William Rath

{{Infobox person

| name = William Rath

| image = William_Rath_1912.jpg

| caption = Rath in 1912

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1849|1|28}}

| birth_place = Hamburg, Germany

| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1916|8|10|1849|1|28}}

| death_place = Ludington, Michigan, U.S.

| resting_place = Cartier Memorial Park,
Lakeview Cemetery
Ludington, Michigan

| resting_place_coordinates =

| nationality = American (as of 1885)

| other_names =

| known_for = developing Mason County and Ludington, Michigan

| education = German public schools

| occupation = businessman, lumberman

| title = General Manager, Mayor

| height =

| term =

| predecessor =

| successor =

| party =

| boards =

| spouse = Lucy Rickhoff

| partner =

| children = 3

| relatives =

| signature = Wm Rath signature.jpg

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

William Albert L. Rath (January 28, 1849 – August 10, 1916) was a German-American businessman and politician living in the United States who helped develop Ludington, a harbor town on Lake Michigan in Mason County, Michigan. He was in the lumber business and also was involved in banking and other businesses. He was mayor of Ludington for one term and a member of the town's board of trade and board of aldermen as well as the county's board of supervisors. He is memorialized in Ludington by a street, a building, and a mural.

Early life

William Rath was born in Hamburg, Germany on January 28, 1849.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}} His father, Hans, lived his entire life in Germany, while his mother, Mary, eventually came to America. Rath grew up in Hamburg and attended public schools there.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}} His family was from modest circumstances and the education he gained there was rudimentary. He served as an apprentice locksmith, but did not complete his apprenticeship. He then assisted his father, who was a mason, and learned to stucco buildings.

After emigrating to America at the age 21, Rath arrived in Ludington in June 1870.{{sfn|Cabot|2005|page=43}}

Mid life

Rath married Lucy Rickhoff (1848–1932), who was also of German descent, on July 17, 1870{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=779}} following a courtship that began in Germany. They had a daughter and adopted two daughters.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=779}} Rath became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1885.{{cite web | url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/jensen-william-rath-part-1-businessman/article_91e8fffd-62dd-5532-8f3e-e7fb881d2ad3.html | title=William Rath, Part 1: Businessman | author-first= James | author-last=Jensen | date=December 2, 2022 | access-date=March 3, 2023 | agency=Mason County Historical Society | publisher=Shoreline Media Group }}

The couple were active members of the local German Lutheran church, St. John's Lutheran,{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}}{{cite news |author= |title=William Rath, Public Spirited Citizen, is Called to the Beyond|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19160811&id=CEtNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3613,2759580&hl=en |newspaper=Ludington Daily News |date=August 11, 1916 |pages=1, 6 }} and he was in charge of the church's efforts to plan and raise monies for a bigger building for their congregation.

Initially as a laborer in Ludington sawmills, Rath was eventually promoted to lumber inspector.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}} He was a member of the Ludington Board of Trade from its beginning, becoming the board's president for two years in the mid-1910s.{{cite news |author= |title=The Mason County Business Association|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60497185/ |newspaper=The Herald Press |location= St. Joseph, Michigan |page=4 |date=February 16, 1915|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} He was also a collector of customs beginning in 1895.{{sfn|Cabot|2005|page=43}} One of his other duties was to keep records on the number and tonnage of train ferries coming through the port.{{sfn|Ludington's Carferries|1997|pages=5, 6, 11}}

Rath became a part of the firm Weimer & Rath by 1880.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}} In 1890, he filed for bankruptcy after falling victim to a copper mining investment fraud.{{sfn|Cabot|2005|page=68}} He was able to recover from this setback,{{sfn|Cabot|2005|page=68}} and developed a partnership with Ludington businessman Warren Antoine Cartier; together they formed the lumber business of Rath & Cartier. But the decline of the lumbering industry in the late 1800s threatened the economic well-being of many Western Michigan towns, including Ludington.

In 1901, Rath started the Ludington State Bank with Charles G. Wing.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludingtonmichigan.net/index.php?page=People/rath-william |title=William Rath |publisher=Mason County History Companion |access-date=September 12, 2019}} Note this is essentially a reprint of the biography in Powers. Rath and Wing also founded another bank in Mason County called Fountain Bank. Rath was also involved with Cartier in the Star Watch Case Company,{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=778}}{{cite news |first=Morgan E. |last=Cartier |title=Cartier Family|page=5 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60508423/ |newspaper=Ludington Daily News |date=December 7, 1957|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} and was president of the Manistee Watch Company.{{cite news |first= James L. |last= Cabot|date=June 5, 1999 |title=A look at the history of the Manistee Watch Company |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19990605&id=2ARQAAAAIBAJ&pg=2347,7136012 |newspaper= Ludington Daily News |access-date=June 24, 2014 }} Rath, often with Cartier, was involved in other companies. These included the Gile Boat & Engine Company, the Phoenix Basket Company, the United Home Telephone Company, and an inn in nearby Manistee County. Overall, a writer for the Mason County Historical Society has credited Rath as being one of the people, along with Antoine Ephrem Cartier and Justus Smith Stearns, who helped Ludington transition away from lumber and into other business activities.{{cite web | url=https://www.shorelinemedia.net/ludington_daily_news/news/local/jensen-william-rath-prominent-ludington-pioneer-entrepreneur/article_3ae17217-962f-5ce2-81c3-6aa7052df121.html | title= William Rath: Prominent Ludington pioneer entrepreneur | author-first= James | author-last=Jensen | date=December 16, 2022 | access-date=March 3, 2023 | agency=Mason County Historical Society | publisher=Shoreline Media Group }}

A Republican,{{cite news |author= |title=Ludington Record-Appeal March 30, 1911 |page=2|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60496667/ |newspaper=Ludington Daily News |date=March 27, 1971|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} Rath was a member of the Ludington board of aldermen for ten years and served on the county board of supervisors representing Ludington. He was elected mayor of Ludington in 1910 for a one-year term.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=779}} He ran for a second term in 1911,{{cite news |author= |title= Michigan News in Brief |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60499086/ |newspaper= The Unionville Crescent|location=Unionville, Michigan |date=May 12, 1911|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} |page= 2}} but was defeated by one vote.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=779}}

Rath owned a number of properties in Mason and Manistee counties, including a cottage on the south beach at Epworth Heights, a Ludington summer resort.{{sfn|Cabot|2005|page=104}} He was the first president of the resort's country club.{{cite news |first=F. B. |last= Olney |title=Country Club House Built by Late William Rath in 1912, Served Epworth Golf Course |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60497871/ |newspaper=Ludington Daily News |date=July 22, 1931|via=Newspapers.com | pages=1, 8 {{open access}} }} Rath and Antoine Ephrem Cartier bought the Cartier Park land near Lincoln Lake Rath also owned commercial property in Chicago. Through these real estate holdings he became a wealthy man.{{sfn|Powers|1912|page=779}}

Death and memorials

{{Multiple image|total_width=400

|image2=108 S. Rath Ludington, Michigan.jpg

|caption2=William Rath building in Ludington

|image1=Rath masoleum.jpg

|caption1=Rath mausoleum

}}

Rath died at his home, from suspected heart failure, on August 10, 1916. His remains are interred at Lakeview Cemetery in Ludington.{{cite web |url=https://www.ludington.mi.us/DocumentCenter/View/119/Cemetery-Records-PDF?bidId= |title=Cemetery Records |date=January 21, 2015 |publisher=City of Ludington, Michigan (Lakeview Cemetery) |format=PDF|access-date=September 22, 2019}} His will included $25,000 towards improvement of Cartier Park.

Charles Street, which had been named for a relative of James Ludington's,{{sfn|Malburg|2019|page=11}} was renamed Rath Avenue in 1921. The Wm. Rath Building stands on that street and its presence also helps keep Rath's name alive. Built in 1904, it has historic status and cannot be demolished.{{cite web | url=https://www.ludington.mi.us/DocumentCenter/View/546/Target-Market-Analysis-Retail | title=Target Market Analysis – Retail TMA – Mason County, MI – Market Strategy Report | publisher=LandUseUSA | date=July 1, 2015 | access-date=March 3, 2023 | page=7 }} Rath is also memorialized in a mural showing him drinking from a Fountain of Youth, which, as a description of the mural states, was "something that was in vogue in the late 1800s." The mural is located on Rath Avenue and was painted by Ludington artist Therese Soles.{{Cite web |url=http://www.michbiz.com/stories/the_colorful_murals_of_ludington |title=The Colorful Murals of Ludington |date=March 16, 2019 |website=West Michigan Business Directories |publisher=Advantage Marketing & Publications, Inc. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914154703/http://www.michbiz.com/stories/the_colorful_murals_of_ludington |archive-date=September 14, 2019 |access-date=September 12, 2019|quote=}}

References

=Bibliography=

{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fxC4hZNgay8C&pg=PA43 |title=Ludington: 1830–1930 |first1=James L. |last1=Cabot |isbn=0-7385-3951-1 |type=Paperback |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year= 2005 |series=Images of America |location=Charleston, South Carolina }}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_uOUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 |title=Lost Towns of Mason County Michigan |first1=Sandra Lewis|last1=Malburg |type=Paperback |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-1-4671-4265-6 |year=2019 }}
{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CX_hAAAAMAAJ&q=William+Rath+Ludington |author= | date=1997 |title=Ludington's Carferries: The Rise, Decline & Rebirth of a Great Lakes Fleet, 1874–1997 |asin=|publisher=Ludington Daily News |ref = {{harvid|Ludington's Carferries|1997}} }}
{{cite book|last1=Powers |first1=Perry F. |title=A History of Northern Michigan and Its People |publisher=The Lewis Publishing Company |location=Chicago |year=1912 |volume=2 | url=https://archive.org/details/historyofnorther02powe/page/778/mode/2up?ref=ol&view=theater | others=Assisted by H. G. Cutler }}