USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
John and Richard N. Withnell have been for thirty-five years the leading brick man- ufacturers and contractors for the erection of brick buildings in the city. In the year 1855 they were sub-contractors under Bovey & Armstrong in the erection of the Terri- ritorial Capitol and the Douglas County Court House. They established a brick making business about that time, which they have gradually and steadily increased until their plant is by far the most extensive in the city. John Withnell located in Omaha September 15, 1854 ; his brother, Richard, arriving here in the spring of 1855. both coming from St. Joseph, Missouri. The ‘ former has been married twice, the first time in February, 1853, at St. Louis, and the second in January, 1887, at Omaha. IIe has eight children, Eliza A., Elizabeth C.,
119
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
Cora B., Charles H., Blanch C., John HI., Alwilda, and Frank R. Richard Withnell was married at Omaha in 1858 to Miss Alwilda Boegle.
Meyer Hellman, born in 1834, in Germany, came to America in 1850, and located at Cincinnati. In 1856 he became a resident of this city, and entered into the clothing business with Aaron Cahn, under the style of M. Hellman & Co., which firm continued in business until 1887, when Mr. Hellman purchased Mr. Cahn's interest. M. IIellman & Co. always conducted a very extensive business, and for many years occupied a large, five-story building at the south-west corner of Farnam and Thirteenth Streets. Mr. Hellman died March 29, 1892, at his home in this city at St. Mary's Avenue and Twenty- fourth Street. In 1871, at Louisville, Ken- tucky, he was married to Miss Maria Rau. Ilis widow and six children were left in comfortable circumstances.
William J. Kennedy, one of the best known men in Nebraska, was born in 1832, in Baltimore, Maryland; married, November 4, 1856, at St. Louis, Missouri, to Miss Mary M. Mundie, and located in Omaha, December 9, 1856, engaging in the watch and jewelry business. He was a member of the City Council in 1861, and closed up the business of the last " wildcat" bank of this city, known as the Omaha & Chicago Bank. In 1865, he became connected with the steam- boat, storage and general commission business established by John A. Horbach. Afterwards he carried on a large agricultural implement business on his own account, until 1887. The Omaha Fire Department received in its formative period much valuable assistance from Mr. Kennedy, who was one of the originators of the volunteer system, of which he was a member for many years. Mr. Kennedy was strongly recommended by the leading business men of Omaha for appoint- ment to the chairmanship of the Board of Public Works, at the expiration of Mr. Balcombe's term in 1890. He has but one child, Theodocia C.
Dr. Gilbert C. Monell, who located in Omaha in 1857, was born in Montgomery, New York, October 20, 1816, and at the age of nineteen graduated at Union College. In 1836 he was married to Miss Lucinda Carpenter. Graduating at New York as a physician, he was engaged in active practice for twenty years in the east, and for a con- siderable period after coming to Omaha. In 1859, he was associated with Thomas Gibson and W. N. Byers in establishing Denver's first newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News. Ile was instrumental in establishing in this city the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, which was conducted for two years as a private institution, and its final success was due in a great measure to the energy and business ability of Dr. Monell. He was likewise active in the erection of the Presbyterian Church building, on the corner of Dodge and Seventeenth Streets, and contributed freely of his means to that important enter- prise. Ile bore an active part in the organization of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and during his entire life here was recognized as a man of rare judgment, honorable and upright in his dealings, and . of benevolent and sympathetic nature. He died September 30, 1881. Doctor and Mrs. Monell had two children, Jolin J. Monell, still a resident of Omaha, and a daughter, the late Mrs. P. W. Hitchcock.
The residence in Nebraska of Captain W. W. Marsh, dates from February, 1856. For six years he was interested in the mail business between Dakota City, Nebraska, and Niobrara, Nebraska, and Sioux City, Iowa, and Fort Randall. In 1863 he bought an interest in the Council Bluffs & Nebraska Ferry Company, and managed its business for ten years; and for a large portion of this time he was superintendent of the Missouri River and Union Pacific Transfer Company, and had charge of the running of all their steamboats, until the completion of the rail- road bridge in 1873. In July of that year he bought a controlling interest in the
120
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
Omaha Horse Railway Company, and since that date has devoted his energies and money to its development, and has lived to see the street railway system become one of the most complete in the country, as the result of the merging of the original horse railway with the cable and electric motor systems established during the past few years. Captain Marsh is now the treasurer of the consolidated lines incorporated as the Omaha Street Railway Company. He has served several terms in the City Council and on the Board of Education. In 1866, upon the organization of the Union National Bank, he was elected president of that institution, which place he still retains. Hle was married to Miss Florence M. Atwood, at Livermore Falls, Maine, in January, 1863. They have four sons, Charles, Frank, William and Allan. The former is assistant cashier of the Union National Bank, Frank is assistant treasurer of the Street Railway Company, William is teller of the Union National Bank, and Allan is a student at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
Henry Grebe is one of the best known residents of Omaha. He was born in Giessen, Ilesse Darmstadt, Germany, May 28, 1828. Coming to this country in 1850, he located at Wheeling, Virginia, where he learned the trade of carriage and wagon making. In 1853 he moved to Davenport, Iowa, and four years later came to this county, locating six miles north of town, at Florence, moving into Omaha in 1861, and engaged in the wagon making business, which he has continued since. Ile was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1860, and to the City Council in 1863. Ile served as a member of the Town Board of Florence in 1859, and as treasurer in 1860. In 1869 he was elected sheriff of Douglas County, and re-elected in 1871, serving four years. During this period he succeeded in breaking up the notorious gang of three- card monte men which infested this part of
the country, under the leadership of William Jones, alias Canada Bill. In 1870 he took to Lincoln the first lot of prisoners confined in the new penitentiary. IIe served as a member of the State Convention, in 1875, which drafted our present Constitution. Mr. Grebe was married at Davenport, Iowa, April 24, 1856, to Miss Emily Kroeger, the daughter of a well-known Lutheran clergy- man of that city. They have had seven children, three of whom are living, and residents of Omaha: Louis, Henry and Theodore. Mrs. Grebe died in this city Angust 11, 1890.
Charles J. Karbach, now a wealthy man, simply because he could not sell his Omaha real estate when it was cheap and did not have money enough to get away with his family and locate elsewhere, unless lie conld sell, located here in May, 1858, and engaged with Peter Frenzer in the wagon-making and blacksmithing business, at the southeast corner of Fifteenth and Dodge, where the Frenzer Block now stands. In 1859 he es- tablished a business of his own, on the present site of the Continental Bloek. In 1862 he bought a full lot, 66x132 feet, at the southwest corner of Douglas and Fifteenth for $2,100, and has owned it ever since. It is now worth about $200,000. In 1864 he bought the lot 66x132 feet at the corner of Howard and Fifteenth, now covered by the Karbach Block, for $1,000, but an offer of $100,000 for the ground to-day would not be a sufficient inducement for Mr. Karbach to part with it, He was elected to the City Council in 1867, and to the legislature in 1869. His residence property on Twentieth Street, near Leaven- worth, is valued at 825,000.
Dr. James P. Peck took high rank among the physicians of Omaha. He learned the printing business in the offices of the Ohio Observer, and Ohio Statesman, devoting nine years to that calling. Ile was born October 11. 1821, in what is now Summit County, Ohio. In 1842 he commenced the study of
121
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHIES OF EARLY SETTLERS,
medicine in the office of Dr. Wills, of Chillicothe, Ohio; but for want of means went back to the printing business, and for a time published a Democratic paper at Chillicothe, resuming his medical studies in the fall of 1848, graduating at the Cleveland Medical College in 1850, and locating in Akron, Ohio. He was married at Cleveland in June, of that year, to Miss Elizabeth H. Ames. In 1856 he removed to Omaha with his wife and two sons, the eldest, William Ames, dying in this city the following April. The other son, Edward P., is an active member of the Omaha Elevator Company. Dr. Peck built up a very large and profitable practice in this city. lle died February 20, 1887.
Captain C. Il. Downs is one of the oldest residents of this city-in fact, he resided on the ground now included in the town site before it was platted. Ile purchased an interest in the Council Bluffs & Nebraska Ferry Company, April 25, 1854, and on the following day took charge of the steam ferry boat, the General Marion, and shortly afterwards moved into a cabin the company had erected on the Nebraska shore, and lived therein during the summer of that year, superintending the men employed on the boat, and also assisting Mr. Jones in surveying the town site, which work, he claims, was commenced July 17, 1854, and completed in August. Captain Downs retained the management of the ferry, in a general way, until 1862. In 1869 he took an active part in the organization of the Smelting Works Company, and was its first president. He was also one of the leading spirits in the Omaha & Northwestern Rail- road Company, and one of the directors of that company. On the 14th of February, 1860, Captain Downs and Miss Cornelia C. Smith were married at Ludlow, Vermont. They have two children, Anna and Carlotta, both born in Omaha. In 1857-8, Captain Downs served a term in the City Council. In the early history of Omaha he was a conspicu-
ous figure, and took an active interest in everything calculated to advance the inter- ests of the city.
Charles Turner has been a resident of Omaha since the 4th day of April, 1855, coming from Oconto, Wisconsin. lle was for many years actively engaged in the lumber business in Wisconsin, where he had large and valuable interests. At an early date he purchased considerable real estate here, from which he has amassed a fortune. About the date of his removal to Omaha, he was married to Miss Charlotte Kennedy, a sister of B. E. B. Kennedy, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Turner have one son, Curtis Turner, a civil engineer by profession, and a daughter, Miss Mary Turner.
Milton Rogers located in Council Bluffs, then called Kanesville, August 26, 1850. Ile was born in Horford, Maryland, June 22, 1822. In New Lisbon, Ohio, he learned the tinner's trade, and followed the business at Muncie, Indiana, and at Cincinnati, before coming West. Seeking a new location, lic visited St. Louis, Weston, Lexington, Inde- pendence, Savannah and St. Joseph, Mo., and would have established himself at the latter point, but was unable to rent a build- ing, the town being then filled with people on their way to the newly discovered gold mines in California, for which St. Joseph was the chief outfitting place. Establishing a tin and stove store in Council Bluffs, upon deciding to locate there, he started a branch business in Omaha in June, 1855, probably the first of that kind in Nebraska. In October, 1861, he moved to Omaha, and has made his home here ever since, continuing the same line of business. Ile was first located in a frame building, 20 by 40 feet in size, on a lot now covered by a portion of the old Bee building, on lower Farnam Street. This frame building was gradually added to, until it was 132 feet deep. IIe then rented one of the stores of the Pioneer Block, on Farnam Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth. In 1861 he put up a frame
122
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
building, 22 by 60 feet, on a lot, 22 by 132 feet, he had bought at the south-east corner of Farnam and Fourteenth, and moved into it in March, 1862. In 1867-8 he joined with other property holders in that block in building the three-story brick structure which now covers that side of Farnam Street, and first occupied it in June, 1868. A few years later he bought of Dr. Ish the twenty-two feet joining him, and throwing the two stores into one has, since that date, carried on a very extensive business. His sons are now associated with him, the style of the firm being Milton Rogers & Sons. Mr. Rogers was married at Council Bluffs, November 27, 1856, to Miss Jennie S. Spoor, a sister of Captain N. D. Spoor. They have had five children, Thomas J., Warren M., Alice L. (now Mrs. Oscar Williams), Herbert M. and Will S. In the purchase of the tract of land now platted as South Omaha, Mr. Rogers bore an active part, being one of the original stockholders of the South Omaha Land Company. Ile was also one of the organizers of the South Omaha Stock Yards Company, and of the City Water Works Company.
Vincent Burkley dates his residence in Omaha from the 12th of May, 1856. He was born in Germany, April 5, 1818, and came to America in 1839, settling at Colum- bus, Ohio, where he was married, August 8, 1842. Ilis first business enterprise in Omaha was the establishment of the Morning Star Clothing House, on Farnam street, the pioneer clothing house of the city. He served two terms in the City Council, was a member of the first Board of Education and was also a member of the first State Legis- lature. For three years, 1886 to 1889, he was Inspector of Customs for the Port of Omaha. IIe is now the head of the Burkley Printing Company, which includes also his sons Frank J. and Harry. For many years Mr. Burkley was connected with the business department of the Omaha Herald.
James G. Megeath located in Omaha in
1854, stopping here while on his way to Virginia from the gold mines of California, where he had been extensively engaged in merchandizing for several years, in Calaveras County. Ile entered upon the same line of business in Omaha, in company with his brother, Samuel A. Megeath, and Burr H. Richards, in 1856, and so continued for eleven years, though the style of firm was changed, in the meantime, from S. A. Megeath & Co. to Megeath, Richards & Co. and then to Megeath Brothers & Co. Their first store was a frame building, on the south side of Farnam, three doors east of Fourteenth, and their second in the build- ing now occupied by Jolm S. Caulfield's book store, on the north side of Farnam, just west of Thirteenth, which building they erected. The full lot, sixty-six feet front, was bought by Colonel Cochran from Samuel Bayliss, in 1854, for $31.25. It could not be purchased now for $100,000. Samuel A. Megeath died in March, 1868, and Mr. Richards returned to the South, and has been for many years engaged in business in Bal- timore. In 1867 James G. Megeath formed a company under the style of Megeath & Co. and engaged in the receiving, forward- ing and commission business, operating from the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, wherever that happened to be, and was so engaged until the completion of the line. This business assumed such proportions that during the last fourteen months it was conducted the firm paid to the Union Pacific Company $2,000,000 on freight bills, paying $40,000 in a single day, on one occasion. Mr. Megeath secured 380 acres of land in an early day, and has also been the owner of valuable city property since first locating here. Ilis acre property included the ground now covered by Burr Oak Addition, the southi two-fifths of Hanscom Park, Clark Place, Arbor Place, Windsor Place, Anna- vale, Dwight & Lyman's Addition, Lyman's Addition and other tracts of land not yet platted. The north line of his property
123
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
was the present line of Park Street, and the present Twenty-seventh Street marks the east line. He joined with Andrew J. Hans- com, in 1872, in donating to the city the beautiful plat of ground known as Hanscom Park, comprising fifty-seven and a half acres, together with a street eighty feet wide all around it, the only condition exacted being that the city should expend $25,000 in developing the Park and keep that and the streets in repair. Mr. Megeath was born November 18, 1824, in Loupoum County, Virginia, and was married in 1851 to Miss Virginia Cooter, of that State. Their children are: George W., Joseph P., S. J., Samuel A. and Bettie T., the latter the wife of Lieutenant E. B. Robertson, of the Eighth United States Infantry. Mr. Megeath was Speaker of the House in the Territorial Legislature of 1866, and a member of the special session of the State Senate held in July, 1866, to ratify the New Constitution. IIe has also served in the City Council with distinction and to the advantage of the city.
George Armstrong was born in Baltimore, Maryland, August 1, 1819, and when eight years old moved with his father to Ohio, where, at an early age, he learned the trade of printer. In 1843, local division in the Democratic party caused him to found the True Democrat, of which he was editor and proprietor until 1845, when, the object of its existence having been attained, it was dis- continued and its name changed to the Ancient Metropolis, a family paper indepen- dent in politics. of which Mr. Armstrong was editor and proprietor until 1854, when he sold it and journeyed to the west to select a place for a future home. After visiting various cities and towns, he decided that Omaha was the place for his little family to "grow up with the country," and in 1855 he moved to this place. In the following year, he formed a partnership with George C. Bovey, a practical builder. The firm of Bovey & Armstrong immediately began the
manufacture of brick and built the territo- rial capitol, the Pioneer Block and other buildings. In 1856 and in 1857, Mr. Arm- strong was elected representative from Douglas County and served during the third and fourth sessions of the territorial legisla- ture. During these two years, he assisted in organizing a lodge of Odd Fellows and a Masonic lodge, in each of which he presided for several years; and, at the organization of the Masonic Grand Lodge, in 1857, he was elected Grand Secretary, and in 1861 was made Grand Master, to which office he was re-elected the year following. In 1859, he joined the volunteers called out by Gov- ernor Black against the Pawnee Indians, who were committing depredations upon the frontier settlements. The campaign was energetically conducted, and the Indians were trailed, overtaken and brought to terms. He was elected mayor of the young City of Omaha, in 1861, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of A. J. Popple- ton. To this office he was re-elected in 1862. During a portion of his mayoralty he was Probate Judge of Douglas County. Resign- ing both these offices in 1862, he responded to the Nation's call for defenders and engaged in organizing the Second Nebraska Cavalry, the first battalion of which was mustered into the United States service in November, of that year, and George Armstrong was commissioned major. At the expiration of its nine months term of service, Major Arm- strong was commissioned to raise an inde- pendent battalion of cavalry to serve during the war; and the following year the First Battalion of Veteran Cavalry was mustered in, and George Armstrong, Captain of Company A, was commissioned major com- manding, and senior major after the consolidation of this battalion with the "Old Nebraska First," which was from that time known as the First Regiment of Nebraska Veteran Cavalry. Major Armstrong's mil- itary services were confined to Nebraska and Colorado, in expeditions against the
124
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF OMAHA.
Indians, and to staff duty under Generals Craig, Mckeon, Mitchel, Connor and Wheaton. After the war had closed, for meritorions services, Major Armstrong was commissioned Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, and later Brevet Colonel, by President Johnson. After the organization of the State government, Colonel Armstrong, in 1866, was appointed clerk of the District Court of Douglas County, and served in that capacity for nine years. In 1866, he was also appointed clerk of the Supreme Court of Nebraska, but, after a year's ser- vice, and when the court was removed to Lincoln, lie resigned the office. In 1877, he was employed in the law department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, in Omaha. From 1878 to 1883, he filled the office of chief deputy and cashier during the terms of United States Revenue Col- lectors Robb and Crounse. Mr. Armstrong erected a large warehouse at 1308, 1310, 1312 Izard street, in 1886, and engaged in the agricultural implement trade with his son, Ewing L., under the firm name of Arm- strong & Co., and continued in that business till January, 1891, when he retired from the firm and active business, and now passes his time in leisure and the enjoyment of his ample fortune. Colonel Armstrong, in 1844, married Miss Julia A. Ewing, daughter of Alexander Ewing, of Chillicothe, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong came to Omaha with three children, viz: Ewing Latham, George Robert and Rose. The latter died in 1857. Another daughter, Ella Rebecca, now the wife of George S. Gould, of Bell- wood, Nebraska, was born in Omaha.
Joseph and George E. Barker have been identified with the business interests of Omaha since the spring of 1856, coming here from Salem, Ohio, with their father, mother, and sister. The father, Joseph Barker, Sr., died in this city in 1873. One of the first investments in real estate which the Barkers made in Nebraska was in a large tract lying four miles west of town, a
portion of which has been platted as Bellaire. Here they engaged in farming and stock raising on an extensive scale, and in the meantime carried on an extended real estate business in the city, purchasing many corner lots which they still own, and which are now of great value. The family removed to Ohio from England in 1851, and in 1868 George E. returned to Sheffield, England, to get a wife, Joseph, Jr., marrying Miss Eliza E. Patrick, of this city, in 1873. The Barker Brothers were among the incorporators of the Omaha Gas Company, and have always retained their interests therein. In 1886 they became identified with the private bank established on Sixteenth Street, by Messrs. Garlich & Johnson, and the style was then changed to the Bank of Commerce. When the National Bank of Commerce was organized in 1888, they were also active as incorporators and were, and have been ever since, heavy stockholders. Mr. George Barker is a director in the Nebraska Savings Bank, which institution he assisted in establishing.
Silas A. Strickland was born in Rochester, New York, and was of a good family, being a cousin of President Millard Fillmore on his mother's side. When he was but a year old his father died. At the age of seven he left his mother and her family and went to live with a brother-in-law, with whom he remained till he was twelve, and for three years after that he labored on a farm for an uncle for six dollars a month through the summer. During these years he attended the winter term of the district school. About the time he was fifteen years old his mother married a thriving farmer near Rochester and Silas returned home and entcred Roch- ester Collegiate Institute, and later attended an academy in Cayuga County and another in Orleans Connty. Subsequently he taught school during the day and read law at night, finally entering the office of Fillmore, Hall & Haren, in Buffalo, and was admitted to
12:
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
the bar in 1850, but was too poor to enter upon the practice of his profession.
On the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill by Congress he came to Nebraska, taking up his residence in the territory October 18, 1854. Mr. Strickland located at Bellevue and was soon appointed district attorney for the first judicial district. In 1856 he resigned that office and was elected to the territorial legislature. This was a stormy session and he was most active in organizing a majority of the house for the removal of the capital and the division of Douglas County, which latter resulted in the formation of the County of Sarpy. Mr. Strickland soon became a leader in the house and was elected a member of the legislature for the two succeeding terms. In 1859 he was made speaker of the lower house and the following year he was elected to the territorial council.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.