William Frank Brehm, president of the Brehm Brothers Company at Burlington, was born August 21, 1870, in the city in which he still resides, a son of Bernard Brehm, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Spending his boyhood days in Burlington, William F. Brehm attended the parochial and public schools and when a lad joined his father in the draying business, working in the summer seasons and attending school in the winter. When sixteen years of age he made his first trip to buy horses and the first pair which he purchased were prize winners at the Walworth County fair the previous year. The trip was a successful one and gained the confidence of the father in the son’s business judgment and ability. After this trip he was given a free hand and he has continued buying since that time, remaining always the buyer for the firm, his investments representing from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars annually for draft horses. His ability in judging draft horses is widely acknowledged and he has been called upon to act as judge in a number of public horse shows. When twenty-one years of age he was admitted to a partnership in his father’s business under the firm style of B. Brehm & Son and later they were joined by his brothers, Albert M. and Joseph B.
William F. Brehm held the record for the highest priced team sold during the six weeks of the big horse sale in Chicago in 1910. He is vice president of the Burlington Blanket Company, of which he has been a director for many years, and he is also vice president and one of the directors of the Security Lightning Rod Company. He has interests outside of Burlington, but he neglects no opportunity to advance the welfare, upbuilding and prosperity of the city.
On the 8th of January, 1896, Mr. Brehm was married to Miss Emma Johnson, of Burlington, a daughter of Frederick Johnson, and their children are: George, who was educated in the Burlington schools and is now a carpenter; Frederick, a high school student, and Florence and Helen, also in school.
Mr. Brehm served as a trustee of the village before its incorporation and he has always been interested in its progress and improvement, giving active aid and support to all measures which he deems of public worth and benefit. He represents one of the old and valued families here and is accounted one of the representative business men and citizens of his city.