USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 60
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Mr. Fisher's first experience in this business was obtained at Taylorsville, Ohio. On leaving that state he went direct to St. Louis and thence to St. Joseph, Missouri, and afterward to White Cloud, Kansas. Later he joined a caravan at St. Joseph en route to Montana, making the trip by prairie schooner drawn by oxen. One night when the party halted Mr. Fisher was left to guard the camp while the men went out to reconnoiter for water. The only woman and child in the party were left in his care. While the men were gone a band of marauding Indians appeared on the scene, several having crawled over the barricade before he discovered them. While much alarmed, he had Vol. II-25
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the presence of mind to point to the wagons, signifying that the other men of the party were secreted there and might at any moment arrive. At this the Indians took alarm and made away through the darkness. At length Mr. Fisher reached Bannack, Montana, where he engaged in the meat business. Like hun- dreds and thousands of others, he later set out to secure the glittering dust from the sands of the creeks, but after vain attempts to make a fortune as a placer miner he abandoned the hope. However, he had been filing on copper claims, for at that time copper was being discovered in considerable quantities in Mon- tana. After obtaining large numbers of claims Mr. Fisher went to other locali- ties and also to Idaho and by so doing forfeited his claims, the law having changed in his absence. The claims which he had held proved later to be some of the richest properties of his then nearest neighbor, Senator William A. Clark, the copper king. Upon Mr. Fisher's arrival at Bannack, Montana, he took in as a partner a boy friend from Zanesville, Ohio, and sent him out to buy their supply of live stock for their winter business, Mr. Fisher putting in all of his own, all of the company's money and twenty-two hundred dollars which he had borrowed. The boy proved unreliable and never returned to Bannack. Mr. Fisher was a good loser, notwithstanding the fact that he had lost every dollar as he supposed, for the young man had sold out the tools and the business and even sold their dog for fifty dollars. It was on going to work the next morning that Mr. Fisher learned what had happened. On donning his overalls for a new start, he found twenty dollars in gold dust in his pockets and on his way to breakfast he made a deal in cured meats that netted him seventy-five dollars, so his start was begun with ninety-five dollars. He went to work by the month with nine men under him, some old enough to be his father, and he earned the money to pay off every dollar of the borrowed money. When he did so his former creditors offered to let him have all the borrowed money he wanted to go into the meat business. When the debt was discharged he turned his atten- tion to mining and secured over one thousand dollars in gold, but he tired of that line and with twenty companions built a raft and started from Fort Benton, Montana, down the Missouri river. The Indians were not friendly and tried many schemes to induce them to go ashore. After passing one party by others would spring out from ambush. As the white men floated down the Missouri different men left the party, each one usually giving his share in the raft to Mr. Fisher, so that he thus became practically the owner of the raft and the controlling spirit of the enterprise. The trip down the river completed, he went direct to Zanesville, Ohio. He did not stop to buy any new clothes and his father was much displeased to see him thus poorly dressed, but on learning all the cir- cumstances, that he had paid his obligations to the last dollar and that he wore a belt containing over one thousand dollars, he felt very proud of his son.
After a short visit home Conrad G. Fisher returned to Omaha, which was practically just entering on the second decade of its existence. Sheeley Brothers were the leading meat merchants of the city and Mr. Fisher entered their employ, working from sixteen to eighteen hours per day. While there he met two young men, who in later years, in turn, became his business partners and lifelong friends. These were James A. Vyse and Robert A. Harris. In 1869 Mr. Fisher said: "Jim, if we can make money for Sheeley Brothers we can for ourselves. I will go and look up a location." He decided on Hamburg, Iowa, and there they engaged in business under the firm name of Fisher & Vyse, but in 1870 Mr. Fisher disposed of his interest there, his wounded arm being the cause. He then went to Council Bluffs, where he became a partner in the firm of Keeline & Fisher. He lived almost constantly outdoors and in the saddle, going as far south as the Mexican border, north to Minnesota and to distant points east and west in quest of stock until his arm grew better. He then returned to Omaha, which he made his headquarters. Early in the fall of 1877 he bought out the J. T. Davis packing plant at Hamburg, Iowa, and took Henry Leland in as a partner under the name of Fisher & Leland. The business grew rapidly and
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was prospering when the plant was destroyed by fire. About a year later the insurance money with other funds was lost in a bank failure and Mr. Fisher suffered a heavy financial loss. He next formed a partnership with a Mr. Oaks and they went out on the Republican river, buying stock far and near, which they shipped to eastern markets. In 1878 Mr. Fisher returned to Omaha and entered in.o partnership with Robert A. Harris, proprietor of the leading retail meat business of the city. The Harris & Fisher Packing & Canning Company was organized and their first slaughter house was on the river at Douglas street. Later they were located at Sheeley, in Omaha, where they continued until the coming of the big packers with their vast financial resources and improved machinery, making it impossible for the smaller packers to compete with them. Harris & Fisher were the pioneer beef packers and canners of this city and developed their business to extensive proportions during their partnership, Mr. Harris having charge of the retail end of the business, while Mr. Fisher, who longed for fresh air and sunshine, attended to the purchasing and packing depart- ment. As the years passed the business grew in volume and importance until it became the leading beef, sheep, pork and canning packing industry of this city and of the western part of the country. In 1889 the firm discontinued, at which period it was doing a business of over a million dollars annually. It was then that the firm entered California and established much larger packing plants, but because of the continued ill health of a member of his family Mr. Fisher felt obliged to withdraw from the company. He then engaged in buying sheep in Utah and shipping to eastern markets. In 1893 he located in Beatrice, Nebraska, where he formed a partnership with James J. Skow in the retail meat business and in feeding and shipping cattle and hogs to eastern markets. In the fall of 1896 Mr. Fisher returned to Omaha and entered into the retail meat business, in which he continued until 1902, when he went west to Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, returning to Nebraska in ,1904. He then bought and took up land near Burwell, in Garfield county, where he entered into stock raising and agricultural pursuits. In 1914 on account of failing health he returned to Omaha and here his death occurred July 23, 1916. He was a sincere Christian man, devoted to home and family. From childhood he was a member of the Lutheran church and lived a conscientious Christian life.
On January 14, 1880, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Rebina Willcox, of Hamburg, Iowa. Two children were born of this union : Fredrick Willcox, who died at the age of sixteen years; and Mabel Sarah, who is a graduate of the Omaha high school and of the Nebraska State University of the class of 1906. At present she is a student nurse in the Presbyterian Hos- pital of Chicago.
Mr. Fisher was a valued life member of Covert Lodge, A. F. & A. M., with which he was connected for forty-seven years. He also belonged to U. S. Grant Post, No. 110, G. A. R., of which he was chaplain and commander for one year. He had membership in the Nebraska State Historical Society, the Nebraska Ter- ritorial Pioneers and the Douglas County Association of Nebraska Pioneers. 111 the early days he was connected with the Volunteer Firemen's Association of Omaha and was a veteran of that organization at the time of his death. There was no phase of the city's development with which he was not closely connected, for at all times he stood for progress and improvement here. His initial efforts in the packing business were followed by the efforts of many others, making Omaha a great center of the live stock industry of the country. In all of his activities and dealings Mr. Fisher maintained an unsullied reputation for busi- ness integrity as well as enterprise, commanding the respect of patrons, col- leagues and employes. His worth was widely acknowledged and in his passing Omaha lost one of its most valued and representative citizens.
No record of the life of Mr. Fisher would be complete without mention of his many benefactions and philanthropies. Ever ready to respond to the call of the needy, no legitimate charitable object appealed to him in vain. Of a
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tender-hearted nature, broad sympathies and most kindly disposition, he gave without ostentation or display and his many decds of kindness and private chari- ties only became known when told of by the recipients.
His widow, Mrs. Sarah Rebina Fisher, is a daughter of Eli and Maria ( Kintzel) Willcox, her birth occurring in Seneca township, Haldman county, western Ontario, Canada, September 5, 1850. At the age of ten years she came to the United States with her parents and settled at Hamburg, Iowa, in March, 1861. Her education was completed at Tabor College, Tabor, Iowa. She comes of old New England stock. Her great-great-grandfather, Daniel Harris, Sr., and her great-grandfather, Daniel Harris, Jr., were Revolutionary war soldiers. Her grandfather, Daniel Willcox, served in the War of 1812. Mrs. Fisher is a member of the Omaha Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and of U. S. Grant Relief Corps. She is also a member of the Eastern Star, the Omaha Fine Arts Society, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the Doug- las County Association of Nebraska Pioneers and the National Geographic Soci- ety and has held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church for over forty years.
JOHN A. RINE.
John A. Rine, city attorney of Omaha, was born in Fremont, Nebraska, December 23, 1878. His father, Philip Rine, a native of Pennsylvania, was of German descent. The founder of the family in America was Henry Rine, who crossed the Atlantic from the fatherland to the new world in 1768. Philip Rine wedded Laura Wirminghaus, a native of Michigan and also of German descent. They became the parents of three children, John A., C. W. and Mrs. G. W. Baird, of Fremont, Nebraska. It was during the '7os that the parents came to this state, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers of Fremont, where the father was a farmer and stockman for a number of years but is now living retired.
After acquiring his early education in the public schools of his native city, John A. Rine entered the University of Michigan and was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1900. Thus equipped for the bar he entered upon active practice, following his profession in a private capacity until 1904, when he was made United States referee in bankruptcy, which position he filled until 1907. He was then called to the office of assistant city attorney under Harry E. Burnam and so continued until 1910. He was then appointed to fill the vacancy in the office of city attorney and has ever since held that position.
In his political affiliations Mr. Rine has always been a democrat. He has pleasant associations with his professional colleagues, is a member of the Omaha Bar Association, the Nebraska State Bar Association and the American Bar Association. He is a Mason who has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite and the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Commercial Club, and along more strictly social lines has membership in the Omaha Athletic, the Omaha Field and the Carter Lake Clubs.
DAVID C. DODDS.
David C. Dodds, an active business man now connected with the Ralston Fur- niture Company, was born in Adams county, Ohio, March 30, 1868, a son of Isaiah L. and Mary K. (Johnston) Dodds, both of whom were natives of Butler, Penn- sylvania. The paternal grandfather, John Dodds, was also born in the Keystone state but his ancestors came originally from England and the north of Ireland. Late in life John Dodds removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio and there passed
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away. It was upon his land that the first hard coal in Ohio was discovered. Isaiah L. Dodds also became a resident of Ohio and there at the time of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting for service at the front. He remained with the army until the close of the war, after which he returned to his Ohio home and there carried on farming for a number of years. He afterward became a resident of Nebraska, where his last days were passed, and at his death he was laid to rest in Forest Lawn cemetery in Omaha.
In a family of five sons and two daughters David C. Dodds was the fifth in order of birth. He supplemented his public school training by a course of study in a normal school and afterward attended the Fayette Normal University, from which he was graduated in 1891. He took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for four years during the interval between his attendance at the normal and at the university. In 1892 he removed to Omaha and, desirous of becoming better prepared for a business career, he entered the Omaha Business College, in which he completed a course of study. He was afterward employed by the K. S. Newcomb Lumber Company, with which he remained for two years, and after- ward he entered the employ of the Deering Harvester Company, with which he remained for seven years. He was assistant manager during the last period of his connection with that company. Becoming connected with the postoffice, lie con- tinued there for ten years as a representative of the railway mail service and later he became interested in the Ralston Furniture Company, occupying the posi- tion of general manager at the plant at Ralston, where the company has a main building sixty by one hundred and sixty feet, two stories in height and basement. There is also a brick mill room sixty by ninety feet, a boiler and engine room and a drying kiln of brick. All these are connected and the plant covers three and a half acres of land. Sixty employes are. usually to be found at the plant and the business constitutes one of the important manufacturing enterprises not only of the town but of the county. They manufacture upholstered furniture, which is sold through the Orchard & Wilhelm Company.
On the 30th of November, 1898, Mr. Dodds, was united in marriage to Miss Mary Haerttelt, of Chicago, and to them has been born a son, David Franklin. Mr. Dodds is a member of the Masonic Lodge and is an excellent citizen, held it high regard wherever known. He was in Nebraska nearly ten years before he was joined by any of his brothers, but the five brothers came and all have been successful and are now numbered among the worthy citizens of this state. As a business man of Ralston Mr. Dodds has made for himself a most creditable posi- tion and is today at the head of an important productive industry which consti- tutes a valuable factor in the business life of the community.
JOSEPH A. SHOPEN.
Joseph A. Shopen, president of the real estate firm of J. A. Shopen & Com- pany of Omaha, was born at Cedar Falls, Iowa, March 25, 1875, a son of Joseph and Hortense (Tucker) Shopen, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Illinois. When but six years of age the father came to the new world with his parents, the family home being established in Chicago, where he attended school. He afterward engaged in dairy farming in Illinois and Iowa and later returned to Illinois but is now living in Omaha at the age of seventy-six years, having resided in this city since 1906. His wife passed away in Illinois in 1901 and is survived by three of her four sons, the youngest, Fred, having passed away. The others are: John, living in Elgin, Illinois; Hon. Frank Shopen, who is city judge of Elgin ; and Joseph A., of this review.
The last named pursued his education in the public schools of Elgin and latcı took up the printer's trade. He afterward took a course in advertising and eventtt- ally became manager of an implement house in Omaha, removing to this city in
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1903. He continued in that position for three years and then turned his attention to the ical estate business in August, 1909. Gradually as his clientage grew he felt the necessity of having someone share with him in the burdens and responsibilities of the business and in 1913 he was joined by Walter R. Zink and the firm of Shopen & Company was incorporated with Mr. Zink as secretary and treasurer. They have conducted their business with a recognition of two facts : first, that it is an easy matter to develop real estate activity along a special line so that homes can be sold on easy terms with safety to both buyer and seller, and this has led to the development of their lease clause purchase contract. The second idea which they have incorporated in their business covers a unique system of exchanging proper- ties, and by their cooperation with banks and trust companies they can sell outright and also exchange properties in other cities or farms in any state in the Union. Their business has steadily developed through honest, legitimate methods and front time to time they have been forced to seek larger quarters. Both partners are alert, energetic real estate men, and aside from handling both city and farm prop- erty they conduct an immense insurance business, specializing in fire and tornado insurance. They also have a rental department, the business of which has devel- oped so rapidly that it is now in charge of a man who gives his entire attention to this work. They have a corps of competent office help and their business is so wisely and carefully managed that success in large measure is attending their efforts.
On the 18th of May, 1898, Mr. Shopen was married to Miss Edith V. Simpson, of Elgin, Illinois, a daughter of Joseph Simpson, now of Chicago, Illinois. Their four children are: Leslie, who was born in Elgin in 1899; Cecil, born in Elgin in 1901 ; Frank, in Omaha in 1907 ; and Lorraine, born in Benson, Nebraska, in April, 1913.
Making his home in Benson, Mr. Shopen has served as chairman of the school board and its building committee. He holds membership in the Gospel Hall church and he is an active member of the Omaha Commercial Club, cooperating heartily in all of its well defined plans and movements for the city's upbuilding, the exten- sion of its trade relations and the establishment of higher standards of citizenship. He is a man of forceful character, resourceful in business, thoroughly pro- gressive and reliable at all times, and his many substantial qualities have gained him the full confidence of those whom he has met in a business way as well as those with whom he is connected socially.
SAMUEL A. HOUSER.
A spirit of marked enterprise and progressiveness characterizes Samuel A. Houser, founder and president of the Omaha Taxicab Company, in all his busi- ness relations, resulting in the attainment of substantial and well merited suc- cess. He is now widely and favorably known in the city where he has made his home since 1908. He was born in Mills county, Iowa, August 21, 1887, a son of Mr. and Mrs. James Houser, who were natives of Pennsylvania but at an early period in the development of Iowa became pioneer settlers of Mills county, establishing their home near Henderson, where the father successfully engaged in farming. He is now retired and resides in Henderson. His wife passed away when their son, Samuel A., was but eighteen months old. He was the third in order of birth in a family of four children, the others being Welbern, Ella and Addie.
At the usual age Samuel A. Houser became a public school pupil in his native locality and when his textbooks were put aside he turned his attention to the great wide field of business in search of an occupation. He felt that the taxicab service offered a profitable line and in 1908 became the pioneer in that under- taking in Omaha. He established business on a small scale but as the years have
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passed his patronage has grown to large proportions. In the beginning he had but one car and today he has eighteen. In 1910 he incorporated his interests under the name of the Omaha Taxicab Company, a close corporation, of which he is the president and manager.
On the 16th of July, 1913, Mr. Houser was married to Miss Helen May Cox, of Council Bluffs, a native of that place. Mr. and Mrs. Houser are members of the Episcopal church and in his political faith he is a republican. He belongs to the Happy Hollow Club, the Rotary Club, the Commercial Club and is popular in those organizations, for he possesses those social qualities which make for friendship and regard. He is justly accounted one of the leading young men of Omaha, viewed from both a social and business standpoint, and he certainly deserves the success which has come to him, for marked enterprise and progres- siveness have been the salient points in his business career.
MILLARD MAHLON ROBERTSON.
Millard Mahlon Robertson, president of the Evans-Model Laundry of Omaha, was born in Bethany, Missouri, June 22, 1867. His father, John Burton Robertson, a native of Springfield, Illinois, was born in 1844 and with the call to arms in 1861 his patriotic spirit was aroused and he enlisted as a member of the Fifty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served to the end of the war. during which time he was forced to spend five months in Andersonville prison, having been captured by the enemy. In Illinois he wedded Miss Nancy Ellen Copeland, who was also a native of Springfield, that state, and who passed away in 1869. In 1871, in Bethany, Missouri, Mr. Robertson was again married but lost his second wife in 1914.
Between the years 1870 and 1885 Millard M. Robertson spent his youth upon a farm in Nemaha county, Nebraska, where he attended the district schools, but never had the advantage of high school or college training. In the latter year he came to Omaha and spent six months as a student in a commercial college, meeting his expenses by doing odd jobs. He then entered the employ of J. H. Evans, with whom he remained until 1898, his long continued service in that connection being unmistakable proof of his fidelity and capability. In the latter year he bought the towel supply business from Mr. Evans and in 1905 broadened the scope of his activities and business connections by the purchase of the Model Laundry, bor- rowing twenty-five thousand dollars with which to consummate the purchase. In 1912 the Model Laundry and the Evans Laundry were merged under the name of the Evans-Model Laundry and in the same year the business was re-incorpor- ated, at which time Mr. Robertson became president and treasurer. He has since continued in that connection. Such is the inere outline of his ascent in the business world. It tells nothing, however, of his struggles and his efforts to overcome obstacles and difficulties. He has faced setbacks that not one man in ten thousand could have overcome. Energy and determination have constituted his motive force and today he is recognized as a dynamic power in business circles in his adopted `city. In his vocabulary there is no such word as fail. He conquered by the sheer force of his will and his adaptability, recognizing the fact that when one avenue of opportunity seems closed he can carve out another path that will reach the desired goal. Moreover, his friends point to another element in his career with pride-the fact that he has never deviated from an honorable course in all of his business transactions. In addition to his extensive laundry business he is now connected with the Omaha Loan & Building Association as a director and he has found time for cooperation in many plans and projects for the uplift of his fellowmen and the upbuilding of the community.
On the 7th of May, 1896, in Omaha, Mr. Robertson was married to Miss
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Jessie E. Tower, daughter of Lewis Tower, a representative of an old English fam- ily. The children of this marriage are Gladys Maurine and Elizabeth Loomis.
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