HISTORY OF MANITOWOC COUNTY


William Theis, a business man of Chica go; Joseph, who is engag4 d in business
with his father; Max, a physician of Manitowoc; Rosa, who married Otto
Hagen, a business man of this city; and three children who died in infancy.
Mr.
Staehle contracted a second marriage with Miss Mary Haueisen, also a native
of
Germany.
In political matters Mr. Staehle is a republican, and he has been active
in the
interests of his party. He has served in the offices of assessor, alderman
and city
treasurer, and for fifteen years was school clerk. He and his wife are devout
members of the Catholic church, to which his children also belong.
OTTO SEASTEDT.
Otto Seastedt, who is the owner of a well improved and valuable property
in Manitowoc Rapids township, in the cultivation of which he has been success-
fully engaged for the past fifteen years, is one of the progressive agriculturists
and enterprising businessmen of that community. He is a native of Sweden,
his birth having occurred on October I5, I854, and one of the eight children
born to Carl and Augusta Seastedt, who passed their entire lives in the old
coun-
try.
The first fourteen years in the life of Otto Seastedt were passed in the
land
of his birth, but he early developed a longing to come to America, and his
par-
ents giving their consent he crossed the Atlantic in i868 to join relatives
in
Galesburg, Illinois. It was necessary for him to earn his own livelihood
and
very soon thereafter he obtained employment on a farm near that city, where
he remained for six years. He was an energetic, ambitious youth, who desired
to make as much as possible of his life and every opportunity it afforded.
With
this purpose in mind he made arrangements with his employer to attend school
during the winter months, and thus he supplemented the meager education he
had acquired in the old country. He has always been a keen observer and a
broad reader and today he is exceptionally well informed on all current topics,
and is able to converse intelligently on every subject of vital interest.
In i88o,
he left the farm and came to Door county, Wisconsin. Having decided to with-
draw from agricultural pursuits entirely, he then sought and obtained employ-
ment in a general mercantile establishment. This proved to be a most excellent
training school and he intelligently applied himself to the mastery of every
detail
of the business, continuing to be connected with the same company for six
years. At the expiration of that time he felt that the broadening influence
of
travel would prove helpful in promoting his development so he went to Cali-
fornia. It was both a pleasure and business trip combined, and he decided
to
remain should he succeed in finding a location to his liking. No especially
ad-
vantageous location presented itself, however, and he retraced his steps
toward
the east, finally settling in Oceana county, Michigan. He again engaged in
com-
mercial activities and for ten years thereafter was the head clerk in a general
mercantile store there. The close confinement and long hours, however, proved
most taxing on his vitality and owing to the state of his health he was forced
to
engage in something that would enable him to live out of doors the greater
part


88