USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 77
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95
1
In his political views Mr. Whitmore is a stalwart republican and has been honored with a number of local offices. Twice he was called upon to represent his district in the state legislature and he is now serving on the board of regents of the State University, with which he has been connected for thirteen years- a longer period than any other of its members. He belongs to the Nebraska Historical Society and is interested in all that pertains to the preservation of the records which mark the progress and development of the state. His religious faith is that of the Unitarian church. He is now rated as one of the men of wealth in his community. His ability as a business man is widely acknowledged and he possesses many sterling traits of character which have gained for him the goodwill and warm regard of those with whom he has been associated.
CUTHBERT VINCENT.
Cuthbert Vincent is the president of the Vincent Grain Company, with head- quarters in the Grain Exchange building at Omaha-but he is much more than that-he is the champion of cooperation among farmers and the author of the cooperative law, which since 1911 has been found on the statutes of Nebraska. This bill has since become a part of the statutes of both Colorado and Indiana." In a word, he has studied the question of mutual helpfulness among farmers until he has seemed able to speak the "last word" and bring about conditions that are largely altruistic. He has long been actuated by a desire to be of service to his fellowmen, yet he claims nothing unusual in his career nor wonderful in his accomplishments. He was born in Mills county, Iowa, a son of James and Mary (Sheldon) Vincent. The father's birth occurred in Deal, England, August 21, 1821, and in the early 'sos he came to the United States, making his way to Mills county, Iowa, where he cast in his lot with the early settlers. For a time he followed cabinetmaking there, but afterward turned his attention to farming. Throughout the entire period of the Civil war he served in the hospital corps and he passed away in Iowa in December, 1899, when seventy-eight years of age. It was in Berea, Ohio, that he wedded Mary Sheldon, who was born in that state on the 26th of November, 1825, and who died in Iowa in 1888.
Cuthbert Vincent was the second of their six sons, being born at Tabor, Iowa. February 15, 1856. In early life he attended the schools of Tabor and later
CUTHBERT VINCENT
807
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
entered the Iowa State Agricultural College at Ames, in which he completed the scientific course by graduation in 1884. He afterward took up the profession of teaching, which he followed in his home county, also in Harrison county, and later he became a newspaper editor, being associated with his brothers in news- paper publication at Tabor and at Winfield, Kansas. He went to the latter city in 1886 and removed thence with his brothers to Indianapolis in 1891, there remain- ing until 1898. He bought out the American Noncomformist in Indianapolis in 1896 and in March, 1898, he removed his business to Omaha, later changing the name of the paper to the Central Farmer. In 1905 he sold the paper, which was consolidated with the Farmers Advocate of Topeka, Kansas. At the opening of the Omaha Grain Exchange in 1904 he purchased a membership, becoming a charter member of the organization, and since that time he has been an active factor in the grain business, operating under the name of the Vincent Grain Con- pany. He is also a director and general manager of the Farmers Grain Company, which was organized in January, 1905. The Vincent Grain Company is an incor- porated company, of which Mr. Vincent is the president, with E. M. McCray as vice president and Frank Sorensen as secretary. The success of Mr. Vincent in his operations in Omaha seems almost phenomenal, yet there has been no esoteric phase in his career. His prosperity has resulted from business tact, close application to his interests and thoroughly honorable dealing with all. He has ever made it his purpose to study the grain trade from every possible stand- point-the standpoint of the producer, of the salesman and of the consumer. The Farmers Grain Company, with which he has been prominently connected since its organization and which is the product of his brain, was started with one elevator. There is now a chain of seven elevators in this one cooperative company. The business is a practical exposition of Mr. Vincent's belief in cooperation.
His definition of cooperation, as voiced in an address delivered before the Nebraska Rural Life Commission and the Farmers' Congress at Norfolk, Feb- ruary 7, 1912, is: "Cooperation is that method of doing business under which the earnings, or profits, are distributed in proportion to the transactions with cus- tomers (instead of in proportion to the capital invested)." In other words, if a farmer becomes a customer of the company, even though he holds no stock, he shares in the dividends which are later declared, or in other words shares in the profits that accrue. His share of the earnings is not at first paid back to him in money, but is placed to his credit on the books, and when he has to his credit one hundred dollars, he is given a share of the stock. Mr. Vincent's plan of coopera- tion, clearly set forth and defined in his public utterances, many of which have been published and widely distributed, has received the endorsement of such men as Judge John J. Sullivan, formerly chief justice of the Nebraska supreme court ; Judge George A. Day, for many years on the Omaha bench; Thomas Lamb, a leader of cooperative thought among farmers' elevator companies of Illinois ; L. S. Herron, editor of the Nebraska Farmer; Judge S. H. Allen, for six years on the Kansas supreme bench; T. F. Sturgess, editor of the Twentieth Century Farmer ; C. O. Drayton, president of the Farmers' Equity Union ; A. E. Sheldon, a director of the Nebraska Legislative Reference Bureau and many others who have given the closest study to the question of cooperation among farmers, be- lieving, as Elbert Hubbard expressed it, that "cooperation is the badge of sanity." Mr. Vincent's ideas have been gathered from experience of many years in build- ing up farmers' elevators and in organizing and operating them in different places, and many there are who believe that he has found the just and equitable solution for the problem in the division of profits between outside customers as well as stockholders, since his system eventually adds the outside customers to the roll of stockholders.
On the 19th of November, 1891, Mr. Vincent was married to Miss Lola Phelps, of Carthage, Missouri, but a native of Independence, Iowa. Mr. Vincent has been identified for a number of years with the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation and he is an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which Vol. II-32
SOS
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He belongs also to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America and in Omaha has membership relations with the Commercial Club, the Happy Hollow Club, the Carter Lake Club and the Omaha Athletic Club. He first gave his political allegiance to the greenback party in 1876, afterward endorsed the people's party and supported Bryan as the democratic candidate, but is independ- ent in politics, preferring to be free to give his allegiance where he believes the interests of the many are at stake. The dominant force of his life has undoubt- edly been his desire to assist his fellowmen, ever recognizing the fact that no man lives to himself alone, but that each is dependent upon all and all upon each, and inasmuch as this truth is recognized will the civilization of the race progress.
DODDS BROTHERS.
One of the important business enterprises of Omaha is that conducted under the name of the Dodds Lumber Company, with offices in the Brandeis building. The owners of this concern are J. Emerson, Joseph J., Austin E. and Milton N. Dodds. The first named was born in Pennsylvania, December 19, 1861, and Joseph J. was born in Ohio, March 20, 1867. The birth of Austin E. occurred in Ohio, November 19, 1871, and that of Milton N., December 12, 1874. Their father, Isaiah Lawrence . Dodds, was a native of Butler county, Pennsylvania, born October 20, 1834, and his life record covered the intervening years to the 5th of July, 1905. He was a son of John Dodds, who was born April 3, 1795, and who was married twice, his first union being with Margaret Bryson, while his second wife bore the maiden name of Margaret King. John Dodds was a son of Thomas Dodds, who married Mary Guthrie. The ancestors of the family emigrated from the highlands of Scotland to the province of Ulster, Ireland, about 1709, and there obtained grants of land. They were Scotch Presbyterians. The progenitors of the family in America were three brothers, James, Andrew, and John Dodds. James Dodds was married to Jane Addy, who died leaving a son, William. His second wife, who bore the maiden name of Ellen Cochran, accompanied him on his trip across the Atlantic and while on the voyage gave birth to a son whom they called Thomas. The brothers all settled in Cumber- land county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1760. Andrew and John Dodds were soldiers of the American army in the Revolutionary war and were present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. John Dodds was in the War of 1812 and bore for many years wounds received in that war. They engaged in farm- ing and the family continued in that occupation in Pennsylvania until the early '6os, when Isaiah L. Dodds removed to Ohio. Here he enlisted for the defense of his country in the Civil war and served as a member of Company K. Eighty- seventh Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. All of his children had the bene- fits of educational advantages. J. Emerson attended the National Normal Uni- versity of Lebanon, Ohio, subsequently becoming well known as an educator in that state: for some years was president of Fayette University at Fayette, Ohio. His degree of B. S. was conferred by the National Normal University. Joseph J. attended Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and Berea University, Berea, Kentucky, from which he received degrees of Ph. B. and M. S. He was well known in educational circles in Ohio, being a member of the faculty at Fayette University, also vice president. Austin E. attended the Ohio State University, at Columbus, later taking up teaching which he followed success- fully. Milton N. received his higher education at Fayette University, there receiving his degree of B. S. He also became a successful teacher. Educational work practically occupied the attention of the four brothers, until 1899, when they secured a tract of timber land in eastern Tennessee on the Watauga river. There they built a sawmill and became pioneers in the lumber business in that
809
.
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
section. Later they were instrumental in having a branch line of railroad extended into that district. Their venture as lumbermen was successful and after operating in that locality for two years they sold their interests in Ten- nessee and removed to Omaha to engage in the wholesale lumber business, rep- resenting, as resident agents, several large manufacturers. As wholesalers and distributors they handle from twenty-five hundred to three thousand carloads of lumber yearly. They employ traveling salesmen who cover Nebraska, Iowa, portions of Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and North and South Dakota. They have built up an immense business and are probably the largest distributors of lumber in the state. They have become recognized authority upon questions relating to the lumber trade and their interests are now of a most important and extensive character. Aside from this they have outside interests of impor- tance, Austin E. being now president of the Fleming State Bank at Fleming, Colorado, while J. Emerson is secretary of a coal company in Wyoming, also president of the Ralston Furniture Factory, Ralston, Nebraska, and of the Smith Lumber Company at St. Charles, Iowa. Milton N. is president of the Strahan Lumber & Hardware Company at Strahan, Iowa, and vice president of the Brown Lumber Company at Riverton, Iowa, and of the Brown Lumber & Coal Company at Mondamin, Iowa.
All four of the brothers are married. J. Emerson Dodds wedded Olive Ward Ely. Joseph J. Dodds married Jennie N. Nelson, a native of New York city, and they have two children, Robert C. and Dorothy L., both attending school, the former being now a high school pupil in Omaha. Austin E. Dodds married Cordelia Willard and their children are John Emerson, Mary Louise, Helen and Frances. Milton N. Dodds married Vesta Carncross and they have a daughter, Margaret Elizabeth.
While occupying a prominent position in business circles, the brothers and their families are equally well known socially and in other connections. They are all members of the Hoo Hoos, the leading organization among lumbermen, and J. Emerson Dodds belongs to the Omaha Athletic Club, while Joseph J. Dodds is a member of the Happy Hollow Country Chib, the University Club and the Commercial Club. All are active and helpful members of the United Presby- terian or the Presbyterian church, so that their influence is given on the side of those forces and interests which are most effective in working for the uplift of the individual and the benefit of the community at large. They are spoken of as clean-cut, honorable, enterprising and progressive business men and substantial citizens and are regarded as a valuable asset to the business life of Omaha.
WILLIAM H. BERRY, M. D.
Dr. William H. Berry, a well known representative of the medical profession practicing in South Omaha, was born in Burlington, Iowa, June 30, 1862, a son of James C. and Sarah Katherine (Craig) Berry, who were natives of Vir- ginia and went to Iowa in 1849. There the father engaged in farming up to the time of his demise. He was born April 18, 1820, and passed away Sep- tember 30, 1913, at the venerable age of ninety-three years. Mrs. Berry was reared and educated in Ohio, where their marriage was celebrated, and she was in her eighty-sixth year when her death occurred in Douglas county, Nebraska, February 12, 1914, her birth having occurred in Virginia, November 26, 1828.
Dr. Berry was the fourth in order of birth in a family of seven children. His early education was acquired in Iowa and he was graduated from the high school at Afton. In preparation for the practice of medicine he matriculated in the Starling Medical College at Columbus, Ohio, from which he was graduated in 1888 with the M. D. degree. This college later was merged with another, forming the medical department of the Ohio State University. His first pro-
810
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
fessional work was done in Union county, Iowa, and in May, 1888, he came to South Omaha, being today the oldest physician in point of continuous practice in this section. He has been most successful, his efforts being based upon com- prehensive knowledge of scientific principles. He has taken post graduate work 011 several occasions in the Chicago Post Graduate School and in the New York University. He was also a student at Great Ormond, a post graduate college for diseases of children, in London, England.
On the 22d of February, 1891, Dr. Berry was united in marriage to Miss Augusta Elizabeth Mahns, a daughter of Gustav and Dorris Mahns, who were of German birth. Dr. and Mrs. Berry have become the parents of four chil- dren. Frances Marie, born in South Omaha in 1892, is a graduate of the high school and of the Kearney (Neb.) Normal School and is now a kindergarten director in the public schools of South Omaha. William Mahns, born in 1894, is a graduate of the Central high school of Omaha. Dorris Katherine, born in 1899, is also a graduate of the Central high school, and James Gustave, born in 1901, is attending that school.
The parents are members of the Presbyterian church and in politics Dr. Berry follows an independent course, nor has he ever sought nor desired office. He has attained high rank in Masonry, having reached the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he belongs also to Tangier Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His connections along strictly professional lines are with the Omaha- Douglas County Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and also the Nebraska and Iowa Pedriatic Society. Without any particular advantages to aid him at the outset of his career he has made steady progress in his chosen life work, advancing steadily in a profession where success depends entirely upon individual merit and ability. He has a large practice and is capable and popular, ranking high in both social and professional circles in South Omaha.
OTIS M. SMITH.
Otis M. Smith, president of the Missouri Valley Elevator Company, has been a factor in the development of Omaha as one of the greatest grain centers of the country. He is a young man with the characteristic western "push" and power of initiative and these qualities are the best assurance that the business of which he is the head will continue to expand. He was born in York county, Nebraska, December 8, 1880, a son of Thomas W. and Fannie (Lincoln) Smith, natives respectively of Toronto, Canada, and Watertown, New York. In 1871 the family home was established in York county, Nebraska, and there the parents are still living, the father at the age of sixty-nine and the mother at the age of sixty- seven. The latter was educated in New York but in young womanhood removed to Illinois, where she lived until she became a resident of Nebraska.
Otis M. Smith, who is the second in order of birth in a family of nine children, attended the public schools of York and was for three years a student in the University of Nebraska. Upon leaving that institution he entered the employ of the T. W. Smith Grain Company, of Fairfield, of which his father was the head, and remained in that connection until 1905. In that year he arrived in Omaha and became a factor in the grain trade of this city as a representative of the Updike Grain Company. During the intervening twelve years he has contin- ually advanced and is now president of the Missouri Valley Elevator Company, which does a general receiving and shipping business in grain and has an ele- vator capacity of seven hundred and fifty thousand bushels. The company is equipped to render its patrons the best possible service and its success has been built upon the sure foundation of fair dealing and a careful study of the grain trade in all of its phases. Mr. Smith gives his personal attention to the direction
OTIS M. SMITH
813
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
of the affairs of the company and there are few men better acquainted than he with everything that has a bearing upon the handling of grain. He is also a director in the Updike Grain Company.
On the 30th of November, 1900, in York, Nebraska, occurred the marriage of Mr. Smith and Miss Mary Louise Clithero, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Clith- ero, residents of York. Two children have been born to this union, namely : Izetta, who was born January 30, 1904, and is now a student at Brownell Hall; and Robert L,, who was born in Omaha September 15, 1906, and is attending the city schools.
Mr. Smith is independent in politics. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is well known in club circles, belonging to the Omaha Athletic Club, the Field Club and the Carter Lake Club. Naturally the management of his business interests has required the greater part of his time and attention, but he has never allowed business cares to prevent him from sup- porting the various movements that have to do with the advancement of his city along commercial lines, and his personal qualities are such that he is popular in social circles.
FRANK WHITMORE.
Frank Whitmore, president of the firm of Whitmore Brothers, Incorporated. is in this connection extensively and successfully engaged in farming and stock raising just outside the corporation limits of Valley. He is also closely asso- ciated with banking as the vice president and managing director of the Valley State Bank. He was born in Sunderland, Franklin county, Massachusetts, Oc- tober 4, 1853, and is a son of Charles and Julia (Clapp) Whitmore. The father was also a native of Sunderland and devoted his entire life to farming, always remaining a resident of Franklin county. He was interested in the wel- fare and progress of his community and filled a number of local offices. His wife was a native of Montague, Massachusetts, but died in Sunderland.
Frank Whitmore obtained a district school education at Sunderland, which he supplemented by study in the Deerfield Academy and in the Powers Insti- tute at Bernardston, Massachusetts, and by further study in the Salem Academy at Salem, Massachusetts. He started out in the business world as a clerk in a mercantile establishment at Holyoke, Massachusetts, and in 1878, in connection with his brother, William G. Whitmore, he came to Nebraska to locate land and establish a home. They made their way to Omaha and purchased a half section which was almost wholly unimproved near Valley. They began cultivating this land together and in addition to tilling the fields took up the occupation of stock raising, carrying on the business until 1901. They extended the boundaries of that farm from time to time until it comprised eleven hundred acres. In 1901 the brothers established the Valley Stock Yards & Grain Company at Valley building stockyards along the railroad in order to feed the live stock when in transit. This yard has a large capacity, there being accommodation for ninety thousand head of sheep at a single time. This is said to be the largest bunch of sheep ever gotten together at one time at one place. Frank Whitmore has now disposed of his interest in the stock yards, which, however, are still being conducted by his brother William. The Whitmore Brothers, Incorporated. engage in farming and stock raising, however, with Frank Whitmore as the president of the company. He built a home on his farm just at the edge of the town in 1881 and still occupies it. He was one of the organizers of the Valley State Bank, of which he is the vice president and managing director. His business affairs have always been most carefully and systematically controlled and directed and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful com-
814
OMAHA AND DOUGLAS COUNTY
pletion. He is energetic, determined and persistent and the years have marked his continuous and growing success.
On the 12th of January, 1879, in Omaha, Nebraska, Mr. Whitmore was united in marriage to Miss May Gardiner, who was born in Kilwinning, Scotland, and was brought to America by her parents when five years of age, being reared and educated at Fort Covington, New York. Her father, a farmer by occupation, passed away at Fort Covington, after which his widow came with her daughter May to Nebraska and in this state spent the remainder of her life. Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore have two children, namely: Fred H., who is a publisher residing at Valley, Nebraska; and Marion Ely, the wife of Ira O. Webster, who is bacteriologist in the bureau of chemistry, department of agriculture, of the United States government and resides in Chicago, Illinois.
In his political views Mr. Whitmore is a republican and has filled a number of town offices. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church and fraternally he is well known in Masonic circles, being a past master of the lodge at Waterloo, Nebraska. He has taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite, belongs to Tangier Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and both he and his wife are connected with the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Whitmore is quite active. Mr. Whitmore is also connected with the Woodmen of the World and with the Royal Highlanders. He is justly regarded as one of the most prominent and representative business men and citizens of the western part of Douglas county and he is a representative of a valued old Massachusetts family. His progressiveness has always been safeguarded by conservatism and vet he has never feared to venture where favoring opportunity has led the way. His well directed efforts have brought results which are most gratifying and his business ability has been a contribution to the welfare and upbuilding of the section in which he lives.
JOHN FRINK HECOX.
John Frink Hecox, vice president of the American State Bank and well known in banking circles throughout the middle west, was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1876. His father, Warren Thomas Hecox, a native of the Empire state, was born in 1840 and wedded Helen Frink, a daughter of John Frink, the well known owner of the historic old stage line between Chicago and Galena, Illinois. Mr. Hecox passed away in 1886, while his wife died in 1888, their last days being spent in Chicago.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.