WHO'S WHO IN SPOTTED CAP'S WORLD

 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY

Persons mentioned in family letters in the possession of the Conrad Mansion Museum, Kalispell, Montana, and other sources are given below, and each entry includes a brief biographical note when possible. The Conrads had both a large family and circle of friends and acquaintances and often referred to them by nicknames. Many of these are not as yet identified other than by the name used in family correspondence. Such persons are not included here. It is hoped that continued research will identify many of these otherwise unknown persons. As research continues and the extensive personal and business correspondence in the collection of the University of Montana, Missoula is studied, this biographical dictionary will undoubtedly grow. 

A

Adams, Francis Joseph, Dr. (1859-1920). Brother-in-law to C. E. Conrad. Francis J. Adams was born 16 December 1859 at Ft. Crook, California, the son of Gen. (CSA) John Adams and Georgeana McDougal. He attended Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, and Georgetown College, in Washington, D. C. After college, he was acting assistant surgeon in the regular army at Ft. Hamilton, Long Island, NY and at Ft. Adams, Newport, Rhode Island. In 1883, he was transferred to Montana. In 1887, he was stationed at Ft. Assiniboine, Montana Terr., as part of Gen. Ruger’s staff. In that same year, he became an assistant instructor in a post-graduate school in St. Louis. He then resigned that position and came to Ft. Benton, Montana, in 1889. He married Alice Agnes “Lillie” Conrad, one of C. E. Conrad’s sisters at Ft. Benton on 28 Oct 1891 and moved to Great Falls.

He was instrumental in the erection of the first hospital in Great Falls and was a surgeon there for some years. In 1896, he organized a nurse training school which was associated with the hospital and was the first such to be incorporated in the state.

In 1898, he was made a surgeon with the rank of Major in the First Montana Volunteers which saw service in the Philippines during the Spanish-American war. He was slightly wounded in the leg during the battle of Palo on 25 March 1898 and was awarded a medal for bravery in action by the Sons of the American Revolution. He returned to the U. S. in October of 1899.

He took a post-graduate course at the New York Polytechnic School and went into private practice in Great Falls from 1899.

Dr. Adams died 2 Jun 1920 at Great Falls. His wife survived him by many years. His biography is on p. 3 of Progressive Men of the State of Montana.

Ashby, Hebe Grace (Carter) (1807-1876), mother of Shirley Carter Ashby. Born 1807 in Richmond, Virginia, to Robert Carter and Heabard S. (Grayson) Carter. She moved to Ft. Benton ca. 1870 and thence to Helena, Montana, with her son and her brother, Duncan S. Carter. She died 20 Apr 1876 in Helena and is buried in the Benton Avenue Cemetery, Helena..

Ashby, Maria S. (1827-1904). Wife of James Warren Conrad, she was the daughter of George William Ashby (1766-1830) and Mary Martha Churchill (ca. 1830- ?) and was born 20 Oct 1827, Winchester, Virginia. She died 2 Jun 1904 in Great Falls, Montana. She married James Warren Conrad as his second wife 6 May 1846, Warren co., Virginia, and by him she had thirteen (13) children. The first-born, Martha Elizabeth, was born in 1847 and the last two (twins) in 1885. Of the twins, only one survived, Arthur Franklin Conrad.

Ashby, Shirley Carter. 3rd cousin to C. E. & W. G. Conrad. Born 10 August 1843 in Fauquier county, Virginia, to George William Ashby (not to be confused with C. E.’s grandfather of the same name) and Hebe Grace (Carter) Ashby, and died 2 June 1924 in Helena, Montana. Shirley Ashby served in the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War and afterward went west for health reasons and chose to join his brother, Wirt Ashby, in St. Louis, Missouri. Wirt was working  as a river pilot and often made trips up the Missouri River. S. C. Ashby got a job as a clerk on a steamboat, likely with his brother’s help. He caught cholera and was advised by his doctor to seek the mountains, and was further advised by his uncle, Capt. Duncan S. Carter who was a friend of Capt. Nick Wall manager of the Diamond R Transfer Co., to go to Montana. Consequently, on 13 April 1867, S. C. Ashby headed up the Missouri river for Ft. Benton on board the Nile, Capt. Luker in charge, with his brother, Wirt, as pilot, arriving 12 June 1867. He eventually landed a position clerking for I. G. Baker & Bro. (owned by Isaac G. & George A. Baker) which in turn led to his being given a ten percent interest in the company for services rendered above and beyond the call of duty. His account of those services is given in “An Opportunity Presented Itself”, a chapter in We Seized Our Rifles. Recollections of the Montana Frontier, Edited & with introduction by Eugene Lee Silliman, illus. Joe Boddy. Missoula: Mountain Press,  [1982].
The Bakers apparently held him in high esteem, as one of his employers, George Baker, named a son after him, Shirley Ashby Baker. See George A. Baker, below. 
He sold his ten percent interest in the Baker concern to his cousins, the Conrad brothers, in 1870, to secure funds to move himself, his mother and his uncle, Duncan S. Carter, to Helena, where he remained for the rest of his life. He established his own interests there, mainly banking and real estate, but also acted as agents for I. G. Baker & Co., which was eventually controlled by his cousins.
He married his wife, Emma Withers (b. 1852, Missouri), in 1876 and they had three children, two girls (Hebe May, 1877 & Gertrude, 1893) and one boy, Shirley Baker Ashby (1880) who later went by the name Shirley Carter Ashby Jr. and is buried as Shirley C. Ashby II.
After a major set-back in his real-estate ventures, Mr. Ashby lost interest in business and retired to a quiet life, having considered his life a failure.

B

Baker, George A. (ca. 1803-1902) Younger brother of Isaac Gilbert (I. G.) Baker. George was born ca. 1830 in New Haven, Connecticut, and later moved with his brother Isaac to St. Louis and with him, started the trading company of I. G. Baker & Brother in Ft. Benton, Montana Territory, in 1866. In 1874, he sold his interest in the company to the Conrad brothers, returned to St. Louis, and hired on as a salaried assistant to his brother, Isaac. By 1880, George was President of the Continental Bank of St. Louis.

         He married Sarah Eleanor Street in 1859. They had six children in all, four boys and two girls. While George was in Ft. Benton taking care of business, Eleanor was living in Nebraska City, Nebraska, a safer place for her and her children, several of whom were born there. She moved back to St. Louis, Missouri, when George returned there in 1874 shortly after the birth of their fifth child and third son, Shirley Ashby Baker, and their last child, Gilbert Montfort Baker was born in that city. George died 2 Feb 1902 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Baker, Isaac Gilbert. (1819-1904) Ft. Benton trader, businessman. Born 22 Aug 1819 in Ridgefield, New Haven co, Connecticut, as the eldest child of Amos Baker & Mary [Gilbert] Baker.  I. G. Baker removed to Burlington, Iowa, where he took up a position as a store clerk. In 1841, he was given a position with the Sac and Fox Agency at Des Moines, Iowa, and was present at the signing of the treaty of 1842. As a result of that treaty, the Indians were removed to a reservation in Ottawa county, Iowa, and I. G. followed them, carrying on both the Indian and general trade there until 1851 when he opened a second store in Westport, Missouri, although he continued to reside at the Sac & Fox Agency in Franklin co., Kansas. He prospered in this trade, as the 1860 census shows his real estate was valued at $3,000.00 (approx. $111,000 in 2023)  and his personal estate at $40,000 (approx. 1.4 million dollars in 2023). 

        Four years later, in 1864, Pierre Choteau, Jr. & Co. (American Fur Co.) offered I. G. a clerk's position at Ft. Benton, Montana Territory. After Pierre Choteau sold the company in 1865, I. G. and his brother George founded I. G. Baker & Bro. in 1866 and began their operations in Ft. Benton. After the Conrad brothers were admitted as partners in 1873, the company name was changed to I. G. Baker & Co., which name was retained after the Conrads purchased George Baker's interest in 1874.

After the re-organization of 1873, I. G. packed up his family and moved back to St. Louis, where he continued to act as the St. Louis agent for the company. He continued, however, to spend summers in Montana whenever possible and owned a ranch south of Ft. Benton in the Highwood Mountains on Highwood Creek. He died 5 April 1904 in St. Louis. 

He and his wife Frances (Fanny) Wilson (1836-1913) were married in 1863 and they had two children: a son, George Wilson Baker (1866-1888) and a daughter, Francis Wilson Baker (1867-1963) who married in 1890 Joseph Scott Fuqua of Charleston, South Carolina. I. G. also had one son, Joseph Amos Baker (1851-?), and a daughter, Mary Isabella Baker (1855-?) by a previous wife whose name is at present unknown.

Baker, Joseph Amos “Joe” (1851-?). Son of Ft. Benton businessman Isaac G. Baker, C. E. Conrad’s first employer in Montana. Joe was born 7 Dec 1851 in Westport, Missouri, and married Anne Maria “Nannie” Conrad 3 Oct 1878 in Ft. Benton. In the 1880 U. S. Census he gave his occupation as “merchant.”  They had one child, a daughter, Mary Ashby Baker (b. 1881). After Nannie’s death in 1888, Joe did not re-marry until 1907 at Ft. Benton, when he married Sarah Ballard of Vermont.

Bonner, Edward L. One of the founders of Missoula, Montana. He was born on 18 August 1834 in Orwell, New York. At age 31, he married Carrie Kenyon in Lewiston, Idaho. They had five children, two of whom died in infancy.
    1866, he partnered with R.A. Eddy and Daniel Welch, and brought a pack train of merchandise from Walla Walla, Washington Territory, to Missoula, establishing a trading post called Bonner & Welch near the Florence Hotel. In the years to come, that small business became the Missoula Mercantile Company. Welch bowed out of the business in the 1870s.

    Bonner then began expanding. He established branch stores all over western Montana, including Deer Lodge and Butte.

   His mercantile activities included establishing one of the largest lumber mills in America. Located on the Blackfoot River, a small town developed around the mill and was christened Bonner in his honor. He was also co-owner of the First National Bank of Missoula.

    He died 10 July 1902 of a heart attack while on an automobile excursion about the town with Morton J. Elrod, a professor at the University of Montana. 

Bossu dit Lionnais, Marie Blanche Cecilie (1876-1956), aka Blanche Lyonnais, surname  spelled variously as Lionais or Lionnais. The wife of Charles E. Conrad, Jr., she was born 29 June 1876 in Quebec, Canada, to Marie Louis-Emile Alfred Bossu dit Lionnais and Marie-Alma Alphonsine Pouliot. She resided in Montréal, Quebec, with her parents & siblings. She married C. E. Conrad, Jr. 27 June 1900 at the Cathedral Saint-Jacques in Montréal. By inference from the contents of several of her husband’s letters, it appears she had at least one miscarriage, possibly two. She was utterly devoted to her husband and stuck with him through all of his troubles, parting from him only at his death in 1905. Although she was able to settle all of the couple’s outstanding debts, she was left essentially penniless and her father was in no better condition, as the economic situation in Montréal of 1905 was quite dire. 

Consequently, she re-married ca. 1906 to Henry Wilson Lamberton of Boise, Idaho, a wealthy and prominent businessman of that town. The 1910 U. S. Census for Boise shows that she had been the mother of two children, but the couple had none living with them. It is assumed that this entry was in reference to her previous miscarriages, although it must be admitted that the second may have been with her second husband. Mr. Lamberton died in Mountain Home, Idaho, on 31 May 1916 leaving Blanche once more a widow, but significantly better off than before.

She never married again. At some as yet undetermined time, she moved to Florida, probably before 1938 which was the year her brother Alfred died in Miami, Florida. She died October, 1956, in Dade county, Florida. She, like the rest of her family, was buried in Sect. C, Concession #00024, Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her first husband, Charles Edward Conrad, Jr., is also buried there.

Brewer, Leigh Richmond (1839-1916). Episcopal Bishop of Montana. Born 20 Jan 1839 in Berkshire, Vermont, to Sykes and Laura (Crawton) Brewer, Bishop Brewer graduated from General Theological Seminary in 1866, was admitted to the diaconate by Bishop H. Potter in the Church of the Annunciation, New York, on July I, 1866, and was advanced to the priesthood by Bishop Coxe in Christ Church, Oswego, N. Y., on June 16, 1867.

He was elected to the post of missionary bishop to the newly established diocese of Montana in 1880, and in December of that year was consecrated as Bishop. He arrived in Helena, Montana in February 1881 to take up his new post and served in this office until his death.

He married Henrietta W. Foote the daughter of Henry and Amelia Foote 10 July 1866 in Canton, New York. They had one daughter, Jennie E. Brewer. He died 28 August 1916 in Helena, Montana, and is buried in Forestvale Cemetery, Helena.
A more complete biography can be read on pp. 546-547, Progressive Men of the State of Montana (ca. 1902).

C

Clendennin, Fanny. Wife of George Clendennin, Ft. Benton merchant and entrepreneur.

Clough, William Pitt (1845-1916). Resident of St. Paul, Minnesota and later of New York, NY, with C. E. Conrad, Almond A. White and James B. Conner a co-founder of the Kalispell Townsite Company. He was one of the directors of the Great Northern Railway at that time.

The following account of his life is from the Railway Age Gazette, August 1, 1913, p. 372:

“William P. Clough was born in Cortland County, New York, and began railway work on October 1, 1880, as general counsel in the West for the Northern Pacific; occupying that position until June 1, 1887, when he entered the executive department of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba as assistant to the president [J. J. Hill, - Ed.], soon after becoming a director and second vice-president of that company.

“On February 1, 1890, when the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba was taken over by the Great Northern, he became a director of the latter company, and remained until the summer of 1901, when he resigned them to become a director of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and a director and member of the executive committee of the Northern Pacific, which positions he has continued to hold, and which, for the past 12 years, have chiefly occupied his time. On July 1, 1912, he became the first vice-president of the Northern Pacific.”

Clowes, (Rev.) H. E. The Rev. Mr. Clowes was the pastor at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ft. Benton, where he became a good friend of the Conrads. He was later transferred to Christ Church Episcopal in Kalispell, where he continued his friendship. It was he who delivered a very moving eulogy at C. E. Conrad’s funeral.

Coggan, Catherine Elizabeth Alicia (1830-1904). C. E. Conrad’s mother-in-law. Born 1 March 1830 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, the daughter of Thomas and Alicia Ann [Tyson] Coggan, Catherine emigrated to the United States in 1848 at the age of 18. She landed at Boston, Massachusetts, but by 1854 she had removed to Lynn, Massachusetts, where she supported herself as a purveyor of millinery and straw goods. Circa 1850, she became involved with James Stanford, a businessman of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a man much older than herself. They were married 26 April 1855, at St. Stephen’s Church, Lynn, Massachusetts, by the Rev. J. W. Hallam, Rector. They soon moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After the death of her husband which left her destitute, she briefly moved her family to Pittsburgh, from whence she and her family soon departed for Ft. Benton to join her oldest son, James Tyson Stanford.
She arrived in Benton in May of 1879 aboard the river steamboat Montana with her daughter Alicia (Alicia Davenport Stanford) and son Harry (Harry Penn Stanford).
Catherine wrote a romance novel, Hearts vs Diamonds, based largely on her own life and experiences. She completed it in 1877 while in Halifax but had little success in getting it published until just before moving to Montana. She finally sold it for $20.00 to Potter’s American Monthly and the first installment appeared in the July 1879 issue of the magazine. Twenty years later, she succeeded in getting it published as a hard-cover book (NY & London: F. T. Neely, 1899). Aside from the copy in the Library of Congress, only two other copies of this book are known to exist and both are in a private collection. It was reprinted with an introduction by Richard L. Hardesty in 2012 (Hungry Horse, MT: Spotted Cap Books, 2012. ISBN 9780615728803).

Comstock, Solomon Gilman, (1842-1933). Lawyer, businessman & politician of Moorhead, Minnesota. Comstock was a lawyer, businessman and legislator during his life in Moorhead. Comstock was the first County Attorney for Clay county, Minnesota, and held similar posts in Pembina and Stutsman Counties in Dakota Territory. He was elected to the Minnesota state legislature in 1875 and served until 1888 when he was elected to the United States House of Representatives for a three-year term.
In 1883, he and Almond A. White formed the Northwest Land Company of which he was President from 1883 to 1914. The company worked closely with James J. Hill in locating & creating towns along Hill’s railroads in Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. As part of this association, he served on the Board of Directors of the Kalispell Townsite Company for a number of years.
He was also involved in the Minnesota and Dakota Northern Railroad Company, the First national Bank of Moorhead, the Moorhead Foundry, Car and Agricultural works, the Bishop Whipple School and the Moorhead Normal School.

Conner, John B. (1831-1912) Businessman of Indianapolis, Indiana, and one of the incorporators of the Kalispell Townsite Company. The others were C. E. Conrad, Almond A. White and William Pitt Clough. He was born 28 April 1831 near Vernon, Indiana, and died 11 April 1912. He was the proprietor of the Central Indiana Printing Co. and the president of the Indiana Farmer Co. and was a Civil War veteran, having served as a 1st Lieutenant and later Captain with Company “A”, 12th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was the State Statistician from 1892-1901, a position he helped create while in the legislature as a representative for Marion County. He was a Police Commissioner in the mid-1890s and served on the Board of Public Safety for some years. Mr. Conner was also the author of Indiana agriculture. Agricultural resources and development of the state. The struggles of pioneer life compared with present conditions, (Indianapolis, W.B. Burford, 1893).

Conrad, Alice Agnes “Lillie” (1868 -1941). Daughter of James Warren Conrad & Maria S. Ashby. Born 2 March 1868 on the Conrad property in Clarke co., Virginia, she came to Ft. Benton, Montana with the rest of her family, arriving  9 June 1879 aboard the I. G. Baker & Company steamer Red Cloud. She met Dr. Francis Joseph Adams there and married him in Ft. Benton on 28 Oct 1891. They moved to Great Falls shortly thereafter. She died 6 April 1941 and is buried in Highland Cemetery, Great Falls, Montana. One of C. E. Conrad’s sisters.

Conrad, Alicia Ann (1892-1981). Youngest daughter of Charles Edward Conrad. Born in Kalispell, June 1892, she died in Missoula, Montana, on 4 Feb 1981. Married twice, first to Walter Montgomery McCutcheon (1890-?), Kalispell, 10 Jun 1914 (div.), by whom she had one child, a daughter (Alicia McCutcheon, 1921-2010) and second to George Henry Campbell (1889-1976), 21 Feb 1928, by whom she had one child, a boy (Charles Conrad Campbell, b. 1928). Alicia gave the family mansion to the City of Kalispell, Montana, which is now operated as the Conrad Mansion Museum by the Conrad Mansion Directors, Inc., a non-profit organization, while the property remains in the possession of the City. 

Conrad, Anna Maria “Nannie” (1857-1888). Seventh child of James Warren Conrad and another of C. E. Conrad’s younger sisters, Nannie was born 11 Mar 1857, Warren Co., Virginia. She married Joseph Amos Baker, son of Isaac G. Baker of I. G. Baker & Bro., the firm which C. E. first worked for in Ft. Benton and which he later came to own the controlling interest in with his older brother, W. G. They were married 3 Oct 1878 at Ft. Benton, Montana and had one child, a daughter Mary Ashby Baker. Nannie died 17 Sept 1888 in Ft. Benton. Her husband had installed in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Benton a beautiful stained-glass window to her memory which is still in place. It is the main window of the church and is located behind the altar on the west end of the church.

Conrad, Arthur Franklin (1870-1885). The youngest sibling of C. E. Conrad, Arthur was born 28 July 1870 in Warren co., Virginia and died 31 March 1885 in Fairbault, Minnesota, where he was attending Shattuck School, a boarding school very popular with Montana families and which his brother, Warren Ashby Conrad, also attended for a while. Arthur was one of a set of twins, the other twin, Ernest, having died at birth.

Conrad, Arthur Franklin (1885-1953). Youngest child of George William "W. G." Conrad, named after his recently deceased uncle (above). Born 6 August 1885, he was married and had a son, William H. Conrad (b. ~1909). Arthur F. died in Great Falls, Montana, 23 November 1953.

Conrad, Catherine Elizabeth "Kate" (1885-1935). Third child of C. E. Conrad and second by his second wife (Alicia Davenport Stanford). She was born in Ft. Benton, Montana Territory, on 12 Jun 1885 and died in Kalispell, Montana, 13 July 1935.

Catherine married Egbert James Van Duzer (1883-1943) in Kalispell on 12 Jun 1908. She died without issue.

Conrad, Charles Davenport (1882-1941), aka Charley. Second son and second child of C. E. Conrad (first by his second wife), Charles Davenport Conrad was born 29 Sept 1882 in Ft. Benton, Montana Territory. He died 9 Feb 1941 in Kalispell, Montana. He first married Kokoa Baldwin, daughter of Marcus Dana Baldwin and Sarah Susan Rogers, on 12 Mar 1907 in Kalispell. By her, he had one daughter, Catherine C. “Kokoa” Conrad (1908-1973) and one son, Charles Baldwin Conrad (1909-1929). They divorced and he married Agnes Winifred Hannaman in Kalispell on 14 July 1919. Charles & Agnes had no issue.
He attended St. John’s Military Academy, Manlius, New York, with his cousin, James Stather Stanford.
After his father’s death in 1902, C. D. Conrad eventually took over his father’s position as President at the Conrad National Bank, but his tenure was rocky and the board of directors eventually relegated him to a figure-head role, as his fiscal policies were ruinous.

Conrad, Charles Edward, Jr. (1876-1905), a.k.a. Edward, Charles, Jr. & Charley. Only son of C. E. Conrad and his first wife, Kaiyis (Cayoise in French orthography) of the Kainai (Blood) tribe, b. 1 September 1876, probably in Ft. Macleod, NWT (now Alberta), Canada. He was raised in Catholic boarding schools in Canada, eventually attending Mount St. Louis Institute, Montreal, Canada, where he enrolled probably in 1888 and graduated therefrom, most likely in 1894. He then attended college. It is not certain at this time what university he attended. By 1898, he was out on his own and living in Montreal. He was for a while (1899-1902) in the import business under the name “Porter, Conrad & Co.” in a partnership with Andrew T. Porter, and with his father, C. E. Conrad, as a silent partner and investor. The name of the company was changed to “Porter, Conrad Importing Co.” in 1900.
This partnership was dissolved after only a short while (1901) due to severe conflicts with Mr. Porter. Edward then set out on his own with his father still involved as silent partner & investor as “Conrad Importing Co.” This business ultimately failed due to its unusual nature and his father’s failure to fully understand how it worked as well as his lack of communication, both of which were uncharacteristic of C. E. Conrad. His father’s death in late 1902 was also the death knell for Edward’s business efforts, and he closed out the business deep in debt.
Edward was married in 1900 to Marie Blanche Cecilie Bossu dit Lionnais of Montreal. After the failure of his business, Edward and Blanche briefly lived in Montreal in the Place Viger Hotel. Edward then went to New York to look for work, temporarily leaving his wife in residence at the hotel. He stayed for a while at the Catholic Club of the City of New York. Meeting with success in his endeavors and having obtained a job with the Catholic publisher McBride, he moved with Blanche to Long Island, where they were living in 1904-1905. He died on 1 September 1905 in Vaudreuil, Quebec, while the couple was on vacation for the season. His funeral was held at the Notre Dame Basilica of Montréal and he was buried in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery, Montréal, in the Lionais family vault, Sect. C, Concession #00024, as Charles Edouard Conrad Lionais, an indication of the esteem in which his wife’s family held him. 
Father Albert Lacombe, OMI, the long-time champion of the Blackfeet and of métis, was a life-long father-confessor and friend to Edward and was well known to his father, C. E. Conrad. 

Conrad, George Harfield (1883-1953). Fifth child and second son of George William Conrad (W. G. Conrad), born 14 Jun 1883, Ft. Benton, Montana Terr. He usually went by his middle name, Harfield. He did not remain in Montana and by 1940 he was living in Kirkland, King co., Washington. He died 31 March 1953 at Fort Steilacoom (a mental hospital), Pierce co, Washington, and is buried in Sunset Hills Memorial Park, Bellevue, King co., Washington.  He and his wife Kathryn (Kennedy) Conrad (1885-1963) had three children, two girls: Kathryn E. (1909-1926) and Francis L. (1914-1976) and a son, Arthur Gael (1906-1909).

Conrad, George William, aka W. G. Conrad. Older brother to C. E. Conrad, b. 3 Aug 1848 at Wapping Plantation, nr. Front Royal, Warren co., VA and d. 6 Mar 1914 at White Post, Chester co., VA, and who accompanied him out West to Ft. Benton, Montana Territory. Named for his maternal grandfather, George William Ashby, George switched his name around to William George ca. 1870 and was afterwards known to the world as W. G. Conrad, although an occasional Benton old-timer would call him G. W. He had, however, always been known to the family as “Willie,” and that name stuck. W. G. maintained homes in Great Falls and Helena, Montana and in White Post, Virginia, where he spent a great deal of time, preferring Virginia to Montana. He was counted twice in U. S. Censuses on two occasions:  the first in 1870 when he was initially recorded at Fort Ashby on the Missouri River at the mouth of French Creek (which was in what was then Dawson co.) in late April and later at Ft. Benton in late July. The second time was the 1900 census. He was counted the first time at Great Falls in early July, then again ten days later at White Post, Virginia. It took longer to complete a census in those days for obvious reasons.
W. G. was a political animal and served as a county commissioner of Choteau Co. for many years and was Ft. Benton’s first mayor. He served in the Montana territorial legislature as a Senator for Choteau county twice, in 1879 and 1880. He was also twice an unsuccessful candidate for U. S. Senator from Montana, losing by a narrow margin to William Andrews Clark in 1898. In 1908, he was considered as the national Democratic candidate for Vice-President with Wm. Jennings Bryan, but lost at the last minute to John W. Kern of Indiana.
He married Fannie Elizabeth Margaret Bowen (b. 5 Oct 1853, Surry, Virginia; d. 20 Feb 1910, Great Falls, Montana), the daughter of Paul Lee Bowen and Almira Josephine Harper, on 24 October 1876 at Poplar Hill, nr. Winchester, Virginia. They went back to Benton after the honeymoon, as W. G. had built her a brick house there, the first brick house in Ft. Benton. They lived there exclusively for some years until W. G. bought the mansion in White Post. Thenceforth, they divided their time between Virginia and Montana. They had six children in all, three boys and three girls.
He is buried in Mt. Hebron Cemetery, Winchester, Virginia, as is his wife. 

Conrad, James Warren (1812-1894). Father to C. E. & W. G. Conrad, James Warren Conrad was the oldest of the five children of Joseph Conrad, Jr. (ca. 1780-1844) and Sara Self (1795-1866). He was born 10 Dec 1812, Winchester, Virginia and died 17 July 1894 in Great Falls, Montana. He was married twice, the first time to his first cousin, Evaline Self (1815-1840), by whom he had one child, a daughter, Sara Ann Conrad (b. 1840).
His second marriage was to Maria S. Ashby, born 6 May 1846, Warren co., Virginia, by whom he had thirteen children which included a set of twins, one of whom died at birth.
James Warren Conrad was a land-owner in Warren county. His small plantation of Wapping upon which several of his children were born, including C. E. Conrad, was sold prior to the Civil War (1853) and he then purchased a larger holding along the Shenandoah River in Clarke county near the Maryland state line. It should not come as a surprise that his estate was ruined in the War as his property was very much in the path of both armies in their back and forth struggle. Reduced to near poverty by the end of the war, he sent his two oldest sons to his sister Mary Elizabeth in New York to work for her husband in his store. The bulk of the wages they earned were sent back home to the family.
It has been erroneously stated that he served with Col. Mosby in the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (Mosby’s Rangers). There is no record of such service. It has also been stated that he was in the Virginia militia, which is quite possible, but no record of such service has yet been discovered.
After his sons made their fortunes in Montana, they moved the entire family to Ft. Benton and provided for them. James lived out the rest of his life in comfort.

Conrad, Jonathan Howard (1855-1928). Known as John Howard or sometimes just Howard, Jonathan Howard Conrad was the sixth child of James Warren Conrad and Maria S. Ashby. He was born 15 Jun 1855 on the Conrad farm in Clarke county, Virginia and died a pauper 27 Nov 1928 in Seattle, King county, Washington.
He married first Mabel Barnaby (1858 - ?), the daughter of the prominent Rhode Island businessman and politician, Jerothmul Bowers Barnaby (1830-1889), and Josephine A. Reynolds (ca. 1836-1891). They were married 17 Dec 1884, Providence, Rhode Island, in a lavish and very expensive wedding that was the talk of the town and rated a full page in the Providence newspaper. This marriage ended in scandal and divorce with accusations of infidelity on both sides and set the society pages of Helena, Montana, ablaze. The divorce was final on 26 Sept 1893 in Helena. Before the divorce, they had three children, two girls and a boy. The son, Barnaby Conrad, went with his mother back to Rhode Island after the divorce. Two of his descendants, Barnaby Conrad, Jr. (1922-2013) & Barnaby Conrad III, are very active published authors and artists. Barnaby, Jr. spent time as a bullfighter and later wrote several books about bullfighting as well as other subjects. Barnaby III has published his account of delving into his family history in Ghost Hunting in Montana (Collins, 1994).

Conrad, Joseph “Joe” Hunter (1859-1894). Joe, the 8th child of James Warren Conrad and Maria S. Ashby, was born 18 Mar 1859 on the Conrad farm in Clarke county, Virginia and died 9 Dec 1894 in Los Angeles, California, where he is buried in the Angeles Rose Dale Cemetery. He came to Ft. Benton 9 June 1879 aboard the I. G. Baker & Company steamer Red Cloud with several other members of his family, including his parents. He was employed by his older brothers for a while at the I. G. Baker store in Benton. He was given his middle name in honor of his uncle, John Hunter.

Conrad, Mary Blanche “Mollie” (1861-1911). Mollie was the ninth child of James Warren Conrad and one of C. E. Conrad’s younger sisters. She was born 22 Feb 1861, in Virginia and died in 1911. She married one of her brothers’ business associates, Charles W. Price (1844-?) 23 Oct 1881 at Ft. Benton, Montana Territory. They had three children, one of whom was Howard Conrad Price.
Charles and Mollie moved in 1905 to Saskatchewan to live with their son Howard, who had moved to a ranch there in 1901 and started a family.

Conrad, Mary Elizabeth (1831-1909). Sister to James Warren Conrad, she was b. Jan, 1831, in Warren county, Virginia, the daughter of Joseph Conrad, Jr.(ca. 1780-1844) and Sara Self (1795-1866) as their third child. She m. 14 April 1855 John Hunter in Fauquier county, Virginia.
Ca. 1867-68, C. E. Conrad and his brother, G. W./W. G. Conrad, briefly lived with the Hunters in Sterling Valley, New York, before heading west for Montana Territory.

Conrad, Sara Ann “Sallie” (1813- ?). Sister to James Warren Conrad, born 1813, presumably in Virginia, the second child of Joseph Conrad, Jr.(ca. 1780-1844) and Sara Self (1795-1866). She married John Robinson and they had two sons, James W. and John S. Robinson.

Conrad, Sara E. (b. ca. 1840). Half-sister to C. E. Conrad, Sara was born ca. 1840, presumably in Virginia, the daughter of James Warren Conrad by his first wife, Evaline Self. After her mother’s death, she went to live with a grandmother until her marriage to a Mr. Hackshaw. 

Conrad, W. G. see Conrad, George William.

Conrad, Warren Ashby “Ashby, Ash” (1864-1922). Also called W. A. Conrad; b. 5 Oct 1864, Warren co., VA to James Warren Conrad and Maria S. Ashby and d. 16 May 1922, Kalispell, Flathead co., MT. W. A. Conrad arrived in Benton aboard the Red Cloud, 9 June 1879, along with his parents and the balance of his siblings, including Joseph Hunter Conrad. Although only 15 at the time, he was given a job as a clerk in the Benton store of I. G. Baker & Co. by his older brothers, C. E. & W. G. Conrad. He later moved to Kalispell and worked as Head Cashier in the Conrad National Bank.
    He married Caroline Elizabeth Greene in Kalispell on 26 June 1895. 

Conrad, William George (W. G.). see Conrad, George William.

Conrad, William Self (1821-1900). C. E. Conrad’s paternal uncle. The fourth child of Joseph Conrad, Jr. and younger brother to James Warren Conrad, William was born 12 Jun 1821 in Virginia and died in 1900, presumably in Virginia. Married to Ann Elizabeth Robinson in 1850, they had six children. It is likely that Ann was sister to the John Robinson who married William’s sister, Sara Ann Conrad.

Curry, Thomas “Tom”. Thomas Curry of Ireland worked for the Conrads in various managerial capacities. He was for a while the manager of the butcher shop in the I. G. Baker store in Edmonton. He later managed some of the ranch properties owned by the Conrads.

D

Dewdney, Mrs. [Jane Shaw Moir]. Wife of Edgar Dewdney who was Lt. Governor of the NWT (Canada) in the early 1880's and later (1892-1987) Lt. Governor of British Columbia.

Dutro, Daniel, (1848-1918).  A well-known Ft. Benton photographer, he was born 17 Sep 1848 in Taylorsville, Highland County, Ohio. Daniel married Caroline A. McBurney, 30 in April of 1874 in Montana.
    Daniel served as a drummer boy with the 150th Illinois Infantry in the Civil War. As his health suffered from the war years, in June 1868 he came to the Missouri River and took the steamboat, Andrew Ackley, to the Montana frontier. Over the next decade he worked as a miner and a stone cutter, until his health forced him to seek less demanding work. By the early 1880s Dan and his family settled in Fort Benton.
    In 1883 Dan bought Duffin's Photo Gallery. Over the next two decades, Dutro remained in Fort Benton, compiling an exceptional photographic record. He photographed a wide span of Fort Benton history, the river, the buildings, the scenes, the Native Americans, the ranches, and mines in the area. Among his photo collection are two "hanging" photos taken of convicted murderers before execution. The hangings were public events.

    He died 8 May 1918 (aged 69) in Gallatin County, Montana, and is buried in Forestvale Cemetery, Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana.

Dyde, John S. (1785-1886). Col. John Dyde was born 1795 in Altona in the duchy of Holstein, Denmark, the son of Robert Dyde of London. He served over fifty years in the Canadian militia and took part in the response to all of the Fenian raids as well as the Red River Expedition which dealt with Louis Riel’s first rebellion. It is not surprising, therefore, that Charlie knew this man. 
He died 5 March 1886 in Montreal, Canada, while on the witness stand as a witness for the defense in the trial of his son for passing forged notes.

NOTE: For a more complete biography of Col. Dyde, see Rev. J. Douglas Borthwick. Montreal History and Gazeteer to the year 1892. Montreal: John Lovell & Son,1892 (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcmtl-w/DydeJohn.html, last accessed 22 Jun 2013). 

For a detailed report on his death, see the New York Times, 6 March 1886, article titled “Dead on the Witness Stand. The Strange and Romantic Career of Col. John S. Dyde” (http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res[-]=F60F11FF355C15738DDDAF0894DB405B8684F0D3, last accessed 22 Jun 2013).

 E

Edwards, John Harrington (1866-1945). J. H. Edwards was born 26 December 1866 in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, the son of the Rev. Dr. John Harrington Edwards and Caroline (Starr) Edwards. In 1885-1886, he was a bookkeeper at the Second National Bank of Erie, Pennsylvania  and then from 1886 to 1891, he was the financial agent for Grandin Bros. & Dalrymple, a wheat farm, elevator & steamboat company in Fraill county, North Dakota. 
    Arriving in Kalispell in April of 1891, he was appointed as the cashier of the Kalispell Townsite Company and was advanced to assistant secretary of same in June, 1893. C. E. Conrad then made him Vice-President of the Conrad National Bank in January, 1898. He continued in both capacities until sometime after 1902. He also served as a director of the Big Fork Electric Power & Light Company and three times as alderman in Kalispell (1892, 1893, 1894). He served in various other capacities in Kalispell during the 1890s and early 1900s, including a stint on the school board. He was married to Mary R. Dixon of Ottumwa, Iowa, on 14 June 1893 in Iowa. She died 26 October 1898. He married again to Florence Elizabeth Houston, 26 June 1902 in Seattle, Washington. J. H. Edwards died 30 April 1945 in Seattle. 
(see Campbell, John A., ed. Biographical History with Portraits of Prominent Men of the Great West. Chicago: Western Biographical & Engraving Co., 1902. Page 205-206. Data on second marriage & death garnered from Ancestry.com.)

G

Grubb, George Hampson. (1861-1944). Kalispell attorney. Born on 31 October 1861, in Hamilton, Hancock, Illinois, to Charles Grubb and Dinah Davidson. He married Fannie A Fisher on 14 May 1890, in Brady Township, Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. She died ca. 1894, as George's marital status is "Widowed" in the 1900 U. S. Census and he indicated he had been married for four years. His address in 1900 was 410 4th Avenue E., Kalispell. He married Josephine Brink 24 December 1906 in Bigfork, Montana.  He died 17 January 1944, in Kalispell.

    Mr. Grubb was appointed guardian to Margaret Josephine Shelton, who was the best friend of C. E. Conrad's daughter, Catherine, and spent more time in the Conrad home than at the home of her legal guardian.

    From his obituary (Kalispell Daily Interlake, 21 Jan 1944):  "He received his degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of Iowa in 1884, and practiced law in Nebraska until 1889, when he moved to Wyoming where he practiced for a year. In 1890 he moved to Demersville, but with other pioneers moved to the new town of Kalispell in 1891, where he has practiced his profession ever since.

    In 1907 he was married to Mrs. Josephine Brink, who remains to mourn his loss. He is also survived by his foster daughter, Nira, now Mrs. Dick Faulkner of Oklahoma City. Mr. Grubb also reared in his home Margaret Shelton, daughter of a deceased friend, who is now Mrs. E. C. Peattie.

    Mr. Grubb incorporated the City of Kalispell and was its first city attorney. He was also among the first county attorneys of Flathead county, served several times in the state legislature, and was always active in civic and community affairs. He was a genial and kindly man, who was always held in the highest esteem by all who knew him in his more than a half century in this community."

H

Harris, John. General manager of the Conrad Circle ranch in Canada and the U. S.

Herrmann,  Alexander, aka Herrmann the Great (1844-1896), a very popular and skilled stage magician of the time.

Hill, James Jerome (1838-1916). Canadian-American railroad executive. He was the chief executive officer of a family of lines headed by the Great Northern Railway, which served a substantial area of the Upper Midwest, the northern Great Plains, and Pacific Northwest. Because of the size of this region and the economic dominance exerted by the Hill lines, Hill became known during his lifetime as The Empire Builder. He became one of the richest men in America and moved in the highest circles with such men as John D. Rockefeller, John Pierpont Morgan and the Vanderbilts.
James J. Hill was born 16 Sept 1838 in Rockwood, Ontario, to James Hill and Anne (Dunbar) Hill, the third of four children.
In 1867, James J. Hill married Mary Theresa Mehegan, born in 1846 in New York City. They had ten children. His son, Louis W. Hill (1872-1948) assumed control of the Great Northern after his father’s death.
Although Conrad historians have usually called J. J. Hill one of C. E.’s “good friends,” the fact is they were business associates only, and Charley always referred to him as Mr. Hill.

For a more thorough treatment, see: 
Martin, Albro (1991). James J. Hill and the opening of the Northwest. Minnesota Historical Society Press. p. 366. ISBN 0-87351-261-8, 
Malone, Michael P. (1997). James J. Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press, p. 320. ISBN 978-0806128603.

Hunt, Gertrude (Upshur) (1862-?). Wife of William Henry Hunt, a prominent early Montana judge and later governor of Puerto Rico. The couple were in Ft. Benton in the early 1880s, later moved to Helena. Their daughter, Helen Upshur Hunt (1889-1982), married Barnaby Conrad, son of John Howard Conrad.

Hunter, John (1828-1902). One of six brothers, he was b. May, 1828, in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of James Hunter and Isabella A. G.  Crockett, and d. 30 Mar 1902 in Brooke co., W. Virginia. He married Mary Elizabeth Conrad in 1855.
In the summer of 1850, Mr. Hunter was employed on the Orange and Alexandria railroad as a foreman. After one year's service on the O. & A. Railroad he went to Fauquier county, Va., where he accepted a similar position on the famous Manassas Gap Railroad. In 1852 Mr. Hunter made a contract (his first) with the last named road for constructing a certain distance and was engaged on that road as contractor till the spring of 1858. It was obviously during this period that he met Mary Elizabeth Conrad, and they were married in Fauquier county in 1855. At the end of his contract in 1858, he returned to Sterling Valley, Cayuga co., NY, with his wife and they resided there for the rest of their lives. 
John Hunter, his brother James Crockett Hunter and John Cochran opened a store in Sterling Valley in 1859, under the firm name of John Hunter & Co. In 1862, John Cochran sold his interest to the Hunters, and in 1863, James Hunter sold his interest to his brother John, by whom the business was carried on alone till 1867, when James C. Hunter again acquired a half interest, and the firm became  James C. Hunter & Co. The period when C. E. Conrad and his brother W. G. lived with them would have been ca. 1867-1869. 
John bought the L. C. Smith Arms Co. (makers of the “Elsie” shotgun) in 1888 from Lyman C. Smith and moved it to Fulton, NY, as the Hunter Arms Co. His five brothers eventually joined him in that venture. An Elsie shotgun was once in the C. E. Conrad gun collection. Mr. Smith, with his brothers Wilbert, Monroe, and Hurlbut formed the Smith Premier Typewriter Company in 1886 and began making typewriters, and much later joined with the Corona Typewriter Company to produce typewriters under the Smith-Corona name.

Hunter, Samuel C. One of John Hunter's (q. v.) five brothers. 

K

Kohrs, Conrad, (1835-1920). A prominent Montana cattleman, his home ranch near Deer Lodge, Montana, is now the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site.  He was president of the Montana Stockgrower's Association at one time. It is through Conrad's ranching activities that he became acquainted with Kohrs.

L

Lagoni, August, (1863-1932). He was born 15 Sept 1863 in Denmark and emigrated to the U. S. ca. 1880. He arrived in the Flathead ca. 1885. He served in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He was elected to the post of County Clerk in 1900 and later served as Deputy County Clerk in the late 1890s.

Lionnais, Blanche. see Bossu dit Lionnais, Marie Blanche Cecilie.

M

McKittrick, Margaret “Maggie”, Wife of James Tyson Stanford. She was born in Minnestota in 1861 and married Stanford on 26 Jan 1882 in Fort Benton as his first wife. They had two children, James Stather Stanford and Gretchen Tyson Stanford.

McLeod, (Lt. Col.) James Farquharson, (1836-1894). A close personal friend of C. E. Conrad, Macleod was born in Drynoch, Isle of Skye, Scotland, 25 Sept 1836. He was a militia officer, lawyer, NWMP officer, magistrate, judge, and politician in Alberta. He served as the second Commissioner of the North-West Mounted Police, from July 22, 1876, to October 31, 1880.
He established the first NWMP post in western Canada which his men named after him. Ft. Macleod was the main mountie post in the western provinces for a long time and played a large part in the history of both Montana and Alberta.
In 1887, Macleod was appointed to the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, which then included what is now known as Alberta and Saskatchewan. He held this position until his death on 5 Sept 1894. He is buried in Union Cemetery in Calgary.

O

Osler, Sir William, 1st Baronet (1849-1919). Prominent Canadian physician, bibliophile, speaker and one of the founding four professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he was the first Professor of Medicine. He has been called “the Father of modern medicine.” He moved to England in 1905 to take up the Regius Chair of Medicine at Oxford. Charley consulted with him about his diabetes.
Sir William’s personal collection of more than 8000 rare and antiquarian books on the history of medicine was given to McGill University and forms the core of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine, a branch of McGill University Library. 

P

Porter, Andrew T. Business partner of Charles Edward Conrad, Jr. from 1899 to late 1901. Mr. Porter began an import business in 1898 under his own name. In 1899, with C. E. Conrad’s financial backing, Edward Conrad (C. E. Conrad, Jr.) partnered with him as “Porter, Conrad & Co.” at 207 St. James St., Montreal. After they went their separate ways in 1901 due to personal conflicts, Mr. Porter left Montreal for a while, but returned to the city in 1903 & returned to business under the name “A. T. Porter Import Co.” Nothing further is known about him at this time. 

Price, Charles W. (1844- ?). Husband of Mary Blanche “Mollie” Conrad. Born in Missouri in July, 1844 to Cyrus W. Price and Adeline (Dickinson) Price, both of whom were from Virginia. Charles came to Ft. Benton probably in the late 1860s and by 1870 was working for I. G. Baker & Bro. at Ft. Ashby as a teamster. By the 1880 U. S. Census, he had advanced in profession to “Stock Raiser.” After his marriage to Mollie on 23 Oct 1881 in Ft. Benton, he became even more involved in Conrad business, as might be expected. He was a major stockholder in the Conrad-Price Cattle Company, and was President of that company in 1903. The company’s range was on the West and North forks of the Milk River.
Charles and Mollie moved in 1905 to Saskatchewan to live with their son Howard Conrad Price, who had moved to a ranch in Saskatchewan and started a family.

Price, Howard Conrad (1882- ?). Born 27 Dec. 1882, Ft. Benton, M. T., son of Mary Blanche “Mollie” Conrad and Charles W. Price. Moved to Saskatchewan in 1901. He married Barbara L. Peddie in 1903 in Emmetsburg, Iowa, and then returned to Canada, where in 1905, his parents joined his growing family. They later lived in Great Falls, Montana, where their son Howard Conrad Price, Jr. was born in 1914, and later in Houston, Texas.
Often referred to as “Howard” as was his uncle, John Howard Conrad, it is sometimes difficult to tell which Howard is being referred to in family letters, although no doubt the family had no such problems. 

R-S

Shelton, Margaret “Daisy”, (1885-1977). Margaret Shelton was a very close friend of Catherine Conrad. She was an orphan and lived with her guardian, the attorney George H. Grubb, but she spent so much time at the Conrad home that she was treated as a daughter and had a room there as well. See DAISY: THE OTHER CONRAD DAUGHTER.

Stanford, Alicia Davenport (1860-1923), aka Lettie. Wife of C. E. Conrad, Alicia was born 30 Aug 1860 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to James Stanford (1804-1872) and Catherine Elizabeth Alicia Coggan (1830-1904), both immigrants from England. She came to Ft. Benton with her mother and brother Harry Penn Stanford in 1879 on the steamboat Montana. Alicia married C. E. Conrad 4 Jan 1881, Ft. Benton, M. T. She was the mother of three of his four children: Charles Davenport Conrad, Catherine Elizabeth Conrad and Alicia Ann Conrad. Alicia died 24 June 1923 in Kalispell, Montana, and is buried in the family vault at Conrad Memorial Cemetery, Kalispell.
Her middle name, Davenport, comes from her maternal great-grandmother, Alicia Ann Davenport. The name Alicia stayed in the Stanford and Conrad families for several generations.

Stanford, George Simmons, (1858-1934). Born 20 Sep 1858 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of James Stanford and Catherine Elizabeth (Coggan) Stanford and another of Charley Conrad's brothers-in-law. George was something of a loner. He lived in Australia for some years, then moved to Montana where he lived alone in a cabin on the east shore of Flathead Lake in Flathead county. He never married. He died 9 Jan 1934.

Stanford, Harry Penn “Hal” (1867-1944). Alicia (Stanford) Conrad’s youngest brother. Born 3 Oct 1867 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of James Stanford and Catherine Elizabeth (Coggan) Stanford, and died 20 April 1944, Kalispell, Montana. Harry came to Ft. Benton with his mother and older siblings in 1879 on the river steamer Montana. Harry spent a great deal of time with the Blackfeet around Benton and from them learned of the Flathead Valley where he moved ca. 1888. His letters to his sister, Alicia, and his brother-in-law, Charley Conrad persuaded them to come visit him. 
He married Anna Josephine Hanlon 2 August 1898 in Kalispell. They had no issue.
Harry was Kalispell’s first Chief of Police and was on the town police force for some years. He later became a well-known taxidermist and was a friend to Charlie Russell and many old-timers. Many of his mounts are on display in the Conrad Mansion Museum.

Stanford, James (1804-1872). Businessman of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and father of C. E. Conrad’s wife, Alicia “Lettie” Stanford. The senior James Stanford was born 6 Feb 1804 in Horsham, Sussex, England, and died 13 May 1872 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He removed to Halifax as a young man by way of Boston. He was married twice. By his first wife, Jane, he had three daughters. After Jane’s death, he married Catherine Elizabeth Alicia Coggan, 26 April 1855 in Lynn, Massachusetts, by whom he had four children: James Tyson Stanford (1856-1926), George Simmons Stanford (1858-1934), Alicia Davenport Stanford (1860-1923) and Harry Penn Stanford (1867-1944).

Stanford, James Stather (1882-1938). Son of James Tyson Stanford, born 3 November 1882 in Ft. Benton, Montana Territory. He attended St. John’s Military Academy in Manlius, New York, the same school that his cousin, Charles Davenport Conrad, attended.
He attended Lehigh University 1905-1907 where he met and married Elsie J. Rauch of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (1882-1944) and by whom he had one child, a son, James Davenport Stanford (1907-1975). He moved his new wife back to Montana to try his hand at farming, but they stayed for only about ten years (ca. 1910-1920), then moved back to Bethlehem where he spent the rest of his life as a mining engineer and businessman. He died there 25 April 1938 and is buried in Sect. D, Nisky Hill cemetery, Bethlehem, as is his wife.
The family often referred to him as “Jim, Jr.” and this has caused a lot of confusion for researchers not aware of his full name. 

Stanford, James Tyson (1856-1926). C. E. Conrad’s brother-in-law. Born 15 Jun 1856 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, J. T. Stanford left Halifax to join the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) and was assigned to Ft. Macleod. He served an undistinguished term of service there as a commissary sergeant and obtained his discharge 21 June 1878 with the rank of Acting Constable. After knocking about for a while, he landed in Ft. Benton, Montana, in September of 1878. He briefly worked for the U. S. Customs agent in Benton, then did a brief stint working for a Benton lawyer not named in his letters to his mother. In the 1880 U. S. Census, he gave his occupation as “bookkeeper” and he was living with his mother and siblings, who had arrived in Ft. Benton in May of 1879 on the steamboat Montana. His fortunes changed for the better when his sister married C. E. Conrad, as he soon found himself employed by the Conrads as a clerk in the Benton store of I. G. Baker & Co. From that point on, his career was closely tied to the Conrads.
After C. E. Conrad’s death, James took on greater responsibilities under W. G. Conrad’s guidance and also developed his own enterprises in banking and real estate. He was appointed to the office of Adjutant-General of the Montana National Guard with the rank of Colonel in which capacity he served for one term. His A-G’s greatcoat is in the Conrad Mansion Museum clothing collection.
He was married twice, first to Margaret “Maggie” McKittrick of Michigan (1861-?) by whom he had two children: James Stather Stanford (1882-?) and Gretchen Tyson Stanford (1885-1964), both born in Ft. Benton. Maggie and James divorced 1923/24 and he married ca. 1924 Mary Hanlin (ca. 1879-1926). James died of pneumonia 10 August 1926 in Conrad, Pondera county, Montana. He was on a business trip and took ill. His wife, Mary, left Great Falls for Conrad to nurse him, but caught his disease and died ten days later on 20 August in Great Falls.
His middle name of Tyson was given him in honor of his maternal grandmother, Alicia Ann Tyson (1788-1837).

Sullivan, Jere.  Owner of the Choteau House hotel in Ft. Benton.

T

Todd, Thomas J. (ca. 1854-1926). One of C. E. Conrad’s brothers-in-law, T. J. Todd was born  ca. 1864 in West Virginia. In the 1880 U. S. Census, he gave his occupation as “clerk,” most likely for I. G. Baker & Co., as he was sharing quarters with several others known to have been in that company’s employ, including Warren Ashby Conrad and Joseph Hunter Conrad. He married on 2 Dec 1880 in Ft. Benton, Martha Elizabeth “Mattie” Conrad as her second husband. He died 29 May 1926 in Ft. Benton. The couple had no issue. That he developed business connections with the Conrad brothers might be expected.

U, V

W

White, Almond A. (1844-1930). Land developer. A. A. White was born 18 June 1844 in Whiting, Vermont, and moved west with his family, first to Wisconsin then to Minnesota, where they settled. He kept his primary residence in St. Paul. He was a principal partner in Northwest Land Co. along with Solomon G. Comstock; worked with James J. Hill in locating & platting towns along Hill’s railroads in Minnesota, North Dakota & Montana; and was one of the founding stockholders of the Kalispell Townsite Company along with William Pitt Clough, John B. Conner and C. E. Conrad. His house in Motley, Morrison county, Minnesota, is on the National Register of Historic Places. White later moved to the Flathead area of Montana and was at one time owner of Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake. He died 14 Aug 1930 in Blois, France. His son-in-law came from the U. S. Embassy in Switzerland to take possession of Mr. White’s personal effects. Mr. White was buried in the cemetery in Blois (row 3, grave 1, ‘Report of the Death of an American Citizen,’ American Consular Service, Paris, France, 16 Oct 1930).

X, Y, Z

Yates, Solomon (Sol). Mr. Yates was a resident of Ft. Benton in 1883, but apparently moved to Benton after 1880, as he was absent from the U. S. Census of that city for that year. He was later a jailer in the city jail of Great Falls where he was involved in a lawsuit over his position (1897, Montana Supreme Court).