Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 154

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

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and stock raising up to the time of his death. Politically he was a republican and fraternally he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Stephen J. Adams was reared on the paternal farm and secured his education in the public schools of his native county. When a young lad he was brought by his widowed mother to Anaconda, Mon- tana, settling there in the spring of 1888, and there he was able to attend school for two years more. In 1890 he and his mother removed to Milk River Valley, Chouteau County, now Blaine County, and there the mother entered a homestead and built a four-room frame house. She engaged in the cattle business on a small scale. In the meantime Stephen J., at the age of thirteen years, began freighting between Fort Assiniboine and the Bearpaw Moun- tain, and embracing other points. He continued this vocation with success up to the time he was twenty- two years of age, when he engaged in farming and stock raising on the maternal homestead. Here he has been uniformly successful, having given his un- divided attention to the work to which he has applied himself and as a result today probably no man in Montana is more widely known in his line of work. While he has given some attention to cattle raising, it has been as a breeder and raiser of thoroughbred horses that he has achieved a notable success. For a number of years he raised and bought many cattle which he sent to the Chicago market, but in the fall of 1918 he sold the major portion of his herd and and is now giving comparatively little attention to that line.

Mr. Adams keeps an average of one hundred head of thoroughbred running and harness horses, many of which have records, and as an exhibitor of these horses and a winner of blue ribbons he is almost in a class by himself. He has about thirty head of horses in his racing stable, with which he attends the race meets at Calgary, Regina, Alberta, Spokane and Helena as well as other places in the northwest circuit. Among the specialty races in which he enters his horses are the Roman standing chariot race, four horses, for which he has a noted lady driver; the cow-boy relay race, the world's champ- ionship race, as well as a roping contest for the world's championship. His sales stables are located at Lohman, Montana, and are considered probably the finest stables in the northwest, being well known by horse lovers all through the western states. In 1919 Mr. Adams participated in stake races and over-night handicaps. It is worthy of note that he holds the world's record for relay riding, his record for the five miles, including five changes of horses and saddles, being 10:1012. He also holds the world's record for one and a half miles relay riding, three changes of horses and saddles, 3:10. Mr. Adams is an ardent lover of fine horses and has a justifiable pride in the splendid animals which have been produced on his farm. His ranch comprises 480 acres of land, in addition to which he rents 1,200 acres, so that he controls in all 1,680 acres.

On November 25, 1899, Mr. Adams was married to Euphemia Frame, who was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and who, at seventeen years of age, was brought to this country by her brother Alexander. To Mr. and Mrs. Adams have been born three children, Elsworth, Stephen and Arthur. Elsworth received his education in the public schools of Loh- man, Montana, being a graduate of the high school. He is raising cattle and horses on his own account, having inherited his father's love for horses. He is a fine rider and won the relay race at Havre and the Havre stampede in 1919, as well as the world's championship race at Calgary.

Mr. Adams, though a very busy man, takes time

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to serve his community as a wide-awake, public- spirited citizen should and keeps in touch with local public affairs. He is a republican in his political views, and has served seven years in a most accept- able manner as a member of the school board. His mother is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he is a liberal con- tributor. He is a man of absolute honesty, always on the advance, and has managed his extensive busi- ness affairs with prudence and discrimination, so that he is universally regarded as one of Montana's useful and enterprising men of affairs.

JAMES RAY LEACH. Improvement and progress may well be said to form the keynote of the char- acter of James R. Leach, the well known farmer and cattle man of Hill County and one of northern Montana's representative citizens, and he has not only been interested in the work of advancement of individual affairs but his influence is felt in the upbuilding of the community which has so long been honored by his citizenship. The prosperity which he enjoys is the result of energy rightly applied and has been won by commendable qualities.

James Ray Leach is a Hoosier by birth, having been born in Boone County, Indiana, on February 21, 1880, and he is the son of Willis and Laura (Cranford) Leach. The father was born in the State of Illinois, and his death occurred in 1916, at the age of seventy-one years, while his widow, who is a native of North Carolina, is now in her seventieth year. They were married in Indiana, and the subject of this sketch is the second in order of birth of their seven children. Willis Leach spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and secured a good practical education in the public schools of that neighborhood. When twenty years of age he enlisted in the Union army during the Civil war and gave a good account of himself, receiving an honor- able discharge at the close of that conflict. After- ward he located in Indiana, where he engaged in farming until 1887, and then came to Montana and settled as a poineer in Cascade County, where he became a farmer and stock raiser, in which he was successfully engaged up to the time of his death. Politically he was an earnest supporter of the re- publican party, was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and was an attendant and contributor to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

James R. Leach was a lad of about seven years when the family came to Montana, and here he received his public school education, supplementing this in 1903-4 by attendance at Valparaiso Univer- sity at Valparaiso, Indiana. When but fourteen years of age he had started out to make his own way, going to Billings and engaging as a cowboy, riding the ranges around Billings, Miles City and other localities in that section. Later he went to Fort Benton and followed similar work there for about ten years. In 1898 Mr. Leach went to Canada, where he was employed as a cowboy up to 1901, when he engaged in the cattle business on his own account in Canada, remaining there up to 1909. Re- turning to Montana, he located in the Sweet Grass hills in Choteau County, now Hill County, where he has since been engaged in the cattle business. He has been very successful in his line, carrying from 150 to 700 cattle and giving preference to the Dur- ham and Shorthorn breeds. In 1919 Mr. Leach sold off part of his cattle and engaged in the sheep business, which promises to be as successful and profitable a line as cattle. Possessing sound judg- ment and quick to act when a decision is made, he has been uniformly successful in his work and is

numbered among the leading cattle men of his sec- tion of the state.

On the 30th of June, 1909, Mr. Leach was mar- ried to Myrtle Mary Ellis, a native of Kansas and the daughter of John M. and Effie D. (Col- colson) Ellis. Mr. Ellis was born in Kansas in 1863 and Mrs. Ellis was born in Iowa in 1870. They have two children living, Mrs. Leach and Edna, who is the wife of Bert Furnell. Mr. Ellis is now a successful farmer and stock raiser in Toole County, Montana, in which locality he located in 1895. Politically he supports the democratic party. To Mr. and Mrs. Leach has been born a son, James Ellis, who was born on January 30, 1912.

Politically a republican, Mr. Leach takes an in- telligent interest in public affairs and has rendered effective and appreciated service as a member of the School Board for the past six years. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Work- men. He is public spirited and lends his support to any cause that has for its ultimate object the better- ment of his locality in material, civic and moral affairs. Genial and companionable by nature, he easily makes friends and is extremely popular in his community.

WILLIAM BOOKER SMITH, JR. The specific his- tory of the great northwest was made by the pioneers; it was emblazoned on the forest trees by the strength of sturdy arms and a gleaming ax, and written on the surface of the earth by the track of the primitive plow: Those were strong men and true who came to found the empire of the Northwest -those hardy settlers who builded their first cabins and from the sylvan wilds evolved the fertile and productive fields which have these many years been furrowed and refurrowed by the plowshare. The trackless prairie was made to yield its tribute under the effective endeavors of the pioneer, and slowly . but surely were laid the steadfast foundations upon which has been builded the magnificent super- structure of the present opulent and enlightened commonwealth. To establish a home amid such sur- roundings, and to cope with the many privations and hardships which were the inevitable concomitants, demanded an invincible courage and fortitude, strong hearts and willing hands. All those were character- istics of the pioneers, whose names and deeds should be held in perpetual reverence by those who enjoy the fruits of their toil, and among these there remains today among us one who nobly did his part and still retains a keen interest in the march of progress which characterizes the great Treasure state.

William Booker Smith, Jr., who is now living in quiet retirement at his comfortable home about three miles north of Big Sandy, was born near Nashville. Tennessee, on December 17, 1839. His parents, William Booker and Almyra Smith, were both natives of Virginia, and both are deceased, the father dying at the age of sixty-four years and the mother when forty-five years of age. Of their eight chil- dren the subject of this sketch is the seventh in order of birth. The father was a school teacher for many years, in connection with which he also farmed, but latterly he gave his entire attention to agricultural pursuits. He was a democrat in his political affiliation, but was a strong supporter of the Union. He was a leader in his community and held various public offices.

The subject of this sketch was deprived by death of a mother's care when he was but a mere child, and he went to live in the family of W. S. Richards, by whom he was reared. In 1859 he rejoined his father, who had gone to Wisconsin, and they made

abraham Hogeland

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

the overland trip to Denver, Colorado, with ox team. In Denver Mr. Smith engaged in the dairy and meat business in partnership with his brother John. Late in 1859 he returned to St. Louis, Missouri, thence back to his old home for a visit. In the spring of 1860 he went to Galena, Illinois, and thence to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, remaining there until April, 1862. He then started for Oregon with an ox team outfit, arriving at Portland, Oregon, on the 15th of the following October. His first employment there was in saw-mills, in which he worked until the spring of 1863, and then went to Idaho and engaged in placer mining until 1866, when he trans- ferred his operations to Bear Gulch, Montana. The following year he engaged in freighting from Stevensville to the mines, but later again went to placer mining, at which he worked until the fall of 1869. In the latter year he located at Eagle Creek on the Missouri River, where he engaged in the wood business, supplying fuel for the boats which plied the Missouri River in those days. He carried on that business until 1875, when he engaged in trading with the Indians, traveling as far north as Red Deer River, meeting with the Indians in Canada, and thence to Doniphan Rapids on the Missouri River. In 1878-9 Mr. Smith owned and operated a farm on the Marais River, and in the fall of the latter year he engaged in prospecting in partnership with John Casnovier. The following spring he engaged in the saloon business, but in 1880 he had changed his business and was running a sale and feed stable in Fort Benton. In the summer of 1882 he went to the Cerro Coullee and pre-empted a tract of government land, on which he resided for three years. During the summer of 1885 he engaged in prospecting in the Little Range Mountains, but in 1886 he resumed his farming operations, which he carried on for three years. He then returned to Eagle Creek, Chouteau County, and took up a tract of government land, about three miles north of Big Sandy, and here he is now living. The ranch has during the intervening years been finely improved and well taken care of, and has been developed into one of the best farms in that section of the country.

In 1885 Mr. Smith was married to Margaret Cassaday, the ceremony being performed in Fort Benton by Judge John W. Tattan. Mrs. Smith passed away in 1906, leaving eight children who grew to manhood and womanhood, namely: Mary, who is the wife of John Hunsberger, of Browning, Montana, and they have five children; Minnie be- came the wife of Frederick Dunbar, of Big Sandy, and they have five children; Annie, who is the wife of Evert Cartwright, lives with and cares for her father and she is a member of the Sons and Daughters of the Pioneers; Franklin was married to Sibley Poulson, and they have two children; James was married to Gladys Raymond, and they are the parents of two children; Charles was married to Myrtle Clark and they have one child; William B. Jr., who is also a member of the Sons and Daughters of the Pioneers; and Eva. Mr. Smith is very proud of his fifteen grandchildren and his great-grandchildren, and nothing affords him more enjoyment than to have them about him listening to his stories of the early days in Montana.

Politically Mr. Smith has always given his support to the democratic ticket and has taken an intelligent interest in public affairs, especially as relating to the community with which he is identified. A strong advocate of education, he rendered effective service as a member of the School Board for about twelve years. He is a man of social and kindly nature, and of high moral character, so that he has merited the

confidence and esteem which have so freely been accorded to him.

ABRAHAM HOGELAND, who came to Montana in the capacity of a civil engineer with the Northern Pacific Railway, has for many years been a success- ful rancher and a prominent man of affairs, and is at present receiver of the United States Land Office at Lewistown.

He was born at Southampton, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 10, 1855, a son of Elias and Elizabeth S. (Van- ortsdale) Hogeland. His parents were both natives of Pennsylvania and of Quaker stock. The original American ancestors came from Holland and were pioneers at New Amsterdam, New York. Many of the earlier generations furnished sailors and sea- faring men. Elias Hogeland was born in 1829 and died in 1918, and his wife was born in 1831 and died in 1896. The father was a Pennsylvania farmer and manufacturer, and for one term served as sheriff of his county. He was a democrat in politics. In his family were ten children, seven sons and three daughters, five of whom are still living, Abraham being the second in order of birth.

Abraham Hogeland received his literary education at Doylestown Seminary in Pennsylvania, and gradu- ated in 1877 from Lafayette College with the Civil Engineer degree. For several years he was engaged in the produce commission business at Philadelphia, but in the spring of 1882 came west to Helena, Mon- tana, and was employed as a civil engineer by the Northern Pacific Railway Company. He left the railroad in the spring of 1883 and located at the mouth of Big Spring Creek, where he homesteaded a claim. For over a quarter of a century he has given his time and energies to ranching and farming, and still owns a large and valuable ranch of 1,400 acres. He has used his old profession as a means of public service, having been elected county sur- veyor of Fergus County in 1896 and by re-election serving two terms. He was appointed receiver of the United States Land Office at Lewistown in October, 1913, and has since made that city his official headquarters. Mr. Hogeland is a democrat in politics.

February 21, 1881, he married Mary Walton. She was born at Horsham, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of eight children: Albert H.,who died at the age of thirty-four, leaving a widow and one child; Caroline M., wife of Martin A. Johnson, a farmer; Elizabeth S., wife of Edgar G. R. Man- waring, a mining engineer; Theodore, who is a farmer, and by his marriage to Gertrude Yerks has one child; Frank W., who enlisted in the Hospital Corps of the United States Navy June II, 1917; Ella Rebecca; Horace W. and Harold L., both stu- dents in the Lewistown High School.

WILLIAM LOUIS FORD is one of the busy lawyers of White Sulphur Springs, has practiced twenty years, and has served three terms as county attorney of Meagher County.

Mr. Ford, who was born at Diamond City, Mon- tana, May 31, 1878, is a son of a pioneer, the late William Taylor Ford. His father, who was born in Kentucky and died in 1917, at the age of eighty- five, had the spirit of adventure implanted in his nature. In 1849, when a boy, he journeyed by sail- ing vessel around the Horn to California, and saw much of the romantic life of the mining districts of that state. He went overland from California to Walla Walla, Washington, where he took up freight- ing, and carried goods a number of times over the trails to Virginia City, Montana. He was actively

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identified with the mining era around Helena and became practically identified with Montana during the decade of the sixties. He did freighting between various mining camps and at one time drove a stage coach between Diamond City and old Fort Logan. In 1880 he located six miles south of where White Sulphur Springs now stands and became one of the pioneer sheep ranchers in that locality. He continued this industry until a few years before his death, his son acquiring his herds on November 15, 1912. At one time he owned about 14,000 acres of land and ran his flocks in numbers between 3,000 and 12,000 head. He was a highly honored citizen of old Meagher County, served a time as county com- missioner, and for one term was mayor of White Sulphur Springs. While at Walla Walla he be- came associated with the Masonic Fraternity and later demitted and became a charter member of Diamond City Lodge No. 7, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, and served that Lodge as master. Politically he was a democrat until 1893, after which he was a stanch republican. His wife, Helen Foley, was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and died in 1916, at the age of seventy years. They were married at Walla Walla, and had three sons and three daughters, all still living, William L. being the fourth in age.

William Louis Ford was three years of age when his parents moved to White Sulphur Springs. While getting his public school education there he also spent much of his time on the range as a cowboy and sheep herder on his father's ranch. After the public schools he was a student in the Bishop Scott Academy at Portland, Oregon, and took his law course in the University of Michigan, graduating LL. B. with the class of 1900. He was admitted to the Michigan bar that year, and soon afterward re- turned to White Sulphur Springs, where he was admitted in the fall and at once began practice. He has handled much important litigation of a general nature, and his three successive terms as county attorney began with his first election in 1906. He is a republican in politics, is affiliated with Diamond City Lodge No. 7, Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, Helena Consistory of the Scottish Rite, and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Helena.

December 25, 1907, Mr. Ford married Margaret A. Young who was born at Monticello, Iowa, a daughter of James and Margaret A. Young. Her parents were both natives of Scotland, and her father is now a resident of White Sulphur Springs. Her mother is deceased. Mrs. Ford was the fourth among five children, four of whom are still living. To their marriage were born two children: Helen Margaret and 'Blanche Katherine.

GEORGE F. HEBER came to Montana when a boy, grew up on a stock ranch, and has chiefly applied his efforts since reaching his majority to farming and stock raising. He now conducts a large and well ordered dairy farm, located sixteen miles east of White Sulphur Springs.

Mr. Heber was born at Mazeppa, Minnesota, June 28, 1883, son of John P. and Louise (Kintz) Heber. His father, who was born in Germany in 1847, was brought to this country at the age of five years, the family crossing the ocean on a sailing vessel to New York City. Soon afterward they located near Dubuque, Iowa, where John Heber was reared and educated. He grew up on his father's farm, but learned the trade of blacksmith, and subsequently went to Wabasha County, Minnesota, and established his business in the Town of Mazeppa. He remained there in active service as a blacksmith

and stone mason until 1893, when he brought his family to Great Falls, Montana. Here he took up ranching twenty-five miles south of Great Falls in Cascade County, and did a successful business rais- ing cattle and doing general farming until 1907, when he retired. He and his wife now live at Great Falls. He is a democrat and is affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows. His wife, Louise Kintz, was born in Iowa in 1846, her parents being early pioneers of that state. Of their nine children five are living, three sons and two daughters.

George F. Heber, the eighth child, was ten years of age when brought to Montana. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Minne- sota and at Great Falls, and from early boyhood had a practical familiarity with ranching at his father's place in Cascade County. In 1906 he went into Western Canada and had the varied experiences of a farmer in that region until 1912, when he re- turned to Meagher County, Montana, and home- steaded sixteen miles east of White Sulphur Springs. He has developed a valuable place here, having 320 acres. His industry was cattle raising until 1917, since which year he has pursued a diversified scheme of dairying and farming. He keeps twenty head of milch cows, besides six head of horses, and ships his milk to Lewistown and Ryegate. In politics Mr. Heber is independent, voting for the man who gets his approval and judgment as the best candidate.

October 18, 1907, Mr. Heber married Miss Sadie Knight, who was born at Laramie, Wyoming, daughter of George F. and Sarah (Jones) Knight. She was the fourth among eight children, five of whom are still living. Both her parents were born at Baltimore, Maryland, and her mother is still living on the home ranch in Cascade County, Mon- tana. Mr. and Mrs. Heber have two children: Gladys and Pearl.

ROBERT A. CRAIG, cashier of the Melstone State Bank, is one of the youngest bank officials in Mon- tana, and in his brief career has shown an unusual ability at promoting himself on the basis of proved efficiency and merit.

He was born in Chicago, Illinois, December 25, 1894. His father, Andrew Craig, was born in 1862 at Edinburgh, Scotland, was reared there and as a young man came to the United States and located at Chicago. For a number of years he was associated with the office of the comptroller and land com- missioner of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and was still doing duty there when he died at Chicago in January, 1908. He was a republican in politics, and a member of Myrtle Lodge of Masons in Chicago. At Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Andrew Craig married Miss Helen Thompson, who was born at Motherwell, Scotland, in 1862, and died at Chicago in September, 1907. They were the parents of four children : W. T., cashier of the First National Bank of Ingomar, Montana; Robert A .; Mary W., who graduated from the high school at Austin, Minnesota, at the age of sixteen, later grad- uated from the State Normal College at Winona, Minnesota, and is now living at Denver, Colorado; and Evalyn H., attending high school at Eagle, Wisconsin.

Robert A. Craig attended public school in his native city, finished the sophomore year of high school, and at the early age of fourteen, as an orphan boy, began applying himself to the serious business of 'life. His first work was as an office boy to the vice president of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. He eagerly applied himself in all his leisure hours to the study of stenography, and after two years was given regular work as a

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 154

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