USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 75
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THOMAS W. KENNEDY.
Thomas W. Kennedy is a partner in the W. T. Smith Company, "land special- ists" of Omaha. He was born in Fillmore county, Nebraska, April 15, 1882, a son of James and Sarah M. (Coach) Kennedy, who were natives of Ireland and of Pennsylvania respectively. In the fall of 1871 James Kennedy came to Nebraska and homesteaded in Fillmore county, there becoming a successful farmer. He afterward removed to Culbertson, Nebraska, and in December, 1890, disposed of his real estate holdings, comprising three hundred and twenty acres of rich farm land. He then went with his family to Kearney, Nebraska, and in 1905 became a resident of Omaha, where he is now living retired at the venerable age of eighty- five years. It was in her girlhood, in 1880, that Mrs. Kennedy became a resident of Geneva, Nebraska, and there she was married. In the family were three chil- dren, Norie, Reby and Thomas W., who is the eldest.
In his youthful days Thomas W. Kennedy attended school at Kearney, Nebraska, and afterward became a high school pupil at Minden, where he studied for a period of four years. He then engaged in farming on his father's land but later went upon the road as a traveling salesman, handling art goods. He gave up that business to enter the traffic department of the Union Pacific Railroad and served in that connection for only six months, after which he accepted a position as salesman with the Bee Publishing Company of Omaha and was in the office for sev- eral years. He withdrew from that connection to enter the real estate and land business as a partner of W. T. Smith under the name of the W. T. Smith Company. They have been exceptionally successful. They handle large tracts of land in various parts of the country and are making a specialty of Mississippi gulf coast lands and the development of pecan groves, particularly in Jackson county, Missis- sippi, where they purchased over one thousand acres of land, which they planted to pecan trees. After a period of several years they sold this in twenty acre tracts and the same land is now producing some of the finest and largest pecans in the United States, selling at forty cents per pound. In one of the bulletins published by the United States department of agriculture appears the following: "Paper
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shell pecans of the improved varieties are the most delicious, as well as the most nutritious, nuts in the world. They are higher in food value than any other nut, either foreign or domestic. The demand for them is constantly increasing and the price is advanced each year, for the demand is many times greater than the supply."
In his political views Mr. Kennedy is a republican. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and he has membership with the Knights of Colum- bus. The company had the prescience to recognize what the future held in store for the pecan industry and made investment accordingly, while at the present time they are reaping the reward of their farsighted enterprise.
WILLIAM HENRY MICK, B. Sc., M. D.
Dr. William Henry Mick has made valuable contribution to medical science through original work on diagnosis of head conditions and through cooperation with factories in the perfection and development of the. X-ray machines. He con- fines his practice exclusively to Roentgenology and has come to be regarded as authority upon this phase of professional activity.
Dr. Mick was born in Howell, Nebraska, November 14, 1877, a son of George and Katie (Kern) Mick. The father, who was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, represented an old family of that place and at the age of nineteen years he came to the United States. Following the outbreak of the Civil war he became con- nected with the United States army service in the veterinary surgeon department and after the close of the war he removed to Nebraska, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising. He married Katie Kern, who spent her early life in Pennsylvania, her parents being natives of Frankfort, Germany, whence they came to the new world ere her birth. The death of George Mick occurred in Schuyler, Nebraska, July 9, 1909.
Dr. Mick completed his more specifically literary education in Fremont College, from which he was graduated in 1898 with the Bachelor of Science degree. He taught school for two years before he took up the study of medicine, which he completed in the John A. Creighton Medical College of Omaha with the class of 1903. During his senior year he served as assistant police surgeon in Omaha and following his graduation spent the succeeding summer in practice at Pine, Colorado. He thus began practice among the mountains of that state but in the fall of 1903 removed to Denver, where he continued in the general practice of medicine until 1907. A large portion of his early practice had to do with pul- monary tubercular cases. In the meantime he did post graduate work in the National College of Electrical Therapeutics in 1906 and was graduated from the Illinois School of Electrical Therapeutics in 1907. He next took a private laboratory course of instruction in the X-ray laboratory of Emil Grubbee of Chicago. On the 24th of August, 1907, he became a resident of Omaha, where he has been engaged in the exclusive practice of Roentgenology, conducting a private X-ray laboratory in the Brandeis building. His practice has, during this time, steadily increased, necessitating enlarging his quarters no less than six times. He was editor of the X-ray department of the Journal of Physiologic Therapeutics during 1910-1I. During the summer of 1911 he spent five months in England and Germany, making a special study of X-ray diagnosis, particularly bone pathology, chest and gastro-intestinal organs, spending most of the time with Dr. Franz M. Groedell, of Badnauheim, Germany. In 1909 he was elected to a fellowship in the American Electro Therapeutics Society and the same year was made a member of the American Roentgen Ray Society. He was the pioneer in X-ray work in Nebraska and for a number of years the only member of the American Roentgen Ray Society in Nebraska.
On the 25th of May, 1904, in Denver, Colorado, Dr. Mick was united in mar-
DR. WILLIAM H. MICK
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riage to Miss Ethel T. Wead, daughter of Mrs. E. D. Wead, of Omaha. Mrs. Mick began the study of medicine at the John A. Creighton Medical College and has been an active worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She devotes all her spare time to art and has given particular attention to scenery painting, having made many pictures of the various places visited on her travels. By her marriage she has become the mother of two children, Ethel W. and Ruth E.
Dr. and Mrs. Mick hold membership in the First Methodist church of Omaha and he is serving on the official board. He is also a member of the Omaha Athletic Club and of the Masonic fraternity but his associations are largely in the path of his profession, he now having membership relations with the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the American Roentgen Ray Society and the American Electro-Therapeutic Associa- tion. He has carried on much original research work and investigation in the line of professional duty which he has chosen as his specialty, and aside from his origi- nal work on diagnosis of head conditions he has done much to perfect X-ray machines in making them practical and eliminating conditions which impeded rapid and difficult work.
HARRY A. JACOBBERGER.
Harry A. Jacobberger, president and treasurer of the Kimball Laundry Com- pany, whose attractive and catchy advertisement, "the wash-word of the home." indicates the enterprising spirit that dominates the management of the business, is of German birth. He was born in Alsace, July 14, 1879, and acquired a public school education. Since putting aside his textbooks his attention has been given to the laundry business and his steady progress is, indicated in the fact that he has worked his way upward from driver to president ......
The Kimball Laundry Company was established in May of 1896 by the late Frank J. Kimball, of Beatrice, Nebraska. The first location was in an old factory building at Twenty-eighth avenue and Boyd street, and on account of the high grade work that this plant turned out it soon outgrew its quarters and finally moved to a new building at 1509 Jackson street. At this location the business steadily increased so that it became necessary to increase the floor space every year.
After some ten years' experience in every branch of the business, Harry A. Jacobberger bought the controlling interest in 1912. Since that time the plant has been entirely rebuilt and equipped until now it is considered one of the most com- plete and modern equipped plants in America. At the present time there is under construction a fireproof building with some fifteen thousand square feet of floor space as an addition to the present plant. The business has practically been doubled during the past five years, so that this firm now employs. over one hundred and fifty people and has a pay roll of over eighty thousand dollars per year. This plant is equipped to do every kind of work. There is nothing too delicate for it to handle-cotton, linen, wool or silk. In fact there is no fabric that cannot be washed by the Kimball Laundry Company successfully. There is a system for the softening of the city water called the Zeolit system. One unit is of the Permutit type and two units of the Refinite type. This system softens water without the use of any chemicals, making it softer than rain water, thereby eliminating all compounds used in the process of washing in this plant. This idea alone saves the patrons of the Kimball Laundry Company thousands of dollars in wearing apparel each year. There is no home washing which can compare in the quality of work or compare favorably with the length of wear when washed by the Kimball Laundry Company. These methods are readily appreciated by new customers and their constantly growing business testifies to this fact.
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The work is handled in separate departments. There is a department for handling flat work such as sheets, table cloths, napkins, towels, etc .; another department handles nothing but shirts and collars, finished ladies' clothes and underwear; another department handles general household washings usually called family washings; another department handles all kinds of lace curtains, wool blankets, wash rugs and feather pillows; and there is one department, called the repair department, where all underwear and socks are darned and where all other garments receive careful attention by the replacing of lost buttons and the mending of rips and tears. By departmentizing the work it is possible to get a higher efficiency, as the operators become trained in their particular line of work, which results in greater satisfaction to the customers. This firm is doing a parcel post business which extends to seven states at the present time and is recognized throughout the United States as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the country.
On the 10th of October, 1911, Mr. Jacobberger was united in marriage to Miss Georgia E. Farnsworth, by whom he has two children, H. Fredrick and Virginia Ann. In politics Mr. Jacobberger is a progressive democrat. He be- longs to the Omaha Athletic Club, to the Automobile Club and to the Commercial Club and his standing in business circles is indicated in the fact that he was chosen president of the Omaha Laundry Owners' Association for the year 1915- 16 and president of the State Association for 1916-17.
WILLIAM J. CONNELL.
There are few men who have so long been making history in Omaha as William J. Connell, who arrived in this city in 1867 and through the intervening period of fifty years has been a prominent and influential factor in shaping many public interests. He is a Canadian, although his birthplace was just across the Vermont boundary line. Throughout the period of his residence in Omaha he has contin- uously practiced law and in 1872 was elected district attorney. In 1889 he was elected to represent his district in congress and on various occasions he served as city attorney of Omaha by appointment. He is a forceful and resourceful lawyer, strong in argument, clear in his reasoning and logical in his conclusions. For over twenty years he served as attorney for the street railway company but resigned in January, 1916, and is now engaged in the private practice of law. He avows it his purpose to devote the last decade of his legal career to serving the public and pro- tecting the rights and interests of the people. During the years of his residence in Omaha Mr. Connell has made extensive and judicious investment in property here and elsewhere and that his holdings are most extensive is indicated in the fact that he has paid more taxes than any other resident of Omaha, turning over sixty thousand dollars to the county treasurer in the last two years. Those who read between the lines will recognize that he is a man of notable business capacity and power, possessing remarkably keen discrimination, his judgment whether in rela- tion to legal interests, real estate investments or public affairs being seldom, if ever, at fault.
CHARLES WHITNEY POLLARD, A. B., M. D.
Dr. Charles Whitney Pollard, who in the practice of his profession is specializ- ing in obstetrics, has through the concentration of his efforts largely upon that line attained notable skill and ability in that field. He was born in Albany, New York, in 1871, a son of Cyrus Wallace Pollard and a grandson of Asa Pollard. The latter was a native of Massachusetts and traced his ancestry back to England,
WILLIAM J. CONNELL
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whence the first representative of the family came to the new world in the year 1640. Cyrus W. Pollard was born in Dover, New Hampshire, and became a well known merchant of Albany, New York. He there married Judith Amanda Folger, who was born in Augusta, Maine, and is now living, her home being in Buffalo, New York. The father, however, has passed away.
Dr. Pollard had the benefit of the thorough instruction offered in the public schools of Woburn, Massachusetts, and in 1895 he won his Bachelor of Arts degree at Dartmouth. He then entered upon preparation for the practice of medicine as a student in Columbia College of New York and obtained his profes- sional degree as a member of the class of 1899. In the same year he sought the opportunities of the middle west and throughout the intervening period has prac- ticed in Omaha, where his ability has more and more largely brought him to the front. He has always specialized in obstetrics and is today one of the eminent representatives of that field in Nebraska, his work being attended with notable success.
Dr. Pollard has been married twice. On the 25th of October, 1899, in Brain- tree, Massachusetts, he wedded Gertrude Badger, who died on the 10th of January, 1906, leaving three children, Joseph Greeley, Wallace Campbell and Gertrude. Dr. Pollard was again married June 26, 1909, at Des Moines, when Miss Helen Reed Cole became his wife.
Dr. Pollard is a republican in his political views and his military record covers service as a member of the Second Battery of the New York National Guard for three years. He belongs to the Alpha Delta Phi, a college fraternity, and he is also identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His local member- ship interests are in the Commercial Club, the University Club, the Happy Hollow Club and the Seymour Lake Country Club, and of the University Club he is a director. Along strictly professional lines 'he - has membership in the Omaha- Douglas County Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Association, the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association, and his high standing in the line of his specialty is indicated in the fact that he is now the professor of obstetrics in the medical department of the State University at Omaha. He has proven an able teacher, imparting readily and clearly to others the knowledge he has acquired, and his teaching is based not only upon the learning which he has gleaned from books but also from broad practical experience.
EDSON PROSPER RICH.
Back of the successful management of every large corporation stands the man who can interpret the activities of such corporation according to the terms of law. In other words he must advise that the business organization be con- ducted according to legal procedure and limitations and at the same time protect its rights against the force of the unscrupulous. Railroad law is often most intricate and involved and therefore it is men of pronounced ability in the field of law practice who are called upon to solve the intricate problems which are continually arising in connection with railroad extension, management and control. Occupying the notable position of general attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad Company since 1907, Edson Prosper Rich was further called to the office of assistant general solicitor in 1914. A native of Illinois, he was born in Griggsville, August 15, 1858, a son of Wellington Rich and a grandson of Prosper Rich, who was born in Putnam, now Zanesville, Ohio, in 1800. His father was William Rich and the family is of English lineage. Wellington Rich was born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1832, and in Griggsville, Illinois, he wedded Prudence Smalley. Throughout his entire life he was engaged in educational work and in 1865 he brought his family to Nebraska, settling at Brownville. His labors in the educational field were of a most important character and it was he
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who established under government supervision the large Indian school at Phoenix, Arizona. He died in the year 1905 but his widow survives.
Edson P. Rich after attending the schools of Brownville, Nebraska, to which place he removed with his parents when but seven years of age, entered the Nebraska State University and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1884. He afterward took post graduate work in international law and economics at Johns Hopkins University at Baltimore, Maryland, and upon his return to Nebraska read law in Lincoln. He was admitted to the bar in 1887 and for three years practiced in Lincoln, at the end of which period he came to Omaha, where he continued in general practice for ten years. He then entered the law depart- ment of the Union Pacific Railroad Company at Omaha and in 1907 recognition of his ability came in assignment to the office of general attorney and in 1914 his duties were further broadened in scope and importance when he was made assistant general solicitor, so that he now occupies the dual office.
On the 26th of November, 1900, in Omaha, Mr. Rich was married to Mrs. Maud Clark, née Ward, who is a daughter of Thomas O. Ward, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and who by her former marriage has a son, Arnold. There is also one son of the present marriage, Edson Ward, who was born in Omaha, March 7, 1904.
Mr. and Mrs. Rich attend the Presbyterian church and in club circles he has prominent connections, being identified with the Omaha, University, Commercial, Jacksonian and Omaha Automobile Clubs. His political endorsement is given to the democratic party and, elected to the Nebraska legislature, he served in the session of 1898. In 1900 he was elected a member of the board of regents of the Nebraska State University and filled that position for six years. He is also inter- ested in the grave problems affecting the civic interests of city and state but could never be called a politician in the sense of office seeking as he has felt that the pursuits of private life are in themselves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. He has therefore concentrated his attention upon his professional duties and his growing powers have gained him a position of notable distinction as a representa- tive of the Nebraska bar.
WELLINGTON S. GIBBS, M. D.
Dr. Wellington S. Gibbs, physician and surgeon of Omaha, was born July 31, 1845, at Glenburn, Maine, a son of the late William H. Gibbs and a grandson of Elisha Gibbs, of English descent. The ancestral line is traced back in America to colonial days and the founders of the family on this side the Atlantic were three brothers, Henry, Charles and James Gibbs. The first named settled in New York state, while James became a resident of Massachusetts and Charles of South Carolina. It is of the Massachusetts branch of the family that Dr. Gibbs is a representative. His great-grandfather removed from the old Bay state to Cam- den, Maine, and there his son Elisha was born. Elisha Gibbs cleared a farm in Glenburn, Maine, making his home thereon until his death. It was upon that place that his son, William H., and his grandson, Wellington S., were born. The grandfather was a pioneer of the district and there followed agricultural pur- suits during the greater part of his life. William H. Gibbs became a grocer of Bangor, Maine, and later removed to Oldtown, that state, where his death occurred. He also conducted a water power mill for many years at Bradford, Maine, and in that mill during his youthful days Dr. Gibbs was employed. William H. Gibbs was united in marriage to Martha A. Smith, a native of Wiscasset, Maine, and a representative of one of the old families of that state of English lineage.
Dr. Gibbs spent his early life between the ages of eight and fourteen years upon the home farm with the usual experiences of the farm bred boy. At seventeen years of age he taught school in Charleston, Maine, having eighty pupils. During
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that period he also studied, utilizing his leisure hours in that way, and on attain- ing his majority he became principal of the schools of Milo, Maine. In the fol- lowing year he was elected and made superintendent of schools of Alton, Mainc, where he continued for a year, and in that connection he had supervision over thirteen schools. He resigned, however, in order to seek a home elsewhere and through the succeeding year he was a teacher in Pennsylvania. He left that state for Boston, Massachusetts, where he turned his attention to commercial interests, becoming an employe of the firm of A. S. and J. Geer, machinery dealers, whom he represented upon the road in Maryland and Delaware. Attracted by the oppor- tunities of the middle west, he made his way to Burlington, Iowa, and was em- ployed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy as a bookkeeper in the freight department. After six months' service he received very material increase in his wages but could not continue long in that position on account of ill health, the close confinement proving detrimental. He therefore resigned and removed to Omaha, where he arrived in September, 1873.
Forty-four years have since come and gone and Dr. Gibbs has long been num- bered among the most valued and representative residents of the city. On his arrival he immediately went to the old courthouse, where the Paxton block now stands, and there made application for a position as a teacher, taking his examina- tion under Professor Beal. At the same time John Rush and J. J. O'Connor were taking the examination, and the acquaintance then formed has continued as a lifelong friendship. All three passed the required examination and took up the work of teaching. Dr. Gibbs devoted three years to that profession and utilized the hours outside of the schoolroom in the study of medicine. He afterward removed to Waterloo, Iowa, and his savings paid his tuition in the State University of Iowa at Iowa City. He was graduated with the M. D. degree on the 5th of March, 1879. In the meantime he had also studied in the office and under the direction of Dr. McLaughlin, with whom he had gained much valuable practical experience. In August, 1880, he returned to Omaha after having sold his office and practice at Downey, Iowa, where he had located following his graduation. In this city he opened his office in the rear of a drug store at Tenth and Leaven- worth streets and there remained until the druggist discontinued business. He then rented an office in the J. A. Creighton block, where he continued in active practice for a period of fourteen years. During that time he resided at No. 2015 Sherman avenue, where he had built a comfortable home. He was one of the first to propose organizing the Omaha Medical College and took an active part in its organization and development. During the first two years of its existence he was demonstrator of anatomy in the college. The school was started in a very small way on the third floor of the Helman block at Thirteenth and Farnam streets with an enrollment of thirteen students. After one year there a new building was occupied at Eleventh and Marcy streets with an enrollment of fifty students, and Dr. Gibbs taught physiology there for seven years. This college later affiliated with Bellevue College for a few years, after which it became the medical department of the University of Nebraska and has since been taken over by the state. During the existence of Bellevue College Dr. Gibbs was one of the directors in that institution. He was one of the founders of the University of Omaha and from its inception he has taken a keen and helpful interest in the success of this institution, serving continuously as a director and at one time on the executive committee.
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