A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 69

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

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GEORGE L. OVERFIELD is another of those men of whom one speaks with pride as having passed from adversity through achievement to prosperity. From the post- bellum days, when after the wreck of family fortunes by war, he worked on a farm for a few cents a day, to the period when he could contribute a thousand a year to the support of his parents, his life has included years of industry of patience, of thrift and of thought- ful decisions. Many changes of location have been included in those years, but behind each change was some rational purpose. George L. Overfield was the son of John E. and Sarah (Hanshaw) Overfield, both of whom were natives of old Virginia, the former being a veteran of the Union army at the time of George Overfield's youth. The father died in 1899 at the age of sixty-three and the mother in 1893 at the age of fifty-seven. The subject of this sketch was the third in the family of three sons and three daughters. His education was that of the public schools, pursued until he had reached. the age of fourteen years. On the conclusion of the war, the family plantation having been lost to them at that time, his parents moved to West Virginia. There the father engaged in mercantile business. George Overfield eventually determined upon going into the same kind of work and at Grafton, West Virginia, he accepted a position in the store of his mother's brother, who had a general merchandise estab- lishment there. After three years he passed to similar work in western Maryland and later to other employ- . ment of the same sort in Piedmont, West Virginia. After continuing in that place for five years, he went north with J. W. Bradshaw, a merchant who was the son of John W. Bradshaw, the master of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. At Burton station, West Virginia, he became assistant agent and clerk in the general mer- chandise store. Here he remained for three years.

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In December, 1877, Mr. Overfield made a more decided change. Traveling westward to Montana, he took a position with the Rolla & Clark wholesale dry goods house, a wholesale establishment in Helena, Montana.

On June 4, 1880, Mr. Overfield resigned his position here to establish himself in a business of his own, in partnership with I. F. Churchill. At Centerville, on the old Bozeman trail, opposite Bedford, they located their store which was a retail house handling dry goods, boots and shoes. In the spring of 1881, this store was sold to James Barker. After another season with Rolla & Clark at Helena, he returned to Fort Benton, where he became assistant manager for I. G. Baker & Company, so continuing until 1884. At that time he was transferred by them to the northwest territory and located at Fort McCloud. When the firm sold out to the Hudson Bay Company, in 1890, Mr. Overfield returned to Fort Benton once more. His next removal was to Billings, where he had charge of the business of J. H. Conrad firm, by whom he was presently transferred to Red Lodge, where he re- mained until 1892. He was then stationed at Great Falls, where he was made assignee for the largest of the Joe Conrad dry goods stores. Mr. Overfield's supervision was such that the stock was soon reduced to the value of $20,000, after which he purchased the remainder. A period ensued in which he conducted his store successfully, eventually selling out to the Strain Brothers, who are now the leading dry goods mer- chants in Great. Falls. After that deal, Mr. Overfield took over the Great Falls store, owned by George Thir, also managing the W. B. Rolla & Company dry goods business of Great Falls, for a continued period until forced by ill health to resign the position and return to Fort Benton.

Throughout these years of mercantile service, Mr. Overfield had been so arranging his affairs, pecuniary and otherwise, as to make possible, in 1882, his engag- ing in the very profitable enterprise of cattle-dealing. He is president of the Shonkin Stock Association, a company incorporated for twenty-five thousand dollars. Dr. John V. Carrol is one of the leading stockholders in this corporation. George Overfield is also a director of the Benton State Bank, of which he is also a stock- holder; a director and stockholder of the Benton Elec- tric Light Company, for which he acts as both Sec- retary and treasurer and manager, Dr. Carrol being president ; and a director and stockholder of the Baker opera house. As bounty inspector of the Chouteau County State Stock Association for the state of Mon- tana, Mr. Overfield has served for several years.

Evidences of the public faith in the subject of this sketch are seen in the fact of his having held important offices. For three terms of six years he served on the city council; he has also held the office of county commissioner by appointment from the court.

Mr. Overfield is popular in fraternal circles as a member of the Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons; as a Knight Templar; as a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of which he was in Great Falls a charter member; and as a former member of the Knights of Pythias, in which he was of the uni- form rank. It should be added that he was also a charter member of the Electric Club of Great Falls.

The Overfield home was established September 22, 1900, when the subject was married to Miss Alice M. Daly, a native of England, but before her marriage a resident of Helena. The first son of Mr. and Mrs. Overfield was George L., who was born July 20, 1900, but who died October 4, 1903. Alice, the daughter, . came to the Overfield home on October 22, 1904. Another son, David Bashan, was born in Wichita, Kansas, May 8, 1906.

Mr. Overfield's career has been one representing much patience and self-denial. He is to be congratu- lated that the hard years, in which at the end of much toil he had not the wherewithal to buy a straw hat, are

of the past; and that, with his many profitable invest- ments, his numerous ranches and other real estate, he is in a position to be both a credit and a benefit to the town which is his home.

JOHN J. BLESSING. One of the leading and substan- tial citizens of Meagher county is John J. Blessing, who is engaged extensively in the lumber business, and in building and contracting, and who, having arrived in Montana as early as 1877, may almost be accounted a pioneer. He has resided in this place since the year 1879, and has exerted a definite influence to- ward its prosperity. Here he has enjoyed success, and it has been that particularly admirable success which means also the wholesome good fortune of the community. His lumber operations are in associa- tion with Mr. F. P. Edwards, the firm having the cap- tion of Blessing & Edwards, and are extensive in scope.

Mr. Blessing hails from the Buckeye state, his eyes having first opened to the light of day in Independence, Ohio, on October 10, 1858. He remained amid the scenes of his nativity until about the age of nineteen. when, like so many of the flower of young manhood of his day and generation, he followed the star of empire westward and located within the borders of Montana. His first residence was at Fort Logan, where he stayed for only about six months. He then came to White Sulphur Springs and during his long residence here followed contracting and building. He owns a lum- ber yard in connection with his contracting and build- ing work, and is one of the largest operators in his line within a radius of many miles. His record as a builder in this thriving community has been an envia- ble one, and there are many fine, substantial erections to his credit in Meagher county. What he builds is destined to exist and he has a fine reputation for skilled and excellent work. For a time about the year 1890 he also engaged in the furniture business at this place, but his other interests proved too large and impor- tant to admit of activities in another field and he sold his furniture business in four years.

Mr. Blessing is the son of Joseph Blessing, a native of Germany. The elder gentleman came to America when about thirty years of age and located in Ohio where he followed farming and the lumber business. He was a man typical of those fine characteristics and unusual intelligence which is the birthright of the Teutonic immigrant to our shores, and he became a man of influence in his community. He died in the prime of life, his years numbering but forty-five when summoned to the life eternal in 1869. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Garrett, whom he married in Ohio, and this lady survives, making her home in Independence, Ohio. There were seven chil- dren in the elder Blessing family, the subject being the second in order of nativity. The subject is not the only one of his family to have sought the oppor- tunities of the Golden West, for he has a half-brother in this state and two married sisters in California.

Mr. Blessing was reared on his father's farm in Ohio and received his education in the public schools of Independence and Cleveland, Ohio. The first money he earned was when as a lad of sixteen he began learn- ing the carpenter business, his wages being three dol- lars per week. The proceeds he invested in carpenter's tools.

Mr. Blessing laid one of the most important stones in the foundation of his success by his marriage to Catheryn Hayes, their union being celebrated at Dun- . das, Canada, January 9. 1885. Mrs. Blessing was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Hayes, of Dundas. These children have been born to bless their happy union : Edith R., wife of Dr. Frank Thomas, of Sand Coule, Montana; Austin J., also residing at present in Sand Coule, where he and his brother-in-law, Dr. Thomas, are operating a coal mine in which Mr. Bless-

VIEW OF BELT, TAKEN IN 1899

Johnk Castres

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ing, the doctor and Austin J. are all interested; and Laurence J., still in school.

The subject and his family are communicants of the Catholic church and generous supporters of the same. The former has decided tastes and thoroughly enjoys himself with rod and gun, or when witnessing a really good game of baseball. He loves every inch of Mon- tana, the state overflowing with opportunities for rich and poor alike and he has paid his own debt of grati- tude by the constant exercise of the best and most public-spirited citizenship possible.

JOHN K. CASTNER. History is but the essence of bi- ography and biography is a record of the deeds and doings of men. As a chronicle in this edition of the Belt Valley Times is a record of the careers of our lead- ing business men who have added lustre to the annals of our city's history, we point with pride to the life, labor and efforts of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Castner is an early day pioneer and his life has been replete with interest and furnishes ample data for the descriptive pen of the annalist and historian. When future writers chronicle the story of the progress of Montana, prominent among those who have played a leading part in this vast empire will be inscribed the name of John K. Castner of the city of Belt. Mr. Cast- ner takes high rank among the old time pioneers of the state and on his merits alone comes in for very honor- able distinction in these pages as we pass in review the celebrities of our city. An attempt to narrate even in epitome the incidents which have characterized the ca- reer of Mr. Castner, would transcend the normal prov- ince of this edition, yet it would be culpable negligence were there failure to advent to their more salient de- tails, for he stands out as the "Father of Belt," the orig- inal discoverer of the great coal fields surrounding our prosperous and busy city. He may be called the foun- der of the city and is prominent in business affairs, takes a keen interest in the welfare of the community and moreover, is one of our most highly esteemed citizens.

Mr. Castner was born in Washington county, Penn- sylvania, on September 22, 1844. He attended the schools of his native commonwealth when a lad and taught school for a term in his early manhood days. In 1867 he took Horace Greeley's sage advice and came by steamboat down the Ohio river to St. Louis, from there continuing his journey westward up the Missouri river to a point near Fort Benton, stopping off at Cow Island at the mouth of Cow creek, 125 miles east of the old his- toric fort. There he entered upon his first job in the then "wild and woolly" west as freight watchman. A few months later he let another have his job while he secured work at "whacking bulls" from Cow Island to Fort Benton. During the years 1868 and 1869, in com- pany with Joe Largent, he located on a squatter's claim near Ulm on the Missouri river, wintering on Sun river.

After three years of "pioneer" ranching, cutting hay, fighting mosquitoes amid the spice of "frontier life" with buffaloes and with Indians, Mr. Castner sold out to Mr. Largent, who, by the way, has grown to be the land baron of the Ulm country, owning not only the original squatter's claims but the Ulm estate. Mr. Cast- ner then fitted himself up with mule outfits for freight- ing and which he followed for many years. During 1869 a company of "pioneers" of the country visited the great falls on the Missouri river. Mr. Castner said the party then predicted that if they lived out their natural lives, they believed they would see the country settle up some day, and a town near the falls, but some doubted. The following year, 1870, Mr. Castner started on a touring expedition on horseback to explore the great stretches lying open before him which, as we have said, was inhabited by the wild beasts that roamed over the

plains and the Indians, whose paradise was the Montana hunting grounds.

In those days rivers had to be forded or swam across and on that trip this was one of Mr. Castner's adven- turous experiences just prior to reaching the Belt coun- try, where he discovered coal formations forty-one years ago. In his boyhood days Mr. Castner was raised in the famous Monongahela valley, a great coal region, and this made the discovery comparatively easy when trav- ersing this section of the country so many years ago.

Seven years thereafter, in 1877, when there was a de- mand for coal in the west, Mr. Castner returned to the Belt country and commenced freighting coal to Fort Benton. His first load was a trial one and after haul- ing it all the way from here to Fort Benton he gave it away to the people of the town to test it and see if it really would burn. He held down his mining claims, plotted a townsite, freighted coal to various markets up to 1894, when in conjunction with Senator T. C. Powers, who also owned a mining claim, sold out his interests to the present A. C. M. Co., then under the management of the late Marcus Daly.

Since that time great changes and the most marvelous developments have taken place in the mines, town, and in fact the entire country surrounding the town has be- come populated and is a great farming, stock-raising, and even fruit-growing section of Montana. Belt no longer is merely a coal camp. It is the second largest city in Cascade county, and promises with its super- abundance of cheap fuel to attract the manufacturer to the town. Even now it has a chance to excel Great Falls, the county seat, as a city of industries in the not too far distant future. The coal company here gives work to nearly 300 miners and there is a good payroll every month. Besides, there are a half dozen or more coal prospects being opened up and worked to some ex- tent, and when the market justifies a great output will be the order of the day here.

The main street of the town is Castner street, called after Mr. Castner. He also owns the Castner Hotel, one of the most famous hotels in the state, and operated it for over thirty years. The town of Belt was incor- porated in 1907 and Mr. Castner was unanimously chosen the first mayor, which position he filled with honor for three years. Last, but not least, he is the president of the Belt board of education. "Education" is his hobby. He prides himself in the good schools of the town and let it be said that for educational advantages in public schools, high schools or business college work, no town in the west is superior to Belt. The high school is an accredited institution to the state university and President Dunnaway and the state governor on their recent visit to the town highly complimented the board and the townspeople on the high character of their educational facilities and standing of the school and the most excellent well-trained teachers who have the work of the training of the youth-"Young America" -- in hand. When the new high school was completed Mr. Castner donated to the institution his own fine pri- vate library, a rare collection of scientific works, his- tories, letters of men of note, etc., etc. In so short an article as this it is impossible to go into details to tell of the good things Mr. Castner has done for Belt, but suffice it to say that to no one man is due more credit for the making of Belt than Mr. Castner. He is the town's chief realty operator and is also the official notary public.

His record for fair dealing has made for him a host of friends and the interests of the investor as well as the seller are safe in his hands.

We cannot place too much emphasis upon the value of such a man to a growing community. Mr. Castner will enter on his sixty-eighth year on the 22nd day of September. He is hale and hearty and full of mental vigor. He is an enthusiastic Republican and an ardent admirer of "America's Idol," Ex-President Theodore

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Roosevelt, whom he visited some time ago in the White House at Washington, D. C.

Mrs. Castner has a fine stock ranch in the Highwood mountains and is beloved by all who know her.

Time nor space will permit the elaboration of a biographical sketch in this edition. As we refer to the men of note in our growing city we take pleasure in according Mr. Castner this altogether too brief mention and award him a high place in these columns as we pass in review. . Mr. Castner is a member of the lodge of Odd Fellows and takes a great interest in the doings of the order. He is also a director of the North Montana Fair Association and is also a member of the Montana State Pioneers' Society.

JOSEPH STURGEON is without doubt one of the longest established residents of Valier, in which town he was located before it was named or had a building. In fact. he used the townsite for a grazing spot for his cattle at one time, in the earlier days when he confined his interests to the cattle business. With the passing years, however, Mr. Sturgeon has added one interest to an- other, until he is now identified with various business industries in this section of the state. He is actively engaged in the mercantile business in Valier and has wide mining interests, as well as being identified with the stock business. Altogether, he is one of the enter- prising and progressive men of the county, and as such is eminently deserving of some mention, even though of necessity it be brief, in the pages of this historical and biographical work.

Mr. Sturgeon was born in New York state on No- vemher 18, 1859, and is the son of Henry E. and Ann (Duffy) Sturgeon. The father was a native of Eng- land who came to America in 1849, settling in Schenec- tady, New York, where he was engaged as a merchant up to the time of his death, which took place there in 1870. The wife and mother was born in Dublin, Ire- land, and she came to the United States in 1847, the same year in which her husband emigrated from Eng- land. They were the parents of seven children, all boys. Five of them migrated to Montana and are numbered among the early pioneers of this great state. Joseph and Harry are now deceased. Charles is a resident of Ore- gon ; James is a resident of California; Joseph, subject of this review; Henry was in General Hagden's survey party that laid out Camp Baker, Fort Sheridan and the National Park. He helped to bury the soldiers after the Custer massacre and was a witness at Washington in the investigation which followed that disastrous battle. John and Joseph were associated in the cattle business in Beaverhead county in the early days, and were among the carly settlers of Butte.

For twenty-five years Mr. Sturgeon was located on Nevada creek, where he was engaged in the stock bnsi- ness, near Helenville, and to him is given the credit for having carried on the first ranching in Douglas county. From there he removed to Teton county, locating in Dupuyer, where he engaged in mercantile lines, still continuing with the stock business, and despite his many other enterprises, Mr. Sturgeon now carries on his ranching business in Teton county, where he controls more than two thousand acres of ranch lands. His mining properties in Deer Lodge and Granite county require a deal of his attention, and his mercantile in- terests in Valier make heavy draughts upon his time. but he is able to give some consideration to affairs of a civic nature, and is regarded as one of the most public- spirited citizens of the community. He is a Republican, but has no political ambitions. Fraternally, Mr. Stur- geon is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Havre, Montana. His success, which has been of the highest order, has been entirely of his own making, as he came to Montana in 1877 when he was but eighteen years of age, with no resources beyond his native pluck and energy, and he has amply demonstrated

the winning power of those qualities, when backed by qualities of honesty and integrity.

On September 28, 1911, Mr. Sturgeon married Miss Tonetta Lawrence, the daughter of John Lawrence of Neihart, Cascade county, a pioneer resident of the state.

JAMES ALBERT POORE, B. L. D., is assistant attorney general for the state of Montana, and at the same time one of the rising young representatives of the legal profession in his state. In the few short years that have intervened since he was graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia, he has made rapid strides in material advancement, and his appoint- ment to the important position he has held since May, 1910, came as a most speaking testimonial of the intrin- sic worth of the young man in his relation to the pro- fession of which he is a representative.

Born December 15, 1879, in Boulder, Montana, James Albert Poore is the son of James and Jane Poore, both born in England. The father was born on August 29, 1829, of a long line of English ancestors, and he came to America in 1849, reaching Montana for the first time in 1863. He followed placer mining in the state for some years, his principal operations being carried on at Virginia City, Last Chance Gulch, Butte, and in the vicinity of Boulder. He then returned to England, where he married, and in 1877 came west to Montana with his bride. He died there on February 14, 1902, at the age of seventy-three years. The mother, Jane Taylor (Baldwin) Poore, was born in England on October 2, 1846, of English ancestry, and she accom- panied her husband to Montana in 1877, after her mar- riage in her native land. She survives her husband and shares the home of her son, James A. Poore, of this review. These parents reared a family of four chil- dren, born in the order in which they are briefly men- tioned below: Sarah Maude Boyington, the only dangh- ter, is a resident of Los Angeles, California; James Albert, of Butte, Montana; Thomas T., also of Butte, and Philip George, residing in Helena, Montana.

James Albert Poore attended the common schools of Boulder, as a boy, later entering the Helena Business College at Helena and still later taking a course in the Butte Business College. In 1898, when he was nineteen years old, he entered the employ of the law firm of Forbis & Mattison, at Butte, in the capacity of law clerk and stenographer, and there he remained until he had accumulated sufficient funds to enable him to take a course in law at the university. In the autumn of 1903, Mr. Poore matriculated in the law department of the University of Virginia and he was graduated from that department with the degree of B. L. in 1905. He returned to Butte and opened an office for the practice of law immediately thereafter. and he still maintains offices in this city, where he has made his home.

In the fall of 1908, Mr. Poore was nominated by the Republican party, whose adherent he is, as their can- didate for the office of county attorney for Silver Bow county, but he was defeated by the Democratic nominee, a fact readily explained when it is known that the county is a Democratic one by several thousand. In May, 1910, he was appointed assistant attorney gen- eral of Montana, which position he has continued to hold up to the present time, and will go out with the present Republican attorney general on the first Mon- day in January, 1913. It is the intention of Mr. Poore to devote his entire time to his law practice in Butte after the first of the year, where he has an excellent reputation for legal ability, and where he has gained the respect and confidence of all who have come to know him in the years of his residence here. He has always enjoyed an agreeable business practice, and his appoint- ment to the position of assistant attorney general has laid upon him added duties and responsibilities which have made him one of the busiest young men in Butte.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 69

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