A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 106

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

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KENNETH McLEAN. Custer county's citizenship compares well with that of any other section of Mon- tana, and it is not out of place to suggest that among the leading men of affairs and public consequence, there are not a few who can claim Scotland as a birth- place. Kenneth McLean, who twice has served in the senate of this state and is one of the leading business men of Miles City and interested intelligently in a hun- dred ways in movements for public betterment here, was twenty-three years of age when he established his home at Miles City, with everything to learn of the American people and American ways. He was born in Rosshire, Scotland, December 25, 1859, and is a son of Alexander and Margaret (Mckay) McLean. The mother died in Scotland, in 1873, but the father, now in his seventy-sixth year, still survives and continues his interest in his stock farın. Of the four children of the family two yet live, Kenneth and James, the lat- ter being still a resident of Scotland.

Kenneth McLean was well instructed in the schools near his father's farm and afterward gained a thor- ough knowledge of the stock business on the old home- stead. He remained there until 1881, when the oppor- tunity was offered him of taking charge of a stock farm for a company in Nebraska, which he accepted and ever since has been interested to some degree in stock and cattle raising. In 1882 he came to Montana, and now owns a ranch of 23,000 acres, situated on O'Fallon creek, in Custer county, together with a ranch of 680 acres lying in the Yellowstone valley, nine miles east of Miles City. This property has been im- proved and irrigated and is very valuable. For a number of years Mr. McLean gave attention to sheep growing in particular and later was interested still more extensively in Hambletonian horses and fine cat- tle, but in later years has restricted his stock activi- ties to some extent. His attention is largely de- manded by other important business interests. In 1908, in association with others, he bought the W. B. Jordan & Sons, general merchants, stock and good will. It is one of the old business concerns of Miles City, having been established in 1879. The new com- pany incorporated it in 1908, the old firm name being retained and Mr. McLean became vice-president of the reorganized company. He is president also of the Miles City Independent Publishing Company, which issues two newspapers, the Miles City Independent Weekly and the Miles City Star, a daily journal. He is on the directing board of the First National Bank of Miles City.

Mr. McLean is one of the active Republicans of Custer county and in 1901 he was elected a member of

the state senate with a gratifying majority, and ap- proval of his course as a statesman was shown in his re-election in 1905. During these two terms at Helena he proved useful to his constituents and section and with honesty and efficiency served on many important committees.

On April 28, 1886, Mr. McLean was united in mar- riage with Miss Anna Mckenzie, who was born in Minnesota, a daughter of John G. and Rose (McFar- land) Mckenzie. The mother of Mrs. McLean died in the latter's childhood, and the father spent his last years with Mr. and Mrs. McLean, his death occurring in his eighty-seventh year. For more than forty years he had been engaged in the lumber business in Minne- sota. Mr. and Mrs. McLean have had four children : Margaret Rose, who is the wife of Charles E. Brown; Ina Mabel; Wallace Bruce, who is manager of the Miles City Independent Publishing Company; and Kenneth Miles, who died at the age of three years. The family residence is a handsome structure which Mr. McLean purchased in 1900. The family belongs to the Presbyterian church. Mrs. McLean is a woman of culture and is one of the trustees of the Carnegie Public Library at Miles City. In his fraternal rela- tions Mr. McLean is identified with the Free-masons of Miles City and with Miles City lodge of Elks, and belongs also to the Red Cross Society.

WILLIAM E. ALBRIGHT, the popular county assessor of Granite county, Montana, has won an unusual dis- tinction to himself by reason of his second election to the office he now holds, he being the only man ever selected to the office more than once. The fact speaks most eloquently of his popularity, his ability, and the even justice with which he has discharged the duties of his office.

A resident of Montana since 1882, Mr. Albright was born in Clay county, Missouri, on September 2, 1859. He is the son of Rev. William H. Albright and his wife, Mary J. (Luke) Albright. The father was born in North Carolina, later making his home in Missouri. He was a Methodist minister for more than forty years, but in his later life affiliated with the Presbyterian church. He died in 1904 at the age of seventy-six years. His wife died in 1865 when she was but thirty-two years old. Four children were born to them, William E. of this review being the second.

As a boy, William E. Albright attended the common schools of his home town in Missouri, later taking a special high school course, after which he entered Wil- liam Jewell College at Liberty, Missouri, and com- pleted a course of study there. In 1882, when he was twenty-three years old Mr. Albright came to Montana, and he has been true to the great Treasure state of the union since his first sight of it. He first settled in the Flint valley, where he followed ranching for nearly twenty years. During that time, as now, he was in- terested in a financial way in mining ventures and has done some extensive operating, acquiring some valu- able properties in various parts of the state. In 1900 Mr. Albright sold out his ranch interests and has since that time conducted his mining operations in connec- tion with his public duties.

Mr. Albright is a stanch Democrat and most active in the political interests of the city and county. He is now serving his second term as county assessor of Granite county, as mentioned in a previous paragraph. and his services in the office have been of a most grati- fying nature to all concerned. He has been a member of the county school board, in which office he acquitted himself most creditably.

Mr. Albright was married November 25, 1885. to Miss Sallie Walker, the daughter of Rev. and Mrs. David Walker. one-time residents of Missouri. Rev. Walker was the first Protestant clergyman to preach a sermon in Anaconda. He was a prominent Mason.

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His death occurred in California, when he was eighty- four years of age. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Al- bright, was Ellen Morrow. They were married in Missouri, and there she passed away in her young womanhood, her death occurring when she was but twenty-nine years old. Mrs. Albright is a devoted member of the Presbyterian church, and is leader of the choir in that church. She is especially fond of music, and is something of a student. The Albrights have a fine library, which is the source of much pleas- ure to the family. One daughter, Alta Morrow, shares their home with them. She is organist in the church which the family attend, having pursued a partial course in the musical department of the Lindenwood (Mo.) College.

IRA L. WHITNEY. Yellowstone county has been sin- gularly fortunate in securing for its administrative officers men who have made their private interests sub- servient to those of the people, who have regarded their public office as a sacred trust, and whose best energies at all times have been devoted to the county's welfare. That this has been the high aim of the present 'able and conscientious county treasurer, Ira L. Whit- ney, of Billings, is testified to by the fact that he has been regularly returned to his important office since 1908, and the universal respect and esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens demonstrate that he has been successful in his endeavor. Mr. Whitney was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, May 20, 1871, and is a son of Frank S. and Margaret Orilla (Karns) Whit- ney.

Frank S. Whitney was born in Pittsfield, Lorain county, Ohio, January 17, 1845, and when he was twelve years of age was taken by his parents to Mount Pleasant, Iowa. There he received a public school and collegiate education, and w).en he was but eighteen years of age enlisted, in May, 1863, in Company A, Forty-fifth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until securing his honorable discharge. During a part of his service Mr. Whitney's company was detailed for guard duty, and it was during this time that he achieved special distinction. A number of men had been shot at a certain point and the sharp- shooter still remained uncaught, the consequence being that the men were unwilling to stand guard at that particular point. Finally lots were drawn, and it fell to Mr. Whitney to take up his post at the spot where a number of his comrades had been killed. First carefully looking over the ground, he decided that the Confederate soldier was probably doing his shooting from a near-by tree, and accordingly hid in the bushes, from whence he saw the sharpshooter climb the tree and secrete himself in the branches. Waiting until morning, Mr. Whitney covered him with his gun and took him prisoner. For this skilled bit of work, to Mr. Whitney was later sent a letter of commendation by President Lincoln. When he had secured his hon- orable discharge he returned to his Iowa home, but in 1866 removed to Leavenworth, Kansas, and was en- gaged by a freighting company which was shipping goods overland by ox-teams to Virginia City, Mon- tana. On arriving at this place he was for a short time engaged in mining in Alder Gulch, and in the fall of 1867 removed to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where for about one and one-half years he was employed as a clerk. Subsequently he entered the draying business on his own account, to which he later added the coal business, and on May 29, 1870, was married in that city. During the fall of 1871 he added to his business a sales and feed stable, and in the summer of 1874 engaged in freighting between Cheyenne and Dead- wood, South Dakota, and continued that business for twenty years. In the meantime, in August, 1882, he came to Miles City, Montana, and later removed to Coulson, near the present site of Billings, continuing

the freighting business ahead of the Northern Pacific until he reached Bozeman. Then he retraced his steps, stopping at Junction, just across the river from the present town of Custer, where he continued the freighting business between that point and Forts Mc- Ginnis and Custer and various points in Wyoming. In 189? he sold his oxen and wagons and retired from the freighting business, at that time having his resi- dence at what was known as Junction. During 1884 and 1885 he had the government contract to furnish becf to Fort Custer, his forwarding house being at Custer. Mr. Whitney came to Billings in 1895, after spending about one year in California, in an effort to recuperate his health. He was always an active Re- publican and as carly as 1874 served as city marshal of Cheyenne. In 1873 and 1874 he was a member of the Wyoming territorial legislature, acted as a mem- ber of the last territorial legislature of Montana, served as county commissioner of Yellowstone county for four years, and during 1895-6 was county assessor, and after his death, on March ISth of the latter year, his son, Ira L., completed his unexpired term. While in Cheyenne, Mr. Whitney was made a Mason, belong- ing to the blue lodge, Chapter and Commandery, be- , ing secretary of all these bodies, and on coming to Bil- lings transferred his membership to these organiza- tions here. He was a popular comrade of Mckinley Post, No. 29, G. A. R., and had numerous friends throughout the city. Mr. Whitney was married May 29, 1870, in Cheyenne, to Miss Margaret Orilla Karns, who was born in Des Moines, Iowa, January 3, 1850, and she still survives him and is a well-known member of the Congregational church. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Whitney, namely: Ira L .; Martha E., who died in infancy; Charles A., who died August 12, 1905, when twenty-eight years of age; and Orilla Karns, who married Winford Griffing and lives in Billings.

Ira L. Whitney was educated at Fort Pierre, North Dakota, in Yellowstone county, Montana, and at Po- mona College, Claremont, San Bernardino county, California. From 1884 to 1900 he was engaged in the cattle business with his brother Charles, having come to Billings in 1895. In the year following his advent here he was called upon to fill the office made vacant by his father's death, and he subsequently became deputy county clerk under J. W. Fish. In 1906 he received the election to the office of county clerk, and as such served one term. He was first elected county treas- urer in the fall of 1908 and again was his party's choice in 1910. He has also served as a member of the Billings school board for eleven years, and is con- sidered one of the most influential Republicans in the city. Mr. Whitney has also interested himself in fra- ternal work, and belongs to Ashlar Lodge, No. 29, A. F. & A. M .; Billings Chapter No. 6, R. A. M .; Alde- mar Commandery No. 5, K. T., and Algeria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., Helena, and at the present time is exalted ruler of Billings Lodge, No. 394, B. P. O. E.

On February 10, 1902, Mr Whitney was married to Miss Harriet C Stebbins, who was born in Peter- sham, Massachusetts, daughter of Roland and Flor- ence (Barney) Stebbins, both of whom died in 1902 in Billings. Mr. Stebbins was born at Deerfield, Mas- sachusetts, where he followed farming, and can'? to Billings in 1890. He attended the Congregational church, was a Republican in political matters, and was affiliated fraternally with the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife, also a native of Deerfield, had three daughters, namely : Harriet C., who married Mr. Whitney; Ellen, the wife of Lloyd Lipp, of Billings; and Mabel, who married Charles Avery and lives in Seattle, Washing- ton. Mr. and Mrs. Whitney have one daughter, Flor- ence Orilla. The family home is at No. 919 North Thirtieth street, where the numerous friends of Mr. and Mrs. Whitney meet with true western hospitality.

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Mr. Whitney is a man eminently fitted for the high office he holds. Thoroughly conscientious in all that he undertakes, he is conducting the county treasury in a manner that meets with the full approval of the people of Yellowstone county and assures them of an economical administration. His record is above re- proach, and he holds a prominent place among the men who are making this section of the country set an ex- ample for others to follow.

JOSEPH C. AULD. Tracing his ancestry back through Revolutionary soldiers and early settlers of the Ameri- can colonies to residents of Ecclefechan, county Dum- fries, Scotland, the historic home of Robert Burns, Joseph C. Auld, receiver of the United States land office at Miles City, Montana, presents in his character the sturdy, thrifty traits of the sons of Scotia, and the enterprise, reliability and fidelity to duty that have made members of his family desirable officials of the United States both in times of war and peace. Dur- ing a long and active career he has held positions of prominence in public and civil life, and has so con- ducted his affairs as to win and maintain the entire con- fidence of the people of whatever community in which his activities have been prosecuted. Mr. Auld is a . native of Boothby Harbor, Maine, whence his ances- tors on both sides came as early as the seventeenth century, his father's people from Scotland, and his mother's family being of Scotch-Irish extraction. He was born September 16, 1856, and is a son of John and Mary A. (Holton) Auld, both natives of Boothby Harbor.

John Auld was born in 1806, and in early life be- came a seafaring man, for a number of years being captain of vessels sailing the Atlantic coast. Later he was lighthouse keeper of Burnt Island Light No. 8, but in his declining years retired from active pur- suits and spent his last days among his neighbors at Boothby Harbor, death occurring in 1872. He was a deacon in the Congregational church, and was first a Whig and later a Republican in politics. Mrs. Auld was born in 1816 and survived her husband until 1909, having been the mother of eleven children, of whom three died in infancy, while five still survive: Delia, the wife of Charles P. Gilbert, living at Greenfield. Iowa; Sarah, the widow of Freeman Hodgdon, of Boothby Harbor, Maine; Mary E., the wife of Arthur L. Hayden, of Melrose, Massachusetts; Harriet W., wife of James B. Austin, of Fitchburg, Massachusetts ; and Joseph C.

Even in his early years Joseph C. Auld displayed those characteristics of ambition and energy which were to feature his whole life, and as soon as he had completed his educational training in the public schools of Boothby Harbor, went to Boston and secured a position as clerk with a wholesale boot and shoe firm and was subsequently employed in a wholesale dry goods establishment. In 1878 he removed to Green- field, Iowa, near which city he spent the next three years on a farm, and in the spring of 1882 came to Glendive, Montana, to engage in work on a cattle ranch. At the end of that period he homesteaded a ranch of 160 acres in Dawson county, but after con- tinning thereon for three years returned to Glendive and engaged in a general merchandise business with Douglas & Mead. In 1886 he was elected county treas- urer of Dawson county, and was twice re-elected. serving six years in this responisble office, and in 1887 purchased a drug business, which he operated while continuing in public office. He then engaged in ranch- ing up to 1897, in the meantime, in 1894, being elected to represent his county in the Fourth general assembly of the state legislature and in 1896 receiving the elec- tion to the office of state senator. He resigned from the latter office in 1897 when he was appointed a mem- ber of the United States mineral land commission, to

examine lands within the bounds of the Northern Pacific Railroad land grant, and after continuing in that capacity four years embarked in the coal business in Helena. After two years spent in this enterprise, Mr. Auld removed to Forsyth and became cashier of the Forsyth State Bank, and in December, 1903, was appointed to his present official position in Miles City, which he has held continuously. His support has al- ways been given to the Republican party, and he is known as an active and influential worker for its can- didates. He is entitled to and maintains membership in the Sons of the American Revolution, and with his family attends the Presbyterian church.

On August 20, 1886, Mr. Auld was married to Miss Lillian A. Chapin, who was born in Louisville, Ken- tucky, daughter of Joshua L. and Fannie (Low) Chap- in, natives of Massachusetts, both of whom are de- ceased. Mr. Chapin served his country as a soldier in a Massachusetts regiment during the Civil war, after which he spent some years in Illinois and Ken- tucky, but later returned to Massachusetts, and there passed the remainder of his active years in a gen- eral merchandise business. He was a stanch Republi- can and a well-known comrade of the Grand Army of. the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Auld have one child, their son, John Phillip.

JUSTISE L. WILSON. One of those who has seen the gradnal disappearance of the range before the en- croaching agriculturists, and who from his boyhood days and through four states has been compelled to seek new fields for the grazing of his cattle and sheep, constantly traveling westward until he has come to the realization that the days of the range have passed, is Justise L. Wilson, the owner of an excellent ranch situated about ninety miles from Miles City, in Custer county. Mr. Wilson is a product of the farm, having been born on the old homestead situated near Fort Wayne, Allen county, Indiana, November 22, 1860, a son of John T. and. Hannah D. (Jones) Wilson.

John T. Wilson was born at Findlay, Hancock county, Ohio, and as a young man became a pioneer farmer and stock raiser of Allen county, Indiana. During the early 'sixties he drove his stock overland to Marshall county, Iowa, and settled on a farm near Legrand, where his death occurred in 1865. He and his wife, who survived him some years and lived to reach the age of sixty-five, had a family of twelve children, of whom ten lived to maturity, while eight still survive, and three of their sons, Charles, John and Jacob, served as soldiers in an Indiana regiment during the Civil war. In political matters Mr. Wilson was originally a Whig, but subsequently transferred his allegiance to the Republican party.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Wilson con- tinned to work the homestead with her children, bravely endeavoring to keep the family together. The early education of Justise L. Wilson was secured in the public schools of Legrand, Iowa, and when the family moved to near Hastings, Nebraska, in 1879, he con- tinued his studies there. After his marriage, in Janu- ary, 1882, when just past his twenty-first year, he trav- eled overland to the Powder river, in Custer county, Montana, with his wife, his sole possessions at that time being a span of mules and two young colts. En- gaging in the cattle, sheep and horse business, so well has he conducted his operations that he is the owner of 5,000 acres of good land, and running 40,000 head of sheep, in addition to cattle and horses. In Illinois. Iowa, Nebraska and Montana Mr. Wilson has gradu- ally been forced to move before the approach of the farmers, whose insistent demand for land has put an end to the halcyon days of the open range. He has been more than ordinarily successful in his operations, and for honorable and upright dealing has always heen noted, while as a good citizen no man has sus-

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tained a higher character. With no means at the out- set, nothing save industry, sound judgment, perse- verance, sobriety and economy, he has made a happy success of life, and may with all truth be named as the architect of his own fortune. He has headquarters in the First National Bank building, Miles City, where he has many friends, drawn about him by the same kind and genial spirit, the same accessibility to all classes, which marked his former years. In political matters he has always been independent. But at the convention held at Miles City by the national Progressive party August 24, 1912, they nominated him as their candi- date for state senator. Fraternally he is con- nected with Custer Lodge, No. 13, I. O. O. F., of Miles City, and Miles City Lodge, No. 537, B. P. O. E.

On January 29, 1882, Mr. Wilson was married at the farm of his bride's father near Hastings, Nebraska, to Miss Margaret Duncan, a native of Savannah, Illinois, · and the eighteen-year-old daughter of Patrick Duncan. The latter, a native of Ireland, came to the United States as a young man, and first engaged in farm- ing in Illinois, but in 1879 settled near Hastings, Nebraska, where he was identified with agricultural matters until his death, at the age of ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have four children: Ernest Lee, William R., Julinalta and Helen. The sons are engaged in business with their father and reside on the ranch, while Mrs. Wilson and her daughters spend the school seasons in Denver, Colorado, in which city the young ladies are being given exceptional educational advan- tages.

WILLIAM E. SAVAGE. Since the days of the Vigil- antes, when Montana was so overrun with the lawless element among the miners and adventurers that the administration of justice in the hands of the consti- tuted authorities became but a travesty, William E. Savage, a member of that famous organization which cleared the country of thieves and murderers, has always so ordered his life as to be a credit to his community and a friend of law and order. As a business man he has carried on extensive operations in Miles City for more than thirty years, and in public affairs has served efficiently in various official capacities, gaining and re- taining the respect and confidence of the community in a marked degree. Mr. Savage was born September 8, 1858, in Hennepin county, Minnesota, and is a son of Charles W. and Fannie (Blowers) Savage.

Charles W. Savage was born near the city of Syra- cuse, New York, in 1833, and was a son of Aaron and Caroline (Whitford) Savage, the former born in Rochester, New York, and the latter in Vermont, of English ancestry. Aaron Savage was a shoemaker, and served with distinction in the American army dur- ing the Mexican war. Charles W. Savage received his education in the common schools, and was a lad, in 1839, when the family moved to Michigan, in which state he grew to manhood as a farmer. In 1855 he went to Minnesota, locating land and engaging in farm- ing in Hennepin county, twelve miles from Minne- apolis. In April, 1861, at the first call for troops, he enlisted in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, under Capt. William Harmon, and with the Army of the Potomac served in twenty-eight battles. Just after his promotion to corporal, at the battle of Fred- ericksburg, he was wounded, a shot carrying away part of his foot, and this incapacitated him for further duty and he received his honorable discharge. Returning to Minneapolis, he engaged in a mercantile business until 1872, when he was employed in a clerical capacity by the Northern Pacific Railroad, Moorhead depart- ment, remaining therewith until the road was com- pleted to Bismarck. Later he had full charge of their business. In 1874 he was thus employed during the construction of the Minnesota and Dakota division. In 1876 he came to Montana, during the construction of Fort Keogh, where he was employed in clerical

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 106

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002