A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 79

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

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Besides his law interests Mr. Verge is also identified with the Golden Rock Creamery and is its treasurer. Politically he is a Democrat and is an active worker in behalf of his party. His fraternal associations are with Lodge No. 204 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Great Falls and he keeps in touch with college life and college associates as a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity. He is a member and a vestryman in the Episcopal church at Choteau.

CHRISTOPHER C. JEFFREY is the son of Robert Jeffrey who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and grew to young manhood in his native land. Before leaving home in search of larger opportunities he was united in mar- riage to Mary Carruthers, a bonnie Scotch lass who feared not the unknown dangers of the new world. To- gether they came to America. Together they came to the United States but soon decided that they might feel more at home if still on English soil, so they shortly moved to Canada where they remained British subjects to the end of their lives. In Canada they purchased them a small farm where they passed the remainder of their days in comparative comfort. Mr. Jeffrey cared for his farm in person almost until the last. He passed away in 1892 at the good old age of seventy-six. His wife, although the mother of ten children, outlived her husband by almost thirteen years. In 1905 she was laid to rest at his side. A long deserved rest was hiers. She had endured hardship and privation smilingly and reared her ten children in wholesome fear of her Scotch Presbyterian God. For eighty years was she spared to lahor for her family on this earth. Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey, with their native caution, progressed slowly, but every step of their lives was toward progress.

Of their ten sturdy offsprings-and where can there be found better stock for the building of a new land- of these children Christopher C. Jeffrey was the second from the youngest. He was born in New York City shortly after the arrival of his parents from Scotland, the date of his birth being July the eighth, 1858. Scarcely was he a year of age, however, when his par- ents moved to Canada, their future home. Here their son lived upon the home farm until his twenty-first year, when, desiring to set out for himself, he went to Nebraska. When only thirteen years of age, his father, with the old world valuation of a good trade, had ap- prenticed him to a harness maker so that he did not start out in life altogether empty handed. Through his four years' apprenticeship at Mount Forest, Canada, he had received for his labors the total sum of $160. This to a youth of American parents would have seemed ridiculously small, but an American young man, on the other hand, would probably have started out with neither the good trade to depend upon nor the $160 of his own earnings to carry him to his journey's end. For nearly fifteen years Mr. Jeffrey labored at his trade in Nebraska. In 1895, having accumulated a compe- tence, he left Nebraska for Lewistown, Montana. Here he opened up a large harness and saddlery house and has carried on a flourishing business ever since.

Before leaving Nebraska he chose for his life com- panion Miss Hattie Cheney, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Cheney, of Princeton, Nebraska. They were joined in marriage at that place on the eighth day of November, 1891.

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey are now the parents of two' Vol. III-17

grown children. Bert Jeffrey, the son, is with his father in business. He still makes his home with his parents. His sister, Gladys Jeffrey Lefler, is the wife of Mr. Arthur Lefler, who conducts a pool hall with a cigar business attached.

Mr. Christopher Jeffrey has been able to devote few years of his life to the obtaining of book knowledge, but with the shrewdness and determination inherited from his old Scotch father, he has won for himself a kind of education that schooling often fails to give. The Presbyterian teachings of his parents canse him to still lean toward that denomination. In this preference Mrs. Jeffrey joins him. Both of them are most devoted to Lewistown and Montana, believing that they are excelled by no sister town or state.

Mr. Jeffrey is a member of the Red Men lodge and most active in his service to the Yoemen, having filled nearly every office it was in their power to confer upon him. Politically he votes the Democratic ticket, al- though he feels no personal interest in politics. He is a great reader and keeps well informed on the questions 'of the day, however. His infrequent vacations are spent in the open, fishing being his favorite sport. His spare evenings are given over to the theater or to some mu- sical entertainment, both he and Mrs. Jeffrey very much enjoying these diversions and being quite musical them- selves. Montana has brought them prosperity and they, in return, give to her a loyalty that can not be ex- ceeded by her native sons and daughters.

JAMES E. HEALY, one of the leading lawyers of Butte, was born at Silver City, Lyon county, Nevada, on July 12, 1871. His father, John G. Healy and his mother, Margaret, were horn in Ireland.

James E. Healy began his education in the public schools of Gold Hill, Nevada, and completed it at high school in San Francisco, from which he was graduated in 1887. Immediately after leaving high school he be- gan the study of law in the office of Henry E. Highiton, then one of the leading lawyers of the California metrop- olis. He also studied in the same city in the office of B. C. Whitman, a former justice of the supreme court of Nevada, and that of Mitchell & Ricketts there. But all his studies were conducted under the direction and tutelage of Judge Whitman, who was a warm per- sonal friend of his father and took a special interest in the young man. He was admitted to the bar in Butte in 1895 and began his practice in that city where he has ever since carried it on.

His practice grew rapidly to large proportions and became remunerative within a short time. It was general in character for a time, and is so yet in a measure. But of late years he has specialized con- siderably in negligence and injury cases, and has been very generally successful. He was county attorney of Silver Bow county in 1905 and 1906, and has a very successful record as such. He was one of the suc- cessful counsel in Terry A. John versus the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, the question at issue being the right of the railroad company to issue free passes over its lines in the face of a state constitution prohib- iting such action. In this case Mr. Healy was associ- ated with Jesse B. Roote, who wrote all the briefs him- self. The case resulted in a judgment against the rail- road company for the sum of $25,000.

In his political faith and activity Mr. Healy is a Democrat. During the anti-trust campaigns of a few years ago he was very active in the service of his party in every contest, but of late he has not taken an active part in political contests of any kind. Frater- nally he is a zealous member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks on a roster of Butte Lodge No. 240 in the fraternity, also a member of the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles, Hive No. II. He is married and lives with his sister Mary, at 731 West Quartz

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street. His law office is in Room No. 21, Silver Bow block.

Mr. Healy is essentially a self-educated and a self- made man. His success in his undertakings, his progress in his profession, are the direct results of his own ability and diligent attention to business.

FRANK W. LINGQUIST. Beginning life's activities as a messenger boy, from which he graduated as a tele- graph operator, Frank W. Lingquist has advanced step by step until he is today prominently connected with several of the best known enterprises in the state of Montana. The Pioneer Realty Company holds the principal interests of Mr. Lingquist, and he has been the sole owner of that extensive business since 1909, when Mr. Richard Lockey, whose life sketch appears elsewhere in this historical work, retired from the firm. The other concerns with which Mr. Lingquist is actively interested are of a varied character, but all are doubly fortunate in having attracted the attention of a man of his splendid ability and unusual farsight-, edness.

Frank W. Lingquist was born in Logansport, Indiana, on February 22, 1874. He is the son of Peter and Catherine (Lingquist) Lingquist, both natives of Swe- den, where they were married before emigrating to America. They settled at Logansport, Indiana, where the father carried on a contracting and building business since the early sixties, and they still live in the house in which their son, Frank W., was born. Three other children were born to them, Elmer H., a tele- graph operator of Indianapolis, Indiana, and two daugh- ters, who died in infancy. The boy, Frank, attended school until he reached the age of thirteen, when he secured work as a messenger boy ; he studied telegraphy in his spare moments and in a comparatively short time was able to take a position as an operator. His first position was with the Pan Handle Railroad, and later he was with the Union Pacific, Rock Island and Oregon Short Line, after having severed his connection with the Postal Telegraph and Western Union Companies, and the Chicago Board of Trade, and he was four years in the employ of the railroad lines mentioned above, serving in all parts of the country, from Chicago to the Pacific coast. He came to Helena, Montana, on May 30, 1895, for the Northern Pacific, remaining with them a little more than a year, when he accepted a position with the Western Union Telegraph Company. He then located and by purchase became the owner of a stock ranch along the Missouri river for eight miles, at the famous Ox Bow Bend, where the great dam is now under construction near Wolf creek, and a large hay ranch in the Prickly Pear valley below Helena.

The Pioneer Realty Company, of which Mr. Lingquist is the head, does a general brokerage business, with special reference to loans on any substantial securities, and gives attention to the sale and rental of farming and city property. In addition they conduct a thor- oughly reliable and modern bonding, livestock, fire and automobile insurance department, with resident inspectors and adjusters. While the firm specializes in live stock and ranch investments, they have built many homes which they have sold on the monthly pay- ment plan. The firm was incorporated and organized by Richard Lockey and Frank W. Lingquist. In 1909 Mr. Lockey withdrew his interest from the business and since that time Mr. Lingquist has been the sole owner and proprietor of the concern, which has con- tinued to thrive and flourish. The offices of the firm were moved from the Lockey building to more modern and up-to-date quarters in the Penwell block, at 36 west Sixth avenue where the business as continued now by Mr. Lingquist, is in high favor with the public, and the reputation of the head of the firm for unlim- ited integrity and honorable dealings under any and all circumstances is so well established that further words

on that score are entirely superfluous. Mr. Lingquist is also a stock holder in the Conrad Trust & Savings Bank of Helena; a subscriber to the new Placer hotel at Helena and one of the donators to the new Montana Wesleyan University. He is president of the Pioneer Live Stock & Insurance Company, breeders and con- signees for the sale of high grade and thoroughbred stock, and is in correspondence with breeders from all parts of the United States, Canada, and Australia. The firm, whose headquarters are in Helena, Montana, also represent the Indiana & Ohio Live Stock Insur- ance Company, of Crawfordsville, Indiana, a firm which has the reputation of paying its claims promptly and with fewer disputes than any other similar organiza- tion in the country. It is the only company of its kind licensed to do business in the state of Montana, and is capitalized at $200,000, with assets of $475,000.

Mr. Lingquist is a Democrat and is always active in the political affairs of his county and state. He has participated in nearly every county convention of his party for the past seventeen years, but has never been an office seeker. He was once appointed by the county central committee to make the race for county com- missioner to fill out an unexpired term caused by the death of Moses Root, and against the presumably strongest man in the party. He carried the city and a majority of the outlying precincts, but lost the elec- tion by a small majority. The Helena papers, follow- ing his nomination, spoke of him in the most emphatic and complimentary terms, and two short articles appearing in representative papers at the time are here reproduced, as bearing directly upon the standing and reputation of the man in Helena and vicinity. They appear as follows: "The selection of Frank W. Ling- quist as the second Democratic candidate for county commissioner by the committee last night was one that should meet the approval of every voter in the county. Mr. Lingquist is an active business man and one who has accomplished a great deal for one of his years .. He is an upbuilder and one who believes in doing things and doing them well. He is the kind of man that will make a good county commissioner. Mr. Lingquist is a large property owner in the county and is therefore a big taxpayer. He knows the value of good roads to the farming industry of the county, fully under- standing the necessity and importance of road improve- ments. He has already demonstrated what good road building means, having constructed as supervisor, some good county roads, and partly at his own expense." Another Helena paper spoke thus of him: "Among the live, progressive, self made men of Helena, Frank W. Lingquist stands without a peer. Having nothing to start with except his own initiative and native talent, Mr. Lingquist has arisen from the position of tele- graph operator to one of the recognized forces of this community. He was born in Logansport, Indiana, thirty-eight years ago, and was educated in the common .schools. He began at the very bottom and has made his way from messenger boy, step by step, until he is today the chosen representative of the Democracy for the highly responsible position of commissioner. In 1896 he located the Ox Bow Bend ranch on the Mis- souri river and later on purchased the William Reed ranch in the Prickly Pear valley and engaged actively in ranching. This property he sold to the Missouri River Power Company and secured in part payment five thousand acres of meadow land where he kept a large number of cattle and was known as the 'Hay King,' on account of the great amount of hay he har- vested. Then he established the Pioneer Realty Com- pany of this city of which he is the principal power and which he has successfully conducted from the start. He is also engaged in the live stock commission busi- ness. While living in the Prickly Pear Valley Mr. Lingquist was road supervisor of the district, and gained much practical knowledge of public roads."

Galen D. Po

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Mr. Lingquist is a man who is prominent in social and fraternal circles, some of his fraternal affiliations being with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, a life member of Lodge No. 193 of Helena, and the Masons, in which he is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Blue Lodge No. 3, of Helena.

On July 6, 1898, Mr. Lingquist was married to Miss Marguerite Birch, the daughter of Mrs. Marie Birch, a native of Denmark, and born in Copenhagen. One daughter has been born of their union, Eunice Helena, born at Helena, Montana, on September 8, 1905. The home of the family is maintained at HIO' South Beattie street.

GALEN D. PUE. The city of Butte, Montana, offers a field for commercial enterprises not surpassed in any other part of the country, and her business men are energetic and progressive to a high degree, conducting their operations in the most modern and up-to-date manner. Every department of trade has its high-class representative and in the coal and fuel line Galen D. Pue is a conspicuous factor. Mr. Pue's career has been of varied character and of such nature as to fit him for the conduct of important transactions and the manage- ment of an enterprise requiring executive ability and business acumen of a high order.

Mr. Pue began his independent business career at an early age, and was only nineteen when he made his first venture in the field of trade, for three years conducting his own butcher shop at Denver, Colorado, with suc- cess and profit. His mother died when he was a small boy, and after his father's second marriage he ran away from home when thirteen years old. He went to school for several years in San Antonio, Texas, at which place he was born in October 16, 1874, the son of a prominent stock raiser and ranchman. The father, Samuel B. Pue, was a native of Maryland, where his birth occurred, July 14, 1836; he married Lucy Cooper, of Kentucky nativity, who was born June 30, 1843, and died May 28, 1881. The elder Pue was a veteran of the Civil war, a man of strong character, and lived to a good old age, the year of his demise being 1910.

Mr. Pue studied engineering for a time when a boy and also learned the butcher's trade in Denver, to which city he first went when sixteen years old. After dispos- ing of his meat market in that city, he went to Butte, his original intention being to open up a market there. Investigation showed conditions to be unfavorable for the success of such an enterprise at that time, however, and he accordingly turned his attention to other pur- suits.

The Amalgamated Copper Mining Company was at that time looking for a man of ability to take charge of its lumber yards at this point, and Mr. Pne secured the position and worked for the firm seven years, a portion of the period in its engineering department. His ambition extended beyond that of being an employee of others, however, and resigning his position with that concern he organized the South Butte Coal Company, and in the fall of 1904 began business as a wholesale and retail coal dealer, he being sole proprietor of the enterprise. His judgment in entering this business proved to be exceedingly good, for his trade has con- stantly increased until at the present time he handles an average of forty tons of coal a day, and besides the yard at No. 215 South Arizona street, operates another at No. 526 Madison street, at both places catering to a growing clientele.

Mr. Pue is the owner of a half interest in a promis- ing coal mining property near Havre, Montana, and has growing financial interests in other lines, he being a careful and judicious investor of his surplus funds. He owns a ranch near Worden, Yellowstone county, which he operates in connection with his other business in- terests. He takes an active interest in public affairs in the city and is an influential worker in the ranks of the

Republican party. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias order.

The marriage of Mr. Pue to Miss Agatha Richards occurred February 23, 1903. She is a daughter of Joseph Richards, who came to this country from Eng- land with his family when the daughter was a small child, and settled at Butte many years ago when the country was first opening up. Mr. and Mrs. Pue have two charming children-George D., born here Septem- ber 16, 1905, and Florence, whose birth occurred in Butte, March 15, 1908. The family residence is at No. 909 Maryland Avenue.

WALLACE NORTH TANNER. The greatest industrial organization of its kind in the world, the A. C. M. Company, has many of its ablest technical and execu- tive officials in Montana, and among them is the present superintendent of the foundry department at Anaconda. Wallace North Tanner has been identified more or less continuously with this company for the past fifteen years, and when, in September, 1909, the foundry depart- ment needed as its superintendent a man of expert knowledge and technical equipment the company did not hesitate in selecting a man whose worth had been proved by varied service in other capacities.

Mr. Tanner is a native of Minneapolis, where he was born on the 19th of August, 1873, and with the class of 1896 was graduated from the engineering department of the University of Minnesota. He belongs to that class of young and successful men who prepared for their careers in the modern technical schools and by experi- ence and accomplishment have proved their value over the old-time practical men who until a few years ago were everywhere in control of the industries of this country.

In the same year as his graduation he entered the drafting department of the Boston and Montana Com- pany at Great Falls, Montana, where he continued about one year, and in May, 1897, was employed in similar ca- pacity by the Boston and Montana Company at Butte. In April, 1899, he was transferred to the foundry at Anaconda. In October of the same year he was en- gaged in engineering work at Basin, but in the follow- ing month returned to the A. C. M. Company at Butte. In 1902 occurred his advancement to chief draftsman of the A. C. M. smelter at Anaconda, a position which he filled until 1904. In May of that year he transferred his residence to Chicago, where he entered the engineer- ing department of the Allis-Chalmers Company, and was there for two years. In May, 1906, Mr. Tanner established an office as consulting engineer at Salt Lake City, but in May, 1908, engaged in the concrete con- struction business. Then in September, 1909, he was selected on his previous record and known ability as superintendent of the foundry department at Anaconda for the greatest smelting and refining company in the world. This position requires the supervision of the technical knowledge .. All the castings and machinery parts are made under his direction. Mr. Tanner began his career after leaving the university without any capital or outside assistance, and by merit in each grade of service has advanced to large responsibilities. He now has considerable investments of his own in various enterprises.

In politics Mr. Tanner is a Republican, and has usu- ally been a delegate to the state and county conventions of his party. He is a member of the Montana Society of Engineers, of the Anaconda Club, and is esteemed leading knight of the Elks.

He was married in June, 1900, to Miss Lilly L. Boh- land, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. They are the parents of four children, Wallace B., Harry L., Beatrice M. and Norman W. Outside of his business and the pleasures of his home and family, Mr. Tanner finds his greatest diversion in hunting and fishing, being especially fond of duck hunting.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Mr. Tanner was one of seven children born to W. L. and Helen C. (Finch) Tanner, his brothers and sisters being named as follows: Alice, the wife of William Wilson, of Minneapolis; William R., of Berkeley, Cali- fornia; Helen C., the wife of Fred Barnard, of Ender- line, North Dakota; Ruth, who lives with her parents; Harry L., who died at New York City in 1899, having four years before graduated in electrical engineering ; and Mabel, who died in infancy. W. L. Tanner, the father, who was born in New Haven, Connecticut, was a member of the First Connecticut Cavalry during the Civil war, was captured at the battle of the Wilderness and remained a prisoner four months in the Salisbury prison. For the past forty-four years he has been a prominent painting and decorating contractor at Minne- apolis. The mother was born in New York state.

ELMER WILLIAM TRAINER, physician at Whitehall, Montana, was born in Eureka, Nevada, on May 4, 1881, the son of Thomas and Mary ( Purcell) Trainer. Thomas Trainer was born in Northern Scotland, and at the age of seventeen he came to America, locating at Virginia City, Montana, where he was connected with the Comstock mine. Thence he went to Eureka, Nevada, remaining there until 1896, when he moved to Butte, in which city he has since resided. Mr. Trainer was one of the early comers to Eureka and he had a large part in all its enterprises. With a genius for executive work and unusual business foresight, he inevitably became a leader in commercial circles. He owned the iron foundry, the machine shops and also a livery business, in addition to which he had large holdings in ranch property, being the possessor of the noted Duckwater ranch and the Antelope Valley ranch in the vicinity of Eureka. Mr. Trainer served as sheriff and as deputy United States marshal and in those early days neither post was a sinecure. It re- quired cool nerve and a fearless spirit to discharge those duties, for the country contained a large propor- tion of lawless characters who are always to be found in new settlements, and there was also the constant menace of Indian attack. More than once Mr. Trainer has exchanged shots with Nevada desperadoes, and though a target for many a would-be-deadly bullet, he escaped unharmed. When Nevada's resources began to fail, Mr. Trainer disposed of his interests there and came to Montana. He is now connected with the Amal- gamated Copper Company at Butte. The marriage of Mr. Trainer occurred in Ruby Hill, Nevada, in 1879, when Miss Mary Purcell became his wife. She is a native of California, and a daughter of Michael and Mary Purcell, of Grass Valley, that state. Two chil- dren were born to their union, Elmer W. of this review and Dollie M., a teacher in the Butte public schools.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 79

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