Charles Nettleton Strevell
From birchyHistory
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| − | Charles Nettleton Strevell, was presumably born in 3 June 1858 to Zelus H. Nettleton (possibly Z. N. Nettleton, one of the founding fathers of Pontiac, Illinois) and Elizabeth Butler Kelly in Pontiac, IL. His parents had two other children before him: John & Mary. When his mother was pregnant with him, his father died (late 1857). In 15 August, 1858, his mother married local founder [[Jason W. Strevell]]. Strevell was a lawyer who also operated hardware stores. When Charles was 10 years old, Strevell adopted him, although it required a special act of the legislature to do so. At this time, his father was a legislator and Charles was a page. | + | Charles Nettleton Strevell, was presumably born in 3 June 1858 to Zelus H. Nettleton (possibly Z. N. Nettleton, one of the founding fathers of Pontiac, Illinois) and Elizabeth Butler Kelly in Pontiac, IL. His parents had two other children before him: John & Mary. When his mother was pregnant with him, his father died (late 1857). In 15 August, 1858, his mother married local founder [[Jason W. Strevell]]. Strevell was a lawyer who also operated hardware stores. When Charles was 10 years old, Strevell adopted him, although it required a special act of the legislature to do so. At this time, his father was a legislator and Charles was a page. |
In 1969, when Charley was about 11 or 12 years old, his older brother John Nettleton went on a [[Nelson Buck massacre|surveying adventure]] that almost cost him his life. Three years later, John sued his stepfather for the inheritance and received all the property plus a share of the farm's proceeds for the previous 15 years. He then married and soon left the county. | In 1969, when Charley was about 11 or 12 years old, his older brother John Nettleton went on a [[Nelson Buck massacre|surveying adventure]] that almost cost him his life. Three years later, John sued his stepfather for the inheritance and received all the property plus a share of the farm's proceeds for the previous 15 years. He then married and soon left the county. | ||
| − | + | He missed two winters of education while in Springfield, and afterwards contracted typhoid fever, which sidelined him for almost a year. At age seventeen, he entered the business world (?working for his father's hardware store?). | |
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| + | Broken in health when he was 20, the family doctor advised them to go west for a drier climate. After his next birthday, his parents moved to the new frontier town of Miles City, Montana in 1879 (3 years after Custer's Last Stand and 2 years before the railroad reached town). Those seeking a fortune were getting into the open range cattle business as the Native Americans were subjugated and the bison herds decimated. Charley's father combined livestock and law in the new town. Charley's younger sister married the nephew of the town's namesake and top military officer. George M. Miles followed his uncle Nelson A. Miles to the new post and started a business selling things to the soldiers. Soon he and the Strevells had gone into the hardware store business together ("[[Miles & Strevell]]", then "[[Miles, Strevell & Ulmer]]", which later was just "[[Miles & Ulmer]]"), as well as founding a local Presbyterian church together. | ||
Charles married Elizabeth Crawford (b. Illinois c. 1856) in 1881 in Pontiac, Illinois. | Charles married Elizabeth Crawford (b. Illinois c. 1856) in 1881 in Pontiac, Illinois. | ||
