USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 83
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For thirty years Mr. Harte attended the Lutheran church, of which his wife has been a member since girlhood, but they now attend the Dundee Presbyterian church. Mr. Harte is a member of both the Happy Hollow and Commercial Clubs. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party. For twenty-one years he served as director of the Dundee school board and has ever been a friend of edu- cation and other projects leading to the improvement and development of city and county. He has served as president of the Omaha Builders Exchange for two terms and as director for ten years. His election to the higher office indicates his standing in business circles and the high regard entertained for him by his colleagues and contemporaries. Thoroughness has ever characterized his work and the spirit of progress actuated him in all that he has undertaken. He keeps in touch with all the improved methods and modern ideas that relate to construction and at the same time is thoroughly imbued with the great scienific principles that underlie all building.
WILLIAM I. KIERSTEAD.
William I. Kierstead has been president of the Douglas County Association of Nebraska Pioneers, a fact which indicates his long residence within its borders, and throughout the entire period he has been an active factor in sup- porting all those measures which have contributed to the material, intellectual and civic progress of the community. He was but a boy when he first came to Omaha in February, 1867, his birth having occurred in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the 17th of February, 1852. His father, Daniel Kierstcad, was one of the pioneer settlers of Washtenaw county, Michigan, living in Ann Arbor for more than a half century. While still a young man William I. Kierstead became connected with the furniture house of Dewey & Stone, of Omaha, in the capacity of sales- man. He remained with that establishment for twenty years, in which connec- tion he gradually worked his way upward until during the last ten years of the period he was a member of the firm, active in control and management of the business, thus making for himself a most creditable position in the commercial circles of the city. At length he withdrew from that connection, selling his interest to E. L. Stone. He was elected county commissioner in 1895, which office he filled for three years. For a number of years he has devoted his atten-
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tion to his private interests. Mr. Kierstead was one of the pioneers in the development of the West Farnam street district. He built the first house on Farnam street west of Twenty-eighth in the spring of 1885. He built resi- dences and improved a great deal of property and today owns a large amount of valuable real estate from which he derives a gratifying annual income. He has a fine home on Florence boulevard and has improved much property in that section of the city, his efforts constituting an important element in the development of North Omaha.
In 1873, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mr. Kierstead was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Dewey and they have one son, William Dewey. Mr. Kierstead is a life member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. At all times he has manifested a public-spirited devotion to the welfare and progress of the com- munity in which he makes his home and has aided largely in promoting the general welfare. He gave to the city Bluff View Park on Florence boulevard and many other tangible evidences of his public spirit might be cited. Aside from the office of county commissioner already mentioned, he served as the first councilman from the ninth ward in 1887 and 1888 and was reelected for a second term. He was also a member of the board of public works but resigned that position after four years. As the architect of his own fortunes he has builded wisely and well and his life record is an illustration of the fact that no matter what the advantages offered in the schools, or the advantageous circumstances which may surround a youth, every individual must eventu- ally determine and shape his own character. The field of opportunity is open to all, and Mr. Kierstead's life has been crowned with successful accomplish- ment, making a record that should serve to inspire and encourage others.
HON. JAMES E. BOYD.
Hon. James E. Boyd, governor of Nebraska and an honored resident of Omaha, had the distinction of being the only democratic governor elected in the state up to the time when he was called to that office. He was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, September 9, 1834, and at the age of nine years came to America with his parents, who settled in Belmont county, Ohio, where the family remained until 1847, when a removal was made to Zanesville, Ohio.
James E. Boyd attended the common schools until thirteen years of age. He then obtained a situation in a grocery store, and afterward began learning the carpenter's trade, which he followed in Ohio until 1856, when he came to Omaha with his brother, John M. Boyd. They arrived here on the 14th of August, 1856, and both brothers entered the employ of the firm of Root & Vischer. After work- ing for three weeks, during which time they were paid three dollars and seventy- five cents per day, they began contracting and building on their own account. In the spring following they were awarded the contract for the first courthouse of Douglas county, which they completed in 1858, it being situated on Sixteenth and Farnam streets in Omaha-the present site of the Paxton block. They also built the Congregational church, one of the first houses of worship in the city. In 1857 James E. Boyd became county clerk, but on account of private business resigned the office before the expiration of his term.
In December, 1858, Mr. Boyd established a stock farm on Wood river, Buffalo county, and also engaged in the mercantile business near Fort Kearney. Subse- quently he carried on a freighting business across the plains and in 1866 took a contract for grading on the Union Pacific Railroad. In the following four years he graded more than three hundred miles of the line, accumulating thereby a considerable fortune, with which he returned to Omaha upon the completion of the road. From that period forward he was closely identified with the business interests and development of the city. He purchased a controlling interest in the
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Omaha Gas Works, which he managed for two years. On November 30, 1869, he organized the Omaha & Northwestern Railroad Company, of which he was elected president. The road is now a part of the Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul & Omaha line. He built the road from Omaha to Blair and furnished one-sixth of the capital necessary to build it to Tekamah. In 1870 he helped to organize the Central National Bank of Omaha and he was for some time president of the Omaha Savings Bank. Mr. Boyd was the pioneer pork packer of Omaha. He began the business in 1872, killing and packing four thousand five hundred and fifteen hogs, all that could be obtained in this part of the country. Subsequently he built the finest packing plant in the west and when it burned in 1880 replaced it with another in which were killed one hundred and forty-one thousand hogs in 1886. In 1887 he sold the plant and retired from the packing business. For more than thirty years the leading theatrical buildings in Omaha have borne the name of this enterprising promoter of Omaha's interests. In 1878 the project of building an opera house was first agitated by the people of the city, and in October, 1881, Boyd's Opera House on the northeast corner of Fiftenth and Farnam streets, erected at a cost of ninety thousand dollars, was thrown open. It was a magnifi- cent building for the Omaha of those days, and its opening was attended by a ceremonial recognition of its builder's enterprise. This theater was operated successfully and profitably until it was destroyed by fire in the early 'gos. On September 3. 1891, Boyd's New Theatre, erected by James E. Boyd at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars, was opened.
Mr. Boyd was always a democrat and in the political field attained a national reputation. During his residence in Buffalo county he was elected to represent that county in the legislature that convened July 4, 1866. He was a member of the constitutional convention of 1871, and also that of 1875. In the year 1880 he served in the city council and in 1881 was elected mayor by a majority of nineteen hundred and thirty-nine out of a total vote of about forty-three hundred. During his administration occurred the great grading strike, and by his prompt, determined action in a trying and dangerous situation Mayor Boyd won general approbation. It was during this administration also that the high license law went into effect in Nebraska, which was enforced in Omaha with great difficulty. The present system of paving, curbing, guttering and sewerage was adopted during his term as mayor, after he had made extensive personal investigation of the systems of other cities. In 1885 he was again elected mayor by a large majority. Mr. Boyd received the vote of his party in the legislature of 1883 for United States senator ; he was a delegate to the democratic national convention of 1884 which nominated Grover Cleveland the first time for president ; for the following four years he was the Nebraska member of the democratic national committee; and in 1888 he was again a delegate to the national convention. During these times he was the head of the Chicago commission firm of James E. Boyd & Brother, a member of the Chicago board of trade and of the New York stock exchange. After an exciting campaign in 1890, Mr. Boyd, democratic candidate for governor, received seventy- one thousand, three hundred and thirty-one votes ; Mr. Powers, populist and farm- ers' alliance candidate, seventy thousand, one hundred and eighty-seven ; and Mr. Richards, republican candidate, sixty-eight thousand, eight hundred and seventy- eight. By the face of the returns, the republicans elected all the state officers except governor. Powers contested the election of Boyd, and all the other populist candidates for state offices began contest proceedings against their repub- lican opponents. At the outset the contests were based on the charge of incorrect election returns, but afterward the additional charge was made that Mr. Boyd was not a citizen of the United States and therefore was ineligible to the office ; and on this ground, John M. Thayer, the preceding governor, declined to give up the office. It was ascertained that soon after coming to Ohio from Ireland, Mr. Boyd's father had declared his intention to become an American citizen but failed to perfect his citizenship. With Governor Thayer securely locked in the executive rooms at the capitol, surrounded by armed state militia, and with John H. Powers
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conducting a determined contest against his election, Mr. Boyd went to the capitol and was sworn in and received the recognition of the other state officers. As a result of the canvass of the votes by the legislature Mr. Boyd was declared elected, and on the order of the board of public lands and buildings Governor Thayer vacated the executive apartments eight days after the end of his regular term. He, however, began suit to oust Boyd, and in the following May the state supreme court decided adversely to Boyd, who gave up the office to Thayer. The opinion of the court was written by Judge Cobb, Judge T. L. Norval concurring, while Judge Maxwell dissented, holding that when the territory of Nebraska was admitted to statehood the enabling act operated to make every resident of the teritory a citizen of the state. The case was carried to the United States supreme court, which de- cided, February 1, 1892, that when the state was admitted to the Union upon an equal footing with the original states, Mr. Boyd, who had participated in its forma- tion, became a citizen by adoption. Governor Boyd again took possession of the executive offices February 3, 1892, and served with marked ability until the close of his term. When Governor Boyd again assumed his office there was an enthusi- astic demonstration in the form of a great public reception. The action of Governor Boyd in vetoing a bill fixing the maximum freight rates on the ground that he believed the reduction of rates was unjust to the railway companies excited much heated controversy, both inside and outside of the governor's party. Mr. Boyd was always a leading member of the Omaha board of trade. He was its president in 1880, 1881 and 1898, and during the latter year, for the first time in its history, the corporation paid a dividend on its stock. During the later years of financial depression Mr. Boyd met with financial reverses, from which, however, he in a measure recovered. For many years he conducted a successful commission business under the firm name of James E. Boyd & Company.
On August 22, 1858, Governor Boyd was married at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Anna H. Henry, who is a native of Hamilton, Madison county, New York, and who survives him, a resident of Omaha. Governor and Mrs. Boyd had five children, but only one is now living, Eleanora, who became the wife of Ellis L. Bierbower, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Omaha in 1872 and was there- after active in the public life of the community until his death in 1899. It was on the 30th of April, 1906, that Governor Boyd passed away in his seventy-second year. His life was purposeful and fraught with good results. While his course at times awakened antagonism, as does that of any man who is fearless and out- spoken in support of his own convictions, even those who opposed him recognized and admitted his sincerity and felt that neither fear nor favor could swerve him from a course which his conscience sanctioned.
SIDNEY W. SMITH.
Sidney W. Smith, actively engaged in the practice of law in Omaha as a partner in the firm of McGilton, Gaines & Smith, was born in Rockford, Illinois, July 20, 1875. His father, Abraham Smith, was a native of Royston, England, born in 1838, and in 1848 he accompanied his widowed mother to the United States, the family home being established in Springfield, Illinois, while later a removal was made to Rockford, Illinois. At one time he was postmaster at Woodstock, Illinois, under President Lincoln and subsequently served as post- master at Rockford under President Grant. He was appointed by President Mckinley as Consul to Victoria, British Columbia, and served from 1897 to the time of his death in 1915. He was regarded as a prominent and influential citizen in the different communities in which he lived and his sterling worth won him the respect of all. He was married in Beloit, Wisconsin, to Frances J. Rice, who survives him.
At the usual age Sidney W. Smith became a pupil in the public schools of his
SIDNEY W. SMITH
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native city and in preparation for his life work attended the University of Wisconsin, completing a course in the law school with the class of 1900. In July of that year he came to Omaha, where he opened an office and entered upon active practice. Advancement at the bar is proverbially slow but in the course of time he demonstrated his ability to successfully cope with intricate legal problems and his clientage grew in volume and importance. On the Ist of October, 1908, he became one of the organizers of the law firm of McGilton, Gaines & Smith and has since practiced in that connection. He is felicitous and clear in argument, strong in debate and logical in his reasoning and he always enters upon the trial of a case well prepared by thorough preliminary study and investigation.
On the 4th of October, 1911, in Lexington, Kentucky, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Angie Armstrong Shouse and they have gained many friends in Omaha. MIr. Smith is a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church and is equally loyal to the Masonic fraternity and to the Elks lodge, in which he holds member- ship. He is identified with a college fraternity, the Psi Upsilon, and he belongs to the University Club and to the Commercial Club. In politics he is an earnest republican and served as vice consul under his father, at Victoria, British Colum- bia. Much interested in politics and doing everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party, he has served as treasurer of the Douglas county central committee. The major portion of his time and attention, however, is given to his law practice and his devotion to his clients' interests has become proverbial.
MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE HERBERT HARRIES.
Major General George Herbert Harries, identified with many corporate inter- ests, including the Omaha Electric Light and Power Company and the Citizens Gas and Electric Company of Council Bluffs, of both of which he is president, and with various other equally prominent interests in different sections of the country, is perhaps equally well known by reason of his military record. He was born in Haverfordwest, South Wales, September 19, 1860, a son of John and Sarah (Davies) Harries. His early education was acquired in the grammar schools in the place of his nativity, and in later years in recognition of his lectures on colonial history Howard University of Washington, D. C., conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree and five years ago the State University of Kentucky conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. His career has been marked by steady progress, bringing him to many positions demanding marked administrative ability and executive force. He was but thirty-five years of age when called to the presidency of the Metropolitan Railroad Company of Washington, in which position he con- tinued for two years, and from 1900 to 1911 he was vice president of the Washing- ton Railway & Electric Company and of all of its subsidiary and allied companies. In October, 1912, he was elected to a vice presidency of the engineering corporation of H. M. Byllesby & Company of Chicago and New York. His active aid has been sought in many directions, especially in connection with the organization and management of electric power interests. He is president of the Louisville Gas and Electric Company and the Kentucky Pipe Line Company of Louisville, Ken- tucky, of the Arkansas Valley Railway Light and Power Company of Colorado and of the Fort Smith ( Ark. ) Light & Power Company .. He likewise became vice president of the Northern States Power Company, of the Standard Gas and Electric Company, of the Consumers Power Company and the Minneapolis General Electric Company, and thus in these connections he has been called upon to solve intricate and involved business problems which in their complexity have called forth the keenest discrimination and insight. At all times he has been found ready for any emergency and has ever seemed to marshal the facts and
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possibilities of a case with the same precision that he has displayed when com- manding military forces.
His name figures prominently upon the pages of our country's military history. He was made a brigadier general in command of the militia of the District of Columbia, including both military and naval forces, on the 30th of November, 1897, through presidential commission, and he was retired with the rank of major general May 26, 1915. In 1898 he was commissioned colonel of the First Infantry of the District of Columbia of United States Volunteers and was on active duty before Santiago de Cuba while that city' was being besieged. He has rendered valuable military aid in Indian campaigns of the country and in 1912 he was honored with election to the position of national commander of the Order of Indian Wars of the United States. He has been a member of the war department board on the promotion of rifle practice since its organization and his opinions have long carried weight and influence in military councils.
In the capital city, on the 23d of April, 1884, General Harries was married to Miss Elizabeth Langley, of that city. He has figured prominently in social circles, belonging to the Army and Navy Club of Washington, also to the Pendennis Club of Louisville, the Union League Club of Chicago, the Minneapolis Club, the Minne- sota Club of St. Paul, the Omaha Club, and the Engineers' Club of New York. He was also president of the American Electric Railway Association in 1912 and 1913, and is now chairman of its Committee on National Defense, which Com- mittee is cooperating with a similar committee of the American Railway Asso- ciation in all matters pertaining to steam and electric transportation which come within the jurisdiction of the Federal Council of National Defense. He is also a member of the Association of Edison Illuminating Companies, of which he served as president in 1911 and 1912. His religious faith is evidenced in his membership in the Methodist church. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party, and while never a politician in the sense of office seeking, he was a member of the board of education in Washington from 1895 until 1903. His activities, official and otherwise, have ever been of a character that have con- tributed to public progress and his contribution to the world's work has been most valuable.
WILLIAM WINDLE DAVIS, M. D.
Dr. William Windle Davis, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery and specializing in surgery in Omaha, his native city, was born September 14. 1885. His father, Joseph Shaw Davis, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Omaha in early life and in this city was married to Miss Eva J. Start, a native of Iowa. Both are still residents of Omaha, where the father is successfully conducting business as the proprietor of a machine shop and foundry. He is also one of the prominent and active Masons of the state, upon whom has been conferred the honorary thirty-third degree.
Dr. Davis received his preliminary educational training in the Omaha schools and in 1909 was graduated from the medical department of Creighton University. following which he had the benefit of a year's service as interne in St. Joseph's Hospital of Omaha, which gave him broad practical experience-experience of a varied character which could not be elsewhere obtained in the same length of time. He then opened an office and for the past seven years has engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery, his ability being demonstrated in the large patronage now accorded him. His office comprises rooms 1120-1122 First National Bank Building. He is an instructor on the gynecological staff of the surgical department of Creighton Medical College. He keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the profession through his membership in the Omaha-Douglas County
WVM. WINDLE DAVIS, M. D.
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Medical Society, the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On the 26th of December, 1910, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Dr. Davis wedded Lorene Emery and they have a daughter, Alice Lorene. The Doctor belongs to Phi Rho Sigma, a college fraternity, and he is a Master Mason, a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Woodmen of the World and the Royal Arcanum. Politically he is a republican, but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him, as he believes that active political work would interfere with the faithful performance of his professional duties, which he regards as his foremost interest.
SAMUEL DAVID MERCER. M. D.
Foremost among those men whose activities played a most conspicuous part in the developing and upbuilding of Omaha was Dr. Samuel David Mercer, who for more than forty years was prominently identified with its professional, business, financial and social life, and whose enterprise and business foresight made a most substantial contribution to the city's development. .
Samuel David Mercer was born in Marion county, Illinois, June 13, 1842. His father, Wiley Green Mercer, was born in Muhlenburg county, Kentucky, and mar- ried' Miss Cynthia Huff in Marion county, Illinois, who was the daughter of Samuel Huff, formerly of Tennessee. His grandfather's name was David Mercer, whose wife was Elizabeth Cearcy; of Madison county, Kentucky. His great- grandfather was Shadrack Mercer, who married Rhoda Price, of North Carolina : and his great-great-grandfather was Thomas Mercer, of Pitt county, North Carolina. The last mentioned emigrated from Virginia, and was the son of Edward Mercer, who was the son of Gideon Mercer, of New York and New Jersey. The family were English, but originally of Scotch extraction.
Samuel was born on a farm; there were no railroads and his home was sixty miles from the Mississippi, which was the chief artery of commerce. The home was not only a farm, but a veritable manufacturing institution as well, not only producing food for the family, but manufacturing the same by canning, drying and preserving vegetables and meats, and manufacturing the clothing of the entire family almost exclusively from the products of the farm. The wool was shorn from the sheep, washed, carded, spun, woven and manufactured into clothing on the farm, supplied with buttons of home manufacture, and colored with roots and herbs of the vicinity. Hides were tanned and manufactured into shoes, harness, etc., for domestic use; and the farm implements were often forged in the black- smith shop, framed and made ready for use, without the expense of a dollar except labor and the purchase of the iron. This was the custom of the entire country until railroads came and made an innovation in the established practices of the farmer.
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