Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 52

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 52

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Leonard O. Walker attended the rural schools of Sullivan County, Missouri, and the Green City, Missouri, College, which he left at the age of nine- teen years. His first business experience was gained as proprietor of a harness establishment at Green City, Missouri, where he remained for six years, leaving that place for Montana, in 1897, and spend- ing a year on a ranch near Fromberg. For the subsequent two years he conducted a general store at Fromberg, and then bought a ranch in that vi- cinity, living on it until 1913. He then sold it and came to Belfry, where he began selling harness and shoes in a small way, adding to the lines he carried as he found the demand growing, and now has the leading general store in his part of Carbon County, and carries a stock valued at $15,000.00. The store is located on Broadway, and Mr. Walker

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is the sole proprietor. Since coming to Belfry Mr. Walker has bought a comfortable modern home, and his interests are centered in this locality, where he is fast becoming a very important factor.

In 1892 Mr. Walker was married at Green City, Missouri, to Miss Lucena Bailey, a daughter of John Bailey and wife, both deceased, Mr. Bailey having been a Missouri farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Walker had two children, John R., who is on a ranch near Belfry, and Jean Irvine, who died at the age of eighteen months. Politically Mr. Walker is a republican and has been assessor for two years, and was on the school board for ten years. Frater- nally he belongs to Bridger Lodge Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, and Green City Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. To Mr. Walker belongs the mercantile sense so that he is able to meet the de- mands of his trade with an excellent grade of goods and offer them at prices as low as is consistent with their quality. He knows how to buy and understands conditions so well that he can econo- mize in selling and in this way give his customers the benefit of his abilities and' connections. Having decided to make Belfry his permanent home, Mr. Walker is naturally desirous to secure for it urban improvements and have it line up with the other communities of Carbon and adjacent counties, so that he may always be depended upon to back with his energy and influence all measures tending to bring about such results.

BURTON R. COLE, who has been a lawyer at Lew- istown since 1912, has gained much prominence in his profession, and is recognized as an able and hard working attorney whose future, based on the solid achievements of the past, is one of unmis- takable success.

Mr. Cole was born in Oberlin, Ohio, March 11, 1876, son of Erwin R. and Clara (French) Cole. His parents were both natives of Ohio. His father was a merchant at the college town of Oberlin until 1879, when he moved to the Kansas frontier. locating at Fort Hayes, and spent the rest of his life there as a merchant. He died in I911, at the age of seventy-six. His wife passed away in 1885, aged forty years. Burton R. Cole was the first of their five children. Erwin R. Cole was a member of the Kansas Legislature for one term and served for a number of years as justice of the peace. He was a republican in politics, a Presbyterian, and affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows.

Burton R. Cole grew up in Kansas, but finished his education in Oberlin College, Ohio, graduating with the class of 1900. He studied law in the Cleveland Law School during 1906-07, graduating in the latter year. Mr. Cole soon afterward came to Montana, and during 1911-12 taught in the Uni- versity of Montana at Missoula. In the fall of 1912 he located at Lewistown, was admitted to the Montana bar, and has since been busied with a general practice. He is a republican, an Odd Fel- low, Knight of Pythias, and in Masonry is affiliated with Lewistown Commandery, Knights Templar, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena.

May 8, 1912, Mr. Cole married Elizabeth Schilling. She was born in Butte, Montana. They have one son, Burton R., Jr.

JOHN C. DUNN, M. D. A physician and surgeon of exceptional attainments, whose work has brought him a commanding position in his profession at Lewistown, Doctor Dunn at one time engaged in practice at Chicago, but for the greater part of his

professional career has been identified with the states of North Dakota and Montana.

He was born at Owen Sound, Canada, October 10, 1873, a son of Captain Edwin and Jennie (Hanna) Dunn. His father was born at Birmingham, England, in 1837 and his mother was born in 1853 at Mon- treal, Canada, of Scotch parentage. Captain Edwin Dunn came to Canada with his parents when eight years of age, grew up and was educated at Owen Sound, and in 1861 was a Canadian soldier in the standing army of the Dominion during the Fenian raid. Later he served as a captain on the Great Lakes. During the Riel rebellion in Manitoba in 1881 he was captain of the steamer which took Gen- eral Woolsey to Port Arthur. Subsequently he was commander of the fishing patrol of the Great Lakes. He retired from active life in 1911 and died in May, 1916. His wife passed away in January, 1901. They were married at Owen Sound and had two children, May, wife of James Garvey, and Dr. John C.

Dr. John C. Dunn acquired his early education at Owen Sound, attended the Ontario Collegiate Insti- tute and prepared for his profession at Northwestern University in Chicago. After graduating in 1902 he remained at Chicago in private practice for about five years. He then moved to Stanley, North Da- kato, and in the fall of 1911 came to Lewistown, Montana. He has a general practice but is especially well known for his work in surgery. He is a mem- ber of Fergus County and State Medical societies and the American Medical Association.

Doctor Dunn is a prominent Mason, being affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Hiram Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons, DeMolay Commandery of the Knights Templar at Minot, North Dakota, and with the Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Grand Forks, North Dakota. He and his wife are both active in the Chapter in the Eastern Star, and he is affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 456 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically he is a re- publican.

Doctor Dunn married July 27, 1903, Miss Carrie Devine. She was born at Allegan, Michigan, the seventh in a family of five sons and five daughters born to Michael and Julia (Cummings) Devine. Her parents were both born in Canada. Her mother is now deceased and her father, who is eighty-one years of age, spent his active life as a contractor and builder. Doctor and Mrs. Dunn have two children : John Edwin, a student in St. James Military School at Faribault, Minnesota, and May, aged nine, at- tending the public schools of Lewistown.

LEWIS SAMUEL HOLLIER. It is a compliment worthily bestowed to say that Gallatin County is honored by the citizenship of Lewis S. Hollier, of Bozeman, for he has achieved definite success through his own efforts and is thoroughly deserving of the proud American title of self-made man, the term being one that, in its better sense, cannot but appeal to the loyal admiration of all who are ap- preciative of our national institutions and the privi- leges afforded for individual accomplishment. It is a privilege, ever gratifying in this day and age, to meet a man who has the courage to face the battles of life with a strong heart and steady hand, and to win in the stern conflict by bringing to bear only those forces with which nature has equipped him, self-reliance, self-respect and integrity.

Lewis S. Hollier was born in Christian County, Illinois, on April 5, 1853, and is a son of Christopher Columbus and Nancy (Mckinney) Hollier. Chris- topher C. Hollier was born in the State of Illinois

J.C. Denne M.D.

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in 1902. He was a farmer by vocation, in which he was successful, and spent his entire life in Illinois. He was a republican in politics, served as town clerk and took an active interest in the civic and political affairs of his community. He was a veteran of the Mexican war and was a member of the Christian Church and of the Masonic fraternity. He married Nancy Mckinney, who was born near Springfield, Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1832, and died in Christian County, Illinois, in 1894. To this worthy couple were born the following children: Gunnell Mckinney and Clarissa, who died in early childhood; Lewis S. is the next in order of birth; Mary, who died in Park County, Montana, at the age of forty- five years, was the wife of Jacob Bliler, an extensive rancher at Wilsall, Montana; Edward, who died at Livingston, Montana, at the age of fifty years; Alice is the wife of Eli Bliler, a farmer in Christian County, Illinois; Ida is the wife of William Car- mony, who resides on the old homestead in Christian County, Illinois; Lucy is the wife of a Mr. Harris, a farmer in Missouri; Nancy Margaret died in child- hood, as did Florence Columbia and Minnie.

Lewis S. Hollier received his educational training in the rural schools of Christian County, Illinois, and remained on his father's farm until twenty-eight years of age. In the spring of 1881 he went to Fredonia, Kansas, where he remained for six months, at the end of which time he came to Bozeman, being numbered among the pioneers of this locality, and during the following three years he was em- ployed as a general laborer. He then established a dray line, which he operated for twenty years, and then sold it. For thirty years he has acted as dis- trict representative for the Continental Oil Com- pany, and for about twenty years he has been a dealer in wood and coal. Mr. Hollier has exercised sound business judgment in all his transactions and, though starting here at the beginning with practically nothing, he is today numbered among the prosperous and successful men of this community. Besides a comfortable and attractive residence in Bozeman, and other property here, he is the owner of some good land in Southern Oregan.

Mr. Hollier has always been an ardent supporter of the republican party, and served one term as a member of the City Council of Bozeman. Fraternal- ly he is a member of Gallatin Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and of Pythagoras Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Hollier has been twice married. In 1874, in Christian County, Illinois, he was married to Marob A. Toothaker, a native of Christian County, Illinois, and who died in Bozeman in 1888. She became the mother of one child, Beatrix, who died at the age of eight years. In 1890, at Bozeman, Mr. Hollier was married to Trena Baker, a native of Iowa, and to them have been born the following children : Georgie is the wife of Frederick Benedict, of Brem- erton, Washington, who is a draughtsman in the service of the Government; Alice died at the age of fifteen years; Samuel is a machinist at Boze- man; Trena is a junior in the Montana State College and Myrtle is a sophomore in the same institution ; Stella attends the Gallatin County High School. Mr. Hollier has ever given his support to all worthy movements for the advancement of the community. His residence here of many years has but strength- ened his hold on the hearts of the people with whom he has been associated, and today no one here en- joys a larger circle of warm friends and acquaint- ances, who esteem him because of his sterling qual- ities of character and his business ability.

JAMES McCALMAN has had a long and varied ex- perience in brick and stone contracting, and has done a great deal of construction work for the state government of Montana. He was the con- struction contractor for the State Penitentiary, and makes his home at Deer Lodge.

Mr. McCalman was born at Morven, Scotland, December 23, 1859. His father James McCalman was born in the same locality in 1809 and spent all his life there as a farmer. He died in 1894. He was a liberal in politics and a very faithful Pres- byterian in his church affiliations. James McCal- man married Mary McLaughlin, who was born at Morven, Scotland, in 1820, and died there in 1885. Catherine, the oldest of their children, lives at Troon, Scotland, widow of Thomas Little, who was a merchant; Mary lives at Oban, Scotland, widow of John McIntyre, who was an insurance man; Dr. John is a minister of the Christian Church at Lakemont, New York; James is the fourth of the family; Douglas is a minister of the Presby- terian Church at Strachur, Scotland; Major Duncan of Baltimore, is a major in the Regular United States Army and was all through the World war with the Ninety-sixth Engineers; Margaret lives at Morven, Scotland, widow of Allan Curry, who was postmaster of that town.

James McCalman attended the public schools of his native town in Scotland, and as a youth learned the trade of general building construction. He came to the United States in 1882, following his trade for two years at Minneapolis. It was thirty- five years ago that he identified himself with Mon- tana, with headquarters at Helena. He became a leading contractor in brick and stone work, erecting the first bank at Helena and business buildings and residences. In 1894 he moved to Deer Lodge, where as contractor he erected all the walls of the main build- ings and the wings of the penitentiary, a contract that took his time and all the facilities of his organ- ization for five years. After completing the work he spent several years in Alaska as a gold prospector and had considerable success in mining the precious metal. Mr. McCalman returned to Deer Lodge in 1911 and resumed his business as a construction contractor for the State Penitentiary. At present he is working out a large contract at Warm Springs, building the hospital and all the other buildings of the insane asylum. He employs convicts entirely for the work, keeping about eighty busy. He is also erecting the Tuberculosis Hospital, barns, power house, dormitories, kitchens and other struc- tures at Galen, Montana.

Mr. McCalman is a republican in politics. He owns a modern home at 1010 Fifth Street in Deer Lodge. He married at Tacoma, Washington, in 1908, Miss Marion McFarlane, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John McFarlane of Tobermory, Scotland. Her father was at one time a justice of the peace in Scotland. Mrs. McCalman is a trained nurse and came to this country from Glasgow. They have three children: Ronald, born August 3, 1909; Doug- las, born April 27, 1912; and Malcolm, born Sep- tember 12, 1917.

CHARLES A. WEIL, president of the P. L. Howe Lumber Mills of Eureka, has been through every phase of the lumber industry, from lumber camp to business office, and his experience has covered most of the Middle West as well as the Northwest. His career has brought him generous means, and for years he has been one of the most influential citizens of this section of Montana.

Mr. Weil was born at West Bend, Wisconsin, March 20, 1866, a son of Henry and Catherine

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(Wightman) Weil. His father was a native of Alsace-Lorraine and a lawyer by profession. Charles A. Weil acquired a public school education in Wis- consin, and at the age of sixteen taught a term of school. He also had some experience in newspaper work before he entered the lumber industry, work- ing in camps and mills and lumber yards in Wis- consin, Illinois and North Dakota, and for the past fourteen years has been at the head of the exten- sive mills at Eureka. He has many interests with the lumbering and business enterprises of the North- west.

Mr. Weil married Miss Maude Norris, daughter of William L. and Augusta (Vestey) Norris. Her father was a native of Dublin, Ireland, and for many years editor and owner of the Watertown Republican in Wisconsin, and through his paper and individuality was a staunch upholder of the republican party. Mrs. Weil was born at Water- town, Wisconsin, and finished her education in the Bordulac Seminary at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Weil have two children, Genevieve and Kenneth. Genevieve finished her education at Graf- ton Hall in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, while Ken- neth attended the Illinois Northern College at Dixon and a school at Rugby, North Dakota. Genevieve is the wife of G. A. Horstkotte, mechanical super- intendent of the Shevlin Hixon Mills at Bend, Ore- gon. They have one child, Charles A. Horstkotte. Kenneth, who is manager of the Miller Lumber Company at Bend, Oregon, married Laura Reynolds, of Rugby, North Dakota, and has two children, Charles Kenneth and Muriel.

In 1917 Mr. and Mrs. Weil erected one of the finest residences in Lincoln County. It was built almost exclusively of materials manufactured in the mills at Eureka. It is a house in colonial style, and many of its plans were suggested by Mrs. Weil. Mr. Weil is a democrat in politics. He is a Knight Templar Mason, also affiliated with the Scottish Rite Consistory and the Shrine, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America. Both Mr. and Mrs. Weil give their active membership and sup- port to the Episcopal Church. During the World war they were prominent factors in the splendid record made by Eureka. Mrs. Weil was purchaser for the Red Cross Chapter and he served as one of the executive committee of the Chapter and was also chairman of the second and third Liberty Loan drives. Mr. Weil in 1916 was elected a member of the Montana Legislature and was in the Legis- lature for two terms, throughout the war period, serving on a number of important committees and at all times doing what he could to uphold the stanch patriotism of the state.

One of Montana's newspapers referring to his work in the Legislature said truthfully of him: "Representative Weil is one of those men who do things. When given a task to perform it becomes the duty of the moment and is attended to. There- fore it is not surprising that he served as chairman through all the Liberty Loan campaigns in Lincoln County and in the campaigns for the Red Cross and other associated war activities. While a demo- crat in politics, he is not an intensely partisan legis- lator, but looks more to the merit of a measure and the welfare of the state than to party prefer- ence. This is one of the reasons for his re-election in a county where the republican candidate for state senator was elected by a substantial plurality. Dur- ing the last session of the State Legislature he was chairman of the important committee on privileges

and elections. He has been appointed a member of the committees on ways and means, banking, town- ships and counties, and fish and game."

Mr. Weil is one of the directors of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Eureka and of the Security State Bank of Whitefish. He was president of the Montana Lumber Manufacturers' Association and also president of the State Forestry Association. The P. L. Howe Lumber Mills, of which he is the executive head, are successors to the Eureka Lum- ber Company, and at Eureka they have one of the immense manufacturing plants of Montana, with an annual capacity of 60,000,000 feet of lumber products.

LEWIS CARLILE CLARK is a native of the great mining center of Butte, and for a number of years has been actively identified with ranching, stock raising and other business affairs at Lewistown. He was one of the leading men in Fergus County in supporting and maintaining the various war. auxiliary movements during the World war

His father was the late Henry S. Clark, one of the earliest Montana settlers and long prominent as a business man and public official of the state. Henry S. Clark was born in New York State, October 5, 1832, and in one line traced his ancestry back to the Mayflower. His father, Rev. Charles Clark, was a Baptist minister and preached at various towns in New York. Henry S. Clark ac- quired his education in several towns where his father was a pastor, and after leaving the Low- ville Academy became a bookkeeper and later teller in the Rome Exchange Bank. He was elected city treasurer of Rome in 1853. In 1855 he went to Chicago, and for three years was a messenger with the United States Express Company. In . 1858 he went to Des Moines, Iowa, and continued as an express agent there and at Kansas City, Missouri, until the first of 1860. Early in that year he went to Pike's Peak, Colorado, and with three others located the Manitou Springs and the town- site of Colorado City. The wonderful value of those scenic places was not then appreciated, and he soon became a miner, also ranched near Colorado City, but in 1864 flood and grasshoppers and In- dian hostilities drove him away. During 1865-66 he kept a grocery and commission store at Denver.

In 1866 he joined a party making the journey with mule teams from Denver to Montana. He settled at the mining camp of Greenwood, eighteen miles from Helena, and opened a store, kept the stage station and postoffice, and became interested in mining. In 1878 he removed to Butte City. While a successful business man, he was almost continuously identified with some public office dur- ing his residence in Montana. He was elected clerk and recorder of Deer Lodge County in 1871, serving seven years; during 1880-81 was deputy assessor of Silver Bow County; in 1882 was elected clerk and recorder of that county, and filled the office four years; and subsequently was deputy collector of internal revenue for the Third Divi- sion of Montana.

Henry S. Clark died at Long Beach, California, January 22, 1914. At Fountain, Colorado, August 31, 1863, he married Laura Roberts. She was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, February 10, 1844, and died at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, March 15, 1912. She was long prominent as a pioneer Montana woman and was widely known for her interests in fraternal organizations. Her father, Samuel E. Roberts, was a pioneer Colorado rancher and stock- man. Mrs. Henry S. Clark left Denver in Sep-

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tember, 1867, to join her husband in Montana, mak- ing the journey by stage coach around Salt Lake. For a time she and her infant son were the only passengers, and they had to pass through long stretches of country recently devastated by Indian raids. She was a splendid type of the pioneer woman, steadfast, courageous, and willing to meet every emergency with the same spirit as her hus- band. She held many of the prominent offices in the Women's Auxiliary bodies of the Ancient Or- der of United Workmen, the Order of Rebekahs, and the Eastern Star. Henry S. Clark was a promi- nent Mason and Odd Fellow. He and his wife had ten children, two of whom were born in the pioneer district of Colorado and eight in the equally frontier conditions of Montana. The first died in infancy and the son who accompanied his mother on her perilous trip to Montana is William Lee Clark. The others in order of age were Henry S., Arthur B., Clarence, Clara, Hudson, Lewis Carlile and Laura, twins, and one other that died in infancy.

Lewis Carlile Clark was born at Butte, Febru- ary 1, 1885. He grew up at Butte, attending the grammar and high schols there, and finished his education in the University of Michigan. After his college career he took up stock ranching in Fer- gus County, being a sheep man, and was president and manager of the North Montana Livestock Company until 1912. After that he devoted his ranch of 887 acres to the growing of wheat. He is now extensively interested in real estate, is a stockholder in the Miners Savings Bank & Trust Company at Butte, and in recent years has given much time to public affairs in Lewistown. After an exciting campaign he was elected mayor of Lew- istown in May, 1917, and served until May, 1919. During the war he was the first chairman of the Civilian Relief Committee, is now chairman of the Fergus County Chapter of the Red Cross, and president of the Fergus County War Relief Asso- ciation. Mr. Clark is affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lewistown Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons, Lewistown Commandery No. 14, Knights Templar, and belongs to Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. He is a past exalted ruler of Lewistown Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

March 1, 1010, he married Margaret Jane Byrne, a native of Wisconsin. They have three children, named Clara Margaret, Lois C. and Lew Carlile.

WILLIAM C. WHIPPS. It is the deliberate judgment of a large part of the citizenship of Kalispell that no one man has longer exemplified the strongest in- fluence of his public spirit in behalf of all matters affecting the welfare of the community as William C. Whipps, veteran merchant, former mayor and a citizen who has never neglected an opportunity to keep his section of the state in the very lead of im- provements and development.

Mr. Whipps is of English ancestry. His great- grandfather, Benjamin Whipps, was a Maryland slave holder, and one of the first white settlers in Ohio. Lloyd Whipps father of the former mayor, was a soldier with an Ohio regiment in the Civil war. Lloyd Whipps married Louise Grant, a native of Virginia, her family being remotely connected with that of General Grant.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 52

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