USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 18
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
On the 17th of April, 1893, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mr. Mahoney was united in marriage to Miss Helene Lipps, her parents being John and Charlotte (Eiche) Lipps, both of whom have passed away. Mr. Mahoney is a communi- cant of the Catholic church and is identified with the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. In club circles he is also well known, being a member of the Omaha, Omaha Coun- try, Automobile and Commercial Clubs. He possesses a social, genial nature and a discriminating mind has enabled him to know just how much time should be given to recreation, how much to his profession and how much to the public service. In a word, his is a well balanced character. His standing at the bar is indicated by the fact that he was honored with the presidency of the Nebraska State Bar Association for the years 1907 and 1908, and colleagues and contempo- raries throughout the state bear testimony of his personal and professional ability and worth.
WILLIAM KELLOGG FOOTE, M. D.
Dr. William Kellogg Foote, a specialist in the treatment of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, was born in Belvidere, Illinois, in 1871, a son of William Sawtre Foote, a grandson of Isaac Foote and a representative of the ninth generation of the descendants of Nathaniel Foote, who settled at Wethers- field, Connecticut in 1630. William Sawtre Foote was born in Smyrna, New York, in 1824 and was married in Belvidere, Illinois, to Miss Lucy Lavinia Andrus. In 1891 they removed to Chicago, where Mr. Foote passed away in 1905, having for thirteen years survived his wife, who died in 1892.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof at the family home in Belvidere, Dr. Foote there attended the public schools and early decided upon the practice of medicine as a life work, with which end in view he entered the Chicago Homeopathic College, from which he was graduated in 1893. For five years thereafter he was associated with Dr. W. M. Stearns in active practice in Chicago and from 1897 until 1905 was located in Joliet, Illinois, where he Vol. II-9
186
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
was engaged in active professional work. In the latter year he came to Omaha, where he has since followed his profession, specializing in opthalmology, rhinology and laryngology. He has given his attention exclusively to treatment of (liseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat since 1897 and his studies have been continuously directed along that line, so that he has gained a power in that field that renders his work of standard quality, while his opinions are largely accepted as authority. From 1893 until 1905 he was associate professor of diseases of the nose and throat in his alma mater. He belongs to the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and the Nebraska State Medical Association.
On the 19th of May, 1897, in Belvidere, Illinois, Dr. Foote was united in marriage to Miss Ella Josephine Downing, her father being the late Samuel Downing, a native of England. They have two daughters, Frances Esther and Katherine Elizabeth. Dr. and Mrs. Foote hold membership in the First Presby- terian church. His political opinions accord with the principles of the republican party, while his social interests are manifest in his membership in the Elks lodge, the Omaha Field Club, the Rotary Club and the Athletic Club of Omaha. He is eligible to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution through both the paternal and maternal lines. He has a wide acquaintance in this city and is everywhere spoken of in terms of high regard in both professional and social relations.
FRED F. PITTS.
Fred F. Pitts, president of the Pitts Pipe Organ Company, has developed in this connection one of the important productive industries of the city, a business which is a credit and a contributing factor to the activity of Omaha. Today the business of the company extends largely over Iowa and Nebraska and its upbuild- ing is attributable in very large measure to the efforts, the enterprise and the keen discernment of the president. Mr. Pitts was born in Chicago, Illinois, February 15, 1876, a son of Frank J. and Margaretha (Rehm) Pitts, both of whom were natives of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The latter was of German descent, while Mr. Pitts came of English ancestry, the founder of the family arriving soon after the Revolutionary war. Frank J. Pitts was an organ manufacturer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where his father, Warner J. Pitts, was among the earliest and most successful dealers in music and musical instruments, establishing his business where the present city hall of Milwaukee stands. Not long after the great Chicago fire of October, 1871, Frank J. Pitts removed to that city, where he established business under the name of the Garden City Organ Company, thus developing one of the early organ manufactories of Chicago. He carried on the business to within a year of his death, which occurred in November, 1893, when he had reached the age of fifty-eight years. His entire attention was devoted to his business and every effort was put forth to manufacture an organ of the highest grade, until he was at the head of the leading business of the kind in Chicago during his early days there. His wife survived him for more than twenty years and passed away in 1914, at the age of sixty-six. In their family were seven children.
Fred F. Pitts, the third of the number, was educated in the public schools of Chicago and when twenty years of age entered his father's organ factory, thoroughly learning the business from a practical standpoint, spending six years at work in different departments of the factory. He then engaged in the sale and installation of organs in all parts of America and this brought him into contact with a different branch of the business and constituted a further source of later success. In 1913 he came to Omaha and established his present business, which was the first of the kind not only in this city but in a district including considerable surrounding territory. Since opening business here the firm has looked after all
187
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
of the organs of this locality, besides manufacturing and installing six different organs in Omaha, several of which are of a larger and more pretentious character than those usually seen. The company recently installed a fine organ in the Church of Christ, Scientist, and another in the Strand theatre, both of which represent the last word in organ building, embodying all of the modern improve- ments used in large three-manual electro-pneumatic organs. Besides the organs built for use in Omaha, the company has sent many into various states, their business constantly increasing. They have sold many organs in Iowa and Nebraska and their output enjoys a well deserved reputation because of superior tone quality. The business has proven more than satisfactory to Mr. Pitts and the company as a whole. The office and plant of the Pitts Organ Company is located at No. 1218 Farnam street, where they occupy large and commodious quarters in the conduct of the business.
On the 6th of July, 1914, in Omaha, Mr. Pitts was married to Miss Carol R. Marhoff, a native of Omaha and a representative of one of its early pioneer families. Her father, Henry H. Marhoff, was a trunk manufacturer but is now deceased. Her mother, Mrs. Carrie Marhoff, is still a resident of Omalia.
Mr. Pitts is a supporter of the republican party and he is a member of the various Masonic bodies and of the Modern American Fraternal Order. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. His has been an active and well spent life. He has ever concentrated his efforts along a single line from the day in which he entered his father's plant, and this concentration of purpose and close application have enabled him to thoroughly master the business in which he is interested. There is no phase of organ building nor no feature of the sales end of the business with which he is not familiar, and his broad experience constitutes one of the strongest basic elements for the growth of the present undertaking.
JUDGE JESSE L. ROOT.
Judge Jesse L. Root, assistant solicitor for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company at Omaha, has through the years of an active professional career done much to shape the legislative and judicial history of the state, and his devotion to the general welfare stands as an undisputed fact in his life record. The tangible evidences of his devotion to the public good are many and have been manifest not only during the periods of his incumbency in office but also while he has remained in the walks of private life. A native of Illinois, he was born on a farm in Tazewell county, November 27, 1860. He is descended from English ancestry, the family having been founded in the new world early in the seventeenth century. Judge Root's great-great-grandfather was a Captain in the Revolutionary war and his father was a Captain in the French and Indian war. Rev. Marvin Root, the grandfather of Judge Root, was a native of Con- necticut and devoted his life to the work of the ministry of the Congregational church. The father, Charles Marvin Root, was born in Connecticut in 1839 and in Illinois wedded Maria Burnidge. He took up the occupation of farming and devoted his entire life to general agricultural pursuits. In 1882 he became a resident of Nebraska and passed away in Omaha in 1906.
Judge Root began his education in the district schools of Kane county, Illinois, and afterward attended the public schools of Elgin, Illinois, while later he pursued a course in a commercial college in Omaha. He entered upon preparation for the legal profession as a student in the office of the Hon. Samuel M. Chapman, of Plattsmouth, Nebraska, following the removal of the family to this state when he was twenty-one years of age, and after thorough preliminary reading he was admitted to the bar in 1887 and opened an office in Plattsmouth, where developing power and ability won him distinction that placed him among the eminent lawyers of the state. He continued to practice in Plattsmouth until
188
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
1908, when he was appointed to the Nebraska supreme court commission and so continued until 1909, when he was appointed a member of the supreme court of Nebraska, serving upon the bench for three years, during which period he proved himself the peer of the ablest members of the court of last resort. Retiring from office, he then became associated with Edmond C. Strode in the firm of Strode & Root for the practice of law at Lincoln, where he remained for a year, when he removed to the Nebraska metropolis to become, in 1913, assistant solicitor for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, with which he has since been thus associated.
On the 8th of June, 1888, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Mr. Root was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn W. Wise, daughter of Jonathan N. Wise. They have four children, namely : Elmer A., Alice E., Jesse Marvin and Flora B. Judge and Mrs. Root attend the Congregational church and his political endorsement is given to the republican party. His genial manner and unfailing courtesy make for personal popularity, and the appreciation of his worth on the part of his fellowmen has been evidenced on various occasions. While in Plattsmouth he was made a member of the school board and a trustee of the library, and he served as a member of the state senate during the famous session of 1907, during which he was chairman of the senate committee on finances and an active member of the judiciary committee. He was also chairman of the sifting committee of the senate and for six years he served as county attorney of Cass county, Nebraska, in addition to his service as supreme court commissioner and supreme court judge. That he is a man of broad scholarly attainments has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review, and in molding public thought, opinion and action he has wielded a wide influence.
JOHN FRANKLIN STOUT.
John Franklin Stout, who for twenty-one years has engaged in law practice at the Omaha bar, was born near Middlebourne, Ohio, July 12, 1861, and is a representative of an old New Jersey family of Dutch extraction, early ancestors having removed from England to Holland. His grandfather, Isaac Stout, was a native of New Jersey and spent his entire life in that state. His father, Isaiah Stout, was born in New Jersey in 1822 and traveled on foot to Ohio when seventeen years of age. He was married in Guernsey county, that state, in 1844, to Miss Emeline Cochran, who was born in Ohio in 1826.
Their son, John F. Stout, pursued his early education in the schools of Guernsey county and also studied for one term in the Ohio Wesleyan College at Delaware. Leaving that institution at the age of eighteen years, he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in Guernsey county for several years, and through the summer months he engaged in farming, but ambitious to enter upon a professional career, he turned to the study of law and in 1885 entered an attorney's office at Cambridge, Ohio, there reading for two years. On the 10th of June, 1887, he successfully passed the required examination which secured him admission to the bar, and going to Hutchinson, Kansas, there opened a law office. He remained in practice at that point for eight years, or until 1895, when he came to Omaha, where he has since followed his profession. He prepares his cases with thoroughness and care and the zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the careful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and his assiduous and unrelaxing attention to all the details of his cases have brought him a large business and made him very successful in its conduct.
On the 24th of December, 1890, at Cambridge, Ohio, Mr. Stout was married to Miss Lida M. Stitt and they now have two children, Robert I. and Gertrude E., the former a graduate of Amherst College of the class of 1913.
Mr. and Mrs. Stout attend the Presbyterian church and his political support
JOHN F. STOUT
191
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
is given to the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and in club circles he is well known, having membership in the Commercial Club, the Omaha Country Club and the Omaha Club. His advancement and success are attributable entirely to his own efforts. Dependent upon his own resources from the age of eighteen years, he has made good use of his time and oppor- tunities and his developing powers in the practice of law are now indicated in the large and important clientage accorded him.
JOHN C. KRUGER.
John C. Kruger, an attorney of Omaha, practicing since 1910, was born at Vail, Crawford county, Iowa, in 1887. His father, Emil Kruger, a native of Germany, was born in 1867 and in 1884 came to the new world, settling in Craw- ford county, Iowa, where he married. He became a merchant of Vail, Iowa, and also served for two terms as clerk of the district court at Denison, Iowa. Later he was made cashier of the German Bank at Schleswig, Iowa, continuing in that position until his death, which occurred in 1906. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in 1892, after which time he again married. In the family are six children all of whom are living in Omaha.
In the public schools of Denison and of Schleswig, Iowa, John C. Kruger pursued his early education and, determining upon the practice of law as a life work, he became a student in the Omaha Law School, from which he was graduated with the class of 1910. Immediately afterward he opened an office in this city, where he has since practiced, and as the years have passed he has gained a good clientage, being connected with some of the important cases that have been heard in the courts of the district.
In religious faith Mr. Kruger is a Catholic. ; His club relations are with the Athletic Club of Omaha and in politics-he is. a democrat with independent tendencies. He has not been active in political circles, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his professional duties in the hope of being able to build up a large law practice and this hope is being steadily realized, for his clientele is continually growing.
ARTHUR CHASE.
Arthur Chase has gained a large clientage in the field of real estate and insurance and while handling city investments he makes a specialty of western lands and ranches. He was born upon a farm in Cayuga county, New York, in 1864. His father, Alonzo Chase, a native of the same county, was born ill 1834 and comes of a family of English lineage. His great-great-grandfather, Ezra Chase, was a native of Rhode Island. His great-grandfather and his grandfather bore the name of Henry Chase and they were natives of New York. Alonzo Chase devoted his entire life to general agricultural pursuits and passed away in Cayuga county, New York, in 1913. In early manhood he had wedded Emily Glentworth Carmichael, who was born in Hempstead, on Long Island, a daughter of the Rev. William Carmichael, an Episcopal minister. Her deathı occurred in 1913, when she was seventy-eight years of age.
After attending the country schools of Cayuga county, New York, Arthur Chase became a student in Tillotson's Academy, a select school of that county, and afterward was graduated from the Elmira (N. Y.) Business College with the class of 1884. The year 1886 witnessed his arrival in Nebraska, at which time he made his way to Chadron and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, complying with the laws concerning occupancy and improvement, whereby
192
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
he secured title to the property. He lived upon his claim and in Chadron for five years and during two years of that period was editor of the Chadron Inde- pendent, a weekly paper, which followed an independent political course. For the remainder of the time, or three years, he was engaged in the oil and fuel business in Chadron. He left that city in 1891 and came to Omaha, where he entered the branch establishment of the American Type Founders Company, spending four years in that connection, during which he filled every position from that of shipping clerk up to manager and then closed out the Omaha branch in 1897. In 1898 he was connected with the admissions' department of the Omaha Exposition and on the expiration of that period he turned his attention to the real estate business, with which he was connected in a clerical capacity for two years. In 1901 he opened a real estate and fire insurance office and remained in that field until 1911, when he sold out the business and turned his attention to manufacturing interests in connection with the Brown Truck Manufacturing Company, of which he became the secretary, but the plant was destroyed in the tornado of March, 1913. He sold out his interest in that business in 1914 and again entered the field of real estate and fire insurance, in which connection he has made a specialty of handling western lands and ranches, while at the same time he has negotiated a number of important transfers of city realty.
On the 2d of August, 1888, in Chadron, Nebraska, Mr. Chase wedded Miss Florence A. Wilson, a daughter of the late Rev. James A. Wilson, who served throughout the Civil war, as chaplain in an Iowa regiment. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Chase: Emily M., now the wife of Edwin D. Hazard, of Omaha; Mary E .; and Dwight A., who was born in 1897.
Mr. Chase gives his political support to the republican party and in his religious belief is a Congregationalist. He has been identified with Nebraska and its interests for more than a third of a century and has been a witness of and factor in much of its development as the state has emerged from pioneer condi- tions and taken its place among the progressive and growing states of the Union.
GEORGE McBRIDE.
George McBride, who was serving as county surveyor of Douglas county when death called him on the 14th of October. 1913, spent many years of his life in Omaha. He was born in Council Bluffs in 1858, a son of Edward McBride, who removed to the west from New Jersey and became one of the first merchants of Council Bluffs, shipping his first stock of goods by boat from St. Louis. He afterward removed to Missouri Valley, Iowa, where he conducted a large store, and later established a mercantile enterprise at Sioux Falls, where he likewise conducted a soap factory, becoming one of the important and prominent business men of that locality. In St. Louis he wedded Miss Harriet Packard, a native of Glens Falls, New York.
George McBride first came to Douglas county in 1884 and helped stake out South Omaha, afterward assisting in the work of laying out the town. Subse- quently he went to Lodgepole, Nebraska, where he was editor of a paper for about two years, and on the expiration of that period he removed to Julesburg, Colorado, where he conducted the Julesburg Times. Eventually he sold that paper and returned to South Omaha, where he again engaged in survey work. For three years he filled the office of assistant city engineer of Omaha and then became a candidate for the position of county surveyor. He was serving as deputy surveyor under County Surveyor King when the latter resigned and was appointed to fill out the unexpired term, after which he became a candidate for the position and was elected and reelected, serving for two terms. He was then nominated for the position of sheriff but lost the election and entered the employ of the Standard Bridge Company as engineer, continuing in that capacity for
GEORGE McBRIDE
195
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
nine years. At the end of that period he was once more elected county surveyor and was thus serving in the position for the fourth time at his death.
On March 21, 1889, at Grafton, Nebraska, Mr. McBride was married to Miss Anna M. Strater, born in Atlantic, Iowa, and a daughter of John Strater, who removed with his family to the west, settling at New Springs, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. McBride became the parents of three sons, George S., Wesley M. and Melbert J.
Mr. McBride was a member of the First Presbyterian church of South Omaha and was a very prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he crossed the sands of the desert. Mrs. McBride is a member of the Eastern Star and also of the King's Daughters. Mr. McBride likewise had membership in club circles, belong- ing to the Seymour Country and the Rod and Gun Clubs. His friends, and they were many, speak of him as a good neighbor and a man of most kindly spirit, ever ready and willing to extend a helping hand to assist a fellow traveler on life's journey. He was devoted to the welfare of his city and sought its progress along material, intellectual, social and moral lines. At all times he adhered to high principles and in many respects his life is indeed worthy of emulation.
HERBERT HENRY NEALE.
Herbert Henry Neale, engaged in the abstract business as president of the Midland Guaranty & Trust Company of Omaha, was born in Aylesbury, Buck- inghamshire, England, in 1864. His father, Richard Neale, was a native of the same locality, as were his ancestors back to the time of William the Conqueror, and Richard Neale spent his entire life in England.
In the schools of England Herbert H. Neale pursued his education and in April, 1882, he severed the ties which bound him to his native land and came to the new world. For a year he resided at Middletown, New York, where he was connected with the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. He then came to the west and after visiting various places arrived in Omaha on the Ioth of October, 1884. Here he entered the employ of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in the general offices of the company, remaining there for two years. He afterward spent six months in Oregon, where he engaged in hunting and in other phases of outdoor life for the benefit of his health. He was then offered a position in the office of the C. E. Mayne Real Estate & Trust Company, with which he continued until October, 1887, after which he remained with the successors of that company, the firm of Benson & Carmichael, until the Omaha Abstract Company was organized in 1889. There he continued until he was chosen secretary of the Omaha Abstract & Trust Company in 1890 and occupied that position until the consolidation of the company with the Midland Guaranty & Trust Company, with which he remained as an abstractor until 1896. He then embarked in the abstract business on his own account and remained alone until 1904, when he was joined by Frank J. Norton under the firm style of Neale & Norton. That relation was continued until October, 1911, when the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Neale selling out to Mr. Norton. In connection with John Campbell he then purchased a controlling interest in the Midland Guaranty & Trust Company, of which he became the president, with Mr. Campbell as the secretary. They are now conducting an extensive business.
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.