Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 143

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 143

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In politics he was a Democrat ; in fraternal rela- tions an Odd Fellow, holding the rank of past noble grand ; also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Pioneers of Montana. In religion he was a member of the Episcopal church. He was married January 14, 1864, to Miss Harriet A. Noe, a native of Ohio and daughter of James H. Noe, who was born at Long Branch, N. J., in 1814. Her father removed with his parents to Ohio when he was eight years old, and there be- came a mechanic and later a farmer. In 1853 he removed to Iowa where he remained until his death, in 1881, engaged in farming. His widow, whose maiden name was Caroline S. Page, and who was a native of Broome county, N. Y., died in 1896. Their family consisted of three sons and seven daughters. Mrs. Mardis was the fifth child. She was born in Morrow county, Ohio, in 1845- In 1854 her parents removed to Cedar county, Iowa, and most of her youth was passed there on a farm, while her education was secured in the public schools of the neighborhood. She expected to enter Mt. Vernon College, near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1862, when her elder brother enlisted in the Union army and she, although only seventeen, was obliged to take his place to a certain extent on the farm. She and this brother had been close com- panions, and she deeply felt the separation and formed many plans to follow him to the field as a nurse or drummer boy, but the thought of her mother's grief at such a course deterred her from it. Her destiny was, however, scarcely less heroic. She stayed at home to be her father's "oldest boy;" rode the reaper to help him harvest sixty-five acres of grain and aided him in other arduous labor on the farm. The honors of a "drummer boy" came to her also. In the enter- tainments and oyster suppers now and then got

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up for the benefit of soldiers who happened to. graduated as a bachelor of arts and a civil en- be at home for a few days, in the band organized to render martial music her younger brother played a fife and she beat the snare drum. In all her subsequent life the heroic element has been abun- dant. The long journey across the plains, full of adventure and danger, her long and lonely residence on the frontier in troublous times, when every hour was fateful; her resolute courage, her readiness for emergencies, her generosity, her great fertility of resources, were all features in the tragedy of life which was all about her in real and vigorous activity for many years. Since her husband's death she has conducted the busi- ness of the ranch with skill and success, and man- aged her affairs with the ability of a master spirit. Her family consists of four children: John H., who was born in Alder gulch November 1, 1864, the first white boy born in Montana, and is now living in New Orleans in the employ of the South- ern Pacific Railroad; Abbie E., now Mrs. W. H. Congdon, of Bozeman; Mary May Montana, now Mrs. J. H. Holliday, of Livingston ; and James Edward, living at Bozeman; another daughter, Harriet A., is deceased. The journey of Mr. and Mrs. Mardis across the plains in 1864 was their wedding trip, and had romance enough in it to sat- isfy the most exacting. She now makes her home at Bozeman.

BENJAMIN F. MARSH .- At the advanced age of eighty-six, resting from his labors and look- ing back over his useful and well-spent life, the fruits of which are seen on every hand in the development and progress of the state, Prof. Ben- jamin F. Marsh may justly enjoy the satisfaction that springs from a knowledge that he has lived to good purpose and that the world is better and wiser through his efforts. He is a native of Ver- mont, where he was born November 7, 1815, in the township of Woodstock, one of the thirteen children of Otis and Julia (Ransom) Marsh, of whom only three now survive, one of them dying in infancy and two losing their lives during the Civil war. The father died at the age of sixty- five, and the mother when she was eighty-four. Our subject was reared on his father's farm and attended the public schools. At the conclusion of his course therein he entered upon his profes- sional training at Norwich University when he was sixteen years old, and four years later was

gineer. After graduation he was given the pro- fessorship of mathematics in the institution, and held it until under the solicitation of Moncure Robinson, a civil engineer controlling extensive works, he left the university to accept employ- ment in the Robinson corps which commenced an extensive survey in North Carolina, lasting two years. In 1837 he severed connection with Robinson and went to Georgia in the service of the Southern Railroad Engineering Bureau as a draughtsman, where he remained until 1839. He then entered the employ of the Georgia Railroad as construction draughtsman, and served in that capacity until 1843, when failing health forced his return to Vermont. After recuperating and re- gaining his usual vigor, he was again called to the chair of mathematics in his alma mater, which he filled until the Concord & Lebanon Railroad Company gave him the supervision of its moun- tain division department of construction. He re- mained in this capacity until 1847, when he became a division superintendent of construction of the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, a position which he resigned to accept that of chief engineer of the Jeffersonville ·Railroad, in Indiana. After the com- pletion of that road he occupied the same posi- tion in the service of railroads in Ohio, and later became chief engineer of the Eastern Texas Rail- road. About this time he was laid up with bilious fever, and by the time he had recovered the Civil war had broken out, and the sixty-days limit in which to leave that section had expired. He was detained in the south so that his services might not be put into active operation in behalf of the north. During the war he occupied himself with reviewing a number of text books, and after its close was called to the chair of mathematics in Soule University, Tex., thereby securing means to travel to his northern home. On the way he stopped to see his friends in Indiana, but was made principal of the public schools of Cam- bridge City for a year, at the end of which he ac- cepted a position under Solomon Meredith, United States surveyor-general for Montana, and in 1867 entered upon the survey of public lands under contract with the government, and as one of the deputies made the first survey of the kind within the limits of the present state, the magnitude of the work being easily ascertainable from the records in the surveyor-general's office.

Since 1889 Prof. Marsh has lived retired from

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active work, but his vigorous and energetic mind still keeps up with all matters of interest in his profession and the line of activity which he so signally dignified and adorned. In 1845 he was united in marriage. with Miss Mary D. Blish. Four children were born to them, of whom two, Frank and Flora, are living, and the two others, Franklin and John, are deceased. Mrs. Marsh also was summoned to eternal rest in 1889. All of his mature life our subject has been a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and was for many years actively identified with the order of Freemasons. In politics he has been an active and zealous Republican since the organiza- tion of that party. Wherever he has lived and in whatever capacity he has been engaged, he has won and held the high respect and esteem of all who have come in contact with him, both as a scholar and a man. His work is a most valuable contribution to the development of the state in which he has found happiness and renown, and in which he is deeply interested.

E BROOX MARTIN .- Of good old Scotch ancestry and Revolutionary stock in this coun- try, descended from generations of tillers of the soil, the noble, independent avocation of the patri- archs, E. Broox Martin, of Bozeman, embodies in himself much that origin, history and circum- stances contribute to make a self-reliant, resource- ful and self-respecting man, and in his record ex- emplifies the fact that the conditions in his case were well bestowed and produced their proper and legitimate fruit. He was born in Oakland county, Mich., August 12, 1844, the son of Will- iam W. and Samantha (Stockwell) Martin, both natives of New York, as was also his grandfather, William Martin, the son of a thrifty Scotchman who immigrated to the United States in his early manhood and settled in New York, where he en- gaged in farming. Both of Mr. Martin's grand- fathers were soldiers, and fought in defense of their country. His grandfather Martin, in the Revolutionary struggle, warmly espoused the cause of the Colonies and made his faith good by active service and conspicuous gallantry in the Continental army. His grandfather Stockwell was equally active and conspicuous in the war of 1812. The elder Martin, father of the subject of this sketch, was married at the age of twenty-one years,

and immediately after, in 1819, took up his abode in the trackless wilderness of Michigan, being a genuine pioneer in that state. His residence was only about twenty-seven miles from Detroit, but it required a week to make the trip, owing to swamps and heavy timber. His house was absolutely alone in that locality the first year he lived in it, there not being another within a radius of twelve miles east and west and fourteen north and south. He lived to a ripe old age, departing this life December 31, 1891, just fifteen days short of being ninety years old. He had been a very use- ful citizen in his section, and had contributed freely of his time, energies and substance to the development of every good work. As he was one of the first, so was he one of the most forceful of the men who subdued the wilds of his adopted state to cultivation and useful productiveness ; and he never forgot for a day the necessity of de- veloping, concentrating and energizing the edu- cational forces of the community along with the agricultural and manufacturing interests. He was one of the small band of far-seeing and deter- mined men whose persistent efforts secured a free school system for Michigan. Being a great lover of liberty for all men, he was naturally opposed to negro slavery, and hesitated not to join and give valuable aid to the underground railway sys- tem which helped many a poor slave to freedom. Thus by industry and frugality he secured a com- petence for himself in wordly goods, and by per- forming every duty as it presented itself he won the regard and confidence of all his fellows. And at length, when his end came, he died full of hon- ors as of years, leaving a memory which is an inspiration to his descendants and neighbors.

Mr. Martin secured his elementary scholastic training in the public schools of Michigan, and afterward attended the Agricultural College lo- cated at the capital of the state. When he had fin- ished the course of instruction therein he returned to the homestead, and the following year began business as custom and merchant miller, in which he continued for twenty-five years, meeting with gratifying success until 1889, when he was burned out. He then removed to Montana, and upon his arrival at Bozeman organized the Bozeman Mill- ing Company, and erected the plant which that company now operates. He served as general manager of the company until 1894, when he sev- ered his connection with it; removing to Manhat- tan he took charge of a hotel at that place. While

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conducting this hostelry he leased 320 acres of farming land and put it all in barley, realizing an average crop of over fifty bushels to the acre for the entire body. At the end of the first season he retired from his lease and purchased the John Koch ranch, two and a half miles west of Boze- man, consisting of 320 acres. On this he has erected a commodious and comfortable residence and a number of unusually fine outbuildings. Mr. Martin was one of the principal promoters and a heavy stockholder in the Commercial National Bank; was its first president, holding the position for several years.

Mr. Martin was married April 2, 1879, to Miss Ella T. Clark, a daughter of Nathaniel Clark, of Pennsylvania, who removed from there to Michi- gan with his family many years ago, and settled in Osceola county. They were the parents of two children: Horace R., who has been a student at Bozeman College, and N. W., now deceased. While always occupied with his business and giv- ing it all necessary attention, Mr. Martin has not been indifferent to public affairs or omitted his proper share of work in connection therewith. He served two terms in the lower house of the Michi- gan legislature, was a member of the town coun- cil in Reed City for many years, and was mayor or president of the town. He is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity, being active and useful in the blue lodge and the chapter, and is also connected with the female adjunct of the order, the Eastern Star.

Mr. Martin's ranch is a model of neatness, taste and intelligent cultivation. He irrigates a por- tion of it, and the water is skillfully introduced and judiciously applied. The buildings are ar- ranged about the grounds with a view to artistic effect as well as the usefulness for which they are intended. And the whole general effect of the home is pleasing. His principal crops on this ranch are oats and hay. He has in addition 640 acres on the other side of the river on which he raises large crops of wheat, oats and barley. Besides this body of land, he owns sixty acres in the west side addition to Bozeman, plotted into town lots and on the market for sale.

It need scarcely be added that Mr. Martin is an influential man in the community-that his counsel is much sought in matters of business and public affairs, and that he enjoys in a marked degree the confidence and personal esteem of all who know him.

AMES E. MARTIN .- Among those who have rendered valuable services in shaping the policy of the government of Montana since her admis- sion to the statehood is Hon. James E. Martin, who was a member of the first legislature of the commonwealth and who is still serving as a repre- sentative of Gallatin county in the lower house. He came to Montana as a young man of twenty- four years of age, and thus became identified with the industrial life of this section in the early pioneer days, and though he subsequently was ab- sent from Montana for a term of years, he re- turned as soon as he could do so. He is today one of the representative citizens of Gallatin county, making his home in Bozeman, and one of the pro- gressive men who have done so much to forward the development and substantial prosperity of this beautiful agricultural section of the state.

Mr. Martin was born in Howard county, Mo., on August 16, 1840, the son of Thomas L. and Julia (Elliott) Martin, and one of a family of six children, of whom four are now living. Thomas L. Martin was born in Kentucky in 1810, and with his parents lett for the west when about two years of age. He made his home in what is now Howard county, Mo., and moved to Kansas in 1856, and was one of the pioneers of the state. He there engaged quite extensively in farming and in stockraising. He died in March, 1867, at the age of fifty-seven. His wife, the cherished mother of his children, was born in Missouri, where her death occurred in Holt county, when James F. was but nine years of age. The paternal grand- parents of James E. Martin were David G. and Elizabeth (Lamb) Martin, the former one of the pioneers of Kentucky. He removed to Missouri in his declining years and there died at the age of four score years, in the same county in which James E. was born. His wife subsequently re- moved to Kansas, where she passed the remainder of her life.

James E. Martin was reared on the farm, being educated in the district schools, then accompanying his parents to Kansas, when he was about sixteen years of age. In that state he studied for a few months in Highland University, at Highland, Kan., but his education has been largely acquired through self-discipline and he is distinctly a man of broad general information and mature judgment, hav- ing gained much through his association with men and affairs. When about thirteen years of age Mr. Martin earned his first dollar and assumed

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his first individual responsibility by engaging to drive cattle, receiving forty cents per day. Within two years he was receiving $15 a month as a farm hand, working for neighbors near the old homestead in Kansas. In that state he remained until the spring of 1864, when he started on the long trip to Montana, the journey being unevent- ful and the party having no serious trouble with the Indians. He arrived in the Gallatin valley in September, and took up a homestead claim of 160 acres of land, which he improved and placed under effective cultivation. He here continued his resi- dence for about three years, when the death of his father called him to Kansas to assist in settling the estate. He remained there until 1876, when he returned to Bozeman, where, in 1892, Mr. Mar- tin erected a handsome residence of modern archi- tectural design and conveniences, and here he has since maintained his home, having resigned the management of his farm to his elder son, a capable young business man. For fourteen years Mr. Martin served as cashier of the Gallatin County Bank at Bozeman, having been one of the organ- izers of that institution. In politics he has ever been a stalwart and uncompromising Democrat, and an active worker in the party, while his first presidential vote was cast for Gen. Hancock.

Mr. Martin was elected as a representative of Gallatin county in the lower house of the First legislature of the new state of Montana in 1889, and he was a working member and one whose able services were appreciated both by his col- leagues and his constituency. This First legisla- tive assembly was attended with no little internal dissension and turbulence, as specific historical records only too plainly indicate, but Mr. Mar- tin by his actions showed that they were those of a strong man and a wise and just legislator. In 1896 he was again elected to the legislature from his county, and in 1898 was chosen as his own successor, having thus been a member of the as- sembly of 1900-1901. In his legislative career he was assigned to membership on many important committees, and his every effort in the house was directed to the enactment of wise laws and for effective legislation along all lines. Mr. Martin has also been called upon to fill various county and city offices, and was incumbent of the important of- fice of county commissioner for several terms. In all the relations of life, both public and pri- vate, he has retained the confidence and respect of his fellowmen. Fraternally he is identified with

the Masonic order, in which he has held mem- bership for many years. After his return to Kan- sas Mr. Martin was there married, on July 27, 1871, to Miss Sallie Armstrong, a sister of Judge F. K. Armstrong, of whom individual mention is made on another page of this work. (To this sketch we refer the reader for more complete genealogical data.) Mr. and Mrs. Martin became the parents of five children, of whom three are living, Roy E., who married Miss Avilla Hill, and who has the management of his father's farm, and James E., Jr., and Julia E., both at the parental home.

TTERBERT O. CHOWEN, the popular and ef- ficient postmaster of Great Falls, Mont., has led an eventful, busy and prosperous life, especial- ly since coming to this city in 1884. He was born in Minneapolis, Minn., on October II, 1859. His parents were George W. and Susan (Hawkins) Chowen, natives of Pennsylvania and Vermont. The father was a compiler of abstracts of titles. He came to Minneapolis in 1854, and was the first register of deeds elected in Hennepin county, of which Minneapolis is the capital, and in this position he served several years. Subsequently he occupied different official positions. Mr. Chowen's paternal grandfather was a farmer and a . native of Pennsylvania, where he passed his life. In early life Mr. Chowen enjoyed the advantages of the excellent public schools of Minneapolis, and then was matriculated in the University of Minne- sota, from which he was graduated with honors in 1881. He then entered the office of Fletcher & Loring, remaining with this firm until 1884.

In that year he came to Montana and located at Great Falls, and for awhile, immediately following his arrival, he lived in a tent. The city was then in its infancy, and Mr. Chowen has lived to see it grow to magnificent proportions, and conscious that he has aided in this growth. For three years he was agent for James J. Hill and Paris Gibson, founders of the city, in looking up and examining the legality of titles, continuing in this employ- ment, for which he was especially adapted, until 1887. He then entered into business on his own account, opening a real estate and loan office, in which he was engaged until he was commissioned postmaster of Great Falls by President Mckinley in 1898. He was one of the incorporators of the First National Bank and its first vice-president

14.0 Chown

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and a director for several years. The first flour- ing mill erected in that vicinity was built by Mr. Chowen in 1885. This later passed into posses- sion of the Cataract Milling Company, of which he became president, retaining this position until the mill was sold. Another enterprise in which Mr. Chowen was largely interested was the organiza- tion of the Great Falls Opera House Company. In this he was the principal factor, and he was president of the company that erected the building at a cost of $65,000. When the public library was started in 1886 it was entitled the Veleria Library and Art Association. Mr. Chowen was its presi- dent during the years it was a private company. In 1891 it was given to the city with the condition that it should be supported by that corporation.

Politically Mr. Chowen has always been an act- ive worker, and always in behalf of the Republican party. In all of the various campaigns he takes a deep and patriotic interest. He was a prime mover in the erection of the Park Hotel in 1885, and in 1892 he sold his interest. He has served with ci edit to himself and profit to the city on the school board of Great Falls. Mr. Chowen was married in 1886 to Miss Agnes Ball, a native of Missouri. They have two children, Alline and Beatrice. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks. He still holds much val- uable real estate and ranch property. His finan- cial interests are diversified and he is regarded as one of the most prosperous citizens of Great Falls, and is well and favorably known.

PAUL E. MAYNARD .- The son of a leading lawyer in the east and himself a prominent and prosperous practitioner, it might almost be said that Paul E. Maynard, the subject of this review, came by inheritance to the taste which led him into his profession. The rank and stand- ing he has in it, however, are the results of his own diligence, close attention to business and capacity both native and acquired.

He was born in Bradford county, Pa., Novem- ber 20, 1874, a son of H. F. and Pamlia A. May- nard, also natives of Pennsylvania, where the father is a very prominent lawyer and active and leading Democratic politician. He was the candi- date of his party for state senator in 1900, but was of course defeated because of the enormous adverse majority in his county. He and his wife

are both members of the Universalist church. Of their four children only our subject and a brother named Edward L. are living.

Mr. Maynard, the immediate subject of this * sketch, received a good education, beginning in the public schools and finishing in the Elmira Busi- ness College for the academic and commercial part, after which he secured his professional training at Ithaca. He was admitted to practice in the su- preme court of Illinois at Mount Vernon in that state, August 28, 1897, and at once formed a professional partnership with Max H. Kunze which lasted for a year. This was at Belvidere, Ill., and at the end of the year Mr. Maynard was elected city attorney of this town and also served as as- sistant state's attorney for Robert W. Wright, while the latter made a trip to Europe. In Decem- ber, 1898, our subject returned to his eastern home and formed a partnership for the practice of law with his father, which continued until 1900, when it was dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. May- nard came to Montana. From the time of his arrival to September, 1900, he was associated with the Anaconda Copper Mining Company, in the general office of the company at Anaconda. At the time last named he severed his connection with this company and has since been actively en- gaged in the practice of his profession on his own account, and has been eminently successful in his operations, winning the regard and respect of his professional brethren, and the enduring patronage of a large and increasing body of clients.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 143

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