Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 127

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 127

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On January 27, 1885, our subject was married to Mrs. Anna (Secrest) Brady, a native of Iowa City, Iowa, daughter of Robert M. and Rachel (Epperson) Secrest. the former a native of Tennes - see and the latter of Kentucky, who were unite.1 in marriage at New Castle, Ind., where Mr. Se- crest was engaged in the mercantile business. Lä- ter they removed to Iowa, where they died. Mr. Secrest organized the first Masonic lodge ever in- stituted in that state, and was a very enthusiastic worker in Masonic circles. He died two years after the close of the war. Mr. Hugill, while b: no means an active partisan, is, politically, in syni- pathy with the Republican party.

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

J D. HUFFINE .- The third generation of American citizenship and loyal, productive ser- vice to the county, the state and the nation, on the part of a family which has always borne an honor- able place in the affairs of the country where it happened to be domiciled, is represented by J. D. Huffine, of near Bozeman, a prosperous, progressive and representative farmer, whose thrift and success is apparent in the condition of his property and is based on qualities of inherent strength and capacity, not on external help or particularly favorable circumstances. He was born in east Tennessee, June 30, 1849, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Moore) Huffine, natives of Tennes- see, the latter being the daughter of a gentleman of local prominence and substantial prosperity. The paternal grandfather, Daniel Huffine, emi- grated from Germany to America with his family, and settled in east Tennessee when it was a part of the western border of civilization in this coun- try. He was a planter of extensive operations, and when he died his son Daniel, father of the subject of this review, succeeded to the home- stead and its duties, carrying on the plantation successfully throughout the residue of his busy life. He was married three times and was the father of eighteen children.

Mr. Huffine spent his early days in his native state, was educated at good private schools, and remained at home until 1869, when he moved westward to Kansas, locating at Fort Scott, where he remained three years, engaged in farming. He then concluded to take another flight toward the setting sun, and started for Montana, travel- ing by rail to Corinne, Utah, thence by stage to Madison river where he engaged in mining, thence to Gallatin valley, in 1873, and homesteaded on his present location, later purchasing an addi- tional 160 acres of state land which he after- ward sold, retaining his homestead. This he has improved and reduced to great fertility, and by close and intelligent application of advanced meth- ods of farming, made it one of the most de- sirable homes in the valley.

Mr. Huffine was married in 1871 to Miss Isa- bel McHugh, a native of Missouri, daughter of Griffin McHugh, an emigrant from Ohio to Mis- souri who, with his family, accompanied Mr. Huf- fine to Montana, locating in the Gallatin valley, and afterward removing to Lewistown in Fergus county. The children born to this union are: Marshall, a merchant at Lewistown, who enlisted

in Company I, Montana Volunteers, commanded by Col. Kessler, for service in the Philippines, and who participated in every engagement his regiment was in, never losing a day by sickness or other calamity; Charles, located in Bozeman ; Annie, now Mrs. Ferguson, wife of a successful farmer of the valley; Roe, clerking in a store in Bozeman; Floyd, John, Jesse and Ethel, still at home ; and William and Ottie and two infants who are deceased.

The homestead on which Mr. Huffine lives is in all essentials the product of his own skill, good taste and industry. The grounds which sur- round the comfortable residence are well laid out and beautifully shaded with shapely trees planted by the owner when he took up the claim. It was all a virgin wild when he took hold of it ; now it smiles with its prolific harvests of golden grain, fragrant hay and blooming flowers, made vigorous by its silvery veins of sparkling water, and enlivened by its herds of contented cattle browsing on hillside and meadow.

THOMAS F. HICKEY, of Butte, is a brother of Michael A. Hickey, a sketch of whom ap- pears on another page of this work. He was born at St. Lawrence, N. Y., on December 12, 1844, the eighth child of Thomas and Catherine (Curran) Hickey, who emigrated from Ireland to New York prior to their marriage. The father was a well- to-do farmer of frugal habits and a high sense of duty, and the mother a woman of superior domes- tic and social qualities. Thomas began his schio- lastic training in the public schools, finishing it at Fort Covington Academy, where he was graduated in 1863. After leaving school he followed lumber- ing in the Michigan woods for two years. He then returned to New York and remained until 1880 engaged in farming. In 1880 he came to Mon- tana, locating first at Butte, but soon removing to Helena and working in Lewis and Clarke county at quartz mining for two years, during which time he located and sold the Empire mine. He returned to Butte in 1882, and after a few months went back to New York and passed half a year with his mother, whom he brought back with him to Butte, where she remained until her death in 1896. Here Mr. Hickey has resided ever since, working at mining, carpentering and other occupations and dealing to some extent in real estate. He was at

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one time largely interested in the Lizzie Lode mine, but sold his interest some years ago.

Mr. Hickey was married on January 1, 1884, to Julia Finnegan, who was born in Maine in 1860, the daughter of Patrick Finnegan, a native of Ireland, who emigrated to Maine and there became a prosperous farmer. She died in 1900, leaving four surviving children. Seven children were the fruit of their union: Julia, Frederick, Lillian, Arthur, Albert, Marie and Ambrose, of whom only Lillian, Arthur, Albert and Marie are living. Mr. Hickey is a devout member of the Roman Catholic church, regular in its attendance and in the per- formance of his duties therein. In fraternal re- lations he is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, taking great interest in its meet- ings and making valuable contributions of service to its advancement. Politically he is a Democrat, and while not a party worker in the ordinary sense, the organization feels the benefit of his counsel and his help in material ways. He stands well in his community and has the good opinion of all who have dealings or acquaintance with him.

0 VANDO HOYT .- A residence of thirty-six years in the territory and state of Montana is certainly sufficient to entitle one to the designa- tion of "pioneer," and such is the distinction that is justly accorded the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this biographical sketch. When to that fact is added the naming of his home town in his honor, the distinction becomes a dual one and is doubly appreciated.

Ovando Hoyt, Ovando, Powell county, is one of the prominent merchants and stockmen of Mon- tana. He was born near the old historic town of Deerfield, Franklin county, Mass., in 1844, the son of Azor and Minerva (DeWolf) Hoyt. Azor Hoyt, our subject's father, was also a Massachu- setts Yankee of good old Puritan stock, and a miller by trade, and until he was fifty-four years old he continued to reside in that state. He then removed to Houston county, Minn., where he lived for twenty-one years, removing thence to Iowa, where he died nine years later. The widow and mother of our subject was also born at Deer- field, Mass., and survived her husband several years. She joined her son in Montana, passing to the great beyond in 1893. On gaining his majority Ovando Hoyt, who up to that period

had continued to reside with his parents, gal- lantly struck out for Montana and, surrounded by the innumerable dangers and vicissitudes of such a trip at that early day, followed a six-mule team across the plains. His first objective point was Salt Lake City. From there he journeyed on to the Big Hole basin, arriving in Montana during the early part of 1865. Here he at once engaged in mining, freighting, merchandising and other lines of business more or less lucrative and peculiar. to life in those days in the great and compara- tively unknown west. Mr. Hoyt recalls to-day many exciting scenes and incidents of those pio- neer times; Indian scares and actual massacres ; fabulous gold strikes ; road agent tragedies ; lynch- ing parties and other experiences of early life in the wild west. For fifteen years he resided in the Bitter Root valley, where, for the greater por- tion of the time, he ran a saw mill. In 1882 he first came to what is now Ovando, Powell county, where he has since continued to reside, enjoy- ing life and the certain prosperity that follows energy and industry. For eight years he con- ducted a large stock ranch and is still largely identified with that industry. For sixteen years he was the postmaster of Ovando, so called in honor of his initial name. While serving his first year in that capacity he was in the enjoyment of a munificent salary of $2.25. In 1890 Mr. Hoyt established a general merchandise store which he has since very successfully conducted, having at present a large trade and a productive country to draw from. He has never married. Politically Mr. Hoyt is a stanch Republican, tak- ing an active interest in the affairs of his party and exerting a wide and extended influence. He has been clerk of the local school board and is a most popular man, not only within the limits of the town to which he has devoted so much of his attention, but throughout the new county of Powell.

W ILLIAM B. HUNDLEY, JR .- A native of Illinois, where he was born March 8, 1862, the son of John A. and Clara Hundley, the for- mer a Kentuckian and the latter a Missourian by nativity, and compelled, for the most part, to make his own way in the world from his early years, Mr. Hundley has developed, through the experience he has had in the various pursuits he has followed, a readiness and resourcefulness in character and

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mental activity that have often stood him in good stead. His father is a farmer who has succeeded in making the business profitable. In 1901 he came to Montana and located in the Bitter Root valley. Both he and his wife are Methodists and he is a stanch Democrat. They were the parents of five children, one of whom is deceased. Those living are Mac, William B., Meckie and Kirkwood.

William B. Hundley, Jr., attended the public schools of his neighborhood until he was sixteen years old, and then taught school at Vermilion, S. D., for three years. In 1881 he entered the office of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Vermilion for six months, and then transferred his activities to the office of the Montana Central at Craig, Mont., where he served as station agent for seven years, after which he took charge of the office at Boulder which he still conducts. Mr. Hundley has become interested in ranching and stockraising two miles and a half southeast of Boulder, and in this line also he has been quite successful. He recently, however, disposed of both ranch and cattle. Fraternally Mr. Hundley is iden- tified with the Knights of Pythias, and in politics is a firm and zealous Democrat. He was married on April 10, 1890, to Miss Lottie M. Moore, a native of Montana, and daughter of William and Hattie Moore, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Iowa. Mrs. Hundley's parents came to Montana in their early days and settled in Lewis and Clarke county, where they were successfully engaged in farming until their deaths. They had five children, of whom three, Lottie M., Effie and Wilbur, are living. Mr. and Mrs. Hundley have had five children, of whom Le Roy, W. B., Clara and Marguerite are living and adding to the attractive- ness of the home by their cheerful and entertaining presence. Mrs. Hundley is a member of the Meth- odist church.

H H. HOUGHTON, postmaster of Whitehall, Jefferson county, and one of the most prom- inent citizens of that village, was born in Bolton, Mass., on August 26, 1840. He is the son of Cephas and Mary T. (Danforth) Houghton, the former a native of New Hampshire and the lat- ter of Vermont. Cephas Houghton was a wheel- wright, and followed this trade in his early life, but later engaged in farming until his death. He was twice married, and left five sons and 42

one daughter. At Bolton H. H. Houghton en- joyed excellent educational advantages in the pub- lic schools, graduating from the celebrated high school founded by Joseph Houghton. He then removed to Boston, and became a clerk in the employment of W. W. Ewing, with whom he re- mained two years, until the death of Mr. Ewing. He then became a clerk at Stoneham, Mass., for one of the customers of Mr. Ewing, with whom he remained there three years, then engaging with a shoe manufacturing company at Hudson, and later he was in Boston.

On April 16, 1866, at the age of twenty-six years, Mr. Houghton started for Montana. St. Louis was then the western terminus of railroad travel and from that city he took passage for Fort Benton on a steamboat, the trip taken up the Missouri oc- cupying sixty-eight days. Aside from the monot- ony and the length of the journey the tour was pleasant. Going to Whitetail Deer creek, Mr. Houghton found employment on a milk ranch, where he remained some time, later becoming a partner with Horace G. Root in cattleraising. His interests he sold in 1880, to Mr. Root. He then purchased the Winslow ranch, on which he has since engaged in raising cattle and horses and in dairying. Before making his home on this ranch he resided several winters in Whitehall, for the purpose to give school facilities to his children, and in 1892 he there built a handsome residence, to which he removed his family, con- tinuing also to occupy the ranch homestead.

Mr. Houghton was united in marriage in 1863 to Miss Lydia Andrews, daughter of Amos and Hannah Andrews. The fruit of the union is six children : Albert L., deceased ; Ivan S., now man- ager of the ranch; Shirley D., now an employe of the Mckay-Carmichael Company; Frank E., with the Jefferson Valley Trading Company ; Henry R., assistant postmaster, and Annie R., Mrs. E. R. McCall, of Whitehall. Mr. Hough- ton was appointed postmaster in 1898 and for many years he has been a school trustee, while in poli- tics he is a Republican. All of the family are deeply and actively interested in temperance work in a broad and liberal minded spirit. The success achieved by Mr. Houghton in this new common- wealth is due to superior business ability and a strong, masterful domination of circumstances sub- ject to his sway. He is widely and favorably known · and highly esteemed, while the family stands in the front rank of social distinction.

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H OUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD .- The establishment of a branch home of the well known and noble Sisterhood of the Good Shepherd at Helena was a great boon not only to the city but to the state at large. The sisters of this order devote their lives to the noble work of reclaiming and uplifting unfortunate and fallen women and leading them back to a life of virtue. At the in- vitation of Rt. Rev. J. B. Brondel this community was established in Helena on February 5, 1889. Quarters were secured by the purchase of grounds and a brick residence at the corner of Ninth ave- nue and Holback street, where the sisters were installed on their arrival in the city. The premises soon became too small, and already their capacity has several times been extended. The first com- munity was composed of six sisters, with the Rev. Mother Margaret at the head. Now it numbers nine sisters, with the Rev. Mother Rose of Lima as superior. Thirty girls are now under their care, and since its establishment the insti- tution has received more than 200 inmates, the greater number of whom have been returned to their parents or guardians. Children are placed in this institution without publicity, and, when the parents are unable to provide, free of charge, but are supposed to assist in the general housework, cooking, plain sewing, fancy work or in the well equipped steam laundry. Those under fourteen years of age and older girls who have little educa- tion receive each day a few hours instruction. Lessons in both vocal and instrumental music are given to the deserving ones who evince a talent for music. The people of Helena have shown a keen appreciation of the great good being done by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd and it is hoped that soon larger accommodations and bet- ter facilities will open a more extended field for their self-sacrificing labors.

The mother superior of the house, Sister Mary of St. Rose Hughes, is a native of Prince Edward Island, where she was born in 1861 of Irish parents who emigrated to Canada in their early life. Her father died on the island at the age of fifty-six, and her mother removed to Minnesota with her sons, who were secular priests, and died there at the age of sixty-eight. The Mother Superior's early life was passed at the academy of the Sisters of the Congre- gation de Notre Dame, Montreal. After complet- · ing her studies in 1885 she joined her brother at Waseca, Minn., and the next year she entered the novitiate with the Sisters of the Good Shepherd

at St. Paul, and after passing two years there was sent to found a house of the order at Seattle. Eight years were devoted to the work there and the results were most satisfactory. In 1898 she was made superior of the Helena house of the Good Shepherd by appointment from France, the home of the head of the order. Her work is progressing finely and her usefulness is great.

L EONIDAS R. HOSS, private secretary of Gov. Toole, shows in his character much of the Spartan courage, endurance and generalship which the name suggests. He was born at Mont- gomery City, Mo., June 12, 1865, the son of Na- thaniel K .. and Caroline N. (Dryden) Hoss. The father was a native of Tennessee, followed farming and merchandising as an occupation, and died at the close of the Civil war. The mother was born in Missouri, and when left by the early death of her husband with a young family to rear and pro- vide for, she did not waste time pining over her hard lot, but with the high courage and resolute de- cision of a true American woman at once set about performing the sacred duty thus unexpectedly thrust upon her. For a full quarter of a century thereafter she patiently endured the drudgery and nerve-wasting exactions of a public school teacher's life in order that she might have the means where- with to feed and clothe and educate her offspring. Of these there were eight, three of whom died in infancy. Leonidas Hoss, the seventh child, at tended the public schools at Clarksville, Pike county, until the family moved to Louisiana, in the same county, and there attended school until he was thirteen or fourteen years old. At that age he went to work at any respectable occupation he could get. For several months he served as advertising agent for Messrs. Worthington & Co., proprietors of several general stores in Missouri. But desiring some settled occupation or reliance through life, and realizing that a good trade is an estate out of which the most confiding cannot be swindled, he entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of print- ing under Capt. James C. Jamison, proprietor of the Louisiana Press. From that paper he went into the employ of his brother, A. D. Hoss, who was associated with O. A. Parsons, editor and pro- prietor of the Louisiana Journal. Its office was burnt out during his engagement there, and while the firm was refitting and preparing to resume operations

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he worked in a grocery store, returning to the office and his trade as soon as work upon the paper was begun. Soon afterward his mother, hav- ing secured a school at Marshall, Mo., removed to that town with the family, where he followed in a little while and accepted employment on the Saline County Democrat. After working on that paper as a compositor for nearly a year, he removed with his mother and the rest of the family to Montana in 1883, locating at Deer Lodge, where his mother taught school and his brother had a position as foreman in the office of the New North- west, a bright and influential paper published by Capt. J. H. Mills. Mr. Hoss did not immediately get work at his trade, but followed other occupa- tions for about a year and then went to Helena and took a position in the job printing rooms of George Boos, who some time later started the Helena Daily Journal. Mr. Hoss, however, did not remain long in Helena, but returned to Deer ·Lodge, and from there went to Butte to work on the Inter-Mountain, remaining with that paper until Hon. Lee Mantle came into possession of the Anaconda Review, when he took charge and con- ducted it until sold to L. O. Leonard, with whom he remained two years as foreman of the mechanical department. This was during the early history of Anaconda. About this time he and his brother, N. Y. Hoss, went to Stevensville and established the Stevensville Tribune. He remained there two or three years, then sold his interest to his brother and went back to work on the North West. Soon after his brother sold out, and together they went to Deer Lodge and established the Silver State, which is now conducted by his brother, A. D. Hoss. From Deer Lodge he went to Philipsburg and founded the Citizens Call. This was in March, 1893, just at the time of the great financial panic, but the paper prospered from the beginning and was continuously issued under Mr. Hoss's per- sonal editorship and mapagement until January, 1901, when he was appointed clerk of the state board of examiners. Later, when the death of the lamented Randolph Thompson made a vacancy in the office of private secretary to the governor, he was appointed to fill the vacancy and is still dis- charging the duties of that position at this writing (1901).

In politics Mr. Hoss has always been a firm and active Democrat, taking earnest and vigorous inter- est in the counsels and work of the party, and con- tributing zealously to the success of its campaigns.

He is a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Foresters, the Woodmen of the World, the Degree of Honor and the Wood Craft. He was married August 27, 1890, to Miss Georgia A. Kelley, daughter of the late R. S. and Mary L. Kelley, of Deer Lodge. Her father was United States marshal for Mon- tana during President Cleveland's first adminis- tration, and was a gentleman highly esteemed throughout his whole section. Mr. and Mrs. Hoss have four children, namely : Qwynne Agnew, Fred- erick F., Robert D. and Mary L., who add much to the pleasure of their parents and the attractive- ness of their home. Mr. Hoss is yet a young man, and the general esteem in which he is held, to- gether with the excellent business and attractive social qualities which he possesses, indicate for him a career of great usefulness and credit.

JOHN J. HOLMES was born in Sweden on December 27, 1838, the son of Ohrn and Lotta (Haggland) Holmes, both of whom passed their lives in their native land, the father filling the distinguished position of chamberlain to King Oscar in Stockholm. In that beautiful capital John J. Holmes passed his early youth, though his edu- cation was principally attained in the excellent public schools of his native town of Esterbee. In Stockholm he was employed in a dry-goods establishment as a clerk, later becoming a mem- ber of the police force. He then was in the mar- itime service for a number of years, visiting the principal ports of China, Japan and other for- eign countries, and finally New York and San Francisco. In the latter city he disembarked and abandoned the sea.

He remained in the Golden Gate city from 1864 to 1866 engaged in butchering, and there- after conducted mining in California until 1868, with varying success. In 1868 also he came to Bannack, Mont. He made the trip of 1,500 miles on horseback, one of a party of six. In Deep Spring valley, Nev., they were surrounded by Indians, who kept with the party until night, when they made an attack, which was success- fully repulsed. From Bannack Mr. Holmes soon removed to Jefferson county, where he was en- gaged in placer mining about six months, after which he was for a year in Deer Lodge county; then he followed the concentrating business for

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a number of years in Jefferson county, and com- menced operations in quartz mining, in which he still continues. He was the discoverer of the Gray Eagle mine, in 1887, and in its operation he was associated with Henry Dahlman, the part- nership being dissolved by the latter's death in 1899. The working of this mine has since con- tinued, and it is called a particularly good prop- erty. Mr. Holmes also holds a number of prom- ising prospects in the Comet mining district, not yet sufficiently developed to determine the ab- solute values. He is also engaged in stockraising, associated with Thomas A. Berkin, his brother- in-law. Their ranch is on Smith river, thirty miles below White Sulphur Springs, where they keep from 300 to 500 head of cattle, and have been very successful. Mr. Holmes has a pleasant home in Boulder.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 127

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