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Mid-States Shoe Co

 

316 Hart Street

 

 

c.1923

-- --           WILLIAM A. SCHUMANN

  

 

1930

10 07       WALTER BOOTH SHOE CO / 316 Hart Street

        6” x 23” (rolled)

 

Mr. Booth died in 1936.  The following year the concern became the Mid-States Shoe Co

 

c.1930

-- --           WILLIAM A. SCHUMANN

  

William A. Schumann, director of production for the Mid-States Shoe Co., and vice president of the firm, retired on July 1, 1959, at the age of 69.  Mr. Schumann was associated with Mid-States and its predecessors for the last 48 years, and all told has been associated with the shoe manufacturing business in Watertown for 53 years.

 

c.1940

EMPLOYEE ID BUTTONS [unknown years and employees]

     

 

 

1956

01 05       WILLIAM BEISNER

William Beisner, who left Watertown nearly two years ago to accept a position with a shoe manufacturing concern in Palmyra, Pa., has returned to the city and has rejoined the Mid-States Shoe Company, with which he was employed in an executive capacity before he left.  For a number of years before he left, Beisner was in charge of the operations of the Mid-States plant at Waterloo under the superintendency of William Schumann.  He is returning to Mid-States employ in the capacity of a “roving quality man,” Mr. Schumann announces, and in that position will be associated with all Mid-States plants.  In addition to Watertown and Waterloo, Mid-States operates plants at Waupun and Fox Lake.   WDT

 

1959

04 29       OLD ELM MILL FIRE

Mid-States Shoe had some of its men on its roof with water and wet bags to prevent the Elm Mill fire from starting on their property.

 

05 12       WILLIAM SCHUMANN RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED

One of the city's prominent and well known industrialists, William A. Schumann, director of production for the Mid-States Shoe Company, and vice president of the firm, will retire on July 1.  He will be 70 on July 30.  Mr. Schumann has been associated with Mid-States and its predecessors for the last 48 years, and all told has been associated with the shoe manufacturing business here for the last 53 years.

 

07 02       WILLIAM SCHUMANN RETIRED

William A. Schumann, 109 North Maple Street, today retired from the shoe manufacturing business, with which he has been associated for 53 years.  The last 48 years were spent with the Mid-States Shoe Co. here and its predecessors.  At the time of his retirement today Mr. Schumann was director of production and vice president of the company.  He first went to work on Sept. 5, 1905, and worked in various capacities in a series of shoe manufacturing concerns which led to the Mid-States Shoe Co. operation in the city.  Among them were the M. D. Wells Co., Beals and Torry, the Beals-Pratt Shoe Manufacturing Co., and the Walter Booth Shoe Co.  Mr. Booth died in 1936 and the following year the concern became the Mid-States Shoe Co.   WDT

 

11 11       THE HOUSE OF CROSBY SQUARE

International recognition and honor have come to a product of The House of Crosby Square, shoes manufactured by the Mid-States Shoe Co. which operates plants in Watertown and Waterloo.  The 1959 National Samples Fair of Rome, Italy awarded its three highest honors to The House of Crosby Square - including the Grand Cup Trophy of Honor, the highest honor that can be conferred by the fair; the Gold Medal, the second highest honor; and the third highest honor, the Diploma of Merit.  The awards went to the Caesar Process shoes which the company manufactures and which were sent to Italy for the exhibition.   WDT

 

1963

09 12       WATERLOO PLANT TO CLOSE

The Mid-States Shoe Company, which has operated a plant in Waterloo for the past 25 years has revealed its intentions to discontinue that operation.  Production of merchandise in the Watertown plant will, undoubtedly, be consolidated into the Watertown operation.  The Times has learned from a reliable source that the Waterloo factory is to be operated by another shoe company which will commence operations in approximately 30 days.  WDT

 

1964

01 24       EMPLOYEES WITH 40 YEARS OR MORE OF SERVICE

George Lane, manager of Watertown Branch of the Mid-States Shoe Company, announced today that the company will honor 10 of its employees who have had 40 years or more of continuous service with the company.  Those to be honored are:  Leona Korban, Ben Schumacher, Lester Kuckkahn, Carl Steckling, Arthur Lenius, Frederick Pautz, Raymond Kulm, Fred Kresinske, Gilberg Jurick and Clifford Kuehnemann.   WDT

 

12 17       HAND-SEWN VAMP SHOES

The fastest known dryer for hand-sewn shoes for use in the shoe industry, which has been designed by A. R. Anderson, industrial engineer for the Mid-States Shoe Co. and built by the company’s local maintenance staff, has been put into operation at the company’s Watertown plant.  It is being used in the recently established hand-sewn division.  Members of the staff are Clarence Krueger, plant engineer, Sheridan Chamberlain, William Lueck and Edwin Seefeldt.  The sheet metal work was done by Kurt Meise of the Kopp Sheet Metal Works in Watertown.    WDT

 

1965

05 26       HAND-SEWN VAMP SHOES

Members of the board of directors of the Watertown Association of Commerce Promotive Corporation toured the plant of the Mid-States Shoe Company on Thursday.  Of particular interest to the group was the department in which hand-sewn vamp shoes were made.  Crosby Square, a division of Mid-State Shoe Company, is the state’s first shoe manufacturer to make genuine hand-sewn vamp shoes on the production basis.  Extensive preliminary testing of the hand-sewn shoes began in 1964.  In October of that year a limited line of these shoes was launched, and in March of this year a full line of genuine hand-sewn vamp shoes in 17 styles were introduced.   WDT

 

06 20       $25,530 GRANT

The Mid-States Shoe Co., Watertown, has been awarded a grant of $25,530 by the United States Department of Labor under the Man Power Development and Training Act.  The announcement was made in Washington by Congressman Robert W. Kastenmeier after he was notified by the department of approval of the grant.  The grant will enable Mid-States to conduct a 20-week apprenticeship training program for 60 hand-sewers in its hand-sewn vamp shoe department.   WDT

 

1966

09 20       LOEFFLER HONORED

The Mid-States Shoe Co. honored Fred J. Loeffler at a retirement party at Otto’s Inn Saturday evening.  Mr. Loeffler began his employment with the company in 1926, and has held the position of purchasing agent for the past forty years.  During this period of time he had the responsibility of purchasing more than twenty million dollars worth of supplies and materials for shoes.  Many changes have taken place during his administration, both in personnel and procedures of operation.  One of the latest changes was for the production of hand sewn shoes at the Watertown plant.  This type of shoe is a popular item on the shoe market today.   WDT

 

1967

05 20       100th ANNIVERSARY

Mid-States Shoe Company, Milwaukee, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. Mid-States, presently a manufacturing subsidiary of Shoe Corporation of America, began operations in Milwaukee as Beals, Torrey & Co.  At that time the firm was both a manufacturer and a wholesaler of men’s boots and shoes.  Operations evolved through several changes of ownership and product emphasis to its present structure.  Today, MidStates, which operates a plant in Watertown, one of the major product producers for Shoe Corporation of America, is the manufacturer of Crosby Square Shoes for men and Classmate children’s shoes.  The Crosby Square line was created during the Great Depression of the 1930s and proved to be the catalyst for continued growth during those critical times.   WDT

 

08 05       124 EMPLOYEES HONORED

One hundred and twenty-four employees of the Mid-States Shoe Company, all of whom have worked for the firm here for 25 years or longer, were honored at a special program held at Riverside Park Saturday in connection with a company picnic and outing.  The special recognition program was conducted in connection with the 100th anniversary observance of Mid-States.  Each of the 124 employees received a plaque and a gift.  Fred Loeffler, who had been with the firm for 40 years until his retirement last October, served as master of ceremonies, and also gave a history of the company covering its 100 years of existence.  He had been the purchasing agent here.   WDT

 

1968

03 05       NO LONGER MID-STATES SHOE

The parent company of the local shoe factory no longer is Mid-States Shoe Company.  It is now known as the Crosby Square Division of the Shoe Corporation of America, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.  Mid-States was a subsidiary of Shoe Corporation of America.  The Waupun plant is now known as the Classmate Division of the Shoe Corporation of America.    WDT

 

 

Cross References:

Beals-Torrey Shoe Company

 

 

 

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History of Watertown, Wisconsin

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