USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 19
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Closely identified with Mr. Creighton were his brother, John A. Creighton, and cousin, James Creighton, in his various enterprises. In 1883 these two gentlemen took a cattle train loaded with supplies to
Montana, then in the midst of the great gold excitement, and the former located in Vir- ginia City, where he remained for three years, engaged in mercantile pursuits. For two years he was connected with the build- ing of a telegraph line from Salt Lake City to IIelena, Montana, and in 1868 engaged in the wholesale grocery business with Frank C: Morgan, under the firm name of Creighton & Morgan. Upon the deatlı of his brother he became administrator of the estate, charged with the disbursement of large sums of money. Hle was one of the incorporators of the Nail Works; a large stockholder in the Cable Street Railway, and in the South Omaha Land Syndicate. IIe was a delegate to the Chicago Convention in 1884, which nominated Grover Cleveland. IIe has been very generous in behalf of the interests of the Catholic Church. Mr. Creighton was born in Licking County, Ohio, October 15, 1831, and came to Omaha June 10, 1856. In 1859 he was elerking in the store of J. J. and R. A. Brown. His wife died in 1888, leaving no children.
Mr. James Creighton, born in Guernsey County, Ohio, March 1, 1822, located in this city May 26, 1856, and for several years was engaged in the freighting business be- tween Omaha and the western gold mines. In 1861 he had the contract to deliver poles for the Pacific Telegraph line on the seetion between Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger. Ile had grading contracts on the Union Pacifie during its construction. IIe was ap- pointed a member of the City Council in 1857 to fill out the unexpired term of T. G. Goodwill, and was re-elected to several terms afterwards. IIe was a member of the House of Representatives in 1877, and ap- pointed chairman of the Board of Public . Works upon its organization in July, 1882. Ile was also a member of the first Board of Education under the present system.
Ezra Millard, who located in Omaha, in 1856, bore a prominent and useful part in the early history of this city. Upon coming
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here he became a member of the banking firm of Barrows, Millard & Co., the style of which was soon changed to Millard, Caldwell & Co. Upon the organization of the Omaha National Bank, in 1866, Mr. Millard was elected president, and held that office until 1884, when he severed his connection with that institution and organized the Commer- cial National Bank, of which he was elected president. This position he held at the time of his death, August 26, 1886. Mr. Millard served this city as mayor in 1870 and 1871, and was a member of the Territo- rial Council in 1860. In 1886 he assisted in organizing the Cable Railway system of Omaha, and was elected treasurer of the company. He was a man of great energy of character, of the strictest integrity, pos- sessed unusual business ability, and was held in the highest esteem by all classes of citizens. Everything concerning the best interests of Omaha he made a matter of personal concern, and for thirty years this city had the benefit, at all times, and on all occasions, of his ripened judgment and fore- sight. His son, Alfred Millard, is cashier of the Commercial National Bank, and bears evidence of having inherited to a consider- able degree the father's financial ability.
Herman Kountze, president of the First National Bank, has been identified with the interests of this city since the fall of 1856, when he engaged in the banking business with his brother Augustus, under the firm name of Kountze Bros. Upon the organi- zation of the First National Bank of this city, in 1864, he was appointed cashier and afterwards vice president, and upon the death of Mr. Edward Creighton, in 1874, became president of the bank. In connec- tion with his brothers, Augustus, Luther and Charles, he is interested in the Colorado National Bank, of Denver, and the New York Banking House of Kountze Bros., of which latter institution Augustus Kountze is president. Herman Kountze owns a great deal of valuable real estate in Omaha, 8
including, until recently, a tract of 160 acres in the northern part of the city, which he platted a few years since as Kountze Addition, and which is now one of the choice residence localities of the city. Mr. Kountze was married to Miss Elizabeth Davis, of this city, May 10, 1864.
Joseph H. Millard located here in 1856, beginning business as a real estate dealer, in a small building near the corner of Farnam and Tenth, handling chiefly wild lands in various portions of the Territory. He became a member of the banking firm of Barrows, Millard & Co., upon its organiza- tion, and in the spring of 1864 established a banking business at Virginia City and Helena, Montana, which he continued for nearly three years. He became identified with the Omaha National Bank in January, 1867, which relationship he still maintains, having been its president since 1884. In 1872 and 1873 he served the city acceptably as mayor, and was for six years a Govern- ment Director of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was married at Davenport, Iowa, in 1861, to Miss Carrie G. Barrows, and has two children, Willard D. and Jessie II. Ile was born in 1836, in Hamilton, Canada.
Charles W. Hamilton, president of the United States National Bank, located in this city in May, 1856, and in the spring of 1862, was employed as book-keeper in the firm of Barrows, Millard & Co., bankers, becoming a member of the firm three years later, when the style was changed to Millard, Caldwell & Co. In 1868, the style was again changed and became Caldwell, Hamilton & Co., and so remained until 1883, when the United States National Bank was organized, with Mr. IIamilton as president. During all this time, the business has been conducted at the south-west corner of Farnam and Twelfth Streets. The present bank building is one of the most substantial structures in the city, built of Ohio blue stone, and is five stories in heiglit. Mr. Hamilton was mar- ried in 1858 to Miss Fannie Murphy, of this
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city, a sister of Frank Murphy and Mrs. Thomas Cumings. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have six children, C. Will, Frank, Millard Caldwell, Stella, May and Frederick. The first son is assistant cashier of the United States National, and the second paying teller in the Merchants' National.
Jesse Lowe, the first mayor of Omaha, was a man of strong character. At the time of the passage of the Nebraska-Kansas Bill, he was a resident of Council Bluffs, and, crossing the Missouri in a skiff, on the 23rd of July, 1853, one year before the town was platted, he took up a claim just west of the land upon which the town site was located, in 1854, and this property he still had at the time of his death, April 3, 1868. He was an active member of the Omaha Claim Club, and prominent in everything relating to the best interests of the city in its early history. He was born in Raleigh, N. C., March 11, 1814, and educated in Blooming- ton College, Indiana. During the Mexican War, he was Commissary of the Missouri Regiment commanded by Colonel Sterling Price, afterwards prominent as a Major- General in the Confederate army. Mr. Lowe was employed in the office of his brother, Dr. Lowe, Receiver of the Land Office, during his residence in Council Bluffs. He dealt extensively in real estate in this city, and was recognized as one of Omaha's leading business men from the date of his arrival here. At the time of his death he owned valuable real estate in all portions of the city, in addition to his homestead of 320 acres west of town, all of which is now within the city limits and is of immense value.
William A. Paxton came to Omaha in January, 1857, in the employ of a contractor named Regan, who was engaged in building bridges on the old military road, and after- wards in the construction of the telegraph line between Omaha and Salt Lake. During the construction of the Union Pacific Rail- road, Mr. Paxton was a contractor, and his
profits earned in this business he invested in cattle in 1869, and for the next twelve years was extensively engaged in the cattle busi- ness on the plains, and accumulated a handsome fortune therefrom. In the mean- time, he had contracts with the government for supplying beef to the Indian agencies. Mr. Paxton is one of the leading stockhold- ers in the First National Bank; is vice president of the Union Stock Yards National Bank; is president of the Union Trust Company; vice president of the Southi Omaha Land Company; a member of the firm of the Paxton & Vierling Iron Works Company, and of the firm of Paxton & Gallagher, wholesale grocers. lIe has invested in buildings in this city three- fourths of a million dollars, and, for a dozen years past, has been recognized as one of Omaha's most enterprising and public- spirited citizens. His block at the north- east corner of Farnam and Sixteenth, six stories high, and 132 feet square, cost nearly half a million dollars. He was married February 21, 1858, to Mary J. Ware, and has one son, William A., Jr.
Samuel E. Rogers, who was born in Flem- ing County, Kentucky, in 1822, came to Omaha from Havana, Illinois, in August, 1854, locating here as a resident, with his family, October 28th, of that year, his first home being in a house which stood on the present site of the Dodge Street School building. IIis father, William R. Rogers, claimed a tract of 320 acres just south of town, in 1854, but died October 14th of that year, his property rights descending to his son Samuel, who moved upon the land in 1856, and for four years lived in a little house on the ground now covered by the residence of Thomas L. Kimball, on Sixth Street. At that time Mr. William Ruth, a brother of Mrs. Augustus Kountze, lived in a log house in the same vicinity, on the present site of IIerman Kountze's home. Mr. Rogers served in the first four sessions of the Territorial Council. He was one of
RESIDENCE OF HON. W. A. PAXTON. 206 SOUTH TWENTY-FIFTH AVENUE -ERECTED IN 1887.
M. Aparton
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the original stockholders in the State Bank, now Merchants' National, of which he be- came vice president in 1875, and has held that position ever since. Twelve years ago he became interested in Florida lands, and owns nearly 700 acres in the vicinity of Sutherland, where he spends the winters. In 1879, in company with Frank Murphy, General W. W. Lowe and James L. Lovett, he secured valuable oil interests in Wyoming, these gentlemen now owning 3,200 acres of patented lands in the Shoshone Basin, Beaver and Rattlesnake Districts, and have developed three spouting wells, with a capacity of 1,200 barrels per day. These wells are now plugged, as the exportation of the oil will not pay expenses until railroad facilities are secured. Mr. Rogers is a graduate of Wabash College, Indiana, and received therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1852. IIe was married to Miss Martha Brown, in Michigantown, Indiana, in 1848. Their only child is G. S. Rogers, the third teller of the Merchants' National Bank. Mr. Rogers, Sr., is one of the wealthiest men in the city.
One of the first notaries appointed for Douglas County was Major J. II. Cryer, now living on his five hundred acre farm, five miles west of the city, a portion of which land he entered as a pre-emption claim in 1857. His mother, it is said, was the first woman ever naturalized in the United States, her papers as a citizen being taken out February 14, 1857, at the Douglas County Court House. At that time Major Joseph W. Paddock was clerk of the court. During the war Major Cryer was an officer of a Pennsylvania regiment, and afterwards resided for many years in Philadelphia, where he is yet a large property holder.
Major Joseph W. Paddock came to this city September 24, 1854. He was clerk of the first House of Representatives, and the first clerk of the first District Court held in this District, Judge Ferguson presiding. He served as a member of the House of
Representatives in 1858, 1865, 1866, and as a member of the City Council in 1869. Upon the organization of the first Nebraska Infantry, he was appointed captain of Company K, and served four months with the regiment, when he was detailed on staff duty, in November, 1861. IIe was appointed to the Adjutant General's Corps in 1862, and attached to the staff of General Steele. After getting out of the army at the close of the war, he was secretary and manager of the Western Transportation Company, which was engaged in freight transportation from the end of the Union Pacific Railroad to the mountains. For a number of years he was the Stock and General Claim Agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, and of late years his time has been devoted to his own interests. . In January, 1891, he was appointed by President Harrison Govern- ment Director of the Union Pacific Rail- road. He was born in Matena, New York, April 27, 1825, and was married at Canton, New York, in 1858, to Miss Susie A. Mack. He has two children, Ben S., and a daughter, now Mrs. W. E. Annin. He is now living a few miles west of the city on a handsome place of 340 acres, a portion of which is his original claim, made before the land came into market, of 160 acres. It was by the merest chance that Major Paddock lived to accomplish what he has during the past thirty-six years. In January, 1855, while crossing the Missouri River on the ice, he stepped into an air-hole, and would undoubt- edly have drowned but for the fact that he was holding under his right arm a buffalo robe rolled up in a long bundle, and this, catching on the ice, held him until assistance could be given him. Major Paddock is now serving Douglas County in the capacity of commissioner, having been appointed to fill a vacancy.
Jesse H. Lacey and John McCormick established the first wholesale grocery house in Omaha, and, for that matter, the first established in the territory, beginning
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
business in the spring of 1859 under the firm name of Lacey & McCormick, which was afterwards changed to John McCormick & Co., the company including Jesse II. Lacey, Josiah S. McCormick, Finley McCor- mick and Albert McCormick. Finley was accidentally drowned in Mill Creek, on the Iowa side of the river, in 1865, and Albert died in 1878. In the old Pike's Peak mining days, this firm did an immense business in furnishing supplies to the miners, and for many years their annual sales reached an enormous figure. John McCormick and Mr. Lacey married sisters, the Misses Miser. In 1875, John McCormick, with Messrs. Barringer and Davis, erected the first grain elevator built in this city, and was engaged in that business at the time of his death, in 1885. When he came to Nebraska in 1856, he established himself in the banking business, and took an active part in the financial affairs of the city. As trustee for the various claimants, he bid off at the public land sale July 5, 1859, a considerable portion of the town site. Mr. Lacey, who now occupies a responsible position in the First National Bank, came to Omaha in 1859. He served as a member of the City Council in 1869-70, and was Government Inspector of Indian Supplies for several years, receiving his appointment in 1870. Mr. J. S. McCormick has also served the city in the Council. He was married January 3, 1863, to Miss IIannah Mills, who died February 27, 1888.
Among the pioneer merchants of this city were J. J. and R. A. Brown, who were born in Stephentown, New York, and located here in 1856, in a frame building which they erected at the south-east corner of Fourteenth and Douglas, where they were engaged in the dry goods and grocery business, wholesale and retail, for many years. J. J. Brown served as a member of the City Council for one year, and R. A. acted as City Treasurer for one year. The former was married to Miss Missouri
Kennedy, in Florence, New York, March 1, 1865. They have five children, Clara, Randall K., James J., Charles II., and Jeanie Dean. Mr. Brown was one of the incorpo- rators of the Omaha National Bank, in which he has, since its establishment, been a director. Ile is vice president of the Omaha Loan & Trust Company, and also of the Omaha Fire Insurance Company. He was one of the incorporators of the Omaha Motor Line, and is a director of the Consol- idated Line of Street Railway. He is one of the leading capitalists of the city, and has been active in advancing its material interests. R. A. Brown carried on for several years an extensive dry goods business on Donglas Street, near Fourteenth, but of late years has devoted his time to the management of his real estate interests. Associated with J. J. Brown for many years was a younger brother, Lewis, whose high ability as a business man and prominence warrant personal mention here, though he was not, strictly speaking, a pioneer. Lewis Brown located in Omaha, in 1868, entering at once into partnership with J. J. Brown in his mercantile business. Just previous to his death, which occurred about 1879, he served as a member of the City Council.
Lyman Richardson was the first Register of Douglas County, and also the first Assessor of the city. He located here with his father in Jannary, 1855, studied law in the office of Judge Lake, and was admitted to the bar in 1858, but never practiced his profession. He enlisted in the First Nebraska Infantry in July, 1862, and was promoted to the position of captain in that regiment. He became a partner of Dr. George L. Miller in the management of The Herald, soon after its establishing, and remained as the business manager of the paper for nearly twenty years, during which period he was also half owner. He has been engaged for the past eight years in real estate transactions on his own account, and by the rapid rise of Omaha property has
Synaw Richanson
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
accumulated fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson have but two children, Minnie, now Mrs. W. R. Morris, and Ralph. The success of The Herald was dne in a large measure to the rare financial ability of Mr. Richardson, who gave to the management of the paper all of his time and attention. He was born in Michigan in 1834, and graduated at the State University at Ann Arbor, in 1854. His father, Origen D. Richardson, was Lieutenant Governor of Michigan from 1844 to 1848. During his twenty-three years in Omaha, he was one of the leading lawyers of the city. Ile took a prominent part in preparing the first code of laws for the Territory in 1855, and, in 1867, assisted by J. S. Sharp and Andrew J. Poppleton, prepared the revised statutes of Nebraska.
From the date of his arrival here, in the spring of 1859, until his death, June 26, 1884, Smith S. Caldwell was recognized as one of the leading business men of Omaha. He came from Marion, New York, where he was born in 1834, with a view of practicing law, having been admitted to the bar shortly before his departure from New York, but soon after locating in Omaha entered upon the banking business with Barrows, Millard & Co. The style was then changed to Millard, Caldwell & Co., and so continued for several years. When the Omaha National Bank was organized another change was made, and the firm of Caldwell & Hamilton, consisting of Mr. Caldwell and Charles W. Hamilton, was formed. Later on the firm became Caldwell, Hamilton & Co., and so continued until that banking house was merged into the United States National Bank, in 1883. Mr. Caldwell was one of the incorporators of the Omaha & Southwestern Railroad Company, of which he was president in 1869; was active in securing the erection of the Grand Central Hotel, and contributed very materially to the success of that important enterprise. In 1871 he was elected Mayor of Omaha, and served with credit to himself and satis-
faction to the people. An addition in the northern part of the city was platted by Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Ezra Millard as Millard & Caldwell's Addition, now solidly built up. In April, 1863, Mr. Caldwell was married to Miss Henrietta M. Bush, of Tioga, Pennsylvania. His family, consist- ing of Mrs. Caldwell and two sons, Victor and Samuel, now live on a beautiful plat of two and a half acres of land, covered with a natural grove, which he purchased in 1864 from John I. Redick for residence purposes. It was then far out from the settled portion of the city, but is now considered " down town," and is of great value. It fronts on Twentieth Street, and joins on the north the homestead of Charles W. Hamilton, pur- chased of Mr. Redick at the same time and of like dimensions.
William F. Sweesy is a New Jersey man, who dates his residence in Omaha from May, 1856. During that year, in company with his brother-in-law, Aaron Root, he built the Tremont House, on Douglas just west of Thirteenth Street, and they also managed it until the spring of 1857, when a man named Hornberger became proprietor, Messrs. Sweesy & Root retaining ownership of the building, however, until the Caldwell Block was built, in 1865 and 1866. In 1866 he purchased from A. J. Poppleton and J. M. Woolworth a tract of land of twenty-two acres, just south and west of the present site of Creighton College, which he platted as Sweesy's Addition. The following year he was appointed Register of the United States Land Office here, which place he held for four years, O. F. Davis being his chief clerk a considerable portion of that period. In 1876 he was appointed United States Marshal for Wyoming Territory, and served three years. He has valuable real estate interests here, which now occupy his time and attention. In 1891 Mr. Sweesy erected and opened the Hotel Brunswick, on the corner of Sixteenth and Jackson streets. Mr. and Mrs. Sweesy have three children-Frank, Charles C. and Willard K.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMANIA.
John A. Horbach has been for thirty-four years a prominent resident of Omaha, locating here April 24, 1856. He came from Pittsburg, where he had been engaged in the railroad business for five years previously, and for three years was a clerk in the office of Colonel Gilmore, United States Receiver of the Land Department, and then engaged in the steamboat forwarding and commission business. He bore an active part in the. building of the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad, of which company he was the vice president and manager, buying all of the material for the construction of the line between Omaha and Tekamah. He remained with the company until the consolidation of this line with others in 1880, and represented the old company in closing up its business during the next two years. Since 1874 he has been connected with various railroad enterprises, and in establishing a large cattle ranch business in south-western Kansas. He has extensive real estate interests here, and is classed among the wealthiest citizens of Omaha. He was married in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, in December, 1854, to Miss Sallie Wallace. Mr. and Mrs. Horbach have two children, Mollie F. (now the wife of Major John G. Bourke) and Paul W.
Harry P. Deuel, as a member of the firm of Porter & Deuel, conducted a very large business in the old steamboat days, as agent for the St. Joseph Packet Line. Upon the completion of the Kansas City & St. Joseph Railroad, he was appointed the Omaha agent of that line, and was afterwards ticket agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Burlington & Missouri Railroad Companies, until January, 1888, when he was appointed the City Ticket Agent for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He was married Janu- ary 6, 1858, at Tiskima, Illinois, to Miss F. J. Miller. They have had two children, Blanche, who died in November, 1881, and Charles.
John Evans, one of the best known men throughout the West in Odd Fellow circles,
came to Nebraska in April, 1855, and has been a continuous resident here since. Ile was a member of the School Board, as treasurer, for many years previous to tlie establishment of the present school system. He represented Dodge County in the Terri- torial House of Representatives, at the second session, and was a member of the City Council of Omaha in 1864. He has served as Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge I. O. O. F. and as Grand Represent- ative for several years, and has also been the Grand Scribe of the Grand Encamp- ment of that order. He rendered the city efficient service as secretary of the Com- mittee of Fifteen which drafted the Metropolitan Charter of Omaha, in 1886. and as Chairman of the Committee of Twenty-one which was selected to draft certain amendments to the Charter in 1888. He was married in Philadelphia, to Miss Eliza P. Davis. IIe has five children- Charles, John B., Perla (Mrs. Samuel Hous- ton), Mary and Edward D. Since 1864, Mr. Evans has been engaged in business in this city, first in the general grocery line, and for the last eight years dealing in seeds, garden implements, etc.
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