Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 9

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

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

appointed traveling representative for the Ford Motor Company, and until October of the same year traveled over the States of Montana, Idaho and Washington. In October, 1917, he established his present business at Bozeman, his partner being his former employer, F. A. Williams, of Spokane, until 1920. The firm of L. K. Pence & Company is now owned entirely by Mr. Pence. The garage and offices are at the corner of Babcock Street and Black Avenne. Mr. Pence handles automobile accessories, and is local agent at Bozeman and Gallatin County for the Ford cars, tractors and farm implements. He does business all over Gallatin County and as far as Willow Creek, Harrison and Pony.

Mr. Pence is still interested in mining in Alaska, Montana and Idaho. He is independent in politics and a member of Bozeman Lodge No. 463 of the Elks. His home is in the Clark Apartments at 616 South Third Avenue. Mr. Pence married in Spo- kane September 8, 1916, Miss Florence Jones, a daughter of W. C. and Rosa (Marvin) Jones, resi- dents of Spokane. Her father is a practicing attor- ney. Mrs. Pence is a graduate of the South Central High School of Spokane. They have one daughter, Jane Marvin, born September 24, 1918.

DAN M. KELLY, ex-attorney general and counsel for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, is one of the distinguished men and eminent attorneys of Montana, now a resident of Butte. He was born at Waterloo, Iowa, on Angust 19, 1880, a son of P. D. Kelly, now a resident of Waterloo, Iowa. P. D. Kelly was born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1837, and in 1847 his mother brought the family to the United States and settlement was made in Wiscon- sin. A boy of ten at the time of the family immi- gration, P. D. Kelly was reared and educated at New Diggings, Wisconsin, and there he was mar- ried. During his active years he devoted himself to farming, and still owns two valuable farm prop- erties and is now living retired, being in comfort- able circumstances. He is a democrat politically, and a Roman Catholic in his religious belief. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Barry, and she was born at London, England, in 1850. Their children were as follows: Mary, who is unmarried, teaches in the public schools of Boulder, Montana; T. F., who died at the age of forty years at White- hall, Montana, having been killed in a railroad ac- -cident at that point, and at that time was a Short- horn cattle breeder at Seneca, South Dakota; Tom, who is a rancher of Seneca, South Dakota; John, who lives at Elkton, South Dakota, has farming in- terests there; J. E., who lives at Boulder, Montana, is now serving as county attorney of Jefferson County; Dan M., who was the sixth in order of birth; Kathryn, who married Doctor Martin Hagen, a physician and surgeon of Wichita, Kansas; Nell, who married William Cavanaugh, a farmer of Hud- son, Iowa; William F., who was killed at the age of twenty-six years in the same railroad accident in which his brother, T. F. lost his life; Raymond, who is on the home farm near Waterloo, Iowa; Leo, who is on his ranch near Whitehall, Montana; and Clem, who is on a farm near Waterloo, Iowa. of nineteen years he immigrated to the United States.

Dan M. Kelly was reared and educated in Black Hawk County, Iowa, and was graduated from the Tilford Academy at Vinton, Iowa, in 1900, follow- ing which he entered the University of Iowa and was graduated from its law department in 1905, with the degree of Bachelor of Law. He is a member of the Hammond Law Senate, a literary society of his university. In the meanwhile, during

1902, Mr. Kelly came to Montana and taught school in Madison County, Montana, for two years. After obtaining his degree in 1905 he came to Whitehall, Montana, and was engaged there in an active prac- tice until January 1, 1907, when he was inducted into the office of county attorney of Jefferson County at Boulder, Montana, and held it for four years, and this is the office which is now held by his brother J. E. Kelly. After the expiration of his term of office Mr. Kelly was engaged in practice at Boulder for two years, and then in the fall of 1912 he was elected attorney general of the state of Montana and moved to Helena. After being in office for two years and five months Mr. Kelly re- signed to become counsel for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, and still holds this responsible position. He is a democrat, and in the fall of 1918 was elected to the State Assembly on his party ticket, serving during the session of 1919. During this important epoch in the history of Montana Mr. Kelly was on the judiciary committee, the commit- tee on ways and means, and other important ones, and did his full part in transacting the business which came before the assembly for the securing of proper legislation for the reconstruction period after the great war.

A Catholic by inheritance and conviction, Mr. Kelly is very active in church circles, and belongs to Butte Council No. 668, Knights of Columbus, in which he has been made a fourth degree knight; to Helena Lodge No. 193, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; to the Silver Bow Club; the Butte Country Club, both of Butte; the Montana Club of Helena, Montana; and the Rocky Mountain Club of New York City, New York. Professionally he maintains membership in the county, state and na- tional bar associations. He owns a modern resi- dence at 1260 West Platinum Avenue, Butte.

In June, 1908, Mr. Kelly was married to Miss Lillian Wade, of Boulder, Montana, who died on July 26, 1917, at Butte, without issue. On Decem- ber 21, 1919, Mr. Kelly was married at St. Paul, Minnesota, to Miss Helen Meagher, a daughter of Dan J. and Elizabeth (Ryan) Meagher, who live at Helena, Montana, Mr. Meagher being engaged in the jewelry business in that city, and he was a pioneer of Montana.

Mr. Kelly is one of the sound and highly trained corporation lawyers of the state, whose knowledge of corporate and state laws is profound. His prom- inence throughout Montana is unquestioned, and his acquaintanceship reaches to all classes and condi- tions of men. Both as an official and in private life he has commanded confidence and respect, and the people of Butte are proud to number a man of his caliber among their fellow citizens.

JAMES E. KELLY, who is a brother of Dan M. Kelly, former attorney general of Montana and now a prominent lawyer at Butte, one of the counsel of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, was for several years associated with his brother in busi- ness at Boulder, where he still resides. James E. · Kelly has served eight years as county attorney of Jefferson County.

He was born in Black Hawk County, Iowa, near Waterloo, November 6, 1878. He was educated in the rural schools of that county, graduated in 1902 from Tilford Collegiate Academy at Vinton, Ohio, and took his law course in the University of Iowa at Iowa City. He received his LL. B. degree in 1906, and in the fall of that year came to Montana and opened his law office at Whitehall. After one year he removed to Boulder and became associated

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J. Laville

HISTORY OF MONTANA

with his brother Dan. They were law partners un- til Dan Kelly was elected attorney general in 1912. Mr. James E. Kelly has enjoyed a large general civil and criminal practice at Boulder in addition to his duties as county attorney. He was appointed to this office January 1, 1912, to succeed Judge Show- ers, and has been regularly elected every two years, beginning in the fall of 1912. Mr. Kelly is also a member of the partnership of Kelly Brothers, own- ers of a large ranch near Whitehall.

He is a democrat in politics, a member of the Catholic Church, is a third degree Knight of Colum- bus, being affiliated with Marquette Council No. 842, is a member of Butte Lodge No. 240 of the Elks, and Basin Aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Basin, Montana.

Mr. Kelly owns a modern home in Boulder. He married there June 7, 1916, Miss Corinne De Celles, daughter of Edward and Caroline ( Baril) De Celles. Her parents live at Boulder, and her father was a pioneer meat merchant there, but is now retired from business. Mrs. Kelly is a graduate of the Jefferson County High School. They have two children : James Leo, born July 30, 1917; and Mary Ruth, born December 4, 1918.

JAMES PATRICK LAVELLE, present postmaster of Columbus, grew up in that town, son of the pioneer Montanan, the late Patrick Lavelle, and has been active in business and political affairs for a number of years.

He was born at Titnsville, Pennsylvania, April 12, 1881. His paternal ancestors came from Ireland and settled in New York in colonial times. The father, Patrick Lavelle, was born in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1839, grew up there, and served two years, from 1861 to 1863, with the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Infantry in the Civil war. Among the battles in which he participated were those of Shiloh, Hanover Courthouse and Gettys- burg. He was once taken prisoner by the Con- federates. After being mustered out he went to Titusville, Pennsylvania, then the center of the great oil industry of America. He was employed for several years as a well shooter in the oil district of Western Pennsylvania, and he also married while in Titusville. Later he was a farmer in Pennsyl- vania until 1886, and then came to Montana, living at Billings and for two years being an employee of the Northern Pacific Railway. He located at Columbus in 1888, being one of the pioneers in what is now the county seat of Stillwater County. He bought land that was platted and sold as the Lavelle Addition to the townsite of Columbus. He also built the Lavelle Hotel, the first institution of its kind in Columbus, and was its genial proprietor for fifteen years. After that he retired and died at Columbus in March, 1912. He was prominent in local affairs, serving two terms as a county com- missioner of Yellowstone County and was once can- didate for the State Senate. He was a democrat in politics and a member of the Catholic Church. Patrick Lavelle married Margaret O'Brien, who was born in County Clare, Ireland, in 1848. She is still living in Columbus at the age of seventy-one. Her Dakota; Grand Forks Camp, Modern Woodmen of children are seven in number. Mary is the wife of H. J. Calhoun, manager of the American Garage at Columbus; Maggie is the wife of W. P. Adams, who is in the livery and implement business at Columbus ; Ambrose, a traveling salesman living at Omaha, Nebraska; James Patrick; Celia, wife of H. I. Grant, a hardware and grocery merchant at Columbus; Nellie, assistant postmaster at Columbus ; Vol. 11-3

and Agnes, wife of N. W. Holt, owner of a ranch in the Lake Basin and residing at Columbus.

James Patrick Lavelle was seven years old when his father located at Columbus, and he acquired his education in the local public schools. During 1899-1900 he attended a business college at Val- paraiso, Indiana. For seven years he was engaged in the livestock business at Columbus, and then served two terms, four years, as under sheriff of Yellowstone County. For two years he was a mem- ber of the police force at Billings, and in May, 1913, received appointment as postmaster at Colum- bus and has had active charge of that office for six years. He was reappointed for a second term in May, 1918.

Mr. Lavelle is a member of the Columbus Com- mercial Club, is owner of some local city property, is active in the ranks of the democratic party, is a member of the Catholic Church, and is a third degree Knight of Columbus, being affiliated with Council No. 1259 of that order, and also a member of Billings Lodge No. 394 of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. Mr. Lavelle is unmarried.

ELBERT F. ALLEN has spent practically all his life in Montana, though he was born in Fayette, Mis- souri, August 31, 1880. For the past fifteen years he has been busily engaged in handling a growing and influential law practice at Livingston. He is the present city attorney of Livingston.

Mr. Allen represents an old American family settled in North Carolina in colonial times. His grandfather, George J. Allen, was a native of North Carolina, and was an early settler in Mis- souri, where he followed farming. He died in Henry County of that state in 1852. George J. Allen married Esther Mitchell, a native of Wash- ington County, Tennessee, and a granddaughter of Samuel Doak, founder of Washington College, the first institution of higher learning west of the Allegheny Mountains.

George J. Allen, Jr., father of the Livingston lawyer, was born in Henry County, Missouri, in 1844, was reared there and made his first visit to Montana in 1863, being attracted to the then cen- ter of activities in this part of the Northwest, Vir- ginia City. In 1864 he took up a claim at Virginia City, but left the country in 1866 and returned to Missouri. He was married in Howard County of that state, lived as a farmer in Henry County and in June, 1880, again came to Montana for the pur- pose of making that state his permanent home. His family followed him a short time later and settled on his homestead of 160 acres near Living- ston. He occupied that homestead until 1914, and sold it only in 1919. He was a democrat and a member of the Congregational Church. He mar- ried Elizabeth J. Fisher, who was born in Howard County, Missouri, in 1852. Elbert F. is the only son of two living children. The daughter, Carrie E., is the wife of J. L. Anderson, a truck gardener at Livingston. Mr. Allen died May 26, 1919.

Elbert F. Allen was educated in the public schools of Livingston, attended high school in that city, received his Bachelor of Science degrees, from the Montana State College at Bozeman in 1903, and spent one year in the University of Missouri, in the law department, at Columbia. He also studied law privately and was admitted to the bar in Decem- ber, 1905. Since that date he has had botli civil and criminal practice and his offices are in the Thomp- son Block at Livingston. He served one term of four years as city attorney, from 1913 to 1917, and in 1919 was again appointed to the same office. Mr. Allen is a republican, was master of Living-

HISTORY OF MONTANA

ston Lodge No. 32, Ancient Free and Accepted Ma- sons, during 1919, a member of Livingston Lodge No. 7, Royal Arch Masons, St. Bernard Com- mandery No. 6, Knights Templar, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena. He is also affiliated with Zephyr Camp No. 151, Woodmen of the World, Silver Tip Camp, Modern Wood- men of America, Tourist Homestead, Brotherhood of American Yeomen, and is a member of the State and American Bar associations and the Livingston Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Allen and family reside at 513 West Geyser Street. He married at Bozeman, January I, 1907, Miss Faith L. Jackson, a daughter of Thomas and Emma (Gordon) Jackson. Her parents are now deceased. Her father was a pioneer in the Madi- son Valley in Montana, going there in 1866. He developed a ranch and was also a teacher. Mrs. Allen is a graduate of the preparatory department of the Montana State College at Bozeman and also took a course there in domestic science and busi- ness. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two children, George, born 'October 6, 1908, and Ernest, born July 26, 1912.

GEORGE W. PIERSON is distinguished among the lawyers of Montana as a former judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, has been a member of the bar of the state for a quarter of a century, and since the beginning of his term as a judge has lived at Billings.

He was born in Genesee County, Michigan, May 21, 1869, son of Joseph and Hannah (Davenport) Pierson. The Pierson family came from England to New York in colonial times. The grandfather, John K. Pierson, was born in New York in 1817, after his marriage spent a short time in Canada, and then pioneered on a farm in Michigan, and lived in Genesee County until his death in 1890.

Judge Pierson's maternal grandfather, Robert Davenport, was born in Pennsylvania in 1819 and was also a Michigan pioneer, being a blacksmith and farmer. He died at Hadley in that state in 1889. His wife, Miss Margaret Earl, a native of Pennsylvania, also died in Michigan. The Daven- ports came originally from Holland, Pennsylvania, and Hannah Davenport's great uncle, Robert Da- venport, was one of the three men who escaped from the Wyoming and Cherry Valley massacre during the Revolutionary war.

Joseph Pierson was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1835, but grew up in Genesee County, Michigan, and spent many years there as a farmer. Later he moved to LaPeer County and farmed until his death at Hadley in 1895. He was an independent republican, served a term as councilman at Had- ley, and was affiliated with the Baptist Church. His wife was born at Hadley, Michigan, in 1840 and died there in 1895. Their children were: Robert J., a farmer at Hadley, Michigan; Nettie, wife of Frank Nowlin, in the jewelry business at Gaylord, Michigan; Roby, wife of A. B. Hubbard, a farmer at Clarkston, Michigan: George W .; Lewis, a me- chanic living at Flint, Michigan; and Dewey C., a farmer and stock man at Hadley.

Judge Pierson attended the rural schools of La- Peer County, Michigan, graduating from the Had- ley High School in 1887 and for two years was a teacher in LaPeer County. In 1889 he entered the law school of the University of Michigan, tak- ing his LL. B. degree in 1891 and his LL. M. de- gree in 1892. The following two years he had a law office in Chicago and in the spring of 1894 came to Montana and practiced at Red Lodge un- til 1911. He served as city attorney of Red Lodge

in 1894-95 and again in 1904-06, and was county attorney of Carbon County from 1895 to 1897. He was appointed district judge of the Thirteenth Dis- trict in I911, and then removed to Billings, filling with enviable distinction the office of judge until 1917. Since retiring from the bench he has handled a general civil and criminal practice, his offices be- ing in the Electric Building.

Judge Pierson is a democrat, is affiliated with Star in the West Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Red Lodge, Carbon Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Aldemar Commandery No. 5 of the Knights Templar at Billings, and Billings Lodge No. 394 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Billings Midland Club.

October 27, 1892, at Hadley, Michigan, he mar- ried Loretta Mann, daughter of Ernest and Clara (Shippey) Mann. Her father was a farmer in La- Peer and Oakland counties, Michigan. Judge and Mrs. Pierson have one daughter, Helen, a senior in the Billings High School.

FLETCHER WEBSTER APPLETON, register of the United States Land Office at Bozeman, is a civil engineer by profession, and has had a widely diver- sified experience as an engineer, operator of min- ing properties and in general business affairs.

Mr. Appleton is member of a prominent American family and one of peculiarly American and Yankee traditions. On both sides of his house is pure English descent. The Appletons came from Eng- land and settled in Massachusetts in early colonial days. His grandfather was named Samuel Apple- ton Appleton, and spent all his life in New England. He was identified with cotton manufacture at Low- ell, Massachusetts, and died at Boston. Samuel Appleton Appleton married the only daughter of Daniel Webster. Fletcher Webster Appleton is therefore a great-grandson of the great American statesman and orator, and his given name was be- stowed in honor of Daniel Webster's only son, Col. Fletcher Webster, who was a colonel in the Union army during the Civil war. A daughter of Samuel A. Appleton, Carrie Appleton, became the wife of Jerome Bonaparte, a brother of Charles Bonaparte, who was a member of President Roosevelt's cabinet.

Samuel Appleton, father of Fletcher W. Appleton, has had a distinguished career. He was born in Massachusetts in 1841, was graduated from Yale College with his law degree in 1861, and the same year joined the Twelfth Massachusetts Infantry and was all through the war. He practiced law in Massachusetts several years and was a member of the Legislature of that state one term. In the early 'jos he moved to Chicago and was a lawyer in that city, but since 1887 his home has been at St. Paul, Minnesota. He practiced law in the twin cities, but eventually his services were availed by the West Publishing Company, the largest law publishing con- cern in the world. He has been with this company for over thirty years and is editor in chief of its publication. Samuel Appleton is a republican. He married Miss Anna Jones, who was born in Massa- chusetts in 1843 and died at St. Paul in 1888. Fletcher W. is the oldest of their children. Esther is the wife of Col. Wilson G. Heaton, with home at Fort Douglas, Arizona. Colonel Heaton served in the Spanish-American war, holds the rank of colonel in the regular army, and was with Pershing both on the Mexican border and in the World war. Anna S. Appleton is the wife of John E. Seabury, head of Seabury & Company, an important wholesale gro- cery house in St. Paul. Robert E., the youngest of the family, lives on the Island of Hayti, was former

HISTORY OF MONTANA

United States Consul but is now secretary to the Consul' there.

Fletcher Webster Appleton was born in Chicago October 8, 1873, but received most of his educa- tion in Minnesota. He attended the public schools of St. Paul, graduated in 1892 from the Shattuck Military Academy at Faribault, and for a year and a half pursued the civil engineering course in the University of Minnesota. For two years he was connected with the West Publishing Company at St. Paul, and then followed his profession as civil engineer at Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek until 1897, and at Cincinnati until 1898. On July 25, 1898, during the Spanish-American war, he enlisted in the Fourteenth Minnesota Regiment. He was in training at Chickamauga Park, was a first sergeant with his command, and spent two months at Leech Lake, Minnesota, during the Indian outbreak. In that service he was under the com- mand of General Bacon. He received his discharge November 18, 1898.

Soon afterward Mr. Appleton came to Montana, locating first at Livingston, and soon afterward became superintendent of the McGinnis Gold Min- ing Company at Cook City. He was the executive of that company until 1905. He then resumed his engineering practice at Livingston and became owner of a half interest in the Livingston Land & Abstract Company. Since 1911 Mr. Appleton has been receiver for the Yellowstone Portland Cement Company. His home has been at Bozeman since April 13, 1913. As register of the United States Land Office he has his headquarters in the Federal Building and is responsible for all the records in connection with government lands in the Bozeman district.

Mr. Appleton is a democrat in politics. While at Livingston he was city clerk. He is a vestryman of the Episcopal Church at Bozeman, is affiliated with Bozeman Lodge No. 18, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Livingston Lodge No. 246, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce. He has some mining interests in Montana and owns a dwelling house on Eighth Street in Livingston.

In June, 1904, at Livingston, he married Miss Alberta Graves, a native of Kentucky. They have one daughter, Grace Fletcher, born November 28, 1905.

HARRY EDSON ARNOLD is a veteran railroad man, has been a locomotive fireman or engineer for twenty years, and is one of the best known men of his craft in the state, due to the fact that he is gen- eral chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine Men on the Puget Sound Lines of the Milwaukee System.

Mr. Arnold was born at New Albany, Floyd County, Indiana. June 14, 1882, a son of William and Laura J. (Forsyth) Arnold. His father was born in 1844, and for many years has been a resi- dent of New Albany, where his mother died in No- vember, 1882. They had three children, John David, Florence and Harry Edson. John is also a railroad man, being a switchman at New Albany.

Harry E. Arnold attended the public schools at Seymour, Indiana, graduating from high school in 1899. Almost immediately thereafter he entered the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company, beginning as a fireman, and has been a railroad fire- man in nearly every state of the Union. He came to Montana in 1908, and was a fireman with the North- ern Pacific Railway with headquarters at Missoula, and in 1909 joined the Chicago, Milwaukee & St.

Paul Railway, with headquarters at Deer Lodge. In 1912 he was promoted to engineer and now holds seniority rights as engineer on his division. He was chosen general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Engine Men for the Mil- waukee System on the Puget Sound Lines in IQII, and has been delegated with those responsibilities now for over nine years. Mr. Arnold casts his vote in politics independently. He is affiliated with Deer Lodge No. 14, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Valley Chapter No. 4, Royal Arch Masons, Zabud Council No. 2, Royal and Scottish Masons, Ivanhoe Commandery No. 16 of the Knights Templar, East- ern Montana Consistory No. I, and Algeria 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 9

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