USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 65
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Calvin H. Hall started out in life independently when a youth of eighteen years, going first to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he secured employment in the cotton mills. There he remained for two years, when he entered the employ of Curtis & Boynton, packers and dealers in ice, at Boston. He continued with that firm for three and one-half years and then took charge of the retail business, in Faneuil Hall market, of John P. Squire, a prominent pork packer of East Cambridge, doing at that time the largest business in his line in the world. In 1861 Mr. Hall went to Cuba to establish a cold storage station for the Squire & North Company and upon his return was at supper in Mobile, Alabama, when the first Confederate congress met. They visited the same hotel and were at supper at the same time when Mr. Hall was partaking of his meal. He was trying to make his way northward and to this end associated himself with the Confederate soldiers but kept his intention quiet. He was present when the first gun was fired on Fort Sumter, but he utilized his opportunities to make his way northward to Boston and accomplished this purpose. Soon after he became associated with John P. Squire and Charles North in operating in the oil fields at Petrolia, Canada. Making their way to that district, they struck the first oil found in the district, Mr. Hall being in charge at that time. They were unable to find a market for the product in that country and the duty on oil prevented profitable shipment to the United States. Mr. Hall then went to Zanesville. Ohio, and bored several dry wells. He afterward went to Chicago, where he became hog buyer for J. P. Squire and Charles H. North of Boston. In 1869 he removed to Iowa, where he engaged in the live stock business. He was present at the opening of the Burlington Railroad at Villisca and was there
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introduced to his future wife. For thirty-eight years he continued in the live stock business, in which connection he covered southwestern Iowa and northern Missouri and became widely known as a very competent and successful stockman.
In 1907 Mr. Hall removed to Nebraska and promoted and opened the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Benson, of which he became the first president, main- taining this association with the bank until his death, which occurred March 31, 1915, his remains being interred at Villisca. The cemetery at Villisca, a most beautiful one, was donated by Byron W. Hall's maternal grandfather, Elijah Overman, to the city, the land having been a portion of the homestead which he took up as a claim from the government in 1856. Calvin H. Hall was a man of most remarkable memory and this constituted one of the features in his
business success. He became widely known in various sections of the country, and his many sterling traits of character, as manifest in his business and social relations, gained for him high regard.
Dr. Hall was the eldest of his three children. At the usual age he became a public school pupil and passed through consecutive grades to the high school, after which he engaged with his father in the live stock business for a couple of years. He then went to Omaha in 1897 and entered the medical department of the University of Nebraska, from which he was graduated in April, 1901. He later practiced in Bennington until 1906, when he came to Benson, where he has since followed his profession, and he is recognized as an able physician and surgeon whose wide professional knowledge is used to good account for the benefit of his fellowmen. He is also associated with his brother, Cushman C., in the ownership and conduct of a farm of two hundred acres twelve miles west of the Omaha courthouse, whereon they buy and raise and feed sheep and cattle, conducting a successful business in that connection.
On the 8th of July, 1903, Dr. Hall was joined in wedlock to Mrs. Julia A. Warner, of East Jordan, Michigan, by whom he has a son, Calvin H. Dr. Hall belongs to the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, and he is deeply interested in all that pertains to the profession or that tends to bring to man the key to the complex mystery which we call life. He has developed pronounced ability in his chosen calling, and that the public recognizes his skill is indicated in his steadily growing practice.
JORGEN MICHAELSEN.
Jorgen Michaelsen, supreme secretary of the Danish Brotherhood, was born in Denmark, December 7, 1864, a son of the late Michael and Christiana (Ander- son) Christiansen, who spent their entire lives in Denmark, where the father followed the blacksmith's trade in order to provide for his family. To him and his wife were born nine children, of whom Jorgen was the eighth.
After attending the public schools of his native land until he reached the age of eleven, Jorgen Michaelsen started out in the business world to earn his living, being first employed as a cattle and sheep herder, for which he received the sum of twelve crowns and his board in payment for the summer's work. He continued to attend school in the winter months until he reached the age of fourteen and since that time his education has been supplemented by valuable lessons learned in the school of experience. For a time he was employed in a distillery in Hjorring, Denmark, where he continued for three and one-half years. He afterward spent twelve months as a farm hand and in 1882 he emigrated to the new world, making his way direct to Omaha, where he arrived on the 6th of July, joining an older brother, J. P. Michaelsen, who had preceded him three years but who is now deceased. After reaching the new world Jorgen Michaelsen was employed at hard labor for three years, spending a part of that
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time in the employ of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Railway Company. He also spent seven years as an employe of the Burlington Railroad at the depot, after which he became letter carrier, having passed the civil service examination. He was then employed by the government for eleven years, at the end of which time he was elected to his present office of supreme secretary of the Danish Brotherhood, occupying the position continuously since 1902. He is in thorough sympathy with the purposes of the order and he has contributed not a little to its success. When he came to his present position the membership numbered eighty-two hundred, while today there are twenty-two thousand names upon its rolls.
In Omaha, July 20, 1884, Mr. Michaelsen was married to Miss Oline Erick- sen, a native of Denmark, and a daughter of the late Christian Ericksen. There are eight living children of this marriage: Mary, the wife of A. W. Blakewell, of Leith, North Dakota; Harry, a farmer of Page, North Dakota; Tillie, the wife of John Tibke, a farmer of Leith; Ruth, who is married and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; and Howard, Mabel, Herbert and Verna, all at home.
When Mr. Michaelsen came to the new world he was indebted to his brother for his passage money, but he has since utilized every opportunity to win legiti- mate success and advancement and his present substantial position is in marked contrast to his condition when he came to the United States. His life has been an active and useful one and commands for him the goodwill of all with whom he has been brought in contact. He is treasurer of the Danish Building Society, formed for the purpose of erecting an auditorium for Danish societies and organi- zations. His political allegiance is given to the republican party. He belongs to the Letter Carriers' Association, to the Danish Brotherhood and to St. John's Lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., while the rules which govern his conduct are further indicated in the fact that he is a member of the Danish Lutheran church.
EUGENE P. MELADY.
Eugene P. Melady, member of the Melady Brothers Live Stock Commission Company of Omaha and sportsman enjoying a national reputation as an advocate of clean sports, has in all of his undertakings, whether business or recreation, been actuated by a spirit of fair play. He was born in Faribault county, Min- nesota, February 26, 1872, a son of the late James Melady, a native of County Meath, Ireland, who came to America at the age of twelve years, settling in Massachusetts in 1848. There he married and in the early '6os removed to Minnesota, becoming one of the pioneer residents of that state. For thirty years he was engaged in the coal business in St. Paul and took an active part in political and civic matters there, serving for twelve years as alderman and at all times supporting those plans and measures which he deemed of value to the community. In his business affairs he won substantial prosperity and was long regarded as a leading citizen and man of high principles and honor. He passed away in 1909, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Kane, was born in County Leitrim, Ireland, and when a maiden of fourteen summers was brought to the United States by her parents, who settled in Cherry Valley. near Worcester, Massachusetts, where her mar- riage was celebrated. She died in 1897, at the age of sixty-two years. In the family were eleven children, eight of whom are yet living.
Eugene P. Melady was educated in the parochial schools of St. Paul, Min- nesota, and in Notre Dame University of Indiana, pursuing his studies to the age of nineteen years, when he started out to earn his own livelihood. His initial business experience came to him in a clerical capacity in the wholesale paper house of his brother, John P. Melady, who was then and now is one of the leading wholesale paper dealers of St. Paul, Minnesota. He remained in
EUGENE P. MELADY
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that connection until 1898, when he entered the live stock commission business with Thuet Brothers in South St. Paul. He afterward spent eighteen months at Sioux City, where he conducted a branch business for the firm and thence came to Omaha for the firm in 1900. He conducted the interests of the company at this point until 1910, when he was admitted to a partnership. In 1913 he and his brother, Lawrence Melady, purchased the business, which they have since conducted most successfully under the name of the Melady Brothers Live Stock Commission Company. In addition E. P. Melady is treasurer of the South Omaha Live Stock Exchange, which office he is filling for the third term. His business is a growing and profitable one and he occupies a prominent position among the com- mission men of the city.
In Chicago, on the 22d of November, 1911, Mr. Melady was married to Miss Hilma Grace Anderson, a native of Omaha. They now have one child, Eugene Patrick, Jr., born December 1, 1912. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Melady is also identified with the Knights of Columbus. He also has membership in the Omaha Athletic Club. In politics he is an active supporter of democratic principles but has never sought nor desired office for himself and in fact has several times declined to fill public positions. However, he is now aid-de-camp on the staff of Governor Neville of Nebraska. As stated, he enjoys a national reputation as an advocate of clean sports and is a true reformer in that line. He has promoted some of the most important sporting events ever held in Omaha and in the west. In Collyer's Eye appeared the fol- lowing: "Gene Melady of Omaha has projected himself into the limelight as about the only high class wrestling promoter of whom the United States may now boast. Melady has his own ideas of the mat game, in which incidentally he is interested only through sheer love of the sport, and the cornerstone of his sport- ing creed is 'Protect the public, first, last and all the time.' The Omaha promoter is opposed to guarantees ; that boxers and wrestlers should be compelled to do business on their merits and that neither promoter nor the public should be made the 'goat' of frenzied finance athletes at any time. "Melady made a tremendous hit with all lovers of wrestling and the clean sportsmen of the country by the manner in which he handled the recent match between Joe Stecher and Strangler Lewis. He made the men go as long as it was humanely possible and it was not his fault that the match did not result in a fall. That bout, however, taught Melady the final lesson and hereafter any athletes who wrestle under his auspices will term- inate their bout in a fall or it will cost them money as is evidenced by the offer Melady has made for the Hackenschmidt-Stecher match which appears in another column. Melady's business motto is 'one hundred per cent service.' He's also one hundred per cent square sportsman."
Mr. Melady has also proposed the state athletic commission law, which has many splendid measures, including the establishment of a commission to be appointed by the governor which shall have "sole direction, management and control of, and jurisdiction over, all boxing and sparring matches and exhibitions to be conducted, held or given within the state by any club, corporation or asso- ciation :" that it "shall make to the legislature a full report of its proceed-
No boxing or sparring match or exhibition shall be held on Sunday
ings × No intoxicating liquor shall be given away, sold or offered for sale in any building or part thereof, in which boxing or sparring exhibitions are being conducted." The highest standards of clean sport in every particular are the features of this proposed commission law as set forth by Mr. Melady, who has studied every phase of the question. The foremost sport critic of America said of him, he "needs no special heralding at our hands, as already his name is one to conjure by everywhere that sports are known, from one end of the land to the other, -- a unique celebrity acquired by the unswerving and scrupulously straight- forward exactitude that has characterized every venture he has been connected with. Gene Melady will countenance nothing in or out of sport that cannot stand the full glare of the midday sun, and therein lies the secret of his great success
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and greater popularity. And it must not be thought, either, that he is in the game for revenue only, for he is not, but simply for the personal pleasure, the delightful relaxation from his arduous duties in the workaday world,-he gets out of it, and with the one idea of putting it on the same popular plane with baseball. golf and tennis."
JAMES S. LONEY, M. D.
Dr. James S. Loney, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Omaha since 1911 and also active as local surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad Company, was born in Iowa City, Iowa, July 10, 1886, and was the youngest of the five children of Patrick and Julia (Connor) Loney. The father was born in Ireland and came to America in 1861, settling first in Rochester, New York, whence in 1868 he removed to Iowa City, Iowa, becoming one of the pioneer residents of that section of the state, where he successfully followed farming for many years. He is now living retired in Omaha at the age of seventy-three years. His wife, a native of Ohio and of Irish descent, died in 1886 at the age of thirty-five years, when her son James was but three months old.
Reared in his native city, James S. Loney there pursued a public school edu- cation until he had completed the high school course. Determining upon the practice of medicine as a life work, he then entered the Creighton University Medical College and won his professional degree in 1911. His early life was spent upon the farm but at the age of twenty-two years he started out to earn a living independently. Following his graduation he became local surgeon for the Union Pacific Railroad with headquarters in Omaha and is still acting in that capacity, in addition to which he conducts a private practice with office at No. 422 World-Herald building.
In June, 1912. in Omaha, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Loney and Miss May Lahey, a native of this city and a daughter of the late Michael Lahey, who for years was custodian in the post-office and was also for an extended period connected with the Douglas county courthouse. Dr. and Mrs. Loney had two children but both have passed away.
The Doctor belongs to Phi Beta Pi, a medical fraternity, and he has mem- bership with the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and the Nebraska State Medical Society. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and he belongs also to the Knights of Columbus, while of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Fraternal Aid Union he is likewise a representative. His political endorsement is given to the men and measures of the democratic party.
WILLIAM A. SMITH.
William A. Smith, the second vice president and general manager of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railways, is a man of marked executive ability whose keen discrimination is manifest in practical effort resulting beneficially to the corporation which he represents. His careful consideration of complex business problems has always led to clearly defined plans, the proper execution of which have brought successful achievement.
Mr. Smith is a native of New York, his birth having occurred in Dryden. December 16, 1847. His father. Frederick Smith, a native of England, came to America in 1842 and first settled in Tompkins county, New York, where he became a successful farmer. He spent his remaining days in that state, passing away in Speedsville in 1906 at the age of eighty-six years. Taking active interest
WILLIAM A. SMITH
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in politics he gave his support to the republican party but never sought nor desired office for himself. He married Susanna Kirby, a native of England, and it was on their wedding day that they sailed for the new world. They became the parents of five children of whom three are living. The mother passed away at the old home in Speedsville in 1876 at the age of fifty-eight years.
William A. Smith was educated in the little brown schoolhouse of his native city, and Ithaca Academy, in which he spent two winter terms. His early life was passed on the home farm and on attaining his majority he started out to make his own way in the world. The year 1872 witnessed his arrival in the west, at which time he took up his abode in Omaha. During that summer he was employed with a government survey party in Nebraska and in the fall of that year he became connected with the first street car line in Omaha, which at that time consisted of two miles of track and four ten-foot cars. Such was the humble beginning of the present well developed and highly modern street car system of Omaha. Mr. Smith has continuously been identified personally and financially with the business throughout all the intervening years leading to the extension of the present Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railways system. His cooperation has been sought in various other fields and today he has other large and important business and financial interests. He is a director of the United States National Bank of Omaha.
On the 9th of October, 1875, at Speedsville, New York, Mr. Smith was mar- ried to Miss Persis Blair, a native of that state and descended from revolutionary stock, her grandfather having fought for independence in the war with England. Her great-grandfather was a Scotchman and her great-grandmother was Eng- lish. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of two children. Frank became a well known civil engineer and a most popular young man. He died April 2, 1911, and was buried on the thirty-second anniversary of his birth, his death being one of the hardest trials that has ever come to the family. He was pos- sessed of many admirable qualities that endeared him to all who knew him, and his business ability was marked, while his devotion to his parents was that of a loving son. The surviving son, Fred K., is still a resident of Omaha.
In politics Mr. Smith is a republican, having supported that party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. His interest in civic affairs and his cooperation with movements for the general good mark him as a public-spirited citizen, yet he has never sought nor desired office. While reared in the Epis- copal church he now attends the Unitarian church. He belongs also to the Benev- olent Protective Order of Elks, the Happy Hollow Club, the Omaha Athletic Association and the Commercial Club. His life has been one of untiring activity, his labors directed in various channels through which flows great good to a great number, and the course which he has ever pursued marks him as a man of high business and personal ideals.
HON. RICHARD C. HUNTER.
Hon. Richard C. Hunter, lawyer and law maker, has come well equipped to the responsibilities and important duties which have devolved upon him, his training being that of the Nebraska State University and of Columbia University of New York. He was born December 3, 1884, at West Point, Nebraska, a son of J. R. Hunter, a native of New York and a representative of old families of Connecticut and Virginia of Scotch descent. Three brothers of the name came to the new world while this country was still numbered among the colonial possessions of Great Britain, and took part in the Revolutionary war. J. R. Hunter engaged in the life insurance business and also in stock raising. He became a resident of Nebraska in 1879 and his business activities were wisely conducted winning substantial success. In politics Mr. Hunter was a democrat
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and throughout his life took an active part in political and civic affairs. While a resident of Wisconsin, prior to his removal to Nebraska, he served as chief clerk in the Wisconsin Assembly of 1872. He was a great friend of ex-Governor Peck of Wisconsin, and in fact was one of the men who brought Peck to the front. He owned and published the Milwaukee Daily News and made his paper a powerful organ for his party, its editorials constituting a potent influence in the attainment of democratic success. He was also very active in Masonic circles in Wisconsin, and he ever stood for those things that work for the uplift of the individual and the advancement of the community toward higher civic standards. He married Sarah Frances Hustcad, a native of New York and of English descent. Among her ancestors were those who participated with the colonies in the Revolutionary war. She is now a resident of Omaha and her two sons also survive, one of these being Harold O. Hunter, a stockraiser of Sioux county, Nebraska.
Richard C. Hunter, educated in the public schools of Omaha, was graduated from the high school with the class of 1904 and, determining upon the practice of law as a life work, he entered the Nebraska University in which he pursued his more specifically literary course that constituted the foundation upon which to rear the superstructure of professional knowledge. He was graduated from the State University in 1909 and then pursued his law course in the Columbia University of New York, where he won the LL. B. degree in 1911. He also attended the Harvard Law School for one year. Following his graduation he became associated with the firm of Brown, Baxter & Van Dusen, attorneys of Omaha, with whom he remained for three years. He then entered practice on his own account and has won a most satisfactory clientage that is continually growing in volume and importance. He is clear in his interpretation of the law, concise in his appeals before the court, sound in his reasoning and logical in his deductions. As a law maker, too, Mr. Hunter is well known. In 1915 he be- came a member of the Thirty-fourth Nebraska Legislature, having been elected on the democratic ticket. He was instrumental in securing the passage of fifteen bills through the house and five through the senate. He has been made an honorary member of the United Spanish War Veterans Association, as he intro- duced a bill putting this organization on a par with the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. Under appointment of Governor Morehead he became judge of the municipal court of Omaha, and served upon the bench for fourteen months, his decisions being characterized by the utmost impartiality as well as a correct appli- cation of legal principles. On the 22d of April, 1908, Mr. Hunter was married in Lincoln, Nebraska, to Miss Viletta Taylor, a native of Lincoln and a daughter of A. O. and Josephine ( Porter) Taylor. In his fraternal relations Mr. Hunter is a Mason, and along strictly professional lines he has connection with the Omaha, the Douglas County and the Nebraska Bar Associations. Nature en- dowed him with keen mentality and he has used his powers wisely and well in connection with the profession that has always been regarded as the conservator of human rights and liberties.
THOMAS B. McPHERSON.
Thomas B. McPherson, conducting important business interests as a dealer in cattle, in loans and in timber, has conducted successful interests of that char- acter for many years. He was born in Frederick county, Maryland, March 21, 1853, his parents being Dr. William S. and Harriet A. (McPherson) McPherson, who were also natives of Maryland, where the father practiced his profession, becoming a well known physician and surgeon of that state. He died February 5, 1917, at the age of ninety-three years, but his wife passed away in 1901, at the age of seventy years.
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