Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 99

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 99

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At the close of the contest he was honorably dis- charged and being willing to accept any honorable employment that was available, he joined a circus troupe, with which he traveled for two seasons. He then became a brakeman on a railroad, and in a short time was promoted to conductor. In 1869 he went to mining in his native state which he fol- lowed for four years and then, in 1873, made his way

to Utah, and was a miner there for a year, when he returned to New York for a stay of eighteen months, and after that transferred his operations again to Utah. In 1881 he removed to Montana, followed mining for a while, then kept a boarding house, and soon enlarged his operations by locating and con- structing the Columbia Gardens, a health resort in close proximity to Butte, which he conducted alone for a time, but when he saw a favorable opportunity for profits in the ice business, sold out two-thirds of his interest and began handling ice. He after- wards engaged in other lines of mercantile life. While in Utah politics opened a way for the gratifi- cation of a laudable ambition and his party elected him as a constable, and later as a justice of the peace. He was also a United States deputy marshal. Mr. Adams was married on January 3, 1866, to Miss Helena Ryan, of New York, daughter of William Ryan, a native of Ireland. They have had four children, of whom two are living, Laura, now Mrs. Frank Boucher, of Butte and William J., also living in Butte. In business and in official life Mr. Adams has so conducted himself as to merit and secure the esteem of his fellow citizens.

EDWARD D. AIKEN .- A life of subjected modesty was that of the honored subject of this memoir, and yet objective recognition and appre- ciation of sterling rectitude of character is never denied ; and, though Edward Dorr Aiken sought not personal aggrandizement, he was prominent in the history of Montana from the pioneer epoch until the time of his death. He held the confidence and esteem of all with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life, and such was the purity and nobility of his character that it endeared him to a large circle of acquaintances to whom his death came with a sense of personal loss and bereavement. Such a man and such a life merit a prominent place among Montana's sterling pioneers.

Edward Dorr Aiken was born in Putney, Vt., July 6, 1838, and it would almost seem that the stern surroundings of his home in the Green Mountain State, whose rugged hillsides give grudging returns for men's labors, imparted to him a solidity of char- acter which has made him true to himself and to his ideals. Of the details of his early career the fol- lowing record appears in a Vermont paper, which noted his death with proper tribute to him as a man and a native son of the state. He was a descendant

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of John Aiken, prominent in Revolutionary history and in the early settlement of Vermont. His parents . sickness or distress." died many years ago and are buried in West Dum- merston, leaving two sons and one daughter at the time of their death. Away back in the 'fifties he entered the employ of Randolph A. Knight, of Dummerston, as clerk in his store, and there he re- mained until 1863, when, at the age of twenty-five years, he joined with several others from Windham county and emigrated to Des Moines, Iowa, where he still remained in the employ of Mr. Knight. He was reared a farmer boy until he was thirteen, when he entered the mercantile business. May 1, 1864, Mr. Aiken, in company with Mr. Knight and several others, left Des Moines with a big freight wagon drawn by three yoke of oxen and an Indian pony, bound for Idaho territory, making their destination Virginia City, in the present state of Montana, then a part of the territory mentioned. Their freight consisted mostly of miners' goods. It was a trip of eighteen hundred miles and they were one hundred and fifteen days en route. At Fort Kearney, two hundred miles west of Omaha, Neb., they found it necessary with others to form a large company for protection against the hostile Sioux, through whose territory they would travel for 600 miles up the North Platte river. They had several fights with the Indians, who tried to stampede their cattle. They crossed the Rocky Mountains at the South Pass.

It may be said that Mr. Aiken was engaged in mining in Alder gulch for about two years. In 1866 he located in Silver Bow, and in the fall went to Cable, where he engaged with the M. & M. Tunnel Company to drive a tunnel under Iron Mountain. He spent four and one-half years in this work, putting the tunnel in 1,100 feet From 1871 to 1878 he engaged in mining in the Moose creek district, after which time he moved to Butte. In 1880 he associated himself with Salton Cameron in purchasing the Butte foundry, which he managed until 1896, when ill health caused him to dispose of his interest in the same, and he there- after lived practically retired until his death, which came on the 22d of April, 1900, the result of an attack of pneumonia, his illness being of only a few days' duration. As was said of him in the local press at the time of his demise, "It comes to the lot of few men to gain such universal respect and affection as that in which Mr. Aiken was held. He was noted for his many charitable works, and none of his brothers was ever so poor and lowly that he

could be kept away from any of them in time of

In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Aiken held a posi- tion of distinction, having been for many years iden- tified with the order, his initiation into Masonry having occurred in Golden Rule Lodge No. 32, at Putney, Vt. He took a conspicuous part in the work of the fraternity in Montana, having been past master of Mount Moriah Lodge No. 24, A. F. & A. M., of Butte; past high priest of Deer Lodge Chapter No. 3, R. A. M .; past eminent com- mander of Montana Commandery No. 3. K. T .; past worthy patron of Ruth Chapter No. 2, O. E. S., and a member of Algeria Temple of the Mystic Shrine, at Helena. He held the distinguished office of right eminent commander of the Grand Com- mandery of Knights Templar in the state, and was one of the most honored and popular adherents of the fraternity in this section of the Union. He was also a valued member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

That Mr. Aiken was prominent in the political and public life of the state is evident when we revert to the various offices he held. In 1871 and 1872 he was a member of the Seventh session of the terri- torial legislature, which convened at Virginia City : in 1873 he was a member of the Eighth, or extra- ordinary, session; in 1881 he was elected a member of the territorial council, being a representative of Deer Lodge county in each of these instances ; and was a member of the constitutional convention of 1889, which framed the present constitution of the state. He ever commanded public confidence and esteem.

On the 20th of April, 1882, Mr. Aiken was united in marriage to Miss Ada M. Rodgers, who was born in Missouri, being the daughter of Captain William H. Rodgers, born in Indiana in 1814, re- moving thence to Missouri in the early 'thirties, and there engaging in mercantile pursuits. In 1864 he came to Montana and opened a hotel in Virginia City, and in 1881 engaged in the same line of enter- prise in Missoula, where his death occurred. He married Jane Logan, who was born in Kentucky, the daughter of William Logan and of the same family of the late Gen. John A. Logan. They became the parents of eleven children, of whom Mrs. Aiken was the third in order of birth. She was fifteen years of age at the time of the family's re- moval to Montana, passing her sixteenth birthday in Virginia City. In 1883 Mrs. Aiken became a member of Ruth Chapter No. 2, O. E. S., was

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worthy matron of the same in 1896, while other munitions for the service. He took a horse but in 1897 she had the distinction of serving as. was compelled to give it up at the mouth of a gun. In grand worthy matron of the grand lodge of the order in Montana. She still maintains her home in Butte under the influences and hallowed associations of the past and enjoying the friendship of those to whom she and her husband had endeared themselves in the years gone by.

SAMUEL P. ALEXANDER, a prosperous and energetic miner of Butte, is a native of Prussia. born in that country in 1853. His parents, Aaron and Hulda (Solomon) Alexander, were also natives of Prussia, where his father was an excellent tailor. They had four children, of whom Samuel was the third. He was educated in his native land, and. in 1873, when he was twenty years old, emigrated to America, landing in New York and working there nine months in a liquor manufactory. From New York he came directly to Montana, locating first at Clancey, where he was interested in a shoe store, but after conducting it a short time sold out his interest and removed to Helena. There he went into the hotel business for a short time, returning to Clancey and working on the first hand jigs operated in the state. In 1875 he took up his residence in Butte, when the place consisted of only twelve or fourteen unpretentious cabins, but in 1875 also the mineral discoveries began and in 1876 he helped to survey and lay out the city for its future greatness. He spent a short time in the hotel business, and then opened a shoe store. In January, 1876, he started the first restaurant ever opened in Butte, sold it a few months later and took a contract to sink thirty feet in the little Mina mine for a half interest. Before long he sold half of his half and soon after the other half. He then went prospecting in the Pipestone district. In 1877 his brother died and Mr. Alexander took charge of a profitable shoe business left by him.

When volunteers for the campaign against the Nez Perces were called for, he was the first man to respond, arriving at Deer Lodge at midnight and go- ing with the company from there to Warm Springs, where they were sworn in. The command started for Missoula, but meeting Dr. Mitchell on the road and being informed by him that the Indians were coming back on the Lo Lo trail, they returned to Warm Springs. Mr. Alexander was one of five sol- diers who went out to confiscate horses, saddles and

the fall of 1877 he was one of the five guards who took the prisoner McAndrews from Butte to Boulder on the road to Radersburg, where he was hanged. The next year he opened and conducted the first pawnbrokers' shop in Butte. After a few months he gave this up and went to Glendale to work for a mining company there. In 1881 he returned to Butte. engaged in the meat business and a little while after sold out and opened a second-hand furniture store. The next year he removed to Wickes and from there to Gloster, in 1884 returned to Butte for a year and in 1885 went to Utah and engaged in mining at Brigham Canyon under contract. Three years later he went to San Francisco and mined in Cali- fornia. From California he went to Colorado, where he remained nearly twelve years. While in Colorado in 1898 Mr. Alexander was instrumental in having all volunteers in the Spanish-American war absolved from assessment work on their mining claims during their term of service. This was brought about by congressional action, for which Mr. Alexander made the original suggestion to Senator Wolcott. In 1901 he returned once more to Butte, where he still re- sides and is carrying on a profitable mining business. Mr. Alexander has been something of a wanderer. but. unlike the proverbial rolling stone, he has gathered some moss in the form of valuable mining interests in Colorado and· Montana and real estate in Butte. A single man, he has ever felt at liberty to follow his inclination in whatever direction it guided him, but he has followed it to good purpose and is well esteemed.

G ' EORGE J. ALLEN, now one of the representa- tive stock growers of Paradise Valley, Park county, came to Montana in the pioneer days of 1864, and has been ever since identified with mining operations and other industries of the now pros- perous commonwealth. He was born in Henry county, Mo., on January 19. 1844, the son of George J. and Esther M. (Mitchel) Allen, the former born in North Carolina on April 5, 1809, and the latter in Browns Borough, Washington county, Tenn., on May 17, 1815, the daughter of William and Nancy Mitchel. Her marriage to Mr. Allen oc- curred on April 17. 1833, and they were the parents of four sons and four daughters. The mother of Mr. Allen was the granddaughter of Rev. Samuel

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Doak, D. D., who was born in Providence Church, Va., on August 1, 1749, and who, educated at Princeton University, attained eminence in the edu- cational world as a successful educator and the founder of Washington College in Tennessee in 1795. He was its first president, serving in that capacity for thirty-six years, when his son, John W. Doak, succeeded him. The institution stands as a fitting monument to its founder, while in the prin- cipal building a magnificent memorial window, weighing 1,200 pounds, is placed in honor of this worthy man, who passed to his reward full of years of honor. George J. Allen, Sr., emigrated with his family to Boone county, Mo., in 1834, and after farming for one year, removed to Tebo, in what is now Henry county, where he entered claim to 350 acres, which he thoroughly improved and made his home until his death on March 5. 1850, his widow surviving him until February 13, 1853.

George J. Allen passed his boyhood and was edu- cated in Henry county, Mo. In 1864, when twenty years of age, he started for Montana with horse and mule team, and driving a freight outfit. He had no serious trouble from Indians and arrived in Virginia City on the Ist of August, 1864. Here he engaged in mining with fair success, and in the spring of 1865 he removed to Last Chance gulch, and in Dry gulch, in the same locality, he and a partner bought a claim, which they worked for several months without success, and in the fall Mr. Allen was one of fifty-four who built a fleet of boats and started down the Missouri river, the outfit being called the Rawhide fleet, under com- mand of Capt. Knox. They embarked at Fort Benton and made the river trip of 2,600 miles to St. Joseph, Mo., in twenty-eight days. Mr. Allen then remained on the old homestead at Tebo, Mo., until 1880, when he again drove a team on an overland trip to Montana. He came to Park county, and to Paradise valley, where he first bought a small tract of land, to which he added a homestead claim and railroad land, until the area of his estate is now 3,200 acres. Here he has since engaged in stock growing, raising cattle and horses upon an ex- tensive scale, in the former line giving preference to the Hereford breed. He is an admirer of good horseflesh, and has ever in evidence good animals of standard-bred stock. In driving he is reluctant to figure in the background, and it must be a speedy horse that will essay passing him on the road.

In his political proclivities Mr. Allen supports the Democratic party, and he served as postmaster of

Paradise valley for one year, the office being aban- doned after Livingston was established. He has also served as school director at various times, and earnestly advocates every enterprise looking to the advancement of the local welfare, and is held in the highest estimation of all who know him. His religious faith is Congregational, while Mrs. Allen is an active worker in the Baptist church.

On April 22, 1874, Mr. Allen was united in marriage to Miss Betty J. Fisher, born in Howard county, Mo., the daughter of Jacob and Jane (Allen) Fisher, the former a native of Virginia, while the latter was a half sister of George J. Allen, Sr. Mrs. Allen's paternal grandfather was Daniel Fisher, born in Virginia, and his father was born of German ancestors in Philadelphia, before the Revolution. To Mr. and Mrs. Allen nine chil- dren have been born, of whom Elbert, the fourth, now attending the State University at Bozeman, and Carrie, the seventh, are living. James R., George, Edwin, Henry, Joseph, Annie and Lucy have passed away.

ROBERT D. ALTON, M. D .- An eminent pioneer physician and surgeon of Montana, who nearly twenty years ago came to the great north- west and began his life of usefulness among her people, laying the resources of his professional training and skill under tribute to their necessities and impressing upon the community the forceful influence of his progressive spirit, Dr. Robert D. Alton, of Livingston, Park county, has risen into place and consequence in the state of his adoption, and is securely established in the confidence and esteem of her people. He was born at Carbondale. Pa., February 9, 1860, the son of Davis and Helen C. (Williams) Alton. His father, Davis Alton. was a manufacturer of iron in the Lehigh valley. Pa., and served with distinction and the rank of major in the Civil war.

Dr. Alton received his scholastic training in the schools of Burlington, N. J., and in 1878 entered the medical department of Wooster University at Cleve- land, Ohio, where he graduated with the class of 1881. He was then appointed house surgeon of Charity Hospital and demonstrator of anatomy, medical department Wooster University. In the summer of 1882 he went to Colorado, and in March, 1883, came to Montana, and locating at Livingston, Park county, where he entered upon the practice of

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his profession, which he has pursued with such success that he is now one of the leading physicians of his section of the state and local surgeon to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. He is a mem- ber of the American Medical Association and the Montana State Medical Association. He was active in organizing St. Luke's Hospital at Livingston, is a member of its board of trustees and one of its visiting surgeons. In educational matters in the community he has shown a great and serviceable interest ; he has been for many years a member of the city school board and is at this time (1902) its. president. Much of the progress and excellence of the schools is due to his intelligent study of their needs and his energetic application of the knowledge thereby acquired.

Fraternally the Doctor is prominently identified with the Masonic order in several of its branches. holding membership in Livingston Lodge No. 32. the local Royal Arch Chapter and St. Bernard Commandery No. 6, being eminent commander of the last named. He is also a member of Living- ston Lodge No. 246, of the Order of Elks. On Feb- ruary 15, 1888, he was married to Miss Anna Mintie. the daughter of Fergus L. and Eleanor (Russell) Mintie. Mrs. Alton is a native of Darlington, Wis., where she was born December 13, 1867. She is an ardent and zealous worker in the Episcopal church, and is also a member of Milicent Porter Chapter, D. A. R., of Waterbury, Conn. The Doctor and Mrs. Alton have one son, Robert M. Alton, who was born April 1, 1889, and is attending the city schools of Livingston. .

ROBERT ANDREW .- The subject of this re- view, who is one of the most progressive and successful of the farmers and sheep growers of Park county, passed his youth amid the banks and braes of bonnie Scotland, and in his sturdy integrity of character and his invincible spirit shows the typical attributes of his race. He was born in Banff, Scot- land, on November 17, 1853, being one of the thir- teen children of James and Jane (Fraser ) Andrew, both of whom were likewise born in Banff, being representatives of worthy old Scottish families. The paternal grandfather of our subject also bore the name of James Andrew, and he was born in Banff, where the family had been established for many generations. The father of our subject was a farmer, his farm being called Chapeltown of Mar- noch, and passed his entire life in his native land.

Robert Andrew passed his early years at Banff. where he attended the public schools, and in 1867, at the age of fourteen years, he went to New Zealand and engaged as a plowman until 1881, hav- ing taken contracts for the breaking of land. He then came to America and made his way to Helena, Mont., where he engaged in freighting for a short time, and then rented a farm in the Missouri valley. about thirty-five miles from Helena, and engaged in agricultural pursuits about three years, but with such meagre success that he went to While Sulphur Springs and there turned his attention to the sheep business. Six months later he removed to Fish creek, where he remained somewhat more than three years, and then leased what is known as the Antelope sheep ranch, on that creek, and engaged in sheep growing, eventually purchasing the ranch of Everett & Blakely and adding to its area by purchase of adjoining tracts until the place comprised 4,000 acres. He had on hand more than 6,000 sheep at the time of disposing of the ranch and stock in 1900 to Paul Van Cleve. He then purchased his present fine ranch located in Paradise valley, on the Yellow- stone river, ten miles above the city of Livingston, his postoffice address. Here he has 380 acres sup- plied with effective irrigation, and expects to raise an average of 1,000 tons of hay annually to feed sheep for the spring market. He has at the present time 5,000 sheep grazing on the Yellowstone river. He conducts operations with much ability, and is known as one of the progressive men of this section of the state, thoroughly careful in his efforts and utilizing the most effective methods in all branches of his business.

In politics he renders allegiance to the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with the Knights of Pythias. He has made the best of improvements on his ranch, having but recently completed a fine residence of modern architectural design, equipped with modern conveniences. His ranch is beautifully located in the valley, and is one of the show places of this section. November 17, 1886, Mr. Andrew was united in marriage to Miss Anna McCrea, who was born in Peterhead. Scotland, the daughter of John McCrea.

JOSEPH H. ANDREWS, who is one of the worthy pioneers of Missoula county, and who has had many interesting experiences in his nu- merous hunting expeditions in the early days, as well as with certain of his business experiences. is

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now a resident in the Lo Lo creek district, where he has a fine ranch of 240 acres, and is successfully engaged in raising stock and farming and fruit growing. Mr. Andrews is a native of London, Eng- land, born on Christmas day, 1855, the son of Wil- liam H. and Mary A. Andrews, also natives of Eng- land, whence the father emigrated to America in 1861, accompanied by his son, Joseph. The mother was to follow them the succeeding year, but her death occurred on the day she was to embark. Wil- liam H. Andrews had joined the church of Latter Day Saints and went to Salt Lake City from Omaha, crossing the plains with ox teams. Joseph was then but six years of age, but he well recalls the fact that they had to stop half a day on the journey to allow a herd of buffalo to pass.

Joseph H. Andrews was educated in Salt Lake City, where he remained until he was fifteen years old, when he ran away from home, going to Idaho, and in the Raft river district was employed in herding cattle, which occupation he continued for eight years. He first came to Montana in 1877, and then went to British Columbia, taking horses for the British government. He then came back to Meadow creek, where he was for a time engaged in mining. with a miner's varied success. Subsequently he went to Idaho and thence to Nevada, passing some time there in Virginia City. In 1881, at Marsh Basin. Cassia county, Idaho, Mr. Andrews was married to Miss Elizabeth Halstead, a native of Clinton county, Ill. They have no children. Mr. and Mrs. Andrews passed some time in traveling through Idaho, Ne- vada and Colorado, and in the spring of 1882 came to Missoula, Mont., and in the fall he took up the claim where they have since had their home, addi- tions having been made to the place until it now comprises 240 acres. Mr. Andrews has been suc- cessfully engaged here in farming and the live stock business, and has also devoted attention to the raising of fruit, to which a portion of his farm is well adapted. He has an excellent home and is one of the prosperous men of this section. In politics Mr. Andrews supports the Republican party, and fraternally is identified with the Improved Order of Odd Fellows.

JOSEPH C. ANNEAR .- In the picturesque old county of Cornwall, England, the ancestry of Mr. Annear can be traced back to a time to which the "memory of man runneth not to the contrary." and the name is one which has ever stood for integrity

and sturdy intelligence and industry. Mr. An- near has personally manifested these characteristics in a marked degree, and by his ability and well directed efforts has gained a competency, while he is recognized as one of the representative citizens of the attractive little city of Walkerville, Silver Bow county.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 1, Part 99

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