An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 80

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 80

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New York they went to St. Louis, expecting to come on up the Missouri river by steamboat to Montana, but they missed the boat and were obliged to spend the winter in St. Louis. During their sojourn in that city their oldest child, David, was born. In the spring they came up to Fort Benton and thence by wagon to IIelena, being eiglit days in making the trip from the fort, camping out every night.

At the time of his arrival here Mr. Pizer's capital con- sisted of $150. With this he purchased dry goods and started out as a peddler in IIelena. Dry goods here in those days were high, and his first bundle did not exceed fifty pounds in weight. It was large enough, however, to give him a start. For seven years he continued ped- dling in this way, and by perseverance and economy accumulated a little money. He then bonght a wagon and for two years longer continued peddling, traveling over nearly the whole of Montana, and during that time making a wide acquaintance among the early settlers. March 28, 1878, he opened up in business in Phillipsburg, having bought out Harry Sims, who was a dealer in fruit, tobacco and cigars. Mr. Pizer continued in that business for several years. In 1889 he built his brick store-room, 19 x 60 feet, where he has since done a gents' furnishing goods business, keeping a nice stock, selling at reason- able prices and meeting with success.

Mr. and Mrs. Pizer have had three more children added to their family since they came to Montana, all born in Helena. Two, Mary and Lottie, are living. Abraham died in his eighth year.

Mr. Pizer has been a life-long Republican, and at this writing is County Commissioner of Granite county. He does not, however, claim to be a politician. Ilis religion is that of the Hebrew. Fraternally, he is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P. and A. O. U. W., and he has the honor of being the Grand Patriarch of the I. O. O. F. in Montana.

writ; that no demand was necessary prior to the application; that the court had authority to compel the executive to perform a ministerial act, and that the Legislative Assembly had au- thority to require the secretary and marshal in the presence of the Governor to canvass the re- turns of a general election; and that the im posi- tion of these duties was not the creation of an office.

The respondents then filed their answers and demanded a jury trial. This demand was re- fused, and subsequently Knowles, J., rendered an elaborate and able opinion upon the subject. (2 Montana, 258; Wade, C. J., concurring; Servis, J., dissenting.)

ANTON HASHER, the enterprising boot and shoe mer- chant of Marysville, was born in Bohemia, where he was raised and educated, and also learned the shoemaker's trade. He came to the United States in 1887, and for the first six months followed his trade at Billings, Montana. He then came to Marysville, worked as a joiner three and a half years, and May 25, 1892, opened his present shoe store. Mr. Hasher keeps a complete line of stylish and reliable goods, also makes shoes to order aud does general repairing. Ile is a young man of intelligence and integrity, an excellent mechanic and a good judge in his line of work. He is richly deserving of the patrou- age which the people of Marysville bestow upon him.

EDWARD W. DUNNE, Postmaster of Billings, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1855, a son of Michael and Mary (Farrell) Dunne. The father was engaged in business in that city, and during the late war served in the Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which a number of his rela- tives were also members. Edward received his educa- tion in the city schools. At the age of eighteen years he went to Texas, where he was engaged in business nutil coming to Montana, in 1876. In 1878 he embarked in mercantile pursuits at IIuntley, where he was also ap- pointed Postmaster, was at the organization of the town of Fort Custer, then known as Fort No. 2, and at times was in the Government employ. In 1887 Mr. Dunne en- gaged as Postal Clerk on the Northern Pacific Railroad, after which he located in Billings, and continued in that capacity until 1889. In that year he was appointed As- sistant Postmaster of Billings, under C. A. Wustum, and June 28, 1893, by President Cleveland, received the ap - pointment of Postmaster of Billings.

Mr. Dunne was married in 1883, to Miss Anna Kier- man, a daughter of Thomas Kierman, a prominent farmer of Centralia, Iowa. They have three children,-Anna K., Esther M. and Edua W. Mr. Dunne is Past Chancellor Commander of Rathbone Lodge, K. of P., of Billings, and is identified with the Democratic party.

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Thereupon the causes eame on for trial before the court, upon the evidence, and having ascer- tained therefrom the true and correct vote of the people upon the question of the removal of the seat of government, rendering a decree ac- cordingly, and required the Governor to issue a proclamation removing the capital of the Ter- ritory from Virginia City to the the town of Helena, which was done; and thus ended one of the most important and ably-conducted legal contests of the Territory or State.

Another case of historic importance is the trial and conviction and execution of William H. Stears, in August, 1875, for the murder of Franz Warl, a charcoal burner in the Ten-Mile coun-

IION. ALEXANDER BURRELL, who has been promi- nently connected with the Great Drum Lummon mine during the greater part of its history, was born near Edinburg, Scotland, January 14, 1851, a son of Archie and Eliza (Telfer) Burrell, natives also of that country. In 1856 the family came to America, locating in Chicago, where the father followed the coppersmith's trade. Soon after his arrival in this country he became a victim of the cholera and died, leaving the family without husband or father, in a strange land. The mother now resides at Great Falls, Montana, having reached a good old age.

Alexander Burrell, the second son in order of birth, re- ceived his education in the Morris, Illinois, public schools, and at an early age began his career as a miner in the coal mines of Illinois. He was thus occupied for nearly twenty years, and for a time was also engaged in the manufacture of building material and mining with his brother near Chicago. In 1888 Mr. Burrell came to Marysville, Montana, for the first two years had charge of the supplies for the Montana Mining Company, for the following two years held the position of superintendent of works for the same company, and in 1893 was pro- moted to superintendent of mining, his present position. He has had long and thorough experience in under- ground works, and is proving himself to be the right man in the right place. Since coming to Montana Mr. Burrell has identified himself with many of the offices of the county, is a Republican in political matters, and has the honor of having been selected by the people of his dis- trict as Representative in the Legislative Assembly of Montana, in which he served with honor to himself and his constituents. He was a member of the Committee on Mines and Mining.

Mr. Burrell was married April 8, 1879, to Miss Abby Kiersted, a native of Morris, Illinois, and a daughter of George K. Kiersted. They have had six children,- George L., Alexander A., Grace, Sidney, John and Will-

try, Lewis and Clarke county; for that this was the first execution for murder in the Territory upon the verdict of a lawful jury and sentence of a lawful court. Joseph K. Toole was the prosecuting attorney, and Joseph J. Williams, formerly prosecuting attorney for the county, and before that a prosecuting attorney in the State of California, defended Stears. The case had been tried at the preceding May term, which trial resulted in a verdiet of guilty and a sentence to death; but on appeal the verdict had been set aside, for the reason that though the indictment charged Stears with murder in the first degree, the verdict, which was: " We, the jury, find the defendant guilty in manner

iam D. Mrs. Burrell is a member of the Episcopal Church. In his social relations, our subject is a member of Helena Lodge, No. 3, A. F. & A. M., and of the A. O. U. W. of Marysville. The Burrell home is one of refinement, and Mr. Burrell is a man of the highest integrity of character.

WILLIAM H. H. DICKINSON came to Montana in 1865, and is now a well-known and prominent business man of Missoula.

The Dickinsons came from England to this country and settled in New Jersey at an early day. Mr. Dickinson's father, Jeremiah F. Dickinson, was born in Salem, New Jersey, May 15, 1795. He married Miss Harriet Sapp, a native of his own town, born June 26, 1801, their marriage occurring July 5, 1819. In 1823 they left New Jersey to seek a home in Ohio, which was then on the frontier, went first to Marietta and thence to Salem. He had pre- vious to this time been employed as a bricklayer, but after settling in Salem turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. His wife died in 1854, in the fifty-third year of her age, and he lived to be eighty-three. They had a family of seven children, four daughters and three sons, and all but one are living.

The subject of our sketeli is the youngest in the family. He was born in Salem, Ohio, October 23, 1840. That was during the Harrison campaign, and, as Mr. Dickinson's father was an ardent admirer of General Harrison, he gave his son the name of William Henry Harrison. Reared in Ohio at the time when the slavery question so greatly excited the country, he grew up to be a hater of slavery and oppression, and held himself ready to aid in ridding the Union of this great curse. When the Rebellion was inaugurated he was among the first to enlist for the war. Indeed, so enthusiastic was he about entering the ranks that he paid his own way to Kansas to enlist under Colonel Montgomery and Lieu- tenant Coppie, one of John Brown's men. The date of his enlistment was July 30, 1861, his company being

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and form as he stands charged in the indict- ment," did not specify the degree of the crime, and was therefore uncertain, for the reason that under such an indictment murder in the first or second degree, or manslaughter, is included. (Territory vs. Stears, 2 Montana, 325; opinion by Wade, C. J.)

In the spring of 1875, Hon. Francis G. Ser- vis resigned as associate Justice, and returned to Ohio, and subsequently was elected Judge of the common pleas court in the Mahoning dis- trict. He died at Canfield in the same county, in March, 1877, leaving behind an unblemished record as jurist, lawyer and citizen.

Hon. Henry N. Blake, of Virginia City, Montana, formerly of Boston, Massachusetts, succeeded Servis, on August 10, 1875, as Asso-

Company C, Third Kansas Volunteer Infantry. He was with the forces that operated on the frontier in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and among the Indian nations. Dur- ing his service, which covered a period of three years and one month, he participated in nineteen engagements, and in all that time was only hit once, and then with a spent hall. He was mustered out August 21, 1864.

After the war Mr. Dickinson returned to his home in Ohio, and in 1865 he went to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was in the employ of the Government. While thus employed he made three trips to Montana, the first one being in the spring of 1865. May 31, 1869, he started up the Missouri on the steamer Sully, to settle in Mon- tana. When they arrived at Fort Peck they ran into low water and the boat could go no further. Some of the passengers proceeded on foot, while some remained at the Fort until teams could be procured from Fort Ben- ton, 500 miles above,-Mr. Dickinson being with the latter. At this time the Indians were hostile and kept in the vicinity of the fort, so that when the men left the fort they did it at the risk of their lives. September 13, Mr. Dickinson decided to start before daylight, go some distance from the fort and kill some game. Accordingly, with his rifle, he started out at three o'clock in the morn- ing. After spending the early part of the day in pursuit of game, he started back to the fort, but before he reached it he was attacked by four Indians on horseback, the result being that he killed one of the red men, drove the others away, and reached the fort with his face besmeared with blood, he having been shot in the cheek. Upon his arrival there he found the men and teams had come for the other passengers and freight. He told his story and a party at once started in pursuit of the In- dians. They found the Indian he had killed and Mr.

ciate Justice of the Supreme Court. At the time of his appointment he had been in the active practice of his profession in Montana, for the period of ten years, and was perfectly familiar with the statutes and the decisions of the courts of the Territory. Always an accurate and careful student, he brought to the bench a thorough knowledge of the law, enriched by a long and varied experience in the courts. At the first term of the Supreme Court following his appointment he rendered several important decisions which have been often referred to as precedents, and among them : Haase vs. Corbin, 2 Montana, 409; Moxon vs. Wilkinson, id. 421; Territory vs. Perkins, id., 467; also Black vs. Clendennin, 3 Montana, 44.

At the same term, the court, by Wade, C. J.,

Dickinson took his scalp and gun, both of which he has to this day. Mr. Dickinson also kept the Indian pony and brought him along to Missoula. He arrived in the Bitter Root valley October 23, 1869.

In 1870 our subject opened the first photograph busi- ness in Missoula, and to him also belongs the distinction of having established the first photograph business in western Montana. In 1872 he was commissioned Post - master of Missoula, his salary being $240 per year. IIe held this office through all the Republican administra- tions up to April, 1886, the business having grown until his salary was increased to $2,400 per year. Since then he has been engaged in the real estate and mining busi- ness. He has recently subdivided 160 acres of land near the city, and is selling the same for residence prop- erty.

Mr. Dickinson was married at Corvallis, November 5, 1871, to Miss Emma C. Slack, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 4, 1838, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Ruff) Slack, of Scotch and German ancestry. They have had five children, one of whom died in infancy, and one, Lamar Fithian, in his fifth year. Those living are IJarriet E., Laura E. and William O. Miss Harriet and Laura are students in the Montana University in Helena.

Politically Mr. Dickinson has been identified with the Republican party ever since it was organized. Ile is a worthy member of the G. A. R., T. G. M. of Montana of the I. O. O. F., and also of the A. F. & A. M., and of the A. O. U. W. The subject of this sketch taught the first school near where Hamilton, Montana, now stands (1869), and his wife, then Miss Slack, taught the first school in what is now the city of Missonla, Montana (1869), the same comprising ten students.

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rendered an important decision, overruling prior decisions of the court on the same sub- ject, and holding that appeals from the district court to the Supreme Court in cases arising under the laws of the United States must be taken and perfected according to the require- ments of the civil practice act. (United States vs. MeElroy. 2 Montana, 494.)

In the case of the Territory vs. Hildebrand, at the same term (2 Montana, 426), Knowles, J., rendered an important and controlling decis- ion defining the practice in suits upon recog- nizances. (See also an instructive opinion by Knowles, J., in Territory vs. Corbett, 3 Montana, 50.)

On the 26th day of July, 1866, a little more than two years after the organization of Mon-

FRANK E. CURTIS, of Butte City, Montana, was born at De Ruyter, New York, January 26, 1833. His parents moved to Fayetteville when he was yet a babe, where he lived until manhood, receiving his education at the pub- lic schools and academy. Ile then served an apprentice- ship with David Graham, and learned the trade of car- riage making. In 1855 he started for the West, stopping first at Kalamazoo, Michigan, from there went to Chicago, where he worked at his trade for one dollar a day, thence to St. Paul, Minnesota, and worked on a contract at making cutters and light sleighs until he had saved $200 (as he had not drawn his wages). When the firm failed and he lost all his wages, he started with a party for Pembina, on the Red river of the North, where he remained for two years, and then returned to St. Paul. In the spring of 1862 Mr. Curtis started with a party overland from St. Paul to Salmon river, Idaho, their train consisting of ox teams, with seventy-two men and a boy. They hired half breed Indians to guide them across the country by Devil's lake and through what is now north- ern Montana to Warm Springs in Deer Lodge valley, where their party disbanded, some going one way and some another. This was the train that preceded the Fisk train about one month, the latter following their trail most of the way, accompanied by United States soldiers, and they then claimed to be the first to cross by the northern route.

Mr. Curtis and a small party went to Grasshopper creek (then eastern Idaho), now Bannack City, the first gold camp in Montana, where they arrived in October. He has resided continuously in Montana since 1862. In 1866 he engaged in the stock business on Beaverhead, in which he is still engaged on the Bear Paw range in northern Montana. In the fall of 1870 he removed to

tana as a Territory, Congress passed an act de- claring the mineral lands of the public domain free and open to exploration and occupation, subject to such regulations as might be pre- scribed by law, and subject also to the local rules and customs of miners in the several mining districts, so far as not in conflict with the laws of the United States.

Before the passage of this act of Congress, and before the public mineral lands had been opened to exploration and purchase, the first Legislative Assembly of Montana, on the 26th day of December, 1864, passed " an act relating to the discovery of gold and silver quartz leads, lodes or ledges, and of the manner of their loca- tion." This act was an outgrowth of the rules and regulations of the miners in the mining

Jefferson valley, in Madison county, where he still has a hay ranch. In 1883 Mr. Curtis removed to Butte, and has since resided there, engaged in the grocery business, under the firm name of Tebo & Curtis, at 356 East Park street.

Frank E. Curtis was married to Emma Whitcomb (better known as Emma Zoller, that being the name of her adopted parents), at Bannack City, Montana, October 8, 1864, by Rev. George G. Smith, the first ordained Presby- terian minister in Montana. Nine children were the issue of this marriage, four of whom are still living, -- Leonard W., aged twenty-five years; Orlena N., twenty- one years; Fay H., nineteen years; and Bertie May, fif- teen years.

HON. ROBERT G. HUMBER, of Deer Lodge, Montana, came to the Territory in 1865, and since that time has in various ways been identified with its interests. Of his life we make record as follows:

Robert G. Humber was born in Stanford, Lincoln county, Kentucky, March 25, 1841, and is of English de- scent. His ancestors emigrated to this country and set- tled in Virginia previous to the Revolution, and were participants in the great struggle for independence. His grandfather, Charles Humber, was born near Richmond, Virginia, and his wife, nee Martha Coles, was also a Vir- ginian. Her brother was at one time Mayor of Rich- mond. Charles Humber and his wife had a large family, their son Newmeris, born at Crab Orchard, Kentucky, in 1812, being the father of our subject. The latter's mother, whose maiden name was Martha Forbes, was a native of Winchester, Kentucky. When Robert G. was small the family removed to Missouri. In 1856 they went from there to Leavenworth county, Kansas, where the father owned 1,600 acres of land, a most beautiful place, and where he and his family resided for a period of thirteen

Gratis

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districts and was really the basis and foundation of the act of Congress aforesaid, and provided that the discoverer of a lead, lode or ledge, should be entitled to one claim thereon,-200 feet in length along the vein, by right of discovery, and one claim by pre-emption, together with all its dips, spurs and angles, and fifty feet on either side of the same, for working purposes, Under this act of the Territorial Legislature. and before its enactment, under the rules and regulations of the miners, many discoveries had been made and claims located which were being worked and mined. These claims were recog- nized as property, some of them of great valne, and they were bought, sold and transferred as other real estate.

years. He came to Montana in 1874 and settled in Deer Lodge, and here he resided up to the time of his death, which occurred February 13, 1888. Nearly the whole of his life he was an active member of the Christian Church, being a pillar in the church at the various places where he lived. He was in politics a Democrat, and during the war he served as a member of the Kansas Legislature, he and six other Democrats of that State being called the "Apostles of Democracy;" but, while he was a stanch Democrat and a Southern man, he was in favor of the Union and strongly opposed to the Civil war. Ilis whole life was one of purity and integrity, and his many ster- ling qualities won for him hosts of friends. Ilis wife died in 1877. She was the personification of all that is lovely in woman.

Robert G. is the only child of this worthy couple. He was educated at Columbia, Missouri, and was in his last year at college when the great Civil war broke out. He entered the Confederate army, and for three years served in Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. In Missouri he was captured by the Union forces and was paroled on his word of honor that he would not again take up arms against the Government. After this he turned his atten- tion to freighting, his father furnishing him an outfit, and he freighted to Denver, Colorado, until the spring of 1865. At that time he was married. Soon after his mar- riage he started with his bride for Montana, making the long journey across the plains with an ox team, and traveling with a train composed of about sixty wagons, a number of the emigrant party being relatives of theirs. They started on the 28th of May and reached their desti- nation on the 20th of September. Mr. Humber brought with him a drove of cattle, and upon his arrival here he located at Race Track creek, in Deer Lodge valley, on a farm of 160 acres; and at first, in addition to his farming

Prior to the year 1866, the policy of the government had been not to part with its title or to open the mineral lands to exploration or purchase; but the extensive and rich discoveries of the precious metals in the Rocky mountain region had caused that country to be oceupied, and men were exploring, making discoveries, locating claims, erecting mills and mining, buy- ing and selling, in the same manner as if they had been the absolute owners of the soil. The people had taken possession of the country, and though in fact trespassers npon these public mineral lands, the Government did not object, but rather enconraged their ocenpation.

This condition of things cansed the Govern- ment to change its policy and to open its min-

and stock-raising, he engaged in freighting to Helena and other points in Montana. In 1867 he returned to the States, and in 1874 brought his father and all the family out with him. From that time until 1880 he carried on a prosperous freighting business.

In 1880 Mr. Humber was elected a member of the Twelfth Montana Legislative Assembly. The following year Silver Bow county was formed and he was elected Treasurer of Deer Lodge county, in which capacity he served two terms. In 1889 he was again nominated and elected to the Montana Legislature. This time he was the acting Speaker of the House, and while filling that important position the fairness of his rulings and the competency he displayed won for him not only the ap- probation of his friends but also that of his political opponents, the latter tendering him a vote of thanks.

Mr. Humber is still engaged in farming, but now has a delightful home in Deer Lodge, where he and his family reside.

He married, in Atchison, Kansas, Miss Mary E. Will iams, a native of Madison county, Kentucky. Mrs. Hnm- ber is a relative of Henry Clay, Thomas Benton and General Shelby, and her family on both sides were prominent Southerners. IIer maternal grandfather was killed at the battle of Raisin River, while fighting gal- lantly under General Harrison. He was a Captain, under the immediate command of General Winchester. He was wounded and was obliged to surrender, being promised safety, but being killed by the Indians. Mrs. Humber's paternal grandfather was also an officer in the same army,-a Colonel.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 80

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