WI BIO - Kenosha Co - SCHOLEY, Mathias J.

History of Kenosha & Kenosha County, Wisconsin. Lyman. Clarke Publishing, 
1916, v 2, pp 90-94 (Photo of Mathias J. SCHOLEY p 91)

M. J. SCHOLEY, whose efforts as mayor of Kenosha and a member of the state 
legislature have been of far-reaching and beneficial effect, was born 31 
August 1867 in Brighton Township, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, one of ten 
children born to Joseph and Annie (GROSCH) SCHOLEY, both of whom came to this 
country in childhood days. Their parents [Joseph's and Annie's] however, 
died in Germany. Both the boy and girl [Joseph SCHOLEY and Annie GROSCH] 
were reared by friends of their respective families in Kenosha County. After 
attaining his majority Joseph SCHOLEY became a successful farmer, devoting 
many years to agricultural pursuits. At length he [Joseph SCHOLEY] removed 
to Kenosha, where his last days were passed, while his widow [Annie (GROSCH) 
SCHOLEY] survives at the age of eighty-three.

M. J. SCHOLEY was educated in St. George's parochial school, and when 
fourteen years of age started out in the business world as an employee of the 
Bain Wagon Company. When a youth of eighteen he began working for the 
Northwestern Railway Company, devoting a year to fence building, after which 
he engaged in construction work as boss of a gang. Still later he learned 
the cabinetmaker's trade, which he followed until 1901. Returning to 
Kenosha, he took up carpentering and devoted considerable time to building 
houses. In 1903 he embarked in the wholesale liquor business, in which he 
still continues, and his patronage is now extensive.

Through all these years Mr. [M. J.] SCHOLEY has been a student of the signs 
of the times, of the questions and problems of the day as affecting municipal 
and national welfare. He became actively interested in politics as a 
supporter of Democratic principles, and was elected Alderman of the Fifth 
Ward, where he made so creditable a record that re-election continued him in 
the position for six years. In 1906 he was a candidate for the nomination of 
Mayor, but was defeated at the primary by seven votes. [James GORMAN was 
Mayor in 1905, 1906, and 1907.] M. J. SCHOLEY's friends, however, realized 
that in him was the making of a splendid municipal officer, and in 1908 [p 
93] he was nominated and elected by a majority of 505. Indorsement of his 
first term of service came in 1910, when he was re-elected by a majority of 
937. In 1912 he was again a candidate for Mayor of Kenosha, but met defeat 
by 42 votes. [Daniel O. HEAD was elected Mayor for 1912 and 1913.] The 
demonstration which followed his retirement from office proved to the 
citizens that they preferred Mr. SCHOLEY at the head of public affairs, and 
in 1914, when he was again a candidate for mayor, he was given a majority of 
492, so that he is the present incumbent in the office.

In the meantime M. J. SCHOLEY had become recognized as one of the leaders of 
the Democratic party in the state, his opinions carrying weight in its 
councils, and in 1906 he was unanimously given the nomination for Lieutenant 
Governor on the Democratic ticket, but declined to make the race for the 
office. In the fall of 1909 he was the Democratic candidate in his district 
for the state legislature and was elected in a county which gives a normal 
Republican majority of 900, being the first Democrat elected in twenty-five 
years. He won over his opponent by a vote of 925, and remained a member of 
the general assembly for two years, serving at the same time as mayor. He is 
now one of five who seek the nomination for delegate at large to the national 
convention in 1916, the election to occur on 04 April [1916]. He has served 
as city and county chairman of the Democratic central committee, has been a 
delegate to the state conventions of his party, and has long been intensely 
interested in state and national politics. He studies closely the policies 
of the party and has taken many a progressive step in connection therewith.

At the present writing, in 1916, he is a candidate for re-election to the 
office of Mayor. He has already served as head of the city government for 
three terms, and proof of his devotion to the general good is found in the 
improvement of many of the public utilities of Kenosha. [In the officers of 
the city of Kenosha from 1850 through 1916, pp 292-293, M. J. SCHOLEY is 
listed as Mayor in the years 1908 through 1911, 1914, and 1915.] Under his 
administration the sewers of the city have been greatly enlarged and improved 
and the system has been extended many miles. While he has been in the 
mayoralty office, Market street [renamed 56th Street about 1926] has been 
paved, the city hall has been erected, and several new engine houses for the 
fire department have been built, while the first motor fire equipment of the 
state was here installed. Several new school houses have also been erected 
and through the instrumentality of Mayor SCHOLEY, a park commission was 
established, and the West Side Park was opened, while purchase was made of 
Bond's woods and the Hastings woods, both for park purposes. At the 
instigation of Mayor SCHOLEY a municipal greenhouse was erected and is now 
carried on. A municipal water plant was established with a splendid filter 
system; it was recently built at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars. 
Miles and miles of paving have been laid, and in the business district the 
ornamental lighting system has been installed. A new breakwater has been 
built on the north side. The North Side Lake Shore Park has been improved, 
and through the activities of Mr. SCHOLEY many factories have been induced to 
locate in Kenosha. These are but some of the evidences that can be cited of 
his devotion to municipal progress and improvement.

M. J. SCHOLEY has to the full extent the confidence of the working men and 
the labor organizations, a confidence that has been gained by a spirit of 
justice and fair play and a willingness to help in any way possible to bring 
about better relations between capital and labor. He is always easy to 
approach, understands he viewpoint of labor, and when he Jeffrey plant had 
trouble with their men [p 94] during his administration in 1909, he hired a 
hall at his own expense and in two days settled the strike by approaching 
the men in the right way, and in fact during his three terms of office there 
has never been any serious conflict between capital and labor in the city, 
and this has been due chiefly to his influence and his accurate knowledge of 
the labor situation. He closely studies every phase of city life, sees its 
needs and its possibilities, and bends his energies toward meeting the former 
and initializing the latter. He has displayed the same spirit of executive 
power an initiative in controlling municipal affairs that he has manifested 
in the management of his private business interests, and his activities have 
wrought far-reaching and beneficial results.

On 05 November 1900 Mr. [Mathias J.] SCHOLEY was married to Miss Annie F. 
STEDER of Manitowoc, [Manitowoc County], Wisconsin. He is identified with 
various fraternal organizations, including the Catholic Order of Foresters, 
the Eagles, the Moose, the German Workmen, the Germania Society, and other 
social and benevolent organizations. He is a member of St. George's Catholic 
church, in the faith of which he was reared.

Mr. SCHOLEY has much of that quality which for want of a better term has been 
called personal magnetism. He is a natural leader among men and a molder of 
public thought and opinion. Keen insight enables him to recognize the 
possibilities of a situation, and he ever presents his cause clearly and 
forcibly, his hearers responding to the force of his logic and the practical 
presentation of his views. He is also a man of wide charity, personally 
cares for many poor families during the winter, and it is known that no one 
in need ever appeals to him in vain. This great-heartedness is one of his 
most salient characteristics and has gained him a place in the affections of 
many of his fellow citizens. That Kenosha values his public service and 
honors him as its chief executive is indicated by the fact that three times 
he has been given the highest office that his fellow townsmen have power to 
bestow, and also in the fact that his district has made him its 
representative in the legislative body of the state. In manner he is cordial 
and genial and willing to accord to others the courtesy that is their due.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly