Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 3 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 10

William Kolloge, president of the Kolloge Hardware Company of Milwaukee, has introduced into the business of which he is the head, a spirit of steady expansion and development that has resulted in making it one of the important enterprises of this character in the city. What he has accomplished represents the fit utilization of his powers and talents and his labors at all times have been wisely directed. Born in Milwaukee on the 22nd of August, 1882, he is a son of Henry and Elise (Roepke) Kolloge, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It was about the year 1857 that the father crossed the Atlantic and became a resident of Milwaukee, where later he engaged in the hardware business as a member of the firm of Hilgendorf, Kolloge & Company, located at No. 303 Third street. There he engaged in business for thirty-seven years, becoming one of the forceful and representative merchants of the city and retiring only a short time before his death, which occurred July 19, 1913.

William Kolloge obtained his education in the public schools of this city and received his initial business training by entering his father's store, starting at the age of seventeen years. There he continued until he reached the age of thirty-two, when he and his brother, Herman F. Kolloge, organized the Kolloge Hardware Company and established business at 367 Third street. They began with a small retail store and their business has steadily increased and developed throughout the intervening years until they now have a large trade with the contractors and factories, making theirs one of the important enterprises of this character in the city.

In 1906 Mr. Kolloge was married to Miss Pauline Schlinsock, a daughter of Captain G. and Anna (Hoffman) Schlinsock. They have become parents of five children; Thelma, William, Lorna, Herbert and Alva. The religious faith of the family is indicated in their membership in the Trinity Lutheran church. Mr. Kolloge is also identified with the Association of Commerce and is in hearty sympathy with the plans and purposes of that organization to develop and extend the trade relations of the city and to maintain high standards of municipal service and of civic progress. He likewise belongs to the Builders & Traders Exchange. In politics he is a republican of the liberal type, voting for the principles of the party at national elections but casting an independent ballot at local elections if his judgment dictates this to be the wiser course. He has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring always to concentrate his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, and the thoroughness and capability with which he has managed his interests in association with his brother have led to the attainment of substantial prosperity.