Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 87

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 87

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Mr. Drake received his education in the public schools of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and his first employment was with the St. Paul and Duluth Railway in the train service. Later he was with the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway as passenger conductor, and in October, 1895, came to Montana and had his first headquarters at Livingstone. He was with the Northern Pacific as passenger con- ductor on the main line and some of the branches until 1905. In that year hie removed to the Province of British Columbia and spent some time in proving up a homestead. In 1907 he returned to Montana and resumed his work as a railroad man with the Jaw Bone Railway and continued in the service when this line was taken over by the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul. Mr. Drake has been a member of the Order of Railway Conductors for twenty- one years, and state chairman for the legislative board of the four great railroad organizations dur- ing the four years following the Twelfth Legislative Assembly.

He is also active in Masonry, having become a Mason at Billings, where he was identified witlı

Ashland Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Billings Chanter No. 6, Royal Arch Masons, Aldemar Commandery No. 5, Knights Templar. He is now a member of Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Hiram Chapter No. 14, Royal Arch Masons, and Lewistown Com- mandery No. 15, Knights Templar. Politically he is independent.

July 3, 1899, Mr. Drake married Miss Nettie Vicam. They became the parents of two. children, Ora V., who died in infancy, and Dorothy D.

ALBERT SCHLECHTEN. While Mr. Schlechten owns a fine ranch near Helena, his profession and voca- tion for a number of years has been artistic photog- raphy. He has built up a business recognized as the foremost of its kind in Gallatin County.

Mr. Schlechten was born near the City of Berne, Switzerland. Jannary 14, 1876. His parents spent all their lives in the same locality. His father, Christian, was born in the same locality in 1850 and died in 1917. He was a cabinet maker by trade, served the regular time in the Swiss army, and was a Protestant in religion and a member of the State Church of Switzerland. His wife was Mar- guerite Krebs, who was born in 1840 and died in 1918. Albert is the oldest of their children. The next, Alfred, is in the photographic business at Bozeman. The following two, Emma and Lena, both live in Switzerland. Anna, the youngest, is the wife of Jack Schneider, employed by the Boze- man Bottling Works.

Albert Schlechten secured the equivalent of a grammar and high school education in Switzerland. He was sixteen years of age when he came to this country in 1892. For four years he lived near Sted- man, Missouri, and worked as a farm hand. He learned photography in a studio at Centralia, Mis- souri. He rapidly acquired a knowledge of the photographic technique, and soon became noted for his fine work in the photographic profession. Equipped with his unusual skill, though with a very modest capital, Mr. Schlechten came to Bozeman in 1900 and established his present business. His studio is now the chief one patronized for artistic work in Gallatin County. He built the Schlechten Block in 1903 at 12 South Black Avenue. This con- tains his studio with every apparatus and facility for high class photography, and also furnishes quarters for business offices and living apartments. Mr. Schlechten owns other real estate in Bozeman. His ranch near Helena comprises 320 acres of im- proved land with water rights on the Spokane Bench.

Mr. Schlechten served with Company A, Second Regiment Montana State Militia. He is an inde- pendent republican in politics and is affiliated with Bozeman Lodge No. 463 of the Elks. In 1912, at Bozeman, he married Miss Clara Schmidt. She was born in Denmark and was educated there. They have two children, Albert Wilbur, born in 1915, and Betty Marguerite, born in August, 1918.

CHARLES A. MACCALLUM. There is no such thing as chance. Advancement in any line comes through ability, concentration and industry, not luck. Good judgment is the outgrowth of accumulated experi- ence and observation, and when it is a characteristic of a person and is combined with the faculty of per- forming painstaking and conscientious work, chance is placed on the shelf and certainty takes its place. Charles A. MacCallum, secretary, treasurer and man- ager of the MacCallum-Cloutier Mercantile Com- pany of Anaconda, is a man who early recognized that if he wanted to get ahead in the world he must

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C. D. MaCallum.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

not rely upon a hoped-for good fortune, but upon his own gray matter, and as a result his concern is one of the leading ones of its kind in this region.

Charles A. MacCallum was born at Montreal, Canada, January 29, 1870, a son of Charles F. Mac- Callum, a native of Montreal, Canada, where he was born in 1836, and he died at Anaconda, Montana, in 1904. His family originated from Scotland, and its representatives have been noted for their excellent common sense and shrewd business acumen. Grow- ing up at Montreal, Charles F. MacCallum became public weigher for the city, and held that position until he came to the United States in 1890, having retired and found pleasant surroundings at Ana- conda. While living in Canada he served in the militia, and he supported the policies of the con- . servative party. He was a Roman Catholic. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Maria Cushing, was born in the Province of Quebec, Can- ada, in 1833, and she died at Anaconda in 1905. Their children were as follows: Maria, who was married to U. S. Tuttle, now deceased, resides in California ; Morley, who died at St. Paul, Minnesota, was a merchant of that city; Victoria, who is deceased, married A. P. Clontier, a merchant, who is also de- ceased; Albert Cushing is a very successful insur- ance man and banker of Seattle, Washington; Amelia, who married D. F. Hallahan, a merchant of Spokane, Washington; and Charles A., who was the youngest.

After being graduated from the Montreal High School Charles A. MacCallum took a two years' course in McGill College, and in April, 1888, came to Anaconda to join the selling force of the depart- ment store of MacCallum & Cloutier, which was es- tablished in 1885 by A. C. MacCallum and A. P. Cloutier. In 1902 the company was incorporated as the MacCallum-Cloutier Mercantile Company, at which time Mr. MacCallum bought an interest in the business, and continued with it until 1910. In that year he went to Vancouver, British Columbia, and there conducted a real estate business for five years. In 1915 inducements were offered him to return to the old company, and he accepted them, and assumed the management of the store, located on East Park Avenue, from 419 to 423, and it supplies the greater part of Deerlodge County. The stock is timely and of superlative value, facts appreciated by the careful buyers of this region, and the annual business shows a healthy increase.

In 1896 Mr. MacCallum was married at Anaconda to Miss Mary Cannovan, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Cannovan, the later of whom is de- ceased. John Cannovan lives at Columbia Falls, Montana. He is a veteran of the war between the North and South. Mr. and Mrs. MacCallum have had the following children born to them: Gerald Cushing, who was born in June. 1897, is a graduate of the Anaconda High School, and is a member of the sales force of his father's store; Eleanor, who was born in 1902, is attending the Anaconda High School; Charles T., who was born in 1905, is attend- ing the public schools of the city; Constance, who was born in 1907 and Doris, who was born in 1911, are both attending school; and Raymond, who was born in 1914, is the youngest. Mr. MacCallum re- cently sold his residence and now lives at No. 403 West Third Street. He is a republican. The Roman Catholic Church holds his membership. Fraternally he belongs to Anaconda Council No. 882, Knights of Columbus, of which he is a third degree knight; Anaconda Camp No. 154, Woodmen of the World; and Mount Haggin Court No. 629, Catholic Order of Foresters.

J. P. FABRICK is associate general manager at Bozeman for the North American Mortgage Com- pany. He has the supervision of a large territory where the business of this corporation is represented in the Northwest. He is a man of unusual quali- fications and business judgment. He was reared and trained as an expert dairyman in the greatest dairy center of the world, and by practical experience knows farming under European and Western Amer- ican conditions.

Mr. Fabrick was born in the Province of Fries- land in the northern part of Holland February 15. 1883. His father, Peter Fabrick, was born in the same province in 1854 and spent the greater part of his life there as a farmer. In 1908 he came to the United States and acquired farming interests at Manhattan, Montana, but is now living practically retired. Since coming to America he has acquired the full rights of an American citizen, is a demo- cratic voter and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Peter Fabrick married G. de Ruiter, who was born in Friesland in 1854 and died there in 1915. All of their children live in America, as follows : A. P., associate manager of the Hollam Company, real estate and loans, at Great Falls, Montana ; Jennie, wife of C. Venderschaaf, a farmer at Three Forks, Montana; Joseph, a farmer at Three Forks: J. P .; Wilma,. wife of John Vanderlaan, a clerk in a store at Manhattan; Grace, wife of Joseph Verwolf, a merchant at Manhattan; Dick, who is employed by the Adams Investment Company at Three Forks.

J. P. Fabrick secured a public school education in his native province. He attended a dairy college at Fulda, Germany, and had a thorough course of technical and practical experience in dairying in the creameries and dairies of Denmark. In 1906 he settled on a farm in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, and followed farming there until 1912. In that year he located at Bozeman, becoming agent for the North American Mortgage Company. This is a foreign corporation loaning monies on real estate in the United States, and Mr. Fabrick is now associate general manager, with offices in the Owenhouse Block, and has under his supervision eight employes who handle the business for this corporation over the Bozeman territorv.

He is also president of the Egerton-Fabrick Com- pany, Investment Bankers. Mr. Fabrick has ac- quired some extensive landed interests of his own, owning 2,500 acres of land in several ranches in Broadwater, Rosebud, Custer and Musselshell coun- ties. He also has a modern home at 602 West Olive Street in Bozeman.

Mr. Fabrick is a member of the Presbyterian Church, affiliated with Manhattan Lodge of Masons, Riverside Lodge of Odd Fellows at Manhattan, and is an active member of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce. Politically he is independent. He married in his native land in 1906 Gertrude Lan- tinga, daughter of F. and Sjoukje (Woudsna) Lan- tinga. Her parents both died in Holland, where her father was a physician and surgeon. Mrs. Fabrick acquired the equivalent of a high school education in Holland. They have two children : Sjoukje, born December 27, 1907, and Jennie, born May 19, 1909.

GEORGE P. FINCH, a retired rancher at Bozeman. is one of the interesting old time characters still surviving whose theater of activities for many years was the wide plains of the Far West, though for over thirty years his work and home have been in the mountain valleys of Montana. Mr. Finch rep- resents an era of the great West when in order to

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do the essential work of the country the conditions required men of personal courage, endurance, strength, coolness in danger and a never ceasing activity. Mr. Finch was cowboy and bull-whacker, riding and driving over the great trails of the Southwest, West and North, and for many years lived a life brimful of experience and adventure.

He was born in a quiet country community near Sandwich, Kendall County, Illinois, January 28, 1863. His grandfather, Cyrenus Finch, was one of the earliest settlers in that section of Northern Illinois. He had a farm and stock ranch there in the early days and died in Kendall County in 1866. His ancestors came originally from England and were early settlers both in Ohio and Illinois. Martin George Finch, father of George P., was also born near Sandwich in Kendall County, grew up in the country and in 1861 enlisted in the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Infantry. He was a Union soldier three years and nine months. After the war he returned to Kendall County, was a farmer, and afterward moved to Kansas and followed the business of building, contracting and carpenter work at Paola until his death in 1912. He was a republi- can. Martin G. Finch married Phoebe Covey, who was born in Illinois and died in Kendall County in 1869. Geroge P. was the oldest of their chil- dren. Elizabeth married Lee Rose and died at Peoria, Illinois, where her husband was a civil service employe of the Internal Revenue Depart- ment. Hubert was proprietor of a meat market at Buda, Illinois, where he died at the age of forty- two. Bert is a meat cutter at Bozeman.

George P. Finch, when seven years of age and after his mother's death, was bound out to a stock- man near Central City, Nebraska. He remained there seven years, but it was a hard experience which he does not like to recall. In the meantime his education was advanced only to a modest ac- quaintance with the second reader studies. Since then, however, by reading and study and contact with men and the world he has acquired the equiva- lent of a substantial education. When he ran away from his employer and master at Central City he entered upon that life of travel and adventure which was his lot until he finally settled down upon a ranch in Montana. He was through the states of Iowa and Missouri working at odd jobs to pay his way. During 1877-79 he was a cowboy in the em- ploy of the Prairie Cattle Company, operating in New Mexico. His next employers were Lee & Reynolds, and for whom he drove an ox team, freighting between Dodge City, Kansas, and through Indian Territory and Texas. In 1881 he accom- panied a herd of cattle north to Buffalo, Park, Kansas, but soon returned to his job as a freighter and cowboy in Texas. In May, 1882, he took an- other herd of cattle north over the trail to Ogallala, Nebraska. For a time he was in Northwestern Nebraska working as a bull-whacker between Sid- ney and Red Cloud, and in the fall went into the Black Hills district in South Dakota. At that time he came into Montana as far as Junction City, driving a mule team for the Northwestern Stage and Transportation Company and operating be- tween Pierre and Deadwood and through all the Black Hill towns of that date. In 1884 he accom- panied a mule train to Fort Custer, Montana. This outfit had a contract with the Government to stack hay at Fort Custer. After the contract was fin- ished. Mr Finch went back to the Black Hills. He was again in Junction City, Montana, in 1884-85, and in the spring of 1885 in the course of his trav- els one day pitched his noon camp in the Judith Basin, and the site of that camp is now included in his present ranch located 41/2 miles south and

east of old Youbet. From 1886 until December, 1887, Mr. Finch had charge of Guerney & Woods mule outfit. Following that for a period of ten years he freighted on his own account. In the meantime he pre-empted a ranch of 160 acres and a tree claim of 160 acres, proving up on both and finally selling this property in 1897. In 1893 he con- tracted with the Government to transport supplies to the camp of workmen engaged in constructing ditches on the Crow Reservation.

In June, 1897, Mr. Finch sold out his freighting outfit and on February 22, 1898, he married and returned to Judith Basin, to the ranch which he had pre-empted in 1888. After selling his home- stead he located on his present ranch between Garnell and Judith Gap. Mr. Finch now owns 920 acres. In 1898 he bought what was known as the D herd of horses, and the horse business was his chief activity until 1906. He is widely known among Montana horsemen. In 1906 Mr. Finch leased his ranch and has since lived in Bozeman, where he has a modern home with private garage at 201 6th Avenue, South.

It would be a long story to tell all the experiences, privations and hardships Mr. Finch endured in the days of his cowboy, freighting and other pioneer life. He frequently came in contact with hos- tile Indians. In the fall of 1878 he and several companions were surrounded by the Apache In- dians on a hill and were kept in a state of siege from 10 o'clock one day until 2 o'clock in the after- noon of the day following. They shot their horses and lay behind them for protection. Mr. Finch was nominally a republican for many years but for the past twelve years has voted independently. He served several years as a stock inspector in Montana. He is affiliated with Gallatin Camp No. 5245, Modern Woodmen of America, Bridger Camp No. 62, Woodmen of the World, Bozeman Lodge No. 18, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Zoma Chapter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Commandery No. 12, Knights Templar, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena.

On February 22, 1898, at Billings, he married Miss Mollie Lewis, a daughter of H. V. and Anna Lewis. Her parents are residents of Ashland, Nebraska. Her father is a veteran Union soldier, and attained the rank of captain. Mr. and Mrs. Finch have two children: Carl V., born October 28, 1901, a student in the Gallatin County High School, and Halley E., born February 19, 1904, who is in grammar school at Bozeman.

FRANK WIGGINS. The gentleman whose life his- tory is herewith outlined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a satisfactory de- gree of success, solely by his individual efforts. By a straightforward and commendable course Mr. Wiggins has made his way to a respectable position in the business world of Park County, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning a reputation as an enter- prising, progressive man of affairs, which the pub- lic has not been slow to recognize and appreciate. Those who know him best , will readily acquiesce in the statement that he is eminently deserving of the success which is his and of the popularity which he enjoys in his home community.

Frank Wiggins, cashier of the First State Bank at Clyde Park, Park County, is descended from sterling Irish stock, his paternal grandfather, Jere- miah Wiggins, having been born in the northern part of Ireland in 1821. In mature years he im- migrated to America, locating in the province of Ontario, Canada, where he became a building con- tractor. Subsequently he came to Postville, Iowa,

CHARLES O'DONNELL

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

and still later located in Luverne, Minnesota, where he spent the remainder of his days, practically re- tired from active business pursuits. In his native land he was a soldier in the British army and had a good military training. His son, William Wig- gins, was born in Postville, Iowa, in 1861, and was there reared and received his education. He became a railroad contractor and followed that business for many years, his headquarters during the major portion of that time being Kansas City, Kansas. In 1891 he moved to Luverne, Minnesota, and for four years was engaged in the grain business. Since that time he has been occupied in farming and stock raising, in which he has been successful. He is a democrat in politics and at one time served as as- sessor of Rock County, Minnesota. In Ottawa, Kansas, Mr. Wiggins was married to Mary Mc- Carty, who was born in 1868 in Southern Ireland and who was brought to the United States by her parents in 1875. Her father being a railroad con- tractor, their home was wherever he was located for the time being, and thus they lived in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas. To these parents were born nine children, namely: Frank, whose name heads these paragraphs; John, who is a sales- man for the United Motor Corporation at Living- ston, Montana; William, Jr., who lives with his parents, enlisted in the United States army in June, 1918, was sent overseas the following month, and was mustered out in February, 1919, with the rank of corporal; Muriel, who also is with her parents, is a teacher; Raymond is associated with his father in the home ranch, as are Edward, Gerald and Burt; Dorothy is a student in the public school.

Frank Wiggins was born at Kansas City, Kan- sas, on December 9, 1887. He received his ele- mentary education in the rural schools of Rock County, Minnesota, and the high school of Luverne. He then entered Valparaiso University, at Val- paraiso, Indiana, which he attended for two years, taking commercial and special courses. In 1910 Mr. Wiggins engaged in the clothing business at Luverne, to which he devoted himself about 31/2 years. In March, 1914, he came to Wilsall, Mon- tana, and entered the Farmers State Bank as assist- ant cashier. In November, 1917, he became as- sistant cashier of the Reed Point State Bank, where he remained until October, 1918, when he accepted a similar position with the First State Bank of Livingston, Montana. On May 1, 1919, when the First State Bank of Clyde Park opened its doors, Mr. Wiggins began his connection with the insti- tution as cashier, and is devoting himself inde- fatigably to the interests of this bank. The bank, though one of the youngest in this section of the state, has already earned an enviable reputation as a sound and conservative financial institution. The present officers of the bank are: President, L. R. Nye; vice president, Walter J. Hill, and cashier, Frank Wiggins. It has a capital of $25,000 and undivided profits of $5,000.

Politically Mr. Wiggins is a stanch supporter of the democratic party and fraternally is a member of Luverne Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Luverne, Minnesota.

On December 3, 1916, at Wilsall, Montana, Frank Wiggins was married to Cora McDonald, the daugh- ter of J. P. and Florence M. (Wittenberger) Mc- Donald. Mr. McDonald is the proprietor of a bakery at Wilsall and is numbered among the en- terprising men of that city. Mrs. Wiggins re- ceived a splendid education, being a graduate of the Colorado Springs High School and of the Con- servatory of Music at Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is a skilled pianist and is also an expert stenog- rapher. To Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins has been born

one child, Gerald Francis, whose birtli occurred on August 31, 1917.

GEORGE BARTZ. Among the strong and influential citizens of Gallatin County, the record of whose lives have become an essential part of the history of that section, the gentleman whose name appears above has exerted a beneficial influence through- out the community where he resides. His chief characteristics are keenness of perception, a tire- less energy, honesty of purpose and motive and every-day common sense, which have enabled him not only to advance his own interests, but also to largely contribute to the moral and material ad- vancement of the locality.

George Bartz was born at Poughkeepsie, New York, on March 29, 1865. His father, Nicholas Bartz, was born in Germany in 1835 and died at Des Moines, Iowa, in 1907. He came to the United States about 1864 and settled in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he lived for a short time, mov- ing then to Des Moines, Iowa, where he became the pioneer florist of that locality. He was suc- cessful in business and enjoyed a high reputation because of his ability and worth. He was a re- publican in his political views. His wife, Barbara, was born in Scotland, and to them were born the following children: John, who is a farmer at Avon, Iowa; William, who died in 1905, was a meat dealer at Des Moines, Iowa; Jennie is the wife of Samuel Ruble, a carpenter at Des Moines; and the subject of this sketch was the last born.

George Bartz was educated in the rural schools of Polk County, Iowa, and remained at home until he had attained his majority. At the age of twen- ty-one he began to work on his own account, work- ing mainly on farms in that locality until 1887, when he came to Bozeman, Montana, and during the following two years was employed as a farm hand. Then for three years he was employed in an implement store, followed by employment as a clerk in a grocery store, until 1909. In that year Mr. Bartz bought an interest in the T. H. Rea Grocery Company, but two years later he sold his interest in that company and established a store of his own on West Main Street. He has given his undivided attention to this business, with the result that he has developed the business until to- day it ranks as one of the leading grocery stores in Gallatin County. Mr. Bartz is a hard worker and conscientious in his business methods, so that the people with whom he has had dealings are among his best friends.

Politically Mr. Bartz is an earnest supporter of the republican party, and fraternally is a member of Bozeman Lodge No. 18, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and Bozeman Lodge No. 463, Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce at Boze- man.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 87

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