Omaha City (part 1 of 26)

Andrew J. Poppleton

Andrew J. Poppleton, Omaha's second mayor and at one time speaker of the house of representatives in Nebraska, ranked for many years not only as a most distinguished lawyer of the state but as one of the eminent representatives of the profession in the country. He was born in Troy township, Oakland county, Michigan, July 24, 1830, a son of William and Zada (Crooks) Poppleton, and represented a family that in each successive generation became identified with the pioneer development of the west. His great-grandfather, Samuel Poppleton, came to America with his wife, Rosanna Whalley Poppleton, from England about 1751. Samuel Poppleton, the grandfather, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, was married in 1776 to Caroline Osborne and had nine children, including William, who was born in Poultney, Vermont, in 1795 and who, actuated by the same pioneer spirit that brought his family to the new world, made his way to Richmond, Ontario county. New York, in 181 1, when it was still a frontier district. The lure of the west upon him, he went to Bellville, Richland county, Ohio, in 1822 and to Oakland county, Michigan, in 1825 at a period when the work of progress and development seemed scarcely begun there. He was accorded but limited educational opportunities in his youth, but he possessed much native ability and in the school of experience learned many valuable lessons, while reading and observation also added much to his knowledge. He filled various local offices in Michigan and was at one time a member of the state legislature. In 1814 he married Zada Crooks at Richmond, New York, and his death occurred in Michigan in May, 1869.

Andrew J. Poppleton was reared upon a farm and attended the district schools of Michigan until 1844, when he entered an academy at Romeo, that state, and there prepared for college. In 1847 he became a pupil in the State University of Michigan, which he attended until the fall of 1850, when he withdrew and matriculated in Union College at Schenectady, New York, being there graduated in July, 1851. He afterward returned to Romeo, where he engaged in teaching Latin and Greek until April, 1852, when he entered the law office of C. I. and E. C. Walker of Detroit, under whose direction he studied until October 22, 1852, when he was admitted to the bar. He next became a student in a law school conducted by John W. Fowler at Ballston, New York. While there he had the advantage of instruction in elocution and oratory, which promoted his fluency of speech and added to his eloquence when he addressed court or jury. Returning to Detroit in April, 1853, he opened a law office and continued in practice there until October, 1854, when he decided to try his fortune in the west and on the 13th of that month reached Omaha.

lished in Nebraska. Mr. Poppleton had formed the acquaintance of Governor T, B. Cuming in Michigan and was frequently called upon by him for advice in his administration. He also tilled appointments through the formative period of territorial development and was very active and prominent in public atfairs. He served as a member of the iirst Nebraska legislature in 1857 ^"^^ was chosen speaker of the house, the fairness and impartiality of his rulings being recognized by all. In 1858 he became mayor of Omaha and on two occasions was the democratic candidate for congress. He was always a stalwart advocate of democratic principles and did everything in his power to promote the growth and ensure the success of his party. From 1862 until 1878 he devoted his attention to his profession and was regarded as one of the most eminent lawyers of the middle west, his ability qualifying him to cross swords in forensic combat with the ablest members of the. bar throughout the entire country. In 1863 he was retained by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which he continued to represent in a legal capacity until 1888. All of their western business was under his charge and he conducted litigation for the railroad in the courts of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Idaho. He argued many cases in the United States supreme court and enjoyed the highest respect of the eminent jurists who sat upon that bench. It was largely through the efforts and instrumentality of Mr. Poppleton that the Union Pacilic established its headquarters in Omaha. In February, 1888, he was obliged to sever his connection with the railroad company on account of the condition of his health and for some time thereafter traveled in order to obtain needed rest and recreation. In 1890 he was called to the office of city attorney and in 1891 and 1892 he was engaged as leading counsel for the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Companies in their litigation with the Union Pacific before the United States courts, the result of which was the breaking down of the Union Pacific bridge barriers, securing to the companies named the right to use the bridge and tracks of the Union Pacific to Omaha. His name figured in connection with much other notable litigation heard in various sections of the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and his ability was attested by the many favorable verdicts which he won in behalf of his clients. On the 12th of June, 1878, the University of Nebraska conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws and in 1890 he was elected a trustee of his alma mater. Union College at Schenectady, New York. He also received the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Michigan.

It was in 1855 that Mr. Poppleton was married to Miss Caroline L. Sears and they became the parents of four children, namely : Ellen Elizabeth, now Mrs. VVm. C. Shannon; Mary Zada; William Sears; and Mary Delia, now Mrs. Myron L. Learned.

Mr. Poppleton was reared on a farm and in after years always greatly enjoyed the country. His favorite recreation was visiting Oakland Farm, a tract of Jand of twelve hundred acres which he owned near Elkhorn, Nebraska, and on which he engaged in breeding, raising and training standard bred trotting horses. Moreover, he enjoyed every phase of nature and particularly every feature concerning the development of a model farm property. About the ist of January, 1892, Mr. Poppleton's eyes began to fail and in a few months he suffered a total loss of eyesight. Up to this time he remained a most active figure in the public life of city and state and he was frequently called upon to deliver addresses on various topics before the Nebraska State University, also in Indianapolis and in other places. He belonged to the Nebraska State Bar Association and he was one of the organizers and the first president of the Omaha Bar Association. He was likewise an organizer and the president of the Law Library Association and was one of the organizers and long a director of the Omaha public library. He likewise aided in organizing and became the first president of the Omaha Board of Trade. He was a firm believer in the future of Omaha and he did everything in his power to promote and advance the interests of the city. His life was strong in purpose and in conduct. Nature endowed him with manifold talents and a high order of intelligence, which he used wisely and well, and he left the impress of his individuality for good upon the history of city and state.

Henry W. Dunn

Henry W. Dunn, who for a quarter of a century has been connected with the police force of Omaha and since 1912 has occupied the important position of chief of police, was born in Aurora, Illinois, August 16, 1862, and comes of Scotch ancestry, the line being traced back to William Dunn, a native of Scotland, who was drum major with a regiment of Highlanders under General Braddock in the French and Indian war. He was the great-grandfather of Henry W. Dunn, whose father, William Dunn, w^as born in South Acton, Massachusetts, in 181 6 and who married Elizabeth Pratt, a daughter of Sampson Pratt, who was born in Vermont and was a soldier of the War of 1812, dynig from the effects of wounds sustained in the battle of Lundy's Lane. The grandfather of Mrs. Elizabeth Dunn in the maternal line was Elijah Tryon, a nephew of Governor Tryon, the Tory governor of Connecticut. Following their marriage William and Elizabeth Dunn removed westward to Illinois in 1848, settling in Aurora, and after long residence there came to Omaha in 1886, here spending their remaining days. The father died in January, 1890, while the mother survived until 1907, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. Two of their sons serv^ed as soldiers of the Civil war.

Henry W. Dunn continued a resident of his native city until he reached the age of sixteen years and during that period spent ten years as a public school pupil there. In 1878 he arrived in Omaha and entered the shops of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, in which he was employed for twelve years. On the expiration of that period he w^as given a position in the office of the city plumbing inspector, continuing there for a year, at the end of which time he was appointed a member of the police force and has since passed up through all grades from patrolman to his present position of chief of police, to which he was appointed on the ist of September, 1912.

On the 28th of September, 1892, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, Air. Dunn was married to Miss Pauline Hampel, a daughter of John Hampel, a native of Germany. In Masonry he has taken the degrees of the York Rite and has also crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is well known as a loyal member of the Commercial Club and as a representative of the Elks, the Eagles and the Stags. He has been characterized by one who knows him as "a big, frank, clean man, an officer who has the confidence and respect of all law-abiding citizens and the warm friendship of many." He is indeed an exceptional man in office, holding to the highest standards of official service and giving to the city through its police department a most adequate and thorough protection.

William Curtis Lambert

William Curtis Lambert, corporation counsel of Omaha and since June, 191 1, connected with the municipality in its legal department, was born February 12, 1865, in Nemaha county, Nebraska, in the little town of Hillsdale, which is now extinct. His paternal grandfather, Edward Lambert, a native of Virginia, was a large slave owner of that state. William Merritt Lambert, the father, was born in Franklin county, Virginia, in 1831 and during the greater part of his life devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. In early manhood he wedded Malinda Long at Blue Springs, Nebraska, and for a considerable period they resided in

After acquainling himself with preliminary branches of learning in the country schools of his native county William C Lambert entered the scientific department of the Western Normal College at Shenandoah, Iowa, from which he was graduated with the class of 1891. Determining upon the practice of law as a life work, he later matriculated in the State University at Lincoln, Nebraska, and was graduated with the class of 1894. He then opened an office in South Omaha and during his residence there served for three terms as city attorney and for one term as fire and police commissioner. In 1910 he took up his abode in Omaha, where he has since engaged in practice, and his high order of legal ability has been frequently drawn upon for the city's benefit. In June, 1911, he was appointed the first assistant city attorney of Omaha and in that office was the principal factor in charge of the gas rate case and the electric light franchise litigation in the United States circuit court of appeals and in the United States supreme court. In 191 5 he was appointed corporation counsel, which position he is now filling, and at the same time he continues in the private practice of law to some extent as senior partner in the firm of Lambert, Shotwell & Shotwell. He has always voted with the democratic party and when elected to office it has been as a representative of that political organization, but he never allows political connection to thwart the ends of justice or interfere in the slightest degree with the faithful performance of his official duties.

On the 24th of December, 1903, Mr. Lambert was married in South Omaha to Miss Sue Condron, a daughter of David S. Condron, who was a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting from Iowa. Socially Mr. and Mrs. Lambert are prominent and they have an extensive circle of friends in Omaha. His entire life has been passed in Nebraska and the spirit of western enterprise finds expression in his professional career and in the discharge of his public duties as well.

George A. Joslyn

On the 4th of October, 1916, George A. Joslyn passed away and Omaha at that time lost one of her foremost citizens. He stood at the head of one' of the largest corporate interests of the Mississippi valley as president of the Western Newspaper Union. Within ten years he rose from a comparatively humble position, as an employe of the company, to the presidency and from 1896 until his demise was the guiding spirit in controlling the interests of this mammoth concern. It was not only as a most successful business man, however, that Mr. Joslyn was well known. He was most charitable and was continually extending a helping hand where aid was needed. He was born in Lowell. Massachusetts, in 1848, a son of Alfred and Esther Ann (Rice) Joslyn, the former of whom passed away in 1912, having for two decades survived his wife, who died in 1892. The family was of English origin and the name was originally spelled Joslin when the first settlers took up their abode in Massachusetts, whence a removal was afterward made to Waitsfield, \^ermont.

George A. Joslyn was reared in Vermont and attended the public schools there l)ut had no advantage of collegiate training. Attracted by the opportunities of the west, he made his way to Des Moines, Iowa, where he found a ready print concern known as the Iowa Printing Company. He sought a position with that house and was employed at unloading paper from freight cars at a dollar and a quarter per day. In that way he first became interested in the auxiliary service. On reaching Des Moines he stated that his worldly possessions consisted of nine dollars in money, while the wardrobe of himself and wife was adequate but limited. Soon after securing work with the Iowa Printing Company he was advanced to a position on the office books, and the recognition of his keen business

Here he accepted a position with the Western Newspaper Union at a salary of seventy-five dollars per month. Manifesting marked ability in performing the duties entrusted to him, he rose rapidly in this connection and in ten years had become president of the Western Newspaper Union. x\t the time of his death he was at the head of thirty-one houses in the United States, in addition to the parent house at Omaha, they being at Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, North Carolina, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Fargo, Fort Wayne, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Lincoln, Little Rock, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, City, Sioux Falls and Wichita. A number of these plants were acquired by purchase and some by initial establishment. Through these auxiliary service houses over twenty million people are reached each week, the publicity channel being the most extensive ever known. In the early years of his residence in Omaha, in order to secure money with which to operate his news service business - for his funds were then limited - he conducted the old St. Charles Hotel and also the old Metropolitan Hotel. He often met customers in the evening, selling them supplies and taking their orders for his ready print service. During the day he was always at his office, acting as manager and bookkeeper and working indefatigably in the upbuilding of the business. He also figured prominently in financial circles of Omaha as a director of the Merchants National Bank and as the president of the Western Paper Company, the latter an auxiliary organization of the Western Newspaper Union. "-~^:-' - .-_._

Something of the marv-feloi^^'i^veiiapiiefilrof-'^he Western Newspaper Union is indicated in the fact that it5^flr.?|ias. receritfy been erected in Omaha, to house this enterprise, a splendid new buirding "iQcat^dt/at Fifteenth and Jones streets. The structure is sixty-six by one hundred and ;thirty-two feet, five stories and basement. It is fireproof tho^ughout and was; built at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. In it arei-tirer,ex^aJ»vja5,offic^ of the company, local office of the Western Newspaper Ufiio-n; -wIiiBi mekwles "all departments that are required in issuing the newspaper service, and afso' the headquarters of the Western Paper Company. The last named has eight branch offices, situated in Des Moines, Lincoln, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Little Rock/ Fort Wayne, Sioux City and Salt Lake City. The Western Paper Company occupies four floors of the new building and its shipments are most extensive. The business is most thoroughly systematized. Each of the branch houses makes direct reports and remittances to the home office in Omaha and from this point knowledge of every detail of the business in any city may be obtained. Through its auxiliary service the newspaper union reaches approximately twenty-one million readers throughout the country with general, state and national information and also supplies" patrons in Alaska, the Philippines and Hawaii. Associated with Mr. Joslyn were John F. Cramer, vice president of the company; H. H. Fish, secretary; and C. L. Farnsworth, treasurer, all men of marked business ability and executive force.

Mr. Joslyn was preeminently a business man, concentrating his efforts and attention upon the further development and upbuilding of the great corporation which largely stands as a monument to his keen insight and indefatigable energy in business affairs. He readily discriminated between the essential and the nonessential in the management of the newspaper union and had the ability to coordinate and relate seemingly diverse elements into a unified business whole. Mr. Joslyn was often solicited to remove his headquarters to Chicago but always refused on strictly sentimental grounds - that he started in Omaha and proposed to stick by Omaha to the last. Not long before his death he was asked to state some of the axioms to which he attributed his success, which he did as follows : "Work for and consider your customer's interests first ; allow no competitor to better serve patrons than you serve them ; if there be a legitimate doubt, give your customer the benefit of that doubt ; never run up a white flag ; when financial disturbances darken the sky, reef your sails; watch little things, for many little things make big things ; whenever possible, make a friend of an enemy."

On the 24tli of September, iS/i^ in Montpelier, Vermont, Mr. Joslyn was united in marriage to Miss Sarah L. Selleck. Mr. Joslyn attended the Christian Science church and held membership in the Omaha Country Club, the Omaha Club and the Commercial Club. He gave his political allegiance to the republican party but took no active part in politics aside from exercising his right of franchise. He was most generous in his contributions to various charitable and benevolent organizations and enterprises, and one of his gifts, recently made before his death, was that of twenty-five thousand dollars to the Omaha University. Some years before he had erected a fine library at his old home in Vermont as a memorial to his parents and grandfather. His home was one of the finest mansions in the west, erected at a cost of over a half million dollars. At his demise he left one of the largest estates ever held by an Omaha resident and in his will he distributed among nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and charitable institutions nearly one million dollars. He was largely known to the public as a most forceful and resourceful business man, yet there were many other phases to his character well known to his associates and friends. He was sympathetic and kindly and he loved those things which have cultural value in life. Speaking of his personal characteristics. Rector Mackay of All §aints church said of him : "We loved to see him as he moved among us, always willing to do his share to make our evenings pleasant, the cares of business put aside, and many a time have I watched him hovering over his beloved organ and wondered that such a busy man could have such a side to his nature. The love 'of music with him was not a fad, it was a passion and it had developed in him a spirit of unselfishness that would not allow him to enjoy his pleasures alone and so he threw open his beautiful home to his friends and every year to the public." While one of the most masterful of men in his ability to upbuild a great business institution and control its varied complex interests and the men who served him in that connection, he was at the same time democratic in spirit and there was no man who rejoiced more thoroughly in the advancement of his fellows along the lines of legitimate success.

James Jay Brown

From the time when as a pioneer merchant James Jay Brown began making sales to the Indian traders and those who were outfitting for the Pacific coast on down through all the period of later development to the time of his death he remained a prominent figure in the business circles of Omaha, contribiitirig much to the development of the city as the promoter of many of its leading business interests and public utilities. He was born in Stephentown, New York, January 12, 1832, a son of Randall A. and Margaret (Sweet) Brown. When a youth of eighteen years he assumed the management of his father's store at Stephentown and continued the business there for three years, when he sold out. It was in April, 1856, that he arrived in Omaha and for many years thereafter was ( losely associated with its mercantile interests. His first place of business was at Fourteenth and Douglas streets and he built his second store on Douglas street. It became a supply point for Indian traders and those proposing to cross the plains before the days of railroad travel. With the development and settlement of the district his business naturally changed somewhat in character but there was no phase of the life of the pioneer merchant with which he was not familiar. In connection with his brother, Randall A. Brown, and John A. Creif^liton he made several trips across the plains to Denver with ox teams, carrying load of merchandise. After continuing in business for five years he became the head of the firm of J. J. Brown & Brother in the conduct of a wholesale dry goods and grocery business, but after four years the grocery department was closed out and their efforts concentrated alone upon their growing dry goods trade. This was one of the first of the important commercial enterprises of the city and was a monument to the ability and progressive spirit of the founder.

In 1884 he disposed of his dry goods business and retired from business for a short time, but indolence and idleness were utterly foreign to his nature and he could not content himself without some business connections. In August, 1885, therefore, he organized the Omaha Loan & Trust Company, of which he became the vice president, and from that time forward he was recognized as one of Omaha's leading capitalists, his efforts contributing in most substantial measure to the upbuilding and development of the city. In 1889 he erected the J. J. Brown block, a modern store and office building, at the corner of Sixteenth and Douglas streets. From time to time he extended the scope of his interests, activities and investments and became thus more and more largely associated with the business development of Omaha. In 1893 he became interested in the National Bank of Ashland, Nebraska, and was its president from that date to the time of his death. For many years he maintained his offices in the Omaha Savings Bank and for twenty-one years he was a director of the Omaha National Bank. He also became one of the organizers of the South Omaha National Bank and was one of its directors.

Realizing the city's need along another line, he became one of the original five men who built the first motor railway in the city and remained an active factor in its management and operation until it was consolidated with the Omaha Street Railway Company, of which he became a director and a member of the executive committee. For many years he was a director and the vice president of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway & Bridge Company and then his pubHc spirit again found expression in his untiring efforts to promote the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, which was held in 1898. He was one of the organizers of the company and in fact the first meeting in which the plan was discussed was held at his home. He became one of the directors of the corporation and labored most effectively and untiringly to make the exposition what it was - an artistic gem as well as a financial success. In i88o- he was one of the ten men who purchased and equipped the fair grounds in the northern part of Omaha, where the state fairs were held and where the Omaha Fair & Exposition Association, of which he was an officer, gave yearly exhibitions. In 1882-83 he was treasurer of the Douglas County Agricultural Association and he became one of the organizers and the president of the Forest Lawn Cemetery Association, occupying that office for a number of year.s.

On the 1st of March, 1865, in Florence, Nebraska, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Missouri Kennedy, a daughter of Captain George F. and Margaret (Woodney) Kennedy. Tlie father came from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and was of Quaker parentage. He arrived in Nebraska in 1856 and removed with his family to Florence in 1857. For many years he remained a prominent and influential resident of that district. He was retired from active business but made extensive investments in property and real estate. There he passed away in 1869, while his wife died in March, 1901, having survived him for almost a third of a century. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Brown were six children, of whom three are yet living: Clara M., the wife of Henry F. Wyman ; Randall K. ; and Jennie D. Three sons, James J., Lewis and Charles H., have departed this life.

The husband and father was called to his final rest February 9, 1901, while in the seventieth year of his age. His early political allegiance was given to the democratic party from the time that age conferred upon him the right of franchise, but in 1856 he became an ally of the newly organized republican party, which in that year placed its first presidential candidate in the field. He voted for Freniont and was thereafter a stanch advocate of republican principles until called to his final rest. He had many sterling traits of character, not the least of which \\a.s his loyalty in all matters of citizenship, and his contributions to the upbuilding and development of Omaha were most valuable. He early had the prescience to discern something of what the future had in store for this great and growing western country, and acting in accordance with the dictates of his judgment, he garnered in the fullness of time the harvest of his labors and of his wisdom. He was always watchful of opportunities pointing to success and his labors were in large measure of a character that contributed not only to personal prosperity but also the public welfare.

Lewis Clark Sholes

Lewis Clark Sholes, a lifelong resident of Omaha, bearing a name which through four decades has been a synonym for business integrity as well as enterprise in the city, was here born November 25, 1878, a son of De Ver Sholes, the founder and promoter of an extensive real estate business which since the father's death has been taken over by the son. A record of the father, long a prominent and honored business man of Omaha, is given elsewhere in this work. Lewis C. Sholes, entering the public schools at the usual age, passed through consecutive grades and eventually became a student in the high school at Colorado Springs, Colorado, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. In June of the following year he entered business circles as the associate of his father and since the death of the father has continued the business under the style of the De Ver Sholes Company, real estate and general insurance. His clientage is extensive and his negotiations have resulted in notable realty transfers.

On the 26th of December. 1901, in Omaha, Mr. Sholes was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Linn, a daughter of David Linn. They have three children, Margaret Lou, Dorothy Linn and De Ver. Mr. Sholes' military record covers service as a private with the Colorado Springs Militia for one year and six years with the Omaha Guards, of which he was orderly sergeant. He votes with the republican party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belongs to the Commercial Club and his interest in the moral progress of the community is shown in his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. Throughout his life he has held to high and honorable principles that have governed him in every relation. He is a director of the Young Men's Christian Association and superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday school at Hanscom Park, Omaha.

Thomas J. O'Connor

Thomas J. O'Connor, prominent in democratic circles in Omaha, having for a number of years been an active worker in party ranks, is now filling the position of city clerk, to which he was appointed on the 15th of August, 1915. He is a native son of the city, born April 27. 1884. The surname indicates the Irish lineage, the grandfather being a native of Ireland, whence he emmigrated to Canada, where his remaining days were passed. His son, Patrick O'Connor, was born in Quebec, Canada, in 1856, and in 1876 became a resident of Omaha, where subsequently he wedded Mary E. Knight. They still make their home in Omaha and while spending his youthful days under the parental roof their son Thomas attended the public schools and Creighton University, leaving the latter institution when a youth of fifteen years. He then went to work for Armour & Company in the position of messenger, remaining with that corporation for six years, having in the meantime become rate clerk in the traffic department. Later he entered the freig-ht department of the Missouri Pacific Raih'oad Company, with which he was associated for four years, and was then called to public office in 1909 by appointment to the position of deputy state oil inspector, in which capacity he served for two years. At the end of that period he returned to the Missouri Pacific and again spent two years in the freight department, but in 1912 was appointed clerk of the police court, which position he occupied for three and a half years, or until the 15th of August, 191 5, when he received appointment to the office of city clerk. Pie has long been an earnest and active worker in democratic circles and has served as secretary of the democratic central committee of Douglas county.

On the 7th of October, 1913, in Omaha, Mr. O'Connor was united in marriage to Miss Kathryn Nora, a daughter of James Grace, of this city. Their religious faith is that of the Catholic church and Mr. O'Connor holds membership with the Knights of Columbus, the Woodmen of the World and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is the secretary of the Dahlman Democracy Club. He has a wide acquaintance in Omaha, where his entire life has been passed, and many of those who have been witnesses of his entire career are numbered among his stanchest friends, a fact which indicates a well spent life.

Ralph W. Brecken Ridge

Ralph W. Breckenridge, whose distinguished position in legal circles is indicated in the fact that he was honored with the presidency of the Nebraska State Bar Association and was also a prominent member of the American Bar Association, was born in Carlisle, Ohio, on the 14th of March, i860, and was a son of Charles Foote Breckenridge, a well known lawyer, and of Dr. Mary J. Breckenridge, his wife, who for a quarter of a century successfully practiced medicine in Omaha. The family lived for a time in Iowa before removing to Omaha, \yhere for some time the firm of Breckenridge & Breckenridge occupied a commanding position at the bar of eastern Nebraska. The father passed away on the 9th of October, 191 1.

Ralph W. Breckenridge was but a young lad at the time of the removal of the family to Cresco. Iowa, where he pursued a public school education and later took up the study of law under the direction of his father, being admitted to the bar there in 1881. The following year he removed to Omaha, where he entered upon practice in connection with Charles J. Greene, and with the exception of but a brief interval that association was continued until the death of Mr. Breckenridge. In the meantime, however, others had been admitted to the firm, which became Greene. Breckenridge, Gurley & Woodrufl:'. In his practice Mr. Breckenridge made a specialty of insurance law and there were indeed few who were better versed in that department of jurisprudence, his opinions coming to be regarded as authority upon that subject. In 1905 he was chosen to the presidency of the Nebraska State Bar Association and he likewise became a leading member of the American Bar Association, which made him chairman of the insurance committee at the time the great insurance companies of the country were undergoing authoritative inquiry and investigation. Subsequently he became a member of the executive committee of the American Bar Association. He wrote many articles and delivered many lectures on the subject of insurance law and both his spoken and written word elicited wide attention and awakened keen interest.

On the 19th of September, 1888. Mr. Breckenridge was united in marriage in Burlington. V'ermont. to Miss Harriet A. Allen, a native of that state, and they became the parents of three children : Almyra Morton, now the wife of Alfred ^V. Gordon, by wbom she has a daughter. Katherine Breckenridge; Warren Allen, who graduated from Amherst College in 191 5. and is a member of the

Mr. Breckenridge gave his political support to the republican party, while his religious faith was that of the ^Methodist Episcopal church. He was an exemplary member of the ALisonic fraternity, afifiliated with the Knights Templar Commandery, and a prominent representative of various other societies and organizations. He belonged to the Connecticut Society of Mayflower Descendants and at one time was president of the Nebraska Society of Sons of the American Revolution. He became a charter member of the Omaha Club and a member of the Field Club, the Happy Hollow Club and the Dome Lake Club. His social qualities were greatly appreciated by all who came into contact with him and none met him but speedily recognized him at his true worth. Nature endowed him with keen mentality and he used his powers not only for the attainment of professional success but for the benefit of his fellowmen in support of many plans and measures having a direct bearing upon the betterment of the individual and the community. He passed away August 8, 19 13, at the comparatively early age of fifty-three years and deep regret was felt at his passing by his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession and by all with whom he had been associated in other relations of life. He had many sterling traits of character wdiich were manifest in his association with his friends, but his best traits were reserved for his own fireside.

Gurdon Wallace Wattles

Said a trenchant modern w-riter: '"Opportunity is universal, not local. Success is not dependent upon the map or the time-table." It is the recognition of this fact that has brought Gurdon Wallace Wattles to the place of leadership which he occupies in the business and financial circles of Omaha and his career furthermore illustrates the principle that activity does not tire - it hardens - gives resisting power, and the exercise of efitort is keeping him alert. Anyone meeting him face to face would know at once that he is an individual embodying all the elements of what in this countiy we term a "square" man - one in whom to have confidence, a dependable man in any relation and any emergency. The story of his life is the record of untiring endeavor and today there is scarcely a resident of Omaha who has equal influence in controlling the mammoth business interests which constitute the basis of the city's present development and prosperity. He is perhaps best known as banker and street car magnate, yet he has been equally prominent in managing various interests of a semipublic character which have largely been an element in public progress and improvement.

Mr. Wattles w^as born on a farm in Tioga county, New York, May 12, 1855, and traces his ancestral line back to 1652, when John McW^attles came from the highlands of Scotland and settled at Norwich Landing, Connecticut. Some time afterward the Mc was dropped from the name. Nathaniel Wattles, the greatgrandfather of Gurdon Vv. Wattles, was born at Lebanon. New London county, Connecticut, in 1749, and his second son w^as Jehiel Wattles, who was born in Northampton, ^Massachusetts, in 1776 but for many years lived at Virgil, Cortland county. New York. It was his son, James Wattles, who, born in Virgil in 1820, wedded Betsy Ann Whiting, who was also of Scotch descent. Her father, John Whiting, was born in Connecticut, was graduated from Harvard College and devoted his life to the practice of medicine. In 1821 he removed to New York, where he met an accidental death in 1845. -^^ the time of the Civil war James Wattles became a lieutenant of Company B, One LIundred and Ninth New York A^olunteer Infantr}', and was wounded in the service. In 1865 he removed to Illinois and the following year went to Carroll county, Iowa, v.diere he settled upon a farm. Subsequently he took up his abode in the city of Carroll and there passed away in June. 1907, having for more than a decade survived his wife, who died in Carroll in 1896.

In the common schools of New York Gurdon W. Wattles began his education, which he continued in the district schools of Carroll county, Iowa, in the high school at Glidden, Iowa, and in the Iowa State College at Ames, which he entered in 1876, but was obliged to leave there during his junior year on account of ill health. In June, 1906, that institution conferred upon him the honorary degree of blaster of Philosophy.

When eighteen years of age Mr. Wattles began teaching in the common schools of Carroll county, following that profession for two years before taking up his college course. In 1878 he was elected county superintendent of schools in Carroll county and thus served for two years, during which period he devoted his leisure hours to the study of law, and in 1S81 was admitted to the bar. He located for practice at Carroll, where he followed his profession for a year, but in 1882 entered the field of banking by organizing the Farmers Bank of Carroll, of which he was chosen cashier. Five years later die bank was reorganized under the name of the First National Bank of Carroll, and of that institution Mr. Wattles was the president for several years. His career may very properlv be divided into three parts : first, his career in connection with banking institutions; second, his association with other than banking corporations; and third, his public service in connection with the semi-public enterprises which he has promoted.

Continuing the record of the first division, it will be noted that his indentification with Omaha and her interests dates from 1892. when he removed to this city and became vice president of the Union National Bank, while later he was advanced to the presidency and so remained until the United States National Bank of Omaha, the Union National Bank and the Commercial National Bank were consolidated in the year 1905 under the name of the United States National Bank, of which he became first vice president. He continued to occupy that position until January, 1916. when he was rnade chairman of the board of directors, which position he now fills. As a banker he began with a private bank, capitalized at twenty thousand dollars, in 1882 ; he now holds the highest office in the United States National Bank of Omaha, one of the two largest financial concerns in the state of Nebraska, with a capital and surplus of about two million dollars and deposits of eighteen million dollars.

Turning to the second important division of his life record, it is seen that in the year 1885 he organized the Rochester Loan & Banking Company of Rochester, New Hampshire, and became western manager, which position he has since held. This has grown to be one of the largest financial institutions of New England and has purchased millions of western securities, its interests having ever been controlled by Mr. Wattles, whose keen sagacity and marked discrimination have been the salient features in the notable success attained. One of the elements of his power and prosperity as a business man is the fact that he has ever seemed to realize the full value of any business situation or opportunity and, moreover, he possesses the ability to coordinate seemingly diverse interests into a unified and harmonious whole. Taking an interest in the question of urban transportation, he made investment in the Omaha Street Railway Company, of which he was elected a director in 1902, and in 1905 he was chosen vice president of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Company, in which connection he continued until 1908. when he was elected to the presidency of that corporation. A review of his career aside from his banking interests indicates that as a business man he commenced with a capital of a few dollars earned in teaching school and is now interested in many of the large and profitable enterprises of the city and state. Aside from his connection with urban and interurban transportation he is a director in the Chicago Great Western Railroad Company and is financially interested in many other mam-

Into variou.> lields where his etVorts have constituted a source of pubbc progress and improvement as well as of individual success he has extended his activities. He became one of the organizers of the Omaha Grain Exchange in 1904 and served as its president until 1910. Its meml)ership was drawn from among the business men and grain men of the city. Against great opposition the Exchange was built up and has proven to be of great value to Omaha and the state. The original five hundred dollar memberships are now valued at five thousand dollars. He was one of the organizers and president of the Trans- Alississippi and International Exposition, held in Omaha in 1898, which was in many ways the most successful exposition ever held in America. Artistically it was a gem and it was also a great financial success, having paid back to its stockholders ninety-two and a half per cent on their investment. In 1909 and 1910 Mr. Wattles occupied the presidency of the National Corn Exposition and he was president of the Nebraska state commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in the year 1904. An appropriation of thirty-five thousand dollars was made by the state and an equal amount was secured by private subscriptions. A very unique and attractive exhibit was made of the resources of the state, motion pictures being used to illustrate the business and the principal resources, and at the close of the exposition fifteen thousand dollars was returned to the state treasurer out of the appropriation of thirty-five thousand dollars. Mr. Wattles was the organizer and president of the Douglas Hotel Company, which was capitalized for one million dollars and erected the Hotel Fontenelle of Omaha at a total cost of more than one million dollars. This hotel has proven of great benefit to the city and promises to be a safe and profitable investment to its stockholders. In fact every public enterprise with which Mr. Wattles has been associated has proven successful and no question has ever been raised concerning the disbursement of the large funds which have been placed in his hands b} the public. His business honor and integrity stand as an unquestioned fact in his business career and the value of his service is acknowledged by all who know aught of the history of the city.

On the 20th of OctolDer, 1882. at Clarksville, Iowa, Mr. Wattles was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Leete, a daughter of Allen N. Leete. She was descended from Governor William Leete, colonial governor of Connecticut, and held membership wnth the Colonial Dames of America and after her removal to Omaha she became very prominent in the social life of the city. Going to Cliicago in May, 191G, to meet her husband, who w-as returning from a trip to New York, she visited the Presbyterian Hospital for a diagnosis, for she had for some time been in ill health, and at the hospital she passed away on the 25th of May, 1916. The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. W^attles was a son, Frederick Leete, who was born May 23, 1884, and passed away November 23, 1887. Their two adopted daughters are : Margaret Elizabeth, born January 2, 1902 ; and Mary Louise, born March 4, 1904.

In his political views Mr. Wattles has always been a republican since casting his first presidential ballot and has been an active worker in party ranks, serving for many years as president of the Nebraska Republican State League, while in 1904 he w^as a delegate to the republican national convention. He is a vestrvnian of All Saints' Episcopal church of Omaha and fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In club circles throughout the country he is widely known, belonging to the Omaha, Omaha Country, L^niversity. Commercial, Palimpsest, Happy Hollow and Ad Clubs of Omaha, the Los Angeles Country Club and the Ijankers Club of New York. The breadth of his. interests is further indicated by his membership in the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Mississippi A'alley Historical Association. In a review of his life one must come to the conclusion that progress is a cumulative process and ti'iat where there is no advancement there has been no effort. Every day has marked off a full faithed attempt to know more and to do more and even in his business affairs he has united the intensely practical with a high ideality. Elbert Hubbard has said : "The man who is worthy to become a leader of men will not complain of the stupidity of his helpers, the ingratitude of mankind, the inappreciation of the public. These things are a part of the great game of life. I'o meet them and not go down before them in discouragement and defeat is the final proof of power." Throughout his entire career Mr. Wattles has kept his attention fixed on his purpose, never allowing incidental or accidental circumstances to divert him, and thus he has attained successful accomplishment.

Felix Jerome McShane, Jr., sheriff' of Douglas county, is a native son of Omaha, born July lo, 1882. His father, Felix J. McShane, Sr., was born in Perry county, Ohio, in 1852 and was a young man of twenty years when in 1872 he arrived in Omaha, where he married Agnes O'Connor. He has now retired from business but both he and his wife are still residents of Omaha. At one time he was a member of the city school board.

Felix J. AlcShane, Jr., attended the Omaha city schools and also Creighton College, followed by study in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. At the age of twenty years he entered the employ of an iron company in Omaha, with which he remained for a year, and then became the active assistant of his father, who was a railroad contractor and with whom he remained until 1908. He afterward spent two years with a lumber company in Omaha and in 1910 he entered the automobile supply business on his own account. In September, 191 5, he discontinued the supply department but is still agent for the Mercer and Hupmobile cars, in which connection he has built up a business of substantial proportions, conducted under the name of the McShane Motor Company, of which he is the president. However, at the present time his attention is given to the duties of his offfce, for in 191 1 he was elected sheriff of Douglas county and in 1914 was reelected, so that when his present term expires in January, 1917, he will have filled the position for six years. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party.

At Crown Point, Indiana, Mr. McShane was married to Miss Irma L. Conlen, and they have two children, Charles Jerome and Irma Marie. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. McShane is a member of the Phi Delta Theta, a college fraternity, and also of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Woodmen of the World. He likewise belongs to the Commercial Club and gives active aid to its well defined measures for the public good. His name is on the membership roll of the Omaha Field Club and he has many friends both within and without that organization.

George C. Towle

The year 1873 witnessed the arrival of George C. Towle in Omaha and to the time of his death he was identified with the fuel trade. Under his careful guidance his business interests assumed extensive proportions and his trade relations covered a wide territory. He removed to Nebraska from Iowa and had previously lived in New York, his birth having occurred in Rockford, Illinois, in 1 84 1. On taking up his abode in the middle west he settled first in Ottumwa, Iowa, where for a short time he was engaged in the insurance business. Seeking another field of labor, he arrived in Omaha in 1873 ^"^ from the time of his arrival here was engaged in the coal trade. For a brief period he was iden- tified with the National Coal & IMining Company, which he organized, but which met with financial disaster, and later he became a member of the hrm of Pratt & Tovvle, which association was maintained until Air. Pratt sold out and removed elsewhere. They conducted the business along both wholesale and retail lines. Plis next association was with George Patterson in the organization of the Nebraska Fuel Company, which is today the oldest fuel company of the city, having been founded in 1882. Mr. Towle was chosen president and so continued until his death. lie and Air. Pratt built up a business of large and gratifying pro])ortions and he remained active therein until three and a half years prior to his demise, when failing health obliged him to leave the management of his interests to others, althougli he continued as ])resident of the company until his life's labors were ended. He was thoroughly reliable in all of his business transactions and was never known to take advantage of a fellowman. The company furnished fuel to all the large concerns of the city and shipped coke extensively to Leadville for a number of years, maintaining at the time a branch office and yards in Denver.

In Ottumwa, in 1870, Air. Towle was married to Aliss Eliza A. Blake, who was born in Bangor, Alaine, and they became the parents of two children, Rossiter B., president of the O'Brien Candy Company of Omaha, and Bessie B. The family residence was for thirty years maintained at Twenty-fourth and Douglas streets and Airs. Towle still owns that property.

It was on the 13th of December, 1905, that Air. Towle passed away, when sixty-four years of age. His life measured up to high standards. He was an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity and was equally loyal as a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In politics he was a republican, but the honors and emoluments of office had no attraction for him. Pie lived in Omaha for a third of a century and those with whom he had business or social relations came to appreciate his true worth, recognizing in him a man of many sterling traits of character. Not only was he enterprising and successful in business, but was progressive and public-spirited in citizenship and was ever loyal to the ties of family and friends.

Judge George Baker Lake

An enumeration of the men of Nebraska who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time honored the state to which they belong would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to the late Judge George Baker Lake. He held distinctive precedence as an eminent lawyer and jurist and as a statesman of ability and in every connection he bore himself with such signal dignity as to gain the respect of all. He has been regarded as one of the ablest men who have sat upon the bench of the court of last resort in Nebraska and at all times he was recognized as a man of well rounded character, finely balanced mind and splendid intellectual attainments.

Judge George Baker Lake was born September 15, 1827, at Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York, a son of Walter C. and Nancy (Williams) Lake, the latter a lineal descendant of Roger Williams. George Baker Lake was the eldest of a family of six children. He received his early education in the country schools of New York and Ohio, his father having removed to the last named state in 1835, shortly before his death. George B. Lake spent his boyhood employed in farm work. At the age of twenty-one he entered Oberlin College where he spent two years.

In 1849 he began the study of law in the office of William F. Lockwood at Elyria, Ohio, and in the next year became a student in the law office of Clark & Burk, in the same place. In the fall of 185 1 he was admitted to the bar before Judges Hitchcock and Spaulding of the supreme court of Ohio. In the spring of 1852 he formed a partnership with Mr. Burk, junior member of the firm of Clark & Burk, which continued for two years. He then formed a partnership with Lionel A. Sheldon, later member of congress from Louisiana. This partnership continued until his removal to Nebraska in November, 1856. He had various professional partnerships here, being at first associated with A. J. Poppleton under the firm name of Poppleton & Lake. He afterward became the associate of George L Gilbert, under the style of Lake & Gilbert, and next was with Charles H. Brown in the firm of Lake & Brown. In January, 1888, he entered into partnership with James W. Hamilton and afterv/ard they were joined by a third partner under the style of Lake, Hamilton & Maxwell, He continued thus a distinguished member of the bar to the time of his death and upon the admission of Nebraska to the Union he was elected one of the associate justices of the supreme court and became the first chief justice. The state was originally divided into three judicial districts and Judge Lake was given jurisdiction over Douglas and nine other counties. In this connection, in April, 1867, h^ held the first term of court in Nebraska under state government. In 1870 he was elected chief justice for a term of four years and was reelected to the bench, drawing by lot the short term of two years, as the result of which he became chief justice for that period. In 1877 he was elected associate justice for a term of six years under the constitution of 1873, and during the last two years of that term he was the presiding judge. In 1883 he declined renomination and on the ist of January, 1884, resumed the private practice of law in Omaha. He always took a most active and helpful interest in matters of public concern and for years he did important service in behalf of the educational interests of the city as a member of the school board. He was elected a regent of the high school in 1871 and put forth every possible efi^ort to uphol4 teaching standards. He was four times elected a member of the territorial legislature and he represented Douglas county in the constitutional convention. ©'l^--i8 71'-. -Judge Lake was a democrat in politics until the beginning of the Civil war, when he became a republican upon the issue of slavery.

He was married at Belleville, Ohio^ in December> -i.j8.5i, to Miss D. A. Poppleton, by whom he had one son, George E., now a resident of San Diego, California. Mrs. Lake died in 1854 and he was married in 1856 to Miss Zada Jane Poppleton, a sister of Andrew J. Poppleton, and a cousin of his first wife. Of this union there was born one daughter, Carrie Jane, who became the wife of Joy Morton, eldest son of the late J. Sterling Morton. His second wife died in i860, and he was married in 1861 to Miss Abbie G. Hayes of Omaha, who surv'ives him and is a resident of this city. Two children were born of this marriage, Mary, who became the wife of Charles L. Deuel, and Dr. Frederick W. Lake, of Omaha. Judge Lake passed away on July 27, 1910, in the eighty-third year of his age.

Charles Bracy McDonald, serving for the second term as city comptroller of Omaha, was born September 26, 1882, and his life record, which has won him official honors, stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country. He is of Scotch descent, being a grandson of John McDonald, who was born in Scotland and came to the United States soon after the arrival of his son, John Wright McDonald. His remaining days were passed in Omaha, where he was known as a respected and valued citizen. John W. McDonald was born in Glasgow, Scotland, October i, 1854, and in early manhood left the land of hills and heather with the intention of trying his fortune in the United States. He made his way to Cumberland, Maryland, and afterward became a resident of Omaha, where he wedded Alice May King.

of sheriff of Douglas county. He was also a man of prominence in business circles and his activities constituted an important element in the advancement of commercial interests. He was vice president of the W. J. Broatch Iron & Steel Company, vice president of the Lion Bonding & Surety Company and the president of the McDonald Brothers Foundry. The careful management and control of his business interests brought him success long ere death called him on the 27th of June, 1908.

Reared in his native city, Charles B. McDonald attended its public schools and on attaining his majority in 1903 he was elected to the position of secretary of the W. J. Broatch Iron & Steel Company, of which his father was the vice president. He left that company in January, 1906, and entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company in connection with the land department. Soon afterward he was appointed to the position of cashier in the office of the county treasurer of Douglas county and there continued iov four and a half years, after which he resigned. He then turned his attention to the real estate and insurance brokerage business, in which he engaged for two years, and in February. 191 1, he was appointed deputy city comptroller to fill a vacancy, serving as such until May, 191 2, when he was made comptroller. At the close of his first three years' term he was reappointed to the office in May, 191 5, so that his present incumbency will continue until 1918, making his entire connection with the office a period of seven years. His previous experience along business lines well qualified him for his duties in this connection and he is prompt, faithful and reliable in the discharge of every task that devolves upon him.

On the 30th of November, 1909, at Madison, Nebraska, Mr. McDonald was united in marriage to Miss Roxy J. Wills, a daughter of William L. Wills, who was a soldier of the Civil war and a native of Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald have become the parents of two daughters, Alice Jean and Phoebe.

The family attends the Presbyterian church and Mr. McDonald is a Scottish Rite Mason and Mystic Shriner. He is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He has always voted with the republican party since attaining his majority and his efforts in its behalf have been far-reaching and effective. There is no phase of the city's development ni which he is not interested and no plan or measure for the general good seeks his endorsement and support in vain.

Michael J. Curran

On the roster of city officials in Omaha appears the name of Michael J. Curran, now holding the office of city electrician, his previous business training and experience thoroughly qualifying him for the responsibilities of his present position. He is recognized as an active worker in republican ranks and has done much to further the interests of his party in Douglas county. His birth occurred in County Queens, Ireland, June 3, 1873, his parents being Michael M. and Catharine (McKenna) Curran, who were also natives of the Emerald isle, where they were reared, educated and married. In 1873 the father crossed the Atlantic to the United States and after making preparations for a home for his family was joined by his wife and children in 1874. They became residents of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and in 1883 removed to Omaha, where the father conducted a hotel up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1889. While in Cass county he had filled the office of deputy sheriff for one term. His widow survived him for only three years, passing away in 1892.

Michael J. Curran pursued his education in the public schools of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and in the public and parochial schools of Omaha. Upon his father's death, which occurred when the son was sixteen years of age, he had to assume the responsibility of providing not only for his own support but for that of his two younger brothers and two sisters. In 1893 ^^ entered the employ of an electrical company, then known as the Thomson-Houston Electric Light Company of Omaha and during this period was for six years the theatrical electrician at the Boyd Theater. He applied himself thoroughly to the mastery of every branch of the business. During his journeyman days he was very active in the ranks of organized labor and was one of the officers of the union most of the time. He continued in active connection with electrical work and in June, 1913, recognition of his ability in that line came to him in his appointment as city electrician, which office he is now filling.

Mr. Curran took a very active part in politics as a republican delegate from Douglas county to the state convention which was held in Lincoln in 1912 and was one of the "bolters" for Taft.

Mr. Curran is a Royal Arch Mason, also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben. He likewise has membership in the Omaha Electric Club and he is widely and favorably known in this city, in which he has now resided for a third of a century or from the age of ten years. His course is familiar to many of his fellow townsmen and their warm friendship places the stamp of their approval upon the policy which he has followed.

Frank Dewey

Frank Dewey, the county clerk of Douglas county, is a splendid type of American manhood, exemplifying in his life those qualities which the American public holds in the highest regard. He has been continuously connected with the courts in Omaha since December, 1897, and his record in office has been characterized by the prompt and faithful discharge of his duties. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, June 27, 1862, and is descended from early New England ancestry, the family having been represented in every war in the country from early in 1700 down to the present time, a fact which indicates that patriotism is one of the marked family characteristics. His great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father, Josiah Allen Dewey, were all cabinetmakers. The last named was born in Maine in 1808 and was united in marriage to Emma Parr, also a native of the Pine Tree state. Removing to the west, Josiah A. Dewey became the founder of the town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and there continued his residence until his death, which occurred in 1863. His widow survived for about seventeen years and passed away in 1880.

In the town which his father had founded Frank Dewey spent his youthful days to the age of sixteen years and during that period attended the public schools and a business college. In 1878 he removed to Omaha and began clerking in a newsstand at the old union depot, remaining in that position for several years. When the Paxton Hotel was opened he established a cigar stand in that hostelry for another man but six months later returned to his old position and after two years went to Denver for the same people, his employers being the firm of Barkalow Brothers. He spent five or six years as their representative in Denver in various capacities and in December, 1897, returned to Omaha, where he entered the office of the tax clerk, and has since been continuously connected with the county clerk's office. In 1912 he was elected county clerk and in 1914 was reelected for a two years' term. He is also ex-officio county comptroller, superintendent of the county and city tax office and member of the board of equalization. His duties are manifold and important and are discharged with the utmost capability and fidelity, for he has ever regarded a public office as a public trust, and it is well known that no trust reposed in Frank Dewey is ever betrayed. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party.

riagc to Miss Jessie Ellen Burch and they now have three sons, William Frederick, l'>ank Clement and Harry Burch. ]\Ir. Dewey was reared in the Episcopal faith. His belief is perhaps best expressed in his Masonic connection, for the craft finds in him an exemplary representative. He has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and the Mystic Shrine and he is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Loyal Order of Moose. He has qualities which render him popular and the circle of his friends in Omaha is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.

Hon. John Irvin Redick

Among those men who figured prominently in the professional, business, financial, public and social life of Omaha during the first half century of the city's existence, none was any better known than John Irvin Redick. He was born on a farm near Wooster, in Wayne county, Ohio, July 29, 1828, a son of John H. and Eliza (Forbes) Redick. On the paternal side the family is of Scotch descent, while the mother's ancestors were of English extraction. The grandfather of John Irvin Redick was a judge of the court of common pleas in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, while John H. Redick, the father, was an accountant in the War of 1812 under General Bell. Later he engaged in farming and he also served for a number of years as deputy treasurer of W'^ayne county, Ohio. He died when his son, John I, was but a boy and the latter left home at the age of fifteen years, apprenticing himself to a tinsmith of Delaware, Ohio, for his board and lodging. There he remained for nearly a year, at the end of w'hich time, having manufactured during his leisure hours a dozen or two lard-oil lamps, then in common use, he started forth with his stock in a basket on his arm and worked his way to Wooster, Ohio, where he found employment as a helper in a blacksmith shop. Not long afterward he opened a smithy on his own account on the old homestead, but his ambition prompted him to put forth effort along other lines. He began to study law under the tutelage of Professor Parott at Wooster, Ohio, and when twenty-one years of age was able to enter Delaware College, now the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, where he remained as a student for two years. During that time he also gave some attention to the study of law and he continued his reading in a law'yer's office for almost a year after leaving school. Upon his admission to the Ohio bar in 1852 he removed to Lansing, Michigan, where he opened a law and real estate office.

Li the fall of 1855 J\Ir. Redick wedded Miss Mary E. Higby, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who accompanied him to Lansing, and in the fall of 1856 they came to Omaha, bringing with them about two thousand dollars in cash, the savings of Mr. Redick's four years' work in Lansing. In the spring of 1857 he became the law partner of James G. Chapman; who was elected prosecuting attorney soon afterward. In 1859 Mr. Redick formed a partnership with Clinton Briggs, under the name of Redick & Briggs, and for ten years this firm enjoyed a large practice, being retained in nearly every important case in the courts of Douglas county and vicinity during tliat period. Mr. Redick enjoyed wide distinction as a jury lawyer and was a shrewd cross examiner. In 1870 he was chief counsel for the defense in the impeachment trial of Davi4 Butler, governor of Nebraska, who was acquitted on all the fifteen counts but one, and the conviction on that one was subsequently expunged from the record by the legislature of 1876-77. In 1869 the firm of Redick & Briggs was dissolved and for three years Mr. Redick conMnued in practice alone, having John D. Howe, who later became one of the well known and successful lawyers of Omaha, as his salaried law clerk. In 1872 he formed a partnership with Arthur N. Ferguson, afterward judge of the district court, which. continued for two years. In 1877 he went to live in Denver, where he served for about a year as attorney for the Union Pacific Railway Company, at the end of which time he again came to Omaha and entered into partnership with WilHam J. Connell. After two years this partnership was dissolved and Mr. Redick was joined by his eldest son, Charles R. Redick. In 1882 they were joined by his second son, William A. Redick, and in 1884 Charles removed to Fargo, North Dakota, and from that time the father gradually retired from active practice, withdrawing from the firm in 1885. In 1887 he removed to Los Angeles, California, where he was president of the Southern California National Bank, later known as the Merchants National Bank, until the fall of 1889, when he again returned to Omaha. From that time until his death, which occurred April 2, 1906, he devoted his attention to the management of his extensive private affairs, being a large holder of real estate and also having other interests outside- of his profession. No man at the Omaha bar ever enjoyed a more prominent place as a jury lawyer than Mr. Redick, who followed original methods in the trial of cases, displayed great tact in presenting facts to the jury and generally was successful.

In polit-ics Mr. Redick was a democrat until the outbreak of the Civil war. In i860 he was a member of the lower house of the state legislature and received the voles of the democratic members for speaker. In 1861 he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company C of the Omaha Home Guards, First Brigade of the Nebraska Militia, by Governor Alvin Saunders. In 1862, being heartily in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war and disapproving strongly of the attitude of the democratic party on that issue, he became a republican and was in 1864 chairman of the delegation from Nebraska- tO: the Baltimore convention that nominated Lincoln and Johnson. In announcing the vote of his state Mr. Redick said: "Nebraska casts her seven votes fdfAbfaliam Lincoln, the second savior of the world." In the republican congressional convention of 1866 he received all but one of the votes of the section of the state north of the Platte river for nomination as delegate to congress. In i872-.he was chairman of the Nebraska delegation to the republican national convention in Philadelphia and on the 22d of May. 1876, he was appointed associate justice of New Mexico by President Grant. In 1880 he was disappointed and indignant at the defeat of Grant for renomination and in 1884 he announced his return to the democratic party, voting for Hancock that year. In 18S2 he was the democratic candidate for member of congress and was defeated by Weaver of Richardson county, who had about half the usual republican majority. In 1896 Judge Redick again became a republican on the issues of protection and sound money. He voted for President McKinley and approved his policy on all important questions.

Not only in the field of law practice and in politics was Mr. Redick a recognized leader but also in many other lines. In 1874 he was president of the Omaha Merchants Club, the pioneer organization of the kind, comprising about eighty of the best business men of the city. In 1875 he was president of a delegation from Nebraska and Iowa to Galveston, having in view the improvement of commercial relations with the south, and he was also one of the committee of five sent to Boston about that time to negotiate for the location of a railroad bridge at Omaha. He was one of the original promoters and stockholders of the Grand Central Hotel Company, which on the present site of the Paxton Hotel erected a hostelry that was at that time the finest west of Chicago. He was a large stockholder and one of the incorporators of the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad, which built and equipped about fifty miles of road to Blair and beyond. This road is now a part of the Northwestern system. Judge Redick was for some time general counsel for the road. He was also much interested in religious work, having membership in the Trinity Protestant Episcopal church, of which he served for several years as vestryman.

Judge Redick was married three times. His first wife was Mary E. Higby. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, whom he wedded on November 5, 1855, and to them were born four daughters and three sons, of whom Charles Robinson was a lawyer at Oklahoma City and died in 1910 and William Armstrong is a district judge at Omaha. The other children died in infancy and the mother passed away October 30, 1864. On the 8th of October, 1866, Mr. Redick wedded Mary E. May and they became the parents of iive children: John I., who died in 1908; Albert Clarkson, who died October 17, 1901 ; and Oak Chatham, George May and Elmer S., all of Omaha. The mother died in August, 1894, and in July, 1896, Judge Redick married Barbara Lyon, of Ingersoll, Ontario.

For many years the residence of Judge Redick was on the corner of what is now Twenty-fourth and Pratt streets. In the early '70s he had acquired a quarter section of land stretching west of Twenty-fourth street and his home stood in the midst of this tract. It was a center of hospitality and gaiety and many and joyous were the parties that tilled the house in Nebraska's early days. There for more than a quarter of a century the family kept "open house" each New Year's day and the beaux and belles of the town held many a revel there, for in the family were several sons, all popular among the youthful social set. The old home was razed in 1917 to make way for one of the new buildings of the University of Omaha ; but the delightful social functions there held will long live in the memory of those in attendance, just as the name of John Irvin Redick will be honored for years to come among those who were his associates and friends during the long period of his residence in Omaha.

George A. Magney

George A. Magney, county attorney of Douglas county since 1912, having been reelected in 191 5, was born on a farm in Scioto county, Ohio, September 29, 1858, and comes of French ancestry, his paternal grandparents having, been natives of Paris, whence they came to the new world as young people and settled in Ohio. John Magney, the father of George A. Magney. was born in the Buckeye state in 1834 and followed the occupation of farming as a life work. He wedded Mary Searl, who was also born in Ohio, and in the year 1865 they came to Nebraska, settling in Cass county. The father died in May, 1895, and the mother survived him only until December of the same year.

The youthful days of George A. Magney were spent as a farm lad in Cass county, where his attention was 4ivided between the work of the fields and attendance at the district schools. He did not desire to follow the plow as a life work, however, but was ambitious to enter professional circles and took up the study of law in the office of Judge Samuel M. Chapman at Plattsmouth, Nebraska, who directed his preliminary reading until his admission to the bar in June, 1881. He then located for practice in Papillion, Nebraska, where he remained for four years, and in 1887 he came to Omaha, where he has since followed his profession. His arguments are strong and forceful, being based upon a careful analysis of the facts with the correct application of legal principles thereto. In 1897, under a law providing for a municipal court in Omaha, Mr. Magney was appointed one of the three judges of that court, but after he had served upon the bench for eight months the supreme court rendered the decision that the municipal court should not stand. In 1903 he was appointed deputy county attorney and occupied that position for a year under George W. Shields. Reappointment made him chief deputy county attorney under the late Hon.- J. P. English, in which position he continued for eight years, or until 1912, when he was elected county attorney. Two years later and again in 19 16 public endorsement came to him in his reelection, so that he has now entered upon a third term, continuing from 1916 until 1918.

On the 26th of April, 1885, in Papillion, Nebraska, Mr. Magney was married to Miss Dora L. Ayer and they have become the parents of three children : Lloyd Ayer, who was married in Omaha in 1914 to Miss Grace Cronin ; \'ernon Pernett; and Ethel Georgiana.

The parents are members of the Christian Science church and fraternally Mr. Magney is connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Woodmen of the World, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Moose and the Red Men. In the Knights of Pythias he served as grand chancellor of JN'ebraska for the years 1905 and 1906. He belongs also to the Carter Lake Club and is an active supporter of the Commercial Club. His political allegiance has always been given to the democratic party, for he is a firm believer in its principles as eftective forces in good government. No one doubts his political integrity or undervalues his honesty, for he is known to be a man who accomplishes what he undertakes, while his methods in so doing will at all times bear the closest investigation and scrutiny.

John Latenser

John Latenser is Omaha's most prominent architect, his skill and ability being manifest in many of the finest structures of the city. He was born in Liechtenstein, Germany, in 1859 ^"<^ pursued his education at Stuttgart, being graduated from the Polytechnic College with the class of 1879. Attracted by the business conditions and opportunities of the new world, he crossed the Atlantic to America in 1881, settling in Chicago, where he was employed as a draftsman. Seven years later, or in 1888, he arrived in Omaha and, opening an office, has since followed his profession, his developing powers bringing him to a foremost position among the architects of the city and state. For three years he was superintending architect of the Omaha postoffice and United States superintendent of public buildings for four years, his territory covering several states. Some of the largest and most important contracts of Omaha have been awarded to him. He was the builder of the Omaha high school, the Douglas county courthouse, the Hoagland block, the hospital building of the College of Medicine of the University of Nebraska, the Wise Memorial Hospital, the Ciarkson Memorial Hospital, Temple Israel, the Scottish Rite cathedral, the Brandeis office building, the Oscar Keeline office building, the Saunders-Kennedy office building and the Omaha Athletic Club building. He has also m.ade the plans and supervised the construction of at least twenty of the public school buildings and there is no point of his profession with which he is not thoroughly familiar.

Mr. Latenser has two sons : John Latenser, Jr., who, following his graduation from the Omaha high school, spent two years in Lincoln University at Lincoln, Nebraska, and four years in the pursuit of a course in architecture at Columbia University of New York city; and Frank Latenser, who was graduated from the Omaha high school and also studied architecture for four years in Columbia University. Both are now associated with their father under the firn> style of John Latenser & Sons.

Colonel Louis J. Piatti

Colonel Louis J. Piatti is now serving for the fifth term as deputy county attorney of Douglas county, his long connection with the office standing as incontrovertible evidence of the superior ability and unfaltering fidehty which he has displayed in that connection. He is a native of the eastern metropolis, his birth having occurred in New York city, April 15, 1863. His father, Peter G. Piatti, was born in Milan, Italy, and in 1843 came to the United States. In New York city he married Julia Chapelle and in 1896 he passed away but is still survived by Mrs. Piatti, who resides on Long Island. His uncle, Antonio, was a well known sculptor and designed the equestrian statue of Washington in Union vSquare, New ^'ork. A cousin, Attillio Tiatti is now vice consul at Nice.

Reared in New York city, Louis J. Piatti attended its public schools and taking up the study of law, was admitted to the bar at the May term of court in 1884, when twenty-one years of age. For several years he practiced in New York and for one year in iUitfalo, but, believing that the west offered a better field, came to Omaha in February, 1890, and has since become a prominent representative of the bar of this city. After a time he began to take an active interest in politics and his loyalty to the democratic party led to his selection for the position of secretary of the democratic county committee, in which capacity he served for eight years. In 1900 he was chosen a delegate to the democratic national convention, which was held in Kansas City, and his opinions have carried considerable weight in the local and state councils of his party. In 1907 he was appointed deputy county attorney by James P. Fnglish and reappointment has continued him in the office for six terms, having been in 1916 again appointed to serve for two years. He most faithfuUy and capably defends the legal interests of the county and his services are highly satisfactory to the general public. He is also acting at the present time as a member of the governor's staff.

In September, 1905, in Omaha, Mr. Piatti was married to Minnie Humpert, a daughter of Frank Humpert. who was a private in a Pennsylvania regiment during the Civil war, and his family includes Frances R. Piatti.

In his religious faith Mr. Piatti is a Catholic and he belongs to the Dahlman Democracy Club. He is a member of the state and county bar associations, was vice chairman of the democratic central committee for 1916 and chairman of that committee for 191 1. He is a man of fine personal appearance and has many substantial qualities which have rendered him popular with his fellow townsmen.

Dr. John Edward Summers, a distinguished surgeon of Omaha and a wellknown contributor to the medical press of the country, was born in Fort Kearney ,- Nebraska, January 2, 1858, a son of John E. and Caroline J. (Stuart) Summers. The family has long been a prominent one in Virginia, and Summers county of West Virginia was named in its honor. Dr. John Edward Summers, Sr., was for thirty-eight years actively connected with the medical department of the United States Army. His wife was born in New York and came of Scotch ancestry.

In his youthful days John E. Summers of Omaha attended public and private schools and afterward spent about three years as a cadet in the United States Military Academy at West Point. Having determined to make the practice of medicine his life work, he then entered Columbia University and was graduated from the medical department in the spring of 1881. He joined the United States Army as an assistant surgeon and for two years served in Wyoming, on the expiration of which period he resigned his position in order to further study medicine in Europe, where he remained for two years, most of the time in Vienna.

In the spring of 1885 Dr. Summers opened an office in Omaha, where he has since made his home, and throughout the intervening period he has occupied a most prominent position in professional ranks. For some years he has been professor of clinical surgery in Omaha Medical College, and his high standing among professional colleagues of the United States is indicated in the fact that he has been honored with a fellowship in the American Surgical Association, of which he is now vice president ; he is a membre de la Societe Internationale de Chirurgie, fellow of the American College of Surgeons and of the American Medical Association, a member and former president of the Western Surgical

Dr. John E. Summers

Association, the Nebraska State Medical Society, the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and the Medical Society of the Missouri Valley. He has a very large practice in surgery, extending far beyond the limits of his home city. For five years he served as surgeon in chief of Immanuel Hospital, and since the 5th of May, 1885, he has been surgeon in chief and attending surgeon, respectively, to the Clarkson Memorial Hospital, the Wise Memorial Hospital and the Douglas County Hospital, all of Omaha. He has likewise been surgeon of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, and during the administration of Governor Eoyd he was surgeon general of the National Guard of Nebraska. He has been a most liberal contributor to the leading medical journals of the country and is frequently quoted in standard surgical works.

On the 24th of April, 1895, Dr. Summers was married to Miss Laura M. Hoagland, a daughter of George A. Hoagland, one of Omaha's oldest and leading citizens ; they have two living children, John H. and Stuart Wyman. Dr. Summers has membership with the Loyal Legion and with the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and along more strictly social lines his connection extends to the Omaha Club, University Club, Commercial Club of Omaha, and the Omaha Country' Club ; he belongs to such educational clubs as the Palimpsest Club and Friends of Art' Society, and is an active member of the Omaha Public Library Board. Those who know Dr. Summers as a clubman find him of a most social nature, genial and companionable, and those who meet him professionally always feel assured of his kindly and sympathetic interest. When engaged in professional service he is the alert, wide-awake surgeon, ready to meet any emergency or respond to any call of duty, and his developing powers have resulted in ability that places him in the front rank among, the ablest representatives of his calling in the west. . - ;; ; - -

Harley Green-Moorhead

Harley Green Moorhead, who for fourteen years has been actively engaged in the practice of law in Omaha and since 191 3 has occupied the position of election commissioner of Douglas county, was born in Dunlap, lovv'a, September 3, 1876, and comes of a family of English origin, his paternal grandfather beinc^ John Moorhead, a native of Lancashire, England, born in 1804. Coming to the United States in early manhood, he settled in Ohio and there followed the occupation of farming. His son, George Park Moorhead, w^as born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1837 and having arrived at adult age, was married in Iowa to Annis Bowerman, who was born in Canada. They now spend the summer months in Omaha, while the winter seasons are passed in San Diego, California. The father was formerly a cattleman and successful banker but is now living retired.

At the usual age Harley G. Moorhead became a public school pupil at Dunlap, Iowa, and continued his studies for a time in Woodbine, Iowa. He next entered Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in the class of 1899. He afterward won his law degree at Columbia University in New York city in 1902 and immediately afterward came to Omaha, where he has since continued in active practice, early becoming recognized as one of the most capable members of the bar of this city. His knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence is comprehensi\e and exact and in the control of his cases he has ever manifested marked ability in handling and presenting the evidence and in applying legal principles. He is now a director of the Dunlap State Bank in his native city.

On the 24th of April, 1907, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. Moorhead was married to Aliss Bertha Salina Wallin and their "children are Harley G. and George Chadbourne Moorhead. Mr. and Mrs. Moorhead belong to the First

Congregational church of Omaha, and he is an active and valued member of various fraternal organizations and clubs, being identilied with the Elks, the Phi Gamma Delta, the Phi Delta Phi. the Commercial Club, the Omaha Country Club, and the Rotary Club of Omaha, having been president of the last named club during 1915. His i)olitical endorsement has always been given' to the democratic party, and in lyot) he was elected its candidate for the state legislature but was defeated. In lyi i he was a candidate for judge of the district court and was high man on the ticket. In May, 1913, he was appointed by the governor to the position of election commissioner of Douglas county and has full supervision of registration and elections in Omaha and South Omaha. He also holds the office of jury commissioner by appointment of the judges of the district court. These positions both carry great responsibility and his selection therefor is a ver)' high testimonial to his worth and his character.

Hon. Charles Lockard Saunders

Hon. Charles Lockard Saunders, a prominent real estate dealer, a distinguished republican leader and for five terms a member of the Nebraska state senate, was born in Mount Pleasant. Iowa, in 1857, a son of Hon. Alvin Saunders, who was born in Kentucky in 1815 and in early manhood removed to Iowa. He was married in Washington, D. C., to Marthena Bariow, a native of Greencastle, Indiana, who was at that time visiting in the national capital. A more extended mention of Hon. Alvin Saunders occurs elsewhere in this work. They retained their residence in Iowa until 1861, when they came to Omaha, and in the public schools of this city their son, Charles L. Saunders, began his education. He pursued his more specifically literary course in Cornell University at Ithaca, New York, and his professional course in Columbia University of New York city, which conferred upon him the LL. B. degree upon his graduation with the class of 1882. He afterward became private secretary to his father, who was then United States senator in Washington, and a year later he went to Helena. Montana, where he spent about four years in the government assay office. He was also interested in a cattle ranch in that state but left Montana in 1886 to returti to Omaha, where he entered the real estate business, in which he has since been actively engaged. He is now president of the Saunders Investment Company, which was incorporated in 1908, is president of the Omaha Real Estate Company, which was incorporated in 1886 but which is closing out its business as fast as possible, and president of the Saunders-Kennedy Building Company. He is likewise a director of the Merchants National Bank and is a member of the board of the Forest Lawn Cemetery. His deep interest in the welfare of his state is indicated in the fact that he is on the board of governors of Ak-Sar-Ben, while his active support of progressive measures for the upbuilding of Omaha is indicated in his membership in the Commercial Club.