A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 118

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

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Mr. Lindsay is of that fine, public-spirited type of citizenship which is soon recognized. He served four years as county commissioner of Dawson county, being elected in 1892, and before the expiration of his term of office was elected to the legislature, resigning the former office to take his seat in the lower house of the assembly, being a member of the Fifth and Sixth state legislatures. In May, 1911, he was appointed United States marshal and is now serving a four year's term. In 1900 he was a candidate for the state senate but was defeated, and in 1904 was the Republican nominee for governor, but was defeated by a narrow margin. His appointment as United States marshal was unasked and unsought, and was thus the greater compliment. He is an able exponent of the progressive spirit and strong initiative which have caused Dawson county to forge so rapidly to the fore. His services to the people have been of the highest character and with him patriotism is more than a mere rhetorical expression.

In addition to his services in official capacities and his interests, previously mentioned, he is identified with other enterprises of considerable importance. He is president of the Montana Eastern Telephone Company, a long distance line, and was one of the organizers of the corporation. He has been president of the Dawson county high school board ever since its organization and none here demonstrated more vividly their realiza- tion of the importance of securing the best possible educational advantages.

Mr. Lindsay stands high in Masonry and exemplifies in his own living the ideals of moral and social justice and brotherly love for which the order stands. He belongs to Glendive Lodge, No. 31, A. F. & A. M., the Chapter, Commandery, and Shrine, and has passed all chairs in the Knights Templar. He is a member of the Dawson County Club. He is affiliated with the Method- ist Episcopal church of Helena and for two terms served as lay delegate to the general conference.

In August, 1886, Mr. Lindsay was married in Glen- dive to Miss Alice M. Reehl, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Cornelius and Ellen Reehl. Mrs. Lindsay died on May 5, 1907, at Battle Creek, Michigan. She was the mother of two children, William LeRoy Lindsay, born August 12, 1887, at Glendive; and Grace M., born May 12, 1893. Mr. Lindsay was married a second time on January 1, 1912, Mrs. Audrey Hughes becoming his wife. She was a resident of Indiana. They maintain a hospitable and elegant home at Glen- dive, where they are prominent in social and philan- thropical work. Mr. Lindsay's offices are in the Federal building, at Helena.

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The paternal ancestors of Mr. Lindsay came from Scotland and were among the first settlers of New Jersey, while his maternal grandparents came from Scotland and Germany, and were early Pennsylvania settlers.

GEORGE MILLER HAYS. A man who has for more than a quarter of a century been prominently identified with official life in Montana, having started in 1883 as a deputy county clerk and county treasurer and steadily climbed up until in 1900 he was elected secretary of the state, is Mr. George Miller Hays, at present assistant cashier in the Merchants National Bank of Billings. Mr. Hays first came to Montana in 1883, arriving here on the 30th of May and was then a young man who had just attained his majority. He had a short time previously completed his education in the high schools of Cleveland, Ohio, and worked for a short time there as bookkeeper for the Dieterich Oil Company. Upon his arrival in Billings he was immediately given a position as deputy in the office of Dr. H. H. Bole, county clerk, and at the same time was appointed to a similar posi- tion in the office of the county treasurer of Yellowstone county. The work proved to be very congenial to his tastes and adapted to his talents, and he continued to discharge the duties devolving upon the offices he occu- pied for three years. In 1886, at the regular election held that year, his efficiency was fittingly recognized by the voters of the county by their election of him to the office of county clerk in his own right and authority. After the expiration of his term in that office he was next, in 1889, given the nomination by the Democratic party, of which he was a member, to the office of clerk of the district court of Yellowstone county, and his election was easily achieved. Mr. Hays was the first incumbent of that office in the county. He made a splendid record as an official in that position, as he had in all others that he had held, but at the expiration of his term decided to retire from official life and engage in private business. He accordingly accepted a position as assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Bill- ings and retained that connection during the four years between 1892 and 1896.

In the last named year those in official authority again sought his services for the public and this time it was state business which invited him and he accepted an appointment as deputy in the office of the state treasurer of Montana. This necessitated his removal to Helena, the state capital. Mr. Hays made friends wherever he went and was quick to demonstrate his fitness for large responsibilities. It was natural that his party should recognize his strength, and in 1900 he was further honored by election to the office of secretary of the state of Montana. This important office he held for four years and then he made his second retirement from officialdom to private life and returned to his old home in Billings. Many important items of govern- ment business were consummated during his incumbency in office, one of these being the purchase of necessary furniture and office equipment for the new state capitol, and he was a member of the committee that had this particular matter directly in charge. He again allied himself with financial interests, becoming secretary of the First Trust and Savings Bank of Billings, and until 1910 retained that connection. He then severed his re- lations with that institution to accept a position in the Merchants National Bank. He possesses the knowledge, experience and natural endowments which make him an especially valuable acquisition to the personnel of any financial institution and his reputation and standing for high moral integrity, honesty and conservativeness make for added confidence by the public in any such organiza- tion with which he is connected in any capacity.

Mr. Hays is a native of Pensylvania, having been born at Punxsutawney, Jefferson county, March 12, 1862, the oldest of a family of four children. His sister Maude,

wife of Horace S. Williston, a prominent real estate dealer here, lives in Billings; another sister, Jennie, married B. K. Beecher, and died in 1904; the third sister, Mabel, is the wife of C. C. Bever and lives at Hardin, Yellowstone county, Montana. Mr. Hays' mother, who was before her marriage Sarah E. Miller, is also a native of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania, and is now in her sixty-seventh year and is still living, making her home in Billings. His father, John L. Hays, was born in Mercer county, Pensylvania, in 1837, and was educated for the ministry in a Baptist theo- logical seminary of that state. He followed this calling for some years, but finally resigned and engaged in sec- ular pursuits for the remainder of his life. He went to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the fire insurance business, in which he remained continuously for over thirtv-five years. After retiring from active participation in busi- ness life he removed his home to Billings in 1908, and spent the remainder of his days here, his demise occur- ring August 5, 1910, in his seventy-third year. He was a member of the Mansonic fraternity and was politically a Republican.

The marriage of George Miller Hays to Miss Jennie Jones, a native of Llangefni, Wales, occurred November 12, 1886, and they have four children, namely: Donald L., John L., Ethel Maude and George Miller, Jr.

Mr. Hays is a prominent lodge man and holds mem- bership in a number of the leading fraternities of the country. He belongs to Ashland Lodge, No. 29. A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; to Billings Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M .; to Aldemar Commandery, No. 5, Knights Templars, and is past eminent com- mander of the commandery and past grand commander of Montana, also past potentate of Algeria Temple at Helena, and belongs to Billings Lodge, No. 394, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks.

In whatever capacity Mr. Hays exerts himself he wins success and his past record is one of which any man might well feel proud. His public spirit is con- spicuous and he takes a keen interest in all matters that tend to promote the best development of the city and state in which he has so long resided.

FREDERICK H. EBERSCHWEILER, S. J. Other men's services to the people and the state can be measured by definite deeds, by dangers averted, by legislation secured, by institutions built, by commerce promoted. The work of a priest is along entirely different lines. His efforts are all devoted to man's spiritual welfare -- to the salvation of souls. He whose name forms the caption for this review is member of the Society of Jesus and is pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic church, at Havre, Montana, where he has resided since 1903.

The Rt. Rev. Frederick H. Eberschweiler was born at Wachsweiler, Rhine province, Prussia, June 19, 1839. He is a son of Franz and Margaret (Noeren) Eberschweiler, both of whom were born and reared in Germany and both of whom are now deceased. The father was an educator in his native land and received a gold medal from the Kaiser for his long and faithful service as such. He was summoned to the life eternal in 1884, at the age of seventy-four years, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1891, aged eighty-four years. Professor and Mrs. Franz Eberschweiler became the parents of seven children-five sons and two daughters, the third son, John Baptist, died at the age of seven. All the other sons became Jesuit priests and two of them are still living (in 1912), namely: William, who resides in Hol- land, and Frederick H., whose name initiates this article.

To the Catholic College of Treves, Germany, Father Eberschweiler is indebted for his preliminary educa- tional training. On September 30, 1858, at the age of nineteen years, he entered the Society of Jesus and

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July 15, 1870, was ordained a priest. About the time he completed his studies and entered the priesthood a law went into effect in Germany expelling all Jesuits from the country. Father Eberschweiler immediately left his native land and sailed for America, arriving in New York City, August 29, 1872. He proceeded to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became a professor in St. Mary's Priest Seminary, teaching there for a period of two . years, at the expiration of which he went to Toledo, Ohio, where he became assistant pastor of St. Mary's church. He resided in Toledo for eight years and in .1882 went to Burlington, Iowa, where he be- came assistant pastor in St. John the Baptist church. In August, 1883, he came to Montana, making the trip hither on one of the first trains run over the Great Northern tracks, which had just been completed to Helena. The day after his arrival in Helena Father Eberschweiler was met by Bishop Brondel, who had just come from the war west and who established him as the first resident priest at Fort Benton. As a Jesuit Father Eberschweiler belonged then to St. Peter's mis- sion. He remained at Fort Benton, the headquarters of the district, from 1883 to 1886. His district covered a large area in fact all the country east to Fort Belk- nap, the same including parts of Cascade county and Teton counties, and all of Meagher, Fergus and Chou- teau counties. During the early days he was obliged to travel over the territory assigned to him by stage and the trips from fort to fort were filled with hardship and danger of every description. On one occasion he traveled from midnight to midnight when the weather was forty-eight degrees below zero. From Fort Benton he established a mission at Fort Belknap and he also did the first Catholic missionary work in the Fort Peck reservation.

Father Eberschweiler lived in St. Paul's mission in the Little Rockies from 1886 to 1890, and in the latter year took charge of all the new stations on the Great Northern railroad along the line of Milk river from Big Sandy to People's creek. Father Feusi succeeded him at St. Paul's. For a number of years he lived near the mouth of People's creek, at a place then known as Dodson station, and there he had charge of the Indians on Milk river and in the Fort Peck reservation. In 1895 he moved to a point opposite Fort Belknap, remaining there until 1900, when he made his headquarters at Chinook, Montana, whence he came to Havre in 1903. Since the latter year he has been resident pastor of St. Jude Thaddeus Cath- olic church at Havre and there he has accomplished a remarkable amount of good in the way of construct- ing churches and helping the poor and needy. He has been instrumental in the erection of church edi- fices at Glasgow, Culbertson. Malta, Chinook, Harlem, Havre, Great Falls, Lewiston, Oswego and Hindsdale. He also selected the site, secured the grounds and established the Sacred Heart Hospital at Havre, where he managed to have the sisters of St. Francis assume charge. Recently his efforts have been expended along the line of securing parochial schools at Havre and in that connection he has procured the grounds and build- ing plans are under way.

During his leisure time Father Eberschweiler is en- gaged in literary work. He wrote a drama entitled "Three Holy Kings," originally in German, and another drama entitled, "St. Vitus." He has written a number of theological articles and has had published articles on music and a number of poems, and is altogether an author of note.

Father Eberschweiler exercises a commanding in- fluence over mnen, not as the result of a conscious ambition or a studied purpose, but rather from an instinctive homage the world awards men of exalted character and incorruptible principles. He is wholly wrapped up in his work and it would be impossible to make a reckoning of the good he has accomplished

for mankind. His convictions are solid as adamant and he tries to estimate human character in the light of that charity which "hopeth all things, which bear- eth all things, which is not easily provoked, which thinketh no evil."

THOMAS J. BOOHER. Rising to his present station through a variety of duties in other lines of activity, in all of which he demonstrated his efficiency, ability and high sense of personal responsibility, Thomas J. Booher, the present capable and esteemed police judge of Butte, has advanced by reason of his genuine merit, and it is to the credit of the people of the city of his present home that they recognize his worth and de- mand his services in behalf of the general welfare of the community.

Judge Booher was born in Livingston county, New York, on April 19, 1857, and is a son of Henry and Martha (Updegraff) Booher, the former a native of Geneva, Switzerland, and the latter of Canada. The father came to the United States with his parents when he was but four years old. The family located in the state of New York, and when he grew to manhood he engaged in farming, in which he has been occupied ever since, or was as long as he was able to attend to active business. The mother died when her son Thomas was an infant.

He obtained a good common school education in his native county, on which he has since enlarged by diligent study and extensive reading. Designing to follow teaching for a livelihood, he pursued a course of special training for the purpose at the Geneseo State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1879. He then taught three terms of school in his na- tive state and three in Missouri. At the end of this service he went to Virginia City, Nevada, making his change of residence to the farther west in 1880. But he did not immediately change his occupation. Dur- ing 1880, 1881 and 1882 he was principal of the First ward school in Virginia City, and found his work so well appreciated by the people that he intended to re- main there longer. But circumstances ; changed his purposes.

On January 19, 1883, he came to Butte, and for about one year after his arrival in this city worked at whatever he could find to do, employing himself at teaming and other laborious occupations, but all the while cherishing his aspirations toward a more ele- vated standard of living and working in the direction of it. His diligence and fidelity attracted attention, his superior mental training became widely known, and in 1884 he was elected county superintendent of schools . for Silver Bow county. His term in this office began on January 1, 1885, and lasted two years.

When he retired from the county school superintend- ency he turned his attention to mining, not only as a man desirous of making a strike and so rendering himself comfortable for life, but as a delver in the mines themselves. He wrought in them for a num- ber of years, with his eyes ever open for opportuni- ties that might come his way, but with no abatement of his industry while waiting for them. In April, 1911, he was elected to his present position, the people hav- ing long known him as a man of superior education, broad intelligence and high character, and having reached the conclusion that he was well fitted to dis- pense justice in their city police court, an opinion in which he has proven they were not mistaken. He has performed the duties of his responsible and trying position in a manner that has won universal commen- dation from the law-abiding class of the population, and compelled the respect even of the unlawful. Be- ing of a kindly disposition, he tempers justice with mercy, and where there are mitigating circumstances, is lenient with wrongdoers. But for incorrigibles and the chronically criminal he has no softness of heart,

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deeming it his duty to the community to keep them from following their natural tendencies as much as he pos- sibly can.

On December 21, 1884, the judge was married to Miss Martha C. Sheppard, a native of Missouri. They have three children, their son Cecil H. and their daugh- ters, Georgia A. and Catherine L. The father is a warm friend of the laboring classes, and has shown it by a long and consistent membership in the Miners' Union. He is interested, in fact, in every phase of the life of the plain people who make up the bone and sinew of the country, and are its productive force in times of peace and its most reliable defenders in periods of war. Being thus devoted to the welfare of the great mass of the people, it follows as an inevitable result that he is cordially and serviceably loyal to the best interests of the country. Wherever he is known he is esteemed to a marked degree as a high-toned and intensely patriotic American citizen, and a representative of the best manhood of our country, which has had so tremendous an influence for betterment on the public opinion and trend of action in all parts of the world.

HARRY MORTIMER ALLEN. Among the leading busi- ness men of Billings, Montana, none are more worthy of being commemorated than the one whose name here appears. For nearly thirty years he has been a resi- dent of that city, during which time he has been a prominent factor in its fraternal, business and pub- lic life, fairly earning a reputation for honorable deal- ing with his fellow citizens to such a degree as to make his name a synonym for all that is honorable in business and correct in morals. He was born April 26, 1856, in Roxbury, now Boston, Massachusetts, a son of Henry Clay and Hattie L. (Gray) Allen.

Mr. Allen traces his ancestry back to Charles Allen, who was born in England in 1625, the year Charles I ascended the throne. In 1640 he was married to Susanna Huggins of Hampton, New Hampshire, but there is no record of the year he emigrated to Amer- ica, although the town records of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, show that he lived in Strawberry Point, and he is mentioned as a participant in the distribu- tion of lands to the inhabitants. For a number of years the family resided in Maine, and Henry Clay Allen was born at Ellsworth, Hancock county, that state, November 9, 1829. There he received a pub- lic school education, and when a young man removed to Roxbury, Massachusetts, where he first followed carpentry and subsequently hecame a contractor and builder, following these vocations for more than forty years. He was also prominent in Masonry. In politi- and at the time of his death, October 1, 1905, was serving as treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Massa- chusetts, an office which he had filled for over thirty years. He was also prominent in Masonry. In politi- cal matters he reserved the right to vote independ- ently, regardless of party. His religious faith was that of the Universalist church.

Henry Clay Allen married Miss Hattie L. Gray, who was born in 1833 in Portland, Maine, and died in 1868, leaving two children: Harry Mortimer and Frank Walter, the latter a resident of Greenville, Maine. For his second wife Mr. Allen married Ad- die M. Blodgett. She survives and has a daughter, Hattie M., who is the wife of Frank Gardiner and lives in New York state.

After receiving his education in the public schools of Boston, Harry M. Allen engaged in various enter- prises until he was twenty-five years of age, and in April, 1881, went to Topeka, Kansas, where he was identified with the lumber business. In June of the same year he went to Iowa City, Iowa, to be married. After his marriage, which took place on the 22nd of June, he returned to Topeka, and continued in busi- ness there until April 26, 1883. May the 6, 1883, saw

his advent in Billings, and there he has since con- tinued to carry on operations in the lumber line. The firm of H. M. Allen & Company, of which he is the head, has its headquarters in Billings, with branch of- fices and yards located at Columbus, Forsyth, Rose- bud, Hardin, Bear Creek, Big Timber, Bridger, Bark City, Livingston, Reedpoint, Absarokee, Clyde Park and Wilsall, Montana. Long years of experience in his chosen vocation have given him a comprehensive knowledge of the vast and intricate problems which the conduct of such a gigantic business involves. Of liberal views and public spirit he has served- for a number of years as a school trustee, but it has been to his business and fraternal connections that he has given the greater part of his attention. He has served as president of the Montana Retail Lumber- man's Association for a year. He is a member of Ashlar Lodge, No. 29, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; of Billings chapter No. 6, Royal Arch Ma- sons, of which he is past high priest; of Glendive Council No. 5, Royal and Select Masters; of Aldemar commandery, No. 5, Knights Templar, of which he is past eminent commander; of St. Peter's Conclave No. 8, Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine; of Algeria Temple,' Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Helena; and grand standard bearer of the Grand Commandery of Montana. He was elected, on September 19, 1911, grand high priest of the Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Mon- tana and represented this grand body at the thirty- fifth triennial convocation of the General Grand Chap- ter of the United States, held at Indianapolis, Indi- ana, on September 1I to 13, 1912. He was a member of the building committee which erected the handsome Masonic Temple. Mr. Allen is past chancellor of Rathbone lodge, No. 28, Knights of Pythias, and has served as delegate to the grand lodge. He is a mem- ber of the Elks, being a charter member of Billings lodge No. 394. Since its foundation he has been presi- dent of the Young Men's Christian Association, and was a member of the committee that erected the as- sociation's building at Billings-the first one to be erected in the state.

It is not because of special prominence in matters before the public that Mr. Allen has justly earned the respect and confidence of his fellow men, nor is it solely because he has acquired wealth, for some. do that who have neither the respect nor confidence of others; but it is because, in a comparative, pre- eminent degree, he is a representative man of a class. to whom, more than any other, is due the continued growth and prosperity of the many thriving cities of the west.

On June 22, 1881, Mr. Allen was married at Iowa City, Iowa, to Miss Abbie L. Adams, who was born at Ellsworth, Maine, daughter of Daniel and Abigail (Lord) Adams, natives of that state, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Adams was a millwright and farmer in Maine, where he spent his whole life. Abbie was the eighth of his ten children, of whom six now sur- vive. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have had five children, namely: Lillian, the wife of Carlin M. Talcott, of North Yakima, Washington, who had one son, Allen Gray; Harry M., Jr., who met his death in an acci- dent, July 25, 1893, when eight years of age; Frank Herbert, who is associated with his father in the lum- ber business at Billings; Edwin Gray and John Henry, who reside at home. The family is connected with the Congregational church, and its members are well known in church and charitable work.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 118

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