John C. Pritzlaff (March 8, 1820 – March 18, 1900) was the founder of the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company, the largest wholesale hardware store in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

until its closure in 1958.

Early life

Pritzlaff was born in 1820 in Truskolas, a village in the province of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

. In 1839, after the death of his father, Pritzlaff came to America at the age of 19, eventually settling in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

in 1841. He worked as a teamster and a cook, and cut timber at Schlitz Park, the former site of the

Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz (), was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was adve ...

. In 1843, he was employed as a porter by Shepardson and Farwell, which was later acquired by Henry J. Nazro & Company.

Career

In 1850, Nazro was a silent partner to Pritzlaff and another man, who together opened a small outfit called Pritzlaff & Company. By 1853, one partner had left, and the other had been bought out. Pritzlaff incorporated his hardware store in 1884 as the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company and became the president of the corporation, naming John C. Koch as the vice-president. Pritzlaff's company continued to grow, making it the largest hardware company in Milwaukee. They moved to a second location and his store went on to be known as the largest wholesale hardware company and iron supply house in the Northwest, which is most likely is a reference to the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

. When Pritzlaff died in 1900, he left behind a fortune nearing $8 million in today's value.

Personal life

In 1844, Pritzlaff married Sophia Christine Blume. They had eight children: Elizabeth Sophia (1845–1916), who married John C. Koch; Anton (1847-1849); Auguste Emile (1850-1888), who married Franz Wollaeger, the secretary and treasurer of the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company; Mathilda (1855–1857); Louis (1858–1872); Amalia Emma (1851-1926), who married Herman August Luedke, the vice-president of the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company; and Fred C. Pritzlaff (1861–1951), who went on to be president of the John Pritzlaff Hardware Company until he died, and one stillborn child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritzlaff, John C. 1820 births 1900 deaths German emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Milwaukee People from Gryfice County 19th-century American businesspeople