USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 84
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Samuel's early education was commenced by private tutors, employed by his father with other farmers. Afterwards he went to a select school in the village of Walnut Hill ; subsequently to McKendree College, at Lebanon, Illinois.
The boy's life, when on the farm, was working with men, as all boys had to do in those days and under such circumstances. He lived with his parents in the home log house until he was old enough to aid in hewing and framing the timbers for additional houseroon1.
Samuel's first business venture was that of trapping quail, mink, and other fur animals, and gathering the crude drugs of the country for sale, from which he obtained all his spending money, and accumulated enough to buy a one-third interest in a threshing machine, which, with two uncles as partners, he operated one autumn. He also planted out a large crop of fall wheat, and then taught a country school during the following winter months. The next spring, in company
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with Frank M. Meeker, he put in ten acres of tobacco, which yielded several thousand dollars, owing to high war prices.
During the following autumn the young man again began threshing, but, by an accident, was severely injured in the left hand while feeding the machine; there- upon he immediately stepped from the platform, went to the village of Salem and, under the direction of Dr. William Hill, went thence to the University of Michigan to study medicine. After a two years course in medicine and chemistry he made an application to the board of examiners at Chicago for recommendation as assistant surgeon in the army, which was successful, and he was assigned to the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers. After the war, Dr. Mercer returned to the north and took a third course of lectures in the Chicago Medical College, and went thence to the Berkshire Medical College, Massachusetts, where he finished his medical course and received a diploma in October, 1866. On graduation he was awarded the first premium-a case of surgical instruments-for the best thesis ; subject-"Healthy Nutrition."
After this, Dr. Mercer came direct to Omaha, where he remained, never having been absent more than five weeks at any one time, continuing the practice of medicine up to 1886, during which time his labors were arduous and his practice extensive, especially in surgery.
In the winter of 1867-68 he established the first hospital in Omaha, located at the corner of what is now Cass and Twenty-sixth streets. It was afterwards turned into a small-pox hospital purchased by the city and subsequently burned. Later on he started a private surgical hospital known as the "Omaha Medical and Surgical Institute," which he managed successfully for many years. He finally abandoned it and accepted the position of chief surgeon of the Union Pacific Railroad, establishing the hospital system which is still in vogue, and founded, as well, the Ogden and Denver hospitals in connection with that road. He was also surgeon to the Omaha & Grant Smelting and Refining Works, assistant surgeon of the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad for many years, and for ten years United States pension examiner at Omaha. During this period he was the prime mover in establishing the Omaha Medical College, in which he filled the clinical chair of surgery for four years.
Subsequently, the doctor occupied the chair of surgery for two years in the State University at Lincoln.
Dr. Mercer was seven years secretary of the State Medical Society, which was brought into existence by his own motion in 1867, and was always an active member of the same, and was president one term; and, during the last year of his practice, was vice president of the American Medical Association, and presided part of the time at the national meeting at New Orleans.
Owing to the accumulation of many outside business affairs, Dr. Mercer retired from the practice of medicine in the autumn of 1886, just twenty years after com- mencing in Omaha, and during the next season embarked in the enterprise of building cable and electric railroads, but soon finding that the cable was not profitable and not adapted to cities of this size, sold his interest and put his energies into the electric plant. After three years' hard struggle in fighting financial odds and opposition from opposing companies and opposing interests, he succeeded in developing the first electric railroad plant in the city, the Omaha Motor Railway Company, which became so active a competitor of the Omaha Street Railway Company that they were compelled to purchase the property and consolidate it into one system, the Omaha Street Railway Company. Dr. Mercer became one of the directors after the reorganization.
During the last few years of his practice Dr. Mercer invested his surplus money largely in real estate, bought and platted that section known as "Walnut Hill," and built seventy-five houses thereon before any other settlements were made in that section, all of which were sold on small monthly payments to men desiring to secure homes. He afterwards erected several blocks of business houses in the city, including also the building known formerly as the Mercer Hotel. He was
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always an active, energetic and never-tiring worker for the interests of Omaha and Nebraska, ever showing his good faith by energy and investment of money to build up the town and the state, with a firm belief that the prosperity of the two should go hand in hand.
Dr. Mercer's political views were republican, he believing firmly in the doctrine of tariff as the best means of protecting and equalizing the interests of all men, but he looked with misgiving upon the encroachments of large corporations and financial institutions organized with money to make money, sometimes without due regard to moral rights or equity among men.
In 1890, Dr. Mercer was a prominent republican candidate for governor, but was defeated in the convention, and was again spoken of very prominently as a candidate in 1892 for the same office, but refused to permit his name to go before the convention. He was made chairman of the republican state central com- mittee in 1891.
In the autumn of 1892, the Doctor was the prime mover in starting the drug establishment known as the Mercer Chemical Company, manufacturers of high grade pharmaceuticals, and was also interested in several other commercial enterprises in a small way.
Dr. Mercer was married on the 12th day of November, 1870, to Miss Lizzie Covert Hulst, of Omaha, Nebraska, at the German Reformed church, in Brooklyn, New York. Miss Hulst was the daughter of Garrett Hulst, late of Alexandria, Virginia, and formerly of Brooklyn, New York, and granddaughter of Anthony Hulst, of Williamsburg, New York, and he was a son of William Hulst who was a descendant of the original Knickerbocker family. Mrs. Mercer died on February 13, 1906. Their children were six in number. George W. Mercer, a graduate of Peekskill Military Academy and Yale University, was a successful business man of Omaha, being connected with the Mercer Chemical Company, and was for seven years a member of the City Council. He passed away on the 16th of April, 1904. Dr. Nelson S. Mercer is a resident of Omaha. Carrie L., who was educated at Sacred Heart and Brownell Hall and who completed her studies in New York city, died September 2, 1911, after an illness of four years. Mary, who graduated from St. Mary's School of Knoxville, Illinois, is a resident of Omaha. The two other children of the family died in early life.
Dr. Mercer possessed a strong, magnetic personality and ability to accomplish much work with the greatest ease ; this, with his thorough knowledge of men, and wide information on all matters pertaining to the affairs of life, together with a companionable nature, gave him a prominent position in all the affairs with which he was connected. Of the particular likings of Dr. Mercer, which indicated his character more effectively than can be expressed in words, may be mentioned his love for trees and flowers, (especially roses), and, it may be added, for works of art. The doctor had, also, not only strong likes but dislikes for persons, and abhorred everything in word, figure or deed that was not truthful. Dr. Mercer died on October 16, 1907.
LOUIS M. ROGERS.
Louis M. Rogers, a confectioner and florist of Omaha, was born at Kuparisy, Greece, August 18, 1883, his parents being Mitchell and Stamata ( Pappamichalo- poulos) Rogers, both of whom were natives of Greece. The mother's family belonged to the nobility of that country. Both .parents remained in Greece and the father became engaged in olive growing and in the manufacture of olive oil, carrying on a large export business up to the time of his death, which occurred in August, 1915, when he was sixty-seven years of age. His widow is still living in her native country at the age of fifty-five. They were the parents of thirteen children, six of whom have passed away, while those who still survive
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are : John, a resident of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Gust, living in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Theodore, who is with his mother; Katherine, Bessie and Mary, all in Greece.
Louis M. Rogers, the third of the family, attended school in his home locality until he reached the age of twelve years, when he left home and went to Piraus, Greece, and while living there in the home of an uncle he attended school for two years. When a youth of fourteen he became employed in a general mer- chandise store and when fifteen years of age he sailed for the United States, landing in New York City. He was there employed at cigarette making for a short period, after which he went to Atlanta, Georgia, where he engaged in business as a dealer in flowers and confectionery, spending eighteen months in that city. He afterward went to Waterbury, Connecticut, and later embarked in business at Naugatuck as a confectioner and florist. A year later he sold out and removed to Rochester, New York, where he engaged in the same line of business on his own account until a fire destroyed his property. He was afterward at Warsaw, New York, where he conducted a confectionery store for eight months but at the end of that time sold out and went to Coney Island, where he had a soda fountain and confectionery store, continuing at that famous resort through three seasons. He next went to Yonkers, New York, where he engaged in business as a florist in connection with a cousin for a short period. At St. Paul, Minnesota, he conducted the flower business at the Golden Rule store for a year and in 1908 he arrived in Omaha, where he took over a depart- ment in the Brandeis store, where he still has a stand. In June, 1915, he established business as a confectioner and florist at Twenty-fourth and Farnam streets, where he is now building up a good trade, his patronage steadily increasing.
On the 14th of June, 1911, Mr. Rogers was married to Miss Elsie Robertson, of this city, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Robertson, who were Omaha pioneers and have now passed away, the father having died in August, 1915. Mr. Rogers belongs to the Commercial Club and is interested in its various proj- ects for the upbuilding of the city and the extension of its trade relations. He also has membership with the Rotary Club, the Omaha Automobile Club and the Carter Lake Club and is a life member of the Omaha Athletic Club. Fra- ternally he is a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirty-second degree and he has membership in the Royal Arcanum and the Woodmen of the World. He also belongs to the Retail Merchants Association, and that his interests reach out along those lines which prove beneficial to the race is indicated in the fact that he is identified with the Humane Society. He has always made it his purpose and aim to choose the better part. He is one of the city's young progressive business men, standing high in public regard both as a merchant and a man.
GUY HOWARD FURNESS.
Guy Howard Furness, a member of the firm of Crawford-Furness, general in- surance agents at Omaha, and secretary or clerk of Omaha-Seymour Camp, No. 16, Woodmen of the World, was born in 1886 in the city in which he still resides but is a representative of an old New England family. His grandfather, Edgar Daniel Furness, was born in Brandon, Vermont, July 30, 1832, and passed away on the 16th of November, 1905. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Powell, was born in Ogdensburg, New, York, November 22, 1834, and her life record covered the intervening period to the 30th of November, 1915. Their son, Charles H. Furness, was born in Oregon, Illinois, January 31, 1861, and was in the employ of the Union Pacific Railway for many years, spending most of the time in that connection between 1879 and 1901. He is now in the general offices of the Wood- men of the World at Omaha. He arrived in Omaha in 1879 in a wagon which he
GUY H. FURNESS
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and his brother had driven from Mitchell county, Kansas, and in 1885 he returned to Beloit, Kansas, where he married Florence May Bourne, who was born at Honey Creek, Wisconsin, December 25, 1866. Her father, Darius C. Bourne, was born in Chardon, Ohio, in June, 1827, and passed away July 22, 1906. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Betsy Morse, was born in the western part of New York state, in the month of May, 1830, and passed from this life July 5, 1904.
Guy H. Furness began his education in the public schools of Omaha and spent seven years as a pupil in the public schools of Ogden, Utah, during which period his father was there employed by the Union Pacific Railway Company. Returning to Omaha, he learned the printing business and was employed in a job printing establishment until February, 1909, when he became a copartner in a job printing office, which he carried on until April, 1913. He then disposed of his interests in the printing business and became associated with John N. Crawford under the firm name of Crawford-Furness Insurance Agency, at the same time becoming clerk or secretary of Omaha-Seymour Camp, No. 16, Woodmen of the World. This particular lodge has a membership of nearly fourteen hundred and its rapid growth during the past four years is due in a great degree to the untiring efforts of Mr. Furness who devotes the greater part of his time to the upbuilding of the Wood- men of the World.
Aside from his membership in the Woodmen of the World Mr. Furness is con- nected with the Modern Woodmen of America and has attained higli rank in Masonry, belonging to Nebraska Lodge, No. I, A. F. & A. M .; Bellevue Chapter, No. 7, R. A. M .; Nebraska Consistory, No. I, A. & A. S. R. ; and Tangier Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. In politics he is a republican and while he is not a member of any particular church, he and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal church.
On the 9th day of July, 1912, at Elmwood, Nebraska, Mr. Furness was united in marriage to Miss Edith R. Perry, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Perry. They had one son, who was born August 11, 1915, and died the following day. Mr. Furness is well known and has many friends in Omaha, where much of his life has been passed.
FRED BRODEGAARD.
Fred Brodegaard, an Omaha jeweler whose life history is an interesting one because of the spirit that has actuated him and in the course of years has brought him substantial success, has been connected with the commercial interests of this city for many years. In fact the Omaha of today bears little resemblance to the western frontier town to which he came many years ago. He was born in Assens, a town on one of the larger islands of Denmark, where manners and customs have largely remained fixed in the midst of the onward march of civili- zation, where invention has been looked upon somewhat with suspicion, but where thoroughness and efficiency in old, time-tried methods have produced most capable and competent workmen. His father was a painstaking and masterly watchmaker whose capability and responsibility were widely recognized by his fellowmen, and from a very early age Fred Brodegaard manifested a deep inter- est in his father's work-an interest which led the father to equip a bench for the boy when he was but twelve years of age, and there he spent many hours working at the trade when other boys of the neighborhood were at play. He was a youth of fourteen when he entered upon a regular apprenticeship, which included the repairing of clocks. also the work of keeping the display stock regulated and in time work in connection with the finer art of repairing all kinds of watches and jewelry. The hours were long and he was kept closely at the bench, but he thoroughly mastered the trade, developing that great thorough- ness for which his father was noted. He also acknowledges, too, much indebtedness to his mother, whom he regards as the real head of the business, Vol. II-35
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while the father took care of the mechanical end of it. His mother was a farsighted and sagacious business woman who recognized that some one must care for the financial interests while the father was doing the excellent work for which his name became a synonym. After the custom of the time, she was also a splendid housewife, but more than that, she instructed her children in such a manner as to implant in them principles which have been active factors in guid- ing their lives along the lines of upright and honorable manhood and womanhood.
When eighteen years of age Fred Brodegaard had completed his apprentice- ship by making in every part a lady's miniature watch that had to be judged by a committee of watchmakers, his future standing with the profession resting upon its quality. It not only passed muster but was highly commended by the inspectors. Now being perfectly able to earn his own living, he went to Copen- hagen and afterward walked through Germany to Switzerland, working here and there as his funds needed replenishing. After a brief period spent in the land of the Alps he started for America on an English steamer with a little luggage including some necessary clothing, a set of fine tools for watchmaking and jewelry repairing and a purse that did not contain over ten dollars in American money. The voyage proved a pleasant one, during which he met some interesting people, and on a beautiful spring evening in the early 'Sos he landed in New York. From the eastern metropolis he made his way westward to Chicago in company with a friend and started out at once to seek work. He found it on the second day, at which time he was introduced to American customs. Applying for a job, the proprietor without a word took him into a neat and spacious working room and pointed to a bench, to which he brought a tray full of watches to be repaired and then turned without saying anything. The differ- ence in customs was to Mr. Brodegaard most marked, for in Europe when a man entered a shop it was always an occasion for a few pleasant remarks between the newcomer and the proprietor, with a welcome from his fellow workmen and a discussion concerning the business and methods. He saw that the workmen here gave every moment to their task and he felt that he was working to the limit, but at the end of the second day he was given his pay and told that he was discharged. Indignant and angry at such treatment, he asked if his work was not all right. The proprietor smiled in a tantalizing way and after considerable deliberation admitted that the work was good, whereupon Mr. Brodegaard demanded to know what was the matter and at length received this answer: "The exact reason is that I pay a hundred dollars in rent each month for these rooms. The bench you have been working at stands on a spot that costs me a certain sum every day, and I have to have a man at that desk who can help me in getting the biggest return on the investment. What you need, young man, is more speed." It was his first lesson in American methods and demands. He left the shop and upon his return to his boarding place found that his friend and roommate had had a similar experience. The next morning he started out to seek employment anew and it was after some time that a fellow countryman took him into a little jewelry shop where he earned scarcely more than a bare living; but while there he learned the lesson that in America the road to success is only open to the man who works at full speed while turning out the best possible work. He also learned the use of new tools, with which he had been unacquainted in his own country, and day by day his speed in work increased. After two months he again started out to find employment, if pos- sible, in the big shops of the city and one morning took courage to walk into the office where he had first been employed. The proprietor was then out of town and the foreman, who did not know Mr. Brodegaard, employed him and set him at work at the same bench where he had had his first two days' experience in American business methods. A few days later the proprietor returned and rec- ognized the new workman as he passed through the shop. Later he came to his desk and looked over his work slip, stood a little while, stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled and then walked away. During the next year Mr. Brode-
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gaard worked steadily in that place and during more than six months was the highest man on the weekly pay roll. When he finally decided to leave his employer offered him the foremanship of an auxiliary shop which he was opening in another part of the city.
It was Mr. Brodegaard's desire, however, to engage in business on his own account and, realizing that he did not have sufficient capital to start in business in Chicago, he determined to try his fortune in the west and in the spring of 1884 arrived in Omaha. He saw indications of an enterprising and growing western city and secured employment with a jeweler on South Tenth street, not far from the depot. He soon learned that his employer wished to sell out and he became the purchaser of the business. He then set to work to build up a trade. He recognized the value of advertising, especially in the way of building up a mail order business, but he had not the funds for this. He was awake, however, to every opportunity. He had his work bench in the back part of his shop and noticed that the boys on their way to and from school were greatly interested in what he was doing. This suggested to him an idea that grown peo- ple might also be interested. Accordingly he had the background of one of his show windows enameled white and placed his work bench therein, while on the desk he put a marine chronometer with a little sign, "The Right Time." His store was near the depot and people on the way to the train would stop to see if their watches were running right .. This drew their attention to his work, and from time to time someone would stop in to have a watch repaired and, looking over his stock, would perhaps make a purchase. Thus his trade gradually devel- oped and in time he became an advertiser in the Danish Pioneer, a weekly newspaper of national scope. The result was that he began developing a good mail order business and he made it ever his business to carry goods of the highest grade and most excellent workmanship. In a comparatively few years his mail order trade o'ertopped that of any other house in Omaha and he was sending watches from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to Tacoma, Washington, and even had customers in Cuba and Hawaii. His fellow countrymen, too, were buying watches to send back to relatives in Denmark and in this way he was perhaps instrumental in introducing the standard American movement into Europe. Another feature of his success was his social nature. He chatted with everyone on the street and people came to know him. As his acquaintance widened his trade grew. In time he recognized the fact that if he did not wish to remain a small jeweler on Tenth street he would have to establish a store in that section toward which the busines center of the city was growing. A removal therefore was made to Sixteenth street and in the intervening period his business has grown by leaps and bounds. He was offered the watch inspectorship of the great Union Pacific Railroad system and he also had the inspectorship for the Chicago, St. Paul, Missouri & Omaha Railroad. Since 1904 he has occupied a position in the front ranks among the jewelers of Omaha. He offered a prize for the best name to associate with his firm name and several people in competi- tion suggested the word "Crown." This he adopted and the word "Crown" has become a synonym for standard activities in the jewelry trade. He has always followed a plan of judicious advertising through the papers and in other ways. His original methods are indicated somewhat in the fact that on one occasion he offered a prize for the correct guess of his weight. To participate, people had to take a good look at him and his store was daily filled with ladies and gentlemen. It was a good advertisement. They saw his stock and many of them became regular patrons. As the years have gone on he has extended his trade into various centers by establishing branch houses or branch departments in already established stores, and thus his trade relations reach out over a very broad territory and bring him a gratifying annual income.
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