Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 147

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 147

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).

Mr. Bowden is unmarried, and'lives at the Leon- ard Hotel. He has never cared to tie himself down to strict party lines, but gives his support to the can- didates he believes will best discharge the duties of the office in question. Mr. Bowden belongs to the Episcopal Church. A Mason, he is a member of King Solomon Lodge No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Helena, Montana. He also belongs to the American Society of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers and the Silver Bow Club. Believing in the future of Montana as one of the greatest mining centers of the world, Mr. Bowden has not hesitated to invest in mining properties in the state, and is a man of ample means. He has risen to his present position through his own ef- forts, and his success is all the more commendable because it has been brought about in this manner and not through outside influence and capital. As a man Mr. Bowden possesses a personality which impresses people favorably and wins for him life- time friends both professionally and in social circles.

ROBERT E. THOMAS. The rate of progress in this country is largely dependent upon the readiness of the people to take advantages of the natural re- sources of the land or their ability to meet the demands of a developing civilization and adapt their operations to economic conditions. While, of course, the dominating interest at Butte is mining, so many others are developed as an outcome of these stu- pendous operations that practically every line of in- dustrial and commercial activity is represented here, and some of the most masterful figures in the business world have made the city their permanent

1177

HISTORY OF MONTANA

place of residence. One of these men is Robert E. Thomas, president and manager of the Butte Ice Company.

Robert E. Thomas was born five miles east of Anaconda in Deerlodge County, Montana, on Jan- uary 18, 1884, a son of Ephraim Thomas who was born in Wales in 1833. Coming to the United States in young manhood, he located in Deerlodge County at a time when rigid pioneer conditions prevailed, and he was one of the very earliest settlers of that region. Acquiring land from the Government, or at a very low price, he became an extensive landowner and had several large ranches, and later he became interested in mining to a considerable extent. From the time he received his papers of citizenship he espoused the principles of the republican party. His wife bore the maiden name of Gwennie Evans, and she was born in Wales in 1839. Both of them were struck by lightning and died immediately in 1891. Robert E. Thomas was sitting between them at the time they were killed, and strange to say he was uninjured. Their children were as follows: Wil- liam E., who is a miner of Butte; Margaret, who married R. R. Kilroy, managing editor of the Stand- ard Publishing Company of Butte; Gwennie, who married Frank Ham, department manager of the Copper City Commercial Company, lives at Ana- conda, Montana; Joseph, who is foreman of the Concentrator at the Washoe Reduction Works at Anaconda, Montana; and Robert E.

Robert E. Thomas attended the public schools of Anaconda, and was graduated from the high school course of that city in 1901, following which he be- gan working for Roach and Smith, wholesalers in candy and cigars, and remained with them for three years. Mr. Thomas then went to Seattle, Washing- ton, and was employed in the ship yard of Moran Brothers for 31/2 years. In 1908 Mr. Thomas came to Butte to work on the Butte Evening News as business manager, and held that position until that journal discontinued publication three years later. He then entered the clerical department of the Ana- conda Copper Mining Company and remained there until December, 1911, when he went with the Butte Ice Company, a close corporation, practically owned hy E. C. Largey. Beginning his career with this concern as bookkeeper, Mr. Thomas rose to be man- ager in 1913, and in 1914 he, together with H. A. Frank, bought the business. Mr. Thomas is presi- dent and manager and Mr. Frank is secretary and treasurer while E. M. Frank is vice president. The offices are located at 600 South Main Street, and the ice houses are at Walkerville, South Butte, on Lake Avoca, and a large one on Iron Street, Butte, in the wholesale district. The plant, which is the largest of the place, is located at Dawson, Montana, with a capacity of 35,000 tons. The com- pany handles about 73,000 tons annually and has the sole contract for supplying the Anaconda Copper Mining Company and the Milwaukee Railroad.

Mr. Thomas is independent in his political ac- tions. He belongs to the Silver Bow Club, the Silver Bow Country Club, the Chamber of Com- merce, the Butte Business Men's Association and the Butte Ad Club. In addition to his residence at 309 Granite Street he owns other real estate in Butte, and two mines at Southern Cross. Montana.

Mr. Thomas was married at Butte to Miss Mary Conlon, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Conlon. Mrs. Conlon is deceased, having passed away in the spring of 1908, but Mr. Conlon survives her and lives re- tired at Butte, where he was at one time a miner, having come here in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas became the parents of the following children: Made- lon, who was born July 20, 1909; Margaret, who

was born in 1910; Mary Frances, who was born in 1913; Robert, who was born in 1914; Patrick, who was born in 1917; and Elizabeth, who was born in 1918.

Properly numbered among the sagacious and alert young business men of Butte, Mr. Thomas has won his present standing through his own force of char- acter and willingness to do his duty in every posi- tion he has held. Since taking charge of his present business he has developed it very materially, and has plans for its further expansion in the near future.

WILL A. CAMPBELL. Helena and this section of Montana numbers among her best known newspaper men and journalists Will A. Campbell, the editor of the Helena Independent, which has the distinc- tion of being the oldest newspaper in the state in years of continuous publication under one name.

Mr. Campbell, who was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, May 8, 1881, is of Scotch descent, and the founder of the Campbell family in the United States was his grandfather, William Samuel Doke Campbell, who now resides at Monmouth, Illinois. He was born in Scotland, and on coming to this country he settled in Tennessee. Campbell County in that state was named in his honor, and he was a farmer there for many years. He married for his second wife a Miss Maxwell, who became the grandmother of Will A., and she, too, was born in Scotland. Her death occurred in Illinois during the period of the Civil war: J. A. Campbell, a son of these worthy Scotch immigrants, now resides at Lincoln, Ne- braska. He was born at Campbell Station in Camp- bell County, Tennessee, in 1851, but was reared in Monmouth, Illinois, and is a graduate of Mon- mouth College. Soon after his marriage he went to Lincoln, Nebraska, where from 1879 until 1884 he served as the city superintendent of schools, later engaging in farming, and for the past number of years has been engaged in the wholesale grocery business in Lincoln. He is a republican voter, and a member of the Scotch Presbyterian Church and of the Masonic and Knights of Pythias fraternal orders. J. A. Campbell married Josephine Faulk- ner, who was born near Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1849, and whose death occurred at Ainsworth, Nebraska, in May, 1919. Five children were born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, namely : Will A., the well known Helena journalist; Maude E., who became the wife of a Mr. Hibbard and resides at Covington, Nebraska, where Mr. Hibbard is a farmer ; Glenn M. is the business manager of the Helena Independent ; Bert E., whose home is also in Helena, is the advertising manager for the Helena Independent; Margaret is principal of the high school at Ainsworth, Nebraska.

Will A. Campbell was given a splendid educational training to fit him for his life's work, and many of the leading journals of the West have had the benefit of his services. From the graded schools of Lincoln, Nebraska, he passed into the academy at Weeping Water, Nebraska, from which he graduated in 1897, and then matriculating in the University of Ne- braska he was the editorial writer for the Nebraska State Journal during the 37/2 years he was a student there. This completed his school training, and during the following two years he was the editorial assis- tant to J. Sterling Mortin, secretary of agriculture and owner of the Conservative at Nebraska City. Mr. Campbell next went with the Denver Post, on which he served as a special writer for a time, dur- ing one year was receiver for a paper at Blair, Nebraska, and returning then to Denver handled the strike situation, there for the Denver Post and the

1178

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Chicago Chronicle for two years. His next position was as financial reporter and editorial writer for the Sioux City Tribune, and in 1906 became the Sunday editor for the Omaha Bee, his services being retained in that capacity until 1909. He then became associated with the Omaha Chamber of Commerce as publicity manager for 11/2 years, was next connected with the Great Northern Railroad Company as assistant to Louis W. Hill and handled the publicity end of the land exploitation depart- ment of that company until 1913.

It was at the close of this period that Mr. Camp- bell became associated with Helena, and the city has ever since claimed him among her progressive and influential citizens and business men. At this time he bought into the Helena Independent with Lewis Penwell, and this relationship has ever since continued, and in fact they were business associates even before that time. The Helena Independent was incorporated in 1889, and was reincorporated by Mr. Campbell in June, 1913, as the Independent Publishing Company of Helena, of which he is the president. The vice president is Glenn M. Camp- bell and the secretary and treasurer is Jane M. Mac- Millan. It was as early as 1866 that the paper. was first launched in the newspaper world as the Inde- pendent, and it was then published at Deer Lodge, but was moved to Helena in 1867 and became the Helena Independent, a name it has retained through all the succeeding years. It is an independent dem- ocratic paper, and the plant is located at 52 South Main Street, where it is equipped with all the mod- ern devices for the successful conduct of a large and representative journal, and it conducts the sec- ond largest business in the state in publishing and in the wholesale paper business.

Outside of his newspaper work Mr. Campbell has also gained prominence as a rancher and farmer. He owns the Four Range Ranch three miles east of Helena, containing 1,087 acres and known as one of the best and most efficiently equipped ranching properties in Montana. Its buildings are modern in every particular, its water is supplied by ar- tesian wells and its lighting system by electricity. Mr. Campbell also owns a modern residence at 530 Hemlock Street in Helena, one of the finest homes in the city.

In 1903, at Blair, Nebraska, he was married to Miss Maude L. Carter, a daughter of Capt. Nathan Carter, one of the pioneers of the West and an early Indian fighter. He was also a Government contractor and the builder of Fort Kearney, Ne- braska. From 1863 until the time of his death Mr. Carter had charge of frontier posts, and was com- mander of Fort Kearney during the Indian war. Virginia was his native state. A son, Bill Carter, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, November 23, 1908. Mr. Campbell is independent in his political affiliations, and is a member of the Presbyterian Church. His fraternal relations connect him with Ottawa Lodge No. 51, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Marysville, Montana, Helena Chapter No. 2, Royal Arch Masons, and Helena Consistory No. 3, and he is a thirty-second degree Mason. He is also a member of Helena Lodge No. 193, Benev- olent Protective Order of Elks, at Helena, and. belongs to the Montana Club at Helena, to the Rocky Mountain Club of New York City, to the Glacier Park Country Club, Glacier Park, Montana, to the Union League Club of New York City, Helena Country Club, the Rotary Club of Helena, to the Commercial Club of Helena and to the Helena Young Men's Christian Association.

T. W. SIMPSON. Since coming to Bozeman in 1909 Mr. Simpson has applied his energies to varied

lines. He is a farmer and farm owner, a dealer and shipper of livestock, and is head of the well known real estate firm of Simpson & Truitt.

Mr. Simpson was born near Greensburg in West- moreland County, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1859. His father, Thomas Simpson, was born in Scotland in 1835. After his marriage he came to America, lived in Canada a few years, and then located near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a coal miner. In 1862 he joined the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Infantry and participated in the cam- paigns of the Army of the Potomac in and around Richmond. At the desperate Battle of Petersburg only sixteen men from his regiment were left fit for duty and six out of his company. The rest were either killed or captured. While trying to save a wounded comrade he was captured, and was soon afterward sent to Andersonville Prison, where he died as a result of exposure and hardship in 1863. His grave number at Andersonville is 8080. He was a republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Thomas Simpson mar- ried Eliza Crockard, who was born in Scotland in 1827 and is now past ninety-two years of age and is still living near Greensburg, Pennsylvania. She was the mother of four children: Isabelle, wife of John B. Errett, a machinist living at Connells- ville, Pennsylvania; T. W .; Mary, who died Sep- tember 3, 1919, was the widow of James H. Kane; and Lida, who died at the age of sixteen years.

T. W. Simpson was left fatherless at the age of four years, and had to apply himself to pro- ductive labor at the earliest possible age. He at- tended the rural schools of Westmoreland County until fifteen years of age, and the following year he went to Quincy, Illinois, and worked on farms in that locality for five years. From 1881 to 1889 he farmed at Agricola, Coffey County, Kansas, and then built an elevator and engaged in the grain business at Agricola. He conducted his elevator and did a prosperous business for seventeen years. After selling out he came to Bozeman in 1909 and bought a farm 11/2 miles west on the Huffine Road. This is a very valuable and productive place, con- sisting of 240 acres of irrigated land. He has also bought and shipped livestock, and the firm Simpson & Truitt not only do a large business in handling real estate in Gallatin County but are deal- ers in horses, cattle and sheep.

Mr. Simpson's partner is L. W. Truitt. He is also his brother-in-law. Mr. Truitt for a num- ber of years was junior member of the Gallatin Lumber Company, and served two terms as mayor of Bozeman, leaving that office in January, 1919, and gave the city a splendid administration of its municipal affairs.

The offices of Simpson & Truitt are in the Owen- house Building. Mr. Simpson is a republican and during 1918 served by appointment as county com- missioner. He is a member of the Methodist Church and is affiliated with Bozeman Lodge No. 18, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Zona Chap- ter No. 12, Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Com- mandery No. 12, Knights Templar, and Bozeman Lodge No. 463 of the Elks. He is an active mem- ber of the Chamber of Commerce. His firm owns the Senator Hoffman corner opposite the post- office at Bozeman, and Mr. Simpson makes his home there, while his partner resides in the Ever- green Apartments. Simpson & Truitt own a ranch adjoining the Montana State College and the town- site on the south. This consists of 160 acres of irrigated land.

In 1880, at Columbus, Illinois, Mr. Simpson mar- ried Miss Lizzie C. Truitt, daughter of Sylvester and Harriet (Woodworth) Truitt, both now de-

LUS Pruitt

TWSimpson

1179

HISTORY OF MONTANA

ceased. Sylvester Truitt was born in Kentucky in 1834, was an early settler in Western Illinois and in 1881 moved to Kansas, where he continued as a farmer and died at Ottawa in that state in 1918. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have four children : Clyde A. was a graduate of the Gem City Busi- ness College at Quincy, was a bookkeeper for the Morris Packing Company and died at Agricola, Kansas, at the age of twenty-three; James Syl- vester finished his education in a business college at Lawrence, Kansas, and is on his father's ranch west of Bozeman; Ralph died at the age of ten years at Agricola, Kansas; Mary Catherine is a graduate of the high school at Waverly, Kansas, attended the Montana State College and is the wife of Earl McMahon, a shoe salesman living at Boze- man.

SAMUEL C. FORD. The quality that has distin- guished and permeated the entire administration of Samuel C. Ford as attorney general of. Montana has been a moral courage that has kept him true to his convictions and principles against all the forces that a cynical, prejudiced and hostile world can muster. The office of attorney general has a great deal of routine work to perform. That has been done thoroughly by Mr. Ford and his subordinates, but beyond the routine he has used his official pow- ers as a positive expression of the law and popular opinion, and in many cases has given vitality to laws that have been treated as dead letters on the statute books.

Mr. Ford is a comparatively young man, has been practicing law fourteen years, and nearly all of that time has been taken up with public duties, either in the United States district attorney's office or as attorney general of the state.

He was born at Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky, November 7, 1882, but spent his life before coming to Montana in Kansas, where his people were pio- neers. This branch of the Ford family originated in Scotland, and were early settlers in Kentucky. His grandfather, William Ford, was born in Ken- tucky and spent the greater part of his life on a farm in Clinton County. During the Civil war he fought on the Union side. William Ford, Jr., father of Attorney General Ford, was born at Albany, Clin- ton County, Kentucky, in 1847, was reared, edu- cated and married in Kentucky and as a young man taught school. He also operated a saw mill and manufactured lumber in his native state. In 1885, when Samuel C. Ford was about three years of age, the family moved to Wellington, Kansas. Wil- liam Ford established and operated one of the first flour mills in this section of the state. Subsequently he moved out to the new country of Western Kan- sas, and developed a farm and ranch thirty miles south of Garden City in Haskell County. He lost practically all his property as a result of several dry years culminating in the panic of 1893-94, and in the winter of 1894 removed to a small farm at Garden City. While there he began cultivating what had been an amateur occupation as a bee man into a commercial business, and eventually became one of the leading producers of honey from Western Kan- sas. He finally sold this part of his business in 1908. In 1899 William Ford was elected county treasurer of Finney County, Kansas, and re-elected in 1902. Because of a change in election laws his first term was for three years and his second for two years. He retired from office in 1905, after that giving all his attention to his apiaries, and in 1908 engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Garden City. He has been through all the vicissitudes that have beset the Western Kansas pioneers, and it is

part of the eternal fitness of things that he has for several years past been enjoying an ample degree of prosperity. He is a devout Christian, a member of the Baptist Church of Garden City, is affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows and is a repub- lican in politics. William Ford married Glenora Elizabeth Snow. She was born at Albany, Ken- tucky, in 1851. Their children were six in number : Sallie, wife of J. H. Billings, a mechanical super- visor at Pueblo, Colorado; James P., associated in the real estate and insurance business with his father at Garden City; Samuel C .; Iva, who died at Hel- ena, Montana, in 1907, wife of Cleveland Belisle; Charles F., a telegraph operator at Dallas, Texas ; and Bina, wife of Robert Gerald.

Samuel C. Ford's early environment was Western Kansas, and he personally recollects some of its drought and poverty stricken conditions of early times. He attended rural schools in Haskell and Finney counties, graduating from the Garden City High School in 1903. It was his ambition to be- come a lawyer, but without the exercise of a great deal of self reliance and hard work he could not have attained his goal so early as he did. For five months after leaving high school he worked as a bridge carpenter with the Santa Fe Railway. The savings from that period of work enabled him to matriculate as a student in Kansas University at Lawrence. The first year he earned his board as waiter in a restaurant, giving six hours of his time to the restaurant, and earning some other money by tending furnaces and doing similar work. The second and third years he spent at the university he drove a laundry wagon and on Saturdays clerked in a clothing store. Therefore when he graduated from the university with the degree LL. B. in the law department in 1906, he had earned something more than his degree, which was merely a token of what hard and persistent effort might accomplish. After university he was member of the honorary law fraternity Phi Delta Phi, and also belongs to the Acacia fraternity, a strong and prominent fra- ternal organization throughout the United States made up of college men who are members of the Masonic fraternity.

Mr. Ford came to Montana and began practice at Helena in 1906. He soon earned recognition as an able young lawyer, took an active part in repub- lican politics, and in October, 1908, was appointed assistant United States district attorney. He served in that office six years, until September, 1914. In 1916 he was elected attorney general of the state, and qualified for office January 1, 1917. In his cam- paign for election Mr. Ford came before the people emphasizing as the chief plank in his platform the enforcement of all laws. One of the first acts after he was sworn in was to direct the county attorneys to enforce the law against gambling, wine rooms and houses of prostitution. The energy and deter- mination manifested in the attorney general's office at the state capital soon radiated out to remote quar- ters of the state, and as a result many communities acquired a due respect for law and authority. When the national prohibition act became effective on De- cember 31, 1918, the attorney general used all his official power to enforce the Federal act. During the past four years the office of attorney general of Montana has been out of politics. Mr. Ford has played no favorites, and in his administration has kept an eye single to his duties and responsibilities as he interprets them to be from the laws and con- stitution of the state.

Mr. Ford is a prominent member of the Lewis and Clark County and State Bar associations. He is affiliated with Lodge No. 3, Ancient Free and

1180

HISTORY OF MONTANA

Accepted Masons, Helena Consistory No. 3 of the Scottish Rite, Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine and Helena Lodge No. 193, Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks.

His residence is at 421 North Ewing Street. No- vember 24, 1910, at Helena, he married Miss Mary L. Shobe, daughter of Waller and Isabelle (Lesley) Shobe. Her parents are residents of Spokane, Wash- ington. Her father is a distinguished humanitarian, who served five years as superintendent of the State Orphans' Home at Twin Bridges, Montana, and resigned that office to take up his present work as superintendent of the Hutton Settlement, a private orphanage built by H. L. Hutton, a multi-millionaire. This is one of the finest institutions of the kind in the United States. Mrs. Ford for a number of years has been prominent in Helena musical cir- cles, being a skilled instrumental performer, and completed her musical education under private tutors in New York City. Mr. and Mrs. Ford have two children: Dorothy Leslie, born October 25, I911; and Isabelle Elizabeth, born July 24, 1915.

JUSTUS L. UELAND. One of the most vigorous and effective farmers and ranchmen of Sheridan County was the late Justus L. Ueland, whose work of de- velopment here was done in the locality of Comer- town. He settled in this region at a time when the country was being built up, starting at the grass roots, and during the brief span of years he was spared he made his mark as a builder. He was a ranchman distinctively, and the 'things he did and the improvements he made were for the benefit of his community as well as for himself, and his posterity may well be proud of his achievements. His capital when he came hither was limited, and he entered upon the development work of this lo- cality as a homesteader, after waiting some years for the opening of the public lands to enter, and when he passed off the stage of action he left as his legacy to his family a splendid ranch and farm in what is often referred to as the Ueland Flats.

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 147

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