Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 95

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 95

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

CHARLES E. ASPLING. On of the earliest settlers at Deer Lodge was the late Thomas Aspling. His son Charles E. Aspling came to Montana when about ten years of age, and as he entered the shop of a pio- neer newspaper soon afterward he could make a strong claim to being one of the oldest printers and newspaper men in the state. He has not been in the newspaper and printing business continuously, though during the past fifty years he has served a number of the best known publications in Montana. Mr. Aspling is proprietor and editor of the Powell County Post at Deer Lodge.

He was born at Parkville, Missouri, January 24, 1854. His grandfather Peter Aspling brought his family from Canterbury, England, in 1824, and set- tled in Southern Missouri around Springfield, where he spent the rest of his life as a farmer. The late Thomas Aspling was born at Canterbury, England, in 1815, and lived a full century. His death occurred at Deer Lodge in 1915. He was about nine years of age when he accompanied the family to this country, and from his father's farm in Southern Missouri he went to St. Louis, where he grew to manhood. Not long afterward he settled in the extreme west- ern Missouri on the Missouri River at Parkville, then an important and historic town. He married there and was an Indian trader and also owned a grist and flour mill. In 1857 he opened a stock of goods a few miles south of Parkville in what is now Kansas City, Missouri, and was one of the first merchants of that now splendid metropolis. Thomas Aspling had all the qualities of the western pioneer, possess- ing the ability to adapt himself to the difficult and frequently dangerous circumstances and with a zest for adventure that led him to keep well out on the frontier of western civilization. In 1864 he came to Montana and was a placer miner at Virginia City, Alder Gulch and in the Last Chance mine near Hel- ena. Thomas Aspling established his pioneer busi- ness at Deer Lodge in 1866. At first he ran a commissary for the miners, and later engaged in the

C. E. aspling

337

HISTORY OF MONTANA

general merchandise business, continuing it upwards of forty years until he retired in 1905. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest members of the Masonic fraternity, having joined that organiza- tion in St. Louis. He became a charter member of Deer Lodge Lodge No. 14, Ancient Free and Accept- ed Masons, and was also a member of Valley Chap- ter No. 4, Royal Arch Masons. He voted independ- ently in politics and was a prominent Presbyterian, helping establish that church in Deer Lodge and serv- ing it as an elder for many years. Thomas Aspling married Georgiana Kelley, who was born at Fred- ericksburg, Virginia, in 1832. She died at Deer Lodge in 1899. They were the parents of three sons. T. P., the oldest, was a merchant at Dupuyer in Cho- teau County, Montana, where he died in 1907. Charles E. is the second in age. Robert, the youngest, accidentally shot himself while out hunting at the age of fourteen.

Charles E. Aspling left his books and studies in the public schools of Deer Lodge at the age of fifteen. He had entered the printing office of the Independ- ent when it was established at Deer Lodge in 1867, and learned the trade and worked for the Indepen- dent four years, later helping move it to Helena. Afterwards he returned to Deer Lodge and for four- teen years was foreman of the printing office of the New Northwest. Beginning in 1884 Mr. Aspling was in business as a merchant at Anaconda four years, and when the Anaconda Standard was established he joined that publication and was with it for eight years. Mr. Aspling left the newspaper office to do some active work as a miner through Powell and Granite counties, and is still interested in mining being president of the Elk Mining Company. Resuming his residence at Deer Lodge in 1905 he was with the Silver State for three years, and in 1909 established the Powell County Post, of which he has since been editor and proprietor. This is the leading paper in Powell County, having a circulation over that and surrounding counties, and is demo- cratic in politics. The plant on Missouri Avenue just off Main Street has every facility in the way of machinery and equipment for the publication of a modern newspaper. Mr. Aspling owns the business and his son James is his active partner in the busi- ness. His substantial home adjoins his printing plant.

Mr. Aspling has always been a democratic voter. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a past chancellor commander of Valley Lodge No. 6, Knights of Pythias, and a past grand master of the exchequer of the Grand Lodge of Montana. He is a member of the Deer Lodge Chamber of Commerce.

In 1875 at Deer Lodge he married Miss Mattie Emma Self, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Self, now deceased. Her father followed the trade of machinist in Nebraska and Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Aspling have four children. Their oldest son Charles M. volunteered in the army in 1917 and went overseas in 1918 as a corporal in the Fourth En- gineers. During one of the drives of the summer of 1918 he was severely gassed, and was sent to a field hospital and afterward invalided home, and had a long period of recovery at Fort Bayard, New Mex- ico. He has since returned home and is now dep- uty county clerk of Powell County. The only daugh- ter, Mary E., is the wife of Arthur E. Davis, an ab- stractor at Butte. Thomas B. is a machinist in the local shops at Deer Lodge of the Chicago, Milwau- kee & St. Paul Railway. James S., his father's partner, is a graduate of the Powell County High School.

FREDERICK LAIST, general manager of the reduc- tion department of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company at Anaconda, and one of the most ex- perienced men of his calling in the country, has won his present standing through his own merit. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, October 30, 1878, a son of Otto Laist, now a resident of Oak- land, California. Otto Laist was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1836, and when about twenty years of age came to the United States, settling at Cin- cinnati, where until 1892 he was engaged in the manufacture of glycerine, but in that year disposed of his interests and went to Oakland, California, to become an employe of the California Powder Company. He is now retired from active life. Politically Otto Laist is a republican. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Hochstetter, and she was born in Wurtemberg, Germany. Their chil- dren are as follows: Alexander, who lives at Han- cock, Michigan, is superintendent of the Quincy smelter; Theodore F., who is an architect of Chi- cago; Otto, who is a physician and surgeon of San Francisco, California; Frederick, whose name heads this review; and Herbert H. R., who is a manufactures' agent of San Francisco, California.

Frederick Laist attended the public schools of Cincinnati, Ohio, through the sixth grade, and then his parents moving to Oakland, California, he completed the grammar course and took the high school course in that city, being graduated in the latter in 1898, following which he became a stu- dent at the University of California at Berkeley, from which he was graduated in 1901, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In the fall of that same year Mr. Laist became a teacher in the Santa Ana High School of chemistry and physics, and a year later left California for the University of Utah, at which he was instructor of chemistry for a year. For the subsequent year he was iden- tified with work in the mines and smelters of Utah, coming to Anaconda in the spring of 1903 and entering the testing department of the Ana- conda Copper Mining Company, and has since re- mained with this corporation, rising steadily through the positions of chief chemist, superintendent of the blast furnace, assistant superintendent, general superintendent and metallurgical manager to his present one of general manager of the reduction department, including the plants at Anaconda and Great Falls, Montana. He also occupies an advisory position with reference to the plans for the work of the company in South America. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company has large properties un- der the name of the Andes Copper Mining Com- pany, of which Mr. Laist is consulting engineer. The plant and offices of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company are located three miles east of Anaconda. Under Mr. Laist's supervision are 5,000 employes at the two plants of Anaconda and Great Falls. Mr. Laist is an independent repub- lican. During the great war he took an active part in filling the quota for this region in the va- rious Liberty Loan drives, and was president of the War Chest fund, raising considerably more than the allotment for his district. Taking an in- telligent interest in the work of the Rotary Club, Mr. Laist served it as president in 1918, and was president of the Anaconda Club in 1917. He also belongs to the Anaconda Country Club, the Silver Bow Club of Butte, Montana, the American Insti- tute of Mining Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the Sigma Psi Greek letter fraternity. The Laist residence at No. 218 West Seventh Street, Anaconda, is owned by him.

In April, 1908, Mr. Laist was married to Miss

338

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Rosalba Murphy, at Butte, Montana, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy is deceased, but Mr. Murphy survives and lives at Portland, Oregon. He is now retired, but at one time was a pioneer mining man of Butte, Montana. Mrs. Laist was graduated from the Butte High School. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Laist are as follows: James Wallace, born in August, 1910; Dorothy Ann, who was born in August, 1912; and Virginia, who was born in September, 1914. Mr. Laist is a constructive optimist, with a prac- tical vision and an abiding faith in the possibilities and prosperity of Anaconda, and any measure look- ing toward its advancement has in him a sponsor. His work during the period this country was at war was of a character tht will not be easily for- gotten, and he is performing equally important work in the difficult reconstruction days which are proving the worth of real patriots, even more than when actual warfare was in progress.

JOHN H. DUFFY, who has the distinction of being the leading attorney of Anaconda, is a man of acute mind, carefully developed to its full powers, his natural acumen sharpened by training and ex- perience, which attributes have enabled him to augment his resources in handling the important litigation entrusted to his care, and to gain ver- dicts for his clients others less learned and adept would have failed to obtain. He was born at Sac- ramento, California, March 4, 1859, a son of James Duffy. The birth of James Duffy took place at Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland in 1821, and he died at Sacramento, California, in 1893. Leaving Ireland when but a lad of sixteen years, he reached New York City just when enlistments were being asked for the Mexican war, and he offered his services to what he intended should be his adopted country. Although too young for a sol- dier, he was accepted as a drummer boy, and as such participated in the ensuing campaign and was a source of inspiration to his comrades. As a re- sultant effect of the gold excitement of 1849 James Duffy went to Sacramento in 1850, and mined on the American and Feather rivers, and in Nevada County, California, prospecting for gold and meet- ing with moderate success. He was a practical man, and soon saw that there was much money to be made freighting in a section where there were no railroads and necessities had to be brought in from the outside. In this he reaped a harvest that was deserved, for he was one of the pioneer freighters and endured many hardships and en- countered dangers that might have proven fatal had he not been unsually courageous and resource- ful .. With the outbreak of the Civil war this intrepid frontiersman and former drummer boy enlisted in the Union army in 1861, and served until its close, and then having helped to secure peace, came back to Sacramento and was engaged in the con- struction work of the state capitol building until it was completed. As an aftermath of his freight- ing experiences Mr. Duffy then bought a neces- sary number of horses, wagons and other equip- ment and established himself in an express busi- ness that he conducted until his death, having made himself useful all his life, and proving a valuable asset to the country to which he had come in his immature boyhood. He was a democrat. Both by inheritance and conviction he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. His wife bore the maiden name of Catherine Smith, and she was horn at West Meath, Ireland, in 1823, and died at Los Angeles, California, in 1916. Of the six

children born to James Duffy and his wife, John H. Duffy is the only one who outlived childhood.

After attending the public schools of Sacramento, John H. Duffy took a business and collegiate course under President E. C. Atkinson at the Sacramento Business College, from which he was graduated in June, 1876, and in August of that year began the study of law in the office of J. N. Young. After a year he went in the office of J. C. Goods, a lead- ing attorney of Sacramento, and when Mr. Goods died seventeen months later Mr. Duffy entered the office of J. W. Armstrong, who was later superior judge of Sacramento County, and remained in that office for two years. For the subsequent year he was with C. T. Jones, and then returned to the office of J. N. Young, where he remained until March 3, 1882. On March 12th of that year he came to Montana and located at Butte, was ad- mitted to the bar in August, and thereafter was engaged in a general law practice at Butte until June, 1895, when he came to Anaconda, and has been located here ever since. His practice is not confined to any local area, but extends all over the state. Mr. Duffy's offices are in Nos. 9, 10 and 12 Durston Block, and there he has what is per- haps the most complete working library in Mon- tana. Mr. Duffy is a Wilsonian democrat, and has been very active in his party, serving as county attorney of Deer Lodge County for two consecu- tive terms, from 1897 to 1901. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. The Anaconda Club holds his membership, and he also belongs to Ana- conda Lodge No. 239, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with which order he has been con- nected for twenty years, and for four years he has been a trustee of the local lodge. His modern resi- dence at No. 122 West Fifth Street is one of the very best ones at Anaconda, and is surrounded by beautifully kept grounds 90 by 100 feet.

In December, 1887, Mr. Duffy was married at Deer Lodge, Montana, to Miss Martha Welch, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Welch of Athens, Michi- gan, where he was a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Duffy have the following children: Catherine Amelia and Floy Marie. The elder daughter was married to W. A. McIntyre, and they have three children, namely: Duffy McIntyre, who was born in 1915; Floy Martha, who was born in 1916; and Mary Belle, who was born June 9, 1919. Mrs. McIntyre was graduated from the Anaconda High School and also from a Miss Clark's School of Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia. The McIntyre family residence is on the corner of Eighth and Hickory streets, Anaconda, which Mr. McIntyre owns, and he and his brother, Alexander McIntyre, conduct a men's furnishing store on East Park Street. The younger daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Duffy is a graduate of the Anaconda High School, and is now residing with her parents.

D. A. GALT is secretary and treasurer of the Beaverhead Motors Company, Incorporated, at Dil- lon. Mr. Galt, a newcomer in Montana, is an ag- gressive young business man, and has had a varied and successful experience as an engineer and in other lines of industry.

He was born at Sterling, Illinois, May 6, 1890. His ancestors came from England and were early settlers in Pennsylvania. His father, LeRoy Galt, was born at Sterling, Illinois, in 1850, and spent his active business life there as a manufacturer of farm implements and as a banker. He retired from business in 1918 and now lives at Winter Park, Florida. He is a republican, an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and rendered many valuable

Arebillions

339

HISTORY OF MONTANA

services to his home community in Illinois. He died at Muncie, Indiana, in 1892. There were ten married Miss Annie Carter, who was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1852 and died at Ster- ling, Illinois, in 1896. They had four children, D. A. Galt being the youngest. The oldest is Thomas A., in the sales department of the Adams-Westlake Company, a prominent and nationally known house manufacturing brass and other castings. Margaret is the wife of J. E. Gilroy, director of physical education in the public schools of Gary, Indiana. Helen is employed in the Daly Bank & Trust Com- pany of Anaconda, Montana. LeRoy Galt married for his second wife Mary Harvey, a native of Sterling, Illinois, and they have one son, Robert, now a student in the University of Florida.

D. A. Galt graduated from the Sterling High School in 1909, and finished his sophomore year in the University of Illinois at Champaign. He specialized in science and engineering courses. In 1911 he went to the extreme southern point of the United States, Brownsville, Texas, and was em- ployed as civil engineer on the canal there and also did some farming. In 1914 he went to Freeport, Illinois, and at Bridgeport was engaged in the vegetable and greenhouse business until May, 1918. At that date he identified himself with Montana and was for about nine months city engineer of Anaconda. He came to Dillon in March, 1919, and acquired an interest in the Beaverhead Motors Company, Incorporated. The business was incor- porated March 10, 1919. Roy Murray, of Butte, is president, Fred Woodside, of Dillon, is vice president, and D. A. Galt has the responsibilities of secretary and treasurer. The company are the accredited agents over a large section of Montana who are handling the Ford cars and Ford tractors. The plant and offices are on Idaho Street.

Mr. Galt is a republican voter and a member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1913, at Sterling, Illi- nois, he married Miss Helen Briggs, a daugher of F. D. and Edith (McDermott) Briggs, residents of Sterling. Her father is a traveling representa- tive of the Rock Falls Manufacturing Company. Mr. and Mrs. Galt have one son, William Briggs, born January 22, 1917.

JOSEPH EATON MONROE. The service by which his name is most widely known in Montana was Profes- sor Monroe's connection for over twenty years with the Montana Normal College at Dillon, where he was head of the physics and chemistry department, and later president of the institution. He still takes a great interest in educational affairs, being presi- dent for 1919 of the Montana State Teachers Asso- ciation. However he gave up his work at the Mon- tana Normal College early in that year and is now engaged in banking and is also mayor of Dillon.

Mr. Monroe was born at Xenia, Ohio, Novem- ber 26, 1864. His grandfather was Robert Munro, as he spelled the name, a land owner at Dornoch, Scotland, where he spent his life. Robert was a son of James Munro. Hugh. Monroe, father of J. E. Monroe, was born at Dornoch in 1807, was well educated, and as a youth spent some time in the British army. He came to the United States in 1840, and for five years was a contractor on the old Wabash and Erie Canal, his residence during that time being at Toledo. He then moved to the south- western section of Ohio, was married at Xenia, and spent the greater part of his life as a farmer. He died at Mound Valley, Kansas, in 1882. He began voting in this country as a whig and later was a stanch republican. He was a devout United Presbyterian. Hugh Monroe married Jemima Steele, who was born at Urbana, Ohio, in 1823 and

children : Elizabeth C., of Mound Valley, Kansas, where her husband, James Beggs, was a pioneer farmer and stockman and died in April, 1919; Rob- ert W., who died at Muncie, Indiana, in 1916; Sarah J., a resident of Muncie, Indiana, widow of John A. Keener, who was an attorney; Marv E., who died at Muncie in 1914, wife of Dr. G. R. Green, a physician and surgeon at Muncie; Agnes, wife of Robert H. Traver, a retired stockman at Poughkeepsie, New York; John Riley, who died at Mound Valley, Kansas, in 1909, whose business was as a druggist; Jennie F., who died unmarried at Muncie in 1906; James A., a contractor and builder at Tulsa, Oklahoma; Anna R., twin sister of James, wife of J. O. Wilson, a banker at Mound Valley, Kansas.

Joseph Eaton Monroe was the youngest of the family. He received most of his education in the public schools of Muncie, Indiana, graduating from high school there in the class of 1879. He soon afterward went to Mound Valley, Kansas, and pre- pared for a career of teaching in the Fort Scott Normal College at Fort Scott, Kansas. He was graduated with the class of 1886, and during the next three years was principal of a normal school at Great Bend, Kansas. In 1889 he went abroad, back to the land of his ancestors, and spent sev- eral years in post-graduate work specializing in physics and chemistry in the University of Scot- land at Glasgow. After this intensive training Professor Monroe returned to Fort Scott, Kansas and was professor of physics and chemistry in the Normal College in that city until 1897.

He came to Dillon in 1897 to take the Chair of Physics and Chemistry in the Montana Normal Col- lege. In 1906 he was given the additional duties of vice president, and in 1912 became president, and for seven years gave his talents and energies to the administrative duties of his office. He re- signed March 22, 1919. He is now associated with the State Bank of Dillon.

Mr. Monroe was elected mayor of Dillon on April 7, 1919. During his residence at Dillon he has interested himself in all the larger questions of local welfare and the first months spent in his present office have witnessed a very thorough and business like administration of municipal affairs. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and is a prominent Mason, being past master of Dillon Lodge No. 23, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, past high priest of Dillon Chapter No. 8, Royal Arch Masons, past commander of St. Elmo Com- mandery No. 7, Knights Templar, and in 1914 was potentate of Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Butte. Mr. Monroe owns a modern home at 506 Atlantic Street and another dwelling house at 430 Atlantic Street. He married at Wellsville, Missouri, in 1895, Miss Elizabeth Eidson, dangh- ter of Matthew B. and Mary J. (Waters) Eid- son. Her mother is a resident of St. Louis. Her father, who spent his active life as a contractor and architect, died at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1910.

CHARLES HENRY WILLIAMS. While Montana in former years had many immense domains owned by individuals or syndicates devoted to the grazing of livestock, the developments of recent years have left few of these large holdings. One of the big un- divided ranches at the present time is that owned by the firm of Williams & Pauly. This firm has an immense sheep ranch not far from Deer Lodge. Senator Williams of this firm is a Montana pioneer and has been in the livestock industry for many years and he is one of the best known stock men in the

310

HISTORY OF MONTANA

state. His four terms as State Senator have also made him widely known as a figure in public life.

Mr. Williams was born in Appanoose County, Iowa, September 28, 1856. In the paternal line he is of Welsh ancestry, his forefathers having settled in Vermont in Colonial times. His grandfather was born in Bennington County, Vermont, about 1809 and moved West and became a pioneer in the Ohio Western Reserve, acquiring a farm not far from the Village of Cleveland and now almost a part of that city. He lived there until he died in 1890. He married a Miss Muzzy of Vermont of French an- cestry. Z. E. Williams, father of Senator Williams, was born in Bennington County, Vermont, in 1825 and was a child when his parents moved to the vi- cinity of Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up on his father's farm. That farm is still intact, being owned by Senator Williams and other heirs and is a highly valuable property. Z. E. Williams was married at Cleveland and for many years was a railroad con- tractor. In 1848 he moved to Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, was a pioneer farmer in that locality, and in 1853 went to Appanoose County, Iowa, where he cleared up and developed one of the best farms in that then wilderness section remote from any rail- road. He was a hard working Iowa farmer for many years, but in 1908 retired and moved to Deer Lodge, Montana, where he died in 1913. Politically he was a democrat. Z. E. Williams married Asen- eth E. Jackson who was born at Troy, New York, in 1828 and died at Deer Lodge, Montana, in 1903. Her father, William Jackson, was a Michigan farmer and was a cousin of President Andrew Jackson. The children of Z. E. Williams and wife were: Delilah, who died in Appanoose County, Iowa, in 1878, unmarried; Charles Henry ; Adda M., who died at Anaconda, Montana, at the age of thirty years, wife of Arthur Truscott who is now a mine operator near Princeton, Montana; W. J. Williams associated with his brother Charles on the ranch; Emma who died unmarried in 1878.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume II, Part 95

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