Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 3 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 56

William L. Pieplow, secretary of the Alcazar Range & Heater Company, belongs to that class of men whose definite purpose and intelligently directed effort constitutes an element in public progress and general advancement as well as in individual success. The worth of his work in city affairs has been widely acknowledged and covers a broad scope. Mr. Pieplow was born at Bay View, one of the attractive residential sections of Milwaukee, April 12, 1876, his parents being Charles and Caroline Pieplow, natives of Mecklenburg, Germany. Establishing their home in Milwaukee many years ago, they here resided until called to their final rest. The father, who had been a sailor on the high seas in young manhood, was afterward identified with navigation interests on the Great Lakes. Subsequently he acted as foreman in the rolling mills of the Illinois Steel Company at Bay View for more than twenty-five years. He and his wife were consistent members of the Lutheran church and for an extended period Mrs. Pieplow was president of the Ladies' Aid Society of St. Lucas Evangelical church.

In the Lutheran parochial school and the public schools of Milwaukee, William L. Pieplow acquired his early education and afterward attended business college. He started out to provide for his own support when a youth of fifteen as a clerk in a hardware store. Three years before this time he had become cornet player in the Bay View Band and has always been deeply interested in music. In 1893 he accepted the position of office manager and associate editor of the American School Board Journal and made valuable contribution to the educational interests of Milwaukee during the decade in which he continued to act in the dual capacity. In this connection William George Bruce, publisher of the Journal, wrote of him: "I have had the opportunity of viewing the subject of this sketch at a close range and to observe from time to time his development and progress. When Pieplow came to the School Board Journal, of which I am publisher, he was fresh from a business school and inexperienced in the ways of the world. But he realized that he had much to learn, much to acquire, much to digest. He took an accurate measurement of himself, threw all conceit to the winds and applied himself with industry to his task. He not only became an accurate accountant and a good correspondent but he also mastered the English language so as to make him a forceful writer on school administrative topics. This in itself was an achievement. It not only meant close application to duty but at the same time a broadening of vision and a strengthening in general educational equipment. It required a dogged determination to swing himself into a higher and broader field of useful activity. Thus Mr. Pieplow succeeded in raising himself from a mere office clerk into an editorial writer on school administration of a higher order. During this time he also acquired proficiency in executive labors.

"When Mr. Pieplow entered the school board he at once assumed a commanding position. His familiarity with the subject of school administration, together with the high aims and purposes with which he was imbued and the unflinching attitude on all measures making for the better schools, were soon recognized. When he went to the legislature to ask for the abolishment of a school board of which he himself was a member it was freely predicted that he was doomed to oblivion. Some of his closest friends were antagonistic to his efforts. The progressive element to which he had allied himself and whose most prominent exponent he had become, won its battle. Instead of oblivion, new honors awaited him. The Judges of the local courts, to whom was assigned the task of creating a new school board, placed Mr. Pieplow's name first on the list of appointees. In the whole contest he was a picturesque figure, at all times eloquent and forceful, unselfish and bold.

"Mr. Pieplow is capable of much work, solving intricate problems and surmounting difficult obstacles. Mr. Pieplow is a fine type of the progressive man of the day. Let us have more Just like him."

On retiring from his connection with the School Board Journal Mr. Pieplow entered upon a two years' connection with Charles Lohr and Edward Boyle in the monument business and in 1905 became advertising manager of the A. J. Lindemann & Hoverson Company. A little later he accepted the management of the Arcadian Malleable Range Company and then became secretary of the Alcazar Range & Heater Company. In 1921 he concluded a trusteeship of the Frank J. Cameron estate, of which Adrian Cameron was the beneficiary, the estate amounting to a quarter of a million dollars. Mr. Pieplow is also the president of the Security Loan & Building Association and thus his business activities have largely been of a character that have contributed to public progress and improvement as well as to individual advancement.

On the 24th of April. 1901, Mr. Pieplow was married to Miss Emilie Klingbeil of Milwaukee, and they have one daughter, Erna, whose birth occurred May 6, 1903.

In politics Mr. Pieplow has ever been an earnest republican, working untiringly for the success of the party principles because of his belief in their efficacy as factors in good government. Mr. Pieplow has served as a member of the Milwaukee school board since 1902, having been reelected in 1913 and again in 1919. He served as president thereof for two successive terms — from 1917 until 1919 — and he had previously been president of the board in 1908-9, being called to the office when but thirty-two years of age. He has made many valuable suggestions for the improvement of the condition of the schools and his labors have been a tangible asset in bringing the public school system of the city up to its present high standard. In May, 1920, and again in 1921, he was elected president of the Milwaukee library board of trustees and he has been a director of the South Division Civic Association. His interest centers wherever the welfare of the community is under consideration and no plan or project for public benefit seeks his aid in vain. Both he and his wife are consistent members of the Layton Park English Lutheran church. His interest in music continues and he has served as the president of the Handel Choir, one of the representative musical organizations of the city, and is vice president of the A Capella Choir, a celebrated chorus organization of Milwaukee.