Newell Gary Philbrick was born in St. Albans, Maine on January 10, 1867 to Freeman and Frances Philbrick. Philbrick attended schools in Aroostook County and worked the family farm until joining his brother Freeman in Montana in 1891. After arriving in Rosebud, he homesteaded and began a sheep ranch with $7,000 in capital. Despite losing his first herd in a market crash, Newell and his partner, Ernest Thomas, built another outfit with Philbrick eventually owning 10,000 sheep and cattle. In 1902, Newell Philbrick married his ranching partner's sister Myrtle and had two children, Verdie and Dale. During his years in Rosebud County, Newell was a director of the Rosebud State Bank and was an Odd Fellow. He died on August 23, 1949.
The Newell G. Philbrick papers consist of: correspondence from his mother, brother and sister in Maine, 1892-1898; records dealing with land in Brighton Beach, a subdivision near Portland, Oregon, 1913-1923; documents dealing with the Philbrick Ranch financial transactions, 1892-1915. Included are homestead certificates, deeds, check stubs, invoices, and tax notices.
This collection is open for research.
Original documents pertaining to Newell G. Philbrick and family, early pioneers in Custer County, Montana, were donated to Montana State University by Verdie Davidson, Rosebud, Montana, in February 1965. These original documents were erroneously described as photocopies when reported to the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections in 1979 and assigned control number 79-696.
This collection was processed 2010 May 21