[Dr. Jacob C. Denise was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, December 3, 1828, and was educated in the common schools, in the Academy at Franklin, Ohio, and at Farmer's College, College Hill, near Cincinnati; studied medicine and took his degree at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1855; engaged in practice at Dayton, Ohio, until the civil war broke out, when he

entered the service, August 18, 1861, as Assistant Surgeon in the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteers. In 1863 he was promoted to Surgeon. His service was in the Western army in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, etc., and after the Atlanta campaign he resigned, November 14, 1864. He became a Contract Surgeon January 1, 1865, and was assigned as executive officer at Tripler Hospital, Columbus, Ohio. In October, 1865, this hospital was discontinued as such, and the establishment was given to the State for a Soldiers' Home, Dr. Denise being assigned to it as Surgeon. Here he continued until May, 1867, when it was superseded by the Home at Dayton. In June, 1867, the Doctor came to Omaha and entered into practice. In the spring of 1868 he was elected City Physician, and was also County Physician, which positioris he held until 1871. In 1869 he was appointed by President Grant Receiver of

the Land Office at Grand Island, the first west of Omaha, Dr. Denise opening it for business. This office he held for three years, resigning in 1872, when he returned to Omaha, and has since continuously resided here and practiced his profession. In 1868 he was one of the original incorporators of the Nebraska State Medical Society, and also in the same year was one of the corporators of the Young Men's Christian Association. From 1873 to 1886 he was United States Pension Surgeon Examiner. In 1882 he helped to organize the Omaha Medical College, in which he has been one of the Professors ever since, and is now Dean of the Faculty. In all good enterprises calculated to promote the welfare and advancement of Omaha, the Doctor has been an active participant. Dr. Denise has been by the inherent force of his character, inherited from his French and Holland Huguenot ancestors, an active,

enterprising man. His service in the army under Generals Fremont, Pope, Burnside and Sherman, was of the most arduous character, he being engaged in many of the important battles up to and including the capture of Atlanta, where he had charge of a division hospital with 2,000 beds. Since coming to Nebraska he has been physician to the Deaf and Dumb Institute for fourteen years -- almost from its establishment. He has for years been the corresponding member of the International Committee of the Y. M. C. A. for the State of Nebraska. To carry out a long-cherished wish he went abroad in 1886, and spent a great deal of time in the hospitals of London and Berlin, besides traveling extensively through Holland, Austria, Switzerland and France, deriving from his professional and other observations much benefit and satisfaction. He now limits his practice chiefly to office work, and it is needless to add, ranks among our most eminent practitioners.]

     [Mr. Peter E. Iler is one of Omaha's most prominent and successful business men. He is a native of Ohio, having been born at Wooster, February 10, 1840. At the early age of sixteen he began to earn his own living by doing chores for a banker of Indianapolis. He was soon given the superintendence of his several farms, and his salary was raised from twenty to seventy-five dollars a month. Becoming sick he returned to his home at Tiffin, and upon recovering his health he started out as a country peddler with a

one-horse wagon and a small stock of notions. He met with success and soon drove a splendid four-in-hand team and a beautiful wagon. He also took orders for all the wholesale merchants in Tiffin, doing in this way a large commission business. Mr. Iler branched out and established a general supply store, engaged in the manufacture of cigars, and ran a distillery and a general liquor store, all of these enterprise proving successful. The railroads entering Ohio materially decreased Mr. Iler's trade, and he decided in 1866 to locate in Omaha. Coming to this city in that year he secured papers for a class B bonded warehouse, and made a contract for the erection of a building in Central Block. At that time Boyle, Miller & Co., of Cincinnati, were his partners. He closed out his business in Tiffin in the fall of 1867 and moved to Omaha. Immed-
iately after the great fire in Cincinnati he bought out his old partners and took in as

new partners M. W. Kennard, and his brother J. D. Iler. The Willow Springs Distillery having been confiscated by the government, was offered for sale in 1870, and it was bought in the name of James G. Megeath and P. E. ller, the partners in this enterprise being Megeath, Iler and John McCormick. In 1872-3 the distillery became the property of P. E. Iler, J. D. Iler, and M. W. Kennard, the last named gentleman remaining in the firm until 1878, when he sold out to his partners. In 1885 Mr. Henry Suessenbach became a partner. The distillery has been enlarged from year to year and improved in every way to meet the demands of trade, and today it is the third largest distillery in the country. Its present capacity is 12,000 gallons of finished goods per day. The increase of business is shown by the following figures: In 1878 the government tax was nearly $150,000, in 1879 it increased to $721,000, and it is now over $2,000,000.

The sales of the Willow Springs Distillery and Iler & Co., combined, have increased in the same ratio -- from $500,000 per annum to nearly $3,000,000. The cost of material used in the distillery during 1886 was $250,000, representing 510,000 bushels of grain. Over 10,000 tons of coal were consumed. Employment is given to 125 men. The annual pay-roll is over $80,000. Mr. Iler was one of the original organizers of the South Omaha Land Syndicate, which has resulted in making this city the third pork packing center of this country. He has for some time been the leading spirit in the movement to solve the cheap coal problem, he and his associates having already spent a considerable sum of money in boring for a paying vein of coal. He is also interested in the effort that is being made to discover natural gas in this vicinity. He is a member of the National Distillers' Association, and a prominent member of the Omaha Board of Trade. In 1863 Mr. Iler was married at Tiffin, Ohio, to Miss Mary A, Denzer. They have four children living - William E., May, Edith and Bessie. Mr. Iler is a home man, taking great delight in his interesting family, and doing everything in his power to make home happy for them.]