Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 143

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 143

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Growing up amid rural surroundings and taught habits of industry and thrift, James E. Smith be- came a farmer of Muscatine County, Iowa, continu- ing in that calling when he moved to Hand County, South Dakota, in 1883. When he located in the vicinity of Billings, Montana, in 1892, he added stock- raising upon an extensive scale to his farming activi- ties, and although he went to Oregon in 1910, he

is still engaged in these lines in the neighborhood of Pendleton. The first name of his wife is Nellie, and she was also born in Iowa, the year of her nativity being 1849. They became the parents of the following children: Claude D., who is in a stock business at Grant, Montana; James Clinton, whose name heads this review; Pearl S., who lives on his ranch near Billings, Montana; Susie, who is the widow of Harry Hoppell and lives on her ranch near Billings, her husband having died during the win- ter of 1918 with the influenza; Orpha, who married Jack Howley and lives west of Billings on their ranch; and George, who lives at Great Falls, Mon- tana, and is manager of the Capital Commission Company, a wholesale fruit house.

James Clinton Smith attended the public schools of Yellowstone County, Montana, and was gradu- ated from the Billings High School in 1896. For the subsequent five years he was engaged in a stock business of his own, and then was employed by the Government as assistant farmer at the Montana In- dustrial School at Lower Big Horn, Montana, for four years. Mr. Smith then was a teacher of in- dustry at Fort Shaw, Montana, for a year, when he was transferred to the Crow Reservation as sub agent for six months. Leaving the Government service, Mr. Smith in 1907 bought a farm of 160 acres nine miles west of Billings and conducted it until he sold it in February, 1919. This farm was a very desirable one, all irrigated and improved. He then moved to Pony, where he is temporarily retired. Since reaching his majority he has given a loyal support to the principles of the republican party. Fraternally he maintains connections with Billings Lodge No. 394, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

In 1908 Mr. Smith was married at Billings to Miss Nellie Cecile Snyder, a daughter of W. F. Snyder. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one son, William Daniel, who was born April 11, 1911. Mr. Smith has proven himself a valuable man and deserves the credit which is accorded him. Both he and Mrs. Smith are favorites among their many friends, of whom they have a legion in the different communi- ties in which they have lived.

OSCAR G. SMART. In the early 'zos the lure of the northwestern country of Montana, with all its fascination of gold and adventure, brought from his far eastern home in Maine, where up to that time he had been a farmer, Oscar G. Smart, who for nearly a quarter of a century was one of the successful stockmen of Montana.

He was born at China in Kennebec County, Maine, October 16, 1842, son of Ira and Eliza Smart. His father went to Maine as a young man and spent his life in Kennebec County as a farmer and citizen of integrity and much influence. Oscar G. Smart had a liberal education, attending the public schools of his native county and finishing in Kents Hill Semi- nary at Vassalborough. When he started West it the spring of 1872 he traveled by railway as far as the Missouri River, at Omaha embarked on a steamer that carried him to Fort Benton, and thence overland to Helena. He had some experiences prospecting and mining at Alder Gulch, and for about three years was a freighter. For a brief time he made his headquarters at Haymaker Creek and then pre- empted and homesteaded on the Musselshell River about four miles below the present town of Two- dot. Here his interests were concentrated, and be- ginning with the modest equipment of a pioneer he kept his herds of cattle and flocks of sheep graz- ing over the domain, and at one time owned several thousand acres of land and sent many carloads of

1161

HISTORY OF MONTANA

cattle, sheep and horses to market. He continued to be a resident of that locality until his death on May 27, 1899. While his business achievements brought him prosperity, it was his character that is gratefully remembered. He always showed an un- doubting reliance on Divine Providence, and prac- ticed benevolence in his relations with his fellow men, and his highest aspiration was to discharge with fidelity and cheerfulness every duty and contribute what he could to the happiness of others. To many old timers as well as members of the younger gen- eration his death came as a great loss. He was a Mason and in politics a republican.

In 1884 he went back to Maine and on February 2 married Miss Alice Lillian Vining, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Choate) Vining, of Kennebec County, where the Vinings have been a substantial family for many generations. Her mother was of the famous American lineage of Choate, one of On October 20, 1908, Mr. Smart was united in marriage with Zelma B. Robertson, who was born E. and Lucia Robertson, who are now living at Two- dot, Montana, where Mr. Robertson operates a stage line. Of their three children, Mrs. Smart is the eldest. Mr. and Mrs. Smart are the parents of six children, namely : Oscar G., Alice L., Dorothy R., Forrest E., Donald and Harriet. whom was the brilliant lawyer and diplomat at one time an ambassador to England. Her brother, Mar- . in the State of Washington, the daughter of Frank cellus Vining, served as a first lieutenant in the Seventh Maine Infantry and was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, and another brother, Reuben, gave up his life for the Union cause at Fredericksburg. After the death of Mr. Smart Mrs. Smart became the wife of Andrew D. Nichols of Malden, Massa- chusetts. She has busied herself with philanthropic and patriotic causes and in the spring of 1917 be- came chairman of the Red Cross for Wheatland County, serving in that capacity eight months and remained diligent in the affairs of the Red Cross the remainder of the war period.

FORREST V. SMART. The gentleman whose life history is herewith outlined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a large degree of success, solely by his individual efforts. By a straightforward and commendable course Mr. Smart has made his way to a commanding position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning a repu- tation as an enterprising, progressive man of af- fairs which the public has not been slow to recog- nize and appreciate. Those who know him best will readily acquiesce in the statement that he is eminently deserving of the material success which has crowned his efforts and of the high esteem in which he is held, representing, as he does, one of the honored old families of Montana, members of which have done much for the general upbuild- ing of the same from the pioneer epoch to the present time.

Forrest V. Smart was born at White Sulphur Springs, Montana, on March 9, 1885, and is a son of Oscar G. and Alice Lilliam (Vining) Smart. Oscar G. Smart was born in China, Kennebec County, Maine, on October 16, 1842, and died on May 27, 1899. His widow now makes her home in Harlowton. They were the parents of one child, the subject of this sketch.

Forrest V. Smart secured his elementary edu- cation in the common schools of his home com- munity, in the normal school at St. Cloud, the high school at Billings, Montana, and the Shad- dock Military Academy at Faribault, Minnesota, where he was graduated with the class of 1904. In that class Mr. Smart stood second highest in military science, and on July 26, 1904, was offered a second lieutenancy in the United States army. In that year, however, he came to Meagher County, Montana, and took active personal charge of his ranch of 8,000 acres, to which he later added 7,000 more acres. Here he has devoted himself to the breeding and raising of sheep, cattle and horses,

in which he has been remarkably successful. He has had on his ranch at one time nearly 10,000 sheep, 1,000 head of cattle and 100 horses. In 1917, having enlisted for military service, Mr. Smart sold off a good share of his live stock holdings, including 9,000 head of sheep and 1,568 head of cattle. He then went to Camp McArthur, where he entered the officers' training camp, but the great struggle having ended before he was called into field service he was discharged on November 26, 1918. He returned at once to his ranch and bought four hundred good grade cattle and 90 head of reg- istered Hereford cattle for breeding purposes, hav- ing leased his ranch for three years when he went into the army. The ranch is finely equipped with substantial and comfortable buildings, and every- thing is so arranged as to permit of maximum re- sults with a minimum of effort and labor.

Fraternally Mr. Smart has for many years had a deep interest in the Masonic order. He was first made a Mason in Lewistown Lodge No. 37, at Lewis- town, Montana, but dimitted and became a charter member of Musselshell Lodge No. 69 at Harlowton. He was made a Royal Arch Mason in Hiram Chap- ter No. 15, at Lewiston, but dimitted and became a charter member of Harlowton Chapter No. 22. He was made a Knight Templar in Lewiston Com- mandery No. 14, but dimitted and became a charter member of Palestine Commandery No. 18 at Harlow- ton. He is also a member of Algeria Temple, An- cient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Helena.

As a man of ability, sturdy integrity and useful- ness, and as a citizen representative of the utmost loyalty, he has merited consideration by his fellow men, and his life record is deserving of a place in this publication, which touches those who have given to and sustained the civic and material prosperity of our community and state.

NATHANIEL POWELL EVANS, the present postmas- ter of Bozeman, has been a rancher and dairyman in this section of Montana for many years. While he has not lived in Montana continuously, he first viewed this section of the Northwest when it was a raw and untraveled wilderness, more than fifty years ago. In fact his father was one of the first to settle in the territory and occupy himself with the basic pursuits of agriculture. Most of those who came during the '6os were prospectors, miners and otherwise identified with the transitory stage of industry.

His father was Philip E. Evans, who was born in Cooper County, Missouri, in 1833. The grand- father, Thomas Evans, was a native of Maryland, where the Evans family had first settled when com- ing from Wales in colonial times. Thomas Evans was a Missouri pioneer, was a physician and sur- geon by profession, and spent his last days at Se- dalia, Missouri. Philip E. Evans was reared and married in Missouri, and after his marriage set- tled on a farm in Pettis County. In 1863 he moved to Hendersonville, Kentucky, was there one year, and in 1864, leaving his family in Missouri, came to Montana. At the locality then known as Stink- ing Water, now called Ruby Valley, in Madison

1162

HISTORY OF MONTANA

County, he homesteaded 160 acres. He put up a log cabin, and with its rude accommodations fur- nished a place of entertainment for the passing public, a service that was as much appreciated as a high-class hotel by modern travelers. In 1870 he moved to Deer Lodge, was a farmer and dairy- man, and subsequently became extensively inter- ested in the sheep industry. He died at Deer Lodge, one of the honored and respected old timers, in 1888. He was a democrat, served as assessor of Deer Lodge County, now Powell County, and was a member of the Masonic fraternity. Philip E. Evans married Mary B. Powell who was born in Virginia in September, 1837, and is still living at Missoula, having been a resident of Montana for more than half a century. Nathaniel Powell Evans is the oldest of their children. Anna, who died at Missoula, was the wife of the late Henry Mc- Murphy. Edwin died in young manhood. John M. Evans is distinguished as a present congress- man from Montana, his home being at Missoula. Lutie is the wife of J. W. Lister, a Missoula post- master. Henry W. is a farmer at Deer Lodge. Thomas is in business at Missoula. Maggie died in the State of Washington in 1914, wife of Wil- liam Allen, who is a farmer in that state. Dollie died at Missoula after her marriage. Sophia is the wife of a merchant at Oshawa, Canada.

Nathaniel Powell Evans was born in Pettis County, Missouri, June 27, 1857. He came to Mon- tana with his mother and the other children in 1865, and his early memories are associated with the country around Deer Lodge. He attended a primitive rural school there but went back to Mis- souri to complete his education in the University of Missouri. He left school at the age of twenty and for about two years worked as a cowboy in Deer Lodge and Beaverhead counties. He also taught school in Henry County, Missouri, one year, and was a farmer there for one season, Mr. Evans located permanently in Montana in 1885, and was a farmer at Deer Lodge until 1899, when he re- moved to Bozeman. From his activities as a farmer he was called to the duties of postmaster of Boze- man in 1915, being appointed by President Wilson. He owns a highly developed farm of 640 acres, with equipment and facilities for dairying, located six miles west of Wilsall in Gallatin County. He and his family reside at 912 South Central Avenue, and his wife owns a dwelling house in Bozeman, 160 acres of land four miles north of Bozeman and a homestead of 160 acres near Melville.

Mr. Evans has always followed the political for- tunes of the democratic party. For two years he was county commissioner of Deer Lodge County. He is a member of the Baptist Church, of Bozeman Lodge No. 6, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Bridger Camp No. 62, Woodmen of the World, at Bozeman, and is active in the Chamber of Com- merce.

In 1885, in Henry County, Missouri, he married Miss Sarah Ann Powell, a daughter of Lucas and Betty (Powell) Powell, the latter now deceased. Her father is a retired farmer in Henry County, Missouri. Mrs. Evans died in June, 1914, the mother of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. Philip E. the oldest of those living, is on his father's farm six miles west of Wilsall. Mary is the wife of L. L. Short, employed in a lumber- yard at Bozeman. William L. is in the draying business at Bozeman. Edwin W. is a member of the United States Coast Guards in the State of Washington. Ruth is the wife of Thomas Crouse, connected with the Bozeman Milling Company. In 1916, at Bozeman, Mr. Evans married Mrs. Jose-

phine Stiff, a native of Minnesota, widow of June Stiff, a well known farmer of Bozeman. By her first husband Mrs. Evans has three children: Jesse Stiff, who was in the United States navy and up to the summer of 1919 was on duty in Russia. He received his discharge in the latter part of 1919 and is now in Bozeman. Teressa Stiff is a stenographer for a shipbuilding company at Tacoma, Washington. Donald Stiff is a farmer near Melville.

WILLIAM R. VEZINA. The press ranks as one of the first institutions of importance in any new country. Northeastern Montana has built up and prospered largely in the last ten years, and one of the early newspapers established in that section is the Dooley Sun, of which William R. Vezina is the founder and proprietor.

Mr. Vezina is a young newspaper man and had his training in the newspaper business in Wiscon- sin. He was born at St. Paul, Minnesota, June 18, 1890, son of John C. and Elizabeth (Brinkman) Vezina. His father was born at Montreal, Canada, in 1856, of French ancestry. His mother was born at Keokuk, Iowa, of German parentage. John C. Vezina when a child was brought to the United States, grew up and received his education at Keo- kuk, Iowa, was a merchant's clerk there and for a few years engaged in business for himself in that city. During his residence at St. Paul he was for fourteen years a traveling salesman for Lindeka, Warner & Schumeyer, a well known wholesale house of Minnesota. After that he was a merchant in Dodd City, Minnesota, three years at LeSeuer, that state, and is now in business at Elsworth, Wisconsin. He is a republican in politics and affiliated with the Royal Arch Chapter of Masons and Odd Fellows. He and his wife have four children: Charles Ed- ward, of Elsworth, Wisconsin; Arthur John, of St. Paul; William Reuben; and John Charles, Jr., of Dixon, Illinois.

William Reuben Vezina spent his early life at St. Paul, Dodd Center and Missoula, Montana, and at Elsworth, Wisconsin. After completing his edu- cation at Elsworth he went to St. Croix Falls, Wis- consin, and for three years was editor of the Stand- ard Press. He was married there in the spring of 1913 and at once came to Montana, and after some months at Plentywood and Antelope, being man- ager of the Antelope Advocate,. he followed the new branch of the Soo Line and identified himself with the town of Dooley. The first edition of the Dooley Sun came off the press November 7, 1913. In his editorial in the first issue Mr. Vezina told the people that he was there to promote the welfare of the locality and all interests contributing to the development of the region, and that the politics of the paper would be democratic. Since then he has made the Sun an instrument of real value to every legitimate interest in the community. During the World war he devoted its pages freely to the build- ing up and consolidating of patriotic sentiment and to carrying on the various branches of the war work.

Mr. Vezina has served under two appointments as United States commissioner at Dooley. His first appointment was made June 22, 1916, and he was again appointed in September, 1918. He is also president of the Dooley Commercial Club, which during a brief existence advertised the village, started sidewalk building, and did much to direct the atten- tion of outside localities to this new town of Mon- tana.

April 30, 1913, Mr. Vezina married Phi Bernice Clayton, daughter of Benjamin and Minnie (Wil- cox) Clayton, both natives of Minnesota, the former born at Taylor's Falls and the latter at Sunrise.

1163

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Her father is a hardware merchant at St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. Mrs. Vezina has a sister, Dora, and a brother, Howard G., who was a sergeant in the Three Hundred Forty-First Infantry with the American Expeditionary Forces. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Vezina are Benjamin John, William Reuben, Jr., Howard Clayton and Elizabeth Irma.

FRED G. MILLS. The Town of Outlook in Sheri- dan County was in the infancy of its development when Fred G. Mills identified himself with the locality as a merchant in October, 1913. He has kept his own business developing and growing, and his enterprise has been one of the important factors in the life of the locality.

Mr. Mills was born in Benton County, Iowa, December 28, 1868, a son of John Mills, a native of England. John Mills came to this country and settled in Ohio at the age of seventeen, lived at Springfield for several years, and married at Elmyra, Ohio, Melissa Potter. She was born in that state in 1848, her father having been killed while a soldier in the Mexican war. From Ohio John Mills moved to Illinois and thence to Iowa, and followed his trade as a blacksmith until his death at Beaman in 1898, at the age of fifty-five. His wife died at Beaman at the age of fifty-two. Their children were: Clara C., who married Byron Oberton, of Dows, Iowa; Charles E., of Griswold, Iowa; Fred G .; Lambert, of Rock Island; and Eugene P., of Kansas City, Missouri.

Fred G. Mills acquired only a common school education, and at the age of seventeen was making his own way. He learned the trade of carpenter at Dows, and that trade was his chief means of liveli- hood for nineteen years. He worked in different localities of Iowa, but for seventeen years his home was at Dows in Wright County. On leaving Iowa he moved to Sheridan County, North Dakota, which was his home for seven years. He began there as a farmer, and subsequently took the management of a lumber yard at Martin. While in Sheridan County, North Dakota, he exercised his homestead right and proved up a claim two miles south of Martin. At that time he had a growing family, and they lived on the homestead and did most of the work, while through his outside business efforts he provided what the farm failed to produce.

It was from his homestead in North Dakota that Mr. Mills came to Montana and located at Outlook in October, 1913. He took charge of a line lumber- yard in the village, and when the yard was taken over by another company he entered the hardware business on his own account. He established a new business under the name F. G. Mills & Company, with himself as manager. The original stock com- prised a general but small line of hardware, stoves and paints. He also had an undertaking department, the manager of which was his son Claude W. Mills. Since then the stock has been increased threefold. At the beginning his store room was 24 by 40 feet. It is a large and flourishing business now, and some of his trade comes from Southern Saskatchewan, a distance of twenty-five miles from Outlook.

Mr. Mills has served a term on the City Council, and while in North Dakota was school treasurer of Martin two terms. He cast his first presidential ballot for Cleveland and has always supported the democratic nominee for president. He grew up, however, in a republican household. He joined the Masonic fraternity at Harvey, North Dakota, and still holds his Blue Lodge membership there.

At Dows, Iowa, February 16, 1890, Mr. Mills mar- ried Miss Florence S. Henthorne. Her father, Ephraim Henthorne, spent his life as a farmer and died in Iowa in 1905. Mrs. Mills, who was born March 30, 1871, is the youngest of the four living

children of her parents, the others being Mrs. Jennie Rudy, of California, William, of Kansas, and Mrs. Evelyn Chamberlain, of Los Angeles. Mr. and Mrs. Mills have two sons. Frank C., the older, manager of the Outlook Lumber Company, married Lizzie Werner and has two children, Cecil and Wayne Werner. The other son, Claude W., previously men- tioned and still in business with his father, was for sixteen months absent in service with the colors. He was trained in Camp Lewis, Washington, and was in Company A, under Captain Spalding, in the Three Hundred and Sixty-Second Infantry. Later he was transferred to the Presidio, San Francisco, then to Fort Douglas at Salt Lake, and at the signing of the armistice was at Great Falls with a guard company in motorcycle work. He was discharged at Camp Lewis January 3, 1919. Claude Mills married Miss Mildred Crabtree, a daughter of John W. Crabtree.

CHARLES G. CHRISTIANSON. So much of the per- manent development of Northeastern Montana has been made within the past decade or within the present century that it is possible to speak with particular reference to the pioneer labors of some of the men who founded commercial institutions and have had a valued part in the upbuilding of towns and other resources. One of these is Charles G. Christianson, the pioneer merchant of Redstone and one of the first settlers in that section of the Big Muddy Valley.

Mr. Christianson was born at Erskine, Minnesota, April 25, 1885, son of Gustav and Sopliie (Kal- dager) Christianson. His parents were born about seven miles from Christiania, Norway, were married in 1880, and in 1883 sailed from Christiania for New York. After paying their passage money they had little left. The first summer was spent in Ottertail County, Minnesota, as wage workers, following which they took up a homestead in Polk County, made a farm of their claim and developed it substantially. When they sold this a few years ago they retired and are now living at Erskine. Their children are: Carrie, wife of C. A, Ness, of Erskine; Charles G .; Ida, of Erskine; Olive, wife of Halvar, Aakhus; Effie, in Minnesota; Julia, of Erskine; Oscar, of Flaxville, Montana; Emma, employed in the offices of the Northern Pacific Railway Company at Fargo, North Dakota; Selmer, of Erskine; and Miss Hiklma, who is the only one of his children still at home. The son Oscar, of Flaxville, Montana, had an interesting experience as a World War soldier. For one year he was in France with the Headquar- ters Company of the Ninety-first Division, was in the Argonne campaign, on the firing line four con- secutive days, and was wounded September 29, 1918, when a piece of shrapnel struck him behind the ear. However he had recovered and was back in the ranks ready for the advance when the armistice was signed. He reached New York, April 15, 1919, and arrived at Redstone, Montana, the 6th of May.

The father of these children early took steps to become a citizen, and gained his last papers after five years. He did his first voting as a republican, but in later years has exercised an independent choice among candidates. He and his wife are Lutherans in religion.

Charles G. Christianson lived on the home farm in Minnesota to the age of twenty years. In the meantime he had attended country schools, and when he left home he chose a business career and gained his preparation for business as clerk in Er- skine for L. F. Benson, a local merchant with whom he remained for seven years. Out of his wages he saved most of the capital which enabled him to engage in business for himself when he came to Montana.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 143

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