A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 19

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

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of Kalispell who is ever up and doing in the cause of improved conditions, and it is not too much to predict that his future life will shed a powerful and beneficent influence upon the community in which he "lives and moves and has his being."

JUDGE JOHN EDWARD MURRAY was born in Ireland, on May 18, 1827, and died on the roth day of March, 1903, at his home in Lewistown, where he had lived since May, 1887. Judge Murray came to America as a mere child with his parents and his first American home was in the state of Maine. Later the family moved to New Brunswick, and there some years of the subject's life were passed. He was yet very young when he left home, and he began his career in life's activities as an iron-puddler. In 1859 he crossed the plains, reaching Denver via the Santa Fe trail in the month of April in the same year. He had many experiences more or less serious in their nature, and at one time he and his partner lost their way in Colorado. For several days they subsisted on seeds and wild rose bushes, but finally succeeded in reaching food and water, when hope was almost gone.

In the spring of 1863 MIr. Murray left Colorado and headed for Bannack, Montana, which place he reached on the 12th of May. Soon thereafter he and a few other hardy spirits started out on a prospecting trip, and it was they who discovered gold in Horse Prairie. They organized into a company and on July 4th Mr. Murray was elected president of the mining district. It was about that time that W. A. Clark, since one of the famous mining men of the west, came into the region, and he secured claims in the gulch known as the Jeff Davis Gulch, a tributary of the one in which they were operating, known as Colorado Gulch.

In the spring of 1864 Mr. Clark bought out some of Mr. Murray's partners, and Mr. Murray avers that they who claim that W. A. Clark never did a day's work in the mines don't know what they are talking of, for they did many a day's work together on that claim and Mr. Murray claims that Clark was a good work- man, too. In September, 1865. Mr. Murray sold his interest in the property to Mr. Clark and went to Snake River to prospect. His old acquaintance, Skelly, was again with him, but they found nothing in that region of any value, so they crossed over to the west fork of the Madison and followed it down to Virginia City, starting from there to Helena. At Helena Mr. Murray got a claim 'in the St. Louis Gulch, which he soon sold out and went to Oregon Gulch, where he mined in several locations. Between the years of 1868 and 1873 he was identified with various mining locations in the vicinity and in 1873 he was elected to the office of probate judge of Meagher county. He served four years in that office, but refused a re-nomination and again turned his attention to mining. In 1879 he took up a homestead on the Musselshell river, and in 1882 he was again elected probate judge, against his wishes. It was in 1887 that he first bought property in Lewis- town and there went into the cigar and confectionery business, in which he continued to be profitably engaged until death called him. In 1894 Judge Murray was ap- pointed postmaster of Lewistown and served four years in that office under President Cleveland. He also served as city treasurer of Lewistown and was an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party. He was a member of the Pioneer Society of Montana and his churchly affiliations were with the Roman Catholic church, in which he was reared by his parents.

On September 2, 1888. Judge Murray was united in marriage with Miss Belle Abraham, and they became the parents of two children, but one of whom, John Ed- ward Murray, is living.

HON. W. J. MCCORMICK. Few of the honored pio- neers of Montana did more in the way of developing the resources of this great state in his time than did the

J. E. Murray

911

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Hon. W. J. McCormick, now deceased, but a resident of the state from 1863 until the time of his death in 1889, and one of the founders and most enterprising and liberal citizens of Missoula.

Born near Muncie, Delaware county, Indiana, in the year 1835, he was the son of Rev. William McCormick, of Harrisburg, Virginia, and the descendant of a long line of Irish ancestors. His grandfather, John McCor- mick, emigrated from Dublin, Ireland, where the family was long and prominently known, and yet is, and from that worthy gentleman are descended a large family, many of whom have filled the higher places in life and realized many noble ambitions. The late Hon. James G. Blaine and the late Hon. Cyrus H. McCormick, were of this family. The father of Mr. McCormick of this review was a Baptist minister of many talents, and after his marriage in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in which town he was born and reared, he moved to In- diana, where for many years he was devoted to minis- terial duties, combining these duties with the functions of a circuit judge, and there he reared his family of seven children, of which number, Washington J., the subject, was the youngest.

Washington J. McCormick finished his education in Asbury College, now De Pauw University at Green- castle, Indiana. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar being then twenty-one years of age, and in the following year he went to Utah, where he held many important and prominent positions in line with his profession in a political way-among them being the office of secretary of state, attorney general and chief justice of court. The year 1863 first saw his advent into Montana, and Virginia City was his first place of residence, For two years he practiced law in that city, and while there took an active and efficient part in the politics of the country. He was secretary of the first Democratic convention held in the territory, and in 1864 was a member of the territorial legislature from Madison county. In April, 1865, he removed to Deer Lodge and was elected to the legislature from that county. He was superintendent of the Flathead Indian Agency, for two years, from 1866 to 1868, inclusive. He came to Missoula in 1868, before an organized town existed, and here with Captain Higgins and Hon. F. L. Worden, he was occupied in the development and building of the town. He was interested in milling and stock- raising in both Chouteau and Missoula counties, and acquired much valuable ranch property in the Bitter Root valley, while he owned a considerable property in Missoula. It is noteworthy that Mr. McCormick was the first editor and the founder of the Gazette, and in his capacity as editor, he brought to bear an influence for good that went far in the upbuilding of the city along the most desirable lines. His talents were many, and as a lawyer, a politician of unusual ability and power, an editor whose opinions carried weight and brought results in the right direction, and a business man of exceptional acumen and good judg- ment, he occupied an imposing position in Missoula for upwards of a quarter of a century. He attended the legislature from Missonla county in 1875, 1877, 1878, 1884.

Mr. McCormick was a man who gave liberally of his substance to every worthy cause, and prominent among his numerous benefactions is his gift of the three blocks on which now stands the Catholic church edifice, the school and hospital. Although Mr. Mc- Cormick was not of the Catholic faith, he gave liber- ally towards the establishment of Catholic schools and hospitals in his county. Mr. McCormick also was a liberal giver in the cause which resulted in se- curing the building of the Northern Pacific Railroad to Missoula, and it is a deplorable fact that the city of which he was one of the founders, saw her greatest era of development and growth just after the untimely death of the man who had labored so indefatigably in making that growth possible. Mr. McCormick met

his death on February 3, 1889, as the result of an acci- dent caused by a windstorm at Fort Owen, the oldest fortification in Montana, which property he had pur- chased from Major John Owen in 1870.

One year after Mr. McCormick came to Missoula, in 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Kate Hig- gins, the daughter of Christopher Power and Editlı (O'Byrne) Higgins, and sister of the late Captain C. P. Higgins, of Missoula, with whom Mr. McCormick was associated in a business way in the developing and planning of a greater Missoula than then existed. Her people were descendants of the early kings of Ireland, and they came to America in 1851, locating in Montana in 1865.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. McCor- mick, all native sons and daughters of Missoula, and they are named as follows: Mary Edith O'Byrne; Wil- liam Worden; John Francis Higgins; Blanche Ada Louise; Veronica Honora Hester; Paul Christopher and Washington J., Jr., concerning whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this work in a separate article devoted to him. The daughter, Blanche Ada Louise, died on January 15, 1892, in the seventeenth year of her life.

WASHINGTON J. MCCORMICK. Following the pro- fession in which his distinguished father, the late Hon. Washington J. McCormick, won a high place and espe- cial distinction, Washington J. McCormick is just be- ginning a career of exceptional promise. The father was one of the oldest settlers of Missoula, and a man to whom the city owes much of her present prosperity and prominence, and in his work the son has the advantage of every favorable circumstance in the making of a name for himself and achieving a worthy success in the pro- fession he has chosen. It is a pleasing fact to record that the young man is not content with the laurels won by his worthy parent, but is bent upon a career of accomplishment which, in view of his many talents and splendid energies, it is safe to predict that he will realize.

Born in Missoula, Montana, on January 4, 1884, Mr. McCormick is the son of Washington J. and Catherine O'Byrne Higgins, concerning the former of whom ex- tended mention is made in a memoir dedicated to him in other pages of this work, the mother being the de- scendant of a noble family of Ireland, which claimed as its ancestors .some of the early kings of that valiant little island. Mr. McCormick was educated in the public schools of his native city and in the University of Mon- tana, and later he attended Notre Dame University in Indiana and Harvard University, from which latter in- stitution he was graduated in 1907. He engaged in the study of law at Columbia, and was graduated in 1910, a full fledged lawyer. Admitted to the New York bar in June, 1910, at once Mr. McCormick began the practice of his profession in Missoula, and from the start took a prominent place in the ranks of the Republican party, and in the autumn of 1911 he took the stump for the party in his district and in other parts of the state.

Two years of continued practice in the profession of law in Missoula have not been sufficient to bring fame as a legist to this young man, but they have been ample to prove the mettle of the man, and more than sufficient to establish him permanently in the ranks of the rising young men of the city and county. As a side issue Mr. McCormick has recently had some success in the field of journalism and belles lettres. A brilliant future is everywhere predicted for him, and Missoula is fortu- nate indeed in that the son of one of her most dis- tingnished citizens has elected to cast in his lot with the future of the city of his birth, which his father did so much to promote and popularize, and which has accorded to that worthy citizen a fair measure of appre- ciation and praise.

912

HISTORY OF MONTANA

THOMAS H. CARTER. A life conspicuous for the magnitude and variety of its achievement was that of the late Senator Thomas H. Carter, one of the most distinguished and honored figures in the history of the state of Montana, and one whose influence transcended local environs to permeate the national life. So great accomplishment as was his can not but imply exalted subjective character, and thus, above all and beyond all, Senator Carter merits perpetual honor by virtue of the very strength and nobility of his character. To the fullest compass of his splendid powers he rendered service to the state and nation; his labors were un- sparing, and his honesty of purpose was beyond cavil. The reflex of the high honors conferred upon him was the honors he himself conferred. It can not be doubted that to him more than to any other one has been due the securing of that governmental co-operation which has inade possible the magnificent development of the great western empire of our national domain, and he was in the truest sense one of the great men of Amer- ica. It is not easy to describe adequately a man who was distinct in character and who accomplished so much in the world as did Senator Carter, and the lim- itations imposed by the province of this publication are such has to make possible only a brief review of the career of the man, without extended genealogical rec- ord or critical analysis of character.

In a preliminary way it may be stated that he to whom this memoir is dedicated was the last delegate from the territory of Montana in the United States congress, the first representative in congress after the state has been admitted to the Union, and the first person from the state to he elected to serve a full term in the United States senate. A man of action, a force- ful and effective director of public opinion, a statesman of proved ability, a lawyer of high attainments and a citizen of high ideals, Senator Carter well merited the title applied to him through high and authoritative sources,-that of "Moi tana's most distinguished son." From the address delivered by Hon. Lee Mantle on the occasion of the assembly held in memory of Sen- ator Carter, at the Auditorium in the city of Helena, on Sunday, October 15, 19II, are taken the following extracts :

"In endeavoring to do honor to the memory of Senator Carter, it is only necessary to say that which truth requires and justice demands, for in view of the magnitude of his labors and the value of his public services to both the state and nation, there is scant opportunity for exaggerated eulogy. There is, indeed, much more liklihood of failing to do full justice to a character so strong and well poised, to a record so replete with achievements, and to a life filled with use- fulness and high promise.

"On the 17th day of September, 19II, the citizens of Montana, without division of sentiment, were shocked and grieved beyond expression by the startling and de- pressing intelligence, which came like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, that ex-United States Senator Thomas H. Carter had suddenly expired. So wholly unlooked for and unexpected was this event, and so large a place had he filled in the public mind, that the sad news of his death was in the nature of a public calamity, and for days no other thought was in the minds of the people, no other expression upon their lips than a sense of profound regret and irreparable loss. It seemed incredible that one so familiarly known to us all; one who had so recently left us, apparently in the full vigor of body and mind and in the plentitude of his splendid intellectual powers, should so quickly and without ap- parent warning fall a prey to the 'Grim Destroyer.' Few at first could realize the full import of the blow which had so suddenly robbed us of a beloved friend and neighbor and fellow citizen, and plunged an entire com- monwealth into mourning.

"This was the feeling throughout the length and breadth of the state, for there is scarcely a nook or cor- ner within its wide boundaries; hardly a spot amid its towering mountains or up and down its broad valleys where his eloquent voice has not been heard, where the grasp of his hand has not been felt in friendly greeting, or where his name was not a familiar household word. And what was true here at home, among his own people, in his own state, was largely true also in the capital of the nation, where his long and conspicuous service in the house and senate and in other high official posi- tions, together with his striking personality, had made him an equally familiar figure and had won for him a profound respect and admiration."

Thomas H. Carter was born in Scioto county, Ohio, on the 30th of October, 1854, and thus he was nearly fifty-seven years of age at the time of his death, which occurred, without premonition, in the city of Washington, on the 17th of September, 19II. The future statesman gained his rudimentary education in his native county and was about eleven years of age at the time of the family removal to Illinois, where he continued his studies in the public schools. He was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and early gained close fellowship with honest toil and endeavor. After attaining to adult age he continued to be identi- fied with the great basic industry of agriculture for some time, later was engaged in railroad work, and still later showed that he was eligible for pedagogic honors, as he became a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of Illinois. The writer of the present article had previously given the following state- ments concerning this stage in the career of Senator Carter : "A young man of such marked ambition and distinct individuality could not prove dilatory in formu- lating definite plans for his future life work, and thus it was that Mr. Carter determined to prepare himself for that profession which, more than any other, has touched the public life and welfare of the nation. At Burlington, Iowa, he began the study of law, and he so persistently applied himself that, with his remark- able powers of absorption and assimilation, he soon be- came eligible for admission to the bar. He began the practice of his profession in Burlington, and his dis- tinctive abilities soon gained him recognition."

In 1882 Senator Carter, he was then a young man of about twenty-eight years, took action that was destined to have momentous influence upon his future career, for it was in that year that he identified himself with the interests of the territory of Montana. He established his residence in Helena, and the capital city of the state represented his home thereafter until he was summoned from the scene of life's mortal endeavors. Here he forthwith entered vigorously upon the practice of his profession, and he soon secured a representative clien- tage, in connection with which he made for himself a place among the leaders of the bar which has ever lent dignity and honor to Montana. Eventually he as- sociated himself in practice with John B. Clyberg, and for many years the firm of Carter & Clyberg was known as one of the foremost in the state, with a legal busi- ness of broad scope and importance. When Mr. Carter was elected to congress Judge W. McConnell became a member of the firm, and from this time onward until the close of his life public affairs engrossed the major part of the time and attention of Senator Carter. With the distinct impression that in the condensed form de- manded for this article no better epitome of the political career of Senator Carter can be given than that offered in the text of the memorial address delivered by Hon. Lee Mantle, from which quotation has already been made, it is deemed expedient to reproduce a number of paragraphs from the same, with but slight paraphrase and elimination. This estimate comes from a lifelong friend of the deceased and one who is himself one of Montana's distinguished citizens, so that the significance

THOMAS H. CARTER.

913

HISTORY OF MONTANA

of the statements given is the more emphatic and author- itative :

"I think it may be truthfully said that Senator Carter's great natural gifts, joined with his many attainments, were such a high order that he would have made his mark and acquired distinction in any walk of life he might have chosen, but it is in the domain of politics and of statesmanship that we must look for the splendid record of his great career. He was an ardent believer in the faith and tenets of the Republican party, proud of its history and a devout worshiper at the shrine of its patron saint, Abraham Lincoln, for whom his reverance and admiration knew no bounds. He was a strong, vigorous partisan, advocating and defending his political beliefs with a force and eloquence rarely surpassed; ad- dressing his arguments to the enlightened self-interest and reason of the people rather than to their passions and prejudices. Senator Carter's partisanship was of a high order; it was patriotic because it was based on an earnest desire to secure the supremacy of those policies which he firmly believed would most redound to the honor and glory of his country and to the hap- piness and prosperity of all its people. He was a political leader of sound judgment and rare skill,-reso- lute and resourceful in emergencies and possessing in an eminent degree the indispensible faculty of inspiring confidence and arousing enthusiasm among his followers. It is true that he made many determined and relentless political enemies, but it is equally true that no man ever had more intensely loyal and devoted friends.

"One of the most admirable traits of Senator Carter's character was his broad-mindedness. It was an excep- tional case, indeed, if he carried political difference into his personal relations. No matter how bitterly partisan warfare might be raging, he could always meet his antagonists in a friendly social and personal intercourse. In fact it was well nigh impossible for coolness to exist when subjected to the genial warmth of his per- sonal presence.

"Senator Carter was a politician in the highest and best sense of the term. He sought and enjoyed political power and office because they gave him a broad oppor- tunity for the gratification of his personal tastes and bent of mind, and for the exercise of his exceptional qualifications for public life. He was politically ambi- tious, but his ambition was tempered with a deep love of country, a glowing pride in its traditions and an ear- nest desire for the welfare of its people. And it can truthfully be said that no public servant ever labored more zealously in the interests of his constituents than he. His public labors ran over a period of nearly a quarter of a century and covered such a wide area of activity that it would take volumes to enumerate them in detail. Into them he poured freely of his time, strength and vitality and of the reserves of his great brain."

In 1888 Senator Carter was nominated by his party for delegate in congress, this being the year prior to the admission of the territory of Montana to statehood. The campaign was one of the most notable in Montana's political annals. Theretofore the territory had elected only one Republican delegate to congress, and the victory achieved by Senator Carter was consequently all the more significant. His opponent was Hon. William A. Clark, of Butte, whom he defeated by a majority of 5,126 votes, after a most vigorous and exciting cam- paign. Montana was admitted to statehood the following year and this extinguished the office of territorial dele- gate; but in the first Republican state convention Mr. Carter was unanimously made the standard-bearer of his party, on this occasion as candidate for full congres- sional honors. At the ensuing election he defeated Hon. Martin Maginnis, the Democratic candidate, by a ma- jority of 1,648, and thus to him was given the distinction of having been the last territorial delegate and the first to represent the new state in the national house of representatives. From this juncture recourse is again

taken to the address of Hon. Lee Mantle, who spoke as follows concerning Senator Carter's initial appearance in congress: "His quick grasp of parliamentary pro- cedure, his vast store of knowledge upon public ques- tions, combined with his readiness in debate and his great personal popularity, enabled him at once to stamp the impress of his strong individuality upon his associ- ates and gained for him a standing and influence rarely attained except after years of service. From that time until death claimed him he grew in usefulness and ex- panded in knowledge and power until his reputation had spread beyond the narrow boundaries of his own state and he had become a recognized figure of national im- portance,-the welcome associate of the greatest intel- lects in the nation, the peer of the ablest statesmen in the land, the trusted friend and counselor of presi- dents.

"In 1890 he was appointed secretary of the Republi- can congressional campaign committee. In 1891 Presi- · dent Harrison, recognizing his special fitness for the place, appointed him commissioner of the general land office. His appointment to this important position was hailed with delight by the people of the west, who had suffered much from the unjust restrictions and vexa- tious rules-due to ignorance of western conditions- which then prevailed in that department of the govern- ment. Under his intelligent and vigorous administra- tion the policies of the department were immediately liberalized, its burdensome rules suspended, its business facilitated and placed upon a reasonable basis.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 19

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