Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 87

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 87

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Politically Mr. Prestbye is nominally a democrat, though he is broad minded and liberal, especially in local public affairs, in which he takes an intelli- gent interest. While a student in the university Mr. Prestbye was selected by the student body as manager of the Associated Students, which meant that to him was entrusted the management of prac- tically all of their affairs in almost every depart- ment of the school activities, including athletics, literary and social interests. He performed the duties of that responsible position to the entire sat- isfaction of the students, and in later years will be kindly remembered by them, for to many of them he was more like a brother and friend than a mere official. He has carried into his business life the same splendid qualities which characterized him at school, and is therefore deservedly popular among those who know him, his friends being in number as his acquaintances.

As a lawyer Mr. Prestbye evinces a familiarity with legal principles and a ready perception of facts, together with the ability to apply the one to the other, which has won him the reputation of a sound and safe practitioner. In discussions of the prin- ciples of law he is noted for clearness of statement and candor; he seeks faithfully for firm ground, but his zeal for a client never leads him to urge an argument. which in his judgment is not in harmony with the law, so that he has won the mutual respect of his brethren of the bar and the confidence of the public.

MRS. LYDIA EMERSON, who is the beloved matron of the Montana Soldiers Home at Columbia Falls,

is a pioneer Montana woman and has lived in this territory and state since she was nine years of age. At that time her parents, Solomon and Elizabeth Wiles moved from Afton, Iowa, where she was born, to Virginia City, Montana, and Mrs. Emer- son has always counted Virginia City as her per- manent home. She was educated there in the high school. She became the wife of Frank Emerson at Virginia City. He was also a native of Iowa. To their marriage were born two children, Charles and Rena, the latter now deceased. Charles was educated in Virginia City and Twin Bridges, and is a prosperous rancher of Madison County, Mon- tana.

Mr. and Mrs. Emerson were married ten years when death overtook him in his labors. He was a good man, mourned by a large circle of friends, and was a kind husband and father. Mrs. Emerson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Helena and fraternally is affiliated with the Degree of Honor. She is independent .in her political af- filiations.

After the death of her husband she lived five years in Virginia City and then removed to Twin Bridges, where for nine years she was cottage matron at the State Orphans Home. She resigned that office to accept the position at Helena as matron of the Montana Wesleyan College. . She was there five years, resigning to become matron of the Mon- tana Soldiers Home in 1919. She therefore entered upon her present duties with abundance of expe- rience and the qualifications of tact, good adminis- trative ability, and the courtesy, refinement and at- tractive hospitality which make her the source of the spirit of sociability and good cheer which radi- ates through that institution.

OSCAR O. BARNES, whose address is the Montana Soldiers Home at Columbia Falls, was a Union sol- dier for four years and is also a Montana home- steader.

He was born in Wilmot Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1840, a son of Reuben and Anna Aurora (Spring) Barnes. He was not yet twenty-one years of age when he was mustered into the service of the Union army Sep- tember 5, 1861, at Roxborough, Pennsylvania, as a member of Company A. He and four companions were the first men mustered into the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania Infantry. Later he was transferred to Company B, and after drilling at Roxborough was sent to Fortress Monroe under command of General Wool. He was at Newport News and Hampton Roads, participating in the capture of Nor- folk, and helped garrison that city. He was also engaged in skirmishes on the Blackwater River and built the defenses for Suffolk which enabled General Peck to hold that town against the enemy during the following winter. On December 30, 1862, he was discharged for re-enlistment at Wash- ington, North Carolina, and at once re-enlisted in the same company and regiment, dating from Jan- uary I, 1863, for a period of three years or during the war. He was to have received $400 in bounty and thirty-five days' furlough. In the meantime he was sent to New Bern, North Carolina, and helped hold various sections of that state. May 1, 1864, he joined Butler's command at Bermuda Hundred, Virginia, and was in the battle of Drury's Bluff and then joined Grant at Cold Harbor and par- ticipated in the great battle of that place on June 3rd. He was soon afterward transferred to City Point, Virginia, and was in the siege of Petersburg. On account of doctor's orders he was out of active service until November 8, 1864, and when he re-

Richard Gring & Family

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

turned he was employed in making out payrolls, assisting as hospital steward, and helped carry away the dead and wounded from the field of Cold Har- bar. He was always a vigilant and useful soldier. In one battle a sharpshooter had been making havoc of Union officers. Mr. Barnes put his hat on a stick, and after drawing the sharpshooter's fire located the enemy and shot him out of a tree. He was in the first brigade that entered the City of Richmond. In the meantime he had been advanced from private to second sergeant. His last battle was at Peters- burg, and on January 26, 1866, he was mustered out and honorably discharged at Philadelphia. In the latter month of his service he was detailed to take a colored census in Virginia, and also worked for' the Freedmen's Bureau at Charlottsville, serving as justice of the peace and being detailed to col- lect property for the Government.

March 15, 1870, he married Frances Wright, a native of Pennsylvania and daughter of Thomas J. Wright. Mr. and Mrs. Barnes had ten children, one of whom died in infancy and one at the age of fifteen. The children in order of birth were: Archie W., Mand, deceased, Maud E., Carson H., Anna H., George O., Doyle, deceased, Glen A., Donald R. and Tracy B. Archie was a pay clerk and first lieutenant in the Spanish-American war, and has been in the United States Navy since 1898, being on board the supply ship Rainbow during the World war, and was on the first vessel that passed through the Pan- ama Canal after the big slide. He is now stationed at Newport, Rhode Island.

The mother of these children died in Pennsyl- vania, and later Mr. Barnes married Mrs. Anna (Hawkes) Mosher, a native of Cold Spring, New York, and daughter of Caleb and Anna ( Denning) Hawkes. Her first husband was W. H. Mosher, by whom she had two children, B. W. and A. L. Mosher. Mrs. Barnes is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Barnes has been affiliated with the Masonic Order since 1868, and in politics is a re- publican.

His son Archie Barnes married Miss Lida Wil- liams and has a daughter, Frances. His daughter Maud is the wife of Weller S. Fox and has a son, Ralph. Anna H. is the wife of Frank Hughes, and her two daughters are Hazel and Genevieve. George O. married Josie Kane, of Washington, D. C., where he is employed in the Redemption Bureau in the Treasury Department, and their four children are George A., Mary E., Edward O. and Eugene Kane. Donald married Esther Peterson, of North Dakota.

B. W. Mosher, Mrs. Barnes' son by her first marriage, married Mary Clift, and has two chil- dren, Benjamin, Jr., and Mary. A. L. Mosher mar- ried Elizabeth Voigt and has a daughter, Ruth:

Toward the end of the Civil war Mr. Barnes was offered a commission in the regular army if he would accept a commission as lieutenant colonel of a regiment of colored troops. He declined, prefer- ring to stay with his old company and comrades, with whom he had experienced and shared so much fighting and hardship. Altogether he was in the army four years, four months and nineteen days. Although he never sought office, after his marriage in 1870 he served as a school director seventeen years, as road supervisor eleven years, as road commissioner eight years and as justice of the peace two years.

Mr. and Mrs. Barnes came to Montana in 1910, at the opening of the Flathead Reservation, and proved up a homestead on the Kootenai River.

RICHARD GREIG. Another of the sterling sons of bonnie Scotland who left his native brakes and

braes for our land of greater opportunity, and, on investigation, decided that Montana appealed to him in a way that no other section did, is Richard Greig, of Flathead County, a man who, owing to his habits of industry, frugality, fortitude and un- bending integrity, would have succeeded in any por- tion of the great western republic. He has never sought to be a leader in the affairs of this locality, merely striving to live up to the standard of good citizenship and make a comfortable living; and, while revering the memory of his native land, as is quite natural and right, he has, nevertheless, been most loyal to our flag and institutions, and he is rightly given a place among our representative citizens.

Richard Greig was born in Scotland, the son of Michael and Isabel (Marr) Greig. He was reared and educated in his native country, but at the age of twenty-three years, desiring greater opportuni- ties for advancement, he came to the United States. After briefly canvassing the situation he decided that the great Northwest offered the greatest at- traction to him and he at once came to Montana, locating in the Flathead Valley. He filed on a pre- emption claim of 160 acres lying south of Kalis- pell, and there at once engaged in farming and in the improvement of the property. He was success- ful from the beginning of his efforts, so that in 1885 he was enabled to buy a fine ranch about 21/2 miles west of Kalispell, which he has made his per- manent home and where he is still residing. He built a fine residence, very picturesquely located on a commanding elevation, from which an unexcelled view can be had of the surrounding country. One of the pleasing features of the home property, and a source of supply as well, is the fine large fish pond, covering about two acres, which Mr. Greig created several years ago. He stocked the pond with eastern brook trout, of the speckled variety, which have thrived and multiplied, so that any time fresh fish is desired for the table it can be had with little trouble. Mr. Greig also erected a water wheel and dynamo, and equipped his home and barns with electric wires. For about ten years he enjoyed electric light of his own creation, but later the City of Kalispell carried electric current to the country homes and he is using the municipal current.

Mr. Greig is engaged in general farming and stock raising, in which he has been remarkably success- ful. At present he is giving special attention to the raising of purebred Shropshire sheep, he hav- ing recognized the fact that high-grade sheep of the more desirable breeds are commanding top prices in the stock markets of the country. The most successful farmers of Montana are waking up to this important fact and are the gainers thereby. Mr. Greig also specializes in the raising of alfalfa hay, of which he has cut 250 tons in one year from eighty-five acres of land. This land is irrigated by an electric centrifugal pump, which raises 1,500 gallons of water per minute, and in addition he irrigates 150 acres of land which he and his brothers, Michael and David, own near Kalispell. These few details of the methods followed by Mr. Greig will indicate to some degree the progressive character of his work and will explain the secret of the splendid success which has rewarded him for the inde- fatigable efforts he has expended here.

On March 22, 1910, Richard Greig was married to Mary Saunders, a native of the State of Mis- souri, and a daughter of Stratford and Minta (Law- son) Saunders. To this union have been born two children, Richard and Minta, who are attending the public schools of Kalispell.

Politically Mr. Greig is nominally a democrat,

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

but he is independent insofar that he reserves the right to vote and support the men and measures which most nearly meet his approval, regardless of party lines. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Greig are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Kalispell, and their support is always given to every movement for the advancement of the high- est and best interests of the community. They are especially interested in the great cause of prohi- bition, and are gratified to know that the doom of the liquor traffic has been sounded. Mr. Greig is an ardent supporter of advanced educational ideas and has served efficiently as a member of the Kalis- pell School Board. He firmly believes that it is a false economy to employ cheap teachers, for our boys and girls are entitled to the very best educa- tional facilities that can be afforded. Mrs. Greig is a well educated, broad minded American woman of progressive type, who also believes in the best things for the rising generation. She took a prom- inent and effective part in the work of the Red Cross during the recent World war. She and her husband have been witnesses of and to a large ex- tent participants in the wonderful transformation that has taken place in the Flathead Valley, one of the choicest spots in Montana-a transformation that would have been thought impossible only a few years ago, for it does not seem so many years ago that this particular section of country was characterized by sparse settlements, log cabins, In- dians and wild game. They look back with justifiable pride to the rather strenuous part they played in the events of those early years and feel that they have honestly earned the prosperity which is now theirs to enjoy.

LEW SWITZER is one of the veteran merchants of Montana, and for a quarter of a century or more has been identified with the business and civic affairs of Kalispell. He is proprietor of the leading furni- ture business in the Flathead country, and has a store building 50 by 140 feet, basement and mezza- nine floor, completely filled with a well selected stock of furniture and all goods for household furnishing.

Mr. Switzer was born in Grant County, Indiana, a son of David and Esther (Parrill) Switzer. He was educated in his native state, lived there to the age of twenty-four, and coming west was employed in a hardware business at Helena and later at Mis- soula. In March, 1891, the company sent him to establish a branch store at Demersville, and in No- vember, 1892, he came to Kalispell. He continued with his former employers at Kalispell until March I, 1907, when he engaged in the furniture business for himself. By strict application, economy and ability he has developed the largest trade in his line in this section of the state.

Mr. Switzer married Miss Blanche Ames, a daughter of I. J. Ames, who was a veteran of the Civil war. They have one daughter, Kate, now the wife of H. V. Alward. Mr. and Mrs. Alward's three children are Kate, Lewis and Herbert V. Mr. Switzer is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Elks, and his wife is a member of Christ's Church at Kalispell.

WILLIAM F. WINKELMANN, known to the com- munity of Savage and throughout Richland County as a merchant, banker and representative business man and public citizen, was born at Holloway, Swift County, Minnesota, August 12, 1880. Although the family home was on a farm and he was reared among its environments, his father, Fred C. Winkel- mann, was a business man in Holloway, and the son received his educational training in that town.

From high school he entered the Eclectic Business College at Minneapolis, and completed his educa- tional training in the Martin Luther College of New Ulm, Minnesota.

Fred C. Winkelmann, his father, and now a re- tired business man of Holloway, Minnesota, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, in 1855, and was a lad of eleven years when with the family he immigrated to the United States. Their first home in this country was at Golden Gate, between Sleepy- eye and New Ulm, Minnesota, but with the build- ing of the railroad to St. Paul they removed to that place, and it was there that Fred C. Winkel- mann reached manhood's estate and completed his limited educational training. He early became fa- miliar with the language of his adopted country by his own unaided efforts, and he began life's ac- tivities as a laborer, but in a short time he took a homestead in Swift County, from the proceeds of which he gained the capital to engage in his mer- cantile business at Holloway. He became a repub- lican voter, and the only political office in which he ever served was a township position.

Fred C. Winkelmann married Louisa Lenz, who was born in Germany in 1857, and was twelve years of age when she crossed the ocean to the United States. The children born of their marriage are: William F., the well known business man of Savage; Fred C., whose home is still in Holloway, Min- nesota; Otto, of Hingham, Montana; Annie, wife of Carl A. Suckow, also of Holloway; Ida, who became the wife of August Kohlmann at Ana- moose, North Dakota; Earl, who resides in Hol- loway; Minnie, the wife of Fred Stotts, of Gild- ford, Montana; Bertha, who married Harry Fischer, of Holloway; Amelia, the wife of Fred Schlieman, of Fairfield, Minnesota; and Augusta, who is mar- ried and lives in Holloway.

After leaving the school room William F. Winkel- mann was his father's bookkeeper for several years at Holloway, Minnesota. From there he went as a homesteader to North Dakota, settling and proving up a claim near Sherwood, and on leaving the claim he went to Garrison, North Dakota, and en- tered the banking business. During six years he served the First State Bank as its cashier, and while at 'Garrison he served in the office of Mayor for one term.

On the 4th day of March, 1912, Mr. Winkelmann arrived in Savage, Montana, at once resuming the banking business and organizing the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, which opened its doors to the public on the Ioth of June of that year. The bank was capitalized at $20,000, and officered with J. W. Boock as president, W. K. Adams, vice presi- dent, and W. F. Winkelmann, cashier. In July, 1918, Mr. Winkelmann sold his interest in this bank- ing institution, at which time he was serving it as vice president, and at the same time he also dis- posed of his interest in the First State Bank of Lambert, Montana, which had been organized in 1913 and of which he was also the vice president.

While still engaged with his banking interests Mr. Winkelmann organized the Savage Lumber Company, being still its secretary-treasurer and a member of its directing board, but the corporation is now known as the Standard Mercantile Com- pany of Lambert, Montana. On the 14th of June, 1916, Mr. Winkelmann was instrumental in the or- ganization of the Standard Mercantile Company of Richey, Montana, and is the present secretary and a director of the company. The Savage Hardware Company, which was organized on the Ist of March, 1916, is one of the leading business houses of Savage and Richland County, capitalized at $30,000, and

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

William F. Winkelmann is serving the company as its president, with Stanley Christilaw as the secre- tary. The company also handles implements and furniture.

When Mr. Winkelmann arrived at the age of maturity he gave his allegiance to the republican party, casting his first vote for Johnson as gov- ernor of the state, and his first presidential vote was given to Colonel Roosevelt. His first public service as an official began as a school officer at Garrison, North Dakota, and he afterward served . as a member of the Town Council and finally as mayor of Garrison, holding the last named office one term. He has the distinction of being the first chairman of the Richland County Republican Cen- tral Committee, finally resigning that office, and he was a delegate to the county convention at Sidney and was the party nominee for state senator in 1918, but lost to his League opponent.

Mr. Winkelmann has built two of the homes of Savage. His own residence, built in 1913, is mod- ern throughout and is a convenient, well arranged house of nine rooms. He was married at Kandiyohi, Minnesota, November 29, 1906, to Miss Lydia Nor- man, a daughter of N. and Caroline Norman, now of Yakima, Washington. The father was a native of Sweden, and after coming to this country was engaged first as a farmer and afterward as a mer- chant and grain dealer at Kandiyohi, Minnesota. The children in the Norman family numbered the following: Annie, who became the wife of Al- bert Isaacson; George, of Ethridge, Montana; Louis, of Selah, Washington; Mrs. Winkelmann; Cora, who died in young womanhood; Esphure, of Berthold, North Dakota; Charles J., of Ritzville, Washing- ton; and Daisy, of Yakima, Washington.

Two children, Allen and Lyalus C., have blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Winkelmann. The Masonic Order received Mr. Winkelmann into its membership at Appleton, Minnesota, where he re- ceived the Master's degree. He is a member of the Blue Lodge in Sidney, the Chapter and Com- mandery at Glendive, and of the Shrine and Al- geria Temple at Helena. During the recent World war he served as a member of the Council of Na- tional Defense for Richland County, and also as- sisted in the collection of funds for Young Men's Christian Association work and was active in other war relief organizations.

ERNEST LINDSEY WALTON of Bainville, Montana, came out to the northwestern country before reach- ing his majority and the chief points of his expe -. rience in somewhat successive order might briefly he described as hasher, cowpuncher, homesteader, railroad worker, farmer, merchant, leader in "coun- ty splitting" campaigns, and for the past four years as a successful lawyer.

He was born at Rippey, Iowa, March 11, 1888, a son of Frank Lindsey and Mattie Gertrude Wal- ton. At seventeen, in 1905, he completed the work of the Eagle Grove public school, and during the following year attended the State University of Iowa, while in 1906-07 he was a student in Upper Iowa University. Soon afterward he came to the Northwest. Mr. Walton is regarded as one of the very first "tractor farmers" in Montana, having used three tractors to farm his land in 1911. For sev- eral years he was engaged in the mercantile business, and while so employed he secured 43 per cent of the signers on the petitions for the creation of Sheri- dan County in 1913, and earned his first reputation as a public speaker campaigning for that division. The following fall he took up the study of law at

Missoula, attending the State University for five months, until he was compelled to leave on account of financial reverses arising from his absence at home. However, in the five months he won the honors of the law department, and he completed the course by home study and passed the Montana state bar examination in the spring of 1916 and was admitted prior to his class mates who remained in school. In the meantime he had performed pro- fessional campaign work for county division. After his admission to the bar he began regular practice and assisted in the creation of Roosevelt County and was its first county attorney, serving in 1919-20. In 1915 he filled the office of deputy sheriff of Sheridan County. Besides his law practice and of- ficial duties Mr. Walton is engaged in farming, and also has built up a profitable real estate business handling business property.

At Minot, North Dakota, in 1907, he received an injury, the result of which was the loss of the shoulder ball from the left arm, and he was accord- ingly rejected when he appeared before the examin- ing board for military service. He is a stanch re- publican, and acted as chairman of the Republican County Central Committee of Sheridan County in 1914. Mr. Walton, who is unmarried, is one of the most popular and widely known citizens of Eastern Montana. Fraternally he is affiliated with Kotana Lodge No. 79, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Mondak, and served as master of the lodge in 1919.

JOHN W. ACHER. Identified for many years with the business life of Blaine County, John W. Acher is now serving it as a member of its Board of Com- missioners. He arrived in Montana in 1893, com- ing from Ripley County, Indiana, where he was born August 31, 1868. He spent the early years of his life in the vicinity of the Town of Napoleon in that county, was a farmer's son, and received a country school education. He continued as a factor at the parental home while he remained in Indiana, and from there he came into the Northwest and joined a sister here. His first location was in the Milk River Valley at Chinook.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 87

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