Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 94

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 94

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Edward B. MacPherson, father of the Deer Lodge merchant, was born at Baltimore in 1830 and was a small child when his parents settled at Booneville, Missouri, where he was reared. As a young man he moved to St. Louis and was married in that city and became a steamboat captain. He not only piloted boats up and down the Mississippi between St. Louis and New Orleans, but also followed steamboating on the upper reaches of the Missouri River to Fort Ben- ton, Montana, and along the Yellowstone branch of the Missouri. After many years of activity he retired in 1903, and lived at Deer Lodge until his death in 1905. He was a democrat and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Edward B. MacPherson married Mary Diller, who was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1832 and died at St. Louis in 1899. They had only two children, Harry A. and Mamie. The daughter died in 1876 when eight years of age.

Harry A. MacPherson was born at St. Louis, Missouri, October 25, 1864, and spent his early life in that city, attending the public schools, for three years the academic department of Washington Uni- versity, and two years in the St. Louis High School. At the age of sixteen he went to work for a whole- sale boot and shoe house at St. Louis, but in the sum- mer of 1879 came to Montana, and for four years was with the firm of Caplice & Smith, general mer- chants at Philipsburg. He also represented them in their branch store at New Chicago, and in 1886 established his permanent home at Deer Lodge. Mr. MacPherson was continuously in the employ of the E. L. Bonner Mercantile Company, one of the oldest business organizations in the state, until 1909. In that year he established his present business, incor- porated as the MacPherson Mercantile Company. He has a complete department store, well equipped and stocked in every department. The president of the company is Peter Pauly, Mrs. Peter Pauly is vice president, while Mr. MacPherson has the active management and is secretary and treasurer. The MacPherson store is at the corner of Main and Missouri Avenue.

Mr. MacPherson also owns a modern home at 414 Fourth Street and has two dwelling houses on Fifth Street. He served four years as a member of the

city council, is a democrat, and is an active member and in 1918 was president of the Business Men's Association. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, is past chancellor commander of Valley Lodge No. 6 Knights of Pythias, a member of Royal Lodge, Loyal Order of Moose at Deer Lodge. In 1897 he married Miss Retta Ward, daughter of H. G. and Caroline (Turner) Ward, both now deceased. Her father was a pioneer liveryman at Deer Lodge, and for some years had charge of S. E. Larabie's race horses. Mr. and Mrs. MacPherson have one son, Kenneth, born June 21, 1903, now a student in the Powell County High School and member of the Boy Scouts organization.

CHARLES HAYDEN EGGLESTON, associate editor of the Anaconda Standard, one of the leading jour- nals of this part of Montana, is recognized as one of the clever newspaper men of his day. He was born at Fulton, Oswego County, New York, February 16, 1858, a son of Charles S. Eggleston and grandson of Charles G. Eggleston, a native of New York State, who died near Utica, New York, before his grandson was born. For some years he had been a general merchant of that region. The Eggleston family originated in England, from whence representatives of it came to New York during the colonial period in the history of this country.

Charles S. Eggleston was born in the vicinity of Utica, New York, in 1824, and he died at Ful- ton, New York, in 1893. Reared at his birthplace, Charles S. Eggleston for a time was a clerk in a general store but in 1854 became professor of lan- guages in the Falley Seminary at Fulton, New York. In 1860 he established a book store, and continued in charge of it until his death. A mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he took an active part in its support. His political faith made him a republican, and he was stanch in his adherence to the principles of that party. Charles S. Eggleston was married to Helen Paddock, born at Wolcott, New York, in 1831, and she died at Fulton, New York in 1867, having borne her hus- band the following children: Mary, who died at Fulton, New York, aged thirty years, married W. H. Bridge, a manufacturer, who survives her and lives at Fulton, New York; Frances H. who mar- ried A. B. Blodgett, superintendent of schools of Syracuse, New York, now deceased, lives at Wash- ington, District of Columbia; Charles Hayden, whose name heads this review; Clara who died in infancy ; and Theodore, who also died in infancy.

Charles Hayden Eggleston attended the public schools of Fulton, New York, and the University of Syracuse, New York, being graduated there- from in 1878 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and member of the Greek letter college fraternity, Delta Upsilon. From 1878 to 1882 Mr. Eggleston was a bookkeeper in a brokerage office at Buffalo, New York, and then in the latter year entered the newspaper field as reporter for the Syracuse Stand- ard, rising to be city editor in 1885, and continu- ing as such until 1889. In September, 1889, Mr. Eggleston came to Anaconda as associate editor of the Anaconda Standard, which he helped in organizing, the editor being J. H. Durston, now editor of the Butte Post. The other associate of Mr. Eggleston in organizing the Standard was W. W. Wallsworth. The first copy was issued September 5, 1889, and the policy of the paper has always been democratic. The financial backer of the paper was Marcus Daly. The Standard Pub- lishing Company owns the fine building at the corner of Main and Third streets. The original

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plant was burned on February 4, 1918, and the present two-story brick structure was immediately built to replace it. The presses, job room and busi- ness office are on the ground floor, while the edi- torial, composing and stereotyping rooms are on the second. Several additional rooms are rented as offices. The plant is equipped with all modern machinery and appliances for the issuance of a daily paper and carrying on of a large job print- ing business. The Standard circulates all over the state and is the official paper of Deerlodge County. Mr. Eggleston is a democrat and is very active in his party, being elected on its ticket to the Upper House of the State Legislature of Montana in 1893 and 1907, serving in all eight years. While in office he served on the corporations other than municipal committees and other important com- mittees, and served his constituents faithfully and well. Both by inheritance and belief he is a Metho- dist, and serves the church of Anaconda as trus- tee. Fraternally he belongs to Anaconda Lodge No. 239, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and socially is a member of the Anaconda Rotary Club, the Anaconda Club and the Anaconda Coun- try Club. He owns a modern residence at No. 712 Hickory Street.

On December 23, 1884, Mr. Eggleston was mar- ried at Syracuse, New York, to Miss Jessie Vir- ginia Coleman, a daughter of C. C. Coleman, who died in Syracuse, New York, as did his wife, where he had operated for a number of years as a real estate broker. Mr. and Mrs. Eggleston have one son, Charles L., who lives at Berkeley, California, and is with the Southern Pacific Railroad.

RODNEY E. FOSTER. The active career of Rodney E. Foster of Dillon covers about twenty years. The first ten he spent as a railroad fireman and engi- neer in Michigan. The last ten he has lived in Montana, and in this great state has found bigger and broader opportunities for usefulness and suc- cess. He is one of the leading livestock com- mission men of Montana and is connected officially with several companies controlling great tracts of land and handling sheep and other livestock by the thousands.

Mr. Foster was born at Dundee, Michigan, Janu- ary 19, 1880. His Foster ancestors were Scotch and English and were colonial settlers in the State of Maine. He might properly claim the inheri- tance of pioneer instinct from his father, C. D. Foster, who was a western plainsman for many years. C. D. Foster was born in Maine in 1837, and spent a number of years of his early life in Nevada and California. He had the distinction of being the first man to drive a stage out of Carson City, Ne- vada. He was all over the plains in the early days. For five years he was a stage driver in the Sacra- mento Valley of California and also did placer mining in the early days of the Pacific Coast. About 1877 he returned East and was satisfied after that with the quiet environment of the farm at Dundee, Michigan. He married there and was a farmer and stock raiser until his death in September, 1918. Politically he was a republican and was a very regular attendant and active supporter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife was Miss Lusetta Hall, who was born in Holland, Ohio, in 1843, and is still living at Dundee, Michigan. Their children were: F. A., agent for the Boston & Al- bany Railway Company, living at Litchfield, Con- necticut; C. C. Foster, who died at Chicago in November, 1918, and for many years was a millin- ery salesman for Hyland Brothers; George W., a resident of Boston and traveling salesman for

Strong & Sons, a boot and shoe house of that city; C. D., who is in the sheep business and handles about 3,000 head every year with home at Harri- son, Montana; Arthur B., who was a clerk and died at Butte, Montana, in 1912; Rodney E .; and Isa- belle, wife of Frank Strong, in the elevator and grain business at Rockwood, Michigan.

Rodney E. Foster received his early education in the public schools of Dundee, Michigan, gradu- ating from high school in 1899. Soon afterward he entered the service of the Grand Trunk Rail- way, and was fireman five years and locomotive engineer five years, his headquarters being at De- troit. He came to Montana and located at Dillon in 1909, and has since engaged in the livestock business. As a livestock commission man his offices are in the Telephone Building at Dillon. Mr. Fos- ter is associated with Senator E. O. Selway as as- sistant general manager of the Selway Sheep Com- pany. Senator Selway is president, Frank Schultz is vice president, and George M. Melton is secre- tary and treasurer. This company has one ranch of 7,000 acres on Blacktail Creek, and two other ranches comprising 3,000 acres between Divide and Melrose. The company's operations are conducted on a large scale and involve the handling of about 23,000 sheep annually.

Mr. Foster is president of the Montana Livestock Commission Company and in association with George M. Melton owns a ranch of 2,400 acres with water rights at Feely, Montana. Mr. Foster is a republican voter, a member of the Episcopal Church, is affiliated with Oroy Plata Lodge No. 390 of the Elks at Virginia City, and is a former member and past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias. He and his family live in a modern home at 903 South Washington Street. He married at Kansas City, Missouri, June 10, 1904, Miss Emma G. Churchill, daughter of Charles and Addie (McDaniels) Churchill. Mrs. Churchill lives with Mr. and Mrs. Foster. Mr. Churchill, deceased, was for many years chief mail clerk on the Missouri Pacific Railway with headquarters at St. Louis. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have two chil- dren : Rodney C. and Walter.

LEWIS CLARK FORD, M. D. The oldest physician in point of service at Lima, Montana, Dr .. Lewis . Clark Ford, Sr., came to this state thirty years ago and has since been in continuous practice. Dur- ing this long period he has not only risen to a high place in his profession, but has been an active, helpful and constructive factor in the development of the section, his name and services having been identified with numerous movements which have contributed to progress and advancement along va- rious lines.

Doctor Ford belongs to a family which originated in England and crossed the Atlantic during the seventeenth century. He was born at Keokuk, Iowa, July 4, 1852, a son of Eliakim Reed and Margaret (Stilwell) Ford. His father was born December 10, 1822, in the State of New York, and as a young man removed to Keokuk, Iowa, where he was married June 23, 1849, to Margaret Stil- well, born at Keokuk, November 22, 1829, as the first white child born there, a daughter of Moses and Anna Maria (Van Orsdal) Stilwell. She died at Keokuk, May 18, 1875, having been the mother of seven children: Eliakim, born May 9, 1850, who died December 2, 1851; Lewis Clark; Ernest, born August 18, 1854, who died March 29, 1855; Frank Bailey, born October 4, 1856, who when last heard from was a resident of Phoenix, Arizona; Edgar, born February 22, 1859, who died

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August 23, 1864; George Lee, born February 22, 1862, who died August 23, 1864; and Anna Maria, born October 13, 1867, the wife of Clarence M. King, of Seattle, Washington. Eliakim R. Ford married for his second wife November 14, 1878, Jane Lee, of South Peters, St. Charles County, Missouri, who died at De Soto, that state, in 1912. Eliakim Reed Ford was a banker, real estate broker and prominent business man and leading citizen. In 1864 he came to what is now Beaverhead Coun- ty, Montana, then Owyhee County and a part of Idaho, to develop a mine, but decided to buy and operate a stampmill instead, and this venture prov- ing unsucessful, he lost a fortune and returned to Keokuk, where he bought into the Iowa Coal Com- pany, which he conducted at Oskaloosa, with head- quarters at Keokuk. He was president of that company until he disposed of his interests in 1866 and went to St. Louis, where he interested him- self in real estate ventures until 1870, then going to St. Charles, Missouri, where he had large and important interests. Eventually he went to Rich- field, Missouri, where he settled down on a farm, and there his death occurred December 29, 1886. He was a republican of the old school, and a mem- of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At the outbreak of the Civil war he was acting as professor of gynecology at the University of Iowa Medical College, and became the surgeon in charge of the medical corps of the home guards, with which he served during the period of the war.

Lewis Clark Ford attended the public schools of Keokuk and the Peekskill Military Academy, at Peekskill-on-the-Hudson, and in 1868 was gradu- ated from the Keokuk High School. Following this he clerked in a bookstore at Keokuk for two years, and then went to Cornwall, Missouri, as agent for the Iron Mountain Railway, and while there carried on merchandising and acted as super- intendent of a mine for two years. Returning to St. Louis, for eighteen months he was engaged in the coal business, and then went to Keokuk again. Accidental happenings often change the entire course of men's lives, and it was so in the case of Doctor Ford. At Keokuk he imposed upon himself the duty of caring for a close friend who had been injured in an accident, and while per- forming this service he became impressed with the value of the medical profession and decided to enter that science. His preliminary studies were prosecuted under Dr. J. C. Hughes, Sr., dean of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Keokuk, and in 1876 he was graduated from that institu- tion with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Doctor Ford began the practice of medicine in 1876 at Keokuk, Iowa, and then moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, where he remained for two years, and then went to Como, Colorado, where he was sur- geon for the Denver & South Park Railroad for two years, then going to Monte Vista, that state, where he remained until 1889. During that pe- riod he served as coroner of Park County, Colo- rado, and county physician of Rio Grande County. On March 29, 1889, he took up his residence and began practice at Lima, Montana, where he has since remained in continuous practice, and at this time is the pioneer physician of the city. From 1909 until 1919 he served as coroner of Beaver- head County, and during the past thirty years has held his present position as assistant surgeon for the Oregon Short Line. His standing in his pro- fession is of the highest, and he is generally es- teemed as a man of the highest professional ethics by his fellow members in the Montana State Medi- cal Society and the American Medical Association.

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For a number of years he served as justice of the peace, and for twelve years acted as postmaster at Lima, during the administrations of Presidents Mckinley, Roosevelt and Taft. He votes the straight republican ticket.

Doctor Ford is the owner of a modern residence on Main Street, several other dwellings, Ford's Hall and the drug store building, and is a stock- holder in the Lima State Bank. With other pro- gressive and public-spirited men he has backed movements which have had for their object the development and betterment of the section, princi- pal among which were the reservoir and ditch schemes. Associated in these projects were Charles T. Stewart, secretary of state, Edward Ripley, of Dillon, A. J. Holmes, of Garden City, Kansas, and James Dresser, of Mason City, Michigan, their object being the development of the reservoir and ditch twelve miles east of Lima. These men were starting out to make their fortunes at that time. and were not men of large means, with the pos- sible exception of Mr. Dresser, who was relied upon to finance the proposition, although he had to borrow from the Mason City Bank. The reser- voir was completed, a tunnel dug through the sand rock at the side of the dam, which was located in Madison (now Beaverhead) County, and the reservoir was started in 1891, but a series of mis- fortunes, including the year of the financial panic and the caving of the roof of the tunnel in 1894, caused Doctor Ford and the others to dispose of their interests, and the cattlemen, who did not wish homesteaders to occupy the lands of Red Rock Valley, succeeded with other influences in hav- ing the dam condemned. Later Joseph Williams, Judge Lindsay, William Stewart, and Marco Medin took up the matter but later sold out to a Chicago financier who in turn sold it to the Beaverhead Valley Water Users Association. The reservoir and dam now supply the entire Red Rock Valley, as well as some farm lands beyond this region. Doctor Ford is prominent as a fraternalist, belong- ing to Evergreen Lodge No. 45, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Lima, of which he is past master ; Dillon Chapter. No. 8, Royal Arch Ma- sons; St. Elmo Commandery No. 7, Knights Tem- plar, of Dillon; Butte Consistory, thirty-second degree; Bagdad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Butte, and Elva Boardman Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, of Lima, of which he is past patron. He is also a member of the Montana State Medical Association and the American Medical Association.

On August 16, 1878, Doctor Ford was united in marriage at Nauvoo, Illinois, with Lucie Miller Ohler, daughter of Benjamin and Susan (Adams) Ohler, born at Barbourville, Kentucky, November 17, 1854. To this union there have been born four children : Lewis Clark, Jr., born July 9, 1879, who resides on his ranch east of Snowline, Beaverhead County; Lucie Miller, born in December, 1880, who was married June 25, 1907, to Dr. Maurice Anson Walker, a physician and surgeon of Dillon ; Adda Susan, born March 22, 1886, who was mar- ried March 27, 1911, to Raymond Alton Richard- son, of Lima, a conductor on the Oregon Short Line Railway; and Lucille, born February 22, 1895, who died in infancy.

THOMAS J. MCKENZIE, M. D. Distinguished not only as the pioneer physician and surgeon at Ana- conda, but as a leader also in its civil development and public affairs, Dr. Thomas J. Mckenzie for thirty years has been one of the needed, practical, far-sighted men of this city whose earnest efforts

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in every direction have been for the general wel- fare. Doctor Mckenzie is a native of Tennessee, and was born at Lexington, March 27, 1865.

The parents of Doctor Mckenzie were Dr. James F. and Elizabeth (Galbraith) Mckenzie. The father was born in 1824, in Kentucky, but was reared and married in Tennessee. He was a gradu- ate of the medical department of the Kentucky University at Louisville. After practicing his pro- fession for thirty-five years at Lexington, Tennes- see, and in the vicinity, he retired and in 1884 re- moved to Texas, and his death occurred at Hills- boro in that state in 1891. During the war be- tween the states he served in the Confederate army. In politics he was always a democrat, belonged to the Masonic fraternity and was a faithful mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The mother of Doctor Mckenzie survives and lives at Fort Worth, Texas. Her birth took place in 1839, in Mississippi. They were the parents of the following children : John F., who is a fa mer near Pittsburg, Texas; Emma, who is the wife of D. M. Alexander, an attorney at Fort Worth, Texas; Thomas J .; Jasper N., who died at Hillsboro, Texas, when aged twenty-one years; Dan, who is in Gov- ernment service at Fort Worth; Ada, who is the wife of Frank S. Sullenberger, president of a bank at Amarillo, Texas; Oda, who lives at Fort Worth; Ida, who is the wife of Ross Ozier, of Amarillo, where he has a cattle ranch; Urna, who is the wife of A. J. Mckinnon, a banker at Tucson, Arizona; William C., who is a cattleman near Amarillo; Maude, who is the wife of W. C. Corn, who has extensive cattle interests near Fort Worth; and Mertie, who resides at Fort Worth, Texas.

Thomas J. Mckenzie was primarily educated in the public schools of Lexington, Tennessee, and later of Henderson, Kentucky, and was graduated from the high school of the latter city in 1879, then entering the University of West Tennessee, from which he was graduated in 1884. In 1885 he went to Hillsboro, Texas, where he spent the year punching cattle. In the meanwhile his pre- paratory medical reading was not neglected, for he early chose his father's profession, and in 1886 he entered the University Medical College at Louis- ville, from which he was graduated in February, 1889, with his degree of M. D. For about a year afterward he served as an interne in the Louis- ville City Hospital, and on many occasions has attended clinics and taken post graduate courses in the Polyclinic and Rush Medical schools, Chi- cago; the Post Graduate School in New York, and with the Mayo Brothers at Rochester, Minne- sota. Doctor Mckenzie came to Anaconda, March 9, 1889, and has remained here. His professional standing is high and he is identified with all the leading medical organizations of this section, be- ing a member of the Deer Lodge County Medical Association and is former president, is an ex-presi- dent also of the Montana State Medical Associa- tion, and belongs to and is highly valued in the American Medical Association. For twenty-two years he was surgeon for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, and for the past twenty-six years has been surgeon for the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway, this connection beginning before the railroad came through Anaconda.

Not alone has Doctor Mckenzie been permitted to devote himself to his profession. Recognition and appreciation of his public spirit, his sense of justice, his business ability and sterling charac- ter led to his election as mayor of Anaconda in 1905 on the democratic ticket, and he served in 1906 and 1907, during which time many public im-

provements were made, needed reforms suggested and inoperative laws put in operation, all for the betterment of the city.

At Anaconda, in 1891, Doctor Mckenzie was united in marriage to Miss Thula Hardenbrook, who is a daughter of A. and Thula (Walker) Harden- brook, the latter of whom is deceased. The father of Mrs. Mckenzie is a retired physician now liv- ing at Missoula, Montana, who came to Anaconda in pioneer times. Doctor and Mrs. Mckenzie have had five children, namely: Frank W., who was a corporal in the aviation service in the great war, was sent overseas and was on his way to Metz when the armistice was signed, was mustered out of the National army July 1, 1919, and is now at home; Allen, who died when aged eight years; Anna, who is a graduate of the Anaconda High School and completed the junior year at the State University at Missoula, is a stenographer for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Anaconda ; Elizabeth, who attends school in the city; and Thomas J., Jr., the youngest who is nine years of age. Mrs. Mckenzie is vice regent of the Daugh- ters of the Revolution for the State of Montana and her daughters also belong to this patriotic body. Doctor Mckenzie belongs to Acacia Lodge No. 33, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and to the Rotary Club of Anaconda. He maintains his offices in the Electric Light Building on Main Street, and owns his handsome modern residence at No. 406 Elm Street, Anaconda. He takes pride in an intelligent and worthy ancestry that leads back to Scotland.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 94

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