Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 110

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092

USA > Montana > Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2 > Part 110

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ing responsibilities. In January, 1881, he came to Miles City on business for his employer, which occupied him about six months.

Mr. Gordon then concluded to remain in the promising young city and for nearly two years was a member of the firm of Broadwater, Hubbell & Co. This firm closed business in the summer of 1883, and in September Mr. Gordon formed a partnership with W. D. Knight, the owner of the Yellowstone Journal, and assumed the editorial and business management of the paper. He has been since closely identified with the manage- ment of the paper, the growth of the city and the development of Custer county, and since 1888 he has been sole owner of the paper and has raised it in rank and vastly enlarged its usefulness. In 1890 President Harrison appointed Mr. Gordon register of the United States land office at Miles City. In this office he was succeeded by a Demo- crat in 1894, and was again appointed by Presi- dent Mckinley in 1898. In political relations he has ever been an active Republican. He is a widower, with a family now consisting of a son, a daughter and a niece, and the son is in charge of the Journal's business office. Mr. Gordon is identified with the Masons, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks, and since the incorporation of Miles City, in 1887, he has been the city clerk. He also represented Custer county in the state legislature in 1895. In every way he is a representative, ser- · viceable and most estimable citizen, who enjoys public esteem and confidence.

G IACOMO GIACOMELLA .- As his beautiful and poetical name suggests, the subject of this sketch is a native of Italy, where he was born in 1853, the neighborhood of Santa Croce, in the de- partment of Lombardy, being the place of his na- tivity, and that of his parents, Agostino and Lucia (Gianala) Giacomella. His father was an industri- ous and frugal farmer and woodchopper and was the parent of six children, of whom our subject was the second in the order of birth. Two of them are living in. South America, and the rest of the family, except our subject, in their native land.

Mr. Giacomella attended the schools of Lombardy until he was fourteen years old, when he was obliged to assist in his father's work. Four years later he left home and came to the United States, landing in New York, but in a little while joining

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his father in Leavenworth, Kan. From there he went to Central City, Colo., and worked in a quartz mill for two months; thence to Salt Lake City, where he chopped wood and burned charcoal for a year. In 1872 he took up his residence in Nevada, chopping wood and burning charcoal at Eureka until 1879. At that time he came to Montana, lo- cating at Butte, following his old occupation of woodchopping, and for two years keeping a res- taurant. In 1881 he homesteaded 120 acres of his present farm, located about two miles from Laurel, to which he has since added by purchase until he has 370 acres in all, whereon he has built a resi- dence, necessary barns, sheds, fences, etc., and has put much of it under irrigation. It is very produc- tive and yields large crops of oats, wheat, alfalfa and other products, and supports liberally some fifty head of cattle and work horses. He has also planted a small orchard of apple and plum trees, and small fruits, and is about to plant a larger one and enter upon the culture of fruit extensively. His place is worth several thousand dollars, and is a very desir- able home, all the work of his own industry, enter- prise and skillful cultivation.

While a Republican Mr. Giacomella takes no very active interest in politics, and has never married. In religious affiliation he is a Catholic, and frater- nally is identified with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He has borne his part in the develop- ment of the community, and performed with fideli- ty and uprightness the duties of citizenship. Among his neighbors and friends he stands well, and has the good opinion of all who know him.

CHARLES W. GRAY was born at Detroit, Mich., March 1, 1851. His father, William Gray, was a native of Ireland and emigrated to America when he was a young man and located at Detroit. He was a lawyer by profession and rose to eminence at the bar. He died in the city of his adoption in July, 1869. His wife, Mary (Stewart) Gray, was also a native of Ireland, and is still living at Detroit.

Their son Charles was educated in the public schools of Detroit. In 1877 he came to Montana, locating on Willow creek, Teton county, about twenty miles from Choteau, where he in 1879, took up homestead and pre-emption claims. Mr. Gray is engaged in raising cattle, horses and sheep. He is Republican in politics, and as such was elected county commissioner of old Choteau county, serv-

ing from 1889 to 1893; and when Teton county was formed he was appointed to the same office for that county, serving from 1893 to 1895. He has also been postmaster at Belleview since 1889. He is a member of Choteau Lodge No. 47, A. O. U. W.

Mr. Gray was married at Augusta, Mont., in 1888, to Miss Nellie Kirkaldie, a native of Joliet, Ill., of Scotch parentage, her father, F. L. Kirkal- die, located near Helena in the early 'sixties, and he died at Augusta in 1892. Her mother, Elizabeth F., Gray is living near Augusta, Mont. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have five children : Bessie S., Mary B., C. Wil- son, Robert K. and William David.

H ERMAN E. GAUGLER .- In the thriving little village of Ubet, Fergus, county, is to be found the store of Schreiber & Gaugler. Herman E. Gaugler, the junior member, is an enterprising young business man and one of the popular mer- chants of Fergus county.

Mr. Gaugler is a native of Michigan, born in Berrien county, on the 10th of September, 1866, the son of Daniel G. and Elizabeth Gaugler, natives of Pennsylvania. They early removed to Michigan and have ever since maintained their home there, Mr. Gaugler conducting a furniture and undertak- ing business at Berrien Springs. He served in a Michigan regiment during the war of the Rebellion, is a stanch Democrat, and fraternally is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, the Masonic Order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He and his wife are both members of the Lutheran church. Of their seven children Esther M. and Mabel G. are deceased, the others being : Frank O., Herman E., Rena B., Gordon G. and Dessie.

Herman E. Gaugler received a good common- school education and had valuable business experi- ence during his boyhood. When fifteen years of age he began to devote a portion of his time to work of various descriptions, and when twenty years of age he was quite well equipped for the active responsibilities of life. At that time he went to Colo- rado, locating in Las Animas county, as foreman in a lumber yard, and he continued this line of in- dustry in various parts of Colorado, Louisiana and Texas for three years. In 1889 Mr. Gaugler came to Montana, locating in Diamond City, Broadwater county, where he engaged in mining, meeting with fair success. He continued at mining for eight years, and then, in 1900, entered into partnership

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with Adolphus W. Schreiber and purchased the general merchandise store at Ubet, Fergus county, where he has since maintained his home, and where a fine trade is secured. A sketch of Mr. Schreiber appears on another page of this work. Mr. Gaugler is a stanch Democrat and is serving as postmaster at Ubet at the present time for Mrs. A. R. Barrows, the incumbent of the office. Fraternally he is identi- fied with the Knights of Pythias.

W ILLIAM GORDON .- Even now there are few indeed of the old-timers in Montana who can relate the tales of the stirring days when the thriving mining camps in Alder and Last Chance gulches were still in their primitive and prosperous condition. Among the number still surviving in hale and hearty strength is William Gordon, one of the sterling pio- neers of the state who is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. He is one of the lead- ing stockmen of Fergus county, owns valuable agri- cultural lands and is one of the influential citizens of the state of which he was one of the founders. He was born in County Armagh, Ireland, on March 2, 1836, a son of William and Sarah B. Gordon, the former being of Scottish lineage, while the latter was born in England. At the age of thirteen, after his family home had been transferred to the United States, William Gordon entered upon an apprentice- ship at the carpenter trade, in which he served seven years. In 1860 he crossed the plains to Colorado, driving a bull team in a freighting outfit by way of the Arkansas river. Upon arriving in Colorado after the five weeks' journey, Mr. Gordon turned his attention to prospecting and mining, being both employed by others and operating individually in the placer mines. In 1863 he struck across the plains to the new gold fields in Montana, then in Idaho, and an almost unknown country. At Vir- ginia City Mr. Gordon became a placer miner in Alder gulch, one of the most prolific camps known to the annals of placer mining. In 1864 he joined in the exodus to Last Chance gulch, where he re- mained a short time, and then located a claim in White gulch, where he was very successful.

In 1869 Mr. Gordon first engaged in the cattle business, and in 1871 he located on a ranch on the Musselshell river, thirty-two miles east of White Sulphur Springs and was the first permanent settler in the valley of the Musselshell. There he made his

home, continuing ranching and stockgrowing until 1890, when he came to Fergus county and located his present ranch, nine miles north of Ubet, his postoffice address. Here he has since devoted his at- tention to the raising of high-grade cattle and to diversified farming, conducting operations exten- sively and being known as one of the leading cattle- growers of this section, his landed estate comprising 2,000 acres of land. He is also concerned promi- nently in the sheep industry, as one of the principals in the Martindale Sheep Company, of Meagher county. He is one of the large stockholders of the First National Bank of White Sulphur Springs, and a member of the bank's directorate. Mr. Gordon gives unequivocal allegiance to the Democratic party, and has long been identified with the Masonic fra- ternity, being a master Mason in Lewistown Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M., at Lewistown, Mont. He is a man of sterling character, of marked executive and financial ability, is well known to the pioneers who shared in the experiences of the early days among whom he numbers many friends.

W ILLIAM R. GLASSCOCK, the postmaster and one of the most prominent merchants of Belt, Cascade county, is a man of high integrity, fully deserving of the regard in which he is held by all with whom he is brought into business or social relations. He is public-spirited, broad- minded and progressive, and his popularity is of that enduring quality which tenaciously holds the many friends it wins by a life of unblemished character. He was born in Tennessee on June 17, 1867, the son of Henry S. and Mary Glasscock, the mother being born in Tennessee and the father in North Carolina. For the greater portion of his life the father followed farming with a fair degree of success, and he later located in Lawrence county, Mo., his present home. He is a member of the Baptist church, as was his wife, who died on July 9, 1884. Politically he is a Republican.

William R. Glasscock passed his youth in Jop- lin, Mo., where, until the age of fifteen, he made excellent progress in his studies. He then became a very successful instructor in penmanship until he was eighteen. Following this he secured the posi- tion of wagon boss in the lumber works at Spo- kane, Wash., which he filled to the satisfaction of his employers for six months. During the sum- mer of 1887 he came to Great Falls, then a thrifty,

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though youthful city, and, being impressed by its possibilities, he secured employment as a clerk, at first with A. Nathan for two and one-half years, then with the Boston store for two years, and later with Mr. Wirtheimer for one year. But the am- bition of Mr. Glasscock incited him to work for himself on his own account, and in 1894 he opened a clothing store in Sand Coulee, where he remained for eighteen months, meeting with a fair degree of success.

Then the attractions of Belt, which was rapidly becoming a town of importance, induced Mr. Glasscock to remove thither, where he enlarged his stock and increased his business lines materi- ally. He is now classed as one of the leading mer- chants of the place, and his unqualified prosperity is richly deserved. Mr. Glasscock was united in marriage on May 18, 1889, to Miss Anna John- son, a native of Sweden. She is the daughter of O. V. Johnson, who came to the United States and settled at Pepin, Wis. He is a mechanic, but has devoted his time and attention to real estate operations and to farming. Himself, wife and daughter are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. and Mrs. Glasscock have one child, Richard P. Fraternally Mr. Glasscock is associated with the Modern Woodmen of America, the United Workmen and the Knights of Pythias. He is an influential worker in the Republican party, and as such served as a member of the Montana legisla- ture in 1894.

F RANCIS S. GOSS .- The earlier development of Montana and its rapid advancement in min- ing and other important industries is due, in a large measure, to the sturdy pioneers of whom Mr. Goss is a splendid specimen. Pre-eminently a self-made man, who has fought his way, step by step, to finan- cial prominence, he is universally recognized as one of the leading citizens of Teton county, enjoying their highest esteem. He was born at Savanna, Ill., on October 29, 1837. His father was a native of Boston, Mass., who went to Illinois when a young man, în company with his father, Leonard Luther Goss. They engaged in the grocery trade at Savanna and Galena, Ill., and at one time owned valuable lead mines. The grandfather had been a soldier during the war of 1812, and his son's wife, Ellen E. (Baldwin) Goss, born at Wayland, Mass., on April 2, 1819, was a daughter of Col. William Baldwin, a valued officer in the same war. She died

at Augusta, Mont., in 1899. Francis S. Goss had only eight months' attendance at school, for he be- gan working at the lead mines at the age of nine years. He was also about this time employed at in- tervals in the historic tannery at Galena, then con- ducted and owned by the father of Gen. U. S. Grant. In more advanced youth he was associated with Cook & Pendleton, grain dealers, by whom he was employed until he was twenty-four years of age. Being patriotically inclined, he enlisted in 1861 in the Forty-fourth Illinois Infantry, but failed to pass muster on account of physical disability.

In May, 1862, Mr. Goss came from St. Louis up the Missouri river to Fort Benton, Montana, arriving there on June 17 of that year. Visiting Gold creek the following summer he discovered the first gold quartz at Bannack. Returning to Fort Benton, he made a trip for the American Fur Com- pany to the Piegan Indians at Milk river, and in the spring of 1864 he removed to Silver City, re- mained two years and built a hotel at Trinity gulch, which he conducted six months. Following this he prospected with variable success until 1868, when he and Jacob Schmidt conducted a milk ranch at Sun River crossing for a year. He was after- ward in charge of a dairy farm owned by Schmidt near St. Peter's mission and in 1871 he located a ranch of 320 acres at the head of Sun river and was there engaged in ranching and stockraising until 1890. In that year he sold his property and in 1891 he brought his family to Teton county where he se- cured Indian allotment claims to the amount of 1,200 acres near Cut Bank river, six miles from Blackfoot station on the Great Northern Railway. This prop- erty is now highly improved and fully fenced, and is probably the best managed and most productive ranch on the reservation. It is devoted to cattle, horses, hay and general farming.

Many of the incidents in the life of Mr. Goss are thrilling and romantic. When eighteen years of age, while working for the firm of Cook & Pendle- ton at Galena, he, single-handed, arrested the no- torious outlaw, "Rocky" Ryan, one of the earlier famous desperadoes of the west. He was also one of the discoverers of the famous Lost Horse gulch, near Marysville, Mont. The following incident il- lustrates how an apparently unimportant event may change the whole future of a man's life. In July, 1862, Mr. Goss, Col. Hankins, ex-Gov. S. T. Haus- er, Judge Dance, George Colburn, Dr. Mellville and Warren Witcher discovered a natural lake at the head of Gold creek, from which they ran å drain

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at large expense, but failed to discover gold in pay- ing quantities. The party then started for the east, intending to abandon Montana. After their arrival at Fort Benton Mr. Goss and Joseph Cabel went hunting and, upon their failure to return in time to rejoin their comrades before they started, he con- cluded to remain in Montana. A party of twenty- two Piegan, Blood and Blackfoot Indians had been committing numerous depredations in the vicinity of Fort Shaw, and Mr. Goss with eight men captured them and turned them over to the military authorities at the fort, who had been unable to "round-up" the Indians or stop their stealing. At Sun River, on May II, 1873, Mr. Goss was married to Miss Maggie Kizer, a daughter of William Kizer, known as the original "Buffalo Bill" of Montana. Their family consists of thirteen children : Albert S., Frank, William K., Lommie E. W., Ellen R., Caroline C., Nathan W. and Susie A. (twins), Molly M., George O., Albert L., Francis O. and Miss Verna Goss.

0 MAR G. V. GREGG is a gentleman well and favorably known throughout Montana as a printer, editor and publisher and as possessing superior intelligence and general information. He is now stationed in the government service at St. Mary's lakes, in Teton county, as forest ranger of the Flathead forest reserve. He was born at Winchester, Va., on April 28, 1847, and was per- haps the youngest soldier enlisted on either side during the Civil war. His father, H. K. Gregg, was a native of Martinsburg, Va., who for many years conducted newspapers at Winchester and Berryville, Va. Later he was prominently identi- fied with the real estate and loan business at Balti- more, Md., where he died in 1887. His wife, Mary (Hill) Gregg, was born near Martinsburg, and two years later, in 1889, at Baltimore, she followed her husband across the dark river.

All the advantages for securing an excellent education were afforded Mr. Gregg, including the practical knowledge to be acquired in a printing office. He attended the public and private schools of Winchester and graduated with honors at a military training school. In 1861, at the age of fourteen years, he enlisted in the Eleventh Vir- ginia Cavalry (Confederate), with which organi- zation he remained, sharing its fortunes, until 1863, when he was made a prisoner after the bat-

tle of Gettysburg, and taken to the United States military prison at Rock Island, Ill., being there detained until March, 1865, when he was liberated and went to Fort Zarah, Kan. In June, 1866, Mr. Gregg came up the Missouri river to Fort Benton, and for three years was employed as a government scout. During the autumn of 1869 he went to Helena and worked as a compositor on the Rocky Mountain Gazette, of that city, and then for three years he was employed on the Mis- soulian, published at Missoula. From 1875 until 1876 he served as a clerk in the Indian agency store at Flathead.

In 1877 Mr. Gregg engaged in a very import- ant work, going to St. Ignatius mission, where he set the type on two religious works, published by the Jesuit fathers, one in the Flathead language entitled "Smi mi lu tel Kiamentis Kolinzuten," and the other in Latin, entitled "Epistola, R. N. Peti Be ad Patres et Fraters Societaur et Jesu." Thirty-two copies of the Flathead books were sent to Rome for the use of prospective priests prepar- ing themselves for Indian mission work. During the fall of 1877 Mr. Gregg actively participated in the Nez Perces war under Capt. E. A. Kinney, and the next year he again worked on the Mis- soulian. Returning to Fort Benton in the spring of 1880, for four years he was employed on the Record, and then for six months on the Benton River Press, and for a year following on the Calu- met, published at Choteau. Later he worked on the Montanian, also of Choteau, and was em- ployed in the general store of Burd & Armstrong. Going back to Fort Benton in 1890, he passed twelve months in ranching, etc., and in 1892 re- moved to Havre, where he established the Havre Advertiser, which he published successfully for two years, disposing of the property to L. Minugh, of Harlem, in 1895. From that time until November 1, 1900, he worked on the Havre newspapers, and since August, 1900, he has attended to the duties of his present responsible position. In political circles Mr. Gregg is an influential worker, and numbers many warm friends throughout the state.

W T ALTER S. GRIFFITH, the present efficient sheriff of Valley county, is a gentleman who has been well identified with its industrial life and is eminently fitted for the careful administration of the office. Mr. Griffith is a native of Texas, having been born near Roxton, Lamar county, on

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Christmas day of the year 1866, a son of Samuel Arthur and Nancy Bedford (Carlisle) Griffith, the former a native of Mississippi, where he was a planter, also having a plantation in Arkansas, which he conducted until the Civil war compelled him to abandon the same and removed to Lamar county, Texas, where he died in 1868. His wife was also born in Mississippi, and after the death of Mr. Griffith she consummated a second marriage, being now the wife of John W. Holliday, of Taylor county, Texas.

Walter S. Griffith, the immediate subject of this sketch, received very limited educational advan- tages in his youth, his technical schooling having been limited to a few months attendance in the primitive schools of Taylor and Morrow counties, Texas, during the years subsequent to the war of the Rebellion. He continued to assist in the work of the home farm until he attained the age of twenty years, when, in 1886, he took a bunch of cattle through from southern Texas to Deerhead, Kan. After disposing of this stock, he was in the employ of the O. E. Cattle Company of that locality for one summer. He then went to the neutral strip, or No Man's Land, and engaged with the Hun- dred and One Cattle Company for two years, and the N N Company for one year.

In 1891 Mr. Griffith came to Glasgow, Valley county, Mont., and engaged in general merchan- dising for six years, and for the four years following he again worked for wages. In 1900 he took a desert claim of 640 acres, six miles west of Glas- gow, and also located a reservoir claim of 340 acres near by, the reservoir having an average of nine feet of water and so located as to be available for the irrigation of a large area of land. Here he now gives his attention to the raising of cattle and horses and also secures large yields of hay. He is making excellent improvements on his ranch prop- erty, one of the most valuable in this section, as a great portion of the land can be irrigated and made very productive at a minimum expense. In polit- ical matters Mr. Griffith has been an active worker in the ranks of the Republican party, and has done effective service in the cause in a local way. At the election in November, 1900, he was chosen sheriff of the county, being pitted against an oppo- nent who was considered the strongest adversary that could be placed in nomination in the county. The result is significant, as showing the popularity of Mr. Griffith and the esteem in which he is held in the community.

At Williston, N. D., December 22, 1895, Mr. Griffith was united in marriage to Miss May D. Dempier, who was born in the state of New York. Of this union two children have been born : Sidney, born March 17, 1898, died August of the same year; and Clave Lindall, who was born on the 26th of May, 1900.

H Į ENRY D. EVANS .- The subject of this me- moir was one of the honored pioneers of Mon- tana, and was for many years prominently identified with her industrial life. When he passed away a sincere regret and deprivation was felt by the large circle of friends to whom he had endeared himself, for his life was one of marked rectitude and honest endeavor. He was born in the southern part of Wales, on the 12th of February, 1843, the son of Evan and Mary Evans, both of whom were born in Wales, where they passed their entire lives, the father being a farmer by occupation, and both he and his wife being members of the Congrega- tional church. His death occurred January 30, 1858, and that of his wife on July 19th, 1860.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 110

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago Publication date: [19-?] Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co. Number of Pages: 1092

Author: Bowen, A.W., & Co., firm, publishers, Chicago
Publication date: [19-?]
Publisher: Chicago : A. W. Bowen & Co.
Number of Pages: 1092