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Term: Vollrath, Jacob J. 1824 - 1898

Definition: manufacturer, b. Doerrebach, Rhineland, Prussia. He attended schools in his native village, learned the molder's trade in Germany, and in the 1840's migrated to the U.S. and to Wisconsin. In 1853 he settled in Sheboygan. There he engaged in various manufacturing enterprises until 1874, when he began to manufacture porcelain enameled ware. In 1884 the business was incorporated as the Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Co., with Vollrath serving as president until his death. His son, ANDREW JACKSON VOLLRATH, b. Milwaukee, learned the molder's trade in his father's foundry, studied the enameling process in Germany, and on his father's death succeeded him as president of the Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Co. He served in this capacity until 1907, when he withdrew from the concern and organized the Porcelain Enameling Association of America, serving as its president from 1907 until his death. When Andrew Jackson Vollrath withdrew from the original Vollrath concern, in 1907 his brother, CARL AUGUST WOLFGANG VOLLRATH, b. Sheboygan, who had entered his father's business in 1874, succeeded to the presidency. From 1908 until his death he was president of the Vollrath Co., successor to the Jacob J. Vollrath Manufacturing Co., and for many years was a prominent figure in Sheboygan community and civic activities. M. M. Quaife, Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1924); Encyclopedia of Amer, Biog., n.s. 6 (1936); C. Zillier, ed., Hist. of Sheboygan Co. (2 vols., Chicago, 1912); Sheboygan Herald, May 21, 1898; Sheboygan Press, July 14, 1913, Oct. 7, 1932.