Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 4

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 4

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Robert S. Tingley, Jr., received his education in the public schools of Fort Benton, his boyhood days being spent under the parental roof. As soon as old enough he became his father's associate in business and continued to be his assistant in all his interests up to the time of his death. The subject then as- sumed the management of the business, to which in 1907 he added the breeding and raising of horses. In 1910 he disposed of the cattle and the oldest stock

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of horses, retaining only the younger and stronger animals. At the present time he is confining his attention to the cultivation of his land and the raising of horses. In 1910 also Mr. Tingley engaged in the livery business in Big Sandy, continuing that line up to 1915, when he disposed of the stable and became the proprietor of the Grand Opera House, since which time he has been interested in the amuse- ment business. He has been successful in all his enterprises and enjoys an excellent reputation as a far-sighted and shrewd business man, whose judg- ment is seldom at fault, and whose success is due largely to the energy, determination and perseverance of his methods.

Mr. Tingley was married on October 5, 1898, to Jeannette A. Rutan, who was born in Indiana, the daughter of Charles F. and Elizabeth Rutan. The father is a native of Massachusetts, but now makes his home in Los Angeles, California. His wife is a native of Indiana. Mrs. Tingley is the eldest of their three children, two of whom are living. To the subject and wife have been born two children, Lorain M. and Orville M.

Politically Mr. Tingley is not bound by party lines, preferring to vote for men and measures which meet with his approval, regardless of party. Fraternally he is a member of Treasure Lodge No. 95, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Quiet and unostenta- tious in manner, he nevertheless has left a strong impress of his individuality upon all with whom he has come into contact. He is public spirited and lends his support to any cause that. has for its ultimate object the betterment of his locality in material, civic and moral lines.

H. F. NELSON. Financial and lumber interests have a worthy and efficient representative at Willow Creek in the person of H. F. Nelson, who has been a resident of this locality since 1914, and who during the time that has passed since then has been an im- portant factor in the development and progress of this section. A man of sound judgment and great energy, it has been his fortune to have been the architect of his own prosperity, for each upward step in his career has been gained through his own effort and as a result of his intelligent application of his inherent abilities.

Mr. Nelson was born in Inwood County, Iowa, February 13, 1880, a son of Peter and Julia (Schneider) Nelson, and a grandson of Halver Nel- son, of Norwegian descent. Halvor Nelson, who for some years was a farmer in the vicinity of Clare- mont, Iowa, retired from active pursuits in 1896 and went to California, where his death occurred. Peter Nelson was born in 1858, in Iowa, and for some years was engaged in farming in Inwood County, which was the county of his rearing, edu- cation and marriage. In 1881 he removed to Nora Springs, that state, where he owned and operated a flour mill, but in 1893 went to Minneapolis, Minne- sota, where after some years he retired. In 1902 he made removal to Los Angeles, California, where he is still living in comfortable retirement. He is a republican, and he and Mrs. Nelson are members of the Congregational Church. They are the parents of two children, H. F. and William H., the latter a real estate operator of Porterville, California.

H. F. Nelson was educated in the public schools of Minneapolis, Minnesota, following which he attended a business college in that city for two years, and when he left that institution in 1899 he secured employment in a lumber yard. In 1902 he went with his parents to Los Angeles, where he was variously employed, packing oranges, etc., for two years, then locating at Millbank, South Dakota, where he was proprietor of a clothing business until

1914. In that year he came to Willow Creek, Mon- tana, and here founded his present lumber yard, situated along the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks, the only yard of its kind here. The company, of which he is president, is known as the Nelson-Thorn- dyke Company, his partner being Eugene Thorndyke. With Mr. Thorndyke, also, he founded the Willow Creek State Bank, a successful institution with a capital of $20,000 and surplus of $9,000, the officers of which are: F. B. Roberts, president; H. F. Nel- son, vice president; and Eugene Thorndyke, cashier. The banking house, situated on Main Street, is built of cement blocks and is one of the community's imposing structures. The Nelson-Thorndyke Com- pany handles lumber, hardware and everything in the building line, and does a thriving business under able and energetic management. Mr. Nelson is the owner of a modern residence on Main Street and two ranches of 960 acres on the South Bench of Gallatin County, and with Mr. Thorndyke owns other ranches to the extent of 930 acres in Gallatin and Jefferson counties. Mr. Nelson is a stanch republi- can and takes a good citizen's interest in public affairs and has been a supporter of numerous move- ments tending toward civic betterment. Fraternally lie is affiliated with Millbank (South Dakota) Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Millbank Chapter, Royal Arch Masons.

Mr. Nelson was married at Los Angeles, Califor- nia, in 1903, to Miss Lois Robertson, who was horn in that city and attended high school there, and they are the parents of three children : Bernice, born in 1906; Robert, born in 1908; and Richard Peter, born in IgII.

ARTHUR E. McFATRIDGE, clerk of the State Board of Examiners of Montana, has spent the greater part of his active life in educational work. He was an Indiana teacher, and left his native state to enter the service of the Indian Department as a teacher in Government schools. This work brought him to Montana about ten years ago, and in 1917 he was appointed to his present responsibilities by the State Board of Examiners.

Mr. McFatridge was born in Ripley County, In- diana, May 9, 1867. His paternal ancestors were Scotch-Irish and his great-grandfather came to this country from the north of Ireland. His father, John McFatridge, was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1832 and spent all his life in Jefferson and Ripley counties. He was a skilled blacksmith, and made that trade the chief means of providing for his family. He died in Ripley County January 27, 1898. He was an active supporter of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church and was affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows. John McFatridge married Nancy Wyatt, who was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1836, and died in Ripley County in June, 1909. They had a large family of children: Mary A., wife of James O. Milligan, a carpenter and builder in Ripley County; George W., a farmer who died in Jackson County, Indiana; Cynthia, wife of William H. Murdock, a railroad man living in Ripley County; John H., who is employed by the Hamil- ton-Brown Shoe Company and lives at St. Louis ; Etta, wife of Frank Heaton, a Ripley County farmer; Arthur E .; Charles A., stone sawyer by trade, living at Springfield, Illinois; Cora, of In- dianapolis, widow of E. E. Jackson, who was a loco- motive engineer: Lelia, who died in Ripley County, wife of Harry Chaille, a resident of Cincinnati.

Arthur E. McFatridge was educated in the rural schools of Ripley County, graduated from high school at Holton, Indiana, in 1885, and prepared for his profession in the Southern Indiana Normal Col-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

lege at Mitchell. He remained there until within half a term of graduation. His work as a teacher in the public schools of Indiana covered a period of ten years. For the last two years he was prin- cipal of schools at Holton, but resigned in January, 1898, to enter the Government service as an Indian teacher. He spent four years in the Indian schools of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He was then promoted to inspector of Indian day schools, and continued that work on the Rosebud Reserva- tion about four years. For two years and two months he had charge of the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska, and for three years was Indian agent on the Umatilla Reservation near Pendleton, Ore- gon. In 1910 Mr. McFatridge came to Montana as agent on the Blackfoot Reservation at Browning, an office he filled five years. Mr. McFatridge in 1915 founded the Browning Review on the Black- foot Reservation, and was editor and publisher of that newspaper two years.

He then came to Helena to accept the appointment as clerk to the State Board of Examiners, and has his offices in the State Capitol. This board is the purchasing agency for all state supplies and also audits all claims against the state. Mr. McFatridge is a republican in politics, a member of the Christian Church and has been an Odd Fellow thirty-two years and a Mason since 1899. He is affiliated with Eureka Lodge of Odd Fellows at Pendleton, Oregon, and also maintains his Masonic Lodge connections at Pendleton. He is a member of Helena Consis- tory No. 3 of the Scottish Rite and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. Mr. McFatridge is a member of the Helena Commercial Club and the Young Men's Christian Association. He and his family reside at 736 Sixth Avenue. He married at Holton, Indiana, in 1890, Miss Clara Cox, daughter of Squire and Martha (Murdock) Cox. Her mother is still living in Ripley County, where her father, a farmer, died. Mrs. McFatridge is a graduate of the Holton High School in Indiana. They have one son, Leslie V., who was born July 9, 1891, and is one of the successful young business men of Mon- tana. He graduated from the high school at Pen- dleton, Oregon, and is now manager of a large mercantile establishment at Big Sandy.

HARLON L. HART. Few names are more deservedly prominent in the official and business life of Helena and Montana than that of Harlon L. Hart, the present state treasurer. He was elected to that office in 1916, and entered upon its duties on the Ist of January, 1917, for a term of four years. His offices are located in the State Capitol Building.

Mr. Hart traces descent in direct line to John Alden, and on the paternal side belongs to a family which came from England to Massachusetts in the early history of the country. He was born in Peru, Vermont, July 15, 1874, and his father, Eli R. Hart, was from New Hampshire, born at Swanzey in the state in 1837, and he died at LaPorte, Indiana, in October, 1915. He was reared in the City of Swan- zey and its vicinity, but after his marriage was a resident of Vermont, spending the most of the time while in the latter state at Bellows Falls and White River Junction, and was foreman of furniture or chair factories at both places. In 1882 he left Ver- mont to become a resident of Euclid, Ohio, where he was made manager of the extensive farming prop- erty of Leland Brothers, well known hotel proprie- tors at that time. In 1888 Mr. Hart removed to Hot Springs, Virginia, to take charge of the plan- tation in connection with the large hotel there, spend- ing three years there, and then went north to La- Porte, Indiana, where he was made manager of the

large wheel factory of the Niles & Scott Company, the largest factory of its kind in the world at that time. Mr. Hart spent the remainder of his life at LaPorte. He was an honored veteran of the Civil war, having served in Company H, First Vermont Heavy Artillery. He enlisted for the service as a private, and was mustered out with the rank of captain. During his army service he was captured by the Confederates and spent fourteen months in prison, of which eight months were spent in the notorious Libby Prison, suffering all of its horrors and privations. The republican party had in Mr. Hart a worthy supporter, and for two terms he rep- resented his district in the Vermont State Legis- lature. In the Masonic fraternity he gained the thirty-second degree, and he was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Eli R. Hart was married at White River Junc- tion, Vermont, to Augusta Wright, who was born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1838, and died at Buhl, Idaho, in 1917. Eight children were born to bless this union, as follows: Edgar, who died in an epidemic of scarlet fever during the time his father was confined as a prisoner of war at Libby Prison; Herbert and Herman, who were also vic- tims of the same terrible scarlet fever epidemic, and Addie was the fourth of the family to become its victim, and all of these four children died during their father's confinement in Libby Prison. The fifth born, Belle, died in Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of sixteen years. Stella married Edgar Van Riper and resides at Buhl, Idaho, where Mr. Van Riper is a farmer. In 1917 she was grand matron of the Order of Eastern Star for the State of Idaho, Leon, the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Hart, died of in- fluenza at LaPorte, Indiana, in 1919. He was a gar- dener and the owner of a large greenhouse.

Harlon L. Hart, the sixth in age in the above family, attended the public schools of Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland, through the common grades, and later graduated from the high school at LaPorte, Indiana, while in 1913 he graduated from the La- Porte Business College. Returning then to Cleve- land, Ohio, as court reporter for the firm of Squier, Sanders & Dempsey, he spent two years in that capacity, and then went to Chicago for the S. K. Martin Lumber Company, the largest corporation of its kind in the United States at that time. Mr. Hart served that company as a stenographer for a short time, leaving it to become associated with the Alexander & Edgar Lumber Company at Iron River, Wisconsin, for whom he traveled for nine years through the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan, his territory practically comprising the central states. In 1904 Mr. Hart went to Mason, Wisconsin, as assistant manager of the White River Lumber Company, at that time operators of the largest mill east of the Rocky Mountains, with a capacity of 500,000 feet of lumber a day. He re- mained with this company until they finished sawing all of their timber and resigned from their employ in September, 1907.

. It was at this time that Mr. Hart became asso- ciated. with the life and interests of Montana. Many years of hard work had broken down his health, and he came to Montana to find renewed vigor in this free and open country. Locating near the Town of Hamilton in the Bitter Root Valley, he purchased a ranch there, but was soon called from its work to assume official duties, for in the fall of 1912 he was elected to the office of treasurer of Ravelli County and re-elected to that position in the fall of 1914. He served four years as a county treasurer, and had the distinction of being the only republican elected on the county ticket in 1912.

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After the expiration of his duties as a county official Mr. Hart was awarded higher honors and was made the state treasurer of Montana. He is an efficient worker in the ranks of the republican party, is a member of the Baptist Church and has gained a high place in Masonry. He belongs to Ionic Lodge No. 38, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Ham- ilton, of which he is a past master, is a past high priest of Hamilton Chapter No. 18, Royal Arch Masons, is a member of Helena Council No. I, Royal and Select Masters, a member of Crusade Commandery No. 17, Knights Templar, at Hamilton, member of . Bagdad Temple, Ancient and Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine at Butte, and a member of Helena Consistory No. 3, thirty-second degree. He is at the present time grand junior deacon of the Grand Lodge of Montana, grand mas- ter of the Third Veil -of the Grand Chapter of Montana, and grand patron of the Order of Eastern Star of Montana. He is a member and a past patron of Leona Chapter No. 31 of the Order of Eastern Star at Hamilton.

Mr. Hart sold his ranch in 1919, and the family home is at 837 Sixth Avenue, Helena. He was married at LaPorte, Indiana, in 1894, to Miss Bertha E. Crowl, a daughter of J. O. and Jennie Crowl, who still reside in the City of LaPorte, where the father is a retired farmer. Mrs. Hart is a graduate of the LaPorte High School. Three chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hart. The oldest, Lester O., born in 1896, enlisted in the Regular Army in 1916, and has been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. He was with the Third United States Engineers in Honolulu, and during the World war was an instructor at Camp Johnson, Jacksonville, Florida. The second son, Lynden, died at the age of seven years. Russell H., born January 2, 1900, enlisted for service in the. World war in Aviation Corps No. 674, Aerial Squadron, was sent overseas to England, and remained there with a flight squad- ron, testing aeroplanes. He is a skilled mechanic, and is now associated with the Baird & Harper Lum- ber Company at Warland, Montana.

CHARLES H. REIFENRATH was born in Waukegan, Illinois, October 22, 1878, but has been a resident of Helena, Montana, during the greater part of his life. For many years he has been a leading news- paper man in the city, and is regarded as one of its most public-spirited citizens. At present he is the owner of the Northwestern Stockman and Farmer and general manager of the Montana Record-Herald.

Mr. Reifenrath's father, Herman Reifenrath, was born in Germany in 1832, and died at Helena, Mon- tana, in February, 1918. Coming to the United States as a young man, he settled near the City of Waukegan, Cook County, Illinois, and there married Eliza Ann Gartley, who died at Helena in 1914, and by whom Mr. Reifenrath had six children: Minnie, who married Mr. Carson, now at Manila, Philippine Islands ; Ella, married to James H. Bondy, of Great Falls, Montana; Gertrude, married to John F. Davis, an attorney of Spokane, Washington; William, who was killed in a railroad wreck at De Hart, Montana ; Anna, the wife of Wallace D. Coburn, of Hollywood, California; and Charles H., the youngest of the six children.

Herman Reifenrath was for many years sta- tionmaster, first in Chicago for the Northwestern Railroad, and after having been with the same rail- road in Minneapolis, Minnesota, came to Helena, Montana, in 1885 as station master for the Northern Pacific Railroad, from which position he retired in 1915.

In the course of an unusually busy life, Charles

H. Reifenrath has held many positions of trust and importance as an employe of several large concerns, working up from the beginning of the newspaper business to the head of it.

In 1904 he purchased an interest in the North- western Stockman and Farmer, which he now owns. This paper was established. in 1890 by Russell B. Harrison, a son of former president Benjamin B. Harrison.

In 1914 Mr. Reifenrath, in company with Dr. O. M. Lanstrum, George Mayors, Con Hildebrand and Frank Whalen, organized the Record Printing Com- pany, and became the active manager of that con- cern on January 1, 1916, when he likewise became general manager of the Montana Daily Record. The name of this paper was changed in 1916 to the Montana Record-Herald. It is a republican paper, recognized as the leading republican paper of the State of Montana, being also by way of succession from the Radiator, established in 1865, the oldest paper in the state.

As a leading republican Mr. Reifenrath has been chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Lewis and Clark County, and in 1900 was a candi- date for treasurer. He is a member of the Episco- pal Church, and of King Solomon Lodge No. 9. Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Helena Chap- ter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; Helena Comman- dery No. 2, Knights Templar; Algeria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and Helena Lodge No. 193, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is also a member of the Mon- tana Club, the Rotary Club, and the Helena Com- mercial Club, of which last organization he has been a director.

Mr. Reifenrath was married to Miss Grace Mable Wilson in 1907, who was born in Mankato, Minne- sota. Before her marriage she taught music in the public schools of Helena.

They have three children, Charles H., Jr., Wil- son G. and Elizabeth, and occupy a modern resi- dence at 731 Stewart Street, Helena.

JAMES TRAVIS, one of the leading men of Cascade, has been associated with much of the development of this part of the West, and is one of the most highly respected citizens of the state, as well as one of its pioneers. He was born in Somersetshire, England, September 10, 1852, a son of James and Elizabeth (Holland) Travis, both natives of Som- ersetshire, he being born in 1827 and she in 1830. His death occurred when he was seventy-four years old, and hers when she was seventy. They had eight children, of whom five are now living, James Travis being the eldest of the family. By trade a blacksmith, James Travis, the elder, followed his calling in England until 1871, but in that year came to the United States and was engaged in prospect- ing and mining in the vicinity of Helena, Montana, where he spent the remainder of his life. In religi- ous faith he was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. After obtaining his papers of citizen- ship he espoused the principles of the republican party, and held to them the rest of his life.

James Travis, whose name heads this review, at- tended the public schools of England, and a night school at Helena, Montana. In 1869 he left England for Quebec, Canada, on the steamship Astoria, and after a short period spent in Quebec he went to Montreal, and then came to the United States, New York City being his first stop. From there he came West to Laramie, Wyoming, by rail. At that point he drove six yoke of oxen and traveled overland with them to Helena, Montana, being three months on the trip. Reaching Helena, he was en-

James Travis Jane Travis)

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

gaged in prospecting and placer mining on Ten Mile Creek until the fall of 1874 when he made a trip to Chestnut Valley, and for about two months was en- gaged there in hunting buffalo and looking the land over. He then returned to Helena and went into quartz mining. In 1885 he sold his mining interests and came back to Chestnut Valley to engage in the cattle industry, at one time having as many as 2,000 head of cattle. At present he owns and controls about 2,000 acres of land, and is still interested in stockraising on an extensive scale. In 1909 he ran for state representative on the republican ticket, and was beaten by only two votes. He and the candidate on the democratic ticket agreed before election that there would be no contest, so no recount was taken of the votes. For about forty years Mr. Travis has been a member of the school board, and has done much to improve the educational advantages offered the children of this section. In addition to owning a large amount of property at Cascade, Mr. Travis built and owns a large brick garage, and is a heavy stockholder of the Cascade Co-operative Association.

In 1885 Mr. Travis was married to Jennie Winmill, who died in 1891, leaving two children, namely: Ida, who is the wife of Christie Johnson and has three children, two sons and one daughter; and Addie, the younger of the two sisters, married Leo Shefieer, of Helena. In 1892 Mr. Travis was mar- ried to Jennie Perrine, born in Washington County, Iowa, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Arnold.) Perrine. James Perrine was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, in 1800, and died in 1886. aged eighty-six years. His wife was born near Steubenville, Ohio, in 1824, and died in 1886, aged sixty-two years, having borne her husband seven children, four of whom are living. Mr. Perrine came to Ohio in 1839, where he remained for some years, and then went to Washington County, Iowa, and there died. In politics he was a whig. By his second marriage Mr. Travis has a daughter, Eliza- beth Ann. She married John E. Day, and they have three children, one daughter and two sons.

James Travis did not advance from the poor young prospector to the man of ample means and large interests without hard work and the exercise of shrewd common sense. Early in life he recognized the fact that unless he was willing to work he could not hope to advance, and never spared him- self during his earlier days, but steadily forged ahead until he was able to acquire a sufficient amount to make substantial investments. Since coming to Cascade he has interested himself in developing this region, and to him a large amount of credit is due for the present prosperous condition. As a republican he has worked for his party, and is one of its leaders in the city and county. Such men as he are a valued addition to any community with which they cast their lot, and Cascade recognizes its obligation to him.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 4

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