Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 145

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 145

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The wife of John P. Kane was Elizabeth A. Dolan. She was born in Sheffield, England, in 1865, and still makes her home in Butte. Their children, seven in number, are as follows: Edward G., the subject of this brief personal sketch; William A., of Butte, a machinist; Katherine, unmarried, re- sides with her mother; Patrick E., who was grad- uated from the Creighton Medical College at Omaha, Nebraska, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, is successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in Butte; Joseph J., of Butte, is at- tending the Creighton Medical College; John, a senior in the Butte Central High School; and Rich- ard, a junior in the same school.

Acquiring his education in Butte, Edward G. Kane attended the parochial schools and Saint Pat- rick's High School, and in 1909 was graduated from the Montana School of Mines with the degree of Engineer of Mines. Entering the employ of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company the same year, he was made rodman in the engineering depart- ment, and in 1910 was promoted to the position of mine surveyor. Four years later Mr. Kane was advanced to the position of assistant superintendent of the Bell-Diamond Mine, and in that capacity showed such good judgment and broad capacity for management that he was made superintendent in 1917, an important position that he has since filled most acceptably, having under his supervision 750 employes. This mine, with offices at the plant, is situated on the north central part of the company's property, on the Anaconda Hill, and is one of the most productive of the Butte mines.

Politically Mr. Kane is identified with the demo- cratic party, but has never been an aspirant for official honors. Religiously he is an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. Fraternally he belongs to Butte Council No. 668, Knights of Colum- bus, in which he has taken the third degree. He is unmarried and lives with his mother at 510 West Galena street.

JOHN H. DAVIS. Through almost twenty years the enterprise of the Davis family has been directly reflected in the use of the range, the cultivation of the land, the improvement of the country, the build- ing of homes, the opening of banks and other com- mercial enterprises in the Plentywood community of Sheridan County.

The senior member of the family is John A. Davis, father of John H. Davis of Plentywood. John A. Davis was born in Pennsylvania, was left an orphan before he was four years of age, and spent part of his boyhood in the home of his sister Martha. He acquired very little schooling. He was in Michigan when the Civil war came on, and as a youth enlisted in the Seventh Michigan Infantry. For two years and four months he was in General Grant's command and participated in some of the great battles of the war, including Gettysburg. He was twice wounded, and was honorably discharged at the close of the war, returning to Michigan but immediately started west. In Martin County, Min- nesota, he homesteaded, but the dry climate offered a severe handicap to farming, and selling his claim he moved further north in that state and began buying and selling horses and cattle. During one of his excursions he met the girl who became his wife. He married in 1877 and afterward moved into the Dakotas. He cut and hauled cordwood for the steamboats on Red River, used his cattle for breaking prairies, and later became a freighter with

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bull team outfits from Grand Forks to Devil's Lake and as far as Bottineau, North Dakota. He also did some work on the construction of the grade of the Northern Pacific Railroad in North Dakota, and for a time had his home and headquarters at Devil's Lake. From there he moved to Bottineau, where he operated a steam saw mill and grist mill, and subsequently established a cattle and horse ranch on the Mouse River, making his home at Wil- low City. He was elected and served two terms as a member of the North Dakota Legislature, and his partner in the implement business was elected at the same time to the Senate. John A. Davis carried on his various business enterprises at Willow City until after he came to Montana.

He was one of the early settlers of Western Montana, settling in the Flathead Valley in 1893. He built the first creamery in that valley and was also a farmer and in the livestock and sawmill business.

His son, John H. Davis, was born at Cormorant, Minnesota, September 24, 1879, and spent his child- hood in North Dakota and Montana. Most of his education was acquired in the Kalispell High School, followed by a business course at Minneapolis. He then became actively associated with his father in business, and in the spring of 1901, after wintering a bunch of cattle just inside the Canadian border, having gathered the stock together in the Province of Manitoba, they moved over into the grassy and untamed region of eastern Montana to use the do- main of what was then Valley County. Their head- quarters were at Culbertson, the nearest town, and their stock ranged over the region east and north of the Big Muddy. The ranch house was built near the international boundary on the Big Muddy, some ten miles northwest of Outlook. That spot subsequently became the homestead of George A. Davis, one of the sons of John A.

During the past twenty years John H. Davis has been largely associated with his father in the cattle and horse business. He homesteaded a half section joining that of his brother George, proved his title, and was busy with his industry there until the fall of 1912. Then, after his marriage, he built a home in Plentywood, and for two seasons bought grain for the local elevator, and was also the first buyer for the same company at Outlook. His range be- ing cut off and curtailed because of the influx of homesteaders on the Big Muddy, he bought a ranch on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, moving his horses thither. The exact location of the ranch is Sioux Pass, between Smoke and Wolf Creeks. This property he improved from the foundation, erecting a modest and comfortable home and other buildings, fenced its two sections and opened up a farm. In the spring of 1914 he re-engaged in the cattle business, and has since worked both cat- tle and horses. His specialty is Hereford cattle, breeding with pedigreed males, and being a factor in contributing to the raising of the character of beef cattle.

John H. Davis also joined in the movement for the founding of the First National Bank of Plenty- wood, both he and his father taking stock in the institution and his father becoming its first vice president and the son a member of the first board of directors. The son is now vice president. John A. Davis was one of the leaders in the movement for a farmers' store at Plentywood and served as president of the organization a few years, Forrest Goodman being vice president, Jud Matkin, George McCoy and John Falxa, all old residents of the locality, being members of the board of directors.

John H. Davis was also a stockholder for a number of years.

At Great Falls, Montana, December 18, 1912, John H. Davis married Miss Victoria Freeman, daughter of Thomas and Charlotte Freeman. She was born at Fort William, Ontario, March 16, 1882, and finished her education in a business college at Minneapolis. Mr. and Mrs. Davis were children together when the families lived on the Mouse River, and saw more or less of each other until their marriage. They have spent their lives indus- triously, have made their presence beneficial to whatever community they have called their home. Mr. Davis grew up in a republican home, casting his first presidential vote for William Mckinley. He is a Blue Lodge Mason, an Odd Fellow, a mem- ber of the Maccabees at Kenmare, North Dakota, and is affiliated with the Sons of Veterans at Kalis- pell.

CURTIS M. AND J. V. MILLER. In nearly every community are individuals who by innate ability and sheer force of character rise above their fel- lows and win for themselves conspicuous places in public esteem. Such ones are the well-known gen- tlemen whose names appear above, men who have been identified with the history of the Flathead country for more than two decades, during which time their lives have been closely interwoven with the material growth and development of this sec- tion, while their careers as progressive men of af- fairs have been synonymous with all that is upright and honorable in citizenship.

In 1898 there came to Montana F. G. Miller and his wife, whose maiden name was Emma Wetzel, together with their two sons, Curtis M. and J. V. F. G. Miller was a man of most excellent parts and had rendered good service to his country as a sol- dier during the war of the rebellion. The former home of the family was in Martin County, Minne- sota, and on their arrival in Flathead County they bought 160 acres of land located one and a half miles west of Kalispell, and the two sons are now devoting themselves to the management and opera- tion of this farm.

Curtis M. Miller is a good practical farmer and has ably co-operated with his brother in their agri- cultural operations. They raise hay, grain and fruit, making a specialty of alfalfa hay for the Kalispell market, and in the raising of which they have been very successful. Mr. Miller has erected a very comfortable and attractive residence and is in a position to enjoy life as only those can who live close to nature.

On April 10, 1913, Mr. Miller was married to Orva Freytag, who was born in Gladstone, Ore- gon, the daughter of Oscar and Emma (Rinearson) Freytag. They have one daughter, Thelma Louise. Mrs. Miller is an earnest member of the Congre- gational Church. Politically Mr. Miller gives his earnest support to the republican party and takes an active part in promoting its success. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. During the recent war Mrs. Miller devoted herself indefatigably to the work of the Red Cross, and is well liked in the social circles in which she moves.

J. V. Miller, who is the able colaborer with his brother in the operation of the old home farm, has also applied himself earnestly to the work in hand and is numbered among the progressive and enterprising farmers of the Flathead Valley. Twenty-two years' residence in this locality has but confirmed his fellow citizens in their estimate

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of him as a man of clean character, sterling in- tegrity and indomitable perseverance in the prose- cution of any work in hand. Thus he has earned the high place he holds today in popular esteem.

Mr. Miller was married to Alta Thornton, a na- tive of Colorado and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Thornton. To this union has been born a son, Norman Frederick. Politically Mr. Miller is in accord with the traditions of the family and gives his earnest support to the republican party.

GEORGE FORSYTHE. Butte is not only noted as being the greatest mining city in the world, but it has other claims to distinction, and one of the most important of these is that of possessing one of the most beautiful playgrounds in the country. They are located about four miles outside of Butte and are operated under the name of the Columbia Gar- dens. Here the natural advantages have been de- veloped and every known device for healthful amusement been installed so that people come to the gardens from every state in the Union. The concessions of these gardens are leased by George Forsythe of Gregson, one of the foremost men of his calling in the state, and under his experienced direction entertainment of the highest class is pro- vided.

George Forsythe was born at Fremont, Ohio, on July 29, 1872, a son of Andrew C. Forsythe, who was born in the city of Oswego, New York, Feb- ruary 12, 1839. He went to Kingston, Canada, in young manhood, was later married there, and be- came a foreman in the starch factory of Kingston, , although a carpenter by trade. Coming to the United States later on in life, he went into the contracting and building business at Fremont, Ohio, and after some years of successful operation in that city moved to Marshall, Michigan, in 1881, and there continued in the same business. Con- tracts taken at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1887, took him to that city, and he lived there for a num- ber of years. His wife died there in 1910, after which he broke up his home and for some time lived with his son at Butte, but is now a resident of Palm Beach, Florida. In every community in which he has resided Andrew C. Forsythe has been a representative man, giving his support to repub- lican principles, the faith of the Episcopal Church and the teachings of Masonry. In addition to being a Mason he is also an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias. Andrew C. Forsythe married Jeanette Ingalls, born in the British Isles in 1842. Their children were as follows: Annie, who married Ed Tierney, a newspaper man of Toledo, Ohio; Ger- trude, who married Philo Moses, a carbon manu- facturer of Oakland, California; George, whose name heads this review; Judson, who is a clerk in the recorder's office at Grand Rapids, Michigan; Robert, who was a broker of Grand Rapids, Mich- igan, died in 1919; and Charles, who is a haber- dasher of Detroit, Michigan. The paternal grand- father of George Forsythe was a native of Scotland, who was a stone mason by trade and emigrated to the Province of Ontario, Canada, and there died in 1879, when quite an aged man.

George Forsythe left school when he was only fourteen years old and entered the employ of Mar- shall Field & Company, and after a year was sent by this concern to Lewistown, Montana. Later he entered the employ of T. C. Power & Company, general merchants, and for four years had charge of the men's furnishings department. Having gained a very valuable experience he felt qualified to embark in a clothing business of his own at Lewistown, and conducted it for a year and then

disposed of it. Returning to Marshall, Michigan, he became sales agent for the Dobbins Furnace Company, covering Michigan and Ohio, but a year later responded to the call of the west and re- turned to Montana, this time selecting Butte as his field of operation. This was in 1894, and upon his arrival in the city he took a position as sales- man for O. K. Lewis.

In the meanwhile Senator Clark had become in- terested in developing a pleasure place for the people of this part of the state, and the Columbia Gardens were opened somewhat in the line of an experiment. Mr. Forsythe took over the ice cream concession. Finding that the gardens were not suf- ficiently improved, Senator Clark closed them for a year in order to better carry out his original ideas. With the reopening of the gardens Mr. For- sythe secured the lease on all of the concessions and has conducted them ever since. No one who has never paid Columbia Gardens a visit can judge of the importance of these concessions or the re- sponsibilities resting upon their proper operation. Thousands visit this playground of Butte, and their comfort and pleasure must receive suitable atten- tion. While the scenery and floral displays are unsurpassed by any in this part of the country, it is doubtful if visitors would be drawn to the gar- dens in such large numbers by them alone. Those who come out by the electric road or in their auto- mobiles except to find entertainment and refresh- ment for the body as well as the mind, and Mr. Forsythe recognizes this and governs his operations accordingly. His plans have naturally been con- siderably expanded with the growth of the gardens in other directions, but the same high standard has been preserved.

Mr. Forsythe is also interested in the Hot Springs at Gregson, being president of the Hot Springs Company. The springs are located seventeen miles southwest of Butte, and Gregson is both a summer and winter resort. The temperature of the water is 196° and is found to be excellent for various disorders. The company has built and operates a fine modern hotel, heated entirely by this natural hot water. In connection with the hotel is a swim- ming pool 160 by 60 feet, and natural vapor baths. Mr. Forsythe lives at Gregson in a modern resi- dence which he owns, and also owns a 260 acre farm, from which abundant supplies are obtained for the hotel.

Mr. Forsythe has two children by his first mar- riage to Jeanette Morris in the year 1896, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Morris, early pioneers to Montana. Morris Irvin Forsythe, his son, served overseas in France and Germany with the Amer- ican Expeditionary Forces. His daughter, Jeanette, born in 1902, lives with her mother in Los Angeles, California. On September 16, 1912, he married Vic- toria Davis, a daughter of Mankin and May (Bryant) Davis, residents of Big Timber, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Forsythe have two children, Virginia May, who was born April 18, 1914; and George Irvin, who was born July 21, 1918.

Formerly a republican, Mr. Forsythe is now a democrat. He belongs to Silver Bow Lodge No. 48, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, Butte Con- sistory, in which he has been made a thirty-second degree Mason; Bagdad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Butte; Butte Lodge No. 240, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; and the Silver Bow Club of Butte.

Mr. Forsythe is a man who has studied human nature and understands pretty thoroughly what people want in their moments of relaxations. He knows that they appreciate wholesome food and

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entertainment and prefer to have things good rather than showy. It has always been his aim to cater to the best class, judging from the standpoint of character rather than wealth, and co-operates with Senator Clark in providing special entertainment for the children at Columbia Gardens. The suc- cess which has attended Mr. Forsythe is all the more remarkable in that it has come through his own unaided efforts and his ability to first learn what people want and then meet their demands, and if possible educate them into an appreciation of something a little bit better with the progress of time. At Gregson Mr. Forsythe is recognized as the moving spirit of the place, and through his enterprise he has organized and developed a health resort known all over the country, and in this de- velopment he has advanced the prestige of the state to no small extent.

DUKE GIST is an old timer in Southwestern Mon- tana, has been ranching for thirty years or more, and is a former sheriff of Beaverhead County, being one of the best known citizens of Dillon.

Mr. Gist was born in DeKalb County, Missouri, March 7, 1865. His father, F. M. Gist, was born near Plattsburg in Clinton County, Missouri, in 1831. The Gist family was one of the first established in Northwest Missouri in the country long known as the Platte Purchase. F. M. Gist was reared and married in Clay County in the same section and . spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in that and in DeKalb and Gentry counties, Missouri. As a young man he and two other youthful companions started west, reaching Colorado, but one of the party was taken ill and F. M. Gist returned with him to Missouri. He died at McFall in Gentry County, Missouri, in 1913. He was a democrat and for many years a loyal member of the Masonic order. His first wife was a Miss Finch. Her only son, Watt, was a farmer in Missouri and died at McFall in 1917. For his second wife F. M. Gist married Xan- tippe Gartin, who was born in Gentry County, Mis- souri, and died in DeKalb County that state in 1872. John, the oldest of her children, is a farmer in Bushong, Lyon County, Kansas, and a breeder of . Holstein cattle; Frank is a Gentry County, Missouri, farmer; Joe is in the mining business in Colorado; Duke is the fourth in age; Mary lives on her farm near Emporia, Kansas, widow of Ira Horney, who died in 1918; Charles is employed in a mill at Greeley, Colorado; Maggie is the wife of Mack Christie, a farmer at McFall, Missouri; and George was a farm- er and died at McFall, Missouri, in the winter of 1918.

Duke Gist spent his early life on his father's Missouri farm and acquired his education in the pub- lic schools at McFall. After reaching his majority. seeking the bigger opportunities and bigger life of the Northwest, he came to Montana and for two years worked in the mines at Hecla. He was then an employe at Glendale of Levi Cartier, a pioneer butcher. At the end of a year he bought the business, and conducted it for three years. Since then his business interests have been chiefly ranching. He developed a fine ranch of 1,520 acres in the Big Hole Basin of Beaverhead County, but sold that valuable property in the spring of 1916. He is still interested in ranching, but since 1909 has made his home in Dillon. He was elected for three con- secutive terms as sheriff of Beaverhead County and served for the six years of 1903 to 1909. Mr. Gist is a democrat. He owns a modern home at 116 South Idaho Street and another dwelling on South Pacific Street. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Dillon Lodge No. 23, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Dillon Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch

Masons, St. Elmo Commandery No. 7, Knights Templar, and Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Butte. He is prominent in Odd Fellowship, serv- ing three times as noble grand of Bannack Lodge No. 3, and has been high priest of the Odd Fellows Encampment. In July, 1904, at Dillon, he married Miss Clara Sharkey, daughter of Neil and Mary (McGraw) Sharkey. Her mother died at Dillon in 1910, and her father is a well known rancher of the Dillon community. Mr. and Mrs. Gist have one daughter, Mary, born August 7, 1905.

WARREN J. JENNISON bears a name that is prom- inently associated with many of the leading indus- tries of this section of Montana. He was born in Pope County, Minnesota, October 25, 1885, and grew to mature years in the home of a miller and grain man, Charles W. Jennison, well known now in the industrial life of Montana.

Charles W. Jennison was born at Shelburne, Ver- mont, June 21, 1858, a son of John Wesley Jenni- son and Jane Ann Lufkin, and a grandson on the paternal side of Jason H. Jennison, a descendant of the Jennison who came from England to the United States in 1637 in company with Captain Wil- liam Jennison, a brother. When Charles W. Jen- nison was about seventeen months old his parents moved to Wisconsin and settled in Green Lake County, where the father purchased a timber farm. He put the same vigorous energy into the clear- ing of this land that he had used in clearing the rock from, his father's Vermont farm, but the strenuous labor soon sapped his vitality and short- ened his life. He subsequently gave up the farm and entered merchandising at Kingston, Wiscon- sin, of which he was also made the postmaster. But on his first trip to Milwaukee to replenish his stock of goods he contracted a severe cold, which resulted in typhoid pneumonia, and he died April 25, 1864. He was born in Chittenden County, Ver- mont.

Following the death of her husband Mrs. Jenni- son, his widow, was summoned to Vermont to at- tend the illness of her sister, taking her three chil- dren with her. They reached their destination June 15, 1864, and six days later she suddenly died. Her children were Arlie Izora, now Mrs. James T. Williams, of Minden, Nevada; Charles Wesley, of Williston, North Dakota; and Emma Jane, the wife of Charles H. Henningsen, of San Jose, Cali- fornia.

Charles W. Jennison and his sisters being thus suddenly deprived in their childhood of their parents were left to the care and compassion of relatives of both parents. An uncle seemed ambitious to become the guardian and have the handling of their estate, although his competency was seriously ques- tioned by other relatives. But finally a brother of their father, then living in Minnesota, was ap- pointed to the office of guardian. About this time a maternal aunt came on from California to visit her sick sister, and seeing the situation and fearing for the welfare of the children spirited them away from their uncle and took them down the Hudson to New York and had embarked on a steamer for the Isthmus of Panama before the designing uncle could overtake them.

After a voyage of three weeks the little party were landed in San Francisco and were taken by hoat to Sacramento, then by rail and stage to Placerville and by private four-horse stage, the Horace Greeley stage, to a ranch near Genoa in the Carson Valley of Nevada, the home of the aunt. There the children lived together for four years, and it was there that Charles W. Jennison

Duke bist

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received his first schooling and learned to fish for tront. When eleven years of age he was sent back to his Minnesota uncle guardian, this being in 1869, and he made the journey by stage to Reno and thence by rail over the old Union Pacific Railroad and saw where the last and golden spike had been driven. He was in the company of two lady com- panions to Clinton, Iowa, from where he made his way alone to Waseca, Minnesota, where his uncle lived. A few months after this the uncle removed to Janesville, Minnesota, and there the young lad completed his education, learned telegraphy, and was given a position at the age of fourteen. When but fifteen he was both agent and operator on the Chicago & Northwestern system, and he worked at different points for some eight years. In 1880 his uncle passed away at Janesville, and young Jen- nison then left railroading to take over his uncle's lumber business, thus beginning his career as a lum- berman.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 145

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