A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 66

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

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On March 3, 1911, Mr. Macleod was united in mar- riage with Miss May Woodruff.

JOHN H. COLE. One of the strong pioneer characters of Montana and the Northwest is represented by Mr. John H. Cole, a prominent citizen and now president of the school board of Anaconda. He has known this city from its beginning, and he has lived here and in this vicinity for upwards of forty years.

Mr. Cole worked out his destiny by himself, and his early life was a struggle in which his self-reliance and industry were the best factors in his advancement. He was born at Albion, Orleans county, New York, July 28, 1860, a son of William and Mary (Paul) Cole. His father, who was a native of New York state and spent his life in farming, died in 1864 at the age of thirty-six, and his wife passed away four years later, aged about thirty-seven. Both are buried side by side in the old home vicinity of New York. Of the five children, John H. was the fourth, and the death of his parents when he was only a child threw him upon his own resources when other boys are usually in school. When he was six years old his mother moved to St. Thomas, Ontario, where he remained for about eight years, and during that time attended the public schools.

Though he began earning his own living at an early age, he managed to secure a good education. At the age of fourteen he went into what was then the Cana- dian west, to Winnipeg, where for a time he attended the St. John's Episcopal College. The spirit of the

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frontier early possessed him, and when the Black Hills excitement occurred, though he was still a boy, he started for the scene. But on reaching Bismarck, North Dakota, he changed his mind and returned to Winnipeg. But he was by no means satisfied with this brief incursion into the new fields of the West, for at Winnipeg he at once joined a government tele- graph crew who were engaged in building one of the old. telegraph routes that connected the Canadian north- west with the central government before the first railroads were projected beyond Winnipeg. With this crew he worked through the old northwest territories as far as Edmonton, now the capital of Alberta province, and from there in 1876 came down the rail to Fort Benton in Montana. This was his method of introduction to the Treasure State, and here has been his permanent residence ever since.

The first two years he spent at Helena. Few men are more intimately acquainted with this state in all its features. As a miner, rancher, stock raiser and in various other capacities, he has traveled over practi- cally the whole state on horseback. He was in Ana- conda before the town was founded, and has lived here most of the time. For six years he was city editor of the Anaconda Standard. At the present time his principal business is in an executive capacity for the A. C. M. Company.

Mr. Cole married, at Philipsburg, December 28, 1888, Miss Mary McDonel, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth McDonel, of that city. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cole: Elizabeth Jane and Florence, at home; John, who is connected with mer- cantile business in Anaconda; Fannie, a student of. the high school; Cathweyn, in school; and Mary, de- ceased. Mr. Cole and wife have given their children excellent educational advantages. In his delightful home at 106 West Third street, Mr. Cole finds his greatest pleasures, and prefers home and family to all other diversions. His religions preference is for the Episcopal church, in which Mrs. Cole is an active worker, and the children have been confirmed in that faith.

Mr. Cole is one of the local leaders in the Demo- cratic party, and has for many years had an influential share in public affairs. He served as undersheriff in Missoula county and the same office in Deer Lodge county, and was the first sheriff of Granite county. He has been a member of the Anaconda school board since 1906 and is now president. He is deeply con- cerned for the welfare of local education, and in his official capacity has done .much to improve the schools of his home city. He is a member of the Fraternal Brotherhood, of which he has been president for two terms. A broadminded citizen, his interest includes many of the activities which provide recreation and the cultured graces of society. At one time he was president of the Montana state baseball league, and still follows the sport as a "fan." The possession and handling of horses have always afforded him keen pleasure. At his home he has a good library, and books and music are for him a never failing resource for leisure hours. Montana he considers the ideal state of the Northwest, being free from blizzards, and cyclones, the extremes of heat and cold, and in climate, environment and opportunities it offers more to its citizenship than any other state.

SOL POZNANSKI. A thorough educational training, a natural business talent and close application to the enter- prises with which he became identified, have all been factors in the material advancement of one of the well known business men of Helena, Montana, Sol Poznanski. who fills a position of much responsibility as general agent of the Pennsylvania Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany for Montana and Idaho, and has many additional private interests. He was born in the city of New

York, July 18, 1856. His father, who was born in Poland, was brought by his parents to the United States in childhood, was reared in the city of New York and for half a century was actively engaged at the metropo- lis in business, where he died in 1904. He was a manu- facturer and maker of men's shirts and his average annual output was valued at $1,000,000 per year, his trade territory being mainly in the south and south west. He was a prominent man in Democratic politics, and had many personal friends among the Tammany poli- ticians of his day. He married Eliza Phillips who was born in the Isle of Wight, and of their thirteen chil- dren eight survive and all of these are representative and successful residents of the sections in which they have established themselves.

Sol Poznanski was graduated from the New York College and immediately afterward went into business, first accepting a position as cashier in a New York com- mission house. He was enterprising and ambitious and and thus he turned his eyes to the great west. As early as 1877 he came to Helena, Montana, where he entered the mercantile house of Sands Brothers Dry Goods Company, and continued in the employ of that firm for seven years. For the following four years he traveled for another firm through the western country and then returned to Helena, where he purchased a cigar busi -- ness which he carried on for three years. After dis- posing of his cigar store he became interested in the fire insurance business, first as resident agent at Helena for several of the leading eastern companies, and later became adjustor for the same for Montana and Idaho. In 1902 he was appointed general agent for the Pennsyl- vania Mutual Fire Insurance Company for these states, and his activities have resulted very satisfactorily for the company. He has not neglected opportunities for judicious investment in mineral lands and ranch prop- erty in different parts of the state, and also owns valu- able realty at Helena.

In December, 1888, Mr. Poznanski was married to Miss Sallie Boyer, of Washington, D. C., and they have one daughter, Pearl, the latter of whom is a graduate of the Helena high school. Both mother and daughter possess artistic talent far beyond the ordinary, Mrs. Poz- nanski being a painter of miniatures and on china, and on many occasions has taken prizes for the excellence of her work. Miss Pearl's talent as an artist has been generously recognized and her artistic cover designs for magazines have brought her almost national fame. They have been so generally admired that she has been invited to sign long magazine contracts for the work of her brush.

Reared as it were, in the cradle of Democracy, Mr. Poznanski has followed in the footsteps of his father in his adherence to Democratic policies. He was elected the first president of the first "Democratic club that was organized at Helena, and it was mainly through his efforts that former Governor Toole and his eloquent brother, Warren Toole, made their notable speeches in a notable campaign, at Helena. As a politician and loyal Democrat, Mr. Poznanski is known all over the state of Montana. He is a man of social instincts and in addition to a wide circle of personal friends, he is valued as a member of the Silver Bow Club of Butte and the Lambs' Club of Helena.

ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSON, a well-known real estate dealer of Dillon, was born at Argenta, Beaverhead county, Montana, March 29, 1877. He is the son of Philip and Elizabeth Johnson. The father was born in Missouri and came to Montana overland in the early days; followed sheep raising and ranching and passed away in December, 1900, at the age of forty-seven years. The mother was born in California, but subsequently removed to Montana, where she met and married Philip Johnson. She died in 1884, and the remains of both these respected people are interred in Dillon. Of their

Cat Fity Henry Printer

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children, Albert Sidney is the eldest of these surviving . viz .- one brother and two sisters as follows: Grace is the wite of Clifford E. Knapp, who is a merchant of Dillon; Oscar, the brother, is employed by the Dart Hardware Company as plumber and steam-fitter, is married and also lives in Dillon; Lena B., the second sister, is the wife of Robert W. Boone, who is asso- ciated with Mr. Johnson in the real estate business.

Mr. Johnson has passed his entire life in Beaverhead county. He acquired his early education in the public schools of the county and early entered business, his first money being earned as a boy by riding after cattle for his grandfather, with whom he made his home. After holding several positions, in 1904 he embarked in an independent venture by opening a general real estate, insurance, loan and sheep commission business, in asso- ciation with his brother-in-law, Robert W. Boone, the style of the firm being Johnson & Boone. Messrs. Johnson and Boone are now the largest operators in their line in this district. Mr. Johnson is one of the aggressive and enterprising young business men who are aiding in the upbuilding of Dillon and vicinity. He has also served as city treasurer of Dillon and is at the present time holding the office of United States commissioner. In politics he is a Republican. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he enlisted in Company E, of the First Montana Regiment, and was ultimately sent to the Philippines. He saw much active service, being in twenty-two engagements, and he has never lost his interest in things military.

By natural inclination and early discipline he has developed unusual independence and self-reliance and since the age of sixteen years he has made his own way quite unaided. He was a lad of but seven years of age when deprived by death of his mother, and he was reared in the home of his grandparents. He is fond of out-door life, taking pleasure in hunting and baseball and he enjoys good reading and music. He is unmarried.

Mr. Johnson is a stanch and loyal native son of Mon- tana, possessing a real affection for its institutions and standing ready to support to the best of his ability all measures looking toward its success. His career has well proven these statements.

ALBERT S. MOONEY, president and treasurer of the Butte Tombstone Company, one of the leading busi- ness concerns in that line in the northwest and the largest in Montana, is a native of Newport, Kentucky, and the eldest son of John A. and Catherine (Mc- Carty) Mooney.

John A. Mooney was reared in Altoona, Pennsyl- vania. When the. Civil war became a reality his par- ents refused to permit him to go to the front, feeling that he was not yet of a proper age to serve his coun- try. "Early in 1861, however, the boy ran away from home and enlisted in an Ohio regiment, serving until the very close of the war. It was his fortune to see much service under both Grant and Sheridan and to participate in many of the principal battles of the war. After the close of the war Mr. Mooney reinlisted and served in the army until being mustered out of the service at Fort Missoula, Montana, in the year 1878. During the time between 1865 and 1878 he saw con- siderable service under General Crook, in the wars with the Indians in what was then the territory of Oregon. Returning from Oregon to his native place, Altoona, he married Catherine McCarthy, and for a few years served with his regiment in Louisiana and Kentucky. In 1877 his regiment, which was stationed at Pineville, Louisi- ana, was ordered to Fort Missoula, Montana. After leaving the army Mr. Mooney and family moved to Helena, Montana, and he became interested in mining, which he has been following ever since with varying success. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Muoney as follows: Albert S .; Grace M., now the

wife of William M. Cassidy, of Kalispell; Cora Lee, whose husband, Rev. Kimes, is the leader of the Seventh Day Adventists at North Yakima; William and Barbara, who are residents of Helena; Catherine the third daughter, married Joseph Wilson of Butte; George L. resides in Butte ; Charles E. and Frank also resides in Butte; Ethel is Mrs. Warren Smelcer, now of Helena, Montana; and John A., Jr., resides at Helena.

Albert S. Mooney was born during his father's em- ployment in Newport, Kentucky,' on August 12, 1871, and left school at the age of ten years that he might he apprenticed to a granite stone worker. For twenty years he was a journeyman in his trade, when he located at Billings, Montana, and entered into business for him- self. At the end of five years he moved to Butte and purchased an interest in the Butte Tombstone Com- pany, Incorporated. Almost at the beginning of his association with the firm he was elected secretary and general manager of the corporation, which position he held until 1911, when he was made president and treas- urer of the company.

On September 9, 1899, Mr. Mooney married Laura M. O'Brien, the daughter of Christopher A. and Cath- erine Hodgen O'Brien, of Faribault, Minnesota. Mrs. Mooney is the vice-president of the company of which her husband is president. They have one son, Al- bert S. Mooney, Jr., who was born in Billings, Mon- tana, on the 23rd of June, 1900.

Mr. Mooney is a Democrat in political faith, but has never aspired to political preferment, his interest in those matters ending with the casting of his vote for the best men and measures. He is a member of no secret organization beyond his affiliation with the in- surance order, the Woodmen of the World.

Charles Edward Mooney, secretary of the Butte Tombstone Company, was born in Missoula, Montana, on the thirty-first day of March, 1878. Like his brother, he left school at an early age and was apprenticed to a monument worker in Helena, from which line of work he has never deviated. He was employed at his trade for a number of years in that city. He came to Butte from Billings in January, 1910, where for six years he was manager of the Billings Marble and Granite Works, then a branch of the Butte Tombstone Company. He was married in Helena on June 11, 1900, to Miss Nellie E. Allard, of Winona, Minnesota. Their children are: Walter Edward, Frank Lester and Harry Leroy. Mr. Mooney is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World, the Women of Woodcraft, Royal Highlanders and the Modern Wood- men. He is independent in political faith, voting for what he considers the best measures and men, regard- less of party affiliations.

FITZ HENRY WINTER. Those who have the pleasure of an acquaintance with Captain Winter-and fortu- nately this includes a large number of people-know one of the most delightful men in the world. Though he served in the War of the Rebellion, the title is ac- corded him by reason of the fact that he has been a sea captain, and certainly his conversation makes one realize "the beauty and mystery of the ships," as well as the joy of strange peoples and places.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friend street, be- tween Hanover and Sudbury streets, on July 12, 1834, Mr. Winter was familiar with "the life of those that go down to the sea in ships" from his earliest boyhood. His father, Ignatius Sargent Winter, was a native of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and was born in September, 1811. He died in Boston in 1890. His wife was Sarah Ann Lane, the daughter of Captain Stephen Lane, a sea- faring man who traded chiefly in the East Indies. She was married to Ignatius Winter on July 2, 1833. Her death occurred near Denver, Colorado, on June 3, 1895,

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and she is buried in Boston. Ignatius Winter when a .bers of her family are resting. Both of the children boy of nine was bound out to learn the pail-maker's are living at Sharon, Massachusetts, as both were born in Lowell. The son was born on January 3, 1874, and the sister two years later. Susan May Winter graduated from the Waltham Surgical School in Waltham, Massa- chusetts, and is now a practicing physician in Sharon, making her home with her brother, Harry Atwood Win- ter. trade. When he had mastered this art he worked at it for a time and added that of carpenter to his educa- tion. At nineteen he went to sea, and until his death followed the sea and worked as a carpenter. He was at different times captain and master of various ships, and he sailed to most of the ports known to traders in the west and east. In disposition he was generous and open-hearted to a fault, and while he was not a member of any church, was a consistent follower of the Golden Rule.

Fitz Henry Winter as a boy joined his father on his voyages, and most of his education was secured aboard a sailing vessel, as he never attended a grammar school. However, he is not a sort of person who requires books to acquire knowledge, and the eighteen years he spent on the water were rich in varied experiences for him. He was master of different vessels and visited nearly every part of the world.

On April 18, 1861, Mr. Winter had just returned from a voyage, and he felt that he must go to the front in the struggle, then just beginning. He enlisted in Com- pany C of the American Guards of Gloucester, Massa- chusetts. He remained in this company five days, part of which were spent in going to Boston to take exam- ination for a commission. He was made a sergeant in the quartermaster's department, entering the Thirty- third Massachusetts. The list of the battles in which Mr. Winter fought includes Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Beverly Ford, Gettysburg, Wauhachie, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The entire corps was sent to Knoxville to relieve General Burnside, and in that campaign he passed through the battles of Buz- zard's Roost, Resaca, Cassville, New Hope Church, Kulp's Farm and Kenesaw Mountain. He was with Sherman in the famous march from Atlanta to Savan- nah, and from the latter city he went to Aversberry, North Carolina. The last engagement in which he took part was that of Bentonville. At Sherman s grand re- view in Washington Mr. Winter was present, and in all his experience he escaped without being wounded. He belonged to the Third Division of the Third Bri- gade of the Twentieth Corps, the Blue Star.

It was not until 1877 that Captain Winter came to Helena. He had been living in Lowell, Massachusetts, and was attracted to the west by the large wages paid to mechanics, who were then receiving eight dollars a day. The trip was made by rail as far as Beaver Canyon, and the one hundred and eighty miles from there to Helena by stage. Twice on their route the party ran afoul of the Indians, but finally reached Helena in safety. Here Mr. Winter took up the work of car- pentering, and also did some prospecting in the mines. He became possessed of a mine known as the Whippoor- will, upon which he spent some time and money, but it never produced a dollar of revenue, so he abandoned the precarious business and gave himself entirely to that of carpentering and contracting. This has ever been a profitable occupation in the growing city and Mr. Win-

. ter has been employed in other cities of the state as well. He built the first building in Anaconda. This was the property of Marcus Daly and Ross Clark, a brother of Senator Clark. The structure was used for a grocery store, which these two gentlemen conducted. On Christmas Day of 1867 Mr. Winter was married at Lowell, Massachusetts, to Miss Priscilla Augusta Atwood, a native of Pelham, New Hampshire. Hel father, David Atwood, was a farmer, who lived to the age of ninety-four years, in 1902. He cast his first vote for John Quincy Adams in 1824. Mrs. Winter joined her husband in Helena one year after his arrival, and lived here until her death in 1888, on December 18. She was forty-seven years old at the time she died, and left a son and a daughter to the care of her husband. She is buried in Lowell, Massachusetts, where the mem-

Mr. Winter lives alone in Helena, but is not lonely. He is hale and hearty, and his mental vigor is as un- impaired as that of his body. He has never been sick one day in his life, never had a pain, nor ever taken an ounce of medicine. His memory is a truly remarkable one and it is stored with all sorts of interesting bits of knowledge, gleaned from a varied experience. As a conversationalist he has few equals and to hear him talk upon the earlier days of Montana or of his sea- faring life is one of the most entertaining ways of passing time which can be imagined. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Wadsworth Post, No. 3, of Helena, of which he is senior vice-commander, and he is a Republican in political faith. His friends are of every rank and calling, and their number is legion. They declare that he is seventy-eight years young and are sure that he can never live to be old, no matter how many years he may gladden for them.

GEORGE W. LISCOMB. The name of George W. Lis- comb is perhaps more widely known among the older settlers of the northwest than that of any other man of his time, and wherever it is spoken it recalls to the pioneer westerner the man who for years led the life of a stage driver, expressman, mail carrier, Indian fighter and all around early westerner who was more common thirty years ago than at any time since.

Born in Racine, Wisconsin, on May 5, 1841, George W. Liscomb is the son of Martin and Elizabeth .(See) Liscomb. The father was a native of Vermont, who came to Wisconsin in 1836 and there married Elizabeth See at Racine. She was the daughter of Reverend See, the first minister of the gospel to preach in Chi- cago. Three children were born to Martin and Eliza- beth Liscomb, two sons and a daughter. George W. was sixteen years of age when his family removed from Racine to Iowa county, Wisconsin, and it was there that the youth had his first experience in the driving of four and six horse teams. He worked for a time at the freighting business, hauling flour from the mills in that part of the state, and when he was seventeen years old he was employed as stage driver at Julesburg, for years thereafter following that busi- ness and eventually driving in all the northwest states. He was employed by various companies, among them the Wells-Fargo Express Company, and he bears to this day scars from gun and knife wounds received in the service of these early western concerns.

George Liscomb first came to this section of the state of Montana in about 1877, and after several years of experience in various lines he entered the cattle busi- ness, settling on a ranch and conducting a very suc- cessful business for some years. He dealt largely in cattle and horses, and from a small beginning built up a business that placed him in the front ranks of the stockmen of this section. In 1908 he had pros- pered to such an extent that he retired from the busi- ness and went to California, where he has since made his home at Long Beach. He makes it a point to re- turn to Montana each year to attend the Old Settlers Meeting and the Miles City Fair, and he never lacks a hearty greeting from his old time friends and ac- quaintances, who look forward to seeing him each year, together with his wife, who always accompanies him.

Mr. Liscomb has been twice married. His first wife died, and he later married in Miles City, Montana, Margaret Gearheart, a native of Ohio. This marriage occurred in 1891, and it is more than likely that his

Dr. a. allen D.D.S.

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settling down to the quiet life of a rancher was the result of his marriage.

WILLIAM A. ALLEN, DD. S. From a group of scattered cabins that in 1882 represented Billings, Mon- tana, has been developed a city of wealth and in- portance; a city which is alive with business oppor- tunities, and one where culture, education and refine- ment adorn its homes. Surely those who had the foresight to choose the little unattractive settlement for a home thirty years ago, and through their work, faith and influence have brought about present condi- tions, must feel tne pardonable pride not only of promo- ters, but of originators. It took men of courage, both moral and physical, men of endurance and perseverance, and today many of these men remain to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Among these none are more prominent than Dr. William A. Allen, who has been continuously identified with much of the substantial and permanent development here. It is no unusual occurrence to find among the private citizens of Mon- tana men who have won distinction along many lines, and in Dr. Allen is found not only a master of a scientific profession, but an author, a man of let- ters, an historian and a hunter.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 66

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