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| It has been given the subject of this review to achieve definite success and prosperitythrough his own efforts, as he assumed the active responsibilities of life when but fourteen years of age, andhe is now incumbent of the position of superintendent and sexton of the beautiful Riverside cemetery, in the cityof Menominee, where he has maintained his home for fully thirty years and where he has gained a secure place inpopular confidence and esteem. He has served in various positions of public trust and responsibility, includingthat of alderman, and he is to be here noted as one of the sterling and thoroughly representative citizens of thethriving city in which he resides. William E. Kuhnle was born at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on the 14th of April, 1860, and is a son of John M. and Katherine(Hermann) Kuhnle, both of whom were natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, where the former was born in 1833 and the latterin 1834. |
| The father passed the closing years of his life in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he diedin 1874, and his widow, who is nearly seventy years of age, resides in Manitowoc. Their marriage was solemnizedat Manitowoc and they became the parents of three sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this sketch isthe eldest; John M. is a resident of Everett, Washington; Albert C. maintains his home at Eureka, California; andElizabeth is the wife of William Huramann, of Portland, Oregon. The father was reared to the age of fourteen yearsin his native land, when he came to America, making the voyage in a sailing vessel and landing in New York City.From the national metropolis he proceeded by boat up the Hudson river to Albany, thence by canal to Buffalo, inwhich city he embarked on a lake vessel and came to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he landed in the fall of 1847.No wharf had been constructed at that place and the passengers of the vessel were transported to the shore by lighters.The emigrant boy soon found employment in a saw mill and later was employed as maltster in a brewery, having learnedthe trades of maltster and cooper in his native land. His intrinsic loyalty to the land of his adoption was shownat the time of the Civil war, for he promptly tendered his services in defense of the Union. He enlisted in CompanyD, Forty-Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, in which he was made corporal of his company. His service, coveringa period of about eighteen months, was principally in the west, his regiment having assisted in putting down Indianinsurrections and having served principally in Kansas, Dakota, Minnesota and Nebraska. For some time the commandwas stationed at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. In politics John M. Kuhnle gave a staunch support to the cause of theRepublican party, and in a fraternal way he was identified with the Sons of Hermann. William E. Kuhnle, whose name initiates this article, was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Manitowoc,Wisconsin, and his first employment was in connection with the loading of lake vessels with cord wood, after whichhe was employed for a time in a wood yard and brick yard. At the age of sixteen years he entered upon an apprenticeshipat the barber's trade, in 1876. He was thus early thrown upon his own resources, as his father had died in 1874.He continued in the work of his trade at Manitowoc until 1880, on the 24th of February of which year he establishedhis home in Menominee, Michigan, where he followed the work of his trade as journeyman until 1884, when he openeda shop of his own. As a barber he continued to cater to a large and representative patronage during the long periodof a quarter of a century, and he retired from this line of business on the 1st of January, 1909, when he acceptedhis present position as superintendent and sexton of Riverside cemetery. He has shown marked discrimination andgood taste, as well as indefatigable energy in improving and beautifying the "God's acre" that is committedto his charge, and under his regime many noteworthy improvements have been made, including the installation ofa new water system, which affords an adequate supply. The grade of the various driveways has been brought up toproper standard and the drainage has been materially improved. In politics Mr. Kuhnle accords an unwavering allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and he has been activeas a worker in its local ranks. He served one term as supervisor of the Third ward of Menominee and was aldermanfrom the same ward for two terms. In 1905 he was the Republican candidate for the office of mayor, and was defeatedby only seven votes. He served four terms, of three years each, as trustee of Riverside cemetery. In 1899 Mr. Kuhnlewas raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Menominee Lodge No. 269, Free & Accepted Masons; and heis also identified with Menominee Chapter No. 107, Royal Arch Masons; lodge No. 133, Independent Order of Odd Fellows,and its adjunct organization, Blunden Lodge, No. 156, Daughters of Rebekah; Goodtown Tent, No. 2, Knights of Maccabees;and with the Knights of Pythias. In addition to his affiliation with the above named bodies he also holds membershipin the Sons of Hermann, the Yeomen and the Modern Brotherhood of America. On the 22d of June, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kuhnle to Miss Louisa Fridl, who, like himself, isa native of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where she was born in 1858. She is a daughter of John and Charlotte (Osant) Fridl,both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom were early settlers of Manitowoc. They passed the closing yearsof their lives in Manitowoc, and of their thirteen children, seven are now living. Mr. Fridl, who was a cabinetmaker by trade, came to America when a young man, and his marriage was solemnized in Schenectady, New York, whencehe and his wife removed to Wisconsin in the pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhnle have three children,—William E., Jr., and John M., who are twins, and Emma, who remains atthe paternal home. The two sons conduct the barber shop over which their honored father presided for so many years,and they are popular young business men of their native city. | |
Brevet Major GeneralFrederick Salomon
General Salomon was born in Prussia, in 1826. He was educated to the profession of a civil engineer and architect,and served for some time in the Prussian army, being a Lieutenant of artillery when he left Europe, in 1849. Hecame to Wisconsin and settled in Manitowoc, in that year, where he has since resided.
While temporarily in Missouri, in 1861, he enlisted at St. Louis on the 1st of May, for three months, and was subsequentlyelected First Lieutenant, and was promoted to the Captaincy on the 14th of May. The Fifth Missouri formed partof Lyon's army in the campaign of southwestern Missouri, and participated in the battle of Carthage, on the 5thof July, at Dug Springs, August 2d, and at the battle of Wilson's Creek, August 10th. In these battles, CaptainSalomon was always present with his company.
While reorganizing the Fifth Missouri for the three years' service, Captain Salomon was authorized by the Governorof Wisconsin, to organize a German regiment. He accordingly returned to Wisconsin, recruited the Ninth Regiment,of which he was appointed Colonel, and in January, 1862, moved with his regiment to Leavenworth, Kansas, wherehe was ordered to Fort Scott. With his regiment, he participated in the "Indian Expedition," and wasassigned to the command of the Second Brigade. He was selected to take command of the expedition, when it was ascertainedthat Colonel Wier was incompetent to be in command. He arrested that officer, and took the command to Fort Scott,where General Blunt acquitted Colonel Salomon of any dereliction of duty.
On the 10th of July, he was commissioned as Brigadier General, and assumed command of the expedition. In September,he was assigned to the command of the First Brigade, of the Army of Kansas, which afterwards became part of theArmy of the Frontier. His command engaged the rebel forces at Newtonia, in September, and took part in the battleof Cane Hill, Ark., November 28th, and at Prairie Grove, on the 7th of December.
He was relieved from the command, and absent on sick leave, reporting at St. Louis on the 9th of January, 1863,when he was ordered on duty at Helena, Ark., where he was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade of GeneralA. P. Hovey's division, and was soon after assigned to the command of the First Brigade, Thirteenth Division, ofthe Army of the Tennessee. General Salomon, with his brigade, took part in the Yazoo Pass Expedition, accompanyingGeneral Ross, and taking position in the front, assisted in the construction of the batteries and approaches.
On the 15th of May, he was assigned to the command of the Thirteenth Division, Army of the Tennessee, and on the2nd of June, was placed in command of all the United States forces in and around Helena. Here his engineering experienceand education were of inestimable value. He immediately commenced, and completed in less than thirty days, a lineof fortifications around Helena, by means of which, on the 4th of July, with a force of less than 3,000 men, hesuccessfully resisted and defeated a rebel force of about 18,000 men, under General Holmes. General Salomon hadsole command of all the troops around Helena, and the successful repulse of the rebel attack is to be attributedto his engineering ability and admirable generalship. He planned and constructed the defenses, and was in supremecommand during the battle.
After a short leave of absence on surgeon's certificate, General Salomon reported to General Steele, at LittleRock, on the 27th of September, and was assigned to the command of the Third Division, Seventh Army Corps. Hiscommand remained at Little Rock during the winter. On the 23d of March, 1864, the Third Division formed part ofthe forces of General Steele designed to cooperate with General Banks, in the Red River Expedition, and marchedto Camden, encountering the enemy, and successfully driving him before them.
On the return march, his division occupied the position of rear guard, and it was the successful resistance whichGeneral Salomon made against the 20,000 rebels, who attacked him at Jenkins' Ferry, on the Saline River, that savedthe retreating army of General Steele from destruction. He maintained his position as rear guard till the armyreached Little Rock. Out of a force of 5,220 officers and men, the casualties in this campaign of five weeks, were1,775, killed, wounded and missing.
General Salomon remained in service in Arkansas till the close of the war. In the winter of 1865, he was BrevettedMajor General.
["Source: The Military History of Wisconsin: a record of the civiland military"; By Edwin Bentley Quiner; Publ. 1866; Transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack.]
Otto O. Wiegand
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| During thirty years of residence in Shawano county, Mr. Wiegand has had a very busy career,has been identified with various useful activities in the city, and in recent years his time and services havebeen required in the public interests. He was a member of the Legislature, session of 1891 and 1892. He is nowthe efficient county clerk of Shawano county, in his second term, having been elected on the Republican ticket,and taking office in January, 1911. He was re-elected in November, 1912. Prior to that he acted as deputy countyclerk nine months during 1910, and before that served as supervisor of assessments of Shawano county. He was firstappointed to that office by the tax commission in August, 1905, and was formally elected by the county board ofsupervisors in 1907. Mr. Wiegand has had his home in the city of Shawano since 1888, and in the county since 1884. |
| His native place was Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where he was born on a farm July 9, 1860,a son of Carl and Fredericka (Hamann) Wiegand, both natives of Germany. The father, a substantial farmer who diedin 1871, came to America during the decades of the forties and located in Wisconsin in 1848, the year in whichthe territory became a state. His home was in Manitowoc county. The mother preceded her husband to Manitowoc countyby a few months. She had married in Germany Mr. Mortz Mavis, who died soon after they settled in Wisconsin, andshe then married Mr. Wiegand. Her death occurred in 1895. Otto O. Wiegand spent his boyhood on the home farm inManitowoc county, getting his education in the country schools, and also attending the Oshkosh Normal. His educationalequipment fitted him for work as a teacher, and he was thus engaged for three years in Manitowoc county and oneyear in Shawano county. During his residence in Manitowoc county, he acquired an interest in a cheese factory andin 1884 moved to Shawano county to establish a cheese factory in the town of Washington. That venture did not provea success, and was abandoned after two seasons. For two seasons following Mr. Wiegand conducted a sawmill and taughtschool one winter. Moving into the city of Shawano he bought an interest in the Shawano County Advocate, one ofthe well known local newspapers, and was identified with its management and editorial control for ten years. Sellingout he went into the telephone business, establishing an independent line in Shawano county. He was manager ofthe Independent Company for two years, at the end of which time he sold out and resumed the management of the Advocatefor Mr. M. J. Wallrich. A year later he went into the canning business, and was connected with that work threeyears until his appointment as supervisor of assessments diverted him from private business to public affairs. Mr. Wiegand has been twice married. In 1886 he married Miss Anna Schultz of the town of Two Rivers in Manitowoccounty. She died in 1896 leaving two children, Edna and Oscar. In 1905 Mr. Wiegand was united in marriage withAlberta Rueckert, of the town of Washington, Shawano county. Their four children are: Ashley, Grace, Alberta andPearl. Fraternally Mr. Wiegand is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. | |
