USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 63
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On the 14th of February, 1910, in Chicago, Mr. Redick was united in mar- riage to Grace L., daughter of Pierce C. Himebaugh, who was the founder of the Young Men's Christian Association of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Redick have a daughter, Grace Chatham, who was born April 14, 1915.
In early manhood Mr. Redick was for a short time a member of the Omaha Guards. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and he is prominently known in club circles as a member of the Omaha, Uni- versity, Country, Happy Hollow and Carter Lake Clubs. He is likewise a member of the Commercial Club and is connected with the Grain Exchange. Public-spirited activities have claimed of his thought, energy and attention. He donated to the University of Omaha its first building, known as O. C. Redick Hall, which is used for art and music. He is much interested in politics and in fact is a close student of the important political, economic and sociological problems which are engaging the attention of the foremost thinking men of the age.
FRED A. CRESSEY.
Fred A. Cressey, a slioe dealer of South Omaha, was born in Rowley, Mas- sachusetts, August 1, 1858. He is a representative of an old Massachusetts family dating its ancestry back to 1639, when the first of the name came from England and made settlement at Rowley. He was presumably a cabinetmaker by trade. Representatives of the family have been ever loyal to the interests of the country, and during the dark days of war have defended its interests as soldiers in the Revolution and in the Civil war. His father, John S. Cressey, also a native of Massachusetts, was a carpenter by trade. During his later years he became a resident of Omaha and his death occurred at the age of seventy- four years. He married Betsey Kelsey, a native of Lawrence, Massachusetts, and a descendant of an old New Hampshire family of English lineage. She passed away in Massachusetts. In the family were four children who reached adult age, Fred A. being the eldest. The others are : William, living in Oakland, Iowa; Mrs. John F. C. Stevens, of Lynn, Massachusetts, and Charles.
Fred A. Cressey was educated in the public schools of Massachusetts and in the Putnam high school, an endowed institution of learning. He started out to earn his livelihood in Avoca, Iowa, when a youth of nineteen and was first em- ployed as a clerk in mercantile lines. In I891 he came to Omaha and imme- diately entered the retail shoe business with a small stock of goods. He has since been connected with the trade and has constantly enlarged his stock to meet the growing demands of his business. He is today one of the oldest mer- chants in his line in South Omaha. His first store was at No. 2509 N street and at the present writing, in 1917, he is located at 4822 South Twenty-fourth
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street, where he has a large and modern store. He also is owner of a branch store at. Fairbury, Nebraska, conducted by his son. He possesses industry and determination, which qualities constituted his capital and have been the founda- tion of his substantial success.
In 1882, at Avoca, Iowa, Mr. Cressey was united in marriage to Miss Anna Richart, a native of lowa and a descendant of an old family of that state, her parents being the late Aaron and Eliza ( Williams) Richart. Mr. and Mrs. Cressey have a son, Ralph E., who is associated with his father in business, con- ducting the branch store at Fairbury. Politically Mr. Cressey is a republican and fraternally is a thirty-second degree Mason. He also belongs to the Omaha Commercial Club and the South Omaha Business Men's Association. He be- longs to Grace Methodist Episcopal church, is one of its trustees and a member of the official board and is very active in the church work, doing everything in his power to promote its growth and extend its influence. His life has been guided by its teachings and his record of honorable success may well serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others.
RT. REV. ARTHUR LLEWELLYN WILLIAMS.
Rt. Rev. Arthur Llewellyn Williams, Episcopal bishop of Nebraska, was born at Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, January 30, 1856. His father, Richard Jones Williams, was born in Carnarvon, Wales, May 10, 1811, and in 1825 accompanied his father to Canada, where he was reared, completing his education by gradua- tion from McGill University in Montreal. For fifty years he was active as a minister of the Presbyterian church and his influence was of no restricted order. He was married in Canada to Elizabeth Johnstone and in 1859 they removed to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, spending many years in that state, although subse- quently they took up their residence in Wisconsin. Mrs. Williams passed away in 1857 and in 1860 Richard J. Williams was again married, Miss Amanda Pease becoming his wife. He died in Nevada in 1881, while his second wife survived until 1913, passing away in Cumberland, Wisconsin, at the age of ninety years. His family numbered five sons and five daughters, of whom Bishop Williams was the ninth in order of birth and is the only surviving son. However, he has four sisters who are yet living. His brother, John W. Williams, left the sophomore class of Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1861 and enlisted as a private in the Tenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, in which he rose to the rank of first licutenant and later was brevetted captain. He was killed at Atlanta in 1865 and was laid to rest in the National cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bishop Williams completed his public school education by graduation from the high school in Shullsburg, Wisconsin, with the class of 1872. Later he entered Greenwich Academy at Greenwich, Rhode Island, and is numbered among its alumni of 1877. Turning his attention to the railroad business in Colorado, he spent six and a half years as traffic agent for the Denver, Utah & Pacific Railroad, now a part of the Burlington system, but becoming imbued with the desire to devote his life to the upbuilding of the cause of Christianity, he entered the Western Theological Seminary of Chicago in 1886 and was gradu- ated therefrom in 1888 with the degree of S. T. B., while in 1900 that institution conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was ordained deacon by the late Bishop John F. Spalding in St. John's cathedral at Denver, Colorado, on the 22d of May, 1888, and on the 3d of June, 1889, was advanced to the priesthood by the same prelate. In June, 1888, he was sent as a missionary to White River valley. Colorado, being the first clergyman of any denomination in that territory. There he remained for three years and in 1891-92 was rector of St. Paul's church in Denver, at the end of which time he was called to Chicago to accept the position of rector of Christ church, where he remained until October,
RT. REV. ARTHUR L. WILLIAMS
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1899, when he was consecrated coadjutor bishop of Nebraska in Trinity cathedral of Omaha on St. Luke's day, the 18th of October. He became bishop in suc- cession January 7, 1908, and still fills that high position.
On the 18th of October, 1881, in Boston, Massachusetts, Dr. Williams was married to Miss Adelaide L. Makinster, a daughter of the late R. W. Makinster, a native of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
They have one child, Lenore Ethel.
Bishop Williams gives his political allegiance to the democratic party but has never been an active party worker. He is a Master Mason, belonging to George W. Lininger Lodge, A. F. & A. M. He is also an honorary member of the Omaha Field Club and a member of the University Club. One who knows him said of him: "He is highly educated and in appearance and manner is all that a bishop is expected to be." While holding strictly to the tenets of his church in his teachings he is at the same time a man of broad sympathy and is continually reaching out a helping hand wherever humanity needs assistance. His scholarly attainments are manifest in his discourses, and the earnestness and eloquence of his speech have done much to promote the cause to which he has consecrated his life.
GEORGE W. BRIGGS.
George W. Briggs is an active business man of South Omaha, engaged in plumbing, drain laying, gas fitting and all kinds of tin, copper and sheet iron work. He was born in Northfield, Washington county, Vermont, January 28, 1854. His father, George Briggs, was also born in the Green Mountain state and belonged to one of its old families. The grandfather Briggs became a pioneer settler of Washington county and the farm which he secured was a comparative wilderness. He cleared away the timber and developed his fields, spending his remaining days upon it, as did his son, George Briggs. In fact the old home- stead was the birthplace of both George and George W. Briggs and it is still in the possession of the family. After the death of the father, George Briggs, in 1857, it remained the home of his widow and her family until 1865 and then became the home of an older sister of George W. Briggs. George Briggs was a successful farmer and was a man of high ideals, greatly respected in the com- munity in which he lived. He wedded Mary Lane, a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of an old family of that state. She passed away in 1865, at the age of forty-six. Of the four children in the family one died in infancy.
George W. Briggs continued upon the old homestead farm in the Green Mountain state until he reached the age of sixteen, when he entered upon a three years' apprenticeship to the tinner's trade, which he afterward followed as a journeyman in Vermont for a year. When he reached the age of twenty he began business on his own account in Northfield, where he remained for two years. Learning of the great opportunities of the west, he concluded to see the country, and if conditions proved as he had anticipated, to remain. Accord- ingly in the spring of 1882 he started for the country beyond the Mississippi and first located at Idagrove, Ida county, Iowa, where he was employed by the firm of Smith & Gilbert. He was afterward in the employ of E. A. King for three years, later the firm of King & Mathews, and on the 5th of April, 1887, he reached South Omaha, where he has since made his home. For the first six months he was employed at his trade and then entered business on his own ac- count, beginning in a comparatively small way. Since then he has built up the largest plumbing, tinning, copper and sheet iron work business in South Omaha, his books showing an increase in his trade year by year. He now gives employ- ment to an average of fifteen skilled workmen and in addition to his activities along the lines indicated he does an extensive heating installation business. In a word, his patronage has reached large and gratifying proportions, so that his
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financial condition is in marked contrast to what it was at the outset of 'his business career, for his first salary was twenty-five dollars per year and board, and during the second year of his apprenticeship he received fifty dollars. He is thoroughly familiar with every branch of the work and his expert knowledge, based upon broad practical experience, enables hini to wisely direct the labors of those whom he employs.
In 1881, at Jefferson, lowa, Mr. Briggs was united in marriage to Miss Nina Cooper, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Samuel B. and Catherine (Tegard) Cooper, who were early settlers of Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Briggs be- came the parents of three children, one of whom survives, Mildred. Where national issues are involved Mr. Briggs votes with the democratic party, but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He belongs to the Master Plumbers Association and also to the Ancient Order of United Workmen. His time and interests have largely been concentrated upon his business affairs and it has been this close application and determined purpose which have constituted the meas- ure of his continually growing success.
FREDERICK HUNZICKER.
Frederick Hunzicker, president of the W. H. Beckett Lumber Company of South Omaha and residing at No. 1318 South Ninth street, in Omaha, is num- bered among the men of foreign birth who have become substantial and valued residents of eastern Nebraska and who through their enterprise and business ability have contributed much to the upbuilding of this section of the state. He was born in Argau, Switzerland, March 13, 1856, and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Weis) Hunzicker, both of whom were natives of Switzerland. The father devoted his life to farming but passed away during the childhood of his son Frederick and the mother died in Switzerland in 1906 at the age of eighty- five years.
Mr. Hunzicker of this review was the only child of that marriage. In early life he attended the schools of Switzerland and when his textbooks were put aside he entered upon an apprenticeship to the builder's trade in that country, being employed along that line until he decided to come to America in 1880. The fol- lowing year he arrived in Omaha, where he began carpentering on his own account. Later, however, he entered the employ of the Union Pacific Railroad Company as a carpenter and was thus engaged for two years. In 1885 he estab- lished what was known as the European Hotel, of which he became the pro- prietor and which he conducted along the most successful lines for thirty years. He sold out his business, however, in 1915 and has since confined his attention to the management of his investments and his building operations. He is today president of the W. H. Beckett Lumber Company, which is one of the leading lumber firms of South Omaha, with offices and yards located at No. 4801 South Twenty-seventh street. Whatever he has undertaken he has carried forward to successful completion and his energy and diligence have constituted important factors in his growing success.
On the 16th of November, 1886, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Hun- zicker and Miss Lizzie Foscher, of Saunders county, Nebraska, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Christian Foscher, who were pioneer settlers and prominent people of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Hunzicker have become the parents of three children, but Frederick, who was born in 1893, passed away in 1896. The others are as follows: Lula, who was born in Omaha in 1887 and was graduated from the Omaha schools, is now the wife of Dr. Joseph M. Terringer and has one child, Joseph Fred. Ruth, born in Omaha in 1894, is the wife of Morris P. Griffin, and they have one child. Frederick Joseph. Both daughters are public
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school graduates and have also graduated from an Indiana college conducted by the Catholic church.
Mr. and Mrs. Hunzicker hold membership in the Lutheran church and he gives his political allegiance to the democratic party. He belongs to the Swiss Society, of which he has been president for the past seven years, and thus he keeps in close touch with his fellow countrymen. He came to America a poor boy but by thrift and industry has achieved success and is today the owner of considerable valuable real estate in Omaha, including a fine residence, while he and his wife are numbered among the most respected residents of the city.
HON. GEORGE S. COLLINS.
Hon. George S. Collins has for a considerable period been connected with official service in Omaha and his devotion to duty in public office has made his record an unassailable one. He is now connected with the office of city and county treasurer as tax collector. He was born July 22, 1882, in Walnut, Iowa. His father, John Collins, a native of Ireland, came to America in 1852 at the age of sixteen years and settled at Baltimore, Maryland, where he engaged in the business of handling oysters. He remained in the east until the latter part of 1882, when he purchased a farm near Neolia, Iowa, and followed agricultural pursuits there for a number of years. In 1890 he became a resident of South Omaha, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred when he was sixty-one years of age. He married Hattie Stanton, a native of Ireland, who during her infancy was brought to America by her parents, who settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where she was reared and educated. The family afterward removed to Muscatine, Iowa, and there she met and married Mr. Collins. Her death occurred in Los Angeles, California, January 18, 1913, when she was sixty-two years of age. In the family were ten children, of whom George S. was the sixth, and six of the number reached adult age. The parents were both devout members of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Collins was a democrat in his political belief.
After attending the public and parochial schools in South Omaha, George S. Collins when a youth of sixteen secured a position with the Cudahy Packing Company, with which he remained for several years. There he learned the butcher's trade, but the business was not to his liking and he entered mercantile lines as a grocery clerk, being thus employed until he reached the age of twenty- two. While occupying that position he became one of the organizers and mem- bers of the Retail Clerks Union. At the age of twenty-two he purchased a grocery store at Thirty-third avenue and U street, the purchase price being six hundred and fifty dollars, of which he borrowed four hundred dollars from his brother and gave a mortgage for the remainder, which was payable within six months. He met that financial obligation at the given time and paid the four hundred dollars indebtedness within a year, at the end of which time he was in possession of a stock all paid for and a trade that was growing steadily. He met with substantial success during the four and a half years in which he conducted that business and during that period he was also the chief support of the family. He then removed to Los Angeles, California, where he spent one winter, and during that time was engaged in the real estate business. He then returned to Omaha. While in Los Angeles without effort or personal campaigning on his part he was elected to office and afterward became justice of the peace in South Omaha in 1911 and was re-elected in 1914, serving in all for five years, or until the 3d of January, 1917. His decisions were strictly fair and impartial, winning for him "golden opinions from all sorts of people." Since his retirement from that position he has been connected with the office of city and county treasurer as tax collector and in this office as in his previous connection he is found a
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faithful, loyal and capable official. He has always given his political support to the democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise and does everything in his power to uphold the principles in which he believes.
In South Omaha on the 5th of June, 1906, Mr. Collins was married to Miss Catherine A. Kelly, a native of Iowa and a daughter of David and Maria Kelly, who were pioneer residents of Iowa, of Irish descent, but both are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have become the parents of a daughter and three sons : Mary Claire, born in Omaha, August 14, 1907; Richard S., December 19, 1909; Robert Emmet, February 5, 1911, and George, in 1915.
The family reside at No. 5615 South Thirty-third avenue, which property is owned by Mr. Collins in addition to other realty. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church and an active worker in its interests. He is also a mem- ber and record keeper of the Knights of the Maccabees, belongs to the Stags, in which he holds office, is secretary of the West Side Booster Club, president of the Holy Name Society, a member of the Royal Highlanders and the Eagles and president of Community Center Work. His interests are broad and varied and have much to do with the upbuilding of his church and the advancement of com- munity welfare. He has always found time to cooperate in movements for the general good and that he is well qualified for leadership is indicated in the fact that he has been called to office in almost every organization with which he has been connected.
JOHN M. COOK.
Those familiar with the extensive and important operations of the Great Western Commission Company of South Omaha need no introduction to John M. Cook, for as one of the leading partners in that undertaking he is today widely known. He was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, October 17, 1863, a son of James A. and Adeline ( Stratton) Cook, the former a native of Norwalk, Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania. In early life the father removed to the Keystone state, where he was married, and engaged in farming until the early '6os, when he became a resident of Michigan, settling in Berrien county. In 1872 he first saw Omaha, traveling through this city en route to Boone county, Nebraska, and settling near Albion. He there engaged in farming for a number of years and in 1888 he became a resident of Portland, Oregon, where he lived retired, his death occurring in 1915, when he had reached the age of seventy-eight years. His wife was reared and educated in Pennsylvania and died in 1895 at the age of sixty-two years. In their family were four children, of whom John M. is the eldest. One of the number, Henry A., died at Petersburg. Nebraska, in 1914. Chandler C. Cook died in Michigan and the sister, Mrs. Birdie Steltz, is now living in Omaha.
Through the period of his boyhood and youth John M. Cook attended school in Michigan and in Albion, Nebraska, and afterward worked for his father until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he took up farming on his own account in Boone county, this state. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits for five years, at the end of which time he established his home in Albion and began operating in the grain and coal trade and in the live stock business. After remaining there for three years he removed to South Omaha in April, 1893, and here engaged in the commission business as a member of the firm of Perrine, Cook & Company, maintaining that connection for five years. He was also with the Mallory Commission Company as a partner and afterward he bought out the company, changing the name of the business to the Great Western Commission Company. In 1914 his company absorbed the National Live Stock Commission Company of South Omaha and he associated himself with Edwin W. Cahow, who was manager of the National Live Stock Commission Company.
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They control the largest business in their line in South Omaha, having interested with them and in their employ about thirty-five alert. energetic men, recognized as leaders in their departments, each one employed by reason of his superior ability in a particular line. Their hog department has long been recognized as a leader in Omaha and their sheep department without a superior on any market. They are in fact the largest receivers of live stock in Omaha and their stockers and feeders are bought on order by special buyers and not by salesmen. Their business has now reached a very extensive volume and they are recognized as authority on any matter relating to the live stock business.
At Albion, Nebraska, on the Ist of January, 1886, Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Mary C. Alsworth and they have three children : Mary C., who was born in Albion, Nebraska, in April, 1889, and is a graduate of the Omaha high school; Hazel, who was born in South Omaha in 1894 and is a graduate of the Omaha high school, while at the present time she is attending the University of Nebraska; and Tinabell, who was born in 1897 and is now a senior in the high school at Omaha.
Mir. Cook is a republican yet follows an independent course if he so desires. never feeling himself bound by party ties. He and his family attend the Baptist church and he holds membership with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Arcanum. Laudable ambition has constituted the stimulus that has enabled him to work his way upward from a humble position. Step by step he has advanced through the exercise of his growing powers and today his name is a well known and honored one in live stock circles.
THEODORE TILLOTSON.
Theodore Tillotson, president of the Mutual Live Stock Commission Com- pany, was born in Omaha, January 19, 1875, a son of E. A. and Laura ( Williams ) Tillotson, the former a native of Michigan and the latter of the state of New York. About 1866 the father came to Nebraska, settling at Blair, and for thirty-five years he was connected with the railway mail service but is now living retired, making his home in Portland, Oregon, at the age of seventy-three years, while his wife has reached the age of seventy years. In their family were four children : Walter, a cattle buyer with Armour & Company at South Omaha; Theodore, and two daughters, L. P. and M. C., the former living in Portland and the latter in Eugene, Oregon.
Reared in Omaha, Theodore Tillotson attended the public schools to the age of fifteen years and then started out to earn his own living. Leaving home, he went to northeastern Wyoming, where he worked on large cattle ranches, herding cattle as a cowboy. Upon his return to Omaha he became connected with the National Live Stock Commission Company, doing business in the Ex- change building at the stock yards in South Omaha. He remained with that concern for eight years, when in 1914 he joined with others in establishing the Mutual Live Stock Commission Company. He has a wide acquaintance and is unusually popular among the prominent cattlemen of Wyoming, Montana, Ne- braska and Iowa. His wide acquaintance proved to him a valuable asset when he started out in business on his own account, for the cattlemen of the west became his patrons when in December, 1914, he organized the Mutual Live Stock Commission Company, of which he became the president with C. S. Hib- bard and R. C. Martin as the vice presidents and B. C. Johnson as secretary and treasurer. The business was incorporated and the firm is today controlling a com- mission business scarcely excelled by any of the firms in the Exchange building in the Union Stock Yards. They handle as high as five hundred carloads of cattle some months in the conduct of their business transactions. They are all men of well-known ability and Mr. Tillotson has had wide experience on the
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