Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 146

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 146

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Mr. Miller then returned to Maine and to farm- ing on the old homestead until 1869, when he removed to Bristol, Conn., where he taught in the high school and also was instructor and leader of the local band. He remained four years and during the last three was secretary and treasurer of the Porter Saw Company. He had previously been superintendent of schools in Durham for five years, and he devoted in all thirteen years to pedagogic work. From Bristol he returned to Lewiston, Me., and engaged in the manufac- ture of cotton machinery. Four months later, on April 1, 1874, his establishment was burned, and he was thereafter engaged in fruit growing until 1882, when he started for Montana, arriving in Butte on June 21, and there remaining until De- cember, when he associated himself with L. A. Wilson in renting the Mulvey ranch in Boulder valley, Jefferson county, and they continued oper- ations in stockraising on different ranches until 1887, when Mr. Miller purchased the Bailey ranch, located one mile and a half east of Boulder, and here he has since been successfully engaged in raising live stock, having a herd of high-grade Hereford cattle and fine horses of the old Lex-

ington stock. In his enterprise he has shown marked discrimination and sound judgment, con- ducting his operations in a most systematic way. The permanent improvements are of the best. He has gained a high reputation for progressive methods, while his ranch is one of the most valu- able and attractive in the valley.

In 1899 Mr. Miller gave attention to prospect- ing and has located quite a number of claims, including the Klondyke copper claim, in Jeffer- son county, specimens from which have been as- sayed and in some cases shown fifty per cent. of copper. This claim, of which he is a half owner, is located three miles south of Boulder and is considered a good property. In politics Mr. Miller espouses the Republican party, and he served for several years as school trustee of the district. Fraternally he is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, is a Master Mason and a member of the United Workmen. On November 11, 1869, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Anne L. Johnston, born in Bridgeton, Me., one of the five children of John and Lucinda (Foster) Johnston, both natives of Maine, where the father was a prosperous farmer. Her paternal grandfather, Daniel Johnston, was like- wise born in Maine, and her maternal grandfather, Francis Foster, was born in England, whence he came to Maine, becoming one of the original settlers of Bridgeton. Mr. and Mrs. Miller had a son, Frank C., who died at the age of twenty years.

R EUBEN A. MILLEGAN is regarded as a self-made man, having had hut very limited educational advantages in his boyhood and youth. He is a native of Greene county, N. Y., where he was born March 19, 1835, a son of James and Eleanor Millegan, the former a native of Scotland and the latter of New York state. The father was a prosperous farmer in New York, Wisconsin and Michigan, and at a good old age retired from active life and passed the remainder of his days with his son, our subject. During the war of 1812 he was an officer in the army of the United States, and throughout his long life was a faithful follower of the policies and principles of the old Whig and Republican parties. The mother was an ardent member of the Christian church. They, had nine children, of whom only four are now liv- ing, namely: Edwin, George W., Reuben A. and

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Wallace. The mother died in 1862 and the father in 1882.

Mr. Millegan began at the age of fourteen years to work on the farm, and continued to do so until 1855, when he went to Monroe county, Wis., and purchased government land for the purpose of farming. During the Civil war he was in the Fed- eral service, having enlisted in 1862 in Company . K. Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the war and mustered out as sergeant. He was one of the eighteen survivors of the 120 men in his company. With his regiment he saw service under Gen. Sher- man in the campaign at Atlanta and the famous "March to the Sea," taking part in the engage- ments on that trying campaign. Fortunately he escaped without wounds. In 1872 he removed to Branch county, Mich., and remained there six years. At the end of that time he located in Meade county, Kan., and there served as a captain in the state militia for a period of two years. In 1881 Mr. Millegan came to Montana and spent a year work- ing for his brother Wallace on a ranch three miles north of Helena. From 1882 to 1885 he conducted a hotel at Clancy ; and in the year last mentioned he located a homestead, a pre-emption and a desert claim about fifty miles south of Great Falls, to which he has added by subsequent pur- chases until he now has under control 2,000 acres of land, a large portion of which is fit for cul- tivation and produces fine crops of oats, wheat, hay and potatoes. His enterprise in developing this section is highly appreciated, a strong proof of the fact being furnished in the name of the village near him, which is called Millegan in his honor, and is pleasantly located on Trout creek. Here he was engaged in cattle raising and the dairy business, in addition to his general farm- ing, and, throughout a somewhat varied and ad- venturous life, has been quite successful in all his undertakings.

In political affiliation Mr. Millegan is an active Republican, has served as chairman of the county committee of his party and also as treasurer. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was united in mar- riage May 19, 1856, with Miss Mary Levering, a native of Knox county, Ohio, the daughter of Charles and Mary Levering, the former a Penn- sylvanian and the latter from New Jersey. The father settled in Ohio in 1812, being one of the pioneers of that state. He was an active Demo-

crat, devoting his life to farming and was pros- perous and progressive. Both parents were mem- bers of the Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. Millegan have had nine children, of whom four are living, namely : Joseph W., Gertrude A., Mary B. and Bessie J. The parents are members of the Baptist church, in which they have high stand- ing. Since 1898 Mr. Millegan has lived retired, secure in the enjoyment of the good will and esteem of his neighbors and fellows citizens gen- erally.

H ON. JAMES H. MILLS .- The life history of this gentleman is one of patriotic devotion to duty, and replete with those stirring events which time softens to romance. He was born in New Lisbon, Ohio, on December 21, 1837. De- scended from English-Irish and Holland ances- tors, seven generations preceding him have lived in America. Through Colonial and Revolution- ary days and in the succeeding years the mem- bers played varied and important parts in the founding of the United States. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors served loyally in the Con- tinental army of the Revolution, when there was no room for the "summer soldier and the sun- shine patriot." So far back as the Mills family can trace their history they were Presbyterians. George S. Mills, born in Pennsylvania in 1815, married Susan Davis, a daughter of John Davis, who had removed to Ohio from Pennsylvania, about 1814. George S. Mills died in Pennsylvania in his sixty-fourth year. His first wife died in Ohio at the age of twenty-eight, leaving but one child, James Hamilton Mills.

Receiving his education in the schools of east- ern Ohio and of Pittsburg, Pa., Mr. Mills was early engaged in mercantile and mechanical pur- suits, continuing in these until the Civil war. His inherited traits of patriotism and loyalty caused his early enlistment, on April 27, 1861, in Com- pany G, Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserves (For- tieth Pennsylvania Infantry), as a private soldier. With his regiment he participated in nearly all the general engagements of the Army of the Po- tomac during his term of service. He was· pro- moted to corporal, first sergeant, first lieutenant and captain, and for "gallant conduct at the battle of the Wilderness, and Bethesda church," in 1864, he was commissioned by the President of the United States brevet-major and brevet-lientenant-

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colonel. He was mustered out of service at Pitts- burg, on June 13, 1864. That he escaped without a wound is remarkable, for of the more than 2,000 regiments in the Union army the Fortieth Pennsyl- vania sustained the eighth heaviest loss. After his muster out, Mr. Mills for a time engaged in the wholesale leather business at Pittsburg, Pa. Then the "boundless west" offered splendid opportun- ities and inducements to an active and enterpris- ing young man ; and, to avail himself of them, Mr. Mills came to Montana in the spring of 1866 and engaged in mining on the Yellowstone, where he was one of a company which opened a hydraulic claim at Emigrant gulch. Provisions were scarce and high, and they gave all their money to a packer whom they sent to purchase supplies at Bozeman. But the packer "went against the tiger," lost the money and disappeared. After weeks of harrowing anxiety the swindled party were obliged to abandon the claim. All the money of Capt. Mills had been sunk in this enterprise, and when he arrived at Virginia City his capital was ten cents in postal currency. However, he at once secured a position as bookkeeper and this indirectly led to a brighter opening. An article he had written to an eastern journal attracted the attention of D. W. Tilton, and he offered Capt. Mills the editorship of the Montana Post. H accepted the offer and became the third editor of Montana's first newspaper, succeeding Prof. Dims- dale and Judge Blake. He was a forceful and vig- orous writer, and ably conducted the Post until the spring of 1869. He then founded the New Northwest, at Deer Lodge, which he edited and published until November, 1891. He was the first president of the Montana Press Association.

In 1875 Capt. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Hammond, a native of Wisconsin and daughter of Martin Hammond. She came to Montana in 1865 and died in 1899. Their three children were Mary E., Nellie G. and James H., Jr. Politically Mr. Mills has been a life-long and con- sistent Republican, and he has most efficiently filled important official positions. He was a mem- ber of the first constitutional convention of Mon- tana, and by President Hayes was appointed sec- retary of the territory, served four years, and declined re-appointment. In 1889 he was again nominated for the convention to formulate a state constitution, but declined the proffered honor to accept the appointment of collector of internal revenue for the district which included Montana,

Idaho and Utah. In this high office he served with distinction until February 28, 1893, when he was appointed commissioner of the state bureau of agriculture, labor and industry, which position he filled until January, 1897. In 1895 he was ap- pointed receiver of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and in 1897 receiver for the Helena Consolidated Water Company. Mr. Mills then became business manager for the reorganized water company, which position he held until February, 1901, when he became clerk and recorder of the newly established county of Powell, the county seat being at his old home, Deer Lodge. Fraternally Capt. Mills is a member of the Loyal Legion, past senior vice- commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, past grand master workman of the United Work- men and past grand master of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Montana. Financially, socially and politically, the career of the Hon. James H. Mills has won merited success. Thor- oughly known, especially by "old-timers" in all portions of the state, he numbers a wide clientele of steadfast friends. Of great executive ability and business sagacity, he has satisfactorily met every demand made upon his versatile talents and long experience as a man of affairs.

W ILLIAM MITCHELL .- One of the sub- stantial farmers and stockgrowers of Madi- son county, where he has lived for more than thir- ty-five years, Mr. Mitchell has been industrious, enterprising and successful. He was born in Sul- livan county, N. H., on January 27, 1834, the sixth of the eleven children of Charles and Sylvia (Mitch- ell) Mitchell, both of whom passed their entire lives in New Hampshire. The father, a farmer, was a worthy representative of one of tlie prominent pioneer pioneer families of New Eng- land, and a descendant of English emigrants of Colonial days. The common schools supplied Mr. Mitchell with his early education and he de- voted his attention to farm work until he was nineteen years old, when he started to seek his fortunes in Iowa. Here he was for ten years engaged in farming, and here his marriage was solemnized.

In 1864, hearing much of Montana, Mr. Mitchell determined to come to this part of the territory of Idaho, and in April, with his young wife, he left Des Moines, Iowa, with a mule team, there being

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five in the party, including Mrs. Mitchell. The train transported freight and provisions, and most of the freight was sold at good prices in Virginia City. The trip occupied 100 days and the party arrived in Alder gulch on the 17th of July, not having been molested by the Indians. Mr. Mitch- ell engaged in hauling wood and mining tim- ber into Alder gulch, and the next summer worked in the mines, passing the winter in Virginia City. On October 20, 1865, he removed to Madison valley, and entered a claim of 160 acres of gov- ernment land and was one of the first to make location here after the government survey. To his original homestead he has added until he now has an estate of 520 acres, well improved and constituting as attractive a farm home as may be found in the older settled states. It is lo- cated two and a half miles northeast of Ennis, his postoffice town. The greater portion is avail- able for cultivation and here are secured large crops. Mr. Mitchell devotes special attention to high-grade Hereford cattle and has contributed in no small degree to the improvement of this branch of industry. He has two thoroughbred Hereford bulls and is enthusiastic in the breeding of fine cattle. He also raises good draught horses, but principally for his own use. In 1898 Mr. Mitchell erected a commodious residence of ten rooms, equipped with modern improvements and conveniences, one of the most attractive homes in the beautiful valley.

During his long residence in Montana Mr. Mitchell has been familiar with the Indians and their ways, but has never suffered at their hands. During the memorable Nez Perces war, when Chief Joseph and his band passed down the Madi- son valley, Mr. Mitchell took his family to Vir- ginia City for safety. In politics he is a Repub- lican, and, though aspiring to no political pre- ferment, he has ever shown a deep interest in the advancement of his community and state, and, as a public-spirited citizen, has lent his aid and in- fluence to all worthy enterprises. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episco- pal church, holding membership in Trinity Mis- sion church, at Ennis, in which Mr. Mitchell is a member of the vestry. On September 25, 1862, while a resident of Iowa, Mr. Mitchell was united in marriage to Miss Arobine W. Cross, who was born in Richland county, Ohio, the daughter of Ben- jamin Cross, a native of Maine, who was an early settler in Ohio, where his death occurred. His

wife, whose maiden name was Mary Drew, was also a native of Maine. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell have two children, both natives of Montana, where they have been educated: Lumyra E., born Jan- uary 20, 1867, is the wife of Dr. William Tudor, a dentist of Bozeman; and Henry Herbert, born September 4, 1873, is associated with his father in the management of the homestead ranch.

B ERNHARD M. MJELDE .- Norway has con- tributed a large number of good citizens, thrifty business men and sterling yeomanry to America, and among them none is perhaps more entitled to worthy regard and consideration than is Bernhard M. Mjelde, of Big Timber, Mont., who was born at Madison, Wis., April 27, 1863, the son of Knudt and Maria (Halvorsen) Mjelde, natives of Norway, who settled in Minnesota in 1836, but removed after a short time to Chicago, Ill., being practically pioneers in both places. From Chicago he removed to Wisconsin, and after spending some time there made his home in Faribault, Minn., and then returned to Wiscon- sin. In all of these different localities he prospered in business and worked at his trade of shoe- making. In 1890 he took up his residence a sec- ond time in Chicago, where he still lives.

Mr. Mjelde had his early school training at Black Earth, Dane county, Wis., and after being graduated from the high school in 1884 he made school teaching his vocation for a number of terms in his native state. In 1886 he came to Mon- tana and settled at Big Timber, where he found congenial occupation in ranching and sheeprais- ing, varying it at intervals by school teaching. In 1890 he began business as proprietor of a hotel and restaurant, first in the Arlington, and later in the new Grand upon its completion. At the end of about two years and a half he quit the hotel business and accepted a position with Belay & Polutnik, in Big Timber, and passed the next six years in their employment. At the end of this period he went into business for himself and con- tinued at it until 1900, when he was elected clerk of Sweet Grass county court, an office which he still holds.

Mr. Mjelde was married March 28, 1890, to Miss Louisa Klebesadel, of Milwaukee. They have two sons and two daughters living with them in their elegant home on First avenue, and assist-

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ing in making it attractive to their large circle of friends. Mr. Mjelde has taken an active inter- est in everything which pertains to the welfare of the community, and has shown by both his private and his official life all the elements of good citi- zenship for which he is justly and highly esteemed by his fellows. He is an earnest and valued mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, in which he has held high official positions, and has given to his lodge intelligent and valuable service. He is also a member of the Maccabees, holding the office of record keeper.

W M. H. H. ELLIS .- The scion of a martial strain, dwelling in childhood on the valiant deeds of his ancestry, on both sides of the house, and in his young manhood drawn into the very vortex of civil war, William H. H. Ellis, of near Bozeman, may be called almost a child of the army, who acquired through its harsh discipline the qualities of courage and endurance, as well as readiness in resource and quick perception, and to have earned through his active military service the' rest he so enjoys in his beautiful home. He was born at Weston, Platte county, Mo., on January 26, 1841. His father was Benedict Ellis, a Vir- ginian, and his grandfather, Jonathan Ellis, was an early emigrant from Wales. His mother was Edith Vaughn, of Kentucky, whose mother, a Miss Jackson, was a cousin of Andrew Jackson, and a heroic participator in the hardships of frontier life. She was in a fort with Daniel Boone when it was surrounded by Indians who made desperate assaults but were driven off with great slaughter. the women moulding bullets as fast as the men could fire them. In course of time the Vaughns removed to Missouri. Mr. Ellis's grandfather tak- ing up the first land pre-empted in Lafayette county. He was engaged in trading and freight- ing to Mexico, and his oldest son was sheriff at Santa Fe, a perilous position, for the lawless ele- ment in that whole country was numerous and treacherous. At one time he hanged fourteen Mexicans for the murder of Rhum Culver, a prominent trader. About two years later when he returned to Mexico from a visit to Mis- souri and opened a store, he was murdered on his own premises, the dastardly act being presumably the work of friends of the culprits he had hanged.

Mr. Ellis's paternal grandfather also removed to

Clay county, Mo., with his family with the early pioneer settlers, and became prominent, and where, when he attained manhood, Benjamin Ellis en- gaged extensively for years in making brick, which were in great demand, with his three brothers-in- law. He later took up a fine property in Platte county but died in 1842 before he could prove up on it, leaving a widow and two sons. In 1844 the widow married, and the sons were taken by an un- cle who generously provided for their maintenance and preliminary education. The brother, T. B. Ellis, removed to Montana in 1863, and is now a wealthy and extensive sheepraiser at Three Forks in Gallatin county. Mr. Ellis himself remained in Missouri until 1860, when another uncle, a wealthy man living in Platte county, owning a large estate and a number of slaves, offered to furnish him and his brother a college education, and actually ma- triculated the brother at Pleasant Ridge Colllege. Just then the Civil war occurred and destroyed the school before Mr. Ellis could begin his course. In June, 1861, he enlisted in Company A of Col. Cor- nell's regiment and Gen. Stein's division, which, in September, became a part of Gen. Price's army ; and in December, in response to a telegram from Richmond calling for the raising of 5,000 troops, which would constitute Price a major-general in the Confederate army, Mr. Ellis and forty-five others of his company were sworn in before breakfast the next morning as members of the new command, filling the requirement and securing the desired result. From Springfield. Mo., in January, 1862, they escorted a salt train to the Indian nation.

On their return to Springfield they found the Federal troops in force and were attacked by then and forced to retreat. This engagement was fol- lowed soon after by the battle of Pea Ridge. Later six regiments were ordered to recapture Spring- field but, owing to the unusual height of White river, they were unable to advance, and retired to Desarka, Ark. They sent their horses to Texas and took boats for Memphis, where they arrived just after the battle of Shiloh and in time to take part in those at Farmington, Iuka and Corinth. They wintered at Grenado, Miss., but in the ter- rible battles of the summer of 1863 they saw al- most constant service. fighting at Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Baker's Creek. Big Black and in the pro- longed siege of Vicksburg, where they were cap- tured, paroled, and sent to Demopolis, Ala., where they were exchanged and then going to Dalton,

Ym H6. 86. Ellis

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Ga., to Hood's and Johnson's army and then tak- ing part in all of the engagements of the Atlanta campaign. At Altoona station, on their way north after the fall of Atlanta, Mr. Ellis was shot through the collar bone and laid up for five months, when he rejoined his regiment at Mobile. From Fort Blakely he was sent to Mobile to look after the colonel's baggage and that night Fort Blakely was captured and the whole command taken prisoners. Mr. Ellis was much grieved be- cause he was not with the boys; but, again finding his wound troublesome and his health poor, he se- cured a furlough for thirty days and went to Meri- den, Miss., and consulted a board of physicians. Later he started to join Kirby Smith in the hope that he would hold out longer, but was taken sick on the way, and, with ten others. after experienc- ing difficulty in getting across the Mississippi, was laid up with fever for several months about fifty miles from Helena, Ark.

When he recovered he worked on a plantation for a few months, and with his wages and some money received from friends he started for home and arrived at Weston, Mo., without leaving been captured. Later, he took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and worked getting out railroad ties, clerking in a store and at various other occu- pations until 1871, when he started west to make his home in Montana, traveling on the Union Pa- cific to Corinne, Utah, and thence by stage to Boze- man, arriving there on September 19, and on Oc- tober 4 filing a claim on eighty acres of land which he at once began to improve, raising a crop on it the next year. In 1877 he purchased the Frank Cline ranch, about two miles from Bozeman. In 1875 he assisted in building the Crow agency and, during its erection, the Sioux were very trouble- some, killing a number of the workmen, and in one night stampeding forty-two mules. Occasion- ally the grasshoppers destroyed the crops, but through all of his difficulties and dangers he has kept up a good heart, never lost courage, and now is reaping a just reward on a fine ranch of 240 acres, with plenty of water to keep it well ir- rigated, the land frequently yielding as much as 105 bushels of oats and sixty-five of wheat to the acre. The last few years Mr. Ellis has largely abandoned grain raising, devoting his attention to hay and dairy products, having superior herds of short- horn and Jersey cattle, from which he realizes handsome profits, going about the business in a systematic and skillful way, sheltering his cattle

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 146

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