Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 2

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

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II > Part 2

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Leo G. Zeidler was nineteen years of age when he left home to begin life on his own account. Going to Rockwell, Iowa, he was employed by an uncle in a hardware store for seven years, there gaining his early knowledge of the business. From Iowa he re- moved to North Dakota, where he secured his claim, as above noted, and from there came to Montana and cast his lot with the embryo Town of Plenty- wood. His public service in an official capacity has been as clerk of the Plentywood School District, but his service to the community as a citizen has been of far greater importance. During the country's participation in the World war he served as a mem- ber of the Home Guards, took an active part in the drives made for funds for Red Cross and other auxiliary work, and has always been active in the public welfare. His political support has been given to the republican party, and he cast his first presi- dential vote for Colonel Roosevelt in Iowa in 1904.

At Rockwell, Iowa, June 21, 1909, Mr. Zeidler married Miss Jennie A. Gibson, who was born in that city in October, 1885, a daughter of Robert and Susie (McDowell) Gibson, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. The father is a Civil war vet- eran. He served with the Army of the Potomac as a member of the Sixty-second Pennsylvania In- fantry, and took part in the heavy fighting of the war in Virginia and other parts of the South. After the war he migrated westward, stopping for a time in Illinois, and finally locating in Rockwell, Iowa, where he was engaged in the poultry, produce and meat business until he retired from a business life. He has been active in Grand Army circles, is a re- publican in politics and is a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Gibson have five daughters and one son, and Mrs. Zeidler is the only repre- sentative of the family in Montana. After grad- uating from the high school at Rockwell, Iowa, she

L. Q. Evans

HISTORY OF MONTANA

became a high school teacher there. She is now a member of the School Board of Plentywood, this being one of the first instances where women have acted in a like official capacity. She has served in the position two years, and one other woman and three men are her colleagues on the board. She exercises her right of franchise with the republican party, and her first presidential ballot was cast in 1916. Three sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zeidler, Gibson, Robert and Barr.

LEWIS O. EVANS, of Butte, has for over twenty years been recognized as one of the ablest corpo- ration lawyers in Montana, and his ability, gained through a wide and varied experience in legal prac- tice, and particularly in connection with questions of corporation and mining law, is well recognized. Born at Utica, New York, on August 31, 1871, he came to Montana with his parents, Owen and Emily J. (Church) Evans, in 1883, and has since resided in this state. On coming to Montana his father, Owen Evans, engaged in mercantile pur- suits, and was prominently identified with the civic and business life of Helena for a number of years. His parents subsequently removed to Anaconda.

He began his education in the public schools of his native city, and graduated from the Helena High School when fifteen years of age. For a short period he attended the Cazenovia Seminary in New York, and later, after his return to Helena, studied law with the firms of Word and Smith and Word, Smith and Word. He was admitted to the bar while employed in their office in 1894, and has re- cently rounded out a quarter of a century of active practice.

In December, 1895, Mr. Evans removed to Butte and entered the office of John F. Forbis, one of the most eminent practitioners that Montana has pro- duced. A year later the partnership of Forbis and Evans was formed, and was engaged in gen- eral practice until the retirement of Mr. Forbis January 1, 1910. This firm was constantly employed in handling important litigation and was prominent in what is known as the "Heinze-Amalgamated" litigation from early in the year 1897 until its set- tlement in 1906. This was probably the most ex- tensive and bitterly fought litigation recorded in legal history. Most of Mr. Evans' practice has been devoted to the business of many of the large corporations which have their headquarters at Butte, and which in 1910 were merged into the Anaconda Copper Mining Company. In 1912 he became, and has since been, chief counsel for that company. He is also chief counsel for the Montana Power Com- pany and its subsidiary companies, and other cor- porations of less magnitude.

Mr. Evans has taken an important part in the trials of many causes celebre in Montana, among them the "Michael Devitt," "Pennsylvania," "Drum Lummon," "Larkin" and "Minnie Healy" mining cases. Mr. C. F. Kelley and Mr. Evans handled with entire success for the mining companies the celebrated "Smoke Case" between the farmers of the Deer Lodge Valley and the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and Washoe Copper Company.

Mr. Evans' is a member of the Montana State Bar Association and of the Silver Bow Bar Asso- ciation, and has served as president of the latter organization.

In politics Mr. Evans is and at all times has been an ardent republican. He is a member of Silver Bow Lodge No. 48, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and other Masonic organizations, the Butte Lodge

of Elks, Rocky Mountain Club of New York, the Montana Club, and the Silver Bow Club of Butte, and served three terms as president of the Silver Bow Club. He has at all times taken an active part in civic and other matters of community interest.

In November, 1903, he married at Butte Miss Martha Nichols, daughter of Judge Erastus A. and Sarah Elizabeth (Warren) Nichols. Her father was for many years identified with the' business life of Butte and later removed to Missoula. Mr. and Mrs. Evans have three children: Lewis Nichols, born October 12, 1904, Richard Orvis, born August 22, 1907, and Elizabeth Warren, born May 2, 1913.

JAMES EUGENE LANE is a man of exceptional busi- ness capacity, possessing a great deal of driving power in business and in everything he undertakes, and for a number of years has held vital and sig- nificant relations with the community of Lewistown. He is head of the Montana Lumber Company, which has nineteen places of business in the state. Mr. Lane held the rank of major in the American Red Cross overseas service during the late war.

He was born at Whitehall, Illinois, September 8, 1871, a son of James S. and Nancy J. (Baker) Lane. His father was a native of Wisconsin and his mother of Kentucky. His mother is still living at the age of eighty-one. James S. Lane received his early education in Wisconsin, and as a young man en- listed at the beginning of the Civil war and served in many battles and campaigns until the close. After the war he located at Whitehall, Illinois, and engaged in farming and stock raising until his death in 1872. He was a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public and a republican in politics.

James E. Lane was educated in Illinois and Ne- braska, and in early life learned the business of car- penter and millwright. He came to Montana in the spring of 1893. His first location was at Billings. Later he was engaged in building the Jaw Bone Railway as superintendent of building and construc- tion under Richard Harlow from 1897 to 1900. They built the road from Summit to Harlowton. Sub- sequently Mr. Lane resumed the building and con- tracting business at Martinsdale, Two Dot and Har- lowton. He organized and operated the Midlen Coal and Lumber Company until 1903, when he sold out and then established his home at Lewistown. Here he organized the Montana Lumber Company, and remained as its general manager until 1909, since which date he has been president. This is one of the largest retail lumber concerns in the State of Montana. He is also director of the Bank of Fergus County, president of the Montana Home Building Company, and vice president of the Lewistown Brick and Tile Company. In February, 1919, a deal was consummated whereby the Montana Hardware Com- pany was consolidated with the Montana Lumber Company, and Mr. Lane is now the directing head of the newly merged concern. He was elected a member of the State Senate in 1914, and served one term of four years.

In May, 1917, Mr. Lane assumed some heavy re- sponsibilities in the local and state organization of the American Red Cross. He took the post of or- ganizer and chairman of the Fergus County Chapter and as a member of the state executive board. Not content with what he could do for the organization in this country, he enlisted for the overseas work in May, 1918, and in June of the same year was sent to France. His headquarters were at Paris, where he was chief of hospital supplies with the rank of major. On different occasions he visited the front, and saw the great battlegrounds of the Argonne Forest and St. Mihiel and other points

HISTORY OF MONTANA

under actual war conditions. He was on leave of absence at Paris when the armistice was signed and soon afterward he returned home. All this service was given without a cent of remuneration.

Mr. Lane is a charter member of the Judith Club and is affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 34, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lewistown Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons, Lewistown Commandery No. 14, Knights Templar, with the Scottish Rite Consistory and with Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. He is a democrat in politics.

May 17, 1900, Mr. Lane married Rose Wiley. She was born near Peoria, Illinois. They have two daughters: Edith, wife of D. W. Auenbaugh, liv- ing in California; and Newell, wife of Capt. F. M. Hawks, stationed at San Antonio, Texas.

HUNTER L. RICHMOND, a resident of Montana since 1893, is vice president of the First Mortgage Loan Company of Great Falls.

He came to Montana when a child, having been born on his father's farm in Macon County, Mis- souri, June 30, 1888. His father, the late Samuel T. Richmond, was born in Missouri, where he fol- lowed farming and stock raising, and in 1893 brought his family to Montana, settling in Cascade County. Here he engaged in ranching on a large scale, owning about 700 acres of land. He special- ized in the better grades of livestock, running from 50 to 150 head of cattle and breeding Shire and Percheron horses. In 1911 he retired, and his death occurred in March, 1914, at the age of fifty-two. He was several times honored with township offices and was a democrat, a Presbyterian and a member of the Woodmen of the World. Samuel T. Rich- mond married Mollie M. Gorham, also a native of Missouri, and who had come to Montana at the age of fourteen with her father, R. T. Gorham, who was a pioneer miner in this state. Mrs. Samuel Richmond is still living at the age of fifty-nine. She was the mother of seven children, Hunter I .. being the third, and three daughters and two sons still survive.

Hunter L. Richmond acquired his early education in the schools of Great Falls and at Bird Creek in Cascade County, and lived on his father's farm until he was seventeen. He then clerked for a time in a clothing store at Great Falls, following which he proved up a homestead in Teton County. In 1914 he became associated with the First Mortgage Loan Company of Great Falls, and since 1918 has held the post of vice president in that business. In the fall of 1919 he helped organize the Northern Na- tional Bank of Great Falls. Mr. Richmond is a democrat and is affiliated with the Knights of Co- lumbus.

February 15, 1912, he married Mary Ellen Ryan. They have three children, Hunter E., Virginia Ann and Helen Marie.

FRANCIS K. ARMSTRONG, for many years an emi- nent figure in the Montana territorial and state bar, former judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, has been a resident of Bozeman forty years, and since retiring from the bench has given up law practice and con- cerns himself only with some incidental public duties and the handling of his extensive ranch properties.

Judge Armstrong was born at Rockford in Surry County, North Carolina, March 6, 1849. His father, Francis K. Armstrong, Sr., was born in the same county March 28, 1802, and was prominent as a planter, hotel man and merchant until some financial disasters overtook him. A short time before the out- break of the Civil war he left North Carolina and removed his family to St. Joseph, Missouri, and

also bought land at Iowa Point in Northeastern Kan- sas. His home was in Doniphan County, Kansas, but he died while on a business trip in Missouri in the fall of 1861. In North Carolina he served as clerk in the District Court, and several terms represented Surry County in the Legislature. In the early days he was a whig. He was also a member of the Masonic fraternity and was a colonel of the militia in North Carolina. In Iredell County he married Miss Jerusha Belt, who was born in Iredell County, near Statesville, North Carolina, in 1807, and died in Doniphan County, Kansas, in 1891. They were the parents of seven children: Thomas J., who was a farmer and spent his last years employed in a bank at Highland, Kansas, where he died at the age of seventy-two; Elizabeth, who died near St. Joseph, Missouri, at the age of thirty-five; Eliza, who died at the age of fourteen; Mary, who died at Butte, Montana, aged sixty-nine; Sarah, wife of James E. Martin, president of the National Bank of Gallatin Valley at Bozeman; Rebecca, living at Atchison, Kansas, widow of Junius E. Moore, who was a merchant; and Judge Francis K.

Judge Armstrong received his early training in the rural schools of his native county in North Carolina, also attended school in Doniphan County, Kansas. He was a student in Highland University at High- land, Kansas, until taken ill during his senior year. Some years later, when he received his law degree, Highland University conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree as an appropriate recognition of the work he had all but completed. He began the study of law at Atchison, Kansas, under Gen. W. W. Guthrie and attended the law school of the Uni- versity of Missouri at Columbia, where he graduated LL. B. in 1875. Judge Armstrong is a Phi Beta Kappa, an honorary college fraternity to which only men and women of exceptional scholarship records are eligible. Judge Armstrong was admitted to the bar at St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1875, remained there six months, and then practiced in Doniphan County, Kansas, at Troy, with Judge Webb until 1879. He first entered politics in 1876 as democratic candidate for the office of county attorney. That was the year of the famous Hayes-Tilden national campaign. Doniphan County, Kansas, was strongly republican, gave Hayes a majority of 800 over Tilden, but on account of his popularity, recognized ability and vigorous election campaign, Judge Armstrong was chosen by a substantial maiority.

The following extract from the Troy Bulletin of Doniphan County, is an expression of the esteem in which Judge Armstrong was held on leaving there: "F. K. Armstrong, Esq., has closed his of- ficial course with the people of Doniphan County and steps down and out. It is but due him as a man and citizen to say that he has shown by his conduct for the past two years as a public official that he has been worthy the confidence and trust given him by the people. Doniphan County never had a more capable or efficient county attorney and the court records will stand proof of the assertion. He is a young man yet, but he is a thoroughly posted lawyer-was while reading and is yet a close stu- dent. Having read with one of the ablest lawyers in the state and graduated at law school with high honors, he has thoroughly prepared himself for the practice of his profession. Added to this he is a young man of strict honesty, excellent moral char- acter, and such genial social qualities that all who know him at once become his friends. Life to him certainly should be encouraging, and now that we are to lose him as a citizen from our midst we have no doubt but the people of the whole county will unite with the Bulletin in tendering him their

F. K. Amiting

HISTORY OF MONTANA

warmest regards for his future success and wel- fare, and we trust that the mountain home he seeks in Montana will be fully up to his expectations and that he may soon take that position in his profes- sion and society there that he has so deservedly won here. He expects to leave for Montana the coming week."

Soon after the close of his term as county attorney he came to Bozeman in 1879 and practiced with Col. Ira Pierce until the death of Colonel Pierce, then with Judge L. A. Luce and later with Charles S. Hartman. Montana was a territory when Judge Armstrong located at Bozeman. In the fall of 1880 he was elected district attorney for the First District, which embraced all of Southern Montana from Dillon to Glendive. There were only three districts in the state at this time. In the fall of 1884 he was elected a member of the Territorial Council, representing Gallatin County, and was chosen president of the council. Two years later he was elected a member of the Lower House and was speaker of the House. In 1891 upon the crea- tion of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, Governor Joseph K. Toole appointed Judge Armstrong as the first incumbent of the office of judge, and he was regu- larly elected to that office in 1904 and again in 1908.

Upon retiring from the bench in 1913 Judge Arm- strong made no effort to resume his law practice. He was formerly a member of the County and State and American Bar associations. In 1904 he was one of the organizers of the National Bank of Gallatin Valley, and is still a director and stock- holder. He owns a number of ranches in Gallatin County, aggregating about 5,000 acres. He also has six dwelling houses in the city and his own home is at 302 South Central Avenue.

Soon after leaving the bench Governor Norris appointed Judge Armstrong a member of the com- mission for the purchase of the Warm Springs property in Deer Lodge County, Montana. He was chairman of the commission and handled the ne- gotiations by which that property was transferred to the state. On this ground are now located the buildings of the state insane asylum. The trans- action was one involving over $600,000.

Judge Armstrong has always been a stanch demo- crat in politics. He is a citizen of irreproachable character and is still regarded as one of the strong men upon whom the state can rely when it needs the services of counsellors. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and is a member of Boze- man Lodge No. 463 of the Elks.

December 27, 1881, at Bozeman, Judge Arm- strong married Miss Lora Lamme, a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, and a daughter of Dr. A. and Elizabeth J. (Oliver) Lamme. Her father came to Montana about the close of the Civil war, was an able physician, but having little to do in a pro- fessional capacity he took up merchandising and at the time of his death was one of the chief mer- chants of Montana. Judge and Mrs. Armstrong have had three daughters. Mabel died at the age of six years. Lena is a graduate of the LaSelle Seminary near Boston, Massachusetts, and is the wife of R. E. Brown, member of the Brown Broth- ers Lumher Company at Helena, their home being at Bozeman. Edith, who is a graduate of the Na- tional Park Seminary at Washington, D. C., is the wife of R. B. Oliver, of Bozeman. Mr. Oliver is associated with Judge Armstrong in managing the latter's ranch properties and was formerly a travel- ing salesman for the Deer-Weber Company.

BURTON KENDALL WHEELER, who became United States attorney for the District of Montana on October 30, 1913, began the practice of law in 1906. Throughout the period of the World war he was the official representative of the Federal Depart- ment of Justice in Montana.

Mr. Wheeler was born at Hudson, Massachu- setts, February 27, 1882, a son of Asa L. and Mary Elizabeth (Tyler) Wheeler. His people have been in Massachusetts for several generations. The Wheelers were Quakers and established their home at Sudbury, Massachusetts, before the Revolution- ary war. The Tylers were English people, also early settlers in Massachusetts. The mother of Mary Elizabeth Tyler was a Kendall.

Burton Kendall Wheeler attended the public schools of his native town, graduating from the Hudson High School in 1900, and for some time was employed in office work at Boston. He re- ceived his law degree from the University of Mich- igan with the class of 1905, and soon afterward came to Montana and began practice at Butte on January 15, 1906. His abilities soon procured for him a fa- vorable position in the local bar and he also became interested in politics, being elected and serving as a member of the Twelfth Legislature. He was democratic candidate for attorney general in the convention at Great Falls, and on the seventh bal- lot was defeated by Daniel M. Kelley by the narrow margin of 11/2 votes. His nomination for United States attorney for Montana was among the first sent to the Senate by President Wilson.

Mr. Wheeler is the owner of the Wheeler Block in Butte. He is a director in the Deaconess Hos- pital, is a member of the Masonic Order and Mystic Shrine, the Silver Bow Club, is a Methodist, and a member of the Montana Bar Association.

At Albany, Illinois, September 7, 1907, he mar- ried Miss Lulu M. White, daughter of John and Elizabeth White. Mrs. Wheeler grew up on a farm in Illinois, graduated from the Fulton Normal School of that state, and studied music in Oberlin College Conservatory in Oberlin, Ohio. For sev- eral years before her marriage she was a teacher of music in the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler have five children: John Leonard, Eliza- beth Hale, Edward Kendall, Francis L. and Richard.

JAMES M. WELDON. Now living retired at Lewis- town, James M. Weldon is one of the few sur- vivors among those who saw and knew Montana in the early and romantic days of the '60s. His name belongs with that notable list, greatly abbre- viated by time and circumstance, of the pioneers of 1862. The following is only a brief sketch of ' his career, but it suggests many vital points at which his own life has come in touch with Montana.

He was born at Addison, Steuben County, New York, September 4, 1832. At the age of twenty- one, in 1853 he made the first stage of his. migra- tions which eventually brought him nearly across the continent. For about nine years he lived at Mazomanie in Dane County, Wisconsin, some twenty-five miles from the capital of the state at Madison. The date of his eventful first journey to Montana was May 4, 1862, when he joined a party comprising eleven teams for the purpose of crossing the plains to Florence, Idaho. They drove horses, making rapid progress, traveling from twenty to thirty miles, and occasionally forty miles a day. The Missouri River was crossed at Coun- cil Bluffs and Omaha, and thence the route fol- lowed the North Platte to Fort Laramie, thence to Sweetwater and South Pass, by Fort Bridger and Soda Springs, crossing Snake River at old Fort

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Hall. From there they went on to Salmon City, Idaho. At Birch Creek some 200 wagons were encamped, further progress being barred by the report that wagons could not get through. Many of the people in this camp were from Pike's Peak and many states. John Jacobs volunteered to lead the party through to the Mullan Trail and to Walla Walla, and the Weldon party went on with Jacobs, striking the Mullan Trail at Deer Lodge. At that time there was no one at Deer Lodge but John Grant, John Powell, for whom the county and mountain have since been named, and some half breeds. John Grant had quite a herd of cattle and horses. He told the party if they wanted fresh meat to kill a beef "in welcome," but as there was plenty of fish and game the invitation was not ac- cepted.

August 1, 1862, the day after their arrival at Deer Lodge, the party went down to Gold Creek, eighteen miles below, reaching there at noon. A trading store was kept there by James and Granville Stuart, historic characters in Montana. On August 2d they prospected in Pioneer Gulch, sinking a hole some three feet in depth; the water came in and they only got some "colors" which a couple of forty- niners from California said was "no good," and advised them togo on to something better. August 3rd the journey was resumed, passing through Hell Gate Canyon. About half the party went by way of the Lolo Trail to Elk City, Idaho, while Mr. Weldon and the rest followed the Mullan Trail to Walla Walla, where they arrived August 25, 1862.

Mr. Weldon spent about two months in the Blue Mountains, most of the time making shingles at $10 a 1,000. He could easily make 1,000 or more per day, and he made the shingles used for the roof of the Wells Fargo & Company Express office. In October, with six or seven others, he started back with saddle and pack horses for Boise. At Auburn, having lost the saddle and pack horses, they purchased two yoke of broncho steers and a wagon. A man soon joined them with a yoke of "broke" steers, which were put on as leaders, and thus equipped they went on to the Payette River and Boise Basin. The road being very rough they dropped the front wheels and made a cart with heavy tongue. Meeting some packers, they asked about the road ahead and were told that "if you are pilgrims you can go clear in, if not, only within ten miles." They "went in" to Boise Basin and to Idaho City. At the latter place Mr. Weldon met the late Clarence M. Goodell and his father. The latter was splitting shingles and the son was pil- ing them. This was about December 16, 1862. Mr. Weldon spent three years around Idaho City, Placerville, Centerville, Pioneer and Hoggem. This latter place received its name from the fact that some of the early miners tried to "hog" all the best claims.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 2

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