A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 130

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 970

USA > Montana > A history of Montana, Volume III > Part 130

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

With his people his voice has been but the echo of the voice of Pius X., now gloriously reigning and en- deavoring "to restore all things in Christ." In con- formity with the decrees of the holy father he has in- sisted that the priests should give to the people regularly plain and solid instruction on Christian doctrine, and should urge upon them a return to the ancient practice of frequent, and even daily communion. Firmly be- lieving that, in the religious world, the twentieth cen- tury is destined to be the "century of the layman," he has joyfully lent his aid toward the promotion of religious and fraternal organizations of Catholic lay- men. For the young men of his episcopal city he has provided a club fully equipped with all that could be desired for social and athletic entertainment. He has been for years an enthusiastic member of the Knights of Columbus. In the national convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians held in Portland, Oregon, July, I910, he was unanimously requested to accept the office of national chaplain, and the Chicago national conven- tion of the order held in July, 1912, insisted that he continue to be their spiritual guide. In all his addresses to the Catholic laymen he has urged upon them the grandeur of their mission, and the absolute necessity, if they would accomplish this mission, of living lives

1722

HISTORY OF MONTANA

that square with the spirit and practices of their Catholic faith. To aid them in the work of their personal sanctification he inaugurated in his diocese the practice of laymen's retreats, he himself preaching the first of these retreats, held at Mount St. Charles College, June, 1912.

With Bishop Carroll education ranks next to religion, -the school must follow in the wake of the church. To increase the efficiency of the Catholic educational system of his diocese, he directed that a strong cam- paign be undertaken by parish priests and teachers to secure the attendance of all Catholic children at parochial schools; he ordered improvements and addi- tions for the schools already built, and in several par- ishes had new schools erected. He has even succeeded in erecting high schools in the larger cities of his di- ocese. This is but what could be expected of him, who, whilst president of St. Joseph's College, had, in the yearly college conferences held in the east, led the fight for the extension of our Catholic high school sys- tem. To advance and unify his diocesan school sys- tem, and render it more efficient, he directed that the practice of holding summer schools be made general among the sisterhoods of the diocese, and he supple- mented the work of the summer school by the annual teachers' institute which the parish priests and teachers must attend.

Bishop Carroll's zeal for the cause of Catholic edu- cation will best be understood when one considers that before undertaking any other work of importance, he set about building the St. Helena parochial school, which is now generally conceded to be the most perfect school building in the United States, not only from an architectural point of view, but also from a peda- gogical and hygienic point of view as well. Besides the ordinary school accommodations it has also thoroughly modern club rooms for the young men of the city. That the educational policy of the Right Reverend Bishop has already borne abundant fruit is evident from the enviahle record that the Catholic school children have made in the state examinations. To complete his diocesan educational system Bishop Carroll has built Mount St. Charles College, a boarding and day college for young men. The building occupies a conspicuous height known for over a quarter of a century in Helena as Capitol Hill. The course of studies he has outlined for the college has received the warmest en- comiums from the press. Its staff of professors would do credit to older institutions of learning.

But Bishop Carroll has not confined his activities to religion and education. He has identified himself with the great civic movements of the day. The diocese of Helena knows his devotion to the cause of temperance. In his Confirmation tours he never fails to point out the dangers of alcoholism, and to invite boys and girls, -and also the older members of the congregations,- to pledge themselves to total abstinence from intoxicat- ing drinks until the age of twenty-five, or for life. This practice is without doubt the most efficient factor pres- ently working in the state for the cause of temperance. When the midnight closing movement was being agi- tated in Helena, Bishop Carroll was instrumental in having a citizens' meeting held at the Auditorium. It was his soul-stirring address on this occasion that moulded public opinion, and compelled the unwilling aldermen to vote the midnight closing ordinance which is still in force; and it is a matter of history how the midnight closing idea spread from Helena to other parts of the state.

A true friend of the laboring man, Bishop Carroll has fearlessly warned him in public addresses against the fallacies and dangers of Socialism, a movement that is injurious, not only to workingmen themselves, but to church and to state at large. The Socialistic press has fiercely attacked him for these discourses; but the editors of saner journalism throughout the country

have praised them for their depth and wisdom. It may be noted here that he was probably the first Catholic bishop in the United States to establish special Labor Day services in the churches of his diocese.

A third movement that has actively enlisted his co- operation is the colonization of Montana. His keen eye saw from the beginning the agricultural possibilities of this state, and his patriotic sentiments induced him to take a hand in the promising work. In proof of this it may be said that he had not spent six months in his diocese when he asked Pope Pius X to bless his col- onization work in Montana. Soon his ideas took definite shape. At this writing three of his priests are actively engaged in colonizing work, with a view to bringing colonists to the Belgian Colony on the Valier Irrigation Project, to St. Charles in the Smith River Valley, and to the vicinity of Deer Lodge.

The fame of the right reverend bishop soon passed over the borders of Montana, as is evident from the fact that he has been much in demand as a speaker at civic, as well as at ecclesiastical celebrations both east and west. To give but a few instances: He was asked to deliver the chief address at the Washington celebration in Portland, at the dedication of the Cathe- drals of Seattle and of Cheyenne, and at that of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Spokane, at the national conventions of the Ancient Order of Hiber- nians in Portland and Chicago, at the Catholic Day of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle; and the entire Lenten course of 1911 at St. Patrick's Church, Montreal, was confided to him. His public addresses ring true with love for America, her laws, her constitution, and her institutions. He is a fervent advocate of civil liberty and religious tolerance, just as he is the uncompromising foe of oppression and persecution. In mass meetings held in Helena and Butte he fearlessly attacked the infamous policy of spoliation and confiscation practiced by the French government. The weight of his influence in public dis- cussion induced Hon. Edwin L. Norris, governor of Montana, to appoint him to represent the state at the peace conference held in Washington for the purpose of advancing the cause of international arbitration. The high regard in which Bishop Carroll is held by his colleagues in the hierarchy is plainly shown by the fact that he has been asked by his Eminence, Car- dinal Gibbons, by various archbishops and bishops through the Union to preach retreats to their clergy. Further manifestations of this esteem are seen in the fact that he has been solicited for the offices of co- adjutor of the archbishop of San Francisco, rector of the Catholic University at Washington, D. C., and archbishop of Dubuque, Iowa. Nothing hut his own conception and presentation of the importance of the work he had undertaken in Montana has prevented his appointment to one or other of these high positions.

This sketch would be incomplete if mention were not made of the St. Helena Cathedral, now in course of erection at Helena. This sacred edifice is modeled after the Votive Church in Vienna, Austria, probably, with the exception of the Cathedral of Cologne, the most perfect structure of Gothic architecture extant. The width of the new cathedral is seventy-two feet in the body, and one hundred and twenty feet in the transepts; its ceiling is sixty-five feet high, and its roof rises one hundred feet; while above the entire mass of building rise the twin spires to the height of two hundred and thirty feet. It is indeed a mag- nificent temple in the purest of fourteenth century Gothic. It is graceful in all its lines, and, like its type, the Votive Church of Vienna, is considered perfect in its proportions. But its proudest boast is that it is the church of all the people of Helena, be- cause the citizens of Helena, irrespective of creed or nationality, have contributed to its erection. On the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone of the cathe-

1723

HISTORY OF MONTANA

dral, Bishop Carroll told the people of Helena assem- bled at the Auditorium that he regarded them as his sheep, and asked them to regard his cathedral as their church. When this noble champion of the cause of holiness and justice will have passed to his reward, St. Helena's cathedral will ever stand as an enduring monument to his esthetic taste, his boundless energy, and his consuming zeal for the beauty of God's house.

HAVRE BREWING & MALTING COMPANY. The Havre Brewing & Malting Company is one of the recent and yet most flourishing enterprises of this city, and through the vigorous management and ability of the young men who organized and are conducting the plant its products have an extended popularity and sale throughout the northern half of the state.

The company was organized on November 9, 1910, and the plant was completed and equipped ready for operation by the spring of 1911. The capital stock of the company is $50,000, and the annual capacity of the plant is ten thousand barrels. The officers of the in- corporated company are as follows: George Kuehhorn, president ; Aloys Wutz, secretary and treasurer; Henry Schmidt, vice-president; and Fred Denninger, brew- master and stockholder.

Mr. George Kuehhorn is a native of Germany, where he was born March 22, 1880, and was educated in the German schools until he was sixteen. He served a three years' apprenticeship at the brewer's trade in Germany, and has been identified with the brewing busi- ness since boyhood. In 1898 he came to America, spend- ing the first six years in New York City, and then a year and a half in Milwaukee. In the fall of 1905 he located at Butte, Montana, and was employed there and in other localities as a brewer. In November, 1910, he became a stockholder and incorporator of the Havre company, and has since held the chief executive posi- tion. Mr. Kuehhorn since the beginning of his appren- ticeship has depended for advancement on his own efforts, and his ability and industry have secured him a substantial position in the business world.

ERNEST F. KUSTER has been associated with the west in various lines of industry for the past quarter cen- tury, and has been a resident of Kalispell since Sep- tember, 1905. He was born in New York City, on June 21, 1869, and is the son of Ernest Frank and Mina (Kuster) Kuster, both natives of Germany, but though of the same name, no blood relation. The father, who was born on the Weiser river, in the Fatherland, came to New York but returned to Ger- many and passed his life there as a farmer, dying there in 1871. After that event his widow came to America with her brother and settled in New York City. She is now living, at the age of seventy years, and is strong and active for one of her years. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Kuster, but E. F. of this review is the only one surviving.

Up to his eleventh year, E. F. Kuster attended the schools of New York City, and when he was twelve years old went alone to Illinois, where he worked for a farmer for his board and keep for two years, going to school in the winter seasons. He then went to Indiana, remaining in that state for a year, where he was employed in a similar capacity and with like re- muneration. His next move took him to Nebraska, in which state he continued for two and a half years, and there he was employed working at the sheet iron works in Lincoln. After leaving Nebraska the ven- turesome young lad went to Colorado and worked in the mines at Aspen and Leadville for two years, go- ing from Colorado to Butte, Montana, there following mining for fifteen years. He was boss at the Diamond and other important mines of Butte. After his mar- riage, which occurred after he had lived for fifteen

years in Butte, he went to Napa, Idaho, when the boom was on in that part of the country. He invested heavily in boom property, and was very successful with his investments. He continued there for more than two years, going from there to the Lewis and Clark exposition at Portland and thence to Oregon, locating in Salem. On looking over the ground there, Mr. Kuster decided to return to Montana, whereupon he came direct to Kalispell. At that time the city pre- sented a very uncertain outlook, but Mr. Kuster de- . cided that the situation would improve shortly, and he accordingly invested in a fine corner building and other Kalispell property. After a few years time, condi- tions began to improve rapidly, and Mr. Kuster re- modeled his corner building and started a small grocery store in it. This was his first business venture, but it has proved a most unquestionable success, and from the very modest beginning of a few years ago, he has developed one of the best establishments of its kind in the city, enjoying a pleasing patronage, and turn- ing a fair profit each year to its owner and proprietor.

Mr. Kuster is a member of the Kalispell Club and is a communicant of the Roman Catholic church. His political views are those of an Independent, and he is interested in politics only as they may be manipu- lated for the betterment of civic conditions.

On November 25, 1896, Mr. Kuster married Miss Mary Jordan, the daughter of Patrick Jordan and his wife, Mrs. Mary (Burns) Jordan. They were natives of Iowa, where Mrs. Kuster was born, in Independence. Two children were born to them, both deceased. Freda, born October 29, 1898, died on November 12, 1898. Rose, born April 25, 1903, died at birth.

Mr. and Mrs. Kuster are well and favorably known in Kalispell, where they are general social favorites, and have a wide circle of acquaintances throughout the state and in Idaho, won to them through long association with the west.

WILLIAM BEAUCHAMP. In the brief time that Wil- liam Beauchamp has been established in the plumbing business in Kalispell, he has been able to place to his credit a goodly list of work well done, and of a char- acter eminently calculated to firmly place him in the ranks of dependable artisans of Kalispell. He was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 26, 1877, and is a son of J. M. and Mary (Johnson) Beauchamp, both native Canadians. The father immigrated to the states as a young man, locating first in Pennsylvania and later coming to Wisconsin. He followed the occupation of a marine engineer all his life, and is still occupied in that work, and makes his home in Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie. He is now in his sixty-first year and his wife is fifty-eight years of age. Both are enjoying good health and look forward to many years of life together. They became the parents of twelve children, of which goodly number William was the third born.

William Beauchamp attended the schools of Michigan as a boy, receiving only a common school education, and after leaving his books he became an apprentice in the plumbing business in northern Michigan. He learned his trade thoroughly, and thereafter was em- ployed in various places until 1905 he came to Montana, locating first in Butte. He remained there but a short time, then going to Anaconda, where he worked at his trade for two and a half years, and in 1907 he came to Kalispell, where he entered the employ of the Kalispell Mercantile Company, remaining with that firm for two and a half years as foreman. In I911 he saw an oppor- tunity to get into business on his own responsibility, and he accordingly established the business which he is now the head of, and which he has managed with the most expert skill and wisdom since its inception. Some of the best work in Kalispell has been done by Mr. Beauchamp since the establishment of his firm in the city, among which might be mentioned the plumbing

1724

HISTORY OF MONTANA

and heating plants for the high school building, the West Side school building, the Rudolph Ellis building and the General Hospital building. When Mr. Beau- champ decided to go into business he took a partner, John F. Clague, of whom more extended mention is made in other portions of this work, and the two have formed a combination that has from the first wrought successful business and an enviable standing in the business life of the city.

Mr. Beauchamp is a Mason of the Knight. Templar degree and is a member of the Kalispell Club. He is a Republican, but not a politician in any sense of the word. He is a true sportsman and loves the open, finding gen- uine enjoyment in the hunting and fishing expeditions on which he repairs at intervals. He is not a churchman, but his wife is a member of the Baptist church, in which she is actively identified with all the good works eman- ating from that source.

Mr. Beauchamp was united in marriage with Miss Charlotte Hodgkinson, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 3, 1903.

PAUL D. PRATT. The education and training of the mining engineer in modern times have called for the establishment of technical schools and courses in en- gineering in the large colleges and universities. These schools provide the student with the theories of mathe- matics, mechanics and engineering, and by means of extensive laboratory and outside work provide him with practice in the design, construction and use of modern engineering appliances. The field is a prolific one for the young man of energy, enterprise and ability, and to the votaries of this profession must be given the credit for the growth and development of mining in Montana, where may be found young men who through training and natural inclination are eminently fitted to carry on this important work. Paul D. Pratt, of Libby, brought to his work a mind carefully trained to the intricacies of mining engineering, and a natural ability and inclination that have given him precedence in his chosen vocation, and during the past five years have demonstrated his right to be classed among the leading assayers and engineers of the Treasure state. Mr. Pratt is a native of Moberly, Missouri, and was born Janu- ary 7, 1878, a son of Samuel B. and .Annie (Mande- ville) Pratt. Samuel B. Pratt was born at Water- town, New York, and at the age of twenty years went to Missouri, settling in the central part of the state, where he resided until 1887. In that year he removed to Kalispell, Montana, engaged in office work, becom- ing one of the best known men in his part of Flathead county, and died in 1907, at the age of sixty-three years. His wife, born at Natchez, Mississippi, went to New Orleans, Louisiana, in girlhood, and was there married to Mr. Pratt. Her death occurred in Missouri, when she was thirty years of age, having been the mother of three children, of whom Paul D. is the only sur- vivor.

Paul D. Pratt received his early education in the public schools of Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri, and fitted himself for his chosen vocation by a course in the Montana State School of Mines, at Butte. After graduating from that institution in 1905, he entered the employ of the Montana Copper Com- pany, and subsequently accepted a position with the Red Metal Copper Company, of Butte, with which he was connected until coming to Libby, in 1907. He at once opened an office as an assayer and mining engi- neer, and his proficiency in his calling soon brought him a large clientele and gave him a firmly-established reputation, which he has maintained to the present time. His success is due entirely to his own efforts, as he came to Montana a stranger, and his present wide circle of influential friends has been gathered around him as a result of the recognition and appreciation of his ability, sincerity and true worth. He is recognized

as one of the leaders of the Democratic party in this section, and since the organization of Lincoln county has acted in the capacity of chairman of the board of county commissioners, and during this time many im- portant issues have been brought to a successful con- clusion, including the bonding of the county for $125,000 to be used in building good roads. Fraternally, he is connected with the Elks, at Kalispell, and is popular with the members of that order.

Mr. Pratt was married in October, 1906, at Butte, Montana, to Miss Edna R. Payne, and they have one child: Samuel B., who was born at Spokane, Wash- ington, in 1908. Mrs. Pratt is a member of the Episco- pal church, and is popular in church and social circles of the city.

JOHN F. SCHWIERS. The United States has served as the melting-pot of the best characteristics of all other nations and the outcome is a fine sterling Ameri- can citizenship consisting of strong and able-bodied men, loyal and public-spirited in civic life, honorable in busi- ness and alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with every measure tending to further the material welfare of the entire country. The great Empire of Germany has contributed its fair quota to the upbuilding of this great nation and among its representatives in this country are to be found successful men in every walk of life, from the professions to the prosperous farmer. John F. Schwiers, whose name forms the caption for this review, was born and reared in Germany and came to America in the year 1902, settling in Kalispell, Mon- tana, in 1906. Here he is sole owner of the Schwiers Garage & Machine Repair Shop and he is recognized as a business man whose methods have ever been of the fair and straightforward type.

The Schwiers family is one of old standing in the city of Bremen, Germany, where the lineage can be traced back for six hundred years. A native of Bremen, John Fred Schwiers was born June 11, 1879, and he is a son of Ludwig and Rebecca (Holste) Schwiers, both of whom are likewise natives of Bremen, Germany, Ludwig Schwiers, descended from rugged farming and sea-faring people, at one time owned the largest machine shops in Bremen and there had two hundred men in his employ. In 1909 he came to America to make his home with his son in Kalispell and while he is now sixty-nine years of age he is still very active and is an expert mechanic. Mrs. Schwiers is sixty-seven years of age and she maintains her home in Bremen, Germany. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Schwiers and of that number five are still living, namely,-Ludwig, Jr., a resident of Kalispell; Frederick, a civil engineer in Bremen, Christian, a resident of Georgia; John F., of this notice; and Mrs. Annie Schwiers, of Bremen.

To the public and high schools of Bremen, Germany, John F. Schwiers is indebted for his preliminary edu- cational training and that discipline was later supple- mented by study in the Technical Engineering College of Bremen, which excellent institution he attended for a period of eighteen months. On leaving school he went to work for the German American Coal Oil Lines, running between Germany and America, a subsidiary company of the Standard Oil Company. He worked for that concern for one year, at the expiration of which he located in America and was employed in various cities as a machinist. He came to Kalispell, Montana, 1905, and secured a position with the Kalis- pell Iron Works, remaining with that company for a year and a half as machinist. In 1906 he formed the Montana Steel Works and was associated in that en- terprise with a number of prominent business men in Kalispell. He gradually bought out the interests of his partners and is now sole proprietor of the business which is known under the name of the Schwiers Garage & Machine Repair Shop. In the last few years the plant has been enlarged and it now ranks as the most

Charles e. Wallin OM.O.

1725

HISTORY OF MONTANA

fully cquipped concern of its kind in this section of the state. Mr. Schwiers is known as a reliable and capable business man and inasmuch as his success is the result ot his own well-directed efforts it is the more gratifying to contemplate. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Sons of Hermann and the Lie- derkranz Society, and the Woodmen of the World. He has a large circle of friends in Kalispell and he and his wife are popular in connection with the best social affairs of this city.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 130

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 970

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 970