Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III > Part 1

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Gc 978.6 St77m v. 3 1193842

M.L.

GENEALOG COLLECTION

ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01066 8793

MONTANA Its Story and Biography

A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL AND TERRITORIAL MONTANA AND THREE DECADES OF STATEHOOD

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF TOM STOUT

VOLUME III

- -

THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 1921

1193842

HISTORY OF MONTANA

HON. PARIS GIBSON. Among the state soldiers of Montana the name of Paris Gibson, who died De- cember 16, 1920, will always have a high and im- portant rank. His influence has been felt in the broad development of the state, though his chief and particular fame rests in his title as "Founder of Great Falls."

He was probably not the first to recognize the commercial possibilities of the Great Falls of the Missouri River, but his initiative and practical ex- perience in the use and development of water ·power enabled him to bring fantastic dreams down to the place of realized facts.

Mr. Gibson was a real American by inheritance as well as by the most exacting standards of modern times. He was born at Brownfield, Oxford County, Maine, July 1, 1830, a son of Abel and Ann (How- ard) Gibson. His first American ancestor, John Gibson, was born in England in 1601 and settled in Eastern Massachusetts in 1631. In the maternal line his ancestor James Howard was a resident of Massa- chusetts as early as 1643, and in the Howard line Senator Gibson was the grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, while his grandfather Gibson was a soldier in the French and Indian war.

Paris Gibson was liberally educated, attending the Fryburg Academy at Fryburg, Maine, and graduat- ing in 1851 from Bowdoin College in Maine. Just half a century later, in 1901, Bowdoin conferred upon him the honorary degree LL. D. He left col- lege to become a farmer, and enjoyed his first active participation in politics in his native state: In 1853 he was elected a member of the Maine Legislature.

In 1858 Paris Gibson came west and located at the chief industrial center of what was then the northwestern frontier, Minneapolis, or St. Anthony's Falls. Minnesota was still a territory. He was a resident of Minneapolis for over twenty years, and helped establish some of the earliest industries in that great city. In 1858, with William W. Eastman, he built the first merchant flour mill at Minneapolis, known as the Cataract Mill. In 1860 he also erected the first woolen mill, known as the North Star Woolen Mill. In succeeding years Paris Gibson saw Minneapolis become an important city and the great country around it developed agriculturally. In 1879 he came to Montana, locating at Fort Benton, where he engaged in the sheep business. Soon afterward he examined the territory around the confluence of two branches of the Missouri River, known then as the Great Falls of the Missouri. He possessed the technical understanding of water power development, and from his long residence at Minneapolis had gained the knowledge and the initiative to make use of the possibilities at the Falls in Montana. In 1884 he founded the City of Great Falls, and about that time he interested the late James J. Hill in the site. The City of Great Falls, like many other portions of the Northwest, owes much to the genius of the master railroad builder, but the presiding genius of Great Falls from the beginning was the veteran statesman and business man, Paris Gibson. In re- cent years Mr. Gibson suffered almost a complete loss of sight, but long before that misfortune inter-

vened he had the satisfaction of seeing a wonderful fruition to his early hopes and plans regarding Great Falls.

While Paris Gibson had been less of a politician than many men of smaller note in Montana, he enjoyed exceptional honors at the hands of his fellow citizens. He helped draw up the organic law of the state as a member of the first constitutional conven- tion of 1889. He served as a member of the Mon- tana Senate in 1891, and in 1901 was chosen United States Senator for the unexpired term of William A. Clark. This last honor was the more gratifying because he had never considered himself as a pos- sible candidate for the office. He served in the United States Senate until 1905. Senator Gibson was a democrat, and while a resident of Minneapolis was a member of the Church of the Redeemer, Uni- versalist, and at Great Falls a member of the Uni- tarian Church.

August 23, 1858, at Brownfield, Maine, he mar- ried Valeria Goodenon Sweat, daughter of Jesse and Valeria Sweat. She was born in 1838 and died, at Great Falls August 20, 1900. To their marriage were born four children. The two surviving sons are Philip and Theodore. Philip married Mary Douglas August 9, 1882, while Theodore married Mary Johnson April 9, 1888.

EDWIN LLOYD KIMBALL, who is a veteran of the World war, has for several years been identified with Montana, and is branch manager for the Rog- ers-Templeton Lumber Company.

Mr. Kimball was born at Melrose, Wisconsin, June 12, 1895. His paternal ancestors were colonial settlers from England, first locating in Boston and afterward in the State of Maine. His grandfather, Albert Kimball, was born at Quincy, Illinois, in 1843, was reared in that city, and became an early settler at Neilsville, Wisconsin. For several years he was a farmer and later served as postmaster and otherwise was prominent in the civic and political life of the community. He was a veteran of the Union army during the Civil war. He died at Neilsville in 1910.

Ed Kimball, father of Edwin Lloyd, was born at Neilsville, Wisconsin, in 1866, and was reared and married there. After his marriage he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and the greater part of his active life was spent in the service of the St. Paul, Minne- apolis & Omaha Railway. After 1900 his headquar- ters were at Washburn, Wisconsin, where he died in 1904. He was a railway conductor for many years and a member of the Order of Railway Con- ductors. Politically he was a republican and was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Ed Kimball married Miss Maggie Brule, who was born near Montreal, Canada, in 1868, and died at St. Paul in 1898. She was the mother of two children: Clare and Edwin. The former is the wife of George F. McDonald, an employe at the State Capitol at St. Paul, Minnesota.

Edwin Lloyd Kimball was three years old when his mother died and nine at the death of his fathert He was reared to the age of fifteen by his grand-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

parents at Neilsville, Wisconsin, and from the age of fifteen to seventeen lived with his uncle, W. Scott Davis. He attended the high school at Neilsville, graduating in 1912. After leaving school he worked for six months on a farm near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after which he was in the employ of the Goodyear Tire Company at San Francisco until February, 1915, then spent a short time at Albu- querque, New Mexico, and returned to Neilsville, Wisconsin, where he was in the service of the Wis- consin Bell Telephone Company until the winter of 1916. For about a year he was with the Bulletin Publishing Company at St. Paul, and then with the St. Paul branch of the Illinois Steel Company until April, 1917. Mr. Kimball made his first visit to Montana in the spring of 1917, and was on the Great Falls Tribune until he enlisted.

Mr. Kimball was in the aviation service, volun- teering in October, 1917. He received his pre- liminary training at Fort George Wright in Wash- ington, and went overseas in March, 1918, having foreign duty until December, 1918. He was a mem- ber of the Three Hundred and Seventy-Eighth Aero Squadron. He was mustered out December 27, 1918, and after a brief visit to St. Paul returned to Great Falls, Montana, where he formed his first connection with the Rogers-Templeton Lumber Company. Be- ginning as yard man, he was sent as manager of the yards at Ryegate, Montana, June 6, 1919, and February 1, 1920, was given the management of the company's business at Hedgesville.

Mr. Kimball, who is unmarried, is an independent in politics, a member of the Presbyterian Church, the American Legion, and is affiliated with Ryegate Lodge No. 101, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.

MICHAEL J. RYAN. As far back as there is any record of civilized people those who have ministered to the comfort of the traveling public have re- ceived consideration, but in later days they have become even more prominent because of the wide acquaintance they enjoy and the influence they have upon the actions of those with whom they are con- stantly brought into contact. In order to succeed these men are obliged to understand human nature and the motives which influence their guests; they have to be, themselves, genial and companionable. If they are not excellent buyers and managers the upkeep will soon exceed the receipts, and no busi- ness conducted at a loss can continue for long, so that. taking everything into consideration it is easy to understand why the proprietor of a hotel is a very representative citizen and prominent man, and why his opinions are held in such high regard. One of the men who is well known all through the Smith River Valley as well as the state itself is Michael J. Ryan, the genial host of the Ringling Hotel, who is also the founder of the Village of Ringling, owner of some of the leading places of amusement here, and a landowner of more than ordinary importance.

Michael J. Ryan was born in County Limerick at the Town of Lisnagry, Ireland, on December 10, 1880, a son of Jeremiah Ryan, born at Newport, County Tipperary Ireland, in 1838, who died at Lisnagry, County Limerick, Ireland, in 1882. All of his life he was engaged in farming. In politics he was a liberal. The Roman Catholic Church held his mem- bership and he was a devout Christian. Jeremiah Ryan was married in County Limerick, Ireland, to Catherine Hall, born at Lisnagry, County Limerick, in 1843. She died at Lisnagry, Ireland, in February, 1906, having survived her husband for many years. Their children were as follows: Thomas, who re- sides at Lisnagry, Ireland, is engaged in farming ; George, who resides in Ohio, is clerking, and Michael

J., who was the youngest born. Mrs. Ryan was the daughter of Thomas Hall, born at Lisnagry, Ire- land, in 1781, who died there in 1883, having been a farmer there all of his active years. For 500 years the Halls lived on the same farm on which he and Mrs. Ryan were born, and were engaged in cultivat- ing the same land on which he made his living.

Growing up at Lisnagry, Michael J. Ryan at- tended the national schools there and the Christian Brothers School at Limerick, Ireland, and the Man- chester Technical School at Manchester, England, which he left in 1902 and began working in an ana- lytical establishment at Manchester, later being sent out by it to travel through the country districts of England and test the milk for the farmers.

In 1909 Mr. Ryan came to the United States, landing at New York City, New York, and he took out his first papers seventy-six hours after landing, probably the only case on record of this kind. Leav- ing New York City Mr. Ryan came West and located at Dorsey, Montana, and worked for his uncle, George Hall, a rancher of that district. It had not been Mr. Ryan's intention to come to this country to continue an employe, and in 1910 he took up a homestead of 160 acres, the present site of Ringling. For the subsequent six years he lived on this ranch, and in the meanwhile founded Ringling on a portion of it, erected his hotel, which he has made into the leading one in this section of Meagher County. He owns a pool and billiard hall and a moving picture theater, both of which he keeps up to standard in every respect, believing in furnishing clean and modern places of amusement for the people at a moderate price. It was Mr. Ryan who erected the lighting plant to furnish light to the Hall Addition, which is located on the north side of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad tracks, and comprises about one-half of the town. As a member of the Ringling Commercial Club and of its executive com- mittee, he is continuing his public-spirited efforts in behalf of the place, and he has been very active in arousing interest and securing the establishment of the church parish, for he is a devout Roman Cath- olic. In later years he has bought other ranch prop- erty and now owns a ranch four miles south of Ringling, as the whole of the north side and a por- tion of the south side occupy the site of the original one.

On June 28, 1914, Mr. Ryan was married at Louis- ville, Kentucky, to Miss Katherine D. McGrath, a daughter of J. J. and Mary McGrath, who are still residents of Louisville, where Mr. McGrath is man- aging a hotel. Mrs. Ryan is a talented musician and is a graduate of the Louisville Conservatory of Music in both vocal and instrumental music. Her remark- able abilities have attracted considerable attention and afford genuine pleasure to music lovers in her neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have one daugh- ter, Katherine, who was born on May 3, 1915.

There are some who claim that Mr. Ryan's re- markable progress is the result of luck, but those who understand these things better know that this is not true. Many have come to this and other portions of Montana and have been content to re- main ranchers, or who have not had the ability or ambition to branch out. Not so Mr. Ryan, for he is of a different caliber. Each act of his has been a step forward toward a definite goal, and not one has been consummated without careful consideration. He has possessed the grit, the ambition, the fore- sight and the vision to promulgate and carry out to a successful completion plans which would have staggered any ordinary person. When his career is reviewed it is difficult to realize that a man who has just rounded his second score of years has

O.W.M. Comwill

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

managed to crowd into this brief period so much intelligent and constructive effort, and it can only be understood when the character of the man is studied. Meagher County is proud of him, Ringling intends to keep him, and Montana has no finer example of an upright, dependable and efficient builder of communities and business interests than he.

ODELL W. McCONNELL. In addition to being one of the leading attorneys of the state, Odell W. Mc- Connell is closely identified with many of the cor- porate and business interests of Montana and occu- pies an enviable position in legal and business circles. He is a son of the late Judge Newton W. McCon- nell, ex-chief justice of Montana Territory.

Odell W. McConnell was born at Hartsville, Ten- nessee, July 4, 1868, and was nineteen years of age when his father came to Montana. He was edu- cated at Hartsville in the Masonic Institute and from there entered Vanderbilt University at Nash- ville, Tennessee, graduating with the degree of A. B. in 1890, and with the degree of LL. B. in the law department in June, 1891.

Mr. McConnell began practice at Helena in 1891, and five years later became an active partner with his father. For several years he handled a general civil and criminal practice, but more and more his time and abilities have been taken up with corpora- tion law. His eminence in that field is indicated by the fact that he is vice president and general coun- sel for the Helena Light and Railway Company, general counsel and director of the Montana Life Insurance Company, general counsel and director of the Conrad Trust & Savings Bank, general counsel and director of the Western Accident & Indemnity Company, and a director of several Montana banks.

Mr. McConnell, since he began practice in 1891, has continuously occupied the first numbered suite in the Union Bank Building. He served as prose- cuting attorney of Lewis and Clark County two terms, and at different times has lent his influence and leadership to local and state affairs. He is a member of the County and State Bar associations, is a former trustee of the First Presbyterian Church of Helena, served as president of the Montana Club in 1918-19, is a member of the Helena Country Club, and is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

Mr. McConnell owns one of the most perfectly appointed residences at Helena, 427 Lawrence Street. He married at Gallatin, Tennessee, October 28, 1891, Miss Annie Seay, daughter of Judge George E. and Mary E. (Lauderdale) Seay. Her parents reside at Dallas, Texas. Her father, now retired, was a distinguished Tennessee lawyer and for twenty years was chancellor of the Chancery Courts in his home state. Mrs. McConnell is a graduate of Ward's Seminary, one of the finest schools for girls in the South, at Nashville. Mr. and Mrs. McCon- nell have two children, Clara and Odell S. The former is a graduate of the Finch School of New York City, and is now the wife of Adam G. Thom- son, a grain merchant at Duluth, Minnesota. They have one child, Alexander D., born in August, 1919. Odell S. McConnell graduated from Yale University in 1919, with the degree of A. B. and is now pre- paring for a legal career as a student in Harvard University Law School.

VERNE THEO HOVEY. Meagher County's inter- ests are well represented in the pages of the Ringling Independent, owned and published by Verne Theo Hovey, one of the enterprising young

journalists of this part of Montana, who has earned his right to be numbered among the efficient mem- bers of the Fourth Estate through his special talent for the work and his efficiency. He comes of an old American family, founded in New England dur- ing the colonial epoch.

Verne Theo Hovey was born in Hancock County, Iowa, on March 9, 1894, a son of Charles B. Hovey, whose birth took place at Spencer, Iowa, in 1868. He became a farmer of Hancock County, Iowa, later moving to Wright County, Iowa, and in 1900 he came West to North Dakota and homesteaded. After he had proved up his property he sold it, and in 1902 came to Montana, where he became a rancher in the neighborhood of Culbertson, living on his property until 1918, when he located at Libby, Montana, and there he is now in business as a contractor and builder. He had learned the car- penter trade in young manhood, so that he is able to carry it on from a practical standpoint. In his political belief he is a republican, while his religious convictions make him a Methodist. At one time he belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America, but he no longer maintains this membership.

Charles B. Hovey was married in Wright County, Iowa, to Minnie Smith, born in Tama County, Iowa, in 1877, a daughter of William Gasper Smith, born in Michigan in 1837. He was married in Iowa and was a pioneer farmer of Tama County, later moving to Wright County, Iowa. Still later he came West to North Dakota, and finally to Libby, Montana, where he lived in retirement until his death on December 9, 1919. During the war between the states he enlisted, in 1861, and served for two years, when he contracted chronic diarrhoea and because of this he was mustered out of the service and honorably discharged. Charles B. Hovey and his wife became the parents of the following chil- dren: Charles Jasper, who died at Culbertson, Montana, at the age of twenty-two years and one month, was at that time foreman in a print shop; Verne Theo, who was second in order of birth; Luona Ethel, who married Gleason Pilcher, formerly a rancher, but now an employe of the lumber mills of Libby, Montana; Bonnie, who married Floyd Thi- hodeau, an employe of the lumber mills of Libby, Montana; Alvin Smith, who is with his parents at Libby, Montana; and Raphael, who is also with his parents.

Verne Theo Hovey attended the rural schools of what was then Valley County, but is now Roosevelt County, Montana, and grew up on his father's farm, although when only ten years old he was appren- ticed to the Culbertson Searchlight, and remained with that newspaper for six months, and then went with the Culbertson Republican, and re- mained with it for three years. He completed his apprenticeship with the Glasgow Currier, and then went as an all around journeyman printer with the Malta Call and remained for four months. Mr. Hovey was then made foreman of the Big Sandy Sentinel, and held that position for eleven months, when, on May 13, 1918, he became editor and business manager of the newspaper at Ryegate. On' June 1, 1919, he located at Ringling and estab- lished the Ringling Independent, his first issue bearing the date of June 19, 1919. This paper is absolutely independent in politics, and its policy is to foster real Americanism and educate the people away from radicalism of all kinds, especially that which seems to dominate some factions in North Dakota. Although still a new organ, the paper has a large circulation in Meagher and surrounding counties, and is very popular with the more in- telligent classes. Mr. Hovey belongs to the Metho-

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dist Episcopal Church. He takes an interest i church and civic affairs, for he has located here permanently and owns his plant and office, located on Spencer Avenue.

In 1916 Mr. Hovey was married at Culbertson, Montana, to Miss Grace I. Gregory, born at Minneapolis, Minnesota, a daughter of A. I. Gregory, now a resident of Ryegate, Montana. Mr. Gregory was born at Rockford, Illinois, in 1850, but moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and there worked as a painter and decorator. In July, 1910, he came to Bainville, Montana, and until 1918 was engaged in ranching there, but in the latter year retired and located at Ryegate. He married Harriet Levett, born at Rockford, Illinois, in 1864, who died at Bainville, Montana, on October 23, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Hovey have two children, namely: Aloa Har- riet, who was born in August, 1917; and LeRoy Jasper, who was born October 7, 1919.

GEORGE THORSON. Certain qualifications are de- manded of the men who are selected to manage the affairs of large corporations, for without them it is recognized that success will not follow their efforts no matter how conscientious or willing they may be. They must be good business men, dependable and efficient, with a knowledge of their line and human nature, and possess that certain something, intangible though it may be, which enables them to inspire others with some of their own enthusiasm. The officials of the Intermountain Milling Company, with headquarters at Townsend, feel that the man- ager of their plant, George Thorson, does have these and other qualifications which make him the right man for the position, and certainly his conduct of the duties pertaining to it bears out this con- tention.

George Thorson was born in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, on February 21, 1878, a son of Theodore Thorson, who was born in New York City, New York, in 1845. When his parents moved to Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Thorson was still a small boy, and he was reared in Wisconsin and there received his educational and practical train- ing. After his marriage he became a pioneer farmer of Chippewa County, and when he retired he moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where he is still residing. In politics he is a republican.

Theodore Thorson was married in Wisconsin, his wife having been born near New York City, and they became the parents of the following children: Thomas, who resides' at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is foreman for a lumber company; George, who was second in order of birth; Elizabeth, who died un- married at the age of twenty-two years; and August M., who is an engineer for the Great Northern Rail- road, lives at Whitefish, Montana.

George Thorson attended the rural schools of Chippewa County, and was reared on his father's farm, where he learned lessons of industry and thrift he has never forgotten. When he was sixteen years old he began to be self-supporting by working in a grain elevator at Chippewa Falls, and remained there for two years. Mr. Thorson then took a position with the Northern Grain Company at Eau Claire, Wisconsin, starting at the bottom and work- ing up through several positions to that of fore- man. He then became a salesman for the Wash- .burn Crosby Company, flour millers of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and continued with that corporation until 1917, when he came to Townsend to become manager of the Intermountain Milling Company. The capacity of the mills are 250 pounds of flour per day, and an excellent grade of flour is pro- duced. The officers of this company are: G. W.

Meyers, president ; W. S. Thompson, vice president ; Fred W. Schmitz, secretary and treasurer; and George Thorson, manager. The mills are located along the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks.

Mr. Thorson is a republican, but has never had any desire to enter politics. A Mason, he belongs to Eau Claire Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Eau Claire Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Eau Claire Council, Royal and Select Masters ; Helena Consistory No. 3, Scottish Rite; and he is also a member of Eau Claire Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Eau Claire Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 1

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144