Omaha City (part 26 of 26)

It was in 1867 that Dr. White came to Nebraska, establishing his home at Palmyra. In 1893 he removed to South Omaha, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, becoming one of the successful physicians of the city. He was a graduate of the St. Louis Medical College of St. Louis, Missouri, and at all times he kept in touch with the trend of modern scientific advancement. During the Civil war he joined the Confederate army and served under Colonel Francis M. Cockrell, who was later a United States senator from Missouri. During President Cleveland's administration Dr. White served as chief of the bureau of animal industry, and he was also county health officer of Douglas county for a period of years. He passed away in South Omaha in 1905, at the age of sixty-two. His widow yet survives.

Albert S. White was the eldest in a family of four children, three of whom are yet living. He supplemented his public school education by a course in the

University of Nebraska, winning the LI.. B. degree in 1897. Following his graduation he was for two years justice of the peace in South Omaha and later he removed to Kansas City. Missouri, where he was engaged in the real estate and loan business for four years. He then entered the field of bankmg at Chadwick, Missouri, becoming cashier of the Chadwick State Bank, and later he was vice president of the Planters Bank of St. Louis, Missouri. He afterward became president of the Night & Day Bank at St. Louis and in 1912 he returned to Omaha, becoming vice president of the State Bank of Omaha. He is also dealing in real estate and investments.

Mr. White has been twnce married, his first wife being Miss Eva LeDioyt, of Kansas City. Of this union one child. William Sidney, was born in Kan.-^as City, September 19, 1902. The present Mrs. White, previous to her marriage in 1906, was Miss Lillian Hicks, of Kansas City, Missouri.

Mr. White is an independent in his political views and his interest m community afit'airs is shown in his membership in the Commercial Club. He belongs also to the Omaha Athletic Club, and he is a prominent Mason, having taken the degrees of the lodge in Kansas City, while in St. Louis he became a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, the Knight Templar commandery and the Mystic Shrine.

Henry O. Edwards

Henry O. Edwards, one of the most popular business men of South Omaha, now occupying the responsible position of general manager of the Swift packing plant and thus controlling most extensive and important interests, has worked his way upward to his present position through indefatigable effort and ability. He was born in Richmond, Vermont. November 5, 1866, and is a son of A. B. and Marian (Oaks) Edwards, who were also natives of the Green Mountain slate. There the father engaged in farming and in the live stock business, and in 1886 he removed to Chicago, where he became chief buyer for Swdft & Company, in which connection he continued for seven years. Later he engaged in the live stock commission business on his own account and so continued until his death, which occurred in 1898, when he was sixty-three years of age. His wife survived him for a considerable period and passed away in Chicago in 1914 at the age of seventy-nine.

Henry O. Edwards was the eldest in their family of three children. His youthful days were spent under the parental roof in A'ermont, where he attended the public schools, and later he entered his father's employ, thus receiving his initial business training. He continued in business with his father for a year after the removal of the family to Chicago and he then entered the employ of Swift & Company, remaining with that corporation in Chicago for four years, after which he was transferred to Birmingham, Alabama, where he continued for two years. He returned to Chicago, where he remained until 1903, after which he spent two years in Philadelphia. Since that time he has been in Om.aha, having been advanced to the position of general manager of the Swift interests at this point in 1905. He worked his way upward through various departments, gaining a comprehensive and accurate knowledge of the business. In this connection he has several thousand employes under his direct supervision. He is also a director of the Live Stock National Bank and one of its stockholders.

On the 31st of October, 1888. Mr. Edwards was united in marriage to Miss Leona A. Williams, of Huntington. \^ermont. a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George '\\'illiams of that state. They have one child. Robert B., who w^as born in Chicago in 1896 and is now a student in Cornell University at Ithaca. New York.

Mr. Edwards belongs to the Omaha Field Club, to the Commercial Club and to St. Alarv's church, associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. His has been an active and v»ell spent Hfe, and the inteUigent direction of his labors has brought him to a most enviable and honorable position in connection with the commercial upbuilding of Omaha.

Arthur Hoover

Arthur Hoover, a dealer in investment securities, was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on the 5th of June, 1878, of the marriage of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Pinkerton) Hoover, both natives of Wayne county, Ohio, where they were reared. In 1875 the father went to Black Hawk county, Iowa, where he very successfully engaged in farming for many years, and he is numbered among the most successful and highly respected citizens of Waterloo, where he now Hves retired. The mother died in W^aterloo in 1909 at the age of forty-nine years. To them were born seven children, as follows: Samuel P. and Ira J., both residents of Waterloo; Arthur, of this review; Mrs. Anna Fiel, of Waterloo; Mrs. Blanche Hewitt, of Butte, Montana; Jay C, who is living in Yomans, Canada; and Harry R., a resident of Kansas City.

During his boyhood Arthur Hoover attended an academic school in Waterloo, after which he graduated from the Iowa State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls. He completed his education in the University of Chicago. During his college days he took a leading part in athletics both at Cedar Falls and at Chicago. He was a member of both the baseball and football teams at the State Teachers' College and at the University of Chicago was a member of the baseball team, winning the athletic letter his first year. After leaving the latter institution he entered the Leavitt & Johnson National Bank at W^aterloo. He filled clerical positions in that bank for four years, but in 1906 came to Omaha and turned his attention to the real estate business. He built up a clientage and in addition to buying and selling on commission erected a number of buildings. For some time he was also connected with the State Bank of Omaha as a director, but continued as a real estate dealer.

In \^illisca, Iowa, in August, 1904, Mr. Hoover was united in marriage to Afiss Mabel Wise, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Wise, still residents of Villisca. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hoover, namely : Helen Blanche, whose birth occurred in Villisca in 1905 ; John Arthur, born in Omaha in 1907; Robert Wise, who was born in Omaha in 1912; and Richard Clayton, born in Omaha in 19 16.

Mr. Hoover is a republican in politics, but although faithful in the discharge of all his duties as a citizen, he has never taken a prominent part in political affairs. He finds recreation and an opportunity for the gratification of the social side of his nature in his membership in the Omaha Athletic Club. The success which is now his is doubly creditable, in that he has been dependent entirely upon his own resources since beginning his business career.

Glenn Carlton Wharton

One of the important wholesale enterprises of Omaha is that conducted under the name of F. P. Kirkendall & Company, of which Glenn Carlton W"harton is the president. He also has other important business connections which render him a factor in the commercial development of the city. He was born in Aledo, Mercer county, Illinois, in 1883 and is a son of John C. Wharton, formerly postmaster of Omaha.

lie schools on beginning his education and passed through consecutive grades to graduation from the high school with the class of 1899. Liberal educational opportunities were accorded him and in 1903 he was graduated from Princeton University. For a year he studied commercial law in New York city and his knowledge thereof has been of immense value to him in the conduct of important business interests. Returning to Omaha, he became the organizer of the Grove-Wharton Construction Company in 1904 and was elected its vice president. He afterward became one of the organizers of the Omaha Lumber & Coal Company in 1906 and was also chosen its vice president. He is still interested in both companies, serving as a member of the board of directors. He contributes much to the success of both corporations and has in recent years been more active in the wholesale trade of the city as a member of F. P. Kirkendall & Company, of which he was elected vice president in December, 191 2. He continued to serve as second officer until January, 1916, when he was made president of this wholesale shoe firm. In the past year he has inaugurated further progressive policies that have extended the trade relations of the house and contributed to the growing success of the business.

In Omaha, on the 14th of February, 1908, Mr. Wharton was married to Miss Ada Elizabeth Kirkendall. They hold membership in the First Presbyterian church and he votes with the republican party. He is identified with various organizations for the benefit and upbuilding of the city and the advancement of its social interests, being now on the membership roll of the Commercial Club, while of the Athletic Club of Omaha he is a life member. He is likewise identified with the Omaha Club and the Omaha Country Club and he belongs to the Princeton Club of New York. His business relations have made him widely known outside the city of his residence and wherever known he is held in the highest regard.

Judge Arthur Cooper Wakeley

Arthur Cooper Wakeley, of Omaha, judge of the fourth judicial district of Nebraska, was born at Whitewater, Wisconsin, in 1855. His father, Hon. Eleazer Wakeley, was a member of the Wisconsin territorial legislature in 1845; was elected to the state senate of that state in 1851 ; was appointed justice of Nebraska territory by President Pierce in 1857; reappointed by President Buchanan and served until 1861, when he returned to Wisconsin. There he formed a partnership for the practice of law with William F. Vilas, afterward United States senator from Wisconsin. In 1867 he returned to Omaha, where he became one of the leaders of the bar. A more complete account of his life appears in the chapter on the Bench and Bar in A'olume I of this work.

Arthur C. Wakeley came to Omaha with his parents in 1867 and has made his home there since that time. He was educated in an Episcopal Church School at Nebraska City, in the Omaha high school, and at Cornell University, graduating from the latter institution in 1878 with the degree of Bachelor of Literature. He represented the University in the Intercollegiate Oratorical Contest in New York City in 1879. He then took up the study of law and in 1881 was graduated from the Columbia College Law School. The same year he was admitted to the bar and was associated in the practice with his father, until 1903. During his practice in Omaha, Mr. Wakeley has been identified with important litigation and in 1909 he was honored by being elected president of the Omaha Bar Association, of which he has long been a member. In 191 6 he was appointed by Governor Morehead judge of the fourth judicial district of Nebraska to succeed Judge James P. English, deceased, and in November, 191 6, he was elected to that position.

In 1890 Judge Wakeley was married to Miss Fanny Dalrymple Wall, a beautiful and accomplished woman of Baltimore, Maryland. In his political belief he has always been a democrat and was president of the Omaha Democratic Club. He belongs to a number of clubs, is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and is a past exalted ruler of the Omaha Lodge of Elks. He has served as a member of the Omaha board of education and is frequently called upon to address public and social gatherings.

Frank Withneli

On the list of those men who have contributed to the development and upbuilding of Omaha appears the name of Frank Withnell, who throughout his entire life was a resident of Omaha, respected and esteemed by all who knew him. His birth occurred at the family home at Seventeenth and Farnam streets on the 29th of November, 1869, and his life record covered not quite forty years, for death called him on the 5th of /\ugust, 1909. His father, John Withnell, a native of Lancashire, England, came to Omaha in October, 1854, when on the site of the present city there was a tiny hamlet, one of the outposts of western civilization. From that time to the present the name of Withnell has figured in connection with the progress of the city and has ever been a synonym for reliability and enterprise in business.

After attending the public schools Frank Withnell continued his education in the Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota. He then returned to Omaha and began business in connection with his father and brother Charles, who were already established as well known contractors here. He remained in that business throughout his active life and was prominently identified with the improvement of the city through his extensive and important building operations. In all of his dealings he was thoroughly reliable, and perseverance and indefatigable energy were numbered among his strong characteristics.

In 1892 Mr. Withnell was united in marriage to Miss Luella Miles, who came to Omaha in 1889 from Burlington, Iowa. To them was born a daughter, Cecil L., whose birth occurred March 28, 1894, and who is now the wife of E. C. Goerke.

In his political views Mr. Withnell was a democrat and fraternally was connected with the Woodmen of the World. He enjoyed outdoor sports and was a member of the Roadster Club. At all times he manifested a public-spirited devotion to the general good and no movement for the benefit of Omaha failed to receive his endorsement and cooperation. He was always greatly interested in his native city and its improvement and was ever most loyal to its interests.

Jay B. Katz

Jay B. Katz, of the Katz Construction Company, was born in Taylor county, Kentucky, on the 23d of October, 1882, a son of Samuel and Lorena (Rothschild) Katz, who were natives of Germany and Kentucky, respectively. The father came to America in the early '70s and settled in Kentucky, where he married. In 1884 he came to Omaha, where he was connected with mercantile lines and manufacturing and later became a contractor, and remained in the contracting business until his death in 1912. Mrs. Katz is still living in this city.

Jay B. Katz. their only child, attended public school, mastering the branches taught in the graded and high schools. Later he entered the Wentworth Military Academy at Lexington, Missouri, and following his return to Omaha si)ent four vears in the employ of M. E. Smith & Company. After leaving that company, he engaged in the contracting business with his father, Samuel Katz. and George W. Craig, in the Katz-Craig Contracting Company, where he took up municipal contracting and the building of public works. Samuel Katz and Mr. Craig retired from the business in 1911 and Jay \>. Katz took over the business and is still operating, and has built waterworks and sewerage systems throughout the western country. J J is patronage has grown to extensi\e proportions and is well -merited by reason of his ability, his sound judgment and his enterprise. He fully merits the prosperity that has come to him as it is the just reward of his diligence and keen sagacity. He has many men in his employ and every completed contract is an advertisement of the excellence of the work.

On the iith of June. 1912, Mr. Katz was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Rubel of Omaha, a daughter of Isaac and Hattie C. Rubel. They have two children: Jay \k, Jr., born in Omaha, September 30, 1913; and Marion, born August 15, 1915.

Mr. Katz is a thirty-second degree Mason and is also connected with the Benevolent Protective order of Elks. He likewise belongs to the Commercial Club and to the Omaha Athletic Club, and he has many friends in these organizations. Step by step he has advanced since starting out in the business world in his youthful days, and his orderly progress has brought him into prominent, relations.

Samuel Mancuso

Samuel Mancuso, who has allowed no opportunity to slip by him unutilized, has through the worth of his work and his ready adaptability made for himself an enviable and commanding position in the business circles of Omaha, where he is conducting a real estate, investment and insurance business, with offices in the Paxton block. He was born in Carlopoli, a country town in the province of Catanzaro, Italy, October 31, 1872, a son of Gaetano and Clementina (Pane) Mancuso, who are also natives of that sunny land and representatives of a well-to-do and prominent family. Coming to the United States in 1881, they established their home in Omaha, where they still reside and are now enjoying^ good health, although both have passed the seventieth milestone on life's journey.

Samuel Mancuso acquired a common school education in his native land but on coming to America at the age of seventeen years was ignorant of the English language and was without trade or profession. The first work he ever did was that he performed as a water boy in connection with the excavation of the foundation at the northeast corner of Sixteenth and Jackson streets in Omaha for the Brunswick Hotel, now the Rome Hotel, receiving fifty cents per day. He was afterward associated with Italian laborers in the work of construction on the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad at Wayne, Nebraska. The construction gang slept in crowded bunk cars, and because of his youth and of the fact that he was unaccustomed to hard manual labor, he suffered intensely for the first weeks ; and in order to harden his hands to the heavy work he applied to them vinegar and salt. He did everything possible to win the goodwill of his fellow laborers, and after working all day he would frequently carry water, sometimes for a mile, for all the inhabitants of the bunk car. At this period he was cooking his own meals and doing his owai washing, and Sunday was a busier day than all the rest of the week, for being the only one in the gang who could read and write, he penned all the letters for his fellow workmen, ofttimes writing more than a score of letters in a day. He became convinced that handling iron rails and heavy ties and shoveling dirt was not the kind of work that he desired, and that in order to obtain a more desirable job he had to acquaint himself with the English language, so he got a soap box, from which he made a desk, and then secured an Italian-English dictionary and grammar, also an oil lamp, and every night he studied until a late hour, so that in a short time he could read and write fairly well ; but as he was among his countrymen, who talked nothing but Itahan, he could not get the proper pronunciation. Therefore he eagerly availed himself of the opportunity of securing another position and his next work was that of clerk in the fruit department of the Boston Store. He was afterward manager of the fruit department of Hayden Brothers and for a brief period he worked in a commission house. At length he leased a fruit stand at the southwest corner of Sixteenth and Harney streets, where the Burgess & Nash department store now stands but then occupied by the home of General Lowe. He gave the old owner the stand and paid tifty dollars for the lease, had a box built on credit and started business with a capital of thirteen dollars. Times were hard, but he kept the stand clean and everything in good order and he soon acquired a fair trade, working from early morning until after midnight. When the Trans-Mississippi Exposition was held he enlarged his stand, having one of the best fruit displays in the city. He soon found himself at the head of a profitable and growing business but had to change his location in order to give place to W. R. Bennett, who purposed there building the store now occupied by Burgess & Nash. Accordingly Mr. Mancuso moved across the street, where the City National Bank now stands.

in 1902 he sold out his fruit business and has since devoted his entire attention to his real estate business. For several years he has devoted his energies to real estate and investments and along those lines he has won a very pronounced success. All his wealth has been acquired and invested south of Harney street and in that district he has done much in the way of paving and promoting civic improvements. An analyzation of his life record shows that his prosperity has been won through close application, indefatigable energy and honorable dealing. He has good knowledge of law, which is not only of great benefit to him in his business but has been a valuable factor in his counsel to his friends and fellow countrymen.

Mr. Mancuso has also been very active in furthering the material, social and moral interests and welfare of his fellow countrymen. He has organized, established and financed many clubs and fraternal societies and also societies whereby the Italian laboring man can secure a home. Many have taken advantage of the opportunities who would perhaps otherwise never have owned property had not one of their own countrymen and a man in whom they had implicit faith made such a course possible to them. He has looked after the social and moral welfare of his people as well, becoming identified prominently with many clubs and fraternal societies, and throughout the years of a most active life he has constantly sought to uplift and assist his fellowmen. Many a young man employed in inferior positions has been helped to better positions through Mr. Mancuso's kindly influence. He has given time and money for the benefit of others with no thought or expectation of compensation. To help a friend always appeals to him, as he well remembers his own condition in early life. He is the recognized counselor and adviser of many poor Italians of Omaha. He has been father and friend to them, giving them financial assistance and advice, and no needy one is ever turned from his door empty handed. He organized and established the Italian Mercantile Company, of which he became president and so continues, and also established and began the publication of an Italian paper, La Stampa, a paper conducted for the education and uplifting of his people, of which company he is still the president.

On the 25th of April, 1900. Mr. Mancuso was married in Kansas City. .Missouri, to Miss Mary Ruffolo, a native of Italy, who in childhood was brought to America by her parents, Benjamin and Clara Ruffolo, her father becoming a pioneer of Kansas City. Mr. and Mrs. Mancuso have six living children : Freddie, a high school student, Helen, Irene, Virginia, Emilia and Marie. The family occupy a comfortable residence far different from their first home in Omaha, which was very humble and in an undesirable location. Their home is noted for its warm-hearted hospitality.

Mr. Mancuso became a voter in the United States when he attained his majority through his father having acquired citizenship by naturaUzation but nevertheless he himself took out naturalization papers as well. He is proud to be one of America's citizens and he feels that he owes his allegiance first, last and all the time to his adopted country and he has been instrumental in securing papers for worthy members of his race. Politically he is a stanch republican. He is a man of splendid character and high ideals and the notable success that he has won has in no way changed his nature, save that it has broadened and expanded it, as it has given him the opportunity to do generous and noble things for his fellow countrymen and for others. He has acquired a favorable reputation not only among his own people but among all classes of business men and is regarded as one of the most valued residents of Omaha. His acquaintance extends to men of national reputation as he has been associated with many prominent men of affairs in the furtherance of projects for the development of the middle west. Wherever he is known he is spoken of in terms of high regard and Omaha has reason to be proud to claim him as a citizen.

Mahlon W. Griest

Since becoming a resident of South Omaha in 1888, Mahlon W. Griest has been connected with the hardware, tinware and plumbing business. He is now engaged along that line on his own account, having begun operations independently in 1890. He was born in Warren county, Ohio, August 13, 1853. His father, Seneca Griest, a native of Pennsylvania, belonged to an old Quaker family of German lineage that was established in America prior to the Revolutionary war. Seneca Griest followed agricultural pursuits in order to provide for his family. He married Rebecca W^ards, a native of Ohio of Irish lineage, and they became the parents of three children, of whom one died in infancy. A daughter, Asenith, became the wife of Stephen Staley, an engineer on the Union Pacific Railroad, and they became early residents of Omaha, where they resided during the '70s. Mrs. Staley passed away, however, in Kellogg, Iowa, about 1877. The father died in Warren county, Ohio, in 1859, when only about twentysix years of age, and his wife died in 1857 at the age of twenty-five years.

Mahlon W. Griest was thus early left an orphan and was reared by a Universalist Quaker family of his native county. He remained with his foster parents, the Taylors, from the age of nine to the age of sixteen and a half years and was then apprenticed to learn the tinner's trade with a Hicksite Quaker family at Waynesville, Ohio. After serving a three years' term of apprenticeship he removed to Kellogg, Iowa, where he worked as a journeyman, and he also spent ten years in Atlantic, Iowa, where he occupied the position of foreman in the hardware store of J. C. Yetzer. In 1888 he removed with his family to South Omaha and was for two years employed by the firm of Holmes & Smith, who had the first hardware store of the city, in connection with which they dealt in tinware and plumbers' supplies and did work along all those lines. In 1890 Mr. Griest entered business on his own account and through the intervening period of twenty-seven years has been numbered among the enterprising and prosperous merchants of South Omaha.

On the 1st of September, 1871, at Kellogg, Iowa, Mr. Griest was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie Cowes, whose mother is a half sister of Schuyler Colfax and is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Griest have become the parents of nine children, as follows : Nellie E., who is the wife of John Cowen and resides in Denver, Colorado ; Mary Rebecca, who is principal in the public schools of Omaha ; Lizzie, who gave her hand in marriage to Edward Rothge of Omaha ; one who has passed away; Leon, who is deceased; one who died unnamed in infancy; Cora, the wife of Roy O. Finch, of Omaha ; Leo, who is the wife of Harry C. Clark and lives in Omaha ; and Seneca Ward, who passed away in Kellogg, Iowa, at the age of fourteen years. There are also the following grandchildren : Inez Cowen, Lizzie, Virginia B. and Dorothy Rothge and Cora and Jean Finch.

The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Griest is -a Mason, holding membership in the lodge at Atlantic, Iowa. He also has membership with the Royal Highlanders and the Knights and Ladies of Security. In politics he is a republican but has never sought nor filled public office, being strictly a home man, preferring to devote his time outside of business hours to the enjoyments to be had at his own fireside. His has been a busy life, for since he entered upon his apprenticeship he has worked persistently at his trade, dependent upon his own resources for a livelihood, and the success he has achieved has been the direct result of persistent effort intelligently directed.

William Stull

William Stull, of the firm of Stull Brothers, dealers in investment securities in Omaha, was born in Marengo, Illinois, April 21, 1850, a son of Lefiar Stull, a native of Pennsylvania and of Dutch descent. The family was founded in Philadelphia in colonial days and representatives of the name participated in the Revolutionary war and the War of 1812. Leflar Stull became a farmer of Illinois, removing to that state in 1837, at which time he took up his abode in McHenry county, where he and his brother Andrew each took up government claims, spending their remaining days in the further development of their farms. The father had reached the advanced age of ninety years when in 1895 he was called to his final rest. He was a Lincoln republican and was quite active in politics, doing all in his power to promote the success of his party. He married Ellen Cannon, a native of Dublin, Ireland, who came to America after the death of her father, who was a barrister of Dublin. She was a young lady in her teens when she crossed the Atlantic and became a resident of New York. Afterward she removed to Pennsylvania, where she met and married Mr. Stull. She became the mother of ten children, of whom three are living: Jane Stull, a resident of Newport, Oregon; Mrs. R. M. Curtis, whose husband is a physician of Marengo, Illinois; and William.

The last named was educated in the schools of Marengo, Illinois, and in the State University, in which he spent four years as a student, after which ill health forced him to put aside his textbooks. His youthful experiences and training were those of the farm, upon which he remained until he attained his majority. He then entered the investment business, handling farm mortgages, being first employed by the Equitable Loan Trust Company of New London, Connecticut. In that connection he obtained his initial training in financial matters and it constituted the foundation upon which he has since established and developed a very successful and profitable business. The succeeding five years were spent with the firm of Burnham & Tulleys, investment brokers of Council Bluff's, and in 1881 he became a resident member of the firm of McKinley & Stull, his partner being ex-Congressman McKinley of Lincoln, Nebraska. He continued in that connection until 1886, when he established the firm of Stull Brothers at Lincoln, being joined by his younger brother, Louis Stull, since deceased. In 1897 they removed their office and business to Omaha, where the business has since been continued, with offices in the Omaha National Bank building. The business is still carried on under the old firm name but is now the sole property of William Stull. who ranks with the leading financiers of the city.

On the ist of April, 1905, in Boston. Massachusetts, Mr. Stull was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Blanchard, a native of Illinois and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Eastman Blanchard, who represented an old New England family Vol. n - 39 and are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Stull have a son, William Stull, Jr., who was born in Paris, France, January 24, 1906, for after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stull went abroad on tiieir honeymoon and remained in Europe for two years.

Mr. Stull is the owner of the old family homestead in Illinois, including the claim which his uncle as well as his father took up from the government, comprising live hundred acres of very valuable farm land. In politics he maintains an independent course and has never sought nor desired office. He belongs to the University, Omaha and Commercial Clubs. His is the notable career of a man who has w^on his success entirely through individual effort guided by sound judgment. When he left home he had a cash capital of three dollars and a half. He made it his purpose to thoroughly master the business to which he turned his attention and his close application and persistency of purpose have been salient elements in his continued progress. Honored and respected by all, he now occcupies an enviable position in financial circles in Omaha, not alone by reason of the success he has achieved but also owing to the straightforward business policy he has ever followed.

John Lee Webster

John Lee W'ebster's presidency of the Nebraska State Historical Society argues his deep interest in everything relating to the annals of the commonwealth - a commonwealth in which he has done much to mold public thought and action. Distinguished ability developed through hard study, close application and the wise utilization of his opportunities have brought him to the front rank among Omaha's leading lawyers, and he has also left the impress of his indi- \ iduality upon the legislative history of his state and to a considerable measure upon national politics.

A native of Ohio, he was born in Harrison county, March 18, 1847. Liberal educational advantages were his. He attended Washington College and also Mount -Union College of Ohio and was graduated from the latter with the Bachelor of Arts degree, while in 1893 Blount Union College, of Ohio, conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL. D. He was but seventeen years of age when in 1864 he responded to the country's call for aid in defense of the Union. He was wounded in battle and served in the Union Army until the close of hostilities. Soon afterward he entered upon preparation for the bar and was admitted to practice in 1868. For one year he followed his profession, in his native state and in 1869 arrived in Omaha, where he has since made his home. Through the intervening years he has left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the legal and legislative records of the state. In the fall of 1872 he was chosen to represent his district in the Nebraska legislature, which convened January, 1873, and he won many honors in debate on the floor of the house and was connected with many important constructive measures. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the bill calling for a constitutional convention, which was vetoed, however, by the governor, and when the Nebraska Constitutional Convention met in 1875 l""^ was elected its president over highly trained lawyers and experienced statesmen known throughout the district. At that time he was but twenty-eight years of age, but his ability was widely recognized by those who were desirous of giving to the state an organic law that should fully serve the high purposes of a great and growing commonwealth. In 1887 he was made city attorney of Omaha. He was highly endorsed and recommended for the Supreme bench of the United States to fill the seat left vacant through the death of Justice Mathews.

Throughout the period of his residence in Nebraska, Mr. Webster has been recognized as a republican leader. In 1892 he was almost unanimously elected a delegate at large to the republican national convention, and was made chairman of the Nebraska delegation. He again served as delegate at large in the convention of 1896. In 1904 he received the endorsement of the Nebraska republican state convention for the nomination for vice-president of the United States. He has declined various executive and diplomatic appointments, preferring to concentrate his energies upon the practice of law and its interpretation in the courts. For forty-six years he has been a leading representative of the Omaha bar, and is now generally recognized. He early sprang into prominence as the foremost lawyer of the state and maintained his position of leadership.

His name figures in connection with some of the most important litigation mentioned in the records of the state. He won national renown as the defender of Standing Bear and the Ponca Indians in the case of the United States versus General Crook. When the Government ordered the Ponca Indians from the Dakota reservation to a reservation in Indian Territory, Standing Bear and his followers made strong objections. They were imprisoned but escaped and returned to their former home in Dakota, after which they became the legal wards of Mr. Webster, who won the case upon which has hinged much Indian legislation in later years. Other notable cases with which he has been connected are those which involved the state offices in 1891 and 1893; the maximum railroad rate cases ; the bank guaranty law cases of Kansas and Nebraska ; and the Omaha Water Works litigation.

In his later years Mr. Webster has engaged in other important activites outside his profession. As president for seven years of the Nebraska State Historical Society, he raised that organization to an appreciation of the value, importance and significance of the principal and progressive events of the state. He proposed to the Historical Society that the Semi-centennial of the statehood of Nebraska be celebrated in a fitting manner all over the state. To that end he was instructed to appoint one hundred men of the state to act as Semi-centennial Committee, of which he was made chairman. Out of this movement developed in 1916 one of the most marvelous pageants, depicting the growth and progress of the State, that had ever been seen in Omaha or any other city in the country, and which the President of the United States, on invitation of the Committee, came to see and review.

Mr. Webster founded the Palimpsest Club, a body made up of the intelligent and cultured professional and business men of the city, who meet at intervals to entertain distinguished men who visit Omaha, and to listen to addresses by men of culture and high attainments.

Mr. Webster is a man of broad culture. He possesses a magnificent private library. He has traveled extensively in Europe, which gave him an opportunity to visit nearly all the principal museums and picture galleries of the old world. Out of these visits grew up a love of art and led him to organize in Omaha the Friends of Art Association for the purpose of spreading a knowledge and love of art among the people.

^Ir. W^ebster is identified with many national public organizations and in Omaha is always found in those gatherings where the thinking men are met in discussion of important problems afifecting civic welfare or jiublic conditions. The habit of studious thought and logical deduction which was characterized his legal work has ever been manifest in his study of public problems, in relation to which his judicial turn of mind has enabled him to reach just and equitable conclusions.

Frederick Hoyer Millener. M. D.

Dr. Frederick Hoyer Millener, experimental engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, doing important work in the effort to establish efficiency and broaden the scope of railway service, has done notable things in his laboratory, especially in demonstrating the use of the wireless. He was born June 8. 1872, in Tonawanda. New York, a son of Joel H. Millener, whose birth occurred at Rochester,

New York, and who was a descendant of Alexander Millener, who was the fourth among the survivors of the last se\en Revolutionary heroes. He was horn at Ouehec, Canada, ]\larch 14, 1760, and was of luiglish descent. His father was an English goldsmith who came to the new world with Wolfe's army as an artificer and on the trij) he was accompanied hy his wife. At the scaling of the heights of Abraham he was detailed for sj>ecial service and after the close of the battle he lay down to drink from a spring on the plain and never rose again, for drinking the cold water in his heated condition caused instant death. His widow remained in Quebec and in the following si)ring their son Alexander was born. While he was yet young his mother removed to Xew York and later married a man by the name of Alaroney. His stepfather opposed his enlistment, but he managed it by enlisting under his own name. Dr. Millener of this review says that the enlistment occurred in New York, though the records of the pension office give it at Lake George. Also the pension roll gives his age at death as ninety-four, but this is an error of ten years, since the battle of Quebec, the fall before his Ijirth, occurred on the 13th of September, 1759, and on the 14th of March in the year in which he died, Alexander Millener was one hundred and four years of age. Being too young to enlist as a regular soldier in the ranks, he joined as a drummer boy and in that capacity served for four years with Washington's Life Guard. He was a great favorite of the commander-in-chief, who would frequently pass by, patting him on the head and calling him his "boy." He was at the battles of White Plains, Brandywine, Saratoga, Monmouth, Yorktown and others. He passed to his final rest at the notable old age of one hundred and four years and nine months.

Joel P. Millener, son of Alexander Millener, became very prominent in New York and represented Rochester as an assemblyman. He conducted a flour mill at Rochester for many years and was financially identified with the Barton Edged Tool Works of that city. He became a wealthy man and was a prominent factor in molding public thought and opinion in his state.

Joel H. Millener became a successful lumberman and railroad contractor. In fact his business in the former line exceeded that of any other of similar nature in western New York. He married Emma P. Hoyer, a native of Erie county, New York, and a daughter of Frederick F. Hoyer, also of Revolutionary stock. The founder of the family in America also bore the name of Frederick Hoyer, was a Hessian and came to the new world with Baron Steuben. Frederick Hoyer, the grandfather of F. H. ^Millener, was a physician of Erie county and lived to the advanced age of ninety-one years, so that on both sides the family is noted for longevity. Three children were born to Joel PL and Emma P. Millener : Frederick H. ; George H., a prominent and successful man engaged in the automobile business at Bufifalo, New York ; and Mrs. ^1. T. Day, whose husband is an attorney of Bufifalo.

Dr. Millener of this review began his education under the instruction of a governess and afterward attended a private school of Bufifalo conducted by Miss Muellenbrook, a well known teacher of that period. He afterward attended the high schools of Buffalo and of Tonawanda and following his graduation in 1885 he attended the Suspension Bridge school. He next became a student in Deveaux College, a military school, later in Niagara University and afterward matriculated in the Jefiferson Medical College of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1893 with the M. D. degree, as an honor man of his class. His initial professional experience came to him as interne in the Erie County Hospital, with which he was connected for two years. He afterward spent thirteen years in active practice in Bufifalo as a specialist in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. While there he also had charge of the German Hospital for a number of years. He is a member of the Erie County Medical Society, the Bufifalo (N. Y.) Academy of Medicine, the New York State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the American Electro-Chemical Society, the Society of American Railway Engineers and is also an honorary member of the

In 1906 Dr. Millener came to Omaha and throughout the intervening period has been connected with the Union Pacific as experimental engineer, his broad scientific attainments making his service of great value in this connection. He it was who built the first X-ray machine in western New York, operating it successfully. When he came to Omaha the railroad company provided him with a laboratory in its shops, with instructions to develop the wireless. He made the first piece of machinery that was controlled from a distance by wireless telegraphy. He also built and constructed a car which made practical use of what had previously been a theory concerning the use of wireless in transit. He also invented and perfected machinery to move a railroad car by wireless from a distant point and to discharge cartridges and also do other material work without actual contact. The same idea has since been exploited by John Hays Hammond in the discharge of torpedoes. In 1907, in demonstrating the practicability of his invention and its success, he turned on the lights "by wireless" in the Auditorium of Omaha, from Fort Omaha, a distance of five miles. The results of his studies and inventions have added very materially to the development of that branch of scientific in\estigation to which he was one of the first to give his attention. He has many patents on wireless telephone and telegraph on file at Washington.

On the 8th of April, 191 5, in Ashland, Nebraska, Dr. Millener was united in marriage to Miss Jessie A. Scott, a native of that place and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Scott, early settlers of Omaha. In politics Dr. Millener is independent, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in Trinity Episcopal church. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He has ever directed his efiforts into those channels through which flow the greatest good to the greatest number. Amiable in disposition and kindly in spirit, he has reached out for the benefit of the community, while at the same time his notable scientific efforts have been factors in promoting world progress. A student and scholar, his scientific turn of mind has made valuable contributions to the world's work.

William J. Coad

Rapidly developing power in the line of his profession has gained for William J. Coad a prominent position among the younger representatives of the Omaha bar, and he also figures in the city in connection with banking interests He was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, September 16, 1879, a son of the late John F. Coad, a native of Ireland, who came to America in 1867 and first settled in Nebraska City. He came to the west as a pioneer and for many years figured as a prominent banker of Omaha. In politics he was a democrat, taking quite an active interest in local political and civic affairs. He married Ellen M. Leahy, a native of Louisiana and a representative of one of the old families of that state of Irish lineage. They became parents of thirteen children, of whom William J. was the fifth. The mother survives, but the father passed away in Omaha in 19 10, at the age of sixty-seven years.

William J. Coad pursued his classical studies in Creighton College, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909. He was graduated from Harvard with the LL. B. degree in 1903 and entered upon the practice of law, in which he has since been actively engaged. Soon after his return to this city he was appointed deputy county attorney and held that ofiice from 1906 until 1910. In the preparation of his cases he is very thorough and his reasonmg is clear, his arguments logical and convincing. He has proven his forcefuhiess and resourcefulness in other lines as well and is now vice president of the Packers' National Bank of South Omaha and president of the First National

Bank of Greeley, Nebraska. He is likewise the president of the Gate City Malt Company, president of the Maple Grove Live Stock Company and a director in various other corporations which benefit by his sound business judgment and enterprise. He has done much to promote the material development of the state through his important and ever-broadening business connections.

On the 4th of December, 1907, Mr. Goad was married in Chicago to Miss Helen O'Neill, a native of Minnesota and a daughter of the late Henry J. and Elizabeth O'Neill, who were pioneer settlers of Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Goad have become parents of two children, William J. and Josephine.

The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Goad is connected with the Knights of Columbus and with the Woodmen of the World. He likewise belongs to the Omaha Country, the Omaha Athletic, the Omaha, the University and the Commercial Clubs. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he is now president of the water board. While Ills private and professional interests are many, he yet finds time to devote to (juestions of general moment and he lends his aid and cooperation to various Vi^ell-defined plans and projects for the public good. He has social qualities which are pronounced and render him a favorite, but he is preeminently a business man, giving his time, thought and activities to his practice and to his invested interests.