Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 22

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 22

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Sidney, a member of the class of 1920; and Eva and Mary, both in the Sidney schools.

The Dawe family gave an intensely patriotic serv- ice in the promotion of war work, and they are num- bered among the public spirited and loyal citizens of their community.

RICHARD S. NUTT, president of the Yellowstone Valley Bank and Trust Company, traces his ances- try back to Scotland, to a remote ancestor of the family, LaFayette Nutt, who lived near Glasgow, Scotland. The first American ancestor was George W. Nutt, the grandfather of the Sidney banker, and he died at Clinton, Missouri, in- 1917, when he had reached the remarkable age of 102 years. He mar- ried in his early life Margaret Littleton, who still survives him and has reached the age of 103 years. Of their eight children the father of the Sidney busi- ness man, John R., was the first born and the only soldier son of the family.

John R. Nutt married Helen Warner, a daughter of Isaac Warner. The Warner family were Quak- ers, and their ancestry crossed the ocean to this coun- try with the Quakers who founded Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the William Penn colony. Mrs. Nutt died at St. Vincent's Hospital at Portland, Oregon, in 1916, at the age of seventy-three.

Richard S. Nutt was born at Colfax, Illinois, March 26, 1877, and his boyhood days were spent in that community and his early schooling was re- ceived in its rural schools. He came to Montana in May, 1897, a youth of twenty years, before there was a Sidney or even a Richland County, and it was with Dawson County that he first identified himself. He began his connection with this region as a cow- boy, his first acquaintance being A. W. Mann, who was widely known over this valley as a ranchman. Having thus acquainted himself with the life and habits of the far West he returned to Minnesota to complete his education, entering MacAlester Col- lege, where he completed the scientific course and graduated with the degree Bachelor of Science.

With the intention of casting his lot permanently with Montana Mr. Nutt then returned to Mondak, where with other stockmen, he organized the Mondak State Bank, and. assuming the cashiership of the in- stitution he remained with it in that capacity until 1909. It was in that year that he came to Sidney, and with other local citizens he organized the Farm- ers State Bank and became its first cashier. The institution was capitalized at $20,000, and continued as a state bank until 1916, when it was chartered as the Yellowstone Valley Bank & Trust Company, with a capital and surplus of $110,000. Mr. Nutt became the president of the institution.

Outside of his banking interests Mr. Nutt has been engaged to some extent in ranching and stock rais- ing. He was one of the original organizers of the Deaconess Hospital of Sidney, and is a member of its official board. He was made a Mason at Culbert- son, Montana, and was one of those instrumental in the founding of Lower Yellowstone Lodge No. 90, becoming the first master of the lodge.

The Nutt family home in Sidney, at the corner of Stockwell and Kemmis streets, was erected by Mr. Nutt. He was married in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 16, 1908, to Miss Rose M. Metzger, a daughter of Samuel H. Metzger, one of the early settlers of St. Paul. Mrs. Nutt graduated in the same class with her husband at MacAlester College, and she afterward was principal for a year in the high schools of Drayton, North Dakota.

Thus far in this review we have only touched upon the incidents of chief moment in the life work of Mr. Nutt. That he has had a wide range of busi-

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ness experience is evident and that he has won the confidence and high favor of those who have had the good fortune to be associated with him is a fact. His training in the school of experience has de- veloped a vision of rare merit and has prepared him for the handling of the larger transactions in finance approaching the trained expert. It is the judgment of those who have watched his success at the head of the Yellowstone Valley Bank and Trust Company that pronounced him a banker and it is the favorable results he obtains in the management of other impor- tant interests which pronounce him a man of affairs. He is unselfish in the promotion of any movement which promises well for his locality and is a volun- teer always, and in the ranks, while the desired results are being achieved. He is wise in the selec- tion of meritorious projects and rarely falls into the "loser" class, and it is this characteristic in his makeup that some of his jealous critics call selfish- ness. He pleads for harmony in his community, for he knows that "in union there is strength," and when big things are in prospect for Sidney or the big valley in which he lives he prefers the place of a private in putting it over and achieves results that distinguish him as a leader in spite of his humble rank. He is known far beyond the limits of his county for his public spirit and for the achievement of results, and his co-operation is sought by men of large interests in the founding and guidance of new industries. A's faithful to a trust as the planets in their daily movements, as honorable in the perform- ance of his obligations as the Government under which he lives, an untiring worker, sober and true is Richard S. Nutt.

PETER ANDERSON. Among the Montana citizens who have been identified with its interests and who have assisted in its upbuilding since it became a state of the Union is prominently numbered Peter An- derson, who came direct from his native Denmark to Glendive in April of 1889, the year Montana was admitted as a state. He was accompanied on this journey by his family, and they arrived in Glendive by train. Locating in the Valley of the Yellow- stone, near where Sidney has since been established, Mr. Anderson found settlers here ahead of him, and a few of them still remain here, including the Kemmis, Kelch, Meadors and Cheney families.

Mr. Anderson started his life in Montana as a stockman, and after spending four years in an old shack some five miles below where Sidney is now situated he located his homestead two miles north of the townsite, and there he spent the remainder of his active business career. During nineteen years the family home was a comfortable log house 12 by 15 feet in dimensions, and was located four or five miles from the ranch house. This log dwelling gave place in 1907 to the present country home, the second good frame residence built in this region, and it contains thirteen rooms, and this and other improve- ments which he has added, including a splendid barn, makes the place one of the landmarks of the county.

Mr. Anderson started his business career in this region on a safe foundation, for he invested in milch cows and disposed of his milk and butter to the soldiers at Fort Buford, thirty miles distant. As long as there was grass he had plenty of milk, and with a good supply of milk there was always pros- perity in his home. He finally, however, drifted into the raising of beef cattle, and in time became a shipper of his own stock. His brand was a diamond surmounted by the letter P, which marked both his horses and cattle, and it is still used on his remaining stock.

After a few years Mr. Anderson was able to add

railroad land to his homestead. He was one of the first dry land farmers in the country, and he made a success of this mode of farming, pinning his faith to grain, oats being his chief crop. His best yield of oats weighed forty-two pounds to the bushel. His lands became available to irrigation when the waters of the Lower Yellowstone project were turned on, and then he began farming on a larger scale. His wheat yielded him thirty bushels to the acre, and flax, which proved a boone to the country, he raised extensively, he having been the first man to import flax seed into this region. He also imported into this region the first macaroni seed wheat, se - curing a half a bushel from the Government. With the passing of the years Mr. Anderson became rec- ognized as one of the largest and most influential farmers of his community. He placed 400 acres of his land under irrigation. He joined the Water Users Association at its formation, and for several years served the organization as its treasurer.

Mr. Anderson secured his citizen papers in 1894. and his Americanization has been full and complete. He has also been influential in bringing others of his countrymen into the region, where they have played a conspicuous part in its settlement and development. He was the founder of the Danish colony of this locality, and as the result of his efforts some 500 people have established their homes here, representing Montana's most able citizenship. Two Danish churches have been erected, and al- though the majority of the Danish settlers are con- nected with farming, many have also engaged in other fields of endeavor.

As an American citizen and a participant in up- holding its Government Mr. Anderson united his efforts with those of the republican party, casting his first presidential vote for Mckinley. Since taking up his abode in Sidney he has served as a member of the board of alderman, and the chief work of improvement since his identification with this board has been the extension of the sewer system to the Yellowstone River.

From the beginning of their residence in Mon- tana both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson were actively identified with the Methodist Church in their com- munity, and continued their active membership there- with for fifteen years. In that time they assisted in the erection of the first church in the Yellow- stone Valley, this being in the year 1900, and when the Danish congregation was organized six years later they transferred their membership and helped to build the Danish Lutheran Church. During her active connection with church work Mrs. Anderson was helpful in Sunday school work, serving as an efficient teacher, and she occasionally represented the Methodist Church in conference work. In 1917 the Anderson Ranch was sold and the family came to Sidney to reside, Mr. Anderson erecting a modern bungalow on Main Street.

Peter Anderson and his wife were both born in Denmark, the former on the Island Fyen and the latter on the Island of Sjalland, about thirty miles from Copenhagen. Mr. Anderson's birth occurred September 16, 1860, and that of Mrs. Anderson two years later, on the 6th of December, he a son of Anders Christofersen and Maren Niels, and she a daughter of Niels Josephsen, her mother being a daughter of Maren Willum. Mrs. Anderson was christencd Bertha Josephsen, and she was one of a family of eight children, all of whom came to the United States, but at different times, Mrs. Ander- son and her husband being among the early ones to immigrate. They sailed from Copenhagen on the Nord Deutsche Lloyd steamer bound for New York, from which point they journeyed on to Glendive,

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Montana, where a brother of Mrs. Anderson, Charley Josephsen, had already located. They began their life in the Northwest with a cash capital of $300, and they endured many hardships and privations dur- ing the years they were reducing the soil to fertility and laying a foundation for future years of pros- perity.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson was cele- brated in Denmark August 17, 1883, and a large family of children were born to them to bless their union. The first born, Marie, is the wife of Peter M. Anderson, of Sidney, and their children are Myrtle Irvin, Oscar, Glen and Dorothy. Neils An- derson, a resident of Prairie Elk, Montana, married Johanna Amundson. Dagmar, the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, is the wife of Ira Albin, of Richland County, and the mother of four chil- dren, Effie, Paul, David and Donald, the two latter being twins. Lillian married Thorval Jenssen, of Broyson, Montana, and their children are Peter, Roy, Ralph, William, Ernest and Walter. Josephine is now the wife of James Hendrickson, of Three Buttes, Montana, and has three children, Marvin, Bernice and Hazel. Carl Anderson, the soldier son of the family, went overseas in the early part of the conflict and saw seven months of service in Eng- land and eight months service in France, operating as a machinist in the aviation service. He was dis- charged at Fort D. A. Russell, and reached home in May, 1919, since which time he has been a farmer and homesteader. Christina married Harry Brock- way, also a soldier in the recent war, and they reside at Prairie Elk, Montana. Camilla is the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and she is a high school student in Sidney.

GUY L. ROOD, clerk of the District Court of Rich- land County, began his residence in this portion of old Dawson County in what may be termed the early and formative period of this community. He established his home here in 1892 as an emigrant from Kansas, making the journey by rail in an emigrant car containing his personal effects, a few chickens, two cows, two hogs and other farm com- modities important as a beginning in a new coun- try. He loaded his car at McPherson, Kansas, where he had spent a brief period of the many years of his residence in the Sunflower State, and unloaded his effects at Fort Buford, Montana, after a slow and uneventful trip across the intervening space of 1,200 miles.

The parents of Mr. Rood had preceded him to Montana, and it was upon their inducement and urging that he abandoned the trade which had for ten years been providing him a mere living and launched upon a new career in the new and unset- tled .Northwest. His birth occurred in Kalamazoo, Michigan, July 30, 1866, a son of Carrol L. and Lottie (Abernathy) Rood. The father was born in Cass County, Michigan, a son of Heman Rood, and he began his life's activities with a good educational training. During the period of the Civil war he was a resident of his native state of Michigan, and from there volunteered in Company A, First Michi- gan Cavalry, serving under General Sheridan. He took part in the famous Shenandoah campaign and other engagements during the three years of his military service, and suffered the loss of an eye before receiving his discharge. Again taking up civil life, Mr. Rood taught school in Michigan and Kansas, and was subsequently the first school teacher to locate in the region of his first settlement in Montana. It was in 1874 that he removed to Kan- sas, homesteaded in Cowley County, proved up his claim, but subsequently moved to Harvey County

and farmed ten miles south of Newton until the grasshopper plague drove him from that country. Following this period he was the proprietor of a prohibition newspaper at Newton, Kansas, during the prohibition campaign, and after coming to Mon- tana founded the Monitor at Glendive and conducted it a few years as a republican paper. On disposing of this journal Mr. Rood made a trip to Alaska, where he spent a few years prospecting and mining, and then returned to Montana and resumed his teaching during the winter months. He finally re- moved to California, and is now a resident of Sac- ramento, having attained the good old age of eighty years. His children by his first wife were: Guy L., of Sidney; and Claude, who died in Sidney, leaving a daughter, now Mrs. Hazel Schmidt of Springfield, Ohio. Carrol L. Rood was a second time married, but there were no children by the last union.

Heman Rood, the grandfather of Guy L., went to California during the. early days of "forty-nine," but was lost out in that then unsettled region and lies buried in an unknown and unmarked grave. He married Mary Silver, and Granvil H. and Car- rol L., were the two sons of their union.

Guy L. Rood grew to years of maturity on the farm of his grandfather Rood, receiving his school- ing at Newton, Kansas, and there he also learned the tinner's trade, following it later at Newton, Halstead and McPherson, Kansas. It was at the last named place that he loaded his effects in a car and started for his new home in Montana. As a beginning for this new life he erected where the slaughter house now stands a log house of five rooms, but the last vestige of this early pioneer home has entirely disappeared. It was covered with dirt, as was the custom at that time, and it shel- tered the Rood family for a period of about ten years. One of the first occupations Mr. Rood em- braced for earning a living here was sheep shearing, and after he became an expert shearer he organized and commanded a crew of sheep shearers for sev- eral years. He obtained his start in the cattle busi- ness with a small bunch of stock, raising both cattle and sheep, also farmed, became the postmaster of the old Town of Ridgelawn and his wife conducted an inn there, and in fact for some years after his arrival in Montana he followed any occupation that would yield him an honest living.

From 1904 until 1910 Mr. Rood served as a United States land commissioner at Ridgelawn, and prac- tically all the surrounding lands were filed on during his tenure in this position. His office long antedated the United States commissioner's office at Sidney, and in this position and in various other ways he took an active part in the initial settlement work of this region.

Mr. Rood finally homesteaded at Ridgelawn and there erected the first frame store building in the valley. Later he moved this building to Sidney, where it is still doing duty as a business house. In time he developed a farm of 420 acres at Ridgelawn, 120 acres of which are under irrigation and im- proved with some $6,000 worth of buildings. In 1914, soon after his election to the office of clerk of the District Court, Mr. Rood removed to Sidney. where he has improved a good home in the suburbs. He participated actively in the movement for the division of Richland County, and was elected .to the clerk's office after the county was created. In a bill before the Legislature for creating the County of Richland he had been named as clerk and re- corder, but this bill was vetoed by the governor. Mr. Rood subsequently became a candidate for the office of clerk of the District Court, was successful at the election and was re-elected in 1916.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Mr. Rood is a republican, and since giving his first presidential vote to Benjamin Harrison he has never missed an election where he could cast his ballot. He took an active part in convention work when that method was in vogue, and also carried his share of the responsibilities in the matter of the conduct of the school in his rural district. He is now serving the City of Sidney as a councilman.

Mr. Rood married in Halstead, Kansas, November 20, 1890, Miss Bertha Edison, who is a second cousin of Thomas A. Edison, the great American inven- tor. Mrs. Rood was born in Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Rood are the parents of three children: Carrol, who is married and engaged in farming in Richland County; Erma H., a high school graduate and now teaching school; and Glen J.

Mr. Rood was the first of five Masons to come into the Yellowstone Valley, and he is a charter mem- ber of Sidney Lodge No. 90, and is also affiliated with the Eastern Star and the Chapter at Glendive.

RICHARD GRAHAM is a veteran flour miller, has served that industry in many localities of the North and West, and came to Great Falls as a miller nearly thirty-five years ago. Until he retired he was for twenty years or more engaged in the flour, feed and general grain business.

Mr. Graham was born in the Province of Quebec March 16, 1850, son of Archabel and Jennett (Black) Graham. His parents were both natives of Quebec and were farming people there. They were members of the Presbyterian Church and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom are living.

Richard Graham, sixth among his parents' chil- dren, lived at home and attended school to the age of fifteen. He learned the flour milling business by an apprenticeship under his uncle, Andrew Hodge, and in 1871 he came to the United States and was employed by the Baldwin Milling Company at Hud- son, Wisconsin, until 1876. He then located at Hop- kins, Minnesota, and was superintendent of the Harris Douglas & Camp Flour Milling Company, and subsequently followed his trade and business in other localities. In 1885 he came to Great Falls to become head miller of the Cataract Flour Mill Com- pany, and held that position until 1893. He and J. D. Ross became associated under the firm name Graham & Ross in the flour, hay, grain, feed, wood and coal business, and that partnership was continued with mutual profit and advantage until December, 1917, when Mr. Graham retired.

He is a member of the Royal Highlanders, is a republican and a member of the Presbyterian Church. October 23, 1905, he married Eliza J. Col- lins. She was born in Bruce County, Ontario, a daughter of William and Mary Ann (Lewis) Col- lins. Her father was a native of the north of Ireland and died in 1917 at the age of eighty-three. Her mother was born near Ottawa, Canada, and is still living in her seventy-fourth year. Her parents were members of the Episcopal Church, and her father spent his active life as a farmer. Mrs. Gra- ham was the oldest of eleven children. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have adopted two children, Almona Jean and John George, both at home and attending school.

LOGAN V. FOWELL has earned a substantial posi- tion in commercial .affairs, and is well known in several localities of Montana, but particularly at Judith Gap, where he is manager of what is now the leading general merchandise concern of the city.

Mr. Fowell was born in Richland County, Wis- consin; July 21, 1885 Practically all members of the Fowell family now living in the United States

are descended from his grandfather, William Fowell, who was born in England in 1833. As a young man he and a sister started for the United States, but the sister died and was buried at sea. He was five weeks in crossing the ocean. He first settled in Ohio, and afterward became a pioneer of Richland County, Wisconsin. He spent all his active life as a farmer and died at Readstown, Wisconsin, in 1900.

Charles W. Fowell, father of the Judith Gap merchant, was born in Ohio February 2, 1858, and as a youth removed with his parents to Richland County, Wisconsin, where he was married and where for a number of years he was successfully engaged in the lumber industry. In 1916 he moved to Viro- qua, Wisconsin, where he has since lived practically retired, though he owns a valuable farm stocked with a herd of high grade Hereford cattle. Charles has exemplified a high degree of public spirit, and has made himself a useful member of his community. He held a number of county offices in Richland County, was active in promoting the civic welfare of his locality, and has given all the strength of his influence to the republican party. He is a member of the Methodist Church and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Charles W. Fowell married Armintha Searles, who was born in Ohio, June 27, 1868. Logan is the only son and the oldest of three children. His sister, Grace, lives with him at Judith Gap. Blanche is unmarried and at home with her parents at Viroqua, Wisconsin.

Logan V. Fowell attended the rural schools of Richland County, Wisconsin; graduated from the high school at Readstown in 1903, and in 1905 grad- uated from the Wisconsin Business University at LaCrosse. After one year as assistant cashier of the State Bank of Readstown he came to Montana in 1906 and with home at Harlowton had charge of the commissary for the contractors engaged in building the Transcontinental line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway through Montana. In March, 1907, this business engagement being com- pleted, he became a merchant with the firm of H. E. Marshall, who had stores at Harlowton and Martins- dale. In those places he acquired a thorough and fundamental knowledge of general merchandising and in August, 1913, moved to Judith Gap, where he entered the service of Beers & Haynes, general merchants. In November, 1918, Mr. Fowell was instrumental in establishing the Judith Gap Com- mercial Company, and has since been its active man- ager. The officers of the company are: Walter Witt, president; George Kidder, vice president ; William Nordland, secretary; R. G. Shields, treas- urer, and L. V. Fowell, manager. The company owns a large and well equipped business building, and has rapidly promoted its trade throughout Wheatland County. Mr. Fowell is also secretary of the Ubet Oil Company, and has a modern and com- fortable home on High Street in Judith Gap.

Politically he is identified with the republican party. He has not sought public office, though it is a matter of record that he was one of the first city council at Harlowton. He is affiliated with Mus- selshell Lodge No. 69, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Harlowton; Harlowton Chapter No. 22, Royal Arch Masons, and Gordon Lodge No. 89 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Straw, Montana.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 22

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