Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 41

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 41

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

As far back as 1859 Robert Coburn came out to Denver, making the trip across the plains by the Platte river. Here he mined with more or less success for three years. In 1863 he came to Montana, locating first at Alder Gulch, now Virginia City, and continued mining on Moody & Dixie's bars and also in Bevan's gulch. In 1864 Mr. Coburn was mining on Silver creek when Cowan and his party came along and took up the first claim on Last Chance gulch. Mr. Coburn had learned of the presence of gold in the gulch from "Gold . Tom," a squaw man, who panned out the first gold in the almost fabulously rich mining sec- tion in the fall of 1864. Mr. Coburn secured the ownership of discovery claim No. 4, and later pur- chased Nos. 7 and 8. In the spring of 1865, in company with George Cleveland and Jim Coburn, he began work on claims 7 and 8, having lost his claim on No. 4 by being absent from it. On

claims 7 and 8 the party averaged between three and four hundred dollars a day. In 1866 Mr. Coburn began ranching on Big Prickly Pear creek. He had purchased cattle from Iowa and Minnesota and his placer mining days being over he engaged in a new and even more profitable industry.

Mr. Coburn followed stockraising here until 1869, when he moved to the mouth of the canyon on Prickly Pear creek and continued ranching here until 1872 when he removed to Rock creek, where he lived three years, in 1875 coming to what is now Cascade county. Here he took up government land and resided upon it until 1882, when he removed to White Sulphur Springs and in 1886 to the Little Rockies. He still holds that range of nearly 30,000 acres, which is well stocked with cattle, and he owns an interest in some mines near Castle and White Sulphur Springs.

Although having never been an officeseeker in any sense of the word, Mr. Coburn has been a life- long and faithful Democrat and is a valued Mason. Mr. Coburn enjoys the respect of all with whom he has ever been brought into business or social rela- tions. In the welfare of Great Falls he has ever manifested a deep interest since he cast his lot with the citizens of the place. In 1901 the Coburn Cattle Co. was organized with a capital of $250,000, in 2500 shares, held by Mr. Coburn and four of his children, retaining 1619 shares. This corporation has practically taken in charge all of the Coburn cattle holdings in northern Montana.

Mr. Coburn was married in July, 1865, in Helena, to Mary Morrow, a native of Canada. They had seven children: Jessie, now Mrs. Maddox; William M., Robert J., Wallace D., Agnes M., and Edna and Warren, deceased. Mrs. Coburn died in 1885, and, in 1890, Mr. Coburn married with Mary Blessing, a native of Ohio. They have two children, Walter and Harold.

JAMES H. HATHAWAY, deputy collector of - internal revenue and ex-sheriff of Lewis and Clarke county, is one of the most highly es- teemed residents of Helena, Mont. He was born in Monroe county, Ohio, on September 25, 1844, the son of Cephas and Anna (Hill) Hathaway, natives of New Jersey and Massachusetts. The father was a saddle and harnessmaker, who passed most of his life in Washington county, Pa., and in Ohio, in which latter state he died, aged ninety-two years,

Robert laburn

201

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

and the mother was ninety years old at the time of her death. Mr. Hathaway started for Montana in 1864 from Cortland, Ohio. He made the monot- onous overland journey in the usual manner, by ox train, coming through Kansas and Lander's cut- off, and arrived at Alder gulch, Mont., on June 4, 1864. Here he engaged in mining and other oc- cupations until 1865, when he came to Helena, where he has since been a resident. The early min- ing days of Mr. Hathaway here included the years from 1864 to 1870, and prior to 1883 he was in the United States internal revenue service and deputy United States marshal under Marshal A. C. Bot- kin, and he had charge of the courts in eastern Montana from 1880 to 1883.

Mr. Hathaway was elected postmaster of the national house of representatives for the Fifty-first congress. The war record of Mr. Hathaway is a most enviable one. In 1861 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fifth Ohio Infantry, serving in the Fourteenth Army Corps, in the Army of the Cum- berland. He was at the battles of Richmond and Lexington, Ky., and at Chaplin Heights, where he was wounded five times. He was sent to the hos- pital at Louisville, Ky., and from there to Colum- bus, Ohio, where he was discharged in March, 1863. In 1887 Mr. Hathaway was elected sheriff of Lewis and Clarke county, efficiently discharging the duties of that office until December 20, 1889, and prior to that period he had charge of the of- fice under D. H. Churchill, and also served as under sheriff for two years. In 1898 he was reinstated in the internal revenue service as deputy collector for the district of Montana. In 1873 Mr. Hatha- way was married in Ohio to Miss Olive C. Post, who died in 1877, leaving two children. In Octo- ber, 1889, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Ida MeClintock, of Wisconsin, and they have one son, Paul A. Fraternally Mr. Hathaway is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he is past grand master, A. F. & A. M., of Montana. The career of Mr. Hathaway has been eminently suc- cessful in Montana, and he enjoys the respect of a wide circle of acquaintances. He is a man of great executive ability and of the highest integrity.

D AN R. HARRIS, although born in Wales, has passed the greater portion of his life as a trans-Mississippian and is truly an early pioneer of Montana, exemplifying great force of character

and practical ability. Possessing one of the finest ranches in the Gallatin valley, he can now enjoy life to its fullest extent, as he holds the respect and confidence of the people of the whole valley. He was born in Wales on May 5, 1853, the son of Thomas and Ann (Williams) Harris, both natives of Monmouthshire, Wales. His paternal grand- parents were Thomas and Mary ( Parry) Harris, the former of England and the latter of Monmouth- shire. The maternal great-grandfather was John Parry, also of Wales. In 1853 Thomas Harris brought his family to New Orleans, ascended the Mississippi by boat to St. Louis and thence trav- eled to Nebraska where was their home for eight years. The family then went to Utah, where they tarried for a time, but the father came to Montana and immediately plunged into mining enterprises, his initial point being Alder gulch, where he ar- rived on October 15, 1863. The following winter he passed with his family in Utah, but returned to the Montana gold gulches in the spring and labored industriously in them for several years. During his two years' labor in Bear gulch he struck a fine pay streak; going later to Lincoln gulch, he with a party of twenty-eight unprofitably worked a mine on shares. In the fall of 1871 he removed to the Gallatin valley and engaged in farming. Return- ing to Utah and bringing his family to Montana, he here made his permanent home, and now re- sides with his son near Spring Hill, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, having been born on No- vember 6, 1816.

Until he was nine years old Dan R. Harris resided with his parents in Nebraska, coming with them to Utah where he remained with his mother until he was in his twentieth year. He became associated with the Rocky Mountain Coal & Iron Company, at Almy, four miles from Evanston, Wyo., and in July, 1874, came to Montana, first settling on Wil- low, and later on Reese creek, where he followed general farming and occasional mining. In 1898 Mr. Harris purchased his present property, the Bamber ranch, at Spring Hill, Gallatin county, con- taining 400 acres of excellent land, much of it being thoroughly irrigated, and his principal crops are wheat, oats and barley. To Miss Jenette Fife, of Scotland, Mr. Harris was married on March 16, 1881. She is the daughter of Alexander and Jenette Fife, of Henefer, Utah. Of their six chil- dren, one, Nettie N., is deceased. The others are Alexander T., Pearl A., Roy L., Earl E. and Carl. Mr. Harris has successfully prospected for copper

202

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

leads in the vicinity of Spring Hill and at Sixteen Mile. Considerable work has been done upon the Spring Hill property, in which Mr. Harris is heav- ily interested.

AMUEL T. HAUSER .- Among the earliest S pioneers in the van of advancing civilization in the northwest was Hon. Samuel T. Hauser, ex- governor of the territory of Montana, one of the forceful and energetic factors that brought fruition to the hopes of the most sanguine optimists con- cerning the welfare of this young commonwealth. To outline his career during the territorial and state epochs is to sketch much of the history of the country which he has seen emerge from the ruggedness of a wilderness to become the home communities of cultured, refined and progressive citizens, and when, in 1885, President Cleveland named him governor of the territory, the appoint- ment called forth from the people of Montana uniform approval and endorsement.

Samuel T. Hauser was born in Falmouth, Pen- dleton county, Ky., on January 10, 1833. His early education, the foundation of wider scholastic attainments, was received in the public schools, and in 1854, when he was twenty-one years old, he removed to Missouri, where as a civil engineer he was employed by different railroad companies. Later he served as assistant engineer in building the Missouri Pacific and Northern Pacific rail- roads, and was chief engineer on the Lexington branch of the former, the division extending from Lexington to Sedalia, Mo., and he held this im- portant office until 1862. In the earlier half of that year he came up the Missouri to Fort Benton, and in June crossed the country to the headwaters of the Columbia river, where he prospected for gold for a time. The same year he came to Ban- nack, then just opening its treasures to the indus- trious placer miner, and in the autumn he trailed down the Yellowstone over the Lewis and Clarke course. The history of this, the "Yellowstone ex- pedition of 1863," the story of its hardships, its perils and its romance, is one of the most thrilling in the annals that chronicle the "winning of the west," and among that adventurous band of sturdy pioneers, opening to advancing thousands a new world, teeming with mineral wealth and affording perennial and luxurious pasturage for millions of cattle and sheep, none was more indefatigable, none braver and none more sagacious and re-

sourceful than Gov. Hauser. The history of this civil-military enterprise is preserved in the journal of Capt. James Stuart and in the ably collated reminiscences of Gov. Hauser. There were fifteen men in the party. On the night of May 12, 1863, the party was attacked by Indians, and a number of the men were seriously wounded. Mr. Hauser received a wound in the left breast, the ball passing through a thick memorandum book in his shirt pocket and lodging in a rib over his heart, the presence of the book saving his life. His intrepid bravery was shown on more than one instance dur- ing this trip, and of the expedition a local history has said that it "must certainly be credited with the discovery of the Virginia mines and the opening of the Yellowstone country. Through it came the in- formation and most of the enterprise which placed Montana a leader among the territories within a short time after the first American settlements were made." This was but one of the many dis- tinguished services which Mr. Hauser has rendered Montana.

It was at once seen that a new leader of men had come to the territory and his abilities were speedily recognized. In 1865, in company with M. P. Langford, Mr. Hauser organized a bank at Virginia City, under the firm name of S. T. Hauser & Co. But here his enterprise did not linger. Those were days of action, industry and push. Soon afterward he organized a mining company, and at Argenta he built the first furnace erected in the territory. He continued the work of inject- ing life, strong commercial life, into various com- munities. He organized in 1866 the First Na- tional Bank of Helena, the St. Louis Mining Com- pany at Phillipsburg, later the Hope Mining Com- pany, and here was erected the first silver mill of the territory. Other financial institutions which sprang into being through his action were the First Na- tional Bank of Butte, the First National of Fort Benton and the First National of Missoula. Gov. Hauser then associated himself with other enter- prising capitalists and built these railroads: Hel- ena & Boulder Valley, Helena & Jefferson Coun- ty, Drummon & Phillipsburg, Helena & Red Mountain, Helena Northern, and Missoula & Bit- ter Root Valley. He also organized the Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Company. Gov. Hauser is a Democrat, and in the councils of De- mocracy his influence has been one of potency, while he has been an earnest and able exponent of and worker in the heat of numerous campaigns. In

Hauser

203

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

1884 he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention, in which he was one of the committee to notify the nominees, Cleveland and Hendricks, of their nomination. In July, 1885, President Cleveland named him as governor of the terri- tory of Montana, and he was its first resident gov- ernor. After a service of eighteen months he re- signed the gubernatorial office, his administration being one of signal discrimination and ability, one which conserved the best interests of the territory. In his fraternal relations Mr. Hauser is identified with the time-honored order of Freemasons. In 1871 Gov. Hauser was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Farrar, a daughter of a distinguished physician of St. Louis, Mo., and of this union two children have been born, Ellen and Samuel Thomas, Jr. The fine presence of Gov. Hauser and his manly character have endeared him to all with whom he has met in business or social rela- tions.

Gov. Hauser's long connection with civil en- gineering led him into scenes that were often thrilling and sometimes involved personal peril. We will give one heretofore unpublished episode in his career that is replete with realism. It occurred a few months subsequent to the breaking out of the Civil war, and the scene was in Mis- souri, where the Governor was assisting in the construction of a railroad in some of the "back counties." He learned that a man was to be tried for his life by a justice of the peace. To Mr. Hauser this proceeding appeared strange and un- warranted, and with a friend who was a resident of the locality, he went to the "court," where they found a young man of not unprepossessing appear- ance charged with placing poison in a spring. There was no evidence whatever to indicate that poi- son had ever been put into the spring, but the court had evidently been convened to convict the prisoner, and this was done quickly. The con- demned man was led to a neighboring grove, a rope was thrown over a limb of a tree and he was asked if he had anything to say. He replied that he was innocent of the alleged crime, and re- quested that his mother might be informed of what he had said as he thus stood in the shadow of death. The pathetic incident and the wrong of it aroused the indignation of Mr. Hauser and he loudly protested that the proceedings were un- lawful and that no justice court in the Union held jurisdiction over human life. Instantly a hundred malignant faces were turned toward the intruder

on Missouri "justice," and he was vigorously cursed as a Yankee. His friend tried to explain that Mr. Hauser was a Kentuckian, but the mob was obdurate. At that instant his friend, a power- ful athlete, suddenly pulled him from his horse in time to avoid his being shot by one of the guards, and then threw him upon his horse and started homeward at a gallop. The daring efforts of Mr. Hauser were made in vain, and, as subse- quently ascertained, an innocent man was lynched. Mr. Hauser wrote to Senator Vest, who was then publishing a paper at Boonville, Mo., and in which he printed the letter. It in time found its way to that section, and as a result the Governor was warned to leave the country, but he remained and completed his work. This was but one incident of the many exciting and tragical scenes through which he passed in the old times, and it illustrates both his kindly qualities of mind and heart, and his courage. In conclusion we will briefly advert to his genealogy. His father, also Samuel T. Hauser, was born in North Carolina, and was graduated from the university of that state in 1817, with the degree of A. B. A lawyer of eminence, he served with distinction on the bench of Kentucky, his later home, and where he was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Kenneth, of that state. They had four sons and three daughters. The paternal grand- father of Gov. Hauser was George Hauser, born in Germany, whence he emigrated to the United State prior to the Revolution, in which he served in the North Carolina troops, in which state he died.

TILLIS HENRY HAVILAND, M. D., of Butte, was born at Pawling, Duchess coun- ty, N. Y., on September 10, 1864, in the fourth American generation of a French family, whose ancestors originally moved from England to France. The Doctor's father, Willis H. Haviland, was a leading druggist af Glens Falls, N. Y., for over twenty years. He married his third cousin, Miss Hannah W. Haviland, and the Doctor was their only child. He attended Glens Falls Acade- my, Fort Edward Collegiate Institute and later Cornwall Heights School at Cornwall-on-Hudson, N. Y. In medicine he was a student of Dr. Stephen F. Birdsall, of Brooklyn, N. Y., and was finally graduated with honors from the New York Homeo- pathic Medical College and Hospital, in April, I888. He then visited the hospitals of London,

204

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

Paris and Germany. He then took up his resi- dence in Minneapolis, Minn., and entered into ac- tive practice. In 1888 and 1890 he held several positions of trust on the staff of the hospitals in and near the city, and was winning golden opinions even from his professional brethren when failing healthı drove him to seek a different climate, and in September, 1890, he located at Butte, Mont., passed the state board examination and continued to prac- tice homeopathy until the autumn of 1898.

He then became associated with Dr. O. B. Whit- ford, and under the persuasion and instruction of that accomplished gentleman and medical scholar, he became a practitioner of the eclectic school. For this change he has never ceased to be grateful to Dr. Whitford, although it involved laborious study and investigation on his own part. The Doc- tor's office and residence are at 219 West Park street, where he is constant and faithful in the dis- charge of the professional duties of an ever-expand- ing practice as an eclectic physician. Here also his wife, Mrs. Mary Page Haviland, and his five-year- old daughter, Elizabeth, together with his aged mother, Mrs. Hannah W. Haviland, add greatly to the completeness of a very happy family circle. The Doctor is a charter member of Silver Bow Lodge No. 240, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, which was chartered in 1892. He was elected exalted ruler in 1895 and again in 1899 and was appointed district deputy for Montana by the grand exalted ruler in 1900 and 1901. He was further honored in 1901 by appointment as one of the com- mittee of three on work and ritual of the grand lodge, being the first recognition of this character given to Montana in the history of the order. The good-fellowship of this order gives scope for the geniality and comradeship of his own nature; and its higher and more benevolent demands find in him a ready and liberal respondent. For although occu- pied very busily, as he must be, with the claims of an exacting and growing practice, he does not ig- nore those of a social nature or the more important ones of humanity.

IV ILLIAM P. S. HAWK .- There are no rules for building character; there are no rules for achieving success. Thus it is that a man who can rise from a lowly station to a one of marked re- sponsibility is he who can discern and make fit utilization of the opportunities that present them-

selves. The life of W. P. S. Hawk has been marked by consecutive advancement and he is rec- ognized as one of the able young business men of Helena, and here he is superintendent of the sixth district of the western division of the Postal Tele- graph-Cable Company, implying the control and di- rection of an extensive business. Mr. Hawk was born in Oxford, Ohio, on April 24, 1865, the son of Philip and Sarah M. (Rogers) Hawk, natives of Ohio and West Virginia. Philip Hawk was a pho- tographer, thoroughly skilled in his art. His par- ents, Pennsylvania Germans, were among the early settlers of Ohio, locating there about 1770. His maternal grandparents were pioneers of Ohio, com- ing from West Virginia. William P. S. Hawk attended the public schools of Anderson, Ind., whither his parents had removed in 1872. At the age of eighteen years he was employed as clerk in a grocery at Anderson for three years, and was similarly engaged in Cincinnati for one year. In 1883 he returned to his home and entered the office of the local station of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, with a veteran telegrapher, Mr. George Griswold, where he became an expert teleg- raphist, and in 1885 was given a position at the key on that road, being later employed in Indiana, Missouri and Montana. In 1887 he was operator and bill clerk at Knox, Ind., but in a short time he entered the employ of the Missouri Pacific Rail- road, as operator, holding positions at Centertown and Lamonte, Mo. In September, 1887, Mr. Hawk started for Dallas, Tex., but soon changed his plans and came to Montana, locating at Fort Assin- niboine, where lie for a time was employed in the office of the Rocky Mountain Telegraph Company, after which he was transferred to Fort Benton, where he was manager of the local office until No- vember, 1890. While a resident of Fort Benton, Mr. Hawk was city treasurer and secretary and treas- urer of the Fort Benton Water and Electric Light Company, and interested in a lumber and fuel busi- ness in that city. In November, 1890, he came to the Helena office (which had more nat- ural advantages for promotion) as night operator and the next spring was made man- ager of the office, and in November, 1892, he was promoted to be the general manager of the system. On January 1, 1894, Mr. Hawk ef- fected a lease of the lines of the Rocky Mountain Telegraph Company for one year, and before the expiration of the lease entered into a bonded agree- ment to purchase the property and to complete the

205

PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

payment of the amount involved within five years from January 1, 1895, when the original lease would expire. He completed the payments, how- ever, in July, 1898, and then sold the property to the Postal Telegraph-Cable Company, who appointed him superintendent of the sixth district of the west- ern division, to comprise eventually much western territory. While the first system was under his con- trol Mr. Hawk effected great improvements, hand- ling the important work with facility and ability, and it was a natural result that his present employ- ers should enlist his co-operation when it absorbed the system.

In politics Mr. Hawk has ever given support to the principles of the Democratic party, and in 1889 he was elected to the responsible office of city treasurer of Fort Benton, retaining the position for two years, giving a careful and economical admin- istration. He resigned this office when he removed to Helena. Fraternally he is identified with Helena Lodge No. 193, Benevolent Protective Order of Elks; Lincoln Lodge No. 97, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and Nile Council No. 95, of the Ancient Order of the Pyramids ; he also holds mem- bership in the Montana Club and Lambs' Club. Mr. Hawk has a lively interest in athletic sports, and in 1900 was a member of the directorate of the Helena base ball club, while he is also a member of the Helena Athletic Association and the Golf Club, being an enthusiastic golfer and hand ball player. He and his family are attendants of the Presbyterian church. On November 24, 1891, Mr. Hawk was united in marriage to Miss Vesta Inez Baker, who was born in Iowa, where her father is a prominent farmer. Their marriage was solem- nized in Ohio, at the home of Mr. Hawk's sister, Mrs. C. M. Sumner, whom she was then visiting. Three children have been born to them: Helen, Dorothy and Margaret. Mr. and Mrs. Hawk are prominent in the social life of.the capital city and enjoy a distinctive popularity.

LARASTUS CHAPMAN HAYNES .- Connect- icut gave to the American struggle for inde- pendence both mental vigor and military valor, wise men in counsel and brave men in the field, and among these were the Hayneses and Chapmans, from whom descends Erastus Chapman Haynes. He, however, was born in Ohio, in 1841, a son of Philo and Electa (Chapman) Haynes. They re-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 41

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