website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Max
Henry Gaebler
1851 -
1920
PROMINENT
CITIZEN
CALLED
BY DEATH
Was
Secretary and Treasurer of the
Watertown
Table Slide Company
Since its
Organization – A Good Citizen Gone
b.
[ Newspaper
article contains portrait ]
Max
Henry Gaebler, a prominent and highly esteemed
resident of Watertown and secretary and treasurer of the Watertown Table Slide Company, died this
morning in his late residence,
Mr. Gaebler was born in Danbury, Conn.
The
son received his early education at home under the instruction of his
grandfather and had read many of the German classics before he was twelve years
old. His studies were continued in the
local high school, under the late Prof. Bernard and he was one of the first
three students to enter Northwestern College.
He also received an excellent musical education.
In his
early life he assisted his father in the construction of musical instruments
and also aided in the conduct of the music store. He acquired technical skill in piano tuning
and since 1870 devoted a great share of his time to this art and gained a
statewide reputation for extraordinary skill.
In
1889 he helped in founding the Watertown Table Slide Co., and gradually
withdrew from the other avocations and since the founding of the company has
been its secretary and treasurer and designed a great share of the special
machinery used in the plant.
He was
united in wedlock on
Mr. Gaebler was a republican in politics and he was a candidate
for mayor in 1914, and although defeated for the office received a strong
endorsement in his home ward and a large vote throughout the city. He never aspired to public office and on this
occasion was induced by his friends to make the run. It is also true of other positions of
responsibility and trust which he capably filled.
He
served as a member of the Jefferson county board of supervisors several terms
being elected in a democratic ward from 1881 off and on until 1911. He was a charter member of Watertown Lodge
No. 666 B. P. O. Elks and a member of Lincoln Lodge No. 20, Knights of Pythias.
He was
a life long lover and student of music and for many
years served as musical director of the Concordia
Musical Society. He was also in his
early life an accomplished pianist and violinist. He was a great reader of current literature
and was one of the most intelligent and best informed men in this section of
the state. He possessed an affable
disposition and a genial nature which drew to him many warm friends wherever he
was known. His home life was all that
could be desired in a father and husband.
He
took an active interest in all that concerned the industrial life and growth of
Watertown and was always ready to lend a helping hand for anything conducive to
that end.
Watertown
loses a good citizen in the death of Mr. Gaebler, a
type of the forceful, self reliant man.
He was a man of liberal tastes and cultivation and possessed a fund of
diversified information.
Mr. Gaebler had a marked social gift and was always a welcome
addition to the social life of Watertown.
His engaging personality and address bespoke confidence and a liking
shared in by the whole community. His
nature was of the sterling kind which bespeaks confidence and wins and keeps
friends.
The
funeral will take place on next Tuesday afternoon with services in the family
home at
The
burial will be in Oak
Hill cemetery.
Hans Gaebler
Beebe-Gaebler
Watertown Gazette, 06 24 1920
On
Thursday, June 17, 1920, Hans D. Gaebler, son of the
late Max H. Gaebler and wife, was married at
Kankakee, Ills., to Miss Helen Beebe of that city, at
the home of the bride’s parents. They
have already began housekeeping in the Gaebler homestead in Fifth street. The groom is one of Watertown’s best young
men. He is a graduate of the Watertown High School and of the Northwestern College, this city, and
graduated in the science course of the state university. He also graduated from the University of
Chicago and served as law librarian there several years. He is at present reading law in the office of
his uncle, C. R. Blumenfeld.
H. D. Gaebler Funeral to Be Conducted Here on
Monday
Masonic Rites For Well Known Former Resident
Gaebler, Hans David, b. 1886, d. 1951
Watertown Daily
Times,
05 04 1951
Masonic funeral services for H. D. Gaebler, former Watertown resident who died at Wood, Wis.,
yesterday, will be conducted here on Monday afternoon at 2:30 o’clock at the Nowack
Funeral home, after which the body will be taken to Milwaukee for cremation and
the ashes will be returned here for Interment
in Oak Hill Cemetery at a later date.
Friends
may call at the funeral home to pay their respects after 3 p.m. Sunday and also
on Monday until the service time.
Mr.
Gaebler died after a lengthy illness, having been
hospitalized at the Veterans’ hospital in Wood for some time.
He
was born in Watertown on Dec. 21, 1886, a son of Max D. Gaebler
and Bertha Blumenfeld Gaebler
and spent the major portion of his life in Watertown.
He
was a graduate of Northwestern college and the
University of Wisconsin, holding his A.B. and M.A. degrees from that
institution. For a number of years Mr. Gaebler served as law librarian of the University of
Chicago.
Active in Community
At
one time he was active in Watertown business circles and was president of the Watertown Table Slide Co., which had been
founded by his father and the late Emil Schultz.
He
and his family moved from Watertown some years ago. At the time of his retirement in 1949, due to
ill health, Mr. Gaebler was librarian at the
quartermaster depot in Chicago. For
several years prior to taking the quartermaster position, Mr. Gaebler was translator of Nazi documents seized in World
War II, and was stationed at Wright Field, Dayton, O. At one time he also taught German in several
schools, including the University of Washington in Seattle.
Mr.
Gaebler had a wide variety of interests and his studies in astronomy
covered many years. He was a life member
of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.
In
Watertown he served for a number of years on the executive council of the Potawatomi
area council, Boy Scouts of America. His
interests in scouting was one of his outstanding traits and he gave many hours
of service and time to local Boy Scout work, especially in the fields of
astronomy and canoeing.
On Library Board
He
was the first president of the Watertown Parent-Teacher association and was for
a number of years on the board of library commissioners
here. He was one of the founders of the Watertown Historical Society and was a
member of the Masonic order in Watertown.
At one time he was also associated with the Watertown Rotary club and
numerous other local groups. He was a
member of the American Legion by reason of his World War I service.
Mr.
Graebler is survived by his wife, the former Helen C.
Beebe whom he married in Kankakee, Ill., on June 17, 1920, and two sons, the
Rev. Max David Gaebler, Davenport, Ia., where he is a
pastor of the Unitarian church, and Lt. (j.g.) Ralph
Dixon Gaebler, a staff member stationed on the SS
Ajax at Yokosuka, Japan. Other survivors
include a grandson, David Bryson Gaebler; and uncle;
Dr. Arthur Gaebler, St. Petersburg, Fla., and an
aunt, Miss Sophie Gaebler, well-known Milwaukee
pianist who was a pupil of the great Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt.
During
his years in Watertown, Mr. Gaebler contributed much
to the betterment of the community. He
was interested in everything that went to make this a better city and supported
movements that worked toward that end. He
was especially interested in young people and their future as good citizens.
In
any list of men and women who have contributed much to the betterment and
progress of Watertown as a community of homes and family life the name of H.D. Gaebler must definitely be included. He did much that was worthwhile and those who
knew him best will always remember him for it.
Hans Gaebler home, 1326 Thomas Ave
Rev.
Max Gaebler
Watertown Daily Times, 09 18 1960
A former Watertown
resident, the Rev. Max Gaebler, pastor of the First
Unitarian Church, Madison, last night was one of two Wisconsin residents who
received the top annual awards of the Wisconsin Association of Mental
Health. The Rev. Mr. Gaebler
is a graduate of Watertown High School and attended Harvard. He was born in Watertown. His father was the late Hans D. Gaebler, the Gaebler family
having been associated for many years with the Watertown Table Slide Co. here.
Cross
References:
Life-like picture of the late Mrs. Max Gaebler, 1908
Memories of Plath family, Otto Emil and Sylvia,
by Max Gaebler
