THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

January 7, 1993

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            The Haertel Monuments Inc., located at 219 South Main Street, had its inception possibly prior to 1882, when A. L. Bailey purchased this location from A. E. Silverthorne on October 19, 1882.  It has been noted that Daniel (Dan) Downey built the original building o this lot.  Dan Downey became the son-in-law of A.L. Bailey.

            There was an obituary that appeared in a Waupaca paper in July of 1928, that gave us this information.  Almeda Wright was born July 15, 1848, and in 1866 she was married to A.L. Bailey.  In 1880 the family came to Waupaca to reside, A.L. Bailey being associated with his brother, W.S. Bailey, in a monument business for some years.

            Dan Downey married Miss Maude Bailey, who was the daughter of A.L. and Almeda Bailye, June 22, 1886, and now the sign over the Waupaca Granite Works also had the names of Bailey and Downey.

            Dan Downey was born in Boston, Mass., October 5, 1857, and in 1860, when he was only three years old, he came to Waupaca with his parents, John and Rose (McCafferty) Downey.

            Here in Waupaca the Dan Downeys became the parents of three children, but they were denied the joy of seeing them grow to adulthood.  Little Robert Downey was only 10 months old when he died on May 11, 1901, and was buried on the lot in the Waupaca Lakeside Memorial Park, that now contains the remains of his parents.  There were two other infants also buried here who had passed on before.

            Dan Downey had another love.  He was the proprietor of the Downey Boat Livery at the Electric Dock on Rainbow Lake for some 20 years.  It was here that he came in contact with thousands of resorters and vacationers, with whom he made countless friends.

            Mr. Downey had been suffering from a paralysis of the lower limbs for over three years before his death.  Death came by pneumonia in June of 1931.  His wife, the former Maude Bailey, followed on June 9, 1936.

            The next name that appeared on the Waupaca Granite Works sign was Downey and Spindt.  It was in 1917 that Albert W. Spindt purchased the monument business from Dan Downey.  In 1926 A. W. Spindt added a large workroom on the rear of the office, enclosed with brick.  Business was good and was increasing in volume at a rate that was affecting his health.  The strain was such that his doctor advised him to locate in a more suitable climate.

            Albert W. Spindt was born in Waupaca December 10, 1893, and passed away in a Madison hospital May 18, 1928.  He was a son of Morten and Katherine Margretha Peterson Spindt, and was married October 30, 1917 to Katherine Jenson. They had one son, Roderick.  Albert W. Spindt also had one sister, Mrs. William Nelson, and a brother, Axel E. Spindt, who owned and operated a store in King.

            It was 10 to 11 years after Mr. Spindt bought out the monument business from Dan Downey, that he sold out to Henry Haertel of Stevens Point, who then leased the building.

            A deal was concluded on November 14, 1927, for the purchase, which included the manufacturing plant in Waupaca, the salesroom and the display area, between Henry Haertel and Albert W. Spindt.  Henry Haertel was president of the Henry Haertel Service, Inc., a business which he developed in 1901 in Stevens Point from an infant memorial crafts concern to a manufactory that supplied memorials to customers in 25 counties, north to Michigan and west to Minnesota.  In the years from 1901 to 1927 his business had increased from 42 orders to over 1,000.  J.H. Halverson of Iola, who had been a salesman for several years, became the Waupaca branch manager.

            The Henry Haertel Service, Inc. served the people of this area from 1927 to about five years ago when the business was sold to Richard Lansing, but Mr. Haertel retains ownership of the building. Mrs. Polly Fabricius is the office manager of Haertel Monuments, Inc.