Untitled From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901 - page 352-354

MARTIN P. RINDLAUB was born Feb. 15, 1838, on a farm four miles east of Gettysburg, Penn. During the war of the Rebellion a battle was fought so near to the family residence that the occupants could see it from the attic window.

John Andrew Christian RINDLAUB, our subject's father, was born in Gottingen, Kingdom of Hanover, Germany, April 12, 1797, and came to this country in the year 1819, in a sailing-vessel being nine weeks in crossing the ocean; he landed at Baltimore, Md. At that time there were no railroads, telegraphs, sewing machines, reaping or threshing machines, and not even Lucifer matches. Mr. RINDLAUB was a tailor by trade, and for a number of years he traveled from house to house in pursuit of his business. He died at the home of his son Martin P., in April, 1885, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. On Nov. 4, 1827, he married Sophia MUMMERT, who was born in Adams county, Penn., daughter of Jacob MUMMERT, a native of York county, Penn., born Nov. 4, 1784; he died at an advanced age. Her mother, Margaret (SCHREINER), was born in Lancaster county, Penn., April 6, 1790; she also lived to a good old age. To Christian and Sophia (MUMMERT) RINDLAUB were born children as follows: Margaret B. C., Sept. 20, 1828; Jacob H. M., Feb. 10, 1830; Dorothy H. E., April 10, 1832; J. A. Christian, Jan. 27, 1834; Susan M. S., Jan. 14, 1836; Martin P., Feb. 15, 1838; R. Sophia, June 19, 1840; Elizabeth M., April 19, 1843; Julia A., Oct. 7, 1848. They are all living (1901) except Margaret, Christian and Elizabeth. The mother died March 28, 1866.

Martin P. RINDLAUB received his education in the public schools and at Gettysburg (Penn.) College. He learned the printing business in the office of the Gettysburg (Penn.) Sentinel, Robert Goodloe Harper, proprietor, finishing in the fall of 1856. He taught school that winter, and the next summer entered Johnsontown (Penn.) Academy, assisting the principal and pursing his studies. The following winter he taught school on the western slope of the Allegheny mountains, in Cambria county, Penn., and in order to reach his school he had to walk from Altoona across the mountain, a distance of twenty-five miles. The country in which he taught was mostly covered with virgin pine timber, a few clearings here and there being the exception. There were few wagon roads, and the country was traversed mostly along trails blazed through the forest, much of the travel being on foot. The following spring the subject of this sketch came West to Warren, Ill., arriving there on the first day of June, 1858, to accept the position of foreman of the Warren Sentinel, as it was called at that time. Shortly afterward he bought a half interest in the paper, and within a short time bought the entire plant, remaining there until the spring of 1864, when he sold the office and went to Galena for a few months, as assistant editor of the Galena Gazette. Following this he went to Lancaster, Wis. (July 1, 1864), to assume a like position in the office of the Grant County Herald, Joseph C. COVER, proprietor, and here remained until March 1, 1867, when he purchased the Grant County Witness, Platteville, of which paper he remained the sole proprietor ever since. The paper was established in 1859.

When Mr. RINDLAUB first took charge of the Witness it had only about 600 subscribers, but he immediately enlarged the paper and made other improvements which soon had the effect of running up the circulation to over 2,000 and placing it among the leading newspapers of southwestern Wisconsin. When he first came to Platteville there were only three newspapers in the county: The Herald, at Lancaster; the Broadaxe, at Boscobel; and the Witness, at Platteville. Now (1901) there are thirteen. Our subject has been a member of the National Press Association, and is the present president of the Wisconsin State Press Association.

Mr. RINDLAUB's parents were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and early in life our subject connected himself with that body. Later on he joined the Congregational Church, in which organization he has held prominent positions among the officers of the church. He has always taken a prominent part in politics, has been chairman of the Republican Congressional District Committee, and is now chairman of the Republican Senatorial District Committee; the Assembly District Committee; and also the Town and City committees of Platteville. He was postmaster at Platteville during President Harrison's administration, and is at present Deputy Internal Revenue Collector for the Second District, Wisconsin. Mr. RINDLAUB is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined in 1859, and belongs to the Chapter and Commandery; is also a member of the Masonic Veterans' Association, whose headquarters are with the Venerable Chief, Gen. J. C. Smith, Chicago; and is also a member of the I.O.O.F., and of the Encampment.

On Dec. 15, 1862, Mr. RINDLAUB married Catherine Swartley YOUNG, who is descended from two of the oldest families in Pennsylvania, the SWARTLEYs and the YOUNGs. She was born at Doyleston, Bucks Co., Penn., Feb. 23, 1842. Her father, Joseph YOUNG, of Northampton county, Penn., was the son of John and Elizabeth YOUNG, who occupied the premises that had been in the family for nearly two hindered years. Joseph YOUNG was publisher and proprietor of a newspaper for many years. He served in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. Mrs. RINDLAUB's mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Fox (SWARTLEY) YOUNG, died when Mrs. RINDLAUB was only twenty-one days old, and she had one brother, John S. YOUNG, who died in the summer of 1870. She received her education in the public schools, at Ingham's Seminary, in Doylestown, and at the State Normal school in Millersville, Penn., and has always taken an active part in all matters pertaining to the advancement of the social and moral condition of her sex. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star; of the W.R.C., in which she has been President; of the Order of Rachel Rebekahs, I.O.O.F., of which she has been President; and of the Congregational Improvement Society, of which she has been President. She is at present (1901) Department Chaplain of the Woman's Relief Corps of the State of Wisconsin, and vice-president of the Woman's Suffrage Club of Platteville; and devotes much of her time as leader of the Young Ladies Missionary Society and to mission work generally. She has also been prominently connected with W.C.T.U. work for the past twenty-two years.

Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. RINDLAUB, as follows: William Martin, at Warren, Ill., Feb. 1, 1864; John Harry, at Lancaster, Wis., May 1, 1865; Katie Swartley, at Lancaster, Nov. 29, 1866; Emma Gertrude at Platteville, Feb. 12, 1869; Ada Sophia, at Platteville, Jan. 17, 1871 (died April 11, 1880); Elizabeth Pond, at Platteville, Jan. 27, 1873; Martin Phillip, at Platteville, Nov. 6, 1874; Julia Hill, at Platteville, Oct. 17, 1880. The eldest, William M., married Miss Nina BEAN, of La Crosse. He is one of the editors and business managers of the Witness. John H. graduated from the State Normal School, after which he studied medicine at Columbia Medical College, Washington, D.C., and also took special courses at Georgetown College and at Bellevue. He then spent a year in Europe, studying in the cities of Berlin, Vienna, Edinburgh and London, and in 1896 located at Fargo, Wis., confining his practice to diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Kate S. married John H. ROBERTSON, a jeweler and oculist, located at Morrison, Ill.; they have one child, Martin Rindlaub ROBERSTON. Emma Gertrude is at home with her parents. Elizabeth P. graduated from the State Normal School, Platteville, took a four years' course in medicine at Ann Arbor (Mich.) University, and afterward a special course at Philadelphia, and is now with her brother at Fargo, as his assistant. Martin P., Jr., graduated from the State Normal School, Platteville, then graduated in the literary course in the Wisconsin State University, and for three years has held the chair of Latin in the Platteville Normal school. At the close of the last school year he was granted a year's leave of absence by the Board of Regents, and now he and his youngest sister, Julia, who graduated at the Platteville Normal last year (1900), are spending a year in study and travel in Europe.



This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck