This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Schlueter Brothers
John H. Schlueter
1854 – 1935
Percy Schlueter
John Schlueter Retires
Watertown Daily Times, 07 17 1933
Article includes pic
After making cigars; continuously for almost
three-quarters of a century, John Schlueter, the oldest cigar maker in
Watertown and one of the oldest in the state, has laid aside his mold and will
spend the remainder of his days looking back upon a life of activity and
accomplishment.
Mr. Schlueter, maker, of hand-made cigars,
has stopped the manufacture of his product and when he disposes of the 40,000
cigars he now has on hand, will drop out of the business entirely. For the past
52 years he has been making cigars at his present location in
"I can make as many cigars today as I
could when I was younger," the veteran cigar maker, now in his eightieth
year, states. In May I made more than
5,000 cigars, which is as many as I made when I started in business here."
While Mr. Schlueter has been at the same
stand for 52 years, he has been a cigarmaker for 65 years - since he learned
the trade from his late brother, William, who at the time was employed at Millers.
Shortly after he learned how to make cigars,
his brother William and he formed a partnership and made cigars together at
their home near the Sharp corner. Soon
the business grew and larger quarters were needed. They moved to the Hawkins property just west
[should be east?] of his present building.
In 1881, the year of the big snow, he was compelled to vacate and move
to the building he now occupies. William
Hawkins, he says, ran a store on the bridge.
After the bridge went out that year, carrying the store building with
it, William moved into his brother's building, occupied by the Schlueter
brothers.
Mr. Schlueter has had many interesting
experiences during his 65 years as a cigar maker. For many years he traveled
for the company, calling on customers in 42 towns in this vicinity. The trips were made by horse and buggy. In the winter a cutter was used as the mode
of travel.
"I'll never forget the night I had to
stop at Oak Grove. This was long before
1900. I tipped over in the cutter and
was forced to stop at a hotel there for the night. The deep snow made it impossible to go
on. I slept with my clothes on, used all
the covers I could find and still I nearly froze to death. That night I shall never forget.”
Recalls Indians
At another time, Mr. Schlueter, accompanied
by his son, now the Rev. Ben Schlueter of Oshkosh, tipped over in a cutter a
few miles south of Hustisford. This
time, however, the horse didn't wait for him.
Leaving the passengers behind, he trotted into the city, leaving Mr.
Schlueter and his son to “hitch-hike" into town.
For many years Mr. Schlueter traveled with
J. J. Toussaint, proprietor of a wholesale liquor and wine establishment here,
the former his cigars and the latter his liquors and wines.
"Although Joe sold many different kinds
of liquors and fine liquors too, he very seldom drank any himself," Mr.
Schlueter recalls. "He did, however, drink the wines he sold."
Mr. Schlueter vividly recalls the Indians
that inhabited the city during his boyhood days. Near Boughton’s
bridge there were nearly 100 Indian huts.
He recalls having seen hundreds of squaws with their papooses strapped
to their backs, walking through the streets here. The husband, he says, always rode the horse,
while the squaw and the papoose walked along beside.
_________________________________________________________
Watertown Daily Times, 10 17 1935
Article includes pic
John H. Schlueter, 81, one of Watertown's
most widely known older residents, died last night at his home, 915 Tenth
Street. His death, which took place at 5:15 o'clock, followed an illness of
seven days.
Mr. Schlueter, who until a few years ago was
one of the city's leading cigar manufacturers, was a life long resident of
Watertown. He was born here August 25,
1854, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Schlueter.
After his preliminary education he learned the cigar-makers trade and
followed it all his life.
For many years he conducted a cigar business
with his brother, William, under the firm name of Schlueter Bros. They turned out many popular brands of cigars
and enjoyed a successful business over a long period of years. Upon the death of his brother he continued the
business until his retirement, a few years ago.
Mr. Schlueter was married October 14, 1875,
to Miss Emily Kresensky. She died 12 years ago.
Surviving him are seven sons, Dr. Arthur J.,
Dr. Frank F., Harry, Walter P., Dr. Mark A., and Percy C. Schlueter, all of
this city, and, the Rev. E. Benjamin Schlueter, Oshkosh. There are 15
grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. One sister, Mrs. Herman Gillis, this
city, also survives.
Mr. Schlueter was a member of St. Mark's
Lutheran Church and for many years was a member of the Northwestern College board. He was active in many affairs here over a
long period of years .and his store of knowledge about early days in Watertown
made him an excellent story teller and a source of general information about
the city.
Mr. Schlueter was a life-long smoker and
even in his last years was seldom without his cigar. It was told of him that he sometimes smoked
as many as two dozen cigars a day.
People who knew him for many years say they cannot recall seeing him
without a cigar. He was in good health
until recently and enjoyed a long life of useful activity in the community.
With his passing the city loses another of
its old residents, a man whose span of years covered all the progress which the
city has made from almost its very beginning.
While his death had been expected during the last few days, it came as a
shock to most of his friends throughout the city last night.
The funeral will be held from the Nowack
funeral home Saturday at 1:30 p.m. with services at 2 o'clock in St. Mark's
church. The Rev. Julius Klingmann and
the Rev. William Eggert will officiate.
Burial
will be in Oak Hill cemetery.
Percy Schlueter
Watertown Daily Times, 02 14 1908
Percy, the fourteen-year-old
son of John Schlueter, met with a very painful accident about 4:30 o'clock
yesterday afternoon. While the accident was bad enough as it was, the young man
is lucky that it was not worse.
It seems that the youth
got into a neighbor's barn and got hold of a piece of dynamite fuse with a cap
on the end. He thought it was a piece of electric wire. Not knowing what the
cap was, he attempted to remove it by putting it on a grindstone. The result
was that there was an explosion. The boy was quite severely cut and bruised
about the face. His left eye was also cut quite badly as well as one of his
hands. Immediately after the accident, the young lad was taken to St. Mary's
hospital, where the wounds were dressed and he was made as comfortable as possible
under the circumstances. While the injury to the eye was the worst of all, the
victim of the accident is fortunate, inasmuch as he will not lose the sight of
the same.
