admin HON. JOHN GEORGE WALLENMEIER, former State Treasurer and one of the foremost Republicans of Western New York, comes of sturdy German stock. Mr. Wallenmeier is the son of John G. and Caroline Wallenmeier, his father coming originally from Wittenberg, and his mother from Stuttgart. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom only three survive, the subject of this sketch, Elizabeth W. Wallenmeier, and Lena, now Mrs. Albert Utpatel of Lansing, Mich. The elder Wallenmeier came to Buffalo in 1853 and settled in Black Rock. Mr. Wallenmeier was a baker in Germany and followed the same business in this country. In 18(>5 he removed to Tonawanda and there continued in the bakery business until 1875. He died on March 24, 1904. His wife died Dec. 20, 1879.
John G. Wallenmeier, Jr., was born in Buffalo October 10, 1862, but at the age of three was taken to Tonawanda, when the family removed there, and has always made that city his home. He received his education in the public schools, and at the age of fourteen became a driver on the Erie Canal. It was not long before he and a brother owned a canal boat of their own, but when eighteen years old Mr. Wallenmeier sold out his interest and went to work at the blacksmith’s trade. May, 1883, found him in the grocery business, to which he subsequently added a meat market and conducted both until the spring of 1894, when he disposed of his interests. He has been active in other business enterprises in Tonawanda, prominent among them being the Niagara Savings and Loan Association, of which he was one of the founders in 1890. He served as its President for several years, retiring in 1896, and the same year became its Treasurer, which office he holds at the present time. Since the organization under the laws of the State of New York of the Buffalo Burial Park Association in 1901, which founded the Elmlawn Cemetery in the town of Tonawanda, Mr. Wallenmeier has been actively interested in it, having been one of the founders and ever since one of the Directors, and at the present time its Secretary and General Manager.
Mr. Wallenmeier is recognized as the Republican leader in the Northern part of Erie County. He was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at St. Louis in 1896, which nominated McKinley for President, and in 1904 at Chicago that nominated Roosevelt, and since 1895 has been a delegate to all the State Conventions. At the Saratoga Convention in the fall of 1904 he received the nomination for State Treasurer. His election followed, and he filled the duties of this important office with signal ability and success. Renominated in the fall of 1906, he was defeated with all the other candidates on the state ticket except the Governor. Prior to his election as State Treasurer, Mr. Wallenmeier had long been active in Republican politics and had more than once been honored with local offices. In 1894, when the office of police justice was created in Tonawanda, Mr., Wallenmeier was appointed to that office by the Tonawanda Council. The following year he was regularly elected to the Police-Justiceship, for a four year tern. In 1898 he was appointed Postmaster of Tonawanda and held the office for six years. Both city and town of Tonawanda were formerly Democratic by large majorities, but of late years, largely through Mr. Wallenmeier’s activities and popularity, the figures have been reversed.
November 14, 1883, Mr. Wallenmeier married Hattie May Koch, daughter of Robert L. and Elizabeth (Kibler) Koch of Tonawanda.
Mr. Wallenmeier is a member of Tonawanda Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. M., and served as its Master for three years. He also is a member of Tonawanda Chapter, No. 278, Royal Arch Masons, of which he served as High Priest for two years, and of Lake Erie Commandery, No. 20, Knights Templar, which in 1908 chose him its Generalissimo. He also is a member of Ismailia Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of Zuleika Grotto. From 1878 until 1880 he served as a Volunteer Fireman, and in April, 1897, he was elected a member of the Tonawanda Firemen’s Benevolent Association and by unanimous vote was made the Secretary of that body. From his youth Mr. Wallenmeier has been a member of the German Evangelical Church.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I