USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 98
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FRANK STRIDER. The subject of this sketch was born in Allegheny county, Penn- sylvania, April 5, 1853, and now resides on an eligible ranch near Linley, Carbon county, Montana. His father, Henry, was a native of Germany, locating in the Keystone State when a young man, and where he remained until his death. The mother, Mary Elizabeth (Greav- er) Strider, was of German birth, emigrating to the United States with her husband.
In the public schools of Pennsylvania our subject received his earlier education. At the age of 23 he enlisted in the army to fight the Sioux Indians. He went to St. Louis, and from there with five hundred others to Fort Lincoln, Dakota, where he was assigned to the Seventh Cavalry, regular army. These troops marched against the Indians under Colonel Sturges. In many of the subsequent Indian battles he was a participant. He was in the fight in which Chief Joseph and his warriors were captured. After he was mus-
tered out of the service he passed two years in the Big Horn mountains, thence coming to Livingston, Montana. This was in 1883. In 1895 he came to his present location.
CHAUNCEY R. WEAVER, residing five miles southeast from Miles City on a fine farm, is one of the prosperous men of this por- tion of the state and is to be numbered among the builders of Montana inasmuch as he has wrought here with display of energy and wis- dom for about one-quarter of a century. His farm consists of one quarter section, mostly all under the ditch, well improved and supplied with all that a modern dairy and stock ranch should have, besides four hundred and eighty acres of grazing land utilized for his bands of cattle and horses. Withal, Mr. Weaver is a man of progressiveness and practicality and has displayed qualities of worth in his labors here and in winning the success that has at- tended his career.
Mr. Weaver is a native of Mercer county. Illinois, and August 26, 1859, is the date of his birth. His father, George Weaver, was born in Ohio, on a farm, but soon moved to Illinois. He was engaged in the coal mines, being foreman. In 1877, the days of danger from Sioux Indians, he came west to the Black Hills, Dakota, and spent some time prospect- ing, after which he took contracts of furnish- ing wood for the mills. In 1881 we see him in Miles City, and here he operated a coal mine. Subsequent to this he went to ranching and followed that till the time of his death. His widow, Alice ( Ross) Weaver, is still liv- ing in Miles City.
From the schools of his native state Chauncey R. received a good working educa- tion and there remained, engaged on the farm and in the coal mines until 1879, when he came to the Black Hills and spent some time with his father in prospecting and also hunted buf-
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falo one winter between Miles City and the Hills. Then he came on to Miles City, and here was engaged in mining coal and retailing it in Miles City. It was 1882 that he came hither and after some time in the coal work he was occupied in operating a dairy, which with ranching and handling stock has occu- pied him since.
In 1888 Mr. Weaver married Miss Emma Henning, a native of Minnesota and an immi- grant to Montana with her parents in 1879. Her father, Fred Henning, was born in Ger- many, came to the United States when twenty- eight, and after some time spent in Minnesota, came to Montana, and here followed farming until his death in 1894.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Weaver are named as follows: Ernest, November 9, 1888; Fred, November 15; 1889; Elmer B., April 1, 1891; Hal, January 21, 1893; Ches- ter. May 27, 1895; Hobart, January 11, 1897; Carter, January 25, 1900; Theodore, January 13, 1902, and Alice, October 5, 1904. The first three named are attending school in Miles City, and all the children were born in Mon- tana. Mr. Weaver is a good Republican and is a man of excellent standing.
SANFRID RENLUND, one of the lead- ing and prominent Finns of Carbon county, residing on a fine ranch two miles west of Linley, was born in Finland, December 14, 1873. His father, John, was born at Wasa, Finland, and was a farmer. Twenty years ago he came to the United States, residing for a while in California, thence coming to Mon- tana. He now has a profitable ranch three miles from Red Lodge. The mother died when our subject was a small child.
It was in Finland that our subject received his education, and at the age of eighteen he came to Red Lodge, where he found employ- ment as a clerk in a store. Subsequently he
went into the mercantile business on his own account. Five years since he secured a home- stead, upon which he now lives.
In 1893 he was married to Amanda Takala, her father being a native of Finland. She has one child, Ellen. Our subject is a member of the Masonic Lodge at Red Lodge and has learned to read and write the English language fluently. He is a progressive, broad- minded and liberal citizen.
JOHN S. STEWART. Ten years ago (written in 1906) the subject of this auto- biographic sketch came to Montana and settled in the attractive valley of the Yellowstone, three miles west of Billings. Ontario, Canada, is the place of his nativity, where he was born February 22, 1872.
His father, James Stewart, was born in Northumberland county, Canada, where he followed the vocation of a farmer. The pater- nal grandfather of our subject. Benjamin Stewart, was a native of Ireland, coming to Canada when quite a young man. John S. Stewart's mother was Margaret (Steele) Stewart, a native of Ontario, where she re- mained until her death. Her father, John Steele, was a native of Scotland; her mother, Mary A. (Elmhirst ) Steele.
It was in Canada that John S. Stewart received his early education, attending the common schools and working on his father's farm, where he remained until 1896. Here he at first worked for wages for various part- ies in the vicinity in which he resided, which was Billings. It was in 1900 that Mr. Stewart purchased the farm where he now lives. It consists of one hundred and sixty acres of excellent land, all under a good system of irrigation.
In 1899 our subject was married to Frances McDonald, a native of Ontario, Can- ada. She is the daughter of James and Mary
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Ann McDonald, the latter a native of Ontario, but of Irish ancestry. James McDonald is still living in Ontario. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stewart has been blessed by two children, Margaret Ellen and James T. Fra- ternally Mr. Stewart is an active and highly esteemed member of the Society of Yeomen. As a reward of his energy and industry Mr. Stewart has accumulated around him a fine property, which is worked by up-to-date methi- ods and located in a most eligible portion of the state. He has sixty-five cattle and holds stock in the Billings creamery.
JOHN KIMES is one of the pathfinders of the west and his has been an experience rich in all those incidents and labors which combine in the pioneer's life in such an unique manner on the plains and the ranges of the west. At the present time he is residing on his ranch, eleven miles southeast from Miles City, and is engaged in the stock business in partnership with W. E. Harris, handling cattle mostly.
Our subject was born in McLean county. Illinois, in 1855, the son of Amos and Jane ( Hunter) Kimes, natives of Pennsylvania and Indiana, respectively. The father followed canal work in his native state and other por- tions of the east, being foreman of a crew, but finally came west to Ohio, thence to Illinois and finally decided to settle down to farming. This he followed until his death, a short time before the war. The mother was married in her native state and came to Montana with the son of whom we speak in 1880, and here remained until her death in 1903. From the common schools of his native state our subject received his education and followed farming until he came west in 1880. His route was over the Union Pacific, and for two years, just at what portion of his life, we are not told, Mr. Kimes was occupied in hunting buffalo on the plains. However, he became an expert Nimrod and was a man well acquainted with the frontier
life. He went first to Helena and thence made his way by teams to Miles City, landing here on April Ist, 1880. He at once became inter- ested in the cattle business and began to search for an opening. He soon purchased a band of cattle and located on the Tongue river, being one of the very first in that business here. From that time to the present he has been steadily handling stock, and is one of the skill- ful stockmen of the state. Mr. Kimes has ridden the range from Texas to the Yellow- stone and has, for himself and for others, handled 20,000 and more cattle. In addition to the stock he has, he owns thirty-four acres of land, practically in Miles City, which is very valuable.
In February, 1882, Mr. Kimes married Miss Brydia E. Fitzgerald, the wedding occur- ring near Pontiac, Illinois, in which state she was born. In 1904 Mr. Kimes was called on to mourn the death of his beloved wife, who had trodden the pilgrim way with him for many years. She was deeply mourned by all who knew her, and leaves, besides her huis- band, the following named children: George H., born in Montana in 1885, and a graduate of the commercial department of the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indi- ana; Edith F., born in Montana in 1888 and now attending college at Notre Dame, Indi- ana ; and Chester J., born in Montana in 1896 and now attending school in Miles City. The eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Kimes, Nettie E., is deceased. Mr. Kimes has sought and is endeavoring to give each child a first- class education and he has great reason to take pride in the achievements of his children, who are very studious and talented. His eldest son, George H., is associated with his father in the conduct of the stock and the business and is bidding fair to be at no distant day one of Montana's leading citizens.
In political affairs Mr. Kimes is allied with the Republican party, and he is a man who manifests a deep interest in all things that are
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for the upbuilding of the country. A residence of one-fourth of a century and more fits him to speak of the development of the country, as he has seen it all since coming here and has aided materially in the good work.
EDWIN C. RUSSELL, one of the pro- gressive and leading ranchmen of the far- famed Yellowstone valley, born at Harrison- ville, Ohio, February 7, 1862, resides on a fine farm four miles west of Tony, Montana. His father, Francis C. Russell, a native of New Hampshire, was born in 1831, and removed to Ohio with his parents while a lad. In the Buckeye State he was reared and educated, and employed his time farming. With the break- ing out of the Civil War he enlisted in the Thirtieth Ohio Infantry, in which he served until the fall of Vicksburg, when he was trans- ferred to the Fifth Ohio Cavalry. He enlisted as a private, but held the rank of captain at the time he was transferred. Later he attained the rank of major, and was transferred to the Thirteenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. He served until the declaration of peace. Follow- ing this he studied law and was admitted to practice in partnership with his brother (Daniel A.), in Meigs county, Ohio. He re- mains still in the practice of law in the same place, and has achieved great distinction in his profession. He was appointed judge of the district court, and later was elected a member the state legislature two or three terms. Orig- ginally his family came to the United States from England in the colonial days, settling in Massachusetts. They were quite prominent in the colonial wars.
The mother of our subject, Mary ( Martin) Russell. was born near Charlestown, Virginia, going to Ohio with her parents in the early days. Her family came from Ireland.
The education of our subject was received at Middleport, Ohio. He came to the Gallatin
valley, Montana, in 1881, and in February of the succeeding year, to the Yellowstone valley, where he rode the range. For six years he worked for the Story outfit, and then for an- other year for the Seven R Company. He was in charge of the outfit subsequently. He then entered the livery business at Red Lodge, and after one year was appointed stock inspector for the Yellowstone valley. He came to his present location in 1893. In April, 1903, he was appointed forest supervisor, holding that responsible position ever since.
In 1889 our subject was married to Mary Murray, born in Melrose, Massachusetts. When 12 years of age she came to Montana with her parents, Michael and Sabina ( Mc- Keown) Murray. Mr. and Mrs. Russell have seven children, Mary, Lewis, Lelia, Charles, Francis, Edna and Theodore. Politically Mr. Russell is a staunch Republican.
JAMES M. BURNETT, one of the lead- ing ranchers of the Yellowstone valley, located on a finely improved farm one mile west of Linley, Carbon county, was born in Ontario, Canada. His father, John, a native of the same province, is still living, and is a farmer in Ontario. His father came from Ireland. The mother of our subject, Margaret (Shaw) Burnett, was also a native of Ontario, her parents coming from Scotland.
At the age of 17, 1886, our subject came to Fort Benton, Montana, where he worked his way over on to the Musselshell, and where for about ten years he found employment as a cowboy. He was with the Willard Live Stock Company five years, and worked for another company for about five years longer. In 1895 he came to Carbon county and settled on land upon which he now resides.
In 1892 our subject was united in marriage to Louise Gesdorff, born in Bozeman. Mon- tana. Her father, Francis Gesdorff, was a
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pioneer of the Silver State. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett have one child, Margaret. Our sub- ject, fraternally, is a member of the Masonic order. In politics he is a Republican.
CHARLES KOCH of the firm of Koch & Company, cement contractors, Billings, was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Summit county, Ohio, November 28, 1871, the son of Henry and Margaret ( Bauer) Koch, natives of Germany. The father is a patriotic veteran of the Civil War, and resides at Sandusky, Ohio. When seven years of age the mother came to the United States, dying in 1900, at Butte, Montana.
Our subject was reared principally in Cleveland, where he attended the public schools and made the best" use of the advantages at hand. Later for about one year he was on a farm and subsequently engaged in the butcher business. When sixteen years of age our subject became desirous of obtaining a knowledge of some mechanical trade, and consequently he worked at odd spells in many of the Cleveland factories. This continued for about a year, he then returning to the meat business. Subse- quently in company with a boy of his own age he launched into the poultry business on a capital of $65. At the end of the first month they had accumulated $500 in the bank. Pros- perity proved too much and at the end of the second month they were out of business. In 1892 Mr. Koch came to Butte, Montana, still following the butcher's trade, after a few months' prospecting in the mines. In 1893 he came to Billings. After a short period of ranching he moved into town and went into the cattle business and general contracting and excavating. In partnership with Edward Schwartz, in 1903, he began to manufacture artificial building stone and various kinds of concrete and cement work. In 1905 our sub- ject purchased the interest of his partner, but
still conducts the business under the old name. For the past two years he has had the city contract for all street crossings.
Mr. Koch is a single man at the date of this writing. Politically he is quite liberal, but not active in campaigns. Fraternally he is a member of the Royal Highlanders, Sons of Herman, Independent Order of Red Men, and Mountaineers. He has one brother, Harry, in Cleveland, Ohio, and one sister, Mrs. Ella Houlihan, of Billings. He is a prosperous and well-to-do citizen and is esteemed by all friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Koch employs at this time forty-five men and at times this number is greatly in- creased.
WALTER R. WESTBROOK, born in Pennsylvania, July 12, 1868, is a gen- eral merchant and leading citizen of the city of Laurel, Yellowstone county, Mon- tana. His father, Jacob, also a native of the Keystone State, came from an old American family, and was a farmer. His mother, Angie M. (Dutton) Westbrook, was also born in Pennsylvania; her parents in Vermont.
Until the age of 16 our subject was reared in Pennsylvania, attending the public schools and the State Normal at Mansfield. When 16 years of age he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, opening a clothing store, which enterprise he conducted four years. Disposing of this business he went to Lockport, New York. where he engaged in the same line three years, and was then eleven years on the road as a commercial traveler, selling clothing for H. H. Cooper & Company, of Utica, New York. He then opened a retail clothing store at Char- lotte, conducted the same two years, disposed of the enterprise and came to Laurel in Janu- ary. 1901. He purchased a lot and erected a two-story, 30x80 frame building, and engaged in his present business. He carries about $15,-
CHARLES KOCH
WALTER R. WESTBROOK
L
WILLIAM W. WOLFF
JOHN L. MARYOTT
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000 worth of stock, and has a large warehouse 36XIIO.
July 12, 1900, our subject was married to Henrietta B. Messersmith, born in Pennsylva- nia. The ceremony was solemnized at Niag- ara Falls. Her father, George, is a native of Germany, and resides at Laurel. Her mother was born in Burlington, Iową, and is still liv- ing. Mr. Westbrook has one brother and one sister : Elroy D., of Olean, New York, and Mrs. Anna Strait, living at Mansfield, Pennsylvania.
Fraternally he is a member of Ivy lodge, No. 397, F. & A. M., Elmora Chapter, No. 42, R. A. M., St. Omers Commandery, No. 19, of Elmira, New York, and the M. W. of A., of Laurel. Politically he is a Republican. He is president of the Laurel Realty Company and is interested in stock raising. At present he owns 1,000 acres of land under irrigation. He recently sold 640 acres to the Laurel Realty Company. He is the president and moving spirit as well as organizer of the Laurel State Bank.
Mr. Westbrook recently erected a two- story brick on Main street, the first floor of which is occupied by the bank. The bank is in a thriving condition, has a paid-up capital of twenty-five thousand dollars and some of the stanchest business men for its managers.
WILLIAM W. WOLFF, who now dwells about eight miles south from Brandenburg, in the Tongue river valley, being in the eastern portion of Rosebud county, was born in De- troit, Michigan, August 19, 1856. His fa- ther, Charles Wolff, was born in Germany and came to Michigan when a young man. He had been thoroughly educated and was holding a government position as superintendent of schools when he decided to come to the United States. Resigning this, he journeyed to Michi-
gan and there took up farming. In 1886 he removed to Michigan City, Indiana, where he resided until his death in 1906. His wife, Mary (Heldrick) Wolff, a native of Germany, had died two years before his demise. He was a man of powerful intellect, well trained by liberal education, and was a leader.
Our subject was educated first in the schools of Detroit, and later went to Michigan City where he was engaged in farming. In 1876 Mr. Wolff determined to try the west and so made his way to Bismarck, Dakota, whence he went to Black Hills, which was a mecca of travel at that time, owing to the dis- covery of gold there a short time previous. He saw an opening in the freighting business and soon had a good outfit and was transferring all kinds of freight from Bismarck to Dead- wood and Crook City. It was a very arduous and hazardous business, owing to the many things to contend against. In the first place the Dakota blizzards were enough to frighten an ordinary person from the undertaking, and then, too, the savage Sioux Indians were con- stantly harrassing the whites and killing when- ever it was in their power. Despite all this, however, Mr. Wolff pushed ahead and did a fine business. For four years he continued in this business and finally decided that he had sufficient capital to embark in the stock busi ness, which had been his primary object in coming west. He invested and started in bus- iness near Bismarck and all went well till one season a gorge was formed in the Missouri by the outgoing ice and so quickly did this dam raise the water that in a few minutes the water was sweeping over the corralls and the house where Mr. Wolff lived. He had two hired hands and they barely escaped by catching an extra boat that was at hand and getting be- hind some large cottonwood trees to shield themselves from the crushing ice. The water raised to twenty-two feet above the ground where his house was situated and every hoof
41
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of stock was swept away. Not a vestige of anything remained but the clothes they had on their backs. All the hard earnings of the years gone by were thus rudely taken from Mr. Wolff, and he was left penniless. He was not a man, however, to sit and cry over the past, but being energetic and resourceful, he soon cast about to find something to put his hand to. He gathered up a herd of mules and brought them to Montana and sold to good ad- vantage and soon had a little working capi- tal on hand again and located the ranch where he now resides, this was in 1881. He took up sheep raising and later added cattle and is today one of the leading stockmen in this por- tion of the state. He has had the best of suc- cess, and owns one of the finest properties on the Tongue river, it being as well, one of the choicest ranches in eastern Montana. Mr. Wolff is a man with the knack of turning his hand to any craft that is necessary to forward the business in hand, and so needing lumber, he bought a small sawmill and cut out all the timber and lumber he needed to construct all his fine buildings and improvements on the ranch and he has the satisfaction of seeing his own handiwork in all that is about him. His place is well improved and is a stimulus to all to build up the country. While all the buildings are good, we would especially men- tion the barn Mr. Wolff has constructed, which, without doubt, is as fine, if not the finest to be found in this portion of the state.
Mr. Wolff has one child, Grace, who was born on the ranch and is now attending school in Miles City. Mr. Wolff's people are all wealthy. His brother Charles, who was with him in the Black Hills, established one of the first supply depots in that country and had a large freighting outfit. He made money rap- idly and after becoming very wealthy, he re- turned to Michigan City, Indiana, and there resides now.
A man who has had so much experience in
the trackless west as Mr. Wolff has had must necessarily have had much danger to pass through and many hardships to endure. He has faced the savages and had many a fight with them. On one occasion we desire to mention, he was overseeing a large band of beef steers his brother had near Crook City, and it was his custom to ride out, about eight miles, to the camp of the herders to see how things were progressing, once a week. On one occasion, he was accompanied by two friends and the herders warned them to be careful in their return as Indians were skulk- ing around and were hostile. Accordingly they remained in the camp until sundown when they started on their journey back. Their path led them down the famous White- wood gulch and as they were progressing along this portion they were suddenly fired upon by the savages. The first volley killed one of their number, all of their horses, wounded our subject in the knee and his surviving com- panion through the hips. Fortunately they escaped being pinned down by the falling horses and were enabled to crawl to a clump of trees. Although the Indians continued to fire upon them they did not receive another bullet while they were making for cover. Mr. Wolff had a rifle and his companion a six- shooter. The rifle, however, became filled with snow in the fall and could not be used at once. The Indians kept up a bombardment and as often as one showed himself in the least, the six shooter did duty to bring him down. Finally our subject got his rifle into trim and the work began in earnest. Several of the Indians were killed and finally after a couple of hours continuous firing, they gave up the battle and carried off their dead. There were about fifteen Indians, and it is a mira- cle that the two wounded men were not massa- cred. Only their skill and pluck saved them. Both were excellent marksmen and this saved them. Many other times Mr. Wolff has been
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in close quarters but he has always escaped and his fighting qualities have stood him well in hand.
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