKEE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The first board of health was created soon after the incorporation of the
City of Milwaukee by an ordinance passed in August, 1846, and was made
up of the mayor and five physicians. The frequent visitations of cholera
among the towns of the Mississippi River and places in communication with
them operated as a warning to every city advancing in trade and popula-
tion to protect themselves by suitable regulations. It will be remembered
that Chicago suffered severely from a visitation of cholera in 1832, during
the progress of the Black Hawk war. In that year the cholera broke out
among United States troops brought there by Gen. Winfield Scott, and re-
sulted in a mortality of eighty-eight soldiers. It was a wise provision of the
new City of Milwaukee to create a board of health to prevent its possible
lodgement among its inhabitants.
In apprehension of an outbreak of Asiatic cholera the City of Milwaukee
created a second board of health by an ordinance passed July 15, 1850. The
people had been warned by a visitation of the dreaded epidemic at Chicago
in the previous year winch in fact continued for several years thereafter in
succession. Hearing of its prevalence in other cities the Chicago authorities
made strenuous efforts to prevent its appearance, but a man arriving by way
of the lately completed Illinois and Michigan canal from New Orleans brought
the disease with him. His death was followed by a general epidemic through-
out the City of Chicago, then a city of 23,000 inhabitants, resulting in the
deaths of 678 sufferers from that disease.
The records show that in 185") the mayor and common council of Mil-
waukee constituted the board of health at that time. In 1856, J. J. Luck
was appointed health officer of the Second Ward, C. Mushmeiler of the
Fifth Ward, Patrick McGrath of the Third Ward, and Nicholas Engel of the
First Ward. From 1856 to 1857, the mayor and common council apparently
acted as a board of health.
In 1867, the state Legislature authorized the appointment of a board of
health for the City of Milwaukee. Dr. James Johnson was elected presi-
ident of this board and thus became virtually Milwaukee's first commissioner
of health. He resigned in 1877. In April, 1877, Dr. I. H. Stearns was ap-
pointed health officer for the term of one year, Gen. H. C. Hobart being made
president of the board. In this year the office of health commissioner was
created, having a term of two years.
Subsequent Appointments. — April, 1878: Dr. 0. W. Wight, appointed
health commissioner for term of two years.
477
178 history hi \iii,\\.\i ki;i;
April, 1880: Dr. 0. W. Wight, reappointed for term of two years. Re-
signed October, 1881.
October, 1881: Dr. Robert Martin appointed health commissioner, the
term of office having been extended to four years. Tins appointment was
to fill the unexpired term of Doctor Wight.
April, 1882: Dr. Roberl .Martin reappointed health commissioner.
April, 1886: Dr. Robert Martin reappointed health commissioner.
April, 1890: Dr. U. 0. B. Wingate appointed health commissioner.
April, 1894: Dr. Walter Kempster appointed health commissioner.
April, 1898: Dr. F. M. Schulz appointed health commissioner.
April, 1902: Dr. F. M. Sehulz reappointed health commissioner.
April, 190G : Dr. G. A. Bading appointed health commissioner.
May, 1910: Dr. W. C. Rucker appointed health commissioner. Resigned
September, 1910.
October, 1910: Dr. F. A. Kraft appointed health commissioner to fill un-
expired term of Doctor Rucker.
April, 1914: Dr. Geo. C. Ruhland appointed health commissioner. Entered
war service August 28, 1917.
October 8, 1917 : Dr. Louis J. Daniels appointed health commissioner. Re-
signed December 31, 1917.
January 1, 191S : Dr. George C. Ruhland reappointed health commissioner.
The population of Milwaukee during the years covered by this record is
given here as a guide to the reader, with a comparison with the Chicago rec-
ord of poiDulation for the corresponding years.
Milwaukee. Chicago.
1846 9,501 14,169
1848 16,521 20,02.'?
1850 20,061 29,963
1860 45,246 109,206
1870 70,776 306,605
1880 115,587 491,516
1890 204,468 1,208,669
1900 285,315 1,698.575
1910 373,857 2,185,826
1920 464,639 2,701,212
1922 (estimated) 500,000 3,000,000
Tt will tli us be seen that in the year 1848 the two cities approached each
other in population more closely than at any other period.
"The year 1921 will mark a new record in the health history of the City
of Milwaukee. The death rate, as estimated for the year 1921, stands at 10.3
per 1,000, which is by far the lowest in the history of the city." said Dr.
George C. Ruhland. commissioner of public health in January. 1922. "This
is better than the previous best low rate, that of 1919, when the -tality
of this city was estimated at 11.46 per I.IHIO. This figure means that there
have actually been more than five hundred deaths less in Milwaukee during
the last year than in the year preceding.
THE MILWAUKEE HEALTH DEPARTMENT 179
''The result of what intelligent work can accomplish in preventing deaths
is interestingly shown in the lowered infant mortality rate, which for the
year 1920 again shows an improvement over the preceding year, bringing
the mortality rate for the age period under one year to seventy-five per 1,000
births. This result directly reflects the educational propaganda carried on
by the department through its nursing division.
"In the same way, the better control of the contagious diseases may be
ascribed to the activities which the department carries on through its con-
tagious disease division in conjunction with the visiting nurses. Diphtheria
has been held down to a lower mortality by the excellently conducted cam-
paign by the chief of the bureau of contagious diseases. By discovering the
carriers, and promptly isolating them until no longer infectious, the spread
of this disease not only has been checked, but the mortality from this cause
has been lowered over that of the preceding year.
"Although these are gratifying results, it should be understood that it
is entirely possible to eradicate diphtheria by the application of the newer
methods under which the susceptible child not only can definitely be dis-
covered, but more important, by means of which the susceptible child can
be immunized so that it will not develop this disease. Since diphtheria finds
its greatest period of susceptibility between the ages of one and six, or what
may be called the preschool age period, this becomes a problem essentially
for the private practitioner.
"Through the division of school medical inspection, over 58,000 physical
examinations of children were made up to December 1. Out of this number
over 21,000 were found in need of medical attention and over 16,000 were
referred to their family physician for such medical attention. Much of the
disease of adult life, and many a premature death finds its beginning in
the minor defects that are discovered at school medical inspection. The fact
that almost half of the cases examined showed conditions in need of medical
attention, proves the need for school medical inspection. It is safe to say
that the actual need for the service is greater than the facts brought to light.
With the limited number of doctors and nurses, obviously the situation can
not be as thoroughly and as fully covered as would be desirable.
"In spite of its handicaps, the sanitation division has been doing splendid
work in keeping streets in a remarkably clean condition. This becomes
especially noticeable as one compares Milwaukee streets with those of other
cities. The sanitation of restaurants, the supervision of tenement houses
and public buildings, of barber shops and beauty parlors, and of sweat shops,
all of which fall under the supervision of the sanitary division, show that in
spite of a rather small force of inspectors, an acceptable control is main-
tained over these places.
"Similarly good work has been maintained by the division of food inspec-
tion. The addition of one inspector, authorized last year, has enabled this
department to increase the total number of its inspections by more than
5,000 over those of the year preceding. Under the present ordinances, all
meats not inspected and supervised by government agents must be inspected
and tagged by officers of the Milwaukee Health Department. There can be
180 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
no question that under this ordinance the supervision of the meal supply
offered to the .Milwaukee public has been improved. This service is much
in need of additional help, and it is to be hoped that as soon as the city is
able to increase its revenfl.es, it will utilize some of the moneys available Eor
strengthening this service.
"The compulsory pasteurization law, together with tin' requirement of
thermo regulating devices, and the farm inspection service of the department,
have combined to give Milwaukee one of the best milk supplies in the country,
yet one that is offered at a cheaper price than is obtainable in most other
cities of this size.
"In conjunction with the work- d • by the food division must he nun
tioned the splendid work as carried mi by the chemical laboratory, which Eur
nishes the technical data on which the food division is able to take its cases
into court. During the first eleven months of the year over fifteen thousand
samples of foodstuffs were examined in the laboratory. This is an increase
of 7.-'! per cent over the same period last year.
"The chemical laboratory has rendered a most valuable service in work-
ing out the technical detail in connection with the department's ordinance
regulating the sale of inflammable stove polishes.
"Through it was carried on an investigation of the accuracy of clinical
thermometers. It assisted the state prohibition officer, the district attorney 's
office, and the police department in prohibition enforcement. It played the
major part in a sanitary survey of the bathing beaches; studied the causes
and devised a recommendation for the elimination of sediment formation in
soft drinks; developed a treatment of insanitary milk for the purpose of pre-
venting its resale without destruction, and in many other ways added to the
efficiency of the department in dealing with the problem of food sanitation.
"The future needs of the department have been in part recognized by the
council's formal approval of the department plan for reorganization. Un-
der this plan, departmental activities will be grouped under six bureaus.
Through this arrangement many of the related activities of the department
will be more closely organized under the direction of a single supervising
bureau chief. This undoubtedly will tend not only to strengthen the serv-
ice, but also to develop it to better advantage by proper coordination. Though
the completion of the department's personnel on the basis of the accepted
reorganization plan will be a matter of years, nevertheless the adoption id' the
plan means a step in the right direction and will enable the depart meut to
develop alone1 definitely recognized lines."
Milwaukee's Healthy Climate.- In an article on Milwaukee in the Bneyclo
paedia Britannica, it is said: "Milwaukee is one id' the most healthful <>( the
larger cities id' the United States. Its average annual death-rate for 1900
1904 was 13.6. i For the year 1917 it is shown to be 12.3.) The proximity of
Lake Michigan cools the atmosphere in .summer and tempers the cold in the
winter. As a result, the extremes id' heat and cold are not as great as in mosl
inland cities. The mean monthly temperatures vary between twenty degrees
in January and seventy degrees in duly, with extremes of one hundred degrees
and minus twenty-five degrees. The mean annual precipitation is 31.4 inches."
CHAPTER XXXI
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING
The foregoing chapters have aimed to deal adequately with the city's event-
ful past and the present status of achievement. Its aspirations for the futur i
also deserve attention. Visions of a city that shall be more beautiful, more
healthful, and more habitable are entertained by its people
While much has been planned and pictured in the way of marvelous land-
scape art and wonderful architectural creations, the cynic will hold that only
a fractional part of all, that has been dreamed and speculated about a city
beautiful, can or will come true. Nevertheless it follows that some one must
dream the dreams of the ideal, the splendid, the magnificent, in order that
some one else may realize them.
Thus, the opportunities afforded by the natural situation, topography
and environs, for beautifying the city; the possibilities of realizing dreams
and schemes, and the rearing of art and architecture, have not been over-
looked. There have been those in the community who have been possessed
of a vision of things attractive from an urban point of view, who have sought
to crystallize public opinion and enlist the aid of local government towards
their realization.
The aspirations of the community in the direction of greater physical
attractiveness has found eloquent expression through the medium of a public
land commission. This body has made an exhaustive study of the possibili-
ties of the natural situation, of bringing order out of sporadic city building,
which has hitherto been controlled by individual expediency, provide thorough-
fares and highways in harmony with modern conceptions and ideas, provide a
stately grouping of public buildings, and zoning into districts the location of
industrial, commercial and residential buildings. Its plans and purposes are
both picturesque and practical.
The Clas Studies. — The distinction of being the most ardent dreamer of
a city beautiful, who has for a quarter of a century studied the possibilities
of making Milwaukee an attractive urban center, and who has proposed more
schemes in the direction of municipal art, unquestionably goes to Alfred ('.
Clas. He has unselfishly prepared numerous studies covering a variety of sub-
jects dealing with parks and boulevards, lake fronts and civic centers. Some
have been accepted and brought into realities, others may find acceptance in
the future.
His ideals and aspirations are embodied in the following which he ad-
vanced at a public gathering:
481
Vol. 1—31
3Q
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CIT Y PLANNING AND ZONING 483
"Civic Art, narrowly defined, is art applied to town, and art is the final
expression of culture and taste.
"This municipal art, which has so firmly taken root, is the germ that is
to regenerate the American city. It foreshadows a broadening public mind;
it appeals to the finer and truer sensibilities of man, and it makes possible an
object lesson to the masses, which cannot be over-estimated. Many of our
people have no appreciation of the desirability of beauty in a city; with them
the highest consideration is the convenience of the city life. In the erection
of our buildings today, we find that utility is not alone to be considered, but
that beauty is fully as necessary and important. If our cities are to be made
attractive, and made to appeal to the pleasure and comfort of their citizens,
the beautiful must be considered. With all the resources of art and science
now at hand, there is no reason why we should allow ugliness, meanness,
and squalor to exist and to deaden the external aspects of our cities to the
extent we do. Civic art has beautified, stimulated, and inspired the world
for 3,000 years or more. It made Athens and Rome beautiful cities in the
past ; it is making Paris the most beautiful city of the present.
"Architecture and civic art leave the most enduring influence. Painting
and sculpture are usually the possessions of the rich and favored, but archi-
tecture and civic art concern all men, and most men have something to do
with them some time in the course of their lives.
"A good picture is admired by a few, but a magnificent edifice, a grand
boulevard, or a beautiful park is the pride of thousands. A picture cultivates
the taste of a family circle ; a grand boulevard educates the minds of millions.
Of the thousands who stand before the Tuileries or the Madeleine, not one in a
hundred visits the gallery of the Louvre.
"Civic art never wearies us, for its wonders are inexhaustible. They
appeal to the common eye. The love of beauty is in the hearts of all men ;
it is one of the controlling motives of men ; it finds expression in the almost
universal desire for harmonious conditions in their environments.
"Aristotle defined a city as 'a place where men live a common life for a
noble end.' That was true in Aristotle's times, and it would be true now if
we made our city so attractive and so beautiful that it would spread a benefi-
cent influence over our homes and our lives, as it should."
The Clas River Scheme. — In advancing his ideas on the ultimate disposi-
tion of the Milwaukee River which flows through the commercial center of
the city Alfred C. Clas says :
"My proposition is to narrow the river until it .becomes a canal sufficiently
large only to carry away the water that comes down from above. On either
side I would have a street wide enough to accommodate any amount of traffic,
and at every cross street I would have a permanent ornamental concrete
bridge. It requires little imagination to see what a magnificent thoroughfare
could be created with building fronts on either side, all of harmonious designs,
with two streets in one, approximately 200 feet wide, with a winding canal
separating them and with ornamental bridges, balustrades, etc., giving artistic
touches to the whole design. Go a little further and think of such a thorough-
fare lighted at night with profuse and ornamental lamps harmoniously ar-
BUST OF CHKISTIAX WAHL. K< H'NDKl; OK
MILWAUKEE'S PARK SYSTEM
M NKI \ (■ Mini \>. Ml H III II. PARK
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 485
ranged. The effect can easier be imagined than described. In every way it
could be made a model street, such a street as does not now exist in any city
of the United States.
"I firmly believe that the growth of the community demands this im-
provement and I also believe that if it is started in the proper way, it is
within our financial ability to make it. Prudence holds up a warning finger
when contemplating a plan of this magnitude, but we must not forget what
our city has become in the last fifty years, and what it is destined to become
in the next half century. Population and wealth are rapidly increasing and
in contemplation of a scheme like tlr's, we must not think of what the city
is today, but of what it will be in the future. In my opinion it is a scheme
that would yield large results in the immediate future and still more for
generations to come."
The City Planning Commission. — In November, 1911, the City Planning
Commission of Milwaukee issued a pamphlet in which was printed a number
of preliminary reports on the general subject. The plans there outlined have
been much modified in detail during the intervening years, but as these plans
have furnished the basTs of the more recent proposals the substance of the
pamphlet is given in the following pages.
"City planning on a broad, comprehensive and scientific basis," says the
writer of the introduction to the pamphlet, "is a comparatively new art in
America. Up to recent years this great country had been too busy developing
its wonderful resources and accumulating vast wealth to give heed to the
very important subject of beautifying its cities and making them better places
to live in. The idea that mere beauty might have mor.e than an aesthetic value
did not occur to the busy American until within the last decade. * * *
It never occurred to him that by a better arrangement of its streets and
boulevards could business bs expedited, or that by providing ample breathing
space the health and energy of its citizens could he enhanced." He seemed
blind to the fact that it would pay in dollars and cents as well as in added
usefulness "to create beauty and convenience where it did not exist."
Beginning of the Movement. — "Something like ten years ago it had begun
to dawn upon the American mind that the then general plan of building
cities on a 'hit or miss' basis, was all wrong. A number of the more progres-
sive cities took up the matter in a broad-minded, businesslike way, and ap-
pointed commissions, whose business it was to study existing conditions and
to outline a plan, not only for improving them, but for taking care of future
developments on correct lines. In the pursuance of that broader and better
idea a number of the eastern and western cities have made most remarkable
progress.
"Milwaukee, always conservative, was slow to adopt the new idea. The
honor of awakening this city to the need of something better rightfully be-
longs to Mr. A. C- Clas, who was then a member of both the city planning
commission and the regular park board. .Mr. Clas, who both by instinct and
training, was deeply interested in city development, kept abreast of the times
and was thoroughly conversant, not only with the wonderful work done in
Europe, but with all the efforts that have been put forth in the same direc-
■ Ea |
1
|FWT... s-*^
f
"*$>«,•
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 4S7
tion in this country. In public addresses, newspaper articles and letters he
began, many years ago, advocating- the appointment of a commission whose
business it should be to plan a comprehensive, artistic and well coordinated
plan of parks and boulevards. As a result of his activities, Mayor Rose, in
his annual message for 1905, suggested to the common council that it appoint
a board whose business it should be 'to prepare a permanent plan of park
improvements, parked ways, boulevards and drives, to be followed by the
board of park commissioners in their administration of our parks.' In October
of the same year Mayor Rose sent to the common council a special communica-
tion again urging the appointment of such a board, and calling attention to
the work that had been done on similar lines in other American cities.
Metropolitan Park Commission. — "At the same meeting Alderman Becker
introduced a resolution authorizing the mayor to appoint such a commission, to
consist of eleven members, and to be known as the 'Park Improvement Com-
mission.' Nearly a year later that resolution was reported by the finance
committee for indefinite postponement, and nothing more came of the matter
until December, 1906, when the late Alderman Stiglbauer introduced another
resolution authorizing the mayor to appoint a board, to be known as the
"Metropolitan Park Commission,' to consist of eleven members: one to be a
member of the common council, one to he a member of the park board, the
city engineer, and eight citizens not holding -official positions, and eventually
on April 1, 1907, that resolution was passed and the following gentlemen
were named as members on July 22. 1907: Capt. I. M. Bean, Joseph McC.
Pell. Peter Brust, Alfred C. Clas, William Lindsay, Adam Meisenhe'mer,
Charles Niss, Jr., Charles J. Poetsch, John Reichert, Charles Quarles, and
C. B. Whitnall. Changes occurred in the personnel of the board so that at
the time the report was written it consisted of the following persons: Peter
Brust, A. C. Clas, Albert F. Giese, Henry S. Klein. Adam Meisenheimer,
Joseph A. Mesiroff, Charles Niss, Jr., John Reichert, August Richter, Dan B.
Starkey, C. B. Whitnall, with A. C. Clas as president and Frank P. Schu-
macher as secretary."
The name of the commission was now changed to "The City Planning
Commission," and in order that the public might have a better idea of the
work it was set forth, as follows :
''1st. To make an investigation into existing physical conditions in Mil-
waukee.
"2d. To determine and report upon what should be done to improve those
conditions.
"3d. To prepare a comprehensive city plan for the future improvement
and growth of the city, including recommendations for :
"a. Improvement of the river and lake fronts.
"b. Extension of streets and opening of new subdivisions.
"c. Improvement of entrances to tin' city from the several railway sta
tions, looking to future development.
"d. A rapid transit system, including terminal projects.
"e. Extension of ear lines into outlying districts.
"f. A playground, park, and boulevard system.
L88 HISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
"g. Location of public buildings, and other public work as in tin- opinion
of the commission, will tend to make Milwaukee a more convenienl and at-
tractive city.
"4th. To prepare a pl»t for the extrusion of the city for at leasl two
miles beyond the city limits, that will harmonize with the projected improve
ments within the present limits, such plat to carefully conserve the topography
of the land as may he requisite for sanitary influences; to make ample pro
visions for factory and other commercial territory with el'licient railway
service; and to provide residence areas apart from the commercial and factory
zones.
"5th. To suggest to the common council, and to the State Legislature,
such legislation as may he necessary to facilitate the carrying out of the com-
mission 's recommendations.
"From time to time the commission has reported to the common council
on the work it has completed. These reports have been published separately
in pamphlet form, and in order that the public may secure it in more en
venient form it has been deemed advisable by the commission to gather the
several reports and print them together in the pamphlet which is herewith
presented for the public's consideration. The commission earnestly urges
every citizen into whose hands this pamphlet may fall to give it careful
perusal and to consider without prejudice and in a broad-minded way the
suggestions herein presented."
Work of the Plan Commission. — The plans for beautifying the city have
naturally involved consideration of park improvements. Thus the commis-
sion at once arrived at the conclusion that trees were the leading factors in
creating a proper environment for the people seeking the benefits of "the
great outdoors," — fresh air, scenery and exercise. To reach these spois. shady
and cool in summer, bracing and refreshing at all seasons, the streets leading
to the parks must be clean, wide and as nearly dustless as possible.
Now a general plan is proposed by the commission, the central point to
be a "Civic Center," from which a radiating system of streets and avenues
will lead to the parks with their rural scenery. The plan which meets with
much favor is that in which the civic center is to be placed in such a position
as to include a wide street running from the City Hall to Ninth Street, and
encompassing the City Hall, the Auditorium, ami the Public Library and
Museum. Other public buildings will there find a proper location, and
eventually the radiating streets will extend to the surrounding country be-
yond the parks. It will be the aim to widen many such streets, provide a
parkway alone' the center, upon which rows of shade trees may he planted
and lines of street cars placed between them. At either side of this sheltered
center is to be a thirty foot strip of pavement for general traffic. Between
the street paving and tin' sidewalk are to be shade trees in proper order.
The "Civic Center" is an institution as old as the history of civilized nun.
Around the "Agora" were held the public assemblies of ancient Greece. The
"Forum" was tin1 greal meeting ground of the old Romans and after their
day, in the middle ages and in the days of the Renaissance, it was tic place
where were celebrated public fetes, where public and official ceremonies took
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND Z( »NING 489
place and where laws were enacted. Around these open spaces were placed
the principal public buildings. Being the stage for the expression of common
interests, they were ornamented with founta ns, monuments, and other types
of civic art to emphasize the dignity and strength of the community.
Expense of the Undertaking. — The expense of such an undertaking need
not be great, for the city would purchase the land necessary to secure the
required width of parkways, and could sell the frontage thus acquired at an
advance sufficient to cover the cost. Those who have seen Commonwealth
Avenue in Boston, or New York Avenue in Washington, can readily imagine
what these parkways would look like. The commission also mention a mu-
nicipal pier where steamboat landings and railway terminals might be placed
for the convenience of people seeking more distant scenes.
Professional Advice Submitted. — An examination of the plans for a civic
center for Milwaukee was made by the well known landscape architect, Mr.
Frederick Law Olmsted of Poston, and his associate, Mr. John Nolen. The
report of these experts approves of the location of the civic center as out-
lined above, its advantages being its "proximity to the business center of
the city, combined with the economy of purchase, a visual relationship with
the City Hall, and an arrangement of grades favorable to a fine, artistic
composition. As to the genera] proposition, therefore," they say, "of group-
ing the principal future public buildings about an open space or spaces ar-
ranged on the axis of Cedar Street, between the crest of the hill at Ninth
Street and the City Hall, we can only congratulate the community upon the
existence of such an opportunity, and urgently advise that it be not lost by
delay."
The Location of the Ccunty Building. — These gentlemen then heartily ap-
proved of a plan to place the County Building at the west end of the com-
position on the axis of Cedar Street, as proposed. This, they say, "seems to
us admirable; the termination of the civic center axis at one end in the City
Hall, ami at the other end in the County Building, not only brings the two
principal buildings into direct visual relation with each other, but emphasizes
their predominance in the group. The fact that the intersection of Ninth and
Cedar streets, although approachable from Grand Avenue and State Street
on nearly level grades, is forty-five feet above the general level id' the land
to the east, offers the possibility of a commanding site, which, if skilfully
treated, will have a notable distinction and hnpressi veness."
Suggestions and Recommendations. — "Our chief criticism, indeed, of the
plan as drawn, so far as concerns the proposed site of the County Building,
is that it fails to suggest the full possibilities of the situation. In many
respects, the site may be said to resemble that of the United States Capitol.
There, as here, in approaching from the c'.ty by street cars or other vehicles,
people ascend the hill to the right or the left of the main axis and enter the
building from the upper level, while the direct access by people on foot is by
means of the steps and terraces on the opposite side, terraces which add enor-
mously to the architectural effect of the building as seen from the lower ground
and which in turn command a most important outlook over the space below
them. The elevation of the building upon such a system of terraces will not
ffifl
| -'--Vji'
n^Ofe
J* , 1;^
ipm^m*
SKYLINE OF MILWAUKEE FROM THE J',A\
1 *l ii >t i > taken from tlic breakwater
ENTRANCE To LAKE DRIVE
NORTH POINT LIGHTHOUSE AND BRIDGE ENTRANCI I" LAKI PARK
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 491
only contribute greatly to its effect as seen from the rest of the civic center,
but is very important in respect to its appearance as seen from the west. To
place it so that it might appear "down in a hole' as approached along its main
axis on Cedar Street from the growing western part of the city, would be a
serious misfortune. Indeed it is probable that the large majority of people will
approach it by Ninth Street from the Grand Avenue or the State Street cars,
so that a suitable relation of the level of the building to the high ground on
the west side is of vital importance.
"We feel, therefore, that the treatment of the whole space from Wells to
State Street at this end of the proposed civic center should be carefully
studied with a view to obtaining every possible advantage of the differences
in level; further, we believe that this study should accompany and, in a meas-
ure, control the preliminary studies for the design of the County Building,
itself, and that it should include provision for probable future increase in the
accommodations offered by the building now to be erected, either in the form
of additional flanking buildings, or in the form of large wings. When it is
considered that the population of Milwaukee is doubling about every twenty-
five years, which means an increase of 400 per cent in about fifty years, and
that a fine public building or a fine civic center may be expected to endure
for centuries so far as the physical permanence of the investment is con-
cerned, it would seem extremely short-sighted not to plan the treatment of
the County Building and the space around it with a deliberate expectation of
providing in the future, without having to tear and rebuild, an accommoda-
tion many times larger than is now needed by the county. This means that
ultimately the county buildings would occupy practically the whole of the
space from Wells to State Street at the end of the scheme, that the terraces
and opeu spaces ought now to be designed with a view to such extension, and
that a more liberal purchase of land by the county is justifiable than would
be required merely to give a decent setting to the large courthouse now
under consideration.
"All the above poiuts, but especially a regard for the importance of the
approach to the building by Ninth Street and the great desirability of bring-
ing it into view from Grand Avenue, incline us to believe that the best results
would be secured by placing the building fairly and squarely on the plateau
at the intersection of Ninth and Cedar streets and purchasing for county
purposes the four blocks bounded by State, Wells, Eighth and Tenth streets.
The only serious objection to this as a matter of design apart from the ques-
tion of cost, appears to be the obstruction of Ninth Street, which is the first
street west of Fourth Street that offers a connection north from Grand Avenue
on a nearly level grade. It is to be considered, however, that Ninth Street
does not extend south of Grand Avenue, and is interrupted on the north at
Winnebago Street. Unless this interruption of Ninth Street is found to be oul
of the question or the increased cost of land purchase is prohibitive we recom-
mend the modifications of the plan above outlined placing the County Build-
ing on the intersection of Ninth Street and Cedar Street.
Street Arrangements and Details.— "Assuming the location of the County
Building at Ninth and Cedar streets and, of course, the City Hall at the east
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 493
end of the Cedar Street axis, the problem remains of how best to place the
other buildings, and what size and shape to give to the open spaces, for the
latter need to be as carefully designed as the former. The two most serious
limitations upon the development of the most thoroughly satisfactory design
consist in the monotonous division of the area into city blocks and in the size
and locating of the new auditorium," thus continues the report of F. L. Olm-
sted and John Nolen.
"If all streets are carried unbroken across the composition, they will
not only divide it monotonously but will make it impossible to so place any of
the features of the design as to be seen from Grand Avenue by looking down
the connecting streets. Sixth, Fifth and Fourth streets — on account of their
connections and relatively easy grades have too much traffic importance to
allow of interruption. Eighth Street has a steep gradient and it would be
desirable to place some feature in connection with the terraces rising west
of Eighth Street, such as an outstanding basin and fountain, for example, so
as to project into the line of Eighth Street. The roadway would be merely
deflected around that feature in crossing the Cedar Street axis. Of still more
importance, as regards the beauty of the composition, if it can possibly be ac-
complished, would be the closing of Seventh Street from Wells to State. This,
together with the substitution of a broad parking with a roadway on either
side in place of the single axial roadway of Cedar Street between Sixth and
Eighth, would afford an impressive and unbroken open space of suitable shape
and .scale in front of the County Building anil would permit the ultimate
construction of public buildings of agreeable proportions to flank this open
space on the north and south. The fact that the arrangement would make
the buildings visible from Grand Avenue is an additional gain.
Treatment of Wells and State Streets. — •'Seventh Street has been sug-
gested as a route for an additional street car line, but it would seem as though
Fifth or Sixth Street, or at most, both of them would suffice. The needless
multiplication of trolley lines across the design ought to be avoided at all
hazards. Moreover, a car line on the main axis, such as now exists between
Fifth and Sixth streets, is very undesirable and it would seem as though the
east and west connections could be made wholly on Wells and State streets;
both of which can and should be widened in connection with the formation
of the civic center. Wells and State streets should not only be widened
throughout the blocks accpiired by the public so as to leave sidewalks adequate
for the maintenance of trees, as well as ample roadways, but the necessary
steps should be taken to insure the rebuilding of the opposite frontage in a
manner that will harmonize with the character of the civic center. The most
effective means of securing these ends would be for the public to acquire these
frontages.
"The Auditorium makes impossible a continuation of the broad treatment
of the main open space east of Sixth Street. We therefore recommend for
the blocks from Sixth to Fourth streets an arrangement substantially like
the one proposed by the Metropolitan Park Commission, but with these
changes: (1) the inclusion of the land fronting on Fourth Street from Wells
to State, without which a dignified and satisfactory enclosure of the civic
PEOSPECT AVENUE
LAYTON BOULEVARD, LOOKING SOUTH FROM NATIONAL AVEN1 I.
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 495
center is hardly possible; (2) the reduction of the size o| the circular paved
space between Fifth and Fourth streets.
"East of Fourth Street, upon the reasonable assumption that Cedar Street
cannot be widened, it would seem desirable to widen the sidewalks at the
expense of the needlessly broad roadway and to introduce sidewalk trees as
shown on the plan ; but it is essential that those trees should not be of large
growing species, or the vista through to the City Hall would in time
be blocked by them. East of the river again the space between the Cedar
Street axis and the existing large buildings of the power house and the theater
ought to be kept open as gardens rather than left to be built up as suggested
by the plan.
"In conclusion, our judgment is that the general situation proposed by
the Metropolitan Park Commission would permit of an orderly, advantageous
and economical grouping of public and semi-public buildings; that the plan
of development proposed is, in its essentials, admirable ; and yet that the
project is of such complexity that the best results are to be secured only by
means of the most thorough and skilful study applied to the revision and
development of the plan as a working project — a revision and development
that can best be accomplished by the cooperation of a group of designers
working out the various parts of the problem, one in harmony with the
other."
River and Lake Shore Parks. — In one part of the 1911 report of the city
planning commissioners the subject of river parks is dealt with in an exhaus-
tive manner. The lands lying along the Milwaukee River are thoroughly con-
sidered; also the Menomonee and Kinnickinnic rivers, and suggestions and
recommendations freely made throughout. These may be studied in the light
of the later developments proposed by the subsequent boards which have
considered the various problems that have arisen. In one of the reports at-
tention is called to the advantages possessed by Lake Michigan in planning
parks and driveways along its picturesque shores. In fact it may be said
that the people of Milwaukee, like the people of Chicago, have only in late
years really "discovered" Lake Michigan with its wonderful possibilities of
beautiful views and the thousand diversities of amusement it affords to those
who would explore its far-extended shores, or embark on its waters.
Final Word of the Public Land Commissioners. — "It seems that the site
designated as the 'Revised Metropolitan Park Hoard Scheme' offers the most
attractiye solution of the entire problem. Your board of public land commis-
sioners concurs in the opinion held by two recognized leaders in city planning,
Mr. Olmsted and Mr. Nolen, in that the placing of the courthouse on the hill
at the intersection of Cedar and Ninth streets would mean the seizing of an
unusual opportunity. There would be no duplicate of Milwaukee's Civic
Center. It would be unique and give an added distinction to this city and in
comparison with the splendid undertakings of a similar nature in Cleveland,
Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and other American cities, it would
easily hold its own.
"If the project seems large, let us not forget that, as the city approaches
the million mark, there will be a concurrent growth in its financial capacity.
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PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 497
Let us also appreciate that it is not proposed to carry out the entire scheme at
once, but that sufficient ground be now reserved and enough building be now
undertaken to confirm the plan. In preparing for the inevitable greater Mil-
waukee so that she may be great in character as well as in numbers, let us
not fail to heed the prophecy and advice of that well known architect and city
planner, the late Daniel H. Burnham:
'■ ' Make no little plans ; they have no magic to stir men 's blood and prob-
ably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and
work, remembering that a noble logical diagram once recorded will never
die, but long after we are gone, will be a living thing, asserting itself with
ever increasing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going
to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be Order, and your
beacon Beauty.' "
Zoning for Milwaukee.— The Board of Public Land Commissioners issued
a tentative report in June, 1920, in which is described the plans that have
been adopted to improve the conditions existing in a rapidly growing city
like Milwaukee. "Zoning," says Mr. Edward M. Bassett of New York City,
an authority on the subject, "is the creation by law of districts in which
regulations, differing in different districts, prohibit injurious or unsuitable
structures and uses of structures and land."
The board of public land commissioners, as appears in this report, con-
sists of the following persons: C. B. Whitnall, chairman; George F. Staal,
secretary; William H. Schuchardt, Percy Branian, Edw. Grieb. The board
employed R. E. Stoelting as city planning engineer and Arthur C. Comey as
consultant.
Definition of the Term. — The term "Zoning" is further defined in the
language of Mr. Lawson Purely, formerly tax commissioner of the City of
New York, and vice chairman of the New York City commission on building
districts and restrictions. The term "has come to be used," he says, "to mean
the regulation of buildings in a city. It signifies such regulation of the height,
area, and use of buildings as will protect each landowner from the impair-
ment of his share of light and access as will protect him from unseemly noises,
unpleasant smells and offensive sights.
"Proper protection of the owner in these respects enhances the value of
his land and conserves the value of his buildings. Owners cannot have such
protection for themselves without conceding the like protection for their
neighbors. Appropriate regulation demands such rules that no parcel of land
in the city can be used in such fashion that all similar land could not be
improved with buildings of like kind without disadvantage to each and all of
them. This is only common fairness, corporate equality. * * Zoning
must proceed on the basis of existing conditions. Even the worst sections
can be improved somewhat; some sections may be saved, some sections may
be protected at the beginning of their development."
A Zoning System. — The commissioners' report then considers the zoning
system as it applies to Milwaukee: "Zoning constitutes a fundamental part
of Milwaukee's city plan. From studies made in connection with the prepara-
tion of a general plan, it is apparent how closely zoning is bound up with other
Vol. 1—3 2
ins BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
elements in the city's development following such a city plan. It is generally
admitted that the past bap-hazard development of our city was ruinous. The
larger Milwaukee grows the inure essential becomes a plan wherehy the vari-
ous sections of our city will he used for a specific purpose. Murine- the course
of the next ten years, millions of dollars will he spent for public improve-
ments and property owners during this period will spend several billions.
Since private property comprises about two-thirds of the city's area, a general
plan to regulate the use of such property must he conceded to he of even
more importance than a plan to regulate public improvements. Streets laid
out for the convenient movement of traffic of all kinds are of the most im-
portance to the city, yet they cannot he properly planned unless it is first
decided whether the adjacent territory is to he developed as a district of two-
story buildings or one comprising buildings six or more stories bigh. Streets
laid out for residence purposes are entirely unsuitable in a commercial or
manufacturing district. "Without a zoning' plan to control the construction
of buildings and to segregate the residential from the commercial and in-
dustrial districts, a street system cannot he properly laid out.
Sewerage Systems and Zoning. — "As the city increases in population, the
attendant congestion makes it more difficult to prevent disease. Zoning
minimizes the congestion and makes the task of controlling disease less diffi-
cult.
"The sewerage system of the city cannot be designed properly without the
adoption of a plan for segregating the use of property and limiting the height
of buildings and the area of lots which may lie built upon. The lack of such
a plan has already made it necessary to duplicate parts of our sewerage sys-
tem at considerable expense, which might have been avoided had a zoning
plan been in operation years ago. By segregating the use of property, the
problem of sewage treatment can he more readily solved.
"People living in well-lighted homes have a physical resistance which i<
superior to that of people who live in dark rooms. It is common knowledge
that you cannot raise babies without light and air any more than you can
raise plants, that disease is most prevalent in congested localities and that
people living in congested districts most always show diminished power of
resistance to disease. Zoning makes for an orderly city and it can he shown
that this will have a marked effect on the physical fitness of the city's in-
habitants.
Fire and Accident Prevention. — "Fire protection will be less difficult under
a zoning scheme which will provide for the segregation of buildings of different
USeS. Zoning will thus increase the safety anil security of the homes of tin'
people, streei i gestion will he materially reduced under a proper zoning
plan. By reducing < gestion, it is a known fact that the number of accident-,
on streets is materially reduced. The records of New York City show that
of the persons killed by vehicles over half are children. The zoning ordi-
nance will prevenl the indiscriminate use of property and prevent factories
and commercial establishments from going into residence districts, thus keep-
ing the greater amount of traffic on the principal arteries of travel rather
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 499
thriii on residence streets. It is undisputed that this will reduce the number
of accidents to children.
"The zoning plan will do for the individual owners what they cannot do
for themselves — set up uniform restrictions that will protect each from mis-
guided operations or exploitation by his neighbor and be of mutual benefit.
We see everywhere the invasion of many residence or business districts by
harmful or inappropriate buildings or uses. If a district lias been thus in-
vaded, rents and property values decline, loans are called and it is difficult
ever to reclaim the district to its more appropriate use.
"Industries of a heavier type have naturally segregated themselves along
the water fronts and railroads. Light industries are found mostly near the
wholesale, retail and terminal centers of the city, but there are many kinds
of light industries that are free from any segregating force and locate indis-
criminately throughout the city. They are found scattered throughout the
business and residential sections, especially the residential sections from which
their labor or supplies are recruited. The factory is usually a blight within
the residential section. It destroys the comfort, quiet and convenience of
home life. The exclusion of trades and industries from the residential streets
is essential to wholesome and comfortable housing. Stores, garages and other
business bu'ldings scattered among the residences are a constant menace to
residence property. The concentration of all the neighborhood business
buildings on the business streets make the transaction of business more con-
venient. Segregation of dwellings on the exclusively residential streets adds
to the convenience and quiet of home life and thus tends to increase property
values on such streets.
"Zoning the city will make it less difficult to find a proper location for a
new industrial establishment by setting aside a certain district for that specific
purpose. Up to the present time many locations most suitable for industrial
purposes have been subdivided into lots and blocks and improved with a
small number of dwellings. Many such developments adjacent to railroad
tracks have made the use of this property for factory purposes impossible
because the land was divided into narrow strips by streets ami alleys. Zoning
should make it possible for industrial property to be developed unhampered."
Examples from Other Cities. — The need of regulations required under any
well considered zoning ordinance is as great in our city as in the cities whose
examples are cited in the following paragraphs:
"Since New York City in 1916 adopted a zoning ordinance, many of the
larger cities of the country have adopted such an ordinance or are engaged
in the preparation of one. Newark, Philadelphia, Fresno. Omaha, Portland
and Berkeley are some of the cities which have recently adopted a zoning ordi-
nance, Avhile such cities as San Francisco, Rochester, Buffalo, Cleveland and
Detroit are now preparing such an ordinance.
"The success of the zoning ordinance in such cities as New York and St.
Louis has made the advantages of such an ordinance seem essential to every
city. These ordinances are accompanied by a comprehensive zoning plan of
the entire city, providing for the protection of the existing improvements and
the most desirable development of unimproved property. The ordinances
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 501
provide for the control of building operations by regulating the use, height
and bulk of buildings by means of certain general restrictions which are
equally applicable to like districts in all parts of the city. This type of zoning
ordinance provides a reasonable amount of flexibility so as to permit future
modification of the plans to take care of the growth and expansion of cities.
"The experiences of New York and St. Louis are interesting to show the
success these cities are having in the application of the zoning ordinance.
From investigations made by Herbert S. Swan, zoning consultant of New
York, and Harland Bartholomew, engineer of City Plan Commission of St.
Louis, Mo., it is possible to compare the first sixteen months of operation of
the zoning ordinance in those cities.
"In New York fifty-three changes were requested in the regulations estab-
lished by the zoning ordinance. Of these forty-seven effect use regulations
and six the area regulations. Of the forty-seven requests for changes in the
use regulations twenty-seven were granted; of this twenty -seven there were
twenty-three for relaxation of which one was a change to an unrestricted dis-
trict at the expense of residence ; eight were for the extension of a commercial
district at the expense of residence ; seventeen were for the extension of an
unrestricted district at the expense of a commercial district. These changes
were all small and many of them were because of mistakes or errors in the
maps or the classification under the original plan. The area of the city affected
by such changes was insignificant.
"One of the most satisfactory provisions of the New York ordinance was
the creation of a hoard of appeals. From July, 1916, to November, 1917,
483 appeals were made to this board, of which 216 were granted; 114 denied;
96 dismissed and 57 withdrawn. One of the most difficult problems in the
adoption of a zoning ordinance is that of the public garage which is usually
accompanied by a repair shop. Criticism of the original New York ordinance
was made because of the difficulty in locating garages and in 1917 two amend-
ments were adopted, one of which permitted the erection of a garage on
either side of a street between intersecting streets where one garage already
existed before the adoption of the zone ordinance. The other amendment
permitted the establishment of a garage in a commercial or residential dis-
trict upon petition signed by 80 per cent of the frontage deemed affected by
the board of appeals.
Benefits Derived from Zoning in New York. — "The New York zoning ordi-
nance has prevented vast depreciation in numerous districts, while it has
effected great savings in values amounting to many millions of dollars in
established districts. Even in the former old residence sections of Murray
Hill and Washington Square, which have practically been abandoned for
several years for good residential purposes, a rehabilitation resulted from
the enactment of the zoning ordinance. Another interesting and significant
result of the adoption of the zoning ordinance in New York has been the
production of a new and what is believed to be a better type of high buildings.
"In general, it may be said that the New York ordinance has city-wide
approval. During the three and a half years since its adoption there has been
surprisingly little attempt to change it, while no actually significant changes
PLAN OF PROPOSED PRINCIPAL EAST AND WEST ARTERIES AND llll.li;
RELATION TO OTHEE ARTERIES BETNG CONSIDERED IN CONNECTION
WITH AUDITORIUM SITE WD ( II \ II \l.l. SITE
Proposed bj 1 1 1 . ■ Board of Public Land Commissioners
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 503
have been made in the ordinance itself. The ordinance has been vigorously
supported upon all occasions where its maintenance or existence has been
threatened.
General Effects of Zoning. — "Zoning- is simply an extension of the funda-
mental principles underlying- the building code, regulation of individual rights
in the, common interest. Its purpose is to bring an orderly city out of the
present increasingly chaotic development with buildings of all types of use
and of all sizes mingled together to their mutual injury. This is accomplished
by establishing districts within which buildings must conform to certain re-
quirements designed to produce a much more homogeneous development than
has heretofore been the practice.
"Certain sections are recognized as best adapted, either through their
location or on account of existing improvements, for industrial purposes,
others for light manufacturing and commercial buildings, or for local busi-
ness; finally the residential districts of the city need protection from all
inappropriate uses. From another standpoint districts arc needed, grouping
buildings according- to height so that those vast areas of the city in which
practically all the buildings would be low, law or no law, will be pro
tected against the intrusion of an occasional building overtowering its
neighbors. Finally, the less intensively used sections, away from the
heart of the city, should be protected from buildings occupying too much
of the lot, especially so that the present admirable open type of residential
development may continue, free from exploitation by those who might destroy
its character by congested building.
"In putting zoning into effect it is not proposed to stop any existing use
or require any building to be reduced in size, but as changes are made from
time tn time constant pressure will be exerted towards conformity with the
zoning- plan.
Uses of Certain Districts. — "The districts in which the uses of a certain
type of buildings are indicated are placed in four classes, each designed to
meet the requirements of a particular type of use either predominating now
or anticipated as the logical development of the district in the near future.
This predominating use is indicated in a general way by the names of these
four classes of districts as .adopted in the ordinance.
"In residence districts no use is permitted except such uses customarily
associated with residences as are recognized not to lie detrimental to the
residential character of the neighborhood. Besides places of abode, churches,
educational and similar institutions are recognized as clearly within this*
group. Rural or suburban activities nut carried on in factories, stores and
similar buildings, such as farming and horticulture, both in the open and under
glass are also included in the residence classification, since they normally
precede the extension of residential development into the outlying sections.
"These principal uses appropriate to residence districts may be accom-
panied by such accessory uses as are customarily incident to them, includ-
ing such activities within the building as may be carried mi without being in
any way objectionable or a detriment to the primary purpose of the neighbor-
hood, and including garages for private use only.
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"Local business districts are provided along thoroughfares close to the
residence districts to serve them with retail stores, public garages, the mak-
ing of such products to be sold at retail as will not create a nuisance to the
neighborhood, and similar community needs. Residence uses are permitted
in these districts.
Manufacturing and Industrial Districts. — "The commercial and light man-
ufacturing districts include the present principal business sections and a
reasonable extension thereof, as well as strips of territory between industrial
and residence districts. Such industries as are apt to constitute nuisances if
located in the center of the city or close to residential neighborhoods are
prohibited, comprising slaughtering, chemical, heavy metal and stone indus-
tries, and others that are offensive on account of odor, dust, smoke, gas, or
noise that ordinarily attends their operation. Light manufacturing is thus
encouraged to locate immediately outside the business section witli its pro-
hibitive land values, and to utilize that very considerable area which is be-
coming less and less attractive for residence purposes but which has for the
most part, owing to its very size, but little hope of a business future.
"The industrial districts are designed to include all classes of industries
that have hitherto been allowed within the city limits, residences only being
excluded, both because such districts are apt to produce very bad conditions
for homes, and because the latter may interfere seriously with the successful
development of an industrial area. These industrial districts comprise broad
belts of land through the Menomonee Valley and south along the lake, now
largely occupied by factories ; narrow strips along the Milwaukee River south
of Riverside Park, and along the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway on
the west side of the city ; these being confined practically to existing plants.
And a third type of districts which in most eases constitutes the beginning
of a long industrial belt following the railroads out into the country, for
example, north of Keefe Avenue and south along the Kinnickinnic, these pro-
viding sites appropriate for the modern type of industries covering areas of
relatively cheap land reasonably close to large residential communities. In
applying the use of restrictions an exception is made in the case of existing
buildings and uses, which do not conform to the requirements of the district
in which they are. placed."
Heights of Buildings. — "In each of the four classes," continues the re-
port, "buildings are limited to heights appropriate to the type of buildings
now prevailing or to be expected to prevail in the future in the particular
district. * * * In the 125-foot district the 'tower building,' so-called, in
which a portion of the structure rises several stories above the main body, is
permitted, with the tower occupying one-quarter of the lot to the height
hitherto in effect for all buildings, namely 225 feet. This district includes
the central business section, the wholesale section, and the great industrial
areas of the Menomonee Valley and lake front. Although few such high
buildings are anticipated in the industrial districts, occasional high indus-
trial buildings will hardly be likely to be injurious in these. In the downtown
section it is expected that many of the future buildings will be able to reach
the height set, so that eventually the business section will be dignified and
A BRIDGE AND EUVEB Ai:i:A STUD'} FOE THE COMMERf [AL ( I \ I I B 01
MILWAUKEE
Designed by Alfred C. I las, architect
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 507
harmoniously developed, with every property used to its full capacity con-
sistent with similar uses by its neighbors, instead of the present haphazard
situation of four or five very high buildings interspersed with about twenty-
five other buildings of a height suitable for the Milwaukee of the future, and
hundreds of small buildings scarcely more than 'taxpayers' for the valuable
land they occupy.
Further Details of the Flan. — "In a belt outside this district of maximum
building height lie most of the 85-foot districts, adapted to the hoped-for light
manufacturing development of the central district and a part of the south side,
and to the larger apartment houses up to six stories high within this district,
along Grand Avenue and on the east side, where they are already being built
in numbers. Another group of 85-foot districts comprise the narrower indus-
trial belts and the outlying industrial districts, in which buildings as high
as this will not be unsuitable though it is believed that most of the indus-
tries will be housed in very low buildings occupying large tracts.
"The 60-foot districts provide for an extension of moderate sized build-
ings along a few of the principal thoroughfares and a similar extension of
moderate sized four-story apartment houses through much of the west side
and a portion of the east side, as well as narrow strip* along certain *5-foot
industrial districts where such buildings would not be injurious ami would in
effect produce a desirable barrier shutting off the industries.
"The 40-foot districts include all that part of the city where single and
two-family dwellings are the standard. Business streets in these districts are
included, since their buildings in most cases back upon residence property
and the tendency of other cities to create three- or four-story slum tenements
over stores is not developed in Milwaukee. Since all residences for more
than one family are limited to two and a half stories with no independent
apartment in the one-half-story, all apartment houses, so generally a nuisance
in home districts, are excluded.
Area Districts. — "The regulations for the four classes of area districts are
designed to establish and perpetuate conditions of adequate light and air,
avoid congestion wherever possible, and to prevent an undue decrease in light
and air and an increase in congestion in those sections where intensive build-
ing has already become genei'al. These results are brought about by an exten-
sion of the principles established by building codes of the city and of tin-
state industrial commission. Windows required by the city building code,
equaling in area one-tenth of the floor space of the room, must receive light
and air from yards and courts whose sizes are governed by progressive regu-
lations. These open spaces extend from the ground for residential buildings,
elsewhere from the top of the first story. Similar restrictions fix the per-
centage of the lot to be occupied and, except in the inner districts, the num-
ber of families per acre.
"The A districts include practically all heavy industry sections and the
central portion of the city. Yards and courts are optional, depending mi the
design of the building and position of windows, but mi interim' lots buildings
requiring light and ventilation from outside may not occupy more than 90
LAKE SHORE DRIVE AND PARKWAY EXTENDING FROM THE NORTH
SOUTH LIMITS OF THE CITY
Designed by Alfred C. Clas, architect
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BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF MILWAUKEE'S PROPOSED PARKWAY
Thirty miles of parked driveways, encircling the city and for the mo8l pari outside its
present limits, are provided for in the plan of which the accompanying bird's eye view i- a
reproduction and which lias been submitted to the countj board with the approval of the
county park commission, These drives follow the courses of the Milwaukee, Menomonee and
Kinnickinnic rivers and their triButaries, and connect the proposed Lake Drive, the civic
center and Milwaukee parks, touching all of the city's suburbs. It is proposed to acquire
the hanks of the rivers and creeks where needed, plant them with trees and Bhrubbery and
restore them as near as possible to their natural condition. Two large tracts, one northwest
and one southwest of the City, will lie reforested and made natural parks. Swamp- along
the line of the drivewaj are to be converted into lake-, which "ill serve as reservoirs to
equalize the Bow "i water in the creeks and rivers. This will form Milwaukee's future park
system. It is proposed to begin bj buying the north bank of the Menominee Vallej Bouth
hi i be western end of Vliet St reel
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 509
per cent of the lot above the first story. The few new residential buildings
that are likely to be built in this area are treated as though in the next class.
The B, C and D Districts. — "The P> districts include the large commercial
and light manufacturing areas, and certain adjacent apartment house areas
where conditions of intensive building permitted by the present building code
have already become general. Rear yards of 15 feet are required and wider
for high buildings, side yards and courts if provided must be sufficient in size
to insure a rather meager supply of light and air. Not over 70 per cent of an
interior lot may be occupied nor more than 85 per cent of a corner lot.
''The C districts, bounded roughly by Cleveland Street on the south,
Twenty-second Avenue and Thirty-fifth Street on the west and Keefe Avenue
and Park Place on the north, are laid out to include the great areas residential
for the most part, already built up so as to occupy from 30 per cent to 50 per
cent of the blocks, largely on lots about 30 feet wide. Rear yards must be
'20 feet wide or more, and other open spaces are to lie so regulated as to insure
Pair light and ventilation. To perpetuate the open character of the streets
and front yards in those blocks in which a set-back is generally adhered to,
it thereafter becomes the rule to which all must conform.
"Not over 50 per cent of an interior lot may be occupied nor more than
60 per cent of a corner lot, ami not more than fifty families may be housed
per acre, thus preventing serious congestion.
"Within the city limits the D districts occupy a relatively small belt on its
edge, but it is contemplated that such districts will be almost universal for
residential neighborhoods outside the present city line.
"Rear yards must be at least 25 feet wide; and side yards 6 feet wide:
there must be at least one side yard on every lot, and required windows
must open on yards — not on courts. Not over 30 per cent of interior lots may
be occupied nor more than 40 per cent of corner lots; and there shall not be
more than twenty families per acre. These provisions are designed to tit
closely the prevailing tendency towards lots 40 by 120 feet, with a single
or two-family house thereon and will protect all such neighborhoods against
the intrusion of any more congested type of development, thus insuring ade-
quate light and air in practically all suburban neighborhoods. When com-
bined witli modern ideas in the arrangements of streets and open spaces these
will be in effect garden suburbs, in which it will be a lasting satisfaction to
own a home or own an interest in a cooperative group, an ideal generally
acknowledged as fundamental to the highest type of citizenship."
This concludes that portion of the report of the public land commissioners
prepared by Arthur C. Comey, consultant. Mr. Comey's report has not been
followed literally but it is believed that the report furnished by him has been
substantially given in the previous pages.
It will he observed that we have not attempted in this presentation to keep
the zoning and city planning reports separate. The two subjects of city
planning and zoning are practically identical in their ultimate objects, and
if considered as a single chapter the matter is more readily comprehended by
the reader.
Wise Counsels by Mr. Bassett.— In an address by Mr. Edward M. Bassett of
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 511
New York on the subject of "zoning," given at Milwaukee, June 22, 1920, he
gave an interesting history of the movement in New York, which we add
here as an important contribution to the literature of the subject. "I conn'
here from a great city of our country to another great sister city, .Milwaukee,"
he began, "to tell you somewhat of the mistakes, the way problems have been
solved, and the great expenses caused by mistake in New York; for we all
have it in mind that one great sister city can learn from the mistakes and ex-
perience of the other great cities. Now, I am going to tell you a story in a
simple way, in chronological order, of one of the great problems of Greater
New York, and that is the problem of chaotic building.
"New York has in latter years had four great problems. The first has
been its water supply. We are on salt water; fresh water has to be broughl
many miles from the mountains, and the expense has run into hundreds of
millions of dollars. That problem may be said to be well solved today and
will probably remain so for a great many years to come. Let us pass on
quickly to the next problem. New York City has been a congested and
crowded city, with inadequate transportation. In that respect its problems
have been enormous, those of a long, narrow city, bound in by waterways
on both sides, population increasing and yet having to spread out along the
narrow island ; because as long as New York remained a long, narrow city, it
could not be an economic city nor anything but a congested city. A round
city is the most economical because it has the largest area with the shortest
distances to the center. * * *
"You here in Milwaukee have one of the most admirable cities of the
world, with its wonderful layout of diagonal streets, so located that you can
gradually build out those avenues; and tor each mile you go out. you tan a
larger and larger area of the enormously large and well located territory
surrounding you.
New York City's Problems. — "The problem of the port of New York is the
farthest from solution, largely due to our being in two states, the State of
New Jersey and the State of New York; but the problem which I shall par-
ticularly speak upon is the problem of chaotic building conditions, the harm
that comes to a great city from those conditions, and what can be done to get-
out of it in time.
"About nine years ago the great rapid transit plan was decided upon
and contracts were let for subways and tunnels going to all parts of the city
to spread out the population and bring better living conditions to both work-
ing people and business men, because distance from one's business anil from
one's work is measured by time and not by geographical distance, and a city
is an unsound city economically if its workingmen have to travel two, two and
one-half and three hours a day.
"New York was getting tightly bound and had to expand its area. This
rapid transit plan was the only solution. But after that was contracted for-, a
group of citizens, of whom I was one, considered that to let building condi
tions continue as they were, so that a building of any kind could go up in any
part of the city, to any height, of any form, and to be used for any purpose,
was not helping the rapid transit lay-out to solve the problem of distribution
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CITY or
MI1.WAI KEE
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SIHl'RBS
PLAN OF PROPOSED PRINCIPAL EAST AND WEST ART] EUES Wl> 1 1 1 1 : 1 1 : EU I \
TION TO OTHEK ARTERTES BEING CONSIDERED IX CONNECTION
WITH REVISK1) IWKk |{() WW Sill'.
Proposed by the Board of Public Land Commissioners
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 513
of population. We, therefore decided to cast about to see whether anything
could be done in Greater New York as a follow-up of the rapid transit plan, to
see that skyscrapers were avoided and to see that congested tenement houses
should uot pile into those places where the plan was working best, to the end
that better business conditions and better living conditions and better condi-
tions all around could be brought to all parts of our great city.
The Problem of Tall Buildings. — "We thought in the beginning that sky-
scrappers were the real problem, and the only one that might perhaps have
some solution. Consequently, as a start, for we had to start somewhere, the
board of estimate, which corresponds to your common council here, appointed
a commission of citizens, eighteen in number, of various callings — builders,
real estate owners, manufacturers, fire insurance men, bankers, architects, —
to tackle that subject of skyscrapers, because the lower part of our city,
and elsewhere, too, had buildings going up to unprecedented height. Sonic
of them were monuments that wealthy men would cause to be built to
commemorate their business success, and for various other reasons. They
were not commercial successes, because they were so exceedingly tall. In
the lower part of the city especially there were canyons for streets, and the
lower floors of these skyscrapers were so dark that they were actually used
for storage purposes, and only the upper stories were used for offices.
"Sewers were overburdened, rapid transit lines were overcrowded. If
the lower part of our city were built up entirely with buildings as high as
some of them were, it would be absolutely impossible to make enough rapid
transit lines to carry the occupants of those buildings back and forth. One
great building held so many people that the entire original subway would
need to be operated to its full capacity for twenty minutes in order to carry
the occupants of that building away from there.
"And so this commission I have mentioned tackled that problem, working
at such questions as building costs and operating expenses, to determine
whether high buildings were sound as a business proposition; and they ac-
tually 'found that a large proportion of the buildings of New York City would
pay much better if they had been lower in height.
"After two years of work the commission came to the conclusion that
the skyscraper problem in New York City was only a part of the problem.
It found that only about one-half of one per cent of the area of Greater New
York was affected by the skyscraper problem. It speedily found from its
investigations that building heights throughout the whole city were part of
the problem, and that if regulation could be brought about which would help
the whole city, this would be far more advantageous. Right down in the
lower part of our city where many people think there isn't room for all the
skyscrapers that want to go up there, it is not in fact built up with high
buildings to one-quarter of the available area. They also found that not
only was it a question of heights of buildings, but the use they were put
to. Therefore this commission proposed a statute applying to the City of
New York whereby a comprehensive remedy of chaotic building conditions
could be found. Now what were those problems? I will survey a few of
them.
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A SCHEME FOB THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE MILWAUKEE RIVER. THIS IH.sk. \
SHOWS THE POSSIBILITIES OE NARROWING THE MILWAUKEE RH I B
AND PARALLELING THE BANKS WITH BOULEVARDS
Designed bj Alfred C. Clas, architect
PROSPECTIVE .MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 515
Review of New York City's Problems. — "A private house such as may be
found among the many beautiful homes in Milwaukee was purely a speculative
enterprise in New York City, because five years after it was built there was
nothing to prevent a garage from going up on the next lot. In the outlying
parts a factory would come in a certain district and soon one's home was in
the center of a blighted district. Garages were placed directly on the prop-
erty line in private residential districts and built out to the street line, forth-
with casting ruin about them. A single garage, costing in a certain instance
$■40,000, caused a loss of $200,000 in adjacent property values. Private house
districts were invaded by tenement houses, tenement houses were invaded
by factories, bright retail streets were invaded by factories, and in one
way and another these invasions were affecting every part of the city, some-
times people in whole localities would pick up their business and move away.
The millions of dollars that were lost in New York City by the creation of
these blighted districts can never be repaid, and in many cases families have
been ruined because business left their properties and went to some other
place, causing untold hardship.
"Fifth Avenue, the brightest business street in New York City, was on
the way to ruin because of the invasion of sweatshops, garment makers,
and so on. The way that came about was this: Fifth Avenue being a broad
street, with high land values, was built up with high buildings, but it was
found that there was not sufficient demand for offices above the retail stores,
so that rents were low enough to attract the garment maker, especially since
he could thereby have a Fifth Avenue address. So gradually these garment
makers and others wedged themselves into this bright business street. What
was the result? Crowds and crowds of garment workers went up and down
Fifth Avenue, five and six abreast, daily, morning, noon and evening, crowd-
ing out the shopper, and very soon the shoppers deserted that part of Fifth
Avenue.
"These chaotic conditions were causing such harm in our city that it
became absolutely necessary to bring about some remedy, and the law which
allowed the board of estimate to appoint a zoning commission, or as it was
called then, a districting commission, was the attempted solution. I had
the honor to be chairman of both the Heights of Buildings Commission and
also the Zoning Commission. Altogether we worked seven years to solve
these problems.
Remedies for the Chaotic Conditions. — "In New York we had to bring
on some solution quickly. It was not the rpiestion of doing it for our future
city; it was a question of doing it to save our city. You have the future
st'll ahead of you and can prevent the dreadful mistakes and the dreadful
losses which New York City was the victim of.
"This new commission proposed to utilize the 'police power.' so-called,
of the City of New York in relation to the height, area and use of buildings.
They did not apply condemnation because condemnation implies that you
find out how much it is worth to take away part of a man's absolute control
of his own property and then assess that cost on somebody else. That could
never have been carried out. Nor would private restrictions do it.
516 HISTORY OF MlLWAIIvEE
"Consequently, the city had to look to that community power, or police
power, which is resorted to for the sake of health, safety, for fire protection,
and which is nothing more than requiring one man or one owner to give
up somewhat of the absolute control of his own property for the benefil
of all the community, while he is recompensed by being protected along with
all others against common calamities. So we decided to apply the police
power in our effort to make order out of chaos.
"We did not have many precedents to go by, because precedents were
mostly in Europe, where governments are without written constitutions,
where the courts cannot set aside any act of a legislative body. But in our
country, with our written constitutions and so on, it is possible for the courts
to set aside any regulations, unless they are strictly within the recognized
scope of the police power.
"Now the police power can be invoked only for the health, safety, morals.
and general welfare of the community. It cannot be invoked for aesthetics
alone. If invoked at all it must be done without discrimination, with fair-
ness, and without confiscation. Along those lines we gradually perfected a
law which is now called the zoning law. The word zone was applied orig-
inally in those European cities that had walls around them such as Vienna.
When they took down those walls they would replace them with a boulevard
and build outside of it a residential district, calling it the residential zone.
That term has gradually been adapted in this country, and though it is not
strictly applicable, it seems to suit the popular fancy better than the word
districting, which is confused with various political districts; so that now
in the great cities of our country, by the act of the people themselves, the
word zoning has come to be used.
"The way zoning was accomplished in New York City was by the making
of three maps, one controlling heights, one controlling areas, and one eon-
trolling use, whether industrial, business or residential. The requirements
of those districts differ in different parts of the city, the power to do that
being delegated by the state.
"The zoning resolution was passed by the board of estimate four years
ago, and has been in operation since then, working admirably and smoothly,
and the people of the City of New York would no more get along without
their zoning law than they would without their fire protection, health de-
partment or school system. There was no confiscation of existing property.
a man that had his factory in a residential district was protected in his in-
vestment. But new buildings have to conform to these reasonable and orderly
requirements. Formerly people as soon as they got an income of $15,000
would move out of the city somewhere where they could have a home which
they felt was reasonably protected.
"Bui today, with these private residential districts established, a man is
more secure in his home and is so protected that he can leave it to his son
and to his son's son. Today home localities have a greater land value, be-
cause they are set apart for private homes; and corner lots that were held
undeveloped with the intention of putting up corner apartments after private
restrictions ran out are now being built up with better private homes than
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 517
those surrounding thein, and miles and miles of the streets of Greater New
York are being filled with these fine, protected private homes. Furthermore,
land value on the business streets are greater than they used to be, because
business also is protected. Fifth Avenue has been saved because manufac-
turing is prevented from going further up Fifth Avenue, and by the "Save
New York" movement it has actually been pressed back into the lower part
of New York City. Manufacturers find their appropriate place among the
railroads, waterways and water fronts where they too are protected.
"So that all classes of people in New York, without any exception what-
ever, are protected by the zoning law.
Advantages Possessed by Milwaukee. — "Now, here in this city you have
begun with the advantage of the precedents of New York and other cities
that have plowed the new ground and with the benefit of their mistakes.
With your admirable lay-out you ought to have a better zoning plan than
New York has; and you have got it. Your public servants have adopted a
plan which takes in the best features of the New York plan, of that of St.
Louis, and other cities. All of the great cities in this country are working
on zoning plans: none of them are in as good a position as you are here.
Your proposed ordinance and the maps that have been prepared by your able
commission are most admirable and I sincerely hope that they will be adopted
by your officials.
"As a student of this subject who has kept track of what has gone on in
this country and in European cities, I want to submit a word of highest
commendation for the common sense that has been applied in this city. It
has been done after prolonged study of underlying data, and any one here
would profit by going to the city hall and seeing that admirable system of
maps and statistics that has been prepared there by Mr. Stoelting under the
Board of Public Land Commissioners, of which Mr. Whitnall is the chair-
man. Mr. Comey from Boston has brought the experience of the United
States to Milwaukee, and with his knowledge, which is the most exact and
sound, I think, of any of the practitioners in this science in the United States,
your city has the benefit of a very, very able man, as well as the experience
of every other great city in the country.
"You are on the threshold of an improvement which will be as important
to you as new streets or rapid transit railroads. When you think that in my
city the zoning plan cost $67,000 and the subway plan cost $400,000,000,
and the zoning plan is doing as much for my city as the rapid transit plan is
doing, then it brings to you some appreciation of the helpfulness of discrim-
inating and far seeing zoning work as applied to a city like Milwaukee. If
you are going to grow to be a city of two, three, four and five million peo-
ple— and you are — now is the time to put some of these sensible, sound regu-
latory ordinances into effect because in New York City today the only fault
that is found with the zoning plan is that the city did not adopt it forty
years ago."
Heights of Buildings Considered. — History is written not only to record
the past with its mistakes and failures for the instruction of posterity, and
to point the way so far as it is within the ability of the historian to do so,
THE VON STEUBEN MONUMENT
Located near the entrance to Washington 1 *;i rk
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 519
towards a better and safer course in the future; but also to place a proper
valuation upon the grand achievements of the self-sacrificing men engaged
in their promotion. The most efficient means of realizing the aims and pur-
poses of those who labor for the improvement of our laws and customs, for
the welfare of our community and the betterment of methods, is the duty and
within the scope of the historian for the guidance of those who may here-
after be clothed with authority.
We therefore willingly dwell upon the accounts of the various movements
and far-seeing proposals of our boards and commissions which have striven
for the ends held in view. Some repetition is inevitable in the historical dis-
cussion of the great movements which in recent years have arisen and which
are practically new in this generation. Thus, for example, we shall present
the subject of the heights of buildings in Milwaukee in the following pages,
though as we have seen in Edward M. Bassett's address he has had much
to say on the subject. The views embodied in the 1920 report of the Board of
Public Land Commissioners in the pamphlet, "Restricted Heights of Build-
ings," demand appropriate attention.
"Four years ago," the report says, "the City of New York broke away
from the old established principle that a man may do with his property what-
ever he wishes to, and accepted the more democratic principle that the gen-
eral welfare of the public precedes the rights of individuals. Great property
losses, excessive congestion and a serious menace to the health of the com-
munity resulted to such an extent from haphazard development of real estate
and particularly because of the increase in so-called 'skyscrapers' that a
proper coordination of many of the factors in city organization became im-
perative. It became distressingly evident that certain facilities, such as trans-
portation, street accommodation, etc., no longer functioned properly, and that
the desperate situation required an immediate remedy.
"To many good citizens in almost all American cities skyscrapers were
tangible evidence of material wealth and prosperity, and civic pride or a
conviction that high buildings were desirable, prompted their erection in
large numbers. But the plight in which New York now finds itself began
to appear in incipient form in all coast and inland cities of considerable size,
and the necessity of checking its growth became a recognized civic duty.
Zoning ordinances are therefore under consideration in a majority of our
larger cities and in Milwaukee the Board of Public Land Commissioners has
for upwards of a year gathered necessary data and has prepared an ordinance
which is now ready for adoption.
Outline of the Proposed Zoning Ordinance. — "By virtue of this ordinance
the city is divided into districts or zones under three headings : The first is
the 'use' districting designed to prevent the encroachment of undesirable
types of buildings or uses to which such buildings may be put in certain
districts, thus affording a protection to property values and the general wel-
fare of the public. The second is the 'area' districting which is designed to
provide sufficient light and air in all types of buildings or districts. The third
is the 'height' districting designed to provide sufficient light and air and to
prevent congestion and other conditions inimical to the general welfare.
PLAN PROPOSED 1!Y THE METROPOLITAN PARK 1SOAKI) IN 1909
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 521
"In the public hearings conducted by the Board of Public Land Commis-
sioners, little opposition was expressed regarding the 'use' and 'area' pro-
visions of the proposed ordinance. But to the limitation of building heights
considerable objection was taken. The reasons which led the Board of Public
Land Commissioners to propose certain height restrictions were not known
or understood and unsupported charges of impracticability were frequently
made. Because the restrictions are eminently practical and must highly de-
sirable and because a thorough understanding of the underlying reasons for
such restrictions is thought to remove many if not all objections, this pres-
entation of facts is offered.
Various Heights of Buildings Considered. — "It has been charged that the
comparatively low limits provided for in the proposed ordinance were adopted
mainly because of aesthetic considerations. Were this true the height limits
obtaining in European cities would have been preferred. London, whose
volume of business is ecpial to or exceeds that of New York, limits its build-
ings to a height of eighty feet. Paris has set a limit of sixty-six feet, Berlin
a limit of seventy-two feet, Edinburgh sixty feet, Hamburg seventy-eight
feet, and in spite of the fact that American cities have erected skyscrapers
for thirty odd years, no European city has chosen to emulate us in that respect.
"That concentration of workers is not without value is conceded. But
it is only within certain limits, a happy medium as it were, that the value so
achieved is not offset by serious disadvantages and it is the problem of a
city planning board to determine where the disadvantages become serious.
"To those who are familiar with New York and Philadelphia, or for that
matter, with the business center of any large American city, it must be evident
that there exists a definite relation between street capacity and the capacity
of buildings erected on those streets. And it must be evident also that this
relation has been so little regarded that few downtown streets in America
are now adequate for the proper distribution of pedestrians. In New York,
during peak hours, many streets have become quite useless to retail dealers
because of excessive crowding and in many other cities the progress of pe-
destrians is so retarded as to cause serious difficulties in the event of fire or
panic. There is not a street in lower New York which will hold 100 per cent
of the occupants of the buildings fronting on it and the same holds true of
most of the business streets in other large cities.
"During the peak hours there are to be found on Grand Avenue between
West Water Street and Second Street and on the south side of the street an
average of four to six hundred pedestrians. Were this block to hold a six-
teen-story office building, having a frontage of the entire block, an addition
of some four thousand persons would use this block during these peak times.
And were all the blocks, from the river to Sixth Street, likewise covered with
sixteen-story office buildings, a congestion would result which it would be
difficult to cope with ; for the sidewalk capacity in any one of these blocks
is only about nine hundred persons. Milwaukee will one day be a city of a
million or more inhabitants, and such a development of skyscrapers on each
side of the street is not" an impossibility if restrictions are withheld.
The Problem of Transportation. — "The problem of rapid transportation
A LAKE FRONT STUD'S
The above shows a bridge which will spun the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad tracks
at the head of Mason Street. In the background will be noted a Memorial Peristile. This
plan has been accepted by the Milwaukee Park Board.
Designed by Alfred C. C'las, architect
\ STUD? I'll: MILWAUKEE'S FUTURE BRIDGE AND RIVER DOCK AREA IN THE
CENTER iif THE CITY
Designed bj Alfred ( I. < las, architect
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CIT Y PLANNING AND ZONING 523
of passengers from highly congested areas to outlying districts is always a
difficult and most costly one to solve. It is one of the very undesirable by-
products of unrestricted building- heights, and seems never possible of a satis-
factory solution. It has been stated by a prominent city planning expert
that had New York restricted its office buildings to a reasonable height the
street and transportation facilities would have been adequate for several hun-
dred years to come. To-day. in the words of Lawson Purdy, the former tax
'commissioner of the great metropolis, the situation in New York is desperate
and the future hopeless. Similar conditions, though perhaps not so aggra-
vated, confront Milwaukee if skyscrapers are permitted to be erected in great
numbers.
"Isolated skyscrapers afford as a rule air and light to its occupants in
sufficient amount, but often at the expense of adjoining properties. When
many skyscrapers are erected in close proximity to one another, they destroy
many of the advantages enjoyed by the first of their number. In some in-
stances it has become necessary to abondon for office purposes lower floors
because of lack of light and ventilation and by reducing rentals induce small
manufacturers or storage concerns to occupy the premises. But where such
changes in the type of tenants have been effected increasing deterioration in
the health of persons employed in these buildings has been noted.
Dr. Gustav F. Boehme, Jr., neurologist, testified to the rapid increase in
nervous disorders and troubles, and to the very direct relation between such
increase and the present high buildings and hap-hazard development and
the congestion, uoise and confusion incident thereto. The necessity for re-
ducing the stress and strain of city life is becoming more and more apparent.
Public health and vitality must be conserved rather than abused and ex-
hausted.
The Danger From Fires. — "That fireproof buildings are proof against
danger in a general conflagration has been amply disproved in the catastrophes
which visited Baltimore and San Francisco many years ago. "While their
destruction may not be complete they and their contents are sufficiently sub-
ject to fire damage to cause panic and thereby may cause congestion in the
streets sufficient to seriously hamper the work of the fire department. Streets
densely packed with crowds of people that quickly form in the event of fire, .
render the movement of fire apparatus difficult and the outpouring of large
numbers of people from nearby buildings is more than likely to result in
tragic consequences. It is more than foolhardy to ignore such possibilities
by piling story on story and further extending the danger zone.
"The fire department cannot fight a fire from the outside more than 85
feet to 100 feet above the ground. Above that they must rely on stand pipes
in the building. If the stand pipe does not work or if the fire is so near the
stand pipe as to render its use impracticable the fire department becomes
helpless. No fatal fire in a modern high building has yet occurred but it is
not an impossibility. Though fires in tall buildings may be controlled, panics
cannot be.
"Edward S. Devlin, superintendent of the New York Life Insurance Com-
pany testified before the New York Commission that insurance companies
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AUDITORIUM SITE
Suggested plan for grouping of public buildings. By the Board of Public Land Commis
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 525
recognized the additional hazard attending so-called skyscrapers by increas-
ing their rates with progressive stories.
"Edmund Dwight, president of the Casualty Insurance Company, in
pleading for lower buildings, testified as follows: 'I desire to put myself on
record as believing that the time has come in New York when there should
be a most rigid limitation to the height of buildings and that very high build-
ings constitute a greatly added menace and peril to the community.'
"William Guerin, acting chief, Bureau of Fire Prevention, (1913) testified
that for New York a height limits of 150 feet could be supported as a reason-
able regulation under the police powers of the state and Edward Hardy, rep-
resenting the New York Fire Insurance Exchange, held a limit of 125 feet
to be satisfactory.
"Sewage and water supply problems are also greatly complicated by the
presence of very tall buildings through the over taxing of their capacities.
Land Valuations. — "It has been held that skyscrapers are necessitated by
the high valuation placed on downtown property by tax assessors. This con-
tention is not borne out by the records of the local tax commissioner's office.
The increase in assessed valuations of downtown properties is on a par with
increases in other parts of the city where skyscrapers are little likely to be
erected. The effect of skyscrapers on adjoining properties seems to be detri-
mental rather than otherwise because of the curtailment of light and air, as
the attached letter from E. H. Bodden, Milwaukee's tax commissioner, illus-
trates. It is a condition common to all large cities. In New York many hun-
dred thousands of dollars are lost to the city because of the lowered assessed
valuation of costly skyscrapers due to loss of air and light when such build-
ings were crowded one next to the other. In taking to themselves a majority
of office tenants, skyscrapers further retard a general development of prop-
erty for many years, giving the city a ragged, wild and provincial appearance.
"As the architects of Milwaukee have asked that a limit of 185 feet be
considered for downtown properties, it is but just to them to state why a
limit of 125 feet is preferable.
"Any height limit exceeding the street width is a concession to American
precedent and what are thought to be business requirements. From the stand-
point of public health, congestion and fire dangers, the height limitations set
by European cities would be preferable by far. But in the opinion of lead-
ing architects and others who testified before the New York Heights of Build-
ings Commission, a skyscraper is not a source of great profit at best. These
architects also testified that a ten or twelve-story building has reached the
logical limit because the cost per cubic foot increases arithmetically with the
increase of stories beyond such heights.
"A limitation of 125 feet is therefore not a hardship on property own-
ers, and though a concession as above stated, it will tend to keep in hand
the dangers incident to groups of skyscrapers. For such reasons Boston set
a limit of 125 feet in 1911, Washington a limit of 110 feet, and New York a
limit of 125 feet for Fifth Avenue. A similar limit for Milwaukee seems to
be well within reason."
The letter of E. H. Bodden, Milwaukee's tax commissioner, referred to in
DR. E. B. WDLCOTT MONUMENT, LAKE PARK
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 527
a previous paragraph, is appended: "Answering your questionnaire of
October 6, 1920, 'Does the height, area and use of buildings erected in any
locality affect the assessable value of adjoining property?' will say that my
annual instructions to the assessors of this department recognizes the fact
that it does and the assessment rolls show numerous instances where allow-
ances have been made upon adjoining property due to the detrimental effect
of such buildings. One of the late cases in point is the Abbot building, sit-
uated on the northwest corner of Milwaukee and Mason streets, just east of
the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Mr. Abbot appeared before the board and
pointed out the fact that, due to the extreme height of the club building, the
five lower floors on the west side of the Abbot building have been greatly
affected, making it necessary to use artificial light throughout the day and
thereby materially reducing the revenue derived from said building. The
committee appointed to investigate the situation reported back to the board
that an allowance of $2.3,000 should be made, and the same was ratified by
the board. Numerous allowances have been made in residence districts due
to apartment houses, public garages and other objectionable buildings being
placed therein.
"My personal views on zoning is that it is a step in the right direction
which should have been taken years ago. I heartily agree with Lawsqn Purdy,
former tax commissioner of New York City, in his conclusion on zoning,
'Zoning, properly conceived and carried out, constitutes not only a definite
recognition of equality in ownership, but an important protection of taxable
values.' "
Examples of Various Cities. — In the introduction to the 1920 report of the
Board of Public Land Commissioners, the examples of certain foreign and
American cities are considered.
"Hundreds of Milwaukeeans have visited or lived in the great and beauti-
ful cities of the world, and, through the moving pictures and other sources,
thousands have become familiar with the renowned streets and public squares
of Europe and of this country. And it is safe to assume that in the minds of
all but those to whom imagination and public spirit have been denied, there
has often arisen a wish that our city might also boast of such evidences of
civic pride and prosperity as they have learned to admire.
"Milwaukee County has been richly blessed with natural beauties which
a far-seeing and courageous Park Board is now striving to conserve for the
benefit of future generations. That the 'Cream City' would ever
count a half million souls within its confines was not thought likely in the
early days, and adequate provision for the business and social activities of
such multitudes was not considered a pressing problem. And so the city grew,
heedless of its future possibilities, developing a half dozen business districts,
none of them more interesting than a ledger page, ignoring for years the
beauty of its bay, indifferent to the appearance of its river front, entirely
unconscious of the relation between business prosperity and a well-planned
system of highways and secondary streets. Be it said that to the credit of
the founders that the old Courthouse Park and City Hall Square do indicate
an early appreciation of the desirablity of civic beauty. However, after the
HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
City of Milwaukee had joined to itself Kilbourn Town and Walker's Point,
the mere multiplication of streets and blocks, one like the other, gives ample
proof that foresight and courageous leadership were not conspicuous ele-
ments in the city's physical* growth.
Milwaukee's Relation to Chicago. — "Milwaukee hears to Chicago much
the same relation that Philadelphia bears to New York. Both cities are an
equal distance from their larger neighbors. Both cities have become im-
portant manufacturing centers, providing homes for thousands of working
people. New York and Chicago are by virtue of their geographical positions
enormous trading points, dominating commercially all the cities, large and
small, within a radius of hundreds of miles. Philadelphia has become a city
of two millions of souls and Milwaukee, but seventy-five years old, has nearly
reached the half million mark. It is, therefore, no idle speculation to assert
that our city may also be classed among the cities of upward of a million in
the not distant future. It is, indeed, a certainty that in growth of numbers
Ave shall also resemble the Quaker City unless we deliberately thwart natural
tendencies through lack of courage and foresight, or parsimony * *
"The Board of Public Land Commissioners is confident that the people of
the County and City of Milwaukee, through their county board of supervisors
and common council, accept the belief that we are at the threshold of a great
future. It is also convinced that these two legislative bodies desire the prob-
lems of city planning to be approached in a spirit of courage and in the light
of a great responsibility. For to do otherwise is to invite two consequences
which will not redound to the credit of the Milwaukee of the first decades of
this century. Timidity and parsimony can only result in half measures, which
in a comparatively short time, must prove inadequate and then will require
of the citizens additional appropriations to meet the demands at a cost many
times enhanced. Or if we lack courage, if we refuse to lay the foundation for
what we are more than reasonably sure is bound to come, other cities, more
alive to the situation, will attract to themselves those industries and wide
awake citizens who demand advantages and not alone low taxes.
"Fortunately the errors of commission and omission, with which we must
deal are not insurmountable. In comparison with the problems of other
cities, ours are not difficult of solution. Chicago, through the efforts of the
Chicago Commercial Club, has prepared a plan for rearranging and recon-
structing a considerable part of that city, which, if carried out in its entirety,
will require many years of time and scores of millions of dollars to complete.
But our neighbor's motto is "I WILL,"' and the foundations for a city of
four million people are well advanced. Philadelphia has completed a diagonal
boulevard through the heart of the city at a cost of $16,000,000 and in 1916
appropriated $114,000,000 for other city planning projects. St. Paul, Min-
neapolis, St. Louis. Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Boston and New York,
in fact all of the leading cities of America are contemplating or engaged in
making corrections of past errors. Every European capital and many of
the large commercial centers have for years paid constant attention to citj
planning problems and have rebuilt many sections to meet modern condi-
tions and to avoid future waste. Such problems as transportation, harbor
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 529
and river improvements, arterial highway systems, industrial housing, parks,
recreation grounds, civic centers, zoning, and a multitude of other needs
classed under the head of 'City Planning' confront all large and growing
cities, and Milwaukee cannot, and will not, ignore them.
"Paris in the days of Louis XIV; i. e., about 1700 A. D., was a rapidly
growing and congested city. The architects selected by the king foresaw the
development of the magnificent metropolis now existing. They, therefore,
went outside the walls of the compact city and laid out plans upon which
Paris has been builded. The Madeleine, the Place de la Concorde, the great
axial avenue from the gardens of the Tuileries to the Place de l'Etoile, all
existed on paper decades before they were finally realized in the building of
the city.
"The lesson for Milwaukee in this is, that as Paris increased in size, it
grew according to a well devised plan and that the greater portion of the
conveniences, impressiveness and beauty of modern Paris was obtained at prac-
tically no money cost. Good sense, foresight and courage made up the only
price paid. A similar opportunity lies within the grasp of Milwaukee.
Paris and London. — "Modern Paris is largely a creation from the mind
of Baron Haussmann in the •fifties.' His plans tended toward providing
adequate circulation of traffic within the city, by cutting new streets and
widening old ones, by sweeping away unwholesome rookeries and opening
up great spaces so as to provide proper approaches and environments for
monuments of beauty and historic interest. He grouped the railway stations
in the center of the city and opened up fine avenues of approach to them.
He cut new streets wherever necessary, taking special care to create diagonal
thoroughfares to shorten distance for all traffic. Haussmann is acclaimed by
all the world as the greatest city builder of all times. When he began Paris
had a popvdation of half a million people as Milwaukee has now (1922). He
left Paris working under a complete plan by which the city may be ex-
tended for a century without losing any of its conveniences, healthfulness,
or other great metropolitan qualities. Haussmann 's theory was that money
thus spent made a better city, and that a better city is a great producer of
wealth. Experience has proved that this theory was correct. Paris today
is a city of 4,000,000 inhabitants, and is by all odds the most convenient, the
most beautiful, the most impressive of all the cities of the world.
"London, after the fire of 1666, had a greater opportunity to build a city
of convenience, economy and wealth-producing and conservative capacity,
than ever was presented in Paris. The occasion brought forth the man to best
bestow the great boon of good order upon the British capital in the person
of Sir Chr'stopher Wren, one of the world "s greatest architects. Sir Chris-
topher's plans contemplated a city with streets radiating from central points
with locations for public buildings at the ends of long and pleasing vistas.
But these plans were cast aside because of the self-interest of some of Lon-
don's citizens * . In 1855, under the spur of the Paris example, the
Londoners began to repair the errors of their city's past. To secure a small
part of that which Paris had secured for nothing but the exercise of fore-
sight, they have undertaken projects on a vast scale.
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PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 531
Plans of the Public Land Commissioners. — "Your Board of Public Laud
Commissioners was organized but a few years ago to study the stupendous
problems of city planning as they relate to Milwaukee. It is a task which
should and will take years to accomplish. There must be gathered a be-
wildering amount of data, both as to general principles and details. Close
study must be given to decisions made in other cities and the success or failure
of actual accomplishments. The conclusions arrived at by your board must
stand the test of public approval and much discussion, and quite possibly,
many differences of opinion will retard final action. But the work is now
well under way. As an initial step much information has already been gath-
ered and arranged, and based on that a comprehensive highway system is
being gradually and carefully developed. If far from complete, the board's
study has clearly demonstrated the needs for widened thoroughfares. This
study has shown that former diagonals now obliterated by the checker board
system of streets must be replaced and that both electric street railway and
freight and passenger railway problems must be considered in relation to
the street system. The board has also determined that if the placing of a
group of public buildings, or as it has been termed, a "Civic Center" or
" Administration Group," should bear a direct relation to the street system,
then the choice of a desirable location for it is rather limited. That such
a relation should obtain is an opinion held by all city planners.
"The group of leading architects and prominent experts in city planning
who developed the great plan of Chicago agreed that the Civic Center should
be located in the very heart of the future business district of the city; i. e.,
at the intersection of Congress Street and Ilalsted Street. They have, fur-
thermore, planned on placing this future group at the meeting point of ten
great arteries and diagonals which as much as any agency will cause this
district to become the business hub of the city. The planners apparently
did not contemplate or fear the blocking of the natural development of the
business district.
"We in Milwaukee have arrived to-day at that crucial period where our
decisions, one way or the other, will materially influence the development
and physical character of our city for many, many years to come. It is an
extremely serious proposition which confronts us and it merits the most
careful study and broadest and best judgment conceived in a patriotic spirit
entirely purged of even a suggestion of selfishness. Honest differences of
opinion are bound to be held, but if the discussions are conducted in a friendly
and frank spirit, having as a goal nothing but the ultimate good of Milwau-
kee, a logical conclusion will be arrived at which all will be willing to accept."
Champions of the Zoning Ordinance. — President C. B. Whitnall of the
Public Land Commission supports the position taken by the municipality in
the following manner:
Zoning of a city is based upon a recognition of environmental influences.
It is these influences that determine where the violet shall perfume the
atmosphere, where the whippoorwill shall sing his evening snn« where the
'brook trout shall swim. We have come to realize that environmental influ-
ences determine largely what we shall he. We know that the inmates of
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PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 533
our penitentiaries, our hospitals and our slum tenements are victims mostly
of environmental influences over which as individuals they have no control.
The zoning ordinance was enacted to stabilize values and to protect one
class of property from injury by others, but there are other vital factors.
While the ordinance is a protective measure, it is manifest by amendments
offered that some feel otherwise. People too often lay stress upon their inde-
pendence and freedom and are actuated by a selfish conception of their right
to "do as they please."
Meaning of Interdependence. — We are learning the greater value of under-
standing the true meaning of interdependence. Many citizens have yet to
learn that this earth belongs to God and that we are but sojourners here ;
that to live together in harmony with his (Nature's) law, which is essential
to our welfare, we have by agreement adopted rules and regulations which
we call law.
Since we began to realize how we are suffering by waste of physical and
mental vigor, caused by too many of us being in discord and not within
reach of those essential natural influe'nces, the zoning ordinance has evolved.
Its importance is far greater than is indicated by economic measurements.
Ordinance Looks Forward. — Milwaukee's zoning ordinance is not retro-
active, but should prevent us from growing worse. We have not yet provided
the facilities for growing better — the means by which we may within a few
years reach the goal indicated by the zoning ordinance. A stream may be
dammed, but the engineer who constructed the dam without providing an-
other outlet would hardly be worth his hire.
Three very important projects are being promoted to facilitate the ex-
pansion of industry and increase of population with such environmental in-
fluences as are conductive to efficiency for the industries and wholesome
living conditions for residences.
Arteries of Traffic. — The first in the arterial system of travelways, of which
Cedar and Biddle streets form the trunk, from which broad, comfortable road-
ways are to connect all localities within the city and county, with the state
trunk highways. These when completed will shorten the time and lessen the
expense and clanger of traffic within a radius of fifteen miles from our civic
center more efficiently than is now experienced within the present city limits.
The second is the parkway, which comes within the domain of the county
and city park boards. This encompasses the natural water courses surround-
ing the city and connects Milwaukee with all its suburbs. This is to be a
boulevard or restricted drive more than thirty miles in extent, connecting
all parks, including all the bluffs and romantic spots near the city, and con-
serving those environmental influences which park experts recognize as es-
sential to wholesome living conditions.
Provides Industrial Areas. — This parkway, although well worth while as
a place for assemblage and recreation, will have a far more important func-
tion. It will afford a basis for platting residential areas adjacent on each side
and between the arteries mentioned.
The third of these projects is the selection of areas to facilitate the estab-
THE KOSCIUSZKO MONUMENT AT KOSCIUSZKO PARK
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 535
lishment and expansion of industry to an unlimited degree, but in those
directions and in those areas best suited to the requirements of industries.
These plans, if steadily developed, should within eight years remove all
the objections now raised by the near-sighted to the restrictions of the zoning
ordinance. Apartment houses will be emptied as our beer gardens were after
the opening of Lake and Washington parks. Skyscrapers will become un-
profitable. In short, the attractive and economical alternative will accompany
every restrictive measure imposed. The money required is an investment not
an expense.
Personnel of the Land Commission. — The men who have given mo-
mentum to public sentiment in the direction of municipal art and who have
provided comprehensive schemes for the grouping of public buildings, for an
arterial system and for the creation of a connected boulevard and parkway
about the whole city, are William H. Schuchardt, Charles B. Whitnall, and
Edward Grieb. The latter has been succeeded as a member of the commission
by Max Friedman.
Mr. Schuchardt is an enthusiast who has made extensive studies in out-
door art both in the cities of Europe and the United States. Mr. Whitnall is
a former florist and landscape artist who has for many years quietly but
incessantly striven for the beautiful, combined with the practical, in city
planning and outdoor art. Mr. Grieb has been a force in energetically over-
coming the legal and financial barriers which have from time to time ob-
structed progress. He now serves as the purchasing agent for the munici-
pality in securing the lands required in carrying out the commission's plans.
Plans of the Milwaukee Real Estate Board. — This body has given expres-
sion to its ideas on a civic center in the submission of two plans which an'
presented in this volume. The board proceeds upon the thought :
1. To group the different buildings in such a way that they will be con-
veniently located and have an architectural setting which will be both artistic
and practical.
2. To improve the traffic conditions in the downtown section so that con-
gestion will in the future be avoided as far as possible.
The Real Estate Board believes that the traffic problem should not be sub-
ordinated to the architectural effect. It holds that in the proposed civic center
scheme Cedar Street should become the main thoroughfare on the West Side.
Its reasoning is that as Prospect Avenue, Warren Avenue, and Racine Street,
are all to be opened up to lead into P.iddle Street, this will result in bringing
practically all of the East Side traffic down Biddle Street and across the new
proposed Biddle-Cedar Street bridge, into Cedar Street.
From a traffic standpoint it would seem imperative that Cedar Street should
become the main thoroughfare on the West Side, as several million dollars
will have to be spent in these several street widening propositions.
It, therefore, does not favor the scheme of extending the widening of Cedar
Street to 180 feet only to Eighth Street, as now contemplated, and diverting
from there the traffic north to State Street and south to Grand Avenue.
It would seem, the board holds, that according to these plans there is great
danger of very decided congestion, especially at the cornel' of Grand Avenue
536 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
and Eighth Street, as much of the greater portion of the west-hound traffic
which now is divided between Grand Avenue and Cedar Street, will go up
Grand Avenue and will have to turn at Eighth Street. This turn will have
to be made at the head of tlm rather steep grade between Wells and Grand
Avenue, and for the traffic eastward, would be across street and left-hand
turn.
In Plan No. 1, the idea of placing the courthouse in a commanding loca-
tion across Cedar Street has been retained, but Cedar Street has been con-
tinued to Ninth Street with a "Plaza" in its center between Eighth and
Ninth Streets providing space for a beautiful monument, or a grand column
or light tower. From Ninth Street, Cedar Street is led into Wells Street
to the south at a width of 120 feet and also into a street south of State Street
at the same width, and from Eleventh Street, Cedar Street is continued to a
120-foot width up to Sixteenth Street. As Sixteenth Street is to be an arterial
highway and is to be widened, traffic from there on can go south to Grand
Avenue. If it should be found subsequently that traffic assumes such propor-
tions as to require the widening of Cedar Street beyond Sixteenth Street, this
can always be done when necessity may require it.
This plan is deemed advantageous for the following reasons :
1. The traffic going east and west over Cedar Street can flow without
impediment except for the curves from Cedar Street to Wells and State streets.
2. The east and west-bound traffic at these curves will be separated.
3. The property on the east side of Eighth Street between Wells and
Grand Avenue will not have to be purchased, and the Grand Avenue front-
age would have been the most expensive land to be purchased in the entire
Civic Center area.
4. Considerable additional space will be gained for public buildings in
at least three blocks, those between Wells, Cedar, Seventh and Eighth streets,
and between Cedar, State, Seventh, and Eighth, and between Wells. Cedar,
Eighth and Ninth streets.
5. The street approach to the courthouse will be infinitely better.
Every architectural advantage of the Public Land Commission plan has
been retained, but the width of the proposed courthouse of 750 feet has been
cut down to 525 feet. There is ample room for further future extensions it'
such should ever be required, but the building as marked on the plan would
be one of the largest public buildings in the country.
Plan No. 2 shows Cedar Street open all the way except for a curve around
a Plaza between Eighth and Ninth streets which would be attractively beau-
tified. It provides for Cedar Street to be continued to Eleventh Street at
ISO feet width with a "Court of Honor" in the center and the public build-
ings grouped on both sides of this boulevard.
In this arrangement the courthouse could be built either to the south
or north of Cedar Street between Ninth and Eleventh streets, and another
public building, either a federal or state building, or an art gallery, should
be placed on the opposite side facing the other, both buildings to be of the
same size and similar in their general architectural design. This would give
a splendid effect, similar to the museum and the art gallery in Vienna. In this
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 537
arrangement additional building space would also be obtained in several
blocks of the Civic Center area.
The Zoning Ordinance. — When the proposal of "regulating and restrict-
ing the location of trades and industries, the location of buildings designed
for specified uses, regulating the height and bulk of buildings, and the area
of yards, courts, and other open spaces surrounding buildings, and estab-
lishing boundary lines," was first made, it enlisted but small interest. Public
sentiment was slowly won and after strenuous propaganda labors engaged
in by the Public Land Commission and the friends of the zoning idea an ordi-
nance was passed by the city council.
As a piece of local legislation affecting an urban community its import-
ance cannot be overestimated, and it may, therefore, prove interesting to
record at least some of its leading provisions. It defines residence, com-
mercial and industrial districts as follows:
Residence Districts. — In a residence district no building, structure or
premises shall be used and no building or structure shall be erected which is
arranged, intended or designed to be used except for one or more of the fol-
lowing specified uses:
1. Single family dwellings, two family dwellings, apartment or tenement
houses. 2. Lodging or boarding houses, dormitories or convents.. 3. Hotels.
4. Clubs, excepting clubs the chief activity of which is a service customarily
carried on as a business. 5. Churches. 6. Schools, colleges, libraries or
public museum. 7. Philanthropic and eleemosynary uses or institutions,
other than correctional institutions. 8. Hospitals or sanitaria. 9. Railroad
passenger stations. 10. Farming, truck gardening, nurseries or greenhouses.
11. Accessory uses customarily incident to the above uses. The term acces-
sory use shall not include :
a. A business outside the building to which it is accessory, or which oc-
cupies a total floor area in excess of twenty-five per cent of the floor area of
one story of such building, or which by reason of the appearance of the build-
ing or premises, or the emission of odor, smoke, dust or noise or in any other
way is objectionable or detrimental to the residential character of the neigh-
borhood, or which involves features in design not customary in buildings for
the above uses or any structural alteration of the building, b. A garage
other than a private garage on a lot occupied by not more than two families,
c. A group of private garages for more than four automobiles, d. The stor-
age of not more than one commercial vehicle. 12. Telephone central offices.
13. In undeveloped sections of the city a temporary building or use incidental
to the residential development erected and so used for a period of two years
from the date of the permit.
Uses Prohibited in Local Business Districts. — In a local business district
no building or premises shall be used, and no building shall be erected which
is arranged, intended or designed to be used for any of the following specified
trades, industries or uses:
1. Any kind of manufacturing other than the manufacturing of prod-
ucts the major portion of which are to be sold at retail on the premises to
the ultimate consumer. 2. A blacksmith shop or horseshoeing establishment.
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Cm HALL SITE
A suggested grouping "t public buildings. By tin1 Board oi Publii Land Commissioners
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 5:30
3. A milk bottling or distributing station. 4. A carpet or rug cleaning es-
tablishment. 5. A coal yard or lumber yard. 6. Any trade, industry or
use prohibited in a commercial and light manufacturing- district.
Uses Prohibited in Commercial and Light Manufacturing Districts. — In a
commercial and light manufacturing district no building or premises shall be
used, and no building shall be erected which is arranged, intended or designed
to be used for any of the following specified trades, industries or uses:
1. Ammonia, bleaching powder or chlorine manufacture. 2. Asphalt man-
ufacture or refining. 3. Assaying (other than gold or silver). 4. Boiler
works. 5. Brass, copper, iron or steel works or foundry. (5. Brick, con-
crete products, terra cotta or tile manufacture. 7. Celluloid manufacture or
treatment. 8. Cement, lime or plaster of paris manufacture. 9. Crematory
other than a crematory located in a cemetery. 10. Creosote treatment or
manufacture. 11. Dextrine, glucose or starch manufacture. 12. Disinfectant
and insecticide manufacture. 13. Distillation of bones, coal or wood. 14.
Dry cleaning or dyeing at wholesale. 15. Dye stuffs manufacture. 16. Elec-
tric central station powTer plant. 17. Fat rendering. 18. Fertilizer manu-
facture. 19. Gas manufacture or storage in exeess of 1,000 cubic feet. 20.
Gelatine, glue or size manufacture. 21. Grease, lard or tallow manufacture
or refining. 22. Hydrochloric, nitric, sulphuric or sulphurous acid manufac-
ture. 23. Incineration or reduction of garbage, offal or refuse. 24. Junk or
scrap iron storage. 25. Lamp black manufacture. 26. Linoleum or oil cloth
manufacture. 27. Oil, paint, turpentine or varnish manufacture. 28. Pe-
troleum refining or storage in exeess of 1,000 gallons. 29. Planing mill or
saw mill. 30. Printing ink manufacture. 31. Pyroxyline plastic manufac-
ture or articles therefrom. 32. Rags and scrap paper — storage or baling. 33.
Railroad yards or roundhouses. 34. Raw hides or skins — storage, curing or
tanning. 35. Rolling mill. 36. Rubber manufacture from the crude mate-
rial. 37. Slaughtering of animals or fowls. 38. Smelting of iron. 39. Soap
manufacture, 40. Stock yards. 41. Stone crushing. 42. Sugar refining.
43. Tar distillation or manufacture. 44. Tar roofing or tar waterproofing
manufacture. 45. Any other trade, industry or use that is noxious or offen-
sive by reason of the emission of odor, dust, smoke, gas or noise, but car barns
or places of amusement shall not be excluded.
Uses Prohibited in Industrial Districts. — In an industrial district no build-
ing shall be used, and no building shall be erected which is arranged, intended
or designed to be used in whole or in part as a dwelling or tenement for one
or more families. This provision shall, however, not prohibit the erection and
maintenance of dwelling quarters in connection with any industrial establish-
ment for watchmen employed upon the premises, nor of dwellings in unde-
veloped sections for a period of five years from the date of the permit. No
other use permitted in a residence, local business or commercial and light
manufacturing district shall be excluded from an industrial district.
Exceptions as to Existing Buildings and Uses. — Any non-conforming use
existing at the time of the passage of this chapter may be continued ami any
existing building designed, arranged, intended or devoted to a non-conforming
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PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 541
use may be reconstructed or structurally altered, and the non-conforming use
therein changed subject to the following regulations:
1. The structural alterations made in such a building shall not during its
life exceed 50 per cent of its assessed value, nor shall the building be enlarged,
unless the use therein is changed to a conforming use. 2. No non-conforming
use shall be extended by displacing a conforming use. 3. In a residence dis-
trict no building or premises devoted to a use permitted in a local business dis-
trict shall be changed into a use not permitted in a local business district.
4. In a residence or local business district no building or premises devoted
to a use permitted in a commercial and light manufacturing district shall be
changed into a use not permitted in a commercial and light manufacturing
district. 5. In a residence, local business or commercial and light manufac-
turing district no building devoted to a use excluded from a commercial and
light manufacturing district shall be structurally altered if its use shall have
been changed since the time of the passage of this chapter to another use also
excluded from a commercial and light manufacturing district. A change of
use for the purpose of this subdivision shall be deemed to include any change
from a use included in an enumerated subdivision to a use included in another
enumerated subdivision. 6. In a residence, local business or commercial and
light manufacturing district no building devoted to a use excluded from a
commercial and light manufacturing district shall have its use changed to
another use which is also excluded from a commercial and light manufacturing
district if the building shall have been structurally altered since the time of
the passage of this chapter. A change of use for the purpose of this subdivi-
sion shall be deemed to include any change from a use included in an enumer-
ated subdivision to a use included in another enumerated subdivision.
Establishment of Height Districts. — For the purpose of regulating and lim-
iting the height and bulk of buildings hereafter erected, the City of Milwaukee
is hereby divided into four classes or districts: 125-foot districts; 85-foot dis-
tricts; 60-foot districts; and 40-foot districts; as shown on the height district
map which accompanies this ordinance and is hereby declared to lie part
thereof. The height districts designated on said map are hereby established.
The height district map designations which accompany said height district;
map are hereby declared to lie part thereof. No building or part of a build-
ing shall hi' erected except in conformity with the regulations herein pre-
scribed for the height district in which such building is located.
Height Limitations in 125-Foot Districts. — In a 125-foot district no build-
ing shall be erected to a height in excess of 125 feet, and no buildings used
in any part for residence purposes shall be in excess of eight stories; but noth-
ing in this section shall prevent the erection on a business building of a tower,
to a height of 225 feet, provided: (1) that the area of such tower above the
general height limit fixed for buildings by the preceding section shall not lie
in excess of 25 per cent of the area of the building; and (2) that an open space
shall be left above the general height limit fixed for buildings by this section
on each and every lot line which is not also a street line, such open space being
at least of the minimum dimensions prescribed for a side yard in an A area
542 EISTOB"? OF MILWAUKEE
districi for a building having a height equal to the maximum heighl of the
tower above the curb level.
Height Limitations in 85-Foot Districts. — In an 85-fool districi ao build-
ing shall be erected to a height in excess of eighty-five Eeet, and no building
used in any part for residence purposes shall be in excess of six stories.
Height Limitations in GO-Foot Districts. — In a 60-foot distrid do building
shall be erected to a height in excess of sixty Eeet, and do building used in any
part for residence purposes shall he in excess of Eour stories.
Height Limitations in 40-Foot Districts. — In a 40-foo1 district no building,
except as hereinafter provided for, shall he erected to a height in excess of
forty feet, and no building used in any part for residence purposes by more
than one family shall be in excess of 21/-.' stories; provided, however, that in
a local business- district where a building is used for business purposes only,
this height may he increased by not to exceed ten feet. A building used as a
single family residence, erected on a lot providing a side yard of forty feet in
width on each side of said building, may lie erected to a height of forty-five
Eeet.
Exceptions to Height Limitations. — The provisions of this article shall not
apply to the erection of the following structures:
1. Chimneys, flues, grain elevators or gas holders. 2. Water towers or
tanks other than those located on the roof of a building. :$. Bulkheads, ele-
vator inclosures, towers, monitors, penthouses, skylights or water tanks occupy-
ing in the aggregate less than 25 per cent of the area of the roof on which they
are located. 4. Parapet walls or cornices extending above the height limit
not more than five feet. 5. Monuments, towers, spires, church roofs, domes,
cupolas or belfries for ornamental purposes and not used for human occupancy.
6. Churches, convents, schools, dormitories, colleges, libraries, public museums,
hospitals and sanitaria in a forty or sixty-foot height district : provided, how-
ever, that such buildings or portions thereof exceeding the height limit of the
district be set back from lot lines a distance equal to y2 the height of such
building or portion thereof and also be set back from the street or alley lines
a distance equal to V2 the height of such building or portion thereof less ten
Eeet. 7. Structures erected prior to the passage of this chapter, the founda-
tions of which have been completed and which were designed to carry struc-
tures above the height provided herein, shall not exc I tin' heighl provided
for in the design of the foundation and in ao event shall exceed the 185-foot
height, provided, however, that such structures shall be completed within live
(5) years from the date of the passage and publication of this chapter.
Establishment of Area Districts. — For the purpose of regulating and de-
termining the area of yards, courts and other open spaces for buildings here-
after erected, the City of Milwaukee is hereby divided into four classes of area
districts: A. I!. C and I), as shown on the area distrid map which accompanies
this chapter and is hereby declared to be pari hereof. The area districts desig
nated on said map are hereby established. The area district map designations
which accompany said area districi map are hereby declared to be a part there-
of. No building or part of a building shall be erected and no existing building
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 543
shall be altered, enlarged or rebuilt except in conformity with the regulations
herein prescribed for the area district in which such building is located.
Required Yards and Courts. — Every room in which one or more persons
live, sleep, work or congregate, except storage rooms or other rooms where
the nature of the occupancy does not require direct light and air from the
outside, shall have a window area equal to %0 of the floor area of the room.
Such windows and others which are required by the building code shall open
directly either upon a street or alley or upon a rear yard, side yard, outer
court or inner court located upon the same lot and conforming to the require-
ments prescribed by this article as to its minimum area and least dimensions.
Yards and Courts, When Not Required. — The provisions of this article shall
not be deemed to apply to courts or shafts for bathrooms, toilet compartments,
hallways or stairways, nor shall they apply to yards and courts which may be
provided in addition to those required by this article.
No Reduction of Yards or Courts Allowed. — No lot area shall at any time
be so reduced or diminished that the yards, courts or open spaces shall be
smaller than prescribed by this article.
Rear Yards. — The following regulations shall apply to A Districts: No
rear yard shall be less than ten feet wide on an interior lot, nor less than five
feet wide on a corner lot for a building two stories or less in height. At each
additional story height the width of such rear yard shall be increased one foot.
Side Yards. — No side yard shall be less than three feet wide for a building
two stories or less in height and eighty feet or less in length. At each addi-
tional story height the width of such side yard shall be increased one foot, and
for any additional length the width of such side yard shall be further increased
at the rate of one foot in twenty feet.
Outer Courts. — No outer lot-line court shall be less than three feet wide for
a court two stories or less in height and forty feet or less in length. At each
additional story height the width of such court shall be increased one foot,
and for any additional length the width of such court shall be further increased
at the rate of one foot in fifteen feet. No outer court not on a lot line shall
be less than six feet wide for a court two stories or less in height and forty
feet or less in length. At each additional story height the width of such court
shall be increased one foot, and for any additional length the width of such
courl, shall be further increased at the rate of one foot in ten feet.
Inner Courts. — No inner lot-line court shall be less than six feet in width
nor less than sixty square feet in area for courts two stories or less in height,
except that an inner lot-line court one story high shall be not less than four
feet wide and not less than forty square feet in area. At each additional story
height every such court shall be increased by at least one lineal foot in its
length and one lineal foot in its width. No inner court not on a lot line shall
be less than ten feet in width nor less than 150 square feet in area for courts
two stories or less in height. At each additional story height every such court
shall be increased by at least one lineal foot in its length and one lineal foot
in its width.
Exceptions. — Any building erected or used in any part for residence pur-
ROBERT BURNS MONUMENT
GOETHE-SCHILLEB MONUMENT AT WASHINGTON PARK
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 545
poses shall be erected in conformity with the provisions prescribed for B
Districts, and as provided for.
Rear Yards.— The following regulations shall apply in B Districts: No
real yard shall be less than fifteen feet wide on an interior lot nor less than ten
feet wide on a corner lot for a building two stories or less in height. At each
additional story height the width of such rear yard shall be increased V/z feet.
Side Yards. — No side yards shall be less than four feet' wide for a building
two stories or less in height and sixty feet or less in length. At each additional
story height the width of such side yard shall be increased one foot, and for
any additional length the width of such side yard shall be further increased
at the rate of one foot in fifteen feet. On a lot improved with two side yards
if the southerly or easterly of such yards exceeds the width required by this
paragraph by one foot the other side yard may be reduced in width one foot.
Outer Courts. — No outer lot-line court shall be less than five feet wide for
a court two stories or less in height and thirty feet or less in length. At each
additional story height the width of such court shall be increased one foot,
and for any additional length the width of such court shall be further in-
creased at the rate of one foot in ten feet. No outer court not on a lot line
shall be less than eight feet wide for a court two stories or less in height and
thirty feet or less in length. At each additional story height the width of
such court shall be increased one foot, and for any additional length the width
of such court shall be further increased at the rate of one foot in eight feet.
Inner Courts. — No inner lot-line court shall be less than six feet in width
nor less than sixty square feet in area for courts two stories or less in height.
At each additional story height every such court shall be increased by at least
IV2 lineal feet in its length and one lineal foot in its width. No inner court
not on a lot line shall be less than ten feet in width nor less than 150 square
feet in area for courts two stories or less in height. At each additional story
height every such court shall be increased by at least two lineal feet in its
length and l1/!; lineal feet in its width.
Setbacks. — Setbacks are required and shall conform to the regulations pre-
scribed for setbacks in "C" Districts.
Building Area. — No building shall occupy more than 70 per cent of the area
of an interior lot, nor more than 85 per cent of a corner lot.
Rear Yards. — The following regulations shall apply in C Districts : No rear
yard shall be less than twenty feet wide on an interior lot nor less than ten
feet wide on a corner lot for a building two stories or less in height. For each
additional story in height the width of such rear yard shall be increased three
feet.
Side Yards. — No side yard shall be less than five feet wide for a building
two stories or less in height and fifty feet or less in length. For each addi-
tional story in height the width of such side yard shall be increased D/2 feet,
and for any additional length the width of such side yard shall be further
increased at the rate of one foot in ten feet. On a lot improved with two side
yards for each foot that the southerly or easterly of such side yards exceeds
the width required by this paragraph the other side yard may be reduced one
foot, but in no case shall such side yard be less than three feet wide. On a
Vol. 1—3 5
-
1— ■ - '-. ^^
1 n
THE LIEF ERICKSON STATUE
Located mi the lake trout. Juneau Park
SE \i. i\( L0S1 1:1 . w SlSHINGTON PAKE
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 547
lot having a width of less than 33% feet at the time it is placed in a C Dis-
trict and improved with two side yards the width of each of such yards may
be reduced one foot. On a vacant lot or on two adjacent vacant lots having
a width of thirty feet or less, at the time they are placed in a C District and
adjacent lots on both sides of such lots are thirty feet wide or less with build-
ings already erected upon them which buildings are so located on the respec-
tive lots as to leave a side yard on the north or west side of such buildings of
at least eighteen inches and on the south or east side of such buildings of at
least four feet, the improvements upon such vacant lots may be so placed so as
to leave a side yard on the north or west side of not less than eighteen inches
and on the south or east side of not less than four feet.
Outer Courts. — No outer lot-line court shall be less than seven feet wide
fur a court two stories or less in height and thirty feet or less in length. For
each additional story in height the width of such court shall be increased 1%
feet, and for any additional length the width of such court shall be further
increased at the rate of one foot in eight feet. Xn miter court not on a lot line
shall be less than ten feet wide for a court two stories or less in height and
thirty feet or less in length. For each additional story in height the width
of such court shall be increased two feet, and for any additional length the
width of such court shall be further increased at the rate of one foot in six
feet.
Inner Courts. — No inner lot-line court shall be less than eight feet in width
nor less than 100 square feet in area for courts two stories or less in height.
For each additional story in height every such court shall be increased by at
least three lineal feet in its length and two lineal feet in its width. No inner
court not on a lot line shall be less than fourteen feet in width nor less than
280 square feet in area for courts two stories or less in height. For each addi-
tional story in height every such court shall be increased by at least four lineal
feet in its length and three lineal feet in its width.
Setbacks. — Where in a residence district as designated on the use district
map at least y± of the frontage on either side of a street between two inter-
secting streets is improved with buildings and at least V2 °f the buildings so
situated conform to a minimum setback line no new building shall be erected
and no existing building shall be reconstructed or altered to project beyond
such setback line unless an open space be left on each side of the building
beyond such setback line. Each of these open spaces shall have at every point
a minimum width, in addition to the width of any prescribed yards or courts.
equal to at least twice the number of feet that such point projects beyond such
setback line, provided that on a lot between and adjoining two lots, each with
a building projecting beyond such setback line, those portions of such open
spaces that are back of the front line of the building with the lesser projec
tion may be omitted.
Building Area. — No building shall occupy more than 50 per cent of the
area of an interior lot, nor more than 60 per cent of a corner lot. provided thai
when a building is used for business purposes only, no building shall occupy
more than 70 per cent of the area of an interior lot. nor more than 85 per
cent of a corner lot.
548 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Number of Families Housed. No dwelling or apartmenl house shall here-
after be erected or altered to accommodate or make provision for more than
fifty families on any acre of land nor more than a proportional number of
families on a fractional part'of any acre of land, provided, however, in a local
business district not more than twenty families per acre may be housed. The
maximum number of families which may hereafter be housed on any plot of
ground shall not exceed the integral number obtained by multiplying the acre-
age of such plot, exclusive of the area within street lines, by fifty, or in a Local
business district by twenty.
Rear Yards. — The following regulations shall apply to I) Districts: \,,
rear yard shall be less than twenty-five feet wide on an interior lot nor less
than ten feet wide on a corner lot for a building- two stories or less in height.
For each additional story in height the width of such rear yard shall he in-
creased six feet.
Side Yards. — No side yard shall be less than six feet wide for a building
two stories or less in height and fifty feet or less in length. For each addi-
tional story in height the width of such side yard shall be increased three feet,
and for any additional length the width of such side yard shall lie further
increased at the rate of one foot in eight feet. At least one side yard shall be
provided on every lot located in a residence district as designated on the use
district map. On a lot having a width of less than thirty-seven feet at the
time it is placed in a D District and improved with two side yards the width
of each of such yards may be reduced one foot. On a lot having a width of
less than 33!/2 feet at the time it is placed in a D District and improved with
two side yards the width of each id' such yards may he reduced two feet. On
a lot improved with two side yards for each foot that the southerly or east-
erly of such side yards exceeds the widtli required by this paragraph the other
side yard may be reduced one foot, hut in no case shall the side yard he less
than three feet wide. On a vacant lot or on two adjacent vacant lots having
a width of thirty feet or less at the time they are placed in a D District and
adjacent lots on both sides of such lots are thirty feet wide or less with build-
ings already erected upon them, which buildings are so located on the respec-
tive lots as to leave a side yard on the north or west side of such buildings of
at least eighteen inches and on the south or east side of such buildings of at
least four feet, the improvements upon such vacant lots may he so placed as
to leave a side yard on the north or west side of not less than eighteen inches
and on the south or east side of not less than four feet.
Courts and Setbacks. All courts and setbacks shall conform to the regula-
tions prescribed by Section 26.63 for courts and scthacks in (' Districts. In
a residence district as designated on the use district map all windows required
by the building code shall open directly either upon a street or upon a rear
yard or side yard, provided that on an interior lot having a width of less than
thirty-five feet at the time it is placed in a D District such windows may open
on an outer lot-line court.
Building Area. — No building shall occupy more than 30 per cent of the
area of an interior lot, nor more than 40 per cent of a corner lot. provided
that on an interior lot containing til the time it is placed in a D District less
PROSPECTIVE M I LWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 549
than Vio of an acre a building- may be erected so as to occupy not more than
] ,300 square feet nor more than 35 per cent of such lot.
Number of Families Housed. — No dwelling or apartment house shall here-
after be erected or altered to accommodate or make provision for more than
twenty families on any acre of land nor more than a proportional number of
families on a fractional part of any acre of land. The maximum number of
families which may hereafter be housed on any plot of ground shall not exceed
the integral number obtained by multiplying the acreage of such plot, exclu-
sive of the area within street lines, by twenty. The limitation imposed by this
section shall, however, not prohibit the erection of a single family dwelling
on any lot containing at the time it is placed in a D District an area of less
than %0 °f an acre, nor the erection of a two-family dwelling on any lot con-
taining at the time it is placed in a D District more than Vir, of an acre.
General Regulations in Area Districts. — The following regulations shall
apply to all area districts unless specifically excepted.
Height of Buidings Interpreted in Stories. — In applying the requirements
of this article the first story shall be considered as being not more than twenty
feet high and for each additional thirteen feet or fraction thereof tin' build-
ing shall be considered to have at least one additional story.
Building Area Limitation, Where Applied. — The limitation of building area
in this article shall apply at the curb level in the ease of a building located in
a residence district as designated on the use district map and at the sill level
of the second story windows, but not more than twenty-three feet above the
curb level in the case of a building located in a district other than a residence
district ;is designated on the use district map.
Rear Yard, When Required. — In B. C. and D Districts there shall be a rear
yard on every lot, or portion thereof, the rear line of which is more than fifty
feet back from the front street line. In A Districts there shall be a rear yard
on every lot, the rear of which abuts on an alley.
Rear Yard, When Not Required. — A corner hit or an interior lot running
through the block from street to street or to within fifty feet of another street
shall not be required to provide a rear yard.
Rear Yard, Computation of Depth. -In computing the depth of a rear yard
abutting on a street or alley the measurement may include one-half the width
of such street or alley, but in no ease exceeding ten feet.
Rear Yard, Reduction in Size.- -On a lot less than 100 feet deep the width
of a rear yard required in preceding sections of this article for a building two
stories or less in height may be reduced 1 per cent for each foot such lot is
less than 100 feet in depth, provided that such reduction shall in no case ex-
ceed one-half the required width. For each additional story in height the
width of such yard shall he increased by the amounts required by preceding
sections of this article.
Rear Yard, Level of. — Where a lot is not within a residence district as
designated on the use district map, the lowest level of a rear yard shall not
be above the sill level of the second story windows nor in any case more than
twenty-three feet above the curb level. Where a lot is within a residence
district as designated on the use district map the lowest level of a rear yard
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 551
shall not be above the curb level or the level of the ground back of the build-
ing whichever is the highest, and not above the sill level of the first story
windows in any ease.
Accessory Buildings. — Accessory buildings in C and D Districts may oc-
cupy 10 per cent of the lot area in addition to the building area limitations up
to a height of fifteen feet measured from the ground floor of such buildings
to the roofplate thereof, provided that in a residence district not more than
40 per cent of required area of a rear yard is occupied by such accessory
buildings. On a lot in a D District as designated on the area district map and
not occupied by more than one family, where a lot exceeds 12,000 square feel
in area one additional automobile may be housed in addition to four automo-
biles for each 3,000 square feet such lot exceeds 12,000 square feet in area.
Chimneys and Flues. — Chimneys or flues may be erected within a rear
yard provided they do not exceed five square feet in area in the aggregate
and do not obstruct ventilation.
Fire Escapes. — Open or lattice enclosed iron fire escapes may project not
more than eight feet and fire-proof outside stairways or solid-floored balconies
to fire towers may project not more than four feet into a rear yard.
Cut-Offs. — A corner of a yard or court may be cut off between walls of the
same building provided that the length of the wall of such cut-off does not
exceed five feet.
Extension to Yards or Courts. — Windows opening on a portion of a yard
or court which is an extension to a yard or court conforming to the minimum
requirements of a yard or court shall be deemed to comply witli the provi-
sions of this article. Such extension on which windows open shall not be
deeper in any part than it is wide on the open side nor shall such open side lie
less than six feet wide. The area contained in an extension to a yard or court
shall in no ease be included in computing the required area of a yard or court.
Projections Allowed.— The area required in a yard or court at any given
level shall be open from such level to the sky unobstructed, except for the
ordinary projections of skylights and parapets above the bottom of such court
or yard, and except for the ordinary projections of window sills, belt courses,
gutters, cornices and other ornamental features to the extent of not more than
six inches, provided that wider cornices on the street front may turn the cor-
ner and project their full width into a side yard or outer court within five
feet of the street wall of the building.
Bay Windows and Oriels. — In a side yard not less than six feet wide an
oriel or bay window not more than fifteen feet wide and without a gable may
be constructed to extend not nearer than l1/^ feet from the side lot line.
District Boundaries, How Determined.- -The boundaries between districts
are, unless otherwise indicated, either the center lines of streets or imaginarj
lines drawn parallel to and 120 feet back from one or more of the street lines
bounding the less restricted side or sides of a block. Where uncertainty ex
ists or the street layout actually on the ground varies from the street layout
as shown on the use, height, or area district map, the district boundary line
shall be determined and recorded by the inspector of buildings in accordance
with the intent of this chapter.
552 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Division of Lots by Boundary Lines. Where a district boundary li li
vides a lot in a single ownership at the time of the passage of this chapter, the
regulations for either portion of such lo1 may extend to the entire Lot, but
not more than twenty-five feel beyond the boundary line «>!' the districl for
which such regulations are established.
Effect of Widening a Street. — Whenever a street other than a boulevard
or parkway is so widened as to be within 120 feet of a boundary line of a more
restricted district, the less restricted district shall thereupon extend 120 feel
hack from the widened street and such change in the districl boundary lines
shall have the same force and effect as though separately ordained.
Effect of This Chapter Upon Contracts and Agreements and Upon Other
Laws and Regulations. — In their interpretation and application the provisions
of this chapter shall be held to be the minimum requirements adopted for the
promotion of the public safety, health, convenience and general welfare. It
is not intended by this chapter to interfere with or abrogate or annul an\
easements, covenants or other agreements between parties; nor is it intended
by this chapter to repeal, abrogate, annul or in any way 1o impair or interfere
with any existing provision of law or ordinance or any rules, regulations or
permits previously adopted or issued or which shall be adopted or issued
pursuant to law relating to the use of buildings or premises; provided, how-
ever, that where this chapter imposes a greater restriction upon tin' use of
buildings or premises or upon the height of buildings or requires larger yards,
courts or other open spaces than are imposed or required by such existing pro-
vision of law or ordinance or by such rules, regulations or permits, the pro-
visions of this chapter shall control.
Enforcement by Building Inspector; Issuance of Building Permits. This
chapter shall be enforced by the inspector of buildings, lie shall issue 110
permit for the construction or alteration of any building or structure or pari
thereof plans and specifications and intended use for which are not in all
respects in conformity with the provisions of this chapter. In case the intended
use owing to its nature or the vagueness of its statement falls within more
than one of the classes of uses established by Article _ of this chapter such
building or structure shall not be permitted in any district in which any such
classes are prohibited.
Certificates of Occupancy. — It shall be unlawful to use or permit the use
of any building or premises or part thereof hereafter created, erected, altered,
changed or converted wholly or partly in its use or structure until a certificate
of occupancy to the effect that the building or premises or the part thereof so
created, erected, altered, changed or converted and the proposed use thereof
conform to the provisions of this chapter shall have been issued by the in-
spector of buildings. It shall be the duty of the inspector of buildings to
issue a certificate of oecupancy within ten days after a reipiest for the same
is tiled in his office by any owner of a building or premises affected l>\ this
chapter, provided said building or premises, or the part thereof so created.
erected, altered, changed or converted, and the proposed use thereof, eon-
forms with all the requirements of Article 4 of this chapter.
Fees for Certificates of Occupancy. There shall be charged for each cer-
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND Z( >N I N( i 553
tificate of occupancy for a single family dwelling and uses accessory 1 hereto
a fee of $1, and for all other uses a fee of $2. Such fees shall be paid into the
city treasury and credited to the general city fund.
Temporary Certificates of Occupancy. — Pending the issuance of a regular
certificate, a temporary certificate may he issued for period not exceeding six
months, during the completion of alterations or during partial occupancy of
a building pending its completion. Such temporary certificates shall not be
issued except under such restrictions and provisions as will adequately insure
the safety of the occupants. No temporary certificate shall be issued if. prior
to its completion, the building fails to conform to the provisions of the build-
ing ordinance or of this chapter to such a degree as to render it unsafe for
the occupancy proposed.
Changes Requiring Issuance of New Certificate of Occupancy.— If the con-
ditions of use or occupancy of any building or premises or pari thereof are
substantially changed, or so changed as not to be in conformity with the con-
ditions required by a certificate issued therefor, or if the dimensions or ana
of the lot upon which a building is located or its yards or courts are reduced,
saiil certificate shall be void and the owner shall notify the inspector who shall
order an inspection of the building premises or lot. If the building conforms
to all the requirements of this chapter and of Chapter IV a new certificate
shall be issued as herein provided.
Procedure in Case of Non-conformity. — If. on any inspection, the condi-
tions of a building or premises or its use or occupancy are found not to con-
form to the requirements of this chapter or of Chapter IV or the conditions
of an existing certificate therefor, the inspector shall at once issue written
notice to the owner, specifying the manner in which the building or premises
or its use or occupancy fails to so conform, and the owner shall at once take
steps to make it so conform, as directed by the inspector; and if it is neces-
sary for the proper protection of the occupants he shall order the use or the
occupancy of the building or premises modified or the building or premises
vacated until its condition is made satisfactory in conformity with the require-
ments of this chapter and of Chapter IV, at which time a certificate shall be
issued as herein provided.
Amendments and Changes in the Districts and Regulations Therefor by the
Common Council.- -The Common Council may, from time to time, on its own
motion or on petition, after public notice and hearing, as provided by law.
and after report by the Board of Public Land Commissioners, alter, supplement
or change the boundaries or regulations herein or subsequently established.
Whenever the owners of 50 per cent or more of the frontage in any district
or part thereof present a petition duly signed and acknowledged to the Coun-
cil requesting an amendment, supplement or change in the regulations pre-
scribed for such district or part thereof, it shall be the duty of the Council
to vote upon said petition within ninety days after the filing of the same by
the petitioners with the city clerk. In case a protest against a proposed amend-
ment, supplement or change he presented, duly signed and acknowledged by
the owners of l!(I per cent or more of any frontage proposed to he altered, or
by the owners of 20 per cent of the frontage immediately in Die rear I hereof.
PROSPECTIVE MILWAUKEE— CITY PLANNING AND ZONING 555
or by the owners of 20 per cent of the frontage directly opposite the frontage
proposed to be altered, such amendment shall not be passed except by a three-
fourths vote of the Council. If any area is hereafter transferred to another
district by a change in district boundaries by an amendment, as above pro-
vided, the provisions of this ordinance in regard to buildings or premises ex-
isting at the time of the passage of this chapter shall apply to buildings or
premises existing at the time of passage of such amendment in such transferred
area.
Completion and Restoration of Existing Buildings.— Nothing herein con-
tained shall require any change in the plans, construction or intended use
of a building for which a building permit has been heretofore issued and the
construction of which shall have been diligently prosecuted within six months
of the date of such permit, and the ground story framework of which, includ-
ing the second tier of beams, shall have been completed within six months, and
which entire building shall be completed according to such plans as filed within
two years from the date of the passage of this chapter. Nothing in this chap-
ter shall prevent the restoration of a wall declared unsafe by the inspector
of buildings.
Penalties. — Any person, firm, company or corporation owning, controlling
or managing any building or premises wherein or whereon there shall be placed
or there exists anything in violation of any of the sections of this chapter; or
any person, firm, company or corporation who shall assist in the commission
of any violation of these sections; or who shall build contrary to the plans or
specifications submitted to and approved by the building inspector; or any
person, firm, company or corporation who shall omit, neglect or refuse to do
any act required in said sections shall, except where a special penalty is pro-
vided, be subject to a fine of not less than $10 nor more than $200, together
with the costs of the action, and in default of payment thereof, to imprison-
ment in the house of correction for a period of not less than one day nor more
than six months, or until such fine and costs shall be paid; and every such
person, firm, company or corporation shall be deemed guilty of a separate
offense for each day such violation, disobedience, omission, neglect or refusal
shall continue; provided, however, that said accumulated penalties recover-
able in any one action shall not exceed the sum of $2,000.
Validity of Ordinance. — If any article, section, paragraph, subdivision,
clause or provision of this chapter shall be adjudged invalid, such adjudica-
tion shall apply only to the article, section, paragraph, subdivision, clause or
provision so adjudged, and the rest of this chapter shall remain valid and
effective.
' " .■• > •»•;
CHAPTER XXXII
THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Milwaukee County was the name of a political division in 1834, two years
before the erection of the Territory of Wisconsin, when what is now Wis-
consin was yet a part of the Territory of Michigan. The Michigan Territorial
Legislature had passed an act on September 6, 1834 "to establish the counties
of Brown and Iowa, and to lav off the Countv of Milwaukee." The seat of
justice of Brown County was established at the Village of Green Bay. Mil-
waukee County remained attached to Brown County for judicial purposes
until August 25, 1835, when it was given an independent organization.
The Territory of Wisconsin inning been established April 20, 1836, the
Territorial Legislature, which convened October 25, of that year, then pro-
ceeded to subdivide all the territory south and east of the Wisconsin and
Fox rivers into counties, the boundaries of which coincided in the main with
those of the then existing counties with a few exceptions, among which was
that Milwaukee County, as then formed, was coextensive with the present
boundaries of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
In 1846, Waukesha County was created by taking from Milwaukee County
all of the territory west of Range twenty-one. This reduced Milwaukee County
in size and left it with limits exactly the same as they are to-day. The
account of the beginnings of the county has mainly been derived from Col.
J. A. Watrous' "Memoirs of Milwaukee County," published in 1909, though
many of the details given in that excellent history have been omitted.
The County in Territorial Days. — Mr. Otto Broecker, in an address delivered
several years ago describes the earlier history as follows :
Upon the admission of Illinois into the Union in 1818, all the territory of
the United States lying west of Michigan Territory and north of the states
of Indiana and Illinois, was attached to and made a part of Michigan Terri-
tory, by which act the whole of the present state of Wisconsin came under the
jurisdiction of Michigan Territory and was set off as Brown County. Mil-
waukee remained under the jurisdiction of Brown County until August 25,
1835, when it was organized and took its place among the separate and dis-
tinct political divisions of the State of Wisconsin. The act was approved on
August 25, 1835, and was entitled an act to organize the counties of Alegan
and Milwaukee.
At a special session of the Michigan Territorial Legislature held on Sep-
tember 6, 1834, an act was passed to establish the boundaries of the counties
of Brown and Iowa and to lav off the Countv of Milwaukee. By this act all
558 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
thai country bounded north by the line between townships eleveD and twelve
north, the line being just north of Wes1 Bend, east by Lake Michigan, south
by the State of Illinois and west by the line which separates Green and Rock
counties extending north uirtil it intercepted the northern boundary between
townships eleven and twelve, was included. On August 25, 1835, an act was
approved by the Michigan Territorial Legislature to organize the County of
.Milwaukee which reads as follows:
Section 9. That the County of Milwaukee shall be, and the same is hereby
declared to be organized, and the inhabitants thereof entitled to the same
rights and privileges in all respects whatever, with the inhabitants of other
organized counties within the said territory.
Section ID. There shall be a county court established in the sad county,
which court shall hold one term on the first Monday of May. and one term
on the first Monday of October of each and every year, at the Village of Mil-
waukee, which is hereby declared to be the county seat of said county.
During this same session of the Michigan Legislature, and in fad on the
same day upon which the act of organizing Milwaukee County was approved,
Governor Stevens T. Mason, the boy governor of the Territory of Michigan,
appointed and commissioned the following gentlemen as the first set of of-
ficials for the county: Chief Justice William Clark; associates, Joel Sage and
James Griffin; county clerk, Albert Fowler; sheriff, Benson YV. Pinch; judge
of probate, Gilbert Knapp.
Land in Milwaukee County was sold by the Federal Government at the
statutory price of $1.25 per acre. Fractional townships 7. 8. 9 and Id. range
'Jl!. embracing almost the entire City of Milwaukee were offered for sale at
Green Bay, Augusl 31, is:!."), at that price. In August, 1836, the first census
was taken and the population of this large county was found to be 2,893.
At the first session of the Legislative Council which convened at Belmont,
by an act. which was approved on December 7, 1836, the County of Milwaukee
was divided and the counties of Walworth, Racine, embracing the present
county of Kenosha, Jefferson, Dane, Columbia, Portage, Dodge. Hock and
Washington, embracing the present county of Ozaukee were created. Thus
shorn of a great portion of its original territory. .Milwaukee County was re-
duced in size to that now embraced in the counties of Milwaukee and Wauke-
sha. This arrangement existed until 1846, when at a fourth annual session
of the Fourth Legislative Assembly, which convened at Madison on January
5th, the County of Waukesha was formed. Thus Milwaukee County was
finally reduced in exlent of territory to its present limits.
At the second sessimi of the Pirsl Territorial Legislative Assembly con-
vened at Burlington (in the present state of Iowa., on November 6, 1837, the
» 'mi nt \ of Milwaukee was divided into two towns, the Town of Lake and Town
of Milwaukee, for the purpose of local government. The Town of Lake com-
prising the present towns of Franklin, Greenfield, Lake and Oak Creek and
the Town of Milwaukee comprising the present towns of Granville, Milwaukee.
Wauwatosa and the City id' .Milwaukee.
At the adjourned session of the first session of tin' See, md Territorial Leg
islative Assembly, which was held at Madison, an act was passed on March 8,
THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT 559
1839, dividing the Town of Lake and creating the Town of Kinnickinnic, com-
prising the present towns of Franklin and Greenfield. The next division was
made December 20, 1939, dividing the Town of Kinnickinnic by creating the
Town of Franklin. By an act approved January 13, 1840, the Town of Mil-
waukee was divided and the Town of Granville created. By an act approved
on April 30, 1840, the Town of Milwaukee was again divided and the Town
of Wauwatosa created and by another act on August 13, 1840, the Town of
Lake was again divided and the Town of Oak Creek created. This marked
the last division of the county into towns and on February 19, 1841, the name
of the Town of Kinnickinnic was changed to Greenfield.
-Milwaukee County was now fully organized so far as township govern-
ment was concerned, the divisions and names being exactly as they are today.
The population of these towns in 1840, according to United States census, was
as follows: Franklin, 248; Granville, 225; Greenfield, 404; Lake (which then
included Oak Creek), 418; Milwaukee (including the City of Milwaukee),
1.712; ami Wauwatosa, 342, making a total of 3,349 as the population of the
territory now included in the county, and out of this small beginning grew
the great and flourishing county of .Milwaukee of today with about 500,000
inhabitants and an assessed valuation of $586,177,942 in 191.").
Twenty Districts. — Among the laws enacted by the Legislature during the
session of 1921, the County Board of Supervisors was hereafter to be com-
posed of the representatives of twenty districts, one from each district into
which the county was divided. These districts also corresponded to the
representation in the State Assembly. This law is to take effect after the
spring elections of 1922.
The twenty districts are described as follows:
First District — First and Third wards of the City of Milwaukee.
Second District — Second and Fourth wards of the same.
Third District— Twenty-fifth Ward.
Fourth District— Twenty-first Ward.
Fifth District— Fifth and Twelfth wards.
Sixth Districts— Sixth Ward.
Seventh District — Seventh Ward.
Eighth District — Eighth and Fourteenth wards.
Ninth District — Ninth and Tenth wards.
Tenth District — Sixteenth and Twenty-third wards.
Eleventh District — Eleventh ami Twenty-fourth wards.
Twelfth District — Twenty-second Ward.
Thirteenth District— Thirteenth Ward.
Fourteenth District — Seventeenth Ward.
Fifteenth District — Fifteenth and Nineteenth wards.
Sixteenth District — Towns of Granville and Wauwatosa. and the cities of
Wauwatosa and North Milwaukee.
Seventeenth District — Towns of Lake and Oak Creek, and the cities of
Cudahy ami South -Milwaukee.
Eighteenth District— Eighteenth Ward of the City of Milwaukee, the Town
of Milwaukee, and the villages of Whitefish Bay and Shorewood.
560 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Nineteenth District— The Village of West Milwaukee, the City of West
Allis, and the towns of Greenfield and Franklin.
Twentieth District — The Twentieth Ward of the City of Milwaukee.
Highways and Roads. — hi the early day the building of plank-roads was
regarded as the solution of the problem of bad mails. "Plank-road meet-
ings" were held in many towns throughoul the stair in the '40s and the oe
papers of the day generally advocated their construction. The Milwaukee
Sentinel, in its issue of February 19, 1848, had an editorial on road-making,
and in a volume by W. M. Gillespie which, in 1855, had reached its eighth
edition, it was said, "that plank-roads are the farmers' railroads: that the
farmer profits most by their construction, though all classes of the community
an- benefited by such an improvement. * * The peculiar merit of plank-
roads was that the great diminution of friction upon them made them more
akin to railroads than to common roads, with the advantage over railroads
that every one could drive his wagon upon them."
A company was formed in 1846 to construct a road "of timber or plank"
from Milwaukee to Watertown. Other roads of a similar character, as well
as turnpike roads, were incorporated by the Territorial Legislature with au-
thority to collect tolls for their maintenance. Sixteen of these roads were on
routes some part of which were in Milwaukee County. The growth of Mil-
waukee County and the surrounding territory required the construction of
improved roads, and the plank-roads were regarded as more practicable and
better adapted to the wants of the community than any other form of public
roads. The shares in these corporations proved for a time to he a remunerative
investment.
" The plank-roads leading into Milwaukee, " says J. S. Buck in bis "Pioneer
History of Milwaukee," "had a very decided effect in adding to the pros-
perity of the towns through which they were constructed. They radiated from
the city as a center towards the north, northwest, west and southwest, thus
affording facilities for the ] pie of nearly all parts of the county to transport.
their surplus products and supplies by the use of their own teams.
"Many, of these roads were changed from plank to gravel roads: as the
plank gradually decayed, gravel was substituted, thus making a much more
permanent and valuable road. Though plank-roads were thus of greal value
to farmers along their course, enabling them to do their marketing within their
own means and increasing the value of their lands, they were generally hut
poor property in the hands of the stockholders who built them." says Buck.
Even the local poets became enthusiastic on the theme of plank-roads, one
of them in the carrier's address of the .Milwaukee Sentinel for Xew Year's
day, 1850, Calls enraptured attention to the city's advantages: "Her Plank
Roads, sn til as carpet tloor. bring daily produce to OUT door."
When- the plank-roads entered cities the planks eventually furnished a
reliable foundation for street car tracks, and in Chicago, North ('lark street.
having been previously planked, the rails were laid directly upon the planks
to which they were spiked.
A writer in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, for April.
1917, says of the plank-mads which had been built from Chicago to various
THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT 561
points tributary to that city that these plank-roads "proved to be good busi-
ness propositions to the corporations owning them," thus differing with the
Milwaukee historian cited above. "From no other improvement," says a
writer in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine, "has Chicago derived more direct
and manifest benefit in proportion to the capital invested than from plank-
roads which connect it with the adjacent country."
Good Roads in Wisconsin. — The past few years have witnessed great ac-
tivity in the construction of a vast network of improved highways through-
out Milwaukee County and the state at large. In fact the country in general
has awakened to the advantages of building good roads on an unprecedented
scale, and the various states have expended immense sums in their construc-
tion. Naturally a variety of "slogans" have come into use inspired by the
enthusiasm of their advocates and promoters. One of the leading banks of
Milwaukee carries on its stationery the motto, "beautiful roads to beautiful
places." Another favorite saying is, "see Wisconsin first," and an enterpris-
ing newspaper has issued a guide for the use of tourists, entitled, "The Call
of the Open Road." This guide contains some two score maps with a great
deal of condensed information accompanied by "rules and regulations" neces-
sary for the use of those who travel over these roads.
An editorial in the Milwaukee Journal of October 5, 1921, takes a broad
view of the whole subject of good roads and improved highways, and urges
in addition to the good work already done that the planting of trees along
these highways, — "the finest specimens of Wisconsin's native trees" — should
be included in the great plans now being carried out. "Spots rarely beaiitiful
and picturescpie, " says the writer, "must be dedicated to public use and made
accessible from the main roads. Villages and cities can well afford to assist
in this great work by establishing small public parks, even if they have to go
beyond their corporate limits, a thing that Milwaukee has already done. Coun-
ties, moreover, may well establish still larger parks, parks enclosing water-
falls, wooded hills and vales, banks of streams, part of the shores of some of
Wisconsin's many hundreds of lakes or any other spot of scenic beauty."
The Duty of the State. — This enthusiastic writer contends that there should
be established at different points large state parks "thousands of acres in ex-
tent, regions of wild woods and of lakes and rivers," and the natural features
with which the state is so abundantly provided. "The public must have access
to every lake in the state and, at convenient points, to rivers as well. These
waters are public waters and private monopoly of them, through private
ownership of the land around and along them, cannot be tolerated." The
additional charm of trees planted along the shores of lakes and rivers must
be considered wherever they are lacking in this important feature. '"Water
with no tree line possesses little charm; water fringed with trees, its natural
setting, is alluring and compelling in its beauty."
The state highway law went into effect in 1911. Milwaukee County began
its work through the action of its Board of Supervisors. The Board called
on the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey which handled high-
ways matters in Wisconsin, and asked for assistance in commencing operations
in the county. Mr. W. 0. Hotchkiss, who was in charge of the road work, sug-
Vol. 1—3 6
562 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
gested the hiring of a man to take charge of the work for the comity. The
result was thai Mr. II. J. Knelling, thru in the employ of the Survey, wenl
lo Milwaukee County in April, 1911, having obtained leave of absence from
the Survey for that purpose. The first year's work consisted mainly in in-
vestigations and surveys, and a study of the highway situation in the county.
Mr. Kuelling was then regularly engaged by the County Hoard and re-
mained in its service until July, 1917, when lie returned to the Wisconsin
Highway Commission. The first actual work done in the county was in 1912,
and since that period the work done has been described in the annual reports
of the highway commissioner.
Milwaukee County, up to the close of the year 1921, had completed some
200 miles of excellent highways within its limits continuous with the impor-
tant streets and boulevards of the City of Milwaukee, and including on their
routes the extensive systems of parks for which that city is famous. These
highways lead directly to the still greater system of public roads throughout
the state, which in their turn connect with the "Lincoln Highway," the
"Dixie Highway," and the numerous great cities beyond. Thousands of miles
of these beautiful roads have been thus rendered accessible to travelers riding
in their own conveyances and opening to them the scenic wonders of the land
which otherwise they might never have had the satisfaction of looking upon.
The financial statement included in the ninth annual report of the Mil-
waukee County Highway Department, of which Mr. Charles C. Jacobus is the
chairman and a leading good roads champion, shows that at the beginning of
the year 1920 there was a balance in the Good Roads Fund amounting to
$20,895.7:1 plus $1,390.53 cash in bank. In addition to this there were re-
ceived from various sources in the form of refunds and appropriations from
towns and cities the sum of $45,680.30, making a total of $67,966.56.
In 1919 the state allotted the sum of $150,505.48 for 1920 construction. To
meet this amount the County Board appropriated the sum of $230,000.00, mak-
ing a total appropriation of $380,505.48, or a grand total of $448,472.04 avail-
able for 1920 construction.
During the year 1920 there was expended the sum of $446,773.93, as shown
by the detailed cost statements herewith and $21,175.00 advanced for Federal
Aid Maintenance, making the total expenditures $467,948.93. This leaves a
deficit of $27,756.21, of which $8,161.53 is balance in bank, leaving a net deficit
of $19,594.68.
The County Board has appropriated the sum of $230,000.00 and the state
the sum of $145,481. 45, making a total of $375,481.45, less deficil of $19,594.68,
leaving a grand total of $354,886.77 available for 1921 construction.
The Metropolitan Sewerage Commission. — The law under which this body
is created, and the purpose of its creation, is told by Charles 1'. Perry, its
chairman, as follows :
"Organization October 20, 1921, of the Metropolitan Sewerage commission
is regarded as one of the foremost steps ever taken in Milwauki ' the coun-
ty to bring about a better sewerage system. Although the commission has
been in force only two months ii already has made plans for an intercepting
sewerage system connecting the city and county.
THE MILWAUKEE COUNTY GOVERNMENT 563
"The commission was made possible by an act of the State Legislature.
The law required that it consist of three members appointed by the governor,
one on recommendation of the state board of health, another on recommenda-
tion of city sewerage commission and the third without recommendation. The
commission consists of Charles P. Perry of Wauwatosa, George P. Miller and
P. U. Ullius.
"In 1913 the Legislative passed a law creating a sewerage commission, the
duty of which was to build an intercepting sewerage system and a sewage dis-
posal plant for the City of Milwaukee to protect the public, water supply, rivers
and bathing beaches.
"This law, however, did not confer any authority upon the sewerage com-
mission of the City of Milwaukee to build intercepting sewers for the outlying
districts in the county which contributed to the pollution of the rivers and
lake waters. It was realized that even after the City of Milwaukee expended
millions of dollars in collecting its sewage, carrying it to a sewage disposal
plant and treating it so as to discharge it into the lake without serious pollu-
tion, the waters would still be polluted from the sewage from the outlying
districts which drain into the rivers passing through the city.
"To collect the sewage from each individual community and treat it inde-
pendently of its neighbor was impract'cable because it would increase the
expense to each municipality, by building and operating independent inter-
cepting sewers and sewage disposal plants, and many of the communities were
not able to finance such large expenditures.
"In several cases one main sanitary intercepting sewer could be built for
two or more outlying communities which would collect the sewage from these
communities and which could be carried by gravity to the intercepting sewer-
age system of the City of Milwaukee and through it be carried and disposed
of at the disposal plant which was bein^r built by the city.
"By combining all of the territory within the county which lies in the same
drainage district as the sewerage system of the City of Milwaukee, the waters
of the rivers and lake could be kept free from pollution providing there was
some central board authorized to finance and build the large collect'ng inter-
cepting sewers necessary to carry the sewage from this drainage district to
the intercepting sewer system of the city.
"This metropolitan sewerage commission is required to project, construct
and maintain in the county outside of the city limits main sewers for the
collection and transmission of house, industrial, and all other factory sewage
to and into the intercepting sewerage system of the City of Milwaukee, and
they may require any town, city, or village in the county, to rebuild any
outlet, drain or sewer so as to discharge the said sewage waste or trade waste
into the sewers of the city or into such intercepting sewer located in or
near the town or village which the metropolitan sewerage commission may
establish.
"The statute provides that after the organization of the metropolitan sew-
erage commission, the sewerage commission of the City of Milwaukee shall
prepare maps and surveys showing that portion of said county which is
within the same drainage area as the sewerage system of the City of Mil-
564 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
waukee, the sewage from which may I ared for by the disposal plant
located in said city and the metropolitan sewerage commission shall determine
the boundaries thereof in each of the respective towns and villages outs'de
of the city limits.
"The commission has adopted a budget for the coming year which com-
prises the expenditure of about $1,300,000 with which it contemplates the
construction of a main intercepting sewer for Shorew I and Whitefish Hay.
one in Milwaukee and a portion of Wauwatosa for the purpose of collecting
and carrying to the city's West Side intercepting sewer the sewage from
the rapidly growing section north of the city and from the city of North Mil-
waukee.
"The county board of supervisors has already authorized the issuance
of bonds for the metropolitan sewerage commission in the amount of $1,300,000
for building these intercepting sewers."
CHAPTER XXXIII
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE IN WISCONSIN
On June 10, 1919, the Legislature of the State of Wisconsin passed a
resolution ratifying an amendment to the Constitution of the United States
which declared that "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account
of sex."
This amendment had been proposed and passed by Congress, May 19,
1919, to become valid "when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths
of the several states." Other states followed Wisconsin in ratifying the
amendment until the necessary three-fourths of the number of ratifications
was completed more than a year later by the action of the Tennessee Legisla-
ture, August 18, 1920. The United States Department of State then issued
a proclamation, under date of August 26, 1920, certifying that the "amend-
ment aforesaid has become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the
I '^institution of the United States."
The Legislature of Illinois had also passed a resolution of ratification on
the same day as that passed by the Wisconsin Legislature, namely, June 10,
1919. But owing to an error in the text of the resolution as passed by the
Illinois Legislature it became necessary to pass it again a fortnight later,
Had it not been for this delay the Illinois Legislature might have been
entitled to first place in the list of states ratifying the amendment.
"Whether the actual passage of the amendment, or the filing of that docu-
ment at Washington," writes Mrs. Theodora W. Youmans in an historical
article printed in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, for September, 1921,
"should establish precedence, whether the error should or should not count
against Illinois, — these are considerations which bid fair to make the ques-
tion, 'is Wisconsin or Illinois entitled to first place in ratifying the suffrage
amendment?' one of the great unsettled questions of the day. But there is
no question that Wisconsin, either alone or with one companion, held the
proud position of leader in that final great roll-call of democracy."
Review of Woman's Suffrage Movement. — In the early days the people of
Wisconsin gave earnest attention to the subject of woman's "right of suf-
frage," and in the proceedings of constitutional conventions, conventions
of political parties, and in the Legislature Hie question was often brought
up for discussion. "In the early days of statehood," says Mrs. Youmans
in her article previously referred to, "abolition of slavery, women's rights,
565
566 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ami the temperance cause were inextricably intertwined, and the advocate
of one was apl to be the advocate of all." However, no appreciable progress
was made in the cause of woman's rights up to the opening of the Civil war.
"All efforts for woman suffrage," says Mrs. Youmans, "were-abated
during the Civil war, its advocates giving themselves wholeheartedly to
the cause of freedom as exemplified by the abolition of slavery. Hut when
the war was over, its object achieved, it seemed desperately hard to these
devoted, bigh-minded women that uneducated colored men. jusl released from
slavery, should be adjudged worthy of the ballot winch was still withheld
from the educated and patriotic white women who had helped to save the
nation and free the slaves. They were astounded to have the discriminatory
word 'male,' which had never before been used in the federal constitution.
appear in the fourteenth amendment, and made vigorous effort to prevent it.
Their failure in this effort, due partly to the influence of those who now joined
in the rallying cry, 'This is the Negro's hour,' made them realize as never
before the force and weight of the opposition."
But the advocates of woman's suffrage did not become faint-hearted under
the weight of the discouraging indifference of former friends or the opposi-
tion of their adversaries. "The Civil war, however, had developed courage
and self-reliance in women. .Many of them had managed the farm, the shop.
the office, as well as the family, while the man of the bouse was away at the
war. Women had achieved notable results in the organization and manage-
ment of the Sanitary Commission and other relief agencies. So added ability
and determination were enlisted in the suffrage cause after the war."
The Suffrage Movement in Milwaukee. —A state convent ion in the interests
of woman's suffrage was organized and held in Milwaukee in the old city
hall, February 24 and 25, 1S(>!). The program of the convention was arranged
by Dr. Laura Ross, a physician of .Milwaukee, and Miss Lila Peekham, a
lawyer, whose early death was a great loss to the suffrage cause. Dr. Laura
Ross was later married to Dr. E. B. Wolcott. the distinguished surgeon.
The national Leaders in the movement were represented in force at the
convention, among them Mary A. Livermore, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth
Cady Stanton. At the conclusion of the convention in Milwaukee these Lead-
ers went on to Madison and gave addresses before the Legislature then in
session, in fa vol- of woman's suffrage.
"The association effected by the Milwaukee convention of 1869," eon
tinues Mrs. Foumans' article, "began at once to organize local units and
to draw together into a single association those interested in this unpopular
cause. Early suffrage organizations are known to have been formed at
Pond du Lac. Richland Center. Baraboo, Evansville, Boscobel, and Union
Grove."
.Meantime, manj suffrage lectures were given iii various places through-
out the state by such speakers as Mrs. Livermore, Mrs. Stanton. M ss Anthony.
and I'l be Cousins. When Mrs. Stanton Lectured in Milwaukee in 1 s 7 7 .
she was entertained by the leaders in social affair in the city and gained man}
adherents for the cause. Tin- movement was now reinforced by the active
participation with it of Mrs. Olympia Brown of Kac'ne. Mrs. Brown was
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE IN WISCONSIN 567
pastor of the Universalist Church at Racine, and for many years thereafter
was closely identified with the woman's suffrage movement.
During the summer of 1880, the national leaders held a series of conven-
tions in the states of the Middle West. Wisconsin's promising condition
attracted their attention, and a state convention was held on the 4th and
5th of June, in Milwaukee, at which Miss Anthony, Mrs. Stanton, Lillie
Devereux Blake, and other national leaders were present. Twenty-five dele-
gates were present from the local associations throughout the state."
"Mrs. Brown became the president of the Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage
Association in 1885, and she was destined to serve as president for thirty
years, never failing in devotion, energy or efficiency," says Mrs. Youmans
in her article. "Many women who continued active in suffrage work until
success crowned the cause first enlisted in the movement in the campaign of
1912."
Later History of the Movement. — Diverse opinions as to the manner of
conducting campaigns had resulted in the formation in 1912 of a new state
organization known as the Political Equality League of which Miss Ada L.
James was president and Crystal Eastman Benedict of New York was the
campaign manager. But though the two organizations worked separately
for a time, on the whole they worked harmoniously. Both had offices in
Milkaukee and from here carried on a lively campaign for the several meas-
ures before the Legislature in which the suffragists were interested.
"We rested a bit after that campaign," continues Mrs. Youmans in her
interesting account. "We needed it, but the rest Avas short. In January,
1913, a joint convention of the two suffrage organizations was called. Their
hostility had been more than half friendly; they easily forgot their differ-
ences and buried the hatchet; and they united as one body under the old
historic name, the Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage Association. Mrs. Brown
and .Miss James both retired and a new president, vastly surprised to find
herself in that position, was chosen." The new president thus referred to
was Mrs. Youmans, the writer of the article from which the above quota-
tions have been so liberally quoted.
"We went into the publishing business occasionally, although the great
bulk of the enormous amount of literature distributed we purchased from
the National American Woman Suffrage Association * * . We sent
an imposing contingent to the suffrage parade in Chicago in June, 1916, when
the suffrage hosts marching down Michigan Avenue in a downpour of rain
and gale of wind testified to their heartfelt desire for the ballot, in presence
of the delegates to the National Republican Convention there looking on; at
least we ardently desired them to be looking on. Outside of Illinois, Wis-
consin had the largest delegation, each member wearing a yellow Wisconsin
tunic, and the contingent being escorted by a Grand Army of the Republic
drum corps."
Many of the residents of Chicago well remember the tempestuous state
of the weather on that day, and the noble efforts of the spectators to come
to the relief of the devoted marchers as they passed. But the rain and the
wind seemed only to add to their hilarity and enthusiasm, and their parade
568 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
was regarded as a pronounced success, though accompanied by some individual
suffering ;m<l exposure.
An important feature of the work for woman's suffrage, says .Mrs. You-
mans, "was at the state and county fairs, where from booth or tenl there
emanated speeches, literature, and friendly argument with the hundreds who
drifted in and out. Regular press service was continued, the writer .Mrs.
Youmans) serving as press chairmaan, and sending out at regular intervals
a letter to all those newspapers in the state, about one hundred in number,
who were sufficiently hospitable to our cause to warrant the expenditure
for paper and stamps. Special suffrage editions of daily or weekly news-
papers were occasionally issued, edited usually by members of our organiza-
tion. The Richland Democrat, the Watertown Daily Times, the Milwaukee
Leader, and the Madison State Journal, were among newspapers which paid
us this pleasant attention."
The Assistance Received from the Foreign Press. — One gifted woman. .Mrs.
B. C. Gudden, who lias since passed from among us, assisted in this branch
of the press work, "by sending suffrage letters to the German newspapers;
and such was her ability and standing that sbe was able to secure their regu-
lar publication. Suffrage propaganda also appeared in at leasl one Polish
paper. Our final victory was largely due, as most reforms are, to the help
of the newspapers. Especially to promote congressional work in this state.
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt came here in 1916, and was the chief speaker in
a state-wide congressional conference held in Milwaukee."
It was slow work trying to convince our representatives in Congress of
the importance of the movement and overcome the indifference and some-
times open hostility of many of them to the cause of woman's suffrage.
"When the vote was taken in the House of Representatives in 1915, Wis-
consin gave two votes in favor and nine votes against the federal amendment.
By .January, 1918, our delegation had taken an advanced stand and we had
the remarkably favorable vote of eight for, and two against, the amendment
* . That same vote was recorded at the final suffrage roll-call in the
House in May, 1919. Both of the Wisconsin senators stood steadily for the
amendment."
Influence of the Great War. — "The World war undoubtedly hastened the
enfranchisement of the women of this country," continues .Mrs. Youmans.
"Political parties indicated the splendid war work of women as reason for
favoring political equality. Woman suffragists, being suffragists because of
their interest in citizenship ami good government, realized to the lull the great
issues at stake and supported the government with all their powers
Almost immediately after Congress had declared the existem f a state of
war the executive board of the Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage Association took
action favoring vigorous effort in several specified lines id' war activity, ami
proffering its allegiance and services to the state."
The Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage Association, as well as many of the
county associations, appointed com mil tees on registration, food conservation.
Americanization, fatherless children of France, Red ( 'ross. Libertj Loan
drives, and all sorts id' war and relief organizations; and especially tine work
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE IN WISCONSIN 569
was done in teaching American ideals to the foreign born element in our
population. There are many other details connected with the movement
which we should like to dwell upon in this inadequate account of woman's
suffrage in this state, but at least we shall strongly recommend such readers
as take an interest in the subject to procure the number of the Wisconsin
Magazine of History, for September, 1921, published by the State Historical
Society at Madison, and peruse Mrs. Youmans' article which we have found
so helpful in the preparation of this passage in our history. The writer of the
article adds a note that she is indebted for information used to the Rev.
Olympia Brown (whose portrait is found in the frontispiece of the magazine),
Ada L. James, Louise P. Kellogg, and many others.
Mrs. Youmans' Final Paragraph. — "In looking backward we are filled
with gratitude and happiness at what we have accomplished * * * . The
enfranchisement of women in face of the prejudice against it, prejudice
woven into the very web of human nature, is a marvelous achievement. The
careless world will probably continue to think that woman suffrage just hap-
pened, that it was 'in the air'; but we know that the changes in the opinions
of society which made it possible are the result of ceaseless, unremitting
toil * * * . The political equality of women came because a little group
of women had a profound conviction that the enfranchisement of women
was so fundamentally right and so absolutely necessary that it must be brought
about. Many women and many men helped in the long woman suffrage
struggle. But it was the burning flame in the souls of a few women which
lighted and led the way."
X
o
X
CHAPTER XXXIV
PARTICIPATION IN WAR
The Winnebago War of 1827.— While the events that constituted the
"speck of war" known as the "Winnebago uprising" cau scarcely be con-
sidered a part of the history of Milwaukee, still this episode must be men-
tioned because of the excitement caused among the few settlers then resident
at this distant frontier trading post. The uprising took place in 18'27 and
wras the result of troubles between the white settlers, then flocking into the
territory, and the Winnebago tribe, who occupied this region of country be-
fore they were removed by the Government to their reservations in the far
west.
The name most frequently met with in connection with the uprising is
that of the Winnebago chief, Red Bird, who boldly undertook to revenge
certain wrongs and outrages suffered by the savages, in Indian fashion. Thus
a number of whites were brutally massacred in retaliation and an alarm was
spread that a general Indian attack was about .to be made on the settlements.
But the reports of outrages, though serious enough, proved to have been
greatly exaggerated. Governor Lewis Cass, arriving upon the scene from
Detroit, soon gathered the Indians in council at Green Hay and gave a sympa-
thetic hearing to them. The governor, finding much discontent among the
tribes, determined upon a tour along the frontier, and taking a canoe manned
by a party of voyageurs, he rapidly passed up the Fox River and down the
Wisconsin into the .Mississippi. As he passed he warned the chiefs of the
results of a war which they seemed bent upon undertaking.
Governor Cass reached Prairie du Chien where he organized the people
for defense, collected volunteers at other places and finally reached St. Louis
from which point he dispatched a force of United States troops under Gen-
eral Atkinson to the troubled regions. He started on his return journey to
Green Hay by way of Chicago where he arrived thirteen days after leaving
Green Bay. He remained in Chicago but a few hours continuing his journey
along the coast of Lake Michigan to Green Bay. The Indians, finding that
their designs had become fully known to the governor, abandoned their hostile
purposes with ill-concealed chagrin. A treaty was soon completed, and a
devastating war over the whole Northwestern frontier was thus averted
through the promptness of the governor's action.
"The incidents of his flying trip to St. Louis," says Prof. Andrew C. Mc
Laughlin of the University of Michigan, "the light canoe flitting through" the
dark night down tin' Mississippi, the silence, the wildness of the scenery, I lie
intense excitement and anxiety lest his efforts should be too late, made I hi'
57]
572 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
deepest impression upon his own imagination and memory." In later years
Governor Cass, who had been a general in the Qnited States Army, governor
of Michigan Territory, a candidate for the presidency and the negotiator of
a score of Indian treaties, was appointed 1'. s. minister to Prance; and while
at the palace of St. ('loud. Professor McLaughlin relates, the recollection of
these scenes came hack to him in all their vividness: ami as he contemplated
the quiet How of the Seine, he compared it with "the mighty .Mississippi.
remember how he was whirled alone- through the night on a race for peace
and the lives of his people."
The Black Hawk War of 1832.— The war against Black Hawk and his
Indians, in l,s:!2, found the little settlement at Milwaukee still in its frontier
condition. It took no part in the campaign which ended in that chief's utter
defeat and capture. The war which lasted but a few months is also known
in the histories as "the Sauk war," as the Indians of the Sac and Fox tribe
were often called "Sauks." Brief mention may here he made of the leading
incidents of that Avar.
One of the early acts of overt hostility on the part of the Indians was the
massacre of sixteen white settlers near Indian Creek, Illinois, which took
place May 21. 1832. The details of the attack and the terrible scenes which
followed, with the carrying away as captives of the Hall girls, has I o
vividly narrated by Charles M. Scanlan, a lawyer of Milwaukee, and pub-
lished some years since. Black Hawk was a chief of the Sac and Fox tribe,
and many volumes have been published concerning this remarkable Indian
chief.
"The four years following the conclusion of the Winnebago outbreak,"
writes Carrie J. Smith in her book, "The Making of Wisconsin," "were years
of growth and prosperity in Southern Wisconsin. Relieved from anxiety as
to Indian attacks, the miners returned to the lead regions, and witli them came
many immigrants.
"lint the interval of peace was short, and the war that followed was the
bloodiest in the history of the state. This time it was not the Winnebagoes
who led the uprising, but the Sauks. who from the close of the French war
against them and the Foxes, had occupied the east hank of the Mississippi
River from the Wisconsin to the Missouri river, while the Foxes dwelt on
the west bank."
A few weeks before the Indian Creek massacre, referred to above. Black
Hawk and about five hundred braves with their wives and children crossed
the Mississippi into Illinois, with hostile intent. Governor John Reynolds of
Illinois (known as "the old Ranger"), hearing of this movement at once
called out the state militia consisting of 1,600 volunteers. This force followed
the Indians up the Rock River. It was with this force of volunteers that
Abraham Lincoln, then a young man of twenty-three, served as captain of
a company.
Soon after an attack on the Indians was made by Major Stillman, but
his force was repulsed and took to flight. This happe 1 on May 14. still
a week before the Indian ('reek massacre. United States Regulars from
St. Louis, were quickly sent north under General Atkinson and when the\
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 573
appeared on the scene the Indians found themselves confronted by an over-
whelming force. They accordingly retreated into Southern Wisconsin until
at Length they reached the Wisconsin River on July 21st.
Here the Indians finding they must make a stand placed their old men,
women and children on a raft, believing they could thus escape to the western
shore of the Mississippi, while the remaining warriors plunged into the wilder-
ness supposing that the safety of their helpless ones had been assured. The
Indians having crossed the AVisconsin tried to reach the Mississippi and rejoin
the occupants of the raft on the western shore. These unfortunates, however,
were fired upon by a force of white troops on the eastern bank with needless
cruelty and many of them were killed or drowned.
But the pursuing force caught up with the Heeing warriors near the mouth
of the Bad Axe River where the final action took place. Black Hawk, per-
ceiving that the end was near, abandoned his followers and found means
to cross the river where he found refuge among some friendly Winnebagoes.
The Indians were now mercilessly attacked by their pursuers and great num-
bers of them perished while attempting to escape by swimming the river.
The battle of Bad Axe was one of cruel and wanton extermination, about
three hundred of the Indians being either killed or drowned. There were
still as many more who succeeded in crossing the river, but upon reaching the
other shore they were attacked by a party of a hundred Sioux sent out by
Atkinson, and one-half of those who had thus far escaped were now slaugh-
tered. Out of a thousand warriors who had crossed the Mississippi in April,
only about a hundred and fifty survived the war.
On September 21, 1832, a treaty of peace was signed, and thereafter Black
Hawk was held as a prisoner of war at Fortress Monroe until the following
June, after which he was returned to his former home in the West. He died
in 1838 at the age of seventy-one. There were about two hundred and fifty
lives lost in the Black Hawk war. and the cost to the Government was about
+2.000,000.
In accordance with the Treaty id' Chicago in 1833 (the next year after the
war), the Indians of AVisconsin were removed to reservations beyond the
Mississippi. The removal was made at the expense of the Government bid
was not completely accomplished until 1838. The contract for the removal
of the Wisconsin Indians was given to Jacques Vieau, says J. S. Buck in his
history. Vieau was obliged to press into the service "every available team
in the country in order to accomplish their removal." Thus the country was
cleared of all the Pottawatomies and Menomonees with the exception of some
bands who were shown special favors for one reason or another. The Indians
"were collected at the old Indian fields," says Buck, "near the Layton House,
until preparations could be made, teams procured, and supplies collected."
Public interest throughout the country was strongly attracted towards
the Wisconsin and Illinois region in consequence of the war. Numerous de-
scriptions of the war and of the territory upon which it had taken place ap-
peared in the public prints of the day. No doubt the Black Hawk war greatly
promoted the development of the regions now occupied by a numerous popu-
lation, although then in many parts it was still in a primitive condition.
574 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Milwaukee in the Mexican War. — In 1846, there were two military com-
panies in Milwaukee, — the Washington Guards and the .Milwaukee Rifles.
The rank' and file of these companies were chiefly Germans, and in view of
the predominance of the foreign element in their membership it was thought
advisable to form a company of Yankees, as all native-born Americans were
called in those days. Most of the members of these companies, foreigners as
well as natives, afterwards enlisted for service in the .Mexican war which
broke out in the spring of 1846.
When the news reached Milwaukee that a battle had been fought on tin'
Texas border between the forces of Gen. Zachary Taylor and the Mexicans
under General Arista, these companies at once offered their services to the
Government. In a paper read before the "Old Settlers' Club" of Milwaukee
in recent years by Henry W. Bleycr, quite full particulars of the activities
of these troops are given, which are here condensed for this history. The
War Department, however, was slow in availing itself of the offer which was
in a large measure due to the inadequate means of communication between
the East and the West which then existed. "Communication by telegraph,"
says Bleyer, "could be carried only as far west as Buffalo, and the railway
mail service did not extend beyond Kalamazoo. News from Washington,
when not telegraphed to Buffalo and dispatched by steamer, was usually two
weeks on the way, while the mails from Mexico came to hand some four or
five weeks after they had been posted.
"Under these circumstances little was known of us in the East, and per-
haps less was expected of us, though our territory of 160,000 souls bad been
shown to have enough brain and sinew to form several regiments of stalwart
men, such as those who were associated with the Sixth United States Infantry
in driving Black Hawk and his savage hordes beyond the .Mississippi River
in 1832." The name .of General Taylor inspired the enthusiasm of all Wis-
consin men, as he was well known from his early residence among them as a
young army officer at Green Bay and other stations in the territory, and there
was great eagerness to serve under him in the Mexican campaigns.
Obstacles to Recruiting. — "The long period of waiting for an encouraging
word from Washington wearied us into a state of indifference about the war,
and several Milwaukeeans, tiring of this inactivity, went to Illinois to vol-
unteer their services. Others in their zeal to serve their country traveled
to Detroit and more Eastern points to enlist. In the meantime our territory
was called upon to furnish a company, and through the influence of Morgan
L. Martin, our representative in Congress, Gustavus Quarles, a popular and
brilliant young lawyer of Southport, now Kenosha, was commissioned captain
of this company, and Abel YY. Wright, lieutenant."
After his arrival in Milwaukee Captain Quarles worked energetically to
fill the ranks of his company. The .Milwaukee recruits, dressed in uniforms
of light blue, presented a creditable appearance as they marched through
the streets to the music of life and drum. They drilled almost dail] on Market
Square, along Wisconsin Street cast to Milwaukee Street, and along the blutf
near a powder house at the head of Martin Street. After Lieutenant Wrigh.1
had completed his enlistments at Watertown, where he had gone on that
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 575
service, he brought his force of twenty-three men to Milwaukee in wagons.
Just before his departure from Watertown a citizens' committee presented him
with a handsome sword and an engrossed testimonial of their appreciation
of his methods as a military officer. The company, having now been brought
up to its full quota, prepared for their departure, and on May 2, 1847, three
signal guns announced the approach of the steamer Louisiana that had been
designated to transport the volunteers down the lakes. The recruits hurried
to their quarters to gather up their belongings, and the citizens assembled
along Wisconsin Street to witness their departure. The mayor and members
of the common council headed the line of march, followed by the Washing-
ton Guards and the German Riflemen, through the principal streets of the
town out on the pier as an escort to the volunteers who were about to take
their departure.
Here the mayor, Horatio N. Wells, addressed them and Captain Quarles
responded in a brief and soldierly manner. The mayor's remarks were in part
as follows: "Soldiers! The step you have taken is of no trifling importance.
The positions you occupy are alike honorable and responsible. You have
made no slight sacrifice; you leave home, families and friends to go to a distant
land, there to exchange a life of comparative ease and domestic happiness for
one of toil, of hardship and of danger * * * . Permit me, on behalf of
the citizens of Milwaukee, to bid yon and your patriotic officers an affectionate
farewell. May the God of battles guide, protect and return you to us in safety
and honor."
Scenes similar to this in later times have often been repeated on the de-
parture of soldiers for the field of war, in the years from 1861 to 1865, in
the Spanish-American war of 1898, and in the glorious response made by the
men of Milwaukee in the great World war in 1917 and 1918. The return of
those who survived the terrible ordeals of these wars of the republic has given
occasion for many remarkable demonstrations in honor of our warriors, and
memorials of their deeds and bravery have been erected in many places
throughout the city and commonwealth.
The Campaign in Mexico. — The route of the company was by way of Lake
Erie and thence down to the Ohio River' through the canal which Byron Kil-
bourn had built years before to Covington, Kentucky, and from there it was
conveyed down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. After a brief
stay at this point the company crossed the Gulf of Mexico arriving at their
destination at Vera Cruz early in June, and was at once assigned to General
Pillow's division of General Scott's army. It w7as designated as "Company
P, Fifteenth United States Infantry."
"On the first of July," continues Mr. Bleyer's account, "we received the
first news of our company under Captain Quarles. His volunteers were glad
to land at Vera Cruz after their tedious trip by water. They had not long
been ashore when they began to experience the assaults of an insidious foe.
The dreadful coast fever had invaded their quarters, and two comrades had
died and many others were in the hospital during their brief sojourn at that
port. About the middle of June the regiment had been ordered to the front.
"Later we received news that the company had had its first baptism of
MEMBERS OF THE OLD MILWAUKEE LIGHT GUARD
From ;i photo in possession oi the Old Settlers' Club of Milwaukee County
s
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 577
fire, and that it had fought valiantly from early dawn to late in the after-
noon. It was at Contreras that Captain Quarles had the gratification of lead-
ing- his men into their first regular battle."
Needless to say the American boys were victorious and after a short respite
the gallant Fifteenth followed up their successful charge by opening the
battle of Churubusco by storming the fortress. Here Captain Quarles was
killed while leading his men. and beside him fell Privates John Herrick and
Moses Whitney. Three weeks later Gen. Winfield Scott entered the City of
Mexico at the head of the American army, and thus practically ended the war.
Of the twenty-three men who were recruited at Watertown but six re-
turned. In all, forty members of Company P were destined never to return.
The names of those who were killed at Churubusco or died during the cam-
paign are printed in the records of the Old Settlers' Club of -Milwaukee.
The body of Captain Quarles was brought from Mexico in the year fol-
lowing the close of the Mexican war, and received funeral honors at his home
town of Southport (Kenosha). The ceremonies on that occasion were attended
by the Washington Guards, the Milwaukee Riflemen and the Milwaukee Dra-
goons, together with delegations from various civic bodies.
The Brave and Daring Few. — About the same time there occurred a some-
what similar event in Kentucky where the bodies of those killed in the Mex-
ican war who had volunteered from that state had been brought home for
burial in the homeland. The obsequies at Frankfort. Kentucky, were dis-
tinguished by the recital of that famous poem entitled, "The Bivouac of the
Dead," by Theodore O'llara, its author. Verses from this poem have since
been placed as inscriptions in many of our national cemeteries as appropriate
to the dead of our Civil war. The first stanza of this remarkable poem is here
quoted, as follows :
"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo ;
No more on life's parade shall meet
The brave and daring few.
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead."
These lines and others in the same poem are likewise appropriate to
the heroic, dead, the men "who gave the last full measure of devotion" to
their country's cause, in the Mexican war.
The total losses in the war with Mexico, as given in Moses' "History of
Illinois," were as follows: From January 1. 1846 to January 1, 1848, there
were 1,557 killed in battle or died of wounds. The deaths from disease were
5,987. Thus the losses in human lives were 7. 514. There were 5,432 dis-
charged for disability, in the course of the war.
The cost of the war, including the amount paid to .Mexico under the con-
cluding treaty was estimated at the time to be $166,500,000.
Material Results of the War.— By the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which
578 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
concluded the war with Mexico the Mexicans recognized the Jim Grande as
the boundary between .Mexico and Texas. .Mexico ceiled to the United States
the territory of Texas I Eor she had never recognized the independence of that
republic which had beeii declared in 1836), and a large pari of the presenl
states of New .Mexico. Arizona, California. Nevada. Utah, Colorado, and
Wy ing. The United States on her part agreed to pay the Republic of
Mexico the sum of $15,000,000. "This payment." says a writer in the Encyclo-
paedia Britannica, "was doubtless intended to strengthen the United States'
title to the conquered territory."
The Mexicans celebrate the anniversaries of the battles of Chapultepec
and Molino del Rev which preceded the capture of the capital as very great
victories and they are recognized as national holidays. "Their authorities."
says General Grant in his "Personal Memoirs" (written in iSS.Vi, "grow
enthusiastic over their theme when telling of these victories, and speak with
pride of the large sum of money they forced us to pay in the end." He ad-
mires their patriotism which he th inks it would he well if we should imitate
in part, hut with more regard for the truth."
The Union Guards of Milwaukee. — In the account of the "Lady Elgin"
disaster which forms a portion of this history, reference is made to "the Union
Guards of Milwaukee," a large number of whom lost their lives in that dis-
aster, including the captain of the company. Recently Charles M. Scanlan
of Milwaukee has written a historical account of the Union Guards and of
Capt. Garret Barry, the commander. An abstract of .Mr. Scanlan 's account
is here given, thus adding materially to the melancholy details of that event
in our history.
Captain Barry was a graduate of West Point and had served in the United
States army, at one time performing garrison duty at Port Snelling, also at
Fort Crawford: and had seen service in the Florida war. in the war with .Mex-
ico, and, in 1847, had become a resident of Milwaukee. Here he was elected
county treasurer in 1859, and at the time of the disaster spoken of was sup-
erintendent of the custom house.
Owing to his military training Captain Barry became prominent in the
Union Guards which w.as the later name of a former organization called the
''Scarsfield Guards." Tin' Union Guards company was the pride of the Third
Ward in Milwaukee, and as its membership consisted chiefly of Irishmen and
democrats it was said that "no Irishman had any chance in love or polities
unless he wfvr a member of that company."
Those were the days of the infamous "Fugitive slave law" which had
been passed by the slavehohling element in Congress. Its operation was
resisted in Milwaukee whose citizens generally had no sympathy with slave
catchers operating on the free soil of their state. Serious friction having
arisen between the stale authorities and the Union Guards the governor had
ordered the arms used by the company to be returned to the state arsenal
winch order was promptly c iplied with. Hut Captain Harry at once pro-
ceeded to purchase a new outfit. It was to raise the money to pa\ for this
Outfit that the excursion on the "Lady Elgin" had been planned and carried
out, and it was on the return trip from Chicago to Milwaukee, early in the
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 579
morning' of September 8, 1860, that the steamer was sunk in a collision with
a schooner off Highland Park, Illinois, and some three hundred lives lost.
Captain Barry was among those who lost their lives in that disaster. His
body was recovered and a great military funeral took place in Milwaukee.
The remains were interred in Calvary cemetery.
Negro Slavery in Wisconsin. — "What there was in Wisconsin of the actual
holding of negroes as slaves," writes John Nelson Davidson, in pamphlet
number 18 of the Parkman Club publications, "was merely an incidental
rather than a purposed extension of a system that had its strength elsewhere."
The writer then goes on to state that as "slavery had triumphed in Missouri,
and as some of her citizens became emigrants northward, it was almost a mat-
ter of course that at least a few of them would take their negroes, and that
the old relation of master and slave would continue for a time in practical
though not legal existence."
The story of the first negroes in Wisconsin is one of liberation rather than
of continuance in bondage. The case in regard to William Horner and his
negroes is described by a correspondent, a portion of whose letter is as fol-
lows: "Mr. Horner '"brought four grown-up persons and two children with
him from Virginia, and when Mr. Horner left here to return to Virginia he
left those colored people in comfortable circumstances, and now some of them
are well off. A Mr. Ross came from Missouri with several colored people
that used to be his slaves. He settled them comfortably and now there is
quite a colony of them near Lancaster well behaved and industrious, who at-
tend schools and churches."
Other Instances of Emancipation. — John Lewis, also of Lancaster, gave
the following account: "A man by the name of Woolfolk moved from Mis-
souri to Potosi and brought a negro woman with his family who served him
as servant for many years. On his removal back to Missouri, lie was going to
take the woman back, hut the opposition of the citizens prevented him from
doing so." The blacks brought by Mr. Horner were the property of his wife.
They were given homes on lands deeded to them. Mr. Ross, mentioned above,
died in Wisconsin, but his wife died in Missouri. She made a wish before
her death that their blacks should be liberated, and her husband who sur-
vived her religiously carried out her wish. One "Hen Wood" took a slave
with him to California in 1849 and report says brought him back from then'
to Missouri and sold him, regarded by the public opinion of the time as an
infamous proceeding.
Influence of Emigration. — "Wisconsin was settled by two currents of emi-
gration, distinct in origin and in course," says Mr. Davidson. "One was
from the East, and came for the most part by way of the Great Lakes or
on land lines parallel in a general way thereto." The other was from the
states of the South where slavery had a legal existence, who followed the
route already traced through the prairie regions of Indiana and Illinois. Thus
the states where slavery was tolerated lost many of their best citizens who
preferred to find homes for themselves and their children where there was
neither master nor shive. "With some of these emigrants dislike of slavery
was due to their perception of the fact that it degraded labor, and that though
580 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
it was profitable to individuals of a favored class it was a loss to the com-
munity as a whole." P>ui there were others who fame to Wisconsin besides
those who hated slavery. .Many of those who came from slave sialic brougb.1
with them a rancorous spirit directed especially towards the Abolitionists,
and thus developed thai bitterness which characterized the political discus
sions "f that time.
Immigrants from the East settled a larger portion of the state and exerted
a wider influence than those from any other section. With these tides of im-
migration into Wisconsin came a flood of anti-slavery conviction thai over-
spread the forming commonwealth. "Of these earlj settlers," says David-
son, "New York furnished a larger number than those from any other state.
Many of these, to lie sure, in coming hither had made a second re vail
from their New England home. Yet it was from New York more than from
any other state that there came to Wisconsin so vital a union of abolitionism,
with the evangelistic spirit that the church was the hest friend to he found
by either slave or sinner. For this we, as a state, owe to New York a greater
debt than for shaping, as she undoubtedly did through her sons, our po-
litical institutions."
Religion and Slavery. — "What people really believe." continues Davidson,
''finds expression, commonly, in their religion before it dues in their politics.
Certainly the anti-slavery feeling in Wisconsin found utterance through some
of her churches before it did through any political convention * .
Whatever may be true of other parts of our country, mosl of the early
churches of Wisconsin are free from the reproach of moral cowardice in deal-
ing with the subject of slavery."
The powerful influence of Rev. Charles G. Finney, of Oberlin, was manifesl
in some of the early churches of Milwaukee established under Ins teachings.
The sermons of this great •'abolition evangelist" created a deep impression
among the people. "It was one of the spiritual sons of the great movement
in which Mr. Finney was a leader," says Davidson, "to whom the thoughl
came to found a Congregational Church in that city." Among the reasons
given for organizing a new church was the belief of some of its founders
that the church previously established in Milwaukee by themselves and others
of substantially the same religious views "was too conservative on the subject
of slavery." In 1840 the Baptists assembled in convention at Waukesha
passed the following resolution: "Resolved, thai it is high time for Christians
to arise and give their testimony against the soul-destroying sin of slavery,
and I" refuse fellowship with all slaveholders who have named the name of
Christ, and those who abet their cause."
The Presbytery of Milwaukee. — There was organized in Milwaukee in 1839
the "Presbytery of Wisconsin" which soon after became the Presbytery of
Milwaukee, and in the next year ii was merged into the Presbyterian and Con-
gregational Convention of Wisconsin. "At the Formation of this convention,"
sa\s Davidson, "the thoughl of union between the Congregational and l'res
byterian churches and ministers seems to have excluded almosl everythini
else. Thai accomplished, the fathers and founders of those churches in Wis-
consin expressed their anti-slavery convictions mosl remarkably. 'Resolved,'
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 581
they said in their meeting at Beloit in October, 1841, 'that in the view of this
convention American slavery is a sin, that it is a sin of such magnitude that
all wlio practice it or knowingly promote it should be excluded from our
pulpits and the fellowship of our churches; that while we deprecate all harsh
language and rash measures in the destruction of this evil, we will neverthe-
less avail ourselves of all suitable measures to enlighten and correct the public
mind in regard to the sin of slavery.'
"The adoption of these resolutions probably followed an address on the
subject by Rev. Moses Ordway who had been appointed to this service when
the convention was in session the preceding June at Prairieville (Waukesha).
Even at a meeting before that the subject had been brought forward, and
thus the way made ready for some action of a significant character such as
was must certainly the choosing of Mr. Ordway as the one to give the address.
Think of this son of thunder with human slavery for a subject! For he was
one who in rebuking iniquity, as Midi as in doing a number of other things,
did not fear the face of man."
Slave Hunting in Milwaukee. — M. M. Quaife in the Milwaukee Journal of
March 26, 1922, tells of some of the incidents of slavery days as enacted in
an earlier day in Milwaukee:
"So remote from the consciousness of the present day is tin- era of negro
slavery in America, that only with difficulty can one realize the fact that
less than seventy years ago terror-stricken negroes were hunted through the
streets of Milwaukee by men intent on dragging them back to the slavery
from which they had tied. The ease of Joshua Glover in 1854 became notori-
ous throughout the land, and made of Milwaukee and Wisconsin one of the
leading anti-slavery centers of the nation. But it is not so well known that
many years before the Glover case, and while Milwaukee was hardly more
than a village, southern slave holders pursued their peculiar 'property' through
its streets, and unsympathetic citizens strove zealously to balk the pursuer
of his prey and send the poor fugitive on his way to Canada.
"The story of Caroline Quarreles illustrates as well as any the lights and
shadows of man-hunting in Milwaukee. Caroline was the first passenger
on the first underground railroad in Wisconsin, which had its northern term-
inus at Milwaukee and Waukesha. Her history illustrates one of the most
revolting aspects of the institution of slavery as practiced in America, for
her father was a white man and her owner, Mrs. Hall, was her father's sister,
and ( 'aroline's own aunt.
Loathed Her Bondage. — "In other respects, however, Caroline's lot was
relatively fortunate. She was an intelligent girl, almost wholly white, and
probably for these reasons was brought up as a house servant, being taught
to sew and embroider and to wait upon her mistress. Her master, Charles P.
Hall, was a St. Louis merchant, who had formerly lived in Kentucky. So far
as known, the girl Mas not badly abused while in servitude, but she was in-
telligent enough to loathe her bondage and energetic enough to make an early
attempt to end it.
"The occasion came when her mistress in a lit of anger cut off the girl's
hair. This led her to determine to run away as soon as possible. Having
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PARTICIPATION IN WAR 583
gained possession of $100, she asked permission of her mistress to visit a sick
girl acquaintance. Instead of reluming from the visit, she walked to the
river and boarded a steam boat for Alton, 111. There was then a girls' sem-
inary at Alton and as Caroline both looked and conducted herself like a white
girl, her real status and mission remained quite unsuspected by passengers
and crew of the steamer.
A Treacherous Confidant. — "Like all slaves, Caroline knew that the land
of freedom lay to the northward, but other than this she had set out with no
particular plan or destination in mind, and it was pure chance that directed
her course to Milwaukee. On leaving the stage at the Milwaukee house, she
saw a negro barber, a man named Titball, and supposing he would be her
friend, appealed to him for information and advice. It was an unfortunate
move, for Titball although himself a former slave, proved to be a mercenary
villain. At first, however, be proffered his warmest sympathy for the girl and
took her at once to his home, where she remained for a week.
"The fugitive's presence in Milwaukee first became known to the public
when officers arrived from St. Louis in search of her. Coming upon Titball,
they inquired if her knew anything of the girl and he readily answered that
she was at his home. At the same time he quickly contrived a plot to profit
by the situation; before piloting the pursuers to the place, he managed to
send a negro boy who was working with him with orders to take ('aniline
away from his house to a certain place of concealment, expecting to extort
a sum of money from the lawyers as a reward for leading them to her. But
the boy, who had also been a slave, suspected and outwitted this design by
conducting Caroline to a different place of concealment than Titball had
directed.
"Meanwhile Spencer, the St. Louis lawyer, thinking the girl within his
grasp, concluded to defer to northern prejudice by making the seizure strictly
according to the statutes, instead of attempting to seize and return Car-
oline without process. He therefore soughl the aid of II. X. Wells, a local
attorney. Wells scorned the case and declined to have anything to do with
it; he did not omit, however, to repair to the office of Asahel Finch, and un-
der the guise of joking about the affair, apprize him of the situation.
"Spencer, after leaving Wells' office, enlisted the aid of another attorney
and together the two went with Titball to bis house to make the seizure. As
that worthy expected, they were disappointed; for $100, he agreed to lead
them to her. On going to the place, however, the barber was in turn dis-
appointed, and in addition t.o losing the anticipated blood money he nar-
rowly escaped a beating at the hands of the irate white men, who concluded
the darkey had been trifling with them.
"At this point begins the history of the underground railroad in Wiscon-
sin, for while Caroline had come to Milwaukee as an ordinary stage pas-
senger without attempt at concealment, from the place where the negro
boy had left her she was spirited into the country and through weeks of weary
traveling conducted south around Lake Michigan and on to distant Canada.
"The first removal was in the night following the disappointment of Spen-
cer and his coadjutors, when Asahel Finch sought out the girl and conveyed
584 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
her across the river to the West Side, then known as Kilbourntown. Then
by the roadside, in front of a negro s house, stood a large sugar hogshead,
and in this the girl lay concealed all the following day, being fed !>.\ the in-
mates of the house. That nighl Deacon Samuel Brown, a farmer living .1
mile or mi nnt of town, took Caroline to his home and kept her the following
day. When nighl came again, he set out with her in a rickety wagon over
difficult roads to Pewaukee, where in the home of Samuel Daugherty, two
or three miles north of the village, the fugitive lay concealed for several weeks.
"During all the time the search was going on those abolitionists who were
aware of Caroline's place of concealment quietly kept their counsel until
the pursuit relaxed momentarily, they removed the girl to Spring Prairie,
some thirty miles south of Waukesha. A few days later Lyman Goodnow of
Waukesha, one of the men who had aided in spiriting the girl away to Spring
Prairie, went down and set out with her for Canada, when' he left her safely
at Sandwich, across the river from Detroit.
"The story of Goodnow's arduous and unselfish journey has 1 a r< rded,
fortunately, by Mr. Goodnow himself, hut it is too long to tell here. Caroline
Quarrelles, Milwaukee's first fugitive slave girl, married at Sandwich and lived
a long time there. By some means she learned to write, and forty years after
her escape from bondage she wrote a letter to I\i r. Goodnow expressing her
gratitude for what he had clone for her, and her wish that she might see him
once more. "
Sherman M. Booth. — An episode of the fugitive slave law period in Wis-
consin is closely associated with the name of Sherman M. Booth. It will be
remembered by those familiar with the history of the '"Underground Rail-
road'" that certain persons throughout the state and other states adjoining
it. north of Mason and Dixon's line, which marked the boundaries between
the1 slave and free states, used every available means to assist runaway slaves
from the South to reach Canada where slavery was never recognized as it was
in the United States. Such persons were called "conductors'" on the Under-
ground Railroad. Many instances of their activities are mentioned in the
histories of the time.
As the fugitive slave law of those days protected the slave-owners of the
South by allowing them to pursue their runaways into the free states, and.
if they were found. 1o take them hack to the places they escaped from, the
consequence was that there were many agents from the South among as for
the purpose of capturing them. To hid]) the fugitives alone' the way anil pro-
vide for their safely and welfare was the self-appointed task of the conductors
on this so-called "Underground Railroad."
In Milwaukee (which was one of the "stations" on the line), Sherman .M.
Booth, one of its citizens, aided in the work of assisting the poor fugitives.
Some of these cases reached the courts, and in the famous "(Hover case" Air.
Booth was convicted under the fugitive slave law and sentenced to a pay a
tine of $1,000, besides imprisonment for a month in the county jail, although
he was discharged from the jail by the State Supreme Court on the ground
of irregularities in the warrant.
The owner of the rescued slave (who had safely reached Canadian terri-
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 585
tory) brought suit against Booth in the United States District Court for
$1,000 representing the value of a negro slave as fixed by the act of Congress
passed in 1850. "It is said," says Legler in his history, "that the litigation
in which Booth became entangled as the result of the Glover episode ruined
him financially." Public opinion in Milwaukee strongly approved of Booth's
course throughout the entire affair.
Bootli was the editor of a paper called the Wisconsin Free Democral and
was naturally prominent among the anti-slavery people of the time, lie is
remembered to this day as one of "Plutarch's men,'" worthy of a place on the
honor roll of the city's Valhalla.
Copperheadism. — Many of those who retain memories of the great Civil
war in which we were engaged more than half a century ago can remember
the intense feeling aroused in the loyal men and women of that time when-
ever they saw manifestations of sympathy shown towards the enemies of our
country. There was a numerous element throughout the North in those
trying four years of conflict composed of men who gave aid and comfort to
the enemy, often in underhanded ways, sometimes by withholding support
to the Government in its times of difficulty, sometimes by sneering criticisms
of its military operations, or more openly by advocating a so-called "peace
policy" toward those who would dismember tin.' Union in the interests of the
slaveholders.
There were many such persons, usually found among the lower grades of
society, who came to lie called "copperheads," and who ridiculed or dis-
paraged every effort made by the Lincoln administration to suppress the
rebellion instigated by the seceding states of the South. They tried to com-
bat the rising spirit of loyalty in whatever form it was shown; they attended
Union meetings in order to cry down the speakers and, through such publica-
tions as the Chicago Times of that day, claimed the influence of the democratic
party because it had been the party of opposition in the previous campaigns.
The partisans of secession cultivated every means to bring influence to bear
in northern communities in order to paralyze the constantly increasing anion
sentiment.
John Wentworth's Reply to Vallandigham. — Speakers, like Vallandigham
of Ohio, held public meetings in many cities of the North pleading for peace.
On one occasion this same peace advocate appeared in Chicago and spoke to
a curious crowd from the steps of the courthouse. He was answered vigorously
by "Long John" Wentworth, who, though he had been a democrat in the days
before the war, now declared that he was for the Union and the republican
party. "I am no party man," he said. "I am chained to the partisan car of
no class, no interest, no organization; to my country, and my country alone,
do I owe fealty and render homage. I love my country. It nurtured me in
my youth, it honored me in my manhood, and now, when I have passed the
meridian of life, I love to respond to any call to plead in her behalf." H is
needless to say that the audience was heart and soul with "Long John" and
he received the unstinted applause of the people.
Copperhead Propaganda in the North. — The activities of the copperheads
were not confined to promoting their influence by means of a detestable
586 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
propaganda. While in the South ;i strict censorship of the press and of
public utterances was maintained, the press of the North was free up to tin-
point of treason, and the citizen could entertain his views and express them.
"The copperhead disreptitable portion of the press," wrote General Grant
in his Memoirs, "magnified rebel successes and belittled those of the Union
army. It was. with a large following, an auxiliary to the Confederate army.
The North would have been much stronger with 100,000 of these men In the
Confederate ranks and the rest of their kind thoroughly subdued, as the Union
sentiment was in the South, than we wi-i-r as the battle was fought."
A story is told of Peter Cartwrigbl the famous pioneer preacher of Illinois
who, although himself a life-long democrat, was outspoken in his support of
the Union cause. He was at one time during the war visiting the East and had
been invited to a dinner by a few friends who were southern sympathizers and
who had taken it for granted that the veteran preacher was of their waj of
thinking. But as he listened to their hitler criticism of the Lincoln administra-
tion he said he began to feel "like a eat in a strange garret." His blood was
hot with indignation and presently he arose to make a few remarks.
"I am an old man." he said: "the sands in the hourglass of my life have
nearly finished their flow. What I can say and what I can do in this world,
if accomplished at all, must be done promptly. So I wish to speak very plainly
to you tonight, the last words I may ever address to you. If 1 had known I
would meet such a nest of tories and traitors here I would never have put my
legs under your hoards, nor sat down ami broken bread with you at this table."
One can imagine the consternation that these remarks brought t" the guests
surrounding the table. But his blood was up and he was unsparing in his de-
nunciations. He said he could see the "huge hell of jealousy ami discord"
that would be opened up within our country's boundaries if the secessionists
succeeded in rending apart the union of our states.
"You, their sympathizers on this side of Hie .Mason and Dixon line." he
continued, "are accomplishing here today more for these secessionists against
maintaining the Union by your criticisms and lack of sympathy for President
Lincoln's noble labox*s than you could do were you down South this hour and
enrolled in the ranks of Jeff Davis' Confederacy." His last words as he left
the table were, "There are now hut two parties — patriots and traitors:"
In recalling these memories of Hie Civil war. dark and bitter as they may
seem, we only make more distinct the triumph of right and justice. Who can
now look hack ami wish that Hie slaveholders had won their "lost cans,'".'
Who would willingly have seen a divided nation, either id' whose parts would
have at a later time made war upon each other, or had become a prey of some
European power.' Let us he profoundly thankful that the Union cause at last
won the day and that we are now a united people.
One prominent citizen of Wisconsin who wore a copperhead badge Eor over
a year lived to say that it was the one action id' his life of which he was heartily
ashamed.
Milwaukee in the Civil War.- Tin' breaking out of the Civil war is
commonly dated from the firing on Fort Sumter. April 1 1'. 1861. Cow Alex-
ander W. Randall was entering upon his second term when that startling event
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 587
occurred. Even while the bombardment of Fort Sumter was still in progress
the Legislature passed an act giving to the governor practically a free hand
to take such measures as he considered necessary, ''to provide for the defense
of the state and to aid in enforcing the laws and maintaining the authority of
the Federal government."
On the loth of April President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 three months'
volunteers, and Governor Randall followed this with a proclamation mi the
next day urging a prompt response on the part of the people of the state,
especially by the uniformed militia companies; and the Legislature reinforced
(his action by voting to double the amount of the first appropriation for use
in the great emergency. The first response was from the "Madison Guard,"
a local militia company, which in the previous January, when the situation
looked threatening, had tendered its services to the governor. As soon as tin'
proclamation was signed the governor sent for the captain of this company,
Capt. George E. Bryant, and accepted the tender.
"Thus this organization," says Reuben Gold Thwaites in the "American
Commonwealth series," "was the first in Wisconsin to enlist ; and while its
members were being cheered at the meeting in the assembly chamber the
telegraph brought similar offers from Milwaukee and other cities throughout
the state." Ten companies were accepted, four from Milwaukee, two from
Madison, and one each from Beloit, Fond du Lac, Iloricon and Kenosha.
The governor then organized the First Regiment of Wisconsin volunteers
which was mustered in at Milwaukee May 17th, and the war department was
informed that the regiment awaited marching orders. Col. John < '. Stark-
weather was placed in command of the regiment which on the 9th of June
proceeded to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In the following July the regiment.
after taking part in the battle of Falling Waters, returned to Wisconsin where
it was reorganized into a three year regiment. In the action at Falling Waters
a private from Milwaukee named George Drake was killed, being not only the
first Wisconsin man to give up his lit" in the cause of the Union, but the first
soldier to fall in the Shenandoah Valley, soon to become one of the bloodiest
scenes in the great theater of war.
The reorganized "First" made a glorious record in the numerous battles
participated in by the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Tennessee
throughout the war. When the Twenty-fourth Wisconsin was organized it
was known as "the Milwaukee regiment." The two regiments here mentioned
took part in the sanguinary battle of Chicamauga where there were in all five
Wisconsin regiments and three batteries, and at the battle of Missionary Ridge
there were seven regiments of Wisconsin troops including those above men-
tioned. The complete history of the Wisconsin troops in the Civil war of 1861-
1865 may be found in numerous publications, especially in the reports of the
state historical society at Madison. The "Iron Brigade," consisting at times
of three regiments of Wisconsin troops with regiments from other states, took
a glorious part in all the campaigns of the war.
In one of the photographs taken in that remarkable scries known as the
"Brady War Photographs" is shown a number of dead bodies on tin- tield of
Gettysburg under which appears the inscription, "Men of Hie Iron Brigade."
588 IIISTOKY OP MILWAUKEE
As the men of this brigade advanced through ;i w I on the first day of the
battle thej shouted to the retreating Confederates, "We have come to stay;"
and another picture shows a group of their dead under which the historian has
inscribed the words, "The men who came to stay." Ee alsi iments upon
the Losses suffered by the Iron Brigade, "the heaviesl aggregate loss by bri-
gades in the entire war fell to this gallanl command." We cannol dwell here
on the numerous thrilling episodes of which Wisconsin men were the heroes,
but tlic history of that greal war is filled with the accounts of the deeds in
the campaigns of Wisconsin's brave warriors.
At the first onset of the Civil war the financial troubles of the community
attracted the serious attention of the public, for it was --till suffering from
the effects of the "wildcat" times of the previous decades. Much improve-
ment had taken place but there were still many elements of unsoundness in
the general banking- situation.
In the opening days of the ••tremendous drama of the Civil war." the bank
circulation of all the banks of the state amounted to some $4,000,000,
the security for over half of which consisted of the bonds of Southern states
which began to shrink in value. It was the general opinion, however, that
the Avar would be short and public confidence would be restored in a few
months, but as every day deepened the seriousness of the situation the con-
servative element in the banking fraternity was aroused to the exercise of
greater cant ion. Within two weeks after the outbreak of the war some t u enty-
two banks of the state had refused to redeem their bills, and the bankers at a
state convention, held April 25th, discredited eighteen more week concerns.
The public was reassured by this action and confidence was revived, "but
dissensions arose among the banks." says Thwaites, "the strong declining to
bolster up the weak any longer." The Milwaukee bankers, at a meeting on
Friday, June 21, "as a measure of self-preservation," threw out ten banks
from the list of seventy specified bank's whose issues they had previously
agreed to receive. This action did not become known "until after banking
hours of Saturday by which time the laborers of the city had generally 1 a
paid their week's wages. The workmen found that a considerable portion of
the bills they had received were the issues of the ten discredited banks."
Not understanding the cause of the action of the banks, which was un-
questionably a measure of safety, the men considered themselves defrauded.
On the following .Monday an excited mob stormed the banks hurling showers
of bricks and paving stones, thus doing many thousands of dollars' worth of
damage. "Business was suspended throughout the city during tin1 entire
week." says Thwaites. "and it was a month before the stream of commerce
again flowed smoothly. The holders of the paper of the disci-edited banks
were eventually reimbursed: and by tin- close id' the year an arrangemenl
was made between tin- .Milwaukee financiers and the state government by
which the worthless Southern bonds were Sold and replaced by state bonds.
and all bank bills not previously retired from circulation were once more
n ived at par."
When the people began to realize that an actual COnflid "1' arms was
"sweeping upon the country like an approaching solar eclipse." (to use an
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 589
expression of the late Horace White) their enthusiasm knew no bounds, and
Wisconsin's quota was far overrun by the volunteers who came forward in
overwhelming numbers to enlist in their country's cause. But as the war pro-
gressed with the many defeats suffered by the Union armies volunteering
languished and the repeated calls for troops sent out by President Lincoln
found but a slack response.
"Volunteering showed a marked decrease," says John W. Oliver writing
on this subject in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, for March, 191!), "ami
those who had opposed the war or had been lukewarm in their support now
bestirred themselves in making it unpopular." In the summer of 1862, two
calls, each for 300,000 men. were issued, and it was readily perceived that the
enthusiasm had waned since the first call had electrified the country. In this
emergency Governor Salomon and his military advisers determined to adopt
the system of conscription or draft in common use among the nations of the old
world but never before resorted to in this country, to fill the quota required.
The governor ordered the sheriffs in each county of the state to enroll all
the able-bodied citizens between the ages of eighteen and forty-five and
appointed a commission to supervise the draft. These measures produced great
excitement among the people throughout the state and much opposition was
threatened. And when in November the machinery of the draft was put in
operation serious riots broke out at many points and considerable violence
ensued. In Ozaukee County a mob collected which destroyed the draft rolls
ami drove the officials away. The governor was obliged to order a military
force to the scene which soon quelled the disturbance.
"The following week," says Oliver, "the draft was to take place in Mil-
waukee and Governor Salomon took a vigorous stand to prevent the recurrence
of the Ozaukee County trouble. A proclamation was issued to the people of
the county warning them against such disgraceful scenes as had been recently
enacted by the Port Washington mob. < !ol. John C. Starkweather was ordered
to take charge of the troops and guard the city. Soldiers were placed on picket
duty on all the roads leading into the city, and one company kept guard at the
courthouse where the draft was to be made. With these precautions the draw-
ing of numbers began at nine o'clock in the morning and continued throughout
the day and late into the night."
All the later drafts in the Civil war were made under Federal authority.
"Half a century later," remarks Mr. Oliver, "when the country called for an
army on the basis of a selective draft, Wisconsin was among the most enthusi-
astic states in the Union in filling her quota."
The work of the women in the Civil war has been made the subject of a
volume in the "Wisconsin History" series, published by the state in 1911.
This volume was prepared by Miss Ethel Alice Hum. The series was issued
under the editorship of that indefatigable worker, Reuben Gold Thwaites, the
superintendent of the State Historical Society. Among the activities of women
in the Civil war we shall only attempt to make a selection of a few that
we have space for in this history. The work performed by the women in the
Civil war was similar in most respects to that which we have been familiar
with in the great war of i sn1 years.
NATIONAL SOLDIERS' HOME, LOCATED WEST OF MILWAI Ml.
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 591
Of course knitted things, — mittens, scarves, sweaters, and caps, — constituted
the major portion of the work taken up by women. A national organization
was formed, the United States Sanitary Commission, to which thousands of
neighborhood societies allied themselves, and thus the work became systema-
tized and the service to the men in the field was greatly increased in efficiency.
"There was a perfect epidemic of knitting," relates one who recalls the scenes
of that heroic time.
It is somewhat perilous to mention the work of individuals in view of the
extremely valuable services performed by the combined efforts of all, for fear
that some may be overlooked. The name of Mrs. Joseph S. Colts, of Milwaukee,
is one frequently met with in the accounts. Other names were "Mother"
Bickerdyke, Mrs. A. H. Hoge, Mrs. Mary A. Livermore and Mrs. Cordelia
Harvey, the widow of Gov. Louis P. Harvey who met his death by drowning
while visiting the troops at the front. We have already made extensive men-
tion of woman's work in connection with the Sanitary fairs held in Milwaukee
and elsewhere.
"The Wisconsin Soldiers' Home and the Milwaukee Home Fair," says the
author of the volume referred to, "were promoted and managed by women,
and the remarkable energy and business ability of Mrs. Lydia Hewitt and her
assistants carried both of these projects to success. The whole episode was
part of the uprising of the women of the North, and shows the native ability
and tireless persistency of the American woman of 1865."
In the "Photographic History of the Civil War," there is a chapter con-
tributed by Gen. Charles King, renowned as well for his literary accomplish-
ments as for his military record. In this chapter General King calls attention
to the numerous instances of youthful soldiers who entered the service some
of whom attained high rank. Boys of sixteen or less were often accepted by
recruiting officers for service as musicians, buglers, drummer boys, and the
like who later took their places in the ranks. There were three hundred boys
of thirteen years of age or under who were mustered into the army serving as
"markers" on battalion drills or parade, where they needed to carry only a
light staff on which fluttered a "guidon" instead of a rifle. "There were little
scamps of buglers in some of the old regular cavalry regiments and field
batteries," says General King, "who sometimes had to be hoisted into the
saddle, but coidd stick there like monkeys, and with reckless daring followed
at the heels of the leader in many a wild sabre charge."
Young Arthur Mac Arthur is mentioned in the chapter referred to. "Too
young to enlist and crowded out of the chance of entering West Point in
1861," says the writer, "he received the appointment of adjutant of the
Twenty-fourth Wisconsin (well known as the 'Milwaukee regiment'), when he
was barely seventeen years of age, and was promoted to be major and lieuten-
ant-colonel while still eighteen; and commanded his regiment, though thrice
wounded, in the bloody battles of Resaca and Franklin.
"The 'gallant boy colonel,' as he was styled by General Stanley in his
report, entered the regular army after the war, and in 1900. full of honors,
reached the retiring age (sixty-four) as the last of its lieutenant-generals."
An Episode of the Civil War.— In these days of almost unanimous praise
592 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
for Abraham Lincoln ami bis administration during the ('ivil war period it
seems strange to find a mayor of Milwaukee, a city distinguished for its un-
swerving loyalty at thai time and at all times since then, indulging in bitter
criticism of the greal Emancipator. Abner Kirby was the mayor of Milwaukee
at one period during the war and he held views which coincided with those held
by the "Copperheads" of that time.
In his inaugural address, made before the Common Council April 20, 1864,
.Mayor Kirby expressed himself candidly on both municipal and national
affairs. This address is preserved in manuscript form at the municipal ref-
erence library of Milwaukee, and a portion of the address is subjoined hereto.
as follows:
Mayor Kirby 's Inaugural Address. "In entering upon my duties as chief
Magistrate of our good city, it is expected of me, in accordance with custom,
to ask you to consider in candor such suggestions and recommendations as in
my judgment may seem proper and just in the management of our municipal
affairs. With you T can do much; without you, nothing. The trust reposed in
the members of the city government is one of a high order and of "rave re-
sponsibility. We are pledged in the most solemn manner to discharge our
duties honestly and to the best of our ability. 1 have the utmost confidence in
the council. Von will favor all measures necessary to the prosperity of the
people, to the public convenience, and to the lusting good of our city. You will
be bound down with iron chains to strict economy in all expenditures. In this.
Councilmen, I shall act with you. Death and expenses, however, are unavoid-
able, but the latter may be restricted and in limes like the present they should
not exceed actual necessity. The most rigid economy must prevail in the ad-
ministration of our municipal affairs. This is your disposition and it is nunc.
So far as our influence and jurisdiction extends, our great and good country
in its mournful state of bloody and financial trial, also must and shall receive
the support of our ever ready hearts and hands. We must help and foster
every effort to re-establish an honorable peace. Under present circumstances
that can best be done by sending to the field our best men.
"The city of Milwaukee differs from the administration uow in power,
as to its policy. We believe our rulers are not taking the right course to
suppress this accursed rebellion. The present constitutional Chief of our
nation, is, in my bumble opinion, not fitted for the place, the occasion, or the
times. lie is the weakest man on the whole list of presidents. His honesty 1
never question. A weak and vacillating president, is quite as fatal to our pros
perity in these times, as a dishonest president, lie is in dishonest hands, llis
predecessor ran away with the nigger, and Abraham runs the nigger away.
Which id' the two has shown the greater weakness, and brought the larger
amount of trouble upon us.' 1 leave you to judge. A \'f\v fanatics have
dragged the country into this bloody and unholy strife. These fanatics do
not all abide in the south ; neither do thej all live in the north While General
Grant was working into Vicksburg last summer, the telegraph the same day
announced that Vicksburg was in our hands, and Hill Yancey was dead. When
this news reached old Boston, one of our Badger boys standing by. remarked:
Coil ami Grant are at work now,' and this makes us hope that rebellion ami
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 593
abolition will fill a common grave by November. I have always mourned that
the officials at Washington sent back Alexander II. Stephens, when, under the
flag of truce he implored us to receive him within our lines. He might have
borne the olive branch, and opened the way to that glorious re-union, which
all except the higher law abolitionists so much desire. As for the abolitionists,
there is no power in heaven to please them for they hate peace on earth. For
our government, the constitution and its laws, what would we uot do that is
honorable. It is the best government ever formed or lived under. All true
men believe this."
Lincoln in Wisconsin.— The story of Lincoln's visit to Milwaukee in the
early day has been outlined in another part of this history, but as a sidelight
to that story the following quotation from an undated newspaper (dipping in
the possession of the "Old Settlers' Club" of Milwaukee may be included in
that account:
"Great destinies often turn upon apparently trivial decisions," says the
writer of the newspaper article referred to. "This is illustrated in the follow-
ing story concerning Abraham Lincoln which has just come to the notice of
the Wisconsin State Historical society. During the later thirties the great
Emancipator, then a struggling country lawyer, came to Milwaukee in search
of a place to build up a practice. He was told that the 'Cream City' was over-
crowded with advocates, but that excellent opportunities were open in the
growing villages to the north, particularly at Port Washington and She-
boygan. Acting upon this advice he made the fifty-mile journey to Sheboygan,
traveling on foot, for it was in the days before the railroad was built.
"He stopped for one night at Port Washington, completing his tour of
investigation on the following day. Evidently what he found did not impress
him favorably, for he forthwith returned to his Illinois home and settled down
to practice there.
"To-day," continues the writer, "the nation is thankful that pioneer Wis-
consin seemed unattractive to the future president. Had he made his abode
at Port Washington or Sheboygan, he might indeed have risen to local prom-
inence, but he would never have met Douglas, he would never have been nom-
inated for the presidency, and he would not have had the opportunity to guide
the imperiled Union through the bloody mazes of the Civil war."
Whithersoever into the vast realms of the "might-have-beens" such specula-
tions might lead us it is interesting to contemplate the periods of crises in a
great man's life, and learn in what way other channels opened towards the
great future that was in store for him.
"Old Abe," Wisconsin's War Eagle. — The Eighth Wisconsin Regiment of
Volunteers was recruited during the summer of 1861. Regiments in the Civil
war were nominally composed of 1,000 men each in ten companies of 100 men
each. It was seldom, however, that the full number as thus indicated was
reached before they were mustered into the service, and long before the expira-
tion of their terms of service they had usually shrunken to a small fraction of
their nominal strength.
A part of the equipment provided by the government was the regulation
flag carried by a color sergeant and a guard. The colors Were earned in the
Vol. 1—3 8
594 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
center of the regiment as it stood in line <>n parade or in battle formation. In
addition many regiments carried a presentation flagj a gift from the town where
the unit was recruited or provided by the men themselves. This special
standard was usually made of'silk, fringed with gold trimmings and bearing
a device or inscription. Thus regiments as they marched away to war were
usually seen bearing two standards, one in accordance with military regulations
and another the gift of friends or chosen by themselves.
The second standard, however, was not always a flag or banner. The Eighth
Wisconsin which departed for the war in September, 1861, chose td carry a
live eagle along with the regular colors, and for the ensuing three years the flag
and the eagle wer impanions in numerous marches and battles. This par-
ticular bird was an American bald eagle which had scarcely reached its growth
when it was brought in by a hunter who offered it for sale to the company then
forming at Eau Claire. The eagle had been captured by an Indian on the
Flambeau River, and the hunter demanded $2.50 for him. A patriotic citizen
bought him and presented him to the company, whose members pi iptly
named him "Old Abe," and under that name he won great renown as will
presently appear. One of the men undertook the care of the eagle which was
provided with a small platform in the shape of a shield attached to a short staff,
to which it was fastened by a line fifteen or twenty feet in length.
Such a perch with its burden was quite a heavy weight for one soldier
to carry, as the eagle alone weighed about ten pounds, but the bearer had no
other duty to perform than that of carrying this living emblem of war and
military glory. When in line the eagle was always borne on the left of the
color bearer in the center of the regiment which from the beginning was known
throughout the war as "The Eagle Regiment," and became famous in all the
armies both on the Union and Confederate sides.
Animals and Birds as Mascots. — It was a common practice for soldiers and
marines to take with them pets of some kind on their campaigns and voyages
Several regiments from Wisconsin, the "Badger State." quite appropriately
had badgers for their pets during the Civil war. A Minnesota regiment had a
half grown bear which was present at a number of engagements: one regimenl
had a raccoon, while dogs, cats, squirrels and roosters were quite usual as mem-
bers of the regimental family. In the navy goats and even pigs are often
taken along as "mascots," this term being employed in later days though the
word was not in use at the time of the Civil war.
The Eagle Regimenl was a greal attraction to the crowds of spectators as
it passed through the cilies on its way to the seat of war. marching by platoons
with the eagle proudly borne aloft at the left of the colors. He seemed to be
perfectly aware of his importance on sue! casions and showed unusual
interest ill the proceedings. He was well trained by his keeper and gave little
trouble, but while passing through St. Louis he became inurli excited at the
shouting, and Happing his wings, rose from his perch and alighted on the
chimney of a residence at the full length of his tether. Here he gazed at the
people calmly until he was recovered by his faithful keeper. Some ^\' the
spectators insisted be was a turkey buzzard, and some having southern sympa-
thies, shouted derisively "a crow." "a wild goose," "a Yankee buzzard."
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 595
He recognized his friends among the soldiers, especially his keeper, and
greeted them with a "plaintive cooing," but strangers could never approach
him with safety as he was always ready to make an attack. One day while
the regiment was resting in a small southern town a little boy with bare feet
came near the eagle who was then on the ground. "Take care of your feet,
boy," said one of the men by way of warning, "he will pounce on them if
you don't stand back; the only reason he has not done so already is that he
isn't very hungry just now, as we fed him a small boy a little ways back."
The little chap placed himself at a respectful distance at once.
"Old Abe" in Action. — During active military operations "Old Abe"
showed himself to be a good soldier, and in the excitement of battle, and
especially in a charge, his cries could be heard as if to encourage the men. On
such occasions he would often rise from his perch uttering wild screams, the
fiercer the storm of battle the louder his voice became. As one writer said,
he seemed "conscious of his relationship with the emblem of the republic."
At the battle of Corinth it was said that General Price, discovering the eagle,
ordered his men "to be sure and take him, as he would rather get that bird
than capture a whole brigade of men." However, they were unsuccessful.
During the battle "Old Abe" sprang into the air with so much force that he
broke the cord attached to his perch and soared high overhead while the enemy
sent a fusillade id' shots after him. He kept his comrades in view and returned
to their position in safety though with some of his wing feathers shot away.
He was often the target of rifle fire and on one occasion a battery of artillery
opened on him but he always escaped injury.
"Sometimes." said one who described his appearance in battle, "our eagle,
furious and on fire, scanned friend and foe through the clouds of smoke, cheer-
ing his compatriots with the splendor of his example. It was but to look at that
eagle, raised aloft witli wings flapping, with eyes of lightning, with voice like
an Indian war-whoop, and know that the augury was hopeful and that our
cause was just." Thus this remarkable eagle has become a permanent part of
the history of the great war for the Union, and like some of the war-horses
which carried great commanders in many battles, "Old Abe" will be remem-
bered by all succeeding generations.
The Eagle's Later Adventures. — Throughout the period of his army service
the eagle was in charge of a succession of keepers. The eagle was present at
thirty-six battles, and at the expiration of the regiment's term of service he
accompanied the returning veterans to Eau Claire from where they had started
three years before. The men, with "Old Abe" proudly borne aloft, were
greeted with booming cannon, martial music, patriotic songs and an abundant
feast, and when at the conclusion of a speech three cheers were given, the eagle,
catching the enthusiasm, rose upon his perch, flapped his pinions ami uttered
shrill cries in unison with the cheers.
When the regiment was mustered out "Old Abe" was presented to the state
of Wisconsin, ami accepted by the governor in an appropriate speech. Quarters
were assigned the eagle in the basement of the capitol with a range in the
adjoining grounds, and this splendid bird now entered upon the second phase
596 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
of liis eventful life. Bui firsl we will give a brief accoun.1 of the "Soldiers'
Fairs" which presented a new field for the eagle's triumphanl career.
"Old Abe" at the Soldiers' Pairs.— The greal Sanitary Fairs, — or "Sol-
diers' Fairs" of the Civil war period were held under the auspices and
direction of the United States Sanitary Commission, the driving force of which
were patriotic women. Two of the leading spirits of the Commission, to men-
tion no others, were Mrs. A. II. Hoge and .Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. The firsl
fair or "Pioneer Fair," as it was often called, was held in Chicago in October,
1863, the net receipts of which were $86,000. The purpose of the Commission
was to afford relief to "soldiers in actual service, whethe] the march, in
camp or in hospitals." Many aid societies were formed tributary to the Com
mission, such as the Sisters of Mercy and societies of the various churches
carrying on a work similar to thai of the American Red Cross of later years.
A second fair was projected for the spring of 1865, but as the time ap-
proached for its opening, events of great magnitude occurred which practically
ended the war, and it was thought by many that no further efforts v i
necessary. However, it was finally determined to go on with the fair as there
were urgent calls for relief and aid to the returning veterans. The second fair
was accordingly opened May 30th, 1865, and continued until late in June, show-
ing net receipts of $240,000. .Meantime the end of the war became an accom-
plished fact, and the work of disbanding the huge army of more than a million
of men was in full operation. The people everywhere were rejoicing that the
cruel war was over and there seemed no limit to their generosity in spite of the
tremendous sacrifices that had already been made during the four years of
conflict.
It was at the second Sanitary fair that "Old Abe," Wisconsin's war eagle,
appeared and made so striking a sensation and contributed so largely to the
success of the fair. Through the efforts of Mr. Alfred L. Sewell, a Chicago
publisher, pictures of "Old Abe" were printed and sold by the tens of thou-
sands for the benefit of the fair, the returns from this particular branch of
the fair's activities amounting to over $16,000. Mr. Sewell began the publica-
tion of a juvenile magazine at this time called "The Little Corporal" which
afterwards attained an enormous circulation. During the presence of the eagle
at the fair, Mr. Barnum, the famous showman, offered $20,000 for him bul "I'
course the state of Wisconsin declined to consider the offer. In due course the
eagle was safely returned to his quarters in the capitol at .Madison.
"Old Abe" at the Soldiers' Home Pair.— "Everybody went to see this
famous bird." says .Mr. J. 0. Barrett in his book, "Old Abe." "Prices for his
quills and feathers rose as high as five dollars each, hut the demand could
seldom be supplied. No) a feather was allowed to he plucked from his beautiful
plumage. — not for any price." The only feathers or quills that could be
obtained were those that were dropped in the ordinary course of moulting.
During the Milwaukee Soldiers' Home Fair a special tent was erected out-
side the main building on Huron Street as the tempoary home of "Old Abe,"
called "The Tangled Feature," and here visitors Socked to pay homage to the
famous War Bird. In the center of the tent were large evergreen rings, rising
one above another, and at the topmost was a circular platform on which the
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 597
eagle sat "monarch of all he surveyed." The Home Fair Journal thus de-
scribed the hero of many battles : "Beneath a canopy of green sits the Veteran
Eagle, 'Old Abe,' the bird that for three long years was the "companion of
the gallant boys of the Eighth Wisconsin regiment, marching and camping and
going into battle with them ; and when the battle grew hot, threatening death
to all, leaving his perch, and soaring aloft with a scream that rose above the
roar of battle, cheering his companions on to victory. With an eye that
seemed as if it would pierce you through, he calmly surveys the visitors, look-
ing down upon them 'with the greatest interest and curiosity.' '
The Eagle Assists at Many Celebrations. — "Old Abe" was in great request
at numerous celebrations and reunions at different places in the country. At
the "Soldiers' and Sailors' convention," held at Pittsburgh in 1866, the war
eagle gloriously represented his state. The hall where the convention was held
was densely packed, and at the moment of the eagle's entrance, borne on his
perch by Captain McDonald, Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, was
just beginning to speak. Gen. J. D. Cox, the chairman, requested the speaker
to pause a moment, and in a loud voice shouted: "Here comes the veteran
war eagle of Wisconsin ; please open the way, gentlemen, that he may come
forward." Amid vociferous applause the eagle was given a place beside the
chairman on the platform, lustily flapping his wings when he heard the cheers
and the band music, as if he recognized the old music, the old cheers and the
old flag.
Col. J. 0. Barrett in his biography of "Old Abe," says, that "one of the
practical methods to raise money at the Milwaukee Soldiers' Home Fair was by
the sale of 'Old Abe's' pictures. In the years to come, after he has 'gone to
glory,' these will be of peculiar interest to new generations that read and
ponder over our late war of rival civilizations," and, we may add, they will
be treasured as valuable souvenirs of the times. The sale of pictures, biog-
raphies, feathers and tickets of admission to his kingly presence produced the
great sum of $105,000 at this fair, for the benefit of the "Branch home of the
National Asylum for Volunteer Soldiers established at Milwaukee," which
was later taken over by the United States Government, and by the state of
Wisconsin.
Perhaps the most important function at which "Old Abe" ever assisted
after the close of the war was at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in
1876, where he was one of the most popular attractions of that great Fair.
Afterwards he was returned to his home in Wisconsin and lived in comfort for
the few remaining years of his life in his quarters at the state house.
Death of "Old Abe," Wisconsin's War Eagle.— On March 26, 1881, a fire
occurred in the state house at Madison, and although the flames did not reach
the quarters occupied by the eagle, his cage was filled with smoke from the
fire. His keeper rescued him from the place and brought him out into the open
air, but the suffocating fumes had been inhaled and the eagle did not rally
from their effects. He died in spite of all efforts to save his life, having attained
the age of about twenty years. A taxidermist was employed who set up the
body which was preserved among the war relics in the state house. Here it
remained for nearly a quarter of a century, or until February, 1904, when
598 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
another fire broke oul in the same building which consumed the remains of
"Old Abe" utterly. This fire originated in the memorial room of the Grand
Army of the Republic, and at this time the fire consumed many other precious
relics of the war, amongthem the priceless battle flags and oilier cherished
memorials gathered there.
There is quite an abundant literature extanl concerning the famous war
eagle of Wisconsin, consisting of Colonel Barrett's biography, and numerous
articles and poems written in his honor. His memory is a proud possession of
the people of Wisconsin as well as of the nation, of which he was for so long
the living emblem.
Wisconsin in the World War. — The war record of Wisconsin may not go as
far back into antiquity as that of the older states in the Union, hut ii is a
glorious one. All the wars of the republic, with the exception of those
occurring before the territory and state came into existence, have been partici-
pated in by the people of Wisconsin with credit to themselves and to the state
from which they hailed. We have already written of previous wars and now
it is our duty and privilege to dwell upon the share borne by Wisconsin and
her people in the great World war which ended on Armistice Day, November
11, 1918.
Like the people of the other states of the American republic the ] pie
of Wisconsin had no thought in the beginning of the World war in 1914 thai
'there might he any interruption to their pet ful pursuits as a consequence
of the tremendous crash of arms in Europe. But lawless and illegal warfare
soon riveted the attention of our far away s] tators of the awful scenes trans-
piring on those distant fields of carnage, which seemed to threaten the very
foundations of all civilized institutions.
The work, entitled "Wisconsin in the World War." remarks upon the stage
of events when America was being slowly drawn into the war. "The people
of Wisconsin wanted peace, but the fighting blood of those pioneers who
founded the commonwealth slowly became aroused." The sinking of the
Lusitania sent a shudder of horror through the hearts of the people. The
brutalities of the invasion of Belgium and of the northern provinces of Prance
by the Germans in their war-mad fury, the repeated outrages on the sea in the
destruction of neutrals and non-combatants, the reckless sinking of the
passenger ships of all nations, at last compelled our President to send a warlike
message to Congress which was promptly followed by a declaration thai a
slate of war existed between the United states and Germany.
Foreshadowing the World War. -The President's message to Congress
which he delivered in person on April '_', 1IM7. is one of the mose eloquenl
documents ever issued by a chief magistrate of the nation. In it was con
tained the case against Germany se1 forth in the most convincing language and
also that memorable sentence, "the world must be made safe for democracy."
The president asked Congress to declare "the recent course of the Imperial
German government to he in fact nothing less than war against the government
and people of the United States," and that it "take immediate steps nol only
to put the country in a more thorough state of defense, hut to exert all its
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 599
powers and employ all its resources to bring the government of the German
empire to terms and end the war."
The same evening both houses of Congress prepared a joint resolution de-
claring the existence of a state of war between the United States and Germany.
The resolution was referred to appropriate committees in both houses. On
the nest day, the 3d, the senate resolution came up and efforts were made to
pass it at once in accordance with the recommendation of its foreign affairs
committee, but-Senator Robert M. La Pollette, of Wisconsin, objected, and the
resolution went over until the following day, the 4th, when it was again taken
up. On this occasion Senator La Follette spoke for three hours against the
resolution. The resolution was passed by both houses and approved by the
President on April 6, 1917. This date marks the beginning of the war between
this country and Germany.
Response of the States. — How Wisconsin in common with her sister states
responded to the appeal contained in this declaration will be told, all too
briefly, in the following pages. The story of the heroism of the men who
marched away to the camps in preparation for the approaching conflict cannot
be adequately told here, but some mention must be made of the glorious
services, on land and sea, of those men, many of whom now sleep under the
blood-stained soil of foreign battlefields. So also of those patriotic men and
women who threw themselves into the work at home and made possible the
victories which at length caused the surrender of the aggressive hosts of the
furious invaders.
"Wisconsin gave its all for a righteous war," writes Mr. Pixley in his
volume, "and when the final page is written this state, your state and mine,
will be awarded its part in the glory, which will be apportioned, share and
share alike, to the sisterhood of states."
Marshaling the Forces. — In Mr. Pixley 's book may be found a very com-
plete enumeration (if the forces which composed Wisconsin's contribution in
men and material to the great armies that hastened to the battle zones in
Europe. They did not all get there but they were ready for the call and
formed the potential reserves that had so great a pai-t in eventually winning
the victory. In the old wars a regiment of troops consisted of 1,000 men when
at full strength, but in this later war the French formations were adopted
and a regiment was regarded nominally as somewhat under 2,000 men.
In the selective service law passed by Congress this state began its work
by making use of the elective machinery already in existence, and thereby
gained a long start in the preparatory stages. The First regiment of infantry
after having completed its organization was placed under the command of
Col. John P. Joachim of Madison, the Second under Col. Wilbur M. Lee of
Oconto, the Third under Col. John Turner of Mauston, the Fourth under Col.
Robert R. McCoy of Sparta, the Fifth under Col. Peter Piasecki of Milwaukee,
and the Sixth under Col. Marshall Cousins of Eau Claire.
Besides (these there were organized many units of cavalry, artillery,
engineers, signal corps, and other units necessary in the general formations.
At the head of the military organization of the state were Adjutant-General
Orlando Holway, Brigadier-General C. R. Boardman, and Brigadier-General
600 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
R. A. Richards, though changes occurred in the later periods of the war.
Governor E. L. Philipp was the efficienl liead of the entire system both civil
and military, and ranks in the historical record with the previous greal war
governors of the state
Four months after America entered the war, that is on August 1, l!'17.
General Ilohvay was able to report thai the National Guard bad been recruited
to its war strength of 15,266 men. consisting of the following organizations:
six regiments of infantry, one regiment of cavalry, one of artillery, one bat-
talion of signal corps, oi t' engineers, two field bospital companies, and two
ambulance companies. .Many of these organizations were afterward changed,
siime disbanded and some merged with others, thus increasing the efficiency of
the entire army of Wisconsin soldiers.
The historian of Wisconsin's war activities. Mr. Pixley, pays a heartfelt
tribute to Adjutant-General Ilohvay. In the course of his remarks be says,
"a born soldier, it is certain that he longed for the opportunity to accompany
Wisconsin troops to the front. Instead be remained at his post.
Other men were given the glory and returned to hear the applause which they
so well earned on the field of battle, but those who understood what his duties
were will applaud this quiet master of them all, who sent 20,000 men fully
equipped into the field, men fit to represent the proudest sovereignty on earth.
Men fought better because of him, men copied his quiet courage and faced
death with less fear because of his example. He belongs in the roster of
Wisconsin's heroes of 1917 and 1918, and history will place him there."
War Aids at Home. — The State Council of Defense was created by an act
of the Legislature soon after the United States became involved in the World
war. This was followed by another act empowering the Council of Defense
to meet certain emergencies, to take possession in the name of the state of all
supplies "necessary for the common defense or for general public welfare,"
and to pay therefor "just compensation to be determined by said Council of
Defense." This included taking over such buildings and warehouses as might
be found necessary.
On April 20, a bill was passed to protect soldiers and sailors in the service
of the United States during the period of their service from civil process.
Likewise a bill was passed to provide aid for dependents of men in the service.
Adequate appropriations accompanied these measures.
After the adjournment of the Legislature on July 16. it was considered
expedient to call a special session. This was done by Governor Philipp and
February 19, 1918, was designated as the date of its assemblage. Many im-
portant measures were mentioned in the program for the special session.
Among these were: an act authorizing the state to borrow money "to repel
invasion, suppress insurrection, and defend the state in time of war" (thus
providing a means of replenishing the state treasury, if found necessary, for
equipping the National Guard), "to amend the laws relative to voting by
electors absent from the state on account of military service;" "to authorize
increase of teachers' salaries during the war;" "to enact laws relating to
sedition;" "to amend the banking laws 1u enable banks to qualify as
depositories for government funds" (this was to aid the sale of Liberty bonds).
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 601
The special session took up the war legislation recommended by the gover-
nor, and many measures were passed in aid of the war. One of the bills
passed was as follows: "No person shall print, publish, edit, issue or know-
ingly circulate, sell, distribute or publicly display any paper, book, document,
or written or printed matter in any form, which advocates, or attempts to
advocate, or advises or teaches that citizens of this state of military age should
not enlist in the military or naval forces of the United States or of this state.
No person shall in any public place or at any meeting where more than five
persons are assembled, advocate, teach or advise that citizens of this state
should not enlist in the military or naval forces of the "United States or of tins
state, and no person shall advocate, teach or advise, that citizens of this state
should not aid or assist the United States in prosecuting or carrying on war
with the public enemies of the United States."
Suitable penalties were specified for the infraction of these laws. No call
from the nation went unheeded and the necessary legislation was passed almost
without opposition in every case. Several members entered actual war and
others assisted in financial and other campaigns. Mr. Pixley gives the names,
of patriotic newspaper correspondents who gave efficient aid in shaping public
sentiment in favor of the war measures. In a list given by that author of
those connected with the press there were several who entered the army.
Among them is the name of Fred C. Sheasby, of the Milwaukee Sentinel, who
was killed in action only the day before the armistice was signed.
Work of the Council of Defense. — The law passed by the Legislature creat-
ing the State Council of Defense, was designed by that body to "assist the
governor in doing all things necessary to bring about the highest effectiveness
within our state in the crisis now existing, and to coordinate all our efforts
with the federal government and with those of other states." Mr. Pixley in
his volume further observes, "throughout the act it was evident that it was
the legislative intent to create a board which was to supervise the mobilization
of the aggregate resources of the state — military, naval, financial, industrial
and social."
The council at its first meeting authorized committees on finance, agri-
culture, labor, manufactures, transportation, publicity, recruiting, women's
organizations, Red Cross, sanitation, etc. Each county in the state was soon
organized into efficient working bodies. Milwaukee County, the largest in the
state, had as its first chairman Daniel W. Hoan, mayor of the City of Milwau-
kee, who served from May 8, 1917, to May 81, 1918; Charles Allis, chosen May
31, 1917, who served until his death July 22, 1918; and E. E. White who served
until August 29, 1918, when he resigned. Cornelius Corcoran, president of
the common council, served thereafter as acting chairman. The publication
of "Forward" (the state's motto), as the official bulletin of the council, was
authorized, which before the end of the war attained a circulation of 15,000
copies.
The multitudinous activities of the committees of the state council and of
the various county organizations are recorded at length in Mr. Pixley 's book
which it is unnecessary here to follow in detail. In every ward and precinct of
Milwaukee, plans were announced for the formation of women's councils. Four
602 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
hundred representative women of the city cooperated to perfed these plans.
< '(in 11 n it tees of the Milwaukee County council were formed I lud patriotic
work, campaigns of education and similar activities. There were forty
women's organizations and as many branches headed by men. The inspiring
details connected with the work, as they were published from day to day. were
incentives to further efforts in numerous ways in aid of the great cause.
The Milwaukee Hotel Men's Association was cooperating with the county
council in its food-saving campaign. Ninety per cent of the housewives had
signed the food pledge cards, and Milwaukee was showing signs of thai splen-
did patriotism which marked it during the critical war months. At the Wiscon-
sin state fail-, held in Milwaukee in September, thousands of citizens inspected
the fine exhibitions of grain and other crops, and the best display of live stock
ever previously shown. These greal displays were ample evidence of the re-
sponse of the Wisconsin farmers to the appeal of the State Council of Defense
for the increased production of all kinds of food.
The parade in honor of the Milwaukee County selected men. on September
15th, was under the direction of the county council, and was participated in
by more than 6.000 marchers and through crowded streets. The parade was
followed in the evening by a huge banquet at the Auditorium, and as each
group departed for the train it was escorted by numerous friends and well
wishers. These stirring scenes reminded the hoary-headed veterans of former
wars, who were present in great numbers, of the days when they had marched
away in response to the call of their country, and who were now cheering the
younger heroes on their way to the distant scenes of heroic actions.
Character of the War Work. — Let us pause to contemplate the wide ranee
of the countless war activities carried on under the auspices of the Si ate Coun-
cil of Defense. Some of these have already been mentioned. As the work
progressed it grew in magnitude and these activities embraced a greal variety
of effort. We shall attempt to mention only a few. as the details as narrated
in Mr. Pixley's exhaustive account remain the greal storehouse of informa-
tion concerning them.
There were the food administration, taking under public control the numer-
our branches of work included under thai term: crop production: fuel conser-
vation: labor problems; fire prevention; the work of the medical Fraternity:
instruction of nurses: marketing of farm productions; cultivation of "war
gardens"; campaigns of the "Four Minute Men"; Christmas presents for the
men in the field: encouragement of recruiting; patriotic meetings; and every
variety of effort to "help win the war."
Such a mighty outpouring of cooperative endeavor had not been seen since
the days of the civil war. Addresses of welcome, farewell addresses, parades
of every description, participation of school children in patriotic demonstra
tions, women engaging in every form of activity, the old men undertaking the
liehtcr tasks of community life, were bu1 a few of tin- activities engaged in
by t he Slat,' ( 'nuncil of I )efense.
Providing the Sinews of War. - At the conclusion of his accounl of Wis
cousin's war activities .Mr. l'ixlev briefly Sketches a review of the work that
hail been accomplished. "This chapter." he says, "has been written to give,
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 603
in part, a record of the State Council of Defense and its auxiliary organizations.
It gives only a partial record. It cannot name the thousands who gave their
time to the work. It mentions only the leaders. But to the unnamed thousands
who made the success of the State Council of Defense possible, and who
justified its creation by the Legislature, the state owes a debt which it can
never repay. Their payment will be, as it will be for the members of the state
council, the realization that when the state and nation were in peril they came
to the rescue, giving their services without stint, that Wisconsin's record might
be placed high up in the roll of the nation when the war was won."
"Of all the activities in which Wisconsin took part during the World war,"
says Mr. Pisley in his book, "perhaps the War Savings Stamp campaigns
were the most important in their far-reaching effect upon the citizens in-
volved." When the government of the United States came directly to the
people to supply the "sinews of war" the response was tremendous. We need
not enter into the details of the operation here, simple and direct though they
were, but they were productive of results to an amazing degree. By the first
of December, 1918, just after the armistice had been signed, the stale of Wis-
consin showed a total of $29,100,000 derived from the great effort. Milwaukee's
contribution to this result alone amounted to $6,217,000. The war savings
stamp campaign was conducted under the aide management of Mr. John H.
Pud icher of Milwaukee.
In an address made by Mr. Prank A. Vanderlip before the Illinois Manu-
facturers' Association, in December, 1917, he said that the War Savings Stamps
and the War Savings Certificates were the most important financial operation
that this country had ever known. The details as worked out were, that for
an investment of a fraction over $4.00 a certificate for $5.00 could lie obtained,
payable by the United States treasury, January 1, 1923, and the holder would
get, under this plan, the return of his investment at four per cent compound
interest. The habit of "thrift" thus inculcated was said by President Wilson
to be one of the most valuable "by-products" of the war, and which alone
would fully repay the efforts made in promoting the plan as it was worked out.
There were four Liberty Loans made during the World war, and a fifth
loan, known as the "Victory Liberty Loan," made nearly four months after
the armistice was signed. The total amount of these five loans was upwards
of $24,000,000,000.
The state of Wisconsin subscribed $335,000,000 to the four Liberty Loans:
Milwaukee subscribed $108,382,200 of this amount,
Milwaukee Oversubscribes all War Funds. — Mortimer I. Stevens, a member
of the War Finance Central Committee, reported in the Year Book of the
Milwaukee Association of Commerce the following :
".Milwaukee lias raised for war purposes since the entry of America into
the world struggle more than $160,000,000, and in every instance where its
citizens have been called upon for funds the quota asked for from Milwaukee
has been heavily oversubscribed. Early in the war a permanent organization,
known as the war finance central committee, was organized, which has carried
on the drives for Liberty bonds, War Saving's and Red Cross.
"This organization has about 5,000 active volunteer workers, divided into
604 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
groups, and has maintained records and accumulated other data which lias
materially aided the speed and efficiency of their war work.
"The campaigns for other war purposes all met with the same enthusiastic
response and Milwaukee has* demonstrated since early in the war that her
citizens have formed the habit of giving liberally.
"Milwaukee has always met its quota and further demonstrated its Loyal
support of the war by piling up a huge oversubscription in each loan. In every
cause in which the city lias been called upon to participate it has gone mag-
nificently 'over the top' in the same generous and enthusiastic spirit with
which American troops have overcome gigantic obstacles on the battlefields.
What has also been gratifying to the great body of patriotic Milwaukeeans,
who have freely given their time, efforts and money to support all war move-
ments conducted here, has been the fact that each succeeding Liberty loan has
shown a large increased number of individual subscriptions over the previous
loans, demonstrating that Milwaukee rallied in stronger numbers to each
succeeding campaign conducted in the interests of the country and the war.
First Loan Success. — "In the first Liberty loan Milwaukee, with an allot-
ment of $13,700,000, subscribed $16,164,700, or $2,464,700 over its required
amount. With this loan Milwaukee set a pace for itself in Avar work, which
the city has never failed to maintain in any of the patriotic activities in which
it has so wholeheartedly engaged.
"Milwaukee's quota in the second Liberty loan was $24,948,000, which was
quickly obtained in a whirlwind campaign, typical of Milwaukee's participa-
tion in all war work, and the city forged ahead with unrelaxed determination
and enthusiasm for a huge oversubscription, which was realized in the total
subscription of $32,701,950 to this loan. Although in this loan Milwaukee's
quota had been the largest the city had given up to that time, its final returns
showed it had gone over its mark with subscriptions of $7,753,950.
"In the third Liberty loan Milwaukee piled up an oversubscription of
$8,120,550. In this loan Milwaukee was asked to raise $14,880,000, but the
patriotic Milwaukeeans refused to stop when they had obtained their quota
and continued the work in whirlwind fashion, until the final figures on the last
day of the campaign showed total subscriptions of $23,000,550. Since its
allotment in this loan was smaller than that given the city in the second
Liberty loan, Milwaukee demonstrated its eagerness by obtaining the largest
oversubscription it had secured in any campaign up to that time.
Way Over Top Again. — "With an allotment of $32,646,300 in the fourth
Liberty loan drive, Milwaukee secured a total subscription to this loan of
$36,214,350, or an oversubscription of $3,563,050. Although this was the lar{
quota Milwaukee had ever been given, the city's oversubscription showed
practically the same proportion it had in the previous loans and the Dumber of
subscribers materially increased over thai of all other Liberty loans.
"The fifth Liberty loan was oversubscribed by $13,799,300. The city went
over the top in less than its allotted t i inc. and with an enthusiastic and patriotic
spirit as evident without the incentive of actual war as before the signing of
the armistice. In the fifth loan Milwaukee raised a total of $38,741,750.
"The same patriotic spirit that has characterized Milwaukee's work in
PARTICIPATION IN WAR 605
going 'over the top' in all the Liberty loan campaigns has also been mani-
fested in the Red Cross and other drives of similar war relief organizations.
In the first Red Cross war fund campaign Milwaukee was asked to raise
$500,000 and obtained total contributions of $780,000, showing that Milwaukee
has demonstrated itself to be fully as generous in making donations to worthy
war funds as it has been in loaning its money to the Government for the purpose
of successfully prosecuting the war. In the second Red Cross war fund Mil-
waukee had been requested to obtain $750,000, but the great body of loyal
Milwaukeeans who have participated in the various money raising campaigns
voluntarily increased Milwaukee's allotment and started out to obtain con-
tributions of $1,000,000, with the result that the final figures on the last day
of the drive showed a total of $1,160,000, or more than 150 per cent of the
amount it had been asked to raise.
"When the Y. M. C. A. and Y. AY. C. A. asked Milwaukee to obtain for
it in a joint campaign the sum of $165,000, the enthusiastic war workers of
the city took up the work and again did themselves credit by raising $1*5,000,
or $20,000 more than they had been required to secure.
'•In the Knights of Columbus drive for funds for war relief work, the city
was scheduled to raise $100,000 and piled up again an oversubscription, report-
ing total contributions of $146,000, or $46,000 over its goal. Under the auspices
of the Elks' lodge, the Salvation army conducted a campaign for funds here
for the purpose of raising $25,000. In responding to this appeal Milwaukee
contributed $50,000, or twice the amount it was allotted. Milwaukee obtained
$125,000 in the campaign for the Jewish war relief work."
One Year of War to Five of Peace. — It may be interesting to notice in this
connection an instructive compilation, which appeared in the Congressional
Record in 1921, of the wars in which our country has been engaged since it
became an independent nation, as published in the Chicago Evening Post in its
issue of July 26, 1921, as follows:
"The Congressional Record recently printed the following table showing
the actual duration of this country's warlike operations since we became a free
people on July 4, 1776 :
Years. Days
Revolution : From the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.
to the withdrawal of the British troops from New York, Nov.
25, 1783 7 144
War of 1812: From the declaration of war by United States,
June 18, 1812, to the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 5, 1815 2 204
War with the Barbary pirates: Declared by Algiers in 1812. Ex-
cluding time concurrent with war of 1812, and calculating
from conclusion of that war, Jan. 5, 1815, to final treaty with
the Dey of Algiers, concluded on flagship of American navy,
July 6, 1818 3 182
Mexican war: From the declaration of war by United States, April
24, 1846, to signing of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo,
Feb. 2, 1848 1 284
606 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Civil war: From attack on Fori Sumter. April 12, 1861, to sur-
render by Gen. Kirby Smith of hist confederate force in the
field, May 26, 1865 4 44
Spanish war: From date declared by congress as date of com-
mencement of state of war, April 21, 1898, to signing of
treaty of Paris. Dee. 10, 1898 0 211
Philippine insurrection: Feb. 1, 1899, to restoration of civil gov-
ernment, July 4, 11)01 2 153
World war: From declaration of war by United States, April 6,
1917, to armistice, Nov. 11. 1918 1 219
Total duration of American wars 23 346
"Thus for practically twenty-four out of the 145 years which elapsed be-
tween the first Independence day and its anniversary of 1921, the United
States has been involved in some sort of active war. And the calculation does
not include our Indian wars: nor yet the post -armistice period of 7'- months
before President Wilson signed the treaty of Versailles on June 2s. 1919,
nor the 'irreconcilables' war of twenty-four months between that date
and July 2, 1921. Here are a few more years of technical warfare to be added.
"Our war history, at lowest calculation, amounts to 16.5 per cent of our
whole history, or one year of war to every five of peace. And yet we are the
best protected, least grasping, most benignantly peaceful power on the globe
"Here is a practical lesson in pacifism. All of our wars, with the possible
exception of the Spanish and Filipino •involvements," have been justified by
history, although there was precious little immediate justification for our
declaration of war on Mexico. No despotic power in our state has ever
forced us into a war to which the majority were opposed."
CHAPTER XXXV
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT
An event that overwhelmed Milwaukee with grief and stirred the hearts
of the people throughout the nation, and of the whole world beyond its bor-
ders, occurred on October 14, 1912, in the attempted assassination in Mil-
waukee of Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt. Perhaps no city in the Union
contained a larger proportion of the friends and admirers of the ex-president
than might be found in the chief city of Wisconsin, and while conducting
his campaign as the presidential candidate of the newly formed progressive
party he had arranged for a great meeting in the Milwaukee Auditorium
for the evening of the day mentioned.
Description of the Auditorium. — Milwaukee's Auditorium, a semi-public
building, covers an area of an entire city block, at the intersection of Cedar
and Fifth streets. Its main hall will seat 10,000 persons, thus being adapted
to use for public gatherings, including conventions or for general speaking
purposes. It will accommodate the largest grand opera production, concerts
and other great spectacles. One of the largest stages in the country, with
every facility for handling stage equipment, and with commodious dressing
rooms, is a feature of this main hall.
Colonel Roosevelt had dined at the Hotel Gilpatrick in Milwaukee with
the immediate members of the party which accompanied him on his speaking
tour. He left the hotel and entered an automobile which was to convey
him and his party to the Auditorium. The car was instantly surrounded by
an enthusiastic crowd of people, extending in a dense mass for over a block
in both directions, shouting a welcome to him. He had taken his seat in the
car, but desiring to acknowledge the reception thus given he arose to a
standing position, raising his hat in salute. At this moment an insane assassin
in the crowd, whom no one had previously observed, rushed forward and at
a distance of only four or five feet from the automobile, fired a shot from a
revolver directly at the person of Mr. Roosevelt, the bullet from which entered
his body near the waist line of his clothing. The shot was fired al 8:10
o'clock, P. M., "the echo of which swept around the entire world in thirty
minutes," as one of the witnesses of the scene has written.
Excitement of the Crowd. — It was soon ascertained, however, that the shot
was not immediately fatal in its effects, and the distinguished visitor main-
tained his usual self-possession, while the excitement of the crowd grew to
tremendous proportions. "Instantly there was a wild panic and confusion,"
writes Henry P. Cochems in a book describing the event, entitled, "The At-
607
608 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
tempted Assassination of Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt," prepared by
Oliver E. Remy, Henry P. Cochems and Wl ler I'. Bloodg 1. The accounl
is continued, ;is follows : " Elmer E. Martin, oi £ < lolonel Roosevell 's stenog-
raphers, a powerful atBlete and an ex-football player, Leaped across the
machine and bore the would-be assassin to the ground.
" At the same momenl Capt. A. I ). Girard, a former Rough Rider and body-
guard of the ex-president, and several policemen were upon him. Colonel
h'oosevelt *s knees bent just a trifle, and his righl hand reached forward to
the door of the car toimeau. Then he straightened himself and reached back
against the upholstered seat; but in the same instant, he again straightened
himself, and again raised his hat to the crowd. A reassuring smile appeared
upon his face, and he was, apparently, the- coolest and least excited of any
one in the frenzied mob who. crowding' in upon the man who tired the shot,
continued to call out, 'Kill him, kill him'!
"I had stepped into the car beside Colonel Roosevelt," continues .Mi-.
Cochems in his account, "about to take my seat when the shot was fired.
Throwing my arm about the Colonel's waist, I asked him if he had been hit.
and after Colonel Roosevelt saying in an aside. 'lie pinked me, Harry.' he
called out to those who were wildly tearing at the would-be assassin. 'Don't
hurt him: bring him to me here!7 The sharp military tone of command
was heard in the midst of the general uproar, and Martin, Girard and the
policemen dragged Schrank (the miscreant who had fired the shot) toward
where Mr. Roosevelt stood.
The Struggle for the Revolver. — "Arriving at the side of the car. the re-
volver, grasped by three or four hands of men struggling for possession, was
plainly visible, and 1 succeeded in grasping the barrel of the revolver, and
finally in getting it from the possession of a detective. Mr. Martin says that
Schrank still had his hands on the revolver at that time. The Colonel then
said: 'Officers, take charge of him. and see that there is no violence done
to him.'
"The crowd had quickly cleared from in front of the automobile, ami we
drove through, Colonel Roosevelt waving his hand, to the crowd now half-
hysterical with frenzied excitement. After rounding the comer 1 drew the
revolver from my overcoat pocket and saw that it was a 38-ealiber weapon
which had been fired.
"As the Colonel looked at the revolver he said: 'A 38-Col1 lias an ugly
drive.' Mi*. McGrath, one of the Colonel's secretaries riding at his right side,
said: 'Why, Colonel, you have a hole in your overcoat, lie has shot you."
The Colonel said: 'I know it.' and opened his overcoat which disclosed his
white linen shirt, coaf and vest saturated with blood. We all instantly im-
plored and pleaded with the Colonel to drive with the automobile to a hospital,
but he turned to me with a characteristic smile, and said: '1 know I am
good now. but T don't know how long it may be. This may be my last talk
in this cause to our people, and while 1 am good 1 am going to drive to the
hall and deliver my speech."
Scenes at the Auditorium. Among the many witnesses of these exciting
events the brief account furnished by a young woman at the present time
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATK >N ( >F THEODORE ROOSEVELT 609
(April, 1921), employed as an assistant in the library of the First Wisconsin
National Bank, Miss Virginia Hinners, who as a child was present on that
historic occasion, is here inserted:
"The audience was buzzing- with curiosity, then murmuring with wonder
at the prolonged delay. This delay Mr. Cochems' introduction did not clearly
explain.
"Mr. Roosevelt's unsteadiness was excusable. He told the audience that
the doctor had advised against his speaking. He opened his coat and vest
and displayed his blood-stained shirt front. He explained how, as he was
speaking to the crowd outside the door of the Hotel Gilpatrick, a man had
shot at him, a man whom Mr. Roosevelt vaguely compared to the traitor,
Judas.
"All of this furnished opportunity for the Bull Moose enemies to reiterate
on Roosevelt's hive for, or tendency toward, 'grand stand play.''
"By the time we had arrived at the hall," says Mr. Cochems, "the shock
had brought a pallor to his face. On alighting he walked firmly to the large
waiting room in the hack of the Auditorium stage, and there Drs. Sayle, Ter-
rell and Stratton opened his shirt exposing his right breast. Just below the
nipple of his right breast appeared a gaping hole. They insisted that under
no consideration should he speak, but the Colonel asked: 'Has any one a clean
handkerchief?' Some one extending one, he placed it over the wound, but-
toned up his clothes and said: 'Now, gentlemen, let's go in,' and advanced
to the front of the platform.
"I, having been asked to present him to the audience," continues Mr.
Cochems' account, "after admonishing the crowd that there was no occasion
for undue excitement, said that an attempt to assassinate Colonel Roosevelt
had just taken place, that the bullet was still in his body, but that, he would
attempt to make his speech as promised. As the colonel stepped forward,
some one in the audience said audibly, 'Fake': whereupon the Colonel smil-
ingly said: 'No, it's no fake": and opening his vest the blood-red stain upon
his linen was clearly visible.
"A half-stifled expression id' horror swept through the audience. About
the first remark uttered in the speech, as the Colonel smiled broadly at the
audience, was, 'It takes more than one bullet to kill a Hull Moose. I'm all
right, no occasion for any sympathy whatever, but I want to take this
occasion, within five minutes after having been shot, to say some things to
our people which I hope no one will question the profound sincerity of. '
A Dramatic Scene. — "I have never witnessed a scene on any American
stage more awe-inspiring and at the same time more dramatic," said William
George Bruce, who occupied one of the boxes at the Auditorium when Colonel
Roosevelt arrived. "It was real — no play acting. There had been a half
hour's delay in the appearance of the distinguished guest. When at last the
Roosevelt party appeared upon the stage it was apparent that something
unusual had happened.
"Roosevelt was the central figure. There were those who led him. and
the attending party crowded about him with an apparent desire to assist
him. But, he walked boldly to the front of the stage and bared a blood-stained
Vol. 1—3 9
610 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
shirt. The audience was a1 firsl expectanl and amazed, and then horror
stricken. Roosevelt had been shol by an assassin! Ilis breasl was bleeding.
Where was the bullel .' But, there be stood bravely, defiantly, erectly. Behind
him sal men in the attitude* of catching him in their anus should he fall.
"He began to speak. lis voice was faint, boarse and high pitched. It
gained in strength and volume as be continued. The suspense which held
the audience made even a whisper audible in that great auditorium. Grad;
ually the truth dawned upon them. Roosevelt had been assassinated! Some
political fanatic, some crank, some enemy had shot him! The assassination of
Garfield and McKinley came into mind. What a humiliation to the Republic!
What a humiliation to Milwaukee! Tomorrow it would he heralded to the
world that a leading American statesman had been assassinated in one of the
most peaceful, law-abiding cities on the continent.
"And yet the victim st I before his fellowmen to tell the story, to con-
demn the assassin, and to espouse fearlessly and with complete self-possession
the cause to which he had dedicated his life, his energies and his services.
Ilis own life was but a passing incident, the cause was holy, leading and im-
perative. Those who saw Roosevelt that night will never erase him and the
dramatic incident from their memory."
Colonel Roosevelt Continues His Speech. — "Throughout his speech, winch
i tinned for an hour and twenty minutes, the doctors and his immediate
staff of friends, sitting closely behind him, expected that he might at any
moment collapse. I was so persuaded of this that I stepped over the front
of tlie high platform to the reporters' section immediately beneath where he
was speaking, so that I might catch him if he fell forward." continues .Mr.
< 'ochems in his account.
"These precautions, however, were unnecessary, for, while his speech
lacked in the characteristic -fluency of other s| dies, while the shuck and
pain caused his argument to be somewhat labored, yet it was with a soldierly
firmness and iron determination, which more than all things in Roosevelt's
career disclosed to the country the real Roosevelt, who at the close of his
official service as president, left that high office the most beloved public figure
in our history since Lincoln fell, and the most respected citizen of the world.
"As was said in an editorial in the Chicago Evening Post: 'There is no
false sentiment here; there is no self-seeking. The guards are down. The
soul of the man stands forth as it is. In the Valley of the Shadow his own
simple declaration of his sincerity, his own revelation of the unselfish ipiahty
of his devotion to the greatest movement of his generation, will he the
standard by which history will pass upon Theodore Roosevell its final judg-
ment. This much they cannot take Erom him. no matter whether he is now
tn live or die.'
Passages From His Speech. "To the men of America, who either love or
hate Roosevelt personally, these words from his speech must carry an im-
perishable lesson: 'The bullel is in me now. so that I cannot make a very
long speech. Hut I will try my best.'
'And now, friends, I want to take advantage of this incident to say as
solemn a word of warning as I know to my fellow Americans.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 611
" 'First of all, I want to say this about myself: I have altogether too
many important things to think of to pay any heed or feel any concern over
my own death.
'• 'Now I would not speak to you insincerely within five minutes of being
shut. I am telling you the literal truth when I say that my concern is for
many other things. It is not in the least for my own life.
•" 'I want you to understand that I am ahead of the game anyway. No
man has had a happier life than I have had, a happier life in every way.
" 'I have been able to do certain things that I greatly wished to do, and
I am interested in doing other things. 1 can tell you with absolute truthful-
ness that J am very much uninterested in whether I am shot or not.
" 'It was just as when I was colonel of my regiment. I always felt that
a private was to be excused for feeling at times some pangs of anxiety about
his personal safety, but I cannot understand a man fit to be a colonel who
can pay any heed to his personal safety when he is occupied, as he ought to
be occupied, with the absorbing desire to do his duty.
" ' 1 am in this cause with my whole heart and soul, I believe in the Pro-
gressive movement — a movement for the betterment of mankind, a movement
for making life a little easier for all our people, a movement to try to take
the burdens off the man and especially the woman in this country who is most
oppressed.
" ' 1 am absorbed in the success of that movement. I feel uncommonly proud
in belonging to that movement.
" "Friends, I ask yon now this evening to accept what I am saying as
absolute truth when I tell you I am not thinking of my own success, I am
not thinking of my own life or of anything connected with me personally.'
Effects of the Attempted Assassination. — "The disabling of Colonel Roose-
velt at this tragic moment," says Mr. Cochems in his account, "was a great
strategic loss in his campaign. The mind of the country was in a pronounced
state of indecision. He had started at Detroit, Mich., one week before and had
planned to make a great series of sledge hammer speeches upon every vital
issue in the campaign, which plan took it to the very close of the fight. He
had planned to put his strongest opponent in a defensive position, the effect
of which, now that all is over, no man can measure. Stricken down, an
immeasurable loss was sustained. In the years that lie before, when mis-
judgments and misstatements which are the petty things born of prejudice,
and which die with the breath that gives them life, shall have passed away,
this incident and the soldierly conduct of the brave man who was its victim
will have a real chastening and wholesome historical significance."
Colonel Roosevelt on the Platform. — The account of the scene just de-
scribed by Mr. Cochems, one of the chief actors in this drama of heroic
actions, is amply confirmed in the stenographic report published in the .Mil-
waukee Sentinel. In his account Mr. Cochems still further relates: ''Stand-
ing with his coat and vest opened, holding before him the manuscript of the
speech he had prepared to deliver, through which were two perforations by
Schrank's bullet, the ex-president was given an ovation which shook the
mammoth Auditorium to its foundation.
612 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"Tin- audience seemed unable to realize the truth of the statement of
Mr. CochemSj who bad introduced Colonel Roosevelt, thai the ex-presiden1 had
been shot. Colonel Roosevelt had opened his vest to show blood from his
wound. Even then many in the audience did no1 comprehend thai they were
witnessing a scene destined to go down in history —an ex-presidenl of the
United States, blood still flowing from the bullel wound of a would-be assas-
sin, delivering a speech from manuscript perforated by the bullet of a mur-
derous assailant."
Colonel Roosevelt continued his speech, as follows: "Friends: I ask
ymi now this evening to accepl whal I am saying as absolutely true, whei
I tell you 1 am not thinking of my own success. 1 am not thinking of my
life or of anything connected with me personally. I am thinking of the move-
ment. I say this by way of introdud on because I want in say something
very serious to our people and especially to the newspapers.
"I don't know anything about who the man was who shot me to-night.
lie was seized at mice by one of the stenographers in my party, -Mr. .Martin,
and I suppose is now in the hands of the police, lie shot to kill, lie shol
the bullet went in here — I will show you" (opening his vest and showing
the bloody stain in the right breast, — the stain covered the entire lower half
of his shirt to the waist). "I am going to ask you to be ;is quiet as possible
for I am not able to give the challenge of the bull moose quite as loudly. Now
I do not know who he was or what party he represented. He was a coward.
lie stood in the darkness in the crowd around the automobile and when they
cheered me and I got up to bow he stepped forward and shot me in the (.lark
ness.
Denounces the Action of the Assassin. — "Now, friends." continued Mr.
Roosevelt, "of course I do not know, as I say, anything about him. but it i~
a very natural thing that weak and vicious minds should be inflamed to acts
of violence by the kind of awful mendacity and abuse that have 1 n heaped
upon me for the last three months by the papers in the interest of m\ op
ponents.
"Friends. I will disown and repudiate any man of my party who attacks
with such foul slander and abuse any opponent of any other party, ami HOW
I wish to say seriously to all the daily newspapers, to the republican, the
democratic, and the socialist parlies, that they cannot, month in and month
out, and year in and year out, make the kind of untruthful Statements, or oi
bitter assaulls that they have made, and not expect that brutal, violent natures,
or brutal and violeni characters, especially when the brutality is accompanied
by ; t \rvy strong mind:- they cannot expect that such natures will In
unaffected by it.
"Now friends. I am not speaking for myself at all. I give you my word
I do not care a rap about being shot, not a rap. I have had a good many ex
periences in my time and this is one of them. What I care for is m\ country.
I wish I were able to impress upon my people, our people, the duty to feel
strongly but to speak the truth of their opponents. I say now I have never
said one word againsl any opponent that I can not -on the stump — that I
.•an not defend. I have said nothing that I could not substantiate and nothing
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 613
that I ought not to have said, nothing that looking back at 1 would not say
again.
"Now friends, it ought not to be too much to ask that our opponents—
(speaking to some one on the stage, 'I am not sick at all, I am all right.') I
cannot tell you of what infinitesimal importance I regard this incident as com-
pared with the great issues at stake in this campaign, and I ask it not for my
sake, not the least in the world, but for the sake of our common country,
that they make up their minds to speak only the truth, and not to use the
kind of slander and mendacity which, if taken seriously, must incite weak
and violent natures to crimes of violence. Don't you make any mistake.
Don't you pity me, I am all right. I am all right and you cannot escape listen-
ing to my speech either." This part of the speech was responded to with
laughter and applause.
"And now, friends, this incident that has just occurred, this effort to as-
sassinate me, emphasizes to a peculiar degree the need of this Progressive
movement. Friends, every good citizen ought to do everything in his or her
power to prevent the coming of the day when we shall see the creed of the
'Havenots' arrayed against the creed of the 'Haves. ' When that day comes
then such incidents as this tonight will be commonplace in our history. When
you make poor men — when you permit the conditions to grow such that the
poor man as such will be swayed by his sense of injury against the men who
try to hold what they improperly have won, — when that day comes, the most
awful passions will be let loose and it will be an ill day for our country.
Warnings and Admonitions. — "Now, friends, what we who are in this
movement are endeavoring to do is to forestall any such movement by making
this a movement for justice now, — a movement in which we ask all just men of
generous hearts to join with the men who feel in their souls that upward lift
which bids them refuse to be satisfied themselves while their fellow country-
men and countrywomen suffer from avoidable misery. Now. friends, what
we Progressives are trying to do is to enroll rich and poor, whatever their
social or industrial position, to stand together for the most elementary rights
of good citizenship, those elementary rights which are the foundation of
good citizenship in this great republic of ours.
"My friends are a little more nervous than 1 am. Don't you waste any
sympathy on me. I have had an A-l time in my life and I am having it now.
I never in my life had any movement in which I was able to serve with such
whole-hearted devotion as in this, — in which I was able to feel as I do in this
for the common weal. I have fought for the good of our common country.
(The speech throughout was constantly responded to by enthusiastic applause
and cheers).
"And now, friends," continued Mr. Roosevelt in his speech, "I shall have
to cut short much of my speech that I meant to give you, but I want to touch
on just two or three of the points. In the first place, speaking to you here
in Milwaukee, I w'sh to say that the Progressive party is making its appeal
to all our fellow citizens without any regard to their creed or to their birth-
place. We do not regard as essential the way in which a man worships
his God or as being affected by where he was born. We regard it as a mat-
(114 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ter of spirit and purpose. In New York, while I was police commissioner,
the two men from whom I go1 the si assistance were Jacob Riis who was
born in Denmark, and Oliver Van Briesen who was born in Germany, both
of them as fine examples of the besl and highest American citizenship as yon
could find in any pari of the country.
Birthplace and Good Citizenship. — "1 have jusl been introduced by
of your own men here, Henry Cochems. His grandfather, Ins father and thai
father's seven brothers, all served in the United States army, and they en-
tered it four years after they had CO to this country from Germany. Two
of them left their lives, — spent their lives on the field of battle. I am all
right — I am a Little sore. Anybody has a right to be sore with a bullet in him.
'You would find that if I was in battle now 1 would he leading my men just
the same. Just the same way I am going to make this speech.
"At one time I promoted five men for gallantry on the field of battle.
Afterwards, it happened to be found, in making some inquiries about them,
that two of them were Protestants, two Catholics and one of them a Jew. One
Protestant came from Germany and one was born in Ireland. I did not pro-
mote them because of their religion, it just happened that way. If all five
of them had been Jews, 1 would have promoted them, or if all five had been
Protestants, I would have promoted them; or if they had been Catholics it
would have been the same. In that regiment I had a man born in Italy who
distinguished himself by gallantry. There was a young fellow, a son of Polish
parents, and another who came here when he was a child from Bohemia, who
likewise distinguished themselves; and friends, 1 assure you that I was in-
capable of considering any question whatever, but the worth of each indi-
vidual as a fighting man. If he was a good fighting man then T saw that Uncli
Sam got the benefit from it.
"1 make the same appeal in our citizenship. 1 ask in our civic life that
we in the same way pay heed only to the man's quality of citizenship, to re-
pudiate as the worst enemy thai we can have whoever tries to get us t.> dis-
criminate for or against any man because of his creed or his birthplace. Now.
friends, in the same way I want our people to stand by one another without
regard to differences or class or occupation * * * .
An Appeal for Organized Labor. — "It is essential that there should be
organizations of labor. This is an era of organization. Capital organizes and
therefore labor must organize. .My appeal for organized labor is twofold,
to the outsider and the capitalist I make my appeal to treat the laborers
fairly, to recognize the fact that he must organize, that there must be such
organization; that it is unfair and unjust that the laboring man must organize
for his own protection but that it is the duty of the rest of us to help him and
n, ,1 hinder him in organizing. That is one-half of the appeal that 1 make.
"Now the other half is to the laboring man himself. My appeal to him
is to remember that as he wants justice, so he must do justice. 1 want every
lahoring man, every labor leader, every organized union man to take the lead
in denouncing crime or violence. I want them to take the lead in denouncing
disorder and inciting to riot, that in this country we shall proceed under the
protection of our laws and with all respect to the laws, and 1 want the labor-
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 615
ing men to feel in their turn that exactly as justice must be clone them so
they must do justice; that they must bear their duty as citizens, their duty
to this great country of ours, and that they must not rest content without,
unless they do that duty to the fullest degree."
Prolonging the Speech. — Mr. Roosevelt continued with scarcely unabated
energy to discuss the issues and the attitude of the old parties. Much un-
easiness began to appear among the doctors and friends seated on the plat-
form behind him as they feared he was over-exerting himself considering the
condition he was laboring under. Noticing this anxiety he turned to friends
on the stage, and inquired, "How long have I been speaking," to which one
replied that he had been speaking three-quarters of an hour. "Well," he
replied, "I will take a quarter of an hour more," and proceeded with his ad-
dress. In the course of his speech he returned to the subject of the old
parties, pointing out their faults and short-comings with characteristic in-
cisiveness and force.
"All through his talk, it was evident that his physicians feared his injury
had been more serious than he was willing to admit," says Mr. Cochems in
his account. "That a man with a bullet embedded in his body could stand
up there and insist on giving the audience the speech which they had come
to hear was almost incredible, and it was plain the physicians as well as the
other friends of the Colonel on the stage were greatly alarmed. 'Sit down,
sit down,' he said to those who, when he faltered once or twice, half rose to
come towards him.
"Finally, a motherly-looking woman a few rows of seats back from the
stage, rose and said, 'Mr. Roosevelt, we all wish you would be seated. To this
the Colonel quickly replied, 'T thank you, madam, but I don't mind it a bit. *
The only time Colonel Roosevelt gave up and took a seat was* when he came
to a quotation from La Follette's Weekly which paid him a tribute for his
work as president. This was read by Assemblyman T. J. Mahon while the
Colonel rested."
Mr. Mahon then read the following editorial from La Follette's Weekly
in its issue of March 13, 1909: "Roosevelt steps from the stage gracefully.
He has ruled his party to a large extent against its will, lie has played a
large part of the world's work for the past seven years. The activities of
his remarkably forceful personality have been so manifold that it will be long,
before his true rating will be fixed in the opinion of the race. He is said
to think that the three great things done by him are the undertaking of the
construction of the Panama canal ami its rapid and successful carrying for-
ward, the making of peace between Russia and Japan, and the sending around
the world of the fleet.
"These are important things but many will be slow to think them his
greatest services. The Panama canal will surely serve mankind when in
operation; and the manner of organizing this work seems to be tine. P>ut no
one can yet say whether this project will be a gigantic success or a gigantic
failure; and the task is one which must in the nature of things have been
undertaken ami carried through some time soon, as historic periods go, any-
how. The peace id' Portsmouth was a great thine- to be responsible for. and
616 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Roosevelt's good offices undoubtedly saved a great and bloody battle in Man-
churia. I'>ut the war was fought out, and the parties ready to quit, and
there is reason to think that it is only when this situation was arrived at
that the g I offices of the President of the Tinted States were, more or less
indirectly, invited. The fleet's cruise was a strong piece of diplomacy, by
which we informed Japan that we will send our fleet wherever we please and
whenever we please. It worked out well.
"But none of these things, it will seem to many, can compare with some
of Roosevelt's other achievements. Perhaps he is loath to take credit as a
reformer, for he is prone to spell the word with question marks, and to speak
disparagingly of 'reform.' But for all that, this contention of 'reformers'
made reform respectable in the United States, and this rebuke of 'muck-
rakers' has been the chief agent in making the history of 'muck-raking" in
the United States a national one. conceded to be useful. He has preached
from the White House many doctrines; but among them he has left impressed
on the American mind the one great truth of economic justice couched in the
pithy and stinging phrase, 'the square deal.' The task of making reform
respectable in a commercialized world, and of giving the nation a slogan in
a phrase, is greater than the man who performed it is likely to think.
"And then there is the great and statesmanlike movement for the con-
servation of our national resources, into which Roosevelt so energetically threw
himself at a time when the nation as a whole knew not that we are ruining
and bankrupting ourselves as fast as we can. This is probably the greatest
thing Roosevelt did. This globe is the capital stock of the race. It
is just so much coal and oil and gas. This may be economized or wasted.
This same thine- js true of phosphates and other mineral resources. Our water
resources are immense, and we are only just beginning to use them. Our for-
ests have been destroyed ; they must be restored. Our soils are being depleted ;
they must be built up and conserved.
"These questions are not of this clay only, or of this generation. They
belong all to the future. Their consideration requires that high moral tone
which regards the earth as the home of a posterity to whom we owe a sacred
duty. This immense idea. Roosevelt, with high statesmanship, dinned into the
ears of the nation until the nation heeded. He held it so high that it attracted
the attention of the neighboring nations of the continent, and it will so spread
and intensify that we will soon sec the world's conferences devoted to it.
"Nothing can be greater or finer than this. It is so great and so line that
when the historian of the future shall speak of Theodore Roosevelt, he is
likely to say that he did many notable things, among them that of inaugurat-
ing the movement which finally resulted in the square deal, but that Ins
greatest work was inspiring and actually beginning a world movement for
staying terrestrial waste and saving for tin- human race the things upon
which, and upon which alone, a great and peaceful and progressive and happy
race life can be founded.
"What statesman in all history has done anything calling for so wide a
view and for a purpose more lofty?"
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OP THEODORE ROOSEVELT 617
Character and Achievements of Mr. Roosevelt.— Perhaps there is contained
in no review or utterance of the time a more forcible presentation of the salient
points of Theodore Roosevelt's character and of the work he accomplished,
or a statement in clearer and more vigorous language of the judgments of
his fellow countrymen, than the summary quoted above from La Pollette's
Weekly, or is more worthy the attention and consideration of the readers of
this history. One may thus arrive at a true estimate of the eminent statesman
whose career, ill one of its most exciting episodes, we have here before ns.
Colonel Roosevelt at the Hospital.--" After Colonel Roosevelt had finished
speaking at the Auditorium," continues the account prepared by the editors
of the volume previously mentioned, "the effect of the shock and loss of blood
from the shot was quite manifest in his appearance. Despite this fact, how-
ever, he walked with a firm step to an automobile waiting at the rear of the
big hall, and guarded by a group of friends was driven rapidly to the John-
ston Emergency hospital. Preparations had there been made for a careful
examination and for treatment by Dr. S. L. Terrell who attended Colonel
Roosevelt during his entire trip. Dr. R. G. Sayle and Dr. T. A. Xtratton. both
of Milwaukee.
"At the hospital, Dr. Joseph Colt Bloodgood, a surgeon of the faculty of
Johns Hopkins university, was invited into the consultation. The Colonel's
first thought had been to reassure Mrs. Roosevelt and his family against any
unnecessary fear, and before he received treatment he sent a long reassuring
telegram, together with a telegram to Seth Bullock, whose telegram was one
of the first of the stream of telegrams which began pouring in for news of
the patient's condition.
"During the preliminary examination of the wound by the doctors in the
Johnston Emergency hospital, preparations were completed to secure X-ray
pictures under the direction of Dr. J. S. Janssen, of Milwaukee. Doctor
Janssen secured his views and left for his laboratory to develop the negatives.
While these negatives were being secured, it was determined by the doctors
that no great additional danger would be incurred if Colonel Roosevelt were
moved by special train to Chicago, which plan he had proposed, so that he
might be nearer the center of his fight. He was moved by ambulance to the
train which left Milwaukee shortly after midnight.
Description of the Wound. — "In the meantime, the completion of the
X-ray picture disclosed the fact that the bullet lay between the fourth and
fifth ribs, 3y2 inches from the surface of the chest on the right side, and
later examinations disclosed that it had shattered the fourth rib somewhat.
and was separated by only a delicate tissue from the pleural cavity. By a
miracle it had spent its force, for had it entered slightly farther it would al-
most to a certainty have ended Colonel Roosevelt's life.
"Upon Doctor Janssen 's report of the location of the bullet, there was a
period of indecision, during which the train waited, before the surgeons con-
cluded that the patient might be taken to Chicago, despite the nature of the
wound, without seriously impairing his chances. Arriving at Chicago about
3:00 o'clock in the morning of October 15th, an ambulance was procured and
618 HISTORY OF .MILWAUKEE
the Colonel taken to Mercy hospital, where he was attended by Dr. John B.
Murphy, Dr. Arthur Dean Bevan and Dr. S. L. Terrell.
"A week later, during which time the surgeons concluded thai the wound
was not mortal, and havirig recovered his strength somewhat, he was taken
East to his home at Oyster Bay, Long Island. "The bullel lies where it em-
bedded itself,' says one of the reports. 'It has no1 been disturbed by probes,
because the surgeons have concluded that such an operation would incur addi-
tional danger.' That the shot fired by Schrank didn't succeed in murdering
Colonel Roosevelt was a miracle of good fortune. A 'thirty-eight, long, Colt 's
cartridge,' fired from a pistol frame of 'forty-four' caliber design, so built be-
cause it gave a heavier drive to the projectile; and fired at (dose range, meant
almost inevitable death.
"The aim was taken at a lower portion of Colonel Roosevelt's body, hut
a by-stander struck Schrank's arm at the moment of explosion and elevated
the direction of the shot. After passing through the Colonel's heavy military
overeoal and his other clothing, it would have certainly killed him had it not
struck in its course practically everything which he carried on his person
which could impede its force. In his coat pocket lie had fifty sheets of manu-
script for the night's speech, which had been doubled, and through which
the bullet passed.
"It had struck also his spectacle case on the outer concave surface of the
gun-metal material of which the ease was constructed. It had passed through
a double fold of his heavy suspenders before reaching his body. Had anyone
of these objects been out of the range of the Indict, Schrank's dastardly pur-
pose would have been accomplished beyond any conjecture."
The Telegram to Mrs. Roosevelt. Just before he went to the operating
room in the Emergency hospital Colonel Roosevelt directed the following tele-
gram to be sent to Mrs. Roosevelt: "Am in excellent shape, made an hour
and half speech. The wound is a trivial one. I think they will find that it
merely glanced on a rib" and went somewhere into a cavity of the body; it
certainly did not touch a lung and isn't a particle more serious than one of
the injuries any of the boys used continually to be having. Am at the
Emergency hospital at the moment, but anticipate going right on with my
engagements. My voice seems to be in good shape."
The surgeons issued a Indict in from the Emergency hospital, as follows:
"The bleeding was insignificant and the wound was immediately cleansed ex-
ternally and dressed with sterile gauze by Dr. K. G. Sayle, of Milwaukee.
consulting surge,on of the Emergency hospital. As the Indict passed through
Colonel Roosevelt's clothes, the doubled manuscript and spectacle case, its
force was much diminished. The appearance of the wound also presented
evidence of a much benl bullet. The Colonel is not suffering from shock and
is in no pain. His condition was so good that the surgeons did not objecl to
his continuing his journey in his private car to Chicago where he will lie
placed under surgical care." This bulletin was signed by Drs. S. I.. Terrell.
R. (I. Sayle. Joseph Colt BloodgOOd and T. A. Stratton.
Another bulletin was issued just before Colonel Roosevell was taken to
the special train which carried him to Chicago, as follows: "Colonel Roose
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODOKE ROOSEVELT 619
velt has a superficial flesh wound below the right breast with no evidence of
injury to the lung-. The bullet is probably lodged somewhere in the chest
walls, because there is but one wound and no signs of any injury to the lung.
His condition was so good that the surgeons did not try to locate the bullet,
nor did they try to probe for it." This bulletin was signed by Drs. Terrell
and Sayle.
Characteristic Good Nature of Patient. — Miss Regina White, superintendent
of the Emergency hospital in Milwaukee, declared afterwards that Colonel
Roosevelt was "the most unusual patient who ever was ministered to in the
Johnston Emergency hospital. He was absolutely calm and unperturbed,
and he influenced every one about him to be so, although excitement and
unrest were in the very atmosphere, and he was suffering much.
"Colonel Roosevelt had not been in the hospital fifteen minutes before
every one he came in contact with was willing to swear allegiance to the
Bull Moose party, and personal allegiance to the genial Bull Moose himself.
He was so friendly and cordial, so natural and free, so happy and genial and
so inclined to 'jolly' us all, that we felt on terms of intimate friendship with
him almost immediately; and yet, through all this freedom of manner, he main-
tained a dignity that never for an instant let us forget we were in the presence
of a great man. It is almost unbelievable that he could have been so unruffled
and apparently unconcerned as he was when he really was suffering, and
when he did not know how serious the wound was."
"I asked the Colonel how he felt about the prosecution of the man who
shot him," said Miss White; "and he said, 'I've not decided yet, but God help
the poor fool under any circumstances.' And the tone he used was one of
kindly sympathy and sincerity, and without one trace of malice or sarcasm.
He seemed kindly interested in everything that any one said to him. Miss
Elvina Kueko, one of our nurses, shook hands with him when he was about
to go and said she was sorry the shooting had happened in our city. The
Colonel consoled her by saying it might have happened anywhere."
At Mercy hospital in Chicago Colonel Roosevelt won the hearts of all.
"He was the best patient I ever had," said Miss Welter, "he was considera-
tion itself. He never had a word of complaint all the time he was at the
hospital, and his chief worry seemed to be that we were not comfortable. We
had expected to find him 'strenuous' and possibly disagreeable. On the con-
trary we found him most docile; he chafed at being kept in bed, but he tried
not to show it, and he never was ill-humored or peevish as many patients in
a similar position are."
On the Read to Recovery. — .Many unimportant details are included perhaps
in this story of Colonel Roosevelt's exciting experience. But they are justified
in the words of the preface to the valuable account which we have had the
privilege of quoting from: "This little book presents an accurate story of
the attempt upon the life of the ex-president." The aim of those who pre-
sented it was that, being an accurate narrative, it should be "a contribution
to the history of the United States." That shall be the aim, likewise, of the
writer of these pages. Nine years after the volume was issued it shows its use-
fulness and value be recalling the details id' the event which occurred in the pic-
620 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
turesque and varied career of "the foremosl man in all the world." Seldom,
if ever, has a mail who was not a world conqueror achieved in one lifetime
such a boundless fame, as wide and extensive as the boundaries of all the na-
tions of the globe. No (It-tail can be regarded as trivial or unimportant in such
a connection as this.
"Mrs. Roosevelt readied Chicago," continues the account, "with her son.
Theodore, and her daughter, Ethel. She was driven directly to Mercy hospital
and took charge of her husband as soon as she had greeted him. She was
quite composed on her arrival and placidly directed affairs all through. As
a result of her presence the Colonel's visiting list was materially cu1 down:
he devoted less time to reading telegrams and discussed the campaign very
little. Part of the morning lie spent in reading cablegrams of sympathy and
congratulation on his escape, from Emperor William. King George, the presi-
dent of France, the king of Spain, the president of Portugal, and the Crown
Prince and Princess of Germany.
"•Among his few callers were Col. Cecil Lyon, Meflill McCormick, Dr.
Alexander Lambert, his family physician, who had accompanied -Mrs. Roose-
velt to Chicago, Doctor Evans of Chicago and Dr. Woods Hutchinson, a writer
on medical topics and a warm personal friend. As soon as he saw Doctor
Lambert the Colonel said, 'Lambert, you'd have let me finish that speech if
you'd been there after I was shot, wouldn't you?' 'Perhaps so,' returned the
doctor a little dubiously, 'but I should have made sure you were not seriously
hurt first.'
"Before Mrs. Roosevelt arrived the Colonel was insistent that he be al-
lowed to go to Oyster Hay shortly. After a talk with Mrs. Roosevell he said
he would leave that question to her. 'It will probably be ten days at least
before we go,' she said. 'It is too far distant to attempt a prophecy.' A more
careful examination of the X-ray prints taken of the patient disclosed the fact
that his fourth rib was slightly splintered by the impact of tin' Indict bulged
against it. This accounted for the discomfort that the Colonel suffered."
Irrepressible Desire to Talk. — While receiving a number of the newspaper
men in his party Doctor Terrell came in at the conclusion of the conversation,
and expressed the fear that the ex-president was exerting himself beyond his
strength. "You do too much," said Doctor Terrell. "The most uncomfort-
able hour I ever spent in my life was while I sat on the platform in Mil-
waukee wondering where that bullet was and in what imm'nent danger you
were. How could you be so incautious as to make a speech then.' It was all
very well for you to say the shot was not fatal but how could you tell .' " The
Colonel raised his arm heavily, trying not to show the pain that came with
every movement. "1 did not think the wound was dangerous," he said, "1
was confident that it was not in a place where much harm could follow, and
therefore I wished to make the speech. Anyway, even if it went against me. -
Well, if I had to die. — I thought I'd rather die with my boots on."
•Inst then the door opened to admit Libert 10. Martin, the herculean stenog-
rapher who had grabbed Schrank before he could tire a second Shot. "Here
lie is." cried the Colonel, waving his baud, "here is the man that did it."
Martin hail brought a lot id' telegrams. The Colonel, lying propped up ad
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 621
justed the great tortoise shell glasses and proceeded to look them over. YV.th
one he seemed especially pleased. It came from Madison. Wis., and was as
follows: •■Permit me to express my profound regret that your life should
have been in peril and to express my congratulations upon your fortunate
escape from serious injury. I trust that you will speedily recover."' This
was signed by Robert M. La Pollette. He then dictated a reply, as follows:
'•Senator Robert M. La Follette, — Thanks sincerely for your kind expressions
of sympathy." Half an hour the Colonel spent looking over and answering
private telegrams, dictating always in a clear, strong voice. When he had
done he talked with the newspaper men of former experiences of the kind
lie had just gone through and of the cranks at Sagamore Hill and at the White
House. "But I never had a Indict in me before," he said.
Resumption of Campaign Activities. — By the 17th. having now become
convinced that he was beyond all possible danger, Colonel Roosevelt resumed
the active campaign from his sick room in Mercy hospital, by dictating a
statement in which he requested his political opponents to continue the fighl
as if nothing had happened to him. Quoting from a statement of Mr. William
J. Bryan that "the issues of this campaign should not be determined by the
act of an assassin," lie commented thus: "We emphatically demand Unit the
discussion be carried on precisely as if I had not been shot." "I cannot too
strongly emphasize the fact," he continued, "upon which we Progressives
insist that the welfare of any one man in this tight is wholly immaterial com-
pared to the greatest fundamental issues involved in the triumph of tin' prin-
ciples for which our cause stands. If I had been killed the tight would have
gone on exactly the same." Then naming some of those who were most prom-
inent among his supporters he continued: "They would have continued the
fight in exactly the same way if I had been killed, and they are continuing it
in just the same way now that I am. for the moment, laid up."
Homeward Bound. — The trip homeward was safely made by Colonel Roose-
velt and the portion of his family who had joined him at .Mercy hospital. Tin'
party started on the morning of the -1st and reached Oyster Bay on the
morning of the 22d. On the evening of the 30th the Colonel addressed a large
audience at .Madison Square Garden in New York estimated at 15,000 men
and women. Another vast crowd waited all the evening outside the entrance
of the Garden in the hope that they might catch a word or two from the
Colonel as he departed. They were disappointed, however, for his physicians,
fearing it was too great a tax on his strength, would not permit him to make
mori than one address.
Capture of the Assassin.- Let us now return to the scenes of the attempt
made on the life of Mr. Roosevell in -Milwaukee. Within five minutes after
the shooting the miscreant who fired the shot was on his way to the police
station in the patrol wagon. He was securely locked up though the crowds
assembled in the ne'ghborhood clamored for his life. The men who had over-
powered Schrank in his murderous attempt were Elbert E. Martin, ('apt. A. < >.
Girard, Col. Cecil Lyon of Texas. Serg. Albert Murray of the Milwaukee police
department, and Detectives Harry Ridenour, Louis Ilartman, and Valentine
622 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Skierawski of the Milwaukee police department, and Prank Buskowsky as
appears on a later page.
When firsl questioned a1 the central station the prisoner would not give
his name bul afterward gave it as John Schrank. Be hail been roughlj han-
dled after tin' si ting. He clung to the revolver until it was wrenched from
his grasp. On his person were found several written declarations of his inten-
tions to shoot the ex-president indicating by their tone and expressions that
he was an insane man with homicidal purposes. On being taken before Judge
X. B. Xeelen lie admitted that he had tired the shol whieh wounded Colonel
Roosevelt. The distrid attorney. \Y. ( '. Zabel, said: "So far as I have been
able to determine from several examinations, John Schrank is Legally sane.
He has a perfect knowledge of right and wrong and realizes that the act he
committed was against the law. Medically, he may have a slighl aberration,
but only experts could determine that." Schrank then entered a plea of guilty.
" I plead guilty and waive examination," he said.
Further Proceedings in the Case. — On the 13th of November the prisoner
was brought before Judge August (_'. Baekus in the Municipal Court. The
following physicians were appointed to make an examination of his mental
condition: Drs. F. C. Studley, W. F. Becker, Richard Dewey. W. F. Wegge,
and 1). W. Harrington, all of Milwaukee. The court also appointed Aitorney
James G. Flanders to represent Schrank. Judge Backus ordered him to stand
and listen to the charge made against him, and he was asked to plead guilty or
not guilty. "1 plead guilty to. the shooting," he answered. "Did you intend
to kill Theodore Roosevelt?" asked Mr. Zabel. To this he replied, "I did nol
intend to kill the citizen Roosevelt, I intended to kill Theodore Roosevelt, the
third termer. I did not want to kill the candidate of the progressive party.
I shot Roosevelt as a warning to other third termers." At the afternoon
session of the court the physicians were present to be sworn and the sheriff
was ordered to allow them to see the prisoner whenever they wished to do so.
On November 2'2d Schrank was declared insane by the five alienists who
had been appointed to examine him. The findings of the court were then
lead by Judge Baekus, as follows: •"The court now finds that the defendant.
John Schrank, is insaue, and therefore incapacitated to act for himself.
"It is therefore ordered and adjudged that the defendant. John Schrank,
be committed to the Northern Hospital for the Insane, near Oshkosh, in the
County of Winnebago, State of Wisconsin, until such time when he shall have
recovered from such insanity, when he shall be returned to this eourl for
further pr iedings according to law."
The prisoner expressed disappointment at the result of the examination.
"\Vh\ didn't they give me my medicine righl away," he exclaimed. "I did
it and 1 am willing to stand the i sequences of my act. 1 want to say now
that 1 am sane and know what I am doing all the time. I am not a lunatic
and never was one." Schrank was taken to the Northern Hospital for the
Insane at Oshkosh by Deputy Sheriff Richard Muldenhauer and Fred Becker,
bookkeeper in the sheriff's office, on the morning of November 25th.
Additional Details. — Some further details of the thrilling event which
nearly resulted in a tragedy are added in this place. Among those who wit-
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 623
nessed the shooting of Colonel Roosevelt was Thomas Taylor who was in the
automobile at the time. Mr. Taylor said he was in the machine standing at
the door of the Hotel Gilpatrick waiting for the distinguished guest to finish
his meal in the dining room, and then convey him to the Auditorium so as to
arrive there about 8:00 o'clock. When Mr. Roosevelt was seen coming down
the steps of the hotel, Taylor turned on the power, and opened the door of the
automobile to admit him and his party. Martin got in first and turning about
started to assist the colonel. Captain Girard and Henry P. Cochems followed.
Taylor then heard a "low report" which caused him to look at the crowd
to see what caused it. He saw Schrank with a revolver in his hand and that
Captain Girard and Martin were both "on top of him." In the confusion that
followed Taylor himself was knocked down but he saw that a dark man who
looked like a laborer was holding Schrank by the arm in a firm grasp and
seemed to be struggling with him. This man who had struck Schrank 's arm
as he fired and who struggled with him immediately afterwards was ascer-
tained to be Frank Buskowsky, 1140 Seventh Avenue, Milwaukee.
Buskowsky said in a later interview, "I was so excited when I realized
that the man next to me had shot at Mr. Roosevelt that I felt like killing
him, and I cried out at the top of my voice as I held him, 'Kill him, kill the
d d scoundrel.' The police must have thought that I meant Roosevelt,
for when one of them came up to me he yelled, 'What in li 11 is the matter
with you?' and hustled me away. As I cannot speak good English I could not
explain that I meant Schrank and not Roosevelt. I was so excited when the
police took me away that way. that I went immediately home. If I coidd have
explained myself that patrolman would have heard something from me for the
way he clubbed me on my head. My hat was smashed in. I came home disgusted
with the treatment I had received by the police. The next morning I read all
about Martin capturing that man and it made me mad, for I was the first one
to grab him and prevent him from shooting any more.
Mr. Cochems, in his account, says that "Buskowsky is a Bohemian ami
has been in America seven years, during which period he has been an enthus-
iastic supporter of the Bull Moose leader."
Reviews and Comments on the Schrank Case. — In the last chapter of Mr.
Cochems' book he adds a review of the court proceedings in the Schrank case,
together with press comments. He says that in this case a new form was
established which has "met with favorable comment on the part of lawyers,
alienists, court officials and editors all over the world." In his instructions
to the five alienists whom he had appointed to examine Schrank as to his
sanity, Judge August C. Backus said:
"You have been appointed as an impartial commission to examine into
the present mental condition of the defendant John Schrank, who is charged
with the crime of assault with intent to kill and murder Theodore Roosevelt
with a loaded revolver, on the 14th day of October. 1912, in the City and
County of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.
"The court in this proceeding will finally determine the issue. I have
decided to take this method of procedure instead of a jury trial, because as a
rule in trials by jury the case resolves itself into a battle of medical experts,
(iiil HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
and in my experience I Lave never witnessed a ease where the testimony of
the experts on one side was no1 directly contradicted by the testimony of as
many or more experts on the other side. Where men especially trained in
mental and nervous diseases disagree, how can ii be expected thai a jury of
twelve laymen should agree? Such testimony has been very unsatisfactory
to the jury and the court, and generally very expensive to the community.
"Hear in mind, gentlemen, that your appointment has not been suggested
by either counsel for the state or for the defendant, or by any other party or
source directly or indirectly interested in this inquisition. Von are the court's
commission, and you must enter upon your duties free from any bias or
prejudice, if any there he. You should assume your duties, and I know yon
will, with the highest motives in seeking the truth, and then pi-. once your
judgment without regard to the effect it may have upon the state or upon
the defendant; in other words, in your inquiry and deliberation you are
placed on the same plane as the judge.
"If any person seeks to influence you or talks to you as a commission, ot-
to any member of the commission who is not duly requested to appear before
you. report him to the court so that an order to show cause why he should not
In- punished for contempt may issue. If there lie any witnesses you desire
the court will command their attendance. The court will grant you the serv-
ices of a stenographic reporter so that everything that is said and done may
appear of record. The commission may now retire, select a moderator and
proceed with the inquiry.
"Now, gentlemen, perform your duties fairly and impartially, ami ren-
der such findings to the court as your consciences and your judgments ap-
prove. The question for your determination is. 'Is the defendant, John
Schrank, sane or insane at the presenl time.''
Summary of the Defendant's Views and Career. — In the various examina-
tions of the defendant the following- facts were brought out. John Schrank
was a native of Bavaria where lie was horn in 1876. After the death of his
parents, he came to America when he was twelve years of age, and lived with
an uncle anil aunt. The uncle kept a saloon in Xew York in which the boy
was a bartender. For three or four years he attended night schools and ac-
quired a fair knowledge of the English language. ( »n the death of his uncle
and aunt in 1910 and 11)11. he became the heir to considerable property of an
estimated value of $25,000. lie supports himself from the income id' this
property. lie is unmarried. His tastes are literary and he is a diligent
reader of the Xew York papers. He also wrote freely on the political issue*
of the day though his writings were not printed. These writings were pro
duced for the information of the commission. He has also read widely in
hooks concerning American and European history from which he has drawn
conclusions justifying deeds of violence towards leaders who by their acts
have deserved death. "Trying to gel perpetual power and dictatorship would
justify killing." In- wrote in one of the documents which In- submitted. These
documents were quite voluminous and rambling in style and reasoning.
On account of a dream he had several years ago he had become convinced
that Mr. Roosevelt in some way or another was the cause of Mr. McKinlej 's
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT 625
death by means of which he was able to gratify his ambition to become presi-
dent. At the time that the Progressive party came into existence, and had
nominated Mr. Roosevelt for its presidential candidate, he formed a strong
conviction that in his action of accepting the nomination he had violated the
"third term tradition'" which he held to be a sacred doctrine, and then he
determined to kill him whenever the opportunity offered. He sought to
justify himself for coming to this determination in his answers to questions,
and at no time did he express or exhibit remorse for his act.
The Conclusions of the Alienists. — The result of the inquiry into the mental
condition of the defendant, John Schrank, was submitted by the commission
of alienists, appointed by Judge Backus, and was as follows:
"Our conclusions are as follows —
"First, John Schrank is suffering from insane delusions, grandiose in
character, and of the systematized variety.
"Second, In our opinion he is insane at the present time.
"Third, On account of the connection existing between his delusions and
the act with which he stands charged, we are of the opinion that he is unable
to confer intelligently with counsel, or to conduct his defense.
"Dated at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 22, 1912.
[Signed] Richard Dewey, M. I)., Chairman.
W. F. Becker, M. D.
I). W. Harrington, M. D.
Frank Studley, M. D.
William F. Wegge, M. D."
Editorial Comment. — In an article printed in the Milwaukee Free Press it
is said: "The findings of the alienists appointed by Judge Backus to de-
termine the mental condition of Schrank were foreseen. There has been little
doubt at any time of the derangement of that unfortunate man. This fact.
however, does not detract from appreciation of the excellent and novel course
pursued by Judge Backus in taking advantage of the statute that permitted
him to submit the question of Schrank's sanity to a body of alienists appointed
by himself instead of leaving the question to a jury at the tender mercy of
alienists employed alike by state and defense.
"The judge justified his procedure in these words, when instructing the
examining physicians:" (The remarks of the judge on this point have already
been printed on a previous page and are included in his instructions to the
commission.)
The comments of the Free Press continue as follows: "It has been a
scandal to the medical profession, a source of travesty to judicial procedure,
and all too often a means of defeating the ends of justice. The very course
pursued by Judge Backus was advocated by President Gregory of the Amer-
ican Bar Association not very long ago, and the outcome, in this instance at
least, is such as to recommend its adoption by the bench wherever the statutes
permit."
Commenting upon the charge of Judge Backus to the commission, the
Chicago Record-Herald said: "It is notorious that 'expert testimony' is too
often confusing, and jurors and judges feel themselves bound to disregard it
Vol. 1—4 0
626 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
in favor of mere 'horse sense.' The state's experts are matched or over-
matched by tl xperts for the defense, and the conflicl of •scientific" testi-
mony assumes in many cases the proportions of a public scandal. Hence, the
'Wisconsin idea," as applied 'Ht>y Judge Backus of .Milwaukee, who is presiding
over the trial of John Schrank, is an admirable one. Under a statute of Wis-
consin a judge may summon a certain number of experts and make them
officers of the court. They testify as such officers, and presumably the stale
pays them reasonable fees. Under such a plan as this there is no temptation
to strain science in the interest of a long purse, and impartial opinion is likely
to be the rule.
"Statutes similar to that of Wisconsin are needed in all other states.
'Expert testimony' has long been a by-word and reproach. Of course, under
Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence no defendant can be deprived of the right to call
witnesses of his own choosing, and after all a medical expert is only a witness
who gives opinions instead of facts. Still, a law which authorizes the court
to call truly impartial experts would not seem to he 'unconstitutional.' It is
certainly not unfair or unreasonable from the lay point of view."
Canadian opinion may also be quoted. The Saturday Night of Toronto
bad this to say : "In the stress attending on matters of greater moment which
have been occupying the attention of the daily press of late, the judicial wis-
dom of Mr. A. C. Backus, municipal judge of the City of Milwaukee, charged
with the task of trying John Schrank, the man who attempted to slay Colonel
Roosevelt, has been overlooked. Nevertheless, 1 stablished a precedent with
regard to the trial of prisoners where insanity is the only defense, that should
he copied not only by every state in the American Union, but by every province
of Canada.
"It was not generally known that the laws of the State of Wisconsin gave
a presiding justice the plenary powers he has exercised, hut every good .indue
who has presided over cases where alienists have been employed to furnish
testimony must have yearned for similar authority. In the Schrank case
Judge Backus decided to eliminate all direct testimony by alienists, and to
constitute such experts into an auxiliary court who should cooperate with
him in the final judgment of the case. His auxiliary, consisting of live physi-
cians, was directed to elect a moderator who would preside over their delibera-
tions and decide the issues of sanity or insanity in ease of a deadlock.
"It would lie difficult to say what objection could he taken 1o this system
in any case where alienists are sub] naed. It is even possible that by care-
fully protecting the rights id' the prisoner the same system could be worked
out in any case where medical testimony, beyond the mere proving of the
crime, is required. In many murder eases physicians have been heard swear-
ing to contrary positions, until jurors, disgusted with the confusion of the
testimony, have simply thrown up their hands, neglected their duty to con-
sider the reasonable facts of the case, ami allowed murderers to go free.
"Judge Backus has taken a forward step in the administration of justice
on this cont incut, ami it is to he trusted that the effects of it will he far-
reaching.
PART IV
EDUCATIONAL
CULTURAL
SOCIAL
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE .MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
This chapter is founded in large part on the contribution of Mr. Patrick
Donnelly, printed in the "Columbian History of Education in Wisconsin,"
published in 1893. "The first schools established in Milwaukee, in the year
1836," says the writer, "were 'pay schools,' that is, the patrons thereof em-
ployed the teachers and paid them for their services. The circumstances were
such that free public schools, such as we now have, could not then have been
established.*' No public money was then available for such a purpose.
The first schools were quite primitive, the teachers, like most of the other
inhabiants, had come West with the tide of emigration to better their for-
tunes. The pay received by the teachers was barely sufficient to purchase the
necessaries of life. "Scanty fare and threadbare raiment were then the trade-
marks of the profession." The following account of the early schools is
derived from memory pictures as related by the pioneers.
Pioneer School Houses. — "A crude log hut or rickety frame shanty, thirty
feet long by twenty feet wide, with a door in one end, a fireplace and chimney
on the opposite end, four small windows, two on each side, each about thirty
inches square, was the schoolhouse of the early days. There was a wooden floor,
long benches placed along the side of the walls for the smaller children, and two
or three small tables with appropriate benches fur t lie more advanced pupils
who were able to write. The schoolmaster had a chair, a small pine table, a
ruler, a pen-knife, a few old books, an ink bottle and sundry quill pens. The
larger pupils were provided with copy-books, slates, arithmetics and readers
of various kinds, and the younger pupils with such specimens of primers, first
readers or alphabet cards as could then lie found or extemporized. The
variety of the book supply rendered it impossible to have classes. Blackboards
were not then known as far west as Milwaukee.
"The schoolmaster was obliged to he his own janitor in those days. Some-
times the patrons chopped the wood required, and sometimes the schoolmaster
himself wielded the axe in the early morning. lie was obliged to be at school
at least half an hour before the pupils began to assemble. The sweeping and
fire-making must be attended to. Occasionally the schoolmaster succeeded in
securing assistance from one or two of the larger boys in doing this work.
Common Schools Established. — "The territorial law of Michigan Territory,
enacted in LS27, provided that as soon as twenty families were settled in a
town, they should select three commissioners of common schools, who should
hold their respective offices for three years, whose duties should be to lease
629
THE FOURTEENTH DISTRICT SCHOOL
THE TWENTY-THIRD DISTRH i SCHOOL
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 631
the school lands and apply the proceeds to the establishment and maintenance
of said schools. Wisconsin was at that time a part of Michigan Territory. As
the public lands were then so plentiful little of anything could be realized
from the school lands. Hence, whatever schools were established must have
been maintained by local, voluntary, self-imposed taxation or assessment. No
wonder, then, that the sehoolhouses were poor, the teachers ill-paid, and the
school supplies limited in extent, and of the cheapest kind."
The Milwaukee Sentinel, in its issue for October 13, 1837, gives an estimate
of the educated thought of the day upon the question of common school educa-
tion, as follows: "There is -probably no one subject of so much importance to
this territory, and which will be more conducive to the future happiness and
prosperity of the people, than the adoption of a wise and liberal system of
common school education. A careful observer will perceive in the older-
settled portions of the Union, that the general mass of the people are the most
enlightened, and well-informed, where a liberal and judicious common school
system has been adopted. The foundation is laid at the common school, and
it is necessary that it be properly laid, of the right kind of material, under
the care and superintendence of a master workman, else the superstructure
may fail in the end for the want of a right commencement."
Upon this article Mr. Donnelly comments as follows: "The editor who
penned the above wrote in full view of all the schools that then existed in
the Village of Milwaukee and in the Territory of Wisconsin. His estimate of
good schools is as good for the present time as it was in the period when he
published his views. Notwithstanding this enlightened view of what was re-
quired, many years of deficiencies in the schools that the village was obliged to
rely upon, had to be borne before much improvement came. True, there were
good teachers, some probably much better than many of the teachers that we
now have. Men and women were educated in those village schools who were
well equipped for dealing with the ordinary affairs of life. The earliest set-
tlers of Milwaukee embraced a very large proportion of quite well educated
men and women. No one can name twenty of the oldest settlers without in-
eluding many names that have I n and are well known representatives of
educated intelligence. This was the factor that supplemented the work of
the ill-paid, poorly supplied village schoolmasters of the '30s."
Conditions in 1845. — Nearly ten years after the first public schools had
been established in Milwaukee, and in the year preceding that in which the
Milwaukee city charter was adopted, the Sentinel, in its issue of June 7, 1845,
said : "The building used for school purposes in the first district is old. dilapi-
dated, unpainted and half unglazed, without playground or shade. In this
school, out of a school population of 325 children between the ages of four and
sixteen years, only about thirty are in the school, and these are of both sexes.
pursuing their studies in text books whose name is legion. Three hundred
and eighteen dollars is all that is appropriated for the entire maintenance
of this school, not one dollar for each child entitled to receive a common
school education."
In the fall of the same year (1845), at a public meeting held for the purpose
of taking some action looking towards the improvement of the schools, Mr.
632 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
I,. \V. Weeks was elmseu chairman, I. A. Lapham and A. W. Hatch, secretaries.
At this meeting Eufus King made a report in which he said: "The whole
number of scliool children between the ages of five and sixteen years in the
Town of Milwaukee is 1.7N1- There are thirteen schools in operation within
the corporate limits, namely, four public and nine private schools. The actual
attendance at the public schools is 228, at the private schools ::.">ti. or 5,s4 in all.
There is no public schoolhouse in the east ward, and there is only a small
sized and inconvenient public schoolhouse in the west ward. In the south
ward there is a good building. There arc upward of one thousand children
for whom no adequate provision of school accommodation is made.''
A committee consisting of Kufus King. P. Randall. E. D. Smith. Richard
Murphy and Moritz Sehoeffler, was appointed and instructed to report at the
next meeting to be held a few days later on a general plan of revision.
Recommendations of the Committee. — At the meeting held December 17,
1845, the committee recommended that all the common schools be placed under
the control of a board of commissioners elected or appointed annually from
the several school districts or wards, which should have full control of the pub-
lic schools, employing the teachers, prescribing the text books and determining
the rate-bills to which recourse might be had for defraying a portion of the
expenses. Lastly, the committee recommended "that the school board shall
have power to elect its president, who shall serve the board as its clerk, and
who shall be required to make periodical examinations of the schools and
report the results thereof to the board." This report was adopted and became
in substance the outline of that part of the first city charter which related to
the public schools, and was the first important step that had been taken to im-
prove the schools and was the first well-defined plan of improvement that
had been presented.
Beginning- of the City Schools. — The city charter was adopted the next
year, namely. April 7. 1846, the date of the first election under the charter.
The city was divided into five wards, namely, the First and Third on the easl
side, the Second and Fourth on the west side, and the Fifth on the south side.
The First Ward public school was first opened in the basement id' the old
St. Peter's Cathedral on Martin Street, which was kindly offered to the school
board by Right Rev. John Martin lleiini, archbishop of Milwaukee. "Evi-
dently," writes Mr. Donnelly, "the church authorities in those days had no
prejudice against the public schools." In the Third and Fourth Ward schools
the sessions were held in rented houses, and in the Second and Pit'th wards
the schools were held in the buildings thai had been used before. These live
schools were opened in June. 1S46. At the date <d' the first annual report
there \vcre 648 pupils enrolled, with an average daily attendance of 355.
Growth of the Public Schools.- "The city government bad now come,"
writes Mr. Donnelly in his historical account, "a definite form had been
adopted for the establishment and maintenance of the schools, but the means
to supply even the most limited requirements were still utterly deficient. The
population was rapidly increasing, the commercial necessities of the city were
so urgent and the tax income so limited, that notwithstanding the popular
appreciation of good schools, six whole years must elapse before anything
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 633
like adequate school room was provided. In 1852 five new brick school build-
ings, which were then considered quite large, were ready for use. Two of
these were on the east side, namely, one on the northwest corner of Van Buren
and Division streets, and one on the northeast corner of Detroit and Jackson
streets; two on the west, one on the northwest corner of Eighth and Sycamore
streets, and one on Fourth Street near Galena. The Fifth Ward (south side)
was supplied with one on or near the site of the Fifth District school building.
Each of these new buildings was intended to accommodate about three hun-
dred and fifty pupils."
As compared with the duties that now devolve upon the school board the
board in those early days possessed considerably greater powers and responsi-
bilities. But. there was one very serious defect in the system, namely, the lack
of professional supervision. "Such supervision seemed to be rather an uncer-
tain element in the school organization of that time. A committee of the board
was appointed to visit the schools and report impressions received. The visits
were seldom made and they led to nothing particularly helpful in school work.
It may truthfully be said that from 1852 till 1859, when General King was
elected as first superintendent of the Milwaukee public schools, the lack of
supervision was the most serious fault of the school administration."
Review of the Early Period. — "From the early village school of the '30s the
charter school of 1846 followed, ami in 1852 the five large and well equipped -
schools above mentioned. Uniformity of text books, and classification into
grammar, intermediate and primary departments were now established.
Many of the best teachers that Milwaukee ever had were in the employ of the
school board in the '50s. Among the latter we need but name F. C. Pomeroy,
whose fame as principal of the Third Ward school was known nol only in
.Milwaukee but throughout the whole Northwest. Until the time of Superin-
tendent King whatever of good there was in the schools did not exist so much
as a requirement by well-formulated regulations of the school board as by
the excellent abilities of the teachers who then served the city.
"The election of a superintendent chosen on account of fitness to supervise
the work of the schools was a great step in the development of our present
splendid school system. Gen. Kufus King, the first superintendent, was a
man eminently fitted to perform the duties of the office. He was a man of
liberal education and had long been a member of the school board. There
was a decided improvement in the schools from and after the date of his be-
coming superintendent." King's connection with the Sentinel obliged him to
discontinue his work as superintendent, and in 1860 Jonathan Ford was elected
as his successor. Ford had been a teacher in the Milwaukee schools and prob-
ably knew more of the details of the work than his predecessor, 1ml in breadth
and general powers of developing the system and of improving its faulty con-
ditions King was distinctly superior. Under Ford's superintendeney the prac-
tice of giving prizes for the best standing in the respective branches was begun.
Mr. E. D. Holton gave medals, Mr. K. C. Spencer scholarships in his commer-
cial college, and Mr. Alexander Mitchell cash or book prizes for the pupils
who attained the highest standings. These contests served a good purpose,
awakening a healthy emulation and establishing a higher standard of scholar-
634 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
ship. Unpleasant comments, however, were nol unknown. Favoritism, preju-
dice, unfairness in making awards, were often heard as charges againsl th«
decisions of the examining committees. Bu1 it dues nol appear thai any of
these charges were pfoven'or operated to hinder the general improvement in
i he schools.
Consequences of the Panic in 1857. — The panic of 1857 lefl Long-standing
difficulties in the genera] management of school affairs in its wake. It was
during Mr. Ford's term of office that the financial crisis in Milwaukee history
finally culminated. '•School orders," says Donnelly, "were seeking pur-
chasers at a discount of from 20 to 25 per cent. Finally, the school hoard
closed the schools for more than two months, which brought the common
council to a definite decision in making the provisions necessary to meet the
financial requirements. To the credit of the teachers be it said, that none of
them deserted their ill-paid positions in consequence of the loss sustained in
having their pay stopped at a time when they could ill afford to suffer any
hiss. Sixteen teachers were dropped from the service, the two high schools
were discontinued, as essential steps of retrenchment.
"The work of the schools was resumed, and. in spite of the depressing
financial difficulties, the Milwaukee schools did good work in those days when
the dark clouds of the Civil war ominously darkened the southern horizon,
and the boys left the schools to blow the patriotic strains of the fife or tap
the war drum to give the marching columns time; or, still oftener, to join the
ranks and march away to the front. The stern demands of the war did thin
the upper grades of the schools, but the work still went on. Those stirring.
sad days of war lent an impetus to the rhetorical work of the schools. The
speeches of John Adams, Patrick Henry and Daniel Webster were rendered
with adjuncts of feeling and passion befitting the times.
"The war music aroused the spirit of patriotism. All the older teachers
can well remember with what spirit the pupils sang 'Rally Round the Flag,
'The Red, White and Blue,' '.John Brown's Body,' and 'Lay Me Down and
Save the Flag,' and how those stirring lines on 'Sheridan's Ride' were spoken
by the boys and girls almost as soon as taken from the press! History teach-
ing received a new impulse; it was no longer regarded as a study of secondary
importance. The history of the times was told by the pupils in well written
compositions, and the schools received a mighty impulse from the great deeds
that were being performed on the bloody fields of the South."
Later Superintendents. — In 1862, -I. R. Sharpstein, one of the editors >■( the
Milwaukee News, was elected superintendent, hut he resigned after a few
months, on account id' the pressing demands id' his editorial work on his
paper. <>ne id' the members of the school board. .Mr. De Wolf, was elected
as superintendent, and served three years. During the lust year of .Mi-. ]),'
Wolf's term of office, the following were the principals iii the employ of the
School board: First Ward. F. ( '. I'omeroy: Second Ward. Jacob Wernli:
Third Ward. Patrick Connolly, dr.: Fourtc Ward, ('. K. Martin; Fifth Ward.
Galen B. Seaman; Sixth Ward. F. < '. I.au : Seventh Ward. II. If Furness;
Eighth Ward. 0. .M. Baker; Ninth Ward. Louis Hillmantel.
"May 15, 1865, Mr. F. < '. Pomerov, who had I □ recognized and conceded
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 635
by all to be one of the ablest and best teachers that ever taught in the Mil-
waukee schools, was elected superintendent. Mr. Pomeroy's supervision was
uniform, constant and painstaking-. Trained in the work himself, he knew
what was attainable, and by his careful examinations of all the classes in the
city he was soon able to make intelligent and fair comparisons of the relative
status attained by teachers engaged in the same grade of work.
"Yearly examinations of teachers had been required up till the time of
Mr. Pomeroy's administration, and having himself been required to go through
this humiliating annual test he soon induced the school board to abandon it.
Since his time a teacher's certificate is required but once. The department
system, namely, grammar, intermediate and primary departments constitute
the three divisions of a school. * I luring Mr. Pomeroy's administra-
tion mental arithmetic attained a very high standard of excellence in the
Milwaukee schools. Pupils in the highest or first grade could with the great-
est rapidity analyze problems that usually required an algebraic solution.
* * * The branches taught during Mr. Pomeroy's term of service em-
braced reading, spelling, writing, grammar, arithmetic — mental ami practical,
geography. United States history, physical geography and music. German
was optional."
In January, 1868, the high school was opened in the Seventh district
school as a part of the system. The whole number of pupils enrolled in the
high school during the first year was 100, and the average daily attendance
was sixty-eight.
Mr. Pomeroy died August 25, 1870, and George II. Paul was shortly after-
ward elected to fill his unexpired term. Mr. Paul had been a member of the
school board but had no practical experience as a teacher. He followed Mr.
Pomeroy's plan of superintending the scl Is. lie examined teachers and
pupils as Mr. Pomeroy had done, but did not attempt any change either in
the work as he found it or in the manner of doing it.
F. C. Lau's Superintendency. — In May, 1871, Mr. P. C. Lau, who had been
principal of one of the schools, was elected as Mr. Paul's successor. "He at-
tempted more than any of his predecessors," writes Mr. Donnelly. "lie had
mental arithmetic dropped as a separate branch of instruction; he undertook
to revolutionize grammar teaching by eliminating most of what is known as
technical grammar and by substituting composition or language exercises
instead; he tried to have 'Morals and Manners' made a part of the course id'
study; and he recommended the following textbooks to be used by the teach-
ers as a guide or basis of instruction: Willson's Manual, Hadley's Language
Exercises, Hooker's Child's Book of Nature, 'Our World,' by Mrs. Hall, etc.
"Mr. Lau's theories," continues Mr. Donnelly, "tended largely towards
an entire change of the matter and methods followed prior to his time. There
was so much change attempted that confusion ami uncertainty followed as a
consequence. Such extensive changes in school work never improve the
existing order of things. School work is rarely so bad as to warrant an entire
change in all that relates to it."
During Mr. Lau's term of service a Normal department or division of in-
struction was added to the high school, and Miss Sarah L. Denton was ap-
636 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
pointed the teacher and .Miss Sarah A. Stewart as assistant. "The establish-
ment of the Normal department," says Mr. Donnelly, "proved to be the
wisest investment ever made by the school board. Prior to thai time but few
of the Milwaukee teachers'had any professional training other than that
acquired by experience. Year by year the City Normal School graduated
classes of teachers that were trained to enter upon the work of teaching with
the experience that made their work successful from the very commencement.
There is probably no other single factor in the history of the .Milwaukee
schools that has contributed so much to their high standing as did the City
Normal School. Its founders hardly realized the extent of its future influence
upon the Milwaukee schools."
James MacAlister's Superintendency. — In .May. 1*74. .James MacAlister
Mas elected to the office of superintendent, lie had been a principal of the
schools ten years or more before that time, and at the time of his election
was president of the school board. He had unbounded faith in the Normal
department, and one of his first important official acts was to recommend
making the Norma] department independent of the high school. Miss Sarah
Stewart was the principal and for many years she gave the very best proofs
of her fitness to train the graduates of the high school to become teachers
"Before Mr. .MacAlister's time, the highest classes of the district or ward
schools were examined in their respective schools for promotion to the high
school. Mr. MacAlister, in 1874. changed this plan and instituted therefor
one general examination for all the first grades of the city."
Preparation for the Centennial Exhibition. — "The Centennial Exhibition
held at Philadelphia in 1876."' continues the account we have drawn from,
"afforded an opportunity of making an exhibit of school work. Mr. .Mac-
Alister, with the aid of some of the principals, laid out the plan of the exhibit
contributed by the Milwaukee schools. It embraced specimens of school work
from all of the grades in which pupils wen' able to write. The time for doing
the work was uniform throughout the schools, and as soon as finished the work
was forwarded to the superintendent's office where it was appropriately
arranged and classified. It was then bound into 114 volumes.
"Large photographs of the school buildings were taken and framed. A
silk banner was prepared upon which was printed the number of schools, the
school enrollment, attendance, number of teachers, total cost of schools, etc.
These became a part of the Milwaukee exhibit. The work, and particularly
the plan of presenting it, received well-merited distinction. The president of
tl (amission of education of the French republic. M. Buisson, was so im-
pressed with the work that he made a two days' visit to Milwaukee for the
purpose of seeing the schools and studying more closely the manner of doing
the work."
So great an impression was made by this exhibit that in ls7s. upon receiv-
ing an invitation from the educational department of the Paris Universal
Exposition, the same work exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition, with some
additional work, was forwarded to Paris, ami a silver medal was obtained in
recognition of its merits. Eighl volumes of the work exhibited were given to
Japan, ten to Italy, and the remainder to the minister of public instruction
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 637
in France, to be placed in the pedagogical museum and library in Le Palais
Bourbon.
Redisricting and Changing Names of the Schools — During the years 1875
and 1876, the school board redistricted the city and changed the names of the
schools, as follows :
First Ward, Juneau School to First District School.
Second Ward, Webster School to Second District School.
Second Ward (primary), Jefferson School to Second District Primary.
Third Ward. Jackson School to Third District School.
Fourth Ward. Plankinton School to Fourth District School.
Fifth Ward. Mitchell School to Fifth District School.
Sixth Ward. Humboldt School to Sixth District School.
Sixth Ward (primary), Union School to Sixth District Primary.
Seventh Ward. Hathaway School to Seventh District School.
Eighth Ward. Douglas School to Eighth District School.
Ninth Ward, Quentin School to Ninth District School.
Tenth Ward. Washington School to Tenth District School.
Eleventh Ward. Franklin School to Eleventh District School.
Twelfth Ward, Lincoln School to Twelfth District School.
As the district numbers of the schools corresponded with the numbers of
the wards, there was less difficulty in locating the schools than there had been
when they were known by the personal names. Juneau. Webster, etc.
% Changes Made in the Courses of Study. — "Several changes were made in
the graded courses of study during Mr. MacAlister's term of service," con-
tinues Mr. Donnelly in his excellent history of the schools. "'Algebra was
dropped from the course in the district schools and elementary mensuration
and bookkeeping were added. The use of a textbook in teaching spelling was
discontinued. Several of what were designated as "impractical rules' found
in the textbooks of arithmetic were also discontinued. These changes were
all intended to make the school work more practical than it had been hereto-
fore.
In May, 1878, J. J. Somers was elected superintendent of schools ami
served until May. 1*8(1, when James MacAlister was again elected. X"
change of moment occurred during Mr. Somers7 administration. Warm dis-
cussions took place upon the textbook question, resulting in a better class of
manuals. The readers were better printed, more clearly illustrated and better
arranged with reference to the successive development of pupils. Geographies
were greatly improved, better arranged and the maps showed the advance-
ments made in the engraving and printing arts. Evening schools were estab-
lished but the results were somewhat disappointing. There was one evil con-
sequence that grew out of evening schools, namely, parents withdrew their
boys and girls from the day schools to engage in employment under the mis-
taken belief that the young people could get as much education as was need
ful in the evening schools. Mr. MacAlister resigned April 3, L883, to accept a
similar position in the City of Philadelphia.
William E. Anderson was elected superintendent in 1888 and served until
March, 1892, a period of almost nine years. In 1885, a deaf-mute school was
638 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
established in the primary school building ;it the corner of Seventh and
Prairie streets under the charge of Mr. Paul Binner. The Legislature pro-
vided for the support of this school by making an allowance of $100 per annum
for each pupil. When Professor Binner took charge of the deaf-mute school
he was the only teacher, but afterwards be was provided with several assist-
ants as the school grew in numbers and popularity. Other changes occurred
during Mr. Anderson's term resulting in the betterment of scl I work. Mr.
George W. Peckham was elected superintendent in March, 1892. Mr. Peck-
ham had been connected with the Milwaukee High School for the previous
twenty years.
In 1881, during Mr. MacAlister's second term of service, a single kinder-
garten school was opened. Kindergarten schools have rapidly increased in
popularity until now (1919-1920) the enrollment of pupils is given in the
school report as 6,851. The total enrollment including all grades in the schools
is given in the same report as 55,822. .More complete statistics follow in a
later portion of this chapter.
The German Language in the Schools. — The history of the Public Schools
in .Milwaukee was written by Mr. Patrick Donnelly as a contribution to the
"Columbian History of Education in Wisi sin." and we have used his well-
written account largely in the preparation of this chapter. It must be remem
beri-il that at the time he wrote the history no opposition had as yet mani-
fested itself to the teaching of the German language in the schools as was
witnessed during the progress of the great war of later years. Mr. Donnelly
wrote previously to 1893, the year in which the "History of Education in
Wisconsin"' was published. His discussion of the subject, however, is of great
interest in view of the bitterness engendered in the years of war. Public opin-
ion lias become greatly ameliorated as those years are rapidly receding into
the past.
"The very large proportion of German -speaking patrons of the Milwau-
kee public schools," writes Mr. Donnelly, "was the cause of making German
a branch of the course of instruction. In the German speaking districts, such
as the Second, Sixth and Ninth. German was spoken and incidentally taught
even before the school hoard made it a part of the course of instruction in
1867. Teachers of German were at first appointed for those schools in which
the German-speaking children largely predominated.
"Soon after, however, the argument was presented thai there were some
German-speaking children in all the schools, also that there were many others
win. desired to study German. The advantage of understanding a language
which was spoken by more than half of the whole population could not he
questioned. There was another reason advanced I'm- the study of German in
the public schools, and that was that it afforded the surest means of leading
the German-speaking children into the public schools, and thereby to learn
tin' English language.
"After the adoption of German as a pari of the course of instruction.
there was a marked increase of enrollment in the public scl Is, and a cor
responding decrease in the German private schools. In duly. 1869, three of
the Mitchell prizes were given for the liest German translations. For tin' first
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 639
three years after the adoption of German, there were no formal reports as to
the numbers studying that language. In faet, the records contain but little if
any reference to it.
"November 1, 1870, the school board adopted the following rules: First,
applicants for the position of teacher of the, German language should not be
deemed qualified fur Such position until they have passed a satisfactory ex-
amination, showing their capability of writing and teaching both the English
and German languages; second, monthly reports to the superintendent should,
after that time, include the number and percentage of those studying the
German language in the respective grades; third, pupils studying the German
language presented for promotion should be examined with reference to their
proficiency in that language.
"The Second, Ninth and Sixth Ward schools were the exemplars in Ger-
man teaching proficiency. Principals Lau, Hillmantel and Wahl took charge
of the work, and German in their hands attained a high rank of proficiency.
In the English speaking schools German made but slow progress, especially
among English-speaking children. In a few instances individual pupils of the
latter class mastered the power to speak and write the German language.
During the World war German was abolished as a study in the schools.
The City Schools in the Nineties.^On .March 1. 1892, George W. Peckham
was elected superintendent of the schools to succeed Mr. Anderson. The new
superintendent had been connected with the Milwaukee schools since 1873,
and from 1885 to the time of his election to the superintendency had been
principal of the high school. He brought to the office a familiarity of the city
school system that he had gained during his years of experience as a teacher,
as well as a high order of executive ability.
hi the preparations made by the school board for an exhibit at the Chi-
cago World's Fair the proper steps were taken only ninety days before the
opening. In this short time the teachers were able to prepare 100 volumes of
written work. Photographs of buildings and laboratories -were taken, maps
and drawings from the upper grades were got together and mounted, a col
lection of kindergarten work, in which Milwaukee had always excelled, was
assembled, and when the great exposition was opened, Milwaukee was fairly
well represented, considering the great haste in which the display had been
arranged. Each department of the schools won an award of some kind; the
high schools for excellence and improvement shown in literary and scientific
work and mechanical drawing; the elementary schools in clay modeling; also
English, geography, and kindergarten work; and the volumes of pupils' work
for comprehensive presentation of systems, statistics, courses of study, build-
ings and practical manual training.
A Change in the Superintendency. — hi 1896; II. 0. Et. Siefert was elected
superintendent of schools to succeed Mr. Peckham. Mr. Siefert had begun
his professional career as a teacher in the parochial schools, where he taught
for a number of years before he was appointed principal of the Seventh Dis-
trict School in 1885.
The Polish population of Milwaukee requested the school board in 1896-7
increase the attendance and arguing that, as the German language had been
640 EISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
in have their language taughl in the public schools, claiming thai it would
made ;i part of the regular course of study, it was not fair to discriminate in
favor of one foreign Language against another. The board agreed that if it
could lie shown that 2.~>() Polish children were in attendance at any public school
the language would bo taught in, that school, but the required number could
not he mustered and the matter was dropped for the time being.
Mr. Carroll G. Pearse was elected superintendent in 1904 to succeed Mr.
Siefert. Iii 1906, the school board appropriated $480,000 for new buildings,
$250,000 of which was raised by an issue of bonds. The supervising force in
1907 was composed of the superintendent, two assistants for general duty, one
assistant for directing the study of German, one supervisor of music, one of
manual training, and one director of physical education.
In the Sixty-first annual report of the Board of School Directors of the
City of .Milwaukee, for the year ending June 30, 1920, the officers are given as
follows: President, Theo. P. Esser; secretary, Frank M. llarbach; superin-
tendent. Milton ('. Potter: assistant superintendents. Albert E. Kagel, Frank
Kroening, Harold ( ). Berg, and Margaret Canty.
The names of the directors of the school board are as follows: G. W.
Augustyn, Mrs. Victor L. Berger, Loyal Durand, Morris Stern, Elizabeth II.
Thomas, George F. Luehring, James H. Derse, Theodore P. Esser, Wallace
Reiss, Hugo W. Schnetzky, Edward Presold, Gertrude Sherman, Joseph II.
Zens, Richard B. Charlton, Ida L. Soholl. In 19:2] Hugo W. Schnetzky was
made president of the board. Milton C. Potter was re-elected superintendent.
Extension of School Playgrounds. — In view of the increasing value pis I
on space devoted to the physical activities of school children outside the school-
houses, in these days, it is interesting to find in the president's report a refer-
ence to the subject. "Playground additions," he says, "are sorely Deeded to
modernize Milwaukee schools, and to guarantee happiness and natural activity
to our school children. How far .Milwaukee fails of approaching the ideal of
'a block for t-vrvy school," with every school yard reaching to the curb line on
ever\ side, is well known to Milwaukee people."
Dwelling further on this idea, the president continues: "School architects
throughout the United States, Mothers' Clubs without number, the Milwaukee
City Club, and many professional committees, have all of them. long ago. re-
peatedly recommended that no school grounds should be used as such for build-
ing purposes until the full block bounded by the curb line on all sides Miall
have been secured as the premises for the proposed building. This constitutes
the basic fundamental for good light, good air. good exercise, freedom from
interference, assurance of not interfering with the neighborhood life of adults.
and the possibility of having sufficient space for the proper distribution of
playing groups according to physical conditions, grades, ages, or according
to SeX."
A Review of Seventeen Years. In the course of the Sixtieth annual report
of the school directors, for the year ending Juno 30, 1919, the retiring presi
dent. Mr. "William L. Pieplow, reviewed the work of the school board for the
previous seventeen years, in the following interesting passage:
"It has been my privilege to serve Milwaukee for a little more than seven-
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 641
teen years as a school director, during which period there acted as superin-
tendents, H. 0. R. Siefert, Carroll G. Pearse, and Milton ( '. Potter; and as
secretaries, Henry E. Legler and Frank M. Harbach. With this evening I
bring to a close my career in such official capacity. During recent weeks
memories clustered thickly relative to the administration of the school system
during those many years.
"When I became a member of the school board there were twenty-three
directors, who represented respectively as many wards. Among my asso-
ciates in those early years were some splendid men, among this number witli
pride I mention: A. 6. Wright, Jeremiah Quin, H. H. Schwarting, Charles L.
Kissling, C. S. Otjen, Charles L. Aarons, Stanley Czerwinski, August S. Linde-
mann.
"The new school law of 1905 wrought a tremendous change. It broughl
into existence the city's famous •twelve-membership school board,' appointed
by the circuit judges. This board was chosen from the city at large, instead
of from wards or any division. The existence of this board, though short-
lived, marked a period of great progress. Its membership in the majority was
composed of high-minded men, who, moreover, possessed the faculty of solv-
ing intricate problems quickly with understanding, thereby expediting busi-
ness. There served on this board worthy of mention: J. C. Crawford, Thomas
J. Neacy, Glenway Maxon, David Harlowe, William A. Arnold, Joseph Ewens,
John J. Tadych, August S. Lindemann, C. S. Otjen.
"The school law of 1907 increased the membership from twelve to fifteen,
and since that time there has been no change in the constitution of the board.
During these intervening twelve years, in addition to the board's present
membership, I am pleased to mention as having faithfully served the public
school system, the following: Mrs. C. W. Norris, J. M. J. Keogh, J. II. Pue-
licher, Duane Mowry, Emmet Richardson, Charles L. Aarons, Samuel Connell,
George Luehring.
Progressive Steps. — "During these years we may rightly count as steps
forward made by the past and present boards: — Introduction of Manual Train-
ing in the grades; institution of instruction for the blind; incorporation into
the public school system of the trade schools for boys and girls; establish-
ment of open air schools for weak and sickly children; organization of un-
graded classes and of subnormal classes; special supervision of music, draw-
in-, physical training, industrial arts and primary instruction; definite solu-
tion of the foreign language question in the grades: abolition of the organiza-
tions known as 'Fraternities' and 'Sororities' in our high schools.
"The creation of the Extension department which has jurisdiction id'
elementary evening schools, evening high schools, summer high schools, sum-
mer elementary schools, social centers and playgrounds, as well as the licensing
and supervision of all street traders of the city under sixteen years of age,
deserves mention. The construction of school buildings under the direct con-
trol of the board; scientific methods adopted in the making id' purchases;
rules adopted giving to the superintendent of the schools initiative and re-
quiring his recommendation in the matter of appointment and promotion of
(142 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
teachers and principals and also in the mallei- of changing textbooks, were
very important measures. Changes were made from time to time in the stud
taughl in the grades and in the methods of teaching them. In the high schools
now courses have been offered and various rearrangements and readjustments
made.
"The expansion of the school system has been remarkable and the improve-
ments in many respects noteworthy. 'Forward,' "Wisconsin's motto, was the
course followed by the directors, and thai is why Milwaukee is favorably
recognized educationally today. "With the routine work of the system and in
the meeting and solution of the many problems which arise in a school organ-
ization of the size of that of Milwaukee, the individual school director must
necessarily devote much time and effort. I here attest the willing service that
members of this board have rendered so freely to the community."
Interesting Summaries. — In the sixty-first annual report of the school board
some instructive totals are given, as follows: All expenditures for school
purposes for the year ending June 30, 1920, were $3,060,745.63.
The school buildings were as follows: Six high schools, a technical high
school, a school of trades, a school for the deaf, and sixty-live district schools,
making a total of seventy-four school buildings.
The present inventory value of school property (according to the report)
is as follows :
Grounds '. $1,730,310 . 00
Buildings 6,943,730.00
Equipment 615,482.12
Books 93,074.95
Supplies (fuel, etc.) 263,815.40
Total $9,646,412.47
According to the Federal Census Bureau the population of Milwaukee on
December 31, 1920, was 464,639. (It had been announced on May 25th as
457,147.) The school board's report gives the school population of Milwaukee
(four to twenty years) as 130,891, and the population subject to compulsory
attendance under the law (seven to fourteen years) as 58,708.
The enrollment in the day schools was as follows:
In high schools 7,250
In technical high school S31
In school of trades for gilds 667
111 school for the deaf 160
In elementary schools and kindergartens 54.5:19
Total 63,507
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 643
Average number belonging to day schools (daily membership) :
In high schools 6,050
In boys' technical high school 576
In school of trades for girls 464
In school for the deaf 134
In grammar and primary grades 42,912
In kindergartens . . . . • 6,696
Total 56,832
Average daily attendance in day schools :
In high schools 5,789
In boys' technical high school 536
In school of trades for girls 409
In school for the deaf 122
In grammar and primary grades 38,596
In kindergartens 4,993
Total 50,445
Teaching Force
Principals; one for each school 73
Teachers :
In high schools '-'->!l
In school of trades for girls 32
In boys' technical high school 32
In regular grades 956
In kindergartens 166
In all other, such as manual training, cooking, home visiting,
etc 112
Total 1,630
The Distribution of Teachers
In the high schools: 86 men, 163 women.
In the district and other schools: 82 men, 1,218 women.
Private Schools
The teachers employed in the Catholic schools were: 22 men, 301 women.
The attendance in these schools was 17,015.
The teachers employed in the Lutheran schools were: 61 men, 30 women.
The attendance in these schools was 3,500.
The teachers employed in nonsectarian schools \\~<-vf : 90 men, 48 women.
The attendance was 1,377.
Schools of Milwaukee County. — !'The history of the rural schools of Mil-
waukee County during the territorial period is veiled in obscurity," says Col.
J. A. Watrous in his "Memoirs of Milwaukee County." "It is known that
Rev. Enoch G. Underwood, a native of Virginia, settled on a farm in Wauwa-
644 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
tosa in 1835, ;mil thai he taughl school there several winters during tl arly
years of his residence, afterward becoming pastor of the Wauwatosa Bapl si
Church. It is also known thai William \V. Johnson, who was born in Frank-
lin County, Massachusetts, November l!h. 1813, and received a g I educa-
tion in his native state, came to Wisconsin in the spring of 1842; thai he set-
tled in the town of Greenfield where be taughl for a number of years, and
from 1842 to 1848 was a member of the town board of school commissioners.
In every neighborhood, as soon as a sufScienl number of settlers was located
therein, a school was established, but anything like a complete history of these
early institutions of learning' seems to be unobtainable."
Colonel Watrous further comments, as follows: "The constitution of
1848, under which Wisconsin was admitted as a state, provided for a superin-
tendent of public instruction. In 1849 that official made his first report, in
which he gave a statistical abstract concerning the schools in each county. In
Milwaukee County sixty-six districts reported, and from seventeen I10 report
was received, hence, it seems, that at about the time the state was admitted
there were eighty-three school districts in the county. Thirty-two districts
reported log schoolhouses, fourteen frame, and twenty made no report. The
value of school buildings was estimated at $3,925, the best schoolhouse in the
county being- valued at $300, and the poorest at $10. In thirty-seven school-
houses there were no blackboards, and in thirty-eight no maps of any descrip-
tion. The school population was 3,736, and the average length of the school
term was a little less than five months. In 1850 there were seven brick scho
houses reported, five new frame houses had been erected, and the aver,
length of the term was nearly six months.
Growth of Schools in County. — -In ls.">4 the state superintendent, for the
first time." continues Watrous. "included in his report a detailed statement
of the school population, to wit: Town of Franklin, 570; Granville, s7.~> :
Greenfield, 747: hake. 60S: Milwaukee (town). (179: Milwaukee (city . 7.S0S;
Oak Creel<, 608; Wauwatosa. 7*4 : total. 12,679. The apportionment of the
state fund was 72 cents for each child of school age, giving to the Town of
Franklin, $410: Granville, $630; Greenfield, $537; Lake. $437; .Milwaukee
(town . $488; Milwaukee (city), $5,621; Oak Creek. $4:!7: Wauwatosa. $564
"Prior to 1861," proceeds the above account, "each town had its own
superintendent of schools. The Legislature of lsii] oassed an ael abolishing
the office of town superintendent and creating that of county superintendent.
Under the law the counties were given the privilege of creating two
districts and electing a superintendent I'm' each. Milwaukee County did this.
the lirst district embracing the towns of Franklin, Greenfield, Lake. Oak
Creek and Wauwatosa, and the second district > iposed of the towns of
Granville and Milwaukee (outside of the citj ."
Colonel Watrous in his "Memoirs of Milwaukee County," a mosl excel-
lent book of reference, gives a list of the superintendents of the county schools
since thi' establishment of the office by law. with the year in which each was
elected, which is quoted as follows:
"First District William Lawler. 1861; .lames F. Devine, 1866; Thomas
O'Herrin, 1874; -lames A. Ruan, 1880.
THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 645
"Second District— "William Swain, 1861; Edward Tobin, 1864; Anson W.
Buttles, 1866: James L. Foley, 1870; Thomas F. Clarke, 1878; George H.
Fowler, 1880."
In 1881 the two districts were consolidated, and the superintendents were
as follows: John Reilly, 1881; C. II. Lewis, 1884; Philip A. Lynch, 1886;
M. D. Kelley, 1892; Herbert J. Piper, 1896; Emil L. Roethe, 1896; Lynn B.
Stiles, 1898: Jesse F. Cory, 1902; Hugo A. Pauly, 1907; Paul W. Huth, 1913;
E. T. Griffin, 1917.
The information concerning the county superintendents of schools was
revised and extended in May, 1921, by Mr. E. T. Griffin, the present counts-
superintendent of schools.
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING AND THE
GESU CHURCH
THE TRINITY HOSPITAL-MEDICAL COLLEGE, MARQUETTE CNIVEESITl
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OP LEARNING
Marquette University. — In 1906, under a new charter, .Marquette College
became a university. As long ago as 1864 a charter for Marquette College
was obtained from the Legislature, granting powers "to confer such literary
honors and degrees as the trustees may deem proper." Many years before,
however, the initial step had been taken in the foundation of this institution
during a visit to Europe by Rt. Rev. John Martin Henni, Catholic Bishop of
Milwaukee, in the interests of his diocese. While on this visit Bishop Henni
was offered in trust the sum of ^16,000 by Chevalier J. G. De Boeye, of Ant-
werp, Belgium, for the purpose of establishing in his diocese an institution of
learning under the direction of the Jesuits. The trust was accepted.
In 1S5.3, two Jesuit fathers, Rev. J. L. Gleizal and Rev. I. J. Boudreaux.
came to Milwaukee on which occasion Bishop Henni invited them to carry out
the design to establish a college. Four years later St. Aloysius' Academy was
opened in a small building which eventually was absorbed and superseded by
the more pretentious St. Gall's Academy. The fund donated by Mr. De Boeye
was used by the bishop to purchase a site for the future college, and trans-
ferred to the Jesuits, and in 1863 they bought adjacent property sufficient to
give them the ownership of the entire block bounded by State, Prairie, Tenth
and Eleventh streets; and in 1864 a charter was obtained as above mentioned.
Laying of the Corner Stone. — On August 15, 1880, the corner stone of
Marquette College was laid with appropriate ceremonies. On this occasion
Hon. William J. Onahan, of Chicago, delivered an address. Mr. Onahan was
often referred to as "the premier Catholic layman of the United States." He
enjoyed the distinction of having been appointed by Pope Leo XITI "honorary
private chamberlain," and in later years as the recipient of the "Laetere
Medal" from the University of Notre Dame. One year later the first of the
proposed college buildings was finished and opened for the reception of stu-
dents mIio attended to the number of about one hundred. The classes in-
creased in numbers so that by June, 1887, the college graduated its first class
with the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1893, the yearly attendance had
reached an average of about 275 students, "while its alumni and graduates,"
says the account printed in the "Columbian History of Education," "are
already numerous in the city, working their way to prominence in business
and the professions."
The student in this institution is taught systematically to "read that he
may become a full man, to write that he may become an exact man. and to
647
148 |[lsToi;v OF MILWAUKEE
talk thai he may become a ready man," according to Lord Bacon's dictum.
Marquette University "lias developed in a non-sectarian way until it is now
an institution of and for all the people. In a recenl campaign for funds to
take care of its growing am] war-time needs, Marquette lias had the unstinted
endorsement of Milwaukeeans of all creeds in such a way that its future has
become a rosy part of the city's outlook."
Departments of the University. — Under its present organization Marquette
University consists of the following departments: College of Arts and
Science; Applied Science and Engineering; School of Dentistry; R. A. John-
ston College of Economies; School of Journalism; School of Law; School of
Medicine; Conservatory of Music ; School of Pharmacy; Training School for
Nurses; Marquette Academy; University High School. It is also an accredited
school of the United States Army, and during the late war it was a part of the
great American war machine. The board of regents arc working constantly
with the interests of both the university and the city in view. The executive
officers are: Rev. Herbert ( '. Noonan, S. J., president; Rev. James 1). Foley,
S. .1., secretary; Rev. Eugene Rudge, S. J., treasurer.
"When its foundation was first projected," says the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Augusl
Zeininger, in his sketch printed in Stearns' "Columbian History of Educa-
tion in Wisconsin," "the noble-souled Bishop Henni desired that tin' institu-
tion should be named after I'ere Marquette, with the hope that his religious
brethren, now two and a half centuries after he has gone to his reward, may
make it a worthy monument to his great name."
Milwaukee-Downer College. — The Milwaukee-Downer College is a standard
college for women, it is accredited by tin- North Central Association of
Colleges and Secondary Schools. It is accepted by the Association of Amer-
ican Universities. The college offers full four-year courses leading to the
degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Sciences and various other branches.
The college campus is located in the northern part of the City of Milwau-
kee, between Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River, and includes about
forty-three acres of land on which are natural woods and open fields.
The Milwaukee-Downer Seminary is an independent institution controlled
by the president and trustees of the college, but is immediately directed by its
own dean and separate staff of teachers. "While the seminary is a college
preparatory school, and its regular courses of study are designed to lay a
sound foundation for successful college work, it has th pially important
function of providing adequately for those who do not wish to enter college.
Pupils desiring to specialize in music or in some department of art. those pre-
paring for travel or study abroad, and those with a limited time to devote to
formal study, are offered instruction to meet their needs. The literary course
furnishes a sound and systematic training for those pupils who do not desire
a college education, but wish a thorough training in a general educat: if
high School scope."
Buildings and Endowment. -The buildings of the Milwaukee-Downer Col-
lege consist of Merrill Hall. Eolton Hall. Johnston Hall. McLaren Hall. Greene
Memorial Library, Albert Memorial Hall. Vogel Hall. Kimberly Hall, power-
house, infirmary and other structures. In all there are sixteen buTdings.
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OP LEARNING 649
The total cost of grounds, buildings and equipment up to 1920 was $779,000.
The endowmnent funds amounted to $666,000, in addition to which there are
pledges due to be paid in 1922 which brings the total up to $1,511,000.
In the commencement address of President Ellen C. Sabin, .June. 1920,
she says that it is the seventieth commencement ''since the first class of two
members was graduated by Milwaukee College. It is the fifty-seventh since
the first class of five members was graduated by Downer College, and it closes
twenty-five years of the reorganized institutions under the name of Milwau-
kee-Downer College."
Higher Accomplishments Attained. — While the material condition of the
institution may profitably be dwelt upon, it is the higher aims and accomplish-
ments that deserve especial emphasis. "The business of a college," continues
the language of the address, "is to aid the young to secure knowledge, to
develop their powers, and to establish right character. It should be judged
by its aim and accomplishment in these directions. It is, therefore, a matter
of satisfaction that this college with its very modest resources has its place as
a member of the Association of American Colleges; that it is accepted by the
Association of American Universities; that it is an institutional member of the
Association of Collegiate Alumnae; that it is an approved member of the North
Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Its graduates have
from the first been welcomed by the graduate schools of universities. Those
who wish tn teach, find that their diplomas give privileges equal to those given
by the diplomas of any other institutions. * * *
"Like every self-respecting person or organization, this college has a
policy of its own. The steadfast policy of this college has been to try to meet
the needs of its locality and always to understand and meet the essential
requirements in the education of women. We are not indifferent to academic,
traditions or to the experience of other colleges, but we have not simply
adopted for ourselves the curricula of men's colleges as has been done by
many women's colleges or made some college of reputation our pattern and
guide. * We have our own ideals and they are in several important
respects different from those exemplified by the honorable institutions east
of the Alleghanies. Every institution should be individual, without seeking
to be odd or different, because its environment has peculiar claims, its condi-
tions dictate some particular line or lines of interest, its traditions have in-
stalled worthy and still reasonable purposes and methods.
Traditions and Ideals. — "We have constantly protected and emphasized
sound academic studies and we would allow nothing to impair the cultural
disciplines of the languages and literature, the social sciences, pure science.
and philosophy. We believe also that education must have motive and end,
a point that has often been overlooked in education, thus leading to disap-
pointment in the lives of those who have studied much and in the hopes of
those who have pinned their faith to education.
"We think the connection of the most abstruse subject with life may be
demonstrated and should be recognized by the student. We further believe
that woman's education should prepare a woman for women's chief vocation,
and that the science and art of home making, which is a business most com-
*■'■•■';
THE MILWAl'KKE-DUWXEH COLLEGE BI'ILDIM IS
THE ' ONI < H; I ' I \ COLLEGE
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 651
plex and most significant, should form a recognized part of her training for
life. We believe that music furnishes an essential and unique element of cul-
ture and power. We believe that understanding of the principles of art,
appreciation of beauty, and taste are essential to a well rounded education,
and therefore we provide such fields of study and give them credit toward a
degree. We have seen with interest the recent growing tendency to recog-
nize these subjects even in the strongholds of conservatism.
A Vision of the Future. — "The only purpose of such a review as this,"
continues Miss Sabin in her memorable address, "is to take account of where
we stand, gather up the useful experience of the past, and go forward to the
remoter goal, even 'to the bound of the waste.' We have now a firm founda-
tion which the little school of 1850 and the little college of 1895 would have
looked upon as quite substantial. The work before us should now be stimu-
lated to greater effort and encouraged to finer undertakings by the experience
of the past. We are, if we are awake to our opportunities, at the beginning of
much larger and still better things. Our needs are great, but they will be
met abundantly if we courageously go forward with a sufficiently splendid
plan and purpose. Our danger lies in inadequate vision rather than in ex-
travagant expectations.
"We have had many great hearted friends in the past, we have them now,
why shall we not have more in the future? The buildings we now sorely
need must come soon ; the improvement of our grounds will be provided for ;
the endowment we still require to enable us to meet in an adequate manner
the needs of the students who seek us, will come soon, when people better
know the importance of the work we do, and perceive clearly the greater work
we seek to do.
"The end of seventy years, the close of a quarter of a century, and the
review that these landmarks suggest to us, constitute the urge toward new
achievements, and supply the irrefutable argument for our courage in every
reasonable ambition. Where we have thus far garnered 'some thirty-fold,' let
us now prepare for a harvest of 'some sixty-fold!' '
For the year ending at commencement, 1921, the number of the trustees
was thirty-two. The number of members of the faculty was forty-two in the
college, and fourteen in the seminary. These numbers include the entire teach-
ing staff, but do not duplicate in the seminary those members of I lie college
faculty who teach seminary classes, as in music, art and home economics.
The number of students enrolled in the eollege last year was 405, in the semi-
nary, 201 ; a total in both college and seminary of 606 students.
Concordia College. — In 1881, Concordia College was established in Mil-
waukee. "This college is an institution of the church," quoting from the in-
troduction to the catalogue for 1920-1921, "being conducted and supported
by the 'Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and oilier States,' the
largest branch of the Lutheran Church in America." It was opened in the
same year in quarters provided by the Trinity German Lutheran Congrega-
tion, under the charge of C. Huth, a graduate of Concordia Seminary of St.
Louis.
"The special object of the education afforded iu Concordia College," it is
652 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
said, "is in prepare Christian young men for a thorough course in theology.
The college, therefore, may be considered ;i preparatory institution for such
Lutheran divinity schools as require for admission a thorough acquaintai
with Latin and Greek, a go«d working knowledge of Hebrew, and a mastery
of English and German. At the same time it is the general aim of Concordia
( lollege to tit young men to pursue successfully the advanced courses of study
offered by the best universities of t lie country, as well as to instruct and pre-
serve its charges in the true Christian faith as taught in the Evangelical
Lutheran Church.
"With ihis end in view, Concordia College was modeled after the 'gym-
nasia' of Germany, where most time and energy are expended on the classics.
But in order to give young men committed to the care of the institution a
culture somewhat more suited to their wants as American citizens, certain
branches of knowledge were added to the curriculum, not commonly included
in the Latin schools of Europe. The course of studies, all of which arc obliga-
tory, extends over a period of six years."
In the courses of instruction, as they are outlined in the catalogue, tic
German department is naturally strong, most of the students being: of Ger-
man parentage, and when they enter are already possessed of a living knowl-
edge of the language. "The course seeks to give the student a ready com-
mand of the vast resources of the German tongue, to teach him to use it.
whether orally or with the pen, with ease and elegance, and to impart to him a
knowledge of its history anad literature."
"The work in English." it is further sad. "is similar to that in German.
All the students of Concordia College are expected to speak and write both
languages with equal readiness and facility. The course is designed
to furnish the student with the power of correct oral and literary expression,
to stimulate a love of reading, and to acquaint him with the vast fields of
English literature."
The English language has in the last few years l> no the medium of
instruction in most branches, writes Rev. M. J. F. Albrecht, the president
of the college. "As yet we need a bi-lingual ministry." he says, of men who
can preach in German as well as in English, "hut the time is rapidly ap-
proaching when German will lie eliminated entirely."
Concordia College is situated in the western part of Milwaukee, the grounds
consisting of 7 ' - acres, affording a roomy campus and sites for the college
buildings. These consist of a main building and two dormitories, and a
number of residences for the use of members of the faculty. The Recitation
Hall is used for purposes of instruction and worship and contains eight class
rooms, the museum, library and chapel.
The faculty is composed of ten members, and the number of students en-
rolled for the years 1920-192] is 191.
Continuation Schools. -At the annual meeting of the National Education
Association, held at St. Paul, .Minn., in July, 1914, a \i-ry interesting account
of the "Continuation Scl Is" of Milwaukee was given by Et. I.. Cooley, prin-
cipal, a summary of which is presented, as follows:
The lirst on.- to I pe 1 entered upon its work November 1. 1912, with
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 653
an attendance of 200 girls under sixteen years of age, from the department
stores of the city. These girls were working on "permits" issued by the
State Industrial Commission through the office of the Factory Inspector of
the city. In further explanation it may be said that all hoys and girls under
sixteen years of age and over fourteen may. under certain conditions, se-
cure a "permit" to work at a "gainful occupation." Under recent legisla-
tion one of the conditions to lie fulfilled in order that the child may work is
that he shall attend continuation school at least one half-day a week for
eight months.
Obligations of the Employer. — This attendance upon the part of the pupil
is an obligation upon the employer, as well as upon the child, inasmuch as
the employer is required to give such employee permission to attend school
at the time requested by the school authorities. This school attendance must
be counted as a part of the boy's or girl's regular work.
The school has grown rapidly from its small beginning: the demand of
both the compulsory and voluntary attendance has led to the acquisition of
additional space and a considerable enlargement of the teaching force. There
are now 1,600 girls and 2,000 boys attending these schools one-half day a
week. Thirty-one classrooms are now occupied, and seventeen women and
twenty-one men comprise the day teaching force.
The school aims to teach the- "permit" girls to cook, do housework and
to select suitable goods for wearing apparel. A definite effort is made to
direct their reading that a taste for good books may be formed. Typewriting
and stenography are taught. The hoys are classified broadly and those who
clearly intend to follow commercial pursuits are directed in their studies to
that end. Those who manifest special ability in mechanical and free-hand
drawing have occupations called to their attention in which such ability
would be most useful.
Aid in the Selection of Vocations. — "The work with boys and girls is
further intended to guide them in their selection of vocations, in preserve by
means of reviews what academic knowledge they may possess upon leaving
the elementary school and to advance them in those branches; to assist and
advise them in securing work, to give them greater ability to do things with
their hands, and to train them in the duties and obligations of good citizen-
ship."
The results accomplished in these continuation schools have been wonder-
ful. "It has been demonstrated that in the brief half-day a week at the con-
tinuation schools much of the work done in the elementary schools can be
clinched and made a permanent possession of the boy or girl. Likewise in
tlr's time a valuable practical training can he given, which will be found im-
mediately useful. The function of these schools, however, is much broader
in scojie than merely to provide for the 'permit' pupils, of which there are
approximately five thousand in the city. The task of meeting the needs
of this particular feature of the work has been a large one and has occupied
our attention during the first months."
Grouping the Boys by Occupations. — Most of the pupils have rather vague
ideas with regard to their future field of work or trades to be learned. Groups
654 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
are outlined to which they are assigned on entering until a better distribu-
tion can be made. A large number of occupations, such as may be found in
an industrial community like Milwaukee, have thus been classified, bul a
certain degree of elasticity to allow for changes is aecessary in practice. Many
pupils have no idea at first of a definite career and have little conception of
the various trades and occupations they wish to engage in. Their ideas are
derived from chance discussions with their families at home or among their
older working friends. Their ideas shift with little reason from one to an-
other of the trades and occupations with which they become acquainted, and
thus the teacher has to give them a diversified shop experience, — woodwork-
ing, metalworking, electrical connections and a great variety of manufactur-
ing, so that they may adapt themselves to that particular calling in w h eh
they will ultimately become engaged.
A boy who thinks he wants to be a plumber or steam-fitter is taken seri-
ously at first and is given instruction in such trades. This will be useful
to him no matter what calling he may later engage in. The girls will be
taiight home economics, and many useful services in the care of the siek and
aged, and other helpless members of the family. Thus will be cultivated
among all the pupils a feeling of confidence that will promote efficiency and
better standards of work.
"To evolve an institution," concludes Principal Cooley, "so varied in
work offered and so adaptable in its organization as to meet these needs, and
fit it into the intervals of leisure enjoyed by members of the community is a
difficult task. Much of how to do it can be learned only in the doing."
The Continuation School. — The continuation school movement for the
United States originated in Madison through joint resolution No. 53 of the
1909 session of the Wisconsin State Legislature. This Legislature appointed
a committee consisting of: State Superintendent C. P. Cary, chairman; pres-
ident University of Wisconsin, C. R. Van Hise; superintendent of public in-
struction City of Milwaukee, C. G. Pearse; dean extension division University
of Wisconsin, L. E. Reber; legislative librarian, Dr. Charles McCarthy, secre-
tary; with instructions that a study be made and a report drafted and sub-
mitted to the Legislature of 1911. No one could study or understand the
beginnings of the movement in Wisconsin without acquaintance with the
report of this committee, which report may be found at the public library
under the title, "Report of the Commission upon the Plans for tin- Extension
of Industrial and Agricultural Training."
Acting in accordance with the recommendations of this report, the Leg-
islature of 1911 passed the first compulsory continuation school law enacted
in any state in the CJnion. In .March of ll'li.'. the Board of Education of the
City of Milwaukee, in compliance with the state law. appointed two employ-
ers, namely, A. 'I'. Van Scoj ami A. J. Lindemann, ami two employees, J. D.
Bickey and Jos. La Fleur. and these gentlemen, together with C. G. Pearse,
superintendent of public instruction, became the first continuation school
board for the City of Milwaukee. The superintendent of public instruction
is ex-officio a member of the local board of industrial education. This
board was appointed by the local board of education, but under the law, is
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 655
given full control over the schools which it establishes, without reference
tn the board of education further than has been mentioned.
The first meeting of this board was held May 20, 1912. A. T. Van Scoy
was elected president, and J. D. Hickey secretary. It was not until Sep-
tember 11, 1912, that a director was appointed. At that meeting R. L. Cooley,
then a grammar school principal in the City of Milwaukee, was elected the
first director of vocational education for the city. Mr. Cooley had been a
city superintendent of schools and principal of high school at Oconto, Wis.,
for eight years, and his experience had included service in all grades, from
the ungraded country school on through the high school.
Mr. Van Scoy served as a member of the board but a few months and
resigned, and on December 30, 1912, F. J. Matchette was elected to take his
place. Mr. Matchette served until 1916 when he resigned to take up perm-
anent residence in New York City. Mr. La Fleur served until January, 1916,
when he resigned because of a change of status from employee to employer.
Mr. Pearse, as ex-officio member of the board, vipon his resignation was suc-
ceeded by Supt. M. C. Potter. J. D. Hickey and A. J. Lindemann were mem-
bers of the first local board of industrial education appointed in this city,
and have continued until the present writing, January, 1922.
During the period from November, 1912, to January, 1922, the develop-
ment has been very rapid. It seemed at first, a strange and heretical idea
that young employees should be brought in from shops, stores, and factories
for the brief period of one half-day each week at a central school, where an
effort would be made to stimidate, guide, and direct the young people, and
put some system and order into their efforts during the formative years of
their lives.
When this obligation fell 'upon the board of industrial education and the
director whom they had appointed, there were no schoolhouses where these
classes could be held. Every school building in the city was occupied. This
was, perhaps, a fortunate incident, and l.ed to the ceutralized school conducted
in rented quarters. The first classes were held beginning in the fall of 1912
in the Manufacturers' Home Building, 62 Mason Street. As the work de-
veloped, the space that could be obtained in that building was soon outgrown,
and additional space was taken in the Stroh Building, October 12, 1914. In
spite of the newness of the idea of part-time education for young employed
people in this country, the plan was evidently sound as shown by the increas-
ing popular support, which it obtained as reflected in the laws passed by suc-
ceeding legislatures.
The original law required but one half-day each week upon the part of
all employed people up to sixteen years of age, and gave the local board of
industrial education control over its finances up to one-half mill on the
assessed valuation of the city. The 1917 Legislature increased the financial
control of the board to three-fourths of a mill on the assessed valuation in
their cities, and increased the period of compulsory school attendance to
seventeen years of age. Subsequent legislatures have increased the niillage
for the support of these schools from :; | to 11/2 mills, and the compulsory
school attendance, at the Legislature of 1921, has been raised to eight hours
THE MILWATTKEE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 657
a week up to eighteen years of age, and half-time between fourteen and
sixteen years of age.
Not only has there been th's compulsory part-time attendance require-
ment, but the development of our apprenticeship law, the industrial rehabil-
itation, and the obligation which the law imposes upon the community for the
development of voluntary classes in vocational subjects has created great
necessity for housing and equipment. This, the local board of industrial edu-
cation is meeting. On January 19, 1916, the board of industrial education ac-
quired a site at Seventh and Prairie streets at a cost of $100,000. There bus
since that time been erected a six-story building, 80 by 265 feet, known as
the First Unit of the Milwaukee Vocational School. This unit has been oc-
cupied since September, 1920. There is at the present time being erected a
second unit to the east of the first unit, at an approximate cost of $1,200,000.
The school, when completed, will occupy the entire block between Sixth
and Seventh, Prairie and State, and will be 4.14 feet in length, by 220 feet in
width, six stories high, and will cost $.'1,000,0(10.
It is hoped within this building that there will be facilities, which will
enable the school organization therein contained to adequately meet the edu-
cational needs of the young people between fourteen and eighteen years of
age, through the plan of supplementing the efforts of the young men and
women as they endeavor to carve out their place in society.
Milwaukee does not believe it can afford to bring up thousands of young-
men and women in such a manner that their adult earning capacity is un-
necessarily stunted, their adult purchasing capacity abridged, and the limits
of possible business expansion needlessly limited. The fact that this simple
economic cycle is pointed out does not mean that true value is not placed
upon the spiritual and social values of further education for the great num-
ber of young people, who early leave full-time school and go to work, but
merely that since we must appeal for taxes to support the institution we are
fortunate indeed in return to lie able to prove conclusively that it will cost
more money and be a bigger incubus upon business to NOT support these
schools than to support them. This statement has a place in the history be-
cause of the fact that our city has adopted this view and has so unitedly
supported the new movement. R. L. Cooley, director.
The Milwaukee University School. — So late as 1S-U> the conditions of the
schools in Milwaukee were still most deplorable. At a mass meeting of
citizens which was held December 12, 1845, Rufus King declared that of the
1,781 children between five and sixteen years, only 584 were receiving an
education, 228 in public and 356 in private schools. Neither kind of school
met the requirements which an intelligent parent may justly expect of the
constitution in which bis children are to be instructed. Moved by the desire
for better educational advantages for their children, the German portion of
the settlers, after careful deliberation, founded the .Milwaukee Educational
Association, May 10, 1851.
Its officers were chosen May 17, 1851, at the first regular meeting of the
society. The board consisted of the following members: Doctor Aigner,
president; C. E. Wendt, secretary; M. Stein, treasurer; Doctor Luening, E.
658 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
Prieger, II. Werdehofl and F. Fratney, executive committee. I tediately
after the establishing of a private schoo] was decided upon.
Peter Engelmann, who a1 first had done private tutoring a1 the home of
the parents of the late Gen»F. C. Winkler, and later had himself founded a
school, was chosen principal of the new school which was given the name
German and English Academy. Prom small beginnings the school grew rap-
idly. Mr. Engelmann proved himself to be a teacher of unusual ability. He
gained for his school an enviable reputation, and ii will be admitted that in
the educational development of our city, the German-English Academy be-
came an important factor, and many of its former pupils occupied positions
in which they became instrumental in the civic development of the city.
Peter Engelmann and his friends began to make collections of specimens
of the flora and fauna of Wisconsin during the early part of L852. With the
help of men like Messrs. Adolph Meineeke and Christian Preusser, he founded
the Natural History Association of Wisconsin and established a museum in
the school building. The museum grew to such size that the quarters the
school could offer soon became inadequate.
In consequence the collection was offered by the school to the City id' .Mil-
waukee. It was accepted in 1882 and given the name: The Milwaukee Public
Museum, by which name it is known to the population of our city, though
very few will remember its origin.
The German-English Academy, or Engelmann School, as it was often
called, was always ready to accept new educational ideas and many reforms
were introduced before they found entrance into other schools of the city.
Of these there may be mentioned the founding of the first kindergarten in
1873, the emphasizing of a systematic physical training, the introduction of
manual arts such as modeling, woodwork, needle and fancy work, the intro-
duction of elementary instruction in foreign languages, science and history
into the grades. The latter crystalized into a course of study for the seventh
and eighth grades as it is now advocated for the junior high school. TJhe
division of our grades into six elementary and six high-school grades was
made at the time when the high-school department was added to the former
eight grades of the school, in 1909.
The year 1918 brought a change of the name id' the school to Milwaukee
University School, to which is added, in due respect to its founder, "founded
by Peter Engelmann, 1851."
In 1878 the school became the training school of the National Teachers
Seminary and the Normal School of Gymnastics of the North American
Gymnastic Union and obtained through these connections a national reputa-
tion.
The school buildings are another proof of the growth of the institution.
On July 1. 1851, the school was opened with two classes in a rented building
on Kast Water street previously occupied by .Mr. Engelmann alone. In L852
a modest little building was purchased on Grand Avenue. I In October 31,
1853, a new building was dedicated, which had been erected on Broadway,
and to which in L854 and 1864 respectively, a north wing and a south wing
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEAKNING 659
were added. The most marked stride forward the school made was when it
was presented with its present quarters donated by Mrs. Elizabeth Pfister
and Mrs. Louise Vogel as a memorial of Mr. Guido Pfister, the deceased hus-
band and father of the two donors. When the scope of the school was
broadened by the addition of the high-school grades a new building was
erected facing Milwaukee Street, but connected by a covered bridge with the
building on Broadway.
Peter Engelmann died May IS, 1874. lie was succeeded by William N.
Ilailmann. Many reforms took place under his administration. Mr. Hail-
mann ranked high as an educator, and his ability was recognized through-
out the United States. He held several important positions of which the super-
intendency of the Indians schools deserves special mention. For the intro-
duction of the kindergarten into the American school Mr. Ilailmann did more
than any other single person in the country.
Mr. Hailmann was followed in 1878 by [sidor Keller. .Mr. Keller pos-
sessed great administrative qualifications which were especially useful when
the National Teachers' Seminary was founded and connected witii the Uni-
versity School. After an unsuccessful attempt, which was advocated by
Doctor Keller, to remove the seminary to New York, Mr. Keller returned to
the latter city, and Dr. Hermann Dorner, who had been the teacher of
Natural Sciences in the schools was chosen as his successor, September, 1885.
He served in the capacity of head of the institution until May, 1888, when
Emil Dapprich was elected to the office. Mr. Dapprich came from Belleville,
111., where he had occupied the position as city and county superintendent.
He held the position as director of the school until the time of his death. The
years of ids activity in the University School were rich in events and ideals
realized.
Mr. Dapprich was a man with extraordinary qualifications, who would
have left his mark in whatever vocation he might have chosen. He was a
speaker of great ability. As a scientist he gained fame all over the country.
His collection of the American Flora which was on exhibition at the Paris
Exposition in 1910, received a gold medal. He was, however, greatest as a
teacher. As such he will live in tin' memory of all those who had the good
fortune to sit at his feet at the Milwaukee University School. Mr. Dapprich
died November 25, 1903. He was succeeded by Max Griebsch, who had been
connected with the school since 1893 as teacher of history and psychology.
A Tribute to Peter Engelmann. — One of the halls located in the Audi-
torium building has been named Engelmann. The old-time pupils of this pio-
neer schoolmaster also provided a memorial tablet to be placed in the hall.
In accepting the same on February S, 1912, William George Bruce, then pres-
ident of the Auditorium Governing Board, gave expression to the following:
"Since the exercises have thus far been conducted in the German language
and with all the tender and sweet inflections of which that tongue is capable,
it may sound inharmonious at this time to utter an English word. There may,
however, be a degree of fitness on this occasion in coupling the two langu-
ages which have been such an important part of our local enonomic and social
life.
660 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"In accepting, as the presidenl of the Auditorium Board, this splendid
memorial tablet, commemorating the life and labors of the late Peter Bngel-
mann, 1 desire to express the sincere acknowledgements of thai body.
"This acknowledgement, however, should hear more than the mere thanks
of the administrators for the addition of an embellishment. It should hear
also the assurance that this hall which yon have dedicated to the cause ol
education will for all li he utilized ill the interest of that cause. Tie- tablet
possesses ;i purpose and meaning which goes deeper than a mere embellish-
ment. In this cold bronze is treasured for all time the warm love and af
fection of a thousand hearts. It is the tribute of human appreciation am'
gratitude.
"It may on this occasion I f some interest to learn how the name Pete)
Engelmann was chosen for one of the halls of this building'. While the plans
for the same were still in the hands of the architects it became evident that the
halls would have to receive some designation.
"The thought at once suggested itself that the names of the public-spirited
pioneers such as Solomon Juneau, Byron Kilbourn, George II. Walker and
John Plankinton, should be honored. There was a suggestion thai the Ger-
man-American element, which had contributed so much to the material and
intellectual welfare of the community, should he remembered. This sugges-
tion met with objection, however, in that some one believed that honors should
not be conferred upon nationality lines, hut rather upon past services.
"It had been urged that one of the primary purposes of the Auditorium
was an educational one. \ had fostered that idea in the campaign for sub-
scriptions for the erection of this building and found that it met with general
acceptance. When, therefore, the name Engelmann was mentioned — and no
one seems to remember who mentioned it first — several of the board members
favored it. Tonight, 1 take pride in the thought that I vigorously championed
the acceptance of the name Peter Engelmann for the designation of this hall.
"This magnificent man not only represented much that is best in German-
American life and thought and effort, but he had won for himself the distinc-
tion of an ideal educator and intellectual leader. It is, therefore, with more
than ordinary sense of gratification that I accept this tribute at your hands.
While it enshrines the wealth of esteem and love which you bear for a great
man, this beautiful tablet is also an expression of your own character and
worth. In honoring him you honor yourselves.
"I cannot refrain from pointing out to you the lesson to he drawn from
this brilliant affair. It should strengthen the Americans of German descent
in a steadfast adherence to the traits of character, which have elevated and
distinguished them upon the American continent; it should stimulate a renewed
appreciat ion for the nobler trail it ions and customs id' a greal mother count ry :
it should awaken a recognition for the greal treasures of thought, which have
come to us from an older world. And finally it should implant a determina-
tion to perpetuate in a new land, that which is truest, that which is holiest,
thai which is best.
"While this great Structure, with its many utilitarian qualities has hon-
ored the pioneer, the trader and the builder, tonighl it roinmemorat es the life
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 661
and services of an educator. It tells the story of Peter Engelmann as a man,
a citizen and an educator. These walls have thus been sanctified with the
holier purposes of life in the memory of one whose very name will shine out
as a brilliant example of the good, the true, the noble. This tablet, will have
a lasting- home within these walls. It symbolizes the primary purpose of this
great structure, perpetuates the name of a true man and serves as an inspira-
tion to succeeding generations."
The State Historical Society. — Like some other progressive western states
Wisconsin has always been distinguished for its advanced ideas, and its peo-
ple have not hesitated to embody them in legislation. For example, we may
especially make mention of an early movement for a historical society, which
was organized in January, 1849, less than a year after the admission of the
state into the Union. Little was dune in the first four years of its existence,
but in 1854, the society became an active department of the state government,
and it has been well supported in its work continuously since that time.
Lyman C. Draper became the guiding spirit of the society, and continued as
such until 1886, when he resigned and Reuben Gold Thwaites succ led him
as the head of the society. Thwaites continued in this office up to the time of
his death in the fall of 1913. He was succeeded in the office by Milo M. Quaife,
elected December 19, 1913. An Illinois historian, writing in 1915, referred
to some episodes of Wisconsin history in the following language:
The brevity of this sketch, having so large a subject to deal with, renders
it necessary to confine its scope to some important branch of the state's won-
derful development. Thus the historical society and the state university are
chosen for such description so that at, least these important phases of its
history can be clearly placed before the reader. The subject is a timely one
in view of the movement now mi foot in our own state to provide a building
at Springfield, 111., for its rapidly growing historical collections, though we
must confess to our regret that we are still behind what our sister state of
Wisconsin has already accomplished.
The Historical Society Building. — Adding to what is said above it is inter-
esting to observe that in the years from 1895 to 1900, the State of Wisconsin
entered upon the construction of a splendid building for the use of its his-
torical society, which had by that time become the most important institu-
tion of its kind west of the Alleghanies. Its collections had reached a total
of nearly three hundred thousand books and pamphlets, besides a vast store
of museum objects and miscellaneous historical data. The new building cost
the state $610,000, at a time when prices were unusually low, and it is prob-
able that the building and equipment could not today be replaced for
$1,000,000.
Anyone who has ever seen this beautiful building, situated as it is on a
site adjoining the grounds of the state university, will be impressed with its
vast size and capacity. And yet, in 191(1, and the two following years, it
was found necessary to add a wing to the main building costing $250,000
which gives a total capacity of over six hundred thousand volumes. It is pre
dieted in a later annual report that still another wing will be necessary within
a few years to keep pace with its lusty growth. The appropriation by the
MILWAUKEE STATE XOI.'MAL scllool.
RIVERSIDE IIKill SCHOOL, EAST SIDE
THE HIGHER INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING 663
state for the maintenance of the society for 1913 was $36,000, added to which
the institution had the benefit of the income from $73,000 of invested funds.
Importance of a Historical Society. — No commuuity can afford to neglect
its annals, any more than an individual or family can disregard its ancestry.
Certain leading spirits in the early days of Wisconsin, realized the importance
of preserving the materials of history and public sentiment in that state, has
at all times supported this view. Especially in local history is found the se-
curest home of freedom where the public interests of each individual is rec-
ognized in his relations with his neighbors, and this perhaps in greater degree
than in the wider councils of the nation. For, as Emerson writes:
"Of what avail the plow and sail,
Or lands, or life, if freedom fail?"
"History," says Cervantes, "is the depository of great actions, the witness
of what is past; the example and the instructor of the present, and the mon-
itor of the future." An eminent critic once wrote, "If we could expand the
rivalry of individuals for wealth and power into a generous competition of
cities and states in founding galleries of art, museums, libraries and institu-
tions of learning, we should soon see the dawn of the true golden age." We
•have a striking example of the realization of this vision in the story of Wis-
consin.
The State University. — Not only in its great historical society, but in its
other institutions has Wisconsin splendidly carried forward its work in the
development of the community comprised within its limits. The State Uni-
versity was incorporated only a month or two after the state's admission into
the Union in 1848. For various reasons, a state tax in support of the uni-
versity was not levied until 1872, since which time, however, it has regularly
received generous aid from each recurring Legislature. A constitutional pro-
vision required that the university should be placed "at or near" the cap-
ital, that is, at Madison. The main building is situated a mile from the
capitol, occupying 600 acres on a beautiful and picturesque trad along 1 he
shores of Lake Mendota. The attendance of students in 1!»1!! was 6,979, and
its corps of professors and instructors numbered 682.
Change of Capital Proposed. — "At various times within the history of the
state," says Thwaites in his history, "there have been more or less serious
proposals to remove the capital from Madison; for the most part those have
emanated from Milwaukee." In the legislative session of 1858, a bill to pro-
vide for transplanting the seat of government to that city came very near
being carried, and ten years later a bill for its removal actually passed but at
the last moment it was recalled. Similar attempts were thereafter made,
particularly following the destruction of a part of the statehouse by fin' in
1904, the most persistent claimant at that, time being Oshkosh. A quietus,
however, was placed upon further proposals of that character when, in 1907,
the Legislature made provisions for a new statehouse at Madison to cost
$6,000,000. Since that time the new building has been in process of erection
and at the present time it is practically completed.
iii;i BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
It is rather amusing to find thai although known as "the Badger State,"
the badger is no1 found in Wisconsin. A writer in the Encyclopaedia Bri
tannica, (quoting from Thwaite's "Story of Wisconsin"), says thai the name
"badgers" probably originated as a nickname for those lead miners working
in the southwestern part of the state, who came from the East, who lived in
dug-outs like the hillside burrows of the badgers in the eastern states, and
did not go home in the winter season, as did those working in the mines south
of the Illinois line. The name of "suckers" was applied to the latter, bor-
rowed from the name of the migrating tisb found in the rivers of Illinois ;
and thus the name came to be applied to the inhabitants of the entire State
of Illinois. But, such as it is. the people of Wisconsin would not willingly
part with the picturesque designation of "badgers."
Young Men's Christian Association. — At the first meeting called to form
the Young .Men's Christian Association in Milwaukee, September '2'K 1858,
116 young men became charter members of the association; and at a meeting
held a few days later the names of 123 were added. During the year the
total membership was increased to 358. .1. II. Van Dyke was president the
first year, John Rice the second. The membership fee of $2.00 a year, to-
gether with other receipts, gave the association an income of $1,008 for the
tirst year.
"It is pleasant to recognize." says Edward W. Frost, who contributed
an account of these early beginnings of the association to Conard's "History
of .Milwaukee," "that on looking over the list of early members of tin- associa-
tion, so many of the young men who came forward to inaugurate the Young
Men's Christian Association movement, have during the intervening years
become prominent and helpful in the religious life of Milwaukee."
Outbreak of the Civil War. — "The organization continued active and suc-
cessful until the outbreak of the Civil war," says the account we have re-
ferred to, "when it was practically discontinued for several years." The
work of the association was resumed in L870, when \V. I*. .McLaren became
president. Rooms were occupied and plans put into execution to raise
money, one of which was by means of an entertainment, where flowers were
sold at auction at large prices. Alexander Mitchell bought a bouquel for
$100, and many others paid $25 and upward to help the cause. The assoc'ation
languished for a time, however, but the meetings anil other activities were
maintained even without quarters. In ISTti. the association was reorganized
with George J. Rogers as president, and rooms were ope I at L32 Grand
Avenue.
After that t'me the association maintained an active lit'.' ami carried on
an earnest work. Several other removals took place, however, until in -Ian
nary, 1887, it found what was hoped would be a permanent home in its new
building. This building was destroyed by lire in 1895, but was at once rebuilt
and refurnished. Among the generous citizens who have contributed ma-
terially to the success of the Young Men's Christian Association, there should
be due acknowledgment made for active and efficient aid received from
such men as Charles L. Colby. Edward W. frost. A. V. II. Carpenter, William
I'lankiiii on, George -I. Rogers, George I.. Graves, Charles W. Turner, and
THE HIGHER INSTITUTION'S OF LEARNING 665
numerous other individuals, both men and women, whose names are often
mentioned in the early history of the association. "Without forgetting the
great services of others." says Mr. Frost in his chapter, "it is not too much
to say that the beginning of the building and its successful completion is,
perhaps, due more to Charles L. Colby than to any other one man."
"Little has been said in this sketch," writes Mr. Frost, ''of the religious
side of our work. A large volume could easily be made up of descriptions of
this work, of the thousands of young men who have fallen under the active
influence of the association, and have dated the beginning of new lives from
the time when they came into the association rooms. Many of them are with
us today active and earnest, and trying to do for others the work that has been
done for them." Many of them have become identified with the churches,
but the majority of them find at the association pleasantly lighted and wanned
rooms, pervaded by a spirit of good fellowship, which has done much to draw
them under the influences that help Christian manhood. "Our association
knows no difference of creed or race, no distinction between rich and poor.
Within its walls young men from all parts of the city, representing all condi-
tions of life, meet on common ground."
The Young Women's Christian Association. — In 1892, petitions signed by
over two hundred of the young women of the city were addressed to the
women of Milwaukee, for the organization of a Young Women's Christian
Association. The result of these efforts was the formation of such an associa-
tion. Miss Pauline Saveland was made president and sixty-three members
were enrolled at the start. Rooms were secured and a lunch room was opened
under the charge of a permanent secretary. The work flourished amazingly.
A sreat many young women found congenial society and opportunity for
study and instruction in classes. Entertainments have since been frequently
provided for the young women, and the promoters of this useful movement,
which is in the hands of the women of the city, feel well rewarded with the
success of their endeavors.
The Woman's Club of Wisconsin. — The first step in the organization of the
Woman's Club was taken by Miss Mary Mortimer, who was joined in the
movement later by Mrs. Alexander .Mitchell. A meeting called by the lead-
ers in the movement for October 9, 1876, was addressed by Mrs. Julia Ward
Howe of Boston, the attendance including a large number of .Milwaukee's
representative women. .Mrs. Howe gave an account of the women's clubs
of her home state with the New England Women's Club as an objed lesson.
Great enthusiasm was aroused in favor of such an organization in .Mil-
waukee and a temporary organization was formed with Mrs. William P. Lynde
acting chairman, and Miss Mortimer as secretary. Later in the month a con-
stitution was adopted and officers chosen, as follows: President, Mrs. Alex-
ander Mitchell; vice presidents, Mrs. W. P. Lynde and Mrs. II. L. Page: sec-
retary, Miss Mary Mortimer; treasurer, Mrs. J. II. Warner. Mrs. Mitchell
later resigned on account of absence from the city, Mrs. Page succeeding her.
The name. Woman's Club of Wisconsin, was intended, as its name indi-
cates, to cover a prospective membership throughout the state. The object
of the club was declared to be. primarily, for elevating and purifying our
666 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
civilization, and "as a means toward this end it shall seek to incite women to
intellectual and moral culture, and also to a careful study of the practical
arts of our common life." The club shall, in addition, seek to offer opportu-
nity l'oi- this culture and study, and also to give encouragement to meritorious
talent in these fields of activity.
"The entire constitution," says the historian Watrous, "shows the wisdom.
foresight and deliberation that was given to laying the foundation of the
Woman's Club of Wisconsin." The club was not incorporated, 1 nit the names
of the "charter members" (so-called are given below, meaning those who
qualified for membership during the autumn.
The list of the original members, that is of those who united with the club
during the first season, is as follows: Mrs. Alexander Mitchell. Mrs. H. L.
Page, Mrs. J. H. Warner, Mrs. William P. Lynde, Dr. Julia Ford, Mrs. Theo-
dore Yates, Mrs. Oliver C. Ely, Mrs. II. M. Finch. M ss Sarah S. Chapman.
Miss Mary Mortimer, Mrs. S. S. Merrill, Mrs. Lydia Ely, Mrs. 11. M Boyce,
Mrs. G. E. Gordon, Mrs. C, D. Adsit, .Mrs. ( ). J. Hiles, Mrs. J. S. Ricker, Mrs.
William A. Collins, and Mrs. James S. Peek. In the following February the
names of Mrs. J. II. Booth, Mrs. T. A. Chapman. Mrs. T. A. Greene, Mrs. J. -J.
flagerman, Mrs. G. W. Hazelton, Mrs. George C. Swallow, and Mrs. II. II.
Button were added to the membership.
According to a late year book of the Woman's Club, the date of its found-
ing is given as occurring on the 9th of October, 1876, thus corresponding to
the date of the first meeting called by the leaders of the movement for its
formation as given above. The date of the incorporation was January 26. 1910.
The present president (1921), is Mrs. Arthur M. McGeogh. "The Woman's
Club of Wisconsin." says Miss Margaret Reynolds, librarian of the First Wis-
consin National Bank, "was the first organization of women to build their
own club house. This is called 'the Athenaeum,' and is located on the corner
of Biddle and Cass streets, Milwaukee." We may also mention in this p]
that Miss Reynolds has supplied many essential facts in the preparation of this
history for which we make due acknowledgement.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
In 1847 the library of the Young Men's Association was formed by a com-
mittee consisting of S. Osgood Putnam, Edward P. Allis, John II. Van Dyke,
Edward D. Holton, H. W. Tenney, Garrett Vliet, and I. M. Mason. For many
years the library established by this association was housed in rented rooms
and in 1878, when by act of Legislature the public library was created, the
association's collection of 9,958 books was turned over to the city as a free gift.
Librarians of the Young Men's Association Library. — Edward Hopkins,
1847-1849 ; Thomas Hyslop, 1849-1853 ; Sidney Rood, 1853-1854 ; George Coggs-
well, 1854-1857; William Bilton, 1857-1859; E. C. Arnold, 1S59-1871 ; S. F.
Peacock, 1871-1873; Edward Upson, 1873-1877; Miss Elizabeth M. Gifford,
1877-1878.
Librarians of the Milwaukee Public Library — Henry Baetz, 1878-1880;
K. A. Linderfelt, 1880-1892; Miss Theresa West, 1893-1896; George W. Peck-
ham, 1896-1910 ; Charles E. McLenegan, 1910-1920 (Mr. McLenegan died March
17, 1920) ; Joseph V. Cargill, acting librarian, March 17. to August 15, 1920;
Matthew S. Dudgeon, 1920—.
The annual reports of the public library for the years 1918, 1919 and 1920
were issued by the board of trustees under date of December 31, 1920, in a
single volume.
In 1918, George C. Nnesse Mas president of the board of trustees. In
November of that year William L. Pieplow became president and so continued
until May, 1919, when he was succeeded by William Kaumheimer. In May.
1920, Mr. Pieplow again became president.
The latest report shows that the library contains 410,148 volumes. The
total circulation for 1920 was 1,801,907 volumes through the main library and
through the various branches of the institution.
Financial Statement of the Public Library.
SUMMARY FOR 1920.
Receipts. Fines 7,069.24
Balance previously mi- Renting collection 551.91
available $ 34,782.36 Lost books 282.74
( !ity tax levy 172,251.00 Public Museum for serv-
Special appropriation for ices 1,405.03
Municipal Reference Waste paper 370.07
Library 5,000.00 Security deposits 213.00
Trust funds 7,069.24 Miscellaneous 421.73
Milwaiikee County for
library service 20,320.00 Total $243,410.48
667
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
669
Expenditures.
Books $ 33,577.42
Periodicals 2,944.42
Binding — Maintenance and
operation of bindery. . . . 10,620.92
Salaries — library service.. 85,073.86
Salaries — janitorial service 15,931.04
Insurance branch libraries 163.80
Rent — branch libraries. . . . 3,135;15
Heat and fuel .
7,325.
Transportation ; .
Postage
Telephone
Fees for county service
Repairs
Miscellaneous
Total maintenance ;
operation
Equipment
3,136,
828
820
2,716
12,398
8,974
40
40
14
53
ss
32
.$206,703
5,478
06
78
Lighting 11,220.7:)
Supplies 7,835.78
Grand Total $212,181.84
TRUST FUNDS.
George H. D. Johnson Text-Book Fund.— On February 14. 1917. Mrs. Geo.
H. D. Johnson gave $1,000 to establish an endowment fund in memory of her
husband, Geo. H. D. Johnson, the interest to be used for purchasing textbooks
for special students.
Principal : Gimbel first mortgage $1,000.00
Balance in bank January 1, 1918 31.25
Interest, 1918-1920 ' 150.00
Balance, December 31, 1920 $1,181.2.")
George H. D. Johnson Endowment Fund. — In April, 1917, in her will,
Geo. H. D. Johnson left $5,000, the income of which is to be used for the
chase of standard editions of the English classics.
Principal : U. S. Government Bonds .'.$5,000.00
Interest, 1918-1920 377.05
Airs
pur-
Balance, December 31, 1920 $5,377.05
Matthew Keenan Fund.— The .Matthew Keenan fund of $10,000 was the
gift of Antoinette A. Keenan, April 30, 1901, for the purchase of books.
Principal : City Bonds $ 9,00(1.00
Baltimore & Ohio R, R. Bonds 1,000.00
Balance in bank January 1, 1918 1,036.72
Interest, 1918-1920 1,263.32
$12,300.04
Expenditures, 1918 $1,132.75
1919 :!(!6.47
1920 168,78
1,668.00
Balance, December 31, 1920 $10,632.04
Julius Klauser Fund. — < Mi June 29, 1908, the Julius Klauser fund was given
by the pupils of Julius Klauser, the interest to be expended for I he purchase
of works on music and musical composition.
G70 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Principal- Milwaukee Light, Seal and Traction Bond $ 1,000.00
Balance in bank January 1. 1918 L87.63
[nterest, L918-1920 L50.00
m
$ 1,337.61
Expenditures, 1919 262.61
Balance, December 31, 1920 $ 1,075.00
James Sidney Peck Fund. — The James Sidney Peck Fund of $1,000 was
given July 18, 1909, by Ellen M. Hayes Peck, fur the j m i-j >■ >-»i ■ <>|' establishing
a fund in the history department to be known as the James Sidney Peck Fund.
Principal: Baltimore & Ohio H. R. Bonds $ 1,000.00
Balance in bank January 1. 1918 52.36
Interest, 1918-1920 '. L5I 1.00
$1,202.36
Expenditures, 1919 $ 105.00
1920 35.00
— 140.00
Balance, December 31, 1020 $ 1,062 36
Julius Wagner Fund.- Julius (',. 'Wagner bequeathed to the Milwaukee
Public Library, $5,000, in December, 1909, for the purpose of purchasing
mechanical, technical, and scientific books.
Principal : Wiederwald Mortgage $ 4,000.00
( ity of Milwaukee Bond 1,000.00
Balance in bank January 1. 1918 1.230.73
Interest, 1918-1920 713.89
$ 6,944.62
Expenditures, 1918 $ 65.72
1919 543.26
1920 539.62
1,148.60
Balance, December 31, 1920 $ 5,796.02
Field of Work. — The Public Library has a large number of distributing
agencies in the city and county, including eleven city branches and 11s small
libraries in schools, factories, social centers and telepl xchanges. The
library also maintains a well-equipped .Municipal Reference Library in the
City Hall, the primary purpose of which is to collect and classify information
on all sorts of municipal subjects and problems which members of the com-
mon council, city officials or others may be led in the course of their duties or
interest to invest igate.
Supplementing the various agencies enumerated then' are 450 sets of
textbooks for special use in the class rooms of the public and parochial schools
of the city ami county, the main library, of course, containing an ample equip-
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 671
ment of reference books in every department of instruction, information and
learning.
The Milwaukee Public Museum.— The beginning of the Milwaukee Public
.Museum occurred in 1SS2 when the Legislature authorized the Wisconsin
Natural History Society to present its collection to the city and empowered
the city to accept the gift. A tax for the maintenance and increase of the
museum was provided for. On the 20th of February, 1883, the museum took
over the collections of the Wisconsin Natural History Society which con-
sisted approximately of 19,000 specimens and 270 books, maps and charts.
Since that time the collections have largely increased through the generous
cooperation of the citizens of Milwaukee in donating specimens and collections
to the museum, by purchase and by expeditions sent out by the museum for
the purpose of obtaining additional specimens, especially among the different
tribes of Indians; until now the number of these has grown to be by far the
largest and most important within the state.
In September, 1906, by act of the common council of the city, under author-
ity of the Legislature previously granted, a historical museum was established
as a department of the public museum. In this department have been collected
such collections as exhibit the works of man, so that in their scope they cover,
in a broad way, the history of the human race. Special emphasis has been
placed on those departments having more immediately to do with the history
of the nation, state and city. The museum and public library jointly occupy
the same building which was completed in 1898, at the corner of Grand Avenue
and Ninth Street.
The new building with its valuable contents has made it necessary to ex-
tend the arrangement of the exhibits which are now made along more ambitious
lines than before, and with the growth of the institution various means have
been found to increase its usefulness to the community. "The collections of
the museum are characterized," says Henry L. Ward, in his chapter describing
the museum in Usher's "History of Wisconsin,'" "by the number and quality
of their realistic groups, particularly of those of birds, mammals and peoples.
These are among the finest in the United States."
Cooperation with the Schools. - Besides the educational value of the exhibits
to visitors the museum carries on courses of lectures for the benefit of the
pupils in the schools, who frequently assemble in a convenient spot for the pur-
pose. The institution further cooperates with the scientific and educational
associations, the State University at Madison affording facilities for their meel
ings and classes. Weekly instruction is given to the teachers along various
lines of natural history which are intended to be of direct use to them in the r
classroom work. Also classes designed for the grown-up members of the com-
munity in botanical and zoological studies are of frequent occurrence.
In Usher's history, published in 1914, it is stated that the administration
of the museum is under a board of nine trustees, four of whom are citizen
members appointed by the mayor, each for a four years' term of office; three
aldermanic members appointed each for a two years' term; the president of
the school board and the superintendent of the schools, acting in an ex officio
capacity. "The museum staff has greatly increased in numbers and improved
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY AND MUSEUM 673
in professional training, until now it consists of forty-nine employees, including
those of the janitor and power departments, and among its members are four
holding the degree of doctor of philosophy, two of whom are college pro-
fessors. ' '
Leading Place of the Museum. — In a contribution to Conard's "History of
Milwaukee," Mr. Melville Cushing thus wrote of the museum: "The Public
Museum of Milwaukee is entitled to a leading place among her splendid public
institutions. Beginning in a small way as a private enterprise on the part of a
public-spirited citizen and practical educator, it gradually outgrew the limits
of its inception and took its proper place among the important public institu-
tions of the city. As early as the year 1851, Professor Peter Engelmann began
to make collections with which to illustrate the lectures and teachings in the
German-English Academy of which he was the founder, and for more than
twenty years its director. He was an inspiring teacher, and with his pupils
made frequent tours gathering his specimens, which at the first consisted prin-
cipally of herbaria, but which gradually extended into other branches of
natural history, mineralogy, zoology, ethnology, etc. Professor Engelmann
continued his work in a quiet way for several years ; but iu 1857, with twenty-
one other public-spirited citizens, he established what became popularly known
as the Engelmann Museum of Natural History, with his private collections as a
nucleus. The various officers and members of the society entered with en-
thusiasm upon the work of gathering specimens and collecting books for a
library, which were placed on exhibition in a specially arranged hall in the
German-English Academy.
"In order to increase the usefulness of the museum and bring it into closer
touch with the general public, those closely identified with it in 1881, inaugu-
rated a movement the purpose of which was to transfer it to the City of Mil-
waukee, to be held in trust and supported by a general tax, and placed in a
central location where it could best serve as a means of education and enter-
tainment. Through the efficient work of Mr. August Stirn, then a member of
the common council from the Second Ward, a unanimously-signed petition ask-
ing for the transfer was presented to the council, and a joint committee from
that body and the Natural History Society, was appointed to take the matter
in charge."
The writer of the article in the pamphlet issued by the anniversary com-
mittee, in June, 1921, says: "Milwaukee has one of the most wonderful
museums in the world. The Public Museum of the City of Milwaukee was
founded in 1883. It is, therefore, thirty-seven years old and has made remark-
able progress in this relatively short time. Founded with an appropriation of
only $6,000 per annum, its mill tax rate now gives it an appropriation of ap-
proximately $140,IHIH per annum. It occupies over three-quarters of the Mu-
seum and Library Building at Eighth Street and Grand Avenue and it is the
largest strictly municipal museum in the United States.
"Its collections number over a half million objects, covering all of the
various branches of science, and are housed in glass cases and in oilier suit-
able manners on the three exhibition, floors of the institution. Its series of
life-size environmental groups of ethnology, history, mammalogy, ornithology
674 BISTORT OP MILWAUKEE
and invertebrate zoology are v^vy extensive and comprise one of the most im-
portant features of the entire institution.
"Its lecture work is very extensive, lectures being given to school children
in large numbers and also special courses for adults, particularly the Sunday
afternoon course of public lectures. All told, during the year 1920 about
eighty thousand people attended lectures at the museum. The attendance at
the museum numbers about six hundred thousand visitors per year."
Promotion of the Milwaukee Public Museum. — The pamphlet issued by the
Milwaukee Herold on its sixtieth anniversary in 1921, comments a1 Length
upon the need that existed in its earlier years for the use of the German
language and of the cultural activities of the German element in giving its
sympathy and support to movements designed to promote them. '"The found-
ing of the Public Museum, as is well known, was due principally to the gen-
erosity and the efforts of citizens of German affiliations, some of whom long
ago banded themselves together for the purpose of promoting an interest in
the natural sciences, and finally concluded to make the collections they had
brought together a nucleus of larger collections to be supported by public
funds and to serve the educational interest of the entire public. In this move-
ment, the publicity and encouragement given by the Herold was an important
factor. The collections of the Wisconsin Natural History Society, before they
were turned over to the city, had been housed in the building of what was
then known as 'Engelmann's School,' later the German and English Academy,
and now the University School. This school, at present the sole survivor of a
considerable number of private schools at one time flourishing in Milwaukee,
was for a long time the center about which the affections as well as the edu-
cational interest of the so-called liberal element among Milwaukee German-
Americans clustered. Many of them had received their early education in this
institution. Later it rose to national importance through its connection with
the National German- American Teachers' Seminary, and the training school
for gymnasium instructors, maintained in connection with the latter by the
'Turner' societies of the country. At all times it was neither a commercial
enterprise, nor endowed by the generosity of some rich benefactor. Its finances
were managed by an association of citizens, and consequently the publicity
given it by the German press and especially the Herold, was of the highest im-
portance to it. The Herold never hesitated to give to all its affairs very ample
space, even giving the proceedings of the association in full, although that
might detract considerably from the space left for matters which are generally
considered of much greater news value by the ordinary editor. Similarly, any
other movement, calculated to promote the best interests of any portion of the
German-American part of our population, could and can at all I imes count upon
the support which it will derive from the ample publicity the Herold will
afford it. All of which is in recognition of the principle, that a newspaper
should not be considered exclusively, or even principally, a money-making busi-
ness enterprise, but as an instrument for promoting the welfare of the com-
munity from which it draws its readers."
CHAPTER XXXIX
MILWAUKEE'S MUSICAL HISTORY
The story of Milwaukee presents no stirring battle scenes, no heroic figures
or epoch making event in the affairs of man. It is a story of peaceful con-
quest, of tranquil evolution, of constructive achievement. It is here where
man grappled with the elemeuts of nature and subjected them to his uses,
where mind triumphed over matter. Thus, a great city was reared. Marvelous
industrial, commercial and civic undertakings were created, and on every
hand we note the spirit of enterprise, of energy, of industry. Blazing factory
chimneys and skyscrapers rising mountain high, public buildings and private
habitations, fine churches and schools — all give evidence of growth, of progress,
of civilization.
But, behind these physical evidences of achievement we must seek the
heart and soul of the city. We may well ask, have the cultural aspirations
of the community kept pace with its material advancement? Has it fostered
the higher and nobler impulses of man? Has it nurtured the great art of
music ?
The answer is in the affirmative. In the evolution from an Indian village
to an important population center it also cultivated the higher arts. From
the moment that the white man found relief from the hardships of a pioneer
life he responded to the finer privileges of a modern civilization.
The earliest settlers gave expression to their religious fervor through the
medium of church songs. The immigrants who, beginning with the middle
of the last century, flowed in such large numbers to our state, came with
music in their souls. They all sang the folksongs of their native lands and
many of them had an appreciation for classic compositions.
The musical era of the community opened with the beginning of the Ger-
man immigration in 1839. Singing quartettes grew into singing societies.
Gradually they developed the art of mass song until Milwaukee achieved a
national reputation in the field of music. Some of the great national Saenger-
fests were held in its midst. Milwaukee has always enjoyed a good reputation
as a musical center. Her contribution to the great art is noted in the many
musical societies which have flourished here during the past seventy-five
years.
The growth and development of music in Milwaukee assumed more definite
form about three years before the future metropolis of Wisconsin was in-
corporated as a city, January 31, 1846, and here it is worthy of note to state
that the musical activities were practically confined to the center of the
1175
676 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
city's business district, and thai Leaders in musical activities of the present
day arc located in that territory. Most of the halls and meeting places of
musical events of an earlier day were located on the east side in the district
bounded by Biddle Street -on the north and Michigan Street on the smith.
The more important halls were known as Gardner's Hall on the top floor of
the Martin Block, Young's Hall, Broadway and Wisconsin Street, the Academy
of Music on Milwaukee Street, Albany Hall on the site of the presenl Chamber
of Commerce and Boynton's Hall on Milwaukee Street north of Wisconsin.
Pioneers in Music. — The first organization devoted to music of which there
is any record was the Milwaukee Beethoven Society, formed in ls4-'i. which,
however, enjoyed a rather turbulent life, languished for a period and finally
passed away to be succeeded by the Milwaukee Musical Society in 1850. To
the large influx of Germans at about this time Milwaukee owes the rank it
holds in musical circles in this nation. Its early residents were fond of music
as a recreation, and whenever they held social gatherings singing was their
principal form of amusement, which culminated in the Milwaukee Musical
Society in May, 1S50. It was started as a quartet consisting of Charles Geis-
burg, Henry Niedecken, Dr. Francis Huebschmann and Frederick Schloe-
milch. The first director was Hans Balatka.
These five men wrere the real pioneers of musical development in Milwau-
kee and to their untiring efforts is due whatever standing Milwaukee has
acquired as a city of music loving residents. Following the organization of
the Milwaukee Musical Society Milwaukee has had many of a similar char-
acter, but few have survived.
The Milwaukee Musical Society gave its first concert on May 25, 1850.
From the beginning its aim was the diffusion of .musical knowledge among the
people. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of unselfish services
performed by the early members. They not only worked with faithful en-
thusiasm to improve their own talents in the art of musical interpretations.
but they were alert to find others possessed of voices or of skill to perform
on instruments, and when they found them they used every inducement to
obtain their cooperation for the society.
Hans Balatka with his great love of music and his brilliant talent for organ-
ization had every encouragement to attempt great things. That he did no;
neglect the opportunity is proven by the fact that early in July, 1851, the
first important musical work undertaken by the society, Haydn's "Creation,"
was given under his direction. The first real opera ever presented in .Mil-
waukee was "The Czar and Shipmaster." in ls.~>:i. Adelina Patti. then styled
the "wonder child," was traveling with the troupe a1 that time. The first
singing festival was given June l!l, 1856. It was followed by others all of
which were largely attended, and from that time .Milwaukee's musical develop-
ment can he traced.
The Milwaukee Musical Society, although its ranks were thinned by it-
members who served in the Civil war, continued its activities during the dark
days of the Rebellion, and on October 22, 1864, achieved tic distinction of
laving the corner stone of the Aeadenn of Music on Milwaukee Streel between
Wisconsin and Michigan streets. The hall was dedicated Januan 31, 1865,
MILWAUKEE'S MUSICAL HISTORY 677
with the rendition of "Mendelssohn's Oratorio Paulus" by that society. The
board of directors which made possible the Academy of Music consisted of
Henry Niedeeken, H. M. Mendel and Charles Kuepper. The building was
erected at a cost of approximately $75,000, which at that time was regarded
as a stupendous undertaking, but the undaunted spirit in which it was carried
into effect indicates the strong love of music in its progenitors.
To the great concert and opera companies traveling in the country at that
time, Milwaukee with its splendid music hall took a leading place in musical
circles of the nation. A round of musical pleasures followed greatly enjoyed
and properly patronized. Not a season passed unmarked by the visit of some
German, Italian or English opera troupe.
The Milwaukee Liedertafel was organized July 23, 1857. The officers
were John Marr, president; William Hensel, secretary; V. Bertsch, treasurer,
and F. Regenfuss, director. The Civil war interfered with the activities of
this organization, because many of its members were in service, and it was
not until 1867 that the society showed its former activity which it maintained
for many years. The Liedertafel society purchased the site of the present
Liedertafel Hall at Seventh and Prairie streets in 1867. It was about that
time that the Nordwestlicher Saengerbund was organized, consisting of sing-
ing societies from Wisconsin and surrounding states. Out of these activities
occurred the great saengerfest which was held in Milwaukee in 1868.
The next singing society to enter the Milwaukee field was the Deutschen
Maenner Verein organized June 16, 1859. Its first president was the Rev.
F. X. Krautbauer, later Bishop of Green Bay.
Another potent factor in musical affairs of Milwaukee was the Freie
Gemeinde, an anti-religious association and musical society founded April 7,
1867. The founders were A. Keyes, president; Jacob Beanders, vice president;
Carl Ringer, secretary, and Gustav Eyssen, treasurer. The society erected a
lmll at 264 Fourth Street in 1870.
Through the energy of Herman Nunnemacher the first grand opera was
given under the auspices of the Philharmonic society, October 17, 1871.
Flotow's "Martha" was presented.
In 1874, Julius Klauser was instrumental in organizing the Euphonias. Its
members were talented amateur musicians and frequently gave semi-public
concerts. The Euphonias numbered as members some of Milwaukee's most
prominent citizens of its day.
In 1878 a number of members seceded from the Freie Gemeinde and started
the Milwaukee Liederkranz. The first officers were Amandus Roebke, presi-
dent: B. E. Fink, secretary; Jacob E. Jenner, financial secretary; G. R. Voll-
hard, treasurer ; John G. Salsman, librarian, and A. C. Zinn, 0. H. Angel and
Jacob Knebel, trustees.
Another long stride forward in Milwaukee's musical history began with
the establishment of the Arion Musical Chili in November, 1876. With the
Milwaukee Musical Society the Arion Club shares the honor of having con-
tributed much of the high standard which Milwaukee enjoys as a music lov-
ing community. Its influences are recognized among all classes of music
lovers. The membership of the Arion Club at the beginning was composed of
678 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
about fifty of the principal male singers of the city. A. \V. Hall was the first
president; Eltinge Elmore, vice president; Francis Hinton, secretary; Li. B.
Benton, treasurer, and A. F. Faville, conductor. The Arion Club gave its first
public concert in Boynton's Hall February 20, ]S77. The club had a rapid
growth from the start, apparently filling a popular need of the time. Fol-
lowing the resignation of Professor Faville, the first conductor, William L.
Tomlins of Chicago was engaged as his successor.
The coming of Professor Tomlins resulted in the formation of a ladies'
choir as an auxiliary of the Arion Club, which was named the Ceeilian Choir.
This move greatly strengthened the Arion Club as a musical organization,
and although both had separate officers they always appeared together in
public concerts. The first officers of the Ceeilian Choir were Mrs. Robertson
James, president; Mrs. Winfield Smith, vice president; Miss Lizzie Eldred,
treasurer, and Miss Lizzie Voss, librarian.
Although at an early period in the history of the Milwaukee Musical
Society classical chamber music was the vogue at its concerts, it was not until
about the early '90s that an organization devoted solely to the cultivation of
music of this high order was formed in Milwaukee. Erich Sehmaal, a pianist
of high note; Herman Zeitz, an accomplished violinist, and A. Beyer, a cellist,
formed the Milwaukee Trio, which for several seasons gave performances at
regular intervals.
Although band music, so-called, is not as a rule regarded anion": the factors
which make for musical culture, Milwaukee acquired considerable fame as a
result of this class of music. The first in the field was the Christopher Bach
Orchestra, organized by him in 1855.
The Zeitz 's Orchestra was organized by Charles Zeitz in 1857. It was a
full string and brass band. The south side of the city which had a musical
community practically of its own saw the formation of Hensler's Juvenile
Band in 1875. This band quickly won a national reputation for itself and
was invited to give concerts in many of the leading cities of the nation.
Clauder's Orchestra was organized by Joseph Clauder, .March 121, 1878.
While the Bach and Clauder bands were in their day the most prominent,
the city has always been well supplied with organizations of this character.
Most of the fraternal orders as well as many shops and factories have bands
composed of highly trained musicians, recruited among their members and
employes. Even the police department boasts of a splendid band which has
been in existence since 19111.
Parks Stimulate Love for Music. — The development of music kept pace
with the growth of the city and the establishment of Milwaukee's public
parks resulted in another splendid expression of music in outdoor concerts.
This feature of the city's life was started by the Milwaukee Musical Society,
which gave the first summer night concert in Washington Park, August 30,
1898. If was held under the auspices of the board of park commissioners.
The program of select vocal and instrumental music was given in the music
band stand. The extent to which the program was enjoyed is shown by the
attendance of about ten thousand people.
In 1899 public' spirited citizens contributed $1000, which was used by the
MILWAUKEE'S MUSICAL HISTORY 679
park board in providing for Sunday afternoon concerts in Lake and River-
side parks. The demand for these concerts by the public became so great that
the following; year Saturday afternoon concerts were added to the program.
They continued to grow in popularity, which led the park board to appropriate
a fixed amount annually, so that evening open air concerts could be given in
all the principal parks — in at least one each night. This system of open air
concerts during July and August was inaugurated in 1913 when Joseph Clauder
and Christopher Bach, veteran band leaders, were placed in charge of this
form of the city's musical entertainments. Prom an appropriation of about
two thousand dollars a year, the amount has grown to more than fifteen
thousand dollars annually. Until 1918 the open air concerts were given by
bands, which were engaged for that purpose. In that year the Park Board
Band was organized with Hugo Bach as director. This enabled the board to
keep a closer check on programs selected, guaranteeing a high standard of
concerts. With the organization of the Park Board Band the Russell-Meurer
Quartet was engaged to sing operatic selections. The quartet included Clem-
entine Malek, Elsa Bloedel, Harry Meurer and George F. Russell.
Between 1880 and 1920 more than one hundred musical clubs wene formed
in the city. The most conspicuous among them are the A Capella Chorus,
Lyric Glee Club, Milwaukee Maenner Chor, Catholic Choral Club, McDowell
Club, Tuesday Musical Club, Knights of Columbus Glee Club and Civic Music
Association.
Standing as sponsors for some of these off-shoots of musical culture were
Hugo Kami, Daniel Protheroe, Theodore Kelbe and William Boeppler.
The A Capella Chorus was organized in February, 1895, by a number of
the most prominent Lutherans here, led by Gustav Wollaeger, Ferdinand
Kieckhefer, John H. Frank, Dr. Louis Frank, William Upmeyer, Oscar
Griebling, W. H. Graebner and William Boeppler.
John H. Frank and William Upmeyer were identified with one of the most
important features in the city's musical development, the conservatories of
music, founded in 1899. The most important of these are the Wisconsin Con-
servatory of Music, Wisconsin College of Music, founded by Hans Bruening,
and the Marquette School of Music.
The Milwaukee Maenner Chor of sixty voices, with Hugo Kaun at the
head, was organized in 1898. Following the best European models the club
grew to a flourishing condition and for three years the appearance of the
Thomas Orchestra was a feature of their concerts, the first undertaking of the
kind in the city.
The first appearance of the Chicago Opera Association in Milwaukee was
in the winter of 1912-1913. Its appearance here was made possible by guar-
antees of Milwaukee's business men. The operas were given in the Alhambra
Theater.
Invited Musical Celebrities. — Milwaukee's greatest stride forward in
musical activities occurred in 1914 when an ambitious effort was made to place
Milwaukee on the musical map. The A Capella Chorus, with George H. Moeller
as president and G. E. G. Kuechle as treasurer, undertook to bring to Milwau-
kee the leading lights of the musical world. The Boston Symphony was the
6S0 HISTORY OK MILWAUKEE
first greal undertaking of its kind. Later the Chicago Opera Association
came under its auspices and also such artists as Schumaiin-lleink, Xellie Melba,
Geraldine Farrar, John MeCormack and others. About three years later .Mr.
Moeller and Mr. Kuechle left the A Capella Chorus and the Moeller-Andrews
Concert Bureau was formed. This organization continued to bring the world's
greatest artists to Milwaukee. From this developed, after Mr. Mueller's death,
the Marion Andrews Concert Bureau with Marion Andrews as president and
G. E. G. Kuechle as treasurer, which still sponsors the Chicago Opera Asso-
ciation's annual visits, the Scott i Opera Company from New York and has
presented during: the last few years such artists as Enrico Caruso, whose
death occurred as this history was being written. John MeCormack, (ialli
Curci, Beifetz, Schumann-Heink, Fritz Kreisler, Louise Homer, Frieda Sempel
and Rachmaninoff. As an indication of Milwaukee's musical growth it is in-
teresting to note that it requires the seating capacity of the Auditorium to
accommodate the attendance of efforts of the Marion Andrews Concert Bureau.
Another stimulating influence in the music life of Milwaukee was started
by Miss Margaret Rice in 1917 by the inauguration of the Twilight Musicals, a
series oft Sunday afternoon concerts. The Twilight Musicals were first given in
the Athenaeum, but have proven so popular that it was found necessary to seek
larger quarters, and they are now given in the Pabst Theater.
A phase which is due to the versatile musical development of Milwaukee is
the annual concert season of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which has been
given here every winter for the last five years. This orchestra of which Miss
Rice is the local manager is sponsored by Milwaukee business men. It is under
the direction of Frederick Stock. Its support has been so enthusiastic during
the last two years, that the guarantors were not asked to contribute to its
financial success, showing that the Milwaukee music loving public has grown
to such proportions that programs of the highest grade are generously upheld.
While the World war was responsible for numerous innovations in all
walks of life, it is interesting to note that a new element of music was born
in Milwaukee in 1918, when community singing was first tried by Frederick
Carberry at the Alhambra Theater. The new musical spirit rapidly took hold
and spread to all sections of the country.
Since the organization of the first musical society in Milwaukee a large
number of men and women were active in furthering and developing the cause
of music. Those who stand out most prominently were Hans Balatka, Fred-
erick Abel. Julius Tenzler, Reinhardt Schmelz, William Mickler, Eugene
Luening, Ernst Catenhusen, Herman Zeitz, A. G. Faville, W. L. Tomlins,
Arthur Weld, Frederick Archer, William II. Pommer, Daniel Protheroe, Hugo
Kami, Albert S. Kramer, William Boeppler, Christopher Bach, Joseph ('lander.
Otto von Gumbert, Charles W. Dodge, William Jall'e. Alexander McFadyen.
Pearl Brice and Winogene Hewitt-Kirchner.
Milwaukee with its musical training of the younger element in the public
schools, its summer open air concerts in the parks and its popular priced
winter concerts at the Auditorium together with the high class concerts, artists
and symphony orchestras brought here through various agencies, is conceded
to be a leader as a music loving community.
MILWAUKEE'S MUSICAL HISTORY 681
Musical History. — The German element of Milwaukee's population has
greatly promoted the musical development of the community. In the pamphlet
issued on the sixtieth anniversary of the Milwaukee Herold, in June, 1921,
the early musical history of the city is referred to by the writer with pardon-
able pride in the share taken in the early days by that paper in promoting its
development. The following passage is quoted from the pamphlet :
"If Milwaukee has a high standing in the musical world of the United
States, it is due in no small degree to the interest awakened by the discrimi-
nating criticism, the full reports, and also the frequent and instructive articles
on matters musical which appeared and continue to appear in the Herold.
Among the contributors to this department of newspaper work, there stands
out particularly the name of August Spanuth, who combined with high gifts
as a musical critic, ability as a writer. For a number of years during that
period, when Edgar W. Coleman managed the paper and the cultural life of
the Milwaukeeans of German blood and affiliation was at its height, he had
charge of the musical department of the Herold. After he left the city, he
continued to correspond on musical and miscellaneous matters, at first from
New York, and after he had returned to his native country, from Berlin, until
his death. Many of the musicians of eminence who have from time to time
made Milwaukee their home for a period, also furnished occasional articles
in relation to their art, notable among them Hugo Kauri, who has, since his
Milwaukee days, acquired international fame. It goes without saying, that
the long list of men and women among musicians, who may be counted among
the permanent citizens of Milwaukee, with their Nestor, Christopher Bach,
at their head, could always count on the cooperation of the Herold in all their
enterprises.
"The musical life of the city could not have flourished the way it has,
without the numerous associations of amateurs, who band themselves together
to cultivate some branch of the art, and whose membership supplies most of
the audience at concerts of visiting masters. These have always had the full
support of the Herold, going far beyond the mere reporting of their public
performances. The business affairs of these societies need for their healthy
progress a certain amount of publicity, which keeps the interest alive among
the general public from whom they must draw their new members and their
financial support. It may be said that the management of the paper has
known, during all these years, to discriminate on the whole very wisely be-
tween the publicity that helps, and the mere gossip about the internal affairs
of the organization, which may hinder and disrupt rather than be of benefit.
The oldest of these societies, and the organization with the most ambitious
program, the 'Musikverein' (Musical Society), existed more than a decade
before the first number of the Herold saw the light. But ever since that time,
the paper has lent intelligent aid to its work. During a life as long as that
of the 'Musikverein' (over seventy years), occasional tempests requiring
wise and careful steering of the bark could hardly be avoided. Sometimes
the temptation may have been great for the management to look at the matter
merely from the standpoint of 'publishing the news' without regard to the
682 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
effect it would have on the fortunes of the organization, and therefore on the
musical life of the city."
Tribute to a Musician. — After having retired from a Long career as Mil-
waukee's most prominent. orchestral leader, Christian Bach appeared at the
Auditorium on Sunday afternoon, March 24, 1912, to direct a concert when
"William George Bruce in an address extended the following tribute:
"This audience has been honored today by the retired Nestor of the local
musical world. Once more he has come out of his retirement to raise his
baton, as he has thousands of times during the past half century, to again
wrest the rich volumes of tone from these instruments and carry their charm
into your souls. Once more he is with us. Once more his presence is an
inspiration.
"If we were to express here today our gratitude to those who have broughl
the message of the world's great com posers to us, our first thought would he
of the honored leader, Christopher Bach. No name would stand out in
stronger relief.
"No man has labored longer in the local field of music and produced more.
No man has interpreted the great music-poets more eloquently and beautifully.
None has poured more sunshine and happiness into the hearts of a multitude,
than he. To none do we owe a greater debt of gratitude. Truly, he has given
more than he has received !
"To honor him during this brief hour is but a feeble tribute to the man
and his services. His real compensation must lie in the consciousness that he
has rendered a valuable service to his fellowmen, that he has elevated a
generation into a better understanding for the things that are refining and
ennobling.
"If all his audiences of a half century were arrayed before us today they
would form a concourse of a million people. And if we admit the power as
well as the charm of music then we must also admit that he wielded an in-
fluence whose extent cannot be measured.
"He has awakened the imagination, aroused the soul, soothed the restless.
comforted the weary, cheered the sad and added to the sum total of human
happiness. As an apostle of music he has spoken in the language of the
masters, dispensed the food of love, prompted the nobler impulses, and in-
spired the higher ideals of life.
"To me has been entrusted the pleasant duty of presenting to you. .Mi-.
Bach, this small token of an appreciative public. May these flowers — their
beauty and their fragrance — convey to you our sense of gratitude, and express
to you tin' love anil esteem we hold for you. These roses also carry with them
Hie well wishes of a thousand hearts, with the hope and prayer that you may
be spared to us for many years to come and thai the evening of your life maj
be blessed with all the eomforts and with that happiness which you so richly
deserve."
The Genius of Music. A masterful tribute to the art of music was written
by Mr. William J. Desmond, a Milwaukeean, in 1910, which may appropriately
he reproduced here :
"There are many kinds of talent ami all are working toward expression.
MILWAUKEE'S MUSICAL HISTORY 683
One finds utterance in words and gives to the world the poet and the orator.
Another expresses itself in great works. It gives us the artist and the sculptor,
spans the continents with wonderful works of architecture, devises intricate
moving machinery and controls great enterprises of industry and government.
And still another — passing by words and works — draws from a concord of
sweet sounds a power to sway the spirit in every mood. This is the genius of
music. All the elusive ideals that art can never paint in color or shape from
wrood or stone — all the evanescent thought and tender emotion that no pen can
put in words — the genius of music has enshrined in immortal strains. In the
realm of emotion where words end, music begins and by its ineffable power
expresses what had else remained unjittered and unutterable.
"There is nothing more wonderful than music. It is everywhere in nature
from the ripple of the brook to the music of the spheres, —
'Forever singing as they shine
The hand that made us is divine.'
"Born of silence it but touches the ear to tremble away into ethereal space,
or finding chords responsive, to abide with him 'who carries music in his heart
through rambling lane and dusty mart.' Living only as sound it ministers to
every mood. Where pleasure reigns and mirth is queen — there music guides
the mazy dance. Where martial tread and clash of arms resound — the war
song of the soldier, the bugle blast and beat of drums lead on to victory, and
where the worshiper devoutly kneels, the soulful organ and the solemn chant
inspire to reverential awe. Drawn from the vibrating chord, the pulsing pipe,
living in our very breath, it tells of things we never knew and speaks of that
we never saw. In the song the mating robin sings, 'in the sighing summer
breeze through the leaves of locust trees,' in the stirring tones of the Mar-
seillaise, the soft melody of Schubert's Serenade, the sad and simple sweet-
ness of Robin Adair, we hear it ever striving to reveal a meaning vague.
Through all it thrills and throbs in varying moods,
'Touching us with mystic gleams,
Like glimpses of forgotten dreams —
Of something felt like something here,
Of something seen we know not where,
Such as no language may declare.'
"It distils into sound the perfume of the rose, the sunshine of perfect days
and all the tenderness of love. It mingles the carol of the lark, the smiles aud
joy of youth and beauty and all the glimmering dreams of twilight hours and
starlit dawn. It follows the subtlest windings of the soul to the edge of the
infinite and wakes strange instincts of a higher life. Sister of love, handmaid
of religion, it tunes the soul to longings ever vain for beauty infinite and
innocence divine. Hear it and the sunshine ami shadows of life pass over the
soid. Hear it and it wakes to life all happiness that might have been and is
not."
<;
CHAPTER XL
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE
In its early clays, those succeeding the pioneer period and times of the first
settlers, Milwaukee had almost enough painters to form a genius belt. The
father of the colony, as the younger artists called him, was Henry Vianden,
who lived in the city for half a century, coming here eighty-two years ago,
when Milwaukee was but a village, painting and instructing — gathering
about him a host of young painters who wished to learn the elements of the
craft, or seeking knowledge of that mysterious, spellbinding thing called art.
Heinrich Vianden, forty-niner, old Diisseldorfer, gruff and hearty, lover
of a garden and lover of a tree, taught many a Milwaukee boy and girl, some
of whom have become famous. The memories of many a young student will
go back tenderly to the old artist with his leonine head, which had something
of the quality of the poet Longfellow; many a nature lover, many a picture
lover, got his first enthusiasm in the little workshop-studio where a tall build-
ing now stands, or felt the lure of art out on those sketching trips with the
painter. To belong to a sketch class in that age of innocence was a most
thrilling affair.
Carl Marr, one of Milwaukee's most distinguished sons, got his first lessons
from Vianden, as did Robert Koehler and Robert Schade, the three boys
going later to study in Munich. ( Jar] Marr's art has been honored in his native
city, and one of the finest examples of his work was purchased and hung first in
the Public Library and finally in the Auditorium. This is the famous "Flagel-
lants," a very beautiful picture, painted on a large scale and with consummate
skill. It was a medal picture which had been awarded the grand prize in a
Munich exhibition.
Not so famous, but a teacher and painter of good renown, Robert Koehler,
the other boy in Vianden 's studio, became an instructor and before his death
director in the Minneapolis School of Art; his paintings have found their way
into many collections, where he fairly represents the Munich influence in art,
its good drawing and worthy craftsmanship.
The third student, Robert Schade, became a still-life and portrait painter
and had important commissions in portraiture. A loan exhibition seldom
fails to bring out examples of his art and very good portraits they prove to be.
Schade became in his time greatly sought as a teacher, carrying on the con-
tinuity of art-life from the early days of the father, Heinrich Vianden.
Scbade's first study came in a lithographers' and engravers' school, which
was founded in the early '70s. Here Julius Gugler, the founder of a since
widely known lithographic establishment, taught the essentials of lithography
with others who were brought to Milwaukee for this purpose; in connection
with this school, which was on Broadway north of Mason Street, art exhibitions
were held, the first of their kind in Milwaukee, and in 1880 there was a group
685
686 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
of art lovers ami picture buyers banded into a Little society, which was vitally
interested in art and procuring exhibitions.
Among these Gen. Frederick C. Winkler and .Julius Gugler were greal
enthusiasts. The minutes af that first art hand were, in its very early days,
written in German, and the press chairman was called "chairman of public
agitation." One doubts nut in those days when the general public interesl
did not lie along art lines, that "public agitation"' was not less necessary
than the widely exploited newspaper columns have become in our own day.
Before Robert Schade was earning commissions in his chosen line, there
were a number of early portrait painters. Clifford was among these, and later
Conrad Ileyd, who came to Milwaukee in 1868. One sees frequently unsigned
portraits, known to be by local men. in Milwaukee homes, pictures which
have something of distinction and historic interest. Perhaps in this connec-
tion where the artists are unknown, a list of names including Clifford, .Mar-
quis, Brooks, Lydston, VerBryck and Roese may serve to throw light on the
authorship of family portraits. Marquis did exceptional work, strong in
characterization, firm in modeling and drawing, and rich in color.
In other phases than portraiture the early '80s had a number of strong
men. Frank Enders, etcher and landscape painter, Arthur Dadd, an aquarel
list, Culverhaus, a painter of nocturnes, and Charles Keller, were doing
excellent work. John Conway, painter and sculptor, lived in Milwaukee at
this time, receiving the commission for the soldiers' monument and decorating
the Chamber of Commerce. Schade and Enders had, about 1S86, finished
their studies in Munich and returned to Milwaukee: it was at this time with
the great interest in panorama painting, that a group of painters from Ger-
many came to Milwaukee to work.
An Era of Panorama Painters. — There were fifteen artists and in the four
years in which they worked a number of panoramas were completed, com-
prising in duplicate the battles of Chattanooga and Atlanta, the crucifixion,
and entry of Christ into Jerusalem. F. W. Heine was the head of the group
and lived here until his death in the summer of 1921. In 1903 Mr. Heine went
to the Holy Land to obtain material for painting church interiors, which were
exhibited at the St. Louis World Fair.
His paintings of Jerusalem and his rendition of oriental buildings and
scenes have always attracted great attention for the accuracy of their detail
and the charm of their color. But in 1886 Heine was at work on the pano-
ramas, having associated with him Lohr, Schneider, Rohrbeck and Michaelow-
ski; pressure of work and enthusiasm for the undertaking broughl ten other
artists — Frosch, Schroeter, Wilhelm, Wendling, Dinger, Biberstein, Von Ernst,
I'.reil wieser. Peter and last, but not least. I.orenz.
Seven out of the original group have remained in .Milwaukee; this group
attracted others to the city — the elder and younger Tredupps of Berlin.
Thomas, GehrtS and W'oltze came from Weimar, where Heine himself had
studied under Famous masters. These artists had their own studios, many
of them gave lessons, as well as engaging in panorama work; one of them.
von Ernst, received somewhat later a commission to decorate the l'abst resi-
dence. Michaelowski painted many of his well known portraits, and George
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 687
Peter was at work on his cattle pieces; Biberstein also gained in recognition.
Heine held art classes in his school, teaching for over thirty years.
Those were flourishing days for Milwaukee as an art center, and it became
the dream of these artists and their friends to make it one in actuality and
permanency. The art society of that day received fresh impetus in interest
and members and a great art festival was held in Schlitz Park, with proceeds
tn be devoted to the building of an art school. The festival, however, did not
net the expected returns, though the enthusiasm and stimulus given to the
art movement were most rewarding.
Mrs. Alexander Mitchell and Mrs. S. S. Frackleton were in the vanguard of
a movement to launch the Wisconsin Art Institute, which had rooms variously
in the Colby & Abbott Building, in the Durbin Art Gallery, and in the New
Insurance Building, where Robert Sehade was instructor. An exhibition of
the work of all the local artists was held in the Roebel & Reinhardt galleries
on Grand Avenue, the first of its kind in Milwaukee, and no less a person
than Mr. Frederick Layton presented the first prize, the sum of $100. This
was won by Michaelowski, one of the panorama painters. Michaelowski, it
will be recollected by those who have these art days of 1885 to 1890 in memory,
painted the portrait of Vianden which hangs in the trustees' room of the
Public Museum.
The Middle Period. — -Since 1907 many of the painters of the early days
have died; Schneider's death came in 1907; Paul Kupper, the sculptor's in
1908; Conrad Heyd, who next to Vianden was the oldest living representative
of the group of 1868, died in 1912; Robert Sehade 's death occurred that same
year and in 1915 Richard Lorenz, the most distinguished of the panorama
group, was lost to Milwaukee; in 1921 Frank Enders and Heine were called,
so that the older representatives no longer are here to tell the tale of the
early struggles, hopes and fears for art.
There happily remain, however, a group of five artists who were young
men and students at the time these art pioneers lived, and they bear witness
of the days whose history might otherwise be lost. These are Louis Mayer,
Alexander Mueller, George Raab, George Niedecken and Carl Reimann, all
of whom grew up in the group and who were admitted to the fellowship.
But before going on to the work and labors of this connecting group be-
tween the old and the new — representing directly the Munich, Weimar and
Diisseldorf schools, the other, our modern — one must pause over the name of
Richard Lorenz. His fame will be noted in the annals as the painter of the
Indian, the cowboy, the trapper, and logger. He will be the interpreter for
a latter day of a bygone and rapidly disappearing life, in the tent and cabin,
in the lumber camp, on the trails and in the mountains of the West, a lover
of horses which he rendered in unexampled draughtsmanship, showing the
life of the plains as hardly another has done in the country. A pioneer he was in
art and a revealer of pioneer life, rugged and virile in personality as in artistry.
Lorenz was a teacher in the Wisconsin Art Institute, to which Captain
Pabst lent his assistance after a period of failure. Here our connecting group,
in a school on Second Street and Grand Avenue, before their period of study
abroad, received their early training, and naturally they chose for study in
(iss history OF MILWAUKEE
Europe those institutions who bad nurtured their masters, von Ernsl and
Lorenz — going to Weimar and Munich — though Paris afterwards claimed both
George Niedecken and George Raab. To Tans also wenl Jessie Schley, who was
Olio of the students in this' school.
How good their gift was and how it developed may be seen in the positions
they now occupy. Mr. Raab is a painter of distinction in both portraiture
and landscape, and has latterly turned to bronze portraits in has relief, he
holds also his position as curator of the Layton Art Gallery. Louis Mayer,
too, is painter and sculptor both, but has left Milwaukee to reside in New
York, where he is winning fresh laurels in his chosen medium, that plastic art
which he feels suits his gift better. Louis Mayer has, however, lefl behind him
many a choice painting, to remind of his varied talent.
Alexander Mueller has not abandoned his painter's calling, but is the direc-
tor as well of the Wisconsin School of Fine and Applied Arts, better known as
the State School of Art, a distinguished art educator who has attracted to his
school talented, gifted members of widely varying artistic professions.
George Niedecken is an interior decorator, well known for his choice and
individual work both at home and elsewhere. Carl Reimann is also a deco
rator, a designer of church windows of great beauty.
This closes the early and middle period of the progress of art in Milwaukee.
The story is resumed with the founding of the Art Students League; this, with
the art activities of the men who sponsored it, their society of artists later to
become the Wisconsin Society of Painters and Sculptors, brings the history to
the point where the work was further carried on by an affiliated group of
workers forming the Milwaukee Art Society, incorporating it and bringing
into being its constitution and by-laws.
This group, who brought new members and fresh enthusiasm, carried the
work to a point where the present building of the Milwaukee Art Society
(since become the Milwaukee Art Institute) was acquired. In less than ten
years' time a permanent collection, rapidly increasing, was acquired, a mem-
bership and a patrons' support was obtained, and finally a maintenance fund
to aid in the work was granted by the common council of the city, which en-
abled the Milwaukee Art Institute to extend the scope of its work in every
direction.
The Art Students League. — In 1894 a young Milwaukee artist who has
become extremely famous, led a group of twelve young men employed in en-
graving and lithography to form the Milwaukee Art Students League; this
younjr man was Edward J. Steichen, and for five years he was the president
of the League. Summer quarters \''>r instruction were obtained through the
interest of Mrs. ( '. B. Whitnall at Gordon Place, and in the winter the base-
ment of the Ethical Hall was used for evening classes. Edward Steichen,
after his departure for Europe, was succ led by Herman Pfeiffer as presi
dent, who in his turn, like Steichen. went abroad for stud] ; Alexander Muel
ler. in the fall of 1900, was made director and instructor of the league; the
membership greatly increased and new quarters were sought in the I'niversity
Building.
It is interesting to note that the old site of Henry Vianden's studio-work
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 689
shop was where the University Building now stands, thus forming one of
those chance links between the past and the present. The league then became
the Wisconsin School of Arts, occupying at first one room and finally taking an
entire floor of the building. Incorporation came and a patrons' association was
formed ; scholarships were awarded and exhibitions arranged.
Among the early foreign exhibitions brought were the decorations by
Alphonse Mucha, French impressionist paintings, original contemporary
European lithographs and etchings; the Tissot paintings. Work by local
artists was shown. Alexander Mueller, George Raab, Richard Lorenz, Louis
Mayer, George Niedecken, Helen Zastrow, Arniand D. Koch, Richard Phillip,
Udo Mueller, Grace Ricker, Henry Stoerzer, Albert Tiemann, Martha Kaross
Mueller, Louis W. Wilson, Arthur Gunther, Clara Byron, Anna Reiter, Norma
B. Kroes, Frank Enders, Elmer A. Forsberg, Charles Makowsky, Eleanor
Hansen, Victor Mueller, Phillip Kauth, Albert Fink, Sophie Koop, Stan
Christie, Lillian Zimmermann, W. H. Hinton, were teachers at various times
in the school, and a devoted band they were, all of them contributing gener-
ously to make the school a success, and many of them giving their services
with but nominal financial returns.
It was an uphill struggle, and sometimes there was discouragement of
spirit because of a lack of support on the part of the public ; but the school
nevertheless gained its recognition and has many successful artists to its
credit, many who would otherwise have been unable to obtain an art educa-
tion. The support of the patrons, the sacrifice of the director and faculty,
bore fruit. Arthur H. Gallun. made many things possible through his liberal
gifts, paying deficits, bearing costs of exhibitions ; Frederick Layton, too, was
one of the supporters who gave with characteristic generosity.
Normal Art School. — The work was carried on for ten years, with hun-
dreds of students as members of the school, each acquiring the means of mak-
ing a livelihood, knowing good standards of taste and able to contribute to
the life of the community, through the education and culture obtained. This
service was finally fully recognized, and in 1911 the Board of Regents of
Normal Schools decided to take over the school and make it a department
of the Milwaukee Normal School ; Alexander Mueller was retained as director
and the school has now been housed in splendid quarters, with fine equip-
ment in the normal school.
The scope of the school is broad and cultural, with an aim to develop skilled
workers in the fine and applied arts, and to train teachers of drawing and
handicraft. That this scope has been realized in larger measure may be seen
from the singling out by educators of its normal arts course, the demand
for its graduates in the professions, in fine and applied arts, and the place its
students hold who go east and abroad for further study.
The school year ending in June, 1922, should see 700 pupils enrolled ; there
are seventeen members of the faculty, each an expert in his line. Recently
a distinguished painter, Mr. George Oberteuffer, has come to be on the school
staff.
First Public Art Gallery. — Art progress further reached a high point in
1888 when an event of great importance occurred, which was the founding
OLD ACADEMY OF MUSIC, XOW SCHUBERT THEATER, 1870
THE PROGRESS OP ART IN MILWAUKEE 691
by Frederick Layton, early in the year, of the Layton Art Gallery. Its orig-
inal trustees were Messrs. Frederick Layton, George Dickens, John L. Mitchell,
James Clinton Spencer, Francis B. Keene, B. K. Miller, William P. MacLaren,
Edward Sanderson, William Plankinton and Jerome R. Brigham, all civic-
spirited men and interested that their city should have an art gallery and that
appreciation of art be created in the public taste as one of the finer things in
life.
The originator of the project, the man who gave his fortune to this great
art enterprise, Frederick Layton, bought the land, erected the building, and
gave originally thirty-eight paintings valued at $50,000, with further generous
gifts as time went on, and an endowment fund of support to the sum of
$100,000. April 5, 1888, saw the formal presentation to the corporation and
the opening to the public of the gallery in the new building. The galleries
were from thence on open throughout the year, with three free days to the
public and Sunday afternoons added after the first two years.
For thirty-one years Mr. Layton continued his interest in the Layton Art
Gallery, adding to the collection, obtaining many additional gifts from others
by his enthusiasm and devotion; the collection became so augmented that in
1916 a wing was added to house the additional paintings. The construction,
extension and enlargement of the building, its endowment funds, now reach
the mark of almost half a million dollars and are the creation of an enthusiastic
spirit, who at the age of ninety, before his death, saw the rounding out of
his dream and vision as few are- given to realize. A few of the artists repre-
sented, should be noted — famous examples by Bouguereau, Bonheur, Mon-
chablon, Cazin Jacque, Harpignies, Corot, Bastien LePage, von Marcke, De-
fregger, Carl Marr, Clays, Scherrewitz, Israels, DeHoog, Mauve, Mesdag,
Blommers, Alma Tadema, Leighton, Parsons, Inness, Eastman Johnson, Wyant;
Winslow Homer, Keith, Blakelock, Pushman, Carleton Wiggins and Bolton
Jones. This list is necessarily much curtailed for space ; the collection con-
tains many other gems and takes its place not only in the history of Milwau-
kee but in the art history of the country.
Edwin Eldridge was the first curator of the Layton Art Gallery, succeeded
by George Raab who has held the. position from 1902 to the present time.
Milwaukee-Downer College. — Since 1852 there have been classes in art at
Milwaukee-Downer College. Miss Emily Groom had charge of the depart-
ment of art from 1907 to 191-L In 1913 Miss Elizabeth (i. Upham started
classes in jewelry and silver-smithing.
Milwaukee-Downer College was one of the pioneer colleges to realize the
importance of an organized art department which should give opportunity
for thorough art and applied art study for college students. Before 1917 a
few credits in history of art and studio work were allowed toward the
Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees. In that year the degree
of Bachelor of Science in Arts was instituted. This enabled a student to pre-
pare herself to teach art or enter the commercial art field, and at the same
time to gain a broad cultural training.
In September, 1918, Milwaukee-Downer College, at the instance and through
the inspiration of Elizabeth G. Upham, instituted a course in occupational
692 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
therapy as an emergency war course. The need for occupational therapy,
however, did not end with the war. At present there is a growing demand
for well-trained workers in state and private institutions, and to quote a
famous specialist, occupational therapy is a work especially adapted for re-
fined and intelligent young women. This course added to the art department
well-equipped shops for weaving, basketry, bookbinding, and woodwork.
At present writing (November, 1921), the art faculty includes four in-
structors besides Miss Charlotte Russell Partridge who has been director
since 1917, and gives seven different crafts, twenty art courses, including;
batik and block printing (1919) and occupational therapy.
The Layton School of Art. — This is the youngest art school in Milwaukee.
and was founded in the belief that art inspires industry. It trains young men
and women in those branches of art which are directly related to industry.
It aims to prepare persons in two years' time for efficient service as profes-
sional workers in industrial art, commercial art, interior decoration, costume
designing, illustration, and normal art. In the first year all students take
the prescribed subjects: Design, composition, flower analysis, still l.fe, sketch,
nude life, constructive drawing and perspective, lettering, history of art.
psychology and literary appreciation.
This work lays a broad foundation for any one of the six courses offered for
specialization in the second year when intensive study in the chosen course in-
cludes modern processes of manufacture and reproduction. Evening classes are
held three times a week, and work is offered in general design, design for
interior decoration, clay modeling and life. The total enrollment for 1920-
21 was 315. The enrollment for 1921-22 will exceed the first years' number
considerably.
The history of the Layton School of Art affords interesting evidence of
the increased realization in this country of the need for industrial art schools.
European countries have for years considered schools training artists for
work in industrial and all applied art fields a necessity and asset. Such
schools have been financed by the governments and promising students have
been given tuition and living expenses while studying. The change in eco-
nomic conditions brought on by the war quickened the interest which had
been growing for some time in this country in training American designers
and in producing a national art. The Church School of Art. Chicago, which
had been doing pioneer work in this field, closed in June, 1920.
It seemed, therefore, a propitious time for the establishment in Milwaukee,
a great manufacturing center, of an industrial art school awake to the de-
mands of the times, seeing the need for art in industry, and intelligently
training its young people to carry out to industry and education the best that
it can teach in design, color, and thoroughly American ideas. The Layton
School of Art, successor to the Church School of Art. Chicago, but in no way
identical with that institution, opened in September, 1920,
This school was organized and founded by Charlotte Russell Partridge
who holds the position of director, and from the beginning has bad the most
loyal support and endorsement of a group of progressive and prominent .Mil-
waukee citizens. The Milwaukee Art Institute signified its intention of
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 693
active cooperation with the Layton School ; the Layton Art Gallery gave the
ground floor of its beautiful building to be used as the school studios; and a
group of individuals from both institutions with others each gave $250 for
equipment and remodeling.
The school was incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin as a non-
profit-making institution. The board of trustees consists of James K. Ilsley,
president ; George P. Miller, Miss Charlotte R. Partridge, Samuel 0. B-uek-
ner, Maj. Howard Greene, Miss Alice G. Chapman, William H. Schuchardt,
Dr. Ernest Copeland, Edwin E. White. Miss Partridge donated her serv-
ices as director and instructor for the first year, and Dudley Crafts Watson,
director of the Milwaukee Institute, gave his services one night a week
as instructor in the night school. Miss Miriam Frink was elected assistant
director. There were in all six instructors the first year, the number in-
creasing to nine the second year.
In addition to the tuition classes of the day school and evening school,
free classes for children are held on Saturday mornings and are largely
attended by school children of all ages from six to seventeen. In the carry-
ing on of these classes the Layton School has the help of the Milwaukee
Art Institute.
The school is making a significant departure this year along lines that
are being tried in New York and Chicago. Several students are doing ad-
vanced work in industrial designing at the school and at the same time
working as apprentices in industrial shops.
To sum up, the Layton School of Art is a new school and as yet a com-
paratively small school but it is thoroughly awake to the possibilies. of art,
in industry and is playing a vital part in Milwaukee's progress.
Later Art Associations. — In 1900 Louis Mayer, Alexander Mueller,
George Raab, and George Xiedecken were leaders in organizing the so-
ciety of Milwaukee Artists, many of the Art Students League members
joining, as well as the panorama painters who had made Milwaukee their
home. This became the present day Society of Wisconsin Painters and Sculp-
tors. The Society of Milwaukee Artists was also the nucleus of the Milwaukee
Art Institute, incorporated under its first name of the Milwaukee Art Society.
As the Milwaukee Art Society it had originally about seventy-five mem-
bers, with laymen as well as artist members, and held its exhibitions in the
history room of the public library and at the Moulton & Ricketts galleries.
A footnote in the catalog of one of these latter exhibitions says, "Milwaukee
is the only city of its size in the country without an art exhibition building."
As early as October, 1912, a building was owned with over three hundred
running feet of wall space for exhibition in four galleries, and in the five
years 3,000 works had been displayed and 200 American artists had exhibited.
The story of how this came about now forms another chapter in the ail
progress of Milwaukee. In 1910 the first meeting under the present ei insti-
tution and by-laws was held. The first president as the Milwaukee Art So-
ciety was Charles Allis, son of Edward P. Allis, both men noted collectors
and connoisseurs. Its avowed purpose is "to encourage the fine and applied
arts, to stimulate the love of beauty and to cultivate the public taste, and in
694 HISTORY OP .MILWAUKEE
that behalf to establish and maintain art galleries, expositions, and any re-
quisite and useful instructions, — either alone, in connection with the state
or municipality or otherwise — to obtain by purchase, gifl or otherwise, paint-
ings and works of art and'to acquire, own or lease and hold any real estate
and building."
A part of this ambitious program, as held in the vision of the first founders,
and president, Charles Allis, was undertaken and carried through under the
leadership of Samuel Owen Buckner, its second president. In 11)12 the present
building was acquired, in 1919 two new galleries were added, and at the
present WTiting, in the fall of 1921, extensive alterations and additions are
being made on the original building. The campaign for building funds was
a vigorous one and entailed much labor; many a day the workers were dis-
couraged and wished to abandon the undertaking of raising the necessary
sum to buy the Land, Log & Lumber Company building which offered such
unusual opportunities for making a home and exhibition room for the society.
Mr. liuekner's enthusiasm and faith never wavered, however, the drive
was finally successful, and the building purchased. The list of the many
public-spirited men and women who gave so generously would require too
much space to print. There are, however, six whose gifts reached the propor-
tion to put their names in the Patron Membership, and these are Charles Allis,
Frederick Layton, Charles Pfister, Ferdinand Schlesinger, Joseph Uihlein, and
Mrs. Charles W. Norris.
In 1912 and 1913 a campaign for more members was pushed and the mem-
bership increased from the original seventy-five to over five hundred, with
new life and contributing memberships added. This membership permitted
more extended activities, and in December, 1913, a young instructor and lec-
turer in the faculty of the Chicago Art Institute, Dudley Crafts Watson, was
engaged as director. Mr. Watson has now served eight years in this capacity,
bringing unlimited zeal and enthusiasm to the work and unique qualities as
an art educator. His joyous and communicable enthusiasm gained for the
Milwaukee Art Society many adherents who felt the inspiration of his method
of reaching children and his desire, also, to extend the love of art to a wide
democracy.
In 1916 the name of the Milwaukee Art Society was changed to the Mil-
waukee Art Institute, and a still more ambitious program of activities, in-
eluding additional classes, lectures and exhibitions became of absorbing in-
terest.
Municipal Support. — In order to make a demonstration of what could be
dune with a mure liberal allowance of money, a three-year fund was started,
whose subscribers were P>. F. Adler, Samuel ( >. Luekner, Mrs. \V. W. Bur-
roughs, .Miss Alice Chapman, Ernest Copeland, Albert Elser, Adolph Finkler.
Mrs. George P. Miller. Bmil Ott, Mrs. Frederick Pabst, Charles Pfister, Mr.
and Mrs. W. II. Schuchardt, Ferdinand Schlesinger. Mrs. Margaret Steinmever.
Walter Stern, Albert ( ). Trostel, Miss l'aula Uihlein and Fred Vogei, Jr. This
subscription fund was the means of demonstrating to the city what COUld
be done if a regular fund was at the command of the Milwaukee Art Institute.
Success attended and city supporl was voted by the common council on
THE PROGRESS OP ART IN MILWAUKEE 695
the recommendation of the City Club, the Merchants and Manufacturers As-
sociation and the Mayor's Advisory Council, and the various editorials in
the Milwaukee daily papers, and in 1918 the board of estimates placed the
sum of $5,000 in the year's budget, which was passed by the common council
by a large majority vote. Mayor Daniel Hoan, Aldermen Cornelius Corcoran,
Emil Seidel, F. C. Bogk, Charles W. O'Connor, and John Docrfler, Jr., have
shown great interest in the upbuilding of the Milwaukee Art Institute and
through their enthusiasm and support have brought increased support by
the city, until the amount in 1920 reached the sum of $15,000.
Since April, 1917, the Art Institute medals of award have been in existence,
with the purpose of fostering "Wisconsin production in the fine arts ; prizes
and honorable mentions in the applied arts have been established also for
the yearly exhibitions held in winch the Society of Wisconsin Painters and
Sculptors have won many bonors. In the allied arts, too, encouragement has
been given in a yearly festival of Wisconsin art, with programs in music,
poetry, drama, pantomime, and dance, with greatly stimulated appreciation of
these art forms in the community.
Besides the encouragement given to artists in the city and state, coopera-
tion and affiliation has been established with numbers of associations which
undertake making the life of the city finer and better. The constantly in-
creasing attendance at classes, gallery tours, lectures and exhibitions, show
how much has been contributed to old and young through these channels.
Generous Gifts. — In October, 1919, Mr. Buckner gave unconditionally from
his private collection, twenty-five paintings to the permanent collection of
the Milwaukee Art Institute. This unprecedented gift, added to his donations
of preceding years, included Dutch, French, Spanish, and American masters,
and its- fine scope may be seen from the following artists who are represented
in this collection: B. J. Blommers, Theodore DeBock, J. S. H. Kever, II. W.
Mesdag, William Roloefs, F. P. TerMeulen and H. J. Van der Weiler, J. H.
Weissenbruch, Henri Harpignies, Joaquim Sorolla, Ralph Blakelock, George
Elmer Browne, E. Irving Couse, Leon Dabo, Elliott Daingerfield, Warren Davis,
Henry S. Eddy, Lillian M. Genth, Albert L. Groll, Charles P. Gruppe, Childe
Hassam, Charles W. Hawthorne, Robert Henri, William Keith, Percival Ros-
seau, Francisco Spicuzza, C. A. Slade, Vaclav Vytlacil, F. Ballard Williams,
and Cullen Yates.
In addition to the Samuel O. Buckner collection, the permanent collection
has had accessions in gifts from Frederick Layton, William Schuchardt, Alice
G. Chapman, Mrs. Samuel A. Field, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Dunbar, Alfred F.
James, Mrs. J. W. Skinner, Kuli Kahn, Mrs. Olive M. Simmons, Mrs. S. S.
Merrill, Frida Gugler, Dr. Ernest Copeland, Thomas A. Buckner, and John
F. Kraushaar, and the women of the Fourth District, State Federation of
Women's Club; artist donors have been Evert Pieters, Edward Dufner, Philip
Little, William Heintzelman, Earl II. Reed, Jean McLean Johansen, Ferdinand
Koenig, Cartaino Scarpitta. Numerous other gifts including prints, Litho-
graphs, pottery, textiles, and books have been made. The presenl library
owes its very good start, its clipping file of fine biographical material and
art data to Mrs. F. C. Reynolds and her committee.
THE PABST THEATEE
Oneida Street. Devoted principally to the German drama
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 697
In November, 1920, a memorial gift, to be known as the Gertrude N. Schu-
ehardt Memorial Collection was made to the trustees of the Milwaukee Art
Institute by William H. Sehuchardt. The gift is one of etchings and includes
many famous names — Durer, Rembrandt, Whistler, Zorn, Seymour Haden,
Rousseau, Corot, and Millet. It is Mr. Sehuchardt 's intention to add yearly
to this collection. The interest of a sum bequeathed by Mrs. Sehuchardt it
was resolved should be devoted to purchase for this collection, which thus
becomes a fitting memorial to the memory of one of the Milwaukee Art Insti-
tute 's most lovely and devoted patrons.
Future Plans. — The Milwaukee Art Institute begins in 1922 a new epoch
of extended service. The building in 1920 and 1921 had been outgrown in
every particular of its use and equipment. The rapidly growing collection
was in a position to receive further gifts if donors could be assured of perma-
nent and suitable exhibition. In the galleries for current exhibitions, in
audience and class rooms, in office room, even in the minor matters of packing,
storage, coatrooms, etc., the lack of space had been a great detriment.
Extensive changes thus became imperative if the educational work with
children, teachers, and the general adult public was to go on. An auditorium
separate from the main gallery, which had hitherto served for the many pur-
poses of exhibit, audience, class, and packing, was most necessary. If col-
lections permanent and temporary were to be enjoyed rightly they must be
in rooms freed from other use and devoted solely to exhibition purposes.
It was felt that the new civic center art museum would not come within
a period of from ten to fifteen years, and that in the intervening period an
extension of the present quarters, was an absolute necessity, if the larger
opportunity in the new center was not to find the art institute unprepared
and stagnant.
When the deep conviction had been expressed on all sides that the extension
work should not come to a standstill, the recommendation of the trustees was
accepted by the corporation and a finance and building committee were ap-
pointed to proceed with architectural plans which, in a general way, had
been shaped for some time. What will practically be a new building, within
the shell of the old, is at present under process of construction, with all needed
improvements. With its completion the trustees look forward to a greater
art institute with larger opportunities for service and enjoyment, believing
that a greater art institute means a greater Milwaukee.
The Wisconsin Players. — In that greater Milwaukee the place for an art
theatre is within the rightful scope of hopes for art. The Wisconsin Players
have been organized with this as their chief aim. For about nine years they
have been banded together, acquiring a home in 1915 in a charming old-
fashioned house on Jefferson Street, opposite the Art Institute. It is designed
to be the center of expression and development in the art of the theatre. The
house itself, with its quaint old English basement tea room, an experimental
theatre and audience room on the second floor and a ball room on the third
offers every inducement for constructive work and play. Efforts are made
to bring to Milwaukee representative groups of players from other theatres,
experimenting in theatre art.
698 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
Specifically, the aims of the Wisconsin Players are to establish in Milwau-
kee an experimental stage for the use of the artists, actors, writers, directors,
painters, and musicians who wish to participate in developing the art of the
theatre: to promote the study of plays and the problems of the theatres; to
translate and compile plays; to facilitate the writing, printing, and producing
of original plays; to support good plays; to develop an audience. Laura
Sherry has 1 n the leading spirit in this organization devoting her whole
life to the work.
The realization of a larger theatre where performances will not have to
he given in the theatres hired for short periods with many difficulties of re-
hearsal and production, is among the definite plans. Meantime the intimate
plays produced by the student group in the Players known as the Workshop
continue throughout the year, while once a season productions on a larger
scale are made. War Camp Community Service occupied the group before
the armistice was declared; poetry courses, with the appearance of many noted
lecturers and poets, have been successfully carried through year after year
and the club and social life has been one of the most wholesome and stimulat-
ing influences in the city. The whole group of Players tln-oughout their
activities in classes and productions have been a force for artistic expression.
Milwaukee has also in recent years had an art club formed of workers
and patrons in all the arts. This is the Walrus Club with Catherine Pannill
Mead as president ; it was formed originally from a group of newspaper writers
but now includes musicians, painters, sculptors, critics, crafters. collectors, in
fact anyone vitally interested or creative in the arts may become eligible.
The club has a home next to the Wisconsin Players, gives delightful programs,
entertains artists of note and contributes with much zest to the social inter-
course between workers.
The Connoisseurs and the Dealers. — In the place art takes in any com-
munity, in addition to artistic production and public realization of it through
the great institutional channels of fostered appreciation, other factors enter
and these are, the collectors, the connoisseurs and the dealers. Art, like any
other commodity has its production, its distribution, and consumption. In
our review the artists as producers have already had their share of attention
in the history of the early and middle group; the story of the schools, produc-
ing centers too, has been noted as well as what has been done by various
groups, by the Layton Gallery and Milwaukee Art Institute, cooperating vari-
ously with artists in many mediums, enabling them to get their message over.
There now remains another side of the progress of art as illustrated by the
collectors, connoisseurs, and dealers, all closely related. By connoisseur is
meant the lover and critical appreciator of art as well as he who is able to
own; apart from the collectors of whom .Milwaukee had its full share are
certain dominating personalities, artists sometimes, critics often, lovers always
who have influenced the taste of the day. though their names should not ap-
pear as ureal producers or consumers. .Milwaukee too. has had dealers who
Were real connoisseurs, working to develop the art tasle in the city, and to
substitute, in place of a vapid and insincere production, a real and vital art.
The F. II. Durbin Galleries stood for this liner quality at a time when
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 699
grandiose subjects were finding- much favor. The etchings, the prints and en-
gravings which F. H. Durbin placed at his clients' disposal have stood the
test of time. He was in the early days the first to preach simplicity and
austerity in art, and many a buyer would not afterward have had to consign
to a rubbish heap, purchases which had inanity written large on their face,
if they had taken the advice of this man. The times have come around to
Mr. Durbin 's way of thinking and he stands justified now in many eyes.
His early Whistlers and Seymour Hadens have now the place of honor.
A noted dealer and connoisseur was Henry Reinhardt of the Roebel and
Reinhardt galleries. Mr. Reinhardt was the prime mover for bringing great
exhibitions here. Noted canvases by famous artists were always to be seen in
the galleries at Grand Avenue and Fourth Street ; not only there but at the
Milwaukee Industrial Exposition was Mr. Reinhardt's fine eonnoisseurship
to be seen. In 1885, and succeeding years, numerous exhibitions of art were
held. Albert Trump was manager of the exposition and lent himself heartily
to Mr. Reinhardt's plans for fine collections to be brought from abroad and
from the East.
Mr. Reinhardt was head of the art department of the exposition for a num-
ber of years. Perhaps his greatest achievement was the fine collection of early
Americans, which he assembled — Inness, Wyant, Homer Martin — these are
among- the names of the great artists he showed. The Reinhardt galleries did a
flourishing art business here for fifty years. The Toledo Museum collect ion was
formed on advice from Henry Reinhardt and paid him signal honors of appre-
ciation at his death. In 1915 the gallery located at 406 Milwaukee Street was
bought by Cecilia Sehieweck, who had grown up in the Reinhardt tradition
and knowledge of the masters. Miss Sehieweck is at the present time a most
artistic and careful critic of style and authenticity, and has placed many a
masterpiece in Milwaukee homes.
Thomas Whipple Dunbar is another dealer making Milwaukee his home,
selecting the choice American masters as his field and doing much for the ap-
preciation of American landscape. He has a trained and valued knowledge
of art and brings a love and enthusiasm to it and a willingness to aid in its
service apart from any sale or sales value.
Loan collections at the Exposition showed how greatly Milwaukee con-
noisseurs had profited in their purchases. The list of collectors is a long one,
though there are outstanding names such as Edward P. Allis, and Charles
Allis, Arthur McGeoch, Alexander Mitchell, William II. Metcalf, Mrs. 0. P.
Pillsbury, Mrs. Louise Schandein, Mrs. Frank Crosby, J. H. Van Dyke, Mrs.
George Swallow, L. J. Petit, II. II. Camp, Mrs. D. M. Benjamin, Washington
Becker, William Bigelow, the Uihlein Brothers — August, William, Henry, and
Charles Pfister, Fred Vogel, Jr.. II. August Luedke, Fred Pritzlaff, John
('. Koch, Franz Wollaeger, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Conro, Capt. Fred Pabst
and family, Patrick Cudahy, Emil A. Ott, .Mrs. Samuel A. Field, T. A. Chap-
man, Miss Alice G. Chapman, Mrs. George P. Miller, William Allis, F. A.
Walsh, Emanuel Phillip, Arthur II. Gallun, Mrs. William Steinmeyer, Jacob
Friend, Samuel 0. Buckner, Gen. F. C. Winkler, Dr. Ernest Copeland, William
Hinrichs, B. F. Adler, Ferdinand Sclilesinger, Mrs. Emilie Nunnemacher, John
700 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
A. Butler, Miss Elizabeth Black, .Mrs. Henry M. Thompson, Dr. Henry V.
Ogden, William II. Schuchardt, Douglas Van Dyke, Ludington Patton, Mrs
Charles L. Mcintosh, William ('. Quark's, and (ieorjrc i'. Seidel, who were all
collectors, adding yearly choice examples to their collections.
William II. Metcalf had a delightful private gallery to which visitors were
cordialy welcomed; the glory of its beautiful Bouguereau, "The Lost Pleiad,"
was much appreciated. The great All is collection comprised the must famous
artists of that earlier day, and so well did Mr. Allis choose thai even to this
modern decade the collection did not suffer diminution of value. Corot, Diaz.
Rousseau, Bastien Lepage, Dupre, Schreyer, Jacque, Tryon, Daubigny, .Mauve,
Israel. Millet, William and Jacob Maris are names to conjure with and the
examples he possessed of Fromentin, Gabriel Max, Meissoneir, Vibert, Bon-
heur. .Meyer von Bremen, Knaux, could not be excelled in any European gallery.
The Charles Allis collection will probably not be dispersed as were those
of the elder Allis and .Metcalf, but kept intact it is hoped. It was more varied
in range than that of his father and contains the rarest objects d'art of all
conditions, and countries. The etching collection is one of the greatest in
the country; there are, besides the painters of note, antique potteries, porce-
lains, and bronzes, rare carvings of wood, jade, and ivory, all carefully e.x-
perted and chosen with a royal taste.
The McGeoch collection has great English masters of unique quality and
beauty. Joseph Uihlein at one time collected European art, but his taste has
latterly centered on magnificent tapestries. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Conro were
collectors whose enthusiasm and discrimination made an impression on their
time. They were interested in sharing and instrumental in bringing collec-
tions here, renting space in the Durbin gallery. They were supported by a
sympathetic group of whom the Alexander Mitchells and W. W. Wight were
spirited workers. Their hope to found a Milwaukee Museum of Fine Arts
was not realized, but they did much to keep the interest ablaze. Mrs. ('. 1).
Adsitt, an art lecturer, and writer, and true connoisseur, was one of the lumi-
naries of this period (18S0). It was, if memories are correct, through her
direction that the fine collection of Toschi etchings originally collected by the
Milwaukee Museum of Fine Arts was placed in the Athenaeum. Mrs. Lydia
Ely, who was an adept at crayon portraiture, must not be forgotten as she was
as well known and greatly beloved as Mrs. Adsitt.
One hist and important name should be noted — F. II. Bresler, who has be-
come as national a figure as a dealer in art as Henry Reinhardt. Twenty or
more years ago F. II. Bresler galleries succeeded the F. II. Durbin gallery
(1881-1900). Mr. Bresler is more than an art dealer — he is a connoisseur and
art lover of ripe and mature judgment and the finest taste. .Milwaukee can
well be proud of him as a personality. His gallery, with its three beautiful
floors, cannot be excelled by any New York firm. The architectural beauty
and fitness of the galleries, the reserved and fine method of showing the price-
less objects make for an atmosphere of distinction and charm. Mr. Bresler
is himself too modest to let it be known, but the great museums of the coun-
try depend on him to obtain the choice collections which it is his mission to
seek and find.
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 701
Our Modern Group of Artists. — Our present-day artists, what of them?
There are a goodly number and Milwaukee can well be proud of them. Emily
Groom, Susan Cressy, Frida Gugler, Mabel Key, Ruth Holberg, Ottilie Reinke,
Martha Kaross Mueller are prominent among the women. Francesco Spicuzza,
Gustav Moeller, Ferdinand Koenig, Raymond Stelzner, Royal Scheibe, Alexander
Mueller, Dudley Crafts "Watson, Richard Holberg, Gaetano Busalacchi, Armin
Hansen, Carl Holty, Edward Kaminski, William H. Schuchardt, George Raab,
George Niedecken, Paul Hammersmith, Fred Hilgendorf, T. Lindberg, and
H. J. Stoltenberg are pressing to the front. There are a score of others,
youngsters, who have it in them to do good things.
The annual exhibitions show great improvement, and through the influ-
ence of the Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors there are yearly coming to be
better standards. The crafts and industrial arts have come into their own
and this is the most favorable of all things — that arts related to our daily life
and the beautification of the objects of daily use are now receiving the atten-
tion of artists and good design becoming an integral part of our life. The
idea is abroad in our city too that art is not a remote and high-brow affair, fit
only for the so-called connoisseur, but an affair of much public concern, definite
and near and as necessary to obtain as good roads, bridges or buildings. There
is such glamour and mystery surrounding the life of an artist that we are
apt to forget that art itself in a most near and familiar way is to be loved ;
and this it is the mission of our younger generation of artists to fulfill, making
a wanted and necessary product, vital in its relation to its time and needs.
These then, are the many and various strands that make the art progress
of the city. Here we find a bright thread of that older Germany whose blood
nurtured our early artists; there a weaving in of French and English threads;
now the Dutch, all making a warp and woof of that which is to be a clean cut
American art, something Milwaukee stands for definitely. The rest is prophecy
and belongs to tomorrow. — M. B. Mayhew.
(This article is much indebted for material to Louis Mayer — Milwaukee Sentinel, April
5, 1903 — to George Eaab and to Alexander Mueller.)
The Layton Art Gallery. — The beautiful building of the Layton Art Gallery
stands upon the site formerly occupied by St. Paul's church, at the corner of
Jefferson and Mason streets. It is built of light-colored stone, smooth-faced,
and designed by G. A. Audsley of London, England. It is a single story in
height intended for the display of pictures and statuary; the floor plan is
convenient and attractive, providing for a hall of statuary and three large
galleries for pictures, all well lighted, besides private rooms for the curator
and his assistants.
The Layton Art Gallery was formally opened April 6, 1887, and presented
to the City of Milwaukee by Frederick Layton. It was placed under the con-
trol of twelve trustees. The purposes of the corporation as organized are
declared to be "maintaining, regulating, and managing a public art gallery
in the City of Milwaukee, to be known as the Layton Art Gallery; and taking
and holding, managing and controlling, any real estate or other property which
Frederick Layton, of Milwaukee, shall convey and give to such corporation,
for the purpose of providing and maintaining a public art gallery in said city,
THE DAVIDSON THEATRE
THE PROGRESS OF ART IN MILWAUKEE 703
and also any other property which may come to such corporation by gift or
grant, devise or bequest, or otherwise, for the benefit of said public art gallery."
Provisions Made in the Articles. — The articles provided that the signers of
the articles shall be the first board of trustees and to continue for life, except
in the cases of resignation or removal, vacancies by death or otherwise, to be
filled by the remaining trustees. The officers of the corporation provided by
the articles were a president, a vice president, and a secretary. The signers
of the articles were: Frederick Layton, Charles F. Ilsley, George Dickens,
John L. Mitchell, James Clinton Spencer, William H. Metcalf, Francis B. Keene,
B. K. Miller, William P. MacLaren, Edward Sanderson, William Plankinton,
and Jerome R. Brigham. These twelve signers constituted the first board of
trustees. The organization of the corporation was completed by the election,
March 3, 1888, of Frederick Layton, president ; Charles F. Ilsley, vice president ;
and Jerome R. Brigham, secretary.
Mr. Layton's Address at the Presentation. — In the catalogue of the Layton
Art Gallery now in use, an account of the presentation is given, and a report
of Mr. Layton's address on that occasion, giving the facts of the origin of the
gallery in his own words. Some extracts from the address follow this para-
graph. The personal character of Mr. Layton's address adds much to the
interest and attractiveness of his remarks.
"Just before leaving home to cross the Atlantic, in June, 1884," he began,
"the late Alexander Mitchell and myself were invited by a few friends to a
dinner party at the Milwaukee Club, and after dinner I was called upon to
respond to a toast to my health and safe voyage. In replying I said, among
other things, that I had thought at some future time to do something in regard
to building an art gallery for the public in our city. Yet on that occasion I
had no idea that it would be in the near future." The newspaper men, how-
ever, soon got wind of the proposal and the next day Mr. Layton was called
upon by one of the fraternity to know "how soon I intended to build the art
gallery." Mr. Layton told the reporter who called upon him "to say very
little about it, since the whole matter was as yet but an intention."
"Nevertheless," continued Mr. Layton in his address, "it was forthwith
spread abroad that I was going to build an art gallery, and so I myself began
to think about it as something soon attainable. On my voyage across the
Atlantic, Mr. I. W. Audsley sat next to me at table. His brother, G. A. Audsley,
in Liverpool, now of London, is an architect, and so it came about quite natu-
rally that I should meet him." On the occasion of this meeting the architect
showed Mr. Layton the designs of some very beautiful buildings and pre-
pared a plan for an art gallery which proved acceptable but which Mr. Layton
stipulated that Messrs. E. Townsend Mix & Company should work jointly
with him in carrying out the design, and that some parts of the building should
be arranged as they thought best.
Commenting upon the design, Mr. Layton said: "Our building is now
about completed, and I think I may say we have one of the most beautiful
art galleries of its size on this side of the Atlantic. No money or labor has
been spared to make it as near fire-proof as possible; the walls are twice the
thickness of ordinary walls, and will stand for ages. The ground on which
Till HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
it is built is a well-known landmark where our first Episcopal church, old St.
Paul's stood for many years. The site (120 by 120 feet) was offered to me
for the gallery and bought for $25,000. The ground and building with all
appliances have cost in rx>und figures about $11."), 000, which I have deeded to
the trustees of the gallery for the public.
Splendid Gifts to the Art Gallery. — "I also give to the gallery," continued
Mr. Layton in his memorable address, •"thirty-eight oil paintings, which are
valued at $50,000, with $100,000 for an endowment fund, the interest to be
used for the support and maintenance of the building, or, if any money remain
after paying all expenses, it shall be applied to the purchase of such works
of art for the gallery as the trustees may deem lust, together with any other
gifts of money donated by our citizens or friends of the gallery."
The flame of Mr. Layton 's enthusiasm fairly kindles when it comes to the
recital of the other splendid gifts to the gallery. "Our first gift to the gallery."
he goes on to say, "was from Mr. John Hargreaves, of Liverpool, a very old
carved oak English clock, now in the Trustees' Room, and should be highly
prized by us. Mr. Hargreaves paid all charges and delivered the clock free to
us. P. D. Armour, of Chicago, a former fellow citizen, did not forget us. He
was the first to send me a check for $5,000 for the gallery. This was three
years ago last October. I attended the Seney sale of paintings in Xew York,
three years ago this spring, and bought the Van Marcke picture, 'La Vanne,'
for $7,000 ; and I felt very proud to have secured it. On my return home I
called on Mr. Armour and told him I had spent his $5,000 and $2,000 more
with it. He very generously told his clerk to draw me a cheek for $2,000,
and has since told me to buy another picture for about $2,000."
The speaker then went on to review the interval of years that had elapsed
since the first mention of the plan was made which afterward became a reality.
"It is going on four years," he said, "since the inception of the plan, and I
have done my very best, from the commencement, to build a beautiful structure,
such as should-stand for ages to come, and to open it with a good, though
small, collection of paintings by well-known artists; and I trust the standard
will not be lowered in the future, but rather be raised. My gift to the public
will, I trust, be of benefit to our working people, as will as the more wealthy,
since all may come and find pleasure and recreation in paying a visit to the
gallery. It will be open to the public, free of charge, three days in the week.
and only a small fee of admittance will be charged two days in the week to
help pay, in a slight degree, the gallery's running expenses." The speaker
added the pious wish that "It is God's will, I trust, that the work which He
has enabled me to do may prove a lasting benefit and pleasure to the public''
The Language of the Gift. — At the conclusion of Mr. Layton 's remarks he
said impressively: "I now wish to deliver to the Trustees of the Layton Art
Gallery the deed of the property and building, my gift of oil paintings, ami
a cheek on Marshall & Ilsley's hank for $100,000. The Rev. Dr. Kerne, on
behalf of the trustees, please accept my gift." The following passages are
quotations from the deed of -Mr. and .Mrs. Layton: "Whereas, in pursuance
of a cherished plan to devote to the benefit of the City of Milwaukee, and
the public, some of the property which he has acquired in business, carried
THE PROGRESS OP ART IN MILWAUKEE 705
on in said city, the said Frederick Layton has recently erected a building
intended for an art gallery, and has placed therein a number of paintings
which he thinks will be valuable for the instruction and gratification of the
public; and has also placed therein other paintings and works of art, pre-
sented by other persons to be placed in the gallery for the same purpose ; and
that a corporation has been created for the purpose of maintaining, regulating
and managing a public art gallery; and that the said Frederick Layton believes
that his object will be accomplished by creating and encouraging among the
people of Milwaukee a taste for the fine arts and affording high and improving
gratification to all by the constant exhibition of choice works of art therein.
Exempted from Taxation — Opened on Sundays. — At the session of the Leg-
islature in 1889, an act was passed "Exempting from taxation all real and
personal property of any public art gallery, or of any corporation created with-
out capital stock, for the sole purpose of maintaining, regulating and manag-
ing a public art gallery; provided the public shall have access to such art gal-
lery, free of charge, not less than three days in each week." This general
act, so phrased as to apply to the Layton Art Gallery, was procured to be passed
by the trustees, and under its provisions the corporation property has been
exempt from taxation.
Quoting from the foreword of the catalogue the following remarks occur
on the subject of Sunday opening: "According to the by-laws as originally
made, the gallery was opened to the public without charge three days in each
week, and on two days an admission fee of 25 cents was charged. It was not
opened on Sunday. Later the usefulness and convenience of opening the gal-
lery at least part of the day on Sunday, was urged in the public press and
otherwise, with such effect that at a special meeting of the trustees, held
November L', 1891, called by the president for the purpose of determining the
question of opening the gallery mi Sundays, after full consideration, a resolu-
tion was adopted that the gallery be opened to the public, withoul charge for
admission, mi the afternoons of Sunday, for the period of one year, the pur-
pose being to determine, by trial, the usefulness and convenience of the change.
The result has been that the gallery has continued to be open on Sunday
afternoons ever since."
Mi'. Layton died August 16, 1919, at the age of ninety-two years. He came
to Milwaukee in 1845.
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CHAPTER XLI
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS
It goes without saying that the press is an indispensable factor in the social,
civic and economic development of the community. Milwaukee has been
fortunate in the charter of the men who have been behind its newspaper
publishing enterprises. These men have not only produced newspapers as
good as the town could afford to support, but they have in the main been
actuated by honorable motives. They have always been loyal to community
interests.
Beyond local circulation possibilities the Milwaukee newspaper field has
had its limitations. The Chicago newspapers circulate quite liberally in South-
ern Wisconsin while the St. Paul and Minneapolis papers enter the north-
western part of the state. The North is as yet sparsely settled and the lake,
as newspaper men have put it, offers no subscribers. Thus, the Milwaukee
newspapers have been obliged to operate in what has seemed a restricted field.
For a time, too, the newspapers printed in the English language had to con-
tend against a large foreign population. Forty years ago there were more
dailies printed in the German than there were in the English language. Today
the number of German dailies has been reduced to one, the Herold, and the
English dailies number four, the Sentinel, Journal, Wisconsin News, and the
Leader. Besides, the first three mentioned publish large Sunday editions.
The history of the Milwaukee newspapers from the time the first daily
made its appearance, including those that have come and gone, or rather were
absorbed by other publications, is largely embodied in the story of the Sentinel
and the Wisconsin News. Their beginning dates back before the middle of the
last century.
The newspaper which embodies no consolidations, and is still conducted by
the man who founded the same is the .Milwaukee Journal. It was established
at a later period, but its founder, Lucius W. Nieman, has reared the enterprise
into a large and influential newspaper. The Leader, which is the Socialist
organ, is the youngest among the dailies.
With the increase in population, of both city and state, and the gradual
change from a foreign to an English reading constituency, the aggregate cir-
culation of the leading dailies has grown quite large. The newspapers, too,
in size and content, compare well with the great metropolitan dailies of the
country.
The public demand for prompt service in the several departments of news,
foreign, national, and state, besides a complete daily record of local happen-
ings, with highly specialized columns on financial, sporting and social mat-
ters, coupled with a largely increased cost of production, has rendered news-
papers larger and somewhat more hazardous undertakings. The tendency has,
707
Tils BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
therefore, been in the direction of fewer newspaper enterprises, whose daily
producl is more bulky in size and enjoys a larger circulation.
Tn placing an estimate upon the press of Milwaukee an "editorial evening"
was provided by the Merchants and Manufacturers Association, November 30,
1915, when William George Bruce advanced the following thoughts: "I have
been requested to say something on tins occasion aboul the public press, pre-
sumably because I am frequently dubbed as an old newspaper man and be-
cause in my capacity as an association executive I am in daily touch with the
newspaper representatives.
"Having been on both sides of the fence — a representative of the press
and a patron of the press — I may approach the subjed of the evening witb
greater sympathy and interest, but certainly with some appreciation of its
sco] >e and importance.
An Indispensable Medium of Intelligence. — "It is well conceded that, in the
development of the American city, the modern press is an all powerful factor.
As a medium of intelligence it is indispensable. It not only connects the citj
with an outside world but it also keeps it in touch with itself. It diagnoses
the body politic daily and hourly. It keeps the community informed on its
own physical and moral condition. But, it goes further. It becomes the daily
recorder of the deeds of an entire civilized world.
"The importance of the press grows with the enlargement of the com-
munity, with the development of its industrial and commercial activities and
with the advancement of its civic and social life. It records not only the cur-
rent achievements of civilization but it also records its failures and short-
comings.
"Many of the lessons which we have taken to heart and which have guided
ns in our course in life have been unconsciously imbibed from the daily press.
If we have evaded pitfalls and errors it is because we have been told of those
who fell into them. If we have been stimulated into wholesome action it is be-
cause we have learned through the examples set by others. In the newspaper
we have before us that daily picture of a striving and struggling world, with
its story of actual life, with' all its lights and shadows, its laughter and its tears,
with soul stirring examples and its eternal lessons.
Intimate Part of Ourselves. — "The press is so much an essential part of our
daily diet and of our routine life as to become an intimate fraction of our very
selves. But, because it is all this it becomes more difficult for us to dissociati
ourselves for the time being and place an adequate estimate upon its valui . its
importance and its service. We note minor shortcomings and accepl the larger
service without comment. In going over the printed page we grunt more often
than we applaud.
"Ami yet, in subserving our economic, civic and social wellbeing we owe
a greater debt to the modern newspaper than is absolved in the mere pay-
ment of a subscription bill. The press as a whole is always several paces ill
advance of the community its serves. It always expresses the ambitions and
aspirations of the collective citizenship in a voice that rings louder and clearer
than all other voices.
Press Supports the City. — "The press of .Milwaukee has supported loyally
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 709
every departure, project or enterprise looking towards the material, civic and
mural welfare of the community. It has given unstintingly of its space, of its
brains and of its efforts to keep the wheels of progress moving and to enhance
the prestige, the pow.er and the prosperity of the city.
"Every movement of a public, character affecting the material or moral
progress of the city has had the support of the press not merely as a news
making factor, but has also had its enthusiastic championship because of the
laudable purpose involved.
''One among many instances of a high minded and unselfish tendency on
the part of the local press may be recorded here by recalling the recent con-
vention of the Wisconsin State Teachers Association. The newspapers were
most lavish in the space they devoted to the cause of popular education. 1
am certain that the sale of extra copies would not pay fur one-hundredth part
of the extra expense involved in reporting the transactions of this convention.
But, the publication of the addresses and speeches delivered at this great edu-
cational gathering proved a splendid stimulus to the educational activities of
the city and the state. The press here made a magnificent contribution to
the cause of popular education.
"Some one may here say that the newspaper owes its constituency just such
service. I agree that the newspaper must print the news of the day and to the
end that its prints that news fully and accurately it meets its obligations. But,
having met that obligation its service in promoting a great cause, in launching
a laudable movement or in fostering desirable ends and purposes, the press
confers something which the public has not paid for.
"The newspaper is essentially a community asset. It may make or mar
that progress which depends upon a wholesome public sentiment and upon
unity of purpose and action. It wields an influence upon the industrial ami
commercial life of the city as it does upon the civic and moral life. As a fixed
and indispensable institution, therefore, it deserves that popular support which
may add to its efficiency, its usefulness and its prestige."
The Reporter as a Public Servant. — In discussing the newspaper reporter
Mr. Bruce wrote in November, 1915, in "Once a Year," published by the
Press Club, as follows: "In discussing the subject indicated in the heading
of this short article, I proceed primarily upon the thought that the modern
newspaper reporter requires no defense. lie is a fixed and recognized institu-
tion. But, there is not a man or woman who has not, at some one time, ven-
tured an opinion or formed a conclusion, as to his status, his character, his
motives and his service.
"Such conclusions arc usually based upon some long range experience,
upon sins of omission and commission as reflected by the printed page or upon
some general, unconsciously imbibed, impressions gathered through news-
paper reading. The man who. once in a lifetime, comes in actual contact
with a newspaper reporter is either charmed or alarmed by his presence or
his mission because he is asked to establish either a pleasant or unpleasant
truth.
"And here is the beginning of divergent viewpoints. The newspaper is
constantly, engaged in printing things you do not want to see and in omitting
710 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
things ymi want to see. You differ radically on the question of inclusion and
exclusion. The reporter must be to blame. He writes either too much or not
enough about the things thai concern us; he is cither too darned fresh in telling
linw we were fined for speeding or too indifferenl about thai public function
in which we figured so prominently. His sense of proportion is woefully lack-
ing. In the ratio that we are pleased or displeased with him or his newspaper
he is either a brilliant genius or a confounded ignoramus.
"As one who is interviewed by seven reporters seven days every week and
routed out of bed by them every seventh night, subjected to all sorts of ques-
tions — some of which 1 answer, some of which I cannot answer, and some of
which I will not answer — I am perhaps entitled to some expression of opinion
upon them.
"To discuss the status of the reporter means to discuss the status of the
press. This status is so obvious, so palpable, so plain, that any discussion would
seem superfluous. And yet confusing notions exist and manifest themselves
constantly. The relation between the press and the public is frequently and
grossly misinterpreted.
"When you buy a newspaper you buy recorded news matter. The pub-
lisher has sold it to you and is morally bound to give it to you — namely, all
the news. If you demand news, you are also, impliedly at least, bound to give
news, if it is in your keeping. This obligation is multiplied into so many thou-
sand-fold that the entire public is bound up in the bargain.
"Or, put it the other way. If the newspaper is under contract with the
public to print the news then that same public cannot consistently withhold
the news. As a constituent part of the public, you are bound to this unwritten
agreement. Thus, the reporter is not only the representative of the publisher,
but also becomes the agent of the public.
"The reporter then must be accepted as the accredited representative of
the public who has the right to extract from you the news in your possession.
His function is clear, his rights established. You may like him, you may loathe
hini; he is there and will remain there at his post, day and night, to serve you
and the whole public.
"The man who is in a public or semi-publie position must expect to be ex-
posed to that greatest of all interrogation marks, the newspaper reporter. lie
cannot consistently dodge him, nor ought he to dodge him. In fact, he ought
to be absolutely frank witli him to the end of being helpful to him.
"Experience has taught that the newspaper man is honorable, that it is
wise to be frank with him and thai it is safe to confide in him. This has fre-
quently been said by public men. I can only repeat it. lie will postpone the
publication of matter or th litor may suppress it entirely if well grounded
reasons for such course are presented. He will not betray a confidence, lb-
aims to be accurate and truthful!
"In forming an estimate of t he modern newspaper man it should be remem-
bered first, that, primarily, lie is human like yourself, and. therefore, subjeet
to the EailingS of the average mankind, and. second, that he possesses the un-
disputed right to get every vestige of news that is within his reach. That is
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 711
his vocation, which rests upon legitimate motives and is designed to lead to
proper ends.
"This does not preclude your right or mine to hold to our own notions
regarding what a newspaper ought to be, what ideals it ought to foster and
what manner and method the reporter ought to adopt. But, let us remember
that time and condition shape all things. The modern newspaper is the prod
uct of human desire, the result of an evolution and the fruit of a wholesome
tendency. It is an institution which is exactly what we, the collective indi-
vidual, have made it. It is a daily reflector of ourselves and our activities, of
our failings and shortcomings as well as of our virtues, our strength and our
achievements."
The Milwaukee Sentinel. — The history of The Sentinel is well told by George
Lounsbury, the present leading editorial writer of that publication, who says:
The Milwaukee Sentinel, the oldest daily newspaper except one, in the North-
west, was founded in 1837 by Solomon Juneau, first white settler, trader, post-
master and the first mayor of the incorporated City of Milwaukee.
The first recorded history concerning The Sentinel is found in the Green
Bay Intelligence of March 3, 1837, in the form of an announcement by John
O'Rourke, a young printer chosen by Mr. Juneau to launch the new venture,
of his intention to publish "in the town of Milwaukie on the fifteenth of June
next or as soon as materials can be procured from New York, a weekly news-
paper under the title of The Milwaukie Sentinel."
In accordance with this advertisement, the first issue of The Sentinel was
given to the public on June 27, 1837. It was. for those days, a publication
of high cpiality, printed on excellent paper in new and handsome type and
was a worthy beginning of a notable career.
Mr. Juneau did not figure publicly as the owner or backer of the new paper.
Mr. O'Rourke \s name appeared as the publisher and Philo White, who had
obtained an interest in the new venture, was named as editor. White, however,
does not appear to have been especially active, for shortly after the birth of the
paper he went East remaining for several months, and leaving O'Rourke to
discharge the duties of both positions.
The young publisher, however, was not spared long to enjoy the success
with which The Sentinel was greeted on its appearance. A victim of tuber-
culosis, he soon found his strength failing so that it was impossible to carry
on the double task he had attempted. Harrison Reed was called in to act as
editor and Mr. O'Rourke confined himself to the business and mechanical de-
partments of the paper, continuing this labor even after he had become so
ill that he was forced to direct the work from a cot in the composing n i.
On December 5, 1837, O'Rourke died, at the age of twenty-four years, and
in February, 1838, Harrison Reed, who had continued to conduct The Sentinel
after the death of the publisher, became the editor of the paper.
During the two years that followed, .Mr. Juneau withdrew his assistance
from the paper and stormy relations developed between Reed and Philo White,
culminating in the summer of 1840 in the purchase by Reed of White's interest
and his accession to full ownership of The Sentinel.
From its inception The Sent'nel had been a democratic paper, but on No-
712 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
vember 30, 1840, Editor Reed announced that ii would henceforth support the
whig party. The following summer, m the mnlst of a congressional campaign,
while Reed was absent I'r Milwaukee, certain influential democrats, by the
foreclosure of a mortgage^ obtained control of the paper and transformed it
into a democratic organ, bitterly attacking the < gressional candidate which
bad been favored by it up to that time. Tins caused intense bitterness of feel-
ing and led to the est a hi isl ii ne id of a whig paper under the editorship of Klisha
Starr, one of the vigorous and outstanding characters of early .Milwaukee,
who was afterward identified with The Sentinel.
Reed managed to regain control of The Sentinel in October. 1841, and turned
it back again into tiie whig highway, but financial difficulties besel him and
on .May 7. 1842. he sold the paper to Mr. Starr, who made many improvements
and instituted new methods which added largely to the strength ami popular-
ity of the paper.
Starr, however, had bis troubles, including keen competition and lack of
money, and in November, 1843, he was forced to dispose of the paper to David
M. Keeler and John S. Fillmore, who really put The Sentinel on the map as an
established institution of the community and of the Northwest.
On December 9, 1844, Keeler and Fillmore, with extraordinary faith in
the future of their little community, established The Sentinel as a daily news
paper, the first to be published in the entire Northwest, with the excepti< E
the Chicago Journal, whose first publication antedated the Daily Sentinel by a
little more that eight months, and started it on its lone career as one of
the leading daily papers of the country, a career in which for four score years
not an issue of the paper has failed to appear, despite wars, financial troubles,
political disturbances, fires and the other casualties of newspaper life.
On January 23, 1845, The Sentinel established a free reading room from
which later developed the Young Men's Library Association to which is due
the present Milwaukee Public Library of which Milwaukee is so justly proud.
The establishment of this reading room was Mr. Feeler's final contribution to
newspaper history in Milwaukee for shortly after he retired, leaving the paper
in the hands id' Mr. Fillmore and Jason Downer, a distinguished lawyer, who
afterward became a justice of the Supreme Court. Mr. Downer assumed edi
torial charge, but soon found the work irksome, lie absented himself from the
city on business and professional trips and in those periods the paper was
anonymously but brilliantly edited. While no historic record is available, the
citizens of that day credited this admirable work to Increase A. I.apham and
there seems to be excellent ground for the opinion that he was responsible,
not only for the editorials but for a sprightly feature column which attracted
wide attention.
Mr. Fillmore was a man of energy and -vision and he did much to build up
Thi' Seiiutinel. It was he who introduced the street newsboy to Milwaukee.
the lirsl of these youthful business men making his appearance on .lime : 111, 1845
On April 30, 1845, the most important event in early Sentinel history is
recorded when RufUS King, a distinguished journalist, who had been tilling
the editorial chair of the Albany Journal, arrived ill Milwaukee to become the
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUPLK 'ATI( >.\S 71:}
editor of The Sentinel, a position which he adorned until his retirement in
1861 to begin the career of national usefulness which gave luster to his name.
General King's influence naturally tended to improve The Sentinel greatly
and it was not long before the newspaper in the little frontier town had estab-
lished a national reputation. General King, early in 18-46, became an owner
of the paper in partnership with AY. D. Wilson, under the firm name of Wilson
& King.
Changes and improvements were rapid and constant under General King's
administration. On October 28, 1846, the first power press in I he Northwest
was erected in The Sentinel press rooms, adding greatly to the appearance of
the paper and to the mechanical efficiency of its equipment. A large exchange
list became a feature of the paper and the news service was greatly improved
and extended.
January 15, 1848, the first telegraphic dispatch received in Milwaukee was
ticked off in The Sentinel office, in the presence of most of the notables of the
city. November 21, 1851, marked the date of the first professional dramatic
performance in the city, an event which was duly heralded in The Sentinel
the following morning.
In 1848 Wilson and King dissolved partnership, and the latter became sole
owner of the paper, which for some time had been known as The Sentinel and
Gazette. In October, 1848, General King took in W. J. A. Fuller as a partner,
the partnership continuing until July 28, 1851, when its dissolution was an-
nounced. General King was again sole owner until October of that year when
John S. Fillmore and William H. Watson became associated with him. At this
time the name Gazette was dropped from the title of the paper.
In 1854 The Sentinel embraced the faith of the new born republican party
as did most of the whig papers of that day.
December 11, 1856, The Sentinel observed its twelfth anniversary as a daily
and in its review of the business of the paper published on that day some inter-
esting figures are given. It began with a circulation of from 300 to 400 as a
small five-column sheet. In twelve years it had attained a circulation of 1,600
and the population of Milwaukee had increased from 7,000 to 40,000. The
value of The Sentinel when the daily was established was said to have been
about .$2,000. In 1856 it was valued at .+25,000 or $30,000, employing forty
persons, with a weekly payroll of about $300 and total expenses of about $700
a week.
Mr. Fillmore sold his interest in The Sentinel to General King in 1856 and
on July 8, 1857, Mr. Watson sold his share in the paper to T. D. Jermain and
Horace Brightman, who became King's partners under the firm name of King.
Jermain & Brightman. The following January King sold his interest to them,
remaining, however, as editor. Jermain and Brightman were newspaper men
of ability and energy. They increased the staff and introduced many innova-
tions.
Soon after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, in 1861, came news that
General King had been appointed minister to Rome, and within a short time
the distinguished editor who had been so long one of its most honored citizens,
left Milwaukee. His departure was the occasion for a great public reception
711 HISTORY OP MILWAUKEE
at the Newhall House. As the world knows, however, (ieneral King did not
go to Rome, but instead became an officer in the army serving with a gallantry
and distinction which reflected its glory on his old home city.
General King was succeeded as editor of The Sentinel by C. Latham Sholes,
now known to history as the inventor of the typewriter, who conducted the
paper throughout the exciting period of the Civil war. This period was one of
great prosperity for The Sentinel, which met the exigencies of the time with
extra editions and special news facilities which greatly increased its circulation
and influence.
In 1863, it became clear that the rapidly growing business of The Sentinel
required new and larger quarters, and the property on Mason Street, where tin-
present Sentinel Building stands, was purchased and a building of extraor-
dinary quality for those times was erected, which for years was one of the
show places of the city. With the exception of the year 1893, when the
present Sentinel Building was under construction, The Sentinel has been
housed on the same site ever since.
The first Sentinel office was in the upper story of a small frame building
located at about the north end of the present Black Block on East Water
Street, near Wisconsin. In 1838 the paper removed to a little frame building
at the northeast corner of East Water and Wisconsin streets. In October,
1839, it moved again to rooms above the store of Harrison Reed's father at
what is now about 390 East Water Street. In January, 1840, another move
was made, this time to a new frame building erected at the southwest eorner
of Wisconsin and East Water streets. Here The Sentinel remained until
May 21, 1849, when it was removed to the second, third and fourth stories of
what was' known as the Ludington Block, on ground now occupied by the
north twenty feet of the Trust Company Building. So that during the eighty
odd years of its life The Sentinel has always been a feature of the immediate
neighborhood in which it first saw the light.
In 1865 Mr. Sholes left the paper and was succ led by Charles W. Willard.
who after a brief period resigned and was succeeded by Harden K. Smith
and A. ( '. Botkin, who directed the editorial page from 1867 to 1870.
In 1870, Mr. Jermain having retired shortly before, Mr. Brightman sold The
Sentinel to the Milwaukee Publishing Company, the first corporation to posses,
the paper, and returned to his old home in Michigan.
A. M. Thomson, W. ('. Roberts and ( '. W. Wilcox figure as the incorporators
of the new company and Mr. Thomson became editor in chief. It was known,
however, that several well known citizens were interested, among them Ma1
thew II. Carpenter, Wisconsin's brilliant senator.
On .March •'!, 1873, Mr. Thomson put into execution a long cherished plan
to establish a Sunday Sentinel. The first issues were well received but the
publication languished and was suspended on October 5th of the same year.
It was not until November 9. 1879, that The Sunday Sentinel was perman-
ently established.
Political animosities and factional troubles forced Mr. Thomson out of
The Sentinel in 1S74. Editorial authority was resumed by A. C. Botkin,
with Dr. J. L. Kaine as associate editor. In ls77 Mr. Botkin decided to eo
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 715
west for the benefit of his health and Doctor Kaine succeeded to the editor's
chair, serving until 1880. Then came a rapid succession of editors, namely.
Amos Wright, W. C. Clark, T. W. Haight and Elijah W. Halford. The tenure
of each of these gentlemen was brief and in 1882 The Sentinel was purchased
by the owners of The Republican News. On May 22, 1882, the paper appeared
under the hyphenated title of The Republican-Sentinel, which style was main-
tained until the following New Year day when it was changed back to The
Milwaukee Sentinel.
Horace W. Rublee, another of the distinguished citizens who figure in The
Sentinel's history, was the editor of the paper under the new ownership and
continued brilliantly and ably to guide its destinies until his death on October
18, 1896.
On January 1, 1883, The Sentinel erected a new Scott perfecting press,
the first machine of this kind to be installed in Wisconsin. The necessity for
a new building became evident in the next few years, and in August, 1892,
the old building was razed, The Sentinel temporarily removing to the Standard
Paper Company Building on Broadway. Work was immediately begun on the
present Sentinel Building, which was completed and occupied in December,
1893.
On Mr. Rublee 's death, editorial charge of the paper was assumed by
Harry P. Myrick, who had long been identified with the paper as telegraph
editor, news editor and managing editor, and Mr. Myrick continued to dis-
charge this duty until he left to become the editor of the Milwaukee Free
Press, established in June, 1901.
On February 18, 1901, The Sentinel again changed hands, passing into the
possession of the present owner, Charles F. Pfister. Lansing Warren, a bril-
liant and able newspaper man from Chicago, was made publisher of the paper,
George H. Clement, managing editor, and Edgar T. Wheelock headed a large
and capable staff of editorial writers. Death cut short Mr. Warren's ambitious
plans, however, for he succumbed to typhoid fever in the summer of 1901.
On his death, Mr. Clement became publisher, W. J. Kuecker was business
manager and M. C. Douglas managing editor. Mr. Clement retired in 1903 ami
John L. Foley became the business manager of the paper soon afterward.
On March 1, 1909, the All Day Sentinel was inaugurated, giving the paper
afternoon as well as morning editions and adding largely to the influence and
advertising patronage.
In 1908 Mr. Douglas retired as managing editor and was succeeded by John
Poppendieck, Jr., who had been a member of the editorial organization for
many years and had served as city editor and assistant managing editor. Soon
after Mr. Douglas' retirement, Edward G. Johnson, who had been associated
with the paper as an editorial writer since June, 1001, became t'n litor of tin-
paper, serving in that capacity until his retirement on August 15, 1921. lie was
succeeded by George Lounsbury.
On the retirement of Mi-. Foley as business manager in 1911, Mr. Poppen-
dieck took over the responsibilities of that position and has held the dual
position of managing editor and business manager ever since.
In November, 1917, The Evening Sentinel was established, to take the place
716 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
of the a ft ci'ii ooii editions of the All Day Sentinel, thus making an evening paper
entirely separate and distinct from the morning issues, another develop nt
which has added largely to the prestige and growth of the paper.
William George Bruce? who was c< ited with the publication during the
years from 1880 to 1891 on January 26, 1917, contributed a sidelight on a tran
limi period in its history under the title of "A Page of Sentinel History," as
fill lows :
"The daily newspaper is a familiar guest, whom we resped as something
thai lives and breathes apart from man himself. And ye1 it is a composite of
men which comes to you daily, in the guise of sheets of printed paper, to tell
you what the world has been thinking and doing. The reader sees only the
finished product, the maker sees the process of production.
•"In the lieht of eleven years of active inside service with the Sentinel, the
story of its beginnings, its gradual rise and its eminent success, comes to me
with exceptional appeal. It was during the years of 1880 to 1891 when the
Sentinel went through a transition period, that 1 held a responsible position
with the same.
"It was during this period of the Sentinel's history that it rose from a
starvation to a self-sustaining basis, when it serapped its old-time printing
paraphernalia and introduced typesetting machines, fast printing presses and
modern methods in its mechanical equipment. The job printing department
and the book bindery were sold, and the entire building was given over in
the production of a newspaper on more modern lines.
"This transition period also involved a disputed ownership. The Sentinel
• lompany was then headed by Newton S. Murphy as president and Samuel
McCord as secretary. Their control was questioned by a body of men con
sisting of Charles Ray. Charles F. Ilsley, Jerome R. Brigham, Henry ( '. Payne
and others. A legal contest ensued, which was never carried to its ultimate
conclusion. By adjustment the control went to the latter body of men.
"They had purchased the Milwaukee News, a democratic morning paper,
which was as old as the Sentinel and had been its only competitor in the
morning field, called it the Republican and News, and changed its political
creed from democratic to republican. Ultimately, the paper was merged into
the Sentinel.
"When I first came to the Sentinel. W. G. Roberts was the lupines., man-
ager, and Louis Dorr the advertising manager. Lucius \Y. Xiemaii, i
owner of the Journal, was the managing editor, and Mr. .1. L. Kaine, the
principal editorial writer. Melvin A. Hoyt, later owner of tin' Daily News,
served as "Waukesha correspondent. Henry Bleyer was the news editor.
With the change of ownership, Horace Rublee became the editor-in-chief,
Henry 1'. Myrick became the city editor. During that period, .lames I). I'.oyd
was the 1 nisi i less manager for a few- years and was later succeeded bj Chauncej
W. Gates.
"When T speak of a starvation period 1 have in mind the hand to mouth
existence id' the paper. Many a Saturday night the business manager, book
keeper and cashier I was the cashier went home without their payroll en
velopes. The printers, pressmen, editors and reporters had to he paid first.
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 717
On Monday morning we hurried about to collect our week's bills from the
dry goods houses and theaters in order to cover our overdraft at the bank and
pay our own salaries.
"With a background of eleven years of experience on the inner side of a
newspaper, I see something more than does the average reader in the finished
product as it comes to the breakfast table. Between the printed lines comes
the vision of a body of men in shirt sleeves, writing at desks, clicking type-
setting machines, feeding rolls of paper into presses, packing, addressing,
shipping, carrying, etc. — all working to one common end, namely, to serve
the reader.
"The Sentinel has served its constituency long, faithfully and well. It is
an essential part of the economic, civic and social life of the community — an
institution that reflects the activities, the progress and the aspirations of an
entire people. May it continue its great mission as a metropolitan news-
paper, receive the support and cooperation it so well deserves and that will
enable it to render at all times the highest measure of service, and thus con-
tinue to promote the city's power, prestige and progress."
The Wisconsin News. — The history of the Daily Wisconsin News is a
record of persistent journalistic effort sustained continuously throughout the
course of Milwaukee's development from the status of an ambitious village
to that of a great city. It begins with the first issue of the first newspaper
of the budding metropolis, The Advertiser, a six-column weekly, duly 14,
1836.
The publisher of The Advertiser was Daniel II. Richards, a native of
Burlington, N. Y., who was then in Ids twenty-eighth year. He was a printer
who after learning his trade in Canada had ventured westward to Peoria. 111..
there to engage in merchandizing for short time, until opportunity at Mil-
waukee lured him back to his chosen vocation. Here he found at its height
the boom which was to be deflated by the panic of 1837 and carry down
prices of realty from levels that in many instances were not regained for
nearly half a century.
There was intense rivalry between the residents of the east and west sides
of Milwaukee River, and Mr. Richards settled on the west side and allied his
interests with that section, then known as Kilbourntown. Naturally the east
siders were discomfited, and would have welcomed opportunity to purchase
The Advertiser and remove it across the river. Mr. Richards was assisted
in editing The Advertiser by Hans Crocker, a man of legal training who was
conspicuously active in the new community, and he was encouraged also with
contributions from men of prominence, among them Byron Kilbourn, [ncrease
A. Lapham, Dr. R. I. Barber and John H. Tweedy.
The launching of a newspaper enterprise was a far more difficult under-
taking in those days than at present, because paper and supplies for almost
a year had to be purchased and brought from the East by comparatively slow
transit.
Lean years followed the panic of 1837, and the experiences of Mr. Rich-
ards' newspaper were not such as to engender enthusiastic optimism; but lie
718 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
persisted with The Advertiser, latterly with the aid of Solomon C. Bnos, who
was associated with him in 1840 as editor and printer.
Two years previously Josiah A. Noonan, who had been employed on The
Advertiser as a printer, and who also had been a contributor to its col
urnns, purchased printing materials and went to -Madison, where lie began
the publication of 'The Wisconsin Enquirer. He was a typesetter who had
worked in New York City as rack-mate with Horace Greeley and established
a warm friendship with the future editor and publicist thai endured for life.
His venture at Madison proved unremunerative, and 1 ame so unpromising
that in 1 s41 he suspended publication of the Enquirer and shipped his outfit
bach to Milwaukee, where his reappearance suggested possible competition;
and as Mr. Richards was in a mood for retirement rather than a struggle for
supremacy in a scant field, he sold The Advertiser to Mr. Noonan and retired
to land holdings on the west side, there for the remainder of his career to
devote himself to his private business and to the upbuilding of the city through
active personal interest in civic affairs.
Mr. Richards announced his retirement March 20, 1841, and Mr. Noonan
in assuming control on March 27th changed the name of the paper to The
Courier, making it a vigorous weekly publication. With the issue of The
Courier for September 21, 1842, the name of George Hyer appeared in its
columns as half-owner and associate editor, and The Courier was enlarged
to a seven-column folio; but this partnership was of short duration, ending
February 8, 1S4:5. Meanwhile Mr. Noonan had been taking an active interesl
in politics, and had become a political figure of so much influence that in
1843 he was appointed postmaster by President Tyler, to succeed Solomon
Juneau. This appointment foreshadowed Noonan's retirement from journal-
ism, and at the first opportunity, May 14. 1845, he withdrew from The Courier.
turning the paper over to William II. Sullivan, who became publisher, with
John A. Brown, a man who had had newspaper experience at Rockford, 111..
as editor.
Recovering from the effects of the panic of 1837, Milwaukee began to in-
crease in population to an extent that seemed to warrant a daily issue, and
accordingly, on the 19th of March, lN4li, The Courier was made a morning
newspaper. Bui the venture was premature, and on the 9th of July, in the
same year. The Courier receded to the estate of a weekly newspaper, where
it remained until February 22, 1N47. when it was made The Evening Courier,
boasting in its first issue the patronage of 300 paid-up subscribers. This
second venture as a daily newspaper again strained the tenuous financial hold
of the ambitious owners, and they reluctantly resm 1 weekly issue. They
then yielded to circumstances, and on June 2, 1*47. for the sum of $2,000,
transferred The Courier to William E. Cramer and Joseph Curtis, who had
come from the State of New York for the purpose of founding a democratic
newspaper.
The new owners assumed control dune 8th, and changed the name of the
paper to The Daily Wisconsin. Mr. Cramer was a young man. a native of
Waterford, X. Y.. who had fitted himself for a career at the bar before he
yielded to a Liking for journalism and joined the staff of The Albany Argus,
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 719
then the leading democratic newspaper of the Empire State. He came to
Milwaukee with the prestige of this newspaper experience and correlative
association with such political luminaries as Silas Wright, John A. Dix,
Governor William L. Marcy, Horatio Seymour, Samuel J. Tilden and ex-
President Martin Van Buren, and quickly achieved prominence. Mr. Curtis
was a newspaperman of Rochester, N. Y., well grounded upon practical ex-
perience that enabled him to conduct the business department with enterprise
and economy; but notwithstanding success from the start he found his sur-
roundings uncongenial, and on September 17, 1850, sold his interest in The
Daily Wisconsin to C. S. Hurley, who assumed the business management.
The partnership of Cramer & Hurley continued only until November 1, 1852,
when Mr. Cramer purchased Mr. Hurley's interest and became sole proprietor,
assuming control that he was destined to hold for a period of more than fifty
years.
Mr. Cramer came west as a democrat, but later he gave support to the
cause of the whigs, and then became a steadfast republican. He was a re-
markable man in his profession because for the greater portion of his life as
a journalist his sight and hearing were badly impaired, and toward the end
of his career he was virtually blind and deaf. Despite this physical handicap
he was well informed and always in close touch with political and economic
activities.
In 1854 there appeared in Milwaukee a young man who was to take a
large part in the future of The Daily Wisconsin — Andrew J. Aikens, a native
of Barnard, Vt., who had had newspaper experience in his native state and in
Massachusetts, and more recently in New York City, on the staff of The
Evening Post, by which paper he was sent west as a correspondent. Mr.
Aikens at once became enamored of Milwaukee and deeply impressed with the
opportunities for advancement in his chosen work, and severing his relations
with The Evening Post he became the first secretary of the Chamber of Com-
merce and later a member of The Daily Wisconsin's staff, as city and com-
mercial editor. Mr. Cramer noted Mr. Aikens' energy and business tact, and
in 1857 made him business manager.
In 1864 John F. Cramer joined his uncle in the publication of The Daily
Wisconsin, and the firm became William E. & John P. Cramer. At this
juncture Mr. Aikens conceived an improvement on the English method of
printing auxiliary newspapers, the reservation of space for advertising, the
compensation for which at times was sufficient to pay for his patrons the en-
tire cost of the white paper. These sheets were called "patent insides." Mr.
Aikens was admitted to partnership, and the firm of Cramer, Aikens & Cramer
began publishing "patent insides" as the pioneer house in the "business.
Eventually as many as 8,000 newspapers in the United States were printed on
this plan. Mr. Aikens founded for himself and his partners what were
called "Newspaper Unions." in Chicago. New York, Cincinnati, Nashville,
Atlanta and Memphis, for the printing of auxiliary sheets, and from these
establishments under his management more than two thousand newspapers
received their "ready print."
It is proper that this adjunct of the business of the paper, which shortly
720 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
afterwards was named The Evening Wisconsin, should be accorded ;i place
in the newspaper's history, as the work on the "patent insides" issued from
Milwaukee was done in the newspaper's plant, and the profits of this immense
side enterprise served to sustain the newspaper during periods of business
stringency.
For many years semi-weekly and weekly issues were put forth by The
Evening Wisconsin, which maintained them with success until improvemenl
in news and mail facilities made daily issues so popular in rural districts thai
weekly newspapers in the larger centers were compelled to enter tin- daily
field or go out of existence.
"When William E. Cramer died in 1905 his widow. Harriet L. Cramer, was
elected president of The Evening Wisconsin Company, the corporate name
that had been taken on by the old firm, and she continued the publication
of the paper with Mr. Aikens and John 1''. Cramer in the business office, and
John G. Gregory as editor. Mr. Aikens survived the senior partner only four
years, and after his death, in 1909, Mrs. Cramer was assisted in the manage-
ment by John F. Cramer and John W. Campsie.
This arrangement continued for nine years, until June, -1918, when .Mr-.
Cramer and her associates in the corporation disposed of The Evening Wis-
consin to William II. Park, who up to the previous year had been one of the
owners and publishers of The Milwaukee Daily News. Before the close of tin-
year Mr. Park and those associated with him sold The Evening Wisconsin
to Arthur Brisbane, editor of The New York Journal and other Eearsl news-
papers, who thereupon assumed editorial direction of the paper. During the
fall of 1918 Mr. Brisbane bought also The Milwaukee Daily News and The
.Milwaukee Free Press with a view to simplify the newspaper situation in the
city, and in December of that year the consolidation of these properties was
effected.
The Milwaukee Daily News grew out of The Milwaukee Labor Review, a
small weekly edited by WTilliam H. Park, who in March. 1887, began daily
publication. Two years later Mr. Park took A. M. Hoyt into partnership.
at the same time changing the name of the paper to The Milwaukee Daily
Xews. At first independent in polities, but later espousing democratic doc
trines, The Daily News won a large patronage in labor circles, anil was tic
first Milwaukee daily newspaper to sell for 1 cent.
The Milwaukee Free Press Company was incorporated in the spring of
1901, and the first issue of The Free Press appeared June 18th of that year
Isaac Stephenson, a wealthy lumberman who later became United States
senator, was its chief financial backer, but several prominent .Milwaukee
financiers also were among its stockholders. It was born of factional division
in the republican party of Wise sin. and its avowed purpose was to providi
a mouthpiece for the progressive movement, ami especially to further the
political fortunes of its champion, Roberl M. Fa Follette. Under the editorial
direction of Harry I'. Myrick. The Free Press was notably successful in pro-
moting its cans,' until differences between Senator Fa Pollette and Senator
Stephenson led to a change of policy.
Shortly after the outbreak of the European war. Senator Stephenson de-
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 721
cided to sell the paper, and after extended negotiations it was purchased by a
group of eighty prominent Milwaukee business men. The new owners, known
as The Free Press Corporation, took charge early in the year 1915, with E. H.
Kronshage as editor. The paper was opposed to participation in the war and
therefore it advocated the maintenance of strict neutrality on the part of the
Government at Washington. During this particular period The Free Press
had the largest circulation in its history.
The Daily News and The Free Press were discontinued by Mr. Brisbane,
who issued from the plant of The Evening Wisconsin a paper entitled The
Evening Wisconsin and Daily News, and later, after various minor changes,
made the name The Daily Wisconsin News. Then, after somewhat more than
a year of ownership, during which time the paper had nearly tripled its cir-
culation. Mr. Brisbane disposed of his interest to William Randolph Hearst,
who assumed ownership in November, 1919. Hector H. Elwell is the managing
editor and J. H. Lederer the publisher of the The Wisconsin News.
During all these various changes of ownership the name of the publishing
corporation remained The Evening Wisconsin Company, and the word "Wis-
consin" has been part of the paper's title since William E. Cramer undertook
its publication June S, 1817. More than that, as this historical resume shows.
The Wisconsin News can trace its lineage without break in publication to
the first newspaper published in Milwaukei — The Advertiser, founded July
14, 1836.
Since Mr. Hearst acquired The Wisconsin News a Sunday edition, named
The Sunday Milwaukee Telegram, has been added.
The Milwaukee Journal. — There is no criterion of a city which is applied
more frequently than the standing and quality id' its daily newspapers. The
Milwaukee Journal is everywhere recognized as the chief newspaper of its
city and its state. In its country, even beyond its country's limits. The Journal
is recognized as one of the foremost id' American newspapers.
For forty years The Journal's fortunes and policies have been directed
by the man who founded it. L. W. Nieman was its editor in chief and con-
trolling owner at its birth ami is now. There are few instances like this in
American journalism.
It was in 1882 that Mr. Nieman, who already had made his mark in west
ern journalism, determined to start in Milwaukee a newspaper independent
of the many special interests which made the press id' the time a thing to be
doubled rather than believed. He chose Milwaukee because he knew and
liked the city. Here he had risen from the rank of reporter to that of man-
aging editor of The Sentinel. lie is a native of Southern Wisconsin and this
fact likewise influenced him. He chose the year 1882 because two of the then
existing dailies — The Sentinel and The Republican News — had just consoli-
dated.
At the time he was editor of The St. Paul Dispatch, in which, to induce
him to make his relationship permanent, he had been offered a third interest.
He declined this tempting offer for what promised to be greater independence.
He set out to interest James E. Scripps, the famous Detroit publisher, in his
Milwaukee undertaking. Negotiations had proceeded so far that offices had
Vol. 1—4 6
722 IIISTOKV OF MILWAUKEE
actually been arranged for ami then P. V. Deuster, a candidate Eor Congress,
suddenly began the publication of ;i campaign sheel bearing the name, The
Milwaukee Journal. This caused Mr. Scripps to change his mind. Mr. Nie
man, though disappointed, adhered to liis plan. Within three weeks he be-
came major owner and editor in chief of The Journal and transformed it
from a campaign sheet to a real newspaper. A few years later — in 1890 — The
Journal Company was formed, with Mr. Nieman as controlling stockholder
It has published The Journal ever since, with few changes in the list of stock-
holders.
For a short time the paper was issued from the old Seebote Building at 1)7
.Mason Street, the editor having a room aboul ten feet square. Scant space for
the composing room was found in the Seebote's mechanical department. Early
in 1883 the paper was moved to 433 Broadway, where it occupied rooms in
the south half of The Ilerold Building1, the paper being printed on The Berold's
press. Two years later the growth of the paper made another move ueces
sary, this time to 92 .Mason Street. In 1893 a third transfer was made — to the
Montgomery Building at .Milwaukee and Michigan streets. There The Journal
was printed until 1907, when it moved into its own building on Fourth Street.
which it still occupies, together witli a three-story annex directly across the
same street.
The Journal's first serious undertaking was to expose the reprehensible
system under which interest on state funds was treated as the personal per-
quisite of the state treasurer. This campaign, begun when the paper was
scarcely a month old, continued for more than eight years. Finally, early in
the administration of Governor Peek, a democrat, proceedings against the
state treasurers to recover this interest were begun ami in the end the Su-
preme Court of Wisconsin wholly upheld The Journal's contention. As a
result nearly $500,000 in accumulated interest was paid into the state treas-
ury and the aggregate saving that has since resulted is figured in millions.
This achievement had much to do with the growing confidence in the paper.
The fight begun in Wisconsin spread to other Mates, and now. in the various
states, as well as in nearly all communities, the public enjoys the interesl on its
funds.
The Journal has never sworn allegiance to any political party, preferring
freedom to espouse the measures and men it believed in. regardless of party.
Thus, in the presidential campaign in 1884, it took up the cudgels tor Grover
Cleveland, democrat, because it has always believed in a low tariff— a belief
which has led many persons to consider it a democratic organ. In 1896, wh
tin- democrats nominated Bryan on a free silver platform, The Journal foughl
that party and espoused tin' cause of the gold standard. From that time on.
it has supported candidates of this or thai party, as public interests seemed
to require, and never asking or accepting favors from any of them.
In June. 1919, the highest honor in American journalism came to The
Journal in the award of the Pulitzer medal "for the most disinterested and
meritorious public service rendered li\ any American newspaper" during the
year, a period that tried men's souls. This medal had lieen awarded only
once before, to The New York Times. The resolution accompanying The
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 723
Journal's medal declared that the award was made because of its "strung
and courageous campaign for Americanism in a constituency where foreign
elements made such a policy hazardous from a business point of view."
After the outbreak of the World war, when the menace of German propa-
ganda became apparent. The Journal began a thorough and systematic ex-
posure of this alien movement. From. 1915 to the entrance of the United
States into the war and up to the end of the war, it carried on this campaign.
It never made a statement that necessitated retraction. It laid bare the facts
relating to niany dangerous movements. Its campaign commanded attention
throughout the country and even among other peoples. It was widely cred-
ited with uncommon energy, ability and fearlessness.
In connection with the award of the Pulitzer medal, The Journal received
hundreds of messages of congratulation, prominent statesmen of this and
other nations adding their words of recognition. Among these were William
Howard Taft, Viscount Bryce, Maurice Casenave, French high commissioner,
James W. Gerard, Cyrus H. K. Curtis, Brand Whitlock, Samuel Hopkins
Adams, Albert Bushnell Hart and Baron Shaughnessy.
During the war. The Journal's whole strength went to the aid of the
Government in its task of achieving victory. When peace finally came, The
Journal supported earnestly the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Na-
tions. It denounced the separate peace with Germany.
In 1889 the State Legislature enacted a law, which became famous as the
Bennett law, providing that not only public schools but private and parochial
schools using English for instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic and
United States history should be recognized as meeting the requirements of
the school attendance law. The Journal, believing this law an interference
with the rights of parents not justified by public policy and believing that
instruction in English in private and parochial schools would in due time be
adequately provided, urged the repeal of the law and this was effected as a
result of the state election held in 1890. During the World war, however, it
became known that language instruction in not a few parochial schools was
detrimental both to the nation and to immigrant children and The Journal
frankly admitted this weakness in its earlier campaign. It took a strong
stand against instruction in any other language than English in graded
schools, public, private or parochial.
In state and national affairs The Journal has supported measures making
for progress in accord with modern thought and conditions. It supported,
for example, the movement for the direct election of LTnited States senators
and has urged provision for the election of presidents by direct, popular vote.
It opposed tin' Wisconsin primary law, but when the electors had made their
decision, it opposed subsequent efforts to repeal the law without their consent.
The Journal has advocated simple, modern, efficient, democratic and repre-
sentative government. It took a leading part in the successful movement to
eliminate national party labels from municipal election ballots and to ensure
the election of city officials by majority vote. It has steadily supported I lie
principle of municipal home rule. It has advanced and supported plans for
social and civic betterment.
724 BISTORT? OF MILWAUKEE
Tlj< nservation and developmenl of Wisconsin's natural resoui"ces has
been one of The Journal's outstanding policies. A quarter of a century ago
it began calling attention to the greal possibilities of Northern Wisconsin.
Each year ii gives a silver «up to the county making the besl exhibil al the
slate fair. It lias soughl I" promote the settlement of agricultural lands in
the northern region, but with insistence upon the protection of would-be sel
tiers againsl unscrupulous land speculators. It has stood for the mosl exten-
sive utilization of Wisconsin's greal water power, but with safeguards to
public interests. For ten years and longer it has unremittingly urged the need
of a comprehensive system of state forestry, believing that only throu
forestry practice on a wide scale can the impending danger of a timber
"famine" lie averted and pointing out that the application of this plan to the
non-farming land in the state, some three million acres, will create natural
wealth amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, increase the state's wood-
using industries and give steady employment to thousands. Its program for
Wisconsin includes community forests, several large state parks and more
community parks, the planting of trees along the state's highways, the pro
tection of the public's right of access to inland waters and measures to make
excellent hunting and fishing permanent ami to build up a huge tourist trade.
Every week The Journal publishes a bulletin making suggestions and con-
taining information regarding the advancement of the general interests of
Wisconsin and this it sends free to all newspapers and civic organizations in
the state
The Journal was a pioneer in establishing a complete road and statistical de-
partment which in ten years has become ai pled as a model by every like or-
ganization in the country. "The Call of the Open Road," a mad book pub-
lished l»y The Journal, is the general guide nut only of the thousands of Wis-
consin motorists, but of the great number of out-state visitors who tour Wis-
consin each season. Over one-hundred thousand requests for road information
were filled during 1921 through The Journal Tour Department. Before the Wis-
consin system of highway markings was inaugurated, The Journal's marked
routes were the only ones that could safely be followed. In all things per-
taining to the use of roads, The Journal has closely cooperated with the State
Highway Commission. It offers yearly a cup tn the state's best patrolman
and $1,000 in cash prizes to road patrolmen who make the best showing.
The Journal receives the Associated Press service week days and the Tinted
Press service Sundays. It maintains bureaus at New York, Philadelpl
Washington ami Madison. It operates it- own leased wire between Milwaukee
and New York, where it is connected with The X'ew York World, ami between
Milwaukee and Philadelphia, where it is cm .-ted with Tin' Public Ledger,
and in addition it receives national ami foreign news over a leased wire from
Washington. Its news and wire facilities enable it to publish a market and
financial page each afternoon that is as complete as any similar page printed
I he next morning.
Many noted men living in different parts of the world contribute regularly
to the columns of The Journal. In the lis] for 192] appear the names of Wil-
liam Howard Tail. Col. I''.. M. House, the late Count Okuma of Japan. .Max-
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 725
iniilian Harden of Germany, Rene Viviani, former premier of France ; Andre
Tardieu of France and George II. Barnes, the noted labor leader of England.
The Journal, in addition, has published the war narratives of James \Y. Gerard.
Iliijili (iibsdii, Admiral Sims, General Ludendorff and Admiral von Tirpitz,
Several noted writers are graduates of The .Journal. Among them are Zona
Gale and Edna Ferber.
The confidence which Milwaukee merchants have in The Journal is amply
shown by the fact that it enjoys as much advertising as its two nearest com-
petitors combined. The number of classified advertisements from 1913 to
1920 grew from 233,659 to 648,068. The confidence of non-Milwaukee adver-
tisers is attested by the fact that, in 1919. only one evening and Sunday news-
paper in the United States carried a greater amount of such advertising. The
growth in volume of total advertising is significant. It increased from 5,629,-
482 lin.-s in 1913 to 16.242.943 in 1920. In terms of columns it increased from
11,035 in 1903 to 54,511 in 1921. In building up cooperative advertising in
Milwaukee The Journal has I n very successful. Notable examples are those
set by music dealers, jewelers and dealers in electrical devices.
An achievement that has attracted nation-wide attention is the National
Food and Household Show held in Milwaukee three years in succession under
The Journal's auspices. In 1921 the attendance reached 99,784, and there
were 27s elaborate exhibits.
The Goodfellow movement was started by The Journal ten years ago as a
means of promoting, during the holiday season, the idea of doing charitable
acts by deeds rather than by contributions. The Journal furnishes the Good-
fellows with names of needy families and they deliver their contributions in
person. From five hundred to one thousand families are annually remembered
in this way.
The Journal was the first Milwaukee newspaper to use typewriters in its
editorial department, the first to use linotypes, to use a motor fleet for de-
livering newspapers, to use homing pigeons as dispatch bearers, to use half-
tones, to establish its own engraving plant, and to cast its stereotype plates
mechanically. It was the first to omit the useless dateline in news dispatches.
It was the first to organize a Newsboys' Band. It was the first to install leased
wires to bring the news of the World war.
The Journal was the first paper in Wisconsin to deliver newspapers by
aeroplanes, the first to print and deliver an aeroplane edition by aeroplane.
Tt was the first to promote an air derby in the state, which was won by a
Journal plane from a field of seven planes, and the first to present a flying
circus, consisting of wireless telegraphic exhibitions, areoplane stunts, and an
aeroplane race against an automobile. A Journal woman reporter Holds the
distinction of being the first woman ever to fly as a passenger in a race.
The number of copies of The Journal printed in 1921 exceeded forty mil-
lion. The print paper used would extend 350,000 miles or fourteen times
around the earth. It amounts to a carload— twenty-five tons — each week day.
two carloads Sunday, 400 carloads or 10,000 tons annually.
The circulation of the daily increased from 33,504 in 1903 to 115,(100 in
1921. The circulation of the Sunday edition increased from 45,259 in 1913 to
726 BISTOEY OF MILWAUKEE
90,000 in L921. The Journal is read in more than four ou1 of five of Milwau-
kee's English-speaking homes. In uncommon measure the distribution of
iis circulation is in its own control. In Milwauk -ity and county ii main-
tains thirty-six branches, with a district manager in charge of each. A thou
sand boys are engaged in borne delivery and streel sell ag and 750 dealers sell
the paper in Milwaukee. Six hundred boys and as many dealers circulate it
throughout the resl of the state. Ti> ensure prompt delivery, The Journal
operates presses of a total capacity of 144,000 16-page papers bourly. In
.Milwaukee the task of distribution requires the use of thirty-five motor trucks.
These, with five other cars, are boused in The Journal's own garagi
An interesting fact is the amount of metal used any one Saj -if east into
one line of type it would cover a length of 5,8 |s feet, more than a mile. In
all twenty-three linotypes and monotypes are operated. The Journal's yearly
payroll approximates $1,000,000 distributed among 500 employes, exclusive
of newsboys and carriers. Tl flicers of The Journal are: President, L. W.
Xieman: vice president and treasurer, II. J. Grant; secretary, E. A. Belda.
Mr. i Irani is publisher.
Shortly after the signing of the armistice. The Journal decided that the
interests of education in Wisconsin would be greatly furthered if a number
of representative teachers of Wisconsin were to tour the European battle-
fields, observe conditions growing oul of the war and inform the public re-
garding them. Plans were perfected by which one teacher was to be chosen.
by popular vote, from each congressional district. No condition looking to
increase in circulation or other material advantage was imposed. In all
1,434,244 votes were east and the eleven teachers thus chosen and a special
representative of the paper constituted a touring party, whose entire expenses
were met by The Journal. The partj sailed .Inly 3, 1920, toured England,
Prance, Belgium, Scotland and Switzerland and returned August 17th. They
enjoyed exceptional opportunities fur study and received offic al attention and
courtesies. The Journal furnished each member of the party with a set of
stereopticon slides, showing ninety of the most interesting views photographed
during the tour. All of the teachers have delivered illustrated lectures on
what they saw and learned, some of them having spoken in public as mam as
a hundred times. So far as is known it is the first enterprise of its kind con-
ducted by any American newspaper.
It is probably safe to say that Lucius W. Xieman is one of the most re-
markable newspaper men which the Mid-West country has thus far pro-
duced. There are few men in the publication field whose career is just like
his. He conceived his own project, effected its foundation, and reared it into
a formidable institution. The Journal was his own idea ami he organized
the forces that brought it into being.
For forty years he has guided its editorial and publication policies, b
ing the vicissitudes that attend in a greater or lesser degree all uewspaper
undertakings, steadily rearing his project into the largesl and mosl influential
daily in Wisconsin. His (dear vision, untiring energy and close application to
his task, won for him the success he has obtained. He was ;i young man when
he began the publication of The Journal, ami has now the good fortune, while
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 727
still in the prime of manhood, to witness the results of a life's work and the
magnitude of an achievement.
The Milwaukee Herold and the Daily German Language Press.— The his-
tory of the German-language press in Milwaukee goes back to territorial days,
Moritz Schoeffler, a printer by trade, having established The Wisconsin Banner
in 1844. In the struggle for the State Constitution, an important part was
played by this paper, and it was largely due to its efforts, that the first draft
failed to find favor among the German voters.
The political persuasion of Schoeffler's paper was democratic, and to offset
this, repeated attempts were made by the whigs to reach the German element
by setting up whig papers in that language. None of these were successful:
but when the slavery question became the most important political issue,
there was a greatly increased activity in German newspaperdom. The so-
called "Forty-eighters," Germans of high education and social standing who
came to this country because their political activities during the revolutionary
movements had made their stay at home uncomfortable, allied themselves with
the newly organized republican party almost to a man, and founded various
publishing enterprises, most of which had but a brief and checkered career.
The anti-slavery democrats also found an organ in The Volksfreund,
started by Doctor Fratny. which after the Civil war was combined with The
Banner, while tin' German Catholics established an organ of their own. called
The Seebote, of which P. V. Deuster, at a later time representative in Congress
from this district for a number of terms, was the publisher.
Srme of these papers survived until the last decade of the nineteenth ecu
tury, and other German-language papers were started from time to time, some
as weeklies, others as dailies; but by the end of the century, only two dailies,
of really metropolitan proportions, were still in existence. These were The
Milwaukee Herold and The Germania. In 1906, these also were combined,
The Herold becoming merged in the other. For some years the paper was then
known as The Germania-Herold, but later resumed the name of Milwaukee
Herold, by which it is known today.
The weekly edition of the consolidated paper, which for a while retained
the title Germania, hut a few years ago was renamed The Milwaukee America,
is by all odds the most widely read German-language paper in the country.
It now appears twice a week, and has subscribers in every state of the Union,
besides many foreign countries of this hemisphere and the German-speaking
countries of Europe. It is read especially by the farming population of Ger-
man stock.
Both publications, amalgamated in this great metropolitan newspaper, had
an interesting history; and in each ease it was the close cooperation of two
unusual men which made the paper a success
The first number of The Herold appeared on September 21, 1861. Its
editor was Bernhard Domschcke, and its politics were republican. Domscheke
had previously made a number of abortive attempts to found a paper, hut it
required the business ability and enterprise of \V. W. Coleman, who had now
become his associate, to overcome the difficulties in the way.
Bernhard Domscheke was one of the German political exiles mentioned
728 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ibove, while Coleman, a native of Bremen, had come to this countrj with liis
parents at the age of fifteen, entered business life at once by working for a
number of local firms in various branches of business, and consequent^ was
more familiar with American ways and business methods than Domschcke
could possibly be. Domschcke 's journalistic abilities were recognized al once,
both by the public and the leaders of the republican party.
The Herold flourished and grew until August, 1862. On that day, Editor
Domschcke, the entire Eorce of compositors, the 1 kkeeper ami the office
boy, all enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Wisconsin Regiment, entirely composed
of citizens of German extraction. The resull was that The Eerold temporarily
Suspended as a daily, hut continued to appear as a weekly paper.
This lasted until the spring of 1865, when the editor ami in- c rades
returned, among the cheers of a tremendous outpouring of citizens, who re
ceived them at the station. Domschcke, in the meantime, had gone through
many vicissitudes. Soon after his enlistment, he had been commissioned cap
tain of Company II. At the battle of Gettysburg he was captured, with
forty-six other soldiers of his regiment, and carried from one Confederate
prison to the other, including the notorious Libby prison at Richmond. Ex-
posure and semi-starvation completely shattered his health.
He resumed his editorial labors, however, ami within a few months The
Herold once more became a daily. Unfortunately, Domschcke never regained
his health and died on May 5, 1869. It is claimed that his funeral pro
was the longest ever seen in Milwaukee up to that time. Emil Wallber, later
mayor and judge, and still living among us. pronounced the funeral oration.
Notwithstanding the death of its accomplished editor. The Herold i
tinned to grow, largely through the enter-prise of \V. \V. Coleman. It was his
far-sightedness which forced it ahead of all competitors by the acquisition of
an associated press franchise. Another impetus was given it, when on the
outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war, in 1870, Coleman arranged for special
cable reports from Germany. By the year ]S12. Tin' Herold was an estab
lished business enterprise as well as a factor in the life of the state, ami its
principal owner was counted among the substantial men of the city.
The clientage of The Herold was found esj ialh ; mg that portion of
the German-American population rather vaguely known as the liberal element.
The Catholic public generally preferred The Seebote. There was. however,
then as now. a large number id' people affiliated with the various Protestanl
churches, and es] tally with the Lutheran congregations. These were more
or less < mi id' sympathy with the atmosphere surrounding Tin' Herold, and
hmged for an organ more distinctly representing their own views. Here was
the opportunity for the second great German-language paper of Milwaukee.
The Germania.
This paper was originally founded, both as a daily and a weekly, by a
group of church people calling itself tin' Protestanl Printing Association,
which issued the first number of their organ in 1873. A certain number of
readers were rapidly acquired, hut then the enterprise stagnated, until it was
taken over by George Brumder, at that time proprietor of a hook store cater-
ing principally to the Lutheran element. Brumder had a peculiar knack of
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 729
seeing the reality of things and never allowing himself to be misled into be-
lieving a thing because he desired it.
Consequently, after a period of observation, he decided to give up the
issuing of a daily and to confine himself entirely to the weekly field. For he
conceived that the daily might be desirable as far as sentimenl went, but
from a business point of view was but a drain on the resources of the concern.
Therefore, from 1879 until 1897, The Germania was a weekly only, but as
such it became an immensely profitable enterprise. In the meantime the
German-language dailies of the town were engaged in the doubtful business
of cutting each others' throats by over-competition.
In addition to the newspapers estahlished before the war, Ilerold, Seebote,
and Banner- Volksfreund, quite a number of others were started under the in-
fluence of the greatly increased immigration from Germany, which set in
shortly after the Franco-German war and lasted until the last decade of the
century. At one time there were no less than six German dailies published
in Milwaukee, of which The Ilerold alone was on a secure financial footing.
Presently, all enterprises of this kind, one after the other, became amalga-
mated, the financially stronger one swallowing the weaker, until but two were
left: The Herold, a morning paper, and The Abendpost, appearing, as the
name indicated, in the afternoon. Now came the chance for George Brumder.
He purchased The Abendpost and once more issued a daily edition of The
Germania, under the title of Germania- Abendpost, this time with a fair guar-
antee that there would be no further drain on the resources of the weekly
publication.
Finally, in 1906, the two remaining German dailies were also consolidated
under the name of Germania-Herold. W. W. Coleman had died unexpectedly
in 1S87, and the paper was carried on by his estate, under the business man-
agement of his eldest son, Edgar W. Coleman. A few years later, it was
reorganized as a corporation, but the members of the Coleman family remained
the principal stockholders.
The old competitor, Der Seebote, after a while gave up the struggle, and
transferred its list of subscribers for the daily to The Herold, but it is still
being published as a weekly. When at last the two large dailies were combined,
the consolidated paper appeared for a while both as a morning and evening
edition. At present, however, the morning edition is sent only to out-of-town
subscribers, while the city public is supplied with the evening paper.
George Brumder, the real founder of The Germania, died in 1910, at. the age
of seventy-one years. This remarkable man was born in a small town of Alsatia,
as the son of a school teacher in a village with prevailingly Protestant inhabit-
ants. When eighteen years old, lie came to America, spent a few years in vari-
ous employments, but at the earliest opportunity made himself independent
and began laying the foundation for the large fortune he possessed when he
died.
In addition to the newspapers and printing establishment, he became
president of the Concordia Fire Insurance Company, the Germania National
Bank (now National Bank of Commerce) and the owner of valuable real prop-
730 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
erty, including the large building which imw houses the aewspapers. Since
his death, his suns have carried on his various enterprises.
.Men like Coleman and Brumder were necessary to make newspapers like
The Milwaukee Eerold ;i success, bul their eminenl capacity for business would
i nit bave been sufficient, if they bad no1 also possessed the knack of finding
the righl men for tli litorial chairs. A remarkable list of men of real dis-
tinction have filled the leading position on the two papers, out of which the
present I Ceroid lias grown.
Easily the first of these is George Koeppen, who almost from the beginning
to his death, in 1897, was editor-in-chief of The Germania. His real name was
Yon Haeseler, for lie sprang from a well-known Prussian family which bas
given to its country not a few men of eminence. According to family tradi-
tion, he had been a cavalry officer in his youth, hut found his true vocation
when Brumder made him the editor of his paper. His ability was generally
recognized, and as a result he was selected for a number of offices of trust and
honor, notable among them that of regent of the University of Wisconsin, and
trustee of the Milwaukee Public Library.
In the political history of Wisconsin. Koeppen is memorable as one of the
principal leaders in the fight against the so-called Bennetl school law. which
was passed by the Legislature, in 1889, without realization by a majority of
the members that it would in effect destroy the system of parochial schools.
maintained by the Lutheran and Catholic denominations. It was due to the
work of Tin- Germania, to no small extent, that the obnoxious and ill-devised
law was speedily repealed, hut incidentally, the political domination of the
state, for a number of years, was turned from the republicans to the demo
crats, with the help of The Germania, which had always been, and sunn 1"'
came again, stanchly republican.
Koeppen's successor, after a brief interregnum, was another man of un-
usual ability, Emil von Schleiuitz. He served in this capacity with dis
tinguished success until, in 1917, illness disabled him. Schleinitz was suc-
ceeded by Gustav Haas, who had since the reestablishment of the daily
Germania been its managing editor, after having served on the old Ilerohl
in nearly every capacity from police reporter to editorial writer. He now
combines both offices, while the business management is in the hands of the
three younger sons of George Brumder, the oldest son. W. II.. commonly
known as "Col." Brumder, having recently retired from active business.
The men who have had the editorial direction of the original Eerold, sinci
Domschcke's time, may not all have been as distinguished as Koeppon. bul
they were mostly men of high ability. At first, there was Carl Palme, another
"Forty-eighter, " and an associate of Carl Schurz during the hitter's Water
town days. Palme played an important pari in the so called liberal-repub
lican movement against President Grant. At the Cincinnati convention,
which nominated Horace Greeley, he champio 1 Charles Francis Adams.
Another man of mark in the editorial chair of the old Ilerohl was Doctor
Wyl, who was already well known as a writer in the Fatherland, before lie
came to .Milwaukee, lie served for a number of years during the '80s, when
the immigration from Germany was at its height. The principal note of his
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 731
incumbency was the promotion of every sort of intellectual and cultural
effort among Milwaukeeans of German affiliation, especially the German-
speaking stage, and the manyfold musical undertakings. The colony of Ger
man painters, which then made Milwaukee its home, and of which a few are
still among our fellow citizens, received much generous support from the
paper under his guidance.
The high intellectual standard, which was specially emphasized by Doctor
Wyl, has always characterized both the old Herold and The Germania, and
the present consolidated newspaper: Being a general newspaper for the
public, it is not, as a matter of course, a "high-brow" publication. But it
may safely be said that there are few newspapers in this country, whether
published in English or in any foreign language, in which there can be found
so little merely trivial stuff, and so much that will satisfy the taste even of the
exacting. In fact, that seems to lie true of all the important German-language
papers in this country. In this way they are all the better enabled to perform
the peculiar function the foreigndanguage press has in the American common-
wealth : That of familiarizing, on the one hand, the citizens coming from for-
eign countries, with the affairs and customs of their adopted country; and on
tl tlier hand being the channel, by which their constituency, after having
become properly Americanized, may render to their adopted country the
service of bringing into the common treasury of American civilization what-
ever there is best and most appropriate for us in the civilization of the:r
homeland.
The Kuryer Polski (Polish Courier). — The Kuryer Polski was founded in
1888 by Michael Kruszka, a young immigrant from German Poland, with
a borrowed capital of $P-!r>, and in thirty-four years has grown to be the
largest ami oldest Polish daily and Sunday newspaper in America.
In 18SS the Kuryer Polski had 360 subscribers, mostly in Milwaukee. Now
The Kuryer is read by a hundred thousand Poles, scattered throughout Mil-
waukee and Wisconsin, and even in remote parts of this country, inhabited
by Poles. The Kuryer also has a substantial number of subscribers in Can
ada and European countries, especially Poland, where it employs a staff of
journalists, located in Warsaw, and other large cities.
The Kuryer Polski made its appearance in Milwaukee when Polish jour-
nalism was in its infancy, when the largest and most widely read publication
was a weekly newspaper published in Chicago by \V. Dyniewicz, veteran
Polish publisher, who is still living. Dyniewicz tried to discourage young
Michael Kruszka from entering the daily newspaper field. But the ambitious
young immigrant, who had had previous experience along this line, having
I ublished The Krytyka in 1885 and later The Tygodnik Anonsowy, deter-
mined to go through with his plan. He was at once confronted with innumer
able difficulties, mostly of a financial nature, but as Poles began settling here
in ever increasing numbers, at first from German Poland, and later from
Galicia and that part of the partitioned Polish state which was then under
Russian domination, the paper experienced a rapid growth.
Mr. Kruszka 's early political connections were of great aid to him in estab
lishing himself firmly in Milwaukee. His influence with the Polish people
T-V2 HISTORY OK MILWAUKEE
became so great, thai he was elected assemblyman in 1890, and two years
later was chosen to represenl the Eighth Districl in the State Senate.
The Kuryer Polski grew in popularity and influence, under the wise and
resourceful managemenl »f Mr. Kruszka, and under the able editorial direc-
tion iif such brilliant Polish journalists as K. Owocki, K. Xriiiiiini. ('apt.
Thaddeus Wild, s. Osada, P. II. Jablonski, -1. J. Chrzanowski, S. Lempicki and
others. The Kuryer Polski champh 1 the people's cause and at times was
forced to wage bitter struggles in their behalf. Several court actions resulted,
creating widespread interest, and gainirig for The Kuryer a high standing for
fearlessness ami courage.
During the long struggle of the Poles to regain their t'i dom as a nation,
and during the terrible persecution waged by the German, Austrian and Rus
sian oppressors to exterminate 1 1io Poles. The Kuryer Polski carried on a
strong agitation, which no doubt Mas of greal aid to the cause of a Tree
Poland. When cruel German instructors, under government orders, tortured
Polish children in German Poland for praying and speaking in their native
tongue, The Kuryer protested vigorously and raised a fund to aid the young
victims of ruthless prussification.
The Kuryer Polski at the outbreak of the "World war at once aligned itself
with the allies as against Germany, and when America entered the struggle
The Kuryer placed itself at the command of the Government, and did every-
thing possible to "Win the War." Through its agitation a regimenl of in-
fantry was organized, consisting of Polish boys. It preached the gospel of
loyalty to the Government, and wholeheartedly supported all Liberty Loan
campaigns and various patriotic drives.
While a Polish newspaper. The Kuryer is thoroughly American in its
editorial policy and is conducted according to American journalistic stand-
ards. It encourages Poles to become citizens of this country and tries to in-
still in the minds of the younger generation a real understanding of American-
ism, that can reconcile love of Polish culture and tradition, with undivided
loyalty and devotion to this country.
The Kuryer Polski has been active in various civic movements, and has
dmie much to promote various improvements in Polish communities.
The publisher and founder of The Kuryer Polski. Mr. .Michael Kruszka,
died in December, 1918. lie was succeeded in the active management of the
paper by his son-in-law. Professor S. J. Zowski, an engineer by profession, in-
structor of engineering at Michigan University.
The present editorial department of The Kuryer Polski includes: Stan
islaw Lempicki, managing editor; John L. Grunwald, city editor; \V. Poblocki,
editorial writer; Bernard Adamkiewicz, telegraph editor; Mrs. Helen Stas,
editor of women's page; Joseph Kwasniewski, editor of farm pace-, ;in,| s,.x
oral reporters. The Kuryer also publishes a S] ial edition for Chicago, and
has its own editorial office there, for handling Chicago news.
In politics. The Kuryer is republican, but maintains an independent atti-
tude on national questions, and locally is nonpartisan. In 1916 The Kuryer
Supported Wilson Eor President.
Nowiny Polski (Polish News).- This publication had its inception in the
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 733
thought that the great majority of the residents of Milwaukee of Polish
birth and descent professed the Catholic religion, and politically, in the main.
adhered to the principles of the democratic party.
•'When The Dziennik Milwaucki (Milwaukee Daily), for several years a
strong competitor of the older Kuryer Polski (Polish Courier), suspended its
publication in 190:!, the clamor for a Catholic daily, owned and controlled by
those of the same political and religious faith, and an exponent of the Polish
colony's convictions and sentiments, became pronounced.
"It prompted the Polish priests of Milwaukee to take the initiative in
founding a new paper. Accordingly, at a meeting held on December 17. 1906,
the Rt. Rev. Monsignor B. E. Goral (now pastor of St. Hyacinth's Congrega-
tion), then professor of St. Francis Seminary and publisher of the literary
monthly Oredownik Jozykowy (Language .Messenger), was chosen unani-
mously editor and general manager of the new weekly Nowiny (Xews). The
Nowiny Publishing Company, incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin, was
organized for the purpose of publishing the new paper. The capital stock was
$11,000. Each Polish priest and many prominent laymen in Milwaukee and
vicinity became stockholders. The subscription price of The Nowiny was set
at $1 annually. A sample number appeared within a week, mi Christmas eve
of 1906, and thereafter regularly in 1907.
"As was to be expected, taking the divergent views and aims into con-
sideration, there arose at once a spirited competition and doctrinal controversy
between the new energetic and sprightly weekly and the older well estab-
lished daily. Though the popularity and influence of the new Nowiny was
growing rapidly, yet the competition was uneven ; it could not counteract in
one issue weekly what had been done in six issues by its opponent."
For these and numerous other reasons, the Nowiny Publishing Company
was reorganized at its first annual meeting of January 13, 1908, for the pur-
pose of publishing a daily paper. The capital stock was raised to $50, OIK),
divided into 5,000 shares of $10 each, in order to encourage and enable even
the less prosperous to become joint owners of the forthcoming daily. The
subscription price was set at $3 per annum, the name was likewise changed to
Nowiny Polski (Polish News). The first number id' the new daily appeared
March Ml, 1908. Although its older competitor prophesied that the new ven-
ture would not last longer than six weeks, it nevertheless not only exists six-
teen years later, but prospers besides, having gained by its prestige and fear-
less policy a great following.
This rapid expansion caused the stockholders to raise, al their annual
meeting of January 24, 1917, the capital stock to $75,000. The Nowiny Pub-
lishing Company owns a well equipped modern plant with a rotary newspaper
press, several job printing presses, linotypes, etc. The plant and offices are
located at the corner of Mitchell Street and Eighth Avenue.
Competent critics have pronounced The Nowiny Polski one of the fore
most Polish dailies. Its recent Overseas Edition, distributed broadcast in
thousands of copies in Poland, has brought a veritable shower of most flatter
ing comments. Though published in a foreign tongue, it is thoroughly Amer-
ican in spirit and in fact: ever loyal to the slars and stripes. It leaches anil
7::i HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
inculcates into its readers loyalty and love for the country thai has given the
Polish emigrants no1 only bread, protection and boundless opportunities, but
above all else- religious and political freedom.
Ik Americanization policy — in its unadulterated and uoblesl meaning —
comprises everything that is purest and best in our institutions of learning,
our economic and social facilities. Albeil the Nowiny Polski has a strong
democratic leaning in the political realm, still it docs nol slavishly adhen to
that party and approve blindly everything done by it. Though Catholic in
spirit, it is nevertheless tolerant and forbearing in judging men and their
acts. Moral worth, regardless of external religious or political affiliations.
constitutes the criterion of its public policy.
The founder of The Nowiny Polski, the Rt. Rev. Monsignor B. E. Goral,
continues at the head of the publication, hein^ its general manager and secre-
tary; however, the business management has been entrusted to Anthony J.
Lukaszewski. Dr. Joseph Mietus is president-treasurer of the Nowiny Pub-
lishing Company; Rev. R. Kielpinski vice president; Rev. L. Jurasinski and
Dr. R. Paradowski directors.
The Living Church.— Milwaukee has for many years been a center of pub-
lications on behalf of the Episcopal Church. In the sixties there was estab-
lished a magazine of national reputation, The Church Register, which, how-
ever, did not extend beyond a few years. More permanent was The Young
Churchman, established in 1870 by Linden II. Morehouse as a Sunday School
paper for the children of the Episcopal Church. So successful was that
venture that The Young Churchman continues to the prevent tine- and cir-
culates very widely among such Sunday schools and among detached chil-
dren in families of the Episcopal Church. A need for a similar paper of a
more kindergarten character being felt. .Mr. Morehouse also established The
Shepherd's Arms in 1*77, and that publication also has obtained national
circulation on a large scale and still continues to be published.
By 1884 these publications hail become such a tax upon the time of their
editor and publisher, Mr. Morehouse, that he abandoned other work and estab-
lished The Young Churchman Company for the purpose of continuing the two
periodicals and of entering into general church book publishing and selling.
This company began in a small May on Milwaukee Street and has expanded
to the large house now known as Morehouse Publishing Company, situated
at 1801-181] Pond dn Lac Avenue, which is now the principal church pub-
lishing house id' the Episcopal Church in the United states.
The most important of the church periodicals is The Living Church.
Founded in Chicago in 1878, it was purchased by The Young Churchman
I ompany in 1900 and has since been issued from Milwaukee. The edil
from that time has been Frederic C. Morehouse, who also succeeded his father,
Linden II. Morehouse, in the presidency of the corporal ion. 'I' he l.i\ i,L. < Ihurch
Annual is the church almanac of the Episcopal Church and has been issued
in Milwaukee since 1885, having previously, like the parent periodical, been
made in Chicago. The Evening Prayer Leaflel is another of the regular pub-
lications of this house anil is circulated on a national scale.
The Catholic Citizen had its origin in a publication named The Star of
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 735
Bethlehem, issued by the Saint Louis Brothers which subsequently passed
into the hands of E. A. Bray and K. B. Johnson. A weekly, The Catholic Vindi-
cator, was founded November 3, 1S70, by Rev. John Casey at Monroe, Wis.
These two publications were consolidated October 19, 1871, at Milwaukee.
Later (November, 1878), Rev. George L. Willard and E. A. I '.ray became
proprietors and changed the name to The Catholic Citizen. Pour years later
Reverend Willard disposed of his interests to Mr. Bray who remained proprietor
until 1S!I0 when the Catholic Citizen Company, with Humphrey J. Desmond
as its president, was formed. Mr. Desmond, who is a scholarly writer and
an eloquent public speaker, is still editor of the publication.
The Seebote and The Columbia. — The first Catholic paper published in
the State of Wisconsin was The Seebote (Messenger of the Lake) founded
in the year 1852 in Milwaukee by Rev. Joseph Salzmann, D. D., a renowned
pioneer-priest, and issued by a stock company in the German language. At
first it was published as a weekly, but religious tolerance being rampant in
Milwaukee at the time, and the two German dailies, then issued in Milwau-
kee, being affiliated with the opposition, it was changed to a daily in order
to combat these elements more effectively. This, however, was too big an
undertaking for the comparatively few German Catholics, and financial dif-
ficulties soon compelled the publishers to transfer the paper 1«> Doctor Salz-
mann and Andrew Greulich, who later sold it to lion. P. V. Deuster under
whose able management it gained great influence. In 1898 Mr. Deuster
transferred the daily edition to The Milwaukee Herold, continuing the semi-
weekly until his death, December 31, 1000. when it was sold to the Columbia
Publishing Company, by whom it is still continued.
When the Seebote passed into the hands of Mr. Deuster. it entered the
political field and although it did not change its policy, its energies through
this change actually were divided.
The radicals and atheists, continuing their attacks against the Catholic
Church and religion, there was a growing sentiment in favor of establishing
again a paper exclusively Catholic in tendency and policy. In 1871, there-
fore. A. Wibbert, with the approval of Bishop Henni and with the cooperation
of Rev. Martin Kundig, then Vicar-general of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee,
Revs. L. Conrad, W. Bonenkamp, P. A. Schleyer, -I. St. Muenich, M. Wenker,
F. Welter and prominent members of the Catholic laity. Nicholas Hoffmann,
Val. Zimmermann, J. B. Kupfer, Yak Conrad and others, undertook the task
of supplying this want. A. Wibbert succeeded in organizing a stock company,
which on January 1, 1871, began publishing The Columbia as a distinctively
Catholic weekly. Rev. John Gemeiner, professor at St. Francis Theological
Seminary, was its first editor in chief and A. Wibbert city editor. The paper
met with such great success that its management in 1874 decided to issue a
daily. Dr. E. Knotser and Prof. J. B. Mueller being in charge id' the editorial
management. This venture, however, proved a costly mistake, ami after only
one year's trial the daily was abandoned and the weekly alone continued,
gaining steadily in popularity and influence among the Catholics of the land.
The Columbia has attained a high rank among the Catholic papers of this
eountrv as a valiant and able defender of the Catholic Church and its teach-
736 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
ings. Joseph C. Hoffman is editor and manager of The Columbia since 1V''T
and also of The Seebote, issued semi-weekly from tin- same office and under
the sa management, since 1901. Both have rendered signal ser1 ice to their
church ;iiid the community ;it large.
The Excelsior.— one of the leading Catholic journals in the German langu-
age, in the United States, is The Excelsior, published since September 8, 1883,
al Milwaukee, Wis., and widely circulated in Wisconsin and in adjoining
states. It was founded by Joseph Britz, who was its publisher until 1886,
when it Mas taken over by the Excelsior Publishing Company, incorporated
in that year, which publishes it to the present day. Mr. Britz also edited the
paper from 1883 to 1889. From 1889 to 1897 Alfred Steckel, a well-known
journalist and a very active member of German Catholic societies, was the
editor. J. M. A. Sehultheis succeeded Mr. Steckel as editor early in 1897,
and directed its editorial policies in a fearless and an able mat r for four-
teen years. As business manager Mr. Joseph Springob lias successfully de-
voted liis time and energy since 1889 to the administration of the financial
affairs of The Excelsior.
Milwaukee has the distinction of being the home of the only Catholic
agricultural paper in the United States. Der Landmann, published by the
Excelsior Publishing Company, was launched in September, 1902, to till a
long felt want among German speaking ami reading American farmers. The
paper is edited by J. M. Sevenich, who was bom in Michigan and raised on
a Wisconsin farm. As a farmer and newspaperman he has witnessed the
growth and development of agriculture in all its phases. The paper is read
in nearly every state of the Uuion, and finds its way to the Provii s of
Canada and to European countries. Cooperating with the Departmenl of
Agriculture in Washington, the various state experiment stations, and agri-
cultural colleges, Der Landmann treats agriculture from a Christian stand-
point, in opposition to materialistic views often expressed in the agricultural
press. Der Landmann has always favored and fearlessly defended organized
farming ami controlled marketing, consistently with Christian principles.
The readers of the paper are well informed regarding the existing farm-
ers' organizations and their purposes and objects, but. in all political cam-
paigns, Der Landmann remains aloof from partisanship.
Dairy Publications. — Milwaukee is the home of the largesl dairy trade
journal publishing house in tin untry. The Olsen Publishing Company "as
established in January, L910, and is maintained for printing and publishing
three national magazines, Tin- Butter, Cheese «.v. Egg Journal, The Ice Cream
Review, and The Milk' Dealer.
The Butter, Cheese <.v. Egg Journal is now in its thirteenth year, and is
the official organ of the Wisconsin Butter .Makers' Association, The Wisconsin
Cheese Makers Association, The Wisconsin Dairy Protective Association, and
The Wisconsin Poultry, Butter and Egg Dealers Association. The Ice ('ream
Review, devoted exclusively to the ice cream industry, is the official organ
id' twenty-two different associations id' ice cream manufacturers and ice cream
supphj salesmen. It enjoys a nation-wide circulation. The Milk Dealer is
also a monthlj publication and is the official organ of the International Milk
NEWSPAPERS, CLASS AND TRADE PUBLICATIONS 737
Dealers Association. It also has a national circulation and is the dairy plant
manager's and superintendent's textbook in solving their milk plant prob-
lems. Milwaukee, as the metropolis of the greatest dairy state of the Union,
is the logical place for such a business and the men back of this concern feel
that the business is still in its infancy.
Packages and Flour & Feed. — The Packages Publishing Company pub-
lishes two trade journals, namely: Packages and Flour & Feed, the first be-
ing devoted to the wooden package and allied industries and the latter to
the great feeding stuffs industry. Packages was established in 1898 by M. C.
and E. P. Moore and was under that ownership until 1905, at which time
the present owner, Warren Anderson, assumed charge of the business and
editorial departments and became sole owner. In 1910 Edward H. Hickey
joined the staff, becoming managing editor and secretary-treasurer of the
company. Flour & Feed was established originally as Cereals and Feed in
1899 and in 1903 the name was changed to Flour & Feed. These two papers
are considered the real exponents of the industries which they cover.
The Northwestern Confectioner, a monthly trade publication, devoted to
the interests of the confectionery, ice cream, soft drink and allied industries.
is published in Milwaukee. Its circulation covers the Middle West, North-
west and surrounding territory, besides reaching the manufacturing con-
fectionery trade throughout the East.
Editorially, it maintains special departments of interest to the various
branches of the industry covered and prints educational articles and news
pertaining to the trade. Among its contributors are some of the leading-
trade magazine writers of the country. Its advertisers include the must prom-
inent confectionery, equipment, and supply houses in the United States.
The Northwestern Confectioner was founded in April. 1916, by Alva II.
Cook, the present owner and publisher, who felt that Milwaukee was the
logical location for a publication el' its kind, in view of the fact that the city
is the fourth largest confectionery manufacturing center in the United States,
while its per capita output of confectionery is the highest. The publication
was entered as second class matter, October 28, 1916, at the post office in
Milwaukee, under the act of March •'!, 1879. Adele E. Collins is editor of
The Northwestern Confectioner. Gertrude B. Ivlitck is circulation manager.
The average number of pages printed each month, in addition to colored
inserts, is eighty-four.
The Northwestern Publishing House, owned by the Lutheran Joint Synod
of Wisconsin and other states, publishes the following periodicals:
Evangelical Lutheran Gemeindeblatt, bi-weekly, established 1865. Edi-
tors: H. Bergmann, W. Hoenecke, < >. Hagedorn, C. Gausewitz.
The Northwestern Lutheran, bi-weekly, established 1913. Editors: J.
Jenny, F. Graeber, J. Brenner, II. K. Moussa.
Theologische Quartalschrift, quarterly, established 1903. Editors: Fac-
ulty of the Theological Seminary of the Synod.
Kinderfreude, monthly, established Editor: B. P. Nommensen.
The Junior Northwestern, monthly, established 1919. Editors: 0. Bage-
dorn, ('. <i. F. Brenner.
Vol. 1—4 7
738 BISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
Gemeindeblatt-Kalender, yearly, established - — . Editors of the Gemein
deblatt.
The circulation of these periodicals is mostly among the 500 congregations
of tin' synod in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, the Dakotas and
other states. Mr. Julius Luening, manager of the Northwestern Publishing
llniisr, is in charge of the business management of all its publications.
The Bruce Publications. — The Bruce Publishing Company which now is
sues three monthly magazines of national circulation, and a list of some sixty
odd textbooks serving the field of industrial education, had its beginning in
1891. In the month of March of that year William George Bruce began the
publication of an educational magazine under the title of the America u School
Hoard Journal. At the time of its appearance there were being published
many teachers' magazines devoted to general educational topics and to class-
room problems. The School Board Journal, however, was the first in the
United States devoted to the subject of» school administration.
In 1910 the enterprise passed from the individual ownership of Mr. Bruce
to the present corporation in which his two sons, "William C. and Frank Bruce,
became the managers. In 1914 the company began the publication of the
Industrial Arts Magazine, devoted to industrial education. In 1920 the pub-
lication of the Hospital Progress, which is the official organ of the Catholic
Hospital Association, was begun.
In recent years the company has also built up a list of textbooks which
are designed for use in trade and' continuation schools as well as vocational
and technical high schools.
The officers of the company are: President. William George Bruce; vice
president, "William C. Bruce; secretary-treasurer, Frank Bruce. The editorial
direction is in charge of "William ('. and the business management in charge
of Frank Bruce.
CHAPTER XLII
THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE
The City of Milwaukee gives close attention to its charities, and as a conse-
quence there is probably less suffering among the classes that are the usual
objects of charitable endeavor, than in any other municipal center of the
couutry.
The County of Milwaukee maintains a considerable number of institu-
tions, as mentioned below. These institutions are situated at Wauwatosa.
According to the report of the last year, the amounts paid out on behalf of
these various institutions reach a total of $2,703,508. Thus, it may be said
there is very little visible poverty among the inhabitants of Milwaukee, and
one may also say there are "no slums."
In addition to the county institutions which are supported, of course, by
taxation, there are a great number of charities organized into "budgets," and
"affiliations." For example, in the annual report of "The Centralized Budget
of Philanthropies," there are given the names of institutions which it would
be interesting to enumerate but would require, together with the other agencies
under the control of different organizations, a volume to describe properly.
There are also a large number of agencies without any special affiliations,
but operated by committees which derive their funds from voluntary contri-
butions. Some of these are under the control of religious denominations and
others under secular control.
Many of these agencies and institutions are scarcely to be classed under
the heading of charitable organizations, as they are more properly educa-
tional institutions specializing on some form of technical instruction. A
directory of "Social Welfare Organizations" is published by the Central Coun-
cil of Social Agencies, comprising about fifty pages of description devoted to
the various institutions within its scope, each agency requiring on an average
from six to ten lines of description. The Report of The Centralized Budgel
of Philanthropies is comprised in a pamphlet of fifty-eight pages, with quite
full descriptions of the work carried on by each of those agencies comprised
in the scope of their activities.
The Milwaukee County Institutions referred to above are grouped upon
a 1,100-acre farm just west of the beautiful suburb of Wauwatosa. and in
this group are comprised the following: The Milwaukee County Infirmary,
County Hospital, Asylum for Mentally Diseased, Aluirdale and Blue Mound
Sanatoriums, Home for Children, County School of Agriculture and Domestic
Economy, and Hospital for Mental Diseases.
739
j i ; ■ ■
ST. MARY'S HOSPITAL
THE EMEBGENC1 HOSPITAL
Opposite the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Station
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 741
The administration of these institutions is intrusted to the Board of Ad-
ministration of Milwaukee County. This board consists of five members,
three appointed by the county board of supervisors and two by the governor
of the State of Wisconsin, the county board of supervisors passes on all ap-
propriations, votes all moneys and has general supervisory powers.
Appropriations for all purposes for the current year total $2,703,508.
.Milwaukee County's investment in these institutions totals $5,000,000.
An Illuminating Example. — Typical of the work of these various institu-
tions may be cited the details of the Milwaukee County Home for Children,
a branch of institutional work having a special interest for the mothers of
the community whose sympathies are naturally stirred by any appeal for the
welfare of children. This institution is under the superintendence of August
Kringel, whose account has been prepared for this history and is included in
this place. All the institutions mentioned in the account are equally inter-
esting and instructive to our readers, but can only be referred to by name.
"There was a time when the purpose of the Milwaukee County Home for
Children," says Mr. Kringel, "was greatly misunderstood by many, people
interested in charitable movements, and even to the present day the public
in general knows but comparatively little of the inside work of the seven great
institutions Milwaukee County maintains at Wauwatosa, the infirmary, the
hospital, the hospital for mental diseases, the asylum for mentally diseased,
Muirdale Sanatorium, the agricultural school, and' the home for children.
The home for children has always impressed me as being the most important
of the seven, as the future citizens of our community are educated and trained
here, or at least are given a good start in such education and training.
"The object of the Milwaukee County Home for Children is to give a
temporary home to children under sixteen years of age whose parents are
legal residents of the County of Milwaukee and dependent on the public for
support, and secondly to place children who are permanently committed to
the care and custody of the Milwaukee County Home for Children into fam-
ilies for adoption or indenture. The institution was opened on February 25,
1898. Up to December 31, 1920, 6,449 children have received the aid of the
county. At present there are 330 children in the home. Children are com-
mitted to this home by either the county superintendent of poor or the
Juvenile Court of the County of Milwaukee.
"Two classes of children are admitted, first, children who are only tempo-
rarily committed and who are returned to their parents after conditions have
changed in such way as to secure proper environment for the children; sec-
ond, children who are permanently committed to the care and custody of the
home for the purpose of being placed with foster parents.
"Only a small percentage of children are committed premanently, as it
is the aim of the home to keep the family together if in any way possible; and
if commensurate with the demands for proper care and training of the chil-
dren, they are returned to their parents."'
The following table shows the later disposition of the children received
into the home :
GRAND AVENUE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
(The Soldiers' Monument in foreground
^f
GR \< i: i.i tii 1:1; \\ riiu;i ii
Broadway and Juneau Avenue
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 743
Number of childreu
Year. Number of children placed with
received. foster parents.
1916 450 33
1917 441 • 32
1918 538 44
1919 592 32
1920 484 49
Children are as a rule committed to the home for six months, in order to
give parents a chance to recover from their misfortunes and put themselves
on their feet again. In some cases the time is extended, as it has been found
that six months is at times too short a period to effectively aid the parents.
Should parents neglect or refuse to provide for their children again these
eases are taken before the juvenile court judge for permanent commitment,
and are then placed out in families throughout the state.
Buildings in Use for the Home. — The six buildings of the home have been
placed on a piece of ground of twenty-one acres, of which eight acres is set
aside for park purposes, more than a thousand shade trees were planted,
playgrounds and baseball ground established, a lake built for swimming in
the summer and skating during the winter season, a bowling alley provided;
in fact, everything was done for the purpose to place children that are received
at the home in pleasant, attractive surroundings, thereby elevating their
thoughts and to make them forget misery and unhappiness.
Every child above six years of age must attend school. Children receive
the same instruction as children do in the city schools. They must attend
regularly five days during each week. A large children's library has been
established in the home for supplementary reading to aid in the children's
education. Teachers who are employed at the home must be graduates of a
normal school of the state, or the state university, and must be accredited
with two years of experience, and hold a permanent state certificate.
The institution" has its own house physician, who makes his daily visits
and examines into conditions of health of the children. For the sick children
afflicted with contagious or other diseases proper hospital facilities are pro-
vided in such way that all cases may be successfully treated. Every chili I
entering the institution must go through a rigid medical examination and is
placed in detention apartments for two or three weeks to prevent bringing
in contagion and spreading it among other inmates.
The condition presenting itself for the placement of children in desirable
families demands field officers of a high type in every respect. The selection
of suitable homes for our children is an exacting task and requires the highest
qualifications of an officer entrusted with such work. Al present two Qeld
officers are employed, who are doing very commendable work.
The rules of the institution provide that children under ten years of age
be fully adopted, those above ten years of age to be placed out under con-
tracts, requiring a common-school education and school attendance up to the
age of sixteen years, also providing for proper remuneration for services
rendered after the age of sixteen. Up to December 31, 192(1, 712 children had
THE RESCUE MISSION
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 745
been placed in families throughout the state, out of which 189 had to be re-
placed.
Rules for Adoption. — Out of the 712 children placed, 333 were fully adopted
and 369 placed out on contracts.
Under date of December 31, 1920, 314 children had become of age and
self-supporting, while 388 children still remained under the supervision of
the institution. Of these 262 are adopted and 126 out on contracts.
It is the aim of the institution to keep close supervision of children placed
out, and if possible our field officers should visit these children at least twice
a year, and properly record their findings at the office of the home.
Children placed out under contract must be provided with all necessary
clothing at the expense of the foster parents while of school age. After chil-
dren graduate from school or have arrived at the age of sixteen, clothing is
paid for out of the earnings of the children. Every three months a settle-
ment must be made. A statement of expenses, signed by the child, must be
sent to the institution, including spending money for the child, and balance
must be sent by check. The foster parents receive a receipt for the amount
sent, and the child receives a statement, showing its bank deposit and total
account. Every year wages are increased. At the age of eighteen, children
may retain half of their earnings and are not required to send in a statement
of expenses, but must defray their expenses for clothing out of their half. The
other half goes to the institution and is credited to their bank account. At
the age of twenty-one, children receive their savings in full as per their last
statement received from the institution. Some children have received as
high as $.1(10, $600, $700 and upwards to $1,000. Not very long ago we handed
over to a boy a check for $1,000.18.
Total earnings of the children placed out under contract amounted, up to
December 31, 1920, to $52,028.82 for the last fifteen years, out of which $36,-
699.77 have been paid to children, and the balance of $15,329.05 is deposited
td their credit at the bank.
This system has many decided advantages over the old system. Under
the old law, twenty years ago, a child was to receive at age $50 in cash, a
Bible and two good suits of clothes. A wonderful consideration Tor the many
previous years' services! It is a wonder they didn't all run away! Of course,
twenty years ago the idea prevailed to place a child, no matter what age,
in a "good home" and everything would be all right. The child should he
very thankful. One fact, however, was lost sight of, that is, the "good homes"
made good use of the muscles and bones of the children without due con-
sideration. It- was cheap help under the guise of a "good home" in very
many cases.
Varying Degrees of Success. — Is the placing of children from public insti-
tutions a success?
Generally speaking, yes. Young children, who are adopted, as a rule
readily adapt themselves to their environments as they grow up. They be-
come an absolute part of the family. With very few exceptions homes and
children have been made happ.v, and the missing link in the family for future
responsibility and ties secured.
ST. PAUL'S CIIT'K'III
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 747
Not so with the children above the age of ten years who are placed in
families. With boys there is comparatively little trouble. Our "amiable,
affectionate girl" is the cause of a great deal of disappointment. The time
of adolescence seems to aid and increase the difficulty of proper training at
this time. On the other band it must be admitted that the difficulty of proper
guidance during these years is materially aggravated by the lack of under-
standing of the modern girl on the part of the foster parents. Some arc too
exacting, others too lenient.
And on the other band the many inducements of the modern city for
continuous excitement and pleasure, are a menace to the peaceful development
of a girl's habits and character. It is admittedly difficult for natural parents
to guide their girls with success past the many temptations and precipices
encountered in modern life, how much more difficult must it be, — -yea, at times
an insurmountable task for foster parents to guide a girl successfully past
the many pitfalls of the day.
Well, what do we do with sucli girls that during the years mentioned be-
come uncontrollable, unmanageable?
We take them back to the institution and employ them as nurse maids with
the same salary other employes receive. The money earned is saved for them
in the same way as though they were out in a family. Later on we want
them to attend the trade school for girls to take up cooking, sewing, dress-
making or millinery in order to properly equip them to meet the coming de-
mands with success.
Some of these girls have been a complete success. One received a musical
education at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, some graduated from
high school, one is now taking training at the county hospital training school
for nurses. Another highly talented girl will attend the University of Wis-
consin to equip herself as a magazine writer of the highest type. She is now
in her last year at the West Side High School and stands high in her ac-
complishments. She has been made chairman of the literary society of the
school. Others have been successfully placed in positions of responsibility at
the institution.
In order to relieve the monotony of their duties the <nrls are permitted
to join churches, to attend good movies, etc. Sewing evenings are provided
for them at the institution, a girls' chorus was organized to receive instruc-
tion in singing at sight and has on numerous occasions reaped many a compli-
ment at public entertainments at churches and elsewhere.
Let us hope that some day some one will discover a panacea that will
enable us to cope successfully at all times or nearly so with confronting condi-
tions. Until then, however, we must do the best we can.
Family Welfare Association (Until December, 1921, the Associated Char-
ities).— On January :!, 1882, a number of citizens calling themselves the "Pro
visional Council" met and adopted a constitution and by-laws, thereby form-
ing the Associated Charities of Milwaukee, based on the motto, "Not Alms
but a Friend." Rev. G. E. Gordon was chairman of the meeting and the
charter members were Philip Carpeles, .Mrs. I). E. Marks, Charles S. Lester.
E. L. Sereombe. Mrs. A. B. Norris. Miss Julia Norris, R. 1). Whitehead. Mrs.
ALTENHEIM (LUTHERAN OLD FOLKS' HOME)
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 749
R. U. Whitehead, Mrs. Teetzel, A. M. Joys, Mrs. A. J. Aikens, Mrs. D. II. John-
son.
The society was incorporated under the laws of Wisconsin, August 25, 1886.
The constitution and the later articles of incorporation were formulated upon
those of the London (England) Charity Organization Society and the Associ
ated Charities of Boston.
Only two cities, Boston and Buffalo, already had organizations whose
objects were the prevention of pauperism, the promotion of thrift, and the
securing of cooperation among the churches and relief-giving societies through
a central council, although eight cities had formed earlier societies for strictly
relief purposes.
Rev. 6. E. Gordon, pastor of the Unitarian Church, and Rev. Chas. Stanley
Lester, rector of St. Paul's Episcipal Church, had come to Milwaukee from
Boston, had had experience' with the associated charities there and were the
ones primarily responsible ';for the formation of the Associated Charities of
Milwaukee and for its spirit embodied in its motto and the following:
"The sympathy of the association shall be as broad as humanity; to this
end —
"Nothing shall be done or published by the asosciation that would alienate
the interest of any good person in its aims.
"No visitor while engaged in its work shall discriminate against any one
on account of creed, politics or nationality.
"No officer of the association shall use the influence of his position for pur-
poses n!' proselytizing."
Three charitable societies already in existence, the Mission Band, the In-
dustrial Band, and the Charity Union joined the Associated Charities as auxili-
aries.
Mr. Gustav A. Frellson, previously with the Wisconsin Humane Society,
was engaged as superintendent. He served in that capacity until he resigned
and left the associated charities. December 31, 1910.
Purposes of the Associated Charities as Stated in Articles of Incorporation
Adopted August 5, 1886.
"ARTICLE I.
"Section 1. To reduce and prevent vagrancy and pauperism, and ascer-
tain and remove their cause.
"Section 2. To ascertain and prevent indiscriminate alms-giving.
"Section 3. To detect, suppress and punish imposters and tramps, and
secure the community from frauds.
"Section 4. To encourage and promote thrift and habits of independence,
health, and economy.
"Section 5. To secure cooperation among the different churches and
charities of the City of Milwaukee in charitable and relief work, and to estab-
lish a central bureau or clearing house \'<>v all such churches and charities.
"Section 6. To investigate and see that all deserving eases of destitu-
tion are properly and promptly relieved.
TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 751
"Section 7. To establish and maintain, or to assist in establishing and
maintaining, provident dispensaries and all other provident and worthy
schemes.
"Section 8. To establish and maintain, or to assist in establishing and
maintaining, a creche or creches, which shall afford accommodations for the
children of working parents during hours of labor, to provide a home or homes
for indigent women or children, and to establish or assist in establishing tene-
ment houses or places for rent for the poorer classes.
"Section 9. To acquire by gift, devise, bequest, purchase, lease or other-
wise, real and personal property, and to sell, rent, mortgage, convey or other-
wise dispose of the same for any of the purposes above specified.
"Section 10. To do and perform any act or thing, and to exercise any
and all powers necessary or incident to the purposes above specified or either
of them."
The articles of incorporation were so far in advance of public sentiment
and of the possibility of securing trained workers to put them into effect, that
only Sections 3 and 6 were fully carried out for many years.
With time, however, the development of a sentiment in the community
for greater preventive and constructive service grew and in 1911 brought
about a reorganization of the society for the modern type of work.
The city was districted and Bernard Roloff was made superintendent of
of South District, Miss Nell Alexander of the East, and Miss Emma 0. Lund-
berg of the West District. Mrs. Katherine L. Van Wyck became the general
secretary, also giving part time service to the Central Council of Phil-
anthropies as its general secretary until September, 1915.
A central registration bureau was started and maintained until January,
1916, when it was transferred to the central council.
The constructive side of the work has been steadily developed and trained
workers added as was possible to make the work efficient.
The rule was established that necessary food and fuel, where none is in
the home, shall be put in at once to prevent suffering while the investigation
of situation is pending; further relief and service to be given as shall be
necessary.
Realizing that undernourishment of children and the depleted vitality re-
sulting therefrom is one of the chief causes of insufficient earning power later
in life, the society in 1911, adopted a scientific family budget as the basis tor
its material relief.
The Associated Charities considers the need of material relief merely a
symptom of some trouble, and when the relief is supplied it is only a means
to the end of re-establishing the family in self-dependence.
A modern family case history of each family known to the society is made
that the work may be based on an intelligent understanding of the family
and its members which is the first step. The second, a diagnosis of the real
trouble to be followed with such form of service as shall return the family to
normal citizenship in the shortest possible time.
To accomplish this, economic, physicial, social, and moral problems sep
aratelv or in combination, must be met and solved.
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THE GESTI CHUBCH
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE CHARITIES OF MILWAUKEE 753
In so many instances, the ignorance and lack of opportunity of the wife
and mother had been found to be the cause of poverty and marital troubles,
that in 1911 visiting housekeepers were engaged to teach in the homes the
essentials of family life. They were supported through the cooperation of
the women "s societies of Westminster, Emmanuel, Plymouth, ami St. Paul's
Churches as parts of their home missionary work.
This service has now been made a department with its own director am!
five vis'ting housekeepers arc doing this fundamental educational work with
excellent results for the present and future. Nothing undertaken has I n
more far-reaching.
Finding that the word "Charities" in the title keeps many away who do
not want "charity" bu1 who do need advice and a helping hand to escape
dependency, and also to enable the society to broaden it. usefulness to unci
community needs as may lie shown to be advisable, the board of directors d -
cided to change the name of the society from "The Associated Charities" to
"The Family Welfare Association of Milwaukee," thereby falling into line
with the general trend through the United States.
The society assumed its new name December 1, 1921.
It always has been helpful in promoting social measures for the prevention
of dependency in cooperation with other agencies working along health, juve-
nile protection and other lines of social service.
The officers, the directors and the advisory board are active men and
women closely in touch with the work and bearing with the staff the burden
of its responsibility. They are:
Board of Directors — Edwin E. White, president; Wm. C. White, vice pres-
ident; Fred W. Rogers, secretary; G. W. Augustyn, treasurer; Edward W.
Frost, H. H. Jacobs, Nelson P. Ilulst. Albert Friedmann, Henry P. Andrae,
Sheldon J. Glass, Rev. Holmes Whitmore, Miss Mariette Tweedy, Mrs. Otto
II. Falk, John Le Feber, Mrs. Arthur Holbrook, S. M. McFedries, Frederick
L. Pierce, Mrs. C. J. Mcintosh, Louis Quarles, Herbert F. Lindsay, George
Gibbs.
Advisory Board— Mrs. Arthur McGeoch, Mrs. George Lines, Mrs. E. J.
Kearney, Wm. C. Frye, Mrs. Walter Stern, Max Babb, Rev. Chas. H. Beale,
Fred D. Goldstone, Mrs. Alfred W. Gray, Mrs. Lawrence Fitch, Mrs. Arthur
II. Galium J. Tracy Hale, Sam Dates, Mrs. Clement C. Smith.
ST. JOSAPHAT'S CHURCH (POLISH)
First and Lincoln avenues
•
I* 11
TEMPLE KMAX1' I I
CHAPTER XLIII
THE TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY
The transition from foreignism to Americanism forms a chapter in the
life of Milwaukee which has never been discussed in all its essential angles.
For many years the impression has prevailed throughout the country that 1 ln-
city was intensely German in its ideals, customs and habits. Its fame as a
beer brewing center strengthened that impression to a considerable degree,
and while this impression in certain respects was warranted it was not alto-
gether true or fair to its people.
There was undoubtedly a period in the life of the community when it was
intensely German in the observance of old world customs and habits. But,
it is equally true that it responded at all times to the national spirit and
was intensely loyal to the institutions of the American Republic. While
those of German birth remained German in their family life, fostering Ger-
man social customs, reading German newspapers, attending German churches,
and employing the German language in their social and business relations,
they were also intensely American in their civic and political relations. They
espoused American patriotism as eloquently in the German language as it
could ever be espoused in the English language. They participated in the
Civil war, shed their blood freely for the preservation of the Union, and won
high distinction for bravery and courage on the battlefield. Thus, we have
the picture of a people whose conception of America was of the most tolerant
and liberal character.
The fact, however, that the community was at one time intensely foreign
tended to emphasize old world characteristics and rendered the process of
assimilation somewhat slower than it would be in centers where only a
sprinkling of the foreign born had entered a native born population. Dur-
ing the middle of the last century the Americanization methods, now employed,
were unknown. The foreign born was sought by the political parties for his
vote. The naturalization laws were lax, and the immigrant became a voter
immediately upon h'.s arrival, or as soon as he declared his intentions of be-
coming an American citizen, and his loyalty to his adopted country was un-
questioned.
.The literature which the political parties supplied to the immigrant, how-
ever, possessed some value. While much of it dealt with party achievement,
and sought to invite the new citizen into this or that political party, it afforded
splendid lessons in self-government and citizenship. The foreign born re-
ceived copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the
Tinted States printed in his native language. He became to all intents and
purposes a loyal American citizen without having discarded either his mother
tongue, or his foreign customs and habits.
Dreamers and Idealists. — The German immigration had its beginning in the
756 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
early forties of the Last century. Those who came here were mainly peasants
from the rural districts of Germany and mechanics and laborers from the
cities. The immigration received its intellectual impress through the studenl
refugees who as the result of the revolution of 1848 in Germany fled to iliis
country in large numbers.
When the spiril of democracy began to assert itself in the revolutionary
outbreaks of 1S48 throughoul Germany there was a sympathetic response in
the German circles of the United Stales. The though.1 thai Europe would
break the traditional fetters of monarchial oppression and enter upon a new
era of self determination enthused all nationalities.
In Milwaukee this feeling found expression in a picturesque demonstration.
A parade was formed at Market Square winch was participated in by the
Anglo-Americans, Germans, Irish, and French. A greal crowd participated.
The Stars and Stripes led, followed by the French tri-color, the German and
Swiss banners. Big cannons thundered their approval while the parade moved
towards the courthouse on the hill.
Here the Washington Guard Band played the Star Spangled Banner and
the Marseillaise followed by speeches in English, French, and German. An
Irish priest championed the freedom of Ireland. The adoption of resolution,
espousing the cause of human liberty, followed. In the evening there fol
lowed bonfires, illumination and fireworks.
It became evident to the promoters of this demonstration that something
more substantial must be done if the cause of freedom in Europe was to be
aided. The Germans then organized a number id' so-called "Three Cent So-
cieties," the members of which contributed three cents a week for the support
of the German revolution. These contributions were soon doubled and tripled
and sent on to the East where similar organizations had come into life. But
the revolutionary movements failed, with the result that many of their partici-
pants sought refuge in this country.
These young men were not only cultured but high-spirited and imbued
with a strong love of freedom. They became the intellectual leaders of the
German (dement of the United States and played an important part in the
soc:al, commercial, and political progress of their countrymen. They became
the editors, schoolmasters, artists, musicians, etc., and gave an uplifting char-
acter to an (dement that up to this time did not enjoy the esteem of the Amer-
ican to which it was entitled.
Here we might mention, parenthetically, a tendency which manifested itself
on the part id' some of these student immigrants and which may he designated
as characteristic of the race. The German is essentially a dreamer. His inner
life is accentuated with a strong idealism which at times transgresses the
domain of the possible.
Among German Students who fled from their native country in 1848 was
found also the idealist, the dreamer. lis love for liberty in thought and
action led him to dream id' the fulfillment id' his plans and purposes. He saw-
in the greal number of his countrymen which he found on every hand here,
the foundation id' a new German Empire on tlie American Continent, lie
saw the rise of splendid institutions founded upon the fraternity, justice and
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 757
liberty, whose halls would echo and re-echo with the glorious achievement of
a Teutonic race in every field of human endeavor.
But, alas, his dream was but an air castle. The free institutions of the
new world were too securely founded to permit a new empire or even a new
republic within a republic. The latter had been wrested from an oppressive
mother country at a cost which involved vast treasures and precious human
life.
The German-American while clinging to his mother tongue and to his
native customs readily adapted himself to his new environments, and had im-
bibed the spirit of American institutions. While he was a German in his home
and social life, he had become a fullfledged American in his political views,
and in his commercial professional and industrial activities.
Again, we might refer to the hardship which befell this contingent of im-
migrants who came to a new and strange land. The educated and refined
student frequently found himself compelled to accept arduous manual labor
in order to keep body and soul together. We find instances where a college
professor was obliged to work as a common day laborer digging trenches for
railroad construction or ;i youthful, delicate student working in the pit of a
coal mine. But where there was an honest incentive to work and an intelli-
gent direction of human effort, the ambition to succeed was gratified.
These men made their mark and left an indelible impression upon the char-
acter of their time and furnished some of the brightest names in the history
of American civilization. Gen. Carl Schurz's contribution to American state-
manship and independence of political thought, is well known. Gen. Franz
Sigel's military leadership and splendid patriotism need not be discussed.
And so we m'ght mention scores of names, all of them written in bright let-
ters upon the scroll of fame in American history.
The most conspicuous among the local so-called "Achtundvierziger" was
Carl Schurz, who practically bewail his political career in Milwaukee, and who
attained great eminence in the higher political life of the nation. He became
a cabinet officer and was only barred from becoming a presidential possibility
by his foreign birth. The Germans of that day dwelled with pride upon the
claim that they had made the election of Abraham Lincoln possible. Led
by Carl Schurz and other German-Americans of that type they readily de-
clared their opposition to slavery and their support for the preservation of Hie
Union.
Moreover the idealist discovered that the German element could not he
united into one compact controllable body nor could they be herded into one
or the other of the great political parties. They found their way into Hie
parties that most nearly met their political views. The German Lutherans
in the main joined the republican party and the German Catholics allied them
selves with the democratic party. Between them there was always a vote that
shifted from one to the other party in accordance with their acceptance or
rejection of campaign issues.
The cultured among the German-American quoted authors, one among
them who wrote: '"In the great Struggle for independence made by the Amer-
ican colonists frequent mention is made of the Hessians, some twenty-eighl
758 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
German soldiers who were senl over under command of English generals
This unfortunate incident in the greal struggle Eor American Independence
lias frequently been commented upon in an unpleasant manner, and some-
times with a wrong interpretation. The facts are thai the Hessians were
under the control of several German princes, and wore by them sold to the
British government. They were helpless as Ear as their own will and ambi-
tion was concerned and too ignoranl to understand the great question at issue.
Suffice it to say that those of German blood fought for the cause of independ-
ence and such men as Generals Von Steuben, De Kalb. Muehlenberg and others
rendered such magnificent service as to immortalize them in the annals of this
great nation.
"Under this heading a long chapter might be written telling a story of
loyality and patriotism which was paid for in precious blood. Over .'ind.oou
German-Americans entered the Civil war with the same enthusiasm, the same
readiness to sacrifice limb and life for the cause of human liberty that was mani-
fested by their Yankee brothers. Twenty German-Americans served as gen-
erals, hundreds as colonels and minor officers of the army. This page in his-
tory is so fully recorded and so generally known that it requires no further
treatment at my hands.
"It may be held here that in the stricter sense there is no German ele-
ment. The Germans separate on religious lines belonging to the various de-
nominations, and they also separate on political lines. It may be added here
that even social or educated classes hold themselves aloof from the unedu-
cated classes, and while there are strictly German churches, and social or-
ganizations there is no such thing as a general compact of the German
speaking people. Thus, in the religious or political sense at least it cannot
be said that there is a German element.
"Innumerable names of German-Americans who gained distinction might
lie mentioned. Daniel Boone, the great pioneer, the first white man who trav-
ersed the western country; the Koeblings who designed and constructed the
Brooklyn bridge; Henry Villard who connected the Atlantic with the Pacific
Ocean by constructing the Northern Pacific Railway, etc."
Customs and Habits. — Old world habits and customs in family life found
their adaptation to new world conditions. The exigencies of immediate sur-
soundings as well as usage among the native bom made their impress. Ex-
pediency became the controlling factor whereby the immigrant adjusted pi
conception and former habits to new world realities.
The little homes that were built in an earlier day on Market, East Water,
and River streets, and the streets crossing them, had their backyard vegetable
gardens with "salat, schnittlauch und petersilia," and there was always a
patch of flowers with astors, forget me-nots, while morning "lories ami sun-
flowers graced tin' back fences.
The boys in those days had chores to do. They had to do errands for
mother, run to the market, to the grocer, the butcher and the baker. They
had to saw ami chop wood on Saturday mornings, turn the grinds). for
father who sharpened his tools, carry water and wood into the kitchen, attend
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 759
to the smokehouse and rock the baby. The girls were generally busy in
helping- mother about the kitchen and the household.
Here was the old time baker whose ovens were open to the good house-
wives of the neighborhood who prepared their own dough in size and. form
to suit their own fancy. He merely charged them for the baking. In selling
his rolls he invariably counted out thirteen in order to comply with the pro-
verbial rule of a baker 's dozen.
The butcher who did his own killing in the backyard had at the beginning
a somewhat limited trade in fresh meats. The average family bought a pig
or a quarter beef in the fall of the year which was salted down for the winter's
use. It also made its own sausages and "schwartemager." The boy or girl
who came to the butcher for an order of fresh meat always secured a com-
plimentary slice of sausage for serving as carrier. Gradually with the rise of
the meat packing houses the preparation of meats by families declined, and
the so-called individual meat butcher became a modern meat market man.
The fuel industry, too, underwent marked changes. The old time wood
market, located in the vicinity of Poplar and Fourth streets saw its rise and
decline. Farmers brought in loads of cordwood, of maple, bass and oak, and
unloaded it on the purchasers' premises. It was not until wood became
scarcer and the prices higher that coal came into general use as a fuel.
The families of a former day not only salted their pork and beef for winter
use, smoked their hams in an old smokehouse in the backyard, but also used
the remnants of lard and grease for making soap. Somebody in every
neighborhood owned an iron soap kettle and knew how to make lye and boil
soap. Every family had its assortment of irregular cubes and squares of
home-made washing soap. Every German neighborhood was the possessor of
a cabbage cutter and every hausfrau pickled her own sauerkraut.
There was the barber who dignified his calling by noting on his street
sign that he was prepared to do "schroepfen" (cupping or blood-letting) as
a side line. There were among the foreign born those who believed that the
leeches applied by the barber would ease rheumatism, neuralgia and other
ailments.
The linguistic peculiarity of the neighborhood was found in the variety
of English spoken by the German born. A keen ear could distinguish the
North German from the South German by his English. The Mecklenburger
from the North found the English language easier than did the Bavarian of
the South. The former was aided by a similarity between Low German and
English while the latter was hampered by a corresponding dissimilarity be-
tween his old world dialect and the new world tongue. He constantly eon-
fused the hard and soft consonants and found difficulty in giving his vowels
the exact shade of pronunciation.
Between the forties and sixties the Fourth of July celebrations assumed a
most festive air. The main streets were decorated with green trees, garlands,
bunting and flags. The forests about the city were stripped of saplings and
shrubbery which were placed on the gutter side of the walks and at the
entrances of small shops and saloons. The refreshing vegetation ornamented
with flags and bunting, gave atmosphere, color and zest to the holiday spirit.
The youth of the city was extremely busy burning powder and exploding
i'.l
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THE OLD TIME MILWAUKEE GAI.'HEN SALOOX AND KESTALRAXT OX THE \V
SIDE IX THE SIXTIES
EST
s( 1I1.IT/. PABK, FOE MA1TS 5TEARS KNOWN \s QtTENTIN'S PARK
N i . w Lapham Pads
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 761
"firecrackers." There was an incessant bang- and rattle of explosions from
early morn until the late hours of the night. The roar of monster cannons
and fireworks at night closed loudly and picturesquely the observance of
Independence Day. The casualties reported on (he following morning indi-
cated that the boys had been patriotic to an enthusiastic and reckless degree.
There were lost fingers, injured eyes and powder-marked faces. The gutters
and alleys gave evidence of a great day in the debris of crackers and Roman
candles and sky rockets that had spent their glory of color, noise and illumina-
tion. The tire department usually recorded a busy day fighting numerous fires
caused by a reckless observance of the nation's greatest holiday.
The so-called "greenhorn" was a common product. The immigrant who
groped his way through the English language amid American customs had an
easy time when he moved among his fellow countrymen. But his embarrass-
ment and troubles began when he was obliged to deal with the American
(dement.
The immigrant boy fared much better. He was ridiculed for a time by his
new playmates fur "the funny way" lie expressed himself, but he boldly picked
up words and phrases ami with surprising rapidity. In a short time he
talked and cussed as fluently as the rest of the boys. He was particularly
apt in enriching himself with cuss words and the street profanity indulged in
by his youthful contemporaries.
The numerical strength of the Germans, their prestige ami standing in
(lie community, together with the popular use of their language made its
impress upon other nationalities. Many among the Anglo and Irish-Amer-
icans secured a smattering of German and in social gatherings learned to
s'ng German songs. Many who could not speak German could at least under-
stand it. Occasionally some non-German would speak the German quite
well. This was quite frequent among the Poles, Norwegians and Hollanders.
Sometimes an Irishman coming from one of the counties to the immediate
north of Milwaukee would surprise and amuse his German friends by speak-
ing Plattdeutseh with fluency. Occasionally, too, some one with an English
name could tell a Swabian or Bavarian dialect story because his mother had
been born in Wuertemburg or Bavaria.
The local German dailies published column after column of the most minute
news happenings pertaining to the cities and villages of Germany. These news
items were usually reproduced from newspapers printed in Germany and
covered every section of that country, arranged and classified under kingdoms,
dukedoms and provinces for the convenience of the reader.
With the constant accession of the immigrant classes it was only natural
that in time the foreign element would outnumber the native born. But
here it must be added that the average American family was small while the
foreigner raised large families. This added to the number of native born and
in time again over-balanced the foreign born, though it did not immediately
change the foreign complexion of the community.
While the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch, spoken in the German counties of
Pennsylvania, has held its own for over two hundred years the Germanized
English of Milwaukee has been of a fleeting duration only. It has never be-
762 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
come sufficiently enduring or fixed to find expression in printed books as has
the Pennsylvania Dutch. The process of assimilation lias been too rapid to
permil tl stahlishment of a mixture of English and German into a distinc-
tive jargon.
The older among the Germans were guilty of grotesque forms of English
pronunciation and sentence construction as interpreted by the Dutch comedian
on the American stage. Yet there was also the cultured German whose Eng-
lish was most choice in point of diction and extremely faulty in articulation.
The roll of gutteral r and the lack of a sharper distinction between the letters
d and t and p and b gave a foreign flavor to the English employed.
The school children of German parentage on the other hand usually gave
correct pronunciation to English words and were inclined to enter upon queer
sentence construction. The following Germanisms, picked np on the play
ground of a public school on the north side of the city a number of years ago,
illustrate the lapses indulged in by some of the pupils: "Annie, please make
my apron shut"; "I think it will give yet rain today"; "Hans come home!
Mother is already on the table, and father is half ate up"; "Come good home,
yes!" " I >o you want some butter bread?" "Over tomorrow I go to a
picnic"; "Your head is strubly"; "I seen a horse burn through (run away) ";
"Lena she is by the dressing room making her hairs"; "De ball stands by de
tree already"; "I'm late because I went by my aunt": "Teacher, my paper
is all"; "I first stood up at 8 o'clock this morning."
These Germanisms have been severely criticized by teachers and others,
but there have been those who have deemed them as pardonable as the Josh
W'hitcornb Yankee dialect which obtains in sections of New England, or the
negro dialects of the South. Happily the German tinge given their English by
the Milwaukee children has practically been eliminated.
The Dutch comedian as he has appeared on the American stage, exaggerated
in figure, dress and speech, never gave offense to those of German birth or
descent. In fact, they enjoyed the burlesque upon their Teutonic brother
with the rest of the audience.
An interesting, yet not altogether a desirable, type of immigrant was be
who came from a well situated family in Germany, frequently from one bear
ing a distinguished title, lie was the black sheep of the family whose mem-
bers ridded themselves of him by sending him to America. By sending him
this distance they had the assurance that lie would never accumulate enough
money to make the return trip.
Frequently this type floundered about aimlessly and became a burden
upon his countrymen. Sometimes he would degenerate into a shabby genteel
or develop into a slick adventurer. Sometimes expediency as well as neces-
sity drove him into becoming a barkeeper, waiter or piano player in coi rl
saloon. Occasionally, owing to the unsympathetic rebuffs and the gruff ad
vice of his countrymen, he would follow a more honorable occupation by be-
coming a musician, cigarmaker or newspaper report! r.
For a time his title, whieh might be Priedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Graf von
Pumpernickel, would secure him promiscuous cash loans, free meals and plenty
<d' free beer. Not infrequently he sought a favorable marriage connection.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 763
The hand of a girl, whose parents were plebeians in Germany and who had
through industry and thrift accumulated a competence in this country, was
acceptable, providing the prospective father-in-law was inclined to keep a
titled son-in-law in funds. These marriages occurred occasionally but seldom
proved satisfactory.
The average German entertained for years, after his arrival here, a long-
ing to return to his native land. Gradually this desire wore down until he
was contented to remain until the end of his days. He realized that his
material advantages and those of his family were better here than ever could
be hoped for in the old country, and his desire to return did not extend be-
yond a mere visit to old home scenes.
There were, of course, the exceptional few who, notwithstanding their
own material prosperity, railed against the country of their adoption. They
had enjoyed the blessing of a free country, acquired a snug fortune, and had
every reason to be grateful. Yet they held that this was a country of "hum-
bug and schwindel, " and not fit for good people to live in. They held that
German statesmanship was a paragon of honor and efficiency while American
statesmanship was selfish, tricky and dishonest.
Men of this type were not taken seriously. Their inconsistency was too
apparent. If perchance one of them made a visit to Germany he was usually
glad to return to his American home again. The old country home was not
what it had been in years before. Old friends had died, and the people were
still poor and restricted in their views, while the people in America were bet-
ter off and on the whole more intelligent, more progressive, more prosperous.
"Yes, my native village is the same old place," was the usual statement,
"but somehow things are changed. Everything looks smaller, more miserable
and less attractive. I wouldn't care to live there again."
The true answer was that nothing had changed. The Germany of 1880
provided better for its people than did the Germany of 1840. The real change
was found in the standards, views and ideals of the German-American who
had gone back to visit his native country. He had unconsciously become an
American and had only awakened to that fact when in maturer years he con-
trasted his native with his adopted country.
In the earlier period of the city's history the Irish-Americans celebrated
Saint Patrick's Day with festive street parades about the city during which
they braved inclement March weather so common in this region. Sometimes
they encountered snowstorms, while the streets were usually icy or wet. Be-
ginning with the '80s the parades were abandoned. Thereafter the observance
of the Patron Saint's Day was confined to halls where the exercises assumed
an educational character.
In scanning old newspaper files one will note that during the '70s and '80s
the editors liberally indulged in alliterative headlines. Here are some of
them: "Municipal Melange," "Erin's Evils," "Foaming Fluid," "Female
Freedom," "Flattering Figures," "Fuel Famine," "Play People," "Frivolous
and False," "Senatorial Squabbles," "Blaine and Britain," "Counting the
Cost," "Plots and Plotters," "Boer Brawn," "Life's Liberties," "Crime
764 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
Calendar," "Farmers Forming," "Alexander's Ashes." "Badger Beacons,"
etc.
Equality and Social Caste. -In Europe the activities of men arc a'lmost
wholly determined by caste and tradition. The boy follows the trade of his
father; the mechanic associates only with his fellow mechanics. Professional,
business and official careers run in families for generations.
While the immigrant found himself freed from old world restrictions, and
with new opportunities before him, he realized ins educational Limitations.
He was obliged to follow the calling for which he had been trained. But, he
was quick in appreciating the fact that the son need nol necessarily become a
shoemaker because the father was a shoemaker. The father stood ready to
accord his son a better education than he himself had enjoyed, an opportunity
which would have been denied to him under old world conditions. Thus,
many splendid professional and business men have sprung out id' working
men 's families.
The immigrants who tore themselves from old world traditions, with its
restrictions and evils of caste and class distinctions, came to this country
with somewhat liberal conceptions of social as well as political equality. They
breathed to the full the atmosphere of freedom in a new land, and rejoiced in
the thought that "one man is as good as the next man." They made no allow-
ance for the inequalities of breeding, culture and social refinements.
An interesting incident, which brought social distinctions into sharp con-
trast with each other and developed opposite conceptions in taste and form,
transpired in the later '4-Os. Up to this time the Germans conducted their
dances with a sort of provincial freedom. The males appeared on the dance
floor in shirt sleeves, hats on their heads, and pipes in their mouths, whirled
their partners through waltzes and polkas, stamped their feet and yodled in
Bavarian Sehuhplattl fashion.
There proved to be those who did not relish this form of terps'.chorean
amusement, ami concluded to arrange a subscription hall id' their own. The
best hall in town was hired and the male guests were to appear in frock coats,
white ties and gloves. Sixty couples had signified their acceptance to this
exclusive affair. »
Now followed a storm of opposition. Aristocracy was asserting itself. The
leveling spirit of democracy was in danger. The one faction dubbed the other
as "die Geschwollenen. " The objectors were designated as the "griine
Deutsehen. '
It so happened that the "swell" hall was set for the same nighl when
the "popular" dance had been arranged for. This was deemed an added
affront on the pari id' the aristocrats who "wore spectacles on their impudent
noses." When a brickbat came through the window into the plebeian daj
hall the climax was reached. A committee was sent to the hall r i id' the
aristocrats a few blocks down the street to make a vigorous protest.
The confab proved, however, a peacable one. No crowd of men and women
so well groi d and refined could have stooped so lov a-- to throw a brickbal
into a rival dance hall. The swells were exhonera t ei I. and the objectors re-
ceived a new conception of social equality in a democratic land.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 765
Racial Antagonism. — With the strong influx of the foreign element there
arose doubts and fears in the minds of native Americans. These doubts and
fears in due time developed into a prejudice and in many instances into a
positive hatred for every person of foreign origin.
Thus, when German immigration had reached its greatest impetus, it was
also confronted in this country with the strongest prejudice againsl the for-
eigner which had ever been manifested in the history of the country. The
so-called Know-nothing movement found its beginning about the middle of
the last century and became so aggressive as to form itself into a national
political party. Its watch cry was "America for Americans'' subserving the
immediate interest of the native born and antagonizing all foreigners.
The attitude of the native element therefore towards the foreigners was
not always a cordial one. While on the one hand immigration was welcomed
as being conducive to material progress, there was on the other hand a feel-
ing of apprehension that a preponderance of foreign blood would endanger
the stability of American institutions.
In 1843 the opposition to the foreign burn found vigorous expression in
one of the local newspapers. The nativistic tendency of the whig party had
prompted the Germans and Irish to join hands under the banner of the
democratic party in securing suffrage equality with the native Americans.
The newspaper said: "If these foreigners, who are unlike ourselves in birth,
language, breeding and customs, secure equal rights with the Americans our
institutions will be seriously endangered. It is an injustice to draw these
untutored monarehial Barbarians out of their legitimate sphere anil coddle
them with fine things they do not understand. Already the population is
more than half foreign born. If they once gain the upper hand our liberties
are lost."
The very fact, however, that the foreign born sought a vrrce in the elec-
tion that was to elevate the Territory of Wisconsin into statehood, proved a
signal step in the process of assimilation and citizenship. It proved itself an
expression of the spirit of equality which strengthened rather than weakened
the body politic. The foreigner had no aims other than to support the institu-
tions of the republic in harmony with the native born and secure a voice in
their preservation.
Incidentally the native born realized that the constant accession of for-
eign born stimulated his material prosperity. The latter came with sound
bodies and willing hands to work. They were frugal, industrious and thrifty.
and thus became an asset rather than a liability to the community.
The German born who was at a special disadvantage compared with other
foreigners who spoke the English language upon arrival, became a special
object of contempt and suffered more largely from this hatred than the Scotch,
Irish and other similar nationalities. The cry of "Damn the Dutch" was a
more or less familiar one until 1S71 when the result of the Franco-Prussian
war lent a new aspect to the German character and its mental and physical
fibre.
Nevertheless, with the arrival of every ship-load of immigrants wool up the
cry that the country was being inundated by a foreign population which would
HHOUSAU CONf 1XTIQKUIY.F
IIKXK'V WEHR'S, NO. 1 GRAND AVENUE
A famous restaurant where excellent coffee, wines and beers were served for ninny
years
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 767
in time seriously endanger the stability of our form of government. The
German immigrant, however, readily adapted himself to his new environ-
ments, freely imbibed the spirit of our political institutions, added vastly to
the material progress of the country.
Old and new world conceptions sometimes collided in a peculiar manner.
The native element, for instance, had been taught to observe the Sabbath with
almost puritanical regularity. When the Germans eame with a continental
conception of Sunday observance there was more or less irritation. Brass
band music and parades were deemed sacrilegious. The qixiet of the Sabbath
had become proverbial.
The issue came when the Fourth of July in the earlier period of the Ger-
man immigration, fell upon a Sunday the Germans planned a joyous celebra-
tion. The Yankee element objected. All festivities should be postponed until
Monday, the 5th of July. The Germans, however, went to church in the morn-
ing and in the afternoon and evening celebrated Independence Day with
patriotic speeches, brass bands and parades and fireworks, and with all the
enthusiasm, hurrah and noise of an American Fourth. The objections then
mellowed into acquiescence.
The opinion entertained by the average foreign born for the Yankee,
especially for those who advocated a puritanical Sabbath and total abstinence,
was nut very nattering. The Yankees were regarded as a class of bloodless
and soulless individuals who worshipped the almighty dollar, constant
sought to practice paternalism over the newcomer, and lacked an apprecia-
tion for the higher and nobler impulses of life. "The Yankee preaches total
abstinence," said the foreign born, "and drinks whisky behind the door. He
is a hypocrite, and an enemy of personal liberty.
In time, as the foreign born became acclimated, he learned to appreciate
the qualities of the native American. He learned to know him as a generous-
hearted man and appreciative of all the good things he found in others. The
Yankee was enterprising and energetic in commercial and industrial under-
takings. He created business and gave employment. The German would
rather work for a Yankee boss than work for one of his own countrymen.
The latter was close-fisted; the Yankee was less exacting and more liberal in
his dealings with his employes.
The German Market. — Among the institutions which grew out of the life
of an earlier day was the German market, located at the corner of East Water
and Juneau Avenue (then known as Division Street). While markets arc a
common utility known to most American cities, this market, known as "der
Gruner Markt,'" was in its earlier day a unique social center of German life
in the community. It could well be likened to the public markets of Nurem-
berg, Munich, Hamburg and other German cities. The gossip of the town was
here diffused in the Meeklenburger and Pommeranian dialects as freely as it
was in the Bavarian and Swabian dialects, although every one made an effort
to employ high German.
The low German market woman who sold butter, eggs and Schmierkase, had
a husband who sat with his saw and saw-buck against the walls of the City
Hall waiting for a call to saw a cord of wood. In the winter time he anchored
768 IIIXTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
himself to the sunny side of the building while in the summer t im <• In- souirht
the shady side [f be happened to be engaged in an argumenl with a Eellow
wood sawyer, and was in possession of a hunk of rye bread and some speck,
and of a fair supply of tobacco, he respectfully declined to saw wood for any-
body.
Morning life a1 the markel afforded a character study of the female popu-
lation of the community. The markel woman, sturdy, red cheeked and out-
spoken, varied her manner of salesmanship, with the style and appearance of
her customers. The well-dressed lady who came down from Yankee Hill to
lill her market basket, and who was designated as the "Englische Dame." was
treated with the utmost courtesy. The snippy hired girl who sampled the
butter before she bought, or rolled over the vegetables before she made her
choice, came in for sarcastic response. The dog who sniffed about the markel
woman's baskets came in for a swift kick exerted by a heavy soled boot, and
a parting salutation in Plattdeutsch.
In the gossip which gained circulation and momentum in the morning
crowds which gathered about the market stands the happenings of the day
were discussed simultaneously with the quality of vegetables and the dairy
products. The good housewife who had boughl her yeast at the brewery,
must fill her basket with greens and at the same time learn what people were
talking about.
Besides the births, marriages and deaths, there was the latest brewery or
grain elevator fire, the scare aroused by a runaway horse, the arrival of some
immigrant who cla'med ownership of a great title, the German hoy who mar-
ried an Irish girl, the Yankee who was building a new hotel, the indignant
resentment of a German who had been called a Dutchman, and so forth.
With the evolution of the corner grocery store, the introduction of a
greater variety of food products, package and canned goods, the delivery
system, and later on the telephone, the German market went out of existence.
Attempts on the part of the municipality in later years to revive the old mar-
ket idea has resulted in the establishment of a number of smaller markets in
different sections of the city which are conducted on vacant lots in the open air
during the summer months.
The German Beer Garden. — The German beer garden, too, grew into flour-
ishing proportions. Prominent among these was Milwaukee Garden, located
at Fourteenth and Chestnut streets, conducted for years by l'ius Dreher, and
Quentin's Park, located on Walnut and Eighth streets, conducted by Paul
Schuengel. Milwaukee Garden later gave way to a residence district and
Quentin's Park is now a public park, known as Lapham Park. There were
other parks of lesser popularity as for instance Terrace Garden, located on
Ninth and Stale streets, Knurr's Park and National Park, located on the south
side, Bielefeld's Garden, located in the vicinity of upper Enapp Streel on the
east side, and Berninger's on South Pierce street.
The first beer garden brought into life by the earliest German settlers of
Milwaukee was Dudwig's Garden, Located on a delightfully wooded spot on
the east hank' of the Milwaukee River 1<> the immediate north of the present
Cherrv Street bridge. The admission fee was 25 cents and those who did not
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 769
participate in the dancing were entitled 1'-"- cents rebate payable in beer or
coffee and kaffee kuchen.
The festivities held in these parks were frequent and zestful. Beer and
wine flowed freely, music and song rang out in joyous accents, and laughter
and gayety was the order of the day. The various social benevolent and
singing societies held their annual picnics in these beer gardens. Brass hands
crashed their notes into patriotic airs, both American and German, selections
from the leading operas, and then cosily lapsed into potpouris of popular folk-
song music. The American flag would flutter gaily beside or over the society
banners, and everybody was happy to feel that he enjoyed the protection of
that flay, and at the same time grateful in the thought that he was of German
origin.
They believed that the American flag was big and tolerant enough to permit
them to enjoy themselves in accordance with their own native customs. "We
are loyal to our adopted country."' they would say. "We obey its laws, ami
pay our taxes, revere the American flag and stand ready to defend it against
any enemy that may come forward. We know our rights and will assert them.
We hold that we can sing and play, love and pray in our mother tongue with-
out becoming unpatriotic or disloyal. We are American citizens, even though
we were not born here. Only the Indian has a better claim than we to that
title."
These beer garden festivals became picturesque reproductions of old world
plays and pleasures. A Schuetzenfest saw the target contestants in the hunts-
man garb of a Tyrolean or Bavarian. A Saengerfest presented large male
ami mixed choruses that revelled in classic productions as well as in German
lieder and folksong. A Turnfest saw handsome athletes in white shirtwaists
and gray pantaloons performing gr; ful gymnastics and building remarkable
human pyramids.
There were Swabian and Bavarian folk festivals where the Kellnerinen or
waitresses appeared in picturesque native garb, -where dialect obtained freely,
where sauerkraut, bratwurst, and knoedel and the like, were the food order
of the day, where beer and wine (lowed in torrents, where the soft strains
of zither music alternated with the cornet solo, where the Schuplattel Tanz
displayed white hosiery and bulging skirts, where laughter and gaiety pro-
ceeded with the zest of happy children at play.
One of the peculiarities evolved here is that the German who sipped his
beer with moderation in his native country was inclined to drink it immoder-
ately in this country. Years ago the Lutheran and Catholic parishes held
annual picnics in the popular parks of the city at which wines and beers were
dispensed. It was found that the sale of alcoholic drinks had to be dispensed
with because excesses were indulged in. The American treating system, it
was believed, was largely responsible for the difference. The old world cus-
tom, where everybody paid for the wine and beer he himself consumed, led to
moderation whereas the new world liberality led to over-indulgence.
The Bier Wirthschaft. — The American saloon, as exemplified here in a
German Bier Wirthschaft, proved a useful institution in teaching the mean-
ing of a new world democracy. Those who came with exalted old world
Vol. 1—4 9
770 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
notions as to their blood and breeding sometimes received a rude lesson at
the hands of those who had been among the submerged classes of Europe
and who now asserted the law of equality. The man who by dint of character
and honest effort had mad* something of himself, and was leading a useful
life, had no patience with his polished countryman who was stiffly afflicted
with notions of caste and ancestry.
As already stated, these German saloons became veritable scl Is in
democracy. They not only did much to make old world class distinctions
seem ridiculous, hut afforded the average foreign horn much information on
the economic and civic life of his adopted country. lie learned to know some
thing about men and measures in the political field, the principles id' govern-
ment, and his rights and prerogatives as an adopted citizen.
The traditional Stammtisch too, reserved for groups of friends who came
together periodically for a social confab, had its value. Its discussions usually
went beyond the domain of politics and the doings of the day. Art, music,
the drama and old world diplomacy were under consideration, literature came
and the discussions engaged in frequently developed into heated arguments.
The latest play at the Stadt Theater, an article in the Gartenlaube, the new-
est Bismarck coup, the last musical society concert, the Know-Nothing move-
ment, the enlargement of a brewery, and so forth, became the burden of con-
versation. High German flavored with dialect characteristics was the
language employed.
Every German, whatever his dialect might be, made a pretense to a knowl-
edge and use of the written and official language as taught in the schools of
his native country, hut he did not always succeed in his use of high German
in hiding the inflections id' his dialect or the jargon of the particular section
of the country he came from. There were those wdio could read these dialect
inflections ami determine with reasonable exactness the birthplace of tin-
speaker.
There was something imposing and festive about the old-time beer wagon
The barrels containing the famous product were stacked in pyramid fashion
on a broad, long, strongly built wagon. Frequently a row of barrels hung from
the sides of the vehicle which was drawn by magnificent Perchcron horses.
The driver, stalwart and broad-shouldered, who was the personification
of the traditional Gambrinus, plus a huge leather apron and minus the heard,
on arrival at a saloon could toss, roll or carry his "vights and quarters" with
the dexterity and ease of a giant athlete. His appearance in a harrooin Was
the signal for an all around treat in which the impecunious thirsty became the
usual beneficiaries.
The saloons and taverns which had become ex< dingly numerous in the
area lying between Oneida and Knapp streets. Broadway and the river, bore
a variety of names. The signs which hung over the entrance door of the
"Lager-Bierhalle" bore in large German lettering, such names as "Bayerischer
Hof," "Schwabenhaus," "Zur stadt Wien," "Preussischer Hof," "Jager-
haus," "Schweitzer Heimath," etc. With the expansion id' the village these
saloons and taverns, which were the American replicas id' the German gasthaus
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 771
and bierhalle, also sprang up on the west side, on Third and Chestnut streets
and on the streets adjacent to them.
While these taverns served as the headquarters for the immigrants upon
their arrival and until they were otherwise provided for, they also served as
boarding houses and usually maintained a bar. The real Bierstube with its
Stammtisch and regular habitues soon developed. It had its guests who
grouped themselves about the tables, sipped their beer slowly, and discussed
the news of the day. These groups, in a somewhat milder degree, smacked of
the class and caste of an old world drinking locality. While language and
race origin drew them together in friendship and comraderie it was noticeable
that the business and professional men grouped themselves about certain
tables and that those of lesser intelligence and means formed other groups.
Occasionally an "intellectual" would resent the familiarity of the plebeian
whose democracy did not harmonize with his old world standards id' class
superiority. The supersensitive, wine drinking aristocrat wanted it under-
stood that the plebian must keep his "dirty beer fingers" off his shoulders.
The enterprising saloonkeeper frequently resorted to ingenious expedients
in attracting patronage. Family events became public events. It was not
uncommon to note an advertisement in the German press announcing that the
saloon-host would celebrate his birthday, or that of his wife, by serving a
delicious free lunch consisting of "Hasenpfeffer, " " Metzelsuppe, " or "Span-
ferkel" to all who on that day honored his "lokal" with their presence. The
"bock-bier" season, too, when the foaming amber fluid consisted of a double-
brew, afforded attractive publicity.
These advertisements were sometimes embellished with the inspirational
toast "Gambrinus Lebe Hoch!" and sometimes with the more practical an-
nouncement to the effect that the host sold "2 Glas Bier fur 5 cts.," adding
that friends, patrons and the general "Publikum" -was cordially invited.
The walls of some of the popular restaurants and beer halls were richly
decorated with vineyard scenes, with happy lads and maidens gathering
luscious grapes into baskets, bearded dwarfs opei'ating huge wine presses, and
a cheery Bacchus astride a cask raising his cup of pearly wine. Then the
walls, too, depicted a gay bevy id' hop pickers, men and women, young and
old, and a corpulent Gambrinus drinking a pokal of the amber fluid.
The drink provei-bs done in bright colors and old German lettering,
decorated both walls and ceilings, and gave zest and humor to the social
atmosphere. The writer records a few of the proverbs as follows:
Ofen Warm, Bier Kalt ; Weib Jung, Wein Alt.
Nie zu Viel, Denk ans Ziel.
Kaum ist in der kleinsten Kammer,
Viir den grossten Eatzenjammer.
Erst Proben, danri Loben.
I.'ausch erzahlt, Kater verhehlt.
77:2 IIISTOKY OF MILWAUKEE
Bier auf Wein, Dass lass Sein; Wein auf Bier, Dass rath ich Dir.
I'ihI ci 11 (inter Magen, Kami auch Beides Vertragen.
Ob Heid, -luil oder Chrigt, Herein was Durstig ist.
Art of Beer Making. — The old world art of beer making was subjected to
modifications in the new world breweries. The American inventive genius
applied itself to the creation of methods, devices, apparatus designed to
facilitate quantity production and to meet the appetites of an American
palate.
It was sometimes held by connoisseurs that the American produd could not
compare in quality and taste with the German product. The American brew-
ers contended that while their product was lighter in substance it was also
more palatable than the foreign product and better suited to their trade. At
the same time they contended that they could readily duplicate any foreign
product if this was deemed desirable.
In this com tion an interesting story is told: A concessional'.' at the
Chicago World's Pair conducted a German village at which the famous Mini-
cheiier dark beer, imported directly from Munich, Bavaria, was to he dis-
pensed. The earlier shipments proved that the beer had soured in transit.
The concessionaire rushed to Milwaukee and asked one of the leading
brewers whether lie could duplicate the famous Munich brew. The answer
was in the affirmative. The beer was produced and sold during the entire
season of the world's fair as an old country product. The most expert beei
connoisseurs did not discover the deception. The cost of production was
somewhat higher hut in quality and flavor it rivaled the old world product.
The civic and social life of Milwaukee lias, in certain of its phases, afforded
an interesting study to strangers who have marveled at the fact that the
"great beer village," with its monster breweries and thousands of drinking
places, was on the whole sober, orderly and thrifty. Visitors during their so-
journ of days and weeks failed to find a single intoxicated person and when
they found one they also discovered that he was not a native hut a stranger
Notwithstanding the city's liberal attitude on the drink question its percent-
age of vice and crime lias been surprisingly low.
Religious Intolerance. — Some of the forty-eighters who settled in -Mil-
waukee came with somewhat perverted conceptions of American liberty.
They failed to realize that the Constitution of the United states guaranteed
liberty of conscience and that all men were free to worship their God in
their own faith and in their own manner. They began to manifest the grossest
intolerance in which the Catholics became the special object of their attack--.
In the early 'oils of the last century they issued so-called "Fluchblaetter"
in which the local priesthood and the nuns were bitterly maligned and abused.
The Notre Dame sisters, who tirst came to Milwaukee in the early '50s, did
not dare \'ov several years to appear mi the streets in their religious garb.
Offensive caricatures were introduced and scandalous stories were invented.
Later this propaganda found expression in the formation of freethinker
societies and in the publication of periodicals espousing tin' cause of tree
though.1 and in unrelenting opposition to religious institutions.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 773
The so-called turner societies which came into life in an early day and
which fostered the art of physical culture in an attractive manner, took
an attitude in favor of the freethinker element. Their efforts to promote
physical perfection, however, met with remarkable support and the turner
societies increased in number and in membership strength. So strong did they
become that for a time they were a dominating force in the political life of
the community.
Their motto "frish, frei, stark, treu" (alert, free, strong, true), possessed
the ring of appeal. They not only fostered a healthy body but also stimulated
the social life of their adherents, and paid high tribute to the art of music.
Their zeal for mental freedom as well as bodily strength, thus rounding out
the complete man and citizen, led them to manifest opposition to the religious
people, until turnerism and atheism became synonymous terms in the minds
of the people.
The splendid purpose of the turner societies to promote the physical man,
therefore, did not receive popular support. If they had centered their efforts,
it has been held, solely upon the idea of training the human body and mind,
into health and happiness they would have made a much larger contribution
to physical wellbeing of their time and of future generations. Thus, the
turner idea, namely the cause of bodily and mental health and vigor, which
was deserving of general acceptance and emulation throughout the land, was
stifled through hostility for those who professed and practiced religious
freedom.
Their attitude towards the religious elements, however, not only prevented
their project from becoming generally popular but also reduced its exponents
to a mere class or minor fraction of the community. With the passing of
time many of the turner halls fell into disuse and the memberships of those
remaining were reduced to a mere remnant.
Thus, the absolute futility of the efforts of the freethinker and turner
element to banish the priests and crush the churches has been fully demon-
strated with the lapse of time. Their propaganda of intolerance died with,
them. Their institutions have been relegated to other uses while the churches,
both Protestant and Catholic, continued to grow in number, in beauty and
in standing.
These Germans had come with an old world prejudice bred in a country
where church and state were one. where religion and polities were inter-
woven to an aggravating degree, one employing or opposing the other, in an
incessant, acrimonious struggle for position, for advantage, for supremacy.
In giving expression to this prejudice they failed to appreciate that the con-
tention carried on in the old world between religionists and non-religionists,
under a political banner, lost its force in the new world where a total separa-
tion of church and state was observed, and where the freedom of conscience
was constitutionally recognized.
They also proceeded upon the mistaken theory that American freedom im-
plied non-affiliation with religious bodies. To become allied with a church
organization meant to become priest-ridden. Therefore, no man could be a
free man unless he espoused atheism or Eree-thinkerism.
771 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
The business of kindling race or creed antagonism has been spasmodic in
this country, and bas never succeeded for long, hike disease germs thai
die under the rays of the sun it usually gave way under the ligbl of justice
and fair play, or degenerated into secrel propaganda. Paradoxically, these
Germans resented race prejudice vigorously, bu1 practiced religious prejudici
with equal intensity. Tims, the propaganda of religious antagonism althougl
carried on openly, courageously and with absolute sincerity, was bound to
come to naught.
The German Theater. — The German Theater has for many years been an
educational influence in the circles that it served. It had its beginning in an
early day and was known as the Stadt Theater, located on Third Street be-
tween Wells and Cellar streets. Its founder and director for many years was
Heinrich Kurt/.. Later the enterprise was transferred to the Pabsl Theater on
Oneida Street, where it was fur many years under the management of the
late Leon Wachsner, subsequently by Ludwig Kreiss, and is still conducted
with fair success.
The dramatic offerings have, in addition to the classic, included the newer
productions as they appeared upon the stage in Germany. Austria, France
and the Skandinavian countries. For many years too, the English speaking
stage of this country regularly presented the better productions of the Euro-
pean stage, but it was claimed that the Stadt Theater was always among the
first to present old world dramatic novelties.
"Closely allied and yet distinct from the musical life of the city." says
the writer of ".Sixty Years of Service," issued by the German Herold "is the
theatrical interest. Everybody knows that one of the institutions which for
generations has given to Milwaukee a distinct character is its German Theater.
There had been German theatrical performances here as far Dack as in the '."ills.
at first by amateurs, later by professional actors. A permanent German stave.
however did not appear until 1868, and it received from the first the same gene-
rous support, going far beyond mere reporting, let alone considerations of the
'counting-room, which was and is given to the musical life of the city. In the
earlier days, the relations between the German actors and the public was a
far more intimate and personal one, than is possible in these days when Mil-
waukee has assumed metropolitan size and ways.
"Nearly every actor had some personal adherents who look active part
in their rivalries, and endeavored to draw the newspapers into these con-
troversies. In the earlier tiles there is sometimes evidence of these feuds, to
which an exaggerated importance was attributed : but it may lie said that the
tiles of the Herold are clearer of such quarrels, whether with the actors them-
selves or with their supporters in rival newspapers, than any of the others.
In later days, when the technical side of newspaper printing and especially
the art of illustration had made its greal modern progress, the Herold did
not remain behind any other paper, whether in the German or English
language, in the space it devoted to the customary reproduction of the por-
traits of theatrical people and other matters referring to dramatic art. True
to the principle of furnishing all the news any English paper furnished, and
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 775
in addition the news of special interest to the German element, the English-
speaking stage also received ample attention.
''The German stage has never been a purely commercial enterprise. It
has always been treated as a great cultural or educational institution. Con-
sequently the press gave to it the same support in promoting its business
affairs that it gave to the musical institutions of the city."
The actors were procured from the leading theaters of Germany and it
was always held that, owing to the better compensation afforded here, the
Stadt Theater was able to secure superior dramatic talent. Annually the
director would journey to Germany for a batch of the latest plays and for
some additions to his stage personnel.
The regular patrons of the theater usually subscribe to certain srats by
the season. This lias applied particularly to the Wednesday night perform-
ances, rather than to the Sunday or Friday performances. The Wednesday
performances have usually been devoted to the more substantial dramatic
productions while the Sunday performances have included light comedies and
operettas. The Friday performances have as a rule dealt with the so-called
"Freie Buehne," involving problem plays and psychological studies and the
like.
Political Activities. — In the political activities of the community the Ger-
mans were slow pupils. They had come to America without previous political
training. They had been reared under a monarchial form of government
where political contests were few and far between, and where militarism and
industrialism rather than political issues and party success were mailers of
individual and national concern. While they were sitting over their glasses
of beer and singing "Heil dir im Siegeskranz," or over a bottle of wine sing-
ing "Gaudeamus Igitur," the Trish were imbibing a stronger drink and dis-
cussing the affairs of state and the political situation of the day. Men like
Carl Sehurz, who secured his political training in the Revolution of 1848, were
the exception rather than the rule.
The native element in control of local public affairs, in I lie interest of
party expediency, gradually made a bid for the immigrant vote. By degrees
the Germans became familiar with public men and measures, learned how to
cast their ballots, and eventually were induced to aspire to public office. As
a rule, they were more concerned in social and musical organizations and less
in political affairs than their fellow citizens of other racial origin.
In 1842, Dr. Franz Iliibschmann the first German to manifest an interest
in the political affairs of his adopted country, took a census of ins fellow
countrymen in the village with the view of ascertaining how many of them
desired to participate in the elections. He found only seven eligible to the
franchise. A year later the number was increased to thirteen. In the same
year the Irish vote exceeded the number of four hundred.
On the other hand the Irish element manifested a remarkable adaptability
for political activity. They were temperamentally far better equipped for
the American political arena. While tin' Irish possessed an advantage over
the German in that they came with a knowledge id' the language of the coun-
try which the other was still to master, they also came with a history and
776 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
tradition behind them designed to stimulate an interest in governmental
affairs.
Temperamentally, too, they were far better fitted for the strife and con-
tention of the political arena. They were imaginative, impulsive and com-
bative, while the German Mas idealistic, reflective and pacific. Thus, the
Irishman would succeed in a political contesl where the German Failed. The
former was a good sport and took a ehanee, the latter was half- hearted and
took second place. Tims, it was not unusual to find a lone Irishman in a
German ward elected an alderman of that ward, or to Find on Irish-American
preside as mayor of the ciFy when the German-American vote was strongest
in comparison with that cast by citizens of other racial origin.
The Polish element, too, although arriving at a later dale, manifested a
surprising adaptability for political activities. While they segregated them-
selves into colonies on the south, east and north sides of the city, thej did
not isolate themselves From the civic and material activities of the community.
They shared in the economic fruits of the community and participated in its
political life.
In a comparatively short time they were represented in the city and
county government by their own countrymen. They also sent their repre-
sentatives to the halls of state legislation. Today a young Polish-American
represents the Fourth Congressional District with acceptable ability in the
National Congress, and an American who First saw the light of day in Poland
graces one of the local judgeships with eredit to his race1 and to the com-
munity.
In the formulation of political campaign lists, and the naming of candi-
dates For city ami county offices some regard is still given to racial origin. A
list of candidates designed to appeal to the popular vote always includes, in
addition to the Anglo-American names, an equal proportion of Irish. German
anil Polish names. And yet it would probably he difficult to judge, in manner
and speech, the racial origin of the different candidates.
The Transition Period. — The process of assimilation proi ded in a natural
and orderly manner. The transition period arrived. With the decline of the
German immigration and with the passing year after year of the German
born, the advent of a new generation schooled in the language of the country
and in the customs and habits of the native born, the change came.
.Milwaukee had passed the zenith point oF Germandom. Its luster as the
German Athens of America waned. The younger generation manifested tastes
and desires that differed from these of their elders. They looked for English
newspapers and sermons, and lor dramas that dealt with phases of life with
which they were Familiar. They preferred the negro minstrel show, the Irish
comedian, and the American melodrama to the comedies and problem plays
at the Stadt Theater. They began to play baseball, patronize boxing and
wrestling matches, and admire a rough and tumble football contest.
There came also the era of beautiful public parks, with their shady walks.
green lawns, artificial lakes, beautiful flowers, wild animals, soda fountains
and ice creams. The attraction these formed tended to minimize the patron-
age enjoyed by the beer gardens. <>ne by one their number was reduced.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 777
old and young deserted them and wended their way to the public parks
whose popularity in time rendered the former practically obsolete.
The old time German who insisted that his children must speak German
at home soon discovered that an inexorable law of assimilation was at work.
His children spoke English because every other child spoke it and because
it was easier to speak it. The process of Americanization, unstimulated and
unaided, had taken its natural, orderly, and logical course.
The number of German horn had reached its maximum soon after the
Franco-Prussian Avar in 1872. The tide of immigration swept thousands of
foreign born into Milwaukee and Germandom, no doubt, reached its zenith
during the years that immediately followed. Milwaukee was then frequently
named the "German Athens of America."
The German newspapers nourished in an exceptional degree. In 1880
there were being published three English daily newspapers and five German
dailies and it was generally considered that the latter were more profitable
than the former. Besides the publication of German books and pamphlets
was more promiscuously engaged in than publications in the English language.
The process of assimilation, however, which was constant and steady, is
well illustrated in the gradual decline of the German press and the ascend-
ancy of the English language press. The writer happened to be employed in
those days on an English daily whose offices adjoined those of the leading
German daily and was enabled to observe at close range the shifting of the
reading public from one to the other. Whenever a black-bordered obituary
notice of an old German settler appeared in the German newspaper it fre-
quently also meant the loss of a subscriber. The younger members of the
family would subscribe for a daily printed in the English language.
Thus, at the end of forty years the German press of Milwaukee has been
reduced to one afternoon daily newspaper. The English press on the other
hand has grown to five dailies, one morning and four evening papers, whose
circulation in the aggregate is exceedingly large. The strongest support which
the German language receives today is confined to the Lutheran and Catholic
churches where sermons are still being preached in the German language.
The old time celebration of Independence Day, with its excessive hurrah
and noise, its reckless use of firearms and fireworks, and consequent dangers
to young and old, has given way to the observance of a "Sane Fourth." The
numerous parks of the city become the festive centers where the children
engage in pageants, plays and exercises in commemoration of the great na-
tional holiday. The reading of the Declaration of Independence, brass band
music discoursing national airs, and the singing of the national hymn, char-
acterize the exercises of the day. The children are carefully chaperoned and
amply provided with sweets and refreshments.
The day not only affords a maximum of wholesome pleasure for the youth-
ful participants, but also conveys a magnificent lesson in government and
patriotism, stimulating love and loyalty for home ami country, and exalting
the spirit of true American citizenship.
The transition, too, brought with it a tolerant spirit in matters of religion.
The German agitators of a half century ago, who sought to inaugurate a
THE OLD TIME FAMOUS WHITEFISB HAY RESORT WHERE
DINNERS AND <>U> WINES WERE SERVED
PISE
AN OLD WORLD "BIERSTUBE" As EXEMPLIFIED IN THE ANTE
BELLUM GERMAN DAYS OF ALT-MILWAUKEE
The old " Ktinstlerheim " on West Water Street, Later destroyed by Sre, the
" Forstkeller " cm Cliestnut Street, the "Bratwurst Glocklein," formerly attached
to the Republican House, and the Pabst Theater "Kneipe," affected the German
restauranl interior. The illustration shown above is copied from a painting by
the late I'. W. Heine, a Milwaukee :> rl i>t who took "Die Gossel-Schencke " al
Vienna for bis model. The figures t<> the right represent his wife, two daughters
and grandson as guests.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 779
movement which would drive Christianity from the American continent had
passed to their graves. Their voices had become silent, their organizations
crumbled away, and their writings passed into the ash heap of time. What
remains of the breeding- and spreading of intolerance is confined to clandestine
methods and secret machination which do not receive the support or approval
of a dominant social order.
The newer generations have fostered mutual respect between believers and
non-believers, between Jew and Gentile, between Protestant and Catholic.
Each is allowed to travel his way, worship his creator in his own fashion, or
decline to profess any religion if he so ordains. Religious faith has come
to be recognized as coming within the realm of conscience, which is as sacred
as are the most intimate family relations, and therefore, a matter of indi-
vidual concern rather than of public controversy.
The Pride of Race Origin. — There are those among the Americans of Ger-
man descent who have measured their own participation in the economic and
political life of the nation and have drawn certain conclusions therefrom.
They have found that while those of their own race origin have made re-
markable st rides in the industrial and commercial activities, they have not
concerned themselves in the higher political counsels of the nation in the
degree that those of English, Irish, Scotch, Dutch and Scandinavian descent
have shared in them.
This fact, it is asserted, lms led to the minimizing in history of the contri-
bution made by the infusion of German strains of blood to the development
of the natural resources, the arts and sciences and the material and social
progress of the republic.
These conclusions have led to the inauguration of a movement primarily
designed to be thoroughly American in tone and spirit and at the same time to
dignify German race origin and to lend the same prestige accorded to other
strains of blood. In line with this thought the so-called Steuben Society of
America was founded in July, 1920. At its second annual convention, held in
Milwaukee, July 4, 11121, the plans and purposes, as reported in the Mil-
waukee Journal of February 19, 1922, were expressed by one of its promoters
in the following language:
"Only American citizens can become members and only citizens of Ger-
man descent on father's or mother's side, whether born here or over there.
German-Americans who, during the war or at any other times, have denied
their descent or shown that they are ashamed of their German descent, are
excluded from membership, which is preceded by the strictest examination.
All new members take their oath on the Constitution of America and on the
honor and respect of their descent.
"The society is and means to be a fighting organization, hut only in so
far as fighting for his rights can help the American of German descent to get
them. Intelligence is its weapon."
The society declared its major purposes in a manifesto issued shortly after
its foundation. In this manifesto it declares for:
"One Country — A country so fair, tolerant and just that all who live in
it may love it.
780 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
"One Flag An American flag for American purposes only.
"One Language The language of truth spoken in any tongue in which
chooses i" speak it."
While the German clement had its radical leaders who sought the per-
petuation of language, customs and habits, there were also those who took
a most rational view of the part which the Germans played in the economic,
civic and social life of their adopted country. They proceeded upon the
thoughl that the German born broughl much to the new World worthy of
emulation and of perpetuation. Bu1 they also saw the meritorious in the
traditions, the ideals and the customs of the native American. They held
that true Americanism meant to retain all the virtues of a native land ami
lo recognize all tin' good found in a new world. l'>ut, they also reasoned that
it meant the rejection of everything that was hail, he it of foreign or native
making.
Thus, the advanced type of German-American readily accepted the better
things found in American life and only retained the things in German life
which he deemed worth retaining, lie reasoned that no nation lias a monopoly
of all the virtues, or is free from all the vices. The true mission, therefore,
id' the American is to accept the best in all the races that are merged into
our body politic and our social life, and to combat the vicious and objection-
able, he it id' native or foreign origin.
If one were to fancy to himself the composite citizen of Milwaukee today
it would he found that the American born predominated to a large degree.
This means that the American horn, of either Irish. German or Scandinavian
ancestry, have passed into the second and third, and even the fourth genera-
tion. 11 would also he found that other nationalities arriving at a later
period, particularily the l'oles, present a constituency of first and second gen-
eration American horn. Thus, it is reasonable to hold that the composite pres-
sents only a minor fraction of foreign horn.
That Alt-Milwaukee period during which the city saw its Yankee, Ger
man and li-ish inhabitants sequestered in colonies whose racial qualities were
definite and pronounced, is a thing of the past. Yankee Hill has been invaded
by various nationalities, is no longer inhabited exclusively by the Anglo-
American element, and is no longer known by that name. Tin' area lying to
south of Wisconsin Street and hounded by the river and tin- lake was
Cor many years known as the Third Ward. The Irish who first landed here
settled in this area. Gradually as the older generation died out and the
younger generation soughl homes in other sections of the city the racial com-
plexi f this area declined. Then came the great Third Ward tire which
destroyed over three hundred homes, and which prompted the remaining
Irish families to seek homes elsewhere. Today this section has been largely
invaded by commerc al and manufacturing interests and the greatly minimized
residence section constituted the Italian colony of the city.
The original German sections of the city, covering a radius ,.f one-ha'f
mile to the north of the city hall, has undergone physical and racial changi
Tin- old time < •; cottages, one- ami two-storied, with their vegetable and
flower gai'dens, their w Isheds, chicken coops and smokehouses, have given
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 781
way to business blocks, shops and factories. The population is crowded into
tenement and boarding houses and in apartments provided mi upper floors
of stores and shops. In racial origin the population presents a considerable
variety. One hears Creek, Yiddish, Croatian and Slavonian as frequently as
English, and German no oftener than either of the other languages.
Passing of Landmarks. — In discussing passing landmarks which recall the
"good old days" and their forms of amusement and recreation the Sunday
Milwaukee Telegram of April 16, 1922, said the following:
"This is not a tale concerning prohibition; there is enough heard, as it is,
upon that subject among the current activities of 'good old Milwaukee.' It
is merely a retrospective picture of years that have goni — of how Milwau-
kee played during the brief intervals that occurred for leisure while the
mighty city of today was being fabricated from the elements which existed
in these parts seventy odd years ago.
"Through the haze of years that have gone, the simple pastimes of the
pioneers and of their children and children's children are filled with illusions
that today arc visualized with the keenest of relish and longing.
"In those old days the head of a family took his wife and children to a
park or garden on pleasant summer Sunday afternoons, took possession of a
large table near the stage, if opera was on the bill, or further back if a
symphony orchestra or band furnished music to beguile the leisure moments;
and there the party remained in quiet enjoyment of the open air. the music
and the refreshment — for an outlay of 30 or 40 cents.
"It has been years since the 'garden life' of Milwaukee was at its height—
when 'the nights were filled with music' and the steins foamed o'er with
rich, cool, and stimulating beer. In fact the gardens entered a period of
decadence with the opening of this century and the accompanying manifesta-
tions of established wealth and prosperity. The old gardens began to be
'too cheap.'
"The younger generation came to believe that an evening passed in
sipping a single liter of beer was a waste of tinu — it wanted something
more speedy, with a little more jazz in it. The burden of two generations
of earnings became too heavy to bear through an evening of 'Era Diavalo'
or the 'Bohemian Cirl' or the 'Mikado' a summer garden dotted with twin-
kling little lantern lights, swept by the warm summer evening breezes; so the
virile youth of that clay called into being something a little more rapid, a
little more 'peppy,' a little more expensive.
"Those Days of Yore. — But still then' are a good round 100,000 inhab-
itants among the nearly half a million in Greater Milwaukee, who not only
remember the playtimes of other days with tremendous fervor and vivid-
ness, but who regaled themselves in the fashion of their day from youth
till custom put a pall on many pastimes, or people so tired of them that they
were abandoned.
"The development of the gardens in Milwaukee was a very natural thing.
The biergaertens of Germany, whence such a large proportion of Milwau-
kee's builders came in the 50's and later, and the spirit, of 'freiheit' that
782 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
seemed espec allj to flourish in pleasure places of this character, were modeled
after in i lie very early days.
"A pioneer of those days, in speaking of this development, the other day,
explained the fundamentals in this wise: 'The people who buill Milwau-
kee were a hard-working, tireless lot, thrifty ami economical. They be-
lieved that one of the mosl ec mica! ways of obtaining healthful recrea-
tion was id be in the open air with a glass or stein of beer and a little music.
This. ihe\ had learned in their childhood days was quite inexpensive and
wonderfully sat isfj ing.
" 'The Foaming Steins. — It was a temperate outing and it drew people
together, where they could talk over and develop plans for the growing city.
" 'This idea of recreation was in fad a recreation for workers. The peo-
ple who wroughl this swampy town into a great city had to work and did.
" 'I have never known a man personally who was both a hard worker
and an opponent of the use of beer. The anti's, in general, are people who
have not done constructive work either by the sweat of their brow or by
their hands. Anti-beer agitation is a lazy man's and a lazy woman's avoca-
t ion.
"'In those early days the family life of Milwaukeeans was much more
admirable than today. The families lived in their homes and they wenl
oul in a body to their recreations. Maybe it was old fashioned, but when I
think hack to those days I wish we could live them over again. But with
the hisi generation speed overtook the simple pleasures of the pioneer flays.1
"It was at the Old Settlers' ('lull, where a newspaper writer went to
find pictures of olden time gardens and gathering plaees, that it was re-
vealed that among the ancient prints upon the walls of the venerable organ-
ization's quarters no pictures told of that phase of the early days of Mil-
waukee. It was decided, however, that the club should 'get busy' on the
subject, and now a little drive among the older members has been started
to gather as many pictures as possihle of those old pleasure grounds.
"Milwaukee Garden probably was the first of the beer gardens of im-
portance in Milwaukee. It was established in 1850, a year or two after the
influx of German refugees. The garden was west of Tenth Street, between
Slate and Prairie streets, and fo!' half a century was a Leading factor in the
gala events of Milwaukee.
"The garden was the greater pari of a city block, with an old style gate
entrance. I'.ut inside there were gravelled walks and benches and summer
houses, and a stage for speaking and tables and chairs for the throngs which
attended during summers to hear music or programs of one kind or another
or lo join in patriot ic celebral ions.
"Pius Dreher established Milwaukee Garden and when his sons grew
up they helped operate it for man.\ years. It was at this place that the great
turnerfests were held, and for several years thousands of turners from Cincin-
nati, New York, and Chicago came here io compete on the drill ground of
the park. Later, when the labor union movement began to grow, the labor
gatherings usually were held in these gardens. It would accommodate 112.-
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 783
000 or 15,000 people, and on days of special importance there were music,
dancing and lots of beer; what times were had there!
"More than a quarter' of a century ago the garden was abandoned as
such and the property sold for building purposes.
" 'In those days,' said Max Dreher, recalling his days of service at the
garden, 'people in .Milwaukee used to follow bands around like lost dogs fol-
low likely strangers. When there were parades and the bands in the pro-
cession would come into the park and take a stand at the space inside the
gate to play till the marchers got in, the crowds would mill around the mu-
sicians and never get into the park proper at all.
" 'I remember the greatest labor parade we ever had. There were 10,(100
in the parade. I worked out an idea to get them to come in and hold a picnic.
1 told the musicians that there would be four barrels of beer in a far corner
of the park, and that if they would march right through they could have
it — providing they would play a few tunes. The bandboys certainly marched
right straight through — perhaps they would now if the proposition was
renewed. It was a hot June day and for three hours they kept playing. For
the first time in history the entire parade and all the spectators got on the
lot. After that we had no trouble about getting the crowd in.'
"While the Milwaukee Garden was a public meeting place, it did not
cater as a 'family resort' through the summer, and as such a garden was
a popular desire, the Schlitz Garden was established, and there the first open
air light opera was given in Milwaukee.
"Music Drew Throngs. — The Schlitz Garden was a popular resort for many
years, finally taking the place of the Milwaukee Garden as a public gath-
ering place. From the stage in the garden theater many presidents of the
United States or their principal campaigning representatives spoke. It was
the scene of mass meetings and various gatherings of a general nature.
"But the delightful memories of the old park are more concerned with
the opera days, when thousands gathered about the little white tables in the
wooded park to listen to 'Bohemian Girl,' 'Fra Diavalo' and other operas
of those days. Art'sts and audience mingled after the performances and a
gay scene was always to be found from the close of the opera until midnight.
For society gathered at the park for these performances and families of the
burghers occupied groups of tables and busy waiters rushed hither and thither
during ensemble numbers, but there always was a respectful and appreciative
hush when solo numbers began.
"Schlitz park also fell into disuse with the development of enclosed gar-
dens, which could be operated summer and winter. Its site now is a public
park. Hut the crowds that peopled it thirty years ago, when Milwaukee was
half its present size, are no more.
"One of the dearest memories of those who were active here at the tin
de siecle was that id' Whitetish Bay resort. This resort became a nationally
known playground. Situated on the high bluff's overlooking the lake about
six miles north of Milwaukee and at the end of the old 'toll road,' where,
in the bicycle days, a nickel was charged at each gate for toll, the resort,
during the summer evenings and Sundays id' the '90s and later, attracted
INTKlMoK (IF THE PALM GARDEN, THIRD STItKET XKAR GRAND
AVENUE, NATIONALLY FAMOUS IX ITs DAY As A CONCERT
HALL. CLOSED IX 192]
l ill: BAR AT THE SCHLITZ PALM GARDEN -CLOSED IX L921
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 785
thousands upon thousands, especially after street car connection was com-
pleted.
"Fine music was the principal attraction at Whitefish Bay, although in
its earlier days the cuisine established was especially appreciated. White-
fish, taken from the bay after which the resort was named, were prominent
on the menu ; heavy planked steaks and other substantial specialties made
the place popular with healthy young gourmands. There was service inside
the pavilion and outside on the terraces which had been cut into the sheer
walls of the bluff.
"The 'Dear, Dead Days.' — Many a summer romance which ended in estab-
lishment of families now prominent in Milwaukee, developed in the beautiful
summer evenings of long ago at Whitefish Bay. Today, the property is built
up with dwellings and very little remains to remind one of the 'dear dead
days' of the Swoboda regime.
"These were the principal garden resorts in the half century that ended
in 1900. But there were many smaller out door gathering places, at which
'beer' was the symbol of enjoyment, and spicy food abundant.
"Bief eld's gardens, situated where Astor Street and Ogden Avenue now
join, was an early day popular garden. Ludermann's-on-the-River and Luder-
mann's-on-the-Lake were resorts that the 'old timers' recall with a watering
of the mouth during 'bock beer' time. The Schuetzenpark and National
park on the South Side were for many years popular playgrounds.
"Later, the parks began to develop along the upper river shores. Pleas-
ant Valley, the Blatz resort, became one of the most popular places in Milwau-
kee in summer-time for Sunday and evening outings. Out on the West Side,
the Miller gardens at the west end of Wells Street also was a resort of pop-
ularity.
"But the city outgrew the older and simpler outdoor resorts with the
development of resorts in the Waukesha County lake region. Then the 'in-
side gardens' had their day. The first of these elaborately ornamented in-
terior 'gardens' probably was the Kuenstlerheim, an artist's home, established
by Robert Bernhardt, afterwards a celebrated connoisseur of art works and a
dealer of international note. The Kuenstlerheim was decorated about the
walls and ceiling with drawings of weird subjects, and the scheme was car-
ried out in heavy paneled effects. When the panoramas of the Civil war
were projected, much of that work was done in Milwaukee and several young
German artists were brought from Munich to do the work. Traces of their
painting still exist in many buildings where they were housed or where they
congregated for beer and suppers.
"But at the Kuenstlerheim, Mr. Reinhardt planned a scheme of decorations
that was afterwards executed by the youths and it remained a feature of
1l hi place until its destruction by fire many years later.
"The Empire garden, the East Side Calm garden, the Schlitz Palm gar-
den, the Gargoyle were among the forerunners of the cabaret of today —
they were large restaurants and gardens at which excellent musical programs
were given, and beer served — at a price which today may hardly be believed.
"The development of tin- bar-room-restaurants was an early day affair,
786 HISTORY OF MILWAUKEE
bu1 the} were popular despite thai the then leading hotels, the Kit-by House
and Newhall House, served large and sumptuous dinners for half a dollar,
ami the old Leigh House, on Broadway, had as its piece de resistance a mid
day meal for 25 cents- 20 cents it' a ticket were purchased for eighteen meals.
"No. 1 Grand Avenue was Henry Wehr's restaurant and bar. It was the
most advanced of any institution of its kind in the '70s and '80s. The eof
fee served there was talked of all over these United States, for when actors
and distinguished people came to .Milwaukee their visit was never complete
until they had 'taken coffee' and colfee-cake at "Wehr's. The old Wehr
landmark is at present the eastern extremity of Gimbel Bros.' store.
"Landmarks Removed. — Over on the East Side there were Weber & Mc-
Laughlin's restaurant, the Wayside inn. .Jacob Best's wine stube, Herman
Toser's wine stube and the old 'hangout' of newspaper row, the 'Quiet House.'
In those places the business and professional men of Milwaukee foregathered
for years. Any politician could always be found at Henry Weber's. Any
journalist at the 'Quiet House.' Business men were at Toser's or liest's.
In the latter the finesl of imported European wines were available at prices
involving: nickles and dimes. The Marble hall was a later development.
The hall has now been changed into a rapid-fire quick lunch. Of the recrea-
tion places of former days there is now left hardly a trace.
"When the last of the hack-drivers took to 'laying up' the hack for the
winter months, the final link that connected the 'good old days' with the
present, was shattered. East Water Street is now a hurrying mass of busy
people of an afternoon, going — where" Certainly not to Weber's or to Toser's
or to the 'Quiet House.' "
A Typical American City. — The World war became a sore trial to the
Americans of German birth. To find the country of their adoption in mortal
combat with the country of their birth, caused in many of them a conflict
between loyalty for the one and love for the other. While he no longer be-
lieved in a monarchial form of government, and had always been opposed to
the militarism and caste system of the Fatherland, there was something about
the land of his birth that touched his sympathies.
lie found it hard at first to reconcile his allegiance to his adopted coun-
try with his reverence for the mother country. But he had to chose between
Germania and Columbia, lie owed his birth to the one. but his existence, his
wellbeing. his fortune to the other; he owed something to tl ne, but a thou-
sand times more to the other. His future and that of his family was wrapped
up in the fortunes of this country. After all, it was not difficult to choose
I'd ween Kaiscrism and a self-governing republic, between a class-ridden and
tradition-bound old world and a land of political freedom and of equal op-
portunity. In the maze of conflicting emotions the German born eventually
found himself. He remained true to his adopted country.
While the war was in progress the editor of the only German daily re-
quested the author of Ibis chapter to write an article which should relied the
attitude of the German-American element, as seen from the standpoint of a
native bom American.
The article was prepared, translated into German ami published and gen-
TRANSITION, ALT-MILiWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 787
erally accepted as picturing quite faithfully the duties and responsibilities
of the foreign born, as well as the attitude to which he had adjusted himself
or which he had voluntarily accepted. The article read as follows:
"Unity of Thought and Action. — The duty of the hour demands loyalty to
Flag and Country. It has been our good fortune, as Americans, to have lived
for many years in peace with the world and with ourselves. Today we are
in a state of war — war with Germany. And while we have practiced good
citizenship in time of peace, it is doubly incumbent upon us to assert our
faith, our courage, and our loyalty to our country in time of war.
"No man loves war. All men should hate war. But, some of the na-
tion's highest ideals and greatest purposes have been realized through the
medium of war. It was through Avar that the nation primarily secured its
independence, that slavery was abolished, that the Union was saved, and that
Cuba was set free. In the language of the late Senator John L. Mitchell,
'There are some things worse than war, some things better than money.'
• • We have enjoyed the great fortune to live in a democracy, where a gov-
ernment of the people, by the people and for the people prevails. We have
held firmly to the doctrine that there shall be no government without the
consent of the governed. When a government so constituted has spoken
through its accredited representatives its voice becomes the law of the land ;
when it calls its citizenship into action, that citizenship must respond un-
hesitatingly, enthusiastically and courageously.
'■This is not a war against the German people, against German culture,
German customs or German ideals. It is a war — paradoxically speaking—
against war itself, against a system that makes war possible. It is a sacrifice
and a prayer for the dawn of that day when no man can be compelled by
government, monarchial or otherwise, to kill his fellow man! it is a struggle
for permanent world peace. What cause could be more laudable, what motive
more lofty, what purpose more exalting!
"The foreign born who finds the country of his adoption at war with
the land of his birth, may find it hard to adjust himself. He may be torn
with conflicting emotions. But let us remind him that he owes his whole and
highest allegiance to the country under whose protection he lives. Uncle
Sam loves his adopted children as he does his own, but he must remind them
that in the stern hour of duty there can be no divided allegiance. The ties of
blood and kinship, however strong, must be submerged when country is ar-
rayed against country. Individual consideration must give way to collective
purpose — to the cause of a whole nation.
"The German immigrant wended his way to the United States to escape
economic hardships, compulsory military service, and the evils of elass dis-
tinction. He came to the new world to establish a home, to exercise the right
of citizenship, to provide his children with an education, to afford them op-
portunities which were denied him in his native land. Never, at any time,
would he seriously have considered a return to the old world, or subjected
his family to old world conditions.
"But, the acceptance of new world blessings imply new world duties and
responsibilities. Men must leave old preconceptions and predilections behind
788 BISTORT OF MILWAUKEE
them, and accept the true, the tangible, the imperative. They must be
loyal 1" the land of their adoption. The tenets of true manhood demand this,
honor and integrity exact it.
"When public duty cdmes into eonflid with private sentiment the latter
musl unequivocally give way to the former. The larger thoughl and purpose
must prevail. The cause of state and nation overshadows all individual
considerations. Their integrity and safety become paramount. Citizen must
arraj himself with citizen into one strong, compact, invincible unit — to live,
fight, and die for the cause.
"Therefore, all men who live under the American flag, who enjoy its pro-
tection and its blessings, must come together in unity of thought, purpose and
action. Such a course only, can render us, in this hour of trial, worthy of
the proud title of Americanship and worthy manhood."
.Much that remained to testify to the one time popularity of all that was
German, and the influence of the German element as such, was swept away
as the result of the changed sentiment brought about by the World war.
The feeling against everything German in name, sentiment or purpose
became most hitter. The teaching of German, for instance in the public
schools was speedily dropped, and German speech in public places became
unpopular. Commercial and social enterprises had to yield to the prevailing
sentiment. For instance, the Deutscher Club changed its name to Wisconsin
Club, the German-American Bank changed to the American Exchange Bank,
the Germania Building adopted the name Brumder Building and removed the
statue of Germania from the structure. The German Theatre had to close its
doors, and even after the armistice the feeling had not subsided sufficiently to
permit immediate reopening. Some months elapsed before a German play
could be produced without incurring opposition.
The reputation which Milwaukee had gained throughout the United
stales as a German city became extremely embarrassing during the war.
Newspapers everywhere charged its people with disloyalty. Locally rumors
were current that prominent citizens of German descent were engaging in
seditious operations. Overzealous persons resorted to unsupported charges
causing unnecessary ill-feeling and unwarranted alarm. Men who were loyal
to the core and whose only crime was a German name, were subjected to
suspicion ami derision.
lint the misconception regarding Milwaukee's status in the war againsl
Germany, spread to many sections of the United States and suggested here
and there boycotts against the trade and i iineive of the city. The local
commercial body saw itself compelled to righl false impressions and carry
the facts to the world.
These facts were to the effect that .Milwaukee had demonstrated its un-
questioned loyalty to the country's cause and had contributed its full share
of iiian. money, and machine power towards the prosecution of the war. The
records proved thai in all tie- Liberty Bond, ]lvA Cross, and other war aid
drives, it had gone brilliantly over the top. In brief, .Milwaukee demonstrated
her absolute loyalty to the nation's cause and her claim to the title of being
a t.\ pieal American city.
TRANSITION, ALT-MILWAUKEE TO AMERICAN CITY 789
The former racial character of Milwaukee has not only been modified
in that the process of assimilation has subdued an outstanding predominance
of any one race, but also in the accession of other races. The Polish-American
people, for instance, have become quite strong in population numbers, main-
taining two daily newspapers printed in the Polish language, whereas there
is but one daily printed in the German language. The Irish, English, Scotch,
Norwegian, Swede, Danish, Bohemian, Austrian, Russian, Greek, Italian,
Slavonian, Slovak and Croatian races are well represented.
While the transformation is not complete, namely that all foreign born
have not mastered the English, or have been thoroughly taught in the tenets
of their adopted country, the percentage of the uninitiated and untaught is
believed to be nominal only. Be it said here that the hyphen is discredited,
and while no foreign born is ashamed of his racial origin, every citizen wants
it understood that he is American to the core.
The foreign born, who have contributed so much to the material, civic
and social development and growth of the city, are gradually passing from
the scene and giving way to the newer generations of American born. They
have left their impress, ga*ve their labors, their virtues, their ideals, as a heri-
tage to those who shall succeed them. Let us not disparage their advent,
but accord them the tribute which is due them.
An old chronicle recites the story of an ancient city sunken beneath
the waters of the sea. It is told that on Sabbath mornings, when the sky
is clear, the nearby villagers gather at the water's edge and look reverently
down upon the submerged turrets and towers and listen for signs of life.
Then there rises from the deep, distant sounds of the ringing of church bells.
They tell of an ancient people that loved and lived and responded to the
voice of the Almighty.
The day will come when the immigrant races are no more, when they
will be submerged in a homogeneous people — an American people. The im-
migrant races will be like the people of the sunken city. Faintly a song. a
custom or a name will serve as a reminder that immigrant races once lived
upon the soil we now occupy, and that they helped to build an American city.
An American city! What a splendid distinction is conferred by that title!
What magnificent forces — marshalled and arrayed — are implied in I hat name!
The claim that the country is an asset and the city a liability no longer
holds; one cannot be an asset without the other. Agriculture must rely upon
the city for its operating equipment and the distribution of its products. The
farm cannot become efficient without the aid of the factory. Rural lite i*
impossible without the blessings of civilization fostered and radiated by the
city. While the farm is a primary producer, the city is the secondary pro-
ducer and distributor. It can no lunger be said that the country is the pro-
ducer and the city the consumer. Both are producers and consumers and
absolutely essential to each other.
What a remarkable institution the American city has been in advancing
the progress of a nation, in building the greatest and most beneficent re-
public on earth and in enabling it to lead in the march of world civilization
and in the cause of humanity. Milwaukee justly deserves the distinction of
being classed as a progressive American city. — W. G. B.
INDEX
Abbot, Edwin H
Accessory buildings . . . 4
Accident to the Christopher Columbus
Account of "Augusta's" captain
Activities in Civil war, Walker's
Adams, President, on spelling of Mil-
waukee
Additional details (Roosevelt Shooting)
Administration and management of
trade trips
Administration building
Administration of Exposition
Advantages possessed by Milwaukee..
' ' Adv. ' ' in Sentinel, 1847 . '
Advertising and prizes
Afloat on the Mississippi
Aid extended (great fire)
Aid in the selection erf vocations
"Albany Hall Movement," The
Aleott, Ann M
Ale, beer, etc
Allouez, Father Claude
Alpena, The
Alpeter, Oscar
Alphabetical list of "Firsts"
Alt-Milwaukee and transition
Attitude of visiting merchants
Amendments and changes in districts..
American Exchange Bank
American house
' ' A Mistake in Bronze "
Amount expended for dredging and
docking
Amount expended on bridges by years. .
Analysis and comments cm ordinance..
An American City!
Anniversary, An important
An appeal for organized labor
An episode of the Civil war
An illuminating example
Animals and birds as mascots
Animal-shaped mounds
Annual merchants' trips, The
Anthony, Susan B
Appeal to ordinance of 1787
Area districts
Areas of various parks 45!l
Arteries of traffic 533
321 Arnold, Hon. J. E 275
551 Arnold, Jonathan E 106
14(5 Articles exported, amounts (1839) 275
132 Articles exported for year 1856 259
105 Articles imported in 1856 259
Articles made here in 1856 225
68 Artificial flowers 234
622 Art of beer making 773
Art progress in Milwaukee 685
397 Art Students League, The 688
427 Assistance received from foreign press 568
405 Aspect of Lake Michigan 46
517 Aspect of Milwaukee from the lake. ... 51
352 Associated Charities 747
406 Association of Commerce 383
23 Association of Commerce Officers HI
148 Association purpose and mission 412
653 Attempted assassination of Roosevelt.. 607
445 Attorneys of 1840 period 121
125 Auditorium, The 421
223 Auditorium Company, The 429
34 Auditorium Governing Board 431
142 Auto accessories 239 21::
290
189 B
755
395 Back yard beginnings 221
553 Bading, G. A 291
358 Baird, Elizabeth Therese 71
213 Baird, Henry S 72
166 Banking and finance 339
Bank officers and directors 362-366
305 Banks, consolidated statement of 361
303 Banks, when formed, where located.... 351
39 Bannister, H. M 141
15 Barber, Capt. George 272
403 Barry, Captain 578
614 Barton, Dr. Wm. E 157
591 Basket weaving 229
741 Bay View Commercial and Savings
594 Bank 363
123 Bay windows and oriels 551
393 Beaubien, John B 57, 107
566 Beaubien, Medore 107
41 B, C and I) districts, The 509
507 Beecher, Catherine 125
791
792
INDEX
Beer, Ale, etc 223
Before the Civil war 379
Beginning of city schools 63.2
Beginning of planning movement 485
Beginning of the journey t 23
Beginnings, dates and events 189
Beginnings of grain business 122
Benefits of zoning in New York 501
Berger, Captain 164
Bertchy 's Mill 181
Beyer, Prof. W. G 158
Bier Wirthschaft, The 7(59
Billion dollar mark exceeded -42
Bills of wildcat banks 341
Birchard, Harvey'. 121
Bird houses 234
Birth of Juneau 83
Birthplace and good citizenship 614
• ' Bivouac of the Dead, "The 577
Black Hawk war of 1832, The 572
Blake, Lillie Devereaux 567
Blanket for a door 116
Bleyer, Henry W 154, 157
Board of directors, Auditorium company 429
Board of harbor commissioners 300
Board of organization and control 150
Boat motors 243
Boats, lost or damaged, by years. .. .281-287
Boats of the fur traders 71
Bogk committee, The 290
Bogk, Frederick C 287
Boilers, steam engines, machinery 223
Bolens, Harry W 109, 164
Booth, Sherman M 584
Bounties for volunteers 466
Brave and daring few, The 577
Breaking the old home ties 117
Brewing of beer and ale 229
Brick making 223
Bridges, Expense of, by years 303
Brief description of terminal facilities. 332
Brock way fair grounds 154
Brown, Mrs. Olympia 566
Brown, William 106
Browne, Lyman H 169
Bronze tablet to Spencer 137
Bruce Publications, The 738
Bruce, William George 68
Bruce, William George, on Polish immi-
grants 182
Buck, ,Jas. S S9
Budget submitted to council 457
Budgef system of .Milwaukee, The 455
Building and loan associations 366-368
Building area 5 15 517
Building area limitation, where applied. 549
Buildings and endowment 648
Buildings in use for the home 743
Burning of the Sea Bird 145
Business men of the 1840 period 121
Butler, James I) 344
Flutter, Cheese and I\l:u Journal 736
Byron Kilbourn and Geo. 11. Walker... 99
Cabin making ' ' bees " 116
Cabins of the pioneers 115
Cadle, Rev. R. F 107
Cady & Farwell 121
Call for mass meeting, 1848 460
Camp, H. H 349
Campaign in Mexico, The 575
Canal building 209
C. & N. W. By.— mileage by states 337
Canals versus railroads 213
Candies and chocolates 245
Candy factories 239
Capital employed in industries 247-256
Captain seen holding a child 131
Capture of the assassin (Schrank) 621
< alley, Quartus G 118
Carlton, L. H 273
Carpenter, Hon. Matt 105
Carr, Hon. Clark E 39
Car works 243
Cary & Taylor 121
Cary, L. P 273
Cass, General Lewis 58
Catholic Citizen, The 7:14
Catt, Carrie Chapman 568
Census figures on foreign born 187
Certificates of occupancy 552
Chamber of Commerce 379
Chamberlain, A. C 145
Champions of zoning ordinance 53]
Changed attitude of people 323
Changes in methods 441
Changes in Sherman Park 463
Changes made in courses of study 637
Changes requiring new certificate of oc-
cupancy 55 3
Change in the superintendency, A 639
Change of capital proposed 663
Chapman, Silas 209
Character and achievements of Mr.
Roosevelt 617
characteristic good nature of patient. . . 619
Characteristics of the Menomonee 62
Characteristics of the royageurs 70
Character of war work 602
Charities of Milwaukee "'■'■'■'
Charter of 1852, The m
Chicago anil North Western Railway.. 131
INDEX
793
Chicago Fire of 1871 151
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Ey.. 328
Chicago-Milwaukee population compari-
sons 478
Chicago Belief and Aid Society 151
Chicago River and Eobey Street 33
Chicora, The 142
Chimneys and flues 551
Choice of leader 22
Christensen, N. A 241
Christopher Columbus accident 146
Cities of east and west lake shores 221
Citizens Bank of No. Milwaukee, The. . 365 .
City's representation (Auditorium).... 431
City datum 474
City hall, The— Mayor Kirby 451
' ' City of Milwaukee ' ' chartered 102
City planning and zoning 481
City planning commission, The 485
City schools in the '90s 639
City taxes more than doubled 443
Civil war, Effects of the 215
Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers 75
Clarke, Thomas C 50
Clas River scheme, The 483
Clas studies, The 481
Class and trade publications 707
Claude Allouez 3-1
Clermont, Alexis, pioneer mail carrier. . 54
Clothing 245
Colby, Charles 323
Collections for relief fund 149
Colonel Roosevelt at the hospital 617
Colonel Roosevelt continues his speech. 610
Colonel Roosevelt on the platform 611
Colonel Walker's picturesque home.... 103
Columbia, The 735
Coming of the railroads 319
Commercial rise and expansion 257
Commission makes plans 467
Committee for fire relief 148
Committee report to council 290
Common schools established 629
Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank.. 366
Comparative value of exports 261
< lomparative value of imports 259
Comparison with southern states 215
Competition versus rivalry in business. 401
Completion and restoration of existing
buildings 555
Composition of the population 173
Concentrating harbor traffic 291
Conclusions of the alienists 625
Concordia College 651
Conditions (school) in 1845 631
Conditions in pioneer period 333
Congress ignores appeals 41
Connelly, P. H 290
Connoisseurs and the dealers, The 698
Consequences of the 1857 panic 634
Consolidated statement of banks 361
Contingent fund, The 455
Continuation schools 652
Continuation school, The 654
Controls and gears. 243
Cook, Mrs. Jane 138
Cooperation with the schools 671
Copperheadism 585
Copperhead propaganda in the north. . . 585
Corcoran, Cornelius 291
Cottage Inn burned in 1845 121
Cotton, L. H 275
" Could lick salt off top of your hat". . 110
County and township government 439
County in territorial days, The 557
Cousins, Phoebe 566
Crawford, Capt. John 272
Crocker, Col. Hans 273
Currier, R. J 118
Customs and habits 758
Cutler, Henry H 241
Cut-offs 551
D
Daily German language press, The 727
Dairy capital 245
Dairy publications 736
Damage done in the collision 138
Danger from fires, The 523
Dauiel Webster 's view 40
Dates, events, beginnings 189
Davidson ship yard 181
Dawn of a better day, The 93
Days of the fur trader 67
Dear, dead days, The 786
Death of ' ' Old Abe, ' ' war eagle 597
Decline of lead production 81
Decline of the breweries 229
Definition of term ' ' Zoning " 497
Delicatessen 245
Denounces action of the assassin 612
Densmore, James 127
Departments of the university 648
de Peyster, Col. Arent 61, 143
Deschamps, Antoine 69
Description of Auditorium 607
Description of mackin.-iw boats 96
Description of the wound 617
Details of the journey 31
Dickson, John P 120
' ' Did I do my best? ' ' 137
Directors and officers of banks 362 -366
Directors C. & N. W. Ry 337
794
INDEX
Directors C, W. & St. P. Ry 331
Directory section, post office 416
Disasters, oilier notable lake 143
Distastrous fluctuations 30
Disbursements, post office . . .• -J'-'1*
liist-iiviTV <>!' Xiagara Falls 46
Discovery of the Great Lakes 4:'.
Discovery of the great west -1
Distelhorst, Walter 156
Distressing scenes along shore 138
Distribution of teachers, The ti4:;
District boundaries 551
Diversified production. . 242
Division of lots by boundary lines 552
Doctors Hiibschmann and Wiley 87
Doolittle, James R 42
Door a blanket ■ 116
Do ran, John L 141
Doty, Judge .lames IHiane 56, 90, lis
Douglas, Stephen A 131
Dousman, G. D 27::
Dousman, Michael 115
Dramatic scene, A 609
Dreamers and idealists 755
Dredging and docking expense 305
Drink proverbs 771
Dumb panic seized throngs 132
Kunes on southwest shores -17
Dupre, J. B 1""
Duty of the state, The 561
lives 245
E
Eagle assists at many celebrations 597
Eagle 's later adventures, The 595
Earlier beginnings, The 385
Earliest lake disaster 143
Early banking days M-l"
Early forms of name Wisconsin 67
Early life of Alexander Mitchell 347
Early mail routes 53
Early mention of Milwaukee 68
Early merchants, etc 181
Early railroad history 321
East and west lake shore cities 221
East Side Bank 366
Edgerton, B. H 273
Editorial comment (Schrank case) 625
Editor of •' Picayune" lost 133
Editor of "Sentinel" and "News". . . 126
Educational exhibits 406
Effect of widening a street 552
Effect upon contracts and upon other
laws, etc 552
Effects el' altering the I urn ndary 38
Effects of fur trade on Indians 74
Effects of the attempted assassination., till
Effeets of the (Civil) war 215
Efficient aid extended lis
Efforts at readjustment II",
Efforts in transportation 388
Efforts to obtain medal for Spencer. . . L37
Efforts to stop the water l.ll
Elected mayor of Milwaukee 102
Electrical goods 238
Elevation of Lake Michigan 47
Elmore 's coalyard 181
Enameling 24.'!
Enforcement by building inspector 552
Engines 243
Engines and rolling stock 333
En route to Green Bay 91
Enterprises, Growth of 2."..">
Epitome of address (Lincoln's) 1"4
Equality and social caste 764
Era of internal improvements 207
Era of panorama painters, An 686
Era of waterdjorne commerce 271
Establishing a site for a trading post.. 114
Establishment of area districts ~>42
Establishment of height districts 541
' ' Et tous lcs petits Chatons .' " 71
Events, dates, beginnings 189
Everest, Kate A 175
Evinrude, Ole 212
Examples from other cities 499
Examples of various cities 527
Excelsior, The 736
Exceptions 543
Exceptions as to existing buildings and
uses 539
Exceptions to height limitations ."42
Exchange from team to canal travel... 117
Excitement of the crowd 607
Exemption from taxation 705
Expenditures for relief 150
Expense of city plan undertaking 489
Exploration and discovery 21
Export business 247-256
Extension of school playgrounds 640
Extension to yards or courts 551
Extent of shore line of Lake Michigan 48
Pacts about the post office 117
failure of Congress to heed appeals. ... 41
Fairchild, Governor, on tire 153
Family Welfare Association 717
Famous boundary controversy 40
I'arnswnrth. William 138
Parwell, L. .1 273
Father Manpiette 's successor 34
INDEX
7!l.r)
"Father of the Typewriter," The 120
Fate decreed they should meet 83
Fauvel, Father 107
Feeble beginnings of Chicago 57
Fees for certificates of occupancy 552
Ferguson, David 343
Field of work (Public Library) 670
Fifteen thousand tons profitable 316
Final word of the public land commis-
sioners 495
Financial statement, Public Library. . . . 667
Financial troubles of the town 437
Finch, Jr., A 273
Fire and accident prevention 498
Fire and life insurance 369
Fire department — Mayor Kirby on 449
Fire engines from other cities 117
Fire escapes 551
Fire, The great Milwaukee 147
First Anglo-Saxon to settle here 118
First harbor commission, Report of.... 277
First law in 1913 (sewerage commis-
sion) 465
First loan success Out
First locomotive built here 325
First National Bank of Wauwatosa. . . . 365
First National Bank (West Allis) 365
First occurrences, etc 189
First postmaster, The 415
First public art gallery 689
First vessel arrivals 271
Fishermen plead for consideration 293
Five leading industries, 1910 228
Flint, Rev. Timothy 120
Flouring mills 223
Fluctuations in lake levels 48
Flynt, Josiah * 59
Foaming steins, The 783
Fonda in the Black Hawk war 59
Fonda, John II 54, 57
Foreign born, Statistics on 187
Foreshadowing the World war 598
Formation, location, etc., Milwaukee
banks 351
Fort Crawford 59
Foundering of the steamer 131
Founders of Northwestern National In-
surance Company 372
Fountain House, The 121
Fourth largest candy center 238
Fourth of July celebration program. . . . 450
Fourth of July celebrations, Early 759
Fowler, Albert, early settler 118
Fox, Isabella 95
Fox, Mrs. Frank 87
Fox-Wisconsin improvement, The 211
Frankfurts and rye bread 233
Franks, Jacob 185
Friendship of Joliet and Marquette. ... 27
From standpoint of cities visited 395
Fundamental principles adopted 345
Further details of plan 507
Further proceedings in the (Sehrank)
case 622
Fur traders of revolutionary times 75
Future harbor project 311
Future plans (art) 697
Future water-borne commerce 312
G
Galena and Chicago Union R. R 336
Gears and controls 243
General city purposes (Revenues) 458
General effects of zoning 503
General regulations in area districts... 549
General statistics for 1919 (waterworks) 474
Generous gifts 695
Generous hosts 86
Genius of music, The 682
Genung & Co 81
George Smith's removal to Milwaukee.. 345
German beer garden, The 768
German immigration, The 174
Germanisms heard on school playground 762
German language in the schools, The... 638
German market .181, 707
German Theatre, The 775
Good roads in Wisconsin 501
Goral, Monsignor, on the Poles 185
Gorrell, Lieut. James 61
Government aid sought 273
Gradual fluctuations of the lake 50
Graham, Lieut. -Col. James D 48
Grain trade 276
Grass, Max 290
Gray, W. D 241
Great fire of 1.871 in Chicago 151
Great Milwaukee fire, The 147
Great LInknown River, The 22
Green Bay citizen continues work 211
Greene, Major John 107
Griffin, The 143
Grignon, Bernard 55
Grignon, Hypolite 93
Grignon, P. B 90
Grouping of boys by occupations 653
Grow, Galusha A 347
Growth of banking business 348
Growth of enterprises 235
Growth of the public scl Is 632
Growth of the railroads 335
Growth of schools in county 041
Growth of wheat production 215
f96
INDEX
H
Had ninety-nine members '■'■''■>
I la 1 Is (Auditorium) and their capacity. 427
Harbor and marine interests. 269
Harbor and river, Mayor Kirby 451
Harbor commission of 1911 295
Harbor commission, 1912 297
Harbor development, Proposed 307
Harbor needs winter mooring facilities 292
Hardwick, Moses, noted mail carrier... 56
Harrison, Wooster 108
Hathaway, Joshua 106
Health commissioners 478
Health department 477
Heath, Frederick 128
Height limitations in 125 foot districts. 541
Height limitations in 85 foot districts. 542
Height limitations in 60 foot districts. 542
Height limitations in 40 foot districts. 542
Height of buildings interpreted in
stories 549
Heights of buildings 505, 517
Higby and Wardner 121
Higby 's elevator 181
Higher accomplishments attained 649
Higher institutions of learning, The... 647
High service pumping station 472
Highways and roads 560
Historical Society building 661
Hoffman, Dr. W. J 62
Hoffman's butcher shop 181
Hollister warehouse 121
Holton, E. D 349
Holton's (K. IX) reminiscences 120
Holton & Goodall 122, 275
Holton Street State Hank 365
Home Savings Bank 363
Homestead laws of 1862 348
Homeward bound 621
Horwitz, Isador S 185
Hovey, Richard 59
How Auditorium project was realized.. 121
How will Milwaukee benefit ? 317
Hubbard. Gurdon S 59, 69
Htiebschmann, Dr. Francis 275
Husting, Jean Pierre 86
I
[ce Cream Review, The 736
llsley, Charles F 352
Immigration and race origin 171
Immigration of L840 to 1875 L8
Imperial cataract, The 15
Importance of Historical Society 663
Important anniversary. An 103
Imports and exports 259
Imp. .its and exports, 1835-1841 280
Imports increase 275
In commemoration of Sholes' invention L28
Incorporation of town of Milwaukee... b;7
Increase in deposits M. & I. Bank, 1890-
1920 352
Increased facilities not unreasonable... 312
Increasing popularity of lake route.... 78
Independent ticket, 1838 112
Indian villages 61
Indians at Milwaukee 63
Indignation meeting 273
Indispensable medium of intelligence,
An 708
Individual enterprise and location 238
Industrial beginnings and achievement. 219
Industrial exposition, An 403
Industrial Exposition Association 126
Industrial Milwaukee excels 243
Industrial population, An 221
Industrial statistics summary 217 256
Industrial success, Secret of 222
Industries, Miscellaneous 225
Industries, New' and obsolete 228
Industry and commerce, 1918 228
Influence of emigration 579
Influence of lead mining 79
Influence of World war 568
Ingram, Herbert, M. P 133
' • In nearly 300 feet of water' ' '131
Inner courts 543-545
Inner harbor tow bills 315
Inquiry section (P. O.) 419
Insurance, Life and fire 369
Interesting summaries (school) 642
Internal improvements. Fra of 207
Intimate part of ourselves 708
Introduction 17
Inventor of typewriter 239
Inventors 242
Invited musical celebrities 679
Invited notable men to city 411
Iron and steel 243
Iroquois blocked the way 45
Irrepressible desire to talk 620
Irwin, R. & A. J 107
Issuance of building permits 552
Italian immigration Is"
Italian Mutual Savings Bank 165
"It did. but it won't any more" 2:;7
• • 1 will save them or die in the at-
tempt " 137
J
• -.lack knife posts" 76
Jacobs, John I> 107
INDEX
797
James, Ada L 567,
James Sidney Peck fund
Jewish pioneers, The
Jobber becomes producer
Jobbing and wholesaling
Joint terminal projected
Johnson endowment fund
Johnson, Prof. W. S
Johnson text-book fund
Johnston, Gen. John C
Jones, Dr. Wm
Jones Island condemnation
Jones Island fish catch by years
Jones Island the key
Journal of Lieut. Gorrell
Journey from Green Bay to Mackinac. .
Judson, Maj. W. W
Julius Klauser fund
Julius Wagner fund
' ' Jumping the Eapids "
Juneau and his family
Juneau and Kilbourn
Juneau as a young man
Juneau marsh
Juneau, Mrs. Solomon
"Juneau needs no encomiums"
Juneau, Solomon Laurent.. 83, 166, 271,
Juneautown
Juneau's claim as "first settler"
Juneaus generous in gifts to city
K
Kapp, Friedrich
Kean, M
Kellogg, Amherst W
Kellogg, Louise Phelps 116,
Key to Milwaukee map of 1810
Kidder, D. P
Kilbourn, Byron 86, 123, 213, 271,
Kilbourn heirs brought suit
Kilbourn State Bank of Milwaukee. . . .
Kilbourntown
Killed three buffalo and four deer
Kinzie, Mrs., on mail at Chicago
Kirby, Mayor Abner
Knitting industry
Kundig, Rev. Father
Kurver Polski
569
670
185
222
263
323
669
241
669
369
61
292
295
289
68
72
287
669
670
97
83
99
95
63
89
93
415
99
95
86
175
161
167
569
25
142
125
426
363
99
32
53
169
238
275
731
Labor troubles unknown 239
Lark of systematic observations Is
"Lady Elgin" and her captain 139
Lady Elgin disaster, The 1 29
La Framboise, Alexander 113
Lake and rail freight tonnage, 1901-1920 307
Lake commerce 261
Lake disasters, Other notable 143
Lake Erie eluded them 43
Lake freight tonnage 1890-1920 306
Lake Michigan, Facts about 47
' ' Lake of the Illinois " 30
Landmarks removed 787
Land speculation 207
Laud valuations 525
Language difficulties of immigrants.... 174
Language of the gift, The 704
Lansing, Andrew J t 118
Laphani, Increase A 123, 213
Lapham, Seneca 123
La Piana, G 186
Larkin, Charles H 141
Larson, Prof. L. M 173, 435
Last days of Galena and Chicago Union
R. R 336
Last days of Marquette 33
Later art associations 693
Later history of suffrage movement. . . . 567
La Tulipe, Francois and Therese 83
I. .mi \s superintendency, F. C 635
Lawe, Rebecca R 108
Lawyers of 1840 period 121
Laying of the corner stone 647
Layton Art Gallery, The 701
Layton Park State Bank 364
Layton School of Art, The 692
Layton 's address at presentation 703
Leail mining industry, The 77
Leading men of 1840 period 122
Leading place of the museum 673
Leads in ' ' hobbies " 234
Leather and shoes 245
Legal complications (Auditorium) 425
Legler, Henry E 76, 1 18, 174
Leonard, Jas. H 145
Le Roy, Angeline 113
Le Roy, Daniel 90
Le Roy, Joseph 113
Lessons of the disaster 142
Levi, Meyer 185
Libby, Prof. O. G 78
Liberty State Bank 566
Librarians of the Public Library 667
Librarians of Young Men's Associa-
tion Library 667
Life and fire insurance 369
Life and labors of Andrew .1. Vieau. . . . 107
Life boats lost 131
Life routine of fur trader 115
Lincoln, Abraham 108
Lincoln, lion. "Abram" 158
Lincoln in Black Eawk war 16:;
7! IS
INDEX
Lincoln in Milwaukee 153
Lincoln in quest of new home 109
Lincoln in Wisconsin 593
Lincoln State Bank 364
Lincoln talks with Captain Berber 164
Lincoln walks from Milwaukee to she
boygan 164
Lincoln 's letter 162
Lincoln's purpose in making visit 109
Lincoln's speech .-it Wisconsin fair.... 160
Lincoln's view of the ordinance 39
Linn. Senator L. F 271
Livermore, Mary A 56(5
Lives lust in boat accidents, by
years 281-287
Lives lust in Lady Elgin disaster 141
Living church. The 734
Loathed her bondage 581
Location of county building, The 489
Lockwood, John 415
Locomotive crosses the river 527
Locomotive leaves the shop 325
London editor lost in wreck 133
Loss of ear ferry 1'cre Marquette No. 18 146
Loss of, or damage to, boats, by
years 281-287
Loss of the propeller ' ' Phoenix ' ' 144
Loss of the steamer Alpena 146
Ludington, Harrison 121
Ludington, Lewis 121
Lumsden, F. A 133
Lunar tide in Lake Michigan 48
M
MacAlister's superintendency 636
McArthur, Judge 105
McKee, David 53
Mabbett 's lumber yard L81
Machinery 243
Machinery, steam engines, boilers 223
.Mack, Edwin S 113
Madison, Win. S .".">
Mail carriers and routes 53
Mail earners of early days 58
Mail Stages followed freight routes,,.. 81
Main street. The 181
Major Judson and Randolph report.... 287
Malott, Captain 132
Manufactures in L856, Table of 225
Manufacturing and industrial districts. 505
Manufacturing interests ill 1856 223
Marine and harbor interests 269
Marine National Hank 353
Marshaling the forces 599
Marshall and llsley I'.ank 351
Martin a frequent visitor !'l
Martin and Juneau original plat owners 93
Martin, Morgan 1 56, 209
Martin's estimate of Solomon Juneau.. 90
Marquette continues exploration :l
Marquette reached Kaskaskia
Material results of (Mexican) war 577
Matthew Ke. nan fund 669
••May have wanted to see Lake Mich-
igan". 110
Mayor Kirby's inaugural address. . .447, 592
Mayor Ludington of Milwaukee L52
Mayor Mason of Chicago 152
Mayors of Milwaukee 153
Meaning of interdependence 533
Mean stage of water on the hake 51
Members harbor commission, 191 1 296
Memorials of Marquette 34
Memorial to Lincoln 169
Men lee Indians, The 61
Menomonee Locomotive Works 527
"Menomonee," The 325
Men prominent in affairs in early 'lios.. 387
Merchants and Manufacturers Hank... 363
Merchants Association of Milwaukee. . . 387
Merchants' trips, The annual 393
Methods of relief It:'
Metropolitan Park Commission Js7
Metropolitan Sewerage Commission.... 562
Middle of last century 223
Middle period, The (art) 687
Mileage, C, M. & St. P. By. 1921 331
Military and civic funeral 141
Milk Dealer, The 736
Miller, Judge Andrew G 56
Miller, John ("Long John") 325
Milwaukee & Mississippi R. E 102
Milwaukee and Pock River Canal .... 212
Milwaukee Association of Commerce. . . 383
Milwaukee Auditorium, The 421
Milwaukee banks 349
Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce 379
Milwaukee Commercial Bank 364
Milwaukee county govern at. The.... 557
Milwaukee domestic mutual tire insur-
ance companies
Milwaukee Downer College 125. 648, 691
Milwaukee Female College 125
Milwaukee Fire Department, The 154
Milwaukee tiaiikfurts
Milwaukee health department 477
Milwaukee Herold, The 727
Milwaukee Eouse, The 121
Milwaukee incorporated as a city 138
Milwaukee in 1836 l"s
Milwaukee in the Civil war 586
Milwaukee in the Mexican war 574
Milwaukee in pioneer period 113
INDEX
799
Milwaukee Journal, The 721
Milwaukee laid out in 1835 120
Milwaukee Mechanics' Insurance Com-
pany 373
Milwaukee merchants alert for trade. . . 81
Milwaukee over subscribes all war
funds 603
Milwaukee Police Department, The.... 453
Milwaukee population compared with
Chicago 478
Milwaukee postoffiee, The 415
Milwaukee Public Museum 671
Milwaukee public, schools, The 62!)
Milwaukee river problem, The 300
Milwaukee rye bread 233
Milwaukee Sentinel, The 78, 711
Milwaukee stock fire insurance com-
panies 376
Milwaukee to Marseilles 315
Milwaukee University School, The 657
Milwaukee waterworks 469
Milwaukee's advantages 517
Milwaukee's grain trade 276
Milwaukee 's healthy climate 480
Milwaukee 's musical history 675
Milwaukee's relation to Chicago 528
Milwaukee's thirty-three mayors 453
Mine hoists 243
Mirandeau, Jean Baptiste 114
Miscellaneous industries 225
Mitchell, Alexander 343
Mitchell Street State Bank 364
Modes of travel 119
Modest beginnings 222
Money order business 420
Moore, Stephen F 241
More dock room necessary 313
Moriarity, J. E 153
Morsell, Arthur E 239
Motorcycles 243
Mounds of Wisconsin 123
Municipal government, The 435
Municipal revenues 439
Municipal support (art) 694
Musical history 681
Music drew throngs 785
N
National Bank of Commerce 359
National Exchange Bank 354
National factor, A 380
Nationalities, Variety of 187
National Soldiers' Home 103
Native versus foreign born 177
Natural history of Lake Michigan 46
Navigation of lakes and rivers 69
Negro population 186
Negro slavery in Wisconsin 579
Neuhaus, Henry . . : 185
Neustadel, Isaac 185
New and obsolete industries 228
Newhall, Daniel 161
Newhall House 110
News (of disaster) at Milwaukee 139
Newspapers 707
Newspaper accounts of "Lady Elgin"
disaster 131
New York City 's problems 511
Nickname, "Cream City" 228
' ' No, not those " 234
Noonan, Josiah A 415
No reduction of yards or courts allowed 543
Normal Art School 689
Normal Institute and high school...... 125
North Avenue Bank 364
North Point pumping station 471
Northwestern Confectioner, The 737
Northwestern National Insurance Co. . . 372
Northwestern Publishing House, The. . . 7.'!7
Notable lake disasters, Other 143
Notable men invited to city 411
Nowiny Polski (Polish News) 732
Number of employes in industries. . .247-256
Number of families housed 548
Number of firms in industries 247-256
Number of various nationals in Milwau-
kee 187
O
Obligations of the employer 653
O 'Brien, Timothy 141
Observations commenced in 1854 49
Obsolete and new industries 228
Obstacles to recruiting 574
Occurrences, dates, etc 189
Oddities of manufacture 234
Officers and directors of banks 362, 366
Officers ( *. & N. W. By 337
Officers C, M. & St. P. By. 1921 331
"Old Abe" at Soldiers' Home fairs 596
' ' Old Abe ' ' in action 595
"Old Abe," Wisconsin's war eagle.... 593
Old Exposition building burned 423
Old Line Life Insurance Co 376
Old neighborhood, An 179
"(Hd Parr's Pills" 135
Old Pierron Pottery, The 182
Old Squire .lanes 120
Old-time campaign document 112
Olson, Prof. Julius E Ins, 15s
One country, one tlag, one language. . . . 780
One year of war to five of peace 605
800
I X 1 1 E X
On the road to recovery 619
Opened on Sundays 705
Operation of trains 335
Order in which hikes were discovered., 43
Ordinance looks forward.....*. 533
Ordinance of 1787, The 37
Origin of name (Milwaukee i 68
Other instances of emancipation 579
Other inventors -+-'
Other notable lake disasters 143
Others of 1840 period 122
Onr modern group of artists 701
Outbreak of the Civil war 664
Outer courts 543. 545
Outline of association (Commerce) his
tory 385
Outline of proposed zoning ordinance.. 519
Packages and flour & feed 737
Painted monsters 27
Pallbearers, (Lincoln) public funeral... 169
Panic of 1837 342
Paper money issues 340
Paris and London 529
Park lighting equipment installed 463
Park Savings Bank 365
Parks stimulate love for music 678
Park system of Milwaukee 459
Participation in war 571
Passages from Roosevelt's speech 610
Passed winter at St. Ignace 22
Passing of landmarks 7sl'
Payne, Henry C 415
Peck, George W 453
Peek ham, Miss Li la 5fi(i
Peerson, Kleng 166
Penalties 555
Pen> Marquette No. 18 146
Personnel of harbor commission by
years, 1912-1922 300
Personnel of land commission 535
• ' Pests of the wilderness ' ' 15
rn ter, Guido 387
Phoenix, The Ill
Physical features of Lake Michigan.... 17
Physicians of Is III period 12]
Picton. Sir Thomas 71
Pierron pottery 1 si
Piers along lake shore 122
Pioneer in trade 380
Pioneer journey from New York 116
Pioneer ra ill amd construction L05
Pioneer scl I houses 629
Pioneer traditions 67
Pioneers in music 676
Pipe distribution sj stem | «i ater 173
I'lvhy, John 121
Pixley, Maurice 1J1
Plan of installation i exhibits) 105
Planning and zoning, City 4*1
Planning tor improved transportation.. sj
Plans of Milwaukee Peal Estate Board. 535
Plans of public land c missioners
Plied between Detroit and Monroe 117
Plumed Calumet, The 28
Police — Mayor Kirhy on 15]
Polish Courier, The 7:1
Polish immigration 182
Political activities 776
Poos, John 18]
Pope, Nathaniel 37
Pope 's argument 38
Population an industrial one 22]
Portier, Joseph Ill
Position of ill-fated "Lady Elgin". . . . 129
Postal receipts, 1870-1920 416
Postmasters 415
Post office locations 41b
Post offices established 5|
Post office, The Milwaukee 41"
Powers, David J 162
Powers, W. P 162
Practices of the fur traders 71
Pratt, John 127
Preachers of 1840 period 121
Preface 13
Preliminary steps in construction 213
Prentiss, Wm. A 273
Preparation for Centennial exhibition.. 63b
Presbytery of Milwaukee, The 580
Present and new Welland locks 316
Presidents — Association of Commerce., til
Press supports the city 708
Previous visits referred to
Pride of race origin, The 780
Prince of Wales stormbound L33
Principles and policies HI
Private schools 643
Prizes and advertising
Problem of tall buildings. The 513
Problem of transportation, The 52]
Procedure in case of i conformity. . . . 553
Procedure in making up budget 457
Proclamation by mayor L69
Professional advice submitted Is:1
Professional men and others lL'l
Progressive steps 64]
- igress of art in Milwaukee 58
Project joint terminal 323
Projections allowed 55]
I 'rfflonging t he speech
Prominent men of early 'bos. Seme. . . . 387
INDEX
801
Promotional factor, A 407
Promotion of the Public Museum 674
Prospective Milwaukee 481
Provides industrial areas 533
Providing the sinews of war •)'•-
Provisions made in the articles 703
Public ;iiiiI private charities of Milwau-
kee 7:;;)
Publications 707
Public Library and Museum 007
Public vs. private interests 313
Purposes of Associated Charities 740
Q
Quarles, Captain 577
Quarles, Charles, Opinion by 42(3
P.
Pace antagonism 705
Racial complexion 173
Railroad connection with Chicago 336
Railway stocks and bonds 443
Railroads own steamboat wharfage 301
Randolph report, Major Judson ami.... 287
Rapid growth of city 126
Rapid growth of the settlement 435
Rate table, R. R. fares 324
Rathbun, James 81
Reaehing Lake Michigan 29
Rear yard, Computation of depth 54!)
Rear yard, Level of 549
Rear yard, reduction in size 549
Rear yard when required 549
Rear yard when nut required 549
Rear yards 543-545
Receipts, Post office 42(1
Recognition by Evanston people 137
Recommendations of (school; committee 032
Reconstruction period, The 389
Recovery from the panic 343
Redistricting and changing names of
schools 637
Refrigeration machinery 243
Registry section. Post office 410
Regulations for amendments and
changes 553
Relation between civics and commerce. . 399
Relief fund (great tire) 1 19
Relief measures organized 148
Religion anil slavery 580
Religious intolerance 773
Remedies for chaotic conditions 515
Reminiscences of Edward 1). Hoi ton.... 1211
Remington factory selected 1 27
Reporter as a public servant, The 709
Vol. 1—51
Report of first harbor commission 277
Required yards and courts 543
Reservoir 472
Residence districts 537
Response of the states ."iitit
Response to the call of humanity 152
Results of tidal observations 49
Resumption of campaign activities 021
Resumption of "specie payments'' 44(i
Retail trade interests 207
Review of the early period (schools) . . . 633
Review of New York city's problems. . . 515
Review of previous conditions 381
Review of seventeen years, A (schools) 040
Review of woman's suffrage movement 565
Reviews and comments on the Schrank
case 623
Reynolds, Edwin 241
Reynolds, Governor John 572
Rice, A. M 101
Richardson, George 158, 325
River and lake shore parks 495
Rolette, Joseph 71
Ross, Dr. Laura 566
Route between Green Bay and Chicago. 54
Rubber tires 245
Rublee, Hon. Horace 152
Rules for adoption 745
S
Sales in various lines, in 1856 205
Salisbury. Prof. Rollin D 49
Samuel Marshall & Co. "Adv." 352
Sand dunes 47
Sanitary sewage disposal plant 403
Sank in half an hour 1 3 I
Sausages 231
Sawmills 243
"Scalping knife leaped from its lurking
place" (il
Scanlan, i lharles M 572
Scenes ami incidents 145
Sir ni's at the Auditorium 608
Scenes at the wreck (Lady Elgin) 135
Schoolcraft 's observations 47
Schools — Mayor Kirby on 449
Schools of Milwaukee county 043
Schools, Milwaukee public 629
School superintendents, Later 63 I
Schooner Augusta 129
Schoyer, Gabriel 185
Schnrz, Carl 175
Scliurz on Lincoln 165
Schutz, Prank P. 416
Secretaries — Association of C merce.. (11
Secret of industrial success 222
so:>
[NDEX
Si ■in ii 1 1 Ward Savings Bank 355
Security Hank of Milwaukee 364
Seebote, The 735
Sen! iniciii and practicability 103
Setbacks * . . . .545, 547
Seville, .lames 1 < ' 1
Sew erage systems and zoning 198
Shade trees in streets and parks 159
Shanty Town 107
Sharpstein, J. K 115
Shipments of shot and lead, 1842, 1843. . 79
Shipping routes for lead and shot 78
Slmes, Leather ami 245
Sholes, Christopher Latham L26, 239
Shales Park 128
shales ' political activities 1-7
Shores el' I Ireen Bay, The 73
Shut Tower on Wisi sin river 77
Side yards 5 13, 5 15
Site of Chicago first visited by whites. . 30
Sknnilinny ian element 186
Sketches of Killionrn and Walker 99
Skunk Grove 1 lit
Slave hunting in Milwaukee 581
Smith, George 343
Smith, Uriel B 90
Some drink proverbs 771
Some things made in Milwaukee 234
Soot hi ne effect of the I 'a linnet 28
Southport Telegraph 126
Special delivery section (P. O.) 117
Speculation in Milwaukee 209
Spencer, Edward W 136
Spe r 's rescue work 136
Splendid gifts to the art gallery 704
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 566
Starr, Klisha 106, 11".
Starr, II. A 415
Starved Rock 29
State Historical Society, The (i61
Statement of banks MM
State I " 1 1 i \ ersity, The 663
Status in 1856 of wholesale trade 263
Status of proposed harbor development. 307
Steamboat, " Walk in the Water" 95
Steam engines, boilers, machinery 223
Steamer " C. C. Trowbridge" 122
steel and iron 243
Stem er, M itchell 1 1 :,
Stevens, Horatio Il'J
Mm I casualty insurance companies in
Milwaukee 376
Starrs, X. (I Il'ii
Sim \ of an old neighborhood 1 7 * »
Story of I. aily Elgin disaster L29
Stove pipe hats in battle 71
street arrangements and details lt'1
street railway started 105
Struggle for t he re\ oh er, The
Stuart, Maj. John P [64
Subsequent appointment - (health) ... 177
Subsequent status of the work :J1 1
Sudden and gradual fluctuations 19
Suffrage movement in Milwaukee, The. . 566
Suggestions and recommendations 189
Summarj ofSchrank's views and career 624
Survivors of Lady Elgin disaster Ill
Swam Root ri\er three times ]]o
Sweet, Alanson 122
T
Table of chief manufactures, L856 225
Takes up his abode in Milwaukee 12]
Tall hats the fashion 7 [
Tallmadge, .John .1 169
Tarrant, L. II 290
Tax levies prepared in advance 455
Taylor, Colonel Zachary 59
Taylor, Win. R 321
Teaching force (schools) 643
Telegram to Mrs. Roosevelt, The 618
Telegraphic communication ,;.a;
Temporary certificates of occupancy. . . . 553
Ten leading manufactures, litis 228
Terms "ordinance" and "act" 39
Territorial days ( 1836 1848) 118
Teutonia Avenue state Bank 365
The City Lank 363
"The Man-devouring Lake" 143
Then and now 227
Thermostatic temperature control 241
Things to be proud of -'■'•\
Thirteenth city (census of L920 i 200
Thompson, David H L37
Those days of yore 7sJ
4' 1 1 lee hundred orphans by wreck 135
Thwaites, Reuben Gold 67, 211
Tiffany, Geo. A 273
' ' To fix t he northern boundary of I Hi
nois" 38
Took interest in the fair 155
Took possession for French king 28
Tow lulls burdensome 315
Traditions and ideals 649
Transition, Alt Milwaukee to American
city 755
Transition period 777
Transportation facilities 388
Tra\ eling cranes 243
Treacherous confidant, A
Treat at of Wells and state streets. . . 193
Tribute to a musician 682
Tribute to Peter Ensielmann, A 659
INDEX 803
Trunks and grips 245 W
Trust funds (Public Library) 669
Turner, Frederick J ~*> Wages paid in industries 247-256
Turner, Judge W.J 426 Walker, George II 102, 119, 272
Tuttle, C. R 215 Walker's Point 101
Tweedy J. H 415 Walton, W. B. & Co 325
Twenty districts (county) 559 War aids at home 600
Twenty-four years in active war 606 War, Effects of the Civil 215
Twenty^two hundred saloons 22!) War, Participation in 573
Typical American city, A 7s7 Ward, James 213
Tyrell, Henry F 369 Ward, J. & L 121
Warnings and admonitions 613
U Watrous, .1. A 1H2
Watrous, R. B 391
Union Bank of Milwaukee, The 5C>4 Water-borne commerce, Era of 271
Union Guard, The 131, 7.78 Water Crontage and land areas 312
Unsettled state of country 55 Water purification 171
I'm idling of Lapham Memorial 12:1 Water rates 17:'.
Upholding law and order 407 Water supply ami intake 469
Upward tendency of city expenses 447 Waterworks, The 469
United States at war twenty four years 606 Waters, dames 527
Useful information (water) 475 Wauwatosa State Bank 365
Uses of certain districts 503 'Way over the top again 604
I'ses prohibited in commercial ami light Weinman, Adolph 167
manufacturing districts 539 Wellauer, John Is!
Uses prohibited in industrial districts. . 539 Wells, C. K 415
I'ses prohibited in local business dis- Wells, Daniel ,,l->
tricts 557 Wells, H. X 27:!
Usher, E. B 20!) Wentworth's reply to Vallandigham 585
West Allis stat.' Bank 365
V West, Samuel C 41.".
West shore of lake sought 18
Validity of ordinance 555 West Side Hank of Milwaukee 360, 365
Value of fish caught at Jones Island 295 West Side Market Association 425
Value of production, five industries, Wharfage owned by railroads 301
1910 228 Wheat production, Growth of 215
Value of products in industries 247-256 Wheeler, A. C 64
V-ih f trade trips 394 Wheeler 's " Chronicles of Milwaukee". 106
Van Vochten, Peter, Jr 155 When news ..f disaster reached Milwau-
Variety of goods for Indian trade 75 kee 135
Variety of nationalities 187 Where industrial Milwaukee excels.... 243
Various heights of buildings 521 White, II. Kirke 100
Varying degrees of success 745 White, Mrs. II. K 8i
Vicissitudes of a banker's life 51!) Whitney, Daniel 77, 209
\ ieau, Andrew J 63, 96, 113 Whiskey Tribute, The lit
Vieau, Jacques 85, 113 Wholesale trade. Status of in 1856 2<>:;
Vieau Josette 85 Why more dock room is necessary 313
Vieau leaves Por1 Washington 110 Why the St. Lawrence route? 316
Vieau, Louis 11!» Wight, William Ward 12:;
Vision of the future, A 051 Wildcat money 511
Visited Green Bay in 1820 48 William Brown ..v Co 121
Visit t.. the Illinois Indians 20 Will spend $1,300, 168
Vliet Street State Bank 364 Wilson, Captain John 131
von Hoffmann, A 241 Winter quarters of Marquette 52
VOll Hoist, Prof. Hermann 542 Wisconsin authors 125
Voyages of Joliel and Marquette 21 Wisconsin, Early forms of name 07
Voyage on Lake Erie, The 117 Wisconsin [nquirer 12b
804
[NDEX
Wisconsin in the World war 598
Wisconsin Marine and Fire [nsurance
< ' p:i iiv 344
Wisconsin News, The 717
Wisconsin Players, The * 697
Wisconsin State Bank 364
Wisconsin Woman's Suffrage Associa
i ion 567
Wise counsels by M. Bassett 509
Wolcott, Dr. Alexander 57
Wolf, John R ' 189
Woman's I'luli of Wisconsin 665
Woman's Suffrage in Wisconsin 565
Wink continued by citizen of Green Bay -11
Work, Henry C 133
Work of Council of Defense 601
Work of the Plan Commission 488
Wink nt various committees 150
" Would rather steal than trade " . . .. »i(
Wreck of the Lady Elgin il".i
Y
Y:iril :iinl courts, when not required... 543
Years and days I'. s. lias been at war. 605
Yost, <i. W. X L27
Youmans, Mrs. Theodore W 565, 569
Young Men's Christian Association.... «>ii4
Young Women 's Christian Association., 665
Z
Zoning, City Planning and isl
Zoning for Milwaukee 197
Zoning Ordinance, Outline of 519
Zoning Ordinance, The 537
Zoning System, A 1H7
Zoological Gardens 463
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