A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 87

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

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dent. He is an adherent of the policies and principles of the Republican party and takes an active interest in politics. He is of that sound material to which the people like to entrust their interests and he was elected to the office of state senator of Meagher county.

Mr. Anderson's father, Joshua B. Anderson, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, having come to that section in early days. He lived there throughout the course of his useful life, engaging in agriculture and contracting and at the time of the war doing a great deal of business for the government. He survived the great conflict between the states by less than a decade, passing away in 1873, at the age of fifty-three years. The subject's mother before her marriage was Mary J. Beers, also an Ohioan. She survived her husband for many years, her demise occurring in 1908, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. These admirable people are interred near the old Buckeye state home- stead side by side. There were seven children in their family, the subject being the third child and eldest son. The subject was deprived of a father's guidance when a lad of fifteen, but being the eldest son, he valiantly shouldered responsibility and stuck to the family and ran the farm until his brothers were old enough to take hold. Then he started forth in quest of the adventures for which his soul so long had yearned.

Mr. Anderson received his early education in the district schools of Columbiana county, Ohio, and also took a limited course in the business department of Mt. Union College of Alliance, Ohio. His education, however, did not terminate with his school days, and he is now a particularly well-informed man. He is an attendant of the Presbyterian church, in which his wife is an active member and worker. His affilia- tions are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Lambs' Club of Helena. In the former he has held all the offices. He loves out-door life and never tires of hunting and fishing or of motoring, Meagher county possessing no greater automobile enthusiast. He is a wide reader, enjoying especially history and economics and his library is one of the well-selected ones of the city.

To use the picturesque expression of this breezy Westerner, you could not drive him out of Montana with a pack of hounds, so great an attraction does it exert upon him-its perfect freedom and the fine democ- racy of the people, the grandeur of its scenery and the vastness of its resources.

Mr. Anderson was married in Ohio, December 25. 1878, the young woman to become his bride being Eva King, daughter of George and Sarah King, of Home- worth, that state. This union has been blessed by the birth of three children, two sons and. a daughter, as follows : Glen, married and residing at El Oro. Mexico, where he is a mining engineer-a graduate of Columbia University; Olive, wife of Moncure Cockrell. of Deer Lodge, Montana, Mr. Cockrell being state senator from Powell county ; and Elden, married and residing at White Sulphur Springs, where he is associated with his father in business.

DAVID G. BROWNE. In the foreground of Fort Ben- ton's conspicuous citizens we find David G. Browne, a founder and director as well as the president of the Stockmen's National Bank, the largest bank in northern Montana, with resources of nearly two million dollars. His prominence, however, is by no means merely local, nor is his success due merely to the turns of fortune's wheel. A most interesting demonstration of what man can accomplish entirely through his own energy and determination, is seen in the use which David G. Browne has, throughout his life, made of the oppor- tunities which he knew so well how to adapt to his purposes.

In a modest home near Belfast, in Ireland, he began

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

his earthly existence on the sixteenth day of January, in the year 1859. His education was that to be de- rived from the local schools of the community and its period was concluded with his fourteenth year. He continued studying, however, for his was ability whose initiative force was not dependent upon teachers. In the course of two or three years he had made himself an expert accountant and bookkeeper. But Ireland was not large enough nor progressive enough to hold the ambitions of this youth; when he was seventeen years of age he sailed for the United States, where he imme- diately sought an uncle who had been in this country for some time and who was located in the (then) territory of Utah. He soon secured a position with the Wells-Fargo Express Company as their agent at Kelton. In this capacity he continued for about a year, making good use of his opportunity for observing various features of the transportation business, in which he immediately saw practical possibilities for himself.

In 1878, therefore, he resigned his position in the express office and became the conductor of one of the mule trains which were then a typical form in which the transportation of supplies was accomplished in that new country. In a few months of service with this train, freighting from Corinne, Utah, to various Mon- tana points, David G. Browne saved enough to pass from the position of a hired conductor to that of the owner of a mule team. He thereupon proceeded to engage in freighting from river and railroad points to business centers and mining camps of the territory. Within a year he had bought a second mule team out- fit, and by the time another year had passed he was the owner of four twelve-mule teams, all thoroughly equipped. It was at that time-in the year 1880-that he established himself at Fort Benton.

Mr. Browne was among the foremost men freighters in this region throughout the notably active transporta- tion period from 1879 to 1885. His returns were so gratifying as to gradually place him upon a more and more sure foundation in a financial way. As his trans- portation work by degrees had passed from the active performance of work on trains to the general manage- ment of the same, he was able to interest himself in other lines of business as a side issue. He had, indeed, so conclusively proved his managing ability that in the spring of 1881 he was offered a position with the mer- chants, W. S. Wetzel & Company, of Fort Benton. Accepting this position, he virtually took charge of the firm's affairs, as an office manager. In addition to this work, and that of superintending his mule teams, he also, in 1882, gained a monopoly of the ferry busi- ness at Fort Benton, which enterprise yielded him a gain of $15,000 as a secondary phase of his business. When, in 1883, Wetzel & Company failed, Mr. Browne was appointed assignee. He so manipulated the assets of the house, $250,000, that in the course of a little more than a year's time he had succeeded in closing the business in a manner satisfactory to all concerned.

The government contracts presented possibilities that Mr. Browne's practical mind was not slow in seeing. In 1883 he secured several of these, including the large hay contract at Fort Assiniboine. Two years later he had charge of the government transportation contracts for Montana, Wyoming and the state of Nebraska. His conveying of forage and other neces- sary supplies to the military posts in these sections, including Forts Assiniboine, Maginnis, Shaw and Custer, was accomplished to the satisfaction of the govern- ment and all individuals concerned, as well as being another notable achievement for Mr. Browne.

It was natural that considering the growth of his pecuniary gains, Mr. Browne should become interested in the mechanism of banking business. In 1886 he became one of the active corps of the Bank of Northern Montana, located at Fort Benton. He was made secre- tary of the Fort Benton board of trade, continuing in

that office for fifteen years. When the Stockmen's National Bank was founded in Fort Benton, Mr. Browne was active in the work of its organization, subsequently becoming one of its largest stockholders, as well as a member of its directorate, and is now the heaviest stockholder in that flourishing institution.

As an evidence of his interest in public as well "as private affairs, Mr. Browne is notable as having fre- quently been the incumbent of important offices in the gift of the people or of prominent officials. For a number of terms he served his municipality in the capacity of alderman, and was also commissioner of his county. For eight years he was chairman, in his district, of the' county central committee, and for twenty-four years has been a member of the state Demo- cratic central committee, being the oldest member in point of continuous service on that committee. He was an alternate delegate to the Democratic national con- vention of 1892 at Chicago, when Cleveland was made the presidential nominee of his party before his second election.

One of the chief distinctions that have come to Mr. Browne is that of membership in the constitutional convention at the time when Montana became a state. Another was his appointment in 1891 as a member of the state board of the World's Fair managers, of which body he was treasurer. He was further honored in 1893, when President Cleveland made him collector of customs for Montana and Idaho, the port of entry then being Fort Benton. When in 1896 its location was again changed to Great Falls, Mr. Browne took up his residence in that place, where he remained until 1901. He held his government office throughout the Cleveland administration, as well as that of President McKinley's entire first administration, and during the nine years of his incumbency showed the exceptional judgment and ability that have ever been characteristic of his management of all affairs of which he might have charge.

Mr. Browne was also for many years engaged in the livestock business, being manager and one of the prin- cipal owners of the Bar Eleven Cattle Company. As president of the Stockmen's National Bank his energies are now mainly devoted to his business affairs in that and related lines, to which he gives his personal atten- tion, as well as to his home interests.

Mrs. Browne, nee Emma Wright, of Fort Benton, died in 1891, and Mr. Browne again married in 1895, Miss Antoinette Van Hook of Washington, D. C., becom- ing his wife. The two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Browne complete the family of this capable and successful man of affairs.

ERNEST HENRY SCHUMACHER. Sixteen years of con- scientious public service have made the name of Ernest Henry Schumacher familiar to the people of Bozeman and Gallatin county, and repeated appointments in the office of county clerk testify to the esteem and respect in which he is universally held. Mr. Schumacher came to his present office fully qualified to handle its affairs, and has brought to his work the business sagacity and ability so necessary in directing the affairs of a pros- perous, growing community, his early training having been in a business line. Mr. Schumacher is a son of the Fatherland, having been born near the city of Ham- burg, Germany, January 3, 1861, a son of Henry and Louisa (Mohr) Schumacher.

Henry Schumacher was born on the Rhine, Ger- many, and as a young man was engaged in farming. His death occurred in 1860, caused by an accident, be- fore the birth of his only son. His wife, born near the city of Hamburg, in 1834, and now residing in the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, married for her second hus- band a Mr. Shaffer, by whom she had two sons : Wil- liam and August.

When still a baby, Ernest H. Schumacher was taken'

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

to rear by his grandmother, Mrs. Louisa Schumacher, with whom he lived until he was six years old, at which time he went to live with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Volkers, in Hamburg. He received a liberal education in that city, and when he had com- pleted his studies, secured employment in a wholesale delicatessen house as bookkeeper. During the year 1876 he embarked for the United States, and on November Ist of that year arrived in New York City on a steamer, and for some time thereafter traveled through the east, visiting various points of interest and being for a time a visitor at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In May, 1877, he removed west as far as Waverly, Iowa, where he engaged in business with his cousin, Henry Tiedt, and until 1880 was engaged in farming. That year saw his advent in Bozeman, where he engaged as bookkeeper with the firm of Strasburg.& Sperling, gro -. cers, and after the death of both partners in 1890, he was made manager of the business. In 1893 he pur- chased the establishment with Mr. Langohr, the firm being known as Schumacher & Langohr, a connection that continued until 1896, Mr. Schumacher at that time selling out his interest in the business. In that year he was appointed deputy county clerk of Gallatin county, under Walter H. Sales, and he successively served un- der county clerks H. P. McNaughton, E. V. Blanken- ship, A. A. Cameron and W. E. Brandenburg. Realiz- ing the fact that here was a man thoroughly trained for the office, in 1910 the voters of Gallatin county elected Mr. Schumacher to the position of clerk, and the able, faithful and conscientious manner in which he has dis- charged the duties of his office testifies eloquently in support of their judgment and vindicates their confi- dence and faith in him. In political matters Mr. Schu- macher is a Republican. His fraternal connections are with Gallatin Lodge No. 6. A. F. & A. M., Zona Chapter No. 12, R. A. M., of which he is high priest, and Boze- man Lodge No. 463, B. P. O. E.

Mr. Schumacher was married July 5, 1893, to Miss Lillie Frances Walton, who was born in Kentucky, daughter of Joseph and Annie (Thompson) Walton. Mr. Walton was born in West Virginia, from which state he removed to Kentucky as a young man, and there engaged in farming. In 1887 he came to Gallatin county, Montana, but after two years returned to the Blue Grass State, where he spent his last days in farm- ing, and where his death occurred in 1894. His widow, who survives him, now resides at the home of Mr. Schumacher and has attained the age of seventy-two years. They had a family of four daughters and three sons. Mr. and Mrs. Schumacher have three in- teresting children: Gladys, Ernest P. and Adena J.

XERXES KEMP STOUT. A prominent lawyer of Kalis- pell, Montana, is Xerxes Kemp Stout, whose identifica- tion with the legal profession began about the time Montana was admitted to statehood, or in 1889, though he did not take up the active practice of law until recent years. Not only in point of time but in other ways has he been closely associated with the beginning and subsequent growth of this prosperons common- wealth. Joseph Kemp Toole, the first governor of the state of Montana and previous to that a territorial congressman, was his uncle, and it was Mr. Stout, then a youth of eighteen years, who at the first inaugural ceremonies of the state administered the solemn oath of office to the governor. He served as secretary of the state senate in 1902. and again in 1904, and since November, 1910, has been prosecuting attorney of Flathead county.

Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on the 20th of March, 1871, he was reared there to the age of nine and then in May. 1880, accompanied his parents to Helena, Mon- tana, where the years of his subsequent youth and early voung manhood were spent. Regulus P. Stout, his father, was a native of Missouri, but died at Helena,

Montana, on September 15, 1900. He was a phar- macist by profession but being unable to endure the close confinement of in-door life he turned his atten- tion to agricultural pursuits and became a farmer and stockman. For a short period he served as the private secretary of Governor Toole during the latter's in- cumbency of the gubernatorial chair. He wedded Miss Ella Toole, a sister of Governor Toole and a native of Missouri, whose parents were both Kentuckians by birth and came from their native state to Missouri along in the early '40s. Mrs. Stout still survives and continues to reside in Helena. To this union were born a daughter, Cleora, now the wife of Sidney M. Logan, a practicing attorney at Kalispell, and a son, Xerxes Kemp Stout, who is the subject of this review.

Mr. Stout acquired his education in the common and high schools of Helena. At the age of seventeen he entered the law office of Toole & Wallace in that city, the senior member of which firm was Edwin W. Toole, his uncle, and remained with them until his removal to Kalispell in September, 1894. He was for thirteen and one-half years court reporter of the eleventh judicial district, residing at Kalispell, and in 1902 and 1904 he served as assistant secretary of the state sen- ate. In June, 1910, Mr. Stout was admitted to the bar and on July 1 following he began the active practice of his profession as the junior member of the law firm of Thompson & Stout. Elected to the office of county at- torney in November, 1910, he has continued to serve in that capacity to the present time, discharging the duties of that office while also continuing his private law practice.

His political allegiance is given unswervingly to the Democratic party, in the affairs of which he has al- ways taken a verv active part. Fraternal associations are enjoyed as a member of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and he has attained the rank of past exalted ruler in the latter order.

On March 23, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Stout and Miss Mary Ellen Inglis, a danghter of John and Mary Inglis, of Mount Carmel, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Stout stand high in the esteem of all who know them and are numbered among the most prom- inent people of their city.

MOSES D. RIDER. Of the alert and enterprising busi- ness men of Helena, Moses D. Rider, proprietor of the Capitol Plumbing Company is typical, and not only in commercial and industrial circles, but in other im- portant channels do his intelligent initiative and pro- gressiveness find expression. A native son of the Empire state, his restless, adventurous, enterprising spirit took him in youth to the free, broad life of the west and he has tasted its wholesome experiences in many gnises, even to that of cowboy. In those early days, when the plains were his home, he knew Theo- dore Roosevelt, their ranches adjoining, and the two young fellows found each other's society most agree- able. It is needless to say that Mr. Rider is a whole- souled Progressive.

Mr. Rider was born in Tioga county, New York, April 7, 1869. The birthplace of his father, Stephen J. Rider, was identical with his own, and the date of the elder gentleman's entrance upon this mundane sphere February 6, 1834. The father who answered the dual calling of lumberman and farmer, served as county com- missioner and superintendent of schools. He was an Episcopalian and although revered in his community, found his greatest pleasure in his own home, clubs and lodges finding no place in his idea of happiness. The demise of this good man occurred in March, 1910. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Duff, was like- wise a native of Tioga county, and her death preceded that of her husband by two years. Their union was solemnized on July 29, 1857, in the county which was

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

the scene of birth, life and passing away. Of the five children born to them, Moses was the second in order of nativity.

Moses D. Rider received his first introduction to Minerva, goddess of wisdom, in the public schools of his native county, and he subsequently entered college at Oswego, New York, graduating from that institution of learning with the class of 1876. Upon leaving school he embarked in the butcher's trade at Nichols, New York, this being an independent venture. Dur- ing his attendance at school he had learned the steam fitter's trade with Messrs. Shapley & Wells of Binghampton, New York, so that he was well equipped with trades. He followed the butcher's business for a little over a year, then selling out and at once start- ing west. He first located in Nebraska, taking up his residence at Crete, Saline county and there he en- gaged in farming. His activities in connection with the great basic industry engaged him only about a year, at the end of which time he removed to the west- ern part of the state and engaged in the cattle business, in the picturesque role of a cowboy. He followed ranching life until 1880, which year marks his first identification with Montana. His first residence within Montana territory was at Stoneville, where he found employment with the firm of Pennell, Roberts & Bly, tie contractors for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He remained with this firm for two years and a half and then began over again with the firm as a workman, by efficiency and faithfulness working his way up to man- ager. He began very modestly with a compensation of thirty dollars a month. In course of time he re- signed and became associated with the firm of Marquis De Denores, at Medora, North Dakota, and later was employed as cattle buyer for the Northern Pacific Re- frigerator Car Company. In 1887 he removed to Helena, where his wandering days at an end, he has resided ever since, prosperity and good fortunes com- ing his way.

Mr. Rider's first Helena employment was with the brick manufacturing company, known as W. B. Gor- don & Company, Mr. Rider being one of the three gentlemen who comprised the firm. Frank Keeler was also a member. Their first important contract was the manufacture of the brick for the Helena-Livingston Smeltering & Reduction Company, the contract calling for 3,000,000 brick. The business continued with re- markable success for two years and then went out of business. Mr. Rider then accepted a position with the Helena Steam Heating & Supply Company, which has been established since the year 1886, and was the pioneer plant of its kind in the city, and remained with it for three years. Then Mr. Rider, in association with A. N. Adams, purchased the business later known as the Adams-Rider Company. This partnership was of a year and a half's duration, Mr. Rider then selling out and establishing the Rider & Gilpatrick Steam Fit- ting & Plumbing Company, his association with Mr. Gil- patrick existing from 1895 to 1897. In 1902, he estab- lished the Capitol Plumbing Company, his present busi- ness. This has been most successful and its location is at 10I Broadway. The Capitol Plumbing Company is the second oldest of its kind in Helena. He has other interests of broad scope and importance, in the way of mining and real estate.

Mr. Rider has been recognized by his fellow towns- men as of the proper material for public office. He was deputy sheriff of Saline county, Nebraska, for the year 1879 and in 1884 held the same position in Bill- ings county, North Dakota. From 1898 to 1904 he held the office of alderman of Helena. A tried and true Republican, he has always taken an active part in national, state and local affairs, and has done much to bring about the success of the Grand Old Party.

Fraternally, he is a member of Morning Star Lodge,

No. 5, of Helena, having taken fifteen degrees and filled the chairs to that of senior deacon in the blue lodge. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is past grand of Montana. His church is the Episcopal.

Mr. Rider was happily married at Boulder, Jefferson county, Montana, his chosen lady being Miss Mary E. Osborne. Their union was celebrated on October II, 1888. The date of Mrs. Rider's birth was November 19, 1865. Four interesting children have been born to them. Octavia Adelle, born November 17, 1892, at Helena, is a teacher of violin; Chester F., born Novem- ber 2, 1897, is his father's bookkeeper; Stanley D. Rider, born in July, 1901, died in March, 1902; and Stephen Earnest, born in Helena, December 5, 1902. The residence of the Riders is located at 704 Third street. The subject finds favorite sources of diversion in hunting and fishing and other out-door pursuits. He is very loyal to Helena, whose inferiority to any spot on earth he refuses to acknowledge.

ALEXANDER L. DEMERS has been a resident of Mon- tana for nearly a third of a century, having come hither in 1880. In 1907 he located at Arlee, where he has since maintained his home, and here he is a prominent mer- chant and the popular and efficient incumbent of the office of postmaster. Mr. Demers has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in public affairs and is a willing contributor to all measures and enterprises pro- jected for the good of the general welfare.

A Canadian by birth, Alexander L. Demers was born in Montreal, province of Quebec, Canada, October 16, 1849. His father, Louis Demers, was born and reared in Canada and resided there during his entire life- time. In his younger days he was engaged in farm- ing in the vicinity of Montreal but later turned his at- tention to the contracting business. His wife, whose maiden name was Henrietta Durancean, was likewise a native of Canada and they were married near Mon- treal. He died in 1885 at the age of eighty-three years, and she passed away in 1893 at the age of seventy-nine years. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this review was the first born.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 87

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