An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 82

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 82

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JUDGE DAVID M. DURFEE, senior member of the prom- inent law firm of Durfee & Brown, Phillipsburg, Mon- tana, is well known throughout the State, and it is with pleasure that we present the following sketch of his life in this work;

Judge Durfee was born in Schenectady county, New York, July 22, 1835. He is descended from Scotch-Irish

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by the plaintiff by virtue of discovery or loca- tion by his grantors, and the defendants had re-located, or, in the language of the country, had "jumped" the claim as upon a failure to represent.

The questions presented were new and the arguments of council (E. W. Toole, J. F. For- bis, A. E. Mayhew, and Sharpe & Napton rep- resenting the plaintiffs, and W. W. Dixon and J. C. Robinson the defendants) were able and interesting.

The court, by Wade, C. J., held that the valid location of a mining claim under the act of May, 1872, carried with it a grant of the claim located from the Government to the person making the location, citing the case of Smith vs. Robinson (1 Montana, 414) before

ancestors who were early settlers in Rhode Island, his forefathers being prominent in Colonial times as well as later in the history of this country. His great-grand- father, Isaac Durfee, joined the Continental army and rendered his country valuable service as Captain of one of the volunteer companies during the whole of the Rev- olutionary struggle. His home was in Washington county, New York, and his son, Abram, born there in 1775, was the Judge's grandfather. Abram Durfee mar- ried Mahetable Potter, who was descended from an old Quaker family. One branch of her family, the Gran- villes, took a prominent part in the struggle for indepen- denee. This worthy couple became the parents of ten children, all of whom reached maturity. The father wasa farmer, a prominent Mason, and a Universalist. He reached the advanced age of eighty-six years. His wife passed away in her seventieth year. Their son, David Potter Durfee, was born in Duanesburg, Schenectady county, New York, in 1812, and in his occupation, his fraternal relations and his religious belief, he followed in the footsteps of his father. His wife, Caroline, also a native of Schenectady county, was born in 1818, she being of German origin. IIer great-grandfather was an officer in Queen Anne's army. One of her uncles, because of the prominent part he took against the English Govern- ment, was declared an outlaw and a reward of one hun- dred pounds sterling was offered for his arrest. David P. and Caroline Durfee had nine children, our subject being the eighth-born and one of the six who are still living. The father lived to the age of seventy-six years, and the mother was in her sixty-first year at the time of her death. She held to the faith of the Presbyterian Church.

mentioned, together with the right to the ex- clusive possession and enjoyment of the claim located; that if there is a failure to represent the claim the title is gone and the claim be- comes again subject to location; that a person making a location has one whole year in which to do the representation work and that there can be no forfeiture until the full time has ex- pired; that if a claim is represented on the 30th day of December, 1877, such representation would save a forfeiture for that year and would secure the party in his title until the 30th day of December, 1878; that the Government, hav- ing granted a mining claim to one person by virtue of his making a valid location thereof, cannot, while that grant is kept alive by repre- sentation, grant the same ground or claim to

Judge Durfee was reared on his father's farm. His early education was received in the public schools, and he took a finishing course in the Schoharie Academy. When he was twenty-two he began the study of law in the office of N. P. Hinman, in Albany, where he remained one year. After this he went to Somerset county, Mary- land, and taught two years, in the meantime continuing his law studies in the office of Levin T. Waters, of Prin- cess Anne, Maryland. In the winter of 1882 he was ad- mitted to practice by the Court of Appeals, in Annapolis. He theu came to Montana, where he continued teaching school two years longer, thus paving his way to profes- sional success. In 1884 he was the Democratic caudidate for Judge of Probate, but was defeated by Mr. Oren Emerson. Two years later, in the fall of 1886, he was nominated and elected County Attorney of Deer Lodge county. In the summer of 1889 he was nominated and elected a member of the Territorial Convention, which convention completed the present Constitution of Mon- tana; and in the fall of that same year he was elected Judge of the Third Judicial District, in which capacity he served for three years, his decisions beiug rendered with the utmost fairness and very few of them beiug re- versed by the higher courts. Upon the expiration of his term as Judge he resumed the practice of law at Phillips- burg, and, under the firm name of Durfee & Brown, has conducted a snecessful business.

Since taking up his residence in Phillipsburg, the Judge has become interested in mining operations, being one of the partners in the Sunrise Mining Company. This company has valuable gold-mining property. He has also invested in real estate. 1Ie owns 160 acres of land near the town, which is improved with good residence,

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any other person; and that mere possession, not based upon a valid location, would not prevent a valid location under the law.

This case and the principles of law laid down in its decision were approved and affirmed on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States in an able and instructive opinion by Chief Justice Waite. (104 U. S., 279.)

In the case of Meyendorff et al. vs. Frohner et al. (3 Montana, 282), the court, by Knowles, J., among other important questions, decided that a party in possession of mining ground under a title subsequently determined in court to be invalid, might, without frand, relocate such ground and thereafter perfect such title in accordance with law.

etc., and where he resides with his family.

He was married February 1, 1888, by Cardinal Gibbons, to Miss Emily J. Irving, a native of Baltimore, Mary- land. They have three children, Enlalie, Thomas I. and Adelaide.

The Judge and his family are active members of the Catholic Church in Phillipsburg, and now are among its strongest supporters. Fraternally, he is a K. of P .; politically, a Democrat. During the twelve years of his residence in Montana Judge Durfee has made a wide acquaintance over the State, his public life bringing him into contact with many of her leading citizens; and wherever he is known he commands the highest respect.

N. S. SNYDER, M. D .- Prominent among the members of the medical profession of Montana, is Dr. Nicholas S. Snyder, of Anaconda.

The Doctor is a Kentuckian. He was born in Carroll- ton, Carroll county, July 21, 1847, son of James S. and Annie (Hubbell) Snyder, father a native of Virginia, and mother a native of Kentucky. James S. Snyder was for a number of years a successful business man of Louis- ville. He died in 1889, in his sixty-fifth year. His widow survives him and is now sixty-five years old. Their seven children are all living, our subject being the oldest.

Dr. Snyder was educated in Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee. In 1864 he enlisted in the Confederate army as a cavalryman, under General Forrest, and served in Alabama and Georgia, participating in much hard riding and fighting: escaped wonnds and capture, and was mns- tered out in Alabama, in April, 1865. After the war had ended he attended school two years and then read med- icine in the office of Dr. William F. Miller, of Louisville, Kentucky, after which he attended the Louisville Med- ical College and graduated in 1874. He began his pro- fessional career there, and afterward practiced in Colorado

In the case of Gonu vs. Russell (3 Montana, 538) the court, by Blake, J., held that the ap- pellant could not make a valid location of a quartz-lode mining claim until he had marked the boundaries so that they could be readily traced by means of stakes, natural objects or any other certain means, and that the resumption of labor, in good faith by the respondent, before the appellant perfected his location, rendered null and void the prior acts of the appellant. (See Honaker vs. Martin, 11 Montana, 91; Met- calf vs. Prescott, 10 id., 283; and Dillon vs. Bayliss, 11 id., 171.)

The first three volumes of Montana Supreme Court Reports contain many important decision ; other than those concerning placer and quartz

and Nevada up to 1884, at which time he came to Mon- tana.

It was in 1886 that Dr. Snyder began his practice at Anaconda. Here he soon secured a large and lucrative practice and here he has since resided. Soon after his arrival in Anaconda he built the Anaconda Hospital and ran the same successfully until 1889, at which time the Sisters started St. Ann's Hospital. He then became their physician and converted his own hospital into the Com- mercial Hotel. Besides this property Dr. Snyder has also made investments in other city real estate, all of which are growing in value.

He was married in 1888 to Miss Lizzie Irvine, the first white child born in Butte City, and the daughter of Caleb E. Irvine, a Montana pioneer. Her untimely death oc- curred September 15, 1889, when she gave birth to their child, Eness Ewing; and the loss of his charming young wife was a source of great bereavement to the Doctor.

In politics, Dr. Snyder has been a life-long Democrat. Fraternally, he is a Mason. He takes high rank both as a member of his profession and as one of the leading citizens of Deer Lodge county.

CHRISTIAN YEGEN .- Among the foremost merchants of Billings and Yellowstone county is the firm of P. Yegen & Company. Christian Yegen was born in Switz- erland November, 1857, and came to America in 1879, first commencing business at Bismarck. Dakota. He came to Billings in the spring of 1882 and at once set up a small business in which he has prospered exceedingly. Christian was married last winter and elected a member of the City Council in the spring, so he has more reason to rustle than ever before. The firm have the largest store building in the city, all on the ground floor being occu- pied by their department store. A number of clerks are employed, and Yegen & Company are credited with

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mining claims and water rights, and these volumes are of great interest and importance, because they cover the period of the foundation and the first growth of Montana jurisprudence.

By this time many precedents had been estab- lished in the new field of litigation and the be- wilderment of novel questions in a new country was disappearing.

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE FIRST FEDERAL SURVEYORS-FIRST PUBLIC BUILDINGS-GOVERNOR ASHLEY, OF OHIO- GOVERNOR POTTS, OF OHIO-THE TERRITORIAL CAPITAL-POLITICAL CONTENTIONS-THE CATHOLICS IN MONTANA-THE THREE GOOD FATHERS-CHURCH HISTORY.

T reads oddly that this boundless agricutural empire should have been left without even an attempt at federal surveys till late in 1867. The base line was initiated by the first surveyor- general, Solomon Merideth, on the top of a lime- stone promontory between Willow creek and Jefferson river, and twelve miles from the three forks of the Missouri river, described by Capt. Clarke, in 1804, as being so exactly alike that it was impossible to say which was the real Mis- souri. Oregon had been allowed, under General Lane, to establish her base line of federal sur- veys near the mouth of the Oregon or Columbia

river. This was carried up the river to the fertile valleys of the Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue rivers, which were separated into town . ships and sections and subdivided as the progress of civilization demanded. Later on, when that broad district east of the Oregon Sierras de- manded attention, a meridian line was carried across these mountains. But Montana was given the distinction of a new base line entirely ; although the survey from the outer limit of Washington Territory to the first lines of Mon- tana was far from impossible.

Up to this time no farmer or stock-grower

doing the most extensive general merchandise business in the city. Christian has interested himself thoroughly in all schemes to attract outside trade to Billings and was chief promoter of the Billings Wagon Bridge Company, subscribing liberally to that enterprise. He is among our most thrifty citizens and a merchant who sells goods and keeps his debts paid off.

PETER YEGEN .- The subject of this sketch, who is now the head of the substantial mercantile firm of P. Yegen & Company, was born in Switzerland, in the month of August, 1860. He came to America twenty years later, joining his brother at Bismarck, and with him came to Billings. These two young foreigners have worked together a dozen years and have prospered, the firm being rated as guilt edge throughout the country. Peter Yegen is a quiet, unobtrusive gentleman whose own business and home are all that he cares to interfere with. He is married and has several children, and lives close to his business. During the financial depression of last winter P. Yegan & Company weathered the storm 26

with colors flying, and in the spring commenced work on a large addition to their store building, which will certainly cost $10,000. The brothers are enterprising in many ways and liberal in all public charities.

CHARLES H. WILLIAMS, who is prominently identified with the sheep industry in Deer Lodge valley, Deer Lodge county, Montana, dates his birth in Appanoose county, Iowa, September 28, 1856.

Zadok Williams, his father, was born in Vermont, February 2, 1825, his father being of German and his mother of French descent. Ile married Miss A. E. Jaek- son, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, her father being a cousin of the noted American soldier and patriot, General An- drew Jackson. After their marriage they were for a time residents of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and he eleared up a farm out of the timber there. In 1854 they sold out and removed to Iowa, and from there they subsequently went to Selma, Kansas, where he still resides. They had five children, of whom only two are now living, Charles H. being the second born.

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could guess where would run the lines by which he must bound his possessions. The old Spanish laws of California followed natural lines, as a rule, and the bed of a stream or the crest of a hill marked the confines of a grantee's broad dominion. The law of Congress giving each man and his wife a section of land in Oregon allowed the pioneer to locate without regard to future federal lines or to points of the compass. But the settler of Montana had no such favors shown him. He had to wait for the lines to be run, to see his new home cut to pieces and then adjust himself accordingly.

The surveys, even at this late date, went for- ward but slowly, and discontent and loss in the

Charles H. Williams was educated in the normal school at Kirksville, Missouri, and for a number of years was a popular and successful teacher in Iowa. While engaged in teaching he was also interested in farming operations there.

In 1882, accompanied by his wife and child, he made the overland journey to Montana, traveling with his own carriage and horses. Ilis mother and his wife's people, the whole Davis family, came at the same time. They were seventy-nine days in making the journey, and now look back upon the trip as a prolonged picnic, in which they hunted and fished to their hearts' content, nothing occurring to mar its pleasure.

Upon his arrival in Montana, Mr. Williams came direct to Deer Lodge and purchased his present farm of 160 acres, and at once engaged in the sheep business. In this he has been greatly prospered. His partner, H. B. Davis, his brother-in-law, soon joined him here, and they have since added to his original purchase of land until now they have 2,000 acres. They cut 250 tons of hay and raise 2,500 bushels of grain annually, and they now have about 6,500 sheep. They have imported Shropshire rams direct from England, and they raise some pure-blooded Shropshires for sale. The most of their sheep, however, are Shropshire crossed with grade Merino.

On their land is a valuable stone quarry, from which they are now furnishing stone for the building of the wall around the State Penitentiary at Deer Lodge. This stone is an excellent quality of sandstone, and they have an in- exhanstible quantity.

Since locating here, Mr. Williams has built the nice residence he and his family occupy. ITe was married in Missouri, March 6, 1880, to Miss Allie Davis, a native of Missouri. At the time they came to Montana they had one child, IIenry Lee, and since then three children have been added to their family-Bessie, Earl D. and Ray.

In his political affiliations Mr. Williams is a Democrat.

end resulted to the unhappy home-maker. It seemed impossible to convince Congress that "any good thing could come out of Nazareth."

Petty politicians at the federal capital seemed unwilling to distinguish disloyalty to the dom- inant party from disloyalty to the Union. The small sum of $40,000 had been given by Con- gress in 1866 to build a place for penitents, and in 1870 the penitentiary was begun. It was completed at the end of a year, at a cost of about $50,000. Granville Stuart was one of the commissioners of the prison, and W. F. Wheeler superintendent, both conspienous for good in the history of Montana.

Through all these years partisan papers teem

HON. THOMAS CORBET MARSHALL, a prominent mem- ber of the bar of Montana, residing at Missoula, is a son of Judge Charles S. Marshall, a member of a prominent old Southern family. Further mention of his distinguished father will be found elsewhere in this work.

Thomas C. Marshall was born in Paducah, Kentucky, December 14, 1851, the third in the family. He was reared and educated in his native town, and took a law course in the Kentucky University, at Louisville, where he graduated in March, 1875. Previous to his graduation he had spent two years in the office with his father and brother-in-law, and soon after leaving college he began the practice of his profession in Ballard county, Ken- tucky, and practiced there and in MeCracken county un- til he was elected Judge of the former county in the fall of 1879. At the end of his term he declined to be a candi- date for a second time, and in 1883 came direct to Mis- sonla, Montana, where he formed a law partnership with Judge Woody, under the firm name of Woody & Marshall. They did a successful business until 1887, at which time the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Marshall then be- came the lawyer of the Missoula Mercantile Company, the First National Bank of Missoula, and the Big Black- foot Milling Company, by all of which he is retained as counsel and all of which are doing a very extensive busi- ness. In addition to this he conducts a general law prac- tice. Since June, 1893, he has been a member of the firm of Marshall, Francis & Corbett, which was organized at that time. Mr. Francis is attorney for the Northern Pa- cific Railroad Company for a portion of Montana and Idaho, and Mr. Corbett has recently come to this State from Kentucky. The firm of Marshall, Francis & Cor- bett, although recently organized, has gained the reputa- tion of being one of the strongest law firms in the State.

Mr. Marshall is interested iu various business enter- prises. He is a director of the First National Bank of Missoula and vice-president of the South Missoula Land

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with extravagant accusations against the domin- ant local party, and the words " jobbery" and " bribery" are not infrequent in their columns. There are also grave charges of extravagance, county debts, and so on. But when we take into account the cost of living, the long dis- tances to be traversed in serving legal process, the peril and the precautions all the time neces- sary to be assumed, we can see how some of the new counties came very honestly to have heavy obligations.

A pretty clear idea of the political complex- ion of Montana at this period may be formed by noting that the fifth legislature assumed form and had but one Republican. As if eager

Company. On his farm near Missoula he is giving cou- siderable attention to the raising of Jersey cattle and fine trotting horses, some of the latter having made famous records. From his professional duties Mr. Marshall turns to his ranch for recreation, and in his fine stock takes a pardonable pride.

Politically, he has been a stanch Democrat all his life. In the fall of 1886 he was elected by his party as a mem- ber of the Legislature of Montana, and served during the regular session and also in the extending session of 1887. While a member of that body he had the honor of beiug chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

June 12, 1878, Mr. Marshall married Miss Millie T. Jenkins, a native of Ballard county, Kentucky, and a daughter of Dr. Thomas J. Jenkins, a prominent physi- cian of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall have four children, Anna J., Meriam, Emily and Charles S.

Fraternally, Mr. Marshall is identified with the A. O. U. W., K. of P., K. of H., and F. & A. M.

JAMES DAVIDSON, a rancher on Pumpkin creek, has a half section there of fine land, which is irrigated from the creek. It is sixty five miles south of Miles City, in Custer county. He owns a water right to a never-failing stream. He produces corn to perfection, cuts about three tons of hay to the acre, principally blue-joint, and takes pride in his beautiful meadow and valuable improve- ments, which have cost him $3,000. He has a sheep house 50 x 100 feet, suitable for both sheep and cattle. His rancb, with its improvements, he values at $6,000, but does not wish to sell at that price. He is a well-informed, energetic young man, and has made rapid progress in business since locating in Montana.

He was born in Heber City, Utah, January 3, 1864, a son of William and Grace Davidson, natives of Scotland, who came to America by way of Panama, in 1849, and up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and thence across the plains to Utah in 1850, using oxen as draft animals to

to antagonize this condition of things, Mr. Ashley of Ohio, a pronounced " fire eater," had been sent out as Governor. The results re- quired no prophet. Antagonisms, bitterness, bad blood and bad legislation followed or rather were perpetuated, and the legislature of Mon- tana once more became an illegal body. At least so Congress deelared it to be. But all these legal or illegal questions and the history of them are left to an abler pen than mine, that of Chief Justice Wade, under the head of Bench and Bar, and I pass on to the material progress of the great commonwealth.

At the fifth general election 10,901 votes were east. The next governor sent out from

their wagon. His parents are now engaged in farming and stock-raising in southern Idaho.

James, our subject, was educated at the common school and is still a student, keeping himself well informed on general topics of interest : has even made considerable progress in acquiring a knowledge of the German lan- gnage. He came to Montana in 1881, and for a time en- gaged in hunting buffalo, at that time a profitable occu- pation. Later he employed himself in herding cattle for E. H. Johnson, and has been in the live-stock business ever since. In 1885, in connection with two others, he entered the sheep industry, starting in the early winter of 1886-'87 with 7,900 head of sheep, and coming out in the spring with 3,500. This would have discouraged the av- erage young man, but his confidence in the future caused him to continue in the business. He has now 3,500 sheep of his own, besides a ranch, of which he feels justly proud, as it has a bountiful water supply, a fertile soil and a climate unsurpassed for health.

HON. FRANK SHOWERS, a law practitioner in Boulder, is of German extractiou, his ancestors having emigrated to America early in the history of Pennsylvania. The grandfather, Abraham Showers, was born in that State, but afterward resided in Maryland, Virginia aud Ohio, his death occurring in the latter State. Ile was an honest and industrious farmer. ITis son, Andrew Show- ers, was born in Virginia in 1818, and removed with his father to Champaign county, Ohio, in 1832, where they were among the pioneer settlers. Although ouly four- teen years of age, Andrew assisted his father in clearing and improving their new farm. Ile was there married to Miss Mary Slifer, a uative of Maryland, and they had tive children. The parents still reside on their farm in Ohio, the father aged seventy-five years. He enjoys the respect and esteem of his neighbors, many of whom have known him since he was a boy.

Frank Showers, their second child and eldest sou, was

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Ohio was Gen. B. F. Potts, and the petty war between the executive and his legislature went on somewhat as before. But whatever interest may have centered about these petty struggles at that time have perished, and dismal is the reading of the story of such persistent little brawls in this great and growing land. The universal verdict was, is and will be, that Mon- tana has been cursed by place-hunters and poli- ticians from the date of her name and baptism. Let them pass into obscurity. Where there is so much that is good and great continnally be- fore us, why burthen the page with even a catalogue of their names.

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An illustrated history of the state of Montana, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens, Part 82

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