Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 101

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Carpenter married Nancy Matilda Stanley, who was born in 1834, also in Vermont, and died at Green Lake, Wisconsin, in 1902, and they were the parents of the following children: Viola A., who died unmarried at Green Lake, at the age of forty-five years; Loretta, who married first Ed- win Long, a farmer and merchant at Green Lake, and after his death married Lorenzo D. Patter- son, and resides on a farm near Green Lake, where Mr. Patterson is the owner of a large and valuable property and one of the wealthy men of his com- munity; Clara C. is the widow of Walter Cole, who was a merchant at Green Lake, and she lost her son, Harvey, in the great drive in the Argonne Forest, France, October 7. 1918; Elva, the wife of H. P. Smith, identified with a banking house at Superior, Wisconsin ; Freeman, a rancher and meat merchant at Maxville, Kansas; Myron Stanley; and Wilson R., who died at the age of sixteen years.

Myron Stanley Carpenter was educated in the public schools of Green Lake, Wisconsin, and at the age of fourteen years began work for his father in the meat business. This line, however, did not prove congenial, and when he attained his majority he turned his attention to the printer's trade, which he followed at Hortonville, Wiscon- sin, until 1894. In the fall of that year he returned to Green Lake and founded the Green Lake County Reporter, a modest publication at the start which he built up into sizeable proportions, retaining it until 1907, when he accepted an attractive offer and disposed of his interests. He next purchased an interest in the Princeton Republic, at Prince- ton, Wisconsin, but sold it after 21/2 months and returned to Green Lake, where he established a job printing office, in conjunction with the con- duct of which he published an advertising sheet known as the Live Wire. Mr. Carpenter contin- ned to be thus employed until September, 1909, when he came to Montana and formed a connec- tion with the Belgrade Journal. This lasted until October, 1910, when he established the Three Forks News and edited it until 1911, when he sold his stock. He was foreman of the mechanical depart- ment of the Bozeman Chronicle during the cam- paign of 1912. In the meantime Mr. Carpenter had homesteaded 160 acres of land situated fifteen miles north of Three Forks, a property which he still owns, and lived on his ranch until Septem- ber, 1913, when the call of the craft again became too strong to resist and he became editor of the Three Forks News. He purchased the controlling interest in the Belgrade Journal. March 15, 1915. and at this time he and his wife are sole owners of this weekly publication, which is printed every Thursday. The Journal was established in 1900, and is independent in its political stand. It has an excellent circulation throughout Gallatin and the surrounding counties and devotes its columns to clean and authentic news and interesting features, with timely and well-written editorials and spe- cial articles. The plant and offices are situated on Northern Pacific Avenue, and a well-equipped job office is maintained at which reliable and attractive work is done.

Mr. Carpenter is a stanch democrat and his long activities in the ranks of his party culminated in 1018 when he became the democratic nominee for the Legislature. The campaign was one of the hardest-fought in the history of the countv. Mr. Carpenter being defeated by five votes by M. W. Penwell, the choice of the republican party. Mr. Carpenter is serving his community capably in the capacities of justice of the peace and police magis- trate. He is a valued and active member of the

Belgrade Commercial Club, of which he was presi- dent for two years and secretary for a like pe- riod, and also is popular with his fellow-members in Belgrade Lodge No. 82, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Three Forks Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. With his family he belongs to the Presbyterian Church, in which he is an elder.

On December 16, 1896, Mr. Carpenter was mar -· ried at Green Lake, Wisconsin, to Miss Andilnsia Randall, a daughter of Hubert and Maria (Merri- thew) Randall, the latter of whom resides on her homestead ranch in Montana. Mr. Randall, who was a veteran of the Civil war and a lifelong agriculturist in Wisconsin, died at Marshfield, that

state. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter, namely: Randall Seth, who at- tended the State Normal School at Superior, Wis- consin, entered the Students' Army Training Corps while there, and became a bugler and a corporal, and is now residing at Belgrade, where he is assisting his father with his business duties and also in the conduct of his ranch ; and Miss Erma Arvis, who is a sophomore at the Belgrade High School.

WILLIAM E. PARKINS. In the various activities which make up the life of the thriving and en- terprising City of - Belgrade, William E. Parkins has been a factor of prominence. His business connections include the assistant secretaryship of the Gallatin Valley Milling Company and a direc- torship in the Farmers Bank of Belgrade, as a public servant he is capably discharging the duties of council member, and in religious and social circles he is known as a man of constructive ten- dencies and one with the best interests of his community at heart.

Mr. Parkins was born in Madison County, Mon- tana, March 13, 1878, a son of W. J. Parkins. His father was a native of Godmanchester, England, born in 1840. and reared and educated in his na- tive place. He came to the United States during the late 'sos and was married at Littleton, Colorado. In 1864 he came to Montana, locating in the Ruby Valley of Madison County, where he became a pio- neer rancher, homesteader and stockman, and de- spite the fact that he died at the early age of forty- two years, in 1882, was one of the reasonably successful men of his locality. He was a republi- can in politics and a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Parkins married Marcia Montgomery, who was born at Waddington, New York, and still survives, making her home with her son at Belgrade. and three children were born to the union : Hattie M., who died at Craig, Montana, in 1913. as the wife of E. J. Trerise, now a re- tired farmer of Helena, Montana; William E .; and a daughter who died in infancy. Following the death of her husband Mrs. Parkins took her children back to Littleton, Colorado, and then to Denver, spending four years in these two places, later spent a year each in Madison County, Mon- tana, and Denver, Colorado, and then went to Boise, Idaho, for one vear. She had formerly been mar- ried to Dr. J. H. Miller, who was born in 1830, in Maryland, and was a physician bv profession. He came to Helena, Montana, in 1889. where he practiced medicine for one year, and then located at Belgrade, spending ten years, subsequently prac- ticing at Twin Bridges, Virginia City, Norris and finally Littleton. Colorado, where he died in 1912. He and his wife had no children, and after his death she moved to Belgrade to live with her son, William E.

William E. Parkins attended the schools of Lit- tleton, and Denver, Colorado; Virginia City, Mon-

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tana; Boise City, Idaho; and Helena, Belgrade and Bozeman, Montana, and at the last-named place finished the freshman year in the Montana State College. Leaving that institution in 1898, he se- cured employment as a stenographer and office assistant at Bozeman, and later acted in a like ca- pacity at Butte. In the fall of 1903 he came to Belgrade as bookkeeper for the Gallatin Valley Milling Company, and since that time has been steadily promoted until he now occupies the posi- tion of assistant secretary with this concern and has risen to a recognized place among the capable business men of his city. The mills and offices of this company are situated along the tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and Northern Pa- cific Railway's tracks, and the mills have a capacity of 250 barrels of flour daily. Mr. Parkins has been a factor in securing increased business for his concern and in making it one of the substan- tial houses of its kind in the county. He has va- rious connections and is a director in the Farmers Bank of Belgrade, and his associates have every reason to place faith and confidence in his ability. Politically a republican, Mr. Parkins has interested himself in a practical way in civic affairs, and is at present a member of the council and one of the working and constructive members of that body. His religious connection is with the Episcopal Church, which he is serving as treasurer, and fraternally he is past master of Belgrade Lodge No. 68, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He also belongs to the Commercial Club.

Mr. Parkins was married in 1914, at Bozeman, Montana, to Miss Emma Rehsteiner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Rehsteiner, both of whom are deceased. Mrs. Parkins, who is a native of Tell City, Indiana, was a professional nurse prior to her marriage, and is a lady of many graces and accomplishments. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Parkins: William E., Jr., born March I, 1916; and Katherine, born May 10, 1917.

MAJOR WILLIAM W. ALDERSON. While not chron- ologically the first, Major William W. Alderson was among the very first not only in point of time but in influence and achievement among the pioneers of Bozeman, and has long been regarded as one of the city's real founders and builders.

He was born at Arkendale, North Riding, York- shire, England, February 28, 1831, and died at Boze- man, October 15, 1906, at the age of seventy-five, having been a resident of Bozeman more than forty years. When he was seventeen years of age he came with his parents to the United States. The Alderson family settled in western Illinois, near the city of Galena. On May 30, 1854, at Shullsburg, Wisconsin, Mr. Alderson married Frances W. Weatherby. For a few years he was engaged in business at Shullsburg, but in 1858 moved to Minne- sota Territory, and was one of the first to engage in the milling business in Winona County. In the fall of 1860 he returned to Illinois, living for a time at Council Hill, where he had charge of the milling business of his brother, Simon Alderson, and also did some farming.

In the spring of 1864, Mr. Alderson and his younger brother, John Alderson, came across the plains to the Northwest, to the then great Idaho Territory, part of which is now Montana. Perhaps a dozen earlier settlers had preceded them into the Gallatin Valley. The Aldersons arrived at the pres- ent site of Bozeman on July 14, 1864. They soon settled on a claim a mile south of the present Main Street of Bozeman. John remained with his brother a few years, but Major Alderson lived there ten

years and in the meantime, while engaged in farm- ing and dairying, he helped to establish the town of Bozeman, and proposed the name for the town, which was adopted August 9, 1864, in honor of the famous guide, John M. Bozeman, who piloted many emigrant trains through the mountain pass approach- ing this city.

Mr. Alderson and his brother started the building of a log house larger than their first cabin in 1865, William J. Beall, one of the founders of the city, assisting in the work. The house was completed in 1866, when Mr. Alderson was joined by his family, consisting of his wife and four children, who ar- rived from Wisconsin, having made the trip up the Missouri River from St. Louis to Fort Benton. Part of the original Alderson claim is now a choice resi- dence section of the city of Bozeman, and the old log house that was the Alderson home for several years is still standing, one of the picturesque land- marks of the Gallatin Valley.

Mr. Alderson and his brother were among the first to raise wheat in the Gallatin Valley in 1865, and since that time farming has been a profitable industry. In order to secure seed they drove to Cache Valley, Utah, and by the time they com- pleted the trip the wheat and oats cost them 20 cents per pound. Their first plow, purchased in Virginia City, cost $150, and the teeth of their har- row, made from an old wagon tire, cost 40 cents per pound. Mr. Alderson brought the first Wood's Har- vester to Montana in 1865.

Mr. Alderson was not only active in the early agricultural advancement of the community, but he was also a leader in religious and educational work. He had been ordained as a local preacher before coming west, and he conducted the first religious services in Gallatin Valley, at the farm home of Oscar E. Penwell and his brother, Merritt W. Pen- well, in July, 1865, on the ranch where M. W. Pen- well and his family now reside, about twelve miles northwest of Bozeman. He organized the first Sun- day school in Bozeman in 1866, and raised the funds to build the first church in this part of Montana, the Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1866 and 1867. He performed the marriage ceremony for many pio- neer couples, and was called from the fields on his farm to perform the burial services for pioneers and their children.

The records of the school district still in existence show that Mr. Alderson was a member of the school board of the district in which Bozeman is lo- cated in 1868, and he served for twelve years on the board. He hauled lumber to build the first school house in the district, a building now used as a residence. He was also instrumental in se- curing the first brick school house .in the district. For four years he was a member of the City Coun. cil, and was interested in many public movements.

In 1873 Mr. Alderson was appointed United States Indian agent at the Milk River Agency, and for three years he successfully held in check and man- aged the Sioux and Assiniboines, inducing many of these Indians to engage in farming. It was during his service as Indian agent that he acquired the title of Major. He resigned in 1876 in order to return to Bozeman to be with his family.

As a member of the Fifteenth Territorial As- sembly in 1886 and 1887, Major Alderson served with notable ability and indefatigable energy through the regular and special sessions. He was also a representative from Gallatin' County in the Fourth Legislative Assembly of the state of Montana, and 'as chairman of the committee on buildings and grounds, and also as a member of the committee on appropriations, he had much to do with securing

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for Montana the splendid educational institutions of which it now boasts.

Major Alderson helped to organize the Society of Montana Pioneers, and also the Pioneers Society of Gallatin County. He served efficiently as presi- dent of both organizations. He took a prominent part in the organization of the republican party in Gallatin County under conditions that were the re- verse of encouraging.

It was perhaps in his long and active career as a newspaper man that Major Alderson was best known throughout the state and in other states. It was more with a view to increasing his usefulness than as a financial venture that he entered the jour- nalistic field in 1877 by purchasing the Avant Courier, a weekly paper that had been established in 1871 as the successor of the Montana Pick and Plow, Bozeman's first paper. For nearly thirty years he continued to wield an important influence in the state through his fearless editorial utterances.

The Avant Courier was for several years the only paper published between Bismarck and Helena, and its files are considered valuable historical records. The Avant Courier and Gallatin County Republi- can were merged July 1, 1905, and in the consolida- tion Major Alderson was elected managing editor, a position he filled most ably until a short time be- fore his death, dictating editorials after he became too weak physically to write, his mind being active until near the end. The columns of his paper were always open to the people of the community, and Major Alderson took special pride in chronicling events marking progress or that were calculated to add to the fame of the favored region in the up- building of which he played an important part. His pen was always ready to advance the interests of the community and the state in which he lived.

The Montana Press Association was another or- ganization that Major Alderson helped to organize, and during its prosperous years he was one of its most earnest workers. He served as first vice presi- dent and as second president of the organization. In his address as president of the association he spoke to the news gatherers as follows: "How- ever humble your lot or unpretentious your station in the field of journalism, never lose sight of the fact that you are, or should be, a gentleman, the peer of all your patrons, and a reliable news gatherer in the community. Whether the circulation of your paper reaches 300, 500 or 1,000, you have a larger if not a more appreciative and intelligent audience than any preacher or platform orator within the range of your editorial thunder, and that your weekly productions will be critically scanned and deliberately estimated in the scales of calm and deliberate pub- lic_opinion."

The newspapers of the state did not hesitate to speak in appreciation of Major Alderson's work while he was living, and at the time of his death there were many editorial tributes, among them be- ing a number of references to him as the "dean of Montana journalism," while the editor of the Butte Miner said, among other things: "To a great ex- tent, what Charles A. Dana was to the newspaper world of the United States, Major Alderson was to the profession in Montana."

The Alderson family moved from the ranch home in 1874 to a commodious residence half a mile nearer the city, the home on Central Avenue, now one of the prettiest streets in the city, being the scene of many happy gatherings and community social af- fairs. Here Mr. and Mrs. Alderson celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1904, and all their living children except one and some grandchildren

were home to celebrate the occasion. At this home both Major Alderson and his wife died.

Mrs. Alderson was born in Durham County, Eng- land, May 5, 1834, and died at Bozeman, December 19, 1910. Of the nine children born to Major and Mrs. Alderson, Matthew W., the oldest, is editor of the Northwestern Stockman and Farmer at . Helena. Edward C., a farmer and guide, died in Bozeman in 1917. The third is Mrs. E. L. Houston, of Bozeman. Mary F., who died in Chicago in 1903, was first married to Milton Russell, and later became the wife of Dr. Charles Dietz, of Chicago. Anna G. is the wife of James S. Hammond, a mer- chant at Billings. Margaret H., with her husband, Stephen A. Ulmer, lives on the Alderson ranch, where Charles R. Alderson, the next member of the family, is manager and one of the owners. Wil- liam B. died at the age of sixteen, and George Frank- lin, the youngest, is linotype operator for the Boze- man Chronicle. There are eleven grandchildren liv- ing and four great-grandchildren.

MRS. ELIZABETH LINA (ALDERSON ) HOUSTON has many of the literary gifts of her honored father, and has long been prominent as a teacher and news- paper writer. She was born near Winona, Min- nesota, and was brought to the Gallatin Valley in early childhood. She was educated at Bozeman, be- ing a member of the first class graduated from the Bozeman High School. She attended through the sophomore year Northwestern University at Evans- ton, Illinois, leaving school in 1883, and the fol- lowing year, at Bozeman, became the wife of Mr. Stafford Houston.

The late Mr. Houston was born in Carroll County, Missouri, and died at Fillmore, California. He was a graduate of a business college in his native county and was in the insurance business in St. Louis, while following his marriage he lived at Bozeman and conducted a stationery business. He served as deputy sheriff of Gallatin County, was a democrat in politics and a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Houston had one daughter, Edith, who was the wife of Howard M. Richardson, formerly manager for the Copeland Lumber Company at Man- hattan, Montana. Mrs. Richardson died February 16, 1920, from influenza-pneumonia, and five days later her husband died from the same cause. They left a son, John Robert, who is being reared by the grandmother, Mrs. Houston, and a daughter, Eliza- beth, born the day before her mother's death, who is being reared by Mrs. Houston's sister, Mrs. S. A. Ulmer, and her husband.

After the death of her husband Mrs. Houston went to Chicago and for eleven years was engaged alternately in work as bookkeeper and teacher. She returned to Bozeman in 1902 and has also taught school in this city, though for the greater part of the time she has been engaged in newspaper work. At present she is news writer for the Boze- man Chronicle, and reports for the large dailies. Mrs. Houston has collected an enormous amount of data, preparatory to the compilation of a history of the Gallatin Valley. She has prepared many interesting sketches of local pioneers, and for the past ten years has been secretary of the Pioneers Society of Gallatin County. She is Montana director of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and for two years was president of the State Federation. She has served as a member of the County Edu- cational Examining Board for nine years and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Gallatin County High School. Mrs. Houston is a member of the Episcopal Church. Her home is in the Black- more Apartments.

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JOHN DIMON, M. D., physician and surgeon of Three Forks, is one of the capable and highly trained members of his profession in Gallatin Coun- ty. He was born in Clay County, Kansas, Janu- ary 4, 1884, a son of N. H. Dimon, and grandson of Nathan Hedges Dimon, born at Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, in 1814, and died in Clay County, Kansas, in 1909. During his active life he was a seaman, going on whaling voyages from Sag Harbor, but when he retired he went to Kan- sas. During the Civil war he served his country as a patriot. His wife before marriage was a Miss Ludlow, of New York State. Record is found of the Dimon family in the colonial history of New York, its representatives having come to this coun- try from England about 1640.

N. H. Dimon was born at Sag Harbor, in 1847, and there grew to manhood. In 1862, although his father was in the service, he enlisted for the remainder of the Civil war in a New York in- fantry regiment, and was wounded at Cold Har- bor, and after he recovered sufficiently to leave the hospital he was honorably discharged. He then took a three years' preparatory course at Colgate University, following it with a four year theological training, and was ordained a minister of the Baptist faith. About 1873 he moved to Clay Center, Kansas, and entered the educational field, alternating school teaching with farming, and meet- ing with gratifying success. He still resides at Clay Center. Always a republican, he has confined his political activities to exercising his right of suffrage. For many years he has been an honored member of the Odd Fellows. After coming to Clay Center he was married to Priscilla Jane Row- land, born in Pennsylvania in 1847. Mrs. Dimon died at Clay Center in 1915, she and her husband having had two children, namely: Doctor Dimon; and Charles A., who is principal of schools of Holi- rood, Kansas.

After attending the rural schools of Clay Coun- ty, John Dimon was graduated from the Clay County High School of Clay Center in 1907, and for the subsequent two years was engaged in teach- ing school in Clay County. For a year he was a student of Washburn College at Topeka, Kansas, and then matriculated in the Kansas Medical Col- lege at Topeka, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. During the next year he was interne at the Santa Fe Hos- pital at Topeka, leaving that city for Rock Springs, Wyoming. In six months Doctor Dimon went to Nepper, Washington, and was there engaged in practice for eighteen months. Once more he made a change, selecting Elk River, Idaho, for the scene of his labors during the succeeding three years. In the meanwhile his country had entered the great war, and Doctor Dimon, like so many of the members of the medical profession, felt the urgent need of men of his calling in the service, so enlisted in June, 1918, as a first lieutenant in the medical corps and was sent to Fort Reilly, and thence to Travis, Texas, where he was placed in the Eighteenth Sanitary Train, Eighteenth Division. He was also in the base hospital at Camp Travis, and was mustered out December 19, 1918, with the commission of captain in the Medical Reserve Corps. In January, 1919, Doctor Dimon came to Three Forks, establishing his offices in the Ruby Building, and is engaged in a general medical and surgical practice. Doctor Dimon belongs to the local, state and national medical associations. He belongs to Elk River Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he is a republican.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 101

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1126

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126