USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 9
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HENRY M. FITZGIBBON, M. D.
Dr. Henry M. Fitzgibbon, physician and surgeon who since 1908 has been engaged in active practice in Omaha, was born in Missouri Valley, Iowa, in 1878. His father, Dennis Fitzgibbon, a native of County Limerick, Ireland, was born in 1844 and following his marriage brought his family to the new world. He has devoted his life to farming but is now living retired in Detroit, Michigan.
Dr. Fitzgibbon is indebted to the public schools of his native city for the early educational privileges which he enjoyed. His more specifically literary training was received in Creighton University, in which he won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904, while two years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. Having determined to make the practice of medicine his life work, he then continued his studies in Creighton University in the medical department and won his professional degree in 1908. He at once opened an office in Omaha and through the intervening period of eight years has devoted his attention to the general practice of medicine and surgery, being particularly skilled in the latter field. He is very conscientious in the performance of all his profes- sional duties and holds to a high standard of professional ethics.
Dr. Fitzgibbon votes with the democratic party. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and he belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the Field, Carter Lake and Omaha Athletic Clubs.
ALLAN DRYSDALE FALCONER.
The attractiveness of Omaha as a place of residence and as a business center offering good opportunities to the ambitious, energetic young man, finds demon- stration in the fact that many of the native sons of the city have remained within its borders. Such is the record of Allan Drysdale Falconer, who was born in Omaha, September 2, 1875, a son of Thomas and Margaret (Allan) Falconer. The father was born in Scotland and after crossing the Atlantic to the new world took up his abode in Omaha in 1856, his marriage being celebrated in this city. He became a prominent general contractor and was serving as assistant building inspector of Omaha at the time of his death, which occurred in 1910. His widow survives and is yet living in Omaha.
While spending his youthful days under the parental roof Allan D. Falconer mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools and pursued a business course in high school. When a youth of seventeen he secured employ- ment with an insurance firm, spending a year in that connection, and later he entered the service of the Cudahy Packing Company of Omaha, occupying a clerical position for six years. On the expiration of that period he became a clerk in the office of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company at Omaha and at
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the close of six years' connection with that corporation he was occupying the position of cashier. In 1903 he entered the employ of the New York Central Lines at Omaha as contracting agent and is now assistant commercial agent, in which connection large responsibilities devolve upon him-responsibilities, how- ever, for which his powers are fully adequate. He is also interested in the undertaking business of Slack & Falconer.
On the 7th of November, 1903, in Council Bluffs, Mr. Falconer wedded Miss Irene Carothers. They are Episcopalians in religious belief, and politically Mr. Falconer is a democrat. He belongs to the Commercial Club and it is through its channels that his public work is done, his sympathy and support being given to all projects for the benefit and welfare of the community. He is a York Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine and he also belongs to the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit which underlies those organizations. He is a member of Clan Gordon, No. 63. In 1900 he enlisted as a private in Company G, Second Regiment of the Nebraska National Guard, in which he was successively promoted to corporal, sergeant, first lieutenant and captain. In 1909 he was advanced to the rank of colonel and chief quarter- master of the Nebraska National Guard and so continued for about six years. He then resigned and was appointed major on the brigade staff in January, 1916, which rank he now holds. He is well and prominently known in military circles, is a valued representative of fraternal orders and is accounted a representative and progressive business man, his worth to Omaha being thus widely acknowledged along various lines.
ROY WIGHTMAN BESLEY.
One of the most active and progressive business men of Omaha is Roy Wightman Besley, general manager of the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company of St. Louis and an officer in various other organizations. He readily recognizes the possibilities of a business situation and utilizes advantages so as to produce results which are substantial elements in the material progress of the community as well as a source of individual prosperity. Mr. Besley was born at Council Bluffs, Iowa, July 2, 1880, a son of Lewis Cass and Martha (Wightman) Besley, who are still residents of Council Bluffs. The father was born in Michigan in 1851 and in early manhood removed to Council Bluffs, where he engaged in brick making and contracting throughout the period of his active connection with business affairs.
Roy W. Besley, reared under the parental roof, passed through consecutive grades of the public schools until graduated from the high school of Council Bluffs and in 1898 he made his initial step in the business world by becoming a clerk with the American Express Company, which position he filled for two years. He afterward spent two years in the employ of Swift & Company and two years with the American Express Company. At the expiration of that period he became an employe of the Hydraulic-Press Brick Company of St. Louis, which he represented as a traveling salesman for two years in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. He then went to Iowa for the same company and for two years was in charge of the office' at Cedar Rapids. In 1906 he was transferred to Omaha as assistant secretary and treasurer and in 1911 was advanced to the position of general manager-a position of large responsibility and importance, controlling the trade over a wide territory. The company is one of the most extensive operating in this line in the country, having branch offices at Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York city, Omaha, Philadelphia, Toledo and Washington, with the home office at St. Louis, Missouri. In his present connection Mr. Besley has developed the ramifying trade
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connections of the house and is now in control of a business of extensive proportions.
On the 25th of May, 1912, at Maryville, Missouri, Mr. Besley was united in marriage to Miss Maude Bennison and they have one son, Franklin Lewis, born August 19, 1913, in Omaha. The parents are members of the Episcopal church and they have gained a large circle of warm friends during the period of their residence in Omaha.
Mr. Besley votes independently and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day but has never been an active party worker, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, and that he is regarded as a most progressive, farsighted and capable business man is indicated in the fact that he has been elected to the presidency of the Missouri Valley Brick Club, is a director of the Nebraska Brick & Tile Manufacturers Association, is president and a director of the Omaha Manufacturers Association and the vice president and a director of the Nebraska Manufacturers Association. His opinions are accounted as sound and his discrimination keen and his words concerning business projects and conditions are largely accepted as authority in those organizations. He is continually studying along lines for the development of trade relations and his efforts have been of distinct value and notable worth in promoting the manu- facturing and commercial progress of the middle west.
LEE M. SWINDLER.
Lee M. Swindler, cashier of the American State Bank of Omaha, had been for nearly twenty years prominently identified with banking interests in western Iowa before becoming connected with Omaha's financial interests. He was born in Cass township, Guthrie county, Iowa, in 1864, and comes from a most highly respected pioneer family of that section of the Hawkeye state. His parents were Robert A. and Catharine (Brumbaugh) Swindler, natives of Indiana and Ohio respectively. The latter was a daughter of Daniel Brumbaugh, a pioneer resi- dent of Guthrie county, the family home being established in Iowa in 1850. The father, Robert A. Swindler, arrived in Guthrie county in 1852 and became a factor in its pioneer development and improvement. That the work of progress was scarcely begun is indicated in the fact that he was able to purchase two hundred acres of land from the government at the usual price of a dollar and a quarter per acre. Not a furrow had been turned upon the place and the raw prairie was covered with its native grasses. He at once built and began to till the soil, continuing active in farm work until a few years ago. He lived to see marked changes in the county, for at the time of his arrival there was only one house between him and Adel. As time passed the country became inhabited by contented and prosperous people and in the work of general improvement Mr. Swindler bore his part, although living a quiet life. His wife died in 1896, at the age of sixty-four years, while he survived until 1908. He had persevered in his undertakings and accumulated considerable property. He was deeply interested in community affairs, was an active supporter of the republican party in the early days and was a stalwart champion of all measures and movements for the general good. He gave land and built thereon the first schoolhouse in Guthrie county, Iowa, and he helped to build the first Baptist church.
Lee M. Swindler received liberal educational advantages. Following his graduation from the county high school at Panora, Iowa, with the class of 1885 he pursued a classical course in Grinnell College of Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1889, with the degree of A. B. Later he went to Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, and completed a special course in mathematics at Harvard. Upon his return from Grinnell in 1889 he was elected upon the republican ticket to the office of county superintendent of schools in Guthrie county, Iowa, in which
LEE M. SWINDLER
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position he continued for six years. He was also principal of the county high school at Panora for three years and proved a most able educator, his efforts constituting a vital and forceful element in the improvement of the school sys- tem of the county. He turned from the educational field to banking and on the Ist of March, 1899, purchased the Yale Savings Bank, of which he remained the cashier until 1916. This was organized as a private bank in 1890 by Charles Yale and nine years later was converted into a savings bank by Mr. Swindler, whose able and intelligently directed efforts made the bank one of the strong and reliable financial institutions of that portion of Iowa. He is also the principal owner and the president of the Jamaica Savings Bank and a director of the Carson State Bank at Carson, Iowa. Mr. Swindler's interests are varied and extensive and after a most honorable and successful career as a banker and man of general business affairs in western Iowa, he came to the American State Bank of Omaha in 1916, with the prestige that must naturally follow a man of his record and achievement.
Mr. Swindler was married in 1891 to Miss Laurayne Brown, a native of Darke county, Ohio, and prior to her marriage one of the capable teachers of Guthrie county, Iowa.
Mr. Swindler is a stalwart republican, taking an active interest in the party and its success. While a resident of Iowa he served as chairman of the Guthrie county central committee and while never an office seeker he puts forth earnest effort to place the right men in positions of public trust. He is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias and served as president of the Skunk Valley Picnic Association, an old settlers' asso- ciation, which was formed of those who were residents of Guthrie county in the '50s. He is genial and approachable, a man whose powers have been well developed by educational training and by wide experience, a man who looks at life from a broad standpoint and who has wisely and conscientiously used his time, talents and opportunities not only for the advancement of his indi- vidual interests but for the benefit of the city in which he makes his home.
ROY ANDREW DODGE, M. D.
Broad hospital experience supplementing thorough college training well . qualified Dr. Roy Andrew Dodge for the private practice of medicine and surgery, to which he now devotes his energies, and the position to which he has attained in professional circles is a creditable one. He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, on the 15th of July, 1877, a son of George A. and Jennie (Zell) Dodge, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state, as were his two grandfathers, Andrew Dodge and Samuel H. Zell. The latter served as a soldier in both the Mexican and Civil wars and spent his entire life in Pennsylvania, where he passed away at the venerable age of eighty-nine years. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. George A. Dodge was celebrated in the Keystone state and in 1882 they removed to the west, settling in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, where they now reside.
Dr. Dodge, then a little lad of five years, pursued his education in the schools of Plattsmouth until graduated from the high school with the class of 1897. He completed a course in medicine in 1901 by graduation from the Omaha Medical College, which in 1902 became the College of Medicine of the University of Nebraska. From July, 1901, to July, 1902, he served as house physician and surgeon in the Douglas County Hospital at Omaha and afterward spent five months as traveling examiner for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. On the Ist of November, 1902, he opened an office in Omaha and has since engaged in general practice, being now accorded a substantial patronage. For nine years he was obstetrician to the Swedish Mission Hospital and is now serving as chief of staff of that hospital. He enjoys the goodwill and confidence of his colleagues and
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contemporaries and his high standing among them is indicated in the fact that in 1916 he was elected to the position of secretary of the Omaha-Douglas County Medical Society and was again chosen for that office December 12, 1916. He also belongs to the Missouri Valley Medical Society, the Nebraska State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.
On the 3d of June, 1905, in Plattsmouth, Dr. Dodge was united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Ruffner, who was a daughter of P. E. Ruffner, a representative of an old Virginia family, and who died September 11, 1916. In politics Dr. Dodge is a republican, never failing to endorse party principles at the polls although he has never sought nor desired public office. He is widely known in Masonic circles, having taken the degrees of the York and Scottish Rites, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is also a member of the Elks Lodge and is a prominent Knight of Pythias, serving as secretary of Nebraska Lodge, No. I, and as grand trustee of the state in that order. He likewise belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star and is a past patron of Vesta Chapter, No. 6. He became a charter member of the Carter Lake Club, which furnishes him a source of recreation and his summer residence "Dodge Inn" is one of the most attractive summer cottages of this club. He is a life member of the Omaha Athletic Club and a member of the Omaha Commercial Club. He holds membership in the Plymouth Congregational church and is well known in Omaha, the hospitality of many of the city's best homes being accorded him.
WILLIAM ARMSTRONG REDICK.
William Armstrong Redick, serving for the third term as judge of the fourth judicial district of Nebraska, has been identified with the Omaha bar continuously since 1882 save for a period of two years spent on the Pacific coast. The city claims him as a native son, his birth having here occurred on the 2d of April, 1859. His father, John Irwin Redick, was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1828 and was married in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, to Miss Mary E. Higby. In the year 1855 they removed to Omaha and remained residents of this city until called to their final rest. Mrs. Redick passed away in 1864 but her husband survived for more than forty years, his death occurring in 1906. He was a lawyer by profession and for four decades continued in active practice, most of the time in Omaha. His fellow townsmen chose him as their representative to the Nebraska legislature and in 1875 he was appointed by President Grant an associate justice of the supreme court of New Mexico. He figured prominently in both professional and political circles in this state and was honored as one of the representative residents of Omaha. A more extended sketch of John I. Redick will be found in this volume; also in the Bench and Bar chapter of Volume one.
William A. Rediek attended school in Omaha until in his sixteenth year and during one year of that time was a student in the high school. He took up the study of law under the direction of his father and was qualified by his knowledge to be admitted to the bar at the age of nineteen years, but he accepted the position of chief clerk and deputy collector of internal revenue under Lorenzo Crounse, later governor, who was at that time collector. Judge Redick remained in that connection for four years and then resigned in order to take up the practice of his profession, being admitted to the bar in 1882. Immediately afterward he entered upon active practice here and save for the years 1889 and 1890, spent in Los Angeles, California, he has continuously been a representative of the profes- sion in this city. While he was well grounded in the principles of common law when admitted to the bar he has continued through the whole of his professional life a diligent student of those elementary principles that constitute the basis of all legal science and this knowledge served him well in many a legal battle before the superior and appellate courts, in which he has successfully conducted many
WILLIAM A. REDICK
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cases. He always prepared his cases with great care. If there was a close legal point involved in the issue it was his habit to thoroughly examine every authority within his reach bearing upon the question and this made him a most dangerous adversary.
On the 12th of September. 1883, in Omaha. Judge Redick was united in marriage to Miss Mary Otis Wood and they now have one son, John Wood Redick, who was born in 1884 and is a graduate of Williams College of Massa- chusetts of the class of 1907. He is now engaged in the grain business in Omaha. In 1909, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, he married Miss Florence Heap and they have one son, William Herbert Redick.
An Episcopalian in his religious faith, Judge Redick is identified with All Saints' church, of which he is a junior warden. He belongs to the Woodmen of the World and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the Omaha Club and the Omaha Country Club. He supports all well directed plans and measures for the public good as a member of the Commercial Club and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He has never desired nor sought office outside the strict path of his profession but in 1904 was elected district judge for a four year term and reelected in 1908. At the succeeding election he was defeated for the office but was appointed to the position by Governor Morehead in 1915 and is again serving upon the bench. In 1912 after being defeated for judge he was elected president of the State Bar Association. Devotedly attached to his profession, systematic and practical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, calm in temper, diligent in research, conscientious in the discharge of every duty, courteous and kind in demeanor and inflexibly just on all occasions, these qualities have enabled Judge Redick to take first rank among those who have held high judicial office in the state and made him the conservator of that justice wherein is the safeguard of individual liberty and happiness and the defense of our national institutions. His reported opinions indicate his broad legal learning and superior ability, showing a thorough mastery of the questions involved.
ALFRED CONKLING KENNEDY.
For almost six decades the name Kennedy has figured as an honored one in connection with the business interests and municipal development of Omaha. Three generations of the family have been active in real estate operations and the business promoted by the grandfather, Howard Kennedy, and carried on by the father, Alfred C. Kennedy, is now being successfully and ably continued by the son, Alfred C. Kennedy, Jr., whose name introduces this review. He was born in Omaha, September 1, 1892, and at the usual age became a public school pupil, passing through consecutive grades to his graduation from the high school in the class of 1910. He afterward attended the State University at Lincoln for two years and upon his return to Omaha entered his father's real estate and insurance office and early in 1915, was admitted to a partnership, the interests of the firm being incorporated under the style of the Alfred C. Kennedy Company. Upon the death of his father July 1, 1915, he succeeded to the management of this business, which is now under his control. The policy instituted by his grandfather and upheld by his father of giving patrons unsurpassed service is continued by him. The name of Kennedy has ever signified that the business placed in their hands has been held above personal gain. In other words, their devotion to their clients' interests is proverbial and they sustain an unassailable reputation for carefulness, conservatism and absolute dependableness. A local paper said :
"The Kennedy Company specializes in city real estate, and has been connected with a number of the large deals in the history of Omaha. Having been in touch with real estate and real estate values since Omaha was a village, having grown
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up with it and watched its development, its members know the city thoroughly. They have completed transactions for patrons that have since made fortunes. Former clients of the firm have become independent by acting upon the advice of this agency and the same facilities and opportunities for investment are offered in Omalia today by the Alfred C. Kennedy Company. Because of our city's favorable location and growth due to this location, Omaha real estate is one of the best investments. For the conservative investor this firm offers first class mortgages 011 Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa farms or city loans. On these loans they make a very careful inspection. For the owner of income property they offer their services as rental experts, giving careful attention to every detail. Their insurance department represents strong, conservative companies."
The judgment of the young man has ever sanctioned the course of his sires and in fact he justly feels that their example is one well worthy of emulation. Like grandfather and father, he is therefore a republican, a Mason, a member of the Commercial Club and a member of the First Presbyterian church. He is also identified with the Alpha Tau Omega, a college fraternity. These associations indicate the nature of his interests and the breadth of his sympathies. He is a young man of strong purpose and of keen business insight. He is not content to rest upon the reputation that has always been associated with the name of Kennedy in Omaha but is determined that his own course shall reflect further credit and honor upon an untarnished family name.
N. H. LOOMIS.
N. H. Loomis, a prominent railroad attorney who since the Ist of May, 1908, has been general solicitor for the Union Pacific, has been professionally connected with that road since 1885 and his developing powers have brought him to the position of large trust and responsibility which he now occupies. New England claims him as a native son, his birth having occurred at Highgate, in Franklin county, Vermont, on the 28th of June, 1862, but in 1865 his parents, Noah W. and Ellen B. Loomis, removed with their family from the Green Mountain state to Chicago, where they remained for thirteen years, N. H. Loomis in the mean- time pursuing his education in Chicago and in Evanston. He was a youth of sixteen when in 1878 the family settled upon a homestead claim in Saline county, Kansas, and while there residing he devoted two winter seasons to teaching school. By the year 1881, or when nineteen years of age, he had determined upon his life work and entered upon preparation therefor by becoming a law student in the office of Garver & Bond at Salina, Kansas. In 1883 he was admitted to prac- tice and for two years thereafter was employed as a court reporter, having taken up the study of stenography while pursuing his law course. In 1885 he entered the law department of the Union Pacific Railway at Lawrence, Kansas, as stenographer and law clerk and in that connection his progress has been con- tinuous. He became assistant general attorney for the Union Pacific for Kansas and Missouri, with headquarters at Topeka, Kansas, in 1891 and so continued until 1902, when he was appointed general attorney for Kansas and Missouri, and upon the death of John N. Baldwin in 1908 he was advanced to the position of general solicitor, with headquarters at Omaha. During his connection with the Union Pacific he has conducted important litigation in the federal and state courts with gratifying success, winning well earned fame and distinction. He has much natural ability but is withal a hard student and is never contented until he has mastered every phase of a legal problem upon which he has concentrated his attention. He believes in the maxim "there is no excellence without labor" and follows it closely. Whatever he does is for the best interests of his clients and for the honor of his profession, and no man gives to either a more unqualified allegiance or riper ability.
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