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- JOSEPH KLINE is proprietor of the far-famed flourishing flouring-mill in Kaukauna bearing his name, and which is admirably situated on the Kaukauna Water Power Company's canal. He is a native of Outagamie county, Wis., born in 1846, within three miles of Kaukauna, in what is now Buchanan township, a son of Michael and Mary (Gross) Kline. The parents were married in Germany, and in the spring of 1842, together with their then family of four children, emigrated to the United States, coming westward to Wisconsin, where they settled in Kaukauna township, some three miles southeast of the present city of Kaukauna. Here the father bought forty acres of wild land, to which purchase he from time to time added land obtained from the government, until at the time of his death, in 1888, he owned 120 acres, all well improved. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religious faith he was a member of the Catholic Church, as is his widow, who is now living in Kaukauna at the age of eighty-three years. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Peter, who lives near Sauk Center, Minn. ; John P., living in the State of Washington; Mathias, residing near Appleton, Wis. ; Mary, wife of Joseph Marks, of Menasha; Joseph, our subject; Michael and Jacob, both residing in Kaukauna; John, who was killed by lightning; Catherine, Mrs. John Baum, of Appleton; and Catherine, who died when twelve years old. Joseph Kline, the subject proper of this sketch, received his education in the old log schoolhouse of the neighborhood of his boyhood home, and assisted in clearing up his father's farm, experiencing all the hardships incident to pioneer life. For six years his father had no team, and everything about the farm had to be done by hand in a very primitive manner. Flour, and whatever other necessaries of life were required, they had to carry on their backs from Green Bay (the nearest town), the beaten track being simply an Indian trail. One entire winter the family lived on oil peas, so impossible was it to tramp to Green Bay for supplies. In 1870 Joseph Kline and Anna Faas were united in marriage. She is a daughter of Joseph and Margaretta Faas, natives of Alsace, Germany, who in an early day came to this country, for a time locating in Calumet county, Wis., where Mr. Faas followed his trade, that of wagon-maker. Later they moved to Neenah, same State, where he died; his widow is now residing in Menasha. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Kline settled in Kaukauna, North Side, where he engaged in teaming and dealing in flour and other mill products. In 1883 he erected his present flour-mill, a four-story frame building, 40 x 60 feet, which he equipped with all modern improvements in machinery and other plant, being thoroughly adapted for a general milling business, including the manufacture of flour and feed, and he has met with the most encouraging success. At that time he was owner of eighty acres of land on the South Side, Kaukauna, and same year he platted an addition to the city, called Kline's Addition. The pretty bit of woodland, know as Kline's Park, forms part of his land, and he still owns considerable real estate, including many desirable building sites. Prior to his embarking in the milling business, our subject read law three years in the office of Humphrey Pierce in Appleton. To Mr. and Mrs. Kline have been born two children viz. : Anna, wife of Gerhart Tenburch, of Duluth, Minn., and Ollie, at home. The entire family are members of the Catholic Church, Mr. Klein being also a member of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin; politically he is a Democrat. He is a typical self-made man, having risen to his present position of comparative affluence by sheer industry, good judgment and close attention to business. Page 650Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago…
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1846 - 1932 (~ 85 years)