Rathsack, Wilhelm

Other Events:

• Reference Number: 8901
• Biography: 1911; History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin

Notes:

Other Info or Events:
Children;
William Karl Rathsack
Son
15 Dec 1869
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
15 Mar 1944
Manitowoc , Wisconsin, USA

Annie C Rathsack
Daughter
27 Dec 1871
Manitowoc, Wisconsin


Louis Carl Rathsack
Son
25 Jun 1874
Wisconsin
5 Nov 1943
Manitowoc , Wisconsin, USA

Mathilde C Rathsack
Daughter
15 Apr 1879
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
31 Mar 1933
Manitowoc, , Wisconsin, USA

Charles Leo Rathsack
Son
19 Apr 1880
Wisconsin
1 Nov 1945
Manitowoc , Wisconsin, USA

Ella A Rathsack
Daughter
19 Nov 1883
Manitowoc, Wisconsin
19 May 1963
Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Biography:
WILLIAM RATHSACK, SR.
This is a bio. sketch from "History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin"
by Dr. L. Falge, 1911-1912, v.2, p.104-109.
William Rathsack, Sr., one of the most prominent and successful business
men of Manitowoc, is the president of the firm of William Rathsack & Son,
a wholesale and retail hardware concern which has been conducted at No. 814 Jay street since March, 1910. His birth occurred in Vorpommern, Germany, on the 10th of December, 1848, his parents being Christian and Louisa Rathsack, whom he accompanied on their emigration to the United States in 1854, the family home being established in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The father, who held the office of mayor in Vorpommern, determined to come to America because of the revolution in Germany. He worked at the blacksmith's trade in early manhood but later purchased a farm in Manitowoc and subsequently divided the property into lots. He possessed only eleven hundred dollars at the time of his arrival in this country, but met with prosperity in his undertakings and eventually became a wealthy man. His demise occurred in 1898, when he had attained the age of ninety years, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1893 at the age of seventy-four. Both were buried in Evergreen cemetery. They had long resided in this county and were well known and highly esteemed within its borders.William Rathsack, whose name introduces this review, attended school in Manitowoc until fourteen years of age and then drove a stage for two years.
He next learned the tinsmith's trade and was employed at that occupation
for a period of thirty-eight years. In 1893, feeling that his capital and
experience justified him in embarking in business on his own account, he
opened a tinsmithing establishment and later added a hardware department. Success attended his efforts from the beginning and he is now at the head of the largest hardware concern in the county, at the present time conducting business under the firm style of William Rathsack & Son. He erected the structure in which the business is now carried on and also built his residence and a summer home. The business methods of Mr. Rathsack and his associates commend their establishment to the confidence and patronage of the public, for at no time have they swerved from the
strictest commercial ethics but on the contrary have based their actions
upon the rules which govern integrity, indefatigable enterprise and close
application.
On the 1st of August, 1876, in Manitowoc, Mr. Rathsack was united in
marriage to Miss Annie Weber, who passed away on the 24th of July, 1908,
and was buried in Evergreen cemetery. They were the parents of six
children, as follows: William, Jr., who acts as vice president of the firm
of William Rathsack & Son; Annie, who gave her hand in marriage to Arthur
Ben, a stonecutter; Louis, who acts as foreman of the tin, plumbing and
steamfitting departments of the firm of William Rathsack & Son; Tillie,
the wife of Adolph Kadow, who is engaged in the butchering business;
Charles, the secretary of his father's establishment; and Ella, who is the
wife of Dr. Norman T. Zigilniski.
In politics Mr. Rathsack is a republican, while fraternally he is
identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a devoted
and consistent member of the German Lutheran church, and assisted in the
erection of its house of worship. The period of his residence in Manitowoc
county covers fifty-eight years and he has long enjoyed an enviable
reputation as one of its foremost business men and citizens. Those who
have known him since his boyhood have witnessed with interest his progress
and rise in the world, and have rejoiced in the recognition which has come
to his ability and genuine worth. His history is that of the man who
resolutely faces the conditions of life, realizes what are the obstacles
and difficulties as well as the opportunities and sets himself diligently
to the task of overcoming the former and improving the latter.

Wilhelm married Weber, Anna Louise 1 Aug 1876. Anna was born Abt Jun 1848; died 24 Jul 1908, Manitowoc, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]