Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 74

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Montana, which is devoted to grain growing. Like his father, Mr. Stiles reserves the right to cast his vote independent of party ties. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church. On November 18, 1918, Mr. Stiles was united in marriage with Miss Ruby M. Wareham at Columbus, Montana. Mrs. Stiles was born in Nebraska. Mr. Stiles' rise with his company is assuredly ,because of his fidelity to the trusts reposed in him, and his ability to grasp the details of the business, and his success is de- served.

WILLIAM PARKHURST LADD. In the field of grain dealing and brokerage there are few men in Montana who have come as rapidly to the fore- front in recent years as has William Parkhurst Ladd, whose operations are now centered at Bill- ings. Still a young man, he has displayed such initiative, resource, knowledge of the trade and its condition and foresight in the transaction of large deals that he has attained an enviable position and reputation in grain circles and among traders and operators.

Mr. Ladd was born at White Oak Springs, Wis- consin, August 21, 1875, a son of George R. and Mary Ellen (Skewis) Ladd, and a member of a family which, originating in England, was founded in Massachusetts during colonial times. George R. Ladd was born in Massachusetts in 1851, but as a youth was taken to Wisconsin, where he was educated and reared, and where for some years he was a resident of the Town of Shellsburg. In 1881 he removed to Lyon County, Iowa. where he engaged in farming and rose to a high place in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, who elevated him to the office of county treasurer, a trust which he was holding at the time of his death, which occurred at Rock Rapids, Iowa, April 3, 1914. He was a stanch democrat in his political allegiance, and an active and generous supporter of the Con- gregational Church, in which he was a director and deacon. Mr. Ladd married Mary Ellen Skewis, who was born in 1852, at Shellsburg, Wisconsin, and survives her husband as a resident of Rock Rapids, Iowa. They became the parents of seven children, as follows: Clarence, engaged in the hard- ware business at Inwood, Iowa; Carrie, the wife of C. L. Tones, an attorney at Parker, South Da- kota; William Parkhurst, of this notice; Allie W., who is unmarried and makes her home with her mother; Ben, who conducts a grain elevator at Billings for his brother William P .; Jennie, the wife of R. S. Towne, a farmer of the vicinity of Sisters, Oregon; and Earl, an automobile agent and the owner of a garage at Rock Rapids, Iowa.

William Parkhurst Ladd received his education in the public schools of Inwood, Iowa, and upon the completion of his studies embarked immedi- ately upon the career in which he has met with such notable success. His initial experience, where he received his introduction to the grain business, was at Inwood. From Inwood he went to Presho, South Dakota, as manager of an elevator, and after three years made his way to Montana, ar- riving, in 1912, at Roundup, where he purchased an elevator. This he continued to conduct successfully for two years, after which he sold it profitably and began soliciting for the H. Poehler Company. grain commission merchants of Minneapolis, being the representative of that concern for Montana. This is a large and important concern with branch houses at Duluth, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Wis- consin, and Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Ladd is also a partner, with F. A. Cousins, in a grain and seeds brokerage business, a successful concern in the management of which his ability has played an im-

portant part in gaining prosperity. In 1917 Mr Ladd was the main organizer of the Treasure State Grain and Seed Company of Montana, having as partners A. E. Platz and Tom Clapper, and own- ing elevators at Red Lodge, Fox, Boyd, Roberts and Combs. He continued as president and directing head of this enterprise until selling out in July, 1918, to the Montana and Dakota Elevator Com- pany. Mr. Ladd maintains offices at 202 Electric Building, and owns a modern residence at No. 1109 North Thirty-first Street.

In 1900, at Inwood, Iowa, Mr. Ladd was united in marriage with Miss Olive Albertson, the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Albertson, the latter of whom is deceased, while the former, a retired farmer, makes his home with his children. Two children have blessed this union: Harold, born in 1901, and Allie Anita, born in 1905, both of whom are attending school. Mr. and Mrs. Ladd are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and have been active in church work, Mr. Ladd being a member of the pastoral supply committee and of the board of directors. He is a republi- can in his political allegiance, and his fraternal affiliation is with Ashlar Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Billings Chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons. He also holds mem- bership in the Billings Midland Club and has sev- eral other social and civic connections of impor- tance.

JOHN DUNN, who is postmaster of Red Lodge, first knew this country from the standpoint of a cowboy, worked on ranch and range for a num- ber of years, later developed extensive cattle and landed interests of his own, and has long been prominent in business and public affairs in Carbon County.

He was born at St. Louis, Missouri, February 2, 1862. His father, John Dunn, Sr., was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1827, came to the United States in 1843, and after a few years in New York moved to Franklin County, Missouri, in 1846. He was a farmer and in 1863 transferred his home to Franklin County, Missouri, where he lived until his death in 1908. He was a democrat and a Catholic and served as a soldier in the Civil war. His wife, Margaret Coffey, was born in New York State in 1828 and died in Franklin County, Missouri, in 1916. She was the mother of eight children: Margaret, Ellen, and Mary, the three oldest daughters, are still living in Franklin County. The next in age is John. Richard is like- wise a pioneer Montanan, coming to Madison County, Montana, in 1882 and since 1893 has lived at Silesia. Thomas lives on the old homestead in Franklin County, Missouri, Frank is a physician and surgeon in Missouri. The youngest of the fam- ily, Cassie, lives with her brother Thomas.

Mr. John Dunn attended rural schools in Frank- lin County and a business college at St. Louis, and his home was on his father's farm until he was nineteen. He came out to Montana in 1881. His first destination was Virginia City. He soon entered the service of the noted stockmen Elling and Buford as a cowboy, and remained one of their efficient and trusted employes for eleven years. From 1883 to 1888 he handled the cattle in Madison County and from 1888 to 1892 brought them to the Crow Reservation. Mr. Dunn took up land at Silesia in Carbon County in 1894 and for the next twenty-four years was an independent rancher and cattle operator and acquired extensive interests both in Wyoming and Montana. He sold his cat- tle in 1918. He has been a resident of Red Lodge since 1806.

ER. Ulyman

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His location at Red Lodge was due primarily to his election as sheriff of Carbon County in 1895. He was re-elected in 1897 and was incumbent of the office four years, 1896-1900. He was appointed to his present duties as postmaster of Red Lodge in May, 1916. He also served as alderman for six years. Mr. Dunn is a democrat, is affiliated with Red Lodge Camp, Woodmen of the World, and is a member of the Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce. His home is at 279 North Platt Avenue. He married Miss Nellie E. Oliver in Madison County, Montana, in 1889. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. James F. Oliver, the former a retired farmer of Red Lodge and the latter now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Dunn have four children : Mary, who is'a graduate of the high school at Red Lodge and attended the Billings Business College, is now the wife of J. H. Linqnist, a rancher near Rcd Lodge; Frank, who lives on a farm near Si- lesia; John, who was born October 16, 1899, and is now taking post-graduate work in the high school of Red Lodge; and Margaret, born October 1I, 1902, attending the University of Missoula.

EDGAR W. LOGAN. Holding distinction as senior member of the firm of Logan & Mullison, pioneers in the glass business in the Northwest and the only firm in Montana carrying a complete line of this commodity, Edgar W. Logan has not only taken a leading part in business affairs since locating at Billings, in 1909, but has also risen to prominence and influence in civic affairs. When he entered business it was as a contractor, but he soon rec- ognized the opportunity open in the field of glass dealing, and the result was the founding of the concern of which he is now the head.

Edgar W. Logan was born in Dallas County, Iowa, September 23, 1870, a son of Alexander M. and Hulda A. (Adams) Logan, and a member of a family of English-Irish origin which was founded in Virginia in colonial times. Alexander M. Logan was born in 1832, in Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania, and as a young man went to Illinois, where he was married, later going to Dallas County, Iowa, which was his home at the breaking out of the Civil war. Mr. Logan enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of the Thirty-ninth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he fought valiantly until a severe wound caused his disability and consequent honorable discharge in 1863, following which he returned to Iowa and resumed his activities in the field of contracting and building. He became a forceful influence in republican politics, was deputy sheriff of Dallas County for several years, and eventually was elected mayor of Van Meter, Iowa, where he also served as a member of the school board and was active in other ways in municipal matters. He was also an active supporter of the Christian Church and took a keen interest in the work of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which fraternity he joined young, and of which he was at one time one of the oldest members in the State of Iowa. He never really fully recovered from the effects of his wound, and in 1898, in poor health, retired from active affairs and came to Montana, where his death occurred during the same year at Gebo. Mr. Logan married Hulda A. Adams, who was born in 1838, in Ohio, and she died in 1001, at Gebo. Montana. There were two sons born to this worthy couple: Tohn M., a contractor and builder, who died at Billings at the age of fifty-six years; and Edgar W .. of this notice.

Edgar W. Logan attended the public schools of Van Meter. Iowa, and after his graduation from the high school there in 1887 entered Western Col-

lege, Toledo, Iowa, where he pursued a course of two years. Following this he was placed in charge of the commerical department of that institution, a position in which he passed four years, and in 1898 came to Montana and located at Red Lodge, where he taught school for one year. Mr. Logan went then to Gebo, where he taught the first school in Clark's Fork Valley for one year, and eventually embarked in the contracting business. He was engaged in this line of activity when he came to Billings in 1909, and continued to carry on con- tracting and building for about two years. Dur- ing this time he had come more and more into con- tact with the glass business, and in IgII his plans were completed and he became one of the foun- ders of the firm of Logan and Mullison, wholesale and retail glass dealers, and, as before noted, the only firm in Montana which carries a complete line of all kinds of glass. Entire absence of compe- tition in their field must not be taken as the reason for their success, for the partners are men of ster- ling ability who would have succeeded undoubtedly in any line to which they applied themselves. Their establishment is located at No. 2614 Montana Avenue, where they own their own fine brick struc- ture, and their trade extends for a radius of 300 miles. Mr. Logan has established himself firmly in public confidence and in the esteem of his asso- ciates in the business world, while as a citizen he has performed every duty in a conscientious man- ner. His business duties are heavy and exacting, but he has found the time, inclination and ability to act in the capacity of police commissioner, a post which he holds at the present time, and in which he has done much to make Billings a law- abiding and well-governed city. Politically he is affiliated with the republican party. His fraternal connections are with Ashlar Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Billings Chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons; Aldemar Commandery No. 5, Knights Templar, and Algeria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Helena. He owns an attractive modern residence at No. 137 Terry Avenue.

Mr. Logan was married in 1892 at Des Moines, Iowa, to Mary.A. Bailey, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. William A. Bailey. To this union there have been born two children: Bessie, who is the wife of Tracy Slusser, a fruit grower of Oregon, and Edmond, who is attending high school.

CYRUS K. WYMAN. During more than thirty years of residence in Montana Cyrus K. Wyman has heen a lumberman, an official of the National Forestry Service, and since retiring from the office of forest supervisor at Dillon he has fulfilled the duties of sheriff of Beaverhead County. He is therefore one of the best known men in that section of the state.

Mr. Wyman was born at Whitefield, Maine, March 29, 1867, and is a member of an old and prominent colonial family of the Pine Tree State. He repre- sents the sixth generation of the family in Maine. The Wymans were originally English, from which country three brothers immigrated to America, two locating at Boston or vicinity, and the other in Maine. Mr. Wyman's grandfather, Ambrose Harts- well Wyman, was born at China. Maine, in 1806, and spent his life as a farmer in China or vicinity. He died at Vasselboro in 1806. His wife was a Miss Toby, also a lifelong resident of Maine. Alphonso Wyman, father of Cyrus K .. is also a well known Montanan, for many years having made his home at Phillipsburg. He was born at China, Maine, in 1843, and as a youth served in the quartermaster's department of the Union army during the Civil war. After his marriage at China, Maine, he lived in

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Whitefield, where he followed the business of farmer and lumber contractor. He came to Montana in 1881, and took charge of the Mcclellan mine in the McClellan Gulch. In 1884 he moved to Granite Mountain and resumed his former occupation as a lumberman. His home has been at Phillipsburg since 1886. He operated a saw mill and was one of the leading lumbermen of that section until he retired in 1914. He has voted as a republican from the time of the Civil war and for many years has been an active member of the Masonic fraternity. Alphonso Wyman married Elizabeth King, who was. born in Whitefield, Maine, in 1845, and died at Phil- lipsburg, Montana, in 1902. Their children were six in number: Hattie J., wife of Manville Moody, a carpenter and builder living at Providence, Rhode Island; Cyrus K .; Henry S., a rancher on Rock Creek in Granite County, Montana; Forest A., a miner at Phillipsburg; Annie C., who died in 1910, at Bend, Oregon, where her husband, Charles Boyd, operates a meat market; and Edna, wife of William Hunt, a rancher in Arizona.

Cyrus K. Wyman acquired his education in the public schools of Whitefield, Maine. He remained in his native state for several years after his father came to Montana, but came to Phillipsburg in 1887, a few months before Montana became a state. He worked with his father in the lumber business until 1889 and then became a miner in Granite County. He had those qualities which caused men to favor him in a political way, and for two years he served as deputy sheriff, as constable for eight years and stock inspector two years. Mr. Wyman as a resident of Maine and Montana acquired a thoroughly prac- tical experience in every phase of the lumber busi- ness. It was this experience which inclined him to service with the National Forest Bureau. In 1905 he became assistant forest ranger in Granite County and a year later was promoted to forest ranger, and three months later to forest supervisor. For ten years he held that office at Dillon, beginning in March, 1906. Mr. Wyman was elected sheriff of Beaverhead County in 1916 and re-elected in 1918 is now in his second term. He is a republican and in politics and is affiliated with Apollo Lodge No. 15, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In 1898, at Damariscotta, Maine, he married Miss Alice Hall, a daughter of Randall and Lucy Hall. Her mother now resides at Wiscassett, Maine, where her father was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Wyman have one daughter, Thelma, born March 1, 1902.

CHARLES N. SKILLMAN. Apart from the fact that he was born in New York State and spent several years as a youth in New England, Charles N. Skill- man has spent his entire life in the Northwest, in the territories and states of Minnesota, Dakotas and Montana. He came to Montana more than forty years ago. He knew many of the old time characters of the territory, and has filled in his years with varied activities as a rancher, merchant, real estate operator and public official. He is one of the earliest settlers and has been one of the men most prominently identified with the upbuild- ing of Big Timber and surrounding district.

He was born at German, Chenango County, New York, April 14, 1855. His paternal ancestors came from Holland, while his mother's family were Eng- lish. His father, Francis Martin Skillman, was born on Long Island, New York, in 1814, was reared and married there, and at the age of twenty- five moved to a farm in Chenango County. In addition to the cultivation of his acres he was a licensed local preacher of the Methodist Church and he filled practically all the township offices

in Chenango County. In 1856 he led his family in another move out to the western frontier, locat- ing at Mazeppa in Minnesota Territory. Here he broke and developed some of the virgin soil of the farm and again became prominent in local affairs. He was a member of the First State Legislature of Minnesota, representing Wabasha County. He also held local offices. He was a steadfast republican from the organization of the party until his death. The last three years of his life he spent retired at Minneapolis, where he died in 1887. Francis M. Skillman married Julia Ann Chappell, who was born in New York State in 1816 and died near Ma- zeppa, Minnesota, in 1879. Several of their sons were soldiers and officers in the Civil war. Evander, the oldest, was with the Third Minnesota Regiment of Infantry, re-enlisted and served through the war and in 1894 came to Montana and was a well known rancher. He died at Livingston in 1917. Milon, the second of the family, is a retired farmer at Portland, Oregon, and he served two years in Company G of Hatcher's Battalion of Cavalry in the Civil war. Elsie lives at Portland, widow of Thomas F. Sturdevant, who was a merchant. Franklin, living retired on his fruit farm at Port- land, was a first lieutenant in the Third Minnesota Infantry and re-enlisted and went through the en- tire war. Philip was a second lieutenant in the same Minnesota regiment, and is still practicing law at Olympia, Washington. Sellie lives at Port- land, widow of Stephen Lont, who was a rancher. Ida died at the age of twenty years at Mazeppa. William was a merchant and died at Portland, Oregon, in 1917. Charles N. is the ninth of this large family. His younger brother, James, is liv- ing retired at Portland, and the youngest is Nellie, a widow living at Portland.

Charles N. Skillman was too young to recall any of the incidents of the family removal to Minne- sota Territory. As a boy he attended school at Red Wing in that state, and completed his educa- tion at the age of sixteen. For three years he learned the trade and worked as a map mounter at Hartford, Connecticut. He then went back to Mazeppa, Minnesota, lived there four years, and for five years was a rancher and. cattleman at Ipswich, South Dakota. In 1887 he came to Living- ston. Montana, and for three years was employed by G. H. Carver, a merchant of that town. He joined the new community of Big Timber in 1890 and took up ranching. From 1891 to 1893 he was also associated with the Big Timber Mercantile Company. Through all the years, however, his chief activity has been ranching. He has bought and sold land both on his own account and for others and since 1895 has done a thriving real estate business, with offices on McLeod Street in Big Timber. He owns a ranch of 200 acres on the Boulder River in Sweetgrass County, has eighty acres of irrigated land a half mile west of Big Timber, and has another place of 320 acres at Hun- ters Hot Springs in Park County. His land is devoted to grain and cattle.

Probably from his father Mr. Skillman inherited a tendency toward politics and public affairs. He has always been a leader in every community where he has lived. While in South Dakota he served as mayor of Ipswich three years, for three years was county commissioner of Edmunds County and for three years deputy sheriff. Upon the organi- zation of Sweetgrass County he was appointed, in February, 1895, clerk of the court and was regu- larly elected to that office in 1806 and held it for six years. As a public official Mr. Skillman is doubtless best known as a United States commis-

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sioner, an appointment he received in 1895, and it has been continuous for over twenty years. He is a steadfast republican in politics. He has also served on the school board of Big Timber, and is affiliated with Big Timber Lodge No. 25, Knights of Pythias, and was formerly a member of the An- cient Order of United Workmen and Fraternal Order of Eagles.

On November 7, 1877, at Rochester, Minnesota, he married Miss Julia A. Prescott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Prescott, both now deceased. Her father was a rancher and active in republican politics. Mr. Skillman has two sons, Roy and Guy F. Roy has a fruit ranch at Afton, Virginia, and is also a licensed pharmacist. Guy is a rancher and stock man at Big Timber and agent for the Continental Oil Company.

E. R. PRICE. Incorporated in 1917, the Price- Moffett Company, investment bankers, has become one of the largest and most important concerns of its kind in Montana and in the handling of live- stock, farm and ranch loans, and the buying and selling of cattle, has eclipsed the majority of its older competitors. The founder of this business, and its present president, E. R. Price, is still a young man as years go but has behind him a great wealth and experience garnered through participa- tion in financial affairs in various communities of this and other states. At Billings, to which city he came in 1907, he has establshed a substantial reputation as a capable banker with sound backing and important connections.

Mr. Price was born near Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, September 11, 1887, a son of William R. and Kate (Dudley) Price. The family was founded in that county by the grandfather of Mr. Price, a native of Virginia, who pioneered into Clay Coun- ty during Indian days and was a slaveholder of the old regime. William R. Price was born in Clay County, Missouri, in 1824, and there passed the greater part of his life. He passed through an important era of the state's history, being a farmer in territorial days and subsequently witnessing the distressing times which marked slavery and the Civil war, but maintained his residence in Clay County until 1891, when he moved to Mexico, Missouri, and engaged in stock buying. Later he retired from active pursuits and resided quietly at his home until his death in January, 1913. Mr. Price's ex- periences were many and varied. When gold was discovered in California he was one of those lured by the promise of easy and sudden wealth, in search, of which he became a "forty-niner" and crossed the plains. After a period of prospecting he engaged for a time in the cattle business and remained two years, then returning to Missouri. Later he again went to California, where he re- mained twelve years, but eventually returned to his old home in time to enlist in the Union army toward the close of the Civil war, in which he served six months. He was a stanch republican in his political belief. Mr. Price married Miss Kate Dudley, who was born in 1846, near Lexington, Kentucky, and died at Mexico, Missouri, in 1915, and they became the parents of four children : Virginia, who is the wife of R. W. Luckey, of Houston, Texas; James D., a traveling salesman, who died at Mexico, Missouri, at the age of twenty- seven years; Elizabeth J., unmarried, a school teacher of St. Louis, Missouri; and E. R., of this notice.

E. R. Price was educated in the rural schools of Audrain County, Missouri, and after his graduation from the high school at Mexico, Missouri, in 1905, operated his father's farm for a period of two

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 74

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