Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 30

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 30

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was conspicuous for gallantry and readiness in action, ever a patriotic soldier.

Mr. Dorr, on October 5, 1865, was honorably dis- charged and mustered out. at New Orleans as com- pany commissary sergeant, and at once returned to Illinois, but after a short time removed to Iowa, where he remained eighteen months. In the spring of 1867 he came to Montana, traveling up the Missouri to Fort Benson and from there over- land to Helena, putting in the following winter mining at Washington gulch in the Blackfoot coun- try. He remained there about a year and then went into Gallatin valley for a few months, and since then has made his home principally in the neigh- borhood of Pony, working for himself in quartz mining in Norwegian gulch, and doing some pros- pecting in Jefferson county. He has been success -· ful, and now owns interests in a number of promis- ing quartz leads in Norwegian gulch, among them the property of which Mr. Finch has recently (1901) made a rich strike. Mr. Dorr is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Yeomen of America. Although a modest and retiring gen- tieman, he has the good opinion of all classes where he is known, and is universally regarded as a man of integrity and unblemished reputation, useful in all public matters and keenly alive to the best in- terests of the county and state, and full of consid- erate and kindly feeling for his fellowmen.

AMMET DUNLAP .- The prosperous and pro- gressive pioneer settler of Dawson county, Mont., whose name is the initiative of these para- graphs, has been a resident of the county in which he lives for twenty-two years. He was born in Seneca county, N. Y., April 19, 1830, and removed with his parents, when a small boy, to Wayne county, Mich., where he received his education at the public schools of the town of Northville. In 1852 he came farther west, locating in Trinity county, Cal., engaged in mining for some years, and went from there to the mining districts of eastern Oregon and Idaho for the same purpose. In all he spent about fourteen years in search of the hidden treasures, but without a gratifying success. After abandoning the mines he was for six or seven years farming in Michigan and Missouri. In 1872 he removed to Minnesota, and carried the mails from Morris in that state to Fort Sisseton, Dak., for eight years. In 1880 he took a grading con-

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tract on the Northern Pacific Railroad, which kept him occupied for two years; and, in 1882, he settled at his present home on Dunlap creek, in the Yel- lowstone valley, about thirty-five miles from Glen- dive, where he has a beautiful ranch of 800 acres de- voted to stockraising, he being one of the most ex- tensive producers of sheep, cattle and horses in Daw- son county. He makes a specialty of thorough- bred Shropshire sheep, and has done much to im- prove the standard of the sheep in the county. His output has a high rank in the market, and he is recognized as one of the leading sheep pro- ducers.

Mr. Dunlap is an unwavering Republican, giv- ing to his party a good share of his time and energy, and wielding a potential influence in its councils ; and although averse to public life, he was induced to accept the office of county commissioner for four years in the nineties, and during his incum- bency rendered valuable service to the people by his close attention to their business and his fair- ness, intelligence and breadth of view in reference to it. He was married at Tokua, Minn., in 1876 to Mrs. Jennie Atkinson, who was born in Canada in 1845, and died at the Dunlap creek home in 1888, leaving two children-Tokua, the first white child born in Big Stone county, Minn., where Mr. Dunlap was living in 1878, and Lennie, born near Chillicothe, Mo., in 1871. Mr. Dunlap is recognized as a leading citizen in his neighborhood, and is looked up to by all classes of the people around him. His progressive methods in farming and ranching have been of great service in their effect upon the work and aspirations of his neighbors, and his con- tributions to the elevation of sentiment and the improvement of methods in reference to stock- breeding, farming and other matters pertaining to his line of industry, have been substantial and fruit- ful.

T ILLIAM S. DUNCAN .- Descendant of a

family distinguished in every line of life in the annals of Scotland, and bearing a conspicuous part in the civil and military history of the United States, William S. Duncan has ancestors on both sides of the house who were gallant soldiers in the Revolution, the war of 1812 and the Mexican war ; and he himself saw arduous service in the Confed- erate army during the Civil war. He was born in Jefferson City, Mo., on April 2, 1843, a son of J. M. and Mary E. (Sheeley) Duncan, both natives

of Kentucky, belonging to families who had moved into that state from Virginia, their ancestors com- ing to America as early emigrants from Scotland and England. His father settled in Callaway county, Mo., in 1825, and engaged in contracting and build- ing, also taking an active interest in local affairs. He died in that state in 1879, leaving two sons and one daughter.

The older son, William, was educated in the dis- trict schools of Callaway county, and the Presby- terian College, which he left in 1861 at the age of eighteen to enlist as a soldier of the Confederacy under Capt. Daniel McIntire, a classmate. He was six months a member of the state guard, and then enlisted in Company A, Second Missouri Volunteers, under Col. John Q. Burbridge. He first saw active service in battle at Carthage, Mo., July 5, 1861, and next at Wilson's Creek in August, where his company lost twenty-four of its forty-six men. He was in the battle of Lexington, and soon after was taken prisoner, and held in captivity until Sep- tember, 1862, being confined at Johnson Island. When he was exchanged he rejoined his regiment in Tennessee, but a few weeks later, owing to sickness, he was transferred to the department of Arkansas, and there served as clerk until he was re- stored to health in 1863. He then took part in the battles of Springfield and Hartville and a number of skirmishes, and was again taken prisoner, but was paroled on condition that he would go west and not return to the army. Accordingly, in the spring of 1864 he journeyed overland to California, where he engaged in various pursuits until the latter part * of 1866 when he returned to Missouri.

Here, in February, 1867, he married Miss Helen Cave, of Danville, Mo., daughter of Henry Cave, a native of Kentucky, of Virginia ancestry. Their children are Harry, engaged in mining at Butte; Montgomery M., a graduate of Independence Col- lege in Missouri, who was admitted to the bar in 1895, was elected county attorney in 1898 and re-elected in 1900; Stewart L., Argyle P., Paul S. and Cave, mining on Norwegian Creek in Madison county; and Orrick O., now attending school. Another son, Philip C., was killed by an explosion in the Gagnon mine at Butte, and a daughter, Helen, is also dead. After his marriage Mr. Dun- can engaged in farming and stockraising in Mis- souri, until 1883, then he came to Montana and after passing the summer at Bozeman removed to Pony and engaged in mining, securing some good property on Norwegian Creek, which his sons are

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now working. He has been a justice of the peace for a number of years ; also a school trustee and road supervisor. Pony was incorporated in 1901, and Mr. Duncan is now serving as its first mayor. He is highly respected as a genial, cultivated and public-spirited gentleman.

worked for wages around Butte as a miner in various capacities. His skill and experience en- abled him to command a good salary, and he was saving and careful of his earnings, which were judiciously invested in Butte city property, and its rapid advance in value proved the soundness of his judgment. While Mr. Dyer's skill and exper- ience as a miner enabled him to command high wages, he was still, under these conditions, to * lose all prospects of becoming himself a mine owner ; so, as early as 1879, having made the ac- quaintance of Michael Connors, a prospector in whose judgment he had confidence, he entered into the usual 'grub-stake' arrangement with him: Dyer furnished the means and Connors prospected on joint account. To show how much pluck and perseverance are necessary for success, even in the rich fields where they operated, it may be stated that this arrangement was steadily continued for seven years. In 1886 they discovered and located the now famous Ontario mine. Dyer's experience as an expert miner now served him to good purpose. A proposition was made by his partner, Connors, to give or take $60,000 for the half interest. It was a big price for a partially developed mine, but Dyer accepted this proposition and gave Connors his notes for the amount and shipped ore enough from this mine to meet his payments at maturity. The first car-load of ore netted $1,566 at the United States sampling works in Helena. Mr. Dyer continued to work the Ontario mine on individual account until 1893, realizing about $117,000 net profits up to that date. Having other mining prop- his American life, now crowned with distinctive · erties adjoining, he then concluded to incorporate a company to develop and work the whole property on a large scale with the best machinery. This resulted in the organization, January 3, 1893, of the Ontario Mining Co., with Mr. Dyer as presi- dent and principal stockholder. The company was' capitalized at $300,000, and is probably the only mining venture in Montana the stock of which commanded par from its organization, and before the company had taken out a pound of ore."

ILLIAM DYER .- In the stern, seagirted, rugged old county of Cornwall, England, industry thrives and sturdy manhood is engen- dered. Here the metallic ores are stored in great abundance, and their mines have been worked from remote antiquity. The sterling character of the manhood of the typical Cornishman has for years been acknowledged. So in referring to Mr. Dyer as a Cornishman we accord him a tribute of high honor, and it is sufficient that in America, whither he came as a young emigrant, dependent entirely upon his own resources, he has achieved a notable success in that line of industry which has given Cornwall its prestige. His forefathers had devoted themselves for generations to mining, but the op- portunities of the new world have enabled him to achieve the success the old world refused his an- cestors. William, Dyer was born in the town and the parish of St. Austell, Cornwall, England, on February 28, 1853, of old Cornish stock. His educa- tion was given by the public schools, and he early became identified with the Cornish mining industry, and he there gained that appreciation of the dig- nity of honest toil which has been but intensified in

success and honor. Ambitious and self-reliant, the young Cornishman determined to emigrate to America and seek his fortune under more aus- picious conditions. Accordingly, in 1873, at the age of twenty, he came to the United States, and naturally sought employment in mining. He se- cured work in the iron mines of New Jersey, where he remained three years, when he determined to follow the advice of Horace Greeley: "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country." Of this period of his life we can perhaps best use the words of a previous writer :

"He first stopped around Central City, Colo., and there engaged in mining, contracting and kin- dred occupations suited to his skill and experience. After two years in Colorado, Dyer pushed forward to the richer fields of Montana, arriving in Butte on March 16, 1878. For a number of years he

Since 1895 Mr. Dyer has devoted his attention to the supervision of his mining interests in Silver Bow county and his valuable real estate holdings in Butte. In September, 1884, after having been absent for more than a decade, Mr. Dyer made a visit to his old home in Cornwall, where he re- mained a year, and in 1895, his health having be- come impaired, he again visited the scenes of his childhood, the same self-reliant, genial and whole-

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souled individual who. was once a poor young emigrant, but now a man of wealth and influence. His conditions had changed, but not his person- ality, for he is ever mindful of his early struggles and labors, is ever ready to grasp the hand of the honest working man. He is a man of broad mental grasp, a thorough executive and one who never fails to show interest in the public welfare. The Republican party, recognizing Mr. Dyer's mature judgment and marked business sagacity, nomi- nated him as their candidate for, and the people of Silver Bow county chose him as, a member of the convention which, in 1889, formulated the present admirable constitution of the state. Fra- ternally he holds membership in the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders and he is now ( 1901) prelate of Montana Commandery No. 3, Knights Templar, while he is a past grand of Fidelity Lodge No. 8, I. O. O. F. His career has been marked by no exciting phases, but he has been true in all the relations of life, has labored indefatigably and has achieved success by worthy means. Turning, in conclusion, to the domestic chapter in the life of Mr. Dyer, we find that when he started as an emigrant in 1873 he was accompanied by his wife, whom he had wooed and won only a short time pre- viously. He was married at Plymouth, where they embarked, to Miss Amelia Ann Skelly, a native of Cornwood county, Devonshire, England, and who continued his companion and helpmate until her death, on May 28, 1895. On January 17, 1899, Mr. Dyer was again married, the ceremony occur- ring in Mountain View church in Butte, where he was united with Miss Lida Pepple, who was born in Ohio, a descendant of one of its old families. They have one daughter, Marion Wilber.

M ONTGOMERY M. DUNCAN .- Among the young members of the Montana bar is Mr. Duncan, who is now serving his second term as county attorney of Madison county, and who has attained popularity through his ability and his personal qualities. He was born in Fulton, Cal- laway county, Mo., on November II, 1869. His father. William S. Duncan, was also born in Mis- souri, where he was graduated from Westminster college, at Fulton, in the class of 1861, after which he was a farmer until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted as a private for service in the Confederate army, under Gen. Price, and was in

military life until 1864, when he went to California, where he passed two years and returned to his home in Missouri, where, in 1867, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Helen Cave, a native of that state, the daughter of Henry Cave, a Kentuckian and a lawyer of ability. He was a slaveholder and fairly well-to-do.

Montgomery M. Duncan was second in a family of eight children. He attended the schools of Ful- ton until he came with the family to Montana in 1883 and here he was in the public schools until 1893, when he took a one year's course in Woodland college, at Independence, Mo. He then began read- ing law with Shelby & Ott, in Independence, and after two years of application was admitted to the bar of Missouri in March, 1895. He practiced in that state for one year, then returned to Montana, and was here granted admission to the bar on March 18, 1896. He located a law office at Pony, Madison county, and soon secured a reputation for ability and skill. He took active interest in politics and was an earnest worker in the Democratic party, by which he was elected county attorney in 1898, and served with such efficiency as to gain popular endorsement. He was nominated to succeed him- self in 1900, and was again elected by a flattering majority of 483 votes, receiving the largest vote of any candidate in the county. His religious faith is Presbyterian, and fraternally he belongs to Madison Lodge No. 26, I. O. O. F., at Pony ; Virginia City Lodge No. I, A. F. & A. M., and Virginia City Lodge No. 590, Woodmen of the World. Mr. Duncan is a man of marked individu- ality, is thoroughly in love with his profession and enjoys a distinctive personal popularity. Of liis six brothers, one, Philip C., was killed in the Gagnon mine, at Butte, in June, 1900; and the others are connected with mining enterprises at Pony, as is also their tather. They own the Boxer and Pauline mines, and are successful in their oper- ations. Mr. Duncan is attorney for the Isdell Mercantile Company, of Pony.

G EORGE EDINGER .- In the personnel of its officials Beaverhead county is signally fa- vored, and prominent among those who are render- ing efficient service in positions of trust and respon- sibility is Mr. Edinger, her present county treas- urer.

Mr. Edinger is a native of Indiana, having been

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born in Boongrove, Porter county. September 29, 1868. His father, Jacob Edinger, was born in Ger- many, immigrated to the United States about the year 1845 and located in New York. He removed to Ohio and thence to Indiana, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, to which he has ever devoted his attention, and became a representative citizen of Porter county. It is there was solemnized his mar- riage to Miss Dora E. Dunn, also born in Ger- many, who accompanied her parents on their removal to America in 1848, the family locating in Indiana. Of the eight children of this union the subject of this review was the sixth in order of birth.

George Edinger was reared on the old home- stead and early became inured to the work inci- dent to its cultivation, while his educational privi- leges were such as were afforded in the public schools, which he attended. during the winter months. He finally left home, going to Chicago, where he was employed in a commission house for two winters. In 1886 he made his way to Mon- tana, locating in Dillon, where one of his brothers had previously taken up his abode. He engaged in ranching until 1888, and then turned his atten- tion to the dairy business. Thereafter he held a clerkship in a grocery at Dillon, and in 1889 worked in the mines at Castle, Meagher county. In the fall of that year Mr. Edinger went to Alaska, but re- turned to Idaho and engaged in mining in the vicin- ity of Burke for a period of one year, after which he was employed at the Hunter mine. In the winter of 1891 he went to Butte and engaged in mining. In 1893 he returned to Dillon and was employed in the electric light plant until the spring of the following year, when he accepted a position with the Montana Mercantile Company, remaining until February, 1898. He once more made his way to the far north, going to Dawson, British Columbia, where he engaged in prospecting and mining for one season, returning to Montana and to his old home, his mother having died in Novem- ber, 1898. He returned to Montana in January, 1899, again entering the employ of the Montana Mercantile Company, at Dillon, and was thus en- gaged until being elected county treasurer in 1900. To this important office he brought excellent business and executive ability, while his sturdy in- tegrity of character had gained for him the con- fidence and respect of the general public, hence his preferment met with flattering endorsement. This is evident when it is taken into consideration that

he was elected in a county whose normal political complexion is strongly Republican, while he has ever been a stalwart supporter of the Democratic party. He received a majority of 125 votes. Fra- ternally Mr. Edinger is identified with the Wood- men of the World and the Royal Highlanders, while his genial personality has secured a wide circle of friends in the community.

On September 3, 1896, Mr. Edinger was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Carter, who was born in Beaverhead county, the daughter of William B. Carter, one of the honored pioneers who located at Bannack in 1862, and was for many years promi- nently identified with the industrial activities of this section of Montana. Mrs. Edinger was reared and educated in her native county, completing a course of study in the high school at Dillon. Our subject and his wife have one son, William Carter Edinger, who was born October 8, 1900.

H ON. ROBERT S. FORD, president of the Great Falls National Bank, is one of the most prominent business men of northern Montana. A pioneer of 1864, as freighter, rancher, stockman and financier, he has steadily advanced in prosperity and importance in every position he has held. His successful life is an example of what energy, en- terprise, industry and perseverance, coupled with ability and capacity for affairs, will accomplish and has accomplished in this prosperous commonwealth of Montana. R. S. Ford came of a good ancestry and has had a strong physique and vitality to with- stand deprivations and hardships that would have crushed a weaker physical organization. Away back in the early settlement of Ohio, his grand- father, Robert Ford, was one of its pioneer farmers. He was of Irish and English lineage and the Ford family was domiciled in New York long before the Revolution. Robert Ford moved from Ohio to Kentucky in the first quar- ter of the nineteenth century, when his son John was a small child. The son was reared in rural surroundings s as a tiller of the soil and learned carpentry. Here he met and married Miss Henrietta Simpson, whose family were early settlers of the state, conspicuous in its history and giving name to Simpson county, where they located and where she and her children were born. A happy life they lived for a few brief years, strict in their attendance on the services of the

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Baptist church, of which they were members, and faithful in their duty. But the husband died in his thirtieth year, leaving four children to lighten the widow's woe. In 1855 her brothers made their home in Missouri and she and her children accom- panied them. When came the Civil war she re- turned to Kentucky, where she died in 1873, aged fifty-three.

Robert Simpson Ford, born in Simpson county, Ky., on January 14, 1842, was the son of John and Henrietta (Simpson) Ford. He cheerfully fol- lowed the fortunes of his mother until 1861, receiv- ing a good common school education in Westport, Mo. Possessing a rugged constitution and a desire for adventure, he did not accompany his mother on her return to Kentucky, but started for that land of promise, the distant but entrancing west, in his nineteenth year, engaging in freighting in 1861 between Nebraska City and Julesburg and Fort Laramie, as an employe. Faithful and unremitting service brought its reward, in 1862 he was an as- sistant wagon master, in 1863 in charge of a wagon train, and in 1864 he came to Montana as captain of an ox train of merchandise. These were the rude days of the territory, now the civilized state. The Indian was often encountered in war paint and in numbers, while the hand of man had not smoothed the highways or bridged the streams. In Montana he continued as a freighter between Cow Island and Fort Benton, and many of his experiences would seem strangely wild and exciting to our business men of today. Hotels were unknown and many other conveniences now styled necessaries. But he pluckily kept to work, saving his earnings and sending money to his mother. In 1868 he visited her in Kentucky and the next spring returned to engage in the enterprise that has been the founda- tion of his wealth. Going to Colorado he bought 300 Texas cows, drove them to Montana, sold them at a handsome profit in Beaverhead valley, and re- turned to Denver and purchased 700 head of cattle, which, in 1871, he drove to Sun River valley where he located and built a cabin within two miles of the site of Great Falls. Here he wintered his stock and sold them in the spring with good returns. His next importation from Colorado, a herd of 1,200 cattle, was wintered at the same location, but in 1873 he moved further up the valley and, as the pioneer stockraiser of Sun River, established his home on the ranch he has so developed and im- proved. From that time he engaged extensively and lucratively in stockraising, devising new ways

and methods to make the business a paying one, and his forethought and sagacity were well re- warded. He soon made profitable contracts with the United States government to supply beef to the garrison at Fort Shaw, and his wealth increased steadily, surely and rapidly. In 1878 he went to Kentucky, wedded there Miss Sue McClanahan, and brought her on a bridal trip to the attractive Sun River ranch. Of the five children that have brightened their home, but two survive, Lee McC. and Shirley S.

A wise caution and a careful conservatism pre- vented the gains of Mr. Ford from passing out of his hands, although a bountiful generosity and a typical western hospitality have ever been pro- nounced characteristics of his nature. This con- servatism aligned him in politics with the Demo- cratic party, and, as his abilities and personality became known, he was called to places of distinctive trust. He represented Choteau county in the legis- lature that convened in January, 1876, with the ability and ease of an old legislator, and in 1876 the counties of Choteau and Meagher elected him to serve in the Montana senate of 1877, while he was chosen in 1880 to represent in the territorial council of the legislature of 1881 the district comprising the counties of Lewis and Clarke, Choteau, Meagher and Dawson. His legislative record shows good service for his constituents and a wise conservation of the interests of the commonwealth, while public spirit and legislative economy were harmoniously blended in his acts and votes. In the less conspicu- ous but fully as responsible station of county com- missioner, Mr. Ford has done most excellent ser- vice, combining rare executive powers with so wise and truthful an administration as to produce not only public benefits, but harmonious action of would-be divergent forces.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 30

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