William M. Kauffman, a leading merchant in Brownville, Nebraska, was born on February 2, 1848, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Of Swiss descent, he moved to Nemaha County in 1868. His father, John M. Kauffman, was also from Lancaster County, born in 1818. William worked as a clerk before establishing his own business in 1887. He married Teresa McLaughlin in 1881, and they had two sons, William and John. Kauffman was active in community affairs, serving as treasurer of Brownville and the school board, and was a prominent Mason and Democrat. He and his family have lived in Brownville since 1894.
Numbered among the leading business men of Brownville is William M. Kauffman, the well-known merchant. Since 1868, he has made his home in this county. He came here from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the place of his nativity, his birth occurring there on the 2nd of February, 1848, and the family is of Swiss origin. His father, John M. Kauffman, also claimed Lancaster County as the place of his nativity, where he was born in 1818, and he was a son of John Kauffman, who was born in either Pennsylvania or Maryland, and his death occurred in the former state in 1866. The latter married a Miss Mets, also of Pennsylvania, and they reared five sons and three daughters. One son, Aaron, was numbered among the goldseekers to California in 1849, when twenty-three years of age, and fills an unknown grave. Another son, Cyrus Kauffman, came from Ohio to Brownville in 1867 and is now engaged in the nursery business. Christian Kauffman died in Pennsylvania in 1874, leaving a family, and Andrew, also deceased, made his home in Tippecanoe City, Ohio.
John M. Kauffman, the father of our subject, was a merchant tailor in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was a member of the state militia. After attaining his majority, he married Martha Miller, who was born in that county in 1818, and was a daughter of George Miller. Five sons blessed their marriage, namely: Franklin, who died in early childhood; Hiram, who died at the age of nine years; William M.; Jeremiah, a merchant of Baltimore; and Winfield Scott, a merchant of Baltimore, Maryland. The mother still resides at the old homestead and has reached the age of eighty-five years.
William M. Kauffman attended the public schools of his neighborhood until seventeen years of age, and for three years thereafter was employed as a clerk in a store at Manheim, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Coming thence to Brownville, Nemaha County, Nebraska, he entered the store of W. T. Den, where he remained as a salesman for three years, and from that time until 1887 was employed in the store of W. W. Hackney. In that year, Mr. Kauffman purchased his employer’s interest and has since been alone in business, enjoying a large and lucrative patronage. In April, 1903, his store was destroyed by fire and he sustained a heavy loss, but he immediately rebuilt, and he now occupies a leading place in the ranks of the representative business men of the city.
The marriage of Mr. Kauffman was celebrated in May 1881, when Miss Teresa McLaughlin became his wife. She is a native of Iowa and a daughter of Timothy and Mary (Wogan) McLaughlin, both born in the Emerald Isle. After coming to this country, they went first to Connecticut, thence to Iowa, and about 1856 located in Omaha, Nebraska. The father was a stonemason by trade, and he survived his wife four years, the latter passing away at the age of sixty years. Two sons have been born to brighten and bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman — William, who is connected with his father’s store, and John M., a clerk in the Union National Bank. Both are graduates of the Brownville high school and for two terms were also students in the Peru normal, while the elder, William, received a business course in Omaha. Mr. Kauffman is prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of the Mystic Shrine, and his political affiliations are with the Democracy. For thirteen consecutive years, he served as the treasurer of Brownville, and for thirteen years was treasurer of the school board. Mrs. Kauffman is a member of the Catholic church. For ten years, they have resided in their pleasant residence in Brownville, and there they delight to extend a gracious hospitality to their many friends and acquaintances.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company, A Biographical and Genealogical History of Southeastern Nebraska, 2 volumes, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904.