P. 366
salt, spices, coffee, tea, etc.
Flour sacks were used for
making many things, they were really pretty prints then. Of course we each
got a penny to buy candy at the Wass Mercantile.
We would play in the field
while Mom and Dad stacked hay. Dad would round up cattle from the breaks
and take some by train to Chicago, Illinois to sell.
I remember horses, there
were rodeos on Sunday and the breaking of horses. In the fall we would
also get wood in for the stoves.
I remember the dances in
Roy. We had a sleigh and plenty of blankets. Everyone danced.
We went to church once a
month.
I graduated from the 8th
grade in Roy. The farm was sold and we moved to Hanover.
SIROKY FAMILY HISTORY
by Ruth Siroky
Mr. and Mrs. John Siroky Sr.
and their descendants have been important in the settling and development
of Fergus County. In the early nineteen hundreds the oppression of living
under a dictatorship and military conscription did not appeal to Mr. and
Mrs. Siroky for they wanted a better future for their sons and daughters.
Stories about freedom and homesteads available in the U.S. led to their
decision to migrate to this country in 1913 when John was about 35 years
old. Their choice of Roy, Montana was influenced by the fact that Mrs.
Siroky's sister, Emily, who had come to this country earlier was now married
to Richard Komarek and the Komarek's had a site chosen for the Sirokys
adjoining their homestead.
Military requirements were
very strict in Yugoslavia and Siroky escaped from the country by pretending
to look for work, traveling from town to town, carrying only the tools
of his woodworking and wagon building trade. Despite many narrow escapes
he crossed the border and boarded a ship and after a journey filled with
many hardships, he finally arrived at Roy, Montana. His money was gone
because he did not understand the language and unscrupulous people along
the way had taken advantage of him. He proceeded to walk from Lewistown
to Roy; the Komarek home was about eight miles north of Roy. When he stopped
to rest at the top of the hill on the gravel bench he knew he was nearing
his new home in the new land.
A couple of months later
he was joined by Mrs. Siroky and the five children: Mary, Frank, Joe, Jim
and Frances. Another child, Agnes, died in infancy in the old country.
The European authorities had not troubled them and people along the way
were helpful toward the young mother traveling alone with her children.
The family left on a ship from Austria and it took a month to come. Joe
remembers the ship; a rat infested ship. John Jr. was born shortly after
their arrival here. They brought their belongings in two large trunks and
also carried two knapsacks filled with clothing and bedding. Joe, who was
about 5 years old when they came to this country remembers the trunks very
well. "Dad had nailed strips over it to hold it closed," he said telling
of the one trunk. "Guys were sitting down on it. It was lined with old
newspapers written in Czech, which are still readable. It was so full and
heavy that when it was finally opened here in the new country, it popped
like a jack in the box!" Joe's son, Ken, has the trunk, no one knows what
happened to the other trunk.
As they boarded their ship,
the young lady who was helping with their luggage got separated from them,
at the pier, and was put aboard a different ship so they lost their belongings
which she was carrying.
Arrangements had been made
for Mr. Siroky to borrow a team and wagon to meet the family at the stage
depot at Armells between Fergus and Hilger, but meanwhile Mrs. Siroky and
the children had caught a ride to Roy. There was no way to let him know
where they were so they tried to flag him down when they saw him approach
Roy. In his eagerness to join his family he looked only straight ahead
and the clatter of the wagon wheels drowned out their shouts when they
tried to stop him.
The Siroky family lived
with Komareks while Komarek and Siroky went to timber to cut the logs to
build their home. Siroky's woodworking skill stood him in good stead as
he hewed the logs and carefully notched and fitted the corners of the house.
The original log house still stands as a testimonial to his skilled craftsmanship.
At last the home was ready and the family moved into the two rooms and
attic. Later a porch was added to make more room for the growing family.
Soon the parents learned the language and became naturalized citizens.
John Jr., their first American-born
child, was followed by Jerry, Abbie, Peggy, Annie, Josephine and Mero.
The children helped with the work as soon as they were old enough for there
was much to be done, what with breaking sod, clearing sagebrush, preparing
fields for crops and they slowly accumulated a herd of cattle. The years
were filled with hard work and the hazard of having their crops trampled
by large herds of cattle owned by distant cattle barons who allowed their
herds to roam freely on the open range. The cowboys had no sympathy for
Siroky when he tried to protect his crops. A cowboy roped him and tried
to drag him behind his horse. The cowboy soon retreated when Mrs. Siroky
brandished a pitchfork and threatened to drive it through him. Small wonder
the farmers felt no remorse when they occasionally slaughtered a beef from
these herds to feed their families.P.
367
Years passed and when his
sons left home to marry, John Sr. deeded each one a parcel of land to start
his own ranch and all the sons settled along the same creek, near Roy,
except Mero who obtained a ranch near Fergus. When the daughters married
each one received a dowry.
Jim remained at home with
his parents to run the home ranch and when they retired in 1939 he contracted
to buy the property from them. Jim operated the ranch until 1973 when he
retired, due to poor health, and with his family moved to Lewistown. He
sold the ranch to Joe's oldest son, Kenny, so it remains in the family.
(This part of the ranch is known as the Rogers' place.)
Jim and Ruth had five children:
Allen, Annette (Vanek), Debbie (Newton), Judy (Woodard) and Valerie (Lucas).
All attended Roy school. Jim passed away in 1977; Ruth remains in Lewistown.
There are now fourth and
fifth generations of the Siroky family living near Roy and only one daughter
of John, Sr. and Mary Siroky lives out of state. Each brother has added
to his original parcel of land received from his father, building up a
modern ranching operation.
Jerry has sold his ranch
and is now ranching at Charlo, Montana. Jerry spent four years in the Army.
He and his wife, the former Betty Moore, a school teacher, lived east of
Roy on their ranch for many years and raised a family of eight children.
The oldest four: Clarence and Lawrence (twins), Leslie and Nicolette all
graduated from RHS. Their other children are: Mitchell, Ramona, Carl and
Claretta.
They sold out in the 60's
and left the area. Clarence is now a veterinarian in Washington; Lawrence
is the head of the Water Resources Department in Helena; Leslie is an architect
in Colorado; Niki teaches school; Mitchell is a mechanic in Billings; Ramona
lives in Idaho; Carl attends college and Claretta is in the service.
Frances (Bialek) married
Wesley "Stubby" Bru. They had one daughter, Josie. They lived on the homestead
place in the original log house for several years. They gave up the place
because of Stubby's health and later they separated. Frances remarried
and she lives in Lewistown.
Annie, Abbie, Josephine
and Peggy all left the area. Abbie married Fred Able. They are retired
and live in Billings. Annie married Tom Huff and they had one son, Tommie.
Annie lives in Lewistown. She and Tom are separated. Peggy was married
to Charles Quickenden. After his death she married Steve Dotson. They live
in Great Falls. Josephine (Mrs. Charles Winters) resides in California.
Mary was married to Gus
Souchek when she was very young. They had one son. Later she married Jerry
(Piskac) Prescott and they moved to Bozeman where they made their home.
Mary and John Siroky Sr.
have both passed away.
THE JOHN AND JOE SIROKY FAMILIES
On June 10, 1935, two young
couples eloped to Billings against their parents wishes. They said the
marriages would never last. Fifty years later, the two couples proved them
wrong as they celebrated their Golden Anniversaries.
Marie "Mary" Fadrhonc lived
with her parents on a ranch near Roy. After the couple was married they
lived on the old Siroky homestead for the first three years and then moved
to Roy and farmed the Sargeant place. In 1941, they moved to the present
ranch where they--now "retired"--make their home.
John and Mary had two sons,
Ted and Tom. Their P. 368
eldest son, Ted, and his son, Marty, also live and work on the ranch.
Ted and his wife, Delores,
have three children: Marty, Michelle and Mindy. Marty and his wife, Wendi
(Niemi) have one son, Kyle. Besides ranching, Marty also works in the mines
and Wendi is employed by the Roy school system.
Michelle is married to Tom
John Byrne. They live in Roy and have two children: Beau and Brittany.
Tom is employed in the mines and Michelle at the postoffice.
Mindy and her son, Matthew,
live at home. She works at the Corner Cafe, part time.
Tom Siroky is married to
Clara (Solf) from Winnett. He is the Roy Highway Section foreman and Clara
is employed as a cook at the school. Their three children: Kevin, Keith
and Kim all graduated from RHS. Only Kevin remains in Roy and he is employed
in the mines.
Joe married Helen Kostoryz,
a Roy school teacher, who was originally from Billings. Joe and Helen ranched
until 1987 when they moved into Roy. Helen passed away in 1988 from cancer.
Their two sons both married
in 1987. Kenny and his wife, Clara Nell, are very active in community and
state affairs. Ken is a state director of the Farmers Union and is an officer
and director of the Montana Beef Council, as well as serving for many years
as an elder in the Roy Presbyterian Church. Clara, a registered nurse is
from Oklahoma. With her special skills in working with children and teaching
piano she keeps very busy in her new community. Ken and Clara live on the
old Roger's place.
Roger and his wife, Martha,
are on the ranch that his parents lived and worked on for so many years.
The elder Sirokys all loved
to dance and no dance at the Bohemian Hall seemed complete without the
two couples there. Joe, John and Mary all retain their happy zestful outlook
on life.
SMITH AND LARAWAY
E.W. Laraway and N. T. Smith
sold their ranch just west of Roy in late 1907 to Frank Stephens and moved
to El Cajon Valley in California. They purchased a fruit ranch there, and
as reported in a September 1908 paper, were busy developing an orange orchard
and vineyard along with many other varieties of fruit suited for the tropical
locale. The article stated that several auto parties of friends from Montana
had visited the two bachelors during the summer.
CAN AND ALICE SMITH -- CLAY,
PEARL AND GARY SMITH
In 1944 Can Smith, his wife
Alice, and their sons Clay Smith and Ted Taylor, moved to Roy from Springfield,
Colorado.
Can ranched with his brother,
Doc, for a few years, buying some adjoining county land for $1.00 an acre.
Can planned on raising mules but after two or three years he sold his land
to Dick Komarek and went back to Colorado.
Clay remained behind. In
1945 he and Pearl Jakes were married. Clay worked for the Milwaukee Railroad
for a couple of years and then at the school as custodian. Later he went
to work for the Montana Highway Department at Roy and worked for them until
his retirement in 1982.
Pearl ran a drug-convenience
store in Roy, in the old "Reis Shoe Shop" building, from 1946 until 1979.
The couple lived in an adjoining apartment.
Their only child, son Gary,
was born in 1946. Gary attended Roy schools and after his graduation in
1964 he joined the Army, serving until 1967, after which he P.
369 lived in Missoula for a year. He then
moved back to Roy and leased the Union Station from Homer Willis.
In 1971 he began the G &
S Oil Company, a successful business venture, which at present has outlets
in Roy, Lewistown and Grass Range, where it is known as the "Little Montana
Truck Stop". His mother, Pearl, is bookkeeper and his dad, Clay, helps
out with the business.
Gary and his wife, Jolene
Herder Slaby, have three sons: Gary Robert and Earl Ray Smith and Tony
Slaby. Gary's daughter, Carrie Lynn, lives with her mother, Lucille Gar
Newby, in Dodson.
GUST AND JOE SOUCHE
information by Jim Horyna
The homesteads of brothers
Gust and Joe Souchek are now part of the Joe Siroky place.
Joe passed away in those
early years, probably of a heart attack, and Gust took over both homesteads.
Joe is buried in Roy.
Gust was a veteran of WWI.
He married Mary Siroky.
They had one son, Joe. After
their separation, sometime in the 30's, Gust moved to Bremerton, Washington
where he worked for the government, remarried and raised a family. He was
a locksmith by trade. He passed away in Washington.
His son, Joe, lives in Bozeman.
STENDAL FAMILY
T 18N R 23E
A.M. (Marcus) Stendal, son
of Peter A. and Secilie Markusen Stendal, was born 6 March 1890 at Brownsdale,
Minnesota and educated in Brainerd. He and his brother, Rudolph A. Stendal,
came to Montana in 1911 and homesteaded southeast of Roy. Stendals raised
good blooded horses on their ranch. Marcus was immediately involved in
freighting and transportation, as he helped haul lumber from Hilger rail
depot to Roy to be used to build the Red Barn in 1913. This was the beginning
of the transportation business that he continued until 1955.
He recalled that the Red
Barn, owned by Jack Stephens, served as a stopping place for weary homesteaders
enroute to their claims. A restaurant, in the office, served meals three
times a day and sleeping accommodations were made. The women occupied the
front of the haystack and the men in the rear, as there was nowhere else
to stay.
In 1916, the Milwaukee railroad
hauled forty cars of gravel to Roy to cover the streets and Stendal donated
the use of his dray teams to haul and spread the gravel.
Anna Petersen, born near
Brainerd, Minnesota, 7 March 1890, became the wife of A.M. Stendal on 5
March 1917.
The flu epidemic of 1918-1919
claimed the life of his brother, Rudolph Andreas, born 10 April 1885. He
was 33 years old. In 1919, a bleak year, Stendal told that he skinned dead
horses and cattle to make a living by selling the hides.
In 1920, Stendal traded
his milk cows for a dray line; bought the Red Barn for headquarters and
started the transportation business he carried on in conjunction with the
railroad. In 1923 he shipped a carload of horses to Brainerd and bought
a second-hand Model T. He and his wife drove it to Roy, taking one week
to make the trip, following wagon trails that were dim, with grass growing
between the tracks.
Joe "Frenchie" Ferdette
was his first drayman in Roy--meeting the train and taking the mail to
the Post Office and then hauling freight to the businesses about town.
Freight cars had to be unloaded, as well. Leonard Ellis was his next driver
and drove for many years. Later Cornelius Lund, drove for Stendal Transportation.
Stendal bought a truck with
hard rubber tires when he began the Stage Line to Lewistown. He carried
mail, freight and supplies, of all kinds, to the Roy community, as well
as passengers. It was a great convenience to make the trip to Lewistown
and return on the same day. By train, it would take three days; one going,
one day in town and then return on the third day.
Many years of experience
went into this operation. The roads were gumbo trails at first. He told
that he would have to unload the freight at the bottom of Deer Creek Hill;
take part of it up; unload and go back for the rest of the load; fill the
radiator with cold water and take an extra supply; reload the freight and
climb the hill again and put on the first half. Finally the road was graveled,
but it was still a slow journey.
Stendal's daughter, Angeline,
was born at Roy and they lived in the Stendal-Thielman house on the corner
of Second Avenue and Fergus Street, on the west side of Roy. Mrs. Anna
Stendal became the bookkeeper for the business. The Seyller store building
once served as the office in the early twenties.
The Stendal Stage Line increased
services to other areas and the family moved to Lewistown. Here the Stendal
Transportation firm grew to a fleet of 15 trucks, branching in five directions
from Lewistown. The Stendal addition of Lewistown was named for them.
They retired in 1955 and
sold the firm. In 1968, Stendals moved to Pocatello, Idaho to be near their
P.
370 daughter. Marcus Stendal died
there, 29 July 1969.
Mrs. Stendal's daughter
also passed away in 1969 and she then made her home with her son-in-law,
David Eike and two grandchildren, until her death on 20 May 1970. Marcus
and Anna are both buried at Brainerd, Minnesota.
David Eike is the son of
Mrs. Elsie Eike of Forest Grove, Montana, where he was raised.
FRANK AND LIZZIE STEPAN
Frank Stepan came to central
Montana and homesteaded in the Winifred area. When World War I came along,
he sold out to Wherley's, and went into the service. After his discharge,
he came to the Roy area where he homesteaded seventeen miles from Roy,
near Zuley. Frank's sister, Barbara (Mrs. Albert) Jakes and her family
had already homesteaded in the Roy country.
In 1932 he married Elizabeth
Cimrhakl. The couple lived on the homestead for a few years and in 1938
they moved in to Roy. For the first winter they lived in the Montana Lumber
Co. building, moving into their house in 1939.
Frank then took over the
managership of the Roy Farmers Union and ran it until he retired in the
1950's.
Fuel, in those days, was
delivered to the farmers in barrels. The barrels would be filled up at
the Farmers Union then while Lizzie tended the station he would haul the
fuel out to the farmers. These 50 gallon barrels were very awkward to handle
being bigger around the middle than around the ends.
The Stepans always had a
big garden. Lizzie remembers one year, "with help, of course," she canned
40 quarts of peas. And they had milk cows, ducks, pigs, chickens (who hid
their nests out all over town), and one year she raised turkeys which wandered
about town. One time she found them all at Buechner's store. They also
liked to get on the neighbor's roofs. One year of turkey raising in town
was enough!
Frank passed away in June
of 1967. Lizzie still lives in the home that they moved into in 1939 and
when spring and summer rolls around, she can be seen tending her yard and
working in the garden.
FRED STEVENS FAMILY
information by Arthur Stevens
The Fred Stevens family lived
in Roy from 1914 to 1931. Fred Bentley Stevens was born June 11, 1881 at
Spencer, Iowa. He died October of 1951 in North Hollywood, California.
Belle J. Hinkey was born in 1883 in Illinois and died in 1939 in North
Hollywood. Their only child, Arthur C. Stevens was born May 1, 1915 in
Roy. Arthur writes of his life in Roy:
"Our mail came in by rail.
We picked ours up at the post office. Mr. Marsh was postmaster for many
years. We bought from the Roy Mercantile Company owned by Peder Hanson
and from Mrs. Kalal's little grocery store. We bought our milk from Lane's
Creamery and some vegetables and chickens etc. from farmers who brought
produce to town. Dad's cars were cared for by Fred Lewis and Joe Murphy's
Garage.
My mother ran a small bakery
and lunch counter, in the old land office next to the bank after it closed,
for about a year.
Dad started the "First National
Bank of Roy" in 1914. When the bank failed and closed in 1929 or 30 we
moved to Billings where Mother and Dad had a "Carmelkorn" store which failed
because of the Great Depression. My folks moved to California in 1931 and
I stayed on in Billings to graduate in 1933. In California Dad and I worked
on a ranch until 1939. When I started with Walt Disney Productions we moved
to Burbank and now live in Studio City.
LeRoy Umstead was my best
friend and we were very fond of his whole family. We were, I felt, friends
with nearly everyone in town for those 16 years that I lived there. Dad
also wrote farm insurance.
I was born in the little
white house on the hill at the south end of Main Street. I attended school,
first grade through junior year in Roy except for the 6th grade in Glendale,
California; Sophomore year in Van Nuys, California and senior year in Billings.
Mrs. Jensen taught my 1st and 8th year.
My memories of my life in
Roy, even the hardships, are worth the world to me. I was able to draw
on some of my experiences and the "look" of country life in studio productions
at Walt Disneys where I was employed for 43 1/2 years (1940-1983). The
most exciting event was the day our bank P.
371 was robbed by a couple of men who were
wanted out-of-state for other crimes. Dad had replaced his colt revolver
with a candle and screwdriver, in the vault, a week before the robbery,
so when the robbers locked Dad in the vault and fled town Dad was able
to take the door off before being rescued by some of the town folks.
My older son and I attended
the 50th anniversary of Roy in 1962 and had a wonderful time. I got up
early one morning (we slept in the attic of the Pete Rabin house) and took
a tour of the old town while the residents were still asleep. All the vacant
lots where stores or houses had been had little markers designating what
former structure had been there. It was very touching, to walk with all
those memories of my growing up days." Art Stevens and his wife, Ruth,
raised two sons: Craig, a 'builder and designer of fine houses' in L. A.
and Kent, a professor at the U. of Oregon in Eugene. When Arthur was asked
about a plane ride he took with Charles Lindberg in Roy, he replied, "A
couple of barnstormers did give us $5.00 rides in their World War I Jenny
and I did go up for my first plane ride. And I was the envy of some of
the other kids. About the fifth trip the pilot nosed over when landing
and broke the propeller. I carved my name and date in a piece of the wood."
He said it wasn't Lindberg.
ROY AND SOPHIA STURDY
Roy Sturdy was a truly unique
person. Blind, he was an avid card player and spent many happy hours at
the pool hall. The deck he played with was marked; only he knew how. Roy
was a very congenial person and people marveled at his ability to recognize
anyone whose voice he had heard, never forgetting it. He made his way about
with only the aid of a cane.
Roy Sturdy was born December
1, 1883 in Vermillion, Kansas; the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Sturdy. He
received his education in Kansas and graduated from a school for the blind
in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1910.
In 1913, Sturdy was in Roy.
He and Tony Musek were looking for a place to set up a saloon. However
there were problems to be solved.
Excerpts from an article
in the June 28, 1913 Roy Public Opinion tell how the matter finally got
straightened out.
Saloons Get Settlement....The
tangle in licenses and lots finally got straightened out... Two saloon
lots were sold to Kennedy and Hansen, believing they could secure a license.
The licenses were granted to Roy Sturdy and J.H. Stephans.....Sturdy later
acquired both licenses.... Thus one firm had 2 licenses and one firm had
2 lots.... It was settled by Kennedy and Hansen buying one license and
renting one lot to Sturdy.... The Sturdy Saloon, doing business outside
of the town site, moved in and opened in a new location.
On July 21, 1914 in Colorado
Springs Roy and Sophia Heinz were married. Sophia, from LaSalle, Illinois,
was born in 1890. They settled in Hilger where he and his mother operated
the first hotel there.
In 1916 they homesteaded
in the Black Butte -- Cone Butte area (Jim Rife now has the place) where
they ranched until the late twenties when Mrs. Sturdy took over the restaurant
in the Reeble Hotel building in Roy. She was a fine cook and served superb
food.
The Sturdys moved to Winifred
for a year and a half and then in 1937 moved into Lewistown to make their
home.
Sophia passed away
in March of 1973 and only two months later, at age 73, Roy passed away.
IVAN AND GERTIE SYRON
information by Margaret Syron
Lindsey and June Syron West
The Syrons lived in Roy during
the thirties. They had six children. Charles was born in September of 1915,
Margaret in October of 1918 and June was born in June of 1924. Edwin was
born in January of 1917 and he died when only 11 years old. The other two
children died in infancy, a little over a year apart, before the family
came to Roy. The Syron children attended school in Roy.
Margaret married Evan T.
Jones of Roy in 1935. They had one daughter, Dolores. She later married
Maurice Lindsay.
June Syron West writes in
March of 1988: P. 372 All
of my recollections of Roy are after 1925. I think we moved to Roy about
1926 or 1927.
I have a vague recollection
that my parents, Ivan and Gertie Syron homesteaded for a very short time
on a place north of Roy. The road went around the hill where the cemetery
is located.
My grandparents, Frank and
Nancy Carter, lived south of Roy, fairly close to the Brasier place. My
aunt and uncle, Clarence and Sadie Baker, also lived south of Roy.
My uncles, Lloyd and Tilford
Carter, lived south of Roy. Both are still living, Uncle Lloyd in Kalispell
and Tilford in Kansas City, Kansas. My uncle, Hubert Carter and his wife,
Vida, lived a very short distance south of Roy. Their son Homer graduated
from Roy High School and married a former teacher from Roy. Her name is
Violet.
I was very young when we
moved to Roy and lived there. My father was a railroad worker and we moved
quite often, always seeming to return to Roy. I was a freshman in high
school when my parents moved to Judith Gap. I finished out the year and
then followed them, graduating from Judith Gap high school.
When I lived in Roy there
was a pump in the middle of the town from which most people got their water.
My father was first man on the railroad and we got our water from the section
foreman's house. Ted Thompson was the foreman. He and Nina, his wife, are
still living.
We lived in the railroad
house and a friend of mine was Carley Wass. The Wass house and the Brazier
town house were the only houses in town with running water and indoor plumbing.
During the later time when
I lived there, work was started on Ft. Peck Dam and people from the Missouri
Breaks and elsewhere started moving out.
CHARLES "BUZZ"AND ALICE TAYLOR
Charles "Buzz" Taylor was
the son of Gertrude (Martin) and Charles Taylor Sr. His grandfather was
George Martin Sr.
Charles was born October
22, 1923 in Bartlett, Nebraska. He died April 12, 1988 in Lewistown.
Buzz began his education
in Bartlett and after the death of his father, his mother moved back to
Roy where Buzz completed his education; graduating from Roy in 1941. He
stayed with Gus Stienfeldt.
In July of 1941 he and Alice
Fadrhonc were married. He worked in the shipyards in Vancouver until he
entered the Navy. After his discharge they returned to Lewistown. He worked
at Hanover for two years and then for the Lewistown Hardware for 29 years.
From 1983 until he retired in 1986 he worked for First Bank in Lewistown.
Buzz and Alice had three
children: Charles Jr., Gloria (Hemphill) and Darlene (Kraft). Alice resides
in Lewistown.
LYNN AND SYLVIA VANZANDT
by Carley Graham
Lynn C. VanZandt came to
the Roy area after serving in the service in WWI. His enlistment was from
West Salem, Wisconsin. He filed for a homestead in the Valentine area and
received his patent on it in December of 1921.
He was a bank bookkeeper
and cashier for the First National Bank of Roy. He was fortunate to have
just stepped out of the front door of the bank when it was robbed.
His parents came from Wisconsin
and lived here for a short time in a small house next to what is now the
Roy Grocery.
Lynn became acquainted with
Sylvia "Babe" Kalal, Antonette's daughter, and they were married December
29, 1922. They bought what is now Jack Styer's property in Roy, from Ted
Anderson after their marriage. They lived there until about 1923, when
Uncle Van and Aunt Babe moved to Missoula while Lynn attended the University.
He later became an accountant. Sylvia was employed in a millinery shop
while they were in Missoula.
They later moved to Wisconsin
where they owned farms and had an insurance business. They had two daughters,
Anne (Jones) and Lucretia (Koeppe).
OLE AND IDA D. VODALL
My father and grandparents
moved to Roy in 1924. They bought an elevator and it became the Dotson
Elevator Company. My father, Enos Dotson, had a home on the edge of Roy
near the elevator. My grandparents home was one block west of the First
National Bank.
I was teaching in Wheatland
County when I met Ole Vodall the man I married in 1925. Ole came from Norway
in 1914. He served in the Army in WWI and was wounded in France. In 1928
we moved to the Bill Lane place, about two miles east of Roy.
My daughter, Gunda, was born
in my father's home, P. 373 3
August 1927. Dr. Hazel Freed came from Grass Range to deliver her. My elder
son, George, was born in my grandparent's house, 25 December 1929. My other
son, Larry, was born on the Welter place out of Fergus county, 28 January
1933. Bernice Blais's mother, Mrs. Larsen, delivered both the boys.
The elevator was sold to
a Mr. Matheson (Dotson's business associate) about 1929. My father bought
a ranch about ten miles from Roy. I taught school across the road from
them. Bernice Larsen stayed with me and took care of George.
I believe that was the year
the drouth began and my folks and the new elevator man lost everything.
My grandparents died in
their Roy home in the 30's and are buried in Lewistown. My Aunt Ida May
Dotson, sold their place to the John Umsteads. Margaret Umstead Hedman
had the house moved to the Sandford place at Dovetail and she and John
Hedman and son, David lived there.
My father bought a home
in Silverton, Oregon. He died in 1970 at the age of 85 and is buried there.
We moved back to Two Dot
during the years of the drouth. My husband, Ole, died in 1982 and is buried
in Harlowton.
[Ida Vodall, now 83 years lives
at Greycliff, Montana in a house once owned by her father.]
THE L. M. A. WASS FAMILY
[page 373-376 contains the entire
story of the L.M.A. Wass family. We hope to eventually obtain permission
to post the entire story, for now we have extracted the vital information.]
For more information about the Wass family contact the
Roy
History-Genealogy Society
Son of John and Jennie Wass,
L.M.A. was born Lindsay Merle Alexander Wass, Lindsay a family name. Irish-born
John was a farmer and merchant. L.M.A. Wass on September 24, 1913 registered
a homestead near Roy, Montana. By 1917, L.M.A. had met his future wife,
Alby Antonette Kalal. WWI broke out and on 5 June 1917, L.M.A. joined the
Navy.
L.M.A. returned to Montana and
wed Alby on 31 March 1921 in Lewistown's Episcopal Church.
Carley Jean was born to L.M.A.
and Alby in Lewistown, Montana on 17 June, 1923.
He ran for state senator from Fergus
County and was first elected in 1932, serving through 1938.
Carley attended Helena High
Schoo1 1937-1941. She graduated from Montana State University in pharmacy
in 1945. Carley met Dick Graham. They wed 22 May 1950. On August 1951,
their daughter, Lindsay Ann, was born. L.M.A. and Alby continued to live
in Roy until Alby became ill in 1976. They then moved to Roundup, Montana
to where Carley and Dick had moved. Alby died of cancer in 1977. L.M.A.
died of cancer in 1982. Both are buried in Lewistown's City Cemetery.
After Lindsay's 1969 high
school graduation, the Grahams moved to Eugene, Oregon, where Lindsay entered
college. In 1970, Lindsay transferred from the University of Oregon to
Oregon State University to enter pharmacy school. In 1971, she married
Keith Story, a mechanical engineering student. Both graduated in 1974.
They bought a store in Roundup, Montana and ran it until retiring in 1978.
They moved to Lewistown in 1984 and to Roy in 1986, which they continue
to call home. |