Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 105

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1374

USA > Montana > Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1 > Part 105

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Father Blaere began his education in the gov- ernment schools, and, after due preparation, en- tered an ecclesiastical college at Courtray in 1886. There he passed six years in studying the classics, and then devoted a year to the study of philosophy at Roulers Seminary. In 1893 he entered the American College at Louvain, and after three years and a half of diligent study was ordained to the priesthood April 3, 1897. On May 20th of that year he sailed for America, en route to Montana. His first field of labor here covered the counties of Lewis and Clarke (outside of Helena), Jefferson, Meagher and Broadwater, in all of which he worked ardently at missions. In 1898 he was trans- ferred to Butte as assistant at St. Patrick's church.

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He remained in that service two years, and was then made pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes church at Marysville, being the first priest ever stationed there. In April, 1901, he was assigned to duty at St. Paul's in Anaconda, during the illness and consequent absence of Father Follet, at that time the regular rector. In August, 1901, he was as- signed to the pastorate of the Church of the Sac- red Heart at Miles City. Father Blaere has per- formed his spiritual duties well and wisely, secur- ing the affectionate regard of his own parishion- ers and the cordial esteem of others.

G IDEON E. BLACKBURN, M. D .- The des- cendant of a long line of military heroes, himself a soldier in the Civil war, and bearing the marks of its burdens, Dr. Gideon E. Blackburn, of Butte, has engaged in the pursuits of peaceful production with the same energy, capacity and success that char- acterized his gallant military record. He was born on October 22, 1839, in Woodford county, Ky., the son of Anderson M. and Margaret (Hoxey) Black- burn, of English and Scotch ancestry, respectively, who were among the pioneer settlers of Virginia. The Doctor's great-grandfather Blackburn was an officer under Washington in the Revolution, and received many letters from his great commander which the Doctor cherishes as valuable relics of that heroic age. His grandfather was a trusted and valued subordinate of Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Seminole war, and was on intimate terms with that great soldier. His great-grandfather Hoxey was also a soldier in the Revolution and made a record for conspicuous gallantry. Gideon Blackburn, the Doctor's grandfather, who was born in Virginia, was a Presbyterian clergyman and the founder of Blackburn College at Carlinville, Il1.

Dr. Gideon E. Blackburn was educated at Yale College, and had nearly completed the course of study there when the Civil war broke out, and, true to the traditions of his ancestry, left college and enlisted in the Union army, becoming a member of Company E, Fourteenth Illinois Infantry. He was assigned to Gen. Grant's command and fought under him at Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Corinth, and in numerous other important engagements, in two of which he was seriously wounded. Once when on a foraging expedition he was captured by guerrillas and tortured by them for a day, then sentenced to

be put to death the next morning; but during the night he escaped and made his way to the Federal lines. At another time he was halted by thirty-five Confederates, but drawing his revolver he shot two of them, and by a swinging blow with the pistol severely wounded another, then giving rein to his horse he succeeded in reaching the Union forces although severely wounded by the shower of bullets that followed him. During his service in the army he was promoted five times, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel by brevet, but toward the close of the war he became seriously ill and resigned his commission. In addition to his field service he was particularly useful in assisting the surgeons in their operations and in caring for sick and wounded com- rades, he having studied medicine previous to enter- ing the army. On recovering his health he went to Pine Bluff, Ark., and later to Camden, where he en- gaged in general merchandising until 1870, when he associated himself with Dr. W. E. Green, entered the Pulte Medical College at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in 1871, being the valedic- torian of his class. He practiced his profession at Shreveport, La., Galveston, Tex., and Evanston, Wyo., until 1891, when he located at Butte, Mont., which has since been his home. Here he has enjoyed a large and representative practice and grown in es- teem and popularity with all classes of the com- munity. In 1892 he opened the Blackburn Homeo- pathic Hospital, the only one of this school in the state. The Doctor has been enterprising and far- seeing in business and well as successful in his pro- fession. Having faith in the future of Butte he invested largely in real estate and now enjoys the fruits of his good judgment in the ownership of about forty residence properties which yield good revenues. During the past few years he has been interested in an extensive addition to the city lo- cated on the Flats, which seems destined to become a choice residence section. He also owns a number of developed and undeveloped mines in the neigh- borhood of Butte, among them the Ophir and Ar- nold copper mines; is president of the Missoula Orchard and Improvement Company, and is inter- ested in a largely capitalized company of Butte which is developing the Kintla Lake oil fields in Flathead county. He is prominent in Masonic cir- cles and takes great interest in the affairs of the order.

In politics he is an ardent Democrat. In 1871 he was married, and has three children: Daisy Ida, Charles A. and Flora Emma. His second marriage

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occurred on January 27, 1893, his choice on this occasion being Miss Hannah Aiton, a native of Min- nesota. They reside at the hospital.

FRANCIS W. BLACKFORD, JR .- The import- ant profession of civil engineering has in Mon- tana a worthy representative in F. W. Blackford, who is incumbent of the position of United States deputy mineral surveyor and who maintains his res- idence in Butte. He has been concerned in much important work in his profession, in which he is a recognized expert. Mr. Blackford was born near Columbus, Ohio, on December 16, 1859, the second of the four children of Francis W. and Jean (Dun) Blackford. The former was born in Washington, D. C., whence he removed to Ohio in 1854, devoting his attention to farming and to merchandising. He was in service during the Civil war, first organizing a company and then becoming commissioner of en- rollment of the District of Columbia. His wife was born in Philadelphia, whence she accompanied her parents to Ohio, where they were pioneers and where she now resides.

The early educational training of Francis W. Blackford, Jr., was received in the public schools of Chillicothe, Ohio, where he completed a high school course, after which he continued his studies for a time in Marysville College, at Marysville, Tenn., then joined an engineering corps engaged in the construction of the Oregon Short Line Railroad, and after an absence of a year he returned to Colum- bus, Ohio, and in 1882 he matriculated in the Ohio State University at Columbus, Ohio, where he took a course in civil engineering, completing it in 1883. He then entered the employ of the Union Pacific as an engineer in locating and constructing branch lines in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana, having the direction of much important work. He came to Montana in 1887, and two years later he here engaged in the private practice of his profession, as a civil and mining en- gineer, first in Anaconda and later in Butte. He was city engineer of Anaconda in 1889-90 and had charge of the establishing of street grades and the installing of the sewer system. He took up his permanent residence in Butte in 1890, and in the fall of 1891 was appointed city engineer and held this in- cumbency until the spring of 1898. In his tenure of office he had charge of the extending of the sewer system, including the drainage system, and also of

the establishing of grades and the putting in of street pavements. In 1898 he became chief en- gineer for the Butte electric railway, and here had control of the construction of the Centreville line, one of the most difficult pieces of engineering in the Union, and he also engineered the Walkerville and Columbia Gardens lines and others, his work meet- ing with approval and standing in evidence of his consummate skill.

He became a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1888 and is identified with the Montana Society of Engineers, of which he was president in 1900. In politics Mr. Blackford maintains an independent attitude, supporting men and measures satisfactory to himself. He is a mem- ber of the Silver Bow Club, the leading social or- ganization of Butte business men. In his profession he is a hard worker and has been retained as con- sulting engineer by many important mining and other corporations. On February 4, 1893, Mr. Blackford was united in marriage to Miss Mary /Layton, born in Iowa, daughter of Joseph Barton and Jean (Erwin) Layton, natives of Massachu- setts and Kentucky. Her father was a lawyer of fine ability at Keosauqua, Iowa, but both himself and his wife have done their life's work well and passed on to their reward.

A LEXANDER H. BLACK, a younger brother of

J. H. Black, whose sketch will be found in an- other portion of "The Progressive Men of Mon- tana," is a native of Knox county, Mo., born June 5, 1856. At present he resides on a large and valu- able ranch of 994 acres, near Salesville, Gallatin county, which is one of the best improved proper- ties in the district. Although the immediate ances- try of our subject is treated in the sketch devoted to his brother, it is a matter of note that the Blacks were for many generations members of the first families of Virginia. The wife of the Grandfather Black was a Miss Letcher, and aunt of Gov. John Letcher, of Virginia, who served the commonwealth with distinction before the Civil war. The Letchers were of old Virginia stock, people of superior edu- cation and high integrity. Many of the members were, in the early days, prominent in legal and other professional circles. Later quite a number of the younger generation removed to Missouri. Al- though the mother of our subject, Nancy ( Porter) Black, was a native of Crawford county, Ill., her

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father was a Pennsylvanian, in which state he was prominent for many years in business circles. In 1837 Samuel Black, grandfather of our subject, Alexander, removed from Virginia to Missouri, bringing with him his family and many slaves. He settled in Wayne county, where he followed the oc- cupation of general farming and stockraising. At that period the father of our subject was seventeen years of age. He continued in the business of his father until January 25, 1890, when he was called from earth, leaving a family of seven sons and six daughters.

Following the close of the Civil war the father of Alexander H. Black removed from Knox to Saline county, Mo., and it was in the public schools of the latter county that Alexander received a thorough business education. Remaining on the Missouri homestead until 1882, he came to Montana and en- gaged in farming. To his homestead of 560 acres, purchased in 1886 from his brother, John H. Black, he has since added 434 acres, practically all under a high state of cultivation, well irrigated and provided with every convenience for the successful prosecu- tion of agriculture. It is located two miles from the Cottonwood river, and of its principal crops, wheat, oats and barley, Mr. Black has harvested as high as 12,000 bushels annually.

His domestic life dates from December 24, 1885, when he was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Lovely, a native of Kansas, daughter of George Lovely, of Kentucky. The latter came to Montana and located on the Yellowstone, where he died April 10, 1900. To Mr. and Mrs. Black have been born three children: Lorrain, Bessie and Bayard.

W M. T. BOARDMAN .- The pen of the biogra- pher has seldom a more engaging theme than the life story of a good man whose energies have been passed in the service of his fellows, and who has seen the fruits of his labor ripening among them. This was the experience of William T. Boardman, of Butte, who surrendered his trust at the behest of the Great Disposer and laid down to rest on April 16, 1901, in the full vigor of his manly powers, but with a long record of accomp- lished results. He was the son of William T. Boardman, a wholesale merchant of New York, and Harriet E. (Harris) Boardman, both of whom died in that city, the latter in 1855 and the former in 1878. Mr. Boardman's life began in Brooklyn, N.

Y., on June 27, 1848. His parents, while they lived, were devoted to his welfare, and saw that no edu- cational advantage that was available to him was withheld. He attended the public schools until he finished the entire course therein, and then entered the State University near Bellefonte, Pa., for a full academic course. He was graduated therefrom with high honors in 1866 and for a year was in its faculty as assistant instructor in chemistry, the branch of physical science to which he naturally inclined, and to which he devoted the greater part of his life. In 1875 he went to Colorado as super- intendent of a mine at Rosita. The next year he came to Montana and settled first in Helena, but later in Butte. For a number of years he was en- gaged in mining and other pursuits. Then tiring of them he turned his attention to insurance and real estate, in which he achieved a notable success. He always manifested a lively and intelligent inter- est in whatever pertained to the welfare of his com- munity and state, and was ever willing to bear his share of the burdens of responsible citizenship. Impelled by this spirit, while Butte was yet in Deer Lodge county, he consented to represent her people in the state legislature for one term, to se- cure some specially desired legislation. He was also superintendent of the Montana exhibit at the New Orleans exposition.

While his life as a student, business man and publicist was rounding out in good proportions, the domestic side of it was not neglected. He was hap- pily married on April 29, 1882, to Miss Elva Hos- kins, a native of Illinois, but then for some years a resident of Montana. She was the daughter of Jolin A. Hoskins, who was born in Kentucky in 1825, but removed to Illinois as a young man and there became a prosperous farmer, and dying in 1897. When the Civil war broke out he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illi- nois Volunteers, and saw much hard service in the war, but escaped without serious wounds or dis- ability. Mrs. Boardman's mother was Sarah E. (Reeder) Hoskins, a daughter of Nathaniel M. Reeder, a prominent contractor, builder, carpenter and cabinet maker of Ohio, and Malvina Gunn, daughter of Jehu Gunn, a Virginia planter. Mr. and Mrs. Boardman had one son, Townsend Board- man, now a student at the Butte School of Mines, who gives promise of worthily filling his father's place in public esteem and mental calibre.

Mr. Boardman was an enthusiastic Freemason. He saw in the order all of its subtler and finer beau-

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ties and deeper meanings. It was to him truly a code of morals speaking through symbols, wherein every symbol has its voice of wisdom for the ear attuned to its interpretation. He loved the frater- nity with the ardor of a neophyte and the discrim- inating devotion of a patriarch. In all its branches, symbolic, capitular, cryptic and templar, he was a bright and shining light; and he had also made advancement in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. Moreover, he gave due attention and effort to the interests of the Eastern Star organization. His zeal and his intelligent contributions to their counsels soon gave him a leading position among his brothers. In grand lodge he rose rapidly and was successively junior and senior grand warden, and then, in 1890, was made grand master of the state, an office which he administered with dignity and with a wisdom and public spirit that made his name renowned among the craft. Mrs. Boardman, like her late husband, is an enthusiastic devotee of the mystic tie. She was initiated into the Order of the Eastern Star in 1880; became worthy matron of her lodge in 1893; treasurer of the grand lodge in 1892 and grand secretary in 1894, a position which she has held ever since. She dignifies and adorns every station which she occupies in the order, as she does every department of domestic and social life.

PATRICK BOYLE, of the stock firm of Hemp- stead & Boyle, of Pawell county, was born in County Meath, Ireland, on February 7, 1840, the son of Cornelius and Ann (Gogerty) Boyle, natives of the Emerald Isle, who emigrated to America in 1846, locating in New York on what is now 125th street, Harlem, where they resided for many years. Patrick was about six years old at the time of the . family's emigration, and he was reared in New York city, receiving very limited educational ad- vantages, as his parents were poor and he was com- pelled to assist in the support of the family from very early boyhood, by working in factories, etc. In 1856, when sixteen years of age, Mr. Boyle jour- neyed to San Francisco, by the isthmus of Panama, the trip occupying twenty-seven days. He was for two years employed in smelters in San Francisco, and in 1858 he went to British Columbia, at the . fall and bought a ranch in Deer Lodge county, as is time of the Fraser river gold excitement, in search of fortune, but returned to San Francisco the same winter, and was employed on Pacific coast steam- boats. In the winter of 1858-9 he was in the min-

ing districts on the Feather river, and later on the Yuba river, while in the spring of 1860 he located at Jamestown. In the following fall he went to the Big-oak Flat country, where he remained until the following spring, and then for a time was employed at Aurora, Nev., whence he proceeded to the Boise Basin mines in Idaho, and there worked during the summer of 1864, then after a trip to British Colum- bia, he went to Walla Walla, Wash., where he passed the winter. In the spring of 1865 he was associated with John and Dick Pierce in taking a pack train of provisions through to British Colum- bia, where they disposed of the stock to good ad- vantage. Mr. Boyle then came to Montana, arriv- ing in Blackfoot City on June 15, this being at the time of the excitement caused by the discovery of gold in Washington gulch. He devoted that sum- mer to prospecting and locating claims with the Pierce brothers, and in the fall his partners went into McClellan gulch and located three claims, one each for themselves and one for Mr. Boyle. One of these proved very rich, from $200 to $500 being taken out a day, while the maximum yield for one day was $1,000.

In the winter of 1866-7 Mr. Boyle joined the stampede of miners to Leesburg, Idaho, where he purchased some claims, and was joined by his part- ners in the spring. This venture was a failure, and all three gentlemen found their finances at the low- est possible ebb. They afterwards were located at Bannack for a time, from whence Mr. Boyle went to Argenta, Beaverhead county, later returning to Leesburg, where he secured more mining grounds, from which he secured good returns, thus evening up old scores with that district. In the fall of 1868 he returned to Washington gulch, and mined dur- ing the winter, while in the following summer he prospected in the Blackfoot and Bigfoot districts and on the Boulder river, locating some very good properties on the Boulder. That winter he brought an adequate water supply to his claims and began operations in the spring of 1870. He continued placer mining here successfully until the spring of 1873. He then disposed of his claims and bought some mining property on Elk creek, which he worked until the summer of 1875, when he was joined by John Hempstead. They sold out in the told in the sketch of Mr. Hempstead's life elsewhere in this work, and to which we refer the reader for a fuller description of their operations. They have been very successful in stockraising, and are num-

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

bered among the representative men of this section. Mr. Boyle is a man of energy and business sagacity, and the success which he has attained is the result of his own efforts, while his actions and bearing have been such as to win respect and esteem. In politics he was an unswerving Republican. On July 27, 1881, Mr. Boyle was united in marriage to Miss Annie Peterson, who was born in Utah, the daugh- ter of Nels and Christina (Olson) Peterson, natives of Denmark, and a sister of Mrs. Hempstead. Mr. and Mrs. Boyle have six children, John, Catherine, May, Ethel, James and Martha.

FREDERICK BOTTLER .- Meriting considera- tion as a pioneer of Montana whose knowledge of the mountain fastnesses and the excellent sport afforded in hunting in early days is particularly inti- mate, Frederick Bottler has served as guide and at- tained an enviable reputation as such and as a mighty hunter on many expeditions. He is today one of the representative stockgrowers of Park county, his well-improved ranch being located four miles south of Fridley, his postoffice address, while here he also raises large crops of hay and grain. Mr. Bottler is a native of Summit county, Ohio, born on April IO, 1843, the son of Ernst and Catherine Bottler, natives of Bavaria, Germany. They emigrated to America and to Summit county, Ohio, in 1838, where the father was a manufacturer of brick and tile. The family removed to Indiana in 1847, and thence in 1855 to Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Ernst Bott- ler are now dead. Their family consisted of six sons and five daughters, three of the sons being heroic soldiers of the Civil war.

Frederick Bottler remained with his parents until he had attained his majority, receiving instruction in the schools of Indiana. On May 15, 1865, he started for Montana overland with horses and wagon, making the journey with the outfit of the Montana Quartz Mining Company. They were harassed seriously by Indians, four men being killed, but without further casualties they reached their des- tination in Alder gulch in September, 1865. Mr. Bottler soon proceeded to the Gallatin valley, where he followed ranching about two years then re- moved to Yellowstone valley, still continuing in the same enterprise. In 1872, as guide and hunter, Mr. Bottler was connected with the United States geological survey, the expedition starting from Bozeman, going up the Yellowstone and visiting

the various lakes. In 1873 he accompanied Lord Dunraven's party on their trip through the Yellow- stone National Park, his lordship manifesting a high appreciation of Mr. Bottler's services and companionship. For fifteen years hunting occupied his time almost exclusively. In 1868 he made a per- manent location on his present ranch and settled down to a pastoral life in the sheep industry, and here in 1872 he kept the first store and postoffice on the Yellowstone. His ranch comprises 960 acres, 200 acres under effective irrigation, so that he se- cures fine yields of hay and grain. He has now 6,000 head of sheep and contemplates soon engaging extensively in the raising of cattle. Mr. Bottler erected a fine modern residence on his ranch in 1893, one of the few buildings erected in Montana in that year of financial depression. This house is supplied with an individual water system and other conveniences.

Mr. Bottler is identified with the Republican party and his particular eligibility and personal in- terest led to his being retained as a school trustee for a number of years. On October 26, 1880, Mr. Bottler married with Miss Josephine Shorthill, born in Huntingdon county, Pa., the daughter of David R. Shorthill, of whom specific mention is made on other pages of this work. They have two children, Maud, who was finely educated at the Montana Wesleyan University at Helena, and Floyd. The daughter has marked musical talent, is a fine pianist and also an effective artist in water colors, the fam- ily home showing many specimens of her artistic skill.

GI EORGE W. BLACKMAN .- Among the noble pioneers who pushed forward to the western borders of the frontier that he might make a lırme for himself and his family was George W. Blackman, who stood "four-square to every wind that blows," and whose life was one of integrity and earnest endeavor. Such men merit enduring place on the pages of history, and none are more worthy of this than Mr. Blackman, who was long one of the representative citizens of Madison county. He was born on October 23, 1839, in Illinois, the son of James H. and Mary ( Pardee) Blackman. His par- ents were pioneers of Illinois, whence they removed to Iowa, where they lived useful lives, died and were buried. Here the father engaged in farming and stock raising and merchandising.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 105

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago Publication date: [19-?] Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1374

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1374