Friedrich Vogel (May 8, 1823 – October 23, 1892), more commonly known by the Americanized version of his name as Frederick Vogel, Sr., was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

tanner and businessman from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

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 ...

who spent a single one-year term 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 ...

. Together with Guido Pfister, he founded the Pfister & Vogel

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

Background

Vogel was born in

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (, ; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Esslingen (district), district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter (Neckar), Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It i ...

in the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

on May 8, 1823, son of Johann Michael Vogel, a tanner. He received an academic education, and went into the family trade. In 1848, Vogel's cousin, Jacob F. Schoellkopf, asked him to leave

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and join him in the

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. He lived for a while in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

and eventually Vogel, bankrolled by Schoellkopf, settled in

and opened a tannery in collaboration with his other cousin, Guido Pfister, who kept a

leather goods Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

store. With Pfister's help, he built a small tannery which sold its leather through Pfister's Buffalo Leather Company. In 1853 Vogel and Pfister went into partnership. During the early 1850s, Vogel also established tanneries in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. Jacob F. Schoellkopf's oldest son,

Henry Schoellkopf Henry Schoellkopf (December 14, 1879 – December 5, 1912) was an American football player and coach. He was selected as an All-American fullback while attending Harvard Law School in 1903. He was the head coach of the Cornell Big Red foo ...

, learned the leather trade and later worked with Vogel's partner, Guido Pfister, in

. Soon thereafter,

married Vogel's daughter, Emily Vogel in 1875. Prior to Henry's early death in 1880, Henry partnered with Vogel and Guido Pfister and opened a tannery in northeast

that eventually "became the largest in the world prior to World War I."

Public office

He had served two terms as a member of the

Milwaukee Common Council The municipal government of the U.S. city of Milwaukee, located in the state of Wisconsin, consists of a mayor and common council. Traditionally supporting progressive politicians and movements, this community has consistently proved to be a stro ...

as a Republican, the first in 1856, before being elected to the Assembly from the 8th

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

district (the 8th and 11th

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of the City of Milwaukee) in 1873. He was elected as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate, winning 817 votes to 552 for

John Fellenz Johann "John" Fellenz (June 23, 1833December 16, 1896) was a German American immigrant, building contractor, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the southwest side of the city of Milwaukee for five ...

, the Reform Party candidate (Republican incumbent

Galen Seaman Galen Benjamin Seaman (August 8, 1837 – September 12, 1932) was an American lawyer and politician. Born in Millport, Chemung County, New York, Seaman graduated from Dartmouth College in 1861. In 1862, Seaman moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ...

was not a candidate); but chose to identify himself as a Liberal Republican when the Assembly convened for 1874, divided between 41 regular Republicans and 59 identified in the ''

Wisconsin Blue Book The ''Wisconsin Blue Book'' is a biennial publication of the Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau. The ''Blue Book'' is an almanac containing information on the government, economics, demographics, geography and history of the state of Wisc ...

'' as "'Opposition,' of all kinds". 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 ...

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

s and

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; and to the joint committee on

penal Penal is a town in south Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago. It lies south of San Fernando, Princes Town, and Debe, and north of Moruga, Morne Diablo and Siparia. Penal is noted as a heartland of Hindu and Indo-Trinidadian culture. History Up ...

and

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s. He did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by Republican Bernard Schlichting.

After the Assembly

Vogel concentrated on the leather company (known after 1876 as Pfister & Vogel Leather Co.), eventually building it into the largest leather goods maker in the world. Vogel was the firm's expert on bark tanning, serving as vice-president and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. He died on October 23, 1892, aboard a

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steamer during the return leg of a vacation in Europe; he had been ill for some time. The Vogel share of the company passed into the hands of his sons Frederick Jr. and August H. Vogel.

Personal life

On March 13, 1850, Vogel married Mrs. August Dresshel; they became the parents of seven children, of whom three daughters and two sons were living as of 1922.Bruce, William George (ed.)
History of Milwaukee, City and County, Volume 2
'. Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1922, p. 392.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogel, Frederick 1823 births 1892 deaths People from Kirchheim unter Teck People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Württemberger emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Milwaukee Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Milwaukee Tanners Wisconsin city council members Wisconsin Liberal Republicans Wisconsin Republicans Schoellkopf family 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature