MR. LLYWELYN BREESE, PORTAGE, COLUMBIA, WISCONSIN.
Brodor ydyw Mr. Breese o Abermynach, plwyf Mallwyd, Sir Feirionydd, lle y ganwyd ef Mai 13eg, 1833.Amaethwyr oedd ei rieni, o'r enwau Edward a Mary Bresse, y rhai a ymfudasant i'r wlad hon yn 1846, ac a ymsefydlasant yn mhlwyf Randolph, Wisconsin, yn y flwyddyn ganlynol.
Arosodd Llewelyn ar y ffarm gyda'i rieni nes yr oedd yn 25 mlwydd oed. Yr oedd cyn hyny wedi dal amryw swyddi plwyfol, megys Clerc yr Ysgolion, Supervisor, Ynad Heddwoh, a Thrysorydd. Yn 1858 gwnaed ef yn is-Sirydd, yr hon swydd a ddaliodd hyd 1861, pan etholwyd ef yn Drysorydd Sir Columbia. Cadwyd ef yn y swydd hono am chwe' mlynedd. Yn nechreu 1867 aeth i bartneriaeth gyda N. H. Wood, R. O Loomis, a C. B. Gallett, y sychnwyddwyr helaethaf yn Portage.
Mewn canlyniad i farwolaetbau a newidiadau eraill, cymerodd y firm y ffurf Breese, Loomis and Co., yn 1888. Yn 1869, heb ddim ymgais ar ei ran ef, gwnaed Mr. Breese yn Ysgrifenydd Talaeth Wisconsin, un o'r swyddau pwysicaf ac anrhydeddusaf yn y Dalaeth hono. Yn ei amser a thrwy ei offerynoliaeth ef, yn 1870, y crewyd ac y corfforwyd Adran Yswiriaeth. Mai yr un flwyddyn oynrychiolodd ef Wisconsin yn y National Insurance Convention a gynaliwyd yn ninas New York, a gwnaed ef yn is-lywydd yno y tro hwnw a'r flwyddyn ddylynol. Yn 1872 efe ddewiswyd yn llywydd, yr hon swydd a estynwyd iddo hefyd yn Boston yn 1873.
Ar ôl bod yn Ysgrifenydd y Dalaeth am ddau dymor, dychwelodd i Portage yn 1874, a chymerodd ran arweiniol yn ffurfiad y City Bank of Portage, ar yr hwn y mae efe yn llywydd er pan gorfforwyd ef. Heblaw hyny bu am ysbaid yn masnachu mewn coed, ac y mae ganddo yn awr ran helaeth yn y Grant, Breese and Co. Marble Works, yn Milwaukee, ac yn y Portage Hosiery Co. Da gan ei gyfeillion lluosog wybod fod ei holl anturiaethau masnachol yn dra llwyddianus.
Magwyd Mr. Breese gyda y Trefnyddion Calfinaidd, ond er pan aeth i Portage, gyda y Presbyteriaid y mae wedi bod yn aelod; ac y mae er's llawer o flynyddau yn Henadur yn yr eglwys hono, ao wedi bod droion yn gynrychiolydd yn rhai o gynulliadau pwysicaf yr enwad. Ceir ef bob amser yn weithiwr ymarferol dros ddirwest, a phob achos daionus arall. Efe yw cadeirydd Law and Order League a ffurfiwyd yn ddiweddar yn Portage. Efe luniodd y freinlen, ac a sicrhaodd ei phasiad trwy y ddeddfwrfa, dan yr hon y y gweithir cronfa Addysg y Trefnyddion Calfinaidd yn Wisconsin.
Priodwyd Mr. Breese a Miss Mary A. Evans, Milwaukee, ar y 9fed dydd o Fehefin, 1863. Bendithiwyd eu hieuad cydmarus â saith o blant, o'r rhai y mae pump yn fyw, sef William, Mary, Eleanor, Llewelyn, a Rodney. Mwynha y teulu y safle uchaf yn y gymdeithas oraf yn Portage, ac eidduna holl gydnabod y teulu iddynt barhad o'u dedwyddwch, eu parch, a'u llwyddiant.
Nid yw Mr. Bresse wedi colli ei ddyddordeb mewn helyntion Cymreig. Ceir ef bob amser yn gefnogol i holl symudiadau adeiladol ei gydwladwyr, ac nid oes dim yn fwy blasus ganddo na chael dianco ambell dro yn nghwmni ei gyfaiil, yr Anrh. W. T. Parry, i ryw gynulliad o'i gydgenedl.
Y Drych Mawrth 3ydd 1892.
MR. LLYWELYN BREESE, PORTAGE, COLUMBIA, WISCONSIN.
Llywelyn Breese was born May 13, 1833, at Abermynach, in the parish of Mallwyd, Meirionethshire, North Wales; the son of Edward and Mary Breese; he immigrated with his parents to this country in the month of May, 1846, and settled in the town of Randolph, this county.His education was academic; up to the age of 25, he was engaged most of the time with his parents in cultivating the farm. In the fall of 1858, owing to impaired health, he accepted the position of Deputy Sheriff of Columbia Co., hoping thereby to improve his health and extend his knowledge of business, and the circle of his acquaintance. Previous to this, he held the office of School District Clerk, Town Supervisor, Justice of the Peace, and Town Treasurer.
In the fall of 1860, he received from the Republican County Convention the nomination for County Treasurer, and was elected the following November. He held this position for three consecutive terms, in all six years, having no competitor for the office, except in the first instance. In January, 1867, at the close of his third term as Treasurer, he entered as a partner the dry-goods firm of N. H. Wood and Co., the firm being composed of N. H. Wood, R. O. Loomis, C. R. Gallett, and himself. This connection was continued until 1869, when Mr. Wood disposed of his interest to the other partners, and retired from the firm, which thereafter stood and was styled Loomis, Gallett and Breese.
In the summer of 1869, at the urgent solicitation of friends, he became a candidate for the office of State Treasurer at the State Convention held that fall. On the first informal ballot, he received a plurality of votes, but, owing to local combinations, the nomination fell to his competitor. In about a month after this convention, the nominee for Secretary of State, resigning his position upon the ticket, made it necessary for the State Central Committee to fill the vacancy by appointment. Without solicitation on his part, or even knowledge of the vacancy, the committee tendered him the nomination for that place, communicating their action by telegraph. Had it not been for the persistent entreaty of a few intimate friends, the appointment would have been declined.
He was elected the following November. Under the organization of the State Government of Wisconsin, the office of Secretary of State is by far the most important of the State offices; besides involving the duties of Secretary of State proper, this officer is also ex officio Auditor of State, and School Land Commissioner, and also ex officio Commissioner of Insurance. In May, 1870, he represented Wisconsin as Commissioner of Insurance at the National Insurance Convention held in the city of New York. This convention was composed of those officers in the different States who had charge of the different departments therein. He was elected Vice President of the convention for the term of one year; re-elected the second year, and elected President the third, and presided at its fourth annual session.
After the expiration of his second term as Secretary of State, he returned to Portage and resumed his former occupation as merchant. In addition to this, he also held the positions of President of the City Bank of Portage, President of the Portage Iron Works and President of the Board of Education. He has been engaged in farming more or less extensively throughout his life.
Religiously, he is a member and Elder of the Presbyterian Church, professing Christianity at the age of 14 years. He is an active worker in the church and Sunday school.
Mr. Breese was married, June 9, 1853, to Miss Mary E. Evans, of Milwaukee, by whom he has had six children, three boys and three girls, one of the latter dying in infancy.
Wisconsin County History.
MR. LLYWELYN BREESE, PORTAGE, COLUMBIA, WISCONSIN.
Llewellyn Breese was born May 13th, 1833, at Abermynach, in the parish of Mallwyd, Meirionwethshire, North Wales.The name of his father, who is still living, is Edward Breese, and that of his mother, who died in April, 1873, was Mary Breese. He immigrated with his parents to this country in the month of May, 1846, and the family, consisting of father, mother, brother and himself, settled during the following summer on a farm in the town of Randolph, Columbia County, in this State. This was when Wisconsin was a territory and before the town was organized. His education was academic. Up to the age of twenty-five he was engaged most of the time with his parents in cultivating the farm.
In the fall of 1858, owing to impaired health, which was brought on by severe illness, he accepted the position of under sheriff of Columbia County, which was tendered him by Benjamin Williams, Esq., hoping thereby to improve his health and to extend his knowledge of business and the circle of his acquaintance. Previous to this he had held the offices of school district clerk, town supervisor, justice of the peace and town treasurer.
When he removed to Portage to take the position of under sheriff, it was his intention at the expiration of his term, provided his health was restored, to return to the farm and devote the remainder of his life to the pursuit of agriculture; but at the close of the term, in the fall of 1860, he received from the republican county convention the nomination for county treasurer, and was elected the following November.
He held this position for three consecutive terms, in all six years, having no competitor for the office except in the first instance. In January, 1867, at the close of his third term as treasurer, he entered as a partner the dry goods firm of N. H. Wood and Co., which was the most extensive business establishment in the city. The firm was then composed of N. H. Wood, R. O. Loomis, C. R. Gallett and himself. This connection was continued until January 1869, when Mr. Wood disposed of his interest to the other partners and retired from the firm, which thereafter stood and was styled Loomis, Gallett and Breese. The firm as then constituted has never changed, and is still doing a large and successful business.
In the summer of 1869, at the urgent solicitation of friends, especially those of his countrymen, he became a candidate for the office of state treasurer at the State convention held that fall. On the first informal ballot he received a plurality of the votes, but owing to local combinations the nomination fell to his competitor. In about a month after this convention, Hon. E. A. Spencer, the nominee for secretary of state, resigning the position upon the ticket, made it necessary for the State central committee to fill the vacancy by appointment. Without solicitation on his part, or even knowledge of the vacancy, the committee tendered him the nomination for that place, communicating their action by telegraph. Had it not been for the persistent entreaty of a few intimate friends, prominent in the party, the appointment would have been declined. He was elected the following November.
Under the organization of the State government of Wisconsin, the office of secretary of state is by far the most important of the State offices; besides involving the duties of secretary of state proper, this officer is also ex-officio auditor of state, and school land commissioner, and also ex-officio commissioner of insurance. The last position was created by the legislature in 1870, soon after the commencement of his first term. In a majority of the other States these positions are distinct and separate offices, filled by persons elected or appointed for that purpose.
In May 1870, he represented Wisconsin as commissioner of insurance at the national insurance convention, held in the city of New York. This convention was composed of those officers in the different States who had charge of the insurance departments therein. He was elected vice-president of the convention for the term of one year, and was also appointed chairman of the important standing committee on taxes, fees and deposits. This convention held its second session at the same place in the following October, when he was reelected to the same position for the year 1872. At its third session, held this year, he was elected president, and presided at its fourth session, held in the city of Boston in September of the following year. After the expiration of his second term as secretary of state, he returned to his former residence at Portage and resumed his former occupation as a merchant. In addition to this he also held the positions of president of the City Bank of Portage, president of the Portage Iron Works and president of the board of education. He has been engaged in farming more or less extensively throughout his life.
Religiously, he is a member and an elder of the Presbyterian Church. His parents were members of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, a denomination holding the same doctrines and having very nearly the same form of government. It was in this church that he was baptized in infancy and brought up; he became a full member of it at the age of fourteen, maintaining this relation until he came to Portage in January 1859, when, taking his letter of membership with him, he connected himself at once with the Presbyterian church of that city, with which he is now united. He received during his minority a very faithful and strict moral and religious training and education, both from his devoted parents and from the church, of which he was chosen superintendent of the Sabbath school at the age of twenty-one years, and labored in every department of religious work in which it was proper for a layman to engage. Soon after removing to Portage he was elected deacon, and was shortly afterward elected an elder, holding the position until he removed to Madison.
Shortly after taking up his residence in Madison he was elected by the Presbyterian church of that city as one of its elders, which position he held while he remained with them, and after returning to his former residence at Portage he was reelected to the same position in the Presbyterian Church of that city. From an early age he has always been engaged either as a superintendent of a Sabbath school or as teacher of a class therein.
The character of Mr. Breese very happily illustrates the truth of the maxim that character is formed by circumstances. The most efficient agencies in the formation of character are the teachings by precept and example of parents to their children. Natural affection inspires the child not only with confidence in the ability of the parents, but with reverence for their virtues and faith in their religion. Mr. Breese's character for honor, integrity and piety are but the outgrowth of those qualities which distinguish his parents, whereas men less favored in their birth and education have, lured by the beauty of virtue and the life of holiness, attained high moral excellence, but it has been a life-long struggle. The characters may be alike in moral beauty, yet the man who has struggled is the superior in mental strength. There is a majesty in the lives of the virtuous which awes the licentious into reverence. Pure morals are the basis of all true greatness.
The US Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Wisconsin Volume (1877) transcribed by Vicki Bryan.
ANRH. LLYWELYN BREESE, (YSGRIFENNYDD TALAETHOL), WISCONSIN.
Braslun canlynol gan John T. Jones, Ysw., Madison, Wisconsin.
Ganwyd gwrthrych yr hanes hwn yn Abermynach, Sir Feirionydd, G.C., Mai 13eg, 1833. Cafodd ei ddwyn i fyny gan rieni parchus a duwiol gyda y Trefnyddion Calfinaidd. Derbyniwyd ef yn gyflawn aelod yn eglwys Proscairon, Wisconsin, pan yn 14 mlwydd oed, dan weinidogaeth y Parch. Thomas H. Roberts. Etifeddodd yn ehelaeth o rinweddau ei hynafiaid, a buan y dadblygodd ei alluoedd nes ei ddwyn i sylw neillduol yr eglwys.Yr oedd yn ymroddgar a defnyddiol yn ei holl gysylltiadau crefyddol, yn gystal a gwladol; yn ymdrechgar gyda'r canu, ac yn arweinydd y côr; yn athraw llafurus yn yr Ysgol Sabbothol, ac yn arolygwr gweithgar a defnyddiol tra y parhaodd yn yr ardal.
Yr oedd yn 25 mlwydd oed pan y symudodd i Portage City, prif dref y swydd. Gan nad oedd yno achos Cymreig, ymunodd a;r Eglwyd Bresbyteraidd; ac nid hir y bu yno cyn i'w dalenatau disglair, ei fywyd dichlynaidd, a'i sêl dros grefydd dynu sylw ac ennill parch ac ymddiried yr holl aelodau; oherwydd ymhen blwyddyn cafodd ei ddewis yn 'ddiacon' yn yr eglwys; ac yn fuan yn arweinydd y côr, ac yn arolygwr yr Ysgol Sul; a chyn hir etholwyd ef yn henadur (elder), pa swydd a lanwodd yn anrhydeddus hyd nes y symudodd i Madison, prif dref (Capitol) y dalaeth, i ymgymeryd â dyledswyddau ei swydd bresenol fel Cyfrinydd y Dalaeth (Secretary of State). Ac yn fy+uan ar ol ei ymgysylltiad â'r Eglwys Bresbyteraidd yn y brif ddinas, dewiswyd ef yn henuriad yno. Y mae ei fywyd crefyddol yn brawf diymwad o'r gwirionedd hwnw - 'Fy anrhydeddwyr a anrhydeddaf.'
Y swydd wladol gyntaf yr etholwyd ef iddi oedd School District Clerk. Wedi hyny bu yn Oruchwyliwr Trefol flwyddyn, ac yn Ustus Heddwch dair bkynedd; Is-Sirydd Columbia Co. ddwy flynedd, pryd yr etholwyd ef ail a thrydydd tro i'r un swydd - am chwe' blynedd o gwbl. Ar derfynias pa amser, ymgysylltodd â'r cwmni masnachol cryfaf yn nghanolbarth y dalaeth, sef N. H. Wood and Co., a pharha yn un o'r firm hyd heddiw.
Yn 1869 etholwyd ef drwy fwyafrif mawr, dros ddau wrthwynebydd, yn Gyfrifydd Talaethol (Secretary of State) - swydd uwchaf ac anrhydeddusaf, ond Llywodraethwr y Dalaeth, a'r bwysicaf o'r cwbl, a'r swydd, o'r holl swyddi talaethol, sydd yn gofyn pen clir, a dealltwriaeth cyflym, oblegid y mae yn drindod o swyddi; mae ei daliedydd nid yn unig yn Gyfrinydd, ond hefyd yn Brawydd (Auditor); ac yn ol yfraith a wnaed yn 1870, ar ol iddo ef ymgymeryd a'i swydd, yn Brwyadur Yswiriant (Commissioner of Insurance). Yn nhalaeth New York, a thalaethau eraill, mae y tair swydd uchod ar eu penau eu hunain, gyda thri o wahanol bersonau yn eu dal. Pan yn Nghymanfa Gyffredinol Dirprwywyr Yswiriant y gwahanol dalaethau yn New York, yn Mehefin, 1871, etholwyd ef yn Is-Lywydd.
Felly cyfododd o ris i ris, nid yn unig i'r safle swyddogol uwchaf ond un yn y dalaeth, ond hefyd i'r safle gyda'r uwchaf o unrhyw Gymro yn y wlad, um mharch ac edmygedd nid yn unig ei gyd-genedl, ond ei gyd-ddinasyddion yn gyffredinol.
Trwy ymdrech diflino gyda'i hen gyfeillion, y Trefnyddion Calfinaidd, yn y dalaeth, cafodd ganddynt gydsynio drwy eu Cymanfa i godi Coleg Cymreig yn y dalaeth; ac y maent wedi cael y freinlen (charter) i'r unrhyw drwy y Ddeddfwneuthurfa y gauaf diweddaf. Disgwylir yn y dyfodol ganlyniadau gwerthfawr ac amhrisiadwy i'n cyd-genedl o bob enwad drwy y symudiad canmoladwy a chenedlgarol hwn.
Cariwyd yn unfrydol yn Synod Bresbyteraidd Wisconsin, a gynhaliwyd yn Portage City yn 1868, gynygiad o'i eiddo i ddwyn Presbyteriaid a Methodistiaid Calfinaidd Cymreig y dalaeth i ddealltwriaeth gwell, ac i indeb agosach a'u gilydd, er hyrwyddo yr achos mawr yn y dalaeth. Penodwyd ef a'r Parch. T. G. Smith, gan y Synod, i ymweled â Chymanfa nesaf y Methodistiaid yn Racine, yn Mehefin, 1869. Dyna gychwyniad y teimladau da a charedig, a chyfnewidiad blyneddol o opiniynau a moelgyfarchiadau cynes a Christionogol a gymerodd le ar y pryd hwnw, rhwng y ddau enwad yn y dalaeth.
Yn Assembly Gyffredinol y Presbyteriaid yn Chicago, yn Mehefin diweddaf, etholwyd Mr. Breese, a Dr. Thomas o Athrofa Duwinyddol Lane, Cincinnati, Ohio (yr hwn hefyd sydd Gymro), yn gynnrycgiolwyr yr Assembly i Gymanfa Gyffredinol y Methodistiaid Calfinaidd, yn mis Medi, 1871, yn ninas New York.