Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 200

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 200

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Mr. Franzke was born at Forest Junction in Calu- met County, Wisconsin, September 2, 1886, a son of August and Wilhelmina (Otto) Franzke. His father was born in Poland, October 14, 1851, and his mother in Wisconsin in 1861. Arthur is the fifth in a family of eleven children, all living. His father came to this country at the age of seven years, the grandparents making the voyage in a sailing ship which took six weeks' time. The grand- father settled in the woods of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and later moved to Calumet County, where he developed a farm after a number of years of hard labor. Mr. Franzke's father also made a farm in the wilds of Northern Wisconsin, and finally located at Appleton in that state, where he has lived retired for the past eight years. He has been a man of public-spirited activity and was many years on the school board. Politically he is a republican.

Arthur A. Franzke had poor health when a boy and could not attend school consecutively until he was twelve years of age. He then made rapid progress in his studies through grammar and high schools at Brillion, Wisconsin, and for five years was a student in the Northwestern College at Naper- ville, Illinois, graduating with the class of 1907. He distinguished himself at Northwestern College as an orator and debator, and took part in many of the college and intercollegiate contests. With a team- mate he won first honors in an intercollegiate ora- torical contest, where the other competing colleges were Lake Forest, Wheaton, Lombard and Illinois College at Jacksonville. He won honors in all the state contests in 1906 and was class orator in 1907. At the age of sixteen Mr. Franzke appeared on the political stump in Wisconsin, directing his efforts against railway public utility combination and lum- ber interests. He was then a staunch ally of Robert LaFollette, though in recent years his enthusiasm for that Wisconsin senator has turned to distrust.

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Mr. Franzke also took part in the political cam- paigns of Illinois in 1908-10-12, when he actively supported the campaigns of Governor Lowden.

Mr. Franzke has been active in educational work for the past ten years. He became principal of the high school at Paw Paw, Illinois, in 1908, serving two years, and then three years as superintendent of the Paw Paw schools. From there he came to Montana and was superintendent of schools at Har- lowton, from September, 1912, to January, 1913. At the latter date he was elected to the responsibilities of superintendent of schools at Lewistown, where he was in charge of one of the largest school systems of the state.

Mr. Franzke gave much of his time to various war movements, where his services as a speaker were invaluable. He served as chair- man of the Fergus County Food Administration, as chairman of the "Four Minute" speakers, as secre- tary of the Fergus County War Relief Association, as a member of the Red Cross Brigade, and was chairman of the Speakers' Bureau in all the Liberty Loan campaigns.

Since severing his relations with the Lewistown School System he has been active in public and political affairs. He was a strong factor in the defeat of the nonpartisan movement in Montana. During the campaign he carried the message of sound Americanism into every corner of Montana. He is now using his energies in writing and lectur- ing on political and industrial affairs in the state.

Mr. Franzke is also a well-known Chautauqua lecturer, and has calls for his services on the lec- ture platform throughout Canada and the Western states. He is affiliated with Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Lewistown Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and is a member of the Rotary Club and Outlook Club. He is a Methodist and in politics is independent.

ROBERT G. JACKSON. Probably no one could give a better connected account of the history of Fergus County during the past forty years or more than Robert G. Jackson, who with his family owns extensive bodies of ranch and farming lands near Lewistown.

Mr. Jackson has always been a constructive factor in this community, has achieved success, and has been a worker for law and order at a time when the country was filled with criminals.

He was born in Durham Township, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada, January 29, 1846, a son of James and Mercy Caroline (Chase) Jackson. His father, a native of County Wexford, Ireland, came to Prince Edward's Island when a young man by sailing ship, and for several years was a merchant dealing in fish and farm produce. Later he engaged in farming in the Province of Ontario, and in 1854 moved to Buchanan County, Iowa, where he pre-empted Government land at a dollar and a quarter an acre. He was an early settler in that section of Iowa, and spent the rest of his life there as a farmer. He died at the age of sixty-seven. His wife was a native of New England and died at the age of thirty-six. Robert G. Jackson was the fourth of her seven children.

Mr. Jackson was eight years old when his parents moved to Iowa, and he grew up and received his education in one of the schools of that state, walking every day back and forth four miles between home and school. During early manhood he was a pros- perous and influential farmer in Iowa. He made his first trip to Montana in 1878. After prospecting

over the country he went back and sold his Iowa home and then returned to Montana by teams. At Bozeman he engaged in the lumber business, having the saw mill which furnished the greater part of the lumber and timbers used in the construction of the Bozeman Tunnel for the Northern Pacific Rail- way. His mill cut the timbers used in shoring up the tunnel and much of the overhead construction. He was busily engaged in operating this mill during 1881-83. On July 3, 1884, he reached the site of the first city of Lewistown. On that day he had an exciting experience with two notorious outlaws named Rattlesnake Jake and O'Fallon. One of his companions was killed by one of these bandits, and Mr. Jackson had a part of the subduing of the out- laws, and the battle was one long remembered by the old-timers as one of the exciting events of the early days at Lewistown. Mr. Jackson brought the first steam threshing outfit to Fergus County, and during subsequent years he threshed grain along every creek within fifty miles of Lewistown. He also brought a saw mill from Bozeman, and his mill cut much of the timber used in the pioneer con- struction of Judith Gap. His chief business, however, has been ranching. Today he owns a 200-acre homestead, adjoining Lewistown, and also 520 acres near Forest Grove. For a number of years he raised horses on an extensive scale, and afterward com- bined them with cattle. His sons have, all told, 3,840 acres in Fergus County, and they run about 400 head of cattle on their pastures. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad paid Mr. Jackson over $20,000 for right of way in Lewistown, and paid his sons a similar amount in transactions, foot- ing up to about $42,000.

Since the death of his wife in 1915, Mr. Jackson has been practically retired from business, though giving some attention to retailing the extensive coal output on about 300 acres of coal land which he owns. During his residence in Iowa he served as a school director and township trustee. For five years he was also a member of the School Board of Lewistown. He was an active republican until Bryan ran for the presidency the first time, and he then became affiliated with the democrats, but latterly has voted for the best man. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 3 of the Knights of Pythias.

November 9, 1870, Mr. Jackson married Amelia Taylor. She was born in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada, and died September 30, 1915. Five children were born to their marriage, four of whom are still living: George R. is a prominent ranchman in Fergus County; Mercy has been one of the leading teachers in the schools of Lewistown, and still lives with her father; Dorman also has extensive farming interests near Lewistown, and by his marriage to Julia Clifton has two children; Eleanor is still at home with her father.

RICHARD S. JOHNSON, one of the leading merchants of Baker, is the first business man to locate in the city, and he has been a resident of Montana since the fall of 1893. Born at Helsingborg, Sweden, on September 4, 1876, he is a son of Lawrence Seger- felt, a merchant and also a native of Sweden. Although Mr. Johnson's family name is Segerfelt. after coming to America he took his mother's maiden name, adding it to the family one, and became natur- alized as Richard Segerfelt Johnson. His mother before her marriage was Benedicta Johnson. Law- rence and Benedicta (Johnson) Segerfelt became the parents of several children, four of whom reached maturity, namely: Richard S., whose name heads this review; Mrs. Sven Benson, who resides

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at Helsingborg, Sweden; Bror, who is in the employ of the Swedish Government at Stockholm; and Christ, who is the largest fur merchant of Sweden, with stores at Helsingborg and Malmo, Sweden.

Richard S. Johnson was sent to the United States in order to attend school at Chicago, where his uncle, Doctor Segerfelt, was established in practice, and while living with him he attended a private school. Possessing in a remarkable degree the facil- ity of acquiring knowledge, within six weeks Mr. Johnson gained enough of an acquaintance with the English language to enable him to make his way in his new home. This faculty appears to have been inherited by his little son, who speaks Swedish as fluently as English, having learned the former language from his maternal grandmother, an inmate of the Johnson household, who habitually speaks in her native language to the child.

Becoming imbued with a love of this country, Mr. Johnson was afraid that his parents would re- quire him to return to Sweden, and so left Chicago very suddenly and came into what was then regarded as the Far West. He had never earned a dollar, and discovered that it was more difficult to earn a living than to learn a language, but with char- acteristic pluck and determination he stuck to it until he made as great a success of the one as he had of the other.

It was in the fall of 1893 that he arrived at Miles City and took a job at Terry, Montana, as a dishwasher in a hotel at that point, owned by W. F. Jordan, who has since acquired a state-wide reputation. In April of the following year Mr. Johnson went on the roundup for the old Hash Knife Company, and, later, was with different horse outfits, spending in all about ten years on the range. During this period he saved enough capital to buy a bunch of cattle, and he then located his ranging place on Box Elder Creek, near Bell Tower. He associated himself with J. F. Beasley, who proved his worth as a partner, and the two remained to- gether for several years. About 1903 the firm sold their outfit holdings on the Box Elder, and Mr. John- son went to Camp Creek and became a clerk for the Chuning Mercantile Company, remaining with this concern for two years. Returning home about this time, he discovered that his brothers had prospered much better than he, they being already merchants of prominence and he only a clerk, and so he

resolved to establish himself in business. Coming back to Montana, he looked over the ground and felt that Baker offered a good field for his proposed undertaking. Looking up his old partner, Mr. John- son convinced him of the feasibility of the propo- sition, and they founded the Baker Mercantile Com- pany in 1910. After five years the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Beasley retiring, and Mr. Johnson becoming the sole proprietor. In addition to the parent store there are three branches, the ones in Baker being operated under the names of the H. G. Schenk Company and the Berg Implement Company, while the third, at Plevna, Montana, is conducted under the name of the Plevna Grocery Company.

In addition to his mercantile connections Mr. Johnson has been active in other directions, and helped to organize the First National Bank of Baker, of which he is still a director, and he owns three sections of land in this locality, much of it being under cultivation, and he has made all of the improvements on it himself. This land is devoted to grain farming.

Mr. Johnson took out his naturalization papers at Miles City, Montana, and cast his first presidential vote for William Mckinley in 1900, and from that time on has been identified with the republican

party. He satisfies himself with casting his vote and in taking a good citizen's interest in community affairs.

On June 17, 1910, Mr. Johnson was married in New York City to Miss Edna Larson, who was also born in Helsingborg, Sweden, a playmate of his childhood. Mrs. Johnson's father, Jens Larson, was a liveryman, but is now deceased, and Mrs. Larson, as before stated, makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. There were two children in the Larson family, the other member being Miss Ebba Larson of Baker. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children, Richard Lawrence and Joann.

Fraternally Mr. Johnson is a Thirty-second De- gree Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner, and belongs to Algeria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Helena, Montana. He is serving his lodge as treasurer. He also belongs to Baker Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being one of its charter members. A sound, de- pendable and upright business man, Mr. Johnson has steadily advanced and has honorably earned all of his present prosperity through his sagacity, shrewdness and ability to grasp opportunities as they were offered to him. Industrious and thrifty, he saved his money while working on a salary and was thus enabled to get a start in life. As a citizen he is recognized as a constructive force in his neigh- borhood, and he and his wife have many warm friends in the neighborhood where they have lived for so many years.

GEORGE T. O'BRIEN. When the name of O'Brien is sounded within the hearing of those who have had something to do with the settlement and de- velopment of the lower Yellowstone Valley they instinctively associate it with one personality and that the pioneer whose sous now carry a modest share of the burden of citizenship in Richland County, one of whom is named as the subject of this liberal review.

John W. O'Brien, who was the worthy head of this well-known family, belonged to the pioneers of Eastern Montana, and his personality stamped itself indelibly upon the lives of those associated with him for almost forty years in the varied affairs of the region where he spent his final years. If his person appeared uncouth and his manners somewhat untrained, underneath it all there was a heart throb- bing in harmony with the best intentions of his fellow men and his life proved an example of neigh- borly kindness and brotherly consideration. He was a part of the untamed West for nearly fifty years, and in that period of time's flight he accomplished something for himself and added something to the wealth and to the social phase of the community where his lot was cast.

Turning first to the origin of this esteemed char- acter, we find John W. O'Brien a native of Coving- ton, Kentucky, and his birthday March 12, 1850. Left motherless in childhood, he grew up in Irish families in Ohio, and his childhood education came from a Brothers' School. Upon the return of his father from the Civil war service he enlisted as a youth of sixteen in the regular army, was an in- tegrant of Company I, Seventh Infantry Regiment, and served his first year in the fort at St. Augustine, Florida, the place which marks the first settlement in the United States. He was transferred north to Ft. Steele on the North Platte River, was there a year and was moved on west to the upper Missouri River country and spent a year in Ft. Buford. It was the year 1869 when he reached this point, and the following year his four years expired and he received his discharge.

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Engaging now in civil pursuits, he established woodyards at points along the Missouri River for the "convenience of the boats plying to and fro below Ft. Buford, and, finally, found himself running a yard at Cow Island, at the head of low water navigation on the river and about 150 miles east of Ft. Benton. He remained at this point until some time in 1876, when he went to the Black Hills as an experiment, but the climate did not agree with him and returned to the Yellowstone Valley the next year. Casting about for a business associate, he found an old scout of General Terry's, George Mor- gan, and the two built a stockade store at the mouth of Morgan's Creek, named in honor of his partner. They also had a woodyard there, and this was in charge of the old frontiersman, Jack Flynn, whose last years were spent around Oswego, Montana, and who belonged to the era of trail-blazing marked by Morgan and O'Brien. The site of their old store is about 100 yards east of the Northern Pacific track where it crosses Morgan Creek and on the south bank of the stream. In 1877 the Government built a telegraph line from Bismarck to Tongue River by the way of Ft. Buford, and the stockade store became also a telegraph office. O'Brien and Morgan continued to trade with the Indians and sell wood to the river boatmen until the spring of 1879, when their enterprise slowed down to the point of a profitless concern and O'Brien then severed his connection with it and took a mail contract covering the trail from Ft. Buford to Ft. Keogh. Jo Gray carried the route as his associate from Ft. Keogh to the old cantonment below Glendive, where he met O'Brien.

In 1879 O'Brien and Morgan made a trip into Canada by the way of Mouse River, but were not satisfied to locate up there and returned and O'Brien entered upon an era of trading with the buffalo hunters at the mouth of Fox Creek. He bought their hides and sold them ammunition and provisions and continued there till the fall of 1880, when he went to Ft. Buford to clerk for the old firm of Leighton and Jordan. In the spring of 1881 he pur- chased the ranch and trading station of "French Jo," (Jo Seymour) in the narrow valley of Fox Creek, and there he established a store and opened a road ranch on the Yellowstone. With this enter- prise he was connected the remainder of his active life, and he made it a place of rendezvous of trav- elers and a mecca for ranchmen and scattered set- tlers as a place to buy goods. The O'Brien "road ranch" was the chief hostelry between Glendive and the Missouri River, famed for its hospitality, and no matter what the crowd or the crush of guests there was always room for one more. The O'Brien store continued business and flourished after the Northern Pacific built, was twice remodeled to ac- commodate its increasing business, but fire destroyed it in 1911 and its ruins mark the spot where John O'Brien drove his last stake in the civilizing of the Yellowstone Valley. He was a ranchman as well as a merchant, and a section of land marked his holdings, and this is being used by his sons in the production of beef and grain. The old homestead is intact and shelters his son James D., while George T., the older son, carries on his stock and farming enterprise at Newlon, a half mile down the river and in sight of the spot which gave him his child- hood training.

John W. O'Brien was always a democrat, and he possessed positive convictions on politics and upon other topics and subjects uppermost in the minds of the public. He never hedged when approached by an office-seeker for his support, and if he did not intend to help him he told him so. He was reared

a Roman Catholic and brought up his children in that faith. His body was inclined to be frail, his stature medium, his movements active and energetic and his vigorous constitution kept him a well man through life.

In August, 1881, he married at Ft. Buford Miss Ellen Kennedy, and they began their residence on their Newlon ranch September 7th following. Mrs. O'Brien was born in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Carrolltown Township, December 26, 1846, and passed away May 27, 1904. She belonged to an old Colo- nial family of Pennsylvania, a daughter of Michael Kennedy, who married a daughter of Emerick Ben- der, whose father made the first wooden clock made west of the Allegheny Mountains. Emerick Bender was born in Germany and came to the United States as a child in 1793, and six years later he attended the funeral of General George Washington at Mt. Vernon. The Kennedy family is of Irish origin and an old one of the Keystone state. It furnished soldiers for the Union army during the Civil war in the persons of Dominick and Thomas Kennedy, brothers of Mrs. O'Brien, and the former died a prisoner in Andersonville, Georgia. Thomas served two enlistments and was a soldier in uniform at the funeral of President Lincoln.

The children to grow up and survive in the home of John W. and Ellen O'Brien are George T. and James D., as above noted. The older son was born at the old store January 5, 1884, and has spent his life as a ranchman and farmer. His education was acquired here and he married October 10, 1906, Bertha Dore, a daughter of Richard and Pauline (Gable) Dore. Mrs. O'Brien was born in Elkhorn, Nebraska, November 23, 1885, and her education was acquired in the public schools. Her father was born in England but her mother was a native of the Province of Posen, Germany, and came to the United States when fourteen years old. Mr. Dore passed his life as a farmer near Akron, Colorado, and is buried there, but his widow is a member of her daughter's home at Newlon. The Dore issue were Richard, of Missoula, Montana; Amelia, who died as Mrs. Ezra Eddy at Elkhorn, Nebraska; Henry and Edwin, of Fairview, Montana; George, of Sid- ney, Montana; Mary, who died at Lead, South Dakota, as Mrs. William Palmer; John, of Top- pemish, Washington; Fred, who resides at Olinda, California; Jacob, who died at Sidney; Jobe, who resides at Fairview, Montana; Mrs. O'Brien, of Newlon; and Mabel, who married Arcade Simard, of Sidney, Montana.

The father of John W. O'Brien was John H. O'Brien, born on Erin's Isle in 1826, and was educated there. He came to the United States in 1845 and stopped for a time in Brooklyn, New York. He was a carpenter by trade, and went Southwest into Kentucky before the rebellion came on and there enlisted in the Union army. His regiment was the Eighth Ohio Cavalry, and he served through the war. After his honorable discharge he settled in Tennessee and passed away in that state in 1870.

In the home of George T. O'Brien and wife the following children have been born to them: Anna Gertrude, Pauline, John, Fred, Donald and Dorothy, twins, and Henry. Mr. O'Brien has served his school district many years as a board member, was a member of the district local Council of Defense during the World war, participated actively in the various drives for war funds, and in his national politics is a democrat.

CLYDE MCLEMORE, junior member of the firm of Booth & McLemore of Baker, is an able lawyer, a strong debator and brilliant orator. Possessed of a

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strong and commanding mind, unusual ability and admirable personal qualities, he has become a well- known figure of the Montana bar, rendering con- spicuous service in his able conduct of the cases entrusted to him, discharging what he believes to be his duty with independence and without bias. He will never permit fear of political punishment or hope of reward to change his attitude on a matter of public concern, and is recognized as one of the forceful men of his profession.

Clyde Mclemore was born near Everton, Dade County, Missouri, on March 29, 1883, a son of Will- iam Y. and grandson of Archibald Mclemore. The McLemore family came originally from Scotland through the north of Ireland to the United States during the Colonial period of this country's history, settlement being made first in North Carolina and later in Tennessee. During 1849 Archibald Mc- Lemore with several of his brothers left Tennes- see for Missouri, and there became interested in farming. When the war broke out between the states the Mclemore brothers adhered to the Union, and continued to support it, several of them entering the army in its defense. Archibald Mclemore mar- ried Mary Brown, and they had five children.

William Y. Mclemore was born in Missouri, where he spent his life, being engaged in merchan- dising. He married Claranette Wheeler, a daughter of Calvin and Asenith (Carlock) Wheeler. Mrs. McLemore was born in Dade County, Missouri, and she and her husband became the parents of the fol- lowing children: Clyde, whose name heads this review; Clarence, who is a banker of Everton, Mis- souri; Forest, who is the wife of Boyd Campbell, of Warner, Oklahoma; Ray, who served in the Eighty-ninth Division during the Great war, is now engaged in merchandising at Everton, Missouri; Carl, who is also a resident of Everton; and Dewey and Gretta, who are both residents of Everton.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 200

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