USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 36
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Alfred K. Barnes began his education in the public schools of Ponca, Neb- raska, but when he was seven years of age his parents removed to Norfolk, Nebraska, so that he became a pupil in the public schools of the latter place. He completed his more specifically literary course by graduation from the State University at Lincoln with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1902. He after- ward pursued a two years' course in law in the State University and in 1907 was admitted to the bar, at which time he opened an office in Omaha, where he has since remained in active practice, and he is now counsel for the Peters Trust Company. He has always largely specialized in corporation law and his knowl- edge thereof is comprehensive and exact.
On the Ist of September, 1908, in Omaha, Mr. Barnes was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Fricke, a daughter of Herman Fricke. They now have two sons : John Herman, born February 15, 1911 ; and Alfred K., born July 6, 1914.
Politically Mr. Barnes has always been a stanch republican since age con- ferred upon him the right of franchise. Fraternally he is a chapter Mason and his religious belief is that of the Presbyterian church. He is a director of the Omaha Bar Association and his interests are of a nature that show him to be a broad-minded man of well balanced capacities and powers.
HENRY A. McCORD.
Henry A. McCord, living retired in Omaha, enjoying a rest which should ever foilow years of intense and well directed business activity, came to Nebraska in 1879 from Marshall county, Iowa. He was born in Minnesota in 1857 and was twenty-three years of age when he took up his abode in Burt county, Nebraska, where he turned his attention to farming and to the feeding
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and raising of stock. His business affairs in that connection were wisely and successfully managed and he was regarded as one of the prominent representa- tives of agricultural interests in his section of the state. He continued actively in that line of business until January, 1908, when he sold his land and all other interests in Burt county and came to Omaha, where he has since made his home. He purchased some lots and also erected bungalows, including four on Twen- tieth and Pratt streets. In fact he has improved several pieces of property which have added to the value and attractiveness of adjacent real estate and he still has large realty holdings in Omaha, from which he derives a most grati- fying annual income. His investments have been most judiciously placed, providing him with all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. In 1912 he erected an attractive home at No. 6119 Florence boulevard and he now gives his entire attention to the further development of the property and grounds, having two acres on which he is cultivating gardens and raising flowers. This constitutes both his occupation and his diversion at the present time and he is making of his place one of the beauty spots of Omaha.
Mr. McCord was united in marriage to Miss Helen C. Plummer, who came from Iowa to Nebraska in February, 1882. They attend the United Presbyterian church and in the social circles of the city occupy an enviable position. Mr. McCord's life history is an inspiring one, showing what may be accomplished through determined and intelligently directed purpose and energy. and the qualities which he has cultivated and developed are such as have gained for him the enduring respect, regard and friendship of those with whom he has been associated.
URBAN B. BALCOMBE.
Urban B. Balcombe, who died at Excelsior Springs, Missouri, March 7, 1917, was born in Elgin, Illinois, in 1852. His father, Saint A. D. Balcombe, removed with his family to Omaha from Winona, Minnesota, July 5, 1865. He had for- merly been agent for the captured Sioux and Winnebago Indians and in 1863 removed them to St. Louis and thence to North Dakota, where he established an agency for the representatives of the two tribes. In 1865 the Winnebagos tired of their location and Mr. Balcombe took five of the Indians to Washington and they bought one-half of the Omaha agency in Nebraska. After settling the red men at their new location Mr. Balcombe brought his family to Omaha and pur- chased the Republican, which he continued to publish until 1875. He then disposed of his paper and office. He was then appointed to the position of United States marshal for Wyoming, which position he continued to occupy for two or three years, after which he returned to Omaha. In 1887 he was appointed chairman of the board of public works, which position he filled for two terms and remained a member of the board until 1895. He was a native of New York and he spent his last days in Omaha, where he passed away in 1904, at the age of seventy-five. His wife bore the maiden name of Anna Denning and they became the parents of five children : Urban B .; Lesbia, who married Louis S. Reed and passed away October 1, 1916; Mrs. Selma Meikle of Chicago; Mora, the wife of Charles H. Marple, of Omaha; and Mrs. Mabel Lenhardt, of New York city.
Urban B. Balcombe was a youth of thirteen when the family home was established in Omaha. His boyhood up to that time had been largely spent upon the frontier and his memory compassed many interesting incidents of pioneer life. He was associated with his father in all his undertakings in Omaha and for twenty years he held various city and county positions, acting at different times as deputy city clerk, as secretary of the board of public works, as deputy assessor under Harry Reed and in other offices, the duties of which
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he discharged with promptness and fidelity. At length he retired from office and afterward spent his time in the enjoyment of well earned rest save for the supervision which he gave to his real estate investments that returned to him a gratifying and substantial annual income.
In Omaha, in 1890, Mr. Balcombe was married to Miss Cora Turner, a native of Missouri Valley, Iowa. Fraternally he was connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, while his father was a Mason. He followed in his father's political footsteps, becoming a stalwart advocate of the republican party, and, like his father, was well known as an honored and substantial citizen. The name of Balcombe has figured in connection with Omaha's development and with her public interests for more than a half century and has ever been a synonym for progressive citizenship.
CHRISTOPHER C. CROWELL, JR.
Christopher C. Crowell, Jr., one of the best known men in connection with the grain trade of the middle west, is the president of both the Crowell Lumber & Grain Company and the Crowell Elevator Company, in which capacities he is bending his efforts to constructive methods, administrative direction and execu- tive control. His business training was in preparation for the duties which now engage his attention and step by step as the result of his experience, his close application and his thorough study of every phase of the trade he has advanced until he is now at the head of corporations whose assets are more than a million dollars.
Mr. Crowell was born in Blair, Washington county, Nebraska, July 6, 1874, and is a grandson of Prince S. Crowell, a native of Massachusetts, who became a prominent figure in railway circles. He married Polly D. Foster. On the paternal side the line is traced back directly to Elder Brewster. The great- great-grandfather of Christopher C. Crowell, Jr., was an officer of the Revolu- tionary war and the great-grandfather was an officer in the American army during the War of 1812. In relation to the grandfather Morton's History of Nebraska says :
"Prince S. Crowell was a man of remarkable business ability and great energy. In his youthful days he commanded one of the first merchant vessels sailing to China from American ports. While still young he retired from a seafaring life and built a number of vessels at East Dennis, his home. Later he became inter- ested with John I. Blair and others in a construction company which built many of the railroads west of the Mississippi river in Iowa, Nebraska and other states. He was also president of two banks and on his own account transacted a large marine insurance business. He was one of the leading agitators in his locality for the present school system, was a radical abolitionist, and his home was the meeting place for such great personages as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, the Burleighs, Lucy Stone and many others of prominence. He was always of a retiring disposition, but his power was nevertheless a strong factor in public affairs. He amassed a large fortune and was ever a liberal supporter of all charitable work.
"Christopher C. Crowell, Sr., the father of Christopher C. Crowell, Jr., was born at East Dennis, Massachusetts, May 19, 1844. For many years, however, he was a resident of Nebraska, where he was a most prominent representative of the grain trade, becoming the owner of sixteen elevators, his headquarters being at Blair, where the business was established in 1869 and where the general offices of the Crowell Lumber & Grain Company were maintained. Later a removal was made to Omaha in 1909 and in the early part of 1910 Christopher C. Crowell passed away. Like his father before, he was greatly interested in work for the betterment and uplift of mankind and his influence and efforts were no
CHRISTOPHER C. CROWELL, JR.
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less broad and no less effective than those of his honored father, Prince S. Crowell. C. C. Crowell, Sr., was a most earnest supporter of the temperance cause and did everything in his power to bring about the abolition of the liquor traffic, leaving ten thousand dollars to be used by his son and namesake to further the prohibition cause. From 1884 until his death he was a stalwart prohibitionist and was his party's candidate for treasurer of Nebraska in 1900. He was also the first full term mayor of Blair, Nebraska. On the 5th of December, 1867, he married Polly D. Foster and to them were born eight children, of whom five now survive."
With the example of his honored father to serve as an inspiration to him, Christopher C. Crowell, Jr., has continued the work in which his father and grandfather were interested-work for the betterment of his fellowmen, and at the same time has become his father's successor in business, his course proving that he is adequate to all the demands placed upon him. To accumulate a fortune requires one kind of genius; to retain a fortune already acquired, to add to its legitimate increment and to make such use of it that its possessor may derive therefrom the greatest enjoyment and the public the greatest benefit requires another kind of genius. Mr. Crowell belongs to that younger generation of business men of Omaha called upon to shoulder responsibilities differing materially from those resting upon their predecessors. In a broader field of enterprise he finds himself obliged to deal with affairs of greater magnitude and to solve more difficult and complicated financial, economic and commercial problems. His early training for his present responsibilities came to him through the Blair public schools, supplemented by a year's study in a business college in Chicago. He remained thereafter in Chicago for two years as an employe in a large retail furniture store and in 1893 he returned to Blair. In the following year he became connected with his father's grain elevator business at a country station in Nebraska, where he remained for seven years; making it his purpose to thoroughly learn the business in principle and detail. After learning the field management with all its detail work concerning buying and selling, in 1901 Mr. Crowell entered the general office of the Crowell Lumber & Grain Company at Blair and with the removal of the headquarters to Omaha in 1909 became a resi- dent of this city. His father died in 1916 and two years afterward, or in 1912, he succeeded to the presidency of the company, which in 1885 had been incorporated under the style of the Crowell Lumber & Grain Company. He is today also president of the Crowell Elevator Company, which was incorporated in 19II, and thus as chief executive officer of both concerns he controls most extensive interests. The business has grown in volume and the grain company now has twenty-three country elevators and ten lumberyards in Nebraska. The other officers of the company are: J. A. Linderholm, secretary; and Z. K. Doane, treasurer. These, together with Mr. Crowell as president and E. H. Benner and M. B. Copeland, constitute the board of directors.
On the 15th of September, 1897, at Newman's Grove, Nebraska, Mr. Crowell was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Saare, a daughter of the late Herman Saare, a native of Germany. The children of this marriage are Herman F., Christopher C., Mildred and Pauline.
Mr. Crowell is a prohibitionist in politics and a Methodist in religious faith. He is now serving on the official board of the McCabe Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which he takes a very active, prominent and helpful part. He is equally earnest in his support of the Young Men's Christian Association and is a member of the Commercial Club. The subjective and objective forces of life are in him well balanced, making him cognizant of his own capacities and powers, while at the same time he thoroughly understands his opportunities and his obligations. To make his native talents subserve the demands which the conditions of society impose at the present time is the purpose of his life and by reason of the mature judgment which characterizes his efforts at all times he stands today as a splendid representative of the successful merchant and capitalist
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to whom business is but one phase of life and does not exclude his active participa- tion in and support of the other vital interests which go to make up human existence.
WILLIAM STEPHENS, JR.
In the history of early commercial development in Omaha it is imperative that mention be made of William Stephens, Jr., for scarcely more than a decade after the first white settlement was made on the site of the present city he became identified with its commercial interests, and with the development of the metropolis he figured more and more largely in its commercial circles. A native of Missouri, he was born in Monroe county in 1843, a son of Thomas N. and Mary Stephens.
In his youthful days he became identified with mercantile interests in Missouri and was thus associated until 1864, when he came to Omaha to cast in his lot with the newly established but rapidly developing city. He was connected with its commercial circles for many years as senior partner in the firm of Stephens & Wilcox, wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods, Indian goods, robes and furs, his trade gradually going through a transformation as the tide of emigration drifted westward and Omaha was no longer an outpost of frontier civilization. In other ways Mr. Stephens also took a prominent part in the development of Omaha, aiding largely in the establishment of the military post, of Omaha Bar- racks and the government supply depot. He was prominent in the promotion of all the social organizations of Omaha in the early days and his political allegiance was given to the democratic party.
Mr. Stephens was united in marriage to Miss Mary Willis Griffin and their family numbered the following children: Lucien, a resident of Omaha; Oscar Lee and Mary Ida, who are deceased; Thomas W., the president of the Ansco Company of Binghamton, New York, and New York city; and Henry G., who is the secretary of the Pacific Fire Insurance Company of New York. The two last named were born in Omaha, Nebraska. The death of Mr. Stephens occurred in 1883, after a residence of almost twenty years in Omaha, during which period he had made valuable contribution to its upbuilding and development.
THOMAS BROWN.
Thomas Brown, who was successfully engaged in the quick lunch business in Omaha, was born in Wimbledon, England, in 1849 and was a graduate of Wimbledon College, of which his grandmother was one of the directors, and she was also a large landowner of London and its vicinity. It was in 1869 that Thomas Brown came to the new world, and his mother and sister. Mrs. James Bartlett, afterward crossed the Atlantic to America and the mother made her home with him in this country until her demise.
Taking up his abode in Chicago, Mr. Brown was for many years manager of the Palmer House of that city. Eventually he removed to Lincoln, where he engaged in the restaurant business, and in 1898 he became a resident of Omaha, where he established the Brown Quick Lunch Restaurants, having five different places, one on North Sixteenth street, one on South Sixteenth, one on Farnam, the fourth on Thirteenth street and the fifth on South Tenth street. He built up a business of notable proportions, having the first establishment of the kind in Omaha, and from the beginning his patronage steadily grew, making his under- taking a profitable one.
On the 12th of May, 1894, in Lincoln, Nebraska, Mr. Brown was united in . marriage to Miss Marie Barker, a native of Yorkshire, England, and in 1904 he
THOMAS BROWN
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purchased the residence on Wirt street which his family still occupies and in 1905 purchased the flats at Twenty-first and Cass streets.' To Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born three children: Thomas J., is a graduate of the Racine (Wis.) College and of the State University at Madison, Wisconsin, and is studying military law and tactics and also preparing for work as an army surgeon. Dorothey Marie studied at Brownell Hall in Omaha and afterward completed her education at Miss Payne's School in Folkestone, England, also studying music in the Royal Academy of London; Myrtle Madeline will graduate in 1917 from Brownell Hall.
Mr. Brown was a most charitable man and was continually extending a help- ing hand where it was needed. At one time he was a member of the Masonic fraternity and also belonged to the Woodmen of the World. His last days were spent in Jacksonville, Florida, where he passed away November 23, 1909, his death being the occasion of deep regret to many friends as well as his immediate family.
Mrs. Brown is a graduate of the Sheffield Training School and previous to her marriage followed the profession of nursing. She is active along various lines of modern thought and development. She is one of the earnest and helpful members of Trinity Cathedral and she belongs to the Omaha Woman's Club, in which she is serving as treasurer of the social science department. She belongs also to three suffrage associations, the Omaha, the Political Equality and the Equal Franchise. Her position upon the temperance question is indicated by her mem- bership in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She acted as chairman of the Syrian relief work on Saturday, October 21, 1916, and she is ever connected with some important philanthropic or social service movement which is working toward the uplift and betterment of the individual or of humanity at large.
SIDNEY SMITH MONTGOMERY.
Through the steps of an orderly progression in railroad service Sidney Smith Montgomery worked his way steadily upward and at length in 1906 turned to other pursuits, being now engaged in real estate dealing in Omaha. He was born in Allenwick, Ontario, Canada, August 23, 1872. His father, Samuel Mont- gomery, was born in County Cavan, Ireland, and in his boyhood days accom- panied his parents to the new world. In Ontario he wedded Lucetta Honeywell and in 1888 they removed to Beatrice, Nebraska, where both passed away, the former in 1915 and the latter in 1911.
Sidney S. Montgomery attended the schools of Campbellford, Ontario, to the fourth grade and at the age of eleven years started out to earn his own living, since which time he has depended entirely upon his individual resources and ability and has truly earned the proud American title of self-made man. After the removal of the family to Beatrice, Nebraska, he did any and all kinds of manual work that he could secure that would yield him an honest living, and while thus engaged he took up the study of telegraphy at night. In 1890 he obtained a place as telegrapher with the Burlington Railway and afterward was made agent, serving at various points on the Burlington until in 1896, when he resigned the position of cashier at Cheyenne, Wyoming, to enter the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company as extra agent in Utah and Wyoming. He thus served for a year and then went to Norfolk, Nebraska, as train dispatcher for the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad. A year later he was transferred to Chadron, Nebraska, as train dispatcher for the same road and for nine years remained at that point or until 1906, having two years before, how- ever, been promoted to the position of chief train dispatcher. On leaving the railway service he came to Omaha in 1906 as manager for Nebraska of the Washington Life Insurance Company. He occupied that position for a year
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and then entered the real estate business, after which he dropped insurance and is now concentrating his energies upon his operations in the real estate field. In the intervening period he has negotiated many important property transfers and he is thoroughly informed concerning values and is acquainted with prac- tically all the property upon the market.
In June, 1896, at Norfolk, Nebraska, Mr. Montgomery was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude M. Bennett, by whom he has a daughter, Beatrice Laird Mont- gomery. The family attend the Congregational church. Mr. Montgomery votes with the democratic party but has never been an aspirant for office. He is a Master Mason and a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also identified with the Ak-Sar-Ben and his name is on the membership roll of the Happy Hollow Club. At a period when most boys are dividing their time between the duties of the schoolroom and the pleasures of the playground he was forced to take upon himself the burden and responsibilities of life and with courageous spirit assumed his tasks. There have been indeed few idle moments in his career and his persistency of purpose combined with loyalty, integrity and determination have brought him to the creditable point which he now occupies in business circles.
CHARLES FREDERICK WELLER.
Charles Frederick Weller has passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, for he has reached the seventy-second milestone on life's journey, yet he is still a most active factor in commercial circles in Omaha, being today one of its foremost merchants as president of the Richardson Drug Com- pany. His life record has been such as would at all times bear the closest investi- gation and scrutiny, one of his marked characteristics being his spirit of fidelity to every trust, manifest in pronounced manner when he aided the country in the effort to preserve the Union more than half a century ago. A native of Ohio, Mr. Weller was born in New Alexandria, Jefferson county, May 16, 1844, a son of Zaccheus Sherman Weller, who was born in Roxbury, Connecticut, in 1824. Removing to Ohio, he was married in that state to Mrs. Mary H. Bowers, nee Havens, who was born near Penn Yan, New York. Both have now passed away.
Charles F. Weller pursued his education in public schools of Ohio until 1857, when his father, who was a Methodist minister, was called to a pastorate in Jefferson City, Missouri, and the family accordingly removed to that place. There the son continued his education. At the time of the Civil war he finally obtained a pass from General Price and managed to get across the river into lowa, traveling at night time and sleeping by day. He had an old horse which he sold in Washington, Iowa, for ten dollars and he soon afterward secured employment on a farm near by, digging post holes until he had blistered his hands. In this condition he was set to work at driving a team and not long afterward he passed a teacher's examination at Washington, Iowa, obtained his certificate and for three months taught school in Washington county at a salary of twenty dollars per month, boarding 'round among the families whose children were his pupils. In the following September he bought a ticket for Beaver, Pennsylvania, where his parents were then living, having been sent out of Missouri by General Price.
Charles F. Weller there attended the Beaver Institute until November, 1861, when he felt that it was necessary for him to provide for his own support and accordingly he left home in search of work. He reached Wellsburg, West Virginia, with a dollar and a half in his pocket and near that place he obtained a school which he taught for three months. He then returned to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, expecting to attend college, but the war feeling was then so strong that in May, 1862, he enlisted as a private of Company G. Fifteenth Pennsyl-
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