Whitcomb Family Papers, 1887-1973

Charles Whitcomb was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin on December 19, 1865 to Hiram Whitcomb and Mera Shepherd Whitcomb, the youngest of three sons (his oldest brothers were Timothy and Edward). Hiram Whitcomb, a native of Pennsylvania, worked in the lumber industry in Wisconsin until his death, which occured just a few years after Charles's birth. At the age of 19, Charles relocated to Marysville, Montana, where he employed himself in prospecting and mining. Until 1897, Charles was also associated with mining operations at Townsend and White Castle. In 1893, Charles returned to Wisconsin to marry his sweetheart, Katherine "Katie" Berry Whitcomb. Four years later, Charles and Katie moved to Malta, where he and partner Samuel Dennison purchased approximately 2,000 acres of land on Little Beaver Creek. In 1904, Charles opened Ruby Gulch Mining Company operations at Zortman, Montana in order to extract gold and silver from Little Rockies ore. This first mill was destroyed by fire in 1912, but was rebuilt in 1914. This second mill too would burn to the ground in 1933.

Charles and Katie had seven children who lived into adulthood: Marguerite, Kathleen, Mary (called "Mamie" or "Mums"), George, Genevieve, Dorothy and Virginia. Marguerite Cecilia Whitcomb, Charles's and Katie's oldest child, was born in Townsend, Montana in 1894. She married Lindsay Pilkey in 1921, and the couple had three children, Robert, Donald, and Elizabeth. Genevieve Whitcomb was born in 1895 near Zortman, Montana. She married Harry Donaldson in 1924, but was widowed by 1940 and living with her mother Katie in Zortman. Kathleen Patricia Whitcomb was born in 1897 in Townsend, Montana. Her first marriage, held at the Helena Cathedral in 1916, was to Thomas Cruse Sweeney; the couple had one child, Thomas Cruse Sweeney III. In 1938, she remarried William Francke, Jr.; the couple divorced twelve years later in 1946. Mary B. "Mamie" Whitcomb was born in 1899. She was educated at St. Peter's Mission, and acted as the Administrative Secretary for the Ruby Gulch Mining Company after the death of her father Charles in 1936. She married three times: Ed Marion (one child, Patricia Valerie), Al Engle, and a Mr. Sherlock. George Whitcomb, Charles's and Katie's fifth child and only son, was born in Malta, Montana in 1901. He manned machine guns in World War I, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross for his service. Upon his return to the United States he played football for several college teams before joining his father in the mining business. He divorced his first wife, Rosalie Stevens, in 1936 to marry Ellen Erickson (daughter of J.E. and Grace Erickson) in May 1937. He was tragically, and fatally, shot during a altercation with a Helena police officer in August 1938. Dorothy Ursula Whitcomb was born in 1905 in Helena, Montana. She married Charles Hoerning, a miner from Dillon, and the two had three children: Kathryn, Louis, and Charles. Dorothy and Charles divorced, and Dorothy later married Max Klimper. Dorothy and Max had three children together - Maxine, Dorothy Clay, and Alice - and Max adopted the three Hoerning children as well. Virginia Charles Whitcomb was born in 1910 in Helena, Montana, and was educated at the Ursuline Academy. She married Leo Willett and the couple had three children, George, Charles, and Claudia.

Charles Whitcomb died May 18, 1936 in Phillips County. Katie passed away at her home at the Ruby Gulch Mine (formerly designated "Whitcomb") on June 22, 1949.