Manufacturing Hall of Fame

Born in the town of Honey Creek in Sauk County, Wisconsin, Emanuel Philip was a farmer, rural school teacher, telegraph operator, railway station agent and train dis­patcher until 1890, when he became a contracting freight agent for the Gould railway interests, including the Union Refrigerator Transit Company of Ken­tucky, of which he served as President from 1897-1903. From 1894 to 1908 he was also general manager of the Uihlein-Pabst lumber interests in Mississippi. In 1903, Philipp organized the Union Refrigerator Transit Company of Wisconsin, purchased the property of the Union Refrigerator Transit Company of Kentucky, and moved its offices and business from St. Louis to Milwaukee. The company engaged in the operation of refrigerator and other railway cars. He was its President until his death. Philip was also a prominent figure in Wisconsin Repub­lican politics, serving as Governor for three terms between 1915-1921, during the diffi­cult period of World War I.

John Plankinton came to Milwaukee in 1844. The small community was a “natural” for his mercantile business. Five years later he began packing beef and hog prod­ucts to meet a large demand. Before his death, Plankinton was active in executive capacities with a number of Milwaukee business establishments.

From 1850 to 1861, Edwin Reynolds worked in various shops in New England, Ohio, and Indiana; and from 1867 to 1877 was employed by the Corliss Steam Engine Co. of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1877 he moved to Milwaukee at the request of Edward Phelps Allis to become superintendent of the Edward P. Allis Co. In this capacity, Reynolds developed the Reynolds-Corliss engine. He was a prime mover in the formation of the Allis-Chalmers Co. (1901) and was its chief engineer until his retirement in 1906. He designed the company’s machine shops at West Allis, as well as much of its machinery, and patented over 40 improvements in mining machinery, engines, air compressors, valve gears, etc., which were manufactured by that firm.

In 1847, Philetus Sawyer came to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and entered the lumbering business. With the increasing demand for lumber, Oshkosh and her neighbor­ing cities on the Lake Winnebago-Fox River waterway became the center of the lumber trade. Under these conditions, Sawyer amassed a for­tune which, during the Civil War, became even larger as his industry evolved from the sawmill and rough-lumber stage to planing mill and finished wood­ work. He owned pinelands and mills in the Menomonee valley and timberlands in the Chippewa valley, maintained lumber yards in Chicago, and had heavy investments in Wisconsin banking and railroad enterprises. Long a leader in Wisconsin Republican politics, he served as Congressman (1865-1875) and United States Senator (1881-1893). He was noted for generous gifts to education.

Following time as a postal clerk and bookkeeper, F.J. Sensenbrenner began his Kimberly-Clark Company career in 1889. He became a stockholder in the company in 1907, rising in the ranks until eventually becoming president and director, where he served from 1928 to 1942. He also served on the Kimberly-Clark Board of Directors and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, including as president, until his death in 1952. In addition to his work at Kimberly-Clark, Sensenbrenner helped found the Wisconsin Manufacturers Association – WMC’s predecessor – in 1911 to ensure employers had a voice at the State Capitol.

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Zalmon Summons settled in Kenosha in 1849 and operated a store. He purchased one-half interest in the Wisconsin Telegraph Co. As the Northwestern Telegraph Co., the firm expanded until 1881 when, as an operator of 20,000 miles of line in the midwest, it was leased to Western Union. Simmons was also president, from 1858 to 1864, of the Kenosha, Rockford and Rock Island Railroad and in 1889, he organized and built the Manitou and Pike’s Peak Rail­road. He was president of the First National Bank of Kenosha from 1871 to 1909 and organized, in 1872, a firm to make cheese boxes. Out of this grew the Simmons Co., one of the largest bed and bedding producers in the world. Simmons was active in politics, serving as mayor of Kenosha and as a mem­ber of the Legislature. 

Originally a native of North Prairie, Wisconsin, Arthur Smith moved to Milwaukee with his parents in 1874. He subsequently worked as a building contractor in Chicago and Kansas City. In 1896, he joined his father’s firm in Milwaukee, the C. J. Smith & Sons Co., manufacturers of bicycle frames. In 1899 he produced the first pressed-steel automobile frame in America. In 1904 he reorganized Smith & Sons Co. under the name of A. O. Smith Co. By the time Smith died, the company was the world’s leading producer of automobile frames and largest steel fabricating concerns in the world.

In 1905, Lloyd Smith joined his father, Arthur Oliver Smith, in the A. O. Smith Company. He be­came president of the firm upon his father’s death, serving in this capacity from 1913 to 1936, and from 1936 until his death he was chairman of the board of directors. In 1916 the firm was incorporated as the A. O. Smith Corporation. As head of the firm, he emphasized research and the development of new products. He developed an automatic plant for mass production of automobile frames, pioneered in the manufacturing of large steel pipe for oil and gas lines, and developed steel pressure storage tanks, glass lined steel barrels and other products.

Born in Canada, at fifteen years old Isaac Stephenson moved with Jefferson Sinclair, a prominent Maine lumberman, to Milwaukee. In association with Sinclair and Daniel Wells, Jr., he settled at Marinette in 1853. From this base he became one of the leaders in the lumber industry, with extensive holdings in Green Bay, Milwaukee, Chicago, and the Great Lakes region. He founded or was associated with the I. Stephenson Co., the Sturgeon Bay & Lake Michi­ gan Ship & Canal & Harbor Co., and the North Ludington Co. He started the Stephenson National Bank of Marinette. He en­dowed the Stephenson Library and was generous to many Wisconsin institu­ tions. A staunch Republican, he served as a Wisconsin assemblyman (1866-68),
U. S. Congressman (1888—39), and U. S. Senator (1907-16).

In 1868, James Stout entered the lumber business as an employe of Knapp, Stout & Company of Menomonie, Wisconsin. This firm had its milling center at Menomonie but it also had mills in northwestern Wisconsin and outside the state. He was a member of the firm from 1889 until its dissolution in 1904. He was prominently identified with other large business and manufacturing interests in Wisconsin and other states. At the time of his death, he was presi­dent of the First National Bank (Menomonie), and the Bank of Menomonie. He gave generously to the cause of vocational education, traveling libraries, and was the founder of Stout Institute (now University of Wisconsin – Stout). 

After attending Marietta College in Ohio, John Stowell he settled in Milwaukee in 1856, where he engaged in the manufacture of sawmills and in newspaper work. In 1867, with Delos L. Filer, he founded the Cream City Iron Works which manufactured circular sawmills, steam engines, and other products. The business expanded and in 1893 it was incorporated as The Filer & Stowell Co., Ltd. Stowell was its president until his death, and was also president and co-founder (1895), with Charles E. Sammond, of the Stowell Manufacturing and Foundry Company of South Milwaukee. Stowell was in the state assembly (1862), Mayor of Milwaukee (1882-1884), and held other local offices.

A native of La Crosse, Nicholas Trane and his father, James, incorporated the Trane Company in 1913 to manufacture and market the father’s patented valves, traps, and boiler accessories for steam heating systems. Trane was pres­ident of this firm from 1910 to 1951, and chairman of the board of directors from 1951 to 1953. A holder of 27 patents in heating, ventilating, air condi­tioning, and heat transfer, he was instrumental in developing beating and air conditioning systems, heating specialties, unit heaters, convectors, refrigeration and air conditioning units. Under his leadership, the firm became a leader in the industry.

Theodore Trecker came to Milwaukee in 1886, completed a machinist apprenticeship, and went to work for Kempsmith Manufacturing Co. In 1898, he formed a partnership with Edward J. Kearney to manufacture milling and boring machinery. Trecker was elected president of Kearney & Trecker Corporation in 1920 when the company was incorporated in Wisconsin, and served as president until 1947; as chairman of the board of directors, 1947-48; and as honorary chairman from 1948 until his death. During his tenure, the company became the world’s largest exclusive manufacturer of milling machines. Trecker’s concepts of machine tool design and function resulted in ten basic patents in his name. He pioneered the development of machinist apprenticeship education in Wisconsin. He was presi­dent of the National Metal Trades Association; twice elected president of the village of West Allis; an incorporator or that city; and a founder of the West Allis Savings & Loan Association. His philanthropies were many, with special personal concern for the welfare of his employees. Fittingly, he con­ceived and instituted in 1942 an employe profit-sharing retirement plan – the first in the machine tool industry.

Born in Germany, August Uihlein came to Milwaukee in 1850 with his grandfather, George Krug, whose son, August, had founded the Krug Brewery in Milwaukee. Upon August Krug’s death, his bookkeeper, Joseph Schlitz, assumed direction of the company which later bore his name, and about this time married the widow of August Krug. Meanwhile, August Uihlein, who had been employed in the Uhrig Brewery in St. Louis, returned to Milwaukee in 1867 and joined the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Upon the death of Joseph Schlitz in 1875, August Uihlein assumed direction of the brewery. He was later joined by his brothers, Henry, Edward and Alfred. Upon Mrs. Schlitz’s death in 1887, the brothers acquired control of the company. August Uihlein was prominently identified with banking, real estate, and other business activities.

Henry Vits migrated with his parents from Prussia to the United States in 1854, settling in Meeme township in Manito­woc County. In 1873, he moved to Manitowoc where he taught school before engaging in the tannery business until 1897. In 1898 he established the Mani­towoc Aluminum Novelty Company to manufacture aluminumware. In 1908, he consolidated with the Aluminum Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers and the New Jersey Aluminum Company of Newark, New Jersey, to form the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company. He was president of the consolidated organization until his retirement in 1911. He maintained other business interests, was interested in public schools, held local political offices, and was state assemblyman in 1878.

A polish immigrant, Sylvester Wabiszewski settled in Milwaukee in the late 1880s. After an apprenticeship in masonry, he started his own business as a general contractor in 1892. As a contractor, he constructed many of Milwaukee’s finest churches, office buildings, schools and factories. In 1916 he became associated with the Maynard Electric Steel Casting Company, when the ten year old firm was in financial difficulties. Within a year he was president and occupied that office until his death. Under his leadership, the indebtedness was paid off and the company became the second largest steel casting foundry in the Midwest. He was vice-president (1907-1928) and president (1923-1929) of the Mitchell Street State Bank. He was a leader in many religious and civic activities and was a liberal contributor to American Relief for Poland, Inc., at the end of World War II.

Born in Waubeka Edward Wadewitz moved to Racine in 1895. He was a bookkeeper for a local ship chandlery in 1906 when he acquired a small basement print shop. This enterprise, incorporated in 1910 as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, eventually expanded under Wadewitz’s leadership and became the operating unit of Western Publishing Company, Inc., one of the world’s largest printing and publishing firms and the world’s largest producers of children’s books, games and kindred items, as well as commercial and advertising print­ing of all kinds. Wadewitz became a leader of national trade associations and institutions devoted to education and research in the industry. He served as president of the company (1935-1953) and Chairman of the Board of Directors (1962-1955). He was also a director of a number of other business corporations.

William Walker came to Wisconsin in 1874, settling in Racine. He was associated in executive capacities with various concerns until about 1897 when he became treasurer and manager of the Racine Economy Spring Company and, in 1908, its owner and president. Incorporated in 1888, the company manu­factured springs for farm wagons. In 1912 the firm’s name was changed to Walker-Moore Manufacturing Company and on June 16, 1915, to Walker Manufacturing Company. Walker was president until his death. Under his management, the firm grew to one of the nation’s leading designers, producers, and suppliers of automobile jacks and accessories. Automotive exhaust systems and filters were added as later products.

A native of Milwaukee, Chester Wanvig attended Michigan College of Mining & Technology before becoming manager and secretary of Wallace & Smith Com­pany, then one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of saddlery, in 1910. Convinced that the future was in automobiles, he liquidated Wallace & Smith and, with his brother, John D., Jr., he acquired Globe Electric Company, manufacturer of storage batteries. The business was incorporated in 1928 as Union Battery Company of Chicago; in 1936 the name was changed to Globe-Union Manu­facturing Company. Wanvig was president from 1925 to 1949; chairman of the board from 1949 to 1954, and chairman of the board and president from 1954 to 1958. At the time of his death, Globe-Union was manufacturing bat­teries, electronic components, spark plugs and other items in 22 plants in 17 communities in the United States and Canada. He was a member of the boards of directors of several other large corporations including Employers Insurance of Wausau, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Wanvig was regent of The University of Wisconsin; a member of the governing boards of Marquette University and Milwaukee-Downer College. In 1955, he and his wife gave the infirmary to the Scandinavian American Old Peoples’ Home and donated the Recovery Unit to Columbia Hospital. He was one of the founders of the local chapter of Junior Achievement.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Arthur Warner settled in Beloit in 1882. He developed a cut meter, a magnetic device for measuring the speed of cutting tools and elevator motors. To manufacture this device, the Warner Instrument Company was organized in 1903. As an outgrowth of the cut meter, Warner developed a speedometer. In 1912 the Warner enterprise was acquired by John K. Stewart, who organized the Stewart-Warner Speedometer Company. In 1914, the warner Manufac­turing Company was established to manufacture auto and truck trailers, with Warner as president until its dissolution as a Wisconsin firm in 1925. In connection with his work on trailers, he developed an electric brake, and later an electric clutch, and in 1927 established the Warner Electric Brake and Clutch Company, and served as its president until his retirement from active business life in 1934.

Daniel Wells settled in Milwaukee in 1836. As a member of the firms of Dousman & Wells (1847-1849) and Wells & Hill (1849-1856), he traded in grain, wood, and other products. After being active in politics at the state and federal levels until 1856, he concentrated on his vast business enterprises, including large timber holdings and part ownership of several large lumber companies. Active in railroad promotion, he served as president of the La Crosse & Mil­waukee, the Southern Minnesota, and the St. Paul & Minnesota Valley rail­roads, and was a director of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. He was a director of the Wisconsin Marine & Fire Insurance Com­pany, Milwaukee; and president of the Green Bay Bank and its successor-­ the First National Bank of La Crosse.

After completing a steel moulding apprenticeship at Krupp in Essen, Germany, Conrad Werra came to the United States in 1885, and to Milwaukee in 1888. For the next decade, he worked in Milwaukee, Beloit, and Manitowoc. In 1896 he founded the Two Rivers Iron Works, producing iron, brass, bronze and aluminum castings. In 1900 he organized an all-aluminum foundry at Manitowoc, where he pio­neered in alloying and creating a market for the new metal. This enterprise was incorporated in 1906 as the Aluminum Foundry Company and grew rapidly with the increasing use of aluminum. He suggested to his friend Henry Vits that he make aluminum products. Thus, Aluminum Goods Manu­facturing Company was born. Werra used the aluminum clippings and fall from that firm as one source of raw material for his castings. In 1910 Werra’s business became part of the Alumi­num Company of America as the Aluminum Casting Company, and he con­tinued as manager until 1913, when he founded the Werra Aluminum Foundry Company in Waukesha. In 1937 this became part of the General Malleable Corporation.

George Whiting came with his parents to Wisconsin in 1854, settling in Ripon, and until 1876 was employed in various businesses in Janesville and Neenah. In 1875 he purchased an interest in the Winnebago Paper Mill Neenah, and in 1881, with William Gilbert of Chicago, organized the Whit­ing & Gilbert Company in Menasha. In 1886 he bought out his partner’s interest in the Menasha mill and in 1911 incorporated the enterprise as the George A. Whiting Paper Company. In 1893 he organized the Plover Paper Company at the junction of the Plover and Wisconsin rivers. The town that grew up around the mill was called Whiting. The offices of the firm were even­tually moved to Stevens Point as the Whiting-Plover Paper Company. Whiting was identified with several other business and financial institutions in the state including the George A. Whiting Paper Company. He held local government offices in Neenah, and was noted for his contributions to education and various charities.

Cyrus Yawkey moved from Chicago to Wisconsin in 1889, settling in Hazelhurst, where he helped organize the Yawkey & Lee Lumber Company, which became the Yawkey Lumber Company in 1893. Yawkey served as secretary-treasurer, general manager, and after 1903 president of this company. In 1899 he moved to Wausau where he was one of the organizers of the Marathon Paper Mills Company in 1909 (later the Marathon Corporation), and served as president of this firm from 1909 to 1938. He was president of the Wisconsin Valley Electric Company, the Hazelhurst & S. E. R. R. Co., and the Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company; he was vice-president of the Wisconsin Box Company, the Wausau Paper Mills Company, and the American National Bank of Wausau. 

As a high school gradu­ate from Washington County in Wisconsin, he began his business career in West Bend in 1902 as a dealer in insurance and real estate. His business continued growing and in 1920 was incorporated as B. C. Ziegler & Co., with Ziegler as president. Under his direction the firm became one of the nation’s leading underwriters and distributors of church, school, and hospital bonds. In 1911 he was the moving spirit in the founding of the West Bend Aluminum Company, and its president from 1921 until his death. He built the company into the largest independent manufacturer of aluminum kitchen utensils in the country. As founder of the First National Bank of West Bend in 1917, he served as its president and chairman until his death. Other business interests and many community affairs received his constant attention during his lifetime.