USA > Nebraska > Douglas County > Omaha > Omaha: the Gate city, and Douglas County, Nebraska, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 92
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Mr. Munroe began his railroad life at the foot of the ladder as a clerk in the general freight and passenger departments of the Green Bay & Minnesota Rail- road at Green Bay, Wisconsin. Advancing step by step from a humble position upwards through clerkships and accounting duties in all branches of the freight and passenger service, the year 1878 found him at the head of the freight depart- ment as chief clerk. Resigning this place to locate elsewhere, he was appointed first acting general freight agent and later general freight agent, which position he filled until 1881, when he resigned to accept service with the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad as general freight agent with headquarters in Omaha, his duties having special reference to the Nebraska division of that road. In 1882 he was called to Minneapolis as assistant general traffic manager of the same road. Mr. Munroe remained in that capacity less than one year, for on the 20th of December, 1882, he resigned to accept the place of assistant general freight agent of the Union Pacific. Two years later, or in 1884, he was made first assistant general freight agent of the Union Pacific and transferred to Kansas City, that he might give special attention to the Kansas divisions of the road.
But these lower places, honorable and responsible as they were, were not large enough for the now trained abilities and capacity of Mr. Munroe, and in January, 1886, he returned to Omaha and was placed at the head of the freight interests of the entire Union Pacific system, with the title of freight traffic manager. From that position he has risen through successive promotions to the position of vice president, to which he was elected on the 11th of October, 1911. He has since bent his energies to administrative direction and executive control and is accorded prominence in railway circles of the country, yet is very modest in demeanor and unassuming at all times. He enjoys the respect of all the representatives of the company, from the office boy up to the highest executive, and is one of the few men who have advanced as he has done who yet regards "the other fellow" as his equal. In a word, he is at all times appreciative of the good qualities and the fidelity of others and accords recognition to every manifestation of faithfulness and loyalty on the part of the employes of the road. That he has earned his way to his present position the record of his steady ascent of the railroad ladder amply shows, but it must be added that in his personal life and relations he is one of the most engaging and popular men Omaha and the trans-Mississippi country has ever known. Aside from his connection with the Union Pacific he is'a director of the Omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway Company and of other enterprises of this city.
In January, 1888, Mr. Munroe was married to Miss Hattie F. Baker, of Kansas City, Missouri, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harlow W. Baker, well known and prominent people there. Her father, a leading business man, was a member of the firm of Ridenour & Baker, wholesale grocers. Mr. Baker removed from Maine to Kansas City at an early period in the development of that city and both he and his wife are deceased.
Mr. Munroe is a republican in his political views but the demands of railway Vol. II-38
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service have left him little time for activity in politics. On the 21st of June, 1916, the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him by Dartmouth College. He is widely and favorably known and in social circles he and his wife occupy an enviable position, their home being justly celebrated by reason of its warm- hearted, gracious and liberal hospitality.
ALLAN B. HAMILTON.
Allan B. Hamilton, president, treasurer and manager of a profitable busi- ness enterprise conducted under the name of the Hamilton Paint & Glass Con- pany, Incorporated, was born in Omaha, July 28, 1882, and is the youngest of the four children whose parents were George B. and Margaret Edmison Ham- ilton. The father, a contractor and builder, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1840, and in 1842 was taken by his parents to Cornwall, Ontario, Canada, where he remained most of the time until 1866. He then went to Petersburg, Ontario, where he remained until 1876, when he came to Omaha. He began learning the carpenter's trade in St. Lawrence, in 1861 and after his arrival in Omaha conducted business as contractor and builder to the time of his death, which occurred in 1892. His widow survived him for two decades and died in Omaha in April, 1912. Her marriage took place in Lindsay, Ontario, and she became the mother of several children, four of whom survive, namely: Mar- garet and George, both of Omaha; Mrs. Arthur Freeman, of Early, Iowa: and Alian B.
The last named attended the schools of Omaha and when his textbooks were put aside entered into connection with the paint and glass trade in the employ of others. He thoroughly acquainted himself with the business and gained the experience which has served as the foundation for his later success. It was on the Ist of July, 1915, that he organized the Hamilton Paint & Glass Com- pany, of which he is the owner, and from the beginning he has enjoyed a liberal and growing business.
On the 17th of April, 1909, Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Grace War- ren, of Mitchell, South Dakota, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chester H. Warren. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton have one child, Hazel Vaudette, born in Boise, Idaho, July 18, 1913. Mrs. Hamilton is vice president of the Hamilton Paint & Glass Company.
WILLIAM P. SNOWDEN.
It was on the 4th of July, 1854, that William P. Snowden and his wife arrived in Omaha and when death called them they were the oldest couple in point of residence in the city. They took up their abode in the old Claim House, a log structure which had been erected by the townsite company. This was on the IIth of July, and Mr. and Mrs. Snowden were employed by the company to board their workmen. This constituted their initial step in connection with the hotel business of the city. Mr. Snowden was a native of Jessamine county, Kentucky, born April 25. 1825, and when seven years of age he removed to Pike county Missouri, with his parents, being there reared to manhood. He had just attained his majority when in June, 1846, he responded to the country's call for military aid and became a soldier of the First Missouri Mounted Vol- unteer Infantry for service in the war with Mexico. He was at the front for a year under Colonel Alexander Doniphan, and upon his return from the war he secured a farm a few miles west of St. Joseph, Missouri, and took up his abode thereon. It was on the 9th of September. 1847, that he wedded Rachel
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Larson, and during the next few years he devoted his attention to the work of auctioneering, crying many sales. In 1853 he removed to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and on the 4th of July, 1854, as previously stated, came to Omaha, bring- ing with him his wife and three children. Other white people had been on the town site but had not remained, and the IIth of July, 1854, found the Snowden family installed in their new home-the only white people living in Omaha. They boarded the workmen who were engaged in the manufacture of brick for a building which the townsite company erected to be used as a capitol for the territory. The undertaking, however, proved a failure, with the result that brick for the building was obtained from Council Bluffs. With every feature of Omaha's early development, upbuilding and progress Mr. Snowden was familiar, and he related many interesting incidents of the early days. Omaha's first hotel was a log building, sixteen by eighteen feet and one story in height. It was known as the St. Nicholas Hotel and was situated at the corner of Twelfth and . Jackson streets. Mr. and Mrs. Snowden were the first occupants of that building and the first sermon preached in Omaha was by the Rev. Peter Cooper, a Meth- odist minister from Council Bluffs, in the St. Nicholas Hotel, then occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Snowden. This was in August, 1854.
In September, 1861, Mr. Snowden again responded to his country's call for military assistance, enlisting at Council Bluffs as a member of Company B, Fifth Iowa Cavalry, with which he served until 1864, spending that entire period in the field save for five months devoted to recruiting work at Council Bluffs. He entered the army as sergeant and later was inade sergeant major. A year after his return from the war he became constable and continuously filled that position until 1893, when he slipped on a pavement and sustained injuries that forced him to use crutches thereafter and thus rendered him unfit for further duty. He also served as deputy sheriff under Thomas L. Sutton and later under Andrew Delhouse. He was at one time city marshal of Omaha and was thus long associated with the official work of maintaining the peace.
Mrs. Snowden was but sixteen years of age when she came to Omaha as a wife and mother and she endured all of the hardships of pioneer life without complaint, ever proving a most capable assistant and helpmate to her husband. As the years passed other children were added to the household until they num- bered seven. Five of these are still living: Mrs. V. H. Thomas; Mrs. Julia Wilnits; George F .; Mrs. George L. White; and Helen Martaine, who has attained note as an artist.
Mr. Snowden was always gallant, always cordial, kindly and social and he was known throughout the city and county as "Uncle Billy." People always consulted him regarding matters concerning the early history of Omaha and he was deeply interested in every feature of the city's development and progress. He had almost reached the age of eighty-four years when he passed away on the 9th of January, 1909-a veteran of two wars, a brave pioneer, a capable official and a most progressive and public-spirited citizen.
JOHN O. YEISER.
John O. Yeiser, attorney at law of Omaha, was born in Danville, Kentucky, October 15, 1866, a son of Rev. George O. Yeiser, who was also born in the Blue Grass state and was of German descent. The founder of the American branch of the family was Englehart Yeiser, who settled at Baltimore, Maryland, prior to the Revolutionary war. The father was a Baptist minister who devoted forty years of active work to preaching the gospel. He became a pioneer settler of Nebraska and after living for a time at Ashland removed to Red Cloud. His last days were spent in retirement from active work at Fremont, where he passed away at the age of eighty-four years. During the period of the Civil war he
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held an appointment under President Lincoln as collector of revenue in the first district of Kentucky. He served at one time as a regent of the University of Missouri, at which period he was a resident of Mexico, that state. A man of very liberal education, he was graduated from Centre College of Kentucky, and while there he was a classmate of the late Justice Harlan of the United States Supreme Court and of W. C. P. Breckenridge. He practiced law in Ken- tucky before entering the ministry, but the greater part of his life was devoted to the higher calling. His words sank deep into many hearts and were the influencing factor in many lives. He married Almira Dillard, who was born in Kentucky in 1833 and represented one of the old families of that state of English and French stock. She was a daughter of the Rev. Ryland T. Dillard and granddaughter of the Rev. Ambrose Dudley, both ministers of the Baptist church. She died at Red Cloud, Nebraska, in 1883. In their family were nine children, of whom two died in infancy and one at the age of fifty years.
John O. Yeiser. the fourth in order of birth, acquired his primary educa- tion in the public school of Red Cloud, Nebraska, and when a youth of fifteen entered upon the study of law in the office of Case & McNeny of Red Cloud. He passed the bar examination when but seventeen years of age, and entering upon active practice had the distinction of being the youngest attorney in the state. He continued to follow his profession in Red Cloud and at Riverton until September, 1889, when he came to Omaha, where he has since continued in the practice of law. His practice is now extensive and of an important character. His presentation of his case has always indicated wide research and care in its preparation. At no time has his reasoning ever been confined to any narrow limitation of the question at issue. It has gone beyond and prefaced every con- tingency and provided not alone for the expected, but for the unexpected, which happens in the courts quite as frequently as out of them.
On the 5th of February, 1889, in Red Cloud. Mr. Yeiser was married to Miss Hetty L. Skeen, a native of Nebraska and a daughter of Kenyon and Candace (Drain) Skeen, who were pioneer settlers of Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Yeiser have a son, John O., born in Omaha, August 23, 1895. The family hold membership in the First Christian church of Omaha, and he is also a member of the Commercial and Happy Hollow Clubs. In politics a republican, he served as a member of the pardoning board for three years, beginning in 1912, and in 1897 he was a member of the state legislature. He keeps well informed on those questions which are to the statesman and man of affairs of deepest import, and his recognition of the duties and obligations of citizenship has led him to give earnest support to every plan and measure which, in his opinion, has to do with good government and the advancement of high civic ideals.
CLARENCE H. WALRATH.
The life record of Clarence H. Walrath is another proof of the fact that it is under the pressure of adversity and the stimulus of necessity that the best and strongest in man is brought out and developed. Starting out in life as driver of a milk wagon for his father. who was engaged in the dairy business, his ambi- tion blossomed in the sunlight of activity and has come into full flower and fruit with the passing years until he now ranks with the prominent and repre- sentative business men of Omaha, controlling extensive lumber interests not only in this city but also at various points in the state. He was born on a farm in Madison county, New York, July 6, 1864, and represents an old American family. His grandfather. Adam Walrath, was probably a native of Pennsylvania and devoted his life to the occupation of farming. James J. Walrath, the father. was born in Herkimer county. New York, in 1824, and in Madison county, New
CLARENCE H. WALRATH
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York, wedded Mary Elizabeth Webber. His death occurred in Atkinson, Nebraska, in 1904, while Mrs. Walrath passed away in Omaha in 1907.
It was in the year 1870 that the parents removed with their family to Wil- mington, Illinois, where Clarence H. Walrath pursued a public school education, supplemented by a business course in a college at Valparaiso, Indiana. He then returned to his father's farm at Kankakee, Illinois, and continued to devote his attention to general agricultural pursuits for several years. At length. he mar- ried and left the farm in 1885, at which time he secured a clerkship in a store in Kankakee, being thus employed until 1887. In February of that year he went to Atkinson, Nebraska, as cashier in the Exchange Bank, and this proved the turning-point in his career, bringing to him a broader outlook and wider opportunities, which he eagerly embraced. He remained there for five years and left the bank in 1892 to devote his entire attention to his lumber interests, having in 1891 purchased a one-half interest in a lumber business at that point, which was operated under the firm style of Sherwood & Walrath. In 1893 the busi- ness was incorporated under the style of the C. H. Walrath Lumber Company. At first they operated a single yard at Atkinson but with the incorporation pur- chased a second yard. The panic of 1893 followed, and while the firm was not affected by it, they closed the second yard and husbanded their resources, con- centrating upon the development of the trade at Atkinson until 1896, at which time the firm style was amended to the Walrath & Sherwood Lumber Company, Mr. Sherwood having retained his interests from the outset. They then entered the line-yard lumber business, purchasing yards at North Bend, Platte Center and Humphrey, Nebraska. At that time the headquarters of the firm were removed from Atkinson to North Bend and were there maintained until 1902, when headquarters were established at Omaha. In the meantime their business had been increased by the purchase of additional yards at Monroe and Genoa and with the removal to Omaha the firm engaged in the wholesale as well as in the retail lumber business. Their yards have been steadily increased until at the present time the company owns and operates lumber and coal yards, grain elevators and hardware stores in twelve of the best towns in Nebraska. Some- thing of the growth of the business is further indicated in the fact that the capital stock has been increased to three hundred thousand dollars, together with a sub- stantial surplus, all of which, with the exception of the original investment of thirty-five hundred sixty-eight dollars and twenty-four cents, has been earned in the business, while at the same time consistent dividends have been paid from year to year. Mr. Walrath is the vice president and treasurer of the company and has always been active in its development and management, the result of his labors being manifest in the continued growth and extension of their interests. In addition to his connection with the Walrath & Sherwood Lumber Company, Mr. Walrath is vice president and treasurer of the National Investment Com- pany; president of the Atkinson (Neb.) Realty Company; a director of the Nebraska Portland Cement Company of Superior, Nebraska, and vice president of the Platte Valley Cement Tile Manufacturing Company of Fremont, Nebraska.
On the 8th of April, 1885, in Momence, Illinois, Mr. Walrath was united in marriage to Miss Mae A. Bartley, a daughter of the late Charles O. Bartley, and to them have been born three children: Clarence Earl, born May 4, 1886, who resides in Omaha and is associated with his father in business as secretary of the company; Fred B., born August 26, 1897, who is now attending college, and Mary Antoinette, born July 7, 1907.
The parents are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Omaha, Mr. Walrath serving on the official board, and also as a member of the finance committec. He is a prominent Scottish Rite Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine, and he also belongs to the Happy Hollow Club, the Omaha Club and the Dewey Lake Club, associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation. He is an active, clean-cut business man, full of energy and quick to act in business matters. His judgments are never hasty or ill advised but he
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is prompt in carrying out his well defined and carefully considered plans. Real- izing the opportunities for the extension of his trade relations, he has worked his way steadily toward that end and today is at the head of important business interests, contributing in large measure to the substantial upbuilding and develop- ment of the state.
WILLIAM C. BULLARD.
William C. Bullard was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 1859. His parents, Jairus J. and Jane (Sweetland) Bullard, were natives of Vermont, coming to Illinois in the early days of the development of the state, where the father engaged in the lumber business, winning a competence, later to remove to Omaha. Here he lived retired until his death in 1909 at the age of seventy. His wife passed away in Chicago in 1863. William C. Bullard was their only child.
After attending the public school at Chatsworth, Illinois, and later continuing his studies at college in Poughkeepsie, New York, William C. Bullard spent his young manhood in his father's business at Chatsworth until the year 1885, when the west called to him and he settled at Culbertson, Nebraska. Starting in the lumber business his activities spread to McCook and soon to many towns in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado and here he laid the foundation for his later business success in Omaha. Mr. Bullard has constantly enlarged these early enterprises in western Nebraska until they now embrace various lumber, milling, mercantile and farming interests.
Coming to Omaha in 1890, Mr. Bullard engaged in the lumber business at Twentieth and Izard streets, which later became the firm of Bullard, Hoagland & Benedict. Today it is one of the representative firms of the city, enjoying a business of large proportions and having won an enviable reputation throughout the city and state for the high character of its dealings. In Omaha, as in western Nebraska, Mr. Bullard's constructive business ability found many opportunities, and he soon became connected with a number of the leading industries and com- mercial enterprises of the city, such as the Prudential Savings and Loan Asso- ciation, of which he is president; the Omaha Structural Steel Company, the Omaha Sanitary Supply Company, and others in which he is actively interested. For over thirty years Mr. Bullard has been closely identified with the commercial and industrial upbuilding of the city of Omaha and the state of Nebraska.
Shortly after coming to Nebraska, on the 3d of May, 1885, Mr. Bullard was married to Miss Emma LeBeau, a daughter of W. A. LeBeau, of Cullom, Illinois. Mrs. Bullard passed away February 26, 1917. Three children were born of this union, Mrs. D. K. Ellingwood and Mrs. Harry G. Shedd, and William C. Bul- lard, Jr., all of whom live in Omaha. Mr. Bullard's residence at 700 North Fortieth is one of the most attractive and inviting homes in the city.
Mr. Bullard has taken an active part in the political life of the city and the state. He is a democrat and has always held a commanding place in the councils of his party. While in McCook, he served as mayor and in 1897 was police com- missioner of Omaha for a two years' term, in both offices establishing records for high personal integrity and efficient public administration. He enjoys a wide rep- utation as a loyal, public-spirited citizen, who stands for every measure that tends to upbuild the city in accordance with the best civic standards and the broader principles of good government.
Mr. Bullard is a Mason and an Elk, and he belongs to the Happy Hollow Club and the Carter Lake Club-associations which indicate something of the nature of his recreation and interests outside of business. He belongs to the Com- mercial Club and other business organizations. He has been a cheerful but unostentatious contributor to many charitable institutions, and to many has been
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the quiet, helpful friend. Creditable is his record in every respect. He is both forceful and resourceful, strong in his ability to plan and perform, strong in nis honor and good name. He stands, just as he did in young manhood, for those things which count most in character-building and go farthest toward honorable success. The attainment of wealth has in no wise warped his kindly nature. He is a true friend, in and out of business, and therefore his friends are many.
MILTON CHARLES PETERS.
Milton Charles Peters is identified with various important corporate interests of Omaha, being now president of the M. C. Peters Mill Company, the United Alfalfa Company, the Wyoming Alfalfa Company and the Henrietta Security Company. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, October 14, 1863, a son of Henry B. and Elizabeth Charlotte Peters. The father, a native of Germany, became a resident of St. Louis in 1840 and in that city he and his wife still reside. There Milton C. Peters pursued a public school education, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, and he also studied in the Bee- thoven Conservatory of Music. His initial step in the business world was made as an employe of the Bemis Brothers Bag Company of St. Louis, with which he remained for eight years. He later spent fifteen years with the Bemis Omaha Bag Company in this city and eventually entered his present business. His was the first alfalfa feed mill in the United States originating alfalfa balanced rations and the machinery was designed and patented by Mr. Peters. He was also the originator of machinery for cutting hay into meal form and for mixing alfalfa meal with molasses for stock rations. The original mill was constructed in 1905 and the present fireproof structure was rebuilt in 1909.
In 1886, in St. Louis, Mr. Peters married Etta C. Heitzeberg, a daughter of Edward C. Heitzeberg and a native of St. Louis, where her father was a leading provision and pork packer at the time. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have a son, Ralph Milton, who married Dorothy Morgan, a granddaughter of Henry W. Yates.
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