Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 54

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 54

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Here he owned a barber shop, and conducted it until he was elected on the republican ticket audi- tor of Carbon County in 1918, assuming the duties of the office in January, 1919, for a term of two years. His office is in the courthouse. While liv- ing in Illinois he had some experience as a public official, as he was there a justice of the peace. Fra- ternally he belongs to Wataga Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Wataga, Illinois.

In 1903 Mr. Forman was married to Miss Mabel Cornelius at Galesburg, Illinois, and she died at Moline, Illinois, in 1912, leaving two children, Henry C., who was born May 24, 1905, and Myrtle, who was born January 24, 1907. During April, 1913, Mr. Forman was married to Miss Myra Huntington at Billings, Montana. She is a daughter of E. and Lizzie Huntington, who reside in Rosebud County, Montana, where Mr. Huntington is a rancher and stockman. Mr. and Mrs. Forman have a daughter. Vivian, who was born November 2, 1914. Mr. For- man is giving Carbon County a valuable service in the office he holds, and is recognized as one of the representative men of this section, and one who is deserving of the confidence displayed in him by his constituents.

GEORGE ROLLIN CREEL, of Lewistown, has made . his, home in Fergus County for twenty years, coming to Montana from Illinois.

He was born on a farm close to the Mississippi River, near the Town of Durham in Hancock County, Illinois, in 1873, son of Charles A. and Susan (Yates) Creel. His parents were both na- tives of Illinois. When he was a year old the family moved to McDonough County, where he spent the early years of his life on a farm just at the edge of Macomb. The corner stone of the limits of that beautiful little Illinois city was located in the front yard of the Creel home.

His first schooling was in the district schools, but becoming acquainted in the city he attended schools at Macomb and completed his education in the Ma- comb Business and Normal College. He never achieved a college degree, but all his life has been an optimistic student of the pages of the world's history. He has much admiration for the rural life, at the same time desires the advantages of the city.

His father was born in 1844 and is still living, hav- ing spent a long and active career as a farmer and stockman. Mr. Creel was only six years old when his mother died in 1880, at the age of forty-two, as a result of typhoid fever. At that time the small boy was much impressed by the service rendered by the undertaker. After leaving school George Creel fol- lowed various lines of work. While in a shoe store at Joliet, Illinois, he met a stockman from Geyser, Montana, whose story of Central Montana so in- terested him that thirty days later he was on his way to Great Falls. One year was spent on a ranch, then he was employed in the quartz mines at New Year, and while working in the Judith Hardware Store at Lewistown, which carried a side line of caskets, he began planning an exclusive business as a funeral director. At that time the impressions made upon him at his mother's funeral were renewed and after much consideration he went to Chicago and completed a course and secured a diploma from the United States School of Embalming.

On his return to Lewiston he had no capital, but his training and experience, combined with his determined ambition, enabled him to bridge over the period in which failure was daily imminent. A friend supplied him with the funds with which he opened his funeral directing parlors in December, 1902. and later the Montana Hardware Company and

the Judith Hardware Company sold their stock of caskets and funeral supplies to him. He has since been in business at 605 Main Street, has a splendid equipment and is a man of the proper talent and experience to handle this business most success- fully.

Mr. Creel is proud of his citizenship in his adopted State of Montana and is endeavoring to keep abreast with his thriving little city.

He is affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lewistown Lodge No. 456 of the Order of Elks, Judith Lodge No. 30, Knights of Pythias, Judith Lodge No. 30, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are both members of Marie Chapter No. 36 of the Eastern Star.

April 14, 1903, Mr. Creel married Miss Kittie A. Schaaf, who was born at Alhambra Springs, Mon- tana, daughter of Aaron and Alice (Pool) Schaaf, early settlers of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Creel are the parents of three daughters, Lygra L., Judith Montana and Nita A.

HENRY ROSETTA has been a resident of Montana for thirty years, was formerly well known in coal mining circles in Carbon County, has also been prominent in official affairs and is an extensive rancher near Red Lodge.

He was born near Turin, Italy, February 15, 1870, but has spent his life since early childhood in the United States. His father, Frank Rosetta, was born near Turin in 1837, and while living in Italy culti- vated a small farm. During one of the wars in which Italy was engaged in 1856 he hauled sup- plies to the Italian camp. He came to America in 1876 and was a pioneer settler in Southeastern Kansas, locating at Osage City. He worked in the coal mines there, but later became a farmer, and his death in 1903 was the result of an accident in his cow stable. He was a republican voter and was reared in. the Catholic Church. Frank Rosetta married Theressa Fiora, who was born near Turin in 1851 and is now living at Benton Harbor, Michi- gan. Henry was the oldest of her eight children. A brief record of the others is as follows: Amelia, wife of Emil Balocca, a painter and decorator at Osage City, Kansas; Florinda, wife of A. D. Wardell, a coal miner at Minden Mines, Missouri ; Clementine, residing at Osage City, is the widow of Charles Herman, who was a coal mine foreman and farmer; Adolph, of Benton Harbor, Michi- gan; Emil, a machinist living in Virginia; Quinto, a musician at Benton Harbor ; Frank, a printer liv- ing at Benton Harbor.

Henry Rosetta was educated in the schools of Osage City, Kansas. He began working and sup- porting himself at the age of 101/2 years, when he was employed as a boy in the coal mines of Kansas. His coal mining experience gave him his first op- portunity when he came to Montana in 1800. He was employed in the mines of the Rocky Fork Coal Company until the fall of 1898. In the meantime he had become a well known and popular figure in Carbon County, and in that year was elected assessor of the county. He filled the office for two years and the following four years he engaged in the real estate and insurance business. In the mean- time he became interested in coal lands and de- veloped the International coal properties at Bear Creek and was their active manager until 1913. He is still a director in the International Coal Com- pany. Since 1013 he has concentrated his energies on ranching. His home ranch, individually owned, comprises 640 acres five miles northeast of Red Lodge. He also leases over 1,000 acres, and does

Vol. 11-13

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his business as a stock raiser on a large scale. He served as president of the Rocky Fork and Clear Creek Ditch Company, but refused re-election to that office in March, 1919, and has been connected with the organizations for twenty years. Mr. Ro- setta is a democrat and is affiliated with Star in the West Lodge No. 40, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. His residence is at 301 North Platte Avenue in Red Lodge. He married in Osage City, Kansas, Miss Clementine Romersa, a daughter of Joseph and Maria Romersa. Her father is now liv- ing in Italy while her mother is in Red Lodge. Mr. and Mrs. Rosetta had the following children: Alpha, of Red Lodge, a graduate of the high school of that city, is the widow of Chris Sparling, who was a farmer in Montana; Sophie, who married Harry Woodson, of Bear Creek, Montana; Daisy A., a graduate of the high school, married Edwin H. Melville of Los Gatos, California; Kate, also a high school graduate, is at home with her parents and is bookkeeper for the Red Lodge Brewing Com- pany ; Adolph, who was a graduate of high school and was a victim of the influenza epidemic at the age of twenty-one, his death occurring November 6, 1918; and Leo, who is a public school student.

MARSHALL E. MILLER. The members of the vast army of business men connected with the various branches of the antombile industry have been re-, cruited from various other occupations and voca- tional fields, for the autmobile business is compara- tively a new one. It is likewise one that appeals to young men just entering upon their careers, and many of those who have already tasted of suc- cess are men still in their early thirties. Marshall E. Miller, of Billings, is one who, formerly a farmer, is now proprietor of one of the leading garages of his city. Mr. Miller is a native of Mont- gomery County, Missouri, born December II, 1885, a son of J. H. and Alice (Cummings) Miller.

Chris Miller, the grandfather of Marshall E., was a pioneer into Missouri, where he rounded out a successful and honorable career in agricultural pur- suits, and died at Bellflower, Missouri, in 1890. His son, J. H. Miller, was born in 1854, in Ohio, where he was reared, and was still a young man when he removed to Vernon County, Missouri, where his marriage took place. For some years he continued to make his home in Vernon County, where he was engaged in farming, a vocation which he sub- sequently followed in Montgomery County in the same state, but in December, 1916, retired from ac- tive pursuits and located near Fromberg, Montana, where he still makes his home. He is a stanch republican in his political affiliation, but is not in- terested in public affairs save as a voter and a pub- lic-spirited citizen. Mrs. Miller, who also survives, was born in 1862, in Vernon County, Missouri, and she and her husband are the parents of three chil- dren: Marshall E., of this notice; Claude, who is engaged in farming in Vernon County, Missouri; and Charles, who makes his home with his parents.

Marshall E. Miller was educated in the public schools of Missouri, and continued to reside on his father's farm until he reached the age of twenty- two years. At that time he embarked in farming upon his own initiative and continued to be so en- gaged until 1911, when he took up his home and centered his activities at Nevada, Missouri, being there employed in general work. Upon locating at Billings in October, 1914, he found employment in a garage and learned the business, and October 23, 1917, founded his present business at No. 112 North Twenty-sixth Street, where he has floor space of 25 by 55 feet. He has a well-equipped establish-

ment, which has developed into one of the leading garages of the city, and is fully prepared to do all kinds of repairing, in addition to which he handles second-hand cars and handles all kinds of accessories. Mr. Miller has built up an excellent trade in his line, and maintains a high standing in business circles. He is an advocate of democratic principles and candidates as, regards politics, and is fraternally connected with Lodge No. 558, Loyal Order of Moose.

On December 9, 1908, Mr. Miller was united in marriage at Harwood, Missouri, with Miss Nora Alice Moore, daughter of Steven J. and Alice Moore, now both deceased, Mr. Moore having for- merly been a carpenter at Walker, Missouri. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Miller : Raymond, born March 21, 1910, and Juanita, born June 5, 1914.

CHARLIE T. TROTT. A young man of good busi- ness capacity, familiar from his youth with the "art preservative of all arts," Charlie T. Trott, of Bil- lings, established the Trott Printing Company, lo- cated at 2810-12 Second Avenue, North, in 1909, and has since managed its affairs systematically and effi- ciently. A son of Charles Trott, he was born August 6, 1884, at Deal, County Kent, England.

Charles Trott, a native of England, was born at Dover, County Kent, in 1854, and there acquired his early education. He was engaged in seafaring pursuits during his early life. In 1890 he immi- grated to this country, at once making his way with his family to Montana and locating at first in that part of Custer County that is now included in Rose- bud County, at Forsyth, coming from there to Billings in 1899. Since 1914 he has been actively associated with the Trott Printing Company. He married in Deal, England, Charlotte Hall, whose birth occurred in that town in 1856. Five children have been born into their household, as follows: Charlie T., with whom this sketch is chiefly con- cerned; Richard, of Billings, superintendent of the Trott Printing Company; Georgina, living with her parents; Phyllis, wife of Robert Tallent, who is engaged in mining at Butte, Montana; and Wini- fred, wife of Charles B. Allen, a contractor and builder at Billings.

But six years of age when he was brought by his parents to Montana, Charlie T. Trott acquired his preliminary education at Forsyth. He subse- quently learned the printer's trade. Coming to Billings in 1899, Mr. Trott was for a short time with the Times Publishing Company, and later with the Gazette Printing Company. Ambitious to start in business on his own account and realizing the need of more extensive knowledge of the craft, he spent several years in different plants of large east- ern printing centers. Politically Mr. Trott is in- dependent of party affiliations. Fraternally he be- longs to Billings Lodge No. 394, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and socially he is a mem- ber of the Billings Midland Club.

Mr. Trott married at Billings in 1914 Miss Emma Christoffersen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mads Christoffersen, who reside in Menasha, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Trott have two children, William, born November 25, 1915; and George, born July 27, 1918.

CHARLEY W. HILL. The name of Charley W. Hill is known to everyone interested in real estate transfers in Page County. For several years he has filled a large place in the business affairs of the City of Livingston, and as an energetic, far- seeing, enterprising man, careful and painstaking in

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his work, he has won and now enjoys the confidence of all who are acquainted with him and his spe- cial line of work.

Charley W. Hill is descended from good old Yan- kee stock, his ancestors having located in Massa- chusetts in colonial days. His paternal grand- father, Daniel Hill, was born in Maine in 1816 and died at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1889. For many years he lived at Swamscott, Massachusetts, where he established a wholesale fish market, in which he was succeeded by his son, Charley W. Hill's father. His wife was a Hathaway of Massa- chusetts. Mr. Hill's father, also named Daniel, was born in 1825 in Swamscott, Massachusetts, where he was reared, though the greater part of his life was spent in Boston, to which city he moved after his marriage. Eventually he retired and came to White Sulphur Springs, Montana, where he died a few years later, in 1892. He was a republican, a member of the Baptist Church and of the Masonic fraternity. In his younger years he had taken an active interest in military affairs and wa's cap- tain of the Prescott Light Guards of Boston. He married Caroline Hill, who, though bearing the same family name, was not related to him. She was born in 1827 in Waterloo, Maine, and died at Portland, Maine, in 1896. To them was born but one child, the subject of this review.

Charley W. Hill, who conducts a successful ab- stracting business at Livingston, was born at Bos- ton, Massachusetts, on November 9, 1857, and re- ceived his education in the public and night schools of that city. At the age of seventeen years he be- gan work in the office of the city surveyor of Bos- ton, where he remained three years. In 1879 he came west, locating first at Helena, Montana, of which he was one of the pioneer residents. Dur- ing the following two seasons he was on Govern- ment survey work, and during his first season he was a member of the expedition out of Helena which worked in the flat Willow country. This region is now a part of Fergus County, but at that time the county had not been formed and Lewis- town was as yet undreamed of. During his sec- ond season he was a member of the party which operated in the Powder River country south of Miles City. Even in that year the railways had not yet invaded the country. He pre-empted 160 acres of land west of White Sulphur Springs, dividing his residence between his ranch and the town. In 1889 he was appointed deputy county clerk and recorder of Meagher County, this being immediately following the admission of Montana to statehood, and three years later he was elected county clerk and recorder, to which office he was three times elected to succeed himself, thus serving six years. He then, in 1898, returned to his ranch, where he spent the next two years, but was recalled to public life by his election as sheriff of Meagher County, in which he served one term. He then started a steam laundry in White Sulphur Springs, but one year later he transferred the plant to Livingston, which offered a better opening. However, in 1902 Mr. Hill sold the laundry and entered the employ of the Livingston Land and Abstract Company, where he gained valuable experience in the most important field of abstracting, thoroughly learning every phase of the business. In 1915 he opened an abstracting office on his own account, in which he has met with most pronounced success, he being now considered the leading abstractor of his county. In 1902 Mr. Hill sold his ranch and now owns a splen- did. modern home on South Seventh Street, Liv- ingston.

Politically Mr. Hill is a republican, while his fraternal relations are with the Independent Order

of Odd Fellows, his membership being with Castle Mountain Lodge at White Sulphur Springs. He is also a member of the Livingston Chamber of Com- merce and takes a live interest in every project which in any way promises to benefit the city or county.

On August 14, 1889, at Helena, Montana, Mr. Hill married Carrie A. Lewis, a native of Oxford, New York. She received a good education in the public schools and in Oxford Seminary and is a lady of refinement and culture. To Mr. and Mrs. Hill have been born three children, as follows : Lewis L., who had been connected with the Govern- ment engineering department in the Yellowstone Na- tion Park, enlisted in the United States army in June, 1917, prior to the draft, and in March, 1918, was sent overseas as a member of the Third Di- vision, Sixth Engineers Corps, Army of Occupa- tion. He saw much active service up to the time of the armistice, having been engaged on the Marne, in Picardy, at Verdun, where he was wounded, and in the Argonne Forest drive. His services were recognized and he became a first lieutenant of en- gineers. He is a man of splendid educational at- tainments, being a graduate of the Park County High School and of Bozeman College. Mary La- Vaughn, who lives at home, is a graduate of the Park County High School and for the past four years has served as cashier of the Montana Power Company. Florence J., also a graduate of the county high school, is bookkeeper for the George L. Tracy Commission House.

It will thus be recognized that the Hill family has ably done its part in every relation of life which has presented itself, and they enjoy the sincere re- spect of all who know them and of their work.

ARTHUR J. MOVIUS, M. D. Billings is especially fortunate in having among its more able and skilful physicians and surgeons Dr. Arthur J. Movius, who has attained a position of prominence in the medical profession, his career having been one of continued progress. Making a specialty of surgery rather than straying over the entire field of endeavor, he has become widely known as one of the foremost sur- geons of Southeastern Montana, being recognized as an authority on that branch of medical science. A son of William R. Movius, he was born at Odessa. Minnesota, August 11, 1878, of German ancestry.

Born in Germany in 1850, William R. Movius came to this country as a youth of sixteen years, settling in Minnesota. Becoming familiar with the various branches of agriculture during the next few years, he bought land in the vicinity of Yellow Banks, that state, soon after attaining his majority, and by dint of hard labor cleared and improved a good farm, and for several years operated a general store. Moving with his family to South Dakota in 1875, he was there actively engaged in the mercantile busi- ness until 1890, when he settled at Lidgerwood, North Dakota, and engaged in the manufacture of flour, operating a mill for upwards of a quarter of a century. In 1917 he became a resident of Bill- ings, Montana, where he is now living retired, en- joying the fruits of his previous years of toil. Po- litically he is a democrat; religiously a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and fraternally is a Mason.

Of the union of William R. Movius with Marcella J. Murray, a native of Minnesota, eight children have been born, as follows : Arthur J., the special sub- ject of this personal sketch: Winfred D., operating a flour mill at Lidgerwood, North Dakota; Marcella, wife of Dr. N. J. Shields, a physician and surgeon at San Luis Obispo, California; Pearl D., wife of

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Arthur Rosenkranz, an electrician at Lidgerwood; Rex M., treasurer of Sheridan County, Montana, resides at Plentywood; Walter R., engaged in the real estate and insurance business in Billings ; Harold E., who is associated with the Billings Laundry Com- pany; and Margaret, wife of Herman Warren, a railroad employe, living in Mobile, Alabama.

The early educational privileges of Arthur J. Movius were confined to the public schools of Big Stone, South Dakota, but in 1895 he was graduated from the Fargo, North Dakota High School, rank- ing high in his class. The ensuing five years he was employed in the milling business with his father at Lidgerwood, North Dakota. Being of a studious nature, with a real desire to further advance his knowledge, he entered the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, and in 1904 was graduated from that institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While there he joined the Nu Sigma Nu, a medical fraternity. Continuing his residence in Minneapolis, Doctor Movius did post graduate work at Asbury Hospital as an interne, specializing in surgery, for which he had a natural taste and aptitude.

Locating in Montana in 1905, the doctor erected a hospital at Bridger, and managed it creditably for four years, in the meantime gaining a broad ex- perience in his special line of work and a wide reputation for ability and professional skill. Dis- posing of his hospital in June, 1911, Doctor Movius came to Billings, and having established his offices in Suite 239, Hart-Albin Building, has since built up an extensive and highly remunerative general practice, specializing as heretofore in surgery. He is a man of excellent financial standing, owning a ranch of 640 acres in Treasure County, Montana, a fine residence at 245 Wyoming Avenue, and is a large shareholder in the Security Building and Loan Association, Billings, Montana.

In his political relations the doctor is independent, voting according to the dictates of his conscience regardless of party prejudices. Religiously he is an active and prominent member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and a member of its board of trustees. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and · Accepted Order of Masons; of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Socially he belongs to the Billings Midland Empire Club. He has also the distinction of being one of the four physicians of Yellowstone County to hold a fellowship in the American College of Surgeons.

In 1906, in Nova Scotia, Doctor Movius was united in marriage with Miss Marion Murray, a daughter of the late Andrew and Jane ( Mckenzie) Murray. Her father, formerly a farmer and carpenter, has passed to the life beyond, but her mother, Mrs. Murray, is a resident of Billings. Mrs. Movius is a well-educated, accomplished woman, and a graduate of the Pictou Academy, at Pictou, Nova Scotia. Doctor and Mrs. Movius are the parents of four children, namely: Marcella Jane, born May 15, 1907; Marion, born January 20, 1909; Arthur J., Jr., born October 15, 1910; and William Robert, born November 10, 1914.

WALTER C. STRASZER. Notwithstanding the fact that the republic of Switzerland is one of the small- est countries of the world, it has sent large num- ber of emigrants to the United States during the years that have elapsed since independence was se- cured. The people of that country, appreciating the blessings of liberty, of which they had had a strong example in their own land, were not slow to recognize the possibilities that opened out in splendid perspective before all who located early in

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 54

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