A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 42

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

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Mr. McTaggart was married Angust 21, 1892, to Miss Mollie Kewn, who was born in Ontario, Canada, daughter of Thomas and Delia (Lynch) Kewn, natives of Dublin, Ireland, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Kewn came from the Emerald Isle to America as a young man, becoming a pioneer Canadian farmer, and there spent his entire life. He and his wife had a family of five children, of whom Mrs. McTaggart was the youngest. Mr. McTaggart is enjoying and will no doubt continue to enjoy the full confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. Possessed of executive ability of a high order, he has been absolutely faithful in the discharge of his duties, and his pleasant manner and courteous conduct have made him one of the most popular officials Belgrade has ever had.

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HON. JOHN F. ASBURY. Holding an admitted prece- dence in financial affairs, having a highly creditable public record, and one who has wielded a wide and distinct influence in matters of a business nature, the services of the Hon. John F. Asbury, mayor of Big Timber and president of the Big Timber National Bank, have been of an exalted character. He is a native of Lewis county, Missouri, where he was born April 24, 1864, and is a son of Isham and Sarah J. (Fowler) Asbury, natives of Kentucky. Isham Asbury was born in 1830, and as a youth left the Blue Grass State for Missouri, securing his medical training in the old Gerard Medical College, St. Louis. He spent the remainder of his life in Lewis county, and attained an enviable position among the practitioners of the state, being also known as a prominent Mason and active Democrat. His death occurred in 1872. His wife, who was born in 1827, died in 1887, having been the mother of five children: Thomas, John F., David R. and Isham, who are living, and a daughter who died in infancy.

John F. Asbury received a common school education in Lewis county, subsequently attending Monticello high school and Monticello Seminary, and for two years taught school. He was then made president of the schools of Monticello, Missouri, but in 1889 gave up the profession of educator and came to Montana to accept a position in the Gallatin Valley National Bank, of Bozeman, Montana, with which he was con- nected until 1893. In that year he was appointed re- receiver of the United States lands office at Bozeman, acting in that capacity until 1898, when he removed to Big Timber and became cashier of the Big Timber National Bank. He subsequently became president of this bank, which is known as one of the soundest and most substantial financial institutions in this part of the state, and in addition has large inter- ests in the Martinsdale Live Stock Company and the A. F. & K. Elevator Company. Since the incorpora- tion of Big Timber he has acted in the capacity of mayor, and the same shrewd, far-sighted characteris- tics that have made his own ventures so successful have been applied to the business of the city with very satis- factory results. During his fifteen years of residence in Big Timber he has made a wide acquaintance, and in business, public and social life has many warm friends and admirers.

On October 24, 1894, Mr. Asbury was united in marriage with Mrs. Nellie Blair Vivion, who was born in Lancaster, Ohio, daughter of George and Eliza (Brennan) Blair, the former a native of Lan- caster, who died in his sixty-fifth year, and the latter born in Dublin, Ireland, and still living at the age of seventy-seven. Mrs. Asbury's sister, Mrs. Jennie Mc- Kean, resides in Mason City, Iowa. Mr. Blair was a contractor and builder in Lancaster, Ohio, at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war, and he became cap- tain of Company A, Seventeenth Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry. After participating in numerous en- gagements, he was captured by the Confederates, and incarcerated in Libby Prison, where he experienced all the hardships that fell to the lot of the Union soldiers held in that terrible southern prison. After being held for about a year he was liberated by the soldiers of Sherman, at that time on his famous march to the sea. On securing his honorable discharge, Mr. Blair returned to Lancaster, where he became a prom- inent contractor and builder and was so engaged up to the time of his death. Mayor and Mrs. Asbury have two beautiful daughters: Elizabeth and Dorothy.

HON. JOHN E. EDWARDS, president of the State Bank of Commerce and state senator from his district, is one of the undeniably prominent men of Forsyth and Rosebud county. He has been identified with the west- ern states since his youth, being but seventeen years

of age when he located at Colorado. Mr. Edwards was born in Warsaw, Illinois, on July 17, 1866, and is a son of Oliver and Annie E. (Johnston) Edwards. The father was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was a mechanic by trade. He served in the Union army, entering the service as a private, and was made colonel of the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts In- fantry, which he organized while at home on a fur- lough. At the close of the war he held the rank of brevet major-general. He was a man who ever dis- played a goodly amount of interest in political affairs of the day, and was prominent in local politics all his life. He was for years the mayor of Warsaw, and filled other positions of importance at various time. He died in 1904 at the age of sixty-nine, and is buried in Warsaw, where he made his home for so many years. His widow still survives him. She was born in the town and there married her husband. Two children were born to them, John E. being the eldest ; the other, a daughter, resides in Warsaw.

When John E. Edwards was seventeen years old he left school and set out for the west, locating in Colo- rado and there remaining for two years, engaged in work on the cattle range. He then moved on to Indian territory and northern Texas, being always employed on the range, and in 1889 came up the trail from Texas to Montana, since which time he has been a resident of the state. He first settled in Fergus county where he was superintendent of the Cruse cattle ranch for nine years, and then went into the mercantile business at Junction Mountain. He continued in that business for one year, when he was appointed Indian agent of the Crow Indians, a post which he held for three years, and upon resigning he was immediately appointed in- spector of Indian agencies. This position he resigned after six months of service, and settling in Forsyth, he has made this city the center of his business opera- tions and his established home as well.

The first business venture of Mr. Edwards in For- syth was the organization of the Bank of Commerce, after which the Richardson Mercantile Company was organized by him. He has been president of the bank since it was organized, and under his supervision it has made steady progress among the financial institu- tions of the city and county. Mr. Edwards was elected to the state senate from Rosebud county on the Repub- lican ticket and is now serving his second term of four years. In addition to his operations as a banker, Mr. Edwards owns and operates the telephone line and elec- tric light system, and has many other interests in and about the city, all of which have helped to develop the community in no small measure.

Mr. Edwards is a member of the Independent Order of Elks, and of the Forsyth Club and the Montana Lambs Club at Helena. He is a member of the Pres- byterian church, as is also his wife.

On November 15, 1892, Mr. Edwards was married at Lewistown, Montana, to Miss Julia Anderson, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Reese Anderson, residents of Fergus county, Montana. Three children have been born to them, two daughters and a son. Annie J. and Eunice are now attending college at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while John O., the youngest of the three, is at home with his parents.

WALLACE N. PORTER. There are many capable and enterprising young and middle-aged citizens in Gallatin county, but none exceeds in capability and progressive- ness Wallace N. Porter, who plays an important role in the life of the community, being postmaster and pro- prietor of a large general merchandise store. His course through life has been upright and prudent and he has been successful in whatever he has attempted. As one of the faithful servants of Uncle Sam in his mail business he is generally appreciated.

Mr. Porter was born in Prescott, Wisconsin, Novem-

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ber 28, 1872, the son of Norton T. and Sarah (Miller) Porter. The father was born in Vermont, but gradu- ally made his way westward and eventually located in Great Falls, Montana, where he engaged in the real estate business and became a prominent politician. He was one of the most loyal of Montanians and was an influential factor in the life of his community. He died in 1896 at the age of forty-nine years and is in- terred at Great Falls. His wife died at the early age of thirty-two, her sumons to the life eternal coming in 1881, when the family still lived in Minnesota. There were six children in the family of which Mr. Porter was a member, he being next to the eldest in order of nativity.

Mr. Porter was a child of about five years when his parents went to Murdock, Minnesota and his father remained in that place until 1889, when he brought his children to this state. The immediate subject remained in Great Falls until 1902, during which time he was associated with his brother as a member of the firm of Porter Brothers, retail books and stationery. The steady indoor confinement proved detrimental to his health and the doctor urging the open air treatment, he went into northern Montana and embarked in the cattle business. He continued thus engaged for about five years and then sold out, again entering the mercan- tile field, for which his tastes and inclinations fitted him. He established himself this time at Gold Butte, where he remained for about two years and where he was appointed to the office of postmaster. About this time he became impressed with the opportunities pre- sented by Three Forks, and disposing of his interests, he came here. He first went into business here on a small scale, but has encountered fair seas and good sailing and his business has grown by leaps and bounds, and today he carries on the most extensive business in the town. He was appointed postmaster by President Taft and he is also chairman of the school board. He is a Republican in political faith, but can not be said ever to have taken an active part in politics.

Mr. Porter received his early education in the public schools of Minnesota and then entered the State School of Agriculture at St. Anthony Park, Minnesota, from which he was graduated. Upon coming to Montana and abandoning the idea of devoting his life to farming, he took a business course in a commercial college at Great Falls. As a lad he lived upon the farm and is by no means unfamiliar with the great basic industry.

Both he and his admirable wife sympathize with the teaching of the Presbyterian church. The subject is a member of the Knights of Pythias and a prominent one, having gone through all the chairs and at the present time holding the office of past chancellor. In the matter of sport he is especially fond of hunting, while his wife delights in riding and driving and is a good judge of horse flesh, her stable housing a fine team of horses. Mr. Porter is one of the many who have absolute confidence in the roseate future of Mon- tana; he has departed several times and sought other scenes, but has always been glad to return.

On June 4, 1898, Mr. Porter was happily married at Great Falls, Miss Za Peek, daughter of George and Almina Peek, formerly of Michigan, becoming his wife. They share their attractive home with a daughter, Genevieve, a student in the schools of Three Forks and a very fine musician.

Two other members of the Porter family reside within the borders of the great state of Montana. Bert W. is a citizen of Great Falls and Jennie, a grad- uate of the California State University, is one of the popular and efficient teachers in the Great Falls public schools.

JOHN F. DUFFY controls one of the largest and best law practices in the Flathead region, and is known for a lawyer of exceptional ability wherever he has

had occasion to exercise his talent in his profession. He has been a resident of the state since 1889, and of Kalispell since 1901, and in addition to the carrying on of his law practice, he has become identified with many an important financial and industrial enterprise in connection with the life of the city and county. He is a Democrat, and an acknowledged power in the politics of this district, and he has been accorded various honors at the hands of the people in the way of official positions of more or less responsibility. On the whole, Mr. Duffy is recognized for one of the influential and solid men of the community, and as such his place in the popular esteem is well founded.

Mr. Duffy was born in the state of Ohio, Columbiana county, on July 12, 1862. He is the son of James and Eliza (McGinty) Duffy, the former a native of Ire- land, born there in 1826, and the latter of Ohio, where she was born in 1840. The father came to America in 1844 and in 1909 he died in the same county in which he settled on locating in America. In the early fifties Mr. Duffy joined the throng of gold seekers and went to California, where he passed two years in the min- ing camps of the West. He went by way of the Nicaraugua route, returning the same way, and when his zest for treasure seeking was passed, he returned to his pleasant farm home in Columbiana county, Ohio, and there lived the remainder of his life. The mother of John Duffy died on January 15, 1912, at the ad- vanced age of seventy-two years. They were the parents of ten children, of which number Judge Duffy of this brief review is the eldest born.

As a boy in the country, John Duffy was privileged to attend the district schools, and, always of a studious and ambitious nature, the youth availed himself of every opportunity for study, however limited it might seem. Thus, when he finished with the district schools of his town at the age of eighteen, he was compara- tively well posted, and even capable of teaching the district schools. Thereafter Mr. Duffy taught school during the winter months and in the summer seasons gave his time and energy to the work of the farm. He also found time to read law in the offices of Mc- Coy and Taylor, in Carrollton, Ohio. Mr. Taylor was a man of splendid ability in his profession and after- wards became prominent in public life, taking an active place in congress between 1885-7. Mr. Duffy re- mained in Ohio until 1889, in March of which year he came to Montana, locating first in Missoula, where he taught school in the Bitter Root valley in 1889 and 1890. In 1891 he gave over his pedagogic work and going to Kalispell, opened a law office there, and from that time to this he has been actively occupied in the prosecution of his profession. His many admirable qualities and his very apparent ability soon won to him a generous and pleasing clientage, and his popu- larity has grown with the passing of the years, until he is today reckoned among the leading men of in- fluence and power in the district. Mr. Duffy was the first justice of the peace Kalispell boasted, filling that office in 1891, and he was a school trustee between the years of 1894 and 1897. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and is, among other associations with industrial enterprises, secretary of the King-Thurman Nursery Company.

On May 6, 1884, Judge Duffy was united in mar- riage in Ohio with Miss Addie Shaw, the daughter of John and Margaret (Watson) Shaw, well-known farming people of their section of the state. John Shaw is a native of Ireland, while the mother of Mrs. Duffy is a native Ohioan. They became the parents of eleven children, ten of whom are living. They are: Gregory M., born in 1885, a resident of Mon- tana, where he homesteaded on the Flathead reserva- tion. 'He is not married. Raymond B., a graduate of Minnesota University in the Electrical Engineer- ing Department. He was born in Ohio, and is mar-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

ried to Miss Nora Fritz of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Margaret, the wife of John D. Bowdish, born in 1888 in Montana, also has a homestead in the Flathead district. James, born in the Bitter Root valley in 1889, is a Flathead homesteader. Florence, the wife of Wm. M. Egan, was born in Missoula in 1891. She has one child, Florence, born in Kalispell, July, 1910. Frank, born in Kalispell in 1893, is a nurseryman, located in this city. George Washington, born in Kalispell in 1895, is attending a business college in Kalispell. Alfred, born in 1897, Mary, born in 1899 and Annie, born in 1903, are all attending school in Kalispell, where they were born.

JOHN F. CLAGUE. Since 1909, Mr. Clagne has been associated with Mr. Beauchamp in the plumbing busi- ness in Kalispell, and in that association has gained a worthy prominence and prosperity with the passing of the years, though few in number since that time. Mr. Clague is a native of Ontario, Canada, born there in August, 1869, and is the son of James D. and Eles (Honner) Clague. The father, who was a native of the Isle-of-Man, born there in 1833, passed his life in On- tario devoted to the farming business, and died there in 1875 at the age of forty-two years. His widow sur- vived him until 1892, her death occurring when she was in her fifty-third year. They were the parents of six children, of whom John F. was the third born.

John F. Clague attended school at Windsor, Ontario, and later attended the Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, but did not finish his college course, leaving at the close of his first year there. In 1889 he came to Montana and settled first in Annaconda, where lie was employed variously for some time. He eventu- ally located at a number of places in the state, and it was in 1909 that he first came to Kalispell, where he worked at the printing trade for a few months until he became associated with Mr. Beanchamp in the business which has since claimed his time and attention.

Mr. Clague is a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Kalispell Club. He is a Republi- can in his political faith, and is a member of the Presbyterian church.

In 1900 Mr. Clague was united in marriage at Deer Lodge with Miss Margaret Wilson, and they have be- come the parents of three children: Donald, born in Mackey, Idaho, in April, 1903; Wayne, born at Ana- conda, Montana, in December, 1906, and Dorothy, born in September, 1909, at Kalispell. The two boys attend school in Kalispell, the daughter not yet having reached a school age.

DON E. SCHANCK. In the list of Montana's repre- sentative public officials may be found the names of men who have worked out their own success in life, and whose sagacity, foresight and inherent ability have caused them to take advantage of the opportunities of- fered by the natural resources of the Treasure state, thus attaining business prestige and the respect and esteem that invariably accompanies the legitimate accumula- tion of a competency. Those who have shown that they are capable of handling large personal matters in an able and satisfactory manner generally impress their fellows with their fitness for handling the 'affairs of others, and it is rare that a man who has not had suc- cess in his private enterprises is elected to positions of trust and responsibility in the public arena. Don E. Schanck, postmaster of Libby, Montana, belongs to that class of men who hold precedence among their asso- ciates on account of business acumen and natural ability. Coming to this city more than twenty years ago, when the community was still a struggling hamlet, he laid the foundation for an active and useful career, and is today known as one of the leading ranchmen and miners of his section. He was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, June 13, 1857, and is a son of Garrett C. and Sarah (Britton) Schanck, the former a native of Pennsylvania

and the latter of Vermont. Garrett C. Schanck as a young man enlisted in the Civil war as a member of the Eighty-third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer In- fantry, and, although he was for four years engaged in active fighting and participated in numerous engage- ments, some of the bloodiest of the war, in fact, was never wounded. On completing his service he returned to Linesville, Pennsylvania, and there established him- self in a hardware business, becoming one of the lead- ing business men of that place, where he carried on active operations until his death in 1912, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. His wife, who was taken to Pennsylvania by her parents when a young woman, died in 1882, having been the mother of two children: Don E .; and Nina A., the latter marrying Hon. L. O. McLane of Linesville, Pennsylvania, who was asso- cated with her father in the hardware business, and who was for some time one of the leading members of the Pennsylvania legislature, and is at present a presi- dential elector.

Don E. Schanck attended the public schools of his native locality. and on completing his education took up the profession of educator, which he followed with some degree of success for twelve years. Subsequently he became associated in the hardware business with his father, with whom he continued until going west to Wichita, Kansas, in 1881, where he taught school for one year. Returning to Pennsylvania, he acted as traveling representative for a hardware firm for two years, and in 1889 came to Montana, locating in Great Falls and engaging in the restaurant business. After one year he again went back to Pennsylvania, but in 1892 returned to Montana and settled in Libby, then only a small village. He at once began prospecting, and while thus engaged located the Blacktail Mine, which subsequently became one of the largest producers of this section. In 1898 he went on a prospecting trip to Alaska, a venture that proved eminently successful, and in 1900 he returned to Libby and engaged in mining, with which he has since been connected, also owning valuable properties in the Shoshone mountains. He has a fine ranch in Lincoln county, and has erected a Schanck has served in various public capacities, and modern residence. A stanch Republican in politics, Mr. is known as one of his party's active workers. In 1893 when Flathead county was first organized, he acted as the first justice of the peace, at Libby, and his duties included the trying of some of the most desperate characters ever brought before the bar of justice in Montana. He also served one full term as under sheriff of Lincoln county, proving himself an efficient and courageous officer, and in 1910 was elected an alderman of Libby, being re-elected to that office in 1912. In addition he has served three years as clerk of the school board, and in 1911 was appointed postmaster of Libby, in which capacity he acts at the present time, being one of the most popular officials in Lincoln county. For a number of years he has been prominently connected with Oddfellowship.

In 1880 Mr. Schanck was married to Miss Lola Kimple, of Meadville, Pennsylvania, and they have two children: Donna M., born in 1887, at Linesville, Pennsylvania, and now supervisor of music in the city schools of Libby; and Nina M., born in 1891, at Lines- ville, Pennsylvania, who now holds the position of stenographer and forest clerk in the forestry service. Mrs. Schanck is a consistent member of the Universal- ist church.

Mr. Schanck's circle of acquaintances is a wide one throughout the state, and wherever he is known he is highly esteemed, being recognized as a man who has made his way in the state of his adoption solely through those sterling qualities of character that have served to conquer the great west and to make the state of Montana a center of commercial and industrial im- portance.

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JUDGE CHARLES W. POMEROY of Kalispell, who since 1889 has been a patriotic citizen of Montana, is a native of Kansas, the son of a notable citizen of the latter state and a descendant of prominent colonists of early American settlement. His paternal ancestors came from Devonshire, England, one of them presiding over the first town meeting held in New England, at Dor- chester, Massachusetts, where this family settled in 1630. Eltwed Pomeroy was the founder of the American branch of Pomeroys, many of whom served both in the colonial wars and in the Revolution. The judge's maternal ancestors included the Youngs of an early period of Virginia settlement, who later removed to Kentucky and then to Indiana; and the Blake line of North Carolina location and afterward of Kentucky and Indiana. Judge Pomeroy's parents were John F. Pomeroy and Martha J. Blake. The father was a native of Massachusetts, but removed in 1859 to Jackson county, Kansas, of which locality he is still a resident. During his citizenship there he has been very active in public affairs and has been honored conspicuously with public offices. In 1870 he was made county commissioner; in 1892 he was elected a member of the state legislature of Kansas, in which body he served for one term; in 1894 he was chosen mayor of Holton.

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A history of Montana, Volume III, Part 42

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