A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 126

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

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Mr. Farris is a staunch Republican and has ever done good work for the party wherever he has found himself located. In 1909 he was elected commissioner of Valley county, and at present holds the office of United States commissioner. He has presided over four county conventions, and in other ways has given evidence of his enthusiam and energy for the party. He is fraternally associated with the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America. In addition to his property in Glasgow, Mr. Farris is the owner of a considerable city property in Hinsdale and other points in this section of the state.

In 1891 Mr. Farris married Miss Alice Goff, a daughter of Jacob Goff one of the oldest pioneer settlers of the Bitter Root valley. Mr. Goff fought in the Nez Perce Indian war and was at the Battle of

Big Hole, and in other ways has won distinction in the many years of his residence in the Bitter Root valley.

Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Farris,-Buford J .; Mildred; William; Dorothy; Marcus J., a high school graduate; Marie, Robert and Thomas. All are bright young people, worthy of their parents, and possessing the characteristics which must inevitably cause them to be heard from in the later history of their native state.

Mr. Farris is a citizen of the type which is par- ticularly valuable in a new country, and in the years of his association with Valley county he has been able to do much through the medium of his news- paper for the growth and advancement of this favored section of the state.

FRANK NELSON was born in the kingdom of Den- mark on April 7, 1862. His father, Christian Nelson, was a steamship engineer, who "sailed the seas over, from here to Peru." However, his son Frank did not acquire his wanderlust from hearing the fascinating tales of strange men and customs, for the father died in Valparaiso of the yellow fever before his son was born, and the lad grew up under the care of his mother, Anna Peterson Nelson. He was early obliged to shift for himself, and his schooling was obtained in Den- mark, before he reached the age of fourteen. At that age, he came to America to seek the fortune which he has found, or rather created. Council Bluffs, Iowa, was his first abiding place in America, and he remained here for four years. In 1880, he came to Idaho and for three years was a veritable soldier of fortune. He rode the range and worked at anything he could find to do.

It was in 1883 that Mr. Nelson first came to Mis- soula, but he did not succeed in finding employment and so he went to Drummond. Here he obtained work on the John Edwards ranch, and he helped the pro- prietor of that place to build the first house in Drum- mond. For a time he drove the stage for Bill Ham- mond from Drummond to Philipsburg. In 1884, Mr. Nelson located a claim on the Big Black Foot in the Potoma valley, and three years later he sold this and bought another ranch in the same region. He has added to this until now it contains 1,420 acres and his cultivation of it, coupled with the settling up of the valley has converted it into a most valuable piece of property. It was about this time that placer min- ing was being carried on so extensively in various sec- tions of Montana, and in 1885, Mr. Nelson engaged in this at Elk Creek and devoted something like a year to it.

For a number of years, Mr. Nelson has conducted an extensive implement and carriage establishment. He also handled wagons and automobiles, and his plant is the largest of the kind in this section of the country. Although this business is a notably suc- cessful one, Mr. Nelson does not intend to continue in it, as he wishes to move to his extensive ranch and to devote his entire energies to the management of that.

Politically, Mr. Nelson is aligned with the Democrats, and he is a person of influence and wide popularity in his party. In 1904, they selected him as their candi- date for the legislature, and he is now serving his third year as county commissioner, to which office he was elected in 1908 for a term of six years. As a public officer, his record is one of conscientious and public- spirited devotion to the interests of the community.

The boy of fourteen who came to this country not even knowing the language has become a wealthy and a respected citizen; a public officer in the country of his adoption. His success is of his own making and one of which he may justly be proud. However, it is not his own achievements which inspire Mr. Nelson to

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that emotion so much as the fine family which he and his wife have brought up. Frank and Rachel Lish Nelson were married December 27, 1886, and they have a family of five children. These are Franklin A., born February 4, 1888; Jennie Anna, whose birthday was December 6, 1889; Bert M., August 7, 1891, Theodore W. and Howard E., both born in February, the former in 1902, and the latter eight years later. Mrs. Nelson was born in San Bernardino, California, but her union with Mr. Nelson occurred in Philipsburg, Montana. Mr. Nelson is of the opinion that his wife has been a partner in his success and a most valuable one from every standpoint. In this opinion, all who know Mrs. Nelson concur with her husband. He is one of the sub- stantial citizens of the community, an active factor in its prosperity, and in every way representative of the things for which the county is proud to stand,

THOMAS P. CONLON. It is highly to the credit of a man to win universal popular approval and regard from the people around him in early life, and have them express their faith in him and their esteem for him in a concrete form of substantial value, which not only provides for his present needs, but opens the way to higher and better opportunities for advancement in the future. This has been the experience of Thomas P. Conlon of Missoula, who was elected clerk of the cir- cuit court of Missoula county in the fall of 1908, when he was but twenty-five years of age, or scarcely that.

Mr. Conlon was born at Lolo, Missoula county, Mon- tana, on November 18, 1883, and was reared on his father's ranch near that village. He is the second of four children, two sons and two daughters, born to his parents, James and Tersa (Garvey) Conlon, natives of Ireland. The father came to the United States with several of his brothers when he was sixteen. He crossed the plains in 1864, and after passing several years in various parts of the farther west, he located in the Bitter Root valley on a large ranch near Lolo in 1870. He lived on this ranch and managed its business until IgII, when he retired from active pursuits, and he now spends his winters in California, and all his time in the enjoyment of the rest and recreation he has so faithfully won. He has been very successful in his business, and is one of the most highly esteemed pio- neers in this part of Montana. The mother was brought to this country by her parents in infancy, and met with and was married to Mr. Conlon in Chicago in 1880.

All of their four children are living. In the order of birth they are Anna, Thomas P., Mary and James. Thomas P. Conlon obtained his academic education in the public school near his home and pursued a course of special training for business at a commercial college in Spokane, Washington. He remained at home and worked on the ranch with his father and brother until he reached the age of twenty-one, then became hook- keeper for J. R. Daily, whom he served in that capacity for four years. His conduct in this employment was such as to commend him to the favor of all who wit- nessed his ability and fidelity, and his demeanor as a citizen won him the approval of all the people without regard to class or condition.

In the fall of 1908, he was elected clerk of the district court for Missoula county, and on January 4, 1909, took charge of the office for a term of four years. His ability, his integrity, his uprightness of life and his high sense of duty in all places were well known, and the people felt that they could trust him even in an office of such importance and responsibility as the one to which they elected him. His course in the performance of its duties has shown them that they were not mis- taken in their estimate of him, and has fully justified their confidence in him.

Mr. Conlon is a Democrat in politics and a hard worker for his party whenever it is in the field for a contest. He was elected clerk as the nominee of that

party, by whose leaders and whose rank and file in the county his work in its behalf is highly appreciated. But loyal as he is to his party, and zealous as he is in its service, he does not allow partisan considerations to influence him in the discharge of his official duties, in which he is governed wholly by legal requirements and what he believes will be best for the interests involved. In fraternal relations he is connected with the Order of Elks and the Knights of Columbus. On September 27, IgII, he was united in marriage with Miss Genevieve Reid, a native of Rice Lake, Barron county, Wisconsin.

JOHN MORTON VROOMAN was born in Sylvania, Ohio, on October 15, 1850. His parents were Rehil Bingham Vrooman and Laura Chaplin Vrooman. The former belonged to one of the old Burgher families of New York, though he lived most of his life in Ohio where he was a farmer. In 1861 the family moved from Sylvania to Preston, Minnesota, and two years later the father died at Waterloo City, Indiana, at the early age of forty-three. He was buried at Sylvania, so long his home, as well as the place where he was married. Thirty-four years later, his wife was laid beside him after seventy-five years of beneficent en- deavor. There were four children in the Vrooman family and John is the youngest.

The death of his father made it imperative that the thirteen-year old boy should not only make his own way, but contribute to the support of the family. He had attended school in Ohio and also in Preston, but at his father's death he was obliged to become a wage earner and so to change the fashion of his training. He found congenial employment at the printing trade in the office of the Preston Republican. Here he worked as an apprentice and received eleven dollars a month, all of which he gave to his mother. When he was seventeen, he went to Chicago and there finished learning his trade. The six years he spent in the Illi- nois metropolis were rich in experience and when he went to Minneapolis he had no difficulty in obtaining employment with the leading printing offices of the city.

In 1883 Mr. Vrooman and Mr. Charles S. Fell of Minneapolis came to Montana and in the wilderness that is now Fergus county they found the mining camp of Maiden. Here they established a newspaper which they called the Mineral Argus which flourished for three years with that name and habitat until in the summer of 1886 the outfit was moved to Lewistown where its proprietors established it in new quarters and re-christened it the Fergus County Argus. Some- thing over a quarter of a century has elapsed since that time and the Argus has almost passed recognition as far as equipment is concerned, but ir retains the spirit of its owner which made it a live sheet from its very first, five column quarto issue, printed on a Washing- ton hand press, from a very limited assortment of type, and with a patent inside. The evolution of the Argus deserves a chapter of its own, although as has been intimated, it is difficult to separate the history of the . paper from an account of the career of its editor and publisher. Suffice it to say that now the five columns have become seven, all of home print. The office is provided with presses, binders and cutters of the most approved modern pattern, and the type faces are being constantly added to, so that the job department can successfully compete with the larger job offices of the state. The plant is unequalled by any similar one in the state, outside the four principal cities. The ma- chinery is driven by electricity, the Argus being the first concern in the county to use this power, which it installed in 1899. Some idea of the regard in which the paper is held in the county may be gathered from the fact that the subscription list is more than one- seventh of the entire population of Fergus county, and

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in this high average it should be added, less than a score of "deadheads" have a place in the list. That the people believe in the paper is also testified to by the number and character of the advertisements found in its pages. The management is contemplating the in- stallation of linotype machines within a few years.

The editor of the Argus is a Republican and not a lukewarm one either, but a determined fighter as well as a most adroit one. He wields an immeasurable in- fluence through his journal and this is the manner in which he prefers to take part in politics. He has repeatedly been urged to become a candidate for dif- ferent offices, but he prefers to stick to the business he has chosen and to run his paper instead of running for office. Possibly he would rather make public opinion than to be its representative, but certainly public office has no glamour for this successful editor. Mr. Vroo- man belongs both to the Judith Club and to the Com- mercial Club. He urges the ambitious to locate in Montana, and he is himself an argument for the wisdom of such a course.

Mr. Vrooman celebrated his forty-second birthday most happily by his marriage to Miss Ella M. Smith of Lewistown. . Her parents, Elias H. and Elizabeth Jennings Smith are from Schenectady, New York. Mrs. Smith was reared in the Episcopal church and is a devout adherent of that faith, as is also her daughter, Mrs. Vrooman. Mr. Vrooman has never forsaken the denomination in which he was brought up and is still a member of the Methodist communion. There are. two sons in the Vrooman household, Randall and John E .. both residing in Lewistown, where they were born. Of Mr. Vrooman's own family, two other mem- bers are now living. One is a brother who makes his home in Washington, D. C., and the other a married sister, who lives in Preston, Minnesota.

WILLIAM WELLMAN. The gentleman whose name heads this paragraph is one of the widely-known citizens of 'Meagher county. He has lived in Montana since 1883, and is familiar with many states of the west. hav- ing maintained his residence in a number of them. He is now a highly respected factor in the life of White Sulphur Springs, his part in the many-sided life of the community being that of a harness and saddle manu- tana. One day he was surrounded by a band of In- fairs of life, his capable management of his business interests and his sound judgment, have brought to him prosperity and his life demonstrates what may be ac- complished by any man of energy and ambition who is not afraid to work and has the perseverance to continue his labors in the face of any discouragement which may seem to arise. In all the relations of life he has com- mended the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought in contact and a biographical his- tory of this part of Montana would not be complete without a record of the career of this pioneer.

William Wellman is a native of Quincy, Illinois, his eyes having first opened to the light of day on March 25. 1845. He resided in the locality of his birth until about twenty-three years of age, when he started out to make his fortunes, and went to Iowa, where he re- mained for three years. His next change was to Fre- mont, Nebraska, where, as in the previous place, he made his livelihood in the harness business. This time he stayed four years, but again decided to go a step farther west and went on to Denver, Colorado, where he resided for two years ere he went to Albu- querque. New Mexico. After remaining in the latter place about six months he returned to Fremont. Ne- braska, this time remaining about a twelvemonth and it was following that that he first came to Montana. Bozeman was his first tarrying place in the Treasure State and the year of his arrival was 1883. He has never left its boundaries in the nearly thirty years which have since elapsed, which is certainly an eloquent com-

pliment. In course of time Mr. Wellman went to Helena, where he stayed a year, and thence to Miles City; then back to Helena and ensuing upon that to White Sulphur Springs. In 1888 he established his pres- ent business in harness and saddle manufacture in this place and both he and the city have enjoyed good for- tune together. He has constantly widened the scope of his operation and his products are widely known for their excellence, his business being one which contrib- utes in no indefinite fashion to the general prosperity.

Mr. Wellman learned his trade in Quincy, Illinois, and started when a very young man. He served a four years' apprenticeship, his salary for the first two years being but $25.00 per annum, board, as usual in such cases, being additional. He received his early education in the district schools of Adams county, Illinois, the district school in which he became familiar with the three R's being located near Quincy.

In politics the subject is independent, supporting whomever and whatever he believes to be the best man and the best measure, irrespective of party affiliation. His favorite diversions are hunting and fishing, and he takes many trips in pursuance of these pleasures. As usual with the man who really knows Montana, he could not be induced to go to any other state.

Mr. Wellman was married in White Sulphur Springs, in 1897, the young woman to become his wife being Jessie Edwards, who has made his household an attrac- tive place and who, like him, is interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the city in which they have so long resided.

The subject is of German descent, his father, William Wellman, having been born in Germany. When a young man he concluded very wisely that the land across the Atlantic held out greater promise and opportunity for the ambitious and industrious and accordingly came to the United States to found a home for himself and his children. He soon located in New Orleans and re- mained there until his advent to Quincy, Illinois, where he engaged in farming. His demise occurred at the age of eighty-three years. His wife was also a Ger- man and they were married before leaving the Father- land. The mother likewise lived to ripe old age, being twelve years past the psalmist's allotment at the time of her death. These good people reared nine sons and daughters, William being the fourth in order of nativity.

RUDOLF VON TOBEL. For more than a quarter of a century, Mr. Rudolf von Tobel has lived in Lewistown and during that entire time there has been no project for the furtherance of the communal good to which he has not given his support and cooperation. A lawyer of eloquence and shrewdness, he is at the same time a man who has built up his own success by his own might, from the beginning to the present moment. Every- thing he now possesses has been wrested from fortune as the result of his own sturdy efforts, beginning with his education, and all that he has gained from life has been given back to the world in abundant measure.

Rudolf von Tobel is the son of a father of the same name. who was born in Wetzikon, in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, on March 17, 1822. Twenty-six vears later he came to America and settled in New York, where he later married Elizabeth Nisbet, who was born in Homer, New York. Three children were born to them, of whom Rudolf of this review was the eldest. He was born in Auburn, New York, on Febru- ary 13. 1855. When their eldest son was two years of age Mr. and Mrs. von Tobel moved to Buffalo and this was their home for about thirteen years.

Rudolf Jr., went to school in Buffalo and in his spare time worked in a bakery, contributing his meagre wages to the common family purse. In 1870 the von Tobels went to Stacyville, Iowa, and there settled on a farm where he remained for five years. Here he

William Wellman

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attended the public schools at intervals which he snatched from the rather exacting duties of farm life. From Iowa he went to Northfield, Minnesota, where he worked his way through Carleton College, and upon his graduation in 1881 went into a law office in North- field, and studied for two years. In 1883, in the month of March, Mr. von Tobel arrived in Helena and there went into the office of the late Senator Carter. While there he was admitted to the bar and at the close of two years came to Lewistown, where his residence has since been maintained.

Mr. von Tobel has found time in his very busy pro- fessional life to devote a considerable time to public affairs. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the policies of the Republican party, both locally and in national issues. He was a member of the fourth legislature assembly, memorable in the annals of Montana as the legislature which adopted the code, as joint member . from Fergus and Valley counties. Mr. von Tobel was a member of the code committee. Another office which he has filled is that of city attorney in the earlier days of Lewistown's existence. He was one of the men who organized the Judith Club and in 1909 he acted as president of that body, but his professional work has always been paramount to all other interests of what- ever nature. Since coming to Lewistown, Mr. von Tobel has practiced alone, and he has been retained in many of the most important cases tried at this bar.

In September of 1888, Mr. von Tobel was married to Miss Anna Theresa Zilisch, the marriage being solemnized at Philbrook, Montana. Mrs. von Tobel, who was a school teacher, is the daughter of Carl L. and Henrietta Zilisch, of Burlington, Iowa, both of whom are now deceased. Five children, all born in Lewistown, have come to Mr. and Mrs. von Tobel, and concerning them the following brief mention is here made. Henrietta is now a student at Barnard College, in New York City; Carl, the only son, is a student at Harvard and will take his degree from that institution; Elizabeth is now in school at Providence, Rhode Island, in preparation for college; Anna is in high school in Lewistown, and Catherine, the youngest of the five, is in the public schools of the city. Both parents of Mr. von Tobel are deceased, their death having taken place in South Dakota, where they are buried side by side.

Mr. von Tobel is an enthusiast on outdoor life and is the owner of a delightful summer camp in the moun- tains, where he and his family spend a large part of the warm summer weather. Mr. von Tobel finds much pleasure in his fishing excursions in the mountains, that being one of his chief diversions. He is the possessor of one of the largest and choicest private libraries in this section of the state, and he finds in his books the most intimate and satisfying companionships. He stands for all those qualities which make his pro- fession the great power of the age.

DR. ISAIAH M. BEATTY is a well-known practitioner of osteopathy, and together with his son, known as the young doctor, Albert, has done much in the way of compelling recognition for their system, as the very ex- tensive practice of which Dr. Beatty is the head bears testimony. The senior doctor is the son of John M. and Anna M. (Marshall) Beatty, both natives of the state of Pennsylvania, born of Scotch-Irish parents where they were reared and married, but who passed much of their lives in Illinois; both are now resting in a cemetery near Erie, Whiteside county, Illinois.

Dr. Isaiah M. Beatty was born in Dawson, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in March, 1854, and was three years of age when his parents removed from the old Keystone state to Rock Island county, Illinois, where the subject lived until he had passed his twenty-eighth birthday. He was educated there and for many years aided his father with a will in the cultivation of the old homestead upon which he was raised. He was but Vol. II-27

twenty-two years of age when he married Lucy J. Schryver, of Erie, Illinois, and the birth of their first son, Dr. Albert H. Beatty, inspired the young father with a desire for broader fields of activity and useful- ness. It was in 1883 that Doctor Beatty and his young wife and child set out for Montana. He stopped in Boulder City for a few months, but in July pushed on to the Judith Basin in Fergus county, arriving there August IIth, where he has since remained. Here he engaged in dairying, but owing to the low price of dairy products decided it would not yield him an income sufficient to the needs of his family, so in March, 1885, moved to Maiden, where he was employed in the mines and mill. In April, 1887, the mines closed down. He opened a barber shop, and later moved to Gilt Edge, there operating a similar establishment and stock rais- ing in conjunction. At times he fell ill, from 1893 to 1898, and after a thorough experience with well-known and usually successful physicians in Montana, Illinois, Iowa, and in fact every prominent center in the United States in search of a relief for headache, stomach trou- ble, and nervous exhaustion, etc., he realized that the old recognized systems of materia medica were all guess work, and were failing to reach a large class of the ills of the fleshi to which man is heir. As the result of continued study of the question in combination with his practical experience, he finally decided, in March, 1898, upon osteopathy as the solution to his problem, and went to Helena, where he took treatment from Drs. A. D. and C. W. Mahaffay, osteopathic physicians, where he received great benefit. After investigating osteopathy very carefully for two years he decided to move his family to Kirksville, the fountain head of osteopathy, where in February, 1901, he and his son entered the school, and two years later they graduated from that institution, whereupon they returned to Lew- istown, and opened up the practice which has with the passing years assumed such splendid proportions. The young doctor now has a wife and family of his own, and has taken up his permanent residence in Lewistown.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 126

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