A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 14

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

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Alexander Cuthbert Rodger was born in Aberdeen- shire, Scotland, on the 30th of July, 1870, and is a son of Alexander and Isabella Rodger, both represen- tatives of staunch old Scottish lineage. The mother previous to her marriage was Miss Isabella Willox.

In the excellent schools of his native land Alexander C. Rodger gained his early educational discipline, and that he early had a predilection for ventures far afield, that he might gain experience and learn more of the world, is shown by the fact that in 1887, when sixteen years of age, he severed the home ties and set forth for America. His maternal uncle, William C. Willox, had become one of the successful ranchmen of Deer Lodge county, Montana, and the young man made this state his destination. He remained with his uncle on the ranch for a period of a few years, and in this con- nection he had his full quota of experience in the free and invigorating life of the west. Well satisfied with the land of his adoption, Mr. Rodger determined to pre- pare himself for a definite sphere of endeavor and the result of this decision was that he began reading law in the office of John N. Kirk, of Butte. He made rapid and substantial progress in his absorption of the science of jurisprudence and in furtherance of his technical knowledge he continued his studies under the preceptor- ship of Joseph Binnard, one of the leading members of the bar of the state and who is now his coadjutor in practice. Mr. Rodger was admitted to practice in June, 1906, and forthwith formed a partnership alliance with his former preceptor"and valued friend, Mr. Binnard, with whom he has since continued to be associated. He has been concerned with important litigation in which he has won professional prominence. The firm of Bin- nard and Rodger controls a large practice and is num- bered among the representative law firms of the me- tropolis of the state. Mr. Rodger is one of the active

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and appreciative members of the Silver Bow County Bar Association and has served as vice president of the same.

Mr. Rodger has deemed his profession worthy of his undivided allegiance and has thus held himself aloof from the more or less turbulent current of so-called practical politics, though he is well fortified in his views concerning matters of public polity and accords a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Republican party in so far as national and state issues are involved. He is af- filiated with the Independnt Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all of the official chairs in Fidelity Lodge, No. 8.

In May, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rodger to Miss Gertrude Devine, of Butte. Mrs. Rodger was born in the state of Colorado and is a daughter of Peter Devine, a pioneer of the west.

SAMUEL E. MCCLEES, mayor of Philipsburg and a prominent jeweler of this city, was born in Taylors- town, Pennsylvania, on August I, 1867. He is the son of Alexander E. and Belle (Hodgen) McClees, both natives of the old Keystone state. They were married there and there spent their lives. The father was engaged in mercantile business, and was one of the prominent men of his town. He took a leading part in the political activities of his community and held many important public offices in his day in response to the call of the people. For sixteen years he was post- master of his town. He was highly respected and es- teemed for his sterling character, and was known to be a devout Christian gentleman, as well as an active church worker. He died in 1877, at the age of sixty, and is buried near his old home. His widow still resides there. They became the parents of three chil- dren, Samuel E. of this review being the second born and the eldest son.

Until he was fourteen years of age Samuel McClees lived in the town of his birth, after which time he went to Washington, Pennsylvania, and worked in a jewelry store. He served an apprenticeship of four years, drawing absolutely no salary during that time, but he learned his trade from beginning to end. His ap- prenticeship concluded, the young man started for the west. When he reached Fargo, North Dakota, he lo- cated there and remained for about two and a half years. He was employed in a jewelry shop there, and it represented his first salaried position. He next re- turned to the east and took engraving lessons for a few months, after which he was employed in the es- capement room of the Elgin Watch Company's factory for three months. His idea was to secure any addi- tional knowledge that might be of benefit to him in the business, and he has ever adhered to that mode of procedure, with the result that his reputation in the jewelry line is of the highest order. After his service with the Elgin people, Mr. McClees went to Butte, Montana, where he entered business on his own respon- sibility, and there he met with his first reverses in a business way. Thirty days after he opened his estab- lishment the place was burned out, but he soon re- opened, remaining in business in Butte for about two years, when he sold out and went to Granite. He remained there three years, working at the jeweler's trade, and then moved to Philipsburg, where he opened a store. He has since continued in business in this location and has prospered in a most unquestionable manner.

Mr. McClees has not shifted any of the responsibil- ities of citizenship during the years of his identification with Granite county, and at the present time he is serv- ing as mayor of the city of Philipsburg, a position which he is filling with all satisfaction to the people. He is a Republican, and his allegiance to the party is well known in this district. He is now chairman of the Republican county central committee. He was a member of the city council for five years, and with

reference to his official position as mayor of the city he has just been renominated for another term.

Mr. McClees is a member of the Chamber of Com- merce of Philipsburg, and in a fraternal way is asso- ciated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which society he has filled all chairs, and is now district deputy. He is not a member of any church, although he holds all denominations in equal respect and aids them all in a financial way. The death of his father when he was ten years old placed Mr. McClees as a boy in a difficult position, and since he was four- teen he has practically "shifted" for himself, as the saying is. When he was twelve years old he earned his first money harrowing grain, walking a distance of two miles night and morning to reach his work. He received for his services twenty-five cents a day, and considered himself well paid at the time. After that experience he followed various occupations until he left Taylorstown to take up his apprenticeship to the jewelry trade. Thus he has seen some of the hard- ships and difficulties of life, although he does not re- gard them today as other than excellent discipline, which has been an important factor in his later success.

On April 19, 1898, Mr. McClees married Miss Kate Fox at Philipsburg, formerly of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

FRED A. BELEY is the prosperous proprietor of one of the finest bottling plants in Granite county. He was born in Oswego county, New York, on September 30, 1863, and is the son of George and Catherine (Le- Vioux) Beley. Both were born in France. The father came to the United States when he was about ten years of age and settled in New York state, near Syra- cuse. There he followed farming all his life. He died in 1897, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife, who immigrated to this country in her childhood, and whom he married in Syracuse, died at the family home when she was in her seventy-fourth year of life. Eight children were born to them, of which number Fred A. was the youngest. He has two brothers and a sister in Montana, as follows: Charles, married and living in Walkerville; Frank, also married, a resi- dent of Livingston; and Emma, the wife of Alfred George, and living at Big Timber, Montana.

The educational advantages which Mr. Beley received in his youth were rather better than those accorded to most country youths, and were represented by his fin- ishing of the public schools of his home town, fol- lowed by a three years' academic course at Mexico, New York. He continued at farm labor until he was about twenty-four years old, when he came to Mon- tana, in February, 1887. He first settled in Deer Lodge, remaining there but a few weeks. His next stop was in Butte, where he remained for a year, and his experience in that city eventually led to his future business establishment. Since 1888 Mr. Beley has been a resident of Philipsburg and since 1890 he has been the proprietor and owner of the bottling works of which he was at one time manager. He has prospered most agreeably, and is regarded as one of the success- ful business men of the city.

Mr. Beley is a member of a number of fraternal so- cieties, among them being the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. In the first named society he has filled all chairs, and has twice been a delegate to the Grand Lodge. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and was a member of the board of aldermen for six years. He is at present a member of the board of county commis- sioners, and in all his relations to the communal life has been a valued factor, and one whose influence has always been of a high order and tending to advance the general good.

On December 12, 1893. Mr. Belev was married at Parish, New York, to Miss Lena Warn, daughter of Nelson and Nancy Warn, of Parish. Mrs. Beley died in 1902, at the early age of thirty-one years. Her re-

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mains were interred in the old home town where she was born and reared.

Mr. Beley is a great lover of all field sports, and athletics in general. He is especially devoted to the game of base-ball and was something of a player in his younger days. Withal, he is a man of somewhat quiet and studious habits, and is particularly fond of literature. He regards Montana as the coming state of the Union, and predicts a most brilliant future for the great Treasure state.

HAVELOCK G. CoY. A quarter of a century ago Mr. Coy, then a young man of twenty-one years, came to Anaconda, and without making any particular stir in this vicinity began working for wages. Among his natural endowments and the results of self-training, energy and business ability have been conspicuous, and upon these qualities as a foundation he has de- veloped and prospered until today H. G. Coy is rec- ognized as one of the foremost merchants of Ana- conda and the state. His department store is an ex- tensive establishment, carrying builders' and general hardware, paints and household furnishings, vehicles and farm implements, and is the only vehicle supply store in this county.

Havelock G. Coy was born in New Brunswick, Can- ada, April 30, 1866. His progenitors, of Scotch-Irish stock, were settlers at Pomfret, Connecticut, in the early part of the eighteenth century. From there, in 1763, about the close of the French and Indian war which brought Canada under the British dominion, his great- grandfather moved with his family to New Brunswick, and they were the first English-speaking people to make permanent settlement on the St. John river. There in 1768 the grandfather was born.

Mr. Coy's father and mother died in 1881-82, when he was sixteen years of age, and he then left off his attendance at the public schools and took charge of the home farm, where he lived for five years and supported himself and sister. His sister, Minnie, married Mr. David Coy, and now resides in Toronto, Canada. After attaining his majority in 1887 Mr. Coy and sister sold the farm, and he then came west and began his career in Anaconda. After working a time as a wage- earner, he started a teaming business. His next ven- ture was the opening of a stone quarry, the first one in Deer Lodge county, and for some time he was the only stone contractor in the county. Later, with H. P. Leck, he formed a partnership as contractors and builders, and they constructed the Orphan Asylum, the Normal School, the court house at Dillon, and also built a hotel at Meeteetse, Wyoming, when that town was sixtv-five miles distant from the railroad. Other large building enterprises were undertaken by this firm during its existence, which continued from April, 1898, until 1903.

The firm of Leck & Coy then bought the stores of John Claybaugh and of Young & Dezell at Anaconda, combining them, and from this beginning has been developed the present large and up-to-date hardware, harness, implement and vehicle store in Anaconda. In 1904 Mr. Coy bought out his partner and has since heen sole proprietor of the establishment. He is a Republican in political faith, and was appointed in July. 1912, county commissioner of Deer Lodge county, to fill the unexpired term of the late Albert Bour- bounierre.

Mr. Coy has been a member of the Good Templars for the past thirty years. and served as grand chief for two years. His family are active members of the Baptist church. In addition to his business he is owner of valuable city nroperty and of a pleasant home. He was married at Boston in 1893 to Miss Annie M. Ed- munds, also of New Brunswick. They have two chil- dren : Annie Mav. who is attending the high school, and Edmond H.

JOHN BALL WELLCOME. The late John Ball Wellcome, lawyer and extensive ranch owner, was born in the state of New York on September 22, 1857, and received his education in law schools in his native state. In 1887 he came to Butte, where for the ensuing twelve years he was successfully engaged in the practice of law. Not long after the beginning of his legal activities here he formed a partnership with Frank E. Corbett. A con- siderable proportion of the business of this firm consisted of the affairs of the Hon. W. A. Clark; they were also attorneys for a number of large mining companies in Butte. Mr. Wellcome had a wide reputation for being a very careful and reliable lawyer, and after the death of Mr. Corbett became the partner of Jesse B. Roote, so continuing until 1898. Mr. Wellcome took part in the fight for United States senator before the legislature of 1899, in behalf of W. A. Clark. From the differences that arose Mr. Wellcome was not exempt, but subse- quent readjustment in so far as he personally was in- volved, righted him.

After that time Mr. Wellcome felt practically little interest in the practice of law, having acquired exten- sive landed interests in Madison and Jefferson counties, owning 7,000 acres in the former and 5,000 in the latter county. Creeklyn, the Jefferson county ranch which was his home and on which he spent the latter part of his life, was the center of his broad and important inter-

ests. There he spent all his time, except when business called him elsewhere; there he lived a home life which his friends have pronounced ideal ; there he systematized and developed various phases of his ranch work, which was to him a pursuit of the greatest enjoyment. His favorite line of ranching was the raising of high grade cattle; as a skilled breeder he made a record throughout the state and did much, by his exhibitions in Chicago in competition with stock fanciers from all over the world, to give Montana exceptional prestige as a spe- cially favored spot for the breeding of cattle. Besides his interests in land and stock he was connected with mining enterprises in several places; and for a number of years he conducted coffee and rubber growing opera- tions in Mexico. He had planned, moreover, to carry out vast schemes in making his rural properties factors in the building up of the state. Fraught with great possibilities were his reclamation projects for bringing water to the arid districts and thus to make of them homes for colonists.

Then-in the prime of his strength and at a time when the returns for his energetic work were stamping him as one of the most far-sighted men in the west-he was stricken with a sudden illness, so brief that few of his friends had known of it, but so severe that death soon claimed him on March 23, 1908. His friends, shocked by his sudden going, his social intimates, including mem- bers of the Silver Bow Club and the Montana Club of Helena, representative citizens of Butte, where he had been so prominent a citizen, and men from all sections of the state, throughout which he was so well known, thronged to the memorial service said over his body. In referring to his death, The Butte Miner said edito- rially :

In the presence of death, it is oft-times easier to write of some one whose personality is unknown to the one who endeavors to indite his obituary than it is to say the parting word for him who has been your loved asso- ciate, companion and friend.

The over-full heart is apt to remain all but speechless and the hand which should write paralyzed in the face of great personal sorrow.

Thus it is that The Miner today feels incapable of doing complete justice to the worth, the lovableness and amiability of Mr. John B. Wellcome, who so unex- pectedly passed away yesterdav.

Good citizen, loving husband, indulgent father, kind

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friend, he was a man among men and admirable in every sphere of life that he was called upon to fill.

The beauty of his home life, the perfect sympathy which existed there, the charm of his nicely brought up children have long been proverbial in Butte as coming as near the ideal as anything in the world can come.

In the outside world he was recognized as a brilliant lawyer, who has climbed to the head of his profession, and a man of broad-gauged mind.

There was nothing small about the man; he thought big thoughts and executed great things.

He had his tribulations, and though often given sym- pathy, he never asked for it, though he appreciated it, and at no time in the stormy political days that are past and gone did he ever lose his courage or his cheerfulness. If optimism was ever completely person- ified, it was in this man.

The hearty greeting, the winning smile and firm hand- clasp which he always had for a friend spoke of the sin- cerity of his nature, and are things that can never be forgotten by those who knew him. He naturally at- tracted friends to him, for he was a most genial com- panion, and having mixed much with the world, he had an exceptional fund of anecdote and story, which always assured him an interested audience at any social gather- ing.

A man of splendid physical proportions and possessed of much magnetism, he was a born leader of men and one who would have been picked out of any assembly as a dominant spirit.

He appreciated the good things of this world and always enjoyed them, and the value he placed upon money was largely the amount of happiness it would buy. After he stopped practicing law and took up ranching, his broad, generous spirit was again exhibited, for he built a palatial residence upon his home ranch, installed his electric lighting and water systems and stocked his fields with the finest Hereford cattle to be purchased in the United States.

Not satisfied with this, a few years ago he extended his operations into the Madison Valley, where he ac- quired another large tract of land and spent large sums of money in reclaiming it. He never did anything by halves, for such was not his whole-hearted nature.

If the friends of Mr. John B. Wellcome thought well of him and should mourn that "God's finger touched him and he slept," the grief of those who were attached to him by more sacred ties can be appreciated, and there is not a friend of his whose heart does not go out in sympathy and sorrow.

Mrs. Wellcome, who as Miss Emily Irvine, of Butte, had been married to Mr. Wellcome on December 17, 1891, and the five children of that happy Creeklyn home-Charlotte I., Katherine P., Richard F., Emily I. and John B., Jr., -constitute the family who were bereaved by the swift passing from life of the head of the household. The beautiful estate on which they had lived remained in Mrs. Wellcome's possession until 1912, when an eastern syndicate secured the purchase of all except the home- stead and a few surrounding acres. And there, on a lot within sight of the house, as he had chosen, the physical being of John B. Wellcome rests in the heart of the soil he loved so well; while to those who dwell near and to those who pass by, the place is still silently eloquent of him whose personality radiated such cordi- ality, such good cheer and such gracious charm.

WILLIAM E. CANNON, one of the successful business men of Stevensville, Montana, has illustrated in his career the opportunities that are presenting themselves to the youth of to-day who are possessed of enter- prise, have the ability, and are not afraid of hard, persistent labor. He is president of the Stevensville Trading Company, whose operations cover the city of Stevensville and the surrounding country, yet only a few years ago he began his career with a capital of

but a few dollars. He possessed, however, the courage of his convictions, and when his opportunity came he instantly recognized it and did not hesitate to grasp it. His confidence in the future of the Bitter Root valley was pronounced and unfaltering, and this confidence has been justified by the development of the prosperous and rapidly-growing business of which he is the head. His success, however, has not been a matter of chance, as he is possessed of abilities that would, no doubt, have enabled him to succeed in whatever line or whatever locality he found himself. Mr. Cannon is a southerner by birth, being a native of Gainesville, Georgia, where he was born May 6, 1867, a son of M. C. and Dicy (Smith) Cannon, natives of Georgia. His father, who served as an officer in the Confederate army through- out the Civil war, eventually engaged in agricultural pursuits, and died on the homestead place in 1902, while Mrs. Cannon passed away at the home of her son in Stevensville in 1906. They had five children: James T., who is engaged in farming in Oklahoma; David L., who is engaged in building and contracting in Stevensville; Mary, who married James Phelps, a rancher of Ravalli county; Luella, the wife of J. C. Brown of Hamilton, Montana, and William.

William E. Cannon was educated in the public schools of Gainesville, Georgia, and when just past his twentieth birthday left home with only a few dollars for the west, and arrived at Stevensville, July 10, 1887. His first employment was as a farm hand, and for the greater part of two years worked for wages, but being ambi- tious and desiring to be his own master and work inde- pendently took his carefully hoarded savings and leased a farm, on which he worked assidiously during the next six years at farming and stockraising. At the end of that time he had accumulated enough money to pur- chase.a quarter of a section of land one mile north of Stevensville, which he sold at a decided profit after two years, then buying the noted Napaleon DeMontier ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he added from time to time until he was the owner of six hundred and forty-seven acres of some of the finest land to be found in the Bitter Root country. As time went on, his holdings increased in value and he soon began selling his land, continuing until it was all dis- posed of, and later bought the Edward Weil ranch, three miles northeast of Stevensville, which he sold in 1908, to Prof. E. P. Sandsten for state agri- cultural and scientific purposes. Mr. Cannon then de- cided to give up the arduous work of the farm, and in 1908 came to Stevensville and purchased city realty, where he erected a handsome modern home. When the Stevensville Trading Company, in which he was a stockholder and originally capitalized at $10,000, was reorganized, the capitalization was made $50,000. Mr. Cannon became president of this company, the officers being Calen Cook, vice-president; Charles H. Buck, secretary, and John W. Brice, treasurer. The business of the company was expanded rapidly since Mr. Can- non's incumbency as its head, the ability and energy which characterized his operations in the agricultural industry being brought to bear with like success in the mercantile field. He is recognized as a shrewd, capable man of affairs whose operations have always been carried on along strictly legitimate lines and his busi- ness associates have displayed their confidence in his judgment on all occasions. Quiet and unassuming in manner, courteous and genial to all, with the true southern suavity, he is extremely popular in Stevens- ville, where he has numerous friends. He has identified himself with Odd Fellowship, having passed through all the chairs in the local lodge, and in political matters is a Republican, although he has taken no active part in public life.

On June 12, 1902, Mr. Cannon was married at Stev- ensville, to Miss Maud A. Manning, and they have one interesting son, Charles Clifford.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 14

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