[No business man is better known in Omaha than Charles H. Dewey. He was born in Kennebec county, Maine, and was raised in Ohio, to which State his parents moved during his infancy. When gold was discovered in California, in 1849, Mr. Dewey, who was then in his young manhood, was among the first of the many fortune hunters who crossed the plains for the land of gold. He spent seven years in California and on the Pacific coast, and met with the ups and downs of an adventurer's life. He finally

returned to the East, and spent some considerable time in various sections of Tennessee, Iowa and Colorado. In 1865 he drifted to Omaha. At that time Omaha was attracting considerable attention, owing to the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. After looking the city over carefully, he came to the conclusion that it was destined to become a great commercial center at no distant day, and he invested all his money, amounting to less than two thousand dollars, in the furniture business. Soon after opening his establishment he associated with himself Mr. E. L. Stone as a partner. This firm has built up a business in the furniture line second to none in the United States. They began business in a small frame building on Farnam street, and have remained at the same location ever since. Their Farnam street display building, which was erected upon the site of the old frame shell, was the first four-story structure in in Omaha, and when built

it was considered a great enterprise. It is yet one of the largest buildings in the city. Adjoining their Farnam street store they have a five-story warehouse, fronting on Harney street, and in addition to this they have two other extensive warehouses on Tenth and Eleventh streets. Mr. Dewey, in 1870, went to Europe to recuperate his health. He made an extensive tour of the Continent, and became imbued with a great desire of travel and sightseeing. This desire he has since gratified, and the consequence is that he has seen since 1879 nearly every place on the face of the globe worth visiting. During his visit to Europe he was in Paris when the Franco-German war broke out, and he remained there for some time after, watching the stirring events with a deep interest. In 1878 Mr. Dewey was appointed by President Arthur as one of the United States Commissioners to the World's Exposition at Paris, where he again spent several months. In 1881 he took a

trip around the world, sailing from San Francisco. Since then he has been almost constantly on the go. His vast store of information, obtained in this way, has made him very cosmopolitan in his character. Naturally a shrewd observer and a rather humorous off-hand talker, he is a very entertaining conversationalist. Mr. Dewey is a staunch Republican, and has always taken a deep interest in politics, although he has never sought office. In 1884 he was induced to accept the nomination of Presidential Elector-at-Large on the Blaine ticket. This is the only political position he has ever held, although frequently pressed to accept the nomination for offices of trust and honor. Mr. Dewey was married to Miss Bell, of Belleville, Ohio, in 1866. He belongs to no church, or society, secret or otherwise, and is a liberal, enterprising and independent man. Ill health has prevented him from attending closely to business, and he may be called a man of leisure, and an honored and respected citizen.]

     [Hon. Daniel H. Wheeler, one of the best known men in Nebraska, was born in Flowerfield, St. Joseph county, Michigan, November 26, 1834. Coming to Nebraska in 1856, when he was twenty-two years old, he located at Plattsmouth, and in May, 1857, he engaged in the hardware business at that place with H. P. and J. W. Coolidge under the firm name of Coolidge, Wheeler & Co. In 1860 J. W. Coolidge withdrew, and the firm name was changed to Coolidge & Wheeler. Mr. H. P. Coolidge retired from the

Firm in 1861, and in 1862 Mr. Wheeler disposed of the business. In 1863 he resumed the hardware business in company with E. T. Duke, under the firm name of E. T. Duke & Co. The establishment was moved to Omaha in 1875 and two years later Mr. Wheeler sold his interest in the house to Mr. Duke. In 1858 Mr. Wheeler, in addition to his other business, opened a real estate and insurance office, and in 1865 he associated with himself E. C. Lewis and J. W. Marshall, the firm continuing unchanged until the death of Mr. Lewis in 1867, Mr. Marshall withdrawing Jan. 1, of that year. In March, 1868, Mr. Wheeler formed a real estate and insurance partnership with Capt. L. D. Bennett, which was continued until December, 1885. Beginning in 1861, Mr. Wheeler, for a period of six years, read law under the supervision of Hon. T. M. Marquette, and in 1869 he was admitted to the bar. In 1870 he became associated with J. C. Fox in the practice

of law, and subsequently with J. W. Stinchcomb and with E. D. Stone, the latter remaining in the firm till December, 1878, after which year Mr. Wheeler continued in the practice of his professsion (sic) alone. Mr. Wheeler has filled several important public positions. He was elected clerk of Cass county in 1859, serving in that capacity for two years. In December, 1860, he was elected assistant secretary of the fourth Territorial Council, and was appointed probate judge of Cass county in 1864. Mr. Wheeler was a delegate to the national Republican convention in 1864, which nominated Lincoln for a second term. He served as agent of the Pawnee Indians from July 6, 1865, to October, 1866, which gave him the rank of major in the United States army. In 1869 he was chosen secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, in which position he was retained for about fourteen years. From 1873 to 1879 he was secretary of the State Senate, and in 1875-6

was secretary of the Centennial Commission. He has been a member of the State Horticultural Society from its organization until the present time, and was for several years its treasurer and then its secretary. He was elected Mayor of Plattsmouth in 1869, serving one term, and he has held various other city offices. In January, 1881, he was elected president of the Plattsmouth Board of Trade, and was for eight years president of the Cass county Agricultural Society, the oldest agricultural organization in Nebraska. Mr. Wheeler, who is almost as well known here as he is in Plattsmouth, moved to Omaha in 1885, and engaged in a general insurance business with his son, Daniel H. Wheeler, Jr., in which venture the firm has met with great success. Mr. Wheeler has been prominent and active in secret society matters, having filled all the principal offices in the Masonic and Odd Fellows grand bodies of the State, as well as having been an active member of the Knights of Pythias since 1869. On February 26, 1857, at Kalamazoo, Mich., Mr. Wheeler was married to Charlotte A. Lewis, a native of New York, and first cousin of the late Dr. Dio Lewis. They have had five children, all sons. Of these, three are living -- Daniel H., Jr., Myron E. and William H. Their eldest son, Ernest O., died in 1863, and their third son, Frank L., died in 1886.]