Todd, John William Stover

The following data is extracted from Todd Family Genealogy.

John William Stover, b. Aug. 8, 1901, he also has lived in a dozen of the states, but received his earlier school training in Alabama, Ncbraska and Virginia. He had a diploma from the Normal Grade or School of Pedagogy, at Central Academy and from the High School of Aplington, Iowa two months before he was fifteen years of age. He was then employed for two years part of the time in Iowa at garage and band work, then later with the office force of a great commercial and banking company at Butte, Montana, where sometimes with a reliable revolver in his pocket he would be sent through a crowded street, more or less alive with alert and powerful crooks to get a suit case full of money, frequently gold, but it might be either silver or currency. He did not always go alone, neither always on foot. But in a thronging and wicked city as Butte then was, where holdups were of daily occurence --two outlaws sometimes alone robbing as many as fifty people--the trip was always fraught with more or less thrill and danger. This city is 6000 feet up in the air (altitude) in Winter mighty frosty-- forty below zero--and in Summer mighty hot. Life here is rich and tense and the people are often either mighty good or mighty bad. He was next engaged as private secretary in the main office with a similar concern in Portland, Oregon, where a part of his duties was collecting heavy accounts. It is said that his fullest days work on that line was collecting from several local firms--some of whom did not want to pay without a few weeks dickering and the using of every known form of banking subterfuge--$250,000. But he got it and felt that he had won for his office. And so the thrall and enthusiasm for honest big business began to awaken and expand in his own will and purpose. His next venture was as chief messenger with the U. S. Forrestry service, but feeling the need for larger earnings pressing him, he became one of Uncle Sam's steel ship outfitters at $125 a month, and entered Commercial High School for night study, majoring in stenography and typewriting. For war work, for he was not yet seventeen altho large for his age, he enlisted in "The Multnomah Guard," Portland's city war regiment of 1800 business and professional men. These men were regularly and thoroughly drilled, fully equipped and worked much of the time night and day at R. R. bridges, ship yards and elsewhere when needed. He was a leading musician in the regimental band of 120 pieces, before this he had been chief musician in Central Academy Military band. At other times he has played with various other bands throughout the country from Macon, Ga., to Seattle, Wash. He was Regimental Bugler, with the rank of Sergeant-in line, of the old Oregon Third Regiment, O. N. G. as orderly sergeant, for excellence as training instructor in S. A. T. C., and untiring devotion to every military duty he was given the full insignia of ex-service man, and is member of the Government vocational fraternity Chapter at his University. He was a Freshman at Reed College, Sophomore at University of Washington where he plays in the band and orchestra and is associate coxswain with the racing crews, which won the regatta this year, 1920, from the crews of the University of California. He is taking the new and strong advanced course in "Business Administration." He is fond of all school sports, hugely enjoys tennis, loves to sing with guitar and ukulele, a fine musician and can use nine instruments. He is much interested in the future of our country through the development and progress of the west coast, where he is a Junior in the University of Washington at Seattle. He has been active in the church ever since the age of six years.

Source: Todd Family Genealogy

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