A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 129

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

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Mr. Mckinnon and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Mckinnon is prominent in the Knights of Columbus, and is also affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Catholic Knights of America.

Mrs. McKinnon is a native of New York City, and it was in the same city that her marriage to Mr. Mckinnon

took place. Her maiden name was Sarah Cronin and on January 22, 1890, she became Sarah Cronin Mckinnon. Five sons have been born of this union, all in the city of Helena. Vincent J. Mckinnon was born on January 5, 1891, and he is now learning the tinner's trade in his father's store. Hugh, born in January, 1893, has grad- uated from St. Charles' College and is now attending business college. Francis Lincoln, born in January, 1895, is also attending commercial school. Eugene Thomas, who was born on February 22, 1898, is now in the eighth grade at St. Charles' College. Carroll Joseph was born on August 7, 1905.

Mr. Mckinnon retains his fondness for out-of-door pursuits, and his devotion to base ball is one of the marks of his thorough Americanization .. His political bias is toward the Democratic party, to which he gives his support, although he is not in any sense an active politician.

ELMAR S. HERRICK. While the fundamental prin- ciples of success in any undertaking are energy and application, a man whose environment remains closely restricted, has fewer oportunities and accomplishes less, everything considered, than the one whose mind is broadened by travel and whose faculties are aroused through struggle in a wider field of effort. Thus, it might have come about that Elmar S. Herrick, who is now one of Montana's men of large possessions and much business prominence, might have passed his en- tire life gaining a competency on the home farm, as did his honored father, but would have missed some of the broader interests of life and the rewards that awaited him in the great west, to which he came in 1883. Mr. Herrick was born near Jamestown, Chautauqua county, New York, March 20, 1863, and is a son of Anson L. and Elizabeth (Devoe) Herrick.

Anson L. Herrick was born also in Chautauqua coun- ty, New York, and died there after a long and useful life of seventy-seven years, in 1909. He married Eliza- beth Devoe, who was born in Massachusetts and still survives, being now in her seventy-second year, one of the highly esteemed residents of Jamestown, to which place her husband retired fifteen years before his de- cease. Three sons and one daughter made up the family, as follows: Elmar S .; Hiram V. and Charles W., both of whom live at Jamestown; and Abbie, who died when aged sixteen years. The father was a farmer and fruit grower, for many years giving special atten- tion to producing fine apples. In his political views he was a Republican.

Elmar S. Herrick obtained his education in the James- town schools and had early agricultural training on the home farm. In 1883 he left Chautauqua county and came as far west as Casselton, North Dakota, and for about eighteen months worked on the Thompson farm, coming to Glendive, Montana, in November, 1884. For one year he was in the employ of the Thompson- Ames Cattle Company and afterward up to 1887, was engaged in the sheep business on shares, with John Shoub, on Cracker Box creek. From the spring of 1887 until the fall of that year, he was engaged in freighting on the line of the Great Northern Railroad, and then went to Washington state, where he was in the horse business until he returned to Montana and engaged in the same business in partnership with Mar- tin H. Dickman and continued until 1902. Prior to this, however, in 1894, he hecame additionally interested in sheep and in 1907 added cattle interests. By this time Mr.Herrick had become recognized as a man of capital and astute business capacity, and in 1903, was invited to become vice president of the Exchange Bank of Glendive, Montana. In July, 1911, the above bank was reorganized as the Exchange State Bank and Mr. Her- rick continued to fill the above office in relation to its management and is still so interested. In 1907 he also became interested in the banking business at Wibaux,

SS. Khwick

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Montana, and in 1909, in association with other capital- ists, organized the First State Bank of Wibaux and is one of its board of directors.

Mr. Herrick has many additional business interests including the following, with which he is officially con- nected: the Herrick & Sims Livestock Company, of which he is president; the Herrick-McMillen Sheep Company, of which he is president; the Judith Basin Land Company, of which he is secretary and treasurer ; the Herrick & Duplisca Land and Livestock of which he is president; and the Eastern Elevator Company in which he is a stockholder and a member of its board of directors. He was one of the organizers of the Mon- tana Eastern Telephone Company and served as its vice president until the company sold to the Bell Tele- phone Company, on November 20, 1911. In all these important enterprises Mr. Herrick discharges his mani- fold duties with credit to himself and satisfaction to those with whom he is associated. .

On June 18, 1898, Mr. Herrick was married to Miss Eloise Goodspeed, who was born in Massachusetts, and they have four children: Clifford W., Mildred, Gertrude and Ruth. They are being given many ad- vantages and will be well equipped to creditably fill any position in life.

In political preference, Mr. Herrick is a Republican. He is serving in the office of public administrator and is also in his second term as alderman from the Second ward of Glendive, his usefulness in the city council be- ing emphasized by his excellent business judgment. In the spring of 1911 he was appointed state sheep com- missioner of this district. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Glendive Lodge, No. 31, A. F. & A. M., and Yellowstone Chapter, No. 5, R. A. M.

NELS NELSON is one of the successful ranchers in Beaverhead county, Montana, although he has retired to a large extent from the business which has brought him prosperity. Mr. Nelson was born in Denmark in 1862, on the 22d of January. His parents were Nels and Ellen (Sorenson) Nelson, both of whom were natives of Denmark. They spent their whole lives in their native country, the mother dying there in 1902, and the father in 1908. The father was a farmer and merchant and his son received a very good education in the public schools of Denmark. He came to America in 1882, and for eighteen months lived in Omaha, Ne- braska. In 1884 he came out to Montana, his first year in the state being spent in the employ of the company that was building the Montana Central Rail- road. He then went to Deer Lodge, but only remained there a short time.

Upon leaving Deer Lodge he came to Beaverhead county and was one of the first settlers of the Big Hole Basin. Here he took up homestead and pre- emption claims, and a short time later engaged in the cattle business in a modest way. He was successful in the venture and after a time was able to buy the ranch then known as the John W. Morton ranch in the Basin, increasing his operations in the cattle business.

In 1896, Mr. Nelson was married to Miss Ingrid Peterson, who was born in Sweden, February 25, 1870. They remained in the Big Hole Basin until 1898, when they sold out their holdings and made a journey back to Denmark and Sweden to visit their parents and rela- tives in their old homes. Upon their return in 1899, they bought the A. F. Greater ranch on Horse Prairie, Beaverhead county, consisting of two thousand four hundred acres of land, and then went into cattle and horses on a more extensive scale than heretofore. In 1905 Mr. Nelson went into the sheep business in addi- tion to that of cattle and horses, and also commenced farming. In 1906 he removed to Dillon with his family, where the parents bought a home that their children might have better educational advantages.

They have now seven children of whom six are living, namely : Eddy, Ellen, Ralph, Albert, Evelyn and Edith.

In 1909 he bought an interest in the Olmstead Ste- venson Company, a wholesale and retail grocery and hardware and implement establishment of Dillon, Mon- tana, and was elected vice-president of the same. In 1912 he sold out his cattle business and part of the ranch, but he continues to interest himself in the handling of sheep, a branch of his business which he conducted for a number of years; but he has now removed with his family to California spending the winter months in the sunny climate of that state.

Mr. Nelson is a Republican in his political views.

JOHN F. CHARLES. Montana has many striking examples of the self-made man. There seems to be something in the very atmosphere that encourages one to succeed, and the number of successful men who have started out as poor boys, without friendly influence or financial aid, and won a place through their own efforts among the foremost men of their communities, is startling. One of these, a man who is prominently identified with one of the large and growing business enterprises of Butte, is John F. Charles, president of the Tivoli Brewing Company, who has been the architect of his own fortunes to a marked degree. Mr. Charles was born in Baltimore, Maryland, February 16, 1863, and is a son of David J. and Mary (Jenkins) Charles. David J. Charles identified himself early in life with the copper smelting business, and came to Baltimore, Mary- land, in 1855, remaining as a resident of that city until 1868. In 1884 he came to Butte and continued to reside in this city until his death, August 9, 1898, when he was sixty-one years of age. He served in the United States navy during the Civil war. Mr. Charles married Mary Jenkins, who came to the United States with her parents when she was fifteen years of age. John F. was the third in order of birth of their nine children, and Mrs. Charles died in Utah, during November, 1884.

The early education of John F. Charles was secured in the public schools of Baltimore, but when he was eleven years of age his studies were interrupted by his parents' removal to the west. On his arrival in Butte, his first employment was with Patrick Kane, foreman of the Big Butte mine, and until 1884 he continued to be engaged in mining in Utah. In that year he engaged in the retail liquor business on East Park street, where he continued successfully for two years, and he then became associated with his brother in the same line, at the corner of Utah and Front streets. This business he has conducted alone since 1898, in which year he pur- chased his brother's interests. In 1905, when the Tivoli Brewing Company was organized, Mr. Charles was made president thereof, a position which he has held to the present time, and he is also a director in the Blue Vein Copper Mining Company. A man of upright character and sterling business integrity, he bears a high reputa- tion among his associates and holds their esteem and confidence in every way. Politically, he is a Republican, but his time and attention have been devoted to his busi- ness interests and he has never entered the political field. Fraternally, he is connected with I. O. O. F., Enterprise No. 40, and the B. P. O. E. His residence is situated at No. 1040 Utah avenue. Such are the events in the career of a man who, through business sagacity and acumen, has risen to a high position in this locality's financial and industrial circles. He is a man universally liked by all who are acquainted with him, is one of Butte's public-spirited citizens, and no movement for the real advancement of his section is launched that does not receive his active and hearty co-operation, and where the project is one that requires financial support, his gift is always a liberal one. He is preeminently an organizer and an executive, and a man possessed of much more than the ordinary business talent.

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ALBERT A. MORRIS. After being a prominent figure in commercial and social circles in Billings, Montana, for many years, Mr. Albert A. Morris, county treasurer and president of the First National Bank, is now a resi- dent of Roundup, Montana. Full of energy and ambi- tion, with that vital interest in all the activities around him which always distinguishes the man destined for success, Mr. Morris, although already holding an en- viable position in his community, will probably forge much farther ahead before he or his neighbors decide that he has fulfilled all the possibilities latent in him.

Mr. Morris' father, Dr. Dempsey C. Morris, is now retired from active practice as a physician, and is living at his home in New Sharon, Iowa. He was born in Indiana. Mrs. Morris was Miss Mary Painter before her marriage, and was born in Ohio. She is also still living, residing at the old home in New Sharon. Mr. Albert A. Morris, who was the third in a family of six children, was born in Hesper, Iowa, February 28, 1865, but it was only a few months after his birth that the family moved to New Sharon. He attended the public schools in the lowa town until he was sixteen years old, when he went to South Dakota. For three years he remained in Ashton, of that state, following mercantile lines, until in 1884, when he came to Montana. Ever since then, with the exception of one year in Alaska and one year in Washington, he has lived in Montana. And as a result of his long familiarity with his adopted state he says of it: "Montana has the finest climate, the most hos- pitable people, and offers more and better opportunities than any other western state."

Mr. Morris earned his first money as a boy in help- ing a surveying party, for which he received the salary of forty dollars a month, and it was a surveying and civil engineer that he started his work in Montana. He remained in Billings, where he first settled, until 1908, when he removed to Roundup. He first entered the mining business here, but later bought into the First National Bank, which had then been running a year, and was immediately made president of it. He soon after dropped all his other business interests and de- voted all his time to the bank. As stated earlier, he is also now the county treasurer of Musselshell county.

Mr. Morris has many other interests outside of his business. He enjoys church work, and although he has no objection to any denomination, he favors the old Quaker church. He also takes an active part in politics as a member of the Republican party, especially in any issues which have to do with the development of the state. This interest has been strengthened by a many years' association with a certain type of state work through his position during most of his residence in Billings as city engineer and county surveyor of Yellow- stone county, and particularly because of the insight he gained into local affairs through serving one term in the state legislature. He is a member of the Roundup Commercial Club, and the Roundup Pioneer Club, and was at one time president of the latter organization. He also belongs to the Montana Society of Civil Engi- neers.

Although Mr. Morris owns an automobile, and uses that on most occasions as his 'conveyance, he is still fond of riding and driving, and has a large number of blooded horses on his ranch near Huntley. He thinks baseball an excellent sport, and occasionally plays him- self. Fishing and hunting belong in his list of amuse- ments, as they do in that of most westerners. Mr. Mor- ris was married June 8, 1909, at Chicago, Illinois, to Louise Rickly, of Ottawa, Illinois.

HARLAN J. THOMPSON. One of the large and pros- perous business firms of Billings, Montana, is that of the Billings Lumber Company, the founder and presi- dent of which, Harlan J. Thompson, holds rank among the leading business men of the city. For more than a decade he has been closely identified with the industrial

and civic interests of Billings, and during this time has established himself firmly in the confidence of his· busi- ness associates and the public at large. Mr. Thompson is a product of Washington county, Wisconsin, and was born July 13, 1860, a son of James Sanders and Lenora ( Williams) Thompson.

James Sanders Thompson was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1823, and during the early 'forties located in the territory of Wisconsin, where he took up a claim in the wild, uncultivated country, and after experiencing all the trials and hardships incidental to pioneer life succeeded in hewing a home from the wilderness. Subsequently he embarked in the saw-mill business, in which he was engaged practically all of his life, and he also had large lumber interests in Fond du Lac county, where his death occurred in 1906. In political matters he was a Whig until 1856, in which year he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, and was elected to various public offices. He was married in Wisconsin to Miss Lenora William's, who was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, 'in 1803, and she died at the age of eighty-five years, having been the mother of five children, Harlan J. being the third in order of birth.

Harlan J. Thompson received his education in the schools of Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, whence his parents had removed when he was a child, and he remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. At that time he engaged in school teach- ing, a vocation that occupied his attention until 1884, which year saw his advent in Montana. His first location was in Beaverhead county, but after spending three years at various pursuits he engaged in a lumber business at Dillon, where he continued until 1901. At that time Mr. Thompson came to Billings to widen the scope of his operations, and here organized the Billings Lumber Company, of which he is president. This concern, doing business all over the state, deals in lumber, sash, doors, shingles, lime, cement and building materials, a large stock of the finest grade of goods always being on hand. A man of more than ordinary business ability, Mr. Thompson gives his per- sonal attention to all the minutiæ of his enterprise, and under his supervision the venture has grown steadily. His career has been eminently successful, and his' many friends will cheerfully testify to the high estimate in which he is held. Like his father, he is an ardent Republican, and his services to his party were rewarded in 1909, when he was elected to the office of mayor of Billings. The sound and sane business administra- tion that he gave Billings during his term only strength- ened him in the popular esteem and proved that he is admirably qualified for public preferment. Under his administration the city was freed from debt, the busi- ness scction paved and many modern improvements inaugurated which caused the town to assume the ap- pearance of an up-to-date city. With this exception he has never held office, but was the Progressive can- didate for the office of state treasurer in 1912. He is a member of the executive committee of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is fraternally affiliated with Aslılar Lodge, No. 29, A. F. & A. M., and Bil- lings Lodge, No. 394. B. P. O. E.

On May 17, 1893, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Mabel W. Coffin, who was born in Minnesota, daughter of Edward Coffin. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson have two children : Harlan Steel and Miriam.

SYDNEY L. FOSTER. The postmaster is a man whose responsibilities are heavier than most people realize, and the care with which Uncle Sam selects the men who are to occupy this post is sufficient evidence of the importance which it has in the eyes of the government. The old dignity which clustered about the brow of the old time postmaster often remains with the new, but this is only when he is a man of force' and

etet Marries.

Jam Samuel Barker Sr.

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influence in the community, otherwise he is only too liable to be regarded by the people as a convenient .personage, too firmly bound up in "red tape," how- ever, to suit them. With Sydney L. Foster, the post- master of Sheridan, Montana, the old feeling of admira- tion and respect still holds good, for though he is a young man, yet he has established himself firmly in the regard of the people of Sheridan and they would con- sider it a black day for Sheridan were he ever to resign his office. Conscientious, thoroughly capable, and able to handle men, Mr. Foster is a valuable servant to his government.

A native of Sheridan, Montana, Sydney L. Foster was born .on the 18th of May, 1884, and has lived here all of his life. He was educated in the Sheridan schools, attending the public schools and the high school. When he was about sixteen he was eager to go to work, so his father permitted him to do so and his first employment was driving a team for his brothers. He soon advanced to the dignity of work- ing for himself, and invested the small sum that he liad managed to save in a livery and dray business. He followed this occupation for about two years, and then: sold out and accepted the appointment as deputy county clerk and recorder. He was very successful in this office, and served in the position for about two years, at the end of which time he was appointed postmaster. This appointment was in 1909, and he is the present incumbent of the office.

The father of Sydney L. Foster is Thomas A. Foster, who was born in England and was brought by his parents to the United States as a child of four years. In 1880 he came to Montana and settled in Madison county. He was a machinist and engineer by trade and during the years that he has lived in Montana he has occasionally turned to his old trade for a short time, but for the most part he has been engaged in ranching. As a ranchman he has been very successful and during his long residence in this section of the state his popularity has grown with the years. He now resides on his ranch near Sheridan, and is, as he has always been, a prominent and leading member of the district. He is very active in Masonry and has filled many important offices in this ancient order. His loyalty to his adopted country was tried and proven during the Civil war, when he served for over four years as a soldier in the Union army, taking part in many of the fiercest battles of that fearful conflict. He was married in Illinois to Virginia Taylor, who was a native of that state. Mrs. Foster is likewise living on the ranch. Of the eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas A. Foster, Sydney L. Foster is the youngest. The eldest of these, Mabel, married Charles R. Glasser and resides at Council, Idaho; William H. is married and lives on the ranch with his father; John H. is also married and lives in Ruby, Montana; Leonard R. resides in Sheridan with his wife and family; Leroy is married and also lives in Sheridan; Gertie N. is dead.

Like his father, Sydney L. Foster takes an active interest in the Masonic order, of which he is a mem- ber, his wife being a loyal member of the Eastern Star. In politics he is a Republican and a very en- thusiastic and useful member of his party, for his word and judgment have great weight with his many friends and admirers. He is inclined toward the apostolical faith of the Protestant Episcopal church, but is a member of no church as yet. In addition to the usual recreations of the average healthy man, such as hunting and fishing, or the milder sports of tennis and baseball, Mr. Foster is a chicken enthusiast, and takes great pleasure in the fine fowls that he raises every year. As a member of the local dramatic club and as the possessor of a very good voice, he is popu- lar as an entertainer, and is fortunate in being able to add to. the pleasure of any gathering, as well as to derive the enjoyment that comes from a cultivated

taste in listening to the performances of others. Hav- ing a thorough knowledge of the state, Mr. Foster is deeply impressed with her resources and says, "Mon- tana can very successfully take care of a population three times the size of the present, and you can't beat the climate anywhere."

The marriage of Sydney L. Foster to Ethel L. Squire took place in Sheridan, Montana, on the 26th of June, 1906. Mrs. Foster is the daughter of Seth H. and Emma L. Squire, and is a member of an old pioneer family of California. She is as active in the social and artistic circles of the town as her husband, and is a representative of that finest type of the modern American woman who finds the time in the midst of her daily household duties to keep up with affairs that are taking place in the great world around her, to take an active part in local activities and find the time to keep her own mind fresh and keen. Mrs. Foster does more than this, for she is gifted with a facile pen, and has turned this talent to some use. She was at one time a valued contributor of articles to the news- papers and at the time of the death of Colonel San- ders, she wrote an editorial for the Dillon (Mont.) Tribune that attracted much attention and called forth many favorable comments. Being a writer, Mrs. Fos- ter is naturally very fond of reading, and is a keen judge of the merits of a book. She is a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church, and is one of the active workers in the church, being a member of the Ladies' Guild. She is well acquainted with church conditions throughout the state and considers them in excellent shape and a credit to the state of Montana. The schools also have come in for a share of her interest, and she says that the educational facilities are far above the average. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are the parents of three children, John S., Judith V. and Jane M.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 129

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