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 89
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 89
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 89
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 89
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 89
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 89
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 89
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At present our subject has 160 acres of ex- cellent land, and fine brands of cattle and horses. The land is under good irrigation.
JAMES KENNEDY has resided within the borders of Montana for nearly a third of a century and this long residence, together with the added fact that he has always been a hard laborer for the building up of the country and the establishment of those institutions which are the pride of the American people, the school and free representative government, entitle him to be placed in the front rank of pioneers of the great state of Montana. His present residence is some four miles east from Rose- bud, on the north side of the Yellowstone river. Here in 1877 Mr. Kennedy staked out a home- stead from the wilds and here he has bestowed his labors with wisdom and thrift since as the premises show; for he has been prospered in the things of this world well, owing to his wise management of affairs that have been placed in his hands. It was slow work in the later seventies when without much of the con- veniences supplied with civilization, he went to work and began the development and im- provement of the homestead he had selected. The country was wild, neighbors were far apart, necessaries were high in price and pro- duce was low in price. Still, Mr. Kennedy was made of the stuff that does not faint at an ob- stacle and he soon had won the smiles of Dame Fortune. From time to time he purchased land adjoining until now he owns twelve hundred acres of choice land all under the ditch and very valuable. Such is the accomplishment of this industrious resident of Montana and the fruits of his toil and wisdom are proof of the worth of the proprietor.
James Kennedy was born in Syracuse, New York, October 24, 1850, being the son of Michael Kennedy, a native of Ireland. Ten years previous to the birth of this son the fa- ther had come from Ireland and settled in Syracuse where he entered the employ of the salt works company. In due time he had risen to the position of manager of the works. But in 1852, he resigned this place and went west, being imbued with the real spirit of explora-
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tion so instilled in the very air of this country. He selected a piece of land in Clayton county, Iowa, and there settled to general farming. He remained in that place until 1901 when lie made a trip to Montana to visit his son. Here he died soon after arriving being aged eighty- four. The mother of our subject had died when he was a small child and before he could remember her. James grew up and was edu- cated in Iowa and in 1875, he started out on a journey of investigation which lasted two years. At the end of that time he had ar- rived in Montana and had viewed the country sufficiently so he was satisfied to settle near where he now resides and shortly after he se- lected the homestead mentioned above, and which was the nucleus of his now mammoth estate.
In 1884, Mr. Kennedy married Miss Mary A. Horisky, a native of Connecticut. She came with her parents to Iowa and later to Nebraska. The children to this marriage are eleven, six of whom are living, Margaret, Richard, Harry, Walter, William and Joseph.
Blessed with a fine large family, favored with the prosperity so sought after by the hu- man race everywhere, and surrounded with many friends and cheered by the success he has gained, Mr. Kennedy is privileged to en- joy the good things of this life and may find leisure to give the mind the hours of medita- tion and thought on the greater things of life, while he stands one of the successful and sub- stantial citizens of Montana.
BENJAMIN F. MYERS, who resides twelve miles north of Livingston, was born June 28, 1846, in Andrew county, Missouri. Mention of his brother, Alfred Myers, occurs in another portion of this volume and to that the reader is referred for further reference to Mr. Myers' parents. The early life of our subject was spent much as that of the ordinary
youth in Missouri, where he remained with his parents until 1870, being then twenty-four years of age. In that year he started to Texas and drove a herd of cattle through to Mon- tana, via Bannack, wintering en route at Fort Rocks on the Arkansas. He arrived in Jef- ferson county, Montana, the last of October, in1 1871, and handled his cattle there the first year. Then he drove to the Sun river. In 1873, he sold out to A. S. Clark and moved back to Boulder, remaining there three years during which time he followed the dairy bus- iness and also carried mail from Harrison to Boulder. In 1876 Mr. Myers entered into partnership with his brother and again took up the cattle business running their stock in the Shields river valley. For fourteen years they continued successfully in this line of bus- iness then it being 1890, our subject sold his interests to his brother and returned to Mis- souri. In 1892 he came again to Montana and the next year bought his present location on Shields river, since which time he has given his attention to general farming and handling horses and cattle. He has met with good suc- cess and is one of the well known and substan- tial men of the valley.
On January 4. 1882, Mr. Myers married Clara Laney, the daughter of David H. and Martha (Waugh) Laney. Four children have been born to them: Ben A., January 23, 1883 : Clara May. June 10, 1886; Rubina R., November 20, 1887, and Hazel, September 17, 1893.
Mr. Myers is a good strong Democrat and thoroughly able to give a good and substan- tial reason for his political views. He fratern- izes with the Masons and Elks and is rated one of the substantial men of Park county.
GEORGE D. LATHOM, born in Daviess county, Missouri, and now residing six miles southwest of Columbus, Montana, on the Still-
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water river, is a successful and enterprising ranchman. His father, Thomas J., was a na tive of Indiana, but he passed the greater por- tion of his life in Missouri. He was a veteran of both the Mexican and Civil Wars, and fought under General Price for the Confed- eracy. At the close of the war he settled on a farm in Missouri, remaining there until his death. The mother, Rebecca (Edward) Lathom, was a native of Kentucky, dying in 1863, aged 35 years.
Following the death of his mother our sub- ject lived with near relatives and when he was eight years of age his father remarried, and our subject remained with him until fif- teen years old, when he faced the world for himself. He went to Iowa as a horse jockey, following this profession two years. In 1882, in company with his brother, he purchased a band of cattle in Iowa, and shipped them to Pierre, South Dakota, and thence drove them to Wyoming. From this bunch was developed the "Forked Lightning Cow Outfit," one of the most extensive in Wyoming. Having dis- posed of his interest in this enterprise he rode the range until 1884, when he came to Mon- tana, continuing in the same business five years, two years of which time with the five bar outfit. His excursions over the state had taken him from Frenchtown to Dakota. He rented land in 1889 near Livingston, Montana, and here he resided until 1894, when he came to his present place and purchased a squat- ter's right, and thus laid the foundation of a comfortable home. Indeed our subject owns a fine ranch, mainly under good system of irrigation, and here he successfully cultivates a variety of crops and fruits adapted to that climate. Since his arrival in this section he has engaged extensively in the cattle industry.
November 28, 1889. he was married to Mamie Denny, born in Jefferson, Indiana. She came to Montana with her parents when a young girl. Her father, Lemuel, is now in the mercantile business in Columbus, Mon-
tana. Her mother, Martha (Osborne), re- sides with her husband in the same city. They are a fine old couple and are widely and fav- orably known as "Grandpa and Grandma Denny." Mr. and Mrs. Lathom have five children : Ray A., born January 30, 1891 ; Myrtle O'D., April 20, 1892; Mattie E., No- vember 18, 1898; Thomas E., December 25, 1900, and Lemuel, October 27, 1905. Po- litically our subject is distinctively independ- ent, and has never taken an active part in par- tisan politics, but in educational affairs he man- ifests a deep interest. He was prominent in the organization of the district school in his vicinity, and has served efficiently as clerk and director.
CHARLES D. LANTIS resides at Gar- land, his wife being postmistress there since 1900, and he is occupied in ranching and stock raising. In addition to those enterprises he is conducting a road house and stage station and his place is favorably known far and near. Mr. Lantis is a pioneer in the true sense of the word and has had a large experience in various por- tions of the west and in different lines. He is especially well acquainted with the stock busi- ness and is having abundant success in this line.
Charles D. Lantis was born in Taberock, Nebraska, August 10, 1865, being the son of Daniel W. and Asubra O. (Stephens) Lantis, the former born in Mackinaw, Illinois, on May 23. 1833, and the latter in Tazewell county. Illinois, in October, 1835. Their marriage oc- curred in Illinois and Mrs. Lantis accompa- nied her husband on all his journeys except into Arkansas and Idaho. Daniel W. Lantis was reared on a farm and in 1864 went from Illinois to Nebraska. He followed milling and the millwright trade in Nebraska, being em- ployed in the Blacklaw mills. He returned to Mackinaw, Illinois, in 1866 and in 1870 he
MRS. CHARLES D. LANTIS AND DAUGHTER
CHARLES D. LANTIS
MR. AND MRS. MAURICE POWERS
JOSEPH EICHHORN
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went to Idaho and took up mining, returning to Illinois in 1880, he remained five years and in 1885 went to Arkansas, where he spent one year. Returning to Illinois he removed his family to Manville, Wyoming, in 1887. and in 1895 he came thence to Custer county and set- tled down to stock raising. When he came here he was well advanced 1 age and was without means but he is now one of the well to do men of the county and has gained it all in raising stock. The family comes from Pennsylvania Dutch stock.
Our subject remained in Illinois until he was sixteen, receiving there his education. Then he went to Dakota and was soon engaged in the thrilling life of the cowboy, which he has followed more or less since. He was four years engaged thus at first, and saw much of Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and then traveled back to Illinois, and journeyed much through Arkansas and Missouri. It was 1890 when Mr. Lantis came to Custer county as a cowboy from Wyoming with the Converse Cattle Company. He rode the range till 1896 when he put a saw mill on Liscombe creek and continued in the operation of it for two years. During the time he had ridden the range he had gained stock for himself and in 1900 he came to his present place and gathered his stock around him and went to work to make a permanent home. He has been engaged at it since with the other oc- cupations mentioned before.
In 1885 Mr. Lantis married Miss Mary E. Copp and she has accompanied him in his journeys since. She was born in Eureka, Illi- nois, on January 29, 1868, where she was reared and educated. Her father, Jacob B. Copp, was born in Pennsylvania, is a veteran of the Civil War and still lives at Eureka, Illi- nois. He married Miss America Reeves, born in Kentucky, March 2, 1840. Mrs. Lantis has one brother, Jacob B., living at Eureka, and one sister, Katie A., wife of Joseph Smith of Chicago. Mr. Lantis has the following named 37
brothers and sisters: Cash B., who followed riding the range and is now a barber at Wi- baux, Montana; Robert A., living with pa- rents ; Ida, wife of Albert Brininstool living at Mackinaw, Illinois; and Lizzie, wife of Curtis Spangle of Manville, Wyoming.
Mr. and Mrs. Lantis have one child, Lil- lie E., born at Mammoth Spring, Arkansas, January 30, 1887. She was but one year old when the family came on to Wyoming and when four she owned a horse, and has practic- ally grown up in the saddle. Doubtless there are few ladies in the west who are more expert than she in horsemanship and she takes her place among distinguished equestriennes. When but six years of age she took her place on the relief herding with her father and when it is necessary she is able to rope and tie as vi- cious an animal as roams the range. In 1900 she was holding a herd of wild horses on the head of Foster creek in a very broken and rough country and a severe hail storm stam- peded them. With great skill and bravery she rode with them for five miles until she suc- ceeded in getting control of them again, and all without the loss of a single animal. Miss Lantis owns a nice band of cattle in her own right and is one of the highly esteemed peo- ple of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Lantis are well known people and are among the progressive residents who are always found on the side of improvement and up building of the country.
JOSEPH EICHHORN, a native son of Philadelphia, now residing just outside of Miles City, is one of the substantial men who have assisted materially in making Custer county one of the prosperous places of the great state of Montana, as he has wrought here for years and with a thrift and wisdom that have brought a worthy reward, as he has today a lovely liome, beautifully set in a wealth of shade and fruit trees and made
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attractive by the gardener's skill, while an air of pleasant contentment abides with the prem- ises that adds the home charm and makes the dwelling place of Mr. Eichhorn one of the pleasant places of Custer county. Added to this is the kind hospitality that is so freely dispensed, for Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn, while great lovers of home, are, too, openhearted and share their good things with others and many a soul have they lightened by their kind- ness and, indeed, it is this very home love, this spirit of home building, and love for one another, that combined make the loyal and stanch citizens, for the strength of any land is the combined strength, not of its wealth and military alone, but of its true homes. With pride, therefore, as loyal Americans, we point to this pleasant, cheerful and good home and the builders of it, as a portion of the real wealth and worth of Custer county.
Joseph Eichhorn was born on July 9, 1848. His father, Adam Eichhorn, born at Rhine Falls, Germany, came to the United States in 1847 and engaged in the grocery business in Philadelphia, where he remained for seven years. Then he sold his business and rented a farm that belonged to the John C. Calhoun estate and took up market gardening. In 1864 he removed to the vicinity of Iowa City, Iowa, and there settled on a farm which he cultivated till his death, in 1890. He had married Miss Anna Marie Baldauffen, a na- tive of Germany, who came to America with her husband and died on the farm near Iowa City in 1869. Our subject spent his boyhood days on the farm and had little opportunity to gain an education, however, he made the .very best of what means were at his hand. In 1869, Mr. Eichhorn went west and from Al- buquerque, New Mexico, he was engaged in driving a herd of cattle through to Arizona, stopping at Prescott. He spent a year after that on the range and then went to northwest- ern Iowa where he took contracts of breaking the prairie sod. Finally he settled on a farm
in Pottawattamie county and there he remained until 1881, in which year he came to Montana, setting out from Bismark on the first freight train over the road, Northern Pacific to Glen- dive, thence overland and by boat to Miles City. He settled on a homestead two miles east from town and engaged in stock raising until the hard winter of 1885-6. He removed to his present location in the winter of 1891. Since that time, Mr. Eichhorn has given his entire attention to market gardening and fruit raising and he has won a splendid success. His place consists of thirty acres of fine soil and his care and wise planning have made it a pict- ure throughout. He raises all kinds of fruit indigenous to this latitude and supplies the local markets.
In 1878, Mr. Eichhorn married Miss Emma Campbell, the daughter of Robert E. and Elizabeth (Thompson) Campbell. The father was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1827, was there reared and educated and learned the blacksmith business. Some time after his marriage he removed to Iowa and settled in Cedar county and conducted a shop until 1881, when he came west and followed his trade in Miles City until his death in 1902. His wife was born in Salem, Ohio, accom- panied her husband on all of his journeys and is now living in Miles City aged seventy-one years. Mrs. Eichhorn was born eleven miles out from Iowa City, received a splendid high school education and also studied at the state normal in Iowa City, and taught several years before her marriage. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn are Arthur C., and Alda Terese. The former was born near Council Bluffs, Iowa, November 19, 1880, and after receiving his English education in the high school of Miles City went to Val- paraiso, Indiana, and graduated from the law department of the Northern Indiana College, and at present is manager of the sales depart- ment of the National Packing Company's plant at Hutchinson, Kansas. He also pract-
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iced law in Hammond, Indiana, for a time. After his graduation he spent some months at home and is a very bright and promising young man, and holds at this time a very re- sponsible position. Alda T. was born in Mon- tana in 1886, and after graduating from the Custer county high school was attending the Stanford university, California, at the time of the recent earthquake disaster, but is at present at home. Miss Eichhorn is a very bright and charming young lady and has many friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Eichhorn have labored hard to provide their pleasant home and give tlieir children a fine education and they are amply re- warded in seeing the progress made and the keenness with which their children have taken advantage of the opportunities offered. They have a wide circle of acquaintances and num- ber many friends throughout Custer county and elsewhere.
MAURICE POWERS. The subject of this biographical sketch was born in the Em- pire State, Westchester county, November 13, 1857, and now resides on a profitable and well conducted ranch about seven miles northwest of Red Lodge, Carbon county. He is the son of David Powers, born in Cork, Ireland, com- ing to New York when quite a young man. By trade he was a stone mason. During the Civil War he served for fifteen months in the Federal army. He died in New York, in 1882. The mother of our subject, Catherine (Connors) Powers, was born in the north of Ireland, County Monaghan, and came to New York when a girl of seventeen. She died in 1879, on New Year's eve, in her forty-ninth vear.
In the public schools of New York our sub- ject received a good business education, and on attaining manhood he married, February 16, 1881, and April 3d, of the same year, he
came, with his wife, to Murry county, Minne- sota. It was in 1883 that he came to Billings, Montana, where he found employment. In 1884 he went to Laurel, and in 1886 came to his present location and secured a home- stead where he has since resided. His wife, whose maiden name was Annie Gillen, was born in Ireland, coming to New York when a girl. Her father, was Patrick Gillen; her mother Catherine (Tesley) Gillen. They have ten children : James W., David H., Patrick J., Cathleen M., John E., Thomas G., Annie M., Maurice, Charles and Francis.
WILLIAM STRONG. As will be seen by the following detailed account of his life, Mr. Strong has been a genuine pathfinder for years and is as well, if not better acquainted, by actual personal experience, with this coun- try in early times, and, in fact the entire plain region, than any man we could pick out in Custer county. One of the earliest settlers here, he has been identified in all that has had for its object the building up and advance- ment of the county and the country in gen- eral, being a leading figure all the time, and a man whose keen foresight and sound wisdom have always manifested themselves for the general welfare in an exemplary manner. To have passed a career as has Mr. Strong, is to have experienced the richest of the western life, that most unique of all phases of exist- ence in this or any other country, with all of its stirring danger, arduousness, wild freedom and boundless enjoyment to the true frontiers- man and brave American. It is with pleasure, therefore, that we outline the salient points of his life and are well aware that it will be read with great interest by all.
William Strong was born in Devonshire. England. January 20, 1845, the son of Am- brose and Mary (Hole) Strong, natives of the same place as this son, and in fact for gen-
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erations back the Strong family had been born in Devonshire, and were a leading and sub- stantial people. The father followed farming in his native place until his death. From the public schools, William received a good edu- cation and he remained at home until he had reached his majority. He was stirred by an adventurous spirit to see the unexplored west and in May, 1866, he landed in New York, whence he went directly to Lawrence county, Indiana, and began work on a farm, and later he was employed in operating a ferry boat on the Wabash. On January 1, 1868, Mr. Strong enlisted in the regular army and was sent first to Carlisle for training, after which he came to Fort McPherson, Nebraska, and was assigned to Company I, Second Cavalry, and he soon joined the company at Fort Russell, Dakota. His first duty was escorting from Fort Rus- sell to Fort Laramie, and during this time he had the privilege of escorting General Sheri- dan, who was out to make a treaty with Red- Cloud. In the fall of 1868, his company was sent to Fort McPherson. When Mr. Strong first joined the company, Cheyenne, Wyom- ing. had just been located, and being the ter- minus of the Union Pacific railroad, it was exceedingly rough. This element had to be held in check by the soldiers and Company I was detailed to do the work. In the winter that followed, the Sioux broke out and killed some settlers on Blue river, Nebraska, and our subject was in the detachment sent to quell. them. Some severe fighting was had and two soldiers were killed. Having put down this outbreak, his company was sent in the spring of 1869 to protect settlers in the vicinity of Columbus, Nebraska, and the next winter was spent in Omaha. In the spring of 1870, we see them on escort duty again at Medicine Bow. The Indians were desperately opposed to the railroad going through the country and it be- came necessary to guard laborers and section men. Following this, the entire company was detailed as scouts and this work was sometimes
quite exciting. The next winter the company spent at Fort Sanders, and in 1873 this com- pany was escort to the expedition that laid out the National Park. The expedition came by rail to Fort Bridger, then by wagon to Camp Brown, and thence to the park by pack ani- mals. This was a trip never to be forgotten and to have been one of the party to lay out that famous park is an event worthy of com- ment. Many and varied were the experiences undergone and in the fall, the work having been done, the company was sent to Fort San- ders for the winter. In the spring of 1874, they were sent to Fort Laramie and were de- tailed to send the miners out of the Black Hills. After this he returned to Fort Russell, then went to Fort Steele, and in 1876 his company was with General Crook on his Indian expedi- tion. The military life of Mr. Strong con- tinued until 1880, when he was honorably dis- charged at Fort Keogh, the day being October 5. Mr. Strong decided to go at once to farm- ing and stock raising and settled on Tongue river. He at once opened the ranch which he still owns there and for many years he gave his attention to handling and raising stock. He was successful, and some years since de- cided to retire from the arduousness of the ranch and so erected a fine residence in Miles City, where he is at the present time. Mr. Strong still owns his stock and other property, being also interested in the Jim Crow Sheep Company.
At Fort Laramie, in 1876, Mr. Strong married Mrs. Elizabeth Felhower, a widow lady, who was Miss Whyat in maiden life. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and had one son, George W. Dearing, by a former marriage. Under the firm name of Strong & Dearing our subject and his wife's son are do- ing a fine ranching and stock business. This firm has been in active operations since 1887. They have a fine irrigated ranch that produces annually three hundred tons of alfalfa hay, which is all consumed by their own stock.
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Their brand, an arrangement of two SS, is one of the very oldest in the county, since it dates back to 1882.
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