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and editor of that paper for over 40 years, and was the first secretary of Senator George W. Norris; he was born at New Haven, Connecticut, in 1872. His mother was born in Nebraska in 1876.
Mr. Merwin was graduated from the Beaver City High School in 1920, and was a student at the University of Nebraska during 1922-23. He is associate editor of the Beaver City Times-Tribune, holds membership in the Beaver City Community Club, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He holds membership in the Nebraska Press Association, the Southwest Nebraska Press Association, the Red Cross, and the Methodist Church of Beaver City. His hobby is reading.
On August 5, 1931, he was married to Mary Myrtle Mitzner at Beaver City. Mrs. Merwin, who was a teacher prior to her marriage, was born at Emerson, Iowa, March 25, 1909. Residence: Beaver City. (Photograph in Album).
Fletcher Newton Merwin
One of the outstanding figures in the newspaper world of Nebraska is Fletcher Newton Merwin who was born at Woodbridge, Connecticut, October 2, 1868. His father, Henry Fletcher Merwin, who was a farmer and publisher, was born at Woodbridge, January 18, 1838, and died at Beaver City, Nebraska, February 6, 1927; he served as a corporal in Company A, of the 10th Connecticut Volunteers during the Civil War. His mother, Lucy Beldea (Blakeslee) Merwin, who was a member of the original woman's suffrage organization, was born at Milford, Connecticut, November 25, 1838, and died at Beaver City, April 7, 1930.
Mr. Merwin established the first newspaper at DuBois, Nebraska in 1885, and at this time is editor of the Times-Tribune at Beaver City. He is past master of the Beaver City Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, served as secretary. of the Beaver City School Board for 12 years, and served as secretary of the Nebraska Press Association for the past eight years. His hobby is reading.
A Republican, Mr. Merwin served as the first private secretary to Congressman George W. Norris during the latter's first term in Congress. On December 1, 1892, he married Merta Isadora Foland at Beaver City.
They have five children: Henry Chester, born August 27, 1893, who married Evelyn Pointon; Laurence Newton, born March 17, 1898, who married Fawn Weir; Ernest Miles, born July 20, 1902, who married Mary Myrtle Mitzner; Esther Lucile, born February 2, 1909, and Edith Barbara, born September 10, 1914. Henry Chester was graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has served as first lieutenant in the United States Navy for 14 years. Laurence is postmaster at Beaver City. Residence: Beaver City. (Photograph in Album).
Merta Isadora Merwin
Born at East Cobleskill, New York, January 27, 1874, Merta Isadora Merwin is the daughter of Chester Henry and Ida Elizabeth (Miers) Foland. Her father, who served as a minister in the Presbyterian Church for over 40 years, was born in Schoharie, New York, August 3, 1853, and died at Mount Dora, Florida, September 25, 1924. Her mother, who was an active church worker, was born in Schoharie County, April 3, 1854, and died at Mount Dora, March 2, 1922.
Mrs. Merwin. was graduated from the high school at Beaver City, Nebraska, in 1892, and since then has been a prominent clubwoman and writer in that community. She has contributed column and feature material to the Times-Tribune, and is the author of a book, Day Dreams, published in 1931.
She is a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild, the Beaver City Library Board, of the City Public Library, and the Beaver City Woman's Club. She is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church and is past worthy matron of the Beaver City Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star. Her hobby is writing verse.
Of her marriage to Fletcher Newton Merwin, which occurred at Beaver City, December 1, 1892, six children were born: Henry Chester, born August 27, 1893, who married Evelyn Pointon; Lillian Evangeline, November 19, 1894, who died August 17, 1914; Laurence Newton, March 19, 1898, who married Fawn Weir, and who is postmaster at Beaver City; Ernest Miles, July 20, 1902, who married Myrtle Mitzner, and is editor of the Beaver City local paper; Esther Lucile, February 2, 1909, who was graduated from Hastings College and from the Library School of Madison, Wisconsin; and Edith Barbara, September 10, 1914, who is associate editor of the Times-Tribune. Residence: Beaver City. (Photograph in Album).
M. Myrtle Merwin
Born at Emerson, Iowa, March 25, 1909, M. Myrtle Merwin is the daughter of Edward O. and Orpha L. (Hughes) Mitzner. Her father, who was a farmer, was born at Fort Scott, Kansas, June 16, 1878, came to Nebraska March 3, 1919, and died at Beaver City, Nebraska, February 9, 1930. Her mother was born at Randolph, Iowa, June 6, 1883, and resides on a farm near Beaver City.
Mrs. Merwin attended rural school in Iowa, was graduated from the Beaver City High School in 1926, and attended Kearney State Teachers College, 1928-29. She was prominent in athletics both in high school and college, taught in the public schools of Furnas County, Nebraska, for three years, and was a teacher in Red Willow County for one year. At this time she is a member of the Beaver City Woman's Club, is affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church at Beaver City, and holds membership in The Nebraskana Society.
Her marriage to Ernest M. Merwin occurred at Beaver City, August 5, 1931. Mr. Merwin, whose ancestry is English and French, was born at Beaver City, July 20, 1902. Residence: Beaver City. (Photograph in Album).
Fred W. Messmore
Fred W. Messmore, lawyer and district judge, was born in Boone, Iowa, July 11, 1889, son of Hiram A. and Clara Jane Messmore. He attended public, business and normal training college, and in 1912 received the Bachelor of Laws degree from Creighton University. He was a member of Delta Theta Phi. Admitted to the bar at Omaha in 1912, he has been engaged in the practice of law in Nebraska for many years. He has served as county attorney of Gage County, county judge, and now is judge of the first judicial district of Nebraska.
He is a member of the Gage County Bar Association, the Red Cross, Salvation Army Board, Beatrice Chamber of Commerce, and Kiwanis Club (past president of local chapter). He is affiliated with the Methodist Church, the Young Men's Christian Association, the Parent-Teachers' Association. His fraternal organizations include the Elks, Masons, Odd Fellows and Eagles.
Of his marriage to Jane Frances Saxe three children were born, Hiram, born January 31, 1920; Ted, born November 14, 1921; and John, born July 27, 1924.
Judge Messmore served as a private in the World War and was a major in the Judge Advocate General Officers Reserve Corps. He is a member of the American Legion and the Reserve Officers Association. Residence: Beatrice.
Anna V. Cornish Metcalf
One of Omaha's most outstanding personages is Anna Cornish Metcalf, who was born in New York State. She is the daughter of Colonel Joel N. Cornish and Virginia
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Raymond, and belongs to one of Nebraska's most prominent families. Her father was born at Rome, New York, May 28, 1828. He was a lawyer at Iowa City, and a banker in Omaha; during the Civil War he received the rank of colonel. He was descended in the line of Samuel Cornish who settled in Plymouth Colony in 1696.
Virginia Raymond was born in New York, April 2, 1827, and died in Omaha. December 14, 1903. She was a charter member of the Omaha Women's Club. Virginia Raymond Cornish, mother of Mrs. Metcalf, was of Scotch descent. Her mother's grandfather was Colonel Kennedy, and when he left Scotland his regiment presented him with a gold handled sword, which descended to his son, Captain Kennedy. Both were in the War of 1812. Captain Kennedy was the father of Virginia Raymond Cornish's mother. A town in New York State was named Kennedyville after this family.
Anna Cornish Metcalf was educated at Tabor College, Iowa, Brownell Hall at Omaha and Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana. She was married at Hamburg, Iowa, to Joseph Maul Metcalf. Mr. Metcalf was born in Lewes, Delaware, February 20, 1846, a descendant of the Metcalfs of renown in that state. He was president and manager of the Metcalf-Lininger Implement Company at the time of his death at Omaha on January 25, 1905.
Mrs. Metcalf has been a resident of Nebraska forty-nine years, and during that time has been one of the foremost Omaha women. She is a charter member and former president of the Tuesday Morning Musical Club, the first musical being given on October 29, 1884, at Max Meyer's Music Hall. The club met twice a month. She is a former president of the Omaha Equal Franchise Society. She was a member of the board of lady managers of the Omaha Exposition in 1898. During 1917 and 1918 she was president of a division of the local Red Cross.
A member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she is honorary regent of that organization, and has willed her sixteen room house to the Omaha chapter to be used as a future chapter house and museum. Her membership in the organization dates from October 7, 1907; she is eligible through Josiah Cornish Cornish, born October 15, 1760 and Thomas Cornish, born January 23, 1706.
The Metcalf home, which will go to the D. A. R., was constructed at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars. It is situated at 1234 South Tenth Street, on River Drive midway between Omaha and Child's Point. Mrs. Metcalf has entertained the annual musical of the D. A. R. for the past twenty-one years.
Perhaps her outstanding achievement has been in the promotion of the appreciation and understanding of music and of art. She is a member of the Art Institute of Omaha, and of the Friends of Music. Among the paintings which Mrs. Metcalfe has in her unusual collection are the following: Sheep, by F. L. Guyot; Cattle in Meadows of Holland, by J. H. L. DeHaas; In the Orchard, by F. A. DeLobbe, pupil of Bouguereau; Landscape, by Jules Dupre; The Shepherdess, by Ponson E. Dupat; and An Old French Village, by the late L. G. Palouse. Affiliated with Trinity Cathedral, she was a president of the Altar Guild of that church for two years. She is a sister of the late Albert J. Cornish, supreme judge of Nebraska, and of Edward J. Cornish, former city attorney of Omaha, and for seventeen years a member of the park board; since 1911 he has been president of the National Lead Company of New York.
Mrs. Metcalf is a member of the Volunteer League of National American Women's Suffrage Association, of which she was president two years and a member of the board six years. She accepted the presidency of the Equal Franchise League in memory of her mother, Virginia Raymond Cornish, who was a personal friend of Susan B. Anthony and Katie Stanton.
In politics she is a Republican. She is a member of The Nebraskana Society and the Omaha Country Club. Residence: Omaha. (Photograph in Page 816).
Richard Lee Metcalfe
Richard Lee Metcalfe, mayor of Omaha, was born near Upper Alton, Illinois, October 11, 1861, son of Richard Lee and Ellen T. (Edwards) Metcalfe.
He was educated in public school, and on April 30, 1885 was married to Bessie Buehler, of Seymour, Indiana. Their children are, Ellen, who is married to Harley Conant; Baehler; R. Lee; Theodore W.; and Kenneth.
Mr. Metcalfe began his career as printer's devil on a country newspaper. At the age of 19, he edited a Democratic weekly, and in 1888 became a reporter on the Omaha World-Herald. In 1894 he became assistant to the editor, William Jennings Bryan, and during the years 1896 until 1905, was editor of the World-Herald. During 1913-14 Mr. Metcalfe was civil governor of the Panama Canal Zone.
He is the author of Of such is the Kingdom; Other Stories from Life (1906) ; and Bishop Sunbeams (1909). In 1928 Mr. Metcalfe was nominated as Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Residence: Omaha.
Theodore Walter Metcalfe
Theodore Walter Metcalfe, lieutenant-governor of Nebraska, was born at Omaha, August 16, 1895. He is the son of Richard Lee and Bessie (Buehler) Metcalfe. Richard Lee Metcalfe, who is now mayor of Omaha, has been prominent in Democratic politics for many years. He was born in Upper Alton, Illinois, October 11, 1861, and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry.
Bessie Buehler Metealfe was born in Seymour, Indiana, a daughter of Theodore von Buehler and Elizabeth Murphy. Theodore W. Metcalfe attended the public schools of Lincoln and Omaha, and was graduated from Lincoln High School. He attended the University of Nebraska, where he received his Bachelor of Laws degree. He is a member of Sigma Delta Chi and Phi Delta Theta.
At the age of 16 he was city editor of the Fairbury Daily Times, and later of the Panama Daily Journal. At the university he was editor in chief of the Awgwan (1917). Upon his admission to the bar he entered the business world and is secretary-treasurer of the Metcalfe Company, and the Country Club District, Inc. He was elected on the Republican ticket to the position of lieutenant-governor of Nebraska for the term 1931-33.
He was married to Helen Houston at Tekamah, Nebraska, May 6, 1919. Mrs. Metealfe who is a native of Indiana, is the daughter of Charles D. Houston of Tekamah. They have two daughters, Joan, born April 21, 1922 and Marilynn, born May 9, 1926.
During the World War he was first lieutenant of Company C, 6th Nebraska National Guard, at Camp Cody, New Mexico. He entered the First Officers Training School at Fort Snelling in 1917. He was promoted to captain of Infantry and served at Camp Green, North Carolina. He is a member of the American Legion and was vice commander and one of the organizers of the Omaha post. He is an Elk and a Mason, and attends the First Presbyterian Church. His favorite sport is horseback riding. Residence: Omaha. (Photograph on Page 818).
Walter Roy Metz
Walter Roy Metz, lawyer, was born at Wakeeney, Kansas, February 16, 1889, the son of Pierce and Josephine Lois (Runyon) Metz.
Pierce Metz was born at St. Clair, Pennsylvania, July 12, 1852, and was formerly a merchant. He was captain at one time of the 5th Regiment of the Iowa National Guard and later held the rank of colonel in the 20th Regiment of the Kansas National Guard. He has served as clerk of the district court of Trego County, Kansas, and county auditor of Adams County, Iowa. His father and mother were both born in Pennsylvania, his mother of German descent, and his father of Quaker
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descent. His wife, Josephine Lois, was born at Martinsburg, Iowa, August 14, 1854, and died at Omaha, December 2, 1929. She was active as a clubwoman. Her ancestors were of Scotch and Irish descent.
Mr. Metz was educated in the public and high school of Corning, Iowa, and received the degree of Doctor of jurisprudence from the University of Michigan in 1912 and the Bachelor of Arts degree, Grinnell College, in 1909. At the University of Michigan he was a member of Woolsack, the Barristers, and on the staff of the Michigan Law Review. At Grinnell College he was editor of the Scarlet & Black. His fraternities are Sigma Nu and Phi Delta Phi.
He was admitted to the bar of Michigan and Nebraska in 1912 and has since been in active practice. In 1918 he became a member of the law firm of Boyd and Mets, which later became Boyd, Mets and Meyer and since 1926, following the appointment of Mr. Meyer to the district bench, has again been known as Boyd and Metz. A Republican, Mr. Metz was city attorney of Alliance 1913-1914 and 1918-1924; and city counselor of Alliance 1928- .
He was married to Doris Rosine Young at Denver, on July 15, 1919. Mrs. Metz was born at Pacific Junction, Iowa, May 3, 1896, and is active in Catholic church work and charities. Her father, Edward E. Young, was general superintendent of the Wyoming district of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad from 1909 until 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Metz have one son, Walter Roy, born October 13, 1924.
During the late war, Mr. Metz was a four minute speaker and a member of the legal advisory board. He is affiliated with the Congregational Church of Grinnell, Iowa, is a member of the Nebraska State Bar Association, The Nebraskana Society, the Alliance Rotary Club, the Elks, the Alliance Country Club, and the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, the Royal Arch Masons, the Knights Templar, and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His favorite sports are golf and tennis. Residence: Alliance.
William Walter Metz
William W. Metz, educator and executive of Nebraska City, was born at Shamokin, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1864. His father, William Walter Metz, who was a moulder in an iron foundry, was born at Shamokin, January 3, 1833, of Holland Dutch ancestry. He died of black smallpox at Shamokin, January 26, 1864.
Nancy Ann (Lytle) Metz, his mother, who was a farmer's daughter, was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, January 23, 1831, and died at Riverton, Iowa, March 26, 1914. She was of English and Scotch descent.
Mr. Metz received his education at the district school of Riverton, Iowa. For three years he taught a district school in Fremont County, Iowa, and was a teacher in the Otoe County, (Nebraska) schools for four years. He was appointed railway postal clerk, April 26, 1889, and served continuously in this position until February 23, 1926, when he was pensioned and retired from government service. At the present time he is one of the three proprietors of the Nebraska City Bottling Works, Green's Ice Cream Factory at Nebraska City, and the Falls City Ice Cream Company of Falls City, Nebraska. He is president of the Nebraska City Building and Loan Association, organized in 1887.
He is a Republican and in 1926 was unsuccessful candidate for the state senate. He was married to Clara Josephine Vennemann at Nebraska City, December 12, 1889. Mrs. Metz was born of German parentage at Nebraska City, April 13, 1866. There are two children. William Walter, junior, born March 8, 1897, was graduated from the Nebraska City High School and is an ex-service man, having been in active service overseas in the World War. Edwin John, born November 16, 1907, was graduated from Midland College in 1928 and since then has been coach in the high school at Sumner, Nebraska.
During the World War Mr. Metz was a four minute man. He is a member of the Red Cross and the Nebraska City Chamber of Commerce having served in the latter as member of the board of directors for three years, and as executive secretary for two years. A member of the school board for nine years, serving as president one year; he is also a member of the Nebraska City Rotary Club; and is vice president of the local Parent Teachers Association. He is an Elk; Eagle; Modern Woodman; and Mason, 32d degree and Shriner. He holds the position of Dad to the job's Daughters Society, and is a member of the Eastern Star.
Mr. Metz is affiliated with the English Lutheran church and has been superintendent of the Sunday School for the past twenty years. His social club is the Nebraska City Country Club. His hobby is golf. Residence: Nebraska City.
Henry Louis Meuret
Born at Orchard, Nebraska, May 28, 1889, Henry Louis Meuret is the son of Joseph Richard Meuret and Catherine (Merlet) Meuret. Joseph Meuret, a farmer and stockman, was born at Beloit, Wisconsin, March 30, 1856, and died at Orchard, May 24, 1927; his parents came to this country from Alsace-Lorraine, France, in 1852. His mother was born at Beloit, June 19, 1859, and died at Orchard, November 8, 1893.
Mr. Meuret attended rural school in Antelope County, Nebraska, was a student at Central Business College at Colorado Springs, Colorado where he was graduated in 1911. He was bookkeeper, stenographer, and general office manager for the Overburf-Davis-Miller Lumber Company at Bend, Oregon, 1912-14, was chief clerk for the Northern Pacific Railway Company in Missoula, Montana, 1914-19, and since 1919 has been a farmer and stockman at Orchard, Nebraska.
He was elected recently to serve on the depositors committee of the defunct Citizens State Bank of Orchard; he is a director of the Alfalfa Company of Orchard, is director of the Co-operative Creamery Company of Orchard, and is secretary-treasurer of the latter organization. He is moderator and treasurer of the local school board, is a member of the Nebraskana Society, and holds membership in the Democratic Party.
His father was one of the earliest settlers in Antelope County, and knew all the hardships and privations of the pioneers; from 1878 until his death in 1927 he was one of the leaders in the progress of the middlewest.
Henry Meuret was married to Waunita Dee Lane at Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 3, 1912. Mrs. Meuret, who is the daughter of W. D. Lane and Anna (Ayres) Lane, was born at Beloit, Kansas, June 20, 1894. Their three children are: Forrest Lee, born April 24, 1913; Ellinor Fay, born January 3, 1915; and Henry Louis, Jr., born November 16, 1928. Residence: Orchard.
Ernst Meyer
A leading flour miller at Superior, Ernst Meyer was born at Oak, Nebraska, December 26, 1887. He is the son of Ernst and Augusta (Ahrens) Meyer, the former a native of Germany, who was also a flour miller. He died at Oak, Nebraska, April 20, 1923. His wife, who was born in Iowa, still survives him.
Ernst Meyer, Jr., attended public school, and afterward followed the business started by his father. At the present time he is associated with, and is president of the Superior Milling Company.
On July 12, 1911, he was united in marriage to Arva May Kincannon at Nelson. Mrs. Meyer was born at Angus, Nebraska, December 30, 1891. There is one son, Denny, born June 16, 1926. The family attends the Methodist Episcopal Church at Superior.
Mr. Meyer is a Mason, and Shriner, a member of the
