An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 11

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Montana > An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens > Part 11

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William Muth was the third born in his father's family, and was reared and educated in his native city. In 1869 he located in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was en- gaged in business in the employ of W. C. Lobenstein. Ile came to Helena in 1873 to represent his firm, and was so well pleased with the country and the business ontlook that he decided to locate here permanently, and since that date he has been prominently identified with the growth and development of this city. In connection with his merchandising he also invested in mining prop- erty, at one time owning an interest in the Belmont mine and other claims. In 1886 he sold both his mer- cantile establishment and his mining interests and in- vested his means in real estate. He has since been dealing in real estate extensively, on his own account and also on commissions. He has been interested in all the additions to the city on the west side to the Broad- water Hotel. In 1889 he was one of the builders of the first street motor line in Helena, running between the city and the Broadwater Hotel. This is now an electric road. Ile is also one of the men engaged in the project

place in the regard of the family, to whom he gave back a lasting attachment. At one time during his stay he was seen to be troubled in mind, and our young friend, Midshipman Beale, being asked to find what had quenched Carson's good spirits, ascertained that he felt it was wrong to be among such ladies when they might not like to associate with him if they know he had had an Indian wife. 'She was a good wife to me. I never came in from hunting that she did not have the warm water ready for my feet.' She had died long since, and he was now mar- ried to a daughter of Beaubien. But his straight- forward nature would not let him rest while there was anything concealed which he thought ought to be known to the family who were re- ceiving him as a friend. It was the child of his

to dam the Missouri river, making a water power, and to transmit the power by electricity to Helena and utilize it in lighting the city, running the street cars and operat- ing all the various machinery of the city. This is one of the grandest enterprises ever projected, and when ac- complished will do more for Helena than anything be- fore undertaken. Of its success Mr. Muth and his asso- ciates are very sangnine. He is one of the directors of the Board of Trade, of which he served as president in 1892.

Mr. Muth is in politics a Democrat, and as in every thing else with which he has had to do, so in polities has he been ever ready to promote the success of his party. He has been twice elected and served two terms as a member of the City Council, has had the honor of serv- ing one term in the Territorial Legislature, and was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1889, which prepared the State Constitution. At the present writing, 1893, he is a member of the Board of County Commissioners of Lewis and Clarke county. During the year in which Mr. Muth was president of the Board of Trade of Helena the location of the United States Military Post near Helena was secured, and an appropriation of $250,000 was made for it by the Govern- ment. The citizens of ITelena purchased and presented to the Government 1,000 acres of land for its site. Work has since been commeneed upon it. Mr. Muth is an active member of the following organizations: The Montana Club of Helena and the Knights of Pythias.

November 25, 1874, he was married to Miss Estella Hoyt, a native of Vesper, New York, and a daughter of Philetus Hoyt, one of Helena's prominent merchants. Mr. and Mrs. Muth have four children-Mary Elizabeth, Roy V., William Herbert and John Freeman.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

Indian wife that he had just placed in the shel- ter of the St. Louis convent-school when we first met."

HON. CORNELIUS HEDGES, one of Montana's widely- known and highly esteemed citizens, was born in West- field, Massachusetts, October 28, 1831. Of him and his ancestry we make record as follows:

The ancestors of the Hedges family were among the earliest settlers of Long Island. Later they resided in Connecticut and Massachusetts, acting well their part in the development of New England. Judge Hedges' ma- ternal grandfather, Jacob Noble, served as a Colonial soldier during the struggle for independence. The Nobles were nearly all members of the Congregational Church, and by occupation were chiefly farmers, raising their own wool and making their own cloth. The father of Judge Hedges was Dennis Hedges. He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, in the year 1799, and was mar- ried in Westfield, Massachusetts, to Miss Alvena Noble, whose birth occurred in that place in 1801. They had a family of four children, three daughters and one son, this son being Cornelius, subject of our sketch. Dennis Iledges was a blacksmith by trade, at which he worked during the early part of his life. He and his good wife lived happily together for over fifty years, their ages at death being seventy-six and seventy-four years respect- ively. And we here state that Judge Hedges had the pleasure of returning East and being present at the cele. bration of their golden wedding.

Cornelius grew up in his native town, attending the academy there and subsequently entering Yale College, at which latter institution he graduated with the class of 1853. After that he taught school and read law, and in 1856 graduated in the law department of Harvard College, being then admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the State of Massachusetts. Having completed his law studies, he emigrated to Independence, Towa, where he entered upon his professional career and soon worked himself into a successful practice. He continued in Inde- pendence until 1864. A portion of this time, however, he was engaged as publisher and editor of the Independ- ent Civilian. In the latter part of 1864 he crossed the plains with a mule team, his objective point being Vir- ginia City, Montana. On this long and tedious journey he was traveling with Henry Clark and Timothy Wilcox, and many were the difficulties they had to meet and overcome. On one occasion, while fording a river, their teams came near drowning. On his arrival at Virginia City he worked with the pick and shovel, mining at Al- der Gulch, meeting, however, with only moderate success. Learning of the gold excitement at Last Chance Gulch, he came 10 Helena, arriving at that camp January 16. 1865. Here instead of going into the mines to dig, he engaged in the practice of his profession. In the fall of 1866 he returned to the States, but in the spring of the following year he came back to Montana with his family, making the trip this time by steamboat up the Missouri

And here we take final leave of Thomas Jef- ferson, the father of Montana, and Thomas H. Benton, the godfather of Montana; also of Gen-

river. He continued his law practice at Helena, and soon after his return here was appointed United States Attor- ney by President Grant. In 1872 he was appointed Super. intendent of Public Instruction of the Territory, in which capacity he served six years and did much to shape the educational affairs of the country. He also served as Probate Judge five years. In 1883 he was reappointed Superintendent of Public Instruction. At the first State election in 1889 he was elected a member of the State Senate, and held the office four years. Judge Hedges is therefore not only familiar with every phase of progress and advancement of the new State, but also to him belongs the honor of having assisted in its early law-making. He was one of the organizers of the Montana Historical So- ciety, of which he served as secretary for a number of years, all along taking the deepest interest in the associa- tion. In 1870 he was one of a party of ten that made an expedition to the National Park, and to him belongs the credit of suggesting that it be preserved for a national park.

Judge Hedges was made a Mason in lowa in 1859, and during the whole of his life in Montana he has been one of the most active members or the order, giving it much of his time and attention. In 1865 he was one of the charter members of Helena Lodge, No. 1, and was elected its first Master. This lodge was one of the three that united in forming the Grand Lodge of Montana in 1866. He was Grand Master in 1871, and the following year he was elected Grand Secretary, which office he has since filled with great acceptability to the fraternity. Few men, if any, in Montana are better posted on Masonry than Judge Hedges. The Helena Library is another institution in this city that owes much to the persistent energy of Judge Hedges. He helped to organize it and is now acting as its president.

For a number of years he has been largely interested in the sheep industry in Montana. At this writing he and his son have in the Musselshell country no less than 10,000 head of sheep, and during the present year (1893) expect to largely augment that number. The Judge also has a number of important miuing interests in the State.

Judge Hedges was happily married in 1857 to Miss Edna L. Smith, a native ot Southington, Connecticut, born in 1836, daughter of Wyllys Smith, a descendant of early New England settlers. They have had eight children five of whom are living, viz .: Wyllys, Henry, Edna C., Emma M. (now Mrs. John M. Woodbridge) and Corne- lius, Jr.

Judge ledges began his political career as a Democrat, and his first presidential vote was cast for James Buchan- an, but when the civil war came on he joined the Repub- lican party and became one of the very strongest adhe- rents to its principles. He has led a good and upright life and has gained the highest regard of a wide circle of the best men of the State.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

eral Fremont, the son-in-law and fellow Senator of Benton.

The present generation can hardly realize the strained relations between the two great Saxon powers which prevailed during these early years. Fortunately it was fought out on paper, covertly, by deep and determined statesmen on either side to the final end, and without any great noise before the busy world; yet the cry went up from the few pioneers in Oregon for years, "Fifty-four, forty or fight;" and these Oregon- ians met more than once under their pines in mass meeting and resolved again and again that they were " not subjects of England but citizens of the United States."

THE CASCADE BANK, of Great Falls, Montana, wasestab- lished April 24, 1889. It was incorporated under the laws of Montana by the following substantial moneyed busi- ness men of Helena and Great Falls: S. E. Atkinson, Peter Larson, Jacob Switzer, William Chumasero, John J. Ellis and F. P. Atkinson. Its original stock was $40,000. At its opening several prominent citizens were on hand, anx- ious to make the first deposit. Thus the Cascade Bank made its auspicious start, and from the first became one of the popular and successful financial institutions of Great Falls. Since then its course has been one of continued prosperity, and it now ranks as the oldest banking insti- tution in the city. The capital stock was increased to $75,000 in 1891, and it made a good record by going safely through the financial panic of 1893. Its business is of a general character. It receives accounts of individuals and corporations, makes collections throughout Montana and the whole Northwest, makes drafts on banks both in this country and Europe, and invests money for non-resi- dents. The condition of the bank according to the report January 2, 1894, is as follows:

RESOURCES.

Loans and discounts

$196,232.17

Furniture and fixtures

2,278.38

County and city warrants

3,777.35

Due from other banks

$50,779.10

Cash on hand

53,421.13

104,200.23

$306,488.13

LIABILITIES.

Capital stock

$ 75,000.00

Surplus

15,000.00

Undivided profits

9,322.95

Demand deposits

168,025.54

Time deposits

39,139.64

$306,488.13

So late as the winter of 1558-9 half of Oregon and Washington was turned into a military camp on the question of the line against which Montana banks to the north; and school-boys paraded their play games and fought their games of football with eager anticipation of the approaching struggle with England; for she had now laid elaim to and taken possession of the island and waters of San Juan in the straits of Fuca. General Scott, Commander-in-chief of our armies, was sent out to the scene of trouble; and however little this may have meant in other parts of the Republic, his coming made with ns a blaze of excitement by the Oregon. I was teaching school near Vancouver, Washington, when General Scott, with Harney, landed there

The present officers of the bank are S. E. Atkinson, president: J. Switzer, vice president; F. P. Atkinson, cash- ier; and W. W. Miller, assistantcashier. All these officers are gentlemen of strict integrity and marked financial ability. President Atkinson has for fourteen years held responsible positions in the two largest national banks of Montana. Vice President Switzer is a man of large means and has for many years been identified with Mon- tana's growth and development, and to F. P. Atkinson belongs the credit of being one of the best posted bank- ing men of the State.

S. E. ATKINSON, president of the Cascade Bank of Great Falls, Montana, dates his birth in Carrollton, Ohio, November 17, 1848.

Mr. Atkinson is of English descent and traces his ancestry back to Stephen Atkinson, his great grand- father, who emigrated from England to this country at an early day, bringing with him a charter from the Crown Government to manufacture woolen goods in Maryland. Ilis son Isaac, the grandfather of our subject, moved to Western Pennsylvania and thence to Ohio and became one of the pioneers of Carroll county, where he was for a number of years en- gaged in operating woolen and flouring mills and also in merchandising. He served in the Ohio Legislature and was prominently identified with the carly history of that State. Robert J. Atkinson, his son and the father of S. E., was born in Western Pennsylvania and was mar- ried to Miss Matilda Jackson. He became a prominent lawyer and was Third Auditor of the United States Treasury under the administrations of Presidents Pierce, Buchanan and Lincoln. He died in the fifty-second year of his age. His good wife still survives him, she having now (1894) reached her three-score years and ten. Their family of three sons and three daughters are all living,

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

on his way to San Juan. My school-boys would not and could not be kept in place, but marched in a body to the wharf to offer their services to the hero of Lundy's Lane; and their schoolmaster with them. We were coldly received, and I, having already begun to write for the press, de- scribed General Scott as "an austere old stiff, with no fight in him."

Of course the trouble blew over soon, and Scott returned to Washington, leaving the United States in possession of the disputed land and waters, and the question still in the hands of diplomats, and the United States meantime growing stronger and more determined each year. Then came the Civil war, a revelation of our terrible strength; and finally, in 1872,

Stephen Eugene, the subject of this article, being the oldest.

Mr. Atkinson had excellent educational advantages in his youth. He graduated in the Columbian College, Washington, D. C., in June, 1871, and that same year entered law school. The death of his father at this time, however, changed his plans, and instead of continuing his law course he returned with his mother and the rest of the family to their home in Ohio. The following six years he was employed as assistant secretary of the Jefferson Fire Insurance Company at Steubenville, Ohio.

B. F. Potts, an uncle of Mr. Atkinson, had served as a general in the Union army and was a friend of General Grant. When Grant became President he appointed General Potts Governor of the Territory of Montana. Here be it stated that Mr. Atkinson had had no commun- ication with his uncle until 1878, when he received a tel- egram saying that a position in the First National Bank of Helena awaited him if he would come to Montana. He immediately started for the West, making the jour- ney by way of the Union Pacific to Ogden and thence by the overland stage to Montana. He accepted the posi- tion of bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Helena and served in that position five years. The Montana National Bank was then organized. He was offered the position of assistant cashier in it, which he accepted and in which position he served eight years, until 1889. At that time he and his brother, F. P. Atkinson, organized the Cascade Bank at Great Falls. He was made presi- dent of the bank at its organization, but continued to re- side in Helena until 1891. Since that year he has made his home in Great Falls. He has been identified to some extent with the growth and development of Great Falls ever since it was incorporated, visiting it frequently, and especially has he been interested in its prosperity since

we find England willing to arbitrate the long standing dispute about our lines to the north. The emperor of Germany was agreed upon as arbitrator, and we chose George Bancroft, the historian, to advocate our interests at the court of his friend, the emperor, Gladstone urging the claims of England. Finally, after long de- lay and much diplomacy, the conqueror of Paris decided in our favor, and gave us the islands and the waters of San Juan. Thus we see that the ink is scarcely yet dry on the decree which estah- lishes, let us hope for all time, our line to the north of Montana and other parts of the United States purchased by Thomas Jefferson of Napo- leon the Great.

he located here permanently. Ilis business career has brought him in contact with many leading men of the State, and by all who know him he is most highly es- teemed for his excellent qualities.

DR. JOHN W. FRIZZELL has been identified with the medical profession of Great Falls, Montana, since 1891, and as one of the leading physicians and representative citizens of the place it is appropriate that some personal mention be made of him in this work.

Dr. Frizzell was born in Warrensville, near Cleveland, Ohio, February 5, 1854, and when two years of age was adopted by Russell Frizzell, by whom he was reared as an own son. Russell Frizzell was born on his father's farm in Canaan, Essex county, Vermont, in the year 1803, and when he grew up was married to Mary Jane Badger, a native of Canada. After their marriage they removed to Ohio and settled on a farm near Cleveland, which they improved and which they subsequently sold to Thomas Garfield, an uncle of James A. Garfield. They then removed to Newburg, but finally returned to the neighborhood which they had left, and there they passed the remainder of their lives and died, his death occurring January 18, 1886, and hers a few years later. They never had any children of their own and upon the little orphan intrusted to them they bestowed the fondest affection and did for him the same as if he had been their own. In return for their loving care the Doctor was everything that a dutiful son could have lcen.

Dr. Frizzell received his early education in the public schools, and when he was eighteen began to teach. He taught school off and on for about twenty terms in his own and neighboring districts. From the time he was twelve years old he suffered from a lameness in one of his legs, and, although he had the best medical treat-

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

CHAPTER VIII.

ARGONAUTS OF THE NEW WORLD EARLIEST DISCOVERIES OF GOLD DUST-VIRGIN GOLD FOUND BY CORTEZ AND HIS MEN IN THE AZTEC TEMPLE TO THE SUN -- THE GOLD BELTED COUNTRY-FIRST GOLD FOUND IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON.

F ROM a remarkably rare publication, per- haps the finest that has yet appeared west of the Rocky Mountains, I clip the follow- ing account of the early discoveries of gold in California, as it finds fit place in this con- nection :

"The huge foundation stones of this vast State were, from the first, set in solid gold. As in the building of Solomon's temple, the silver thereof was not accounted. Indeed, it was more than a dozen years later that the mountains of silver that lay within the lines of California, before she gave Nevada and other Territories to the Union, were really discovered. The Spanish engineers had pierced Mexico to the heart, the miners of Spain had followed their veins of sil-

ment, he failed to improve as he grew older; and as the schoolroom was very confining he thought it best to adopt a profession that would give him more exercise, and chose that of a physician. He accordingly went to Cleveland and entered the office of Prof. II. F. Big- gar, under whose instruction he studied three years, and at the same time also attended lectures at the Cleve- land Homeopathie Hospital College, where he gradu- ated in 1884. After his gradnation he returned home and took care of his parents until their death, after which he settled up their business and came West.

It was on the 19th of June, 1891, that Dr. Frizzell landed in Great Falls, and immediately after his arrival here he opened his office at No. 317 Central avenue, where he has since continued practice and met with satisfactory success. He brought with him to this place a pair of thoroughbred horses which he raised in Ohio and which he now uses in making his professional rounds. He is thoroughly identified with the city and its interests and has made many friends since coming here.

ver for miles up and down the Andes, but they never had touched the Sierras. And so the dis- covery of silver in California was as entirely an American discovery as was that of gold. And the stranger falls to wondering why silver was discovered so much later. Let us explain this. Gold had been washed and worn down from the mountains by centuries of attrition with bonld- ers, gravel and debris, to where it was finally found in the lower levels of the foot-hills by the farmers and mill hands of General Sutter. Hav- ing found these particles of detached gold in this one spot at the base of the California Sierra, they searched and found it in thousands of other similar places, till finally they pursued it up the mountains to its very source and fountain-head

Dr. Frizzell was married September 25, 1881, to Miss Emily May Conkey, a native of the town in which he was born and a daughter of Lafayette Conkey, her father's farm adjoining the Frizzell place. They have had two children, one of whom is living Rex Russell, eight years old.

The Doctor is a member of the Masonic fraternity and Is W. M. of the lodge of Great Falls.

COL. JOHN G. EVANS, ex-Postmaster of Butte City, Mon- tana, and now engaged in the book and stationery business in this city, was born in Wales, December 23, 1852. His ancestors as far back as known were Welsh people, and his parents, David and Margaret (Griffiths) Evans, passed their lives and died in Wales. David Evans was a farmer in early life, but later became a merchant. He died in 1876, in the seventy-second year of his age, and his wife died in 1881, also at the age of seventy-two. Five of their eleven children are still living, John G. being next youngest of the family, and the youngest now living.

Colonel Evans was reared and edneated in his native town Maesteg, and there learned the grocery business. In 1875

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

on the mountain tops. Yet, in all this ardent search they found no silver. A million men came and went, searched the Sierras through, ponred out life like water, worked as men never worked before, dug through and washed down mountains of silver, so to speak, but still silver remained practically undiscovered.

" Yet particles of silver had been washed and worn down from the mountains by flood and stream for centuries just the same as gold had been washed and worn down. But silver is per- ishable, corroding like iron. Diamonds, and all precious stones perish by flame and attrition;

he emigrated to America, believing that this country offered better advantages for an ambitious and enterpris- ing young man than did his own, and upon his arrival here located at Salt Lake City, not with the intention of becoming a Mormon but to accept a clerkship in the store of Walker Bros. After he had been with this firm five years he was given the management of a store on the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. Some time later he re- turned to Wales on a visit and remained six weeks, and upon coming back to the United States he took up his abode in Butte City. That was in 1882. For one year he man- aged the store of J. B. Meredith,'and the following year he opened a general merchandise store in Anaconda for David Cohen, Sr. After this he was engaged with Robert Grix in the book and stationery businesss up to 1889, at which time he received the appointment of Postmaster of Butte City from President Harrison, and entered upon the duties of the same. For four years and two months he rendered most efficient service as Posmaster, giving gen- eral satisfaction both to the Department and to the citi- zens of Butte, and on the first of April, 1894, turned the office over to his successor with everything iu the best of running order.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 11

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Miller, Joaquin, 1837-1913. cn
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Chicago, The Lewis pub. co.
Number of Pages: 1216