USA > Montana > A history of Montana, Volume II > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135
Wallu Crofer.
1013
HISTORY OF MONTANA
Union, and was made chairman of the committee on appointment and representation. As chairman of this committee Mr. Cooper reported and advocated the adop- tion of an article giving one senator to each county, this being ratified by the convention and becoming a part of the constitution, and has been greatly appreciated, being considered a safeguard against reckless legislation. Mr. Cooper was selected as delegate at large to the national Democratic convention held at Chicago in 1892 and served on the committee on credentials, and in the same year was nominated as an elector on the Democratic ticket. He was elected president of the State Pioneer Society in 1892, serving two years, and has acted as president of the Gallatin County Pioneer Society three terms. He is also ex-president of the Gallatin Valley Club. He was one of the organizers of the Yellowstone Expedition of 1874 and chairman of the executive com- mittee, also chairman of the ordinance committee, in 1883-4 and in 1884 and 1889 was a member of the State Central committee. In 1895 he was elected to the State* Legislative Assembly from Gallatin county, as the only member of the legislature elected by a straight Demo- cratic vote, and secured the passage of an act which made possible the erection and equipment of the build- ings now occupied by the Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. In 1892 he was made a member of the first executive board of this institu- tion, and served six years in that capacity. In 1910 he was chosen president of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce.
In 1889 Mr. Cooper rendered a valuable service to the city of his adoption by organizing the Bozeman Water Works Company, which under his direction caused the erection of the most perfect system of water- works in the northwest, assuring Bozeman of a plenti- ful supply of water for fire protection and domestic use. He became vice-president and one of the largest stockholders in this firm. In 1884 he secured control of the coal fields of Rocky Fork, and with his associates brought about the building of the Rocky Fork & Cooke City Railway, and the development of this great coal field, with its unlimited supply of fuel. As an enter- prise bearing upon the development of the state it will doubtless rank among the most important achieve- ments of the last three decades. Mr. Cooper was the founder of the town of Red Lodge, which now has a population of 4,860 people, Bridger with 514 inhabit- ants, and Laurel, which has a population of 806. Among other things, he has devoted some of his atten- tion to mining, and was also instrumental in organizing the Bozeman Milling Company, operating one of the largest flouring mills in the state, of which firm he was the first president and a heavy stockholder. He is identified with several other enterprises of a public and private nature. In politics a stanch Democrat, he has taken a prominent part in the councils of his party since the formation of Montana as a territory, and was actively identified with the political affairs which agi- tated the state in 1898 and 1900, conducting the pre- liminary campaign which culminated in seating the regular Democratic delegates at the Kansas City con- vention, July 4, 1900. He also served as a member of the notification committee from Montana which noti- fied Mr. Bryan of his nomination in 1900. Later he successfully conducted the preliminary contest by which the regular Democratic party secured control of the state convention, and was made its chairman. He was elected by the state convention chairman of the State Central committee, and conducted the great campaign of 1900, which resulted in a complete victory for the regular Democratic national and state tickets, and the election of a large majority of the legislature, insuring the election of two Democratic United States senators. Mr. Cooper is a member of the Montana and Bozeman Commercial Clubs, and is fraternally connected with Gallatin Lodge No. 6. A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master.
On April 19, 1870, Mr. Cooper was united in mar- riage with Miss Mariam D. Skeels, only daughter of Nelson Skeels, of Boulder Valley, Jefferson county, Montana, the latter born at Columbus, Ohio, in 1822. His father, Reuben Skeels, was born in the state of New York, a son of Lanman Skeels, a Revolutionary soldier, who was born in New York in 1753 and died near Columbus, Ohio, in 1804. The family has since resided at Bozeman. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper have been the parents of one son and two daughters, of whom one survives, Mariam, the other two having died in infancy. Mrs. Cooper has long been a prominent worker in the Presbyterian church, was one of the founders of the Bozeman Free Library, and served as alternate lady manager at the World's Columbian Exposition at Chi- cago in 1893.
ROBERT A. VICKERS is editor and general manager of the Times Publishing Company at Virginia City and he has been identified with local journalism practically all his life. The dissemination of news, the discussion of public questions and the promotion of the general welfare of his community through the columns of the Times constitute life's object with him as a private citizen. He is strictly a self-made man, and as such the success which crowns his efforts in a business way is the more gratifying to contemplate. In addition to his interest in the newspaper business he is the owner of a fine ranch of one hundred and thirty-three acres in Yellowstone county.
Mr. Vickers was born in Virginia City, Montana, the date of his nativity being the 30th of January, 1870, and with the exception of seven years he has passed his entire lifetime thus far in the place of his birth. His father, Robert Vickers, is a native of England, where he was born in 1830 and whence he immigrated to the United States in the year 1854. In England he was engaged along marine lines for eight years prior to coming to America, visiting the principal ports of the world, and after his arrival in this country he settled in California, where he followed mining and mercantile lines for the ensuing eight years at the expiration of which he located in Austin, Nevada, remaining there until April, 1865, which date marks his advent in Virginia City. Here he has resided continuously ever since and it is interesting to note that he came to this place on the stage that bore the sad news of Lincoln's assassination to the citizens of the far west. His interest in business has been along mercantile lines and he is still an active and capable citizen in spite of his venerable age of eighty-three years. He is interested in politics as a Democrat and has served as city alderman and as county assessor on different occa- sions. He is very prominent in the time-honored Masonic order, in which he has passed through the circle of the York Rite branch and in which he has held many important official positions. His wife, whose maiden name was Martha E. T. Borrell, was likewise born in England, where her marriage to Mr. Vickers was solemnized and whence they came to America immediately after their wedding. She is still living and has reached the age of sixty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. Vickers have nine children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated,-Robert A. is the immediate subject of this review; Mary F. is the wife of George E. Gohn and they live in Virginia City; Dean W. is married and resides in Weed, Cali- fornia; Nellie E. is the wife of Luther V. Buford and they are residents of Long Beach, California; George D. is married and lives in Virginia City; Bessie M. married Walter M. Brown and their home is at Search- light, Nevada; Martha F. is the wife of Ben H. Stuten- burg, of Seattle; Richard B. is married and resides in Butte; and Ella R. is the wife of Paul L. Mitchell, of Miles City, Montana.
To the public schools of Virginia City Robert A.
.
1014
HISTORY OF MONTANA
Vickers is indebted for his preliminary educational training, which discipline was later supplemented by a course of study in the Valparaiso University;, at Val- paraiso, Indiana. He earned his first money as a boy of sixteen years of age, when he began to serve a three- year apprenticeship at the printing trade in Virginia City. With the money earned in this way he paid his way through college. In 1892 he went to Monroe, Nebraska, where he ran a drug store, engaged in the newspaper business and acted as postmaster for a short period. In 1895 he returned to Virginia City and entered the printing business. In the spring of 1896 he was appointed postmaster to fill out an unexpired term and he served in that capacity until January I, 1898. He then turned again to the printing business and in June, 1899, in company with Fred L. Gibson, now a prominent attorney of Livingston, Montana, he established the Alder Gulch Times. A coincidence in this connection is the fact that this paper was started in the building in which the first paper in Montana, the Montana Post, was published. Two years later Mr. Vickers bought out his partner and ran the paper alone for the next two years, when he disposed of his plant to the Times Publishing Company, of which prominent concern he is now editor and general manager. Mr. A. J. Bennett is president of the above company, which. publishes the Virginia City Times and also does a great deal of jobbing work.
In Virginia City, February 26, 1891, Mr. Vickers was united in marriage to Miss Selma C. Nelson, a daughter of John Nelson, of Monroe, Nebraska. Of the nine children born to this union seven are living, in 1912, namely: Robert A., Jr., who is running a ranch for his father at Waco, Yellowstone county, Montana; and Ellen I., J. LeRoy, Llewellyn N., S. Edna, J. Russell and Dorris M., all of whom are at the country home at Waco. Mr and Mrs. Vickers are devout communcants of the Protestant Episcopal church, in which he is treasurer of the vestry com- mittee, in 1912.
Fraternally Mr. Vickers is a valued member of the time-honored Masonic order, being a past master of Virginia City Lodge No. I and past patron of Virginia Chapter No. 9, Order of the Eastern Star. He is likewise affiliated with the Woodmen of the world, in which he has passed all the official chairs; the Brother- hood of American Yeomen, in which he is present cor- respondent; and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, of which he is a charter member. In politics he is an ardent Republican and he has filled the offices of public administrator and city alderman. He enjoys hunting and fishing and is a great baseball fan. He is a highly cultured gentleman and is a member of the local Dra- matic Club. He says that Montana will soon rank as one of the greatest agricultural states in the Union and that her water power for the various great indus- tries is unlimited. He is an earnest and enthusiastic citizen and one of whom any community would have good reason to be proud.
HENRY O. WORDEN. At this juncture in a volume devoted to the careers of representative citizens ot Montana it is a pleasure to insert a brief history of Henry O. Worden, who has ever been on the alert to forward all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare and who is a prom- inent and influential citizen at Ravalli, where he man- ages his brother's mercantile establishment and fills the office of assistant postmaster.
Henry O. Worden was born in the city of Missoula, Montana, April 26, 1869, and he is a son of Frank L. and Lucretia (Miller) Worden, the former of whom was born and reared in Vermont. Mr. and Mrs. Worden came to Montana as pioneers and settled in Missoula, where he followed the general merchandise
business during the greater part of his active career. Mr. Worden was summoned to the life eternal in 1887, at the age of fifty-three years, and his cherished and devoted wife, who still survives him, is a resident of Missoula. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Worden and concerning them the following brief data are here incorporated: Lucina is the wife of Fred T. Sterling and resides in Missoula, as does also Caroline, whose husband is United States sena- tor, Joseph M. Dixon; Frank L. is a prominent mer- chant and rancher and makes his home at Missoula; Louise M. is deceased; Horace B. is the owner and operator of a fine ranch in the vicinity of Ravalli; Ruth remains at home with her mother; and Henry O. is the immediate subject of this review.
To the public schools of Missoula Henry O. Worden is indebted for his early educational training, which discipline he has since supplemented with extensive reading and home study. He earned his first money at the age of fifteen years, when he began to work in a store as delivery boy, with a salary of ten dollars per month. He has always been interested in the general merchandise business and in 1911 came to Ravalli to assume charge of his brother's large mercantile es- tablishment here. He is a business man of fair and straightforward methods and is honored and esteemed by all with whom he has dealings. In politics he is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and while he does not participate actively in public affairs he gives freely of his aid and influence in support of all projects advanced for progress and improvement. He was appointed assistant postmaster at Ravalli and as the incumbent of that office is dis- charging his duties with the utmost efficiency. Mr. Worden says: "I was born and raised in Montana and any one in my position knows there is no state in the Union like it. It is substantially prosperous and pro- gressive and its natural and numerous advantages excel in every way." Mr. Worden does not affiliate with any fraternal organizations or clubs, preferring to spend all his leisure time in his attractive home in the company of his family and numerous friends. He is a man of broad sympathy and innate kindliness of spirit and is always ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunately situated in life than himself.
In Missoula, in February, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Worden to Miss Mary Jorden, who was born and reared in Indiana but who came to Montana. To this union has been born one child,- Frank, who is a student in the high school at Missonla.
HON. ERNEST O. SELWAY. In the recent political annals of Beaverhead county no name has figured in a more prominent and praiseworthy manner than that of Hon. Ernest O. Selway, state senator and former state representative, now serving his seventh continuous year in the state assembly. To him may be paid that highest praise-that he is a typical westerner, inde- pendent, democratic, able, clean; his personality is strong and fine and the people instinctively grant him perfect confidence. The Hon. Mr. Selway, it must be mentioned, has two passions; for great as may be his love for and knowledge of Republican principles, they are equalled in degree by what he knows about sheep raising in Montana. He is president of the Selway Sheep Company, breeders of Hampshire and Cotswold sheep, and in his company's flocks are found the finest blooded sheep in the west. As some one has said : "Sheep are his hobby. He knows the sheep business from the bottom up. While others are predicting that the sheep business will soon be on the wane, Mr. Sel- way takes an entirely opposite view of it, and know- ing Mr. Selway to be a far-sighted man when looking into the future of such business and knowing that his judgment during past years has not erred, we are con-
G.O. Selway.
Dan Levalley
1015
HISTORY OF MONTANA
vinced that the sheep business is destined to grow in Beaverhead county."
Mr. Selway is one of Beaverhead county's native sons, his life record having begun within its boundaries Oc- tober 14, 1870. Here he has lived all his life and he has acquired a deep love of its institutions. He re- ceived his early education in the county public schools and then pursued a commercial course at Albion Col- lege, Albion, Michigan. At the age of sixteen he first became interested in the cattle and stock-raising business, and he has ever since been identified with it.
Mr. Selway is a most loyal disciple of the policies and principles of the Republican party. He has al- ways delighted in its honorable history and held its articles of faith in high affection. Since first attain- ing to his majority he has been actively interested in politics and ever since casting his maiden vote he has been a fighter in the ranks and taken an active part in every campaign. He is a born politician, but happily of the clean and honest type. He was first elected to the legislature in 1904 and he served two terms as such and immediately following he was elected to the senate. He was re-elected upon the termination of his first term and is now upon his seventh year in the legislature. In the best possible manner he has repre- sented the interests of his constituents and has been effective in bringing about considerable wise legislation. It is probable that even higher prefernient lies before him and he is fitted for big responsibilities and hon- ors. He has a trio of affiliations, being a Mason, an Elk and a member of the Beaverhead Club.
The subject's father, John R. Selway, was born in England and came to America when a boy. In 1866 he arrived at Montana and located in Beaverhead county, following stock business and ranching. He was one of the county's pioneers and of the staunch stock which insured the future high standing of the section, morally and materially. He was summoned to the "Undis- covered Country" at the age of sixty-five years. The mother, Jane Selway, was born in Wales and came across the Atlantic with her parents when a baby. She met and married Mr. Selway in Wisconsin and it was subsequent to that they came to Montana. She passed away in July, 1890, aged fifty-two, and she and her cherished and devoted life companion are buried side by side in Dillon. They became the parents of eight children, six being boys and two girls, and the immediate subject of this brief biography is the fourth in order of nativity. The two sisters are deceased; Charles resides in California; Lloyd is married and a citizen of Custer county, Montana; Robert, married, . is established in Sheridan, Wyoming; Delos, married, resides in Custer county; and Richard, married, main- tains his home at Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Hon. Mr. Selway was married in Kansas City, Missouri, December 30, 1897, his chosen lady being Lillian M. Bulla. They are both popular and charm- ing members of society, held in confidence and esteem by "all sorts and conditions of men."
DAN LEVALLEY. The various changes that have marked the advance and development of Montana from an untamed wilderness to civilization and commercial and industrial activity are vividly illustrated in the career of Dan Levalley, one of the leading business men of Miles City. Coming to this state more than forty years ago as a hunter and trapper, he subse- quently drifted into the cattle business, and when the value of this section as a sheep growing locality was demonstrated he cast his fortunes with the pioneers in this line, and is now widely known in the sheep raising industry. Mr. Levalley is an excellent type of the sturdy, industrious class of men who have brought the .state to its present prosperity. He was born on his father's farm, twenty miles from the city of Quebec, in the Province of Quebec, Canada, January 15, 1849,
and is a son of John and Jennett (McCartney) Leval- ley.
Jolin Levalley was born on the Isle of Guernsey, in the English Channel, in 1817, his parents, Daniel and Mary Levalley, being of French birth. When he was still a lad he was brought to America, and his educa- tion was secured in the schools of the Province of Quebec, where as a young man he was engaged in fish- ing, often traveling up the coast as far north as Labra- dor. In his later years he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and his death occurred on the old homestead, December 24, 1908. Mr. Levalley was a home-loving man, rarely ventured beyond his own estate, and never rode on a steam-boat, railroad train or electric car in his life. His wife, who was born at Ayreshire, Scotland, in 1822, lived to be seventy years of age. Of their nine children, eight still survive, as follows: Dan, John, Thomas, Jennett, James, David, Benjamin and Alexander.
Like many farmers' sons of his day and locality, Dan Levalley divided his youth between the farm and the district schools, attending the latter until he was eighteen years of age, at which time he left the parental roof and went to Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently he went to Alpena, Michigan, on Lake Huron, where for three years he worked in the lumber camps, then removing to Omaha, Nebraska, where he spent a short time. From Omaha he went by rail to Salt Lake City, Utah, and on May 3, 1870, left the latter place with a party of ten or twelve men, having a small mule team to haul their goods, while the men traveled on foot. About the last of May, 1870, this little party reached Helena, Montana, and at that city Mr. Levalley secured employment chopping wood for the United States gov- ernment to supply Fort Shaw. After working on the Missouri river for about six months, he joined several others and went to Fort Benton, where a party of about a dozen was organized, and during . the next six or seven years Mr. Levalley was engaged in hunt- ing in the United States, British Columbia and the Alberta country in Canada, and also carried on con- siderable trading with the Indians. His next employ- ment was carrying the mail for the Northwest Mounted Police from Fort McCloud, Canada, to Fort Shaw, Montana, but after about six months gave up his posi- tion, came down the Yellowstone river, and assisted in building Fort Custer, on the Bighorn river. When the fort had been completed, Mr. Levalley continued in the employ of the government for some time in hay cutting, but later again turned his attention to hunting, and became very successful in securing hides of buf- faloes and wolves. In 1883 he invested his small capital in a bunch of cattle and for a number of years ran his stock on the range on Powder river, in Custer county, but with the advent of the sheep herders he sold his cattle and gave his attention entirely to the sheep business in Dawson county, in which he is engaged at the present time, owning three fine bands. Although Mr. Levalley makes his home in Miles City, he still superintends the running of his sheep and gives his careful attention to every detail of his business. He has interested himself in a number of business enter- prises, and is a director of the Commercial State Bank of Miles City, in which he owns considerable stock. Politically he is independent, and takes but a good citizen's interest in public matters, his own enterprises always having claimed too much of his attention for him to enter the political arena. However, he is always ready to assist in advancing movements for the better- ment of his community, and can be relied upon to give his influence to anything that promises to be for the public welfare.
On December 5, 1891, Mr. Levalley was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Pitcher, in Miles City, she being a native of England, and a daughter of Robert Pitcher. Three children have been born to this union:
1016
HISTORY OF MONTANA
Mina, who died when two years old, John and Thomas. They also have a step-daughter, Annie, who became a member of the household when three or four years old.
DR. RUDOLPH HORSKY. The family of Horsky has been prominent in Helena from 1865 until the present time, the worthy lives of a father and three sons con- tributing much to the advancement and growth of the city in divers manners. Dr. Rudolph Horsky has been . busily engaged in the practice of his profession in Helena since 1895, and has in the years that have elapsed since that time made rapid strides in the es- tablishing of himself in his work in Helena. His ascent during the first few years of practice was in no sense meteoric, but a gradual rise marked his endeav- ors, and today his place is secure and his reputation among the medical fraternity is one of considerable satisfaction to the doctor.
Born November 27, 1870, in Helena, Montana, Rudolph Horsky is the son of John and Louise (Sey- kora) Horsky, both natives of Austria. The father was born in that far off land on May 15, 1838. He came to America in 1864, locating first in Virginia City and later in Helena, in which city he has made his home continuously since that time. The marriage of the young immigrants occurred in December, 1869, in Iowa, and of their union three sons were born. Edward the eldest, is at present the mayor of Helena and enjoys an enviable reputation in that city; Rudolph, a prac- ticing physician of Helena and the subject of the re- view; and John Jr., engaged in the drug business in Helena.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.