Читать книгу Memoirs of Milwaukee County, Volume 5 - Josiah Seymour Currey - Страница 17

Within a short space of five or six decades Milwaukee has been transformed from a frontier town into a great manufacturing center. Vast business enterprises are here found and controlling these are many men who deserve to be ranked with the captains of industry in the middle west. In this connection mention should be made of Joseph G. Bach, of the Abel & Bach Company, trunk manufacturers, of which he is the president and treasurer. Milwaukee numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred on the 13th of August, 1886. His father, Joseph Bach, was born on his father's farm at Newburg, Wisconsin, in 1852. The grandfather was Mathias Bach, a native of Germany, who on coming to the new world settled on a farm near Newburg, Washington county, Wisconsin, where he successfully carried on agricultural pursuits for a number of years. He had served in the Franco-Prussian war and after his arrival in America he became one of the prominent citizens of his adopted county. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years. In young manhood Joseph Bach became a salesman and in 1882, in connection with Henry Abel and Henry Fitzgerald, he established what was known as the Abel, Bach & Fitzgerald Company, which name was changed in 1887 to its present form. Joseph Bach was a model citizen and popular in the community. He was one of the founders of the Columbia, a German Catholic weekly, which was first issued in 1882. He continued in connection with the manufacturing business throughout his life and became sole owner of the business following the death of Mr. Abel and the withdrawal of Mr. Fitzgerald from the partnership. He married Catherine Ament, who was born at Baraboo, Wisconsin, on a farm of her father, John Ament, who was a native of Germany. Mrs. Bach makes her home in Milwaukee.

Joseph G. Bach was educated in St. Rose's parochial school in Milwaukee and in the Marquette Academy and ultimately was graduated from the Marquette University in 1906, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He next became a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied mining engineering, spending four years there, during which time he became a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the Theta Nu Epsilon. With his return from college he entered upon his father's business, first as a traveling salesman, in which connection he continued for five years and then entered the factory, acquainting himself -with all the details of manufacturing as well as with the sales end of the business. He had two brothers who were associated with the enterprise — Edmund J. Bach and A. A. Bach, who were president and secretary-treasurer, respectively. The former died in the year 1916 and the latter died in 1920 and following the death of E. J. Bach, Joseph G. Bach succeeded to the presidency and has since been at the head of the business. He became the treasurer upon the death of his brother, A. A. Bach, and now occupies the dual position. A large trunk manufacturing business has been developed, the trade covering a wide territory and the enterprise constitutes one of the chief productive industries of Milwaukee.

On the 3rd of July, 1916, Mr. Bach was married to Miss Elsa Luscher, a daughter of Adolph Luscher, a lumber salesman of this city, who died in 1917. Mr. Bach and his wife have three children: Gerald, Joseph G., Jr., and Nancy Ann. While Mr. Bach votes with the republican party he has never been actively interested in politics, having no desire to fill political positions. In religious faith he is a Catholic, connected with Gesu parish. He belongs to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, the Calumet Club and the Association of Commerce and is also a member of the executive board of the Baggage Manufacturers' Association. He is fond of music and has played the violin in orchestras and music constitutes an important feature in the home life, for Mrs. Bach also manifests an equal love of the art and possesses considerable talent in connection therewith. Mr. Bach is likewise interested in outdoor sports and was the manager of the Marquette Football Association while in college. He derives great pleasure from motoring and takes long tours and thus in various fields he finds that needed rest and recreation which constitute an even balance to his intense business activity and enterprise.