George R. Oechsli.
The interesting subject of this brief review is a self made man in the best sense of the phrase, and whatever is creditable in his career is due to his own native ability, industry, frugality and wise management. His success in business, his accumulations in the way of worldly wealth, his steady progress from nothing in the line of financial capital to his present extensive and valuable possessions, and his rise from obscurity to an enviable position in the regard and esteem of the whole people of his community have been all wrought out by his own efforts, and his success in winning his triumphs is the result, not so much of his quickness in seeing and seizing opportunities for advancement as of his power and readiness in making them for himself, and then using them for all they are worth.
Mr. Oechsli is a native of Sedalia, Pettis county, Missouri, where he was born on February 3, 1860. His parents, Rudolph and Mary (Mitchell) Oechsli, were born in Switzerland, and died at Windsor, Henry county, Missouri, the former in 1903 at the age of sixty-eight years, and the latter six months later at the age of sixty-six. The father was a farmer at the time of his death, but for a number of years he was engaged in the manufacture of carriages at Sedalia and Clinton, Missouri. He came to the United States with his father and the rest of the family at the age of sixteen. The family located in Ohio, and he remained there until his marriage, then moved to Missouri. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in the Union army, and during the continuance of the struggle was an officer in charge of the government shops at Sedalia, serving to the closing of the war. The mother was brought to this country by her parents when she was but four years old. Her family also located in Ohio, and there she lived with her parents until her marriage to Mr. Oechsli, which took place in 1858. They had five sons and two daughters. The daughters died in infancy, one of them at the age of three years, and the other at a younger age. The sons are all living and are : John H., who is a resident of Butte and his occupation is mining; Frank, whose home is at Windsor, Missouri, a grocer; George R., who is the immediate subject of this writing; Harry E., who resides at Spokane, Washington, where he is a leading business man and very wealthy. He is president of the Spokane Mercantile & Poultry Company and manager of the Western Lead & Paint Company; and Charles, who is a ranchman of Jefferson county in this state, and one of the leading citizens of his locality.
George R. Oechsli obtained his education in the schools of Sedalia, Clinton, and Windsor, Missouri, which he attended until he reached the age of seventeen. After leaving school he was apprenticed to his uncle, John Oechsli, to learn the business of manufacturing carriages, at which he worked five years. In February, 1888, he came to Montana and took up his residence in Butte. During the first seven years of his life here he was shipping clerk for the Montana Iron Works.
At the end of the period mentioned he resigned his position as shipping clerk for that establishment and opened a furniture store on a very small scale. He had very little capital, but he had enterprise, business ability and determination. He persevered in his undertaking through difficulties and trials, and now the George Oechsli Furniture Store, as his establishment is called, is the biggest of its kind west of Chicago. It is located at 42 West Broadway, carries an enormous stock, employs ten men and handles all kinds of new and second hand furniture. The store does an annual business amounting to many thousand dollars, and has a trade as active and exacting as any mercantile emporium in this part of the country. The trade is a very profitable one, but it is not Mr. Oechsli's only source of gain. He owns in addition mining properties and considerable city real estate, all marketable and yielding good returns for the money invested in them, and also steadily increasing in worth. He also owns considerable stock in the Western Lead Paint Company, Spokane.
Mr. Oechsli takes no part in political contentions, but usually votes for the candidates of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of the Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Order of Moose, and the Eagles and Puritans, in the Order of Moose being one of the trustees of the lodge to which he belongs. He is also a member of the Merchants' Association of Butte, in the proceedings of which he takes an earnest interest and an active part, and is a man of prominence and influence.
On January 21, 1893, Mr. Oechsli was married in Kansas City, Missouri, to Miss Josie Seaker, a daughter of Ernest and Louise Seaker, both natives of Michigan. Seven children have been born of their union: Clarence, Howard, Florence, George, Maude, Angela and Josephine, all natives of Butte, except Angela, who came into being in Los Angeles, California. The family residence is at 637 Dakota street, and is noted for its genuine hospitality and social enjoyment. The members of the family are all deeply interested in the welfare of their community and zealous in helping to promote it by every means at their command. They are all highly esteemed for their progressiveness, real worth and useful citizenship, and number their friends in Butte and elsewhere by the host. They are worthy in full measure of the regard and good will bestowed upon them.
[Source: "The History of Montana" by Helen Fitzgerald Sanders, Volume 3, 1913 - Submitted by Friends of Free Genealogy]
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