A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 81

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

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Mr. and Mrs. Baker are members of the Methodist church and Mrs. Baker is an active worker in church circles. Mr. Baker is a member of the Masonic order, both of the blue lodge and chapter, is a past-master of Evergreen Lodge of Lima, Montana, and a past high priest of Dillon Chapter, No. 8. He also belongs to the Elks and is a member of the Beaver and Social Club.

While residing in Idaho he was appointed by Gov- ernor McConnell as a member of the first board of county commissioners for Bannack county. He was alderman in Pocatella, Idaho, for two terms. He is very fond of driving and this is his chief recreation. Mr. Baker has made his own way by energy and ability.

His father was John S. Baker, who was born in Plattsburg, New York. After removing to the west he followed ranching. He died in Deadwood, South Dakota, in 1879, aged about fifty-six years. The mother was Mary Baker, who was born in Plattsburg, New York, and died in Kearney, Nebraska, in 1889, at about fifty-six years of age. The father and mother were married in Plattsburg, New York. There were six children in the family of the elder Baker, five girls and one boy, the subject of this sketch.

GEORGE F. BENNIGHOFF, familiarly known in Billings as "Uncle George," and one of the most popular men in the city, is one of the many German born citizens of the United States who have contributed so much to the growth and development of our country. He was born in Kleinniedesheim, Rheinpfalz. Germany, on the 7th day of April, 1851, and is the son of George and Annie Mary Bennighoff, both natives of the same province in which the subject was born.

George Bennighoff, the father of the subject, was a cabinet-maker, and he lived and died in his native land, there rearing a family of seven children, as follows: George, the first born, who died in Trenton, New Jersey, fifty-four years old; George F., of this review; John; Andrew ; Ferdinand, deceased; Julia and Wilhelm, also deceased. All the living children are in America with the exception of John.

George F. Bennighoff was educated in the schools of his native land, both by public and private instruction. He learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, the business of his father, and when he was seventeen years old he came to America. He remained in the east for two years, and in July, 1870, he shipped on board of a whal- ing vessel sailing out of the port of New Bedford, Mas- sachusetts, as ship's carpenter, and for three years sailed the Atlantic. In 1873 he went back to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and there engaged in house carpentering until 1875, in that year making a trip to California. He

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went via the Isthmus of Panama, and in San Francisco he worked in the Old Palace Hotel until the following year. Then he shipped on the training school ship of California, Jamestown, as ship's carpenter, until she went out of commission, February 28, 1879. In April of that year he went to Portland, Oregon, and thence to Walla Walla and Spokane. He left Spokane in July and went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where he engaged in carpenter work on the military post then under con- struction, until December Ist, at which time he returned to Germany, reaching his birthplace on January 17, 1880, this trip home having been brought about by litigation · following the death of his father. His stay in the Fatherland was brief, April 7, 1880, finding him on his way back to America, this time accompanied by his sister Julia. They arived in San Francisco in June, 1880, moving on to Portland, Oregon, soon thereafter, where Mr. Bennighoff engaged in the grocery business for a short time. He sold the business and removed to The Dalles, Oregon, where he took service with the O. R. & N. Railroad, building railroad cars. He left The Dalles in 1882 and went to Sprague, Washington terri- tory, there building a hotel for himself, and remained in the Commercial Hotel until the burning of the town in 1895. As everything looked blue, he sought other quarters, and came to Billings, Montana, purchasing the Grand Hotel in 1896, assumed charge of the same on the 6th of April, 1896, since which time he has been occupied in the hotel business.

His is a first class establishment in every respect, and with the exception of a four-year period, in which he leased the place, he has been the proprietor. In 1911 he resumed the management of the hotel again, which has always enjoyed a splendid patronage, catering as it does to the most substantial trade in the city.

Mr. Bennighoff is a Republican in his political sym- pathies, and has been an alderman for some eight or nine years. He has never married, but has devoted him- self to the care of his sister Julia, who came with him to America on his 1880 trip from Germany.

During the four years in which he leased the hotel, and withdrew from its cares, he took his sister and the daughter, Julia, of his brother Andrew, who is the ac- tive manager of the hotel, now, and made a trip around the world, and in 1910 he took his four nieces, the daughters of his brother Andrew, on a trip to Europe, one of the principal missions of their journey being to visit the home of their ancestors in Germany. He thus demonstrated his capacity to separate himself from the cares of business and enjoy life in his own way,-a feat which too many successful business men find them- selves utterly unable to perform in later life.

Mr. Bennighoff has proven himself to be, a man of singular ability in hostelry matters, as his experience in Billings amply evidences. When he assumed charge of the Grand Hotel it was in a run-down condition, and in bad shape generally. In an incredibly short time the place began to show signs of new blood and life in its management, and the status of the hotel increased with every passing week until it reached the first place in the ranks of the Billings hotels.

Its proprietor has won for himself many firm friends throughout the state during the years of his association with the Grand Hotel,-possessing as he does all the genial qualities of a model host, and the understanding nature which is an important essential in the make-up of the genuine hotel man.

JOHN GUSTAVE LINK. The men who succeed in any enterprise in life, the soldiers who win their spurs on the field of battle, thie financiers who amass wealth, -- are the men who have confidence in themselves and possess the courage of their convictions. There is a time in every man's life when he reaches the conclusion that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide, and that

though the world is full of good, no good thing can come to him without self-reliance and the power to gain results. The man who trusts himself and who plans well his part on the stage of life is a success. A strong and sterling character is like an anagram ;- read it forward or backward, it still spells the same thing. Since 1896 John C. Link has been engaged in business as an archi- tect in Butte, and since 1905 he has been associated in that line of enterprise with C. S. Haire, their firm being known as that of Link (J. G.) & Haire (C. S.). The main office is at Butte and branch offices are maintained at Helena, Miles City, Missoula, Billings, and Lewiston.

A native of Germany, John Gustave Link was born on the 13th of May, 1870, and is a son of Casper and Jose- phine (Weishaupt) Link, both of whom were likewise born in Germany, the former on the 30th of November, 1839, and the latter on the 27th of March 1848. The Link family immigrated to the United States in 1889 and the home was established at Denver, Colorado, where the father was engaged in the merchant-tailor business, and where he died in 1892. The mother still survives and her home is in Denver.

The first born in a family of three children, John G. Link was reared to the age of seventeen years in his native land, where he attended school to the age of seventeen years. He was a student in the Royal Academy at Lindau for six years and graduated in 1886, his instruction in architecture having been received under the careful guidance of Professors William Meyer and Joseph Goetzger. He immigrated to the United States in 1887 and settled in Denver, Colorado, where he was employed as architectural draughtsman for a period of six years (from 1887 to 1893). From Denver he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was engaged as architectural draughtsman for one year, and in 1895 opened an office for himself, but on account of ill health, and believing that he could find better oppor- tunities, he came to Butte in 1896. Here he entered into a partnership alliance with W. E. Donovan, under the firm name of Link & Donovan, and for the ensuing four years a thriving architectural business was conducted. In 1900 he severed his association with Mr. Donovan and became associated with Joseph T. Carter, continuing to be identified in business with the latter gentleman until 1905. In that year the firm of Link & Haire was established, the same consisting of Mr. Link and C. S. Haire. This firm controls an extensive and lucrative business and is known as the leading architectural con- cern in the entire state. The firm has designed many of the most prominent buildings in the above mentioned cities, and samples of their work are to be found in most of the cities of the state, as well as in Missouri, Kansas, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho and Washing- ton. A large number of public buildings were erected under their charge among which are most of the state schools, the Silver Bow county court house and the state capitol.

In addition to his architectural practice, Mr. Link is interested in ranches and mining properties, and is one of the first eight original locators of the Byron oil field in Wyoming in 1904. In that year he located the Cotton- wood oil fields in Carbon county, Montana, and three years later, with his associates, he drilled the first oil well in that district.

In his political convictions Mr. Link is a stalwart sup- porter of the cause of the Democratic party, and while he is too busy a man to figure actively in politics, he is ever on the alert and is enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures advanced for progress and improve- ments. In a fraternal and social way he is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Woodmen of the World, the Silver Bow Club, and the Billings Club. In connection with his work he is a valued and appreciative member of the American Institute of Architects and the Montana

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Association of Architects, being a director in the latter named organization. His religious faith is that of a Roman Catholic.

At St. Louis, Missouri, on September 17, 1895, Mr. Link was united in marriage with Miss Martha Well- ing, a daughter of Charles Welling, and a native of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Link are the parents of five children, whose names and the respective dates of births are here entered : Vesta, May 20, 1900; Randolph, Janu- ary, 19, 1902; Henry, November 28, 1903; Gustave J., April 15, 1908; and Louis, April 3, 1910. The Home of the family is maintained at Billings, where Mr. and Mrs. Link are well known and popular in the best social circles.

WILLIAM WISEHAM DADE TERRETT. With the death of William Wiseham Dade Terrett, of Miles City, Mon- tana lost one of her most brilliant and promising young men. During the years in which he had been a part of the business and financial world of the state he had become known for his keen business sense and his fidelity to whatever duty lay before him. The people of his district had just set the seal of their approval upon him by electing him to represent them in the legislature, and his death came as a personal grief to many citizens of the state as well as to those of his own section. He was always in the forefront of any move which would result in the bettering of conditions in Miles City, and was a fine example of that type of the modern business man who possesses what has been called a civic con- science, ever ready to give time and money to aid in making Miles City a little nearer the ideal of what a city should be.

On the 27th of March, 1879, in the state of Missouri, William Wiseham Dade Terrett was born. His parents were William Wiseham and Priscilla G. (Richards) Terrett. Both the father and mother were natives of the state of Virginia. There were nine children in the family, and Wiseham was the middle one, the most un- satisfactory position of all, it seemed to him. Wiseham Terrett, Senior, determined to come west and try ranch- ing, and therefore located in Montana, where he has since lived. He is the present owner and operator of a ranch in the Tongue River district, near Branden- berg.

Wiseham Terrett, the son, spent the first years of his life in the state of his birth, but later he was taken to Chicago, and there remained with his mother and his brothers and sisters, while his father was preparing a home for them out on the great western plains. Here in the city, Wiseham Terrett secured most of his educa- tion at the public schools, for he did not come out to Montana until he was seventeen years of age. His first position upon arriving in Montana was as clerk and teller in the First National Bank of Miles City, Montana. He remained here until 1901, when he accepted a position as cashier of the Merchant's Bank of Forsyth. Montana. This was a rather responsible position for a young man of twenty-two, and that he was deemed capable of filling it spoke well for the way in which he had spent his time since coming into the state. Fill it, he did, to the great satisfaction of those who were interested in the success of the bank. He had a natural ability for finance, and the honesty and stability for which the bank became known was due in no small measure to the efforts of the cashier. He remained in this position for three years, and then came to Miles City, Montana, be- coming president of the Calvin Investment Company. 'This position he held until his death on the 18th of January, 1911. The prosperous condition in which he left his business shows his fine qualities as a business man as nothing else could do. Active and energetic, he never allowed an opportunity to slip by him, and often bested older and more experienced and wealthier men, simply through his youth and enthusiasm.

Mr. Terrett was married on the 6th of August, 1902,

to Miss Marguerite Courtenay, a daughter of William Courtenay, who came to Montana in the early seventies. He was a native of London, England, and her mother, who was Fannie Patterson before her marriage, was born in New York City. William Courtenay was a very prominent man in the history of this section of the state, being engaged in the stock brokerage and land business. He made his home in Miles City for many years, and was known for his upright character and the strict honesty of his business relations all over this part of Montana. He was one of the pioneers who came to Montana, not to get rich as speedily as possible, but to establish a home where he and his descendants might live, honored and respected by their neighbors. His ambition was realized, and in the realization of this simpler ambition, wealth came to him also, and when he died, on October 30, 1901, he left a name that was highly respected in the business world. His wife survived him several years, dying on the 16th of July, 1908. Mrs. Terrett was the eldest of six children, and was born in Bismarck, North Dakota. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Terrett: Courtenay, Wiseham, Barbara and Dulany, all of whom are still little tots.

Mr. and Mrs. Terrett were both members and active workers in the Episcopal church. Mr. Terrett was a member of the vestry, and took an active part in man- aging the business affairs of the church. He was a Mason, belonging to the lodge in Miles City, and he was also a member of the Elks. In politics he was a member of the Democratic party, and though caring nothing for political emoluments, he acceded to the de- mands made by his friends that he permit his name to be put on the lists as a candidate for the legislature. Then came his last illness, and the news of the election of 1910 was brought to him in the hospital. He was elected with no canvassing, no speech making, no lobby- ing, standing on his merits alone.

One of the most popular members of the Miles City Club, and in fact of any gathering in which he might be present, yet he was a quiet, reserved man. On closer acquaintance he showed his warm and sympathetic nature, and he was a man who could always be de- pended upon. . His friends always knew where to find him, so to speak, and he never refused to do anyone a favor if it were in his power. His reliability in social matters and in his daily intercourse with people was carried into his business relations, and his loss was a heavy one to the business world as well as to his many friends and acquaintances.

GEORGE W. QUALLS. Montana has recruited her citi- zens from nearly every state in the Union, and per- haps that is one of the secrets of her vast strides in the march of progress, for as historians have pointed out, it is usually the most enterprising members of the older communities who go forth to settle new states. Mr. Qualls, one of Helena's successful merchants, is a native of Tennessee, born in Middle, on May 14, 1873. His parents, too, were of that state by birth and rearing. Isaac Qualls was a stock farmer, born in February, 1849. He married Elmina Thomas, the daughter of a famous Tennessee lawyer, and they were the parents of six children, of whom George Qualls is next to the eldest. Before he was old enough to go to school, Mr. Qualls' family moved to Missouri, where his father and mother still reside. Mr. Isaac Qualls has now retired from active business, and resides at Long Lane, Mis- souri. All of the children are still living, three of them in Montana. Leonard Zeroster Qualls is associated with his brother in business in Helena, and William resides at Harlowton, Montana. Of the three sisters, one, Ada Qualls Harper, lives in Pasadena, California; Mattie and Lena Qualls have now both added Ramsay to their names, choosing brothers for their respective husbands. Their home is in Texas, where the Ramsay ranch is known to the stockmen.

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George W. Qualls went to district school in Polk county, Missouri, finishing in the public schools at the age of nineteen. He continued his studies in the South- west Baptist College at Bolivar, in the same state, spending three years in that institution. With this foundation of general training and scholastic study, he went to Springfield, Missouri, and entered a commercial school in which he took a complete course. At the conclusion of his business course, he did not at once go into clerical or mercantile work, but instead, returned to the farm and for a year conducted the work there, raising a crop on shares. This proved a profitable ven- ture ; the crops were good, and Mr. Qualls disposed of his share at a profit. With his earnings he decided to go west and try his fortune, as he had heard from some of his friends who had preceded him of the won- derful chances that were to be met with in Montana.

Upon arriving in Montana, Mr. Qualls engaged in'a typically western occupation, being a cow boy, and in the Prickly Pear valley too, which has an attractive and frontier-suggesting sound. Mr. Qualls was not a genuine tenderfoot, for he had had considerable experience in stock raising on his father's farm, but he found conditions somewhat different in Montana. A year after his arrival he went to the Smith river valley and remained there for two years. He then decided to go back to Missouri to visit his parents and accordingly returned to his boyhood home. After a short stay he came back to Montana and took a position as clerk in a grocery store in Helena. For three years he acted in this capacity and then as he had systematically saved his earnings with this end in view, he went into busi- ness for himself. He bought out Charles Stedman and with this stock began his independent career as a mer- chant. The invaluable business assets of commercial acumen and square dealings have enabled him to meta- morphose this unpretentious establishment with which he began into one of the prosperous mercantile concerns of Helena. In addition to this business, Mr. Qualls has some valuable holdings in different properties in other parts of the state. Among these may be mentioned the Sentinel Rock Land and Cattle Company in which he is a director.

Mr. Qualls was married at Bolivar, Missouri, on August 12, 1900. His wife was formerly Miss Rose Tidwell, of that city. They have a family of two sons and one daughter. Garlan D. Qualls was born at Bol- ivar in July, 1901, and is now a student in Central school, Helena. Hazel Mame and Leo Tidwell Qualls were both born in Helena; the former in October, 1909, and the latter in July, 1911. The parents are members of the Baptist church.

GEORGE W. FARR. Probably there are few profes- sions where the struggle for success is more difficult than the law, but when it is attained its rewards are worth while, a comfortable fortune accruing and an honorable and prominent position in the world being assured. There are certain requisites, however, and these may be summed up as a natural inclination, a university training and tact, discretion and judgment far beyond the ordinary. Among the prospering mem- bers of the Miles City bar is George W. Farr, who has been established in his profession here for some six- teen years. He was born July 6, 1875, at Marquette, Hamilton county, Nebraska, and is a son of Elias and Elvira (Butler) Farr.

Elias Farr was born at Watertown, Jefferson county, New York, in 1834, and died in Nebraska in 1903, when aged sixty-nine years, having survived his wife, who was born in Vermont in 1847 and died in 1896. Three children were born to them, the two survivors being George W. and Alma, the latter of whom is the wife of Curtis Hickman, their home being at Lake Charles, Louisiana. Elias Farr was a farmer in the state of Iowa prior to moving to Hamilton county, Nebraska,

where he continued his agricultural activities for a time and then engaged for a number of years in bank- ing, subsequently retiring to his farm. He was never a politician, but was well-posted on public affairs and cast his vote with the Republican party. He served through the Civil war.

George W. Farr attended the public schools of Mar- quette and then entered Nebraska University and was graduated in the law department of that institution in 1896, in the same year coming to Miles City, securing admission to the bar and making this his permanent home. He commands a large and lucrative practice. In many ways he has been a valuable citizen giving support to every movement which, in his opinion, would be for the general welfare, investing in prop- erty and setting an example that might profitably be emulated by those who work from unselfish motives as he has done. Mr. Farr served as alderman from the Second ward from 1906 to 1907, and in 1909 and 1910 served as mayor.

Mr. Farr was married in September, 1898, to Miss Claudia Seiver, who was born in Virginia and is a daughter of David E. Seiver, and they have three children, namely: Elvira Claudia, Edgar W. and Lee Butler. Mr. Farr belongs to Crusader Lodge, No. 7, Knights of Pythias, and to Miles City Lodge, No. 537, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is past president of the Associated Elks' Lodge of Mon- tana and district deputy for the district of eastern Montana. Politically he is a Progressive.

CHARLES W. SAMMIS. Proprietor and manager of the Argyle Hotel, is one of the popular and well known hotel men of Butte, where for a number of years he has been prominently identified with that line of business. He has been connected with the Argyle Hotel since 1900, and has been the main factor in placing this well known European hotel among the leading ones in the Treasure state. A modern struc- ture, with one of the very best hotel locations in Butte, on West Broadway, near Dakota street, and with most excellent management its success is but a natural result.

Charles W. Sammis is a native of Lanmark, Car- roll county, Illinois, and was the first white child born in that town, where his life began on February 9, 1862. When he was but a babe his parents removed to Polo, in the adjoining county of Ogle, in that state, and there a few years later his brother, Merritt D. Sammis, the only other child born in the family, first saw the light of day. The father of these boys, Moses E. Sammis, was born and reared in the state of New York, and early in his life became a resident of Illi- nois, going there with his parents. In 1878 he brought his family west and located at Deadwood, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He was a merchant in Illinois, but in the Black Hills he followed mining and prospecting, and he died near Rapid City, South Da- kota, in 1889, at the age of fifty-six years, and was buried at Rapid City.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 81

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