USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 40
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John Henry L. Williams was the eldest in a family of five children and he continued with his father, becoming an active factor in the business in 1865. Previous to this time he was in his father's employ on a salary.
On the 28th of November, 1867, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Loretta Schroeder, of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Joseph Schroeder, born in Maryland, whose father removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, when Joseph was but two years old. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. L. Williams are the parents of seven children, as follows: Lilly Ann, who is now the wife of Edward Templing, of Douglas county; John Wesley, who is engaged in busi- ness as a partner of his father; Joseph Enos, a resident of Waterloo, Nebraska; Olive, who is the wife of Fred Hender and lives on a farm three miles from Florence ; Loretta, who gave her hand in marriage to L. M. Smith, of Omaha; Stella, the wife of Thomas Kendrick, of Omaha; and Edith, who is Mrs. Fred- erick Wight.
In the year 1867 Mr. Williams took up the occupation of farming in Doug- las county and remained upon his land until 1916 but in addition to cultivating his fields also engaged in freighting. In 1878 he took up construction work on the railroad, his first contract being on the Julesburg branch from Julesburg,
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Nebraska, to Greeley, Colorado. In that undertaking he was in partnership with his brothers, C. F. and W. M. Williams, their interests being carried on under the firm style of Williams Brothers. They operated quite extensively as railroad contractors, employing one hundred and twelve teams and owning an immense amount of construction machinery, while a large force of workmen were retained. They conducted an extensive business but the partnership was dissolved by the death of C. F. Williams when he was forty-five years of age. The business was then carried on by J. H. L. Williams and his brother until 1904, when the latter retired and John Williams, son of the former, took over his uncle's end of the business, which is still being carried on by father and son under the firm style of Williams & Son. The latter now has the field manage- ment, while Mr. Williams gives his attention to the matter of buying.
Mr. Williams has always avoided political activity as an office seeker, for his business has never permitted his time being given to outside interests. He con- tinued upon the farm until March, 1916, when he sold his place, which was known as the Maple Grove Farm and which was pleasantly situated four miles west of Florence. He had purchased the property for seven dollars and fifteen cents per acre and sold it for two hundred dollars, owing to the rise in values brought about by the development of the county and also owing to the many splendid improvements he had placed upon his land. In addition to his other interests Mr. Williams removed three quarters of a million yards of earth at South Omaha for the stock yards and did a large share of the grading in Omaha.
Mr. Williams is connected with the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Modern Woodmen of America. In 1917 he and his wife expect to celebrate their golden wedding. They now have thirty-one grandchildren and three great- grandchildren, all born and living in Douglas county. Mr. Williams is every- where spoken of as a fine man with a most excellent family. His record is absolutely clean and commendable and his life history may well serve as a source of emulation to all who have regard for those things which are most worth while in the individual. Wherever known he is held in high esteem and most of all where he is best known.
CHARLES W. BAKER.
One of the best known consulting and hydroelectric engineers in this section of the country is Charles W. Baker of Omaha, the president of the Baker Con- struction Company. He was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, April 13, 1875, a son of I. N. and Sarah E. Baker, the former a native of Posey county, Indi- ana, and the latter of Sangamon county, Illinois, where she was educated and married. In 1879 the father removed with his family to Hall county, Nebraska, and the following year became a resident of Hamilton county, while later lic established his home in Giltner, Nebraska. His last days were passed in New Plymouth, Idaho, where he died on the 21st of November, 1915, at the age of sixty-six years. His widow is still residing there at the age of sixty-five years. In their family were two sons, the elder being Harry O. Baker, who is 110w engaged in fruit raising at Payette, Idaho.
During his boyhood days Charles W. Baker attended the public schools of Nebraska and pursued his college course at Grand Island. His eyesight, how- ever, became affected and he had to lay aside his books. He then took up music as a profession, possessing much natural talent in that direction, and he remained a teacher of music at Giltner, Nebraska, until 1894, when he became connected with a noted consulting engineer, under whom he secured actual experience in the field. He afterward went to Chicago, Illinois, where he ob- tained a position as conductor with the Chicago Street Railway Company,
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remaining there until 1902. That year witnessed his removal to Payette, Idaho, where he took up contracting and carpenter work and also taught music. He later became a resident of Pawnee, Nebraska, where for a year he was engaged in the lumber business and at the end of that time went to Des Moines, Iowa. Through careful study and research work and through close application he became well qualified to take up the profession of engineering and, removing to Omaha in 1909, he organized the Baker Construction Company, Incorporated. He became president of the company, with H. P. Buhman as vice president ; R. Kincaid, of Omaha, as secretary; and Peter Mangold, of Bennington, Ne- braska, as treasurer. They are doing business as civil and hydroelectric engi- neers and contractors. Their purpose is the generation of hydroelectric power for interurban and lighting service and the development of electric railways in interurban connections. He feels that the work of the company has just been begun, that it has scarcely more than started upon its initial step in the development of a business which has already proved most far-reaching and effective, constituting a valuable asset in the development of the state.
On the 20th of October, 1897, at Loami, Illinois, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Grace Greenwood Graham, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. L. R. Graham, the former for many years postmaster at Loami. The two children born of this marriage are: Leah Alta, who was born at Giltner, March 22, 1900, and is now a junior in the high school of Omaha; and Roscoe, who was born in Payette, Idaho, July 26, 1903, and is now an eighth grade pupil in the Omaha schools.
In politics Mr. Baker maintains an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judgment. He is an active and helpful member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, in which he is serving as chorister. He deserves all the praise implied in the term a self-made man, for he has worked his way upward through persistent effort, utilizing each offered opportunity and never fearing to venture where favorable chance points out the way.
JOHN WEBSTER TOWLE.
John Webster Towle well merits the reputation of being a farseeing public- spirited citizen who has operated boldly and continuously in business and by the stimulus of his exertions has aroused the enterprise of others, while through this means he has furnished remunerative employment to many while at the same time he has promoted his individual success. There are many tangible evidences of his public spirit that may be cited, but none indicates more clearly the position which he holds in public regard than the fact that into his hands was given the task of supervising all construction work done by the relief committee following the terrific cyclone which visited Omaha in 1913.
Mr. Towle was born in Falls City, Richardson county, Nebraska, August 28, 1872. His father, Edwin S. Towle, is a native of Mishawaka, Indiana, born of New England stock in 1843, and in the year 1862, when a youth of nineteen, he arrived in Nebraska, being married in Richardson county April 15, 1867, to Miss Kittie L. Dorrington. At the time of the Civil war Edwin S. Towle responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting in 1862 in Company L, Second Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry, of which he became first duty sergeant. He served until the latter part of 1863 and was honorably discharged for physical disability. His duty had called him to the Dakota frontier. Returning to Nebraska after being mustered out, he entered upon the practice of law and has not only left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the record of the Nebraska bar but also upon its legislative history. He was called to represent his district in the general assembly and during his second term's service, in 1875, was speaker of the house. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is
JOHN W. TOWLE
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one of its recognized leaders in the state. Both he and his wife are yet residents of Falls City and Mr. Towle is still a forceful factor in the community and in the commonwealth with which he has so long been connected.
Spending his youthful days in his native city, John W. Towle attended the public schools until graduated from the high school and then went to Ithaca, New York, where he entered Cornell University, completing a course therein with the class of 1894. In 1897 he became a resident of Omaha and accepted the position of agent for the Canton (Ohio) Bridge Company, with which he remained for three years. In 1900 he embarked in business on his own account as a bridge engineer and contractor. 111 1899 he organized the Nebraska Bridge Supply & Lumber Company, of which he became president, and, with the passing years his interests developed and expanded until he became one of the foremost repre- sentatives of industrial activity in this part of the state. He afterward organized the Western Bridge & Construction Company, which conducted an extensive business in bridge building throughout various western states. At length he retired from that connection and formed the Omaha Structural Steel Works, of which he is the president. This company now controls a large and growing business, figuring most prominently in industrial circles not only of Omaha but of the middle west. He has ever been recognized as a man of well balanced capacity and powers and upon the foundation of indefatigable energy, thorough- ness and persistency of purpose he has builded his success. He has long occupied a central place on the stage of business activity and his labors have found culmi- nation in the development and control of the Omaha Structural Steel Works, which is today a most important concern, being a contributing element to the substantial development and upbuilding of this entire part of the country.
If there is one chapter in the life record of Mr. Towle for which he deserves credit more than any other, it is that which covers his work during the recon- struction period in Omaha following the cyclone of 1913, which so largely devastated the city. Omaha faced the gigantic task of rebuilding the city which had been laid low. It was not the problem of the pioneer who comes to a district where there is vast land expanse with natural resources at his command, but the problem of caring for hundreds of homeless people, of directing energies so that business could be almost immediately resumed-and of meeting exigencies that have to do with almost every phase of life that bears upon the health and the welfare of a community. Mr. Towle was put in charge of all construction work done by the relief committee, amounting to seven hundred separate jobs. This appointment, while it brought upon him much strenuous labor, was as well an honor, showing how high is the regard in which he is held by his fellow towns- men and how great the confidence reposed in his ability. The promptness and efficiency with which he discharged his duties constitutes a record of which he has every reason to be proud.
On the 3d of September, 1894, at Geneva, Illinois, Mr. Towle was married to Miss Naomi Frances Everts, a daughter of James S. Everts, now deceased. They have become the parents of two daughters, Marion Ruth and Naomi Everts, both graduates of Brownell Hall of Omaha and of Bradford Academy at Brad- ford, Massachusetts.
The family hold membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Towle gives his political allegiance to the republican party, giving strong endorse- ment to its principles and putting forth every effort to promote its success. In 1912 he was a delegate to the republican national convention. He belongs to the Elks, the University, Country, Field, Rotary, Commercial, Athletic and Omaha clubs. His interest along those lines centers chiefly perhaps in the University Club and for three years he was a member of its board. At the present time he is serving as president of The Cornell University Alumni Association and as trus- tee of the First Methodist Episcopal church. Reading between the lines, one recognizes the fact that his interest and efforts have been centered and directed in those channels through which flow the greatest good to the greatest number,
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and while he has never sought to figure personally before the public in any light or any relation, his influence is felt as a strong, steady, moving force in the industrial, social, political and moral movements of the community which result in the upbuilding of a better city and in the adoption of higher standards of citizenship.
EDMUND GEORGE McGILTON.
Edmund George McGilton, a distinguished attorney of Omaha and former lieutenant governor of the state, is a recognized leader of public thought and action in Nebraska, and it is moreover a recognized fact that in all of his public service he has held to high ideals, subordinating personal aggrandizement to the general welfare and partisanship to the public good. He was born in Eau Galle, Dunn county, Wisconsin, February 10, 1859, and comes of a family of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Thomas McGilton, was born in the north of Ireland and throughout his life engaged in the operation of a grist mill. He emigrated to Canada and there on the 21st of December, 1825, In Hemingford, John H. McGilton was born. After arriving at years of maturity he wedded Gratia Eleanor Burke and in the year 1854 they removed to Eau Galle, Wisconsin, where their remaining days were passed, the death of Mr. McGilton occurring February 5, 1910, while his wife passed away May 25, 1889.
Pursuing his education in the public schools of Wisconsin, Edmund G. McGil- ton completed the high school course at Menomonie with the class of 1878 and afterward entered the University of Wisconsin, taking the modern classical course. He was graduated therefrom in 1883 and in the following year filled the position of superintendent of schools at Menomonie, but he had become imbued with the desire to make the practice of law his life work and in 1885 he completed a course in the law department of the State University and soon afterward became a representative of the legal department of the Wisconsin Central Railway Company. He also traveled for a few years in the northwest for the Northwestern Manufacturing Company but in January, 1888, succumbed to the allurements of Omaha and has since remained an active and distinguished member of its bar save for the period when his official duties kept him in Lincoln. He stands very high in his profession, being recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of the state, which is demonstrated by the fact that he has been connected with much of the most important litigation during the past twenty years. No one better knows the necessity for thorough preparation and no one more industri- ously prepares his cases than Mr. McGilton. His course in the courtroom is characterized by a calmness and dignity that indicate reserve strength. He is always courteous and deferential toward the court, kind and forbearing toward his adversaries. He examines a witness carefully and thoroughly but treats him with a respect which makes the witness grateful for his kindness and forbearance. His handling of his case is always full, comprehensive and accurate; his analysis of the facts is clear and exhaustive; he sees without effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so groups them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the point they tend to prove.
On the 4th of April, 1889, in Menomonie, Wisconsin, Mr. McGilton was mar- ried to Miss Lina A. Williams, a daughter of Origen Williams, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, after which he brought his bride to the new home which he had prepared in Omaha. They now have one child, Eleanor, but lost two daughters, one at the age of nine months and the other at the age of five years.
Mr. and Mrs. McGilton hold membership in the First Congregational church, of which he is a trustee and in the work of which he takes a very active and help- ful interest, doing all in his power to promote its growth and extend its influence. He is prominently known in lodge and club circles, belonging to St. John's Lodge,
EDMUND G. McGILTON
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F. & A. M .; the Royal Arch Chapter; the Commandery; the Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of which he was illustrious potentate in 1910, while he has also filled other offices in the Shrine. He is likewise identified with the Woodmen of the World and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is an active supporting member of the Commercial Club and a force in bringing about the projects promulgated by that organization. He turns to golf and motoring for recreation in the summer months and he belongs to the Omaha Club, the Omaha Country Club, the Happy Hollow Club and the Carter Lake Club. His military record covers experience as second lieutenant in the University Battalion at Madi- son, Wisconsin. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and the public regards him as one who is "absolutely straight in politics." He will stoop to none of the underhanded, questionable means to which wily politicians will frequently resort in order to attain their ends. He believes in an honest, open fight and the rule of the majority, and his fellow citizens of Nebraska manifested their confidence in him when in 1902 he was elected lieutenant governor by a majority of more than ten thousand. That his straightforward work was . appreciated was indicated by his reelection in 1904 by a majority of equal strength. Said the World-Herald in this connection: "When he retired from office with honors, he again returned to Omaha to resume the law practice that had shown constant growth. He is now providing legal facilities for the tran- sacting of big business in a manner that signifies security and satisfaction." Further proof of the position of distinction to which he has attained as a lawyer is indicated in the fact that on the 27th of July, 1916, at the convention of the Commercial Law League, a national organization, he was elected president. At the same time he is never neglectful of the duties of citizenship and he has always been one of the most active members of the Tribe of Ak-Sar-Ben, in which connection his efforts have been far-reaching and beneficial in the upbuild- ing of Omaha.
MILTON THEODORE BARLOW. 4 .
Milton Theodore Barlow, president of the United States National Bank, for fifty-two years has been a resident of Omaha and throughout the entire period has been associated with banking interests. His high position in public regard is due not only to the success he has achieved but also to the straightfor- ward business policy which he has ever followed. He was born in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1844. His father, Milton Fry Barlow, a native of Kentucky, was married in Indiana to Miss Angeline Knight. Throughout his entire business career he was connected with manufacturing interests at Greencastle. He died in 1851, while his wife passed away in 1848.
Milton T. Barlow obtained his education by attendance at the public schools of Greencastle and at Asbury University, now De Pauw University. In May, 1864, he responded to the country's call for troops for one hundred days' service and became a corporal of Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for the period of enlistment. Later he came to Omaha, where he has made his home continuously since August, 1864, and throughout the intervening period of more than a half cen- tury he has been closely associated with its banking interests. Soon after his arrival he became a clerk in the bank of Millard, Caldwell & Company and, working his way upward in that connection, was admitted to a partnership in 1868 under the firm style of Caldwell, Hamilton & Company. The business was carried on under that organization until 1883, when the institution became the United States National Bank, with Mr. Barlow as cashier. He so continued until 1897, when he was elected to the presidency, which position he filled until January, 1915, when he was made chairman of the board of directors and was
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succeeded in the presidency by Victor B. Caldwell. Upon the latter's death in December, 1915, however, he was again elected to the presidency in January, 1916. It is seldom that one can claim continuous connection with a bank for a period of fifty-two years, but throughout his entire residence in Omaha Mr. Barlow has been identified with the institution of which he is now the chief executive officer. He has ever recognized the fact that the bank is most worthy of credit and support which most carefully safeguards the interests of its depos- itors, and he has therefore avoided everything in the conduct of the business that partook of the nature of an unwarranted risk. He is also a director of the United States Trust Company of Omaha.
On the 19th of December, 1867, Mr. Barlow was married to Miss Mary Hays, who died in 1885, and in 1894 he wedded Sarah M. McClintock at River- side, Illinois. His only daughter, Ollie, died in 1878 at the age of eight years. His son, Milton F. Barlow, was born in January, 1905.
In politics Mr. Barlow is a republican, having supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He was appointed a member of the Omaha water board by the governor of Nebraska upon the establishment of the board and served as chairman for five or six years. He is a Master Mason and a member of the Ak-Sar-Ben, the Commercial Club, the Omaha Club and the Country Club. Through more than a half century's connection with Omaha's history his has been an unblemished character and with him suc- cess in life has been reached by sterling qualities of mind and a heart true to every manly principle.
F. H. KINYOUN, M. D.
Dr. F. H. Kinyoun, a practicing physician and surgeon of Omaha, was born in Irvington, Nebraska, November 15, 1890, a son of Robert E. and Elma (Chapman) Kinyoun, who were natives of Iowa and of Claysville, Pennsyl- vania, respectively. The former was a son of James E. Kinyoun, a native of Ohio, who became one of the pioneer settlers of Iowa and afterward an early settler of Nebraska, still making his home in Lincoln. He is one of the veterans of the Civil war. The father devoted much of his life to agricultural pursuits and in 1896 removed to Harvard, Nebraska, since which time he has been engaged in farming near Harvard, where he is now living at the age of fifty- seven years. He was married at Prescott, Iowa, to Miss Elma Chapman and she is now fifty-three years of age. Her father, Henry Chapman, was a native of Ireland but in young manhood crossed the Atlantic to the United States and established his home in Pennsylvania. There he was married to Susan Botkins, who has always lived in the Keystone state. They are . still residents of Clays- ville, Pennsylvania. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Kinyoun were four children: Henry C., living at Clay Center, Nebraska; Robert E., a resi- dent of Harvard; F. H., of this review; and Claude, whose home is at Harvard.
In his youthful days Dr. Kinyoun attended the public schools of Nebraska and afterward became a high school pupil at Clay Center, being there graduated with the class of 1906. He next entered Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa, where he devoted two years to the arts and sciences and to preparatory work. He next entered the medical department of Creighton University, from which he was graduated on the 29th of April, 1915. His first professional ex- perience came to him as interne in St. Mark's Hospital at Salt Lake City. On the Ist of September, 1915, he returned to Omaha and in the intervening period, covering about a year and a half, he has built up a large practice. He has taken post graduate work in the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons and by constant reading and study he has continually broadened his knowledge and promoted his efficiency. He has served as assistant police surgeon and while
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