FERDINAND A. STEINHARDT is the well known proprietor of land at Kiel, Wisconsin, where he is successfully engaged in the hotel business, being also a proprietor of the opera house and of Steinhardt Hall.  He was born at Plymouth, Sheboygan county, w\Wisconsin, on the 16th day of Wilhelm and Alvina (Jeffe) Steinhardt.   The father, a native of Berlin, Germany, emigrated to America with his wife and two children at an early day and settled on a farm near Plymouth.  They were the parents of twelve children, six of whom are living, namely: Reinhold, who is employed in the power house at Plymouth; Paul, an agriculturist of Johnsonville, Wisconsin; Elizabeth, who is the wife of William Miller, proprietor of the Central Hotel; Tillie, the wife of A. Steinke, who is a farmer by occupation; Adolph, a resident of Plymouth; and Ferdinand A., of this review.
     The last named was reared in his parents' home and received his early education in the public schools at Plymouth, Wisconsin.  He started in life for himself at an early age and found his first employment in the Plymouth furniture factory, in which he continued as an employe for six years.  He then, in company with his brother, engaged in the flour and feed business and continued in that partnership for one year, at the end of which time his father purchased his brother's interest in the business and the subject of this review continued in the business for one year, associated with his father.  He then engaged in the saloon business and in 1910 he opened a hotel in Kiel, Wisconsin, and at the same time became the proprietor of the opera house and Steinhardt Hall, both of which he operates in connection with his hotel business.
     Mr. Steinhardt was united in marriage to Miss Leta Ladwig, a native of Plymouth, Wisconsin, and a daughter of Herman and Emma Ladwig.  The mother is deceased.  To Mr. and Mrs. Steinhardt four children have been born, as follows:  Erma, who is five years of age; Dorothy and Roy, who are four and two years of age respectively; and Alfred, one year old.  Mr. and Mrs. Steinhardt are members of the Lutheran church at Plymouth.  Mr. Steinhardt is one of the well known and prosperous citizens of the community in which he lives and as a hotel man enjoys a wide acquaintance among the people of his part of the state as well as the general traveling public.
(Source: History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Past and Present, Vol. 2 - Publ. Chicago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company - 1912  - Page 73)

WILLIAM L. STEINKE, who is engaged in the soda and mineral business, has passed practically his entire life in Sheboygan, his birth having here occurred on the 20th of July, 1877.  He is a son of Louis Steinke, a native of Saxony, Germany, who emigrated to the United States in his early manhood, locating in Sheboygan.  The father was a shoemaker in the old country and for a time continued to follow that trade after coming here, but he subsequently turned his attention to other occupations, and for a time he drove a stage from Sheboygan to Kiel.  In 1888 he started the business now conducted by our subject, and continued in this until his death in 1896.  For his wife Mr. Steinke chose Miss Augusta Knoll, to whom he was married in the United States.
     William L. Steinke, who is the second child born to his parents, was reared at home and given the advantages of a common-school education.  After laying aside his text-books he became associated in business with his father, and since the latter's death he has had the sole management of the enterprise, and has met with very good success in the promotion of its development.
     On the 16th of April, 1907, Mr. Steinke was married to Miss Theresa Braun, a daughter of John Braun, Sr., a well known contractor of this city, and to them has been born one child, William J.
     Fraternally Mr. Steinke is a member of the Eagles, Moose, Buffaloes and the German Aid, and takes an active interest in the work of each organization.  He is an energetic young man of laudable ambition and is making a creditable place for himself in local business circles.
(Source: History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Past and Present, Vol. 2 - Publ. Chicago: S. J. Clark Publishing Company - 1912  - Page 691)