Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 110

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III > Part 110

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On October 14, 1875, Mr. Tucker was married in Chautauqua County, New York, to Miss Jennie Hungerford, a daughter of Parkes Hungerford, and she died in 1880, without issue. On August 10, 1883, Mr. Tucker was married to Miss Julia Wal- cott, a daughter of Merritt and Margaretta (Dewey) Walcott. Mrs. Tucker was born in Chautauqua County, New York, February 15, 1865, and was the third of six children born to her parents, namely : Lonella, who is the widow of Adelbert Anderson, of Chautauqua County; Ledter, who is also a resi-

Gifford, of Chautauqua County; and Chauncey, who is a resident of Jamestown, New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Tucker became the parents of the following children: Mabel, who is a trained nurse connected with Saint Peter's Hospital, Helena, Mon- tana, was bookkeeper for the Malta Mercantile Company for twelve years, and had been in the postoffice at Malta as clerk, leaving that to form a partnership with her sister under the caption of Tucker Sisters. They: handled ladies' furnishing goods until Miss Mabel went with the Malta Mer- cantile Company. When this country went into the World war she left her excellent position, went to Boseman and took a course in training with the intention of going overseas as a Red Cross nurse, but the signing of the armistice rendering this un- necessary, she entered Saint Peter's Hospital so as to complete her training. Grace, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Tucker, was in the post office at Malta, and also in the mercantile business with her sister Mabel. She then took a business course at Great Falls, Montana, following which she was em- ployed as a clerk in the county clerk and recorder's office at Glasgow, Montana. Still later she was mar- ried to E. O. Cauffman, proprietor of the Fifth Ave- nue Grocery at Malta.

WILLIAM G. LANG. The Lang family is one of the oldest in eastern Montana, and its members have always been among those who upheld law and order and did their part in developing their com- munities. This family was founded in this region by Gregor Lang, father of William G. Lang of Baker, whose name heads this review. He was a Scotch- man by birth, who later went to Ireland, and from there came to the United States as manager for the ranch and holdings of the Pender Cattle Company. The site of the ranch was selected by Mr. Lang, and he established his headquarters on the Little Missouri River, twelve miles east of the Montana line and about thirty-five miles south of Medora, North Dakota. It may be remembered that Medora was only seven miles north of the Roosevelt ranch, and was the trading and shipping point of Colonel Theo- dore Roosevelt during the days in his young man- hood, when he was engaged in ranching in the north- west.

Gregor Lang had nothing to do in establishing his claim to the Pender ranch site except to "squat" upon the unsurveyed public domain. His grazing field lay on both sides of the Little Missouri River. There he erected a log cabin for his headquarters, and about this primitive, building cling many sacred memories because of the warm friendship he there enjoyed with the Nation's hero, Theodore Roosevelt, and his own kindly communion with his neighbors. Locating there in 1883, he entered upon an ex- perience of many hardships, carrying on the work of ranch development for Sir John Pender, breeding ranch cattle and marketing the product successfully until the disastrous winter of 1886-7, when only about 300 head of cattle survived until the spring out of a herd of about 2,000. This so discouraged the English owners that they decided to abandon their undertaking, and were ready to dispose of the remnant of their cattle. Mr. Lang, having established himself in the country and holding firmly to his faith in its possibilities, was ready to buy. He chose to remain on the site of the ranch he had selected for the English company, and the buildings and other improvements were included in the property he pur- chased. He changed the old Scotch Thistle band of the original company to "JXL," and his numerous

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horses bore this same brand. As time went on he gave more and more attention to horses, and he be- came conspicuous as a stockman and proprietor of ' the Lang ranch. His range covered all the country he could occupy, for he died before this part of the state was surveyed, and no settlers had come in to dispute his domain. When the land was thrown open his widow entered the tract upon which the ranch improvement stood as her homestead, and proved up her title, and this formed the nucleus of the ex- tensive holdings of their son William G. Lang. Gregor Lang and his wife established a store on the ranch and the post office of "Yule" was opened in October, 1890. The store was conducted until the fall of 1908, when the coming of the Chicago, Mil- waukee & Saint Paul Railroad brought about the establishment of Baker and the store was moved to the point.

Gregor Lang was born in a Scotch home, near Glasgow, and it is believed that Dumbarton was his native heath. He grew up on the banks of the Clyde and received as did his brothers and sisters, a liberal education. His father was a highly educated man of many accomplishments, and proprietor of cloth mills. Reverses took from his family some of the wealth he had accumulated, but they still retained the comforts and some of the luxuries to which they were ac- customed. Gregor Lang was the youngest of a family of sixteen children, and was given the opportunity of completing his education in a college. He was born July 2, 1834, and so was twenty-eight years of age when in 1862 he took his young wife with him to Ireland and located at Barn Hill and later resided at Clonsilla, Cadublin, only seven miles from Dublin. There he became manager of a distillery, and was so engaged when his services were secured by the Pender interests. When he was a lad Sir John Pender served an apprenticeship in one of the fac- tories owned by the father of Gregor Lang, and dur- ing their after lives Sir John Pender and Gregor Lang were warm friends. During the five years that Gregor Lang was manager for Sir John Pender's ranch, the latter did not visit it, but his son James did so frequently, taking an inventory of the stock and looking into the conditions.

When Gregor Lang first located on his ranch a few buffalo remained on the prairie along the Little Missouri River, but he seldom hunted them himself. He liked the outdoor life, and was a rugged, healthy man, short of stature, quick and active, although weighing about 180 pounds. His first papers of citi- zenship were taken out at Missoula, Montana, and his final ones at Bismarck, North Dakota. He became a strong democrat, and remained an adherent of that party all of his life. Very intelligent, he liked politics and kept himself well posted on current events, and was recognized as the best read man in this region. Elected commissioner of Billings County, North Da- kota, he held that office for several years, becoming chairman of the board, and resigned just prior to making a visit back to his old home. As long as he . lived Gregor Lang held his warm friendship with Theodore Roosevelt as one of his most precious possessions, and loved to recall the days when Col- onel Roosevelt would visit the Lang ranch, and there, among Mr. Lang's books and papers, the two men of high ideals and profound insight into human nature would discuss politics and other subjects. Such an attachment grew up between the two that whenever Mr. Roosevelt came back into this region on hunting trips he never failed to visit the Lang ranch and renew his friendship with his old friends.

Gregor Lang married on July 1, 1862, Janet Tait Huggin, a daughter of a William Huggin, a con- tractor and builder of Jedburg, Scotland. She was

born December 9, 1838. It was while on a visit to Scotland that Mr. Lang passed away in March, 1900. His widow remained on the ranch, during this visit, but in December, 1909, removed to Baker, Montana, where she died on August 23, 1915. Mrs. Lang's father was one of the well-to-do class, and his chil- dren were all well educated. Mrs. Lang proved her efficiency by taking up the responsibilities her hus- band's death had created, and soon made her in- Anence felt all over the neighborhood. She was a woman of unusually strong character, and under her decided rule the ranch, store and postoffice flourished, and she increased the family's prosperity in a marked degree. She was a believer in the orthodox Christian religion, but could not agree with many things tol- erated by the churches, which seemed abuses to her. Although she was a member of the Church of Ireland while residing in that country she did not connect herself with any'religious organization after locating in this country. Both she and Mr. Lang agreed in spiritual matters and both conducted themselves with a freedom and sincerity most marked among their associates. The children born to Gregor and Janet Lang were as follows: Sophia, who is the wife of David F. Wishart, of Edinburg, Scotland, where she has reared her own family; Lincoln A., who lives at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, represents a Chi- cago concern located in that city, and is an inventor of some note; and William G., who is the youngest.

William G. Lang was born near the City of Dublin on October 30, 1878. He was about five and one-half years old when brought to the United States by his mother to join his father on the ranch along the Little Missouri River, where he was reared. His educational training was carried on by private teach- ers and in an agricultural college at Bozeman, Mon- tana. After the demise of his father he assisted his mother in the management of the ranch and store, and later entered into the cattle business, develop- ing into a breeder and grower of fine registered stock of the Hereford strain, which bear the old "JXL" brand, as do the Percheron horses he also breeds. His ranch comprises 8,000 acres of deeded and leased land, the greater portion of which belonged to the property conducted by his excellent mother. Mr. Lang still continues to operate his ranch, but sold the store in 1917. He was the first to buy a lot for a business site at Baker, and he became one of the builders of the village, of which he became a resident in December, 1908. On December 15, 1908, he opened his store for business.

When Mr. Lang came to Baker it was but a cluster of houses, and was located in Custer County. He soon realized the need of the creation of a new county, with Baker as the county seat. A natural organizer, he soon interested others in the movement to secure the organization of Fallon County, and then to make Baker the center of government for the new county. This precipitated two fights. Some who wanted the new county were not willing that Baker should be given the county seat. The usual rival claims of other communities for the honor developed, necessitating much labor to bring about an equitable and satisfactory adjustment. Baker, of course, was the logical site for the county capital, but it took time and hard work to bring about the proper action, and Mr. Lang and his associates deserve much credit for what they accomplished. With the establishment of Fallon County and the final selection of Baker as its capital the little village took on a period of expan- sion that resulted in a remarkable growth, and in all of it Mr. Lang bore a constructive part.

He was one of the founders of the Baker State Bank, the first one in the city, and of the First National Bank at Ismay, remaining vice president

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and a director of the first named institution ever since its organization, and a member of the official board of the latter for some time, or until it had passed the formative period and was firmly grounded in public confidence.

Like his father, he is a democrat, and cast his first presidential vote for William Jennings Bryan, a fact that gives him but little pleasure at present for he is a sound money man and holds to none of the radical doctrines of the day. When his country or com- munity need his services he lays aside politics, re- membering only that he is an American of the highest type of citizenship, and yields to no man in his loyalty to both. In religious matters he follows in the belief of his parents, and has not joined any church organization. The Elks hold his membership, but aside from that he belongs to no lodge. Mr. Lang has not married.

The review of the history of the Lang family is an interesting one, and should be included in every record of this community, for these people have played so important a part in the changing of con- ditions of the neighborhood that no true account could be given of the state without due credit being paid to them. Mr. Lang has many of the character- istics of both of his parents, and his connection with any enterprise gives it stability from the start, for his fellow citizens know that he will not take up any- thing unless he is certain that the cause is a just and honorable one, and that there is a reasonable certainty of ultimate success. He has a tenacity of purpose that has carried him through in his under- takings, which, combined with his natural ability, long and varied experience and knowledge of human nature make him a desirable addition to the com- munity which he assisted in developing and in which he and his name are held in such high esteem.

OTTO M. CHRISTINSON. In reviewing the lives of the men of foreign birth who have come to the United States it oftentimes appears as though they are possessed of unusual capabilities to be able to make such a success of their undertaking, but per- haps some of this progress is due to the fact that they work with a definite object in view and do not relax their efforts, but keep on striving to attain to something a little better. Otto M. Christinson, senior member of the Christinson Land Company of Glasgow, is one of these men, and because, through his own efforts, he has risen from a poor emigrant to a position of wealth and responsibili- ties his biography is instructive and illuminating.

Otto M. Christinson was born at Gandrup, Den- mark, August 24, 1883, a son of Christ and Mary Christinson, and the third of their eleven children, nine of whom reached to mature years, namely : Christian and Alfred, who are still residing in Den- mark; Otto, whose name heads this review; James, who is a resident of Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, Can- ada ; Carl, Anton and Marius, who live in Denmark; Albertine, who is a resident of Minneapolis, Min- nesota; and the ninth child is also residing in Den- mark.

Growing up in his native place, Otto M. Christin- son was sent to school for about four months an- nually until he was twelve years old, and this meagre training, supplemented with three short terms at the North Dakota Agricultural College at Fargo, North Dakota, comprise his educational advantages. The economic necessities of the family made it obliga- tory for him to begin working as a farm hand when only eight years old, and he was entirely self-sup- porting from the time he was twelve. By the time he was twenty he saw that there was no adequate opening for him, and so he decided to seek better

opportunities in the United States. He knew noth- ing of the language and had no money, but with the enthusiasm and courage of youth he dared all, borrowed sufficient money to pay for his passage on board the Helling Olaf, bound from Copenhagen, Denmark, for New York City, and after a voyage of two weeks landed without mishap.

It was his intention to join a sister of his mother's, a Mrs. Nelson, of Brainard, Minnesota, but while waiting for his relatives in the station at Brainard he was robbed of what little money he had left, and had it not been for the kindness of a merchant who found the poor lad wandering about the city, hungry and discouraged, his future history might have been somewhat different. The generous act of this merchant, who fed him and sent him the twenty miles to his aunt, gave him such a favorable im- pression of the people of his new land that his cour- age revived, and he faced the future bravely.

Almost immediately he secured a position with a country merchant at Milac Lake, about twenty- five miles from Brainard, at house painting, for which he received $20 per month, and remained with him for three months, earning his first Ameri- can money. For the subsequent three or four years he divided his time, working in the summers in the sawmills, in the winter in the lumber woods of Minnesota, and in the harvest months, in North Dakota. He then engaged for steady farm work in Cavalier County, North Dakota, and during the five years he was thus employed his pay ranged from $25 to $35 a month. After paying back the money he had borrowed to come to this country he sent for his brother, paid his way through agricul- tural college, and accumulated a little surplus, so that when he came to Montana, which he did in 1909, he had about $900.

Selecting Glasgow as his field of operation, Mr. Christinson looked things over, and then in the spring of 1910 he with John Miller opened a real- estate office. A year later this partnership was dis- solved, and Mr. Christinson took E. M. Hill into the business, the firm operating under the name of the Christinson Land Company. The firm spe- cialize on making loans on farm lands, but also write fire insurance. Mr. Christinson was first lo- cated in the frame building now occupied by the Nifty Tailors, and his next office was just across the street from his present one. In 1917 Messrs. · Christinson and Hill bought the business of the Johnson Farm Loan Company and moved into their present quarters in the First National Bank Build- ing. For three years the firm handled the Overland car at Glasgow, but otherwise have confined them- selves to handling real estate, making loans and writing fire insurance.

Mr. Christinson is naturalized, becoming a citi- zen of the United States in 1912, and his first presi- dential vote was cast for William Howard Taft in that year, and he has continued firm in his sup- port of republican principles ever since. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Fra- ternally he is a Mason and Odd Fellow, belonging to North Star Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Consistory and Shrine at Hel- ena, Montana, and to Glasgow Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. During the late war Mr. Christinson belonged to the Council of Defense, was its chairman, and later was made fuel adminis- trator for Valley County.

In 1910 Mr. Christinson was married to Miss Alma Kennedy, born in Ontario, Canada, in February, 1895, her father heing of Irish birth, and she was the only child of her parents, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Christinson have the

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following children : Aileen, James, Kenneth, Verne and Dorothy.

In every way Mr. Christinson has proved his worth as a man and a citizen, and set an example for industry and thrift all will do well to emulate. His upward progress has been steady, and made possible through his own exertions. He has been willing to endure much, work hard and save, and when an opportunity came for advancement he was ready to take it. It is such men as he who build up a community and bring about a stability of gov- ernment, and too much credit cannot be accorded them.

ORT IRONS, who has been identified with the com- munity of Harlem since 1910, was born near Lines- ville, Pennsylvania, July 1, 1886, and his childhood days were spent on a farm. He is descended. from an old Pennsylvania Quaker family. His father, George Irons, a grocer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is also a native of Pennsylvania, and a son of Wil- liam Irons, who was numbered among the early pioneers of the old Keystone State. William Irons was born in New Jersey, and about the time of his marriage drove through with a team to Pennsyl- vania, settling near Linesville, where he was a farmer and later a house mover. He became the father of seven sons and seven daughters.

George Irons married Julia Sutliff, one of a fam- ily comprising three sons and four daughters of Chauncy Sutliff, a farmer. The only child of George and Julia Irons is their son Ort, the Harlem busi- ness man. In his political faith George Irons is a democrat, but his son does not follow in his political footsteps.

After completing a high school training at Lines- ville at the age of seventeen Ort Irons entered the business world for himself, spending the first year as a clerk in Hornell, New York, and following that a period in the moving picture business as a traveling showman. At about this juncture, in 1907, he came out to North Dakota and at Carrington in that state was engaged as a tenant farmer for three years. At the close of his three years' residence there, with two good crops and a poor one, his financial circumstances were about as they were when he entered the state. Coming on then to old Chouteau County, Montana, he secured a home- stead nine miles northwest of Harlem. The only capital which he brought with him was the team which he drove through, and at first he supported himself by working out, using his team in breaking sod and hauling for homesteaders. His first home was a little shack 12 by 12 feet, where he and his wife spent the first three years of their Montana life, and although a crude affair it proved a reason- ably comfortable dwelling. In contrast with the same period spent as a farmer in North Dakota, he found himself financially much better off, and with the profits from the sale of his claim he engaged in contract work, hauling bridge and building mate- rials for the construction of bridges and houses.

In the fall of 1915 Mr. Irons removed to the Town of Harlem, where he has ever since been active in that line of work. He has also added thereto a hay, coal and ice business, and in the spring of 1920 became the owner of one of the livery barns of the town. With the passing years he had developed into a grading contractor, and at the present time is completing a contract for ditch work. He plans to take up the state highway work as a grader when the reclamation matter is submitted for bids.

In Linesville, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1908, Mr. Irons was married to Miss Olive Van Winkle, who was born near that town in February, 1886, a

daughter of Samuel and Rachel (Rushmore) Van Winkle. The father of Samuel Van Winkle set- tled in that region of Pennsylvania when all was new and wild, long before railroad facilities were provided and before the development of public high- ways, when "going to mill" was done on horseback to the old water mills on the streams. Samuel and Rachel Van Winkle became the parents of four sons and five daughters, of whom Mrs. Irons was one of the younger. Mr. Van Winkle passed away in 1919, but his widow still survives and is a resi- dent of Spartansburg, Pennsylvania.

In his political affiliations Mr. Irons votes for the candidate whom he judges best fitted for of- fice, regardless of party lines, and his first presi- dential vote was given to Mr. Bryan.

ORREL H. KRONKRIGHT. A resident of Montana for a quarter of a century, Orrel H. Kronkright spent a number of years with some of the promi- nent livestock men and firms, but for the past eight years has been substantially identified with inde- pendent farming and ranching in Richland County, near Lambert. He is a former county commissioner, and one of the most widely known citizens of the county.

Mr. Kronkright was born in Keokuk County, Iowa, August 8, 1866. His father, George Kronk- right, was born in Vermont in 1822 of North Eng- lish ancestry. During his youth he acquired a lib- eral education, and in 1849 went to California by the overland route. He was with a party that had some remarkable experiences in crossing the con- tinent. They followed the old Mormon trail, pass- ing the spot where the Mountain Meadow massacre occurred. Their ox train was made up at Omaha. While crossing the desert through Utah they lost their horses by famine and thirst and after unut- terable hardships and adventures they found their way on foot out of the desert and over the moun- tains to safety on the Pacific side. For a time while in California George Kronkright worked for wages of $16 a day, then became a placer miner, and al- together accumulated a modest fortune of about $5,000 during the three years he was in the West. He returned to the States by way of the Isthmus of Panama, came up the Mississippi River from New Orleans to the mouth of the DesMoines River, thence by boat to the City of DesMoines, and in 1852 became a resident of Keokuk County. He lived there and was a merchant at Centerville, but in 1878 moved to Kearney County, Nebraska. He was in Iowa during the Civil war and a member of the Home Guards when the Talley band of Con- federate guerrillas raided that country. In 1895 he came on West to Montana and settled near For- syth. He was drowned in the Yellowstone River in June, 1903. He never voted any political ticket except the republican. George Kronkright married Eliza Rogers, who was born just south of Indian- apolis, Indiana, a daughter of Jud Rogers. She died at Portland, Oregon, in October, 1918, at the age of seventy-nine. Her children were Mrs. Azora Leinhart, of Oniel, Nebraska; Orrel H .; May, wife of Charles Straw, of Portland, Oregon; and Bird, of Rosebud, Montana.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 110

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144