An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 12

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 12

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Soon after retiring from office, he opened at No. 43 West Broadway, his present book and stationery business. Here, in addition to hooks aud stationery, he keeps a full line of fancy articles: and, as he is so well known and popular in Butte City, he starts out in this business with the bright prospect for success.

Mr. Evans was married, December 25, 1887, to Mrs. Gussie Grant, widow of W. F. Grant, and daughter of James Carty, of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She had adaugh- ter by her former husband-Fultie Grant-and she and Mr. Evans have two sons, W. Vivian and John Roscoe.

In politics, Mr. Evans has always been an active Re- publican. Ile is a Past Supreme Representative of the K. of. P., belongs to the Uniform Rank of the Order, and is a member of the stall of Major General Carnahan, with the title of Colonel.

silver rusts and rots; but a particle of gold, even the smallest particle, whatever fortune overtakes it, remains as perfect to the end of time as when it was placed in its rocky bed by the finger of God. And this is the reason why we old miners found gold so readily and followed it to its source in the mountains; and this is the reason why we did not find silver till so many years later, and found it even then only by compul- sion. That is, we found gold so mixed and charged with silver that an ounce of gold dust which was at first sold for sixteen dollars proved to be worth only seven dollars, the larger part

HON. ALEXANDER C. BOTKIN, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Montana, is a native of Wisconsin, born at Madison, October 13, 1842. He is of Scotch-Irish an- cestry.

His father, Alexander Botkin, was born iu Kentucky, of Irish parents, March 4, 1801, and was married to Miss Jane R. Sinclair, a native of Scotland. They had three sons, of whom Alexander C. is the youngest.

Alexander C. Botkin was reared and educated in his uative county, graduating in the University of Wisconsin in 1859, and receiving the degree of Master of Arts in 1862. From 1862 to the close of the war he served as pay- master's clerk. In 1866 he graduated in the law depart- ment of the University at Albany. Between 1869 and 1874 he served as city editor first, and afterward manag- ing editor of the Chicago Times. From 1874 to 1878 he was editor in chief of the Milwaukee Sentinel, and in 1878 he was appointed United States Marshal for the district of Montana by President Hayes. In this capacity he served until 1885, and from 1886 to 1890 was City Attorney of Helena. He has also been the candidate of the Re- publicans for delegate to Congress for Montana. In 1892 he received the nomination for Lieutenant Governor of the State and was elected in the ensuing electiou by 2,300 majority, running some 1,300 ahead of his ticket. He is the member from Montana of the Republican Na- tional Committee, by all of this showing that he has led a useful and influential life in the affairs of not only his own State but also of the whole country.

In 1872 he was happily united in marriage to Miss Harriet E. Sherman, a native of Woodbury, Connecticut, and a daughter of George P. Sherman, she being a resi- dent of Milwaukee at the time of their marriage. They have a son and daughter, Alexander W. and Alice Sinclair.

Lieutenant Governor Botkin has practiced law in Mon- tana since 1885 aud has been connected with many cases of note, one of which was the first case brought before a court of last resort, involving the question whether the provisions of the Australian ballot law were mandatory.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

being silver. And great was the lamentation of the miners at the supposed loss. Some of them abandoned their work in despair; others pushed on and pierced the earth deeper, till finally the grosser metal asserted itself almost entirely. And thus we laid bare, almost by ac- cident, the shining silver foundations of a sister State. 'Silver hath a vein, but gold the place where they fine it.'

" It is worthy of note that all the gold of California, or rather all the gold mines of Cali- fornia, to be found on the surface, of any great account, were found almost at once. This fact strongly attests the valor, the daring, the super- human endurance of the Argonants. There was not a single mountain pass that was friendly to their approach. The plains were parched and arid; no maps, no foot-prints or marks of man -- only the gleaming snow-peaks to guide them. A grave in the sand in the rear, two graves, three graves; then the mountains at last, and a shower of poisoned arrows from painted savages

to receive the few haggard survivors! Never since the most magnificent conception of the siege of Troy has there been gathered together such a race of heroes as came here by land and by sea in the days of old. Time has leveled the graves of their innumerable dead. Romance has glorified and cast a glamour of mingled pathos aud splendor over their fearful daring and self-denial. But the world will never know how many a poor Penelope wove and unwove her twenty years away, and looked out with dimmed eyes each day and night for her unre- turning wanderer.

"California alone was broader in those days than all the storied world of ancient times. The best part of a year was consumed in reaching these shores. Peril and privation began when the journey began. And so it was that cowarde did not start, and the weak and faint fell by the way. See what a situation! ' In those days there were giants in the land, . . . mighty men of power and renown.' Of such metal were

He was sole counsel for the prevailing party, and the decision of the court sustained his side of the case. His management of these cases have shown him to be a man of wide experience both in law and on general subjects, and he is posessed of a comprehensive mind, all of which have given him a leading position in the profession. Notwithstanding that he lost the use of his lower limbs by paralysis in 1879, and has never since recovered their use, he is still in the enjoyment of full mental vigor and is conducting his legal business as well as filling the office of Lieutenant Governor of the State of Montana.

HON. LOUIS ROTWITT, Secretary of State of Montana, was born in Germany, July 23, 1838, his ancestors being natives of that conntry. He was educated there, acquired the druggists' business, and when nineteen years of age came to the United States. Upon his arrival in this country. he settled at Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was employed as clerk in a general merchandise store from 1857 until 1859. Ile then removed to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued in the drug business up to 1861. The Civil war then burst upon the country, and in July, 1861, he enlisted in the service as a member of General Fremont's body guard, in which he served until said command was mustered out. He then went East to New York, and followed the drug business both there and, later, at Baltimore. From the latter place he re-

turned to St. Louis and accepted a position as cashier and bookkeeper in an importing house.

In 1866 Mr. Rotwitt came to Helena, Montana, brought with him a stock of general merchandise, opened a store on South Main street and another one in New York Gulch, and continued to operate the same, also being interested in placer mining, until 1872. Afterward he was in business at Canon Ferry, where he remained until 1879, but spent the winter of 1873 at Deer Lodge. During the year 1880 he turned his attention to mining and worked hard to secure a rich find, which, however, seemed to elude him. In the fall of that year he was elected County Clerk of Meagher county, and served so acceptably that he was re-elected five times. In 1889 he was elected to the State Constitutional Convention, and that same year was elected to the office of Secretary of State. Thus he has the honor of being the first Secre- tary of the great State of Montana. In 1892 he received a re-election and is now serving his second term. In 1876 and 1877 he served as a member of the Territorial Legis lature.

Mr. Rotwitt is one of the most popular pioneers of Montana. In all the positions of public trust and im- portance to which he has been called he has performed faithful and efficient service, and by his many noble traits of character he has won hosts of friends.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

the men who not only conquered an area of the earth larger than all the world of ancient times, but pierced the earth to the heart and wrung from her the precious secrets of her bosom. Not a gorge not a gulch, not a peak was left unex- plored. And yet a lingering tradition lay in the minds of some of these restless men in the region of Yreka, beyond Mount Shasta, as late as the season of 1853-4, that a portion of the Modoc was still nnprospected. Fremont had met with serious trouble here. On one occasion he had left nearly one-half his detachment buried under some bay trees by the way; and but for Kit Carson neither the daring explorer nor one of his party would have survived the attack of this terrible and war-like tribe. Disaster even more fearful than this had overtaken many a daring party of Argonants here; and so it came to be believed, from the very peril of it, that not only was the place entirely unprospected but surely rich in gold. A prospecting party was suddenly and secretly formed. It set out at midnight. The best men in Yreka were either

HON. WILLIAM YOUNG PEMBERTON, Chief Justice of the State of Montana, is a native of Tennessee, born at Nashville, in the year 1843.

He comes from English and Scotch ancestors who were early settlers in the colony of Virginia. His parents were William and Martha (Brooks) Pemberton, and he is one of their four sons, two of whom died in childhood. He is their youngest child and is now the only survivor of the family.

Judge Pemberton was reared in Missouri by his aunt, Mrs. Rebecca E. Williamson, with whom he remained until his twenty-first year. Ile was educated at Masonic College, Lexington, Missouri, and graduated at the Cum- berland Law School, Lebanon, Tennessee, with the class of 1861. In 1863 he came West and located in Virginia City, Montana, and engaged in the practice of his pro- fession, his practice at that early day extending to all parts of the Territory. In 1865 he took up his abode in Helena, becoming one of its early settlers. He did not, however, remain in the town long, for in 1868 he returned to Missouri, and in that State and in Texas he resided until 1880. In 1880 he came back to Montana, and has since made his home in Butte City. In 1882 he was elected District Attorney of the West Side District, being

of the party, arms in hand, or behind it with money and moral support. The writer, although but a lad, because of much experience with In- dians was as a great favor let into the secret and permitted to share the perils and prospective fortunes of the bold and excited band. Three days, or rather three nights and the first half of a day, found us in a pleasant pine wood looking down into a deep gulch where water rippled and sang among mossy pebbles that lay at the roots of tiger lilies whose flaming heads tossed level with the shoulders of the tallest man in our party. Surely no wild man, no wild beast even, had ever passed this way. Surely no tame man -- and this was the all-important thing to us- had ever struck a pick into this virgin lily land.

"Guns in hand, our strongest-hearted men were stationed behind the pines on the hills round about. The weary mules and horses were tied fast in the thicket of dwarf tamarack hard by. And even the brown nose of one poor old and eloquent mule, old enough to want to be talkative,

re-elected to succeed himself in 1884. In March, 1891, he received the appointment of District Judge of the dis- trict including Butte, in which capacity he served until January 1, 1893, when he entered upon the duties of his present office, that of Chief Justice of Montana, to which he had been elected the previous fall.

Judge Pemberton was married in 1865 to Miss Clara M. Hutchison, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of John C. Hutchison. The Judge and Mrs. Pemberton have three sons aud two daughters, namely: Warren T., John W., Alice M., Early P. and Lulu. Mrs Pemberton is an invalid, and at this writing is in Missouri, hoping a change of climate will benefit her health. The children are with her.

Judge Pemberton has been a Democrat all his life. He has been active in all the campaigns ever since he was old enough to participate in politics, has done much toward advancing the principles of his party and takes a pardonable pride in its triumphs. He is thoroughly posted in law, has a retentive memory, and comes to his conclusions in a calm and deliberate way. He has inter - ested himself both in placer and quartz mining, and has done much toward developing this great interest in the Northwest. Socially, he is a Royal Arch Mason.

H. Y. Pember Fin

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

was tied as tight as a drum with a buckskin string from one of the men's leggings. And then with whisperings, cantious words of warning, with hope, with fear, but with hope largely domin - ant, the remainder of us with pick, shovel and pan stole carefully down to the cool, sweet stream, and stood half hidden among the glori- ous wild lilies, looking for a place to begin.

" And now let me note this fact-pardon the time and space, but I must write it down. As we go farther along you will know the reason why. The leader of our party among the lilies down there with a pick on his shoulder was a giant in stature and in strength, as I now re- member him; the water singing there, the lilies

HON. HIRAM KNOWLES, ex-Supreme Judge of the Ter- ritory of Montana, and now Judge of the United States District Court, is a native of Hamden, Maine, born Jan- uary 18, 1834.

IIis parents, Dr. Freeman Knowles and Emily (Smith) Knowles, were both born in the State of Maine when it was a part of Massachusetts. Their ancestors came from England to this country and settled in New England at an early day, Richard Knowles having located in East- ham, Massachusetts, in 1639. They were for many gen- erations a family of sea captains, and Judge Knowles' father commanded a ship for a number of years before he settled down to his profession, that of a physician, which he practiced the remainder of his life. He and . his wife had six children, Judge Knowles being their only son. The family removed to Illinois in 1838, and in 1840 located in Lee county, Iowa. The father died at the age of seventy-three years, and the mother at fifty- eight. They were Unitarians in their religious views, and were most worthy people.

Judge Hiram Knowles received his education at An- tioch College, Ohio, and graduated in the law depart- ment of Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1862 he came West. After practicing law in Nevada three years he removed to Idaho, where he remained one year. In 1866 he came to Montana. Here he pros- pected and mined and practiced law, and in 1868 was ap- pointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Montana, which office he filled acceptably for eleven years. He then continued the practice of law for ten years. In 1890 he was appointed Judge of the United States District Court. His appointment was confirmed February 21, 1890, and in this office he still continues. While in Nevada he was District Attorney and Probate Judge, and in Mon- tana, in 1889, was a member of the Constitutional Con- vention which formulated the present Constitution of the State of Montana. Thus, in a few words, we have

nodding there, the long shadows of the pines pitching away across and up the steep hill be- yond, tawny with its carpet of fallen quills the men, muskets in hand, watching warily above! No one spoke. We waited for the strong man to begin, to make his choice of the spot where first to sink his pick, for so much depends on this; and no man, if the party is experienced in prospecting, ever intrudes a word upon the leader at such a moment. At length the man fixed his eyes on a little spot down the stream, and stepping briskly forward buried his pick to the handle in a place where he did not break a single lily or even disturb or soil the singing water. And that is all there is to say of this recorded the public career of one of Montana's most active citizens. Possessed of rare mental attainments and accurate knowledge of law, he has discharged the duties of his high official positions in a manner to com- mand the confidence and esteem of not only the bar of Montana, but also of all the people of the State. In his relations with his fellow citizens he is kind-hearted, liberal, magnanimous; and, notwithstanding that the whole of his early life was spent on the frontier amid scenes of hardships and privations, and where the rougher and coarser side of life is indulged in, still Judge Knowles has come through it and is a good representa- tive of the American citizen and gentleman. In his re- ligious views he is a Unitarian. Fraternally, he is an A. O. U. W. and a Scottish-rite Mason. Politically, he has been an ardent Republican all his life, and when not on the Bench he has used his voice to advance the princi- ples of the party. Ile served as a member of the first Republican State Convention, which nominated the first State officers for Montana, and he has been deeply in- terested in all that pertains to the welfare of the great State with which he has cast his destiny. In 1884 he was a candidate for Delegate to Congress, but was beaten by ex-Governor Toole.

Judge Knowles was married April 12, 1871, in Athens, Missouri, to Miss Mary C. Curtis, a native of Lima, Ohio, born December 27, 1844. They have three daughters and a son. The daughters are Eloise, Hilda and Luere- tia. The son is Curtis. They have a pleasant home in Missoula. Judge Knowles takes pleasure in the thought that he twice crossed the plains with teams, first to Cal- ifornia, then to Nevada and subsequently came to the Territory of Montana, then an undeveloped wilderness, inhabited by savage tribes aud alive with buffaloes. In his short life he has seen the grand march of civilizati m and development which has come to this then will and unsettled region.

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

silent man, this Argonaut; he did not crush a single flower or disturb a single note in the long, lone melody of the waters, singing only for Him who divided the waters from the dry land. And there was one there who loved him as a brother for that. And how he wrestled then, and grappled with his work! He took the shovel from the man at hand, as he stood

HON. ROBERT H. HOWEY, one of Helena's prominent lawyers, dates his birth in Carroll county, Ohio, April 8, 1842. He is of Scotch-Irish descent. Some of his an- cestors settled in Pennsylvania previous to the Revolu- tion, and from there the family has spread ont over various States in the Union. The parents of Robert H. were Ebenezer and Julia Ann (Shaw) Howey, the former born in Pennsylvania in 1810, and the latter in Carroll county Ohio, in 1820. The Shaws were an old colonial family, and Mrs. Howey's grandfather, Nathan Shaw, served as a soldier in the Revolution, as First Lieutenant of the First Battalion, Cumberland county, New Jersey, Militia. He fonght in the Battle of Trenton and in various other engagements in that war. Her father also served in the war of 1812. Mr. Howey's parents had five children, of whom only two are now living. The father died in 1961. The mother still survives, now in her seventy-third year.

Robert H. Howey received his education in the pub- lic schools of Ohio and in Rural Seminary, afterward known as Harlem Springs College. He also took a course in the MeNeily Normal School, Hopedale, Ohio, where he graduated in 1862, receiving the degree of B. A. Then he began the study of law, under the in- structions of Eckley & McCoy at Carrollton. It was during the Civil war that he was engaged in the pursuit of his studies, but when Morgan made his famous raid through the State of Ohio young Howey dropped his studies and joined the Home Guards.

Mr. Howey was admitted to the bar of the District Court of Ohio at Steubenville in 1867, and there engaged in the practice of his profession. Later, however, he accepted the position of Professor of Mathematics in Harlem Springs College. Of this college he afterward became president. In 1872 he entered the Western Theological Seminary at Alleghany, where in dne time he graduated with high honors. After his graduation, in April, 1874, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Steubenville and was commissioned by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions to take charge of a church at Unionville, Missouri. He at once went to Unionville, assumed charge as pastor, and through his instrumen- tality a church edifice was soon built. Later he was principal of the public schools at Unionville. He con- tinned there until February, 1879, when he came to Montana and accepted the position of principal of the ITelena city schools, serving as such for five successive

there, knee-deep in the loosened soil, and threw it hastily in a heap high up on the brown leaves on the bank. Then again the pick, and then again the shovel, till he stood breast deep. Then again the pick was buried to the eye. There was a dull, rusty, rasping and sullen sound, as if the man might have struck a coffin lid. He lifted up the pick slowly, held it np, and then with his

years. At the end of that time he was appointed by Governor Potts as Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Territory of Montana, and served as such most efficiently until February, 1883, and while acting in this latter capacity he was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to select the university lands for Montana. He selected for that purpose seventy-two sections. Few, indeed, have done more to advance the educational in- terests of Montana than has Mr. Howey. Aside from what has already been mentioned, he was largely in- strumental in securing the passage of the compulsory ed- ucational law and the law permitting women to vote at school elections. He also has the honor of having or- ganized the Territorial Teachers' Association. From 1885 until 1891 he served very effectively as a member of the Helena School Board. It was during that period that the splendid high-school building and nearly all the other excellent school buildings were erected.

For two years Mr. Howey was business manager of the Independent Publishing Company. Since then he has devoted his time to the practice of law, and has also dealt in real estate to some extent on his own account, having made a number of investments and built several residences in IIelena. He has served two terms in the City Conneil, where his services have been of the utmost importance. While a member of the Council he served as Chairman of the Committee on Sewerage, and also on the Committee on Water Works, and it was during his term that the present systems of both sewerage and water works were put in. In 1888 Mr. Howey was elected Judge of the Probate Court, and in the fall of the follow- ing year he was elected a member of the first State Legislature of Montana, which proved to be the cele- brated "Dead-Lock" Legislature, which, after a long and hard-fought battle, resulted in the election of Sen- ators Power and Sanders. Thus a very brief account of Mr. Howey's life is given, it being one alike of credit to himself and of vital value to the State of his adoption.

Mr. Howey was married March 14, 1870, to Miss Laura E. Spencer, of Cadiz, Ohio, a graduate of Beaver College, Pennsylvania, with the class of 1868. She was at the time of their marriage, and for several years after, en- gaged in teaching instrumental and vocal music. Since their coming to Helena she has been president of the W. C. T. U. of Montana, and has delivered numerous lectures and organized many unions in Montana. She repre- seuted the Montana W. C. T. U. in the national conven-

IIISTORY OF MONTANA.

left hand pushed off and down the long, sharp point of the pick, and with that same rusty, dull and rasping sound, an old sardine box! Pros- pected? Why, the place had been pierced as full of holes as a tom iron. Men had even sat here and placidly eaten sardines; and, as said before, vast and savage as the Argonauts first found Califor- nia, they laid her secrets bare to the core, even before they sat down to rest.

" May I record the fact that no man in our party murmured or spoke at all. Swear? Swear- ing was not as frequent then as now. Those early men, if we except the invasion from the penal colonies of Britain, were gentlemen.

tions held at Nashville and Chicago. She was also one of the organizers of the Working Woman's Home iu Helena, and gave it much valued assistance for a num- ber of years; has for a number of years been a member of the Relief Society of Helena, looking after the poor and visiting the poorhouse and prisons, and in this way doing all in her power to ameliorate the wretched con- ditions of humanity. She is the Alternate Lady Manager of the World's Fair, and also has charge of the Montana Women's Department. In all her efforts in behalf of the part taken by Montana at the great Exposition she has met with eminent success. Governor Rickards ap- pointed her a member of the State Board of Charity, and by the board she has been elected its Secretary; and on her is devolving the duty of visiting all the public institu- tions of the State and report on their condition to the Gov- ernor. Like her husband, she is a worthy member of the Presbyterian Church of Helena. In connection with Mr. Howey's life, it should be further stated that he is Past Master of the A. O. U. W. at Heleua.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 12

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