Biographical Sketches

ELMER WILLIAM TRAINER

ELMER WILLIAM TRAINER, physician at Whitehall, was born in Eureka, Nevada, on May 4, 1881, the son of Thomas and Mary (Purcell) Trainer.  Thomas Trainer was born in Northern Scotland, and at the age of seventeen he came to America, locating at Virginia City, Montana, where he was connected with the Comstock mine.  Thence he went to Eureka, Nevada, remaining there until 1896, when he moved to Butte, in which city he has since resided.  Mr. Trainer was one of the early comers to Eureka and he had a large part in all its enterprises.  With a genius for executive work and unusual business foresight, he inevitably became a leader in commercial circles.  He owned the iron foundry, the machine shops and also a livery business, in addition to which he had large holdings in ranch property, being the possessor of the noted Duckwater ranch and the Antelope Valley ranch in the vicinity of Eureka.  Mr. Trainer served as sheriff and as deputy United States marshal and in those early days neighter post was a sinecure.  It required cool nerve and a fearless spirit to discharge those duties, for the country contained a large proportion of lawless characters who are always to be found in the new settlements, and there was also the constant menace of Indian attack.  More than once Mr. Trainer has exchanged shots with Nevada desperadoes, and though a target for many a would-be-deadly bullet, he escaped unharmed.  When Nevada's resoures began to fail Mr. Trainer disposed of his interests there and came to Montana.  He is now connected with the Amalgamated Copper Company in Butte.  The marriage of Mr. Trainer occurred in Ruby Hill, Nevada, in 1879, when Miss Mary Purcell became his wife.  She is a native of California, and a daughter of Michael and Mary Purcell, of Grass Valley, that state.  Two children were born to their union, Elmer W. of this review and Dollie M., a teacher in the Butte public schools.

Until he was fifteen years of age, Elmer W. Trainer attended the schools of Eureka, and then entered the high school at Butte, being a member of the first class graduated from that school.  He decided to study medicine and selected the University of Kentucky as the place from which to secure his degree.  To earn the money for his course, he worked in Butte as a machinist and saved the necessary amount for his college expenses.  After finishing the collegiate work, he entered the medical department, still paying his own way, and in 1905 received his M. D. degree.  Although a diligent student and one who took high rank in scholarship, Dr. Trainer was also an athlete of note while in school.  He pitched for the base-ball team of the University and played quarter-back on its foot-ball team.  He still retains his fondness for these sports, as well as for all out-door diversions, but the demands of his growing practice leave him little time to indulge in them, even as a spectator.

Since 1906 Dr. Trainer has resided in Whitehall, where he is foremost in his profession.  Until the demands upon his time made it impossible, the doctor was an office holder in the Masonic order, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree.  It is a matter of considerable regret to Dr. Trainer that he was obliged to give up lodge work, for he is deeply interested in the organization.  Traveling is one of the pleasures which appeal most strongly to him, and his journeys have taken him through Mexico and all the southern countries.  At the time of the Goldfield excitement, he was among the early prospectors in that district, but he remained there only about nine months.  He is interested in mining ventures, and one of the organizations of which he is a stockholder has control of the Ryan-Trainer properties.

Source: Transcription from the book, A History of Montana, volune III, by Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, published in 1913; located on the website, Hathitrust Digital Library (http://www.hathitrust.org), accessed 1 August 2023.

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