A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 146

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

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Mr. Stangland was married at Sioux Rapids, Iowa, April 13, 1884, to Miss Elina Torkelson, daughter of Torkel Torkelson, a native of Wisconsin, and six chil- dren have been born to this union, one of whom died in infancy. The others are: Emma, a resident of Omaha, Nebraska; Irvin, who is engaged in the hard- ware, business in South Dakota; Edna, a teacher in the schools of East Cascade, Cascade county; Opal, who is teaching a country school ten miles west of Great Falls; and Bernice, who is attending the public schools.

JOHN G. HOWE. In former years all butter was made in small quantities upon individual farms, but the tendency to concentration has affected this as well as other industries, and today a larger and larger pro- portion of it is being made in butter factories or

creameries. These factories receive the milk and cream from many neighboring farms, and make the product in large quantities, and in these large institutions, naturally, the whole process can be more carefully controlled and the butter is generally better and more uniform in character. That this last statement is true has been proved by John G. Howe, manager of the Stevens- ville Creamery, a man who through his expert knowl- edge of his business has produced butter that has won numerous prizes all over the country and against all kinds of competition. He has followed this business during his entire active career, and his experience in his chosen line, as well as his ability as a business man and executive, give him a prominent position among his city's enterprising and successful citizens. Mr. Howe was born February 9, 1879, at Kellogg, Minne- sota, and is a son of Peter and Elizabeth (Baker) Howe, natives of Germany. His father came from the Fatherland to the United States in young man- hood, and is now a farmer and extensive bee raiser of Kellogg, Minnesota, where he has a large apiary. There were six children in the family: Kate, who married Peter Schierts, of Helena, Montana; Elizabeth, wife of Peter Stever, of Kellogg, Minnesota; Marie, a teacher in the schools of Little Falls, Minnesota;, Celia, who resides with her parents; William, whose death occurred in 1886; and John G.

John G. Howe attended the public schools of Kellogg, Minnesota until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he entered the Minnesota State Agricultural Col- lege, and graduated therefrom in 1899. During the summer of 1899-1900, he was engaged in butter making at Kern, Minnesota, but realized the need for further instruction, and during the fall of the latter year entered the Minnesota State Dairy School, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1902. Shortly thereafter he accepted a position with the Milton Dairy Company, of St. Paul, Minnesota, but after one season left their employ to take charge of the operations of the Ban- ner Co-operative Company's Creamery at Oakland, Minnesota, and remained there four years. At that time he went to Spokane, Washington, to take charge of the Hazelwood Creamery, at that time the largest in the northwest, but in the spring of 1908 came to his present position in Stevensville, Montana, where he has since acquired a national reputation as a producer of prize-winning butter. In the spring of 1911. during the busy season, the three-year-old creamery at Stevens- ville was destroyed, and Mr. Howe was given a free rein by the stockholders of the controlling company to build a new plant according to his own ideas. With characteristic energy and faith in his own ability, Mr. Howe immediately made extensive plans superintended the building, which was erected of cement blocks made on the ground, and bought machinery in far-distant cities, of the finest and most highly improved manu- facture. Sparing neither time nor money, inside of one month's actual time, Mr. Howe had the finest, most modern and most highly equipped plant of its kind in the state, capable of running to capacity, and has since increased its output from 1,000 to 3,000 pounds per week. This butter has a reputation second to none in the west, and among the honors won by it may be mentioned the following: Second prize, silver medal, St. Louis World's Fair, 1904; silver medal, best butter National Dairy Men's Meeting, 1906; Montana State championship silver cup, 1908; first prize, gold medal. Ravalli County Fair, 1910: first prize, silver cup, Montana State Fair, 1910; first prize, gold medal, Ravalli County Fair, 1911 ; first prize, gold medal. Mon- tana State Butter Men's Convention, 1911; first prize, Montana State Dairy Men's Convention, 1912; and first prize Montana State Butter Makers' Convention, 1912, scoring 98 per cent for six months' scoring. It is largely due to his efforts that it has been a success. He is a systematic, thorough and alert manager, believ-

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ing in doing all things well, and perhaps his success in the business has been greatly due to the conscientious attention he gives to small details. He has found time from his business duties to give to fraternal work, and is a popular member of the Modern Samaritans of Minnesota, the Woodmen of the World and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Mr. Howe was married May 4, 1904, to Miss Ruby E. Parsons, of Mankato, Minnesota, and they have two children : John G., Jr., and Warren.

FRANK BERNATZ. The United States has served as the melting pot of the best characteristics of all other nations and the outcome is a fine sterling American citizenship consisting of strong and able-bodied men, loyal and public-spirited in civic life, honorable in busi- ness and alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with every measure tending to advance progress and improve- ment. Germany has contributed its fair quota to the upbuilding of this great nation and among its repre- sentatives in this country are to be found successful men in every walk of life, from the professions to the prosperous farmer. He whose name forms the cap- tion for this review is of German descent, his fathert having been born and reared in Germany, whence he came to America as a young man. Frank Bernatz is engaged in the general merchandise business at Dixon, Mon- tana, where he is the efficient incumbent of the office of postmaster and where he has resided since 1908.

In the vicinity of McGregor, Iowa, March 4, 1863, occurred the birth of Frank Bernatz, who is a son of Michael and Veronica (Bonzer) Bernatz, the former a native of Germany and the latter a native of Bohemia. The father came to America as a young man and located in Iowa, where he was engaged in the flour-milling busi- ness during the greater portion of his active career and where he died in 1888, at the venerable age of sev- enty-six years. Mrs. Bernatz survives her honored hus- band and is now a resident of Elma, Iowa.

The fifth in order of birth in a family of seven chil- dren, Frank Bernatz was reared to the age of seven- teen years in Iowa and there he received his preliminary educational training. He attended a commercial busi- ness college at Decorah, lowa, for one term and as a youth learned the trade of telegraphy at Janesville, Wis- consin. His first work as telegraph operator was on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad and he remained in the employ of that company in different towns for a period of two years, at the expiration of which he secured a position on the Northern Pacific road at Riverside, Montana. This was in 1883 and he has been a resident of this state during the long inter- vening years to the present time, in 1912. Mr. Bernatz continued in the railroad service for a period of thirty years and during that time was agent for the Northern Pacific System at Boulder, Manhattan, Drummond, Philipsburg and Dixon, Montana and at various other stations. In 1910 he gave up telegraphy and engaged in the mercantile business at Dixon, where he controls an extensive and lucrative patronage. He has a very select stock of goods and caters to the best trade in this sec- tion. He is the inventor of the Tremendous Power Water Machine, or motor. In 1908 he was appointed postmaster at Dixon by President Taft and he is as- sisted in the work of that office by his daughter Vera.

In politics Mr. Bernatz is an independent Republican but he takes no active part in public affairs. In a fra- ternal way he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which organization he has passed all the official chairs of both the subordinate lodge and the encampment. He is very fond of music, public speak- ing and lectures and is quite an orator himself. He was a member of the school board at Dixon for three years and he gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises forwarded for

the good of the general welfare. He is a popular citi- zen and a capable business man and is accorded the unalloyed confidence and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.

At Boulder, Montana, in 1894, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Bernatz to Miss Nellie Sweet, a daughter of William. T. and Emma Sweet, old pio- neers in Montana. Mr. Sweet is clerk of court of Jefferson county and a sketch of his career appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Bernatz was called to eternal rest in 1909, at the age of thirty-seven years and is buried in the cemetery at Boulder. She is sur- vived by five children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth, Vera is still attending school but helps her father in the store and postoffice; and Carl, Fred, Violet and Otto are all attending school at Dixon.

ENOCH M. PORTER, A. B., M. D. Although he is recognized as one of the leading members of the med- ical profession in the state and as a citizen who has always held the best interests of his adopted com- munity at heart, it is probable that Dr. Enoch M. Porter is best known as the founder of the Fort Benton Sanitarium. The theory that the modern hospital is a luxury or a convenience of the well-to-do is both unfounded and injurious. It is not only the highest development of science for the alleviation and cure of the swarming bodily ills of mankind, a wonderful organization into which the best thought and experience of experts at work the world over have entered, but is also a great philanthropic enterprise, and for this reason Dr. Porter may lay claim to a position among those who have contributed to the general public wel- fare and rendered their city incalculable service. Dr. Porter was born in Adrian, Bates county, Missouri, June 17, 1877, and is a son of Robert I. and Katherine (Pulliam) Porter. His grandparents were natives of Kentucky, whence they removed to St. Louis, Missouri, at an early day, as pioneer settlers. Robert I. Porter was born in Missouri, and in 1863 journeyed overland to Virginia City, via Omaha, joining the gold seekers. In 1865 he went to San Francisco, where he boarded a vessel, and returned to his native state via Pana- ma, and for many years was engaged in agriculture and stock-raising. He is now retired from active pur- suits and lives in Nevada, Missouri. He was married in Cass county, Missouri, to Katherine Pulliam, whose parents had come to that state in frontier days, and they had three children, the doctor being the youngest.

Enoch M. Porter attended the country schools of Bates county, Missouri, until he was fifteen years of age, and his youth was spent in work on his father's farm. He had decided on a professional career, how- ever, and managed by hard study and strict economy to work his way through William Jewell College, Lib- erty, Missouri, from which he was graduated in 1898, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Entering the University Medical College, of Kansas City, he was graduated in 1902 with the degree of Doctor of Med- icine, and spent the following year as interne in the University Hospital. He then began practice at Cor- dell, Washita county, Oklahoma, but after a few months removed to Old Mexico, where the next two and one- half years were spent. He was for one year physician for the Blalack Mexico Colony at Chamal, Mexico, and then removed to Matchuala, where he was surgeon for the Cia Metalurgica Nacional, one of the large copper-producing companies of Mexico. On leaving Mexico he went to New York City and took a post- graduate school and hospital course, and then again came West, seeking a location in numerous states and finally settling in Fort Benton, where he arrived in the spring of 1908. Since that time he has built up a large general practice, and through his zeal, knowl-

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edge, natural talent and sympathetic nature has won the confidence and friendship of the people of the com- munity. He is a member of the Chouteau County Medical Society, the Montana State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and the American Academy of Medicine, has been county and city health officer for four years, and is a director of the Benton Drug Company. He belongs to the Sigma Nu fra- ternity, the Aesculapians and Benton Lodge of Masons. On February 1, 1910, the doctor opened to the public the Fort Benton Sanitarium, an institution erected and equipped at a cost of $25,000, with all modern improve- ments, and capable of taking care of thirty-five patients. It has a large patronage and has taken its proper place among the foremost establishments of its kind in Mon- tana.

HALLIE L. BILLS. One of the leading bankers of Cen- tral Montana is Mr. H. S. Bills, the organizer and active head of the Security State Bank at Judith Gap. This bank has been one of the important factors in the busi- ness development of this part of the state, and is a substantial institution, with the confidence of the com- munity behind it and in turn itself a promotor of well ordered business, investment and progress in this sec- tion.

The possession and exercise of enterprise and ability gave Mr. Bills an early start in the responsible affairs of business. He is a well educated man, was thoroughly prepared for his career, and since attaining his ma- jority has been identified with railroad and banking lines. He was born at Ada, Minnesota, January 3, 1884, and was reared and educated there. The leading attorney of Judith Gap, Glen S. Bills, is his older brother, and more detailed information concerning the family will be found in his sketch on other pages of this work.

Hallie L. Bills was educated in the public schools of his native state, and after leaving high school took up the study of law, though he never continued it to the point of getting a license. Business has been his active field, and his first employment after leaving home was in the capacity of relief agent for the Great Northern Railway, and spent two years in railroad work, being stationed at various points on the system and for a time was ticket agent in Fargo. He then entered bank- ing as cashier of a bank in Radium, Minnesota. After about two years there, in 1908 he came to Judith Gap and took the leading part in organizing the Security State Bank. With the opening of this institution he took the position of cashier, and has been active execu- tive in its successful management ever since. He is also a director in the First State Bank of Breathy, cap- italized at $25,000, and in the Montana State Bank of Volier with a $25,000 capitalization.

Mr. Bills is both a successful business man and an active, public-spirited citizen. He is an enthusiast on the subject of Montana as a state of unrivaled re- sources, with a solid development in the past and a splendid assured future. He is one of the influential men in the local ranks of the Republican party, but does his political work for the public good and not for his own preferment. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masons and Odd Fellows, and his religious preference is for the Methodist church. All kinds of outdoor activities attract him as a witness or participant, and he finds his recreation in watching a baseball game, boxing or running matches, and in occasional hunting excursions. While in Minnesota he was a member of a volunteer fire department, and he could run a hun- dred yards in ten seconds flat. For two seasons his company won the banner in the tourneys of the North- ern Minnesota Firemen's Association. He also enjoys a happy home life, has a nice little family, and enjoys his library and the other interests of the home. Mr. Bills , was married at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, April 28,

1909, to Miss Clara B. Thompson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ole Thompson of Rice Lake. One child has been born to this union, named E. Sanford Bills.

GLEN S. BILLS. One of the ablest attorneys of cen- tral Montana, Mr. Glen S. Bills has been identified with his profession in Judith Gap since 1908. Previous to locating in Montana he practiced in North Dakota. Mr. Bills has won his way to a leading position in the law as a result of his solid ability and a sturdy reliance on his own efforts, having worked his way through col- lege, and thus possessed at the beginning of his pro- fessional career a practical experience that was inval- uable.

Mr. Bills was born in Augusta, Wisconsin, on August I, 1879, being the second child and oldest son of E. Sanford and Kate (Prill) Bills. The father, who died at Ada, Minnesota, in 1896, aged sixty-four, was born in Canada in 1832. Farming was his regular occupa- tion, and he was a substantial and highly respected citizen. Having settled in Wisconsin during young manhood, he enlisted in a Wisconsin regiment during the Civil war, and had a long military experience, en- gaged in many of the battles of the war. He owned land in Wisconsin on which the town of Augusta was founded, and one of the principal thoroughfares there is called Bills avenue. He was married there, but the latter years of his life were spent as a resident of Min- nesota. His widow now resides in Spokane, Washing- ton. There were seven children in the family, and two of the sons are at Judith Gap, Glen S. and his brother Hallie L., the banker, (see sketch elsewhere).

Glen S. Bills was two years old when the family moved to Ada, Minnesota, and there he was reared un- til about sixteen. During this time he had attended the public schools, and by work in light ocupations had earned a considerable amount of money for a boy. For the next four years he was engaged in farming, but about the time he became of age he left the farm to prepare himself for a broader career. After a year in the Minneapolis Academy, he took a three-year course in and graduated from the State University of Minne- sota, having earned all the money for his education. Most of his professional preparation was done at the North Dakota University in Grand Forks, where he graduated from the law department in 1904. His first location for practice was at Maxbass, North Dakota, where he followed his profession three years. In 1908 he located in Judith Gap, where he has since had a large share of the office and court business of this locality.

Mr. Bills is a type of the self-reliant and progressive citizen whose personal enterprise and character are to work and develop the splendid natural resources of this state. Like many other residents, he believes that no other state offers better opportunities than Montana, and with his practical achievements during his brief career he is destined to take high rank among the legal fraternity of the state during the first half of the. twentieth century.

Mr. Bills was married in Milbank, South Dakota. October 26. 1910. to Miss Marv E. Phelan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward W. Phelan, of Milbank. They are the parents of one son, John E. Bills. In the civic and social life of his community Mr. Bills has taken a quietly effective part and supports all the activities which afford better living conditions and make for the real progress of the community. Though affiliated with no church, he takes an interest in the moral and spirit- nal work of religious organizations. He is one of the live members of the Judith Gap Commercial Club, is identified with the local Republican organization, but has always refused any inducements to run for office. He is also a member of the Elks club. Mr. Bills is one of the enthusiastic automobilists of this locality, but takes a keen interest in all outdoor sports. During his

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college days he played a great deal of baseball and is now one of the active fans.

CHARLES W. TIERNEY. Like many of the successful journalists of today, Charles W. Tierney, editor of the Cascade Courier, of Cascade, Montana, started his news- paper career in a very humble capacity, and has de- voted nearly his whole life to the gathering and dis- tributing of news, gradually working his way up the ladder of success until he now maintains a position among the prominent men of his profession in Cascade county and is an acknowledged power in the local polit- ical field. He is one of the self-made men of his section, and the success which has finally crowned his efforts has come only after years of discouragements and disappointments. Mr. Tierney was born at Hen- derson, Sibley county, Minnesota, November 30, 1881, and is a son of Patrick and Mary (Moran) Tierney. His father, a native of Pennsylvania, is now a resi- dent of St. Paul, Minnesota, where he is engaged in an extensive insurance business. He was married at Henderson, to Miss Mary Moran, who was born in Ireland, and came to the United States when she was a girl of seventeen years.

Charles W. Tierney was the oldest of his parents' ten children, and secured his education in the public and high schools, graduating from the latter in 1894. At that time he was apprenticed to the trade of printer, at which he continued to serve three years in Hender- son, and when he began to work as a journeyman, went to St. Paul, where he continued for about eight years. being employed on the Pioneer Press. In 1908 he moved to North Dakota, but after a short period went to Havre, Montana, where with others he promoted the Havre Promoter, a weekly newspaper with which he was connected for one year. At this time, removing to Glasgow, he took charge of the Montana Citizen, but in the fall of 1911 came to Cascade and took employ- ment with the Cascade Courier, the plant of which he has since purchased. The Courier is an independent organ and aims to present to its readers a fair, unbiased opinion on all matters of importance. A neat, well- printed sheet, its pages are devoted to the interesting national news of the day, together with all the local happenings, and terse, well-written editorials. It endeavors to educate the reading public into discourag- ing sensational matters, the management believing that a clean, reliable newspaper will be the means of ulti- mately developing the best interests of the community. In his political belief Mr. Tierney maintains an 'inde- pendent stand, exercising the right to vote for the man he deems best fitted for the office at stake, regardless of party ties. He has been fearless in advocating the principles that he has thought right, and just as cour- ageous in attacking and denouncing the movements which he thinks not for the best interests of his com- . munity. Placed in a position where his word makes a decided impression upon public sentiment, he has wielded a distinct influence for good in Cascade, and has demonstrated that he possesses the rare faculty of stating his views and still retaining his numerous friends. As a consequence the circulation has sustained a healthy growth, and the Courier now has about 800 readers. Mr. Tierney is a consistent member of the Roman Catholic church. He is unmarried.

RALPH M. HATTERSLEY. The career of Ralph M. Hattersley is a splendid example of what may be accomplished by young manhood that is consecrated to ambition and high purposes. He is a lawyer and a self- made one at that and he is recognized throughout Teton county for his high order of ability and his con- scientious dealings with his clients. His start in getting his education was difficult and many young men, under similar circumstances, would have become discouraged Vol. II-31

and left the field, but the obstacles, instead of dis- couraging Mr. Hattersley, spurred him onward, giving him a momentum and force which have resulted since the period of his first struggles in steady progress and success and won him the esteem of all with whom he has come in contact. At the present time, in 1912, Mr. Hattersley is incumbent of the office of city attorney of Conrad and he is discharging the duties connected with that position in a most satisfactory manner. The Hattersley pedigree is traced back to the year 1367 in England and the founder of the family in America was Jonathan Edward Hattersley, who settled in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, about the year 1850.

Ralph M. Hattersley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 11, 1883, and his parents, Charles M. and Mary B. (Bowman) Hattersley, were likewise born in Cin- cinnati, the former in 1857 and the latter in 1857. The father is engaged in the general merchandise business in Cincinnati and he and his wife are the parents of five children, of whom the subject of this review was the third in order of birth. To the public schools of his native place Ralph M. Hattersley is indebted for his rudimentary educational discipline, the same in- cluding a course in the Cincinnati high school. Sub- sequently he was matriculated as a student in George Washington University, in the city of Washington, D. C., and he was graduated in the law department of that excellent institution as a member of the class of 1907, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In 1908 the degree of Master of Laws was conferred on him by his alma mater. Prior to graduating from college Mr. Hattersley was in the government service at Wash- ington, working in the interior department for a period of five years. In 1908 he came west for the govern- ment as special agent for the general land office and settled in the city of Helena, Montana, where he con- tinued as land agent until February. 1910. In the latter year he came to Conrad, where he has since maintained his home and where he has succeeded in building up a large and lucrative law practice. Most of his legal work is along the line of land disputes and settlements.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 146

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