Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 80

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 80

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He spent the winter of 1869 at Fort Brown, and in the spring of 1870 located on the Salt Fork of Sun River, and was the first white settler of that locality. Here he engaged in farming, raising oats and other grain for fifteen years and selling his produce to the government post at Fort Shaw. While living there he accumulated a bunch of cattle, and when he moved to the Fort Belknap Reservation in 1885 he took his cattle along. Once more he met with reverses, for he was charged nearly $400 for the privilege of grazing his cattle on the reservation by a dishonest Indian agent. This led him to take up ranching at Bear Paw, but he finally settled at the mouth of Peoples Creek, where he improved his final ranch home and completed his career as a stockman upon an extensive scale. He was the first white man to locate on that creek, and was the pioneer in the building of an irrigation project. His experiences taught him that moisture at the proper time was just as necessary in Montana as in any other agricultural country, and he decided to provide through artificial means what was lack- ing. Long before the Milk River project was shaped up he had a successful system of his own in opera- tion on his ranch.

"Curley" Ereaux married his first wife while he was living on Sun River, and she was a full-blood

Grosventre. By this union he had six chidlren, three of whom survive, namely : Mrs. Julia Schultz, of Phillips County; Mrs. Rosa Stevens, of Dodson, Montana; and Frank Ereaux, a ranch- man of Peoples Creek, who married Mary Adams, and has the following children: Lazare, who is named after his grandfather; Frances; Veronica; Mary Cecelia and Grace.

On September 1, 1917, Mr. Ereaux was married secondly to Mrs. Mary J. Maxwell in North Da- kota. She is a daughter of Benjamin and Rachel (Shannon) Johnson. Mrs. Ereaux was born at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, April 11, 1857, but she was reared in Harrison County, Ohio, and educated in the public schools of the latter locality. Her parents were both natives of Ohio, and were farming people. Mrs. Johnson died in Harrison County, Ohio, and Mr. Johnson, surviving her, went to Eldorado County, California, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson had the following children: Alcy, who married Beatty Caruthers of Harrison County, Ohio; Uriah John, who died in Arizona; Newton, who is a resident of Harrison County, Ohio; Abbie C. is the widow of B. K. Stevens, of Holmes Coun- ty, Ohio; William L., who lives at Killbuck, Ohio; Denton, who died in Ohio; Mrs. Ereaux, who was next in order of birth; James, who died in Cali- fornia; and John, who lives in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Mr. Johnson and Congressman Tom L. John- son, the eminent attorney and efficient mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, were relatives, the former being the uncle of the latter, so that Congressman John- son is a first cousin of Mrs. Ereaux. By her first marriage Mrs. Ereaux had the following children : Lucretia, who died at Cleveland, Ohio, was Mrs. Ernest Thompson; Milford G., who is a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; and Herbert C., who is a resident of Akron, Ohio.

Mr. and Mrs. Ereaux spent the years 1917, 1918 and 1919 in Zelzah, Los Angeles, California, having gone there for a winter. For a time they were so pleased with the climate that they preferred to remain in that locality, but finally found themselves long- ing for the clear skies and higher altitude of Mon- tana, and they returned to Dodson in March, 1920. They have a pleasant home in this town, which is near the scene of the Ereaux ranch. In young man- hood Mr. Ereaux began voting the democratic ticket, and has continued to give his support to it through life.

Mr. Ereaux is a man of striking personality, and is very typical of the great state he has helped to develop. He has friends everywhere he has ever traveled, and not only is held in affectionate regard by these friends, but his achievements command respect, and his knowledge of affairs and agricul- tural matters win approval. His recollections of the days now forever passed are intensely interest- ing and are related with a native humor not easily surpassed. In all of his experiences he was upheld by his cheery acceptance of what each day brought him, his willingness to work, and his really unusual ability to overcome obstacles, of which he has had his full share.

DAVID A. RING, a business man of Harlem, was born in London, England, at Spittlefields, March 12, 1868. His father, William Ring, spent the last years of his life at Own Sound, Ontario, and passed away there at the age of seventy-six years. He was born in London, was a laborer, was married there, and was the father of three sons, Jacob, now of To- ronto, Canada, William, who was drowned in the Missouri River at Great Falls in 1911, unmarried, and David A.

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When David A. Ring was but a child his parents immigrated to America and located at Owen Sound on a farm, where he was reared. At the age of fifteen he left home and began sailing the Great Lakes on a tramp steamer, but in a short time was placed on a regular Canadian Pacific liner running from Owen Sound to Port Arthur, and he filled the positions of greaser, lookout and finally third engineer of the boat. He finally abandoned the life of a sailor at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, with sufficient capital to bring him to Montana.

It was in the year 1888 that Mr. Ring arrived in Montana, and at the Huntley and Clark ranch at Toston he joined his brother. But after a short time he left that ranch and going on to Helena secured work with the Helena Steam Heat and Supply Company in the plumbing department, for Mr. Ring was a gas fitter by trade. Later he was in company with his brother, and after a couple of months with the supply company the two went on to Great Falls, where David Ring found employ- ment with McClay and Company in the pipe fitting business, but a short time afterward journeyed on to Fort Benton and secured work at pipe fitting there.

About this time he learned of the Harlem region being open for homesteaders, and he and his brother came into the Milk River Valley at this point, and both secured claims. They located six miles east of Harlem, did some work on their claims during the spring of 1889, hut when the Belknap agency was moved from Chinook to Harlem the brothers began work for the Government. David as time keeper for the contractor and his brother as a team- ster. During the following winter the brothers lived in their cabin and trapped beaver and muskrat, mak- ing a good living at this work, and in the spring David went to the Blackfoot agency and resumed his old position with the contractor building the Government Indian schools. After spending the summer there he returned to Harlem for the winter and engaged in the retail liquor business, but sold out the business with the coming of spring and en- tered the service of L. Minugh as a clerk in his Indian trading store. He spent six years with Mr. Minugh, also remained with his successor, C. A. Smith, for a year, and then left that service to re- sume work for the Government as an engineer op- erating its steam pumping plant at the Belknap agency. After a time Mr. Ring assumed the office of assistant farmer for the reservation, and spent six years teaching Indians how to farm. When he left the Government service he again returned to Harlem and entered upon a clerkship with the Har- lem Mercantile Company, and on leaving that firm established a plumbing business in Harlem, the first of its kind in the town, and while thus engaged he superintended the construction of the Harlem Water Works. But after a time Mr. Ring gave up the plumbing business to become an undertaker, a busi- ness in which he is still engaged. He is also the agent of the Continental Oil Company at Harlem, and has represented it six years as a distributor of its petroleum products.

Mr. Ring has served Harlem three terms as an alderman, and during his tenure of office many side- walks have been laid and the electric light plant was installed. He is also serving his third term as a school trustee, having as a member of the school board had a voice in the erection of the new school house. He upholds the principles of the republican party, and he cast his first presidential vote for Colonel Roosevelt in 1904.

Mr. Ring was married at the Fort Belknap In- dian agency Octoher 7, 1904, to Miss Vista Boyd,

who was born at Poplar, Montana, a daughter of George Boyd, an old Government scout who came from Wisconsin to Montana in an early day, and who died at Fort Assiniboine, Montana. Five chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ring, but only three are now living. James, a graduate of the Harlem schools, entered the University of Montana, where he became a member of the Students Train- ing Corps, and after his discharge matriculated in the Great Falls Commercial College. After leav- ing that institution he became connected with the First National Bank of Great Falls, but recently resigned his position there. The second son, David A., Jr., graduated from the Harlem High School, and is a student in the University of Montana at Missoula. The third son, Preston, is a pupil in the graded school of Harlem. .

Mr. and Mrs. Ring took an active part in all the Red Cross drives during the World war, contribut- ing both of their time and means in maintaining the soldiers at the front. Mr. Ring is a Master Mason and treasurer of Harlem Lodge No. 108, is a member of the Odd Fellows and a district deputy grand master, is a past worthy president of the Eagles fraternity, and a member of the Knights of Pythias Order at Havre and the Modern Wood- men at Harlem. For ten years he served as clerk of the Harlem Camp of the latter order. Mrs. Ring is a member of the Eastern Star.

JOSEPH AUSTIN HATCH, the cashier of the First National Bank of Harlem, has been a prominent part of the community citizenship of Harlem since 1900 and a resident of the State of Montana since 1898.

He was born in Bremer County, Iowa, July 12, 1867, and his boyhood surroundings was a farm, and his education was completed in the Sumner High School. His father, Joseph H. Hatch, went with his parents from his native State of Vermont to Ogdensburg, New York, where he grew to mature years and spent his life as a farmer. He was trained for a soldier during the war between the North and South, but never saw active service. He came to Iowa in 1863 and located in Bremer County, where he died in 1869, when but forty-eight years of age. In New York he had married Eliza Joyce, a daughter of Jesse Joyce, who came to the United States from Ireland. Mrs. Hatch was born in St. Lawrence County, New York, and passed away in Bremer County, Iowa, in 1912, at the age of seventy- eight. Their children were: Mary, Eva, Mrs. Rath- bone and Mrs. Asenith Burrow, all of whom re- side in Bremer County, Iowa; Wallace J., whose home is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mrs. Ada Weatherall, of Missoula, Montana; and Joseph Aus- tin, the youngest of the children. Hiram F. Hatch, a son of Joseph H. Hatch by his first wife, died in Cleveland, Ohio, leaving a daughter.

Joseph A. Hatch continued a factor in the parental home until fifteen years of age, and at that time began assisting in the support of his widowed mother. When he finished school he was eighteen years of age, and during the following four years was va- riously employed at physical labor. At the age of twenty-two he took up telegraphy and began work as an operator on the Great Western or Maple Leaf Railroad, continuing as an operator, station agent or train dispatcher until 1898 for the Great Western, but in that year left the Great Western and went to the Great Northern at Chester, Mon- tana, continuing with the latter company until 1905, when he left the service as station agent at Harlem. His connection with railroad work covered a period of fifteen years and gave him a business experience

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

sufficient to equip him for almost any field as an accountant.

At this time Mr. Hatch purchased the Sands ranch, which had been proved up by Mrs. Sands, and also secured the Wall. ranch, which had been proved up by Mrs. Jane M. Smith. It was a hay ranch, and Mr. Hatch at once began preparing it for irrigation as a farm. He erected a comfortable home and other buildings necessary for carrying on the work, and also joined a co-operative com- pany for the construction of an irrigation project which built ditches and latterals sufficient to water his 320 acres. He engaged in the raising of hay and grain, and also entered the stock business as a cattle and horse raiser, devoting his time exclusively to his farm until he was elected the cashier of the First National Bank in 1907, afterward dividing his time between the ranch and the bank. In 1917 he disposed of his ranch, and is exclusively now a banker.

The First National was organized in 1905 by Thomas M. Everett, W. E. French, J. A. Hatch, C. H. Owens and Alonzo Ellis. Mr. Everett was chosen the president, W. E. French, vice president and C. H. Owens, the cashier, Mr. Hatch subse- quently succeeding him in that office. The bank was organized with a capital of $25,000. Its sur- plus and profits in May, 1920, were $27,500 and the average deposits reach about $400,000. When Mr. French moved from Harlem his place on the board of directors was filled by W. S. Cowan, who is also the vice president. The bank has maintained itself as a useful institution in the development of this region, and only a single incident in its life threat- ened a serious mishap of its capital. This was when a raid was made on it in August, I911, by a trio of bandits. In this holdup Mr. Hatch and the others in the building were forced to hold up their hands until the city marshal of Harlem disposed of the handit, who had taken all the cash in the vault. But just as he emerged with the funds he was shot and killed by the marshal, and the guarding bandits fled.

In the general development of the town and the country surrounding Harlem Mr. Hatch has had a substantial part. He favored and encouraged the move for the incorporation of the town, was one of the organizers of the stock company that started the first newspaper in Harlem, and was one of the original incorporators of the Harlem Gas and Oil Company. He has always been a republican voter, casting his first presidential ballot for Benjamin Harrison, and continued on with the old-line party until he supported the progressive republican can- didate in 1912.

Mr. Hatch married at Independence, Iowa, March 9, 1896, Miss Janet P. Fiester, a native of Black- hawk County, Iowa, and a daughter of Roland B. and Nettie (Lohmiller) Fiester. Mrs. Hatch was the first born of their five sons and two daughters, and those living to mature years are: Charles, of Independence, Iowa; Sidney, of Muskegon, Illinois; William A., of Brandon, Iowa; Archie, who died before marriage; and Lena and Clarence, both of whom are residents of Independence, Iowa. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Hatch, namely: Asenath, who is a hookkeeper in the First National Bank of Harlem; Charles, a student in the Montana University; Ronald and Esther, both of whom are high school students in Harlem; and Joseph A., the youngest, who is still in the grades.

During the World war Mr. Hatch was vice chair- man of all the loan drives of the eastern half of Blaine County, and saw his field go "over the top" at each demand for war funds. In the fourth drive

of the Liberty Loan this was the first county in the Ninth Federal Reserve District to over sub- scribe. He had charge of the sale on July 4, 1917, for the war chest fund, when sufficient money was raised to carry on all the war charities of the dis- trict during the remainder of the war and leave a substantial fund in the treasury. Mr. Hatch was made treasurer of that entire fund, as well as of the Red Cross of the Harlem branch. A knitting campaign was carried on in the Hatch home, and Mrs. Hatch also gave her warmest sympathy to the cause of the chapter.

FRANK H. LIVINGSTON. At a critical time in the educational affairs of the nation it is especially ap- propriate to point out and commend such work as has been done by Frank H. Livingston during the seven years he has been connected with the schools of Montana.

Mr. Livingston, who is superintendent of the Wolf Point schools, comes of a family of teachers and farmers and was born at Livingston, Wisconsin, De- cember 12, 1889. His family were also Wisconsin pioneers. His grandfather, David Livingston, came from the Protestant section of Ireland and entered land direct from the Government near what be- came Livingston, Wisconsin. He spent the rest of his life as a farmer there. He married after com- ing to Wisconsin Miss Grace Mates, also of an Irish Protestant family. They were the parents of the following children, William, Richard, David, John, Robert, Elizabeth and Mary, twins, Grace and Jennie.

The old farm near Livingston is now occupied by John and Laura (Skaife) Livingston. The lat- ter was a teacher for several years before her mar- riage. John and Laura Livingston have the follow- ing children: Edna, wife of Herbert Eggleston, of Elgin, Nebraska; Alice, Mrs. Walter Hogan, of Dougherty, Iowa; Frank H .; and Miss Mabel, of Livingston, Wisconsin.

Frank H. Livingston attended the Livingston High School, but before graduating entered the Platte- ville Normal School under his cousin, President John Livingston, another member of the family whose work as an educator has brought him distinction. Frank H. Livingston finished the English and sci- entific course at Platteville in 1910. He also repre- sented the Platteville School in the debate against the Minnesota State Normal School of Winona on the subject "Resolved that the labor unions are detri- mental to the workmen of the United States." Platte- ville handled the affirmative side and lost the de- cision.

After completing his education Mr. Livingston became principal of a ward school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and for two years was at Elk Mound in that state. In 1913 he came out to Montana, and took charge of the schools at Medicine Lake. The five years he spent there marked a high tide in the constructive administration of the local school system. Among other improvements a two-room graded school was improved and expanded, giving eight grades and a high school with a three year curriculum. Mr. Livingston remained there almost to witness the completion to graduation of the first high school class. Besides giving Medicine Lake a high school and securing its standing in the state educational system he also built up a commercial department and strengthened and improved the work of the grades throughout. Mr. Livingston is an educator of high ideals and versatile gifts, and his experience and abilities are just the factors needed to broaden the work of public schools in response to the modern demand. While at Medicine Lake

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

he was influential in the holding of declamatory contests between all the schools of old Sheridan County, and also in the introduction of athletics and the participation of pupils in county field meets, these efforts receiving a great deal of co-operation among the patrons of the schools throughout that big county.

In the fall of 1918 Mr. Livingston came to Wolf Point, and has now completed two years with the local schools. When he came eight. teachers were handling the work of a three year course in the high school. His predecessor was superintendent Frank Kenney. While .he has had difficulties and obstacles to overcome, Mr. Livingston has much to show for the two years he has spent at Wolf Point. Departments and courses in domestic sci- ence, agriculture, a chemistry and physical laboratory, physical training and athletics of all kinds, and a high school band of twenty-five pieces and an or- chestra of twenty pieces have been introduced to give local school work broader and more efficient character. In 1919 the first class graduated from high school, seven in number, their names being Isabelle Montgomery, Erma Small, Rainer Lenz, Elizabeth Randall, Eva Listerud, Frank Kirkpatrick and Elsie McNeil. Mr. Livingston has also empha- sized declamation and debating, and the Wolf Point schools were represented in one state debating con- test, and a local representative of the domestic sci- ence class went to Helena in 1919 to take part in the sewing contest, with competitors from many of the counties of the state, and won prizes in some of the contests. The first Northern District High School Tournament in basket ball was held in Wolf Point in 1920. The first eighth grade graduation exercises of any county of this section of the state were held at Wolf Point in May, 1920. All of these things speak highly for Mr. Livingston and also for the spirit of co-operation and interest which he has encouraged among the people. Mr. Livingston is a member of the Montana State Teachers Asso- ciation, and has been a member of the County Board of Examiners since he came to the state.

At Elk Mound, Wisconsin, August 20, 1914, he married Miss Laura A. Jessel, a native of that com- munity. She is a graduate of the Oshkosh Normal School, following which for eight years she was a successful teacher. She is the third of the five chil- dren of Henry and Ernestina (Hintzman) Jessel, retired farmers of Elk Mound. Her maternal grand- father Hintzman was a native of Germany, a Wis- consin farmer, served as a Union soldier with a Wisconsin regiment and did not long survive the war. Henry Jessel was born in Germany, and at the age of four years was brought to the United States by his parents and located near Whitewater, Wisconsin, and subsequently at Camp Douglas in that state, where Henry was reared and educated. The children of the Jessel family were: Elnora, wife of Edward Ausman, of Elk Mound; Minnie, who died at Elk Mound as the wife of Emil Greg- erson ; Miss Emma, of Wolf Point, Montana; Mrs. Livingston; Louis and Irvin, of Elk Mound. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Livingston, John Henry, born September 21, 1917.

ARTHUR J. COWAN is one of the prominent stock men of the vicinity of Harlem, and his name has been prominently associated with the development of this region since 1893, one of four brothers who have aided materially in the advancement of Blaine County.

Mr. Cowan was born in Schoharie County, New York, near the Village of Jefferson, January 29, 1864, a son of William and Mary (Brooks) Cowan.

He was reared amid the environments of a farm, received a rural school training, and began working out as a farm hand when thirteen years of age. Although he received but $7 a month, he performed a man's work and which at the present would re- ceive $75 a month.

Mr. Cowan came from his native State of New York to Montana in 1893, and for a number of years he and his brother were sheep ranchers on Woody Island Creek, where he still maintains ranching and farming interests. After reaching Montana he en- tered a homestead on Woody Island Creek, and there performed his first permanent work in the state. It was in the early part of May, 1893, that he and his family moved into a little log shack on this claim, a dwelling 12 by 14 feet in dimensions, and his first farming efforts were directed toward sheep and hay raising. He at once became asso- ciated with his brothers George W. and Winfield S., and for four years they carried on their wool industry, running at the height of the industry be- tween 4,000 and 5,000 sheep. Arthur J. Cowan continued on in the business, completing his asso- ciation with his brother Winfield S. after a partner- ship of twenty-five years, and during that period there was a wide range in the price of both sheep and wool. Lambs during that time sold as low as $I a head and yearlings for $2 a head, while wool sold as low as 6 cents a pound, but even at those low prices the brothers considered they made some profit. The highest price of wool during that pe- riod was perhaps 24 cents a pound, and when Arthur J. Cowan disposed of his band in 1917 the sale price of the sheep was $10 a head. With the passing years he has also developed a farm of 300 acres under the plow, and the log house which succeeded the little pioneer cabin is still sheltering the tenant on the ranch.

Mr. Cowan removed to the Town of Harlem in 1903. He has contributed to the material growth of the town with his twelve-room modern home and two small cottages. For some time he was engaged in the butchering business in association with his brother. He also became interested in the First National Bank early in its history, and is now a member of the board of directors of the institution. He was a subscriber to the stock of the first news- paper published in Harlem, and also contributed to the site for the stockyards of the town. Mr. Cowan also helped build the first church in Harlem, and Mrs. Cowan taught the first school in the Town of Malta, and also organized the first Sunday school there. The Cowan home was maintained in that town for several years.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 80

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