Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 153

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126

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Mr. Gallwey has been twice married, first in 1895, at San Francisco, California, to Miss Georgia Brophy, born at Virginia City, Nevada, and died in 19II at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. There were no children. On July 12, 1913, Mr. Gallwey was mar- ried to Mrs. Mary (Fagin) Kennedy, born at Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a graduate of St. Mary's College of Salt Lake City. Mr. and Mrs. Gallwey have no children.

Not only is Mr. Gallwey recognized as a business man of more than ordinary capabilities, but is also accredited with being a nower in his narty. In ad- dition to holding the offices already mentioned, he has been a delegate to six state conventions, and two national conventions of the democratic party, and has made his influence felt in the deliberations of these bodies. He is a man who wins the affection, the respect, the understanding and adherence of the men with whom he comes into contact. As a party leader he is sagacious and far-sighted, able to plan and look ahead and so govern his actions as to bring about constructive action, rather than that which is destructive. As an executive he has been able to so regulate the affairs of his division as to eliminate much of the friction and bring about a better un- derstanding with his men. Utterly unafraid, he forges ahead to accomplish what he believes is best and right, and is always ready and anxious to render an accounting of his actions and to back them up with unanswerable arguments.

JAMES SCOFIELD O'ROURKE, It is no doubt true that Ireland, of all countries of the world, has sent more immigrants in proportion to population to the United States than any other country, and the rea- son is well known. For hundreds of years the Emerald Isle has been denied many valuable rights and privileges by Great Britain, and the pride and honor of the people were ground into the dust. They could avoid all this only by leaving the island, much as they loved it, and accordingly thousands of them, as the years rolled round, have crossed the wide Atlantic to find homes of greater freedom in America. In every state they settled and built up comfortable homes. They were among our first teachers and business men, and today they occupy many of the proudest positions within the gift of our people.

Among the sons of Ireland who have "made good" in Montana should be specifically mentioned James Scofield O'Rourke, an extensive rancher and stock raiser, residing near Wilsall. Mr. O'Rourke was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, on January 13, 1849, the son of William and Mary (Scofield) O'Rourke. The father was born in County Tippe- rary in 1815 and was there reared to the life of a farmer. In 1868 he came to the United States and settled first in Chicago, moving shortly afterwards to Pueblo, Colorado, where he died in 1889. He was a democrat in politics and a member of the Catholic Church. His wife was also born in County Tip- perary, in 1821, and she died in Pueblo, Colorado, in 1889. To these parents were born the following children: Cornelius, who died in Pueblo at the age of forty-five years, had been employed by vari- ous mercantile concerns. He served six years in the United States army, beginning at the close of the Civil war, and took part in the campaigns against the Apache Indians. John, who was a member of the fire department. of the City of Chicago, was killed in the line of duty during a big fire, a water tank falling from the top of a building and killing him and four others. Thomas, who was a railroad engineer in Texas, is deceased. William, of Cali- fornia, who also followed railroad engineering, is deceased. James is the immediate subject of this sketch. Mary became the wife of John Donnahue, a merchant in Chicago, and both are deceased. Michael is a merchant in Pueblo, Colorado. Edward is a railroad conductor and resides at Taft, Cali- fornia. Harry is president of the LaSalle Institute, of Kansas City, Missouri. Nellie became the wife of Jack O'Connor, who was engaged in the mer- cantile business at Denver, Colorado, but is now de- ceased, and she is now conducting the business. Four other children died in childhood.

James Scofield O'Rourke received his education in the public schools of County Tipperary, Ireland, where he remained until nineteen years of age. In 1868 he came to the United States, settling at West- chester, New York, where he remained for two years. He then came west and engaged in rail- roading, working in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. In 1883 he came to Livingston, Mon- tana, and was employed as road master by the Northern Pacific Railroad, with which company he remained until 1894, when he bought a ranch lo- cated on Elk Creek, about nine miles northeast of Wilsall, where he now resides. He is now the owner of 1,280 acres of fine irrigated land. In the same year in which he bought the ranch Mr. O'Rourke engaged in railroad construction work for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad and constructed the road through to Cripple Creek. During this period his family were living on and operating the ranch. Then, from 1896 to 1906, Mr. O'Rourke was

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with the Southern Pacific Railway in Texas as road master, but since then he has devoted his entire time and attention to his ranch. He has been very successful as a raiser of blooded Shorthorn cattle and Percheron horses, and also raises immense quantities of hay and grain. His ranch buildings, including residence, barns and outbuildings, are well built and conveniently arranged, and the ranch is considered one of the best in this locality.

In political matters Mr. O'Rourke gives his sup- port to the democratic party and his religious con- nections are with the Roman Catholic Church. Fra- ternally he belongs to the Knights of Columbus at El Paso, Texas.

In 1885, at Helena, Montana, Mr. O'Rourke mar- ried Octavia Murphy, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Murphy, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Murphy was one of the pioneer ranchers of 1880 on Elk Creek, Montana. To Mr. and Mrs. O'Rourke have been born the following children : Mary is the wife of Nels Crane, of Bozeman, an engineer on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad; James is in the automobile business at Livingston; William is employed in the Northern Pacific railroad shops at Livingston; James, who enlisted in the United States army, was sent over- seas in June, 1918, and was in France for eighteen months, being assigned to the Ninety-first Division, Machine Gun Corps. He fought at Chateau Thierry, the Argonne Forest and other hotly contested en- gagements, and returned to the United States in May, 1919, and was mustered out. He is now con- nected with the automobile business in Livingston. Stephen has been overseas with the United States forces for two years, being first with the Eighty- first Division, and now with the Army of Occupa- tion. He too took part in Chateau Thierry, Argonne Forest and other historic drives by the American forces. Octavia died at the age of twenty-one years. John remains at home on the ranch.

Mr. O'Rourke, though not favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, has, by perseverance, industry and wise economy, at- tained a comfortable station in life and is well and favorably known because of his accomplishments. He possesses a social nature and by his genial and kindly attitude to those with whom he comes in contact he has won the confidence and respect of every one.

GEORGE W. STAPLETON possessed abilities and char- acter which elevated him to a rank among Mon- tana's most eminent lawyers and statesmen. He was a man of action as well as a lawyer, law giver and law maker, and in some respects it is doubtful if any of his contemporaries exercised such a pro- found influence over the life and affairs of the state from the earliest territorial period until statehood as did George W. Stapleton.

A pioneer in Montana, he came of pioneer an- cestors. It was the pioneer spirit that had caused his family by successive stages to leave the Atlantic Coast in South Carolina and move across the moun- tains to the Kentucky frontier, where were born Judge Stapleton's parents, Cyrus S. and Margaret (Scott) Stapleton. His father was a skilled physi- cian and lived with his family and practiced his pro- fession in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. G.

W. Stapleton was born in Rush County, Indiana, November 28, 1834, and first attended school in Iowa. He finished his literary training in an Acad- emy at Fort Madison, Iowa, and in 1852 began the study of law at Lancaster, Iowa. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in November, 1855, about the time he reached his majority. After practicing in that state four years he joined the rush of settlers to

Colorado, and for several years practiced among the gold miners of that territory.

Judge Stapleton arrived in what afterward be- came Montana territory. in 1862. As there was no territorial organization and no established courts, there were also no professional engagements for a lawyer. However, he was equally at home among the prospectors and shared in the rough work and adventure of the early miners. He made one of the pioneer gold discoveries at Grasshopper Creek and founded a town there which he named in honor of the Indian tribe of the country, Bannack. About a mile below the camp he purchased a claim and with a crude, hand-made wooden rocker he took out gold at the rate of from $200 to $500 per day. At that he was only moderately successful, since provisions and supplies could then only be purchased in Mon- tana mining camps at figures that would make modern high cost of living seem tame.

In 1863 Judge Stapleton was prominent among the parties that stampeded to the Alder Gulch discovery. While on the way he drew up a code of laws for ' the government of the new camp, and as his party was the first in considerable numbers to reach Alder Gulch his "charter" of laws was immediately enacted, and this was the first community in Montana that might be said to have come under a regular system of law and order. Here again Judge Stapleton ac- quired some profitable claims, but in 1865 moved to Last Chance Gulch at Helena and then resumed his law practice. A few months later he resumed min- ing at Ophir Gulch and later practiced law and did quartz mining at Argenta in Beaverhead County until 1879.

Judge Stapleton was a resident of Butte from 1879 until his death thirty years later. In that city he devoted his time and energies to the law, and earned that eminent reputation which will always be associated with his name in the history of the Montana bar. He also developed some extensive mining interests, and having acquired a comfortable fortune he retired from active business several years before his death, after that appearing only occa- sionally in court either in his own behalf or for some old time friend. After locating at Butte he was as- sociated with Judge Spratt as a partner until the death of the latter in 1881, and then as member of the firm Robinson & Stapleton until the death of Mr. Robinson in 1898. During his last years his partner was his son Guy W., who is one of the prominent lawyers of Butte today.

Judge Stapleton died April 25, 1910. His last words comprise a terse epitaph that many men would delight to deserve: "I have lived long; I have had a good time; I am not scared to die; the game's over." He had in fact lived to see the fruit of liis labors and the prosperity and happiness of the people he so faithfully served, and the established success of public institutions to whose creation and develop- ment he so essentially contributed.

The story of his life is essentially bound up in the history of Montana territory and state. But as some further comment on his career the following well deserved tributes should be quoted: "Judge Stapleton was really one of the first attorneys of the state to devote his attention to mining law, which was destined to become such an important feature of the practice in Montana. The experience he gained in mining and from close touch with all the varied phases of early Montana life proved of very great assistance to him in his professional career, and was also of invaluable assistance to the territory and state through the practical knowl- edge he was able to bring to bear in the framing of mining and other laws of the new country. Few, if any, of Montana's pioneers were any more service-

Roy Emhugh

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able and valuable, and it is doubtful if any man played a more influential part in shaping the laws and early history of the territory. He was elected to the territorial legislature four times-as often as he would serve-and during his tenure was first speaker of the House and then president of the Senate. He was also a member of the judiciary committee of each House. When it was found necessary to codify the laws of the territory, all eyes turned to him as a capable man to head the commission for the purpose, owing to his wide practical knowledge and great ability. As such he was the leading force in giving clearness and consistency to the bodies of the statutes and proper trend to the course of sub- sequent legislation.

"He also served conspicuously in the convention of 1889 that formulated the constitution on which Montana was admitted into the Union as a state. He was always identified with the democratic party, and had practically the refusal of every office within the gift of the people, governor, attorney-general, supreme court justice, member of Congress, and all the rest, absolutely declining them all.

"As a citizen he was not only one of Montana's oldest, at the time of his death, but one of her worthiest and most valued ones. Throughout his life he was thoroughly independent in thought and action ; he hated sham and had a very great aversion for pretense and hypocrisy, as well as being a bitter foe of frand, a firm advocate of political honor and an earnest and indefatigable striver after of- ficial honesty and square dealing. One of his strongest characteristics was his rugged honesty. His reading was wide in its scope, he was broad- minded in his views, independent in thought and fearless in execution."

In 1870 Judge Stapleton married Miss Cora E. McIntosh, a native of Missouri. Their only son is Guy W. Stapleton, who has always regarded the example and character of his father as the chief source of his inspiration. He was educated at Deer Lodge, Montana, and graduated from the law school of the University of Virginia in 1895. For a quarter of a century he has been a lawyer at Butte, and, as noted above, was associated with his father for nearly fifteen years. He has been county attorney of Silverbow County, and a member of the Montana Legislature.

Roy E. MCKNIGHT. In tonching upon the life history of Roy E. McKnight, the well known auto- mobile salesman of Great Falls, the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extravagant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life. Having by sheer force of character and persistency won his way to a place of influence among the business men of this com- munity, Mr. McKnight is entitled to special mention in a volume of the nature of the one in hand.

Roy E. McKnight was born in Mapleton, North Dakota, on November 3, 1884, and is the youngest of the six children born to his parents, Eugene Victor and Elizabeth (Trombley) McKnight. The father was born in Rochester, New York, in 1840, and at the age of fifteen years he came West as far as Battle Creek, Michigan, where he began to earn his own living, his first employment being in a stove works, which he soon relinquished for a job as team- ster. Later he removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and engaged in farming in Ramsey County until 1874, when he located near Mapleton, North Dakota, and took up homestead and tree claims. He gave his attention to wheat raising there until 1892, when he went to Sheldon, and secured 1,280 acres of land, which he devoted to the raising of wheat until 1904,

when he sold his land and improvements and re- moved to Los Angeles, California. There he now resides. Politically he is an ardent supporter of the republican party and while a resident of Ransom County served as a county commissioner. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity. His wife was born in Ramsey County, Minnesota, and died in 1911, at the age of fifty-six years.

Roy E. McKnight was reared under the parental roof and secured his education in the public schools of North Dakota, in the Fargo (North Dakota) Agricultural College, and at the Los Angeles (Cali- fornia) Business College. At Fargo, North Dakota, when but eighteen years of age, Mr. Mcknight took over the management of his father's farm for a period of about four years. He then located at Russell, North Dakota, where he became identified with the banking business, being one of the prin- cipal organizers of the First State Bank of Russell, of which he became the first assistant cashier, and later its cashier. His brother, John F. McKnight, who had co-operated with him in the organization of the bank, was made president. They remained identified with the banking business up to 1909, when they engaged in the real estate business at Minot, North Dakota, under the firm name of the McKnight Land Company. They continued in this business up to 1912, when he resumed the active management of his land interests in North Dakota and was occu- pied in wheat raising up to 1916, when he came to Great Falls and engaged in the automobile business, organizing the Overland-Great Falls Company, of which he is president. They are distributors of the Overland and Willys-Knight antomobiles and Inter- national motor trucks, and, though they have been handling these machines here for only about four years, they have already made a very flattering rec- ord in the matter of sales. Mr. McKnight thor- oughly understands the automobile business and having two cars in which he has abundant faith he has no trouble in convincing prospective buyers of their merits. Yet he is conservative and careful, not overstepping the bounds of good business ethics in his relations with his customers. The result is a satisfied clientele and a rapidly increasing business.

On December 27, 1917, Mr. Mcknight was married to Charlotte Woodburn, who was born in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Politically Mr. McKnight gives his support to the republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Great Falls Lodge No. 214, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. Mr. McKnight has pursued the even tenor of his way in a quiet and unosten- tatious manner and it is not a matter of wonder that the elements of a solid and practical nature which unite in his composition should win for him a con- spicnous place in the business circles of the com- munity.

A. VON DACHENHAUSEN, president and general manager of the Electrical Equipment Company of Butte, has had many years of training and ex- perience in the management of public utility cor- porations, and first came to Montana twelve or thirteen years ago as one of the officials of the Montana Power Company.

Mr. von Dachenhausen was born in Washington, District of Columbia, September 20, 1872. His father, Adolphus Henry Carl von Dachenhausen, made a distinguished record as an officer in the American regular army, serving all through the Civil war and remained in the regular army until his death, at Washington, District of Columbia, in 1874. He was born in Hanover, Germany. His father held the rank of a colonel in the Prussian army, and was with the Prussian troops under the Duke of Wel-

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lington at the battle of Waterloo and for specially meritorious action in that historic engagement, re- ceived a medal of honor. Adolphus Henry Carl von Dachenhausen was reared and educated in Han- over, and during his youth was an officer in the Imperial Guard. He came to the United States in 1861, and as a result of his military training, readily acquired a commission in the Union army and served as captain and adjutant in the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth New York Cavalry. He was in the battle of Gettysburg and in many other cam- paigns, and his early death was directly due to the hardships sustained during the war. Captain von Dachenhausen married in 1864, when the war was still in progress, Margaret Elizabeth Hunter, a southern girl, born at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, in 1849. She died at Washington, District of Colum- bia, May 24, 1912. Of her three children the Butte business man is the youngest. Frederick William, the oldest, is connected with the United States Geo- logical Survey and lives at Washington, District of Columbia; George Adolphus is also a resident of Washington and is in the automobile business.

A. von Dachenhansen was educated in the public schools of Washington, District of Columbia, grad- uating from high school there, graduated in 1890 from the State School of Virginia at Blacksburg, and for three years studied law at Georgetown Uni- versity, District of Columbia. He was diverted from his early ambition for the law and in 1893 entered the service of the Washington Gas Light Company. He remained with that corporation seven years and familiarized himself with all details of business management and much of the technical work. From 1900 to 1906 he was manager of the gas department of the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, with headquarters at Camden.

Mr. von Dachenhausen came to Montana in 1907 and for ten years was commercial manager of the Montana Power Company and the Great Falls Power Company. He has been a resident of Butte since March, 1907. He resigned from these corporations January I, 1917, and in the following July organized the Electrical Equipment Company of Butte, of which he is president and general manager. W. A. Willoughby is vice president and R. E. O'Reilly secretary and treasurer. The company's offices are at 28 East Broadway. The firm handles electrical supplies of all kinds, 95 per cent of the business being wholesale, and its trade relations cover the states of Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

During the late war Mr. von Dachenhausen was chairman of the Silver Bow County Fuel committee, and rendered every patriotic service within his power. He is an independent democrat in politics, a member of the Episcopal Church, and the Silver Bow Club and Country Club. His home is at 1256 West Aluminum Street. December 5, 1911, at Butte, he married Edith Olive Hall, a graduate of the Montana State University of Missoula. Her mother is Mrs. M. H. Hall of Butte. They have one child, Alexander, Jr., born April 21, 1915.

ARTHUR MURCHIE RIDDELL is treasurer and gen- eral manager of the Riddell Paint and Art Company of Butte. This is a business which has enjoyed a successful growth of a quarter of a century. The Riddell family were pioneers in Montana, and Arthur Murchie Riddell was born at Missoula October 9, 1880.

He is of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather having come from Scotland and established the family in the Province of Ontario, Canada. Joseph Alexander Riddell, father of Arthur M., was born at Bolton, Ontario, in 1855, was reared and educated at Toronto, was married at Grafton, North Dakota, and at an

early day came to Missoula, Montana, where he en- gaged in business as a general contractor and mason. He probably owned the first brick yard in Missoula. As a contractor his business was widely extended. He did a great deal of public work for the state, including the erection of the buildings of the School of Mines at Butte, the State Normal School at Dil- lon, the State Agricultural College at Bozeman, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Boulder. He also estab- lished the business in which his son is now an active official at Butte. Joseph A. Riddell is now living retired at Long Beach, California. He is a demo- crat, a Presbyterian, and a member of Butte Lodge No. 240 of the Elks.

He married Catherine Murchie, who was born in Ontario in 1866. Arthur M. is the oldest of three children. The second, Marion, died at the age of seven years. Robert, the youngest, is a student in the Harvard Military School at Los Angeles.

Arthur M. Riddell was educated in the public schools of Missoula, graduated from the Butte Business College in 1908, and his active business as- sociations from that time have been chiefly with the Riddell Paint & Art Company. His father in 1895 founded the Butte Paint and Wall Paper Com- pany. The Riddell Paint & Art Company is the direct outgrowth of that business. It is the leading store of its kind in Silverbow County, and is lo- cated at 131 West Park Street. The company is in- corporated, Catherine Riddell being president, P. C. Dietler, vice president and secretary, and A. M. Riddell, treasurer and general manager. Mr. Rid- dell entered the business as assistant manager and has been general manager since 1916.

He is also secretary and treasurer of the Empire Amusement Company of Butte. Mr. Riddell, who is unmarried, is a democrat, a member of the Ro- tary Club, and is affiliated with Silverbow Lodge No. 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Deer Lodge Chapter No. 3, Royal Arch Masons, Montana Commandery No. 3, Knights Templar, and Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 153

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1126

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1126