Pages 604-5

ANTONE KUCKUK - This gentleman needs no introduction to the citizens of Shawano, for---whether in business or social circles—there are few men in that thriving little city, or indeed in Shawano county, who are better or more favorably known. Though yet a young man, he occupies a most prominent position among the successful and influential citizens of the county, and the fact that that position has been attained solely by his own efforts proves that the esteem in which he is held is well merited.
     
Mr. Kuckuk is one of Wisconsin's native sons, born February 10, 1863, in Schleisingerville, Washington county, son of Henry Kuckuk, who in 1843 emigrated to the United States from Germany, his native country, and locating at Racine, Wis., then a new town in a new and unsettled region, engaged in various kinds of labor in and near that place. When a young man he wedded Miss Theresa Mueller, also a native of Germany, who came to the United States in girlhood with her stepfather, Frederick Menger, and to this union came children as follows: William, of Wausau, Wis.; Henry, who is local agent of the New Home Sewing Machine Co., at Marinette, Wis.; Antone Kuckuk, whose name opens this sketch; George, a clerk, of Shawano; John, street commissioner of Shawano; and Carrie, Mrs. George Smith, of Jamestown, N. Dak. The father of this family served in the Civil War as a member of the Forty-fifth Wis. V. I.  He died at Wausau, Wis., May 4, 1869, whither the family had moved when our subject was but a child, and being a working man, laboring hard to support his family, he left his widow and children with scarcely any means; Mrs. Kuckuk passed her last years at the home of her son Antone, in Shawano, dying May 4, 1892, at the age of sixty-three years. She sleeps her last sleep in Shawano Cemetery. 
     
The subject proper of this sketch was but six years of age at the time of his father's decease. The family, not being well acquainted in Wausau shortly afterward removed to Schleisingerville where they had formerly resided, but the widowed mother, being without means, found it impossible to keep her family together, and they were soon scattered. Our subject took up his home with his grandfather, Fred Menger, and received his education in the common schools, which he attended only up to the age of twelve years, having since that time earned his own livelihood. When twelve years old he began as roustabout, in the "Wisconsin Hotel," at Hartford, Wis., his salary beng five dollars a month, and about two years later he went to Wausau, Wis., where he entered the employ of John Kiefer, a general merchant at that place, as clerk. It was his first experience in this line, but he proved very apt in learning the business, and retained his position four years, or until April, 1881, when he found an opening in Shawano, a situation having been offered him by H. H. Andrews, with whom he remained nearly five years. In September, 1885, Mr. Kuckuk embarked in a new enterprise, taking charge of the jewelry business previously conducted by G. D. Tolman, which came into his hands as the principal creditor; the stock of goods then on hand did not amount to more than $250, and Mr. Kuckuk entered the business reluctantly. Having once commenced, however, he resolved to give it due attention, and having increased the stock, he devoted himself to it with such success that the rooms he had removed into in May, 1887, were found to be too small for the now prosperous and increasing business, and  in 1890 the substantial business block (one of the best in Shawano) of Kuckuk & Pulcifer was completed.  In this building are two commodious business rooms, one occupied by the jewelry business, of which Mr. Kuckuk is sole proprietor, and the other by the grocery business of Kuckuk & Pulcifer, in which he has a half interest. On February 2, 1895, Mr. Kuckuk received a diploma from the Chicago Ophthalmic College, and he is the only graduate in ophthalmology in Shawano county. He has a jewelry business the size of which would do credit to a city double the size of Shawano, and he also deals extensively in pianos, organs and other musical instruments. This result has been brought about by the good management which characterizes Mr. Kuckuk in every business he has undertaken, and which has been a potent factor in the success which has followed him throughout his business career. In 1890 he became a member of the firm of Kuckuk & Pulcifer, who conduct a flourishing grocery business in Shawano, and he is also a stockholder in the Shawano Shoe Manufacturing Company.
     
Though never neglecting his own business affairs, Mr. Kuckuk has always given his aid and support to any enterprise for the improvement of Shawano and the advancement and welfare of the community in general, and he is at present serving as a director of the Shawano Water Power and River Improvement Co. He has served as a member of the county board from Shawano, and was supervisor of the Second Ward of Shawano for one term; he is a Republican in political faith, but takes no interest in politics as a "politician." Socially, he is a member of the F. & A. M., being connected with Shawano Lodge No. 170, of which he is the present master, and of the Temple of Honor, in which he is now serving as trustee, and he has held every office in the Order, of which he has been a leading active member.  On October 20, 1885, Mr. Kuckuk was united in marriage, in Shawano, with Miss Mary E. Pulcifer, who was born January 27, 1865, in Fond du Lac, Wis., daughter of Daniel H. and Anna E. (Wright) Pulcifer, and to this union have come two children: Athol O., born January 28, 1887, and Inez B., born July 13, 1892, both living. In 1890 Mr. Kuckuk built a beautiful home in the Second ward of Shawano. Mrs. Kuckuk is a member of the Methodist Church. Enterprising and progressive, our subject is identified with every movement which promises to quicken the march of progress in his town and county, where he has hardly an equal among those of his age, as a self-made man of recognized worth and abilty.