Eugene L. Dimick. The vocation of writing and selling insurance had grown to enormous proportions during recent years, not entirely because the people have come to a realization of the necessity for protection, but also because of the men who are engaged in this line of endeavor, who are educating the general public in realizing the benefits accruing from insurance. To succeed in this line of business a man must possess certain qualities not found necessary in other avenues of business, including a thorough knowledge of all the angles of his vocation, a keen insight into human nature, have the faculty to put forth his facts and figures in a forcible and at the same time attractive way, and the ability to place his client’s insurance with a reliable company which will conserve the interests of the assured. Prominent among the men who are making the handling of insurance and loans their business in Southeastern Kansas, and who have won success in this difficult field, is found Eugene L. Dimick, of Chanute, whose long, active and honorable career had been featured by activities in various business enterprises.
Mr. Dimick was born at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, October 28, 1855, and is a son of A. S. and Emma M. (Levering) Dimick. The Dimick family was originally from England and was founded in this country during colonial days by two brothers, one of whom settled in Connecticut and the other in Massachusetts. Eugene L. Dimick is descended from the Massachusetts branch, as it was at Lester, in that state, that his grandfather, Jabez S. Dimick, was born in 1795. He was a manufacturer of woolen goods at Lester during a long period of years, but about the year 1868 retired from active pursuits and moved to Dixon, Illinois, where his death occurred in 1870. Mr. Dimick married Betsey G. Dunbar, who was born at Lester, Massachusetts, in 1796, and died at Dixon, Illinois, in 1890, and they became the parents of three children: Marshall D., who at the time of his death at Chicago was living in retirement; one daughter, who died young; and A. S.
A. S. Dimick was born in 1825, at Worcester, Massachusetts, and was reared and educated at that city, where he remained until reaching his majority. At that time he removed by stage-coach and the Erie Canal to Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, becoming a pioneer of that city, where he was married. Mr. Dimick had learned the shoemaking trade in his youth and became a dealer in boots and shoes, a business which he followed at Wilkes Barre until 1857, when he changed his residence and scene of business operations to Dixon, Illinois, there continuing in the same line of business until 1901 in which year he retired. Through industry, integrity and good business management he succeeded in amassing a comfortable property, and he is now in the enjoyment of the rewards that hard labor brings. Mr. Dimick is a republican and belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he had advanced to membership in the Knights Templar. Mr. Dimick married Miss Emma M. Levering, who was born at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, in 1833, and died at Dixon, Illinois, in March, 1915, and they became the parents of six children, as follows: Mary, widow of H. C. Burroughs, who was connected with the Oliver Powder Mills, at Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, until his death, Mrs. Burroughs now being a resident of Philadelphia, where she makes her home with her son, Alfred E., who is in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company; Eugene L., of this review; K. C., who from the time of his graduation from Cornell University until his death, in February, 1895, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was connected with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, with headquarters at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; F. C., of Dixon, Illinois, who, after serving for eighteen years as deputy county clerk, was elected in 1914 to the office of county clerk of Lee County, Illinois, on the republican ticket, and still retains that position; Annella L., who is unmarried and resided with her father; and Della M., the wife of Fred C. Lising, who for the past twenty years had been connected with the great Chicago merchants, Marshall Field & Company.
The early education of Eugene L. Dimick was secured in the public schools of Dixon, Illinois, to which city he had been taken as an infant. He was graduated from the high school there in 1872, and then entered Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, where he completed the sophomore year and then left to turn his attention to business affairs. Going to Chicago, he secured a position with what was then the largest heavy hardware and wagon and carriage wood stock firm in the world, that of Hall, Kimbark Company, where he was soon placed in charge of the wood department. Mr. Dimick remained with this firm from 1874 until 1877 and in the latter year returned to Dixon and made that city his headquarters while he traveled on the road in the interest of a boot and shoe firm, making various points throughout the states of Iowa and South Dakota and in Northern Illinois. In 1881 Mr. Dimick gave up traveling to engage in the grocery business at Dixon, but after two years removed to Hartington, Nebraska, although at that time there was no town there. He erected the first building at that point to be completed, and as he was forty miles in advance of the railroads it was necessary that the lumber for his store be hauled that distance by horse and wagon. After a few months he disposed of his mercantile interests and engaged in the real estate and loan business. The business prospered as the town was booming and values in realty were advancing, and in 1884 Mr. Dimick invested his capital in the First National Bank of Hartington, which he, with others, founded. He continued to be interested in this institution as long as he remained at Hartington, although from 1892 until 1902 he was also the directing head of a private bank, which also proved a success. In 1902, Mr. Dimick disposed of all his interests in Nebraska and came to Chanute, Kansas, where for four years he was interested in the oil and gas business. Subsequently, he turned his attention to the insurance and loan business, which he had developed to large and important proportions. He now represents all the leading companies and few men are better or more favorably known in insurance circles of this part of the state. His offices are located in the Barnes Building.
Mr. Dimick is the owner of his own residence, at 910 South Evergreen Avenue, as well as other real estate at Chanute and farm properties in Nebraska. A republican in politics, he is more of a business man than a politician, but had taken an interest in the success of his party, and his willingness to accept the duties of citizenship had been shown in two years of excellent work as a member of the city council. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and since coming to Chanute had served as a vestryman. Fraternally, Mr. Dimick belongs to Cedar Lodge, No. 103, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; Wakefield Chapter (Nebraska), Royal Arch Masons; Bloomfield (Nebraska) Commandery, Knights Templar; Chanute Lodge, No. 806, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Chanute Camp, No. 852, Modern Woodmen of America; and Chanute Camp, No. 63, Woodmen of the World.
Mr. Dimick was married in 1877, at Dixon, Illinois, to Miss Georgiana Z. Herrick, daughter of A. L. and Diana (Farr) Herrick, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. Herrick was well known in commercial circles of Dixon, where he was engaged in the harness supply business. Mr. and Mrs. Dimick have two children: Katherine D., a graduate of Hartington (Nebraska) High School, and of St. Mary’s Seminary, Faribault, Minnesota, and now the wife of L. K. Spielman, who is engaged in the real estate business and oil production at Chanute, with offices in the Barnes Building; and Alfred Eugene, a graduate of Chanute High School, who attended Ames College for two years and is now associated in business with his father. He married Ethel Grace Pike, who died February 15, 1916.