USA > Montana > A history of Montana, Volume II > Part 78
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In 1879 Mr. de Lorimier left the city by the lake and came to Fort Benton, with which place he has ever since been closely connected in increasing capacities. His first position here was in the mercantile establish- ment of T. C. Power & Brothers, where he held a position as manager of the dry goods department. After continuing this association for two years he formed a partnership with William Baker, the firm be- ing known as Baker & de Lorimier. Their business, which was exclusive dry goods, they presently extended to White Sulphur Springs, where our subject had charge of its administration. After two years he sold his interest in both places and returned to Fort Benton. His outside interests were gradually broadening, and he accepted a clerkship with T. C. Power & Company, Limited. For eighteen years he continued in this ca- pacity, during the latter part of that time serving as manager of the store. Two years ago he retired from active mercantile service, and has since limited his in- terests chiefly to his many investments.
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Mr. de Lorimier has so wisely husbanded his capital and so judiciously invested it that he is now profitably connected with a large number of Fort Benton's lucra- tive enterprises. He is a director and stockholder of the Fort Benton Electric Light Company, and holds the same relations to the O'Hannon Land & Live Stock Company. He is a stockholder in the Montana Inter- state Telephone Company; in the New World Life In- surance Company; in the Montana Life Insurance Com- pany, and is a director in the Shonkin Stock Association. He also has extensive interests as a stock raiser. In addition to all these business concerns, he has always taken an active interest in municipal affairs and has served as alderman for two terms. His political alliance is with the Democratic party.
In April, 1899, Mr. de Lorimier was united in life's most sacred bond with Miss Jeanne Marie Gonin. She is a native of Lyons, France, and had come to Fort Benton at the age of twelve with her widowed mother, who afterward died here. The children of Mr. and Mrs. de Lorimier are two: Marguerite, who was born March 3, 1900, and Alexander, whose birth occurred on October 15, 1901. Mr. Lorimier's religious affilia- tions are with the Roman Catholic church.
JOHN VALENTINE CARROLL. In the person of Dr. John V. Carroll, of Fort Benton, Montana, is to be found the splendid combination of the practical mind of the man of business with the observant and logical mind of the professional man. Equipped with a thorough education, a student by nature, with an in- born love for his profession, it is not surprising that he was successful as a physician. He, however, had a mind whose dominant quality was an all-absorbing interest in everything. This type of man as a rule does not succeed in life, for this is the day of special- ization, when a man must devote himself solely to one line of work, almost to one line of thought in order to surpass his neighbor in the race for the golden apple of success. The doctor is one of the most promi- nent men in Fort Benton, and both in this town and in other parts of Montana has taken an active hand in organizing and developing enterprises that have added much to the prosperity of Montana.
John Valentine Carroll was born in New York City, on the 14th of February, 1854. He was the son of James Carroll, who was a native of Ireland, and had come to New York in 1846. He was by trade a mer- chant tailor and was an officer in the old Ninth New York Militia, an Irish brigade, which later became the Sixty-ninth, and during the visit of the Prince of Wales to this country, it was found necessary to put the whole regiment under arrest for refusing to parade in the Prince's honor. James Carroll was married to Mary B. Welsh, in New York City, in 1853. She was a native of Ireland and died in 1888, at the age of fifty. James Carroll was sixty-three when he died on the 13th of August, 1888. John Carroll thus lost both father and mother within a short time of each other. He was one of five children, but he was the only one who lived, the others all dying in infancy.
The education which John Carroll obtained was begun in the public schools of New York City, and was fol- lowed by a year spent at historic old Washington and Lee University at Lexington, Virginia. He then spent a year at St. Francis Xavier University in New York City. From 1879 to 1886 Dr. Carroll lived in Montana, and although he had not been graduated from a med- ical school, the need for physicians was so great that he had been practicing medicine during this time by special permission of the secretary of war. What medical work he had taken had been in the Medical Department of the College of New York, and he returned here to take his degree, which he received on the 19th of March, 1886. He spent the year sub- sequent to his graduation in the Asylum for the In-
sane in New York City, and then returned to take up his work in the West. He returned to Fort Assin- niboine, where he had been stationed and remained here until the 19th of July, 1888, when he was ap- pointed surgeon at Fort Belknap, and where he re- mained in the government service until September 24, 1895. He then resigned from the service and spent the next year at the University of Michigan, doing graduate work. Doctor Carroll has enjoyed nothing perhaps quite as much as his student days. Having a taste for study, he has also enjoyed the peculiar charm that hangs about any of the great universities. To a man lacking that fondness for the strong, crude, force- ful existence that was life in the West during those early days it would seem that the doctor in turning his back on the quiet culture and the atmosphere of intellectual force, was making a great self sacrifice, but the doctor did not feel it so. He believed in the future of the West, and his faith has been more than justified.
Upon his return he came to Fort Benton, and entered private practice, upon which he was continuously engaged until 1908. Some of the activities in which Dr. Carroll has been engaged during this time are as follows: He is president of the Benton Electric Light Company, and also holds the same position in the North Western Live Stock Company. He is vice- president of the Benton Sheep Company and is in active control of the corporation. Believing that the town needed an opera house that would house good attractions he has always been active in behalf of the Baker opera house, and is president of the company. For the past thirteen years he has been vice-president of the Stockmen's National Bank, and one of the directors. He is a member of the firm of Mee & Car- roll, raisers of cattle exclusively. Such a list as this is indicative of the fact that he must possess unusual business ability, but he has not contented himself with devoting his time' to his professional and business affairs, but has found time to give to public affairs. He is chairman of the board of school trustees, and has been a member of the school board for the past eight years. As one of the best educated men in the section, his choice for this responsible position has been fitting and he has done much to give Montana the good reputation which she bears in educational circles. He is also chairman of the board of county commissioners.
Dr. Carroll was married at Fort Assinniboine, Mon- tana, on the 22d of September, 1882, to Miss Martha Simpson of St. Paul, daughter of a mining engineer. Four children have been born to the doctor and his wife. John V., Jr., was born on the 2d of May, 1884, at Fort Assinniboine. He is now teller in the Stock- men's Bank, of Fort Benton. The only daughter, Grace Mary Virginia Carroll was born on the 2d of February, 1890, at Fort Belknap. Charles Simpson Carroll was born on the 7th of June, 1895, at Fort Belknap, and has been appointed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. James Martin Carroll, the youngest, was born at Fort Benton, on the 27th of June, 1899.
JOHN M. BRECHBILL. For a continuous period of thirty-two years a resident of Missoula, and during the whole of the time living an upright and estimable life of commendable industry and usefulness, John M. Brechbill has fully demonstrated his right to the respect and good will the people of the whole city and county of his home have for him, and they have bestowed their esteem upon him liberally, but only in proportion to his worth. He has worked at his trade as a carpenter here in a very acceptable manner, and is now in con- stant demand as a superintendent of the construction of buildings for their owners, in which capacity his services are highly valued.
Mr. Brechbill is a native of Oskaloosa, Iowa, where
MMMBrech bill
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he was born on October 9, 1862. His father, Samuel Luther Brechbill, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and, when he was nineteen years of age, moved with his parents to Calloway county, Missouri. He was married there a few years later to Miss Louisa A. Freeman, and soon after his marriage changed his residence to Oska- loosa, Iowa, where he was engaged in farming until 1879. He then came to Montana and selected a ranch for the future home of himself and his family in the Bit- ter Root valley two miles from Stevensville. Before he could move his family to the ranch, and on the eve of his doing so, his wife was taken ill and died in Mis- souri. The father, however, brought the children he had at home to the ranch he had selected, and they all lo- cated on it. The father died there in March, 1911. Dur- ing the Civil war he served four years in the Confed- erate army.
John M. Brechbill secured some education in the com- mon schools of Missouri and then learned the carpen- ter trade. He came to Butte in 1879, but after a stay of a few months returned to his Missouri home. The next year he came again to Montana, and this time lo- cated in Missoula, where he has resided ever since. For some years he worked at his trade exclusively, but in 1896 added setting up machinery, such as mills, concen- trators and the like, to his work, and was kept busy at both lines of effort as long as he chose to follow them. In time, however, he grew weary of both, and deter- mined to confine himself to another department of labor, for which he believed there was a good opening, if not a pressing need.
In 1904 he took up the work of superintending the construction work in the erection of buildings, and since then he has devoted his time and energies wholly to that. He has superintended the construction of some of the most costly and' imposing buildings in the city and county of Missoula, among them the county court house, Montana block, Masonic temple, the Elks' hall, many private residences of the better class and nearly all of the public school buildings. In each case he was employed by the persons or authorities for whom the buildings were being erected, and his work and its re- sults have been so satisfactory that he has been in con- stant demand for his services in this respect. In 1912 he was made chief inspector of all paving and cement work for the city of Missoula by the city commissioner for the commission form of government.
On June II, 1884, Mr. Brechbill was united in mar- riage with Miss Ella Silverthorn, a native of Montana, and the daughter of John Silverthorn, native of Penn- sylvania but all old residents of Montana. Three chil- dren have blessed the union and brightened the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brechbill: Eunice Holliday, whose life began on August 8, 1889; Samuel C., who was born on March 20, 1891; and Richard Etta, who came into being on January 11, 1897. They are all living.
Mr. Brechbill is a Freemason of the thirty-second de- gree in the Scottish rite, and also has all the degrees of the York rite, and is besides a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is a Republican in politics but not a narrow or hide-bound partisan, as in local affairs he always has in mind the welfare of his community and votes for the candidates he considers best fitted and most likely to promote it. This he does without regard to personal or party considerations, and from a sense of duty to the public.
For the progress and improvement of the city and county of his home he has always been earnestly and effectively active, and his efforts have been guided by intelligence and ruled by judgment. He does not sup- port every project that is proposed, but when he is convinced of the value of any his aid is freely and cheer- fully given, and it is at all times considerable in amount and usefulness. He is well known throughout the county and in all parts of it is esteemed in high degree for his Vol. 1-17
sterling worth and many estimable qualities as a man and citizen.
WILLIAM MILLER is one of the well-known men of this section of the state of Montana, his connection with the livery business in Dupuyer between the years of 1900 and 1910 giving him a wide range of acquaintance, and a popularity that one might seek far to excel. In those years he was also engaged in stock-raising, and in the years previous as well. In 1910 Mr. Miller came to Valier, where he once more engaged in the livery busi- ness, and here, as in Dupuyer, his project has met with marked favor with the public, and he is conducting a flourishing and prosperous business.
Mr. Miller was born in Sencalista; Canada, on July 4, 1866. He is the son of William and Jeannette Miller, both natives of Scotland, who met and married in Can- ada. In 1887 they removed to California. The father, who followed farming as an occupation, died in Du- puyer, Montana, in 1902, at the age of ninety-five, the family having removed from California to Montana in 1879 and 1880, the family coming through in an emi- grant wagon from Reno, Nevada, to Missoula, Montana. They remained in Missoula until 1890, in which year they moved to Dupuyer. Eleven children were born to these parents, William being the youngest of the family.
He was eleven years old when the family removed from their Canadian home to California, and such schooling as he received was prior to that move. In 1880 the boy left home and when the family came to Missoula he busied himself in farming and various other ventures until 1890, in which year he came to Dupuyer and engaged in stock-raising. He also homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of government land, which he eventually acquired the title deed to, and he continued with his ranching operations near Dupuyer until 1900. In that year he extended his operations to include a livery business, and for ten years he conducted a thriv- ing livery in Dupuyer. In 1910 he severed his business connection with that place and removed to Valier, where he once more became established in a similar business, and he has since continued thus.
Mr. Miller has been a model citizen in all the years of his residence in Montana, and has never shirked any civic duty or responsibility, however slight. He served as deputy sheriff of Teton county for four years, and has always been active in Democratic circles. He has acquired considerable city, and county property, and is regarded as one of the well-to-do men of the commu- nity. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Valier lodge and of the Woodmen of the World of Dupuyer.
Mr. Miller has been twice married. In 1894 he mar- ried Miss Elvira Mitchell, the daughter of Sydney Mitchell. of Missoula, an old pioneer rancher of that place. They had three children, Hildreth Sydney, Eliza- beth Dorothy and Elvira. Mrs. Miller died in 1899 at Dupuyer, and in 1900 Mr. Miller married Miss Myrtel Rand, a daughter of George Rand of Wisconsin. Three children have been born of this latter union, Rand, Byron and Jean, the two latter of whom are deceased.
JAMES M. RHOADES. Like many other successful business men in different parts of our bountiful land, with its rich harvest of opportunity for the alert reaper and even for the careful gleaner, and like hosts of pro- fessional men among us, James M. Rhoades, one of the most enterprising and successful real estate dealers in Missoula, was born and reared on a farm, or at least passed a large part of his boyhood and youth on one. And like others of his kind, his rural life gave him self-reliance and resourcefulness, with readi- ness for emergencies as they come, and a comprehen- sive sweep of vision that goes beyond the narrow con-
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ventionalities of life and takes in its essential princi- ples, purposes and requirements.
Mr. Rhoades came into being in Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 27, 1866. But, although he was born in a city, his parents, Josiah and Bessie (Ashford) Rhoades, were farmers. They were Virginians by nativity and moved from the Old Dominion to Ohio in 1864. There the father is still living, and he is now nearly ninety years old. Almost the whole of his life to the present time (1912) has been passed on farms, and in his days of activity he was one of the best farmers in the neigh- borhood of his home, as he was always thorough in all he did, and omitted no effort necessary on his part to secure the best results and the greatest possible returns for his labor.
His son James M. was reared on the farm and edu- cated in the public schools. After leaving school he passed two years in steamboating on the Ohio river, and two years at sea in the merchant marine service. In 1879 he came to Montana, arriving in August. After remaining a few months in Butte, he changed his resi- dence to the eastern part of the state, where he was variously engaged in the cattle industry until 1888. On October 12 of that year he was married to Miss Nelly Scott, a daughter of John Scott, a well-known pioneer cattle man of that part of the state.
After his marriage Mr. Rhoades kept up his con- nection with the cattle industry until 1894, when he was elected county assessor of Dawson county for a term of two years. In 1897 he was appointed receiver of the United States land office at Miles City by Presi- dent Mckinley, and in 1900 was reappointed to this office by President Roosevelt. But he had wearied of official life and longed for both a change of base and a change of occupation. He therefore resigned his office before the end of the year last mentioned, and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he remained one year.
From Seattle he came to Missoula in 1901 and entered the real estate and insurance field in business, which has proved to be entirely adapted to his taste and capac- ity, and for which he has shown special aptitude of a high order. He is now one of the most successful and popular men in the business in this part of the country, being full of enterprise and energy in con- nection with his trade, and far-seeing and well informed concerning it and all its requisites, and having a genial, whole-souled nature which makes it altogether enjoy- able to have dealings with him. These qualities give him a grasp of the business few men can get, and a popularity in conducting it few ever win, here or elsewhere.
In April, 1912, Mr. Rhoades was elected mayor of Missoula under the commission form of government and by a large majority. He has instituted many improve- ments, including four miles of pavement, a new light- ing system, an up-to-date fire alarm system, and many reforms. He is also general agent for the Missouri State Life Insurance Company, his territory covering the states of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, and he has a number of agents under him.
Mr. Rhoades has always been an active Republican in politics and is devotedly attached to the principles of his party. Fraternally he is a Freemason of the Knight Templar degree and also a Noble of the Mys- tic Shrine, and a prominent member of the Order of Elks. He served as Exalted Ruler of Missoula lodge in the latter order two years, and was chairman of the building committee which erected its new hall, one of the most complete, convenient and beautiful in Montana. He and his wife are the parents of two children, their daughter Bessie, and their son James.
JUDGE FRANCIS K. ARMSTRONG. In the list of dis- tinguished citizens who have made up the judiciary of Montana, none has stood higher in the esteem and
confidence of the people than Judge Francis K. Arm- strong, of Bozeman, who during a period of eleven years rendered service of a high character to his state and upheld the dignity and traditions of the Montana bench. Judge Armstrong has served capably in other official capacities, and for a number of years has also identified himself with the financial interests of Boze- man, being at this time a director in the National Bank of Gallatin Valley, and in every relation of life has so conducted his affairs that his record stands today without a stain or blemish. He is a native of Rock- ford, North Carolina, and was born March 6, 1849, a son of Francis K. Armstrong, Sr., who was born in Surry county, North Carolina, March 28, 1802. The latter became a gentleman of great wealth and promi- nence, owning a large hotel, plantation and much other property in his native state, and was distinguished in local politics, for several years being clerk of the district court and holding other offices of trust and im- portance. Financial reverses came, however, and with them a desire to seek rest and recuperation amid the more novel and exciting scenes of the far west. Ac- cordingly, in the early fifties, he removed from North Carolina and located in St. Joseph, Missouri, but later went into Kansas and settled at Iowa Point, where his death occurred in 1861, when he was sixty years of age. He was a most excellent and honorable man, and was loved for his manly qualities of mind and heart. The mother of Judge Armstrong was Jerusha (Belt) Arm- strong, also a native of North Carolina, who was born October 6, 1807, and died at Iowa Point, aged eighty- two years. She was the mother of seven children, five of whom are still living, and Francis K. is the only one who adopted the profession of law.
Francis K. Armstrong was but twelve years of age when his father died, but he immediately assumed the responsibility of caring for his mother, and when he could be spared from home attended the district schools. Subsequently he became a student in the university at Highland, Kansas, and after completing his studies there entered the law department of Columbia College, Missouri, from which he was graduated with high honors in 1875. He began the practice of law at Troy, Kansas, and was later associated with Albert Perry, this partnership continuing for two years, and in Janu- ary, 1879, Mr. Armstrong came to Bozeman, Montana,. most of the year being passed in looking over the ground. He then opened a law office and for a few months associated himself with Col: Ira Pierce, and when that professional relation was dissolved by the death of Colonel Pierce, formed a copartnership with Judge Llewellyn Augustus Luce. This was continued for a brief period, when Judge Armstrong became associated with Hon. Charles S. Hartman, which con- tinued up to the time of the appointment of Judge Armstrong to the bench, in 1891. In that year the ninth judicial district for the state of Montana was organized, and Judge Armstrong was appointed to fill the office by Governor Toole, and was twice thereafter elected to the position, in 1904 and 1908. In 1904, he became one of the organizers of the National Bank of Gallatin Valley, and has since been a director and. stockholder in that institution, recognized as one of the- most substantial banking houses in the state.
On December 27, 1881, Judge Armstrong was mar- ried in Bozeman, to Miss Lora Lamme, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, and to this union there were born three children, one of whom, Mabel, died at the age of six years. Two daughters, Lena and Edith, survive. Mrs. Armstrong's father, Achilles Lamme, was a very prominent citizen and early settler of Gallatin county,. who came to Montana in 1864 or 1865, and began practice as a physician. In so new a country, how- ever, there was but little business for a doctor, and he soon turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, which. he continued up to the time of his death. At that
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period he was the leading merchant of eastern Mon- tana and prominently identified with the growth and development of the state. Although in the strictest sense a business man more than a politician, he served one term in the Montana legislature.
Judge. Armstrong has always taken an active interest in the political affairs of the day, locally and otherwise. He has not been an office seeker, but has considered it his duty to assume the responsibilities that have been thrust upon him. Bearing a reputation for the highest integrity of character, he has held the confidence of all classes, and in the various official capacities in which he has served has fully vindicated the trust reposed in him. At a time when Montana consisted of but three judicial districts, Judge Armstrong served as prosecuting attorney for one of them, with a deputy in each of the counties comprising the district. He also served as president of the territorial council, and . gratitude and affection. Mr. Crowley died on January 19, 1906, and it is said that his was the most largely attended funeral that Lewistown ever witnessed.
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