An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 15

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 15

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From the time of his settlement in Helena Mr. Parchen became interested in and identified with all the interests of the city and State, and has founded with his money

died. The oak trees fell in a single season. The birds disappeared. For the first year after the pickax struck in the grass roots of this region yon would have said, " A cyclone has struck California!"

"Then a woman came; then the baby; then a neat little cottage blossomed on the hillside, with some morning-glories growing about the door; tlien another woman came, and this one

and influence many enterprises intended to promote the growth and development of this section of the country. Thus he has acquired the name of being one of Montana's most liberal and enterprising citizens. Mr. Parchen was one of the organizers of the Helena Board of Trade, of which he had the honor of being the first president, and of which he has since served as president. He began life as a Democrat, and in 1860 voted for Hon. Stephen A. Douglas for President of the United States; but after Mr. Lincoln was elected and the great Rebellion was inaugur- ated he joined the ranks of the Republican party, the principles of which he has since endorsed. Notwith- standing the great demands of his business on his time, he has served in several important positions. For three years he was one of the County Commissioners of Lewis and Clarke county. He was also elected to and served as a member of the Twelfth Session of the Territorial Legis- lature. Mr. Parchen has also given a portion of his time to sociality, and has long been prominently connected with the Masonic fraternity, both York and Scottish rites. He has been Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of the State for twenty-three years, has held the highest offi- ces in all the branches of the order except the Chapter

JOHN POTTER, to whom belongs the distinction of being the first Postmaster of Helena, and why is now (1893) one of her most respected citizens, is a native of the State of Maine. He was born in Somerset county, that State. February, 17, 1834, a descendant of English ancestors who settled in New England long before the Revolution.

Joseph Potter, his father, was born in Reidville, Maine, in 1798, son of William Potter, who was also a native of the Pine Tree State. Joseph Potter married Ellen Wheel- er, also a native ot Maine and of English extraction, and they reared a family of eight sons and three daughters. Eight of this number are still living. Indeed, the family have been noted for longevity. The father reached the advanced age of ninety-two years, and the mother was seventy-two at the time of her death. The latter was a member of the Congregational Church.

John Potter was the ninth born in the above family. He was reared to manhood in the town of Athens, in which he had been born. He finished his education in the Somerset Academy, and after completing his course there was engaged in teaching school for four or five years. In 1855 he sought a new field of operation in the western part of Minnesota, which at that time was on

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

planted a rose-bush. The next year a man from New York planted some fruit trees; the second year they bloomed and actually bore fruit; then the birds came back. The miners had now dis- appeared underground. The plow turned the soil above their heads and cows stood ruminat- ing under the few remaining oaks. And now, when looking over this fair land only last month

the frontier. After clerking in a hardware store for a while, he engaged in the lumber business on his own ac- count, cutting logs and rafting them down the Mississippi and other rivers. Also while there he took claim to a tract of land and platted the town of Osakis, named after a lake near it. This place has grown to be a town of about 2,000 inhabitants.

In 1833 we find Mr. Potter en route across the plains for Montana, the journey being made by way of the Red river to Fort Benton, in company with a party of fifty-two men. Although they had some trouble with the Indians, they reached their destination in safety, landing at Deer Lodge in August. Gold had just been discovered, and they camped there. Mr. Potter mined for three years at Ban- nack and Alder Gulch (now Virginia City). He and three others, Charles Wyman, Washington Wyman and Joseph Bowers, camped and mined together, were very success- 'ul in their mining, and often took out $300 per day ; but like nearly all miners they invested in other mines, hop- ing for big returns but instead losing all they had.

August 29, 1865, Mr. Potter was appointed as first Post- master of Helena, and two years later received the second appointment, the latter being from President Andrew Jolinson. Previous to the establishment of the postoffice at Helena, the mail was brought by express at the rate of $1. per letter. As soon as the Helena office was opened it at once did a large business, people coming to this point from a radius of 150 miles to receive their mail. Often after the arrival of the mail 200 men could be seen stand- ing in line, each waiting bis turn at the delivery. Often some one would pay another $t. for his chance. Stamps were paid for in gold dust, one grain, of gold for a three- cent stamp. In two years and a half the office -became one of the first class. It was then located on Main street, two doors north of the present store of Gans & Klein, and was in a two story frame building, 22 x 60 feet Mr. Potter had a bedroom in the back part of the office, where he slep', and the upper story was used for a courtroom and was occupied by the district Judge and his clerk. The lIelena postoffice was the second one established in Mon- tana. Mr. Potter continued as postmaster for about five years, his successor being Mr. Crounse.

In 1864 Mr. Potter had been appointed Justice of the Peace by Governor Lyon. Subsequently he was appointed United States Court Commissioner for Madison county by covernor Edgerton. In the meantime he had given his atention to the study of law, and in 1872 he was ad-

for the purpose of making these sketches, it was almost impossible to distinguish this portion of California from the richest and oldest hill re- gions of Pennsylvania. And singular as it may seem to the stranger, I must set down the fact that the largest and most heavily-laden orange tree I have seen this side of Sorrento on the bay of Naples, is to be found in these same foothills

mitted to the bar. In 1873 he removed to Gallatin coun- ty, and at Hamilton engaged in the general merchandise business, under the firm name of Potter & Small. Shortly after they established themselves in business Mr. Small died, and from that time up to 1891 Mr. Potter continued alone. Then, after a successful career, he retired from active business.

During nearly the whole of his bi-tory in Montana Mr. Potter has been more or less interested in mines and min- ing. He is now one of the owners of the Whitelateb, a good gold mine, and of the Iron Mountain,a valuable silver claim. He was one of the owners and developers of the Potter & Cockrell mine. During his early life in Mon- tana he was a member of the Vigilant Committee, and as such rendered efficient aid in helping to put a stop to the lawlessness and crime throughout the various mining camps.

April 21, 1869, he was married in Helena to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Small, a native of Holton, Maine. They have bad six children, three of whom died in infancy, the others being as follows: Melville Mortimer, Low engaged in the mail service between Helena and Butte City ; and Clar- ence and Elma, who are at home.

Mr. Potter has long been i lentifie.] with the Republi- can party and also with the Masonic fraternity. He was one of the organizers of Morning Star Lo lge, A. F. & A. M., of Helena, and was Deputy Grand Master of the Terri- tory for three terms. He is now a Kuight Templar. Mr. Potter built a residence on Rodney street, Helena, in 1868, and since then has from time to time inade other in- vestments in real estate in this city. IIe is a fair repre- sentative of the Montana pioneers. Diring his long and useful career bere he has won the respect and esteem of hosts of friends.

THE NEW YORK DRY GOODS COMPANY, one of Helena's leading mercantile firms, had its origin in Minneapolis in 1884, founded there by the same gentlemen that now com- pose it. After three years of successful business in Min- neapolis, believing that the city of Helena and the State of Montana offered a better field for their enterprise, they, in 1887, came to this city and opened the business on the corner of Main and State streets, where for six years they have been doing a successful and constantly increasing business. Their present accommodations proving insuffi- cient for the increasing demands of their trade, they are now (1893) about to remove into their commodious new quarters, Nos. 48, 50 and 52 South Main street, one of the

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

of the Sierras, not very far from the once flour- ishing mining town of Oroville. It grows on an old mining claim.

" Auburn is another mountain town that has more than held its own in the swift mutations of time in California. I recall this wooded and watered spot as a place of ' flumes.' Whatever Anburn may have seemed to others in the early

best locations in the city, where they will have the largest wholesale and retail establishment in Montana. In 1890 the firm incorporated under its present title, The New York Dry Goods Company, with the following officers: Henry Loble, president; Robert IIeller, vice-president; H. Flegelman, secretary and treasurer; and George Frank- ford, manager. All of these gentlemen are full of busi- ness enterprise and push, all having been reared from childhood in the dry-goods business.

Mr. Loble, the president of the company, was born in Hungary in 1860, and was reared and educated there. In 1882 he came to the United States to live and do business under our free institutions, and has become thoroughly identified with the country of his adoption. For a year and a half he was in business in New York city, learn- ing the values of goods from the manufacturers and large jobbing houses, and becoming acquainted with American methods of business. He then went to Minne- apolis and entered the firm with which he has since been connected. In 1891 he was married to Miss Hattie Marks, a native of Diamond City, Montana. Ile is a member of the I. O. O. F., F. & A. M., the A. O. U. W., and several benevolent societies.

Robert Heller, vice-president of the above named com- pany, dates his birth in Austria, in 1860. He came to America in 1881, and was in business in Milwaukee and St. Paul until he became a member of the preseut firm in Minneapolis. He was married in 1889, to Miss Antonette Greenbery, a native of Roumania. Mr. Heller is very much devoted to his business, and as yet has found little time for social affairs. He is, however, a member of the American Legion of Honor.

Herman Flegelman, secretary and treasurer of the firm, is a native of Roumania, his birth occurring in 1861. It was in 1882 that he severed home ties and came to Amer- ica, believing this to be the best place in which to enter upon a business career. He has been with his firm since its organization in Minneapolis. Mr. Flegelman was married and has two children, his wife being deceased.

George Frankford came West in 1864, and since that date has been engaged in merchandising most of the time in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. In 1886 he became connected with the firm of which he is now manager. Ile is a man of fine personal appearance, is thoroughly posted on what constitutes a successful busi- ness man, and thinks more of making and keeping a customer than he does of making a sale, and since he

days, I can think of it only as a place where fiume on top of flume encircled the pine-set hills from base to summit. Many of these flumes carried water to the rich gravel ' claims' that lay in and about Auburn. The larger num- ber however were long deep ' sluices' or flumes for conveying dirt, gravel, débris and so on from the gravel claims down to the great valley be-

has been a resident of Helena she has made many warm friends here.

All the members of the firm are men of the highest probity, devoted to their business, pulling together for the success of the firm, and are justly entitled to the large volume of business they have acquired. They have a mail order department, receive orders from Montana and adjoining States, and in this line also are doing an exten- sive business.

ERNEST SPRUILLE BRADEN, Helena, Montana .- The subject of this sketch was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, - April 3, 1860, and was the eldest child of William and Martha B. Braden, nee Burford. His great-grand- father Braden was a native of Ireland, who became a resident of Pennsylvania, where the father was born in 1821. His mother was a native Kentuckian, and a de- scendant of the old Virginia and English family of Ruek- ers. Mr. William Braden was in the blank book and publishing business in Indianapolis from 1844 until his death in 1880.

Spruille attended the public schools in Indianapolis until 1875, when he went to England, and aboard H. M. S. Worcester, where he was known among the other cadets as "the American." Her Majesty's Ship Worcester, an old four-deeker, was the man-of-war Frederick William, that went into the fight at Trafalgar bay under Nelson. The vessel is now used as a school ship for the education of young men for the mercantile marine. The govern- ment is quiek to foster any plan that may help her com- mercial projects on the seas, so the Worcester was placed under government control. She is manned by half-pay officers in the Royal Navy, and as a reward of merit the queen of England gives a gold medal to the highest pupil of each year. The medal carries with it the title of R. N. R. to Englishmen.

After the midsummer examination, the names of the six highest on the list are posted on a bulletin, then all the cadets and masters ballot for the boy entitled to the queen's gold medal. The conditions bring forward the boy cal- culated to make the best sailor, and who stands first best in character and studies in the estimation of his associates and teachers. The day when Braden was up for election is well remembered by all his classmates, as he received the highest number of votes ever cast, and was far and away the most popular. When the result was announced Braden was at onee "hazed," an honor which was another evidence of his popularity. The whole ship-load of boys

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

low. The hydraulic roar was here in its day, the ' dump,' ' slickings,' lawsuits; sorrow enough for the poor miner and for the poor farmer in the valley below him as well. 'Time and 1 against any two,' says the Spanish proverb. And lo! to-day this once tumultuous mining town of the Sierras is one of the very sweetest, rosiest, sunniest health resorts west of the Rocky mountains.

jumped upon him at once, and wrestled him around the deck for an hour, which he took with ntmost good nature.

About three weeks from that time was the end of the term and prize day. Many distinguished guests were in- vited and were brought down the river from London in the Trinity House steamer. Among the guests were Lord Bingham, an Indian prince, the Maharajah of Jallore, and Sir Thomas Brassy, owner of the Sunbeam (anchored near). Lady Brassy took quite a fancy to the "American boy," and frequently invited him to tea on the Sunbeam. As a mark of honor the Worcester carried the American flag on this prize day at the main-mast, and two other school ships near, the Arethusa and the Chichister, fol- lowed the example of the Worcester. Admiral Rider presented the prizes, and his very beautiful daughter attached the queen's medal to Braden's breast.

Trinity House (the corporation at the head of naviga- tion in England) gives the cadet who wins the queen's gold medal a very handsome sextant (money value £50). On steam, Braden received the first prize, which was a large mahogany case containing coal-analyzing instru- ments, and for "Rule of the Road," the first prize was a set of "Knight's Half-Hour Series," beautifully bound, also "honorable mention." No cadet is permitted to re- ceive more than two first prizes in addition to the queen's medal, and the Trinity House prize which goes with the gold medal. All the officers of the Worcester were in full uniform, and every cadet wore a new uniform bril- liant with gold lace. Captain Smith, the commander of the Worcester, was in the uniform of a commodore, and received the titled guests at the side of the ship. A salute was fired as the steamer came in sight up the river, and the rustics from the Kentish lowlands gathered along the shore, watching the guests transferred from their steamer to the training ship. It was a great day for America. Braden left the ship that day with a glorious start in life, and every one who knew him predicted a great career for him. The following year, when an en- graver came aboard to place Braden's name on the mar- ble tablet especially for those winning the queen's medal, the boys gathered around and shouted, "Put it Yankee Braden! put it Yankee Braden!"

He went from London the last of July, 1878, to the Paris Exposition, in company with Captain and Mrs. Smith, his mother, and brother Eugene, and then to the

.. No traveler can afford to visit California without seeking out Placerville and Mariposa, digging down to their old life and contrasting that stormy old life with the new. And the traveler should first understand that the geolog- ical history and make-up of all this mining re- gion from Yreka to Mariposa was as stormy and tumultuous as were the lives of those who first possessed these rugged lauds. Beds of rivers,

United States and his home in Indianapolis, where the modest "G. M. B." (Gold Medal Boy, as he was called) was given quite an ovation, having arrived home during the State Fair week, and so numerous were the calls to see the prizes, they were placed in a prominent jeweler's window. Colonel Thompson, Secretary of the Navy at that time, and from Indiana, met young Braden and ex- pressed himself as being very much pleased with his modesty and utter lack of vanity, and made the remark, " Most boys would have their heads turned"-having so many honors and attentions heaped upon him. His suc- cess in England was much talked about in Washington, and the Indiana Senators, at Secretary Thompson's re- qnest, introduced a bill to make him an Ensign in the United States Navy. It passed the Senate promptly, bnt did not reach the House before adjournment of Congress. While the bill was pending Braden was appointed to a clerkship in the Navy Department. The position was unsonght by Mr. Braden or his family. Mrs. Braden went to Washington and requested a withdrawal of the bill, since her son had no intention of adopting the sea, as he wished to pursue a scientific course.

Shortly after, his father died and Spruille accepted a temporary position in the Geological Survey as special agent, to gather mining statistics iu California. In 1881 he matriculated at the University of Berlin, and attended the Royal School of Mines. In 1883, while spending his vacation in London, he was appointed by Clarence King, assistant superintendent of the famous silver mine at Sombrerete, in the State of Zacatecas, Mexico. The mine closing down in about a year, he returned to Wash- ington city, and in May, 1884, was appointed by Presi- dent Cleveland superintendent of the United States as- say office at Boise, Idaho. In the autumn of 1884 he was transferred as superintendent of the United States assay office at Helena, Montana, which place he hekl until September, 1890, when he resigned and formed a partnership with his brother, Eugene, in Helena, carry- ing on a general mining, metallurgical and ore-sampling business, in which he was engaged at the time of his death.

On the 3d of January, 1894, he sailed on the steamer New York for England, to look after some mining in- terests, and to see his old friends. He and his friend, Mr. Henry Bratnober, had apartments and were almost

HISTORY OF MONTANA.

deep, wide and tortuous, heavy with nuggets of gold, were found by our miners almost on the very summits of the Sierras. Mountains turned upside down! Valleys set on edge! Rivers stood on end! Surely the Titans of old had battled here, hurling mountains and valleys in their fierce combat. The great Columbia river, which draws its waters from far toward the north pole, once emptied into the Pacific ocean through what is now called the Sacramento-at least this is the theory of observing and able en- gineers and miners who have, in their pursuit

constantly together. They arrived in New York on the steamer Trave, on the 10th of February. Mr. Bratnober made the remark to a mutual friend in New York, "Spruille has made the trip of his life." Certainly he was very happy after his return, over his business pros- pects. He stopped at the Hotel Brunswick with his mother, and spent most of the time with her, discussing what he had accomplished in London, and his plans for the near future. All his intimate friends know of his loyalty to his mother, and his unswerving confidence in her judgment. He told a friend, "I never deviated but once from my mother's advice, and I shall pay the pen- alty of regret, always."

On the 18th of February he went in company with Hon. T. H. Carter from New York to Washington. On the 20th he went by steamer from Washington to Vir- ginia Beach to attend the American Institute of Mining Engineers, of which he was a member, returning to Washington Saturday morning, the 24th. Sunday, Febru- ary 25, being a very stormy day, he remained at the Hotel Shoreham. Immediately before going to the home of his friend, William E. Clarke, he wrote to his mother in New York that he would be detained a few days longer in Washington, and, as it was storming furiously, wished her to send him some heavier clothing. He had been expected at the Clarkes all the afternoon, and when he rang the bell Mrs. Clarke said, "That is Spruille." IIe spoke cheerfully and naturally to the servant who an- swered the hell, at the same time vigorously shaking the snow from his clothes and stamping his feet. The mo- ment the door was closed, before he had removed either hat or overcoat, he said, "I feel a little faint," and sat down in the hall. Mrs. Clarke heard the remark, and went immediately to him, asking, "Spruille, what is the matter?" He answered in a low and mournful voice, "Oh, I don't know; I don't know. Let me lie down; let me lie down." Mr. Clarke, after they had removed his overcoat, led him to the couch in the sitting-room, not more than twelve feet away. Mrs. Clarke asked him, "Where have you pain? What hurts you, Spruille?" and he answered not; his spirit had winged its flight!

as gold seekers, tried to trace the dried-up and changed channels of our dead rivers. Confusion on top of confusion is what confronted the miner of California from the first. There was no order, no system, no law in the finding and following up of these old gold-bearing and dried-up river- beds. Let us be thankful for the show of dis- cipline and order that has at last asserted itself on the surface of the earth in the long and un- dulating lines of olive trees, orange trees, grape- vines and orchard trees of all kinds that reach from Oroville to Placerville, and on past the gleaming

The short career of Spruille Braden as metallurgist and mining engineer was a powerful factor in mining development in Montana, with whose prosperity his name is closely connected. No mining man in Montana was more widely or favorably known than he; and in Helena, where he was best known, he was appreciated, and his judgment on mining matters was considered reliable. As we look back over his professional career and short life of only one score of years, it seems fraught with well deserved results of diligent endeavor. There are many dreamers in the history of mining, but it is not often that a mind as alert, as ready in resources as his, had also the sensitiveness of an artist and the hardness of a material- ist. He was a miner whose adaptation of old laws to new uses, and unfailing power of drawing accurate conclu- sions, received wide professional sanction and admiration. The rapidity of his thought in matters of great import- ance was phenomenal with those who came in contact- with him, but there were other qualities which he conld not perpetuate in his work,-certain graces of character, his generosity, his encouraging sympathy, his intuitive comprehension of motives and actions. These faculties make it impossible that those who knew him can soon forget his helpfulness.

Genins is rare, yet Helena had with her a man of genius and unbounded ambition. While the business world sought him, while men of affairs, men of years and wisdom, needed his advice, appreciating and acting upon it, it was at home that he was valued most. Here the brilliancy of his fluent talk and the wit that was quick to meet any emergency aided the music of his soul to sway the hearts of men. In addition to his musical genius he was also a linguist of great ability and conversed fluently in German, French and Spanish. He was seen from day to day in the streets, in the clubs, in the common walks of life; he was quiet and unassuming, but his voice still speaks on forever, listened to in the assemblies of the wise. To constant time we leave the filling of the meas- ure of his praise. When his portrait is faded, and his works worn, time shall not say he was old, for his triumphs were won in youth, and youth's glory shines upon them.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 15

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