USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 56
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On the 3d of November, 1915, Dr. Henske was married in Omaha to Miss Katherine E. McClanahan, a daughter of Dr. Harry M. McClanahan, and they have one child, Katherine E., who was born in Omaha, November 12, 1916. Dr. Henske is a life member of the Omaha Athletic Association. He also has membership with the Masons and the Elks. He is identified with the St. Louis City Hospital alumni, the Douglas County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Association of Railroad Surgeons.
WALTER A. GEORGE.
Walter A. George is the president of the National Security Fire Insurance Company of Omaha. The family name has long figured prominently not only in Nebraska but throughout New England for many generations and has ever stood for growth and development of the country. It has become a synonym for fidelity in public and private life and for progress in the business world.
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The first representative of the family on this side the Atlantic came from Eng- land early in the seventeenth century and settled in the English colony of New Hampshire, where ancestors of Walter A. George figured prominently in the public life of the colony. His great-grandfather was an early shoe manufacturer and won his business by taking orders in the neighboring towns, villages and countryside, after which he would return to his home and manufacture the products ordered, later delivering to his customers. In such a way was the great shoe manufacturing business of New England started. Later the George family removed to Massachusetts and founded one of the first shoe factories in that state. In the early 'zos Truman Q., father of Walter A. George, and six of his brothers, Lorenzo D., James, Thomas B., Horace W., John S. and Andrew George, decided to emigrate to a new country. Six of the number made their way to Nebraska, while the last named, Andrew George, settled in Wisconsin, where he died at an early date. The brothers who came to Nebraska took up their abode in Buffalo county in 1871, when that region was prac- tically virgin territory, very few white men having dared the dangers of the early days, so that they were far outnumbered by the red men. There were many kinds of wild animals, including wolves, buffaloes, elks and deer. For a time they lived in box cars, but as soon as possible they built homes. Their troubles did not terminate when they became installed in their new homes, for they faced many dangers which were bravely met, and in Nebraska as in New England they became dominant factors in molding the new country and develop- ing a well regulated civilization on the wild western frontier. Of the seven brothers who started from their home in Massachusetts but one now remains. Horace W. George, who is in his seventy-eighth year and resides with his nephew, Walter A. George. His hearing and his mental faculties are unim- paired and he relates many interesting incidents of the pioneer days of the state.
Walter A. George, president and organizer of the National Security Fire Insurance Company of Omaha and president and promoter of several of the leading banking institutions of western Nebraska and other business enterprises of the state, displays the same qualities that made his forefathers dominant factors in the growth and development of New England. He was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, May 12, 1861, a son oi Truman Quinby and Abbie M. (Gilford) George, natives of Sandwich, New Hampshire, and Danvers, Massa- chusetts, respectively. In young manhood the former removed to the old Bay state, where like most of his forefathers he became a shoe manufacturer, con- tinuing in that line until the failing health of his wife necessitated a change of climate. This prompted him and his brothers to emigrate to the west and in June, 1871, he arrived in Buffalo county, Nebraska, where they established a lumber, implement and machinery business which prospered from the beginning. In 1873 Truman Q. George homesteaded in the Buckeye valley and there lived with his family until 1879, becoming a prosperous rancher and cattle man. A fall from a ladder while building a barn caused injuries which ultimately resulted in his death in Kearney, Nebraska, in 1902, when he was sixty-eight years of age, and his wife passed away in 1904, when sixty-five years of age. They had a family of four daughters and two sons: Mrs. Etta M. Wheeler, of Gibbon, Nebraska, now deceased ; Mrs. Clara Tallesen, whose husband is manager of the Gilchrist Lumber Company of Kearney; Mrs. Emma Knepper, of Kearney; Walter A., of Omaha; W. D., residing in Dinuba. California ; and Mrs. Hattie Pigman, of Denver, Colorado.
Walter A. George, after attending the district schools, continued his educa- tion in the Gibbon Academy and in his youthful days worked on his father's farm. He afterward became associated with his father in a mercantile business in Buffalo county in the spring of 1885 and later he located on a ranch at George- town, on the South Loup river in Nebraska, there remaining until he was elected to office. He served as county supervisor for three terms and in 1902 was chosen county treasurer, which position he filled for two terms. He then disposed of
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his ranch and purchased the Security State Bank at Broken Bow, Nebraska. In 1905 he became president of that institution and has since so continued. In 1907 he established the Berwyn State Bank, of which he yet remains the presi- dent, and for more than a decade he has figured very prominently in financial circles of the state. The high standing which he gained as a banker and his record as a public-spirited citizen led to his election in 1910 to the office of state treasurer, and so excellent was his record during his first term that he was reelected for a second term of two years. In 1916 he was candidate for gover- nor of Nebraska at the primaries. Upon his retirement from the treasurership he organized the National Security Fire Insurance Company of Omaha, with a paid up capital of five hundred thousand dollars. He is a director of the Bankers Mortgage & Loan Company of Omaha and of many other important business projects and institutions of the state.
In 1881 Mr. George was married to Miss Hannah Bray, who died in Gibbon, Nebraska, in 1883, leaving two children, Abby and Annie. The former, born in Gibbon, Nebraska, in 1882, is on the Wood ranch in Custer county and is the wife of Frank Wood, by whom she has two children, Leo and Claude Wood. The daughter Annie is the wife of Fred Knowlton, of Wenham, Mas- sachusetts, and they have three children: Walter, Louise and a baby boy. On the IIth of February, 1885, Mr. George wedded Miss Flossie M. George, of Kearney, Nebraska, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. W. George.
Mr. George is a republican, giving stalwart support to the party, and for three terms he served as mayor of Broken Bow. He belongs to the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America and he also has membership with the Omaha Athletic Club and the Commercial Club. Fortunate in possessing character and ability that inspire confidence in others, the simple weight of his character and ability has carried him into important public and business relations. He stands among those who have been active in framing the history of the state and developing its policy and, moreover, his life record should serve as a source of inspiration to others, showing what may be accomplished when effort is stimulated by laud- able ambition and when energy falters not in the attainment of success.
JAMES H. CALLAHAN.
James H. Callahan, who was long an active representative of the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, came to this city in 1865, only eleven years after the first white family had taken up their abode on the present site of the city. He removed to the middle west from New York. where he had been residing for three years. He was a native, however, of Ireland. With his arrival in Doug- las county he became foreman with the Union Pacific Railroad Company in the work of unloading ties and remained with that corporation for a considerable period. He afterward acted as foreman of construction work at the time of the building of the Douglas street bridge, a task that required between two and three years. He afterward went to Texas, where he was engaged in railroad work for a time, and following his return to Omaha he resumed connection with the Union Pacific and represented that company throughout his remaining days, covering a period of thirty-two years, during which he was foreman of the blacksmithing department. He bought his first property at Eleventh street, be- coming owner of five buildings which he afterward sold to the gas company. Later he became owner of four or five buildings at Fourteenth and Webster streets and these in time were sold to the Northwestern Railway Company. In pioneer times he took up considerable land near Calhoun, Washington county, Nebraska, which his widow still owns and which returns to her a considerable income. In his investments he displayed good judgment and was very successful.
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In Omaha, in 1869, Mr. Callahan was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth O'Conner, who arrived in this city the previous year. To them were born eleven children, three of whom are yet living: Mrs. Minnie McGahan, Edward J. and Clara G. The death of Mr. Callahan occurred January 1, 1900, when he was fifty-seven years of age. He held membership in the Holy Family Catholic church. In politics he was a democrat, active in the work of the party, and frequently made campaign speeches. He was a member of the volunteer fire department in Omaha, joining in 1878 and remaining active therein for a nun- ber of years. He was genial, cordial and likable and he made friends wherever he went and among all classes of people.
WARREN Y. THOMPSON, M. D.
Dr. Warren Y. Thompson, an Omaha physician and surgeon, was born at Westpoint, Nebraska, July 24, 1888, a son of Thomas D. Thompson, a native of Pennsylvania and a representative of one of the old families of that state of Scotch and Irish descent. The father came to Nebraska in 1878 and was one of the first physicians and surgeons of Westpoint and that section of the state. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and is still active in his profes- sion, having devoted all of the years since his graduation to the private practice of medicine and surgery. He married Elizabeth Yoder, a native of Pennsyl- vania and of Swiss descent. They became the parents of nine children.
Dr. Thompson, the fifth of the family, pursued his education in the schools of Westpoint until he completed the high school course and afterward entered Creighton University for the study of medicine, winning his professional degree in 1909. Later he became a student in the University of Chicago, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science degree in 1913. The following year he won the M. D. degree at Rush Medical College of Chicago. After completing his course at Creighton he was interne for a year in St. Joseph's Hospital in Omaha and for six months was assistant in the State Hospital at Ingleside, Nebraska. He entered upon private practice in Omaha in 1910 and he has specialized to a large extent in diagnosis and internal medicine. He comes of a family long con- nected with the profession. His grandfather, Levi Thompson, was a prominent physician of Pennsylvania and had four sons who were physicians. Kimball E. Thompson, an elder brother of Warren Y. Thompson, is a physician practicing at Westpoint, Nebraska, and two younger brothers are now in college and will graduate in 1917 with the M. D. degree. The family seem to have special apti- tude as well as liking for the practice of medicine and wherever they have located they have won distinction and success in their chosen field.
On the 24th of May, 1916, Dr. Thompson was married in Omaha to Miss Mary Kenworthy, a native of this city and a daughter of W. S. Kenworthy. Politically Dr. Thompson is a republican but he has neither time nor inclination for office. He belongs to the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and he concentrates his thought, purpose and energies upon his chosen calling, in which he is making steady advancement.
FRANK S. MOREY.
Frank S. Morey, proprietor of the Emerson Laundry of Omaha, was born in Kewanee, Illinois, February 13, 1862, a son of Stephen James and Jane (Griffith) Morey, who were natives of New York, but at an early period in the development of Illinois they became residents of that state. For a considerable
Dr. W.y. Thompson
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period the father engaged in farming and when his labors had brought to him a substantial competence he retired to a city home in Kewanee and there passed away in 1891, at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife, who was born in 1823, died in 1889.
Frank S. Morey, the youngest in their family of nine children, pursued his education in the schools of Illinois and of Creston, Iowa, after which he secured farm work in Iowa, spending three years in that way. He then went to Council Bluffs, where he entered the employ of the Beebe & Runyan Furniture Company. He afterward went to Kansas, where he was employed at farm labor for three years. after which he returned to Council Bluffs and was once more with the firm of Beebe & Runyan for two years. He afterward worked for the street car company of Omaha for seven and one-half years and in August, 1902, pur- chased an interest in the Emerson Laundry, of which he is now sole proprietor. That his is an important enterprise is shown by the fact that he now employs forty-five people, indicating a large patronage. He has one of the modern laundries of the city, well equipped with the latest improved machinery, and the excellent work turned out insures a continuance of a liberal patronage.
Mr. Morey married Miss Jennie Derrick, who died in Washington county, Kansas, May 12, 1893, a daughter of R. E. Derrrick and Ruth Derrick, who were married in that county. Mr. and Mrs. Morey had two children. Dore, born in Washington county, Kansas, in 1890, married Miss Mary Allen, of Kansas, and has two children, Durle and Dwight. They reside in Manhattan, Kansas. Claude, the second son, born in Washington county, Kansas, in 1893, married Miss Fay Mellor, and is living at Orange, California. They have one child, Russell Frank- lin. On the 23d of August, 1900, in Omaha, Mr. Morey was married by the Rev. Savage to Miss Minnie Doll, a daughter of Leopold and Mina Doll. Her father died in 1901, but the mother is still living.
Mr. Morey exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and meas- ures of the republican party and fraternally is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the Omaha Automobile Club and along trade lines is connected with the Laundrymens Association and the Man- ufacturers Association. A spirit of determination characterizes all that he does. He will brook no obstacles that can be overcome by earnest and honorable effort and in the conduct of his business he has advanced steadily toward the goal of prosperity.
GEORGE C. WINTERSON, M. D.
Dr. George C. Winterson, practicing his profession in Omaha since 1910, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 8, 1878, a son of Dr. C. R. Winter- son, who is a prominent representative of the medical profession in that city. The family, of English origin, was founded in America during the colonial days of this country and has long been represented in Maryland, where Gasway Winterson, grandfather of Dr. G. C. Winterson, was a large slaveholder prior to the Civil war. Dr. C. R. Winterson has been health officer of Elk Ridge, a suburb of Baltimore, for the past twenty-five years and is a very prominent physician of that section. He married Sarah Craggs, a representative of the well known Levering family of Maryland-the same family to which belonged the prohibition presidential candidate of that name.
Dr. George C. Winterson was the second in a family of six children and in the attainment of his education he passed through consecutive grades in the public schools of Baltimore and became a high school pupil. His more specifically literary course was pursued in New Windsor College of Maryland, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then pre- pared for a professional career and won his M. D. degree upon completing the
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course of study in the University of Maryland in 1902. Early practical experi- ence came to him as interne in the University Hospital of Baltimore and a year after his graduation he entered upon the general practice of medicine in New Windsor, Maryland, where he also lectured on hygiene and physiology in the school which he had previously attended. He remained in active practice there for five years and then, his health becoming impaired, he sought a change of climate by removing to western Nebraska. For a year he practiced at Red Cloud and in 1910 came to Omaha, where he has since successfully followed his profession. He is now chief physician and surgeon for Swift & Company of South Omaha and has a large general practice which is constantly growing in volume and importance. His interest in his chosen calling prompts him to keep in close touch with modern research work and discoveries relative to the laws of health and he benefits by the interchange of thought and experience as a member of the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and the Nebraska State Medical Association.
In November, 1902, in Baltimore, Dr. Winterson was married to Miss Jean- nette Day, a native of that state and connected with the Owings, Warfield and the Day families of Maryland. The mother was a cousin of Governor Edwin Warfield, while the Owings were an old and prominent Maryland family of English descent. Mrs. Day is now living in South Carolina. Dr. and Mrs. Winterson have become parents of a son, George McPherson, who was born in Baltimore, February 20, 1905. Mrs. Winterson has membership with the Daugh- ters of 1812.
Fraternally Dr. Winterson is connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Woodmen of the World and is major of the uniform rank of the latter and also surgeon for the organ- ization. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he belongs to the Order of St. George, while both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church. He is a gentleman of broad and liberal culture as well as high professional attainments and both he and his wife have won many friends during the comparatively brief period of their residence in Omaha.
WILLIAM P. DEVERELL.
Many fine buildings in Omaha stand as a monument to the skill, ability and enterprise of William P. Deverell, who came to this city in 1881 and since 1884 has been numbered among the contractors of Omaha. He was the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, five of whom are yet living. Their parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Frances ( Pardon) Deverell. The father, a native of Ireland, went to Canada as a boy and was there reared to manhood. In that country he met and married Miss Pardon, after which he provided for his family by engaging in business as a contractor and builder. He continued to reside in Ontario up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1911, when he was eighty-one years of age. His wife was born in Ontario and there remained to the time of her demise, which occurred in 1908, when she was seventy-seven years of age.
In his youthful days William P. Deverell was a pupil in the public schools of Ontario county, Ontario, and afterward learned the trade of mason and builder under the direction of his father, thoroughly mastering every phase of the business as he assisted him in his contract work. In 1881 he sought the oppor- tunities offered in the growing west and for one year thereafter worked at his trade in Omaha, and then located in Harrison county, Iowa, where he remained until 1884, when he returned to Omaha and decided to start in business on his own account. Within a very short time he had won a satisfactory and growing patronage. He has erected many of the principal buildings now standing in
WILLIAM P. DEVERELL
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Omaha, including the store of the Nebraska Clothing Company at Fifteenth and Farnam streets, the Avery Manufacturing Company at Tenth and Harney streets, the buildings of the John Deere Plow Company, the Kingman Imple- ment Company and the first and second buildings of Byrne-Hammer & Company. He erected the residence of F. P. Kirkendall, the Iler Grand Theater, the Krug Theater, the Schlitz Hotel, the Madison Hotel, St. Joseph's Hospital, St. Cecelia's Roman Catholic Cathedral, the House of the Good Shepherd, the L. C. Nash residence, the George Hoagland building, occupied by Thompson, Belden & Com- pany, and many others.
In June, 1881, Mr. Deverell was married to Miss Jessie Yarnold, of Ontario county, Ontario, Canada, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Yarnold, and granddaughter of a retired officer of the English navy. Dr. Benjamin Yarnold, a brother of Reginald, was a physician and served in the medical corps of the Union army during the Civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Deverell have a daughter, Florence P., who was born in Harrison county, Iowa, and is a graduate of the Omaha high school. The parents hold membership in the Episcopal church and Mr. Deverell gives his political support to the republican party. He belongs to the Commercial Club and thus indicates his deep interest in affairs relating to the welfare and progress of his adopted city. He is also a member of the Builders' Exchange and of the Master Builders' Association, and he has forged constantly forward in his profession until he has long since left the ranks of the many and stands among the successful few. His nature is such that he can never be content with mediocrity and his powers, growing through the exercise of effort, place him in a position of leadership.
CLAUDE T. UREN, M. D.
Dr. Claude T. Uren, an oto-laryngologist, enjoys more than local distinction by reason of his marked ability. He is a young man in close touch with the latest researches and discoveries of the profession along his chosen line, and at all times he keeps abreast with the trend of modern progress. He was born in Lead, South Dakota, June 18, 1887. His father, Thomas Uren, a native of England, came to America at the age of nine years with an aunt, his parents having died during his early youth. The journey to the new world was made in 1870 and settlement was made in Michigan, where he was reared and educated. About 1880 he removed to South Dakota, becoming a pioneer rancher and stock- man of that state, his business being successfully conducted. He was also quite active in local political circles in Lawrence county as a supporter of the demo- cratic party. He was also prominent in Masonry and became a member of the grand lodge of his state. His death occurred, however, in Lead, South Dakota, May 28, 1894, when he was but thirty-two years of age. He left a widow and two children. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Gertrude Hoffman, was born in Hartford, Indiana, and was of German lineage. The children of this marriage were: Claude T., and Wilbur, who is twenty-five years of age and is serving in the British army. After losing her first husband Mrs. Uren became the wife of B. R. Stone and had one son, B. R. Stone, Jr.
Dr. Uren attended the public schools of his native city and was graduated from the high school with the class of 1905. He pursued academic work in the University of Michigan and in the same institution prepared for his professional career, winning the M. D. degree in 1910. Following his graduation he spent two years in study in the ear, nose and throat hospital at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was instructor for one year in the State University there. He began active practice in Omaha in November, 1912, and has since followed his profession here, concentrating his efforts entirely upon his specialty. He is now lecturer
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in his chosen field in Creighton University and he is recognized as one of the leading oto-laryngologists of the state.
On the 19th of January, 1916, Dr. Uren was married in Omaha to Miss Irma Wiedemann, a daughter of Mrs. Anna Wiedemann, of this city. They are members of the Episcopal church and Dr. Uren is also connected with the Young Men's Christian Association. He belongs to the Phi Beta Pi, a college frater- nity, and is also connected with the University Club and the Omaha Field Club. Along strictly professional lines he has membership with the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Association, the Omaha Eye and Ear Medical Association and the Sioux Valley Eye and Ear Academy. He possesses many sterling traits of character which have won him high regard in his social connections, while professionally he has displayed that laudable ambition and deep interest which have gained him marked proficiency in his chosen field and won for him a high and deserved reputation.
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