A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 72

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

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Mr. Johnson, consistent with his ranch training in early life, is an expert horseman, and is especially in- terested in athletics of every branch. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, being active in the Helena lodge of that order. Politically he is an independent voter, acting always for what he believes to be the best interests of the civic welfare. He is a well known man in Montana, with an ever-widening acquaintance, and his strict attention to business has been a large factor in his success.

JOSEPH LEE RICE. The Helena Business College is a particularly well officered affair, and to Joseph Lee Rice, associate proprietor of the college, no little credit is due for the brilliant record made since the organiza- tion of the school on a new basis in 1910. The educa- tional equipment of Professor Rice for his present posi- tion is especially good and his natural ability as an instructor is of an unusually high order. The training he received in the exacting details of management while associated with his brother, Professor Alonzo F. Rice, president and manager of the Butte Business College, was eminently calculated to fit him for similar duties of a more expansive nature, and as one of the pro- prietors of the Helena Business College he is thor- oughly competent to conduct the affairs of that school in a manner that will redound to the lasting benefit of the institution.

Joseph Lee Rice was born in Chilhowee, Missouri, October 23, 1872. He is the son of Franklin J. and Mary A. (Sanders) Rice, both natives of Nashville, Tennessee. Franklin J. Rice, a veteran of the Civil war and in later life a prominent and successful farmer, was the father of two sons, Alonzo F. and Joseph Lee. both sons received liberal educations. Joseph Lee at- tended the grammar and high schools of Kansas City, Missouri, and was graduated from the high school of that city in 1890. Following his graduating therefrom he entered the Gem City Business College at Quincy, Illinois, where he took a complete course in business training. and in due time was graduated from the col- lege. This course of training he supplemented with a course in higher accounting and received, in Novem- ber, 1909, the degree of certified public accountant, granted by the University of Montana, and holds the distinction of being the only certified public accountant teaching in the state.

In 1894 Mr. Rice came to Montana, whither his brother Alonzo had preceded him some time since and was then conducting the Butte Business College. He hecame associated with his brother and they worked together for some time, the elder brother's experience and wisdom being of inestimable value to the younger man in training him for independent action in the same field a little later on.

In 1910 Mr. Rice learned that the Helena Business College was for sale, and he immediately took steps to secure the business. He, together with his friend and associate in the same line of endeavor, Mr. H. F.

Johnson, united forces and purchased the Helena Busi- ness College, which was the oldest college in the state of Montana, having been organized in 1883 by Mr. Englehorn. When the school came into their posses- sion it was in a deplorable condition. It had been per- mitted to run down in efficiency, both as to its corps of instructors and in its general equipment, and when Messrs. Rice and Johnson became the owners it be- came immediately necessary for them to institute a course of remodeling and reconstructing in every branch of the school. They were entirely equal to the exigen- cies of the occasion, however, and here the splendid training of Professor Rice in the college of which his brother was president proved itself to be of great in- trinsic value to the proprietors of the reorganized Helena Business College. In matters pertaining to proper equipment, and in the installing of new lines of study, as well as in bringing the corps of instructors up to the high standard of excellence which they de- manded for the college of which they were to be the heads, the excellent practical experience of Professor Rice proved invaluable. In a comparatively brief space of time the enrollment from a mere handful of stu- dents increased to more than two hundred, with an attendance at the night classes of half that number. The school is enjoying an enviable reputation for efficiency and success in Helena, and its graduates ex- perience no difficulty in securing valuable positions on leaving the schoolroom for the business world, for which they have been prepared by practical, common- sense and altogether efficient methods. Although the Helena Business College is in the hands of young men who are for the first time engaged in business on their own responsibility, their sterling character, combined with their great inherent ability in the field which they have entered, precludes any slight possibility of failure on their part.

Professor Rice is a member of the Helena Commer- cial Club, and is active and enthusiastic in his labors for the advancement of the general welfare of the city. He is a Republican, but not particularly active in a political way, the heavy demands of his business upon his time and energies making it manifestly impossible for him to devote much time to matters of that ilk. He is fond of outdoor sports, and is an athlete of consider- able ability.

On July 17, 1899, Professor Rice was married to Miss Lulie Evans, the daughter of Mrs. Maria Evans, an old resident of Butte, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Rice are the parents of one child, J. Lee, Jr., who is now an attendant of the public schools of Butte, and whose birth occurred on August 31, 1902.

NEMUEL E. GOURLEY. Now the proprietor of the largest bakery business. of Montana, Mr. Gourley has attained prominence in one line of business and in citizenship entirely as a result of his own enterprise and efforts. He began his career without any advan- tages or resources outside of his own character and energy, and is now one of the well known business men of Havre and Montana.

Nemuel E. Gourley was born in eastern Ontario, April 15. 1875, the third of six children born to Thomas and Margaret Gourley, both of whom were natives of Canada. The father was a photographer, and his death occurred in North Dakota in 1903 at the age of sixty-four. The mother passed away in 1878 when fifty years old.

Mr. Gourley was reared in that portion of Canada where he was born, attended the public schools there, and was nineteen years old when he came out to Montana and identified himself permanently with this great state of the Northwest. His first position in Havre was that of messenger for the Great Northern Express Company, and he continued one, of the faith- ful employes of that company until 1903. During his boyhood years he had worked as apprentice and learned

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the trade of baker, and he now decided to make this the basis of an independent business career. Havre was at that time without any first-class bakery and confectionery, and his establishment proved a profit- able enterprise from the very start. He bought the property where his business was located and has also acquired much other valuable real estate. At the time Havre received its second great visitation from fire, in 1904, his place of business was destroyed. He was one of the enterprising group of business men who had determined to rebuild before the fire had ceased burn- ing, and almost out of the ashes he caused to rise a fine business structure known as the Gourley block. This is the home of the Gourley bakery, a plant whose ovens have a daily capacity of thirty thousand loaves of bread, which has a distribution and lasting popu- larity among many outside towns in the state. Taking one of the most staple of domestic industries, Mr. Gourley has not been content with an ordinary and local success, but has developed a business which sup- plies thousands of families with the most substantial article of daily existence.

Mr. Gourley has an attractive home in Havre and is one of the citizens of influence and standing among his associates and a large circle of friends. He was married at Helena, on December 8, 1909, to Miss Viola Raymond. They are members of the Presby- terian church, and fraternally he is prominent in Masonry, being a chapter Mason and Shriner and member of the Eastern Star. His politics is Republi- can. His principal diversion is hunting and fishing, and he devotes considerable time during the summer to the delights of forest and stream.

JOHN HALLER. There is no one nation that has con- tributed more to the complex composition of our Amer- ican social fabric than has Germany, or has been of greater value in fostering and supporting our national institutions. Germany has given us men of sturdy integrity, indomitable perseverance, high intelligence and much business sagacity, and the country is gener- ally recognized as supplying our most valuable type of immigrant. Of this nationality is one of Butte's most substantial business men, John Haller, organizer and secretary-treasurer of the Home Baking Company, one of largest concerns of its kind in the west and the only machine bakery in the state of Montana, its pro- duct being sent over the entire state and its excellence forming its own best advertisement. The other officers of the Home Baking Company are: Jacob Osenbrug, president, and J. H. Rathelmiller, vice-president. In addition to this extensive business Mr. Haller has large realty holdings and is interested in mining prop- erties. He is of that most admirable type of citizen- ship, the self made man, having arrived a stranger in a strange land with a capital of only twenty-three dollars in his possession.

John Haller was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, the son of John and Christina (Eppler) Haller, the former born in August, 1829, and died in September, 1881, and the mother born in 1830 and died in Novem- ber, 1899. Their son received his education in the excellent schools of his native land, attending school until he reached the age of fourteen years, when he turned his attention to the more practical affairs of life and set about learning the bakery and confectionery business. After serving his apprenticeship he went to Switzerland, where he remained for a year, and then becoming impressed with the reports of American opportunity, concluded to try his fortunes beneath the stars and stripes. He arrived in the new world in July, 1886, and located at Cleveland, Ohio, where for two years he followed his trade. He then decided to go west and he chose as his location Butte, Montana, here finding employment with the American Bakery and remaining with that concern for several years,

after which he entered the employ of Jacob Osenbrug, his present business associate.

In February, 1894, being then equipped with suf- ficient capital and confidence, Mr. Haller began busi- ness on his own responsibility and established the Mon- tana Bakery, of which he was the sole proprietor. He conducted this with remarkable success until 1904, when he admitted to partnership with him two other gentle- men, namely: Jacob Osenbrug and H. J. Rathelmiller, and the three established the large and thriving plant partially described above. The business is located at 107 Olympian avenue and employs on an average twenty-one persons, the daily output being about thirty thousands loaves. The Home Baking Com- pany does a wholesale business, their bread being de- livered far and wide throughout the state of Mon- tana. Mr. Haller, as previously mentioned, has other interests of large scope and importance.

He made secure the possibilities of a happy home life and congenial life companionship by his mar- riage on March 18, 1893, to Anna Waldert, daughter of Joseph Waldert, a native of German Bohemia. Mrs. Haller, who is an admirable wife and helpmeet, came to this country in 1889 in company with her father and sisters, her mother having died before the departure of the family to America. The union of John Haller and his wife has been blessed by the coming of three children, namely : Beulah Christina, born in Butte, August 1, 1895, now a student in the Butte high school, and exceptionally fond of her studies, John William Christian, born June 6, 1898, and Thelma Elenora Maria, born in Butte, December 31, 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Haller maintain a handsome and commodious home at 603 West Park street, this residence being their own property. Here they entertain their friends, of which they possess large numbers. In politics Mr. Haller is a loyal Republican, but although he gives to public matters the consideration of the intelligent voter, he takes no active part in political affairs.

HELEN C. ROBERTS, M. D. To Mrs. Roberts belongs the honor of being the only woman physician of Great Falls. Few women are found in the professions of law and medicine in this state, but that is not because Montana does not offer equal opportunities to women, but because of the small proportion of the female pop- ulation. Probably if a comparison were made on such a basis, it would be found that there are relatively as many women so engaged in the west as in the greater centers of population further east.

Dr. Roberts was born in the town of Gilmenton, Wis- consin. This little city was named in honor of her father, Frank Gilman, who had come west from Ver- mont and settled on a farm in Wisconsin. Mr. Gilman was born in New Hampshire in 1825. He went first to Vermont and then to Wisconsin. The township of Gilmanton was also named in his honor, and besides being a prosperous farmer, he was active in public af- fairs. and at the time of his death in 1880 a member of the Wisconsin legislature. Mr. Gilman was a typical New Englander of the type whose industry and high ideals played such a part in the development of the middle west. His four children all took up a profession and all attained success and honor in their callings. The mother, too, was a New Englander. Her maiden name was Calista Rathbun, and she was born in Connecticut. She died at Great Falls in October, 1905, while here on a visit to her only daughter, Dr. Roberts. Mrs. Gilman was eighty-three at the time of her death. All of her sons entered the law and are now engaged in the practice of that profession. Burton Gilman is one of the best known members of the bar at Alliance, Nebraska. Schuyler Gilman and Charles W. are suc- cessfully following that same calling at Mondovia. Wis- consin. Dr. Roberts is next to the youngest in point of age.

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Wlien Dr. Roberts was ready to begin her collegiate work, she first entered the academic department of the Northwestern University, but after she had been in col- lege for a time, decided to study medicine, and to that end went into the medical department of the North- western University, and in 1888 graduated from the institution. Upon receiving her diploma she was ap- pointed interne of the Cook County Hospital, an honor greatly coveted by all medical graduates, in the city of Chicago, both because of the experience to be gained in this large institution, and because the appointment is made as a result of a stiff examination. At the expira- tion of her year as interne, Dr. Gilman practiced for one year in Wisconsin and then went to Hermansford, Nebraska. In this place she remained three years and had a most satisfactory practice. It was while in Ne- braska that Miss Gilman became Mrs. Roberts. James W. Roberts was born in Chadron, Nebraska, and mar- ried to Miss Gilman there on November 19, 1891. They removed to Great Falls in 1894, and here Mr. Roberts has been engaged in the insurance business. Dr. Roberts' large practice bears witness that Montana has no prejudice against women in professions-when they are successful at all events. No woman physician in the state has a higher standing than has Great Falls' one representative of women in the field of medicine.

Dr. Roberts belongs to the State, the American and the National Medical Associations. In addition to her work in her profession, Dr. Roberts takes quite an active part in lodge councils. She is a member of the Eastern Star, of the Rebeccas, the Ladies of the Macca- bees and of the Women of Woodcraft.

Dr. Roberts has considerable property of value in the city, notably the beautiful home on First avenue, North. By wise investments, she has put her financial affairs on a firm basis. Her only child, Llewellyn F. Roberts, was born in Great Falls on March 7, 1896, and is now attending high school.

As has been said, Dr. Roberts' paternal ancestors were of old New England stock, and in the affairs of New Hampshire, Samuel Gilman, the grandfather of Dr. Roberts, took a prominent part. His wife, Nancy, too was a person of strong character and well known dur- ing her lifetime.

HENRY HAGEN. Prominent among those whose activ- ities have benefited the city of his adoption stands Henry Hagen of Fort Benton, where for a number of years he has been engaged in building and contracting. It may be said not inappropriately that he was born to the business, the male members of the family having been engaged to a large extent in this line for something over three hundred years, and he also comes of a long line of freedom-loving Germans, his grandfather, Hart- wig Hagen, having been exiled from the Fatherland in 1882 on account of his Socialistic tendencies and speeches. He was a contractor by occupation, and died in 1896, at the age of seventy-nine years, while his wife passed away in Germany in 1882, aged sixty- three years. Jorgan Hagen, father of Henry, was born in Germany, followed the trade of contractor in Hol- stein all of his life, was an officer in the German army during the Franco-Prussian war, and died in 1893, at the age of fifty-two years. He married Maria Spreckel- son, also a native of Germany, who was forty years of age at the time of her death, in 1875.

Henry Hagen attended the public schools of Ger- many until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he began to learn the carpenter trade with his father. He also had a three-years course in a mechanical school in Germany. After following the carpenter's trade for three years in Germany, in 1894 he came to the United States, settling first at Big Sandy, Mon- tana. At first he engaged as sheep herder in the employ of C. H. Heavers and subsequently for John Feldt, but in 1896 returned to the carpenter business, which he has followed at Fort Benton ever since. He has erected

some of the finest buildings in the city, among which may be mentioned the Chouteau House, and the list of valuable dwellings he has built is a formidable one. He owns a comfortable home of modern architecture in Fort Benton, is well and favorably known in social circles, and his family has many friends in this section. Mr. Hagen is especially fond of all out-door sports, and has some local reputation as a hunter and fisherman. Like many of the successful business men of Fort Benton, he owns a well-kept ranch in Chouteau county. In political matters Mr. Hagen has followed the ex- ample of his forefathers by his adherence to the So- cialist party. He belongs to no particular church, but has contributed to movements of the various denomina- tions. He has taken a prominent part in fraternal work, being chief patriot of the Odd Fellows and treasurer of the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America.

On August 1, 1897, Mr. Hagen was married at Fort Benton, to Miss Johanna Sommer, daughter of John Sommer, of Germany, and they have had two children: Rosie, born February 17, 1899; and Anna, born in 1903, bright, interesting young ladies who are attending the Fort Benton schools.

GEORGE M. WOODS. A leading citizen of Cascade county, with whose stock raising and ranching inter- ests he was closely identified for a long period of years, is George M. Woods, of Cascade, now serving capably in the office of justice of the peace. Mr. Woods is a man of intelligence and learning, his early training having been for a profession, but circum- stances over which he had no control caused him to abandon his early vocation and devote himself to the same occupation that had been followed by his father, and his success in that field demonstrated the fact that he would have probably achieved a high position in any of the various walks of life to which he had given his attention. He has been a resident of Montana since pioneer days, and wherever he has resided has had the full confidence and esteem of his fellow- citizens. Judge Woods was born in Lafayette county, Missouri, December 25, 1854, and is a son of Patrick and Elizabeth (Terrille) Woods.

The Woods family is an old-established one in the South, Patrick Woods, the great-grandfather of George M., coming to this country from England and settling in Kentucky, where he acted as royal surveyor for King George III. The father of Judge Woods was born in Missouri and his wife was also a native of that state, she likewise belonging to an old and hon- ored family. Her maternal great-grandfather Humes was among the first settlers of that state. Mrs. Woods died in 1859, at the age of thirty-four years, and not long thereafter her husband with the eight children joined a party of eighty persons that were traveling overland from St. Joseph, Missouri, by ox-team to Montana, the destination being Virginia City. The trip, which was attended by considerable hardships, took four months and four days. On their arrival in camp in Virginia City, provisions were very scarce and they were compelled to pay $100 per sack for flour, and when the provisions finally arrived, other trains also came in and flour dropped to $25 per sack. On settling in the Prickly Pear valley, some few miles from the city of Helena, Patrick Woods decided to plant several acres in potatoes, but was obliged to pay $800 for a two-horse wagon-load of tubers. which were very scarce at the time. He eventually found a way of saving his money, however, as he and his children cut the eyes from the potatoes for planting and the bulk were sold to the settlers for table use at the rate of seventy-five cents per pound. The land thus taken up was secured under a government grant, and was the first to be broken by the plow in that sec- tion. Patrick Woods was a man of retiring disposi- tion and never sought nor cared for public office. However, he was a man of high ideals and fearless

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in supporting what he considered justice, being a mem- ber of the Vigilantes and a stanch adherent of law and order. His death occurred February 27, 1904, when he was eighty-four years of age, at which time his community lost one of its best and most public- spirited citizens.

The next to the youngest of his parents' children, George M. Woods was educated in the public schools of Helena, which he attended until he was twenty- two years of age. His early life was spent on the home ranch, but it was his ambition to follow a pro- fessional career, and accordingly he entered the law offices of Nolfolk & Bullard, the leading legal firm of Helena at that time. He read and studied law for about three years, but when he was about ready to begin practice became afflicted with an impediment in his speech, which necessitated his seeking another vocation. For four years he was connected with the United States Government mail service, and in 1894 removed to Cascade county, settling in township 17, range 2 West, where he engaged in farming, gardening and stock raising, in which he met with well-merited success. In 1910 he sold his ranch and moved to Cas- cade, having been elected to the office of justice of the peace during the preceding fall. Efficient and wise administration of affairs has caused his election each succeeding year, and at present he maintains the high dignity of his office, causing universal satisfaction among the people of his district. In political matters, Mr. Woods is a Democrat, and he has always taken an active interest in all public matters, especially those that effect the welfare of his adopted community. During the past quarter of a century he has interested himself in Oddfellowship, and at present belongs to Helena Lodge No. I, in which he is very popular. He is a member and trustee of the Christian church.

Judge Woods was married, September 21, 1901, at Great Falls, Montana, to Miss Annie V. Wright, a native of Missouri. They have no children.

ELMER L. VINEYARD, representative of the state of Montana of the Aultman & Taylor Machinery Com- pany, of Mansfield, Ohio, dealers in all kinds of farm- ing machinery, has illustrated in his career what may be accomplished by the man of industry, perseverance and energy, even though in his youth he does not have the advantages of wealth and influence. Reared to the life of an agriculturist, he early decided that the mercantile field offered better opportunities for his abilities, and, depending on his own resources, started ont to gain success in business and prominence in his chosen field. That he has succeeded in accomplish- ing his purpose will be cheerfully testified to by his numerous friends and business acquaintances in Great Falls. Mr. Vineyard was born in Jefferson county, Missouri, December 25, 1876, and is a son of Stephen and Sarah (McDonald) Vineyard.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 72

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