FRANK A. (DAVY, DAVIE) DAVEY, Bio, Granite Co., MT Indexed and contributed for use in USGenWeb Project by: Wendy Garner USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. © 1998 by Wendy Garner. This file may be freely copied for non- profit purposes. All other rights reserved. FRANK A. (DAVY, DAVIE) DAVEY Born: Place: Died: September 27, 1947. Place: Missoula, Missoula County, Montana Occupation: He was the owner and driver of the Garnet Stageline, miner, storekeeper, blacksmith and hotel owner in Garnet, Montana. Married: Children: In 1895, Frank A. Davey filed on the Garnet Claim. It is on this claim that most of the town of Garnet, Granite County, Montana is located. His stageline consisted of a "democrat" or fancy spring wagon with town seats. He employed various drivers from the Garnet area. Frank purchased a store from Judson and Blaisdell in October 1898. He opened a general store in Garnet soon after filing and became known as Davey's General Merchandise Store that could supply most everyday needs of the people. It was probably the largest store in Garnet and served the public the longest, over forty years. It had a false front and double entrance doors. Rounded glass display cases flanked each sid of the doorway. On the right hand wall, tall long shelves were piled with all kinds of dry goods, materials, notions, clothes for everyone, school supplies, lamps, lamp chimneys, dishes, pots and pans, tableware, linens, vases, and kitchen utensils. Near the center , a long table was laden with shoes and footwear. At the rear of the store on the right hand side was Davey's office with a roll top desk. The post office occupied part of the office space, and a vault the back of the building shared quarters with the ice house. That section had a heavy iron door that swung shut. At the left of the office was the meat section where a variety of meats was displayed. As was customary in meat markets, the floor was covered with sawdust. A big block of wood served as the butcher block. Nearby was the grocery department with high shelves well stocked with canned goods and staple grocery items. Barrels held dry beans, peas, rice, pickles and apples. A coffee grinder stood on the counter. Not far from the grocery department stood a barrel stove with captain chairs near it. This was a favorite spot on cold days for the towns people. An annex had been built to Davey's Store and was occupied as a drug store for several years. Later Davey used it to display paints, tools, nails, stoves, glass, and similar items. Near the front of the store on the right hand side was the candy counter, the cash register and scales. Frank sold lots upon his land to the miners for building cabins. Lots were often sold for a days work, a side of bacon or a sack of beans or flour. Property lines and deeds were not bothered with and the cabins were built across property lines. But to this the amount of land Frank Davey owned is still in question. Sometimes Frank was paid with gold. He kept a set of gold scales in his store. In the 1940's Charlie Moore who ran the stagecoach for Frank Davey, broke one of the buckle on the harness. He went to the store to replace it. Davey didn't know where the buckles were so he asked Charlie to look for himself. Charlie found a box marked harness buckles but when he looked inside,...it was filled with gold nuggets. Davey had hidden that box over thirty years ago and had forgotten about it. Frank Davey was not liked by the children of Garnet and they did not like him. One day they hanged him in effigy from the flagpole at the hotel. They would buy candy at his store but they would make fun of him and put his buggy on the roof of his store for Halloween. His store was the center for people getting mail in Garnet. The store had acetylene gas lights. Mr. Davey carried many of the Garnet families as "credit" through tough times. Frank Davey had other visitors at his store besides the people of Garnet. A man, Mr. Riley from Elk Creek, would bring his pet deer with him when he came to Garnet. Mr. Riley would go and enjoy a couple of drinks while he was there. The deer would paw and paw on Frank Davey's porch until Frank would get a loaf of bread from the shelf and toss it out to quiet the deer. If the deer was still hungry, the procedure would be repeated. The deer would sometimes eat three or four loaves at a time. Frank Davey closed the store in the late 1930's when the town became deserted. With no one around Frank Davey had problems finding someone to witness his income tax forms one year. Frank solved this by placing a mirror in front of himself and wrote "signed and witnessed before myself". He explained tot he IRS that he had no neighbors for miles around. In 1947 he collapsed while walking his mining claims near Garnet. He was found along the trail one fine day in the fall when the quaking aspen were yellow and the sun was bright. He was taken to Missoula, Montana where he died. He was buried by the Elks Club. Davey owned the Adams Cabin in Garnet and paid taxes on it until 1969 when it was declared not babitable and was striken from the tax roles. He also owned land under the Davey Store and part of the land under the Wells Hotel. The F.A. Davey Store and Mercantile sold at Auction on Saturday, November 4, 1947 at 1:00pm for $700.00 at auction. Clark Smith Administrator of his estate sold Davey's interest in the unpatented mining claims on November 7, 1950 for $300.00. Most of the merchandise in the store was auctioned along with his personnel belongings in the J.K. Wells Hotel which he owned at the time of his death. His Garnet Lode claim was donated to the United States by his heirs. When Davey died and the store closed for good, Garnet ceased to be a town. Bibliography: Hammond, Helen 1983. Garnet-Montana's Last Gold Camp, Acme Press, Missoula, Montana. USDI, Bureau of Land Mangement, 1978. Memoradum to Chief Division of Technical Services, Garnet Ghost Town, unpublished.