Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 214

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 214

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Sever Hagen early gained a sense of respon- sibility, grew up in a home of modest comfort, and acquired an education in the public schools of Wis- consin. He lived with his mother until past his majority, but at the age of fourteen was working out as a farm hand, and as a wage worker he per- formed his chief role in Wisconsin and also in Montana until he was twenty-five years of age.

Mr. Hagen came to Montana from Trempealeau County, Wisconsin, in 1899, and reached here with only a few dollars saved from his wages. He

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was attracted to Montana by the better wages paid in the northwest and also the better oppor- tunities for a man without capital. Another motive probably was to lay the foundation of a home of his own, since three or four years later he returned to Wisconsin and claimed a bride. On leaving the train at Forsyth he hired out to David Nelson, a well known stock man whose ranch is some twenty miles east of Ingomar. General ranch work and tending sheep camp for Mr. Nelson employed him a year and a half, and he was then in a similar service for Gould Brothers near Forsyth until the spring of 1903.

Mr. Hagen then went up Big Porcupine and lo- cated land of his own fifty miles northwest of Forsyth, though his claim for a couple of years was only a squatter's right. In the fall of 1903 he bought a bunch of sheep, and at the same time returned to Wisconsin and was married. For the past seventeen years his chief business has been handling sheep, and he has been through all the ups and downs of that industry. His wool has gone to market at a price as low as 15 cents a pound, while again it commanded 64 cents a pound. The high tide in his business as a wool producer came in 1919, when he sheared some 2,000 head of sheep, and the best clip taken in that year averaged a little more than twelve pounds a head. His sheep have been the Rambouillet and Lincoln blood. He has also been more or less identified with the cattle industry through all these years, his cattle brand being "CM." He has shipped out many cattle from his ranch and in the fall of 1918 sent the best carload of steers that ever went from this part of the state. They were eighteen head of three year olds, and at market they secured the top price of $222.50 a head on the average.

As the nucleus of his ranch Mr. Hagen entered a quarter section, and from time to time has in- creased his holdings until he owns a body of nine sections. While the first improvement was a log house of a single room, he has invested a large amount of work and capital in increased equip- ment and now has a comfortable home of five rooms, barn, hunk house and ample sheds for stock. Two large reservoirs have been constructed to sup- ply stock water during periods of drought.

He has not kept all his interests on his ranch. He helped organize the school in the Ingomar dis- trict and has served on the school board for eight or nine years. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce at Ingomar, is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a republican in politics, having cast his first vote in Montana in 1900 for Major Mckinley.

December 16, 1903, at Hickston, Wisconsin, he married Miss Margaret Lanphere. She was born at Whitehall, Wisconsin, February 17, 1882, the oldest of the four daughters of Arthur and Helene (Klose) Lanphere. Her father was a native of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Her three sisters are Mrs. Ida Evenson, of Minong, Wisconsin; Mrs. H. W. VanDuzen, of Roundup, Montana; and Mrs. George Riechers, of Ingomar, Montana. Mr. and Mrs. Hagen have three children: Sybil, Eva and Arthur.

WILLIAM T. CRAIG A man who has all the assets of youth, William T. Craig is at the full tide of achievement as a business man and citizen of Rosebud County, being cashier of the First National Bank of Ingomar, head of several of the important industries of the village, and a promi- nent wool producer and also a member of the Board of County Commissioners.

Mr. Craig was born in the suburb of Ravens- wood, Chicago, December 4, 1892, son of Andrew and Helen (Thomson) Craig. Both his parents were born in Scotland. His father, a native of Edinburgh, had the experience and training of an operator on the North British Railway as a youth, came to the United States when a young man, and entered the service of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company as a bookkeeper in the auditor's office. He remained with that com- pany twenty-five years and died in the service in 1910, at the age of forty-four. He was an artist with the pen, and wrote resolutions and cards for various lodges in Chicago. He was married in Omaha, Nebraska, his wife being a native of Mother- well, Scotland, and daughter of William Thomson. She died in 1907, the mother of two sons and two daughters, William T. being the oldest. The other son is Robert, cashier of the Melstone State Bank of Melstone, Montana; Mary lives in Denver ; while Evelyn resides at Palmyra, Wisconsin.

William T. Craig acquired a public school edu- cation in Chicago, spending one year in high school and a commercial course of six months in a high school. He paid for his own education, and studied more outside of school than he did inside. Be- ginning as 'a boy, he spent four years as a clerk in the office of the vice president of the Milwau- kee Railway Company, E. S. Keeley. Leaving that position in 1910, at the age of eighteen, he came West when the first steel trains were put on the Transcontinental division of the Milwaukee system, and as ticket agent at Miles City sold the first tickets for these trains. After one year he left the railway service to take up different work and became bookkeeper and receiving clerk for the First National Bank of Miles City. A year and a half later he became cashier for the Western Com- missary Company at Lewistown, and remained there until he came to Ingomar in 1914 and entered banking.

His first association with banking here was as cashier of the bank of Wiley, Clark & Greening, which later became the Ingomar State Bank and . subsequently the First National Bank. He has been cashier through these various changes and is also a member of the board of directors.

In the fall of, 1918 Mr. Craig entered the sheep and wool industry at Ingomar as a partner with S. O. Mysse, under the firm of Mysse & Craig, one of the large individual concerns in this sec- tion of the state. The partners stocked their ranch with flocks of half-breed Coteswold and Rambouil- let, a selection that has shown adaptability to the range and climate. The firm reached the acme of their efforts in 1919, when they clipped 60,000 pounds of wool. Mr. Craig is treasurer of the Ingomar Shearing Company, owning what is said to be the best equipped shearing plant in the United States, located at Ingomar, and with a shearing capacity of 5,000 sheep per day.

'Mr. Craig is also president of the Ingomar Mill- ing Company, operating the flour mill and elevator and also the electric light plant of the village. He was elected county commissioner in November, 1918, succeeding J. M. Williams, and is a member of the board with R. W. Blekesley and Charles M. Dowlin. The important work of the board has been the bond issue for the construction of the County Hospital and also the issue of bonds for road work in conjunction with the Federal appropriation for that purpose. Mr. Craig cast his first vote at Ingomar, supporting Charles E. Hughes for President. He was reared in a republican

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household. He joined the Masonic fraternity at Miles City, and is a member of the Lodge, Chapter and Knights Templar Commandery at Forsyth.

At Forsyth, Montana, November 2, 1913, Mr. Craig married Miss Sophia Barthelmess. She was born at Fort Keogh, Custer County, Montana, De- cember 25, 1891. Her father was a sergeant in the regular army, saw active service in the Spanish- American war, and lost his life accidentally at Fort Keogh. Her mother is now 'Mrs. Cort Hanson. Mrs. Craig, who is one of seven children, has one . son and one daughter, William T., Jr., and Helen Ruth.

HUGH R. DAWES. In these modern days of specialization along all lines of human endeavor it is not surprising to find that many progressive ranchmen and agriculturists of Montana are center- ing their energies upon one special feature of their work rather than distributing their labor over a broad field. An example is found in Hugh R. Dawes, of the Garneill community of Fergus County, who, while a general ranchman, makes a specialty of breeding and selling high class horses. Mr. Dawes has passed all of his life since he was seven years of age in his present locality, where he is well and favorably known, and is carrying on the business started by his father many years ago.

Mr. Dawes was born in Adair County, Missouri, July 9, 1875, a son of John A. J. and Margaret (Crockett) Dawes. His father, born in Virginia, died February 14, 1910, at the age of sixty-nine years, and his mother, born in Missouri in Sep- tember, 1839, still survives and is a resident of Idaho. Of the nine children in the family seven are living, and Hugh R. was the fourth in order of birth. John A. J. Dawes served in a Virginia volunteer infantry regiment in the Confederate army during the Civil war, and after the close of that struggle came West to Missouri, where he married and engaged in farming and stock raising in Adair County. In 1881 he left his Missouri farm and traveled to Bozeman, 'Montana, by rail, then journey- ing overland with an eight-horse team to the Judith Basin, where he located on Government land. From that time forward he continued successfully as a cattle raiser and ranchman, and at the time of his death, February 14, 1910, was accounted one of the substantial men of his community. He was also prominent and influential in civic affairs, and for several years administered justice in his community in the capacity of justice of the peace. His political belief was that of the democratic party.

Hugh R. Dawes was seven years of age when he accompanied his parents to Lewistown, Montana, and here his education was secured in the public schools. He grew up in the atmosphere and amid the surroundings of the ranch, was thoroughly trained by his father in all the details of its man- agement, and when the elder man died stepped into his shoes and has since carried on operations in a capable manner. He is engaged in raising sheep, cattle and horses, and at the present time has about 900 head of sheep and from seventy- five to eighty head of cattle. As before noted, however, a specialty is made of breeding and selling high-class horses, and at the present time there are from forty to fifty head of Shire horses on the ranch. Mr. Dawes is known as an excellent judge of stock, and in business circles his reputa- tion is equally high. He is a member of Gordon Lodge No. 68, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Straw. His political faith makes him a democrat. On January I, 1912, Mr. Dawes was married

to Miss Dazie M. Glazier, who was born in South Dakota, a daughter of Aaron Glazier, an agricul- turist of this state. Mr. and Mrs. Dawes have one son, Hugh G.

BERTRAM PERRY MELCHERT. A leading contractor and builder, Bertram P. Melchert has been promi- nently connected with the industrial interests of Lewistown since 1902, and his standing in business circles has been gained through a career of honor- able and straightforward dealing. In addition, he has been extensively engaged in ranching in Fergus County, a field in which he has likewise made a success and maintained a high reputation.

Mr. Melchert was born at Davenport, Iowa, Sep- tember 25, 1877, a son of William and Grace (Perry) Melchert. His father, also a native of Davenport, was for years a railroad builder and contractor of Iowa and one of the most prominent men in his line in the state, where his death occurred in 1903, after he had rounded out a most successful career. Mrs. Melchert, a native of Paris, France, still survives. There are four children in the family, of whom Bertram P. is the eldest. Bertram P. Melchert received his literary education in the pub- lic schools of Davenport, following which he pre- pared himself for a commercial career by a course in the Davenport Business College. At the age of twenty years he embarked in the contracting business, starting to build highways, and May 8, 1902, came to Lewistown, Montana, which has since been his home. He has done a large and prosperous business in contracting for and building highways, and his reputation for efficiency in this line is un- excelled by any contractor in the county. In addi- tion to his activities in this direction he has met with success in his operations as a cattle raiser and dealer, being the owner of a ranch twenty miles from Lewistown, which he is still conduct- ing. He formerly owned a ranch of 1,240 acres, which he operated for the growing of wheat, but found his other interests too exacting, and disposed of this property in January, 1919. Mr. Melchert is a member of Lewistown Lodge No. 37, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Hiram Chapter No. 14, Royal Arch Masons; Lewistown Commandery No. 15, Knights Templar; Algeria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and Lewistown Lodge No. 456, Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. In politics he is a republican. On June 6, 1906, Mr. Melchert married Miss Effa May Pratt, who was born in Iowa.

THOMAS C. SCOTT was for many years widely known throughout Custer County as a ranchman, and at one time the Scott ranch embraced an area of 7,800 acres, developed from a single sec- tion of land. During a period of nineteen years Mr. Scott carried on his work of development here, at the head of Little Pumpkin Creek ..

He was born in far off Wayne County, New York, July 11, 1869, a son of Joel Scott and a grandson of Thomas Scott. The last named sub- sequently moved from Kentucky to Kansas, and died in Linn County of the latter state, where a son, Cullen Scott, and a daughter, Mrs. Artie Burnett, lived. Joel Scott, who died in 1869, mar- ried Emily Sandusky, who was born in Kentucky, but whose parents came from Virginia. The fol- lowing children were born to Joel and Emily Scott : Will, whose home is still in Kentucky, at Monti- cello; and Thomas C., of Miles City, Montana. Mrs. Scott married for her second husband James Phipps, and by this union she became the mother

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of five children. Her death occurred in Kentucky.

Thomas C. Scott spent his years on a Kentucky farm until he reached the age of sixteen, acquiring in the meantime a limited country school education. He then started out to make his own way in the world, and as a youth of sixteen, alone and un- aided, he journeyed to Texas, where he worked on the range until 1895. He spent many years in the Panhandle region of the Lone Star state, saw Plainview in Hale County in its infancy, and witnessed the growth and development of many of . the west Texas county seats and metropolises. He went out to that country as a cowboy, and among his Texas employers were the owners of the historic "XIT" ranch. He subsequently ran a bunch of cattle of his own. He was in Lamb County when there was not a woman within its entire boundaries and when it cast but seven votes, and Mr. Scott helped select a companion cowboy for the office of sheriff.

In 1895 he left that Southwest country and made his way to Montana, arriving here when yet a young and unmarried man and his first work was as an employe of the electric light plant in Miles City. After a year he was chosen steward of the Miles City Club, and during the two years he remained in that office he also ran a small bunch of cattle on Fallon Creek, and when he left the club he began ranching in earnest on Little Pumpkin Creek. He in time established a cattle ranch of pure bred Herefords, and for a time was associated in the cattle business with A. T. 'McAusland. At the present writing Mr. Scott is a stockholder in the Miles City National Bank, and has in the past served on its directorate. He is also inter- ested in mining at Cook City, Montana, a member of the company operating the Glen Gary copper, gold and silver mine, a property formerly known as the old Scotch Bonnet, just outside Yellow- stone Park. This mine gives promise of being one of the richest properties of the region.

Mr. Scott married in Miles City May 22, 1902, Miss Grace Cratz, who was born in Jasper County, Iowa, and went from there to Texas. Her death occurred at Rochester, Minnesota, January 10, 1917, when she was forty-eight years of age. She be- came the mother of one daughter, Emily Belle Scott, who was born in October, 1903, and is now in school in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Scott in his political affiliations upholds the principles of the democratic party, but in local matters he votes for the man whom he regards as best fitted for office. He is a member of the fraternal order of Elks.

MARTIN LUTHER WOODMAN. A man of wide ex- perience, keen appreciation of values, excellent busi- ness judgment and marked industry, Martin Luther Woodman has attained a position of prominence in business and banking circles of Lewistown. The success which he has achieved in life is all the more creditable in that he was denied many of the privileges that youth regards as its inalienable right and that he entered upon his career in the capacity of a bound boy. His life is but another example of self-made manhood, another instance of indomitable spirit and determined ambition over- coming all obstacles.

Mr. Woodman was born on his father's farm in Rock County, Wisconsin, August 18, 1858, a son of David and Rebecca (Sly) Woodman. His father was born at Bath, England, and was married at London, England, to a native of that city. After the birth of the first of their seven children the

parents immigrated to the United States and located in Rock County, Wisconsin, as pioneers. In their community the country was largely unsettled and much of the land was covered with timber, so that it was a difficult matter for the new arrivals to bridge over the few years which necessarily intervened ere the land could be properly prepared for the production of paying crops. The father was an industrious man, but in the time between his arrival and his death, in 1869, he was able to do little in the way of putting aside means, and as a result left his family in straightened circum- stances. While he had been possessed of but little, with what he had he was liberal, being particularly generous in his donations to the Methodist Episcopal Church at Fairfield, Wisconsin. He was a repub- lican in his political affiliation.

Martin Luther Woodman received only meager educational advantages, and when his father died he was but eleven years of age, so that his boy- hood and youth knew much of hard work. He was bound out to a, neighboring farmer in Rock County, with whom he remained until attaining his majority, in 1879, and at that time went to Nebraska to make a start for himself. For three years he was employed as a farm hand, but in February, 1882, went to Helena, where he was variously employed until the fall of the same year. That time found him in the Judith Basin of Fergus County engaged in the cattle, horse and sheep business, in which he has been engaged ever since, although for the past twenty years he has made his home at Lewistown. Mr. Woodman does things upon a large scale, and the manner in which he conducts his transactions leads his associates to place the utmost confidence in his ability and entire integrity. He was one of the organizers of the Empire Bank and Trust Company, of which he is at present vice president. He has various important civic and social connections, and is a leading and influential democrat.

Mr. Woodman married Miss Loretta Barnes, who was born at Helena, 'Montana, daughter of J. P. and Rose (Beatty) Barnes. The late Mr. Barnes was one of the prominent men of the state during his day. He was a pioneer of Montana, serving as a member of the first territorial Legislature, for a number of years conducted a flouring mill at Lewistown, where he was also interested in the banking business, and was one of the proprietors of the Barnes King Mining Company in Fergus County. Various official honors came to him, and after he served as receiver of the United States Land Office at Lewistown and as county commis- sioner of Fergus County he was elected mayor and gave the city an excellent administration. He was a democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Woodman are the parents of one daughter, Rosa Mae.

GOODWIN TAYLOR PAUL. Dillon has always borne the reputation of being a community of live citi- zens. When those citizens have co-operated on any plan of development for the best interests of the community, Goodwin Taylor Paul has usually been among the leaders and helpers. He has been a resident of Dillon nearly forty years. He has initiated and given substance to several big business enterprises of his own. For many years he has been a merchant, also a cattle man and rancher, and is president of the Beaverhead State Bank, which was opened for business in May, 1917.

Goodwin T. Paul was born at Marion, Linn County, Iowa, November 9, 1856. He comes from sterling pioneer stock. His paternal ancestors were

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Scotch-Irish and settled in Pennsylvania in colonial times. His grandfather, George Paul, was a resi- dent of Greene County, Pennsylvania, where he died in the late '50s. He was a farmer by occu- pation. Alexander Paul, father of Goodwin Taylor Paul was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, in 1823, and in the fall of 1844 moved out to a sec- tion of the almost uninhabited West, Linn County, Iowa. He developed a farm from the woods and the prairie, and for a half century was an Iowa agriculturist and stock grower. In 1895 he left his farm and moved into Marion the county seat, where he died in 1906. He was a democrat, was. a member of the Masonic order and was a regular and faithful member of the Methodist Church. He married in Cedar County, Iowa, Justan Taylor, who was born in Henry County, Indiana, in 1831 and died near Marion, Iowa, in May, 1876. Her father was Goodwin Taylor, of French and English stock. The Taylors came in colonial times to this country. Her grandfather, Taylor, was killed in the War. of 1812. Goodwin Taylor was born in Virginia in 1806 and he moved to North Carolina where he was married to Jane Griffin a native of that state. They became early settlers in Indiana, and in 1836 removed to Black Hawk Territory, now the State of Iowa, where they followed farm- ing and merchandising. He served as a member of the Iowa Legislature and had a wide acquaint- ance throughout the West. In the early 'zos they removed to Nebraska and associated themselves in farming and stock raising with their only son William Taylor who had large holdings in Dakota County of that state. Mrs. Taylor died in the late 'zos and Mr. Taylor died in 1881. William Taylor later moved to Idaho and is now a resident of Alberta, Canada, and although past eighty takes an active interest in farming and stock raising.

Goodwin Taylor Paul is the oldest of eight chil- dren. The next in age is William Thomas, who is a rancher in Kit Carson County, Colorado. Dr. Irvin N. is a physician and surgeon at Perry, Iowa. Jane is the wife of Julius F. Jenal a fruit grower and real estate broker at Los Angeles, California. O. K. was a merchant and died at Lima, Montana, in 1904. Frank J. died at Whittier, California, at the age of twenty-two. Dr. Charles E. was a physician and surgeon at Litchfield, Ne- braska, where he died in 1919. Bert H., the young- est recently retired from merchandising and is now engaged in ranching and stock raising at Monida, Montana.

Goodwin T. Paul acquired his early education in the public schools of Linn County, Iowa, and at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, one of the prominent colleges of the middle west. He left college in 1880, taught school for a while, farming in the meantime, and was also employed with a grading outfit for the Northwestern Railway. From his earnings he paid his way to 'Montana, arriving in Dillon in August, 1881. From that date to the present his work and his interests have been closely identified with this thriving district. For four years he clerked in a store, and in 1885 established the Dillon Furniture Company. It was a stock com- pany, but in 1892 Mr. Paul acquired all the in- terests, still continuing it as the Dillon Furniture Company. This is the largest store of the kind in Southern Montana. He is associated with his brother Bert in the ownership of a ranch of several thou- sand acres in the Centennial Valley in the southern part of Beaverhead County. They use this land for raising cattle principally. Mr. Paul is also interested in mining and oil properties, being vice president

of the Butte and Zenith City Mining Company of Butte.

Like most of our active public spirited men, Mr. Paul has occasionally taken a hand in the political game and has borne his part in the re- sponsibilities of local government, but only when urged by the necessities of the occasion. His membership on various school boards aggregates nearly twenty-five years. He was president of the Beaverhead County High School Board seven years and a member of the State Board of Education twelve years, having been first appointed by Gov- ernor Joseph K. Toole. He has also served on the Dillon City Council. In 1898 he was elected a member of the Legislature, serving in the sixth session, and was chairman of the appropriations committee. He is a democrat in politics, a charter member of the various Masonic bodies of Dillon, is Past Master of Dillon Lodge No. 16, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Past High Priest of Dillon Chapter Royal Arch Masons, Past Eminent Commander of St. Elmo Commandery No. 7, Knight Templars, and a member of Bagdad Temple of the Mystic Shine at Butte. He is also a non-affiliated member of the order of Royal and Select Masters.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 214

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