A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 109

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

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HIRAM N. GILMORE. One of the reasons why so many men who have had educational and other ad- vantages meet with failure in establishing themselves in business is a lack of courage and a want of per- sonal enterprise. These qualities are absolutely neces- sary to those who would become men of consequence in any section and particularly so in Montana. This is a state of vast opportunities, but big men are re- quired, those whose courage is equal to undertaking great enterprises and whose energy can carry them to the successful conclusion which their foresight enabled them to see from afar. These men evidently place no limit to the horizon of their endeavor. Arkansas has sent such men to Montana, and an example is found in Hiram N. Gilmore, who came to Miles City in 1882.

Hiram N. Gilmore was born May 16, 1857, near Little Rock, Arkansas, and is a son of Daniel and Mary Gilmore. The former was born in 1807, at Derry, New Hampshire, and died in Illinois, in 1883. The latter was born at Shelbyville, Tennessee, and died during the childhood of her son, Hiram N. Of the five children of the family he and his sister Alice are the only survivors. In 1834 Daniel Gilmore moved to Arkansas and was the first man to engage in manu- facturing the cotton he raised by slave labor on his plantations into cloth in that section. Subsequently he freed his slaves and in 1864 removed to McLean county, Illinois, where he engaged in agricultural pur- suits during the rest of his active life.

Hiram N. Gilmore was seven years of age when his father moved to Illinois and he attended school in McLean county and also was a student in the North- western University, Chicago. He began his own busi- ness life when twenty years of age, going then into the stock business, not only as a dealer but as a feeder and breeder and at the same time carried on extensive farming. In 1882 he closed out his interests in Illinois and came to Miles City, Montana, his former success making him feel confident of still greater returns with wider opportunities. Here he went into the business on a large scale, acquiring 4,000 acres of land and stocking it with sheep, cattle and horses. Mr. Gilmore built his first irrigation ditch in 1893 and now has 1,000 acres well irrigated, and has since completed what is considered a notable piece of engineering. This is known as the Little Dry Canal Reservoir and Ditch, . which was completed in 1907. It extends a distance of twelve miles and it is by far the largest undertaking of its kind in this part of Montana that has been financed and projected by one man.

Mr. Gilmore was married in 1881 to Miss Mary Marifield, who was born in McLean county, Illinois, and they have five children, namely: Ralph, Eleanor, Olive, Alice and Hiram R. Mr. Gilmore is a member of Miles City Lodge No. 537, Protective Order of Elks. He is independent in his political views, but

may be counted on to be ranged with the best class of citizens when measures of moment are to be decided which are intended to work for the betterment of Montana and her people.

HOWARD B. WILEY. Holding prestige as cashier of the First National Bank of Miles City, Howard B. Wiley has attained a prominent place among the men in whose care the financial interests of the state have been placed, and has so conducted his own affairs and those of the institution that he has won the uni- versal confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. Mr. Wiley is a member of an old New England family which numbers among its members, those whose an- . cestors fought in the Revolutionary war, and was born May 24, 1859, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a son of Abraham S. and Susan E. (Brewer) Wiley. His pa- ternal grandfather was the first treasurer of the old Fitchburg Railroad, while on the maternal side his grandfather was a wholesale druggist in Boston.

Abraham S. Wiley was born in Boston, in 1833, and was educated in the schools of that city. He was for many years engaged in a wholesale and retail drug business in Boston, but in 1874 removed to Detroit, Michigan, and interested himself in the manufacture of safes, as vice-president of the Detroit Safe Com- pany. In 1892 he came to Montana, and during the following year engaged in sheep raising with his son. Howard B., near Ekalaka, in Custer county, and con- tinued to follow that same line until his death, Decem- ber 13, 1908. He was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and in political matters was a Republican. He and his wife, who survives him and makes her home in Los Angeles, California, had a family of seven children, of whom three are now living; Howard B., Bertha and Agnes.

Howard B. Wiley commenced his education in Chauncy Hall, Boston, this being supplemented by attendance at high school in Detroit. When he was . only sixteen years of age he commenced work as a bookkeeper with a wholesale dry goods firm in Detroit, continuing with this firm from 1876 to 1880, and rising to the position of cashier. In the latter year he removed to Fargo, North Dakota, where he resided until April, 1882, at which time he came to Miles City. He con- tinued overland by stage to Billings, where he worked as a bookkeeper two years and two months, subsequent- ly going to Greenhorn Gulch as bookkeeper for a rail- road contracting firm on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. He returned to Billings in the summer of 1883, in the fall of which year he became identified with the First National Bank of Billings in the capacity of bookkeeper. In January, 1884, Mr. Wiley returned to Miles City, to become assistant cashier of the Stock Growers National Bank, but in July, 1886, left the employ of that institution to accept a like position with the First National Bank. Since 1890 he has been cashier of this bank, one of the strongest financial institutions of Custer county, a statement of which, as given December 5, 1911, show- ing the affairs to be in excellent condition. Loans and discounts are given as $1,707,556.79; United States bonds, $156,000.00; banking house, $93,886.33; and cash and exchange, $580,416.80. The capital is $150,- 000.00; surplus and profits, $271,641.12; circulation, $146,900.00; and deposits, $1,969,318.80. As early as 1887 Mr. Wiley was elected to the office of city treas- urer, and so well did he manage the affairs of that position that in 1888 he was chosen mayor, in which capacity he acted ably for one term, giving his city an excellent administration. He was one of the seven founders of the Miles City Club, in 1884, and its pres- ent president; has been president of the Chamber of Commerce which office he still holds: also president of the Custer County Building Association, a flourish- ing organization; and he belongs to Yellowstone Lodge,

Grabow

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No. 26, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master ; and Miles City Lodge, No. 537, B. P. O. E. In politi- cal matters he is a Republican. Mr. Wiley is an enthusiastic huntsman, and various trophies of the chase adorn the walls of his comfortable residence in Miles City

On May 15, 1889, Mr. Wiley was married to Miss Jennie L. Hodges, who was born at Richmond, Ver- mont, daughter of Julius Hodges. Two children have been born to them: Russell B., born in 1892, who se- cured a high school education in Detroit, Michigan; and Arthur W., born in 1899, and now attending school in Miles City. An excellent business man, with a deep and comprehensive knowledge of financial conditions, a citizen who considers it his duty to advance the best interests of his community, and a man whose popularity has been proved on numerous occasions, Mr. Wiley maintains the respect of his fellow men to a marked degree, and may be well numbered among the representative and influential citizens of Custer county.

WILLIAM GRABOW. Those travelers whose duties call them to Livingston, Montana, will usually find them- selves directed to the Grabow Hotel, one of the finest hostelries in the state, the proprietor of which, William Grabow, has been prominently identified with business, social and political activities of this section for more than thirty years. Born in Mecklenburg, Germany, August 16, 1850, the youngest of a family of twelve children, of whom three are now living, he lost his par- ents when a mere child. "He was reared on the farm of his father, who also held the office of public administra- tor, and was educated in the common schools and by a private tutor. In 1877 Mr. Grabow came to the United States on a sailing vessel, and after spending a short time in New York City, made his way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was employed for two years by the Standard Oil Company. He next removed with a colony of Germans to Glenullin, Morton county, North Dakota, where he took up a homestead and engaged in farming until 1882, then selling his interests and com- ing to Livingston.

Mr. Grabow accepted whatever opportunities lay open before him in the way of employment during the first few years of his residence here, being connected with a bottling company, later seeing service as an employe of the Northern Pacific Railroad, subsequently being engaged in putting up hay in the Gallatin valley and farming in Park county on the Shields river, and finally engaging in the retail liquor business, which occupied his attention until 1911. In that year he moved into his modern hotel building, which is fitted with the finest equipment, with hot and cold water in every room, European cafe in connection, and every known convenience for the comfort of his guests. This has become one of the most popular and largely patron- ized houses in this part of the state, and owes its success directly to Mr. Grabow's able management. Always of a progressive and enterprising nature, he has shown himself a master hand in organization, being one of the founders of the Livingston Flour Milling Company, of which he is secretary, one of the first stockholders in the First State Bank of Livingston, and one of those who introduced the manufacture of brick as an industry in Livingston. Fraternal matters have occupied a large part of his time and attention, and he was one of the organizers of the Sons of Her- mann, of which he was the first secretary, and a mem- ber of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Politically a Democrat, his popularity was shown when he was elected alderman from the First ward.

On September 2, 1892, Mr. Grabow was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Burmeister, who was born in Germany, and to this union there have been born five children: Edward, William, Emma, Adolph

and Harry. Mr. Grabow has been successful in his business enterprises because he possesses the qualities which bring success,-good judgment, business faculty, a high sense of honor and a just appreciation of the rights of others. During his long residence in Liv- ingston he has gained a wide acquaintance, among which he numbers numerous warm friends.

JOHN W. NEWTON. Years ago when such a thing as fences were unheard of in the virgin western states, the ranchmen, the big cattle kings, ruled the country. All the life of the plains radiated around them and their homes. Wealthy and powerful, they held undis- puted right over the thousands of miles of ranges. Since that time, with the slow approach of settlers, of fences, of railroads, of towns, their domain has been forced into smaller and smaller limits until, though still retain- ing the wealth of the earlier days, they have had to ac- commodate themselves to other conditions, and if they were to hold their prestige, to attain prominence in the ways which the modern community offers. Such a man is John W. Newton of Roundup, Montana. Once a great cattle king, he was able, when the advance agents of civilization appropriated his ranges, to turn his talents to other directions and to become as prominent a man among a people of tamer pursuits as he used to be among their forerunners.

Mr. Newton's father, Sylvester S. Newton, was born in New York, but moved to Illinois as a young man. After several years' residence there he moved on to Wyoming where he engaged in business as a farmer and stockraiser. He served in the Union army at the time of the Civil war as the captain of a company, and took part in many engagements, distinguishing him- self . to such an extent that at the end of the war he was promoted to provost marshal. Although an active politician, he also took an intense interest in the church. He died in 1909 at the age of eighty-six, and was buried in Cody, Wyoming. His wife, Eliza Stratton, whom he married in Illinois and who is now living in Cody, was the first white child born in Bureau county, Illinois. They had nine children who are scattered over several states, of whom John W. was the second child and the oldest son.

John W. Newton was born in Princeton, Bureau county, Illinois, August 24, 1853, and lived there until he was about twenty-seven years old. He then started west intending to go to Montana. He stopped in Iowa for three years, however, and it was two years more be- fore he finally reached Montana. During his residence in Iowa he engaged in the stock business, an occupation that had come to him partly by chance. When his father entered the army it was necessary that he, as the eldest boy, should take charge of the family. This necessitated his leaving the public school, which he had been attend- ing, and going to work. He took the first position that was offered him, which happened to be that of cattle buy- er for a butchering firm. Thus on his arrival in Iowa he took up the work that he knew best. While in the latter state he broke a record that has never been equaled since. He shipped one hundred and eight cars of stock in one year and received one thousand dollars in rebate from the Burlington railroad.

From Iowa he came on to Montana with a herd of cat- tle, reaching the latter state in October, 1885. The win- ters of 1886 and 1887 were severe, and every one of his cattle froze to death. To make matters worse the Indians stole all his horses. He was soon able to re- trieve his fortunes, however, so that he lost no faith in the promises which Montana has always held out to the younger generation. He settled in the Musselshell val- ley at the time, and has never moved since. Besides his stock and ranching interests, he conducts many other enterprises, and is one of the most influential business men in Roundup. He is president of the Newton Hardware company and of the Newton Lum-

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ber Company; was one of the original organizers and the first president of the Citizens State Bank, and is still interested in it.

Mr. Newton was the first mayor of Roundup and served two terms in that office. He has been city treas- urer, and has also been connected with the school board. Although he has taken little active part in his party, he is so influential as a Republican, that he has already been mentioned for various political offices, and will probably be asked to accept one of them in the near fu- ture. He is one of the directors of the Commercial club, and is also a member of the Pioneer club and the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Newton was married in 1877 in Bureau county, Illinois, to Marian A. Dungan, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Dungan of Bureau county, and they be- came the parents of six children, four boys and two girls. Ray and Wesley are still at home. Ethel is the wife of George Smith and lives near Roundup, and Marie is married to Herman Wyman, of Billings. Parker L. and Hawley H. are both married, and live at or near Roundup. Mr. and Mrs. Newton attend the Methodist church, the latter being an active worker of the Ladies' Aid Society. Mr. and Mrs. Newton have one of the most beautiful homes in the Musselshell valley.

JOHN KILLOM. The duties and responsibilities rest- ing on the shoulders of those who occupy the office of sheriff are of such a nature as to make it necessary that only men of the utmost courage, self-reliance and integrity be chosen to hold such a position. The old days of the open range, the wide-open mining camps and the lawlessness of the frontier have passed, but there is still plenty of arduous, dangerous work to be found by the alert and conscientious representative of law and order, and for this reason Park county may be congratulated that it has for its sheriff such an efficient official as John Killom. Mr. Killom was born at Met- tlebridge, England, April 3, 1868, and is a son of Peter and Sarah (Storrer) Killom.

Peter Killom was born in Ireland, but as a young man went to England, there followed mining and farming until 1869, when he came to the United States. First settling in Ohio, he followed the same occupations until 1882, and then removed to Butte, Montana, where he was for one year a contractor in copper mining properties, and finally settled in Chestnut, Gallatin county, where after two years of coal contracting and farming, he died at the age of forty-five years. His wife, to whom he was married in England, passed away in 1899, at the age of fifty-two years, having been the mother of eight children, as follows: George S., born in England, and now living in Carbon county, Montana; John; Martha, born in Ohio, now the wife of F. C. Sumner, of Park county, Montana; James, living in Park county; Joseph, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Peter and William, who are resi-, dents of Park county; and Katherine, who died at the age of seventeen years.

John Killom was one year old when he was brought to the United States, and his education was secured in the public schools of Ohio and Missouri, and a night school in Bozeman, Montana. When he had completed, his educational training. he became a cowboy, at which he worked two years, then engaging in the stock busi- ness, in which he has continued since 1895. He has a fine property located near Clyde Park, Montana, where his home is situated, and there raises blooded cattle and horses for the eastern markets, and each year has seen his operations extending in scope. In 1905 he served as deputy sheriff of Park county, and in November, 1910, became the candidate on the Demo- cratic ticket for the position of sheriff, being elected by a handsome majority and was re-elected November 5, 1912. He has proven that the voters of the county

made no mistake in choosing him for this responsible office, and in the discharge of his duties has made a record that has won the unqualified approval of Park county's citizens. Fraternally, he is connected with the Order of the Moose, and Livingston lodge, B. P. O. E.

On October 17, 1891, Mr. Killom was married to Miss Ellen Lewis, oldest of the seven children of Robert and Harriet (Cassel) Lewis, the former a native of Wales and the latter of England. Mr. Lewis came to the United States in 1882, bringing his family to Colorado, and subsequently moved to Montana, where he was engaged in mining until 1912, agricul- tural pursuits having engrossed his attention since that. time. Mr. and Mrs. Killom have been the par- ents of four children: George L., Ella, John and Jennie.

. HENRY FRANK. In perpetuating, in words more en- during than monuments of brass or stone, the memory of men of prominence whose active and valuable lives have been passed in Helena, the pages of this volume would be incomplete were mention not made of Henry Frank, who during a long and useful career has done much to build up the industrial importance of Living- ston. Coming to this country as a young German immigrant, wtih little capital save an active, energetic mind and a willingness to do well whatever occupation lay before him, he has so conducted his life as to build up a flourishing business and to gain and retain the high regard of his fellow men. Mr. Frank was born in Posen, Germany, May 28, 1843, and is a son of Moses and Pauline (Rosenbaum) Frank, also natives of Posen.

Moses Frank was born in 1806 and for many years was engaged in a tailoring business at Murowana Goslin, Province of Posen, Germany, where his death occurred at the age of sixty-nine years, while his wife passed away in 1876, at the age of seventy years. Of their six children, three are living: Henry; Mena, the wife of Jacob Lachinski; and Jennie, the widow of Mr. Silverman. After securing an education in the schools of his native locality, Henry Frank learned the trade of tailor in the shop of his father, and on attaining his majority joined the German army, as is customary with the youth of that country. He served as a soldier for two years and eleven months, and in 1864 decided to try his fortunes in the United States, subsequently landing in New York City in November of that year. He spent but a short time in the metropolis, however, but removed to Yonkers, New York, and was there about six months. He next located in Natchez, Mis- sissippi, and in the fall of 1866 went up the river to St. Louis, Missouri, where he remained until the spring of 1867, then coming up the Missouri river on the steamer Silver Lake No. 4 to Fort Benton. At that point he worked at his trade from July 8, 1867, until March 12, 1868, and on the latter date joined. a bull train that traveled overland twenty-eight miles through Spring Wolf Creek and Silver City to Helena, Montana. At that time anything like a decent meal could not be obtained under three dollars, and potatoes were sell- ing for sixty-five dollars per sack, while a bag of flour cost one hundred and ten dollars. At first prospects did not look bright to the young tailor; but he man- aged to get a start, and continued in the tailoring busi- ness until the fall of 1879, when he traveled overland and by boat back to St. Louis. In St. Louis, December 12, 1879, he was married to Miss Barbara H. Hartman, a native of Bohemia, and to this union there were born seven children: Moses; Solomon; Theodore H .; Julius H., who died March 21, 1912; Percy H .; Adolph H. and Hilda.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank remained in St. Louis until 1882, then returning to Montana by way of rail as far as Huntley and overland to Clark City, which today

acomiles

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

bears the name of Livingston. Engaging in the mer- chant tailoring and clothing business in a small way, Mr. Frank has continued therein to the present time, and with his sons has built up one of the leading ven- tures of its kind in this section. In 1884 he erected his first store building on Park street, and later added to this building, which is now known as the Living- ston Hotel, and is being ably and profitably conducted by Mrs. Frank. In 1890 Mr. Frank erected a modern brick store, two stories in height, at No. 114 North Main street, where the business is now located. Mr. Frank is primarily a business man and has found no time to enter the political arena, but takes pleasure in fraternal work. He has attained to the thirty-third degree in Masonry, belonging to Livingston Lodge No. 32 A. F. & A. M., Particular Consistory of Eastern Montana No. I, and Algeria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Helena. His long residence in the city has gained him a wide acquaintance, among which he can number numerous warm friends. Mr. Frank's career proves what has been said of another, that "the country is indeed fortunate which not only possesses citizens of this type but is capable of developing them from poor young immigrants." He has shown how greatly this country is blessed by the presence on its soil of men of the highest worth who were born in other lands.

ARTHUR W. MILES. In the front rank of Montana's successful business men, stands Arthur W. Miles, who, for almost thirty years has been a resident of Livings- ton, and it would be difficult to name any important business enterprise of this place which, at some time or another, has not felt his influence or fostering care, while no public movement has ever been inaugurated here for the general welfare, that has not been assisted and furthered by him. He is a man of energy and ac- complishment, earnest, practical, broad-minded and suc- cessful. He was born June 20, 1859, at Westminster, Massachusetts, and is a son of Daniel C. and Mary Jane . ( Puffer) Miles, and a nephew of General Nelson A. Miles, commander-in-chief of the United States army. In the lately issued book of recollections, General Miles traces clearly the family ancestry back to its early colonial settlement in America.

Arthur W. Miles was educated very thoroughly and in the class of 1878 was graduated from Wesleyan Acad- emy, a noted institution of the Methodist faith, at Wilbraham, Massachusetts. After teaching one term of school at Westminster, he was tendered and ac- cepted a position of paymaster's clerk, in the regular army, and served one year under Major G. W. Baird, at Santa Fe, New Mexico, being then promoted and transferred to Fort Keogh, Montana, where he entered upon his duties in October, 1880, and has been a resi- dent of this state ever since. He remained in his government position for two and one-half years longer and then determined to embark in business for him- self and sent in his resignation to the authorities. For a few months he engaged in the hardware business at Coulson and then removed to Billings and has the rec- ord of having erected the first store building in that city, and in 1882 he formed the firm of Babcock & Miles, in partnership with A. L. Babcock, which existed for a period of ten years.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 109

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002