Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 164

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 164

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JAMES S. SMART .- Among the multitude of -

working men and women which foreign coun- tries have contributed so freely to the growth and development of our country, no class is more thrifty or more generally useful than the hardy Welshnien who have come over in goodly num- bers. Inured to toil and self-denial at home, they come in good form to grapple with the con- ditions that obtain in a new country, and they meet them with courage, resolution and masterful industry. High on the list of this class must be placed the name of James S. Smart, late of Willow creek, but now a resident of Bozeman. He was born in southern Wales August 3, 1833. His par- ents were William and Ellen (Carnes) Smart, also natives of the same region, and belonging to fam- ilies who had lived there for generations. The Smarts were engaged in mining almost from time immemorial, but with a forecast that was pruden- tial as well as needful, were ever on the lookout for opportunity to better their condition. With this view William Smart, the father of our sub- ject, came to America in the early part of the nineteenth century while he was yet a single man, and spent six years looking about and experi- menting in various ways and places, visiting Mex- ico and South America, part of the time in the employ of the British government. He returned to Wales and married, remaining at home until 1843, when he came again to America, leaving his family behind, as they were unwilling to cross the ocean. After a year in this country he went back to stay and did remain in his native land during the residue of his life. His. son James, with whom we are more immediately concerned, received a limited education in Wales, and early in life went to work at the family occupation of mining; but after a short service at this was ap- prenticed, at the age of fourteen, to the boiler-

maker's trade, at which he spent the full term of five years, emigrating at its conclusion to the United States and settling in Pennsylvania. After a year in that state he went to Virginia and assisted for six or seven years in operating some of the infant mines of that great commonwealth. From there he removed to Illinois, and in the spring of 1863 came overland to Montana by way of Salt Lake City, where he left his family until he could establish himself comfortably in the min- ing districts of his new home. He located first at Virginia City, and gave himself up to the hopes and fears and relentless toil of a miner's lot for two years with a fair degree of success, although working for wages. He then returned to Salt Lake, bought cattle and removed them and his family to Idaho. There he engaged in stock- raising for the next two years at the end of which he returned to Montana, locating at Lin- coln gulch and carrying on for two years more a profitable dairy business. By this time he was prepared both in disposition and means to lo- cate himself permanently on a farm, which he did at an eligible site on Willow creek, where he remained until 1901, when poor health induced him to sell out and move to Independence, Mo., for a more retired life, where he died January 2, 1902. Mr. Smart was married in November, 1857, to Miss Margaret Davis, a native of Wales, daughter of Evan Davis, who emigrated from his native country and settled in Ohio and some years later removed to Kentucky, where he died. Mr. and Mrs. Smart were the parents of one child who died in infancy. Their removal from Willow creek was deeply regretted by the whole com- munity by whom they were held in the highest esteem, and the news of his recent demise will be sincerely mourned by his numerous friends in Montana.

C HARLES A. SMITH .- Among those winning a due measure of success in connection with farming and stockgrowing in Park county, is Mr. Smith, who is one of the wellknown and highly es- teemed ranchmen in the vicinity of Fridley, which is his postoffice address. Mr. Smith was born in Fulton county, Ill., on August 25, 1859, the son of Henry and Jane (Merrill) Smith, natives of Ohio and Illinois. The father had removed from Ohio to Illinois when a young man, where he engaged in farming. In 1858 he was united in

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marriage to Miss Jane Merrill. They were the parents of two children, Charles A. and Isabel, the wife of John Moore, of Clinton, Mont. The mother passed away in 1864. The father consum- mated a second marriage, the bride's name being Miss Lucy Kidd. They have nine children. In 1897 the father came to Montana and now resides on a ranch adjoining his son, Chas. A. Smith.

Educated in Illinois, where he pursued his studies in the public schools, Charles A. Smith assisted his father on the farm until 1878, when he came to Missouri, locating in Caldwell county, where he followed agriculture until the spring of 1885, the year of his arrival in Montana. He located in the Yellowstone valley, and a year later filed a pre- emption claim, to which he has added a tree claim, their acreage constituting his present ranch. He here began operations by raising horses, but eventually disposed of this stock, changing to cat- tlegrowing, later leasing a large band of sheep and he has since raised both lines of stock, keep- ing from seventy-five to 100 head of cattle and grazing about 2,500 sheep. He also raises large crops of hay, the annual yield being from 300 to 400 tons.

Mr. Smith is progressive in his methods and is highly respected by all who know him. He gives his support to the Republican party, and for a number of years gave effective service as a mem- ber of the board of trustees. Fraternally he is iden- tified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Modern Woodmen of America. On No- vember 11, 1880, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Angeline Karnes, born in Defiance county, Ohio, and one of the six children of Alfred F. and Mary J. (Spencer) Karnes, likewise natives of the Buckeye state. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have five children, Albert, a student in the State University at Bozeman, Walter, William, Ray and Edith. In order to afford the best possible education to his children, Mr. Smith employs a private tutor dur- ing the winter months. The family home is an attractive one and a center of refined hospitality.

CHARLES A. SMITH .- The career of Mr. Smith has been a varied and interesting one and has now reached a culmination in a success that is distinctly worthy the name. He was in- timately concerned in the life on the frontier in the early days when Montana was still in practical

isolation from the rest of the world, has the dis- tinction of being the first settler where is now the thriving village of Harlem, Choteau county, has been prominent in the state's industrial develop- ment, and is now president of the Harlem Mer- cantile Company, whose business is of extended scope. He is thus assuredly entitled to classifi- cation among the progressive and representative men of our great commonwealth. He was born in Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, on May 15, 1855. His father, Adam L. Smith, was a native of Scot- land, born in the famous old city of Edinburgh, where he was reared and educated until his emi- gration to America when he was nineteen years of age. He located at Xenia, Ohio, thus becoming a pioneer of the Buckeye state, then considered a portion of the "far west." Here he was engaged in merchandising for a number of years, and dur- ing the Civil war he served one year in an Ohio regiment. He then returned to his home and en- gaged in contracting and building, in which he was very successful. He took an important part in public affairs, being held in the highest esteem, and during the long years of his residence in Greene county he served in nearly every office of public trust in the gift of the people of the city and county. He died at Xenia in 1896, in the fullness of years and well earned honors. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Gano, was born in 1829, of sturdy Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and she continued to make her home at Xenia until at a venerable age she was called to those ac- tivities that know no weariness, her death occur- ring on December 22, 1900.

Charles A. Smith attended the public schools of his native town until he had attained the age of twelve, when he found employment on a neigh- boring farm, where he remained for eight years. In 1875 he started for the Black Hills, where the gold excitement was at its height, but was de- flected from that region on account of the hostil- ity of the Indians, and came through to the old city of Bismarck, N. D., where he engaged in chopping wood during the winter. The follow- ing spring he drove a six-mule team in the United States service in connection with the Custer ex- pedition, and, upon arriving at the mouth of the Tongue river in the fall of 1876, assisted in the building of the cantonment. Thereafter he con- tinued as government teamster with Gen. Miles, and he was one of a party, consisting of Matthew Carroll, L. M. Black, Maj. Pease and others, who

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founded the old town of Miles City on the Yel- lowstone river, the present location being adopted some time later. From 1877 until 1881 Mr. Smith was in the government pack train service, in which connection he went from Fort Keogh to Fort As- sinnaboine in 1879, where he was located during the construction of the governement post build- ings. In the spring of 1881, in company with Robert Main, he went to Rocky Point on the Missouri river, where they established a traders' store which they conducted until 1884. In the fall of that year occurred the stampede of gold seekers to Alder gulch in the Little Rockies, and Mr. Smith joined in the rush to the new diggings, and there he remained one year. In the fall of 1885 he entered the employ of Thomas O'Hanlon, post trader at Fort Belknap, and there he re- mained until the fall of 1888.

In the following spring he went to St. Paul's mission on the Belknap Indian reservation, and the ensuing autumn he located on the site of the village of Harlem, in Choteau county, where he opened a store in a tent, being the first settler in the town. He there continued in business until 1895, when he returned to Fort Belknap, where he became post trader and there remained until January, 1901. In the meantime, in 1898, he had effected the organization of the Harlem Mercantile Company, and within the same year a large brick store was erected in the village in which a large and select stock of general mer- chandise was installed. The business has since been successfully continued and its trade extends over the wide radius of country normally tributary to the village. The officers of the company are as follows: C. A. Smith, president ; R. F. Mur- ray, vice-president, and J. C. Elder, secretary and treasurer. Since leaving Fort Belknap Mr. Smith has maintained his residence in Harlem, and is actively associated with the mercantile company. Mr. Smith has been a prominent worker in the local ranks of the Democratic party, of whose cause he has ever been a loyal and ardent supporter. In the fall of 1896 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Choteau county and gave most efficient service for four years. Fraternally he is identified with Great Falls Lodge of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Havre. In the city of Fort Benton, Mont., on September 10, 1892, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Olson, a native of Sweden, where

she was born in 1872, and they have three chil- dren, Hazel, born on September 4, 1893, Es- tella, born August 23, 1895, and Charles A., Jr., born January 1I, 1897.

H ARRY L. SMITH .- Coming to Montana as a child in the early pioneer days, and now one of the progressive farmers and dairymen of Gallatin county, Mr. Smith was born in St. Joseph, Mo., January 13, 1861, the son of Robert and Mary S. (Oliver) Smith, the former a native of Kentucky and the lat- ter of Missouri. His father enlisted in the Con- federate army at the outbreak of the Civil war, but his enlistment was not of his own choosing. He had gone out skirmishing and upon his return declared he had seen enough of war and to avoid further trouble took the oath of allegiance to the "Union." But this did not end it. He was persecuted and finally thrown into prison by William Penick, then holding a position of authority with the Union forces at St. Joseph, Mo. Smith had formerly been employed by Penick, but that did not prevent his being sent to Alton prison. Smith, however, hid in the pilot house of the boat in which he was being taken to prison, and when the ferry returned to St. Louis escaped on it. For a week he lay in hiding between St. Joseph and New Orleans and had many escapes from capture. Finally he re- solved to join the cause which held his sympathies and entered the Confederate service, in which he re- mained until his death, at the battle of Helena, Ark., July 4, 1863, in the twenty-eighth year of his age. The Inland Monthly Magazine, of St. Louis, in its January, 1874, number, gives a graphic account of his death. He was quartermaster, with rank of major, under Gen. Marmaduke, but stipulated that this position should not prevent him from fighting, and accordingly he was with the advance whenever battle was threatened. On one occasion, Gen. Mar- maduke, pursued by a superior force, and a great danger of capture at the St. Francis river, then in flood, sent Maj. Smith with 100 men to provide for crossing. The only tools at hand were a few axes, but by hard work Maj. Smith made a raft of big logs which he swung into position by night, and se- cured with grape vines, so that the army crossed without loss of man, horse or wagon.

Knowing for some weeks that an attack was to be made upon Helena, Maj. Smith had con-

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viction that he should then be killed. He arranged his personal affairs in that belief, wrote an af- fectionate farewell to his wife, gave instructions for the education of his child, and when the sum- mons came which meant to him inevitable death, he cheerfully obeyed. On a hill crest swept by sharp- shooters he had rallied volunteers to man a gun when Gen. Marmaduke rode by, to whom Smith jestingly showed a bullet hole in his hat. The General sharply ordered him away from such des- perate exposure. Smith pleaded "One more shot, General, one more shot." "Mind, Bob, only one," said the General, and rode on. But with that last shot the fighting quartermaster fell, one ball through his shoulder, another through his heart. After the close of the war Mrs. Smith remained in Missouri and Kansas until 1869, when she ac- companied her brother-in-law, Dr. Achilles Lamme, to Gallatin county, Mont. Specific reference to the family is made in the sketch of Edwin B. Lamme, on another page of this work. Mrs. Smith and her child remained on Dr. Lamme's ranch a few months, and then removed to Boze- man, where, on October 16, 1870, she was mar- ried to John S. Mendenhall, then engaged in merchandising with Dr. A. Lamme and his step- son, John L. Harlowe, under the firm name of A. Lamme & Co., one of the influential citizens of Gallatin county. His death occurred in Boze- man, February 1, 1896.

To the public schools of Bozeman and a three- months business course in Helena Harry L. Smith is indebted for his education, and after leaving school was given a position in the store of his stepfather, which he held until the death of that gentleman, who had shown Harry a truly paternal care. While thus employed Mr. Smith made small investments in live stock, and after the death of Mr. Mendenhall, ill health, which had greatly im- paired and at last destroyed his hearing, thus ren- dered him unfit for commercial life, turned his at- tention toagriculture and stockraising. He first oc- cupied a portion of his present ranch, and in 1893 purchased 160 acres, and now has an estate of 240 acres, practically all of which he has redeemed from a wild condition and brought to a high state of cultivation. It is located one mile northwest of Bozeman, where his mother makes her home. The entire tract is under effective irrigation, and the principal crops raised are grain and clover hay, the annual yields being large. Mr. Smith also con- ducts a very profitable dairy business, having

about thirty fine milch cows, principally Jerseys. His ranch is equipped with the best of modern im- provements, including a fine two-story residence, which he recently erected. It is one of the attract- ive homes of this signally favored section of the state.

Mr. Smith has passed nearly all his life in this county, and to him is given the fullest confidence and respect of those who have been familiar with his career or met him in business or social rela- tions. His political proclivities lead him to ren- der a stanch support to the Prohibition party, and he shows vital interest in all that concerns the welfare of the county and state. On October 17, 1894, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Sarah J. Sword, who was born in Mahoningtown, Pa. She died a few months after her marriage.

J AMES H. SMITH .- Back to that cradle of much of our national history, the Old Domin- ion state, we must return in tracing the gen- ealogy of Mr. Smith, since many generations of the family have there maintained their home, where the original American ancestors located in early Colonial days, coming from Germany. Mr. Smith was born in Loudoun county, Va., on April 16, 1847, the son of William and Caroline (Wen- ner) Smith, natives of the same county, as was also Jacob Smith, the grandfather. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Smith, William Wenner, born in Loudoun county, was an active participant in the war of 1812. His father was a Hessian soldier who came to this country during the Revolution. William and Caroline Smith were parents of five sons and three daughters, of whom James H. was the second.

James H. Smith was educated in Virginia as a student in private schools, remaining on the pa- ternal plantation until his eighteenth year, when he went to Maryland and learned the blacksmith trade. At the age of twenty-two years he re- turned to Virginia for a year, was thereafter one year in northern Indiana and then he went to Missouri, where he also stayed one year and then started for Montana, coming to Corinne, Utah, and thence by what he calls "lightning mule con- veyance," to Virginia City, where he arrived on April 28, 1873, having had comparatively a pleas- ant trip. For a few months he engaged in mining in Alder gulch, whence he went to Laurin, where

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he worked at his trade until 1887, conducting a shop of his own and meeting with fair success. In 1887 Mr. Smith purchased land in Paradise val- ley, where he now has a ranch of 480 acres, well improved and located twelve miles south of Living- ston, which is his postoffice address. He has been successfully engaged in the raising of cattle and horses, making a specialty of shorthorn cattle, while in horses he has raised some fine Normans, for which he has received large prices. Politically he gives support to the Republican party and has not been an aspirant for official preferment, though he has rendered efficient service as school trustee, and is regarded as one of the representative men of this section.

On January 18, 1876, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Stees, born in Mount Carmel, Wabash county, Ill., the daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Sipe) Stees, natives of Pennsylvania, and the parents of four daughters. Mr. Stees came to Montana in June, 1873, locating in Virginia City; where his daughter, Mary E., joined him in August, 1875, and where her mar- riage occurred. Shortly after this the father re- moved to Butte where he resided until July 20, 1899, when he died. He was one of the most prom- inent Odd Fellows in the state, having served as grand master of the grand lodge and being the oldest Odd Fellow at his death. His remains laid in state in the Odd Fellows hall at Butte before their removal to Illinois for interment. The mother of Mrs. Smith died when her daughter was but thirteen years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Smith's three children are Edna, Harry and Maud, who is attending the university at Bozeman.

J AMES S. SMITH is an enterprising and suc- cessful miner and operator in mining proper- ties, who has been a resident of Helena since 1893. He was born in Belmont county, Ohio, October 18, 1845, and is a son of John and Martha (Kirkwood) Smith, natives of Belmont, Ohio, where the father was engaged in the flouring mill busi- ness. James S. Smith, the subject of this sketch, was reared at Belmont, attending the public schools of his native town until his seventeenth year, when, on the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, he enlisted, in November, 1861, in Company H, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Sleigh. Later the regiment was under the com-

mand of Col. McGroarty. The regiment was as- signed to the department of the Shenandoah, un- der Gen. Fremont, and went to New creek, W. Va. He participated in the battle of Cedar Moun- tain, and with Gen. Pope in his campaign from the Rappahannock to Bull Run. Following the sec- ond battle of Bull Run he was in Washington, D. C., in defense of that city. In December, 1862, his regiment was ordered to Fredericksburg to support Gen. Burnside, and later to Chancel- lorsville, thence to Gettysburg and back into Vir- ginia. The regiment was then assigned to Gen. Hooker's command and joined the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga, Tenn. After the battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, Mr. Smith's regiment joined in the column sent to the relief of Gen. Burnside at Knoxville and, following this service, returned to Chattanooga. After re-enlisting as a veteran he returned home on a thirty-days furlough, his first leave of ab- sence, and rejoined his regiment, then with the Twentieth Corps under Gen. Hooker, at Chat- tanooga. Commencing May 8, 1864, the com- mand participated in the Atlanta campaign, under Gen. Sherman, and for ninety days was constantly under fire, the first engagement being at Rocky- face Ridge, followed by Resaca, Kingston, New Hope, Dallas, Lost Mountain, Kenesaw and Peach Tree creek. After the capitulation of Atlanta he remained at that city until Sherman made the historical "March to the Sea." He participated in the battle of Bentonville, and following the juncture with Gen. Schofield's corps the regiment started after Gen. Joe Johnston, overtaking his cavalry at Raleigh, where the army remained dur- ing the negotiations at Durham station for the latter's surrender. The line of march was then taken up for Washington City, going by the way of Richmond, Va. Mr. Smith remained in Wash- ington until after the grand review of the war veterans and with his regiment went to Louisville, Ky., to await orders, it appearing that the United States would be drawn into the Mexican-Max- imillian imbroglio through the French occu- pation under Marshal Bozaine. But word having been received of the retirement of the French troops, and that the Mexicans were able to cope with Maximillian themselves, they were ordered to Columbus, Ohio, for muster out, and on July 15 Mr. Smith received an honorable discharge, hav- ing given nearly four years of gallant, patriotic service to his country. Out of Ior men in the

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original enlistment of his company only eleven remained to be mustered out.

Following Mr. Smith's service in the army he went to Smith's Ferry, in the heart of the Penn- sylvania oil regions, where he engaged in buying and selling oil. In this business he met with finan- cial reverses. Having decided to visit Montana, then in the full flush of profitable placer mining, he started in April, 1868, for the Treasure state, and arrived at Fort Benton by the Missouri river route, in June, continuing on to Georgetown, be- ing in the employ of the Pittsburg & Montana Gold Mining Company, and having with him a quartz mill. This machinery was freighted to its destination, he making the journey by coach. Here he remained until 1870, having superseded Gen. Ewing as general manager. In 1870 he removed the mill to Indian creek, Jefferson county, where he operated it until he had extracted all the sur- face ore, and in 1874 he removed to what is known as the Park "Jaw-bone Mine." Mr. Smith then sold out, and engaged in placer mining on his own account, making quartz mining a side issue. Here he continued until 1893, and secured possession of the Diamond Hill property. This he sold out to Miller, Cooney & Co., and in 1895 went into the mercantile business at Winston, Broadwater county, at that time a part of Jefferson county. Mr. Smith is still a heavy holder of quartz property which he is leasing, together with placer ground on Indian creek. From 1880 until 1890 he was en- gaged in stockraising in addition to his mining interests, usually wintering from 100 to 200 head of cattle.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 164

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