Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 92

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

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

up in the Upper House of the State Assembly, turn- ing the money over to that body. It was decided to turn the amount into the school fund of the state, and thus a portion of it went through the office of County Treasurer Chambers of Park County. Mr. Chambers served as vice president of the National Park Bank at Livingston; was president of the elec- tric light plant, the first one the city had, and was one of the incorporators of the company owning it; and was vice president of the Park Coal and Coke Company. He was active in Grand Army work there, and held all of the offices in Farragut Post; and he is a past grand master of Livingston Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, and past grand master of the State of Mon- tana in Odd Fellowship. Mr. Chambers was elected to office on the republican ticket, having been a mem- ber of that party since he reached his majority, and as this was the period when the Free Silver issue was before the country he had four competitors at the November election, but won out with a gratify- ing majority. His first presidential vote was cast for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, while he was a resident of Iowa, and he has never seen any reason to change his support of republican presidential can- didates since.

In June, 1904, Mr. Chambers came into the Milk River district and established himself as a resident of Valley County, when he located at Malta, having disposed of his interests' at Livingston. At that time Malta was almost all on the north side of the railroad, but he was farsighted enough to see that there would be great expansion, and bought heavily on the south side, on Front Street principally, and bought the hardware business of S. O. Backus. The Chambers business house on the corner of Front Street and Fourth Avenue was at one time a pioneer building at Malta, and in its early days housed the blacksmithing equipment of Louis DuBois. Mr. Chambers has occupied this building for more than sixteen years, and has erected a new concrete, two- story building, 50 by 50 feet, which accommodates the furniture and implement stock of the Chambers Hardware & Furniture Company. The Chambers residence is a two-story colonial building of eight rooms, and was erected by Mr. Chambers after he came to Malta.

George T. Chambers was married at Glidden, Iowa, on November 15, 1876, to Miss Elizabeth Noonan, a daughter of Michael Noonan. Mrs. Chambers' mother was a Miss Murray before her marriage to Mr. Noonan. The birth of Mrs. Cham- bers occured at Janesville, Wisconsin, on December IO, 1857. She was one in a family of three sons and three daughters. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers be- came the parents of the following children: Ade- laide, who is the wife of W. J. Stockman, of Red Cloud, Nebraska; Alice, who is the wife of Thomas Olmstead, of Dillon, Montana; Gertrude, who mar- ried Don Rathbone and is now a teacher in the Malta Public Schools; and George A., who is asso- ciated in business with his father.

When the matter of creating Phillips County came before the people Mr. Chambers identified himself enthusiastically with the movement, and was espe- cially active with reference to having Malta chosen as the county seat. His efforts in this were all the more effective because of his former experience in county division, as he had assisted in the separation of Park County from Gallatin County. In every possible manner Mr. Chambers has sought to benefit the several communities in which he has resided, and has met with more than ordinary success not only in his civic performance of duty but in his business enterprises, and through them has attracted interest

to this part of Montana and thus, as in other ways, assisted in creating and sustaining the great prestige of the Treasure State.

JUDGE ANDREW DAVIDSON. Both as private citizen and public official Judge Andrew Davidson measures up to the highest ideals of manhood, and he has been one of the active figures in the cattle industry and ranching history of Wagner and its vicinity. He is only an American by adoption, for he was born on a shepherd's farm at Yadlee, Milknowe, Hadding- tonshire, Scotland, May 4, 1852, a son of James Davidson, and grandson of Andrew Davidson.

The grandfather, Andrew Davidson, was an Eng- lishman from Northumberland and a shepherd by calling, and he established the Davidson family in Haddingtonshire, and all of them were humble peo- ple of great industry. James Davidson was born in Berwickshire, Scotland, in 1810, and died in 1877, his widow surviving him until 1881. Although edu- cated to be a schoolmaster, he preferred to follow in his father's footsteps and became a shepherd, and was employed by the same man as such for twenty- six years. He was a dependable man of fine charac- ter, and received many indications of approval from his employer, and during his long life, which lasted until he was sixty-seven years, he lived up to his highest conceptions of integrity. He and his wife, Margaret Melrose (Lyall) Davidson, a daughter of William Lyall, a nailmaker of Haddington, became the parents of the following children: Jane, who married Alexander Punton, spent her life at Shep- herd's House and was known as the Lammermoor Shepherdess; Elizabeth, who married James Teedle, became the mother of the present postmaster of Malta, Montana; and Judge Andrew, who is the youngest born.

During his boyhood and youth Andrew Davidson followed the life of a shepherd, and tended the flocks. He was educated in Cranshaw's School in Berwick- shire until he was eleven years of age, and then be- gan working among the neighbors, receiving about 20 cents a day for his services until he was fifteen years old. At that time he was made a shepherd on the farm of Blue Cairn in Lauderdale, tenanted by Nathaniel Hume, who had attained to wealth by tend- ing the fleecy flocks in Galawater. For 21/2 years Andrew Davidson held that position, and for the next six months was similarly employed on the farm of James Maither at Kedzlie, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, who had, himself, started out in life as a poor shepherd boy and risen to a position of wealth and standing through his own industry. He became a steadfast friend of Andrew Davidson, and this tie has been held inviolate by both of them, and Judge Davidson takes great pride in this fact, espe- cially now that he is so far from his native heath.

Some years prior to his father's death Judge Da- vidson returned home to take his father's place at Yadlee, and remained there until 1882, or a period of eleven years, and then said goodbye to his family and sailed from Glasgow, Scotland, aboard the ship "Manitoba" for the United States, landing at Point Levi, Canada, opposite to Quebec, from whence he made his way to Kankakee, Illinois, his objective point. The trip across the Atlantic was made without any untoward incident, and the passen- gers were troubled by nothing worse than a rough sea.

Andrew Davidson worked at various jobs at Kan- kakee and during the winter fed a bunch of cattle. In the spring of 1883 he with others from that region went West to look for land on the public domain. He looked about him at Rea Heights, South Dakota, a point on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, but

MR. AND MRS. W. P. JAQUETTE

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returned East and stopped in Tama County, Iowa, where he was a neighbor of "Tama Jim" Wilson, later secretary of agriculture of the United States Government, and found him an excellent neighbor indeed. Mr. Davidson rented a farm, and when he had harvested his fall crop sold it and came to Mon- tana. Upon his arrival in the state he engaged with Turner & Grimm at Lavina, Meagher County, as a sheep herder. Leaving that firm he went to the Snowy Mountains and managed a sheep ranch for two years for Witmer Brothers. His next location was at Melville in the Sweet Grass country, and there he bought a bunch of cattle and ran them until 1891, at which time he moved to Malta, moving his stock and establishing himself 11/2 miles north of that city as a rancher on his homestead, which he called the "Yadlee Ranch." At once he embarked in the sheep business, and ran his sheep until the "dry-landers" took up the range and made the sheep business a hazardous venture. He disposed of his property there and came to Wagner, where he bought the John Ebaugh farm of 650 acres and has since then belonged to the rank of the farmers. Half of his land is under the Milk River Irrigation Project. His residence is one of the cluster. of buildings marking Wagner, and he built it in April, 1914.

Three days after he reached Kankakee, Judge Davidson made his declaration of citizenship, and he received his final papers at Livingston, Montana, be- fore Judge Henry. He became a republican, is allied with the stalwart element of that party, and has carried his share of the local burdens in a political way in every community in which he has resided. His first official service was as a justice of the peace at Malta, and he has filled that office for ten years. He served on the School Board, and was county commissioner of Valley County when it included all of the present counties of Sheridan, Roosevelt, Phillips and Valley. His colleagues on the board were James Ferris of Hinsdale, Lee R. Cornwall of Buggy Creek, Valley County, and Wil- liam McBride of Culbertson. The matters of chief importance which came before them were the build- ing of bridges and the construction of roads, and they funded some county bonds at a lower rate of interest. Judge Davidson held this office for six years, and was during that period watchful of the interest of the big county.

An enthusiastic Mason, Judge Davidson belongs to Malta Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, No. 57, and is past master of it, and he has also taken the Chapter degrees.

On September 11, 1885, Judge Davidson was mar- ried in the old and historic city of Edinburgh, Scot- land, to Miss Isabella Proudfoot Ritchie, a daughter of James and Jean (Proudfoot) Ritchie. James Ritchie was reared at Castle Craig, Peebleshire, had a common school education and died at the age of seventy-five years, his widow surviving him for a year longer. Their children were as follows: Jean, who died unmarried; Willie, who died in Scotland; Jessie, who married John Barnes, of Kirkliston, Scotland; Mrs. Davidson, who was born March 24, 1856; Maggie, who is the wife of James George, of Coatbridge, Glasgow, Scotland; Mary, who died un- married; Adam, who is a carpenter residing at Chi- cago, Illinois; and Mima, who is the wife of John Spence, lives at Hinsdale, Montana.

Judge and Mrs. Davidson became the parents of the following children: Jeanie, who is the wife of Byron Hurley, of Wagner, has a daughter, Mar- guerite; James, who is a resident of Kimball, Minne- sota, married Verna Kaylor, and they have three children, Leslie Andrew, Shirley and Margaret Isa- bel; Miss Margaret and William Andrew, who live

at Wagner, Montana; Lillie, who is Mrs. Harry Mc- Connell, assistant postmaster of Wagner; Clarence, who lives at Malta, Montana; and Frances E., who is the youngest in the family, lives with her parents.

James and William Davidson both volunteered for service during the World war, the latter entering the aviation branch and the former the infantry. William Davidson was trained at Kelly Field and at Waco, Texas, and then was sent to Camp Mills, Long Island, in preparation for going overseas, when the armistice was signed. James Davidson was trained at Missoula, Montana, and was discharged in the State of Washington.

Judge Davidson is an excellent type of sturdy, honest manhood, and in his office of justice of the peace displays such excellent judgment and knowl- edge of human nature that his decisions are seldom interfered with by the higher courts, and those brought before him cannot fail to recognize his in- nate fairness and sterling integrity. He attributes much of his success in life to the habits of industry and thrift he learned from his parents, and to the principles of honesty and uprightness they instilled both by precept and example, all of which he has sought to pass on to his own children, so that they in turn may, as he, rise up and call their father "blessed."

WALTER P. JAQUETTE. One of the most enter- prising and best known farmers and citizens of the Flathead Valley is he whose name forms the cap- tion to this review. He represents a family which has done much for the advancement and develop- ment of the section in which he lives. He seems to have inherited many of the characteristics of his sterling ancestors, whom history records as men who refused to forsake principle for the sake of material gain, who refused to be thwarted in their life course by untoward circumstances, and who at the same time have labored earnestly for their own advancement have not neglected their duty to their fellows. They have always stood high in the communities where they have sought to establish their homes and engage in their chosen vocations during the years past. In everything relating to the material, moral or educational development of his community Mr. Jaquette has stood for the best things and is numbered among the representative citizens of the Flathead country.

The record of the Jaquette family goes back to the eleventh century, and in the thirteenth century members of the family sat on the Public Council of Switzerland, in which country the family attained to considerable prominence. In the days of the per- secutions of the Huguenots in France the Jaquettes were among those who fled from the country, taking refuge in Switzerland. Long before William Penn came to America the Jaquette family was here. The first representative of the family here was the sec- ond governor of the South River Colony, Jean Paul Jaquette, that being during the Dutch administra- tion under Peter Stuyvesant. Later, coming with the Dutch East India Company, where five brothers and a cousin, employes of that company, and who remained here. After the family became established in America some of them continued to follow the sea, and a Pointe Jacquette, on the eastern coast of Cuba, was probably named in honor of members of the family. After England took over the Dutch colony Jean Paul Jaquette was made a squire. Their property there was an entailed estate and it ex- tended to about ninety years ago. The City of South Wilmington is built on the old estate of the Jaquettes.

The Jaquettes were prominent during the Revolu-

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tionary period. Maj. Peter Jaquette enlisted in Haslet's regiment early in 1776, and was by the latter's side when he was killed at the battle of Princeton, and afterward joined Hall's battalion as captain of the Fourth Company. He was with DeKalb when he was fatally wounded at the battle of Camden, falling into Jaquette's arms. The Major served from 1776 until the close of the war, spend- ing but six weeks at his home during all this time. He was in every general engagement under Wash- ington which took place in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the other eastern states. He was then ordered to join the Southern army un- der General Gates, and with the brave DeKalb was in the battle of Camden, August 16th, in which the Delaware regiment, consisting of eight companies, was reduced to two of ninety-six men each, the command of which devolved upon his brave com- rade, Kirkwood and himself. He was at the battle of Guilford Court House, the second battle of Cam- den and Utah Springs, and was also in every action and skirmish under General Green, in whose army he remained until the capture of Cornwallis at York- town. He returned to his native state in 1782, broken down in health, to find that his estates had almost gone to ruin during his absence.

Capt. Peter Jaquette, great-grandfather of W. P. Jaquette, organized and furnished to a great extent a company of horses.

Lieut. Joseph Jaquette, commissioned April 6, 1776, was killed in battle August 7, 1776.

Among the later descendants of these worthy progenitors was P. L. Jaquette, who was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Isaac Jaquette. He was a veteran of the Civil war, having served in an emergency division of the Union army. Sworn in at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, he served under Major Benton and General Tompkins. He had married Elinor Greenfield, and left his young wife and three children to go to war. He returned safely and was honorably discharged at Harrisburg. During his en- listment he passed through some exciting experi- ences, the most notable of which was in connection with the incidents surrounding the assassination of President Lincoln. He was at the White House on the evening of the assassination, and after that crime his company was detailed to guard the home of Secretary Stanton. On the way to his post he heard the cry of "murder," and he ran in the direction of the cry which brought him to the door of Secre- tary Seward's home, where they saw the nurse who had been attacked and who was as bloody as a butcher. He was trying to attract attention to a doctor's carriage which was driving away and which contained the would-be assassin, for it was under the subterfuge of being a physician that the crim- inal had gained admission to the house. Just then Mr. Jaquette first heard of the shooting of the President, whom he later saw lying in state in the rotunda of the Capitol. Mr. Jaquette stated that he went into the war a democrat, but found that he was fighting democrats, so he came home a republican and has remained one ever since. Mr. Jaquette is now making his home with his son, the subject of this sketch.

Walter Jaquette was born in Pennsylvania in 1863, and is the son of P. L. and Elinor (Greenfield) Jaquette. He was reared by his parents and at- tended the public schools of his home neighborhood. In the spring of 1886, when he had just attained his majority, he went to California, where he remained during one summer. In December of that year he came to Sheridan, Montana, where he prospected for a time. He then came to the Flathead country,

pre-empted land and proceeded to its improvement. He was energetic and industrious, and was prospered accordingly, so that he was at length enabled to buy more land. His fine estate now comprises 240 acres, located three miles northwest of Kalispell, and he devotes himself indefatigably to its operation. He also gives considerable attention to the buying and selling of land as an investment proposition, in which he has been successful. He has improved and beautified his home until it is now one of the most attractive homes in the Flathead country.

Walter Jaquette was married to Luella Belle Pat- ton, a native of Pennsylvania, the daughter of James and Isabel (Bleakney) Patton, whose five daughters were school teachers. To Mr. and Mrs. Jaquette were born the following children: Dorothy; Paul, who after service in France with the United States Army is now a student in Brown University, Provi- dence, Rhode Island; Isabel, who is a graduate of the Flathead County High School at Kalispell, is teaching school at Batavia, Montana; Dorothy, who also is a Flathead County High School graduate and teaching at Montford, Montana, is the wife of Mark Hodgeson; Luella is a student in the Kalispell High School, as are Josephine and Eleanor, and Nancy and James are in graded school. The mother of these children was removed by death when the family were about to move into their new home, and her sister, Mary Patton, came from Pennsylvania to care for her sister's children. Some time later she be- came the wife of Mr. Jaquette.

Politically Mr. Jaquette pays but little attention to party lines, preferring to give his support to those men and measures which most nearly meet his approval. Fraternally he is a member of the Broth- erhood of American Yeomen, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective Or- der of Elks. In all the relations of life Mr. Jaquette has proved true to every trust and enjoys the con- fidence of all who know him.

EZRA EREAUX. One of the representative ranch- men and early settlers of Phillips County is Ezra Ereaux, of Wagner, who after passing through all of the experiences incident to pioneer life is now enjoying a well earned prosperity. He was born at Little Falls, Minnesota, August 18, 1880, a son of Mitchell Ereaux.

Mitchell Ereaux was born in Quebec, Canada, of French ancestry, but was brought to the United States by his parents when he was still a boy, the family locating in Minnesota. Here he was reared to man- hood, taught the fundamentals of farming, and given the educational advantages afforded by the rural schools of his day and section. As he was naturally good at figures, he never found any difficulty in transacting his various business affairs through life. He became a buyer of grain, and handled his ship- ments through his own elevator at Topeka, Minne- sota. During his earlier years he had acquired a homestead from the Government, and on it he died in 1891, aged sixty-two years.

The wife of Mitchell Ereaux bore the maiden name of Marguerite LeDoux, and she was born in Illinois, a daughter of Mitchell LeDoux. She sur- vives her husband and makes her home at Dodson, to which city she came in 1901. Their children were as follows: Annie, who died in Minnesota, was Mrs. Brome Ducette; Frank, who is a resident of Little Falls, Minnesota; Philander, who married Ameda Ducette, of Topeka. Minnesota; Florence, who married Ed Arvet, of Malta, Montana; Lucy, who is the wife of Archie Houle, a ranchman of Wagner, Montana; Ezra, whose name heads this

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review; Adolph, who is a resident of Dodson, Mon- tana; and William, who is a resident of Little Falls, Minnesota.

A man of considerable force of character, Mitchell Ereaux identified himself with local affairs as a mem- ber of the democratic party, and served Morrison County as commissioner and supervisor and his school district as a member of the Board of Educa- tion. He and his wife were Catholics, and brought up their children in the same faith.

Ezra Ereaux attended the country schools until he was sixteen years of age and assisted his father, but then left home and came to Montana, engaging as a ranch hand in the vicinity of Dodson, his em- ployer being Ben F. Stevens. For about two years he continued to work in and around Dodson, and then went to the Bear Paw Mountains and was there employed for three years by Frank Parker. He then became a clerk in the store of L. Minugh at Belknap, Montana, and this, his first mercantile experience, lasted for two years. During all of this time he had been saving what money he could, and when the opportunity offered invested it in an outfit compris- ing eight horses, a wagon and a trailer, and went into business as a freighter from different stations on the Great Northern Railroad to the mines at Zort- man. This proved so profitable a venture that he was engaged in it off and on for about five years. In the meanwhile he filed on a homestead on Milk River, the land he now occupies, and eventually made it his permanent home. Becoming interested in his property, he disposed of his freighting busi- ness and began to raise cattle and horses, running them under the brand "lazy DH block" on his cat- tle, and "7H triangle" on the left shoulder on his horses. He was so successful in these lines that in 1916 he added sheep to his ranch, and this industry proved the most profitable venture he had ever en- gaged in, and he ran them until 1919, when he sold, and is now confining his activities to raising cattle and horses.

Mr. Ereaux built his pioneer house of pine logs hauled from the Indian reservation of the Little Rockies, and the cabin at first had only three rooms, but two extra ones were later added, and it served the family as a shelter until it was burned in 1910, and all of its contents, save a table, consumed. When Mr. and Mrs. Ereaux commenced housekeep- ing they owned a cook stove, a couple of chairs left to them by his mother, a dry goods box which they used for a table, and the bedstead they obtained by hauling a load of wood to Malta and trading it for this article of furniture to Mr. Chambers. It is entirely unnecessary to say that this primitive equip- ment has been replaced by one entirely adequate to the requirements of the family. Mr. Ereaux en- tered but a quarter section in the Valley, near Wag- ner, but he has since added to his holdings and now has a fine ranch, and has devoted himself to it, not taking much interest in other lines of business.

Mr. Ereaux cast his first ballot at Dodson, Mon- tana, for Theodore Roosevelt for the presidency, and has continued a republican ever since. He has attended county conventions as a delegate many times, and served his precinct as chairman of the Central Committee of his party for a number of years. For a long period he has served the Wagner district as a school trustee. While this locality belonged to Chouteau County he was road super- visor for thirteen 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 92

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