Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 5

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

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ISAAC S. MARTINE is the present sheriff of Teton County. He has been an invaluable public official, and his record in business and in civic affairs has entitled him to the complete confidence of his fellow citizens.

Mr. Martine was born on his father's farm near Sleepy Eye in Brown County, Minnesota, April 20, 1876. His parents were Isaac and Elizabeth (Wer- ring) Martine. His father was born near Rochester, New York, and died in 1897, while his mother is a native of England and is still living in her seventy- seventh year. The parents were married at Racine, Wisconsin. Isaac Martine, Sr., went to Wiscon- · sin when a young man, and left his farm in that · state to enlist in Company F of the Second Wis- Vol. III-2

consin Infantry at the breaking out of the Civil war. He was wounded in the first battle of Bull Run, and was so severely injured that he was in- capacitated for further duty as a soldier and the rest of his life suffered a handicap upon his normal strength and functions. From Wisconsin he moved to Minnesota and was a pioneer in Brown County. He was a republican and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Of his four children three are still living: Isaac S. being the youngest.

Isaac S. Martine grew up in a rural district in Minnesota, attended school in winters, and grad- uated from high school with the class of 1898. For seven years he was a successful teacher in Minne- sota and Idaho. He went to Idaho in 1905 and for two years was connected with the Idaho State Land Board. In 1909 Mr. Martine came to Conrad, Montana, and engaged in the real estate and loan business. He was also head of the police depart- ment of that town. From Conrad he removed to Chotean and in 1915 was appointed deputy sheriff. Later he served two and a half years as deputy county clerk and on November 5, 1918, was elected sheriff of Teton County.

Mr. Martine is affiliated with Choteau Lodge No. 44, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Choteau Chapter No. 25, Royal Arch Masons, Bethany Com- mandery No. 19, Knight Templar, and the Great Falls Consistory, Scottish Rite, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. Politically he is a republican.

July 17, 1900, Mr. Martine married Kathleen Johnson, a native of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. They have seven children : Gladys, Alice, Myrtle, Howard, Ruth, Lucile and James.

PAUL JACOBSON, clerk of the District Court at Choteau, at the time of his death, was a permanent resident of Teton County for many years, and held a number or responsibilities in public affairs.

He was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, April 9, 1875. His parents, Peter F. and Matilda (Quenemoen) Jacobson, were both natives of Nor- way, his father born April 14, 1842, and his mother in 1844. The latter died in 1916. They were mar- ried in Iowa, and of their twelve children eight are still living, Paul being the sixth in age.

Peter F. Jacobson was a prominent pioneer of Minnesota. At the age of fourteen he crossed the Atlantic by sailing ship and after a long voyage he and his widowed mother landed in New York. He came to the years of manhood in Fayette County, Iowa, where he finished his education in American schools. He did some farming on his own account in Iowa, and after his marriage moved to Lac qui Parle County, taking up a Government claim and becoming one of the first settlers in that section. He built a log house with a shingle roof, the first struc- ture of its kind in the county. Besides farming he was also a merchant and for several years was an Indian. trader. He also represented his county in the State Legislature for several terms. Peter Jacobson remained an honored resident of Min- nesota until 1898, when he spent a year in Washing- ton and Oregon and for about a year also lived at Chotean, Montana. He then retired to Billingham, Washington, where he is still living. He is a re- publican in politics. His living children are : Jacob, a native of Iowa; Elizabeth, who was the first white child born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota ; Rachel, Olaf, Marie, John, Martin and Manford.

Paul Jacobson acquired his early education in his native county of Minnesota and lived at home on his father's farm until he was twenty years of age. In 1898 he moved to Washington and Oregon, and

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in June, 1899, located at Choteau, Teton County, Montana. His first employment here was on a ranch. He clerked in local establishments for sev- eral years and in 1904 was appointed under sheriff. He held that office two years and then resumed clerking. He was appointed and served one year as superintendent of weights and measures for Teton county. Following that he was a merchant at Choteau, but in 1912 disposed of his business. He was appointed deputy clerk of the Nineteenth Dis- trict Court. He was chosen clerk of the District Court in 1916 and gave a well ordered and efficient administration of that office from January 1, 1917, until his death, which occurred August 5, 1919. He was a republican and was elected clerk on that ticket.

May 1, 1905, Mr. Jacobson married Miss Blanche Kennedy, a native of Michigan. They had one daughter, Margaret Elizabeth. Mrs. Jacobson was appointed by the Commission to the position of clerk of the District after the death of her husband.

C. H. DRAKE. The gentleman to a brief review of whose life and characteristics the reader's attention is herewith directed is among the foremost business men of Pondera County, and has by his enterprise and progressive methods contributed in a material way to the commercial advancement of the locality. He has in the course of an honorable career been most successful in the business enterprises of which he has been the head and is well deserving of men- tion in the annals of his section of the state.

C. H. Drake is a native son of the Hawkeye state, having been born at Rossville, Fayette Coun- ty, Iowa. His parents were Simeon H. and Cecelia (Henderson) Drake, natives of New York State and the parents of three children. The father died in 1899, when sixty-two years of age, while the mother is still living at the age of eighty-three years. Si- meon H. Drake, who had been a soldier for the Union in the War of the Rebellion, became a phy- sician by profession, having graduated from the Chicago Medical College, now the Medical De- partment of Northwestern University. He first practiced his profession at West Union, Iowa, but later located at Jamestown, North Dakota, and still later at Butte, Montana. His last professional work was at Chotean, Teton County, where he spent his last days. He was a member of the National and State Medical Societies, and was a prominent mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity. In politics he was a republican.

C. H. Drake's first identification with the busi- ness interests of Montana was in 1890, when he en- gaged in the drug business at Butte. Later he opened a drug store at Whitehall and in 1898 en- gaged in the same business at Choteau, Teton Coun- ty. Here he at once assumed a leading place among the business men of his community, and in 1899 he received from President Mckinley an appoint- ment as postmaster of Choteau. and two commis- sions to the same office from President Roosevelt, thus serving three terms and giving entire satis- faction to the patrons of the office. At one time Mr. Drake owned and operated seven different drug stores in Teton County. In 1910 he located in Con- rad, Pondera County, and opened a drug store. He organized the Montana Telephone Company, of which he became secretary and treasurer, and of which line he had been the original builder. Mr. Drake also has extensive farming interests, and his progressive spirit is shown in the fact that he was one of the first men in Pondera County to irrigate his land for agricultural purposes, and has thus

shown the way to greater possibilities for the farmers in this community.

Mr. Drake has been married twice, first to Jessie Dobyns, a native of Kansas, to which union were born two children, Harry H. and Helen H. After the death of his first wife Mr. Drake married Mary H. Conrad, a native of Virginia. In politics Mr. Drake is a republican, and he takes an intelligent in- terest in the trend of public affairs, giving his sup- port at all times to those movements which promise to advance the best interests of the community in which he lives.

GEORGE B. CALVERT. Few citizens of Great Falls are as widely and favorably known as George B. Calvert, one of the most successful builders and contractors in this section of the state and one of the community's most useful and highly esteemed men. His life has become a part of the history of the community in which he has made his home for many years, and his long and honorable business career has brought him before the public in such a way as to gain the esteem and confidence of his fellow men and give him a reputation such as few of his contemporaries have attained. Keen percep- tion, tireless energy and honesty of purpose, com- bined with mature judgment and every-day com- mon sense, have ever been among his most prom- inent characteristics, and while laboring for in- dividual success and for the material interests of the community, he has also been largely instru- mental in promoting the moral welfare of those with whom he has mingled.

'George B. Calvert was born in Lindsey, Ontario, Canada, on June 7, 1866, and is the son of William and Eliza (Holladay) Calvert. William Calvert was an Englishman by nativity, born in 1834, and his death occurred on January 15, 1918, at the age of eighty-four years. When but four years of age he was brought to America by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Calvert, who located in Ontario, Can- ada. . He was there reared and educated, and on attaining maturity he became a building contractor, in which he was fairly successful. He erected the first saw-mill in Ontario. During the building of the great Erie Canal he acted as a foreman. He continued in his line there until the spring of 1880, when he removed to Winnipeg, Canada, and was there occupied as a building contractor up to 1884, when he came to Helena, Montana, and was sim- ilarly occupied for several years. He then located at Anoka, Minnesota, where he was engaged in contracting up to 1888. He then came to Great Falls, and was prominently identified with the building operations of this city and vicinity up to 1907. In that year Mr. and Mrs. Calvert moved to Tacoma, Washington, and there they celebrated the golden anniversary of their marriage on Feb- ruary 16th of that year. They spent their remain- ing days in Tacoma. In Ontario, Canada, Mr. Cal- vert married Eliza Holladay, who was born in the north of Ireland in 1835, and who died in 1914, at the age of seventy-nine years. They became the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom six are now living. Of these children the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth.

George B. Calvert spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and received his education in the public schools of Ontario and Winnipeg. On com- pleting his education he became associated with his father in the contracting business, their relation be- ing maintained from 1889 to 1901, they having come to Montana in August, 1887. Since 1901 Mr. Calvert has carried on his operations alone and has been

W. O. Depter

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

very successful, his operations covering a wide range of country contiguous to Great Falls. During the past two years he has erected all the buildings for the Montana Power Company, including the new sub-station and warehouse, costing about $110,000. He is now building for himself seven houses, all of brick construction and ranging in value from $4,500 to $7,000, and which he expects to sell on comple- tion. He is thoroughly conversant with every de- tail of the various building trades, and is therefore competent to advise prospective builders and save them money. Absolutely honest in all his transac- tions, he has gained an enviable reputation for re- liability and enjoys his full share of the business in his line in this section of the state.

On September 21, 1890, Mr. Calvert was married to Minnie M. Patterson, who was born in Springfield, Illinois, and to them have been born four children, namely: Alice, the wife of Herbert H. Bell, of Dal- las, Texas; Bessie is the wife of R. W. Page, of Great Falls; George C. and Jerald.

Politically Mr. Calvert is a republican and has taken a keen interest in local public affairs, and has served as alderman from the fourth ward, having been first elected in 1910 and serving seven years. Fraternally he is a member of Great Falls Lodge No. 214, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the Woodmen of the World. He is also a member of the Commercial Club and the Rotary Club of Great Falls. Mr. Calvert is a man who would have won his way in any locality where fate might have placed him, for he possesses sound judg- ment, coupled with great energy and business tact, together with upright principles, all of which make for success wherever and whenever they are persist- ently and rightly applied. By reason of these prin- ciples he has won and retains a host of friends throughout this section of the state.

WHEELER O. DEXTER. Nearly sixty years have been numbered with the past since Wheeler O. Dex- ter, a venerable and highly honored citizen of Fort Benton, came to the section of country included within the scope of the present work. Upon his arrival this section of the treasure state was largely an undeveloped region, awaiting the awakening touch of the sturdy pioneer to transform its wild lands into rich farms and beautiful homes, to found cities and towns, to establish churches and schools, and in many other ways to reclaim the country for the use of man. Mr. Dexter well deserves mention with the substantial men of this section of the coun- try, for he has seen and taken part in the work of development, and his reminiscences of the early days here are indeed interesting, so that it is with pleas- ure that a review of his long, interesting and useful career is herewith presented.

Wheeler O. Dexter was born in Steuben County, New York, on July 31, 1843, and is the son of Belal and Annie (Snyder) Dexter, who were both also natives of the great Empire State. The father, was born in 1800, and died on February 15, 1851, and the mother, who was born in 1812, died in 1872, at the age of sixty years. Of their three children the subject of this sketch is the youngest child and the only survivor. He was only seven years old when his father died, so that it became necessary to a certain extent that he should look out for his own welfare. After attending the public schools he entered Ithaca Academy, paying for his board by doing chores. But he was ambitious to secure an education and took advantage of every opportunity to improve his knowledge. The habits then formed have never left Mr. Dexter, who has all his life been a close reader and a keen ohserver of men and

events, so that he is an unusually well informed man on general topics.

On January 4, 1864, Mr. Dexter enlisted in Com- pany F, Sixteenth Regiment New York Heavy Artil- lery, with which he served until mustered out on June 24, 1865. He was on the James River under heavy fire for ten days and saw much arduous serv- ice. For a time, however, he was detached from his command, being detailed as a clerk at headquarters. After his return from military service Mr. Dexter went to the oil fields of Pennsylvania, where he worked for a while, but on June 6, 1866, he went to St. Cloud, Minnesota, and joined the Fisk outfit, who were making ready for a western migration. They were fitted out with a miscellaneous assortment of equipment, including ox teams, mule teams, horse teams and cow teams, but Mr. Dexter rode his own horse. He accompanied the expedition and visited Fort Benton on August 27 and 28, 1866. On the 2d of September following he arrived at Helena, and at once obtained employment as a night clerk in a hotel. Some time later he took the position of en- gineer in a sawmill, having in the meantime erected a cabin. In February, 1867, he became engineer in a quartz mill, where he was employed about a year, and then he engaged in prospecting for coal. He was successful in locating coal on the Missouri River, below Cow Island, and he also engaged in the wood business at Cow Island, having wood yards also along the river from Cow Island to Grand Island and supplying fuel to the steamers plying the river. He later broadened his operations and furnished the boats with meat, having an ice house and han- dling deer, mountain sheep and other game. After the river water was too low in the fall for the river boats, Mr. Dexter hauled passengers to Fort Benton and Helena, and then wintered in the Galla- tin Valley. Later he engaged in threshing, burned charcoal and cut wood, which he hauled to Bozeman and sold. In 1874 he engaged in the meat business at Bozeman, but in the spring of the following year he came to Fort Benton, where he engaged in freighting. He also opened a lumber yard, having a sawmill at Highwood, and in that way proved a godsend to the pioneers. In 1885 and 1886 Mr. Dexter inaugurated two ferries across the river at Great Falls and also built the first steam launch at that place. He also built a ferry on Sun River. In 1877 he bought the first threshing outfit at Fort Benton and did a vast amount of work for the farmers of that section. In 1890 Mr. Dexter took up a homestead and engaged extensively in the breeding and raising of horses, in which he met with splendid success. He has been handling farm machinery, gas engines, stationary engines, marine engines and gen- eral road supplies for several years, and has met with excellent success. He has also given good serv- ice as public administrator, which position he has filled for many years.

During the long period since Mr. Dexter came to this state as a pioneer he has passed through many unusual and interesting experiences, which if col- lected in permanent form would make a most inter- esting and valuable collection of sidelights on the early history of the Northwest. Among the incidents with which he was personally connected, he relates that at one time his horses were stolen by the In- dians. He spent twenty-eight days in the search for them, finally locating them in an Indian camp. It was necessary to secure the help of the Indian agent, who gave the Indians some stores which belonged to them anyhow and so got the horses released. At another time Mr. Dexter was riding across a rough section of the country on a very slow horse, when he came across a bear with two

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cubs. He did his best to spur his horse to quick action, hoping to get away withont attracting the attention of the mother bear. He failed in his at- tempt, but when the horse discovered that the bear was after him he showed a wonderful exhibition of speed, making a runaway of it and leaving Mrs. Bruin far behind. While hunting buffalo for his winter supply of meat in 1875 Mr. Dexter was so unfortunate as to have his entire load of meat upset, a part of the load falling on him in such a way as to crush the bones in his neck, as a result of which he was paralyzed for a considerable length of time.

For a half century Mr. Dexter has been a mem- ber of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and is a life member of Chouteau Lodge No. 25. He is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. His old Civil war associations are kept alive through his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, his local affiliation being with Sheridan Post No. 25 at Great Falls. He retains an active interest in this honored organization and attended the national en- campment of the Grand Army which was held at Columbus, Ohio, in September, 1919. He has played well his part in the drama of civilization and because of his achievements and his sterling qualities of character he enjoys a well-deserved popularity and is eminently entitled to representation in a work of the character of the present volume.

SUMNER ST. CLAIRE FRANKS, agent of the Conti- nental Oil Company at Gilman, is one of the sub- stantial men of the Sun River Valley. He was born at Goldfield, Wright County, Iowa, on April 7, 1866, a son of James L. Franks and grandson of John Franks.

James L. Franks was born at Nottinghamshire, England, in 1818, where he was reared and learned the butchering trade. In 1853 he came to the United States and located in Henry County, Illinois, and there became owner of a coal mine. Later he went to Tama, Iowa, where he engaged in a land busi- ness, but when he went to Goldfield, Iowa, he en- gaged in farming. In 1875 he made another change, going then to Wadena, Minnesota, where he con- tinued to farm until his death in 1898. After com- ing to America he became a republican, and in 1880 was census taker in Wright County, Iowa, and al- ways was prominent in the public affairs of the several communities in which he lived. The Epis- copal church held his membership, and he was con- sistent in living up to its requirements.

The marriage of James L. Franks took place in England, when he was united with a Miss Boote, who bore him the following children: James, who lives near London, England; and John, who was a captain in the English army during the Real Re- bellion in Canada, but of recent years his brother has lost track of his movements. The first Mrs. Franks died in England, and after coming to the United States James L. Franks was married to Mary Ann Burton, born on Staten Island, New York, in 1838, and died at Wadena, Minnesota, in 1904. By this marriage James L. Franks had the following children: Ben Lewis, who is a black- smith of Cohasset, Minnesota; Florence, who mar- ried Alfred J. Caswell, a railroad man of Minne- apolis, Minnesota; Martha Wright, who married · Byron Waite, a farmer of Erie, Illinois; Sumner St. Claire, who was fourth in order of birth, and George, who is a ranch owner, banker and prom- inent citizen of Minnesota.

Sumner S. Franks was educated in the public schools of Goldfield, Iowa, remaining on his father's farm until he was twenty-two years old, at which

time he took a trip through Montana, Idaho, Wash- ington and British Columbia, the date of his first trip to Montana being 1889. In order to support himself on this trip he worked in various lines, and then in 1895 returned to Wadena, Minnesota, and assisted his father for eight years. In June, 1904 he returned to Montana, landing at Augusta on July 4 of that year, and until September 17 worked on neighboring ranches. Once more he returned to Wadena, on account of the illness of his wife, and remained there, working on the farm he owned until her death, which occurred on April 4, 1905. By the end of April of that same year he returned to Augusta and was employed in ranch work, and prospected, mined and acted as a guide in the moun- tains for three years. Then, until the founding of Gilman, Mr. Franks worked in the vicinity of Augusta as a rancher, but when the former place was established in 1912, he became one of its pion- eers and opened up its first restaurant, which he conducted until 1916, when he engaged with the Continental Oil Company and is now its agent for this section of Lewis and Clark County. Until 1919 he was also engaged in freighting, but no longer carried on that business. Although one of the new towns of Montana, Gilman is in a flourishing con- dition, and Mr. Franks is proud of the fact that he did pioneer work here and can lay claim to as- sisting in getting things well started.

In politics Mr. Franks is a republican. He be- longs to the Episcopal Church. Fraternally he is a member of Augusta Lodge No. 54, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Augusta Camp, Modern Woodmen of America. He owns a restaurant lo- cated on Central Avenue, and his residence, which is on the same thoroughfare, has mining interests and is a stockholder in the Wymont Oil and Gas Com- pany. As one of the trustees of the Gilman Park Association he is doing much to afford the people of this community a recreation ground.

Mr. Franks was married in 1898, at Wadena, Minnesota, his wife being a native of Woodside, Oak Valley township, that state. Their only child is Richard L., who was born on May 30, 1902. He attended the Minnesota High School, and is now as- sisting his father. Mr. Franks was married in 19II to Mrs. Harriet Nett, a native of Montana, born at Helena.

EDWIN L. NORRIS. A long chapter of important Montana history was written while Edwin L. Nor- ris was lieutenant governor and governor of the state, a period of eight years.

Governor Norris, who is now one of the esteemed residents of Great Falls, has been in Montana and engaged in the practice of law since the beginning of statehood. In fact he was admitted to the Montana bar about the same time that Montana was admitted to the Union.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 5

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