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Samuel Knox / Andrew Kreutzer House:

Beautifully Restored Queen Anne style house at 504 Franklin Street was built in 1887 by William Laselle and features highly detailed exteriors and elaborate interiors. This lovely home boasts over 4,200 finished square feet with 13 total rooms: five bedrooms, three and a half baths and an inviting foyer with open staircase.  French doors open to the living room with a huge fireplace in the center of the room.  The kitchen has a tin ceiling, lots of cabinetry, butler's pantry and dining area separate from the formal dining room.  The Library/Family room on the main floor also has French doors, a second fireplace and access to the sun room complete with stunning windows.  The floor plan is pulled together with beautiful hardwood floors throughout.   The welcoming front porch with balusters, pillars & doors to sun room add to the great curb appeal.  To top it all off, the incredible two-story carriage house serves as a three and a half car garage on the main level and a guest house/play house or unbelievable storage space on the upper level.

Kreutzer, Andrew Lawrence         

Author:
Bill Hart

Background:Andrew Kreutzer was born in Germantown, Wisconsin on August 30, 1862, the son of Andrew and Caroline Kreutzer.  At age three his father moved the family to Grafton where he worked in the milling and lime business.  He attended the local school for a short time, but because of financial difficulties in the family, young Andrew was apprecticed at age fourteen to a saddlery maker.  He served two years in that position at four dollars a months but since the work did not suit him, he quit to take up more schooling to prepare himself for teaching school.  He accomplished his purpose and taught for several years while also studying law in the office of Judge Crosby of Wausau in 1888.  When Judge Crosby died, Andrew went to the offices of the Wausau Law and Land Association, remaining there until the fall of 1889.

Accomplishments:He enrolled in the senior class of the law school at the University of Wisconsin and was admitted to the bar in 1890.  He was associated with the Wausau Law and Land Association for one year then opened his own law office.  He soon took in E.L. Bump as partner under the name of Bump & Kreutzer, and quickly added Mr.M.B.Rosenberry.  He became the senior member of Kreutzer, Bird, Rosenberry and Okoneski, president of the Bank of Athens, president of the Tomahawk Kraft Paper Company, president of the Wisconsin Valley Trust Company, director and Treasurer of the Wausau Sulphate Fibre Company, and was involved with many other business enterprises.

A strict Republican, Mr. Kreutzer played a prominent role in party councils and in a completely Democratic community he was twice elected as Marathon County District Attorney on the Republican ticket.  During the Spanish-American War he was asked to serve as the acting Judge Advocate General of the National Guard of Wisconsin.  He was elected as a state senator for the twenty-fifth district (Marathon and Clark counties) in 1898 and served from 1899 - 1906.  As senator in 1902, he was most instrumental in leading the cause to establish the County Normal School system.  The first school established in the US was built in Wausau, and for over 25 years, Mr. Kreutzer served as President of the system.

On June 7, 1891, Mr. Kreutzer was united in marriage to Miss Mary Eliza "Minnie" Knox, daughter of Samuel Knox, a lumber baron in Wausau.  Their union produced two children.  Of the young men who became prominent in both business and politics, none achieved more distinction than Andrew Kreutzer.

Andrew Kreutzer died at age 82 on March 27, 1944.  He is buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Wausau, WI.