HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


Meixner, of Milwaukee, this state; Ida, who married Elmer May, of Galena,
Illinois; Herman, who is a resident of Kiel; and William A., our subject.
William A. Roehr pursued his education in the public schools of Kiel until
he was thirteen years of age, when he laid aside his text-books and became
a
wage earner. He began work in the factory where he is now employed and
has ever since been in the service of this company, a period of twenty years.
At
first his hours were long and his duties hard for a boy of his age, and he
received
only a dollar and a half a week.  He was diligent and faithful and applied
himself intelligently to acquiring a fuller knowledge of the business. His
em-
ployers recognized his worth and promoted him in accordance with the ability
he manifested. In i900 he was made foreman of the shipping department, and
has ever since held this position.
In I905 Mr. Roehr was united in marriage to Miss Ella Prueter, who was
born in Sheboygan county, on the ioth of April, I885, the only daughter of
Carl and Sophia (Somner) Prueter. Her mother passed away in I887, but the
father is living retired in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Roehr are mem-
bers of the Reformed church and number among its congregation many friends
of long years' standing.
JACOB J. STRADAL.
Jacob J. Stradal, one of the well known citizens and practical agriculturists
of the town of Cato, whose forty acre tract is situated on section 4, was
born
in November, i862, in Bohemia, and is a son of Peter and Annie Kamen
Stradal, natives of that country, where his mother died when Mr. Stradal
was
only four years of age. His father was again married in Bohemia, and the
family -came to America in 1873, settling in the town of Kossuth, Manitowoc
county. The father is now living in the town of Franklin, having attained
the
age of seventy-eight years. Jacob J. Stradal was the third in a family of
four
children, and he was reared to the life of a farmer, remaining at home until
he
was sixteen years of age. At that time he commenced to work for wages in
the
lumber mills in the northern part of the state and eventually became a lumber
inspector, an occupation at which he worked steadily for fifteen years.
His farm of forty acres is practically all under a high state of cultivation,
fenced with barbed and woven wire and supplied with excellent buildings.
His
barn in dimensions twenty-six feet by seventy-two feet, was on the land when
he purchased it and was remodeled in 1908. His two-story frame residence,
of
eight rooms, was built in i9ii, and is modern in every respect. He does gen-
eral farming, markets dairy products, hay and grain, milks eight graded cows,
and breeds to Percheron horses. He is progressive in his ideas, and ranks
high
among the agriculturists of his community.
On November I4, i888, Mr. Stradal was married to Miss Elizabeth Collins,
who was born June 25, i869, the seventh of nine children born to Richard
and
Bridget (Munhall) Collins, natives of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Collins were
married in New York state, and came to Wisconsin during the late fifties.
settling in the town of Franklin, Manitowoc county, where they purchased


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