A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 78

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

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In politics Mr. Dwyer accords a stanch allegiance to the Democratic party and he has been a valued worker in its ranks as well as an admirable exponent of its principles and policies. He is a communicant of the Catholic church, as is also Mrs. Dwyer, and is affili- ated with the local organizations of the Knights of Columbus, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the An- cient Order of Hibernians, in which last mentioned he was president of the Butte lodge in 1909-10. He is also identified with the University Club and the Robert Emmet Literary Society. Mr. Dwyer has shown dis- tinctive literary ability and is the author of a very appreciable number of stories and poems, many of which have been published in leading magazines and all of which show deep appreciation of the scheme of human life, a gentle spirit of idealism, a broad outlook and marked versatility and beauty of diction. He has recently written a short story entitled "A Miner's Ap- prenticeship : A Story of the Butte Mines," and the same gives an effective exposition of his own experiences while he was thus employed.

In the city of Butte, on the 6th of July, 1908, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dwyer to Miss Grace Gordon, daughter of William Gordon, a well-known citizen of O'Neill, Nebraska. Mr. Gordon comes of staunch Puritan stock and is a native of the city of Providence, Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer became the parents of two children, John Robert, who was born August 4, 1909, and who died four days later, and Mary, who was born on the 12th of January, 1911, and whose winsome presence adds to the attractions of the pleasant home.

CHARLES J. KELLY. President and manager of the Hennessy Mercantile Company of Butte, as well as

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president of the Daly Bank Trust Company of that city, Charles J. Kelly is one of the foremost men in the financial, commercial and industrial life not only of Montana, but of the great Northwest. Although a man of but middle age, Mr. Kelly has long since established himself among that class of shrewd, cap- able and aggressive business men whose presence in any community is always an important factor in its progress and development.

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Mr. Kelly was born on the 7th of September, 1868. Charles J. Kelly re- ceived his education principally at St. Mary's parochial school in St. Paul, attending school until he was about fifteen years old. At this time being thrown upon his own resources to a large extent, he left school to become a wage earner. His first position was that of a page in the Minnesota state senate, and following the adjournment of that body, he secured a place as office boy in the office of James J. Hill, the well-known railway magnate. Mr. Hill took special notice of the lad who gave such quick, cheerful and courteous ser- vice to his employers at all times, and advanced him from time to time as the rapidly developing ability of Mr. Kelly warranted. Mr. Kelly remained in the employ of the railway, under Mr. Hill, for eleven and a half years. Desiring to make a change of location, he then severed his connections in St. Paul and in 1895 went to Anaconda, Montana, and for the subse- quent four years was employed on the clerical staff of the Copper City Commercial Company.

It was in 1899 that he became connected with the Hennessy Mercantile Company at Butte, at that time assuming the duties of secretary and treasurer of the company. With characteristic adaptability, Mr. Kelly soon fitted himself for the peculiar requirements of one in his position and soon began to take an active part in the affairs of the corporation. Mr. D. J. Hennessy, the founder of the business, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work, died in 1908, and Mr. Kelly was made president, a position that he has since held.

As the head of the largest mercantile establish- ment in the state, and one of the great department stores of the Northwest, Mr. Kelly's interests are ex- tensive and diversified. As the result of constant and intelligent industry, as well as judicious and careful investment, he has accumulated valuable property in- terests, while his recognized ability and business ach- men have been utilized in the directorates of several large corporations of which he is a member. In Jan- mary, 1912, he was elected president of the Daly Bank & Trust Company of Butte, one of the oldest and strongest financial institutions in the state.

Mr. Kelly is not only known as one of the foremost men in the commercial life of the city of Butte, but is equally well known throughout the state as a man of influence and power in the commercial life of the Northwest. He is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Silver Bow Club and the Country Club. The weight of his influence is always exerted on the side of growth and progress in all enterprises of public character and he enjoys the re- spect and esteem of a wide circle of friends and ac- quaintances in all walks of life.

The marriage of Mr. Kelly to Miss Mary Peters occurred at Anaconda, on the 14th of October, 1897. Mrs. Kelly is the daughter of Joseph Peters, and the family, which originally came from Boston, Massa- chusetts, was one of the first to settle at Anaconda thirty years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly are the parents of two children, both of whom were born in Butte. Charles Joseph, the eldest, was born on the 8th of December. 1901, and Mary Frances, was born on the 3rd of June, 1905.

FRANK W. HASKINS. Among the well-known law- yers of the state of Montana is Frank W. Haskins, who maintains his home and business headquarters at Butte. Throughout his career as an attorney and counsellor he has, by reason of unimpeachable conduct and close ob- servance of the unwritten code of professional ethics, gained the admiration and respect of his fellow members of the bar, in addition to which he commands a high place in the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. Mr. Haskins is referee in bankruptcy at Butte and he has figured in a number of important matters of liti- gations in the state and federal courts.

Frank W. Haskins was born at Woodstock, Illinois, in 1870, and he is a son of Orville and Emily ( Mantle) Haskins, both of whom died in the early seventies. The father was a native of Vermont and was a well- known hotel man at Pueblo and other Colorado towns about the time of his demise and the mother was born and reared in Birmingham, England. Orville Haskins was a Union soldier in the Civil war and took part in a number of important engagements marking the prog- ress of that struggle.

The youngest in order of birth in a family of three children, Frank W. Haskins received his early educa- tion in the public schools of Colorado, in which state the family home was established. In 1889 he was matriculated as a student in the University of Colorado, at Boulder. He was admitted to practice at the Colo- rado bar in 1893. Subsequently he was admitted to the Montana bar and he located in Butte during the year 1895. For three or four years John F. Davies was as- sociated with Mr. Haskins in the practice of law but since 1907 the latter has conducted an individual prac- tice. Since 1905 he has been referee in bankruptcy.

Mr. Haskins spent his earliest life as a cowboy, and on a ranch down in Colorado. In a fraternal way Mr. Haskins has passed through the circle of York Rite Masonry, being a valued member of the lodge, chapter, council and commandery. He is also a member of Bagdad Temple, of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in addition to which he is connected with the Woodmen of the World. In politics he gives an unswerving allegiance to the prin- ciples and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and in religious matters he attends and gives his support to the Protestant Episcopal church, of which his wife is a devout communicant. Mr. Haskins is fond of hunting and fishing and is a thorough- bred sportsman.

At Butte, in 1903, he was married to Mrs. Frances Dedrich. ,

GEORGE W. MERKLE. It is the purpose of this work to take account of those men who have been contributors to the progress and development of Montana, one of whom is George W. Merkle, of Belt, for sixteen years one of the most trusted employes of the Anaconda Coal Mining Company and well known in that section for his interest and energy in pushing the development of his city. Not by luck or the assistance of capital or in- fluential friends, but by pluck and the exercise of those traits of character which have inspired confidence in his ability and integrity has he waged his battle for success and proved victorious. He furthermore has the distinction of being a native westerner. born in Virginia City, Nevada, on the 21st of February, 1875, and reared amid the environment of western energy and genius. Thomas Merkle, his father, a Kentuckian by birth and born in 1842 of German descent, in the early '6os came to Nevada, where he followed butcher- ing for a number of years. He is now a retired resi- dent of Butte and has mining interests in the vicinity of Missoula, Montana. During his residence in Vir- ginia City, Nevada, he was for many years chief of the volunteer fire department there. In Virginia City he met and married Mary Ann Dempsey, a native of

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Ireland who had come to America and settled in Vir- ginia City in early girlhood. Thomas and Mary Ann (Dempsey) Merkle became the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom George was the fifth in order of birth and is one of eight now living (1912).

He was educated in the schools of Virginia City, Nevada, and at Butte Business College to the age of eighteen, when he took up the study of law in the office of Judge F. P. Langan, now district judge of Storey county, Nevada. He was compelled to abandon his studies after a year, however, and in the fall of 1895 began work as a miner in Butte, Montana. Thus four- teen months were spent; then he became timekeeper for the Anaconda Coal Mining Company and after serv- ing six months in that capacity was transferred to Belt as assistant bookkeeper. His ability and fidelity to the company's interests won another promotion on February I, 1904, when he was made head bookkeeper and cashier tor that company, in whose continuous service he has now remained sixteen years.

Since his residence in Belt he has been one of the most enthusiastic and energetic workers in behalf of the city's progress. He was one of the organizers of the Commercial Club, of which he is president, and he also organized the Belt Amusement Association. In fact any movement that has for its purpose the material advancement and the welfare of Belt receives his hearty support. He is a Democrat in politics and an active worker in his party's behalf but has himself always declined political honors. In fraternal affiliations he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Ancient Order of Hibernians of America, and of the Knights of Columbus. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. While a resident of Virginia City, Nevada, he served as a member of the Emmett Guard of the Nevada state militia.

On June 17, 1902, at Belt, Montana, was celebrated his marriage to Miss Catherine Mary Murphy and to their union has been born one daughter, Catherine Mary Merkle, born May 17, 1903.

CARL B. SNYDER, postmaster and a prominent mer- chant and druggist at Stockett, is one of a large num- ber of young men of sterling worth who came from the middle west to Montana when it was an infant state allured by the possibilities of citizenship and busi- ness opportunities. Those of staying qualities, energetic and industrious, and not afraid to grapple with for- tune, have with very few exceptions, been rewarded with a due measure of success.

Carl B. Snyder was born at Madison, Wisconsin, Feb- ruary 17, 1868, and attended the public schools of that city until he had completed the work in the eighth grade. What knowledge he gained from books there- after he gained by lamplight, ofttimes burning midnight oil in his efforts to secure a better education. He re- ceived his first position with the Hollisters' Pharmacy of Madison, Wisconsin while still a boy and remained with that firm until he had learned the profession of pharmacy. From Madison he went to Racine, Wis- consin, where for three years and a half he was in the employ of W. R. Kirkby, a leading druggist of that city. Then branching out for himself he opened up a drug store in Evansville, Wisconsin, but within a year lost everything he had. It was then that he decided to come to Montana and begin anew. On March 5, 1895, he entered the employ of the Driver Bradley Drug Company at Great Falls, there having charge of the retail department of their business. He soon won recognition for his efficiency and to his charge was entrusted the business of a branch house at Stockett. The firm went out of business in 1899 while Mr. Snyder was at Stockett and he thereupon bought their interest at that point. From this small beginning he has grad- ually branched out making many additions to his business until it has become well equipped in every de-

partment and he has become one of the leading drug- gists in the northwestern part of the state. His is the only drug store in Stockett. Mr. Snyder is also man- ager of the central station of the Rocky Mountain Bell Telephone Company at Stockett and to his other duties are now added those of postmaster of Stockett, to which position he was appointed on February 16, 1912.

Mr. Snyder is of German descent. Cari B. Snyder, his father, was born in Germany and while still a youth emigrated to America with his parents who settled in Wisconsin and were numbered among the early pioneers of that state. He died there in 1868 when thirty-three years of age. The mother of our subject was Miss Emily Blass prior to her marriage. She was born in New York City but became a resident of Wisconsin at the age of twenty and there was married to Carl B. Snyder. She is still living, being now seventy-four years of age, and is numbered among the very early pioneers of Madison, of which city she has now been a continuous resident fifty-four years.

At Stockett, Montana, in 1900, Mr. Snyder married Miss Elizabeth Hetherington, a daughter of John Heth- erington, who is a well-known resident of Stockett and has there served as a justice of the peace for some time. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are Louise, born in August, 1901, at Stockett, who is now attending school there; Carl J., born in May, 1906, who also is in school; and Stanley, born July 31, 1909.

Mr. Snyder is prominently affiliated with the Masonic order as a member of the Knights Templars and the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member and a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and a member of the Pythian Sis- ters. In political views he is a Republican and at the present time represents his party as district com- mitteeman at Stockett. His church associations are by membership in the Methodist Congregational denomi- nation. He has been successful in his business ven- tures in Montana and besides his property at Stockett is the owner of a fruit farm at Spokane, Washington. He is fond of out door sports and indulges in them when time from business will permit. He is social, en- ergetic and well known in his section of the state, where he is highly esteemed by his fellow citizens as a man of honor and usefulness.

E. FRANK SAYRE. In the performance of his official duties in the capacity of county auditor, E. Frank Sayre, of Fort Benton, has shown himself to be a thoroughly efficient and conscientious official, while in the field of business he has gained prestige by the ap- plication of methods of fair dealing and integrity. Chouteau county is fortunate in that it possesses so many men of public spirit to fill its offices, and among these Mr. Sayre has been prominent since 1895. He was born in New Jersey, July 10, 1857, and is a son of William and Amelia (Fitch) Sayre, the former of whom spent his life in his native New Jersey, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits and died in 1892, at the age of eighty years. Mrs. Sayre was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in 1878 in New Jersey, when sixty-three years old.

E. Frank Sayre was the seventh child born to his parents, and secured his education in the public schools of New Jersey. He first came to Montana as a youth, but subsequently went to St. Paul, Minnesota, to com- plete his studies, then returning to Montana to accept a position on a sheep ranch in Chouteau county. Con- tinuing in that business until January 1, 1895, Mr. Sayre then came to Fort Benton, where he was elected clerk and recorder of Chouteau county, and filled that office for ten years, being elected for five consecutive terms. In 1905 he entered the abstract business, with which he was connected until 1910, and in that year was elected auditor, a position which he held till

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January I, 1913. As an able and faithful official he vindicated the faith of the voters of this section, and gave the county a businesslike administration, bringing to his duties the same careful, conscientious regard for detail that has characterized his business dealings. Mr. Sayre has opened an abstract of title office on Franklin street, opposite the court house, where he has a com- plete set of abstract books. He has made a specialty of the abstract business for eight years. His political belief is that of the Republican party, in the ranks of which he is known as one of the most dependable and in- fluential workers in the county.

Mr. Sayre was married October 23, 1901, to Mrs. Ida R. Tirrell, of Chinook, Montana. They have numerous friends in Fort Benton, and their comfort- able home is a center of culture and social refinement.

DR. E. W. SPOTTSWOOD is one of the best known physicians of Missoula county. He was born in Min- nesota on the second day of January, 1866, the son of C. C. Spottswood, who came from Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, to Minnesota in 1856. The elder Mr. Spotts- wood was born in Pennsylvania and there took his legal training, coming to Minnesota that he might begin his practice of law in a new country. Hardly did he realize, until his arrival, how few people of his race and color inhabited this country where he had chosen to locate. The Indians who had been driven north from Iowa and Nebraska by the early settlers were making almost the last stand for their rights in Minnesota. The tribes were mostly branches of the Sioux nation, those powerful redmen, the remnant of whom stood forth against Custer some twenty years later.

In the early fifties, Bishop Whipple, that saintly and godfearing man of the church whose efforts brought peace to the settlers of the northwest for years at a time, was laboring as a missionary in their midst. Mr. Spottswood, on his arrival from the east, not only saw and appreciated the great work of the bishop but joined in his efforts and worked at his side-worked for the redemption and civilization of the real American.

As the country became more thickly settled his law practice flourished. Here, ten years after his arrival, his son was born. His wife, Nancy J. Lilly, a frail daughter of Lewiston, Pennsylvania, had come with him to the new land and like the Pilgrim mothers had borne, not only the hardships themselves but had borne with the pioneer fathers as well. Like many another woman, she labored and strove throughout the early years of deprivation, then when success became theirs, when the son grew to young manhood, and the road was smoother, she slipped into the other life. Her passing was in 1883, in the seventeenth year of her son's life.

Her husband had practiced his profession until the failure of his health shortly after the birth of his son. They then removed to a farm where, in a few years, his health so improved that he engaged in the hotel business in Wilmer, Minnesota. Here he remained un- til he retired from active life. During his last years he made his home in Minneapolis. On December 12, 1910, he died very suddenly while visiting relatives in North Dakota. He had been spared for eighty-seven years of useful life, having been born in November, 1823.

His son, after attending school in a number of Min- nesota towns, entered the Minnesota State University in Minneapolis and was graduated from the medical de- partment of that institution in the class of 1893. One year he spent as interne in the city and county hospital, St. Paul, and another was devoted to general practice in the same city.

At the instigation of the Northern Pacific Railway he removed to Missoula, Montana, on the twenty-eighth of May, 1895, and became assistant surgeon for the com- pany. On the retirement of Dr. J. J. Buckley, who

for a number of years had served as chief surgeon for the Northern Pacific, Dr. Spottswood was appointed to fill the latter position. In January, 1909, he withdrew his services to enter general practice, having been with the company as chief surgeon for almost six years. Since devoting himself to a broader practice, he has been of great service to the community and has established an enviable reputation in the profession. He is a mem- ber of the county, state and national medical associa- tions and was for years connected with the National Association of Railway Surgeons.

On the twenty-ninth of September, 1903, Miss Lenita Bonner became Mrs. E. W. Spottswood. Miss Bonner, now Mrs. Spottswood, is the daughter of E. L. Bonner, one of the pioneer citizens of Missoula, and one who has gained prominence for himself. His daughter was born in San Francisco, California, and came to Montana when very young, first residing at Deer Lodge, and later at Missoula, which is still her home.

Dr. and Mrs. Spottswood are the parents of two chil- dren, Lenita A. and Edward Bonner Spottswood. The son is so called in honor of his maternal grandfather.

The doctor, though feeling a deep interest in so- ciological subjects and the welfare of humanity about him, is not a strong partisan politically. He is, how- ever, active in civic affairs and lodge circles. He was one of the charter members of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in Montana and is a Mason, a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine.

WALTER L. VERGE is a young member of the legal profession who cast his fortunes with the state of Montana in 1895, and though his residence there covers but a few years he has demonstrated to its people that he is of them and with them in all that makes for progress and good and true citizenship. Well prepared in his educational qualifications and well fortified .in his personal traits of character, he has already proved a good lawyer and a good citizen and the beginning he has made presages for him a most successful future career.

Mr. Verge was born in Nova Scotia, January 24, 1880, and on the paternal side is descended from an old Virginia family of English lineage that was established on this side of the water prior to the Revolution. His mother's people, the Murrays, also are of English ex- traction and have most of them remained on British soil, in Canada and Nova Scotia. Levi H. Verge, the father of Walter L. and a native of Canada, was a shoe manufacturer and died on April 10, 1904, at the age of seventy-two years in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whither he had removed in 1882. His wife, Caroline Murray, was born in Canada and their marriage took place there. She now resides at Vancouver, British Colum- bia. Walter L. Verge is the youngest of their six children.

He graduated from the Minneapolis high school in 1896 and next entered the University of Minnesota, where he completed his studies in 1905 and was grad- uated with the degree of LL. B. In the fall of that same year he came to Great Falls, Montana, and for the practice of law formed a co-partnership with .Attorney General Donovan, the firm style being Dono- van & Verge. Mr. Verge continued his professional work there until May, 1909, when he removed to Cho- teau and became a partner of J. G. Bair, the present United States collector of customs at Great Falls. The firm of Bair & Verge is engaged in a general legal practice and enjoys a very satisfactory and representa- tive clientele. Between his high school and his college days Mr. Verge gathered a soldier's experience in the Spanish-American war as a member of Company A, First Montana Volunteers, his regiment having been sent to the Philippine Islands where he saw service in nineteen engagements and numerous skirmishes. He was mustered out with his regiment at San Francisco

b. b. Jefry

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

on October 17, 1899. He is now lieutenant-colonel of the Montana National Guards and is a member of the general staff commission decreed by Governor Norris on April 1, 19II.

At Superior, Wisconsin, on July 10, 1908, occurred the marriage of Mr. Verge and Miss Margaret Wal- lace, of Anniston, Alabama, whose parents, Samuel and Christine Wallace are residents of Anniston. A son Bruce, born to Mr. and Mrs. Verge on July 9, 19II, was spared to them but for a day.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 78

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