An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 20

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 20

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Decius S. Wade, their second child, was educated in

I had come here to practice law. But the place was so orderly, so far from any sort of disturb- ance or contention, that there was absolutely no business whatever in this line. I found plenty of lawyers but no law; or, rather no need of any law.

"Having two brothers with me and finding several consins here and none of us getting any good foothold, we pushed out over the moun- tains to the East, toward Montana, where we found good paying-placers, built cabins, sawed- ont sluice-boxes, and then under the tall, somber pine woods re-enacted the old ennobling life of the early days in the Sierras.

"Do you know the music of the pick and shov- el as they clang and ring on the bedrock, the rattle and the ring of the sluice fork in the hands of the happy, tall, slim man who stands astride the sluice and slings the gravel behind him in high heaps of polished pebbles? He has a keen eye. There may be a big nugget on the tines of his broad sluice-fork at any moment. He is a supple man of not too much flesh, and keeps his footing finely on either side of the slnice-box which he bestrides. To fall will be not only to break his own knees but to endanger the backs of his dripping and bespattered part- ners in the pit beneath him. And now he sees

the public schools in his native town and in the Kings- ville Academy, and at the age of sixteen commenced teaching, which occupation he continued for six winters, pursuing his academic studies when uot thus engaged. During bis teaching, under the supervision of his uncle, Senator Benjamin F. Wade, he read law and was ad- mitted to the bar in September, 1857.

From the date of his admission to the bar he practiced his profession at Jefferson, Ohio, until 1860, when, at the age of twenty-five years, he was elected Probate Judge of Ashtabula county, a position of great responsibility and trust, which by re-election he held for the period of seven years Though very young to attain judicial position (which came to him unsolicited), his decisions early showed a trained mind, careful study, a well balanced judgment, fearless courage and an obstinate regard for right and justice. In this school he laid the funda-

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

something glitter in the swift water that washes the gravel down across the ripples. Down goes a long, dripping arm at the risk of his neck; but somehow the rugged slim man never falls. Up goes the long, right arm in the air. A shout! The men in the pit look up all together, and then there is a shout that shakes the very pine tops above them. The gold nugget, half quartz,

tions of his judicial character, full of promise for the future.

In the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in the three- months' service, and served as a "Squirrel Hunter" on the call for volunteers by Governor Tod.

He resumed the practice of law in 1867, and two years later was elected to the State Senate from the Ashtabula district and served during two sessions. During his Legislative career he took part in the great debate on the passage of the fifteenth amendment, and also made an able argument upon the subject of minority repre- sentation. While serving as State Senator, on the 17th day of March, 1871, he was appointed Chief Justice of Montana, by President Grant. He was reappointed by Presidents Grant, Hayes and Arthur, always upon the petition of members of the bar, and served as Chief Justice for four consecutive terms and until May 2, 1887.

Upon his retirement from the bench he became the senior member of the law firm of Wade, Toole & Wal- lace, and engaged in active practice until after his ap- pointment, in the spring of 1890, by Governor White, as Chairman of the Commission appointed to codify the laws of Montana. For two years he devoted every energy of his trained mind to the congenial work of codification, and, with the other commissioners, produced a Civil Code, a Code of Civil Procedure, a Penal Code and a Political Code, and offered to the people of Mon- taua, that which they had never had, a harmonious and complete system of laws. Since the completion of this work Judge Wade has continued the practice of the law, in Helena, Montana, where, with his family, he has re- sided for the last twenty four years.

Ile was married on June 3, 1863, to Bernice Galpin, a native of Weymouth, England, who brought into his life all the wealth of a noble nature, all the intuitions of re- finement and culture and all the aspirations of noble womanhood. They have but one child, Clare Lyon Wade, who recently graduated at Wellesley.

In politics Judge Wade is and always has been a Re- publican. He loves his country and glories in its his- tory and traditions.

A natural student, fond of reading and study, inclined_ to literary pursuits, an easy writer and speaker, strong in his friendships, he has gathered about him choice books, and his home is a delight to his friends. Alive to the wrongs and sufferings of humanity, he is generous and active in his efforts to improve the condition of the

is nearly as big as a hen's egg. The slim man, ou the high sluice-box, who holds the nugget high in the air as he laughs and shouts with the rest of us, is my brother. We have struck it! The friendly Freemasonry sort of good will and well-wishing among miners spread the news in a day or two to Pierce City and Oro Fino, and the place was soon packed with prospectors.

poor and afflicted. Honest and upright, he despises sham and hypocrisy. In his daily walk and conversation he is of pure mind and heart and carries with him wherever he goes the respect and confidence of the people.

No sketch of the life of Judge Wade would be com- plete which did not dwell upon his great work in Mon- tana jurisprudence, to which he gave the heart of his life, sixteen of his best years. His long service on the bench, his patience and industry, the hardships he en- countered and endured, his kindness and courtesy to the members of the bar, his encouragement and kind words to the young practitioners, his courage in doing his duty and his efforts in maintaining the law, in the punishment of crime and in the preservation of order, are matters of history, and are stored in the memories of a grateful people. Without disparaging others Judge Wade may be justly named the Father of Montana Jurisprudence. He helped to lay the foundations, and his long service enabled him to superintend the building, of the structure. The Montana Reports are an enduring monument to his name. Viewing his published opinions from a legal and from a literary standpoint it may be fairly said that con- sidering the great number of new questions, pioneer cases and novel propositions presented to him for de- cision, the strength of his work as determined by the test of time, is remarkable. The new system of law which prevails in the Western region is largely his debtor. The only criticism which can be offered to his work as literature, is that his opinions are lengthy, and to this criticism the reply may be properly made that the amount of labor which devolved upon the pioneer judges was enormous; that Judge Wade writes fluently, aud yet, while fully alive to the value of brevity, condenses his work with difficulty; that precedented cases may be de- cided in a sentence, but that most of his important de- cisions were reasoned out from basic principles, and it was proper and necessary that his opinions should be so thorough and complete that later travelers could not mis- take the road.

Rufus Choate, with the wand of genius. has described the perfect judge: "He shall know nothing about the parties, everything about the case. He shall do every- thing for justice, nothing for himself; nothing for his patrons ; nothing for his sovereign. If on one side is the executive power and the legislature and the people, the source of his honors, the givers of his daily bread, and on the other side an individual nameless and odious, his

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HISTORY OF MONTANA.

"Among the newcomers was a small crowd that had made well out of Rhodes creek and now, finding nothing near us, they thought to go on across the Rocky mountains by way of the new Mullen road through Montana and descend the Missouri to their homes. I went with them. From childhood my heart had yearned to look upon the awful glories of the

eye is to see neither great nor small, attending only to the trepidations of the balance."

If Judge Wade has not attained this high ideal, it is only because it is not for mortals to be perfect.

LEROY BEVRIDGE, one of Helena's early settlers, and one of her respected and enterprising citizens, dates his birth in Ohio, April 21, 1835. His ancestors were Eng. lish. His father, Knobb Bevridge, a native of Virginia, removed to Ohio at an early day, and in that State spent the rest of his life. His wife, whose maiden name was Ann Lamb, still survives him, being now in her seventy- eighth year. She is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, as also was her worthy husband. They had two children.

Leroy Bevridge spent the first seventeen years of his life on his father's farm, where he had the benefit of a public-school education. In 1852, his adventurous spirit led him to seek his fortune in the far West. He made the journey by way of the isthmus of Panama, and upon his arrival in the Golden State engaged in mining in El Dorado county. For five years he was in the mines near Coloma, where gold was discovered by Marshall. He afterward mined on Granite creek, where he made fair wages and saved some money. In 1862, he went to San Francisco, from there by water to Portland, Oregon, and thence up the Columbia to The Dalles, where he and two others purchased three horses, packed them with provis- ions, and from there made the journey to Lewiston, Idaho, and from there to the Oro Phino mines. In the fall he returned to Uniontown, California, where he spent the winter. During the year 1863. he was at Placerville, spent the following year at Carson City and Virginia City, returned to California and spent another winter there, and in 1865, again went to Portland, and thence to Idaho City. After this he mined for some time on Mor- ris creek, where he received $6 per day for his work. In the spring of 1866, he returned to Coloma, California where he purchased 6,000 pounds of honey and from whence he shipped the same by way of San Francisco and Portland to The Dalles. He also had eleven cases of gum boots. These with the honey he packed to the gulches of Montana, and sold them to the miners. Re- turning to Walla Walla by way of the Mullen route, he wintered there, and in the spring of 1867, engaged in the same business, adding to his stock meerschaum pipes and overalls. Upon his return to Helena that year, he pur- chased an interest in a stage line, and for seven years

Yellowstone and I eould now no longer resist. 1 could return with incoming immigrants, or, if I must, could come back alone. I had been in mountains before, and so I went and I saw what Bonneville calls the Fire Hole. But of the Yellowstone later. But even at that early date (1861) I did not find Montana entirely empty of people. Stevens and Mullen had been at work

was engaged in staging, carrying the mails from Helena to Confederate Gulch, now Diamond City.

After disposing of his mail route, Mr. Bevridge invested in Helena real estate, on which he has from time to time erected buildings. His lot on Main street, on which he has built a double brick block, then cost him $480. This is one of the best locations in the city, be having declined $1,200 per foot front for it. His other property has also greatly advanced in value, and he is now ranked with the wealthy men of the city.

October 1, 1868, Mr. Bevridge married Miss Anna Sid- dle, a native of Wisconsin, who came to Helena in 1864. They have had seven children, all born in Helena, four having died in early childhood. Of the others we record that Charles L., the oldest, has recently returned from college and now has charge of his father's cattle ranch; Jennie, a graduate of Mill's College, Oakland, California, is at home with her parents; and the youngest, Edwin Chester, a bright little fellow, is also at home.

Mr. Bevridge has never joined any society and is inde- pendent in his political views.

STEELE, HINDSON & COMPANY, Helena, Montana .- This firm was organized and incorporated in its present form in 1892, William Steele being president, and Joseph J. Hindson, secretary and treasurer. They are jobbers of hay, grain, flour and feed, and storage commission mer- chants, located at No. 1332 Bozeman street, near the Northern Pacific depot.

William Steele, president of the above named company, is a native of New York city, born in 1849. Grandfather Steele, a Scotchman by birth, emigrated to America and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1800; later he resided in Brooklyn, New York, where he was an importer of Irish linen. His wife, nee Ann Vaughn, was a daughter of Lieutenant Vaughn of the Revolution. Their son, William Steele, was born in New York, in 1812; married Miss Anna Ostrom, a native of Brooklyn, and a descend- ant of an old Colonial family, her maternal grandfather, John Faulkner, also having been a patriot soldier in the Revolution. William Steele was a wholesale dry goods merchant in New York. He died in Philadelphia in 1887, in the seventy-filth year of his age, and his wife died in 1870. They had six children, the subject of our sketch being the third son and fourth child.

Mr. Steele received his education in New York city, and was employed as a bookkeeper there until 1880. That year he came to Helena, and accepted a position as

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on the military road, which was to tie the head- waters of the Missouri and Columbia together, for years; and all along the road till we left it and descended to the Yellowstone, where we found a party of French Canadians cutting hay, we saw ranches on either hand, partially on the streams. We never had to camp quite alone all the distance of the Mullen road. No, Montana

bookkeeper for Gaus & Klein, with whom he remained ten years. In 1890, he severed his connection with that firm in order to engage in his present business, in which he has met with signal success.

He was married in 1882, to Miss Adelaide Bailey, a native of Allegan, Michigan, and daughter of Jacob Bailey of that State. They have one child, Anna.

Mr. Steele is one of the Wardens of St. Peter's Episco- pal Church

Joseph J. Ilindson, secretary and treasurer of the firm of Steele, Hindson & Company, was born in Liverpool, England, in 1850, son of one of Liverpool's wholesale grain merchants. Joseph J. assisted his father, and early in life became thoroughly informed iu regard to every detail of the grain business. In 1874, he emigrated to America, and in Canada accepted a position as book keeper for the well known firm of Sanford & Evans, with whom he remained as bookkeeper and also as con. fideutial clerk for a period of twelve years. He left them in 1891, to engage with the firm out of which grew the firm of Steele, Hindson & Company.

Mr. lindson was married in 1875, to Miss Amelia Bamford, a native of England, and a descendant of the distinguished English family of Bamfords. They have three children, Isabelle, Mary H. and Joseph.

Mr. Hindson is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has taken a deep interest, holding nearly all the offices in all its branches, now being Captain General of the Commandry. He is a Past Master and a member of the Grand Lodge. Politically, he is a Republican; religiously, a member of the Episcopal Church; and he is also a Trustee of St. Peter's Episcopal Hospital.

JOHN M. STEWARD, a Montana pioneer of 1863, and now a prominent music dealer of the city of Butte, is a native of the State of Missouri, born Jannary 3, 1844, of Scotch and English ancestry. His father, George W. Steward, was born in Ohio, and married Sybil Lindley, and soon afterward moved to Missouri, where he engaged in larming, and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred in the thirty fifth year of his age. His wife survived him but a few years, dying in 1859, and was then just the age of her husband at his death. They left five children, of whom only two are now living.

The gentleman whose name introduces this brief sketch, the second-born in the above family, was only eleven years of age when it was his misfortune to lose his father, and ever since that time he has had to care for

was not entirely a wilderness, even before gold was found; though it is to be admitted that we saw no white woman, except among the immi- grants whom we met on their way further west. Strangely enough we saw not one Indian either going to or returning from the Yellow- stone, save some tame ones loafing about the ranches and trading posts by the way. The

himself, finding employment at whatever he could ob- tain. In 1859, when only fifteen years of age, and the same year he lost his mother, he crossed the plains, driv- ing team for an Indian trader. In 1860, he returned to Kansas City, but in 1862 he came westward again, this time to the South Platte, where he was employed as a clerk in a store. In 1863, he went to Denver and back again to Omaha, and thence to Montana, making the journey with a mule team, and arriving at Bainnack July 9, 1863, he proceeded to Alder Gulch, where he located a mine, but did not work it; he went on to Brown's Gulch and mined there till 1865, making but a little money. Next he went to Ophir Gulch and remained there till the fall of 1866, still meeting with moderate pay. He re- turned to Bannack and proceeded to Leesburg, in the Sa mon river country, and after prospecting there all summer returned to Deer Lodge, and engaged in the restaurant and saloon business until 1874. Selling out, he made a trip to Cedar creek, in the Coeur d'Alene country, and returned to Missoula to winter. In the spring he came to Deer Lodge and on to Butte, arriving in 1875. Here he located the Little Mina quartz mine, which he worked for a number of years, taking out a con- siderable quantity of silver and gold. Since his first dis- covery in Butte he has made various other locations, which he has from time to time sold at good prices, and he has invested in Butte City property, has built several resi- dences and has speculated in property to a considerable extent

In 1893, with W. A. Smith, he organized the Smith Piano Company, and they have engaged in the sale of organs, pianos and all other kinds of musical merchan- dise. They have traveling salesmen in this State and in Idaho, who sell large numbers of instruments. Their pianos are of the George Steck and other manufactures, and their organs are the Mason & Hamlin and the Whitney.

In his political predilections, Mr. Steward has always been a Democrat, and has served two years as a member of the City Council. He is a man of intelligence and ability, is self-taught, having picked up his knowledge in the dear school of experience, in the early history of Montana, and has made his own way in the world un- aided. By his own pluck and courage he has attained success.

He was married in 1878, to Miss Emma Bogk, a native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and of German ancestry. They

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country for which they afterward professed to hold so sacred and dear they did not then think worth taking possession of, it would seem. We saw plenty of country, but so unlike California was the whole region that we did not care to prospect.

"On returning I found that my brothers had not realized greatly; besides, the famous Salmon

have had nine children, all born in Montana, but four are deceased. The surviving children are: Walter F., Arthur W., Araminta, Della and Ethel.

R. P. R. GORDON, M. D., of Great Falls, is one of Mon_ tana's most skilled physicians and surgeons.

He is a native of the Highlands of Scotland, and was born in the town of Tain, Ross-shire, November 18, 1861. The Gordons were one of Scotland's most powerful clans at one time, but as years passed by they became divided against each other, and in this way their numbers were reduced and their power lost. The doctor's branch of the family, has for several generations, been composed principally of professional men-lawyers, doctors and ministers. His father, the Rev. John Gordon, was a graduate of Aberdeen University, and was a clergyman of the Free Church, of Scotland. He married Miss Flora Ross Smith, a native of his own country, and they became the parents of seven children. When the doctor was four years old, bis mother died, and two years later, his father passed away, the latter being in the forty-eighth year of bis age at the time of his death His grand aunt Ross took him to raise, and five years afterward, she too died. He then entered the Royal Academy, of Tain, and remained there until his sixteenth year, when he became a student in the Glasgow University. He graduated as Master of Arts, in the latter institution, in 1882. From there he went to Edinburgh University, where be gradu- ated in 1886, with the degree of M. B. C. M.

He spent a year and eight months in practice with Dr. William Bruce, who was elected as representative for Scotland, to the General Medical Council, of Great Britian and Ireland. About this time, the doctor's brother, Charles Gordon, an attorney-at-law in Minneapolis, was taken sick, and the doctor came to America to treat him. Upon his recovery, they came together to Montana, and were inlending to go to Australia. They arrived at Great Falls, March 30, 1888, and, seeing the great falls of the Missouri river at this point, the splendid town site, and the won- derful prospects in store for the place, the doctor decided to remain and open an office, which he did, and here be has met with eminent success, not only in a professional way, but also financially, as he has made some valuable investments. His fame as a physician and surgeon has extended beyond the bounds of Great Falls and vicinity and he is frequently called as far as two hundred miles to perform difficult surgical operations. He is surgeon for the Great Falls & Canada Railroad Company, and un.il

river mines had been found and the wildest "stampede" ever seen had swept one of my brothers with it, and the creek was now partially abandoned."

Į clip the following, by a schoolmate and my elder brother's old partner, from a San Francis- co newspaper, to give some idea of a miner's 'stampede' in those days;

be resigned, in 1893, was surgeon of the Sisters' Hospital at Great Falls. He is a member of the Northern Mon- tana Medical Society, the Montana State Medical Society, the National Association of Railroad Surgeons, and the Royal Medical Society, of Edinburgh, Scotland. He is also a Knight of Pythias and an Elk.

Dr. Gordon was married November 7, 1892, to Miss Isabelle Maupin, a native of Alabama, and a daughter of Judge Robert Maupin, of that State. Her father was a Colonel in the Confederate service during the late war.

Ever since he located at Great Falls, Dr. Gordon has been thoroughly identified with its interests, and is regarded as one of its most enterprising and progressive citizens.

EUGENE BURFORD BRADEN, manager of the United States Publie Sampling Works, at Helena, Montana, dlates his birth at Indianapolis, Indiana, May 12, 1864.

Mr. Braden is of Irish descent. His great-grandfather Braden was born in Ireland and emigrated from that country to this, settling in Pensylvania. On one side of his ancestry belonged the noted Robb family. William Braden, the father of Eugene B., was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1820. He married Miss Martha B. Burford, a na- tive of Kentucky, and on her mother's side a descendant of the Old Virginia family of Ruckers. After their mar- riage he removed to Indiana, and at Indianapolis in 1844 founded a blank book and publishing business, in which he continued until 1880, when his death occurred. His widow is still living. They had a family of four children, all of whom survive with the exception of the eldest.

Eugene Braden, the second son in the family was edu- cated in Indianapolis and Kentucky, and began life for himself as a railroader, first as ticket agent at Indianapo- lis. Next be was at San Francisco, general agent for the Manitoba road, and afterward at Los Angeles as general agent for the Chicago & Northwestern. To him belongs the distinction of having sold at Ilelena the first ticket and made the first way bill for the Great Northern Rail- road. In 1887 he was cashier of the Montana Central Railroad. After this he went back to California, but a year and a half later returned to Helena, and since Octo- ber, 1890, has been with his brother in the United States Publie Sampling Works, occupying his present position.

The business of the above named company consists in sampling ores and selling to the various smelters. They have business relations with the following firms: United Smelting & Refining Company, owning the Great Falls &

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 20

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