Herman Roethel (January 3, 1882 – February 17, 1956) was a

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

from

Kiel, Wisconsin Kiel is a city in Calumet and Manitowoc counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,932 at the 2020 census. Of this, 3,585 residents lived in Manitowoc County, and 347 residents lived in Calumet County. The city is located ...

, United States, who served two terms as a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

, first being elected as a

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and later as a Republican.

Background

Roethel was born January 3, 1882, on a farm in the town of Meeme in Manitowoc County, received a public school education and attended the short course in agriculture at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. He lived on the same farm for 32 years, making a specialty of raising pure bred Berkshire hogs and

Jersey cattle The Jersey is a British breed of small dairy cattle from Jersey, in the British Channel Islands. It is one of three Channel Island cattle breeds, the others being the Alderney – now extinct – and the Guernsey. The milk is high in butterf ...

on which he secured many prizes at the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

county fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhib ...

s for several years. He raised

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

on ; was active in the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Association, and from 1909 to 1915 was president of the Manitowoc County branch. In 1914 he sold his farm and moved to Kiel, assisted in organizing the Kiel Mercantile Association and became director and livestock shipper.

Political career

He had served as school

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

and village assessor before being elected to the Assembly in 1918, receiving 1,556 votes to 1,436 for

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Martin Rappel.

Assembly

He was elected as a Socialist in 1918 from the second Manitowoc County district (the

Towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Cato,

Cooperstown Cooperstown is a village in and the county seat of Otsego County, New York, United States. Most of the village lies within the town of Otsego, but some of the eastern part is in the town of Middlefield. Located at the foot of Otsego Lake in ...

, Eaton,

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

, Gibson, Kossuth, Maple Grove, Mishicot, Rockland,

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig (; ; ; ; ; ) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark. The territory has been di ...

, Two Creeks and Two Rivers; the

Villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

and Reedsville and the City of Two Rivers), with 1,556 votes to 1,436 for Democratic

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Martin Rappel. He was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, and to a

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

joint committee investigating the

State Historical Society of Wisconsin The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

. He was defeated in 1920 by Republican Thomas A. Sullivan in a three-cornered contest: Sullivan receiving 3,084 votes to 1,744 for Roethel and 1,285 for Democrat David LeClair. In 1926, by then retired and living on a few acres of land in Kiel and serving as

fire chief A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner ...

for the Kiel

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

, he was elected to the Assembly as a Republican, receiving 3,052 votes to 1,138 votes for perennial Democratic nominee David LeClair. In the 1928 Republican

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

Roethel was defeated by the same Thomas A. Sullivan who had defeated him for re-election in the 1920 general election; Sullivan went on to defeat LeClair in the November general election.

Death

Roethel died on February 17, 1956, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.Richard, George (ed.) "Necrology". ''Wisconsin Alumnus'' Volume 57, Number 12 (April 15, 1956), p. 38

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roethel, Herman Farmers from Wisconsin Members of the Socialist Party of America Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly School board members in Wisconsin Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin People from Kiel, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni 1882 births 1956 deaths People from Meeme, Wisconsin 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature