Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 79

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 79

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REV. PATRICK RYAN .- Among those render- ing effective service in the cause of the divine Master is Father Ryan, assistant pastor of St. Law- rence church in Walkerville, Silver Bow county, a young man of marked individuality and fervent zeal in the work of his sacred office. Father Ryan is a native of County Limerick. Ireland, where he was born on February 28, 1875, the son of Thomas and Ellen (Donegan) Ryan, both of whom were representatives of sterling old Irish stock. The father, a farmer, passed his life in his native land, and his widow still resides in County Limerick, the place of her birth. One son, the only brother of Father Ryan, is following agriculture in Ireland. In the Fenian rebellion in Ireland Thomas Ryan was a private in the ranks of that brotherhood of patriots. Father Ryan, the third of the five chil- dren of this worthy couple, was reared and edu- cated in Ireland. From the national school he went to Thurles College, a celebrated church institution in the town of Thurles, in Munster county, and there completed his theological course. He was graduated as a member of the class of 1900 and was ordained to the priesthood. Following the advice of the vice-president of his alma mater, he came to America after receiving holy orders, and forthwith

W. c. Baker

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took up the work of his high calling in Walkerville, Mont., where he arrived on November 1, 1900, be- coming assistant pastor at St. Lawrence church and entering upon the parish work with signal enthusi- asm and devotion. He is a fine scholar, possesses a keen and bright intellect, and is imbued with a full appreciation of the responsibilities of his office. While pursuing the last year of his divinity course lie was prefect of the seminary at Thurles College. Father Ryan is the only representative of his family in the United States. He is destined to become a potential factor in the work of the diocese, for he is well qualified, and also indefatigable in his efforts and devoted to the cause to which he has conse- crated his life.

JOHN B. SANFORD .- Among those distinctly meriting recognition as pioneers of Montana, and who have contributed in large measure to the material advancement of this commonwealth, is John B. Sanford, senior member of the widely known firm of Sanford & Evans, of Helena. Mr. Sanford was born in Palmyra, Somerset county, Me., on July 2, 1835, the son of Nicholas and Mary (Pratt) Sanford. Nicholas Sanford was born on the Atlantic ocean while the family were en route from England. Nicholas Sanford and three of his brothers were captains of whaling vessels, the first mentioned sailing out of the old maritime city of New Bedford for three or four voyages. The family is of old Puritan stock, having early settled near New Bedford, from which city Nicholas Sanford removed to the "District" of Maine, in 1818, his object being to keep his sons from following the sea. Both himself and wife were birthright members of the Society of Friends, and they ordered their lives upon the highest plane of integrity and gentle charity. Mary (Pratt) Sanford was born at Vassalborough, Kennebec county, Me. (The Pratt family of New England traces its lineage to Joshua Pratt, who came to the Plymouth colony as one of the eighty-nine passengers brought by the ships Ann and Little James, who landed in August, 1623, or to Phineas Pratt, who came also in 1623, probably in the ship Fortune.) Mr. and Mrs. Sanford passed the latter years of their lives in Maine, where they died, leaving four sons and two daughters, all now dead except John B. Sanford, of Helena.

John B. Sanford early became familiar with 26

the duties of the Maine farm, attended the pub- lic schools and also availed himself of the excel- lent advantages of Kent's Hill School. He con- cluded his studies at the age of twenty, and when twenty-one he determined to seek his fortune in the west, going to Madison, Wis., whence he soon proceeded to the Black River valley, where he worked for wages four years in the lumbering business and then engaged in it on his own ac- count. He continued his lumbering operations until 1864, when his ambitious spirit prompted him to investigate the resources of the west. To the determination he then made is due Montana's acquisition of one of her broad-minded and suc- cessful business inen ; one most prominently con- cerned in the development of her productive util- ities. In the spring of 1864 Mr. Sanford started on the hazardous overland journey to Montana. His outfit consisted of two ox teams, and with these he made the entire journey, by the way of Omaha and Lander's cutoff, arriving in Virginia City on the 18th of October. The wagon train was attacked by Indians near Fort Laramie, they killing one man and running off several horses, including a saddle horse belonging to Mr. San- ford. Indian hostility was often in evidence 011 the journey, and another fierce attack was made at Horseshoe Bend, west of Laramie agency, but this was repelled without loss of life or property. From Virginia City Mr. Sanford came to Last Chance gulch, and thus he is to be numbered as one of the earliest pioneers of Helena. Soon after this Mr. Sanford with others camped at the Broadwater hot springs, where later he became associated with others in claiming the water rights of Ten Mile creek, and in the improvement of this he assisted in the survey of the big ditch from the creek to the site of Helena. They commenced the construction of the upper ditch, continuing the work until May, 1865, when the property was sold to Plaistard & Truitt. In the same summer Mr. Sanford and an associate constructed a small ditch from Colorado gulch into Nelson gulch. In 1864, while on the Platte river. Mr. Sanford formed the acquaintance of Mr. Christmas G. Evans, who has been so long and intimately as- sociated with him in business operations of wide scope and importance. Mr. Sanford, Mr. Evans and two others soon became associated in mining operators in Nelson gulch. In the fall of 1865 they made their way up Ten Mile creek to the mouth of the canyon, where they erected a shingle

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mill and also manufactured a common grade of chairs, the first to be made in Montana. These sold at from $3.00 to $5.00 each.

In the spring of 1866 they started a sawmill, the first mill operated by water power in this sec- tion. All the appurtenances were made by hand, the belts being of bull hide. The lumber produced was placed on sale at Helena, the business being conducted under the firm name of Hartwell, Jer- gens &

Co. The mill continued in active operation until 1870. In 1867, associated with J. W. Hartwell, J. H. Jergens and C. G. Evans, Mr. Sanford erected a flouring mill on Prickly Pear creek, about eleven miles from Helena, the first built in this section of Montana. The manu- facture of flour was begun in the spring of 1868. and shortly after Mr. Jergens sold his interest to his partners, who continued operations as J. W. Hartwell & Co. About 1871 the firm purchased of Barnes & Arnold the steam sawmill in Lump gulch, and there manufactured general lines of lumber, much of which was handled in the Hel- ena yards. In 1875 Mr. Hartwell's interests were acquired by Sanford & Evans, and that firm has since continued. From time to time heavy investments in real estate have been made both in the city and .country, and their holdings now represent a large and valuable aggregate. They operated the flouring mill in the valley until 1884, when they erected a new one on land adjacent to the Northern Pacific tracks, equipping it with im- proved machinery and operated it most of the time until 1899.

At the present time Mr. Sanford is largely identified with stockraising and mining. He has maintained a public-spirited attitude, and has shown a lively concern in the promotion of the best interests of his state and city. He has well fixed convictions on most subjects of public en- terprise, is courageous and consistent in their ad- vocacy, and has thus wielded marked influence in the prosperity of Helena and the surrounding country. He was one of the organizers of the Second National Bank of Helena, and one of its directors until its consolidation with the Helena National Bank in 1892, and was director of the new institution until merged in the First National Bank in 1895. Although a stalwart Republican Mr. Sanford has at no time been an aspirant for public office, though he served as a member of Helena's first board of aldermen, and has several times since been elected to the same position.

In the centennial year of American indepen- dence, 1876, Mr. Sanford was married to Miss Eva A. Nash, a native of Vermont. She had come to Helena to visit her sisters, Mrs. Stafford and Mrs. Howe, and engaged as teacher in the Helena public schools. Their home is blessed with two children., Myra H. and John B., Jr. Both are natives of Helena and have enjoyed the advan- tages of the city's best schools.

The firm of Sanford & Evans has contributed to the artistic adornment as well as to the sub- stantial improvement of the city. In 1883 they erected the block adjoining the property of Wein- stein & Co., on Main street and Sixth avenue. and in 1889 built the block which bears their names on North Main street recently (1901) they have completed and moved into a new business block on Lawrence and Fuller avenues, in which they can place their extensive stock to much bet- ter advantage than formerly. Each member of the firm has an attractive residence on the west side, and own other valuable residence proper- ties. Their enterprise in mining may be judged from the statement that they have expended fully $100,000 without having yet been remunerated in anything like a proportionate return. Of them it has been aptly said that "Every natural resource of the state has been fostered by them," for they have also made large investments in the agricultural and stockbreeding industries of the commonwealth.

CHRISTMAS G. EVANS .- Having set forth in detail in the preceding paragraphs the salient points in the business career of the well-known firm of Sanford & Evans ,the members of which have been associated so long and so intimately in business enterprises of wide scope and importance, it is ıIn- necessary to repeat them in this sketch. Their business interests have been identical, and the his- tory of them in one case is necessarily that of the other. Mr. Evans was born in Deerfield. Oneida county, N. Y., on Christmas day. 1840, and de- rived his given name from the day of his nativity. His father, Owen Evans, a native of Wales, re- ceived his education in the schools of that pic- turesque and interesting portion of Great Britain, where he grew to maturity and followed farming and milling as an occupation. In the year of 1820 he immigrated to the United States, settling in the

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state of New York, where he engaged in his for- mer vocation, and thus spent the remainder of his useful and honorable life, passing away at an ad- vanced age, secure in the esteem and confidence of those with whom he had lived and labored. His wife was Catherine Morris, a native of the Empire state, of which her father was an early settler, who imbibed the feelings and aspirations of his adopted country, and gave proof of the strengthi and fervor of his faith by valiant service under her flag in the war of 1812.

Mr. Evans received such educational discipline as the schools of his native town afforded, which was little more than a foundation for the broad and practical knowledge subsequently gained through personal application and contact with men and affairs in his active and varied business career. He drew health of body, clearness of mind, force of character and self-reliance from his life on the farm, where he remained until attaining his legal majority. Then, impelled by a spirit of activity to seek a wider opportunity, he left the scenes of his youth and made his way to the Pacific coast, ar- riving at San Francisco on July 1, 1862, by way of Panama. He sought the "diggings" and en- gaged in placer mining with moderate success until the fall of 1863, when he returned to visit his home. But he had no idea of abandoning the west, whose possibilities won and held without abatement his regard. Accordingly, on April 1, 1864, he again started westward, making the trip overland, a venture at that time attended with many dangers and privations. He proceeded by rail to Grinnell. Iowa, and there he and M. T. Jones, an associate, secured a team of bulls which provided transporta- tion for themselves and their effects as far as Omaha. From thence they had two bull teams and four yoke of oxen, the party having increased in number. They left that city May 10. journeyed up the North Platte, and at a point below Julesburg met Mr. Sanford and his party, and from that time the two parties traveled together to. their destina- tion under protection of a government escort from Fort Laramie. The details of the trip from Jules- burg to Montana. its skirmishes with hostile In- (lians and other interesting features, are more set out in the sketch of Mr. Sanford.

Mr. Evans was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Graham on March 28, 1880. in Prickley Pear valley, near Helena, a native of Illinois, who had come to Montana with her parents in early life. She abode with him fourteen years and then sur-

rendered her earthly trust at Helena in 1894. Since that time Mr. Evans has consummated a second marriage, in which he was united to Miss Bertha Bellis, a native of Liverpool, England. Her father. who was a sea captain, died in 1888. Mrs. Evans presides with a natural grace over their beautiful home in the capital city, wherein they dispense a genial and cordial hospitality to their hosts of friends. They have one daughter, Margaret Carlisle Evans, who was born in 1897, and a son. Lewis C. Evans, who was born May 30, 1901.

In politics Mr. Evans gives his support to the Republican party, but is not active in the sense of seeking either honors or profits at the hands of the organization. He is a deeply interested and in- fluential contributor to whatever seems to be for the good of the community, but seeks no personal promotion or prominence in official station. Fra- ternally he is allied with the Masonic order.

'HARLES ALFRED SALES, of Gallatin coun-

ty, near Belgrade, who is one of the most enter- prising and successful farmers of that garden spot of Montana, was born in Ontario. Can., on April 15, 1856, one of six sons and four daughters born to George and Harriet ( Butler) Sales, of Yorkshire. England. The paternal grandparents were Zarah and Elizabeth Sales. also of Yorkshire, England. who came to Ontario in 1845. George Sales still lives in Canada at the advanced age of eighty years so vigorous that two years ago he visited his son in Montana. The carly youth of C. A. Sales was passed in County Kent. Ontario, on his father's farm and attending the public schools. In 1880, at the age of twenty-four, he came to Mon- tana and for one year conducted a sawmill. Later he passed a year in the saloon business at Salesville. in Gallatin county, a town named after his uncle. ()n a ranch four miles from Salesville he subse- quently engaged in stockraising six years, then re- moved to Gallatin valley, four miles from Belgrade. where he purchased the old Jolinnie Lewis ranch of 600 acres, 400 of which are thoroughly irrigated.

The finest crops in the valley are raised on this land, consisting chiefly of wheat, oats and barley. while he has harvested as high as fifty-eight bushels of barley to the acre. His herd of cattle usually numbers 150 head of shorthorns and Herefords. and he has some very fine thoroughbreds. In Feb- ruary, 1878, Mr. Sales wedded Miss Catherine

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Smith, of Ontario, daughter of Douglas Smith, a Scotchman. Of their nine children, eight are liv- ing: Enoch, Hattie, Maggie, Eli, Oscar, George, Ida and Charles. It is indeed an elegant location that Mr. Sales has selected for his home, finely shel- tered from winds and supplied with commodious, substantial outbuildings. He is still in the prime of life, progressive and up-to-date, surrounded by an attractive family and commanding the esteem of all classes.

A XEL N. SANDQUIST, one of the successful farmers and stockgrowers of the Gallatin val- ley, has a well improved ranch of 300 acres, lo- cated in Springhill, his postoffice address. He is a native of Skona, Sweden, born on August 17, 1856, the son of Sven Nilson, who was born in the same place. Axel received his education in his native land, learned the blacksmith trade, and when about twenty years old removed to Denmark, where he remained two years, and in 1878 emigrated to the United States, first locating in Chicago, where he worked at his trade until 1880, when he came to Montana and located in Gallatin county, where he worked at his trade for about two years, and then purchased a tract of railroad land in the valley and engaged in ranch- ing. He now has a finely improved ranch of 300 acres, most of it under effective irrigation and yielding large crops of wheat, oats, barley and hay, while Mr. Sandquist also keeps an average of fifty head of high grade Durham and shorthorn cattle, and he has also devoted special attention to the extensive raising of poultry. He is an energetic and industrious man, and his well di- rected effort has gained success, worthy of the name, while his sterling character gains him uni- form respect and esteem. The improvements upon his ranch include a comfortable residence and a fine new barn, 32x64 feet in dimension, and other outbuildings demanded for the sheltering of stock and implements. The ranch is most eligibly lo- cated, well protected by the mountains to the east and north, while Mill creek traverses the place and affords excellent irrigation facilities. In politics Mr. Sandquist gives his support to the Republican party. In June, 1885, Mr. Sandquist was married to Miss Christine Nelson, like himself a native of Sweden, and they have three children, Charles, Arthur and Belinda.

SAMUEL E. SCHWARTZ, M. D., is one of the able physicians and surgeons of the city of Butte, where he is held in high esteem by his professional confreres and by the many repre- sentative families and individuals to whom he is called to minister in a professional way. The Doctor was born in New York city, the son of E. H. and Jennie Schwartz, both of whom were born in Vienna, Austria, where they were reared, educated and married. They emigrated to the United States in the early 'fifties, locating in New York city, their present home. The father of the Doctor engaged in the manufacturing of paint in that city, and also carried on an extensive whole- sale and retail paint business until 1894, when he retired from active business life, the enterprise being conducted by his son.

In the great city of New York Samuel E. Schwartz was reared to maturity, and was there afforded superior educational advantages, after his public school attendance matriculating in the Col- lege of the City of New York, where he pursued a literary course, after which he entered the medi- cal department of Columbia College, where he com- pleted a very thorough technical course in medi- cine and surgery, being graduated as a member of the class of 1896 and receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He served as general in- terne for eighteen months, and thereafter as house surgeon of the German Hospital, at Newark, N. J. The Doctor was also substitute physician and surgeon in various New York city hospitals while he was prosecuting his medical studies, and the practical experience gained in clinical work in these various incumbencies was a most valuable one. In 1898 Dr. Schwartz came to Montana, and the metropolis of the state, the city of Butte, has ever since been the field of his active and discriminating professional endeavors. He was associated in practice, in the capacity of assistant, with Dr. I. J. Murray, for about one year, since . which time he has devoted his attention to in- dividual practice of a general character. He is an active and valued member of the Rocky Moun- tain Inter-State Medical Association, being a mem- ber of its committee on legislation, and is also identified with the Montana State Medical Asso- ciation and the Silver Bow County Medical So- ciety. Socially the Doctor holds membership in the local lodge of the Royal Neighbors of Amer- ica, while he is also one of the active and popular members of the Overland Club.

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WALTER SCOTT .- In recording the story of those who have been instrumental in found- ing the thriving town of Red Rock, Beaverhead county, and most conspicuously serviceable in de- veloping its material resources and building up its industries, honorable mention must be accorded to J. Walter Scott, one of the representative busi- ness men of the county and joint proprietor and manager of the C. D. Hotel, the popular and at- tractive caravansarie of the town named.

On both sides of his house Mr. Scott is de- scended from stanch old English lineage. He is a native of Chagrine Falls, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where he was born November 19, 1854, the seventh of the eight children of James and Sarah (Woodhead) Scott, who were born, reared and married in England. They immigrated to . the United States in 1837, locating in Racine county, Wis., where our subject's father was one of the original English settlers. They remained in that county until 1846, and then removed to Ohio, and in 1858 to Indiana, where the father engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods until 1873. He then removed with his family to Iowa, and con- ducted the same line of enterprise for ten years, after which he took up his residence in Michi- gan, where he passed the residue of his days, his death occurring in 1891. His widow is still liv- ing, her home being in Kalamazoo, Mich. Their marriage was solemnized in 1835, in England, where their two older children were born.

Mr. Scott received his early education in the public schools, after which he matriculated in the Lagrange (Ind.) Collegiate Institute, where he graduated as a member of the class of 1872. He then became clerk in a drug store at Lima, Ind., for a year, and accompanied the family on their removal to Iowa, where he was engaged for ten years in agricultural pursuits. His brother-in- law, Alpheus Decker, had in the meantime lo- cated in Montana, and at his solicitation Mr. Scott came to this state in 1883, and in the following year they became associated in business, oper- ating a fine ranch, located three miles north of Red Rock, which now comprises 1,680 acres. The two gentlemen have been continuously associated in business since that time, the ranch and hotel property being held in joint ownership. The ranch is devoted to stockraising and general agriculture, and it is worthy of note that Messrs. Decker and Scott were the first farmers to successfully raise crops of wheat, oats and timothy on Red Rock

creek, their initial venture having been made in 1884. For a period of twelve years Mr. Scott was actively identified with ranching operations, and in 1896 he removed to the village of Red Rock where he and Mr. Decker erected the C. D. Hotel, which has since been conducted under the personal control and direction of our subject. His popularity as a boniface is unmistakable, and the hostelry caters successfully to a discriminating and critical patronage.

In political adherency Mr. Scott is an unyield- ing Republican. In 1873 he served as township clerk in Scott township, Montgomery county, Iowa, and since coming to Montana has held vari- ous offices in Beaverhead county: In 1883 he was made postmaster at Red Rock, and discharged the duties of the position with general approval and commendation. He and his family are most popular in the county and with the traveling pub- lic, and are prominently identified with the social life of the community.

On the 26th of March, 1879, Mr. Scott was united in marriage with Miss Laura M. Tolman. She was born in the picturesque old town of Marl- boro, N. H .. as were also her father and grand- father. On both sides she is of Puritan ancestry and is a direct descendant of a soldier who fought gallantly in the Revolution.

The Tolman family have been identified with the annals of America since 1630, when the Rev. Thomas Tolman came over with an organized church colony from Dorchester, England, and founded the city of Dorchester, Mass. Landing on Nantucket beach, the pilgrims made their way across the bay in Indian canoes, arriving at Dor- chester June 17th. Here they began a settlement, naming it after the place they had left in Eng- land. In or about the year 1780 Joseph Tolman married Patty Clark, of Townsend, Mass. Joseph was the son of Henry, who was the only son of Henry (and Mary), who was the son of John Tolman, and John was the son of the Thomas who came from England.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 79

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