Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 114

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 114

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MEClowas

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ally contributed to the upbuilding of the city, in whose advancement he maintains a public spir- ited interest.

In politics Mr. Clowes exercises his franchise in support of the Republican party ; socially he af- filiates with the National Union and the Fraternal Union. The year 1883 witnessed the marriage of Mr. Clowes to Miss Cora G. Miles, who was born in Canada, as were also her parents, Thomas, O. and Nancy (Perley) Miles, the former being a successful farmer. Mrs. Clowes was summoned into eternal rest on April 9, 1891, leaving three children : Mabel, Theodorus and Edna, the two daughters being at the attractive home in Butte, while the son is pursuing a course of study in the law department of that celebrated institution, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

T HOMAS F. COURTNEY .- In the death of Senator Thomas F. Courtney, on March 4, 1901, the state of Montana sustained the loss of a public-spirited citizen and a man of sterling in- tegrity of character ; one who had impressed him- self upon the public life of the commonwealth and had brought to bear a strong individuality, a fine mental equipment and a signal honesty of purpose in the various positions of trust to which he had been called. Mr. Courtney was a native of the old Keystone state, having been born in the city of Pottsville, Pa., on April 4, 1856, being the eighth in order of birth of the nine children of Dennis and Margaret (Griffin) Courtney, of Irish lineage. Dennis Courtney was born in the Emer- ald Isle, where he was reared and educated, being a member of a representative family and having excellent advantages in his youth. He was un- fortunate in his financial affairs in Ireland, and lost practically his entire patrimony prior to his immigration to America in 1849. He located in Pennsylvania, where he was identified with min- ing until his death. His wife nkewise was born in Ireland, coming of a prominent and well-to-do family. She also died in Pennsylvania.

To the public schools of his native state was Thomas F. Courtney indebted for his early edu- cational privileges, and there laid the foundation for that broad fund of knowledge which he subse- quently gained in the practical affairs of life. He possessed alertness of mentality, and his powers of absorption and assimilation enabled him to

profit to a greater degree than in the case of the average individual. His initiation into the practi- cal duties of life was with the mining industry in Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1880 when he came to Montana, located in Helena and was 'engaged in mining for a brief interval and then removed to Butte, where he was identified with mining interests until 1883. He then established himself in the grocery business and continued in the same until the time of his death, building up a successful trade and gaining a distinct local popularity. Mr. Courtney had a strong hold on the hearts, as well as the confidence, of the labor- ing classes, and he ever showed the deepest ap- preciation for the dignity of honest toil and an abiding sympathy for those who contributed in any capacity to the industrial activities of the state and the nation. Naught of assumption or osten- tation characterized his course at any time or in any position ; and as a true-hearted, broad-gauged man he well merited the esteem in which he was uniformly held in private and in public life. Not only did Senator Courtney manifest the courage of his convictions, but he was able to defend them and to give a reason for the faith within him. Early becoming a supporter of the Democratic party, his study of its principles and of the ques- tions and issues of the day resulted in his un- bending allegiance to the cause, from which he was never deflected. It was but a natural se- quence that such a man should come forward in connection with public affairs in the community in which he lived; and thus, in 1888, we find Mr. Courtney a candidate from Silver Bow county for representative in the territorial legislature, then on the eve of securing the dignity of statehood. He was defeated but not destined to pass from public view, since we find him a member of the constitutional convention of 1889, by which was framed the present constitution of the state; and was also a member of nearly every state con- vention of his party thereafter until death closed his labors. He was chairman of the Democratic convention of Silver Bow county in the first county campaign after the admission of Montana to statehood, and was nominated for the lower house of the legislature. His election was among those contingent upon the count of the ballot in precinct 34, and through this he failed to secure his seat. Higher political honors were to his por- tion, however, for in 1898 he was elected to the state senate by an overwhelming plurality for the

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full term of four years, which he did not live to complete. Of his services in the senate the records of that body indicate the able part he took in its deliberations and work, and his labors have he- come an integral portion of the history of the state in whose progress and material prosperity he ever took so deep an interest. He introduced and championed many important bills, and the spirit of his every action was born of his interest in the welfare of the people of the state. He in- troduced the pill which grants to veterans of the nation's wars the privilege of peddling in the state without license, pushing this bill through to en- actment, and in many other ways showing his deep concern in the cause of those dependent upon their own efforts in the struggle of life. On the last day in which he occupied his seat in the senate Mr. Courtney made an eloquent and convincing speech in regard to the retail liquor law, and recited with effectiveness Jeremiah M. Vinton's beautiful poem, "If I Should Die To-night," the same making a profound impression, which was intensified among the individual members and. others who heard the effort when, only a day or two later, his eyes were closed in the tranquil sleep which knows no waking. Senator Courtney never married, nor held membership in secret organizations. His religious faith was that of the Catholic church, in which he was reared. Senator Courtney, after only a few days' illness, succumbed to an attack of pneumonia on March 4, 1901, his death occurring in St. John's hospital in the capital city, just prior to the final adjournment of the legislature in which he had served with signal fidelity and ability. On the occasion of his death the Montana Daily Record, of Helena, spoke of him as follows: "Courtney had been a universal favorite. He was a man of positive views, but one whose position was never misunderstood. He had many warm friends, and those who opposed him politically admired his methods. He was open and above-board; a man to be implicitly trusted anywhere." He was an earnest supporter of Hon. H. L. Frank, of Butte, in the memorable senatorial contest which resulted in the election of Hon. Paris Gibson to the senate of the United States, in March, 1901, and Mr. Frank, as his long-time friend and admirer, paid the following spontaneous tribute to the man : "He was honest, and loyal, and true-hearted. No one can say too much for him. The world is poorer that he is gone." Mr. Courtney entered into eternal rest on

Monday, and his funeral occurred from St. Pat- rick's church, in Butte, on the following Friday, being attended by a large majority of his con- freres in the senate and the house of represent- atives, and by a large assembly of devoted friends who could not but feel a sense of personal be- reavement. His remains were interred in the Catholic cemetery in the city where he had so long maintained his home, and where none knew him but to honor and admire. What more need be said in regard to the life and labors of Thomas F. Courtney ? He was a good man and true ; and now he "rests from his labors," and the sting of death is robbed of all virulence. He left three brothers and two sisters to mourn his untimely death.

A NDREW J. COWAN .- Residing in Montana for nearly thirty years and numbered among the progressive farmers and stock-growers of Park county, his position as a citizen and his ability in business will entitle Andrew J. Cowan to represen- tation here. He was born in Somerset, Pulaski county, Ky., on May 1, 1855, the son of John D. and Nancy (Newell) Cowan, both born in Ken- tucky and the parents of five sons and two daugh- ters, the father being a farmer. The grandfather was John Cowan, who belonged to an old Virginia family.

Andrew J. Cowan, after an education in the pub- lic schools of his native town, in 1872 started for Montana with a carload of horses, disembarking them at Corinne, Utah, whence he drove them to the Gallatin valley in Montana, where he delivered them to his uncle, Louis P. Cowan, who had located there in 1866. He remained here about eighteen months and passed a winter in hunting on the Yel- lowstone river, after which he worked one year for his uncle and then engaged in freighting for one season. His uncle died in 1875, and Mr. Cowan took control of his interests in the Gallatin valley, purchasing a band of horses and engaging in rais- ing this line of stock. Three years later he pur- chased the Cockrell tollbridge across the Gallatin river and the store and hotel connected therewith and conducted the triune enterprise until 1882 when he engaged in farming and cattle raising on the Gal- latin river, selling everything in the fall, and then passed a year in Arizona, again returned to the Gallatin valley where he purchased a farm and there continued in farming and stockraising until

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1898 when he sold his cattle and entered into part- nership with his brother in the sheep business, this association continuing until 1900, when Mr. Cowan disposed of his interests in ranch and business and came to the Shields river district of Park county, and purchased the J. H. Martin ranch of 4,000 acres, where he is now extensively engaged in sheep raising, having about 5,000 head and conducting operations with ability.

Mr. Cowan gives his support to the Democratic party, and served for a number of years as school trustee ; fraternally he is identified with the United Workmen. On January 26, 1882, Mr. Cowan mar- ried Miss Laura McCreary, born in Kansas, the daughter of Thomas J. and Angelina (Rea) Mc- Creary, both natives of Pennsylvania, their off- spring being two sons and four daughters. Both the paternal grandfather and great-grandfather of Mr. Cowan were Pennsylvanians of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Mr. and Mrs. Cowan have four children, Jefferson, a student in the State University at Boze- man ; Minnie, attending Bozeman high school; Rea and Lora. Walter Cowan, a brother of Andrew J., was born in Somerset, Ky., in 1852, and was there reared and educated. He came to Montana in 1876 and located in the Gallatin valley, where he still re- sides, an active farmer and stock grower. In 1891 he married Miss Fannie McCreary, a sister of Mrs. Andrew J. Cowan, and they have four children, Harry, Edwin, Mattie and Helen.

D AVID COWAN .- As one of the extensive farmers and stockgrowers of Choteau county and as a representative and progressive business man of the thriving village of Box Elder, Mr. Cowan is well worthy the high esteem in which he is held in the community as a man among men. Mr. Cowan is a native of the Dominion of Canada, having been born in county Norfolk, province of Ontario, on February 5, 1850. His father, Wil- liam Cowan, of stanch old Scotch lineage, was born in the same county in 1826, and there de- voted his attention to agricultural pursuits for a long term of years, but is now retired from active business, maintaining his home near Langton, full of years and esteemed as one of the sterling pio- neers of the dominion. In his declining years he is not denied the companionship of his cherished and devoted wife, whose maiden name was Pris- cilla Fink, and who was born in the vicinity of the beautiful city of Hamilton, Canada, in 1827.

David Cowan had such educational advantages as were afforded in the public schools of his native county, and continued his studies until attaining the age of eighteen years, after which he assisted in the cultivation and management of the old homestead farm until he was thirty years of age, ever according his parents the deepest filial solici- tude. In 1880 Mr. Cowan removed to Winnipeg, Canada, where he was engaged in the agricultural implement business for a period of about six years. In 1886 he removed to Battleford, North- west Territory, where he conducted a general merchandise store until 1888, when he came to Fort Assinniboine, Mont., where he remained for a year and then took up homestead and desert claims in Choteau county, on Box Elder creek and adjoining the present town of Box Elder. His original ranch comprised 410 acres, but as prosperity has attended his efforts and with in- creasing appreciation of the great advantages af- forded for personal advancement through indus- trial enterprise, he has added to his holdings, and in addition to the original ranch now owns another fine farm of 2,500 acres on Big Sandy and Sage creeks. Mr. Cowan is largely engaged in the raising of sheep and cattle, and his success is the result of close application and choice selection of grades of stock. His ranch property is supplied with an effective system of irrigation, the water being supplied from a reservoir covering a tract of 200 acres and deriving water from Big Sandy and Sage creeks. Thus he has not only excellent grazing land, but a large tract is also rendered available for cultivation and ·from which he se- cures fine yields of hay and grain. He has made the best of improvements on his property, and his energy and enterprise have placed him among the leading farmers and stockgrowers of northern Montana. In the village of Box Elder Mr. Cowan conducts an extensive general merchandise busi- ness, having a large and well equipped establish- ment which derives its support from an extended territory tributary to the village. In this business he is associated with his son, William, the enter- prise being conducted under the firm name of D. Cowan & Son, the same dating its inception back to 1889, so that it figures as one of the pioneer business institutions of the county. In the store is located the postoffice of the town.

In politics Mr. Cowan gives his support to the Republican party, in whose cause he takes a lively interest, though not an active partisan nor an

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aspirant for official preferment. In Norfolk county, Ontario, Canada, on November 27, 1872, Mr. Cowan wedded Miss Jane McKim, who was born in the same county in 1848, a member of one of the representative families of that section. Of this union five children have been born, namely: William, who is a capable young business man and is associated with his father as a member of the mercantile firm of D. Cowan & Co .; Minnie is the wife of Albert Thompson, who is engaged in the livery business at Glasgow, Valley county, Mont .; and Grace, who is at the parental home ; two are deceased. The family are prominently identified with the social life of the community and their friends are to be found throughout the county.

E DMUND A. CRAIN, M. D .- Among the able and popular representatives of the medical profession in Missoula is Dr. Crain, who was one of the first physicians examined for admission to practice in the new state. He has been a close and zealous student, has achieved success as the result of his own efforts and well merits the pres- tige which he has gained as a physician and as a man among men. Edmund Augustus Crain was born at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, on February 23, 1853. His father, Orville S. Crain, is a native of Pennsylvania and a representative of that sterling stock called Pennsylvania Dutch. He was taken to the Western Reserve of Ohio by his parents when a mere child, and was reared with and was a lifelong family friend of Gen. James A. Garfield. He was engaged in the hardware business at Auburn and other Ohio towns, and was later with D. H. Row & Co., of Chicago, in the same line of enterprise. He is now living in retirement at Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of eighty-one years. His father, John Crain, was likewise a native of the old Keystone state, and he died at Chester- field, Ill., at the venerable age of ninety-three, the family being notable for longevity. The mother of Dr. Crain bore the maiden name of Hulda A. Wood, and she was born near Tiffin, Ohio, her death occurring in May, 1900, at the age of seventy-two years, her maternal grandfather hav- ing been ninety-four years of age at the time of his demise.

Dr. Crain, while still a mere lad, entered the commercial department of Hiram College at Hiram, Ohio, of which President Garfield was at

the time principal, and was graduated therefrom at the age of sixteen years. He had determined to prepare himself for the medical profession, but was compelled to depend upon his own re- sources, defraying his expenses by teaching schools at various places in Ohio, steadily prose- cuting his technical studies as opportunity pre- sented, first under the preceptorship of Dr. R. W. Walters, of Chagrin Falls, while later he at- tended lectures at the Homeopathetic Hospital Medical College, of Cleveland, part of one session. He then decided that it was expedient to change from the homeopathic to the regular school of practice, and he continued his medical studies under the direction of Dr. E. W. Hawley, of Wakeman, Huron county, Ohio, engaging in peda- gogic work during the greater portion of this time. He eventually attended a course of lectures in the medical department of the Wooster University at Cleveland, and, through this means and his pri- vate study and investigation, eventually fortified himself amply for the work of his chosen profes- sion, and in recognition of his ability as a writer on medical topics Dr. Crain has received an hon- orary certificate, appointing him a member of the staff of physicians and surgeons at St. Luke's Hospital in Niles, Mich. The Doctor began active medical practice at Butler, Branch county, Mich., where he remained for three years, when he located in Antigo, Wis., where he was located for three and one-half years and then came to Montana, establishing himself in Missoula on November 16, 1888. As has been previously stated, he was one of the first physicians to be examined and to secure a certificate entitling him to practice in Montana after her admission to statehood, passing the examination with a grade of ninety-six. He has been very successful in Missoula practice and controls a large and repre- sentative business, while his personal popularity is of unmistakable and unequivocal character.

Doctor Crain has ever manifested a lively inter- est in political affairs, and until the past year has been prominently concerned in Montana politics, having been a delegate to every state Republican convention. He was coroner of Missoula county in 1894. He has always labored zealously for the promotion of the Republican cause, and his in- fluence in the political field has been significant. He is at present giving most of his attention to surgical diseases of women and abdominal sur- gery. Doctor Crain has been twice married, his

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first union having been consummated in 1872, when he wedded Miss Myra Hadden, a native of Lake county, Ohio, two children being born of this union: Grace E., who resides in Butte, and I'rederick O., a clerk and law student in the office of Teller & Dorsey, a prominent law firm of Den- ver. In 1897 Dr. Crain was united in marriage to Mrs. S. Mary Deane, nee Clark, who has one son by her previous marriage : Harry Edmund Deane.

SAMUEL N. COWAN .- A native of Kentucky, born December 1, 1841, in Pulaski county, where his family had flourished for generations, Samuel N. Cowan, of Bozeman, Mont., has been life and studied men in various places and under a great variety of circumstances. His parents were James D. (always known to his friends as "Daisy") and Nancy (Newell) Cowan, who were both of the same nativity as himself. His father, who was born in 1810, lived in Kentucky, engaged in farm- ing until 1882 when he came to Montana, where he lived retired from active business until his death on January 23, 1890. In his native state he was a man of consequence with high social connections and political influence. He had a potential voice in lo- cal affairs, and served as sheriff of his county. He and his wife were the parents of five sons and two daughters. Of the seven children Samuel was the first born. He received preparatory training in the public schools, and just as he was about to take a full classical course of instruction the Civil war broke out and he enlisted in Capt. Roberts' com- pany of the Confederate army, afterward Company H, Sixth Kentucky Cavalry, in Gen. John H. Mor- gan's command. He was taken prisoner on July 20, 1863, in the great Ohio raid made by this command, and was held in captivity until June 12, 1865, cover- ing in his imprisonment all the territory between Lake Erie and the Savannah river. After his dis- charge he returned to Kentucky and located at Mill Springs, Wayne county, where he taught school for a time ; then got married and engaged in farming and stockraising. In 1882 he came with his family to Montana and located in Gallatin valley, where he renewed his tarming and stockraising operations. In the fall of 1896 he was elected county assessor of Gallatin county, and entered upon the duties of his office in January, 1897, and has since made his home in Bozeman.

In politics he is a stanch Democrat and takes an

active interest in the party's success. In Kentucky, on December 11, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Lanier, of that state, daughter of Lloyd A. and Amanda (Brown) Lanier, the former a native of Alabama who removed to Kentucky when he was a young man and there engaged in business as a farmer and wholesale merchant. His wife was a native of Wayne county, Ky. Their family consisted of four sons and five daughters, of whom Mrs. Cowan was the second in order of birth. She was educated at Huntsville College, Alabama, and Nazareth College, Kentucky. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Cowan are : Addie L., now Mrs. John Murphy, of Bozeman; Lulu Lee, now Mrs. Frank Nelson, of Bozeman, and William F., Luke Allen and Julian Lanier, all at home. In war Mr. Cowan followed his convictions at the risk of his life; and in peace he has been serviceable to his community and state at the cost of his personal comfort and interests on more than one occasion. He is a man of firm convictions and resolute courage in main- taining them.

R M. CRALLE, county surveyor of Jefferson county, and deputy United States mineral sur- veyor, is one of the prominent residents of Boulder. He was born in Lynchburg, Va., on December II, 1846, the son of R. K. and Elizabeth (Morris) Cralle. The father was a talented lawyer and at one time private secretary for the eminent John C. Calhoun. The mother also descended from distin- guished ancestry, and was a daughter of Judge Morris, of Hanover, Va. R. M. Cralle remained in the cultured parental home, receiving there and in the subscription schools a thorough preparation for the classical studies of Hampton-Sidney College, which he entered in 1860, not long to enjoy its ad- vantages, however, for patriotism overcame the de- sire to early complete his education, and, in 1861, on the call for state troops, he enlisted in the first company organized in his state, the Henrico Light Dragoons. He served through the war, and was mustered out in 1865, at the surrender of Gen. Lee at Appomattox.

Mr. Cralle then remained one year at the old home with his mother, his father having died in 1864, and was engaged as a civil en- gineer on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, in which vocation he continued until 1870. He was then attached to the United States engineers' department for the improvement of

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the Tennessee river until 1876, when he moved to Kentucky and was chief engineer of the Covington, Flemingsburg & Pond Gap Railroad. In 1877 he went to Colorado, and took part in the surveys of the Union Pacific Railroad through Colorado and Utah. He was next resident engineer of the North- ern Pacific, his field of operations lying between Terry's Landing and Billings. In 1882 he was placed in charge of track building and bridges on the Northern Pacific, and in 1884 he went to the Coeur d'Alene mines, Idaho, and engaged in mining and the grocery business in Thompson Falls, Mont.

In 1886 Mr. Cralle came to Boulder and assumed charge of the Helena & Boulder Valley Railroad as engineer. This position he resigned in 1888, and took up his residence in Boulder. He was ap- pointed county surveyor of Jefferson county in 1898, and in 1900 was elected to succeed himself. This position he now fills with superior ability and to the satisfaction of the public. In 1885 he was appointed postmaster of Thompson Falls, and for a number of years he has been deputy United States mineral surveyor. During a year in 1895 and 1896 he had charge of building the flume and mill at the Quigley mine in Granite county. On April 2, 1883, Mr. Cralle was married to Miss Mary Wall, daugh- ter of Dr. John and Elizabeth ( Dudley ) Wall, of Kentucky. Mrs. Wall was the daughter of James Wall, of Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Cralle have been born three children, Richard M., Elizabeth Wall and an infant deceased. For a number of years Mr. Wall was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Mr Cralle has been success- ful in official and social relations, and is an example of the best elements of American citizenship, while his home is a center of attraction to numerous friends.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 114

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