USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 91
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Dr. Jenkins is ranked with the eminent scholars and educators of the Presby- terian church. In 1891 he was, at the early age of twenty-eight years, elected president of Parsons College, Fairfield, Iowa, and was recognized as the youngest college president in the country.
For sixteen years Dr. Jenkins has been identified with educational interests in Omaha. In 1900 he accepted the position of professor of doctrinal theology and apologetics in the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary and in 1910 was made dean of the faculty in that institution. In addition to his duties in the Seminary he has acted as president of the University of Omaha ever since its establishment and continues to direct the progress of this rapidly developing school. Under his guiding hand the institution has acquired two very suitable buildings, namely, the John Jacobs Memorial Gymnasium and Joslyn Hall, its student body has steadily increased, its curriculum has broadened, and its ideals and standards of education and scholarship have been persistently elevated.
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The regard in which Dr. Jenkins is held in the world of theological scholarship is evidenced by the fact that he was chosen by the Princeton Seminary faculty to deliver the annual series of lectures on the L. P. Stone Foundation, an honor which was never before bestowed on one so young as was Dr. Jenkins at the time and, with one exception, has never been bestowed on any scholar west of the Ohio river. Suffice it to say that the Stone Lectureship is second to none in America in the rigid requirements it makes on scholarships and that in the list of lecturers on this Foundation are the names of such world-renowned scholars as Dr. Abraham Kuyper, of Holland, and Dr. James Orr, of Scotland.
Dr. Jenkins loves the work of teaching and is at his best before a class in his favorite subjects of philosophy and theology. He makes very ample use of the Socratic method and believes that the excessive use of the lecture method has led to a serious deterioration of the art of teaching. While possitive in his con- victions he is never dogmatic in his method. Intellectual honesty is with him the prime necessity of scholarship and he insists that on ultimate problems the student shall reach his own conclusions. He is considerably in demand as a teacher in summer Bible conferences and similar gatherings where questions of biblical interpretation and of religious philosophy generally are brought into discussion for popular audiences.
While primarily a teacher Dr. Jenkins is a man of unusual energy and capacity for intense concentration of mental powers when emergency demands. He has filled many important civic and ecclesiastical appointments requiring close tempo- rary application and practical initiative as well as judgment. He has served as chairman of the committee on polity of the Presbyterian General Assembly, as member of a most important special committee appointed to effect a change in the form of government of the church in regard to the rights and duties of execu- tive commissions, and is now a member of the permanent committee on men's work. He has been honored with the moderatorship of the Synod of Nebraska and has served as chairman of its executive commission and its home mission committee. Of his public activities it need only be said that he has served as a member of the Omaha public school board, as president of the State Confer- ence of Charities and Correction, as a member of a special commission appointed by Governor Morehead to investigate vice conditions, and as an appointee of successive governors to represent the state in national congresses on prison reform, conservation of natural resources, and charities and correction. He is a prominent and valued member of the University Club of Omaha and of the Schoolmasters Club of Nebraska and an honorary member of the Commercial Club of Omaha. Unlike many men who have devoted their lives to educational and church work, he does not hold himself aloof from general public interests but belongs to that class of modern thinkers who see that highest values reside in what are designated as the secular affairs of mankind and that the very purpose of both religion and education is to fit the individual to contribute his share to the work of the world and to the promotion of every truly human interest. As might be expected of a man of his type, he has maintained an independent course in his political views and affiliations and has exercised his right of franchise according to what he has deemed to be the exigencies of the times. As he has been heard to say. "the political salt of the earth is the independent voter."
FRANK S. OWEN. M. D.
Among the foremost specialists in the treatment of diseases of the eye and ear, possessing comprehensive knowledge and broad practical experience. is Dr. Frank S. Owen of Omaha, who for many years has ranked with the leading physicians of the city. His practice is extensive and of a most important character and in fact such is his skill and ability that he has won national reputation. He was born
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at Seville, Ohio, November 13, 1856, and is a son of Gideon S. and Mary (St. John) Owen, who were natives of New York, but became residents of Ohio in 1816. Later they were married in the Buckeye state and there the father became a well known and prominent fruit grower, continuing his residence at Seville and Catawba island up to the time of his death, which occurred when he had reached the venerable age of eighty-nine years. His wife, too, passed away in Ohio at the age of eighty-three years.
Dr. Owen was the fourth in their family of five sons and one daughter ard after mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native state he took up an academic course in Oberlin College. His professional course was pursued in the University of Michigan, which conferred upon him the M. D. degree at his graduation with the class of 1885. The same year he located for practice in Stromsburg, Nebraska, where he remained for four years, after which he took up the study of diseases of the eye and ear in New York city. He has since done post graduate work in the leading universities and medical clinics of Europe on the eye and ear, remaining abroad for a year. On returning to America he came to Omaha, where he opened an office in 1891. He has since gained well deserved fame and today has a very extensive practice in the line of his specialty. while his reputation has made him known in various sections of the country. He belongs to the Douglas County Medical Society, of which he has served as pres . ident. He also has membership with the Nebraska State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and is one of the professors of the University of Nebraska, giving instruction on diseases of the nose and throat in the medical department.
On the 2d of January, 1889, Dr. Owen was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Keys, of Lewis, Iowa, and to them have been born four children : Hubert K., born in Stromsburg in 1891 and now a graduate of the University of Nebraska ; Donald R., who was born in 1893 and after graduating from the Lake Forest Academy at Lake Forest, Illinois, is now a medical student in the University of Nebraska ; Gertrude H., who was born in Omaha in 1897, and Elizabeth, who was born in California in 1913.
Dr. Owen is a prominent representative of Masonry, having attained the Knight Templar degree. He is a member of the Omaha Club, the University Club, of which he is president, and the Commercial Club. Effort and ability have brought him prominently to the front in professional circles, while personal worth has established him in the high regard of all with whom he has been associated in other connections.
CHARLES E. JOHANNES.
In every relation of life Charles E. Johannes conducted himself with such signal dignity and honor that he was regarded throughout Omaha and wherever he was known as one of nature's noblemen and his memory is enshrined in the hearts of all with whom he came in contact. He arrived in Omaha in 1868, when a lad of but nine years, his birth having occurred in Baltimore, Maryland. in 1859. His father, Martin Johannes, also a native of Baltimore, became a manufacturing jeweler of Omaha, where he remained until 1877. when he and his wife returned to the east.
Charles E. Johannes was at that time a youth of eighteen years. He spent his early boyhood under the parental roof and devoted his time largely to the acquirement of a public school education, but when his parents returned to the east he remained in this city and was thereafter closely associated with its business interests. He was a youth of but fifteen years when he entered the employ of R. Bingham, a commission merchant, with whom he remained until he joined the Paxton-Gallagher Company when he was twenty-two years of
Chos & Johannes
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
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age. He was junior member of the firm when the company was incorporated and he did much to develop and upbuild the interests of that corporation, occupy- ing one of the highest and most responsible positions with the company. What- ever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion, for in his vocabulary there was no such word as fail.
Mr. Johannes was married in Omaha in 1889 to Miss Emma Fitch, who arrived in this city in 1868 with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Fitch. Her father was a native of New York and lived in Galena, Illinois, for some time before removing to Nebraska. For three years Mrs. Johannes was a teacher in the public schools of Omaha.
Mr. Johannes' religious faith was that of the Episcopal church and in his early youth he became one of the choir boys of St. Barnabas' church, while subsequently he was a communicant of All Saints' church. He gave most gen- erously to charitable work and was constantly extending a helping hand to the poor and needy. He became a charter member of the Commercial Club and thus cooperated earnestly in all well devised plans for the upbuilding of the city and the advancement of its civic standards. He was also a charter member of the Happy Hollow Club and he was a sportsman in the truest and highest sense of the term. He was also equally loyal in his support of the Masonic fraternity, in which he attained the Knight Templar degree, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he crossed the sands of the desert. He was likewise a charter member of the Ak-Sar-Ben. He stood as the highest type of American man- hood and chivalry and to know him was 'to" love him, for his life was an exponent of all that is good in man, all'that is honest and pure and noble. He passed away December 13, 1912.
HUGH H. HARPER.3.
One of the most prominent figures in real estate circles in Omaha is Hugh H. Harper, who possesses all of those qualities that make for success and for extensive operations in real estate fields. His labors along this line have done much for the development and improvement of his city and his word concerning realty values or transactions is largely accepted as authority.
Mr. Harper was born in Jewell City, Kansas, April 15, 1884, his parents being Alfred and Elizabeth (Dye) Harper, natives of Illinois and Ohio respect- ively. They became pioneer settlers of Kansas, but after a short period returned to Illinois in 1887, settling in Hancock county, where the father engaged in farming. The mother is still living at the age of sixty-three years.
Hugh H. Harper was the fourth in their family of seven children. In early life he attended the public schools of Hancock county, Illinois, and later became a student in the Chicago-Kent College of Law. He afterward removed to Omaha and entered the law department of Creighton University, from which he was graduated in 1910. He was then admitted to practice but only followed the profession for a short time. Later he turned his attention to the real estate business under the firm name of H. H. Harper & Company. From that point forward he has developed and broadened his interests until he is today one of the most prominent real estate men of Omaha and has placed upon the market much property which has been greatly enhanced in value on account of the developments and the improvements which he has made. He has made a specialty of filling in the gaps-in other words, of transforming unsightly vacancies into attractive residential districts. He has done this by platting the property and interesting prospective buyers, who will improve the land with modern buildings. Mr. Harper certainly deserves great credit for what he has accomplished, for in his operations he has looked to the benefit and improvement of the city as well as to the attainment of individual success. He has developed a number of
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fine residential districts, including the Evanston, Cedarnole, Creightons 2nd, Fon- tenelle Park, Westmoreland, Harper Sub., Weir Crest and other additions which are very attractive sections of the city. These have all been platted and some of them improved with walks, sewerage system, water, lights and paving, in fact all of those public utilities necessary in the development of a city. He employs a number of expert real estate salesmen and he is considered one of the most reliable real estate dealers of the city, thoroughly painstaking and at all times putting forth every effort to further the interests of his patrons.
On the 29th of December, 1915, in Omaha, Mr. Harper was united in marriage to Miss Ruth F. Evans, daughter of Richard R. Evans, who is a well known laundryman of Omaha. Mr. and Mrs. Harper have a son, Richard Henry, who was born in Omaha, October 7, 1916. Mr. Harper holds membership in the Commercial Club, while his political support is given to the democratic party. His mother was left a widow with seven children, and all aided in the support of the family. Hugh H. Harper contributed his share and made his start in the business world in moderate circumstances. However, he has worked his way steadily upward, depending upon his own resources from the age of eight years. It was by doing odd jobs that he saved enough to enable him to attend school, and not content with an ordinary education, he made it his purpose to secure a college and a law course and thus prepare for life's practical and responsible duties.
HENRY GEORGE WINDHEIM.
Henry George Windheim, president of the Nebraska Seed Company, began business under that name in October, 1891, when a young man of twenty years, and through the intervening period, covering a quarter of a century, has developed a trade of large proportions and has won a place among the substantial merchants of the city. Omaha claims him as a native son, his birth having here occurred on the 9th of October, 1871. His father, Philip Windheim, was born in Germany in 1825 and came to the United States in 1856, at which time he established his residence in Omaha. Here he married Emma Grösse, who was the widow of Charles Stange. He devoted his life to the business of painting and decorating and was a well known representative of industrial activity in Omaha, where he passed away in 1891, his widow surviving until 1913. While in Germany he saw active service in the army. After becoming a naturalized American citizen he endorsed and supported the policies of the democratic party. In Masonry he attained the Knight Templar degree and in his life exemplified the beneficent spirit of the craft.
Omaha's public schools afforded Henry George Windheim his educational opportunities, and when a youth of fifteen years he entered the employ of A. J. Simpson, a carriage manufacturer, by whom he was employed for three years. He then attended a commercial college for a year, realizing the benefit of such instruction as a preparation for further activities in the business field. Prior to that time, however, he had spent one year in the employ of a contractor. In October, 1891, he embarked in the seed business on his own account in a very small way and in 1903 incorporated the business under the name of the Nebraska Seed Company, the business having been conducted under that name froni the beginning. His business methods have ever been safe and sane. He has worked his way upward through determined effort, and his persistency of purpose has been supplemented by thoroughly honorable methods which neither seek nor require disguise.
On the 10th of April, 1895, in Omaha, Mr. Windheim was united in marriage to Miss Laura Schwab, her father being the late Charles Schwab, who was band- master of the United States Ninth Regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Windheim have two children, Henry G., Jr., and Marguerite Emma.
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In politics Mr. Windheim has ever maintained an independent course. He is both a York and a Scottish Rite Mason, is a member of the Mystic Shrine and is most loyal to the teachings and purposes of the order. He belongs to the Rotary Club and the Seymour Lake Country Club and he is a progressive mem- ber of the Commercial Club, believing in all those forces which work for the upbuilding and betterment of the community or which uphold municipal stand- ards. To this end he has become identified with the Ak-Sar-Ben, an organiza- tion for the exploitation of Omaha's resources and interests. He is a inember of the Omaha Automobile Club and the Lincoln Highway Association and is a most earnest champion of the good roads movement. While the attainment of individual success has resulted from most strenuous effort on his part, he has at the same time recognized his duties and obligations of citizenship and has never failed to cooperate in plans and movements for the public good whenever he could make it possible to do so.
REV. JAMES ARTHUR TANCOCK.
Rev. James Arthur Tancock, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha, was born in Devonshire, England, in 1871. His father, George Tancock, an architect and contractor, was born in Devonshire and has now passed away, but the mother survives, her home being in London, Canada. Henry H. Tancock, eldest brother of Rev. J. A. Tancock, is rector of Trinity church at Norwich, Canada.
The subject of this review, James Arthur Tancock, was graduated from the Western University and Huron Divinity School in London, Canada, in 1894, and in 1896 was graduated from the Theological Seminary of New York city. He spent ten years as missionary priest in the district of Wyoming, with head- quarters at Douglas, and in March, 1910, he was called to Omaha, being installed as dean of Trinity Cathedral on the 19th of that month. Here he has since continued his labors, directing the interests of the church and putting forth most earnest and zealous effort for the upbuilding of the cause.
In Montreal the Rev. Tancock was united in marriage to Miss Louise Skead, her father being the Hon. James T. Skead, M. P., of Ottawa. They are the parents of a son and daughter, namely: Montague Arthur, who is a senior of Princeton University and is now serving on the hospital staff of the Ladies Paget Hospital at Uskub, Bulgaria ; and Beatrice Mary Louise, who is a grad- uate of St. Agnes school of Albany, New York, and is now secretary of the public library at Omaha.
Dean Tancock takes no part in partisan politics. He is a Master Mason and that he stands for the best interests of the community in all the lines of its upbuilding is shown by his membership in the Commercial Club. He is also a member of the University and the Field Clubs.
HUGH MURPHY.
The life record of Hugh Murphy illustrated the fact that ability and industry, in this country at least, form a sufficient foundation for success, for he came to Omaha as a poor young man apparently with no bright prospects, but in the course of years became one of the leading paving contractors in the entire west, and the growth of his business interests was due entirely to his enterprise and sound judgment. He was born in Elgin, Illinois, April 14, 1852. He received a common school education and in his youth learned the bricklayer's trade. In 1878 he came to Omaha with no assets save his ambition, his willingness to work and his ability to readily grasp the salient points of a situation. He turned his
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attention to paving contracting and laid a great deal of asphalt pavement in the early history of Omaha, including the long stretch of paving in Sherman avenue. The successful completion of that contract made his reputation as an able man in his field and from that time on he ranked among the foremost contractors in Omaha and, in fact, in the west. In 1915 he was awarded the largest paving contract ever given by the city of Omaha, it calling for the laying of six miles of paving north of Miller Park at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. He was recognized as an authority on the relative values of various paving materials for different purposes, used the most improved methods in his work and was markedly successful in holding the loyalty of and securing cooperation from his employes. He was indeed a leader and he won his prominence in his chosen field squarely on his merits.
On the Ist of August, 1881, Mr. Murphy was married to Miss Ellen McGrath, and to them were born four children: Hugh, Jr., and Richard, both residents of Omaha; Mrs. George Adams, of Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Helen, who is at home.
Mr. Murphy was a stanch democrat, but was never an aspirant for office, as his large business interests demanded his undivided attention. In religious faith he was a Catholic. He was a man with an unusual capacity for friendship, and he became famous throughout the city for his wit, many of his sayings being still current. His death occurred at Old Orchard, Maine, on the 8th of August, 1916, and in his passing Omaha lost not only a business man of the first rank, but also a citizen devoted to the interests of his community.
JOHN ALEXANDER MUNROE.
John Alexander Munroe, vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany, has for more than a third of a century been closely identified with the growth and development of that great railway system. Through all trials and changes of control and business he has occupied positions of responsibility and importance, advancing from one to another until in his present position he stands as one of the able men in the country in railroad circles, an executive of marked ability and force, honored and respected by all who know him.
Mr. Munroe, on both the paternal and maternal sides, is connected with many of the old and prominent families of New England. His father, Nathan Munroe, was a native of Minot, Maine, while his mother was Lucelia T. Hale, a native of Massachusetts. Nathan Munroe at an early day became a resident of Massachu- setts. Entering the ministry, he became pastor of the Congregational church of Bradford and occupied the pulpit there for eighteen years. He later turned his attention to newspaper publication and became editor of the Boston Recorder, where he continued his editorial work for several years. While thus engaged he became interested in the Bradford Academy, one of the foremost seminaries for young ladies in the country and still one of the leading educational institutions of the east. He died at Bradford in 1866 at the age of sixty-two years, while his wife there passed away in 1858 at the age of forty-six.
John A. Munroe was born at Bradford, Massachusetts, August 18, 1853. being the fourth in order of birth in a family of five children. He prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy, graduating from that institution with the class of 1871. Entering Dartmouth College as a member of the class of 1875. he remained there until in his junior year, when he concluded to go west. While Mr. Munroe's practical railroad career began as a clerk for the Green Bay & Minnesota Railroad at Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1873, he had from boyhood evinced an unusual interest in railway operations and displayed a familiarity with such work that makes his subsequent successful career seem but a natural outcome.
JOHN A. MUNROE
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Writing of Mr. Munroe's career, a contemporary biographer has said of him : "Mr. Munroe is literally a born railroad man, and is one of the many men whom the higher education did not disqualify for practical business. His early boyhood found him in Bradford, Massachusetts, a little town on the line of the Boston & Maine Railway. The boy seemed to have unconsciously selected the future occu- pation of the man by feeling a deep interest in the locomotive and other elements of railroading. Falling in love with the iron horses as they moved to and fro with the trains, absorbing interest in them grew upon him insomuch that he made a record of their names and could distinguish them by the sound of their whistles and bells. This kind of devotion to the locomotive and the trains naturally led to a general acquaintance with the engineers and conductors and also with the officers of the local line, from whom he caught the spirit of the lives of railroad men and which he has never lost."
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