land lying ten miles southwest of Hemingford, but still own scattered and valuable tracts throughout the country. At the present time they rent their ranch and Mr. O'Keefe with his son William, are engaged in handling real estate and insurance in Alliance, with an office in the Alliance National Bank Building. Mr. O'Keefe has invested heavily in city property and is active and energetic as most men many years his junior, he is progressive in his ideas and a "booster" for the Panhandle. The O'Keefe family are members of the Catholic church while in politics he is a Democrat. Mr. O'Keefe's fraternal affiliations are with the Elks, he is a Knight of Columbus and a member of the Country Club. May 25, 1891, Mr. O'Keefe was married at Nonpareil, Nebraska, to Miss Lucy Shipley, born near Bloomington, Illinois, the daughter of Robert S. and Frances (Edwards) Shipley, the former a native of Kentucky. Three children have been born to this union, William L., Everett B., a graduate of the Alliance high school, took a course in dentistry at Creighton University, Omaha, graduating with the class of 1919, and is now established in practice at Alliance, an energetic purposeful young man for whom a bright future is in store; and Sarah F., a student at Loretta Heights Academy, Denver, Colorado. William L. O'Keefe is a native son of Nebraska, born in the city of Alliance May 29, 1894, and inherits from his father all the excellent and verstile (sic) qualities of the Irish with a steadying influence from his mother's side of the family that have combined to make him a business man of far vision and full of resource yet conservative in his financial affairs, a combination which can not but bring success to the fortunate possessor. He is the oldest of the three children in the family and in youth attended the public schools of Alliance. After graduating from the city school in the city he matriculated at the Christian Brothers College at St. Joseph, receiving his degree with the class of 1914. Having a brilliant scholastic record William O'Keefe was chosen as chief clerk to the secretary of state of Nebraska a year after leaving college, and served in that capacity until he responded to the president's call for volunteers when war was declared against Germany, when he enlisted in November, 1917, in the Signal Corps, Ballon (sic) division and was a candidate for commission. Later he was assigned to the Flying Cadet Corps, and stationed at Fort Omaha, serving in this branch of the service until after the signing of the armistice, when he was discharged and returned to Alliance to form a partnership with his father in a real estate and insurance business. Mr. O'Keefe is one of the younger generation of business men who are infusing new methods and new blood into the financial affairs of the Panhandle and because of such are standing out pre-eminently as the leaders of progress in this section for which they are doing so much to develop. April 10, 1918, Mr. O'Keefe married Miss Pauline Golden, a graduate of the. Catholic schools of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Omaha, Nebraska, and also of St. Mary's Notre Dame, Indiana. She is a woman of gracious presence, high culture and is the chatelaine of one of the most hospitable homes in Alliance. Mr. and Mrs. O'Keefe have two children: a daughter Alice Lucile, aged two years, and William John, an infant. Mr. William O'Keefe and his father are both indefatigable workers, they, so to speak, are "on the job" all the time, both are well read men, who keep abreast of the movements of the day and seize every opportunity to support and promote movements for the civic and communal welfare of Box Butte county and Alliance. A most brilliant future seems in store for the junior member of the firm, who is an Elk and a Knight of Columbus. ST. AGNES ACADEMY of Alliance is the leading Catholic educational institution of Western Nebraska. It is conducted under the direction of Mother Superior Henrietta of the Sisters of St. Francis, whose mother house is located at Stella Niagara, New York. The Academy was erected in 1908, under the auspices of Reverend William McNamara, who for some years had cherished the idea of founding an institution of learning for the benefit of the children of the parish as well as to give exceptional advantages to non-resident students. Although the building had not yet been completed, the school was opened to students in September 8, 1908, when eighty nine pupils enrolled. The Academy met with the warm approval and hearty support of all the Catholics of Alliance and the surrounding country so that the number of pupils increased very rapidly and within a short time it was found necessary to erect another building. The work on the new structure was begun in the fall of 1910, and the rooms were ready for occupancy the following spring. Both buildings are of the highest type architecturally, and are equipped with every modern appliance and improvement conducive to the health and convenience of the pupils. They are heat- |
ed with steam and lighted with electricity. The class rooms, study halls, gymnasium and dormitories are commodious, well lighted and ventilated and are suitably furnished. The laboratories are up-to-date in every way and are well equipped and offer abundant opportunities for class and lecture demonstrations and for individual work in physics, botany and agriculture. The extensive play grounds are well supplied with swings, teeters, slide, tennis courts and general recreation space. During bad weather the gymnasium affords ample space for recreation for the students who are encouraged to take advantage of the excellent facilities to build up the bodies. As in all schools and colleges, basket ball is the favorite indoor sport during the cold season. St. Agnes Academy is accredited at the State University and enjoys all the powers and privileges granted by it to the leading educational institutions of the state. It is the aim of the faculty to maintain this high standard of scholarship, and we feel this is also the desire of all those who are interested in the welfare of the Academy. The Sisters endeavor to lay a solid foundation in the mind and to develop the character of the pupils upon which to build the super-structure of moral and religious life as well as purely scholastic attainments. Thus the students receive alike the purely scientific along with the higher training of religion. A close supervision is exercised over the students but in such a manner as to exclude all idea of harsh espionage. The rules and regulations of the Academy are enforced with mildness and consideration, but when there is question of the good of the students or the reputation of the Academy, great firmness is exercised. The curriculum offered is as follows: primary, grammar, high school, commercial, music and art courses. Pupils who complete the grammar grades are awarded diplomas which admit them to any high school in the state. The courses in the high school are those of the usual college preparatory schools, normal training and commercial. The pre-college course qualifies the student to enter the State University or any standard college. The normal course is pursued during the junior and senior years and students who finish it receive a second grade certificate and after the completion of one year's successful teaching a first grade certificate will be issued to them without further examination. Commercial subjects may also be pursued during the last two years and while this course possesses all the advantages of a thorough business training, it affords the student a more liberal education than that received in the ordinary business college. A special commercial training is offered for those who wish to prepare themselves for a higher place in the world of finance. The course in music is under the able direction of competent teachers. Instruction in instrumental and vocal music is optional and is open to all students, provided they can carry this extra work without detriment to their regular school work. A complete course in china painting and decorating is also offered while oil painting, water color, and charcoal and pastel are also taught. The enrollment for 1920, is one hundred and forty-seven day pupils and one hundred and four boarders representing the states of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas and Washington. During the past two years it has been found necessary to, limit the number of boarders because of limited accommodations. Owing to abnormal conditions resulting from the World War, it has been found impossible to begin the erection of the new building which has been planned but it is sincerely to be hoped that work on the contemplated new wing will soon be started. Since June, 1920, the Academy is supervised by Mother Gerard who succeeded Mother Henrietta, when the latter was removed to Columbus, Ohio. MRS. NELLIE HARVEY. -- More than casual distinction attaches to the personality and record of this woman, for though she is a recent citizen of Alliance, she came to Nebraska as a child in pioneer days and had to endure her share of the hardships that marked the stages of development and progress in this now favored commonwealth. She is a woman of keen business capacity, broad minded and is typical of the women of post war conditions, as she like the thousands of other ambitions and educated women of our broad land, are stepping in and filling important business positions. Mrs. Harvey was born in England, the daughter of Edward and Penelope (Ellisoan) Weston, both natives of the tight little island that has given to the United States the greatest proportion of our best settlers. She was the second in a family of five children born to her parents. The father emigrated from England to the United States in 1878, with the idea of becoming a farmer on the broad western plains. With this end in view he came to Nebraska, located on land where Orleans is now |
situated but after remaining a short time left as there was no timber to shelter stock and no available water. He changed the filing of his homestead, going about five miles northwest of the original allotment, to a farm lying along the bank of the Republican river, where he soon established his family and lived until his death seven years later. The widow left alone with a family of young children soon sold out and moved into the town of Orleans which had been established on the old Weston homestead. Even then the settlers of the village had to haul their supplies and provisions from Kearney or Red Cloud, the nearest towns of any size where merchandise could be purchased. The mother remained a short time, then taking her little family returned to the old home at South Killworth, England, as the burden of being both father, mother and provider of the family was proving too much for her fragile strength. Later the Weston family, because of Mrs. Westons failing health returned to Hastings, Nebraska. Mrs. Harvey attended the public schools in England and after she came to Hastings entered the high school, from which she graduated. In 1901 she came to Alliance, where she has since resided. On August 5, 1918, Nettie Weston was married to Joseph C. Harvey at Hot Springs, South Dakota. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Harvey managed the Silver Grill Cafe for about eight months but were made an attractive offer for the cafe business and sold out. June 18, 1920, they bought the fixtures for a cafe and rented the Vaughn building on Box Butte Avenue, and now are running a first class eating house. We predict for them a splendid business in the line as the cafe can seat over one hundred people. GEORGE J. HAND, M. D. -- For a period of sixteen years Dr. Hand has been established in the practice of his profession at Alliance and the unequivocal success which he has achieved in his exacting vocation fully attests to his high professional attainments and his faculty in the effective application of his technical knowledge. The doctor long controlled a substantial and representative practice and then took special courses in diseases of the eye, nose, throat and ear and now devotes his entire time to these specialties which gives him mostly office and hospital work, as he has many delicate and difficult operations. Dr. Hand commands high place in the popular confidence and esteem of the residents of the city and is essentially one of the representative members of the Box Butte County Medical Association. The doctor was born in Vermillion, South Dakota, August 2, 1875, the son of Redmond and Mary (Keough) Hand, the former a genial son of the Emerald Isle, born in County Roscommon, who came to the United States when a lad of ten years, when his parents emigrated to the new world that they and their children might take advantage of the great opportunities afforded the new settlers in our broad land. Mary Keough was a native of the Bay State, born in Lowell, where she spent her early life and was educated. After landing on our shores Redmond Hand came west to locate at Dubuque, Iowa, where he was married in 1861, and the same year went to Vermillion with his bride. They settled on a homestead where Mr. Hand placed the required improvements and proved up. Subsequently they moved into the town and for some years Mr. Hand ran a hotel and livery establishment, then opened a meat market. All of his ventures were proving profitable. In 1881 the town of Vermillion was practically wiped out by the great flood, when an ice gorge in the Missouri river broke and the water which had been held back by the ice dam, swept down stream carrying all before it. Mr. Hand lost practically everything he had as his hotel was landed on a sand bar three miles down stream from the townsite. Following this disaster he engaged in contracting and for nearly eight years was constructing grades for the new railroads that were creeping westward across the great plains. As a consequence of this George attended school in various towns along the new road, for the family was continually moving to keep up with the advancing construction crews. After finishing the grade schools Dr. Hand graduated from the high school at Hay Springs in 1897, then attended the Chadron Academy for a year. He had already decided upon a professional career but wished experience and also wanted to earn some money. When he was offered a school to teach he accepted and was a successful pedagogue until 1890, then entered the medical department of the Iowa State College. Three years later, in 1903, he won, by competitive examination, the undergraduate internship in the Iowa Homeopathic Hospital at the University of Iowa and a year later graduated with high honors and the degree of M. D. In October the doctor came to Alliance, opened an office and became established in medical practice, since which time he has continuously served the city and surrounding country. As a phy- |
sician and surgeon he soon won a high reputation for skill and successful operations and after enjoying a most gratifying general practice for several years he specialized in diseases of the head, throat and ears and now has a growing clientele along these lines. At the present time Dr. Hand maintains his office in the Imperial Theatre Building. He is a member of the Box Butte County Medical society, the Nebraska State Medical association and the American Medical Association and is United States Pension Examiner for his district. He is also physician on the county board of insanity. During the World War the doctor was a member of the Medical Advisory Board and at the present time is serving as city physician of Alliance. Dr. Hand is a widely read man not only along lines of his profession but keeps abreast of all movements of the day; he is progressive in his business and thoroughly believes in supporting every movement that tends to the development of the county and improvements of civic and communal affairs. In other words he is a "booster" for this section of the Panhandle. The doctor is a Mason and a member of the Country Club. HARRY A. DUBUQUE, the owner and manager of the Imperial theatre, the leading moving picture house of Alliance, is a man who during his business career has followed various occupations in several parts of the middle west as well as the Dominion of Canada. Since starting out in life independently he has been mill hand, foreman of a spinning mill, foreman of a milling machinery contruction (sic) party, barber, ranchman, member of the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police and now is in the moving picture business and in all his several fields of endeavor his versatility has assisted him to well deserved prosperity. He is a native of the Dominion of Canada, born September 21, 1880, at St. John, the son of Joseph and Elsie (Rainville) Dubuque, the father being a native of the same country. Harry was next to the youngest boy in a family of five children and when he was only two years old his father died, leaving the burden of supporting her little family to the mother. She had little means to earn money, removed to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. There Mrs. Dubuque and the oldest girl found employment in a cotton mill and managed in some way to keep the children with her. Child labor laws had not been passed at that time and young children were not prohibited from working as they are today, so when Harry was only six years old he too, went to work in the J. P. Coats thread mill, earning two and a half dollars a week. He worked nine months of the year and attended school three, so his education was not entirely neglected. He continued to work in the cotton mills and when only fifteen was promoted to the positions of foreman over nearly two hundred operatives, the youngest man to hold such a responsible position. He had not, however, gained it easily for he had worked hard, given study to the machinery used and won the promotion on pure merit. Three years later Mr. Dubuque was made a most attractive offer by the Whitesville Machine Company to go out on the road setting up cotton milling machinery as he had an exceptionally good understanding of the machines and the manner of their operation. Just three weeks after entering on the new work, the boy, for he was nothing more in years, was given charge of the men as foreman. While still working in the mill the young man began helping in a barber shop nights to earn a little more toward the upkeep of the home. He learned the barber trade in this manner and as the shop was mortgaged he bought it, cleared up the mortgage in less than a year and sold it at a profit of over seven hundred dollars. Soon after this he came west, locating at Leads, South Dakota, and opened a barber shop, but five months later disposed of it to go on a ranch but three weeks later left for Canada, where he joined the Northwest Mounted Police at Regina. He remained with this organization four months, but as the law provided that the personnel of the Royal Police must be British citizens and as Mr. Dubuque was not willing to give up his United States citizenship he bought his release for four hundred dollars and returned to Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Near that town he took a position as foreman of the Half Circle M ranch and remained four years and a half. On October 10, 1909, Mr. Dubuque was married at Belle Fourche to Miss Myrtle Pengree, who was born at Mitchell, South Dakota, where she was reared and later graduated from the Methodist high school. She was the daughter of Ira and Mary (Humphrey) Pengree, both natives of the buckeye state, the youngest in a family of seven children born to her parents. After spending more years on the ranch Mr. and Mrs. Dubuque came to Alliance in May, 1911. Mr. Dubuque looked the business situation over, believed he saw a fine opening in the moving picture theatre proposition so bought the Majestic which he at once remodel- |
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