Biographical Sketches

CHARLES W. WINSLOW

CHARLES W. WINSLOW, of Whitehall, a retired business man, is a native son of Montana, and his father was one of the first settlers and miners after the tide of emigration was attracted to Montana Territory by the first gold discoveries.

The Winslows are an old New England family, having come from England about the time of the Mayflower.  There were four brothers of the name, and the family has produced many conspicuous men in the service of New England communities, states and the country at large.  The grandfather of Charles W. Winslow, Thomas Winslow, was born in New York State, and spent his life as a blacksmith.  James I. Winslow, the Montana pioneer, was born at Albany, New York, and when he was twenty-one years of age he started for the great West, going out to Denver in 1859, and kept a hotel in that pioneer town, most of whose population lived in tents.  James I. Winslow in 1863 came to Bannack, Montana, and he joined in the first gold stampede to Alder Gulch, where he took up a claim.  In 1864 he went back to New York, and in 1865 made the overland trip by ox team over the northern route, and this time located at Parsons Bridge.  He built a toll gate at Jefferson County in 1865, acquired a ranch in 1866, and for the rest of his life was engaged in ranching.  He was a man among the strong men of pioneer times, served as a member of the Vigilantes, and was a force for law and order.  He married Ellen C. Lynn, daughter of an early pioneer of Minnesota.  Of their four children the oldest, Harry I., was the first white boy born in Alder Gulch, Montana.  Charles W. is the second son.  The two daughters are Carrie, wife of Z. Parks, of Olympia, Washington, and Mrs. Alice Brown, who lives at Portland, Oregon.

Charles W. Winslow was born at Fish Creek in Jefferson County, Montana, February 22, 1867, and he grew up on his father's ranch there, attending local schools.  After reaching manhood he took the management of the home ranch, and remained in that community until 1914, when he moved to Whitehall.  He subsequently disposed of his ranch holdings and now has only a small acreage around his splendid home in Whitehall.  For some years he was in the implement business, but is now looking after his private affairs and enjoying the fruits of a well spent life.  Mr. Winslow is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Methodist Episcopal Church.

He married, in 1898, Miss Ida Field, of Boulder, Montana.  They have five children: Roy, of Whitehall, is married and has two children; Ethel is the wife of Anton Bertoylio, of Garden City, Kansas, and has one son; Marguerite is the wife of James Vanderback, of Virginia City; Wilbur lives at Whitehall; and Kathleen is at home.

Source: Transcription from the book, Montana, The Land and The People, volume III, by Robert George Raymer, published in 1930; located on the website, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org), accessed 12 June 2024.

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