John Wesley Stith was born in Kentucky in December, 1853. He moved with his family to Illinois and Wisconsin while growing up, but did not receive an extensive education. Stith moved to Terry, Montana in the early 1880s before the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway, and became a general merchant and contractor. He eventually became involved in almost every commercial and political aspect of the town, serving as a Justice of the Peace, clerk for the local school board, and a Custer County commissioner. His business interests included real estate, insurance sales, wool buying, construction, and operating a hardware store. Stith and Cornelia Hamilton were married in September, 1888 after a four and one half year engagement. Four children were born into the family; Beryl, Hamilton, Roy and Kenneth. In 1905, Mr. Stith developed ulcers that would eventually end his life on December 27, 1909 in Terry.
Beryl Stith was born in Terry, Montana on February 24, 1893. She was the first graduate of Terry High School and received degrees from the University of Chicago. Beryl returned to Terry where she became a teacher and active in organizations and community projects. In 1963, she researched and wrote a short history of Terry called
The Beryl Stith papers consists of research and paste-up masters for her book
Series 1 Book research and galleys, 1884-1963
Series 2 Stith family papers, 1883-1907
Series 3 Photographs
This collection is open for research.
Personal papers created or collected by Milburn Lincoln Wilson were donated to Special Collections by Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Wilson, and their daughter, Virginia Wilson Simons. His Ford Foundation Papers, Collection 1434, and miscellaneous correspondence, Collection 2100, have been incorporated with this collection. An inventory of Wilson's Lincoln Collection appears in Box 57, Folder 51.
This collection was processed 2010 March 4
Copy pasteup, research papers, and mutilated original documents used by Stith for the publication of
The Stith family papers consist of collected business files of John W. and Cornelia Stith's professional careers. Cornelia Stith was Postmistress and Sunday School Teacher in Terry for many years and collected listings of Sunday School books and documents dealing with the delivery of mail. John Stith was a respected business man and public servant during his time in Terry. His school clerk records consist of teacher and maintenance contracts, apportionments, and correspondence from 1883 to 1907. John's time as a Custer County commissioner are represented by constituent correspondence, petitions for road and bridge construction and improvements, commissioner journals, and contracts. Stith's Justice of the Peace (JP) files contain case files for minor civil actions brought before the Terry, Montana court regarding cost recovery suits, witness statements and judgments. One folder of JP papers includes bounty warrants for the killing of coyotes, bobcats, and wolves. Stith's business interests in Terry are represented by the balance of the files in this series. They include: real estate transaction papers; insurance sales and correspondence; shipping bills and invoices for wool buying operations; customer and client correspondence; merchandise orders for Stith's hardware store; bank statements and a selection of cancelled checks.
Photographs of the Stith family and friends, Terry residents, and Terry, Montana. Some of these photographs were used by Beryl Stith in
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Lillian Holker, Tom Holker, Mabel Joubert, Lillian Miller, Maude Miller, Pauline Joubert, Oliver Ddrilling, Charles Hanson, George (Red) McDonald
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