Fred McCoskery after North Dakota from Census records and the Independent Record
Woodrow Frederick McCoskery was born on June 8, 1918 in Wheatland, North Dakota, but he didn't stay there long. The census taken in Helena on January 14, 1920, lists him and Fred, 25; Laura, 27; Clyde, 35; and M. McCoskery (Margaret), 67; living on Main Street (no number). Fred and Clyde, Laura's brother, worked at the smelter. Two months later, In the March 28, 1920 edition of the Independent Record, it's noted that "Clyde Boyer, Fred McCoskery and family moved out to the farm on Thursday." In April of 1920 there was another notice stating that, "Mrs. Fred McCoskery, who has been ill at St. Johns Hospital, is home again." Perhaps Margaret, Fred's mother, came out from North Dakota to help with 18 month old Woody because Laura was ill. Margaret didn't stay. She died in North Dakota a few years later.
In 1930, when Woody was 11, the family lived at 633 Logan Street in Helena. Fred worked as a clerk at "Implement Company", probably T.C. Power as indicated in his obituary, and Laura worked as an operator at the "Cream Station". Elsie, dad's sister, was 10 and there wasn't anyone else living with them at this time. I know that the family lived at Canyon Ferry in May of 1932, because Canyon Ferry student Woody McCoskery won the Lewis and Clark County 8th grade first place award for arithmetic.
By 1935, Fred was either owner or part owner of Blue Mill Service Station on the corner of 11th and Roberts Street. When I asked Elsie about the 1935 earthquake, she told me about the service station. She said her dad had a station across from the Intermountain College and got a lot of business from the students. He sold food items, including sandwiches. Woody, at about 15 or 16, worked there, too. On October 12, 1935, after a month of small tremors, the first big quake hit. Elsie said she was upstairs in their home and she ran down to her mother. Eventually, she ran to the service station where Fred and Woody were working. She said her dad and brother pumped gas all night for people who were leaving Helena. She also indicated it was the beginning of the end of the service station, as the college, heavily damaged by the quake, moved to Great Falls.
The October 31, 1935 edition of The Independent Record lists requests to the city for building permits for earthquake damage repair. Fred McCoskery had asked for a permit to "move Blue Mill Service Station at 11th avenue and Roberts street, parallel to 11th avenue", at a cost of $175. It's unclear exactly what that meant or if anything happened. On November 21, 1935, Fred's photo was included in an ad for Calso Gasoline products in the Independent Record.
In March and April of 1936 there were a series of notices from the city building council about Fred McCoskery's request for a building permit for 10 tourist cabins on the corner of 11th and Roberts. A second article indicated a petition from neighbors protesting the permit, and an article on April 14 states, "Protests have been made by owners of adjacent property and the building permit for the project has been held up for more than three weeks. Commissioner Noble Evans said he believed that the objections would be withdrawn if McCoskery's plans were fully understood. No action was taken, however." The project would have cost $5000 and it never materialized. A side note on this particular article - at the same meeting, the city building council approved the sale of the old fire station on Breckenridge for $350 to a trucking company.
Four years later, in the April 13, 1940 census, Fred listed his employment as a prospector in the mining industry. At that time, the family lived at 208 North Hoback and Woody, at 21, was employed at Capitol Motors. On October 13 of that year, Woody married Ruth. In 1940, he also filled out his draft notice which indicated he and Mom lived at the Stewart Homes.
The 1950 census is the first time Lura Boyer, Laura's mother, turns up in the census in their home, 415 N. Beattie. Clyde was also living with Fred and Laura at this time. Fred was employed as a planer at a lumber mill, probably Foley's Mill. Some time during the 40's Fred and Laura farmed in the valley, but it was between the census years. Fred's obituary also states, "during WWII he was engaged in defense work at the shipyards in Tacoma." From Elsie I remember something about a turkey farm at some point. He did whatever he could.
On March 18, 1952, Fred died after a two year illness, which Linda remembers as lung cancer or emphysema. At the time of his death, he was the custodian at the Mitchell Building across from the Capital building.
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US Census Records from 1920, 1930, 1940 and 1950
Independent Record Articles: 28 March 1920, 25 April 1920, 31 Oct 1935, 21 Nov 1935, 17 March 1936, 18 March 1936, 24 March 1936, 20 March 1952
Elsie Wilcox
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