Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 182

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 182

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he again tried mining, but impaired health forced his return to the valley, but later joining an ex- pedition to the Black Hills, returning to Galla- tin valley he remained three or four years, and in 1880 purchased his present ranch property of 320 acres, all under effective irrigation and de- voted principally to the raising of barley and oats. He has made good improvements on the place, having a comfortable home where he enjoys a life of "single blessedness." His ranch is located three miles west of Bozeman, the county seat, which is his postoffice address, and is one of the valu- able and prolific farms of this favored section of the state. In politics Mr. Ward gives his alle- giance to the Republican party, and he takes a lively interest in the questions and issues of the day. A man of strong mental force and distinct individ- uality, he is uniformly esteemed for his many ex- cellent qualities by all who know him, and is one of Montana's honored pioneers.

JUDGE DORIC G. WARNER, of Boulder, the representative of his county in the senate of the Montana legislature, where he is now serving his second term, was born in Chenango county, N. Y., on April 29, 1827. In the early days of the Con- necticut colony his Welsh ancestors located at New Haven, where his grandfather, Richard P. Warner, was born. The family has ever stood high in America in scholarly and professional lines and strongly loyal to its patriotism. Several of its mem- bers have been Presbyterian clergymen and authors. They are a long-lived people, many of them being nonogenarians, one of them, Ada Warner, having died in 1891 of the grip, at the age of ninety-nine. The father of Judge Warner was born in Connect- icut in 1797, and in 1823 he married Miss Lucia Carter, a Massachusetts lady and a successful teacher in New York city. All of their six children are living. Mrs. Lucia Warner attained the age of eighty-six years and her husband that of eighty- seven.

Judge Warner, the second child of his parents, was reared on the New York farm, working indus- triously except when in attendance at the district schools. This early schooling was supplemented by a course at the Oneida Seminary, from which he was graduated with honors. Then two years were passed as a clerk at Mount Morris in Living- ston county. In 1848 gold was discovered in Cal-

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ifornia and by 1851 the excitement was at fever heat. Going by the Isthmus of Panama, in that year, Mr. Warner made his way to San Francisco, and from there went to Sacra- mento and to the placer mines below Colo- ma on the south fork of the American river. Satisfied that the river bed was rich in aurif- erous deposits, sixteen men flumed it for one mile, the work costing $80,000. Until the rainy season prevented labor they took gold out very rapidly, securing over $100,000. While crossing the isth- mus Mr. Warner had an attack of fever from which he never fully recovered. Advised by a physician to return east, with great reluctance he abandoned California and returned to his home. In 1854 he accepted a clerkship in the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad office in Chicago, and was later station agent at Henry, Marshall county. In that city, on September 4, 1855, Mr. Warner was united in mar- riage to Miss Helen J. Cook, born in Erie county. Pa., in 1836. Her parents later removed to Ohio, and in 1847 to Illinois, where they were among the earliest settlers. Her father, Washington E. Cook, was a prominent Democrat, and was a dele- gate to the famous Democratic national convention held at Charleston, S. C., in 1860, and he was county clerk of Marshall county for sixteen years. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Warner has been graced by three children, Burton C., George E. and Lottie R., now Mrs. Ralph L. Moore, of Missoula. Mr. and Mrs. Moore have one son, Glenn.

Mr. and Mrs. Warner made their home in Illinois, with the exception of one year passed in New Orleans, until 1868, when Mr. Warner came to Montana, leaving his wife and only surviving child with friends. He came on the Union Pacific Railway to Cheyenne, Wyo., and thence by stage to Utah and Helena, Mont. On this trip he paid twenty-five cents a pound for his freight. . He en- gaged in mining for about one year in Jefferson gulch, Deer Lodge county, after which he opened a hotel at that place, and there he was soon after joined by his wife and son, Burton Cook Warner, now residing in Washington. The next year they removed to Blackfoot City, still continuing hotel keeping, and when the White Pine excitement stam- peded the people from that locality Mr. Warner's family returned east. Mr. Warner then located at Radersburg, the county seat of Jefferson county. Here he pre-empted land, on which he made val- uable improvements, and in 1880 he was elected probate judge of Jefferson county. His wife and

son rejoined him and they resided here until 1883. Then, having been re-elected in 1882 to the judge- ship, he removed to Boulder, the new county seat. Before his first election as probate judge Mr. Warner was undersheriff with Sheriff Easterly for a number of years.

Soon after his removal to Boulder, Judge War- ner purchased 200 acres of land on the east of the town and later forty acres south of the town. He then engaged in real estate operations and in the improvement of the city. He plotted a portion of each tract and donated the city the site of the brick schoolhouse, and he also owned a portion of the land on which the court house was built. In 1885 he built the elegant house east of Boulder where he at present resides. In early life Mr. Warner was a Whig, and when that party ceased to exist he became a Democrat. While a resident of Mar- shall county, Ill., he was elected county clerk. In 1898 he was elected state senator from Jefferson county, Mont., on the Democratic ticket, and as senator is still in service. From March, 1899, to June, 1901, Mr. Warner made two extended visits to California, one of three and the other of six months. When the office of probate judge was abolished he was appointed justice of the peace and held that office until his election as state senator. He has mounted the Masonic stairway to the Royal Arch degree, and by his intelligence and upright bearing, his mastery of difficult life problems, his wonderful grasp and treatment of all official posi- tions, as well as by his winning personal traits of character, Judge Warner is rounding out a long life of useful activities, and is quietly and unosten- tatiously doing his share as a private citizen toward the advancement of the city's best interests.

CHRISTOPHER H. WATERMAN .- In the old Green Mountain state of Vermont was born this sterling old Montana pioneer, and both he and his devoted wife lived up to the full ten- sion of the strenuous life on the frontier in the early days, and their names may well appear on record, for they were assigned active roles in the great drama enacted by the brave men and noble women who gathered about the cradle of the infant Montana and assisted in rearing it to a foremost position among the great states of the Pacific northwest. Mr. Waterman has had an eventful career, even aside from his association with Montana, and though the province of this pub-

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lication is necessarily circumscribed, yet it is per- mitted us to enter a brief resume of his life history. He was born in Rutland county, Vt., on January 24, 1826, the son of John and Caroline (Hilliard) Waterman, both of whom were Vermonters by birth, but who eventually removed to the Hol- land purchase in western New York, where they peacefully closed their lives, the former, a farmer, having passed away at the age of forty-five and the latter at the age of eighty-one. Four of their eight children are living.

Christopher H. Waterman was but one year old at the removal to New York and there he was reared to maturity on the pioneer farmstead, his education being acquired in the district and select schools. At the age of twenty years he left the parental home for Michigan, but after one year he returned east, soon afterward adopting a seafaring life, which vocation he continued for fourteen years. Within this time he served as first mate on some of the finest vessels afloat, and for seven years was captain of smaller craft. In 1851 Mr. Waterman went to California, and for two years sailed on vessels running out of San Francisco. He then with others obtained con- trol of an island lying to the west of San Fran- cisco, wliere they engaged in securing seal oil, eggs, furs, etc., and within two months they mar- keted 10,000 dozen of eggs at $1.00 per dozen and sold $3,000 worth of seal oil, the venture net- ting them a neat profit. Mr. Waterman then re- turned to New York, and as first mate of a large

vessel started for Havre, France, and at the New London hotel in that city he met and married Miss Catherine Boyle, a sister of the landlady of the hotel. She was born in Paisley, Renfrew- shire, Scotland, on June 13; 1835, the daughter of John and Catherine (Devlin) Boyle, both natives of the Emerald Isle. Her father was employed for many years at the gas works at Paisley and Glasgow, Scotland, and died on March 1, 1842, at the age of forty-seven. His wife long sur- vived him, coming to the United States with her children and dying on November 21, 1887, at the venerable age of eighty-six, being then an inmate of the home of her daughter, Mrs. Henry Monforton, in Bozeman. Mrs. Waterman is the only survivor of her nine children. Mr. and Mrs. Waterman are the parents of three children, all married and well established in life, and all resi- dents of Gallatin county : Jerome B. married Miss Dora Sales, and they have one son ; Catherine L.,

married William L. McDonnell, and they have three children: Charles R .. married Miss Mary Arnold and they have two children. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Waterman was solemnized on No- vember 30, 1859, Chaplain E. N. Sawtelle, United States navy officiating at the ceremony. After reaching the United States the ceremony was re- peated by Rev. Father Van Gorp, of the Catholic church.

After his marriage Mr. Waterman returned to New York, where he settled his maritime affairs and then he was in business at Havre, France, until the outbreak of the American Civil war, when he settled in Saginaw, Mich., and was in the cooperage business until 1864, when he started for Montana, leaving his wife to stay at the home of her mother in Brooklyn, N. Y., as she was not in sufficiently robust health to endure the trip. At St. Joseph, Mo., Mr. Waterman secured an ox team and wagon, and on May 4, 1864, left that city on the journey across the plains, one of a party comprising about 200 emigrants. The trip consumed about three months, and Mr. Waterman came at once to the Gallatin valley, where he forthwith took up a government claim of 160 acres, and to this original homestead he has added until he now has a magnificent landed estate of about 1,800 acres, including the ranches which he has provided for his sons. Upon his original little farm Mr. Waterman built a primitive log cabin of the regulation frontier type, and made every possible preparation for the comfort of his wife, who was to join him as soon as expedient. The next year Mrs. Waterman started, alone with her infant child, to join her husband, and one can but admire the strength and fortitude of this noble woman, bred in a city and hitherto sur- rounded by all the comforts and luxuries, who would essay to make 'a journey to such a wild sec- tion. She made the trip by the water route, cross- ing the Isthmus of Panama and thence proceed- ing to San Francisco, from which city she was compelled to travel by stage for the remainder of her journey, one of exceeding peril and dis- comfort.

On every hand she heard tales of the hazardous nature of the long and weary overland journey, and she was admonished not to continue her way without more effective protection, being as- sured that she could scarcely hope to escape death at the hands of the Indians. But her woman heart was strong and unflinching and the ordeal

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could not daunt her courage. When the stage was ready to start she found that she was the only woman who was to make the trip. At one sta- tion where the stage stopped for a change of horses, disquieting reports were heard as to the hostility of Indians along the route farther on, and all the other travelers decided to proceed no further. But the one woman was more dauntless than were the men, and realizing that her supply of money was about exhausted and that it was imperative for her to reach her destination, she informed the driver that she would accompany him and take his chances to the end of the journey. So, clasping her child to her breast, she resumed her seat in the lumbering old vehicle, wiiereupon the men, shamed by the courage of the lone woman, decided to go on also. At the very next relay station were unmistakable evidences of the dangers that really threatened, for the coach which had preceded them ,was found in flames, kindled by the Indians, who had murdered and robbed the passengers. The coach in which Mrs. Water- man was traveling finally reached Virginia City without experiencing any trouble from the In- dians, and here the brave woman heard news which would have made even a stouter heart quail, for she was informed that the Indians had gone through the valley where her husband was lo- cated and had killed every settler. The blow al- most prostrated her, but the next day brought the glad news that Mr. Waterman was alive and well, and within a few days he came for his wife and child, and it is needless to say that the re- union was a most affecting one.

Mr. Waterman paid $82 for the few days' ac- commodations his wife had secured in Virginia City, and they then proceeded to the little cabin home. Here there was still great cause for anxi- ety, for there they were overshadowed by the con- stant menace of the Indians, who might attack and murder the isolated settlers at any moment. On one occasion the commanding officer at Fort Ellis sent word to Mr. Waterman to be armed and ready, for the Indians were coming and he could not leave the post. The few settlers kept an outpost to warn them so that they might flee to the refuges which they had prepared, if the In- dians approached, and all of the women went into Bozeman for greater safety, with the exception of Mrs. Waterman, who insisted on remaining with her husband at the little home. Here they lived for eleven years, peace and prosperity succeed-

ing the alarms of the early days, when the health of all the family became impaired, and Mr. Water- man rented the ranch and removed to Maryland, and purchased a farm, where was their home for a few years, after which they returned to their old home in Montana. This farm is under high cultivation with the best of improvements, itt- cluding a fine country residence, a marked con- trast to the early cabin home. In 1899 Mr. Water- man purchased an attractive residence property in Bozeman, and here they pass the winter months, and in 1901 Mr. Waterman visited his old home in New York, meeting two of his sisters, whom he had not seen for thirty-seven years. In politics Mr. Waterman is a Republican, and he served for several years as justice of the peace, and in 1868 he was the candidate of his party for represent- ative in the territorial legislature, but was de- feated by two votes. He became identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows many years ago, while a resident in the east. He had the distinction of being the first president of the reorganized Gallatin County Pioneers' Society. Mrs. Waterman is a member of the Catholic church, in which faith she was reared. The family occupy a prominent place in the social life of the community, and incidentally it may be in or- der to here mention that Mr. Waterman possesses documents demonstrating that his grandfather, David Waterman, enlisted at the age of seven- teen, in 1877, in the Continental army, serving faithfully in the Revolution. The youngest brother of Mrs. Waterman, Capt. Peter T. Boyle, served gallantly in the Sixty-third New York Infantry in the Civil war, and was killed in the battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864.

S AMUEL F. WAY, the leading dentist of Liv- ingston, Park county, Mont., is one of the most successful practitioners in the state. He was born in Waynesville, Ohio, on June 6, 1862, the son of Dr. S. J. and Etta (Fishburn) Way, both natives of Bradford county, Pa. The paternal grandfather, James Way, of Welsh ancestry, was also a native of Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather, James Fishburn, was born of Irish lineage in South Carolina. His father had come to America in an official relation and was long a magistrate in the Carolinas under George III. Dr. Way's later forebears were active participants

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in the wars of the Revolution and 1812, the love of liberty being a marked characteristic of his race. Dr. S. J. Way was a personal friend of John Brown, the historic "Ossawatomie" Brown, of Kansas and of Harper's Ferry. He also was noted for his activity in breaking the fetters of the oppressed, and took a lively interest in the underground railway. He had the greatest love for his country, and was much chagrined that a serious accident disabled him from taking a sol- dier's place in the Union ranks of the great Civil war. In numerous other ways, however, his patri- otism was prominently manifested.

Dr. Samuel F. Way, one of a family of two sons and two daughters, passed his early days in Waynesville, Ohio, where he was in attendance on the public schools until the failure of his health caused him to seek the balmier air of the south, where he spent a few years. Subsequently he entered the Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati, thoroughly qualifying himself by dili- gent study and application, both in the theory and the technical branches of his responsible profes- sion of dentistry, and for some years followed his profession in the south. On his return he located in Minnesota, practicing in the southeast- ern portion of the state. Later he came to Mon- tana, settling in Livingston, Park county, where he has built up a large and representative prac- tice in comparatively a few years time. He has elegant dental parlors in the new postoffice block, and is thoroughly equipped with all of the latest accessories of a complete outfit in his line. On June 6, 1894, Dr. Way wedded Miss Cora Raf- ferty, of Spring Valley, Minn., the daughter of Francis Rafferty, who was long engaged in ranch- ing and stockraising in that state. She died on June 21, 1894. Dr. Way is a member of Liv- ingston Lodge No. 32, A. F. & A. M., Living- ston Chapter No. 7, R. A. M., St. Bernard Com- mandery No. 6, Zurah Temple A. A. O. N. M. S., at Minneapolis, Livingston Consistory, thirty- second degree, Knights of Pythias and the Benev- olent Protective Order of Elks.

JOHN G. WEAVER .- The great German em- pire has contributed in no small measure to the sterling citizenship of the United States, and in all sections of our national domain may be found those who claim the Fatherland as the place of their

nativity. Not to all, however, has it been given to sever the home ties in early youth and come to America and face the problem of life prac- tically alone and among strangers; and it is cer- tain that not all have shown their allegiance to their adopted country and have defended her es- sential institutions on the field of battle as has the honored Montana pioneer whose name intro- duces this paragraph, and who is one of the rep- resentative citizens and successful agriculturists of Gallatin county, where the fullest meed of con- fidence and respect is not denied him by those who have known him so long and well.

Mr. Weaver was born in Wurtemburg, Ger- many, in the month of May, 1842, being the son of Christopher Weaver, who was born in the same kingdom, where he allowed the shoe- making business until his death. In his family were five children, of whom Mr. Weaver is the only living representative. . To the excellent schools of the fatherland he is indebted for the educational privileges which were his in youth, and he was but a lad of thirteen years when he bade adieu to home and native land and set sail for America. He disembarked in the city of New Orleans and thence came up the Mississippi river to Cairo, whence he continued his voyage up the Ohio river to Lawrenceburg, Ind., where a brother of his mother was located. He soon afterward removed to Fountain county, Ind., where he was residing at the outbreak of the Civil war. In August, 1861, in response to the call for volun- teers, Mr. Weaver enlisted as a member of Com- pany H, Second New York Light Cavalry, Col. Kilpatrick commanding. He was mustered in at Washington, D. C., where the regiment devoted about three months to the necessary tactical drill, after which it crossed the Potomac to Arlington, Va., where it was stationed until March, when it went to Manassas. Returning thence to Arling- ton, the regiment continued there until April, when it. started for Fredericksburg, unexpectedly fall- ing in with the Union forces at Falmouth and par- ticipating in an unsuccessful engagement with the enemy. They remained in that vicinity until July, when they joined Gen. Pope's forces, at Culpeper Court House, being in the command of Gen. Mc- Dowell. They had several skirmishes with the Confederates, and then returned to the national capital, and in October were sent to Warrenton, Va., where Gen. Burnside assumed command, and passed the winter at Fredericksburg. In May,

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1863, Gen. Hooker having taken command, they started on a raid through Virginia, moving toward Richmond and proceeding as far as Gloucester, rejoining the main army after the expiration of a fortnight and thence proceeding to Gettysburg, participating in the ever memorable battle at that point, and thereafter being in the command of Gen. Mead, having almost daily skirmishes with the enemy. They passed the winter at Stevens- burg, Culpeper county, Va., doing scouting and picket duty, and in the spring of 1864 joined Gen. Grant's forces, participating in a hard fight at Parker's Store and in the battle at Spottsyl- vania Court House on the 10th of May. The Second New York Light Cavalry then joined in Gen. Sheridan's raid to Richmond. The regiment went to James river for supplies, rejoined the main army, having had a sharp fight at Haws' Shop. Thereafter they were in numerous skir- mishes, took part in the engagement at Stony creek, and then continued up the Shenandoah val- ley. They participated in the engagement at Win- chester, on the 19th of September, and at Cedar creek on the 19th of the following month, Col. Hall being killed November 12th. They passed the winter in the vicinity of Winchester, and Feb- ruary 26, 1865, joined Grant's forces, with which they participated in the engagements at Stony creek, Five Forks, Sailors' creek and Appomat- tox station. On the 25th of June, 1865, Mr. Weaver was honorably discharged, at the Fed- eral capital, as quartermaster of his regiment. After the grand review of the victorious armies he returned to Indiana, where he remained until February of the following year. On the 6th of that month Mr. Weaver started for Montana, which was then a portion of the territory of Idaho, and came on one of Ben Holliday's stage coaches as far as Salt Lake City, where he remained a month; joined Col. Foster's party and came on to Montana. He located in the Gallatin valley, where he followed farming until 1873, when he purchased a tract of land near Middle creek, where he continued to reside until 1876, the year of the general financial panic in this section of the country. He then turned his attention to min- ing, which line of enterprise he followed with varying success until 1880, when he purchased a portion of his present fine ranch property, located on Middle creek, about eight miles west of the city of Bozeman and about the same distance from Belgrade, the former being his postoffice address.

Here he now has an estate of 160 acres of fine land, the same being supplied with an effective system of irrigation and all being available for cultivation. The principal crop raised is oats, though other cereals and hay give prolific yields. The home- stead has excellent improvements of a permanent nature, and on every hand are evidences of the success which has attended the well directed ef- forts of our subject, who is recognized as one of the energetic and progressive citizens of the county and as one worthy of all esteem.

In politics Mr. Weaver is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Republican party ; fraternally he is identified with the Masonic order and Wmn. English Post, G. A. R., at Bozeman. He is a member of the board of school trustees and takes an active interest in educational affairs and all else that conserves the advancement and well being of the community.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 182

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