Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 128

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 128

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In 1912, at Missoula, Mr. Forbis was married to Hazel N. Tietjen, the daughter of Mrs. A. P. Tiet- jen, of Missoula. Mrs. Forbis is a skilled musician in both vocal and instrumental, being a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, at Boston, Massachusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Forbis have been born two children, Bettie Lee, born December 9, 1915, and Berthene, born in May, 1919.

In every avenue of life's activities in which he has engaged, Mr. Forbis has been true to every trust, and as a result of his fine personal qualities of char- acter he enjoys to an eminent degree of the con- fidence and regard of the people.

ALONZO F. RICE. In the educational circles of Silver Bow County no name shines with more bril- liant lustre than that of Alonzo F. Rice, who is as well fitted by natural gifts and temperament as by mental training and untiring industry for the promi- nent position he holds as president of the Butte Business College, the most important institution of the kind in the entire Northwest, and, according to Government reports, the seventh largest private school in the United States. A son of the late Frank Rice, he was born July 30, 1867, at Chilhowee, Mis- souri, of Irish descent, that branch of the Rice fam- ily to which he belongs having originated in Ireland, from whence the immigrant ancestor came to this country in colonial times locating in Virginia.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1838, Frank Rice was there reared and married. He served as a

Union soldier throughout the Civil war, taking an active part in many of its battles. Moving to Chil- howee, Missouri, soon after his marriage, he was there successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death in 1879. He was a republican in politics, and a devout member of the Baptist Church. He married Mary Sanders, who was born in Nash- ville, Tennessee, in 1841, and died on the home farm in Chilhowee, Missouri, in 1887. Ten children were born of their union, as follows: Henry, an employe of the Butte Electric Railway Company, died in Butte in 1913; John died at the age of twenty-one years; Marshall died when but nineteen years old; Thomas Benton, in charge of a Presbyterian Church at Marshall, Missouri, was graduated from a uni- versity at Nashville, Tennessee, with the degree of Doctor of Laws; Tennie married William Brown, a farmer, and neither of them are now living; Alonzo F., with whom this sketch is principally concerned; George, who died in Butte in 1909, was connected with the Hecla Mine; J. Lee, secretary and treasurer of the Butte Business College, was graduated from both the Kansas City, Missouri, High School, and the Gem City Business College, of Quincy, Illinois, and has received the degree of C. P. A. from the State University of Montana, at Missoula, and from the American Institute of Ac- countants in New York City; Elizabeth lived but seventeen years; and Robert died in infancy.

Acquiring the rudiments of his education in Chil- howee; Missouri, Alonzo F. Rice was graduated from its high school, after which he attended the Mis- souri State Normal School at Warrensburg a year. In 1889 he was graduated from the Sedalia Business College in Sedalia, Missouri, and immediately after located at Hecla, Montana, where for six months he was bookkeeper for the Hecla Mining Company, and also superintended a night school, teaching pen- manship and bookkeeping. In September, 1890, Mr. Rice established the Butte Business College, open- ing it with but six students, a number that has in- creased from term to term, there being now, in 1920, 700 earnest students. This live, wide-awake school, under the able supervision of Mr. Rice, has graded departments, an accredited high school department, and in addition to the regular business courses gives special instruction in steam engineering and me- chanical drawing. The college occupies the entire fifth floor of the Owsley Building, its floor space of 14,000 feet being crowded to the limit. It is located in the heart of the business district of the city, at the corner of Park and Main streets, the busiest point of the busiest city in the great North- west. Teaching what is useful, practical and most. profitable along the lines of progressive business, the students enrolled in this college may advance as rapidly as ability and application will allow, the methods used in teaching the various branches re- quired in a business education being nowhere ex- celled.

Mr. Rice is a stanch republican in his political views. He is a prominent member of the State Teachers' Association; of the Commercial Teachers' Association of the United States; of the Butte Country Club ; and of the Silver Bow Club of Butte. Fraternally he belongs to Butte Lodge No. 240, Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is likewise a member of the Butte Chamber of Commerce, and owns an attractive home at 814 West Park Street.

Mr. Rice married in 1909, in Butte, Miss Mollie O'Leary, a daughter of John C. and Alice (Vernon) O'Leary, residents of Big Timber, Montana. Her father, now a venerable and respected man of eighty- six years, came to Montana in pioneer days, and owns a ranch just outside of Billings. Mr. and

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Mrs. Rice have two children, namely : Frank Vernon, born December 23, 1911 ; and John Robert, born July 14, 1914.

ERNEST SAMUEL HOLMES. By a life consistent in motive and action and because of his many com- mendable personal qualities, Ernest S. Holmes, of Missoula, has earned the sincere regard of all who know him. He came from an ancestry that dis- tinguished itself in the pioneer days of this state, having in them that Anglo-Saxon unrest that drives the race ever Westward on its great adventure. He is what he is from natural endowment and self- culture, having attained his present standing solely through the impelling force of his own nature, and because of his consistent efforts to assist in the advancement of the community's best interests he is deserving of the present enviable standing which he enjoys.

Ernest Samuel Holmes was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 2, 1885, and is the son of E. and Catherine (Grady) Holmes. E. Holmes was a native of England, born in 1846, and his death occurred in Wendover, Wyoming, in 1888. He was reared and educated in England, and there he learned the trade of a baker. In London he owned and operated a large bakery for some time, but in 1866 he came to the United States. Soon after arriving in this country he made the trip to Montana, of which he became one of the real pioneers, and he played an important part in the arduous work incident to the lives of the early residents of this section. When the Northern Pacific Railroad was being constructed through this locality he had charge of the boarding cars for the company. He afterward located at Wendover, Wyoming, where he engaged in the mercantile business and also became proprietor of the hotel of that place. He was appointed postmaster of Wend- over and in various ways became a man of im- portance to the community. He was a republican in his political views, and was a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Soon after coming to this state Mr. Holmes met Catherine Eugene Grady near Helena, and they were married there. She was born in 1856 in Green Isle, Minnesota, and to this union the following children were born : Ernest S., the immediate subject of this sketch; Dolores Martha, who remains unmarried and now lives with her mother, is a trained nurse and during the World war she. enlisted as a nurse in the service of the Red Cross, and was sent to a base hospital in France, where she remained one year. Sometime after the death of her first husband Catherine Holmes became the wife of Allen Laughlin, who owns a ranch at Glendo, Wyoming, and to them have been born the following children: Ora M., who remains unmarried, is chief clerk in the state charity office at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Eda, who was the wife of John Peryman, died of influenza at Denver, Colorado, in December, 1918. Mr. Peryman, who now resides in California, was in service in France as a member of the United States Engineers, being recently mustered out. Eda was a student in the Montana State University for one year and then attended and graduated from the University of Wyoming. Roy is a printer by trade and resides at Cheyenne, Wyoming. Allen, Jr., who is now a truck driver for the Government at Sheridan, Wyoming, enlisted in the United States army and was sent to France, where he had an active part in some of the famous drives that very materially helped to win the war.

Ernest S. Holmes received but limited school education in his youth, for at the early age of twelve

years he left home and went to work on a ranch in Wyoming, where he remained three years, and also worked at other labor which he could find to do. In the meantime he attended, as far as was possible, the winter terms of school and also em- braced every opportunity to improve himself by private study. At the age of fifteen years he learned telegraphy at Orion Junction, Wyoming, and then was hired as operator by the Northwestern Railroad at Central City, South Dakota, where he remained about one and a half years. He then became operator at Horse Creek, Wyoming, for the Colorado South- ern Railroad, with whom he remained for six months, going at the end of that time to Sunrise, Wyoming, where for two and a half years he was in the employ of the Colorado & Wyoming Railroad. He then found himself in a position to carry out a plan which had long before been formulated in his mind, and he entered Notre Dame University, at Notre Dame, Indiana, where he pursued the commercial course. Upon completing his studies in the uni- versity Mr. Holmes went to Mancos, Colorado, where for nine months he served as agent for the Rio Grande Southern Railroad. He then went to Spokane, Washington, where he remained for a short time, but in September, 1907, he came to Missoula, Montana. For one year he served as cashier of the Northern Express Company, and then entered the employ of John R. Daily as cashier and bookkeeper. In 1910 the business was incorpa- rated as the John R. Daily Company and Mr. Holmes was selected as secretary and treasurer of the new organization. He still retains these official posi- tions, and is one of the most active and efficient members of the official personnel of that company.

Politically Mr. Holmes gives his support to the republican party, and his religious membership is with the Roman Catholic Church. Fraternally, he is a member of Missoula Council No. 1023, Knights of Columbus, and is a life member of Hell Gate Lodge No. 383, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce of Missoula.

On October 6, 1909, at Hamilton, Montana, Mr. Holmes was married to Kathryn Jenkins, the daugh- ter of C. P. and Celeste (Byrne) Jenkins. The . father, who was a retired rancher, died in 1919 at Missoula, and his widow now resides in that city. To Mr. and Mrs. Holmes have been born three children, namely: William Cornelius, born July '28, 1910; Ernest Samuel, Jr., born June 18, 1912, and Kathleen Dolores, born November 9, 1916.

Mr. Holmes' record demonstrates that where there is a will there is a way and that obstacles to success may be overcome by courage and self- reliance. His life has been very intimately asso- ciated with the growth and prosperity of this local- ity during the years that he has lived here, and he has always been found on the right side of questions looking to the development of the community in any way. Genial and unassuming, he has won a host of warm friends, who' esteem him for his genuine worth.

DALE HODSON. It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and respect in the line of work with which his interests are allied. But biography finds justification, nevertheless, in tracing and recording such a life history, as the public claims certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is then with a certain degree of satisfaction that

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the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of Mr. Hodson, a business man of influence and high standing in Missoula County, who ranks with the leading men in his special line of work in Western Montana.

Dale Hodson was born at Sterling, Kansas, on May 21, 1882, and is the son of Harvey and Ella (Durham) Hodson. Harvey H. Hodson was born in the State of Indiana in 1851, and his death oc- curred in Bozeman, Montana, in 1905. Hc was reared and educated in Indiana, Iowa, and in young manhood .went to Kansas, where he setrled as a pioneer. He established a marble yard at Sterling, which he maintained there for a number of years, and in 1884 he came to Bozeman, Montana, of which also he was a pioneer, and there also he estab- lished a marble yard, which he operated until 1899, when he sold out, and then lived retired until his death, which occurred about six years later. In his political views Mr. Hodson was a republican and became a prominent citizen of Bozeman, serv- ing a number of years as alderman. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was mar- ried to Ella Durham, who was born in Kansas in 1860, and who now resides in Missoula. To Mr. and Mrs. Hodson were born three children, namely: Dale, the immediate subject of this review; Paul, who lives with his mother, is a salesman for the Missoula Tombstone Company; and Lysle, who also lives with his mother, is a student in the Montana State University at Missoula.

Dale Hodson received his educational training in the public schools of Bozeman, graduating from the high school there in 1900. He learned the trade of a marble and granite cutter, completing his ap- prenticeship in Butte in 1903. He then worked at his trade in Livingston, Billings, Bozeman and Butte, until 1907, when he came to Missoula as a stockholder and representative of the Butte Tomb- stone Company, and here established the Missoula Tombstone Company. The business was very flatter- ing from the beginning, and a short time after it was established Mr. Hodson and his brother Paul bought the plant and are still the sole owners of it. It is now the largest marble cutting plant in Western Montana, aside from Butte, and many fine and expensive pieces of work have been produced at this shop. Mr. Hodson has thorough technical knowledge of the business, being one of the best marble and granite cutters in the state, and with this he combines a highly developed artistic sense, qualities which have enabled him to please the most exacting demands of his patrons.

In his political views Mr. Hodson is a socialist and keeps in close touch with the general trend of public events. He served one term as police com- missioner of Missoula. Fraternally he is a member of Missoula Lodge No. 13, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons ; Western Sun Chapter No. 11, Royal Arch Masons; Livingston Consistory, Scottish Rite (thirty-second degree), and Algeria Temple, An- cient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Helena, the Woodmen of the World, and Cove- nant Lodge No. 6, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.

In 1912, at Bozeman, Montana, Mr. Hodson was married to May Busch, the daughter of A. J. and Louise Busch, of Bozeman. Mr. Busch is superin- tendent of the Gallatin Valley Railroad. Mrs. Hod- son is a graduate of the State Normal School at Dillon, Montana, and was a teacher in the public school of Bozeman for four years prior to her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Hodson have been born two children, Edna, born August 31, 1913, and Ella, born on July 16, 1918. Mr. Hodson is a man

of fine personal qualities, and has so ordered his life that he has won and retains the universal con- fidence and good will of the people generally.

DWIGHT N. MASON. A busy lawyer, Dwight N. Mason has been called to many important public services since locating in Montana. He is present county attorney of Missoula County, is a former member of the Legislature, and being a young man his friends regard his career as only fairly started, with a prospect for the best honors and rewards of an able lawyer and leader in public affairs.

Mr. Mason was born at Cannelton, Indiana, March 24, 1884. The Masons are of English ancestry and were colonial settlers in Virginia. One member of the family in an earlier generation was Jeremiah Mason, a law partner of Daniel Webster. Mr. Ma- son's grandfather, John E. Mason, was a native of Kentucky, and was in the coal mining business for a number of years in that state. He lived at Owensboro, Kentucky, and afterward moved to Cannelton, Indiana, where he spent his last days. Floyd Mason, father of the Missoula lawyer, was born in Kentucky in 1829, and as a young man settled at Cannelton, Indiana, where he married and where he followed farming for many years. He died at Cannelton in 1903. He exercised a great deal of influence in poltics and civic affairs in his home locality of Indiana, was a democrat, and served a term as county treasurer. He was a Meth- odist, was a past master of his Masonic lodge, and his long life brought him the constant esteem of all who knew him. He married Kate A. Culley, who was born at Brandenberg, Kentucky, in 1854. She died at Omaha, Nebraska, in 1912. Her children were: William, a banker in Loup City, Nebraska ; Oliver, a hardware merchant at Loup City; Lydia, wife of Lawrence A. McTurnon, a teacher in the public schools of Los Angeles; Dwight N .; Ada, wife of Harry Dill, owner and publisher of the Indiana Sentinel at Indiana Harbor, Indiana; Kath- ryn, wife of Cyrus Whitehead, clerk in a whole- sale house at Louisville, Kentucky; and Laura, wife of Clyde Buttorf, a railway employe at New Albany, Indiana.

Dwight N. Mason attended the public schools of Cannelton, and in 1903 graduated from the Central Normal College at Danville, Indiana. He took his law course in the Indiana State University at Bloom- ington. As soon as he had his law diploma Mr. Ma- son sought a new home in the Northwest, and was engaged in the practice of law at Spokane, Wash- ington, until the spring of 1910. After that he had his home and office at Ronan, Montana, until March, 1917. He moved to Missoula to accept appointment as deputy county attorney under Fred R. Angevine. In the fall of 1918 he was elected county attorney, and is now enjoying the honors and responsibilities of that office for a term of two years.

He was elected a member of the Legislature in the fall of 1914, representing Missoula County. He was in the fourteenth session and was re-elected in 1916 for the fifteenth session and also served in the extra session of the spring of 1918. During the fifteenth session he was chairman of the judiciary committee. He was also a member of the bank- ing. rules, special committee on elections and other committees. Mr. Mason is credited with one of the most progressive pieces of legislation enacted by Montana in recent years, the "Mothers Pension Bill," which he drew up and introduced, and success- fully guided through the House.

Mr. Mason is a loyal democrat in politics. He is a Methodist, and is affiliated with Danville Lodge of Masons in his native state, and also belongs to

3. men

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the Royal Arch Chapter at Danville. At Missoula he is a member of the Loyal Order of Moose.

In December, 1908, at Spokane, Washington, Mr. Mason married Miss Lillian R. Metz, daughter of C. H. and Lillian (Logan) Metz. Her parents reside at Spokane, where her father is manager of the branch house of the G. I. Case & Company, im- plement and agricultural machinery manufacturers. Mrs. Mason was educated in the Spokane High School, and attended the State Normal College of Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Mason are the parents of six children: Kathryn and June, twins, born August 6, 1912; Mary Lou, born July 6, 1914; Dwight N., Jr .; born February 2, 1916; Charles, born July 2, 1917; and Dorothy, born February 26, I919.

HUGH KELLY, who grew up in Montana and ab- sorbed the atmosphere and the typical characteristics of the West, is well known in the state, but his chief distinction is due to his founding the Kelly Auto Stage Line between Missoula and Polson.

This line, established by Mr. Kelly in 1919, has become the really popular route and means of trans- portation between Missoula and the National Gla- cier Park. Its facilities comprise two White pas- senger cars, each carrying twelve passengers, and in the past two years the service has the distinc- tion of never having missed a trip a single day nor failed to connect on time with trains at Mis- soula and the Klondike steamer on Flathead Lake. Travelers from far and near have given a great deal of praise to this service, and credit for all is due Mr. Kelly, who as proprietor gives his personal supervision to every detail.

Hugo Kelly was born at Providence, Rhode Is- land, but was only eight years of age when his parents, Patrick H. Kelly and wife, came to Mon- tana. He lived in their home in Missoula, but at the age of thirteen ran away and has since taken life on his own responsibility. For nineteen years he was employed on different stock ranches in Gran- ite County. For four years he served as deputy sheriff of Missoula County. While in that office he had some exciting experiences. One time he took a prisoner to Salem, Oregon. After perform- . ing his duties he spent a day looking about the city of Seattle. While thus engaged a deputy sheriff arrested him as a suspicious character. Mr. Kelly made no effort to explain his identity, but in order to see the thing through properly he resisted ar- rest, and was given the usual rough handling. He was carried to the police station in a patrol wagon, and when searched his deputy's star was discovered on his suspenders. The officer who arrested Kelly asked, "why didn't you tell me you were an of- ficer ?" Kelly replied, "You didn't give me time. You assumed too much, and that is why the bodies of such fellows as you decorate the back alleys." A general laugh followed and his superior officer ordered his crestfallen subordinate to order a car and show Kelly the courtesies of the city, and after that nothing was too good for Kelly.

Mr. Kelly supports the democratic party and has been quite active in local politics. He and his wife are members of the Catholic Church. Like typical westerners, Mr. Kelly is thoroughly public spirited and a man generous to the core.

He married Miss Lilly M. Dooley, a native of Granite County, Montana, and a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Dooley. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly have two sons, who do them credit, Thomas and James, both of whom were educated in the Mis- soula High School. Thomas enlisted in the Ma- rines at the age of eighteen, and for fourteen

months was in the service of his country in France. . He was one of the first Marines to return from overseas to this country. The son James is an ex- pert automobile mechanic.

GEORGE NELS OLSON. The study of the life and accomplishments of a successful man is full of edu- cational value, especially when such a man has achieved tangible and practical results, and has raised the standard and set the example which go to form the real bulwarks of Americanism. A comprehen- sive knowledge of such a man brings an apprecia- tion of him and of his motives; and when his efforts have resulted in the organization and maintenance of a sound financial institution all of the above gains added force, for upon the bankers of any community depends the stability of all business. One of the dependable men of Meagher County who most assuredly belongs to this class is George Nels Olson, cashier of the Martinsdale State Bank and vice president of the Ringling State Bank.

George Nels Olson was born in Atwater, Minne- sota, June 22, 1884, a son of Martin Olson and grandson of Ole Myhren, surnames changing in Norway. The latter was a native of Norway, and he died on a ranch near Irving, Minnesota, where he had been a pioneer rancher. Upon coming to Minnesota he homesteaded 160 acres of land, proved it up, and kept on adding to his acreage until he was one of the most extensive land owners in his part of the state.

Martin Olson, father of George Nels Olson, is a native of Norway, where he was born in 1849, and where he lived until he was seventeen years old. In 1866 he came to the United States and lo- cated at Atwater, Minnesota, his present place of residence, where ever since his advent he has been the city's leading merchant. Going to that district in its pioneer days, he has been closely associated with its growth and development, and that of the sur- rounding country. A strong republican, he has been a leader in his party and a prime mover in civic affairs. The Norwegian Lutheran Church of At- water holds his membership. He is a Mason.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 128

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