Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 13

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 13

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

and Hereford cattle and Norman horses, and has done much to improve the grade of stock raised in the state and to promote the interests of this important industry. His ranch, one of the finest properties of the sort in Beaverhead county, comprised 2,500 acres. Upon disposing of the same he bought a fine home in the city of Dillon, where he has other valuable holdings and where he is well and favorably known. In politics he is a Republican, and was one of the first to hold the office of justice of the peace in Beaverhead county. Fraternally he is a member of Dillon Lodge No. 30, A. F. & A. M., and of the chap- ter and commandery; he is also identified with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and of the Eastern Star.

On September 14, 1874, Mr. Bishop was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Painter, a native of New York. They are the parents of three children : Mildred Elizabeth, born April 8, 1876, a graduate of Mills College, near Oakland, Cal., is now the wife of Leslie Thompson, of Twin Bridges; Mary P., born November 18, 1877, died November 8, 1882; and Jennie Frank, born April 16, 1881, was graduated in the Dillon high school, class of 1893, and at present a student of the University of Wis- .consin, at Madison.

JAMES M. BLACKFORD .- Mr. Blackford is the junior member of the firm of Blackford & Blackford, attorneys and counsellors at law in Lew- istown, and proves an able co-adjutor to his brother, whose sketch appears elsewhere.

Mr. Blackford, who bears the full patronymic of his honored sire, was born in White county, Ill., and in his native state was reared and educated, having completed a course of study in Hayward College, at Fairfield, after which he became a suc- cessful teacher in the public schools of Illinois for two years. He then made a tour through a number of the southern states, and upon his return north he matriculated in the State University of Indiana, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1895, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He resumed teaching and gained high standing in this field and was for two years the superintendent of the public schools of Norris City, in his native county, in Illinois. Resigning this position he re- turned to his alma mater, the State University of Indiana, and entered the law department, and com- pleted the prescribed course and was graduated in 1898 with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He be-

gan legal practice at Martinsville, Ind., where he was for one year associated with Eller E. Pryor. He then came to Lewistown, Mon., and entered into a professional alliance with his brother. He has gained a solid position in the esteem of the people of the county, while his ability has aided the success of the firm of which he is a member.

Like his brother, he has been allied with the Dem- ocratic party, and while residing in Illinois held the position of secretary of the Democratic sena- torial committee of the Forty-fourth district. Mr. Blackford is identified with the Masonic order, and is secretary of Lewistown Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M.

JOSEPH BLACKWELL, proprietor of one of the best equipped ranches in Broadwater coun- ty, near Canyon Ferry, first came to Montana in 1863. He was born in Leicestershire, England, October 18, 1842, the son of Joseph and Sarah (Throp) Blackwell. The father was a native of Not- tinghamshire, England, the legendary habitat of the redoubtable and historical Robin Hood. The mother was a native of London. They had four sons and two daughters. Joseph Blackwell, Sr., was for many years a commercial traveler in Eng- land and on the continent. In 1850 he came to the United States and located at Kenosha, Wis. Here he remained until 1859, where he was joined by his wife and other members of the family who had not accompanied him on his trip over. In Wisconsin he engaged in farming for four or five years, and subsequently opened a general store in Kenosha. In 1883 he removed to Montana, where he died.

The early years of Joseph Blackwell, the sub- ject of this sketch, were passed in Kenosha, assist- ing on the farm and engaged in other pursuits adapted to youthful strength and capacity, and here he was educated in the public schools. The boy, having been reared in a lake port, naturally im- bibed a strong predilection for a sailor's life. It is not strange, therefore, that he should have shipped before the mast, and for three years followed the lakes as a sailor. He was an able seaman at the breaking out of the Civil war, and so early as 1861, at the age of seventeen years, he enlisted in the United States navy at Chicago. He was trans- ferred to New York, and quartered on Staten Island. Here he remained five months, and was sent to Port Royal, S. C., subsequently return- ing to New York with a squad of prisoners who

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

had been captured at Fort Pulaski. Mr. Blackwell remained in New York but a few weeks, and then went to Newburn, S. C., as one of the fighting crew of the U. S. gunboat Sentinel. This craft was really a New York barge that had been pressed into the government service. The crew was detached from the ship and placed in charge of howitzers, and they participated in the battle of Tranter's Creek, N. C., supporting infantry. Subsequent en- gagements were mostly confined to skirmishes in which they captured a large number of guerrillas, who were in the habit of shooting down the pickets on the Union lines. For two years Mr. Black- well continued in the service, and was then honorably discharged in New York, in March, 1863.

In June, 1863, he left Racine, Wis., for Montana by way of St. Joseph, Mo., by ox train. They con- tinued via South Pass and Lander's Cut Off, Messrs. Skinner & Osborn, residents of St. Joseph, being the owners of the train. No trouble was ex- perienced from the wily savage, and at Lander's Cut Off they overtook Judge E. D. Edgerton and Col. W. F. Sanders, who continued in company with them until the entire party reached Bannack City, Mont., September 15, 1863. Here Mr. Black- well remained two months engaged in mining, and he then put in the following winter hunting in the Boulder and Gallatin valleys with good success.

In the following spring he went to Alder gulch, and was engaged during the summers of 1864 and . 1865 in placer mining with moderate success. In the winter he was on the Gallatin river, in company with his half brother, Philip Thorpe, who had come into Montana in the spring of 1863, returning that winter and bringing on his family. In the spring . of 1866 Mr. Blackwell removed to White's gulch, and here he took up some government land, and en- gaged in ranching, and so continued until 1883 with profitable success. In that year he removed to Ava- lanche creek, took up a desert claim, and made it his headquarters. He now was in possession of 400 acres of his own and an additional 400 acres leased from the state. He raises large quantities of hay, which is a profitable crop, and generally winters 200 head of cattle. He has recently added to the many convenient appliances of his model ranch a gaso- line engine to do his pumping. The ranch is well supplied with commodious buildings for the proper care of stock.

On September 8, 1874, Mr. Blackwell was mar- ried to Miss Marriette Rork, of Racine, Wis.,

where the ceremony was performed. She is the daughter of Daniel B. Rork, an early settler in that state. Her mother was Mrs. Annie (Newman) Rork, of New York. Mr. Rork was a heavy holder of real estate in Wisconsin. To Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell has been born one child, Lora May. Mr. Blackwell has always been warinly interested in public affairs. In 1894 lie was elected county com- missioner, at the time being located in Meagher county. He is a prominent member of the Montana Pioneer Society and is recognized as a man of broad, progressive views, of excellent business judgment, and of the highest integrity. He has a large circle of acquaintances throughout the state by whom he is highly esteemed.

EDWARD L. BOARDMAN .- The son of a journalist and publisher with a record of thirty years of creditable work, and himself appren- ticed to the business in his youth, Edward L. Boardman, secretary and manager of the Helena Evening Herald, may be said to have been bred to his profession. He was born at Hillsborough, Ohio, May 16, 1857, the only son of J. L. and Susan Boardman, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Delaware. The father was a journal- ist and publisher in Ohio and had a potential voice in journalistic circles in the state. He followed his chosen vocation for nearly a third of a century, and now lives retired in Columbus. Mr. Boardman was educated in the public schools of his native town, and when he was fifteen began to learn the printer's trade and the business of journalism in the establishment of his father. In 1879 he was connected with the mechanical department of the New York Tribune, and later worked on various eastern, southern and western dailies as printer and reporter until 1889. He then came to Montana, and was employed in the mechanical department of different papers until 1892, when he assumed editorial control and management of the Red Lodge Picket. In June, 1893, he started the Sweet Grass Blade, at Big Timber, but on account of the panic was obliged to suspend publication within the year. In 1895 he became editor of the Billings Ga- zette, and remained in that position until July, 1897. He then established the Carbon County Sentinel, at Gebo, in the publication of which he was success- ful, but sold it in 1898; taking a lease on the Bill- ings Gazette, he published it successfully until

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

April, 1900, when he disposed of the lease and or- ganized a stock company for the purchase of the Helena Evening Herald. He was made secretary and manager for the company, and at once began enlarging and improving the paper, modernizing it in every way and greatly increasing its influence and circulation. The Herald is the oldest daily paper in Montana, having been established in 1866. It has the Associated Press franchise for Helena, with the full leased wire service, an able corps of editors, reporters and compositors, and is a thor- oughly alive, up-to-date and enterprising journal. While it is essentially a reflex and guide of public sentiment, it is in its business methods, its aggres- siveness and its determination to meet the popular demand, an expression of Mr. Boardman's own personality and bears the impress, in every issue, of his strong mental and scholastic force. It is a straight Republican paper, advocating the true prin- ciples of the party without stint and without regard to the political ambition of any person or the tem- porary advantage of any faction.

At Helena, in January, 1891, Mr. Boardman was united in marriage with Miss Julia Beaudette, a native of Chippewa Falls, Wis. They have four daughters: Genevieve, Esther, Marguerite and Juliet. A son named Edward died in infancy. Mr. Boardman is a staunch Republican in politics, has always been active in the councils of his party and has held every paper he has conducted true to the party's political principles.

TION. J. V. BOGERT, ex-mayor of Bozeman, Gallatin county, Mont., and ex-receiver of the United States land office at that city, is one of the most highly respected citizens of his home commun- ity. He was born in New York City, of Holland- Huguenot ancestry.

He is a son of John Banta and his first wife, Jane Vreeland (Haughwout) Bogert, of New York, who, in that metropolis of the Empire state, followed the hardware business until he removed to Montana, in 1873. He eventually opened a general merchandising store in Bozeman, and was engaged in this occupation until some time before his death, which occurred at Bozeman, October 24, 1895, at the age of eighty-two years. The paternal grand- parents were Petrus M. and Tyntie (Banta) Bo- gert, natives of New Jersey, who died respectfully in 1846 and 1881.

The mother of our subject, Jane Vreeland (Haughwout) Bogert, was born in the city of New York, and there died on April 27, 1849. Her three children are yet living, J. V. Bogert and two sisters. These ladies are distinguished Daughters of the Revolution, and are amply provided with evidence of their ancestors having served in the colonial army during the Revolution, one of whom was a prisoner of war and suffered confinement in the old "sugar house" at New York. In 1851, his father married Elizabeth C. Bissell, of Litchfield, Conn., who died in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 9, 1872, leaving one daughter, Katherine Bissell Bogert, who was married at Bozeman, Mont., July 29, 1874, to Lieut. Charles F. Roe, U. S. A., now a major general in the National Guard of the state of New York, their present residence being New York City.

The maternal grandparents of J. V. Bogert were Peter A: Haughwout and Ann (Vreeland) Haugh- wout, natives of New York, both deceased, for many years residents of Staten Island, N. Y.

Through early boyhood J. V. Bogert was edu- cated in the private schools of his native city and at boarding schools located amid the environments of New York. The result of this early and liberal mental training is a man of keen intelligence and superior education, with a highly cultivated mind and wide scholastic attainments. In 1872 Mr. Bo- gert came to Montana, and located at Bozeman. Here he was appointed the first receiver of the United States land office, which position he filled most efficiently for eight years. Following his terms of office in this position of great responsibil- ity, he was elected the first mayor of the city of Bozeman, and served four terms, in all eight years, a most flattering testimonial to his great worth, high integrity and popularity with the people of his home town. Mr. Bogert was first engaged in the mentioned mercantile business with his father, after which and during his service in the position of mayor of Bozeman he acted as attorney before the United States land department, in which pro- fession he still successfully continues.

Politically Mr. Bogert has affiliated with the Re- publican party since he first took an interest in the political issues before the people. He stands high in the councils of the party, and is an influential worker during the campaigns. His first vote was cast for Gen. U. S. Grant for president. Mr. Bo- gert is a polished, refined gentleman, unassuming and modest in demeanor, but as true as steel to his host of admiring friends. He is a great and dis-

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

criminative reader, thoroughly informed upon all current events of the day, ever active and enter- prising, and among the first in any move for the benefit of his residential city. He is a man of af- fairs, a gentleman of high integrity, who has won the confidence of all. The various offices he has so creditably filled have all been positions of trust- trusts faithfully and safely administered, and has honestly earned the high reputation which he so de- servedly holds.

I TILLIAM M. BOLE .- Throughout the great west, as in other sections of the Union, the newspapers of localized character have exercised an important function in forwarding progress and in- suring material prosperity. The subject of this brief sketch has been prominently identified with journalistic work in this state and elsewhere, and is now editor of the Bozeman Chronicle, the leading paper of Gallatin county, published by the Chron- icle Publishing Co.

Mr. Bole was born in the village of South Rye- gate, Vt., on May 30, 1858, the son of Rev. John and Marion (Brown) Bole, the former a clergyman. of the Presbyterian church. In 1862 the parents of our subject removed to Glasgow, Scotland, and in that city and in Belfast, Ireland, Mr. Bole received his early educational discipline. In 1870 the family returned to Vermont, and Mr. Bole completed his educational training in the academy at Peacham. At the age of sixteen years he entered the office of the St. Johnsbury (Vt.) Caledonian, where he served an apprenticeship at the printer's trade, which he followed as a vocation for a number of years.

In the city of Cambridge, Mass., August 20, 1881, Mr. Bole was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth S. Dow, and of this union one son has been born, William Symington Bole, a student in the State University, at Bozeman. The year of his marriage Mr. Bole went to St. Paul, Minn., where he purchased an interest in a newspaper and engaged in editorial work for about ten years. He accumulated a modest fortune through real estate transactions, but through over-confidence in a realty boom it was dissipated with equal celerity. In 1891 Mr. Bole came to Montana and located in the city of Great Falls, where for several years he was employed on the editorial staffs of the daily papers, and finally purchased the Daily Trib-

une, in association with O. S. Warden. The for- tunes of the Tribune were at a low ebb when these gentlemen assumed control, but through their ef- fective management it was brought to a high stand- ard, and at the time of its sale, in 1900, no other paper in the state, with the exception of the Ana- conda Standard, was paying so large dividends. Messrs. Bole and Warden purchased the Tribune in 1895 for $5,000, and disposed of the property in 1900 for the sum of $40,000, Hon. W. A. Clark becoming the purchaser. In August, 1900, Mr. Bole removed with his family to Bozeman and assumed the editorial management of the Chronicle. He is still the controlling spirit of this prominent journal, which is recognized as a powerful factor in the political field and a true exponent of the interests of the wide territory reached through its extensive circulation. In politics Mr. Bole supports the Dem- ocratic party ; fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order.

- TILLIAM G. BOONE, one of the successful farmers and stockgrowers of Broadwater county, his postoffice address being Townsend, has had a varied career, having ever been industrious and enterprising, making the most of opportuni- ties which have presented. His is the distinction of being closely related to the great historical charac- ter, Daniel Boone.

William G. Boone was born on November 5, 1845, in Harrison county, Ind., the son of Gran- ville Boone, who was the son of Isaiah Boone, who in turn was the son of 'Squire Boone, all being res- idents of Kentucky, where they were extensive planters, the latter being a brother of Daniel Boone, the famous Nimrod. 'Squire Boone was a native of Virginia, whence he removed to Ken- tucky, and later to Indiana among the earliest pio- neers and where his death occurred. His son, Isaiah, grandfather of W. G. Boone, some time af- ter the death of his father took up his abode at Mockport, Harrison county, Ind., where he was a farmer.

Granville Boone married Julia Arkenbright, like- wise born in Kentucky, and they had six sons and four daughters, W. G. Boone being the third. The parents removed to Lewis county, Mo., in 1850, ac- companied by Grandfather Isaialı Boone, who there died in 1860, the father of William G. engaging in farming until his death in 1880.

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

William G. Boone received his education in the public schools and early assisted in the farm work. In 1862 he enlisted in the army of northern Mis- souri for service in the Civil war, but owing to his extreme youth his father compelled him to with- draw, and he was sent to Iowa, where he attended school one year, after which he remained with rela- tives at Hawesville, Hancock county, Ky., for one year, thereafter residing in Missouri until the spring of 1867, when he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where .he was foreman on a farm for a year. In 1868 Mr. Boone came westward to Cheyenne, Wyo., and for six months followed teaming between that place and Salt Lake City. In September, 1868, he took a contract to supply wood for the Northern Pacific, and was thus engaged until the next spring, when he freighted between Point Rocks, Wyo., and the Sweet Water mines in South Pass until the fall of 1871, when he took his teams to Missouri valley, Harrison county, Iowa. In February, 1872, he sold his stock and returned to his old home in Mis- souri, whence, in the fall, he started on the over- land trip to Jefferson, Tex., and there was engaged in railroad work until November, 1873, thereafter returning to Missouri and there farmed until April, 1879, when he started for Montana, coming to Has- sel, Jefferson county, the place being then St. Louis.

Here he engaged in mining until August, when he started for Missouri Valley, Mont., and was in the meat business for one year, and in 1881 engaged in merchandising in Centerville, continuing the en- terprise one year. In 1882 he was employed in railroad work on the Northern Pacific from Feb- ruary until October, passing the winter in Centre- ville, and eventually he associated himself with F. T. McCormack in building a livery stable in Town- send, where they conducted business until 1884, when, selling his interests, he engaged in teaming in Helena until November, 1894, spending the win- ter in the Missouri valley. He was teaming at Nei- hart from May until September, 1885, and then re- turned to the Missouri valley, where, in February, 1886, he purchased his present ranch, which he has placed under effective cultivation, making excellent improvements, and engaging in stockraising very successfully. He is well known and highly es- teemed and politically he is a Democrat, while fra- ternally he is identified with the Odd Fellows, in which he has passed the chairs in his lodge, and of the United Workmen. On February 18, 1886, Mr. Boone was united in marriage with Miss Lucy McCormack, born in Randolph county, Mo., the

daughter of Mason and Lucy McCormack, natives of Virginia. She had come to Montana in 1878, where brothers and sisters had earlier located. Mr. and Mrs. Boone have a daughter, Julia.

H ON. ALBERT L. BABCOCK .- One of the leading merchants and bankers of the thriving and progressive city of Billings, which his energy, foresight and business capacity have aided in build- ing, Albert L. Babcock presents in his career of business enterprise and public usefulness a fruitful theme for the pen of the biographer. He is a native of Albany, N. Y., where he was born on December 22, 1851, the son of William C.and Julia (Lawrence) Babcock, both natives also of the Empire state, and descended from families long prominent in its civil and military history. In 1856 they removed to what was then the far west, and located at Pon- tiac, Ill., and near there engaged in successful farming for a number of years, the father finally retiring from active business, and soon after, on February 14, 1876, dying there.

While living on the farm near this little interior 'town and attending the district school during the winter months, Mr. Babcock was reared and edu- cated, until the age of fourteen years, when he began an apprenticeship in a country newspaper office and learned the printer's trade which he fol- lowed for a time. This trade not being altogether to his liking he finally abandoned it and sought em- ployment in a country store, beginning at the bot- tom and was soon promoted to salesman behind the counter. When twenty-one years of age he had saved a few hundred dollars which he combined with the savings of a young friend and with very limited capital, embarked in business in 1873, which he continued with success, though quite limited, until the spring of 1882, when, believing the opportun- ities for success more favorable in the undeveloped west, decided to locate at Billings, and opened a small hardware store and tinshop, the business of which grew from year to year until 1892 when it was converted into a stock company under the name of the A. L. Babcock Hardware Company, which has developed into one of the largest wholesale hard- ware houses in the middle west, their traveling sales- man making regular visits to the trade tributary to Billings. In 1895 Mr. Babcock erected the Yellow- stone Valley flouring mill with a daily capacity of 150 barrels, the greater part of which is sold in

Abateoch

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

Montana. The A. L. Babcock Hardware Company and the Yellowstone valley mills, in all its depart- ments, give employment to a large number of men. In 1895 also, in company with others, he built the Billings opera house, and has been its manager ever since. In that year he also organized the Billings Telephone Company, and has been its president from its inception. Four years prior to the beginning of these enterprises he founded the Yellowstone National Bank, and served two years as its first vice-president, and in 1893 he was elected its presi- dent, an office which he has held continuously since that time. In addition to his principal commercial enterprise, known as the A. L. Babcock Hardware Company, of Billings, of which he is president, he is now conducting a branch store at the Crow agency, Montana, and is also president of the Bab- cock & Miles Hardware Company, at Two Dot, Meagher county. These are numerous and active enterprises, but all their multitude of interests and details receive close personal attention from Mr. Babcock, and their success demonstrates the versatile character of his business capacity and the wide range of his mental activities.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 13

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