Albert J. Earling, the son of Charles and Elizabeth Earling, was born at Richfield, Wisconsin, on January 19, 1848. In 1866, having received a common school education, Mr. Earling began his career with the Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad Company as a telegrapher. He advanced through various positions with this company and became president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Saint Paul Railroad Company, 1899-1917, and chairman of the board, 1917-1919. He was the moving spirit in the extension of the Milwaukee Road from the Missouri River to the Pacific Coast.
In 1871, Mr. Earling married Margaret Peebles. Their children were Harriet, George P., and Sherburn M. Mr. Earling died on November 10, 1925.
Harriet Earling (1877-1962) was married three times: in 1899 to Milwaukee businessman Lawrence Fitch (1874-1924), by whom she had two children; in 1927 to Milwaukee attorney, Frederick G. Thwaits (1871-1944); and in 1947 to Milwaukee real estate broker and art collector Walter Dake, who died in 1958.
Harriet attended the Ogontz School, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, before her marriage to Lawrence Fitch in 1899. Upon his death in 1924, she became president of the Western Malleables Iron Company, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. She was very active in Milwaukee's social and civic affairs. She founded the Milwaukee Service Club in 1912 and was president of the Woman's Club of Wisconsin from 1943 to 1945. During World War I, Harriet, then Mrs. Fitch, organized and directed the Fatherless Children of France project in the Milwaukee area. She was also instrumental in forming Foster Mothers of America, an organization designed to care for war orphans. For these activities, the French government awarded her the Legion of Honor medal.
Harriet Earling Dake died in October 1962, at her summer home at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.
