A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 36

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

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GEORGE E. GOHN. In view of the nomadic spirit which dominates the American public and causes citi- zens of this great country to wander restlessly about from one place to another, it is most gratifying to come in contact with a man who has passed practically his entire life in the place where he was born and reared. Mr. Gohn, whose birth occurred in Virginia City, Mon- tana, on the 23d of January, 1865, has been prominent in politics in Madison county and for many years has conducted the Metropolitan Meat Market here.

He is a son of George and Anna (Zweifel) Gohn, the · former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, March 28, 1834, and the latter of whom was a native of Switzer- land, where her birth occurred in February, 1842. Mrs. Gohn came to America in 1852 and settled in Taunton Massachusetts. She was married to Mr. Gohn in 1861, in Central City, Colorado. She died in Virginia City, Montana, in 1898, and is buried beside her honored husband in the cemetery of this place. George Gohn was a pioneer in Montana, having settled in Madison county in May, 1863. Immediately after his advent into the Treasure state he opened a meat market in Vir- ginia City, where he continued to reside during most of the remainder of his life time. He was summoned to eternal rest, in Missoula, in 1906, aged seventy-two years. He was a prominent Mason during his residence in Montana and is buried in the Masonic cemetery in Virginia City. Mr. Gohn was a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and he was incumbent of a num- ber of important public offices during his active career. For two terms he was treasurer of Madison county; for four years was county commissioner; for two years was county assessor; and for several terms served with the utmost loyalty as city alderman. He and his wife were the parents of five children, four of whom are living, in 1912, as follows: Mary is the widow of Bert

Rew and she maintains her home in Virginia City; George E. is the immediate subject of this review; Philip H. is married and lives in Kansas City, Missouri ; and Anna May is the wife of I. H. French, of Liv- ingston, Montana.

After completing the curriculum of the public and private schools of Virginia City, George E. Gohn, of this notice, entered upon an apprenticeship, under his father, to learn the meat business. He was associated with his father in the meat business for a number of years and has followed that line of enterprise during the greater portion of his active career, with the exception of four years when he was county treasurer. It was during his incumbency of that office that his father died and when his term expired he assumed charge of the old shop, known as the Metropolitan Meat Market, and has conducted it with admirable success ever since. This market is the oldest continuously operated meat market in Montana, it having been begun by the elder George Gohn in the year 1864. In his political convic- tions Mr. Gohn is a Republican and he manifests an active interest in all that affects the general welfare of that organization. In 1902 he was honored by his' fellow citizens with election to the office of county treasurer and he served as such for a term of four years, during which time his administration was characterized by ad- mirable devotion to duty.

In Virginia City, April 16, 1896, Mr. Gohn was united in marriage to Miss Mary F. Vickers, a daughter of Robert and Martha Vickers, of this city. Mr. and Mrs. Gohn became the parents of four children: Harold and Robert are in school; Harry it at home; and Martha Mildred is deceased. In religious matters Mr. and Mrs. Gohn favor the Protestant Episcopal church, in whose faith they are rearing their children.

Fraternally Mr. Gohn is a member of the blue lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and a Shriner, and he is likewise affiliated with the Elks, the Eagles and the Society of Montana Pioneers. He is exceedingly fond of horses for riding and driving, devotes a great deal of attention to reading and thoroughly enjoys a good baseball game. As regards Montana, he says: "I was born and raised in Montana and naturally feel for my native state. But in all candor and honesty my opinion of Montana is that, in addition to all her other natural advantages, she will some day surprise the whole world in mining alone."

JERE SULLIVAN. Every one in Montana, who has traveled in the northern section of the state, and many who have not, know Jere Sullivan, of Fort Benton. He is not only well-known as the proprietor of the Chouteau House, but he has played a' very important part in the political history of his section of the state. Like many of the most influential citizens of the West, he has won prosperity and success, entirely through his own efforts. The story of the poor boy becoming in time the wealthy rancher or merchant is a familiar one, but though many men may have had this experi- ence it in no way detracts from the glory of such a rise, and to eastern ears, the stories of such a rise as Mr. Sullivan's seem like fairy tales. He has lived in Montana for over forty-five years, and in his strug- gle for success, has played the part of a man to such an extent that he has won the admiration and regard of all who know him.

Jere Sullivan, as he is familiarly called, although the name given him at baptism was Jeremiah, was born on the 4th of March, 1844, at Mills street, County Cork, Ireland. His father was Jeremiah Sullivan, and his mother was Johana (Clifford) Sullivan. His parents were poor, as were most of the people in Ireland in those unhappy days, but they left to their son, a more valuable heritage than money, that is an unswerving sense of honesty and honor and truth. The family is supposed to be descended from the

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O'Sullivan Bere, one of the feudal chiefs of ancient Ireland. Mr. Sullivan came to America in 1858, and settled in Canada, in the province of Ontario. He received his education in the common schools of Dunne- ville, Ontario, remaining in school until he was seven- teen.

His first business venture was entered upon immedi- ately after he left school, and consisted of a clerkship in a country store. A modest position to be sure, but a stepping stone to better things. In 1858 he came to the United States, and as a cabin boy, on one of the lake steamers, between Buffalo and Chicago, gratified both his love of travel and a fondness for change. He re- mained in this capacity for a year and then went to St. Louis. Here he served in various capacities on board a number of steamers. For a time he was connected with a line of steamboats running between St. Louis and New Orleans. This was during the years when the Missis- sippi was the great highway of travel for the valley, and the steamboats were what in those days were genuine floating palaces. The life was one of con- stant excitement, and nowhere could Mr. Sullivan have found a better school for the study of mankind. He later held similar positions with a line of steamboats plying between ports on the Upper Mississippi. In 1865 he came to Montana, as steward of the steamer "Benton."

It was the third of August, 1865, when he arrived in Montana. The journey had taken him nearly five months to complete, for he bade good-bye to St. Louis on the IIth of March, 1865. For eight or nine years after his arrival in Montana, he followed placer min- ing, with varying success. He was able to save quite a bit of money, and at last was able to gratify an ambition that he had long had in secret, and that was to own and operate a first-class hotel. It was in 1874 that he came to Fort Shaw and opened a hotel. He met with considerable success but deciding that Fort Benton was better suited to his purposes he came to this place in 1879, and opened the Chouteau House. Here he has been ever since and the hotel, of which he is the proprietor, has grown in fame since the days its doors were first thrown open. A simple chronicle, but one must read between the lines and try to visual- ize the trials and hardships and discouragements that Mr. Sullivan was forced to conquer. Placer mining is not child's play, and the management of a hotel in a new and rough country, is a full-sized job for two men.

The name of Jere Sullivan became noised abroad as that of an honest, capable business man, and in 1889, he was selected by the federal authorities, as collector of customs for Montana and Idaho, with Fort Benton as the port of entry. He served in this office for four years. His popularity in his home town was demon- strated in his election as mayor, not once, but twice, each time for a term of four years. He was county commissioner of Chouteau county for eight years and for twelve years held the office of justice of the peace at Fort Benton. He was also United States commis- sioner for the long period of sixteen years.

Politically Mr. Sullivan is a Republican and is an influential factor in the work and success of the party. He is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Sullivan has been twice married. His first wife was Mary Agnes Hoffman, a daughter of Jacob Hoff- man, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the date of the marriage was 1880, the ceremony taking place in Fort Benton, Montana. Seven children were born of this marriage: Jere J., Earl D. B., Harry G., John F., Eugene A., Nora, who is married to Lloyd Walton, of St. Paul, and Mary Agnes. In 1900, at St. Paul, Minnesota, Mr. Sullivan was re-married to Sophia Schubert, a daughter of Carl Schubert, of New Ulm, Minnesota. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, Johana Veronica. Mr. Sullivan is a member

of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and was grand master of the order from 1904 to 1905. He has also been a member of the Elks since 1910.

JOHN PIPER BARNES, the son of George W. and Martha (Thomas) Barnes, was born in Boone county, Missouri, on the 28th day of January, 1832. The fa- ther was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, and re- inoved to Kentucky with his parents when a child of three years. These were Kentucky pioneers, the year 1797 marking the date of their advent into the state, where the grandfather of the subject died in the year 1910, at the patriarchal age of one hundred and three years. He had six sons by his first marriage, all of whom served in the war for American inde- pendence. By his second marriage he had five sons and four daughters, and of this latter family, George W., the father of John P. Barnes, was the youngest born. All the sons of the second marriage served in the War of 1812 under Colonel Johnson in Gen- eral Harrison's army. George W. Barnes was a bugle- man of the troop of mounted infantry, and a note- worthy incident of the battle of the Thames is that an order to blow a retreat was understood by him as an order for a charge. He blew the order for a charge, with the result that the American forces rushed forward to victory instead of retreating. In 1820 George W. Barnes settled in Missouri, took a course in medicine, and was for many years engaged in prac- tice in Clay and Platt counties. In 1826 he married Miss Martha Thomas, and they became the parents of six children: Richard T., Sarah F., John P., Eliza- beth R., Margaret J. and Mary. In 1898 Richard T. died at Helena, Montana, at the age of seventy years, and the subject is now the only member of this family residing in the state of Montana. In 1852 Mrs. Barnes died, and by steamboat he accompanied the family of his son John P. to Montana in 1865, death claim- ing him one year later, when he was in the seventy- second year of his life.

John P. Barnes was accorded the common school advantages peculiar to ' his time and place, a short term in the high school finishing his education. He acquired a practical knowledge of business as his fa- ther's assistant in the drug store, and then engaged in the merchandise business as a clerk, continuing in that capacity until 1852. In that year he entered busi- ness for himself at Parksville, Missouri. He remained thus associated until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he promptly offered himself to the southern cause and enlisted as a lieutenant in the army of General Price. After a year of service a severe attack of typhoid fever caused him to resign his commission at Memphis, Tennessee, and he was succeeded in his command by R. S. Kelly, who later gained prominence in Montana as United States marshal under Presi- dent Cleveland. Upon recovering his health suffi- ciently to permit of travel, he secured a pass from General Lew Wallace, the Union commander, and returned to his old Missouri home. The Federal authorities being then in command, Mr. Barnes was placed under bonds and found himself unable to leave that district until 1864, in which year he came to the west and in the employ of an acquaintance, being in charge of certain freight wagons and a drove of cat- tle. He arrived in Virginia City on the 12th of September, 1864, the trip consuming one hundred and twenty days, which was then considered exceptionally expeditious, in view of former trips to that point.

A few weeks of prospecting decided Mr. Barnes in favor of a ranch, and he located on a place in Jefferson valley. On December 24, 1864, he came to the present site of Helena, took up a claim in the Grizzly gulch, and continued to mine it with good suc- cess until the fall of 1865. At that time his family arrived from the east, when he moved over to the

JohnRBarnes 3-

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New York mining district, and for ten years there- after was occupied in mining and milling in the New York, Eldorado and Helena districts, in company with one W. W. Arnold, who was his companion on the trip from the east. In 1867 and 1868, with A. G. Clarke and Alexander Kemp, he constructed the El- dorado ditch from Trout creek to Eldorado bar. This cost the sum of $103,000 in the construction, and, un- fortunately for its projectors, proved a losing propo- sition. They then engaged in the sawmill business near Helena and built a mining flume on Clancey creek in Jefferson county. During a part of the years 1870 and 1871 Mr. Barnes resided in Helena, and there had charge of the lumber yard, but in the latter named year he removed to the flume on Clancey creek, where he remained until the fall of 1874, when he purchased a ranch on the Spokane and made his home there until 1882. At that time he and Mr. Ar- nold sold their mining properties, Mr. Arnold re- taining the ranch and Mr. Barnes taking the stock, which he removed to the Judith basin and located on a homestead ranch of one hundred and sixty acres near Philbrook. He later added a similar tract to this by purchase, and the place represented his home until he removed to Lewiston in 1894.

In the latter part of the year 1887 Mr. Barnes purchased a half interest in three mining claims in the North Moccasins mountains, and in the following year, with his son, C. E. Barnes, he bought the re- maining half interest from A. D. Harmon. He de- veloped these properties and added to them until he had a group of fifteen claims, known as the Barnes- King group of mines. Their mill had a capacity of practically three hundred tons and they were able to run one hundred tons through in eight hours without any difficulty, the ore having an average value of ten dollars a ton. The Barnes-King group was bonded to an eastern syndicate in December, 1901, for $1,000,000. In 1905 Mr. Barnes established at Lewis- ton the Judith & Basin Milling Company, which he sold in 1910. He removed to Helena in September, 1907, where he now resides, although his principal financial interests are still centered at Lewiston.

Mr. Barnes was ever a strong Democrat and has been an active factor in the ranks of the party, be- ing honored from time to time with important official trusts, all of which he has discharged with a fidelity and advantage to the people whom he served. In 1867 he was appointed by Governor Smith one of the com- missioners to organize Meagher county, including all the territory between the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers as far south as Flathead Pass. In the fall of 1868 he was chosen one of the first members of the legislature from this new county, and the next fall was elected to represent Chotean, Meagher and Gal- latin counties in the upper house. After his removal to Jefferson county he was, in the fall of 1871, elected the joint representative of Lewis and Clarke and Jef- ferson counties in the council, and in 1877 was nomi- nated as a member of the same body for Lewis and Clarke county, but, giving no personal attention to the canvass, was defeated by the small majority of sixty votes. In 1886 he was one of the commissioners elected to organize Fergus county, and he held that office for three years, or until the first election of state officers under the state constitution in 1889. Mr. Barnes took possession on July I, 1894, of the office of receiver of the United States land office at Lewis- ton, and he held this office for four years, discharging its duties to the fullest satisfaction of all concerned. When the city of Lewiston was incorporated he was elected its first mayor, but refused to be a candidate for a second term.

In 1850 Mr. Barnes joined the Methodist Episcopal church and has been a valued member of that body for more than sixty years. He became a Mason in

January, 1858, at Parkville, Missouri, and is now af- filiated with Lewiston and Helena lodges of the order.

On the 23d of February, 1853, Mr. Barnes married Miss Rosetta L. Beeding, a daughter of Craven P. and Rosetta L. (Lackland) Beeding. She was a native of Hagerstown, Maryland, from whence her parents removed to Saline county in 1844 and to Parkville, Missouri, in 1852. Six children have been reared in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Barnes: Clarence E .; John S .; Martha E., the wife of Joseph Wanderlin ; Anna M., married to R. L. Neville; Loretta, the wife of M. L. Woodman; and Carlotta, the wife of John L. Raw. Mrs. Barnes died in March, 1899, aged sixty- five years. On May 8, 1901, Mr. Barnes was mar- ried a second time, when Mrs. Jennie (Sheridan) Larson became his wife. She was born in Lindly, Steuben county, New York, in 1855.

Although Mr. Barnes has reached a place of no slight importance in the life of Montana, it is con- ceded by all who know him that his natural modesty and reticence had kept him from attaining the high station for which his natural qualifications have fitted him so admirably. It has been said of him that had he so desired he might have had any office in the gift of the people, but despite his unwillingness to push to the front he has held numerous responsible offices with exceptional ability, and has lent a dignity to every phase of life in which he has been found.

ANDREW TAYLOR HAMILTON. On the south fork of Sixteen Mile creek, in the beautiful Gallatin valley, is situated the magnificent ranch of Andrew Taylor Hamilton, a tract of 720 acres which he has accumu- lated through the medium of his own efforts. Mr. Hamilton is one of Montana's "old timers," and during nearly half a century has witnessed the many changes that have taken place in this section and contributed his due share to the state's development. He is a native of Hardin county, Ohio, and was born May 2, 1850, a son of Richard and Elizabeth (Ulin) Hamilton, natives of Richland county, Ohio. Mr. Hamilton's father was born in September, 1812, and died October 4, 1892, while his wife passed away April, 1858, being in her thirty-fifth year. Of their two daughters and four sons, two are living: Richard D., who lives in Pember- ton, Oregon; and Andrew Taylor.

The grandfather of Mr. Hamilton was Richard Ham- ilton, a native of County Donegal, Ireland, of Scotch parentage. He came to the United States as a young man, was married in Ohio, where he reared a family of three children, of whom Richard was the youngest, and was one of the pioneer agriculturists of Richland county, where he spent the last years of his life. The father of Andrew T. Hamilton was reared to farming and stock raising, and until 1856 was located in Ohio, whence he moved in that year to Lucas county, Iowa, and became a pioneer tiller of the soil of that section. On April 5, 1865, he moved with his family from Iowa by ox-teams, traveling overland to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then on to Alder Gulch. During the month of September, 1865, the little party arrived on Bozeman creek, where at present stands the Boze- man Hotel, in the city of Bozeman. The last years of Mr. Hamilton's life were spent in stock raising and farming in Gallatin county. First a Whig and later a Republican, Mr. Hamilton was active in the ranks of his party, and served as justice of the peace both in Ohio and Iowa.

Andrew Taylor Hamilton was six years of age when he accompanied his parents from Ohio to Iowa, and his education was secured in the district schools when he could be spared from the work of the home farm. He accompanied the family to Montana in 1865, and until 1879 was associated with his father in farming and stock raising. Since that year he has carried on operations in township I, on a tract of 720 acres, five

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miles north and six miles east of Belgrade, in the beautiful Gallatin valley, and has a horse ranch on the south fork of the Sixteen Mile creek. He makes a specialty of breeding fine Percheron, Clydesdale and French draft horses and has standard-bred milch cows. A stanch Republican in politics, Mr. Hamilton cast his first vote for President Hayes, and in 1878 was elected justice of the peace, succeeding himself in office for twelve consecutive years, when he retired from office. Although he received only a meagre education in his youth, Mr. Hamilton is one of the best informed men of his section. In 1875 he returned to Lucas county, Iowa, where he attended high school, and he has now accumulated a large law library and is well informed on matters of jurisprudence. Fraternally, Mr. Hamil- ton is connected with Pythagoras Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias of Bozeman. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers Alliance in that city.

On May 13, 1877, Mr. Hamilton was married to Miss Alicia Florence Young, who was born in Lucas county, Iowa, daughter of John and Mary (Beam) Young, natives of Kentucky, both of whom are deceased. They had eight children, of whom Mrs. Hamilton was the sixth in order of birth. Mr. Young removed from his native Blue Grass state to Iowa in 1856, locating in Lucas county, and subsequently became one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Clark county. He was first a Whig and later a Republican, and an earnest adherent of the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. To Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton there have been born seven children, all of whom are living: Leslie C., who married Ida B. Potter; Nellman R., who married Lucy Patrick ; Chesna, the wife of Lester Davis; Leal E .; Everett A., who married Polly Holton; Erlice E .; and Gail M.

JOSEPH D. CONRAD. One of the best known of Mon- tana's pioneers whose identification with the growth and development of that state extends through a period of nearly a half-century, is Joseph D. Conrad, president and business manager of the Montana Daily Record, the leading Republican paper of the state, and one of the well known dailies of the Northwest.

Mr. Conrad was born in Jennings county, Indiana, October 22, 1842. His father, whose name was the same as the son, followed the business of railroad con- struction and naturally followed the course of the em- pire westward. He was among the earliest of the railroad builders, and his death occurred at Madison, Indiana, in 1873, surviving his wife, Lucy (Griffin) Conrad, but two months .. She was a native of Ireland, and like her husband a member of the Roman Catholic church. Their family consisted of nine children, of whom Joseph D. was the third in order of birth. Mr. Conrad senior was a Democrat, but never held office as he had no desire for political honors, preferring the society of his home and family, where his time, not occupied in business matters, was largely passed.

In 1855, Mr. Conrad, senior, was engaged in contract work on the old Hannibal & St. Joe Railroad, and moved his family from Indiana to Missouri. Joseph D. Conrad, our subject, attended school in Caldwell county and in Hamilton, and in Utica, in Missouri, and concluded his education at St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas, graduating in the class of 1859. At the out- break of the Civil war Mr. Conrad entered the commis- sary department at Fort Leavenworth, and remained in that connection until 1865. In the spring of that year he started for Montana with a wagon train. The journey occupied one hundred and eighty days, and was most novel and interesting, although not without hardships. The most exciting time occurred when within about ninety miles of Julesburg, on what was known as the Pole Creek route, between Julesburg and Cheyenne Pass. The train was attacked by a party of Indians on the war path, and a fierce fight ensued but the emigrants succeeded in beating off the savage foe, killing five of

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 36

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