Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 18

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

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ness of his own, but after a year and a half sold out and for two terms or four years was deputy sheriff of Virginia City. On January 1, 1917, he located at Sheridan where he conducted a confec- tionery store and billiard hall. April 1, 1918, he was appointed acting postmaster and was commissioned postmaster April 24, 1919.

Mr. Hadzor is a democrat in politics. He is affiliated with Virginia City Lodge No. I, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Oro y Plata Lodge No. 390 of the Elks at Virginia City, and Ruby Valley Aerie No. 1780 of the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Sheridan.

Mr. Hadzor married at Virginia City in 1910 Miss Viola Adams, a daughter of Elijah and Mary (McKee) Adams. Mrs. Adams lives with Mr. and Mrs. Hadzor. Her father was sheriff at Virginia City at the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Hadzor have three children: Howard, born August 23, 1912; Francis, born in 1913, and Bessie, born April 1, 1918.

ELMER J. MORSE. Besides being postmaster of Laurin, Elmer J. Morse is associated as a partner with his brother, Oliver, in the ownership and man- agement of the leading general mercantile estab- lishment of the town, a business which has been built up on progressive lines and has an immense volume of trade over the territory tributary to Laurin.

Mr. Morse was born at Gering, Nebraska, June 3. 1889. His paternal ancestors were Scotch and colonial settlers in Massachusetts. His grandfather, Oliver Guernsey Morse, was born in Massachusetts in 1790, and spent his active life as a farmer at Binghampton, New York, where he died. Elmer J. Morse, Sr., father of the Laurin merchant, was born in Massachusetts in 1843 and was reared at Bing- hampton, New York. Before he reached his ma- jority he enlisted in 1861 in the One Hundred and Third New Jersey Regiment of Infantry, and went through the period of hostilities of the Civil war as a Union soldier. After some years as a farmer in the East he located at Gering, Nebraska, in 1886, and continued farming in that state until 1895, when he retired and moved to Overbrook, Kansas, where he died June 5, 1897. He had served as county commissioner of Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska ; was a very active member of the Baptist church and a republican and a Mason. He married at Grand Island, Nebraska, Nancy Shroy, who was born in Michigan in 1859 and died at Overbrook, Kansas, June 8, 1896. Ella, the oldest of their children, is the widow of James Tregemba, who was a farmer in Kansas, and she now lives at Topeka: Effie J. is the wife of Walter Nead, a teacher in the public schools of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Oliver S. is the business partner of his brother, Elmer, as noted below; Elizabeth is the wife of J. A. Garber, a farmer at Lone Star, Kansas; Elmer J. is the fifth in age; Myrtle is the wife of A. A. Chapman, a car- penter who makes a specialty of elevator construc- tion and lives at Kenesaw, Nebraska, and Marshall, who died at Laurin, Montana, February 23, 1919.

Elmer J. Morse received his early education in the public schools of Overbrook, Kansas, being six years of age when his parents moved to that town. He graduated from high school in 1909, and in the same year came to Laurin, Montana. He worked as a sheep herder and ranch hand until 1913, when he joined his brother in establishing a general mer- cantile business, and they have rapidly developed the stock, the trade and the resources until they have the leading establishment of the kind in that part of Madison County.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Mr. Morris is a republican voter, is affiliated with Sheridan Lodge No. 20, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with Virginia City Chapter No. I, Royal Arch Masons; also the Knights Templar Com- mandery No. I at Virginia City, and Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Butte. On November 22, 1915, at Butte, Mr. Morse married Mrs. Anona Dahler, daughter of Ransom Widner and 'Annie McCanna. Her mother lives at Laurin. Her father, now deceased, was a gardener at Laurin. Mr. and Mrs. Morse have two children: Howard, born De- cember 30, 1916, and Clifford born December 6, 1918.

Oliver S. Morse, the other member of the firm of Morse Brothers at Laurin, was born at Cozad, Nebraska, October 1, 1884, was educated in the public schools of Atchison, Kansas, and at the age of thirteen became a farm hand. In 1906 at the age of twenty-two he came to Montana, located at Laurin and like his brother was a sheep herder and for three years was in the sheep business for him- self before he became a merchant. He is a republi- can and is affiliated with Shelton Lodge of Masons at Shelton, Nebraska.

June 15, 1915, at Butte, he married Miss Jessie Bock, daughter of J. D. and Jennie (Wilcox) Bock, now residents of Laurin, where her father is a farmer. Oliver Morse and wife also have two chil- dren: Nancy June, born June 1, 1916, and Oliver Daniel, born December 29, 1918.

HERBERT W. BROWN. Among the citizens of Cen- tral Montana who have built up a comfortable home and surrounded themselves with valuable personal property, few have attained a greater degree of success than Herbert W. Brown, one of the public spirited citizens of Cascade County. With few op- portunities except what his own efforts were capable of mastering and with many discouragements to overcome, he has made a success in life and has the gratification of knowing that the locality of his choice has been benefited by his presence and his counsel. He is regarded as a good business man, an excellent manager, a man who possesses sound judgment and keen foresight, and who believes in pressing forward, keeping the wheels of the car of civilization ever moving up the steeps. He has ever enjoyed the respect and esteem of those who know him, because of his friendly manner, business abil- ity, his interest in public affairs and upright living, and he is regarded by all as one of the substantial and worthy citizens of the Town of Cascade, in whose business affairs he is taking a conspicuous part.

Herbert W. Brown was born in St. Paul, Minne- sota, on the 29th day of April. 1866, and is the son of Mathew W. and Emily (Lynch) Brown. The father was born in Scotland and died in 1902, at the age of eighty-four years, while his wife, who was a native of England, died in 1907, at the age of seventy-eight years. They were married in St. Paul, Minnesota, and became the parents of three children, two of whom are living, the subject of this sketch being the youngest. Mathew W. Brown when but a merc child was brought to the United States by his parents, who located later on at Peterboro, Ontario, Canada. There he was reared and educated in the public schools, one of his playmates being James J. Hill, who was destined later to become one of the greatest railroad men of America. In young manhood Mr. Brown came to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he engaged in con- tracting and building. He was successful and spent the remainder of his days in that city. He was a republican in his political views.

The subject's maternal grandfather, Lynch, was an officer in the English army, but was retired on half pay and located near Guelph, Canada. He returned to England on a visit, and lost his life while on the return trip to America. The vessel on which he took passage was wrecked, and he made it first duty to secure the safety of two English girls who had been placed in his care, his own life being lost, however. His daughter, the sub- ject's mother, later came to St. Paul, Minnesota, with two younger brothers, and it is a matter of record that she taught the first private school in St. Paul, in the winter of 1856-7. She also taught her students to play cricket, theirs being the first game of cricket to be played in St. Paul. She was a deep student of history and wrote many interesting articles and papers on that subject.

Herbert Brown possesses several very interesting historical relics, one of which is a map of North America in 1795, drawn on parchment and issued by A. Arrowsmith. It is from a survey made in 1771- 2-3 for the King of England and the map was left to the subject by his mother. The latter's great- uncle, who was among the soldiers who reinforced General Wolf at Quebec, had taken with him from the old homestead a spice cabinet to use as a con- tainer for his fishing tackle, and this cabinet also was given to the subject by his mother. Mr. Brown also possesses an Indian chief's coat, covered with Indian scalps, and which was given to him by General Carlin, and who was in command of the Standing Rock Indian agency in Dakota. It was to General Carlin that Chief Sitting Bull surrendered. The coat had been handed down from chief to chief for many years, and is the coat referred to in Mrs. Custer's book, "Boots and Saddles." Mr. Brown has a fine collection of Indian curios, of which he is justifiably proud and of which he takes good care.

Herbert W. Brown is mainly indebted to his mother for his education, she having been a woman of unusual mental attainments in many lines. His first employment was in a hardware store at the age of eleven years. Later he attended a business college in St. Paul and in 1881 he was employed as a messenger in the Second National Bank of that city. Two years later he became paying teller, a responsible position for a boy of seventeen years. He then changed to the First National Bank of St. Paul, where he held several positions of trust and responsibility. In 1890 Mr. Brown went to Duluth, Minnesota, and in partnership with W. H. Alworth, engaged in the handling of pine lands and city real estate. The following year he moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and engaged in the grain commission business, under the firm name of the Gilbert Grain Company, of which Mr. Brown was secretary and treasurer. The financial stringency of 1893 compelled him to sacrifice practically all he possessed, and Mr. Brown obtained employment in a warehouse of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railway. Beginning in an humble capac- ity, Mr. Brown by faithful and intelligent discharge of the duties assigned to him received promotions from time to time until he became traveling pas- senger and freight agent. In 1901 he was made traveling passenger and freight agent jointly for that road and the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, with headquarters at Helena, Montana. Later he was appointed contracting freight agent at St. Paul, which position he resigned to become manager of the South St. Paul Grain Company, distributors of a special sheep and cattle feed. Subsequently he resigned that position and in the winter of 1909 he came to Helena, Montana, and in the following

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

February he became manager and cashier of the First State Bank of Cascade, holding that position until 1914, when he resigned and since that time has been devoting himself to the making of farm and livestock loans, in which he has met with splen- did success. He is greatly interested in the farm development of this section of the state and in live stock, both of which have been greatly stimulated through his assistance. He was vice president of the Cascade Creamery Company and is joint owner with C. H. Austin of the Cascade Townsite Company.

Politically Mr. Brown has been a life-long sup- porter of the republican party, in the ranks of which he has been an active worker. In local public affairs he has been particularly interested and has been an effective and persistent worker for the wel- fare of the community. His public spiritedness and ability have been recognized by his fellow citizens in various ways. In April, 1915, he was elected mayor of Cascade, and so satisfactory was his administra- tion of municipal affairs that two years later he was, against his personal desire, elected to succeed himself, and he was again elected in 1919 without opposition. In 1914 Mr. Brown rendered good serv- ice as president of the Good Roads Congress. In November, 1918, he was elected state representative, serving as a member of the Sixteenth General As- sembly. In every position of responsibility, public or private, in which he has been placed he has so discharged his duties as to win the hearty commenda- tion of all who know him and his work.

On April 29, 1903, Mr. Brown was married to Clara Bullard, a native of Montana and the daugh- ter of Massena and Laura E. (Bywaters) Bullard. Mr. Bullard was a native of Virginia, who came to Montana in the '60s, and at the time of his death in 1914 he was one of the oldest lawyers in the state. He is survived by his widow. They were the parents of three children, of whom Mrs. Brown was the first born. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown have been born three children, Clara Bullard, Herbert W., Jr., and Marcia. Mr. Brown is a man of kindly and generous impulses, who easily makes friends of acquaintances. He has always been interested in outdoor sports and while a resident of Minnesota was a member of the well-known Minnesota Boat Club of St. Paul, in which he did effective work as an instructor in swim- ming and rowing. He was an expert swimmer and possesses a number of medals which he has won for his prowess as a swimmer in the waters of the United States and Canada. His life has been an inspiration to all who know him, for while advancing his own interests he has never lost sight of his obli- gations to the community in general.

JOHN F. Fox has been a resident of Twin Bridges twenty-two years, and during that time ·has been a constant stimulating factor in local affairs. He is one of he oldest merchants by continuous service in Madison County. He has joined with other local citizens in promoting other business enterprises need- ful for the prosperity of the community, and his active public spirit has touched the progress and history of his locality at many points.

Mr. Fox was born in New York City, October 7, 1860, and began getting a practical acquaintance with business when a boy. His father, Peter Fox, was born in New York City in 1823, was in the clothing business in New York for some years and afterward became a clothing merchant at Milwau- kee, Wisconsin, where he died in 1884. He was a democrat and a Catholic. Peter Fox married Louisa Bethausen, who was born at Cologne, Ger- many, in 1825, and died at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Vol. III-5

in 1883. They had three sons: William P., a mer- chant at Sandcoulee Montana; John F. and Harry F., who is a clerk in a store at Milwaukee.

John F. Fox began his education in the public schools of New York City, also attended grammar school and high school at Milwaukee, and at the age of fifteen went to work in a Milwaukee store at $1.50 a week. For ten years altogether he worked in various mercantile establishments in Detroit, Michigan. In the meantime he came out to Montana and for six months was associated with his brother, William P., in establishing a store at Sheridan, con- ducted as Fox Brothers. He then went back to Detroit, and in 1899 established his home at Twin Bridges and opened the business in dry goods and clothing which in subsequent years has become the chief concern of its kind in that part of Southwest- ern Montana. Besides the cares and responsibilities entailed by this business Mr. Fox has been active in promoting mining and farming interests. He was the first president of the Farmers Elevator Company of Twin Bridges, and held that position for several years. He and some of the local farmers were in- strumental in establishing the elevator as a means of better marketing facilities in this part of Madi- son County. Mr. Fox is a director of the First Na- tional Bank of Twin Bridges.

Politically he is a democrat, is affiliated with Oro y Plata Lodge No. 390 of the Elks at Virginia City, and is a member of the Catholic Church.

In 1888, at Detroit, Michigan, he married Miss Katherine Wolfschlager, a native of that city. They have one daughter, Edna, who is a graduate of the University of Montana at Missoula. She is now the wife of Washington J. McCormick, attorney and representative from Missoula in the Legislature.

VOLNEY J. HAIN, recorder and clerk of Mussel- shell County, and one of the most efficient men in his line in this part of the state, has earned the con- fidence of his fellow citizens since coming to Round- up. He was born on his father's farm in Tippe- canoe County, Indiana, January 13, 1875, a son of Levi J. and Lucretia (Chineworth) Hain, both na- tives of Indiana, where he was born January 8, 1838. They had six children, five of whom are still living, Volney J. being the youngest. His mother died when he was two years old. Levi J. Hain was brought up to be a farmer and educated in the rural schools. When he reached maturity he began farm- ing for himself in Tippecanoe County, and con- tinued there until 1895, when he went to South Dakota, and, buying a farm, was engaged in raising wheat until 1901. He then moved to Winneshiek County, Iowa, and there conducted a farm, engag- ing in farming and stockraising until 1910, when he sold, and coming to Montana homesteaded in Wheatland County, where he is now residing. While he is a stanch republican, he has never cared to enter public life. He is a Mason.

Volney J. Hain attended the public schools of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and the Lafayette, In- diana, Business College, from which he was gradu- ated in 1897, following which he was bookkeeper for several Lafayette concerns. In 1898 he went to Chicago, Illinois, and continued to be a bookkeeper in that city until 1905, when he came West to Dil- lon, Montana, as forwarding agent for the state line running from Red Rock to Salmon, Idaho. Two years later he became bookkeeper for John W. Mor- ton, of Dillon, Montana, and remained with him for eighteen months. Seeing an opening at Dell, Mon- tana, he opened and conducted a hotel there for two years, and then, selling, he returned to Chicago, and for six months was engaged there in a merchan-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

dise business. Once more he came to Montana, this time selecting Roundup as his objective point and was bookkeeper for the Republic Coal Company until he was made deputy county clerk of Mussel- shell County in 1914, holding that office until he was appointed in 1917 clerk and recorder of the county, and elected to the office on November 5, 1918, being admirably fitted by inclination and experience for it. Fraternally he belongs to the Loyal Order of Moose. The Congregational Church holds his membership.

On February 13, 1902, Mr. Hain was united in marriage with Cora May, who was born in Allen County, Ohio, a daughter of Jacob May, a fruit- grower and farmer of Brethren, Michigan.

ROBERT A. MORRILL, M. D. Medicine is a subject as ancient as civilization itself, and in the classifica- tion of the world's professions it assumed its right- ful place at the head of the list. Eminent men have adorned it in all ages, and able men have added luster to the pages of its history as a profes- sion, and few have failed to honor it with their confidence either in or out of its ranks. Among the earliest to bring its immortal precepts into prac- tice in Sidney and he who owns to the distinction of being the oldest in point of service in this field today is Dr. Robert A. Morrill, the gentleman whose name introduces this brief review.

Doctor Morrill dates his advent to Montana and to Sidney from June, 1906. He joined the promis- ing village when it was the object of many inquir- ing glances from people from the Middle West, and its environment commended it as a future metropolis of the rich valley about it. Like the village itself, the doctor was beginning his career and it offered him the same encouragement it held out to other settlers, that of a seat at the council- house of citizenship if he proved his worth. He ac- cepted the challenge and measured lances with the best that came, and is in the enjoyment of the re- ward which real service in one's calling always brings.

While practicing his art and contributing mate- rially toward the health of his community through the fifteen years of his residence here, Doctor Mor- rill has revealed his capability in other directions. There was an opportunity for personal profit in the acquirement of valley lands, and he seized it and has developed under irrigation an acreage which stands out prominently as a food and forage-pro- ducing entity. He has acquired other lands upon the branch tributary to Sidney, and more than 1,000 acres of this bears the earmarks of his ownership in its permanent improvement and in the work of the reduction and cultivation of the soil. This ranch- farm at Mt. Pleasant is stocked with grade Short- horn cattle and is the making of one of the desirable country estates of the locality. Sugar beets, alfalfa and corn comprise the products of the annual har- vest of his valley farm and have proven themselves to be reliable as moneymakers and most satisfactory as real friends of the farmer. He passed through the experience of homesteading on the hill lands tributary to Sidney, and his patent to this land is a mute witness of some adversities which he en- countered while the process of proving-up was go- ing on.

Doctor Morrill divided his time between his pro- fession and community interests which had to be served and helped to carry the burden of town as well as country development. He served as an alderman under different administrations of gov- ernment in Sidney, and was on the council when the water and light plants were provided for, and when the movement for permanent walks assumed

permanent and substantial form and was crystallized into the concrete paths about the city today. He proved himself a home builder through the erection of a generous modern residence, one of the attractive domiciles of Sidney, and he has in other directions forwarded matters which added to the value of property and the enjoyment of life in the county seat.

Politics has had little part in Doctor Morrill's life work. He followed the example set him at home and cast a republican ballot for Major Mckinley for president when he came of age. While he has deviated from this course in later years, in national contests he is convinced that his early judgment was correct and that the policies and performances of the republican party are entitled to his future confidence and support. His parents' home was a Methodist one and he is a member of the same church where he received his youthful instruction. His fraternal connection is with the Masons, and he is a member of the Blue Lodge in Sidney.

Before he finished his education Doctor 'Morrill gave a year of active service in our first national effort in freeing the world of autocracy. He joined Company H of the Thirteenth Minnesota Infantry for service in the Spanish-American war. His cap- tain was Bjornstad and his colonel Ames, and his regiment was mobilized at St. Paul and was ordered to Manila at once. It sailed from San Francisco on the transport City of Para and reached its des- tination August 7, 1898. It took part in the battle of Manila six days after it landed and served in the campaigns of General Lawton's army. Other engage- ments in which the doctor took part were Gniguinta, Mariquina Road, Santa Maria, Guingua, San Mi- guel, Salacat and San Isidro. Going to the Philip- pines, the City of Para stopped at Honolulu and on its return the transport Sheridan called at Japanese ports and gave the Thirteenth Minnesota a view of the America of the Orient. The regiment sailed from Manila for home August 13, 1899, and 'was mustered out at The Presidio October 4th, and Doctor Morrill immediately resumed his college work with as good a physique as he entered the service more than a year before. He is a member of Camp Carlton Post, Veterans of the Spanish-American war, at St. Paul.

The Morrills of this review are of the ancients of New England. The old home is on the Merri- mac River in New Hampshire, where Doctor Mor- rill's grandparents were born. His father is Amon E. Morrill, of Byron, Minnesota, who accompanied his mother to Plainview, that state, in 1862 and grew up among relatives and friends and was educated there. The father was but eleven years old when taken away from his birthplace at Franklin, New Hampshire, and brought west, and he learned the trade of wheelwright and was running a shop of his own and attending school when but sixteen years old. He settled at Byron early and married there Ellen, a daughter of Robert Hastings, a son of Erin and a farmer. Mrs. Morrill was born in the State of New York, passed away in 1881, and Robert A. is her only surviving child.

Doctor Morrill was born in Byron, Minnesota, August 14. 1874, and after the public school he at- tended Hamline University. He graduated from that institution in 1901 with the degree of Ph. B., and then took up his medical studies in the uni- versity of his state at Minneapolis, and graduated from there in 1905. He spent a year as an interne in the St. Paul City and County Hospital, and then came to Montana and began the serious affairs of life in the profession to which he is attached. He is a member of the Yellowstone County Medical

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 18

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