A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 88

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

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In the public schools of Montreal Mr. Demers ob- tained his early educational training and while at school he learned bookkeeping, which occupation he followed generally until he left home. He earned his first money as a boy working in a dry-goods store in Montreal. He started in as cash boy but at the end of three months was put behind the counter as salesman. His salary at the start was seven dollars per month and this sum he handed over intact to his mother. He remained at home until he had reached his legal majority and then came to the United States, locating first in the city of Chicago, where he worked for two years in a real-estate office, and going thence to the southern part of the country, stopping at different towns and follow- ing various occupations for the ensuing year, at the end of which he returned to Montreal. He remained in his home place for the next six years and during a part of that time was engaged in the grocery business, later turning his attention to contracting. Many fine buildings in Montreal stand as a monument to his handiwork. On leaving home the second time he went to Colorado, where he was clerk for a railroad com- pany for one year, at the expiration of which, in 1880. he came to Montana, where he has since maintained his home. For a number of years he conducted a store at the Mission in the Flathead Reservation and he was in that place until 1901, when he disposed of his business and went to Missoula, where he ran a harness and saddle shop for several years. In 1907 he came to Arlee and opened his present store and he is now recognized as the leading merchant in this place. He has been postmaster for a period of twenty-five years, part of the time in the Flathead country and for the

Charkrug

annie Krug

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

last four years at Arlee. He is also the owner of a large ranch eligibly located three and one-half miles distant from Arlee. He is a Democrat in politics and Is a valued member of the school board. In fraternal matters he is an Elk and in their religious faith the family are devout communicants of the Catholic church.

Mr. Demers was married at the Agency, in 1881, to Grace E. Lambert, who was born and reared at St. Paul, Minnesota, and who is a daughter of Judge Lambert, formerly of St. Paul, Minnesota. Seven children have been born to this union and concerning them the follow- ing data are here incorporated: One died when two years old; Grace E. married W. H. Yost and resides in Butte, Montana; Louis A. is associated with his father in business at Arlee; he is also notary public and United States commissioner; Eugene L. is engaged in bookkeeping at Butte; Alice married O. V. Mc- Intire and resides at Arlee, Mr. McIntire being a clerk and interested in the Demers Mercantile Company; Florence B. is a fine artist and has painted some beau- tiful pictures; she resides at home with her parents; Lambert L. is attending school.

Mr. Demers devotes all his time to business and his family. He is very proficient and versatile as a musi- cian. In fact every member of the family is musical and with their various instruments could conduct a little band or orchestra of their own. The daughters are likewise talented as artists and some of their paint- ings might really be termed masterpieces. The home is a scene of comfort and hospitality is extended to all comers.

HARRY HELMS. Prominent among the older genera- tion of business men in Glendive, one whose residence in this city covered a period of more than thirty years was the late Harry Helms, in whose death, Monday, July 15, 1912, there passed away a citizen who was identified with all matters pertaining to the welfare of the city or Dawson county, and a man whose kindness of heart endeared him to a wide circle of friends. Harry Helms was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 8, 1849, and was nine years of age when his parents re- moved to Indianapolis, Indiana. There he completed his public school education and subsequently took a course in Professor Kroll's Commercial College, from which he was graduated. He immediately chose the trade of ship carpenter for his life work, the details of which vocation he learned at Louisville, Kentucky, and after finishing the trade he traveled in that capacity on the tributaries of the Mississippi river for ten years. Under the command of Captain Robert Mason, Mr. Helms was ship carpenter on the "E. H. Durfee," which came up the Yellowstone to the Big Horn river in 1876, the memorable year of the Custer massacre, and on the return trip brought the remnants of Reno's soldiers to Fort Lincoln. His personal association with those events was a source of great pleasure to him in after years when in a reminiscent mood.

Prior to the advent of the Northern Pacific Railroad, which established its grade in 1881, Mr. Helms mi- grated to Glendive and opened a saloon and restaurant, the letter of which was discontinued after several years, the liquor business receiving all of his attention until 1892, when Mr. Helms was elected a county commis- sioner by the Democratic party, and had the satisfaction of seeing the handsome steel bridge across the Yellow- stone river completed before the expiration of his term of office. During his early days he developed a liking for the harness horse, in this line becoming widely known among horse lovers throughout the west. He developed animals that established records on various tracks, among his famous horses being "Major," "Al- toka," and "Governor Wilson," in addition to several youngsters which were ready but had not been raced when Mr. Helms' sudden death occurred. Some six years prior to his death, Mr. Helms associated himself Vol. I-19

in business with Fred Volkert, another pioneer busi- ness man of Glendive, and with him erected the hand- some new block on Bell street.

Mr. Helms was married the second time to Miss Annie Devitt, who, with a young son and daughter by his first marriage, mourn his death. The funeral ser- vices were conducted by the Reverend Grefthens, from Mr. Helms' residence. A public spirited citizen, with the interest of his adopted city and county at heart, Mr. Helms did much to advance the community's inter- ests. His charities were many, but his was the form of benefaction that is done quietly, modestly and un- ostentatiously, and the extent of his donations will probably never be known. Few men have had a greater number of friends, and none will be held in kindlier remembrance.

CHARLES KRUG. It has been the privilege of some to assist in the development of their country, to travel to the waste places and blaze the trail for the great migrations which take place from one section to another less civilized. From earliest days in this country the tendency has ever been to press westward, and when a certain section of the land has become too congested there have always been intrepid souls who have jour- neyed forth to dangerous and forbidden territory, his- tory in this respect constantly repeating itself. In the record of Montana's settlement and civilization the name of Charles Krug holds a conspicuous place. Coming to the west in 1878, in an endeavor to find a locality where an invalid sister might regain her lost health, he experienced all the hardships and privations inci- dental to the early frontier, and not only accomplished his original purpose, but so ably conducted his affairs that today he is considered one of the leading sheep- men of eastern Montana. A record of his career is interesting not only as an example of what youthful energy, ambition and perseverance may accomplish, but also as depicting something of Montana's early life.

Charles Krug was born November 1, 1846, at Peters- burg, Mahoning county, Ohio, and is a son of Conrad and Sophia Krug, natives of Germany. Conrad Krug came to the United States in young manhood, working steadily at his trade of weaver for five years in order to earn the means with which to return to his native country and be married. This accomplished, he again came to America and located in Ohio, remaining there for about seven years and then moving to Michigan. Up to this time he had followed almost continuously the trade of weaver, and his son still preserves jealously a number of pieces of his handiwork showing his skill in weaving. On locating in Michigan, however, Conrad Krug took up a claim of government land in the heavily wooded district of the state, there building a primitive cottage of logs and little by little developing a farm from the dense wilderness about him. This sturdy and sterling old citizen passed away at the age of eighty-four years, after a long and honorable career, while his faithful wife and helpmate died when eighty- three years old. They had a family of three sons and two daughters.

Charles Krug was the oldest son of his parents' chil- dren, and, his services being needed on the old home farm, he was able to secure but little schooling. How- ever, he continued to remain under the parental roof until he was twenty-two years of age, assisting his father to cultivate the homestead, of which he is still the owner, and on which he had lived since his sixth year. In 1868 Mr. Krug went to Grand Rapids, Michi- gan, and for a time was engaged in railroading, sub- sequently turning his attention to lumbering in con- nection with railroad construction work. He so con- tinued for eight years, at the end of which time cir- cumstances made it advisable for Charles to come to the west. His sister Emma was afflicted with a severe case of asthma, and her suffering at length became so

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acute that she decided to seek relief in a climate further west. Accordingly, in 1878, Charles Krug left home and made a trip through Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona, in the meantime doing some work for the Santa Fe Railroad. He was also seeking a country where he could establish himself in business, and, hearing of Montana as a place fitted for his needs, took the old Narrow-Gauge Railroad from Salt Lake City north as far as it ran, and at Red Rock, Idaho, with a companion, secured horses and started east. At that time there were no such towns as Livingston or Billings, and no railroad had been built through that country, and they were compelled to ride 1,000 miles on horseback, through the wild and dangerous section, constantly menaced by wild animals and hostile Indians. As they reached Fort Keogh, where General Nelson A. Miles was stationed, the famous and bloodthirsty In- dian chief Rain-in-the-Face had just surrendered after a long and murderous campaign against the travelers. These two hardy pioneers, however, pushed on to Man- dan, Dakota, to which the Northern Pacific had recently been built, and there Mr. Krug, being short of funds, secured employment in the railway service. He re- mained in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad for eleven years and during this time brought his sister here. She was one of the pioneer white women of this section, and was successful in regaining her health for some time, but her death was eventually caused by the same disease. In 1881 Mr. Krug built one of the first cottages in Glendive, and it still stands today, being across the street from the present home of Mr. Krug, a beautiful residence of brick, modern in construction and appointments, which he erected in 1907.

As soon as he settled down to work Mr. Krug started in the cattle business, and by the year 1885 was the owner of 500 head of cattle. Like many other cattle- men of that time and locality, however, he lost nearly all of his animals in the fierce storms of the winter of 1886-7, but he immediately began to replenish his stock, and in 1887 embarked in the sheep business. From that time on his rise was rapid, and at one time he owned fifty-four sections of land and was the largest sheep- man in this part of Montana. He still owns 12,000 acres of land, his ranch being sixteen miles southwest of Glendive, and has 800 acres under irrigation and 100 acres in alfalfa.

On November 16, 1900, Mr. Krug was married to Mrs. F. B. Ketchen, daughter of G. D. and Barbara (Chalmers) Hackney, natives of Scotland. Mrs. Krug's parents immigrated to Canada at an early day, and there fourteen children, including two pair of twins, were born to them, and in 1881 they came to Dakota. They now make their home in Idaho. Mr. Hackney being seventy-six years of age and his wife sixty-seven. Mrs. Krug was born in Canada, and while the family resided in Dakota, met and married F. B. Ketchen, who left her with two children: Lovina and Florence. Mr. and Mrs. Krug have had five children: Charles C., Emma A., Irene, George D. and Paul. Mrs. Krug and her daughters are members of the Congregational church. Mr. Krug is a Democrat in his political views, but aside from serving for eight years as commissioner of Dawson county has had no public record. He has at all times, however, been before the people as a man whose extensive operations have added to his com- munity's industrial importance and who has had at heart the welfare of his adopted state. A representative of the old band of pioneers whose ranks are thinning day by day, he is well deserving of the respect and esteem in which he is universally held and commands a high place in the regard of those who are admirers of self-made manhood.

FRED VOLKERT. Nothing is more certain than that thrift, industry and preseverance will eventually lead to success. These are the leading characteristics of the

German race, and it is generally for that reason that the natives of the Fatherland readily gain positions of in- dependence in whatever locality they establish them- selves. One of the most notable examples of self- made manhood is found in the person of Fred Volkart, of Glendive, pioneer business man, rancher, real estate owner, banker and financier, whose career has been filled with industrious effort since boyhood, and whose labors have had their reward in the attainment of a posi- tion of importance among his fellow citizens. Mr. Volkert was born in Germany, December 10, 1860, and came to the United States with his parents, four broth- ers and two sisters. The family arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, in May, 1872, and there the father died in 1877, and his mother during the following year.

Fred Volkert was not given many opportunities of an educational nature when he was a lad, but observation and many years of experience have made him the pos- sessor of a broad and comprehensive fund of informa- tion far exceeding that of some whose early training was of a much more extensive nature. After the death of his parents, the family became somewhat separated; and Fred secured employment in a picture frame fac- tory, where he worked for some time. Later he re- moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he also followed that business, earning enough there to pay his way to Minne- apolis, where he arrived in 1880. In the latter city he repeated the process, and the month of March, 1881, found him in Bismarck, North Dakota. There Mr. Volkert hired out to work his passage on a boat com- ing up the Yellowstone river, and when this vessel reached Glendive, then a hamlet of two blocks of log houses, he left the boat and secured a position as jani- tor of the temporary court house, where he continued to work for some time. Following this, for ten years he accepted whatever honorable employment presented itself, being for a time clerk and bartender in the old Yellowstone hotel. During this time, with others, he organized the Glendive Stock Company, a business de- voted to the raising of sheep on Beaver Creek, and at one time this concern had six thousand sheep. After three years, Mr. Volkert returned to Glendive, and formed a partnership with Harry Helms in the liquor business, building a fine brick block on West Bell street, No. 112, a two-story building, where they conducted a retail and jobbing business together until the death of Mr. Helms, since which time Mr. Volkert has con- ducted the business alone. In addition, Mr. Volkert owns some one thousand four hundred and forty acres of land, of which five hundred are under cultivation and are devoted to wheat, barley and flax, this ranch being located twenty miles southwest of Glendive. He has much real estate in the city itself and owns a handsome modern residence here, as well as in Great Falls; is a director of the Exchange State Bank, of Glendive, a position which he has occupied since that institution was changed from a private bank to a state one, and he has numerous other valuable interests in Glendive and Daw- son county. He is known as an alert and shrewed, but upright and honorable business man, and has the entire confidence of his associates. His politics are those of the Republican party, but public matters have not claimed his attention to the extent of inducing him to seek office. Fraternally, Mr. Volkert is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he has many friends, as he has, indeed, throughout the city.

STEPHEN SULLIVAN. A worthy representative of the energetic younger and native generation of Montana is Stephen Sullivan, the popular treasurer of Lewis and Clark county, who was born at Marysville, this state, December 26, 1881. There he was reared in the home of worthy parents and was educated up to the eighth grade in the public schools of his native city. This training he supplemented by a course in the Helena Business College, from which he was grad-

Tired Volkert.

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uated in 1899. Upon leaving school he became state agent for the Scranton (Pa.) Correspondence Schools, and pushed the business with that vim and resolution which not only made a record for him in that capacity but which have been marked characteristics of his sub- sequent career. After some two years' service in that position, he became city solicitor for the Montana Daily Record of Helena, but six months later resigned to take up an appointment under Percy R. Witmar as county clerk and recorder. He filled that office two years and five months, and then was appointed deputy clerk of the court under Mayor Frank Reece. It was at the close of his two years' term as deputy clerk of the court that he made his race for the Republican nomination as county treasurer, and in the following election (in 1910) secured the office by twelve votes. The contest was a spirited one, Mr. Sullivan having as his opponent A. J. Duncan, former treasurer and one of the strongest men politically in the county. Mr. Sullivan is accredited with an able and consci- entious discharge of his official duties, and his accom- plishments thus far in life presage for him a very successful future career, whether in the field of busi- ness or in political life.

Mr. Sullivan is the son of Daniel D. Sullivan, a native of Cork, Ireland, where he was born in 1847. He came to this country in 1864, at the age of seven- teen, a stranger in a strange land, to push his own way. He first located at Hancock, Michigan, where he worked in the mines several years. There he was married to Miss Mary Sullivan, who not only bore the same name but was also a native of the Emerald Isle, she having immigrated to America when a young girl. Having decided to make his home in the west, Daniel D. Sullivan and his wife started on their long and hazardous journey overland. across the plains in 1878, and after five months of the hardships and dangers incident to their mode of travel in that early day, they reached Marysville, Montana, where they decided to remain. For thirty-four years they made their home in that city in the heart of the Rockies and are among its oldest and most respected pioneers. These years have been spent by Mr. Sullivan as a miner and mine operator, but he now lives retired.

On October 9, 1907, at Helena, Montana, were per- formed those solemn rites of marriage which united Stephen Sullivan and Miss Elma C. Barnes, a daughter of James M. and Margaret Barnes, the former of whom is deceased and the latter of whom now resides in Helena. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have three children; Margaret C. Sullivan, born October 1, 1908; Stephen D. Sullivan, Jr., born June 10, 1910, and John J. Sul- livan, April 4, 1912. Helena being the birthplace of all.

Mr. Sullivan is a devout communicant of the Catholic church, and in political affairs is a Republican. Fra- ternally he affiliates with the Royal Highlanders, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Columbus, and is a trustee of the last named order in Helena. Vigorous, alert and resourceful in busi- ness life, to these personal qualities is added a genial personality which wins for him a warm friendship from those he meets, whether in the affairs of daily life or in the social and fraternal circles in which he mingles. Helena numbers Mr. Sullivan among its popular and wide-awake young men.

WILLIAM CRAIG CARROLL. This honorable old family has for nearly two hundred years been identified with the growth and development of this country, and is represented in Butte by William C. and Joseph T. Carroll, leading business men and representative citi- zens. These gentlemen are descendants in the sixth generation from Joseph Carroll, who was born in the lowlands of Scotland about 1660, the line of descent from this ancestor being shown by Roman numerals.

(I) Joseph Carroll was born in the lowlands of Scotland in 1660, and was a member of the body of Protestants that sought refuge in the north of Ireland at the time of the religious difficulties in Scotland. Joseph Carroll served under the Duke of Schomburg, in the army of William Prince of Orange and par- ticipated in the engagement at the River Boyne, for which service he became a beneficiary under the act passed during William's reign, which granted pensions to the soldiers of the Prince of Orange in the shape of grants of land in the British Colonies of North America. He was given a grant of one league square, which was never laid by him, but descended to his son Joseph and was laid by him in York District, South Carolina, in 1751, more than sixty years after the serv- ice was rendered for which it was given. In his family was a son-

(II) Joseph Carroll was born in Ulster county, · Ireland, in 1699, and married in that country Jane Swance, an Irish-protestant lady, with whom he immi- grated to America about 1730, settling in what is now Chester county, Pennsylvania. Here he resided more than twenty years and it was where a number of his children were born. That restless spirit of adventure pictured in his mind the beautiful and fruitful lands of Georgia and the Carolinas, when he in company with a large number of others migrated to that section of the country. A portion of the company settled near Charlotte, North Carolina, another, including Joseph Carroll and family, continued the journey farther south until they came to Allisons creek, in York District, South Carolina, near where this stream empties into the Catawba river. This was in the latter part of 1751 or early in 1752. He had some time prior to this obtained a grant of land from the British Crown and, selecting a tract of 840 acres on Allisons creek he began a settlement there in 1753. He also obtained by this grant a large tract of land five or six miles south of his homestead and another tract along the Catawba river, in all amounting to five thousand seven hundred and sixty acres of land. In 1753 he built a dwelling house in the bottom lands of Allisons creek, from yellow swamp pine logs cut from his lands five miles distant and hauled to where they were used. This house was a two story structure, twenty-four by thirty feet, and stood for more than one hundred and twenty-five years. His great-grandson, Thomas M. Carroll, visited that section in 1878, and the old house was still standing, but unoccupied. It was in this home that Joseph Carroll died in 1786, at the age of eighty-seven years. He was one of those sturdy old pioneers who lived up to his religion seven days in a week, a devout Presbyterian. His son-

(III) Joseph Carroll was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and moved with his parents to York District, South Carolina, when a young man. He married in the latter state, and lived on a part of his father's old homestead, which subsequently fell to him by virtue of that parent's last will and testament. He remained a resident of South Carolina until his death. Included in his family was a son-

(IV) Joseph Carroll, born September 25, 1781, in York District, South Carolina. When a young man he apprenticed himself to Matthew Moffit, a blacksmith, and worked with him until he had acquired a sufficient amount of skill in the use of such tools that he was able to begin business for himself. On February 15, 1810, he was united in marriage with Miss Isabella Henry, at the old homestead in Lincoln county, North Carolina, the state line dividing the farm within one hundred yards of the house. Afterwards, in order to have their citizenship in South Carolina, the house was removed across the line. This section of the south is connected with the history of the Revolutionary struggle, as but twelve miles away the battle of King's Mountain was fought in October, 1780, an engagement

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 88

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