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Early Days in Lewistown
By P.M. Silloway
Democrat news 1931
Among the names of those constituting the student body of the district high school in
1898-99 that of Ella Moshner was included but lost in my own careless proofreading.
Ella lived on a suburban ranch with her father, Frank Moshner. She later became one of
the substantial citizens of Fergus County and is now prominent in Petroleum county
affairs.
One who came to Lewistown soon after my advent was S. P. Stoner, who was then
engaged in teaching. He taught at Swimming Woman, Grass Range and other localities
in Fergus County. His brother, W. 1. Stoner, had preceded him into this region about two
years, and both have a wide acquaintance in this area. David Jones was another teacher
who came here in those days, and who has remained in this locality.
Miss Elizabeth Peebles was teaching that year at the Castle Butte school, and that fall she
was elected county superintendent, succeeding J. M. Parrent. Miss Ada Meyersick was
also a teacher here, having a school in the Overland district; she also in time became
county superintendent of schools.
Several of the older boys and girls were about through with the local school, and among
these have I have mentioned Roy Ayers, who was looking forward to law school. Murray
Deaton was a son ofW.M. Deaton and in general build he was a replica of the famous
"Bill," Murray was a born rider and cowpuncher just such as pictured in the pages of the
wild west weeklies in his manner and appearance, and naturally Murray drifted out as a
ranch foreman and roundup rider. Georgia Deaton was a sister of Murray's, and she was a
very general local favorite in the community during her life here. Charlie Glancy was a
son of John Glancy, and he was in the last year of his school here. Alice Glancy remained
in the high school and was graduated from the county high school in course oftime. Ina
Bayliss was, a niece of Alf Stephens, and was one of the younger girls in the old district
school.
The Reed family was well-known in the community at that time. Kate Reed was with the
Power Mercantile company. The boys were James, Dick and Ed, and soon all these
became part of our circle of friends.
Before passing from the old district school, I mention Minnie Rehder as one of the
students that year 1898-99. She was taking a special course preparatory to teaching.
Later she became Mrs. John Ritch, and had an important part in the development of
Lewistown.
One of the old time residents cannot omit was Mary Laverdure. From the time of our
coming to Lewistown, Mary was the faithful caretaker of our family laundry. The first
batch after my family came consisted of garments used on the trip out from Illinois.
When Mary returned this laundry, I asked her what the charge was and she said five
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | Early Days in Lewistown. |
| Creator | Perley M. Silloway was the first principal of Fergus County high school in 1900 and author and nationally recognized authority on birdlife. He died in 1947. He came to Lewistown in 1898 and moved to Illinois in 1909, |
| Description | Silloway's reminiscences of the time he lived in Lewistown, Montana. He did a series of these articles for the newspaper in the 1930's. |
| Date Original | 1930 |
| Physical format | |
| Date Estimated | 1930's |
| Genre | newspapers |
| Subject (keyword) | Perley M. Silloway; |
| Subject (AAT) | Schools; |
| Type | Text |
| Contributing Institution | Lewistown Public Library, Lewistown, Montana |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Geographic Coverage | Lewistown, Montana. |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Rights Management | No copyright restrictions |
| Full text of this item | Early Days in Lewistown By P.M. Silloway Democrat news 1931 Among the names of those constituting the student body of the district high school in 1898-99 that of Ella Moshner was included but lost in my own careless proofreading. Ella lived on a suburban ranch with her father, Frank Moshner. She later became one of the substantial citizens of Fergus County and is now prominent in Petroleum county affairs. One who came to Lewistown soon after my advent was S. P. Stoner, who was then engaged in teaching. He taught at Swimming Woman, Grass Range and other localities in Fergus County. His brother, W. J. Stoner, had preceded him into this region about two years, and both have a wide acquaintance in this area. David Jones was another teacher who came here in those days, and who has remained in this locality. Miss Elizabeth Peebles was teaching that year at the Castle Butte school, and that fall she was elected county superintendent, succeeding J. M. Parrent. Miss Ada Meyersick was also a teacher here, having a school in the Overland district; she also in time became county superintendent of schools. Several of the older boys and girls were about through with the local school, and among these have I have mentioned Roy Ayers, who was looking forward to law school. Murray Deaton was a son of W.M. Deaton and in general build he was a replica of the famous "Bill" Murray was a born rider and cowpuncher just such as pictured in the pages of the wild west weeklies in his manner and appearance, and naturally Murray drifted out as a ranch foreman and roundup rider. Georgia Deaton was a sister of Murray's, and she was a very general local favorite in the community during her life here. Charlie Glancy was a son of John Glancy, and he was in the last year of his school here. Alice Glancy remained in the high school and was graduated from the county high school in course of time. Ina Bayliss was, a niece of Alf Stephens, and was one of the younger girls in the old district school. The Reed family was well-known in the community at that time. Kate Reed was with the Power Mercantile company. The boys were James, Dick and Ed, and soon all these became part of our circle of friends. Before passing from the old district school, I mention Minnie Rehder as one of the students that year 1898-99. She was taking a special course preparatory to teaching. Later she became Mrs. John Ritch, and had an important part in the development of Lewistown. One of the old time residents cannot omit was Mary Laverdure. From the time of our coming to Lewistown, Mary was the faithful caretaker of our family laundry. The first batch after my family came consisted of garments used on the trip out from Illinois. When Mary returned this laundry, I asked her what the charge was and she said five dollars. "That's all right, Mary" I said. "Five dollars is some money—we'll make it three this time." Mary took the money smilingly, and was our firm friend ever afterward. The election in the fall of 1898 produced a number of changes in county officialdom. Tom Shaw, of Gilt Edge, came in as sheriff, with Len Slater and Ed Martin as deputies. Charlie Kelly was elected clerk and recorder, Donald Fowler, became assessor, with Emil Plum as assistant. Frank Smith was chosen county attorney. Judge D. A. Meagher became treasurer and G. M. Stafford county surveyor. No record of that time would be complete without mention of Alex Branson, a colored man who kept a barber shop down on Main street. Alex was recognized as one of the progressive citizens of the community, and he was wide-awake to the general interests of Lewistown and Fergus county, He was a regular booster for the schools and teachers. As I look back through the years to those early days in Lewistown, they appear like a rapidly shifting panorama of persons, families and vocations. Families were coming and others were leaving. Business firms were changing, and new ones getting established; and we may be pardoned if we get our wires crossed on any of these particulars. About that time ‘Cap' Darrow was disposing of his interests in the Silver Dollar resort, Sam Weaver becoming owner. The Tivoli was opened or renamed by Willie Kimball, operating as an entertainment hall with refreshments in the rear. Referring to the mention of time brands in this region, I am indebted to Johnnie Rauch for more exact information. The N-Bar brand belonged to the Tom Cruse ranch, on Flatwillow, and the Two-Bar brand, represented by two horizontal lines, belonging to Oscar Stephens, in the Fergus locality. The summer and fall of 1899 was to my mind a transitional period for Lewistown from the old days to something different in its community life. That spring occurred the incorporation as a city introducing a spirit of local politics. In the late summer and fall there was the election for the county high school and its subsequent establishment as an educational center. In the fall Company I came back from the Philippines, bringing new faces into my acquaintanceship, and injecting new life into the Judith Basin, and new opportunities were attracting such as wanted to get in on the ground floor. As the first Mayor of Lewistown, it was eminently fitting that John P. Barnes should be thus honored. As I learned when I came in that fall, Jim Weaver was city marshal. The first members of the city council have recently been named in the columns of The Democrat-News. Returning to Lewistown that fall after arranging to bring out my, family, I found we had a new bank, the Judith Basin bank, headed by Herman Otten, David Hilger, George Bach, W.G. Miner, Nate McCauley and others. |
| Local Identifier | SC 1.1 Early History |
Description
| Title | Early Days in Lewistown. 1 |
| Type | Text |
| Digitization Specifications | Canon MX310 300dpi |
| Digital Format | application/pdf |
| Full text of this item | Early Days in Lewistown By P.M. Silloway Democrat news 1931 Among the names of those constituting the student body of the district high school in 1898-99 that of Ella Moshner was included but lost in my own careless proofreading. Ella lived on a suburban ranch with her father, Frank Moshner. She later became one of the substantial citizens of Fergus County and is now prominent in Petroleum county affairs. One who came to Lewistown soon after my advent was S. P. Stoner, who was then engaged in teaching. He taught at Swimming Woman, Grass Range and other localities in Fergus County. His brother, W. 1. Stoner, had preceded him into this region about two years, and both have a wide acquaintance in this area. David Jones was another teacher who came here in those days, and who has remained in this locality. Miss Elizabeth Peebles was teaching that year at the Castle Butte school, and that fall she was elected county superintendent, succeeding J. M. Parrent. Miss Ada Meyersick was also a teacher here, having a school in the Overland district; she also in time became county superintendent of schools. Several of the older boys and girls were about through with the local school, and among these have I have mentioned Roy Ayers, who was looking forward to law school. Murray Deaton was a son ofW.M. Deaton and in general build he was a replica of the famous "Bill" Murray was a born rider and cowpuncher just such as pictured in the pages of the wild west weeklies in his manner and appearance, and naturally Murray drifted out as a ranch foreman and roundup rider. Georgia Deaton was a sister of Murray's, and she was a very general local favorite in the community during her life here. Charlie Glancy was a son of John Glancy, and he was in the last year of his school here. Alice Glancy remained in the high school and was graduated from the county high school in course oftime. Ina Bayliss was, a niece of Alf Stephens, and was one of the younger girls in the old district school. The Reed family was well-known in the community at that time. Kate Reed was with the Power Mercantile company. The boys were James, Dick and Ed, and soon all these became part of our circle of friends. Before passing from the old district school, I mention Minnie Rehder as one of the students that year 1898-99. She was taking a special course preparatory to teaching. Later she became Mrs. John Ritch, and had an important part in the development of Lewistown. One of the old time residents cannot omit was Mary Laverdure. From the time of our coming to Lewistown, Mary was the faithful caretaker of our family laundry. The first batch after my family came consisted of garments used on the trip out from Illinois. When Mary returned this laundry, I asked her what the charge was and she said five |
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