WI BIO - Kenosha Co - REIDENBACH, Gustave H.

History of Kenosha and Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Lyman. Chicago: Clarke 
Publishing, 1916, vol II, pp 400-401

Gustave H. REIDENBACH, Kenosha, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, manager for the 
Consumers Ice Company at Kenosha, a man whose even paced energy has brought 
him success, his entire career marked by steady progression, was born 08 
February 1872 at Milwaukee [Milwaukee County], Wisconsin, his parents being 
Jacob and Caroline (KRUESCHER) REIDENBACH, who were natives of Germany. The 
mother crossed the Atlantic to the United States with her parents during her 
girlhood days, in 1842, the family home being established in New York.

About 1847 she [then Miss Caroline KRUESCHER] gave her hand in marriage to 
Jacob REIDENBACH, and soon afterward they removed westward to Wisconsin [the 
Territory of Wisconsin if before 29 May 1848, when Wisconsin became a State]. 
Mr. [Jacob] REIDENBACH had arrived in New York in 1841, and in 1847 became a 
resident of Kenosha [the city of Kenosha called Southport until 07 February 
1850, and contained in Racine County until Kenosha County was created 26 
January 1850]. The city was at that time a place of little industrial or 
commercial importance, and the surrounding country was but sparsely settled.

Mr. [Jacob] REIDENBACH purchased a tract of land in Paris Township [in Racine 
County if before 26 January 1850] and turned his attention to general 
farming, remaining upon that place until he removed to Milwaukee. He spent a 
number of years in the latter city but afterward again came to Kenosha, where 
he [Jacob REIDENBACH] passed away in 1895. His widow [Mrs. Caroline 
(KRUESCHER) REIDENBACH] survives and has now reached the ripe old age of 
eighty-two years.

Gustave H. REIDENBACH was largely reared in Kenosha County and is indebted to 
its public school system for the educational opportunities which he enjoyed 
in his youth. He first worked for the Lane Manufacturing Company, and 
afterward was an employee of the Chicago Brass Company. He has been 
identified with the ice trade community since 1899, when he entered the 
employ of the Knickerbocker Ice Company. Still later he was a member of the 
firm of Feldshau & Reidenbach, but in the same year they sold their interests 
to the Knickerbocker Ice Company, which appointed Mr. REIDENBACH to the 
position of manager, in which connection he continued for six years. At the 
end of that time the business was reorganized, in 1913, under the name of the 
Consumers Ice Company, and he has since remained as manager with the latter 
corporation, which handles natural ice, cut from the lakes nearby. Theirs is 
a business of extensive proportions. They make large annual shipments, and 
Mr. REIDENBACH's position is one of marked responsibility. Under his 
direction the interests [p 401] of the company are carefully systematized and 
controlled, and success in a gratifying measure is now enjoyed by the company.

On 12 May 1896 Mr. [Gustave H.] REIDENBACH married Miss FELDSHAU, a native of 
Germany, who came to the United States with her mother in girlhood days and 
settled in Kenosha about 1886. Mr. and Mrs. REIDENBACH [Gustave H. and ---- 
(FELDSHAU) REIDENBACH] now have a daughter, Lillian, who attends the 
Whitewater College [in Whitewater, Walworth County, Wisconsin]. The parents 
[Mr. and Mrs. Gustave H. REIDENBACH] are members of the Congregational 
church, and are well known and prominent in Kenosha.

Mr. REIDENBACH belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken the 
degrees of lodge and chapter, and he is also connected with the Modern 
Woodmen. In politics he votes independently, supporting men and measures 
rather than party. His business interests claim the major portion of his 
time, and colleagues and contemporaries speak of him in terms of high regard.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly