A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 41

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

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Mr. Coleman was one of the strongest men in his party in Powell county. He was a stanch Republican and one of principles higher even than his partisan loyalty. It can be said of him that he was the only man who was able to break up the party slate of the bosses that dominated that county prior to the division that set off Deer Lodge and Granite counties from Powell county. His acquaintance included the prominent men of the state and his friends were legion. His many acts of kindness went to show the big heart he possessed and to which his countless ac- quaintances could bear witness. A thorough gentle-

man, courteous, affable and polite, his fitness for pub- lic office was farther augmented by his splendid ability as a penman. A quiet, unassuming man, devoted to his family, a Christian gentleman and a model citizen -this is the characterization given him by those who knew him best.

As a prominent member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons and Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and of the Episcopal church, Mr. Coleman is vividly remembered and deeply missed. His widow is still a resident of Deer Lodge and is one of the es- timable ladies of that place.

Lewis Coleman's grandmother, Mary Schaeffer Boyer, was a granddaughter of that early Pennsylvanian who owned and sold the large tract of land now largely occupied by the present city of Germantown, Pennsyl- vania. Selling this land at what he considered an ad- vantageous price, he removed his family and effects to another extensive tract which he had purchased in the interior of the state. That region was, at the time of his locating within it, a frontier section of Pennsylvania. Indian raids were not unusual and one such attack resulted in the death of this pioneer and his wife at the hands of the savages. Their two children, Catherine and an infant sister, were seized by the Indians and carried away by them. The younger sister soon died from exposure, but the girl Catherine for seven years remained in captivity. Be- ing a young woman of more than ordinary intelligence and force of character, she won a remarkable degree of respect and deference from her wild captors. Her understanding of the medicinal efficacy of various herbs added to the high esteem in which she was held, and she became a noted doctress among members of the tribe, who greatly prized her services. This band -probably of the Miami Indians-in their wanderings traversed an extensive part of southern Ohio. It was while they were in that part of the country that the Pennsylvania girl captive, who was permitted much liberty in going about to gather her herbs, was one day surprised to hear the sound of hammering. Trac- ing the sound for some distance, she came to the bank of a stream, down which a raft was about to be floated by some white men. Astonished to see a young, white woman in Indian garb, they listened with eager interest to her story of captivity and endeavored to persnade her to join them in order to secure her liberty. But she preferred remaining among her respectful and considerate captors to joining strangers of whom she knew nothing. She requested these men, however, to report her predicament to authorities who should en- ter into negotiations with the Indians for her release. In the course of time that end was accomplished, her leavetaking of this Miami band being accompanied with gifts of valuable trinkets and other highly prized articles. Returning to the friends of her family in Pennsylvania, she resumed the habits of civilization and was later married to a young man named Schaeffer. One of her daughters, Mary Schaeffer. became Mrs. George Boyer, and with her Catherine Schaeffer lived in the days of her widowhood. It was then that her reminiscences of the fine country to the west, in which the Indians lived and hunted, aroused such interest that in 1804 a colony of emigrants from that section of Pennsylvania migrated to Ohio. Their long jour- ney by wagon was one in which this lady acted to a great extent as guide. She it was who gave the new settlement in Montgomery county, Ohio, the same name as that borne by the village of her father's early com- munity. Catherine Schaeffer lived in Germantown, Ohio, to the end of her life, rendering valuable serv- ice through her knowledge of medicine and of life in a new, wild region. That colony included among its other settlers George Coleman, whose son John

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later married Mary Boyer, a daughter of Mary Schaef- fer Boyer and a granddaughter of Catherine Schaeffer.

George Coleman was the father of eleven children, among the five sons of which John Coleman was third. His marriage to Mary Boyer took place on April 15, 1835. Of the six children of John and Mary Coleman, two sons, William and Lewis, became Montana pioneers, thus continuing the family tradition made notable by their grandfather, George Coleman, their distinguished ancestress, Catherine Schaeffer, and their earlier progenitor of Germantown history.

RODERICK D. McRAE. What Montana was in the days of the mining camp and what it has become during the era when mine and ranch and farm together produce the wonderful resources of the state-all this Roderick D. McRae has witnessed, and has himself been no small factor in helping to create. Mr. McRae knew Virginia City and other mining camps during the '6os and has for more than forty years been more or less identified with the mineral industries. At Philipsburg, his home town, where he has long been one of the influential citi- zens, he is probably best known as a prosperous rancher. His career is an interesting one, and in many respects typical of the class of men who have made Montana one of the richest states of the Union.

Born in Canada in February, 1845, educated in the common schools, he earned his first money when a boy of about seventeen by working in the lumber camps, starting at thirteen dollars a month. Most of this sal- ary he gave to his parents, and continued his work among the lumber woods of Canada until he was of age. By that time he had saved enough to enable him to start out in seeking his own fortunes. The destina- tion he chose was the great west of the United States, and how he finally arrived in Montana is a little story of itself.

With Denver as his objective point, he traveled by railroad as far as St. Joseph, Missouri, and then by boat to Nebraska City. There he and three others made up a party, and hiring a team, set out for Denver. Half way across the prairies, they met a large freighting out- fit bound for Montana. After brief negotiations, they abandoned their course toward Denver and hired out to the freighters as body guards for the long journey into the northwest. He really walked all the distance, and thus arrived, after many weary miles of trudging over prairies and mountain trails, at Virginia City in the year 1866.

In the years that have elapsed since then he has had no permanent residence elsewhere than in Montana, he has worked and done his share in developing the terri- tory to a state, and is today one of the most loyal citi- zens of this commonwealth. For the first year he was engaged in mining at Virginia City. The Montana & St. Louis Mining Company (now the Hope Company) then proposed that he go to the new settlement of Phil- ipsburg and work on their new mill. During his em- ployment with that company he took the first ore out of what has since been known as the famous Hope Mine. At that time there were very few roads anywhere in this region, and one had to be constructed in order to get access to Philipsburg. Thus he was present dur- ing the period of infancy of the pleasant little city where he now has his residence. For several years he contin- ued at mining in and about this locality, and it is his distinction that he discovered the famous North Star copper mine, now one of the rich deposits of this dis-' trict.

Mr. McRae then bought a ranch in this vicinity, and for more than thirty years has devoted most of his at- tention to ranching and the stock business, which he has conducted on an extensive scale. At the same time he has been interested in the prospecting or practical operation of mincs. His residence for some years has

been in Philipsburg, from which center he manages his other business affairs.

At Deer Lodge, this state, Mr. McRae was married. June 10, 1873, to Miss Minerva Burden, daughter of Thomas & Fannie (Hornsby ) Burden. Six children have come into their home, one daughter, Minnie Frances, dying in infancy, and the other five are as follows : Roderick D., Jr., who is married and a resident of Phil- ipsburg; Margaret, the wife of Frank Holten, of Lew- iston, Idaho; William, married, who now lives in Gran- ite county ; Mamie, wife of Charles Powell, whose home is at Basin in Boulder county; and John, who is single and resides at Granite City. All the children were given good school and home advantages, and now occupy use- ful and honorable places in the world's work. Mr. Mc- Rae is a member of the Philipsburg Chamber of Com- merce, is a Republican in politics, and takes a very ac- tive interest in the local and general affairs of govern- ment and society. At home the welfare of the public schools has interested him, and he has been a member of the school board at Stone for many years. Frater- nally he is affiliated with the Elks lodge, and the relig- ious preference of himself and wife is for the Presby- terian church. Of the diversions and interests of life that are not directly connected with practical affairs, the sports of the field find an ardent devotee in Mr. McRae. He is especially fond of fishing, and every fall spends a week or so at his favorite recreation haunts.

Mr. McRae's father, Duncan McRae, was a native of Scotland, and came to Canada during his youth. Farm- ing was his life occupation. He was a very devout Christian, active in the Presbyterian church, and did much practical charity. His death occurred in 1894, when he was eighty-four years of age. His wife, Mar- garet (Monroe) McRae, died at the age of seventy- eight, and they now sleep side by side near their old home in Canada. Of the eleven children in the family, Roderick was the seventh.

This brief sketch should not be closed without quo- ting some of Mr. McRae's opinions about the state where he now resides, and of which few men are better fitted through long and active residence to give a judg- ment. Montana, he thinks, is the easiest place in the world to make a living in, and the best place to recuper- ate financially. Even during the silver crash, when all the mines were shrouded in the gloom of inactivity, the depression was only temporary. The people shifted their activities into other channels, and were soon again prosperous and happy. It was a godsend, after all, this shutting down of the mines, for it brought the people to realize that they had the finest stock-ranch, fruit-farm and dairying country in the world. And now the best part of it all is, that the mines are running on a larger scale than ever, and productive industry is not limited to any one department. The Treasure state is a real diamond-polished and perfect, without a flaw.

JAMES M. PAGE. In 1866, James M. Page came to Montana and has made this state his home continuously since that time. During the intervening period he has divided his time between ranching and surveying, and for a number of years past has been engaged in extend- ing the public surveys in nearly every county in the state of Montana. His life, from his earliest boyhood, has been one of the most strenuous activity, and he has been a telling factor in the development of Madison county. As a pioneer citizen of the state and a man whose life has been of the greatest worth to the commonwealth, it is eminently fitting that some mention be made of him and his work in this historical and bio- graphical publication.

James M. Page was born in Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, on July 22, 1839, and is the son of Wallace and Nancy (Bonney) Page. Both were natives of Massachusetts, where the father was born in 1810 and

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

the mother in 1816. They were both reared in the state of their birth and there they were united in mar- riage, shortly afterward removing to Pennsylvania, where Mr. Page followed farming as an occupation. He died on September 1, 1840, when he was but thirty years of age. The wife and mother lived until 1852, pass- ing away in May of that year. She is buried in Illinois. They were the parents of six children, of which number James M. was the fifth born.

When he was four years old, James M. Page moved to Michigan with his mother, and he made his home in that state until he was about nineteen years of age. He was but an infant when his father's death broke up the family, and he fought his own way through the world from the age of eleven. He earned his first wage as a boy of that tender age working on a farm, and received eleven dollars a month for his labors. When he was in his nineteenth year he joined a survey- ing party operating in northern Michigan, and later went to Minnesota where he was engaged from April. 1858, to April, 1862, in extending the public surveys of the northwestern part of that state. In 1862 he returned to Michigan for the purpose of offering his services as a soldier in the cause of the Union. He entered the Sixth Michigan Volunteer Cavalry in August, 1862, and served during three years of the Civil war, participating in many of the most telling conflicts of the period, among them Gettysburg. He was taken prisoner and languished in prisons at Andersonville, Libby and Belle Island during a weary period of fourteen months, being finally exchanged at Savannah, on November 21, 1864, and was discharged as second lieutenant at Leaven- worth, Kansas, on June 21, 1865. On quitting the army, Mr. Page went to Chicago where he took a spe- cial course in a business college in that city, and in the spring of 1866 came to Montana across the plains from Leavenworth, leaving the latter place on March 3rd, and arriving at Virginia City on the 21st of June, 1866, bringing with him a train of merchandise. He has been a resident of Madison county continuously since then, as well as continuing to be identified with the survey- ing business in a governmental capacity, the while he has become identified with the big ranching interests of the county, and has come to be the owner of a splen- did ranch of fifteen hundred acres in the county, situ- ated five miles from Twin Bridges. The town of Page- ville was founded by Mr. Page, and the post office of the town is now located on his ranch. Mr. Page was county surveyor of Madison county for fifteen years and has been connected with the United States Surveyor General's office since 1873. In 1882 he was joint repre- sentative in the territorial legislature for Madison and Beaverhead counties and was re-elected to succeed him- self in 1884. In 1895 he was appointed by Governor Rickards to the position of state land agent, a position which he held for about two years when he resigned. Mr. Page is a Republican, and is recognized as one of the strong men and fighters of the party in Montana. He has always taken an active and intelligent interest in local political affairs, as well as those extending to the state, and has won a degree of prominence that is entirely consistent with his worthy accomplishment in whatever field he has given his attention.

Mr. Page is a member of the Masonic order, is a charter member of the blue lodge at Twin Bridges, and holds membership in the chapter and commandery No. I, at Virginia City.

On July 7, 1872, Mr. Page was married to Miss Mary Christianson, the daughter of Christian and Esther Christianson, formerly of Holstein, Germany, then liv- ing on Wisconsin Creek, Madison county. Mr. and Mrs. Page became the parents of four daughters, of whom brief mention is made as follows: Helen E., married Erwin R. Blaisdel, a prominent attorney, and they live at Plains, Montana; Mina E. is the wife of L. T. Holt of the government forest reserve, and lives

at Twin Bridges; Mary E. married Dwight Bushnell, and lives near Twin Bridges, where he is the business manager of the Mule Shoe ranch; Lena M. remains at home with her parents. Mr. Page has one sister living in Montana-Mrs. N. L. Page-and two brothers- Robert W. and Rodney W. Page-all of whom reside in Pageville.

HENRY W. BUFORD. As president and general man- ager of the Valley Garden Ranch Company and of the Buford Mercantile Company, Henry W. Buford, whose name forms the caption for this article, certainly de- serves representation among the prominent business men of Virginia City, Montana. He has done much to advance the wheels of progress in Montana, aiding materially in the development of business activity and energy, wherein the prosperity and growth of the state always depend, and he has always manifested a deep and sincere interest in public affairs.

Henry W. Buford was born in Virginia City, Mon- tana, March 4, 1878, and he is a son of Simeon R. Buford, who was born in Scotland county, Missouri, whence he came to Montana in 1866 and settled in Virginia City, here passing the residue of his life. His first business here was that of freighting and in 1878 he entered into the general merchandise business with the late Henry Elling. Subsequently the firm of Buford & Elling started a cattle, horse and sheep ranch and this enterprise met with unexcelled success. Mr. Buford was a man of kind heart and unusually generous im- pulses. He contributed liberally to various religious and charitable institutions and was a true friend to the needy. In political circles he was a prominent Democrat and was a member of the constitutional con- vention that framed the constitution for the state of Montana. For two terms he was a member of the state senate and during that time he was instrumental in getting the Orphans' Home for Madison county. He married Katie A. Cooley in Virginia City in 1877, and to them were born eight children, of whom Henry W. was the first born. Effie C., wife of W. M. Wightman, Simeon R., Jr., and Ruth, are all residents of New York City. The father died in 1905, aged fifty-nine years, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in the same year, at the age of forty-nine years.

After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Virginia City, Henry W. Buford was matriculated as a student in the Montana Wesleyan University at Helena. He earned his first money as a boy herding cattle in Virginia City, and for one year he was a page in the senate at Helena. In 1900 he engaged in the livery business, and in that connection conducted stables at Norris and in Virginia City. In 1910 he assumed charge of the Elling & Buford sheep and ranch inter- ests, and after the incorporation of that concern as the Valley Garden Ranch Company, in 1910, he was elected president and general manager of the company. In March, 1911, he was elected president and general manager of the Buford Mercantile Company, and he finds his time completely taken up with the manage- · ment of these two large and prominent business con- cerns. He is likewise interested financially in the Elling State Bank and the Southern Montana Bank at Ennis, in both of which he is a member of the boards of directors.

At Ennis, Montana, February 8. 1902, Mr. Buford was united in marriage to Miss Florence May Kohls, a daughter of Frederick F. and Virginia B. Kohls, prominent residents of Virginia City. Mrs. Kohls en- joys the honor of having been the first girl born in Virginia City and for that reason she was named Vir- ginia Belle. Mr. and Mrs. Buford have no children.

Mr. Buford is a stalwart Democrat in his political convictions While undoubtedly he has not been with- out that honorable ambition which is so powerful and useful as an incentive to activity in public affairs, he

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regards the pursuits of private life as being in them- selves abundantly worthy of his best efforts. In com- munity affairs he is active and influential and his sup- port is readily and generously given to many measures forwarded for the general progress and improvement. He is affiliated with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, in which he is esteemed leading knight, and in religious matters he and his wife are devout mem- bers of the Episcopal church. He is fond of out-door life and spends considerable time in riding and driv- ing and automobiling.

HON. PAUL MCCORMICK. Something more than a simple announcement and a passing remark is due the Hon. Paul McCormick, "The Grand Old Man of Mon- tana," who, during the many years of his residence near Billings, has become as familiar to the people of this section as their own household goods. More than any other man, probably, during the early years of his resi- dence here he was ardently and actively engaged in de- veloping the natural resources of the great wilderness of the middle west, and his name deserves a place on the roll of Montana's most honored sons for the great work he achieved not only in showing the way for future generations, but as a man who in every relation of life has so directed his activities that they would be of the greatest possible benefit to his community. Paul Mc- Cormick was born at Greenwood, Steuben county, New York, June 14, 1845, and is a son of James and Margaret McCormick, who spent their lives in the Empire state.

After attending the schools of Steuben county and Alfred Center Academy, Mr. McCormick decided to try his fortunes in the great northwest, and in 1866 made his way to Montana, settling on Middle creek, in the Gallatin valley, where he was engaged in farming and freighting. He accompanied Colonel Baker on his fa- mous expedition of 1870 against the Piegans to the Maria's river battlegrounds, furnishing transportation for the greater portion of the troops. Five years later, in connection with Major F. D. Pease and Z. H. Dan- iels, he organized and fitted out the expedition to the lower Yellowstone, known in history as the Fort Pease expedition, and was one of the most daring and dan- gerous expeditions ever undertaken in the state. With a party of twenty-eight men they embarked in Mackinaw boats at Benson's landing on the Yellowstone, and pro- ceeded to the mouth of the Big Horn river. Three miles below this point, on the north side of the Yellowstone and in the heart of the hostile Indian country, they built Fort Pease, and for eight months withstood the assaults of the fierce and treacherous Sioux Indians, enduring hardships and dangers such as seldom fall to the lot of even brave frontiersmen. It was virtually an eight months' battle for existence, and during this time six men were killed and nine wounded. When they were not actually fighting the Indians they were obliged to be in a state of constant watchfulness and prepara- tion. The next year United States troops came to their assistance and secured the peace and safety of the sec- tion; and thus through the enterprise of these daring men it was made available for settlement and product- iveness. Mr. McCormick himself raised the first flag at Fort Pease, between the Crow Indian agency and the Union Pacific Railway.

After this experience, Mr. McCormick joined the com- mand against the Indians as a trader, and at the close of hostilities located at Miles City and engaged in gen- eral merchandising and freighting. In 1879 he removed to Junction City and continued in business at that point until 1883, when, in partnership with Thomas C. Powers. he organized the Paul McCormick Cattle Company and continued freighting operations on a large scale. This partnership and company lasted for ten years, at the end of which the Custer Cattle Company was formed, of which Mr. McCormick was elected president, and in 1898, when Spear Brothers Cattle Company was organ-

ized, he became vice-president of the concern. He continued with these enterprises until his removal to Billings, in 1891, when he organized the Paul McCor -. mick Company for general merchandising, a firm which became one of the leading industries of its kind in the city. In 1908 he sold his interests in this business to Yegen Brothers and Highes & Yates, and since then has been engaged in looking after his large farm, situated two and one-half miles west of Billings, where he in- tends to spend the remainder of his life. He can look back over an honorable, well-spent life, content with what he has accomplished, and with no doubts as to the future. In political matters he has always been a stanch adherent of Republican principles. Although he has never sought public office, he has at various times been honored by his fellow-townsmen, and in 1879 was elected to the legislature as one of the first delegates from the new county of Custer. Through some technicality he was not allowed to have a voice in the body, but through his personal influence succeeded in having the difficul- ties removed and the organization of the county firmly established. He was also sent as a delegate to the Republican national convention in 1888, and has served in various other capacities. On the occasion of Presi- dent Taft's visit to Billings in October, 1911, Mayor Frank T. Woods, in introducing Mr. McCormick as chairman of the meeting held at the Babcock Theater, spoke in part as follows: "I wish to present to you for chairman of this meeting a man, a pioneer in all that the word implies. Having lived in what is now this commonwealth for more than forty years, most of which time has been spent in this valley; a man who has been honored by our citizens, and particularly by his own party as delegate to the legislature in territo- rial days, a member of the national convention which nominated Harrison, and both a Roosevelt and a Taft elector-in each instance he having had the honor of receiving more votes than any other elector from this state. I refer to Montana's Grand Old Man, the Hon. Paul McCormick of this city." Further comment on the universal respect and esteem in which he is held would be superfluous. His fraternal connection is with the Knights of Columbus and Billings Lodge, No. 394, B. P. O. E.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 41

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