A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 137

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

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Mr. Larkin has seen considerable service as a mem- ber of the United States army in the Philippines, having resigned the position of road-secretary of General Manager Kendrick of the Northern Pacific Railway to go to the front. He enlisted in Company E of the Thirteenth Minnesota Regiment, in 1898. He was ar- tificer in the company and was largely on detached service. He took part in the battle of Manila, on the 13th of August, 1898, and was also in active service during the period of the Philippine insurrection, and the assault on the city which took place on the 5th of February, 1899. He was discharged at Manila, on the 13th of August, 1899, but remained in the islands eight months longer as clerk and stenographer in the subsistence department under Major Brainerd. His active service in the volunteer army extended over a period of sixteen months. He also served three years in Minnesota National Guard. He is now a member of the Minnesota branch of the Army of the Philip- pines, and was commander of this patriotic organiza- tion in the year 1906.

In religious matter Mr. Larkin is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church, and has always been an ardent worker for his church. He organized the Knights of Columbus at Great Falls, Lewistown and

Fred w. Dralle.

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Miles City, Montana, and was district deputy of the order.

Mr. Larkin was married in Fort Benton, Montana, on the 12th of June, 1907, to Miss Myra Kelly, the daughter of Edward and Rose L. Kelly. She was born in Fort Benton, where her father settled at an early date. He is now deceased but he was well known among the pioneer settlers of Montana, as the man who established the Twenty-eight Mile Springs 011 the old stage road connecting Fort Benton and Helena. He spent most of the years of his life as a rancher, owning property west of Fort Benton on the Teton river. Mrs. Larkin's mother is yet living and makes her home in Fort Benton. She is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and came to Montana with her parents at an early day. She married Mr. Kelly in Fort Benton.

Thomas and Myra Larkin are the parents of one child, Mary Rose Anne Larkin, who was born in Great Falls, Montana, on the 6th of April, 1909. They live at 213 North Fifteenth street and Mr. Larkin has his offices at 325 Central avenue.

SAMUEL CARPENTER. Prominent among citizens of Lincoln county who have achieved business success and public prominence solely through the medium of their own efforts, stands Samuel Carpenter, county clerk and recorder, who, through a career marked with numerous discouragements and misfortunes, has ever displayed steadfast determination and unwielding per- severance that have finally gained their reward, both in business and public life. Born in Pennsylvania, April 11, 1874, Mr. Carpenter is a son of Gabriel and Rosana (Brecht) Carpenter, and is a descendant of ancestors who played an important part in the making of American history, three of whom were companions of William Penn on his journey to the new world. Gabriel Carpenter was born in Pennsylvania, but some time after his marriage moved to Kansas, where the remainder of his life was spent in agricultural pur- suits, and where his death occurred in 1881, when he had reached the age of forty-nine years. His wife, also a native of the Keystone State, died on October I, 1910, at the age of seventy-eight years. They had a family of ten children, of whom six are living. George, Morris and Mary reside on the homestead; John, also in Kansas; and Lemon, who lives in Alberta, Canada.

Samuel Carpenter received his education in the Kan- sas public schools, attending at Milford and Atchison, and graduating from a regular banking and business course at the latter place August 19, 1896. After leav- ing school he went to Minnesota, where he remained but a few months. He came to Kalispell, Montana, De- cember 19, 1906. There he entered the lumber business and also engaged in farming, and also spent some time in the meat business, but eventually sold his interests therein and returned to the farm. He then took and passed a civil service examination and for a short period was a clerk in the Kalispell postoffice, but sub- sequently gave up his position and began teaching school in Flathead county. After a short period spent as an educator, he again returned to the farm on his ranch in the eastern part of Lincoln county, but, being appointed principal of the Eureka school, went to that point to teach. He later took charge of the McIntosh Hardware Company of Eureka, Montana, and remained at Eureka with that company until the destruction of the establishment by fire, when he rebuilt the building and then returned to Gateway and taught for two years. After spending two years at Gateway Mr. Carpenter returned to the Carpenter ranch of fifteen hundred acres, located in Lincoln county, on Lakes Irene and Sophy, near Gateway, and during that fall became a candidate for the office of county clerk and recorder. On the day of his nomination, Mr. Carpenter suffered Vol. III-29

an incomparable loss in the death of his mother, and setting aside all business and political matters, he devoted himself to taking charge of her affairs and taking her body back to Kansas, where she was buried. On his return he was elected by a majority of forty- one votes. In November, 1912, he was reelected, with a majority of one hundred and thirty-four votes over both his competitors. His administration has been an admirable one and has convinced the citizens of Lin- coln county that they made no mistake in choosing him as the incumbent of the office. He has given the same conscientious attention to details that has made his private interests successful, and as a result Lincoln county has profited largely. Politically a Republican, Mr: Carpenter has been known as one of the active and influential workers in the ranks of the party in this section of the state. In fraternal affairs he is affiliated with the Odd Fellows of Eureka, with the members of which he is very popular, as he is, indeed, with all who have had his acquaintance in public or private life. Mr. Carpenter is unmarried.

FRED W. DRALLE, county clerk and recorder, living in Roundup, Montana, has such faith in the future of his state that he is only sorry that he did not arrive sooner to help boost it. He arrived in 1907, remaining for the first year in Deer Lodge, where he taught school. The next year and a half he spent in Butte City as a teacher in the Industrial School. He then came to Roundup, and has remained ever since. After a year and a half of school teaching in Roundup, holding the position of su- perintendent of schools, he was appointed clerk and recorder for the new Musselshell county, and is still holding the office.

Mr. Dralle was born in Louis county, Missouri, April 4. 1881, the son of Henry C. Dralle, a native of Ger- many, and Josephine (Dell) Dralle, who was born in New Orleans. Mr. Dralle came to the United States as a boy and settled in Missouri, working as a miller at first, and later taking up farming. He always took an active interest in politics and was county sheriff for two terms. His church also owned him as one of its most indefatigable workers. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil war, and fought in many battles. He died in 1909, at the age of ninety-three. His wife died in 1900, at the age of sixty-six, and they are buried together in Missouri. Fred W. was the youngest of their ten children, all of whom are now scattered over the Union, only one brother being in Montana with Fred W.

Fred W. Dralle attended the Missouri public schools until he was eighteen, when he began to work on a farm at a salary of eighteen dollars a month in order to get money enough to continue his education. He is now a graduate of the State Normal School at Kirksville, Mis- souri, and has taken several courses at the state univer- sity in Columbia. He taught school in Missouri for about seven years before he came to Montana.

On November 9, 1907, Mr. Dralle was married at Green Castle, Missouri, to Rose Terry, the daughter of Bishop O. and Mary J. Terry, of Green Castle. They have had no children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dralle attend the Christian church, and Mrs. Dralle is an active worker. Mr. Dralle is an Odd Fellow, an Elk and an Eagle, and is a member of both the Roundup Commer- cial and the Pioneer clubs. As a believer in the prin- ciples of the Democratic party he takes an active in- terest in politics. His greatest amusements are base ball and foot ball, and at any game there is no more en- thusiastic rooter to be found than Mr. Dralle.

CHARLES W. NEWTON. "Efficiency" is the slogan of the hour, and has been the key to the successful career of Charles W. Newton, of Butte, superintendent of the Butte-Ballaklava Copper Company. The same intrepid spirit that has characterized his professional and busi-

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ness career was also displayed as a soldier in the Span- ish-American war, in which his services were such as to win honorable and special mention from his superior officers. At the opening of that conflict he promptly en- listed in Company I of the Third Wisconsin Volunteer Regiment. He served at Porto Rico and throughout the war and received his honorable discharge at Supe- rior, Wisconsin.

Mr. Newton is a native of Wisconsin, born at Su- perior on May 21, 1870, a son of James and Mathilda M. (Brennen) Newton. The Newton family is of Eng- lish descent and originated in this country with an- cestors who settled in Massachusetts. On his mother's side his blood is Scotch-Irish, a strain perhaps the most credited for physical vigor, mental alertness and robust morality of all those that have mingled in the shaping of American character. Judge James Newton, the father, was born in New York and died at Supe- rior, Wisconsin in 1881. He was a well-known citizen of his community and was prominent in the municipal affairs of Superior. He was married in Detroit, Michi- gan to Miss Mathilda M. Brennen, who was born in Ottawa, Canada and died at Superior, Wisconsin, in 1900. To these honored parents were born three sons: Capt. Harry W. Newton, of the United States Artil- lery who is now stationed at Fort Casey; Herbert W. Newton, who is now with a Wyoming Coal Company; and Charles W. Newton, the subject of this review.

After completing the usual public school education, Mr. Newton applied himself diligently to mastering the profession of a civil engineer. His first position was in charge of an iron property on the Iron Range in Minnesota. He came to Montana in July, 1907, and immediately took up the duties of assistant superintend- ent of mines for the Butte Ballaklava Copper Company at Meaderville. Possessing those qualities which make for success, character, ability and practical knowledge, his work soon led to a promotion, and on January I, 1908, he was made superintendent of the company, a position in which he has proved himself worthy of the trust imposed in him and the work of which he is car- rying forward along able and successful lines. The Ballaklava mine is one of the largest producers of high grade ore in the Meaderville district. It has a capacity of several hundred tons of ore a day, is equipped with the latest tpye of electric machinery and buildings, and has a shaft of 1600 feet. The company employs a force of 150 men.

At Superior, Wisconsin, on October 25, 1899, Mr. Newton was united in marriage to Miss Kate Manwar- ing, a daughter of Edward and Syndonia Manwaring, residents of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. New- ton have two children: Faith M., born September II, 1900, at Superior, Wisconsin, who is now attending school at Butte; and James, born at Superior, Wis- consin, February 18, 1904, who also is a pupil in the Butte schools.

Of courteous address and a man of pleasant personal characteristics, Mr. Newton has made many friends during his residence in Butte and is a valued member of the social, fraternal and church life of that city. He is a member of the Silver Bow Club and the Butte Country Club and also sustains fraternal membership in the Knights of Pythias. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and his religious creed finds ex- pression as a communicant of the Episcopal church. Fishing and hunting are his favorite sports in relaxing from business cares, and he and his family enjoy one of the most comfortable and delightful homes of Butte, located at No. 303 West Park street.

ALVIN BERRY. Among the young men who in recent years have identified themselves with the progressive activities of Montana and gained influential position in business and citizenship is Mr. Alvin Berry, of Basin,

the proprietor of the largest and busiest hardware store of that town.

Until recently Mr. Berry was a banker and had been engaged in that business from the beginning of his career. He was born in Winona county, Minnesota, December 16, 1873, a son of James P. and Emma Josephine (Thyson) Berry. His father, who was a pioneer of Minnesota and a substantial farmer, was a veteran of the Civil war, having served his full time as a member of Company D, Fifth Minnesota Infantry. He was wounded during his service. His death occurred in 1883. The mother, who was born in Min- nesota, is now living with her son at Basin, Montana. The one daughter, Francis May, is now the wife of Carl D. Mutchler, of Winnipeg.

Alvin Berry attended the public schools at Winona and at La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he was graduated in the class of 1892, and then took a full course in the business college at La Crosse. His business career began as clerk in a national bank at La Crosse, and during ten years with that institution he became one of the trusted and efficient young bankers of the city. The only important interruption to his banking career occurred during the Spanish-American war of 1898, when he enlisted with the Third Wisconsin Volunteers and saw service in Porto Rico, being mustered out at the close of the war at La Crosse.

On leaving that city he went to the southwest and took a place as bookkeeper in the bank of Globe, Ari- zona, where he remained one year. In 1907 he was offered the position of cashier and business manager of the bank at Basin, Montana, and was the executive head of this financial institution four years. In June, IgII, Mr. Berry, with Eugene Picot as partner, estab- lished the hardware and general merchandise store which they have developed into the largest and most important mercantile concern of the town. In Jefferson county, now one of the leading counties of the state in mineral resources, Mr. Berry has some sound invest- ments, and is a loyal citizen of his adopted state. His success in life has come about through his own efforts, and he has won the thorough esteem of his fellow citizens. Fraternally he is a Mason and Shriner, and has filled the chairs of the lodge of Knights of Pythias. In politics he is Republican.

Mr. Berry was married at La Crosse in 1900 to Miss Lilly C. Becker, of that city. They are the parents of three children: Robert Alvin, Charlotte Josephine and Dorothy Ann.

DR. FRED BURGMANN was born in Halle, Germany, on February 17, 1879, and has been a resident of this coun- try only since 1907, all his previous existence being passed in the town of his birth. It was here that his parents, Albert and Johanna Burgmann, were born, and they spent their entire lives in the quaint town with its famous university, founded by Frederick the First, the "red tower," the old residence of the bishops of Magdeburg, and all the many other famous landmarks. The atmosphere of this city, so rich in historic asso- ciations, educational advantages, and at the same time, of such growing commercial importance, set its mark upon Dr. Burgmann, and he has brought to this newer land that fine training and scientific attitude toward his work which is one of the fine products of an older civili- zation. There were three children in the Burgmann family, of whom our subject is the youngest. His brother and sister are still living in the old home town with their mother, as the father died on August 7. 1908, at the age of sixty-one.

Dr. Burgmann completed the course of the public schools of Germany and also served his time in the German army, his regiment being the First of Guard Uhlan. From his childhood he had an extraordinary fondness for animals, especially horses, and he earned his first money in the congenial employment of assist-

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ing a veterinary surgeon in Berlin. The boy deter- mined to follow that calling for himself, and accord- ingly entered one of the largest veterinary colleges in Germany and completed the course offered there. For a number of years after graduating he practiced in Ger- many and in 1907 decided to come to America. His first stopping-place was San Francisco, but he remained there for only four weeks, and then came to Butte, which has since been his home. Although he arrived in the city with no acquaintances, and even without knowledge of the language, Dr. Burgmann soon made a place for himself by virtue of his excellent profes- sional skill and training, and also by reason of his admirable personal qualities. He quickly mastered the language, and his abilities did the rest that was needed to establish him in the front rank of the profession to which he belongs. In achieving the success which has been his in this city, Dr. Burgmann has been greatly aided and inspired by his wife, Freda Nebelung Burg- mann. She, too, is a native of Halle, which is the place where her parents, Gustave and Anna Nebelung, were born. Her marriage to Dr. Burgmann occurred on October 15, 1904, and the union is in all respects an ideal one. Mrs. Burgmann possesses the qualities of mind and personality which made her admirably fitted to preside over the home of her talented husband, who is a student as well as a successful practitioner. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burgmann, Char- lotte, born August 22, 1908.

In the brief time of his residence in Butte Dr. Burg- mann has built up a large and profitable practice. As a veterinarian he ranks second to none in the state. The doctor is an expert rider and trainer of horses and his favorite recreation is a cross-country ride. He has rid- den horseback since he was ten years old, and has never been thrown, but has several times fallen with his mount and sustained some injuries from the accidents. In training horses to jump he is an adept, and has fitted many an one to win the prize in horse shows.

Both Dr. Burgmann and his wife are members of the church of their fathers, the Lutheran. It was in this faith that Mrs. Burgmann's father died in 1893, at the age of thirty-nine, and her mother, her sister and her four brothers are all communicants of the church at Halle. Dr. Burgmann is a man of strong convictions and of strict devotion to what he conceives to be his duty. In politics he is a non-partisan, and like most students of sociological conditions believes that what is most needful -to our national welfare is whatever will elevate the masses. An omnivorous reader, he is especially interested in scientific lines, and keeps abreast of all advances in the realm of his profession. Few residents of Butte have made so high a place for them- selves in so brief a time as have Dr. and Mrs. Burg- mann, the one as an individual, and the other both as an individual and as a professional man. Butte is proud to number on her rolls these two citizens, born in a foreign but not an alien land, and now adding their talent and training to the resources of this great north- west.

PAUL A. Gow. The present incumbent of the office of city Engineer of Butte, Montana, is Paul A. Gow, who has resided in this place for the past five years.

Paul A. Gow was born in Fontanelle, Iowa, June 6. 1883. His father. George L. Gow, was born and reared at Washington, Pennsylvania, from which place he re- moved to Iowa in the year 1872. He was a lawyer by profession and was a prominent attorney in the courts of southwestern Iowa for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred in 1890. at the early age of forty-four years. His mother, Belle (Purviance) Gow, was born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, and at present resides in Denver, Colorado. She is a dangh- ter of Col. Henry Augustus Purviance, of the Eighty- fifth Pennsylvania Regiment, who was killed in the

siege of Charlestown. Mr. and Mrs. George L. Gow became the parents of' a daughter and two sons, all of whom are living at the present time (1912) and of whom Paul A. is the youngest.

Paul A. Gow received his preliminary training in the public schools of Greenfield, Iowa, Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, and Denver, Colorado, later entering the Colo- rado School of Mines, from which institution he re- ceived the degree of Mining Engineer in the class of 1907. Immediately after his graduation from College he entered the employ of the Anaconda Copper Min- ing Company, at Butte, remaining in the employ- ment of that company, in the capacity of mining engineer, for the ensuing four years. In May, 19II, he received the appointment as city engineer in the city of Butte. He is independent in politics and in the or- ganization of the engineering department political affil- iations have ever been ignored. He has been a member of Golden City (Colorado) Lodge, No. I, A. F. & A. M., since 1907.

In 1905 Mr. Gow was married to Miss Gertrude Nelson, who was born at Winterset, Iowa, and who is a daughter of Dr. J. V. Nelson, deceased, a Civil war veteran and a successful and respected physician, and Elizabeth (Nicholls) Nelson, a native of Iowa and now residing in Los Angeles, California. .

Mr. and Mrs. Gow have one daughter, Elizabeth, whose birth occurred July 27, 1908.

GLEN A. SMITH. Born in Bates county, Missouri, September 15, 1879, Glen A. Smith has, at the early age of thirty-two years, established himself firmly in the district with which he has been identified for the past decade, and he is regarded among conservative minds as one of the coming men of Montana.

It may well be said of Mr. Smith, that he has made the best use of his every opportunity, and a short review of his life thus far will amply support that statement.

Glen A. Smith is the son of Albert M. and Lucinda (Pepper) Smith. The father, Albert M. Smith, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, February 2, 1850; he is now a resident of Kalispell, Montana. The mother was a native of Ohio, and she died in 1896, at the age of fifty-three years. Two sons and two daughters were born of their union, all of whom are living. Glen A. Smith, our subject, was the third child. Albert M. Smith led the life of a farmer in Illinois until 1876, when he removed to Bates county, Missouri, and there he continued to farm until the year 1903. The death of his wife in 1896 had a tendency to break up the home life of the family, and after remaining in the home alone for a few years, Mr. Smith removed to Kalispell, where his son Glen then lived, and there the elder Smith still resides. Mr. Smith is a Republican in his political inclinations, and is a member of the G. A. R., he having enlisted in Company K Thirty-seventh Regi- ment, Illinois Volunteers, at the beginning of the war of the rebellion, and served his full time. He partici- pated with his regiment in many a bloody conflict, and at the close of his term of service was honorably dis- charged.

Glen A. Smith in his boyhood days was a student in the public schools of Sprague, Missouri, and later he attended the Kalispell (Mont.) Business College, where he was thoroughly grounded in business theory and practice. He was a careful student, and his course of study while there amply prepared him for the many de- mands of actual business life. Upon his graduation he first entered the service of the O'Neil Lumber Company, with whom he remained for a number of years, both in the office and on the ground. Later he went with the Northwestern Lumber Company, also of Kalispell, as superintendent in charge of their outside interests and as sales manager of their road force.

His practical experience in the heart of the timber districts while looking after the details of management

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for the two firms in whose employ he had been, gave him a keen insight into the forestry situation, and he was not slow to recognize the needs of the department for careful representation. His love of nature also was largely influential in determining his next move, and on January 1, 1907, he entered the employ of the govern- ment in the forestry department at Libby, Montana, where he remained until November, 1908, and he was then transferred to Custer National Forest at Ashland, Montana, as forest supervisor. From there he was sent to Billings, Montana, in December, 1910, as forest super- visor of the Beartooth National Forest, his ascent in the forestry department thus far being particularly rapid and eminently satisfactory to the department and all concerned.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 137

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