Omaha City (part 21 of 26)

Hugh W. Williams was the eldest of their five sons.' He pursued his education in the public schools and a business college of Chicago, after which he acquainted himself with the business of hog buying in the Union Stock Yards of that city, being there employed from 1879 until 1886. He afterward came to Omaha and entered the Paxton & Vierling Iron Works, with which he was connected for six and one-half years. He afterward spent ten years in the Wilson & Drake Boiler Works, later Drake Wilson & Williams, and on the expiration of that period he organized the Drake Williams Mount Company in June, 1902. The business was started in a small way but has grown to large proportions and in 1902 it was necessary to remove from the original location at 19th and Pierce streets in order to secure larger quarters. Something of the development of the trade is indicated in the fact that there are now seventy-six employes outside of the office force and the plant covers two acres of ground. They are thoroughly equipped to take care of any kind of business having to do with tanks, smoke stacks and boilers, and excellent shipping facilities have been secured through trackage in their own yards.

In lanuary, 1891, in Omaha, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Elizabeth Shaw, a daughter of James and Katherine Shaw, of Denver, Colorado. There arc four children : Walter Hugh, who was born in June, 1892, was graduated from the Omaha schools and since that time has been associated with his father in business ; Alice, born October i, 1893; Georgia, born February 17, 1895; and Arthur, born in May, 1904. The three eldest have all completed the high school course.

In politics Mr. Williams is an earnest republican but not an office seeker. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He holds membership in the Commercial Club and he is interested in all those forces and movements that have to do with the welfare and development of the city. There has never been an esoteric phase in his life record. On the contrary everything has been open and above board and his honorable effort in business has been attended by most substantial and gratifying success. He ranks high as a leading manufacturer and citizen and is well known as a representative man of Omaha.

Dr. William II. Walker, an Omaha physician and surgeon, was born January II. 1870, in Diamond, Canada, and was the fourth in a family of thirteen children whose parents w^ere Robert and Margaret (Baird) Walker, the latter also a native of Canada and a representative of one of the old families of that country of English descent. The former, Robert Walker, was born in Ireland but in 1844 was taken to Canada by his parents, being then a lad of but five years. He became a prosperous lumberman and implement dealer and also followed the occupation of farming. About 1880 he removed to Nebraska and is now living retired at Gibbon, this state.

Dr. Walker of this review pursued his education in the schools of Canada and of Nebraska. He was for four years a student in the State Normal School at Peru and was graduated from the medical department of Creighton University in igoi. Following his graduation he became an interne in the Presbyterian Hospital of Omaha and during the succeeding decade was associated with Dr. Robert Gilmore but since 1909 has been alone, giving his attention to the general practice of medicine and surgery, his ability winning him success in his chosen field. He belongs to the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and also to the Nebraska State Medical Association and through the interchange of thought and experience in those organizations he keeps in touch with the trend of modern medical practice.

On the 23d of December, 1903, in Creston, Iowa, Dr. Walker was married to Miss Eeola Young, a native of that state and a daughter of Dole Young, of an old Iowa family. They have become parents of a son, Richard William, who was born in Omaha, January, 2, 1906.

Dr. Walker has membership with the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite and also become a member of the Mystic Shrine. His name is likewise on the membership roll of the Elks and he belongs to the Field Club and the Omaha Athletic Club. Throughout his life he has been actuated by a laudable ambition to advance along those lines which make not only for professional efficiency but for higher standards of living, and as a man and citizen he is held in warm regard.

Charles E. Niswonger

Charles E. Niswonger, of the Blanchard & Niswonger Grain Company of Omaha, is one of the quota of citizens that Ohio has furnished to this state. He was born in Arcanum, Ohio, March 26, 1868, a son of David and Anna (Pefifly) Niswonger, both now deceased. The former was descended from Virginia ancestry of Dutch lineage, although four generations of the family have been represented in Ohio. The mother belonged to an old Pennsylvania family of German descent. Mr. Niswonger was a farmer and mill man and met with a substantial measure of success in conducting his business at Arcanum, where he and his wife reared their family of eight children.

In the schools of his native town Charles E. Niswonger, the third child, pursued his education until he had completed the high school course, after which he attended ]\Iount Morris College at Mount Morris, Illinois. His youthful days were spent in the usual manner of farm lads and when nineteen years of age he started out to earn his own livelihood, being first employed as private secretary by David S. Hill, superintendent of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. He continued in railroad service for twenty years and during the latter part of that period was general agent for the Rock Island Railroad at Memphis, Tennessee. He then entered the grain trade at Memphis in 1904, continuing his operations there until 1907, when he removed to Omaha, where he entered the grain trade on his own account. In 1913 his present business was established and the company today is classed with the leading grain commission men and general shippers of Omaha, having built up a business of very large and satisfactory proportions.

On the 15th of October, 1890, at Mount Morris, Illinois, Air. Niswonger was united in marriage to Miss Florence Swingley, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Oliver H. and Augusta (Alden) Swingley, representatives of an old Maryland family of Swiss descent, being directly descended from Ulrich Zwingli, the noted Swiss reformer, although the name has since been changed to its present form.

Mr. and Mrs. Niswonger hold membership in the Episcopal church. Mrs. Niswonger takes a most active part in church and charitable work and is one of the directors of the Young Women's Christian Association. Mr. Niswonger belongs to the Happy Hollow Club and also to the Omaha Grain Exchange. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. These associations indicate the nature of his interests and the trend of his thought and activity. During the years of his residence in Omaha he has steadily climbed to a foremost position in the ranks of its business circles and his keen sagacity enables him to make wise investments and profitable sales.

Thomas W. Kennedy

Thomas W. Kennedy is a partner in the W. T. Smith Company, "land specialists" of Omaha. He was born in Fillmore county, Nebraska, April 15, 1882, a son of James and Sarah M. (Coach) Kennedy, who were natives of Ireland and of Pennsylvania respectively. In the fall of 1871 James Kennedy came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Fillmore county, there becoming a successful farmer. He afterward removed to Culbertson, Nebraska, and in December, 1890, disposed of his real estate holdings, comprising three hundred and twenty acres of rich farm land. He then went with his family to Kearney, Nebraska, and in 1905 became a resident of Omaha, where he is now living retired at the venerable age of eightyfive years. It was in her girlhood, in 1880, that Mrs. Kennedy became a resident of Geneva, Nebraska, and there she was married. In the family were three children, Norie, Reby and Thomas W., who is the eldest.

In his youthful days Thomas W. Kennedy attended school at Kearney. Nebraska, and afterward became a high school pupil at Minden, where he studied for a period of four years. He then engaged in farming on his father's land but later went upon the road as a traveling salesman, handling art goods. He gave up that business to enter the trafific department of the Union Pacific Railroad and served in that connection for only six months, after which he accepted a position as salesman with the Bee Publishing Company of Omaha and was in the office for several years. He withdrew from that connection to enter the real estate and land business as a partner of W. T. Smith under the name of the W. T. Smith Company. They have been exceptionally successful. They handle large tracts of land in various parts of the country and are making a specialty of Mississippi gulf coast lands and the development of pecan groves, particularly in Jackspn county, Mississippi, where they purchased over one thousand acres of land, which they planted to pecan trees. After a period of several years they sold this in twenty acre tracts and the same land is now producing some of the finest and largest pecans in the United States, selling at forty cents per pound. In one of the bulletins published by the United States department of agriculture appears the following: "Paper slicll pecans of the imj:)roved varieties are the most delicious, as well as the most nutritious, nuts in ihe world. They are higher in food value than any other nut, either foreign or domestic. The demand for them is constantly increasing and the price is advanced each year, for the demand is many times greater than the supply."

In his political views Mr. Kennedy is a republican. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and he has membership with the Knights of Columbus. The company had the prescience to recognize what the future held in store for the pecan industry and made investment accordingly, while at the present time they are reaping the reward of their farsighted enterprise.

Dr. William Henry Mick has made valuable contribution to medical science through original work on diagnosis of head conditions and through cooperation with factories in the perfection and developmenr of the. X-ray machines. He confines his practice exclusively to Roentgenology and has come to be regarded as authority upon this phase of professional activity.

Dr. Mick was born in Howell, Nebraska, November 14, 1877, a son of George and Katie (Kern) Mick. The father, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, represented an old family of that place and at the age of nineteen years he came to the United States. Following the outbreak of the Civil war he became connected with the United States army service in the veterinary surgeon department and after the close of the war he removed to Nebraska, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising. He married Katie Kern, who spent her early life in Pennsylvania, her parents being natives of Frankfort, Germany, whence they came to the new world ere her birth. The death of George Mick occurred in Schuyler, Nebraska, July 9, 1909.

Dr. Mick completed his more specifically literary education in Fremont College, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the Bachelor of Science degree. He taught school for two years before he took up the study of medicine, which he completed in the John A. Creighton Medical College of Omaha with the class of 1903. During his senior year he served as assistant police surgeon in Omaha and following his graduation spent the succeeding summer in practice at Pine, Colorado. He thus began practice among the mountains of that state but in the fall of 1903 removed to Denver, where he continued in the general practice of medicine until 1907. A large portion of his early practice had to do with pulmonary tubercular cases. In the meantime he did post graduate work in the National College of Electrical Therapeutics in 1906 and was graduated from the Illinois School of Electrical Therapeutics in 1907. He next took a private laboratory course of instruction in the X-ray laboratory of Emil Grubbee of Chicago. On the 24th of August, 1907, he became a resident of Omaha, where he has been engaged in the exclusive practice of Roentgenology, conducting a private X-rav laboratory in the Brandeis building. His practice has, during this time, steadily increased, necessitating enlarging his quarters no less than six times. He was editor of the X-ray department of the Journal of Physiologic Therapeutics during 1910-11. During the summer of 191 1 he spent five months in England and Germany, making a special study of X-ray diagnosis, particularly bone pathology, chest and gastro-intestinal organs, spending most of the time with Dr. Franz M. Groedell, of Badnauheim, Germany. In 1909 he was elected to a fellowship in the American Electro Therapeutics Society and the same year was made a member of the American Roentgen Ray Society. He was the pioneer in X-ray work in Nebraska and for a number of years the only member of the American Roentgen Ray Society in Nebraska.

Dr. William H. Mick

riage to Miss Ethel T. Wead, daughter of Mrs. E. D. Wead, of Omaha. Mrs. Mick began the study of medicine at the John A. Creighton Medical College and has been an active worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She devotes all her spare time to art and has given particular attention to scenery painting, having made many pictures of the various places visited on her travels. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children, Ethel W. and Ruth E.

Dr. and Mrs. Mick hold membership in the First Methodist church of Omaha and he is serving on the official board. He is also a member of the Omaha Athletic Club and of the Masonic fraternity but his associations are largely in the path of his profession, he now having membership relations with the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the American Roentgen Ray Society and the American Electro-Therapeutic Association. He has carried on much original research work and investigation in the line of professional duty which he has chosen as his specialty, and aside from his original work on diagnosis of head conditions he has done much to perfect X-ray machines in making them practical and eliminating conditions which impeded rapid and difficult work.

Harry A. Jacobberger

Harry A. Jacobberger, president and treasurer of the Kimball Laundry Company, whose attractive and catchy wash- word of the home," indicates the enterprising spirit that dominates the management of the business, is of German birth. He was born in Alsace, July 14, 1879, ^"^^^ acquired a public school education. Since putting aside his textbppks iijs attention has been given to the laundry business and his steady progress is", indicated in the fact that he has worked his way upward from driver t-o president.

The Kimball Laundry Company was established in May of 1896 by the late Frank J. Kimball, of Beatrice, Nebraska. The first location was in an old factory building at Twenty-eighth avenue and Boyd street, and on account of the high grade work that this plant turned out it soon outgrew its quarters and finally moved to a new building at 1509 Jackson street. At this location the business steadily increased so that it became necessary to increase the floor space every

After some ten years' experience in every branch of the business, Harry A. Jacobberger bought the controlling interest in 1912. Since that time the plant has been entirely rebuilt and equipped until now it is considered one of the most complete and modern equipped plants in America. At the present time there is under construction a fireproof building with some fifteen thousand square feet of floor space as an addition to the present plant. The business has practically been doubled during the past five years, so that this firm now employs, over one hundred and fifty people and has a pay roll of over eighty thousand dollars per year. This plant is equipped to do every kind of work. There is nothing too delicate for it to handle - cotton, linen, wool or silk. In fact there is no fabric that cannot be washed by the Kimball Laundry Company successfully. There is a system for the softening of the city water called the Zeolit system. One unit is of the Permutit type and two units of the Rcfinite type. This system softens water without the use of any chemicals, making it softer than rain water, thereby eliminating all compounds used in the process of washing in this plant.' This idea alone saves the patrons of the Kimball Laundry Companv thousands of dollars in wearing apparel each year. There is no home washing which can compare in the quality of work or compare favorably with the length of wear when washed by the Kimball Laundry Company. These methods are readily appreciated by new customers and their constantly growing business testifies to this fact.

The work is handled in separate departments. There is a department for handhng flat work such as sheets, table cloths, napkins, towels, etc. ; another department handles nothing but shirts and collars, finished ladies' clothes and underwear; another department handles general household washings usually called family washings ; another department handles all kinds of lace curtains, wool blankets, wash rugs and feather pillows ; and there is one department, called the repair department, where all underwear and socks are darned and where all other gannents receive careful attention by the replacing of lost buttons and the mending of rips and tears. By departmentizing the work it is possible to get a higher efficiency, as the operators become trained in their particular line of work, which results in greater satisfaction to the customers. This firm is doing a parcel post business which extends to seven states at the present time and is recognized throughout the United States as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the country.

On the loth of October, 191 1, Mr. Jacobberger was united in marriage to Miss Georgia E. Farnsworth, by whom he has two children. H. Fredrick and X'irginia Ann. In politics Mr. Jacobberger is a progressive democrat. He belongs to the Omaha Athletic Club, to the Automobile Club and to the Commercial Club and his standing in business circles is indicated in the fact that he was chosen president of the Omaha Laundry Owners' Association for the year 1915- 16 and president of the State Association for 1916-17.

William J. Connell

There are few men who have so long been making history in Omaha as William J. Connell, who arrived in this city in 1867 and through the intervening period of fifty years has been a prominent and influential factor in shaping many public interests. He is a Canadian, although his birthplace was just across the Vermont boundary line. Throughout the period of his residence in Omaha he has continuously practiced law and in 1872 was elected district attorney. In 1889 he was elected to represent his district in congress and on various occasions he served as city attorney of Omaha by appointment. He is a forceful and resourceful lawyer, strong in argument, clear in his reasoning and logical in his conclusions. For over twenty years he served as attorney for the street railway company but resigned in January, 1916, and is now engaged in the private practice of law. He avows it his purpose to devote the last decade of his legal career to serving the public and protecting the rights and interests of the people. During the years of his residence in Omaha Mr. Connell has made extensive and judicious investment in property here and elsewhere and that his holdings are most extensive is indicated in the fact that he has paid more taxes than any other resident of Omaha, turning over sixty thousand dollars to the county treasurer in the last two years. Those who read between the lines will recognize that he is a man of notable business capacity and power, possessing remarkably keen discrimination, his judgment whether in relation to legal interests, real estate investments or public affairs being seldom, if ever, at fault.

Dr. Charles Whitney Pollard, who in the practice of his profession is specializing in obstetrics, has through the concentration of his efforts largely upon that line attained notable skill and ability in that field. He was born in Albany, New York, in 1871, a son of Cyrus Wallace Pollard and a grandson of Asa Pollard. The latter was a native of Massachusetts and traced his ancestry back to England, whence the first representative of the family came to the new world in the year 1640. Cyrus W. Pollard was born in Dover, New Hampshire, and became a well known merchant of Albany, New York. He there married Judith Amanda Folger, who was born in Augusta, Maine, and is now living, her home being in Buffalo, New York. The father, however, has passed away.

Dr. Pollard had the benefit of the thorough instruction offered in the public schools of Woburn, Massachusetts, and in 1895 he won his Bachelor of Arts degree at Dartmouth. He then entered upon preparation for the practice of medicine as a student in Columbia College of New York and obtained his professional degree as a member of the class of 1899. In the same year he sought the opportunities of the middle west and throughout the intervening period has practiced in Omaha, where his ability has more and more largely brought him to the front. He has always specialized in obstetrics and is today one of the eminent representatives of that field in Nebraska, his work being attended with notable success.

Dr. Pollard has been married twice. On the 25th of October, 1899, ^^ Braintree, Massachusetts, he w^edded Gertrude Badger, who died on the loth of January, 1906, leaving three children, Joseph Greeley, Wallace Campbell and Gertrude. Dr. Pollard was again married June 26, 1909, at Des Moines, when Miss Helen Reed Cole became his wife.

Dr. Pollard is a republican in his political views and his military record covers service as a member of the Second Battery of the New York National Guard for three years. He belongs to the Alpha Delta Phi, a college fraternity, and he is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His local membership interests are in the Commercial Club, the- University Club, the Happy Hollow Club and the Seymour Lake Country Club, and of the University Club he is a director. Along strictly professional lines he -has membership in the Omaha- Douglas County Medical Society,, the Missouri Valley Medical Association, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, and his high standing in the line of his specialty 1 is indicated in the fact that he is now the professor of obstetrics in the medical department of the State University at Omaha. He has proven an able teacher, impaftrng readily and clearly to others the knowledge he has acquired, and his teaching is based not only upon the learning which he has gleaned from books but also from broad practical experience.

Edson Prosper Rich

Back of the successful management of every large corporation stands the man who can interpret the activities of such corporation according to the terms of law. In other words he must advise that the business organization be conducted according to legal procedure and limitations and at the same time protect its rights against the force of the unscrupulous. Railroad law is often most intricate and involved and therefore it is men of pronounced ability in the field of law practice who are called upon to solve the intricate problems which are continually arising in connection with railroad extension, management and control. Occupying the notable position of general attorney for the Union pacific Railroad Company since 1907, Edson Prosper Rich was further called to the office of assistant general solicitor in 1914. A native of Illinois, he was born in Griggsville, August 15, 1858, a son of Wellington Rich and a grandson of Prosper Rich, who was born in Putnam, now Zanesville, Ohio, in 1800. His father was William Rich and the family is of English lineage. Wellington Rich was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1832, and in Griggsville, Illinois, he wedded Prudence Smalley. Throughout his entire life he was engaged in educational work and in 1865 he brought his family to Nebraska, settling at Brownville. His labors in the educational field were of a most important character and it was he

Edson P. Rich after attending the schools of Brownville, Nebraska, to which place he removed with his parents when but seven years of age, entered the Nebraska State University and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1884. He afterward took post graduate work in international law and economics at Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland, and upon his return to Nebraska read law in Lincoln. He was admitted to the bar in 1887 and for three years practiced in Lincoln, at the end of which period he came to Omaha, where he continued in general practice for ten years. He then entered the law department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company at Omaha and in 1907 recognition of his ability came in assignment to the office of general attorney and in 1914 his duties were further broadened in scope and importance when he was made assistant general solicitor, so that he now occupies the dual office.

On the 26th of November, 1900, in Omaha, Mr. Rich was married to Mrs. Maud Clark, nee Ward, who is a daughter of Thomas O. Ward, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and who by her former marriage has a son, Arnold. There is also one son of the present marriage, Edson Ward, who was born in Omaha, March 7, 1904.

Mr. and Mrs. Rich attend the Presbyterian church and in club circles he has prominent connections, being identified with the Omaha, University, Commercial, Jacksonian and Omaha Automobile Clubs. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party and, elected to the Nebraska legislature, he served in the session of 1898. In 1900 he was elected a member of the board of regents of the Nebraska State University and filled that position for six years. He is also interested in the grave problems affecting the civic interests of city and state but could never be called a politician in the sense of office seeking as he has felt that the pursuits of private life are in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. He has therefore concentrated his attention upon his professional duties and his growing powers have gained him a position of notable distinction as a representative of the Nebraska bar.

Dr. Wellington S. Gibbs, physician and surgeon of Omaha, was bom July 31, 1845, at Glenburn, Maine, a son of the late William H. Gibbs and a grandson of Elisha Gibbs, of English descent. The ancestral line is traced back in America to colonial days and the founders of the family on this side the Atlantic were three brothers, Henry, Charles and James Gibbs. The first named settled in New York state, while James became a resident of Massachusetts and Charles of South Carolina. It is of the Massachusetts branch of the family that Dr. Gibbs is a representative. His great-grandfather removed from the old Bay state to Camden, Maine, and there his son Elisha was born. Elisha Gibbs cleared a farm in Glenburn, Maine, making his home thereon until his death. It was upon that place that his son, William H., and his grandson, Wellington S., were born. The grandfather was a pioneer of the district and there followed agricultural pursuits during the greater part of his life. William H. Gibbs became a grocer of Bangor, Maine, and later removed to Oldtown, that state, where his death occurred. He also conducted a water power mill for many years at Bradford, Maine, and in that mill during his youthful days Dr. Gibbs w^as employed. William H. Gibbs was united in marriage to Martha A. Smith, a native of Wiscasset, Maine, and a representative of one of the old families of that state of English lineage.

Dr. Gibbs spent his early life between the ages of eight and fourteen years upon the home farm with the usual experiences of the farm bred boy. At seventeen years of age he taught school in Charleston, Maine, having eighty pupils. During that period he also studied, utilizing his leisure hours in that way, and on attaining his majority he became principal of the schools of Milo, Maine. In the following year he was elected and made superintendent of schools of Alton, Maine, where he continued for a year, and in that connection he had supervision over thirteen schools. He resigned, however, in order to seek a home elsewhere and through the succeeding year he was a teacher in Pennsylvania. He left that state for Boston, Massachusetts, where he turned his attention to commercial interests, becoming an employe of the firm of A. S. and J- Geer, machinery dealers, whom he represented upon the road in Maryland and "Delaware. Attracted by the opportunities of the middle west, he made his way to Burlington, Iowa, and was employed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy as a bookkeeper in the freight department. After six months' service he received very material increase in his wages but could not continue long in that position on account of ill health, the close confinement proving detrimental. He therefore resigned and removed to Omaha, where he arrived in September, 1873.

Forty- four years have since come and gone and Dr. GibbiS has long been numbered among the most valued and representative residents of the city. On his arrival he immediately went to the old courthouse, where the Paxton block now stands, and there made application for a position as a teacher, taking his examination under Professor Beal. At the same time John Rush and J. J. O'Connor were taking the examination, and the acquaintance then formed has continued as a lifelong friendship. All three passed the required examination and took up the work of teaching. Dr. Gibbs devoted three years to that profession and utilized the hours outside of the schoolroom in the study of medicine. He afterAvard removed to Waterloo, Iowa, and his savings paid his tuition in the State University of Iowa at Iowa City. He was graduated with the M. D. degree on the 5th of March, 1879. ^^ ^^^ meantime he had also studied in the office and under the direction of Dr. McLaughlin, with whom he had gained much valuable practical experience. In August, 1880, he returned to Omaha after having sold his office and practice at Downey, Iowa, where he had located following his graduation. In this city he opened his office in the rear of a drug store at Tenth and Leavenworth streets and there remained until the druggist discontinued business. He then rented an office in the J. A. Creighton block, where he continued in active practice for a period of fourteen years. During that time he resided at No. 2015 Sherman avenue, where he had built a comfortable home. He was one of the first to propose organizing the Omaha Medical College and took an active part in its organization and development. During the first two years of its existence he was demonstrator of anatomy in the college. The school was started in a very small way on the third floor of the Helman block at Thirteenth and Farnam streets with an enrollment of thirteen students. After one year there a new building was occupied at Eleventh and Marcy streets with an enrollment of fifty students, and Dr. Gibbs taught physiology there for seven years. This college later affiliated with Bellevue College for a few years, after which it became the medical department of the University of Nebraska and has since been taken over by the state. During the existence of Bellevue College Dr. Gibbs was one of the directors in that institution. He wa3 one of the founders of the University of Omaha and from its inception he has taken a keert and helpful interest in the success of this institution, serving continuously as a director and at one time on tjie executive committee.

On the i.Sth of February, 1875, ^t Waterloo, Iowa, Dr. Gibbs was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary E. McLaughlin, daughter of Dr. James and Isabelle (McCready) McLaughlin, both of whom are deceased. Her father became a prominent pioneer physician of Iowa and both he and his wife were descended from old Pennsylvania families of Scotch descent. Dr. and Mrs. Gibbs occupy a beautiful home at Dundee, one of the suburbs of Omaha.

Fraternally he is a Mason and is a member of the First Presbyterian church, of which for the past twenty years he has served as an elder, taking an active and helpful part in all the church work. He likewise stands for progress and improvement in community ati'airs and served for one term as a member of the Omaha school board, while in other connections he has stood loyally and stanchly in support of those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride. He belongs to the Phi Chi, a medical fraternity, and he has membership in the Omaha-Douglas County IMedical Society, the Nebraska State Aledical Association and the American Medical Association. He is a man of very charitable nature, a student and a philosopher. He has never had any desire to acquire riches, feeling that to be comfortable was all that one should wish. Beyond this he has dispensed his earnings generously to the poor and needy and is ever ready to extend a helping hand where assistance is required. He does not do this from any constrained sense of duty but from a deep interest in his fellowmen, recognizing the brotherhood of the race. His career, most honorable in purpose and kindly in its spirit, has made him one of the most valuable and respected citizens of Omaha, while in point of connection with the profession he is the oldest of the practitioners of the city.

Raymond T. Coffey

Raymond T. Coffey, attorney at law in Omaha, was born in Polo, Illinois, in 1887 and is of Irish lineage, his paternal grandfather having been born on the Emerald isle. His father, Theodore Coffey, was born m Brooklyn, New York, in 1850 but during his infancy was taken by his parents to Illinois and in that state, after arriving at years of maturity, wedded Nellie W. Graham. They are now residing in Greenfield, Iowa, where Mr. Coffey is conducting the largest retail implement business in the United States.

Raymond T. Coffey completed his more specifically literary education by graduation from the Notre Dame University near South Bend, Indiana, with the class of 1910; He then began preparation for the bar and is a law graduate of Creighton College of Omaha of the class of 1912. Immediately afterward he opened an office in Omaha and for a time was associated with F. A. Brogan but is now alone in practice. He has a good clientage that has connected him with much important litigation and his ability is manifest in the capable and resourceful manner in which he handles his cases.

On the loth of June, 1913, in Omaha, Mr. Coffey was married to Miss Elizabeth Nields, a daughter of Albert Nields, who was one of the founders of the firm of M. E. Smith & Company, wholesale dry goods dealers of Omaha. They have two sons, Robert Nields and William Raymond. The parents are members of the Catholic church, and in his political views Mr. Coffey is a republican, well informed concerning the political conditions and situation of the country but without ambition for office, as he prefers to concentrate his attention upon his law practice, which has grown steadily in volume and in importance. He belongs to the Barristers Club, the Omaha Bar Association and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

Ray C. Goddard

Among the younger men of Omaha who are fast coming to the front in business and social circles of the city and are making their impress on the life of this growing community is Ray C. Goddard, president of the Peoples Coal Company, which he aided in organizing. He was born in East Dubuque, Illinois, June 19, 1884, a son of Edwin C. and Jennie L. (Walker) Goddard, both natives of Iowa. In 1912 they removed to Omaha, where they are still living.

Ray C. Goddard is the oldest in a family of four children, and his education was largely acquired in the public and high schools of McPherson, Kansas. He prepared for business life through a course in business college at Quincy, Illinois. In 1902 he entered the employ of the Burlington Railroad at Hannibal, Missouri, but in 1903 he was transferred to Lincoln, Nebraska, where he remained for a year, being sent to Omaha in 1904. He retained his connection with the Burlington road until 1905, when he entered the service of the Union Pacific Coal Company of Omaha, with which he remained until 1907, when he became an employe of the Central Coal Company, also of Omaha. In a comparatively short time he rose from a minor position to that of president. On the ist of May, 1916, however, he organized a new company known as the Peoples Coal Company, of which he has since served continuously as president and he is recognized as the dominant factor in the management of the concern, which has enjoyed a steady and rapid growth. His associates in the company are all wideawake, energetic young men, and there is every reason to believe that in time the company will be one of the largest in its line in the city.

Mr. Goddard was married January 5, 1910, to Miss Grace I. Barstow, a daughter of Mrs. Mary E. Barstow of this city. To this union has been born one son, Edwin Clark. Mr. Goddard votes for the man rather than the party and gives careful study to the questions of the day, believing it is every citizen's duty to take an interest in public affairs. He belongs to the Omaha Athletic Club, the Field Club, the Concord Club and a number of other social, organizations. He is also identified with the Commercial Club and the Ad Club. He is quick to recognize an opportunity and prompt in devising and carrying out plans to utilize it to the best advantage, and the result of his; initiative and insight is seen in the prosperity of the company of which he is the head;

Dr. Arthur C. Stokes, a surgeon of Omaha, was born in Canada in 1870, a son of Charles H. and Mary (Qiapman) Stokes, the former a native of Canada and the latter of England. The family is of English lineage, the ancestral line being traced back to the time of Cromwell, prior to which period the progenitors of the family lived near Dublin, Ireland. Charles H. Stokes, his father, was reared in Canada, where he resided from 1844 until 1885, when he removed with his family to Rock Rapids, Iowa, and later became a resident of Flandreau, South Dakota, where he and his wife are now living.

Dr. Stokes attended public schools of Canada to the age of fifteen years and afterward became a high school pupil at Rock Rapids, Iowa. He next entered the Iowa State College at Ames, from which he was graduated in 1892, and after completing his more specifically literary education he began preparation for the practice of medicine and surgery, matriculating in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, in which he remained for two years. He also spent two years in the medical department of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and was graduated in 1899. For seven years he taught chemistry in that school. For a year he was interne in the Methodist Episcopal Hospital of this city and afterward took post graduate work in the Roosevelt Hospital of New York. Subsequently he spent two years, in study in Halle, Kiel and Berlin in Germany and London, ' England, receiving instruction under most eminent surgeons. Since 1904 he has concentrated his efforts upon the practice of surgery in Omaha and is now surgeon for the Wise Memorial Hospital and associate professor of .surgery in the Nebraska State University. He is medical director of the Guarantee Life Insurance Companv, has a good private surgical practice and is also consulting surgeon to the Missouri Pacific Railroad and a lieutenant in the medical reserve corps of the United States army.

On the i/th of December, 1910, in Omaha, Dr. Stokes was united in marriage to ^liss Bertha Shackleford, daughter of Clark Shackleford, of Omaha. His reHgious faith is that of the Episcopal church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine and a Knight of Pythias. He belongs to the Commercial Club, the Omaha CIuIj and the Happy Hollow Club. In politics the principles of the man rather than of a party attract his vote. His military record is limited to service as captain of a cadet company at Ames, Iowa, during his college days. He has professional connections as a member of the Nebraska State Medical Association, of which he has been vice president and librarian, the Omaha- Douglas County Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Western Surgical Association and the American Urological Association. Through the proceedings of these societies as well as through private study and research he keeps in touch with the latest professional thought and discovery. He is a member of three Greek letter societies.

George Rasmussen

George Rasmussen, vice president of the Nebraska Bridge Supply & Lumber Company, was born June 2, 1884, at Idaho Falls, Idaho, then known as Eagle Rock. His father, John Rasmussen, a native of Denmark came to America in 1881 and while en route to the west stopped at Omaha for a short period. He became one of the pioneer settlers of Idaho and was there engaged as foreman of the Oregon Short Line. He next entered the general contracting business in connection with railroad construction and was very successful. He became a resident of Omaha about 1886 and spent the greater part of his remaining days in this city here passing away January 29, 1902, when forty-one years of age. He had married Caroline Petersen, also a native of Denmark, whence she came to America in early womanhood, arriving about 1882. They were married in San Francisco, California, and Mrs. Rasmussen is now living in Omaha. She became the mother of four children: George; Harry; August F. ; and Helga, the wife of Stuart Gould, of Omaha.

George Rasmussen acquired his early education in the public schools of Omaha and in the school of experience has learned many of life's practical and valuable lessons. He has been dependent upon his own labors for a livelihood since reaching the age of fourteen years. His first position was that of office boy for several physicians who occupied a suite of rooms jointly. During that period he improved his education by attending night school and became proficient in stenography, after which he accepted a position as a stenographer. On the ist of July, 1899, in that capacity, he entered the employ of the Nebraska Bridge Supply & Lumber Company. He acted in that capacity for a year and then won promotion, being advanced through all branches of the business. He was made one of the officers of the company in 1906, when he w^as chosen secretary, so remaining until 191 1. He was then elected to the position of vice president and general manager and has so continued to the present time. This firm conducts the largest business of the kind in the state and in fact its operations cover twenty states. It manufactures and sells at wholesale lumber of all kinds as well as bridge supplies, operating mills and yards throughout various sections of the south and west, and also operating retail lumber yards. Mr. Rasmussen is also president oi the National Cypress' Pole & Piling Company, of Bucoda, Missouri, and is a director of the Independent Lumber Company of Omaha and the Garner-Towle Company of Brinkley, Arkansas. His business connections are thus important and extensive. Gradually he has widened the scope of his activities, which have also become more and more important in character, and the extent of his interests place him as one of the most prominent business men of the city.

Irma Springer, of Beatrice, Nebraska, a daughter of Paul and Georgene (Dargatz) Springer, who were pioneer settlers of this state, prominent in the business and social life of Beatrice. Mr. and Mrs. Rasmussen have two children : Irma Georgene, born in Omaha, March 19, 1910; and George Paul, July 14, 1914.

Mr. Rasmussen is independent in his political connection, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He belongs to St. John's Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in Nebraska Consistory, No. I, A. A. S. R. He is also connected with the Mystic Shrine and he has membership in the Omaha Athletic Club, the Happy Hollow Club and the Commercial Club. He likewise belongs to the Kountze Memorial Lutheran church and in its teachings has found the rules which have governed his conduct in all of his relations. He has never deviated from what he has believed to be right between himself and his fellowmen and his course has embodied those principles which in every land and clime awaken confidence, respect and regard. He has made wise use of his time and opportunities not only in the achievement of business success but also in his cooperation with those forces which work for good citizenship and for individual betterment.

Dr. Andrew Bartholomew Somers, engaged in the general practice of medicine in Omaha since 1887, was born in Orleans county, Vermont, in 1847, and is of Scotch descent, the family having been founded in x^merica by his grandparents, all four of whom came to the United States from Scotland soon after the Revolutionary war. His father. John Somers, was born in Caledonia county, Vermont, in 181 5. and devoted his life to the occupation of farming. He married Margaret C. Lindsay and both passed away in 1870.

While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Dr. Andrew B. Somers pursued his education in the public schools and academies of the Green Mountain state. He also spent a year as a medical student in the University of Vermont and then entered Columbia College of New York, where he completed his medical course by graduation with the class of 1872. Immediately afterward he located for practice in Chittenden county, Vermont, where he remained for fifteen years, when, believing that the growing west offered better professional opportunities, he came to Omaha and opened an office. Through the intervening period of thirty years he has continued in active practice and almost from the beginning has occupied a leading position as one of the foremost physicians of the city- He has remained a continuous student of medical science and keeps in touch with the most modern research and investigation, using those advanced methods which sound judgment and long experience sanction.

Dr. Somers was married on the 6th of August, 1872, to Miss Amelia Hannah Capron, a daughter of John P. Capron. They had one son, Gerald, who was born in 1875 and i)assed away in 1899.

Dr. and Mrs. Somers hold membership in the Congregational church and he is also a York Rite Mason, having taken all the degrees including those of the commandery. Furthermore he is identified with the Happy Hollow Club and the University Club of Omaha and he became a charter member of the Commercial Club, being in hearty sympathy with its plans and purposes to upbuild and develop the city. His political support is given to the re{)ublican party, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him as he has ever preferred to concentrate his undivided thought and attention upon his professional duties, which he has ever discharged with a sense of conscientious obligation.

In 1895 he became associate professor of medicine in Creighton Medical College and held the position until 1900 when he was given the position of pro- fessor of obstetrics in Omaha Medical College, now the medical department of the University of Nebraska. He still holds this position. He is a charter member and an ex-president of the Missonri Valley Medical Society; joined the Nebraska State Medical Society in 1889 and has been actively connected with that organization until now. He was one of the organizers of Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society antl an ex-president ; also a member of the American Medical Association. He has been contract surgeon for the Omaha & Grant and the American Smelting & Kelining Companies for thirty years. He held the position of health commissioner of Omaha, 1892-3; w^as a member of the State Board of Health, 1900-5. He is life insurance examiner for several companies and was consulting surgeon of the Union Pacific Railway for several years or until the position was abolished under restrictions of the interstate commission, under which appointment he had the opportunity of making the acquaintance of E. H. Harriman while attending him from Grand Island to New York during an attack of appendicitis.'

F. C. Bliss

F. C. Bliss, a member of the firm of Bliss & Wellman, live stock commission merchants of South Omaha, was born December 18, 1857, in Franklin county, \^ermont, a son of Charles and Catherine (Corliss) Bliss, who represented old families of the Green Mountain state. The father was engaged as a dealer in cattle, horses and merchandise.

F. C. Bliss attended the public schools of Rich ford, Vermont, until he reached the age of seventeen years. He then spent two years as an employe of Charles Richards in a lumber business at Springfield, Massachusetts, and then engaged in farming and stock raising near Richford upon rented land. He prospered in the undertaking and a few years later purchased one hundred acres, which he continued to cultivate until 1885. He then came west to Colfax county, Nebraska, where his uncle resided, and there he entered into the stock business on his own account at Howell. After twelve years spent at that place he came to South Omaha in 1897 and entered the commission business with his uncle, Joseph Bliss. That partnership was continued for a decade or until 1907, when F. C. Bliss became associated with F. F. A. Wellman, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. The firm of Bliss & Wellman was organized and has since become well known on the Exchange, for they do a large business annually, dealing in cattle, hogs and sheep.

In 1879 Mr. Bliss was married to Miss Ada M. Pattee, a native of Franklin county, Vermont, and a daughter of Ami and Mary Jane (Heath) Pattee. They have two sons, namely : Howard B., who was born in 1889 and is associated with his father in business; and Walter C, whose birth occurred in 1891 and who is an agriculturist of Fremont, Nebraska. In his political views Mr. Bliss is a republican and is thoroughly conversant with the questions and issues of the day, but he does not seek nor desire office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business afifairs, which have become of an important character owing to the liberal patronage which he has won.

Albert C. Hedberg

Albert C. Hedberg, of Valley, editor and publisher of the West End Advocate, was born in Chicago, February 2, 1874, a son of Fred J. and Nellie J. (Nelsen) Hedberg. The father was born in Sweden and in early manhood came to the new world, arriving in Chicago in 1857. There he followed the tailor's trade until 1861, when he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in the Union army as a member of Logan's cavalry, with which he served throughout the entire period of the war. With the close of hostilities he returned to Chicago, where he resumed work at the tailor's trade and later he engaged in the manufacture of clothing, carrying on that business quite extensively. At the present time he is living retired in Chicago. His wife was born in Rome, New York, and became an opera singer, being connected with the Abbey Grand Opera Company. While on a tour of Europe she met and married Mr. Hedberg in Sweden, at which time he was a musician in an opei^a house of that country. They returned to America and, as indicated, established their home in Chicago, where many years afterward Mrs. Hedberg passed away.

Albert C. Hedberg was reared and educated in Chicago, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, after which he became a student in Notre Dame College in Indiana. He also attended Augustana College at Rock Island, Illinois. Later he went upon the road as musical director of an opera company, to which work he devoted eight years, and eventually he became a representative of musical interests in Denver, Colorado. In 1901 he came to Valley, Douglas county, Nebraska, where he engaged in 'newspaper work on the Enterprise, there continuing until 191 5, when he established the West End Advocate, which is today a thriving and progressive newspaper of Valley. He has a well ecjuipped plant, thoroughly modern in every particular, and the paper has gained a wide circulation in the period of its existence.

In 191 5, at Valley, Nebraska, Mr. Hedberg was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha (Zwiebel) Steele, who was born in Ohio and passed away in A'^alley, this state, on the 22d of February, 191 6. By her first husband she had two sons, Russell L. and Ernest C. Steele, whom Mr. Hedberg is rearing.

In politics Mr. Hedberg is a democrat and has served as village clerk but prefers activities outside of office holding. He belongs to the Episcopal church and he is a prominent member of the Masonic lodge of Waterloo, Nebraska, having served for three terms as its master. He is alert, progressive, wideawake and enterprising, standing for all that is progressive in citizenship, and at the same time he is a capable and successful business man.

William G. Whitmore

William G. Whitmore, owner and manager of the stock yards at Valley and thus extensively and actively connected with the live stock industry in Douglas county, was born in Sunderland. Massachusetts, June 23, 1849, and is a brother of Frank Whitmore, mentioned elsewhere in this work. He spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the state of his nativity and after attaining his majority was there married to Miss Clara Ely. of that state, who passed away three years later. Mr. Whitmore next married Miss Ida Knowlton at Omaha, Nebraska. She is a native of Gardenplain, Illinois, and a daughter of D. H. Knowlton, a building contractor of that place. By his second wife Mr. Whitmore had nine children, two of whom are deceased. The surviving members of the family are as follows: Kate, the wife of C. H. Webb, who is master mechanic at the Valley Stock Yards; Jesse D., who is manager of the stock yards at Grand Island, Nebraska; Jennie G., the wife of N. H. Barnes, of Lincoln. Nebraska; Nell P.. the wife of N. E. Johnson, who is engaged in the hardware business at Valley. Nebraska ; Burton C, who is assocrated with his father in the conduct of the Valley Stock Yards & Grain Company at Valley, Nebraska; and Ruth and Frances, both at home.

It was in the year 1878 that William G. and Frank Whitmore came to Nebraska, establishing their home on land at Valley. Douglas county. They first purchased a half section, at which time almost the entire tract was unde- veloped and unimproved. They began farming together and also stock raising and from time to time added to their holdings until their property possessions aggregated eleven hundred acres. To the further development and improvement of this farm they gave their attention until 1901, when they established the X'ailey Stock Yards & Grain Company at Valley and built the stock yards along the railroad for the purpose of feeding live stock in transit. The plant is very extensive, having ample accommodation for ninety thousand head of sheep. W. G. Whitmore is still connected with the stock yards, althoAigh his brother has retired from the business. His interests are extensive and important, constituting one of the valuable business enterprises of the western section of Douglas county. There is no feature of farming or stock raising with which William G. Whitmore is not thoroughly familiar. In addition to being president and treasurer of the Valley Stock; Yards & Grain Company he became one of the organizers of the Valley State Bank and is. still an officer of the Whitmore Brothers Company, Incorporated. What he undertakes he accomplishes, never stopping short of the successful execution of his plans. He has been the president of the Nebraska Improved Live Stock Association and president of the Nebraska Dairymen's Association, in both of which he has done much to advance the stock raising and dairying interests of the community through the dissemination of scientific knowledge having to do with those things which further the interests of farmer, stock raiser and dairyman.

In his political views Mr. Whitmore is a stalwart republican and has been honored with a number of local offices. Twice he was called upon to represent his district in the state legislature and he is now serving on the board of regents of the State University, with which he has been connected for thirteen years - a longer period than any other of its members. He belongs to the Nebraska Historical Society and is interested in all that pertains to the preservation of the records which mark the ])rogress and development of the state. His religious faith is that of the Unitariaiij church. He is now rated as one of the men of wealth in his community. His ability as a business man is widely acknowledged and he possesses many sterling traits of character which have gained for him the goodwill and warm regard of those with whom he has been associated.

Cuthbert Vincent

Cuthbert Vincent is the president of the Vincent Grain Company, with headquarters in the Grain Exchange building at Omaha - but he is much more than that - he is the champion of cooperation among farmers and the author of the cooperative law, which since 191 1 has been found on the statutes of Nebraska. This bill has since become a part of the statutes of both Colorado and Indiana. In a word, he has studied the question of mutual helpfulness among farmers until he has) seemed able to speak the "last word" and bring about conditions that are largely altruistic. He has long been actuated by a desire to be of service to his fellowmen, yet he claims nothing unusual in his career nor wonderful in his accomplishments. He was born in Mills county, Iowa, a son of James and Mary (Sheldon) Vincent. The father's birth occurred in Deal, England, August 21, 182 1, and in the early '50s he came to the United States, making his way to Mills county, Iowa, where he cast in his lot with the early settlers. For a time he followed cabinetmaking there, but afterward turned his attention to farming. Throughout the entire period of the Civil war he served in the hospital corps and he passed away in Iowa in December, 1899, when seventy-eight years of age. It was in Berea, Ohio, that he wedded Mary Sheldon, who was born in that state on the 26th of November, 1825, and who died in Iowa in 1888.

Cuthbert Vincent was the second of their six sons, being born at Tabor, Iowa. February 15, 1856. In early life he attended the schools of Tabor and later entered the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, in which he completed the scientific course by graduation in 1884. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in his home county, also in Harrison county, and later he became a newspaper editor, being associated with his brothers in newspaper publication at Tabor and at Winfield, Kansas. He went to the latter city in 1886 and removed thence with his brothers to Indianapolis in 1891, there remaining until 1898. He bought out the American Noncomformist in Indianapolis in 1896 and in March, 1898, he removed his business to Omaha, later changing the name of the paper to the Central Farmer. In 1905 he sold the paper, which was consolidated with the Farmers Advocate of Topeka, Kansas. At the opening of the Omaha Grain Exchange in 1904 he purchased a membership, becoming a charter member of the organization, and since that time he has been an active factor in the grain business, operating under the name of the Vincent Grain Company. He is also a director and general manager of the Farmers Grain Company, which was organized in January, 1905. The Vincent Grain Company is an incorporated company, of which Mr. Vincent is the president, with E. M. McCray as vice president and Frank Sorensen as secretary. The success of Mr. Vincent in his operations in Omaha seems almost phenomenal, yet there has been no esoteric phase in his career. His prosperity has resulted from business tact, close application to his interests and thoroughly honorable dealing with all. He has ever made it his purpose to study the grain trade from every possible standpoint - the standpoint of the producer, of the salesman and of the consumer. The Farmers Grain Company, with which he has been prominently connected since its organization and which is the product of his brain, was started with one elevator. There is now a chain of seven elevators in this one cooperative company. The business is a practical exposition of Mr. Vincent's belief in cooperation.

His definition of cooperation, as voiced in an address delivered before the Nebraska Rural Life Commission and the Farmers' Congress at Norfolk, February 7, 1912, is: "Cooperation is that method of doing business under which the earnings, or profits, are distributed in proportion to the transactions with customers (instead of in proportion to the capital invested)." In other words, if a farmer becomes a customer of the company, even though he holds no stock, he shares in the dividends which are later declared, or in other words shares in the profits that accrue. His share of the earnings is not at first paid back to him in money, but is placed to his credit on the books, and when he has to his credit one hundred dollars, he is given a share of the stock. Mr. Vincent's plan of cooperation, clearly set forth and defined in his public utterances, many of which have been published and widely distributed, has received the endorsement of such men as Judge John J. Sullivan, formerly chief justice of the Nebraska supreme court ; ludge George A. Day, for many years on the Omaha bench ; Thomas Lamb, a leader of cooperative thought among farmers' elevator companies of Illinois; L. S. Herron, editor of the Nebraska Farmer; Judge S. H. Allen, for six years on the Kansas supreme bench ; T. F. Sturgess, editor of the Twentieth Century Farmer; C. O. Drayton, president of the Farmers' Equity Union; A. E. Sheldon, a director of the Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau and many others who have given the closest study to the question of cooperation among farmers, believing, as Elbert Flubbard expressed it, that "cooperation is the badge of sanity." Mr. Vincent's ideas have been gathered from experience of many years in building up farmers' elevators and in organizing and operating them in dififcrcnt places, and many there are who believe that he has found the just and equitable solution for the problem in the division of profits between outside customers as well as stockholders, since his system eventually adds the outside customers to the roll of stockholders. .

On the 19th of November, 1891, Mr. Vincent was married to Miss Lola Phelps, of Carthage, Missouri, but a native of Independence. Iowa. Mr. Vincent has been identified for a number of years with the Young Men's Christian Association and he is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He helongs also to the Benevolent i'rotective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America and in Omaha has membership relations with the Commercial Club, the Happy Hollow Club, the Carter Lake Club and the Omaha Athletic Club. He first gave his political allegiance to the greenback party in 1876, afterward endorsed the people's party and supported Bryan as the democratic candidate, but is independent in politics, preferring to be free to give his allegiance where he believes the interests of the many are at stake. The dominant force of his life has undoubtedly been his desire to assist his fellowmen, ever recognizing the fact that no man lives to himself alone, but that each is dependent upon all and all upon each, and inasmuch as this truth is recognized will the civilization of the race progress.

Dodds Brothers

One of the important business enterprises of Omaha is that conducted under the name of the Dodds Lumber Company, with offices in the Brandeis building. The owners of this concern are J. Emerson, Joseph J., Austin E. and Milton N. Dodds. The first named was born in Pennsylvania, December 19, 1861, and Joseph J. was born in Ohio, March 20, 1867. The birth of Austin E. occurred in Ohio, November 19, 1871, and that of Milton N., December 12, 1874. Their father, Isaiah Lawrence Dodds, was a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania, born October 20, 1834, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 5th of July, 1905. He was a son of John Dodds, who was born April 3, 1795, and who was married twice, his first union being with Margaret Bryson, while his second wife bore the maiden name of Margaret King. John Dodds was a son of Thomas Dodds, who married Mary Guthrie. The ancestors of the family emigrated from the highlands of Scotland to the province of Ulster, Ireland, about 1709, and there obtained grants of land. They were Scotch Presbyterians. The progenitors of the family in America were three brothers, James, Andrew, and John Dodds. James Dodds was married to Jane Addy, who died leaving a son, William. His second wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen Cochran, accompanied him on his trip across the Atlantic and while on the voyage gave birth to a son whom they called Thomas. The brothers all settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1760. Andrew and John Dodds were soldiers of the American army in the Revolutionary war and were present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. John Dodds was in the War of 1812 and bore for many years wounds received in that war. They engaged in farming and the family continued in that occupation in Pennsylvania until the early '60s, when Isaiah L. Dodds removed to Ohio. Here he enlisted for the defense of his country in the Civil war and served as a member of Company K. Eightyseventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. All of his children had the benefits of educational advantages. J. Emerson attended the National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio, subsequently becoming well known as an educator in that state; for some years was president of Fayette University at Fayette, Ohio. His degree of B. S. was conferred by the National Normal University. Joseph J. attended Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and Berea University, Berea, Kentucky, from which he received degrees of Ph. B. and M. S. He was well known in educational circles in Ohio, being a member of the faculty at Fayette University, also vice president. Austin E. attended the Ohio State University, at Columbus, later taking up teaching which he followed successfully. Milton N. received his higher education at Fayette University, there receiving his degree of B. S. He also became a successful teacher. Educational work practically occupied the attention of the four brothers, until 1899, when they secured a tract of timber land in eastern Tennessee on the Watauga river. There they built a sawmill and became pioneers in the lumber business in that section. Later they were instrumental in having a branch line of railroad extended into that district. Their venture as lumbermen was successful and after operating in that locality for two years they sold their interests in Tennessee and removed to Omaha to engage in the wholesale lumber business, representing, as resident agents, several large manufacturers. As wholesalers and distributors they handle from twenty-five hundred to three thousand carloads of lumber yearly. They employ traveling salesmen who cover Nebraska, Iowa, portions of IlHnois, Kansas, Missouri and North and South Dakota. They have built up an immense business and are probably the largest distributors of lumber in the state. They have become recognized authority upon questions relating to the lumber trade and their interests are now of a' most important and extensive character. Aside from this they have outside interests of importance, Austin E. being now president of the Fleming State Bank at Fleming, Colorado, while J. Emerson is secretary of a coal company in Wyoming, also president of the Ralston Furniture Factory, Ralston, Nebraska, and of the Smith Lumber Company at St. Charles, Iowa. Milton N. is president of the Strahan Lumber & Hardware Company at Strahan, Iowa, and vice president of the Brown Lumber Company at Riverton, Iowa, and of the Brown Lumber & Coal Company at Mondamin, Iowa.

All four of the brothers are married. J. Emerson Dodds wedded Olive Ward Ely. Joseph J. Dodds married Jennie N. Nelson, a native of New York city, and they have two children, Robert C. and Dorothy L., both attending school, the former being now a high school pupil in Omaha. Austin E. Dodds married Cordelia Willard and their children are John Emerson, Mary Louise, Helen and Frances. Milton N. Dodds married Vesta Carncross and they have a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth.

While occupying a prominent position in business circles, the brothers and their families are equally well known socially and in other connections. They are all members of the Hoo Hoos, the leading organization among lumbermen, and J. Emerson Dodds belongs to the Omaha Athletic Club, while Joseph J. Dodds is a member of the Happy Hollow Country Club, the University Club and the Commercial Club. All are active and helpful members of the United Presbyterian or the Presbyterian church, so that their influence is given on the side of those forces and interests which are most efifective in working for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of the community at large. They are spoken of as clean-cut, honorable, enterprising and progressive business men and substantial citizens and are regarded as a valuable asset to the business life of Omaha.

Dr. William H. Berry, a well known representative of the medical profession practicing in South Omaha, was born in Burlington, Iowa, June 30, 1862, a son of James C. and Sarah Katherine (Craig) Berry, who were natives of \'irginia and went to Iowa in 1849. There the father engaged in farming up to the time of his demise. He was born April 18, 1820, and passed away September 30, 1913. at the venerable age of ninety-three years. Mrs. Berry was reared and educated in Ohio, where their marriage was celebrated, and she was in her eighty-sixth year when her death occurred in Douglas county, Nebraska, February 12, 1914, her birth having occurred in Virginia, November 26, 1828.

Dr. Berry was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children. His early education was acquired in Iowa and he was graduated from the high school at Afton. In preparation for the practice of medicine he matriculated in the Starling Medical College at Columbus. Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1888 with the M. D. degree. This college later was merged with another, forming the medical department of the Ohio State University. His first pro- fessional work was done in Union county, Iowa, and in May, 1888, he came to South Omaha, being today the oldest physician in point of continuous practice in this section. He has been most successful, his efforts being based upon comprehensive knowledge of scientific principles. He has taken post graduate work on several occasions in the Chicago Post Graduate School and in the New York University. He was also a student at Great Ormond, a post graduate college for diseases of children, in London, England.

On the 22d of February, 1891, Dr. Berry was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Elizal^eth Mahns, a daughter of Gustav and Dorris Mahns, who were of Gemian birth. Dr. and Mrs. Berry have become the parents of four children. Frances Marie, born in South Omaha in 1892, is a graduate of the high school and of the Kearney (Neb.) Normal School and is now a kindergarten director in the public schools of South Omaha. William Mahns, born in 1894. is a graduate of the Central high school of Omaha. Dorris Katherine, born in 1899, is also a graduate of the Central high school, and James Gustave, born in 1 901, is attending that school.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and in politics Dr. Berry follows an independent course, nor has he ever sought nor desired ofifice. He has attained high rank in Masonry, having reached the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he belongs also to Tangier Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His connections along strictly professional lines are with the Omaha- Douglas County Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, the American A/[edical Association, and also the Nebraska and Iowa Pedriatic Society. Without any particular advantages to aid him at the outset of his career he has made steady progress in his chosen life work, advancing steadily in a profession where success depends entirely upon individual merit and ability. He has a large practice and is capable and popular, ranking high in both social and professional circles in South Omaha.

Otis M. Smith

Otis M. Smith, president of the Missouri Valley Elevator Company, has been a factor in the development of Omaha as one of the greatest grain centers of the country. He is a young man with the characteristic western "push" and power of initiative and these qualities are the best assurance that the business of which he is the head will continue to expand. He was born in York county, Nebraska, December 8, 1880, a son of Thomas W. and Fannie (Lincoln) Smith, natives respectively of Toronto, Canada, and Watertown, New York. In 1871 the family home was established in York county, Nebraska, and there the parents are still living, the father at the age of sixty-nine and the mother at the age of sixtyseven. The latter was educated in New York but in young womanhood removed to Illinois, where she lived until she became a resident of Nebraska.

Otis M. Smith, who is the second in order of birth in a family of nine children, attended the public schools of York and was for three years a student in the University of Nebraska. Upon leaving that institution he entered the employ of the T. W. Smith Grain Company, of Fairfield, of which his father was the head, and remained in that connection until 1905. In that year he arrived in Omaha and became a factor in the grain trade of this city as a representative of the Updike Grain Company. During the intervening twelve years he has continually advanced and is now president of the Missouri Valley Elevator Company, which does a general receiving and shipping business in grain and has an elevator capacity of seven hundred and fifty thousand bushels. The company is equipped to render its patrons the best possible service and its success has been built upon the sure foundation of fair dealing and a careful study of the grain trade in all of its phases. Mr. Smith gives his personal attention to the direction of the affairs of the company and there are few men better acquainted than he with everything that has a bearing upon the handling of grain. He is also a director in the Updike Grain Company.

On the 30th of November, 1900, in York, Nebraska, occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Mary Louise Clithero, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Clithero, residents of York. Two children have been born to this union, namely : Izetta, who was born January 30, 1904, and is now a student at Brownell Hall ; and Robert who was born in Omaha September 15, 1906, and is attending the city schools.

Mr. Smith is independent in politics. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is well known in club circles, belonging to the Omaha Athletic Club, the Field Club and the Carter Lake Club. Naturally the management of his business interests has required the greater part of his time and attention, but he has never allowed business cares to prevent him from supporting the various movements that have to do with the advancement of his city along commercial lines, and his personal qualities are such that he is popular in social circles.

Frank Whitmore

Frank Whitmore, president of the firm of Whitmore Brothers, Incorporated, is in this connection extensively and successfully engaged in farming and stock raising just outside the corporation limits of Valley. He is also closely associated with banking as the vice president and managing director of the Valley State Bank. He was born in Sunderland, Franklin county, Massachusetts, October 4, 1853, and is a son of Charles and Julia (Clapp) Whitmore. The father was also a native of Sunderland and devoted his entire life to farming, always remaining a resident of Franklin county. He was interested in the welfare and progress of his community and filled a. number of local offices. His wife was a native of Montague, Massachusetts, but died in Sunderland.

Frank Whitmore obtained a district school education at Sunderland, which he supplemented by study in the Deerfield Academy and in the Powers Institute at Bernardston, Massachusetts, and by further study in the Salem Academy at Salem, Massachusetts. He started out in the business world as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at Holyoke, Massachusetts, and in 1878, in connection with his brother, William G. Whitmore, he came to Nebraska to locate land and establish a home. They made their way to Omaha and purchased a half section which was almost wholly unimproved near Valley. They began cultivating this land together and in addition to tilling the fields took up the occupation of stock raising, carrying on the business until 1901. They extended the boundaries of that farm from time to time until it comprised eleven hundred acres. In 1901 the brothers established the Valley Stock Yards & Grain Company at Valley building stockyards along the railroad in order to feed the live stock when in transit. This yard has a large capacity, there being accommodation for ninety thousand head of sheep at a single time. This is said to be the largest bunch of sheep ever gotten together at one time at one place. Frank Whitmore has now disposed of his interest in the stock yards, which, however, are still being conducted by his brother William. The Whitmore Brothers, Incorporated, engage in farming and stock raising, however, with Frank Whitmore as the president of the company. He built a home on his farm just at the edge of the town in 1881 and still occupies it. He was one of the organizers of the \''alley State Bank, of which he is the vice president and managing director. His business affairs have always been most carefully and .systematically controlled and directed and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful com-

On the 12th of January, 1879, in Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Whitmore was united in marriage to Miss May Gardiner, who was born in Kihvinning, Scotland, and was brought to America by her parents when five years of age, being reared and educated at Fort Covington, New York. Her father, a farmer by occupation, passed away at Fort Covington, after which his widow came with her daughter May to Nebraska and in this state spent the remainder of her hfe. Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore have two chiklren, namely : Fred H., who is a publisher residing at \ alley, Nebraska; and Marion Fly, the wife of Ira O. Webster, who is bacteriologist in the bureau of chemistry, department of agriculture, of the United States government and resides in Chicago, Illinois.

In his political views Mr. \Miitmore is. a republican and has filled a number of town offices. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and fraternally he is well known in Masonic circles, being a past master of the lodge at \\'aterloo, Nebraska. He has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite, belongs to Tangier Temple of the Mystiq Shrine, and both he and his wife are connected with the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Whitmore is quite active. Mr. Whitmore is also connected with the Woodmen of the World and with the Royal Highlanders. He is justly regarded as one of the most prominent and representative business men and citizens of the western part of Douglas county and he is a representative of a valued old Massachusetts family. His progressiveness has always been safeguarded by conservatism and yet he has never feared to venture where favoring opportunity has led the way. His well directed efforts have brought results which are most gratifying and his business ability has been a contribution to the welfare and upbuilding of the section in which he lives.

John Frink Hecox

John Frink Hecox, vice president of the American State Bank and well known in banking circles throughout the middle west, was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1876. His father, Warren Thomas Hecox, a native of the Empire state, was born in 1840 and wedded Helen Frink, a daughter of John Frink, the well known owner of the historic old stage line between Chicago and Galena, Illinois. Mr. Hecox passed away in 1886, while his wife died in 1888, their last days being spent in Chicago.

It was in the schools of Chicago that John Frink Hecox pursued his education, the family having removed to that city in 1876. He there resided until 191 1 and in the meantime had gained thorough knowledge of the banking business in principle and detail during eighteen years' connection with the Continental & Commercial Bank of Chicago, in which institution he had worked his way steadily upward until when he severed his association with that bank he was at the head of the discount department. He removed to Omaha to accept the vice presidency of the City National Bank and remained in that connection until 1916, when he withdrew in order to organize the American State Bank, of which he is now the vice president. This institution, capitalized at two hundred thousand* dollars, has already entered upon a prosperous existence, its business growing daily, its policy and principles winning for it the confidence of the public, for its business methods are thoroughly conservative yet do not hamper that progressiveness which is symbolic of the spirit of the times.

On the nth of February, 1905, in Chicago, Mr. Hecox was united in marriage to Miss Jessie R. Robertson, a daughter of John M. and Minnie (Boutwell) Robertson of that city. They have three children, Marion Helen. Mabel Jane and Elizabeth. In his political views Mr. Hecox is a republican, and while a stal- wart advocate of party principles, has never been an office seeker. He belongs to the Presbyterian church and through that avenue seeks to advance the moral progress of the community. He labors for the material benefit of his city and the upholding of its civic standards as a member of the Commercial Club and, appreciative of the social amenities of life, holds membership in the Rotary and the University Clubs.

J. Herman Kritenbrink

The spirit of western progress and enterprise finds an exponent in J. Herman Kritenbrink, senior partner in the firm of Kritenbrink & Son, brick manufacturers of South Omaha. He was born in Germany, September 17, 1856, a son of Henry and Margaret (Droesselhaus) Kritenbrink, who on coming to America settled in Iowa, casting in their lot with the pioneer residents of Lee county in 1859. Before leaving his native country the father had been engaged in the foundry business and was with one firm there for a number of years, becoming superintendent of one of the large foundries of that country. Following his emigration to the new world he took up the occupation of farming and devoted his remaining days to general agricultural pursuits, passing away in 1896, when sixty-five years of age. His widow survived until 1909 and died in Lee county at the age of seventy-five. - - -- - ' ,^ ,

J. Herman Kritenbrink was the. eldest 'tn'tii^ir- family of eight children and was but three years of age when l>i-ai]§'^}t: itQ tlie "new world. His youthful days were spent upon the home farm in Iowa and his education was acquired in the country schools of Lee county and St. Paul, Iowa.. When his textbooks were put aside he concentrated his efforts upon fann work on his father's land and after leaving the parental roof he seciu'e(|,a' -position at a brick manufacturing plant in St. Paul, Iowa. Subsequently-he- went to St. Louis, Missouri, in order to more thoroughly acquaint himself with the business of manufacturing and burning brick and there secured a position with William Slinkman, a prominent brick manufacturer of that city. He continued in that employ for eight 3-ears or until 1877, when he went to California, spending one year in Sacramento and three years in Marysville, that state, during which period he worked in various lines. Retracing his steps eastward, he again located at St. Louis and once more entered the employ of William Slinkman, with whom he continued for four years. In 1886 he arrived in Omaha and established a brick-yard and kilns in connection with his brother. This partnership was maintained for eleven years at the end of which time they decided to divide their interests equally. At that period J. Herman Kritenbrink bought a quarter section of land in Boone county, Nebraska, but after a year sold his farm at a })rofit and returned to South Omaha, where he purchased the brickyards and kilns of the Parks, Flynn & Burness Company, successfully conducting the business for eight years. When the supply of clay in that locality became exhausted he bought property at 3100 South Thirteenth street covering i2>4 acres. On this he has built one of the largest brick manufacturing plants in the state of Nebraska, his annual output being most extensive. The plant is thoroughly equipped in a most modern manner, every facility being secured to advance the interests of the immense business which he has developed and controls.

In 1885, in Fort Madison, Iowa. Mr. Kritenbrink was married to Miss Elizabeth Friza, a daughter of Christ and Katherine Friza. They have had nine children: Mrs. Carrie Bruning, who was born in St. Louis and now resides in Cedar county, Nebraska; Clement, of St. Louis; Mrs. Agnes Rcara, now of Hammond. Indiana, where her husband is office manager for the Cudahy Packing Company; Mrs. Lottie Pederson, of Cedar county, whose husband is a banker at Ubert, Nebraska; Alwies, who is with his father in business; Isabel; and Francis. Two children of this family are deceased, one of whom died in infancy, while Camilla passed away in October, 1898, at the age of Jive years.

The family are Catholics in religious faith and in political belief Mr. Kritenbrink is a republican. Starting out in life empty handed, he early came to a realization of the worth of industry and perseverance as factors in the attainment of success and as the years have gone on he has so directed his labors that his energy and persistency have brought splendid results, his interests being one of the important productive industries of Omaha.

Thomas Lord Kimball

For more than forty years this name was prominent in the railway circles of the United States. During all this period Thomas L. Kimball's whole energy was concentrated on the advancement of the country's railway interests in the west; and the only thing that stood in the way of his arrival at the topmost official pinnacle in this service was his extreme conscientiousness, which at more than one point in his career, balked at policies then in vogue and under consideration. This unusual moral sensitiveness may have been due to his Puritan ancestry.

His father and grandfather were both soldiers; the latter, Joshua Kimball, fought in the Revolutionary war, and the former, Amos, in the War of 1812. Amos Kimball afterwards "turned his sword into a ploughshare," married Johanna Currier, also known as a strong and exemplary character, and settled down to agricultural pursuits on his farm at Buxton, Maine.

Here Thomas L. Kimball was born, October i, 1831. As a boy, he was noticed for his mechanical bent, continuous industry, and thirst for study, which he indulged at night, as they relate of Abraham Lincoln, by the blaze of pineknots ; the student quality indeed marked hisMvhole life. At sixteen, having mastered the principles of farming, he had also prepared himself for college, but was disappointed of this by a serious two years' illness. Later he found a business opening at Saco, Maine, with a jewelry firm by whom he was soon established at Biddeford for a few years of success, winning friends and making a record as citizen c^uite astonishing in a man of his age. The Eastern Journal, at the time of his leaving Maine to begin the long stretch of his railroad activities, pointed out that record, and sketched his many-sided character in so comprehensive a way that it is worth quoting. "Never noisy nor self-assertive, young Kimball was a man of Vjroadest catholicity of spirit, yet he was in his quiet way the chief man of his church, superintendent of the Sunday school, an active trustee of the public schools, an attentive director of the Savings Bank, the alderman of his ward, consultor in all town charities, the working man on committees for lyceum lectures, among the most vigorous of the temperance and anti-slavery workers, an occasional speaker at public meetings, often a sagacious writer for the press - a man in fact so trusted for integrity and intelligence that had he remained in Maine we may say that we had no position, social or political, that would not have been open to him."

In 1857 he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and was engaged as publicity agent by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, consequently making a special study of railway conditions and problems. Becoming their general western passenger agent in 1861, he continued with the company, through various stages of advancement, for twelve years, with headquarters in Cincinnati and later in Chicago. In 1871 he came to Omaha with Colonel Thomas A. Scott, president of the Union Pacific Railroad, who had been prompt in recognizing Mr. Kimball's special talent for the handling of railway problems. He began his connection with the Union Pacific as general passenger and ticket agent, and after ten years at that post, became successively assistant general manager, general traffic manager, and general manager of the Union Pacific System, and finally in 1889 a vice president of the company and president of the Union Depot Company. His official connection with the Union Pacific terminated in 1897.

In all these years, through all administrations, during the absence and illness of siiperior officers, Mr. Kimball came to be looked to as the mainstay of the great road in its various departments. His keen insight and unremitting energy aided greatly in the marvelous growth of that immense system. From his first connection with it he planned and introduced methods of expanding its local resources, as for instance a reduced passenger tarifi^, and the organization of land-buyers' excursions both in this country and in Europe, to populate the districts along the railway. He learned thoroughly the agricultural, live stock and mineral possibilities of sections tributary to the road, and encouraged the location of industries with a view to developing adjacent land. He always urged the addition of a complete system of branches to the main line, and was most active in bringing this about. Sagacious and exacting in his care of the afifairs entrusted to him, he still kept a remarkable hold on the confidence and loyalty of the vast army of Union Pacific employes. This was partly due to his personality and manner - a compound of gentleness and power that gave him a peculiar advantage in his dealings with all sorts and conditions of men - and partly to the strong human sympathy that marked all his relations in life. It is a matter of history that during his long term as guardian of Union Pacific interests, the employes of that road were the best paid and best satisfied force of any railway system in the west.

On his removal to Omaha Mr. Kimball became deeply interested in the business life and upbuilding of the city. In 1879 he was one of the incorporators of the Omaha Electric Company, and in 1888, of its successor, the Nebraska Telephone Company. Pie was president of the Omaha Thomson-PIouston Electric Light Company, a director of the Lmion National Bank, a founder of the Associated Charities of Omaha, and was identified with many other large enterprises and charities both public and private.

In 1855 Mr. Kimball was united in marriage to Mary Porter Rogers, daughter of Nathaniel Peabody and Mary (Farrand) Rogers, of Plymouth. New Hampshire. The children of this marriage are : Frances R., wife of George W. Holdrege, general manager of the Purlington System; Arabel M. ; Thomas R.. a prominent architect of Omaha: and Richard R.. who died in 1915.

The death of Thomas Lord Kimball occurred on the 9th of October, 1899- Measured by years, his was a comparatively short life, but crowded with accomplishment and with such fullness of devotion and of attainment as i* reallv the record of much longer careers. His memory is honored by those who knew him and those who have Init heard of him as an example of the best citizenship, and as one of Omaha's best and most representative citizens.