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in 1908 was graduated from the Iowa City Academy. He was awarded the A. B. dregree (sic), 1916, and LL. B., 1920, at the University of Iowa. He has engaged in general law practice at Crete, Saline County, Nebraska, since his admission to the bar in 1920. A Democrat, Mr. Mekota served as county attorney of Saline County from 1923 to 1927; he was re-elected to this position in 1931.
His marriage to Edna Dreyer was solemnized at Iowa City, August 25, 1917. Mrs. Mekota, whose ancestry is German, was born at Glencoe, Minnesota, October 28, 1892; her father is a minister. Two children were born to them: John Edward, born October 20, 1921; and Beth Anna, born November 9, 1924.
During the World War Mr. Mekota held the rank of first lieutenant, 129th Infantry, 33rd Division, in France; Villers-Bretteneux, Albert sector in the Somme offensive, Meuse-Argonne offensive, and Woevre Plain. He has been a member of the American Legion since 1920; and is a member of the Saline County Bar Association, Nebraska State Bar Association, and the Nebraskana Society. He was president of the Crete Community Club in 1925 and 1930, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. Residence: Crete.
Eugene Patrick Melady
Eugene Patrick Melady, livestock commission merchant, was born at Fairibault, Minnesota, February 26, 1872, son of James and Catherine (Kane) Melady. His father was born in County Meath, Ireland, in 1835, and died at St. Paul, Minnesota, December 8, 1909. He came to the United States in 1848. His wife, Catherine Kane, was born in County Leithem, Ireland, in 1835, and died at St. Paul, Minnesota, July 2, 1897.
Mr. Melady attended parochial and Christian Brothers School at St. Paul, Minnesota. He was afterward a student at the University of Notre Dame, where he was active in baseball, football, and boxing.
He was married to Hilma Grace Anderson at Chicago, on November 22, 1911. Mrs. Melady was born in Omaha, May 25, 1876. They have one son, Eugene Patrick.
Mr. Melady is a prominent Democrat. He is a Roman Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has been a livestock commission merchant at Omaha for a number of years, and is a member of the Livestock Exchange. His club is the Omaha Athletic Club. Residence: Omaha.
William Robert Mellor
William R. Mellor, lawyer and business executive of Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska, was born in Porter County, Indiana, June 16, 1860. His father, William Mellor, who was born at Oldham; Lancastershire, England, May 15, 1832, came to America in 1854. He was a farmer for many years, and after serving as a private in the Civil War was a dry goods merchant until his death. He died at Michigan City, La Porte County, Indiana, April 21, 1891. Sarah Grace (Battye) Mellor, mother of William Robert Mellor, was born at Home Firth Yorkshire, England, August 8, 1836, and died at Michigan City.
Mr. Mellor received his education in the grade and high schools at Michigan City. He has lived in Nebraska since April 10, 1885. In 1885 he settled in Sherman County, Nebraska, and homesteaded, living in a sod house for the first five years. He is now vice president of the Lincoln Trust Company at Lincoln, and is secretary of the Shubert Orchards Company. He was admitted to the practice of law at Loup City, Sherman County, Nebraska, February 24, 1894.
Mr. Mellor was elected a member of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture in 1898. In 1900 he was appointed a member of the board of managers by President S. C. Bassett, where he served until elected president of the State Board of Agriculture in 1904 and 1905. in January, 1906, he became secretary of the Board where he served until 1917. In 1915 he was president of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions. During his term of service the Nebraska State Fair emerged from the county fair stage to that of one of the greatest recognized state fairs of the country, in which he was ably assisted by the late C. H. Rudge of Lincoln, and the late Peter Youngers of Geneva.
As a Republican, he was a member the 40th and 41st sessions of the Nebraska legislature, representing Lancaster County in the house of representatives. He served on the committee of roads and bridges and suggested the present system of county auto numbers.
Mr. Mellor took a keen interest in baseball, and played on a number of teams in the state. He was one of the first pitchers to throw the curved ball in 1878--the first year the rules permitted the overhand throw from the pitcher's box. His favorite sport at present is golf.
His marriage to Mariamne Pyke was solemnized at Michigan City, October l, 1883. Mrs. Mellor, who was the daughter of Jacob and Susan Pyke, was born at Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana. She died at Lincoln, June 13, 1913. On September 29, 1914, Mr. Mellor was married to Marietta Parrish, a daughter of George and Susan Parrish, at Lincoln.
He served on the exemption board during the World War. He is a member of the following organizations; Lincoln Chamber of Commerce; Rotary Club; Laymen Club; Current Topics Club; and the Young Men's Christian Association. He is a Mason, Scottish Rite, Shriner; and a Knight of Pythias. His social club is the Lincoln Country Club. He attends the Methodist Church. Residence: Lincoln. (Photograph on Page 811).
Bert C. Mendell
Bert C. Mendell was born at Tecumseh, Nebraska, April 1, 1875, son of George Henry and Margaret (Miller) Mendell. His father, born at Legnier, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1838, died at Superior, October 12, 1899. He was a farmer of English ancestry, and served through the Civil War. His mother, who was of German descent, was born at Stratton, Pennsylvania, January 16, 1838, and died at Superior, January 22, 1906.
Mr. Mendell was graduated from high school in 1895, and later attended Lincoln Normal School and also attended a business college at Kansas City. He started his career in business as a salesman for the Memorial Art Works at Superior, from the year 1896 to 1899, and that year engaged in the memorial art business at Superior. Since that time his business has expanded until today he is one of the leading memorial art dealers in the state. He is a member of the Nebraska Memorial Art Retail Dealers Association and has served as secretary for a number of years. He also owns real estate in Nebraska, Kansas and Wyoming.
He is active in all civic affairs at Superior, and has served as city official for four years. He is a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Current Topics Club, and the Odd Fellows. He was appointed by the Chamber of Commerce with two other members on the committee to raise the funds for the purchasing of the real estate which was bought and donated as a site for the beautiful Nebraskan Hotel, and it was largely through their efforts that this magnificent hotel was built.
He is affiliated with the Christian Science Society in which he served as first reader for three years, and is a member of the Nebraskana Society. He is a Republican.
On May 28, 1918, he was married to Josephine Greenleaf Day at Superior. Mrs. Mendell, who is a musician, was born at Superior, October 10, 1882, daughter of Senator George L. Day. Residence: Superior.
George Newton Mendenhall
Among Nebraska's leading educators, George N. Mendenhall ranks as one of the foremost. Descended on the
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paternal side from English settlers in America in the 17th century, he is of Irish lineage on his mother's side, her family being among the early pioneers in Pike county, Illinois.
Born at Jerico Springs, Mo., September first, 1878, he is the son of Jasper Newton Mendenhall, who was born near Bucklin, Missouri, October 23, 1855, and who is still living. Jasper Mendenhall married Margaret Ellen Rickey of Pittsfield, Illinois, who died at Rogersville, Missouri, August 28, 1894.
At the age of nineteen, after he had completed his elementary education, George N. Mendenhall attended Warrensburg State Normal School and Midland Academy until 1901. An A. B. degree was awarded to him by Midland College in 1905; a B. D. degree by Western Theological Seminary in 1908. In 1921 he was the recipient of a master's degree from the University of Iowa, and in 1922 he received a Ph. D. from that university. He attended the summer quarter of 1910 at Chicago University, and the summer session of 1928 at Northwestern. While attending Midland College he received a letter in football.
Dr. Mendenhall was married to Mamie Christina Johnson of Ericson, Nebraska, June 15, 1910. They have six children: Newell N., born June 30, 1912; Alfred L., born February 8, 1914; George Emery, born August 13, 1916; O. Wendell, born April 8, 1919; Mildred C., born March 22, 1921; and Helen E., born May 17, 1922. Newell is a junior and Alfred is a sophomore in college.
Ordained to the Lutheran ministry in 1908, he became pastor the same year, of the church at McCool Junction, Nebraska. During 1909-11 he served as principal of Midland Academy. Again entering the active ministerial field he accepted a pastorate at Pueblo, Colorado, which he filled until 1914, when he accepted a call to Muscatine, Iowa, 1914-18. During 1919-22 he attended the University of Iowa.
Returning to the educational field, Dr. Mendenhall has been head of the department of psychology and religious education at Midland College since 1927. From 1922-27 he was head of the department of education and psychology.
He is the author of Wells by the Wayside, (1913); The Logos Idea in Philosophy and Theology, (1921); Self-Measurement Scales, (1922). In addition he assisted in the preparation of the Iowa plan for moral instruction in public schools.
While he is not active in political affairs, he is affiliated with the Republican party. During the World War he was a member of the Four Minute Men Club, and the Muscatine Campaign Club, which was in charge of all drives.
A member of the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church of Fremont, he is also a member of the Nebraska Association of Church Colleges, the Lutheran Synod of Nebraska, and the Platte Valley Ministerial Association. For two years he served as member of the local Red Cross board. During the years 1915-18 he served as board member of the Y. M. C. A. Dr. Mendenhall's chief recreation is reading, and his hobby is collecting old books. Residence: Fremont. (Photograph on Page 813).
Joseph Parsons Meredith
For the past 44 years Joseph Parsons Meredith has lived in Nebraska, and for many years has been a retail merchant at South Sioux City. He was born at Milford, Delaware, April 29, 1857, the son of John H. and Amelia (Parsons) Meredith. His father, who was a farmer, was born at Milford, where he died June, 1861. His mother was born at Milford, and is still living.
Mr. Meredith is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen in Nebraska, is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church at South Sioux City, and holds membership in the Nebraskana Society.
His marriage to Frances Ellen Watson was solemnized at Paton, Iowa, September 6, 1889; she was born at Niles, Michigan, June 11, 1858. Their children are: Joseph, born July 8, 1883; Blanche, born June 26, 1886; and Oryntha, born August 3, 1890. Joseph is an electrician, while the girls are married to farmers. Mr. Meredith is a staunch Republican. Residence: South Sioux City.
John Andrew Merideth
John Andrew Merideth, one of Lincoln's rising young physicians and surgeons, was born at Bloomfield, Iowa, May 18, 1901, son of Stephen O. and Stella (Botts) Merideth. Stephen Merideth who is a farmer, was born at Pulaski, Iowa, in 1868, the son of Andrew and Mary Merideth. Stella, his wife, was the daughter of J. W. and Mary Botts, and died in 1903.
Dr. Merideth attended the public schools of Missouri and Colorado, and was graduated from the Colorado State Preparatory School in 1919. He received his A. B. from the University of Colorado, and his M. D. from Washington University. His fraternity is Alpha Kappa Kappa. On August 17, 1927, he was admitted to practice and served his interneship at the Jewish Hospital and the Missouri-Pacific Hospitals at St. Louis. At the present time he is examiner for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, assistant surgeon for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad, and is engaged in private practice with Dr. K. S. J. Hohlen.
He holds the rank of captain in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, and in the Medical Department of the Nebraska National Guard. His medical organizations are the American Medical Association, the Lancaster County Medical Society and the Nebraska State Medical Associations. He is a member of The Nebraskana Society. Residence: Lincoln.
Isaac Johnston Merrick
Born at Meaford, Ontario, Canada, on September 10, 1858, Isaac J. Merrick is the son of Dorchester and Mary Ann (Johnston) Merrick. His father was born in Ottawa, Canada on February 26, 1821, and came to the United States in September, 1879. Mary Ann Merrick, born in Ireland July 25, 1828, came to Canada at the age of seven. Both parents died at Osceola, Dorchester Merrick on April 6, 1884, and his wife on February 17, 1900.
Isaac J. Merrick attended school in Canada, and later, on coming to Polk County, continued his education in a dugout and sod schoolhouse. Mr. Merrick attended Wesleyan University at Osceola for one year, and on March 15, 1893, was married to Mary Scott. Mrs. Merrick was born at Altona, Knox County, Illinois, March 27, 1873, and is now active in church and club work.
For the past sixty years Mr. Merrick has lived in Polk County. He taught in a country school for two years, farmed a number of years, and for the past twenty-five years has been engaged in insurance work. At the present time he is president of Polk and Butler Counties Farmers Insurance Company.
Active in liberty bond sales in Polk County during the World War, Mr. Merrick has been a member of the Red Cross since that time. He is affiliated with the First Methodist Episcopal Church and is a member of The Nebraskana Society. His hobby is reading. Residence: Osceola. (Photograph in Album).
Maurice Hitchcock Merrill
On October 3, 1897, Maurice H. Merrill was born at Washington, District of Columbia, the son of George Waite and Mary Lavinia (Hitchcock) Merrill. His father. born at Freeport, Maine, January 23, 1855, was a business man and farmer in Oklahoma for many years. A leader
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in local and state Republican politics, he was for five years postmaster at Stratford, Oklahoma. He was active in Farmers Union organization, and was vitally interested in civic betterment. He was descended from Nathaniel Merrill who came to Newbury, Massachusetts, in 1637. The family name was originally de Merle, an old French Huguenot refugee family.
His mother was born at Yarmouth, Maine, June 14, 1858; her ancestry including Gad Hitchcock, a noted Massachusetts clergyman of Revolutionary times, and General Benjamin Lincoln of the Revolution.
Professor Merrill derived a great deal of his educational training at home with his father, and later was a student at Stratford High School and Eastern University Preparatory School at Claremore, Oklahoma. He was graduated from Castle Heights School at Lebanon, Tennessee, 1915; and holds the following degrees: A. B., University of Oklahoma, 1919; LL. B., University of Oklahoma, 1922; and S. J. D., Harvard, 1925. He was awarded the S. T. Bledsoe ranking prize during his senior year in school; and was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Kappa Psi, Order of Coif, and Phi Delta Phi.
He was teaching fellow in government at the University of Oklahoma, 1919-22; instructor there, 1922; was engaged in the practice of law at Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1922-24; was associate professor of law at the University of Idaho, 1925-26; was assistant professor of law at the University of Nebraska, 1926-28; and since 1928 has been professor of law at the University of Nebraska. He taught in the summer sessions at the law schools of the University of California, 1927, and Cornell University, 1928. He was admitted to the bar at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 6, 1922.
Since 1927 Professor Merrill has been editor of the Nebraska Law Bulletin. He is the author of the following: Chapters on State Legislature, Judiciary, Regulation of Business and Labor, Highway Administration, Care of Special Classes, and Local Government, published in The Government of Oklahoma, a publication edited by F. F. Blachly and M. E. Oatman in 1924; Town Government in Oklahoma (with J. E. McAfee), 1922; Law of Convenants Implied in Oil and Gas Leases, 1916; articles dealing with legal problems in Agency, Constitutional Law, Public Utilities, Suretyship, Oil and Gas Law, published in the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Cornell Law Quarterly, Southern California Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, Kentucky Law Journal, Minnesota. Law Review; Iowa Law Review; and Nebraska Law Bulletin.
He was united in marriage with Orpha Anita Roberts at Norman, Cleveland County, Oklahoma, June 4, 1922. Mrs. Merrill, who was born at South Fork, Howell County, Missouri, March 12, 1898, was formerly an educator. They have one daughter, Mary Jean, born July 6, 1926.
During the World War Professor Merrill served as private, Company D, of the Students Army Training Corps at the University of Oklahoma. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Oklahoma State Bar, and the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, The Nebraskana Society and the Southwestern Political and Social Science Association. He is affiliated with Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church at Lincoln. His favorite sport is tennis and his hobby is writing. Politically, he is an extremely independent Republican. Residence: Lincoln.
Edythe Dickson Merritt
Edythe Dickson Merritt, superintendent of Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital, was born at Atlanta, Georgia, December 25, 1883. She is the daughter of Robert and Renee (LaRue) Dickson, both of whom are deceased. Her father, a teacher, was descended from early settlers in the south, while her mother was of French extraction.
Mrs. Merritt attended public and high school, and was graduated from Nurses Training School. For many years she was a registered nurse, and for a number of years has been superintendent of Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital. Residence: Hastings.
Emil Merscheid
Emil Merscheid, florist and nurseryman, was born at Winkel, Rheingau, Germany, November 29, 1886, son of Friedrick and Barbara (Lorenz) Merscheid.
He attended elementary school and professional horticulture school, and came to Nebraska from Cambridge, Ohio, locating at North Platte in November, 1915. At the present time he is the proprietor of the North Platte Floral Company and president of the North Platte Nurseries, Incorporated, perhaps the youngest but one of the largest nurseries west of Fremont, Nebraska. Emil Merscheid is the originator of the Weeping Chinese Elm, patent applied for, the only one of its kind known in the world.
On June 22, 1921, he was married to Helen Carolyne Scharmann at North Platte. She was born at Kearney, March 2, 1894. They have one daughter, Eva June, born June 28, 1928.
Mr. Merscheid is a Mason, a member of the Order of Eastern Star, the Odd Fellows, the Rebekahs, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Brotherhood of American Yeoman, the Society of American Florists, and the Nebraska State Florists Association of which he is vice-president. He is one of five directors of Mountain and Plains States Florists Society which includes 17 midwest states, headquarters in Colorado and is also a member of the American Association of Nurserymen which is the largest organization of its kind in the world and the Florist Telegraph Delivery Association. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and is affiliated with the First Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is a Republican. His favorite sport is hunting, while his hobby is horticulture. Residence: North Platte. (Photograph in Album).
Peter Joseph Merten
Born at Blue Hill, Nebraska, August 26, 1881, Peter Joseph Merten is the son of Peter and Gertrude (Kick) Merten. His father, who was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 17, 1854, died at Blue Hill, June 9, 1925, was a funeral director and furniture dealer; he served as member of the city council and school board several years ago. His father, Peter Merten, was born in Germany, and came to this country around 1850, settling in Milwaukee. His mother was born in Germany, March 18, 1863, and died at Blue Hill, May 31, 1892.
Mr. Merten was graduated from the Blue Hill grade school in 1898, and the high school there in 1901. He served as secretary of the Nebraska Funeral Directors Association for 11 years and was its president for one year in 1928. He is successfully engaged in the furniture business and as funeral director at Blue Hill, where he holds membership in the Commercial Club, is committeeman of the Boy Scouts, is a member of the city council and for one year was a member of the Board of Education, and is affiliated with Holy Trinity Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. His favorite sport is golf.
He was married at Hastings, Nebraska, October 5, 1920, to Jessie Permelia Robinson. Mrs. Merten, who was a bookkeeper before her marriage, was born at Muledgeville, Illinois, September 11, 1885, the daughter of James H. and Julia (Berkholder) Robinson. Their children are: Julia Iona, born February 21, 1912; Vincent Peter James, born April 29, 1916; and Vivian Permelia, born April 29, 1916. Residence: Blue Hill.
Ernest Miles Merwin
Born at Beaver City, Nebraska, July 20, 1902, Ernest Miles Merwin is the son of Fletcher Newton and Merta Isadora (Foland) Merwin. His father, who is editor of the Times-Tribune at Beaver City, has been publisher
