Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 32

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 32

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The subject of this sketch received his elemental education in the public schools of Faribault, Minne- sota, supplementing this by a thorough course in Brown's Business College at Faribault. When fif- teen years of age he entered the office of the Fari- bault Republican to learn the printing .trade, and served an apprenticeship of four years, for which he received $3 a week, in addition to which he received a bounty on the completion of his ap- prenticeship. Then, at the age of nineteen years, he entered the employ of the Badger Herald at

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Badger, Minnesota, but at the end of a year he went to Wagner, Montana. In the spring of 1899 Mr. Parsons went to Malta, Montana, and was con- nected with the Enterprise there for about ten years as foreman. During this period he took an active part in the organization of Phillips County, of which Malta became the county seat. He then came to Havre as night foreman of the Havre Promoter, a daily paper, and eventually became impressed with the value of that paper as a desirable newspaper property. On June 15, 1919, in association with Gail Wilson, he bought the Promoter, which they con- ducted until January, 1920, when Mr. Parsons dis- posed of his interests in the Promoter and removed with his family to Whitefish, a new railroad town in Flathead County, where he became connected with the mechanical department of the Whitefish Pilot.

On June 15, 1912, Mr. Parsons was married to Bertha Neumann, who was born in Melrose, Minne- sota, the daughter of . John Neumann, a retired farmer of that place. To Mr. and Mrs. Parsons has been born one son, Easton John, now four years of age.

Politically Mr. Parsons gives his support to the republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Malta Lodge, Independent Order .of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the Kalispell Typographical Union and is a past president of the Havre Union. He has consistently given his support at all times to every movement having for its object the advance- ment of the best interests of the community and is deservedly popular, enjoying the confidence and good will of the entire community.

JOSEPH VALENTINE HAWK has devoted the greater part of his active life to the service of humanity as a regularly ordained minister, but for the past few years has been the well qualified superintendent of the Montana Children's Home Society, an institution which under his guidance is doing great work in providing homes for dependent children. He is well known both at Helena, his home, and over the state at large.

Mr. Hawk was born at Garden Grove, Iowa, Feb- ruary 21, 1868. His paternal ancestors came from Holland in colonial times and established a home in Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers of Jackson County, Ohio. His father, Valentine S. Hawk, was born in Jack- son County, Ohio, in 1833, and was reared in that state. Later he moved to Galesburg, Illinois, where in 1859 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Cochran. He served in the Civil war, participating in many of the historic engagements of the struggle, such as Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and Mis- sionary Ridge. Shortly after his marriage he moved to Garden Grove, Iowa. Nine children were born to this union. In 1878 he went as a pioneer to Rooks County, Kansas, taking a homestead near Plainville. Mrs. Hawk died at Plainville in 1884. Mr. Hawk died at Codell, Kansas, in 1912.

In 1895 Joseph V. Hawk was united in marriage to Miss Emily Wallace, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Wallace of Council Bluffs, Iowa. They have two daughters, Vava and Verna, both of whom are associated with their father and mother in the work of the Children's Home Society.

Mr. Hawk is affiliated with the Methodist Epis- copal Church and frequently officiates as minister in various churches over the state. He is active in Masonry, affiliated with Helena Lodge No. 3, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Helena Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Helena Commandery No. 2, Knights Templar, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic

Shrine. He is also a member of Montana Lodge No. I, Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

The Montana Children's Home Society was first incorporated in 1897, and for several years it ac- complished a small but valuable work for the home- less children of the state. Like all new organizations its way must be paved and a foundation laid, and this was well done. The society now covers the entire state, with district agents at Butte, Billings, Great Falls, Missoula and Havre, beside the receiving home at Helena. The society has received and placed in permanent homes 1,417 children up to April 30, 1920, besides more than double this num- ber of children received assistance over a difficult period so as to hold them in their natural homes. The society's first thought is holding homes together, but where this is not possible then the children are cared for in the receiving home at Helena until they can be permanently placed in family homes for adoption. The society is not sectarian or political and is cared for by voluntary contributions. All persons are urged to write Mr. Hawk if they know of a child needing attention or of a 'home needing a child. The slogan of the Children's Home is "Home- less Children for Childless Homes."

ELIZABETH D. MILLIKEN, county superintendent of schools for Chouteau County, began teaching when a young girl in Pennsylvania, and has been a factor in the Montana system of public education for over ten years.

Miss Milliken was born at Ayr, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, daughter of James B. and Elizabeth (Drys- dale) Milliken. Her father was born at Wick on the north Coast of Scotland in 1849, while her mother was born near Glasgow in 1851 and died in 1892. James B. Milliken learned the cabinet making trade and in 1880 came to the United States, followed by his family in 1881. For a number of years he was in the contracting and building business at Pitts- burgh, and since 1912 has been a resident of Mon- tana. He was a rancher at Vergelle in Chouteau County for several years, and is now retired and living in Colorado. He is a member of the Pres- byterian Church, joined the Masonic fraternity in Scotland and all his three sons are Masons, while Miss Milliken is a past matron of Bethany Chapter No. 42 of the Eastern Star at Fort Benton.

Elizabeth D. Milliken was the third in a family of four sons and three daughters. She was educated in Bellevue, a suburb of Pittsburgh, and did her first work in the rural schools of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She was a teacher there about seven years before she came west to Montana in 1909. For two years she taught at Hamilton, one year at Belt, and for four years was connected with the schools of Fort Benton. Miss Milliken was elected superintendent in November, 1916, and was re- elected for a second term in 1918. She has made her office a real factor in the improvement of school facilities throughout Chouteau County, is a hard and constant worker, and has done much to infuse a new spirit into the educational affairs in her juris- diction. Miss Milliken is a member of the Presby- terian Church.

ISAAC N. FLEENOR was one of the early settlers in Chouteau County, for many years was successfully identified with ranching, building up an important industry in high grade cattle and horses, but is now enjoying a well deserved retirement and comfort in his home at Big Sandy.

Mr. Fleenor was born on his father's farm in Des Moines County, Iowa, September 17, 1855, son of Hiram and Dicy (Linder) Fleenor. His

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

father, who was born in Virginia October 26, 1818, went with his parents to Iowa Territory in 1836. At that time what is now the great State of Iowa had only a small fringe of settlers along the Mis- sissippi River, and the real history of development had scarcely begun. The Fleenor family located in Des Moines County, where they put some of the virgin soil into cultivation. Hiram Fleenor was eighteen years of age when he went to Iowa, had been educated in his native State of Virginia, and he spent a long and active life as an Iowa farmer. He was, like many Virginians, a devoted lover of fine horses, and always kept good horses and other stock on the farm. He was an influential member of his community, served many years on the school board, was a whig and later a republican, and was affiliated with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He died January 21, 1890. His wife, Dicy Linder, was born in Iowa, where her people were also among the pioneers. Her father, George Linder, and her brother, Jasper Linder, also became connected with the early history of Montana. Leaving Iowa with an equipment of wagons and ox teams, they came overland to Alder Gulch, now Helena, during the gold excitement of 1864. The Linders subse- quently became prominent cattlemen and ranchers in Beaverhead County, the Linder ranch being located between Dillon and Twin Bridges.

Isaac N. Fleenor, who was the second in a family of five daughters and four sons, six of whom are still living, acquired his education in the public schools of Iowa and spent his early youth attend- ing school in winter and working in the fields in summer. He recalls the first money he ever earned. covering corn at 25 cents a day. He was then nine years of age. Mr. Fleenor came to Montana in 1889, the year the territory was admitted to the Union, and for a few months leased a ranch near Sheridan in Madison County. He began his career as a farmer and stock raiser there, but in the fall of the same year located a homestead in Chouteau County. Thereafter for nearly thirty years he was a factor in the development of the land and in promoting the livestock industry. His own holdings grew to eleven hundred acres, and his ranch became the home of much fine stock, including Hereford cattle and French Percheron horses. Every year he handled between 100 and 300 head of cattle and kept from twenty-five to forty head of horses. Mr. Fleenor sold out his ranch interests in 1917 and after a visit to his old home in Iowa, he returned in April, 1918, and built the fine home at Big Sandy, where he now takes life at ease. Mr. Fleenor is not a partisan in politics; casting his vote for the best man.

September 13, 1883, he married Alice Leavell. She was born in Lucas County, Iowa, oldest of the three children of Thomas and Mary D. Leavell. Her parents were also natives of Iowa.

PETER GOWRIE. Change is constant and general, generations rise and pass unmarked away, and it is the duty of posterity as well as a present gratifica- tion to place upon the printed page a true record of the lives of those who have preceded us on the stage of action and left to their descendants the memory of their struggles and achievements. The years of the honored subject of this memoir are a part of the indissoluble chain which links the annals of the past to those of the latter-day progress and prosperity, and the history of Northern Montana would not be complete without due reference to the long, useful and honorable life Mr. Gowrie lived and the success he achieved as an earnest, courageous

laborer in one of the most important fields of en- deavor.

Peter Gowrie was born in Dundee, Scotland, on October 31, 1849, and his death occurred at Havre, Montana, on May 5, 1905, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Gowrie, of whose eight children he was the second in order of birth. He was educated in the public schools of his native land and learned the trade of a tailor. When nineteen years of age he immigrated to America, locating in Windsor, Canada, where he was married. They remained in Canada until they moved to Marquette, Michigan, some years later. On October 13, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Gowrie came to Havre, Montana, that being in the embryo period of this place, at a time when living accommodations were almost unknown. At the time of their arrival here there was not a house which they could occupy and so Mr. Gowrie sent to Fort Benton for a tent, in which they lived for about a year. He then built a house of one room, covered with tar paper, which was their home until in the course of time they were able to erect the substantial and comfortable home at 608 First Street, where Mrs. Gowrie now lives.

Mr. Gowrie's first employment here was with the Great Northern Railroad as a fireman, then as a brakeman, later as yard master, and finally as conductor of freight trains. He then left the employ of the railroad and engaged in the tailoring business in Havre, which occupied his attention up to the time of his death. Mr. Gow- rie was a faithful workman at everything to which he applied himself, so that when he engaged in busi- ness on his own account he gave to the work which he performed for others the same careful attention that he gave to the work he performed while a rail- road employe. This careful and faithful attention to everything he did was one of his characteristics and was the main secret of his success. It not only meant material success, but what was of far more importance, it gained for him the confidence and esteem of the people with whom he mingled and was associated. For a number of years Mr. Gowrie rendered the city appreciated service as city marshal

On June 19, 1878, Mr. Gowrie was married to Elizabeth Foster, who was the second child in order of birth of the four children born to William and Mary (Fisher) Foster, her birth occurring in Glas- gow, Scotland. When she was twelve years of age she was brought by her parents to Hamilton, On- tario, Canada, where she lived until her marriage to Mr. Gowrie. To them were born ten children, as follows: Mary Elizabeth is the wife of Alex- ander Miller; Gertrude died on May 25, 1906; Mar- jorie died on May 24, 1906; Isabel is the wife of Henry Snortoin, and they have a son; Barbara is the wife of Charles Luding, and they are the parents of four children; Ruth, who was the first white child born in Havre, is the wife of Earl Bemis, and they have two children; Pryyde became the wife of Alexander Skinner, who enlisted in the United States service during the recent World war and died while in the service in France on November 26, 1918; Min- nella died in infancy; Stanley is living at home and John died in infancy.

Politically Mr. Gowrie was a stanch supporter of the democratic party and in religion the family are identified with the Presbyterian Church. Fraternally he was a member of the American Order of Forest- ers, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which he was secretary at the time of his death, and of the Order of Railway Conductors, of which he was sec- retary for about ten years.

PETE GOWRIE AND FAMILY

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Mrs. Gowrie relates many interesting remi- niscences of the early days in Havre, for she has been a witness of practically the entire growth and development of this place. When she came here there were only two houses here, besides three rude log cabins, and there was but one other white woman here before her. She has not only been a witness of the growth of the city, but in a large measure Mr. and Mrs. Gowrie helped to make stable the body politic in the first days, when it was neces- sary that the law abiding people should hold things with a firm hand. Every movement for the ad- vancement of the best interests of the people re- ceived their hearty endorsement and support and they were always arrayed in support of law and order and morality. Mr. Gowrie's personal relations with his fellow men were ever mutually pleasant and agreeable, and he was highly regarded by all, having been easily approached, obliging and straightforward in all the relations of life.

GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE has been a Montana resident for about thirty years, has had an extensive business experience in Butte and Great Falls, and is now proprietor of the Prentice Automobile Com- pany in the latter city.

He was born at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, April 21, 1877, son of Charles Mortimer and Cecilia A. (Bare) Prentice, the former born in Mystic, Con- necticut, in 1846, and the latter in Pennsylvania in 1847. They were married in Wisconsin and are now living retired at San Diego, California. Of their three children one died in infancy, and the other two are George and Lulu May. Charles Morti- mer Prentice acquired his education in the schools of Connecticut, and as a young man went to Wis- consin. He developed a high degree of skill as an architect and builder and followed that profession for a number of years at Chippewa Falls. In 1884 he went to Texas, moved to Arkansas in 1887, and in 1890 brought his family to Montana, locating at Butte. He was in the building and contracting business at Butte for over twenty years, and handled a number of important contracts both in that city and in Great Falls and other points in the state. Since 1912 he has been a resident of San Diego, and he also continued his business on the Pacific Coast, some of his substantial work being found in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a republican voter.

George Denison Prentice acquired a public school education. The spirit of enterprise and self-reliance was early awakened in him. He recalls the fact that the first money he ever earned was made by picking up and selling old bottles and tin cans. For beer bottles he obtained 15 cents a dozen, whiskey flasks brought 21/2 cents each, and demijohns 25 cents apiece. While in school he also ran a newspaper route, getting up in the morning at 4:30 to deliver papers. He was about thirteen when his parents located at Butte, and at the age of sixteen he took his place as a wage earner in a planing mill. Later he was running pumps and hoists in the mines at Butte and vicinity. Mr. Prentice came to Great Falls in 1906, and on Christmas Day of that year mar- ried Selma Adele Jensen. After his marriage he returned to Butte, but a year later located perma- nently at Great Falls and for about four years served as chief engineer at the Montana Brewing Com- pany. While there he put his inventive genius to work and patented an antomatic keg-washing ma- chine for washing beer kegs. He went east and developed his machinery and for several years re- ceived considerable sums in royalties on their sale.

Mr. Prentice engaged in the automobile business

in 1913 and has a large and well equipped garage, service station and salesrooms at 113-119 Second Avenue, North, conducted as the Prentice Automo- bile Company. Mr. Prentice is an independent voter, and is affiliated with Great Falls Lodge No. 214, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Woodmen of the World and United Commercial Travelers. He and his wife have five children: Elizabeth, George, Dorothy, Harold and Jane.

The father of Mrs. Prentice is Stuard R. Jensen, a pioneer business man of Great Falls, now living at San Diego, California. Stuard R. Jensen was born in Denmark, August 25, 1851, was educated by his father, a school teacher, and at the age of twelve came with an uncle to America and located in Wis- consin, where he worked as a farm hand. Going to Minnesota, he learned the cooper's trade, and for a time also conducted a grocery store in that state. He arrived at Great Falls, Montana, in the spring of 1887, and homesteaded a claim north of the city in Cascade County. On August 29, 1875, he had married Miss Selma Johnson. Soon after coming to Great Falls Mr. Jensen wrote back to his wife's brother, Fred G. Johnson, urging him to join him, and in 1887, as partners, they opened the first steam laundry, known as the Cascade Laundry, at Great Falls. , They gave to this business an enter- prise which made it grow as rapidly as the young city itself, and soon had one of the largest establish- ments of its kind in the state. It is said that their plant was the second in the country to use elec- tricity to heat the rolls and flatirons. In 1893 they bought a share in the Montana Brewing Company, and later sold the laundry business and gave all their attention to the brewing business. The first also became extensively interested in lands, ranching and other enterprises at Great Falls, and Mr. Jensen continued his active and public spirited career there until 1919, when he retired and moved to California. He now enjoys the comforts of a beautiful home on the Mission Hills. He served as city alderman of Great Falls and represented Cascade County in the Legislature two terms. He is affiliated with Great Falls Lodge No. 214 of the Elks. Mr. Jensen was a stanch friend of Paris Gibson and helped make Mr. Gibson a United States Senator. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen had two children, Mrs. Prentice and Walter H.

VERNON E. LEWIS. The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished. An enumeration of the men who are successful in their special vocations and professions in Montana, and at the same time are making a lasting imprint of their personalities upon the community; men who have won honor and public recognition for themselves and at the same time have conferred honor on the locality in which they reside, would be incomplete were there failure to make specific mention of the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph. The splendid success which has come to him is the direct result of the salient points in his character. With a mind capable of laying judicious plans and a will strong enough to bring them into execution at the proper moment, his energy, foresight and perseverance have enabled him to achieve definite and far-reaching results. Pro- fessionally his record is one of which he has justi- fiable reason to be proud, for he has been success- fully connected with much of the more important business in the courts of this and adjoining counties. His is the record of a well balanced mental and moral constitution, strongly influenced by those traits of character which are ever of especial value in a progressive state of society.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

Vernon E. Lewis was born on the Igth day of September, 1886, and is the fourth child in order of birth of the five children who blessed the union of George F. and Clara F. (King) Lewis. These parents were born, respectively, in Kankakee, Illi- nois, and Iowa, the former on February 22, 1851, and the latter on April 21, 1857. They were married in Kansas and their children were, besides the sub- ject of this sketch, Henry, Arthur, Lillie, wife of Rev. J. A. Martin of Great Falls, and Velma. George F. Lewis was educated in public and private schools and was reared on the paternal farmstead. When twenty years of age he removed to Kansas and with his father and brothers located a homestead, where they engaged in farming and stock raising. In 1890 he sold his interest in the farm and came to Fort Benton, Montana, where he was engaged in the livery and feed business until 1906, when he located on a farm about twenty miles southwest of Fort Benton, and there he has since been success- fully engaged in cattle and horse raising. He has taken an active interest in public affairs, and for twelve years he served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Chouteau County, a part of that period as chairman of the board. Politically he is a supporter of the republican party, while his religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Vernon E. Lewis was brought to Montana in early childhood and has therefore been practically a life- long resident of the Treasure State. He received his elementary education in the public schools of Fort Benton, graduating from the high school with: the class of 1904. He then entered Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, where he spent seven years, specializing in literature and graduat- ing with the class of 1910. Then, having deter- mined to make the practice of law his life work, he entered the law department of that institution, graduating with the class of 1912. In December of that year he was admitted to the bar of Montana and at once entered upon the active practice of his profession at Great Falls. A year later, however, he moved to Fort Benton, where he has since remained and where he has achieved a notable suc- cess in the practice. And in all the important liti- gation with which he has been connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to bring discredit upon himself or cast a reflection upon his profession. He has taken an active interest in everything concerning the welfare of. the community with which he has been identified and has been a forceful factor in many moves for the material, moral and educational advancement of his com- munity. He was one of the organizers of the Chou- teau County Bar Association, and was elected secre- tary of the association in 1918.

A republican in his political views, Mr. Lewis has long taken a live interest in public affairs and his abilities have not been without recognition by his fellow. citizens. In November, 1916, he was elected a member of the Lower House of the State Legis- lature, serving one term, during which time he secured the passage of the well-known "Abatement Law." In November, 1918, he was elected to the State Senate. He was made chairman of the com- mittee on labor and capital, and a member of the judiciary and highway committees. He introduced and secured the passage of an amendment to the State Hail Insurance Law, in which the intention is to put the department on a self-sustaining basis. In the special session of July, 1919, he introduced and secured passage of a bill known as the Closed Primary Law, cutting down the expenses of primary elections and otherwise simplifying the old law and

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 32

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