SHEBOYGAN – For many years, the late Edmond Hou-Seye was termed a "maverick" or "political gadfly" by reporters in describing his attempts to take issue with the government while trying to hoodwink taxpayers.
Hou-Seye, who ran a gas station and a used tire shop, started his political career in 1961 with an announcement he was running for mayor in the city of Sheboygan.
In his 1961 bid, he wanted the support of labor, but not labor leaders. He desired small businessmen, but not the large merchant or industrialist. He would also try runs for mayor in 1969 and 1973, according to Sheboygan Press clippings.
In 1973, he failed as a write-in candidate for mayor, after which he called for an investigation, according to a Press clipping.
Hou-Seye, who polled 385 votes out of 17,100 cast, claimed the election had been "rigged" against him.
District Attorney Lance B. Jones said following an investigation for voting fraud that mayoral candidate Hou-Seye "failed to produce any evidence of election fraud or intentional violation of election laws."
In fact, Hou-Seye tried several more failed attempts at running for office in the 1960s through the 1990s, including alderman, sheriff, state senator, U.S. Senate and governor.
During his 1970 run for the U.S. Senate with the American Party, Hou-Seye said as part of his campaign platform that the news media should be licensed.
"Let us regulate these hypocrites who cry 'freedom of the press' while manufacturing news, lies, distortions and peddling anarchy, dope, revolution and blackmailing government officials, political parties and individuals," he declared.
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In researching this Throwback, several former Press reporters found him to be challenging to pin down during an interview. One reporter received, as they put it, a long, vile and nasty letter from him of which the editor had the reporter send to the local district attorney for possible charges.
During a 1974 U.S. Senate campaign, Hou-Seye sought out Arab funds to finance his U.S. Senate run in his attempt to win against U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson. Hoping a loophole somewhere would permit it, he said at the time, "I'm sure going to do it (use Arab financing) if I can. I'm neither Moslem, Christian or Jew, so I won't conflict with their religious views."
Despite his efforts, Hou-Seye would never win in runs for office. Only his son, Job, would win a Fourth Aldermanic District race in the 2010s.
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In the 1960s, Hou-Seye caught the attention of the FBI when Marie Oswald turned over a letter to the FBI that was part of the Warren Commission on John F. Kennedy's assassination. In that letter, he wrote:
“Enclosed you will find a small check for $2.00 as an expression of my sympathy for the ordeal and torment of your late husband. I was impressed by the attitude of a hostile society toward your husband and feel he was driven by cruel circumstances into this act of violence, if indeed he is the guilty party. Whether or not your husband is guilty is not nearly so important to me as those responsible for his failure to secure a suitable employment and social acceptance. Please accept this $2.00 and use it to help your children have a Merry Christmas. I’m sorry I can’t help more but we are lucky to have a Christmas ourselves. “
The FBI closed the investigation in 1965 after determining his activities did not harm national defense interests.
But, what would really catch the eye of Sheboygan and state officials was his massive tire pile and his claim that his business was a church.
In the late 1970s, Hou-Seye would start the "Research Universal Life Church,” which he ran out of his tire shop with his wife Mary and his son Job. The Hou-Seyes would obtain mail-order ministries items from a "Mother Church" in Modesto, California.
Hou-Seye called himself Bishop Edmond Galileo Hou-Seye and claimed he was allowed to use the same tax exemptions that churches use because he held Bible studies at his shop. Courts rejected those claims eventually and he was ordered to pay back $177,000 in back taxes and interest.
A 1996 Press article said: "Hou-Seye lived on the lot adjacent to Poor Edmund's Tire Shop, 2522 S. Business Drive, for 27 years. A second, house-like structure was home to the Research Universal Life Church until November 1996, when Hou-Seye and six of his family members and church followers were evicted.
"The county seized Hou-Seye's properties at 2522, 2604 and 2624 S. Business Drive after Hou-Seye failed to pay a delinquent tax bill exceeding $177,000."
Officials then had the buildings on the property torn down in 1998.
Hou-Seye's epic tire pile contained some 75,000 tires at one point, which the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources claimed to be a haven for mosquitoes, a Press clipping said. The DNR also said the tires were a potential fire hazard.
When the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources began removing the tires, at taxpayer expense, some 60,000 tires from the lot adjacent to Poor Edmund's Tire Shop on South Business Drive, Hou-Seye called it a religious issue because his tire business was the sole support of his church, the Research Universal Life Church, which was in the house on the property.
He claimed the 60,000 tires brought in the sole income for his church, which he said had between 100 and several thousand members — anyone who has done business with him he counts as his flock.
Hou-Seye said by taking the tires the state was shutting down his church.
However, when he died in 2010 at the age of 83, stories came out about the other side of Edmund Hou-Seye. He had a lifelong dispute with various governmental agencies, but not with the "little guy" or private individuals.
One Press story revealed when a Hmong man came to his shop to buy a tire, the man gave Hou-Seye two $20 bills to pay for a $20 tire not knowing how American money worked. Hou-Seye handed back that spare $20, even being chastised by a co-worker at his shop. He quipped quickly to the co-worker about the incident, according to the Press, "The day I have to steal from a refugee immigrant to our country," he said, "that is the day that I close my doors."
Gary C. Klein has written Throwback Thursdays since 2017, covering dozens of businesses, people, sports and events from the early days of the area to recent history. He has been a photographer for the Press since 1993. He can be reached at 920-453-5149 or gklein@gannett.com . Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @leicaman99 . Check out his other work at www.sheboyganpress.com/staff/4383066002/gary-c-klein/ .
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Edmond Hou-Seye, a Sheboygan political ‘maverick,’ stymied city and state officials with tires and church issues
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