Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 113

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

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II > Part 113

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Orleans, six years in St. Louis, and then removed to Green County, Wisconsin, and some years later joined a pioneer colony in Minnesota and took up a tract of government land at Pine Island. That was the last stage of his migrations and experiences, and in the midst of plenty and prosperity he died at Pine Island. He was a democrat after becoming an American citizen. George Parkin married Ann Garlic, a native of England, who died at Pine Island at the age of seventy-two.

Thomas Parkin, father of the Bozeman educator, shared in common with many of the experiences of his father. He was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1842, and was six years of age when brought to the United States. He spent part of his boyhood at New Orleans and St. Louis, and came to man- hood in Green County, Wisconsin, from which lo- cality he enlisted in the Thirty-Seventh Wisconsin Infantry and saw active service as a Union soldier in many of the battles of the Civil war. He was at Cold Harbor and Gettysburg, and while in the trenches at Petersburg before Richmond was wounded in the head by a shrapnel during a mine explosion. After the war he returned to Wisconsin, was married in Green County, and shortly after- wards, with a team of horses, a prairie schooner, and with a meager equipment of household goods he emigrated to Pine Island, Minnesota. There he bought land and was busily engaged in farming until recently he sold out and is now living retired at Pine Island. For several years he served as town supervisor. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, a republican in politics, and belongs to the Baptist Church. Thomas Parkin married Ann E. Ross, who was born at Ludlow, Vermont, in 1846. The oldest of their children was Ada, who died when thirteen years of age. Minnie is the wife of C. L. Stebbins, a farmer at Lemon, South Dakota. Edgar and Arthur are associated in the dairy business and as dealers in cheese at Pine Island and do business on a large scale there. Ernest Joseph Parkin is the fifth in the family. Lois is the wife of W. H. Marsh, a dealer in farm implements at Pine Island. Wilbur is a wholesale ice cream manufacturer at Rochester, Minnesota. Thomas is proprietor of a confectionery business at Rochester, while Guy is a chemist and is em- ployed in his profession at St. Paul.

Ernest Joseph Parkin graduated from the high school at Pine Island, Minnesota, in 1898. He com- pleted his sophomore year in Carlton College at Northfield, Minnesota, and from there entered the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, graduating with his A. B. degree in 1902. For one year he taught mathematics and science at Windom, Min- nesota, and the following summer carried on studies and was instructor of mathematics in the summer school of the University of Minnesota. Mr. Parkin has been at Bozeman since the fall of 1903, and the first four years he was teacher of physics in the Gallatin County High School, and since then has been principal. He has under his supervision a staff of twenty-seven teachers, and 470 scholars are en- rolled in the County High School.

Mr. Parkin has a home of most substantial com- forts, a new modern residence at 522 South Sixth Avenue. As a practical farmer his interests center in a ranch of 640 acres twenty miles west of Boze- man. He is a member of the State Teachers' Asso- ciation and the Inland Empire Teachers' Associa- tion, is a member of the board of trustees of the Baptist Church of Bozeman and a deacon, is an independent republican in political affiliations, and is a past master of Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient

Free and Accepted Masons, serving two years as master, is past high priest of Zoma Chapter No. 12, 'Royal Arch Masons, and for one year was eminent commander of St. John's Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar.

In 1905, at Bozeman, he married Miss Alice M. De Boer, a daughter of David and Switska ( Postu- mus) De Boer. Her parents were residents of Rodney, Michigan, where her father, a retired farmer, died in 1918, and where her mother is still living. Mrs. Parkin is a graduate of Ferris Institute at Grand Rapids, Michigan. To their mar- riage have been born two children : Mila, born Octo- ber 12, 1906, and Max, born December 16, 1910.

W. L. COLLINS. Some men seem born to be leaders, and not only command others in a business way, but are capable of reaching and holding high positions in politics. W. L. Collins is freight ticket agent of the Butte; Anaconda & Pacific Railroad at Anaconda and also commissioner of Deerlodge County, and is equally proficient in both. He was born at Memphis, Tennessee, March 15, 1874, a son of Jeremiah Collins. The birth of Jeremiah Collins took place in County Cork, Ireland, in 1842, and his death at Puyallup, Washington, in Febru- ary, 1919. When he was still a boy his parents immigrated to the United States and located in New Hampshire, where he was reared, but he left Keene, that state, for Memphis, Tennessee, in young manhood, prior to the outbreak of the war between the North and South. In 1861 he enlisted for service in that conflict as a member of Company G, Merrill's Cavalry from Missouri and remained for 21/2 years, when he was honorably discharged. Returning to Memphis, he was there married, and remained there working at his trade as a machin- ist until 1882. In that year he went to Eldridge, North Dakota, and was engaged in farming until his retirement, at which time he moved to Puyallup, Washington. In politics he was a republican, while in religions faith he was a Roman Catholic. His widow, who bore the maiden name of Mary Mad- den, survives him and resides at Puyallup, Wash- ington. She was born at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1852. Jeremiah Collins and his wife reared ten chil- dren, seven sons and three daughters.

W. L. Collins attended the public schools of Eld- ridge and other points in North Dakota, and was on his father's farm until he was seventeen years old. At that time he entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad and continued with it in North Dakota until 1895, when he was transferred to Billings, Montana, being employed by the North- ern Pacific and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy rail- roads as joint ticket agent at that point for four years. In 1899 he came to the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad, and was its cashier at the Butte headquarters for eight years, or until 1907, when he was made freight and ticket agent for this same road at Anaconda, and has so continued ever since. His offices are in the freight house of his road on West Commercial Avenue, Anaconda. Mr. Collins is a republican, and since coming to Anaconda has served as a member of the city council for two terms. In 1914 he was elected county commissioner for a term of six years. He is chairman of the board for Deerlodge County, and is president of the State Associations of County Commissioners, being elected to the latter position at Missoula in 1918 and re-elected at Livingston in January, 1919. Mr. Collins belongs to Anaconda Lodge No. 259, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Ana- conda Camp No. 154. Modern Woodmen of America, and to the Rotary Club. He owns his

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modern residence at No. 614 Locust Street, Ana- conda.

In 1896 Mr. Collins was married at Red Lodge, Montana, to Miss Metta Sperry, born at Alden, Iowa. After being graduated in the high school course in her native state Mrs. Collins attended the Jamestown College at Jamestown, North Dakota, and is a highly cultivated and charming lady. Mr. and Mrs. Collins have one child, Fay, who was born December 26, 1899, and is attending the Montana University at Missoula, after having been gradu- ated from the Anaconda High School. Mr. Collins has risen to his present position entirely through his own industry and ability, no outside influence having been exerted in his behalf, and therefore all the more credit is due him. It is not difficult for a man to obtain promotion when money and powerful friends are backing him, but when he succeeds without these aids it means that he pos- sesses more than average capability and willingness to work, and is therefore more valuable to his company and his community. As a public man Mr. Collins measures up equally strong, and there is no doubt but that further political honors await him in the future, for he has proven his worth in the offices to which he has already been elected, and his constituents are liable to want him to rep- resent them in still higher bodies.

BAYARD SKIFF MORROW, superintendent of the concentration department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, is one of the many young men who are putting into their work not only care- fully trained knowledge, but also the enthusiasm of youth and its vigor and mental strength. He was born at Challis, Idaho, October 21, 1881, a son of James B. Morrow, born at East Aurora, New York, in 1841, died at Boise, Idaho, in 1909. Growing up in his native place, he enlisted for sery- ice during the Civil war in 1861 as a member of the Seventy-second New York Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out at the close of the war as a first lieutenant of the Sixty-fifth New York Volun- teer Infantry, to which he had been transferred. Only a lad of nineteen at the time of his enlist- ment, he soon developed into a seasoned soldier, and was with General Grant's command in the campaign in and around Richmond. He had the misfortune to be captured in a raid on a railroad in Virginia and sent to Libby Prison, and after six months of confinement was exchanged. After his discharge he crossed the plains from New York to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then came into Mon- tana, and was engaged in placer mining during 1867 on the present site of Helena. After a short time he left for another placer mine near Salmon City, Idaho, and a few years later became a cattle- man in that vicinity. He continued to operate as a cattleman and rancher until 1898, when he retired and moved to Boise City, Idaho, although he continued to hold his ranch. Mr. Morrow was one of the pioneers of that part of Idaho, and Challis is near the old site of his large ranching property, where he was so profitably engaged for so many years.

James B. Morrow was married to Vira Skiff, born at Hume, New York, in 1853, who survives him and makes her home at Boise, Idaho. Their children were as follows: Bayard Skiff, whose name heads this review; Beryl, who married George Huebner, an attorney-at-law, lives at Emmett. Idaho; Hazel M., who is unmarried and lives with her mother; and McKenn F., who is an attorney- at-law and resides at Boise, Idaho. James B. Mor- row was a democrat, but aside from casting his

vote for the candidates of his party took no part in politics. Well known as a Mason, he was con- nected with the local lodge in his vicinity.

Bayard Skiff Morrow was reared on his father's ranch and attended the schools of Custer and Lemhi counties in Idaho, and was graduated from a high school of Boise, Idaho, in 1902, following which he took the regular course at the University of Idaho at Moscow, Idaho, from which he was graduated in 1906, with the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering. Immediately following his graduation he went to Wallace, Idaho, and for six months worked in the mines there to secure a prac- tical experience. He then was made assistant as- sayer in the company's assay office, and held that position for six months. Leaving that company, he became assayer and chemist for the Hecla Min- ing Company at Wallace, Idaho, and remained there for six years. In 1913 he came to Anaconda, and beginning in the testing department of the Ana- conda Copper Mining Company has risen to his present position through those of foreman of ex- perimental flotation, foreman of the flotation and the concentrator, on the installation of the process, superintendent of the grinding and flotation de- partment, and superintendent of the copper concen- tration. His offices are in the general office build- ing of the Washoe Reduction Works, two miles east of Anaconda. Mr. Morrow is a republican. He belongs to the Anaconda Club, Anaconda Coun- try Club, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. In addition to his other interests Mr Morrow is a stockholder in the Hecla Mining Company, the Western Union Life Insurance Com- pany of Spokane, Washington, and in the Idanha Hotel of Boise, Idaho, the latter being a property inherited by his father's heirs, as well as his resi- dence at No. 610 Main Street, Anaconda.

In 1909 Mr. Morrow was married at Kooskia, Idaho, to Miss Jessie Rowton, a daughter of J. G. and Emma (Clark) Rowton. Mrs. Rowton is de- ceased, but Mr. Rowton still lives at Kooskia, be- ing a retired farmer. Mrs. Morrow is a graduate of the University of Idaho, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Mr. and Mrs. Morrow have the following children: Marguerite M., who was born April 2, 1912; and James B., who was born March 16, 1917.

The Morrow family is an old one in New York State, having been founded there during colonial times by representatives of it who came there from the north of Ireland and were Scotch-Irish. The grandfather, Henry Morrow, was born in the Em- pire State, and died at East Aurora before his grandson B. S. Morrow was born. By trade he was a cabinetmaker and was very well known at East Aurora, where he spent the greater part of his life. His wife was a McKeen, and she also died at East Aurora.

On the maternal side of the house B. S. Morrow also comes of an old family, Stephen Skiff found- ing it in Connecticut, going there from Wales, and served in the American Revolution. Later a de- cendant blazed his way through the dense forests from Oneida County, New York, to Alleghany County in the same state. J. B. Skiff, the maternal grandfather of B. S. Morrow, was born near Hume, New York, in 1817, and died there in 1895, having spent his entire life in and about Hume, where he was engaged in farming. He married Lydia Fitch, who was born in New York State, and died at Hume, New York, in 1888. The children born to J. B. Skiff and his wife were as follows: Mrs. Morrow, mother of B. S. Morrow; Lucina, who married H. H. Cochran, a retired ranchman, lives

John P. Aver

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at Emmett, Idaho; Addie, who married E. C. Thomas, who is conducting the old homestead, lives at Hume, New York; Harvey J., of whom there is no definite record; John M. and Stephen, killed in action during the Civil war; Chester A., who died at Hume, New York, in 1897; and Milton, who died at Hume, New York, at the age of seven- teen. Mrs. James B. Morrow is a member of Boise Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and has served as state historian of her chapter.

FRANK M. GRAY has a secure place in the legal profession of Montana. He is a native of Boze- man and is enjoying a successful practice as a lawyer in the same community where he grew up.

He was born in Bozeman, November 29, 1889. His father was the late John Gray, a Montana pioneer. John Gray was born in Limerick, Ire- land, in 1846, son of John Richardson Gray, who spent his life in Limerick, was a member of the landed class, and had a tenant lease under the Crown and was well-to-do. John Gray though reared in a home of substantial comfort chose a life of independence and adventure in extreme early boyhood. He went around the world from Cork, Ireland, as a first cabin boy on an English man-of- war. Much of his time while on the war vessel was spent patroling the waters of Algeria. He next joined a whaling expedition to the North Seas. He was only fifteen years of age, but had seen many ports of the world when he left his vessel at San Francisco, California. Not long afterward he joined an overland train engaged in a hunting expedition to the wilds of Montana. He reached the Gallatin Valley in 1863 and for several years was employed by freighters and stockmen, rode the range and in 1872 bought a ranch on Reese Creek in Gallatin County. In the fall of 1889 he left his ranch and moved to Bozeman, and after that conducted an extensive business as a brokers' exchange, dealing in mining and real estate mort- gages, and handling many interests with uniform success. He owned a farm of 520 acres on Reese Creek, three dwelling houses in Bozeman, and an examination of his estate at the time of his death also disclosed possession of various mining prop- erties and real- estate mortgages. His success in business was matched by his splendid public spirit and an influence freely extended in behalf of the welfare of his home city. He was a leader in the fight for the location of the state capital at Boze- man. Politically he was a democrat, was a member of Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Bozeman Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar, and was a thirty-second de- gree Mason. He was deeply interested in the Ma- sonic craft and went abroad to Paris, France, to take his higher degrees. During the early 'gos he was also a member of a Masonic excursion to China.

John Gray married Martha F. Phipps, who was born at Kirksville, Missouri, August 22, 1863, and is still living at Bozeman. They had a family of seven children: Charles E., a farmer at Kewanee, Illi- nois; Mary G., wife of Alvin C. Busby, a mechanic at Ellensburg, Washington; John W., an agrono- mist with the State Agricultural College at Bozeman ; Ellen V., who died at the age of twelve years; Frank M .; Agnes G., wife of Kenneth A. Wilber, a civil engineer at Glendale, California; and Robertz M., an accountant living at Los Angeles.

Frank M. Gray attended the rural schools of Gallatin County while a boy on his father's ranch, was graduated from the Gallatin County High School in 1910, spent one year in the Missouri State

Normal School at Kirksville, his mother's old home, and another year in the Montana State College at Bozeman. Mr. Gray has a broad and extensive knowledge of the United States, acquired during a period of 21/2 years in which he traveled in prac- tically every state in the Union and also in Canada and Mexico. In preparation for the law he was first in the law office of H. A. Bolinger at Boze- man, and was admitted to the bar, January 13, 1914. For the past five years he has conducted a general civil and criminal practice. Three years of that time he was justice of the peace and is the present coroner of Gallatin County. Mr. Gray has an interest in his father's estate. He is a demo- crat in politics, a member of the official board of the Christian Church, is affiliated with Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a member of the Gallatin County, State and American Bar associations. He owns a modern home on the Yellowstone Trail at 109 North Seventh Avenue.

July 22, 1915, at Livingston, he married Miss Shorley M. McCartney, daughter of John H. and Mary L. (Oldham) McCartney. Her parents re- side at Cambridge, Ohio, her father being a retired business man. Mrs. Gray is a graduate of the Cambridge High School in Ohio, attended a Penn- sylvania college, and before her marriage was a teacher in the public schools of Cambridge. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have one son, Frank M., Jr., born October 25, 1917.

JOHN P. SWEE, the present mayor of Ronan, has been a successful lawyer there for the last ten years. He graduated in law 'at Minneapolis and for five years was in law practice in that city before coming to Montana.

Mr. Swee was born at Pine Island, Minnesota, June 29, 1877. His father, Arnt J. Swee, was born near Christiania, Norway, in 1854, and lived in his native land until he was eighteen years of age. He was a Norwegian sailor. On coming to this coun- try he settled as a pioneer in Goodhue County, Min- nesota, and is still living there at Wanamingo. His efforts as a farmer have brought him much pros- perity, he has always been an influential figure in his community, and has reared a large family, most of whom are already independent producers and doing well for themselves. Arnt J. Swee is an ardent republican, has held township offices, and is a member of the Lutheran Church. His wife was Miss Ragnhild Hoseth, who was born in 1855, also near Christiania, Norway, but they were mar- ried in Goodhue County, Minnesota. They are the parents of fifteen children: Henry, a farmer in Goodhue County; John P .; Mattie, wife of Sivert Hegge, a farmer in Goodhue County; Martin, in the automobile business at Wanamingo; Gustav, who runs his father's farm; Emily, wife of Joseph Miller, a bookbinder at Chicago; Peter, a farmer in Goodhue County; Josephine, wife of Andrew Blakstad, a farmer in Goodhue County; Anna, wife of Fred Haller, who is an automobile mechanic at Wanamingo; Christina, wife of John Ulevig, a Goodhue County farmer; Albert, who also followed agriculture in Goodhue County; Joseph, a farmer in Goodhue County; Adolph, a linotype operator at Clintonville, Wisconsin ; Rosella, who is unmarried and lives with her sister Emily at Chicago; and Sidney, at home.

John P. Swee as a boy lived on his father's farm, attended country schools, and spent two years in the Southern Minnesota Normal College at Austin. He was a teacher in his native state until 1902, and in that year entered the law department of the

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University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, receiving his LL. B. degree in 1905. By subsequent studies at the University he was awarded the degree LL. M. in 190g. In 1905 Mr. Swee began practice at Min- neapolis with the firm of Gertsen & Lund in the New York Life Building, but gave up his promising work in the Minnesota metropolis and came to Ronan on November 10, 1910. His time has since been engaged in a general civil and criminal prac- tice, and he has his offices on Central Avenue. In the spring of 1919 Mr. Swee formed a partnership with Lloyd I. Wallace under the firm name Swee & Wallace. Mr. Swee also owns ranch lands in Mis- soula and Flathead counties to the aggregate of a thousand acres, and has a modern home on Sterling Street in Ronan.

He is an independent republican in politics, and is affiliated with Hell Gate Lodge No. 383 of the Elks at Missoula, and Ronan Lodge of Odd Fellows and Ronan Camp Modern Woodmen of America.

In June, 1911, at Cambridge, Minnesota, he mar- ried Miss Lydia Carlson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Siefert Carlson, of Cambridge. Her father is a carpenter and builder. Mrs. Swee is an expert stenographer and at one time was regarded as the most rapid court stenographer in Minneapolis. She is a graduate of the Minneapolis Business College.

THOMAS D. TREGLOAN. One of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Park County is the veteran ranchman, Thomas D. Tregloan, a pioneer cattle man who has done his full share in the development of the southern part of Montana, which he has honored by his citizenship for a half century, having consistently given his support to all measures for the public good, and his name has ever been synonymous with honorable dealing in all the relations of life. As he has passed so many years in this locality he has a wide acquaintance among its best citizens, many of whom are included within the circle of his warm personal friends.

Thomas D. Tregloan was born in Grant County, Wisconsin, on June 13, 1850. His father, James Tregloan, was born in Cornwall, England, in 1805, and spent his mature years there as a miner until 1845, when he came to the United States. He first located in Wisconsin, where also he followed min- ing, but in 1852 he moved to the vicinity of Galena, Illinois, where he owned and operated a smelter un- til his death, which occurred in 1855. He was a republican in his political views and was a Metho- dist in his religious faith and a local minister. He married Hannah Goldsworthy, who was also a na- tive of Cornwall, England, born in 1807, and who died at Galena, Illinois, in 1853. Their children were as follows: James, who was a Confederate soldier during the Civil war, entered the employ of the Santa Fe Railway and died in Texas shortly after the close of the war; William, who served the four years in the Civil war as a cavalryman, is a farmer in Carroll County, Iowa; Honor is the widow of Thomas Allen, formerly a miner, and now resides at Hazel Green, Wisconsin; Hannah, who lives in Denver, Colorado, is the widow of Thomas Farley, late a miner ; John, of Hazel Green, Wisconsin; Samuel, who is a successful fruit raiser in the Yakima Valley, Washington; Thomas D., whose name forms the caption to this review; and Margaret is the wife of Matthew Rodda, a farmer at Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

Thomas D. Tregloan attended the public schools of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, and remained under the parental roof until the death of his father. In the fall of 1869 he came to Gallatin County, Mon-

tana, and became a cowboy, riding the ranges over a large part of this section of the state. In 1875 he came to what is now Park County, though then still a part of Gallatin County, and engaged in the cattle business on his own account. He has been a hard worker and a good manager and has been uniformly successful through the years, so that today he is accounted one of the most successful ranchmen in Montana. He owns 5,000 acres of fine ranch land, situated three miles south of Clyde Park, and here may be found some magnificent herds of blooded Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and grade Shire horses. Mr. Tregloan raises enor- mous quantities of grain and hay and, knowing every angle of the business, he is able to reap suc- cess where others might meet nothing but fail- ure. Until May 4, 1915, he was in partnership with John Harvey, a period of forty years, and the death of Mr. Harvey required the property to be equally divided, one-half being set apart for the Harvey heirs and he retaining the other half. On May 28, 1919, Mr. Tregloan suffered a disastrous fire, the outbuildings, barns and other property being de- stroyed, but the same have been replaced with more modern and better arranged buildings than those destroyed.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 113

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