S.G. Courteen

Sidney G. Courteen was a whole sale seed merchant of English descent. Courteen was born in Monmouth, England. June 17, 1864. His father, Thomas, was owner of a number of flour mills. In 1885, Courteen moved to Chicago and became a manager of the clover-seed department for the Albert Dickinson Company. He came to Milwaukee in 1892 where he started his own seed whole sale business, in the Menomonee Valley, named the Courteen Seed Company. The seed merchant started in a four-story building, called Courteen’s Dock, then as the business grew Courteen built a large 8 story triangular building in downtown Milwaukee. The building was at the time one of the strongest and heaviest structures in the city, with the ability to carry a live load of 400 pounds a square foot. The building provided about 2 ½ times as much space as his previous building. The building was designed and erected by The Barnett & Record Co. In 1909, the Courteen Seed Company ran nearly 2 million dollars annually. The Courteen Seed Company shipped products globally and used the slogan "Known the World Over." In 1914 the Courteen Seed Co. was found guilty in selling noxious weed seed, Buckhorn, in thier alsike clover stock and we required to pay a fine. Courteen was known as a man of indomitable energy, push, keen, shrewd and intelligent in his business judgments. Courteen held important roles outside of his business, as a director in the Wisconsin Central Railway, along with president of Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce and of the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Courteen married Lena Bartlett in 1894. They had two children, Herbert and Edith. Courteen Seed Company went out of business in the early 1960s.