USA > Nebraska > Lancaster County > Lincoln > Lincoln, the capital city and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Volume II > Part 22
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MICHAEL SCHIRK.
Ability and fidelity to duty have brought Michael Schirk to the prominent position which he occupies as foreman in the Burlington shops at Havelock, in which connection he has the direction of important interests under his control and is regarded as one of the most trusted employes of the corporation which he represents. Of German nativity, he was born in Liblar, near Cologne, in the Rhine Province, March 20.7556.@ son)6f/sarasoffi.Anna (Schmitz)
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Schirk. He pursued his education in the public schools of Germany to the age of thirteen years and he had the opportunity to pursue a course preparatory for the priesthood or to attend a seminary for teachers, maintained by Count Met- ternich, on whose estate his maternal grandfather had spent his entire life as a landscape gardener. His father, however, would not consent to his continuing in school and in 1869 he became an apprentice in the machine shops of Joseph Fritz at Suelz, a suburb of Cologne, to which place his parents had removed in 1866. His mother died during the war of 1870-71, a victim of smallpox, which had been spread throughout the district by the French prisoners of war and which became an epidemic in Germany, causing the death of many prisoners and citizens. In 1872 the father married again, choosing for his second wife Sibila Schuetz. Two sons of the family had previously passed away and at his father's second marriage Michael Schirk left home, as did his three sisters as soon as they were old enough to make a living.
When his three years' apprenticeship at the machinist's trade had been com- pleted Michael Schirk went to Bochum, in the province of Westphalia, and was employed in the brass department of the Bochum steel mills. In December, 1874, he went to Essen and applied for a position in the mechanical department of the Krupp gun works. Because of the accuracy required in that work he had quite a time in convincing the foreman that he was qualified, for the man thought that a boy of eighteen could not have had sufficient experience. Upon the pron- ise that he would do his best he was given a trial and he soon won the confidence and friendship of the foreman. In July, 1875, however, he left his position, finding the work too monotonous, for during seven months he had worked on only three different sorts of work. Deciding to see something of the world, he and a friend traveled over Europe, earning their money by securing jobs at the various places where they desired to stop. In 1876 Mr. Schirk was sent from Vienna as machinist with an exhibit to the Centennial Exposition in Philadel- phia, where he spent four months. Returning to Europe, he and his friend finally found themeslves looking for work in France, but such a bitter feeling existed in that country after the war of 1871 that no German could secure em- ployment. They were about to be sent with the French Legions to Madagascar or Algiers, but they watched their chance to escape and made their way toward the Rhine and home. For three days and four nights they were without sleep and food except some fruit which they gathered by the wayside. Too proud to beg or go home, Mr. Schirk obtained assistance at Cologne from his eldest sister to the amount of five marks, or about a dollar and a quarter. This gave the young men a chance to enjoy a good meal and soon afterward they secured work as machinists. Times were hard in Germany and in fact all over Europe.
After seeing his partner taken care of Mr. Schirk found employment as a machinist on the new fortifications which were being built in a ring around Cologne, four miles from the city. He greatly enjoyed that work, for he was under the supervision of officers who were fine men and who were looking out for the interests of the war department. These included Lieutenants Meyer and Kaufman, engineers, and while there Mr. Schirk had private orders through Lieutenant Meyer to make models of doors, windows, bridges and all iron con- struction used in thet fortifications with the offer to receive the contract for that kind of work for fortifications on the right side of the Rhine when the bid-
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der for the contract should be successful. In 1876 he took the examination for military service but was rejected. However, in 1877, he was drawn and after two months' service was sent back for disposition in 1878 and put in the reserves. His work for the government was in building forts at Niel, Longerich and Muengersdorf and in erecting powder magazines between the forts. By Feb- ruary, 1878, his work was completed, after which he obtained employment in a country town, Niederempt, in the Rhine Province, where a Mr. Wolf conducted a blacksmith and machine shop, employing two men. In that position he had to arise at five thirty and begin work in the shop at six. He was allowed twenty minutes for breakfast, beginning at seven, worked again until ten and then had luncheon. Dinner was served at twelve and at one he was again at work. Luncheon was served between four and four twenty and he quit work at eight, after which he had supper. He was thus on duty for about fourteen hours out of the twenty-four. Here he did all kinds of work, making nails, wagons, farm machinery, disk harrows, butter churns, little hand power threshers, and in fact making everything from a water pail to a threshing machine and also doing horseshoeing and blacksmith repairing. On Sunday morning he would go to the shop and work as bookkeeper. His wages were eight marks, or two dollars, per week with board and room. He was employed there until the end of the year, when he found that he had overdrawn his account exactly a year's wages. He gave his employer notice that he would stay another year and pay off his debt. The people among whom he lived were sociable, the time passed quickly and he enjoyed the work, finding at the end of the year that he had a capital of eighty-five pfennigs, or twenty-one cents. Sending his trunk to Cologne with a butter and egg dealer who made weekly trips to the city with a horse and wagon, he then paid forty pfennigs for a ticket and returned to Cologne in 1880. For two years and four months thereafter he was employed as a ma- chinist by the Rhine Railroad at Nikkes, near Cologne, and then he planned to start again upon his travels.
His friend, Henry Klingbeil, who had an uncle living at Crete, Nebraska, had gone on a visit to the new world and promised to let Mr. Schirk know con- ditions in this country. lle and another friend, Fritz Marx, figured the ex- penses of the trip, laid by a sum of money cach pay day, and at the end of twelve months they had everything needed for the journey, including transpor- tation to Crete and money for necessary expenses. On the Ist of June, 1882, they left Cologne for Rotterdam and took passage on the steamer Edam, which weighed anchor at Amsterdam on the 3d of June. They arrived in New York on the 17th of that month and reached Crete on the 24th, after an interesting experience en route from New York occasioned by a washout at Chariton, lowa. On the 18th of July Mr. Schirk went to Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and the fol- lowing day entered the employ of the Burlington Railroad Company. In 18So and 1890 he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Plattsmouth, after which he returned to the employ of the railroad company, and in January, 18944, he came to Havelock, where the shops had recently been established. Since that time he has been continuously with the company and following the erection of the new shops in 1911 he has acted as foreman. He is an expert in his line, knowing every phase of the machinist's trade, and thus he is able to direct the labors of those who serve under his zed by Microsoft ®
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In 1883, at Plattsmouth, Mr. Schirk was married to Miss Gertrude Peters, who was born in Germany and came to the United States with a girl friend. They had been engaged before Mr. Schirk left the fatherland. They have be- come the parents of five children: John M., of Alliance, Nebraska, who is mar- ried and has five children; Gertrude, who is the wife of Fred Hug, of Ilavelock, and has three children; Sophia, who married Mark Wiley, of Havelock, and has two children; Otto J., who married and was employed in the office of the super- intendent of the Burlington Railroad Company at Omaha, and who was killed by an automobile when alighting from a street car four blocks from his home the night of April 3, 1916; and Clara, at home. .
The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Schirk gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. For two years he served as a member of the city council and he always stood for that which he thought to be best for the welfare of the city. In 1886 he joined the Ancient Order of United Workmen and was a delegate to Grand Island, Nebraska, where the Grand Lodge was organized. lle was also a delegate in 1887 and again in 1889 and for six consecutive years he hold office in the local lodge. In 1893 he joined the Modern Woodmen of America. He is well kown in Havelock and is prominent in railway circles, having many friends both among those who serve him and those whom he serves.
SHEPHERD H. KING, D. D. S.
No history of Lincoln would be complete without extended reference to Dr. Shepherd H. King, who was the first dentist of the city and for many years continued in active practice here but for the past fifteen years has lived retired, making his home at No. 1145 L street. He has now passed the eighty-first mile- stone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, June 8, 1835. He was educated at Hoosic Falls and at Cambridge, New York, becoming a civil engineer, and soon after his marriage, he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he took up his profession, being the first civil engineer in that city. He practiced along that line until after the outbreak of the Civil war and then enlisted as a member of Company D. Sixth Minnesota Infantry, with which he served for three years, being engaged most of the time in quelling Indian attacks upon the frontier. He held the rank of first lieuten- ant of his company and his duty was often of a most arduous character. He took a supply train across the country from Mankato to Fort Thompson and his knowledge of engineering proved of great value in that connection. He carried his instruments along with him, and on one occasion when the regi- ment was making an advance in the wrong direction, he told them of their mis- take and set them upon the right path. He was also sent in command of a detachment of twelve men to a point in Minnesota and captured and brought back some Indian warriors-a feat which was considered quite difficult if not impossible with such a small detachment. In recognition of his meritorious service he was placedfin command of the garrison at Fort Ripley for six months or until he was called to his regiment in Helena, Arkansas.
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It was in November, 1871, that Dr. King arrived in Lincoln, where he opened an office and began the practice of dentistry, being the first representative of the profession in this city, which at that time was a small village. He purchased lots where the Star building now stands and for a time he boarded at the Clifton Hotel but later established a home upon the ground which he had purchased. His first office was over what is now llarley's drug store and for thirty-one years he successfully practiced dentistry, retiring fifteen years ago. In the mean- time he had enjoyed a liberal patronage and had kept in touch with the advanced methods of the profession, doing excellent work for his patrons.
For more than thirty years Dr. King has made nis home at No. 1145 1. street. He was married in Troy, New York, June 14, 1858, to Miss Deborah G. Akin, who was born in Rensselaer county, New York, March 29, 1839, and is a relative of Marquis de Lafayette. She shared with her husband in all the pioneer experi- ences in Minnesota and she has lived to witness almost the entire growth of Lincoln. In August, 1886, she was elected national inspector of the Woman's Relief Corps at the national encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic and Woman's Relief Corps held at Portland, Maine, and later at a national encampment held at Minneapolis. Mrs. King advocated and had adopted in spite of strong opposition the measure providing that eligibility to the Woman's Relief Corps be broadened to include all loyal women instead of relatives of soldiers only, as was then the case. For many years she has been a worker and organizer in the cause of prohibition and she was the organizer of the Woman's Bimetallic League, a purely political organization for women, formed in 1806 and advocating the silver standard. At the time it disbanded at the close of the campaign it had a membership of thirteen hundred and seventy-five. Mrs. King was reared in the Methodist church but both she and her husband have been members of the Universalist church for years and Dr. King was president of the society as long as the organization existed in Lincoln, while she was chair- man of the board. Dr. King cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln and long supported the principles of the republican party but since 1896 has been an admirer and follower of William Jennings Bryan. He has never aspired to public office and has never become identified with secret orders. Dr. and Mrs. King have no children of their own but reared five girls. This worthy couple are among Lincoln's earliest living settlers and are acquainted with the entire history of the city as it has emerged from villagehood and taken on all of the evidences of metropolitan life. Mrs. King has been a most close observer of events and recounts many interesting experiences. Their lives are so inter- woven with the annals of Lincoln as to become an integral part of its history.
W. A. SELLECK.
W. A. Selleck, manager of the Western Supply Company of Lincoln, whole- sale dealers in steam, water and plumbing supplies, and also identified with other business interests of importance, is numbered among those men of enter- prise whose activities contribute to public prostesend erosperisy as well as to individual success. A native of Minnesota, he was born in "Owatonna, May 30,
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1857, his parents being Alson and Mary A. ( Kent) Selleck, who were natives of New York and in 1856 became residents of Minnesota, where the father followed the occupation of farming for many years. Ile came of a family of English lineage, the name appearing in old English records, but for many genera- tions his ancestry has been distinctively American in its lineal and collateral lines. Both he and his wife have now passed away.
WV. A. Selleck was reared upon the old homestead farm in Minnesota and attended the country schools, while later he pursued an academic course in Carleton College at Northfield, Minnesota. Subsequently he took up the study of law in the office of Judge Hickman, now professor of law in the Minnesota Law School. In March, 1885, he removed to Lincoln, where he entered upon the active practice of his profession, being accorded a liberal clientage. He was senior partner in the firm of Selleck & Lane, which later became Abbott, Selleck & Lane, and so continued for several years. He made for himself a creditable position at the Lincoln bar and was active in practice until 1898, when he severed his professional connections and concentrated his efforts upon the man- agement of business affairs. Since then he has been identified with the Western Supply Company as its manager and they conduct a substantial business as wholesale dealers in steam, water and plumbing supplies. Mr. Selleck is also president of the American Building & Loan Company and is vice president of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company.
Mr. Selleck was married to Miss Nellie H. Horton, a native of Maine and a daughter of John B. and Cornelia (Woolworth) Horton. Mr. and Mrs. Selleck have two children : John K., who is connected with the National X-ray Manu- facturing Company ; and Marjory, a teacher in the Wayne Normal School. The family have a beautiful home at No. 1936 F street and they are members of the First Congregational church.
In politics Mr. Selleck is a republican and has been prominent as a party leader, serving in several local offices and for one term as a member of the state senate. He has been a member of the city council of Lincoln, has also been city attorney and for nine years was a member of the school board. He was at one time president of the Lincoln Commercial Club and has been a member of the Commercial Building Association since its organization. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the United Workmen, the Woodmen of the World and the Knights of the Maccabees. He stands for progress and improvement in every line in which he has been active and is a most helpful and progressive member of the Commercial Club, being in hearty sympathy with its plans and projects for the development and upbuilding of the city.
JAMES H. MORRISON.
James H. Morrison, who is living retired in College View, devoted his active life to the work of the ministry of the Seventh Day Adventist church and was honored by election to important positions in that denomination. He has always been characterized by high, purpose, moral fervor and administrative ability and has been instrumental in advancing the interests of the church in various
MR. AND MRS. JAMES H. MORRISON
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parts of the country. He was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, on the 22d of October, 1841, of the marriage of Benjamin J. and Nancy ( MeGinnis) Morrison, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father, who was a farmer, re- moved to Lee county, lowa, in early manhood and there purchased land which he operated for twelve years. He then went to Marion county, Iowa, and devoted the remainder of his life to farming there. He passed away in 1884 and his wife died in 1861.
James H. Morrison was reared under the parental roof and was given excel- lent educational advantages, for after completing the course offered in the public schools he became a student in Central College at Pella, Iowa. Although this is a Baptist institution Mr. Morrison became interested in the doctrines of the Seventh Day Adventist church while attending there and on investigating the teachings of that church became convinced of their soundness. After leaving school he entered the ministry, proved a very efficient worker in that field and for some time served as president of the Iowa conference and later was manager of a sanitarium conducted by the Seventh Day Adventists at St. Helena, Cali- fornia. While living in that state he was made president of district No. 6, which includes six states, and during the time that he held that office he did much to promote the advancement of the church in that district. He was subsequently transferred to another district, also comprising six states, and still later, in 1893, he was sent to College View, Nebraska, and placed in charge of this district. which includes six states and a part of Canada. He remained in charge of the work of the district until 1902, when he retired from the ministry. He has since remained in College View and for two years was superintendent of Union Col- lege. He is well informed and deeply interested in all of the various phases of the activity of the church and although he is now living retired his advice is still sought by leaders in church work. He has also been identified with finan- cial interests as he was one of the organizers and is still the vice president of the Bank of College View.
Mr. Morrison was married on the 17th of August, 1871. to Miss Jennie Mitchell, of Whiteside county, Illinois. Her parents, George and Sarah ( Little) Mitchell, were both born in Connecticut and her father followed shoemaking and farming in early life but subsequently became a physician. He removed with his family to Whiteside county, Illinois, in an early day in the history of that state and later went to Mechanicsville, Iowa, where he purchased land, to the operation of which he turned his attention. Both he and his wife died in 1866. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison have become the parents of seven children. Myrtle, who was born August 27, 1872, gave her hand in marriage to E. Spencer and died in January, 1907, leaving a son, Gerald, whose birth occurred in August, 1896. Winnie E. was born in July, 1874, and died on the 21st of October, 1876. Estella, who was born on the 20th of February, 1876, died on the 23d of October of that year. Maude was born July 4. 1877, and died in June, 1912. H. Archie, born December 2, 1879, is now president of Union College and a sketch of his life appears elsewhere in this work. Bertha M. was born February 23. 1883. and died on the 18th of November, 1893. Ruby Charlene, born March 7, 1802. is now the wife of V. J. Johns, a minister of the Seventh Day Adventist church located at Denver, Colorado ..
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served acceptably as mayor of College View, giving the municipality an upright and businesslike administration. During that time light and water plants were established and the paving of streets begun. In all the relations of life he has measured up to high standards of manhood, is rich in the honor and esteem of those who have come in contact with him, and is widely known not only in Nebraska but also in other states.
J. M. CAMP. -
No record of Lincoln's industrial development would be complete without extended reference to J. M. Camp, senior partner of the firm of J. M. Camp & Son, manufacturers of and dealers in delivery wagons. They also do painting and trimming and all kinds of repair work in their line and the business is one of the oldest established industries of the city, where Mr. Camp established his home on the 25th of February, 1879. Ile was at that time a man of thirty-one years, his birth having occurred in Davenport, Iowa, March 6, 1848. His par- ents, J. M. and Mary ( Giberson ) Camp, were natives of Zanesville, Ohio, where the father learned and followed the carriage making trade until 1836, when he removed westward to Scott county, lowa, then a frontier district still embraced within the borders of the territory of Wisconsin. He entered a claim four miles below the present site of the city of Davenport and later removed to a village called Rockingham which, it was believed, would develop into a city. The loca- tion, however, proved unfavorable and the town was moved up the river, thus founding the city of Davenport. After living there for some time J. M. Camp, Sr., went to Mount Vernon, Linn county, lowa, where he conducted business for a number of years, during which time his wife died at the age of sixty. He afterward came to Lincoln and spent his remaining days here. He died in De- eember, but if he had lived until the following March he would have been eighty-five years old. He was a good workman in the line of carriage building and was a personal friend of John Deere, for whom he sold plows. He was familiar with every phase of Iowa's pioneer development, living there at the time of the murder of Colonel Davenport, so that he was familiar with the history of that unfortunate episode which aroused all of the early settlers. Mr. Camp was a man of large, powerful physique, well formed, and had great strength. In his family were six children. William, the eldest, served for three years as a member of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry during the Civil war and died a year after his return home. Rowena became the wife of Colonel J. Q. Wilds, who was a member of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He had his arm shattered at the battle of Winchester, was operated on but died at Win- chester while under the influence of the anaesthetic. He and his eldest daughter were buried in the same grave. He and his wife and two daughters all died within three months and all of different diseases. The third member of the family, D. W. Camp, is a business man of Lincoln. Mary became the wife of James A. Bronson and is now deceased. J. M. is the fifth in order of birth. George, the youngest, livesat Mount Vernon, D.slowa: R
J. M. Camp learned the carriage making trade under the direction of his
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father, beginning work when seventeen years of age. Ile supplemented his public school education by study at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, lowa. He possessed natural musical talent, having an excellent tenor voice, but when he came to Lincoln he decided to leave music alone, as it required much time and money and he felt that he had neither to spare. However, he was prevailed upon to become a member of the choir of the Presbyterian church and when the people heard him sing his services were in much demand, so that he sang in choirs and glee clubs for a number of years. He did not neglect business, how- ever, and two hours after he arrived in Lincoln on the 25th of February, 1879, he was actively engaged in carriage work, painting buggies. He also did repair work and built buggies for sale and gradually concentrated his attention more and more largely upon his individual business interests. For the past ten years he has remained at his present location at Nos. 240 and 242 South Tenth street, where under the firm style of J. M. Camp & Son he is engaged in the manu- facture and sale of delivery wagons and also does painting and trimming and all kinds of repair work. The business represents four distinct trades, namely, blacksmithing, painting, trimming and woodwork. He has a contract with express companies all over the state to do their repairing and he also repairs automobiles, employing six or seven men. He does expert work and among his customers are those who have given him their patronage for a quarter of a century.
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