USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 15
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On the 25th of December, 1872, in Manchester, Iowa, Colonel Jewell was united in marriage to Miss Ella Bemis, daughter of the late Dr. Lewis S. Bemis. Colonel and Mrs. Jewell attend the Christian Science church, and he belongs to the Happy Hollow Club, to the Commercial Club, to the Masonic fraternity, to the Knights of Pythias and to several fraternal beneficiary societies. He is both a Scottish and a York Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also has membership in W. A. Morse Post, No. 190, G. A. R., at Manchester, Iowa. His political allegiance is given to the progressive branch of the republi- can party. Something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in the fact that he belongs to the Omaha Automobile Club, of which he is the treasurer, and he is regarded as the dean of the baseball fans in Omaha, greatly enjoying the national game and seldom failing to attend the more important games held in this city. His connection with the Woodmen of the World has brought him wide acquaintance and wherever known he is spoken of in terms of warmest regard.
CHARLES L. FRITSCHER.
Charles L. Fritscher, who for a long period was identified with the cigar manufacturing business in Omaha as a member of the firm of West & Fritscher, was born in Germany in 1841 and in 1854 came to the new world. He learned the cigar making trade at Hamilton, Canada, and was employed at the trade until 1861, after which he embarked in business on his own account. For a few months he conducted a cigar factory at Brantford, Ontario, and later he worked at his trade there in the employ of others for two years. He afterward spent a similar period in New York and subsequently went to other states. The firm of West & Fritscher was formed for the purpose of conducting a cigar factory
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at Leavenworth, Kansas, and after a few months removal was made to Omaha, where they arrived in 1867. Here they opened a factory, the first of its kind in the state, and for a long period conducted one of the important productive industries of the city. The excellence of their product secured to them a liberal sale and their trade covered a broad territory. The most sanitary conditions were found in their factory and the work was in all departments carefully systematized so that methodical effort brought excellent results. About 1901 Mr. Fritscher retired from the cigar manufacturing business to become a traveling salesman for the Liggett & Meyer Tobacco Company of St. Louis and remained in that connection until his death, which occurred February 29, 1912.
In 1869 Mr. Fritscher was married in Omaha to Miss Mary Schneider, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Jacob and Frances (Richter) Schneider, both of whom were natives of Germany. In 1856 her father removed from Colum- bus, Ohio, to Omaha, becoming one of the pioneer merchants of the city. He established a hardware and tinware business, being located for a time at Douglas and Fifteenth streets, and remained in active connection with the commercial interests of Omaha until his health failed and he went to the south, hoping to be benefited thereby. While in that section of the country he was killed by a train when but forty-seven years of age. He had served as a soldier of the Mexican war and was a progressive American citizen whose contribution to the early business development of Omaha was a valuable one. His wife was brought to the new world during her early girlhood and by her marriage she became the mother of eight children, of whom three are living: Mrs. Fritscher ; William, engaged in the cigar manufacturing business in Omaha; and Henry, who is connected with a street car company of Omaha. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Fritscher were born four children, namely : Louisa F., who is now Mrs. Gustave Kroeger, of Boise, Idaho; Charles L., Jr., an attorney practicing in Omaha; Henry W., who is a jeweler of South Omaha; and Robert E., who served in the Spanish-American war and was with the Thurston Rifles in Manila and who is a machinist by trade.
Mr. Fritscher held membership in the Turnverein. He was always a very active man, enterprising and progressive in business, and he made good use of his time, talents and opportunities. He was most loyal to home ties and devoted to his friends and he had a social, genial nature which won for him the kindly regard and warm affection of those with whom he was brought in contact. Wherever he was known his death was deeply regretted and there are many who yet cherish his memory.
HUGH A. MYERS.
For a quarter of a century Hugh A. Myers has practiced at the bar of Omaha and has gained a notable place among the able lawyers of the city. He was born in Cooperstown, Venango County, Pennsylvania, began his education in the country schools of his native county, and later continued his studies in the high school at Titusville and in Sunville Academy, also in Pennsylvania, where he prepared for college. In 1883 he was graduated from Hillsdale College at Hillsdale, Michigan, with the Bachelor of Science degree, and in 1886 his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Science degree. Following the com- pletion of his college course he went to Berlin Heights, Ohio, where for two years he occupied the position of superintendent of schools, and from 1886 until 1889 he was superintendent of schools at Harmer, Ohio. In the latter year he accepted the superintendency of the schools at Miamisburg, Ohio, and there remained for a year. In 1892 he was graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan with the LL. B. degree and the same year came to Omaha, where he opened an office and has since engaged in practice. The years
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have marked his steady professional progress and he is now accorded a large clientage that connects him with much important litigation.
On the 25th of December, 1889, at Berlin Heights, Ohio, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Miss Maybelle Ittner, daughter of the late Benjamin Ittner. To them have been born two daughters, namely: Ella, who is now the wife of Frederick Baumeister, of Council Bluffs, lowa; and Laura M., now a student of the University of Michigan, class of 1917.
Mr. Myers' military experience covers service as a member of Company LE, Sixteenth Regiment, of the National Guard of Pennsylvania. He is a Knight Templar and a member of Delta Tau Delta, a college fraternity, and his social qualities find expression in his membership in the University Club. He votes with the republican party and in ISyg was elected to represent his district in the state legislature, serving as temporary chairman at its organization. He is also trustee of the University of Omaha. He formerly took quite an active interest in politics and still uses his influence for the upholding of those principles which he deems essential features in good government. He studies closely and thoroughly every question that bears upon the public welfare and is thus able to support his position by strong and intelligent argument. However, the major part of his time is given to his professional duties and his devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial.
JAMES LESTER DOWD.
Through his auctioneering activities James Lester Dowd has taken a prominent part in developing Omaha as a metropolitan distributing center. Moreover, he has developed on his own behalf a business of large proportions, extensive in its scope and so specialized that every department is most ably handled. While a native of Kansas, he was born upon a farm just across the border line from Hubbell, Nebraska, in the year 1876, a son of Albert W. and Cordelia A. (Goodin) Dowd. The father was born in the state of New York in 1852 and was a young man of twenty years when he removed to the west, settling in Kansas, near Hubbell, where he met and married Miss Goodin. They are now residents of Hubbell, the father having retired from farming, to which he devoted many years of his active business career.
In his boyhood James L. Dowd attended the public schools of Hubbell and a private school at Hebron, Nebraska, and later took up the study of telegraphy, after which he was connected as agent and operator with the Rock Island Rail- road Company for more than two years, the greater portion of that time at Medford, Oklahoma. In 1900 he turned his attention to general merchandising at Hubbell, carrying on the business in connection with his father for three years. Later he went upon the road as traveling salesman for a firm of Kansas City, Missouri, which he thus represented for two years. He next embarked in general merchandising on his own account at Fort Pierre, South Dakota, but soon sold out there, realizing a good return on his investment. It was the profit which he made in that connection that caused him to enter upon the work of buying stocks of goods and afterward selling them, and from that point it was a logical step into the auctioneering business, in which he is now extensively and successfully engaged. He is now president and treasurer of the Dowd Sale & Auction Company of Omaha and president of the D. & W. Manufacturing Com- pany, manufacturing automobile and hardware accessories. The former company is engaged exclusively in autioneering, selling almost everything imaginable. It is an organization of selling specialists who go to all parts of the country and from the block sell everything to be handled in that way. Today there is a demand for his men throughout the length and breadth of the land. Recognizing the wide variety in his field of business, Mr. Dowd divided it into what might be
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called departments and trained men were called upon to handle each particular kind of work. The result is that when a merchant wants to close out a stock of mer- chandise, one of the twenty-two merchandise auctioneers, or more if required, is sent to handle the contract. If real estate is to be sold, an expert in that branch of the business is placed in charge; and if the sale is to dispose of a herd of cattle or other live stock, again there is one who is expert in handling sales of that character-a man who knows a fine animal and is competent to judge of the value of high grade stock. Thus it is that every branch of the business is specialized and most carefully trained men handle the work in every department. The demand for the services of the Dowd Sale & Auctioneering Company has been constantly growing and the name is a synonym for the highest efficiency in that field. After serving as first vice president of the International Association of Auctioneers, Mr. Dowd was elected to the presidency in June, 1916, and he was largely instrumental in bringing the convention of that year to Omaha.
On the 17th of May, 1909, in Schuyler, Nebraska, Mr. Dowd was united in marriage to Miss Stella A., daughter of Nelson W. Swanson. They have one child. Bonnie Bernice. Fraternally Mr. Dowd is a Master Mason and an Odd Fellow. He belongs to the Commercial Club, the Omaha Automobile Club and the Omaha Aviation Club, and he attends the Methodist Episcopal church. He is at all times alert. His mind moves rapidly not because it jumps at conclusions but because it is trained to meet emergencies and to quickly and accurately solve complex problems and find ready answers for involved questions.
AUGUSTUS LOCKNER.
Augustus Lockner, now living retired from business in Omaha, was born in Baden, Germany, March 4, 1847, and was reared in Rochester, New York. There he spent the period of his early boyhood and youth and on the Ioth of August, 1863, when but sixteen years of age, he enlisted from Rochester for service in the Civil war under Captain James S. Graham. At the time of his enlistment he was the youngest member of his command. He joined the army as a private but was promoted to the rank of corporal over many of his com- rades who were much older. During the war he was captured by Mosby's Guer- rillas and was taken in charge by a man whose name was Lewis Powell and who told him while they were on the way that the south would win even if it had to kill the head of the government. Imagine Mr. Lockner's surprise when he saw the papers telling of President Lincoln's assassination and upon seeing the picture of "Payne," who attempted the life of Secretary Seward, recognized him as his escort, Powell.
Mr. Lockner first came to Omaha in 1865 as a member of Company H of the Twenty-first New York Volunteer Cavalry, which was detailed to accom- pany General Dodge across the plains on the trip which he made for the pur- pose of locating the best route for the Union Pacific Railway across the Rocky mountains. With this command Mr. Lockner traveled all over the west and had no serious trouble with the Indians. Later the company was detailed for provost guard duty in Denver City at a time when horse thieves and gamblers infested that place.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the army he homesteaded in the Platte valley across from Columbus, Nebraska, at which time there were only fifteen settlers in Butler county. He still owns that property and there has never been a dollar's indebtedness against it. He may well be proud of the fact that he still has this farm, which is one of the best in the state and which has been in his possession for half a century. He has owned a number of other tracts of land which he has obtained with patents granted by the government and Vol. II-8
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his judicious investments in real estate have added materially to his income. In those early days the railroad company burned wood and Mr. Lockner cut wood for the company on the islands and furnished it to the road at Columbus. On one occasion two men, Grant and Wilson, who were old neighbors, got into an argument in his wood yard at Columbus and Wilson shot and killed Grant, after which he was hung by the enraged citizens. At that time Nebraska was a wild western frontier state. The Sioux Indians manifested hostility toward the white race but the Pawnees were friendly although they were inveterate beggars. During that period the Lockners were one of four or five families who took turns in going to Columbus for mail. Mr. Lockner had a homemade boat constructed of rough lumber and on one occasion when it was his turn to go for the mail another man by the name of John Patchen wished to go with him. Their boat sprang a leak, filled rapidly with water, and sank with them, but Mr. Lockner, who was an excellent swimmer, saved Mr. Patchen from drowning. Prairie fires occurred at times and would rage for days. On one occasion Mr. Lockner saw smoke off against the sky line and watching its progress he prepared for the fire by back plowing, but tumbling weeds afire car- ried the blaze across the plowed ground and set fire to his tract of land. His log cabin was saved by his wife pumping water which he threw on the flames. His cattle corral, his granary, his oats, his wheat, one thousand bushels of grain, sixty tons of hay, his wagons, harness and farm machinery were all destroyed, but he managed to save his dwelling and also thirty head of cattle, which he rescued by driving them into a field of corn which saved them. The next year, 1872, Mr. Lockner rented his place.
He afterward went to Columbus and embarked in the hardware and imple- ment business, in which he there continued for nine or ten years and then dis- posed of his stock, removing to Omaha in 1882. Here he invested in property and has since dealt in real estate. He erected a flat building on North Sixteenth street, paying thirteen thousand dollars for a lot with a sixty foot frontage. The structure which he built is two stories in height, having stores on the first floor with flats above and is located at Nos. 1138 and 1140 North Sixteenth street. He also built two cottages, one on North Sixteenth street and one on North Seventeenth street, and he has much other property in Omaha, from which he derives a good rental. He also owns two farms which add materially to his income and at the present time he is living retired from active business, enjoy- ing in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil.
After getting his farm in shape so that it had become a paying property Mr. Lockner was married in March, 1870, to Miss Caroline Bacherl, of Bavaria, Germany. Her father, Franz Z. Bacherl, was a professor of languages and music, who, coming to this country, started for California, but when he reached the Union Pacific Railroad he stopped and opened a school in Columbus, Nebraska. It was thus that the family became residents of Nebraska and Mrs. Lockner formed the acquaintance of him who sought her hand in marriage. They became the parents of two children: Augustus J., who died at the age of twenty-one years; and Theresa J., the wife of R. N. Howes, of Omaha, by whom she has two children, Roland Lockner and Helen Theresa. Mrs. Lockner was always an able helpmate of her husband in pioneer times.
Mr. Lockner has never ceased to feel a deep interest in military affairs since he became a defender of the Union in the dark days of the Civil war. He was one of the originators of the first militia regiment of Nebraska, which was formed during the riots here, and he served as lieutenant of his company. He has been an exemplary representative of Masonry since 1874 and is now a member of St. John's Lodge of Omaha. He also became one of the charter members of the Nebraska Pioneers, of which he served as treasurer for six years, while in the year 1914 he was the president. He likewise belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and has filled all the chairs in Custer Post. He has taken an active interest in many projects which have worked for the development and
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upbuilding of the state. He was one of the men who organized the Volunteer Fire Department at Columbus, Nebraska, of which he became the chief, and while in Columbus he served for three terms as a member of the city council, during which time he was made chairman of the building committee that had charge of the construction of the waterworks there. In politics Mr. Lockner has ever been an earnest and active republican and in 1892 he was the successful candidate for the office of representative to the state legislature. He served as the chairman of committees and was the originator of a bill to assist Nebraska soldiers who served in the Indian wars. The purpose of this bill was to find those who had rendered such service, no record having been previously kept, and to recognize and pay them for the aid which they had given. It will thus be seen that in many connections Mr. Lockner has contributed to the development and progress of city and state since he arrived in Omaha more than a half century ago. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present and his reminiscences of the early days are most interesting.
CHARLES DORSEY ARMSTRONG.
Charles Dorsey Armstrong, engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Omaha, now operating under the name of the Armstrong-Walsh Company, was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana, June 24, 1876, and is a representative of an old Pennsylvania family. His grandfather, William Armstrong, was born in the Keystone state and in 1849 went with the rush to California following the discovery of gold upon the Pacific slope. There he passed away. The Arm- strong family had been founded on this side the Atlantic in colonial days and one member of the family, General John Armstrong, gained distinction as a com- mander of Continental forces in the Revolutionary war. Charles Dorsey Armstrong, Sr., father of him whose name introduces this review, was born upon a farm in Jefferson county, Kentucky, in 1837 and was married in Jeffer- sonville, Indiana, to Miss Mary Ingram. He still makes his home in Jefferson- ville, but his wife passed away in 1894. He was a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting in 1861, at which time he became a second lieutenant of the Second Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry. He remained at the front throughout the period of hostilities and rose to the rank of colonel of his regiment. He participated in the engagements at Murfreesboro, Shilo, Corinth and Chickamauga and went on the Salt Works expedition to Virginia. He was then invalided and was placed in command of the district that included Louisville, Kentucky, where his military service ended. On several occasions he was slightly wounded.
Charles Dorsey Armstrong, of Omaha, received his education through instruc- tion from his parents. Between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one years he was on a farm in Clark county, Indiana, and then went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he entered a real estate office. About 1898 he entered the advertising department of the Louisville Commercial and a year later accepted a position in the general office of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at Louisville, Kentucky. there remaining for about a year. He next entered the field of railroad con- tracting in connection with an uncle and was so engaged for a year. In 1900 he removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where for a year he filled a position with the Cudahy Packing Company. Removing to Texarkana, Texas, he became store- keeper for the Kansas City Southern Railroad Company, but after three months the malaria forced him to return to the north and he came to Omaha, where he again entered the employ of the Cudahy Packing Company in the Omaha plant, having charge of the sales to hotels. A year and a half later he became connected with the real estate and insurance business of the D. V. Sholes Company and ultimately became a partner. Upon the incorporation of the business he was elected vice president and so continued until November 1, 1910, when he with-
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drew from that connection and formed a partnership with Arthur HI. Walsh of Lincoln in the real estate and insurance business under the name of the Arm- strong-Walsh Company. He is also the secretary and treasurer of The Rose Realty Company.
On the 20th of April, 1907, in San Jose, California, Mr. Armstrong was married to Miss Lida Campbell Lieb, a daughter of the Hon. Samuel Franklin Lieb, who served throughout the last year of the Civil war with an Ohio regiment and who had two brothers killed in the service. Judge Lieb can trace his ancestry back to the family of Ethan Allen, the intrepid commander of the "Green Mountain Boys" in the Revolutionary war.
In his political views Mr. Armstrong is an earnest republican but not an office seeker. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in the fact that he has membership with the Omaha Field Club and the Athletic Club of Omaha. He is also a mem- ber of the Commercial Club and is in hearty sympathy with the purposes of that organization relative to the upbuilding of the city, to the extension of its trade relations and to the advancement of its civic standards.
JOSEPH M. METCALF.
Joseph M. Metcalf, a typical American business man, keen, alert and active, was long prominently associated with the commercial development and progress of Omaha, where he took up his abode in January, 1881, and continued to reside until called to his final rest. He was born in Lewes, Delaware, in 1855 and his life record covered the intervening period to the 25th of January, 1905, when he passed away. He lived in the east through the period of his early boyhood and in 1870 accompanied an older brother and became a resident of Hamburg, Iowa. Another decade was passed in that state and in the spring of 1881 he arrived in Omaha. Here he became associated in 1882 with G. W. Lininger and H. P. Devalon in the conduct of an incorporated agricultural implement business which prospered from the beginning. From the incorporation until his death Mr. Met- calf remained as vice president of the company, the trade interests of which extended out into various sections of the state until they built up one of the largest enterprises of its kind in the west, with many branch houses.
Mr. Metcalf was united in marriage to Miss Anna Cornish, daughter of Colonel J. N. Cornish, and sister of Judge A. J. Cornish and E. J. Cornish. Mrs. Metcalf survives him and still resides in their home in Omaha. Mr. Metcalf traveled quite extensively in Europe and found both rest and recreation in so doing. He had a very wide acquaintance among manufacturers and merchants and his personal worth drew to him the warm regard of all with whom he was brought in contact, so that his death was widely mourned when he was called to the home beyond. He possessed a very genial disposition, always having a ready smile and kindly word for those who addressed him. Moreover, he was generous and tender-hearted and was constantly reaching out a helping hand to those who needed assistance.
DAVID R. BUCK.
On the list of those who have contributed to the business development and subsequent upbuilding and prosperity of Omaha appears the name of David R. Buck, who became a resident of this state in 1864. He was born at Cabin Creek, in Randolph county, Indiana, December 14, 1842, and was therefore in the seventy-first year of his age when he passed away on the 28th of January, 1913.
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