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ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
Schlueter Brothers
John H. Schlueter
1854 – 1935
Percy Schlueter [son of John]
Dr. Marcus A.
Schlueter [son
of John]
1898 - 1982
1893 Indian Cigar Sign
11 02 A fine new cigar sign in the shape of a
figure representing an Indian ornaments the front of Schlueter Bros.
cigar manufactory. This firm's business is
rapidly increasing and its goods satisfy everybody. WG
1895
01 23 It has long been an established fact that the manufacture of
cigars in this city is of no small moment in business circles. A visit to the different concerns by the
average citizen would be one of surprise at the number of men employed and the
amount of material used. There are eight
firms here engaged in this enterprise, whose combined output the past year
reached the enormous total of 3,220,000 cigars.
The old-established house of Wiggenhorn
Bros. took the lead, their manufacture amounting to 1,600,000, and besides
this they sold 500,000 cigars for a Pennsylvania firm. The other firms doing business here are Wilkowski Bros., Schlueter Bros., Kramer and Neumann, J. S. Miller, William
Buending, Charles Becker and J. Goodnetter . . . WR
1896
06 19 Schlueter Bros. exhibited a novel buttonhole bouquet at their
cigar store on Wednesday and John Beisner had a beautiful and novel bouquet at
this place of business on Thursday. WG
1933 John
Schlueter Retires
07 17 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 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 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. WDT
Article includes pic
_________________________________________________________
1935 John
Schlueter, 1854-1935
10 17 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. WDT,
Article includes pic
_________________________________________________________
Percy Schlueter [son of John]
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.
_________________________________________________________
Dr. Marcus A.
Schlueter [son
of John]
1898 - 1982
1982
08 30 Dr.
M. A. Schlueter, 84, formerly of 313 1/2 East Main Street and a dentist in
Watertown since Aug. 9, 1919, died this morning at Watertown Memorial Hospital.
Funeral services will be held
Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church with the Rev. Walter Schumann
officiating. Burial will be
in Oak Hill Cemetery.
Schlueter. was born
Jan. 1, 1898 in Watertown, son of John and Emilie Schlueter. On Aug. 20, 1923 he married the former
Florence Stettler. She preceded him in
death July 12, 1963.
Schlueter was a graduate of the
high school department of Northwestern
College in Watertown, and was a 1919 graduate of Marquette University's
Dental School.
Following graduation, Dr. Schlueter
started a dental practice here, and continued the practice until retiring
several years ago.
He was a member of Trinity
Lutheran Church, Plattduetscher Verein, Wethonkitha Club, American Legion Post
No. 189, and Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and American Dental Societies.
He was a veteran of
World War I.
He is survived by Mrs.
Hazel Krueger of Watertown, a close friend, and nieces, nephews and other
relatives and friends.
He was the last member
of his immediate family. He was preceded in death by eight brothers.
_________________________________________________________
Florence Schlueter [wife of Markus]
1897 - 1963
Death
Takes Mrs. Mark A. Schlueter, Widely Known Resident
Mrs.
Mark A. Schlueter, 65, of
Mrs.
Schlueter, whose husband is a dentist, was the former Florence Stettler. She was better known as “Flossie” by all her
friends and countless acquaintances.
Born
in Madison on
Surviving
are her husband and one sister, Mrs. William Miller of Jefferson. A brother and a sister preceded her in death.
Mrs.
Schlueter was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, the Jefferson County Dental
Society Auxiliary and the state and local women’s bowling associations.
The
funeral will take place Tuesday at
Cross References:
Albert P. Benke (1870–1944) in early life
was a cigar maker, working for the Miller Cigar Co. and later for Schlueter
Bros., before going into the floral business.
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin