HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


elected as one of the seven members of the first board of education of Manitowoc.
His acquaintance is wide, and he has a host of friends whose high regard
he has
gained through his professional ability, his deference for the opinions of
others,
his genial manner and unfailing courtesy.
GEORGE VITS.
George Vits, president of the Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company,
of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and one of this city's enterprising and progressive
business men and public-spirited citizens, is a son of Henry Vits, who founded
the company and was its leading spirit from the time that it was only a small,
and still doubtful venture until it had reached proportions that placed it
among
the leading industries of Manitowoc. The Aluminum Goods Manufacturing
Company was organized January i, i908, combining three large manufacturing
concerns, namely: The Aluminum Manufacturing Company of Two Rivers,
Wisconsin; the Aluminum Manufacturing Company, of Newark, New Jersey;
and the Manitowoc Aluminum Novelty Company, of this city. In i9ii, follow-
ing out the idea to combine all three under one roof, a factory building
was
erected in Manitowoc, three stories in height, three hundred by forty feet,
with
an adjoining power plant, one hundred and fifty by fifty feet. The service
tower is thirty by fifty feet, and the entire plant is operated by electricity.
The
buildings are of brick, with lower floors cemented, the cross beams and pillars
are of iron, the second and third floors of mill construction, and all the
struc-
tures are absolutely fireproof, the automatic sprinkler system being installed
throughout. A force of six hundred employes is necessary to handle the busi-
ness, the product being a general line of novelties and cooking utensils,
although
the latter are manufactured only as a side line. The company bears the reputa-
tion of manufacturing the best goods obtainable, and sells its product all
over
the United States and in foreign countries, being absolutely independent
of any
other concern. The Manitowoc Aluminum Novelty Company was organized in
i898, with Henry Vits as president; William F. Pflueger, secretary; and Wil-
liam Vits, vice president- and superintendent. The concern was started in
a
small way, and grew until it employed one hundred and thirty people. The
Two Rivers Manufacturing Company was organized about i895 by Joseph
Koenig, and the Hamilton brothers, and at the time of the reorganization
was
employing one hundred and fifty people. The New Jersey Aluminum Com-
pany has been in operation since i8go, and brought a force of over one hun-
dred people to the new organization. The present officers of the company
are:
George Vits, president and general manager; F. Magee, secretary and treasurer,
and Joseph Koenig, vice president.
Henry Vits was born in Rheydt, Rhine Province, Prussia, Germany, Jan-
uary 21, 1842, being a son of William H. and Henrietta (Laufs) Vits, the
latter
of whom died in the fatherland. William H. Vits brought his family in I855,
after a trip here in I854, when he bought land in Meeme township, Manitowoc
county. On this he built one of the first grist mills in the county but later
sold