USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 39
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Fraternally Mr. Mickel is connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Modern Woodmen of America and is favorably known in those organiza- tions as well as in business circles. Point by point he has worked his way upward and with each advance he has had a broader outlook and wider oppor- tunities. Fortunate in possessing character and ability that inspire confidence in others, the simple weight of his character and ability have carried him into important relations.
GEORGE PARKS.
George Parks, city commissioner of Omaha and the head of the National Construction Company of that city, occupies a position among the most prominent and substantial residents of Douglas county. His labors have been a most potent element in bringing about the progress which has made Omaha the metropolis of Nebraska and one of the great trade centers of the middle west. A notable career of successful achievement marks the life record of George Parks, who was born in County Armagh, Ireland, March 15, 1858, a son of George and Katherine (Ilughes) Parks, who were likewise natives of the Emerald isle. In early life the father engaged in the manufacture of brick and later became a flax buyer. He died, however, when but forty-seven years of age and in 1881 his widow came with her family to the new world, settling in Chicago. In 1888 she removed to Omaha and lived there to the time of her death, which occurred in 1913, when she had reached the age of eighty-two years. In her family were seven children, of whom George Parks is the eldest. The others are: Robert, who was married at Kansas City, Missouri, January 8, 1902, to Cecelia M. O'Connell, a daughter of William and Mary O'Connell, and who passed away November 20, 1912, in South Omaha ; James, a well known contractor of South Omaha : John ; Mrs. Peter Henry ; Mrs. Patrick Smith ; and Mrs. Peter McCrane.
In his youthful days George Parks attended the public schools of Ireland and at the age of twelve years began work in the spinning mills of Keady, Ireland, where he learned the trade of spinning and weaving, being first employed by the firm of William Kirk & Sons. He afterward removed to Dundalk, Ireland, where he was employed in spinning and weaving mills until 1871, when he
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abandoned that work and entered upon an apprenticeship to the bricklayer's and mason's trade at Dundalk, Ireland. There he worked at his trade until 1877, when he came to America, thinking to try his fortune on this side the Atlantic. He was so well pleased with the country and the opportunities here offered that he subsequently sent for his mother, who with the younger children of the family crossed the Atlantic, as previously stated.
George Parks made his way at once to Chicago, where he secured immediate employment as a bricklayer. He did considerable work along the line of his trade in connection with the packing house interests and he remained a resident of Chicago until 1888, when under contract to the Armour-Cudahy Packing Company he came to Omaha to take charge of all the brick and iron work in connection with the erection of the Cudahy-Armour packing plant in South Omaha. An entire year was consumed in the erection of the first plant. In 1889 he returned to Chicago to erect the addition to the Armour plant, having entire charge of the brick work. At the same time he had the contract for the Hammond packing plant in South Omaha and he also erected the St. Agnes church in South Omaha, together with many store buildings, carrying on these numerous projects at the same time. He was awarded the contracts therefor and had the personal charge of these vast building enterprises. He completed the entire Hammond packing plant in South Omaha in 1892 and also the plant of the Omaha Packing Company, another vast building project, in the same year. In 1893-4 he built and completed the brick work of the warehouse and shipping plants of the Cudahy Packing Company in New Orleans and the Cudahy packing plant at Seattle, Washington. He also built the Masonic Temple at Logan, Iowa, and in 1896 built the Fort Wayne (Ind.) plant for Cudahy, together with several build- ings in Chicago for the same interests. He was the builder of the John Cudahy plant in Chicago, also of the glue factory for the Armour Company at Chicago, and he built the Cudahy packing plants at Brockton, Massachusetts, at Boston and at Fall River, Massachusetts. In 1897 he erected the magnificent palatial residence of Mr. Cudahy on Dewey avenue in Omaha and the same year built the Sioux City (Iowa) plant. In 1899 he erected the Adams-Kelly building, a build- ing for the John Deere Plow Company and many other important business blocks and large public buildings in Omaha, as well as many private residences which add much to the architectural beauty of the city. Mr. Parks has the distinction of having erected the greater part of the prominent buildings in Omaha. In 1899 he built the Hammond packing house in St. Joseph, Missouri, also the Viles- Robbins Packing Company plant at St. Joseph and the plant of the St. Joseph- American Beef Packing Company. In 1900 and 1901 the construction of the plant of the Cudahy Packing Company at Kansas City occupied his attention and in 1902 he built the substation for the Metropolitan Street Railway in Kansas City, and in 1904 he rebuilt the plant of the Cudahy Packing Company at Los Angeles, California, which had been destroyed by fire. It was about that time that he began to devote his attention to paving and he secured the contract for the paving for Lincoln, South Omaha and Kearney, Nebraska, which he com- pleted. He afterward built the South Omaha sewer system and the ice houses for the Cudahy interests at Seymour Lake. He has erected more buildings in Omaha than any other man in the past twenty-five or thirty years and his work stands as a monument to his skill, ability and genius. In this connection one of the local papers wrote :
"Twenty-eight years a dominant factor in building South Omaha! For more than twenty years the company entrusted with the paving of the city's streets ! The men who erected the huge Armour-Cudahy packing plant and constructed the monster Cudahy ice house at Seymour Lake! These are a few of the milc- stones in the career of the National Construction Company of South Omalia. The rapidity with which merit is recognized in the substantial middle west is responsible for many of the excellent conditions affecting the lives of residents of its commercial centers. By the same token city improvements have been
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executed by companies that stand out in perfect harmony with the general scheme of rounding out a metropolis worthy of the efforts of those who have completed the gigantic task. Thoroughness is the watchword in city contracts. The organizations of experts that have mastered these problems and completed enormous paving contracts to the entire satisfaction of all the people, have a prior claim on public patronage and esteem. And such an institution is the National Construction Company of Omaha, 749 Brandeis building, of which George Parks, one of the best known men in construction circles in the middle west, is president. The National Construction Company is organized upon a cooperative basis, hence the strength that is behind it and the prestige carried by the name of the company. Every member gives his full time to the firm's business. Every department head is an efficiency expert in his line. Satisfactory service and the successful completion of every contract is the natural result. It was in 1888 that George Parks came to South Omaha at the head of his crew of men, with the contract for the erection of the great Armour-Cudahy packing house in his inside pocket. With the completion of that enormous task the capability of Mr. Parks as a contractor was recognized. South Omaha's future appealed to Mr. Parks and he decided to make the city his home. And it was but a few years until he became listed among the leading contractors of the city. It was perhaps in his ability to complete paving contracts that he won greatest esteem. Perusal of paving work completed in South Omaha during the last year alone mutely tells the story of city improvement. These strides toward metro- politanism were assured when the contracts were placed in the hands of heads of the National Construction Company. Here's a portion of the paving com- pleted : Twentieth from S to Y; Twenty-seventh from H to L; Twenty-eighth from D to F; H street from Twenty-sixth to Twenty-fourth; Nineteenth from H to G; Sixteenth from Missouri avenue to MI; N street from Sixteenth to Twentieth ; Fifteenth from M to O; Twenty-ninth from Q to R; Twenty-eighth from O to R. This enviable record for one year's work is a tribute to the ability and efficiency of the contractors. In addition to the street paving the National Construction Company paved ten alleys in the downtown district as well as laying more than three blocks of pavement for the Jetter Brewing Company. When the Cudahy Packing Company's ice house at Seymour Lake was completed by the National Company at a cost of approximately seventy-five thousand. dollars in 1915, the story of successfully applied efficiency was retold. During the paving season the company gives employment to one hundred and fifty Omaha men. More than ten thousand dollars is paid to these men every month. This money goes back into Omaha channels where it will benefit the taxpayer. Through its contracts the National Construction Company is keeping this money in Greater Omaha. This is being done by a fair policy of equitable profits whereby the public receives a double return."
Aside from being president of the National Construction Company, Mr. Parks is president of the George Parks Company of Omaha. In May, 1916, he was appointed to succeed John C. Drexel, as city commissioner. As a city official, superintending the department of street cleaning and maintenance, Mr. Parks gives his official duties the same close attention as he has given his own private business, eliminating all partisan influence and putting his department on a strictly business basis.
At Chicago, on the 29th of August, 1886. Mr. Parks was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Storm, born September 20, 1869, in Cleveland, Ohio, a daughter of Frank and Annie (Corcoran ) Storm, natives of Germany and Ireland respectively. They have become parents of fourteen children; Ann, born in Chicago, June 23, 1887, is now Mrs. John Mugan, of South Omaha, and has three sons, John, Robert and Joseph. Margaret was born in Omaha, July 28, 1888. Catherine was born January 26, 1890. George, Jr., born October 7, 1891, married Lillian Dworak, and has a daughter, Mary Margaret. He is active in the management of his father's business. Marie, who was born August 23, 1893, died in infancy.
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John, born September 26, 1894, is in his father's employ. Robert, born April 25, 1896, is in the plumbing business. James, born July 25, 1898, is a student at Spalding College. Gertrude, born July 3, 1900, is a student at Father Judge's school. Florence, who was born July 6, 1902, Cecelia, born August 30, 1904, and Mildred, born March 16, 1907, are all attending St. Bridget's school. Claire and Francis, twins, were born February 4, 1910.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Parks also has membership with the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. Parks has been termed by those who know him "a prince of good fellows." He has become a recognized leader in business affairs and his life record is the story of thrift and business sagacity grafted on western energy and enterprise. Every day in his life must mark off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to do more. The simplicity and beauty of his daily life, as seen in his home and family relations, constitute an even balance to his splendid business ability.
WILLIAM G. URE.
In this age when much is heard concerning incapability and dishonesty in public office it is most pleasing to contemplate the career of such a public official as William G. Ure, treasurer of Douglas county, and to hear the expressions of public confidence which continually bear testimony as to his capability, fidelity and trustworthiness. Loyalty in every relation of life is one of his most marked characteristics and when there is a duty to be done he prepares for it with the utmost thoroughness, carefully studying every phase of the situation that he may thoroughly inform himself concerning its needs, demands and opportunities.
Mr. Ure was born on a farm in Linn county, Iowa, May 9, 1867, and comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry, manifesting many of the sterling traits which have descended to him through that lineal strain, ever constituting a source of strength in the citizenship of any community wherein it is found. His paternal grandfather, Robert Ure, was born in Scotland and came to the United States in 1838 at the age of sixty years. He was a farmer by occupation and his last days were spent in Linn county, Iowa, where he passed away in 1849. His son, William Ure, father of William G. Ure, also took up the occupation of farming as a life work. He was born in Sterlingshire, Scotland, in 1828 and was therefore a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents to the new world, becoming a resident of Linn county, Iowa, in 1841. For a long period he was actively identified with agricultural pursuits there and his ability as a business man and loyalty as a citizen led to his selection for official honors. For nine years he served as county supervisor and bridge commissioner of Linn county and for two terms he represented his district in the Iowa state legis- lature, leaving the impress of his individuality upon legislation enacted during that period. He was also one of three commissioners who selected Anamosa, Iowa, as the site of the state penitentiary. He died in 1898 and is still survived by his widow, who is now living in Omaha at the age of eighty-nine years.
William G. Ure supplemented his early education, acquired in the district schools of Linn county, by five years' study in Monmouth College at Monmouth, Illinois. Later he spent two years in the furniture business at Minden, Nebraska, under the firm style of Nichol & Ure and in 1891 he removed to Omaha, where he entered the real estate and loan business, in which he has since been success- fully engaged, negotiating many important realty transfers and also enjoying a good clientage in the other departments of his business.
On the 9th of November, 1898, in Bloomington, Indiana, Mr. Ure was mar-
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ried to Miss Minnie Faris, a daughter of James Faris, deceased, and they have three children, Mary Faris, Frances Foster and William G.
In his political views Mr. Ure is a stalwart republican and ranks as one of the active leaders of his party in Douglas county. Arriving in Omaha a quarter of a century ago, he soon became prominent in a public way because of his advocacy of equal taxation. In the early days the corporations were bear- ing a very small part of the burden of taxation. The vast railway terminals of Lincoln and Omaha were paying practically nothing toward the support of municipal government and Mr. Ure became probably the foremost advocate of terminal taxation, being instrumental in securing the passage of a law that has resul ed in the railroads contributing annually thousands of dollars to the sup- port of the city of Omaha, to say nothing of the benefits accruing to Lincoln and other cities over the state. Henry T. Clark, Jr., and N. P. Dodge, Jr., were the members of the house of representatives in charge of the terminal tax bills and hey were unable to answer the figures advanced by the railroads. Mr. Ure was therefore sent for to meet the opponents of the terminal tax, and going to the capital, he there remained until the opposition was thoroughly subdued. There are few men in the state as familiar with the principles of taxation or as capable of arraying figures and thereby demonstrating facts as William G. U're. From 1906 until 1908 inclusive Mr. Ure filled the position of county com- missioner of Douglas county and in 1911 he was elected county treasurer, while reelections have continued him in office to the present time. Since his first election the responsibility of caring for the funds of the water district, the funds of the city of South Omaha and the village of Dundee have been added to the office, involving the handling of additional millions annually. The busi- ness of the office has been so conducted by him that many thousands of dollars have been saved during his incumbency, resulting from investing the funds in a way never done by any former treasurer. As county commissioner he made an enviable record. The county funds were in a deplorable condition when he became a member of the board, there being a deficit of two hundred thousand dollars in the general fund, but at the end of Mr. Ure's term the office was not only free of the deficit but had such a surplus as put the county on a cash basis and enabled the commissioners to pay promptly for all goods purchased.
His active interest in community affairs is further indicated by his mem- bership in the Commercial Club. He also belongs to the University Club and to the Happy Hollow Club. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church and comes of a long line of ancestors connected with that religious organiza- tion. Mr. Ure served as treasurer of the Billy Sunday campaign committee, handling all the funds, amounting to about fifty thousand dollars, and reported daily to the last penny. Society in its usually accepted sense has no interest for him, but he is easy of approach and he holds friendship inviolable. His success in public life has come because of the fact that he has always been found on the side of the people-not the common people, as the politician expresses it, but the people as a whole-the public as against private selfish interests.
SEYMOUR M. SADLER.
Seymour M. Sadler, engaged in the abstract business in Omaha. was born in Monroeville, Ohio, June 25, 1854, a son of William and Martha (Webster) Sadler, whose family numbered six children, of which Seymour M. is the eldest. The father was a native of Ireland and when but three years of age was brought to the United States by his parents, who settled in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, near Akron. He eventually became a well known lawyer of Sandusky, Ohio, and later removed to Centerville, Michigan, where he practiced for fifty years. He spent the last three years of his life in the home of his son at Centerville, where
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he passed away in December, 1909, at the age of eighty-six years, his death result- ing from a shock causd by falling downstairs. During the war he offered his services to the government three times but was rejected. However, he succeeded in raising three companies which went to the front, but he was not allowed to enlist on account of a broken limb. His wife, a native of Connecticut, died in the fall of 1916 in Centerville, Michigan, at the age of eighty-two years.
Following the removal of the family from Ohio to Centerville, Michigan, Seymour M. Sadler there pursued his public school education and in 1869 he entered the University of Michigan from which he was graduated in 1874. He is today the oldest living graduate of the academic or literary department in Omaha. When his course was completed he read law under the direction of his father and was admitted to the bar at Centerville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, in 1876. He took up the active practice of the profession, which he followed until elected for a two years' term to the office of circuit court commissioner. Subsequently he was nominated for the same position as a republican but was defeated by the greenback party. In 1878 he removed to Maquoketa, Iowa, where he remained in active practice until 1882. He came to Omaha in 1882 and secured a position with the Burlington Railroad, with whom he remained until 1886. He then accepted a position with the Midland Guarantee & Trust Company, with whom he remained as secretary until 1892, when he established an abstract business on his own account, opening an office in the Patterson block, then the leading office building of Omaha. He has since continued in the abstract business and is today the veteran in that field in Omaha. He has a most com- plete set of abstract books, his work being most systematically and thoroughly done, and he is now accorded a liberal patronage.
On the 13th of September, 1877, Mr. Sadler was married to Miss Nellie Campbell, of Centerville, Michigan, a daughter of Richard Campbell, of Detroit. They have become the parents of two children. Clarise Martha, who was a student at Buchtel College, at Akron, Ohio, and various musical centers in the east, died April 21, 1904, in Omaha, at the age of nineteen years. Clifford C., born in Centerville, Michigan, May 29, 1879, is a graduate of the Omaha high school. He then entered railway circles in the employ of the Union Pacific, with which company he remained for a number of years but since 1906 has been in business with his father. He wedded Miss Agnes Duff, a graduate nurse of Omaha, and they have two children: Seymour Duff, who was born in Omaha in 1904; and Edith Campbell, born in 1906. Both are attending school.
In politics Mr. Sadler is a republican giving general support to the principles of the party. He is prominent as a Knight of Pythias and in Masonry has attained the Knights Templar degree. He is also connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and enjoys the warm regard of his brethren of these fraterni- ties. He now has a wide acquaintance in Omaha, where he has lived for many years, and his popularity results from a social, genial nature and ready apprecia- tion of the good qualities of others.
JOHN HENRY L. WILLIAMS.
Industrial activity in Florence finds a worthy and substantial representative in John Henry L. Williams, a well known contractor who throughout the period of his residence here has been engaged in building operations. He was born in Williamsport, Indiana, January 1, 1848, and is a son of Enos and Catherine (Ludington) Williams, who were also natives of Williamsport. His paternal grandfather, John Williams, a native of Virginia, married Miss McCormack, who was born in Dublin and was most liberally educated there. She enjoyed wide reputation as a writer of hymns. The grandfather of J. H. L. Williams was married in Virginia and took his bride in a wagon drawn by oxen to Indi- Vol. II-17
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ana, traveling after the primitive manner of the times. He secured a large tract of government land and the town of Williamsport was named in his honor. He was closely associated with the carly settlement and pioneer progress of the district and there remained until 1849, when he sold out and removed to Dallas county, lowa, where he also invested in large land holdings. He then concen- trated his efforts upon farming in that region up to the time of his retirement from active business. He continued to make his home in Dallas county until his death, which occurred in 1875, when he had reached the notable old age of ninety-three years. He was regarded as a very wealthy man as wealth was judged in those days.
Enos Williams was reared and educated in Indiana and in 1849 he took his family to Iowa, where he became proprietor of a saw and grist mill which was probably the first steam mill in Dallas county. The machinery was taken by ox team from Keokuk, the streams being forded and the trails followed until the destination was reached. There Mr. Williams remained until 1853, when he disposed of his farmi lands, his mills and other interests in that locality and removed to Peoria, Guthrie county, Iowa, where he opened a sawmill and became closely and actively identified with the business development of that region. He laid out an addition to the town and had the first and only mill in Guthrie county, having received a grant of forty acres as an inducement to locate a mill there. He platted the forty acres, built a store, a blacksmith shop, a boarding house and several dwellings and there remained until the spring of 1854, when he sold out and went with his family to Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where he arrived on the 3d of June, 1854. At that place he erected a mill and also bought large tracts of land upon which he built houses. Again he was proprietor of a store and blacksmith shop and in his store he carried an im- mense stock of goods, all of which was brought by steamboat. He continued his undertakings in that connection and during the war had charge of the com- missary for General Lyons. He was with the General when that intrepid soldier was killed and he continued in active connection with the army until the close of the war or for more than four years. In the meantime he had sold out his business but retained his land and in the fall of 1864 he removed to the Pawnee Indian reservation, going there under Major D. H. Wheeler as an engineer. He took charge of the government saw and grist mill at that point and there remained until the fall of 1865, when he came to Douglas county and bought land a mile and a half north of Benson. There he spent the balance of his life in farming and passed away April 10, 1872, at the age of forty-five years, his demise being caused by pneumonia. He was a typical pioneer and state builder and contributed in large measure to the development and progress of the various localities in which he lived.
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