A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 26

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

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In 1861 young Keppler went west to Denver, where he finished his apprenticeship and in three years was graduated as a proficient jeweler and watchmaker. He was then twenty years old, and with the spirit of youth and the pioneer he started for Montana, driving an ox team overland and arriving in this almost wilderness in 1864. Bannack was his first location, where he was in business for himself two years. He then established a pioneer jeweler's shop in Virginia City, and did much manufacturing of the native metals on the special orders of his customers. This was a unique line of busi- ness such as probably few living gold or silversmiths in the country ever engaged in. In the spring of 1868 he returned to Bannack, which was his home and place of business for the next ten years.

In 1878 Mr. Keppler moved his business to Glendale. He had been successful in his previous ventures, but here he laid the foundation of his permanent prosperity. When he left there he had among his general property several thousand dollars in gold dust. The country was then infested by highwaymen and road agents, and to insure the safety of this treasure he engaged two men as guards for his wagon. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Keppler moved to Anaconda, the city with which he has since been identified as business man and citizen. From the narrow scope and meager stock of his busi- ness in the early years he developed his enterprise in keeping with the advance of the state, and has con- ducted one of the very best and largest concerns of the kind in the state. No man has better deserved success than Mr. Keppler, and his distinction as the oldest jeweler of Montana is not the chief among his claims to honor and esteem.

During the '70s President Hayes appointed Mr. Kepp- ler postmaster of Glendale, and at the request of the business men of the town he continued to hold the office during the succeeding administration. He was also appointed postmaster of Anaconda, and served four years. Mr. Keppler was one of the incorporators of the town of Anaconda, and served among the first aldermen. His home is one of the best in the city, and he owns valuable business property and is also heavily interested in gold mines of the state. All of his prosperity has been the result of his own char- acter and ability, for it will be remembered that he began life when only a boy in years, with the diffi- culties of a new language and a new country to contend with. He is prominent in Masonry and the Eastern Star, and is called the father of the Anaconda Masons, being one of the incorporators of the first lodge in this city. He is also affiliated with the Elks, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Keppler's first wife, who was Miss Clara Kirk- Patrick, of Boston, Massachusetts, died at Dillon, Mon- tana, in 1890. Of her five children, four are deceased, and Eugene Robert is an engineer for the A. C. M. Company of this city. In 1894 Mr. Keppler married Mrs. Martha Haning, of New Brunswick, Canada. They have no children.

Mr. Keppler's parents were Joseph and Christine (Funke) Keppler, both of whom are now deceased and their final resting place is at Galena, Illinois, where they settled on coming to America. Their eight chil- dren are named as follows: Michael, a mine owner at Galena; Sophia, wife of Mr. Nick Roth, of Galena; Anna Mary, the wife of John Smith, of Dubuque, Iowa; Valentine, who died at Dubuque, May 22, 1911; Joseph C., the next in the family; John, a resident of Gutten- berg, Iowa; Helena, the wife of John Bautsch, of Den-

ver, Colorado; and Elizabeth, the widow of Benjamin Neynes, who was a farmer at Creighton, Nebraska, where she died June, 1912.

HENRY ELLING, in his life time one of the most loyal and public spirited citizens to whom Montana lays claim, was born in Germany, the date of his nativity having been the 9th of December, 1842. Both his parents died before he had reached the age of fifteen years and at that time he immigrated, with a still younger brother, to the United States, proceeding direct to Missouri, where an older brother had previously settled. His first posi- tion in this country was in a mercantile house where he received the meagre salary of six dollars a month and board. In 1861 he removed to Leavenworth, Kan- sas, and in the following year located in Denver, Colo- rado, in which latter city he worked as salesman in a clothing house until 1864. In that year he decided to launch out into the business world on his own account and accordingly purchased a stock of goods which he brought to Virginia City by team, opening a store here in October. Subsequently, when Last Chance Gulch, now Helena, burst forth as the newest Eldorado of the west, he secured a partner and removed his busi- ness to that place, where he established headquarters in a little log house, with a saw-dust floor. He was tremendously successful at first, but later lost all he had made and was obliged to close out his stock, after which he went east for a short period.

He paid off all his debts, secured a new stock of goods and started all over again in Nebraska City, then the supply point for the freighting outfits of the west. For a time he was successful there but when the supply point changed to Omaha he was once more obliged to give up, this time with a large stock of goods on his hands. He then returned to Virginia City and here it would seem the tide of his fortunes turned, for he was eminently successful from the very beginning. In 1873 he opened a banking house and from that time on his success was insured. He was a natural born financier and with the passage of time became the richest man in Madison county. Through his banking interests he became interested in many financial and mercantile institutions, including a num- ber in other parts of Madison county. In 1894 he was made president of the Commercial Exchange Bank at Bozeman, and after getting it in good running order he assumed charge of the Carbon County Bank, at Red Lodge, as its president. Later he was made a di- rector in the State National Bank in Miles City and about that time also secured stock in the National Bank at Big Timber and in the Bank of Fergus County at Lewiston. In January, 1898, he organized the Union Bank & Trust Company of Helena, of which he was elected president. Two years earlier he had joined the syndicate which purchased the Gallatin Light, Power & Railway Company of Bozeman, that held the street railway and electric lighting franchises of the city. He was a business man of tremendous strength and met with success in all his financial un- dertakings.

Fraternally Henry Elling was affiliated with the Ma- sonic order, in which he had passed through the circle of the York Rite branch, and he was also affiliated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. While a stal- wart Republican in his political allegiance, he could never be prevailed upon to accept public office, al- though he was at one time urged to run for governor. He was at one time, however, mayor of Virginia City.

On July 20, 1870, he married Miss Mary B. Cooley, a native of Iowa and a daughter of W. A. Cooley, who came to Madison county in 1868. This union was prolific of ten children, three of whom are deceased, in 1912, namely, Alice, Henry and Herman. Those living are: Helen K., wife of Jim Bowman and a resi-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

dent of San Francisco, California; Henrietta, wife of P. H. Gohn, of Pony, Montana; Mabel, now Mrs. T. G. Hutt, of Kansas City, Missouri; Carlotta, wife of R. H. Fenner of Sausahiti, California; Karl, as- sociated with his brother Horace B. in the banking business in Virginia City; and Harrison C., of Har- vard University.

On November 14, 1900, Mr. Elling was summoned to the life eternal. A man of high impulse, strong moral fiber, fine judgment and keen foresight, he helped to build the community in which he lived and it suffered an irreparable loss at the time of his death. There is no perfection in human character, yet he came as near to the most attractive ideal of such perfection as any man who has gathered about him the affection and admiration of his fellow men. He was free from a censorious spirit and was never heard to utter an unkind criticism of any one. His convictions were as solid as adamant and neither fear nor favor could shake them from him, yet he tried to estimate human character in the light of that charity which "hopeth all things, which beareth all things, which is not easily provoked, which thinketh no evil." He exercised a commanding influence over men, 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 was a man swayed by a conscience enlightened by the truth and spirit of God. His ambition to be right and do right was the paramount incentive, and he counted not the cost of so noble an end.

A cherished memory is an enduring monument more ineffaceable than polished marble or burnished bronze. "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die."

JUDGE MORTIMER H. LOTT is a pioneer of Montana, well known throughout Madison county and regarded as the father of Twin Bridges. He it was who laid out the town, after he had lived on the land for years, since 1864, in fact, the year in which he squatted on it. The present town site was for years his ranch, and since the town was organized Twin Bridges has been Judge Lott's home. He was the first mayor of the town and was for years a member of the school board, having resigned in 1911, not caring to feel the responsibilities of the office longer. He was judge of probate of Madison county for years, and also served as county commissioner. In all, his life has been one of the fullest activity, and he has been a citizen of great intrinsic worth to the county and city.

Judge Lott was born in Lottville, Warren county, Pennsylvania, on Christmas day in 1827. He is the son of Hewlett and Maria Lott, of that state, where they passed their lives. His education was represented by early public school training and a special academic course at Fredonia, New York, and until he came west he devoted himself to farming interests at the Pennsyl- vania home. He was thirty years old when he de- cided to look about him for a western location that seemed suitable, and in the course of his seeking he visited many states, including Minnesota, Iowa, Ne- braska and Kansas. He settled in Marshall county, Kansas, where he remained for about two years, dur- ing which time he was engaged in farming. He went to California Gulch, Colorado, from Kansas, and en- gaged in mining there, an occupation which held him for a few months, after which he went to New Mexico, his stay there being represented by about a year. He next returned to Colorado and for a short time was engaged in mining ventures. On July 10, 1862, he arrived in Montana, and on reaching Bannack he fol- lowed mining for a while, then went to Virginia City, this state, and started a store in October, 1863, which he operated there for about two years. His journey to Montana was attended by the most thrilling expe- riences, and so insistent were the attentions of the In-

dians that they barely escaped with their lives. His lit- tle party were assailed by hostile warriors at every hand, and for three days and nights they dared not sleep. They finally reached Fort Bridger in a state of complete exhaustion, and while the soldiers guarded their outfit the travelers slept through from eleven o'clock in the morning until four in the next after- noon1. The rest of the journey was made under escort and they reached their destination in safety. In 1864 Judge Lott squatted on the land which represents the present site of Twin Bridges and for years he car- ried on a ranching business here. He is a pioneer of the sturdiest type, and has endured much in the years in which he has watched Montana come out fromn a state of semi-civilization to that of one of the greatest commonwealths of the nation. Much credit is due to him for his labors in and for the state, more especially for Madison county. He has built mile upon mile of good roads in the county, one of the things which conduce most surely to settlement and advancement. He has held many important offices in the administra- tion of the affairs of the county and of Twin Bridges, and is at present a member of the board of aldermen of the city, on which he has served for years. He is now practically retired from business of all kinds, his office on the board of aldermen being the only public appointment he holds, having resigned from all others, or refused to stand for re-election. He is a member of the Masonic order, in the blue lodge, chapter and East- ern Star, and has served his local lodges as master. At Deer Lodge, in September, 1912, he was elected president of the Society of Montana Pioneers.

In 1882 Judge Lott was united in marriage with Melvina J. Carson at Twin Bridges. She was for- merly from the state of Iowa. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Lott: Maria L. is married to L. Comfort and lives at Twin Bridges, where Mr. Comfort is postmaster; Mortimer J. is a student at Parson's College in Fairfield, Iowa.

NEWTON BUDD. No class among the American people today is entitled to more credit or greater respect than the hard pioneers, who, leaving comfort and compara- tive ease behind them, braved every danger of the untrodden wilderness, reducing it to a state of fruit- fulness through their unremitting toil and the exer- cise of a stupendous amount of labor. Of this class was the late Newton Budd of Big Timber, in Sweet- grass county, one of the Montana pioneers of 1864 and one of her most honored and respected citizens. He was born on December 23, 1830, at Sharon, Penn- sylvania; he died at Big Timber, Montana, on March 25, 1905, and between these milestones of time lie many weary miles of travel and many days of hard work on the part of this sturdy pioneer of two states.

When Newton Budd was a young man his parents brought their family from Pennsylvania into the newer state of Iowa. They came overland by wagon, and their journey into the west was attended by the sad death of the father of the family. The mother with her goodly family was thereafter in a large measure dependent upon the labors of her eldest son, Newton. They completed the unhappy journey into Iowa and there established the home which had been the dream of the father. In 1854 Newton Budd married Miss Sarah Simmons in Iowa, and to them were born five children, named as follows: George S., born in Iowa, in 1857, and died in 1886; Laura, born in 1859 and died in 1888: Barbara Terrissa, born in 1861 in Iowa; William H., born in Iowa and now a resident of Marys- ville, Montana ; Pearl M., born in Montana; she has been twice married, her first husband having been a Mr. Cavanaugh, by whom she had one son, Budd H. Cav- anaughi; she later married A. T. Kellogg, and now resides in Seattle, Washington; Dick, born February 18, 1876, at Clancy, Montana.

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In 1864 Newton Budd left his wife and three chil- dren in Iowa, in the town of Bellview, and made his way to Montana, locating in Virginia City. For some years he followed mining and shared in all the many deprivations of the pioneer prospector in untamed Mon- tana. After some years he took up a ranch at Lump Gulch, some miles from Clancy, Montana, and there he brought his family, the two younger children of the house being born there. At one time, as the partner of one John Rohrbaugh, Mr. Budd ran a stage line from Helena, to Wicjes, Montana. In the summer of 1882, having sold his ranch in Lump Gulch to the Halfords, he removed with his family to a new farm in the Yellowstone valley, near Big Timber, and there he lived for seven years. In 1889 he moved into the town of Big Timber to engage in the general mer- chandise trade, the hardware business, and in later years, the drug business. In 1900 he became a part- ner of his son (Dick) in the drug business at Big . Timber, and so continued for four years. He was a man of excellent health and ceaseless activity, and his life was a busy one, from his boyhood until its close.

Newton Budd was a member of the Society of Mon- tana Pioneers and had served as vice president of the organization. In March, 1905, he was attacked with typhoid-pneumonia and his death occurred on the 25th of that month. The Montana Daily Record of March 27th said of him: "Newton Budd, seventy-four years old, is dead. Mr. Budd was one of the oldest resi- dents of Sweet Grass county, having come here from Bellview, Iowa, in the sixties. He was born in Penn- sylvania in 1830, was married at the age of twenty- four, and raised a large family of children. His fam- ily are all grown now, one living in Big Timber and the others in various other states. He also leaves an aged wife. Mr. Budd was taken ill with pneumonia and sunk rapidly until the end came. He was buried Sunday in the Big Timber cemetery." The same pa- per of March 28th, said in part: "The funeral services over the remains of Mr. Newton Budd were held at the Congregational church on Sunday, Rev. E. A. Cook officiating. The funeral was more largely attended than any previous similar occasion and the church would not accommodate half the people, great crowds stand- ing outside during the services. Interment was made at Big Timber cemetery."

Dick Budd, the son of Newton and Sarah (Sim- mons) Budd, was born on the home ranch in Lump Gulch, near Clancy, Montana, on February 18, 1876. From the age of six he passed his boyhood on the farm near Big Timber, attending the schools of that town up to the age of sixteen. When he had reached that age he left school to go into the drug store of Dr. W. E. Moore at Big Timber, 'and so well did he advance in the work that a few years later he bought a half interest in the business. In 1898 he bought out Dr. , Moore's share and in 1900 took his father into partnership, disposing of the establish- ment after four years. In 1904 Dick Budd became active in politics in Sweet Grass county, and was elected county treasurer, assuming the 'duties of the office in March, 1905. His regime proved so satisfactory to the public that he was reelected in 1906, serving until March, 1909. In April of that year he moved to Seattle, Washington, and until September 1, 1912, was connected with two of the largest drug stores in that city. On September 12, 1912, he purchased the interest of J. G. Tucker in the old established Fisher Drug Company in Helena, and removed to that city to assume his interest in the business.

Politically Mr. Budd is a Republican, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America at Big Timber. Montana.

On June 1. 1898, Mr. Budd was married at Butte, Montana, to Miss Mary Florence Blake, the daughter

of John Blake of Big Timber. Two children have been born to them, Irene, October 15, 1899, and New- ton Dick, August .7, 1907.

WILLIAM R. WOODS. In the early 60's John R. Woods, with his wife Adeline Shaffin Woods, left the Missouri town in which he had been born and came to what was then an unsettled country. This word ap- plied to Montana at that time in both its meanings, for the state was sparsely populated and Indian uprisings added to the depredations of the lawless element in the scanty white population made existence decidedly unsettled. The elder White pursued the occupations of ranching and mining, then the only considerable industries in this region, and he experienced all the phases of pioneer life. He lived in a number of dif- ferent towns in the course of his career as a miner and cattle man, including Bannack, Diamond City, White Sulphur Springs and Livingston. His faithful wife, the mother of his two sons and one daughter, died in White Sulphur Springs in 1880. She was but forty-three at the time of her death. Her husband survived her twenty-two years, living to the age of seventy-six. He is buried in Livingston, where he spent his later years. The daughter Maggie Woods now lives in Red Lodge, her married name being Mrs. J. H. Liehl. C. H. Sherman, a half-brother of Wil- liam Woods the sheriff of Fergus county, is in business in White Sulphur Springs.

It was at Bannack, Montana, that William R. Woods was born, on the 20th of November, 1864. He was the middle one in the family of three in point of age. When he was six, his parents left Bannack for the more promising town of Diamond City, where they remained two years before moving to White's Gulch. In 1878, White Sulphur Springs became their home, and William Woods resided there until 1882, when he moved to Fergus county. In that city, he set up his own household, with Stella M. Pyle as his wife. Her parents are Marcellus and Ruth Pyle of White Sul- phur Springs.

This same town was the place where Mr. Woods re- ceived the most of his schooling. He had begun to work on a cattle ranch at the age of fourteen, and! from that time, he earned his own living. He worked during the summer and saved money to put himself through school in the winter. During the entire time in which he worked for wages, he was in the employ of but four cattle companies. When he came to this county, he went into business independently, and in 1902 he added a livery establishment in Lewistown to his ranching interests.

Always interested in politics, Mr. Woods has given much time to the interests of the Republican party organization, and was naturally selected as candidate for office. Under J. D. Waite he served as deputy sheriff for a term of four years, and he is now filling the office of sheriff. His life-long acquaintance with the country and its people render him especially fitted for this post, whose duties he discharges with fear- lessness and despatch.

Education is a matter upon which Mr. Woods sets high value, and those of his eight children who are old enough, are enjoying the advantages of some of the famous institutions of the country. Margaret is now attending Oberlin, the first of the schools across the Alleghanies to stand for the culture which we call "New England" in spirit, by which is meant highest standards of scholarship and character in its students. Miss Gladys is at Valparaiso, Indiana, a school not less noted than Oberlin, though of different purpose in its training as it makes a specialty of the commercial branches. William, the only son, is a high school graduate, and Lucy is still in high school. Mary and Laura are in the grades, and May is not yet in school. One daughter, Stella, is married. Her home is in

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Evergreen, Ohio where Mr. Denny is a farmer of the modern type, who understands how to make agricul- ture a paying business. All of the children were born in this state.

Mr. Woods is a member of the Judith Club, but fraternal societies have no attractions for him. He belongs to the Methodist church and he is one of the rare men for whom it is not necessary to relax the old-time discipline of that communion, which forbids the use of liquor and tobacco. For, remarkable to state of anyone born and reared on the frontier, Mr. Woods has never permitted himself either of these in- dulgences. Mrs. Woods is one of the most earnest and indefatigable workers in the church, and it would be difficult indeed to fill her place in its ranks.

Any sort of recreation which takes one into the open commends itself to Mr. Woods, though he confesses to a preference for hunting. His hobby is roping, and in this he excels. When actively at work on the ranch, he had the reputation of being one of the champions of the district, which is eminently fitting in one to whom the range is native, and whose heart is in the state and its wonderful future.

O'DILLON B. WHITFORD, M. D. Probably there is no better known nor more highly esteemed citizen in Butte than Dr. O'Dillon B. Whitford, a resident of Montana for nearly fifty years, and for more than thirty-five years one of Butte's leading men in the medi- cal profession, in the mining industry and in public life. Although he has reached an age when most men would regard it time to retire, he is still engaged in the active practice of medicine, having so lived his long and use- ful life that he is in full possession of his faculties. Dr. Whitford was born in the new town of Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, November 4, 1834, the first child born there, and is a son of Augustus H. and Charlotte (Bidwell) Whitford, the father of Scotch stock and the mother of English descent. The families of both had come to America in the colonial times, and Dr. Whit- ford's parents proved themselves worthy descendants of colonists. They followed the westward tide of progress, settling first in Ohio and later moving to Indiana.

Dr. Whitford completed his professional studies in the Eclectic College of Cincinnati in 1856, and during the following year went to Denver, Colorado, where he was engaged in practice until 1864. That year was characterized by Dr. Whitford's advent in Montana, his first location being at Virginia City, and after four years he went to Rochester. Subsequently, in 1870, he located at Deer Lodge, but in 1876 he came to Butte, where he has continued in practice to the pres- ent time. For many years Dr. Whitford was largely interested in mining operations, and from 1864 to 1868 spent large amounts of money in developing Ster- ling county land. From 1868 to 1870 he belonged to mining organizations formed by Judge H. Z. Hay- ner, a company which was widely known and which made large sales of mining properties. In 1872 Dr. Whitford purchased a mine in Cable, which he de- veloped and in which he was interested for a time, and subsequently became the owner of two mines in Beaver Head county and of the silver mine, "Wan- derer," which he purchased in 1876. He was also interested in the Meaderville valley mines. In 1868 Dr. Whitford built the Miners Hospital, of Butte City, which was the third he had erected in the state, the others being at Virginia City and Rochester, and during the four intervening years, 1871-1874, he was surgeon of the penitentiary at Deer Lodge. In 1870 he was elected an alderman of Butte, and in 1883 received the election to the office of mayor, in which he served with distinction.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 26

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