Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 51

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 51

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of Lincoln, in Lewis and Clarke county. He has a finely improved and well cultivated ranch of 720 acres, all of which lies on Keep Cool creek. He is at the present time completing an attractive and commodious new residence. Mr. King has the dis- tinction of having been the first bonafide settler in Lincoln valley, being the first to file government and railroad land claims in this section. He has been very successful in his ranching operations, devoting attention both to general farming and to the extensive raising of cattle. Mr. King has lived the life of a celibate, but his bachelor home is a favorite rendezvous for his host of friends, and none of the pioneers in this section of the state en- joy a more distinctive popularity. In his political adherency Mr. King is arrayed in support of the Republican party.

JOHN N. KIRK .- Of the younger members of the Montana bar none stands higher in the pro- fession that John N. Kirk, one of the leading attorneys of Butte. He was born in Pepin county, Wis., March 12, 1871. His parents were Eleanor (Nesbitt) and William G. Kirk, both natives of Canada. They removed to Wisconsin in the 'fifties and at the breaking out of the Civil war the father enlisted in Company C, Eighth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He served two years and passed through some of the hardest campaigns of the war. This will be readly understood by veterans when it is stated that Mr. Kirk was with Gen. Grant's army at Fort Donelson, Island No. 10 and the terrible battle of Shiloh. He was mustered out as a private and is still living at Denver, Colo. The family was of English extraction. To them were born three sons and three daughters.

John N. Kirk received his literary education in Wisconsin and Minnesota, entered the law depart- ment of the Wisconsin State University, at Madison, in 1891, and was graduated therefrom with honors in 1893. At once he was admitted to practice before the supreme court of Wisconsin and also the federal district and circuit courts. Subsequently he entered the field of journalism and began the publication of a newspaper in Pepin county, Wis., which he continued nine months. In 1894 he went as far west as Salt Lake City, but the same fall came to Butte, Mont., made this place his home and was admitted to practice in this state. He was nomi- nated by the Republican party for county attorney

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and also for mayor, but at both elections he was defeated, together with all other candidates on the Republican tickets. Notwithstanding this Mr. Kirk is closely affiliated with the interests of the Republican party, is a zealous worker in its behalf and stands high in its councils. In 1896 he was united in marriage to Miss Lydia Cather, a native of Virginia. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Knights of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. The abilities of Mr. Kirk receive hearty recognition not only in his home city but throughout the state. He is highly esteemed and both socially and financially is on the high road to prosperity, a prosperity that the state in which he has wisely chosen to found a home and business offers with an ungrudging hand.

H UGH KIRKENDALL .- A life of signal use- fulness and exalted honor was merged into the immortal when death set its seal upon the mortal lips of Hugh Kirkendall, one of the pioneers of Montana and long one of the sterling citizens and business men of Helena, where he maintained his home for a long term of years. He was born in Allegheny county, Pa., on December 21, 1835, the son of Andrew and Nancy ( McCreary) Kirk- endall, both of whom were natives of the Keystone state and of German and Irish lineage. They were among the early settlers of northwestern Pennsyl- vania, where the father was a pioneer farmer and where they reared their seven children.

Hugh Kirkendall, the oldest child of his parents, in connection with active labor on the farm had instruction in the primitive public school of the neighborhood and then served a three years' ap- prenticeship at the carpenter trade, becoming a capable artisan and receiving for his services as an apprentice the sum of seventy-five cents and a suit of clothes. Fully realizing that he must be the artificer of his own fortunes, Mr. Kirkendall gave prompt evidence of his self-reliant spirit by setting out for the west. He followed his trade in Missouri. and Kansas, and early in 1858 entered the employ of the federal government, accompanying: Col. Rollins and a party of government engineers to the far west to locate the headwaters of the Yel- lowstone river. Thus he made his first visit to Montana, though the territory was then Idaho. He remained in this country nearly two years and returned eastward in the government service under

Gen. Wilson, manager of transportation, and was stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. During the Civil war Mr. Kirkendall was in charge of the quartermaster's department, was at Fort Scott dur- ing the fight there, and later was sent to the battle- field at Springfield, Mo., arriving the second day after the conflict, and taking charge of the wagon train. He was an able officer, true to duty and showing self-abnegation and bravery. He re- mained in the employment of the United States until the war closed and then outfitted for Montana, bringing with him a stock of groceries. He came by the Bozeman route to Virginia City, and thence to Helena late in 1866. He purchased land on the east side of Last Chance gulch, built the log struc- ture yet standing at the corner of Ewing street and Sixth avenue and here conducted trade during the winter. From that time until the close of his life Helena was his home, and his affectionate interest in the welfare and advancement of the city never flagged and was manifested by the earnest aid and co-operation he gave every worthy project. During his second trip to Montana his party had several conflicts with the Indians, but repelled the attacks.

In 1867 Mr. Kirkendall took a government con- tract to deliver supplies to the army posts and In- dian agencies and held it for several years in connection with contracting for supplies. He also, under another contract, erected Forts Ellis, Missoula and Shaw. In 1877, when occurred the trouble with the Indians under Chief Joseph, he was manager of transportation for Gen. Gibbons, and after the memorable battle of Big Hole was assigned to bury the dead and care for the wounded, taking the latter to the hospital at Fort Shaw. Mr. Kirkendall for a time engaged in freighting between Fort Benton and Bannack, and from Corinne, Utah, to Helena. He was a man of great energy and business capacity, and his varied operations gave him a wide acquaintance among the pioneers and government representatives. He finally made contracting his sole business and aided as a contractor in the building of the Montana Central Railroad. The last contract work he ac- complished was the installation of the large dyna- mos at Canyon Ferry and railroad work in the Big Bend country, and at the Cascade mountains on the main line of the Great Northern Railroad. He was also one of the firm of Larson, Keith & Co., who built the road from Helena to Butte for the Great Northern and constructed a number of other

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lines in Montana and Washington for the same company. He also raised highbred horses, owning a valuable ranch in the northwest part of Helena, and later owned ranch property in the Prickly Pear valley, contiguous to the city.

In politics Mr. Kirkendall gave allegiance to thic Republican party, and fraternally he was identified with Morning Star Lodge No. 5, A. F. & A. M., of Helena ; Helena Chapter No. 2, R. A. M .; Helena Commandery No. 2, K. T .; and Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was also a member of Capital Lodge No. 2, A. O. U. W., while he was prominently concerned with the organization of the Montana Pioneer Society. On Easter morning, April 18, 1897, this honored pioneer passed away after a brief illness, unable to rally from an attack of pneumonia. His death caused universal bereave- ment in his home city, while throughout the northwest many who had known this brave and lovable man felt his loss. He was a man of loyal friendships and was true to all of his ideals. On January 26, 1862, Mr. Kirkendall and Miss Isabella Jeffrey, of Leavenworth, Kan., were mar- ried. She was born in Ashland county, Ohio, in 1839, the daughter of Alexander and Isabella (McCardy) Jeffrey, both of whom were natives of Scotland, whence they came to the United States in 1835, locating in Ohio and later removing to Leavenworth, Kan., where they passed their lives, dying at the ages of seventy-three and seventy-six years. Mrs. Kirkendall and four children survive the husband and father, the children being Thomas B., who was associated with his father in business and now city treasurer of Helena, Nettie E., Bessie B. and Clara L. Mrs. Kirkendall is a member of the Baptist church.

THOMAS B. KIRKENDALL is city treasurer of Helena, Mont. He was born at Fort Scott, Kan., March 16, 1863, and is the son of Hugh Kirkendall, a sketch of whom will be found on another page of this work. At the age of five years. in 1868, he came to Helena with his parents and was here educated in the elementary branches. Subsequently he was matriculated at the University of Michigan. Ann Arbor, in 1883-4,and. after his studies at that celebrated school, he has resided here and grown with the progress of the capital city. He has been largely interested in stockraising, and in connection with his father in railroad building.

He organized the first transportation lines both in Butte and Helena. Mr. Kirkendall built the Boston and Montana smelter at Great Falls, also the old silver smelter at Great Falls. In the construction of the Neihart railroad, from Great Falls to Neihart, Mr. Kirkendall was the prime factor. In the spring election of 1900 he was elected city treasurer of Helena, and has filled the office efficiently and cour- teously since. Politically he is a Republican, and fraternally a member of the Masonic fraternity. In the city of Helena, which has for so long been his home, and where he is best known, he is highly esteemed and popular.

JENRY KLEIN .- The beautiful capital of Montana is fortunate in the character of the citizens who make up its quota of business men, for it is well established that a community is measured by its representative men. Honored and respected by all, no man in Helena occupies a more enviable position in industrial and financial circles than Henry Klein. His business policy has ever been in accord with the highest ethics, he possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution, and his magnificent success in industrial activities has come as a natural sequence, as has the respect and confidence accorded him. He has contributed in large measure to the material prosperity of the state which has been his home for many years, and was born on August 4, 1842, at Langendorf, Bo- hemia, Germany, the son of Gabriel and Mary (Greenhood) Klein, both of whom were natives of the same town and representatives of prominent old families. Of their children three sons preceded them to the United States, whither they came in company with their four remaining children in 1860, locating in San Francisco, where the sons were established in business.

Henry Klein received good training in the cx- cellent schools of Bohemia, and in 1858, at the age of sixteen, came to America, first locating on Long Island, N. Y., for six years, after which he joined his brothers in San Francisco, where they were grocers. He remained there until 1866, when he came to Montana, making the trip from California by the way of Umatilla, Ore., with three pack trains of mules which carried dry goods, clothing. drugs and other merchandise, including quicksilver, which was ever demanded by gold seekers and

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miners. The Indians had taken several of the im- mediately preceding trains, making away with the stock and mules and killing a number of men, but Mr. Klein's party escaped molestation. One night, while he was on guard over the mules, he thought he detected Indians and abandoned his charge and returned to camp, an experience which he recalls with amusement. The streams were so swollen that the trains were compelled to deflect from the proposed course and to come by Boise City, Idaho, and they arrived in Helena about June 1, 1866. Here Mr. Klein found his partner, Mr. Louis Gans, and they forthwith established themselves in the general merchandise business in the embryonic city, and they have ever since been associated, the utmost . harmony attending their business and personal re- lations, while the original firm name of Gans & Klein has remained intact.

They opened trade in a building on Main and Wall streets, having erected it for the purpose, and there they remained for fifteen years, when they assumed their present fine location on Main street and Broadway. The building, which was erected by the firm, is four stories and basement in height. substantially constructed of brick and stone, and 27XI15 feet in dimensions. It has all modern im- provements and facilities and is a most attractive business structure, while the entire building is demanded for the accommodation of their extensive business in clothing and men's furnishing goods, the other branches having been dropped several years ago. In 1877 Mr. Herman Gans, a nephew of the senior member, was admitted to the firm, and has ever since been thus associated. They also conduct a store of equal magnitude in Butte, and the history of the firm has been one of liberal and honorable dealing and cumulative success, the house now leading all others in the two cities. Branches have been maintained in other places, but these have been abandoned and the enterprise centralized.

This magnificent enterprise represents only one phase of the industrial activity of Gans & Klein. The senior member has been for a number of years a resident of the city of New York, and a review of his career is incorporated elsewhere in this volume. The firm is interested in very extensive stockgrowing in this and other states, the American Sheep and Land Company in Broadwater and Meagher counties, the Two Bar Cattle Company in Meagher and Fergus counties, the National Sheep and Land Company in Wyoming and the Boise Cattle Company in Nebraska representing

some of the more important outfits. The Nebraska ranch is fenced throughout, and there they raised 500 calves during the last season. Mr. Klein is also a stockholder in the Cascade Land Company, and with his partners holds the ownership of much valuable real estate, improved and unim- proved, in Helena and a large amount of ranch property in this state and elsewhere. He devotes his entire attention to the various enterprises, with which he is identified, being a man of fine business capacity and one well worthy of the success which has attended his efforts. He has been concerned in banking from the pioneer days, having been one of the stockholders in the old People's National Bank, one of the early financial institutions of Helena, and later a stockholder in the Helena National Bank, organized in 1890, and subsequently con- solidated with the Second National, while he was one of the principal stockholders in and a corpor- ator of the Union Bank and Trust Company, serving as its vice-president until the death of its chief exec- utive, Henry Elling, being then chosen president of the institution, in January, 1901. Of Mr. Klein another publication has spoken thus :

"Mr. Klein has been thoroughly identified with Helena ever since he located here. Indeed, few men have done more to advance its interests. He took stock in the companies which brought gas, electric light and electric railways to the city. He served three terms in the municipal council, took an active part in the establishment of the public library, the erection of the library building, and also aided ma- terially in the building of the beautiful Temple Emanu-El."

He is now the president of the congregation of the Temple Emanu-El, and was for two years president of the Associated Charities of Helena. Mr. Klein has ever maintained an intelligent inter- est in the issues of the hour, but has been content to use his right of franchise for the Republican party, without penchant for public office. He is one of the influential members of the Montana Club, and fraternally is identified with King Solomon Lodge No. 9, A. F. & A. M. On April 14, 1878, in Helena, Mr. Klein was united in marriage to Miss Annie Leon, who was born and reared in Cincinnati, Ohio, and they are the parents of five children, all dying in infancy except one son, Leon, who lived to at- tain fifteen years, when he too passed away. Mrs. Klein was summoned to those activities that know no weariness in 1887, deeply lamented, and Mr. Klein has never constimmated a second marriage.

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He disposed of his attractive Ewing street home, but he has since purchased another on Warren street and Fifth avenue. His business and personal life has been irreproachable, and he is honored as one of Montana's sterling pioneer citizens.

DKIN W. KINGSBURY .- In reviewing the

A life work of the pioneers of Montana one will find many things to interest and entertain the reader. To become a pioneer in any new country is no small undertaking, and especially so did it apply to the settlement of Montana; not only were all the hardships and dangers to be endured that has followed the settlement of every part of this great United States, but before the country could be reached a long and perilous journey must be made across the plains by means of ox teams, which required months of travel. Nor was that all, for the wily red man did not take kindly to the invasion of his hunting grounds by the white settler, and the man who, in 1864, would carve for himself a home in the far west or try his fortune in the then but little known gold fields of Montana must risk his life and fortune, should he chance to be possessed of one, to the hazards of the then great American desert. It required a man of courage, endurance and a determination to succeed to even start on a journey of that kind. It is to men of that class that the subject of this review belongs, and the suc- cess with which he has met is but a fitting reward for the many dangers encountered and hardships endured while assisting to lay the foundation for one of the greatest states of our Union. It is with the biographies of such energetic and sagacious business men that the true history of this great state concerns itself. Mr. Kingsbury is a type of the early pioneers who have made the state of Mon- tana what it is, and wrested fortune from what was a few years ago a wilderness. He is a native of Howard county, Mo., having been born there on October 20, 1842. His parents were Henry and Eliza (Brashears) Kingsbury. The father came from North Carolina, but the mother was born in Missouri. Mr. Kingsbury came from North Caro- lina to Missouri in an early day and the residue of his life was passed in that state, and there the sub- ject of this sketch was reared and educated.

As early as 1864, in company with his brother Lilburn, he started for Montana. Their route was via Omaha and the Platte river. Their means of

locomotion were ox teams. The trip across the plains was uneventful as far as trouble with the Indians was concerned, and in due course of time they arrived at Beaverhead and subsequently moved to Jefferson City, where they passed the winter of 1864. In the following spring the brothers took up a ranch at the fork of the Prickly Pear river and Ten Mile creek. Here they engaged in farm- ing in a small way, and at one time paid as high as $18 an ounce for onion seed. This venture, how- ever, did not prove a success. The brother re- turned to Missouri and our subject gave up ranch- ing and moved to Helena, and opened a livery and feed stable, which he successfully conducted until 1871. In that year he became a victim of the min- ing fever, and engaged in placer mining in Over- land gulch, but not meeting with success he aban- doned that and soon after associated himself with Messrs. Davenport and Ray in the purchase of 1,800 head of sheep, which had been brought from Oregon to Deer Lodge, Mont., by William Hark- ness. These were undoubtedly the first stock sheep ever brought east of the Rocky mountains. The company ran their sheep on the Boulder river range for three years, and then brought them into what is now Cascade county. They were also the first sheep ever introduced into this immediate vicinity. The firm of Davenport, Ray & Co. continued in the sheep business exclusively until 1873. At that period they began handling cattle also, and have since made Choteau county their headquarters. In the year 1882 they organized the Choteau Live Stock Company, of which Thomas Ray was elected president, Maj. Davenport, vice-president, and Ad- kin W. Kingsbury, general manager. This company is still in existence and handles annually over 5,000 head of cattle. In 1892 the Big Sag Sheep Company was organized with the same officers. This com- pany handles over 12,000 head of sheep per annum.

Throughout the state Mr. Kingsbury is largely interested in mines and real estate in addition to his large stock interests. He has never taken an active interest in politics nor sought political preferment. or has he ever affiliated with secret societies, but his business career has been eminently successful in all the various lines in which he has interested him- , self, and today he is one of the highly esteemed men of Montana.

In 1894 he was united in marriage to Miss Mar- grett Britt, a native of Ohio. To them have been born two children, Adkin W., Jr., and Mary Mar- gurette.

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H ON. HIRAM KNOWLES .- A man's reputa- tion is the property of the world. The laws of nature have forbidden isolation. Every human being submits to the controlling influence of others, or as a master wields a power for good or evil on others. If any man be honest and successful in his chosen field of endeavor, investigation will brighten his fame and point the path along which others may follow. We are led to this reasoning in con- sidering the life record of Hon. Hiram Knowles, an honored pioneer of Montana, one who has won high standing in his profession and one who has been an important factor in the history of the terri- tory and state by reason of distinguished services in public offices of great trust and responsibility.

Judge Knowles, now presiding on the bench of the United States district court for Montana, and who was an associate justice of the supreme court during the territorial regime, 'is a representative of stanch old English stock, the original American an- cestors having emigrated to New England as early as 1639. The American founder of the family was Richard Knowles, who located at Eastham, Mass., and married a Mrs. Bower. Many of the early representatives of the Knowles family in Massa- chusetts were sea captains and the father of the Judge followed in their steps, having been in com- mand of a boat for a number of years prior to entering upon medical practice. Judge Knowles was born at Hamden, Me., on January 16, 1834, the son of Dr. Freeman and Emily (Smith) Knowles, both of whom were born in Maine ere yet it had been segregated from Massachusetts. After his seafaring life Freeman Knowles studied medicine in his native state, completing his technical education in St. Louis (Mo.) Medical Col- lege, where he graduated in 1839 or 1840 and thereafter devoted his attention to medical practice. A man of marked intellectual force and sterling character, he occupied a position as a leading physi- cian. The family removed to Illinois in 1838 and in 1840 located in Lee county, Iowa, where both parents died, the father at the venerable age of seventy-three years, his wife having preceded him into those activities that have no weariness at the age of fifty-eight years. They had six children, Hiram being the only son. In religion the parents held to the faith of the Unitarian church.

Hiram Knowles received his preliminary educa- tion, graduated in Denmark (Iowa) Academy, and then in the public schools, after which he be- came a student in Antioch (Ohio) College, at 17

Yellow Springs. In 1850 he went with his father on the long and perilous trip across the plains to California, where the gold excitement was then raging, and passed some time in mining there, at Cold Springs, after which he returned to the east and matriculated in the law department of Har- vard University, at Cambridge, Mass., where he was graduated in the class of 1860, being simultaneously admitted to the bar. In 1862 he again crossed the plains to Nevada, where he was in legal practice for three years, and also served as district attorney and probate judge of Humboldt county. He then removed to Idaho and one year later, in 1866, took up his residence in Montana, a state which he has dignified through his sterling manhood and emi- nent public services. Here he engaged in prospect- ing and mining in connection with his law practice, being thus occupied until 1868, when he was ap- pointed associate justice of the supreme court of the territory, in which capacity he served with signal ability for eleven years, leaving a distinct impress upon the jurisprudence of the territory. In 1884 he was the Republican candidate for delegate to congress and was defeated by Hon. J. K. Toole, the present governor of the state. After his re- tirement from the supreme bench Judge Knowles practiced his profession for a full decade, having his home in the city of Missoula, going there in 1891 and having resided in Deer Lodge and Butte prior to that time. In 1890 he was appointed to the bench of the United States district court, his ap- pointment being confirmed on the 21st of February, and to its official duties he has since devoted his attention. In 1889 he was a delegate to the con- stitutional convention which formulated the present state constitution, and he also was a member of the first Republican state convention. Not only has he manifested an abiding interest in the de- velopment and legitimate progress of Montana, but few have been so prominently identified with those public affairs which are an integral part of the history of Montana.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 51

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