Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 85

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

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Like nearly all the pioneer business men of Mon- tana, Mr. Browne engaged in ranching. He was manager and one of the principal owners of the Bar Eleven Cattle Company. At an early date in his Montana career he also became interested in banking, helping establish the Bank of Northern Montana at Fort Benton in 1886. He was also one of the founders of the Stockmen's National Bank at Fort Betnon, which afterward became one of the largest banking organizations in the Northwest. Mr. Browne acquired a large amount of stock, was prominent as a director from the beginning, and for a number of years served as active president.

David G. Browne had the unique distinction of serving more than a quarter of a century as a memher of the State Democratic Central Committee of Montana. He was a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago in 1892 when Cleveland was nominated. In 1893 President Cleveland made him collector of customs for Montana and Idaho at Fort Benton, and he followed that office upon its removal to Great Falls in 1896, and made his home in that city until 1901. The ability with which he served in this position is sufficiently proved by the fact that he was retained during the first term of President Mckinley. Mr. Browne in 1891 was appointed as one of the Montana Board of Managers for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago. Many times he was honored by the people of his home locality, serving as alderman of Fort Benton, as commissioner of Choteau Coun- ty, and in return for these honors he steadily di- rected his personal influence and large resources · to movements and enterprises promoting the wel- fare and progress of his home city and state.

Mr. Browne's first wife was Emma Wright, who died in 1891. In 1895 he married Miss Antoinette Van Hook, of Washington, Dictrict of Clumbia. Mr. Browne had two sons by his first wife, David G., of Los Angeles and R. Fred, of Fort Benton.

RAE J. LEMERT. A man of versatile talent, ener- getic and progressive, Rae J. Lemert, of Helena, holds a place of prominence in the business and po- litical affairs of city, county and state. A native of

Ohio, he was born December 12, 1866, in Napoleon, Henry County, a son of Beverly W. Lemert and grandson of Leroy Lemert. Genealogical records ex- tant show that his ancestry is one which has long been prominently identified with American history, he being a lineal descendant on his father's side of Jean Paul Lemert, a Huguenot pastor of Paris, France, in 1572, and of Sir Thomas Lyttleton, Baron Lyttleton, of Worcestershire, England, a descendant of Edward III, the lineage being traced through the Baron's daughter, Catherine Lyttleton, who married John Adams, and subsequently settled in Charles County, Maryland, in colonial days, where their son John, one of the ancestors of Mr. Lemert, was born.

Lewis Lemert, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, spent his entire life in Paris, Virginia, where he owned a large plantation and a grist mill, hoth of which he operated successfully. He married Elizabeth Glascock, a daughter of Peter Glascock, a Welsh sea captain, who immigrated to America about 1760, settling in Virginia, where he founded the towns of Paris, Upperville and Circleville. Lewis Lemert was a man of prominence, and for many years was steward of the estates of President George Washington. He was a son of Laban Lemert, a native of Alsace-Lorraine, and a descendant of Jean Paul Lemert, the Huguenot pastor to whom reference was made above. He came with his wife to Virginia about 1762, and spent his remaining years in Paris, that state.

Leroy Lemert was born and reared in Paris, Vir- ginia, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits dur- ing his lifetime, owning and managing a large plantation in that vicinity. His wife, whose maiden name was Lucy Ellen Green, was a daughter of George Green, of Fauquier County, Virginia, and granddaughter of Moses Green, who served in the Revolutionary war as lieutenant of a company of Virginia troops. George Green married Ann Adams, a daughter of Josias Adams, owner of upwards of 10,000 acres of land in Virginia, and granddaughter of one John Adams, a native of Charles County, Maryland. She was a great-granddaughter of John Adams, Sr., who was born at Hagley Hall, Worces- tershire, England, and was a grandson of Thomas, Baron Lyttleton, whose daughter Catherine was his mother.

Beverly W. Lemert was born in September, 1836, in Elizabethtown, Licking County, Ohio, in the vil- lage that was named in honor of his grandmother, Elizabeth (Glascock) Lemert. Beginning life for himself as a merchant in Napoleon, Ohio, he re- mained there a few years, removing in 1870 to Erie, Neosho County, Kansas, in pioneer days. At the end of eighteen months he located at Osage Mission, now Saint Paul, Kansas, and was there engaged in the practice of law until 1887, when he removed to Garden City, Kansas, where he continued as a lawyer until 1900. Coming in that year to Helena, Mon- tana, he has since lived retired from active business.

At the outbreak of the Civil war Beverly W. Lem- ert enlisted as a private for a period of three months, and subsequently became captain of Company A, Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served under Colonel Wood until the close of the conflict, when he was mustered out with the rank of major. He took part in many of the more im- portant engagements of the war, including among others the battles at Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Shiloh, Fredericksburg and the battle of Arkansas Post, where he was seriously wounded and where a majority of the members of his com- pany gave up their lives. A stanch republican in politics, he served as county attorney of Neosho County, Kansas, in the '70s. He belongs to the

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Christian Church, and is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. He married Sobie S. Powell, who was born in Napoleon, Ohio, in 1843. Rae J. Lemert, the subject of this sketch, is their only child.

Leaving the public schools of Osage Mission, Kansas, before attaining the age of sixteen years, Rae J. Lemert taught in the rural schools of Neosho County, Kansas, two years. During that time he learned the printer's trade, and was subsequently manager and editor of the Neosho County Journal until 1886, and the following year was city editor of the Fort Scott Daily Monitor at Fort Scott, Kansas. Going to Garden City, Kansas, in 1887, he read law in his father's office, and having been admitted to the bar in 1888 continued there in part- nership with his father for a year. Locating at Pueblo, Colorado, in the spring of 1889, Mr. Lemert there founded the Security Abstract Company, and in its management built up the largest abstract and farm loan business in that section of the state.

Disposing of his interest in the company in 1896, Mr. Lemert resumed his profession as a journalist, remaining in Pueblo until 1899, when he entered the United States Land Office at Salt Lake City, be- coming supervisor of the mineral claims division and examiner of mineral land titles. Transferred to Helena, Montana, in the autumn of 1900, he served in the surveyor general's office a few months, re- signing the position to become telegraph editor and proofreader on the Montana Daily Record, a newly established paper. In 1904 Mr. Lemert established a chemical manufacturing plant, known as the Mon- tana Chemical Company, with which he was officially associated for two years. Selling his interest in the business in 1906, he bought the Union Steam Laun- dry plant of Helena, reincorporated it as the Domes- tic Laundry, and was its president and principal stockholder until 1916, when he took charge of the publicity of the anti-saloon campaign for the State of Montana. On March 17, 1917, Mr. Lemert was appointed state accountant of Montana, and has since filled the position ably and most satisfactorily. In this capacity he is in charge of the compilation and conduct of the state budget, and also has super- vision of the accounting systems and of the finances of the fourteen state institutions. He is a certified public accountant, noted for his accuracy and prompt attention to all matters brought to his notice.

While Mr. Lemert had but limited early educa- tional advantages, he has been a constant student all his life, and is a splendid representative of the self-educated men of our times. He has one of the finest libraries in Montana, the Masonic portion of it being one of the five largest, and the most complete private collection, in the United States. He has about 8,000 volumes in his library, the publica- tions being in ten languages.

Politically Mr. Lemert is affiliated with the re- publican party. Fraternally he is a member, and a past master, of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 9, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; of Helena Chapter, No. 2, Royal Arch Masons; of Helena Council, No. I, Royal and Select Masters, of which he is past thrice illustrious master; a charter member and a past master of Helena Consistory, No. 3, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; a member of Algeria Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and has the distinction of being a thirty- third degree Mason. He is also a member, and past grand, of Montana Lodge, No. I, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a member, and past president, of Helena Aerie, No. 16, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Religiously he is a member of the First Baptist Church of Helena, and a liberal contributor towards its support.

In May, 1901, at Helena, Mr. Lemert was united in marriage with Florence M. Smith, a woman of culture and refinement, who was graduated from the University of Utah with the degree of Bachelor of Science. She is an accomplished musician, and an artist, skillful with pen and brush, and for many years taught painting in its various branches. Her father, a pioneer merchant of Salt Lake City, lived there retired from business cares several years prior to his death. He married Katherine Smith, who, although of the same name, was not a relative. She has also passed to the life beyond. Mr. and Mrs. Lemert have a beautiful residence at 1042 Breck- inridge Street, where the latchstring is ever out. They have no children.

WILBUR FISK SANDERS. The best index to the career of Wilbur Fisk Sanders is the history of Montana Territory. The story of the founding of the state and the influence of the late Colonel San- ders converge at so many points that it is almost as difficult to write a biography without trespassing upon the field of history as it would be to tell the history of Montana without repeated reference to one of its most striking and stalwart figures.

Wilbur Fisk Sanders was born at Leon, Cattarau- gus County, New York, May 2, 1834, son of Ira and Freedom (Edgerton) Sanders, the former a native of Rhode Island and the latter of Connecticut. His father was a devout Methodist and named his son for a renowned champion of the faith in New England, and the son was thoroughly schooled in theology and the Bible. His knowledge and apt quo- tation of Biblical literature was surpassed by few learned clergymen. He acquired a public school education, had taught before he was twenty, and at that time, in 1854, moved to Akron Ohio, where he continued teaching and studied law under his uncle, Hon. Sidney Edgerton. He was admitted to the bar in 1856 and for several years practiced with Mr. Edgerton. When Mr. Edgerton was elected to Con- gress in 1858 Mr. Sanders was left to look after the business of the firm.

He closed his law office in April, 1861, recruited and organized a battery of artillery and a company of infantry, and was commissioned lieutenant in the battery. In October, 1861, he was transferred to the Sixty-Fourth Ohio Infantry, and appointed adjutant. He was in the battle of Pittsburg Landing and other engagements of his command. On account of physi- cal disability he was compelled to resign his com- mission August 10, 1862, and then returned to Akron.

About that time President Lincoln appointed Sid- ney Edgerton chief justice of the Supreme Court of Idaho, and it was at the urgent invitation of Mr. Edgerton that Mr. Sanders left Akron June 1, 1863, bound for that remote district of the Northwest vaguely described as the Territory of Idaho. The party consisted of Judge Edgerton and family, Mr. Sanders with wife and two children, and several others. At Omaha, Nebraska, the terminus of the railroad, they transferred to a wagon train drawn by oxen, and after a journey of more than three months beset with hardships and imminent danger from Indians, they reached the mining camp of Bannack, September 18th. The season then being well ad- vanced, they delayed their further progress to Lewiston, the capital of Idaho, and as a result the travelers remained in that part of Idaho Territory that eight months later was set off as Montana

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Territory. At Bannack Mr. Sanders had a residence and primitive office, and tried his first law case be- fore one of the voluntary organizations known as Miner's Court. In that trial he gained a reputation for eloquence and ability and won a respectable clientage. February 6, 1864, he removed to Virginia City.

In the meantime, in December, 1863, Colonel San- ders had appeared as the prosecuting attorney at the trial of George Ives, one of the chief leaders of the bands of desperadoes and outlaws whose crimes fill the early annals of Montana and brought about the organization of the Montana Vigilantes. It was an act of courage never perhaps surpassed in the his- tory of the West when Colonel Sanders stood up in the presence of scores and hundreds of old and reckless men ready to commit any act for the rescue . of the defendant, and eloquently urged the extreme penalty for the assassin and murderer. The story of this trial is one of the most thrilling chapters in the history of the Vigilantes of Montana.

Mr. Sanders served as a member of a committee to urge the establishment of a separate territory comprising the country of Eastern Idaho, and in May, 1864, the Territory of Montana was organized, and Sidney Edgerton was returned as governor. The following October Mr. Sanders was nominated by the union or republican party for territorial dele- gate, and that was the beginning of his partisan political activities, which eventually earned him the reputation of "the republican war horse" of Mon- tana. He was an exemplar of the old political doc- trine, "Do right and take the consequences," and he spoke his thoughts and convictions and earned the respect of friends and enemies, though he was not elected then nor in several subsequent campaigns for territorial delegate. He was a member of the Na- tional Republican Convention in 1868, 1872, 1876 and 1884.

As a result of a resolution by the First Legislative Assembly Mr. Sanders was appointed a member of the Commissioners to Codify the Laws of the Terri- tory. In February, 1865, he was elected president pro tem at the first meeting of the corporators to organize the Historical Society of Montana, and a few weeks later was elected president of the perma- nent organization. This institution was one of the deepest interests of Colonel Sanders the rest of his life. He continued as president until February I, 1891. His popular title of colonel was due to the commission awarded him by Governor Edgerton in I865.

Colonel Sanders in September, 1868, removed his residence to Helena. He was elected to represent Lewis and Clark County in. the House of Repre- sentatives of the Legislative Assembly in 1872, 1874, 1876 and 1878. He was a member of the minority in the Legislature, but his influence in shaping legisla- tion was second to none. The crowning and well de- served honor to his political career came after Mon- tana was admitted to the Union. He was elected by the republicans of the Legislature to the office of United States senator and took his seat in 1890. His term expired March 4, 1893.

Colonel Sanders exercised an important influence upon educational affairs in Montana. At one time he served as school trustee of Helena, and from 1889 until his death was president of the Board of Trustees of the Montana Wesleyan University. At the time of his death he was trustee of the Helena Public Library, and he served as the first president of the Montana Bar Association in 1885. He was a charter member of William English Post, De-

partment of Montana, G. A. R., and was unani- mously elected department commander on March 28, 1905. The last public act of his life was draft- ing the order for the observance of Memorial Day that year. During his early life in Ohio he was affiliated with the Masonic Order and joined the first lodge at Virginia City. He served as grand secretary of the Grand Lodge from 1866 to 1868, and was then elected grand master.

The state and the Legislature performed a singu- larly appropriate honor when in February, 1905, they gave the name Sanders to a county just created. That honor came only a few weeks before the death of Colonel Sanders, who died at his home in Helena July 7, 1905. He had distinguished him- self as the champion of law and order at the very beginning of Montana history, had proved a master workman in building the strong foundations of the commonwealth, and through sixteen years of state- hood there had been no abatement of his earnest efforts, his stalwart patriotism, and his devotion to the highest and best interests of his chosen state.

However, it is not the purpose of this brief sketch to analyze his historic services to Montana, nor yet his character as a public leader and lawyer. It will suffice to quote a brief paragraph written by Judge Blake: "Senator Sanders was a leader of the bar and upwards of forty years his resonant voice, with a melodious cadence, was heard by de- lighted audiences in every hamlet of Montana. It might be Memorial Day or the Fourth of July, a gathering of army comrades or pioneers, the ex- hibition of a school or the commencement of a uni- versity, a meeting for the location or the' construc- tion of a railway, the laying of a cornerstone of a church or Masonic Temple, the commemorative rites of an old-timer or the executive of the United States, an assemblage of the bar or a banquet, the Miners' Court, the Justice Court or the Supreme Court. He was ever aggressive and independent, and his battle cry in the heat of the strife was 'No quarter.' In his mind all things were upon the same plane, and he showed the same intense spirit in a ward primary to nominate an alderman, or a national convention to choose a candidate for presi- dent of the republic."

In the proceedings of the American Bar Associa- tion is also found the following written by Hon. William Scallon: "He was noted for his mastery of the English language and for his eloquence, his power of invective, wit and sarcasm. His keen- ness of intellect and his powers of speech called forth from Robert G. Ingersoll, to whom he was opposed on the trial of a noted case, the remark that 'Sanders was the keenest blade he had ever crossed.' "

Colonel Sanders married October 27, 1858, Miss Harriet P. Fenn, of Tallmadge, Ohio, daughter of Joseph Fenn and Nancy (Caruthers) Fenn. As noted above, she and two of their children accom- panied him to Montana, and she survived his death. The three sons are James U., Wilbur E. and Lewis P. Sanders.

WILLIAM J. SWAN, treasurer of Musselshell County, and one of the men who has made a record for himself in the stock industry, is handling the finances of his office in an efficient and capable man- ner and winning approval from all with whom he is carrying on transactions. He was born in Goodhue County, Minnesota, November 24, 1890, on the farm of his parents, August and Anna (Olson) Swan. August Swan was born in Sweden, and died in 1896,

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when only thirty-five years of age. His wife was born in Goodhue County, and died when William J. Swan was an infant. They were married in Minnesota and had two children, Arthur E. and William J. August Swan came to the United States in young manhood, and locating in Goodhue County, Minnesota, was engaged in farming until his death. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. After he obtained his papers of naturalization he espoused the principles of the republican party and continued to vote its ticket as long as he lived.

William J. Swan attended the public schools of Goodhne County and the Minneapolis. High School, from which he was graduated in 1908, following which he came to Montana. After spending a year in this state he returned to Minneapolis and en- tered the law department of the University of Minnesota. However he did not complete his course, only. studying for a year, when he came back to Montana and homesteaded in 1911 on Musselshell County land, and began farming and raising horses on his land. In 1917 he branched out in the cattle industry, and made a success of his undertaking. Mr. Swan became a member of Company B, Second Montana Infantry, being mustered into the United States service in June, 1916, and was stationed at Douglas, Arizona, until in November, 1916, when he was mustered out. Almost immediately thereafter he was appointed deputy treasurer of Musselshell County, and in November, 1918, was elected treas- urer, taking charge of the office in March, 1919. He was elected on the republican ticket, and is one of the leaders of his party in this section.

On May 25, 1915, Mr. Swan was married to Miss Mino Raridan, who was born in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Swan have two children, Mary Eileen and Donald Arthur. One of the live young men of the county, Mr. Swan has already proved his worth to his community, and his future is bright, both in a business and political way. He is popular with his fellow citizens, and as they admit his efficiency there is no doubt but that other offices will be offered for his acceptance if he cares to devote himself to the public service.

GEORGE RICHARDS BLACKWELL, of Libby, has been a resident of Montana for more than thirty years and enjoys all the honors of a real pioneer, a man who prospected and explored many sections of the old territory, has helped develop mines, open up new regions to civilization, and has borne a part charac- teristic of the brave, industrious and hardy pioneers.

Mr. Blackwell was born at Hoboken, New Jer- sey, May 24, 1852, a son of George R. and Catherine (Walker) Blackwell. His father, a native of Lon- don, was, a seafaring man for many years, and fre- quently sailed to the port of San Francisco. After leaving the sea he settled in Yamhill County, Ore- gon, and homesteaded in Washington County, four- teen miles from Portland. He was killed at Oswego, Oregon, by the falling of a derrick.

George Richards Blackwell at the death of his father was a youth and was appointed to complete his father's homestead entry. At Cottage Grove, in Lane County, Oregon, November 15, 1874, he married Miss Eliza Fields, a native of Missouri and daughter of Martin and Paulina E. (Norris) Fields.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell located at Gardner, in Douglas County, Oregon, where he was an engineer of the George S. Hens- dale Lumber Company. In 1880 he moved his family to Aynesworth, Washington Territory, where he con- tinned in the lumber business ; in 1881 went to Colum- bia County, Washington, and in 1882 to Sprague, Washington, where for four years he was employed

by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1886 he went to the Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho and was an erector of mining machinery for a number of years.

In the meantime Mr. Blackwell made an explor- ing and prospecting tour to Libby Creek, northern Montana, in 1887. While here he discovered the Silver Crown Mine on Granite Creek. He named Granite Creek because of its granite boulders and he named Flower Creek because of the wonderful mass of purple flowers along its banks. During that tour he discovered what is now known as the Black- well Glacier, one of the wonders of northwestern Montana. Mr. Blackwell sold the Silver Crown Mine in 1889 to the Spokane Milling Company. Dur- ing the summer of 1887 he was engaged in placer mining on Libby Creek. For many years his in- terests have been identified with this section of Mon- tana, not only as a miner but as a real pioneer in · its substantial development. When he came here there were no railroads, and he blazed a trail from Libby to Granite Creek. Those who pass over that road today can see marks of the trail blazer. Dur- ing 1887 he and two companions, Ben Tompkins and Mr. Seeley, started out prospecting, and while in camp two other men, John Lee and Isaac Ovens, asked him to pilot them some distance on the road they were following. Telling his companions to await his return, Mr. Blackwell performed the re- quested service. While he was gone his companions broke camp, but had gone only a little way when they were slain by Indians at the mouth of Wolf Creek.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 85

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