[It is thirteen years since Edward Creighton died, and that he is so well and honorably remembered in the Omaha of to-day, aye his memory respected by the thousands who have come here after he was no more, but illustrates how great was his service to the community, how broad and enduring a mark he made upon his times. No one man did so much to sustain Omaha in its early and trying days as Edward Creighton. His career was a notable one in its humble beginning and splendid triumph in the flush of man-

hood. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, August 31, 1820, of Irish parentage. His early days were passed upon a farm, but at the age of twenty he took the contract for building part of the National stage road from Wheeling, West Virginia, to Springfield, Ohio. He continued in the contracting business, but it was not until 1847 that he entered upon that branch of it in which he achieved his greatest success and laid the foundation of his after fortunes. In that year he received the contract for and constructed a telegraph line between Springfield and Cincinnati. To this business he devoted his time and energies for five years, being successfully engaged in the construction of telegraph lines in all parts of the country, completing the line from Cleveland to Chicago in 1852. In 1856, while engaged in telegraph construction in Missouri, Mr. Creighton visited Omaha and his brothers, John A., James, and Joseph, and his cousin James, locating here, he returned to Ohio where he wedded Mary Lucretia Wareham, of Dayton, and in 1857 himself came to Omaha and located. He continued in the telegraph construction business, completing in 1860 the first line which gave Omaha

connection with the outer world, via St. Louis. For years Mr. Creighton had entertained a pet project -- the building of a line to the Pacific coast -- and in the winter of 1860 -- after many conferences with the wealthy stockholders of the Western Union company, a preliminary survey was agreed upon. In those days the stage coach was the only means of overland travel and that was beset with great danger from Indians and road agents. In the stage coach Mr. Creighton made his way to Salt Lake City, where he enlisted the interest and support of Brigham Young, the great head of the Mormon church, in his project. It had been arranged to associate the California State Telegraph Company in the enterprise, and on to Sacramento in midwinter Mr. Creighton pressed on horseback. It was a terrible journey, but the man who made it was of stout heart, and he braved the rigors of the mountains and accomplished his mission, and in the spring of 1861 Mr. Creighton returned to Omaha to begin his great work. Congress had meanwhile granted a subsidy of $40,000 a year for ten years to the company which should build the line. Then a great race was inaugurated for heavy wagers

between Mr. Creighton's construction force and the California contractors who were building eastward, to see which should reach Salt Lake City first. Mr. Creighton had 1,100, miles to construct and the Californians only 450, but Mr. Creighton reached Salt Lake City on the seventeenth of October, one week ahead of his competitors. On October 24, but a little over six months after the enterprise was begun, Mr. Creighton had established telegraphic communication from ocean to ocean. He had taken $100,000 of the stock of the new enterprise at about eighteen cents on the dollar, and when the project was completed the company trebled its stock Mr. Creighton's $100,000 becoming $300,000. The stock then rose to 85 cents and he sold out $100,000 for $850,000, still retaining $200,000 of the stock. He continued in the telegraph construction business until 1867, his great cattle interests in which he had embarked in 1864, and his great plains freighting business established before the building of the Union Pacific and continued even after its completion, to the mining regions of Montana and Idaho, then exacting his attention. During all these years of great business success, Mr. Creighton was firm in his allegiance to Omaha. He was the first president of the First National Bank in the city and ever ready to aid by his means and counsel any enterprise for the furthering of Omaha's interests; He commanded the confidence of all the people, his sterling integrity and unwavering fidelity combining with his generous and charitable nature to make him a very lovable man. No man has an unkind word to say of Edward Creighton and his memory is revered to this day as an upright, just and kind man who, out of his own sterling qualities had wrought a successful and honorable career. He was stricken with paralysis and died. November 5, 1874. To his memory, Creighton College was erected and endowed by his relief in response to his own wish, expressed during his life time, to found a free institution for the non-sectarian education of youth without regard to creed or sect -- the institution only to be under Catholic control.]

     [John A. Creighton was born in Licking county, Ohio, on the 15th of October, 1831. His parents were natives of Ireland and engaged in farming. When John A. was twenty-one he entered St. Joseph's Dominican school, near Somerset, Perry county, Ohio. Two years later he joined with his brother Edward, in the telegraph construction business which in 1855 brought him west to Missouri and later to Omaha, June 10, 1856. Mr. Creighton entered upon some land in Douglas county and turned his attention to

breaking the virgin soil. In 1859 he clerked for J. J. & R. A. Brown, pioneer merchants of the city, and in May, 1860, went to Denver, Colorado, in connection with J. J. Brown, with a cattle freight train. In 1861 the great overland telegraph line was constructed and Mr. Creighton materially aided his brother Edward, who was the originator of the project. The next year he took a cattle train with supplies to Salt Lake and sold the whole outfit to Brigham Young. In 1863, in company with James Creighton, his cousin, he took a cattle train and supplies to Montana, the gold find excitement being great at that time. He located in Virginia City and remained there three years, carrying on a merchandise business. Mr. Creighton returned to Omaha in 1866, and again turned his attention to telegraph construction, building the line from Salt Lake City to Virginia City that year, and extending it to Helena the next. In January, 1868, he returned to Omaha and under the firm name of Creighton & Morgan, established a wholesale grocery house. In 1870 Mr. Creighton disposed of his interest in the firm to Benj. Gallagher. Mr. Creighton engaged in a general forwarding business thence on until 1874, when his brother Edward died, leaving a great estate which required the atten-

tion of the subject of this sketch as administrator. Two years after when Edward's widow died, Mr. Creighton was the principal heir to the vast estate and he in fact took his late brother's place in the handling of the great accumulations. He was also one of the trustees of the endowment of Creighton College and charged with the construction of that monument to his brother's memory; and right nobly be acquitted his trust. Mr. Creighton is today a man of great wealth. He has been one of the firmest believers in Omaha and probably today holds more of the valuable real estate of the city than any other individual. His capital has been liberally employed, too, for the advancement of Omaha's interests. He was one of the projectors of the rail works enterprise, a large stockholder in the cable street railway, heavily interested in the syndicate which has built up South Omaha and is Vice-President of the First National Bank. In temperament Mr. Creighton is a genial, warm-hearted gentleman, generous to a fault and always ready to extend assistance to the afflicted or the worthy poor. He takes especial pleasure in furthering the charitable purposes of St. Joseph's Hospital, largely sustaining the institution with his means. He is also devoted to the cause of

benevolence and Christian work in any form. He is a devout member of the Catholic faith and has done much to further the interests of religion in the west. Personally he is popular among men. Though he has never coveted political preferment he has always exercised a large influence upon his party. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago in 1884 which nominated Grover Cleveland. Mr. Creighton was married in June, 1868, to Sarah E. Wareham, who still shares with him the comforts and pleasures of an honorable life blessed with a fullness of this world's goods.]