USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 20
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WILLIAM H. LAFFERTY.
Among the pioneer settlers of Council Bluffs was William H. Lafferty, who arrived there in 1853, removing from Glasgow, Missouri. His father, James Lafferty, had visited this district at a very early day and engaged in the tailoring business. He lived and died in Council Bluffs, with the pioneer development of which he was closely associated. His son, William H. Lafferty, was there reared and after attaining his majority he engaged in the dry goods business in connection with his brother John, opening a store in Council Bluffs. He had had previous experience along that line as a clerk in the store of his brother-in- law, W. H. Robinson, but afterward embarked in business on his own account, and the firm of Lafferty Brothers existed for a number of years. Later William Lafferty retired from the dry goods business and entered the book and stationery trade in Council Bluffs in connection with his brother-in-law, James F. Hopper, who was a printer by trade. Mr. Lafferty was thus closely associated with commercial interests in this section of the country for an extended period and his efforts contributed to the material development and commercial progress of his city.
In 1868, in Council Bluffs, Mr. Lafferty was united in marriage to Miss Kittie Malcolm, who became a resident of that city in 1853. She lost her mother when very young and was reared by Dr. Malcolm, one of the honored physicians of Council Bluffs. To Mr. and Mrs. Lafferty were born three sons: Malcolm B., who is now engaged in the automobile business in Seattle, Washington ; Edward, who is connected with the gas company in Omaha; and Fred L., who is employed by the street car company of Omaha.
The husband and father passed away June 19, 1909, and his death was a matter of deep regret not only to his immediate family but to many friends.
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Fraternally he was connected with the Knights of Pythias. His early political allegiance was given to the democratic party but later he became a stalwart advocate of republican principles. He was public spirited in an eminent degree and cooperated in many plans and measures which he believed would prove beneficial to his community. His life was an active and useful one and he had many attractive social qualities which rendered him popular among those who knew him.
G. L. EMIL KLINGBEIL.
The German-American Life Insurance Company of Omaha is fortunate in having at its head a man possessed of the sterling business and personal qualifi- cations displayed by G. L. Emil Klingbeil-qualifications which speak in no unmeasured terms of the permanent success of the company. A native of Noren- berg, Germany, he was born on the 23d of September, 1863, but in the spring of 1864 was brought to the United States by his parents, Carl Wilhelm and Dorothea Sophia (Schultz) Klingbeil. His paternal grandparents, Daniel Gottlieb and Christine (Wegener) Klingbeil, never left their native land. The father's birth occurred in Gottberg, Germany, on the 23d of November, 1814, and he was therefore in his fiftieth year when in May, 1864, he brought his family to the new world, taking up his abode upon a farm in Dodge county, Wisconsin. Five years later he arrived in Omaha and homesteaded eighty acres in Dodge county, Nebraska, upon which he lived until the spring of 1882, when he retired from active business life and removed to Hooper, Dodge county, where his remaining days were passed. His death occurred in 1904, while his wife passed away in December, 1900.
With the removal to Nebraska the family home was established in Omaha in order that the children might enjoy the advantages of the city schools, although the father lived upon the homestead six miles north of Hooper. G. L. E. Klingbeil was a youth of fourteen years when the entire family removed to the homestead in Dodge county and there he remained until twenty years of age, when he left the farm and became a resident of Hooper, where he engaged in merchandising in connection with his father. They built up a profitable busi- ness there and established a branch store in Alliance, Nebraska, of which G. L. E. Klingbeil took charge, conducting the business successfully for about eighteen months, or until it was destroyed by fire. He bought another stock of goods for his Alliance store, but the widespread financial panic of 1893 involved the establishment in disaster. He then removed to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he remained for two years engaged in mining. He afterward became a traveling sales agent for a wholesale grocery house of Chicago, which he rep- resented upon the road for a year and a half. He removed to Plattsville, Wis- consin, where he turned his attention to the insurance business, in which he engaged at that point until the spring of 1899. He then returned to Nebraska and opened an insurance business at Norfolk, but after a brief time he returned to Hooper and thence came to Omaha.
During the years in which Mr. Klingbeil lived in Norfolk his entire time and attention were taken up by the study and mastery of the insurance business and he thoroughly equipped himself for the business in which he afterward engaged. It had been his dream for many years to establish a life insurance company and to that purpose he bent all his energies and upon it concentrated all his thought. In October, 1905, he began the organization of the German- American Life Insurance Company and completed the organization in April, 1906, calling to his assistance a number of his acquaintances-well known and reliable business men-Dr. George Haslam, of Fremont, Nebraska, Dr. H. T. Holden, of Norfolk, W. W. Young, attorney at law of Stanton, Nebraska,
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and D. D. Hall. In association with these gentlemen he founded the German- American Life Insurance Company, which has grown steadily from its inception and is now considered one of the substantial institutions of the state and which is destined to become a large factor in the insurance world. Mr. Klingbeil is now and has during the years since its foundation been its president. The business has been established along safe, conservative yet progressive lines. It has adopted as its motto: "Strong as the strongest" and holds steadily to this policy. The business is backed by approved securities deposited with the state of Nebraska. Its officers in addition to Mr. Klingbeil are: Dr. George J. Haslam, vice president and medical director; W. W. Young, treasurer and general attor- ney ; D. D. Hall, secretary ; and Otto Pohl, director. Its real estate first mort- gages amount to three hundred and thirty-four thousand, two hundred dollars and its resources in all to five hundred and fifty-six thousand dollars. Its insur- ance in force at the close of the year 1913 amounted to six million, five hundred and sixty-one thousand, five hundred and one dollars ; in 1914 to seven million, seven hundred and fifty-seven thousand, nine hundred and five dollars; and at the close of 1915 to nine million, one hundred and ninety thousand, seven hundred and two dollars. The company certainly has a record of substantial progress.
Mr. Klingbeil married Miss Marguerite Thomsen, whose father was a native of Germany, where he spent his entire life. The children of this mar- riage are: Marguerite Therese, now the wife of William Bruce Young, of Omaha : Ruby Beatrice; and Pearl Evangeline.
The family attend the Lutheran church and Mr. Klingbeil is a Master Mason. He also belongs to the Omaha Field Club, the Omaha Ad Club and the Com- mercial Club and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. He is a cleancut business man, devoted to his business interests and to the wel- fare of his family. He has always been temperate in his habits, honest and reliable in his business transactions. Among insurance men he is considered one of the best posted and best equipped in the state. He possesses ambition and tireless energy and above all is honorable in his dealings and displays a loyalty to his friends that challenges the admiration of all who know him.
ANTON HOSPE.
Anton Hospe is the president of the A. Hospe Company, a great piano house whose business connections are binding many sections of the country in an inter- lacing network to Omaha. His life record is a notable example of what may be accomplished through determination, energy and intelligently directed effort, for he came to Omaha in 1874, with a capital of but sixty-five dollars, and today is at the head of one of the important commercial enterprises of the city and, moreover, is today the oldest retail merchant who has personally conducted business in Omaha. His standing in public regard is an enviable one, for the policy which he has pursued has won for him the respect and goodwill of all. This is not alone due to his success in business but also to the active and helpful part which he . plays in promoting the civic interests of the city. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was born September 3, 1854, a son of Anton and Marie Laura (Gebauer) Hospe, both of whom were natives of Prussia. The father was born in 1827 and in 1848 came to the United States, then a young man of twenty-one years. He settled in Cincinnati and in 1850 he returned to his native land for his bride. He then again made his way to the new world and throughout the remaining period to his death in 1897 was a resident of Cincinnati. His widow still survives and now resides in Napoleon, Ohio, at the age of about ninety years. The grand- father, Anton J. Hospe, also became a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, and there passed away in 1870, at the age of eighty-two years.
T
ANTON HOSPE
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Anton Hospe attended the public schools of his native city to the age of twelve years and then entered his father's shop to learn the trade of gilding picture frames. Since that period he has been continuously dependent upon his own resources and has indeed won the proud American title of self-made man. He drifted around for a few years and then came to Omaha in 1874, at which time he was the possessor of but sixty-five dollars. Here he began the business of gilding picture frames and later he extended the scope of his activities by adding a stock of organs. A little later he began dealing in pianos and has since carried musical instruments and at the same time has continued the picture frame business, being today the oldest merchant in Omaha who has personally conducted his commercial interests. He has developed a wonderful mail order business, following a most progressive policy and in all his methods displaying in marked degree the spirit of initiative.
On February 12, 1878, Mr. Hospe was married to Miss Jane R. Neligh, of Omaha. In 1911, in Council Bluffs, he married Mrs. Nora Adeline Pangle, who was the widow of Dr. George W. Pangle, and had a son and two daughters, now with Mr. Hospe, she having died in 1911. His life has ever been actuated by high and honorable motives that have made his career one in consistent har- mony with his professions as a member of the Presbyterian church. He is also a Master Mason and a member of the Ak-Sar-Ben. He also belongs to the Commercial Club and to the Athletic Club of Omaha. He has ever been deeply interested in movements looking to the welfare and advancement of the city along commercial and civic lines and in such has taken an active part. In fact his labors have been most effective in extending the commercial connections of Omaha and at the same time he has loyally supported those plans which look toward the adoption of higher civic ideals and which have been most resultant in bringing about the wholesome and purifying reforms which have been grad- ually growing up in the municipal life. Omaha indeed finds in him a loyal sup- porter whose high ideals have taken form in practical effort for their adoption.
JOHN POWER.
The surname of the subject of this review also constituted an apt char- acterization of his career, for he was ever a man of wide influence in Omaha and he ever used this influence for the benefit of others. His standards and ideals of life were most high and the strength of his character was that of fearless Christian manhood. Omaha has reason to cherish his memory because of the important part which he took in upholding her interests during several crises in her history.
Mr. Power was born in Waterford, Ireland, May 6, 1849, and his life cov- ered the intervening years to the 7th of January, 1916, when he passed away in Omaha. During his infancy he was left in the care of his grandmother while his parents came to America to establish a home, but soon after settling in Pennsylvania both passed to the home beyond. John Power remained a resi- dent of the Emerald isle until thirteen years of age, when he, too, crossed the Atlantic and made his way to Pennsylvania. From that time forward he was dependent entirely upon his own resources. For a time he worked in the coal mines of that state but afterward took up the coopering trade, which he had learned in his early boyhood in Ireland. He was employed in Philadelphia at the time when the trouble arose between the Coopers Union and the cooperage manufacturers of that city. Reduced wages had led to dissatisfaction followed by demands for relief and when this demand met with refusal a strike resulted. Mr. Power at this point wielded much influence among his fellow laborers, for he was an ardent advocate of the union cause and the rights of the men.
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When the strike was finally settled after a bitter struggle Mr. Power because of the active part which he had taken therein was blacklisted and could obtain no employment in Philadelphia. He then started westward and after a brief period spent in Kansas City, Kansas, came to Omaha in 1870.
For several years thereafter Mr. Power was employed in the cooperage department of the Willow Springs Distillery, but ambitious to engage in busi- ness on his own account, he opened a small shop in 1878 at Seventh and Leaven- worth streets, there remaining until his plant was destroyed by fire, at which time he was serving as sheriff of Douglas county. In this connection a conten- porary biographer has said of him: "At that time other cooperage factories had been established in Omaha and South Omaha, with modern machinery and improved methods, so that but a small part of the output of these factories was made by hand, and there was no reason why Mr. Power should then rebuild his factory or seek to continue the business; but in his employ there were two old and faithful union coppers, who had been with him for years, who were unable because of their age, to stand the strain of the strenuous work in the modern up-to-date factory operated by machinery, and John Power then constructed a small shop in which these two faithful old employes continued to make cooperage by hand until the date of their death. I have reason to believe they worked under conditions that resulted in an actual loss to John Power, but in a way that kept them from becoming a public charge."
It was in 1878, in Omaha, that Mr. Power made Miss Mary Quinlan his wife and from that time forward his interest centered in his home, his greatest happiness being found in the companionship of his wife and four children, a son and three daughters: Nicholas J .; Lora ; Bessie, who is Mrs. F. C. Thomas, of Sioux City; and Alice. The mother passed away in 1888. Mr. Power was married to Mary O'Malley, of Dubuque, lowa, who died in September, 1915. He was ever most solicitous concerning the social and moral welfare of his family and they were in turn most devoted to him. To them he left the price- less heritage of a good name as well as the substantial reward of his success in business. It was well known that his integrity in business affairs was above question. He never built his success upon another's failure but always followed constructive methods and there are many who bear testimony to his irreproach- able integrity as well as his enterprise through all the long years of his con- nection with the industrial interests of Omaha.
For many years Mr. Power was recognized as one of the leaders of the democratic party in his city, his work for the party being the result of the firmest belief in the efficacy of its principles as factors in good government. His political methods were such as would bear the closest investigation and scrutiny, for the honesty that characterized his business life was manifest as well in this connection. It is said that his influence was largely the cause of the splendid democratic majority given in the first and second wards. At length in 1899 some of his close friends and club associates induced him to became a candidate for the office of sheriff and after a most bitter primary fight he received the nomination and at the election won by a majority of about fifteen hundred. He discharged his duties with such signal fidelity and capability that he was reelected in 1901 and again in 1903 and no incumbent in the sheriff's office has made a more splendid record, his fidelity to his duties as the con- servator of right and order being ever paramount with him. A story is told of the attitude which he assumed at the time of the great strike in the packing houses of South Omaha. This strike was declared July 12, 1904, and as the lockouts continued the bitterness and hostility grew. Strike breakers were imported into South Omaha and the union men became more and more indignant and bitter. Such was their attitude that the packers begged the sheriff to call for the state militia to aid in maintaining order. The strike breakers, too, approached him with the plea that he keep his deputy sheriffs out of South Omaha. To the former he replied that as long as he was sheriff of Douglas
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county he felt that he could handle the situation and that he would never ask for the state militia or federal troops to aid in maintaining order. Toward the strike breakers he displayed an equally firm attitude, telling them that the law must be respected and that life and property would be protected if he had to swear in a thousand deputy sheriffs. He was himself a strong union labor man and his sympathies were all with the strikers, many of whom had been his stanch supporters when he was a candidate for office, but notwithstanding all this he upheld the dignity of the law and preserved order and protected life and property in South Omaha as few men could have done under similar cir- cumstances. He urged the strikers to refrain from acts of violence and counseled patience and conformity to the law. At all times he displayed the utmost fearlessness to personal danger, never carrying arms although going in and out among the strikers and the strike breakers. On one occasion when he was told that the dummy train which was used in conveying the strike breakers from the Union depot to the packing houses would be dynamited on the mor- row and pressure was brought to bear upon him to secure the aid of the state militia, he went himself to the depot and took his place on the front platform of the front coach of that train, prepared to meet any emergency that might. arise. At the outbreak of the strike, knowing the conditions that would pre- vail and realizing fully that his sworn duty as sheriff of Douglas county was to protect the lives and property of everyone within its borders, he immediately appointed a large number of deputy sheriffs and assured them that they would receive two dollars and a half per day for their services. This sum was cer- tainly not excessive when one considers the danger to which they were subjected, but when the county board met it authorized the payment of only two dollars per day. Mr. Power, however, had given his promise for two dollars and a half per day and out of his own pocket he paid the additional sum, amounting to five thousand three hundred and forty-two dollars, for which he was never reimbursed.
In religious faith a Catholic, Mr. Power was a stanch churchman and for many years served as a trustee of St. Patrick's parish. He aided very largely in the erection of the church edifice and was always a generous contributor to the cause, but it was his life and not his works that gave evidence of his Christian belief. One who knew him well said of him: "I have been with him where liquors flowed freely, but personally I never saw him touch a drop. I never heard him utter an oath; I never heard him tell a story that might not be repeated at my family circle. He was charitable to a fault and many a person has been the recipient of his quiet, unostentatious bounty who was neither of his race, faith or creed. There was nothing of the bigot about John Power. He was tenacious in his beliefs, but equally tolerant of others. A simple instance may suffice. At the time when the anti-Catholic organization known as the A. P. A. was the strongest in this country Mr. Power had in his employ as a driver of his wagons an ardent and enthusiastic A. P. A. A com- mittee of Catholics waited upon Mr. Power and insisted that he discharge his employe from his service. Mr. Power listened to the demands of the commit- tee and then advised them that this employe had been in his (Mr. Power's) service for years; that he performed his service faithfully and well; and that he had a family dependent upon him for support; and that his (the employe's) opinions of the Catholic church and his own religious beliefs were matters to be settled with his own conscience; and that the man would not be discharged. I may further add that this man continued in Mr. Power's employ until the time of his death (the employe's death) and was then buried in the Protestant cemetery at the expense of John Power. A splendid example of Christian charity but indicative of the life of the man." Mr. Power was ill for only two weeks ere death called him, bringing with it a sense of personal bereavement into many of the homes of Douglas county. He was a man of kindly disposi- tion, of social nature and of genial character-a man who shed around him
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much of the sunshine of life, a man who stood for all that is most honorable in man's relations to his fellowmen and who ever zcalously defended the right and truth.
JOHN NICHOLAS FRENZER.
John Nicholas Frenzer, engaged in the real estate, loan and fire insurance business in Omaha for twenty-eight years, was born in this city August 17, 1863, a son of Peter Frenzer, who passed away July 15, 1912, and is mentioned elsewhere in this work. After attending the parochial school and the Rathburn Business College, John N. Frenzer made his initial step in commercial circles as a clerk and was employed in various Omaha stores until September, 1886, He then started out in the field in which he has since been active, entering the employ of the McCague Real Estate Company, with which he remained for two years. On the Ist of September, 1889, he entered the real estate, loan and fire insurance business on his own account and has so continued to the present time, winning a large clientage in these different departments. He has negotiated many important real estate transfers and has ever kept in close touch with the real estate market, being regarded as a most accurate valuator of property.
On the 4th of April, 1894, in Omaha, Mr. Frenzer was united in marriage to Miss Mattie Margaret Rieck. daughter of the late Henry F. Rieck. Their children are three in number, namely: Arthur J., Clarence J. and Esther M.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Frenzer belongs to the Knights of Columbus and to the Woodmen of the World. He is also identified with the Carter Lake Club and he belongs to the Commercial Club and the Ak-Sar-Ben, two organizations which have for their object the upbuilding of the city, the exploitation of its resources and the promotion of its civic standards. He has always voted with the democratic party, but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attraction for him, as he has preferred to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs.
BURTON WHITFORD CHRISTIE, M. D.
Dr. Burton Whitford Christie, whom university training and post graduate work well qualify for the onerous and responsible duties that devolve upon the physician and surgeon, has been numbered among the Omaha practitioners since 1902. He had from his boyhood days been a resident of this city, although he was born in Creston, Iowa, August 22, 1877. His father, Dr. William Henry Christie, was a native of Bergen county, New Jersey, but removed to the middle west in early life and was graduated from Rush Medical College of Chicago in the '6os. At the time of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for troops and enlisted in the Seventy-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was wounded four times at the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, and lay all night on the field with his wounds unattended. He thereby developed erysipelas, from which he never recovered and which ultimately occasioned his death. In early man- hood he wedded Sarah Maria Whitford, a native of Illinois, and after living for a time at Creston, Iowa, they removed in 1886 to Omaha, where they continued to reside until called to their final rest, the death of the father occurring in 1909, while the mother died in 1905. He was a most active supporter of the republican party and in 1884 was a delegate to the republican national convention which nominated James G. Blaine for the presidency. For two terms he served as president of the Omaha board of education and his loyal support of progres- sive public measures marked him as a leading citizen of Omaha.
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