Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 129

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 129

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A. (Keith) Harrington, the latter dying shortly after his birth. His education was acquired in the public schools and the high school at Aurora, where he was graduated, after which he found employment in various places in Illinois until 1857, when he made his way to LaCrosse, Wis., going by stage from Watertown, it being prior to the building of the railroad through that section. Later Mr. Harrington removed to Sparta, se- curing employment there in a clerical capacity, later becoming deputy postmaster and next book- keeper in the Bank of Sparta. These successive advancements stand in evidence of his earnest application and fidelity in his youth. On May 9, 1864, Mr. Harrington started for Montana, coming with an emigrant train across the plains from Omaha and walking the greater part of the way. He arrived in Alder gulch, then a thriving placer mining camp, on the 9th of September, just four months from the time of starting. He secured work in the mines and resided in Alder gulch for a number of years. Later he became interested in the cattle industry for a few years, and in 1870 he purchased the Virginia City Water Works and in 1873 the boot and shoe business of David H. Weston, and conducted this and a store at Bozeman for seven years. He was one of the organizers in 1880, of the banking house of Raymond, Harrington & Co., at Virginia City, and was connected with this for a full decade. The firm afterward became Hall, Harrington & Co., and later Hall & Bennett.

In 1889 Mr. Harrington removed to Butte, where, in May, 1890, he was one of the organizers, original stockholders and directors of the Silver Bow National Bank. He was elected cashier upon the completion of the organization and has since been incumbent of this office, proving a careful and duly conservative executive. The high repu- tation which the bank has ever enjoyed is due in no small measure to his well directed efforts and the hold he has upon public confidence and esteem. The bank is capitalized for $100,000 and on June 30, 1901, its loans and discounts were $275,000 and its individual deposits $440,000. Mr. Harring- ton has ever been an active worker in the Re- publican party. In Madison county he was a member and chairman of the county central com- mittee, and represented that county in the lower house of the First state legislature, serving through two sessions and on a number of important com- mittees. Fraternally he is a member of the Order

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of Elks, and socially is identified with the Over- land and Silver Bow Clubs of Butte. The mar- riage of Mr. Harrington to Miss Helen M. Bower was solemnized in 1869. She was born in Michi- gan, the daughter of James G. Bower, a resi- dent of Montana for a number of years, and a prominent business man in Alder gulch. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington have one son, Glenn B., born in 1876.

W M. H. HART .- Born at St. Albans, Vt., on December 4, 1850, and removing with his family when he was ten years old to Ellen- burg, N. Y., where he was reared and educated, William H. Hart, of Butte, may be said to have grown up in the midst of a region of surpassing natural beauty and historic interest. His early fancies were kindled and his imagination quick- ened by the inspiring scenes and suggestions of the Green mountains and the Adirondacks and the stirring events of Lake Champlain and Ticon- deroga. With these stimulating themes and as- sociations filling his young soul with ardor it is no wonder that when he attained manhood the wild, adventurous life of the new northwest wore for him a winning smile. His primary education in the public schools of St. Albans was contin- ued in those of Ellenburg, where he lived with the family until he was twenty-one years old. He then attended the high school for two years, at the end of that time moving to Manchester, N. H., where he was a workman in a cotton mill for four years and then foreman for five more. In 1882 he left the well trodden fields of New England enterprise for the larger hopes and am- pler opportunities of the undeveloped west. He made his way to Colorado, and accepting, with characteristic energy, whatever occupation was at hand, he made good wages as a carpenter and later as a cook for the Rio Grande Railroad Com- pany for three or four years.

In July, 1886, Mr. Hart transferred his hopes and capacities to Butte, and there worked as a hotel cook for a year. Then, knowing the ground on which he was standing and his ability to hold his own against all comers, he rented the Key- stone hotel on Front street and began business as its proprietor. He conducted this until 1893, when he opened the Arlington in South Butte, which he is still operating. During his residence in Butte, besides his connection with hotels, he

has been a wholesale butcher and in various other kinds of business he has prospered. He also has extensive farming interests in New York, and property of value elsewhere. He has a warm interest in the welfare of the community which he shows by active support of every enterprise which appears to him worthy and useful. In New Hampshire he was an enthusiastic member of the state national guard and for two years was a second lieutenant of his company at Manchester. In Butte he is a member of Enterprise Lodge of .. Odd Fellows, which he has served as treas- urer for several terms. In politics he is a Demo- crat of strong conviction, giving earnest and sub- stantial support to the policies and candidates of his party, but not offensive in his partisanship, being always and to everybody the courteous, obliging gentleman that nature fashioned him.

E NOCH L. W. HASH .- It is gratifying in this compilation to accord recognition of those who are prominently identified with the great material industries of the state, and in this connection the subject of this review is to be noted as one of the progressive farmers and stock- growers of Cascade county, his ranch being lo- cated seven miles southwest of the village of Evans. Mr. Hash is a native son of the Old Dominion, having been born in Grayson county, Va., on Jan- uary 8, 1863, the son of Thomas B. and Eveline Hash, who were likewise born in Virginia, where the father was engaged in agricultural pursuits, owning a plantation. Just prior to the war of the Rebellion he successfully operated a tannery until the ravages of war crippled the industries of the south. The paternal grandparents of our subject were John and Sarah Hash, the former being a successful planter of the Old Dominion. The maternal grandparents were Andrew and Emeline Richardson, natives of Virginia, where Mr. Richardson was engaged in farming and black- smithing. Thomas B. and Eveline Hash were devoted members of the Methodist church, while in politics his father supported the Democratic party. He was also a member of the fraternal order of Foresters of America.

Enoch L. W. Hash, the immediate subject of this sketch, left Virginia at the age of five years, in 1868, and went to live with his uncle, Enoch Osborn, of Gridley, Ill., where he secured his edu-

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cational training in the public schools and as- sisted in the work of the farm until 1879, when he went west to Trinidad, Colo., where he pros- pected and mined until 1890, his efforts being at- tended with limited success. In the year men- tioned he came to Evans, Mont., where he took up his present homestead claim of 160 acres, of which he has placed 120 under effective culti- vation, raising large crops of hay and also doing a successful business in the raising of live stock. In politics Mr. Hash gives his allegiance to the Republican party, keeping well informed in regard to public affairs, and fraternally he is identified with the Knights of the Maccabees:

1 OSEPH HOTCHKISS HARPER is a member of the ninth generation from James Harper, born in County Derin, Ireland, who was married to Jeanette Lewis, and who removed with his family in October, 1720, to Coscoe Bay, near Boston, as the old record reads; he is also of the ninth generation from Samuel Hotchkiss who, in 1642, married his wife, Elizabeth, and some time there- after settled in the province of New England.

Oscar F. Harper and Lydia Hotchkiss were mar- ried January 25, 1844, and their eldest child was born July 5, 1845, in the township of Harpersfield, Delaware county, N. Y., a tract of land five by ten miles in extent which was patented to John Harper, a great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, by King James of England. This Col. John, as he was called, with his brother Joseph, settled upon the grant in the year 1771. Both rendered service in the Continental army during the Revolu- tion, and both were active participants in the chronic Indian wars that immediately preceded that event.

In the year 1850 Mr. O. F. Harper moved with his family to Beltsville, Md., and was a successful con- tractor in and around the cities of Baltimore and Washington until, in the year 1860, he was the possessor of a fair property, all of which was, how- ever, dissipated in a few short weeks by the open- ing of the war of the Rebellion. In that year a valuable tobacco plantation in Buckingham county, near Appomattox courthouse, Va., was confiscated by proclamation of Jefferson Davis, while other reverses followed so thick and fast that early in the year 1861 the eldest son was sent back to his native town on money advanced by relatives for that purpose, other members of the family fol- lowing later, and the father arriving last, not only

without resource of any kind, but finding himself when again with friends, under many obligations to them for an advance of funds that had enabled him to make this move.

The education of the family was, however, in no wise neglected, as the children were kept in school, and in 1862 the eldest son was entered for an engineering course in the Franklin Engineering School, leaving it in the summer of 1864 to enlist in Company A, Forty-Sixth New York Volunteers, there serving.until the close of the war, returning to his class in 1865 and graduating July 4, 1866, on the day preceding his majority.

On finishing this course Mr. Harper entered im- mediately upon the practice of his profession, first as assistant at Binghamton in the office of I. G. Perry & Co., architects of the New York Inebriate Asylum, and later opening an office of his own at Oneonta, N. Y., in connection with his father's work at that point. In 1868 he, in company with A. J. Bennett, a former classmate and now a resi- dent of Virginia City, drifted west with the Union Pacific Railroad, working along that line from La- ramie west until the road was completed ; thence to White Pine, Nev., during the intense excitement that attended the development of the Eber Hart mine on Treasure hill, returning to Montana in the summer following and setling on a farm in Jeffer- son valley, some eight miles above Gallatin City.

In 1873 Mr. Harper assumed charge of all me- chanical work at the Madisonian mine, at that time being operated by F. R. Merk, near the town of Sterling, and in the following year was engaged under Noah Armstrong, then operating at Glen- dale and Hecla in Beaverhead county, and there erected and assisted in starting the first practical lead smelter and concentrator to work the ores from the various mines of the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company. He moved to Butte in 1878 and shortly after formed a co-partnership with Thomas T. Baker, under the firm name of Baker & Harper, civil and mining engineers, which continued until the summer of 1895, when Mr. M. L. Mac- donald purchased the interest of Mr. Baker and the business still is continued under the firm name of Harper & Macdonald. From 1882 to 1890 Mr. Harper was city engineer of the city of Butte, and during that period rendered much exacting service. The grades of the city are not what they might have been had all of her people anticipated its present proportions, but the favorable features that they now present are in a large measure due to Mr.

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Harper's individual effort along that line. In the year 1882 he arranged to give a large portion of his time to the service of the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, and in the two years following, under the management of Marcus Daly, laid out the town of Anaconda and the first smelting and concentrating plant erected at that point.

In addition to his general practice he has from time to time given personal attention to engineering enterprises of considerable importance, among which are the design and construction of the first seven miles of Butte's sewer system in the years 1889 and 1890; the construction of the Parrot canal in Jef- ferson valley in 1895 and 1896; and the recon- struction of the Big Hole dam for the Montana Power Transmission Company, near Divide, Mont., in the winter of 1898 and 1899.

On February 10, 1885, Mr. Harper was mar- ried to Helen Carson Pierce, a lady whose geneal- ogy is co-extensive with his own, and leads back to the shadow of Plymouth Rock and within hail- ing distance of the Mayflower, as she is of the ninth generation in New England, being the daugh- ter of William M. Pierce, son of David, of Josiah, of Josiah, of Samuel, of Samuel, of Thomas, of Thomas, born in England in 1583 or 1584, and who came with his wife Elizabeth to this country in 1633 or 1634 and settled in Charlestown, Mass. Mrs. Harper was born in Mexico, Mo., November 30, 1861, bereft by the death of her father January 7, 1871, was educated in St. Louis and graduated in the high school of that city in 1877. She re- moved with her mother to Butte in the fall of 1878 and immediately after began teaching in the public schools of that city. She is an energetic and capable woman, has always taken an active part in the charitable, Christian and social work of the community in which she has resided, and is most highly esteemed by those who know her best. In Mr. and Mrs. Harper we find a couple who have watched the town of their adoption grow from a straggling mining camp to a city with its splendid proportions ; who have seen a territory transformed from a magnificent buffalo range and Indian hunt- ing ground into a peaceful and prosperous state, with a wealth in her mineral, agricultural and grazing resources that is not at this time counted. During the years of this transformation they have performed a fair share of pioneer work, but they are each carrying these years well, and are yet taking a lively interest in all affairs of life, and evince a pardonable pride as witnesses to the building of so fair a commonwealth.

DETER HARDING .- The fair Emerald Isle has

sent many recruits to America, and, from the beginning of our national history, this element has been a valuable one in our social fabric. In Mon- tana one of the worthy representatives of the Irish race is Peter Harding, one of the successful farmers and stockgrowers of Madison county, where he has lived for more than a quarter of a century. He was born on July 24, 1851, in County Cork, Ireland, the ninth of the eleven children of James and Kate (Kenealy) Harding, both of whom passed their entire lives in the Emerald Isle, where the father was a farmer. Peter continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits in Ireland until he had at- tained his majority, when he determined to seek his fortunes in America, where he felt that superior opportunities for individual accomplishments were offered. Thus, in 1872, he set sail for the United States, and the same year came to Montana, lo- cating first in Virginia City and becoming con- cerned in placer mining. He became the owner of several claims, and continued to be a miner with fair success for a full decade.

In 1886 Mr. Harding closed his mining opera- tions and located on his present ranch, which com- prises 320 acres and is situated five miles north of Puller Springs, which is his postoffice address. He has made good improvements and has been discriminating in his management of his business affairs, being known as one of the enterprising ranchers of this section of the state. He devotes his special attention to raising of cattle and hay. He is a man of unflagging industry and has always worked with a determination in view; and has :nade for himself a place in the world. He has never married. In politics he gives his support to the Democratic party.

W M. HANKINSON .- The subject of this sketch, who illustrates in his mental at- tributes and character many elements of the high- est type of American citizenship, is a native of Lancashire, England, where he was born March 7, 1835. His parents were James and Ann (Whitch) Hankinson, of Cheshire, where their fam- ilies had lived for many generations and had long borne a prominent part in the local affairs of the county. His grandfather Whitch was a captain in Wellington's army and displayed great valor on the fateful field of Waterloo. The trunk which was a part of his field and camp equippage at the

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time, is still in the possession of Mr. Hankinson and is highly prized by him as a souvenir of the great battle. His grandfather died in the army from illness incurred in active service.

Mr. Hankinson's father removed from Chester to Lancashire county after his marriage and set- tled six miles from Manchester, where he pursued with varying fortunes the quiet and peaceful oc- cupation of a farmer until he died. His son Wil- liam remained with the family until after the death of both parents, which occurred before he was twenty years old; and then taking two younger sisters in charge he started on a sailing vessel on the long journey from his native land, cross- ing the Atlantic to New York and proceeding from there by rail to Pittsburg, then down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and the Missouri to Atchison, Kan., which at that time consisted of one store and two dwellings. From there they continued their journey by wagon train, consum- ing twelve weeks between that point and their destination, Salt Lake City, which they reached without unusual mishap.

Mr. Hankinson remained at Salt Lake City un- til 1871, engaged in farming and stockraising. In that year he sold out and came to Montana, being conveyed by his own teams and bringing with him fifty head of cattle and other live stock. He located at once upon the ranch which he at present occupies, at the junction of Willow creek and Jefferson river. Here he has 600 acres in his homestead, all of which is practically under irrigation, and raises on it abundant crops of hay and large herds of cattle of superior breed. For these he has also about 800 acres of pasture land. Being a progressive and thrifty man, it follows as a matter of course that he has his farm well improved with the necessary barns and other build- ings, and has a delightful liome, well furnished, completely equipped for comfort and beautifully shaded. In addition to the usual products of his section of the state he has been very success- ful, after much intelligent experimenting and many failures, in making his land yield the usual or- chard and small fruits grown elsewhere, but not abundant in his neighborhood, such as apples of various kinds, prunes, grapes, cherries, plums, and several varieties of berries. In this line he was the pioneer in Gallatin county, and the benefit of his example is amply established by the number of his successful imitators. He also is an extensive producer of poultry, canary birds and flowers.

On June 28, 1856, Mr. Hankinson was mar- ried to Miss Sarah Phillips, a native of Wales and daughter of Edward Phillips, of that country, who emigrated from there and settled in Utah, but died soon after his arrival. They have nine chil- dren living, namely: Edward, located at Thomp- son's Falls; Wm. H., at Sixteen-mile; James, at Three Forks; Elizabeth Ann, now Mrs. George C. Cook, of Willow creek; Joseph, Hiram, Sarah Ellen, Albert George, Charles Robert (deceased), Francis Thomas, Mary Harriet (deceased) and George Alfred (deceased). The members of the family stand well in their several communities, and are highly esteemed wherever they are known.

JOHN G. HAMMER, prominent accountant, merchant and manufacturer, of Butte, was born in Germany in 1850. His tather, Frederick Ham- mer, a well-to-do farmer and skillful veterinary surgeon of the Fatherland, died there some years ago. The mother of Mr. Hammer is still living there. They had nine children, of whom John G. was the second. He began his education in the public schools of Germany, and entered college there in 1864. Four years later he emigrated to America, and was employed at bookkeeping and assaying in the eastern states. One year later he came to Montana, locating at Helena, where he remained nine years, engaging principally in as- saying and in mining engineering. He next engaged in merchandising at Glendale for a year and then removed to Butte to take a position as book- keeper, in which for five years he conducted the financial department of the extensive business of John Caplice & Co. In 1888 he started the manu- facture of brick, sewer pipe and tiles, and has perhaps the most complete plant for the purpose in the northwest. It employs more than sixty hands, and is equipped with the best machinery known to the business. He produces all kinds of building brick, tiling, sewer pipes, fire brick, assayer's sup- plies, coke ovens and all other fire clay products. Mr. Hammer was married in 1878 to Miss Julia Lanthe- aume, a native of St. Joseph, Mo., who came to Montana with her parents in 1864 at the age of four. They have five children-Alberta A., who is married and living in Butte; Florence, Bessie, Fred and Harry, all still at home. In politics Mr. Hammer is a Republican, but he has never sought or desired office, and takes no active part

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in party management. He is an active member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and a member and past master of Mount Moriah Lodge of Freemasons, and has taken all the de- grees of the order up to and including the thirty- second. Mrs. Hammer is a zealous and prominent member of the Order of the Eastern Star. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hammer have a host of friends.

ILLIAM R. HAMILTON .- Among the worthy citizens of Missoula county who have served with ability and signal fidelity in offices of public trust and responsibility and who have also been prominently identified with its industrial activities, is Mr. Hamilton, one of the representa- tive farmers and stockgrowers in the Rattlesnake valley, where he has a valuable and well improved ranch, only one mile northeast of Missoula, which is his postoffice address. Mr. Hamilton is a na- tive of Missouri, born in Putnam county, on March 24, 1856, the son of James and Sarah (Black) Ham- ilton, both of whom were born in Kentucky. The father removed to Missouri in 1840, taking up government land in Putnam county, where he has continued farming and has now attained a vener- able age. His cherished wife entered into eternal rest in 1870. They were the parents of four sons and four daughters, William R. being the only one to locate in Montana.

William R. Hamilton was reared on the old homestead farm in Missouri, with the educational advantages of the public schools of the place and period. At the age of seventeen years he located in southern Minnesota, where he followed farm- ing for three years, after which he located in Den- ver, Colo., and engaged in the stock business for one year. He then decided to cast in his lot with Montana, and in 1878 he located in Beaverhead county and served as a mining engineer for three years for the Hecla Consolidated Mining Com- pany. In 1882 Mr. Hamilton came to Horse Plains, Missoula county, and in the fall of 1886 went to Thompson, where for six years he was incumbent of the office of justice of the peace, being then a resident of Thompson Falls. There- after he served for three years as United States circuit court commissioner, and in 1894 he was elected county auditor, in which capacity he served two years, then he was elected county assessor, holding this office also for two years.

In his various positions of public trust Mr. Hamilton has given a most efficient administra- tion and gained the endorsement of the people of the county, irrespective of political affiliations, while he has acquired a very extended acquaint- anceship in the county, where he is held in high esteem. After completing his term as assessor Mr. Hamilton purchased his present ranch, which he has placed under effective cultivation and where he also raises live stock, though not extensively. In 1880 Mr. Hamilton married with Miss Laura Brant, a native of Iowa, and the daughter of Will- iam and Josephine Brant, who became pioneers of Bannack, Mont., in 1866. The father is now deceased and the mother makes her home in Ana- conda. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton are the parents of five children, Isabelle, Laura M., Ray W., Roy F. and Idella. Mr. Hamilton has been a lifelong Republican and an active worker in the party cause.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 129

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