Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 137

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 137

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Educated in Denmark, Soren Nelson was gradu- ated from the Aalborg High School in 1902, and sub- sequently traveled with his father throughout Europe, more especially visiting the important cities of Germany, France and Italy, where his father sold high-bred, full-blooded stallions that he im- ported from England and Belgium. Coming to the United States in 1904, Mr. Nelson was engaged in tilling the soil in. Clinton, Iowa, for a year, and having in that time become familiar with the English language studied for three years under private tutors, completing his early education. For two summers thereafter he traveled in the interests of the International Correspondence School of Scran- ton, Pennsylvania, through Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota, during the winter seasons being asso- ciated with the wholesale drug trade. Mr. Nelson traveled all over South America and the Southern Pacific Islands, making his living by trading. Com- ing to Butte, Montana, in 1914, he became a clerk for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, and after several promotions was made overseer of the top work at the mines.

On June 2, 1917, having previously resigned his position, Mr. Nelson enlisted as a private in the Montana Administration Corps, and was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa. Proving himself faithful to the duties there imposed upon him, he was promoted through the different grades until made first lien- tenant, and was recommended for captaincy, but the armistice was signed before he received his captain's commission. Mustered out of service December 9, 1918, he returned to Butte, and subse- quently organized the Motor & Tire Sales Com- pany, which was incorporated February 15, 1919. He served as secretary and treasurer of the com- pany until August 15, 1919, when he was elected president and general manager of the concern. This company, with garage and offices at 123 South Mon- tana Street, is carrying on a general garage busi- ness, specializing in the Goodyear tires, and has the state agency for the Kissel trucks and motoring cars. This enterprising firm, of which Soren Nelson, the subject of this sketch, is the president, general manager and controlling stockholder, with E. H. Nelson as vice president, secretary and treasurer, has already built up one of the foremost industries of the kind of western Montana, and in the tire end of the business the largest in the entire state.

A man of great business intelligence and capacity, Mr. Nelson is identified with various local enter- prises. He leases the Stevens Block, at the corner of Park and Montana Streets, a large business block; the Dorothy Block, at the corner of Granite and Wyoming Streets, one of the largest apartment buildings in the city; and the Mueller Hotel, at 1002 South Montana Street, where he resides; and he owns all of the furnishings in these different build- ings. In his political relations Mr. Nelson is a democrat, and religiously, true to the faith in which he reared, he is a member of the Danish Lutheran Church.

On November 26, 1917, Mr. Nelson married in Helena, Montana, Mrs. Elizabeth (Hilker) Paxson, daughter of Charles and Katherine (Swanson Hilker, and a graduate of the State Normal School at Racine, Wisconsin. Her father, a brick manu- facturer, is dead, and her widowed mother resides in Butte. Mr. Nelson has a stepdaughter, Margaret Paxson, born in June, 1906, a freshman in the Butte High School and an especially brilliant scholar.

& Helson.

487

HISTORY OF MONTANA

RICHARD P. HOENCK. Much has been said in these days of the necessity for backing in order that a man succeed along any line. It is claimed by some that unless a man has wealth or influence he cannot hope to climb far up the ladder of fortune, and yet many who have gained the topmost rung were those who from early childhood were forced to grapple unaided with life's problems, and mounted through sheer tenacity of purpose and native ability. To such men as these, commonly denominated self- made, much credit is due, for beginning at the bot- tom, each was but one in the throng crowding about the ascent, and their progress from the first had to be one of constant endeavor. Of course these men had to possess more than average ability, and the willingness to work and learn. Early discovering their real bent in life, they developed themselves to meet emergencies, and when the right opportunity came, proved to be men for the work. Decidedly belonging to this class is Richard P. Hoenck, ex- ceedingly active in the furrier business of Butte.

Richard P. Hoenck was born at St. Paul, Min- nesota, on October 27, 1885, a son of Edward Hoenck, born in Germany in 1845. After receiving a university education in Germany and Denmark, Edward Hoenck came to the United States in young manhood, and in the early '70s established himself as a civil engineer at St. Paul, Minnesota, where he spent the remainder of his life, although he died at San Francisco, California, in 1910, while on a visit. After he secured his citizenship papers he became a republican, and continued to vote the ticket of that party as long as he lived. Like other Germans, he gave the required period of service in the army and took part in the Franco-Prussian war, immediately after its close coming to the United States.

Richard P. Hoenck was reared at Saint Paul, where he attended the public schools until he com- pleted the grammar grades, which was when he was fifteen years of age. He then began learning the fur trade, and after serving his apprenticeship with a St. Paul furrier he went to Fargo, North Da- kota, and became a designer for his brother, who was a member of the firm of Joseph & Hoenck, furriers. Leaving this concern in 1915, Mr. Hoenck came to Butte and worked for a Mr. Rauh, who owned the furrier business at No. 206 North Main Street, and on January 8, 1917, Mr. Hoenck bought the business. This was the pioneer furrier estab- lishment of Butte, and Mr. Hoenck is now the sole owner of it. It is also one of the oldest concerns of its kind in the state, but since taking charge of it Mr. Hoenck has so expanded its volume that it is now the largest in Montana. Mr. Hoenck special- izes in the manufacture of fur garments, robes, neckwear, mittens, men's beaver coats, fur rugs and in fact everything that is made from fur. Some idea of the expansion of the business may be had from the fact that when Mr. Hoenck bought it only two to three men were employed as assistants, while now at least fifteen are required during the busy season. In the near future Mr. Hoenck expects to cover not only Montana with his salesmen, as he is now doing, but also Wyoming and Idaho. Some of his trade comes from Alaska, his fame as a furrier having reached ont that far, and people desiring expert work on their furs send to him.

Mr. Hoenck is not married. He resides in the Goldberg Block at the corner of North Dakota and West Park streets. Fraternally he belongs to Butte Lodge No. 240, Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks, and socially he is a member of the Rotary Club. His inclinations have not led him into public life, in fact he has no liking for pub-

licity of any kind, but in his energetic, business way, has accomplished more than many whose names are brought into notice. He is generous in his sup- port of worthy movements and canses, and ready to lend aid to advance the welfare and promote the prosperity of his city and state.

JOHN K. CLAXTON has successfully established him- self in the practice of law at Butte, coming to this city and state from Kentucky, where his family has lived for several generations and where he earned his first honors as a lawyer.

Mr. Claxton was born at Louisville June 25, 1888. His paternal ancestors were English and colonial settlers in Virginia. His grandfather, David Harri- son Claxton, was born at Carrollton, Kentucky, in 1821, and spent most of his life at Louisville, where he died in 1904. For many years he operated a fleet of boats towing and transporting lumber and ties from the upper waters of the Ohio Valley to Louis- ville and Memphis. He served as a Confederate in the Civil War. He married Bettie Roar, who was born at Covington, Kentucky, in 1836, and died at Louisville in 1910. All of their children are now deceased.

The father of the Butte lawyer was John Nicholas Claxton, who was born in 1859 and died in 1906, spending all his life in Louisville. He was for some years extensively engaged in business as a railroad tie contractor. He was a democrat, an active sup- porter of the Methodist Church, and a Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and Shriner. He mar- ried Lydia Claxton, of the same family name but not related. She was born at Bethlehem, Kentucky, in 1866, and is now living at Pleasureville, a suburb of Louisville.

John K. Claxton, the only child of his parents, was educated in the Louisville public schools, gradu- ating from high school in 1905. He then spent four years in the old State College at Lexington, gradu- ating with the A. B. degree in 1909. He is a mem- ber of the Tan Theta Kappa college fraternity. With his literary studies he also combined a course in law and was admitted to the Kentucky bar No- vember 15, 1910. After that he practiced steadily at Louisville until 1917, and in January, 1918, be- gan his professional career at Butte, where he has offices in the Hennessy Building and has a large general and criminal practice. Mr. Claxton is sec- retary and general counsel for the Butte-Louisiana Oil Company and is treasurer of the Butte Copper Czar Mining Company.

He is a member of the Montana State Bar As- sociation, the Silver Bow Club, Butte Country Club, is a democrat, a Methodist, and affiliated with Lodge No. 410, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, at Pleasureville, Kentucky, and Lodge No. 240 of the Elks. He resides in the Mueller Apartments at 501 Granite Street.

September 9, 1919, at Seattle, Mr. Claxton mar- ried Miss Margaret Driscoll, daughter of Dennis and Mary (Taft) Driscoll. Her mother resides at II18 Fifteenth Avenue, North, in Seattle. Her fa- ther, who died at Butte, was one of the early pioneers of Montana, locating in the vicinity of Butte about 1865. He was a mine operator, and also established the first store at Walkerville, a suburb of Butte. Mrs. Claxton is a highly educated woman, being a graduate of Georgetown College at Washington, District of Columbia, with the A. B. degree. She is a member of the Sons and Daughters of the Mon- tana Pioneers Association.

CLAUDE CHARLES HUYCK. Energetic, enterpris- ing and progressive, Clande Charles Huyck, of Butte,

488

HISTORY OF MONTANA

has won a noteworthy position among the substan- tial business men of his community, being one of the leading automobile dealers of western Montana. A son of Charles Edward Huyck, he was born De- cember 13. 1886, in Santa Cruz, California, and is of honored Dutch descent, the founder of the Huyck family of America having immigrated from Holland to the United States in early colonial days, settling in New York State. His grandfather, John Huyck, born in 1830, was engaged in agricultural pursuits during his active career. As a young man he lived in New Jersey, and was there married. Subsequently moving to Alabama, he bought a large plantation, which he managed successfully many years. Re- tiring from active labor, he lived with his son Charles in both Florida and New York, spending his last years, however, with a daughter in Kansas.

Born in 1857, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Charles Edward Huyck was there bred and educated. On attaining his majority he joined in the pioneer rush to the newly opened mines of Leadville, Colorado, where he was soon employed as pumpman at the Silver Star Mine. While there he married, and about 1883 removed to Santa Cruz, California, where he became a builder and contractor. Going from there to Mobile, Alabama, he continued there in the same business for eighteen months, and was afterward similarly employed for another eighteen months in Sanford, Florida. Continuing his resi- dence in that state, he resided a short time in Saint Petersburg, and then went to Jacksonville, arriving in that city the very day it was destroyed by fire, a calamity that furnished him with plenty of work, as he took an active part in its upbuilding. Going to New York State in 1901, he followed his trade at Sea Cliff, Long Island, and was also hotel pro- prietor until the fall of 1916, when he went to Wash- ington, District of Columbia, to put up buildings for the United States government. In January, 1919, he returned to California, locating at Long Beach, where he is still actively working at his trade of a contractor and builder, his services being in great demand.

Charles E. Huyck married in Leadville, Colorado, Lelia Youngs, who was born in New Jersey in 1859, and they have two children, Claude Charles, the spe- cial subject of this sketch, and Orpha, wife of Harry Hall, who is with the Standard Oil Company at Long Beach, California. Politically the father is a stanch republican, and religiously he and his wife are active members of the Baptist Church.

Obtaining the rudiments of his education in the public schools of Santa Cruz, California, Claude C. Huyck continued his studies in the schools of Ala- bama, Florida and New York, completing his early education at Sea Cliff, Long Island. Leaving school at the age of eighteen years, he worked at the trade of a carpenter with his father, and also learned cabinet making, making excellent use of his native mechanical talent and genius. Mr. Huyck devoted much of his time for awhile in working on gasoline boats, but turned his attention to automobiles when they made their advent, and in 1907 owned his first car, a one-cylinder Cadillac. He subsequently spent two years in Florida, and in the spring of 1910 came to Butte, Montana, where he followed his trade of a carpenter until June, 1917, when he be- came an automobile salesman, working first for the Silver Bow Motor Company, and later for the Butte Automobile Company.

On September 20, 1918, Mr. Huyck organized the Butte Second Hand Automobile Company, which he has handled most successfully. and on January I, 1920, organized the Cleveland Motor Cars Company, himself and wife constituting the company. This

wide-awake firm, with offices, display rooms and service station at Nos. 43-45 East Galena Street, handles both the Cleveland and Chandler automo- biles, and is doing a lively business. Mrs. Huyck, who is a high school graduate, and has received a thorough commercial education, is accountant for the firm, and attends to the advertising and book- keeping and all inside work, while Mr. Huyck does all of the buying and selling, his territory covering Silver Bow, Beaverhead, Madison and Jefferson counties.

Mr. Huyck married in August, 1911, at Dillon, Montana, Miss Mabel Laura Caldwell, a daughter of Frank and Hannah (Thomas) Caldwell, of Dil- lon, her father, a retired farmer, being owner of a large farm in Post Oak, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Huyck have two children, Mabel Scotta and Claude Caldwell. Mr. Huyck is a straightforward republi- can in politics, but has never been an office seeker. He owns an attractive, modernly-built resident at 1232 West Granite Street, and within its hospitable walls he and his wife gladly welcome their many friends.

C. C. COVINGTON. Both the Town of Augusta and Lewis and Clark County owe C. C. Covington a heavy debt because of his efforts in their behalf, and it is safe to say that in all future movements looking to a betterment of existing conditions he will be found in the front of the effective workers. By profession he is a civil engineer, and he has used his skill and ability in behalf of this region, as well as his intelligence and public spirit. Mr. Covington comes of two old American families. On the paternal side his family came from England to Georgia in' Colonial times, while on the maternal side there was a representative on the historic May- flower.

C. C. Covington was born at Beaver City, Utah, on February 23, 1869, a son of C. C. Covington, Sr., who was born at Rockingham, North Carolina, in 1832, and died at Farmington, Utah, in 1904. Reared at Rockingham, he naturally espoused the cause of the South in the war between the two sections, and enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861, and served under General Price. With the close of the war he, like so many others of southern sympathies, felt that things were in too chaotic a condition for him to settle down in his old home and so in 1865 he went west to California and from there to Southern Utah, where he was married, and located at Beaver City. From then until 1880 he was actively engaged in ranching and handling cattle. In the latter year he went to Stewartville, DeKalb County, Missouri, where with the assistance of his namesake son he was engaged in farming, but sold his property after a few years and returned to Utah, and lived in re- tirement at Farmington until his death. In politics he was a democrat.

The maiden name of the wife of C. C. Coving- ton, Sr., was Ellen Perkins, and she survives her husband, making her home at Stewartville, Mis- souri. Their children were as follows: Sarah, who married Richard Morton, now deceased; C. C., Jr., whose name heads this review; Thomas A., who is a contractor and builder of Oakland, California ; Caroline A., who married G. B. Christian, lives at Augusta, Montana; Laurence, who served in the railroad corps during the World war, was overseas for eighteen months, and in the front line trenches, but, having returned home, is now engaged in rail- roading at Oakland, California; and George Ed- mund, residing at Augusta, Montana.

C. C. Covington, Jr., attended the private schools of Beaver City, Utah, and the Beaver City Acad-

Covington

189

HISTORY OF MONTANA

emy, the public schools of DeKalb County, and com- pleted his educational training in the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri. Until he was twenty years old Mr. Covington assisted his father in agricultural labor, and he was engaged in teach- ing school in DeKalb County for a period of six years. In 1896 he came to Montana to locate per- manently, although he had spent the summer of 1891 in the state and then returned to DeKalb County for the ensuing five years. Upon locating at Augusta Mr. Covington was the first educator of the place, and was here engaged in teaching for five years, and during all of this period was becoming acquainted with the people and conditions. In 1898 he was appointed United States commissioner, and as the duties of that office increased, in 1901 he left the schoolroom and embarked in a real-estate business, and was elected a justice of the peace. He also became a notary public and was the only one of Augusta. In 1912 he resigned his office of United States commissioner, as in the meanwhile, in 1910, he had become elected commissioner of Lewis and Clark County, taking office in January, 1911, and holding it for six years. During the last four years in this office Mr. Covington was chairman of the board. While he was on the board he inaugurated and saw carried out some of the most far-sighted policies with reference to obtaining for this region suitable good roads, with the result that the county has as good highways as any similar section in the state, and the people of Lewis and Clark have him to thank for them.

In 1917 Mr. Covington went on his ranch eight miles south of Augusta, which he still owns and on which he raises hay, grain and stock. Mr. Covington also owns a residence on Main Street, in which he has his offices. For some years he has devoted him- self to working at his profession of civil engineer- ing, hiring his ranching done by others. The greater part of the construction work in this part of the county is done by him. In politics Mr. Covington is a democrat. He belongs to Augusta Lodge No. 54, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master; to Dearborn Lodge No. 21, Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand; Augusta Camp No. 221, Woodmen of the World; and Augusta Camp No. 6136, Modern Woodmen of America.

On April 26, 1900, Mr. Covington was married at Choteau, Montana, to Miss Minerva Carter, and they became the parents of two children, namely: Marian, who was born July 26, 1901, was graduated from the Augusta High School as a member of the first graduating class, and she is now teaching in District No. 45, which is a large consolidated dis- trict; and Clay, who was born on November 29, 1910.

Mr. Covington has been chairman of the school board of Augusta since 1901 and has been instru- mental in building up the school system from a little one-room schoolhouse to a large consolidated dis- trict containing fifteen schools and a four-year course high school. A $50,000 high school building is soon to be constructed at Augusta, and in this project, as in all of the other work of this class at Augusta and the county, Mr. Covington has been the prime mover.

During the World war he and Mrs. Covington took a very effective part in all of the local drives and in Red Cross work, exerting themselves to the limit to aid the administration in carrying out its policies.

Mrs. Covington's father, Edwin Carter, is now a resident of Letcher, South Dakota. He was born in the State of New York in 1835, a son of Asa

Carter, also a native of New York, who died near Streator, Illinois.' Asa Carter was a farmer in his native state, but in 1853 he located in Illinois and became a pioneer farmer near Streator. He mar- ried Hannah Bramer, whose mother's maiden name was Paris, and both were born in New York State. Mrs. Hannah Carter died near Streator, Illinois.

Edwin Carter was reared on his father's farm near Streator, Illinois, and was quite extensively engaged there in farming, remaining in that vicin- ity until 1874, when he moved to Iowa County, Iowa, where he continued farming. In 1901 he went to Sanborn County, South Dakota, and bought a farm in the vicinity of Mitchell. Although he has retired from his farm, he continues to live in Sanborn County, as Letcher is located within its confines. Although a strong republican, Mr. Carter voted for Woodrow Wilson for the presidency. He is a member of the Christian Church.

The first wife of Edwin Carter was Sarah Frances Turner, whom he married while living near Streator, Illinois, and she died there, having borne him the following children: Milton, now deceased ; Adelaide, who married Benjamin F. Norris, a re- tired minister of the Christian denomination, and they live near Arlington, South Dakota; Esther Maria, who married Wallace W. Moore, a farmer of North English, Iowa; Hannah Theressa, who married Edgar B. Sears, a successful farmer and stockman, formerly a pioneer of Montana, but now living at Garden City, Kansas; Asa Joseph, who is a farmer of North English, Iowa; and Cynthia, who is deceased.

As his second wife Edwin Carter was married to Elizabeth Abigail Norris, who was born in Decem- ber, 1853, in Canada, and educated in Michigan, her parents having moved to that state in 1862. By his second marriage Mr. Carter had the following chil- dren: Mrs. Covington, who was the eldest born; Bertha, who married Tillman Hathaway, a farmer of Letcher, South Dakota; Jerome, who lives at Omaha, Nebraska, is a violin maker; Grace, who married Arthur Wertz, a farmer, resides at Bancroft, South Dakota; Edwin, who is a farmer of Letcher, South Dakota; Fred, who is also a farmer of Letch- er, South Dakota; Frank, who is a veteran of the World war, served overseas as a member of the aviation branch of the service for eighteen months, is now engaged in farming at Letcher, South Da- kota; and Mark, also a farmer near Letcher, South Dakota.

Mrs. Covington was born in Iowa County, Iowa, and was educated in its public schools and the Iowa City Academy, from which she was graduated in 1895. For the subsequent two years she tanght school in Iowa, and then in 1897 she came to Mon- tana, and for two years was a teacher in the Au- gusta school, and for one year at Cascade, Mon- tana, when she was married.

In politics Mrs. Covington is a democrat, and recognition of her services to the region was shown in her appointment on March 18, 1912, as United States commissioner, which office she still holds. Both Mr. and Mrs. Covington are rightly numbered among the most worthy and representative people of the county. They have made their value felt in many instances, and can always be depended upon to contribute freely to all of the practical civic un- dertakings of their community, but are not apt to be carried away by those which will not guarantee excellent returns to the taxpayers, and permanent improvements of this locality.

CHARLES D. McABOY. While his youth was spent largely on his father's extensive stock ranch in the

490

HISTORY OF MONTANA

State of Washington, Charles D. McAboy was not inclined toward agriculture or livestock husbandry, and as a youth began an apprenticeship at the plumb- ing trade. His experience and thirst for knowledge in his special line have since carried him to prac- tically every state in the Union. For the past eight years he has been a resident of Butte, and is now proprietor of a plumbing and heating business of large and prosperous proportions.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 137

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