A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 82

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

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

After attending the district schools of Deer Lodge valley and later the public schools of Anaconda, Mr. Heagy took a business course in Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York. In the meantime, while still a boy, he had become a bookkeeper and solic- itor in the meat business and continued this line of work until 1902, when he established his present busi- ness. His market is well fitted out with machinery, cold storage boxes and all other such appliances as are to be found in the most modernly equipped meat markets of the day. The same progressiveness which he so much admires in his state forms a part of his own character as a business man, and his enterprise, energy and fair dealings have won him a gratifying patronage.

Mr. Heagy was married at Butte, Montana, on June 14, 1909, to Miss Annie K. McDonald, whose former home was in Nova Scotia. Mr. and Mrs. Heagy have a son 'Earl, born April 8, 1911, Mr. Heagy by a former marriage also had one son, Herald E., born June 7, 1898, and now attending public school and business col- lege at Butte.

As a Republican Mr. Heagy takes no other than a voting interest in politics. His fraternal associations are with the Masonic order, in which he has held dif- ferent offices in the Chapter degrees and is also a mem- ber of Bagdad Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., at Butte.

HARRY B. DRUM. The pursuits of industry are admitted by all civilized nations to furnish the fairest field for the triumphs of man; and the earliest and most successful of its cultivators are entitled to the most grateful remembrance of their successors. Harry B. Drum, a prominent citizen of Belmont, is one of those whose sagacity and industry in early days helped lay the foundation of the agricultural and commercial progress of the Yellowstone valley, and now after he has filled out a well-rounded career, he may well lay claim to respite from the responsibilities of business activities. Harry B. Drum was born in that part of Allegheny City, (Pa.) that is today included in the city of Pittsburgh, December 3, TS39, and is a son of Simon and Elizabeth (Workman) Orum, natives of Westmore- land county, that state.

Simon Drum was born in 1829 and received his edu- cation in Allegheny City, where he spent the greater part of his life. Kis prominence in the business world and the ability "which he at all times displayed, caused his election to the office of mayor, in which capacity he was servin at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. At that time he organized Company H of the One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment, Pennsyl- vania Volunteer Infantry, with which he served as captain until the close of hostilities, at which time he was presented with a beautiful silver service in token of the regard in which he was held by the members of fis company, and on his return he was again sent to the mayoralty chair, his service as chief executive of his city covering three terms. He was the proprietor of a large planing mill, engaged extensively in the hardware business as a wholesaler, was one of the organizers of the old Benjamin Franklin Bank, of which he was president, and assisted in organizing the Benjamin Franklin Fire Insurance Company, and was acting as its president at the time of his death in 1896. A stanch Republican in his political views, he served as chair- man of the city council for many years and was known is a leader of his party's forces. Fraternally, he was prominent Mason. He and his wife, who survives him and has reached her eighty-fourth year, were the parents of thirteen children, of whom four survive: Martha, who is the wife of Austin St. John; Harry B; Amanda; and Julia, who is the wife of Louis Lusten- berger.

Harry B. Drum received his education in the public schools of Allegheny City and the Newell Institute of Pittsburgh. Early in life he displayed those traits of

industry and enterprise which had made his father suc- cessful, and during vacations, while his comrades were spending their time in recreation, he secured employ- ment from the city driving a dump cart engaged in grading the streets of Allegheny City, his wages being $4.50 per week. After he had finished his studies he became a clerk in the auditor's office of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, which is now a part of the Pennsyl- vania System. continued with that company for three years, and in 1880 started for the west, traveling by rail as far as the terminus of the Northern Pacific, then Bismarck, North Dakota. Mr. Drum then boarded the steamer "Key West," on which he went up the Missis- sippi river to Fort Benton, and there formed an acquain- tance with a party which had come by boat from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. This party, of which Mr. Drum became a member, went through to the head of the Musselshell river, where Mr. Drum entered the employ of a Dick Clendenin as a sheep herder. Subse- quently be became a cow puncher, an occupation at which he worked until the fall of 1883, and then, having care- fully saved his earnings, invested his capital in sheep. This venture, however, proved unfortunate, as during the winter that followed all of his animals died except about ninety head, which he sold during the spring. Nothing daunted at this misfortune, Mr. Drum again took a position as cow puncher, which he followed until the winter of 1886-7, when he was employed as stage driver between Lavina and You Bet, in the Judith Gap, and after again following cow punching during the summer of 1887 became a rancher in the Mussellshell valley. At first he followed sheep raising, but eventually gave up that vocation to raise cattle, and so successful were his operations that he became the owner of eleven thousand acres of land. He sold out all of this property, however, in 1907; in the summer of IgII disposed of his cattle, and is now not only actively engaged in scientific farming, but is also largely interested in the Belmont State Bank, of which he is president. He now makes his home in Belmont, near which place he owns some sixteen hundred acres of fine land. As a citizen Mr. Drum is identifying himself with the best interests of his city. He is a Republican and takes a keen interest in political matters, but only as a spectator. He is prominent and popular in fra- ternal circles, and belongs to Ashler Lodge No. 29, A. F. & A. M., Billings Chapter No. 6, R. A. M., Aldemar Commandery No. 5, K. T., and Algeria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Helena; and to Billings Lodge No. 394, B. P. O. E.

On June 11, 1890, Mr. Drum was married to Miss Lillias Rae, who was born in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, daughter of John and Agnes (Crookston) Rae, natives of Scotland. Mrs. Drum was the fourth in order of birth of her parents' children, and has four sisters and two brothers. Mr. Rae brought his family to the United States when Mrs. Drum was a mere child, settling in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and the greater part of his life was spent as a traveling salesman. He was a Scottish Rite Mason. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Drum, namely: Elizabeth, who is attending school in Los Angeles, California; Simon, a student in the Polytechnic Institute of Billings; and Agnes, who attends a young ladies' school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

HENRY W. ROWLEY. In considering those among the Yellowstone valley's citizens whose activities have been directed toward developing the resources of the section, and whose foresight has been rewarded in a most sub- stantial manner, one's mind instinctively turns to the subject of this sketch, Henry W. Rowley, a man who, through business sagacity and acumen has risen to a commanding position in this locality's financial and in- dustrial circles. He was born at Newport, New York, October 1, 1858, and is a son of Nelson and Abigail

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(Coffin) Rowley, natives of the Empire state, both of whom are deceased.

Nelson Rowley, who in his native state followed the occupations of farmer and lumberman, left the east in 1868 and settled in Farmington, Minnesota, where he carried on farming during the remainder of his life. He was an active Republican, was prominent in Ma- sonry, and was known as a useful and public-spirited citizen. He and his wife had four children, Henry W., the youngest, being the only survivor.

Henry W. Rowley began his education in the schools of Newport, New York, and accompanied his parents to Minnesota when he was ten years old. After com- pleting the public school course, he entered the Uni- versity of Minnesota, and on graduating therefrom se- cured employment in the engineering department of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In the spring of 1880 he came to Montana with the engineering corps of the company, in the service of which he remained for about two and one-half years, after which he became con- nected with the Minnesota and Montana Land and, Improvement Company, a concern which owned about 30,000 acres in the Yellowstone valley. Mr. Rowley's activities were devoted to surveying the land for irri- gation, the canal which was subsequently built being forty miles in length and covering some 60,000 acres. In 1885 Mr. Rowley became one of the organizers of the Billings Water Company, which installed the first water works and electric light plant in Billings, and he continued as the active head of this enterprise until 1908, when the electric plant was sold. He has con- tinued, however, as president of the water company, and is also president of the Northern Hotel Company, and a director in the Merchants National Bank of Billings and the First National Bank of Seattle, Wash- ington. In addition, he has large real estate holdings and is interested in various enterprises of an expensive nature. His political belief is that of the Republican party, but has had no desire for positions of public preferment. As an organizer and an executive Mr. Rowley has been the chief factor in developing a num- ber of large industries, and no movement that has for its object the advancement of the city's interests is considered complete until his name has been enlisted as one of the supporters. He has been prominent in fra- ternal work, and is a member of Ashlar Lodge, No. 29, A. F. & A. M .; Billings Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M .; Aldemar Commandery, No. 5, K. T .; and Algeria Tem- ple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Helena.

On May 8, 1883, Mr. Rowley was married to Miss Harriet Meeker, who was born in New York, daughter of Lewis Meeker, and six children have been born to this union, as follows: Farr B .; Hugh; Helen, who married C. D. Howe, a government civil engineer of Huntley, Montana; Harriet; Henry N., and Jules.

EDWARD B. HOWELL, of Butte, Montana, is a prominent attorney of that city. Among mining men he is widely known as the author of a manual on mining law, and he also gives instruction on this subject to the students of the Montana State School of Mines. Among the farmers he is known as the inventor of the weir gauge, an instrument used in measuring the water of running streams.

Mr. Howell was born at Centreville, Iowa, on the 22nd of September, 1857. He was the son of Charles and Lavinia (Ward) Howell, who were natives of New York state. Charles H. Howell migrated from New York state to Iowa in 1847 and became one of the pioneer merchants of that commonwealth. At the time of his death, in 1887, he held the honored position of being the oldest citizen of Centreville. Mr. Howell's ancestors came to this country more than two hundred years ago, and some of them were soldiers in the Revo- lutionary war.

Edward B. Howell grew up in Centreville, Iowa, and

attended the public schools of his home town. Upon completing his work there he went to Grinnell, Iowa, and entered Grinnell College. He was graduated from this institution in 1879, and later, the same college bestowed upon him the honorary degree of A. M. He was obliged to earn his own way to a large extent in acquiring his education, and accomplished this by teach- ing. During his college course he taught country schools and he also acted as tutor to preparatory classes at Grinnell. After graduation he was employed as principal of schools at Virginia City, Montana, then as teacher of the high school at Butte and afterwards as city superintendent of the Butte schools. Mr. Howell took his professional course at the law school of the State University at Iowa City. He was graduated therefrom with the degree of LL. B. in 1882. His first experience in the practice of law was at Grinnell, Iowa, where he was a member of the firm of Haines, Lyman & Howell. For nearly twenty years Mr. Howell has been practicing law at Butte, and some of his best clients are men who as youngsters went to school to him thirty years ago.

In politics Mr. Howell is a Republican. In his pro- fessional life he is a member of the Silver Bow Bar Association and of the Montana State Bar Association. Through the deeds of his ancestors he is entitled to membership in the society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and should take great pride in belonging to a society which has for its foundations the noble deeds of the fathers of our country.

Mr. Howell was married in Butte, Montana, to Miss Estina Wylie, the ceremony taking place on the 2nd of August, 1883. His wife was born in Virginia, and her family later moved to Winterset, Iowa, and finally to Centreville, where Mr. Howell first met her. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Howell. The eldest, Roxy, was born in Butte, and is now the wife of J. F. Derge, of Missoula, Montana. The oldest son is Henry Ward Howell, who was born in 1889 in Cali- fornia. He is now a student in the University of Pennsylvania, making a specialty of the study of archi- tecture. Richard, the youngest son, was born in 1894 at Butte, and is at present a student in the Butte high school.

HON. CHARLES B. TOWERS. New England is well represented in the substantial citizenship of Custer county, Montana, and among the business men . of Miles City it is not unusual to find college graduates who are entitled to add letters to their names indicating the professional degrees which they have won in the east, while, perhaps, they must give the west credit for their financial independence. Hon. Charles B. Towers came as a civil engineer to Montana in the spring of 1880, and the thirty odd years he has spent here have been busy and useful ones and he may be numbered with the constructive men of this section. Mr. Towers was born at Richmond, Chittenden county, Vermont, July 20, 1855, and is a son of Robert and Harriet (Bull- ard) Towers.

Robert Towers was born in 1801, a son of Robert Towers, a Revolutionary soldier who had settled at Richmond, Vermont, after the close of that war. The latter Robert Towers was a native of the Orkney Island, off the coast of Scotland, and was a conscripted soldier in the British army when brought to the Ameri- can colonies. He never returned to his native place, but became an American citizen, married and reared a family of two daughters and four sons, the second Robert being one of the younger children. The latter followed an agricultural life in Chittenden county, where he became a man of affairs, and on the Republi- can ticket was twice elected a member of the Vermont legislature. He was a member of the Universalist church. His death occurred in 1880, surviving his wife for nine years. She was born in Massachusetts.

Laura

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They were parents of ten children, two daughters and eight sons, Charles B., being the seventh son in order of birth.

Charles B. Towers was graduated from Goddan Seminary, at Barre, Vermont, in the class of 1875, and from Tufts College, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1878, securing his degree of civil engineer. In the spring of 1880 he came to Helena, Montana, and after a period of prospecting located the Richmond mine, on the Deer Lodge range, this being in 1882, after which he came to Miles City, where he decided to embark in business, shortly afterward opening a store in the line of gentlemen's furnishings, boots and shoes. In 1895 he turned his attention to the real estate business, in which he so prospered that in 1909 he incorporated under the firm name of C. B. Towers & Company, dealers in real estate and investments. He is president . of this company and is also president of the Towers- Burt Land Company and of the Custer Abstract Com- pany. As a citizen of Miles City he has been active and public spirited, was elected the first alderman from the First ward after the city was organized and was instrumental in placing the public schools on their pres- ent solid basis, serving several terms as school trustee. His useful activities in public life have also had a wider range, as in 1907 he was elected a member of the state legislature, in which body his services were beneficial to his constituents.

On October 22, 1885, Mr. Towers was married to Miss Adelaide J. Hodges. They are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Towers is a member of Yellowstone Lodge, No. 26, A. F. & A. M .; Miles City Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M .; and Miles City Lodge No. 537 B. P. O. E.

DUNCAN CAMERON. Of all the compliments paid to Montana, it is safe to say that none have exceeded in eloquence that of Duncan Cameron, who has thrice left the state and every time returned, its charms and advantages appealing to him above those of all other sections. The list of enterprises with which this progressive and resourceful gentleman has been iden- tified is a long one, and as he has the gift of making fine ideas realities he is a distinct asset to any under- taking. He is now engaged extensively in real estate business in this county, and is one of the most im- portant men in the field, being at the head of the widely-known D. Cameron Mining and Realty Com- pany. He is a native of Canada, but, as is vividly sug- gested in his name, he is of Scotch origin and pos- sesses in marked degree those staunch traits for which the Scotch nation is famed.

Mr. Cameron was born in Ontario, Canada, June 5, 1860. Amid the scenes of his birth he remained until about eight years of age, when his parents re- moved to Minnesota, where they lived until 1878. In that year they made another change of residence, this time to Kansas and Duncan came on to North Dakota. While in Bismarck he was engaged for two years in the freighting business from Bismarck to the Black Hills in South Dakota, where he engaged in construction work on the Northern Pacific Railway, west of Man- dan, and followed the same as far as Glendive, Mon- tana. At Glendive he sent men out with two teams to go to a tie camp, a distance of about eighty miles away, on the Little Missouri river. The trio proved a luckless one, for they were attacked by Indians, the horses being captured, the wagons destroyed, one man killed and another wounded. Mr. Cameron was dis- couraged over travel and railroad work in that section of the west and in consequence he sold his other teams and embarked in mercantile business at Glendive, where he remained for about a twelvemonth, then removing to Miles City, where he remained for a year, en- gaging in the same line of business. From that point he went on to Forsythe, or what was to be

Forsythe, and enjoys the distinction of having built the first house in the town. In the new settlement he remained for the space of two years, but at the same time he had interests in other locations, among them at Billings and Junction City.

Recently after a trip to Bozeman and through the Gallatin valley, Mr. Cameron in an interview pub- lished in the White Sulphur Springs, contrasts the country as it is now and as it was at the time he first went there. He says: "It was my first visit since 1879 to that city, and that trip was made on horse- back in company with the famous scout and horse- man, James Cummings, familiarly known by the sobriquet of 'Racehorse Jim.'

"The principal reason for our mode of locomotion at this period was the unsafeness of stage travel, the country being infested by bandits, who daily held up travelers, making the territory and many people living here remember some of the notorious char- acters who then infested this and other parts of Mon- tana, but I will only mention Dick Turpin and Black Bart. However, there were many others of this stamp.

"To me, my recent trip through the Gallatin was one of many surprises. I could not help but contrast the yesterday with the today. I could but close my eyes and, looking back, almost see again the great herds of thousands of buffalo and antelope which roamed freely over the vast plains to eventually fall and pass away before the ever and determined march of civilization.

"Bozeman, then a small, struggling place, has, by the indomitable pluck and energy of its builders, those sturdy pioneers who braved the tough conditions of that day, now become a prosperous and beautiful city with a future most bright assured her. Where naught but miles and miles of arid plains existed in the valley surrounding, I find a veritable storage of wealth and plenty. Barren plain has been, by the husbandman, converted into rich and fertile farm country, where peace and contentment are the order of things."

Mr. Cameron then gives the practical application of the facts he has noted for the benefit of the people of the Valley of Smith river, as follows: "What the Gallatin valley has done for Bozeman, our valley of Smith river can do for White Sulphur Springs, but we need builders, men with energy and money to assist what nature holds for us at our door. We can do this by putting forth effort. Our resources should be advertised and our efforts, if carried out along the line of boost instead of knock, will be crowned with success, and there is no reason that my statement in Bozeman that five years hence will see a city here of five thousand, will not have become a positive fact."

The interview concludes with a statement by the editor : "That Mr. Cameron's efforts are not without result is shown by the fact that several investors have already visited our valley from Bozeman and are interested."

In 1882 Mr. Cameron disposed of all his interests and went east, traveling over the country with trotting and running horses. However the lure of the west was in his blood and in 1886 he returned to Montana and located at Helena. He operated in general mining business in various camps in the state for about five years and in 1891 went to Colorado, where for two years he operated in the Cripple Creek and Crede dis- tricts. He went thence to Sioux City, Iowa, and again became active in the horse business, his interests in this field taking him to Chicago. In the Windy City he became interested in real estate and remained there four years. Again the fascination of far-away Mon- tana became a disturbing element in his dreams and he returned to remain within the boundaries of the state from that time till the present. Despite its vast proportions Mr. Cameron is familiar with every corner

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of the state, his real estate business having taken him over it. He became interested in White Sulphur Springs, in whose future he believes and whose peculiar advantages impressed him, and in 1910 he established himself here. As mentioned previously, he divides his energies between mining and the realty business.

We quote several passages from a letter issued to prospective investors as exemplifying the fair and hon- est methods of the D. Cameron Realty Company. They operate on a strictly commission basis, and con- sequently the prices are as low as possible, and from this unexaggerated account of the advantages of Smith valley it can be seen that they put the country on its own merits and do not seek to attract by sensational stories.

"The land of grain of which no other spot on the continent produces, a land where hardy vegetables are raised equal to the best in this country, a land that for the want of effort of the practical farmer of mod- ern methods has had its real resources hidden and until now has been used for little else than cattle and sheep raising, the latter industries of course have been most profitable in not only Montana but the entire west. And only with great reluctance are the great cattle and sheep barons giving way to the progressive onward march of the modern method ranching and we are pleased to say that our company has con- tributed no small part in bringing about this new con- dition, by a persistent endeavor made in our humble way to acquaint the eastern farmer of the great pos- sibilities offered in western ranching.

"The Smith River Valley occupies a splendid posi- tion. It is located in about the southern central part of Montana, lying between Castle and the Elk moun- tains on the east, and the Big Belt mountains of the west, and is about fifty miles in length and from ten to twenty miles in width. The beautiful Smith river, which parallels a branch line connecting with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway, with its many tributaries which feed it, run through the center of the valley, furnishing ample water the year round for all necessary uses, yet the county is not depend- ent on the river or other streams, for wherever prac- tical methods have been resorted to it has been demonstrated that the thousands of acres of bench lands are productive for dry farming, for on such lands and under such conditions some of the best crops have been obtained. these lands yielding from thirty to forty bushels of wheat per acre and from sixty to eighty bushels of oats per acre, and it is de- cidedly advantageous for grasses on account of the superior quality of soil."

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 82

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