Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 65

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 65

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On November 15, 1905, Mr. Worthington was married at Beatrice, Nebraska, to Miss Mary Ellen La Salle, a daughter of LeRoy F. and Martha La Salle. Mr. La Salle died at Beatrice, but his widow survives him and makes her home in that city. He was a prominent stockman for a number of years, and interested in the industrial life of Beatrice. Mrs. Worthington is a graduate of the Beatrice High School, and a lady of admitted charm of manner. Mr. and Mrs. Worthington have the following children: La Salle, who was born Octo- ber 22. 1906; Bonita, who was born April 4, 1908; and Max, who was born October 7, 1909.

BERT G. BROCKWAY, a resident of Montana since 1901, has played several successful roles, as farmer, rancher, banker, as head of one of the largest real estate organizations in Montana and as present rep- resentative of Billings in the State Legislature.

Mr. Brockway was born at Vicksburg, Michigan, April 19, 1874, a son of George and Hattie M. (Williams) Brockway. His grandfather was a na- tive of New York state and a pioneer in Southern Michigan, spending his life on a farm near Vicks- burg. George Brockway was born in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, in 1852, was a farmer in that state, and died near Vicksburg in 1876, when Bert G. Brockway was two years old. The latter was one of two children, his older brother, William A. Brockway, being also associated in the real estate business at Billings. His mother. who resides in Billings, was born in Indiana in 1845, and after the death of her first husband became the wife of Webster J. Crane, a veteran of the Union army and also living at Billings. They have one child, Merle E .. at home.

Bert G. Brockway received his early education in the public schools of Vicksburg, Michigan, and Anita, Iowa, attending high school in the latter place. He also took a course in the Normal School

at Atlantic, Iowa. Leaving school at the age of nineteen, he took up the practical work of farming in Cass County, Iowa, and was thus engaged until the fall of 1896. He then went back to the scenes of his early childhood at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and for three years was engaged in the dairy business, and also was engaged in the coal and wood retail business. Coming to Billings in the spring of 1901, Mr. Brockway spent a season as cowboy on the stock ranch of Joe Sims, and then returned to the vicinity of Billings and located on an irrigated farm in the Yellowstone Valley west of Laurel. With the energy characteristic of him he prosecuted his busi- ness of farmer there for six years, and then en- gaged in the mercantile business at Laurel, organ- izing the Laurel Trading Company and also the Citizens National Bank, which he served as vice president. Disposing of his interests at Laurel in IgII, he permanently identified himself with Billings and has since looked after some valuable farming interests in addition to his active business as a real estate manı.

Mr. Brockway is president of the Brockway Real Estate Company, Incorporated, with offices at 27101/2 First Avenue, North, in Billings. This is one of the largest firms in the state and its transactions in 1916 included the sale of 69,943 acres, with a total money value of $1.018,895.23. The other members of the firm are William A. Brockway, vice president; Roy C. Kimmel, secretary and treasurer, and Ora J. Brockway, trustee.

Mr. Brockway has not achieved success in busi- ness at a sacrifice of the duties and responsibilities of good citizenship. He is president of the Billings Deaconess Hospital Association, a trustee of the Billings Chamber of Commerce, and trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was elected on the republican ticket to the State Legis- lature in 1918, and during the sixteenth session of the legislature was chairman of the committee of townships and counties, and a member of the appro- priation committee, the committee on live stock and public ranges and the agricultural committee. Mr. Brockway affiliates with the Congregational Church and with Billings Lodge No. 394, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and Laurel Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America.

September 4, 1895, at Atlantic, Iowa, he married Viaretta Shoup, a native of Cass County, that state. They are the parents of five children : Marie, who is a graduate of the Billings High School, and finished her education in the State University at Missoula, is the wife of J. Frank Cox, Jr., associated with the Brockway Real Estate Company at Billings; Ethel M., a graduate of the Billings High School and now a student in the State University at Missoula; Ina, a graduate in 1919 of the Billings High School ; Hattie, a freshman in the local high school; and Faye, a student in the Billings grammar school.

THOMAS C. ARMITAGE, postmaster of Billings, came to Montana on the tide of the construction forces of the Northern Pacific Railway. There is hardly a phase of the development of Billings with which he is not personally acquainted, though his chief interests in Montana for many years have been identified with farming and live stock ranch- ing. Altogether he has played a notable part in the citizenship of the state.

He was born in Monroe, Michigan, July 20, 1859, a son of George W. and Eliza (Cole) Armitage. The Armitage family is of original Irish stock and were early settlers in New York state. Mr. Armi- tage's mother, who is still living at Monroe, Michi- gan, where she was born, represents in one line the noted pioneer Kentucky family of Disbrow.

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George W. Armitage grew up in New York state, and when a young man went to Monroe, Michigan, where he followed merchandising until his death. In politics he was a republican, and a very active member of the Presbyterian Church.

Thomas C. Armitage acquired his education in the public schools of Monroe, graduating from high school, and at the age of sixteen took up railroad service, working for a railroad company at New Orleans about one year. He then became connected with the Santa Fe Company, working in Kansas, also in St. Louis, Missouri, and first joined the forces of the Northern Pacific in the superintend- ent's office at Brainerd, Minnesota. He was there four years, and as a member of the construction department arrived at Miles City, Montana, in 1881. He spent the winter there and in the spring of 1882 came to Billings and was one of the few set- tlers of that year who are still alive and residents of the city. In 1883 he continued with the construc- tion forces of the Northern Pacific in building the National Park branch from Livingston, and helped construct the branch line from Superior to Ash- land, Wisconsin, then the Phillipsburg branch to Montana, the Marysville branch and other branch lines. In 1890 he was appointed the first agent of the Northern Pacific at Marysville, and held that office three years.

Almost as soon as he came to Montana in 1882 Mr. Armitage took up a tract of government land near Billings, joining the town on the west. In 1893, on leaving the railroad service, he settled on the ranch and still owns and operates it and made it his home until 1914. He was appointed post- master of Billings in 1913, and on taking over the office moved his home into the city. He was ap- pointed by President Wilson and in 1918 was re- appointed for another term of four years. He is a man of thorough business ability and has con- ducted the office in a way satisfactory to all con- cerned.

Mr. Armitage was also elected a member of the Legislature in 1907, serving during the fifth session. He is a member of the Congregational Church. His modern home, built in 1915, is at 227 Wyoming Street.

Mr. Armitage married at Drummond, Montana, in 1887, Miss Julia Whiteside, daughter of Andrew J. and Mary Whiteside, the latter still living at Port Angeles, Washington. Her father was a pioneer farmer in Deer Lodge County, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Armitage are the parents of five children : Sydney C., a graduate of the Billings High School and now in the oil business in Kansas; George T., who graduated from high school and from the State University at Missoula, is a first lieutenant in the National Army and was with the American con- tingent in Siberia; John Kenneth, a gradute of high school, is an emplove of the Yellowstone Bank of Billings; Harriet and Florence, the two younger children, are high school students. Sydney C. was a lieutenant in the artillery, and at the time of the armistice was stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from which place he soon after received his dis- charge. John Kenneth was in the National Army at Camn Lewis for nearly one year and received his discharge in February, 1919.

E. M. ADAMS, M. D. During the first twenty-five years of his life Dr. Adams did little else than attend school and acquire the thorough academic and professional training which has served him so well in his real work as a physician and surgeon. Dr. Adams came to Red Lodge, Montana, ten years ago and is regarded as one of the most competent surgeons in his part of the state.

Dr. Adams' family history belongs to New Eng- land, and his ancestors were of the sturdy and thrifty people typical of New England character. He was born at East Swanzey, New Hampshire, August 7, 1882. His paternal ancestry goes back to an early date in the Massachusetts colony, and a number of generations back his ancestry corre- sponded to that from which descended in another branch the statesman who twice filled the chair of President of the United States. His grandfather, Albert Adams, was born in 1808 and spent most of his life as a farmer at Rindge, New Hampshire, where he died of pneumonia in 1875. His wife, Mary P. Adams, was born in 1811 and died of apoplexy at Rindge in 1884. John B. Adams, father of Dr. Adams, was born at Rindge August 12, 1842, and spent most of his life in that state. He was a farmer, lumberman and lumber dealer and suc- cessively made his home at Rindge, East Jeffrey, East Swanzey and Hancock. He died at Hancock De- cember 11, 1909. He was a democrat, very active and influential in local affairs, and filled the office of commissioner of Hillsboro County, was a member of the school board several times, and supervisor of highways. He was also identified with the Grange. John B. Adams married Mary J. Wood- bury, who was born at Winchendon, Massachusetts, November 11, 1850, and is now living at Hancock, New Hampshire. Her parents were Samuel D. and Jerusha D. Woodbury. Her father was born De- cember 9, 1816, was a farmer and merchant at Winchendon, Massachusetts, and died there of dysentery August 23, 1899. His wife was born July 22, 1820, and spent her last years with her daughter, Mrs. John B. Adams, and died at Hancock January 9, 1916. The children of John B. Adams and wife were: George A., an attorney at Salamanca, New York; Fred Albert, a fruit grower at Dublin, New Hampshire; J. H. Adams, who is head bookkeeper for the Moxie Nerve Food Company at Boston, Massachusetts ; Dr. E. M. Adams: Ernest L., a merchant at Hancock, New Hampshire; Charles E., who is in the engineering department of the Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces; and R. W., who lives on the farm with his mother at Hancock.

Dr. E. M. Adams attended public school at East Swansey, spent one year in high school at Hancock and four years in Cushing Academy at Ashburnham, Massachusetts. He was graduated there in 1003, and during the following year did post-graduate work in the Dean Academy at Franklin, Massa- chusetts. In the fall of 1904 he entered the Uni- versity of Cincinnati, where he spent one year in the general academic and medical preparatory courses and in the fall of 1905 began the regular work of the medical department, completing his course and graduating M. D. in 1900. During 1908-00 he was interne in the German Deaconess Hospital at Cin- cinnati. Dr. Adams has membership in several col- lege and medical fraternities, including the Phi Delta Theta, Theta Nu Epsilon and the Nu Sigma Nu.

He arrived at Red Lodge. Montana, June 9. 1900, and from that date to the present has been engaged in a general medical and surgical practice. though more and more his services are required in the special field of surgery. Some years ago he estab- lished a private hospital for the greater convenience of his clients, and its patients come from Montana and Wyoming. Since 1016 he has been health officer and secretary of the Board of Health of Carbon County and holds similar positions in the City of Red Lodge. He is also company physician for the Northwestern Improvement Company and is a mem- ber of the County and State Medical societies and

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the American Medical Association. His offices are in the Church Building on Broadway.

Dr. Adams is a democrat in politics and is affiliated with Bear Tooth Lodge No. 534, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Red Lodge Aerie No. 742, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Red Lodge Chapter, Brotherhood of American Yeomen, and Red Lodge Camp of Woodmen of the World. Besides his modern home at 301 North Hauser Avenue, he has a ranch of 320 acres on Shane Ridge. In 1919 he completed his private hospital on South Hauser Avenue. This hospital has twenty-five rooms and is equipped with every device known to the modern hospital.

August 31, 1910, at Red Lodge, Dr. Adams mar- ried Miss Mary E. Edwards, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel T. Edwards. Her mother is deceased. Her father is a retired farmer at Clinton, Missouri. Mrs. Adams is a graduate of the State Normal School of Missouri.

S. W. MATLOCK, serving his third term as sheriff of Yellowstone County, is a Montana pioneer, hav- ing been a resident of Billings and vicinity for over twenty-one years. He has all the virile qualities associated with the true westerner, is a man of reso- lute purpose, and has a reputation for utmost relia- bility in the performance of everything he under- takes.

Mr. Matlock was born near Pattonsburg, Mis- souri, March 7, 1872. His ancestors came from Scotland to the United States in colonial times. His grandfather, James Matlock, was a pioneer in Northwestern Missouri and died in Ray County many years ago. Ray County, Missouri, was a part of the old Platte purchase, and the Matlocks were among the first to settle there. James Matlock, father of Sheriff Matlock, was born in Ray County in 1835. He spent most of his life as a farmer in Daviess County, in the same section of Missouri, and died there in 1894. He was a democrat in politi- cal affiliation. James Matlock married Fredonia Gordon, who was born in Kentucky in 1846 and is now living near Pattonsburg, in Daviess County. She was the mother of a large family of children, named briefly as follows: George, a farmer at Twin Falls, Idaho; Benjamin, a farmer in Daviess County, Missouri; Mary, living with her mother; S. W. Matlock; Wood, a farmer at Ainsley, Nebraska; Tillie, wife of Ed White, a farmer in Kansas; Belle, who died in 1911 at Terry, Montana, wife of Henry Kincaid; Leah, wife of D. Ingalls, of Perry; Lizzie, who is the present wife of Henry Kincaid, a dairyman and farmer at Perry, Montana; and Addie, wife of John Way, a farmer at Perry.

S. W. Matlock grew up on his father's farm in Daviess County, Missouri, attended the rural schools, and acquired a practical knowledge of farming and cattle feeding. In 1888 he came to Montana, spend- ing one season on a ranch near Billings and then worked in the coal and wood business in the City of Billings for a year and had many experiences and occupations, serving four years as superintendent of the Big Ditch in Yellowstone County. For three years he was a member of the Billings police force, for two years was deputy state humane officer, and has all the experience and other qualifications of the capable and trustworthy public official. He served as deputy sheriff under James Webb in 1907-08. Mr. Matlock was elected sheriff of Yellowstone County in 1914, and was re-elected in 1916 and 1918.

He has acquired a considerable stake in the agri- cultural life of Montana, owning a farm of three hundred and twenty acres at Broadview and another of similar acreage at Pompey's Pillar. Mr. Mat- lock, who is unmarried, is affiliated with Billings

Star Lodge of Odd Fellows and Billings Camp of the Woodmen of the World. Politically he is a democrat.

CORNELIUS S. NELSON is editor and proprietor of the Plentywood Herald, the pioneer newspaper of Sheridan County and the first paper published in the Big Muddy Valley. For twelve years the Herald has been the chief medium for publicity and home news in this section of the state, and it is properly regarded as one of the most valuable of pioneer institutions.

Mr. Nelson, whose early experiences were farm- ing and banking before he came to Montana, was born at Hendrum, Minnesota, March 12, 1876. He is a son of Sybert and Barbo (Moen) Nelson, the former a native of Bergen and the latter of Valders, Norway. They were members of Norwegian fami- lies of farmers, and both were urged by American friends to cast in their lot with the new world. Mrs. Nelson's transportation was paid by some friends on this side, while Mr. Nelson paid his own steerage passage. They met and were married in Fillmore County, Minnesota. Sybert Nelson served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith in the old country and followed that trade throughout his active life. He also accepted the opportunity in Minnesota to acquire cheap land, and became interested in farm- ing, owning some developed farms. He retired after gaining his financial independence. He early took out citizenship papers, and cast his first presidental ballot for General Grant and was ever afterward identified with the republican party. At one time he served as an alderman of his home town in Minnesota. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church. Their children were: Maria, who married A. M. Eckmann and died at Hendrum, Minnesota; Cornelius S .; Theodore S., a banker ; and Anton, a farmer at Hendrum, Minnesota ; Julia, wife of F. G. Johnson, of Scobey, Montana; Martin, of Plentywood; and Amanda, wife of A. G. Ueland, of Outlook, Montana.

Cornelius Nelson lived on a farm to the age of seventeen, and during that time knew what it was to work hard and strenuously at manual labor. He attended country schools, also Concordia College at Moorehead, Minnesota, and graduated in 1900 from the Illinois Normal School at Dixon. He also spent two years at the University of Minnesota. Before coming to Montana he saw a great deal of the Middle Western country. At Guthrie, Oklahoma, he was appointed and served two years as deputy sheriff under Sheriff Carpenter. On leaving Okla- homa he returned North, and for three years was at Crosby and Ambrose, North Dakota, serving as assistant cashier of banks in those towns.

He came to Plentywood in July, 1908, and his pur- pose in coming was to establish a paper. For several months he was busy making arrangements to that end, and opened his office and issued his first edition of the Herald on Octobr 23, 1908. His first editorial announced it as a republican weekly and devoted particularly to rural development and homesteaders' news and similar interests. Naturally the paper did not receive the heartiest welcome from the ranchers, who had long enjoyed the freedom of the plains and had exploited the local resources to their own advantage. However, by the publication of a fair and clean paper he made friends of ranchers and homesteaders alike, and his policy and management have altogether resulted in a great deal of practical good to the entire locality.

One of Mr. Nelson's first acts on coming to Mon- tana was to file on a homestead. Luckily this home- stead adjoins the townsite, and its situation is such

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as to make it available for townsite purposes when the need for "a greater Plentywood" becomes ap- parent. Mr. Nelson resides on the homestead, his home being within the limits of Plentywood.

His early political training was as a republican, and in 1900 he cast his first presidential ballot for Major Mckinley. He has always regularly sup- ported the republican nominees. His paper has been the official city paper of Plentywood ever since the incorporation of the town. Mr. Nelson was made a Mason while at Guthrie, Oklahoma, and is now affiliated with Plentywood Lodge of that order.

At Crosby, North Dakota, July 29, 1908, he mar- ried Miss Anna Thoreson. She was born at Bran- don, Minnesota, in August, 1877. Her father, Chris Thoreson, was born in Norway, came to the United States in young manhood, and married at Brandon, Minnesota, a lady of German birth. Chris Thoreson is a hardware and implement merchant at Mohall, North Dakota. His children included Mrs. Nelson; Lena, wife of A. A. Burke, of Greenbush, Minne- sota; Mrs. Homer Mckenzie, of St. Cloud, Minne- sota; Mrs. George Keup, of Columbus, North Dakota; John and William, of Sherwood, North Dakota; Bennie, of Carpio, North Dakota; Emma, a teacher at Havre, Montana; and Gladys, of Mohall, North Dakota.

Mrs. Nelson completed her education in the St. Cloud Normal School, and taught for several years in Minnesota. She first met Mr. Nelson while prov- ing up a homestead at Crosby, North Dakota. She has done much to insure the success of the Herald at Plentywood and at times has carried some of the local work of the office. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nelson were earnest in their support of war movements, Mrs. Nelson serving as local chairman of the Red Cross Chapter. They were reared as Lutherans but now affiliate with the Congregational Church at Plentywood.

W. M. BRADFORD. The Bradfords of Livingston, Montana, are a branch of one of the oldest fami- lies in American history. Their ancestry goes back to the original Mayflower pilgrims, one.of the lead- ers in which noted band was Governor Bradford. This particular branch of the family were among the earliest settlers in the old Northwestern Ter- ritory, later the State of Ohio, and their particular talent has apparently been chiefly mechanical, since nearly all the members of the family in Montana have followed constructive lines. W. M. Bradford, of that family, is a veteran railroad man, a car- penter by trade, and for a number of years has been supervisor of the bridge and building depart- ment of the Northern Pacific Railway at Livingston.

His grandfather, Charles Otis Bradford, was born in 1799 in what three years later became the State of Ohio. He spent his life in Ohio as a farmer and died in Hancock County in 1839. He married Jane Sparr, who was born in Ohio in 1797 and died at Schuyler, Nebraska, in 1891. C. O. Bradford, father of W. M. Bradford, was born in Hancock County, Ohio, April 3, 1839, and during his early life there followed farming. In 1866 he moved to Tipton County, Indiana, and there became a blacksmith and wagon maker. In 1873 he moved to Schuyler, Colfax County, Nebraska, and was a carpenter and builder. Since 1905 his home has been at Livingston, Montana, and though now eighty years of age he is still working as a carpenter for the Northern Pacific Railway. A republican in politics, he has been honored with local offices and is a very active member of the Methodist Church. In 1863 he enlisted in Company A of the 47th Ohio Infantry and served throughout the remainder of the war, taking part in Sherman's campaign around

Atlanta and the march to the sea. The wife of this veteran soldier was Sarah J. Cornwall, who was born in Hancock County, Ohio, in 1842. She died in September, 1919, in Lima, Ohio. The first of their children, Winslow, died when twelve years of age. Willis C., the second, is bridge and building foreman for the Northern Pacific at Livingston. W. M. Bradford is the next in age. C. Edward is a Burlington Railway engineer, living at Sheridan, Wyoming. Robert is a contractor and builder at Livingston. S. D. is a bridge and building fore- man for the Northern Pacific at Livingston. William Oliver is a contractor and builder at Val- paraiso, Nebraska. Ollie is the wife of Edgar Fus- selman, a clerk in the bridge and building depart- ment under W. M. Bradford.

W. M. Bradford was born July 5, 1867, while his parents were living in Tipton County, Indiana. He had just reached school age when they moved to Nebraska, and he graduated from the high school at Schuyler in 1888. His active career covers a period of thirty years. Until 1896 he was in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail- way, beginning as a carpenter, and finally was made foreman of the bridge . and building department. In 1896 he joined the Northern Pacific at Living- ston, again was carpenter for two years, was then made bridge and building clerk, from that was pro- moted to bridge and building foreman, and from 1912 has been supervisor of the bridge and building department with offices in the Northern Pacific Building on Park Street. In his present position he has widely extended responsibilities, handling an average of 150 men and looking after all the work assigned to his department over a stretch of ap- proximately 700 miles of the Northern Pacific line.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 65

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