Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 76

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 76

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PROGRESSIVE MEN OF MONTANA.

JAMES M. RHOADS .- The ancestors of Mr. Rhoads, on both sides of his parentage, were members of old Virginia families conspicuously identified with the Revolution and the history of the state before and after that struggle. His parents were Josiah and Bertie (Ashford) Rhoads, who re- moved from the Old Dominion to Ohio in 1852, and at Hillsboro in that state Mr. Rhoads was born in 1866, the eighth of twelve children. The only edu- cation he got from books was in fragmentary and irregular attendance at the public schools of his native town, in the intervals of labor, for as soon as he was old enough he was apprenticed to a stone- cutter to learn the trade. After working at this for four years he enlisted in the United States army at Nashville, Tenn., as a member of Cavalry Troop Eight. He served in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, his troop being engaged in the Apache war, which was waged principally in New Mexico. At Fort Buford, in 1889, he was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant, which he had won by meritorious service. He then followed barbering for four years in the meantime, in 1892, he was elected assessor for Dawson county, an office to which he was re-elected in 1894. In December, 1897, President Mckinley appointed him receiver of public moneys at the land office in Miles City, and since then he has made that town his home. He has been re-appointed by President Roosevelt.

Mr. Rhoads has always been an active Republi- can, doing all he could to advance the interests of his party, and being accounted forceful and ef- fective in the work. He was chairman of the coun- ty Republican committee in Dawson county in 1894 and 1896, and was highly commended for the effi- ciency of the organization he secured and the good results that followed. In fraternal relations he is connected in a leading way with the Odd Fellows, the Masons, the United Workmen and the Elks. In the order of Odd Fellows he has held each of the grand lodge offices, was grand master of the state in 1897-8, and representative to the sover- eign grand lodge from Montana. In Masonry he belongs to both the Blue Lodge and the Royal Arch Chapter, and in the United Workmen he was grand master of the state in 1898-9. In religious faith he affiliates with the Presbyterian church.

On the 12th day of October, 1889, Mr. Rhoads was married with Miss Nellie Scott, a native of the Indian Territory, who came to Montana when she was very young. They have two children : Bessie, born in 1892, and James, born in 1891, both of 25

whom are attending school in their home town. Mr. Rhoads was a member of the National Guard of Ohio in 1881, and as such helped to quell the riot in Cincinnati. It was his experience here that in- duced him to join the army. As he was a good sol- dier, a good political organizer, a good mechanic and a good county officer, so is he a good Federal official, a good municipal influence and a good citi- zen.

H ON. JOHN E. RICKARDS .- Nature has no choice spots for the birth of her great men. According to her needs and occasions the earth is all Athens, all Stratford-on-Avon. When a man is required for any definite purpose, she produces him apparently without regard to circumstances, and flings him into the crisis fearlessly. She knows her brood, and those she singles out for great events never disappoint her. Born and reared in the lit- tle village of Delaware City, in the sterling state of Delaware, on the banks of the tided river of the same name, with possibly the horizon of his vision not lying beyond the neighboring cities of Balti- more and Philadelphia, to which, perhaps, his young heart turned as the embodiment of all there was of opportunity for him, Hon. James E. Rickards little dreamed in his youth of the stirring scenes which lay before him and the birth of a great state over which he was to preside. His ancestors had resided for generations on the banks of the Delaware, had flourished and thriven there with the flight of time, had borne their part in the honorable record of their proud little commonwealth in peace and war, and had been content to be numbered among her best and most useful citizens who faithfully per- formed every public and private duty. It had been reserved for him to carry the family name and the qualities which gave it distinction into a distant part of the country and the service of another peo- ple. And for this duty his preparation, while neither extensive nor showy, was consistent and sufficient. He attended the schools of his neighbor- hood, primary and academic, in the intervals be- tween the busy farming seasons, until he passed the age of nineteen years. Then he went to Philadelphia and accepted employment for a time as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. But there was an unsatisfied longing within him which sought expression in a freer field and more ambitious life. It pointed him to the great north- west as its proper outlet, and thither he directed

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his willing footsteps. He reached Pueblo, Colo, in 1870, and engaged in clerking and bookkeeping until 1878. Then he found greater attraction at San Francisco, and there followed merchandising in the capacity of city salesman for four years. In September, 1882, he made Butte, Mont., his home, and has lived there ever since. In that great mining center he began operations in the oil trade, and soon made so deep an impression on the thoughtful minds of the city that he was chosen as an alderman, and in the performance of his official duties exhibited such superior legislative and executive ability that he was forced to accept a seat in the upper house of the territorial legis- lature.

In this larger field he amplified and intensified the good impressions he had made in the smaller, and was chosen in 1889 a member of the constitutional convention which preceded the admission of the territory into the Union as a state. In the delibera- tions of this body he was so forceful and influential, showed such readiness and tact, so much wisdom and common sense, that he attracted the attention of the whole people, and upon their admission to the dignity of statehood, he was made their lieu- tenant-governor by the largest majority received by a candidate of his party at that election. The choice was an eminently wise one, for following this election was a political struggle that resulted in the dismemberment of the legislature and the selection of two sets of United States senators. The emergency was a serious one, not only for the party but for the infant state, and required for its proper adjustment a rare combination of qualities in the directing power. As the presiding officer of the senate, Lieut .- Gov. Rickards, was found to have just the wisdom, the nerve, the personal magnetism, the savoir-faire, which the situation required. His masterly ruling that senators present and not voting could not be re- garded as absentees finally effected an organiza- tion of the senate and brought about a joint session of the two houses, which resulted in the election of two Republican senators, thus securing a triumph, both state and national, for his party, and a much-appreciated relief from further trouble for the state. In this ruling he anticipated by a few days the famous decision of similar import made by Speaker Thomas B. Reed in the United States house of representatives. The memorable deadlock of the first Montana legislature will long be remembered. At the end of his term as lieutenant-

governor, the dignified and lofty manhood and unusual administrative abilities Mr. Rick- ards had shown in that office made him the almost unanimous choice of his party for the more exalted station of governor and he was triumphantly elected, thus securing for the commonwealth a safe, conservative and at the same time a judiciously progressive administration.

In 1876 the future governor was married to Miss Lizzie M. Wilson, a native of Newark, Del., a descendant of one of the old Colonial families of the state. Their union was blessed with three sons, Homer C., Seward A. and Earl M. The oldest, Homer C., rendered gallant service to his country in the Spanish-American war as a member of the First Montana Volunteer Infantry, going into the service as a private and coming out with the well-earned epaulets of a lieutenant, having shown conspicuous bravery in every engagement in which his regiment took part. The first Mrs. Rickards having died in 1881 in San Francisco, where her remains are buried, the Governor mar- ried again in 1883, his second choice being Mrs. Eliza A. Boucher, a daughter of Thomas B. Ellis, of Pembroke, Ontario. She was a widow with one daughter. They have had five children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are Howard B., Carlisle and Rachel. Mrs. Rickards is an ac- complished and cultured lady ; served with distinction as a member of the board of lady man- agers of the Columbian Exposition and was se- lected to unveil Montana's silver statue of justice. On this occasion she delivered an address which won high commendation and otherwise discharged with great credit the delicate duty to which she had been assigned.

The Governor is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, in whose councils he has borne so prominent and useful a part that he has twice been chosen as a lay delegate to the general conference. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias. In the last he holds the rank of past grand chancellor. In all the relations of life and in every field of labor he has exemplified in a signal degree the best attributes of American citizenship.

ILLIAM C. RIDDELL, M. D .- In the char- acter of Dr. Riddell are to be noted many of the elements derived from the sturdy New England

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ancestry, from which he sprang. He is recognized as one of the representative physicians and sur- geons of Helena, and was born in Wilmington, Windham county, Vt., on December 14, 1863, being the son of Henry and Emily (Crosby) Riddell, both of whom were also Vermonters. The father is a merchant and now resides in Boston, Mass. The latter's father was born of Scotch-Irish lineage in Massachusetts where he was for many years successfully engaged in merchandising. Dr. Rid- dell after his preliminary education in the public schools in 1880 matriculated in the literary depart- ment of the University of Michigan, where he completed the prescribed course, and in 1883 entered the medical department and was graduated as M. D. in 1886. He forthwith entered upon medical practice at Lawrence, Kan., where he was physician of the Indian school, remaining thus en- gaged until 1889, when he came to Helena. In 1890 he became the physician and surgeon of the Elk Horn Mining Company, taking up his residence at Elk Horn until 1895, when he returned to Helena, where he has since been engaged in the active prac- tice of his profession, which is general in character and extends among the representative families. The Doctor is a close and avidious student, keeping fully abreast of the advances made in his noble profession. He retains membership in the Ameri- can Medical Association, as well as in the state and county medical societies, in the work of each of which he takes zealous interest. He is also a member of the National Association of Railway Surgeons, and has the distinction of being the sec- retary of the state board of medical examiners. He is also local surgeon for the Great Northern Railroad.

Dr. Riddell is a stalwart supporter of the Demo- cratic party, in which he has been an active worker, and he has been called upon to accept distinctive preferment in the gift of his party. He was elected to the state senate in 1896, serving for four years and proving an able representative of his constituency. He also served on the staff of Gov. Rickards as captain and as assistant surgeon. He was attached to the staff of Gov. Smith, as sur- geon-general, a preferment to which he was and 's eminently entitled. In his fraternal relations Dr. Riddell is prominently identified with the Masonic order and with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Highlanders, and the Order of Pendo, being ex- amining physician for the three last mentioned and

having marked interest in each of these worthy or- ganizations. In 1886 Dr. Riddell was united in marriage to Miss Nana Braden, who was born in Indiana, and who, like the Doctor, is a graduate of the medical department of the University of Mich- igan, at Ann Arbor. She has practiced her pro- fession for three years. Dr. and Mrs. Riddell are the parents of four children, John P., Martha, Janet and Eugene R., and the family home is one in which the refined amenities of social life are ever in evidence.

JAMES REID .- The subject of this sketch was born in Dundas county, Ontario, of Scotch- Irish parentage. His father, Samuel Reid, was born in the County of Derry, Ireland, and his mother, Nancy Marlin, was born in the county of Antrim. He attended the common school near his home in Ontario and began teaching in an adjoining district at the age of sixteen. After teaching for some time he attended high school in the village of Metcalfe, Ontario. Later he en- gaged in the lumber business, in which he remained for about five years. After two years spent in New York city he entered Toronto University. He re- ceived a part of his higher education at the Col- legiate Institute, of Hamilton, Ontario, and grad- uated in 1881 with honors from the famous McGill University, of Montreal. He studied theology two years in the Union Theological Seminary, New York city, and also two years in the Presbyterian College, of Montreal, graduating from the course in theology. He then spent one year in the Edin- burg University and Synod Hall, where he was called to Bay City, Mich., where he spent several years in preaching and as principal of the high school of that city. After several years in business life he spent the winter of 1889 in New York in post-grad- uate work, and in the spring came to Montana, taking charge of the College of Montana at Deer Lodge, and also the Presbyterian church of that city. In the fall of 1891 he gave himself entirely to the work of the college, which he presided over successfully for five years. He was president of the Montana State Council of Education for three years, and in 1894 was president of the Montana State Teachers' Association. He was for more than four years a member of the state board of education, and, recognizing his executive and financial ability in the management of the college at Deer Lodge,

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that body placed him in charge of the State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, at Bozeman. He took charge of the college in 1894, and is still president of that institution.

G ILMON RIGGS .- A well known resident of East Helena who is deserving of being classed among the progressive men of Montana and who has had influence in shaping her destiny, his having been the distinction of serving as a member of the convention which framed the present and effective constitution of the commonwealth, Gilmon Riggs also rendered valiant service for the Union on many a southern battlefield. He was born in Meigs county, Ohio, on February 5, 1836. His parents, Jeremiah D. and Isabella (Gillespie) Riggs, were both children of pioneers of that favored common- wealth, and died in Meigs county, after long lives of usefulness. The paternal grandfather of Gil- mon also bore the name of Jeremialı, and he it was who first came to Ohio, coming from Washington county. Pa., about 1800. The great-grandfather, Mayland Riggs, removed from Maryland to Penn- sylvania in Colonial days and there passed the resi- due of his life.

Gilmon Riggs, an apt student, received a good education in the public schools of Ohio and early became eligible for pedagogic work and was a successful teacher. He was engaged in instructing the "young idea" when a sterner duty confronted him. Civil war had "reared its horrid front," and in 1862 Mr. Riggs enlisted in Company B, Ninety- second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until mustered out in June, 1865 .. His regi- ment was first assigned to duty in West Virginia, and later was attached to the Fourteenth Army Corps. He took active part in the battles of Shiloh, Chicamauga, Missionary Ridge, the Atlanta cam- paign, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, and accompanied Sherman on the ever-memorable march to the sea, and on to Raleigh. N. C., and thence onward to Washington, where the soldiers, crowned with victorious laurels, participated in the grand review. Although Mr. Riggs fought bravely in some of the most fiercely contested battles known to history it was his good fortune to be neither wounded or taken prisoner. He was mus- tered out as sergeant and returned to his Ohio home, where he remained until 1870, when he cast in his fortunes with the embryonic state of Mon-

tana, with whose interests he has ever since been identified.

He came hither by the way of Ogden, Utah, and thence by stage to Helena, where he arrived on Washington's birthday, 1870. He soon purchased land at East Helena, and engaged in farming and stockraising. He is to be honored as the "father of East Helena," for he platted the town and gave it its name. Mr. Riggs has been a stalwart Republican from youth, and he has never failed to render the party every possible service. He was a candidate for the lower house of the legis- lature in 1889, and shared in the defeat which at- tended the party throughout the state. As a member of the state constitutional convention he contributed his quota toward insuring the growth and prosperity of the state, of which he is one of the best known and most highly respected pioneers now living. In 1860 Mr. Riggs was united in marriage to Miss Julia A. Steward, a native of Meigs county, Ohio. She died in 1888, leaving one son, Francis M. On April 3, 1889, Mr. Riggs was again married, being then united with Miss Mary C. Woodyard, who was born in West Virginia, a daughter of James and Charlotta (Mitchell) Woodyard. They have three children : Mary Louise, Gilmon, Jr., and Grace.

M ICHAEL C. RILEY .- No man in the state has been a closer student of its esoteric work and exalted principles of that most ancient and noble of all fraternal organizations, the Masonic order, than Mr. Riley, while he has the distinction of being one of ten men in Montana who have at- tained the thirty-third, the last degree of the Scottish Rite, that of sovereign grand inspector- general of the consistory of Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. He is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born on August 12, 1848, the son of Matthew and Margaret (Deven) Riley, both natives of Ireland. They died in Pennsylvania, where they took up their abode about 1838, emi- grating thither from their native land. They were devoted Catholics, in which faith they reared their seven children, of whom Michael C. Riley was the sixth. The father devoted his atten- tion to mining until the close of his life.

Michael C. Riley, after his education in the public schools, early became identified with rail- roading, from 1871 until 1875, holding the posi-

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tion of check clerk in southern Kansas in the em- ploy of the L., L. & G. railroad. In 1875 he went to California, and there was stationary engineer at a mine in Alpine county in the Silver mountain mining district. He then divided his time be- tween California and Nevada for three years, and in 1878 he located in Utah, becoming amalgamator in the silver mill at Park City for one year. In 1879 he came to Butte, where he has since resided, continuously operating stationary engines, and being known as a capable and faithful employe. In politics he gives his ballots to the Republican party, but has never sought office.

Mr. Riley was initiated as an entered apprentice in Butte Lodge No. 22, A. F. & A. M., in 1887. In this lodge he was raised to the master's degree, still retains his membership therein, and is a past master. The same year he took the capitular de- grees in Deer Lodge Chapter No. 3, R. A. M., of which he has twice served as high priest. In 1888 he was duly constituted, created and dubbed a Knight Templar of the York rite in Montana Commandery No. 3, of which he is past eminent commander. In this branch of the York Masonry he has the distinction of being past grand com- mander of the grand commandery of Knights Templar in the state, having been incumbent of the office in 1894-5. In 1888 he made his way "across the burning sands of the desert" in order to gain admittance to the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In 1894, in order to complete his association with the York rite degrees, he passed the three cryptic degrees in Helena Council No. 9, R. & S. M., at Helena, from which he dimitted in 1896 to be- come a member of Zabud Council No. 2, in Butte, of which he was thrice illustrious master for three and one-half years. Having thus completed the circle of the York rite, Mr. Riley passed forward into the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in 1891, becoming a member of King Solomon Lodge of Perfection, and in this body served two years as master of ceremonies. He advanced steadily in the Scottish Rite bodies, and has held official po- sitions of note. He was wise master of Butte Chapter of Rose Croix three and one-half years, second lieutenant-commander of Butte Council of Kadosh two years, and master of Butte Consistory, S. P. R. S., one year. On February, 1898, at Butte, Mr. Riley received the thirty-third and last degree, so that he has attained the ultimate point in this great fraternity to which he has been so de-

voted. He joined the order of High Priesthood in 1898, and has served as its most exalted presi- dent up to the present. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war Mr. Riley desired to enlist as a soldier, but he was disqualified on the score of age, and compelled to forego a military career. A man of genial presence, he makes and retains friends everywhere he goes, yet he has clung tenaciously to the life of a celibate.

JOSEPH H. RINEHART, M. D .- One of the distinguished representatives of the medical pro- fession in the state of Montana is Dr. Rinehart, who has been in active practice in the city of Billings, Yellowstone county, Mont., for nearly two decades. He has been a prominent factor in public affairs, and has ever manifested a lively interest in all enterprises or projects that would conserve the best interests of the state. He was long con- nected with the United States army in the west, and was a participant in many of the celebrated contests with Indians in the early days, his duties in this connection bringing him to Montana and eventually leading to his permanent location here.

Joseph H. Rinehart was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, November 12, 1849, being the son of William M. and Roxinda (LaRue) Rinehart. In the agnatic line the Doctor's ancestry is traced through four generations in the Old Dominion, the family being one of that sterling sort that has given prestige to the historic old commonwealth. The father of our subject received his education in the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, rounded out at Heidelberg College, Germany, and is a man of high intellectual attainments and marked force of character. He became a prominent banker and capitalist in Cincinnati, where his death oc- curred in 1873. The mother of the Doctor traces her lineage to French origin, her father, Louis LaRue, having been a prominent ship wner in Havre, France. Her demise occurred in 1866.

Joseph H. Rinehart received his preliminary education in private schools of his native city, and in 1858 entered the preparatory department of St. Xavier College, graduating in 1866, the youngest person who ever received this distinction from that institution. In 1864 he enlisted as a drummer in the Second Battalion, Thirteenth United States Infantry, and was assigned to duty as a hospital steward, also doing much clerical work, and leaving

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the service in 1867 he returned to Cincinnati. In connection with his hospital service the young man gained valuable experience and devoted as much time as possible to the reading of medicine, continu- ing his studies after his return to Cincinnati and receiving his degree of M. D. in 1873, after gradu- ating in the Ohio Medical College. In the same year he returned to the army, becoming surgeon and was assigned to duty with the troops in Dakota and Montana. He continued to be thus engaged until 1884, when he resigned and came to Billings, where he entered upon the private practice of his profession, his ability and genial personality soon winning a large and representative business. Since locating in Billings the Doctor's fealty to the city wavered but once-removing in 1890 to Seattle, Wash., then at the height of its boom. He re- mained there two and one-half years, was chosen mayor of Ballard, the suburban town in which he had his home, and in 1892 was elected to the lower house of the legislature, representing the Forty- third district. About this time the Doctor's busi- ness interests in Montana prompted his return to Billings, where he has since maintained his home and continued the general practice of his profes- sion. He is held in the highest confidence and esteem, both as a man and a physician, and, being a close student and ever in touch with the advances made in the science of medicine and surgery, is recognized as one of the representative members of his profession in the state.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 76

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