Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 90

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 90

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Mr. Ingraham died May 26, 1919, after a brief illness. Since his death Mrs. Ingraham has re- lieved herself of the responsibilities of the farm and ranch, and is now living in a pleasant home at 735 Second Avenue, West, in Kalispell.

ROBERT P. MINNICK, M. D. Numbered among the sagacious and carefully trained members of the medical profession of Phillips County, Dr. Robert P. Minnick has played a constructive part in the history of this region since 1904, when he came to it direct from Virginia. He was born in Wash- ington County, that state, April II, 1879, a son of Andrew J. Minnick, and grandson of Leander Min- nick, also a native of Washington County, Virginia, the birthplace of all three, Doctor Minnick, his

al Ingraham.

Sarah le Ingraham

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

father and grandfather, having been established near Abingdon by the great-grandfather, John Minnick. The Minnick family is Scotch and Irish, and at Abingdon, near to the Minnick plantation, located the Scotch-Irish settlers of the Colonial period.

The educational training of Dr. Robert P. Min- nick, commenced in the rural schools, was continued at King's College, Bristol, Tennessee, the Tennessee Medical College at Knoxville, Tennessee, and the Virginia Medical College at Richmond, Virginia, and he was graduated from the latter institution in April, 1904, with the degree of Doctor of Medi- cine. During the summer and early autumn of that year Doctor Minnick was engaged in practice at Stonega, Virginia, a mining community, and then, in November, 1904, he crossed the continent and settled permanently at Saco. At that time Saco was but a hamlet of a few buildings along the main street, and he was its first physician. During the period he has lived here he has not only seen great progress, but has assisted very materially to bring it about, both professionally and as a private citizen. Doctor Minnick has been county physician ever since the creation of Phillips County, and in con- junction with Doctor Clay conducted the examina- tion of men for the draft during the late war until he entered the service himself.

In June, 1918, Doctor Minnick enlisted at Butte, Montana, for the medical service, was commissioned as a first lieutenant the following August, but was not sent to France on account of the signing of the Armistice. In 1914 Doctor Minnick was elected as the representative of old Valley County to the State Assembly on the democratic ticket, serving in the Fourteenth Session, a democratic house.

On June 16, 1910, Doctor Minnick was united in marriage at Dodson, Montana, to Miss Evelyn Per- kins, born at Winterset, Iowa, in October, 1885. Mrs. Minnick completed her educational training in the schools of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and became a teacher, coming as such to Montana in 1906 and being connected first with the schools of Malta and later with those of Glasgow. Doctor and Mrs. Min- nick have a son, Daniel C., who was born April 20, 1912.

CECIL E. TAYLOR is one of the most representative men of Phillips County and has been identified with the realty and oil and gas development of Saco and its vicinity to such an extent that his name is a well-known one all over this part of the state. He has lived in Montana since 1890, in which year he was brought to the state by his father, William H. Taylor, from Waseca, Minnesota.

Cecil E. Taylor was born at Fargo, North Dakota, on August 31, 1883, but he was reared to the age of seven years in Waseca, Minnesota. After arrival in Montana settlement was made at Hinsdale, where William H. Taylor operated extensively as a stock dealer. Cecil E. Taylor had to go ten miles each way in order to attend school during the early years of his residence in the state, but later, when the family moved to Saco, he was given the advan- tages of the school at this point. In order to give the children better educational advantages, in 1900 the family went to Missoula, Montana, and there Cecil E. Taylor took a commercial course in a busi- ness college, and then for two years was a student of the Montana State University.

Following his completion of the course at the uni- versity Mr. Taylor returned to Saco and went into the mercantile business, succeeding the C. W. Nel- son Company and operating a general merchandise store for two years before he organized the Saco Mercantile Company, a corporation of which he was

active manager until 1913. In that year he retired from that concern and took over the organization of the Saco Co-operative Association, and that same year he branched out into the realty business. He has specialized in promoting an interest in this lo- cality and inducing immigration, being responsible for much of the settlement of the vicinity during the past few years. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Saco, and was a di- rector of it, and he also bought stock in the old creamery at Saco.

Mr. Taylor was reared under strictly republican principles, and so naturally cast his first presidential vote for Theodore Roosevelt, and when there was a split in the party he followed his leader into the progressive party, voting for him in 1912. When Phillips County was created in January, 1915, he was elected as a member of the General Assembly of Montana, and served as the first representative in the Lower House from Phillips. This was a democratic session, presided over by Speaker Ram- sey, and as he entered late in the session his com- mittee assignments were not important, and he was more of a spectator and fathered no bills.

Mr. Taylor was made an Odd Fellow at Saco, and belongs to the subordinate lodge of that fra- ternity. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Saco, and is one of its trustees. When the present house of worship was erected he served on the building committee, and is partially responsi- ble for the provision of one of the good church homes in this locality.

On February 26, 1908, Mr. Taylor was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Marshall at Saco, Montana. She is a daughter of Judge Albert Mar- shall, who married a Miss Odlin. Mrs. Taylor was born at Willow City, North Dakota, August 22, 1885, and is the youngest of her father's five chil- dren, the others being as follows: Inez, who is the wife of W. H. Thomas of Pennewawa, Wash- ington; Gladys, who is Mrs. L. F. Franklin, of Almota, Washington; Albert, who is a resident of Portland, Oregon; and Alma, who died unmarried. Mrs. Taylor was educated in a normal school of North Dakota, was engaged in teaching school in North Dakota, but later joined her sister at Saco, Montana, and there met and was later married to Mr. Taylor. Judge Marshall was identified with the lumber business in Michigan, but was a native of Maine, and enlisted from that state during the war between the states and served in the Union army. His death occurred at Saco, Montana. For more than fifty years he was a Mason, and he was first a republican and later a progressive. His title of "Judge" was given him because of a twenty- year service as a justice of the peace at Willow City, North Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have three children, namely : Carol, Joyce and William.

During the late war Mr. Taylor lent a helping hand in the various drives, and Mrs. Taylor was active in the work of Saco Branch of Malta Chap- ter of the Red Cross.

William H. Taylor, father of Cecil E. Taylor, is one of the men who early located in the Milk River Valley, and is now one of the honored resi- dents and retired stockmen of Saco. He was born in Northampton, England, February 12, 1845, a son of William and Ann J. (Penn) Taylor, and they became immigrants to the United States when Wil- liam H. Taylor was fifteen months old. The trip was made hy an ocean sail boat to New Orleans, Louisiana, from · whence the little party traveled up the Mississippi River to Saint Louis, Missouri.

In 1850 William Taylor moved into Illinois, and spent seven years in Madison County, and from

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

there went to Waseca County, Minnesota. Until he went to Illinois he worked as a carpenter, but from then on was a farmer. During the war be- tween the states he furnished two sons for the Union army, and, having been naturalized, he voted the republican ticket. He and his wife were Meth- odists, and very devout. Their children were as follows: William H., who was the eldest; John A., who is a resident of Saco; George W., who is a resident of Omaha, Nebraska; Charles R., who died in Minnesota; Austin J., who died in Valley County, Montana; Andrew M., who lives in Char- lotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; and Frank P., who is engaged in farming in the vicinity of Saco.

When contrasted with the advantages given the children of today, William H. Taylor's educational opportunities were very meagre, for the schools were few and the terms short, but he made the best of what he had, and has always kept himself well informed on current questions. He enlisted for service in the Union army during the winter of 1864-5 as a member of Company H, Minnesota Heavy Artillery, and was sent with his company to Nashville, Tennessee, and it was there and at Chat- tanooga that he was drilled, his command thus pre- paring for defense both as artillerymen and in- fantrymen. While doing this they guarded provi- sions and other supplies, and were still there when the news came of General Lee's surrender, and the regiment was ordered to Fort Snelling for final dis- charge. Mr. Taylor returned home in excellent health, after an absence of eight months.

Following his return he worked for a few months for wages, and then, buying a team, engaged in teaming on his own account, hauling freight from Waseca to Saint Paul, Minnesota. Later he was engaged in farming on his own land, and was so engaged until 1890, when he came to Montana. Dur- ing the summer of that year he brought some stock into the state and was so pleased with conditions that he decided to make it his permanent home, and hrought his family here in the fall. The first lo- cation was in the vicinity of Hinsdale, where he held his cattle for a year and then sold them and bought sheep and was engaged in the wool indus- try for a quarter of a century. He saw sheep sell as low as $1.25 a head, and lambs for 75 cents a head, and the best price he received for sheep was in 1916, when he sold for $5 a head. Mr. Taylor sold wool as low as 8 cents per pound, and his best price was 30 cents a pound in 1916. Because of the curtailments of the range he left the sheep business, disposed of his stock and a livery business he had long conducted, and since ,then has been retired.

When it was possible for him to do so Mr. Taylor availed himself of the opportunity offered by the Government for obtaining a farm, and homesteaded near Saco, built ditches and prepared for the irri- gation of his desert land, and made it possible for him to raise feed crops, but sold this farm in 1919.

When he located at Saco the only building was the section house, and since then he has contributed in a substantial mantier to its growth and development, erecting a residence, livery stable and business house, and investing in other business property. Mr. Taylor cast his first presidential vote for Gen- eral Grant in 1868 and again in 1872, and he has voted the republican ticket ever since. For twenty years he has been an Odd Fellow, and maintains membership with Glasgow Lodge.,

On March 4, 1874, Mr. Taylor was united in mar- riage at Waseca, Minnesota, to Emma E. Barnes, who was born in McHenry County, Illinois, on No-

vember 8, 1849, a daughter of Julius Barnes, and the youngest of three children, her brothers being : Granville, who served in the Union army, died at Waseca, Minnesota; and Charles, who died in Ran- som County, North Dakota, both of them leaving families.

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Taylor became the par- ents of the following children: Edith, who was Mrs. H. W. Davis, died in Florida and is buried at Char- lotte, North Carolina; Floyd, who was accidentally killed at Saco in 1906, married Clara Tinney and left her and three children; Cecil E., whose name heads this review; Maysie L., who is the wife of Clarence W. Nelson, of Saco, has three children; and Edna M., who is the wife of William D. Mil- ler, editor of the Saco Independent.

Mr. Taylor is a stockholder of the First National Bank of Glasgow, and was one of the original stock- holders of the First National Bank of Saco, and on its board of directors for some years. Both he and his son Cecil E. Taylor are men of the highest probity, and whenever either of them has been as- sociated with any business enterprise the people of Saco and Phillips County have felt that their connection therewith was a sufficient guarantee of good faith, and responded accordingly.

WILLIAM H. FRAZIER. The name of Frazier has been associated with the banking history of Phil- lips County for some years, and one of the sound- est financial institutions of this part of the state, the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of Saco, has William H. Frazier as its vice president, and he is otherwise interested in the commercial affairs of his locality. He was born at Crawfordsville, Indiana, March 6, 1883, a son of Austin H. Frazier, and grandson of William Frazier.

William Frazier was one of the early settlers of Montgomery County, Indiana, going there from Chillicothe, Ohio, when all of that part of the state was in the woods, and he bore well his part of its development and improvement. He married Mary Ann Van Gundy, and they had nine children, of whom one son, David, served in the Union army during the war between the North and the South.

Austin H. Frazier was born in Montgomery Coun- ty, Indiana, in August, 1850, and was reared on his father's farm. He supplemented the educational training he received in the rural schools with a course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana, and spent some years as a pub- lic school teacher. Later he moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where he is now living. He mar- ried Mary Adkins, a daughter of Doctor Adkins, who located in Indiana prior to the war between the states, and Mrs. Frazier was born in that state. She died in 1887, having been the mother of the following children: William H., who was the eldest born; and Miss Nancy Frazier, who died in young womanhood at Covington, Indiana.

William H. Frazier learned to be a farmer under his father's instruction, but, perhaps inspired by the fact that Gen. Lew Wallace, author of "Ben Hur," was a near neighbor of the family, and he as a child played in his dooryard, he felt urged to de- velop his faculties and attended Wabash College, and after two years in that institution entered the University of Minnesota, from which he was grad- uated in 1907 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then became assistant professor of soils and chemistry, and he still maintains connection with educational matters as a member of the Saco School Board, although he left the schoolroom in the fall of 1913, when he came to Montana.

On November 1, 1913, he assumed the duties per-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

taining to the position of assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Saco, holding it for three ycars, when he became one of the organizers of the Farmers & Merchants State Bank of Saco. This bank was chartered in May, 1916, with a capital of $20,000, and opened its doors for business in the following August, with the following officials : Harry A. Vagg, president; William H. Frazier, vice president ; and Gus Dalquist, cashier, and these gen- tlemen are still in office. The bank has a surplus of $5,000, and its deposits average $250,000 annually ..

On August II, 1915, Mr. Frazier was united in marriage at Saco, Montana, to Alene McGregor, a daughter of Henry and Nellie (Harris) Mc- Gregor. Mrs. Frazier was born at St. Cloud, Min- nesota, but she was brought to Montana in childhood, and completed her educational training in the Uni- versity of Montana, from which she was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Not only was she a public school teacher, but was elected county superintendent of schools for Valley County, and was holding that office at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Frazier have a daughter, Mary Ann, who was born October 28, 1918.

Like his father, Mr. Frazier is a strong repub- lican and a great admirer of Colonel Roosevelt, to whom he gave his first presidential vote. He is a Mason, belonging to Saco Lodge No. 94, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is a past master, and he belongs to the local chapter of the Eastern Star, of which he was the first patron. He is also a member of the Minneapolis Consistory and the Mystic Shrine of Minneapolis.

During the late war Mr. Frazier was very active in committee work on the various drives, as well as a generous personal contributor, and through his aid all of the allotments were filled for Saco.

A man of education, carefully trained and ex- perienced, he is well fitted for the dignified posi- tion he occupies, and his advice is sought and fol- lowed in many matters of public welfare as well as private enterprise, and it would be difficult to find one who is held in higher respect by his fellow citizens than he.

FRED W. KROEGER. Among the men who have at- tained to a well merited prosperity in the mercan- tile field of Phillips County is Fred W. Kroeger of Saco, who has lived in this locality since 1903, and has conducted his present business since 1913. He was born in Waseca County, Minnesota, September 23, 1883, a son of Hans and Mary (Bartles) Kroeger, both of German birth, who came to the United States when young. They were married in Waseca County, Minnesota, and engaged in farming, con- tinuing to be thus actively occupied until they reached such substantial independence as would jus- tify their retirement, when they moved to Waseca, where they are now living. Hans Kroeger received a fairly good educational training in his native land. Having but very little money when he arrived in this country, he seems to have been a wage earner until his marriage, but at that time bought a small farm, and his success as a dairy farmer enabled him to add two quarter sections of land to his farm, so that in all he owned 480 acres of land. This he improved most substantially with a residence, silos, barns for dairying and other purposes, and put in modern milking machines and other appliances to aid him in carrying on his business. While voting the republican ticket, he has taken but little part in politics. He and his wife are consistent mem- bers of the Lutheran Church of Waseca. The chil- dren born to them have been as follows: John, who is a farmer residing near Otisco, Minnesota; Henry,

who is a resident of Waseca, Minnesota; Edward, who is engaged in farming near Lavina, Montana; Fred W., whose name heads this review; Elsie, who is the wife of John Lewer, of Waseca, Minne- sota; Arnold, who is a resident of Lavina, Mon- tana; Paulina, who is Mrs. Fred Proehl, of New Richland, Minnesota; Katie, who lives at Waseca ; and Esther, who is the youngest.

Fred W. Kroeger was reared in his native county, and lived on his father's farm, assisting him in its operation. ' His educational training ceased when he had completed the work of the eighth grade, but he has learned much from experience and contact with men of affairs. At the age of twenty years he left the farm, and with some money he had saved he took the trip to Montana alone, arriving at Saco entirely dependent upon his own exertions for a live- lihood. Upon his arrival here he secured employ- ment as a clerk with C. W. Nelson & Company, one of the early mercantile houses of the place. Later he went with J. M. Nelson, a merchant of Hinsdale, and, leaving him, worked for the Havre Commer- cial Company at Havre. During this time he proved up the homestead he had entered from the Govern- ment, it having been with this intention that he had come to the state. In order to provide for his living expenses while proving up his claim he worked as a clerk, and this experience showed him that he was better fitted for a mercantile life than for agricul- tural pursuits, and so determined his life calling.

Mr. Kroeger's experience as a homesteader was not as encouraging as he had hoped, although he made an effort to make a success of the farming required by the Government in order to secure pos- session, and achieved a rather unusual success as a potato grower when he dug $600 worth of the tubers from two acres of ground. He subsequently ex- perimented with alfalfa, and demonstrated its adaptability in this region, and when he sold his farm he had some seventy acres seeded to that crop.

After proving up his claim Mr. Kroeger engaged with the Wisconsin Lumber Company, and was man- ager of their commissary department at Littel, Wash- ington, for eight months, but then returned to Saco, and became assistant manager of the Saco Mercan- tile Company.

On May 17, 1913, Mr. Kroeger embarked in busi- ness for himself, purchasing the business owned by J. H. Jordan. In order to do this he borrowed $1,000 from the bank to make an initial payment and gave his note for the balance of $1,800. During the fol- lowing spring and summer he increased his debt to the bank to $1,200, and he bought $1,800 worth of stock. In spite of the heavy obligations resting on him, Mr. Kroeger did so good a business that within a year he had paid off his loans, owned his stock of farm machinery, and had established a good credit, a growing business, and a reputation for fair and honorable dealing. From then on his rise has been steady and reputable, and today he stands among the really worth while men of the county. When he began his business was at the present location, but in the old Jordan Building, which he replaced by the present one in 1917. In the mean- while the character of his stock has changed, as in 1916 he secured the agency for the Ford cars for Phillips County and a part of Valley County, and he handles the Ford cars, trucks and Fordson tractors. His sales have gradually increased and in 1917 reached the maximum, $105,000. In that year he sold sixty-two cars. The subsequent years be- ing ones of drouth, the sales in cars naturally dropped, and in his line, as in many others, war conditions influenced it very materially, but he has every reason to believe that with the resumption of

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normal business conditions his sales will reach much higher figures than ever before. Like a number of the business men of this region Mr. Kroeger has carried on some farming, but, like them, has been affected by the drouths.

With the incorporation of Saco as a city Mr. Kroeger was elected a member of its first Board of Aldermen, and in 1919 was appointed one of the trustees of the Saco School Board. He was one of the organizers of the Saco Commercial Club, of which he is treasurer and one of the members of its Board of Directors. Politically Mr. Kroeger is a republican, casting his first presidential vote for Theodore Roosevelt, and aside from his connection with the progressive party in 1912 has supported the candidates of the G. O. P. ever since. The Metho- dist Church holds his membership, and he is render- ing the Saco denomination valuable assistance as one of its trustees.

On January 12, 1910, Mr. Kroeger was married at Saco, Montana, to Miss Nettie M. Stiles, who came to Montana from Cook's Corners, New York, with her parents, Fred and Hattie (Avery) Stiles, who located at Saco. Mrs. Kroeger has a younger sister, Mrs. Jessie Iverson, of Saco. Mr. and Mrs. Kroeger have two children, namely: Lynn and Les- ter. It would be hard to find better people in every respect than Mr. and Mrs. Kroeger. They came to this region early enough to develop with it and to feel that their interests are one with their community. Liberal contributors to healthy civic movements, and earnest and sincere in their support of church activi- ties, they are exerting a really constructive influence here, and have fairly earned the confidence and esteem they inspire.

JAMES O'BOYLE. One of the most highly re- spected citizens of Western Montana is James O'Boyle, of Flathead County, whom to know is to respect and admire, for he has led an exemplary life and aided in all movements looking to the ma- terial, civic and moral welfare of his community. He came to us from the Emerald Isle, which fair country has sent so many enterprising citizens to our shores, and they have aided us in pushing for- ward the wheels of civilization. Thirty-five years have been numbered with the past since Mr. O'Boyle came to the Flathead country. Upon his arrival this section of the state was largely an undeveloped region, awaiting the awakening touch of the sturdy pioneers 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 reclaim the country for the use of man. As one of the early settlers that led the van of civiliza- tion into this favored section Mr. O'Boyle well de- serves conspicuous mention with the substantial men of the county.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 90

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