USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 32
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Germany, and on the 4th of July, 1898, he passed away, while the death of his wife occurred in 1908. They were the parents of two sons and four daughters, all of whom are now ( 1916) living. Three of the daughters-Mrs. Louisa M. Leary, the widow of Cornelius A. Leary; Mrs. Andrew F. Bethge and Miss Antoinette Burkley, are residents of Omaha. The fourth sister, Mrs. Cecelia Burkhard, the widow of John A. Burkhard, resides in Missoula, Montana. The two sons of the family are Frank J. and Harry V., both residents of Omaha. The latter was married on the 30th of September, 1896, in Council Bluffs, to Miss Angela Wickham and they have four children: Harry V., Robert W., Eleanor and Francis J.
Frank J. Burkley, whose name introduces this review, passed through consecu- tive grades in the public schools of Omaha to the high school, but at the age of seventeen years put aside his textbooks in order to make a start in the business world. He began learning telegraphy with the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany at Omaha and remained with that corporation for seven years. He after- ward spent two years as government operator at Fort Omaha, on the expiration of which period he became connected with the Omaha Herald in the business office, having charge of foreign advertising. Two years were devoted to that work and in 1884 he, with G. M. Hitchcock and others, established the Omaha World. For seven years he remained as business manager of that paper and then sold his interest to Mr. Hitchcock, after which he and his brother Harry incor- porated the job printing business which the latter had been conducting for a year prior to that time. Their interests were organized under the name of the Burkley Printing Company and on the Ist of January, 1916, the business was reincorporated as the Burkley Envelope & Printing Company, of which F. J. Burkley is the president and Harry V. Burkley the secretary and treasurer. Since they united their interests they have developed a business of large and gratifying proportions and their activities have resulted in the attainment of well merited success.
Mr. Burkley has two daughters, namely: Agnes, who is now the wife of Jesse McMillan Harding, of Omaha; and Mary. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Burkley has served as a member of the building committee of St. Cecilia's Cathedral. He is also a member of the board of the Associated Charities of Omaha. He belongs to the Omaha Club and the Omaha Country Club-associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation. That he is deeply concerned in the public welfare is indicated in his active membership in the Omaha Commercial Club. His political allegiance is given the democratic party and in 1893 he was elected a member of the city council from the eighth ward and was reelected, serving until 1903. The varied interests of his life are well balanced, making him a strong and resourceful man and one whose cooperation is counted upon as of value in all the lines into which he directs his efforts.
FRED LORIN TUBBS.
Fred Lorin Tubbs, president of the Alamo Engine & Supply Company of Omaha and also president of the Alamo Farm Light Company, was born at Port Byron, Illinois, on the 5th of May, 1881. His father, James Jeptha Tubbs, was born in Ohio in 1849 and in Port Byron, Illinois, wedded Mary Agnes Rowe, who was a native of that city. They are now residents of Hillsdale, Michigan. During the latter part of the Civil war Mr. Tubbs, who was then a youth in his teens, joined the army as a member of the Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and did duty at the front until the close of hostilities.
Fred L. Tubbs was reared in Port Byron. Illinois, to the age of six years, after which he accompanied his parents on their removal to Rock Island, Illinois, where
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he attended school. The military spirit manifested by his father is also strong within him, for in May, 1898, soon after the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, he enlisted at Moline, Illinois, in the United States Navy and was assigned to the United States Steamship Newport, a gunboat of the first class, as bugler. Thereon he served until September 1, 1898, when he was honorably discharged. The ship was sent to Cuba and saw service at Havana and Mariel. Leaving the navy, he spent two years in learning the pattern making and machinist's trades at Rock Island, after which he became a marine engineer on the Mississippi river, devoting two years to that work. In 1904 he was made chief of the fire department of Rock Island and so continued for two years. On the 17th of July, 1907, he came to Omaha and was sales manager for a gasoline engine company for two years, while his next step in business was at the head of an enterprise of his own. It was in March, 1909, that he organized the Alamo Engine & Supply Company, of which he became and is still the president. He further broadened the scope of his activities and interests in December, 1915, in organizing the Alamo Farm Light Company, of which he is the president. He is an enterprising and progressive business man and has in his Farm Light project an enterprise that promises notable success for the future. He is bending every energy to the development and conduct of these business interests and his patronage has now reached extensive proportions.
On the 3d of April, 1907, in Omaha, Mr. Tubbs was united in marriage to Miss Emily M. Dunn and they have one child, Edna Mae. Mr. Tubbs is a Congregationalist, while his political faith is that of the republican party. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to the Scottish Rite bodies and to the Mystic Shrine, and he is also enrolled among the members of the Omaha Field Club, the Rotary Club, the Athletic Club of Omaha and the Commercial Club. He is alert, ready at all times for any condition or emergency that may arise, and his ready recognition and utilization of opportunities has been an important element in his growing prosperity.
CHARLES JOHN LYON.
Charles Jolin Lyon, general manager and one of the incorporators of The Travelers' Health Association, was born in Trumansburg, New York, in 1861, and is descended from an old New England family. Nehemiah W. Lyon, his great-grandfather, was born August 16, 1759, and passed away on the 31st of August, 1860, when one hundred and one years old. He was a resident of Danbury, Connecticut, and participated in the War of 1812. His son, Samuel Lyon, born August 27, 1780 died in August, 1876. He also lived in Danbury, Connecticut, and took part in the War of 1812. Charles Lyon, the father of Charles John Lyon, was born in Danbury, Connecticut, October 17, 1825, and in Trumansburg, New York, wedded Miss Mary Teeter, a native of the Empire state. She died in Cleveland Ohio, in 1896, having for many years survived her husband. Charles Lyon in 1861 enlisted at Trumansburg, New York, for service as a drummer in the Forty-ninth New York Regiment of Volunteer Infantry and was discharged in 1863 with the regimental band. He reenlisted later in 1863, in the Twenty-first New York Cavalry, and was captured in Georgia, after which he was sent to Andersonville prison, where he died February 10, 1865, from starvation and exposure. He was wounded in the battle of Piedmont in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia in 1864, was taken prisoner and was confined in two different prisons before being taken to Andersonville. Prior to the war he had devoted his attention to the business of shoe manufacturing. He left a family of four sons and two daughters, but the daughters are now deceased.
Charles J. Lyon is indebted to the public school systems of Trumansburg, New York, and of Manchester, Michigan, for the educational advantages which
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he enjoyed. In 1875 he removed with his widowed mother to Manchester, where her eldest son, the Rev. Frank S. Lyon, a Baptist minister, was then located. After completing his education in the high school of Manchester, Charles J. Lyon accepted a clerkship in a general store there, spending two years in that connection. In 1878 he went to Kansas City, Missouri, where for twelve years he was employed by a wholesale firm, acting as a traveling salesman upon the road for the house during the last three years of that period. Later he took up the business of selling insurance for the New York Life Company in Kansas City and was so employed for three years. He afterward became department manager with the Emery-Bird-Thayer Company, the leading dry goods house of Kansas City, spending two years in that connection. In December, 1897, he came to Omaha and was associated with the McCord-Brady Company, wholesale grocers, as manager of a department until December, 1908. In the meantime, or in 1904, he had become one of the incorporators of The Travelers' Health Association, of which he was made secretary, and in 1908, on leaving the McCord- Brady Company, he was made treasurer of the association and also became general manager, which position he still fills. He is also a director and the vice president of the American Merchants' Syndicate, a wholesale mail order house of Chicago. Thus he has come into important business connections, gradually working his way upward from a minor position to one of prominence.
In Kansas City, Missouri, on the ist of November, 1888, Mr. Lyon was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Sophia Pasmore, a daughter of James Pasmore, a native of England. The children of this marriage were: Edith May, the wife of Myron C. Buck, of Waterloo, Iowa; Hazel Emma, who married Reuben Elwood Pratt, of Omaha; and Helen, who died in 1906, at the age of twelve years.
Mr. and Mrs. Lyon hold membership in the First Baptist church, in the work of which they are actively and helpfully interested, Mr. Lyon serving as moderator and trustee. While a resident of Missouri he served for three years, from 1884 to 1887, as a private in the Seventh Regiment of the Missouri National Guard. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and also a member of Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He belongs likewise to the Happy Hollow Club, to the Commercial Club and to the Ad Club and he is interested in all those forces which make for the material, intellectual, social, political and moral uplift of the community. His influence has always been on the side of progress and improvement and his entire career has been actuated by a spirit of advancement.
CHARLES WILBER SEARS.
Charles Wilber Sears, who in the practice of his profession has been promi- nently identified with corporation law, was born at Onawa, Monona county, Iowa, May 5, 1872, and traces his ancestry in direct line back to one of the earliest of the American colonists-Richard Sears, who was born in 1613 and was one of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1630. He died in the year 1676. His son Paul, born in 1637, died in 1707, and from him the line comes down through Paul Sears II, who was born in 1669 and died in 1740, Paul Sears III, who was born in 1695 and passed away in 1771 ; Nathaniel Sears, who was born in 1738 and died in 1816; Silas Sears, who was born in Massa- chusetts in 1762 and died in 1838; to Leonard Sears, who was born in 1802 and died in 1859. He was the father of Stillman Foote Sears, who was born in New York in 1842 and in 1864 was married in Onawa, Iowa, to Margaret A. Searle, who passed away in 1915. They were the parents of Charles Wilber Sears of Omaha.
CHARLES W. SEARS
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In the schools of his native city Charles W. Sears pursued his early education, graduating from the high school with the class of 1891. He acquired his collegiate education in the State University of Iowa, winning the degree of Ph. B. with the class of 1897. He next entered the Nebraska State University at Lincoln and was graduated from the law department in 1900. Nine years before he had become a resident of Omaha and in 1893 had entered the law office of Rich & Sears, the junior partner being his brother. As clerk and student he there remained until 1897, when he entered the employ of the F. E. Sanborn Company of Omaha, while the following year he went to Lincoln as cashier of the branch house of The Cudahy Packing Company in the capital city. In 1900 he returned to Omaha and for about a year was associated in practice with Arthur N. Fer- guson, now deceased. Later he returned to his native city, where he remained for a year, at the end of which time he again became a representative of the Omaha bar and from 1903 until 1911 he was attorney for The Cudahy Packing Company, devoting his entire time to the legal interests of that corporation. In the latter year he opened a law office for the private practice of law, in which he has since continued, and his clientage is now extensive and important.
On the 27th of February, 1901, at Onawa, Iowa, Mr. Sears was married to Miss Louise A. Boesche and to them have been born two children, Mary Emma and Melvin Leonard. Mr. Sears is a Knights Templar Mason and also a mem- ber of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of Phi Kappa Psi college fraternity and the Phi Delta Phi law fraternity. He likewise has membership in the Athletic Club of Omaha and the Seymour Lake Country Club. His religious faith is manifest in his membership in St. Martin's Episcopal church, of which he is a vestryman, and his interest in local progress is evidenced in his loyal support of the Commercial Club. In politics he is a republican and in 1913 was appointed by Governor Morehead as the republican member of the special commission on revenue and taxation in Ne- braska, the commission having been provided for by the legislature of 1913. In 1914 he was nominated for attorney general of Nebraska. While undoubtedly not without that laudable ambition which is so valuable as an incentive to faithful service in public life, he nevertheless regards the pursuits of private life as in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts and his developing powers in the practice of law have gained him distinction as an able lawyer, well qualified to handle intricate and involved legal problems. His mind is analytical and logical in its trend and his deductions are sound and convincing.
A. JOHNSON, M. D.
Dr. A. Johnson, a distinguished Omaha physician, has specialized in mental diseases, concerning which his opinions are largely accepted as authority in his adopted city. He was born in Sweden, April 2, 1860, a son of John and Anna Johnson, who were also natives of that country but came to the new world, establishing their home in Moline, Illinois, on the 4th of July, 1870. In 1876 they removed to Polk county Nebraska, where the father was engaged in farming until death called him in 1891. His wife survived until 1898 and died at the age of seventy years.
Dr. Johnson was the youngest in their family of eight children and he began his education in the country schools of Illinois, continuing his studies in Polk county, Nebraska. He afterward entered the Luther Academy at Wahoo, Nebraska, where he completed a literary course by graduation with the class of 1885. He next became a student in Augustana College at Rock Island, Illinois, and, having determined upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he then entered the Omaha Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1890, winning his professional degree. He entered upon practice as a physician for Vol. II-14
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the Union Pacific Railway Company under Dr. Galbraith, chief surgeon for that company, and continued in that service for eight years, during which time he was located at the coal mines at Hanna, Wyoming, for three and a half years and for four and a half years was located in Omaha as the company's physician and surgeon. Subsequently he engaged in private practice in Omaha, and during that period he was appointed by Governor Dietrich to the position of superintendent of the Home for the Feeble-Minded at Beatrice, Nebraska, continuing to occupy that position under Governors Savage, Mickey and Sheldon, after which he resigned to resume private practice. Later he was appointed by Governor Aldrich superintendent of the State Hospital for the Insane at Norfolk, Nebraska, and continued in that position of responsibility for two and a half years, when he resigned, desiring to devote his time and energies to the private practice of medicine, in which he continues at the present day, being recognized as one of the eminent physicians of Omaha. IIe has long and closely studied mental and nervous disorders and is a recognized authority upon diseases of the mind. He keeps in close touch with the trend of modern professional thought and scientific investigation through his membership in the Douglas County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Aside from his profession he is a member of the board of directors of the Lutheran International Insurance Company and is also its medical director. Since 1910, Dr. Johnson has been a member of the board of directors of Augustana College at Rock Island, Illinois, this being the oldest and largest institution of learning in America controlled by the Swedish Lutheran church.
In Chariton, Iowa, on the 20th of November, 1890, Dr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Sophia Sandahl, of Chariton, Iowa, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Sandahl, of Chariton, who were pioneers of that state but are now deceased. Dr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children: Julius A., who was born in Omaha August 25, 1891, and was graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1912, since which time he has been pursuing a medical course in the university, class of 1917; and Olga, who was born in Hanna, Wyoming, in 1893 and is a graduate of the high school of Norfolk, Nebraska. At the present time she is a teacher in the Home for the Feeble-Minded at Glenwood, Iowa.
Dr. Johnson belongs to the Commercial Club, a fact which indicates his interest in matters of public moment. He is also enrolled as a member of the Noonday Club. He stands for all those forces and interests which are of greatest value as factors in physical, mental and moral development and progress and his worth is widely acknowledged in professional connections, his constantly expanding powers bringing him to prominence in professional circles.
CLINTON D. ORCUTT.
Clinton D. Orcutt, who was the owner of large landed interests in the middle west and was widely and favorably known in various localities, was called to the home beyond January 27, 1905. His birth occurred in Naperville, Illinois, in 1840 and at a very early day his parents had become residents of that state, removing from New York to the middle west.
Following the acquirement of a public school education Clinton D. Orcutt took up the study of law and prepared for the bar, gaining a comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence. Removing to Davenport, Iowa, he there engaged in the practice of law and also conducted a real estate business, meeting with splendid success in both undertakings, so that his labors were attended with a substantial reward. At length he retired from active business life and in 1888 removed to Omaha, establishing his home at No. 550 South Twenty-sixth street. In 1901, he was appointed a trustee of the Nebraska Institute for the Deaf and Dumb and also of the Institute for the Blind, while
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subsequently he was made president of the board of trustees. He took a very deep and helpful interest in that work, doing everything in his power to promote the efficiency of the institutions in their work to alleviate the hard conditions under which their inmates were suffering. He reached out in sympathetic understand- ing of their needs and did much to promote the standards of both schools. While Mr. Orcutt lived retired from business during the period of his residence in Omaha he owned and managed large real estate interests in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas and from his property holdings received a most gratifying annual income.
In Davenport, Iowa, in 1870, Mr. Orcutt was married to Miss Anna D. Dutton, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, and to them were born five children: Lewis D. and George D., both of whom are now deceased; Miriam Edith, who is the widow of Alfred J. Beaton, and has two children, Orcutt and Anna Jane; Anna Ri, the wife of Louis Jaques, of Chicago, and the mother of three children, Anna Ri, Abbie Jane and Lois; and Jane Clair, the wife of Arthur Keeline, of Omaha.
Mr. Orcutt was a Mason and exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft, but he never sought to figure prominently in public connections, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business and upon the interests of his home, where he found his greatest happiness. He was, however, not in the least degree narrow or contracted in his interests and activities and in all matters of citizen- ship gave his substantial support on the side of progress and improvement.
HARLAN ALBERT SCOTT.
Harlan Albert Scott, president of the Scott & Hill Company, engaged in the real estate, contracting and fire insurance business in Omaha, was born on a farm in Monona county, Iowa, in 1877, and is descended from one of the old American families. His grandfather was Samuel Scott, a native of Connecticut. His father, George Marion Scott, was born in Medina, Ohio, in 1835 and in early manhood removed to western Iowa. His early life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, but later he became a merchant of Little Sioux. Iowa. In that state he wedded Maria Cobb, a native of Chautauqua county, New York, and his death occurred in 1913. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Little Sioux. Iowa.
It was during the infancy of Harlan A. Scott that his parents removed to Little Sioux, where he largely pursued his education in the public schools, although later he was graduated from a business college at Shenandoah, Iowa. with the class of 1895. He next went to Ottumwa, Iowa, where he spent two years in the employ of a wholesale drug firm, and later he entered the office of the superintendent of the Chicago Great Western Railway in Des Moines in the capacity of a stenographer. After a year and a half there spent he returned to Little Sioux and for a year was associated in business with his father, who con- ducted a general store there. In 1900 H. A. Scott removed to St. Louis and was private secretary to L. W. Wakeley, then general passenger agent of the Missouri lines and now general passenger agent of the Burlington lines west of the Missouri river. Mr. Scott remained in St. Louis for about six months and in June, 1901, came to Omaha, where he accepted the position of private secretary to the traffic manager of the Cudahy Packing Company, continuing in that position until August, 1907, when he turned his attention to the real estate business and to contracting, while soon afterward he added a fire insurance department. In 1913 he incorporated his interests under the name of the Scott & Hill Company and has continuously been its president. He has operated largely in the field of real estate dealing and building and fire insurance is also an important branch of his interests. His patronage is extensive and his interests are constantly broaden-
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ing along legitimate business lines. He belongs to the Real Estate Exchange and also to the Building Managers & Owners Association.
On the 2d of October, 1901, in Des Moines, Iowa, Mr. Scott was united in marriage to Miss Winifred May, daughter of Caleb M. Stafford. They have two children, Viola Madeline and Eugenia Winifred. Politically Mr. Scott is a republican but without aspiration for office. He attends the Church of the Latter Day Saints and something of the nature of his recreation is indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Automobile Club. He has gained a wide acquaintance during the period of his residence in Omaha and his sterling worth has won for him the respect and goodwill of many with whom he has been brought in contact.
WAYNE E. SAWTELL.
Wayne E. Sawtell, an Omaha attorney who has practiced in this city since November, 1912, was born in Hartwick, Iowa, in 1881 and is a representative of an old New England family. His ancestors originally were French and at the time of religious persecution in that country fled from France to England with other Huguenots. The immigrant ancestor in America came from England in 1636. James Prescott Sawtell, the grandfather, was born in Chester, Vermont, and the father, Frank A. Sawtell, was born in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1861, which facts indicate that the family was following the trend of western emigration. The last named wedded Maria Jones and in 1893 they became residents of Des Moines, Iowa, where they are now living.
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