H.M. STRINGHAM, 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. H.M. STRINGHAM Born: Place: Died: Place: Occupation: He owned and operated Stringham Grocery Store at Garnet, Montana in 1898. Married: Children: H.M. Stringham arrived in Garnet in 1897. An enterprising businessman, Mr. Stringham constructed a general store in the architectural example of a Montana mining boom town. This design was universal and utilitarian and most important, was constructed quickly to take advantage of every opportunity to make money. The floor joists were laid directly on the ground, there was not time to gather rocks for a formation. Over the joists were laid 1X10 rough sawn boards constructing a flat platform. It probably took about a day to build. The next day walls were built of 2X4's placed under the upper end of 1X12 rough sawn boards, each ten feet long. The boards were laid neatly on the floor platform, and nailed to the 2X4s. A layer of red building paper was spread over the boards and another layer of 1X12's were placed on to staggered so that each formed a batten for a crack in the lower layer. Two nails were place in each board in a row of five feet from the top, and more nails in each board near the bottom, a couple of hundred nails in all that needed to be driven. Then several men were rounded up, the ten foot high wall raised and allowed to drop to the ground, and the bottoms of the boards nailed to the header. Braced against the wind, another wall was constructed for the other side of the store and put up in the same manner. I may not have taken a full day to make the two side walls. Day number five was consumed in the construction of roof trusses. The truss design was laid out on the floor using chalk and strings. The morning probably was consumed in making a master truss. A jig was probably constructed on the floor using blocks tacked in position so truss assembly would be easy. Though the first truss was probably hard to make, the other eleven were probably finished by the end of the day. A sixth day probably was consumed in putting the trusses into position and nailing a few boards on them to hold the corrugated tin roofing. The corrugated metal roof went up fast as there were only a few nails in each large piece. On the seventh day, with the installation of the large front windows and a hanging door, the store could open for business only a week after it's start. Later, while the store was taking advantage of the boom-town business, the owner could cover the ceiling with light canvas, the inside of the front wall with 12 inch boards, and paper the interior with an elaborate design of wallpaper. The floor was then with six inch tongue and groove boards. The store looked as nice as it's counterparts in the permanent towns. He ran an advertizement in the Garnet Miner News which reads, "Stringham, the Grocer, the only exclusive Grocery House in town. Good delivered to any part of the District without extra charge....Christmas goods at city prices, H.M. Stingham, Garnet, Montana." Not wishing to miss any potential business he would load supplies into a wagon and travel the rough mountain trails to those miners who did not wish to leave their claims. He closed his general store in the 1930's. The store was burned to the ground by arsons in 1971. Bibliography: Garnet Mining News, 1898. Advertizement, December 8, Volume 1, No. 10, page 1. Garnet Miner News, 1898. Advertizement, November 24. Hammond, Helen 1983. Garnet-Montana's Last Gold Camp, Acme Press, Missoula, Montana.