E. C. STIEHM.
E. C. Stiehm, a merchant of Johnson Creek and president of the village board, is engaged in the conduct of a furniture and undertaking establishment. He was born in Jefferson county, December 14, 1862, a son of William and Anna (Ton) Stiehm, who were natives of Wattenburg, Germany. They came to the United States in 1852 and settled on a farm of forty acres in Jefferson county. It was necessary to cut down the standing timber in order to make room for the log cabin, so thickly was the ground covered with the native forest trees. At times three weeks were passed without the family seeing another white person. Deer were shot from the window and on one occasion their dog, which was chained to his kennel, caught a fawn, so tame and numerous were the deer in this section.
After many years devoted to farming the father retired from business and took up his abode at Johnson Creek, where he passed away at the age of seventy-eight years. They were the parents of ten children: Amelia, the widow’of Louis Schoechert and a resident of Johnson Creek; Minnie, the wife of John Seifert, of Fort Atkinson; Emma, who is the widow of Gust Genschmer and resides at Johnson Creek; Fredericka, the widow of William Schempf and a resident of Milwaukee; Henry E., whose home is in Johnson Creek; Paulina, the wife of Charles Lounsbury, of Fort Atkinson; W. L., a real estate dealer of Johnson Creek; E. C.; Theodore; and Mary, the wife of Joe C. Shekey, also of Johnson Creek.
E. C. Stiehm was reared on the old homestead farm and took up the occupation to which he had largely devoted his boyhood. He continued to develop the fields until 1898, when he came to Johnson Creek and purchased his present furniture and undertaking business, which he has since conducted. He has built up a good trade in this connection so that his store is now a profitable undertaking.
Mr. Stiehm was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Boettcher, a native of Jef¬ ferson county and a daughter of Fred and Mary (Fillers) Boettcher, now de¬ ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Stiehm have one child, Floyd, at home. Their religious faith is that of the Lutheran church. Mr. Stiehm exercises his right of franchise in support of the men best qualified for office. He has been elected to various local offices. While on the farm he served for two years as town clerk and before the village was incorporated he was clerk of Aztalan township. He was a member of the village board for three or four years and is now serving for the third year as president of the village, his reelection being proof of the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen and of his loyalty to duty.
W. A. Christians, secretary and manager of the Rock River Telephone Com¬ pany and also conducting a printing and an insurance business at Johnson Creek, is a well known and enterprising man whose efforts have brought to him a sub¬ stantial measure of success. He was born in Jefferson county, April 25, 1877, a son of Fred and Emelie (Stiehm) Christians. His youthful days were passed under the parental roof and his educational opportunities were those aft’orded by the district schools. When he finished school, at the age of thirteen years, he became bookkeeper for the H. C. Christians Company, being thus employed until twenty years of age. He was ambitious, .however, to engage in business on his own account and in 1897 established a printing office for the conduct of a job printing business. In 1907 he organized the Rock River Telephone Company, of which he is the principal owner. Pie furnished Johnson Creek with a modern telephone exchange and bufft rural lines in every direction, and now has over four hundred telephones in the homes of people of Johnson Creek and vicinity. He also conducts a large insurance agency which was established in 1897, and the various branches of his interests are bringing to him substantial success. Mr. Christians was united in marriage to Miss Eugenia Shakshesky, a native of Watertown, and they have three chffdren, William, Evelyn and Robert, who are twelve, ten and four years of age respectively. Mr. Christians belongs to the Lutheran church and fraternally is connected with the Elks lodge of Watertown. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party. Pie has always taken an active interest in the advancement of Johnson Creek and its many improve¬ ments. He worked hard for the incorporation of the village against much opposi¬ tion ; was the first village clerk, and has also been a member of the school board and of the village board, making an excellent record in public office by his fidelity to duty.
(from History of Jefferson County, WI and Its People: ARecord of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, by John Henry Ott, 1917, SJ Clark Publishing, Chicago, p 275-76.)