Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 103

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III > Part 103

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).

In 1906 he went to the country north of Willis- ton and took up a homestead, building a little house 12 by 14 and occupying it a's a hachelor. He had an actual farm experience there, harvesting three crops during six years. He was also township clerk for Orthell Township, and there as in Montana took

1019

HISTORY OF MONTANA

a prominent part in the establishment and main- tenance of church and Sabbath schools. He was the originator of the Gladys Sunday School at the postoffice of Gladys, and since coming to Glasgow served five years as superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School and is chairman of the board of trus- tees and the board of stewards of the church.

After leaving his homestead he located at Wil- liston, where for three years he was a factor in the life of the town and was secretary of the Westergaard-Blair Abstract Company. On coming to Montana he and O. P. Hovind bought the Mon- tana Loan and Abstract Company in April, 1913, and in May, 1915, purchased the Valley County Abstract Company. In November, 1917, Mr. Adden became sole manager of the business, buying out O. P. Hovind. On March 1, 1920, the Valley County Abstract Company took over the abstract business of the Rundle Land and Abstract Com- pany, thus acquiring all the abstract records of the county. The initial effort to write up a set of ab- stract of title records for Valley County was made by Pierce and Shoemaker, who established the orig- inal Valley County Abstract Company. The busi- ness was later acquired by R. E. and C. C. John- son of Glasgow, and they in turn sold their in- terests to Adden and Hovind in 1913.

On March 1, 1920, Mr. Adden sold his interest in the Valley County Abstract Company to Messrs. Rasey, Bertsch and Paul. He moved with his fam- ily to an irrigated ranch of 300 acres one mile west from Nashua, Montana, and sixteen miles southeast of Glasgow. The land is rapidly being broken up to get the irrigable areas producing al- falfa. The farm is adapted to stock raising and grain and alfalfa farming. Mr. Adden intends mak- ing this a stock and alfalfa farm.

Whether in business or in community affairs Mr. Adden has always proved a man of convictions and willing to actively support any cause in which his heart is enlisted. He has been president of the Anti-Saloon League of Valley County for several years, worked effectively to make the county dry, and also assumed some responsibilities in the state- wide prohibition movement. During the World war he was on the committee of Four Minute men at Glasgow, and was especially interested in the suc- cess of the drive for funds for war auxiliary pur- poses. He grew up in a republican home and cast his first vote for Colonel Roosevelt, and continued his support of Roosevelt as a progressive in 1912. In 1914 Mr. Adden was a candidate for the Legis- lature on the progressive ticket.

At Williston, North Dakota, November 28, 1912, he married Miss Carrie Fosse. She was born at Ruthven, Iowa, September 22, 1886, third among the twelve children of Mr. and Mrs. Ole O. Fosse, natives of Norway, who were married in the United States and are farmers at White Earth, North Da- kota. Mrs. Adden finished her education in St. Olaf College at Northfield, Minnesota, and had been a teacher for two years when she married. Mr. and Mrs. Adden are the parents of four chil- dren: Dorothy F., Harriet May, William Wesley and Constance Margaret.

QUINCY PERCELL MCCLAMMY. While he was a cowboy when he came into Montana a quarter of a century ago, and was in the employ of several of the prominent ranch outfits, Mr. McClammy for about fifteen years has been an independent farmer and rancher at Oswego, and his stock interests, his farm home, his family and his other relationships stamp him as one of the prominent men of that community.

Mr. McClammy was born near Pineapple, Ala- bama, October 20, 1872. In the paternal line he is of Irish stock. His grandfather, John McClammy, was a slave holding planter of Alabama and his wife, it is said, was a member of the Cherokee tribe of Indians in that state. Their sons were William, Mark and Dot. William McClammy, father of the Oswego rancher, was a native of Alabama, served in the Confederate army during the war between the states, and after the war was sheriff of his county. He died about 1876. His wife was Mollie Snowden, daughter of a planter and slave owner. At his death his widow was left with a family of children whose later or pres- ent locations identify them as follows: Tod, of El Paso, Texas; Mark, who died in Spokane, Wash- ington; Quincy P .; Bettie, Mrs. Robert Boone, of Imperial Valley, California; and William, of Pop- lar, Montana.

Soon after the death of her husband Mrs. Wil- liam McClammy took her family out to Texas and first established a home at Elgin, later moving to Williamson County, near Hutto, where her children grew up. She died there as Mrs. Charles Payne, and by her second marriage had a daughter, Katie, now married and living in Texas. On the death of their mother the McClammy brothers located their little sister Bettie with a family in Elgin, and they then scattered in different directions.

Quincy P. McClammy had no schooling worth mentioning. Even when he was in school playing mumble-the-peg and running horses furnished him a diversion instead of books, and he has always re- gretted the lack of an education that would have helped him over some of the hard places in later life. From Texas he went north into the Cherokee nation of Indian Territory, his only possessions at that time being a horse and saddle and a few dol- lars. He hired out to a half-breed Chickasaw, Frank Colbert, the Colbert ranch being at Pauls Valley. Young McClammy remained there six years keep- ing track of the Colbert cattle. Subsequently he was sent to the Colbert farm near Denison, Texas, and for a time acted as foreman of the negro labor on the plantation. On leaving the Colbert, employ he entered a business that was then comparatively new, "bone picking" over the Indian country. It was an industry that engaged hundreds for a time, especially with the disappearance of the buffalo from the plains. Mr. McClammy also gathered up the bones of cattle and horses and even the skulls of Indians. His shipping points were Colbert, String- town and McAlister. He was thus engaged for a year, and carried from the enterprise some capital.

His next experiences were at Amarillo, Texas, where he remained enjoying a "good time" with his ranger friends, and when his money ran low his friends staked him to a saddle horse and pack and he made a line for Channing, Texas, on the staked plains, and there joined the VVV outfit and came up over the northern trails with a bunch of their cat- tle. Leaving that outfit he came across to the "N bar N" outfit on Prairie Elk, one of the outfits of the Home Land and Cattle Company, and thus be- gan his adventures and achievements in Montana in the year 1896.

While on Prairie Elk he met and became a com- panion of two of the old time cowmen who remain in the Wolf Point locality, John B. Randall and Hank J. Cusker. After two years with the "N bar N" he went to the Sweet Grass Hills, and was em- ployed by the DHS, now known as the Pioneer Cat- tle Company, owned by Conrad Kohrs. He ranged over the regions of that concern until it closed

1020

HISTORY OF MONTANA

out its affairs, and about that time he discovered the companion of his life.

December 23, 1906, the wedding occurred which made Quincy P. McClammy and Miss Minnie Knapp man and wife. Mrs. McClammy is one of the na- tive women of the Sioux tribe, a daughter of Dan- iel Knapp, a prominent pioneer of the Missouri River country and the first merchant of Oswego. Mrs. McClammy was born at Fort Buford, North Da- kota, in 1882, attended school at Poplar, and finished her education with a liberal training at Great Falls. To Mr. and Mrs. McClammy were born six children, Pearl Bettie, Abbie, Montana Ore, Mark Benjamin, Lucy and Percella.

After his marriage Mr. McClammy settled down at Oswego and began a career of his own. He had previously gathered a bunch of horses, run- ning them on the range under the brand "Diamond tail walking K" and later on the circle 3 on the jaw and his present brand is D on the right shoulder. Horses and cattle have constituted his stock inter- ests. Since his marriage he has had his home in Oswego, and his residence is one of the conspicuous ones of the town, was designed by Mr. McClammy and built with his money. It is an eight-room bun- galow with basement under all, hot air furnace, and all the conveniences and comforts of a modern home. Interesting features of the McClammy home at Os- wego are some of the trophies of the chase and his long experience on the range. They include mounted animals, a deer and her fawn, an American eagle, a coyote, a leopard and a squirrel. Mr. Mc- Clammy grew up in a democratic state, and cast his first presidential ballot for Mr. Bryan and con- tinues to support the party in national affairs. He is one of the interesting citizens of Oswego, a man of much public spirit, identifies himself with local movements for the improvements, and has always been well satisfied that he cast in his lot with Mon- tana in early life.

SPURGEON E. PAUL has had an interesting par- ticipation in the development of Sheridan County for several years, both as a lawyer and as a home- steader. His home is at Redstone, and the people of that . community have learned to respect highly his abilities and his profession and also his good citizenship.

Mr. Paul was born at Brookville, Illinois, March 14, 1889. His grandfather, Solomon Paul, was prob- ably a native of Germany and spent his early life in Pennsylvania. He married a Miss Walters, and his last years were passed on a farm near Polo, Illi- nois. His family consisted of two daughters and five sons, all the sons becoming farmers. One of them is Levi W. Paul, who was born in Illinois sixty- three years ago, and is now occupying his son's homestead near Redstone, Montana. He exercised his own privileges as a homesteader at New Eng- land in North Dakota, and after making the neces- sary improvements acquired title to his land and lived in the state several years. Later he returned to Freeport, Illinois, to educate his younger children, and finally followed his son to Montana. He mar- ried Sarah E. Miller, who was born in Carroll Coun- ty, Illinois, where her father, Warner Miller, was a pioneer wagon maker. Warner Miller came West from Pennsylvania, and when he first saw Chicago it was a village clustered around the lake front and the Chicago River. Levi Paul and wife have three children: Spurgeon E .; Mae, wife of James C. Powell, of Portland, Indiana; and Warner, a medical student of the University of Minnesota.

Spurgeon E. Paul grew up on his father's farm, part of his boyhood being spent in Minnesota, where his parents lived near Wheaton. From the public

schools he entered the University of Minnesota, completed his law course and was admitted to the Minnesota bar on motion before the Supreme Court. He then returned to Freeport, Illinois, took the bar examination in 1912, and was admitted and tried his first law suits there. In Illinois he was asso- ciated in practice with R. J. Carnahan.

Mr. Paul came from Freeport to Montana and was soon enrolled among the lawyers of Sheridan County. His first case was in defense of a neighbor whose claim had been contested, and he secured a favorable verdict for his client at the Land Office trial. Later he himself was made defendant in the courts against the charge of the Government that his claim was Indian land. The Department had previously accepted his filing on the same tract, and in the contention the case was eventually re- ferred to the Secretary of the Interior, who decided that the Indian claim was invalid.

Mr. Paul also took advantage of the opportunity to procure a farm, and entered a half section five miles northwest of Redstone. While proving up he made it his chief object to comply with all the Fed- eral requirements, building his pioneer shelter of boards 10 by 12, and occupying it as a bachelor. He made a serious effort to cultivate his land by proxy, and these efforts were not altogether dis- appointing. Wheat was harvested, some flax grown, and oats and other feeds matured, showing that with seasonable weather cereals grow as successfully here as elsewhere.

One of Mr. Paul's neighbors and fellow home- steaders was Miss Grace Crossen, whom he made his wife. At their marriage their combined efforts continued a modest development work in that local- ity until November, 1919, when they abandoned their claims as a place of residence. . A feature of his experience on the claim was that Mr. Paul, while still unmarried, made his daily trips on foot to Redstone to his law office, and thus was able to continue his practice and carry on the practical work of his profession.

Mr. Paul has been one of the very earnest and active citizens of his locality .. He was one of the first officers of the Redstone Commercial Club, and was president of the Redstone Improvement Asso- ciation, which among other things was chiefly re- sponsible for the erection of the mammoth livery barn at Redstone, an improvement greatly needed for the accommodation of the country trade tribu- tary to Redstone. For the past four years Mr. Paul has served as United States commissioner. In national politics he is a republican, but partisan ties are not allowed to interfere with his choice in local elections. During the war he gave gen- erously of his time and professional abilities to the promotion of local patriotism, and served as chair- man of the local Red Cross one year and as a mem- ber of the Legal Advisory Board of Sheridan Coun- ty, and as a member of the Liberty Loan and War Savings committees. Since locating at Redstone he has served as clerk of the school board.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul were married at Minot, North Dakota, January 10, 1917. Miss Grace Crossen was born near Sparta, Wisconsin, October 31, 1893, youngest of the four children of William Crossen. She acquired a high school education and in 1914 came with her mother to Montana and entered the claim, and while proving up came to know and ap- preciate the good qualities of the young lawyer at Redstone. Mr. and Mrs. Paul have one son, Levi William, born in November, 1917.

JAMES H. DRAKE, another of the well known ranchmen of the lower Powder River country, dates his advent to Montana from the spring of 1900,

JAMES H. DRAKE

1021

HISTORY OF MONTANA

at which time he accompanied a shipment of Texas cattle from Canon City, Texas, to Moorcroft, Wyoming. This was his maiden trip into this north- ern cattle region and he became a factor on the "T. A." ranch of George A. Pemberton, a Texas man who spent the vigorous years of his life in the cattle business, and who upon leaving Montana settled in his present home City of Denver.

Mr. Drake worked for Mr. Pemberton "until the last cow was sold," a period of some eight years, during which time he bought some cattle of his own and thus embarked in the business. He was given his incentive to do so by his employer, as the latter encouraged his men who were ambitious to enter the field, and Mr. Drake remained within eight miles of the old Pemberton ranch until 1911. This ranch, it may be noted, was situated just be- low the mouth of the Little Powder River, and it was on Pilgrim Creek that Mr. Drake started his own operations. He was a squatter there and had access to the whole region, starting with seventy- five head of cattle and driving his marketable stock to Belle Fourche, where he shipped them to the Chicago market. He became a larger grower as time passed, borrowed of his former employer, and bought 200 head more, which he handled at a profit. After selling out he left the Pilgrim locality and invested some of his capital in the ranch which he now owns at the mouth of Black Tail Creek. During his stay here he has accumulated by pur- chase and by entry of the public domain more than a section of land, having entered his homestead in 1918, and is entering upon the initial work of its improvement. When he came to his present ranch he moved into the small log house built by Dick Standifer, a noted character in this country who met the fate merited by his kind. By additions and extensions to these improvements the home has developed into one of the comfortable ones along the river. Here along the lively waters of the Powder he has continued his interest in cattle and his "YS" brand is one of the familiar ones of the region.

Mr. Drake's efforts at horse raising have met the reward such efforts deserve and these and his cat- tle have made up the enterprise to which his late years have been devoted. James H. Drake's expe- rience as a "cow puncher" covers a period of more than fifty years. He began it as early as he could ride a pony down in Southern Texas, and worked on the Pecos River for about eight years for the old Texas cowman, M. Half, then spending a year with the Five Wells Company out on the plains, from that employment going to Montana with Mr. Pemberton, as above noted.

Mr. Drake's father, Frank Drake, was a native Texan, born in Hardin County, from whence he moved to Coryell County, where his farm was on Owl Creek, a tributary of the Leon River. Later he went to South Texas and re-entered the cattle business in McMullen County, and still later be- came a settler of Crockett County and there passed away. He was a Confederate soldier and was wounded in battle in the knee. He took part in the engagement of Bull Run and was in the service un- til the Confederacy fell with the surrender of Gen- eral Lee. Mr. Drake was a high Mason, was a Baptist in his religious faith, and in politics was a stanch and undeviating democrat.

The grandfather of James H. Drake was James Drake who, it is believed, was born and reared in New York State. He planted the family in Hardin County, Texas, where he died, and left one son, Frank, and three daughters, Mary, Elizabeth and Evaline, who married, respectively, Alexander, Wil-

liam and Jimsy Franklin, and all spent their lives in Texas. Frank Drake was an unlearned man save for the education which came to him from the pioneer schools of Hardin County. He married for his first wife Susan Danforth, a native of Texas, who died leaving one child, James H., of this no- tice. For his second wife Frank Drake married Margaret Evetts, who bore him children as follows: Lizzie, the wife of John Young, of El Paso, Texas; Hugh, whose present location is unknown; William, who resides at San Angelo, Texas; Dee, the wife of Max Myers, of El Paso, Texas; Bruce, of Crock- ett County, Texas; and Millard, of Ozono, that state.

James H. Drake's part as a citizen has been played privately and as a voter his convictions place him in the list of parties as a democrat. He was mar- ried first in Texas, to Miss Mary Ramsey, of Mc- Mullen County, and they had four children: Edgar, of Arizona; Luther, who met an accidental death while in the train service of a large railroad com- pany; Mary, who is married and lives in Arizona ; and Susan. Mr. Drake married December 20, 1910, Mrs. Mary J. Marston, a lady who had come from Leicestershire, England, the place of her birth, two years before. She was born July 22, 1862, a daugh- ter of Thomas Flavell, who married Elizabeth Lovett. Mr. Flavell was a farmer and a great huntsman, hunted for a half century, following his hounds, and was a noted cross-country rider. His family was composed of eight children who lived to grow to maturity, namely : Annie, who married Thomas Stevens and spent her life in the City of London so far as is known; Eleanor, who married Thomas Sewell and lives at Cheltenham, England; Lucy, who married Fred East and died in London; Mrs. Drake, of this notice; Lillie, who married John Crofts, of Alsager, near Stoke-on-Trent, England; Joseph, a farmer near Upingham, England; Kate, the wife of W. G. Payne, of Miles City, Montana ; and Thomas, who is in Australia. Mrs. Drake died January 2, 1921.

PETER HEXOM has been a factor in the commer- cial affairs of Northeastern Montana from a date prior to the opening of the railroad route which has had so much to do with the development and growth of population in what is now Sheridan and adjoining counties. Mr. Hexom is a resident of Flaxville and manager of the Flaxville Co-operative Company.

He was born on his father's farm near Waukon, Alamakee County, Iowa, March 25, 1883. His father, David D. Hexom, a retired farmer living at De- corah, Iowa, was born at Toten, Norway, in 1843, came to the United States in the Civil war period, and has spent all the rest of his life in the vicinity of Decorah. A tailor by trade, he never established himself in a shop after coming to this country, but did an itinerant business, much after the fashion of old country tailors, going from home to home and sewing and making up clothing. Without any knowl- edge of farming he invested a modest capital in land, and his success as an agriculturist was phe- nomenal for a man who started as he did. As soon as the law permitted he acquired American citizen- ship, identifying himself with the republican party. He filled some local offices while living in the coun- try, and has always been a consistent Lutheran in religion. He married Augusta Johnson, who was born in Alamakee County, Iowa, a daughter of Carl Johnson, who settled there on coming from Nor- way. David D. Hexom and wife had the following children: Carl, a farmer on the old Iowa home- stead; Emma, wife of A. G. Westby, of Winnesheik

1022

HISTORY OF MONTANA

County, Iowa; Dr. John D., of Decorah; Mrs. Amanda Johnson, of Flaxville, Montana; Peter; Dora, wife of Harry Thompson, of Flaxville; Hel- mer, a farmer in Iowa; and Minnie, Clara and Wilhelm.

Peter Hexom had some practical experience on an Iowa farm, attended country schools and fin- ished his education in a business college at Decorah. He was part of the parental establishment until past his majority, and had two brief experiences in the Dakotas before he came to the Northwest to stay. At Souris, North Dakota, he worked as a farm hand and was also employed in a local ele- vator, first as a helper and then as elevator man- ager. He exercised his homestead rights in Wil- liams County, North Dakota, and went through a rather long process of acquiring title to his land by residence and improvement. He also had some other interests while there. After leaving his claim he returned to Souris, and from that state moved to Montana.

His first location was at old Orville, near the present site of Flaxville. He was a merchant there as a silent partner in the firm of Kirkeby and Raf- shol, and continued connection with that firm when the railroad came through, the store then being moved to Flaxville. In 1919 the business was sold to the Flaxville Co-operative Company, and Mr. Hexom has since been manager of that concern.

Mr. Hexom is one of the liberal and public spirited citizens of his community. He is a republican in politics and has served as precinct committeeman. He voted for Mr. Taft in 1908, but in 1916, like thousands of other republicans, supported Mr. Wil- son's candidacy. Fraternally he is a past grand in Flaxville Lodge of Odd Fellows.

At Flaxville, December 16, 1914, Mr. Hexom mar- ried Miss Nettie Anderson, who was born in Min- nesota in September, 1895, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Urdahl) Anderson, natives of Norway. The Anderson family moved to Montana from Co- lumbus, North Dakota, in 1912. Mrs. Hexom, one of five surviving children, acquired her education at Columbus and in Aanker's Business College at Grand Forks, North Dakota. Mr. and Mrs. Hexonr have three children : Frances, Adolph and Philip.

THOMAS R. JONES, who is serving his second term of capable administration of his duties as reg- ister of the United States Land Office at Glasgow, has been a resident of Montana for over thirty years, and this was his first and only public office. He is a veteran railroad man, and when he left the Great Northern to enter the Land Office at Glasgow he was one of the oldest locomotive engi- neers in the service of the company.

Mr. Jones is a western man by choice and in- clination. He grew up in the East, but obeyed that impulse which comes to nearly every normal and high-minded youth, to seek life's opportunities in a country comparatively new and where problems are to be solved and difficulties overcome. He was born at Steuben in Oneida County, New York, April 9, 1864. His grandparents were John and Margaret (Hughes) Jones, both natives of Wales and early settlers in New York State. Of their eight children the only one now living is John J. Jones, who was born in Oneida County, New York, and has reached the venerable age of ninety-two. He acquired a common school education, spent his active life as a farmer, and in early manhood volun- teered for Civil war service but was rejected owing to a crushed foot. His life has been one of honor- able industry and without pretense or seeking the distractions of public office. He has always been a

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 III, Part 103

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144