website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Mid-States Shoe Co
316 Hart Street
c.1923
-- -- WILLIAM
A. SCHUMANN
1930
10 07 WALTER BOOTH SHOE CO / 316 Hart Street
6” x 23” (rolled)
Mr. Booth
died in 1936. The following year the
concern became the Mid-States Shoe Co
c.1930
-- -- WILLIAM
A. SCHUMANN
William A.
Schumann, director of production for the Mid-States Shoe Co., and vice
president of the firm, retired on July 1, 1959, at the age of 69. Mr. Schumann was associated with Mid-States
and its predecessors for the last 48 years, and all told has been associated
with the shoe manufacturing business in Watertown for 53 years.
c.1940
EMPLOYEE ID
BUTTONS [unknown
years and employees]
1956
01 05 WILLIAM
BEISNER
William Beisner, who left Watertown nearly two years ago to accept a
position with a shoe manufacturing concern in Palmyra, Pa., has returned to the
city and has rejoined the Mid-States Shoe Company, with which he was employed
in an executive capacity before he left.
For a number of years before he left, Beisner was in charge of the
operations of the Mid-States plant at Waterloo under the superintendency of
William Schumann. He is returning to
Mid-States employ in the capacity of a “roving quality man,” Mr. Schumann
announces, and in that position will be associated with all Mid-States
plants. In addition to Watertown and
Waterloo, Mid-States operates plants at Waupun and Fox Lake. WDT
04 29 OLD ELM MILL FIRE
Mid-States Shoe had some of its men on its roof with water and wet bags to
prevent the Elm Mill
fire from starting on their property.
05 12 WILLIAM SCHUMANN RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED
One of the city's prominent
and well known industrialists, William A. Schumann, director of production for
the Mid-States Shoe Company, and vice president of the firm, will retire on
July 1. He will be 70 on July 30. Mr. Schumann has been associated with Mid-States
and its predecessors for the last 48 years, and all told has been associated
with the shoe manufacturing business here for the last 53 years.
07 02 WILLIAM
SCHUMANN RETIRED
William A. Schumann, 109 North Maple Street, today retired
from the shoe manufacturing business, with which he has been associated for 53
years. The last 48 years were spent with
the Mid-States Shoe Co. here and its predecessors. At the time of his retirement today Mr.
Schumann was director of production and vice president of the company. He first went to work on Sept. 5, 1905, and
worked in various capacities in a series of shoe manufacturing concerns which
led to the Mid-States Shoe Co. operation in the city. Among them were the M. D. Wells Co., Beals
and Torry, the Beals-Pratt Shoe Manufacturing Co., and the Walter Booth Shoe
Co. Mr. Booth died in 1936 and the
following year the concern became the Mid-States Shoe Co. WDT
11 11 THE HOUSE OF CROSBY SQUARE
International recognition and honor have come to a product
of The House of Crosby Square, shoes manufactured by the Mid-States Shoe Co.
which operates plants in Watertown and Waterloo. The 1959 National Samples Fair of Rome, Italy
awarded its three highest honors to The House of Crosby Square - including the
Grand Cup Trophy of Honor, the highest honor that can be conferred by the fair;
the Gold Medal, the second highest honor; and the third highest honor, the
Diploma of Merit. The awards went to the
Caesar Process shoes which the company manufactures and which were sent to
Italy for the exhibition. WDT
1963
09 12 WATERLOO PLANT TO CLOSE
The Mid-States Shoe
Company, which has operated a plant in Waterloo for the past 25 years has
revealed its intentions to discontinue that operation. Production of merchandise in the Watertown
plant will, undoubtedly, be consolidated into the Watertown operation. The Times
has learned from a reliable source that the Waterloo factory is to be operated
by another shoe company which will commence operations in approximately 30
days. WDT
1964
01 24 EMPLOYEES WITH 40 YEARS
OR MORE OF SERVICE
George Lane, manager of
Watertown Branch of the Mid-States Shoe Company, announced today that the
company will honor 10 of its employees who have had 40 years or more of
continuous service with the company.
Those to be honored are: Leona
Korban, Ben Schumacher, Lester Kuckkahn, Carl Steckling, Arthur Lenius,
Frederick Pautz, Raymond Kulm, Fred Kresinske, Gilberg Jurick and Clifford Kuehnemann. WDT
12 17 HAND-SEWN VAMP SHOES
The fastest known dryer
for hand-sewn shoes for use in the shoe industry, which has been designed by A.
R. Anderson, industrial engineer for the Mid-States Shoe Co. and built by the
company’s local maintenance staff, has been put into operation at the company’s
Watertown plant. It is being used in the
recently established hand-sewn division.
Members of the staff are Clarence Krueger, plant engineer, Sheridan
Chamberlain, William Lueck and Edwin Seefeldt. The sheet
metal work was done by Kurt Meise of the Kopp Sheet
Metal Works in Watertown. WDT
1965
05 26 HAND-SEWN VAMP SHOES
Members of the board of
directors of the Watertown Association of Commerce Promotive Corporation toured
the plant of the Mid-States Shoe Company on Thursday. Of particular interest to the group was the
department in which hand-sewn vamp shoes were made. Crosby Square, a division of Mid-State Shoe
Company, is the state’s first shoe manufacturer to make genuine hand-sewn vamp
shoes on the production basis. Extensive
preliminary testing of the hand-sewn shoes began in 1964. In October of that year a limited line of
these shoes was launched, and in March of this year a full line of genuine
hand-sewn vamp shoes in 17 styles were introduced. WDT
06 20 $25,530 GRANT
The Mid-States Shoe
Co., Watertown, has been awarded a grant of $25,530 by the United States
Department of Labor under the Man Power Development and Training Act. The announcement was made in Washington by
Congressman Robert W. Kastenmeier after he was
notified by the department of approval of the grant. The grant will enable Mid-States to conduct a
20-week apprenticeship training program for 60 hand-sewers in its hand-sewn
vamp shoe department. WDT
1966
09 20 LOEFFLER HONORED
The Mid-States Shoe Co.
honored Fred J. Loeffler at a retirement party at Otto’s Inn Saturday
evening. Mr. Loeffler began his
employment with the company in 1926, and has held the position of purchasing
agent for the past forty years. During
this period of time he had the responsibility of purchasing more than twenty
million dollars worth of supplies and materials for
shoes. Many changes have taken place
during his administration, both in personnel and procedures of operation. One of the latest changes was for the
production of hand sewn shoes at the Watertown plant. This type of shoe is a popular item on the
shoe market today. WDT
1967
05 20 100th ANNIVERSARY
Mid-States Shoe
Company, Milwaukee, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month.
Mid-States, presently a manufacturing subsidiary of Shoe Corporation of
America, began operations in Milwaukee as Beals,
Torrey & Co. At that time the firm
was both a manufacturer and a wholesaler of men’s boots and shoes. Operations evolved through several changes of
ownership and product emphasis to its present structure. Today, MidStates,
which operates a plant in Watertown, one of the major product producers for
Shoe Corporation of America, is the manufacturer of Crosby Square Shoes for men
and Classmate children’s shoes. The
Crosby Square line was created during the Great Depression of the 1930s and
proved to be the catalyst for continued growth during those critical
times. WDT
08 05 124 EMPLOYEES HONORED
One hundred and twenty-four
employees of the Mid-States Shoe Company, all of whom have worked for the firm
here for 25 years or longer, were honored at a special program held at
Riverside Park Saturday in connection with a company picnic and outing. The special recognition program was conducted
in connection with the 100th anniversary observance of Mid-States. Each of the 124 employees received a plaque
and a gift. Fred Loeffler, who had been with
the firm for 40 years until his retirement last October, served as master of
ceremonies, and also gave a history of the company covering its 100 years of
existence. He had been the purchasing
agent here. WDT
1968
03 05 NO LONGER MID-STATES SHOE
The parent company of
the local shoe factory no longer is Mid-States Shoe Company. It is now known as the Crosby Square Division
of the Shoe Corporation of America, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Mid-States was a subsidiary of Shoe
Corporation of America. The Waupun plant
is now known as the Classmate Division of the Shoe Corporation of America. WDT
Cross References:
Beals-Torrey
Shoe Company
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin