A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 82

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

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The mother, whose maiden name was Martha A. Haynes, was born in Pennsylvania and died in Butte, Montana, on September 10, 1908. From 1902 until her death she made her home with her son Charles. She is buried by the side of her husband at Rapid City. His brother, Merritt, is also a resident of Butte, and is actively and profitably engaged in mining, in which Charles also takes some interest, but reserves the greater part of his time and energy for atten- tion to the requirements of his large and flourishing hotel business.

Charles W. Sammis grew to the age of sixteen in Polo, Illinois, and obtained a good common and high school education there. In 1878 he went with his parents to the Black Hills, and being ready to look out for himself at that time, although he was only sixteen years of age, he engaged in mining and at

Chas WSam

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his trade of carpenter until 1882, when the family removed to about five miles south of Rapid City, where they located on a ranch and where he engaged in stock raising and also gave considerable attention to prospecting and mining. He had learned the carpen- ter trade in Deadwood, and at intervals during his residence in that spectacular settlement, which has made its mark in large and enduring phrase on the pages of universal history, he wrought industriously and with good results at the trade.

In the spring of 1896 Mr. Sammis came to Butte to live, and for nearly three years worked at his trade, at which he found plenty to do. Early in 1900, as has been noted, he bought a one-half interest in the Argyle Hotel, the owner of the other half being Mrs. Georgia Pinkston. The hotel was new then and oc- cupied a leading place among the houses of entertain- ment in Butte. Its business was flourishing and its prospects bright, and in a short time Mr. Sammis wished to own it all and be its sole proprietor. So, about six months after he became connected with it, he bought Mrs. Pinkston's entire interest and grati- fied his wish in the matter.

The hotel has always been conducted on the Euro- pean plan, and has always enjoyed a large trade and a widely extended popularity. Mr. Sammis is just the kind of a boniface to get and keep up the busi- ness, make and maintain a high reputation for his house, and continue and spread its popularity. He knows his business thoroughly and is energetic and vigilant in attending to it, omitting nothing that is within its range for the comfort and enjoyment of his guests, and making its service prompt, complete and satisfactory in every way. He is, moreover, com- plaisant and obliging in all his dealings, and gives his hostelry a home atmosphere that is altogether agree- able and entirely satisfying.

He takes an earnest interest in the welfare and progress of his home city, county and state, but while he trains with the Republican party in national affairs, he takes no active part in local political contentions. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Knights of Pythias, holding his membership in the order in the lodge established and working in Butte. He was married in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 12, 1909, to Mrs. Margaret H. Knapp. They have no children and make their home in the hotel. All of Mr. Sammis' success in life is the result of his own ability and efforts. He has managed his affairs care- fully and wisely, and has made all his time tell to his advantage. Fortune has never given him any spe- cial favors, and circumstances have never been in- tentionally or demonstratively kind to him. He has depended on his own resources and has found them sufficient to meet all requirements and work out his steady advancement to his present condition of sub- stantial and continuing prosperity.

WILLIAM P. MCCARTY. Determined purpose and definite ambition have marked the course of this well- known and representative member of the bar of the city of Butte, for his advancement has been the direct result of his own persevering efforts, through which he prepared himself for the profession of his choice. His life has been one of consecutive endeavor and as he has depended entirely upon his own resources in securing his professional education he may well be termed a self-made man, the while in his chosen voca- tion he has made of success not an accident but a logical result.

Mr. McCarty claims the fine old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity. He was born at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of April, J876, and is a son of John and Catherine (Johnson) McCarty, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Hawley, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, where her

parents established their home in an early day. John McCarty came to the United States as a lad of thir- teen years, and he was one of the adventurous argo- nauts who joined in the hegira to the gold fields of California in the memorable year of 1849. He con- tinued his search for the precious metal with varying success and remained on the Pacific coast for ten years, at the expiration of which he returned to the east, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He thereafter maintained his home in Pennsylvania until the year 1874, when he went to Leo Valley, Nebraska, and be- came one of the pioneer settlers of Greeley county, where he took up a tract of land and developed a productive farm. His family continued to reside in Honesdale until 1878, when he moved them to Leo Valley, after he had his home built and his farm under cultivation. There he continued to be actively iden- tified with the great basic industry of agriculture until 1902, when he removed to Idaho, where he continued to devote his attention to the same vocation until 1905, in which year he died, while visiting one of his daugh- ters at Anaconda, Montana, where his remains were laid to rest. He was a man of industry, sterling char- acter and strong mentality, and he well merited the confidence and esteem so uniformly reposed in him. His cherished and devoted wife passed the closing years of her life on the old homestead farm in Leo Valley, Nebraska, where she died in 1883. Of the children two sons and two daughters are now living.

William P. McCarty, whose name initiates this re- view, gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of Pennsylvania and Nebraska, and this was supplemented by a thorough commercial course in Wood's Business College, at Carbondale, Penn- sylvania, where he devoted special attention to the study of commercial law. On the 7th of January, 1896, the name of Mr. McCarty appeared on the list of arrivals in the city of Butte, Montana, and here he soon afterward assumed the position of bookkeeper at the old Hale House, a popular hotel then conducted by Peter Hale. When the latter retired from his con- nection with this hotel Mr. McCarty entered the em- ploy of Patrick Mullin, who conducted the Mullin House at Centerville. In the meanwhile he passed a civil service examination and upon resigning his posi- tion of bookkeeper he became a city mail carrier in Butte, a position which he retained for three years. Within this period, in 1900, he had the distinction of representing Montana at the meeting of the Letter Carriers' National Association, at Scranton, 'Penn- sylvania. In the same year he resigned from the mail service and turned his attention to mining operations, in connection with which he was thus engaged. in Nevada and California from 1902 to 1906. Many years previously he had manifested a desire to prepare him- self for the legal profession, and his ambition in this respect had not waned in the interim. Thus, while actively identified with mining interests in Nevada, he carried forward with much diligence and care a cor- respondence course in the Illinois College of Law. In 1906 he returned to Butte, where he was engaged in mine work until he met with an injury which caused him to he confined for some time in St. James' hos- pital. While thus incapacitated he utilized his time to good advantage by studying law, and that he made substantial progress in his absorption and assimilation of the intricate science of jurisprudence is shown by the fact that in June, 1909, he passed a successful exami- nation before the supreme court of the state, at Helena. and was dulv admitted to the bar. Prior to this he had passed a year in the law office of the well-known firm of Donlan & Forrestell. of Butte, where he prose- cuted his technical reading under most effective pre- ceptorship.

Since the time of his admission to the bar Mr. Cc- Carty has been engaged in the active general practice

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of his profession in Butte, and the energy and ambition which made possible his admission to practice have come into effective play in his professional work, with the result that he has gained secure prestige as an able trial lawyer and well-fortified counsellors. He controls an excellent practice, is a progressive and pub- lic-spirited citizen and his popularity in his home city is of the most unequivocal order. Mr. McCarty is a member of the Silver Bow County Bar Association, is identified with the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Loyal Order of Moose and is one of the most pop- ular and valued members of Butte Camp, Woodmen of the World, which is the largest in the state and of which he is clerk. He and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church.

On the 30th of December, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McCarty to Miss Amelia A. Pryor, who was born in the state of Pennsylvania and who was an infant at the time of the family removal to Butte. She is a daughter of Michael and Mary ( Mooney) Pryor, who came to Butte from Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1879, the father dying in Butte in 1890, and the mother now resides with her daughter, Mrs. McCarty. Mr. and Mrs. McCarty became the parents of five children, of whom three are living,- Andrey, Mildred and Catherine. The deceased chil- dren were Allen and Mary. Mr. McCarty is a Demo- crat in his political affiliations and a member of the Silver Bow Democratic Club.

EDWARD F. O'FLYNN. One of the younger members of the Montana bar, Edward F. O'Flynn, of Butte, has already gained prestige in his profession, his legal attainments, broad capabilities, and persuasive oratori- cal gifts winning him success both as a lawyer and as a man of affairs. He was born May 9, 1886, in Sara- toga, New York, a son of Patrick O'Flynn. He is of Irish ancestry, his grandfather, Edward O'Flynn, having been a life-long resident of Ireland.

Born and bred on Irish soil, Patrick O'Flynn im- migrated to America, the land of hope, when twenty years of age, settling in New York state in 1861, a stranger in a strange land. After living there a num- ber of years he moved with his family to Wyoming, where he spent two years. In 1896 he began pros- pecting and mining in Montana, and is still a resident of this state, his home now being in Butte. He mar- ried Mary Baldwin, a daughter of James Baldwin, who spent his entire life of four score years in Ireland, where her birth occurred. They are the parents of two children, namely: Edward F., the special sub- ject of this brief biographical review; and James B., who was graduated from the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, Indiana, with the class of 1911, and is now practicing law in Butte.

But eight years old when his parents moved to Wy- oming, Edward F. O'Flynn attended the public schools of Laramie for two years. In 1896 the family mov -. ing to Anaconda, Montana, he continued his studies there for awhile, and in 1902 was graduated from the Saint Patrick's parochial school of Butte. The en- suing year he was employed as a clerk in Hennessy's dry goods store in Butte. Going then to South Bend, Indiana, he entered Notre Dame University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1907. While in that university Mr. O'Flynn studied law, and also acquired distinction as an orator, be- ing especially talented in that direction. While in In- diana he was very active in campaign work, being a most pleasing and effective speaker on the stump, and in an inter-state contest held at Kansas City, Missouri, he carried off the first prize, a gold medal, being one of ninety-five competing students gathered there from prominent schools and colleges of various states.

After his graduation Mr. O'Flynn taught school for a year in the University of Notre Dame, in In-

diana, and in 1908 entered the office of the law firm of Anderson & Parker at South Bend, Indiana, where he continued for a year. Returning then to Butte, he was admitted to the Montana bar in 1909, and has since been actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession at Butte, where he has al- ready built up a satisfactory patronage. Taking an intelligent interest in political affairs, he was elected as a representative to the state legislature in 1909, and served his constituents ably and faithfully.

Mr. O'Flynn married, June 8, 1910, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Miss Elsa M. Habing, a talented musician, well known as a sweet-voiced choir singer, the dangh- ter of Bernard G. and Mary (Brummel) Habing. Mr. and Mrs. O'Flynn have one child, Mary Edna O'Flynn, born April 16, 1911, in Butte.

Politically Mr. O'Flynn is a stanch supporter of the principles promulgated by the Democratic party. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks; of the Knights of Columbus; of the Ancient Order of Hibernians; and also belongs to the University Club. Religiously, true to the faith in which he was reared, he is a member of the Roman Catholic church.

TRUMAN O. ANGELL, JR. One of the most promi- nent and successful business men of Butte is Truman O. Angell, Jr., the only men's hat manufacturer in Montana. He is also widely known as the proprietor of one of the most exclusive retail establishments of Butte, which bears the unique name of "The Hat Box."

Mr. Angell is a native westerner, with all the re- sourcefulness, energy and genins so marked in the people of his section, qualities that have enabled the great west to make such rapid strides toward com- mercial and industrial greatness during the last quar- ter of a century. He was born at Salt Lake City. Utah, on August 4, 1873, to Truman O. and Eliza- beth (Pyper) Angell. The senior Mr. Angell is also a native of Utah, and during his active career was a prominent contractor and builder in that state. Eliza- beth Pyper was born in Pennsylvania, and at an early age went to Utah, where later she was married at Salt Lake City. Both parents are living, and since 1908 have been residents of Butte, Montana.

Truman O. Angell, Jr., completed his earlier educa- tion in the public schools of Salt Lake City and after- ward became a student at the University of Utah, where he was graduated in 1890. Upon leaving the university he engaged in the hat manufacturing busi- ness in Salt Lake City, and from the start his ven- ture proved a success. Ambitious to avail himself of the wider field of opportunity afforded in a state just beginning to develop along manufacturing and com- mercial lines, though wealthy in resources, he dis- posed of his business in Salt Lake City and in 1896 removed to the rapidly growing city of Butte, Montana, where he immediately established himself in his for- mer line of business. With keen foresight he judged the future of Butte, and of the state of Montana as well, and the unqualified success that has attended his subsequent career as a manufacturer and as a merchant has well borne out his judgment and his faith.

Associated with him in the men's hat manufacturing business is his brother, R. B. Angell, who is also his partner in the retail establishment, The Hat Box. This store is well stocked and finely equipped and caters to a representative and discriminate patron- age. In their business association, Truman O. Angell, Jr., serves as president and R. B. Angell is vice-presi- dent and secretary.

Mr. Angell is a member of the Masonic order and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He also affiliates fra- ternally with the Benevolent and Protective Order of

Janis Dreibellis

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Elks, and is a member of the Silver Bow Club and of the Country Club. College days are not forgotten, and he is still actively interested in athletics and out door sports. He takes no active part in political af- fairs, but evinces that broader patriotism distinctive of the day and is an independent voter. Of genial personality, Mr. Angell is popular in both his social and fraternal associations and has a large circle of influential friends.

JAMES J. DORAN. It is always most gratifying to the biographist and student of human nature to come in close touch with the history of a man who, in the face of almost insurmountable obstacles, has plodded persistently on and eventually, through his determina- tion and energy, made of success not an accident but a logical result. James J. Doran, who maintains his home at Butte, Montana, is strictly a self-made man and as such a perusal of his career offers both lesson and incentive. He is office manager of the large con- cern known as the M. J. Connell Company, at Butte, having worked his way to that important position through diligence and perseverance. He has served with the utmost efficiency as city alderman and has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in all mat- ters affecting the good of the general welfare of Butte and of the state at large.

James J. Doran was born at Bloomington, Illinois, on the 27th of June, 1884, and he is a son of James C. and Bridget (Feeley) Doran, the former of whom was born in Ireland and the latter of whom is a native of Scotland. The father was born in 1854 and immi- grated to the United States when twenty-six years of age. He located at Bloomington, Illinois, where for thirteen years he was engaged in the coal mining busi- ness. In 1896 he came to Butte, first engaging in min- ing enterprises and later entering the employ of M. J. Connell as watchman in the M. J. Connell dry goods store. He was called to the life eternal on the 21st of October, 1911, at the age of fifty-seven years. The mother of James J. Doran came to America with her parents when she was a child. She grew to maturity in Bloomington, Illinois, where was solemnized her. marriage to James C. Doran, in 1883. She is now residing with her children in Butte. Mr. and Mrs. Doran became the parents of six children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth,-James J., William F., Hugh L., Malachi G., Thomas L. and Mar- garet, all of whom were born at Bloomington.

To the public schools of Bloomington, Illinois, James J. Doran is indebted for his preliminary educational training and later he supplemented that discipline by a course in the Butte Business College, in which he was graduated in 1899. His first position was with the M. J. Connell Dry Goods Company and with the passage of time he gradually worked his way upward until he is now the efficient and popular incumbent of the posi- tion of office manager of this large Butte concern. He is possessed of splendid executive ability and his future holds bright promise for an unusually successful -

In Butte, on the Igth of December, 1907, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Doran to Miss Margaret Mae Dressel, who was born and reared at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and who is a daughter of George and Bar- bara (McCann) Dressel, both residents of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Doran have no children.

In his political faith Mr. Doran maintains an in- dependent attitude, preferring to give his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment rather than to vote along strictly partisan lines. He served the city as a member of the board of aldermen from 1907 to 1909 and during that period exerted considerable influence for the good of Butte. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, the Knights of Columbus and the Cath-

olic Order of Foresters. He and his wife are devout communicants of the Catholic church and they are popular factors in connection with the best social activities of their home community. Mr. Doran is fond of all out-door sports and amusements, being par- ticularly interested in baseball. He is sociable, cour- teous and genial and has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.

LOUIS DREIBELEIS, one of Butte's leading business men, and a foremost representative of the drug trade in the northwest, occupies a position in the business world of this section of the country that is distinctly the result of his individual efforts. The rapid and sub- stantial rise of Mr. Dreibelbis is not one in which the element of good luck has played as important a part as has his peculiar personal qualifications. The opportun- ities of which he took advantage, by being able to detect them, were open to others at the same time. He grasped them when his business judgment dictated, and his thor- ough knowledge of the business, with original ideas as to methods of development, were the remaining factors in subsequent success.

Mr. Dreibelbis comes from an old Pennsylvania fam- ily, whose members have been identified with the his- tory of the Keystone state for nearly two hundred years. He was born in Schuylkillhaven, that state, November 26, 1873, and completed his schooling in the primary grades of his home town, about the time his parents removed to Kansas. His father, Joseph Drei- belbis had, up to this time, spent his entire life in eastern Pennsylvania, where he was a successful timber merchant and married Miss Catherine Ernst, who bore him ten children of whom Louis was next to the youngest.

In settling in Kansas, the family took up their home at Eureka, where the father died in 1896, at the age of eighty-three, and where the widowed mother still re- sides at the age of seventy-seven.

For a time after the family located at Eureka, Kan- sas, Louis Dreibelbis attended the public schools there, but later attended the Southern Kansas Academy for two years and then went to work in the business which he has followed ever since, that of the druggist. For two years he worked industriously in Eureka, but a boy's love of a change and of travel prevailed in him, tiring of the rather small town, he went to Fort Worth, Texas. Here he secured employment in the line of work with which he was familiar, but being dissatisfied with the south, after about one year, he returned to Kansas and for a while was located at Hutchinson, then went back to Eureka, intending to make only a short visit with his people. While there a position was of- fered him which he accepted, and for two years he was employed in a drug store. Again, the desire to better his condition asserted itself, and he concluded to seek a location in the northwest. He came to Butte, in November, 1896, and spent some time in looking for a position. He was a stranger here and found it difficult to convince people of his fitness for the work he desired to do, but his persistence won out and he secured a situation in the store of Newton Brothers, which was then considered one of the leading drug concerns of the city.

Once employed Mr. Dreibelbis had no difficulty in making himself valuable to his employers, and he might have remained indefinitely, but that his desire for travel seized him again, and he went to Great Falls, Montana, and spent a year there with the Randall Drug Company. His former employer in Butte, Mr. Newton, held out inducements for him to return to the latter city, where Mr. Dreibelbis again entered the employ of that gentleman and at the end of one year had saved one hundred and fifty dollars.

With this modest amount as practically his entire cash capital, Mr. Dreibelbis bought a bankrupt stock

career.

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of drugs on South Arizona street, and removed it to No. 429 North Main street, where in his judgment was an opportunity to build up a prosperous busi- ness. By borrowing six hundred dollars, he was able to add to this stock of goods, and for the first time was at the head of his own store.

This business venture had been entered into in direct opposition to the advice of his friends, who could not see anything but failure for Mr. Dreibelbis. He not only thought otherwise, but had the courage of his con- victions, and the wisdom of his judgment is fully re- flected by subsequent results, which have made con- gratulations more appropriate than the expressions of sympathy which many thought would be in order.

Mr. Dreibelbis had worked in a number of drug stores, and no matter how large or how small he was always able to learn something, because he was a close observer of men and methods, so that when he was in position to practically apply methods, that to him looked good, the foundation of his success was laid. He knew the ins and outs of the drug trade, as well as how to attract trade and retain it. From the be- ginning he always endeavored to have his store just a little different from other stores in that line, and many innovations in the retail drug trade in Butte have originated with Mr. Dreibelbis. His first store was a success from the start, and before long it was supplying him with surplus funds for investment. In 1904 he purchased the business of the Newbro Drug Company. This store was about to go out of business, as the result of being poorly managed and its patronage had dwindled until it was a losing investment. Again Mr. Dreibelbis received the kindly warnings of his acquaintances of the certain ruin to overtake him before a month would pass, and again he acted upon his own judgment, putting new ideas into the business, as well as capital. The prudent were certain that it was a hopeless task to build up this run down business, but since becoming his property he has transformed it into one of the finest wholesale and retail drug houses in the northwest. This business now requires the serv- ices of from fifteen to twenty clerks and handles every- thing obtainable in the drug line, altogether comprises one of the foremost mercantile houses in Montana, and distinctively the leading one in its line. As president and general manager, Mr. Dreibelbis has directed the affairs of the company, and has been the prime factor in its success at the same time establishing a reputa- tion for commercial integrity that is not surpassed by any business house in the Treasure State.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 82

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