Bio: Lemke, William F. (1866 – 19??)

Contact: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Lemke, Giese, Lange,

---Source: History of Marathon County Wisconsin and Representative Citizens, by Louis Marchetti, 1913.

Lemke, William F. (6 January 1866 – 19??)

WILLIAM F. LEMKE, who is one of the leading men and reliable citizens of the town of Berlin, resides on the old Lemke homestead situated in section 23, which contains eighty acres, fifty of which were cleared by his father. He was born in Germany, January 6, 1866, and is a son of Fred and Austina (Giese) Lemke. The parents were both born in Germany and belonged to the educated class. They came to America in 1869 and established their home in Marathon County, Wis., settling in the woods in the town of Berlin, their first home being a rude shanty on the site of the present comfortable farm house. Fred Lemke helped to build the first road in the township and became a man of considerable prominence here. He was elected to school offices for twenty years, was town assessor for two years, and helped to erect the first Lutheran Church, of which he was an officer for thirty years. He served five years as agent for the Berlin Fire Insurance Company, of which he was a charter member and first representative. His death occurred at the age of sixty-two years and his burial was in the Naugart Cemetery. His widow survives and resides with her son.

William F. Lemke attended school in a log building in Berlin District No. 1, after which he engaged in farm work and spent several years both before and after his marriage, in the town of Stettin and then returned to the homestead. He was three and a half years old when the family first settled here and one of his earliest impressions of the new home was when a violent storm came up and the roof of the house was torn away, his father being absent at the time. He resides in section 23 on the east side of the north and south road and in all, owns 200 acres of land, on which he carries on general farming and raises Guernsey cattle. He is a stockholder in the Citizens State Bank and the German-American Bank and is president of the Naugart Telephone Company, of which he was a charter member. After thirteen years of useful service on the board of Agriculture, being vice president during six years of that time, Mr. Lemke resigned in 1912. In politics he is an Independent Republican. For three years he has been school clerk of District No. 1; for six years has been chairman of the town of Berlin and takes an active interest in all matters pertaining to the public welfare. For the last three years he has been treasurer of the Berlin Farmers Mutual Fire and Lightning Insurance Company, of which he has been a member for six years.  

Mr. Lemke married Miss Bertha Lange, a daughter of Fred Lange, now deceased and they have the following children: Paul, Lydia, William, Herbert, Erwin, Hertha, Carl, Raymond, Alice, Alfred, Roy and Ramona. All the older children have been attending college, and all are sure of having the best of educational advantages afforded them. The family belongs to the Lutheran Church at Naugart, of which Mr. Lemke is a trustee.