A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 114

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

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On February 14, 1895, Mr. Kinney was married to Miss Ella Kennedy, at Mankato, Minnesota, she being a daughter of E. R. and Lydia Kennedy, and a native of Massachusetts, born near Boston. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kinney, aged as fol- lows: Agnes, sixteen; Harold, fourteen and Horace, ten years, and all are attending school in Glendive, where the family makes its home during the winter months. Mr. Kinney is a great admirer of ex-Presi- dent Roosevelt, but, outside of having cast his vote and taken a good citizen's interest in matters that affect the welfare of his community, has not been active in public life. He is a member of the Odd Fellows at Glendive, and Mrs. Kinney is a member of the Bap- tist church. At all times temperate himself, Mr. Kinney has believed in temperate living, and his long and hon- orable career is absolutely without stain or blemish. In all of his dealings with his fellow-men he has shown the strictest integrity and uprightness of character, and as a result has the unqualified esteem of all who know him.

ELI V. RUBOTTOM. The largest business of its kind in the northern part of Montana, and the oldest in the state, the Como Company of Great Falls was founded as a small retail paint store something more than twenty years ago and has been developed to its present large proportions through the ability of its president, Eli V. Rubottom, a business man of the foremost rank, whose prominence in the commercial life of his adopted community has come as a result of long years of stead- fast endeavor. Mr. Rubottom was born in Parke county, Indiana, February 5, 1856, and is a son of Laban and Anna (Hill) Rubottom.

Mr. Rubottom's paternal ancestors were natives of Germany and early settlers of North Carolina, while his maternal progenitor, who also settled in the Tar Heel state at an early day, came from England. The great-uncle of Mrs. Anna (Hill) Rubottom, General Mercer, was a noted Revolutionary general, and others of the family have distinguished themselves in various fields of endeavor. Laban Rubottom was born in North Carolina, and in early days traveled over the old Daniel Boone trail to the forests of Parke county, Indiana, where he spent the winters in cutting poplar,

Frank WKinney

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which in the spring and summer he fashioned into pumps, gaining a wide reputation in his vicinity for the excellence of his work. Although he was a Quaker and as such did not believe in war, during the struggle between the states he was so firmly convinced of the justice of the North's position that he enlisted in the home guards. His death occurred when he was only forty-seven years of age, in 1871. He was married in . Bloomingdale township, Burke county, to Anna Hill, a native of North Carolina and daughter of farming people of that state, and she survived her husband only two years, passing away in 1873 when forty-seven years of age. Of their eight children, Eli was the fifth in order of birth.

Eli V. Rubottom received a public school education, and then entered Bloomingdale Academy, but at the age of fifteen years, when his father died, he left school to become apprenticed to a house painter, it being necessary that he should begin to do something toward his own support. When he had spent three years as an apprentice, he began to work at his trade as a journey- man, and as such, in 1877, removed to Kansas City, Missouri, where he continued to reside for some time. Subsequently he went to Colorado, where he spent the greater part of the next five years working for the Union Pacific Railroad, on the Kansas Division, but on August 6, 1882, arrived at Glendive, Montana, to take charge of the painting department of the Northern Pacific, under S. R. Ainslie. He continued in that com- pany's service until December 15, 1883, when he re- moved to Helena, and on May 8, 1885, made removal to Butte, which city was his field of endeavor until Janu- ary 24, 1886. At that time. with Fred Avery, Mr. Rubottom started on one of the most interesting trips he has ever made, a journey of seven days in a four- horse team, to a sheep ranch situated thirty-five miles northwest of Choteau, owned by Mr. Rubottom. He continued to stay in that locality until disposing of the property, in the middle of August, 1886, at which time he came to Great Falls to establish himself as a con- tractor, a business to which he devoted his interests and energies until 1890. On February 20, 1890, Mr. Rubottom went to Ottumwa, Iowa, and was there mar- ried to Miss Julietta Carter, daughter of W. S. Carter, a pioneer of that city, and on his return from his wed- ding journey established himself in business in a rented store at No. 123 Central avenue, as proprietor of an establishment for the sale of paints, wall paper, window glass, brushes and all kindred articles, the first store of its kind established in the state. Building operations were proceeding with great activity at that time and the establishment filled a long-felt want, the business proving a success from its inception. From a small though enterprising venture, it grew rapidly year by year, and in 1893 the Como Company was organized, the firm being incorporated during July of that year with Mr. Rubottom as president. This is the largest wholesale and retail business of its kind in the northern part of the state, and the success which has marked its growth is but a just reward to the poor orphan lad who reached Montana with a capital of a little over four dollars thirty years ago. Mr. Rubottom is a stalwart Republican in politics and takes a great deal of interest in public matters. His activities, however, have been more in the line of directing than in active participation as an office holder, as on several occasions he has refused the nomination for the mayoralty. He is a member of the Electric Club and of the Merchants Association, and has passed through the chairs of the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows, and the A. O. U. W., in all of which organizations he is deservedly popular. His religious connection is with the Congre- gational church, of which he has acted as treasurer and trustee for a number of years. He has evidenced his faith in the future of Great Falls by investing heavily in real estate, and in addition to the company's store,

at 319 Central avenue, owns a handsome residence at No. 924 Third avenue, North.

Mr. and Mrs. Rubottom have had two children: Car- ter V., born November 24, 1890, and now in his third year as a student in the Agricultural College, at Boze- man; and Anna L., born September 3, 1892, who is attending a young ladies' school at Washington, D. C.

BERNARD L. POWERS. For thirty-one years Bernard L. Powers has practiced his profession in Havre and Fort Benton, Montana, and no lawyer in the district has found more secure place in the confidence and esteem of the public than has he in the passing years. Coming to Fort Benton in 1882, almost immediately after being admitted to the bar, he soon found favor in the community, and Chouteau county has since that time given him a sufficient field for the practice of his profession. He has occupied a number of offices of prominence in the county, and was elected to the office of county attorney at the general election in November, 1893, and was reelected for two successive terms. At the general November election, 1903, was elected to the office of county auditor and served as the first county auditor of Chouteau county, in November, 1910, was again elected to the office of county attorney and served in that capacity during the period in which the counties of Hill and Blaine were carved out of the territory comprising Chouteau county. His reputation is built upon solid accomplishment, backed by the splendid attributes of character which have ever been his, and no citizen of Fort Benton has been more active in com- munal life of the city than he has. .

Born in Pittsfield, Maine, on July 26, 1857, Bernard L. Powers is the son of Philip and Sophronie (Math- ews) Powers, both borne and reared in Maine, and both now deceased. These worthy parents reared a goodly family of eleven children, of which number the subject was the ninth in order of birth, and of which eleven, nine are yet living. The names of the family in the respective order of birth, are given as follows, with slight mention of present residence and circum- stances: Hannibal resided in Pittsfield, Maine, and now deceased; Jacob M., of Great Falls, Montana; Frank, of Canton, Montana; Winnifred, now deceased ; A. T., of Seattle, Washington; Inez, the wife of Har- vey Kene, of Townsend, Montana; Vesta E., the widow of John Walker, of Townsend, Montana; Etta, the wife of C. F. Kennedy, living in Ohio; B. L., of this review; Araminta S., unmarried, and living in Seattle, Wash- ington; and Philip K., of Dillon, Montana.

When he was five years old Bernard L. Powers began attending the public schools in Pittsfield, and there, he lived until he was eighteen years of age, when he went to Valparaiso, Indiana, and entered the law department of the Northern Indiana Normal College, and in 18SI was duly graduated from that well known institution. He was admitted to the bar soon there- after, and his first move was in a westerly direction, bringing him to Fort Benton, Montana, where he promptly settled down and opened an office. That was in 1882, and it is significant of the foresightedness of the man that he saw in the primitive towns of that early day sufficient of promise to justify him in contin- uing there in practice. It is a fact however, that for thirty years he has confined his professional activities to Chouteau county, in the towns of Havre and Fort Benton.

As mentioned previously, a number of offices have been admirably filled by Mr. Powers in the years of his residence here, among them the office of justice of the peace which he held, being first elected in 1882; the office of county attorney in which he has served four terms in all, and that of county auditor.

On December 18, 1887, Mr. Powers was united in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Johnstone, the daughter of Samuel J. Johnstone, of Fort Benton. The children

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born to them are three in number: Anna M., attend- ing school in Bozeman; Philip A., of Fort Benton, and Bernard L., Jr., who died in infancy. The wife and mother died in 1892, and is resting in Riverside cemetery, in Fort Benton. She was a member of the Methodist church of Fort Benton, and was active and prominent in all the various departments of its work.

Mr. Powers is a member of the Benton Lodge No. 25, A. F. & A. M., and of Chouteau Chapter No. 19, and the Royal Arch Masons at Havre, Montana. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Havre Lodge No. 1201, and of the Sons of the American Revolution.

He is a Republican in his politics and active and prominent in the party ranks of Chouteau county.

FREDERICK LOUIS COLE, the proprietor of the Cole Plumbing Company, is the son of James Edgar Cole of Coeur d'Alene City, Washington. This gentleman is now eighty-three years of age, and is in charge of the water and electric light works of the city where he resides. This town has been his home since 1891, when it had just begun its existence as a municipality, so he' is numbered among its early settlers. Previous to going to Coeur d'Alene, Mr. Cole had lived in New York, Wisconsin, Dakota, Iowa and Helena, besides serving three years in the Civil war. New York was the state of his birth, and from there he moved to Wis- consin. It was from this state that Mr. Cole entered the army, in which he served as a teamster. About 1870, he and his family, which then consisted of his wife, Jane Elizabeth Stanley Cole, and two children, Fred- erick Louis and an older sister, left Wisconsin for Iowa. This journey was made overland in a covered wagon, and none of the vicissitudes of pioneer travel and life were lacking. Frederick Louis Cole was an infant at the time of this journey, as he was born in Racine county, Wisconsin, on January 30, 1869. When the family reached their destination in the far country, Iowa, which was then quite "west," they settled on a farm between Marshalltown and Trayer.

Iowa was the home of the Coles until Frederick, the only son in the household of five children, was seven- teen years of age. During this period, he attended the district school, and the high school in Marshalltown, from which he graduated. After this, Mr. Cole worked with his father in the livery business until they left Iowa and moved still further westward, settling in Dakota upon government land near White Lake. Here the father spent five years, from 1877 to 1882, on the farm and his son remained with him. Together they came to Helena, and here Mr. Cole went to work on the city water works. He was a part of the force that installed the system in Helena and he worked until it was completed. Subsequently, he went to work for Mr. Arthur O'Brien, with whom he remained for two and a half years.

In 1886, Mr. Cole set up for himself. His shop was small and his start very modest indeed. However, his business grew steadily, and his equipment kept pace with its enlargement. Hard work and good workman- ship enabled him to gain a foothold, and at present his concern is one of the city's solid establishments.

Fraternally, Mr. Cole is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, with the Rebekahs and with the Modern Brotherhood of America. In the second-named lodge, he is vice-president. Mrs. Cole, too, is a member of the Modern Brotherhood organiza- tion. The Methodist church is the denomination of their choice, and Mr. Cole is a Republican but not active in the affairs of the party.

Mrs. Cole is a native of Helena, and began her life there as Miss Helen Keefe. She became Mrs. Cole in December, 1891, and her six children were all born in this city. These are: Pearl May, born in 1892, a grad- uate of the high school and also of the business college;

Ruby Estelle, born in 1894 and now attending high school, as is also Garnett R. Cole, two years her junior. Emerald Glen, born in 1898; Rolla Bertrand, 1901, and Fred Juell, 1903, are all pupils in the Jefferson school.

Mr. Cole, having spent three decades in Helena, feels that he has grown up with the city, even if he did not arrive until after it had advanced from a mining camp to a settled community. He knows the city and the most of its citizens, among whom he counts a pleasingly large company of friends. There his mother passed away in 1908 at the age of eighty years. She was born in South Carolina, and was very well known and much beloved in Helena, the city of her adoption. Mr. Cole combines the inheritance of southern sociability with that of "Yankee" enterprise and both in business and in a social way, he is one of the men who give Montana her reputation for enterprise and open-heartedness.

BERKLEY J. PARSONS. A well known resident of Wibaux who is deserving of being classed among the enterprising men of Dawson county, and one who has identified himself with the stock business here for a number of years, is Berkley J. Parsons, recognized as an authority on horse breeding. Mr. Parsons is a na- tive of Somersetshire, England, and was born October 17, 1871, a son of James William and Agnes (Game) Parsons, both of whom were born in the mother coun- try. Mr. Parsons' father, who died in 1893 at the age of fifty-four years, was a farmer in England, and pre- ceded his family to the United States in 1874, locating at Hawley, Clay county, Minnesota, where his wife and children joined him during the following year. He was there engaged in farming up to 1883, when he removed to Glendive, Dawson county, Montana, and embarked in the horse and cattle business. For three years he successfully carried on this business on the range, but sold his cattle and horses to raise sheep. He had about 1000 head when the terrific winter of 1886-7 came on, and like many others in the same business he suffered heavily from the storms, losing about 400 head. Resuming the horse and cattle business, he took his two sons, Berkley J. and Arthur G., into partnership with him, and this association continued up to the time of his death. The sons continued the business until 1897, when the partnership was dissolved, Berkley J. taking the horses, while Arthur G. continued in the cattle busi- ness. He and his wife, who survives him and makes her home in Oakland, California, had four children, three of whom are living. Besides the sons mentioned, there is a daughter, Mabel Agnes, the wife of J. H. Ferrall, of Oakland.

Berkley J. Parsons has gained and maintained a posi- tion of prominence among the horse breeders of Mon- tana. Having about 1500 head on the range in Dawson county, he does a large business with eastern concerns. buyers coming from Boston, New York City and points in Pennsylvania. He also has had numerous profitable transactions with Canadian parties. In business circles his name stands for absolute integrity, and as a man who has identified himself with only legitimate lines of industry he is known and esteemed by his associates. In political matters Mr. Parsons is a Republican, but the exacting demands of his business have made it inadvisable for him to enter the public arena.

On March 12, 1901, at Oakland, California, Mr. Par- sons was united in marriage with Miss Ethel Robert- son, who was born in New York City, daughter of Alexander and Martha (Seyffert) Robinson, the former born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1845, and the latter in Berlin, Germany, in 1855. Mr. Robertson, a painter and decorator by trade, now lives in Oakland, California; his wife died in February, 1912. Of their seven chil- dren, four are living, Mrs. Parsons being the second in order of birth. Mr. and Mrs. Parsons have had three children, namely: Ruth, Austin and Florence.

KyParsons

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HON. O. F. GODDARD. Biographical sketches of those who have attained merited distinction in American law have a charni and force in them that commend them to every sound thinker. Interest is naturally felt in trac- ing the footsteps of those who have reached elevated positions in public confidence and have wielded their influence for public good. Records of this kind are calculated to raise the ministrations of law in public es- timation, and are guides for the junior members of the profession in their pursuit of reputation, distinction and position. In this connection it is eminently fit that a sketch of the life of the Hon. O. F. Goddard, one of the leading members of the Montana bar and an attor- ney of thirty years' standing in Billings, be given.

The Goddard family, the progenitor of which emi- grated early from England and settled in the American Colony of Virginia, has had many worthy representa. tives of the various professions and have been promi- nent in both military and civil life, and among them O. F. Goddard holds a place of distinction. Born in Davis county, Iowa, in 1853, he is a son of Richard T. and Elizabeth (Tannehill) Goddard, natives of Ohio who removed to Iowa in 1842, where the father was a successful farmer and where he died in 1892, the father of four sons and three daughters. The early education of O. F. Goddard was secured in the public schools of his native vicinity, and at an early age he chose the profession of an educator. While teaching school at Centerville, Iowa, however, he turned his attention to the study of law, and under the direction of his uncle, Judge Tannehill, fitted himself to take the examination that admitted him to the bar in 1880. After three years spent in the practice of his profession at Corydon, Iowa, he came to Billings in March, 1883, and since has won for himself a distinguished place among the leading legal luminaries of the state. Mr. Goddard is known as one of the leading corporation lawyers of the middle west, but is absolutely independent in his actions and unhampered by restricting ties. His genial, wholesome personality has made him numerous friends, even among his opponents, while the unbounded vigor and action of his movements denotes the highest type of healthy American manhood. In addition to his extensive cor- poration work, he has a large general practice, but has found time to devote to the general public welfare. A stanch and influential Republican, he is recognized as a leader of his party in the state, and since the territorial days, when he served as prosecuting attorney and assist- ant district attorney under Judge Blake, he has been prominent as a public official. In 1889 he was a member of the constitutional convention which gave the state its present constitution, and in that body displayed great parliamentary and legal ability. During 1890 he was sent to the state senate, where he was wisely chosen a mem- ber and chairman of several important committees, one of which was the judiciary committee, upon which he served during both sessions of his term. In the session of 1893, by his ability as a parliamentarian, he prevented the election of a Democratic United States senator, and thus earned the applause of his party in all sections of the state. He was also chairman of the joint caucus of his party, and as such rendered it important service in both houses of the legislature.

Mr. Goddard was the gold standard candidate of the Republican party for congress in 1896, when three- fourths of his party deserted its candidate for president, Mr. McKinley, and went over to Bryan and free silver. Mr. Goddard made a campaign of the state alone and at his own expense leading a forlorn hope in order to maintain and uphold his party, and the wisdom and courage of his stand in this time of political turmoil and free silver craze, have long since been demon- strated. This campaign in Montana, and the heroic part played by Mr. Goddard is a part of his history.

Mr. Goddard in the year (1912) of kaleidoscopic aspects of politics stood like a rock for President

Taft and the policies of the old Republican party with- out shadow of wavering or turning.

Fraternally, Mr. Goddard belongs to the blue lodge, chapter, commandery and Mystic Shrine of Masonry.

On January 20, 1881, Mr. Goddard was united in mar- riage with Miss Alwilda Stephenson, who was born in Ohio, although the marriage took place at Centerville, Iowa. Three children have been born to this union: Lora, a graduate of Drake University of Des Moines, Iowa, and Michigan University of Ann Arbor, who later took a special course in voice culture in Chicago, is now the wife of William P. Rixon, a prominent real estate dealer of Billings; Helen, a graduate of Montana University, class of 1909, now living at home; and Wilbur F., named for Mr. Goddard's old friend, Col. Wilbur F. Sanders, now attending the Billings high school. No words of fulsome praise are necessary to embellish the life and character of O. F. Goddard. He is a patriotic citizen, a scholarly and able lawyer and a dignified gentleman. No higher enconium can be be- stowed upon any man.

OLIVER T. CRANE. A man of high mental attain- ments, cultured and accomplished, Oliver T. Crane, of Helena; is prominently identified with the administra- tion of the legal affairs of the state, being standing master in chancery of the circuit court of the United States, district of Montana. He was born, November 14, 1855, in Wayne county, New York, of early colo- nial descent, the immigrant ancestor of the Crane family having settled in New Jersey in 1636. His father, Rev. Oliver Crane, was born, April 12, 1822, in New Jersey, in what is now known as Montclair. A Presbyterian clergyman, he held pastorates in different places in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, continuing in the ministry until toward the close of his life, when he became engaged in literary pursuits. He was the author of several well-known works, among which may be mentioned a translation of the "Æneid" of Vergil, and a History of the Class of 1845, Yale University, of which he was a member, a work that became very popu- lar, being considered a masterpiece. He lived to a good old age, passing away in 1893.

Rev. Oliver Crane married Mary D. Turnbull, who belonged to a family prominent in the early history of the country. She was born in New York City, and died in 1890. Of the four children that blessed their union, .one died in infancy, the others growing to years of maturity.

Receiving his preparatory education in the schools of the east, Oliver T. Crane, following in the foot- steps of his father, entered Yale University, where he was graduated in 1879. Three years later he was ad- mitted to the New Jersey bar, and in 1884 to the bar of Montana. In 1882 Mr. Crane, foreseeing the de- velopment of the northwest, visited Dakota. Coming thence to Montana in 1883, with a partner he was for four years engaged in sheep raising at Miles City. Disposing then of his ranch and stock, Mr. Crane re- turned east, and for sometime thereafter traveled in the far east, visiting places of importance and interest in Europe, Asia and Africa. Returning to Montana in 1890, he located in Helena, and during the same year accepted the position of reporter for the supreme court of Montana, at the same time filling the office of mar- shal of the supreme court. In 1902 Mr. Crane was ap- pointed librarian of the State Law Library, and served in that capacity, also being reporter for the supreme court, until the autumn of 1905. Since that time Mr. Crane has held his present position as standing master in chancery of the circuit court of the United States for the district of Montana. Mr. Crane is financially interested in the mining resources of the state. He is a Republican in politics, and, with his family, is af- filiated with the Presbyterian church.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 114

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