A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 27

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

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Desmond O'Neil went through the public schools of Glendive, and graduated from the high school of that place. In 1907 he graduated from the Gonzaga College of Spokane, receiving an A. B. degree. He then went to the Georgetown University of Washington, D. C., for his law work, and remained there until 1910 when he received his degree. He commenced practice at Glendive, but when six months later he was appointed county attorney of the new Musselshell county he moved to Roundup. Mr. O'Neil has never been an idler. As a boy in Glendive he earned money by working as a weigher in the wool house, and later helped his father on the ranch until he went away to school. While at the university in Washington he ran an elevator in the capitol.

Mr. O'Neil attends the Catholic church and is one of the Knights of Columbus. Also as a member of the Phi Alpha Delta he is an enthusiastic fraternity man. He is a member of the Pioneer Club and is manager of Roundup's baseball team which is now in its second season. He is a Republican and takes an active in- terest in politics. Like most men who have lived a great part of their life in the outdoors, he is fond of hunting and fishing, and likes to ride or drive a spirited horse. His favorite sport is baseball. He never misses anything that comes to Roundup in the line of enter- tainment whether dramatic or musical, and would go many miles to hear a lecture or public speech. Like most of his fellow citizens, O'Neil declares that Mon-

tana offers more opportunities for a young man than any other state in the northwest.

JESSE S. WATHEY. As superintendent of the Butte Electric Railway, Jesse S. Wathey has for nearly a score of years been actively identified with one of the most practical and beneficial enterprises of this part of Silver Bow county, the road of which he has charge having been an important factor in the upbuilding of the city and the enlargement of its business operations. Although cautious and conservative, he possesses the energy, judgment and keen business sagacity that en- ables him to master the details connected with his posi- tion, and wins for him the respect and esteem of all with whom he is associated. With his employes he maintains a lively sympathy, showing an unmistakable regard for their feelings and rights, his kindness to- wards them being highly appreciated. He was born November 9, 1852, in Augusta, Carroll county, Ohio, the place in which the birth of his father, Henry Wathey, occurred November 23, 1832. His paternal grandfather, John Wathey, immigrated from England to America in early manhood, becoming a pioneer settler of Carroll county, Ohio, where he married, and subsequently spent his remaining years.

Henry Wathey, while reared on a farm, was for many years engaged in the oil business, being a pioneer in the Pennsylvania oil fields at Titusville and later at Bradford. The last twenty years of his life were spent as a merchant at Alliance, Ohio, where he died in 1905. He married Mary Jane Manfull, who was born in Augusta, Ohio, in 1830, and died in 1903. Her father, Stephen Manfull, a native of England, immi- grated to this country from England when young, lo- cating in Carroll county, Ohio, in pioneer days.

The eldest of a family of six children, Jesse S. Wathey was educated in the rural schools of his native county. Starting in life for himself, he spent two years in Alli- ance, Ohio, being employed in a lead manufacturing plant. Going from there to the oil fields of Pennsyl- vania, he remained there for sometime, being at first an employe, and later being engaged in the oil business on his own responsibility. Migrating to Montana in 1888, he took up his residence in Butte on June 6th of that year, and during the ensuing four years was sta- tionary engineer for the City Water Company. On January I, 1893, Mr. Wathey accepted his present posi- tion with the Butte Electric Railway Company, and as superintendent of the road has been very successful, managing the portion of the company's affairs in his charge ably and acceptably to all concerned.

Mr. Wathey married May 30, 1877, in Augusta, Ohio, Jessie Westfall, who was born in Carroll county, Ohio, a daughter of Josiah Westfall, and into their pleasant household five children have been born, namely: Charles, deceased; Fred; Ralph; Mary, wife of E. J. Nash, of Polson, Montana ; and Manfull. Politically Mr. Wathey is non-partisan. Fraternally he is a prominent member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, be- longing also to the chapter and commandery, and being a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.

WILLIAM C. BARDON. From his early childhood, Wil- liam Bardon heard stories of the golden western state of Montana, where his father had gone as a young man and succeeded in the search for gold, and he formed a childhood resolution to go to that fascinat- ing country himself, when he should grow up. Rich- ard Bardon was born in Kentucky on July 9, 1846. He grew up in St. Louis county, Missouri, as his parents settled in that section when he was but a child. He was educated in the schools of St. Louis, as his father was a well to do farmer of the county. When he grew up, he worked on the farm, and in the spring of 1865, started for Montana. This expedition

Haysbert Nings

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was driven back by the Indians, but a little later, Mr. Bardon made the trip with Captain La Barge, reach- ing the goal of his desire after many difficulties. They came by way of Fort Benton, and the Mokwer route, and Mr. Bardon, with Reuben Rader was one of the first to discover gold in what is now Radersburg. By the fall of 1866 he had accumulated quite a fortune, and he returned to his home and people in company with the Reverend Father De Smet. His marriage to Miss Jane Majors was celebrated immediately upon his re- turn, at Florissant, in St. Louis county. The Majors family had come to Missouri in the early days of the last century, and Miss Jane was not only a Missourian herself, but the daughter of a native of the county, and the granddaughter as well. Her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Hytze, attained the age of one hundred and four years.

William Bardon was the eldest of the five children of Richard and Jane Majors Bardon. He was born on June 2, 1870 in St. Louis. He attended the public schools, and also Jones' Commercial College in that city until the age of fifteen. It was then that his father died and as the eldest son, he was obliged to give up school to attend to the affairs of the farm. For four years, he devoted himself to this planning all the while to go west-to Montana-as soon as opportunity should present itself. This occurred in the year of 1888, in the spring of the year. A neighbor, a Mr. Patterson, returned from Montana and shipped to his Montana ranch, some household goods and stock. He offered Mr. Bardon the privilege of going out with the car, and promised him work on the ranch. The boy hastened to accept the proposition, took charge of the car and its contents, and on April 18, 1888, arrived in Townsend, Montana. The ensuing year was spent on the ranch of Marks and Patterson, but as Mr. Bardon was ambitious and could see nothing ahead in that life. he decided to try his fortune elsewhere. He went to Helena and found employment with C. A. Black- burn, an old trail blazer, then engaged in the ice trade. Mr. Bardon remained with him for a year, and then secured a position with Michael Reinig, as a delivery boy.

This step was the true beginning of Mr. Bardon's career. In four years he had advanced from delivery boy to confidential clerk and general manager of Mr. Rein- ig's store. With his youthful desire of change still unsatisfied, Mr. Bardon resigned his position in Helena and accepted a similar one with Green Brothers at Fort Benton. For four years he had charge of their establishment, and then returned to Helena, where he was again associated with Mr. Reinig as his general manager. This relationship continued until 1904, when the business was incorporated, and Mr. Bardon became vice-president and general manager of the company, the position which he has held ever since. Michael Reinig's store was established in 1865, and began its existence as a very small concern indeed. Today it is one of the principal distributing agencies of groceries and pro- visions in the state. No small part of its trade is its mail orders for its patrons reside all over the state. . Many of them were early settlers of Helena, who have removed to other localities, but who prefer to procure their supplies from this store. A force of fourteen persons is required to handle the trade, and the aver- age business of a year amounts to $150,000.00.

Mr. Bardon has a ranch on Nevada creek, six hun- dred acres in extent, and also large mining interests at Carbon, Montana, in addition to his mercantile business. He is one of the men who give time, thought and energy to promoting the commercial prestige of Helena. He belongs to the Commercial Club, and to the Retail Merchants' Association, of which he is a director. He is also secretary and director of the Merchants' Livery Company of Helena. His fraternal associations include the Elks, the Modern Woodmen,

the Woodmen of the World, and the Knights of Colum- bus. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, as are the other members of his family. Mr. Bardon is not active in politics, though in national issues, he supports the Democratic party.

Mrs. Bardon is Anna, the daughter of Michael Reinig, a pioneer merchant of Helena, and for years the employer of Mr. Bardon, his son-in-law. He died in Helena on September 20, 1909, about three months after the birth of his grandson, Richard Michael Bardon, born at Helena, June 29, 1909. The union of Miss Reinig and Mr. Bardon was solemnized September II, 1907. Mr. Bardon's mother is still living on the old homestead in Missouri, her family home for genera- tions. Her eldest son, however, is a confirmed Mon- tanian. The west has been good to him, but his success is not of the sort which depends upon locality for it is due to close application to the matter in hand, and the habit of rendering at all times the very best service of which he is capable.

HENRY G. KLENZE, Butte, Montana, while a city of diversified industries and interests, as must be the case in any community that has gained so large a population and is situated in a country of varied resources, is nevertheless a mining center primarily, and to this particular feature of development of the surrounding territory owes more of its prestige than to any other single influence. It was those who came into this part of the country in the earlier years, and who prospected the region with the greatest care and intelligence that have won and are still winning the largest financial rewards from mining development. A present highly influential factor in the development and upbuilding of this part of the state who was among the first to select mining claims in this vicinity and who is now an extensive mining operator, with head- quarters in Butte, is Mr. Henry G. Klenze, who main- tains offices at 49 East Broadway. A mere enumera- tion of the various mining and important financial concerns with which Mr. Klenze is connected as an official or a large stockholder would occupy consid- erable space, but among the more important of these may be mentioned the DeLome Gold Mine Com- pany, of which he is manager, the Combination Keat- ing Mining Company, the Fairplay Mining Company, the Butte Standard Copper Mining Company, and the Western Stock Exchange Company, he holding the office of president in the last four named concerns. Mr. Klenze is without doubt one of the most com- petent judges of the value of mines and mining prop- erties in the west, and throughout the quarter of a century that he has dealt in this class of properties has closed some of the most valuable deals that have been negotiated in the richest mining sections of Montana and the northwest.

Henry G. Klenze is a native of Davenport, Iowa, in which city he was born September 16, 1864. He is of German-American parentage. His father, Charles F. Klenze, was born in Germany and came to America with an older brother when a young man, locating in Iowa, where he spent the greater part of his sub- sequent life engaged in agricultural pursuits. It was there that he met Miss Henrietta Ficke, who was a native of Iowa, and of German parentage, and whom he married. She died in Iowa in 1872, when the son Henry was a lad of eight years. The father still survives and is now a resident of the city of Chi- cago.

Mr. Klenze enjoys good educational advantages and after completing his studies in the public schools at Davenport, entered the State Agricultural College at Ames, Iowa, and for two years specialized there in the study of engineering. He was an apt scholar, indus- trious and quick to learn, and completed his school work when in his eighteenth year. The first two

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years after having completed his education he spent in the government employ as an assistant engineer with an engineering party that was engaged in taking soundings in the Mississippi river. It is interestng to note that these two years covered the only period of time which Mr. Klenze ever spent in the employ of others.

Resigning his government position in order to go west and take advantage of the great opportunities in that section of the country, he next located at Bis- marck, North Dakota, for a season, and while living there formed the acquaintance of Mr. R. F. Barry, a local photographer, and he quickly decided to learn photography of him. This he did, and some time later the two friends decided to go out together on an exploring trip up the Missouri river and into the then unsettled or thinly settled country to the west. Two years were consumed in the trip, which took them as far north as Fort Swinbourne and Fort Benton. The results of their explorations and incidental pros- pecting were very satisfactory, however, for they suc- ceeded in locating and securing patents to some min- ing properties which later were developed and proved to be some of the richest in the whole state. These mines were located in the Sweet Grass Mountain, Bear Paw Mountains and Little Rockies. Among the largest producing mines with which Mr. Klenze has been connected as owner might also be mentioned those located in Niehart, including the Big 7 mine, Florence and Fairplay. Enormous dividends were re- ceived from these and other mines. One of his most valuable holdings at the present time is the property located at Rodersburg, and joining the Keating and Black Friday mines. He also has other rich prop- erties in the Virginia City district.

While Mr. Klenze now lives in a beautiful residence, with all the comforts and conveniences that wealth can supply, he looks back upon his early prospecting days with the keenest pleasure. The privations and hardships necessarily endured when far from the near- est point of civilization and with no convenient means of transportation had no power to daunt the splendid courage of the young man, and his early enjoyment of life in the mountains was to him one of the great- est pleasures his life has held.

The marriage of Mr. Klenze occurred at Minne- apolis, Minnesota, October 8, 1890, when he married Mrs. J. W. MacLane, a widow, and who by her for- mer marriage is the mother of Mary MacLane, the well known Montana authoress, whose home is made with Mr. and Mrs. Klenze. Both Mr. Klenze and his wife are members of the Christian Science church, and contribute liberally to the support of that religious institution. Mr. Klenze belongs to the Silver Bow Club, and is well known in leading lodge life, hold- ing membership in the Woodmen of the World, For- esters order, National Union, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. This part of the north- west owes much to the energy and enterprise of Mr. Klenze, who has been at all times so active in the development of its latent resources, and his high stand- ing in the industrial, financial, social and religious circles of the city is but one of the evidences of a just recognition of his worth and power as a man and a citizen of the best and rarest type.

IULLUS G. DENNY. A native son of the west who has attained to secure status as one of the representa- tive members of the bar of Montana is Iullus Green- leaf Denny, who is engaged in the practice of his pro- fession in the city of Butte and who is one of the leading and influential members of the bar of the thriving metropolis of the state. He has been promi- nent in connection with political and general civic affairs in Montana, and prior to establishing his resi- dence in Butte had served as prosecuting attorney of

Missoula county. Progressive and public-spirited, he has identified himself loyally with measures and enter- prises tending to advance the material and civic wel- fare of his home state, and his unqualified popularity shows that he has fully measured up to the decisive metewand of public approbation.

Mr. Denny was born at Bethel, Polk county, Oregon, on the 19th of February, 1859, and this date in itself signified that his parents were numbered among the pioneers of that now opulent commonwealth of the Union. He is a son of Aaron and Almira (King) Denny, whose marriage was solemnized in the state of Indiana, on the 10th of April, 1850, and who soon afterward set forth on the long and hazardous jour- ney across the plains to the Pacific coast. The trip was made with ox teams and they endured the full tension of perils and vicissitudes which attended such pioneer immigration. Upon their arrival in Oregon they entered claim to a half-section of government land in Multnomah county, near the site of the present city of Portland, which was then a mere hamlet in the wilderness. Later they removed to Polk county and established their home near Bethel, where they con- tinued to reside until 1877, when they came to Benton county, in the same state, where the father became prominently identified with lumbering operations, in connection with which he not only built and put in operation a saw mill but also built several schooners, which he utilized in his lumbering enterprises. Aaron Denny finally returned to his former homestead in Polk county and there he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1901. He was a man of sterling character and marked business ability, and was one who aided materially in the development and progress of the state of which he was an honored pioneer. His wife was summoned to eternal rest on the 13th of July, 1892, in her sixty-fourth year, and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle and gracious influence. She bore with fortitude the hardships of pioneer life, was her husband's true companion and helpmeet and was a devoted and self-abnegating mother. While the family were making the journey across the plains to the new home she stood guard, with a Kentucky rifle, to avert attack by the Indians while her husband was securing much needed sleep. She was a woman of noble and heroic mould and her name merits enduring place on the roll of the brave and gentle pioneer wo- men who did well their part in connection with the upbuilding of one of the great commonwealths of the federal Union. She was born in Indiana, in 1828, and was a daughter of John King, a native of Ten- nessee and a pioneer of the old Hoosier State. One of her brother, John B. King, became one of the promi- nent members of the bar of the state of Missouri and was the author of several valuable treatises on federal law. Aaron and Almira (King) Denny became the par- ents of seven children, all sons, and six of the num- ber were reared to manhood. Iullus G. Denny of this review was the fifth in order of birth and is one of five now living.

Iullus G. Denny was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm and his early educational advan- tages were those afforded in the public schools in the village of. Bethel, Oregon. In 1877 he applied for a cadetship in the United States Military Academy, at West Point, and in the competitive examination he secured the appointment, but unforeseen circumstances prevented his acceptance of the coveted position. In the following year he was matriculated in the Univer- sity of Oregon, where he remained a student for one year. He then devoted a year to the reading of law in the offices of the firm of Daly & Buttler at Dallas, Oregon, and after gaining excellent preliminary dis- cipline under such effective preceptorship he entered the law department of Willamette University, at Salem,

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Oregon, in which he was graduated with the highest honors of his class, that of 1888, and from which he received his well-earned degree of Bachelor of Laws. On the 12th of September of the same year he was admitted to the bar of his native state, and in prepar- ing to initiate the active work of his chosen profes- sion he decided to establish his residence in Montana. He remained for a time at Grantsdale, Ravalli county, this state, and in the latter part of 1888 he established his home in Missoula, the judicial center of the county of that name. There he entered vigorously upon the practice of his profession, in which his novitiate was of brief duration, as he soon effectually proved his powers and gained reputation as a strong and versa- tile trial lawyer and well fortified counselor. He gained a substantial and lucrative practice in Missoula county and his professional services eventually found requisition in important legal work outside of that county. In the year following his location in Mis- soula he was made the Democratic nominee for prose- cuting attorney of the county, and his defeat was com- passed by two hundred votes, owing to normal political exigencies. The successful Republican candidate was Frederick C. Webster. At the next election Mr. Denny was again made the candidate of his party for the same office, and the strong hold he had in the meanwhile gained upon popular confidence and esteem was sig- nificantly shown by his being elected prosecuting attor- ney by a majority of six hundred votes. He proved a most careful and efficient public prosecutor and his administration in this office has passed upon record as one of the most admirable in the history of Missoula county.

Soon after establishing his home in Missoula Mr. Denny became a member of the law firm of Stephens, Matts & Denny, in which his associates were Judge William J. Stephens and Hon. Elmer Matts. He re- mained a member of this strong and representative law firm for several years, during which he won marked success and prestige and was retained in nearly every criminal case of importance in the county, -usually by the defense until he was elected prosecut- ing attorney, after which his services were of course enlisted in the prosecution. He has a high reputa- tion as a criminal lawyer and has been identified with many of the important cases of the criminal code in the state which has been the stage of his professional endeavors from the start to the present time. In 1893 Mr. Denny formed a professional alliance with Joseph M. Dixon, under the title of Denny & Dixon, and this effective association continued until his removal from Missoula to Butte. He has been established in the practice of his profession in the Montana metropolis since 1888, and his reputation in his chosen vocation is statewide. He has been concerned in much of the important litigation in the state and federal courts of Montana and has been specially prominent as a criminal lawyer, as has already been stated. He has been one of the leaders in the councils of the Dem- ocratic party in this state and has rendered yeoman service in the various political campaigns, in which connection he is known as a most effective stump speaker and also as an enthusiastic and successful worker in the manœuvring of political forces. He has several times been a candidate before the conven- tion for the nomination of his party for representative of the state in congress. Mr. Denny has made judi- cious investments in Montana real estate, including city property in Butte, and he is also interested in mining operations of important order. He is fully alive to the manifold resources and advantages of the state of his adoption and is one of Montana's most loyal and progressive citizens.

On the 12th of February, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Denny to Miss Beatrice T. Reynolds, who was born in the state of Iowa and who was a

daughter of John Reynolds, a pioneer of Montana. Mrs. Denny was summoned to the life eternal on the 6th of January, 1906, secure in the affectionate regard of all who knew her, and she is survived by two children,-Robert M., who was born November 20, 1892, attended the public schools of Missoula and . Butte; and Thomas R., who was born July 12, 1894, and who is a student in the University of Montana, at Missoula.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 27

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