Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Wakeley, Arthur Cooper, 1855- ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1028

USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 1

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NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08044146 6

OMAHA: THE GATE CITY

and

DOUGLAS COUNTY NEBRASKA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

ILLUSTRATED

VOLUME II

CHICAGO : THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1917

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY 103877A ATTn LENOX AND IL SENINUNDATION: . 1729 L

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/omahagatecitydou02wake

ANDREW J. POPPLETON

BIOGRAPHICAL

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) Popple- ton, 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 1811, 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 knowl- edge. 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 with- drew 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.

It was just about that time that government was being organized and estab-

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

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 filled appointments through the formative period of territorial development and was very active and prominent in public affairs. He served as a member of the first Nebraska legislature in 1857 and 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 demo- cratic 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 pro- fession 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 Pacific established its headquarters in Omaha. In February, 1888, he was obliged to sever his con- nection 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. Wm. 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 land 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 con- cerning 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 like- wise 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

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

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, was born in South Acton, Massachusetts, in 1816 and who married Elizabeth Pratt, a daughter of Sampson Pratt, who was born in Vermont and was a soldier of the War of 1812, dying 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 served 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 was 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, Mr. 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, 1911, 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

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

Nemaha county, this state, where the father passed away in 1907 and where the mother still makes her home.

After acquainting himself with preliminary branches of learning in the country schools of his native county William C. Lambert entered the scientific depart- ment 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 1915 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 con- nection 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, Vermont.

George A. Joslyn was reared in Vermont and attended the public schools there but 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

Ko A foolyn

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ABTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

judgment won him further promotion to the position of manager of the business at Omaha, where he took up his residence late in 1880.

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. At 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, Sioux 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 mnet 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 marvelous development of the Western Newspaper Union is indicated in the fact that there has recently been erected in Omaha, to house this enterprise, a splendid new building Hlocated at Fifteenth and Jones streets. The structure is sixty-six by one hundred and thirty-two feet, five stories and basement. It is fireproof throughout and waszbuilt at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. In it are the executive offices of the company, local office of the Western Newspaper Union, which includes all departments that are required in issuing the newspaper service, and also 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 build- ing 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 non- essential in the management of the newspaper union and had the ability to coordi- nate 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

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

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 24th of September, 1872, 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 Univer- sity. 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 insti- tutions 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. Speak- ing of his personal characteristics, Rector Mackay of All Saints 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 unself- ishness 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, contributing 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 closely associated with its mercantile interests. His first place of business was at Four- teenth 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. Creighton he made several trips across the plains to Denver with ox teams, carrying load of mer- chandise. After continuing in business for five years he became the head of the

JAMES J. BROWN

OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY

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.

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Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II, Part 1

Author: Wakeley, Arthur Cooper, 1855- ed Publication date: 1917 Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing co. Number of Pages: 1028

Author: Wakeley, Arthur Cooper, 1855- ed
Publication date: 1917
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke publishing co.
Number of Pages: 1028