Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 129

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

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Martin Olson was united in marriage with Gun- nild Sivertson, born in Norway in 1858, and they became acquainted on board the boat which brought them to the United States. Their children are as follows: Ruby, who is unmarried, lives at Leper, Michigan, has been an instructor in music and draw- ing and is now an employe of the state institution at Leper; Marcus M., who is a merchant of Medi- cine Lake, Montana; George Nels, whose name heads this review; Newell R., who is vice president of the State Bank of Martinsdale; Darwin S., who is cashier of the Ringling State Bank; and Ruth Margaret, who is now Mrs. Harry Himmelman and lives with her husband, who is a merchant, at Man- kato, Minnesota. They were married August 19, 1920.

George Nels Olson attended the public schools of Atwater, Minnesota, and was graduated from its high school course in 1901, following which he matriculated at the University of Minnesota, and studied law at night for nine months, following which he attended the Minnesota Business College and was graduated in the complete business course in 1903. In September, 1903, Mr. Olson entered the State Bank of Atwater as bookkeeper and rose through various positions to be assistant cashier of that institution, leaving it on September 10, 1907, to come West to Bismarck, North Dakota, to take the position of deputy insurance commissioner for the State of North Dakota, and held that responsible

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office until October, 1909. He then went to York, North Dakota, and was cashier of the State Bank of York from October, 1909, until November 1, 1910. On that date he went to Portland, Oregon, and be- came bookkeeper for the United States National Bank of that city, and held that position until June, IgII, when he returned to Atwater, Minnesota, for a few months' visit with his family. He then ac- cepted a position with the Northern Rock Island Machine Company, with headquarters at Lewistown, Montana, and held it from the latter part of Au- gust, 1911, until June, 1912, when he entered the employ of H. E. Marshall, a merchant of Harlow- town. In the fall of 1913 Mr. Olson bought this business and incorporated the Marshall Busy Store, of which he still continues to be president. After he had placed this enterprise on a firm foundation he turned his attention in another direction, coming to Martinsdale on September 1, 1915, as cashier of the Martinsdale State Bank, which had been estab- lished on August 9, 1909. The present officials of this bank are G. K. Robertson, president; N. R. Olson, vice president; Andrew Hoyem, of Lennep, Montana, vice president; and George N. Olson, cashier. This bank was organized with a capital of $20,000 and a surplus of $4,000. Today it has a capital of $20,000, a surplus of $20,000, and de- posits of $200,000. The bank is located on Main Street, and the modern bank building occupied by this bank was erected by the stockholders at a cost of $15,000. Each year dividends ranging from 10 to 30 per cent have been paid the stockholders in. addition to the accumulation of the surplus of $20,000.

Mr. Olson bought the Ringling State Bank, of which he is vice president, and he and his brothers, N. R. Olson and D. S. Olson, control the two banks. He also owns a modern residence on Grand Avenue, Martinsdale; a ranch of 930 acres near Copper, Montana, on which he is raising 170 head of cattle, principally of the Hereford strain; and in addition to this is a member of a company own- ing 1,000 acres of land in the vicinity.

In 1915 Mr. Olson was married at Wabasha, Minne- sota, to Miss Maude Elizabeth Hurd, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hurd, residents of Wabasha, where Mr. Hurd is engaged in mercantile pursuits. Mrs. Olson is a graduate of the Wabasha High School and of the Saint Cloud Normal School of Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have two children, namely: George Hurd, who was born on October 21, 1917; and Philip Bloise, who was born on January 2, 1919. Mr. Olson is a repub- lican, but has never been an office seeker. A Mason, he belongs to Musselshell Lodge No. 69, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and formerly belonged to the lodge at Atwater, Minnesota, where he was made a Master Mason when only twenty-one years of age. He also belongs to Leads Chapter No. 20, Royal Arch Masons, at Leads, North Dakota, to Harlowton Commandery, and to Algeria Temple, at Helena, Montana.

It is not difficult to get at the source of Mr. Olson's success, for it lies within himself, in his earnest- ness, sincerity and ability. Steadily he has risen, faithfully discharging the duties of each position and reaching out to learn those of the one above him, so that when a promotion was given him he was ready for it. In his civic life he is equally depend- able, and is always found on the side of law and order, and favoring those improvements which have for their object the securing of permanent develop- ment and not the extravagant expenditure of the money of the taxpayers.

WALLACE P. SMITH is widely known over the State of Montana, not only as a lawyer but chiefly through his long tenure of the office of United States Commissioner at Missoula.

Judge Smith was born in Marshall County, Iowa, February 10, 1862, son of Platt A. and Lovira P. (Carpenter) Smith. His parents were natives of New York, lived for several years in Michigan, and in 1853 moved to Iowa, where they took up . government land and improved a farm. Their last years were spent in the State of Washington. Platt Smith served 31/2 years as a member of the Second Iowa Cavalry during the Civil war. Of their two sons one is still living in Iowa.

Wallace P. Smith was well educated in his native state, and in 1890 came to Montana and located in Missoula, where after reading law he was admitted to the bar in 1891. While he has practiced law many years, he was appointed a United States com- missioner in 1894, and has been repeatedly chosen for that office. He is a lifelong republican in poli- tics. January 24, 1893, he married Loretta M. Bel- lew. They are the parents of two sons, Wallace B., who was a member of the Expeditionary Forces to France and died there of pneumonia on October 12, 1918, and George R., who resides at home. Mr. Smith is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Baptist Church.

CHARLES H. HALL has been engaged in the gen- eral practice of law at Missoula nearly a quarter of a century, and is a grandson of the late distin- guished Montana jurist, Judge Charles S. Marshall of Missoula.

Mr. Hall was born in Ballard County, Kentucky, August 12, 1869, son of A. P. and Susan A. (Mar- shall) Hall. His mother spent her last years in Montana. His father, who died in Florida, served as a captain in the Confederate army under General Forrest, and for many years was a Kentucky mer- chant.

Charles H. Hall was reared in Kentucky, at- tended the public schools and Clinton College there, and in 1886, at the age of seventeen, came to Mon- tana and joined his grandfather, Judge Marshall. Judge Marshall later became the first judge of the District Bench of Missoula, and Mr. Hall was made deputy clerk of court. He pursued the active study of law under his grandfather in 1892, and in 1895 was admitted to the bar and began practice the following year. He left his practice in 1898 to go as a volunteer for the Spanish-American war, serv- ing as second lieutenant in the Third United States Cavalry. After five months he was mustered out and resumed his law business. Mr. Hall was elected county attorney in 1900, serving two terms or four years. In 1910 he became a member of the State Board of Education in Montana, and filled that post a number of years.

In 1890 he married Harriet W. Moore, of Ken- tucky. They are the parents of three daughters.

RIGHT REVEREND JOHN PATRICK CARROLL, D. D., second Bishop of Helena, was born at Dubuque, Iowa, February 22, 1864, of Martin Carroll and Catherine O'Farrell. His primary education was received at St. Raphael's parochial school of his native town. At the age of thirteen he entered St. Joseph's College, Dubuque, where he remained until 1883, when he was graduated from the clas- sical department with the highest honors of his class. The one ambition of this gifted young man was to consecrate himself to the service of God in the priesthood. With a view to preparing him- self for his lifework, he entered the Grand Semi-

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nary of Montreal, Canada. And there, during six years, he pursued the courses of philosophy and theology, graduating in June, 1889, with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. On July 7th of the same year he was ordained to the priesthood, and immc- diately appointed to the chair of mental philosophy in his alma mater, St. Joseph's College, Dubuque. He entered upon his new duties September 12, 1889, and for five years devoted himself with un- tiring energy to the cause of Christian education and the upbuilding of the College. So successful were his efforts that the Archbishop of Dubuque, the Most Reverend John Hennessy, resolved to place the College under his control, and on Sep- tember 12, 1894, he was proclaimed president of St. Joseph's-a position he continued to hold dur- ing the next decade of years. His presidency was eminently successful. The number of students in- creased with surprising rapidity from year to year. An earnest student himself, Dr. Carroll strove to gather around himself a faculty of scholarly pro- fessors. In this, too, he was successful, and to such an extent that the fame of St. Joseph's Col- lege spread throughout the middle western states. The present status of the College gives ample proof of Dr. Carroll's foresight in planning and his re- markable force of character in overcoming every obstacle to the execution of his designs.

In 1903 the See of Helena was left vacant by the death of Right Reverend John B. Brondel. Rome cast about for a "strong man" to take charge of this important See. It chose, September 12, 1904, the Very Reverend Dr. Carroll. And the wisdom of its choice has been abundantly approved by all the subsequent history of the Diocese of Helena. The newly appointed bishop was conse- crated in St. Raphael's Cathedral, Dubuque, De- cember 21, 1904, and installed as second Bishop of Helena at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, January 31, 1905.

Bishop Carroll came to Helena well equipped for his diocesan work. As president of St. Joseph's College he had come into personal contact with all the priests of the Diocese of Dubuque. This ac- quaintance gave him an insight into the needs of a diocese as no other position could have given him. As a member of the board of diocesan consultors during a period extending over eight years he had become familiar with matters and methods of dio- cesan administration. Last, but not least, his po- sition as president of the highest educational in- stitution of the Dubuque Archdiocese had fitted him admirably to preside over the destinies of an am- bitious young diocese now looking for someone to lead it onward and upward in its educational work. It is needless to add that Bishop Carroll's appoint- ment was highly appreciated throughout the diocese of Helena, and that he was enthusiastically received by the priests, the religious communities and the people of western Montana.

In an age afflicted with an insatiable thirst for rights, he came to his people with the inspired words, "In Sanctitate et Justitia," as his motto, to teach them that man has not only rights to demand, but also duties to fulfill-duties towards God, "In Sanctitate," and duties toward his neighbor, "In Justitia." For this reason he was doubly welcome. His motto became the text of his inaugural address at the High Mass on the Sunday following his in- stallation, and has been the inspiration of all his work since his advent to Helena.

Like the industrious Montana husbandman, he believes in the intensive cultivation of the Lord's vineyard. Beginning with his clergy-the laborers in the vineyard, he said to them and kept saying,

"Let him that is holy become holier still," and "If you wish to sanctify others, first sanctify your- selves." Realizing the necessity of sanctity of life among the clergy, he decreed that retreats for them should be given every year instead of every two years, as had been the case. And he required that all priests laboring in the diocese should at- tend them. To make these retreats at once effi- cient and attractive, he invited to preach to them the most prominent speakers among the bishops and priests of the country. Each of these retreats he has attended in person, and has given confer- ences at all of them. In 1909 he conducted all the exercises of the retreat himself, urging his clergy with accents of deepest conviction to give them- selves without reserve to the work of the Master.

One of the first things to attract Bishop Car- roll's attention upon taking up his work in Mon- tana was the fact that the number of clergy was wholly inadequate to meet the spiritual needs of the rapidly growing Catholic population. He found but twenty-four priests in his vast diocese. He was not long in remedying this condition, and now htis clergy number ninety-three.

His pastoral solicitude was next given to the re- ligious communities of Sisters. These he has guided in their work at all times, advising them in their doubts, encouraging them in their difficulties, and urging them on whenever prudence would permit it to undertake new works or to put forth more strenuous efforts. Since his advent to Montana five more Sisterhoods have entered the diocese, the Sisters of Charity, B. V. M., the Sisters of St. Dominic, the Sisters of Mercy, the Hospital Sisters of St. Joseph and the Sisters of St. Francis.

With his people his voice has been but the echo of the voice of Pius X, whose motto was "to re- store all things in Christ." In conformity with the decrees of the Holy Father, he has insisted that the priests should give to the people regularly plain and solid instructions on Christian doctrine, and should urge upon them a return to the practice of frequent and even daily communion. Firmly be- lieving that, in the religious world, the twentieth century is destined to be the "century of the lay- man," he has joyfully lent his aid to the promotion of religious and fraternal organizations of Catholic laymen. For the young men of his episcopal city he has provided a club fully equipped with all that could be desired for social and athletic entertain- ment. He has been for years an enthusiastic mem- ber of the Knights of Columbus. In the national convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians held in Portland, Oregon, July, 1910, he was unanimously requested to accept the office of national chaplain, and the Chicago national convention of the Order held in July, 1912, insisted that he continue to be their spiritual guide. In all his addresses to Cath- olic laymen he has urged upon them the grandeur of their mission and the absolute necessity, if they would accomplish this mission, of living lives that square with the spirit and practices of their Catholic faith. To aid them in the work of their personal sanctification he inaugurated in his diocese the prac- tice of laymen's retreats, he himself preaching the first of these retreats, held at Mount St. Charles College, June, 1912.

With Bishop Carroll education ranks next to re- ligion-the school must follow in the wake of the church. To increase the efficiency of the Catholic educational system of his diocese he directed that a strong campaign be undertaken by parish priests and teachers to secure the attendance of all Catholic children at parochial schools; he ordered improve- ments and additions for the schools already built;

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and in several parishes had new schools erected. He has even succeeded in establishing high schools in the larger cities of his diocese. This is but what could be expected of him, who, whilst president of St. Joseph's College, had, in the yearly college conferences held in the east, led the fight for the extension of our Catholic high school system. To advance and unify his diocesan school system and render it more efficient, he directed that the prac- tice of holding summer schools be made general among the sisterhoods of the diocese, and he sup- plemented the work of the summer school by the annual teachers' institute, which the parish priests and teachers must attend.

Bishop Carroll's zeal for the cause of Catholic education will best be understood when one con- siders that before undertaking any other work of importance he set about building the St. Helena parochial school, which is now generally conceded to be the most perfect school building in the United States, not only from an architectural point of view, but from a pedagogical and hygienic point of view as well. Besides the ordinary school accommo- dations, it has thoroughly modern club rooms for the young men of the city. That the educational policy of the Right Reverend Bishop has already borne abundant fruit is evident from the enviable record that the Catholic school children have made in the state examinations. To complete his diocesan educational system Bishop Carroll has built Mount St. Charles College, a boarding and day college for young men. The building occupies a conspicuous height known for over a quarter of a century in Helena as Capitol Hill. The course of studies he has outlined for the College has received the warm- est encomiums from the press. Its staff of profes- sors would do credit to older institutions of learn- ing. The College is incorporated under the laws of the state of Montana with power to grant degrees. The high school department was admitted to the North Central Association of Colleges and Second- ary Schools March 21, 1919, and it is expected that the college department will be admitted very shortly. In the year 1918 a new gymnasium was added to the group of college buildings. It is conceded to be the finest structure of its kind in the northwest. At the same time a science hall was built, containing laboratories with the most up to date equipment for the study of chemistry, physics, biology and botany. The growth of the College has made it imperative to provide more extensive accommoda- tions. A new wing, fully as large as the main build- ing, is being erected to receive the increasing num- ber of students of high school and collegiate grades, whilst a separate building, also under construction, will serve as a preparatory college for the younger students. With these new buildings the College will be able to accommodate five hundred students. Bishop Carroll co-operated with the government in establishing a unit of the Students Army Training Corps in the fall of 1918 and placed the facilities of the College at its disposal. He established a Central High School in 1908 for the boys and girls of Butte, and is now preparing to erect a second high school, an institution exclusively for boys, in the same city.

But Bishop Carroll has not confined his activities to religion and education. He has identified him- self with the great civic movements of the day. The diocese of Helena knows his devotion to the cause of temperance. In his confirmation tours he never fails to point out the dangers of alcohol- Ism, and to invite boys and girls to pledge them- selves to total abstinence from intoxicating drinks until the age of twenty-five, or for life. This prac-

tice is without doubt the most efficient factor pres- ently working in the state for the cause of temper- ance. When the midnight closing movement was being agitated in Helena, Bishop Carroll was instru- mental in having a citizens' meeting held at the Auditorium. It was his soul-stirring address on this occasion that moulded public opinion and com- pelled the unwilling aldermen to vote a midnight closing ordinance. And it is a matter of history how the midnight closing idea spread from Helena to other parts of the state. Through his addresses and written articles the Bishop exerted a great in- fluence in securing the passage of the state prohibi- tion law.

A true friend of the laboring man, Bishop Car- roll has fearlessly warned him in public addresses against the fallacies and dangers of Socialism, a movement that is injurious not only to the work- ingmen themselves, but to church and to state at large. The Socialistic press has fiercely attacked him for these discourses. But the editors of saner journalism throughout the country have praised their depth and wisdom. It may be noted here that Bishop Carroll was probably the first Catholic bishop in the United States to establish special Labor Day services in the churches of his diocese and the first to address a national convention of the American Federation of Labor, which he did in Seattle, Wash- ington, November 12, 1913. In that address he de- clared that the Church endorses the essentials of Unionism and he asked that the Unions demand Sunday rest.

A third movement that has actively enlisted the co-operation of the Bishop is the colonization of Montana. His keen eye saw from the beginning the agricultural possibilities of this state and his patri- otic sentiments induced him to take a hand in the promising work. In proof of this it may be said that he had not spent six months in his diocese when he asked Pope Piux X to bless his colonization work in Montana. Soon his ideas took definite shape. Three of his priests have been actively en- gaged in colonizing work with a view to bringing colonists to the Belgian Colony on the Valier Irri- gation Project, to St. Charles in the Smith River Valley, to the vicinity of Deer Lodge, and to the Helena Valley.

The fame of the Right Reverend Bishop soon passed over the borders of Montana, as is evident from the fact that he has been much in demand as a speaker at civic, as well as at ecclesiastical, cele- brations both east and west. To give but a few instances: He was asked to deliver the chief ad- dress at the Washington celebration in Portland; at the dedication of the cathedrals of Seattle and of Cheyenne; and at that of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Spokane; at the national con- vention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in Port- land and Chicago; at the Catholic Day of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle; and the entire Lenten course of 1911 at St. Patrick's Church, Montreal, was confided to him; on Sep- tember 21, 1919, he preached the sermon at the pon- tificial high Mass in the Cathedral of Baltimore, in which Cardinal Mercier and Cardinal Gibbons participated. His public addresses ring true with love for America, her laws, her constitution, and her institutions. He is a fervent advocate of civil liberty and religious tolerance, just as he is the uncompromising foe of oppression and persecution. In mass meetings held in Helena and Butte he fear- lessly attacked the infamous policy of spoliation and confiscation practiced by the French govern- ment. The weight of his influence in public dis- cussion induced the Hon. Edwin L. Norris, gov-

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ernor of Montana, to appoint him to represent the state at the peace conference held in Washington for the purpose of advancing the cause of interna- tional arbitration. The high regard in which Bishop Carroll is held by his colleagues in the hierarchy is plainly shown by the fact that he has been asked by His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, by various archbishops and bishops throughout the Union to preach retreats to their clergy. Further manifesta- tions of this esteem are seen in the fact that he has been solicited for the offices of co-adjutor of the Archbishop of San Francisco, rector of the Catholic University at Washington, D. C., and Archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa. Nothing but his own conception and presentation of the importance of the work he had undertaken in Montana has prevented his appointment to one or other of these high positions.

This sketch would be incomplete if mention were not made of the St. Helena Cathedral, now in course of erection at Helena. This sacred edifice is mod- eled after the Votive Church in Vienna, Austria, the most perfect structure of Gothic architecture extant. The width of the new cathedral is seventy- two in the nave and aisles and one hundred and twenty feet in the transepts; its length is two hun- dred feet; its ceiling is sixty-five feet high, and its roof rises one hundred feet; while above the en- tire mass of building rise the twin spires to the height of two hundred and thirty feet. It is in- deed a magnificent temple in the purest of the four- teenth century Gothic. It is graceful in all its lines and, like its type-the Votive Church of Vienna, is considered perfect in its proportions. But its proud- est boast is that it is the church of all the people of Helena, because the citizens of Helena, irrespective of creed or nationality, have contributed to its erec- tion. On the occasion of the laying of the corner- stone of the cathedral, Bishop Carroll told the peo- ple of Helena assembled at the Auditorium that he regarded them as his sheep and asked them to re- gard his cathedral as their church.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 129

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