Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 3 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 52

Not only has Herman A. Ohm figured actively in connection with important business interests of South Milwaukee but has also taken a most helpful part in public affairs in the city, his influence and labors being an effective force in advancing substantial progress and improvement. He is now filling the position of postmaster and at the same time is fully meeting all the requirements that devolve upon him as president of the South Milwaukee Mutual Loan and Building Association. Mr. Ohm is a native son of Wisconsin, his birth having occurred in Dodge county, March 14, 1857, his parents being Frederick and Minnie (Richards) Ohm, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to the United States in 1856, settling in Dodge county, Wisconsin, and the father there followed the occupation of farming, while as soon as possible he took out his citizenship papers, for it was his intent to become an American with his removal to the new world. Toward the close of the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army. He died September 22, 1898. His wife long survived him, reaching the advanced age of eighty-six years ere death called her on the 15th of January, 1920.

Herman A. Ohm was educated in the public schools but his opportunities in that direction even were quite limited. From the age of nine years he has made his own living, and recognizing the value and need of further educational training, he attended night school when a lad and studied by the light of an old lamp which he still has in his possession and which he greatly prizes, as it is to him the symbol of the effort and the opportunity which he had for acquiring an education. For some years . In his youthful days he worked in factories, being employed at different times in a hub and spoke factory and in a stave factory. Later he went to Iowa, where he was employed at farm labor for two years and in 1876 he removed to Nevada, where he worked at various jobs in the mining camps for a period of five years. He next entered the employ of Lieutenant Governor Jewett Adams of Nevada, to cook for a crew of cowboys who were moving a herd of five thousand head of cattle out of Death Valley to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Before reaching their destination, however, they left their cattle, which were sold.

In 1881 Mr. Ohm went to Minnesota, to which state his parents had removed, and there he bought a team of horses and began work for the Northwestern Railroad in connection with construction work. When that task was finished he was transferred to Spalding, Michigan, and continued to work on railroad construction for the Northwestern. Tiring of this business after a time, however, he sold his team and entered the employ of the Spalding Lumber Company. For some years he did jobbing work with several teams and was engaged in hunting up pine lands for the company. For six years he conducted a hotel known as the Spalding House, in the town of Spalding, and then became permanently located upon his removal to South Milwaukee in 1894. Here he purchased a lot and in 1895 erected a store building and stocked it with groceries. For some time he successfully conducted the business and then sold out, once more engaging in the lumber business, which he followed for some time. At a. later period, however, he again became interested in the grocery trade in connection with his stepson, under the firm name of Ohm & Riley, continuing in the business for several years. He is now the president of the South Milwaukee Mutual Loan and Building Association, his associate officers being: P. Knoll, Jr., vice president; Viola M. Scott, secretary and treasurer; and W. J. Riley, attorney. The annual statement of the company shows an excellent condition. They have loans in force on real estate to the value of two hundred and fifty-seven thousand two hundred dollars. There is a paid up stock of one hundred and fifty-seven thousand two hundred dollars and in fact every phase of the business shows careful management and keen discernment, the enterprise proving at once a source of revenue to the stockholders and of great benefit to the community.

Mr. Ohm is likewise active in connection with the public life of South Milwaukee. He was elected the last president of the village before it was incorporated as a city in 1896. He has served as president of the board of education for several years and for a number of terms has filled the office o! alderman. He was appointed postmaster on the 2nd of March, 1915, and was reappointed to the office on the 29th of August, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson.

On the 27th of March, 1883, Mr. Ohm was united in marriage to Mrs. Margaret J. Haggerson and to them have been born a son and two daughters: Howard F.; Lillian, the wife of Robert Hayman of South Milwaukee; and Irene, deceased. By her former marriage Mrs. Ohm had two children: William J. Riley, who is city attorney of South Milwaukee; and Miles C. Riley, who is an attorney of Madison, Wisconsin, and has been secretary of the governor's conference for several years. Mr. Ohm belongs to several fraternal organizations and his personal qualities win him warm friendships, while his business ability and progressive citizenship class him with the leading and representative residents of South Milwaukee. His experiences of life have been broad and varied and have brought him a thorough and accurate understanding of real values and worth in all that goes to make up modern-day existence.