Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 161

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 161

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wife still abides with him. The Schaeffer family are of German origin, the Taylors Scotch-Irish. Mr. Schaeffer was reared in Illinois, was educated in the public schools and at the State Normal School in his adopted home, the town of Normal. After leaving school he spent some months in Kan- sas, Nebraska and Colorado, working at various occupations and speculating. In 1883 he went into Minnesota, locating near Fairmount, where he had charge of Edward Earl's large stock farm for about two years. He then returned to Normal, Ill., and was engaged as clerk in a grocery store for three years, and in the same capacity in Chicago during the next two. In the fall of 1891 he made Montana his home, locating at Helena. His experience in the grocery business was ready capital, and soon se- cured him employment as manager for Weinstein & Co., extensively engaged in that business. A year later he determined to go into the business for himself and bought a stock of goods worth about $3,000. He has been continuously engaged in it ever since and has been very successful, his trade having grown to large proportions and his stock increased to a value of more than $10,000. Since 1892 he has occupied the commodious build- ing on the northeast corner of Rodney and Breck- enridge streets, and is now in extensive trade at that point. This is a two-story brick building, 30x70 feet, conveniently arranged and fitted up with the best known appliances for its purposes. In 1900 he built adjoining thereto a fine double modern brick residence, fronting on Breckenridge street, which is finished in hard wood in the best style of the builder's art. This property and others represent his accumulations since his arrival in Helena; for, when he came into the state, he had practically no money, his only capital being his resolute spirit, good health and valuable experience.

He was married April 20, 1892, to Miss Margaret Kline, a native of Bloomington, Ill., daughter of Henry and Susan A. (Fleischman) Kline, formerly of Pennsylvania. Her father was a soldier in the Union army and served throughout the war. He died in Illinois in 1891, leaving a widow who still resides at Bloomington. Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer have two children : Margaret Ellen, born in Sep- tember, 1894; and Hartzell, born August 2, 1900. Mr. Schaeffer is a Knight of Pythias and a Modern Woodman of America. He is a Republican in politics, always active, serving as alderman from the Second ward in 1900, frequently representing his people in county and state conventions.

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PETER SCHEFFER is one of the leading farm- ers and stockgrowers of the Missoula valley, his fine ranch of 1,700 acres being located one mile' west of Huson, his postoffice address. Mr. Schef- fer is of stanch old German descent, a native of St. Columba, a village forty miles north of Montreal, Canada, the date of his birth having been October 6, 1849. His father, Eusebe Scheffer, was born in the same place, where he was engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. In 1851, when the gold excite- ment in California was still at its height, he joined the throng of argonauts and upon arriving in Cal- ifornia became a miner. In 1866 he came to Mon- tana, locating in the western part of the territory and thus becoming an early pioneer of this section of the Union. He died here on October 2, 1900, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. The maiden name of his wife was Christiana Miller, who was born in Scotland, whence she accom- panied her parents to Canada, when she was a child. Her death occurred on November 22, 1883.

Peter Scheffer was reared on the homestead farm, with a common school education. In 1869 he went to California, where he was engaged in lum- bering until 1873, when he came to Montana and joined his father. In this state he has since main- tained his home, and been successful in his opera- tions as a farmer and stockgrower, in which he conducts business upon an extensive scale. His ranch is one of the best in the beautiful and fertile Missoula valley, and here he raises large crops of grain and hay, and also horses, cattle and sheep, having the best of pasturage and using marked dis- crimination in the selection and breeding of his stock. His ranch has excellent improvements of a permanent order, and he is one of the representa- tive men of this locality, being a leader among the French residents of the valley, where he is held in high esteem and popularity, having marked busi- ness sagacity and a genial temperament which gains and retains stanch friendships. He gives his support to the Democratic party, and at the election in November, 1900, he was elected a mem- ber of the board of commissioners of Missoula county, a position for which he is peculiarly eligi- ble. Mr. Scheffer was united in marriage to his cousin, Miss Alice Scheffer, who was likewise born in Canada, and they are the parents of six children, Mary, Ralph, Edgar, Thomas, Jennette and Elmer, to all of whom he will accord the best possible edu- cational advantages.

D IEDRICH SCHILLING .- Germany has sent many of her worthy sons to the New World, and they have become important factors in advanc- ing the interests of the various communities with which they are identified. A representative of this sterling class in Montana is Mr. Schilling, who is one of the successful young farmers and stock- growers of Choteau county and who has attained success entirely through his own efforts, having been industrious and discriminating and having labored with a definite object in view. He is a native of Hamburgh, Germany, born on July 13, 1866, the son of Peter Schilling, who was born in the same city in 1838, and devoting his active life to agricultural pursuits, is still a resident of his native land. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Hill, and she also was born in Hamburgh, in 1840, and there her death occurred in 1876.

Diedrich Schilling received his schooling in the public schools of his native province, and when fourteen years of age he went to Australia, where he was employed on a farm for two years, when he returned to his home 'and served for nearly three years in the German navy, after which he de- voted himself to a seataring life for the ensuing six years in the merchant service. In 1887 he came to America and soon after his arrival to Montana, where he has ever since maintained his home. For three years he was engaged in herding sheep near White Sulphur Springs, and in 1890 he came to his present location in Choteau county, now having a good ranch property in the vicinity of the Bear Paw mountams, twenty-eight miles from Big Sandy station on the Great Northern Railroad, this village being his marketing point. His ranch comprises 320 acres and is traversed by Little Birch creek, which affords ample water sup- ply, and here Mr. Schilling is successfully engaged in the raising of cattle and horses, having ample grazing range aside from his own ranch, and also securing large annual crops of hay on his place, upon which he has made good improvements. In politics he exercises his franchise in support of the Republican party, and he is now postmaster at Warrick postoffice, which is maintained on his ranch. Mr. Schilling is not married.

C HARLES SCHMIDT .- One of the thrifty de- velopers which the fatherland has contributed to America in such numbers, Charles Schmidt, of Butte, merits more than passing notice. He was

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born at Baden, Germany, in 1853. His parents were Henry and Genevieve (Webber) Schmidt, also Germans, who were inn keepers there and, after a long life passed in catering to the comfort and wants of their fellows, were laid to rest in their native land. Of their four children Charles was the oldest. He was reared at home and secured an excellent education in the gymnasium before he was fourteen, and soon after went to France and began his business life as a butcher's boy. He spent three years in butchering in France and then returned to Germany, and in 1871 emigrated to New York. He remained there a year, and then, with the courage he had inherited from sturdy an- cestors, he resolved to visit the western wilds, and came to Helena with little capital, save his good health, active mind and resolute spirit. Here he conducted a profitable meat business for two years, then removing to Virginia City, Nev., he spent four years at it there.

In 1878 he went into the live stock business in eastern Washington, continuing his operations on a large scale and with gratifying profits until the fatal winter of 1881 in which he lost every- thing. He soon after brought a band of horses from Nevada to Montana which he sold at a fair advantage, and in December he settled in Butte and opened the California, a concert hall which be- came famous all over the west. This was a paying venture, but he sold it in April, 1901, and since then has conducted the Corner Sample Room at the southeast corner of Park and Main streets, be- sides giving his attention to his mining interests in Butte and British Columbia. He had stock inter- ests in Idaho but sold them in 1894. Mr. Schmidt was married in 1884 to Miss Ottilia Lanthaler, an Austrian. They have three children, Genevieve, Madeline and Bertha. Their only son died in 1899. Mr. Schmidt is a good citizen, doing his part for the welfare of the community. He belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Elks and the Sons of Her- mann and is a Republican in politics.

DYRON L. SCHWARTZ .- In no section of the state has there been shown in recent years a more pronounced advancement in the line of indus- trial development than in Choteau county, whose livestock interests contribute in no small measure to the material prosperity of the commonwealth. In this publication will be found reference to many

of the alert and progressive men who have con- tributed to this advancement, and the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph and also of his brother, Henry F., Jr., with whom he is associated in business, are prominent factors therein.

Byron L. Schwartz comes of stanch German lineage and is a native of Iowa, having been born at Denison, Crawford county, on April 1, 1871. His father, Henry F. Schwartz, Sr., was born in Germany, on June 1, 1841, and thence he emi- grated when a young man and located in Iowa, where he was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits for a number of years and known as one of the representative citizens of the state. He still resides at Denison, where he is interested in bank- ing and other business enterprises, and also has ex- tensive ranch and stock interests in Choteau county, Mont., where he made his home for several years. At Schwarta, Germany, in the year 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Leh- feldt, who was born on November 6, 1848, and they became the parents of five sons and two daughters, namely: Byron L., the immediate subject of this sketch; R. S., who is deceased; Ida, who died August 22, 1888; Emma, who died in 1896; Henry F., Jr .; Paul and Herbert. In 1890 the parents and six children came to Choteau county, Mont., and located two ranches on Big creek, each mem- ber of the family taking up homestead and desert claims. The first ranch, comprising about 1,000 acres, is located on Big Sandy creek at a point two miles north of Box Elder station, on the Great Northern Railroad; and the second, which has an area of 800 acres, is located on the same creek about twenty-five miles further to the north- west, both being devoted to the raising of sheep. For the first six years the business was con- ducted by the family in common, but R. S. died on November 15, 1896, and Emma on the 19th of the following month; and shortly afterward Paul bought a ranch near Big Sandy, and the two original ranches have since been operated by Byron L. and Henry F., Jr., under the firm name of B. L. Schwartz & Bro. They have been very suc- cessful in their endeavors and are numbered among the extensive sheepgrowers of this county, run- ning an average of from 7,000 to 10,000 head of high-grade sheep of the type best suited to the climatic conditions of this portion of the state. Byron L. Schwartz received his educational dis- cipline in the public schools of Crawford county, Iowa, and in a German school in the town of

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Denison. After leaving school he continued to as- sist in the work of the homestead farm until 1890, when the family removed to Montana. He is a young man of progressive spirit and indomitable energy, and no better evidence of his ability is needed than that which is shown by the success which has attended his efforts. In politics he renders unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party, taking an active interest in all that con- cerns the well being of the county and state, and being at the present time a member of the board of school trustees for district No. 13. In his fra- ternal relations he is identified with Benton Lodge No 59, I. O. O. F., at Fort Benton. At Box Elder, on June 1, 1898, Mr. Schwartz was united in marriage to Miss Bessie A. Rose, who was born in the city of Omaha, Neb., February 20, 1877. They have a winsome little daughter, Lola, who was born on March 23, 1899.

H ENRY F. SCHWARTZ, JR .- In the pre- ceding sketch due reference has been made to the parents of the subject of this review, and also to the principal events which marked his early life, so that a recapitulation would be superfluous. He proves to his brother an able coadjutor as the junior member of the firm, and with him enjoys the unreserved confidence and regard of the people of the community, being recognized as a young man of business acumen and enterprising spirit.

Mr. Schwartz was born at Denison, Crawford county, Iowa, 011 March 18, 1879, and in the public schools of that county he was accorded his pre- liminary educational discipline. After the removal of the family to Montana he continued his studies for a time in the school at Box Elder, and there- after continued to assist in the work of the stock ranches owned by the family until 1896. He also attended the Denison Normal School of Denison, lowa, for two winters, and entered into partnership with his brother. He has since directed his entire energies to the forwarding of the extensive en- terprise with which he is thus concerned.

In politics he exercises his franchise in support of the principles of the Republican party. The two brothers are numbered among the sterling young men of this section of the state and their success is certain to be cumulative, for they are signally careful, discriminating and progressive in the con- ducting of their business operations. He was united in marriage to Miss Mary Gray on December 4, 1901.

JOHN SEIDENSTICKER .- The German fath- J

erland has contributed a most valuable element to our complex national social fabric, and of this nativity is Mr. Seidensticker, who was born in Hol- stein, Germany, on January 19, 1847. His parents, Frederick G. and Margaret (Walter) Seidensticker, were likewise born in Holstein, where were born their six children, of whom John was the third. The family emigrated to the United States in 1870, and the parents both died in Illinois. John Seiden- sticker received his education in his native land, and he assisted his father in farming in Illinois, where the family had their residence. In 1865 he found employment in a basket factory at Duck Island, N. J., but soon was working on a farm in the vicinity of Wheatland, Iowa, staying there one year. He passed the next year at Boonesboro, in that state, and in 1859 he came west through the territory now Montana, to Oregon, where he remained until 1873. Returning to Montana he mined on Camp creek, in Silver Bow county, for two years, and then purchased a ranch in the Madi- son valley, and has since added to his real estate here until he now has 600 acres in one ranch and 320 in another, his homestead place being three miles northwest of Twin Bridges, his postoffice ad- dress. Here he is engaged extensively in the grow- ing of sheep, running an average of 3,000 head, and he also raises good crops of hay. The family resi- dence is a commodious and attractive one. It was erected by Mr. Seidensticker in 1900. All other improvements on the ranch show the care and dis- criminating effort which have been bestowed. In politics Mr. Seidensticker is a Republican, and he has been a school trustee for eight years. He is a stockholder in the Twin Bridges Bank, and one of the reliable and upright men of this section, being held in high esteem by all who know him.

On March 12, 1882, Mr. Seidensticker was mar- ried to Miss Sarah J. Maddox, born in Missouri, the daughter of Samuel Maddox, a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war. They have six children, Katie, deceased, Frederick, Nettie, John, Mabel and Lucy.

JOHN SCOVIL .- A native of the great north- west and to the manor born, John Scovil first saw the light at Provo City, Utah, on January 30, 1863. His father, Lucius N. Scovil, was born and

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reared in Connecticut, but as a young man went to Ohio and later to Illinois. In 1865 he settled in Provo City, and was a prominent and successful carpenter and builder, so much esteemed in the community that he was made postmaster of the town. In Utah he married Hannah M. Marsden, a daughter of William Marsden, proprietor of a cotton factory and valuable mercantile and other interests in Parowan. Mrs. Scovil is still living in Springville, Utah. They had two sons and four daughters, of whom John was the oldest child. He received a limited education in the public schools at Springville, and when he was nineteen years old went to Pueblo, Colo., and engaged in freighting there and at Beaver canyon, Idaho, for two years.

Mr. Scovil passed the next five years with the Anaconda Copper Company, at Anaconda, as a weigher and watchman, and then for two years engaged in dairying, and after that he conducted a laundry for three years. He then sold his plant and removed to Butte and organized a laundry here and he is now (1901) proprietor of the Montana Steam Laundry, the largest plant in the state. In conducting it he is ably aided by A. W. Jones, well-equipped and obliging foreman. In political relations Mr. Scovil is a Republican, but has never neglected his business for the elusive pursuits of politics. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias and finds much entertainment in the meetings and proceedings. He was mar- ried on February 2, 1892, in Anaconda, to Miss Mary J. Keith, a daughter of Mrs. Sarah A. Keith, whose husband died about 1885 at Blackfort, Idaho. There was only one child to this union, John Ralph, now eight years old. His mother died on May 30, 1900, at the early age of twenty-six. After his re- moval to Butte Mr. Scovil married with Miss Lalia Gladys Walton, a daughter of John and Henrietta Walton, whose father is a leading carpenter and builder of Butte. Mr. Scovil is a gentleman of culture and high character and has so demeaned himself wherever he has lived as to gain the respect and regard of those who have had the pleasure of his acquaintance.

RTHUR H. SENNOTT .- Through a residence A of almost forty years in Montana the subject of this review has retained the confidence and es- teem of his fellowmen, having been ever honorable in business, loyal to his duties of citizenship and

faithful to his friends. Therefore, as well for his sterling rectitude of character as for his long res- idence in Montana, it is signally incumbent that he find representation in this work among others of the honored pioneers who have contributed to the de- velopment and substantial upbuilding of a great commonwealth. He is now one of the represent- ative farmers of Madison county, his place being located three miles southwest of the village of Sher- idan, which is his postoffice address.

Mr. Sennott claims the Emerald Isle as the land of his nativity, having been born in the County of Wesford, Ireland, on the 16th of May, 1835, the sixth in order of birth of the eight children of Andrew and Honore (Dunn) Sennott, both of whom were born in Ireland, representing stanch old stock. The paternal grandfather of our subject came to America at the time of the Revolutionary war, as a sailor on a British merchantman, but joined the Continental forces, rendering valiant service in behalf of the colonies in their struggle for independence. After the war he returned to his home in the Emerald Isle. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Sennott also came to America as a British soldier and deserted to and served in the Continental army during the same memorable contest, so that our subject is a true "son of the Revolution."

In 1847 Arthur H. Sennott accompanied his par- ents on their emigration to America, and they took up their abode on a farm in the vicinity of Delaven, Walworth county, Wis. There our subject con- tinued to assist in the work of improvement and cultivation until he had attained the age of eight- een years, his educational opportunities having been such as were afforded in the common schools of the place and period. At the age mentioned he began serving an apprenticeship at the wheel- wright trade, in which line he became an expert artisan.

In the year 1864 Mr. Sennott left Wisconsin and set forth on a long and perilous trip across the plains to Montana, arriving in Virginia City on the 20th of July, and thus gaining a distinct title to being one of the early pioneers of the state. He devoted about two years to mining enterprises in Alder gulch, returning to the east for a visit in 1865 and passing a few months at his old home, after which he came again to Montana, where he resumed mining operations and continued the same for a short time and then located in the Ruby valley, of Madison county, and turned his attention to gen-

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eral ranching, which has ever since enlisted his time and well directed labors. He has now a finely im- proved and well equipped ranch of 320 acres, and practically the entire tract is available for culti- vation, yielding large harvests of hay and grain as a reward of the care and labor bestowed by the owner. Mr. Sennott is well known in the county, and such has been his course in life that he has ever held the esteem of those with whom he has been thrown in contact. Though never aspiring to the honors or emoluments of public office, our sub- ject has stood forward as a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, tak- ing a deep interest in public affairs and particularly in all that concern the welfare and advancement of his county and state. Fraternally he is prom- inently identified with the Masonic order, being past master of Sheridan Lodge No. 20, A. F. & A. M.

In the year 1857 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sennott to Miss Hannah Johnson, who was born in the state of New York and who died in 1884, leaving two daughters, Dellie, whose death oc- curred in 1894, and Carrie, who is the wife of Andrew Clark, of Lebanon Springs, Columbia county, N. Y.

H JENRY W. FOSTER, M. D .- It is indeed a truism that "he serves God best who best serves his fellowmen," and there is no profession or line of business wherein it can be so well and earn- estly demonstrated as in the medical profession. The highest type of the successful physician is he who, through love of humanity, gives his time and talents to the relief of suffering. Dr. Foster is one of the ablest representatives of this noble call- ing in the state of Montana, being an honored citi- zen of Bozeman, Gallatin county, where he is suc- cessfully established in the practice of medicine and surgery. He is a native of the state of Min- nesota, having been born in Ramsey county, about sixteen miles south of the city of St. Paul, August 31, 1858, his parents were Robert and Lucinda (McMillan) Foster, the former a native of Penn- sylvania and the latter of Ohio. The father de- voted the years of his active life to mercantile pursuits, from which he retired in 1890, since which time he has made his home with his son, the sub- ject of this review, who renders to him true filial solicitude. The mother of the Doctor died in Min- neapolis, Minn., at the age of forty-six years, leav-

ing four children, all of whom are still living. In the paternal line our subject traces his ancestry to stanch old Irish origin, and in the maternal to Scotch. Dr. Foster passed his childhood days on a farm, where he remained until he was seven years of age, his early school days being spent in a little district school house of the primitive type. When seven years old he accompanied his parents on their removal to Minneapolis, where he attended the public schools, completing a course in the high school and thereafter matriculating in the State University, remaining as a student until seventeen years of age, when he began the work of preparing himself for that vocation to which he was devoted his life with' such signal honor and success. He en- tered the office of Dr. H. H. Kimball, whose name is familiar to all Minnesota people by reason of his having long stood at the head of the medical pro- fession in the northwest, and under the able pre- ceptorship of this noble and kindly man he prose- cuted his technical reading for three years, and then entered the Detroit Medical College, at De- troit, Mich., where he completed the prescribed course and graduated as a member of the class of 1879, receiving the coveted degree of M. D. He soon returned to his home in Minneapolis, and entered upon the practice of that profession, for which he was thoroughly equipped.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 161

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