Excerpt from Racine, Belle City of the Lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin, Vol. 2: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and AchievementMr. Thiesen is a prominent member of the Benevolent Order of Elks and is the father of the project which resulted in the erection of the Elks building in this city. For three years he served as exalted ruler of the local lodge. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and with the Loyal Order of Moose and his deep interest in the material development of Racine and the extension of its trade relations as well as in its civic projects is indicated by his active membership in the Commercial Club. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party for some years without change. Later he maintained a nonpartisan course, but ever fearless in the expression of his honest convic tions. His change of opinion concerning political questions and issues has led him to become an advocate of the republican party. He served for thirteen years on the board of education, during which time he was president of the board for two years, and he did work on all important board committees. His efforts in behalf of the educational interests of the city were marked and resultant. It was Mr. Thiesen who was the prime mover in instituting the improvement of the school buildings and yards. Ihe has served on many com mittees in connection with civic afiairs and public welfare, and in April, 1915, his fellow townsmen indicated their appreciation of his services and devotion to the public good by electing him mayor. As chief executive he has been active in promoting and developing the paving and sewer improvements of the city and in promoting the park interests. He studies closely every question relative to municipal welfare, avoids useless expenditure and as well avoids that needless retrenchment which hampers progress. In a word, his administration is businesslike and practical and substantial results have been accomplished. Mr. Thiesen is widely honored and highly respected. Through early struggles and adversities he has come into a position of prom inchec and of wide in¿uence, acquiring as he has gone along, educational and cultural gifts as well as those material interests which are the basis of life's comforts, and he has accomplished a prodigious amount of work, which has been of worth to the community at large as well as to the individual.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.