Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 111

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 111

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Henry D. Evans had rather limited educational advantages in his youth, but his alert mentality and wide experience enabled him to effectively supplement this in the later years of his life. He remained at home until the death of his parents, and in 1863 he emigrated to America, and for a time was engaged in coal mining in Casey, Ill., after which he was employed in St. Louis, Mo., until 1868, when he embarked on a packet on the Mississippi river and thence came up the Missouri by boat to Fort Benton, Mont., where he engaged in prospecting. He mined with considerable suc- cess on Ten Mile creek and in Green gulch, and finally, in 1884, after a pleasant residence of some years in Helena, turned his attention to ranching in Cascade county, securing a homestead claim of 160 acres at Truly, and also adding a pre-emp- tion claim of the same amount adjoining the home- stead. Later he secured 400 acres by purchase. The well-improved and attractive property is lo- cated in the valley of Deep Creek, nineteen miles southwest of the city of Great Falls. Here Mr. Evans engaged extensively in the raising of sheep and horses, and success attended his endeavors to a marked degree. He was the first postmaster of Truly postoffice, and was succeeded by Mrs. Evans, who still remains in office. In politics he was a

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Republican, and fraternally was a Free Mason, and a valued Sir Knight of the Helena Commandery. He was a man of noble and generous impulses, and was highly esteemed by all with whom he came in contact in the various relations of life. Originally Congregationalists, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, on moving from Helena to Truly, joined the Methodist Episcopal church in the latter place, of which religious body all of their children are es- teemed members.

On April 29, 1875, Mr. Evans was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Davies, a native of Wales and a daughter of David and Elizabeth Davies, who passed their lives in that country, where the father was engaged in farming. Both were mem- bers of the Congregational church, in whose faith the mother died in 1860. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans six children were born, of whom two are deceased, Mary and Sarah J. The four surviving are Mar- garet H., David H., Elizabeth H and Henry V. The eldest son now has charge of the ranch and business, and has proved entirely capable of con- ducting its affairs. Mr. Evans was summoned into eternal rest on the 14th of April, 1900, and this tribute to his memory is accorded as a fitting me- morial to a just man who filled all relations of life faithfully, honorably and in the true spirit of chris- tian charity.

W T M. EGBERT GOODWIN .- The son of Eg- bert and Mary Ellen (Markley) Goodwin, who were natives of New York, where he was born November 18, 1860, William Egbert Goodwin is now one of the prosperous and highly respected ranchmen of Rosebud valley. His parents removed from New York to Illinois in 1873, and the father engaged in farming near Bushnell. The mother died in Minnesota in 1875. Mr. Goodwin attended the public schools at Macomb, Ill., until he was fourteen years old. On July 8, 1882, he came to Montana and, locating a homestead in the Rosebud valley, has since made it his home. His ranch is well situated twenty-six miles from Forsyth, and its fertile valleys are very productive. He has usually about 100 head of cattle and raises large crops of grain and hay. The place is well improved with good fences and buildings, and shows in many ways that it is in the hands of an excellent farmer.

In politics Mr. Goodwin is a Republican, but is not an active partisan or a seeker of the honors or emoluments of official life. In 1888, near Muscado,

Wis., he was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Rowley, a native of Grant county, Wis., where she was born in 1863. They have four children : Nellie Nettie, aged twelve; Arlie Lester, ten; Alta May, seven ; and Ralph, three years.

L OUIS T. HAGER, who can be classed among the territorial pioneers of Montana, is one of the prosperous and progressive stockgrowers of Teton county, residing on a handsome and valuable ranch in the vicinity of Dupuyer. He was born in Sweden on November 30, 1840, the son of John and Jane Hager. In 1861 the father died in Sweden, his widow later crossing the Atlantic and she is at present living with her daughter in Den- ver, Colo. On the attainment of his majority, in 1861, Louis T. Hager, came to the United States. In the public schools of Sweden he had obtained a good business education, which he greatly improved by judicious reading. On his arrival in this coun- try he at first located in Davidson county, Tenn., and there pursued the occupation of a farmer until 1885. In May of that year he was suddenly called to Montana by the death of his brother, William E. Hager. The latter had previously located a "squatter's claim" on Dupuyer creek, Teton county, near the town of Dupuyer, on April 3, 1884. While hauling a load of freight from Sun river to his place, he was accidentally killed at Spring Hill. It was in order to hold this "squatter's right" that Louis T. Hager came to Montana. After this land had been surveyed and the title to it made good, Mr. Hager secured homestead and desert claims in addition to his brother's original holding, made here his home and at present has 640 acres devoted to general ranching, sheep, cattle, horses and hay, and is in a most prosperous condition. In August, 1880, Mr. Hager was married to Miss Alice Horton, a native of Tennessee, who died at their home in Davidson county in December, 1880. Po- litically Mr. Hager is in sympathy with the Re- publican party.

H F. GUTH, who might be termed the father of Shelby, Teton county, is one of the most pro- gressive and enterprising citizens of the county. He has had a wide and varied experience in life and his executive ability is being demonstrated in many

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successful ways. He was born in Lundenerkoog, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, on February 18, 1866. His father, Henry Guth, was a native of Heide in Schleswig-Holstein, born in 1813 and dying in his native town in 1895. His wife, the mother of our subject, Marguerite (Kielholz) Guth, was born at Drage in the same province in 1834. She died in 1891. H. F. Guth was thoroughly edu- cated in the gymnasium at Redsburg, graduating therefrom at the age of sixteen, soon thereafter, in 1882, coming to the United States, where his first location was at Newhall, Benton county, Iowa, where he remained after a year's work on a farm. In 1883 he rented a farm, but soon sold his stock and returned to Germany. In 1885 Mr. Guth re- turned from Europe and engaged in threshing in Wisconsin, later going to Pomeroy, Wash., where he secured and proved up on several claims and pur- chased other land. Here he raised two crops, and purchased a saloon in Pomeroy, conducting this until 1892, when he sold both farm and the saloon and removed to Newport, Idaho, where he engaged in buying wood and timber, selling it in eastern Washington. In 1894 he was foreman of a section gang on the Great Northern Railway, and in 1895 was in the same business where the town of Shelby is located.

In July, 1896, Mr. Guth purchased a small mer- chandising establishment at Shelby from C. A. Wittmeier and also his ranch store at Gold Butte. In addition to these enterprises he bought the rights to a desert claim covering the site of the thriving town of Shelby, which he at once proceeded to lay out. Practically Mr. Guth has built the town, his building enterprises including many residences, sa- loon, blacksmith shop, new store, a reservoir for supplying the town with water, etc. It has a popu- lation of 150 and the townsite comprises forty acres. At Pomeroy, Wash., Mr. Guth was married to Miss Mary Kassil, born at Mankato, Minn., in 1875, of German ancestry. The wedding ceremony occurred on March 11, 1892. Their daugliter, Caroline Susanna, was born April 13, 1893. The political influence of Mr. Guth in Teton county is quite extensive. He is a member of the Republican state central committee and takes active interest in local affairs. He generously donated grounds for school buildings, contributed largely toward erect- ing them and is one of the school trustees. Fra- ternally he is a member of Teton Lodge No. 45, K. of P. of Shelby, and is held in high regard by the brothers of that organization.

ROBERT J. HAMILTON, one of the most en-

terprising and wide-awake stockmen in the vicinity of Browning, Teton county, is a young man who is rapidly forging to the front. He is a native Montanian, born at Fort Benton, Choteau county, and imbued with plenty of western vim and business sagacity. While on the line between infancy and early childhood he suffered the loss of both his parents, and was adopted and reared by Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Hamilton, of Choteau, whose name he assumed and by which he has since been recog- nized. Young Hamilton was fortunate in receiving the advantages of the Carlisle (Pa.) Indian Indus- trial School, at which he completed a full course of seven years, graduating therefrom in 1896. His foster mother, who had devoted great care and at- tention to his development, died at Midville, Mont., in 1898. One year previous to this sad event, in 1897, Mr. Hamilton secured employment in Broad- water's post-trading store at Browning, and here he remained two years, contributing faithful service. At the termination of these labors he secured a squatter's land claim of 300 acres, located at the head of the south fork of Milk river, where he is now profitably engaged in stockraising. On No- vember 1, 1898, at the Holy Family mission, Mr. Hamilton was united in marriage to Miss Rosa Henault. The wedding ceremony was performed by Father J. Bandiri. They have a daughter, Theo, born on April 3, 1901.

R OBERT J. GUY .- This hard-working, enter- prising and progressive ranchman of Pease's Bottom, where he has been successfully operating for nearly a quarter of a century, was born at Green- field, Mo., in July, 1858, the son of John C. and Amanda M. Guy, the former a native of Virginia where he was born in 1823, and the latter of Mis- souri. John C. Guy accompanied his parents to Missouri when he was six years old, and later went with them to Texas. In 1849 he went to California and worked in the mines a year, then returned to Greenfield, Mo., where he was engaged in cattle- raising and farming until 1859. In that year he removed to Colorado, locating near Denver. He operated a farm on the Platte river and built the Guy hotel near Denver, which he conducted from 1861 to 1863. In the spring of 1863 he came to Montana and built a hotel at Highland gulch, five miles from Virginia City, and remained there for

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a year, removing thence to Gallatin valley and there engaged in farming for three years. Having been appointed sheriff of the county in 1867, he removed his family to Bozeman and there lived until 1877. During his eight years tenure of office he con- tributed materially to the advancement and develop- ment of the town. In 1868 he erected the Guy hotel on the Northern Pacific, which he conducted until 1872. Five years later he took up his resi- dence in Pease's Bottom and was profitably en- gaged in raising stock and farming until 1900, when he sold his interests and moved to Seattle, Wash., where he is now living. Robert J. Guy was edu- cated in a private school at Highland gulch and the West Gallatin and Bozeman public schools. After leaving school he passed a number of years as clerk and salesman in a general store and as clerk and bookkeeper in his father's hotel. In 1875 he engaged in farming in the Gallatin valley until 1877, when he removed to Pease's Bottom, which has since been his home. His first location was on a homestead in the west end of the valley, but in 1901 he sold this and bought his present place, seven miles east, consisting of 500 acres of productive land which is devoted to raising cattle, horses, hay and grain, and quantities of superior fruit. He has been successful in his operations, earned by his own shrewdness, industry and judicious application of intelligent methods.

In politics he is a Democrat, but has not been an active partisan or a seeker of the honors or emolu- ments of public office. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in the lodge at Miles City. He was united in marriage in 1884, at Pease's Bottom, to Miss Alice B. Higgins, a na- tive of Missoula, where she was born January 25, 1865, a member of a noted pioneer family of Mon- tana. They have six children : Edna M., aged six- teen ; Ollie M., aged twelve; John C., aged ten; William B., aged eight ; Herbert M., aged five; and Frank Bryan, an infant.

JOHN HARRIS .- Every man is the architect of his own fortune. We may say what we will of fortuitous circumstances and the favors of for- tune, the essential circumstance in every case is the realization that nature and the world around us are ready to yield tribute to our needs if we show the master spirit that compels obedience. This spirit John Harris has exhibited in a commanding de-

gree. He was born at St. Louis, Mo., in 1849, the son of William and Margaret (Edwards) Harris. In 1850 the father, having worked in the coal mines of Missouri and believing that the mines of prec- ious metals in the far west offered better oppor- tunities to a man of skill and thrift, left his home and went to California. He there worked in the mines for more than five years, and then sent for his wife and two sons, one of whom, John Harris, is the subject of this sketch. They did not start early enough in the season, and were obliged to remain in Salt Lake City until spring, and while waiting there the father, William Harris, died in California. Mrs. Harris, with her sons, remained in Salt Lake City until the spring of 1863, she being married while there to W. W. Thomas. They came to Montana that summer, arriving in June at Bannack, at that time the leading camp for gold mining within the present limits of Montana. At Alder gulch gold had been discovered and the Har- ris family were among the first to reach the lo- cality. They found the population of the town liv- ing in tents and shacks, such as the necessities of the case compelled, and pleased to have such shel- ter from the extremities of the season. Late in the fall of 1863 Mr. Harris left Alder gulch and went to Malad valley, Idaho, where he engaged in farm- ing for two years. In the spring of 1867 he re- turned to Montana, locating at Upper Deer Lodge, where his mother and step-father were residing on a farm. He went to work mining in French gulch and various other places in the vicinity of Deer Lodge, and in 1872 settled at Fort Benton, the head of navigation on the Missouri. Returning to Deer Lodge he purchased a herd of cattle and drove them from that point to Highwood creek, the site of his present valuable ranch, on which he has lived continuously since that date, except when he has resided at Fort Benton.

In 1882 he consolidated his cattle with the herds of C. E. and W. G. Conrad and I. G. Baker, now of St. Louis, then a leading merchant of Benton, and together they incorporated the Benton and St. Louis Cattle Company, of which Mr. Harris is the general manager. The company conducts a large and prosperous business north of the Missouri on the Marias river; was organized in 1882, at Fort Benton, with C. E. Conrad, president ; W. G. Con- rad, treasurer; and John Harris, general manager, for the purpose of buying, breeding and selling live stock of superior quality, and has been successful. The company has about 10,000 head of cattle, a

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part of which ranges at Alberta, in the northwest territory of Canada, under the management of Howell Harris, brother of the subject of this sketch.

In 1884, on his beautiful ranch at Highwood, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Addie P. Berry, daughter of Mrs. M. E. Berry. They have six children, namely: Nellie Margaret, Mary E., Barbara, Howell, Anna and Edward W. In po- litical relations Mr. Harris unites with the Demo- cratic party, of which he is an ardent and enthus- iastic member, although not seeking for himself any of its honors or emoluments. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In business Mr. Harris has been uniformly suc- cessful and prosperous. In matters pertaining to the public welfare he has shown an intelligent and considerate interest ; and in social life he has been an inspiration and a stimulus. Montana has few citizens who stand higher in the regard of her peo- ple, or who have contributed more essentially to her growth and development.

E DMUND B. HASTINGS .- The son of a preacher in the Reformed Dutch church, be- ginning the battle of life for himself at the age of seventeen, and thereafter. working out with care, industry and fidelity to duty a career of credit to himself and usefulness to others, Edmund B. Hast- ings is entitled to honorable mention in any com- pilation of the deeds and records of the progressive men of Montana. He was born at Pompey, N. Y., April 8, 1849. His parents were Rev. S. P. M. and Elizabeth (Buttrick) Hastings, both natives of Clinton, N. Y. The father was educated at Hamil- ton College, Clinton, and graduated from the Theo- logical Seminary at Auburn, N. Y., in 1836. After leaving school he was pastor of Dutch Reform churches in various places until his death, in Febru- ary, 1876. His widow died in the same year. Mr. Hastings was educated in district schools in New York state, and at an academy in Green county, N. Y. At the age of seventeen he left school and began business for himself as a clerk and salesman in a hardware store at Kingston, N. Y. He re- mained there two years and passed the next two as a bookkeeper in a commission house in Brook- lyn, N. Y. He then engaged in the hardware busi- ness for himself in Brooklyn until 1883, when he came to Montana, locating on a ranch twelve miles west of Billings, where he followed

farming and stockraising until 1882. In the fall of 1892 he removed to Bozeman, where he served as bookkeeper for one year in J. D. Pat- tee's hardware store; during the next three was employed in the same capacity by the Montana Lumber Company in Bozeman. He then returned to his ranch and has since been engaged in farming and stockraising on an extensive scale. In 1900 he and his sons, Seth Henry and Alexander D. Hast- ings, bought a half section of railroad land ad- joining his original ranch, and since then they have conducted the business in partnership.

In politics Mr. Hastings is a Republican. He is secretary of the ditch company which has control of the celebrated "Big Ditch" that taps the Yellow- stone river ten miles west of Park City and runs a distance of thirty-nine miles to Billings, irrigating a vast section of excellent land. He is also secretary and treasurer of the High Line Ditch Company, whose ditch runs a distance of twenty-seven miles, tapping "Big Ditch" about four miles west of Laurel; and is in addition secretary of the Hol- land Irrigation & Land Company, located at Big Timber in Sweet Grass county. Fraternally he is connected with the Ancient Order of United Work- men, holding membership in the lodge at Boze- man. Mr. Hastings was married at Brooklyn, N. Y., in October, 1876, to Miss Henrietta L. Vansin- den, who was born in Brooklyn in 1849: They have two children living: Seth Henry and Alexander, both of mature age. Another son, Charles M., died at Bozeman in 1896, aged seventeen.

ROBERT T. HANNAN .- All lands have con- tributed to the development and civilization of the great northwest of the United States, and no country has made more valuable contributions than Scotland. In Glasgow, the leading commercial port of that country, Robert T. Hannah was born on February 5, 1853. His parents were John and Mary (Thompson) Hannah, both Scotch by na- tivity, and emigrants from that country to the United States in 1865. They settled at Chicago, where the father followed the business of a mer- chant tailor for many years, and is now living re- tired. The mother died there in 1884.

Mr. Hannah was educated in the public schools of Chicago, and after leaving school served an ap- prenticeship of four years at the Vulcan Iron Works

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as a machinist. From 1875 to 1881 he worked at his trade as a journeyman in Chicago; and from 1881 to 1883 was employed in the railroad shops at Las Verges and Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Dodge City, Kan. In July, 1883, he came to Liv- ingston, Mont., and went to work in the shops of the Northern Pacific Railroad, where he remained one year, then passed the time at Forsyth and Glen- dive until 1885, when he located at Billings and has there been employed in the machine shops of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

In politics Mr. Hannah is a Democrat, and has been at times very active in the service of his party. He has served as city councilman from the Second ward in Billings, and has always manifested a lively interest in the welfare of the community in which he happened to be living.

Fraternally he is identified with the Masonic or- der and the United Workmen, in the former holding membership in Ashlar Lodge No. 29, at Billings, and in the latter in Nickerson Lodge No. 21, at Nickerson, Kan. His first marriage occurred at Chicago in 1880, when he was united with Miss Margaret McEntee, a native of Madison, Wis., where she died in 1881, leaving one son, Robert, who is now twenty-one years old. Mr. Hannah contracted a second marriage in 1886, being united on that occasion to Miss Amatea McEntee, of Madison, Wis., a sister of his first wife, and they have three children : Margaret Marie, aged fifteen ; Gertrude May, aged ten; and John Malcolm, aged five.

L AURENCE HAUCK .- One of the most po- tential forces in shaping and directing public sentiment in the United States is the daily and weekly press. Its influence is constant, universal and well nigh omnipotent; and the men who con- trol it are, in the measure of their capacity and honesty, public benefactors of a high order. They are usually men who have mingled freely with peo- ple of a great variety of pursuits, and thus learned their needs and habits of thought; and who have looked and continue to look studiously into public affairs so as to know what is the greatest good for the greatest number.

Among these is Laurence Hauck, editor and business manager and one of the proprietors of the Mail, the oldest paper published at Philipsburg, Mont. He was born at Schweinfurt, Germany, De- cember 22, 1867. His father, John Hauck, and his

mother, Lena (Koetzner) Hauck, were also natives of Germany, as their forebears were for many generations. The father was a road-master in the employ of the imperial government. They were the parents of four children, of whom the subject of this review was the second.

Mr. Hauck attended the public schools in his na- tive land until he was fifteen years of age; then in August, 1883, immigrated to America and came di- rect to Montana. He located in Deer Lodge county and there worked on a ranch for five years, care- fully saving his earnings so as to be able to get something of a college education, which he did at Deer Lodge College, supplementing provision for the expense already made by working at hard labor during the vacations between terms. After three years spent in this profitable and not unpleasant way, he located at Philipsburg and worked for a year as clerk and salesman for L. W. Shodair, the leading green grocer of the town, and then went to Virginia City as bookkeeper for Elling & Bu- ford, general merchants. He remained in their service for three years, returned to Philipsburg and entered the service of the Freyschlag Huffman Company, proprietors of an extensive general mer- chandising enterprise, as head bookkeeper, having also some stock in the company. In 1894 this com- pany discontinued business and Mr. Hauck took a position with the First National Bank, which he held until the bank went out of business in 1896, when he bought an interest in the Philipsburg Mail, and in connection with the Bryan Brothers, has been conducting it ever since, acting in the capacity of editor and business manager. In 1898 he was elected city treasurer for one term ; in August, 1899, was appointed postmaster, a position which he is now admirably filling, and to the satisfaction of the' patrons of the office. In politics Mr. Hanck has always been a Republican and never flags in the service of his party. His aid is always substantial and his counsel much desired. In 1898 he was chairman of the county central committee, and led the party to a noted victory. He belongs to the Masonic order and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He was married August 28, 1893, to Miss Dora Kroger, daughter of Charles and Anna Kroger, of Philipsburg. They have one child, Herman, born November 18, 1894.

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Progressive men of the state of Montana, pt 2, Part 111

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