USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > History of the city of Omaha, Nebraska > Part 84
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BENJAMIN ELI BARNET KENNEDY -The paternal grandfather of Benjamin Eli Barnet Kennedy was John Kennedy, who was married to Hannah Barnet about the be- ginning of the Revolution-the husband
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serving in the war, and at its close the two moving into C'entral Vermont, then a wild- erness, where, at Bolton, Chittenden Coun- ty, they lived and died. Their son Samuel was born there on the fourth of May, 1789. He was married in Essex, in the same State July 22, 1816, to Hannah Mosley Morse, daughter of Elijah Morse. His wife was born February 22, 1798.
The natal day of Benjamin, the subject of this sketch, was the twentieth of April, 1827. Ilis native place was Bolton. llis father, Samuel Kennedy(already mentioned), served in the war of 1812 as a volunteer and took part in the battle of Plattsburgh, New York. His occupation was that of a farmer, but he held several positions of honor and trust- among others that of member of the legisla- ture and judge of the nisi prius court of Chittenden County.
Benjamin remained at home working on the farm until of age, attending the district school in winters, except that he received a single term of academical instruction. He then commenced the study of law in the law office of Maynard & Edmunds (the latter, afterwards, United States senator), at Rich- mond, Vermont. He was admitted to the bar in 1853, and to the bar of the supreme court of the State in 1858. in which year he married Frances G. Nims, daughter of Reu- ban Nims, late of Romeo, Michigan, and removed to Omaha, Nebraska, where they arrived on the fourteenth of September, of the year last mentioned, and where they have since lived, the husband following the profession of his choice ever since, with marked success.
In 1863-4. Mr. Kennedy was mayor of the city of Omaha. He has held the office of city solicitor for one term. In 1864, and the next two years, he was a member of the territorial legislature-the first year in the house and the remaining two years in the council .* Ile was, in both, chairman of the judiciary committee, and in 1866, of the joint committee on revision of the statutes. The same year he was nominated by the Democratic party for the office of judge of the supreme court, but was defeated by a small majority. In 1879, he was a member of the lower house of the State legislature, and in 1864, was chosen school director of the public schools of Omaha, holding that office eight consecutive years, during which
time the first school buildings in the city were erected, including the high school.
Mr. Kennedy was appointed, by the gov- ernor of Nebraska, a member of the board of education of the Nebraska normal school in 1872, which office he still holds; he was also appointed a member of the State fish com- mission; both of these positions of honor are without emolument.
In politics, Mr. Kennedy is a Democrat. Ile took the freeman's oath and cast his first ballot in 1848, for Lewis Cass. In 1888, he voted for Grover Cleveland and again in 1892.
The secret of Mr. Kennedy's success as a lawyer is to be found in his strict and con- scientious devotion to the interests of his clients, his undeviating rectitude, and his unvarying courtesy of demeanor. To these may be added an equable temper, which has enabled him to emerge from the forensic contests of thirty-five years with hardly an enemy or ill-wisher. He is not over-elated by signal triumphs nor overwhelmed by de- pression when he suffers defeat. Careful, painstaking and diligent, in the preparation of his cases, he aims to win them rather by a logical presentation of his testimony and a skillful marshaling of his facts, than by bril- liant rhetoric or strategem. Thus it is, he often defeats showy antagonists, who de- ceived by his quiet manner and his sober, impartial opening, anticipate an easy victory. These characteristics have secured for him a large array of clients, who, once attached to him are not easily won away. In the preparation of wills, the examination of titles, and the investigation of questions re- lating to real estate he has but few rivals.
Mr. Kennedy has been for many years an enthusiastic hunter and an ardent lover of all sports of the field. Thus, at the close of his three and a half decades in Nebraska, he could boast, if self-laudation were possible with him, of vigorous health, of a well- earned competence, of the respect of his fel- low citizens, the esteem and love of the bar, and a reputation absolutely without stain.
THOMAS LORD KIMBALL .- " Many men of a lofty grade of power and excel- lence have arisen in our country among a class who may be described as of Eastern blood, but Western development-growing up in the freer atmosphere, the more spontaneous life,
*Ante, Chap. IX., p. 80.
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the larger scale of being-they have, as it were, themselves enlarged in mind and have become better fitted to cope with vast execu- tive problems." So says Mrs. Il. B. Stowe, and this is peculiarly applicable to the subject of this sketch, Thomas Lord Kim- ball, eldest son of Amos and Johanna Kim- ball, who was born October 1, 1831, in Bux- ton, Maine, of Puritan stock, to "an in- heritance of hard work" and consequent in- dependence.
Mr. Kimball's father was a soldier of the war of 1812; a farmer; a man famed for rare mechanical skill and sound judgment. Ilis mother was noted throughout the country- side for charitable deeds and conscientious uprightness. Their farm, which was made to produce almost everything needed for the maintenance of the large household, was among the last of these typical homes, once so common in New England.
Mr. Kimball's earliest recollection is of reading and studying by the light of pitch knots, carefully gathered for the purpose; and the knowledge thus acquired awak- ened in him an ambition for a broader life than that afforded by the farm. At the age of sixteen he was both farmer, teacher and pupil, fitting himself for college, where he hoped to pursue a medical course, for which he was by nature eminently fitted. An ill- ness, by which lie was confined to his house and bed for two years, frustrated this plan. Given up to die, he dismissed his doctors, and, prescribing for himself an entirely differ- ent course of treatment, was fully restored to health, thus early evidencing his leading characteristics -sound judgment and an iron will.
He apprenticed himself to the leading firm of jewelers in the neighboring town of Saco, where he was soon master of all branches of the business-that requiring artistic skill, as well as mechanical foresight and ability. So completely had lie won the confidence of his employers, that at the end of his apprentice- ship they established him in the town of Bid- deford in like business, which he success- fully conducted for several years. From the first he was foremost in accepting the respon- sibilities of good citizenship; "never noisy nor self-asserting," writes one of his fellow- townsmen, the editor of the Eastern Jour- nal, "young Kimball was a man of broad- est catholicity of spirit, yet he was, in his quiet way, chief man of his church, the
superintendent of his Sunday school, an active trustee of the public schools, an atten- tive director of the savings bank, the alder- man of his ward, consultor in all town charities, the working man on the committee for annual lyceum lectures, among the most vigorous of the temperance and anti-slavery workers-for these two great reforms were then at their height-an occasional speaker in public meetings, often a sagacious writer for the press; a man, in fact, so trusted for integrity and intelligence, that, had he remained in Maine, I may say we had no po- sition, social or political, that would not have been open to lim."
In 1857 Mr. Kimball visited Cincinnati, Ohio, and was induced to enter the service of the Pennsylvania Railway Company. That company was not long in learning that in this cool-headed resolute young man they had material for the best kind of rail- road service, and they made rapid advance- ment in the extent and responsibility of his duties, until he was appointed general south- western passenger agent. Mr. Kimball re- mained in Cincinnati four years; then was located in Chicago, in charge of all the Penn- sylvania Central's passenger business west of Pittsburg. In March, 1871, Thomas A. Scott had been chosen president of the Union Pacific Railway, for years a leading spirit in the Pennsylvania Central's directory, and undoubtedly the ablest railroad man yet developed in this country. He knew Mr. Kimball well, having been associated with him for twelve years, and urged him to ac- company him to Omaha, which he finally consented to do; and the two kept their union of service, where Mr. Kimball was for ten years the general ticket and passenger agent, then assistant general manager, then general traffic manager, next assistant to Mr. Potter, and at his death the acting gen- eral manager, and at the annual election was made general manager of the whole system, so remaining until Mr. Holcomb's appoint- ment to his place, when he was made third vice-president of the railway and president of the depot company. In all these twenty years, through all administrations, through the sickness or absence of superior officers, Mr. Kimball has been much of the time the mainstay of the great railway in all its work- ing departments, the man of large experi- ence, stainless honor, sound judgment, tire- less industry and reliant spirit, always on
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the ground with shoulder to the wheel in every emergeney. A man of method, he was abreast of his work, and always turned a willing ear to those who sought his advice, and their name was legion. One instance occurred to the writer. I was accosted by a burly middle-aged man at one of the railway ticket conventions, of which he was a member, in this way: " Look at me; I was saved from ruin by drink through the unwearied kindness of Mr. Kim- ball. For years he stood by me when every one had left me. Ile pointed out and led me in the right way, and my family and I owe to him all we are to-day."
The duties of the day, however arduous, were never complete to Mr. Kimball until recorded in brief in his diary, which for forty years furnished a key to a most labo- rious and useful life-a life now in its prime, attended by the kindred blessings of health and prosperity, beloved by all who know him, a shining example to those who follow in his footsteps.
Mr. Kimball married, in 1855, Mary Por- ter Rogers, fourth daughter of Nathaniel Peabody and Mary Farrand Rogers, of New Hampshire. Their four children are: Fran- ces R., now Mrs. George W. IToldrege; Thomas R., married, of the firm of Walker & Kimball, architects, Boston and Omaha; Arabel M., living with her parents; and Richard R., also married, and manager of " Riverside Farm," Mercer, Neb.
FREDERICK KRUG .- That the brew- ing interest is one of paramount importance in the country (look upon it as we may), is a fact that cannot be gainsaid. Take the production of the two largest breweries in the old world - those of Spaten Brau, Munich, and Dreher, Vienna - and compare them with Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, and Best, Milwaukee, and the two last mentioned more than hold their own for production in one year: Spaten Brau and Dreher, 711,617 barrels; Anheuser-Busch and Best, 803,921 barrels. Now, while it is true that there is no brewing plant in Omaha, or Nebraska, that can make the showing of either one of the breweries just mentioned, nevertheless it is only a question of time when the Fred- erick Krug Brewing Company, with its cap- ital of 81,000,000, will crowd even the most productive of these closely.
The company mentioned is an Omaha in-
stitution, of which Frederick Krug is presi- dent. Ile it was who, as already stated,* erected the first brewery in Nebraska. But his one-story frame building, on Farnam Street, of 1859, was succeeded by a brick building, forty-four feet wide and eighty long, on Eleventh and Jackson Streets, and this has finally given place to the magnifi- cent structure, fronting on Green Street and on Boulevard, which, when finally com- pleted and fully equipped, will be at a cost of nearly a million dollars. For each day in the year there will be a capacity of about seven hundred barrels of beer. Who shall say that the Krug Brewery is not one of the leading industries of Omaha?
As long ago as 1884, the author of The Leading Industries of the West wrote of Mr. Krug: "The brewery interests of Omaha are very extensive, not only because of the importance of the city as a commercial dis- tributing point, but because the community is a liberal one and recognizes the fact that no man has a right to chain his neighbor's appetite with legislation, much less his feel- ings, provided he interferes with no one else. The oldest brewery now in existence in Omaha is the extensive establishment of Frederick Krug. It was commenced in a very humble way, in 1859, by the present proprietor, and under his prudent manage- ment it has become one of the most im- portant industries of the kind in the West. The business was first commenced on Far- nam Street, in decidedly unpretentious quarters, when Omaha had but one business street, we may say, and a very inferior one at that. It was removed to its present elegant location, on JJackson Street, between Tenth and Eleventh, in 1867. Enlarge- ments and improvements have been repeat- edly made since then, to satisfy the demands of trade -- especially in 1883, when the brew- ery was made nearly double its size."
Such is the plant that is now giving way -after ten more years of prosperity-to the gigantic new one just started. Mr. Krug and his lady are estimable citizens, having a large family-five sons and three daughters.
ENOS LOWE was born at Guilford Court House, North Carolina, May 5, 1804. He was about ten years of age when his parents moved to Indiana, locating at Bloomington. When a mere boy, he began
*Ante, p. 506, of this History.
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the study of medicine, commencing the practice in the midst of many vicissitudes and privations incident to a new, wild and sparsely settled country. Little by little the doctor accumulated enough to enable him to enter the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he graduated with honor. He then located as a practitioner at Green- castle, and soon after moved to Rockville, continuing in active practice for some years, during which time he was sent to the In- diana Legislature.
In the fall of 1837, he moved to Burling- ton, Iowa, where he continued in active practice for the following ten years. Ile became one of the most active citizens of the place, and was one of the leading spirits in laying strong and deep the foundations of that now beautiful and prosperous city.
In 1847. Dr. Lowe received from the President of the United States the appoint- ment of receiver of public moneys at the land office in Iowa City, to which place he removed at once. lIe held the office for four years. Ile was a member of the Iowa Legislature, and president of the senate; also a member of both constitutional con- ventions, and was president of the second one. In 1853, he was appointed receiver of public moneys at Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), whither he removed, holding the office two years, when he resigned.
In the mean time, he and a few friends organized the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company, of which he became presi- dent: and he at once went to Alton, Ills., and bought the steam ferry-boat, General Marion, had a full cargo put on board, and brought her to Council Bluffs. From this small beginning, the ferry company, under his guidance, became a strong organization, and a most important factor in settling the great trans-Missouri country. The com- pany built several fine steamers (some of which were destroyed by ice), and during all the period preceding the advent of rail- ways and the building of bridges, these boats served as a most satisfactory and efficient means of communication.
About the time of the organization of the ferry company, Dr. Lowe, and a few others, obtained consent of the Omaha Indians to occupy a certain area on the west side of the Missouri. The laying out of a town immediately followed-now the site of a portion of the City of Omaha. This was 36
done under the supervision of the doctor, as president of the ferry company. From this time he became identified with this city (and Nebraska as well), and was ever active, energetic and zealous in forwarding the interests of both. No one in the com- munity devoted more labor or gave more time gratuitously to the public wcal than Dr. Lowe. In 1866, the Old Settlers' Asso- ciation was organized, and he was chosen president, holding that position for nearly four years.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Dr. Lowe, though somewhat advanced in years, felt that every able-bodied man should aid in stamping out the attempt to destroy the nation's life, and at once entered the service as surgeon of the 1st Nebraska Regiment, going into the field in the Department of the Missouri, under General Curtis, but he was soon after transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, with which he served as brigade and division surgeon until his health became so impaired that he resigned.
Many important industries and enter- prises owe their existence to Dr. Lowe, among which may be named the Omaha Gas Manufacturing Company, the Omaha & Southwestern Railway Company, and the organization of the State Bank of Nebraska.
On July 22, 1828, the subject of this sketch was married to Kitty Ann Read, a native of Mercer County, Kentucky, who died at Burlington, lowa, February 19, 1870. The doctor died at Omaha, Febru- ary 12, 1880, leaving an only child-W. W. Lowe-now a resident of the city, and to whom the public is indebted for rescuing from oblivion many interesting facts con- cerning his father .*
There are many incidents in the career of the son, William W. Lowe, of interest to the people of Omaha,-to those of Nebraska and of the country at large. Ile was born in Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana, on the 12th of October, 1831, and was a cadet at West Point from July 1, 1849, to July 1, 1853, when he graduated, being pro- moted in the army to brevet second lieuten- ant of dragoons on the same day. Ile served at the cavalry school at Carlisle, Penn., in 1853-54; was in garr son at Jef- ferson Barracks, Mo., 1855; on frontier duty at Camp Cooper, second lieutenant
*See Transactions and Reports of the Nebraska State Historic I Society, Vol. I, pp. 111-114.
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2d Cavalry, March 3, 1855; in Texas, 1855- 56; in Fort Inge, Texas, 1856-57; at Fort Mason, same State, 1857, engaged in scout- ing against Indians; was promoted to first lieutenant 2d Cavalry December 1, 1856; was at Fort Mason, Texas, 1857-58; served as adjutant 2d Cavalry, May 31, 1858, to May 9, 1861; scouting, 1858; at Fort Bel- knap, Texas, 1858-59; Camp Cooper, Texas, 1859-60; scouting, 1860; on leave of ab- sence, 1860-61; on frontier duty at Fort Mason, Texas, 1861; and in garrison at Car- lisle Barracks, Penn., same year.
He served during the war of 1861-66: In defense of Washington, D. C., May 6 to December 10, 1861, participating (having been promoted captain 2d Cavalry, May 9, 1861, and assigned to 5th Cavalry, August 1, 1861) in the Manassas campaign of July, 1861, and engaged in the battle of Bull Run, July 21, same year; was employed in organizing his regiment, December, 1861; February, 1862, he was in Tennessee; was made colonel 5th Iowa Vol. Cavalry, Janu- ary 1, 1862; he was in the campaign of February, 1862, being engaged in the attack and capture of Fort Donelson; February 13-15, 1862, was in command of that fort, and Forts IIenry and Helman; February, 1862, to March, 1863, he was actively en- gaged in repulsing several attacks upon the works; was in cavalry operations in middle Tennessee, northern Alabama and Georgia, commanding brigade or division, March, 1863, to July, 1864, being brevetted major in the regular army, October 9, 1863, for gallant and meritorions services in cavalry engagements near Chickamauga, Ga .; brev- etted lieutenant-colonel in the regular ser- vice, December 15, 1863, for gallant and meritorious service in cavalry action near Iluntsville, Ala .; was employed in remount- ing the cavalry of the Army of the Cumber- land, at Nashville, Tenn., July, 1864, to January 24, 1865; was mustered out of the volunteer service, January 24, 1865; was at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., as acting assistant provost marshal, general superintendent of volunteer recruiting service, and chief mus- tering and disbursing officer for Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota and Colorado, from Feb- rnary 14, 1865, to July 30, following; was brevetted colonel in the United States Army and brigadier-general of United States Volunteers, March 13, 1865, for gallant and
meritorious service during the Rebellion ; brevetted brigadier-general United States Army, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services in the field during tlie Rebellion; was on leave of absence July 21, 1866.
General Lowe's military services, after the close of the war, were at Nashville, Tenn., on the Pacific Coast and at New Orleans. He resigned June 23, 1869, hav- ing settled in Omaha in May, of the pre- vious year. Since leaving the army, he has been an active business man, engaging in many undertakings of paramount import- ance, and has always been esteemed one of the most valuable, enterprising and energetic citizens of the city.
JESSE LOWE was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 11, 1814. The fam- ily soon afterward moved to Indiana. Young Jesse was educated in Bloomington College, that State; and, after leaving the institution, he studied law for some time in the office of Gen. Tilghman Howard. 1Ie did not then seek admission to the bar, but was afterwards admitted in Nebraska, al- though he never practiced his profession. Be- ing in poor health, he concluded to travel; and he accordingly spent several years in the South. During this period he was en- gaged to a considerable extent in purchas- ing stock for the army. When the Mexican war broke out in 1847, he became commis- sary of a Missouri volunteer regiment, under Sterling Price. He was promoted to pay- master, in which capacity he served until the close of the war, when he joined his elder brother, Dr. Enos Lowe, then receiver of public money at Iowa City.
When Dr. Lowe was made receiver at Kanesville, now Council Bluffs, in 1853, Jesse Lowe accompanied him thither and as- sisted him in the performance of the duties of the office. One day, Jesse, looking across the Missouri, pointed to the present site of Omaha, and predicted that it was the spot for a large city. Ilis next move was to cross the river and stake out a claim. He paddled a small skiff over the stream, accom- panied by Jesse Williams; this was July 23, 1853. Each took up a claim. Mr. Lowe's was located in the vicinity of the west end of the present C'nming Street, and em- braced a quarter-section of land, to which
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he subsequently added three other quarter- sections.
At this time, Mr. Lowe was the only per- son whom the agent for the Indians would permit to trade with them. Immediately upon the extinguishing of the Indian title to the land npon which Omaha is situated (which was early in 1854), a town site-the incipient city-was surveyed and platted. It is claimed the town was named by Mr. Lowe. No better or more appropriate one could have been selected. When the sub- ject of this sketch settled here-which was not long after the place was laid out- he had, as a result of his former business en- terprises and savings, considerable wealth for those days, and he established himself in the real estate business, which he continued until his death, April 3, 1868.
Mr. Lowe built the first banking house (almost the first brick building in Omaha), which, after years of occupancy by differ- ent private banking firms, became the United States National Bank, and was, early in 1887, torn down to give place to a fine modern building of stone. In 1857, the city having obtained a charter, Mr. Lowe was elected its first mayor.
The parents of the subject of this sketch being " Friends " (Quakers), his early train- ing in the principles of that sect shaped and governed his whole life; although in his later years he became a member of the Lutheran Church. Ile was a man of sound judgment and excellent principles.
Ile was married July 3, 1856, in Burling- ton, New Jersey, to Sophia Happin. Four children were born of this union-Frederick Brown, Charlotte Augusta, Jesse, Jr., and Tilghman Howard.
JOHN W. LYTLE is of Scotch-Irish descent. He was born in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, on the 30th of June, 1838. His father and mother were Meth- odists. and they named their boy after John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. The father's name was Andrew Lytle. He was born on the 13th of July, 1801, at Chilli- cothe, Ohio. The mother's maiden name was Mary Cole. She was a daughter of one of the early pioneers of northern Ohio, and died when the subject of this sketch was about one year old.
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