Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 77

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

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proximately 50 per cent of visitors to the park prefer the camping life, which is made easy, com- fortable and safe under the management of the Yel- lowstone Park Camping Company. This company undoubtedly provides pleasure seekers with the greatest vacation at the lowest cost offered any- where in America. Wonderful scenery, startling phenomena, fishing unequalled anywhere, gorgeous flowers and trees, hundreds of animals, including elk, deer and bear, and the purest water and most invigorating air, combine to make Yellowstone Park a natural vacation spot, but, in addition, the hand of man offers such inducements to visitors as com- fortable and safe automobile rides through wild canyons and over mountain peaks, splendid cuisine, restful beds, bath-houses and every other comfort and pleasure-giving device that can be assembled here for the entertainment of visitors. The kitchens and dining halls of the company are revelations in camp conveniences and sanitation. A laundry is maintained in each camp; mountain water from ice-cold springs is piped to all camps and milch cows supply fresh cream and butter daily. Natural hot springs furnish water for bathing purposes and if visitors suffer from over enjoyment doctors and nurses are provided to bring them back to a normal condition. Mr. Moorman has had a large part in the perfecting of the system under which the camps are now conducted, and has thus in a definite way contributed to the enjoyment of thousands who have come to Wonderland for rest and recupera- tion.

Politically Mr. Moorman is an independent re- publican, though he does not take an active part in public affairs. . Fraternally he is a member of ·Bozeman Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the Livingston Chamber of Commerce. In January, 1919, he sold his splendid ranch of 1,600 acres and now occupies a comfortable home on South Fifth Street, Livings- ton.

In 1909 Mr. Moorman was married to Gertrude Clark, the daughter of Robert and Mary (Rule) Clark, who reside near Shelbyville, Indiana. To them has been born one child, Helen Louise, born on May 27, 1910. In every phase of activity to which he has applied himself, Mr. Moorman has demonstrated ability of high order, and his fine per- sonal qaulities have won for him a large circle of friends

WILLIAM C. BUSCHE. No city is greater than the sum of its energies and enthusiasm derived from its best citizenship. The peculiar power and prestige of Livingston has been enhanced by the presence there of many men of great force, re- sourcefulness and varied executive talents. One of these is William C. Busche, who built up and is proprietor of the largest bakery establishment in the Yellowstone Valley, and from the success of his own business has radiated his energies far and wide as a city builder. To his bakery products he gave the trade name "Best Yet," and that title has become one of the main city slogans.

Mr. Busche is not only a master baker but a master business man and citizen. He was born at Bremen, Germany, August 5, 1875. His father, Conrad Busche, was born in the same free city of Germany in 1841 and died there in 1893. He spent all his active life as a baker. During the Franco- Prussian war in 1870-71 he was a German soldier. He was also a member of the Lutheran Church. His wife was Johanna Schulenberg, who was born in Bremen in 1845 and died in that city also in the year 1893. William C. was the oldest of their

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children. Mary is the wife of Henry Roevekamp, secretary for a large corporation of cotton spinners at Bremen. Minnie is also married and living in Bremen. Herman is manager of the German-Amer- ican Oil Company at Munich, Germany.

William C. Busche was educated in private schools and at the age of thirteen began a thorough ap -. prenticeship at the baker's trade under his father. In 1891, when sixteen years old, he came to the United States and the following two years worked steadily at his trade in the bakery of Regan Brothers at Minneapolis. His father's death called him home and until he was twenty-one years of age he ran the business and was guardian of the estate. When the estate was settled he returned to Minneapolis and rejoined Regan Brothers for two years. Mr. Busche acquired the bulk of his extensive know- ledge of the northwestern country while a travel- ing representative for the Northwestern Bakers Sup- ply Company of Minneapolis. He covered all the territory between Minneapolis and the states of Washington and Oregon, and in that time made personal acquaintance and gained the confidence and esteem of nearly all the retail bakers in this territory.

In 1907 Mr. Busche bought a small bakery in Livingston from B. A. Hicks. He had the advan- tage of not only knowing the baker's art but also all the most perfect facilities and appliances for increasing the quality and quantity of the baking business, and at the same time he has improved his plant until without question it ranks first among the bakeries of Southeastern Montana. He has installed all the labor saving devices and also the facilities to safeguard the sanitary quality of his products. From his plant on South Second Street the bread and other products go to supply a large and generous demand in a territory 100 miles north, east, south and west, and a large proportion of the homes of Livingston for years have known no other "staff of life," than the "Best Yet" bread.

On coming to Livingston Mr. Busche at once identified himself with the civic and business or- ganizations. While president of the old Commercial Club he was chiefly instrumental in organizing the Park Creamery, one of the institutions of which Livingston is now most proud. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, is a past exalted ruler of Livingston Lodge No. 246 of the Elks and a member of Yellowstone Lodge No. 10 of the Knights of Pythias. For the past seven years he has served as trustee and financial secretary of the English Lutheran Church. Politically he is a non-partisan.

At Spokane, Washington, in 1904, he married Miss Bessie C. Rudolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lonis Rudolf. Her parents are now deceased. Her father was a pioneer baker at Spokane. Mr. and Mrs. Busche have three children: Rudolf, born . crat, taking a keen interest in passing public events, September 16, 1906; Edward, born April 15, 1910; and Mary Louise, born April 19, 1916.

WILLIAM SWORDER. It is a well attested maxim that the greatness of the state lies not in the ma- chinery of the government, or even in its institu- tions, but in the sterling qualities of its individual citizens, in their capacity for high and useful effort and unselfish endeavor and their devotion to the public good. To this class belongs William Sworder, who for more than a dozen years has honored Liv- ingston by his citizenship. Although. an American by adoption only, he has been most loyal to its institutions, and his example has been worthy of emulation.

William Sworder was born near Hertford, Eng- land, on May 10, 1869, and is the son of William and Ellen (Cooper) Sworder. The father was born

near Hertford in 1843 and died there in 1917, having spent his entire life in that vicinity. He followed the vocation of farming, but retired in 1902. He was a conservative in politics and served as alder- man of Hertford. He was a member of the Church of England and was a Freemason of the thirty-second degree. He served in the English Volunteer Cavalry and in many ways was a useful man. His wife was born in 1840, near Hertford, and she died there in 1899. To this worthy couple were born the following children: Helen, who is still unmarried and resides at Hertford; the subject of this sketch was next in the order of birth; Annie resides at Hertford; John Cooper lives at Hitchin, England; Mary lives at Hertford; Charles is a traveling salesman and lives in London, England; Rose is a nurse in the British Government service in the Island of Ceylon.

William Sworder received his education in the public schools of Hertford and then learned the trade of carpenter. 'Desiring a field of larger op- portunities, in March, 1887, he came to the United States, locating first at Adrian, Minnesota, where for five years he engaged in farming. He then returned to his former vocation until 1899, when he went to Ulen, Minnesota, and again went to farming. Two years later he went to Twin Valley, Minnesota, and worked as a carpenter and builder until June, 1906, when he came to Livingston and has since been actively engaged in business here, first as a contractor and builder, but since that time as a cabinet maker and woodworker. He owns a good building on South B Street and is thoroughly pre- pared for any kind of a job in the way of wood work, nothing being too intricate for him to handle. Mr. Sworder's experience has led him through every department of his work, the results of which speak for themselves. He is also a stockholder in the Park Milling Company of Livingston. In civic af- fairs he has taken the same keen interest that has made for his success in business endeavors, and he occupies an enviable position among the business men of his city.

In February, 1893, at Adrian, Minnesota, Mr. Sworder was married to Jennie McNeely, who was born in New York City, and to them have been born the following children: Jennie Ellen, who is the wife of G. C. Bussard, a painter and decorator at Strawn, Illinois; Hazel Alvina, the wife of F. H. Goodson, a fireman on the Northern Pacific Rail- road; William Lester, who enlisted in December, 1917, in the United States Navy, in which he is a first-class fireman, and has had four trips overseas; Stanley Charles is in the signal service of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Politically Mr. Sworder is an independent demo- and gives his support to those men and measures which in his judgment will best advance the best interests of the people. His fraternal relations are with Livingston Lodge No. 559, Loyal Order of Moose, and Livingston Lodge No. 10, Knights of Pythias, which he has served as vice chancellor. The prosperity which is the legitimate result of earnest effort is today his, and he enjoys the confi- dence and respect of the entire community.

SAMUEL JAMES CROUCH. The interests of Gallatin are being well conserved by the county's repre- sentative in the Lower House of the State Assembly, Samuel James Crouch, who is also a well known figure in financial circles, as he is cashier of the sound banking house of Three Forks, the First National Bank. He is a man of unusnal capabilities, and although in the very prime of life, has become

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experienced in dealing with human nature, so that his judgments are sound and seldom at fault. He was born near Three Forks, Montana, December 9, 1877, a son of C. L. Crouch, born in Montgomery County, Missouri, in 1839. There he was reared and lived until 1863, when he came west to Broad- water County, Montana, and homesteaded 160 acres of land. A practical farmer, he increased his hold- ings until he now owns 1,000 acres located three miles north of Three Forks, across the county line, and is numbered among the most successful ranch- men of this region. Politically he is a democrat. His fraternal connections are with the Masonic order. C. L. Crouch was married to Angeline Tate, born in Missouri in 1853, and died on the ranch in 1884, having borne her husband the following chil- dren: Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Haskell, lives with her father; Samuel James, who was the second in order of birth; William T., who lives on a ranch near his father's property; Stella, who died at the age of twelve years ; and Clara, who died in infancy.

Samuel James Crouch was reared on the ranch and attended the schools of Gallatin County, the Montana State College, and was graduated in a business course in 1897. Completing his educational training, Mr. Crouch returned to his father's ranch and was there engaged in stock raising until 1902, when he began farming on his own account on a ranch adjacent to that of his father, containing 160 acres that he still owns, as well as other ranches in Jefferson, Broadwater and Gallatin counties, amounting to about 2,500 acres in all. In 1913 Mr. Crouch located permanently at Three Forks, and became cashier of its First National Bank, which position he still holds, and he is also interested to a considerable extent in some valuable mining prop- erties.

A democrat, he early began to take an active part in politics, and was elected to the State Assembly as the representative of Broadwater County and served in the Eleventh and Twelfth sessions, hav- ing been elected to succeed himself. In 1918 he was returned to the State Assembly as the repre- sentative of Gallatin County, and served in the Sixteenth Session. During the time he was in the Legislature he served on the new counties, privilege and election, banks and banking and other important committees; and he also introduced the bill creating Pershing County, which was defeated. In every way he has served the best interests of his con- stituents, and is recognized as an able and broad minded man, and one who can be relied upon to work for constructive measures. Since coming to Three Forks Mr. Crouch has been very active in civic matters, serving in the City Council for two terms, and has been a forceful factor in the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was the first president. While still living in Broadwater County, he was on the school board of the Jefferson River District, and did much to raise the educational standards in that locality. He is now serving as president of the Sacajawea Club and is a member of the Elks Lodge. Very little of moment is undertaken with- out he is consulted, as his fellow citizens recognize that he is able and willing to exert himself in be- half of his community, and are glad to avail them- selves of his valuable services.

On April 27, 1916, Mr. Crouch was married to Gertrude Edna Boomer at Long Beach, California. She is a daughter of Robert H. and Melissa (De Ormand) Boomer, now residents of Logan, Mon- tana, although formerly, Mr. Boomer was a farmer in the region about Bozeman, and it was on this property that Mrs. Crouch was born. Mr. and Mrs. Crouch have no children. Mr. Crouch's services

to his district are not completed, for the future looms large with economic problems such men as he will be called upon to solve. During the past few years he has reached an understanding of the needs of his constituency directly and surely, and his associates recognize and admire his views, which are convincing in their simplicity and integrity, so that he is liable to be called upon to assume respon- sibilities of increasing importance as time passes.

RALPH ROWLAND EGE, a graduate civil engineer, has spent his active career as an expert in motor mechanics and has developed one of the largest and most complete organizations of its kind in Southern Montana, known as the United Motor Corporation of Livingston, of which he is president.

Mr. Ege was born on a farm in Whiteside County, Illinois, December 13, 1891. His father, William L. Ege, spent all his life in Illinois as a farmer and died in Whiteside County in 1895. He was a re- publican and a Methodist. The mother, Viola Rowland, was born in Illinois in 1867 and is now living with her two children at Livingston. Her daughter is Hazel H., wife of William A. Ortmeyer, treasurer of the United Motors Corporation of Livingston.

Ralph R. Ege, the only son, received his first advantages in the rural schools of Whiteside County, Illinois, and afterward attended Cornell Academy and Cornell College at Mt. Vernon, Iowa. He graduated with the degrees Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1913, and the following year received his Master's degree in Civil Engineering. In 1914 he came to Montana and at Wilsall established the Shields Valley Garage. One year later he organized the Ege Motor Company of Wilsall, Livingston and Bozeman, and was its manager until January 12, 1917. He lived at Wilsall until May 1, 1916, and since then has made his home at Livingston. On January 12, 1917, he organized the United Motors Corporation for the purpose of doing a general garage business and handling the sales in local Montana territory for the Buick and Cadillac cars and the G. M. C. and Master trucks. The offices, salesroom and garage at Livingston are at 209-211 South Second Street. Mr. Ege is president of the corporation, F. M. Foerschler is vice president, W. A. Ortmeyer is treasurer, and Vard Smith secretary.

Mr. Ege is a stockholder in the Northwestern Na- tional Bank at Livingston and the Farmers Exchange of Wilsall and personally is interested in Montana agriculture, owning a farm of 160 acres in the Shields Valley. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Railway Club of Livingston, is a Mason, with affiliations in Mount Vernon Lodge in Iowa, and a member of Livingston Consistory of the Scottish Rite and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. He is also a member of the Order of Elks. Politically he is independent and non-partisan, and is a member of the Methodist Church, a faith in which he was reared. Mr. Ege resides in the Park Hotel.

SAMUEL E. LEARD, M. D. In the quarter of a century since he came to Livingston Dr. Leard has builded wisely and well his professional reputation and prestige. The recognition accorded him by his large private clientage as a competent and skillful physician and surgeon has gradually extended over many sections of the state. For the past fourteen years he has served as city health officer of Living- ston, and in 1919 was appointed county health officer of Park County. For two years he was head phy- sician of the state organization of the Modern

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Woodmen of America, and in IQII was elected president of the State Health Officers' Association.

Doctor Leard was born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, at Middlesex, October 5, 1864, but grew up in Illinois and came to Montana when about thirty years of age. His grandfather and great- grandfather bore the name Thomas. They were from County Down, Ireland, where grandfather Thomas was born in 1784. The great-grandfather brought his family to America in 1802 and was a pioneer of Western Pennsylvania, homesteading land in Armstrong County, where his son Thomas spent his life as a farmer and died in 1874, at the ad- vanced age of ninety. Doctor Leard's father was also named Thomas and was born in Armstrong County in 1824. He spent his early life there as a farmer and after 1875 lived on a farm near Prairie City, Illinois, where he died in 1893. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Presby- terian Church, a faith he inherited from a long line of ancestors. He married Isabel Kiskadden, who was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, in 1839, and died at Holdrege in Western Nebraska in 1912. Doctor Leard is the third of their five children. Hattie, the oldest, is the wife of William Martin, a farmer at Holdrege, Nebraska; William F. was a farmer and died at Prairie City, Illinois, at the age of fifty; Laura died in infancy; and Sadie Blanche is the wife of John McDonald, a beet sugar grower at Longmont, Colorado.

Samuel E. Leard was eleven years old when his parents moved to Illinois, and he finished his early education in country schools at Prairie City. He is a graduate of both the Knox Academy and Knox College at Galesburg, Illinois, taking the Bachelor of Science degree in 1889. The following four years he spent in the Chicago Medical College, graduating in 1893, and in the same year receiving the Master of Science degree from his alma mater at Galesburg. Doctor Leard did special work in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat at the Chicago Post-Graduate Medical School in 1904. While at Knox College he had four years of military training under Lieutenant, afterward Colonel Ed- wards. For three years he was also a member of the Second Montana Regiment of the Montana Militia. Soon after the beginning of the war against Germany Doctor Leard gave up his profession tem- porarily at Livingston and was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Medical Corps on August 4, 1917. He served with the army in the training camp at Chickamauga Park, Georgia. His earlier military training stood him in good stead and made him one of the useful members of the Medical Corps. He was mustered out December 1, 1918.

After graduating from Medical School Doctor Leard practiced at Omaha and in the fall of 1895 came to Livingston and embarked upon his career as a general physician and surgeon. His offices are in the Garnier-Miles Block. For ten years he served as county coroner, being elected five consecutive times. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies, the American Medical Association, is affiliated with Livingston Lodge of the Knights of Pythias, the Livingston Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Congregational Church and is a republican.

He formerly owned some ranch properties but sold them in 1917. His residence is a modern home at 317 South Yellowstone Street. Doctor Leard married at Warren, Pennsylvania, in 1893, Margaret A. Newmaker, daughter of John W. and Sarah (Story) Newmaker, both now deceased. Her father was a furniture manufacturer and lumber dealer in Western Pennsylvania. Doctor and Mrs. Leard

have one son, Thomas Clyde. In July, 1917, he joined the Second Montana Regiment and was mus- tered into the United States service in the One Hundred and Sixty-Third Regiment and was on duty with the Coast Artillery at New York until mustered out in September, 1918. He is now an employe of the Northern Pacific Railway in Idaho.

W. L. KEARNS. Among the individuals of the class that may be called progressive in Southern Montana is W. L. Kearns, cashier of the Yegen Bank at Gardiner. His record is the account of a life which is uneventful, indeed, as far as stirring incident or startling adventure is concerned, yet is distinguished by the most substantial qualities of character. Like his father before him, his life his- tory exhibits a career of virtuous private industry, performed with moderation and crowned with suc- cess. It is the record of a well balanced mental and moral constitution, strongly marked by those traits of character which are of such essential value in such a state of society as exists in this country.

W. L. Kearns was born in Adair County, Iowa, on May 22, 1888, the son of George L. and Elizabeth (Lynam) Kearns. George L. Kearns, who now re- sides in Vermilion, South Dakota, was born in 1864 in Scott County, Iowa, and was there reared and educated. He has been a life-long farmer and has been successful in his vocation. In 1901 he removed from Iowa to Delmont, South Dakota, where he remained until 1911, when he located in Vermilion. He is a democrat in his political belief. His wife was born in Scott County, Iowa, in 1867. She has borne her husband the following children: W. L., the immediate subject of this brief review; Owen, who is a farmer at Vermilion, South Dakota; Kath- leen is at home with her parents; Keith, who died on April 4, 1919, was a ranch foreman near Gardi- ner ; George, who enlisted in the United States Army in 1917, was sent overseas and served in the Army of Occupation; Lillian is a student in the public schools at Vermilion.

W. L. Kearns received his elementary education in the rural schools of South Dakota, attending the high school through the junior year. Then, in 1907, he attended the Capital City Commercial College at Des Moines, Iowa, upon the completion of which training he entered the Delmont State Bank at Del- mont, South Dakota, as bookkeeper. Six months later he went to the Citizens State Bank at Armour, South Dakota, in the same capacity, from which he was later promoted to the position of assistant cashier. Three years later he accepted the same position with the Armour State Bank, where he remained eighteen months. In 1914 he went to Corwin Springs, Montana, and during the following two seasons he ran the hotel there for C. S. Heffer- lin. Then for a time he engaged in farming, but on December 10, 1917, he came to Gardiner and entered upon his duties as cashier of the Yegen Brothers Bank, a position which he is still occupying. This bank, which is capitalized at $20,000, is situated on Main Street, and has for its president Chris Yegen, and for its vice president Peter Yegen. It is one of the strong and reliable financial institutions of this section and enjoys the confidence of the community. Mr. Kearns has demonstrated business and executive qualities of a high order and enjoys the warm regard of all who come in contact with him.

In addition to his banking duties Mr. Kearns is secretary of the Gardiner Light and Water Com- pany, and he unhesitatingly gives his support to every measure looking to the advancement of Gardi- ner in any way. Politically he supports the demo- cratic party.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 77

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