USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 72
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trieved his fortune and more, but was backing three other men. Again he suffered from heavy losses but owing to his excellent grit and hard work, he again recovered and now is one 'of the wealthy sheep men of the state of Montana. At present he is handling about fifteen thousand sheep and owns thirty thou- sand acres of land besides a considerable town property. His residence in Glendive is a hand- some modern structure and is the center of re- fined hospitality. In 1905, Mr. Lindsay in- corporated his business into the Lindsay Land & Live Stock Company for one hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars, nearly all of this stock being held by himself and members of his family. Nearly all of Mr. Lindsay's land lies north and west from Glendive and his op- erations are largely in Dawson county.
At Glendive, Montana, in 1886, Mr. Lind- say married Miss Alice M. Reehl, of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and to this union two children have been born, William Leroy, aged nineteen and Grace M., thirteen years of age. both attending school in Glendive. Mr. Lind- say has always been an active and stanch Re- publican. He is a man of force and weight and his influence is felt all over the state. He was elected to the office of county commis- sioner of Dawson county in 1892 and served until 1896, then he was chosen a member of the lower house of the fifth legislature. Was re-elected to the sixth legislature and ran for state senator for the seventh legislature, but was defeated. In 1902 he was chosen chair- man of the Republican state central committee and secured the first Republican victory in Montana in eight years. In 1904, Mr. Lind- say was nominated for governor of the state of Montana and although he made a splendid run, he lost the election. He has always stood as a champion for clean politics and a proper administration of justice. During the Clark and Daly contest of the sixth legisla- ture he was one of the four who refused to join the Clark faction.
Mr. Lindsay is a member of the Metho- (ist church, an ardent advocate of his faith and liberal supporter of the same. He was elected lay delegate from Montana to the Chi- cago General Conference in 1900 and also to the same at Los Angeles, California, in 1904. He has always been very active in educational matters and takes a deep interest in forward- ing everything that is for the building up of this important part of our government. He was largely instrumental in securing the estal)- lishment of the free high school at Glendive and is president of the board of directors of that institution and is also a director of his home district.
It is with great pleasure that one is per- mitted to review a career like that of Mr. Lindsay, pleasant because one loves to chron- icle such labors and such successes and because it is very important and a task to be desired to lay before the great state of Montana an example like that which the life of Mr. Lindsay sets forth. A strong and forceful business man, meeting and overcoming obsta- cles which would have swamped an ordinary man, a kind father and husband, a champion of right at all times and in every place and on whom had passed a life that commands the re- spect and admiration of all-Mr. Lindsay's career is therefore properly set forth in this public manner.
JOHN H. FROST resides three and one- half miles west of Grey Cliff and was born on an island in the Yellowstone river where Liv- ingston now stands, the date being December 31, 1872. His father, John H. Frost, an army surgeon and a native of New York, was killed by the Indians near Livingston when our sub- the daughter of an Indian woman and a Span- ject was seven months old. The mother, El- len Lewis, still lives, aged fifty-one. She was ish father, he having come from Spain to
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the Pacific coast in the early part of the 19th century. Our subject is the only child of his father and he has a half sister, Julia Jackson, now a student at Carlisle. Immediately upon finishing his education he returned to Mon- tana and entered the military service at Fort Custer as interpreter and drill master for the Indian soldiers. After two years in that ser- vice, he decided to return to his ranch on the Yellowstone, where he has spent his time since. When ten years of age, Mr. Frost took an overland trip to the Grand Ronde valley in Oregon and after two years spent there, came to the Crow Indian reservation, whence he went to Carlisle. Mr. Frost is a man of almost ideal physique. is well educated, of good judgment and discusses the matters which we are taking up freely and with energy. Of the twenty-seven who went with him to Carlisle. he has ascertained that twenty-two went back to their blankets, the balance hold- ing out merely through mental stamina. Mr. Frost has had much opportunity to study the conditions of the Indians and above everything else. he deplores the awful effect of whiskey upon them. This was especially evident among the soldiers at Custer. It is interesting to note that many times when giving drill orders, he was obliged to coin words in the Indian language as the English words had no Indian equivalent. Since coming to his ranch, Mr. Frost has taken an active interest in agricultural developments as the country was given largely to stock but in the past two years has put several hundred acres under the plow. He has a fine farm and is one of the respected and well-to-do men of this section.
On March 10. 1895, Mr. Frost married Amelia Ledux, who was born near Medicine Hat, Canada, where her parents still live. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Frost : Daniel L .. John H., May. Henry S., and Alice.
As Mr. Frost has not severed his tribal
rights he has no political privileges, yet takes a keen interest in political matters and is well informed on the questions of the day.
The following account is given direct from Mr. Frost's lips. While a student at Carlisle, one day when Colonel Pratt was having some trouble with the Indian boys, he addressed Mr. Frost, saying, "John, are there not any good Indians here?" Mr. Frost saluted and promptly replied. "Yes, sir." "Where are they?" asked the Colonel. Mr. Frost pointed to the college burying ground and replied. "There are several out there." "Go to your quarters at once and consider yourself under arrest," said the Colonel. Without changing expression Frost saluted and said, "Yes, if I am to be arrested for speaking the truth," and turning on his heel he walked away. He had only gone a few paces, however, before the Colonel called him back and dismissed him with a laugh. Mr. Frost holds as a very dear friend, Mr. Pratt, and says, "He took the blanket off me both literally and metaphoric- ally." When one studies the Indian races and sees the magnificent blood of some men who stand out among them really great men of the world, one longs to see this race brought under the pale of civilization that the world might witness the power of brain, inventive genius and the magnificent spirit of the Indian work- ing in the highways that civilization alone can give, where they would certainly make a pro- found impression of the world. Slowly this is coming about . and such men as Mr. Frost who can and do lock intelligently upon the question are enabled to do much to bring about the happy end.
GWEN F. BURL.\, treasurer of Yellow- stone county. Montana, was born in Ohio, October 4. 1867. the son of Lucus and Mary A. (Kalbe) Burla, the father of French and
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the mother of German nativity. In 1865 the father came to the United States and settled in Randolph, Portage county, Ohio, removing later to New Baltimore, Stark county. He was a general farmer and stonecutter con- tractor and builder, and, although an enthus- iastic Democrat, was not an office-seeker. He died in New Balitmore in 1900. In the esti- mation of the community in which he was long a resident he stood very high and was a highly respected citizen. The mother of our subject passed from earth in New Baltimore in 1889. Her father was of French Huguenot ancestry.
The subject of this article grew up with his parents and received an excellent and lib- eral education in the public schools and the high schools of Marlborough, Ohio. Later he was matriculated in the Ohio Normal Uni- versity from which he was graduated in the class of 1890 with honors. Thence he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he held a clerical position with the East Cleveland Railroad com- pany until August, 1893. At that period his health failing he came to Billings and at first taught school in the Newman District two terms, thence going to Reed, in what is now Sweet Grass county, now Battle Flat. Here he taught one winter term, and later was three years at Laurel. Before the ending of the last term he was elected superintendent of schools of Yellowstone county which position he held two terms, near the close of the last of which he was elected cashier of Yegen Brothers Savings Bank, Billings, where he remained two years, and then resigned, when he was elected county treasurer in 1902 and served four years.
April 26, 1901, at Billings, Mr. Burla was united in marriage to Elizabeth Cedergren, born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter of C. Victory and Matilda (Carlson) Ceder- gren, natives of Stockholm, Sweden. Our sub- ject has five brothers and one sister, viz. : August, contractor and builder; Albert, An-
drew and William, all well known business men of Akron, Ohio; Edward, living at Lau- rel, and Mrs. Theresa Kuntze, of Akron, Ohio. Mrs. Burla, the wife of our subject, has three brothers, Money, Richard and Henry, the two former members of the Western Hardware Company, Billings, mentioned elsewhere.
Mr. Burla is a member of all the Masonic orders in Billings, Algeria Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., is past C. C. of the Rathbone Lodge, K. of P., B. P. O. E., Eagles, and past presi- dent of same, also past district deputy. At present he is the efficient secretary of the Western Hardware Company.
In March, 1906, Mr. Burla was elected commissioner of Yellowstone county to serve six years from March, 1907.
WILLIAM LOWE, a retired hardware merchant living in Glendive, was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, February 7, 1828. His father Richard Lowe was born in the same place in February, 1802, and in 1824 married Esther Cox, who was also born in Shrewsbury in 1802. The children born to this marriage were Edwin, at Baldwin, Iowa; John, at Providence, Rhode Island; Mrs. Es- ther Van in Pottawatomie county, Iowa, and Charlotte Johnson born at Canton, Iowa. Mr. Lowe was educated in the common schools of England and at Providence, Rhode Island, having come to the United States when fifteen years old and settled at Providence, Rhode Island. In 1853, the family came west to Can- ton, Iowa, and our subject took up the business of a hardware merchant there, continuing in the same until 1864, when he came west to what was then Idaho territory but is now Montana and settled in Emigrant Gulch. Two years later, he went thence to Virginia City where he lived one year and then went to the Madison river country and did prospecting. Later he was on India creek and moved
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around prospecting until about 1870 when he returned to Canton, Iowa, where he engaged in the hardware business. This remained his residence until 1881 in which year he came to Glendive, embarking in the hardware busi- ness and this he followed continuously until 1902, when he turned his business over to the active management of his sons.
When twenty-eight Mr. Lowe married Miss Ellen Baird of Providence, Rhode Island, who died in 1885. Seven children were born to this marriage, three of whom survive. They are Guy Ralph Lowe, Ray Garfield Lowe and Mrs. Ellen Fleming. All reside in Glendive, Montana.
Mr. Lowe was public administrator and held the position for some time. He always takes a keen interest in political matters and has done much to assist in building up the country. Mr. Lowe is very enthusiastic over school matters and never allows an opportunity to slip to assist in the advancement of educa- tional interests. He is a member of the Meth- odist church and finds much comfort and de- light in his church work and relations and is looked upon as a man of reliabilty and worth. In early days Mr. Lowe participated in many Indian fights but was never wounded. In 1867 he was in a fight at Pease Bottom where fif- teen white men going to Fort Buford in boats were attacked by a large force of Sioux Indians. Also in 1864, he participated in a fight up the Powder river, where sixty-five whites were at- tacked by a large number of Sioux Indians. In the former one white man was killed and nine Indians. In the latter fight a good many of the Indians were killed but the whites lost none. He has also been in many other hard places on the frontier, but has always escaped without injury. Mr. Lowe is now enjoying the golden years of his life amid plenty, sur- rounded with loving and kind friends and is renowned as one of the builders of this coun- try, having won friends ever since came here. |
JOHN W. LANEY was born in Andrew county, Missouri, on November 22, 1863, the son of David H. and Martha (Waugh) Laney. The latter was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and died in 1888. The father was born in Pennsylvania December 15. 1821, He grew up and received his education in his native state and then migrated to Louisiana, where he was ordained a Methodist minister. Just prior to the Civil War he returned to Pennsylvania and engaged in the drug busi- ness. In 1863 he sold this business and jour- neyed west to Andrew county, Missouri, where he has since made his home, being alive at the present time and enjoying remarkable health for one so advanced in life.
John W. was reared in Missouri and edu- cated at the Wesleyan University, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Subsequent to his graduation from this institution he engaged in farming and followed it in Missouri, with stock rais- ing until 1892, when he came to Custer county. He immediately took up sheep raising and soon came to the place where now lives. Success in a liberal measure has attended him and he has one of the choicest ranches in the vicinity where he resides, his home being four miles north from Ekalaka. Mr. Laney is a man of taste and as he has prospered he has made ex- penditures from time to time in improving his place and the result is that he has a very fine homelike ranch. His res- idence is one of the finest in this por- tion of the country and other things are in evidence that show the thrift and taste of the proprietor of the estate. Mr. Laney has given his attention to raising sheep and does some general farming. being considered one of the leading sheep and stock men of the county.
In 1888, Mr. Laney married Miss Sallie Heren, who was born in Andrew county. Mis- souri, where she was reared and educated. Her father, William Heren, was born in Zanes- ville, Ohio, and in 1843 came to Missouri,
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where he was occupied in teaching school. During this time he studied law and was, in due time, admitted to the bar, it being 1850 that he took his place there. He became one of the leading criminal lawyers in the entire state of Missouri and at the breaking out of the war enlisted as a private in the state fed- eral militia. He was soon chosen colonel. of the Forty-first Missouri and the same year was elected to the state senate. In 1864, he was elected judge of the circuit court and he continued a prominent man in the state of Missouri until his death, May 7. 1893. He had married Miss Miriam Small, who died when Mrs. Laney was a small child.
Mr. and Mrs. Laney have become parents of eight children, named as follows: J. Carl, Dollie M., Martha M., David H., Eveline Montana, Willie Bryan, Sarah Ann and Opal Heren.
Mr. Laney is an active member of the I. O. O. F., and in political matters he always takes an interested part. He is a man of thorough information in these lines and in 1896 allowed his name to be used as a candidate for sheriff of Custer county.
WILLIAM DUFFEY. The Emerald Isle has produced some of the most prominent names known in English history and literature and there is no battle too desperate to fight. no effort too hard to put forth and no obstacle too high to be overcome by the genuine Irish- man, and despite the fact that one finds the Irishman in the front ranks in these things, facing the brunt, it is well known that it is a very uncommon thing to find an Irishman who is not happy, bright and genial and doubt- less herein lies the success of the individual efforts of this race. From genuine North Ireland stock comes the subject of this sketch, having been born in County Armagh January 3. 1854. His father, John Duffey, was born
and lived and died in Ireland. The last named event taking place when our subject wastwelve years of age. The father married Miss Mc- Lean, who also was a native of Ireland and died there years ago. William was the eighth of a family of nine children, all of whom live in Ireland except himself and one brother, Alex, who is an industrious farmer near Big- timber. In the common schools of his par -- ish, William was educated and as early as sev- enteen years of age, began life's battle on his own account. About that time, he came to Canada, where an uncle was living and for four years thereafter, he was engaged in farm- ing in that vicinity. Then being twenty-one, he went to Mont Clair, New Jersey, where he married and took up the hotel business, continuing same until 1891, in which year he journeyed to Elliston, Montana. When he left New Jersey, the weather was so hot that it was distressing. Arriving in Elliston, he was greeted with a genuine blizzard. He at once opened a hotel and four years later was burned out, losing everything except a small bunch of cattle. The fact that he had to start all over again in life and with a family to support did not deter Mr. Duffey, however, and he went to work with a will. He secured employment in the yards of the N. P. R. R. at Elliston and wrought there continuously for five years. Then he was enabled to take his present ranch and moved his family on to the desert plain. He had but little capital and no water was handy but he struggled on until he got his ditches made and then prosperity began to come. He has recently added another quarter section to his land holdings and he has one hundred and seventy-five acres under ditch which produces him three tons of first-class alfalfa per acre annually. This sells for five dollars per ton in the stack and thus it is seen Mr. Duffey has wrought out a dividend payer which is worth many thousands of dollars.
On April 5. 1883. Mr. Duffey married Mary A. Hughes, who was a neighbor girl
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in Ireland and who came to New Jersey with her parents, Samuel and Margaret (Devine) Hughes. Her parents made their home in New Jersey until the time of their death. Mrs. Duffey was the second of a family of nine children, five of whom are still living. It is proper in this connection to state that during all the labors of Mr. Duffey, his wife has been a faithful helpmeet and no small credit for their excellent success now is due to her wis- dom and thrift and it is very pleasant to know that while for many years they have labored and struggled together they are now permitted to enjoy the efforts of their labor, with their four children, Samuel A., Margaret, Martha and William, all of whom are at home. One cannot enter the Duffey household without be- ing struck with the genuine kindness and hos- pitality that are extended at once. Their hospit- able kindness is certainly a fulfillment of the old proverb that the stranger and wayfaring man should be treated kindly in the land. Some one has said that "True politeness is true kind- ness delicately expressed." This is genuine hos- pitality, the kind that greets one from Mr. and Mrs. Duffey and their children.
J. O. L. BURKE, a builder by profession and one of the leading citizens of Billings, Yellowstone county, at present resides in that attractive city. He was born in Baltimore. Maryland, August 11, 1848, the son of Frank and Susan (Haswell) Burke, the former born in Washington, D. C., the latter a native of Pennsylvania.
In 1828 Frank Burke, the father removed his lares and penates to Baltimore,, where he remained until 1855, going thence to Lesueur county, Minnesota, where he located on a farm eight miles east of St. Peter. In 1865 again removed with his wife and children to Man- kato, same state, where he and his son, our
subject, engaged successfully in the business of contracting and building. In 1871 he returned to Baltimore where he followed the same line of employment. Many of the most ornate buildings in the national capital were erected by Frank Burke, among others the first patent office. He had previously cultivated a garden on the identical spot upon which he erected the office. He also built the Old Maryland Insti- tute at Baltimore. During the Civil War he was captain of K company, Seventh Minnesota Infantry, the members of which mainly lived in the vicinity of St. Peter. He was officer of the day December 26, 1863, when thirty-eight Sioux Indians were hanged in Mankato for participating in the Minnesota Indian mas- sacres of 1862. His father, another Frank Burke, was a native of Ireland. He was a second cousin to Sir Edmund Burke, coming to America and locating at Washington, D. C., at the age of eleven years, Here he was reared and engaged in gardening.
The mother of our subject was of Pennsyl- vania Dutch descent, and a native of the Key- stone state. She died in Baltimore, June 25, 1884, her husband passing away at the same place September 25, 1886.
Our subject received his early education in Baltimore and the excellent schools of Minne- sota, and worked with his father until 1870, when he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and engaged in contracting and building, erecting many of the finest structures in the city. He superintended the erection of the magnificent court house of St. Paul and some of the most ornate residence structures in the city. In 1898 he went to Bismarck, North Dakota, and did building and contracting. In 1901, he came to Billings where he engaged in the cement build- ing and sidewalk business. While our subject was living on a farm near St. Peter a messen- ger came through the country, August 2, 1862, through the big woods, yelling at the top of his voice that the Indians were coming. At that period there were very few men in the
J. O. L. BURKE
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country, they being at Fort Snelling mostly for Civil War purposes. Within three or four days men returned to their homes or camped on an island in Lake White. The Indians were driven back from New Ulm. There were no settlers for miles around except a few families, the rest having gone to small towns around.
FREDERICK J. GOULDING, at the present time treasurer of Dawson county, Montana, is one of the popular and capable young men of Glendive. He was born in Lon- don, England, January 14, 1868, where also his parents, Joseph and Emma Jane (Free- mantle) Goulding, were born, both in the year of 1824, the former in the month of April. Mr. Goulding is one of a family of eleven children, in which there were six boys and five girls. Two of the brothers are deceased and one of the sisters. The remainder all dwell in London, England. As soon as he was ready for school, he was sent to what is called the board schools in London and in this insti- tution received his education. At the age of twelve he was a choir boy in St. John's Epis- copal church in London. Twenty years of Mr. Goulding's life were spent in his native country, and then he decided to come to the United States, landing here in 1888. He came direct to Glendive and for five years was en- gaged in the sheep business. At the end of that time, he decided to sell his holdings and later, in 1893, accepted a position as day clerk in the Hotel Yellowstone, at Glendive. In this capacity and as night clerk he has served in the above hotel and in the Hotel Jordan all told eleven years. So popular had Mr. Gould- ing become that in 1904, without his request, his name was pushed forward as candidatte for treasurer of Dawson county, the same ap- pearing upon the Democratic ticket. He was promptly elected and since that time he has been a very efficient and accommodating of-
ficer. Mr. Goulding has always taken a keen interest in political matters and enjoys the campaigns very much. He is a well posted Democrat and a strong man in the field.
FRED H. FOSTER, the present mayor of the attractive and enterprising City of Bil- lings, is a popular citizen, as his many re-elec- tions to the office will demonstrate. He was born in Minnesota, February 2, 1856, the son of Robert and Lucinda ( McMillan) Foster. His grandfather, Alexander, was born in Ire- land. Robert at present resides with his son in Billings, at the age of eighty-two years. Reuben McMillan was the father of the mother of our subject, and was a native of the state of New York. His father was born . in Scotland, and was named James. The lat- ter was of an old Highland Scotch family, some of whom served in the War of the Revo- lution. Orpha Partridge, one of her maternal ancestors, was born in the state of Vermont.
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