USA > Montana > A history of Montana, Volume III > Part 162
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Montana, where he has been engaged in the drug business since the fall of 19II.
The subject of this review traces his ancestry, on both the maternal and paternal sides, to stanch Scotch- English stock. The forefathers of his mother settled in Pennsylvania in the pioneer days of that state, and his great-grandfather Sickles, the original progenitor of the Sickles family in America, settled in eastern Canada, whence his descendants removed to Michigan. Earl M. Sickles was born in Deckerville, Michigan, March 21, 1885, and he is a son of George Edward and Betsie (Thornton) Sickles, both of whom were born and reared in Michigan, where they were married in 1882. The father is engaged in the banking business at Deckerville, Michigan, and there is recognized as a business man of unusual merit. Mr. and Mrs. Sickles became the parents of ten children and of the number Earl M. was the second in order of birth.
After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Deckerville, Earl Milton Sickles attended and was graduated in the high school of that place as a member of the class of 1901. At that time he was working also in the drug store of William Reed, a pharmacist at Deckerville. Two years later he entered the Detroit College of Pharmacy, in which excellent institution he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Phar- macy in 1904. He then accepted employment with the Parke Davis & Company, at Detroit, and began making fluid extracts in their laboratories. Six months later he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and for the ensuing three years was clerk in the retail drug store of Otto Kisker. In 1908 he went to Alberta, Canada, and for nine months was in the employ of F. Munsell, of Grassy Lake. He then engaged in the drug business on his own account in Canada, but as his location did not prove satisfactory he decided to come to Montana and located in Joplin in November, 1911. He established the first drug store to do business in this city and he is the owner of the lot and building in which his business is located. He is an unusually efficient druggist and the fact that he handles nothing but pure drugs commands to him a large and lucrative patronage.
In politics Mr. Sickles is a Progressive Independent. He is vice-president of the Commercial Club of Joplin and is a member of the Independent Order of For- resters. In religious matters he is a Baptist. Since the age of sixteen years Mr. Sickles has been self- supporting. At the time when he left home he had but ten dollars in his possession; he has never asked favors of anyone and his success has been on a parity with his own well-directed endeavors. Mr. Sickles is unmarried.
FRED D. CURTISS, M. D. The first physician to locate in Galata was Dr. F. D. Curtiss. In modern settlement and development of new lands, the physician is often a pioneer, following soon after the first comers have begun their home making. Doctor Curtiss has ner- formed a very important service in this community, and has been one of the prosperous citizens.
Dr. F. D. Curtis was born at Cortland, Illinois, September 26, 1876, and comes of a family whose mem- bers have long been identified with the professions and with social service. His father. C. W. Curtiss, now a retired resident in Chicago, was a native of Connecti- cut and a graduate of Yale College. For many years he was occupant of the chair of literature and mathe- matics in the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and has been retired since 1882. He is now eighty years of age. During the Civil war he enlisted in an Illinois regiment and served one year. The mother, Mary (Decker) Curtiss, who is now seventy- six years of age, was born in Illinois and her father was Chaplain Decker, on the staff of General Burnside in the Civil war. Of their four children, the Doctor was the third.
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HISTORY OF MONTANA
Doctor Curtiss prepared for his profession in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College, where he was graduated M. D. in 1901. His first practice was in Fisk, Winnebago county, Wisconsin, where he did a very successful business for ten years, but in 1911 came west and became the pioneer physician of Galata. Besides his busy career as physician, he is also owner of a ranch in Chouteau county. He is fond of outdoor life, and has found a pleasant and profitable field of endeavor in this new northwestern country. The Doctor is a chapter Mason, is a member of the Methodist church, and in politics is Independent.
He was married at Fisk, Wisconsin, in 1901, to Miss Elmira Stone. They are the parents of three children: Charles, born in 1902; Frank Chester, born in 1907; and Roy E., born in 1911. The first two were born in Fisk, and the last in Galata.
EDWARD SCHARNIKOW, the senior member of the well-known and prominent law firm of Scharnikow & Paul, of Deer Lodge, was born February 8, 1865, in New York City. While he was a mere child his parents went to reside at Margaretville, Delaware county, in the Catskill Mountains, where he went to the public schools. In 1880 he went to West Hoboken, New Jersey, and attended the high school, taking a special course. Then leaving school for a time, he se- cured work in a real estate and insurance office at Union Hill, New Jersey, as clerk. Following that he became bookkeeper for a wholesale and retail lumber company, that of Gardner & Meeks. Before leaving Margaretville he worked at printing for a year, in the office of the Utilitarian, a weekly paper published in that town.
He came to Montana in April, 1885, and settled at Deer Lodge. He worked one year as bookkeeper for Albert Kleinschmidt & Company, and one year for E. L. Bonner Company. He then hegan the study of law, returning to Albany, New York, and taking a two year course at the Union College and graduating in the class of 1890. Returning to Montana, he began practice in July, 1890, with the Hon. Judge Theo. Brantly as partner, remaining in this relation until the judge was elected as district judge in the fall of 1892. He then practiced by himself until the year 1905, when he joined partnership with William J. Paul. Mr. Scharnikow and partner have attained. the highest plane in the city and country and are the leading law firm in the city of Deer Lodge today.
Mr. Scharnikow was elected to the legislature in the fall of 1892 and as a member of the city council, and he has been city treasurer for the past twenty years except for one term, when he declined the nomination. In politics he is a Democrat, and while not an orator he is active in behalf of his party interests. He attends, usually as a delegate, all Democratic conventions. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar and a Shriner, Algeria Temple, Helena. He owns and enjoys a splendid city residence.
He married Miss Martha Humber, daughter of Rob- ert G. Humber, an early pioneer of Montana. They have no children. Mr. Scharnikow is a great lover of music. His wife has a fine voice, the beauty and power of which are well known. He and his wife enjoy long automobile trips, and his wife's skill as a hunter and good shot is well known. She is the hunter, for al- though her husband enjoys the sport he does not claim any distinction as a shot. He is also very fond of travel and delights in fine scenery.
The father of the subject of this sketch, Edward Scharnikow, was a veteran of the Civil war, a member (sergeant) of Company I, Eighth Regiment, New York Volunteers. He received an honorable discharge on
May 23, 1863. He fought at the battle of Bull Run. He was a carriage maker by trade. He died in 1893, at his old home. The mother was Catherine Gerdts, and, like her husband, was a native of Bremen, Germany. They came to the United States as young people. Her death occurred about 1900. She is interred with her husband. There were four sons in this household: The subject of this sketch is the eldest; Henry L. is a member of the New York City police force; Louis G., is a druggist in New York City; John C. is a steno- grapher to the superintendent of the Pullman Com- pany, in New York City.
While Mr. Scharnikow is an active Mason, he is also a member, with his wife, of the Christian church of Deer Lodge and is very active in its growth and welfare.
WILLIAM J. PAUL, law partner of Mr. Scharnikow, was born April 8, 1881, at Laurel, Iowa, and attended school there until he was eight years of age. His home was with his paternal grandparents at Gillman, Iowa, from the time of his mother's death, when he was but an infant. He continued in high school there and at sixteen attended Highland Park College at Des Moines, taking science and philosophy and graduating in 1901. He then studied law in the same college and graduated in 1903. To get experience he began to practice at Des Moines, Iowa, and remained one year, and in 1904 came to Deer Lodge as instructor in the College of Montana. On July 5, 1905, he became associated with Mr. Edward Scharnikow. He was elected to the legis- lature in the fall of 1910, on the Republican ticket, and was a member of the appropriation committee, also of the judiciary committee and the committee on banks and banking. He is active during campaign times and is an orator of ability.
Mr. Paul is a Mason, a member of Deer Lodge, No. 14. A. F. & A. M., and of Valley chapter, R. A. M. He is also a member of the K. of P. He married Miss Lillian Humber, a sister of the wife of his law partner.
The father of the subject of this sketch, James Paul, is of Scotch-Irish parentage, and is a prominent and wealthy farmer of Laurel, Iowa. His mother was Sarah Balmer, who died in February, 1882, at Laurel.
JACOB PINCUS. Among the prominent business men of Butte, Montana, who have been identified with the fortunes of the community for nearly a quarter of a century and who came here when the present metro- politan city was but a comparatively small mining center is Mr. Jacob Pincus, president of the Tuxedo Cigar Company, conducting one of the largest and finest retail cigar stores in the downtown district. Mr. Pincus is associated in business with Creighton Largey, who is vice president of the company, and Phil Gillis, secretary of the firm. The concern was organized and incorporated under direction of Mr. Pincus, and the success of the enterprise is largely due to his manage- ment and ability as an executive.
Mr. Pincus is a native of Silecia, Germany, where he was born June 4, 1869, the son of Meyer and Ernestine (Nossen) Pincus, both of German birth, and who never left their native land. The father, a retired merchant, is still living in Germany and is now eighty-seven years old. His wife died in 1906. They were the parents of eleven children, six of whom are now liv- ing, three sons, Jacob, Isadore and Adolph, being residents of Butte and among this city's most influ- ential citizens. Isadore is a well-known cigar manu- facturer here, while Adolph is one of the city's wealth- iest men, his rating being that of a millionaire.
Jacob Pincus was the youngest member of the fam- ily and when thirteen years old was taken from school
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HISTORY OF MONTANA
and apprenticed to learn the trade of watchmaker and jeweler. It required three years of faithful application to attain proficiency in these lines. When sixteen years old he pluckily started out to make his fortune in the new world and came alone to the United States, locat- ing immediately on arrival in this country at Butte, which city has ever since been his home. The first decade after his settlement here Mr. Pincus worked at his trade and experienced no difficulty in securing employment in the best jewelry stores in the city. His workmanship was always of the highest class, he was industrious and trustworthy and the reputation he gained for proficiency in his work made his services much sought after.
Having saved a sufficient sum of money to enable him to engage in business for himself, Mr. Pincus in 1897 opened up a watch-making and jewelry shop at 10 South Main street, and soon made his establish- ment one of the largest and best patronized in the city at that time. For the succeeding eight years he con- ducted this business with marked success and good profit, then disposed of the store. The following sev- eral years he devoted his time and attention to the pursuit of various mercantile endeavors and in 1910 organized the Tuxedo Company, as previously men- tioned. Mr. Pincus' commercial standing is of the highest character and he is generally recognized as one of the most conservative and substantial business ele- ments of the city. Besides his store he owns numer- ous other valuable holdings and has mining properties of great worth at Boulder, Montana.
Mr. Pincus was married September 6, 1909, to Miss Cora Beach, who is a native of Wisconsin. They occupy prominent positions in the leading social cir- cles of the city and are held in high esteem by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance. Mr. Pincus is of Democratic political faith, and while he is not actively interested in partisan affairs is invariably ready to lend the weight of his influence to the advance- ment of any enterprise that has for its object the
development and upbuilding of the city and state, and discharges his duties as a citizen intelligently and con- scientiously.
JAMES H. KING, a representative business man and citizen of Butte, Montana, has been a resident of that city since 1885. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, he was born April 2, 1866, and received his education first in the public schools and later at the University of Missouri. His inclination was for a business rather than a professional career, and this was probably re- sponsible for his leaving college at the age of eighteen. He came to Butte in 1885, and for twenty-eight years has been identified with the business interests of this city, first in the line of general merchandise. In 1899 he organized the Butte Floral Company, incorporated under the laws of Montana, with William J. Day, president; Philo A. King, vice president; and James H. King, secretary and treasurer. The Butte Floral Company operates two green house plants, one at Butte and the other at Gregson Springs, Montana. About forty thousand square feet of glass space is used, and the hot houses at Gregson Springs are unique, in that they are the only known plants in the. world heated exclusively by natural hot water. The Butte Floral Company caters to an extensive and select trade, not only throughout Montana, but in ad- joining states as well.
Mr. King's interests are diversified, and in addition to those mentioned, include real estate holdings in Butte, as well as industrial interests in Great Falls and Seattle.
Fraternally he is a Mason, being a member of the chapter and commandery, as well as being affiliated . with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Elks, while socially he holds membership in the Silver Bow Club and the University Club of Butte, and the Electric Club of Great Falls, Montana.
HECKMAN BINDERY, INC. Bound-To-Please*
JULY 03
N. MANCHESTER, INDIANA 46962
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