Omaha daily bee., 1914-11-24
HARRY P. DEUEL.,
PIONEER, is DEAD
Came to Omaha Long Before Civil
War, Lived in Same House for
Last Thirty.Five Years.
APoPLExY STROKE IS FATAL
Has Been Prominent I'm Railroad
and FratcrnaI Circles and Was
Mt One Time Register
of Deeds.

Harry Porter Deuel., Nebraska pioneer.
veteran railroad man and prominent TN
the business affairs OF Omaha for more
| than half a century. Is dead at his home,
| 1905 Dodge street where no resided for
| thirty-five years. lie lacked but
| few days of being Is years OF age. having
! been born December II. 1896, in GARRISON
Monroe county New York.
| Mr. Deuel. died some timo Sunday night
OF apoplexy. the fatal stroke having been
/ the third. lie sustained two light strokes
several years ago. When members Of
the family went to call him for break
fast he was dead his appearance indi-
! eating that no died while sleeping, OF, at
least without n struggle. II is uncertain
Just when the funeral will be held. but
Il will probably be Wednesday afternoon,
and will probably be In charge OF the
| Masons. no having been member OF the
Masonic lodge for years.
So far as appearances went, for his
age. MIR Deuel. was in perfect health. He
was on tho street Sunday and Sunday
| evening, and visited with several of his
| friends and neighbors who called. He il
survived by his wife. one son. Charles l..
Deuel., who is secretary of the McCord-
| Brady Wholesale Grocery company, two
grandchildren. two cousins, Mrs. Joseph
Redmsn and Mrs. e. =. Hanoy, besides
a nephew, Jay d. Foster OF the Foster
Barker company.
Born In New York.
While born in New York, with his par
ents. Mr., Deuel. came TO Illinois, where
he grew TO manhood where he received
his education at Pennington academy and
Lombard university at Galesburg, and
where he married Miss Jane Miller in
1868. To Mr.. and Mrs. Deuel., besides
their son. Charles TO them was born a
daughter, Miss Blanche who dAed in 1877
In the fall Of 1859. Harry Porter Deuel.
packed his belongings. left his young
wife with her parents. and at Peoria
boarded a steamboat for Omaha, then a
frontier town, but one that had attracted
some attention, 81 being the gateway to
the gold fields OF the west and an inn
portnnt station on the overland trail. The
travelling by boat was slow. and from st.
Louis up the river was filled with ice.
At ST. Joseph il was frozen over, and
from there to Omaha young Deuel. walked,
reaching Falls City late in November,
where he rcmtined a few weeks with an
uncle, John II. Porter, He then resumed
his walking and landed in Omaha.
Sells First Ticket Here.
Having faith in the future Of Omaha.
Deuel. returned to his uncle. whom he
induced to join him in business in Omaha.
He was without money, but his uncle
quickly discovered he was full of busI-
ness and supplied the cash. The two
men opened the commission and forward
Ing house OF Porter & Deuel., the junior
member having secured tho appointment
as agent for the Hannibal & 81. Joseph
railroad. that had Just been constructed
across Missouri. from st. Joseph to Han
nibal. In connection with this appoint
ment, he became the agent here for tho
Hannibal st. Joseph Packet company,
an organization that operated n line OF
boats between st. Louis and Omaha. The
following spring he sold the first ticket
ever bought out OF Omaha
Selling tickets and hustling freight was
rather slow work for Harry p. Deuel.,
80 in the spring OF 1860 he secured a po-
sition as head clerk on the steamer West
Wind, the speedlest boat on the river.
1t being able to make the round trip be-
tween Omaha and St. Joseph In five days.
1t was while head clerk upon this boat
that Mr.. Deuel. earned the reputation OF
being the best dressed man on the river.
He wore the regulation sailor cap,
blue broadcloth coat with brass buttons,
white duck pants and white ruffled shirt
Tho boat landing was In the vicinity OF
Douglas street and the Porter e. Deuel.
warehouse on the lots at Ninth and Far
nam streets where the NJ. r. Smith e.
Co. wholesale house now stands.
Represents All Roads.
Seine years later and after the Bur
llngton. Rock Island and Northwestern
built across Iowa and into Council Bluffs,
no became joint agent for tho companies
and handled the pool on both passenger
and freight business. Later he became
agent here for the Burlington. and sub
sequeDtly city passenger agent for the
Union Pacific. resigning In 1896 to again
go with the Burlington as superintendent
OF the station on Tenth street that was
built and completed at that time. He
remained with the Burlington until 1898.
when he resigned to accept the appoint
ment Of auditor of Douglas county, re-
signing this position in 1901 to accept the
office OF register of deeds, TO which he
had been elected. This last named office
he held until 1906. when his term ex-
pired and when he retired from active
work. He also served two terms as mem
Der Of the library board.
Prominent in secret society circles, Mr..
Deuel. was thirty-th degree Mason
He was the first grand high priest and
first grand commander of Nebraska
lodge No. l. He had passed all the Scot
fish Rite chairs was a member of
Tangier Temple. Mobiles Of the Mystic
Shrine and a prominent Elk.
At one time Mr.. Deuel. owned the west
sixty-six feet OF the ground on which
The Bee building stands. He sold the
property for N.4OO and was congratu-
lated upon receiving such high price
1t was in a house on this lot where he
and his wife lived several years after
coming to Omaha The house was built
OF cottonwood lumber and covered with
a cloth roof. At that time the location
was far out in the country. while the
Deuel. nelghbors were mostly wild ami
mails and Indians
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