website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
William Buchheit, Sr
1827 – 1911
William Buchheit Malting Co
American Malting Co.
Fleishmann Malting Co.
Old Elm Mills
1852
William Buchheit, grain dealer; born in
Bavaria, August 15, 1827; came to America in 1851; landed at New York City
April 8, 1851; came to Milwaukee in May of the same year; came to Watertown and
located in August 1852. “The History of Jefferson County, Wisconsin”,
Chicago: Western Historical Company. 1879.
Engaged in the liquor business for a number of years; carried on a
rectifying establishment and did a large wholesale business after doing a
retail business for some years.
1852c
William Buchheit, tenant
in Werner bldg on Main St Bridge, “bier halle.”
Plank Road Brewery
He also built and carried on a brewery for awhile. Corner
of Dayton and W Main St.
In 1852 William Buchheit and Charles Reidinger opened a small brewery on this site, called the
Plank Road Brewery, near the Mud Tavern. In 1865 it was acquired by Friedrich Schwartz
of Milwaukee who brewed “weiss beer” or wheat been in
this plant and in 1867 it closed.
Afterwards the buildings were used as a glue factory, before burning to
the ground in 1871.
1857
On July 30, 1857, he was married in Watertown to Helena Weis, a
native of Prussia; they have ten children living - Anna, Helena, Mena, Amelia, Josephina (Mrs. William Sproesser),
William Jr., Alexander, Henry, Gustav and Albert.
1860 In 1860, he commenced business as a commission and produce
merchant.
1865 In 1865, he commenced buying grain and is now one of the
largest and most prosperous grain dealers in the West.
1888 William
Buchheit Malting Co. began in 1888. Later known as the American
Malting Co., the Fleishmann Malting Co. and eventually simply as Old Elm Mills.
1889
Buchheit, William & Son, Malt House, Weltburger, 12 07
1889, drawing
1902 William Buchheit
home, 605 S. Fourth Street
1919, William Buchheit home purchased; site for Trinity Lutheran
Church
1910 Wireless Message to the Times
08 26 The first wireless
message ever received by a daily newspaper in Watertown was received by the Daily
Times on Saturday afternoon, but too late for publication. It was sent by Alex Buchheit,
who with his father, Wm. Buchheit, are
returning home from a visit to Germany.
The sending of the message was prearranged and was given to the wireless
operator when on board ship 1000 miles from New York. It was transmitted to the Postal Telegraph
Company and sent by phone to the Times
from the postal station in Madison. The
message reads as follows:
"Steamer Grosse Kurfuest, 1000 miles from New York. Arrive Tuesday. Are in rough sea and
passing Icebergs." Buchheit.
They are expected home
on Thursday – [Watertown Daily Times] WG
1911 DEATH OF WILLIAM BUCHHEIT /
One of Watertown's Oldest, Best-Known and Most
Progressive Business Men
05 25
His Death is Sincerely Mourned
by the Citizens of Watertown
Sunday morning, May 21, 1911, Wm. Buchheit
died at the family home, 605 Fourth Street [present location of Trinity
Lutheran Church], this city, at the close of an illness of about two weeks,
which confined him to his home. His
final ending was peaceful and he passed from earth surrounded by the members of
his family, whom he had always so well and generously provided for.
Mr. Buchheit
had enjoyed unusually good health for a man of his advanced age and for many years
past took yearly trips to his old home in Europe, which seemed to put new life
and vigor into him. Two months ago he
began to fail, suffering no particular ailment aside from general debility.
Mr. Buchheit
was born in Zweibruecken, Bavaria, August 15, 1827,
and came to America in 1851, landing in New York City April 8 of that year; the
following May he came west as far as Milwaukee, and for a time was traveling
solicitor for The Wisconsin Banner, a
German newspaper and from there came to Watertown in August, 1852, and engaged
in the liquor business and later did a large business in rectifying and
wholesaling liquor; he built one of the first breweries in the state, but it
was destroyed by fire before it was put in operation.
In 1860 he started a commission
and produce business, which developed into one of the largest in the northwest,
it being necessary to have warehouses in various places to accommodate his
trade. He added grain buying to his
business in 1865 and interested the farmers in this section of the state to
engage in the growing of barley.
In 1866 he started the Buchheit block in Third Street and as his business
increased he added to it in 1874 and again in 1878, making it one of the
largest business blocks in the city.
He incorporated the Wm.
Buchheit Malting Co. in 1888, and conducted a large
malting business in Watertown for many years, finally selling out to the
American Malting Co., and then identifying himself with other interests here.
In 1883 he was elected
president of the Bank of Watertown, a
position he held up to the time of his death.
From the time he first engaged in the commission business till the time
of his death every interest he identified himself with flourished and grew in
importance. He was a farseeing, conservative, yet very progressive business
man, and contributed generously of his means to every public enterprise, and
encouraged by both word and deed everything that
tended to advance the interests of Watertown.
In a business way his
judgment was always the best, and many a citizen profited by his good advice
and sound judgment. He also possessed a
genial, sunshiny disposition and never failed to greet his friends and
neighbors with a pleasant smile and a kind word, usually having some little
joke to relate when he stopped a moment for a pleasant chat. In his death our city loses a business man
who has done a great deal not only for Watertown but for the surrounding country, and his family a husband and father who always
provided well for their wants and comforts.
Mr. Buchheit
was married July 30, 1857, to Helena Weis of this city, who survives him with
ten children, who are as follows: Mrs. Carl E. Emmerlmg,
Watertown; Mrs. Fred Vullmahn, Chicago; Mrs. M. F. Blumenfeld, Watertown; Mrs. John Mithen,
Omaha; Mrs. William Sproesser, Watertown; William Mithen, New York City; Henry Buchheit,
Buffalo, N. Y.; Alex Buchheit, Attorney Gustav Buchheit, Watertown; Dr. Albert Buchheit,
Park Ridge, Ill. Fourteen grandchildren
also survive him.
This afternoon his
funeral took place from his late home to
Oak Hill Cemetery. In respect to
Mr. Buchheit's memory the Bank of Watertown was
closed all day on Thursday and the Merchants National and Wisconsin National
Banks closed at 1 o'clock. WG
1946 The mill burned in 1946 and again in 1959.
1957
1957 City Dir ad
1959 Mill
burned in 1946 and again in 1959. Only
part of the structure remains today and it is now the location of Y’s
Way Carpeting.
1960
11 27 Construction
of the new plant of the Old Elm Mills is well along. With the construction method employed, about
seven full days of work is required to erect the building, which will be 105
feet high by 36 feet by 52 feet. The
plant will be of poured concrete, slip form construction. It will replace the building destroyed by
fire on April 29 of last year.
Construction work is in charge of the Mid-States Construction of Omaha,
Neb. The ready-mix concrete is being
provided by the Tri-County Redi-Mix of this
city. Cost of the plant and rebuilt
warehouses will be approximately $140,000.
WDT
1985
Y’s
Way Carpeting: Y’s Way Flooring
founded in 1985. Everything
from flooring to carpet cleaning to installation and supplies. 809 Station St.
Cross-References:
Ignatz Mallachowitz,
employee, barley buyer
Ellis Mendenhall
[1840-1920] “The 1st well I drilled in Watertown was for Mr. Buchheit — 406 feet with my light drill”
