Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 97

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 97

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To Mr. Word is largely due the early develop- ment of the coal industry of the state. In company with Hon. Walter Cooper and others he opened its first coal fields. They obtained the Rocky Fork coal fields, and at once set to work to utilize them, interesting these distinguished men in the enter- prise : Samuel T. Hauser, Henry Villard, Thomas F. Oakes, then president of the Northern Pacific; James L. Platt and James B. Hubbell. A railroad of fifty miles was built from Laurel to Red Lodge, where the coal fields were located. Other coal fields have since been developed, but this was the initial operation in developing one of Montana's leading industrial resources.

Mr. Word is an active Democrat. In the various campaigns in which his party has been a figure he has done much, both on the stump and in the coun- cils of the party, to win success.

In 1897 Mr. Word went to Dawson City, Alaska, as counsel of the North American Transportation Company, where he remained until June, 1900. Subsequently he went to Cape Nome, where he is now temporarily located. Mr. Word was speaker of the Eleventh Montana legislative assembly, of 1879. when it was convened in extraordinary session. He stands high in Freemasonry. He was grand master of Masons of Montana in 1887, and is a member of all its branches and a Shriner. To say that Hon. Samnel Word is one of Montana's best and most representative citizens is small praise of one whose efforts in behalf of the commonwealth have been so beneficent. But words were never more fitly spoken, and this will be endorsed by a wide circle of personal and business acquaintances. A strong

man of affairs, of great executive ability and high integrity, he has won for himself a place second to none of the pioneers of the early 'sixties.

P HILIP H. POINDEXTER .- In compiling a work devoted to representative men of a young and growing state, the life records of the early pioneers can never be ignored. They are in truth the real founders and their names will ever be as- sociated with its history. While Montana is more generally known through her great mineral pro- ductions, undeveloped mines and natural resources. she also enjoys a high reputation and is famous for her extensive ranches devoted to high-grade cattle, sheep and horses, an industry that has en- gaged the attention of capitalists from abroad and been the means of placing the thrifty pioneer in the front rank of Montana's progressive men. Of the latter class Mr. Poindexter, of Poindexter & Orr, is a worthy type. The firm was among the first to engage in the business, and as the years passed the scope and importance of its operations so increased that no concern in the state was better known or had a higher reputation. The partner- ship formed with the late William C. Orr had its inception fully forty-five years ago and continued until the death of his honored friend and coadjutor, Mr. Orr, in May, 1901. On other pages of this work will be found the memoir of Mr. Orr, whose life history was so intimately woven with that of our subject. Philip H. Poindexter is a native of the Old Dominion, where his ancestors, paternal and maternal, located during colonial days. He was born in Danville, Pittsylvania county, Septem- ber 5, 1831, being fourth of the nine children of Watson G. and Judith S. (Boyd) Poindexter, the former a native of Lynchburg, and of sterling old French stock. He was educated in the schools of the old Dominion, learned the trade of cabinet- making, to which he devoted his attention for many years. His father was a member of a Virginia regiment during the war of the Revolu- tion, was wounded at the battle of Cowpens, but recovered and rejoined his regiment, with which he served until victory crowned the arms of the Continental army. He was in the command of Gen. Greene during the latter part of his service. The mother of our subject, also a native of Virginia, was a grand representative of ancestors

FH Poundister

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who early migrated to the Virginia colony from Ireland.

About the year 1839 Watson G. Poindexter re- moved with his family to Missouri, locating in Franklin county, where he passed the residue of his life, his death occurring in 1848, after which the family removed to the city of St. Louis. The mother died in Montana in 1875, having made her home with our subject since 1871. After receiving a good English education in the public schools, Philip H. Poindexter secured a clerical position in a mercantile house in St. Louis, and there learned bookkeeping. In 1852 Mr. Poindexter determined to seek his fortunes on the Pacific coast, and in the spring of that year he started on the long trip across the plains and over the mountains to Cali- fornia. There were but three in the party, equipped with mule teams and wagons loaded with pro- visions. Five months were consumed in making the journey, and were fortunate in having but one brush with the Indians, which occurred at the lava beds in northern California. Being one of the first trains composed of white men to travel through that section of the country, Mr. Poindexter and his companions were fortunate in joining a com- pany of emigrants, also making the trip, and in the fight with the Indians three of their number were wounded and many of the Indians killed. Our subject proceeded to the gold mining districts of northern California, worked placer claims on Humbug river until 1856, when he became as- sociated with William C. Orr in the raising of cattle, acquiring an interest in a ranch upon which Mr. Orr had filed claim. They opened a meat market at the mines, and Mr. Poindexter assumed charge of the same, while his partner gave his attention to the management of the ranch. In 1862 they disposed of the butcher shop, but con- tinued in the stock business in Shasta valley. In 1865 they learned of the discovery of gold in Mon- tana, then a portion of Idaho territory, and Mr. Orr started for this section with a band of cattle, driving the stock through to the Beaverhead valley where he wintered the same, selling the cattle the following spring and returning to California for more. In the summer of 1866 all the remaining cattle and sheep owned by the firm in California were driven through to Montana by Mr. Pondexter, his partner having located the present home ranch of the firm in Beaverhead valley. They continued to add to their landed estate and now have an aggregate area of 16,000 acres, including some of 32

the most valuable land in Beaverhead county, in addition to which there is leased 10,000 acres of school land. The firm were among the first to bring stock, cattle and sheep into Montana, and their operations have been conducted upon a most extensive scale, cattle, horses and sheep of the highest grade being raised in large numbers. Special attention has been given to the breeding of fine draft horses, and the firm has made many direct importations of full blooded stock from England and France, the horses being known throughout the Union. The firm own a large stock ranch in Custer county and no concern in the state enjoys a higher reputation or has conducted business with better discretion. The firm name is still retained, the estate of Mr. Orr retaining its interests, and is representative of thorough reliability and extensive operations.

In his political adherency Mr. Poindexter is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, and in 1872 he was chosen to represent Beaverhead county in the territorial legislature. He has ever been known as public- spirited, with deep interest in all that tends to the development of the state's resources, lending his influence and aid to worthy enterprises and contributing in large measure to the progress of the commonwealth through the normal channels of industrial activity. Fraternally he is identified with Dillon Lodge No. 30, A. F. & A. M .; Dillon Chapter No. 7, R. A. M .; St. Elmo Commandery No. 8, K. T., and in 1894 was high priest of the grand chapter of the state.

April 8, 1869, Mr. Poindexter was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary E. Baxter, who was born near the city of St. Louis, Mo., a daughter of Tyrie Sappington, also a native of Missouri, his father having located in St. Louis when it was but a diminutive French village. To Mr. and Mrs. Poindexter seven children were born, and five of the number are living at the present time. The devoted wife and mother was summoned into eternal rest in January, 1887, and since the sad event his daughter, Mrs. Kingsbury, has presided over the beautiful family home, a fine residence of modern architectural design and equipments, lo- cated near the city of Dillon. Of the five children we enter brief record as follows: Henry T., a graduate of Stanford University. Cal., married Miss May McHenry, and is a mining engineer in Nevada; Frances S. is the wife of Dr. W. V. Kingsbury, of Dillon; Emma May Is the wife of

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Frank Cooney, who is engaged in the grocery busi- ness in Butte; George G. is a student in the West- ern Military Academy at Alton, Ill. ; and Walter is attending school at Dillon.

R )OBERT LEE WORD .- It must be held as a mark of distinction to have served on the bench of the supreme court of any of the great common- wealthis of the Union, and this distinction has come to Robert Lee Word, while the precedence thus ac- corded him was all the more notable from the fact that in serving as associate justice of the supreme tribunal in Montana he was the youngest of all who have ever been called to this dignified position. This circumstance offers unequivocal testimony to the professional ability and high standing of Judge Word and, connected with the career of his distin- guished father, to whom specific reference is made in this work, it is but consistent that we here enter brief record of the son. He is one of Montana's native sons, born in Virginia City, on June 22, 1866, the son of Hon. Samuel and Sarah Margaret (Fos- ter) Word. He received the best of educational ad- vantages, his earlier school attendance being supple- mented by discipline and training in some of the leading schools of the nation, first at the high school at Ann Arbor, Mich., then at Exeter, N. H., where he became a student in that best of all preparatory schools, historic Phillips Academy, to prepare him- self for Yale. However, his health became so impaired as to necessitate a cessation of his studies and a season of rest and recuperation. This changed his plans, for instead of preparing for Yale he entered the office of his father and began the reading of law. In 1890 he matriculated in the law school of Columbia (N. Y.) University, where he completed a course in the class of 1891. Return- ing to Helena, he was duly admitted to the bar of the state, and became associated with the law firm of Word & Smith, of which his distinguished father was senior member, which then became Word, Smith & Word, and, later, upon the retirement of his father, the firm became Smith & Word.

That the business conducted by these firms has ever been one of distinctively representative order the records of jurisprudence in the state bear unmistak- able evidence. From 1887 until 1889 Judge Word served as clerk of the supreme court of Montana, and in June, 1899, he was appointed associate justice of this tribunal to fill the unexpired term of Judge

William H. Hunt. He served upon the supreme bench until the expiration of his term with ability and distinction, and then resumed active legal practice with Charles F. Word in January, 1901, under the firm name of Word & Word.

In politics Judge Word gives an unswerving allegiance to the Democratic party, is an influential exponent of its principles and policies and an active worker in its cause. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is schooled in the science of jurisprudence, is a skilled dialectician and a safe and conservative counsel, his strength being fortified by careful and comprehen- sive study and by his service on the supreme bench. On November 14, 1900, Judge Word was united in marriage to Miss Augusta C. Jones, daughter of Alexander W. Jones, of Selma, Ala .. in which state she was born.

W ILLIAM F. WORD .- A worthy scion of one of the most honored pioneer families of Mon- tana and one of its progressive and able business men, William Foster Word has practically passed his entire life here. He was born on December 29, 1861, in Oregon, Holt county, Mo., the son of Samuel and Sarah Margaret (Foster) Word, and his father is one of the most distinguished pioneer citizens of Montana and a representative member of its bar. (See sketch elsewhere in this volume.) William F. Word was about three and a half years of age when, in June, 1865, he was brought to Mon- tana by his mother, who came up the Missouri river to join her husband. who had located in Virginia City, Mont., in 1863. The family resided in Vir- ginia City until 1885, and William was a student in the first school established in that famous mining town. In 1876 Mr. Word went to Missouri, and entered the Kemper family school at Booneville. He made the trip from Montana alone, being then sixteen years of age, going by stage to Franklin, Utah, where he took the Brigham Young narrow- gauge railroad, which made connections with other railroads at Ogden. He was graduated from the Kemper school in 1879. and then went to Ann Ar- bor, Mich., where he graduated in the high school, and in the fall of 1880 he entered the literary depart- ment of the celebrated University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and there not only took the classical course but all studies of the university bearing upon mining. In 1884 Mr. Word made a trip to Europe

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in the interests of important Montana mining propo- sitions, and then returned to Ann Arbor to complete his studies. He was graduated from the University of Michigan with the class of 1885, and was the first Montana man to graduate in the mining department.

Mr. Word returned to Montana fully equipped to intelligently become identified with mining. From 1885 until 1890 he was engaged in timber con- tracting in Butte in addition to his mining interests, and in 1893 he assumed charge of mining property in Madison county and was thus engaged for one year. In the spring of 1894 he was placed in charge of mines in which he was an owner, at Empire, near Marysville, Mont., and continued development until the mines were sold. Mr. Word also owned inter- ests in various other valuable mines, including the Iron Mountain, in which he held at one time consid- erable amount of stock. In December, 1898, Mr. Word came to Butte as an expert and consulting en- gineer for the Butte & Boston and the Boston & Montana Mining Companies, with whom he re- mained two years, when he assumed his present re- sponsible and exacting position as superintendent of the mines of the Colorado Mining Company. Mr. Word is thoroughly skilled in his profession and is an authority on matters pertaining to modern min- ing methods. He is a mentber of the Society of Montana Pioneers, of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, of the National Geographical So- ciety and of the Montana Society of Mining Engin- eers. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevo- lent Protective Order of Elks. At St. Joseph, Mo., on November 19, 1890, Mr. Word was united in marriage with Miss Alice W. Cowan, Mr. Word and his wife are both representatives of old Vir- ginia and Kentucky families, one ancestor on the paternal side having been captain of a Virginia com . pany in the American Revolution, in which other members of the family were also active. Mr. and Mrs. Word have one child.

R DEV. ANDREW WORMSER, M. A .- He to whose life history we now direct attention has contributed in a marked degree to the develop- ment of the resources of the state, and stands forward conspicuously as sponsor for one of the most important colonization projects given in- ception in this section of the Union. Mr. Worm- ser is a native of Holland, where his birth occurred

on September 25, 1846. His parents, Henry W. and Magdalene (Arends) Wormser, both of whom were Hollanders, had six sons and seven daugh- ters. The father resided in Holland until his death, about 1888, and was a member of the Hol- land East and West India Trading Company, as- sociated with some of Holland's most dis- tinguished men, among them being Groen Van Prinsterer Thorbecke, the eminent statesman and scholar, Drs. Isaac Capadose and da Costa and the great poet, Pilderdyke.

Andrew Wormser attended the public schools and was prepared by private tutors for the gym- nasium, from which he was graduated in 1858, at the head of his class. He then became manager of a large jute company at Ryssen, Holland, and was thus engaged for nearly three years, within which time he determined to study theology. To this end he made a trip to the United States, and to the city of Holland, Mich., where had been es- tablished a colony of Hollanders. At its head was Dr. Van Raalter, a friend of Mr. Wormser's father and also the founder of Hope College at Holland, Mich., the official city of the colony. Mr. Wormser completed a post-graduate course of one year in the college, receiving the degree of A. B., and entered its theological department, where, on his graduation three years later, he was given the degree of M. A. Mr. Wormser then received calls to the pastorate of five different churches, but declined them and took a' mission field in Iowa.

On May 9, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wormser to Miss Anna Hoedemaker, born in Kalamazoo, Mich., the daughter of John A. Hoedemaker, a native of Holland, and a sister of Dr. Philip J. Hoedemaker, one of the founders of the free university of Amsterdam. Mr. Wormser took his bride on a wedding tour through Europe, and while in Amsterdam he was proffered the pastorate of the leading English Presbyterian church in that city, but having al- ready taken the work in Iowa, he declined the honor. After Mr. and Mrs. Wormser returned to the United States he engaged vigorously in his mission work for three years, meeting with marked success and also building up a large con- gregation. He then yielded to the repeated im- portunities of the First Reformed church of Cleve- land, Ohio, accepting its pastoral charge and continuing his ministrations there for three and one-half years, during which the church erected

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two chapels in the growing west division of the city. Mrs. Wormser was ever a most able and devoted coadjutor of her husband, there and elsewhere. While in Cleveland they became inti- mate friends of President Garfield and family, and they accepted his invitation to become guests at the White House, where they passed a few days and three days after their visit they were horri- ned to learn of his assassination.

Mr. Wormser resigned his Cleveland pastorate in 1882 by reason of impaired health, and the next spring accepted a call to the First Reformed church at Cedar Grove, Wis., which incumbency he retained five years, during which time Mrs. Wormser gave personal attention to the education of neglected and home, where they were tenderly cared for until able to assume the personal responsibilities of life. While l'olding this pastoral charge Mr. Wormser received a greater number of calls to other churches than during all the remaining time he was in the minis- try, the total being twenty-two, while of four that came to him near its close, one was from New York city, one from Chicago, one from Milwaukee, Wis., and the fourth from Grand Haven, Mich. He ac- cepted the last, and there passed another five years. In the second year of this pastorate a disastrous fire visited the town on the night of October 3, 1885, destroying the Cutler House, four blocks of private residences and sweeping away their new parsonage, but recently erected, and also the "Big church." Within two years the church and parsonage had · been replaced by convenient modern structures, but close proximity to the lake caused Mr. Wormser to become so afflicted with bronchial troubles that his physicians advised him to seek a change of climate. This led to his locating in Montana, where he in- tended to enter upon mission work at Fort Benton, but, in harmony with the requests of the board of home missions of the Presbyterian church, he trav- eled in their interests throughout the state. organiz- ing churches and opening mission fields. In the two years he was in this work he organized thc synod of Montana, and was its first president.

He was for six years a resident of Bozeman, and at his advice Holland colonists began to settle in the fertile Gallatin valley, until some thirty families had located. The success of this colony led Mr. Worm- ser to open up a new colony, in Sweet Grass county, near Big Timber, in the Yellowstone valley. Hc organized for this purpose the Holland Irrigation Canal Company, which constructed a canal thirteen

miles long. In this locality Mr. Wormser himself purchased a ranch of 5,000 acres, which he calls the Deep Park ranch. His faith in the valley was thus demonstrated, and he has erected a commodious and attractive residence, barns, sheds, « orrals, etc., and has more than doubled the value of the property. Here he has been extensively engaged in the raising of sheep and cattle, having now a herd of 3,000 sheep, Merino crossed with Shropshire being his favorite type, while his cattle are shorthorns only.

The state arid-land commission were impressed with the natural advantages of the location adopted by Mr. Wormser, and saw that here was already a fine nucleus for a colony, twenty-five families having located through the efforts of the Holland Irrigation orphan children, taking some of them into her . Canal Company, and made overtures to the company to sell the canal property to the state, and to make a contract to enlarge and extend the irrigating system on both sides of the Yellowstone river, and into the old Crow Indian reservation, in Carbon county, un- til, by canals covering about sixty-five miles, more than 50,000 acres could be effectively irrigated. The deal was consummated in 1898, the company taking the contract and giving a deed to the prop- erty, the bonds of the state being accepted in pay- ment. Owing to difficulties attending their sale be- fore any work is done or income derived, Mr. Wormser, as president of the canal company, intro- duced a bill in the state legislature of 1901 asking the state to guarantee the interest on the bonds for three years, the state to be protected by a fund pro- vided by the company. In the hurry of business in the last days of the session, the bill did not receive the attention it merited, and Mr. Wormser is now accomplishing the same purpose through private sources. With this great system of canal finished. the most solid and costly in the country, outside of California, and costing $500,000, the agricultural re- sources of the state would be largely advanced, since the lands irrigated would accommodate from 800 to 1,000 families. while otherwise they are of slight value.

Mr. Wormser's indefatigable energy and great executive ability never have cognizance of failure. and he anticipates no difficulty in completing the ca- nal system and peopling this section with the best class of agriculturists. He has cast in his lot with the venture, and will not cease his efforts until the desired ends are attained. He is laying out his own grounds on the plan of an English park, aiming to show what the maximum possibilities and attrac- tions of the Yellowstone valley may become. He

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platted and laid out the town of Wormser, its name being adopted by the people while he was in New York. He has been a member of the National Irri- gation Congress for three years. He has a capacity for the conducting of enterprises of great scope and importance, and his efforts in behalf of the de- velopment of the resources of the state must be held in high estimation. He is deeply interested in all that stimulates its material as well as spiritual pros- perity. In politics Mr. Wormser gives his support to the Republican party.

DR. HENRY J. WIRTH, of Helena, whose prom- inence as a dentist is of state celebrity, was born in Paterson, N. J., on April 14, 1860. His residence of ten years in the capital city has annual- ly added to his reputation, not only as an expert and skillful operator, but as a broad-minded, patriotic citizen, of progressive views and with the best inter- ests of the municipality in which he resides at heart. He is a son of A. J. and Frances Wirth, and he was reared in Winona, Minn., to which city his parents moved when he was quite young. His education was received at the Minnesota Normal School, at Winona, whose reputation for scholastic advantages is exceeded by no other similar institution in the United States, and at the University of Minnesota, at Minneapolis.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 97

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