An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 148

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 148

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DR. J. C. JOHNSTON, who has been a practicing physi- cian in Butte City, Montana, since 1878, ranks with the leading citizens of the place.

Dr. Johnston was born in Connellsville, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1850. Ilis grandfather Alex- ander Johnston, a native of county Antrim, Ireland, and of Scotch descent, emigrated to America as early as 1783 and settled first in Philadelphia and later removed to Fayette county. Ile had married Miss Mary Clark, a na- tive of his own country, and they reared their family of five sons and three daughters in Fayette county. Early in life they were Presbyterians but later joined the Methodist Church. Both lived to advanced age, she be- ing eighty-four at the time of death and he ninety-five. Their son, Joseph Johnston (the Doctor's father) was born in Connellsville in 1823, and was reared there. He was married in Cumberland, Maryland, in 1848, to Miss Florida McGuire, and after their marriage they settled in his native town where he subsequently became a banker, led an active and useful life and where he is now living retired. His wife passed away in 1879, aged fifty-two years. They had five sons and three daughters, J. C. be- ing the eldest. All except one are living.

The subject of our sketch received his primary educa- tion in his native town and then took a course in the Ohio State University. Ile began the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr. W. Lindly, after which he entered a medical college at Philadelphia, where he graduated with the class of 1875. Immediately after his graduation he commenced his professional. career in Connellsville, and continued there three years. In 1878 he came out West and established himself in Butte City, at once gaining the confidence and good will of the citizens and soon building up a lucrative practice. He is now the physician of St. James Hospital.

The Doctor is a man of fine physique, six feet and one, inch high, and weighs 284 pounds. He is kind-hearted,

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

placers and productive quartz mines, The Poole mine has been worked on an arastra. The Oro- Bell is rich in silver ores. Other claims show good prospects. The Sheridan and old Mill Creek mines have long been known as produ- cers. More than twenty years ago the Bran- ham mill was pounding out the free gold from the surface ores, and now the new mill is con- centrating the sulphides from the deeper dig- gings. The Toledo, Toledo Extension, Henry Nigger and Keystone are a few of the numer-

genial and unassuming, and makes friends wherever lie goes. Like most men who come to Montana, he has in- vested some in mining stock. Politically, he has always been a Democrat.

DR. GIDEON E. BLACKBURN, of the firm of Haviland & Blackburn, homeopathic physicians of Butte City, is a native of Kentucky, born in Woodford county, October 22, 1839, of English and Scotch ancestry, settlers of Vir- ginia in the Colonial days and participants in the early history of the country. The Doctor's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his grand- father, Gideon Blackburn, was a native of Virginia, a Presbyterian minister of the New School and the founder of the Blackburn College at Carlinville, Illinois. The Doctor's father, Andrew Blackburn, was born in Ken- tucky in 1821, married Margaret Hoxey, was a capitalist and a banker in Jerseyville, Illinois, and a stockholder in various other banking institutions. He died in the fifty- first year of his age, and his wife now resides at Evanston, Illinois, in her seventy-fifth year. She is, as was her hus- band, an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church, and her people were of the highest respectability.

Their eldest child, the subject of this sketch, was edu- cated at Yale College, and nearly finished his course when the great Civil war began; and in response to his country's call he left college and enlisted in Company F, Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Being under General Grant, they fought at Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Corinth and in many other engagements, in all of which Dr. Blackburn had many hairbreadth escapes. At one time the bursting of a shell fractured his skull; at another he was shot in the armpit; at another a ball just grazed his hand, and in the course of the service his hat received several shots.

On one occasion, while out on a foraging expedition, he was captured by guerrillas, tied with buckskin thongs between two of his captors, and while in a room with them and thirteen others, and while they slept, he suc- ceeded in escaping, slipping his hand from the thongs and cutting the strings with a knife he took from one of the sleepers. Springing out at the window, he attracted the attention of a bulldog, which he seized by the throat nd swung on his back and ran for life. It was moon- a

ous mines in this old camp. The foot-hills on Sheridan Creek appear to be full of quartz veins. At Brandon higher up the creek is the Brandon inill and concentrator. High in the mountains west are many rich mines, among them the rich Leiter properties. In Wisconsin Gulch is Cranor's ten-stamp mill, running on the Champion, Sheridan, Grey Eagle and Dam- sel. The Noble ten-stamp mill is on the Wis- consin and mines have been worked here for twenty years. They are rich in gold, silver and

light, and as soon as he was concealed by the trees he dispatched the dog with the knife and continued his flight! After going some distance he heard a colored teamster coming along singing, and, with a pine knot ex- temporized as a pistol, halted him and made him hanl him with all haste to the nearest town, where he, Mr. Blackburn, had a friend whom he could trust. When they appeared in the town Mr. Blackburn tied the negro to the wagon with his hands and feet stretched out, and left him. The friend took Mr. Blackburn on his way to the Union lines. This offense made him peculiarly hated by the guerrillas.

On another occasion, while on detached service and he was riding a thoroughbred mare, he was confronted by thirty-five men across the road, who ordered him to halt, with the epithet they usually applied to Yankees. As he hauled in his horse in front of them he drew his pistol and shot two of them, and with a rapid swinging blow sank the ham of the pistol into the brain of a third. Giving then his mare the rein and stooping low on her neck, she "flew" to the Union lines. A volley was fired after him and several charges of buckshot hit him iu the hips. He did not realize at the time that he was shot, but when he reached camp he fainted, and it was found that thirty-two buckshot had entered his body, and not a shot had hit the mare! A squad was at once sent after his assailants, and they proved to be a part of a Missis- sippi regiment. The boys killed four men of that com- pany and three were crippled. When they came into the lines they said they would like to see that "red devil!" (The Doctor at that time wore a full beard, which was quite red.)

After he recovered from this severe shock he still e on- tinned in the service, and was promoted five times; but late in his service he became seriously ill with camp diarrhæ and greatly reduced in flesh, and he resigned his commission. He had risen from the rauks to the position of Lieutenant Colonel, having rendered his country very efficient service. Hle had read medicine to some extent, expecting to enter the me lical profession, and he was thus enabled to make him off 94'e. 4 ful in aidi ig the army surgeons in ame malim aol surgical operations, as well as useful in caring for the wounded generally.

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

copper. There is a furnace on Wisconsin creek which was idle in October. On Rochester creek, a tributary of the Big Hole, quartz and placer- mining have been carried on for the last quarter of acentury. Numerous productive mines have been opened and worked with varied success. Among the mines are the Mayflower, Never- Sweat, War Eagle, Bobtail, Elgin, Buffalo, Watseka, New- Year's Gift, Shoemaker, Lucky Boy, Longfellow, Golden Brown, Flora and many others.

Ou reaching his home he was supposed to be so far re- duced that he could not recover; but the rest and the care afforded him at home soon had a beneficial effect, and he fully recovered.

In 1866 he went to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and engaged in merchandising, and afterward continued the same business at Camden. Next he moved to Little Rock, where he associated himself with Dr. W. E. Green, now a prominent surgeon. They went to the Pulte Medical College together, and graduated in 1871, Dr. Blackburn being the valedictorian of his class. After graduating he went to Shreveport, Louisiana, and practiced there for a time, then at Galveston, Texas, Evanston, Wyoming, and finally, in 1891, to Butte City. Dr. Haviland had been here a year, and they formed a partnership for general practice, Dr. Blackburn making a specialty of surgery. Iu 1892 they opened the Haviland & Black buru Hospital, on the corner of Broadway and Washington street. In this institution are twenty beds, vapor baths and all the modern appliances for the treatment and comfort of the sick. The physicians have two sets of rooms fitted for their offices in the Owsley Block, and they have a large patronage, and they are surgeons for nearly a dozen of the most prominent mining companies at Butte. Their hospital is the only one of this school in Montana, and they are entitled to much credit for their enterprise and capability in establishing such an institution.

Dr. Blackburn is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and, as he terms it in quotation marks, a "rabid Demo- crat." He has mining interests in Butte, but confines himself to the practice of his profession. Physically, he is a strong, hardy and exceedingly well poised man, and possesses great force of character.

In 1871 Dr. Blackburn was married, and by that mar- riage had three children, namely: Daisy Ida, Charles A. and Flora Emma. His second marriage occurred on the 27th day of January, 1893, this time wedding Miss Han- nah Aiton, a native of Minnesota. They reside at the hospital.

DR. WILLIAM II. HALL, the leading and most success- ful dentist of Butte City, is a native of the State of Florida, born in Tallahassee, April 27, 1877, of English and Irish ancestry. His people were early settlers of

Several arastras have worked these mines. Some have disappeared, but White's and Ward's arastras are still grinding out the free gold of these mines. The Rochester mill and the Allen mill were worn out on the quartz of this camp, and only their decaying skeletons remain. The Mueller mill stands well prepared to continue the good work on the mines of Rochester. On the Nez Perce Gulch, six miles from Twin Bridges, is a group of copper mines which promise to rival the best in the country. Of

Massachusetts, and on both sides of his family were par- ticipants in the war for independence. His father, Jesse C. Hall, was born in Pelham, New Hampshire, in 1829, married Ada J.Sargent, a native of Ohio; they now reside in Illinois and have five children, all of whom are living. The father has for many years been a successful practi- tioner of dentistry.

Dr. Hall, of this sketch, the second born in the above family, was reared in Florida, Ohio and Illinois, attend- ing the public schools in all three of these States. He studied dentistry with his father and graduated in the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1877, when he was but nineteen years of age, being thus the youngest graduate ever coming from that institution. After gradu- ation he practiced with his father for a year, then went to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he followed his favorite profession until 1888, when he established himself at Butte, where he has enjoyed a constantly growing prac- tice. He has a large office, employs several assistants, and avails himself of all the latest improvements. He has also established a dental supply house- the only one in Montana. He is a member of the Dental Association of Indiana, and one of the board of directors of the Dental College of that State, located at Indianapolis. He has also been the owner of ranching interests at Butte.

In his political sympathies he is a Democrat, and he affiliates with the Masonic fraternity, being a Sir Knight and having received the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite. Dr. Hall is an accomplished gentleman, a splendid dentist, and the people of Butte know it and have accorded him a large and remuneraiive practice.

DANIEL JAMES MCNALLY, building inspector, Helena, Montana, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1857, of Irish descent, his parents having come to America at an early age and settled in the Middle States. He is one of seven children, and all are living except one brother, the rest of the family residing in the Eastern States. Educated in the common schools of the Keystone State and Maryland, at the age of seventeen Mr. McNally began to learn the trade of carpenter in the latter State, where he served his apprenticeship and re- mained until 1878. Then he went to Indiana and entered the employ of a railroad company, first as a mechanic and

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

these mines the Ellen Marshall, Lanra Marshall, and Mountain Chief show wonderful masses of good ore for the work done. Nez Perce and Big Hole are gold mines four miles from Big Hole and sixteen miles from Melrose.

At the old and faithful Iron Rod camp we have the evidence of a modest ontfit which has been doing a paying business for these many years. The fifteen-stamp mill is running right along on the ores while the new developments are made in the mines. This is a water mill

afterward as superintendent of bridges and building, going thence to Mexico during the period of the con- struction of the Mexican Central Railroad. When that road was completed he went to Minnesota, where he was superintendent of bridges and building for the Minne- apolis & St. Louis Railroad nntil 1884, when he removed to Montana and engaged in contract work in Lewis and Clarke, and Jefferson counties. Many of the notable structures in these counties were erected under his super- vision.

In 1890 the municipality of Helena enacted a building ordinance, and under the provisions of that enactment Mr. McNally was appointed building inspector, which office he has since held continuonsly under both Repub- lican and Democratic administrations. Although an act- ive worker in Democratic ranks, his efficiency recom- mended him as the most desirable man for the place, and a change of administration did not entail his removal. He is a member of the Helena Board of Trade and of the Inspectors and Commissioners of Buildings Association of the United States, and is interested in various plans for the development of Montana.

Mr. McNally was married in Helena, in August, 1885, to Miss Ida M. Holmes, and they have two children, a son and daughter.

M. H. LASHORN, foreman of the car department of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company's shops at Livings- ton, Montana, is a young man of marked ability in his chosen line of work.

Mr. Lashorn is a son of John P. and Marion (Proctor) Lashorn and was born in Washington, District of Colum- hia, October 16, 1863. His ancestors came to this country from Germany and were among the pioneer settlers in the State of New York. The Lashorns were well represented in the Federal ranks during the Civil war. M. II. Laslı- orn was educated in the schools of Washington city and at an academy in Caroline county, Maryland. When abont sixteen years of age he was apprenticed to learn the trade of carpenter, his term of apprenticeship extending until he was twenty-one. The first two years of this time he received 85 a week, after that $1 a day. Upon reaching his majority, he came west to Colorado and engaged as carpenter for the D.& R. G. Railroad Co., working in that

and is run with little expense and constant protit. The Silver Star has attracted more at- tention and more varied fortunes have attended the enterprise. The old ten stamp mill was moved away and the Broadway with forty stamps was erected and worked the ore of the Broadway mine. The Mark Ensly mill with six stamps was run on the Aurora Borealis and other mines. The battery is still standing. The Merk is a new first-class ten-stamp mill and is running on the Victoria mine, A new five-stamp water

capacity for eighteen months, and then being promoted to the position of traveling foreman, which he filled nine months. Next we find him at Brainard, Minnesota, in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, where he remained two years. At the end of that time he was transferred to the Livingston shops, as car foreman, and up to the present time he has discharged the duties of this important position to the entire satisfaction of his employers, having been here eight years. In this posi- tion he has charge of thirty men.

Mr. Lashorn was married in July, 1890, to Miss Abbie Olin, daughter of Alfred and Malinda Olin. In fraternal circles he takes a prominent part. He has taken all the degrees in Masonry including the Scottish Rite, has been Treasurer of Livingston Lodge, A. F. & A. M., for four years, Treasurer of the Chapter for three years, and Treas- urer of Lodge of Perfection, of Consistory and of Kadosh; is also a member of the I. O. O. F. in Washington, D. C., and of the A. O. U. W. of Livingston.

DR. HUGH J. McDONALD, of Butte City, Montana, has been identified with this place since the summer of 1890, and during this brief time has established for himself an enviable reputation as a skilled physician of the regular school.

Dr. McDonald was born in Glengarry county, Canada, in the town of Alexander, April 25, 1861, son of Allen J. and Mary (McPhee) McDonald, both natives of Glen- garry county. of Scotch descent, and belonging to families that were early settlers of America. ITis parents are still living, his father being sixty-six years of age and retired from active life; his mother fifty-nine. Both are mem- bers of the Catholic Church. The Doctor was the third born in their family of eleven children, nine of whom are still living.

Dr. McDonald was reared in his native town and was educated in its public schools. Choosing medicine for his profession, he entered the medical department of Mc- Gill University, where he graduated in 1885. He began his professional career at Chelsea, Wisconsin, and there conducted a successful practice for nearly six years. In the summer of 1890 he came to Butte City, Montana, and opened his present office, No. 23 West Granite street. Here his gentlemanly bearing and his skill as a physi-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

mill is now crushing the Green-Campbell ore with good results. An arastra is grinding good pay out of the Governor Hayes mine. There is a group of silver mines south of the Silver Star gold group and another a short distance to the north.

The Tobacco Root or South Boulder monn- tains appear to be absolutely full of mineral veins. In addition to the camps above named on the west side, the Georgia Gulch, Indian creek, Sterling, Richmond Flat and Ward's

cian soon bronght him into prominence and gained for him the confidence and respect of all, and he has since been doing a general practice. He is a member of the International Medical Society and of the Silver Bow County and Montana State Medical Societies, in all of which he takes an active interest, improving every oppor- tunity offered to advance his knowledge concerning mat- ters pertaining to his profession. Since coming to Butte he has been the surgeon of the Boston & Montana Min- ing Company. He has invested in a number of valuable mining claims.

August 5, 1889, Dr. McDonald was married at Chelsea, Wisconsin, to Miss Cora Lemere, daughter of Henry Lemere, a Wisconsin lumber manufacturer. They have two children, Hugh Allen and Francis

While the Doctor is youthful in appearance, he has had an active practice of ten years, and has acquired a broader information than many men who are much his senior. As has already been stated, he stands high in Butte City, both as a physician and as a gentleman, and his excellent reputation has been well earned.

MELVIN L. WINES, the Prosecuting Attorney of Silver Bow county, Montana, was born in Monrovia, Indiana, June 29, 1865. His ancestors came from old England and settled in New England early in the history of this coun- try. Josiah Wines, the progenitor of the family in Amer- ica, settled in Massachusetts; but little is known of him, -only that he was an industrious farmer and a Quaker: later the family have been mostly Methodists.

A succeeding generation moved to New York, where the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Leonard Wines, was born. He removed to Indiana some time in the '30s, thus being a pioneer there. He married Miss Rebecca Tittler, the daughter of a neighbor pioneer. IIe entered land from the Government and lived there until his death, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Ile was an industrious and successful farmer, and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Church. She is still living, beloved and respected by all who know her. Their only son, Josiah L. Wines, was born in Indiana in 1839, married Miss Elizabeth A. Jackson, a native of South Carolina, and had two children, namely: Eva, who is now Mrs. James B. Gallager. resides in Butte; and

mountain districts are on the north and east sides of these mineral mountains. Georgia Gulch has a group of many nich mines in gold, silver and lead. The High Ridge, Tidal Wave, Vanmeter, Keynote and Fusilade, Empire State, Bay State, Saturday Night, Eureka, Magnolia and a dozen others have been opened. On In- dian creek several claims have been partially developed with good results, and many more await the drill and pick of the miner to show up their prospective values. At Pony, on Willow

their other child is the subject of this sketch. Both par- ents are living in Nevada. The father has been a lawyer for many years, and for a number of years was the attor- ney for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

Melvin L., the younger of the two children just men- tioned, attended the public schools in Nevada, and later was a member of the class of 1887 at the California State University at Berkeley. Next, taking a two years' course in the law department of the Michigan State University at Ann Arbor, that State, he graduated in 1889, and im- mediately came to Butte, arriving in August. He entered the law office of Hon. William H. De Witte, and soon afterward Mr. De Witte was elected to the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, and for a time Mr. Wines was acting attorney for the Montana Union Pacific Rail- road. He filled this position to the time that J. S. Shrop- shire arrived and took charge of all the Union Pacific roads, and Mr. Wines then became an assistant. This re -. lation continued until Mr. Wines received the nomination for Prosecuting Attorney for Silver Bow county. He was elected in the fall of 1892, and he is now serving in that office.

Mr. Wines is an active Republican, a Royal Arch Mason and a member of the Silver Bow Club. In the campaign of 1892 he made vigorous and effective speeches for his party throughout Silver Bow and Beaver Head counties, and he is credited with being a good stump speaker and well posted on the questions of the day. In addition to attending to the duties of his office, he has also a good general practice. He is pleasing in his manner, upright in character and uniformly held in high estimation. A propitions future awaits him.

JUDGE R. L. THOMAS, Clerk of the District Court of Beaver Head county, Montana, is a native of the State of New York, born in New York city, May 4, 1841.

He is of Welsh descent, his grandfather having emi- grated from Wales to America in 1800 and settled in Utica, New York. There in 1816 John Thomas, Judge Thomas' father, was born. When he was sixteen years of age he removed to New York city and became a steamboat engineer, which business he followed for a number of years, in the employ of Peter Cooper and Abraham Hewitt, their boats plying between New York

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

ereek is an important camp fast growing into a prosperous town by the constant produets of its plaeers and quartz mines. Six mills have been erected to work the quartz of the many rich mines of Mineral ITill and other mountains around Pony.

There are the Mallory mill, ten stamps, run by water; the Morlan mill, fifteen stamps, run by steam; the Lehman mill, ten stamps, ruu by steam; the Getehell mill, ten stamps, run by water; the Morris mill, twenty stamps, run by water; and three arastras, run by water.

and Albany. In 1835 he went to New Jersey, where he continued in the same business until 1854. At that time he returned to New York, and the following year, still in the employ of Mr. Cooper, he went to Wyandotte, Michi- gan, and started the large iron rolling mills of that place. In 1839, in New York city, he was married to Miss Ann Barbour, who was of English ancestry. She died in 1879, leaving five sons and a daughter. The family had re- moved to Indianapolis in 1856, and in that city Mr. Thomas has since resided. He is now in his seventy-seventh year, is a well-known capitalist, and is president of the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 148

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