A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 117

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

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In connection with the work of his profession Dr. Sweet is a valued and appreciative member of the Missoula County Medical Society and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise connected with the Dixon Commercial Club and in politics is a stalwart and ac- tive Democrat. He was elected representative in 1912 from Sanders county. He is fond of hunting, fishing, football and baseball and devotes considerable time to reading and study. He is very enthusiastic about Montana and advises all who are looking for homes and a future to come hither. He says Montana is good to the honest hustler and worker and that the water power alone will make Dixon an attractive and important town. '

At Townsend, Montana, July 20, 1904, Dr. Sweet married Miss Nannie K. Watt, a daughter of Gordon and Martha Watt, of Townsend. Their attractive home is recognized as a center of refinement and most generous hospitality.

CHARLES D. KICHER. A banker of successful experi- ence and a progressive business man, Mr. Kicher has identified himself closely with the development of northwestern Montana, and while gaining the sub- stantial rewards of effort for himself is also an im- portant factor in making this new country a land of homes and permanent business and industry.

Charles D. Kicher was born in Mankato, Minnesota, March 22, 1883, and was educated in the grade and high schools of Minneapolis. On leaving school at the age of eighteen, he turned toward a business career, and. was first employed by the Minneapolis Street Rail- way Company. For a time he also worked for a grain company in that city, after which he entered the First National Bank at Lake Mills in a minor clerical capa- city and began learning the business in all its details. From Minnesota he came out to Montana and for a time was connected with the Havre Security State Bank. He then organized at Shelby the First Bank of Shelby. The first officers of this institution were Simon Pepin, president; C. F. Morris, vice-president ; and Mr. Kicher, cashier. On October 15, 19II, a re- organization was effected, at which time Joseph Berthe- lote became president, and A. J. Moltz, vice-president. Mr. Kicher has had the executive management of the bank from the beginning, and its prosperity has been largely the result of his seasoned experience in bank- ing and the confidence of the citizens of this locality in his ability and integrity.

Mr. Kicher's father, Charles D. Kicher, a native of

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Germany, came to America when young and was one of the early settlers of Minnesota. During the Civil war he lived in lowa and entered the Seventh lowa Regiment, and was wounded during his service. He was a farmer throughout his active career, and his death occurred in 1887 when about forty years of age. The mother was Anna E. (Schori) Kicher, who was born in Switzerland and at the age of eight years came to America with her parents, who settled in Fayette county, lowa. She is still living at the age of sixty- five, a resident of Minneapolis. Of their five children the Montana banker was the youngest.

Mr. Kicher was married at Lake Mills, Iowa, Febru- ary 10, 1907, to Miss Maude Bangs. They are the parents of two children. Donna, was born at Lake Mills April 5, 1908; Mark Earl was born in Shelby, Montana, March 10, 1911.

Mr. Kicher is a rancher as well as banker and has some valuable real estate holdings in this state. He is a member of the American Bankers Association, and fraternally is a Yeoman. On April 1, 1912, he was appointed to the office of town treasurer of Shelby. His politics is Progressive Republican. Mrs. Kicher is a member of the Methodist church. Mr. Kicher's recreation from a very busy career is found chiefly in hunting ånd fishing, but he is fond of all athletic sports.

JAMES H. STEWART. The gentleman, to a brief re- view of whose life and characteristics the reader's at- tention is herewith directed, is among Meagher county's foremost citizens and one of the most capable and pub- lic-spirited of those to whom its public affairs have been entrusted. James H. Stewart has held, since 1906, the office of county assessor with great credit. He has the distinction of being a veteran of the Spanish-American war and is a product of the state noted for its fine nat- ural products-the Blue Grass state and the state which produced Abraham Lincoln.

Mr. Stewart's eyes first opened to the light of day in the town of Grayson, February 18, 1874. There he re- sided until about the age of ten years, when his family made their adieux to the old associations and came to Kansas. They remained in Kansas for four years and then went to Missouri, where the subject lived for four- teen years. On coming to Montana he located in Meagher county where he worked on a ranch and had a taste of real western life. He also taught school part of the time for about three years and between school seasons served as deputy assessor. He proved so profi- cient in the work and was so well liked by the people that in 1906 they invited him in very definite fashion- by electing him to the office-to be assessor and he has filled the office ever since, making his headquarters at White Sulphur Springs.

Mr. Stewart's school boy days for the most part were passed in Missouri and he also received his higher education in that state, as a student at Central College in Fayette. Previous to that he had taught school for several years and it was shortly after leaving college that he enlisted for service in the Spanish-American war. He was a member of Company K. Sixth Missouri Volunteer Infantry, which regiment, unlike so many of the American troops, saw actual service in Cuba. He entered as a private and was mustered out as first ser- geant of his company. His enlistment was significant of his character, for he is patriotic and the cause of assisting the oppressed was one which appealed deeply to him.

The subject's father, Jasper N. Stewart, was born in Kentucky, but now resides in Montana, living on his son's ranch and directing its affairs. This ranch is an excellent property and is eligibly situated but a few miles out of White Sulphur Springs, cattle raising being carried on. The maiden name of the mother was Belle Strother, a Kentuckian, whose untimely demise oc- curred in 1882 at the age of thirty-three years. Mr.

Stewart is the eldest of the four children born to the union, and all of them reside in this state. Jap is lo- cated on his brother's ranch in Meagher county; Luther P. is in the government service in connection with the United States army and travels over the entire country ; and the sister, Belle, one of the county's admirable young women, is deputy assessor in her brother's office. Both the brothers are married.

When Mr. Stewart was a boy of ten years he first knew the breath-catching emotions of an actual wage- earner. This was as a helper in a store at a princely salary of ten dollars per month. He is also familiar, through actual experience, with farm work; he has been rural mail carrier and hotel clerk and has had his fling at several other occupations, aside from teaching school. He is a gifted instructor, by education and natural ability being well fitted for pedagogical duties. In po- litical conviction he is a staunch Democrat and takes an active and influential part in politics. He is a mem- ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and leans toward the teachings of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is keen about a number of outdoor sports, but those which particularly take his fancy are hunt- ing and fishing. He is fond of music, plays and good reading-and Montana. He is quite positive that no state in the Union offers better opportunities for suc- cess. Like the average Montanian, he is exceedingly enthusiastic over the state, but perhaps the average Montanian has reason to be. Mr. Stewart has been hustling for himself since a boy, which may account in part for his staunch and independent character.

HERMAN GEORGE ROBINSON, president of the First State Bank of Malta, ranchman and heavy land owner of Valley county, is a native of the Empire state, born in Delaware county on February 25, 1866. He is the son of George W. and Sarah (Gray) Robinson, both natives of Delaware county, New York, where the fa- ther was a prominent and prosperous farmer all his life and is now living retired. He was a county official for years and was one of the leading Republicans of his district. They are the parents of six children, one of the number being deceased. The others are: James Robinson, a retired farmer of Delaware county, New York; Charles R., a contractor and builder of Lincoln. Nebraska; Ira. deceased; Addie R., now Mrs. George Robinson of Delaware county; Elizabeth R., the wife of William Cable of Delaware county; and Herman George, of this review.

The educational advantages which Mr. Robinson re- ceived were of the usual order, including a high school education, and after his graduation he came to Mon- tana, locating at first in Meagher county. He took a homestead and became a rancher and cattle raiser. In 1902 he sold out and came to Malta, Valley county, at that time known as Dawson county, where he secured large land holdings and began ranching on a large scale. In 1906 he disposed of his cattle and thereafter gave his attention to sheep and horse raising, in which he was particularly successful.

Mr. Robinson has found time to display an interest in matters outside his ranching business, and has been president of the First State Bank of Malta since 1910, a position in which he has exercised his splendid busi- ness ability along financial lines, and the bank has re- sponded most pleasingly to his added influence, bearing a most excellent reputation in the county and holding the confidence of the public. Mr. Robinson has served one term as county assessor and has been a member of the school board. He is an enthusiastic hunter and each year devotes a season to hunting in the Rocky moun- tains. He has brought down many a deer and antelope on his various excursions and has some handsomely mounted specimens in his possession.

On January 5. 1807. Mr. Robinson was united in marriage with Miss Eliza Garland of Canada, and four

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children have been born to them: Gladys, George, Edna and Dorothy. They are all attending the public school at Malta

JAMES FRANKLIN BLAIR, M. D. Possessing great nat- ural ability, which has been developed to its highest degree by a long and careful training, Dr. James Frank- lin Blair has attained an eminent position among the physicians and surgeons of Montana, and in his adopted city of Bozeman, which has been his field of practice for the past ten years, he is recognized as a practi- tioner of skill and one who has achieved success in his chosen vocation. Dr. Blair was born in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1869, and is a son of Dr. John L. and Sarah M. (Anderson) Blair, natives of the same city.

Dr. John L. Blair was born in 1846, and secured his medical training in the medical department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, which he attended for a year, and he was graduated from the University of Maryland in 1867. His death occurred January 31, IgII, while his widow, who survives him, is now in her sixty-sixth year. They had two children: Dr. James Franklin and John E., a prominent attorney of Spokane, Washington. Dr. John L. Blair was a valued member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society and the American Medical Association.

James Franklin Blair attended the public schools of his native place, supplemented his attendance by a course in Mercersburg Academy, and then became a student at the University of Vermont, where he re- ceived his degree and was graduated in 1892. At that time he became resident physician at the State Farm Institution, at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, continuing to act in that capacity for eight years. In 1900 he took a post-graduate course in surgery at Harvard, and sub- sequently went to Dublin, Ireland, where he furthered his studies in the Rotunda Hospital. Returning to the United States, for a short time he was engaged in a general practice at Butte, Montana, but in the fall of 1902 came to Bozeman and purchased the Bozeman Sanitarium, of which he continued to be proprietor un- til 1910. Since that time he has devoted himself to a general practice, although he specializes to some extent in surgery. He maintains offices in the Michigan block, where he has all the latest appliances and inventions known to the profession. He is a deep student and takes great interest in the work of the Gallatin County Medical Society, the Montana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, being a mem- ber of all these organizations. He is serving as local surgeon for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and is a member of the executive board of the Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In political matters Dr. Blair is a Democrat, but the duties of his profession have claimed all his time and attention, and he has never entered the public arena. Fraternally he is connected with Fellowship Lodge, A. F. & A. M., Bridgewater. Massachusetts, and Bozeman Lodge No. 463, B. P. O. E.

On May 2, 1902, Dr. Blair was married to Miss Elizabeth P. Healy, in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, she being a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. and Mrs. Blair have two bright and interesting children : Dorothy and Elizabeth.

JARVIS M. FLINT. A prominent and active figure in the business life of Bozeman has been, and still is, Jarvis M. Flint, president and manager of the Flint- Lynn Lumber Company, who is looked to by his asso- ciates as a clear-headed, well balanced man whose ad- vice is always sound, and a man of the highest integrity in business matters, whose great ability has been demon- strated by the rapid growth and development of the various enterprises of which he has been the head. Mr. Flint was born at Brookline, Vermont, March 2,

1859, and is a son of Horatio N. and Abbie Jane ( Mil- ler) Flint, natives of Mass.

During his earlier years Horatio N. Flint was en- gaged in farming and the horse business in Vermont, but in the fall of 1870 removed to Thayer, Neosho county, Kansas, where he was engaged in the lumber, grain and grocery business, and also owned a fine farm. In 1904 he retired from active life and removed to Bozeman, in which city he is still living, enjoying a hearty old age in his seventy-eighth year. He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen and an ardent Republican in his political views. He mar- ried (first) Abbie Jane Miller, who died in 1865, and they had two children : Jarvis M .; and C. Fred, a pas- senger conductor on the Mexican Central Railroad, who lost his life in a wreck. Mr. Flint's second wife was Mary S. Miller, who died in 1900, having been the mother of one son: Leon N., professor in the State University of Kansas.

Jarvis M. Flint received his education in the public schools of Thayer, Neosho county, Kansas, and his first employment was at the trade of carpenter. After a short period, however, he secured employment in the lumber business of S. A. Brown & Company, and with others, he bought one of their lumber yards in 1890 and formed the Wellsville Lumber Company, of which he was manager. Later he took a prominent part in the organization of the Wellsville Grain Company, and with him as president this firm established a long line of elevators and lumber yards, but subsequently was reorganized as the Coffee County Lumber Company, Mr. Flint being president and manager. His next ven- ture was with the Star Grain and Lumber Company, a merger of Wellsville Grain and Lumber Company and the Coffee County Lumber Company, which had a long line of yards and elevators in Kansas, and he served as president and manager of this concern until October, 1902, at which time he disposed of his interests in Kansas and came to Bozeman, Montana. In this city, February 1, 1903, he began operating as a lumber dealer, and in 1906 the firm adopted its present style, the Flint-Lynn Lumber Company, Mr. Flint being president and manager, while Orman A. Lynn is vice- president and treasurer. The firm maintains offices and yards at 201 East Main street. It has prospered financially, the business having shown a healthy and continued growth, and bears an excellent reputation in industrial and commercial circles of the city. Fra- ternally, Mr. Flint is connected with Western Star Lodge No. 4, I. O. O. F., and Rising Sun Encampment No. 8, having first identified himself with Odd Fellow- ship in Kansas, and of A. O. U. W. at Wellsville, Kansas. He and Mrs. Flint are both connected with Naomi Chapter, D. of R. He is a Republican in politics. On October 5, 1881, Mr. Flint was married to Miss Ida A. Wood, who was born in Cornwall, Orange county, New York, on the Hudson river, daughter of John L. and Sarah (Wood) Wood. Mr. Wood was one of the pioneer summer resort keepers on the Hud- son, and died at Viroqua, Wisconsin, where his widow still survives him. Mrs. Flint was the fifth of their eight children, of whom four are now living. To Mr. and Mrs. Flint there have been born three children: Jennie Antoinette, who married C. H. Isbell; Mabel. who died in infancy; and Nelson Jarvis. The family home, at No. 420 Third avenue, South, is a center of culture and refinement, and breathes of true western hospitality.

WILLIAM L. CARTER. In every community there are men who through their superior ability, force, judg- ment and intelligence rise above their fellows and not only attain prominence in their line of endeavor but at the same time become large factors in the advance- ment of their community along all lines of progress. One of the foremost business men of Kalispell, Mon-

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tana, is William L. Carter, a young man of energy and education whose identification with the business interests of that city has covered but a decade but has estab- lished him as one of the most substantial and influen- tial men of that section. As president and manager of the Carter Mercantile Company, Incorporated, he has charge of one of the most prosperous business enterprises of Flathead county, a concern that does an annual business of $200,000, and he is further identified with the business life of his city .as a director in the Kalispell National Bank and as a member and director of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce. He is alert, aggressive and progressive, and by the force of his own ability, energy and perseverance has builded his suc- cess.

Mr. Carter was born at Kingston, Caldwell county, Missouri, on November 28, 1876, a son of William H. B. Carter. The elder Mr. Carter was the first white child born at Shawnee Mission, Kansas, the mission building having been one that his father, a Methodist minister, built. As early as 1858 he came to Montana and located at Fort Benton, where he followed mining and for a time was engaged in freighting between Fort Benton and Salt Lake City, Utah. Returning to Missouri, he became one of the first two merchants that opened up establishments in Kansas City. Since 1905 he has been a retired resident of Polson, Montana. The mother of our subject was Miss Mattie E. Russel prior to her marriage, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, who passed to the life eternal in September, 1903, at Breckenridge, Missouri. William H. B. and Mattie E. (Russel) Car- ter became the parents of six children, of whom but two are now living: Mrs. John B. Ribelin, of Polson, Montana, and William L. Carter, the subject of this sketch and the youngest of the family.

After pursuing the usual preliminary educational studies Mr. Carter entered William Jewell College at Liberty, Missouri, and was graduated from the liberal arts department of that institution in 1896 with a Bachelor's degree. He entered business activity as a clerk for the firm of Russel & Trosper, engaged in the general merchandise business at Breckenridge, Missouri, and from 1896 until 1902 continued largely in that line of employment, being associated with his father during a major portion of that time. In August, 1902, he came to Montana and established the Carter Mercantile Com- pany, Incorporated, of which he is president and man- ager. Under his capable direction the business has grown rapidly and has proved a profitable venture, the volume of business now aggregating about $200,000 an- nually and requiring a force of eighteen sales people. He is also a director of the Kalispell National Bank and is a member and a director in the Chamber of Com- merce of that city. Keen business discernment and that integrity of character which has won him the con- fidence of his business associates and patrons have been the foundation of his prestige and financial success.

Mr. Carter is a Democrat but takes no active part in political affairs. Fraternally he affiliates with the Woodmen of the World, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and served as chairman of the state convention of last named order held in Kalis- pell, July, 1912. He is also a member of the Kalispell Club and has served on its board of directors for a number of years.

At Spokane, on January 23, 1903, Mr. Carter was united in marriage to Miss Edith Butterfield, a daughter of James Butterfield, who also claims Missouri as the state of her birth. Mr. and Mrs. Carter have two sons : William Howard, born October 31, 1903, at Kalispell, and Wayne E., born in the same city on August 8, 1906.

JOHN H. SALING. One of the first merchants at Eureka, and one who in after years will be accounted among the pioneer business inen, Mr. Saling began Vol. III-25

his business experience without capital and through his own efforts has gained substantial prosperity and is one of the esteemed citizens of a flourishing town in northwest Montana.

John H. Saling was born in Scotland county, Mis- souri, October 20, 1879. Henry H. Saling, his father, a native of Kentucky, belonged to one of the pioneer families of Scotland county, Missouri, the date of their settlement having been in the early forties. He was a butcher by trade and followed merchandising for a number of years. He was also honored with the office of sheriff of Scotland county for eight years. In politics he was a Democrat. He is now a resident of Idaho. The mother's maiden name was Maude Hammond, a native of Missouri.

Of their eight children, John H. was the fourth. Most of his early education was obtained in the public schools of St. Louis, and he graduated from the high school with the class of 1899. He then became a clerk in Raines & Campbell's drug business at Memphis, Missouri, where he learned the- apothecary's art, and followed pharmacy as a clerk for a period of eight years before he was prepared to establish a business of his own. Mr. Saling has been identified by resi- dence with the state of Montana since 1902, in which year he located at Havre, and also spent some time in Kalispell. In the spring of 1907 he established the second drug business in the town of Eureka, where he has won a fine patronage and conducts a first-class store.

In citizenship he is public spirited as in business he is enterprising. In 1911 he was a member of the city council and is an influential member of the Chamber of Commerce. In politics he is a Democrat. His fraternal affiliation is with the Elks at Kalispell. Mr. Saling was married in Kalispell, June 20, 1904, to Miss Marie Inglis, daughter of John Inglis, a native of Illinois. One son, Jay Inglis, was born to them in Kalispell, April 17, 1906.

HARRY P. WALTERS. Conspicuous among the business men of Kalispell, who have done much toward its de- velopment and who are closely identified with many of its leading interests, is the subject of this review. Harry P. Walters conducts the Flathead Engineering & Con- tracting Company, which well-known concern has offices in the Buffalo Block at Kalispell, and since 1910 he has been the efficient incumbent of the office of county surveyor for Flathead county.

Harry P. Walters was born at Kings Creek, Ohio, the date of his nativity being the 23d of March, 1880. He is a son of James D. and Sarah (Taylor) Walters, the former of whom was born in West Virginia and the latter of whom is a native of Ohio. The father was engaged in farming enterprises during the greater portion of his active career and he is now living in virtual retirement, at the age of sixty-eight years, at Kings Creek, Ohio. Mrs. Walters is sixty-four years of age and both she and her husband are still robust and active. They became the parents of five children. four boys and one girl, and of the number all are living, (1912) Harry P. having been the third in order of birth.

After graduating in the high school at Urbana, Ohio, as a member of the class of 1900, Mr. Walters, of this notice, began to work for the United States govern- ment, in the engineering department, in South Dakota. In 1902 he was transferred to Montana and for eight years prior to 1910 he was employed in the surveying department of the federal government. With the pass- age of time he became an expert civil engineer and in 1908 he organized the Flathead Engineering & Con- tracting Company, a prominent business concern with offices in the Buffalo Block at Kalispell. Mr. Walters became president of this company; A. L. Jaqueth, con- sulting engineer; and W. S. Craven, general manager.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 117

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