Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 62

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 62

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He is a stockholder in the American Bank & Trust Company and served several terms as direc- tor, is a director of the Billings Building and Loan Association and the Security Building and Loan Association. With a large and important law prac- tice he has yet found time for many civic and in- stitutional duties. He is a trustee of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, a member of the board of trustees of the Billings Midland Club, a director of the Billings Young Men's Christian Association and chairman of the state committee of the Young Men's Christian Association since its organization in 1912, is one of the directors and secretary of the Billings Deaconess Hospital Association and is affiliated with Ashlar Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Billings Consistory of the Scottish Rite.

Going back again to the years of his boyhood, it should be noted that when thirteen years of age Judge Reynolds was captain of a company of cadets, well equipped and uniformed, at Coldwater, Michi- gan, and had the honor of being presented with a sword by the famous Civil war leader, General Rose- crans. This presentation was made at Hillsdale, Michigan, at a state encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic.

In 1896, at Coldwater, Michigan, Judge Reynolds married Miss Florence M. Hilliar, daughter of Purches and Adelaide (Adams) Hilliar. Her par- ents are now deceased. Her father at one time was a farmer at Coldwater, Michigan. Judge and Mrs. Reynolds have two children: Adeltha A., a graduate of the Billings High School, now the wife of Vern D. Clark, who was assistant teller of the Montana National Bank at Billings and is now sec- retary of the Security Building & Loan Association of Billings, and Frances, who is specializing in musi- ical studies.

OLAF GARDEN, whose work from early manhood has been connected with the promotion of sales of farming implements, particularly threshing machin- ery, came to Billings as representative of the Min- neapolis Threshing Machine Company, and is man- ager of the Billings branch, handling all the ma-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

chinery output of that company over a large area in the Northwest.

Mr. Garden was born in St. Peter, Minnesota, August 7, 1877. His father is Ole L. Garden, who was born at Totem, Norway, in 1841, son of Lars Garden, who was born in the same locality in 1811. Lars was a school teacher in Norway, and late in life, after retiring from this profession, came to the United States and died at St. Peter, Minnesota, in 1871. Ole L. Garden grew up in his native coun- try, served his regular term in the Norwegian army, and coming to the United States in 1869 settled in St. Peter, Minnesota. He married there, and in 1878 moved to Norman County in the same state, homesteading a claim, and gradually developing his possessions and interests in that locality until he now owns 1,280 acres, comprising two complete sections of land. Aside from his local affairs he has served as township treasurer, and is a member of the Lutheran Church. He married Mary Dahl, who was born in 1847, also at Totem, Norway. She died at Gary, Minnesota, in 1886. She was the mother of seven children: Lewis, editor of the Gary Graphic; Christine, unmarried and living with her father; Regina, living at Crookston, Minne- sota, widow of H. B. Lanager, a traveling business man who was killed in a railroad wreck in 1908; Olaf, who is the fourth among the seven; John O., a real estate broker at Wolf Point, Montana; Os- wald, living on the home farm at Gary, Minnesota; and Martin, a merchant at Gary.

Olaf Garden grew up on his father's farm in Minnesota until he was twenty years of age. He attended the rural schools of Bear Park Township in Norman County, and on leaving home entered the threshing machine business. He spent one year as salesman at Crookston, Minnesota, for the J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company. For seven years he was salesman for the Avery Company at Fargo, North Dakota, following which for two years he was a local machine dealer at Hettinger, North Dakota. Thus after ten years of successful expe- rience he joined the Minneapolis Threshing Com- pany as a salesman and was located at Winnipeg, Canada, Grand Forks, North Dakota, and on De- cember 1, 1916, came to Montana in charge of the Billings branch of the company. The plant and offices are located at 413-19 North Twenty-fifth Street. This branch, of a business which covers the entire Northwest, was established at Billings in 1909, the building being erected in 1910. It is the combined plant and warehouse and covers 140 by 200 feet. The business, comprising the handling of threshing machinery, gas and steam engines in the territory worked from Billings, includes Mon- tana and Wyoming. The head offices of the com- pany are at Minneapolis.

Mr. Garden during his business experience has found opportunity to make some permanent invest- ments and owns a ranch of 320 acres in Kidder County in North Dakota, and another of 160 acres in Polk County, Minnesota. He also has a mod- ern home at 1001 North Thirty-first Street in Bill- ings

Mr. Garden is a republican and is affiliated with Billings Lodge No. 113, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Mitchell, South Dakota, Royal Arch Ma- sons, Constantine Commandery of the Knights Tem- plar at Crookston, and Kem Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Grand Forks.

December 29, 1912, at Decorah, Iowa, he married Miss Theoline Sophia Severson, a daughter of Kit- tle and Anna (Luraas) Severson. Her mother died in 1918 and her father is a farmer near Decorah. Mr. and Mrs. Garden have two daughters, Mar-

guerite Ada, born December 1, 1914, and Adeline Lillian, born January 2, 1917.

RAY ANDERSON is a veteran telegrapher, worked all over the Northwest for railroads and for the Western Union, but his time is now crowded with the official duties of justice of the peace, police judge and United States commissioner at Billings.

Mr. Anderson, one of the younger officials among the citizens of Billings, was born at Broken Bow in Custer County, Nebraska, February 6, 1886. His father, Rasmus Anderson, was born in Denmark in 1864, came to the United States at the age of eighteen, landing in Boston, spent two years work- ing at different things in Chicago, and then moved to Custer County, Nebraska. He owned and op- erated a farm for many years, but in 1894 engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Broken Bow. He is still living there and is now practi- cally retired. He has been active in public affairs, and served one term as commissioner in Custer County. He is a republican, a Knight Templar and a

Shriner. Rasmus Anderson married Louisa Barnes, who was born in Illinois in 1865, her peo- ple being among the pioneers of that country. Ras- mus Anderson and wife had six children: Ray; N. M., a traveling salesman living at San Francisco : O. K., a traveling representative for Swift & Com- pany, living at Broken Bow; Lee I., who is a mem- ber of Evacuation Company No. 30, of the Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces with the Army of Occupation in Germany; Eunice, unmarried, and a teacher at Anslemo, Nebraska, and Florence, who is married and lives at Lincoln, Nebraska, her hus- band being with the American Expeditionary Forces in France.

Ray Anderson attended the public schools at Broken Bow, also had a business college course there, and at the age of fourteen began learning telegraphy with a local office of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railway. As a railroad teleg- rapher he was employed at many points in Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota until 1904, when he went to Livingston, Montana, in the despatcher's office of the Northern Pacific Railway. In the same year he was transferred to Butte, remaining in the yard office for a short time and was then moved to Billings, handling a key in the telegraph office of the Northern Pacific until 1909. In that year he became chief operator for the Western Union Tele- graph Company at Billings, but left telegraphy in 1912 to become deputy county treasurer and deputy county assessor. He held both those offices for two years. In the fall of 1914 he was elected justice of the peace, beginning his official term January I, 1915. He was re-elected in 1916 and 1918. His present term expires in January, 1921. In April, 1917, he was made police judge for the City of Billings, and since May, 1916, has been United States commissioner for the District of Montana. This last office was for a term of four years, and he is therefore a representative of the city, county and federal governments. He has his own offices at IO11/2 North Twenty-seventh Street and has an office in the city hall. He is an extensive property own- er, having six dwelling houses and other real estate in Billings.

Mr. Anderon is affiliated with Billings Star Lodge No. 41, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is presi- dent of Billings Aerie No. 176 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and is a member of the Billings Midland Empire Club. He is unmarried and re- sides at 210 South Twenty-ninth Street.

WILLIAM P. RIXON. The Rixon family came to Billings more than twenty-five years ago, and Wil-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

liam P. Rixon then was old enough to appreciate the pioneer character of the town, and since early manhood has been active in its growth and busi- ness activities. His is one of the leading names in real estate circles of Billings.

Mr. Rixon was born in Milton in Western On- tario, Canada, July 4, 1876. His ancestors came from England and were early settlers in Canada. His father, John Rixon, was born in Ontario, March 23, 1831, grew up and married in his native country, and was a man of rather adaptable genius, being a carpenter, a printer and a farmer. He had a good farm and a printing office in Canada. In 1882 he came to Miles City, Montana, and thence traveled overland by wagon to Billings. He worked in some of the early printing offices in Billings, followed his trade as a carpenter, and erected some of the main buildings in the early days of the city. He died at Billings, an honored and respected citi- zen, in September, 1905. He was one of the earliest members and most active supporters of the Epis- copal Church in Billings, while in politics he was a republican. John Rixon married Susanna Panton, who was born in Ontario in 1845 and is still liv- ing at Billings. She is the mother of a large family of eight children: Anna, wife of P. L. Reece, a railroad contractor living at Nicholson, Pennsyl- vania; Mary, who died at the age of sixteen; Helen, wife of Leslie Bates, president of the Standard Forms Board Insurance of Alameda, California; Eleanor, wife of J. B. Fritschi, who is also in the insurance business in Alameda; Fred P., a druggist at Billings; William P .; Winifred, wife of Charles J. Chapple, a Billings druggist; and Harold A., as- sistant cashier of the Security Trust & Savings Bank of Billings.

William P. Rixon was six years old when his parents came to Montana. He attended the public schools at Billings, but at the age of fifteen left his books and studies to begin his independent career. For six years he was employed in Mr. Chapple's drug store, and then for four years traveled for Swift & Company. On leaving the road in 1905 Mr. Dixon took up the real estate and insurance business and has since built up a large clientele in both lines. His offices are at Io North Twenty- seventh Street and his modern home is at 311 North Thirty-fourth Street.

Mr. Rixon is a member of the Episcopal Church, is a republican and is affiliated with Ashlar Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In June, 1907, at Billings, he married Miss Lora God- dard, daughter of O. F., and Alwilda (Stevenson) Goddard. Her parents live at Billings, where her father is a prominent attorney. Mr. and Mrs. Rixon have one danghter, Rebecca Helen, born Septem- ber 28, 1911.

J. N. WHITTINGHILL, district manager of the Mon- tana State Telephone and Telegraph Company at Billings, entered the telephone industry early in life, and his father, a resident of Pocatello, Idaho, was a veteran telephone man, having been connected with some of the early systems in the West.

The Whittinghills are an English family, came to America in colonial times and were pioneers of Kentucky. They were also identified with the early settlement of Indiana, where Mr. Whittinghill's paternal grandfather, P. N. Whittinghill, was born in 1831. He spent most of his life at Dale, Indiana, and died at Booneville in that state in 1916. He was a veteran of two wars-the war with Mexico and the Civil war.

L. P. Whittinghill, father of the Billings telephone man, was born at Dale, Indiana, in 1854, grew up there, and shortly after his marriage at Rockport

moved to Selvin, where he was a merchant and postmaster. In 1890-93 he was in the railroad busi- ness at Huntingburgh, Indiana, and from 1893 to 1905 was a merchant at Las Animas, Colorado. He entered the telephone business at La Junta, Col- orado, and since 1912 has been plant chief of the telephone system at Pocatello, Idaho. He is a repub- lican voter. He married Frances Armstrong, who was born at Rockport, Indiana, in 1864.

J. N. Whittinghill, only child of his parents, was born at Selvin, Indiana, November 4, 1884. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Huntingburgh, in his native state, and at I.as Ani- mas, Colorado, and was graduated from the La Junta High School in 1903. During the next five years he was employed in the general offices of the Santa Fe Railway at La Junta. In 1908 he entered the telephone business at La Junta, beginning as a helper and acquiring a thorough knowledge of the business both in the technical and business depart- ments. He was made district cashier at La Junta, was manager at Lamar, Colorado, for eighteen months and in October, 1911, came to Helena, Mon- tana, as division cashier. January 1, 1918, occurred his promotion to the post of district manager of the Billings district, comprising Northern Wyoming and all of Montana east of Logan. The Billings offices, at 15 North Twenty-seventh Street, have the super- vision of three hundred persons.

Mr. Whittinghill is a member of the Billings Club, the Billings Midland Empire Club, the Rotary Club, and Billings Country Club and is affiliated with the La Junta Lodge No. 701 of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He is a republican. He married Miss Edna McDonald at La Junta, Colo- rado, in October, 1911. Her parents are Charles and Elizabeth (Kelley) McDonald, residents of La Junta. Mr. and Mrs. Whittinghill have four chil- dren, Noral, born March 5, 1913; Charles, born May 1I, 1914; Robert, born February 12, 1916, and Frances, born December 30, 1917.

WILLIAM P. ROSCOE. One of the distinctive fea- tures of Billings is the youth of the city's leading business men, and it is a very desirable one, for these progressive citizens enter into their work with the enthusiasm and high ideals not often re- tained after experience and age have mastered a person, and their community consequently prospers because of these characteristics. One of these men is William P. Roscoe, vice-president of the Security Bridge Company and one of the most aggressive and effective young business men of Billings. Mr. Roscoe was born at Wadena, Minnesota, Feb- ruary 12, 1886, a son of Peter Roscoe. The family is of French extraction, the grandfather, Charles Rascicot, having founded it in the United States. This name has been Americanized into Roscoe.

Peter Roscoe was born in 1860, and has been for a number of years the traveling representative of a wholesale crockery house of Minneapolis, his trade territory being the State of Minnesota, al- though he resides at Minneapolis. He is a democrat and for some years was postmaster at Wadena, Minnesota. The Roman Catholic Church holds his membership. Fraternally he belongs to the Macca- bees. Peter Roscoe was united in marriage with Catherine O'Grady, born at Kilkenny, Minnesota, in 1857, and their children are as follows: William P., whose name heads this review; Nora, who is the wife of Charles Carroll, an insurance operator of Billings; Maurice J., who is in an insurance busi- ness at Minneapolis; and Louise, who resides with her parents.

William P. Roscoe attended the public schools of Minneapolis until he was sixteen years of age, but

HISTORY OF MONTANA

then went to the western part of what is now South Dakota and was a cowboy for three years. Return- ing then to Minneapolis, he took a position with the Security Bridge Company, and, beginning at the very bottom in 1005 as a laborer, has worked his way up, being made foreman of construction work at Minneapolis. In October, 1910, he was sent to Billings, Montana, as a contractor for the company, and in 1915 was promoted to the vice presidency, in which position he has since continued. He is a practical man, understanding every detail of the business, and his services are valued accordingly by his company. A stanch republican, he has been very prominent in his party. A Catholic by inheritance and conviction, he is active in his .parish. The Roscoe family residence is at No. 209 Avenue D, and is one of the conveniently modern ones of Billings. In 1907 Mr. Roscoe was united in marriage at New Ulm, Minnesota, to Miss Florence Nenno, a daughter of N. J. and Margaret Nenno, now of Clinton, Iowa. Mr. Nenno is a retired merchant. Mrs. Roscoe was graduated from the high school at New Ulm, and is a lady of recognized charm and delightful personality. Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe have three children, namely: Margaret, who was born May 14, 1908; Mary Bernice, who was born in 1915; and William P., Jr., born July 21, 1917.

J. L. MCDONNELL. The career of J. L. McDonnell during the past ten years has been a steady rise to increasing responsibilities in the service of some of the great meat packing firms of the country. One of the most coveted positions in the packing industry is the management of branch houses. Mr. McDon- nell is the present manager of the Billings branch of Swift & Company.

Mr. McDonnell was born at DeGraff, Minnesota, May 29, 1887, but has spent most of his life since early childhood in Montana. His grandfather, Patrick McDonnell, came from 'Ireland and first settled among the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River and Canada and afterward moved to a farm in a pioneer district of Minnesota, in which state he spent the rest of his life. J. J. McDonnell, father of J. L. McDonnell, was born on one of the Thousand Islands in Canada in 1849, lived there to manhood, and then moved to Brainerd, Minnesota. He spent a number of years as a farmer near Brainerd and DeGraff and in 1889 became one of the pioneers of Great Falls, Montana. He helped build the first smelter at Great Falls, later was a merchant and is now in the mercantile busi- ness at Mossmain, Montana. For three terms he was a member of the Great Falls City Council, and in many other ways identified with the growth and prosperity of that city. He is a Catholic in religion. J. J. McDonnell married Maria Murphy, who was born at Belle Plaine, Minnesota, in 1859. Their family of children consists of the following: F. H. McDonnell, owner of a macaroni factory at Great Falls; George, a rancher at Great Falls; the third in age is J. L. McDonnell; J. P. McDonnell is a salesman at Great Falls; Mary is the wife of H. J. McGowan, a Great Falls merchant; Agnes married L. C. Baker, a salesman living at Billings; and Flor- ence, Marie and Lawrence, the three younger chil- dren are still at home with their parents.

J. L. McDonnell was two years old when he came to Montana. He attended the public schools of Great Falls, finishing his sophomore year in the high school, and this was followed by a business course in the Great Falls Business College. On leaving school in 1905 he spent one year in the employ of Strain Brothers, general merchants, for five years was associated with his father in the

store and then acted as solicitor for the Grand Union Tea Company one year.

He started at the very bottom of the ladder in the packing industry, his first appointment being in 1909 as a wagon driver for Armour & Company. Later he was made shipping clerk from Great Falls to Denver, was sent as a salesman to New Mexico, later returned to Denver as city salesman, and in 1914 joined the packing house of Sulzberger & Sons as city salesman at Great Falls. Mr. McDon- nell has been with Swift & Company since 1915, at first as salesman at Great Falls and after two months was moved to Billings and given the management of the branch house in that city. This branch house is located along the Northern Pacific tracks, Mr. McDonnell has the supervision of quite a staff of people in the branch house, fifteen clerks and sales- men.

He is a member of the Billings Midland Club, is affiliated with Denver Camp No. I of the Woodmen of the World, is a third degree Knight of Columbus, and a member of Billings Council 1259, and his church affiliation is Catholic.

Mr. McDonnell and wife reside in the Wesch Apartments at Sixth Avenue, North. He married at Las Vegas, New Mexico, in ,1912, Miss Bess W'roe, daughter of J. W. and Ella (Farrow) Wroe. Her parents now live at Denver, her father being retired from active business pursuits.

N. L. MARTIN. A well known and highly esteemed citizen of Yellowstone County, N. L. Martin, pro- prietor of the Martin Pickling Factory at Billings, and the owner of a fine ranch at Huntley, is carrying on his industrial work most systematically, and by strict attention to the details of his business opera- tion, and his thoroughly upright dealings, both as a manufacturer and an agriculturist, is meeting with gratifying success. Coming from thrifty Swiss an- cestry, he was born April 10, 1883, at Casselton, North Dakota, a son of B. F. Martin. His paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Martin, was born in Switzer- land and as a young man immigrated to the United States, becoming a pioneer settler of Ohio. Taking uf a tract of Government land, he began the im- provement of a homestead, and with his neighbors, who were few and far between, suffered all the hard- ships and privations of life in a new country, among other disadvantages having been forced to haul his corn fifty miles in order to have it ground. Nothing daunted, however, he subsequently became a pioneer settler and farmer of Winona County, Minnesota, where he resided until his death in 1885.

Born on the parental homestead in Ohio in 1850, B. F. Martin was but a small boy when taken to Winona County, Minnesota, where he was reared and educated, attending the pioneer schools and assisting in the pioneer task of reclaiming a farm from the wilderness. Succeeding to the occupation to which he was reared, he became a tiller of the soil, and soon after his marriage bought land in Casselton, North Dakota, where he was extensively engaged in general farming for many seasons. Going from there to St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1891. he operated two meat markets there for three years. Removing then to Clear Lake, Minnesota, he carried on farming in that locality until 1911, when he set- tled at Hurdsfield, North Dakota, where he now owns and manages a large stock and grain farm. He is a republican in politics, and a member of the Lutheran Church.

B. F. Martin married Anna Luhmann, who was born in 1855 in Germany but as a child was brought to America by her parents, who located in Minne- sota, where she was brought up. Into the household

g. L. Martin

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

thus established eight children were born, as fol- lows: N. L., with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned; Ben, residing at Billings, Montana, is a representative of the Watkins Remedy Company of Winona, Minnesota; Marie, wife of Chester Drury, a farmer in Hurdsfield, North Dakota; William, engaged in farming in Hurdsfield; John, whose home is in Hurdsfield, is now, in the summer of 1919, in Germany with the United States Army of Occupa- tion; Nicholas, also following agricultural pursuits in Hurdsfield; and Esther and Helen, living with their parents.

After completing the course of study in the public schools of Minnesota N. L. Martin entered the Agri- cultural College at Saint Anthony Park, Minnesota, and was there graduated with the class of 1905. The ensuing two years he was employed at Cody, Wyoming, as time keeper on the irrigating tunnel then being constructed by the Government. Coming from there to Montana, Mr. Martin filed on a tract of land in Huntley, and having proved up his claim lived upon it six years, in the meantime adding im- provements of value, and now having its sixty acres under cultivation. While there Mr. Martin em- barked in the pickling business in Huntley, Montana, beginning on a modest scale, the first year putting up fourteen barrels of good pickles. The second season he put up 320 barrels, and the third year, encouraged by his success, he erected a small plant in Huntley, which he operated for three years. In 1914, in order to enlarge his operations, Mr. Martin established his large pickling factory in Billings, at the corner of Twentieth Street and Montana Avenue, and is now .carrying on an immense busi- ness, shipping each year twenty-seven carloads of pickles of all kinds and sizes, putting them up in glass, stoneware or barrels, as the trade demands, and sending them to all parts of Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and Idaho, employing as many as twenty-five people in the work. Mr. Martin has an attractive home at 215 Lewis Avenue, Billings, and also owns his plant. He is independent in politics, and is a member of the Billings Midland Empire Club.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 62

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