A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 89

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

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wherein the British troops under Colonel Ferguson were signally defeated by the colonists composed mostly of militia without any regular commander, while but thirty-five miles distant was fought the battle of the Cow Pens, in 1781. In the latter engagement was the father of Isabella Henry. She was born July 5, 1788, in Lincoln county, North Carolina, the daughter of Major William Henry, who was born in York District, South Carolina, in 1753, and died September 12, 1807. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and at the battle of the Cow Pens was a member of Captain Gordon's Company, under General Morgan. Major William Henry often related to his family and friends how the soldiers were awakened at four o'clock in the morning of January 17, 1781, and informed that they were to stand and give battle to the British under General Tarleton. The poorly clad colonists were glad for this opportunity, as for several days they had been fleeing from the enemy, many of them were worn out with fatigue and were glad of a chance to fight. Soon after daylight Tarleton's Legions came in sight and on a piece of high ground to the east mustered his men, and at sunrise the charge was made. The comrade of William Henry, Andrew Soften, fell dead at the first fire and dropped lengthwise in front of him. Step- ping over his dead body to a Black Jack tree, Mr. Henry fired his rifle seventeen times, when the British were routed. After the battle he took a pair of shoes from the feet of a dead British soldier and placed them on his almost bare feet. The father of William Henry was also William, born 1715, in County Down, Ireland, and lived to the age of one hundred and four years. The mother of Isabella Henry, and wife of Major William Henry, was Rosanna Moore, a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania. Her father and brothers were murdered by the Indians at the mas- sacre at McLords Fort in 1764. She often told of how she heard the roar of musketry at the battle of King's Mountain, as well of other incidents that hap- pened before and after that battle.

In March of 1810 Joseph Carroll with his bride set- tled on his father's homestead on Allisons creek, and resided there until he removed to the west. He and his wife early united with the Seceder church (which is Presbyterian Assential), and remained in that con- nection until they bade adieu to the Carolinas. After the close of the war of 1812 Joseph Carroll came to a realization of the fact that his opportunities for making proper provision for his family in a section where lands were high in orice and inferior in quality were not nearly as good as what a new country could offer. Consequently, in September, 1816, with his wife and four children, he set out for the territory of Missouri, where strong inducements were being held out to those desiring homes. The family and all their earthly effects were carried in one wagon. This little party crossed the Blue Ridge mountains at a place called Swanano Gap, and in November arrived at South Warpath, Davidson county, Tennessee. Here they passed the winter of 1816-17, with a brother of Mrs. Carroll, William Henry, who had settled there some years before. In March. 1817, they resumed their journey westward and in May arrived at Edwardsville, Illinois, which was then the seat of the territorial government. Mr. Carroll rented a small piece of farming ground here and planted it in corn, also began work at his trade. While there the surveyor general of Illinois territory came to Edwardsville to visit the Governor, and Mr. Carroll formed his acquaintance. This gentle- man strongly urged Mr. Carroll to move up into the Sangamon valley, in Illinois, pointing out to him the great future of that section.

But as a great many of his friends and family con- nections from the Carolinas had settled in Missouri. and others were on the way, all of whom possessed more or less slave property, which could not be retained

in Illinois, he again loaded his precious household and started for Missouri. They crossed the Mississippi river at what is now Alton, Illinois, but was then called Smelser's Ferry, which landed them in St. Charles county, in June, 1817. They proceeded on their way and stopped near the Buffalo Lick, where they paused while Mr. Carroll was able to take a look at the country. Selecting a location on Haw creek, he proceeded to cut logs preparatory to erecting a cabin, when he met with Bennet Goldsberry, of Frankford, who informed him that the land he had selected was covered by a confirmed French claim, that the heirs lived in France, and in all probability the land would not come into the market for many years, which proved to be true, for not until 1853 did the land change hands. James Templeton, Sr., having settled on and preempted four quarter sections of land on the middle of the dividing line between sections 4 and 5, in township 53, I. W., he tendered Mr. Carroll the southwest quarter of section 4, reserving ten acres of the northwest corner to be deeded to Mr. Templeton when Mr. Car- roll obtained a patent to the same. This arrangement was carried out in 1838. On this tract of land Mr. Carroll settled, and here the remainder of his family were born. It remained in his possession until 1858, when he sold it to two of his nephews, James and Baniah Carroll. In 1818 Mr. Carroll attended the first public land sale in St. Louis, then a French village of 3,600 people, and entered by preemption the old home- stead in Pike county, Missouri.

Mr. Carroll survived until 1860, his good wife having passed away on November 17, 1840, and hers was the first death in a family of eleven children and parents. The children all lived to adult ages. Joseph Carroll and his wife were most earnest and devout Christians and their lives offered both lessons and incentives to all who came within the sphere of their influence. Originally a member of the Seceder church, in 1842 he united with the Associate Reform church in Mis- souri. with which he continued to be affiliated until his death. Concerning him the following statements have been written in a history of the family: "He was a inan of good sense, generous impulses but strong preju- dices, sometimes to a fault, but he was a practical Christian, strongly Calvanistic in his faith." He was a constant reader of the Bible, loved to pore over the old writings of Erskine, Boston, Dickinson and Brown, who wrote his favorite system of divinity; was sternly opposed to all innovations in religion, and was proverb- ially scrupulous in his reverence for and observance of the Sabbath day. He was buried in the old Buffalo burying ground in Pike county, Missouri. He was one of the genuine pioneers of that county, and it is said that his blacksmith tools were the first of the kind ever brought into Pike county. His family of eleven chil- dren comprised six sons and five daughters: Henry, Elias Lewellyn, John Moore, Edward Byers, Thomas M. and Joseph Alexander being the sons; while Louisa Jane, Cynthia Ann, Martha Rosanna, Isabella and Eliza- beth Catharine were the daughters. Of these children

(V) Thomas M., was the father of William C. and Joseph T. Carroll and was born December 17, 1823, in Pike county, Missouri, about four miles south of the city of Louisiana. Reared as was the custom of farmer boys in his time and locality, he attended the country schools of that section until about the age of fourteen, when he began to learn the blacksmith trade with his father and continued to work with him until in 1844. He was married that year and soon afterward turned his attention to farming. In 1852 he settled on what became known as the old family homestead, and here developed one of the fine landed estates of Pike county, Missouri. He was a prominent agriculturist and also gained marked success in the breeding of fine live stock, especially hlooded horses, and he operated a mill for many years. He was one of the influential citizens

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of his native county, a man who wielded a good in- fluence, and was always interested in the moral and intellectual advancement of his community. His death occurred on the 9th of May, 1896, while on a visit in New York City. Mr. Carroll "lived a godly, righteous and sober life." He was a man of strong individuality and ever commanded a secure place in the esteem of his fellow men. He served as assessor of his native county for four successive years, being first elected in August, 1860. In November, 1868, he was elected to represent the district. comprising Pike, Lincoln and Montgomery counties in the state senate of Missouri, of which he was a member for four years, during which time he made a record for faithful and efficient service. In 1854 he joined the Old School Presbyterian church, in which denomination, until his death, he continued to be one of the leaders, always taking a foremost part in the work of the church, serving in various official positions, and being one of its most substantial sup- porters.

On the 22nd of August, 1844, Thomas M. Carroll was married to Miss Martha Walker Bryson, who was born April 26, 1828, at the old homestead of her parents on Grassy creek in Pike county, Missouri, and she died January 21, 1905 at the old homestead in Missouri. Her parents were William and Eliza A. (Yater) Bryson, who were pioneers in that section of Missouri. William Bryson was born December 13, 1801, on Allisons creek, York District, South Carolina. His father, John Bry- son, was a wagonmaker and wheelwright by trade and before the invention of the cotton gin this business was one of importance. The father of John Bryson was of Scotch-Irish descent, and came from the north of Ireland about 1725 or 1730, settling in Pennsylvania from where his descendants have scattered over a number of states. He subsequently settled in the Caro- linas, where his son John was born March 15, 1777, and about 1800 he married Miss Elizabeth Craig, who went with him to Pike county, Missouri, in 1816, set- tling on a tract of land, where now stands the city of Louisiana. After a couple of years he located on what was known as the old homestead farm on Grassy creek, where he died September 3, 1821. His son William was but a boy in his 'teens, when his parents migrated to Missouri, and where he was one of the real pioneers. In 1817 he cultivated for his father a field of corn through which now runs Georgia street in Louisiana, Missouri. He married Miss Eliza A. Yater, and reared a family of children, among whom was the daughter Martha Walker, who married Thomas M. Carroll, becoming the mother of the following children: John Moore, born February 12, 1846, died January 23, 1892; Orlena Lucretia, born November 15, 1847, and died January 4, 1848; Helen Margaret, born March 30, 1849. married Gen. P. R. Dolman and is mentioned later; Homer Bryson, born May 16, 1851, resided in New York for many years, connected with the Ameri- can Horse Exchange, and died April 16, 1908, in New York; William Craig, born January 8, 1854, is mett- tioned later; and Joseph Thomas, born September 18. 1858. Concerning those of this family who have lived in Montana, Helen Margaret became, December 3, 1873, the wife of Gen. P. R. Dolman, who was commander of the Montana department of the Grand Army of the Republic at the time of her death, on March 27, 1895. She was a noble Christian woman and left a deep impress upon the social and religious activities of Montana. From an appreciative article appearing in a local newspaper at the time of her death are taken the following statements: "The death of Mrs. Dolman deprives Butte of one of the best women the city has ever known. She was charitable to a fault, but her modesty prevented her from heralding to the public the many good deeds she performed in the way of re- lieving distress. After the explosion (in the Butte mines) she became a self-appointed committee to min-

ister to the wants of the crippled and needy. She was a Christian and loved her home, husband and children as only a true woman can. Besides being a member of the First Presbyterian church she belonged to the Woman's Relief Corps and several literary clubs for women." Another article published at the time of Mrs. Dolman's death stated as follows: "All the virtues of Christianity and humanity were combined in Mrs. Dol- man's noble character, and her death has aroused the most widespread expressions of regret and sympathy from all classes, from the governor of the state down to the lowly sufferers of poverty and misery who have been assisted times without number by her unosten- tatious charity and who will greatly miss her kind and helping hand. Mrs. Dolman's life was largely devoted to the assistance of unfortunate humanity. She was the founder of the Silent Charity movement in Butte and her charity was always regular, con- sistent and judicious."

(VI) William Craig Carroll, the subject proper of this sketch, was born on the fine old family home- stead on the Frankford road, near Louisiana, the county seat of Pike county, Missouri, the date of his birth being January 8, 1854. He is the owner of this homestead at the present time, it being considered one of the most beautiful places in northeastern Missouri, commanding, as it does, a fine view of the Mississippi river for many miles, besides having a wealth of fine old forest trees, maple, hickory, oak and wild cherry, which stand in evidence of his father's deep appreciation of the beauties of nature. One hundred and ten acres of this beautiful estate are given over to such timber, which is becoming both rare and valuable. It is needless to say that it is a source of great pride and satisfaction to Mr. Car- roll to retain this ancestral homestead as his own, and his frequent visits there not only bring back the scenes of his boyhood, but reminds him of the satisfaction it would be to his honorable father to know that the farm remains in the family.

William Craig Carroll secured his early education in the common schools of his native county and supple- mented this by higher academic study in Westminster College, at Fulton, Missouri, in the meantime receiving the wholesome discipline of the homestead farm on which he was reared to maturity. In 1874, at the age of twenty years, Mr. Carroll went to Texas, and in the spring of 1878, he made his way to Carson City, Nevada, from which place he continued his journey by stage to Bodie, Mono county, California. At that time the latter place was a typical mining camp in the Sierra Nevada mountains, with the mines producing in large volume and with much attendant activity. There, for two and one-half years, Mr. Carroll was manager for the feed stables, corrals and wood lands of the firm of Boone & Wrights, in which connection he often cared for more than four hundred freight teams in a single night.

He recalls in connection with the pioneer affairs of that section that barley was sold for as high a price as eight and one-half cents a pound; hay at fifty-five dollars a ton; and wood at twenty-two dollars a cord. In the spring of 1881 Mr. Carroll set out from Bodie, · with freight teams for Montana. He crossed the Mono desert by way of the old overland immigrant trail, and at that time much of the route was literally covered with the bones of oxen and other cattle that had died en route in the earlier days of migration across the plains to California. The conditions attending his journey were virtually the same as the earlier period, save the menace from Indians was not so great. He passed a portion of the month of July, 1881, at the new mining camp on Wood river, Idaho, and in passing around the great lava beds on his way to Butte, Montana, his outfit was one of the few whose horses were not run off by the marauding Indians. On the 12th of August, 1881, he arrived in Butte and the next day he put his teams into

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service, hauling scrap iron for "Billy" Hall, of the Alice mill and mine, to the foundry operated by the late Andrew J. Davis. Mr. Carroll continued to utilize his outfit in general teaming work until the autumn of 1882, when he sold his horses and equipment to the Cooper Brothers of Great Falls. He has since con- tinued to maintain his home in Butte and through well directed enterprise has become one of the representative business men of that city. He has been actively asso- ciated with his brother, Joseph T., in the upbuilding of the large and important business enterprise controlled by the J. T. Carroll Lumber Company, of which he is manager and of which his brother is president. The business of this company is one of the largest in the Northwest, and in addition to a large retail and whole- sale lumber business, it includes builders' supplies, wagons and vehicles of all kinds, agricultural imple- ments, farm machinery and complete farm equipment. Fair and honorable dealing and progressive methods have given to the company a reputation for commercial integrity that is not surpassed by that of any business house in the state. William Craig Carroll has stood as an exponent of the most loyal and progressive citi- zenship, and has given his support to measures and enterprises tending to advance the civic and material welfare of his home city. He has been an active and influential factor in political affairs as a staunch advo- cate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, yet has shown no special predilection for official preferment in a personal way. He is a valued member of the Butte Business Men's Association, and the Butte Merchants' Association, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Both he and his wife hold membership in the First Presbyterian church. Mr. Carroll is a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution and Mrs. Carroll is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In the city of Butte, on March 20, 1906, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Carroll to Miss Harriet Lane Mckay, who had previously been for a number of years a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of this city and a native of Saginaw, Michigan. She is a daughter of John Graham and Mary Jane (Ludlum) McKay, the former a native of Scotland, born at Tain, and the latter native of Craigsville, Orange county, New York, a daughter of Albert and Elizabeth (Tooker) Ludlum. Elizabeth Tooker was a daughter of Nathan, who was a son of Selah, who was a son of Reuben Tooker, who served in the First Regiment of the Orange county, New York, militia in the Revo- lutionary war. Mrs. Carroll is a lady of gracious per- sonality and is a popular factor in the best social activi- ties of her home city. Mr. and Mrs. Carroll have two sons : William Craig, Jr., born August 29, 1907, and John Moore, born October 27, 19II.

CHARLES M. JOHNSON is a prominent merchant, banker and land owner of Whitehall, Montana. He was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, on the thirteenth of February. 1863. Here, on the same piece of land, his father, William M. Johnson, first saw the light and here he has spent the seventy-nine years of his life in an endeavor to coax from the soil a living for himself and family. The life of a Nova Scotia farmer did not ap- peal to the son Charles, who was anxious to push ahead more rapidly. In 1881, being then eighteen years of age, he started out all alone for America, his destina- tion being Butte, Montana, where some acquaintances had preceded him.

Leaving his northern home for a strange land meant the breaking of most of the ties of a life time. He did not then realize that it meant a final leave taking of his mother, who passed away at her home in Truro on the tenth day of January, 1904, at the age of sixty-five. She was Amelia Wilson Johnson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Wilson, of Londonbury, Nova Scotia.

Four years after her death the husband and father visited their son in his new Montana home. Although pleased with his promise of prosperity and impressed with the richness of the land, his heart remained in his own country and there he returned after a visit of some three months' duration.

Charles M. Johnson had reached Montana after a hard journey, his only capital being his courage and ambition. At that time no railroad ran into Butte, so the last of the journey was made by stage. A washout at Ogden, Utah, held him there for more than a week, so that by the time he came to his journey's end he had not a dollar with which to buy him a meal. Work was plentiful, however, and appetite lends it a zest. The very day of his arrival found Mr. Johnson cutting wood on the range above Columbia Gardens, not far distant from Butte. This occupation kept him from being hungry until he could look about him and find employ- ment in one of the mines. Diligent and observing, he quickly grasped the important features of the work. In a surprisingly short space of time he was leasing mining property and operating it for himself. Reverses there were, and some disastrous ones, but he never permitted these to spell failure.

In sixteen years he had accumulated enough to buy for himself a good ranch in Madison county, about three miles from Whitehall. The next seven years he devoted to cattle raising. At the end of this time he sold his ranch and moved into Whitehall that his children might have better school advantages. In Whitehall he entered the lumber and hardware business and is still interested. in these lines.

While yet a mine operator in Butte he had been united in marriage to Miss Eliza Ka Del, the union having taken place on the third of December, 1887. Mrs. Johnson is the daughter of Charles and Caroline (Brower) Ka Del, of Belle Plain, Iowa. Mr. Ka Del was a prominent farmer of his region who lived upon his home place, the farm where his daughter was born, until his eighty-ninth year. His wife passed away and was laid to rest in Belle Plain some twenty years earlier.

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of no religious denomination but are frequent attendants of the Chris- tian church. Three children, two girls and one boy, have been born to them. Orpha, the older daughter, is now Mrs. Reed H. Brackney, of Three Forks. Her husband is the superintendent of the Madison River Power Company of that city. . Her younger sister, Mabel, aged eighteen, is her father's secretary, while the boy, Charles M. Johnston, junior, is but three years of age.

Mr. Johnson is actively interested in Republican pol- itics, and has been the president of the Whitehall State Bank since the second year of its organization, and the active manager of his own land interests. His leisure is spent in the home to which he is more than usually devoted.

Charles M. Johnson, although an indefatigable worker always and now a power in the financial world of his community, is a man of few words, believing that one should permit his works to speak for him.

HENRY DION. One of the representative and pro- gressive citizens of Glendive, who, occupying positions of public trust and responsibility, holds prestige as a re- sult of his ability and unswerving integrity of character, is Henry Dion, president of the Exchange State Bank. Ever since 1882, when he was appointed the first sheriff of Dawson county, Mr. Dion has been identified with. the public welfare of his community, and the vast trans- actions with which he has been connected have made his name known and respected in all lines of commercial and financial activity. Mr. Dion comes from a country that has given Montana many of its best citizens, having been born in the Province of Quebec, Canada, Septem-

Henry Sion

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ber 7, 1846, a son of G. B. and Rosalie (Mulneer) Dion, who were both natives of the same province, of French parentage. Mr. Dion's parents, farming people, spent their entire lives on the old homestead in Canada. Of their eleven children, two daughters and seven sons are still living, Henry being the sixth in order of birth.

Like other farmer's sons of his day and locality, Henry Dion spent his youth in working on the home farm during the summer months, while his winters were passed in attendance at the district schools. In April, 1866, he went to Massachusetts, and during the fall of 1867 went west as far as Omaha, Nebraska, in which city he arrived November 27. In the following spring he engaged in working on the line of the Union Pacific Railroad, building water tanks as far as Chey- enne, Wyoming, and continuing in the employ of the railroad until the spring of 1870, at which time he went to Dodge county, Nebraska, to visit his brother, Jerry. When the full extent of the great Chicago fire was learned men were enlisted from every state in the Union to help rebuild the destroyed industries of the stricken city, and Mr. Dion was one of the first to go to the aid of the city on the lake, where he was first employed in car building with the Chicago, Rock Is- land & Pacific Railroad, and later in doing various kinds of carpenter work. In July, 1872, he went to Fort Lincoln, North Dakota, where he was employed in the construction of the fort, but in April, 1873, moved on to Bismarck. During the fall of 1875 he left the latter city with the first wagon train that made the trip overland into the Black Hills, where he ar- rived on Christmas day, December 25, 1875, and from that time until August, 1876, was engaged in prospect- ing and working a claim. He then returned overland to Bismarck, and in the fall of 1877 went back to his old home to visit his parents. After spending some four or five months on the homestead, in February, 1878, he returned to Bismarck, and during the next month ar- rived in the old town of Miles City, Montana. Here he remained only until the spring of 1879, however,. when he again went back to Bismarck and engaged in the merchandise business along the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, following the line from point to point as construction of the road was completed. In 1880 he settled in Cedar Creek, and the year 1881 saw his advent in the little town of Glendive, where he estab- lished himself in a general merchandise business and also embarked in the cattle and horse business. Mr. Dion disposed of his mercantile interests in 1908, but has continued to raise stock to the present time, and has built up a substantial reputation for integrity and fair dealing, as well as for business tact and good judg- ment. In 1901 he became identified with the banking interests of Dawson county, when he was made presi- dent of the Exchange Bank, a position which he held until July, 1911, at which time, with others, he estab- lished the Exchange State Bank, a safe, solid and con- servative financial institution of which he has since been president.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 89

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