John Nieman Residence

Our next stop also shows an influential figure in Cedarburg's history. John Nieman, his contributions to this community, as well as help start off a major business in the area show the hard work and determination to make a name for himself as well as work hard for what he envisioned to help his community and the area as a whole.

John Nieman comes from a long line of German immigrants to the United States and Cedarburg. He is the only Nieman in his family history to be born in the United States with a direct German origin. His father, Joachim Nieman, would come to Ozaukee County, build his house in Piegon Creek in the 1850s, and settle in Cedarburg. John would be the first-born Nieman in that long line to be born and raised in the United States. At 23 years old in 1891, he would marry Annie Thesfelt but would tragically die of scarlet fever. A very deadly fever and disease prevalent in the nineteenth century. After John's wife died, he decided to move away from Ozaukee County and Cedarburg. He left for Hermansville, Michigan, where he conducted himself as a businessman and a logging merchant with business operations in Northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

For a while, he would search for another wife to marry. Finally, he would marry his first wife's sister, Martha Thesfelt, and had five children together as a couple. Unfortunately, one of his children, a daughter, would die when she was an infant. John may have insisted that they remain in Michigan due to his business and merchant duties, but Martha thought of something different. She prodded John to move back to Cedarburg in Ozaukee County. John agreed, and as a result, he and his family would pack their bags and move back to Cedarburg. Not only did they move back to John's hometown, but the money and wealth that he accumulated while he was a logging merchant and a person in business would also bring that money back to Cedarburg with him. As soon as he arrived, he noticed the same pressing concern that Charles Wirth noticed, the community's financial needs.

As a result, Nieman, along with Charles Wirth, would help fund and establish Cedarburg State Bank to address the financial issues in the town. This is all due to his experience in Michigan and Northern Wisconsin while a logging merchant. Neiman would also, in 1910, found and created the Cedarburg Cannery and the Old Milwaukee River Cannery. In that same year, he would help and contribute to the community of Thiensville, just south of Cedarburg, where he also established another bank called the Thiensville State Bank. Years would pass by as Neiman would help establish community connections with its business and his participation in many societies promoting the town. In 1921, Neiman's son Edwin Nieman would marry a woman named Erna Fromm, who was the sister of a new company that her brothers were establishing. The Fromm brothers knew of the success and wealth of John Nieman. To help establish their business, the two brothers knew that there needed a considerable inflow of money to help start it up. Neiman would give the necessary money to help them start their business, and his son, Edwin, would become a business partner with the Fromm Brothers. 

In the 1920s, the two family names would emerge, and the business would be called Fromm Bros. Neiman And Co. As a result, the business took off, and Edwin Nieman and the Fromm Brothers would conduct all sorts of business in their new store. From distributing vaccines to counter the Fox Distemper in 1924 to constructing their food plant established in Mequon, Wisconsin in 1925. Without John Nieman, the company wouldn't have gotten started to where it is today; the plant is still in operation today, thanks to John Nieman's contribution. His residence here in Cedarburg looks very modern but still with a touch of the nineteenth and twentieth-century styles of homes. It was inspired by a late Queen Anne design, with a residential architecture mostly built out of red brick that had a cut stone origin placed there by Nieman himself. The contributions that Nieman made to Cedarburg and starting up a business all came from his hard work and determination that put Cedarburg on the map. 

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Pfohl, Harold W.. Our History, Fromm Family Pet Food. Accessed May 20th 2022. https://www.frommfamily.com/about/our-history/.

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Gierach, Ryan. Cedarburg: A History Set In Stone. The Making Of America. Charleston, South Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, John Nieman Garage, Cedarburg, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, 13337.