A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 139

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

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In the public schools of Lake Geneva, Mr. Downer received his preliminary educational training and later he supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the celebrated University of Wisconsin, at Madison, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1897, duly receiving his de- gree of Bachelor of Letters. Immediately after leaving college he turned his attention to the pedagogic pro- fession, spending some ten years in teaching in the schools of Wisconsin and Michigan. He came to Butte, Montana, in 1907 and for the ensuing three years was principal of the high school. In 1910, by virtue of his splendid success and apparent ability as a teacher, he was elected as superintendent of the Butte schools. He is the popular and efficient incumbent of this position

and is achieving remarkable success as an educator int this city.

At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on the 22nd of August, 1901, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Downer to Miss Jessie A. Phillips, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of C. W. and Mary Phillips, the former of whom is engaged in business at Milwaukee. Mr. and Mrs. Downer are the parents of one child, William C., born at Milwaukee, on the 16th of May, 1902.

In a social way Mr. Downer is affiliated with the Silver Bow Club, the University Club of Butte and with the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity. In politics, Mr. Downer is a Republican of Progressive sympathies. In community affairs he is active and influential and his support is readily and generously given to many measures projected for the general progress and im- provement. In their religious faith he and his wife are members of the Protestant Episcopal church.

DR. ALEXANDER MALCOLM MACAULEY. Among the wide-awake young professional men of Montana is Dr. Alexander Malcolm Macauley, a busy and suc- cessful practitioner of medicine at Stockett who though established there but a few years has already gained prominence through his professional ability and is rec- ognized as a young man of merit and high character. As one who has elected to give in this state the best of his energies and endeavors to one of the most responsible and self sacrificing professions, Dr. Macau- ley merits recognition among those men who are mak- ing Montana what it is and who are contributing to its future prestige. Hs name is suggestive of his lineage-Scotch and English. Born at Baddeck, Cape Breton Island, off the north of Nova Scotia on Novem- her I, 1876, he is the eldest of the ten children of Dan- iel William Macauley and his wife Margaret, born Fraser. Both parents were born in Nova Scotia, were married there on the 25th of December, 1874, and are still residents of their native isle. The father is a farmer by occupation. The American branch of the Macauley family was established by the great-grand- father of Dr. Macauley who settled at Pictou, Nova Scotia, in 1815. The family of Margaret Fraser was established in Nova Scotia in 1823 by emigrants from Scotland.

After due preliminary educational training in the Baddeck Academy and in the academy at Pictou, Nova Scotia, Dr. Macauley matriculated in Manitoba Uni- versity, from the medical department of which institu- tion he was graduated in 1907 with the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine. Following his graduation he served six months as an interne in the Winnipeg General Hospital, Winnipeg, Canada; then in the summer of 1907 came to Montana, locating first at Sand Coulee where he became associated with Dr. T. B. Anthony and remained thirteen months. From there he re- moved to Belt where his associate in practice is Dr. W. F. Paterson, a brief sketch of whom appears else- where in this volume. He has taken post graduate work at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, is alert and keeps in close touch with the thought of the day and the methods of practice advanced by the lead- ing members of the medical profession throughout the world. He is a general practitioner, and during the comparatively short period that he has been estab- lished there he has built up a very satisfactory practice.

At Great Falls, Montana, on September 7, 1909 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Macauley and Miss Annie Magdalene Eitiegoerg, a daughter of F. M. Eitlegoerg who came to Montana from his native state of Illinois. The fraternal associations of Dr. Macauley are with the Masonic Order at Great Falls, as a member of Cascade Lodge No. 34, Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Belt, with the Knights of Pythias at Sand Coulee and with the Modern Brotherhood of America at Belt. In church associations he is a Presbyterian

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and holds his membership at Ponoka, Canada. As a loyal and progressive citizen Dr. Macauley is inter- ested in the development of his city and of the state and gives substantial evidence of that interest through his membership and work in the Commercial Club of Belt.

ALEXANDER ALLA, a well-known attorney of Butte, is a native of the state of Michigan, born on March 20, 1881, in the city of Allouez, Keweenaw county, in the extreme northern part of the commonwealth. His parents, Charles and Saraphine Catherine (Onkka) Alla, were born, reared and educated in Finland, the enterprising and independent grand-duchy which forms the northwestern corner of Russia. They came to the United States early in their mature life and took up their residence in Keweenaw county, Michigan, where they lived until their removal to Calumet, Michigan. There the mother died in February, 1909, and the father now resides in Laurium, Michigan.

Alexander Alla obtained his academic education in the public schools of Calumet, and after completing their course of instruction, entered the law depart- ment of the University of Michigan, from which lie was graduated in the class of 1904. He practiced his profession for a short time in Calumet and in 1907 he came to Butte, arriving in the city on April 28th of that year. At once opening an office and taking up the practice of his profession, he has been success- ful and has won for himself a high position among the members of the legal profession in Silver Bow county.

Mr. Alla has taken an active part in the public affairs' of the city and county of his adoption, and his participation in them has been well appreciated, as his efforts have been directed for what he be- lieved to be for the best interests of the localitv. He is a strong Republican in politics and has creditably served his party as a delegate to its county conven- tions and in many other ways, including zealous and effective campaign work in the field before every election.

He was married in June, 1908, to Miss Ann J. Beckman, a native of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Alla are well known in Butte's social circles.

FRANK S. LUSK. From the position of a cowboy and rancher to that of bank president seems a long step up- ward in the rank of a man's industry, but it is one many a man has taken easily and naturally in this western world, where everything is mobile and conditions are constantly changing. Opportunities for such an ad- vance, or something similar, are frequently presented, and readiness for the change is all that is required to make it. This readiness must be acquired by previous experience and usefulness in the employment of natural ability and acquired powers, and it was such experi- ence that enabled Frank S. Lusk, president of the First National Bank of Missoula at this time, but in his young manhood a rancher, to become what he is.

Mr. Lusk is a native of New York, where his life began on April 27, 1857. His parents were James W. and Cornelia M. (Stillman) Lusk, the former born and reared in the state of New York and the latter a native of Cleveland, Ohio. The father was a gentle- man of high repute and prominence in educational circles, with which he was connected during almost the whole of his mature life, especially in the line of pub- lishing school books. He was at one time a member of the firm of Bryant, Lusk & Stratton, conductors of first class business colleges in various leading cities in the country, and his mind was ever bent on the business in which that firm was engaged.

Because of this he put into wide circulation through- out the country the Spencerian system of penmanship, which soon became the standard in all the schools,

public and private, and practically revolutionized the art of teaching boys and girls how to write. He got . out the first Spencerian copy books and put them on the market, and before his death he owned all the copyrights and royalties belonging to the system. In giving circulation to his boon to teachers and pupils alike, he became a member of the publishing firm of Ivison & Phinney, as it was then, now a part of the American Book Company, and went all over the coun- try as the special advocate of his system of penman- ship and the Spencerian copy books that taught it, which were then published by that firm. He died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1863 after a long life of upright- ness and great usefulness.

His son Frank was educated in Cleveland, Ohio, and as soon as he left school came west. He was of a vigorous physique and high in spirit, and the wild life of the plains appealed to him with irresistible force. He located in Colorado in 1876, and afterward moved to Converse county, Wyoming, taking up his residence where the town of Lusk has since grown up and been named in his honor. There he conducted a large ranching business and engaged extensively in raising cattle and other live stock for the markets.

The life was very agreeable and even fascinating to him. It required him to travel through Montana and other parts of the farther west for the purpose of buying cattle, and thus not only gave variety to his experiences, but also made him intimately acquainted with many parts of this section of the country. Early in the nineties he engaged in the construction of railroads under contracts, and during his connection with this line of enterprise he did considerable work of importance and great service to the country. He built the railroad into Deadwood, South Dakota, and the short lines in that locality, and aided in the con- struction of other lines of great value in developing the country through which they run.

In 1907 he came to Montana to build the Milwau- kee & St. Paul through this section of the state and the tunnels west of Missoula. Two years later he de- cided to make Missoula his home for the remainder of his life, having been very favorably impressed with the city and the country around it, and their future possibilities, and having also been highly pleased with the people of this region, in the enterprise they displayed, the resourcefulness they manifested and the lofty ideals of progress that inspired them.

Mr. Lusk located in the city in 1909 and bought an interest in the First National Bank. At the next an- nual meeting he was elected president of the bank, succeeding A. B. Hammond, and since then he has been the controlling force in directing the affairs of the institution. He is a gentleman of commanding energy and force of character, to whom difficulties are no obstacles, fear is unknown, and the only thing required is knowledge of the end to be reached in any enter- prise that enlists his attention and support. He believes firmly in the future of Missoula and the state of Mon- tana, and is a tireless worker for the advancement of both,

On April 25, 1894, Mr. Lusk was married to Miss Louise Buchanan Findley of San Francisco. Of the social organizations so numerous in all parts of this country he belongs to many, but the ones of chief in- terest to him are the Missoula Club, the Denver Club and the Calumet Club of Chicago. He is well known all over the farther west and is everywhere highly esteemed as one of the most enterprising, progressive and upright men and useful citizens of the country. He would be an inspiring force and an ornament to any community, and Missoula is well pleased to have him as a resident among her people and as a stimulus to her activities of all kinds. He does his part in all that are worthy and commendable, and they all re-

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spond to his influence in increased benefits to the people.

E. H. FREEZE, M. D. A man of broad mental at- tainments, talented and cultured, E. H. Freeze, M. D., of Missoula, has gained marked prestige as a physician and surgeon, and honors the profession in which he is so successfully engaged. A native of the Dominion of Canada, he was born in May, 1878, in Penobsquis, New Brunswick, coming on both sides of the house of English stock, his ancestors having been among the earlier settlers of New Brunswick. His parents, Byron and Matilda (Hall) Freeze, were both born, bred and married in New Brunswick, the father being employed in farming during his entire life.

Educated in Montreal, Quebec, E. H. Freeze, M. D., was graduated from McGill University in 1903. Con- tinuing his studies abroad, he was graduated from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Edin- burgh, Scotland, in 1904, and afterwards spent a year doing hospital work in Dublin, Ireland. Returning to America, Dr. Freeze began the practice of his chosen profession at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where he remained two years, .meeting with well deserved success. His health then failing, the doctor traveled for a year, at the end of which time he came to Mis- soula, Montana, to visit his two sisters, who were living in this city. The climate proving beneficial, he was induced to remain, and has since been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, his patronage being extensive and lucrative, while his continued and well directed effort in his professional labors has brought him preeminence, not only in Mis- soula, but in all the medical societies of the state.

Dr. Freeze married, in Missoula, July 14, 1909, Maud Evans, a daughter of David and Gwendlyn (Evans) Evans, early settlers of Montana. Fraternally the doctor is a member of the Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Order of Masons; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of the Knights of Pythias.

JOSEPH H. WHITE. Experiments in the utilization of electrical energy as a mechanical power began as early as 1830, and today the galvanic battery and elec- tric dynamo are rapidly ousting steam and in a thou- sand ways doing its work with less noise and expense and with better results. The possibilities of electricity as a mighty successor to the decreasing energy of our coal fields, its illuminating powers, its advent into the science of medicine and its many, many other uses have all contributed to make the subject of electricity one of vital interest to the whole world. Every college and university worthy of the name provides a course in elec- trical engineering, and the large enrollment's in that de- partment is an evidence of the part which electricity is expected to take in the world's future industrial life. Among the most valuable achievements of invention in recent years, is the application of electricity as a motive power on railways, and it has been in this line of work that Joseph H. White, manager of the Helena light and railway system, has been engaged.

Mr. White was born in the state of Pennsylvania on the 18th of September, 1869, and there completed his education in the scientific department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia. Shortly before gradu- ating he was seriously stricken with illness and after recovering he took up professional work in electrical construction for the Western Engineering Company at Carney, Nebraska, remaining there one year. He next went to New York and up through the New England states where he was engaged in electrical street rail- way construction work for the Western Engineering Company and remained in this field for the same com- pany for five years, installing and constructing many miles of electric street railway systems in this section.

From the New England states he went to Texas and constructed the street railway system at El Paso. The establishment of the street railway system at Mobile, Alabama, was his next accomplishment, and following this he performed a similar service for the city of Ogden, Illinois, and later for Winona, Minnesota. In 1907 he came to Helena to take charge of the city's light and railway systems. His work there has been of the highest order and has given to that city facilities and an efficient railway and lighting service which are highly appreciated by its people. One of the many im- provements already accomplished is the new street rail- way system out to the state fair grounds, and a num- ber of other improvements are contemplated. .

Mr. White is the son of Rev. John W. White, a prominent Episcopal clergyman of Pennsylvania who had charge of one diocese in that state for thirty years. He was born in 1824 and died in 1900. On the maternal side Mr. White is descended from sturdy Holland an- cestors who came from Holland to America in the seventeenth century and were prominently represented by descendants in the soldiery of the Revolution. From four different sides of the house Mr. White can trace his descent back to patriots in the American war for independence, by virtue of which he sustains mem- bership in the Sons of the American Revolution. His mother, who was Miss Mary Beaver prior to her mar- riage, was born in 1835 and died November I, 1911. She took great delight in assisting all good works, both within and without the church, and was well known for her large hearted charity. Rev. John W. and Mary (Beaver) White were the parents of six children, of whom Joseph H., our subject, was fourth in order of birth.

On June 23, 1908, at Millersburg, Bourbon county, Kentucky, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. White and Miss Rebecca Martin. Both are communicants of the Episcopal church. Mr. White is prominently iden- tified with the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar Mason, a 32d degree Scottish Rite Mason, and a mem- ber of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Montana Club. Though Mr. White has been a resident of Helena but five years, his enterprise and evident interest in the city's welfare have won him the admiration and regard of its people, and his courteous manners and happy social qualities make him a welcomed and valuable member of the different circles, church, social and fraternal, in which he mingles. Helena is glad to wel- come such men as Mr. White to her citizenship.

HARRY HECTOR DALE has been established in Culbert- son since 1907. since which time he has built up a legal practice that is highly gratifying to him, in view of his limited experience in the profession. He was born on September 28, 1882, in Peele county, Ontario, Canada, and is the son of Prof. John W. and Mary (Ashbury) Dale, both natives of Canada. Professor Dale has been identified with educational matters all his life, and has won to himself a considerable prominence as an educator of ability and progressiveness wherever he has been located. He is, and has been for some years, filling with a high degree of satisfaction the position of superintendent of the public schools of Mondak, Montana, and has done much for the ad- vancement of the school system in that place, as well as being chiefly instrumental in the building of a fine brick school, erected at a cost of $11,000. His labors in the cause of education have not been confined to one place, but have extended throughout eastern Montana, where his influence is felt in all matters ap- pertaining to the advancement of the educational sys- tem. In his exertions in the cause of learning in Mon- dak, Professor Dale saw the need of a better school building, and after beginning to raise the needed funds

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to erect such a building, he was unremitting and tireless in his efforts to complete the work. He is one of the most highly esteemed men in eastern Montana, and is recognized throughout the state as the exponent of bet- ter educational methods, and an able educator as well.

The early education of Harry Hector Dale was re- ceived at the hands of his father, who grounded him most thoroughly in the fundamental principles, a train- ing which was of inestimable value to him in later years. He attended the high school of Butte, Montana, and was graduated therefrom, after which he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was grad- uated from that institution in 1905 with the degree of A. B. He continued. his studies there for two years, specializing in law, his first course having been a lit- erary one, and in 1907 Mr. Dale was graduated from the law department of the university. Immediately thereafter Mr. Dale established a law practice in Cul- bertson, opening his first office in October, 1907, and his efforts have been rewarded with a pleasing degree of success since that time. He is recognized as one of the rising young men of this city, and has won considerable prominence as a citizen of progressive ideas and general worth.

Mr. Dale is unmarried. He is one of the two chil- dren born to his parents, the other being Lily, now Mrs. T. W. Collinson, whose husband is a prominent doc- tor of Culbertson.

Mr. Dale is a Republican, and takes an active and in- telligent interest in the affairs of the party in his dis- trict.

OSCAR M. ELTON. Foremost among the young and vigorous enterprises which have been established in Missoula within the past five years, none is more worthy of mention than the ice cream and candy factory owned and operated by Oscar M. Elton. With- out the progressive and dauntless spirit of Mr. Elton, the business could not have reached the present state of prominence and prosperity which it enjoys, and of the man who has so successfully come to be re- garded as a factor in the business life of his com- munity, it is fitting that something be said in this historical and biographical work of the state of Mon- tana.

Oscar M. Elton was born in Norwegian Grove, Minnesota, on February 25, 1878. He is the son of Martin O. Elton, a native of Norway, who came to America when he was thirteen years of age and settled in Minnesota, where he passed his life engaged in agricultural interests. He married Liza Myhre, and in recent years gave up farming and moved to Mis- soula, Montana, where they now live. Ten children were born to Martin Elton and his wife, of which number Oscar M. is the eldest. All are living, and are here named in the order of their birth: Oscar M., in business in Missoula; Carl, married and living in Montana; Emma, wife of William Barrett, lives in Missoula ; William; Harry; Edna and Ellen, twins; Reginald; all living in Missoula; Edwin W., lives in Virginia; Clara, the wife of George E. Higson, lives in Norfolk, Virginia.

After the birth of Oscar Elton, the family remained in Norwegian Grove about three years, when they re- moved to Clay county Minnesota. They lived there for six years before they went to Pelican Rapids, and that place represented the family home for a matter of twenty years. In the meantime, in common with others of the family, Oscar had attended the schools of the communities wherein the family lived. In about 1905 Mr. Elton left home going south to Vir- ginia, and in that state he remained about two years. He worked in a saw mill part of the time and later in a wholesale hardware house. His next move brought him to Montana. He located first at Columbia Falls,

remaining there for a year in the employ of a leading mercantile house, and then went to Kalispell, where he became connected with the M. M. Company, remaining with them for three years as a department salesman. It was the aim and intention of Mr. Elton, however, to become his own "boss," and he was ever on the lookout for a suitable location in which he might en- gage in business for himself. About this time he settled upon Missoula as the most opportune location, and he gave up his work in Kalispell, and went to Missoula, where he immediately opened up a confect- ionery store. From a small beginning the business has assumed splendid proportions, and in the compara- tively short time that has elapsed since the inception

of the business, it has grown apace. He carries on a wholesale manufacture of candies and ice cream, and conducts both a wholesale and retail business.

Mr. Elston is a man of indomitable will and tireless energy. He has worked all his life, beginning as a boy of sixteen when he earned his first money working in a hardware store at Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. While there he learned the tinner's trade, and at first received the munificent wage of $5.00 weekly, which he dutifully shared with his parents, who wisely incul- cated in their children principles of independence, which in the case of Mr. Elton has been one of the strong factors in his splendid success. With regard to his political views, Mr. Elton is an independent voter and has never been active in local politics. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and fraternally is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Mod- ern Woodmen of America, of which latter order he was clerk for two years. Mr. Elton is particularly fond of reading and possesses a fine library. He is especially devoted to Montana, and has evidenced his great faith in the future of the country by investing in real estate to a considerable extent on the Teton river in Chauteau county; he is interested in a one thousand acre hay and stock ranch.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 139

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