Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 90

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 90

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FIES Jr. Willson

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the colonies, and there the subject's paternal grand- father, William Baron Calhoun, was born, lived and died, his last home being at Springfield. Wil- liam A. Calhoun was born at Springfield and his death occurred at Wilmar, Minnesota, in 1878. He was reared in Springfield and sometime after his marriage he moved to Sparta, Wisconsin. A short time later he located in Wilmar, Minnesota, where he became the proprietor of a hotel and where he spent the remainder of his days. He was a republican in politics and at one time served as sheriff of Kandiyohi County, Minnesota. He was a faithful member of the Episcopal Church. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment of volunteer infantry, with which he served through the war. At Spottsyl- vania Courthouse he was severely wounded, a bul- let plowing through his left arm from elbow to wrist. He married Emogene Holmes, who was born at Bradford, Pennsylvania, and whose death occurred at Sparta, Wisconsin, in 1898. They be- came the parents of three children, namely: Mary Margaret, who remains unmarried, is principal of a ward school at Billings, Montana; William B .; and Bertha Belle, unmarried, has charge of the silks and dress goods department of Yegen Brothers store at Billings.

William B. Calhoun received his general educa- tion in the public schools of Sparta, Wisconsin, graduating from the high school there in the spring of 1800. He then took a course in pharmacy in the University of Wisconsin, at Madison, after which he was employed for eight months in a drug store at Antigo, Wisconsin. In 1892 Mr. Calhoun went to Billings, Montana, and was employed in a drug store there until the outbreak of the Span- ish-American war in 1898. In May of that year he enlisted in the volunteer cavalry, known as the

Montana Rough Riders. The command was sent to Camp George A. Thomas at Chickamauga Park, where Mr. Calhoun served as chief steward in the regimental hospital. He was mustered out of the service in September, 1898, and at once re- turned to Billings, spending the next year in a drug store. During the following four years he served as deputy assessor of Yellowstone County, under Assessor A. P. Smith, and at the expiration of his official term he went to Bridger, Montana, where he entered the employ of the Glidden Mercantile Company, with whom he remained six years. The following year he spent at Salt Lake City, and in 1911 he came to Clyde Park and bought the drug store owned by F. A. Scheuber. This is the pioneer drug store at Clyde Park and has always enjoyed its full share of public patronage in that line. Mr. Calhoun is a registered pharmacist in both Montana and Minnesota and is an expert pres- cription druggist. By a course of right dealing he has gained not only a large clientele, but also a host of friends, who esteem him for his personal qualities of character.

Politically Mr. Calhoun is a republican. Fra- ternally he is a member of Livingston Lodge No. 32, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Clyde Park Lodge No. 64, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past hoble grand, and Billings Lodge No. 394, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

In 1908, at Livingston, Mr. Calhoun was mar- ried to Cathryn Stroup, who was born at Mount Clements, Michigan, and they are the parents of one child, Harriet Emogene, born January 12, 1915.

FRED F. WILLSON is a widely known Montana architect. In architecture "many are called but few are chosen," in other words, few have the Vol. JI-21

training, the artistic sense, the skill and technique to make them worthy of the word by which they describe their vocation. The practical work of Mr. Willson as an architect may be found in many cities of Montana and in some of the leading state institutions.

He is the only son of the late Gen. Lester S. Will- son, who died at Bozeman, January 26, 1919. Gen- eral Willson was born at Canton, St. Lawrence County, New York, June 16, 1839, son of Ambrose and Julia A. (Hill) Willson and of old English ancestry. He was educated in the public schools and academy at Canton, and left the store of an uncle to enter Company A of the Sixtieth New York Infantry in August, 1861. He was made ser- geant in September, second lieutenant in October, 1862, soon afterward was promoted to first lieu- tenant and adjutant, and declined a commission as captain. However, in August, 1864, he was made a captain, in October of the same year lieutenant colonel, and in May, 1865, was promoted to colonel, though he never served as such. His rank as brevet colonel and brevet brigadier general was made to date from March 13, 1865. He was given those honors on the recommendation of Generals Hooker and Slocum, "for gallant and meritorious service under General Sherman at Atlanta." He saw some of the hardest service of the war, being in the Virginia campaigns of 1861-62, at Antietam, Chan- cellorsville, where he was severely wounded, and his wound kept him out of the Gettysburg cam- paign. From the fall of 1863 he was under General Hooker in the campaigns marked by the great bat- tles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. It was through his personal influence that his regi- ment veteranized and re-enlisted in November, 1863. It is said that the Sixtieth New York was the sec- ond regiment of the Union army to take this step. He and his command were in all the battles of Sherman's campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and thence on the historic march to the sea and up through the Carolinas. The Sixtieth New York was one of the first two regiments to enter the City of Atlanta and the Sixtieth was declared by com- petent authority to be the best regiment in the Union army. General Willson enjoyed the confi- dence and personal association with such great military figures as Sherman, Hooker, Slocum, Gary, Greene.

After the war he was appointed assistant quar- termaster general of the State of New York, with the rank of colonel. This office had the adjust- ment of many business matters with the railroads pertaining to the transportation of troops, sup- plies and the settlement of accounts between the state and federal government. General Wilson re- tired from that responsibility in March, 1867, and from that date until his death his name and ca- reer were identified with Montana, where he was · prominent in mining, merchandising, banking and where from 1883 to 1886 he served as quartermas- ter general of the territory with the rank of briga- dier general. Even with this casual review of his career it is evident that he was one of the out- standing figures in the territorial and early state history of Montana. He did much to build up and maintain the influence and prestige of the republi- can party in Montana, and was a member of the Territorial Legislature in 1868-69. He was a char- ter member of the William English Post of the Grand Army, had filled most of its offices and was at one time department commander of Montana and was a member of New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion. He was also a Mason, being affiliated with the lodge at Bozeman.

March 2, 1869, General Willson married at Al-

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bany, New York, Miss Emma D. Weeks, a native of Vermont. She is still living at Bozeman. They were the parents of three children, Fred F. being the only survivor.

Fred F. Willson was born at Bozeman, Novem- ber II, 1877. He attended public schools at his native town, spent four years in the Bozeman Academy, and completed his junior year in the Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. He completed his college work in Columbia University at New York City, graduating Bachelor of Science in Architecture with the class of 1902. While at Columbia he was a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He had set his mind upon archi- tecture as his calling when a youth, and has never deviated from a stanch and loyal devotion to the art and profession. After leaving university he returned to Helena and spent two years with C. S. Haire, a prominent architect there. His two years of practical work at Helena were then sup- plemented by two years abroad. His headquarters were in Paris, where he was a student with a gradu- ate of the Ecole de Beaux Arts, but at the same time carried on extensive travels and observation through England, France, Germany, Holland, Bel- gium, Italy and Spain. While his work as an archi- tect has been noted for originality of design, that originality has always been tempered by the broad and thorough knowledge he has of architecture as exemplified in the best creations of all the cen- turies and in the greatest centers of art in the civ- ilized world. On returning to America in 1906 he remained for some time in New York City follow- ing his profession. He has since established an associate relationship with a prominent firm of New York architects comprised of Theodore C. Visscher and James Burley. Mr. Willson returned to Bozeman in April, 1906, and for the following four years had charge of Link and Haire's office at Butte. Since then he has practiced his profes- sion with offices in Bozeman. He has a suite of offices and a complete organization in the Com- mercial National Bank Building. Mr. Willson is responsible for the architectural development of the Orphans' Home Building at Twin Bridges; the Chemical Building on the campus of the state col- lege, and designed the Commercial National Bank Building at Bozeman and the Emerson School. The Emerson School at Bozeman is a building which has attracted the attention and admiration of edu- cational bodies all over the United States. He has recently begun work on the engineering building for the Montana State College, and has designed and built schools, apartment houses and business structures at Dillon, Anaconda, Columbus, Man- hattan and in many other towns and cities of the state. Mr. Willson owns one of the most beauti- ful homes of Bozeman, at 509 Tracy Avenue. He designed and built this residence in 1914. Since his father's death he and his mother have been" administrators of the estate. He individually owns 640 acres in the Powder River country, and is president of the Bozeman Investment Company and a director and stockholder of the Willson Company, a business which was established by his father more than half a century ago.

Mr. Willson is a present member of the city council of Bozeman. Politically he is a republi- can. He is a member of the Historical Library Board of Helena, a member of the State Archi- tectural Society, which he served two terms as president and is now a director, is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, with Bozeman Lodge No. 18, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Bozeman Lodge No. 463, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Silver Bow Club of Butte and the Cham-

ber of Commerce at Bozeman. He is also a mem- ber of the Columbia University Alumni Association and the New York Commandery of the Loyal Legion.

October 15, 1913, near Bozeman, he married Miss Helen Fisher,, daughter of E. H. and Clara (Mc- Cabe) Fisher, residents of Bozeman, her father being president of the Owenshouse Company. Mrs. Willson is a graduate of the Gallatin County High School and the Montana State College. They have one son, Lester S., II, born March 3, 1916.

H. F. BRINK. Upon the roll of representative citizens and prominent and influential business men of Wilsall consistently appears the name of H. F. Brink, the able president of the First Na- tional Bank. He is one of those sturdy spirits who has contributed largely to the material wel- fare of the locality in which he resides. During his residence in this locality he has won his way into the affections of the people, for he possesses those sterling qualities of character which com- mend themselves to persons of intelligence and the highest morality.

The Brink family is of sturdy old Holland stock, whence the subject's progenitors came to New York State in colonial days and thereafter took a lead- ing part in the stirring events of those historic times. His paternal grandfather, Henry W. Brink, was born in New York State in 1804. He became one of the pioneer settlers of Illinois, becoming a farmer and also owning a hotel at Woodstock, where his death occurred in 1892. He married Hannah French, who was born in New York State in 1812 and who died at Woodstock in 1896. Among their children was the subject's father, M. D. Brink, who was born in New York State in 1832. At the age of eleven years he accompanied the family on their migration to Illinois and was reared in McHenry County until twenty years of age. In 1852, lured by the wonderful stories of the great Eldo- rado of the West, he went to California and spent three years in prospecting, in which he was fairly successful. He then returned to McHenry County, but shortly thereafter moved to Northeastern Iowa, and to Osage County, that state, in 1865. He was a successful brick manufacturer practically all his life. In 1872 he located in Nashua, Iowa, where he operated a brickyard and farmed until his re- tirement from active business pursuits, about twenty years prior to his death, which occurred at Inde- pendence, Iowa, on October 21, 1917. His real estate is now owned by the subject's brother, C. G. Brink, who cared for his father during the last twenty years of his life. M. D. Brink was a re- publican in politics and a man of strong charac- ter, who exerted a beneficent influence on all with whom he came in contact. He married Helen Au- rand, who was born in New York State in 1837 and who now resides at Park Rapids, Minnesota. They became the parents of the following children : Lee A., who is a minister of the Congregational Church at Maize, Kansas; Minnie, who is the wife of Frank Campbell, a farmer at Park Rapids, Minnesota; H. F., whose name forms the caption to this review; C. G., who is operating the home- stead farm at Nashua, Iowa; Lontie M., the wife of Oscar Armagost, a contractor and builder at Topeka, Kansas; Nellie, the wife of Milo Butler, a farmer at Windham, Ohio.

H. F. Brink was born at Osage, Iowa, on May 16, 1868. He was educated in the schools of Chicka- saw County and remained at home until seven- teen years of age. He then learned the trade of a flour miller at Nashua, to which he applied him- self until twenty-three years of age, when he en-

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gaged in farming for about a year. He then bought a homestead at Park Rapids, Minnesota, to which he devoted his attention for six years, or until 1898, when he came to Norris, Montana, and for four months was employed as a clerk in a store. During the following two years he was engaged in the livery business, but sold that business and for eleven years was engaged in the lumber and coal business. Disposing of that business, he then went to Columbus, Montana, and bought .a farm on the Stillwater River, which he operated about . 11/2 years. In 1912 he came to Wilsall and estab- lished the pioneer hardware and implement busi- ness here, which he has continued ever since, this now being the leading business of the kind in this section of the country. He has been financially successful in his business operations and owns, be- sides his store building, a splendid modern resi- dence, a drug store and real estate in Wilsall. He is also president of the First National Bank of Wilsall, one of the strong and influential financial institutions of this county, and much of the suc- cess of which is due to the sound judgment and wise policy of its president.

Politically Mr. Brink has been aligned with the republican party and has served his community as justice of the peace. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is a member of Wilsall Lodge No. 103, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is treas- urer, and of Jeffers ( Montana) Lodge, Modern Woodmen of America.

On July 16, 1890, at Verndale, Minnesota, Mr. Brink was married to Lucy Wilson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wilson, both of whom are deceased. The father had been a farmer in Dane County, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Brink are the parents of the following children: Grace, the wife of Robert W. Lucas, a real estate dealer and stockman at Wilsall; Lee R., who is engaged in business with his father at Wilsall. Mr. Brink has given consistent support to every measure look- ing to the advancement of the best interests of his community, and to a large measure the prosperity of the town is due to his influence.

R. N. STRYKER. The gentleman whose name ini- tiates this paragraph is deemed eminently worthy of representation along with the best and most in- dustrious citizens of the locality in which he re- sides, owing to the fact that he belongs to the energetic and enterprising class that has contributed to the later-day success of the favored section of the great treasure state honored by his citizenship. He enjoys distinctive prestige in business circles, his practical intelligence, mature judgment and sound business sense winning for him the confi- dence and good will of all with whom he has come in contact.

Like several others of the best known citizens of Southern Montana, Mr. Stryker is descended from Holland stock, his progenitors having come to America in the days of Peter Stuyvesant and lo- cating in New Jersey. The subject's paternal grand- father, William Stryker, was born in 1813 in New Jersey, but in an early day removed to Illinois, where he was numbered among the pioneer farm- ers. His death occurred at Jerseyville, Illinois, in 1883. He married Phoebe Davis, a native of New Jersey and who also died at Jerseyville, Illinois.

J. V. Stryker, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1851 at Whitehall, Illinois, and died at Pawnee City, Nebraska, in 1909. He was reared at Whitehall, but subsequently removed to Spring- field, that state, where he became a breeder and trainer of trotting horses, in which vocation he

attained a national reputation, some of the speediest horses on American race tracks having come from his stables .. In 1897 he moved to Pawnee City, Nebraska, where he retired from business and spent his last days. He was favorably known as a man of fine attainments in other lines than his special calling and enjoyed the acquaintance of many of the leading men of the country. He was a democrat in politics and was appointed ambassador to Eng- land, but declined the appointment. He was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church. He married Gretta Nevius, who was born in 1859, in Galesburg, Illinois, and who now resides at Wilsall. Their children are as follows: Frank, who is in the employ of the Northwestern Railway at Council Bluffs, Iowa; R. N., the immediate subject of this sketch; Fred, who is the owner of a ranch at Wilsall; Charles, of Barnhamville, Virginia, enlisted in the United States army in 1918 and was mustered out in 1919; James, who is engaged in railroad construction work at Denver, Colorado; Barlett, whose home is in San Francisco, is in the United States aviation serv- ice.

R. N. Stryker was born at Jerseyville. Illinois, on December 27, 1881, and received his education in the public schools of Springfield, Illinois, and the high school at Pawnee City, Nebraska, where he was graduated in 1903. He then studied engineering one year in the University of Nebraska, at Lincoln. In 1904 Mr. Stryker came to Montana and in 1906 filed on a homestead at Meyersburg, now Wilsall. He still owns that land and altogether has 360 acres, with fine water rights, the whole comprising one of the best equipped stock ranches in Southern Montana. The fine residence, modern barns and convenient outhouses all comprise a plant of which the owner is justifiably proud. In the spring of 1919 Mr. Stryker moved into Wilsall in order to take up the duties of assistant cashier of the First National Bank, which had just been organized and which already has gained an excellent reputation as a strong and influential financial institution. The bank is capitalized at $25,000, with a surplus of $5,000, and the official personnel is as follows: Presi- dent, H. F. Brink; vice president, John F. Sinclair ; second vice president, Dr. L. R. Carson; cashier, O. E. Sahr; assistant cashier, R. N. Stryker. Mr. Stryker is a republican in politics.

In 1912, at Clyde Park, Montana, Mr. Stryker was married to Ethel Fellows, daughter of Martin and Almeda (Stillwell) Fellows, both of whom are de- ceased. Mrs. Stryker is a lady of splendid culture, having attended the State Normal School at St. Cloud, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Stryker have two children, Harriet, born January 24. 1913, and Almeda, born June 1, 1916. Mr. Stryker has been success- ful in his business enterprises and today no one here enjoys a larger circle of warm friends and acquaintances, who esteem him because of his ster- ling qualities of character and his business ability.

V. F. GUINZY. In such men as V. F. Guinzy, a successful business man and rancher of Wilsall, there is peculiar satisfaction in offering their life histories-justification for works of this character -not that their lives have been such as to gain them particularly wide notoriety or the admiring plaudits of men, but that they have been true to the trusts reposed in them and have shown such attributes of character as entitle them to the regards of all.

V. F. Guinzy was born in Peoria, Illinois, on Feb- ruary 21, 1883, and is a son of A. and Jennie (Jor- dan) Guinzy. The father was born in Italy in 1841, and came to the United States in 1874, settling at Yates City, Fulton County, Illinois, where he fol-

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lowed the vocation of a coal miner. In 1880 he went to St. David, Illinois, where he also mined, but about ten years later he located in Collinsville, Illinois, and engaged in the dry goods business, to which he gave his attention until 1907, when he re- tired and is now living at Wood River, Illinois. He is a democrat in politics. Before coming to Amer- ica he was in the military service of his country and took part in the Abbysinian war under General Garibaldi. Mr. Guinzy married Jennie Jordan, who was born in 1860 in Yates City, Illinois, and whose death occurred at St. David, Illinois, in 1887. To this union were born the following children: Joseph, who is a coal miner at Collinsville, Illinois; V. F., the immediate subject of this review; Edward, who is also a coal miner at Collinsville.

V. F. Guinzy received a good elementary educa- tion in the public schools of Collinsville, Illinois, and having decided to apply himself to the legal profession he entered the Missouri College of Law at St. Louis, where he was graduated in 1902, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. In that same year he was admitted to the bar, with license to prac- tice in either Missouri or Illinois. He became a member of the law firm of Grund, Guinzy & Mc- . Neely in St. Louis, with which he was associated for three years. He then went to Lead, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where for three years he was connected with the celebrated Homestake Mining Company, one of the greatest and most successful mining companies in the West. Severing his connection with that company, he returned to Collinsville, Illinois, and engaged in the real estate business until 1915, when he came to Wilsall and entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railway Company. In 1916 Mr. Guinzy became manager of the Farmers Exchange, a co-operative company at Wilsall, with which he is still associated. He oc- cupies the responsible positions of secretary, treas- urer and general manager of the concern and has so conducted its affairs as to win the approbation of all concerned in the enterprise. The office and elevator are situated along the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks, and through this elevator is shipped an enormous quantity of grain from the farmers of Park County. The officers of the company, be- sides Mr. Guinzy, are George M. Parker, president, and W. E. Cunning, vice president. The Farmers Exchange was organized in 1916 and has already proven a very successful and popular enterprise in the interests of the farmers of the community. Much of the popularity and success of the Ex- change is directly due to the indefatigable efforts and hustling qualities of the manager, who has proved himself the "right man in the right place."

Mr. Guinzy has other interests, being a stock- holder in the Collinsville Building and Loan Asso- ciation and in the United States Building and Loan Association of Butte, Montana. He owns a com- fortable and modern residence adjoining Wilsall, including ten acres of land, which he is successfully utilizing as a chicken farm. He also has a ranch of 160 acres of irrigated land about one-half mile east of Wilsall, which he is developing into a splendid property.

Politically Mr. Guinzy is a democrat and takes a live interest in the trend of public affairs, though not a seeker after public office. Fraternally he is a member of East St. Louis Lodge No. 664, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks; Wilsall Lodge No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Col- linsville Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose, and to the Societa Dogali.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 90

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