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Schimmel Cigar Store
William Schimmel
1858 - 1941
1909
02 12 1909, WG
William Schimmel’s Residence Wrecked by a Gas Explosion
Face of Mr. Schimmel Badly Burned, and His Wife's Face Burned and Arm
Broken
Report of Explosion Heard Nearly a Mile Away
Shortly after 2 o'clock Monday morning a gas
explosion occurred at the home of Wm. Schimmel at 420 North Church Street,
which made a sad looking wreck of his fine home and nearly killed Mr. Schimmel
and his wife. At about 2 o'clock that
morning Mr. Schimmel awoke and smelled the escaping gas in his house and he
called his wife. They got up and raised
a number of windows and opened several of the doors and then went down [to the]
cellar and opened the cellar door to let out whatever gas was in that part of
the house. When he felt there was no
more danger of an explosion, he lit matches and searched for a gas leak in the
piping, and as he reached a point in the cellar where a wooden door led into
the space under his sitting room, gas escaping through a crack in the door
ignited and the explosion followed, throwing Mrs. Schimmel to the floor of the
cellar and breaking her left arm. Both
she and her husband had their faces badly burned and the wonder is that they
were not killed. Mr. Schimmel carried
his wife to the second story of his home and called in the neighbors to look
after her. The sitting room floor was
rent in thousands of pieces and fire set in.
The fire department responded promptly and
put the fire out. The ceilings and walls
of the sitting room, dining room and parlor were badly shattered and windows
and doors blown out. The front outside
brick wall of the sitting room was blown down and the brick walls all around
the house were cracked and bulged out. It
appears the gas escaped from a weak joint at an elbow in the gas pipe under the
sitting room of the house and that the gas had been escaping there for quite a
time and so great was the amount stored there that when ignited it exploded
with terrific force. Mr. Schimmel's loss
will no doubt be at least $1500. It is a
very serious loss to him, but he feels thankful that himself [sic] and wife
escaped with their lives. All day Monday
hundreds of people visited the scene of the explosion and all expressed
surprise at its seriousness and wondered that both Mr. Schimmel and his wife
escaped with such slight injuries.
Mr. Schimmel’s loss is fully covered by
insurance and a satisfactory settlement has been made.
1937
04 06 1937
Article
includes pic
One of Watertown's last veteran active
cigarmakers, a man whole spent 64 years in the game, has retired. He stepped out yesterday from active business
and has closed his
The man is William Schimmel, head of the
William Schimmel and Son cigar store, located at Main and North Water
streets. He went to work for Wiggenhorn brothers when he was but 15 years of
age. It was considered the thing to do
those days, to start work at an early age and learn a trade. Mr. Schimmel
learned the business from the ground up and became an expert cigarmaker and
later went into business for himself. He
started as a tobacco stripper and gradually got a place "on the
bench" and daily made his share of cigars, back in the days when the cigar
business in Watertown was booming. In
1908 he went into business for himself, first opening a place in
With Mr. Schimmel's retirement passes another
link in Watertown's once famous cigar industry, when it had many local
factories, employing several hundred cigarmakers.
Among the cigars which bore the Schimmel mark
were such favorites as the S and S, Havana Special, Juanita, and the noted
182. The concern also made cigars for
special trade and concerns and at one time employed from 16 to 18 men in its
shop.
The formula for the Schimmel cigars never
varied. He always insisted on the best
and saw to it that his trade got it. The
cigars turned out at his factory enjoyed not only a wide local sale, but
popularity in a wide area and in many distant places.
"Things have certainly changed a lot,
especially in the retail line," Mr. Schimmel said today in announcing his
retirement. "Why when I started in
the business Watertown was known far and wide as a famous cigar city, and any
young man who took up the business got into a fine field and learned a good
trade. But things are different
now. There is hardly any young man going
into the game these days. Machine made
cigars and the immense national sales campaigns by nationally circulated cigars
have made a thing of the past for the smaller factories. Some day these may come back, but I doubt
it. But it was a great business while it
lasted. I am glad to have had a part in
it in Watertown. We made many fine
business contacts and I appreciate the years of support which our trade gave
us. Now, I am ready to take it easy and
loaf and enjoy a rest."
Son Takes New Job
Walter A. Schimmel, who has been associated
in the business, will become associated with the Tri-County Tobacco Co.,
formerly the Miller Cigar company, in
The store building which Schimmels are
vacating will probably be occupied soon by another concern. Several interests are negotiating for the
place but no deal has been closed thus far, it was said.
Mr. Schimmel recalled that Charles A. Kading,
former congressman, bought the first box of cigars from him when he opened the
business and he was also the last man to buy a box when Mr. Schimmel closed out
his stock.
_________________________________________________
1941
10 31 1941
M. Schimmel Is Dead at 83
Former Manufacturer of Cigars
Here Will Be Buried Monday
William Schimmel, 83, former cigarmaker and
cigar manufacturer, died here today at the home of his son, Clarence Schimmel,
Mr. Schimmel retired from the cigars business
in 1937. He was a native of Germany and
was born
He married Miss Emma Speer on
Mr. Schimmel was a member of the
Plattdeutscher Verein. He served several
terms as alderman from the old Fifth ward and was a charter member of the
Cigarmakers Union here and served as its president.
The funeral held from the Hafemeister funeral
home. The Rev. C. W. Pinkney of the First Congregational church will officiate. Burial
will be in Oak Hill cemetery.
