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.
