Book: An Illustrated Description of Milwaukee

From the book, "An Illustrated Description of Milwaukee," Issued by The Milwaukee Sentinel, 1890, page 177

Book: History of Milwaukee

From the book, "History of Milwaukee," The Western Historical Company, 1881, page 1511

From the Milwaukee Public Library

Henry E. Willer & Friends

Here is a newspaper clipping showing Henry E. Willer. I don't know when or from which newspaper this came from. The caption reads:

"When Gambrinus ruled, bock beer signs stood in front of 3,500 saloons in Milwaukee in the month of May. This group of well known Milwaukeeans was snapped at a club at the Quiet House, Mason and Broadway, "way back when."

Standing, left to right: A hop agent from California; Urban Durner, William Schroeder, Albert C. Blatz, Charles Wanderer, John Graf, William Wolf and Henry Winkler. Seated: Felix Heiber, John Stolper, William Cary, Henry Willer, E. J. Peege, Al Volz and John Kopmeier."

Link to Genealogy.com Page

Here is a copy of my posting on the following website:

http://genforum.genealogy.com/willer/messages/33.html


Henry Willer Jr., born April 18, 1884 was the son of Henry E. Willer, born May 19, 1859. Henry E. was the son of William Willer.

I recently found a paragraph in a book titled, "History of Milwaukee," 1881, that reads,"....Wm. Willer, the proprietor of the above described manufactory, is a native of Waldeck, Germany, where he was born April 8, 1831. He came from Germany direct to Milwaukee, where he arrived May 19, 1854. On landing he was without means and in debt to the amount of $13. From this very inauspicious beginning he has patiently and industriously labored to the point of acquiring a competency and being at the head of one of the important manufactories of his adopted city. His father, Bernhard Willer, who came to America one and one-half years after his son, is now seventy-four years old and a resident of the city. His mother, Christiana (Tepel) Willer, died in Milwaukee in June, 1873, at the age of sixty-three years. Mr. Willer married Miss Frederika Thomas, a native of Germany, August 1858. They have had ten children, two of whom, a son and a daughter died in infancy. Their surviving children are: Henry, 22 years old; Louisa, 20; Anna, 18; Paulina, 16; Martha, 12; Gustave, 10; William,7, and Frank, 4 years of age."

New Facility - 1881

Here is a picture/sketch of the expanded building. The picture is from an ad in a book titled, "Milwaukee's Great Industries" from 1892, found at the Milwaukee Public Library. The small building on the left of the picture is the original factory shown in the photo in the posting below.