Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 160

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 160

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Returning to San Francisco, he was associated with a prominent lumber firm for several months and then he was steamboating on the Sacramento river for a limited time. Thence he went to Ora- ville, Butte county, where he remained two years, then at Spanish Flat he passed eight months, and went to Sonoma county, where he was engaged in business for several years and until 1860. In Ma- rine county he lived two years, his whole life in California including a couple of trips to Nevada, lasting until 1870, and during most of this time he was profitably mining. From 1870 until 1877 Mr. Sacry was engaged in various mechanical trades in Utah, coming in 1877 to Montana, arriving on June 8, and locating at Pony. Here he mined four months on the Richmond Flat, and then select- ing and removing to his present home on South Boulder river. In the spring of 1878 he pur- chased 200 acres of land of the Northern Pacific and began ranching on a rather limited scale. He engaged in cattleraising, and with his son bought 640 acres on the range, and here they now conduct a prosperous farming and stockraising business in a very choice location. They have one of the finest residences in the county, and it is quite a summer resort. Here the hospitable family enter- tain many gucsts, who come to enjoy the pictur- esque scenery and fine fishing, there being superior facilities for this sport.

Mr. Sacry was married on March 14, 1860, to Miss Marietta Oman, of Marion county, Ill. She is the daughter of George W. Oman, of New York,

and Malvina (Dicky) Oman, of Kentucky. George W. Oman removed to Illinois in 1848 and in 1851 went to California with a train of ox teams, stop- ping for a short time in Utah. The Indians were quite troublesome, but aside from stampeding some of their stock, they did no damage to the train. He remained in California. Mr. and Mrs. Sacry have had ten children, of whom six have died. Those living are Florence, Mrs. George Sparrow ; Dollie, Mrs. Henry Rundell; William L. and Harry. Those they have lost are George Warren, Marion, Frank, Laura, Bertie and Pearl. For a number of years Mr. Sacry has served as judge of election, school trustee and clerk, and for six years he was postmaster of Jefferson Island. He is highly esteemed and has the confidence of all of his associates.

CHARLES SALES .- Doubtless, to many of the hardy pioneers who braved the dangers and rugged toil of the wilderness in planting and peo- pling the Great West, there came dreams or vis- ions wherein they saw themselves patriarchs with numerous descendants dotting the hillsides and flecking the valleys of their chosen localities with happy homes and the goodly products of civilized life. Perhaps the vision gave them form as found- ers of cities, throbbing with intense intellectual en- ergies, mighty manufactories, and great commer- cial enterprises ; and richly adorned with stately minsters, commodious schools, handsome resi- dences, and all the concomitants of modern marts. Whether or not such a dream visited the waking or sleeping reveries of Zachariah Sales we may never know; but certain it is that, in a small way at least, it was his fate to be such a founder, the town of Salesville, Gallatin county, Mont., having derived its name from him. His father, Zachariah Sales, a descendant of an old family long estab- Ished in Yorkshire, England, removed with his family to America in 1844, and settled in Ontario, Canada, where he spent the rest of his life in car- pentering and building. He was married in Eng- land to Elizabeth Allsop, of the same nativity. At his death he left five sons and two daughters. The third son, Zachariah, brother of the subject of this sketch, who was also born in Yorkshire, England, left the Dominion of Canada in the vigor of his manhood and started to Montana, making the jour- ney overland with an ox team in company with

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others. The party had no serious difficulty with the Indians, but in the midst of the prairie Mr. Sales' team died, and with gross and brutal in- humanity, the rest of the party abandoned him with his wife and four children to make their way as best they could on foot. It was a desperate sit- uation and required heroic treatment. He re- solved that in case they were attacked by the Indians, he would not leave any of his family to the relentless cruelty of the savages, but would kill them all and then sell his own life as dearly as pos- sible. Happily no such dreadful alternative was in store for him. Another party of emigrants soon came along, picked them up and carried them safely to Montana, where they arrived in August, 1865, and located in the beautiful valley of the Gallatin. Here Mr. Sales engaged in farming and saw milling, and started the town which bears his name. He spent his life in this region and the service of its people, dying full of years and of honors, and was laid to rest with every demonstra- tion of popular esteem and affection.

Charles Sales was born in Canada, March 18, 1835 and in 1857, when a young man twenty- two years old, he moved westward, locating in Wisconsin, where he remained nearly twenty years, engaged in lumbering. From there he went to Iowa, spent five years in successful farming and then followed his brother to Montana, arriving in June, 1881, at the homestead, which he bought and occupied until 1895, when he sold it to his son, Allen H., retaining, however, for his own use 320 acres. He also had a home in Bozeman, where he lived until the death of his wife, but has since resided with his son. He was married in October, 1864, to Alberta C. Zahn, a native of Germany, who had come to America with her parents, making Wisconsin their home. She died April 12, 1898. Their children are: Walter H., living at Manhat- tan ; Allen H., owning and farming the homestead ; Edna E., now Mrs. Perry, a widow, living in Illi- nois; Charles F., Mary E. and Reno H., a mining engineer at Butte.

January 2, 1894, Mr. Sales was united in mar- riage with Miss Harriet Harnden, born in Cascade, Wis., December 19, 1871, a daughter of James W. and Sarah E. (Thompson) Harnden. James W. enlisted in February, 1863, in the Thirty-sixth Wisconsin Regiment, Col. Haskel commanding, served two years; was wounded during the battle at Cold Harbor. He received honorable discharge in 1865. The mother died in January, 1877. The

father is still living in Cascade, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Sales are the parents of two children: Zada, born October 31, 1895, and Lynde, born May 30, 1898.

Mr. Sales is a Republican in politics, and has been the nominee of his party for the state legis- lature. He led his ticket at the election, but the adverse majority was too much for even a popular man like him to overcome. He is, however, recog- nized universally as a citizen of broad views, pro- gressive methods, fine business instincts and strict integrity, a credit to his name and an ornament to his community.

A LLEN H. SALES, the second son of the fore- going and the third proprietor by direct descent of the Sales homestead, was born at Merrill, Lin- coln county, Wis., September 6, 1868. He re- moved from Wisconsin to Iowa with the family when he was seven years old, and remained with them until he was twelve. He then migrated with them to Montana, where he was reared on the old homestead, getting his education in the neighbor- ing district schools. When he grew up he took charge of the place for his father, and conducted it with such success that in a few years he was able to purchase it, which he did in 1896. It is a rich and valuable tract of 320 acres, all under irrigation, highly productive, and yielding annually large crops, of which barley is the principal one. The place has lost nothing of value or attractiveness in his hands, but is farmed with the same intelli- gence and vigor which characterized his father's and his grandfather's handling of it. He is a wor- thy follower in their footsteps.

A LBIN A. SANDAHL .- Since cleanliness is next to godliness, and that it has the sanc- tion of undeniable authority, the people of Butte have, through the enterprise and foresight of Albin A. Sandahl, a means of grace of high rank in this respect in the C. O. D. Laundry, which he origin- ated and established in 1892, and which has now rendered nearly ten years of great service to them. Mr. Sandahl was born in Sweden, on July 20, 1861. His parents, Andrew and Louise Sandahl, emigrated to America about 1863, and after a short stop in Chicago settled in Minnesota, where they engaged in keeping a hotel. The father now re-

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sides in Butte. Albin was their only child. He was educated in good private schools in Minnesota, and was prepared for business at an excellent com- mercial college. Although not much over fifteen years of age, he began his mercantile career by opening a grocery store at Jordan, Minn. He brought this into a condition of prosperity and sold it at a good price. His next venture was in the meat business at Minneapolis, where he con- ducted two markets, and after seven years of suc- cess sold them also at good profits.

About this time, being attacked by the "western fever," he determined to cast his lot in with the yet dawning hopes of the Treasure state, and in 1888 came to Butte and began operations as a meat mer- chant and butcher. Thus he continued for about four years and then he organized the C. O. D. Laundry and pushed the undertaking to vigorous life and expanding successfulness. It now employs about ninety persons and does the most extensive business in the northwest. It is a complete estab- lishment, lacking nothing in its equipment that the sleepless eye of science has discovered or the skillful hand of art has fashioned. That Mr. Sandahl is its presiding genius and its inspiring force goes al- most without the saying. Mr. Sandahl was mar- ried on July 20, 1885, to Miss Jennie McAvoy, of Minneapolis. They have one child, Albin M., born at Minneapolis, on June 2, 1886. Mr. Sandahl at- tributes his success, which has been continual and substantial, to the fact that he has always been a to- tal abstainer from intoxicants of every kind, that he has not frittered his valuable time away in trifles. He takes no active part in politics and wears the yoke of no party, voting for the best men according to his judgment. He affiliates with no secret socie- ties, not because he opposes them or doubts their utility, but because his tastes do not run in that di- rection. He finds relief from the more serious and exacting phases of life in occasional hunting or fish- ing trips with congenial companions and these form his principal recreation. In addition to his laundry business he owns valuable mining inter- ests.

() A. FALLANG .- Successful in business, hav- ing achieved distinction in both political and military service, held in high esteem by all who know him, O. A. Fallang, the genial, capable and faithful sheriff of Sweet Grass county, Mont., was born at Black Brook, Wis., on December 2, 1874,

the son of P. O. and Maria ( Olsen) Fallang. When he was two years old his parents removed to Rush- ford, Minn., in whose public schools he began his education. His father was then deputy sheriff, so that from childhood he has been necessarily in- terested in political affairs. In 1882 the family settled at Mellville, Mont., the father engaging in stock raising and the son attending the pub- lic schools and doing something in stockraising himself.

In 1894 and 1895 he was a student at Mon- tana State College at Bozeman, pursuing a special course of study, and in 1898 he enlisted as a vol- unteer in Company L, First Montana Volunteers, and served with distinction throughout the Span- ish-American war, being engaged in twenty-two battles with the Filipinos. He was mustered out at San Francisco, Cal., on October 17, 1899, and returned to his former home, and again began stockraising on his own account. In November, 1900, he was elected sheriff of Sweet Grass county and removed to Big Timber, the county seat, entering on the· discharge of his official duties on January 7, 1901. He has identified himself with the public interests of his new home, taking a prominent part in its social, educational and other affairs. He is a member of Big Timber Lodge No. 25, K. of P.

JOHN SANFORD .- The subject of this sketch was born November 27, 1859, in Devonshire, England, where he was reared and educated. With true filial affection he remained at home and assisted his parents until he was thirty-eight years old, com- ing with them to America where, in 1881, he took up the nucleus of the ranch he now occupies, to which he has added by subsequent purchases until he has 480 acres. On portions of this he produces large crops of hay, grain and vegetables; and in ad- dition has been successfully engaged in raising cat- tle. He has brought to his agricultural and stock business a good share of native shrewdness and the wisdom acquired in a long and useful experience, and thereby has made his work profitable and stimulating to others around him, being recognized as one of the leaders in his lines in the community.

Mr. Sanford was united in marriage with Miss Anna Herrin, a native of Maine, the nuptials being solemnized May 10, 1898. For an account of his ancestry see sketch of his father, Thomas Sanford.

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and for one of Mrs. Sanford's family history see sketch of Harlan Herrin, both of which will be found elsewhere in this work. Fraternally Mr. Sanford is identified with the Odd Fellows. Both he and his wife are greatly esteemed by a large circle of admiring friends, and are held in the highest respect by all classes of the people around them. Their home is a center of genial and cor- dial hospitality, and their aid is freely given to every good cause.

PETER SANGER .- Fire, that quick and subtle spirit whom Prometheus lured from heaven to civilize and cheer mankind, is one of our best friends and cruelest of foes. He has titanic energy to fashion or destroy. With resistless power he drives our mighty engines and performs with sweet humility all needful offices for the household in which he is domesticated. He is full of soft, familiar courtesy, obedient to our lightest wish when chained and guarded, but when let loose he will run riot through the peaceful home and wrap its inmates in his terrible embrace, or swallow up whole cities in his ravenous maw, consuming the works of man and nature too. In his riotous mad- ness at such times this creature of many-sided utili- ty and terrible might yields to no single hand. To master and control him then requires the united force of many men, well organized, equipped and trained. And so in every city one of the institu- tions most highly cherished and regarded as most necessary is the fire department. The chief of this hazardous branch of the public service is usually chosen because of his well known qualifications for the place or rises to it through faithful and meri- torious work in the department.

Both these elements of choice were involved in the selection of Chief Peter Sanger, of the Butte fire department. From his childhood he has been an enthusiast on fire fighting, and, wherever he has halted long enough, his irrepressible ardor in this direction has resulted, if none existed at the place, in the organization of a volunteer fire department, or, if one existed, in its improvement and increased efficiency. He was born at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1861. His father, Sebastian Sanger, was a native of Germany, of "Bingen on the Rhine," who emi- grated to America about 1850, and followed the manufacture of wire. His mother was Magdaline (Neibiger) Sanger, also a German. Peter was the 53

fourth of their eleven children. He went to school in Cleveland until he was eleven years old, and then went out on his own account to seek his fortune in the west. At Chicago he lingered for nine months, working as a barber. With the five dollars he had then saved he set out to work his way to Denver. He reached that city, or village as it was then, with $36 saved from his earnings on the way. He worked at rounding up cattle and mining for five years near Denver, then went to Leadville for two or three years, and here he helped to organize a volunteer fire department, the first with which he was connected. From Leadville he went, among the first arrivals, to Aspen, where he was from 1879 · to 1885 and organized a volunteer fire department. In 1885 he removed to Butte, returned to Aspen after sixteen months, and remained until 1890, mar- rying there in 1887 Miss Maggie Shaw, a daughter of one of the pioneers of the state. There also were born the two children of his marriage, Hazel and Leslie. In 1890 he made his second advent at Butte and went to work at his old trade of barber- ing. In 1894 he engaged in mining, leasing and prospecting.

During his first residence in Butte he had joined the fire department, and on his return eagerly re- newed his membership. On January 15, 1895, the great explosion at several warehouses near the Great Northern depot occurred, which resulted in the death of sixty-three people, among whom were thirteen firemen. There had been no fire in the town for months before this, and it took the department by surprise. Mr. Sanger was on the street with his children, and was unable to get on the hook and ladder truck as it went by him. He left the children at a nearby hotel and ran to the scene of the disaster, arriving just as the second explosion took place. He was so near that the buttons were burst off his coat, and if he had been on the truck he must have been killed, as all on it were. In 1897 he was appointed assistant chief of the department. There was one large fire that year, which consumed the Hale House and gave him a chance to show his metal. This he did in so masterly a manner that in 1898 he was chosen chief without opposition. In this station, if he have one aspiration above all others, except to give good service in behalf of life and property in time of danger, it is to enlarge and improve the depart- ment, add to its equipment and increase its ef- ficiency. During his tenure as chief the number of paid men in the service has been increased from

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fourteen to thirty, three new hose wagons have been purchased and three new fire houses been built. The efficiency of the work has also been greatly augmented. These benefits are not lost on the community, which has a high appreciation of his services, and loyally stands by his vigorous and progressive administration. The people recognize him as well qualified for his office, he be- ing a man of great force of character, quick per- ception, unquailing courage and fine executive ability. One of his most important services was securing the passage through the Sixth state legis- lature of a measure placing all the fire departments of the state under legal control. He was the au- thor of the bill making this provision and, in recog- nition of his part in the accomplishment, Gov. Smith sent him the pen with which he signed it. Chief Sanger belongs to several fraternal orders. He is a Knight of Pythias, a past chancellor in the order. He is also an Elk, an Eagle and one of the Sons of Hermann. In the last named he holds the office of vice-president.

T THOMAS SANFORD .- For generations the name of Sanford has occupied a place of credit and respectability in Devonshire, England, and one of the worthiest scions of the house is Thomas Sanford, the subject of this review. He was born on the family estate November 1, 1830, the son of John and Hannah ( Racket) Sanford, a prosperous farmer and with his wife devout mem- bers of the Catholic church. They were the par- ents of nine children, of whom James and Henry died in infancy and seven are still living, namely : John, William, Thomas, Hannah M., Elizabeth, Francis H. and Clara H. Thomas, our subject, was allowed only limited attendance at the public schools, being obliged to assist his father in the farm work when he was twelve years old. He re- mained with them until he was twenty-eight, when he began farming on his own account and followed the business for eight years. In 1869 he immi- grated to America, locating in Hillsdale county, Mich., where he remained until 1871, when he came to Montana, and located a homestead in partnership with his brother William. The tract was 160 acres, and it has been increased by pur- chases from time to time until it now consists of 560 acres, a considerable portion of which is under cultivation and produces excellent crops of grain

and hay. It also generously supports the herds of cattle that Mr. Sanford handles successfully, this line of business being one of his principal resources.

In political affiliation Mr. Sanford is an ardent Republican, and while not seeking office or promi- nence in the party he takes great interest in its suc- cess and gives his portion of the service necessary to secure the desired results. He was united in marriage with Miss Annie Cox in March, 1859. She is a native of Somersetshire, England, and the daughter of Charles and Diana Cox, who came to the United States in 1840, settling first in New York state and later in Michigan, where they re- mained until their deaths, which occurred to the mother in June, 1888, and to the father in January, 1896. They were the parents of six children : Harry, deceased; Diana K. T., Sarah, Delia, Robert and Anna. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford became the parents of eight children of whom five are living, namely: Mary T. A., John, Francis M., Lucy M. S. and Clara R. Those deceased are James W., Rosa S. and Julia A. Mr. Sanford has made a good record and won gratifying success in his adopted land, where he is recognized as one of the substantial and useful citizens of the community in which he lives. In all the relations of life he has borne him- self with dignity, uprightness and manliness, treat- ing everybody with due courtesy, and is held in high esteem wherever he is known.

JAMES W. SAUNDERS .- In the capital city of Maine, beautiful Augusta, on November 6, 1841, there was born to William and Elizabeth (Page) Saunders a son, to whom was given the name of James W. Saunders. Both of his parents were natives of Maine, where they passed their en- tire lives, the father having been a machinist. Of their six children, of whom three are now living, James W. was the fourth. After a good common- school education in his native city Mr. Saunders devoted three years to learning the machinist trade, and then went to Portland, where he worked as a journeyman for two years. In 1864 he came from Portland to St. Joseph, Miss., thence to Omaha, where he secured transportation with a party starting for Montana. They arrived in Virginia City seventy-three days after they left Omaha. For a time Mr. Saunders worked in the placer mines in Alder gulch and was thereafter identified with ranching until 1869, when he returned east.

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In 1871 he again came to Montana and located in Radersburg, where he was engaged in mining for two years, and then came to Virginia City, and was employed in a meat market, later he was em- ployed in a quartz mill at Park mountain for eight months. He next aided in the development of the Madison mine as a machinist. Finally he returned to his ranch near Ennis, which comprises 160 acres of valuable land. Its principal product is hay. In addition to his ranching and stockgrowing Mr. Saunders conducts a very successful blacksmithing business, having a well-equipped shop and find- ing his services in demand, as he is a skilled artisan. He has always been an indefatigable worker and has won his success through his own efforts. He is a member of the state live stock commission, his political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and fraternally he is identified with Montana Lodge No. 2, A. F. & A. M., at Virginia City, and with Virginia City Lodge No. 30, A. O. U. W. On April 18, 1878, Mr. Saunders married with Miss Amanda Woodworth, who was born in Ohio, and of this union four children have been born : William Millard, a student in the busi- ness college at Bozeman ; and Eunice M, Theodore A. and Charles Byron, who remain at the parental home.

L H. SCHAEFFER .- Whatever may be said of other things, the necessaries of life, those commodities which make up the articles of food, must be had at all hazards. And fortunate are the people who can purchase them of a gentleman as fair in his dealings, as progressive in his methods, as obliging in his service and as pleasant in his manner as Lincoln Hartzell Schaeffer, doing busi- ness as one of the leading grocers of Helena, located at Rodney & Breckenridge streets. His life began January 29, 1861, just when our unhappy land was getting ready for its awful baptism of blood and fire in the Civil war. His native town was North Benton, Mahoning county, Ohio, and his parents were Hartzell John and Mary Ellen (Taylor) Schaeffer, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. His father spent his active life in farming and raising fine stock- cattle, horses and sheep. He is now living a pleas- ant and retired life at Normal, Ill., to which place he removed at the outbreak of the Civil war, soon after the birth of the subject of this sketch. His

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 160

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