A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 111

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 970

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Alfred B. Guthrie was educated in the schools of his county and later attended the University of Indiana, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895, receiving at that time his degree of A. B. He taught school in Indiana for a time and for six years was prin- cipal of the schools of Bedford. He moved to Mon- tana in August, 1901, locating at once in Choteau, where he again engaged in the teaching profession and be- came principal of the Choteau high school, a position which he retained for six years, resigning to assume the ownership of the Acantha, which he had purchased in January, 1907. The paper was originally established at Dupuyer, in Teton county, in 1892. He has since the time of purchase conducted the paper, which under his management has become a strong Republican power in the county. Mr. Guthrie has, since entering the news- paper field, taken an active part in the Republican poli- tics of the county, and his influence is felt in manifold ways, both in civic affairs and throughout the district.

On December 29, 1896, Mr. Guthrie married Miss June Thomas, a daughter of C. P. Thomas of Muncie, Indiana, where the marriage occurred. The Thomas family is an old and highly respected pioneer family of that section of Indiana. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie: Nana, Bertram, Charles and John. The two eldest children were born in Bedford, Indiana, while the younger two are of Montana origin, born at Choteau. The family are members of the Methodist church.

HON. CHARLES SIDNEY BELL. During the ten years in which he was a resident of the city of Billings, the Hon. Charles Sidney Bell was identified with move- ments that tended to develop the city's resources, was well and favorably known in fraternal circles, and rep- resented his district ably and well as a member of the Montana state legislature. Although he is now residing in Florida, where he is engaged in fruit raising and the

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real estate business, his activities in Billings were of a nature to leave an impression upon the community and entitle him to a place among the city's representa- tive men. Charles Sidney Bell was born December 3, 1874, at Ellsworth, Kansas, and is a son of Charles E. and Harriet (Hutton) Bell.

Charles E. Bell was born at Spencerport, Monroe county, New York, March 7, 1850, his father being for many years the railroad agent at that point and the first to hold that position. His early education was secured there, but as a mere boy he started for the west, and located first at Leavenworth, Kansas, where lie first worked for a freighting company for several years. Subsequently he moved on to Ellsworth, where until about 1886 he was engaged in the cattle business, and then became identified with the Kansas Pacific Railroad, now a part of the Union Pacific, being special agent in the settlement of claims until 1889. In that year Mr. Bell moved with his family to Bismarck, Dakota Territory, and entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad, with which he has been connected to the present time, his home now being located in Glendive, Montana. He is a member of Ellsworth Lodge of Masons, and in his political belief is a Republican. During the Civil war he served as a soldier in the Union army, and he has ever borne the reputation of a patriotic and public-spirited citizen. He was married at Ellsworth, Kansas, to Miss Harriet Hutton, who was born July 9, 1855. at Lowden, Iowa, and three children were born to this union: Charles Sidney, Earl Clark and Walter Claire.

Charles Sidney Bell received a public and high school education in Ellsworth, and subsequently graduated from the Metropolitan Business College of St. Paul, Minnesota. He then entered the employ of the North- ern Express Company as messenger, but one year later, in 1893, entered the city office in St. Paul, where he worked in various capacities. He first became night clerk and was later made assistant cashier, a position he held until December 6, 1901, when he came to Billings as joint agent for the Northern and Adams Express Companies. On.May 26, 1906, he resigned his position to become bookkeeper for the Suburban Homes Company, was later salesman, and on July 1, 1911, became manager and agent. On November 9, 19II, Mr. Bell left Billings for Florida, where at Fort McCoy he established himself in the real estate busi- ness, and also has engaged in fruit raising. On Novem- ber 8, 1910, the Republicans of Yellowstone county elected Mr. Bell a member of the state legislature, where he represented more people than any other rep- resentative in the state. In 1906 he was elected secre- tary of the Masonic Temple Association of Billings. He helongs to Ashlar Lodge No. 29, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past master, having represented it in the Grand Lodge of the state; Billings Chapter No. 6, R. A. M., of which he is past high priest; Aldemar Com- manderv No. 5, K. T., of which he is past eminent commander: and Algeria Temple, Helena. He also belongs to Edna Chapter No. 14, O. E. S., of which he is past worthy patron and has represented this lodge in the Grand Lodge of Montana, and his wife also belongs to this order, being past worthy matron.

In March, 1895, Mr. Bell was married to Miss Jennie A. Hillman, who was born at Paris, Maine, April 27, 1874. Mr. Bell was highly respected by his numerous acquaintances and business associates and was a man in whom the people of the county had a great deal of confidence. His leaving Billings is a distinct loss to that city, but he takes with him the best wishes of a wide circle of friends.

WILLIAM DAVIS. A self-educated, self-made man, who since his eleventh year has depended solely upon his own resources, William Davis, of Bozeman, has gained a foremost position among the business men of

his adopted city through close application, ceaseless industry and honorable methods. Mr. Davis was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, August 3, 1863, and is a son of John T. and Elizabeth (Amon) Davis. His father, born in England, in 1837, came to the United States when a mere lad with his parents, securing his education in the public schools of Pennsylvania, where he later entered the ministry. Subsequently he be- came connected with the West Virginia Methodist Episcopal Conference, and after filling many charges in West Virginia, died at Morgantown, that state, October 5, 1910. His wife, a native of Germany died in 1869.

William Davis was only six years of age when his mother died, and when he was fourteen years old he ran away from home with the boyish intention of seeing the great West. His first stop was in Sioux City, Iowa, whence he worked his way to St. Paul, Minne- sota, and secured employment in the St. Paul Furniture and Undertaking Company. For some length of time he continued to work for that firm, learning the busi- ness and receiving his board and lodging as wages, but subsequently became associated with McCarthy & Don- nely, and in the meantime supplemented his rather meagre early education by attendance at a night school in Minneapolis. He continued to work assiduously, and during the winter of 1886-7 attended Clark's Em- halming School, in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating with the class of June 16, 1887, when he returned to Minne- apolis and was employed as an embalmer by Mr. Conley until 1901. In that year he first came to Mon- tana, locating in the city of Helena, where he was em- ployed by Hermann & Company, undertakers and em- balmers, and in 1903 came to Bozeman and formed a co-partnership, under the name of Kay & Davis. This association continued until March 2, 1912, when Mr. Davis assumed sole charge of the business, which he has conducted to the present time. He now has a modern establishment at No. 330 West Main street, fitted with all modern equipment known to the business and including every convenience for the bereaved. He also has a branch establishment at Belgrade. Perhaps no line of work requires more tact or consideration for the feeling of others than that of funeral directing, and Mr. Davis has succeeded in business because he possesses these qualities, as well as those of good judg- ment, business ability and a high sense of honor. He is a member of the Montana Undertakers Association and the National Association of Undertakers, and has been prominent in fraternal work, and especially so in Odd Fellowship, being past noble grand of his lodge, a member of the encampment, and having held in the past a number of important offices. He is the Past Chief Patriarch of the encampment.

Mr. Davis was married April 20, 1899, to Miss Mamie A. Blood, who was born in Watertown, Minne- sota, and they have three interesting children: Weinah, Wilbur B., and William Elwyn.

ALFRED TENNYSON LEES, M. D. Since 1905 Dr. Lees has attended a large and growing practice at Whitefish, and has been identified with his profession in this state for more than ten years. A well equipped and skillful physician and surgeon, he has found in this state a large field for his ability, and is one of the prominent citizens of northwest Montana.

The doctor was born in Gilmanton, Wisconsin, June 26, 1875. His father, Alexander Lees, a native of Scot- land, was brought to America when two years old, and is now a retired resident of Mondovi, Wisconsin. The mother's maiden name was Dorothea Baertsch, and her father, Christoph Baertsch, founded the family in America, he becoming a substantial farmer near Ke- nosha, Wisconsin.

Dr. Lees, the fourth in a family of six children, at- tended the public schools of his native Gilmanton, then

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took a two years' course in the River Fall Normal. For his profession he prepared in some of the best schools of America, taking two years in the University of Min- nesota medical department and two years in the Rush Medical College of Chicago, the oldest institution of the kind in the West. Graduating M. D .in 1901, in Decem- ber, following, he located at Gateway, Montana, where he practiced a year and a half, then removing to Hay- den, where he was physician for a construction camp of the Great Northern. Since November, 1905, Whitefish has been his place of residence, and he has an extensive general practice in this locality. For the past four years he has been city health officer. He is a member of the county, state and national medical societies, is affiliated with the Whitefish Masonic Lodge No. 64, is treasurer of the Masonic association, and is examining surgeon and member of the Woodmen of the World. In politics the doctor is a Democrat, and he is affiliated with the Presbyterian church. For a number of years he has been devoted to his work, and about the only diversion which he has allowed himself has been the game of ten- nis, which he plays as occasion presents. His office is at 140 Central avenne, and his attractive home is 118 O'Brien avenue.

Dr. Lees was married at Gateway, this state, Septem- ber 27, 1906, to Miss Theresa Maude McCannon, who was born in Peterboro, Ontario, a daughter of John McCannon. Her great-grandfather was an officer in the English army.

FRANK O. WILLIAMS. The intimate association of Mr. Williams with Montana began in 1901 and has continued since that time without a break. With the passing years he has been engaged in various lines of business. For six years he was auditor of the Kalispell Flour Mill Company, which he gave up to assume the duties of under-sheriff to W. H. O'Connell, sheriff of Flathead county, and he continued in that office until in March, 1909. In that month he purchased the abstract business of C. E. Shoemaker & Co., since known as the Flat- head Title Company, Incorporated, Mr. Williams being president of the concern, as well as the manager. The business was originally established in 1902, but it re- mained to Mr. Williams to build the first abstract plant in the county. The organization of which he is the head is admittedly the most complete and extensive concern of its kind in the district, and a thriving business is conducted through its offices.

Mr. Williams was born in Washington, Iowa, on March 1, 1869. He is the son of Thomas Young and Mary J. (Kinnear) Williams, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Iowa. Thomas Young Williams was born September 30, 1840, near Mansfield, Ohio, and his marriage to Mary Jane Kinnear occurred on August 22, 1862. She was born on April 1, 1844. The parents of Thomas Y. Williams were William and Rachel (Cantwell) Williams. The father was born on January 7, 1800, in Brook county, Virginia (now West Vir- ginia), and he died in January, 1874, and is buried in Washington, Iowa. He was a Presbyterian and for many years filled the office of ruling elder in his church. His wife, Rachael Cantwell, the mother of Thomas Young Williams and grandmother of the subject, was horn August 6, 1806, in Jefferson county, Ohio, her death occurring on August 22, 1858. She lies buried in the old cemetery at Crawfordsville, Iowa. In her youth she was a member of the Methodist church, but in 1833 united with the Presbyterian church. Her father, Wil- liam Cantwell, was a Virginia pioneer who migrated to Iowa in 1850, various other members of his imme- diate family at that time moving to Missouri and Iowa. The Cantwell family is one of the oldest in the United States today, tracing its ancestry back to early colonial days, when the family was founded in Baltimore, Mary- land, by the first American William of the name Cant- well. Thus we have Frank O. Williams, the son of

Thomas Young and Mary Jane (Kinnear) Williams, the grandson of William and Rachael (Cantwell) Wil- liams and the great-grandson of William and Nancy. Ann Williams, whose lives cover a period ranging from 1776 to the present day.

Thomas Young Williams migrated from Ohio, the state of his birth, into Iowa in about 1848, entering the commonwealth in all its newness, and later, in the spring of 1871, went to Washington, thus winning claim to the title of pioneer in no uncertain way. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having fought through his enlistment period with his lowa regiment, in Gen- eral Sherman's command, and passing through a num- ber of the vital conflicts of the war. He has in late years retired from all business activities and is a resi- dent of Spokane, Washington, where he has made his home for some years past. To him and his wife were born ten children, here named in the order of their birth. William Irving Williams, a prominent merchant of Julietta, Idaho, was born in Washington, Iowa, on August 18, 1866. He married Harriet Gormley Wheatly, born November 16, 1876, at Altoona, Pennsyl- vania, and they have children as follows: Frances Harriet, born on Christmas day, 1899, at Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Harland Wheatley, June 14, 1902, his birth occurring in Spokane, Washington; Mary, born Decem- ber 26, 1905; Rachael, February 2, 1908.

Frank Orlan Williams of this review was one of a pair of twins, born March 1, 1869.

James Harlan Williams, a well-known merchant of Coeur d'Alene was born March I, 1869, at Washing- ton, Iowa.

Laura Margaret Williams is now Mrs. A. E. House of Spokane, Washington, born July 15, 1871; George Maurice Williams and John Ellis Williams were born on August 19, 1873. George is at Burke, Idaho, while John is a merchant of Baker City, Oregon. Jennie Mary Williams, now Mrs. Newton Green, born May 25, 1875, is a resident of Spokane, Washington. Van Eaton Williams, born February II, 1877, resides in Tacoma, Washington, where he is connected with the N. P. land office.

Naomi Williams, born June 16, 1883, died April 19, 1907; married to Frank Anderson, a druggist of Ro- salia, Wash., May 31, 1904.

T. Clair Williams, born January 14, 1887, is an abstrac- tor with his brother and one of the coming young men of Kalispell, Montana.

The family is one of considerable numerical length and breadth, living members from Thomas Young and Mary J. (Kinnear) Williams down to the youngest rep- resentative of the family today numbering one hundred and twenty-four, with twenty-four deceased, making a total of one hundred and forty-eight, as follows : Parents, two. Children, ten. Grandchildren, twenty- seven. Great-grandchildren, sixty-four. Great-great- grandchildren, ten. Members coming into the family by marriage, thirty-five, making a total of one hun- dred and forty-eight.

Frank Orlan Williams was educated in the public schools of Whitman county, Washington, and later attended Waitsburg Academy at Waitsburg, Washing- ton, and followed his course there with a business course in a business college at Burlington, Iowa, finish- ing there when he was twenty-one years of age. He was first employed as a bookkeeper in the store of the Bonner Mercantile Company, at Bonners Ferry, Idaho, where he continued for a year and a half, after which he returned to Whitman county, Washington, and engaged in the grain business. He also served in the courthouse as deputy county auditor through two terms. Following that experience, Mr. Williams came to Mon- tana, locating directly in Kalispell in 1901, where he took a position as auditor of the Kalispell Flour Mill Company, with whom he remained until 1907. In that year he became under sheriff to County Sheriff W. H.

Halvor Halvorson.

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O'Connell of Flathead county, and he continued to serve in that capacity until March 1, 1909, when he pur- chased the business of C. E. Shoemaker & Co., as mentioned in a previous paragraph, and proceeded to establish such a business as the county had never before boasted, and which has filled a long realized want in the affairs of the county.

Mr. Williams is a Bryan Democrat and an active worker in the affairs of the party. He has been a mem- ber of every Democratic convention held in the county since 1902, but has never sought political office or honors and has declined all overtures along that line. He is a dominant force for good in all civic matters, in which he takes a more than ordinary interest, and is known to be a citizen of sterling worth to the community in which he makes his home. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church and chairman of its board of trustees.

On July 16, 1902. Mr. Williams was united in mar- riage at Spokane, Washington, with Miss Georgia Viola Gay, the daughter of Robert and Marian (Clark) Gay, · of Illinois. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Williams: Orlan Gay, born at Kalispell, on May 19, 1906, and Jessie Alsea, born October 14, 1907, also at Kalispell. The family home is maintained at No. 636 Third avenue West, a pleasant place which is the cen- ter of much social activity, both Mr. and Mrs. Williams being popular and prominent in social circles in the city, where they have a host of warm friends and well wish- ing acquaintances.

HON. HALVOR HALVORSON. Noteworthy among the leading business men of Cut Bank is Hon. Halvor Hal- vorson, a prosperous general merchant, who is actively interested in promoting the welfare of the city. Mayor of Cut Bank the past two years, he has performed his every duty, no matter how trying, to the satisfaction of every fair-minded citizen, being a firm believer that nothing is too good for the little city over which he has official charge. A native of Iowa, he was born, May 8, 1865, in Clayton county, where he was bred and educated.

Born in Norway, John Halvorson, father of Halvor Halvorson, immigrated to America when young, and made his way across the country to Iowa, settling in that state in 1840. Taking up the free and indepen- dent occupation of a farmer, he was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death, in 1900, at the age of sixty-eight years. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Julia Halvorson, several children were born. the second in order of birth having been Halvor. She, too, came to the United States when young, having been but a child when her parents located in Iowa, where she died, in 1877, at the early age of thirty-three years.

Obtaining his preliminary education in the district schools, Halvor Halvorson began wage earning in a general store in Iowa, serving as a clerk four years. Going then to Minnesota, he was identified with the railway service for a number of seasons, after which he lived for awhile in North Dakota. Locating at Cut Bank, Montana, in 1901, Mr. Halvorson opened a gen- eral store, starting in on a small scale, and has since developed a very large and successful trade, being now one of the foremost general merchants of Teton county, and a splendid representative of its self-made men, his present prosperity being entirely due to his own en- ergetic efforts.

An earnest supporter of the Republican party, Mr. Halvorson is prominent and influential in public matters, and is now serving as a member of the local school board, and as mayor of the city, a position to which he was elected by his fellow associates in March, 1910. Fraternally he is a member and the master of Cut Bank Lodge No. 82. Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons; of Great Falls Chapter No. 9, R. A. M .;

Black Eagle Commandery No. 8, K. T .; Butte Con- sistory No. 2, A. & A. S. Rite of Freemasonry; Algeria Temple, A. A. O. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Helena, Montana. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he is noble grand, and secretary of his lodge; and of the Modern Woodmen of America. Religiously he is a member of the Presby- terian church.

Mr. Halvorson married, March -, 1896, Miss Katie Rich, of Crookston, Minnesota, and they are the par- ents of four children, namely: Arthur, born in Browns- ville, Minnesota, in March, 1897; Dorothy, born at Browns Valley, Minnesota, in November, 1899; Harvey, whose birth occurred at Cut Bank, Montana, in 1902; and Walter, born in Cut Bank, in 1905.

HUGH E. HOUSTON, M. D. Since 1901 Doctor Hous- ton has been one of the Great Northern's division sur- geons, located first at Kalispell and now at Whitefish, where besides his work in connection with the railway he has a large general practice. He is one of Montana's leading physicians and surgeons. Hugh E. Houston was born at Echo, in Yellow Medicine county, Minnesota, January 1, 1874, the oldest of four sons and three daughters born to Robert and Mary S. (Brown) Hous- ton. His father, a native of Buffalo, New York, was one of Minnesota's pioneers, having settled there in 1862. He was a prosperous farmer, served as county commissioner, justice of the peace and in other local offices, and was a citizen of high standing in his com- munity. He died at the age of fifty-five. The mother, who was born on Prince Edward Island, died at the age of fifty-four.

Doctor Houston received his early education in the public schools. He was fourteen years old when his father died, and from that time was dependent on his own efforts for his education and advancement in life. His varied accomplishments and successful career are the fruit of his own industrious endeavor. He earned the means by which he put himself through school and college. After graduation from the Woodlake high school of Minnesota in 1893, he was employed as a drug clerk two years, and then received the appointment of postmaster at Woodlake, an office which he filled with credit for four years. During the last two years in that office he was studying medicine in the medical department of Hamline University, which later affiliated with the Minnesota State University. He graduated in medicine June, 1900, after which he served as interne in St. Joseph's Hospital. Doctor Houston has been very progressive in his professional career, and besides his regular study in connection with his practice has taken considerable post-graduate work. He spent some time in the Post Graduate School of New York and also in the Mayo Hospital at Rochester, New York.

During his interneship, he received appointment as surgeon for the Great Northern Railway, and on the Ist of July, 1901, located at Kalispell, the division head- quarters of the company. In November, 1905, the rail- road's division point was moved to Whitefish, where he has since practiced as the regular division surgeon and also in general practice of medicine and . surgery. Doctor Houston is register of vital statistics for the state of Montana, is a member of the. American Medi- cal Association and the state and county medical socie- ties, and in 1910 was delegate to the international tuberculosis congress at Washington, D. C. He rep- resents eighteen of the old-line insurance companies as examiner, and also a number of the fraternal insurance orders. His politics is Republican. The Doctor is prominent in Masonry, affiliating with the Whitefish Lodge No. 64, the Knight Templar commandery at Kalispell, and the Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. He is also a member of the Eastern Star and the Elks Club at Kalispell. He is an active mem- ber and trustee of the Whitefish Methodist church.

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In material prosperity as well as professional honors the doctor has been very successful. He is owner of farm lands and an apple orchard on Whitefish lake, is vice-president of the First National Bank and presi- dent of the First National Bank Building Company at Whitefish. His residence is at 424 Central avenue.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 111

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 970

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 970