Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 183

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 183

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Bean was a hard worker in the interest of county division whereby Fallon County came into being, and Baker was made the county seat. His sympathies are with the republican party, and while his citizenship has not yet been es- tablished, so he is not a voter, he is a close student of public matters, and has sound ideas with reference to them and political issues.

During the World war Mr. Bean entered into the spirit of the times and bought bonds of all of the loan issues, and his purse was gladly opened for all of the war drives for war work and relief.

The success which has attended Mr. Bean is all the more remarkable when it is remembered that he has been handicapped by the unfortunate prejudice ill-informed people used to hold against his race. Not understanding the wonderful knowledge, re- sources and history of China, ignorant people could not appreciate, until they were shown beyond any possibility of question, the splendid qualities of these quiet, hard-working and thrifty sons of the Orient. Little by little this unjust prejudice is melting away, and men like Mr. Bean are winning their rightful position in various communities where their gener- osity, unexampled business acumen, kindly natures and sterling characters are receiving the recognition due them. Baker has many reasons to be grateful to Mr. Bean for what he has done for it, and his career is being followed with interest by the numer- ous friends he has made for himself both in Fallon County and elsewhere. On Christmas day of 1919 the town people gave him a watch, engraved, which was bought by public subscription and presented by the mayor for the good he had done in the com- munity.

CHARLES W. GREENING, vice president of the Har- din State Bank, is one of the experienced bankers of the Big Horn Valley, whose connection with the finances of Montana dates back to 1908, when he came to Melstorfe as cashier of the private bank of Wiley, Clark & Felton. Not long after Mr. Green- ing became associated with this institution it was chartered as a state bank, with a capital of $20,000, but since then a surplus of like amount has been accumulated. Its deposits are $250,000, and dividends were paid after three years. This bank handles a large farm loan business and has been an important factor in the development of the agricultural re- sources of this section. Mr. Greening left the bank as cashier several years ago, but is still its vice president and heavy stockholder.

Mr. Greening joined Mr. Clark and Mr. Wiley in the undertaking of opening the bank at Sumatra, Montana, first as a private institution under the name of Wiley, Clark & Greening, and this was later char- tered as the Sumatra State Bank, with a capital stock of $20,000. This bank has deposits aggregat- ing $250,000, and of it Mr. Greening is vice president and a director and stockholder. After the first year this bank paid dividends.

Wiley, Clark & Greening organized a private bank at Ingomar, Montana, which was chartered as the Ingomar State Bank and in the fall of 1919 it was nationalized as the First National Bank of Ingomar, with a capitalization of $25,000, and it now has de- posits of $350,000. Mr. Greening also holds the office of vice president of this institution, and it has paid a dividend ever since the early days of its history.

Another bank with which Mr. Greening is also connected is the Vananda State Bank at Vananda, organized and chartered as a state institution in 1917 by Mr. Greening and A. T. Hibbard. Its capitaliza- tion is $20,000, and its deposits are about $125,000.

Mr. Greening is on its directorate, and the board has just paid the stockholders the first dividends.

The Farmers State Bank of Jordan, with which Mr. Greening has been connected, was organized in the summer of 1918 by Mr. Greening, Mr. Wiley and Mr. Henderson, with a capital stock of $20,000. The deposits are $159,000, and quite recently it has been chartered as the First National Bank of Jordan.

The Hardin State Bank was bought from the original owners in April, 1919, and during the first year $10,000 was added as a surplus to the original stock and surplus of $75,000, and a substantial divi- dend paid to the stockholders. All of these banks are sound institutions and the men associated with them are of such standing in their communities that their connection with such organizations is the highest kind of a guarantee of their financial strength.

Mr. Greening has also been an important factor in the cattle business at Mosby, Montana, where he owns a ranch and is an extensive producer of beef, which he ships to outside markets. He is president of the Weede Cattle Company, and in 1908 joined the ranks of the homesteaders, taking a claim south of Melstone. He served that city as its first mayor, and for several years was president of its school board and president of the Commercial Club. Since coming to Hardin he has been making an aggressive campaign to bring in outside capital and settlers. Now, as always, he is a republican, and strong in his support of his party's principles. He was elected a senator from Big Horn County in the fall of 1920.

Charles W. Greening was born in Mower County, Minnesota, on July 26, 1882, and he began his educa- tional training at Grand Meadow, Minnesota, con- tinned it at Northfield Academy in 1900, and then entered Carleton College and was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1904. That same year he went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and while working during the day in the Northwestern Na- tional Bank studied at night in the law school of the University of Minnesota, from which he was graduated in 1908, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and was admitted to the bar of that state, and, leaving the bank that same week, he started West, reaching Miles City, Montana, in July, from whence he went on to 'Melstone and started upon his remarkable banking career in this region, acting in this instance upon the advice of Mr. H. B. Wiley of Miles City. The subsequent events proved that Mr. Wiley not only had a clear understanding of con- ditions and opportunities, but that he was an excellent judge of men and their capabilities.

Mr. Greening is a son of Charles F. and Clara E. (Caswell) Greening, natives of England and Illinois, respectively. The father became a Union soldier, enlisting from Wisconsin and serving under General Banks and later General Sherman, and receiving his honorable discharge at the termination of the war. He then came to Minnesota, met his future wife at LeRoy, that state, and after they were mar- ried he located in that place and for a time was engaged there in conducting a hardware business. Later he went into the banking business at Grand Meadow, and died there in 1915, when just seventy years of age. His widow still lives at Grand Meadow. Their children were as follows: Elgar F., who is president of the Exchange Bank of Grand Meadow; Mrs. S. M. Croft, of Washington, District of Colum- bia; Elmore J., who is cashier of the Exchange Bank at Grand Meadow; and Charles W., whose name heads this review.

On November 12, 1911, Charles W. Greening was united in marriage at Carroll, Iowa, to Miss Jewell Ross, a graduate of Drake University and a native of Indiana. She is a daughter of W. T. and Clara

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W. F. STUFFT. The most elaborate history is perforce a merciless abridgement, the historian be- ing obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and to marshal them in concise and logical order. This applies to specific as well as generic history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and inci- dents, and yet in summing up such a career as that of Mr. Stufft the writer must needs touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of the character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led an active and use- ful life, not entirely devoid of the exciting, and today is ranked by universal consent among the leading and representative citizens of his section of the state.

W. F. Stufft was born in Bedford County, Penn- sylvania, and is the son of Michael and Margaret- (Knisley) Stufft, of whose nine children the sub- ject is the fifth in order of birth. His mother was descended from English and German ancestry. Mr. Stufft received his educational training in the public schools of his native county and was reared on the paternal farmstead. When he was twenty-two years of age he migrated to Nebraska, where he became engaged in farming and stock raising, in which his efforts were rewarded with a fair degree of success. He remained there until 1897, when he decided to go further west and made the overland trip to Flat- head Valley, Montana. The trip was made in true Western style, in covered wagons, and required two months and ten days, they having left Nebraska on May 12th and arrived at their new location on July 22d. They had two mule teams and fine equipment for those days, so they really traveled with some degree of comfort. Mr. Stufft purchasd a home- stead of 160 acres in what was then a compara- tively unsettled country and in which he was num- bered among the pioneers. He energetically set to work to improve the opportunities that were here presented, made substantial improvements and prosperity attended his efforts. Some time later he bought 800 acres of land in Glacier County, Mon- tana, and to the improvement of this tract he has devoted himself indefatigably. Mr. Stufft is en- gaged in farming and stock raising, giving special attention to thoroughbred hogs, principally of the Duroc Jersey breed. He has been remarkably suc- cessful as a breeder and it is noteworthy that he has exhibited his animals at the Nebraska and Iowa State Fairs and at fairs at Salem, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, and that at these contests he has won more blue ribbons than any other exhibitor in his class. Mr. Stufft is entitled to considerable credit for the persistency with which he has en- deavored to. elevate the standard of livestock raised in the Flathead Valley, having brought the first thoroughbred hogs to this locality. He has built a beautiful modern home, well constructed and con- veniently arranged, and which is luxuriously fur- nished. The barns and outbuildings are also of permanent construction and convenient arrangement, in order to minimize the labor of attending to the stock. The main barn is 64 by 126 feet in size.

Politically Mr. Stufft is a stanch supporter of the republican ticket and takes a keen interest in the

Ross, the former of whom is city engineer and trend of public events. Fraternally he is a member mayor of Carroll, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Greening , of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which have two children, both born on November 22, two years apart, their names being Shirley and Charles Ross Greening. he joined twenty-one years ago and in which he holds membership longer than any other member at Kalispell. He has advanced to the degrees of the Encampment and Canton. He is also a member of the United Workmen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor. Religiously he is a Presbyterian.

Mr. Stufft was married to Maria M. Fickes, who was .born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John W. and Rebecca (Weisel) Fickes. She was educated in the public schools of her native county. To Mr. and Mrs. Stufft have been born three children, namely: D. F., who is a progressive and successful rancher at Cutbank, married Agnes Schell, and they have two children, Esther and William F .; Nettie, who is a graduate of the Kalis- pell High School, became the wife of M. R. Baldwin, proprietor of a garage at Cutbank, and they have a son, Daniel; Lydia is the wife of L. Kent, an em- ploye of the Great Northern Railroad at Kalispell, and they have one son, Lemoine S.

Mr. and Mrs. Stufft have been witnesses of the. 'wonderful transformation which has taken place in Western Montana during the years since they first entered the Flathead Valley, and they have richly earned their share of the general prosperity which has blessed this section of the country. Mr. Stufft has been recognized as a man always ready to en- dorse and support every worthy public movement, and has done his part to elevate the moral, religious and educational standard of the community. He has seen many parts of the country and is enthusiastic over the Flathead country as a place of permanent residence, the winters and summers both being more nearly temperate than most other sections of the country. He is a strong and continual booster for

Montana. Mrs. Stufft was an enthusiastic worker for the Red Cross during the recent World war, having personally knit many socks- and made many hospital shirts. The Flathead County Chapter of the Red Cross covered itself with glory, and Mrs. Stufft is justifiably proud of her part in the glorious work. Mr. and Mrs. Stufft are deservedly popular in the community where so many of their active years have been spent, for they have been generous and unselfish in their attitude toward all things affecting the welfare of the whole community.

CHARLES S. EINSEL is prominently known to the community of Piniele as the cashier of the Piniele State Bank, as a homesteader of a portion of the townsite and as one of the founders of Piniele. He traces his descent in direct line to the founder of the family on American shores, Henry Einsel, who was brought to the United States from Germany when he was but a year or two old. Nothing definite 'is known of the family home in the Fatherland, as the father Henry died while crossing the ocean and nothing is known of other children. The mother went with her son Henry to York County, Penn- sylvania, and was afterward married to a Mr. Miller, by whom she had children. Henry Einsel in his youth learned the saddler's trade, following the occupation until his removal with his family in 1805 by wagon from York County, Pennsylvania, to Fair- field County, Ohio, a distance of four or five hun- dred miles. On their arrival in the Middle West they located on a quarter section of heavily timbered land eight miles southeast of Lancaster, and there Henry Einsel followed farming and stock raising until his death a few years later. At his death he left his widow with eight small children, the

MR. AND MRS. W. F. STUFFT

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eldest being then only fifteen years old, and the youngest, Lewis, was less than a year old.

John Henry Einsel, a son of the Rev. Lewis Einsel, was reared on a farm near LaFayette, In- diana, he having moved there with his parents when ten years old. In addition to a district school edu- cation he received a regular training in a business college. In the year 1878 he and his brother Ephraim moved to Waco, York County, Nebraska, where John H. embarked in the lumber and implement busi- ness, but later removed to the Town of York in that state and entered the banking business. This was in the year 1882, and in the following year, owing to the building of railroads in the south middle part of Nebraska, he and his brother Ephraim moved to Phelps Center in Phelps County, with the ex- pectation of a railroad coming through the town, for at that time the survey ran that way. But after their homes and banking buildings had been completed the survey of the new cut off of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad from Kene- saw to Oxford was changed to go some eight miles south and pass through what is now the town of Holdrege. The Einsel brothers accordingly moved all their improvement to Holdrege and were among the first to locate there. Soon afterward they built a two-story brick bank building, known then as the Commercial State Bank of Holdrege, and it stood on the site now occupied by the F. Johnson Company. About 1889 the Einsel brothers built the stone bank- ing building opposite the brick structure and moved their banking business there.

After a time John H. Einsel turned his attention more to outside interests, looking after their prop- erties and also their live stock interests. They had a large ranch twelve miles west of Holdrege and feed yards just outside of the town, and they fed many cattle. They also handled many western cat- tle, shipping from Western Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming.

John H. Einsel subsequently disposed of his inter- ests at Holdrege and moved to Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, and later to Pomona in that state, where his death occurred in the fall of 1891. His life's span covered a period of forty-five years, and they were years devoted to his home, to the gaining of many true and loyal friends, to the promotion of all that was good and uplifting and to the interests of the communities in which he resided. His was truly a noble character. He was an active worker both in republican politics and the Masonic fraternity.

John H. Einsel married Elizabeth Willis, who was born in Chicago and moved with her parents to Fulton County, Illinois, during her infancy. A few years later her parents migrated to York County, Nebraska, homesteading a few miles north of Waco, and her father afterward carried mail and passengers between Lincoln and Grand Island before the rail- roads were built through that country. In this manner he was able to support a family of twelve very comfortably until the railroads were built to this point and gave them a market for their grain and stock. After the death of her husband in Cali- fornia Mrs. Einsel returned to Holdrege, Nebraska, and made her home with Rev. Lewis Einsel and his wife until her marriage to Herbert W. Scott on the 2d of August, 1893. They continued to live in Holdrege until the fall of 1896, moving then to Hastings, Nebraska, where Mr. Scott died in April, 1908. He, too, possessed a noble character and gained the respect and admiration of those who came to know him. Since the death of her second husband Mrs. Scott has spent much time in travel, having made a trip to Europe and many trips from coast

to coast in this country. Her home, however, is still at Hastings.

Charles S. Einsel, a son of John H. and Eliza- beth Willis Einsel, was born in York County, Ne- raska, August 8, 1883, and was but eight years of age when his father died. The same year of his birth the parents removed to Phelps Center, Ne- braska, then a new country and in advance of the railroad, and the following year the name of the town was changed to Holdrege. There the son at- tended the public schools and also the schools of Hastings, Nebraska, and supplemented this training by a college course in Michigan. In 1901, after leaving the schoolroom, he took charge of a cattle ranch near Haigler, Nebraska, and two years later, in October, 1903, moved to Axtell, Nebraska, where he purchased a stock of hardware in association with his step-father, Herbert W. Scott. In 1905 Mr. Einsel purchased the latter's interest and continued alone in the store until August 18, 1907, when the entire business portion of Axtell was destroyed by fire. As he carried very little insurance on his stock of goods Mr. Einsel was not in a position to resume his mercantile interests, and in the spring of 1908 he began work for the International Harvester Com- pany as a traveling salesman, but after a year on the road took charge of a general mercantile store for his mother at Wilsonville, Nebraska. A few months later the store was sold and he then moved to a farm a short distance from Axtell, where he has been engaged in farming and stock raising during the past two years.

Leaving his native state of Nebraska, Mr. Einsel with his family made the overland journey to Mon- tana, where he arrived on the 28th of September, 1910. The nearest stage line was Alzada, and there he hired a buggy to bring him the remainder of the way to the present site of Piniele. He was alone in the community at that time as far as neighbors were concerned. He at once entered his homestead, the land having been opened to settlement about that time, built a one-room log cabin, and in the first year here began cultivating twelve acres of his land. He came into the country, however, not to farm but to find a location where he could eventually conduct a banking business. He brought with him less than $500 in money, which amount was consumed in living and other expenses before he actually made any money. He secured the estab- lishment of the postoffice at Piniele the year after his arrival, and the name Piniele was given the office by the department. It is an Indian name, meaning "sacred ground." Mr. Einsel was appointed the first postmaster, and served in that office about two years.

In 1915 he founded the Piniele Leader, a weekly paper of democratic principles, and he continued his connection with the publication until 1917. During his residence in this community the establishment of the various mail routes out of Piniele, the open- ing of the first store and the organization of the bank are all matters with which he was actively identified.

The Piniele State Bank was established June 4, 1917, the day it was opened to the general public, and it was capitalized at $20,000 and numbered the following officers: A. M. Blackford, president; C. H. Miller, vice president; Mr. Einsel, cashier, and the board of directors in addition to the officers named were A. T. Hibbard and J. M. Craig. The bank has assets of $170,000, with deposits of $140,000, and in consideration of the crop conditions and the call upon the people for war funds the institution has surpassed the expectations of its founders. During

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the year 1918 the patrons of the bank purchased war stamps and liberty bonds to the amount of $80,000.

Mr. Einsel organized and established the second bank of Broadus in Powder River County, and opened it for business May 8, 1919. Its officers con- tain the following well-known names: Frank T. Kelsey, president; Charles S. Einsel, vice president, and A. W. Heidel, cashier, and A. Montgomery and C. M. Miles with its other officers constitute its board of directors. The institution is known as the Powder River County Bank, and is capitalized at $25,000, and its assets at the end of its first four months of business were $135,000.

Aside from his banking interests Mr. Einsel also has extensive land holdings in the vicinity of Piniele, which he regards as an investment worthy of any conservative financier. When he first came to his present location it was within the limits of Custer County. Fallon County was organized shortly after- ward, and this section was made a part of that in- corporation, and subsequently Carter County was organized, and Mr. Einsel has thus resided in the three counties without having changed his voting place or his residence. While a citizen of Fallon County, he was elected a member of the Montana Legislature, taking his seat in the House as a mem- ber of the Fourteenth Legislature. That was a democratic body, with George Ramsey as speaker, and Mr. Einsel was made chairman of the printing committee, and a member of the live stock, state lands and other committees. He was elected to the office as a democrat, and served in the Legislature one term.

On the 9th of November, 1902, at Hastings, Ne- braska, Mr. Einsel was married to Laura Miller, who was born at Kearney, that state, November 8, 1884, a daughter of Charles Henry 'Miller, who was born at Boswell, Ohio, August 9, 1859. During the early years of his life he went to Nebraska, arriving at Kearney in 1879, where he first worked in the hard- ware store in which he afterward bought a con- trolling interest. He was left an orphan when very young and was reared by an uncle, F. C. Grable. Mr. Miller married October 31, 1883, Clara Belle Scott, of Kearney, and they became the parents of three children, Laura, Kathrine and Alberta. The second daughter, Kathrine, was born February 20, 1887, at Kearney, Nebraska, and was married to Frederick Alvin Porter, of Heartwell, Nebraska, No- vember 17, 1909. Mr. Porter was born May 16, 1882. They have one child, Charles Alvin, born April 17, 1911, at Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Al- berta Alice, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Miller, was born March 11, 1897, at Boise, Idaho, and she is still with her parents.

In 1891 Mr. and 'Mrs. Miller moved to Boise, Idaho, later to Walla Walla, Washington, thence to Spokane, and in 1902 established their home in South Dakota. During the year of 1920 Mr. Miller took up ranch property in Montana.

Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Einsel, Elizabeth Catherine, born November 29, 1903, and Jane Ann, born May 20, 1913. During the pe- riod of the recent World war Mr. Einsel was a member of the Carter County Council of Defense, was also a member of the Legal Advisory Board, served as registration agent, was chairman of the southern part of the county for the liberty loan drives, and in each of the several drives the county succeeded in "going over the top." Mr. Einsel was also chairman of the war savings drive for the south side of Carter County and was also treasurer of the south side Red Cross.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 183

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