Harry P. Deuel

Harry Porter Deuel (December 11, 1836 – November 23, 1914) was a prominent railroad man in Omaha, Nebraska. Over the course of his career Deuel was employed throughout the transportation sector in Omaha, working for the foremost Missouri River shipping company in Omaha during its early years. Later he worked for the Union Pacific and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroads, among others. He is the namesake of Deuel County, Nebraska. When he resigned from his last railroad job to become the Douglas County Registrar of Deeds, Deuel was the oldest railroad man in continuous service in Omaha, and was said to be one of the best known passenger men in the Western United States.

Biography Born in Clarkson, New York to Charles P. and Lucy H. (Porter) Deuel, young Harry's family moved to Farmington, Illinois, when he was a year old. His father, originally a cooper, became a farmer and sent his kids to public schools in the area. When he graduated from school Harry P. Deuel went to Lombard University in Galesburg, Illinois. He worked on the family farm until November 1859 when he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to work with his uncle, Judge John R. Porter, to run the Porter and Deuel Steamboat Agency, Forwarding and Commission Company.